Update #2 – Quilty Progress

Hello Wednesday! I normally love Wednesdays, but today, I just wish I could hide under the doona & pretend I can ignore the world until it’s Thursday. Today involves immunisations for baby, and a dentist appointment for me, that I suspect will end with a bill that hurts almost as much as the root canal I’m expecting to be told I need.

 

Sigh.

 

Ignoring that, I hope to get the top of my D9P quilt finished today. My mum is on holidays soon, and it’s a fair bet she’ll want to spend some time with the munchkins, so I figure if I can have it sandwiched & ready to go, I can hand-quilt it while I’m chatting to her – it’s not rude if it’s your mum, right?

I’m close to being finished – these are all the middle seams ready to be stitched to form the blocks. I’m hoping to sneak in a block here and there during the day if the boys are happily playing by themselves – that’s the theory, anyway! Otherwise, it will have to wait for nap time, if they go down together!

 

So a quiet day in all, no high hopes, but I’ll cont today successful if we can get through without too many tears!

Update #1 – 2009 reading challenge

I mis-counted, and actually polished off 4 books while my internet was on the blink!

1. The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald (fiction, opshop find) *** (Jan 09)

2. Fishing for Stars – Bryce Courtney (fiction, new/gift) ***1/2 (Jan 09)

3. The Time Travellers Wife – Audrey Niffenegger (fiction, re-read for the 736th time) ****1/2 (Feb 09)

4. The Adventure of English:A biography of a Language – Melvin Bragg(non-fiction, re-read for the 312th time) ***1/2 (Feb 09)

5. Vet in a Spin – James Herriot (non-fiction, memoir, re-read) **** (Feb 09)

6. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie – James Herriot (non-fiction, memoir, re-read) ***1/2 (Feb 09)

7. Various Flavours of Coffee – Anthony Capella (fiction, library find) ***1/2 (Feb 09)

8. How to help you child read & write – Dr Dominic Wyse (non-fiction, library find) *** (Feb 09)

9. Before I Wake – John Scott (fiction, library find) (in progress, contemplating giving up!)

10. From Here to Maternity – Sinead Moriarty (fiction, chick-lit, library find) **** (March 09)

11. Dog Stories – James Herriot (non-fiction, memoirs, re-read) *** (March 09)

12. The Planets – Dava Sobel (non-fiction, astronomy, new/gift) **** (March 09)

13. Creative Play for Your Baby – Christopher Clouder & Janni Nicol (non-fiction, Steiner based play & craft, new) ***** (March 09)

 

The Steiner book really inspired me, lots of projects I want to try out, so consider yourself warned! Now I just need to choose my next book…

 

Today – I want to finish piecing my D9P quilt, bake a cake & do a couple of little projects out of the Steiner book with the boys. Reading Car’s latest post has inspired me,a dn I’m going to pack as much into today as I can! I also need to figure out something to make for our neice (3 months) for easter – maybe a dolls quilt? I want to make a start on that too!

 

It’s raining, so it’ll be an inside kind of day, perfect for lots of crafting, dancing, baking, reading, singing & relaxing. Let’s do this!

Finally…

Ack. Internet died. Not good. But on the upside, my house is clean, I’ve read three books, done a couple of paintings, and am more than halfway through my d9p quilt! I’ll be back with photos and info when I’m a bit more up-to-date!

Houston, we have a quilt!

 

Well, not a quilt, but it’s getting there! I’ve got almost all the fabric for Baby Bear’s cot quilt cut (I need to go buy some more of the red, fingers crossed my LQS has some left!). If it looks familiar, that’s because it’s the same fabric as Bear’s Jacobs Ladder quilt. I’m hoping to swing a bit of sewing time to start peicing it today. And yes, I know it’s a bit late to be making a cot quilt for a 6 month old baby, but in my defence, our cot converts to a toddler bed, so the quilt will get quite a bit of use. I do need to get it done now, as it is getting quite nippy at night, and it won’t be long before the small one needs more than winter pj’s and a sleeping bag. The plan is to have it sandwiched by the end of this week and get it quilted over the weekend… hmmm… best laid plans and all that!

 

It’s shaping up to be a productive day. The house is clean, the washing up done, and I’ve even managed to cobweb a couple of rooms. I’ve had half a cup of tea, read some stories, a couple of rounds of ‘The Duke of York, and it’s not even nine o’clock yet! On the horizon for today – a wander to the shops for said fabric, a spot of duck feeding, maybe a babycino if the small one behaves, and then swing by the library on the way home and grab some new books for the 50/50 challenge. Some quilt peicing, a painting that came to mind this morning, a coffee I can finish, a new batch of bath fizzers, and 5 million loads of washing.  What a list! Let’s do this!

I won!

Thanks Skip!

 

“The Dardos Award is given for recognition of cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values transmitted in the form of creative and original writing. These stamps were created with the intention of promoting fraternization between bloggers, a way of showing affection and gratitude for work that adds value to the Web.”

“Premio Dardos” means “prize darts” in Italian. This award acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in his/her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary and personal values every day.

The Rules:

1. Accept the award, post it in your blog together with the name of person granted the award and his or her blog link.

2. Past the award to 15 other blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgement. Remember to contact them to let them know they have been chosen for this award’

15? Umm, I’ll have to have a think on it when I get a moment.

 

Well, as predicted yesterday. Mr No Nap woke Mr Please Let Me Nap, so not a great deal got done. I did manage to get 4/9ths of my next quilt cut though, and both boys are about to go to sleep, so I’m hoping to get the rest cut, and maybe even swing a little sewing time to make a start on the peicing. And I can’t forget bookwork, and a bit of admin. Photos for the grandparents. A page or two of scrapping. Oh yeah, and the housework. *sigh*.

 

Ok boys, time to sleep, mummy needs to do stuff. Let’s do this!

It’s raining, it’s pouring…

I wish the boy was snoring.

Monday nap time, and toddler boy has decided sleep is for the weak. We’ve had tantrum, potty stop, tantrum, extra lunch, tantrum, and now merrily chatting away to Pooh Bear. Knowing my luck, he’ll fall asleep just in time for baby boy to wake up. *sigh*.

Last week, we made some bath fizzers. I’m a huge fan of “Lush”, and if I’m buying something, I’ll generally grab an “Ickle Baby Baff Bomb” or five for the small stinky ones. Bear thinks they are just the bees knees, and was demanding one every bath. So off to Professor Google I go, and came up trumps with a recipe for home made bath fizzers. Super easy & lots of fun, now we have a fizzer in every bath! For those interested, we used 1/2 cup citric acid, 1 1/2 cups bicarb soda, and 1 tablespoon of sweet almond oil (which, if you are stupid like me, is massage oil from the chemist. Do not waste your time looking for it in Coles near the olive oils *blush*). Mix, and place in moulds to set for 24 hours. See, told you it was easy!

 

While I have the chance – I’ve cleaned cleared a space on my desk, so I’m going to get stuck into cutting Baby Bear’s quilt. Then if I get time, I have a softie cut out & waiting to be made, plus I want to brainstorm some ideas for Easter (which I can do during options A &B above). I also have to get some photos organised for printing, and make a start on a photo book for MIL. I think I hear the toddler waking the baby…Wish me luck!

Not again…

The toddler is snotty. Again. He’s feeling a bit better today, and just when I thought baby might be safe this time, he’s woken up all clogged up this morning too. Sigh.

Even when sick, Bear is quite an active little bloke, so in an effort to get him to lay quietly & try to recuperate (and not aggravate his cough), I stocked up on DVD’s. We watch Alvin & the Chipmunks last night – and loved it! I remember the Chipmunks from when I was a child, and hearing them bust a ‘toon’ to “Funky Town” just totally cracked me up, totally made it worthwhile hiring!

 

Today, I need to catch up on housework after having a day or two of koala children that made it impossible to get anything done. I have about 500 loads of washing to do after going camping on the weekend. Sheets to change, floors to mop, some bookwork to do. And a quilt to cut. I also need to scrap a couple of pages, but would need to clean my desk, so might just work on mentally planning those for now. And plenty of  cuddles for two little boys who are still a bit out of sorts. Let’s do this!

Can I give up yet?

How far does one have to be into a book before deciding to give up? My current reading selection is quite hard going, and I’m not sure if I can be bothered finishing. Nothing against the book itself, it just has a very different writing style to what I’m used to, and since I mainly read when in bed, I don’t know if I have the brain-power to push through.

 

What’s the consenus? 100 pages? When you feel like it? Keep going?

 

Our Monday is going to be nice & quiet, thanks to a snotty little boy. Hopefully they will both nap at the same time, and this blog can get back to the regularly scheduled program of crafty stuff. We’ll see. I’ve already spilt my first coffee of the morning, so I may go make another & hang with the toddler while the baby sleeps. Just taking it easy today, no pressure, no sweat. Just the way a good Monday should be. Let’s do this!