Lenny's New Clothes!

Baby Lennon will be coming to New Zealand with us soon and the purpose of the trip is to attend my dear friend Zoe's wedding to her fiance Tim.
Pete and I have our outfits sorted but it occurred to me that I had not yet organised something for Lenny to wear.
When I resurrected the old suitcases from under the house I found two of my Dad's old suits from the 70s in them. I thought, 'could this material be used to make a suit for Lenny?'. I did a quick blog search and saw that creating a waistcoat (a vest) was probably going to be an easy task... pants or a suit jacket would be a little too advanced for me at this stage.

So I measured the little boy up, cut some pieces accordingly and got sewing! I already had a pair of brown corduroy pants I bought from the op shop for $1 so I cut two oval patches for the pants and sewed them on.
Then I thought the brown satin lining would make a lovely bow tie!

I had a lot of fun and tried the parts on Lenny to make sure it all fitted together. Success!
I can't wait to take him along to the wedding... oh no! I have forgotten about matching shoes... leave it with me ;)

Harvest time!!

Wow. My first tomatoes. Three juicy, red, nuggets of home-grown goodness. Alas, they were each only about the size of a golf ball. So Pete and I were proud but also a little bit disappointed. We have vowed to improve upon our harvest next time. There are still some issues to attend to, such as:
Soil quality
What manure if any we should use
Water supply
Fertiliser?
Advice shall be sought from the master veg growers in our midst.

blog? oh yeah that!

The long break between blogs was due in part to a long weekend spent with husband and child and in part to paranoia. Eventually one begins to wonder whether blog posts are actually interesting or not. I mean, is it just the modern day diarising of one's life made public or is it an innate need to be watched. What's the opposite to voyeurism? Exhibitionism? Is a blog just exhibitionism? Hmmm dunno. Will save those in depth conversations for when I have coffee with my old boss Nick I think. He'll know.

SO my resolution to 'read more books' is going well! I read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson, as a starter last week then devoured - an appropriate word for the rate and voracity with which I flipped the pages - Dirt Music, by Tim Winton, in three days. That was definitely a record by me. I was guarded at first as although Dirt Music won a lot of awards and was praised by every reviewer every which way, I was still not convinced a few pages in. I ate my words. I want to be back in the middle of that book. It was a great story and although parts of it left me a wee bit befuddled - dream sequences and such - it really satisfied me. Ended abruptly though. I hate that.
And then it was my birthday yesterday so Pete bought me Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, by John le Carre, and a Patricia Cornwell book. I have an incredibly short attention span so reading has always been difficult for me. But, this being the big year and all, I am committing to reading books and I am proud to have read two books. Yay me.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was also a good story but probably helped by me being able to visualise the cinematic interpretation that I have seen on TV recently.
Tinkey Tailor is up next... it hasn't started out very entertaining. Plus it is actually part of a larger series of books featuring a central character so I am unsure whether I will get the full effect. Will see.

My big year update...

So I thought I should make an update which was less 'little project' and more 'big year' related. I did warn you all that I was the queen of multi-tasking. And I warned you it was most likely not a very productive modus operandi. And that is possibly proving to be true. But hear me out. I have been achieving little bits hear and there. See below all the things that were on my original 'things to do list' and are slowly being (sort of) ticked off!
* firstly, Georgie and I agreed we probably weren't cut out to be mini moguls so we put our idea to bed. but at least we had a meeting and talked about it instead of just leaving it as a pipe dream. that made me feel productive.
* I have learnt how to play Take On Me by Aha on the ukelele. busking playlist taking shape. Talent still not taking shape.
* I went to a water aerobics class Monday night and burnt some calories... that counts right?
* I am reading a book and I plan to read another.
* I have emailed a few people about my novel... no takers as yet, but I'll keep trying.
* I finally sorted out the filing! Feeels sooo gooood

So that really just leaves:
the bike
the charity
the invention
the holiday
the lamingtons
the old friends

Leave it with me.
See below the before and afters of my filing cabinet.

Magaholics Anonymous

Hi, my name is Fleurabelle and I'm a magaholic... You may also be one. I just can't get enough magazines y'all. I have piles and piles and piles of them. I don't always buy the same ones, I spread the love around, instead searching for new and exciting subject matter, features and photos. Everything from House & Garden to Practical Parenting to National Geographic is regularly purchased, poured over and piled up high in this house. I have recently found another magazine. This one was found at Limerance in Belgrave. A beautiful little shop just near Ruby's. Limerance has been a favourite haunt of mine for about a year, with it's revolving lineup of artisan wares Limerance is gallery and boutique in one. I bought the summer edition of Peppermint magazine there last week after a vego feast at Earthly Pleasures - another one of Belgrave's treasures. Anywho it's a great mag full of earth friendly tips. It's also a visual feast which is my main criteria for buying magazines.
I keep my magazines piled up in different places and on book shelves... But i saw a new and exciting way to keep one's latest editions close at hand. See below :)

Everybody has baggage...but not as cool as this!

I found two old suitcases under our house today. I had forgotten all about them, but they belonged to my parents. One of them, a cream one, belonged to my mum. She used it during the late 60s and early 70s when she first moved to Melbourne. It was fairly beaten up and dirty but it has great sentimental value. The other is moss green and in far better condition used in the 70s when my parents were married.

Pete, Lennon and I are travelling to New Zealand soon to celebrate a friend's wedding and I thought: 'you know what, I'm taking suitcases, just like the old days'.

So the green one came up a treat but the cream one required a little more creativity to bring it back to life.

I started by giving it a good once over, then I lined it with some sweet-smelling drawer liners to give it less of an old smell, then I lined it with some vintage fabric I have had, well Mum has had, for ages and ages. Then to give it a little girly edge I made an underwear/sock compartment out of some old lace and some velcro sticky dots. And I think that it looks great and I am super excited to roll into Melbourne Airport with our vintage suitcases. I absolutely love the airport. I love the romance of the place. I have dropped off and picked up many a person and I always offer. People say 'oh no no no I'll get a taxi' because they think it is a hassle, and for most people it is, but not me! I love it. I'd am more than happy to pick people up day or night, which is even easier now that I am home with Lenny. He also loves the airport... I think. He certainly loved it the time we took a sign to let Zoe know we were there.

See the photos below of the suitcases.

Up Up And Awaaaaaaaayy!

Watch out! It's Lenno-saurus!!!

Lately I have had cause to call Lenny a dinosaur because he attacks, bites and says 'raaaagh' quite a bit. I thought he could use a costume to go with his prehistoric antics.
I have loads of material so I started with some green and added some bright yellow spikes!
I looked up how to make a dino tail on projectsbyjess.blogspot.com and took a fair few creative liberties.
I also had to unpick and resew a number of parts. But all in all I think it looks grouse!

Operation Pillow Stuff

Okey dokey well I rescued this vintage tea towel from my nan's I think - maybe if any cousins see this and remember giving it to her that would be helpful - and i vowed to make it into a pillow cover at some stage. That was a number of years ago now but finally got around to sewing it up and stuffing it!
Below are photos of the tea towel before, the old cushion inserts i recycled to stuff it and the finished product happily plopped on our couch...
Whaddya think?!

An unusual day!

Although today started off well - a bit of grocery shopping, a nice, long, walk to the duck pond and back - but then, in the afternoon the Post Office rang and said that Lenny's passport form needed revising.
SO I get Lenny in the car, drive to the Post Office, get Lenny out of the car, go into the Post Office get the new form, put Lenny back into the car, drive to Kirsten's place to get her to sign the form again, get Lenny out of the car, drive back to the Post Office, get Lenny out of the car, listen to the Post Office man tell me that the form is still wrong and will require a totally new guarantor to sign it, which will mean new photos (as this is the 3rd form I had filled out incorrectly). So I put Lenny back into the car, drove home, by which time he had fallen asleep, so I left him in there while I went inside to get his pram and check for sure I didn't have any of his passport pics left. I drove to Knox Shopping Centre, got Lenny out of the car, popped him in the pram, made a bee line to the photo shop, thankfully they were willing to do the photos in 20 minutes. Lenny is a happy chap after having an impromptu siesta and, as with the first set of passport photos, won't stop smiling long enough for the lady to get an appropriate image. But eventually he did what we've all done at some point and stared blankly at the camera long enough for her to snap his chompy cheeks. He will now join the rest of us with hideous mug-shot-esque passport pics. It's a bugger because the first lot were angelic. Divine. These ones are (forgive me dear son, fruit of my loins) pretty crap.
Anywho, after a coffee and some churros and chocolate, we jumped back into the car, headed home (Pete's home thankfully as I was buggered!). Then I jumped back into the car and headed back up to the Lightfoot home and got Trev to sign for Lenny. Tomorrow I will go to the Post Office. If the form is incorrect or there is any drama I will be leaving Lenny with some pre-cooked meals and a big bottle and heading to away without him. There are only about 2 weeks until we leave!
Fingers crossed hey!

practice? practise? practise.

Well only time will tell whether my lifelong dream of busking (just at least once) comes to fruition or not. Firstly, I'm not very good at either playing an instrument, or singing. But I am enthusiastic. That's the main thing right? Hmmm. I have enlisted the help of my iPhone to record myself as I practise. I can tell you, it's not looking good.
I actually laughed out loud at myself the other day.
I got to thinking about what is expected of a busker. Good tunes, ability, a point of difference, nice singing voice. Mostly, they don't expect that blonde kid off X Factor do they?
So I'll probably be OK. If I lower my standards, real low, I should be OK. OK.
Secondly, there is the 'fear' factor. Stage fright, cold feet, call it what you like, stress is known to tighten ones vocal chords preventing them from holding a tune. Ugh. Like my vocal chords needed to contend with anything else!
Thirdly, I don't know if anyone else has tried to learn an instrument late in life (considering there is an 6 year old on you tube who can play Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train note perfect on the electric guitar I'd say 27 is pretty late) but it's really hard! I don't have the long, dextrous fingers my husband has so bar chords are an impossibility. And my delicate girly fingers are sore after five minutes of practise.
.....excuse me while I go get my child out of bed where he has not made any effort to sleep at all this morning....it's like he knows I am busy....
Well that was a waste of time, Lennon will be tired in less than half an hour. Why don't they sleep sometimes? I would kill for a nap today. He gets one handed to him on a platter and just ignores it. Weirdo.
Anyway, so guitar is hard, singing is hard, and singing and playing guitar at the same time is super hard. And to do it front of others. Hard.
It will take some time before this project becomes a reality!

ticking the next project off!

After being on the waiting list for nearly a year I finally scored a place in Jane Sawyer's Slow Clay class.
Slow clay is a term used to describe this lady's particular way of making things from clay. I'm more than excited. I can't wait to see if I can 'throw' (make pottery on a wheel) and I'm imagining many lovely things I can make while I am there.
So, seeing as one of my things to do this year was to take a class in something, I believe this counts. I also believe it is quite serendipitous that I managed to score a place this year.
I begin on Feb 7 and I promise to share with you all my experience!

Lenny has taken heaps of steps today and has even been filmed walking, bending down to pick up his drink bottle, standing up and walking away. Amazing. I can now believe that he is 1 year old and ready for a big year of his own!

I voted in the Triple J Hottest 100 on Sunday and had many of my votes already planned out. In other years it was a last minute thing, sometimes the site would crash so I couldn't complete the voting process... but this year, success!
And I am so very in love with my votes I thought I would share them.
I thought about which one was my Number 1 vote and then I thought, wouldn't it be nice if my Number 1 vote was the number one song?! So I changed my number 1 vote to be The Black Keys Lonely Boy. Gotye has Gotye-It in the bag of course but I am still holding out hope for the bluesy rock tune. It certainly made Lenny groove and jive and that got my vote!
So I also voted for Gotye Somebody That I Used To Know. It got to me. And Kimbra's inclusion was electric - you could hear the grievance in her voice when she belts out her line.
So those two were my votes for the classics but below are my faves for the year!
Noah & The Whale captured my heart mainly because they rock a fiddle... and me loves me some fiddle.
Noah & The Whale - L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.
Noah & The Whale - Waiting For My Chance To Come
Laura Marling Sophia
(Seriously, love everything Laura Marling puts her voice to. It's like she is from another world. A world where folk singers were cool. A world where one didn't have to rock a leotard to get noticed (ps i do still love you jessie j)
Lupe Fiasco - Till I Get There
I don't like all hip hop ghetto rappers but I like the occasional broody tune.
In the same vein I voted for 360 ft Josh Pyke - Throw It Away because I really like Josh Pyke...
Busby Marou - Biding My Time
I could have voted for their entire album but I chose this one because it is a sweet loving song.
I missed out seeing Laney Lane in Brunswick in November - bummer - because she is apparently very very good. I love this song, but she also sings the theme song for Crownies on the ABC... which no one watches but anywho. Who doesn't love a bit of nostalgic style!
Laney Lane - Oh Well, That's What You Get For Falling In Love With A Cowboy
And finally, just because I saw it one day on RAGE and it stuck in my head for yonks. It's a bit dancy and a bit chilled.
Friendly Fires - Hawaiian Air (I heart Hawaii)
There you have it!!
Sheesh it's warm today!

The things we do for love!

Although I was pushing it for time, I raced home to Yarrawonga to help celebrate my dear friend Lauren's big move to Darwin. We will miss her, but it is so exciting to see her taking such a big leap of faith and moving to the other side of the country all on her own. It's always nice to have a round of 'remember that time when' ...always makes us laugh.

Amongst the old school friends that had gathered we spoke of the 10 year reunion that is due in 2012 for Year 12 students in 2002....who knows whether it will happen or not, but it would be loads of fun if it did.
Being in Yarrawonga also gave me the opportunity to place a flower on my mum's grave which I wish I could do more often. At least I know there is a few artificial flowers there year-round, but it would be nice if there was a service that I could get to put some fresh flowers there once a week. I suppose that's unnecessary, but I like the idea of it, nonetheless.

Pretty boring blog posts these last few days but when Monday rolls around, it's back into the project bin and back into getting things done.
Nighty night.

Storm inside & out!

As the rain poured down outside, my dear friend Georgie and I showered the dining table with ideas and concepts for our lil' enterprise. We talked about all the things we wanted to do with our idea, and all of the things we could actually do. It was so exciting to set achievable goals for us both and really set in motion a pretty cool idea.
Hmmm it all sounds a bit hush-hush doesn't it? Well I do apologise for that, alas, with any enterprise, it is good to keep things sort of under wraps until there is anything to tell. This year Georgie and I will aim to really hone our idea and designs into something we believe is 'perfect' and then we can set goals for the following year. So there! Another thing checked off my list! I have begun that thing I wanted to do with Georgie. And it feels so good!
Today was also a bit somber as I learnt of the passing of my dear friend Anna's cousin, Emily. She was just 32 years old, but had been battling breast cancer for many years. Such a young and vibrant spirit taken far too early by a very prevalent killer of women. My thoughts are with her family, and of course my friend who has lost a special person in her life.
Well I've got three baskets full of clean clothes I need to fold and put away before watching a film with Pete and then a having a bubble bath for some me time.
Have a good night all xx

One small step for one small little man...

Lenny took a couple of little steps today... it was amazing. It is amazing to see him wibble and wobble and shuffle a bit. I wouldn't call it walking but he is certainly on his way. I was so excited I called my husband, wrote the date in his record book and took as many videos of it as I could. My little baby is slowly becoming a toddler. Hard to believe, so wonderful to be a part of. And he performed for Pete when he got home so we could all enjoy the excitement.

I was treated to 75 mins of pure bliss thanks to a full body scrub and thai pinda massage. Thai Pindas are these wrapped up herby type cushiony things used instead of hands. Nice if you don't like hard massages or have a back injury like me.

It was a lovely sleepy relaxing 75 mins. Seems like forever away now...

I'm really looking forward to seeing Georgie tomorrow and having a brainstorming session.

Take a look at my beautiful baby boy and his new found talent below.

A Nutritious Baby Shower Gift!

And finally for today - it has been a big day - I thought I would share with you the baby shower gift I put together for my darling friend Megan. (sorry Legs, it won't be a surprise anymore)
I have given  clothing, cool toys and books, baby wraps and Sophie the Giraffe to expectant mothers before, but I was looking to do something different for Meg's baby shower.
I thought about all of the things I had used and loved. Although we made most of Lenny's food from day one, I have certainly enjoyed the ease of store-bought baby food from time to time, especially when I have gone out for a full day or away for the weekend. I only ever used Organic Bubs - except when I got caught out in the CBD once and had to buy a 'selection' of things from 7 Eleven to feed poor Lennon.
Organic Bubs is Australian owned, made and is the only certified organic AND fully carbon neutral baby food product on the shelves at Coles and Woolies. It's so good. Good for your conscience and good for your baby's belly. And no, it's not expensive, about $1.99 per pouch, less if you buy in bulk from their website: www.organicbubs.com.
I bought a half dozen pouches and put them together with a printed out info sheet of what and when to feed bubs straight from their brilliant website.
I even stuck a magnet on the back so Megan can have the handy info right there on the fridge. Even though the little baby isn't due until March, I was amazed at how quick that 'starting solids' comes around. And it's handy to know ahead of time what to introduce.

Not bad for a slap-up gift hey!



Other projects set into motion today:
set a date to get my bike fixed and up and running
created a folder for the project I'm doing with Georgie
handed out a questionnaire to my very first participant for my novel

And that's all folks...goodnight!

The Market Stall Project

So one of my hopes for 2012 is that I can hold a market stall. I have always dabbled in crafts... Okay okay I'm a hardcore crafter. I've got a double wardrobe filled with all my crafting gear and have pretty much had a go at everything. Everything except Scrapbooking. That's a hell I don't think I would wish upon anyone, least of all myself. I read somewhere that Martha Stewart (all hail Queen Martha!) has a room devoted to giftwrapping. That would be my nirvana.
So anyway, I have long since imagined that I could totally hold a market stall... I just never decided what I could do.
A little while ago I was going through the many boxes of things from my parents place and there was a mountain of semi-preserved old cards and letters. Some of them were absolute corkers. Some I have sent back to the people that they originally came from. Some I am keeping for myself. The rest I am upcycling. Upcycling is a notion I'm in love with. You take something that you might think is past it's use-by date and make it into something of value once more. The key to upcycling is to not throw away something that is still useable.
All of these old cards, I thought, were pretty cool. Some were just pretty. And with a little bit of upcycling could totally be used once more. Once more before they can be REcycled and possibly made into brand new greeting cards. Do you buy greeting cards made from recycled paper? Most greeting cards I receive aren't made from recycled paper. I keep most that I receive, the rest I recycle.
The cards I keep now could be like the corkers I found at my parents place.
From the '70s and '80s they are really funky.
I'm calling the venture Upcycled Greetings.
I've attached a selection of some I have already upcycled. I plan to apply for a stall for the Upwey Grassroots Market on March 17th... we'll see how I go!

And the cards are presented in brown paper bags with the following detail.

I plan to have a stamp made up as my printer doesn't really like printing onto sandwich bags.

I'm pleased with my progress but I wonder if I will have enough stock to warrant a market stall. If anyone has any super old greeting cards I would love to have them.

Another productive day... i think

They do say that if you want a job done you should ask a busy woman. Well, maybe that is what proves that multi-tasking can work. Although I still need convincing that it isn't counter-productive to begin 10 projects at once.
So earlier today I had a big, long, list of things I had goin' on, and I promised a before and after photo of the chaos. I'm afraid that the following photos are not the shocking contrast you may have been expecting.
More like 'before' and 'slightly later' ... the true 'after' might be a while.

 So this morning my dining table/desk/hub looked liked this...

And now it is a slightly more organised version covered with completed tasks.
There is a pile of things that need to be posted tomorrow. A collection of gifts that will be handed out this weekend at various events and the lime green expandable file will be put away tonight as I'm finished with that. The brown paper bags contain my 'market stall project'... more on that later.
Will take regular photos of the work station as time goes by and projects roll on.

Big Year HQ is in overdrive....

As the great Jim Carrey said in his career-best performance in The Mask.. ssssomebody ssstop me!
I guess this whole 'big year' exercise is part 'journey of self discovery' part 'experiment'. I can't seem to be able to focus on one thing long enough to complete it then and there, but it does eventually get completed.
Currently I have on the go:
superannuation rollover forms
lennon's passport application
marriage certificate application
some trailing commission forms
Lennon's 1st birthday thankyous
my market stall project
the project my friend and I are working on
gifts and cards for: 3 x 1st birthdays, 1 x 2nd birthday, 1 x 4th birthday, baby shower,  pregnancy announcement, wedding, farewell and friends birthday.
*hmmm what else, takes a quick look around
photos that have been printed and need to put into photo album
oh yeah, and my novel...

But you know what, I'm excited about each and every one of the afore mentioned little fires a burning.
Did I mention that I have a very mobile 1 year old?? I currently don't know where he is or what little fire he is creating... better go check.
I'll make sure I take a photo of my current chaos and one of the completed tasks.

The life aquatic...

I went for a paddle this evening. I have a bit of a sore back so swimming was the perfect exercise to help me ony way to living a healthier life.
I'm very much craving ice cream and if there was any her by golly i would be tucking in. But we are all out. It was fun and I will be diving in for more soon!

I had a lot of energy today!

I had a very productive day today... I think I did anyway.
I created an agenda for the business meeting Georgie and I have planned for Thursday.
I spoke to the ATO and to OurCommunity about how to set up a not-for-profit organisation.
Photos have been ordered from the local Kmart ready to be perused and possibly framed.
I'm about to go for a swim with Kirsten (ticking the weight loss basket).
Oh the places I have been....
The things I have done..
I'm excited about my projects but also realistic about the time they will take to complete.
I did say that this was the 'year' of getting things done, not the 'week' so I might have a wine after my swim to cheers to a great beginning to my great BIG YEAR!

The List...

I should probably have some of the things I wish to accomplish written down so I don't forget that I wish to accomplish them...
I wrote this list a little while ago but I can see that I've not actually accomplished any of them (shocking) so the list still stands...

The List

1.     Start a blog

2.     Write that book

3.     Start that business venture with Georgie

4.     Hold a market stall

5.     Open up that charity you’ve been thinking about

6.     Get that old bike up and running

7.     Take a class in something

8.     Learn enough songs on the guitar/mandolin/ukelele to BUSK

9.     Consolidate superannuation

10. Take more photos, print those photos, hang those photos on the wall

11. Reconnect with some old friends

12.  Read a book, read another. Repeat.

13. Make some Lamingtons. They’re my favourite but I’ve never made them

14. Participate in the Melbourne Fringe Festival Flash Mob

15. Make my invention happen (it’s been poo-pooed by many but I still believe)

16. Take a holiday (on top of the quick NZ trip we are going on in Feb)

So there is a general idea of things I would like to achieve. No particular order - although Georgie and I are meeting on Thursday to discuss our business idea - but some are obviously to be done regularly like reading books, attending to this blog and taking more photos.

I want to stress that this is not the list of an ambitious person. I don't think anyone that knows me would say I am ambitious. I am imaginative and I am optimistic, mostly, hence this list. Ambitious is a superlative I think should be reserved for people who made their childhood dreams come true after years and years of hard work. This little project of mine is my desperate attempt to avoid having a long bucket list. I don't want to be older than I am now still wishing I had done all those things I wish I had done years ago. I've wasted enough time. The time to get things done is now.

Let's go!

First things first...I'm inherently unable to concentrate on one thing at a time. I sometimes wonder whether, if born into today's world, I would have been identified as having A.D.H.D.. I used to call it multi-tasking, but I have come to realise it is just plain old disorganisation and erratic behaviour.
My sister-in-law tells me that multi-tasking is in fact not very productive. Well I knew that! As much as I pile on my plate sometimes, I really don't get very far. And many a project has fallen by the wayside in a wake of mess and frenzy. In the past I have just forgiven myself, packed up the mess and moved on to...well, nothing. Not this year. Not in 2012. Projects, all of these New Year Resolutions I have made (publicly no less), will be, at the very least, attempted and given a good red-hot go.
I turn 27 in a few weeks and hope to make this year my big year. 2010 was a pretty big year - I married Pete and gave birth to our son Lennon - but that was so...approximately 15 months ago. I can't rest on that year's coattails any longer.