Creative Friday

This week, Creative Friday is a special one for Whirlwind. He wanted to design his own birthday cake when he turned five. So out came a sheet of paper and he drew up his design. After explaining it to me (silly mum, that cannot understand cake blueprints!), we set to making it. He says it turned out exactly like the picture in his head. Phew!

He and Legoman had fun decorating (and eating any that were the wrong colour, of course!)

Whirlwind was most insistent that people would love to see his cake, rather than more of my knitting. Can't argue with that!

It is a simply gorgeous day here today - summer is definitely on its way! And my garden needs me!

It's a bit hard to see, but one of our backyard koalas. I will miss them, and the kangaroos, when we move back to our other house; it is a bit too close to town for much wildlife.

Joining with Linda at Natural Suburbia for Creative Friday.

Make It Lovely, Make It Count

Earlier, I mentioned this concept as Make It Pretty. But on further consideration, I have decided I like the word lovely, particularly as it includes the word love in it, which, after all, is what we want to make it count for.

Since my boys started school this year, I have truly come to see that time with your children is precious. Not that I didn't when we were homeschooling, but it is really brought home to you when you have to drop them off each morning to spend the majority of their time with some other adult role model. So I wish to be more conscious of everything I do, everything in our home, everything we eat, just everything - and make it all as lovely and loving as possible, so that the time we have together truly does count.

Each week, I will choose some type of lovely. It could be anything - anything that I think may bring some happiness and express my love. Even if it is indirectly, such as tidying and prettying up a little corner, making some lovely cloth napkins or a tablecloth, baking special cupcakes, any little thing.

My favourite way of making a room look lovelier is very simple - flowers. You can't go wrong with flowers, they will always make a huge difference. 

Some photos of flowers in the garden at the moment and some of my favourite quotes about flowers. Neither of my favourites are in flower at the moment though - daffodils and sunflowers. 

A vase of lovely wildflowers that my eldest daughter picked while on a walk. There are literally thousands growing on the side of our dirt road. I assume someone planted them long ago and they have been quietly multiplying. When they flower, they always remind of that lovely book, Miss Rumphius, where she plants the lupins.




I shall be making it lovely every week from now on. 

The wonderful Elizabeth Goudge and some tiny trousers

This week's Yarn Along sees me knitting some tiny trousers from Vintage Knits For Modern Babies. Fabulous book with patterns that will receive a lot of use - there is always a baby to knit for! I have two friends with babies due, so am knitting some boy and girl items to cover all bases.

I am knitting two 4 ply yarns together, the blue one is Patonyle Sock and the white is Bella Baby Sugar. It doesn't really show up in the photos, but the speck in the white yarn is quite a bright blue and appears in the knitting as little flashes of bright blue. Looks quite effective, I think.

I am currently reading The Herb of Grace, which was also published as The Pilgrim's Inn, by Elizabeth Goudge. This is the second book in the trilogy about the Eliot family of Damerosehay, set over the two world wars. 

Just love the cover art

I just love family sagas and particularly ones written in this era. Not just set in this era, but written then. They are completely different from modern literature. This book is an absolute delight, as was the first one. I read a lot of modern Christian fiction and what I find immensely refreshing in this book is the unforced Christian references. Sometimes I find modern fiction becomes a bit too 'preachy', for want of a better word. But in this book it is taken for granted and is presented as the natural way of things. 

And as a homemaker, it is so pleasing and uplifting to read passages like this:

'Lucilla knew always, and Nadine knew in her more domesticated moments, that it was home-making that mattered. Every home was a brick in the great wall of decent living that man erected over and over again as a bulwark against the perpetual flooding in of evil. But women made the bricks, and the durableness of each civilisation depended upon their quality; and it was no good weakening oneself for the brick-making by thinking too much about the flood.' 

The Herb of Grace pg 53

Elizabeth Goudge has written so many books and I am trying to find them all to read.

Thanks to Alison May over at the gorgeous Brocante Home for recommending Elizabeth Goudge -  can't get enough! And also Beverley Nicholls; but those books are for another day!

Joining Ginny at Small Things for this week's Yarn Along.

Christmas Crafting

After receiving a kind email from a toy company reminding me that it was only 53 sleeps until Santa (are you kidding?!), I thought it was time to get serious about Christmas crafting.

And where else to go for the best inspiration? Why, to your trusty stock of Living Crafts magazines. 

I adore this magazine and was totally devastated when they ceased publication. I do not know if there is a comparable magazine available, certainly not here in Australia.

And then my favourite website would have to be Wee Folk Art. There are always lots of amazing projects to be found here.

So far though, all I have been working on are these quilts (Miss Butterfly's isn't pictured as there is not much to show yet!) 

And now, I will have to add some Lantern Children to the crafting list, as we are celebrating Laternenfest in our local community, culminating in a lantern parade.

Need to decide on which lanterns to make as well.

Thanks to Nicole at Frontier Dreams for sharing the Lantern Child pattern in today's KCCO, where I am joining in.

Magnificent Monday

What a simply stunning day it is here today - a perfect washing day, I would call it!

Look at that blue sky

And some photos of our lovely backyard, which I will miss so much when we have to move - our other house has no shade in the yard - and my lovely free range chickens.

Eleven little chicks! I have been very good this year and not incubated any eggs, but these were hatched naturally. And who doesn't love some little bundles of fluff.

And an exciting parcel in the mail - the letterbox was where Cuddlepie was headed on his bike.

More yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills. 

Hope your Monday is as magnificent, wherever you are.