Sunday, September 18, 2016

Hello Spring

I love how the yellow buds on the wattles blossom announcing that spring is on the way. Also the beautiful flowers on the magnolia trees take me back to our days in Southampton when I first noticed those magnificent flowers erupting on the the bare branches against the grey rainy sky. We are excited that our star magnolia which was relocated from the back corner of our house and transplanted to the the front prior to renovations 2 years ago finally showed some signs of life with multiple buds and new shoots emerging from it's base! Since pruning the big magnolia, the possums have not been able to climb down off the roof and eat all the new growth, so it is also doing much better than last year too!



The various bulbs dotted around the garden are doing their thing...many already flowering, others still growing.


Then there are the beginnings of the edible stuff. Blueberries are budding, the nectarine tree is blossoming profusely and the broad beans are also flowering. The garlic looks to be doing well. I'm patiently waiting for the asparagus to shoot and am looking forward to harvesting our first crop. The potatoes are now in too. Much more to do in the coming weeks though.


Katy and Ella have planted their seed sticks (parsley and basil) as part of the ACT Primary School Carbon Challenge that they were paticpating in. The Carbon Challenge encourages students to become more sustainable in their daily life. Many of the challenges we are doing already.....


Sunday, September 11, 2016

More of the Same

Yep another weekend of wet weather! Unfortunately it was the last game for the soccer season and was in keeping with the spirit of the wet season our games were cancelled! Very disappointing that the grounds were too soggy to play on. As it was also presentation day, thankfully the Soccer club had a Plan B which kicked into action. This meant that each age group attended their presentation ceremony at a specified time at the Belconnen Soccer Club which our club is affiliated with.


The presentations were very efficient with each child receiving a medal, certificate, team photo and snacks. The girls bid farewell to the friends they made. On a sad note both girls will have new teams in 2017. Katy moves up age groups while all of her team mates stay in the younger age group for another year. As for Ella, most of her team move up but will be graded into Divison 1 and 2. Along with this comes with the joy(!) of playing at different soccer pitches next year.




Painting Party

We celebrated a friends 40th birthday with a Painting Party! What a fun experience! I declined the offer to paint, preferring to help Ella and Katy create their masterpieces. Tonight's project was to paint an this colourful elephant .....my initial thoughts - no way!

The easels were all set up, as were the brushes and plates of paint. Our lovely artist took the party  guests through step by step, focusing firstly on shape, the background, the different sections of the elephant and final touches to give the elephant some depth.

It was interesting being a spectator to watch the differences in interpretation and painting style emerge. The results were impressive. 






Ella and Katy (and Linden) did really well to keep up with the adults and their final pieces were amazing. Certainly a party to remember especially with both elephants now proudly hanging in each girls room!





Saturday, September 10, 2016

Absent Traditions

Andy was off on another training camp for 10 days, held over looking the beach in sunny, warm San Diego. Unfortunately his training program was interrupted due to a niggling knee which was exacerbated by a slip on wet marble flooring resulting in an inability to run and a very noticeable limp for the last few days of camp.

Meanwhile although the girls (and I) miss him very much, they were very excited for the sleep over movie night which I think is a now well established tradition. Always held on a Friday or Saturday night, the girls were lucky to have one for each of the weekends that Andy was away. Film choice took us back to some classics - The Sound of Music and the Wizard of Oz.

As for Andy's knee injury, I knew it was bad and this was confirmed when I picked him up at the airport and we drove straight to a physio appointment! Cathy concluded most likely to be meniscus degeneration/tear with lots of exercises to be done in order to avoid surgery!

Sunday, September 4, 2016

Choosing a Character


We've had a two year hiatus from the dress up capers of book week at Aranda Primary School.




Ella dressed up as Mollie from The Wishing Chair and although she really likes all of Enid Blytons books I think her decision was based on finding someone with blonde hair! We pulled together Ella's costume with minimal purchases - white polo top ($4 from target) and a black t-shirt looking vest ($3 from Salvos). I made the white apron and the rest came from Ella's wardrobe.












Katy was fairly indecisive. We threw around various characters before she decided on EJ12 - a code cracking girl hero. Although EJ12 has many outfits, Katy chose her costume from book #3 In the Dark. It was super easy which is what we love! All black, with a flashlight and a black bum bag (borrowed from Nana).














Due to more wet weather the book week parade was held across the hall and gym. There were some very interesting and entertaining costumes worn by both teachers and students. Fun had by all but glad it's over for another year.



Thursday, September 1, 2016

Getting that Sewing Going

Last weekend I was faced with cold weather, one sick child and a husband overseas so the in-the-wings sewing project came to the forefront! Katy had requested a replacement library bag as her current bag (given to her at childcare only 4 years ago!!) was falling apart. I had suggested that we could make one with fabric of her choice. Of course what you do for one child you must do for the other....so I had two bags to make.

We had already researched our design and purchased the material so it was a matter of cutting and sewing. The pattern used fleece interfacing, a product I'd never used before. That didn't deter me surely it was simply cut to size and iron on and it was. Ella loved doing this part as for some reason she has a thing for ironing. It's highly likely that it's because we avoid ironing and so any time she spends at Nanas she always offers to do the ironing (or polishing the silverware!)

 
Katy's and Ella Fabric choices...


No room for eating this weekend!!

While I was piecing together the puzzle of materials bits, Ella was keen to sew something too. Out came her scrap fabric collection and soon she was whizzing away on the sewing machine. First it was a blanket for Poley (Katy's tiny polar bear), next came a bag for Poley, then a bag for herself, then another bag and another smaller bag, another triangular shaped bag.....do you get the idea?


Poley on his blanket and bag.


Ella bag collection all on display!!

It was actually hard to get on the sewing machine myself but eventually I did and quickly Katy's bag came together only it was a little too big....she could almost fit in it!! Hmmm didn't look that big on the website. Never mind a little unpicking hurt no-one although I did have to put it down to cook dinner.

After dinner I trimmed the pieces, pinned it all back together and as the sewing machine was free it soon came back together. Katy was much happier with this new smaller version.

With the prototype done and Ella's fabric already cut and ready to go, it was a quick job to piece it all together. The finished bag looked great. Placing the bags side to side, I soon realised that the front piece of fabric on Katy's bag was out by 90° and actually didn't sit properly.

Now I was in a dilemma. There was not enough spare fabric or interface to cut a new piece and if I unstitched it could I turn the piece and would it still fit, if I had to trim it down would it then be too small...or should I not be so pedantic and just let it be. Looking at the bag I knew I had to do something so hello unpicker again, you are so my friend.

Once again I deconstructed the bag, trimmed down various pieces, pinned it back together, sewed it all up for the final time! Katy inspected the bag for the third time and everyone was very happy with this result. Now the sewing machine can head back into the cupboard for a well earnt rest!!









Dear Nana

And here is another one too! We are skiing down a run called Winter Way

From front - Nat (blue top, black pants), Ella (pink top, aqua pants), Josh ((blue top, black pants) Luca (purple top/ pink pants), Mia (green top, pink pants),  Maki (blue), Grace (purple top, fluoro pants), two random people, Susie (red top, black pants), Katy (pink top and pants and no poles!), Cathy (pink top, black pants) and Quokka (all black).


Dear Nana

As promised few videos just for you. Enjoy!

Skiing back to Guthega
From the front - Andy (dark blue), Ella (pink top, aqua pants), Mia (green top, pink pants), Maki (blue), Luca (purple top/ pink pants), Katy (pink top and pants and no poles!), Susie (red top, black pants)