Heart Felt

New Arrival

Baby Oscar born in the early hours of Friday morning ~ 20th November. All is well with mother and child. Normal delivery with no complications. They are now settling in at home with Charlie and Sadie helping out.

Biding my time

Yes, I'm still sitting here in one piece 'officially overdue'.  The kids and I have been biding our time at the river.  Not quite warm enough to go swimming yet, but somehow throwing stones into the river always turns out to be a paddle and then next thing you know it they are in ~ clothes cast a side.......  I suppose it's a nice place to sit and wait ~ but we are all getting anxious now. xx

Painting, mixing and printing

This week the kids and I started a little painting project.  I wanted to concentrate on mixing colors and introduce some basic printing techniques.

First we started off with blue and yellow paint and we mixed it to a green.  Charlie then pressed a clean piece of cardboard over the top of his painting to make a simple print.  He produced about twelve various prints by using this simple technique.





Today we continued with Sadie's choice of color, she wanted purple.  So we mixed blue and red together to make purple paint.  Abandoning his paintbrush, Charlie found it easier to mix the colors with his hands.














We produced some lovely paintings, prints (and mess).  Our next step will be to cut our prints into greeting cards and different shaped decorations for Christmas.




 
They had a lot of fun ~ but the clean up can sometimes be just as fun as the mess making.

Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll (and champagne)

My doctor doesn't always refer straight from the text book for health care ~ he has a fair respect for alternative remedies and suggestions.  For example his suggestions to bring the baby on is plenty of "Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll" (his words, not mine) Sex is self explanatory, drugs he refers to plenty of raspberry leaf tea and rock 'n' roll he refers to general physical activity like walking etc.

I took the suggestion of "rock 'n' roll" a little bit further and I have been going for rides on the back of Ian's motorbike.  It certainly brings on the Braxton Hicks and to say the least it's a lot of fun!  We have been going down the bumpy farm tracks slowly ~ just 5 minutes a day.  While out a couple of days a go we stumbled upon some wild elder trees in flower.  Last year I made some elder flower champagne for Christmas.  It was so easy and delicious I just had to make some again this year.

That afternoon I took myself away on my own, basket in hand.  It was lovely to walk and take in the beauty and contemplate how life is going to change for us once again.  While out I saw a hawk flying above scouring for small animals, a rabbit scurrying away into the blackberry bushes and a Rosella parrot flying from one tree to the next.  It was a moment of beauty, tranquility and peace to be on my own surrounded by nature and wild life.

I took just what I needed knowing that soon there will be berries to harvest for jam.





Taking a five minute breather before walking back up the farm track to the house.



I knew I had been been collecting these French lemonade bottles for a reason.  They are perfect for bottling the champagne in.  If you have considered giving it a try ~ please do, it's very easy, labor is minimal and it's absolutely delicious. You will find my recipe here. xx

Looking back ~ November 2008

Yes, I'm still here ~ patiently waiting in anticipation.  Baby was doing some major somersaults last night, I can't believe he has enough room in there to even move a limb!

Here are my favorite photographs from one year a go.  Sadie started walking this time last year ~ I can't believe how much Charlie has grown and we definitely weren't contemplating in having another baby.  
So much can happen in a year. xx


Self seeded poppies in the vegetable garden




Charlie reflecting




Sadie studying a flower from the garden




Sadie helping to sow sunflower seeds




Sadie in her sun bonnet




Charlie watering the garden




Sadie wearing my most favorite thrift dress




Sadie with a garden snail




Sadie taking her first steps



A lot of photographs of Sadie ~ but it was a such an incredible time of development ~ mentally and physically for her!

Guy Fawkes

I love fire works and bonfires ~ the smell, colors and even the noise.  One week a year we are legally allowed to purchase fireworks to celebrate Guy Fawkes.

I bought some this year because I thought the children would enjoy it for the same reasons as I do, but you forget that the rest of the year you are warning them about keeping away from fire and that fire is dangerous.  So I shouldn't be surprised that they were absolutely terrified of the whole display.  Charlie calmed once we put a pair of ear muffs over his ears ~ but Sadie was not going to have any part of it. 

Well I still enjoyed it. xx

 

Dreaming of a Kiwi Xmas

I have finally posted off my last pay-it-forward gift, it was a lot of fun putting the parcels together.  I made a handmade tea towel from the rest of my beloved retro farmyard fabric, a set of winter and spring Heart Felt postcards and being so close to Christmas I made a hand sewn felt Xmas decoration for their trees ~ all parceled up in little bags made from the pages of an old vintage children's book.




 




If you are interested in taking part in pay-it-forward, keep an eye out on their blogs for when they announce their pay-it-forward draw. 

It was fun making the felt Xmas decorations and I will be making a set for our tree this year and also some as gifts for friends and family.  I started to think up of other designs I could make.  Because Xmas falls during our summer here in New Zealand, snow, holly and reindeer seem slightly obsolete.  So I made a Pohutukawa flower which flowers during Xmas and in our garden we have these lovely Ponga fronds sprouting at the moment which reminded me of this classic New Zealand children's Christmas song and  of candy canes too.




So this is my set of Kiwi inspired felt Xmas tree decorations.  I will also be selling them on Felt if you are interested in purchasing a set for yourself or as a gift.

Thrift finds for October

Another month has past and here are my best thrift finds for the month of October.

Only New Zealander's will remember getting their cream in these glass bottles.  I was thrilled to find one which I'm currently using as a vase.

I have found a matching enamel kitchen bowl to go with the jug I found a couple of months back.  Looks great in my old kitchen.

 

So in love with this red leather suitcase with incredible interior including an old Air New Zealand baggage label.

  

Retro child's bed sheet

 

Handmade child's smock that ties up the back.  It will be great for Sadie to wear while she is painting or cooking.  Love the retro apple fabric!

 

I won't be dying this beautiful little cardigan ~ I just love the wee nautical wool embroidery detail on it.  Will be great for our baby boy when it turns cool.

 

A couple of pieces of lovely fabric, I have already used the pink roses as a dress for Sadie.

 

and this lovely machine embroidered table cloth ~ love~

Happy thrifting! xx

Making 'retro' things for children

Once a year our local Heart Foundation have a fun raiser by having a huge pre-loved book sale. Books of all genres are donated and collected over the year. The book sale is so huge that our local district council allows the charity the use of the town hall to hold it. Because I work at the local library all local government staff are allowed in 1 hour before the public are let in. I always feel bad because some of the public have been lining up outside the doors for at least a couple of hours!  The organizers like the staff to be out of view from the public before the doors open so one hour is never quite long enough to get right round so I prioritize ~ 

1. Children's books

2. Art/craft

3. Vinyl records 

4. History/literature

5. Gardening

6. Cooking

This year I only got to number 3 on the list, but I did pick up some lovely old children's illustrated books for my ever growing collection.   

 

The craft section had slim pickings, but one of the books I thought you might enjoy is "Making things for children" by Katie Dyson.  It was published in 1974.  

As you know I love retro children's clothing, but I also love the photography in this book and maybe just one of these days I will actually make something out of it.  Here are some of my favorite patterns.

~Play apron~

 

~Dress and Pinafore~

 

~Peasant dress~

 

Love the fabric they have used on this

~Everyday dress~

The worst pattern out of the book was this....but it did put a smile on my face.

~Crocheted beach clothes~

I picked up some other books which I will share with you soon. xx

Fairground

Today we had a family day out at the fairground.  Candy floss, ghost train, merry-go-round, sideshows, hot dogs, balloons, ferris wheel, bright colors, screams of delight and fun.


Charlie on the merry-go-round




Trying his luck on the side shows....




Charlie and Daddy....Charlie looking a bit over whelmed.....




Bright colors of the ferris wheel to brighten up the dull sky....




Sadie unsure about the horses on the merry-go-round.....