work

You could be forgiven for thinking I had fallen off the planet, but, no, I have been busy with work. And other things too! I have been crafting up a storm, truly! And op-shopping like a woman possessed...

Oh, and on other news, Baby Pickles has been diagnosed with an egg allergy, so I have been learning to bake egg-free (this is my egg-free pumpkin loaf - yummo!).

Back soon xx

crafting up a storm (aka babies babies everywhere) and switcho-chango! time for daddy to stay at home

It must be the time of year... in our life there are babies being born or due to arrive, everywhere. Which always, always leads to a busy crafting life. I am quilting (having bought my first ever rotary cutter and self-healing mat - oh my, no looking back now!) and yes, crocheting again.

Found some gorgeous crochet blankets in Candi Jensen's lovely book and I'm playing around making one in autumn colours for a certain recently autumn born boy... the commute to work I have my needle and wool out, and half double crochet like mad until I have made it to the CBD and crossed the bridge. And back home again. Four skein of wool down and I am still going... photos to come soon, I promise! though am not sure how to photograph blankets... perhaps I need Little Pickle to pose with it...?

On other news, our home life has been tossed into turmoil yet again. Mr Pickles and I have decided to trial a role reversal for a few months... Mr Pickles is now stay at home dad, and I am off to work mummy. Not sure if I hate it yet, but I am not entirely comfy with it. I thought that working, being recognised for my brain etc would be a lot more fulfilling than this. I know that what is fulfilling is making the boys feel better when they have been unwell (as they have been recently with the dreaded gastro),  making them laugh, building something together with them that we can all enjoy. But, having said that, work is also great sometimes. It is fantastic being recognised for my brain. It is incredible holding a challenging and intellectually stimulating conversation. It is good to have some adult company. And I do love dressing up to go to work!

Mr Pickles thinks this first 2 weeks of switcho-chango! have been extremely intense. That he has learnt more about his sons in the past two weeks than he has known all along. That this job is hard work. That he can't work out if he hates it yet, but he's not entirely comfy with it.

Who knows how it will end? But in the meantime, we are trying something new, and the boys seem to be enjoying it.

How about you? ever taken time away from your usual life to try something new?

Have fun xo

other things i should be doing right now...

* doing a uni assignment
* writing a report for barb
* cleaning the house
* washing clothes
* sewing?
* training the dog ... etc etc

But instead, I am sitting here, typing an extremely overdue hello post after a long time away, whilst the boy and I split a devon and sauce sandwich. (I know, not an entirely balanced and nutritious meal!) Not nutritious perhaps, but exciting.... devon is hard to find when you're living in victoria...

So... our news?

The boy is one (already), walking (albeit tentatively), talking (about 8-10 words), singing and being generally gorgeous.

The spare room is in the midst of a re-do, with piles of fabric now sorted into project piles, so when I do get a few spare minutes I can go straight to the, eg. pants pile and whip up a pair of pants for the boy. Likewise, collections of buttons await assembly into rings/brooches/clips etc for the shop

Being back in the paid workforce part-time is mad... a great time for my brain (and yes, I feel guilty confessing to this!) , but I do (like so many others) feel that I am not actually completing or doing a whole job of anything. But I am adjusting... and the gherkin seems to have settled beautifully into our new routine, bless him.

Otherwise my life has been fairly quiet, not counting some great visits with family & friends, being completely addicted to project runway australia and justine clarke's albums for kids, and the list of all the things I could be doing now, which I am not, so will have to do later....

Take care, I will aim to be back soon, especially now I have dipped my toe back into the bloggy waters again... xo

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