one thing leads to another... and another

an utterly pointless, yet utterly darling floral pic 

so to start, i thought i'd just mention that i have indeed still misplaced my camera.  i've been mentally retracing my steps,trying to remember when i last used it, but my brain isn't co-operating with me.  i'm pretty sure i haven't lost it out and about, or that it's been stolen...  no,no.  i think it's in my house somewhere.  

which leads me to...

my super messy house.  i'm not the tidiest of people on a day to day basis.  sure, i can tidy my house with only an hour or less notice if someone is coming around to visit.  pretty well too!  but daily it seems i can live in a comfortable mess.  

but my house at the moment is terrible.  because i don't have a sewing room, my dining table is currently being used as a sewing table, the surrounding floor and chairs have stacks of fabric on them, my ironing board for said sewing is in my lounge (the closest available power point), the ironing board has finished sewing projects on them, my couch is covered in things to go into ollie's room (and mine) and i have my old tv sitting next to one of my lounge chairs while i figure out what to do with it.  all of this is not including ollie's toys and debris.  even i am embarrassed.

which leads me to...

what i have just been doing.  i thought i'd get stuck in and start with today's dishes.  after that, i wiped the benches.  then i noticed a patch on the walls were a bit grubby.  before i knew it i had scrubbed my kitchen window sill, the walls, all of the cupboard doors, my oven, the fridge and the benches.  i even got out the cotton buds to get into the hard to reach spots.

did i need to clean my kitchen this much?  probably

did i need to do this before the rest of my house got tidied?  definitely not

am i too pooped to do any other housework tonight?  i think so

but boy, oh, boy my kitchen looks lovely.

if only i could find my camera to take a pic of it...

amy xx  

these are a few of my favourite things...

here are some things that have been added to my wish list:

awesome horse brooch from craftyfolk 

owl candle from roseinthorns

rose brooch from acorn & will

i quite like these from dr.martens

and these from asos

lastly, sienna crockery by midwinter to add to my (very small) collection.  beautiful.

my birthday is coming up, i may have to treat myself!

amy xx

hello folks!

just a quick note to say:

hello!

and, do you like the little tweaks i've made to my blog?

by the way you look lovely today

and won't you please follow my blog, if you're feeling in the mood

oh, yeah, last thing is i've temporarily misplaced my camera, and so as much as i'd love to be taking pictures for you right now, it will have to wait

see you here soon with (hopefully) some pictures

amy xxx

oh, happy days!

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i'm feeling a bit blugh today, nursing a cold and silly persistent cough, so instead of pictures and text from me, i have decided to share some pictures that have brightened my day today.

i hope you are having a happy day!

amy xx

happy home

my plan today was to do a wardrobe wednesday (i know, it's thursday, bear with me), but after running into a few problems with my camera and photo-taking abilities, i have decided instead to share some snaps of some jolly additions recently added to our home.

 i did get one shot of something i wore today, this amazing wooden tui brooch. this used to be mum's but she never wore it so now it's mine.  lucky me!

 this handsome fellow was discovered for $1 ($1!) at a local monthly market.  he is more turquoise in real life, but i think he is rather shy and didn't want to show his true colours...he he he

 vintage warwick ringbinder... eep!  she was found at the same market for a whole 50c!  i cried a little with happiness.  she will be holding some of my knitting patterns i think.

 i visited my friend, julia, the other day and i spied this in her room.  she said because i loved it so much, i could have it.  yes, i agree with you, it IS an amazing horse picture.  but guess what?  it's a holographic picture!  those horses move!

 i made this last night for a friend who is having a birthday on saturday.  (it's a memo/grocery list thingy ma jiggy.  basically some pretty paper framed in a cheap frame.  add a whiteboard marker and a duster.  that's your tutorial)  so technically it's not being added to my home.  but i have been testing it out because i want to make one for my kitchen.  

 i've made a few of these and they are smattered around my home.  i love how eeny teeny they are!  succulents!  in tiny pots!  in tiny macrame hangers!   

 another amazing picture.  a little bit more than i'd normally pay for something like this ($5) but i did want some more vintage pictures for my lounge, so i paid happily.  love those muted tones!

oh, and this.  oh me, oh my.  this paper is over 50 years old and is part of two large pieces that my nana would re-use every year to wrap my mums christmas presents in when she was a girl.  when me and my sister were born, nana gave the two pieces to my mum and she began to use them to wrap presents in for us.  she would re-use them every year, eventually only using ribbon to tie the paper.  the pieces became so fragile and papery-thin that mum stopped using them, but she gave them my sister and myself to own.  and so recently we had a portion each framed, and a surprise piece framed for mum.  i love how they have turned out, im gonna treasure this wee beauty for ever!

thanks for looking around my house,stop on by again!

maybe you could show me around your house sometime, you could show off some of your new acquisitions!

amy xx

havin' a little whine and a moan

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all things considering, my life is pretty darn good.

but here is my wishlist for my life right now:

i want...

 a doctor, any doctor,to tell me something that makes sense to me about ollie's ear issues

 the perfect job to magically appear

some extra money to pay my bills would be helpful

a pair of shoes to replace my soon-to-be worn-out only pair would be great

  my body to look exactly how i want it to

my own home

a rad bicycle

 my weed patch to look more like a vege patch

 a birdhouse

 a pretty new dress

a new chair for my table that isn't threatening to snap from underneath me

yeah, i know, some of it is pretty materialistic. murgh.  

i'll be more selfless tomorrow.  promise 

xx

  

mr.postman look and see..

... if there's a letter in your bag for me

i really like receiving mail.  actually, not all mail.  i'm not a huge fan of bills or those silly letters

 which make me squeal quietly with excitement, only to discover it's some company trying to sell me something.  those are silly, silly letters.

but real letters, well, they are just lovely.  there's nothing better than discovering these in the letterbox, and curling up somewhere comfy to open and read them. usually with a cup of tea nearby.

and i think in order for me to receive more letters, i need to send more.  

and so that is just what i intend to do.  i am going to write more letters.  if you would like me to write you a letter as well, let me know!  or get on the letter band-wagon as well.  spread some happiness today and make someone smile with a letter.

amy xx

the salt to my pepper

 today i was lucky enough to receive these beautiful salt and pepper shakers, from a friend who was having a clear out.  

they are gorgeous, don't you think?

and so i thought i would share with you my entire s 'n' p collection!

 one big happy family! 

below are some of my absolute favourites...

 wish i had the lids to these guys

i'm on the hunt for a fellow for this lovely lady...

 

 ...and the brown mr. pepper

 i do have the other hat for this beefeater,but alas, he is dwelling behind the fridge at the moment

this sad fellow i've had for many years.  i think my sister has the other.

amy xx


ps. i just found three more sets in my tupperware cupboard for picnics and things.  the shakers are everywhere!

happy things

things that made me smile today:

the new frankie magazine

discovering frankie's brother, smith journal

hanging out with my friend madeleine

crafting

seeing snow on the hills

adding to my babysitter's club book collection

playing with new lego

thrifted kitsch shell owls

listening to ollie read to me

comfort food for dinner

colourful gerberas

what made you happy today?

a birthday post

 ollie turned five today!  i've tried to start this post about a hundred different ways, but it seems i can't put into words exactly what i want to say about him to make you understand how incredible i think he is.  i can't imagine where my life would be today without him in my life, and i feel truly blessed to have him.  i love him more than anything in the entire world, i love him tums and tums and the sky plus one more.  it's some pretty big love going on here.  

it has not been an easy road, especially raising him on my own, and even though my patience has worn thin on numerous occasions, i remind myself how much of an amazing kid i have.  he brings me breakfast in bed, is my own personal dj and plays my music for me, gets me his blanket if i hurt myself, crafts with me, has adopted my love of jigsaws, eats my dinners (mostly) no matter how much they suck, does silly things with me and loves me always.  he's pretty cool.  

and as i left his school today after dropping him off for his first day, bawling my eyes out, i realised he's growing up, and although i may not have appreciated every moment i've had with him, i'm going to try my hardest to do so in the future.  

i love you ollie, you are amazing and continue to amaze me and make me proud.

love you hun-bun

mumma xxx

it's a yellow party! (many-pictures post)

i can't believe this day came around so fast, but yesterday ollie had his 5th birthday party!  

ollie chose to have a yellow party which was super fun, but more importantly, super easy.

he had five friends come around (which in hindsight was such a lovely number of children), and my parents and a few of my friends came along too.  i kept the party to two hours, and kept referring to a list i had made of estimated times for each activity, which seemed to work pretty well.  (one of probably seven different lists i had made leading up to the big day, ha ha)

the kids played a few classic games - pin the tail on the donkey, pass the parcel, statues, sad kitty and ollie smashed up the pinata.  but what was super great was the kids seemed to entertain themselves in the down times.  they made up a few 'dancing' games, went outside and kicked a ball around, and went bug hunting with one of ollie's new presents.

the decorations i made were pretty simple.  yellow is such a great colour for parties and so i had balloons, home-made pom-pom garland,home-made bunting outside, a tiered cake stand i spray painted yellow, tooth-pick toppers (i can post a tutorial later if you want me to!) and yellow themed food. told you it was easy!  

to eat we had yellow lollies, chips and crackers with dip, sausage rolls, plain cookies with shades of yellow icing, lemon slice, banana, banana chips, juice and banana milk.  okay, so not the healthiest of birthday spreads, but it's a party, right?

and the cake.  i'm pretty proud of the cake!  although he didn't know what the cake would be until it was brought out, ollie saw a robot among other things in a cake book i have, and i knew it would be perfect.  I wanted to confuse him a bit so i made the robot grey but when he cut into it, it was bright yellow inside!  i used (quite a few) boxes of Betty Crocker cake mix (thanks Betty!) and added gel food colouring to get a sunshine colour.  i forgot to take pictures of the inside though!  sorry!

ollie seemed to have a fantastic time, and his friends did too i think.  after his friends went home with their home made goodie bags made by my friend julia (above, holding baby florence) i hung out with ollie and my friends having an extremely well deserved glass (or three) of wine.

ollie has his last day of kindergarten on monday which will be emotional, his birthday and first day of school on tuesday, and his dad and paternal relatives are visiting on thursday.  phew!  

a busy week, i'll post again later in the week.

love to you all,

amy xxx