School Days

The boys school has an amazing PE teacher, one of those teachers that goes above and beyond all.the.time.

Week 2 for Flip kicked off with an ironman - 100m swim, 2km bike ride and 1km swim. All the year 5-10 (9-14 year olds) children participated. Some did it as individuals and some in teams.

Flip competed as an individual.

The following week Bounce had a triathlon for all the rest of the school children. The very smallest children (8 of them) did a duathlon in teams but all the rest did 3 events - teams and individuals.

Bounce competed as an individual.

Both of them did so well. The are persevere kids rather than fierce competitors but they are able too. We got 7th and 3rd so that's nothing to sneeze at.

Gorgeous kids.

love you more than a sore from cheering throat xxx

Makey-Makey Masks

So I whipped up a couple of super hero masks.

It was one of those spontaneous had an idea and made it things.

Believe me, I know these look odd and they look even worse on! (not that they're for me to wear)

So... a random make for sharing. All from stash at least.
What random thing have you whipped up lately?

love you more than a random project xxx

In the Kitchen

I'm back in NZ so it must be time to make lolly cake.... I haven't seen eskimo lollies for 2 years.

New Zealanders are pretty committed to their lollies it would seem, especially ones that involve marshmallow or similar. Don't believe me? Let me just say...

marshmallows, chew bars, buzz bars, pinky bars, perky nanas, pineapple lumps, eskimos, fruit puffs....

love you more than a green eskimo xxx

A Long Goodbye

Hello again!

A photo rich post for Grandad who has been missing the photos. These are zoo-ish photos only - there will be others coming.

It seems an age since we left Adelaide and there were so many great things I wanted to share. Moving however puts paid to thoughts of lazy evenings typing... maybe I'll get there still.

We had almost 3 weeks of January before we flew back to NZ. We stayed with friends, swam, zoo'd, library'd, picnic'd and enjoyed whilst trying to keep cool in the high 30s. No doubt my dear Adelaide friends are hitting greater highs as February rolls along.

These are some of our very last zoo memories - watching the boys up close with the quokkas and kangaroos was pretty special.

The chance to be so close to the animals is such a great part of the zoo.

Adelaide was an amazing adventure for us - as a family it gave us a time to bond and adventure together that we wouldn't have done in NZ, it also gave us a cultural experience NZers and Aussies have their own unique ways of doing things.

We loved our time there and we are re-living the adventure with all the fondness of hindsight and cooler temperatures.

Wherever you are today I hope that you find yourself in good company, because really that makes all the difference.

love you more than feeding time at the zoo xxxx

Making - Stack and Slash

Some long years ago I learnt the stack and slash method of quilting which is good for a non-perfectionist, impatient crafter like me!

When The Atlas had someone on his team having a baby he asked me if I would make a quilt for them - I do love a good request from The Atlas.

Not knowing what they were having (a person of some gender I assume!) or knowing their personal style I tried to take a middle ground.

I actually just made the top and backed it with our favourite bumpy fabric. I let my boys help me choose the fabrics within guidelines.

They love it (or they lie well!!) which is all you want really when you make something for someone else.

My first official make for 2016 (although it was made in 2015 - full disclosure and all). I'm not sure how much making will happen until we are back in our own digs, probably in April/May.

How's your crafting started? I do have some very good fabric scores already for this year though... more on that another time.

Love you more than a happy recipient xxx

Yeah I Made It... 2015 the extras 52+

So, we left it at the giant pink kaftan and we wasn't done crafty-crafters,

There was also the tent dress - I used the top of a dress pattern to trace the neck and arm hole shapes and then drew a triangle outwards.

More vintage fabric in some 60s man-made fabric monstrosity. So, a calico underdress because we all know the feeling of sweating up a storm in fake fabric - amiright? Just me? Also I do appreciate room for the breeze to circulate. This dress holds a multitude of sweat streaming down in unpleasant ways... there's a happy image for us all.

Then this maxi which The Atlas likes the style but not the colour - 'You need more vibrant colours' he says. Man loves me and my colours - he's a keeper.

I'm not convinced this one is here to stay but what's life without sharing some outtakes right? Also a little see through which means I have to choose between a slip and thigh silhouette (always choosing the slip fyi), which makes it a less cool choice than hoped for.

It must be said this dress is not helped by the I just got out of bed and I'm going up to the pools for a swim so I haven't showered yet look. Also it can be admitted, holiday and I'm leaving soon farewell eating... not doing me any favours just now.

Necklaces for gifty purposes.

Christmas Eve PJs (a family tradition).

Plus some other less exciting un-photgraphed stuff. I do like the weekly recording though. Maybe I'll do a summary post - there's something to be excited by aye?!

and that means at least 52 makes in 2015 - you can find the lot here. 

So what does 2016 hold creatively? I do like these weekly makes but an extended 'inbetween homes period' coming up might mean it's not weekly... let's see how it all pans out shall we?

So what was your top creative endeavour in 2015?

Is there something you'd like to see me try in 2016?

Would you like to issue me with a creative challenge for this year?

Do share!

love you more than a sewing bonanza xxx

The Last Days In Australia

Some of our lovely friends are letting us stay our last Aussie days in their beautiful home.

They are flying a NZ flag from their flag pole in our honour - can there be a greater act of love from an Australian to fly a kiwi flag at their place?

The temperatures have been in the high 30s - 38 degrees ... more tomorrow.

We're making the most of the pool and the wonderful things we have around us before we return to NZ.

There will be sad feelings leaving this lovely place but we're packing in as many lovely moments to fill our memory buckets with.

Adelaide you have been so, so good to us - with occasionally punishing temperatures.

love you more than a cool swim right outside the door xxx