On the couch

Just to prove that there is still some creating going on in these parts....

Boardgames, books and bulbs

Well hi! Somehow August and September completely passed me by without a blog post. I wrote plenty in my head, but none ever actually made it on to the blog.

We are just getting into the second week of school holidays here and have been making the most of lazy mornings, and no rushing around after school.

There have been plenty of board games - favourites are Monopoly and UNO Attack.




Plenty of books - it warms my heart to see this boy reading. It looks like he is going to be as much of a bookworm as his parents and big sister.




And of course, the October school holidays in Canberra would not be complete without a visit to Floriade. We braved the crowd on the weekend and it was well worth it.




The small girl had to have a photo taking smelling every different coloured tulip she could find - I think we have about fifteen versions of this photo...




It was well worth the ticket price for a view from the Ferris Wheel, to see he beds in their full glory. All the flowerbeds are planted out in patterns to suit a theme and as beautiful as they are from ground level, it is only from up high that you can see the detail.




We even found time to squeeze in a geocache




and to explore the tunnels through the bamboo grove.




Can't beat a lazy school holidays.

What have you been up to?

This month I am reading

I was super excited to discover a few weeks ago that Joanne Harris had released a new book that continued the story of Chocolat, one of my all time favourite books.  Of course, I had to re read Chocolat and The Lollipop Shoes again first but now I am well into Peaches for Monsieur le Cure.

The small boy and I are reading a classic - Peter Pan. We haven't quite meet the Lost Boys yet but I know when we do, he will be enthralled.

The big girl is waiting not so patently for the new Percy Jackson book.  In the meantime she has started another series by Rick Riordan, the first book of which is The Red Pyramid.

The small girl is still not liking chapter books much but she loves Julia Donaldson.  The latest in her collection of Julia's books is Zog, a cute story about finding your own path in life.

You can join in with Bron's bloggy book club over here.  Have you read anything good lately?

Remodelling

One of the first waldorf style dolls I ever made was a baby doll for my smallest girl, who was little more than a baby herself at the time.  The pattern was from a Japanese book that I have and, not being able to read Japanese, I muddled along by following the pictures.

The small girl never really took to this doll and I am not surprised.  Her hair was truly terrible, eyes to small and, as you can see below, there was some truly dodgy stitching going on.

So the other night I took her apart.  Hair came off, her face was unpicked and re-stitched and I undid the dodgy stitching around her neck and reattached the head to the neck.  She still has her bumpy understuffed legs and very odd shaped hands. Not to mention a nose that is rather large for her face.

A new outfit was also called for, in the small girl's favourite colour.

With a matching nappy of course.

A new head of hair, and she was done.

The small girl is very happy with her made over doll. She has been christened Silky (we have been listening to The Faraway Tree) and has come on quite a few outings with us in the last few days.

Apparently she needs a few more outfits though.

Gossamer Dreams (otherwise known as shameless self promotion)

Gossamer Dreams is a lovely online store that stocks once a month on the 15th for just 24 hours.  This month I am a guest stockist.

Both Heidi and Mali are up for sale this month - previewing now, but purchasable from 8pm tomorrow night. There are lots of other gorgeous goodies there too.



I am hoping to have a few more dolls done and up in my shop next month too.

Just like riding a bike...

The big girl had a slightly delayed birthday party on the weekend. She had wanted to go ice skating so we waited for the outdoor rink to be set up and opened, and off we went.

There was plenty of holding on to the rails to start with.




But eventually, every one was off and skating by themselves. Some were wetter than others. I think the boy won the prize for the wettest skater, but he was very determined to do it on his own and got there in the end.




The small girl and her cousin had a fantastic time with their learning penguins (which you need to book when you book the tickets). The penguins were a great idea as they kept the girls upright, and let them go wherever they needed.




I was most impressed that after twenty or so years of not having skated, I could still do it. Nothing fancy of course, but I stayed upright and didn't need to hold on to the edge.

After skating we paid a visit to the merry-go-round then headed to Koko Black, where the girls scored themselves the best set in the house while the Mr and I sat outside with the small kids.




We will definitely be skating again before the rink closes.

This month I am reading

Joining in again this month with Bron's bloggy book club. This month I am reading the second book in George R R Martin's , A Clash of Kings. These books are amazingly detailed, with a thousand characters, but very engrossing.





I am also reading Inkheart now that the big girl has moved on to Inkspell.


The boy built himself a bow and arrow last week, which has lead to us reading Enid Blyton's version of Robin Hood in Tales of Brave Adventure.. The copy we are reading is one that I won at school in the early 1980's.





More Enid Blyton with the small girl as we read Naughty Amelia Jane.


She is really enjoying the story, but hopefully not getting any ideas!

Are you reading anything good? You can join Bron's book club over here.