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The little man decided that he would carry the umbrella when we walked to the river. So much to see after a few days rain. And an umbrella is a fun new toy when your not yet two years old.

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The first thunder storm of the season yesterday. The clouds rolled over so darkly that afternoon turned night, while the wind blew through our front door. Cohen and I settled in for some cooking and quiet time.
Today I am looking forward to my Mother and sister coming for lunch. 
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Sweet nursery.
Doughnut muffins.
Banned books week.

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At my house...

I tried my hand at making mulberry jam. The results of my first batch resembling a mulberry coulis and the heartbreaking second offering, burnt mulberry toffee. Who knew jam making was fraught with such difficulties? At least the coulis can be saved by the addition of vanilla ice cream.

I think perhaps I should have been boiling without stirring? And a saucer test means that a drop of jam will cool on the saucer and you should be able to push it with your finger and it will wrinkle. I also think I should not be tempted to walk away while the jam is boiling... Important things to have known pre-jam-making.

Fortunately I still have enough mulberries for one last attempt. Have you ever made jam? Do you have a fool proof recipe?

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Yesterday my incredible twin sister and her lovely fiancé celebrated their engagement with family and friends. There was love, cake and laughter all around. We had such a lovely time. (Probably none so much as Cohen.)

Our congratulations again!

Oooh, mulberries. I picked them, he ate them. How I love that little purple mouth!

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I am planning a handmade engagement present for my sister and her fiancé. However, I am yet to start on anything. My excuse is well... I... umm... it's just that... I've been making baby blankets. And I do so love making baby blankets.

I did make some baked goodies for the engagement party though. Brownies and Choc-chip cookies served in preserving jars with swing tags made from this site. (I just cut around the center oval of the first label.) You can see a sneak peek of my sister's beautiful engagement cake on her blog, here.

Next project, crochet engagement blanket...

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Ranunculus

Hope you have a bright and beautiful weekend.

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Yesterday I was seeing blues, while today I am seeing yellows. 

Cohen and I made play dough this morning. What a wonderful invention. Cohen loves to poke, prod and pinch play dough and I love watching him so fascinated by such an activity. (There are some great ideas for playing with play dough with toddlers here.) This morning Cohen also stacked four small wooden blocks up, one upon the other, for the first time. And they stayed in position until he knocked them down. 

I thought it about time to change my header too. 

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Finally saw Bright Star and loved it. I've walked those steps in Rome. Loving too Shelley's elegy to Keats.

I've decided against adding the mustard wool to Cohen's granny square blanket and hope to add to it over time to make a single bed sized blanket for him, for as long as he will let me have it on his bed.

I've been thinking about the memories held within our four walls and what it will mean if the house sells. How exciting and strange that would be. Wondering what's to come and whose living in the house now that will eventually become our home.

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Another overcast day. My camera wouldn't focus on the items on our dark wood table. This book came home from the library with me yesterday and I am onto my second attempt at the 'Disgruntled Dino' for Cohen. I misread the pattern while watching a movie.

Also, Cohen has taken to dragging his little green chair over to the computer table in order to climb up and stand on the table while I type. No longer content with going through the drawers of my sewing table or resorting my cotton bobbins for me, he much prefers the height advantage of the table as he removes books and opens and shuts the printer, grinning from ear to ear. If he is not on the table, he is under it, surprising me when he turns the power off at the wall. Cheeky Cohen.

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Lots of rainy weather this week it seems. A good week for more baking and some time to crochet, while trying to keep the house spotless for the open house on Sunday. The ripple cot blanket is all finished and ready to go to it's new home. With any luck I'll get to catch up with friends and spend some time at my jewellery bench too.

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Having the house professionally photographed was excuse enough for me to buy some roses. Must get back to painting some touch ups on the ceiling. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

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Loving.

This gorgeous new work of Catherine Campbell's.

This oh so sweet Corsage by Stephanie Ryan.

And the always cute and quirky work of Emily Martin.

What are you loving this week?

My Creative Space...

I've started on the second crochet baby blanket. I love these colours for a Spring baby. I'm using Lucy's Neat Ripple Pattern and the Bella Baby yarn I brought on sale. What do you think?

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More Creative Spaces here.

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I couldn't resist this dear little pincushion, from Melissa's tiny happy shop. Such lovely stitching and perfect vintage ric-rac don't you think? A packet of vintage hand sewing needles and embroidery thread accompanied the tansy pincushion on it's trip from New Zealand.

Thank you so much Melissa, I love it.

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Also, the lovely Kitty is giving away twelve vintage sheet fat quarters over here. Be quick, the giveaway ends tomorrow.

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The first baby blanket is finished. The overcast weather has helped me justify adding stitches instead of doing laundry. The new plants Dave planted are enjoying the sprinklings of rain. I just love this silver plant with it's lovely purple flowers. If only Cohen would stop picking them and throwing them away.

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Spotlight, the Australian craft store, is having a sale on some of their wool. I finally found the right colour yellow to finish this granny square blanket for Cohen. But first there are also two baby blankets on my to do list. I've made a start on the first, heavily inspired by the blanket in these photos. Every baby needs a little crochet blanket I think.

It's so nice to be crocheting again.

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Ravelry.

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A little baking this morning, the first in weeks. I made a double batch of Anzac biscuits because I know they won't last long.

This big brown duck is new to the duck park and he has been following us around, the bottom of his beak quivering as he quietly quacks. He runs straight towards us when he sees us and I'm not sure if he is ultra friendly and coming to say hello, or if he would like a taste of Cohen and to fight with the pram. Keeping a bit of distance just in case.

Love this post.

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Recently Cohen lost his ability to fall asleep easily. As he draws closer two years in age it has just vanished. I'm afraid we may have taken it a little for granted. And if so, I'm so sorry, please come back. In it's place we are left with a cranky toddler who will throw himself on the floor, kicking and screaming, at the mere suggestion of 'bed time'.

In an effort to regain some of the lost simplicity of nap time and bed time, we have been standing back as Cohen attempts to change his routines, and trying to roll with the flow. We are providing the time and space for him to burn off some of his energy, spending more time in the yard and increasing our number of walks to the park. And hopefully in time it will help, and he won't be falling asleep only in his high chair.

Any other suggestions?

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Hello Spring.

My Creative Space...

My creative energy has been rather lacking this past week of sickness. Not being able to make anything only added to the irritability I gained with the fever.

This fossilized coral cabochon has been waiting on my bench to be fashioned into a brooch. I had prepared the base plate and roughly shaped the bezel and hope to make more progress with it soon.

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More Creative Spaces here.

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To add insult to injury I was struck down with a throat infection on the weekend. A temperature, exhaustion and no voice do not make for the best mothering in the world. Much more television watching than usual this past week. Do your thing antibiotics.

The packing up of our possessions has begun, as we ready the house to be listed*. On the upside, Cohen has been helping us pack. On the down side, his idea of packing is randomly grabbing any item to hand and throwing it in a box. We laughed as he added a book to the box of books about to be sealed up. Only later did I realise it was the book I was reading.

*Posting may be a little sporadic in the coming weeks.

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Happy Father's Day Baby from your number one fans.

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Gastro spares no one, except my husband it seems.

He, with the cast iron stomach. He, who never gets sick. He, with the irritating ability to never appear hung over the next day. (He who snores while watching movies, then protests that he wasn't even asleep.*) He, who has managed to walk away unscathed while a plague of gastro descended upon our house. Hell hath no fury like gastro.

Really, I wish him no harm, but is there no justice? This is a man who can fall asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow. A man who has such a handle on numbers he can not only remember the product codes at his work, he can also remember all our past phone numbers and probably add them up and find their square root in under a minute. A man who has an inbuilt navigation system and never gets lost.

While I'm the one who is always tossing and turning, looking for the phone number and relying on a map.

But still, in not getting sick he has left himself open to making dinner, bathing and feeding the toddler and sprucing up the garden as we prepare to put our house on the market.

Ahh... I think I'll go have a little lie down and maybe read a little.

(I headed Mama Mogantosh's example and removed my glasses.)

* He is standing by his claim that he wasn't asleep.