A grumpy mum's doodles ... and more kangaroos

We had 9 kangaroos in our garden last night, plus a baby in it's mum's pouch.  They are so gorgeous!  Apart from the ticks, which aren't so great ...

Anyhoo ... isn't it peculiar how protective one can become of one's offspring?  Big B is learning to drive and I am supervising driver for the moment as he completes his 25 hours pre-test driving practise.  It's a nerve wracking enough experience without silly numpty young drivers being aggressive because of some imagined slight!  We had pulled out of someone's drive with plenty of room and time between the car behind us, who proceeded to drive at warp factor 10 and drove up our bottom!  My driver was serene and contained as he negotiated the hill and intersection up towards our house, whilst I sat quietly fuming and wanting to hang out of the passenger window telling the impatient little twerp behind that we were learners, although probably not that politely.

Big B just drove me home ... good boy, at least one of us acts our age :)

Christmas creativity

Today we made our Christmas cake.

I had my very own trade assistant who dutifully chopped up cherries and cracked eggs to mix with the brandy.

action shot ...

He even took it upon himself to cart the completed bowl of Christmas goodness around the house for everyone in the family to taste and have a stir whilst making their Christmas wish.  No mean feat as that stoneware bowl filled with cake mix was not light!

The bowl was an early Christmas gift.  I've seen this style of bowl on many a cooking programme and admired it, until I finally gave in and got one for myself.  I'm sure there will be many more cakes made in it!

Now we just have to wait 6 weeks before we can taste it properly ...

Will somebody please slow it all down!!

Every year the same thing happens - as soon as the end of October hits, it's a mad, downhill rush to Christmas.  This year we've had visitors from the UK (lovely to catch up), we went on a short holiday/business trip to Adelaide (fantastic and pics to share soon); and to add to all of that, I have two of my children turning 18 just before Christmas (did the time really pass that fast?) and a pile of lovely things to make for my favourite people in my life.

But the thing I really want to share with you is that - I COMPLETED MY VERY FIRST TRIATHLON last Sunday!!!!!  Yay!  On the morning our guests left for the airport, before our flight to Adelaide in the afternoon.  Contrary to all my whinging it would appear I do like rushing about and being hectic - not!

Anyway,  this triathlon was part of the Triathlon Pink series, which occurs all over Australia in aid of Breast Cancer research.  My friend and I decided to take part in the short run as it was our first time, which consisted of a 100 m swim, 3 km bike ride and finishing with a 1 km run.  I surpassed my own expectations in the swim, as although I love swimming I am terrified of water (go figure) and can't stand putting my head under water or being splashed.  The bike ride was, if I'm being honest, bloody terrible!  I couldn't even get my bike to coast downhill and had to pedal to make it faster down the hills.  Plus I hadn't really got the hang of the gears, and my friend noticed that the gears weren't engaging properly when I did change.  So that really slowed me down and made the ride very hard work.  Lastly, have you ever tried to complete a run after a bike ride?  It's not easy - my legs felt like lead, and didn't want to move and at one point I told my very long suffering tri partner to just carry on by herself as I was too stuffed to continue!  But she had told me she would not leave me and that we had to cross the finish line together.  So we did, holding hands, arms in the air and yelling at the top of our voices!  I may have been one of the slowest, but I finished, and I worked towards something very much out of my comfort zone and didn't talk myself out of it.  To say I'm extremely pleased and proud of myself is an understatement - and I can say I'm a tri-athlete.  :)

And it's the first in a long line of triathlons and running races I think - I've got the bug!

My first Anna dress

Much excitement!  I have finally finished my first Anna dress, and I love it!  It's so simple, yet so pretty and it's relatively easy to make up.

My dress is made from some Indian sari fabric I had in my stash.  As I didn't have quite enough fabric to make the dress entirely spotty, I used the 'blouse' section which is found at the end of the sari for the back bodice.  I'm really impressed with myself that I managed to match up the stripes on the back, which with hand printed fabric is no easy task!

I really learned a lot about pattern alteration using this pattern - I had to do a full bust adjustment, which of course impacted on the waistline, but it was worth all the extra time to make a dress that fits perfectly to my idiosyncracies - it is just so comfy!  I'm intending to write a post explaining how I did my fba and other little mistakes I made  things I learned which should help both you and I avoid such pitfalls in future projects.  Watch this space ...

But I was excited to share my photos first ...

... and I've cut out 2 more dresses ... and nearly finished one already ... I love this pattern!

This time last week ....



At the top of a lighthouse - dad will appreciate this one!

... we were on our way to Yallingup near Margaret River for a small break.  Seems like a lifetime ago, we have been so busy since then!  We are expecting visitors from the UK at the weekend and our house is being given a very overdue spring clean ...

Thought it might be relaxing to stop for a few minutes and look at what we got up to on our trip; it might help me feel slightly less harassed about my present tidying task!

Visiting an op shop in Busselton ... lots of little treasures ... not at Perth prices!

Collecting shells ...

 

 

 and coral ...

found on the beach at Dunsborough.  A favourite past-time of mine, and one which the children have happily adopted as well.  Little Man found some great specimens.

Psychedelic cave ...

Our favourite outing on this trip, a look inside the Ngilgi Caves - AWESOME!  Lots of pretty coloured lights to help us on our way, lovely and cool and damp, stalagmites and stalactites galore.  Wonderful how nature creates beneath our feet without us even noticing ...

Side note: this was supposed to have been posted at the end of last week, with some other lovely photos of our adventures, but I'm having mega technical problems with my usual computer and can't find another that lets me download my photos - still the cave photos are pretty groovy!  I'll try and solve the problem asap.  Update - fixed!  More pics :)

Camping fun

Cam-oo-flarge

We are having an adventure tonight!

When I say 'we' I mean Little Man and his big sister, who although she will be 18 very soon, is almost as giddy with excitement as her younger brother!  

Happiness is ...

But I can't lie, I've been looking forward to snuggling up in a sleeping bag in a tent outdoors.

Though outdoors in this case is our very sheltered and safe backyard :)  We unpacked our igloo tent this morning, and I must say Little Man and I did a splendid job on putting it up and making beds from a bedroll, yoga mat and fluffy blanket.  Batteries were found and lanterns hung from the centre strings on the 'roof'.  Then as the sun shone through our camouflage net covering the tent, the two kiddies sat inside it for hours, reading books, playing on their DS and generally having a great time together.

Now the real fun begins, and as I type this I have a very enthusiastic Little Man looking over my shoulder, asking when I'm going to change into my pj's because it really is time to go to bed now.

More magical moments being created to be remembered with fondness in the future.

Yup, it's magic :)

Kanga and Roo

I never get tired of this.  Kangaroos in our front garden, how awesome is that.  And if you look closely you can see a baby eating grass with its mum - from inside its pouch!

I lay down on Little Man's bedroom floor and peeked through his window to get these shots.  I had to be very quiet and still - a rare enough experience these days :)  Very pleasant.

When I experience moments like this I feel like everything is well with the world xx