yes, we are still here....

We've celebrated our first mothers day together, watched our first play school together (I know... an ex-speechie and all, allowing television before the age of 1 - heaven forbid!), we've been to the beach, we've finger painted, spent time on a woodchipped play area (not for very long - the gherkin just wanted to eat all the woodchips), he's spent some time in childcare (it's a great centre, the experience itself is just ok), and i've become a juggling mummy with some paid work and some glorious days still at home with my little man. No sewing, no crafting, no creative stuff to share --- life has just been, well exhausting! But on the whole, quite wonderful.

We are all well and happy. I could go into a rant about how people don't take food allergy seriously, or about child care centres who don't follow instructions, or about mums who judge other mums who need to go back to work to pay the mortgage... but I won't.

I could also gush about the wonder of mothers groups, of close girlfriends who will answer the phone late at night when you are having a baby crisis, pretending to be perky and wide awake ("no, of course I wasn't in bed yet!"), or amazingly wonderful pashes from a certain little man not quite one year old... but I won't do that either.

Instead, hello again! And thankyou so much to all of you who left such lovely comments about the gherkin's teatowel board shorts. Credit where credit is due - my inspiration came from the lovely Miss Cinti at my poppet who makes the most gorgeous vintage teatowel tunics (but alas! the gherkin is not a girl, so we couldn't shop with Miss Cinti... well, for these, anyway).

The gherkin is divine, just so lovely, and so much of my day is spent either enjoying every moment with him, or counting down the minutes to leave work so I can see him again. Oh, and Mr Pickles is alright too!

Hope you are all fabulous, and I promise to be back soon... once I am into the swing of the juggle (which I can feel coming... I am getting on top of things... she types at 1am in the morning), I will be back into the crafting adventures again. I promise! Soon!

Have fun lovelies, xo

to teatowel, with love xo

new boardies!, originally uploaded by summer pickles.

Come with me. Transport yourself back to a time when all things "Oz" were great. When the height of fashion was a Jenny Kee jumper, a fimo koala and cockatoo necklace, a white Ken Done tracksuit. Once there, you will find one of these - a gorgeous teatowel, celebrating all things Gold Coast - gaudy parrots, beaches lined with highrises, tiny bikinis...

Now, come on back to the present day and here I am, stumbling across that same teatowel at a local garage sale. Buying it for just fifty cents. And madly hurrying home to start sewing these fantastic boardshorts (modelled by our very own, very gorgeous gherkin).

These were easy! And I reckon they're pretty fab.

Thankyou to tinyhappy for convincing me pants would be easy (i have had this post favourited for a looong time, waiting for babies and courage), Kath for this post with the how tos and for Miss Cinti for the inspiration provided by her lovely tea towel dresses.

Hooray for blogland, the eighties, the gold coast and all things vintage! (And of course for very gorgeous baby models!) Now, to the opshops!

xo

i've been tagged

I have been tagged by Lin! (Sorry Lin, I am hopelessly useless at getting these done quickly).

So, six quirky, yet boring, unremarkable facts about me...?

1. I am medically infertile and have a 0% chance of falling pregnant without fertility treatment. What a blessing our little gherkin is! (hooray for modern medicine).

2. I like to mix foods... a mouthful of savoury, a mouthful of sweet and so on. One of my former housemates (a dietitian) told me it fools your body into thinking you are eating less - you can fit more in this way (oh dear). I also like to finish each meal with the perfect mouthful, so you will see me leaving the tiniest bit of this and that on my plate so I can finish with one gorgeous combined mouthful of the best bits!

3. When I was a little kid, I wanted to be: a nun, an opera singer, a nurse, an architect, a graphic designer, a journalist. Some of these ideas still sounds really good! I grew up to be none of these.

4. I am tactile defensive. There are some things I just don't like to touch. Like some velveteen type fabrics, or wet fallen leaves, that "slime" stuff you used to be able to get in a jar in the 80s, feathers (especially if I am not expecting them), uncooked egg whites. Sometimes these just make me feel a bit off, I get goosebumps and cold chills up and down my spine, or some things (like plastic bags of cornflour) make me gag.

5. I am living in my nineteenth home (I think that's right but may be underestimating by a few). My favourite home, obviously, is with my boys (the hubby, the baby and the pug). But my favourite house was here:

6. When I got pregnant, my body changed forever (not entirely surprising!). Before I was pregnant, I had seven freckles and three moles in total. Now I have too many to count. Perhaps more freakish is that I never used to grow toenails on my little toes... and now I do (I even have to cut them).

7. Sometimes, when I am bored or stressed, I count my steps. I think it all started when I first filled in a Dr Seuss? book all about me. One of the things you had to do was to count the steps to your letterbox, the nearest tree, the local shop etc etc.

Now... which bloggers out there shall I tag? Will get back to you shortly...

Have a gorgoeus week xo

lost for words

Kevin Rudd, our PM, lost for words

I have been struggling to think of what to write here about the Victorian bushfires. I decided if our PM couldn't come up with the right words, it was ok if I couldn't either.

Obviously we are thinking about those in the fire affected areas, your families, friends, animals.

You can make a donation here.

the lady of the toilet (or, how summer pickles got her groove back)

Toilets. by Britt Selvitelle

Firstly, apologies to those of you visiting for craft updates - this is not one of them. Though, perhaps DIY is not too far from crafty?

Recently i was bemoaning the fact that i felt i had lost my independence completely... i have no money of my own (mind you the pickles have always done what's mine is yours etc etc), i haven't really any time of my own, and, i confess, we have fallen into the trap of "you do the boy jobs and i 'll do the girl jobs" since having the gherkin.

So, when our 1968 toilet died on the weekend (actually, no it didn't quite die, but the problems it had were terminal), i was tempted to call Mr Pickles to do something. but instead, i rolled up the sleeves (metaphorically speaking of course - we live in sunny Melbs, so there were no sleeves) and got to work. thanks to dr google, i was able to diagnose the toilet's problems, disassemble the toilet, take a trip to bunnings (toilet pieces in hand), gather the pieces needed to make a repair and then reassemble the toilet.

Was it a dirty job? YES

Did it take a whole day? YES

Did i feel completely brilliant after it was all done and completely repaired? ABSOLUTELY!
(evidence being this post that i am writing, still basking in the post-toilet-repair glow some five days later!)

One of the best benefits of our repair was the thought that we will also now be flushing less water, quite literally, down the toilet, and getting ourselevs that little closer to the melbourne 155 target.

But the best bit? singing "i am mummy, hear me roar" to the gherkin all night (or course inserting toilet repair terminology throughout!)... nothing like some time with tools to get a gal's confidence back!

Chat soon lovelies xo

new button ring!

seems i am on a roll at the moment... another button ring will soon be arriving has arrived in my etsy ... don't ask me where i have found the time, i actually have no idea!

the gherkin has recurring hives of an unknown cause, is no longer sleeping during the day unless cuddled to sleep, has had a horrendous cold and has cracked two new teeth, but still i am managing to find some button time. i think it has been much needed.... i am loving it, and i think coming up with some more lovely ones!

be back soon!
xo

thankyou blogland

Okay, so was out there catching up with some favourite bloggers this evening, and loving every second.

Seemed to be a bit of a theme tonight, finding out little gems about my favourite people and asking myself some questions along the way. I do love how blogland can change how I think, feel, interact with blogland and the "real world".

Thanks to the very lovely drewzel of blogportion i discovered 43things... and did the personality test. And discovered (not very surprisingly really) that I am a "spiritual romantic builder". I always love personality tests... love answering questions, thinking about what my answers might be...sometimes discovering things along the way. But here is where 43 things loses it for me... the next thing you have to do is to make a list (oh dear). While the list making works very well for some, for me, to make a list of my dreams and aspirations and to tick them off one by one... doesn't sound so romantic? But I am still interested enough to see if I can find the book (in a library) and voyeuristic enough to read about other people's goals, dreams, "things".

I have also spent this evening catching up with other favourite people who love to answer questions, via the fab interviews by the very lovely fairlie. Bundles of giggles, and so interesting to hear more about some people who I feel I know at least a little through the wonderful place that is blogland (and now feel I know that little bit better).

And this evening I have been getting teary reading some of your posts... some of you write so beautifully, and straight from the heart.

I am not a great writer, but still enjoy my little blogging life, and thank those of you who are out there for being fun, entertaining and open (and occasionally visiting here). Thankyou gorgeous people. It is sometimes a long time between visits, but I still love popping in. And hopefully in 2009 we will get to know each other even better.

Hope to catch up again soon xo