pimp my fila

so, the other day mr arran came home with this "fila sports bag" which he picked up for five bucks on clearance, for my still homeless laptop, because, you know, he worries about expensive technical equipment just lying around unprotected. This was just going to be a temporary measure until I got around to making an appropriate bag of my own design. Anyway, as I was sitting there admiring all the hardware on this bag, thinking how I could use it on the bag I was going to make, it occurred to me that I could in fact just USE THE WHOLE BAG.
so, I just unpicked the flap, and took the binding and lining off it and reused them on the new one, which of course is out of my beloved apple oilcloth which I was going to make the bag out of all along. It's embarrassing how easy it was, really. Well, easy for me that is, I'm not so sure about my poor sewing machine. Sewing through four layers of canvas and one layer of oilcloth can't have been too good for it. I swear one of these days if I come into any decent amount of money, I'm going to invest in an industrial machine. But, then again, a machine that can sew through heavy canvas effortlessly kind of scares the hell out of me, in the same way chainsaws do.
needless to say, after loving the first one so much, I had to go and get another one.

souvenirs

no road trip would be complete without checking out what the country op-shops have to offer. Although I did not visit nearly as many as I would have liked to, due to the weather (which we won't mention anymore, as it continues outside) and also the small matter of not wanting to stop the engine too many times because the baby would wake, I did manage to bring home this modest pile of vintage linens. There were a couple of times where arran actually did a few laps of the block while I had a quick squiz. It's hard getting away with going in by myself these days though as fin and willow have developed quite a liking for the oppies as well, what can I say, it must be genetic.

I also scored five of these fab plates. Aren't they the most perfectly hazyjaneish flowers you've ever seen?

the rainingest holiday I've ever had

well, we're back from our north coast adventure...actually, we got back last thursday, but it's taken me this long to get around to sorting out photos and blogging, in between loads of washing and entertaining children who are STILL on school holidays. May I just let it be noted here that it was my husband's insane idea to give them an extra week off school so we could get a week of holidays in before the school holiday traffic. Now, that would have been a good plan, had the Queensland holidays not started a week before ours. Hmmn. I've also come to the realisation recently that it may in fact be a good idea for me to take a look at the news occasionally, in particular the weather forcast. Because, you see, on our holiday to the so-called sunshine coast, we encountered possibly the shittiest weather I have ever experienced in all of my years of travelling. I have posted the above photo to give the illusion that we did, indeed have a gloriously sunny time. That photo was taken while we were in brisbane, the only sunny place we came across the whole time we were away.

Luckily for us, jasper did a lot of this, so we basically kept driving until he woke up. The other two were surprisingly well-behaved, considering they were confined to the back seat of a very well-stocked van for ten days. Every time we saw a break in the weather, we would stop and let them out to have a run around, before the next shower came. It reminded me of when I was a kid, when we always had dogs travelling with us (heaven forbid you should leave them at home), and we would have to stop every now and then to let them have a wee and stretch their legs. Much the same with kids, really.

Needless to say, we did not do the theme-park thing, but it would have been handy to know that they are situated smack-bang next to the freeway, so there is no sneaking into brisbane without the kids knowing what they're missing out on. Alas, next time I will do my research a little better. They were easily placated, though, by a trip to the museum. Can't you just see how excited they are?

All in all, it was a fun trip, even with the rain and everything else that went wrong along the way. (Did I mention the sliding door falling off the van, and having to get the kids and baby in and out through the front seat? That was fun)

We did see some great things, and even managed to stay dry, mostly. Arran ended up with a man cold, and jasper a baby cold, but they are both on the mend now, and the door is back on the van, which helps with keeping out the rain that is still pouring now that we are home. I'm sure it's sunny somewhere.

holiday fun stuff

the special event that I mentioned the other day was my mum's birthday. She turned 50 yesterday (yep, 50-34=16...I feel pretty lucky to be here). I decided against the quilt, as she has a chihuahua called maisy that sleeps with her,and although she would have really liked a handmade quilt to sleep on all day while mum's at work, I didn't feel like going to that much trouble for a tiny little dog. So, I went with the birthday skirt instead, which mum liked very much, and which the chihuahua won't be able to wear, although, let me just say that my mum is not much bigger than that dog.

I also knocked up a couple of pairs of holiday pants for the jasper, because he keeps growing out of everything, and he needs to look his best on holidays. We're off on our big trip today, so I won't be around for the next couple of weeks, I'll be too busy enjoying the sunshine, craftiness and country op-shopping of the north coast.

I'll leave you with this cute pic of the little man, titled "Where did my neck go?". Au revoir!

another day, another quilt

this afternoon I finished this quilt for jasper. I started it yesterday. Well, that's not entirely true, I've had most of the squares cut out for a couple of weeks, but when I first put it together, it wasn't quite right, so I deleted a few, and then found a new fat quarter, and then remembered an old velvet dress I had stashed (thanks, sam), and then it was finally right, so I threw it together. Now before you go thinking I'm some kind of quilting phenomenon (is that spelt right? that's one hard word to write), you should know that once I start on a project, I either leave it sitting around for two years until I finally get sick of looking at it and do something about it, or I sew like a maniac and finish it all in one hit, usually at the expense of dinner and household chores. Let's just say, last night we had eggs and toasties for dinner. Not that I'm admitting that was my fault though, because I fully blamed the mr for going skateboarding until 7pm. It's getting chilly at night now (yay, I can light the fire soon), and everyone has quilts except for the jasper, so I felt it was high time I made him one. This was actually my second attempt. The first one, which I will be able to show off soon, was all in blues and browns, and about half way through, I realised that it was more fin than jasper, an observation that was seconded by the young man himself as he was watching me sew it up. "Mum, can't I just have that quilt?" (I could hear the cogs turning..."it's not like jasper's gonna know any different"). Um, ok. In all fairness, fin's quilt was one I started when I was pregnant with him, and finished about three years later. Yeah, it was one of those projects. Anyway, it's all a bit yellow (for some reason, I was going for "gender neutral"), and also quite small, so he's been asking for a new one for a while now. The top of it is finished, I just need to put it all together now, the part I dislike the most. Oh, and one other thing, I think I've decided to make one more this week, for a special event that's happening later in the week. I'll be back soon. p.s thanks for the lovely photos, northern sky

some days are slower than others

today was all about nothing. This lovely scene depicting our washing on the line basically sums up what I achieved today. Oh, that and banana and pear bread, which I must say went rather well. It was one of those days where I had every intention of getting some stuff done, because jasper seemed to be getting into a bit of a groove and I stupidly thought that if I just stayed home for the day, he would have some little naps, and I would be able to do stuff. But no. Because some days are about smiling and some days are about crying. Today was about crying. And not sewing. Oh, don't worry, I didn't get all in a huff about it, because I find it very hard to get angry with the sweetness that is jasper, it's just frustrating, when you spend every bit of the little bit of spare time you actually had, doing the washing. The washing, that is, that seems to be taking on a life of it's own, and today took up not only the big line, but two smaller ones as well. Ah, bring on the holiday, when I won't care if the kids are filthy and I've been wearing the same pair of jeans for a week.
In brighter news, I think I have a new second-favourite female artist (I don't think hope sandoval will ever be removed from no.1 position). My sweet man brought me home a present yesterday, as he often does, and which is one of the reasons that I'm still here doing the washing. It was the new cd from laura marling, and it's good. Very good. Check it out.

a very thrifty easter

this morning we got the little man all dressed up in his new hazyjanes that I whipped up yesterday morning while he slept for three hours, and his very funky tie dyed jacket from the lovely bohemian babes, and braved the weather to attend the annual patonga easter fete. Fin and willow both had colouring competition entries to enter, so it was a great excuse to get out of the house for a while. And look what the thrifting fairies had waiting for me:

yeah, I'm pretty darn happy with that flowery letter rack, I like the way it says "memos" rather than "bills". So much friendlier, don't you think? Another letter rack, because, you know, you can never have too many of those, a few vintage kids books, a nice little plate, and that wonderful vintage bassinet, which happens to be exactly what I've been looking for, to take away on holidays in a couple of weeks. Sadly, the kids did not win the colouring competition, but they were consoled with scones with jam and cream; my boys do like to partake in the odd devonshire tea if there's one going on.

I thought I might also add today a "real" corner of our home, because a friend who reads my blog came over recently and commented on how neat and tidy the place always looks in the pics, and how do I manage it with the kids? Well, the truth is, I don't really. The place generally looks like a bomb's gone off somewhere and also, one would think that it is a carpenter's shop, because on every available surface you might find a tape measure, maybe some screws, the odd wood sample, or if you're very lucky, even a power saw. I do have random cleaning frenzies, and arrange all my things, like my prized pippi longstocking book that the lovely mr bought me for christmas, so that they look nice, but then someone comes along with a roll of tape, or a deck of pokemon cards, and we start all over again. I've come to realise that everything in life is a work in progress, and that living with four boys will always be messy.