Yes - I CAN Sew

Forgive me sewing gods for I have sinned - it has been 6 months since I have even so much as looked at the sewing machine.

I have piles and piles of stashed fabric that somehow only ever seems to grow and doesn't appear to ever get used

I was a prolific and confident sewist and now it seems to have evaporated.

A 2andahalf year old and Mr6months - will do that I guess.

All of my brain space is gone; all of my spare time is gone; all of my creativity  is well....gone...somewhere.

I NEED to find it.

I just need to prove it to myself and well...kind of... relearn.

House Renovation Week 3

House Renovation Week 2

House Renovation Week 1

House Renovation Before Pics

And so begins the great house renovation. When we bought this house it had an unfenced, old, pool that had seen better days. Prior to us deciding on exactly what we were going to do with the extension we had decided to fill the pool in  - so in the forthcoming pics there will be no pool in the photos. We did that about 2 years ago.

It is exciting to finally be doing this renovation. We looked and looked for the perfect house with everything we wanted and in the nice location and just couldn't find what we wanted - so are going to build it!

Iris

I learnt something this week...I have an interest in natural and herbal remedy's and have collected a small number of books on these subjects. I've not actually made any of the concoctions from these books as they usually have a range of wide and varied ingredient list - usually containing something a little out of the ordinary. I have been slowly adding to my collection of medicinal herbs in the garden with a view to collecting the varied ingredients over time. Things like chamomile flowers and dill seeds are fairly commonplace. I have become an expert in weed identification as things like Chickweed and Dandelion and nettle (as long as they have not been sprayed) are common ingredients.
One ingredient that comes up frequently is Orris root and I wasn't really sure what it was. Whilst reading a Jackie French gardening book (The Best of Jackie French) this week I discovered that it was the root of a specific type of Iris. Our yard is full of Iris - although I don't think we have that particular variety - Pity.

The recipe was for potpourri and it mentioned that Iris have an amazing scent. So today while I was weeding the front garden bed I stopped to smell the Iris...  and it's true - they do smell lovely!

I mulched all our vegie beds today with some Lucerne mulch - after much research this seems to be a good all round mulch for both vegies and Roses - both of which we have  a lot right now. Everything that I planted in the past few weeks is going brilliantly - although I have noticed more evidence of snail and slug attack since the weather has started to warm up. I am going to try the 'beer' method of trapping them. Apparently if you submerge a small container at ground level filled with a small amount of beer the snails and slugs fall in and die!

All of my seedlings have emerged except the Coriander - even the apparently difficult to grow Parsley has come up!

Now to keep them healthy until the threat of frost is gone!

Afternoon Tea and Friands

Blueberry and Lemon Friands and Moroccan Mint Tea

Still on the topic of tea, my favourite time of the day (apart from first thing in the morning before anyone else is awake) is in the afternoon when both children are asleep - if only for 15 minutes - at the same time. It doesn't happen everyday but it is blissful when it does.

I like to sit in the sun on our deck and have a cup of tea and look through a book, perhaps write a little bit.

My book of the moment is this beautiful coffee table book:

If you like Vege gardening then this is a gorgeous and inspirational book.

The friands were a result of my spontaneous purchase of the day - a Friand tin. I really like friands as an alternative to muffins - they are something different and a bit lighter. I know that you can cook them in a  muffin tin as well but I wanted the real cafe-like experience. Blueberry and Lemon is my favourite combination.

On that note... the big boy is awake. That was my 15 mins!

baby B at 4and a half months