UFO Update #2 / Cloth Bum Wipes

I've finished making 14 cloth bum wipes. One side is flannelette, the other side is terry towelling. I may make more with any fabric scraps left over from my nappy-making, but 14 plus the 8 Swaddlebees ones that I already own is a good start.

UFO List:

1.Cloth bum wipes
2. Cloth nappies - Cuddlebuns
3. Cloth mama pads
4. Flower garden knee quilt
5. English patchwork knee quilt
6. Japanese fabric quilt
7. Wheat harvesting cross-stitch
8. Watering can of flowers cross-stitch
9. Knitted longies - green
10. Knitted longies - red and purple
11. Boxer shorts for Gareth
12. Ankle length pink skirt
13. Curtains for Jambin's playroom
14. Curtains for my outdoor office
15. Bibs

Baking Bread

I've been baking a lot of bread lately, from scratch and using my own two hands, not a bread machine. There is something so very cathartic about kneading yeasty dough which will eventually become warm, fragrant food for my family. It seems like such an indulgence to take the time to make something that can so easily be bought, but there must be some benefit to eating food that has been made by hand, not machine.

The recipe I'm using is from Nigella Lawson's How To Be A Domestic Goddess cookbook. I love this book. It's everything I am striving to be.

Reading List from Good Reading Magazine May 08

I know, I know .... two very similar posts in a row. But I borrowed both issues of Good Reading from the library at the same time and they're both due back today.

Books I'd like to read from this month's issue:

"The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran
"A Novel In A Year" by Louise Doughty
"The Outcast" by Sadie Jones
"Disquiet" by Julia Leigh
"Mutiny On The Bounty" by John Boyne
"Blasphemy" by Douglas Preston
"God Without Religion" by Sankara Saranam
"Leaf" by Stephen Michael King (a children's book without words)

Reading List from Good Reading Magazine April 08

I love this magazine. It always gives me a huge list of books that I'd like to read, which, of course, I never get read before the next issue of Good Reading is released.

Books I'd like to read from this month's issue:

"The Death Chamber" by Sarah Rayne (actually, any of Sarah Rayne's books. She's a new author to me, but sounds right up my alley)
"The Double Bind" by Chris Bohjalian (also a good bookclub book)
"Genesis" by Bernard Beckett (a young adult fiction book about the future)
"Life In His Hands: the true story of a neurosurgeon and a pianist" by Susan Wyndham
"Woman of Clay" by Bernadette Raymond O'Connor
"What Was Lost" by Catherine O'Flynn
"Addition" by Toni Jordan
"Brida" by Paulo Coelho
"Still Waters" by Camilla Noli
"The Big Little Book of Happy Sadness" by Colin Thompson (a children's book)
"Boot Camp" by Todd Strasser"

Food Connect

I have recently become aware of the concept of community supported agriculture (CSA), which involves a partnership between farmers and buyers to produce and consume local, environmentally sustainable food. So, after a bit of googling, I came across Food Connect, a CSA organisation in my local area. They describe themselves as "a dynamic, farmer direct, community food distribution enterprise operating in South East Queensland. We provide genuine food for families, a decent living for farmers, support the nurturing of the land and the establishment of local community networks."

I signed up for a 4 week subscription, which I have just renewed. I have been very impressed with the quality and quantity of the fruit, vegetables and herbs provided. 80% of the produce is certified organic, 10% is in conversion and 10% use environmentally sustainable practices. Because all of the produce is seasonal, I have been so excited about using different fruits and vegetables and planning my meals around what arrives in my box each Thursday. I've even frozen some leftovers (e.g. grated zucchini) so that I can use those vegetables when they are no longer in season, which paying exorbitant prices at the grocery store.

UFO Update #1 / Boxer Shorts

Yesterday I finished sewing Gareth’s boxer shorts from Simplicity Pattern #9958. It was generally an easy pattern to follow, although I did seem to misread the instructions for the fly …. mine turned into a false fly after I sewed both flaps together. I’ve re-read the pattern and I’m sure I’ve done what is written, but I’m also certain it’s not supposed to be a false fly as there would have been a much simpler way of creating it if it wasn’t designed to be put into use.
I made a size S for Gareth which is plenty big enough. He could probably fit into an XS. When he tried them on he told me they felt a little ‘plume-y’ compared with some of his store-bought boxers, but then he also said he liked that he could squat, walk, ride a bike etc without them riding up too high.

I’m planning on making him at least another 6 pairs, probably more. And then I’m going to try adapting the pattern slightly to make some for me - I’ll probably make the rise a little lower since I like to wear my pants on my hips (and underneath my baby belly overhang) and the leg length a little shorter.

UFO List:

1. Cloth bum wipes
2. Cloth nappies - Cuddlebuns
3. Cloth mama pads
4. Flower garden knee quilt
5. English patchwork knee quilt
6. Japanese fabric quilt
7. Wheat harvesting cross-stitch
8. Watering can of flowers cross-stitch
9. Knitted longies - green
10. Knitted longies - red and purple
11. Boxer shorts for Gareth
12. Ankle-length pink skirt
13. Curtains for Jambin's playroom
14. Curtains for my outdoor office
15. Bibs

UFO's

.... also know as unfinished objects, in the arty-crafty world I inhabit.
Sadly, I have many, many unfinished objects. Far too many to list. But in the interests of having some level of accountability for working my way through them, here is a small selection:

1. Cloth bum wipes
2. Cloth nappies - Cuddlebuns
3. Cloth mama pads
4. Flower garden knee quilt
5. English patchwork knee quilt
6. Japanese fabric quilt
7. Wheat harvesting cross-stitch
8. Watering can of flowers cross-stitch
9. Knitted longies - green
10. Knitted longies - red and purple
11. Boxer shorts for Gareth
12. Ankle-length pink skirt
13. Curtains for Jambin's playroom
14. Curtains for my outdoor office
15. Bibs

Learning to walk

 

 

 

So far, Jambin can take 10-15 steps unassisted, usually only if he is being coaxed, although he took a few steps on his own initiative today for the first time.

These photos are taken in the Pine Rivers Park at Brendale, an awesome park with an enclosed playground and lots of nice grassy areas for picnics.

Knitting is for Cool People!

Hahaha .... I borrowed the title of this post from a Facebook group that I noticed last night.

I have never been a knitter. To be honest, I've always previously thought it was a bit pointless. I mean, who wears knitted stuff? What's the point of knitting things that nobody will ever wear?

Well, my eyes have been opened. It all started when I decided I wanted to knit a pair of longies for Jambin, to cover his fitted cloth nappies. My good friend Shannon, who is a self-taught knitter (she attributes this to much video-watching on Knitting Help) is giving me one-on-one instruction in the art of longie-knitting and .... I'm hooked. I feel like knitting is now part of my identity. I could easily become obsessed by this and start acquiring huge stashes of yarn and needles. This is dangerous. I need another craft like I need a hole in the head. But it has begun. I've already begun borrowing knitting books out of the library, reading The Friday Night Knitting Club (such a beautiful book!), bookmarking knitting books on Fishpond online bookstore, such as this and this and this, reading knitting blogs such as the Yarn Harlot, and siging up to Ravelry, an online knit and crochet community (BTW my username on Ravelry is Charys).

This photo is the beginning of my knitting career. I've cast on and knitted 4 rows. I'm using Addi Turbo circular needles, which I'm in love with. I may never pick up a pair of straight needles ever again, although Shannon tells me that I'll need to use double-pointed needles to knit socks, which is my next project

The First Blog Entry

It's always hard for me to think of something significant and profound enough to say in the first post of a blog or journal. I want it to say something about me, about my purpose for writing this blog. But I also want it to be momentous enough so that when I read back over the entry in 5 years time, it will seem like a beginning; like the start of something big.

In reality, life is a continuum, and there are few absolute beginnings and endings.

So I will say this.

I am me, a 30 year old girl (because I don't feel like a woman yet), mother to my 13 and a half month old son Jambin, wife to my 27 year old animator husband, sister to my 3 sisters and daughter to my parents. At the beginnng of this year, I made the decision to remain a stay-at-home-mum (SAHM) instead of returning to the paid workforce. A hard decision, but the right one for my son and my family, and, I think I'm starting to realise, the right decision for me too. Since I don't intend to sit on my bum all day eating bon-bons and watching Oprah, I want my 'work' now to focus on developing excellence in being a parent, wife, homemaker, and .... reaching my own full potential. There are so many ways I can positively contribute to the lives of the people important to me.

This blog is going to be my record of my learnings and discoveries.

So what is important to me? Well, I believe in attachment parenting and natural family living although I can't tick all the boxes (Jambin was caesarean-birthed and is formula-fed, neither by my choice), I love to be surrounded by beauty, I think fresh air cures nearly everything, I like to create things, I spend way too much time reading other people's blogs who inspire me (more about that later), I have a weakness for chocolate, cheese, books and fabric, I have survived infertility, in a past life I was an occupational therapist, I want to start my own small business, my spirituality is crucial to who I am but often gets neglected, I like to sleep naked with the windows open (but the curtains closed!).

This one's for you Shell!

 

This one is for my lovely friend Shell, who patiently continues to check Jambin's blog in the hope that I have posted something.