April 2012

We're coming to the end of the Easter holidays and I think everyone is ready to go back to school.....Hmmm :)
We've been clearing our the veggie garden and I know it looks pretty raggedy but it was covered in weeds and it was a BIG job getting it cleared out. We've planted some cabbage, silverbeet, leeks and cauliflower, yummy winter veggies if the frost doesn't get to them!

I've been doing a bit of sewing too. First is a pair of pants for Mary using a 'upcycled' pair of ladies jeans. The denim was really soft and has some stretch to it so it was perfect for the "Neat Beat" pants from Ottobre 6/2009. It has a flat fron and a flared leg which you can see more in the second picture, I really like the way they sit. The flat front and elastic back was a little tricky to work out but now I've made them once I'm keen to make some more!

All the girls love nighties and this spotty cotton knit from Spotlight is really warm and snuggly, perfect for nighties. I made Hannahs first and realised it could have done with a bit of extra length but then I made Becks and went a bit overboard! Oh well, it'll last her all winter.

I finally got around to making an insulated lunch bag with some drill from Spotlight, Insul-brite and iron on pellon. I quilted through all the layers except the linning and I'm undecided whether I think it's too thick? I think I'll use a lighter weight pellon next time. I've been meaning to make something like this for a while so that all the little containers of yoghurt, fruit salad etc stand up straight in their bags and not tipped to the side which was happening with their lunchboxes. It's fully machine washable too as I know it's going to get grubby!!

Lastly is a picture of Mary with her chicken puppet from a cute Easter book that Grandma sent down for her. She loves sticking things up on the railings of the bunk and I often find all sorts of things hanging off there once she's gone to bed.
Oh and just because it's cute I found this picture while going through some old photos....can you believe they were ever that small!

A few arty photos by Mum

No trip to the beach is complete without a few arty shots by Mum.....

Easter camping

Well, what an adventure! This was our first camping trip as a family.....in tents! We headed out past Burnie to a little place called Somerset which is on the coast. We didn't want to go too far in case things turned sour and we needed to head home.....turns out this was a wise move!
We left after school on the Thursday and with the car loaded high we headed west.....by the time we got there the sun was setting and we quickly set up the tents and had everything ready to go for the night. We were staying at a caravan park right at the back in the unpowered section and it was a lovely quiet spot.
Pizza was our dinner of choice and a fun treat by the light of a full moon.
The girls settled in to bed soon after and amazingly slept the whole night through with no incident! I was rather impressed :)
The next morning we went exploring and found a beautiful state forest in Oldina. By chance we met up with some members from Burnie branch who were camping there over the weekend and spent a few hours having a yummy lunch with them and burning marshmallows.
We then drove further west to see some beaches that we'd heard of, Boat Harbour and Sisters Beach. Both were stunning but the weather was coming over and it was getting a bit windy and dark.
After we arrived back at the camp we cooked up a dinner of hamburgers and hot chocolates and to our better judgements we settled down for the night. It started to rain as we had feared and the steady drip drip turned into a bit of a flood and our tent started to leak rather badly. The girls tent was fine and they had been almost asleep but we decided that it was time to pack up. We bundled the girls into the car safe and dry and in the pouring rain packed up the tents and everything, it was rather a laugh!
We arrived home after 10 after a pit stop at McDonalds to refuel and tucked the girls safely into their beds.
All in all it was a fun time and we look forward to seeing more of our beautiful island with more camping trips.  

Boy Scout Daddy setting up our tent

Hannah on the playthings

Mary the monkey

Oldina state forest, so magical!

Mary under a giant prehistoric fern

Becky toasting marshmallows

Braving the wind at Boat Harbour

The three sisters at Sisters Beach

Becky the beautiful

Daddy at the beach

Hot chocolate on the "campfire" before the rain started!