Crafting times

It has been 10 whole days since I last posted, oops! Although I must say there has been lots of crafting and creating, so I really am not worried about it! We have been very productive.
Miss Abbey seems to have caught the knitting bug and has clicked away creating 4 granny squares for her knitted blanket.

You can see Miss Abbey's knitting in the bottom left corner of this photo.

A trip the the library last week for Miss Abbey allowed me sometime to peruse the craft section and I had to borrow these inspiring books.

This is my first attempt at a knitted ball, I found the pattern for this ball here; super easy and quick to make! I surprised myself! I am now onto my 4th ball, they are going to make great presents!

The weekend included some playtime outside, we are making the most of the autumn weather.

chasing and catching bubbles is great fun!

and Miss Evie enjoyed some role playing and pretend play.

Our Easter Weekend.....

Happy Easter,

 the look says it all! 

Nothing can beat chocolate for breakfast!!

The Easter Bunny left some footprints from the front door to the table where some treats, Mama-made, and change of season gifts were left for the little and big ones....

We have had a wonerfully relaxing Easter weekend, lots of family time, lots of eating, and lots of creating......

The week started with some creations.... a granny square for the blanket, some new face washers {I found the patterns at Jelly Wares}  for Easter gifts, a new skirt for Evie {the skirt pattern is from here at Two Little Banshees}, and a pencil roll for a birthday present {tutorial for pencil/crayon roll}.

A new ironing board cover; I followed the great tutorial from Make Something, 

The Girls spent time emptying the dress-up box!

The weather is changing and my feet are the first to feel the cold....

Evie has a new winter outfit, the dress is made material that I found at the Op-shop and the lining I had in my stash, leggings are from a jumper that was destined for the op-shop after my neighbour cleared out her wardrobe. The leggings are made from a tutorial I found at CraftyKin, and they were quite easy to make + a great way to recycle unwanted jumpers!

The weather was glorious this afternoon, I took the girls to the beach to enjoy the sun and water.... and they loved it.

So much fun, memories to hold onto.

This week...

This week has involved a fair amount of op-shopping; which is one of my favourite things to do. I have some wonderful finds, in this photo are from top to bottom - a small cane basket which I am using as a storage space amid my sewing area; a puzzle for a friends' daughter {a birthday present- we made a deal - only 2nd hand gifts this year}; a baby blanket which I think I will turn into a bath mat; an apron that has my favourite colours {the photo does not do any justice}; a ball of real wool; a small vase - another birthday gift; 2 small jars for tealight candles; a knitted top for myself - which will probably be dyed another colour; 2 pairs of shoes for Miss Evie - a bargain at $1 each; and underneath is a beautiful talble cloth - I am thinking about turning it into a curtain for the kitchen. 

I have also picked up some large storage jars for the pantry, some more wool, and some material.

Meanwhile.... I have been a nut knitting away and have produced 2 face washers {photo soon}; and 1 & 1/2 granny squares for the blanket that is in production.

Housework has been kept to the minimal this week with all of the knitting, op-shopping, and some gardening in the vege patch - which is looking a little neglected! On my "TO-DO List" this week is to plant some seeds, according to the Moon Calendar Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are best times to sow root vegetables. I have also cooked up another few jars of chilli jam...

Miss Evie reminded me this afternoon that I must get stuck into some ironing....

Miss Evie managed to almost empty the ironing basket and climb in, then she was stuck!! The poor child was almost swallowed up by the large pile of clothes that are waiting to be treated with some hot loving!!!

I must I must I must......get some ironing done!!!!!

I'm off to do some sewing, another favourite thing to do!!

What I did on Wednesday

A busy day today..

Peach Jam making day!

First I washed the peaches, then it was time to remove the skins... ohhh what a process... but eventually I got there....

 Do they look delicious????

The result of the jam making session, 

7 jars of homemade peach jam, and all from nearly 3kgs of free peaches!! 

Time to share ;-)

Also, this week whenever I venture outside I seem to walk into 20 spiderwebs, they're everywhere!!! What is going on with the spiders?????? I find their creative ability amazing and I managed to capture this web on the camera this afternoon!

 awesome

Mmmm is for Monday

Monday... my day of production, I enjoy Monday's now that I am not working full time. Mr D is back at work, Miss Abbey off to school and I usually get stuck into some household chores, lots of cooking, and some "me" time when Miss Evie is sleeping - she can sleep for 2-3 hours.... Don't get me wrong, weekends are wonderful, and weekdays are productive!

The "To Do" List ..... let's check some things off this list!!

I do enjoy a little "me" time.

Today "me" time was a quick stint on the internet to search for a recipe and some knitting... I have not knitted for quite some time and all of a sudden the weather is changing and the knitting needles are click click clicking away... I made my first dishcloth....I was inspired by Jellywares, the pattern is so easy and quick, Miss Abbey has expressed her desire to make one too!!! Then I whipped up dinner, a quick stir-fry.

And then some more knitting.

Then I decided to make a yummy afternoon snack, a bit of a treat... I found this yummy choc chip cookie recipe over at ecoMilf, and they are super YUMMY!

 Miss Evie thought they were delicious too!

A bit more knitting.

After school we had some sisterly play time under the table.

And last of all, a story before bed time...

.

Let's hope we all have a peaceful night sleep tonight. x

The week starts off like this.....

Sunday morning, hot cup of tea, a quick look through the paper and the "To Do" List for the coming week. 

The day also included some washing, a few household chores, a bit of cooking, tidied up my sewing area - decluttering is a little more appropriate... filled a huge bag of stuff to drop off to the op-shop {I have a thing - bring in a bag, send out a bag!} It is a useful thing to keep in mind and apply at all times otherwise we end up hoarding and taking up/wasting valuable space!

The rest of the day was just this,

Oh I do love Sunday afternoons.....

I made this...

I am rearranging our small & cosy living area to cater for the addition of  Miss Evie's wooden table and chairs {which I purchased off e-bay for a reasonable $20}, as I have decided that the best place for the table and chairs are on a carpeted area I thought it would be wise to have a 'spillage mat' placed under the table to protect the carpet, hence this weeks sewing project.

Miss Evie tries out her new splillage mat.

The finished piece.

I made this simply and cheaply, the apricot patterned material was given to me from a relative and has been in my fabric stash for quite some time - just waiting for the right project. The back of the mat is actually an unused table cloth that has been collecting dust in my cupboard.  The last edge that was sewn together has the scalloped edge of the table cloth on the outer to prevent freying....

Let's see how it holds up!

The beginnings of my Herb Garden

I have only recently got into fresh herbs... sad as that is knowing now how much better fresh herbs taste.. slowly but surely I am building the Herb Garden {in pots as we are renting}. We have basil, thyme, lemon thyme. rosemary, dill. parsley, flat leaf parsley, chives, and oregano, the basics to most recipes.... there are also 3 strawberry plants here.....

and my first rose plant....