Sydney!!!!

Bill and I had a fantastic trip to Sydney! 

Probably the best part for me was the look on his face when he read out my last post on my iphone as we took the turn off to the airport. He just couldn't believe we were going to Sydney not Melbourne!  I don't think he really did until we were on the plane, what an excellent surprise it was!

Although it was raining quite a lot of the time we were there we still had fun and did so many things. We both loved the ferry ride across the  magnificent Sydney Harbour...where we saw..

(replica) ships from the First Fleet....

sail boats...

..tug boats...

....and massive ships. I loved being on the harbour, there is so much to look at and it is truly such a beautiful place to be. How could you ever get sick of such views? Lucky Sydney siders.. :)

Over on Manly beach we just enjoyed being at the beach, something we miss in Daylesford.

 We looked for shells, swam in the water, watched people, boats and clouds.

It was simply..

blissful.

Bill and I packed a lot into our 24 hours in Sydney, we stayed at the YHA in The Rocks (which was great) and climbed a million steps up and down. It's such an amazing historic area, I loved it.

We watched a film about the making of the Harbour Bridge, went to a book shop & a movie, we ate waffles, and hot chips and ice cream.

We caught trains, and cabs and ferries,

 and the monorail! Fun!

One of the highlights was the Power House Museum. We both walked around in awe at the many mind blowing exhibits. The oldest steam train in NSW, planes hanging from the ceiling, rocket parts, the penny farthing..old tram cars and carriages...all so beautifully made and decorative.

I have so many shots from the museum so I won't bore you with them all but we had the BEST time there and I can't wait to go back one day. Bill loved all the scientific sections with experiments etc. Not so much my cup of tea but it was fun to see him enjoying it.

Another highlight was catching up with Susie from Flower Press. We almost didn't make it but I'm so glad we did. Susie took us on a trek for coffee through the crowds of School Spectacular students, an amazing motor bike jumping display (!!), Darling Harbour and past Paddy's Market. A real splice of inner Sydney! It was great to finally meet Susie and sit and have a chat with her. Susie, thanks so much for coming in to see us, I hope next time we can come and visit you and meet your family too.

I could go on forever about our mini trip to Sydney but I'll finish up  now as it's hard to know when to stop sometimes. I'm SO glad I did this with Bill, it was a precious moment in time that we will both remember. Life with kids is so busy and it's easy to get caught up in the Managing and the Surviving, the Cleaning and Organising that sometimes you need to step back and just enjoy time together.

 I really enjoyed chatting with Bill and hearing his ideas and observations. It was good for him to go somewhere so different and bustling, a big city with so many different cultures and things to see.  I like having some special one on one time with my kids, whether it's a big trip like this or just doing something more simple. I guess it's the time spent together that is what you remember. I definitely want to do this with all my kids - I hope I can.

So I've been rambling on..what have YOU been up to lately?

Hope it's been fun and inspiring, and that you are not to caught up in the end of year stress.

Take care lovely ones,

I'll see you soon xo

Woo hoo!

Just a quick post today as I am off on a trip with my son Bill. He thinks we are going to Melbourne for some mother/son time to celebrate his 10th birthday but we are really going somewhere else.

Can you guess? I'm so excited!!!

See you soon lovely ones xo

My Creative Space

This is Snowball sporting a new custom made hat made by Rosie. She is sitting cheerfully on the kitchen bench supervising the recent crochet shenanigans that have been occurring here at No.42.


I'm getting closer to finishing my bag, it's been so satisfying and relaxing making it.

I love the rythm of crochet, and I love a pattern where I don't have to think much. As an over thinker it's so good for me!

I'm loving having Charlotte home for the holidays and she has just started her own crochet bag too! Never having picked up a hook before she took to it like a duck to water.

And is now crocheting her little heart out at every opportunity. She has chosen blue/white/grey for her colour combo and it is looking lovely.

On the bunny front things are buzzing along.

Two bunnies will be finished tomorrow, they are heading off to Sydney and into the arms of two little girls.

Here they are getting a bit closer to being finished, alongside their cousin who I adore. She is so soft and I love her flowery, Van Gogh inspired ears. I came across these bunnies tonight, huddled together by the sewing machine and I was struck with how tender I feel towards them. Silly really but they do seem to have personalities and I love that they are sitting there together waiting to come alive.

How is your creative space today? Is it buzzing, dreamy, empty, colourful, crazy? I have a busy day today but I can't wait to have a cup of tea later find out what everyone is up to. See you over at Kirsty's, hope you have a happy day xo

ps: I'm having a little trouble concentrating as I have just heard that we have our first female Prime Minisiter!!! How exciting, it was such a thrill telling my kids this morning. What an historic day! Go Julia!!!

What I'm reading & Sydney Part 2

The night before we left for Sydney I found this funny old book in a bookshop in Brunswick St.

It has some great real life stories in it and I'm loving reading about the history & people of a long ago Sydney. I couldn't help staying up late on Friday night to read it, finding myself in a world of crime & punishment & scandal! I hope to catch up with what other people are reading so I'll be hopping over to Punky & Me to see later on.



On Saturday morning Charlotte & I took the train & bus to Bondi Beach. What a magnificent beach it is, my photo's just don't do it justice. I think because we live so far from the sea I really crave these beachy views. I can't get enough of that never ending sky & sea.







We were silly to leave our bathers at the hotel so in a moment of inspiration we found a swimwear shop that had a $10 sale! After trying on some pretty freaky and ill fitting bathers we settled on the best of a bad lot and hightailed it down to the beach. The water was cool and so delicious. It was one of those shiny, white hot days, when you feel your skin almost sizzling as you enter the water. We could have stayed there, floating, vaguely body surfing, and people watching all day. What a beautiful swim it was and so lovely to be sharing the experience with Charlotte.







We didn't have towels and just put our clothes on over the top to keep us cool on the bus ride to Paddington. It was hard to say goodbye to Bondi Beach, Sydney sure has some amazing beaches.



Then it was off to Paddington Market! The last time I visited this fantastic & super creative market would have been over ten years ago. I was happy to find it is still as good as it was back then.


Lots of young and new designers - alot of jewellery & clothes. Interestingly there wasn't much that reminded me of things I've seen at Melbourne/Victorian markets. Not much crochet or many brooches, bags or softies etc.

I bought a great little blue leather purse from Amber Gaye, a much needed replacement for my tiny plastic Care Bear purse!

Charlotte bought a goreous dress from Pretty In Pink who sell yep, you guessed it, lots of pretty dresses and vintage inspired clips, purses, shorts, robes and other sweet things.

It was soon time to go but not before we accidentally caused a car accident! Charlotte hailed a cab to take us back to the hotel and as the cab stopped quickly to pick us up the silver car behind it also braked too hard. This meant the car behind it crashed into the back of the silver car! It was all pretty crazy and Silver Car Guy was not impressed. People were watching from the cafes and we just stood there as the drivers argued and swore! Should have caught the bus!

Back at Potts Point we had just enough time for Char to get her nails done at USA Nails! Don't they look fancy?

Sadly our trip was coming to an end. We took a cab out to the airport and headed home. I think it was one of the best holidays I've ever had. We had so many laughs and just loved looking around beautiful Sydney together. I lapped up the time with Charlotte, loving every minute. She is such good company and we didn't have one bad moment. The hard part is that she is going back to school this week and that made the time together even more special.

Today I'm having trouble adjusting to family life, folks. It's so great to be back with the kids and Mark but I have to admit I could get used to a holiday lifestyle!! While I'm looking forward to the school routine in one way we're also coming to the end of summer holidays & the transition can be hard. At least I have some great memories of our holiday to Sydney to day dream about, might have to start planning the next trip!

Hope your week is a happy one, see you soon xo

Sydney, Part 1

I'm sitting here at home, wondering if I have been dreaming. Did Charlotte & I just spend two whirlwind days in Sydney? Was I really swimming at Bondi Beach is a pair of bizarre, last minute bathers, this morning??

I think we did, and I think I was, but although we were awake it really was a dream come true.

Ever since Charlotte was little I have been saying I would take her to Sydney one day. And every year something seemed to happen to get in the way. Four babies in quick succession might have had something to do with that. Well the day finally came and boy was it worth the wait. We just had the best time ever. It was so much fun!



After settling in at our hotel on Friday we took off past Kings Cross where we spotted this funny sign above. I wonder if he was?



We wandered through the beautiful winding streets, looking at houses, feeling the tropical air and loving the frangipani flowers.

We came to the Gallery of New South Wales and spent time looking at the amazing Dobel Prize for 2009 Drawings & lots of other fantastic works. The gallery is in such a gorgeous old building, I'd love to go back for a longer look.

Then it was on to Circular Quay where we boarded a ferry to Manly. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and it was just the best way to see this brilliant harbour.

We both wished we had bought bathers because this little beach at Manly was so inviting. We did cool our hot feet in the clear water and watched little fishes darting about. What a beautiful spot.

After coffee & icecream it was back on the ferry for the return trip. This time we saw Kirribilli House, lots of boats & of course the famous bridge, itself.

We both really enjoyed the ferry ride. I love the way this is public transport. Imagine commuting every day by ferry!

Sydney was such a contrast to our life in country Victoria. I loved being somewhere else and experiencing all the different smells, people, buildings, history and most of all the water!

After the ferry ride we did some shopping, the Queen Victoria Building was amazing. I also bought an ace pair of sunnies (left mine at home) at the $2 shop and Char & I both went crazy in Kikki Ki. Then we hopped on the mono rail before heading back to our hotel. It was six o'clock by this time so we had a rest before having dinner in Surry Hills. A crazy, loud Italian restaurant with amazing pizza. Lots of window shopping afterwards and then home to bed.

What a big day. I wish I could say I slept well but it was a restless night. Someone tried to get into our room sometime in the early hours by banging and crashing at our door, pretty scary! Probably someone who had mistaken our room for theirs. Who knows? We woke up feeling a bit weary but soon got ready for another action packed day.

I hope this post isn't turning into Auntie Beck's Slide Show, are you yawning? Guess what.... Part Two is coming soon! Sleep tight sweeties xo