Sleeping Bag Mark 2 and Thoughts on Life

It is now a fairly hot hot summer, and though Sophie sleeps rather successfully in a big bed, she is yet to learn to stay under the covers. Oh well. In the mean time, we've been using sleeping bags to keep her warm at night. Suffice to say, you don't need much in the current heat.

All of Sophie's sleeping  bags however were firstly too small, and secondly too thick. Thus, I decided she could use another. This one I made super long (too long to get a good photo of actually). the full width of the material - just over a metre. I was using some material that mum had bought me from Japan for the front (and a matching color from who knows where for the back), so it was pretty basic, but I jazzed it up with a color block on the front.

And, I sewed it on mum's mmachineHarriet the Husqvana and so found myself able to do some fancy stitches for that extra pretty look.

Shiny right? If I had Harriet the Husqvana I'm not sure I could contain myself. I doubt there would be boring straight stitched hems ever again. Good thing Harriet belongs to mum, or I'd never have the time for anything else. :P

Anyway, with the crazy storm of last night (which blew off sections of the walling of the lower part of our house and smashed a wing mirror of our car), and the remnants of the window operation still to complete, I am finding I have less and less time for leisure activities. Why God? I find myself asking. I love doing these things but have no time!

And more and more I find the answer is that actually, I have everything I need. In abundance. Because God is good, all the time. While I may never sew all of the wonderful things I wish to, or build all of the cardboard houses I dream of, I have life to the full in Jesus. How good is it to remember his promises and the richness of the life we have with God?

Camouflage

So most cot sheets come with a tiny matching pillow cases which are pretty much completely useless because babies are not supposed to use pillows until they are at least one. While other people may toss these scraps of material away, I look at them as an exciting sewing opportunity. Hooray!

Just before Rachel's Dedication I made her a pair of overalls out of one of these pillow cases. First time I've ever made overalls (snaps yo!), which I just made by tracing around a pair of overalls that she currently has, with adjustments of course. Now, when she takes a nap in her cute new overalls, she blends in with the bed sheets.

Sherlock would be proud.

The Story of Bear's Castle

Once upon a time, there was a bear. His name was Bear. He was brown and soft and cuddly.

Unfortunately, Bear did not have a place to live. One day, a good fairy noticed that this lovely bear did not have a place to live, and, using her cardboard magic, made a home for Bear.

The home was not just a house, but a castle. It had a drawbridge and battlements and little windows to see outside. Over the drawbridge, the good fairy painted "Bear's Castle" so that everyone would know that this castle belonged to Bear. Bear liked his castle, which was just the right size for him.

Sadly, no sooner had Bear moved into the castle, when a giant came along! The giant saw Bear's Castle and thought it would be a good place for her to live instead of Bear. First, the giant squeezed inside, pushed bear over, and eventually, threw him out the drawbridge.

Poor Bear!

Even worse, once the giant realised that she could not actually fit in Bear's Castle properly or comfortably, she climbed out again and left it ruined on the ground.

Luckily, the good fairy was still around and saw this travesty happen. The good fairy spoke to the giant for a long time about not taking other people's castles. When the giant realised what she had done, she was sorry and gave Bear a big cuddle. Bear forgave the giant.

Then the giant and Bear decided they should live together forever. With the help of the good fairy, Bear's Castle was rebuilt and the giant was even allowed a quick visit.

And they lived happily ever after.

The end.

Kiwi Fruit Cake, Among Other Things

I didn't think the day would come, but at last, all of our windows are back in their original places! Hooray! While some of these windows still don't close properly, or still need fixtures attached to them, at least they are all in the frames. They keep the wind out and let the light in. They are fabulous. Ahh, windows. (Read about the window saga here if you missed it or want a re-fresher).

While waiting for the windows to be back in (it's a two person job, so Steve and I were both required to do it) I've been busy doing other things. Like playing with goo. 

And making kiwi fruit cake for my kiwi friends who came to visit last week. 

And working on some stellar cardboard creations soon to be finished!

Mostly I've been busy. Sorry I haven't blogged, but this is life. Maybe after Rachel's Dedication and Steve's birthday this weekend are over I'll be a bit more regular. Or after the next weekend when we are going away camping (yes I said camping with small children). Or maybe after we've got the fly screens in. Or new curtains. Or Christmas. 

Or maybe never. That's more likely.

Something Simple

While the windows have been an arduous and extended work in progress, I've been passing the nights away with a little bit of simple hand sewing. My older sister is due to have a baby any day now, and I had a sudden inspiration to make her a mobile for the bub's room.

I just used some left over felt I had lying around, so at first, the only colours were the pink, white and caramel. Given that we've no idea what the baby will be, I added a blue moon among the stars to help balance things out a little. Each star, and the moon, was hand stitched with blanket stich around the edge and then stuffed a little before finishing.

I really like the finished result (though I haven't trimmed the strings yet, just in case the lengths need a bit more adjusting). It was seriously hard to get a good photo of, because there was no way I could hang it against a plain back ground (and the wind was blowing through the doors as I tried to photograph as well, which I could fix by closing them, only to have my only source of natural light be taken away completely).

I finished it up last Thursday, rather than cleaning the bathroom. Somehow it was just a little bit more important.

Windows

I could never live in a cave. Steve assures me that had I grown up in a cave, I could certainly survive there, but I disagree. There is such little light, no air flow and everything feels depressing in a cave. How could I possibly know this? I hear you asking. Well for the last four weeks, I've been living in a cave.

Steve and I knew that the windows of our house needed to be repainted and puttied when we bought the house and moved in four years ago, but after painting the walls, painting the trims, renovating the bathroom, having the kitchen re-done, and painting and knocking out a wall, we were a little done with renovations for a while (not to mention all the backyard stuff we've done). Then we had kids.

Then we had last summer, which was unbelievably hot. And when Bob the Wasp made his usual home in the kitchen again, it was really time for us to begin facing the facts that to survive summer, we needed the windows open, but for child safety, we also needed some way of keeping friendly insects like Bob the Wasp out. Thus began Operation Windows.

We decided we'd do magnetic fly screens, because they seemed easy enough, and would work well with our old school swing out windows. But there is no point sticking magnetic fly screens on windows that need to be repainted, just to have to take them off again when the painting happens. So before the fly screens, we needed to fix the windows.

I had a stack of tradies give me quotes about these windows early in the year. Like in March. Re-painting them in, and out of the frames, weather it was lead paint or not. Then we realised that all our spare single-income-family money was currently tied up in having a second child and the whole thing got put on hold for a while. Thankfully, Centerlink came through with some payments at Tax Return time, and we realised we had the cash.

In the end, we found a guy who would strip the paint off, sand and re-putty the windows for a good amount. We just had to take them out and give them to him. No problems (except for the old screws that kept breaking, or being impossible to get out. So thankful for the help we had to do this!). While they were gone, the plan was to sand and repaint the frames. Steve took a week off work to help out (this means we are officially old). Lots of people babysat Sophie. Everything was in full swing.

Then, the windows didn't come back as we expected them to. They took longer. And when they did come back, the hinges didn't. (Granted, I did need to paint the windows anyway, but it was certainly an inconvenience.) On top of this, when we had gone to Bunnings to get the ply which would cover our window openings for the duration of Operation Windows, the guy (after checking with us three times how we wanted them cut) cut them 4cm too short, and so we have a slight gap a the edge of each window.

This created a nice draft in Sophie's room predominately, and has given her several colds over the last four weeks. Which she has shared with most of us at various point. Including Rachel. The latest cold has come with a nasty cough, and it has been pretty sad to lie awake at night listening to two little girls (one of whom is only four months old) cough. Not to mention that I'm feeling too tired to paint the last eight windows that are sitting under the house waiting for me. It's hard work to look after two sick girls.

Saturday, two days ago, we managed to put the first set of windows back in. The dining room is now flooded with light. Oh, what a difference it makes. Not only can we open the windows at will (without the aid of a drill and a second set of hands to hold the ply steady), the breeze comes in, the light shines through. Everything is that much better and that much brighter.

I have stopped and gazed in admiration at these windows several times in the last two days. They are shiny and white. They let in the outside. They function as they are supposed to. Hooray! Windows! I could never live in a cave. It's just too dark when God has given us such wonderful light.

Birthday Present Revealed!

I know I have yet to post about just what has consumed our lives over the last four weeks, but I'm still getting to that. Honestly I feel like it will never be done, and that I've got a stack of other things that I should be doing as well, though they really should wait until after the big thing I'm supposed to be doing, because that's more important. Steve tells me I've overcommitted myself with the number of "on the go" projects I've got. Maybe, but I still say I might have gotten them all done had we not had some unforeseen delays with the biggest one, and associated sickness.

The sickness that now plagues our house has meant that I'm staying home from church tonight with the girls and thus have time to post this. Steve leaves telling me to rest. Pish! Today is my Dad's birthday, and back in February I posted about working on his birthday present. At last I can now show you just what it is!

My parents love to entertain, and use their outdoor area to great effect when doing so. They have a trolley that Mum usually puts the drinks on, though Dad is in charge of seeing everyone has one. Hence why Dad gets this present. It's a towel/cover thing for the top of the drinks trolley.

I actually used an old towel on the back for condensation and spill absorption purposes. The top, which is quilted over, is made from off cuts from my Dad's pants. My Dad is not the tallest person in the world and Mum took up about six pairs of pants in January, handing me the off cuts. I also used two dress shirts Dad passed onto me for a crafty purpose.

I was really happy with how it all turned out. The way that it actually fit on the top of the trolley was very satisfying (unlike Mum's birthday present, but we won't go there). It was also really nice to be able to give it to Dad after it being in the cupboard for so long. That's what happens when you get a little carried away though I guess. :)

A Week of Bento

Well what was happening at our house for the last two weeks meant that Sophie spent a lot of time not at our house. And I mean a lot. She was babysat a stack of fabulous people, some of whom gave up their time twice to look after her for long periods. I can not thank these people enough.

Anyway, while Sophie has been out and about, I decided I'd use the times to make her great lunches and practice some bento making. Sadly, because we have been so busy some of them are particularly boring or repetitive, but I still think they made her feel very loved by me in my absence because most of them came home eaten. Hooray!

I don't want the hard work that went into these to be missed, so I thought I'd share them with the internet for safe keeping. Sorry for some of the bad quality photos. I was taking these either in a rush, the night before, or in bad cluttered situations. Bear with me.

Bento one is the most boring looking. Pear, crackers, Vegemite sandwich and cheese. Eaten though, and that's the goal here.

Bento two is much more fun. Frog lunch box, apple and strawberry fruit salad, cheese (two types!), dip, rice crackers and more rice crackers. There are sultanas in the little "Tasty!" box.

This bento was also really fun. Crackers, avocado, dip, a heart shaped egg, yogurt and strawberries. I was really impressed at the way that Sophie didn't come home with the yogurt all over her. Well done to the baby sitters for their diligent efforts. :)

Here's a photo just so you can see how the heart shaped egg came to be. I've got a star shaped mold too. One day I dream of having a car, or a fish mold as well, though there are lots of others out there. 

This lunch was in the frog box again. Ham and cheese sandwich with avocado and tomato (that sadly didn't get eaten), strawberries, rice crackers and yogurt. Sultanas again in the "Tasty!" box.

I feel like this lunch is very gluten free. Rice crackers, star egg, cheese and yogurt. Strawberry and apple fruit salad and sultanas in the "Hello!" box. Are you seeing the repetition yet? Thankfully I've used a different colored spoon each time, so Sophie probably didn't notice.

And finally, yogurt and strawberries. A star egg, cheese and Vegemite sandwiches cut into little flower shapes. I would have put in little animal picks to eat the cheese but Sophie might have been too distracted or choked on it, so I'll wait until she's older to unleash that awesome on her.

Creative Moment

A while ago, I saw this creative idea on the internet somewhere and decided I'd give it a go. I feel bad that I don't know where it was that I saw this, because the idea was not mine at all. All you need is a stack of the snap lids from baby-wipes packs and some photos. 

I glued the photos behind the snap lids and then stuck them to a big bit of cardboard I had lying around. They looked pretty ordinary so I stuck some scrap material on top. Sadly the glue that I used didn't really hold the material too well, but that's ok.

Sophie has a great time looking for different family members and can now recognize all of them, even the family she doesn't see too often, which is really good when they come to visit. From a teaching perspective, it's also great for her gross/fine motor skills too, as she snaps the lids open and shut. Sometimes I have to remember that not everything is teaching. :P

Heck yeah for another great toy that cost about $2.50, which was the expensive price of printing those photos.

Exhausted

The last two and a half weeks have been pretty chaotic and really exhausting. What has made them so is still on-going, so I can't say I'm back for regular blogging yet. I do have lots of posts lined up though, albeit only in my head at the moment, so I imagine I'll be back soon. 

In the mean time, here is my first ever attempt at a pavlova, which was my brother-in-law's 30th birthday cake last week. 

It was delicious. I can't believe that pav is so easy to make and yet I've never done so before. I'll be making this again soon. Maybe for Steve's 29th birthday in a months time. :)

For Your Amusement

I've spoken before about cleaning the bathroom. It's not a fun job. I'm not sure I know anyone in the world who would say they enjoy it. I've noticed in the last few months that cleaning the shower has gotten harder and harder and yet, despite my sometimes diligent scrubbing, I don't seem to be making much headway in the battle against yucky stains and shower scum.

Thursday night, as I readied myself to clean the bathroom again, I pondered this situation and wondered if I was doing something wrong. I checked the cleaning stuff that I've been using, thinking that maybe there was a secret instruction like "add water", or "leave for half and hour" that I was missing.

I was missing something. Turns out, for the last few months, I've been cleaning the shower with a kitchen cleaner. That's right folks. It may be great on grease and grime in the kitchen, but it does nothing for the shower scum and soap build up on the tiles. That answers a few questions I guess, despite leaving me feeling just a little  bit stupid, and a little disheartened at the wasted effort of scrubbing I've been putting in.

Rest assured, shower cleaner is now on the shopping list, and when I venture forth to acquire it, I will be triple checking the bottle I pick up to ensure it is the right thing.

Off the Shelf

Last year, I made this gem and I'm excited to say that last week, Sophie took it off the shelf and had a good twenty minutes using it.

I am well pleased.

New Experiences

Last week I let Sophie have her first attempt at finger painting, inspired by my friend Ruth who blogs over at Twenty-first Century Lady. I figured if she could do it with her bub, who is only eight months old, it was about time I let Sophie have a go. 

She had a lovely time, there were even tears when it was time to pack up. I'll have to let her have a go again soon. I don't know how long the pictures will last though, given that I made the paint with flour, water and food dye. Oh well. Until then, it's decorating her room nicely.

 Also, why make one pair of cool shorts, when you can make five? Hehehe.

Domesticated

For those playing along at home, here is what I was working on last week. The not-sewing stuff. :) 

Though it doesn't turn, it does do the job of a clothes line, in that it dries the clothes. Sophie knew what to do with it, though she struggled a little with the pegs, and where to put some of the clothes (she liked to hang things off the wood, rather than the line... not sure why).

Job well done. Thanks for the wood from the garden shed Dad. I'm sure I'll find some uses for the rest of your scrap wood in the duration of my girl's childhoods.

Tomatoes

Since mum and dad have been away I've been looking after their fish and the garden. It's not hard. I just go around every Wednesday as I would normally if they were there, on my way to prayer. The girls play (well, Rachel lies around while Sophie plays) and I make sure things are still alive. As a result, I've been lucky enough to reap the benefits of the garden. 

I've collected an abundance of passion fruit (see what some of them turned into here), and most recently, these tomatoes have decided to turn a delicious red color. 

As I've been looking after these tomatoes waiting for them to ripen, I've had to do a bit of work. The tomatoes are really heavy, and as they grow, they weigh down the vines. If you don't stake them up and tie them, quite tightly, to the stakes, the tomatoes grow on the ground and end up rotting. 

I was thinking about this in relation to my own walk with God. Sometimes I'm growing like the vines. I am going to church, bible study, praying, so I have fertile ground to grow in. Things are green. Then I'm producing fruit, meeting up with girls, encouraging other Christians, trying to have spiritual conversations with mums at the park. 

The thing is, that this fruit producing process gets heavy. Even if you are growing in good soil, you need to be staked up to be able to bear the weight. I need to be tightly bound to Gods word and walking with him daily or I will be like the tomato plants with the fruit on the ground: bearing fruit, but it's rotting quickly. 

I wonder how tightly I'm staked to God. Time to hide his word in my heart and meditate on his marvelous deeds (Psalm 119). Daily. 

Not Sewing

I've been spending an hour or two each day this week doing some of this not sewing stuff that I keep talking about. This specific not sewing project has made me feel very "handyman". I have used the drill, and the saw, and the handyman measuring tape. I've even used the hammer and only a few more nails than I was supposed to need.

What is this exciting thing you've been working on? I hear you ask. Well, as it's not quite finished, you'll have to wait a bit longer. Only two coats of varnish to go.

More than Sewing

Though the majority of my posts do involve some kind of sewing, I do actually do more with my life than spend time with Sally. I feel that recently, I've been doing a lot more of this "not sewing" stuff, though much of it has not appeared on the blog. Oh well. Just because it's not on the internet, doesn't mean I don't do it!

Anyway, here is something that is not sewing that I did recently with the abundance of passion fruits I collected from my parents garden in their absence.

Chocolate and Passion Fruit Muffins for breakfast on Fathers Day. Yay! You get a picture of my muffins, because Steve was still asleep and when he did wake up for his breakfast, he devoured it too fast.

Birthday Shorts

Though this is a gift that will not be given for another month, I'm posting early for two reasons. 1. I think these are really groovy, and 2. I'll be busy around the time that they will be given.

I sewed these up with the Sycamore Shorts Pattern from Sew Like My Mom. This pattern was fabulous and easy to sew. The pockets on the side are super cool and I even put a tag in so it's easy to tell the front from the back.

Is that double stitching along the cuffs? I hear you asking. Yes, yes it is! I feel like these shorts are possibly the most professional sewing I've ever done. Hooray! I hope they get worn a lot.

On the super dooper plus side, I got the material when Spotlight was having a mega sale, so I got a meter of each, even though I knew I'd only use a quarter of that. So there is a stack left over for more shorts! Can you see Sophie in a pair? I know I can!

Felt Food: Strawberries

I feel I should give credit where credit is due when it comes to my sudden foray into the world of felt food. When I googled "Felt Food" the first result was this post at Apartment Therapy. Thank you Google, and thank you Apartment Therapy for going to the effort of listing (and linking) all those felt foods.

There were a number of strawberry tutorials which I did peruse, but pretty much just ended up making it up as I went. They were pretty simple. A little more than a semicircle of red felt, some yellow embroidery thread, stuffing and a scrap of green. Sophie loved these so much she didn't mind waiting for me to sew them (to the point just watching and not grabbing or anything!). And she also helped me to stuff them with the stuffing without eating any of it or running around the house with it! Hooray!

I saved a plastic strawberry container to house these in (which was very hard to photograph) but my estimation skills are a little off and there is space for two more. Maybe next week. I don't think the plastic container will last long anyway, because Sophie can't open it independently and would rather scrunch it up in her hands to listen to the sound than put the strawberries back in. Oh well.

Equality

Just wanting it to be clear that I have no favoritism with my children, I thought I'd share this photo from when Rachel was about a month old.

See? I don't just put Sophie in a bowl, I put Rachel in one too. :D