A W.I.P. Wednesday post - almost!!

I had this post all ready to go yesterday - and then we had no internet - "Your ISP is experiencing problems", SIGH! Admittedly it doesn't happen very often, so I shouldn't really complain. Anyway, here we go.

The return of school holidays has meant a sudden return in creativity - it had disappeared out of my life for quite a while. Master FJ below is incredibly happy beacause I finally made his "zoot suit" fit again. This suit used to belong to my youngest brother, made when he was 3 to keep out those chilly New Zealand mornings. He is now 14. It was passed down to my eldest, who passed it down to Blondie, who passed it down to FJ. In the past it has had the sleeve length increased, the legs lengthened, and this time we had to lengthen the body. It's too worn out to pass down again, so I didn't worry too much about what fleece I used - he doesn't care, it fits!!
NOTE TO SELF: All my kids can read, so don't write anything you don't want them to read. Master FJ is currently sitting behind me reading every word I type!!!!

Next photo is a snuggle quilt underway for my newest nephew. Flannelette with a wool batting. It's a pattern I've used lots - my kids all have them, so do some of my nephews, nieces and my godson and his brothers.

The angel Gabriel has joined our crib scene, the lace is left over from my mother-in-law's wedding dress, so very special.

And these piles are destined to become the three kings - the kids want to do the crowns!!

Today though, we are battening down the hatches in preparation for a couple of nasty weather fronts that are supposed to hit us over the next couple of days. They are meant to rival the weather that devastated Perth a couple of months ago. Wish us luck!!

The last few weeks...

Hello all!! I do apologise not posting over the last few weeks but we have been even busier than usual - plus I have been doing full-time relief at the school while someone is overseas. So I thought I'd give you a sampling of what we've been doing. The green waste collection by our council occured a couple of weekends ago. The whole family got in on the act. The kids cut branches into smaller pieces...
Dad used the big lopers...

And the final result was about 5 metres long, 1 metre wide and 1 1/2 metres tall!!!

Blondie stuffed a pillow up her pyjama top and pretended to be a very fat buddha...quite hard when you can't keep a straight face...

Both Blondie and Miss 11 were involved in the Children Sing Festival at the University of Western Australia this week. Below you can see Miss 11 in the senior choir uniform. Daddy got to go to both sessions and reports that both choirs sounded beautiful.

Miss 11 also was invited to a band ensemble workshop at a local college as she is classed as an advance Year Six in her trombone playing. Five new LONG pieces of music to learn in a week - four new notes, new key signatures, dynamic markings and rhythms. I couldn't take her but the mum who did reported that the final performance by everyone was amazing for 11 and 12 year olds. Well done, babe.

A gorgeous sunrise - pity about the street lights.

A show of shadow puppets - this was an eagle...

And this was a bunny...

And finally pet rocks. Remember these from when we were kids, girls? Well I still have the Painted Rock book. I took it into school on Friday as the pre-primary's were making pet rocks as a fun activity on the last day of term. These were my models and have quickly been claimed by my three. These were done with a permanent marker and textas on white rocks, they just need a coat of varnish.

And now it is school holidays - YAY!!!!!

A Rambling Sort of Post...

This was our dinner on Sunday night. It was a "We've had a long day in the garden and can't be bothered with any major cooking", type of dinner. It was PURPLE porridge!! We had a handful of frozen blueberries and bilberries left over from something so I chucked them in the pot as the porridge was cooking. Then topped with peach slices and juice...YUM!

And it was stirred with my new favourite spoon, a gift from my Dad to all his girls for Christmas. He made these from pine lining boards that he had lying around and with that flat edge you don't get ANY porridge sticking.

The kids have all the Lego out at the moment (not that it ever entirely gets put away - sigh!), and these are some of their latest creations. Miss 11's jungle glider...

FJ's hover craft...

The disguiser (their name, not mine), closed...

And now open...

And various creations of Blondie's...

And the best invention EVER!! Easy reading chapter books designed for BOYS!!!!! Boys can be such reluctant readers if the subject doesn't interest them. And trust me, most early readers do not hold a boy's attention for long. Zac Power, however, has not been put down, since FJ discovered that they had a series aimed at his level. He is now my latest bookworm.

Aunties - please send my eldest good vibes tomorrow - she has her final audition and interview for the music scholarship program, and is understandably nervous. The trombone has not been put down since she got home.

Blondie invents a new recipe - sort of!!

My little blondie loves to bake and cook. She especially loves her aunt's (The Slightly Mad Quilt Lady) chocolate brownies. Well on Monday night she decided to make another batch and Mummy was not supervising properly and this is the result...!

She substituted raw sugar for the brown sugar, and mixed it into the butter while the butter was still melting, which I think started to caramalise it. Then she realised we had no eggs left - we'd just had omelets for dinner. "Mummy - what can I use instead of eggs?"

Well, a cake book I had said that a dssp of custard powder mixed with a tbsp milk makes an acceptable substitute for eggs - hmm.

OK - so the butter didn't combine with the flour, the sugar has all caramalised - but it is jaw-breakingly good. It has the brownie flavour, odd bits are chewy and the rest is like hard toffee.

YUM!!!

Spinach and Rice Pie

This is all that's left of dinner - and that's only because I stopped them eating the last bit as I wanted some for lunch tomorrow. I can't remember where I got this recipe but it SOO good. Universal approval is hard to come by in my house, but this meal gets it...

SPINACH AND RICE PIE

3/4 cup rice (we use brown)

50 g butter

1/2 cup sliced spring onions

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups hot milk

1 cup cooked spinach, chopped (I also grate in about half a zucchini)

1 1/2 cups grated tasty cheese

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

Cook rice by your method of choice, and allow to cool. I usually steam my spinach and zucchini over the top of the rice pot at the same time. Melt butter in a pan and cook spring onions until soft. Beat eggs in a large bowl, add rice, spring onions and butter, and remaining ingredients (I usually add a good grate of nutmeg, too). Pour into a greased 23 cm pie dish. Bake at 190 degrees celcius for 35-40 minutes, until pie is lightly set. Leave pie to stand for 10 minutes. Serve pie warm or cold, cut into wedges.

The Contrasts of Pre-Teenagehood...

I was tidying Miss 11's underwear drawer today (as you do when you put away the washing) and the contents got me laughing...

Besides the usual jocks and socks we had a water pistol (courtesy of Grandma for Christmas), a cuddly rug (yes, we still take one to bed) and little girl handkerchiefs.

Then we had panty liners, bralets, a spare razor, purses and beaded scarves. And a mouthguard and a pottle of trombone slide grease.

The trappings of childhood are slowly disappearing as the teenage years approach. And yet...the little girl is still there too. She still believes in the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus...

I love you lots, my darling girl. Don't grow up too fast...

Miss 11 and her trombone...

Well, it's official, I can now dispense with the earplugs. Miss 11 is getting quite good with her trombone. She loves playing it which helps, and can now find the notes with relative ease. Trust me, this is a good thing because an out of tune trombone can sound like anything from a farting elephant to a sick cow!!!


She's off school today, sort of. She is doing three hours of academic testing for the Gifted and Talented Program for Year 8. She has applied for the music program but they all have to do the academic testing anyway. I felt a bit weepy this morning, having to let my little girl go and face this on her own....who gave her permission to grow up so fast?!



She is also doing really well with her hockey. Her team haven't won a full game yet (they won a few games at the grading carnival) but none of the losses have been walkovers. And my less than sporty child has developed a love of physical activity...YAY!!

And no, she is not sticking her jaw out - mouthguards are SO unflattering, but SO necessary. This game saw one of the opposition knocked out by a wayward stick to the jaw, when she stood on the wrong side of her opposite number - but she didn't lose any teeth!