Big Day Out

It has been so long since I have been to the beach, a pass time I really love but rarely indulge in. My Brother is visiting from Northern Queensland so we spent the day touring around. We followed our noses and ended up on a beach that I haven't visited for about 20 years! I took these photos and am so pleased with the results, I used my digital camera and couldn't see a thing through it because of the glare from the sun, so I just went with my instincts and pointed and clicked and these are the results. I was so surprised when I downloaded them to the computer, perhaps I should use the blind persons technique of photography more often. The water was perfect for body surfing as long as you had a thermal wet suit!! The wind was amazingly strong but not as cold as you might think. We were sand blasted while descending the steep dunes to the beach but it was worth the experience to get to our destination. The wild life on the beach was extraordinary, a Fairy Penguin, Fur Seal and a Wallaby and the most extraordinary thing of all was that they were all dead!! The Fairy Penguin and the Fur Seal were washed ashore but the Wallaby was mumified!!
So, all in all it was a day out for us all to remember.

Mother Nature

Isn't Mother Nature a magnificant creator?

I was adding roses to my dehydrator to create some pot pourri when I stopped for a moment to look at the blooms before I turned them into dried petals.

These beautiful creations leaped out at me just asking for one final photograph before I flicked the switch. Now I feel bad because I am turning something so beautiful into a dried up thing for my so called enjoyment. I really have difficulty making Pot Pourri with such magnificent flowers but I do enjoy them while they are in full bloom, only picking them when they are past their prime. That way I can continue to enjoy them for many months to come. I suppose in a way I am doing my bit for recycling.

I am flattered

What a lovely surprise I had yesterday when I received this award from Laura Ann. It is my very first blog award, I will treasure it forever.

The rules are simple...to keep the award active...just * Put the logo on your blog or post.* Nominate at least 5 blogs (can be more) that for you are Uber Amazing!* Let them know that they have received this Uber Amazing award by commenting on their blog.

Now for my chopice of 5 blogs I enjoy reading.

Karen - Karen's Dolls and Stuff

Kirrily- Five Roses Prim and Pretty

Lisa- Craftye Ladye Creations

Crystal-Ewe and Me creations

Susan- Rabbit Hollow Prims

Enjoy your award Ladies, you deserve to be rewarded for your beautiful blogs.

Twice in one month - a record!!

I can't believe that I am blogging twice this month, let's see if I can make it thrice!!
I had the good fortune of reconnecting with one of my doll artist friends today - Flora Dora. I haven't spoken to her for ages and finally caught up with her on Face Book. It is such a treat to find friends again and continue on as if you haven't been parted, that is a sign of a good friendship.
Flora Dora is such a beautiful artist and doll maker that she gets me inspired every time I see her work. I haven't created a doll in ages, time has just been very limited.

I have been working on my garden and hope to get some more weeding done this weekend, I have a friend coming to visit and I hope I can tempt her to help me out. My garden had really been neglected during the winter months but now the warmer weather has arrived I have a renewed enthusiasm and a need to make the garden come to life again. Having had these beautiful roses sit on my desk for a week and smelling their perfume I am rearing to go. I arrived at work on Monday morning to find a glorious bunch of roses in a vase sitting on the counter, dear Gabby had bought them from her garden. what a magnificent garden she must have if she could spare these beautiful blooms for her work colleagues. Thank you Gabby I have drooled over them all week.

Darby and Joan again

I have just shed a tear or three as I waved part of my precious family goodbye. Hubby and I have had our treasures eldest son, his beautiful partner and their precious son Corbin for 5 days. I am too much of a cry baby to drive to the airport for farewells that my dear Hubby has to be brave and go it alone. It has been nearly a year since they visited, Corbin was just a tiny baby of 3 months and now he is a thriving bundle of energy at 15 months!! It was just a treat to be 'real' Grandparents' for a few days, it is hard to be a long distance Nanny and Pa when your Grandchildren live in another state.
Once again, I had a smile on my face as I was driving around with a car seat on the back seat of my car. It might seem such a natural thing for most Grandparents to do but for me it is a once a year special treat. I thought
I had child proofed my house so Corbin could run free relatively safely, but alas, there were many things I thought he wouldn't be interested in, What a silly Nanny I was. I did remember to move all my dangerous cleaning products from under the sink but of course I forgot to tie up the kitchen draws didn't I?
I was reminded of the strange shows little people love to watch on TV, gone is Sesame Street and in it's place is Iggle Piggle. I have to say that I much prefer Iggle Piggle to the whiny voices of the Sesame Street characters. Even at such a young age the world stops at 9am for Corbin to sit glued to Iggle Piggle, a whole 30 minutes where grown ups can do whatever they want without a little helper tagging along.
How strange it was to wake in the middle of the night and hear a little voice chatting away or crying as it happened on a couple of nights. Last night I thought about getting up to him then I remembered that I was the Nanny not the Mother, with a rush of sudden relief I rolled over and went back to sleep, not like the old days!!
Now I'm off to finish 'unchildproofing' the house till next time.

How time flies

Well I did say at the very beginning that I wasn't a regular blogger. I hadn't realized how long it had been since my last post.
Spring is well and truly here in Australia. Wattle blossom blooms all around me at the moment, every second year the wattles put on a display of glorious gold for all to see and this year is no exception. Bulbs are flowering, making my garden look colourful. I took a bunch to work last week and had so many comments on the colours.

I haven't been making dolls for several months now, but this weekend has been a time of reflection for me. I awoke this morning and decided to start up again but with a little twist. I have loved art dolls for a long time now so, have decided to give them a try yet again. I have a few dolls that I was never happy with and as I write one of them is drying by the fire. I have decided to give her a good paint of gesso and see what happens. I just love the feel of paint on cloth and my hands, so my new venture is to paint my dolls with various paints and gels to see what effect I can come up with. I have also decided to minimize the size of my dolls, I usually make 12 - 18 inch dolls but want to try some smaller ones ranging in size from 6 - 10 inches. I have found some inspirational blogs this morning with an array of textures and colours so I am very eager to give the new styles a go.
I can hear my doll calling me, saying that she is dry and ready to decorate.
Stay tuned for the next installment of my new style of dolls saga.

Back to the real world

Today is the last day of my week long holiday.
I took the week of work just to do stuff for me and I have had a wonderful week. I got up when I wanted, ate what and when I wanted and best of all did the housework when I wanted which I have to say wasn't very often. I thought I would have a sparkling shiny house by weeks end but I can tell you that it is not shinier than it is on any other Sunday afternoon. I think that just goes to show that I am not a housework nutter like some people I know.
However, I have done some cooking this week that I would usually take about 2 months to do. I have made spanakopita, two batches of cupcakes, apple strudel, braised steak and onions (well I am going to make that before the day is out) and my husband have loved me for it. I am not known for my love of cooking, perhaps that has something to do with the fact that I work full time and am usually too tired to cook much at night and too busy washing and cleaning at the weekend to cook.
Well, I'm out of her now to make some phone calls and get the braised steak and onions cooked so my husband will love me more!!!!!!!!!!!

I was recently in Italy...

...well my spirit was in Italy!!
A good friend of mine has just come back from Italy and I met her yesterday for coffee and a chat. She took me with her in a little piece of her heart. She sent me a postcard from Tuscany to say that I was in Tuscany with her, I asked her yesterday if I had a good time there and she replied - the best!!!
Listening to her made me realize that I really want to go to Italy and see the country for myself. She did all the tourist things and everything that I would want to do and more. She brought me back a glass ring from Venice, I saw one similar in a shop just around from where we had coffee but mine is much more special than the imported one because mine came from the factory where it was made via my friend.
Now I'm off to dream of Italy.

A small world

Isn't the world a small place? I lost contact with my friend from Brazill for nearly a year and guess what? Today she contacted me, I am so happy to be in contact with her again. she is a beautiful person and is a fantastic doll maker. She has a wonderful site here on Multiply but alas, I don't speak Portugeuse so can only guess what she has written on here at least. Luckily she speaks English so we email each other.

We are well into winter here in Australia, some places are colder than othrs I have to tell you. Unfortunately I live in one of those places. I just went outside to do some p[runing and my feet just about froze so I am back at my computer tapping away like I have been doing most of the day.

Till next time
Jude

My good friend Flora has tagged me with this very revealing tag.
Tag the ABCs about you. Each player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

A -Attached or single: Attached

B- Best Friend: My Sister

D-Day: Sun

E- Essential Item: moisturiser

F- Favorite Color: purple

G-Gummi Bears or Worms: worms

H-Home town: Launceston

I- Indulgences: Mud Cake

J- January or July?:.... January the weather is warm

K-Kids:.... 2

L-Life is incomplete without: My family

M- Marriage Date: March 23rd

N- Number of Siblings: Two

O- Oranges or Apples: Oranges

P- Phobias or Fears: High bridges, big spiders

Q- Quote: I am what I am

R- Reason To Smile: I'm alive

S- Season: summer

T- Tag Three: Kristine
Terri
Angelia

U- Unknown fact about me: Can't tell ya ..then it will be known :)

V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals: Opressor of animals

W- Worst Habit: misplacing things

Y-Your favorite food: Italilan

Z: Zodiac Sign: Gemini

Getting older

I will be another year older in 3 days time!!!
Where has my life gone? I seems only yesterday that I turned 30 and was so depressed now I am just happy that I am a year older. Funny how ones thoughts change as you age.
I got a parcel in the post from my sons today, it was delivered to me at work so I just had to open it to show everyone what was inside. The box was beautifully wrapped in a delicate ribbon so I immediately knew my daughters in law were involved. Inside was the most beautiful cherry red dressing gown, so soft and cuddly that we all had a try of it. I wanted to wear it for the rest of the day but was reminded that my Birthday isn't until Sunday. So, back into the box it went until I got home where tried it on again to show my husband and then back into the box it went again until Sunday!!!!!!!!! Needless to say I can't wait for Sunday so I can finally take it out for the last time and wear it. My boys know exactly how to make their Mother happy. Now I need to go and buy myself a decent pair of slipper to go with this beautiful dressing gown.

Million Paws Walk

This morning I took my dog Staffy to the Million Paws Walk, which is a fund raising walk for the RSPCA. I went qwith my lovely friend Shakira and her gorgeous husband, Ariel along with our dogs, Staffy and Millie. There were so many dogs of all colours, sizes and breeds out to enjoy a walk with their owners. Our dogs got a bit tired and had to carried some of the way but most of the time they trotted along with the crowd. I have always meant to go on this walk but something always came up and I never got to participate. But, this year I made the commitment early and signed up and paid the money and went along and had a wonderful time. I was a bit hesitant taking Staffy in the car because she isn't a good traveler but today she traveled like a pro and sat up in the front seat and was on her best behaviour.

I had plans to do all sorts of things this afternoon but I think the walk had made me a bit lazy so I think I will just sit by the fire and start knitting a jumper for myself that I have been meaning to do for ages. I haven't knitted for a few years so this will be a test to see if I still have the patience to knit adult sized jumpers or not!!
Signing off till next time.

Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day to all the Mothers who read this blog!!
I have just opened my second Mothers Day present to find the perfect present for a Mother- an electric knee rug!! I am very excited indeed, and as I sit here typing away I am using this fantastic rug. It is like a very soft electric blanket just made to throw over your knees or around the shoulders as I am doing at the moment. My husband said that my son must think I am getting old to need a blanket like this. Well, let me tell you that I am and don't mind admitting it if it means that I get wonderful presents like this.
My sister and I are taking Dotty Jean out to lunch today - that's if we can find somewhere that isn't booked out. As usual it was a last minute decision and needless to say we haven't booked but I know what ever we do Dotty Jean will love it.
Enjoy your day
Jude

Twice in one week!!

I can't believe it, I have actually written in this blog twice in a week.
I had a great day today considering I am just getting over a cold. I got 2 parcels in the mail for Mothers Day and I have opened on and kept the other one for Sunday. The one I opened contained decorations from The Crab Apple Bakery to decorate my cupcakes. They are pink icing roses, just the perfect topping for vanilla cupcakes with pink icing and rose water flavouring. There was also a gorgeous ceramic cupcake trinket pot, all very feminine!! I am making a conscious effort to get in touch with my feminine side I fear I have been a Tom Boy too long. I'm not sure what is in the other parcel but it is squishy and big so looks like I will have a nice surprise on Mother Day.
That's enough for now, the washing up awaits me. This blogging might become a regular passtime, who knows.

Am I lazy or what???

I am ashamed to look at the date of my last post. I did say that I wasn't a regular blogger!!

Well, let me up date you. Since my last post I now have a new Grandson. You can see his first photo in my previous posts. His name is Corbin and he is 9 months old and just a delight to be around, here he is with my Grand Daughter Ivy who is nearly 10. I spent the Easter break with my Sons and their family and as you can imagine I didn't want to come home.Another exciting addition since my last post is our new sun room that was added last November.
It started off to be a modest addition but like Topsy it just grew and grew. It was going to be a basic room with tiles on the floor but now it is an addition to our lounge room. Sometimes when I sit in it I think it is like a Prim shop with all the Prim dolls and decorations I have added. All that is missing is the price tags!!I have become addicted to making cupcakes. While I was in Melbourne at Easter I visited the shop where one of my Daughters in Law works. It is called Crab Apple Cup Cake Bakery. The owner has published a cook book with all her delecacies in it and I am working my way slowly through the recipes. Here are some of the pictures from the book. I can tell you they are just as yummy to eat as they are to look at.

If I updated you on everything that has happened during the past months we would be her for ever and a day.
Until next time, Prim Hugs.
Jude