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!!!

Winter Monday

Ok, so it's winter and the days have been cold and a little uninspiring. The winter landscape can be very beautiful of course, but it's more that the insideness of it all can leave me a little flat.

So the frosty mornings and cold nights, indoor semi cranky kids and the relentless cycle of housework/cooking/being at home too much is making me feel a little like Gingy (above).

So today I'm trying to focus on the good things about this time of year. Things like the bag I am crocheting using a great tutorial by Attic 24. What an ace blog, I love all the colour in her posts and the tutorials are easy and fun. If you are a novice crocheter, like me, it's a good place to start. I'm still not sure how this bag actually becomes a bag but hey, I'm enjoying the process! Does anyone else out there get Crocheters Neck Syndrome? I think I am suffering from this, maybe I need to stretch before I start hooking!

Other happy things are happening too. Ballet is going really well and the girls & I love our trips over to Ballarat (Ballet-rat) on Saturdays.

And there has been quite a bit of dancing at home too.

And some fancy leaf/sticky tape hair projects. Much better than the scissor/hair project of last year.....


And doesn't cake make a girl feel good? Here is the recipe for the All Together Cake I made last week. This one is a beauty, as it the recipe for the Sugar Donut Muffins, both are super easy and fairly foolproof.

All Together Cake (from Frankie's Afternoon Tea)

Cake

1/4 cup milk, 125 g butter, 3/4 cup caster sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon plain flour, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla essense, 1 cup self raising flour

Icing

3 tablespoons icing sugar, 60 g butter

Preheat oven to 180 C. To make cake, combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat for about 6 minutes. Grease cake tin and pour in mioxture and bake for 40 minutes.

While cake is cooling make icing. Mix icing sugar and butter slowly and add hot water while stirring. Add enough water to create a thick consistency, add more sugar or butter if needed. Once cake is cooled, apply icing. I used a fork to make a pattern. Serve by itself or with cream & strawberries.Yum!!

So there you go! Let me know if you do make this cake & if you loved it too. You should really try the donut recipe too, they are super addictive.

The sun is out now and I'm feeling a bit more positive! The weather can really affect your mood can't it? I start to google sunnier places and imagine myself living somewhere else. But really these are dreams and perhaps that is all they should be. I do love living here in Daylesford and we have such a warm and supportive community, how could I ever leave?

How is your week going? Are you suffering from the winter blues too? Or maybe you are basking in the summer sun and playing outside all day long. Where ever you are, I'm sending lots of love to you, hope to see you soon xo

A mixed bag...

This weekend had it's highs and lows....and it's in betweens! When times are tough it's so important to be patient & hang in there! A sense of humour helps too doesn't it? It's easy to make life look like a breeze but it's not always that simple. People get grumpy, tired, ill, sick of each other! I cried a bit this weekend, I think I was a bit tired and hormone affected. The kids were tired too & perhaps we tried to do too much. But that's life sometimes. Family life can be messy. Oh & busy, fun, joyful, exhausting, exciting, noisy, frustrating & beautiful - and often all at once. What's your family life like?

So ..... we went to the football but..uh oh....only one team can win!
Time to head back to the country and relax.

..with a bit of high flying!!...

& lots of little flowers that are so fun to make...

....bike riding with Dad

....cuddles with Daisy....

...and hair ties for gorgeous girls! See! It wasn't all downhill! A little bit of everything isn't such a bad thing is it? What did you get up to on the weekend? x