lazy sunday afternoon...

Started the day buying fresh fruit and veg at our local Farmer's Market that opened this weekend. Fantastic! within walking distance from home!

After preparing the quince I went outside to work on my curly crocheted scarf. I hung it on the tree and it reminded me of wisteria.

I have no idea what type of tree this is. Does anyone know? (I solved Anki's mystery and I'd be happy if someone could help me!)

I spent the afternoon crocheting in the sun...

with Pablo to keep me company.

The sky was BLUE! not a cloud in sight - this is actually a photo of the sky from my chair not just a colour swatch.

The garden was pretty...if you looked past the faded chairs and assorted bits and pieces that need a bit of attention.

And I finished my scarf in time to go and visit my mother.

Beginning to see the daisies not the weeds.

Things are looking up. Bantam Boy has had his extra reading time for his TEE approved. My principal has given the ok for me to have the time off to support BB which is great because we will have to travel to an external examination place to do his exams. His school is about a 5 minute drive but the college we have to go to is about half an hours drive. And we have to go in peak hour traffic. So having time off means all I have to do is focus on him and getting him there on time and as stress free as is humanly possible for these things!

I am on holidays for 2 weeks. Again! You have to love teaching for that.

But something else I love is when a project goes well. I just had to share with you the work of a couple of my year 3 kids. These two did a particularly good job. We have been learning about "the world". We've been reading and writing about it. For T&E(technology and enterprise) I told them they had to select one type of habitat to create a diorama showing what it was like. To do that they had to use their Society and Environment research skills to find out as much as they could about their chosen part of the world. All around the outside they have added information and interesting facts about their region. I love it when one project goes across a number of learning areas.

The one above is a Northern Forrest complete with a bear and salmon in the river. The one below is a tropical rain forest.

What I love most about this one is that the little girl has crammed it full of vegetation and created labels for her diorama just like the ones she has seen in diagrams in her reading.

And my final piece of good news is that I have finally been able to install my bath! It has only been sitting in the car port for 2 or 3 years. But every time I got close to having the money another thing happened to take priority.

Now don't look TOO closely as you will see that the old stained sealant that held the glass shower screens in place has not yet been scraped of the walls and floor. There is also a fair amount of building rubble and dust on the floor from where the plumber went through the wall and Tim drilled to put up a shower curtain. I could have dealt with that first but I went and bought bubble bath and relaxed a bit instead. When I closed my eyes I couldn't see the mess.
So the bathroom is up there on my list of holiday projects. Hopefully I'll resist the temptation to get in it and just close my eyes.
I have a tin of paint to freshen the whole room up. I have plans to sew some new clothes -if I can get BB to move his oil paint covered art work off the dining table(that stuff goes EVERYWHERE!!!) I'm halfway through my zig-zag rug which BB wants very big so it will cover his double bed, at least he likes my crochet unlike Chicky Babe! I laughed when I saw Cate Blanchett wearing a crocheted dress (a granny square one at that!) and the appearance of crochet in the local fashion awards in the Sunday paper. What will she do if the stuff her weird mother is doing becomes fashionable! She will face a dilemma then!

how does your garden grow

Today I spent time working on the patio area leading through the french doors to my lounge/dining/kitchen and next to my studio, For twelve months it has had empty garden beds. They needed to be filled with soil. Tim and I (well honestly mostly Tim) have shifted two cubic meters of soil. My step father went and got us a couple of trailer loads from the local garden supplier. It was $50 for a trailer load -1 cubic meter or $170 to have it delivered.

I found a cheap black tub that fitted perfectly between the fence and the limestone garden bed/seat. It is so soothing to hear the water trickling ...

while relaxing in one of my favourite chairs. These chair frames belonged to my grandmother, Cammy. I love them. When I inherited the 4 of them they were just the frames. It took me ten years to find the pattern (Thank goodness for the internet!)

I planted about 40 plants today. Then because I wasn't happy with the arrangement I lifted about 8 and rearranged them and replanted them. Some I bought but some I managed to find tucked away in various parts of the garden, or in pots begging to be put into a more permanent home.

As a result my back is killing me and I found myself stuck momentarily in my favourite chair- wishing I had had the swags made for them some ten years ago when I was young and sprightly and laughed mercilessly at poor old people who get stuck in chairs!

Because Ron had been generous with his time and my mother has been impatient to see progress in the improvement of my home I thought I would invite them over for a BBQ.

I spent time washing things down , sweeping and straitening the chairs and cushions etc. Mum was suitably impressed. We are now planning a mother daughter mosaic making afternoon- she wants a mosaic table top and I'm planning another for above this new little pond. I positioned it directly opposite the french doors so that when they are open they will frame the mosaic as you view it from inside.

Mum was impressed with the meal- just a simple BBQ with chili, soy and coriander marinated chicken on satay sticks, lamb steaks and a plain green salad and a potato salad with wholegrain mustard and sour cream dressing. I cheated and dressed a shop bought pavlova shell with blueberries, strawberries and cream. I was given the highest compliment ever in my mothers eyes. She said my cooking was in league with Poppy, her dear grandmother, my great grandmother whom she loved very deeply. In her eyes Poppy was the dearest most lovely person in the whole world. Her cooking was renowned and was equated with love and nurturing. So I feel extremely flattered!

As I was preparing to do this post I thought we often show the best bits of what's happening around us , the tidied up before shots (well after cleaning, before the messing again.)

So I decided to show you what my lovely table looks like now.

Before:

I attempted to create an unusual table center with an assortment of coloured glass jugs which were going to have tea lights in them but I couldn't manage to get the tea lights lit and then I got distracted. (I can be a bit like that sometimes)

After:

Note all the sugar on the tablecloth in the foreground of the photo- I think that was Bantam Boy.