Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Explained

Thanks to comments by Wendy and Jenny I now know that the names of the crocheting stitches are different in America than they are in Britian... like the spelling I suppose, they cant agree. I suspected it must be something to that effect so I am not surprised.


Officially, Australia follows Britian in these matters but I think a lot of us gravitate more towards America due to the many forms of media we are exposed to. I don't think it really matters as long as I have a translator and I expect I can Google something up or probably even find something like that on Ravelry.

Which reminds me of my unactive Ravelry account and that I probably should take a look over there and join some groups where I can get advice on my rather lacking crocheting skills.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

This Morning



On school mornings I usually get up early at 5.00am but the last few days I have been a little unwell so this morning I told Scott I wasn't getting up when the alarm went off. I didn't even turn the alarm off. He had to get up and do that, even though the alarm is on my side of the bed.

After a few minutes I realised that I actually felt alright and then it occured to me that I had slept through the night without waking up once, which is rare even when I am well. With that good news in mind I asked Scott to make me a cup of tea which he kindly did and I went right back to sleep again with my untouched cup of tea on the bedside table next to me.


At 7.30am, Dustin came and jumped into bed with me shocked that I was still in bed "on a SCHOOL MORNING!!!" He said usually when he gets up breakfast is ready and his lunch and his clothes and all his school stuff! He was totally shocked and I was glad that he noticed and appreciated everything I do for him in the mornings.

Soon Ruby came in and I spent the next half hour laying in bed with four little arms wrapped around me and the chatting of my two little monsters angels.


So we eventually got out of bed to a beautiful morning and raced into town to the bakery where I fed my children chocolate milk and chocolate muffins for breakfast and bought some sandwiches, a cupcake and a bottle of water for Dustin's lunch and then we dropped him off right on time.

When we returned home shortly after I asked Ruby what she wanted to do and she said "A project". That usually means something messy.


This kept her busy for a couple of hours while I started the house work and discovered we had no power and then remembered the notice from the power company telling me we were not going to have power today until 3.00pm due to line work.


As for me I couldn't vacuum, or do laundry, so I reluctantly washed the dishes and fed the pig, made beds, took the rubbish out, same old same old...



Then I sat in a chair in the sun and worked on my crocheted blanket and watched Ruby jump on the trampoline.



Ruby never gets lonely when Dustin is at school.




I hope you had a good morning too :)

Monday, March 29, 2010

Rain

It rained last night. Beautiful autumn night time showers. Soon we will have wild field mushrooms growing in our paddocks instead of dandelions.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Crochet

I am a little annoyed with my two year stint at learning how to crochet. I have been using a Paton's book to teach me and it is all wrong. The Paton's book says that what I am doing is double crochet but the other book I have from the library and all the You Tube tutorials says I am doing single crochet. Bugger it!

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Mice

The stray cattle have been claimed. They are staying here for a few days to settle down and since one of them is a pure bred jersey bull my pure bred jersey cow is quite happy about that, and it is good timing too because if she does get pregnant then we will have a summer calf. She went over to the jersey farm across the highway this time last year but it turned out she was already very pregnant and we didn't realise, although I did have my suspicions.

Even the experienced dairy farmer across the highway didn't realise she was pregnant. So her calf from last year is almost a year old now so if she comes on heat while the bull is here then we might get that pure bred jersey offspring I wanted last year!


We live in a old farm house on an old dairy farm. We have been here for four years now and the house is in serious need of repair and renovations. Although we have done a lot on the outside, fences, paddocks, sheds, orchards and gardens, we have done very little inside. It is a little hard to renovate with toddlers so we have been putting it off. Now the kids are five and almost four so it is time to start thinking about some serious work.

Right now we have a mouse problem. Although we have three cats they live outside for the summer so I have opened the cat door so they can come in and get them. We also had to buy some mouse traps. Yesterday I was reading a book on the couch and a cute little mouse stuck his head out from under the couch. Mice are pretty little things but I don't want them in my house so the cats have officially been admitted back inside the house.


Amrak is my most lovable but annoying cat. She likes to sleep with me and she does that thing with her paws and crawls all over me in bed and dribbles. She is very funny but I think I am going to have to shut the hallway door because she gives me a terrible nights sleep.

Often she'll wake Scott up and she'll go flying but she is so forgiving she comes back again and again and again. We love her though.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Visitors

I woke up this morning to a horn blaring outside. I was having a sleep in and planned on staying in bed late but when I peeked out my window a car was chasing three cows down my driveway. So I got up and walked up the driveway in my pijamas to lock the cows in.

I then discovered that the three mystery cows were actually two steers and a bull. Of course Daisy, my horny house cow came running over to the fence to introduce herself. Then one of the steers broke through our fence into the paddock with my cows. Great!

Turns out the cattle belong to a neighbor, obviously, and another neighbor is coming over soon to collect them. Not an easy task now that the other steer has also broken through my fence so two of them are in with my cows and the other one is in the driveway.

They would have been in my backyard had my dogs not chased them back up the driveway. At least they are not on the road causing car accidents.



Thursday, March 25, 2010

Autumn


The Autumn weather is coming on slowly this year so the days are still quite warm and we have yet to light a fire. It is time to start all the preparations for winter. Fire wood is being delivered this year because Scott is too busy with his mechanical workshop to go and chop it down and split it. We have a huge dead tree laying at the bottom of the paddock but we might have to hire someone to come and split it up.


All our animals need preparing for winter with warm beds and access to sheds and the gardens need cleaning up ready for the cold months where they mostly sit resting and waiting for the cold frosts to ease in Spring.


I have been planning on making an Autumn themed quilted table cloth for our dining room and the other day I took a route to Launceston (our closest city an hour away) which I don't usually take and we stopped in a small town called Lilydale.

I wanted to go to the antique shop but it wasn't open. What was open was a quilt shop I hadn't ever noticed before. So we went in and I fell in love. It was the prettiest shop I have seen in ages. Very country style with a huge collection of fabrics I haven't ever seen before. Of course I had to buy some.


I'm looking forward to getting started on this project but I am still working on some cushions so I am hoping to finding some time to get them finished first.


The birds are waking up and the sun is starting to rise. I wonder what today is going to bring?

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Green


It is autumn in Tasmania and although the weather is cooling down, there is still a lot of green around. My apricot trees are beginning to turn and the cherry tree but the grass is still growing and still needs mowing urgently. It is beginning to look like the cows should be let in to eat it.


The cosmos I grew from seed outside the kids bedroom window are about to flower. I wonder how long they will live before it gets cold. They are in a sheltered spot with morning sun so they might last a couple of months.



I am not sure what these are called but they had died down and now they are blooming again. I love having flowers growing around the house. It is time to plant the bulbs for spring so I should get out into the garden in the next few days and get to work.


Inside I have been working on crocheted blankets for winter. I plan on making one for each of us. Dustin's is blue and green. I have been using up some old yarns so most of his so far is made from old stuff in my yarn stash.


Some other interesting green news in Tasmania is that the recent state election produced a history making success for the Tasmanian Green Party with the highest voting percentage in the party's history and I am proud to say that my vote last Saturday contributed to that.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Happy Birthday Dustin

My beautiful boy turns five today!

Monday, March 22, 2010

Birch



Silver birch are my other favourite trees. I love their delicateness and their ghostly bark. They look just as pretty in winter as they do in summer and autumn. I plan on planting quite a few of these around my house this winter.


Sunday, March 21, 2010

Oak



I have a thing for oak trees. I grew up in a sub tropical climate where there were no oak trees. In Tasmania these huge oaks are all over the place. They are not native to Australia but the climate down here grows them well. There are usually a few possums living in them and often you will find a kids tree house perched in between their sturdy branches.