Not doing too badly...

Alright, so we women don't often give ourselves a pat on the back.  But tonight, I did.

I was cooking lamb roast for dinner, having gone to work, taken the kids to the library for new books, done the daily post office drop-off, cleaned out my car etc etc.  The phone rings.  Brad is crazy busy at work, and won't be home till late - very late.  I am able to say 'that's fine, honey - drive safely'.  Then I stopped for a moment and took stock...

I was -

* carving lamb roast

* frying hot chips (french fries)

* serving vegetables

* keeping the Busy Boy away from the hot oven

* having an email discussion with the real estate agent for our houses

* getting the Busy Boy to take his new Thomas Tank Engine fabric back to his room;

* setting the table for dinner; and

* generally maintaining total calm.....

all at the same time!  You go, girl!

I have scaled back my hours at the shop.  Next week we are closed for Busy Boy's surgery, and the week after that I am packing up and cleaning out, in preparation for The Big Move.  So today, after dropping Miss Blossom at kindergarten, Busy Boy and I came home for a while, cleaned house, I did some computer work, and we opened the shop at 11.00am.  It felt good.  I felt like I was coping with life on all the different fronts - kindy, home, shop, tags and labels - everything was in balance.

I think this is a life lesson for me.  I was drowning in work commitments, and letting all sorts of things slide on the home front.  When we  move, I think I will enjoy the time at home, and look to set up business in a way that better suits our family needs.  So much to think about.

In the meantime, check out my sweet new post signature, which I managed to do with the help of a tutorial from Life on Planet Baby. Great, huh?  You go, girl!

Holding it all together ...

I am holding it all together, just.  With a lot of help from my all-time favourite Cadbury's peppermint chocolate.  In the family block size.  One good thing about being married to a diabetic is that my chocolate is totally safe....

You want to know my favourite sound these days?  The soft, gentle, even sound of our boy breathing easily, in his sleep.  I still love the sound of the 2 kids running around and playing, but that reassuring sleepy breathing is music to my ears.

The rest of my family is in bed.  Ryan sleeping peacefully, Daddy and Naomi snuggled up together in her bed - they both fell asleep during bedtime story.  I have a few minutes to reflect, sip a cup of tea, and gather my crazy thoughts.

I am so grateful to customers of Tags and Labels, who have been so understanding about the crazy long delays in my label-making process, over the past 2 weeks.  It shouldn't surprise me - mothers across the world all feel the same, when our little ones are sick.

I have been flicking through a crochet pattern book that has been on my craft shelf for about 6 months now - Cool Crochet by Melissa Leapman. 

I am planning a crocheted jumper for myself, for winter, but am having a bit of deciding on a suitable replacement yarn, because the weights and brands listed are all American.  Can anyone recommend a chunky, soft 'bulky weight' yarn?  The pattern is in a nylon yarn, but I would prefer something natural...  Ironically, I own a shop that sells yarn. 

But I think I need something in about a 10-ply?

I have recently joined Ravelry, but am yet to come to grips with the amazing store of information and inspiration there.

In and out... of hospital

Well, this classifies as just about the worst couple of weeks we have had for a long time. 

Ryan has been in and out of hospital with chesty wheezing, suspected asthma, finally diagnosed with bronchitis.  We have been told to expect a 12 week recovery period, and he has been on steroids for a week now, and several days to go.  We are learning to cope with giving him ventolin through a mask and spacer, every 3 hours, which is traumatic for all of us.  But watching him struggle for breath is far worse...

We all had a night's sleep at home last night, but I think it will be a long time before I let Ryan sleep in his own room by himself again.  The thought of missing the signs of an impending bout of wheezing scares me.

On top of this, Brad had day surgery under general anaesthetic to have some teeth surgically removed, and Naomi had a nasty gastric bug last weekend.  Suffice to say I am buying us a new feathr duvet, because the old one took quite a beating one night.

Anyway, on happier news, I have been able to do a bit of crochet while sitting in the hospital rooms :-)

I hope your families are all healthier than ours has been!

Chocolate pudding that any mug can make!

Here it is, the recipe for chocolate pudding, also known in this house as 'the best ever use for spare mugs'....

Ingredients -

125g melted butter
125g melted chocolate (I used the cooking choc chips and melted in a glass bowl over a pot of boiling water).
3 eggs
3 tablespoons plain flour
3/4 cup sugar
mixed berries and cream to serve

Preheat oven to 190 deg C (375F).  Mix the melted butter and chocolate together.  Add the flour, sugar and eggs to the mixture, stirring thoroughly.  Pour the mixture into 4 x 1 cup capacity ramekins (or spare mugs), that have been lightly greased.  Bake for 25 mins, or until cooked when tested with a skewer.  Dust with icing sugar and serve with berries and cream (optional).

These are divine when eaten warm, from the oven.  They also kept well in the fridge overnight, and were just as yummy when eaten at room temperature, or heated in the microwave, the next day!

I wish I had a lovely artsy photo of these beautiful puddings to add in here... but I don't.  My kitchen is dark, poky, and impossible to get a good photo in... and the puddings never last long enough to take outside for a decent shot!

I can't take credit for the recipe - it comes from a shopping centre calendar that my dear mother-in-law gave me for Christmas... thanks Southgate Shopping Centre!

Easy like a Sunday... afternoon

What is your favourite time of the week?  Without doubt, mine is Sunday afternoon.

The serenity ....

The domestic satisfaction of being caught up with the laundry ....

Finding what must surely be the best ever use for spare coffee mugs.... chocolate pudding!  (recipe to come)

And being so un-stressed that I can calmly deal with Naomi accidentally dumping an entire packet of flour on the kitchen floor, while helping with the cooking.

Afterglow

I am definitely basking in the afterglow of this piece of total cuteness...

It is the 'Afterglow' dress or nightie pattern by Make It Perfect.  I wasn't totally convinced by Naomi's fabric choice (hmmm.... I think something red, just for a change, Mummy...), which is Paradise Garden by Amy Butler, but I do like it a lot now!

My Miss Muffet likes to be able to get clothes on by herself, and hates the feeling that she can't just whip something off at a moment's notice, if a wardrobe change is called for.  So instead of the button and loop closure at the back, I opted for a tab with velcro closure, which she can reach back and rip open much more easily.

For some reason, I have been having visions of this very sweet, simple dress done in beautiful rich shantung silk, or duchesse satin, as a bridesmaid's dress.... what do you think?

My Creative Space - Classic reds

I am half way through making a sweet little play dress for Naomi, from a pattern by the talented Toni at Make It Perfect.  I should be finishing it off ... but as Naomi is having a nap (something which is becoming more and more rare for our 'big' 4 year old girl), I have tucked it to one side and pulled out some patchwork piecing that has been in the work basket for months.

I don't really have a firm plan for these classic red and white polka dots, other than that I am doing a courthouse steps style log cabin piecing, alternating with the reds and whites.  Using such wide strips (2.5"), means the blocks will grow very quickly, so after a couple of rounds I will probably stop and see if I can piece them into something that I like.... who knows!  But I figured crisp reds and whites, and simple polka dots, how far wrong can it go??

For more creative spaces, go and see the lovely Kirsty at kootoyoo