Yesterday while walking in the bush, we came across some really deep puddles. Bella and Miko had great fun playing in them. This one was a little deeper than Miko bargained for. After falling in once, she stood on the side wondering if she could retrieve the stick further out in the puddle.
Funnily enough, she tries a balancing act on a small submerged childs armchair, blowing bubbles and finally falling in......we caught a little of her antics on camera.......
Hope your fur babies give you as much joy and laughter in your days as ours!
Hugs and smoochies all xoxox
Friday, February 25, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Garden delights......
I have been a little excited over the new growth in my small back yard. After having to pull back a whole lot of passionfruit vines recently, I was horrified by the fact that my poor Elder tree being denied so much sun had literally been suffocated and killed off! Half the tree had died so I pulled it all out, trimmed back all the runners that were popping up everywhere and decided to pray for a quick recovery........a little bare....no?
But then this week I was rather excited to find not only was new life appearing, it was also abundant! There are new shoots everywhere! Father sun is all that was needed to encourage this baby back to life. I live in hope that by autumn time, we will after all get berries! If not then I will be happy with a few more flowers! :-)
My zuchhinni which until now was not supplying us with any fruit also has been friendly this week.......
This one grew in 3 days.....about 27cm long~~~
And my very first little eggplant (aubergine) isnt it cute? LOL...we will let it grow up before we eat it!
Of course there is more basil.......we have an abundance of basil in several stages of growth...I think it is competing with the Tansy! :-)
And even some asparagus........
I cannot wait to start planting more seeds... hopefully I will have more luck now and we won't have another heat wave!
Big hugs and smoochies all xoxox
But then this week I was rather excited to find not only was new life appearing, it was also abundant! There are new shoots everywhere! Father sun is all that was needed to encourage this baby back to life. I live in hope that by autumn time, we will after all get berries! If not then I will be happy with a few more flowers! :-)
My zuchhinni which until now was not supplying us with any fruit also has been friendly this week.......
This one grew in 3 days.....about 27cm long~~~
And my very first little eggplant (aubergine) isnt it cute? LOL...we will let it grow up before we eat it!
Of course there is more basil.......we have an abundance of basil in several stages of growth...I think it is competing with the Tansy! :-)
And even some asparagus........
I cannot wait to start planting more seeds... hopefully I will have more luck now and we won't have another heat wave!
Big hugs and smoochies all xoxox
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Do you like card games?
If you do and you happen to own an I-phone, I -touch or I-pad, please consider purchasing this game from the I-tunes store...........
Flash Poker Game
Developed by my man! Clever he is! Seriously! Its a fun game, try it out, tell us what you think, spread the word if you like it.
Hugs and smoochies xoxox
Flash Poker Game
Developed by my man! Clever he is! Seriously! Its a fun game, try it out, tell us what you think, spread the word if you like it.
Hugs and smoochies xoxox
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Crochet bits and bobs.....
I had a turquiose crystal that I have been wanting to wear for a long time. Finally it dawned on me to make a little crocheted pouch to put it in. This is the result.....
Ashlee liked it so much she wanted one too, her crystal is rose quartz and a bit of an odd shape but it still worked out ok........
This week I managed to whip up another little dress and hat set, I used a cotton blend and absolutely love the results....it is rather small though so will fit a small newborn.....
The buttons on the back are smooth and not too thick so they won't hurt a babies back. They also have little white flowers inside them.....
Close up of the hat....... I actually had to restart this after I put too many shells in the first round, it was coming out like a great bit doily so I had to pull it all back and start again......
I finally sewed up the little jumper I made too! I love this pattern (from the Debbie Bliss baby book) it is so quick and easy to knit up. I used yet some more of the famous baby 8 ply left overs~ (those who have been following for a while will know I have made lots of baby goodies with this yarn and I STILL have a little left! LOL Will have to make a little hat too!)
Oh and I know you have seen this one before but I could not resist dressing up the baby in it! This particular baby has always been dressed as a boy so it was a bit of a giggle dressing him up in pretty dresses!
Ashlee liked it so much she wanted one too, her crystal is rose quartz and a bit of an odd shape but it still worked out ok........
This week I managed to whip up another little dress and hat set, I used a cotton blend and absolutely love the results....it is rather small though so will fit a small newborn.....
The buttons on the back are smooth and not too thick so they won't hurt a babies back. They also have little white flowers inside them.....
Close up of the hat....... I actually had to restart this after I put too many shells in the first round, it was coming out like a great bit doily so I had to pull it all back and start again......
I finally sewed up the little jumper I made too! I love this pattern (from the Debbie Bliss baby book) it is so quick and easy to knit up. I used yet some more of the famous baby 8 ply left overs~ (those who have been following for a while will know I have made lots of baby goodies with this yarn and I STILL have a little left! LOL Will have to make a little hat too!)
Oh and I know you have seen this one before but I could not resist dressing up the baby in it! This particular baby has always been dressed as a boy so it was a bit of a giggle dressing him up in pretty dresses!
Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Museum visits.....
On Thursday, some of our friends and us went for a long train ride, down to Sydney to visit the Maritime Museum as they were having an exhibition on Sharks! Zak was pretty keen to go and check it out! We left home at 7.45am and did not arrive at the museum until 11am.
Some took some time out on the train to catch up on a bit of reading......
When we arrived at Darling Harbour, some ran straight for the water to look at some fish.....
The children enjoyed the shark exhibition but it was not quite what they were expecting I think. It did not take them too long to have a look at everything, we had been to the museum not too long ago so the exhibitions were really the only thing of interest to them.
Sooooooooo, there were sharks......
big sharks..........
With big teeth........Yeah....we got big teeth too.......
We learned a whole lot about sharks! Like bull sharks can grow as big as four feet long *(yikes...those buggers breed at our local beaches...I never knew they got THAT big!) and we watched some of a documentary about harvesting shark fins! NOT NICE PEOPLE!!! I could not watch it all, it was so horrifyingly cruel.
And even though, occasionally sharks do happen to bite people (by accident usually) and they may do a bit of damage.............
....It is in fact nowhere near as bad or as much damage as people do to them in THEIR OWN HOME!! Just sayin' people, just sayin'! Apart from sharks there was also an exhibit on the evacuation and relocation of many British children during/prior and after the war. Some were as little as 2 years old and many never saw their families again. So sad. :-( It was really interesting to read their stories.
There was time for climbing.........
And time for hugs.......
Someone set the fire alarm off! I promise it wasn't us! We were already outside having a drink and a snack! We were quite amused at how no-one came running out or was evacuated despite the alarm ringing away loudly! The fire brigade turned up about ten minutes later armed with axes and turned it off! LOL
After lunch we did not really want to go home and since the kids had their premiere passports to get into museums for free, we opted to go up the other end of Darling Harbour and visit the Power House Museum as well.
Mr Yakka's mum had to go home as she had soccer training so Mr Yakka stayed behind and kept Aunty K on her toes...literally! He had so much fun and I got so much exercise...lol...I quite forgot how much energy 4 year olds have. Lucky for me, my kids are old enough to amuse themselves and they certainly did. We all split up and everyone did their own thing, bumping into each other every now and then.
There was so much to do! Loads of hands on science gadgets, and different exhibitions to visit. All the boys really like the robot that danced and played music. There was something for everyone to do!
I did not take many pictures in there as I was too busy playing with and chasing Mr Yakka around but we did have loads of fun and we all want to go back there again. There are always new exhibitions there too. But this time we just checked out the 80's exhibition which had lots of old video games and Mr Yakka hit the dance floor...........he was very amazed at the disco lights making patterns on his hands, he went back there 4 times......
It was a very long, fun filled day! Lots of science lessons, history lessons and just plain old playing and hanging out with people we love!
And although I was feeling just a little closed in with all the concrete and no greenery around me! I was most grateful to be able to look up and see that gorgeous blue sky! A great time was had by all!
Hugs and smoochies all, Hope you are having a wonderful weekend! xoxoxox
Some took some time out on the train to catch up on a bit of reading......
When we arrived at Darling Harbour, some ran straight for the water to look at some fish.....
The children enjoyed the shark exhibition but it was not quite what they were expecting I think. It did not take them too long to have a look at everything, we had been to the museum not too long ago so the exhibitions were really the only thing of interest to them.
Sooooooooo, there were sharks......
big sharks..........
With big teeth........Yeah....we got big teeth too.......
We learned a whole lot about sharks! Like bull sharks can grow as big as four feet long *(yikes...those buggers breed at our local beaches...I never knew they got THAT big!) and we watched some of a documentary about harvesting shark fins! NOT NICE PEOPLE!!! I could not watch it all, it was so horrifyingly cruel.
And even though, occasionally sharks do happen to bite people (by accident usually) and they may do a bit of damage.............
....It is in fact nowhere near as bad or as much damage as people do to them in THEIR OWN HOME!! Just sayin' people, just sayin'! Apart from sharks there was also an exhibit on the evacuation and relocation of many British children during/prior and after the war. Some were as little as 2 years old and many never saw their families again. So sad. :-( It was really interesting to read their stories.
There was time for climbing.........
And time for hugs.......
Someone set the fire alarm off! I promise it wasn't us! We were already outside having a drink and a snack! We were quite amused at how no-one came running out or was evacuated despite the alarm ringing away loudly! The fire brigade turned up about ten minutes later armed with axes and turned it off! LOL
After lunch we did not really want to go home and since the kids had their premiere passports to get into museums for free, we opted to go up the other end of Darling Harbour and visit the Power House Museum as well.
Mr Yakka's mum had to go home as she had soccer training so Mr Yakka stayed behind and kept Aunty K on her toes...literally! He had so much fun and I got so much exercise...lol...I quite forgot how much energy 4 year olds have. Lucky for me, my kids are old enough to amuse themselves and they certainly did. We all split up and everyone did their own thing, bumping into each other every now and then.
There was so much to do! Loads of hands on science gadgets, and different exhibitions to visit. All the boys really like the robot that danced and played music. There was something for everyone to do!
I did not take many pictures in there as I was too busy playing with and chasing Mr Yakka around but we did have loads of fun and we all want to go back there again. There are always new exhibitions there too. But this time we just checked out the 80's exhibition which had lots of old video games and Mr Yakka hit the dance floor...........he was very amazed at the disco lights making patterns on his hands, he went back there 4 times......
It was a very long, fun filled day! Lots of science lessons, history lessons and just plain old playing and hanging out with people we love!
And although I was feeling just a little closed in with all the concrete and no greenery around me! I was most grateful to be able to look up and see that gorgeous blue sky! A great time was had by all!
Hugs and smoochies all, Hope you are having a wonderful weekend! xoxoxox
Monday, February 7, 2011
Bush Walk Monday
Everyone seemed to have Monday-itus this morning. Motivation was severely lacking and Zak once again has sore ears due to being in the ocean a bit too much before healing properly. Woops! So, I thought a bit of a nature walk was in order.
I handed each boy a camera and off we went to explore. The mission.....to find a plant with a flower....take a picture.....come home and see if you can find out what it is called and any interesting information..(Ulterior motive........find some eucalyptus leaves for infusions...if possible amongst all the gum trees up there).
Both boys took loads of pictures of anything and everything, including themselves and the ground......hmmmmm.....
Of course there were lots and lots of gum trees, but none of them suitable for my infusions!
Oh well, they did get some lovely pictures to work with and Zak even chose a flower to look up........Introducing....... Petrophila Shirleyae.......
And we bumped into this little guy when looking at these leaves. I think we sniffed and checked out every gum tree specimen available today.......
Here are just a few of the other flowers we encountered......
Oh and look at this strange creature prancing around in the bush......
While he was off monkeying around, this one and his mum had time for a bit of a chat about where his education was going right now. We discussed the options of schools or becoming more motivated at home. He is pretty keen to keep on learning at home and is planning himself a bit of a schedule with more "book" learning as he feels this works better for him.
And we emerged on the other side of the bush to find some local natives who became a little hostile when they spotted our cameras!
Now with that, I shall leave you and go and find a place to hide! They know where I live! Yikes! hehe!
Hugs and smoochies all xoxoxoxxo
I handed each boy a camera and off we went to explore. The mission.....to find a plant with a flower....take a picture.....come home and see if you can find out what it is called and any interesting information..(Ulterior motive........find some eucalyptus leaves for infusions...if possible amongst all the gum trees up there).
Both boys took loads of pictures of anything and everything, including themselves and the ground......hmmmmm.....
Of course there were lots and lots of gum trees, but none of them suitable for my infusions!
Oh well, they did get some lovely pictures to work with and Zak even chose a flower to look up........Introducing....... Petrophila Shirleyae.......
He drew a picture too....
And we bumped into this little guy when looking at these leaves. I think we sniffed and checked out every gum tree specimen available today.......
Here are just a few of the other flowers we encountered......
Oh and look at this strange creature prancing around in the bush......
While he was off monkeying around, this one and his mum had time for a bit of a chat about where his education was going right now. We discussed the options of schools or becoming more motivated at home. He is pretty keen to keep on learning at home and is planning himself a bit of a schedule with more "book" learning as he feels this works better for him.
And we emerged on the other side of the bush to find some local natives who became a little hostile when they spotted our cameras!
Now with that, I shall leave you and go and find a place to hide! They know where I live! Yikes! hehe!
Hugs and smoochies all xoxoxoxxo
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Heat wave.....
We have been suffering from the worst heat wave ever this past week with temps reaching the high forties even. Ridiculous I say. We used to complain when it reached 40 degrees on a really hot summer but at least the heat would alleviate by bed time. This week has seen many a sleepless night! Even when the sun went down.......the heat lingered.
We opted to tough it out, not turning on the air con all week until this afternoon, when after spending the morning at the beach along with a pod of dolphins we opted to lock ourselves in and stay cool for a little while. I have to admit, I thought a storm was on its way and knew it would not be for long. I was not disappointed. A beautiful storm just passed through. And it is now raining steadily.
Needless to say the air con has been put back to bed. Windows and doors are open and the blessed rain is here............
My garden like myself is very grateful. We are hoping it will rain all night and keep us cool and revive our spirits again. It has been a very tough week. My poor avacado did not fair well. Her leaves went crisp and brittle despite extra watering, her top most ones shrivelling up.
We opted to tough it out, not turning on the air con all week until this afternoon, when after spending the morning at the beach along with a pod of dolphins we opted to lock ourselves in and stay cool for a little while. I have to admit, I thought a storm was on its way and knew it would not be for long. I was not disappointed. A beautiful storm just passed through. And it is now raining steadily.
Needless to say the air con has been put back to bed. Windows and doors are open and the blessed rain is here............
My garden like myself is very grateful. We are hoping it will rain all night and keep us cool and revive our spirits again. It has been a very tough week. My poor avacado did not fair well. Her leaves went crisp and brittle despite extra watering, her top most ones shrivelling up.
It has really been breaking my heart watching my plants wither and in some cases die. :-(
I am hoping this rain will stick around for a few days. Or at least the temps will cool down.
Hope all is well in your end of the world.
Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Beach Learning.......
Learning does not stop just because you are feeling unwell. With Zak wanting to learn all about the ocean at the moment, we took the opportunity on one very very hot day to head up into the national park for a change of scenery and a bit of a rock pool ramble/walk.
We were a bit limited with Zak having an earache and Adem having a tummy bug, to no swimming and not going to far from home. So while Adem and his dad opted to sit in the shade, sipping cool water, eating fruit and admiring the view in the lovely sea breeze. Zak and Mama went for a nice walk along the beach, up to the rocks to explore what the ocean had for us to enjoy today! Would you like to see?
We were a bit limited with Zak having an earache and Adem having a tummy bug, to no swimming and not going to far from home. So while Adem and his dad opted to sit in the shade, sipping cool water, eating fruit and admiring the view in the lovely sea breeze. Zak and Mama went for a nice walk along the beach, up to the rocks to explore what the ocean had for us to enjoy today! Would you like to see?
One day......
 |
| at the beach..... |
 |
| One boy..... |
 |
| who was learning about the ocean |
 |
| went on a discovery quest, searching for new worlds, |
 |
| Their lifeforms and habitats |
 |
| He discovered many things.....like over 100 crabs in this crevice... |
 |
| And lots and lots of other living things. |
 |
| He walked and walked |
 |
| All the time searching, finding and pointing out all the things he knew |
 |
| Wondering if he could find something different |
 |
| Simply enjoying his searching |
 |
| All the time stepping carefully so as not to harm any lifeform or creature |
 | |
| Meanwhile, behind him, breathing in the fresh air, admiring the awesome view |
 |
| One barefooted mama walked the burning rocks in his wake |
 |
| Knowing by now he must be getting tired and his ear must be sore. |
 |
| Trusting that he would know when he was ready to stop, while he tried to squeeze in just one more discovery.. |
 |
| Seeing him stand in the water so still, while he watched this little fish come in and out of its hiding place to where he stood laughing when it spat a little rock at him in protest of his invasion of its private space! |
 |
| New worlds, small worlds, |
 |
| full of life and wonder |
 |
| Seeing the beauty.. |
 |
| Feeling the different textures |
 |
| Hearing the roar of the ocean as it hits the shore |
 |
| Wondering how close the water will come |
 |
| Never disappointing in its glory! (token blurry shot LOL) |
 |
| One boy wishing in this heat he could have a swim, but knowing he learned that lesson before. Sore ears and water do not mix! |
 |
| One ocean that is never far away! We can always go back and enjoy it again! |
 |
| One token silly shot hugging mama, while we wander back as he has now reached his limit! |
 |
| One very happy boy although very tired, grateful to have had this opportunity to learn outside in the real world! |
 | |||
| Back to those waiting patiently in the shade! |
A glorious beautiful day of learning out in nature!
For this we are most grateful!
Natural Learning Rocks!
Hope your day is filled with love and learning too!
Hugs and smoochies xoxox
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