Christmas Round Up

I can hardly believe another year is almost over and Christmas is done & dusted!

This year we spent Christmas at Broom's Head with Nan & Pa, Aunty Yvette, Uncle Damien, Chloe & Jack. We had lots of yummy food & spent a lot of time digging in the sand and swimming in the ocean - bliss!

We arrived on Christmas Eve and it didn't take Harper long to find the beach!

     

He had a great time riding his bike and playing with his older cousins while we all watched for cars.

     

For me the end of Christmas means then end of Christmas crafting. This year I participated in Jellywares Xmas washer swap (see button on side bar for more details) Here are the washer and Christmas decoration I sent to Susan.

     

     

I received this lovely washer & snowflake from Vanessa.

     

I also made lots of bunting and towel hangers (pattern here) this year as well as these stars and Christmas trees. Some were even made on the way to the beach on Christmas Eve. While I didn't end up hanging them around our tents (it was too windy) they are all ready to be made into garlands or presents next Christmas.

     

Pattern can be found here

     

Pattern can be found here

As we get ready for another trip to the beach I'm busy preparing yarn and finding patterns to start my next project. I really want to finish a blanket I started this spring but with temperatures expected to be in the high 30's for the next few days I think smaller lighter projects will be easier. I love using the time in the car to crochet & knit. What do you do to pass time in the car?

                                          Justine xxx

Wow where did November go?

Another month has just flown by and my aim to blog more just didn't happen!

I did manage to do the FMS photo a day challenge so one communication goal was achieved! Here is a look at the photos I took. 

I've started the December photo a day challenge and started with another photo of my cherry tomatoes - this time ripe & ready to eat! 

I'm so glad I managed to get this bowl. After two hail storms a fortnight ago our vege garden is looking pretty sad. I thought the cherry tomato plant had been spared but it is starting to look like it will die off before Christmas. At least I will get to have some yummy homemade bruschetta this week! 

As Christmas approaches I'm busy completing my Christmas craft, though I don't think it ever truly ends! I need to stay away from Spotlight now so I don't add more projects to my list! Today I finished Harper's Santa sack with a little help from The Towel Guys in Lismore. They embroidered Harper's name for $10. I was extremely impressed with their service & the quality of the job. They even had the great suggestion to use lime green instead of white or silver thread.

I think I have nearly finished with the sewing projects so I can start concentrating on the crochet & knit projects I'm hoping to complete. Tonight I will start work on my washer & ornament for Jellywares Xmas swap. That is after I cook dinner and get ready to work tomorrow!

Justine xxx

November Photo A Day Challenge

I take so many photos on my phone every day so I love the photo a day challenge. For me it makes me look at the world around me differently and I love the look of my photos once I have applied a filter in Instagram! 

I have a wonderful friend who has posted a photo a day every day on Facebook this year. I admire her staying power and look forward to her daily photo post every night. While a whole year may be too much of a challenge for me at this point in time, I can do a month! I know I can! I did it last June! So as the end of October approached I looked up the November challenge list at fatmumslim and thought I'm going to do this again. 

I usually post my photos via Instagram (search pinchey) and on Facebook but I thought I might share some of the stories behind the photos here this month.

Today I was all ready to take a photo of Harper eating his blueberries or the blueberries themselves but alas this didn't happen! My little man loves his blueberries so they were 'all gone' (to quote Harper) before I could grab my phone!

Instead I took a photo of my incredible cherry tomato plant when I snuck out to hang washing on the line during nap time. This is my first go at growing cherry tomatoes and I can't wait until they ripen up!

I suppose the moral to the story is although I have ideas about the photo I could take for each prompt this initial thought rarely ends up being the final shot!

Justine xxx

Hello again

It's been a long time since I was here but a few very crafty weeks and reading some amazing blogs has inspired me to start blogging again!
The last two years have been spent nurturing my little man Harper.

We have had a ball learning from each other, with lots of laughter and tears and so much fun!  Our days have been spent at swimming lessons, Baby Bounce at the library, catching up with friends at mums group and attending physio to help correct Harper's low tone and torticollis.
I've learnt to crochet and knit while breast feeding or holding my boy and discovered the joy of stealing half an hour of nap time to finish my sewing projects.
Over the last month I have also rediscovered the joy of completing small beautiful crochet projects thanks to two washer swaps hosted by Jellywares.  I'm excitedly waiting for a lovely washer to turn up in my letterbox! Here is the washer I sent off to my secret swap partner today!

Scalloped potholder pattern can be found here

What have you created lately?

Justine xox

A Growing Concern

Yes I'm still here! I know I've been missing for a while but there is a very good reason I promise!

Just after my last post JR & I found out we were pregnant.

Very exciting and scary at the same time! My pregnancy started off with a lot of pain and an ectopic pregnancy was suspected but after an ultrasound at 6 weeks we were given the all OK and just had to hope & pray we'd make it through the first trimester. I was lucky not to have too much morning sickness and have managed to keep well for most of my pregnancy so far. I'm now nearly 19 weeks pregnant and starting to show!

Work has been busy & adding a pregnancy to the end of year preparations has meant that I'm tired and not getting as much done as I used to. In three days time I will be officially on holidays so I can sleep & crochet & sleep & sew & sleep & knit & sleep some more!

I'm looking forward to decorating the nursery in January & having time to finish my baby blanket & various other projects I have planned for bub. As a first time mum its a bit hard to know what I'll need and whether my baby will fit into the little beanies & booties I've already made! Do you have any suggestions?

Justine xox

A busy month

Sometimes there are just not enough hours in the day. I often wonder how my friends with children manage to work full time and still get everything done!

Somethings get forgotten when life gets busy & this month my blogging was forgotten between ...

• Getting the sewing machine out again

• Finishing my Queen Anne's Lace scarf

• Completing a pile of marking
• Playing with Roxy

• Learning to use my new favourite app - Instagram

• Going to the farmers markets every Thursday after school to get affordable bananas and beautiful local produce

• finishing our Wraps with Love project at school. We made 4 blankets for charity with with 25cmx25cm squares knitted by our students & staff. I'm now busy working out easy crochet patterns to teach as the weather gets warmer.

Until next time ...

Justine xox

Thankful

At school we have been teaching our students to stop and focus for three minutes a lesson as part of 'Mindfulness' training. 

They have to concentrate on an object or picture for a minute and try not to let their minds wander. After a minute they 'switch' and close their eyes and concentrate on relaxing more with each breath. For the last minute they think about things they are grateful or thankful for. This process helps built the brain and self control and boy have I seen a difference in some of my classes over the last fortnight! It is also calming me during busy days.

So as part of my mindfulness training I thought I'd let the universe know some of the things I'm thankful for this week:

• A breakthrough with my Year 9 class - we had three prac lessons this week!

• On Tuesday I got to take an Ag lesson. I got to stand in the beautiful sun for an hour, have a guided tour of the Ag farm and meet some motivated year 9 I also had a breakthrough with one student from my science class. Not only did he behave for the whole lesson, he took it upon himself to call me over and teach me how to guide the steers. It wasn't until later that I realised the enormity of the gesture.

• This week I have had the opportunity to work with other staff members and students while I have been filling in for our HT. I now realise how much I missed having different roles in the school.

And of course I'm thankful to have my beautiful family!

What are you thankful for this week?

Justine xox