Tickly Tag Toys

Who's that peaking out from inside my crochet bag?

One of three new friends for my little treasures.

The remnants of the skirt I sewed for myself were begging me to make a few things for my new tribe of three little girls. They were inspired by other toys I've seen around and also my little Eee's love of all things tickly. She tickles her nose and lips with any tag she can find although her teddy (with his shaggy, taggy tail) is her favourite friend.

The taggy friends are in great use as ticklers and in playing games of hide'n'seek.

Sewing for Me

To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. ~e.e. cummings, 1955

Using fabric from the lovely Mezzanine Collection designed by Patty Young for Michael Miller I have managed to find time to sew something for myself this special Spring of mine. It is actually a practise run of this pattern which I plan to use for some other fabric I've been admiring for a long while. Perhaps that one might be finished by Christmas...we'll see.

I've been called 'the pink lady' more than once and I do love pink, along with my girls. What hope did they have but to fall in love with pink. It is almost the only colour they see, they are dressed in it so often. However this is the only patterned pink skirt I own. I do have a very old bright pink skirt but lately I've been wearing black and white, as well as a blue and white skirt most often. When it happens to be cool enough to wear skirts. It's still been very, very cool down here. As I speak however, we are heating up for a week of temperatures reaching 30degC and above so lots of lovely skirt wearing will be happening this week for me and my girls. They'll be pleased to finally be allowed to wear their skirts and dresses without shirts underneath them to keep them warm.

And because we are moving and I am trying to ensure our storage solutions for toys etc. are adequate, I have sewn a drawstring bag to hold our wooden alphabet puzzle. I am very happy with the way it has turned out, the little tiny stitches on the alphabet letters adding to the bubbly fabric. I enjoyed the few minutes I had to sit down quietly, resting, healing and allowing my fingers to stitch tiny stiches again. Remember these!

The Adventures of Gran and Jan and Jennifer

Every man's memory is his private literature. ~Aldous Huxley

One of the joys of having Mum stay with us now is that the girls have almost undivided time with their Granny. They are loving her company and all she brings to their days whether that be food, clean clothing, tickles, cuddles or a bit of time reading together.

At my request Granny brought with her from home a book which she remembers fondly from her childhood. She was given The Adventures of Jan and Jennifer when she was just 8 years old by her Aunt and Uncle living in Parramatta. They lived next door to Mrs Edwards, the mother of Don Edwards, the author of this lovely children's book. I don't think it has become a classic as there seem not to be many copies readily available. There's one at the National Library of Australia. It also seems to be available at Pioneer Books, antiquarian booksellers and publishers. Interestingly it was recommended by The Children's Newspaper of March 17, 1951 as one of "Harraps' excellent York Series for Young Children, 4s each". So I wonder how much of a treasure we really have in this book. A copy signed by the author himself! Have you heard of it or read it yourself?

Each day Ess would ask Granny to read another chapter of the book so the girls could journey off together with Jan and Jennifer as they discovered places around their home which is quite reminiscent of old time Parramatta. The two little girls aged around 8 or 9 explored with Australian bush animals close by their side and became quite protective of them when faced with danger.

It's a pity when sweet little books such as this are lost as they contain such beautiful memories of times gone by and give us an insight into what life was like for children. Granny remembers it fondly due to her family's connection with the family of the author. Little Jan is assumed to be the daughter of the author. What a beautiful memory. Literature really comes alive, doesn't it, when connected with one's own life.

What connections do you have with some form of published literature?

Visual Stimulation

Pleasure is spread through the earth

In stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find.

~William Wordsworth, 1806

As you might imagine, days are very busy here. I am enjoying Spring coming indoors through these beautiful tulips - a gift from my lovely family as they shop at the markets while I care for our new treasure - just a month old today.

Many many days I have thought of ways I could share with you all the various happenings of our lives yet the time to reflect and write seems to elude me. I am sleep deprived and the urge to lie down in bed with my eyes shut definitely most often wins. Lots of reflection happens as I sit and feed, nurturing my new child in the comfort of my arms as we rock together.

My other little pair are aptly cared for, educated and nurtured with lots of assistance from my wonderful Mum and loving husband. For this I am deeply grateful. The time they have given is invaluable.

Indeed it is certainly wonderful to learn about how our lives began with a real life model. We have watched as our baby's vision has developed. We have seen her eyes open more and more day by day, watched as she began to focus on our faces close by, seen her drawn to effects of light and shade. We have enjoyed designing our own graphics for her to view and stimulate the development of her brain. These days we have to cover her eyes so she will settle to sleep as sometimes it seems all too enticing to continue popping that head up to peek around at the happenings of our busy household.

Ess' overlapping circles coloured for baby

Ess explores shapes in black and white for visual development

My own attempt at creating for our little one

We are all very proud of our precious Ess as she has baked her very first cake, indepently. A delicious chocolate cake using a lovely recipe of Donna Hay's as seen on Junior Masterchef recently. It was absolutely delightful watching her in the kitchen by herself only asking for assistance to collate ingredients beyond her reach.

Ess has definitely taken a shine to baking over the years and is now devoted to Junior Masterchef which we actually came across by accident. She is now aspiring to compete when she is 10 or 11 years of age. We wish her luck.

The cake was delicious and we look forward to our next one...soon please my darling.

There has also been a little 'rippling' happening here. Even if I only do 10 or 20 stitches a day it is enough to give me a little space and something of my own to do. Something which nurtures me in amidst all the 'little people nurturing'.

Absolutely Adorable

In the sheltered simplicity of the first few days after a baby is born one sees again the magical closed circle , the miraculous sense of two people existing only for each other.

~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh | Aviator and Author

Cuddling and sleeping, nursing and resting,

stroking the softest silkiest skin

tickling tiny toes

rubbing eency fingers

This is what has been consuming my days.

We are all in the land of 'Absolute Adoration' here.

Do you remember that feeling?

Have you had the privilege off allowing a child to fill your being, consume your days, your heart?

I pray you do.

And to think that this is only a glimpse of the way that God feels about us.

I simply adore my new little treasure. She is an absolute delight.

Rippling, Relaxing, Resting and Waiting

Here I am resting, waiting, relaxing...still with a very large bump in front of me.

We are enjoying the colours Ess and I have chosen to make a woollen ripple blanket and I am very happy with the 100% wool I purchased from Bendigo Woollen Mills recently. It is excellent value for money, lovely and light wool, not too prickly and without any splitting at all when I work with it. This is a selection of the Classic 100% pure new wool range.

Wishing you a happy week. It is a pretty exciting one for us...filled with anticipation. By next week we will have met our new little cherub.

Hopefully we might introduce you too.

Water Bottle Carriers

I have been completing and commencing numerous sewing projects. I am attributing this to the lovely nesting phase I am now in. Although it is curious that I am organising things around our home to make life easier for us now, rather than really making anything for the new baby.

However I know these new water bottle carriers will make life so much easier for me when my arms become full with baby again - even though I use my sling with my little ones all the time. I have already found it so handy to be able to whip my water bottle over my shoulder to carry it out and about. The girls are also more keen to carry their own bottles. They did so previously, however there have been some drops and some ensuing dents in their stainless steel water bottles so the carriers work wonders for them also.

I really am so very pleased with these and my design of them, they have turned out just as I intended. So very happy :)

And of course there is one for my Generous Gentleman as well. He really enjoys using it which I am super stoked about as it is not often that I am able to sew anything specifically for him. I particularly like the way his has turned out and am really glad I saved that lovely Haigh's ribbon as it sets his off beautifully. Yes I was even allowed to decorate his slightly... so so pleased.

There are many other projects coming to completion in our home - some spring skirt making, cushion covers, bag holders, repurposing face washers for use in the laundry with some stitching and velcro, storage bag making, beach bag making, crochet ripple blanket commencement. Indeed I have been spending more time 'doing' than sitting and reading and writing about them. So let's wait and see how many I get to write about here.

Furthermore I am wondering how many more will actually reach completion with only about 10 or 11 days until our new birth day.