Friday on my mind

I haven't been out and about in the blogging world lately. I've been working more than I am used to, which means yay for money, but boo for blogging. I don't know how full-timers do it, I really don't, I'm only working a couple of days a week and between that and kinder-gym and play dates and grocery shopping and never ending renovations I feel completely swamped. Anyway.

Tomorrow is our babe's second birthday! Ever since her cousin's birthday about 5 weeks ago she has been obsessed with birthday cakes, and "'appy birdy cake' in particular, and the singing, and the blowing of the candles (the 'camels,' hehehe!) and so on, so we are going to have a little festival of SP, and of cake (two cakes, in fact, one tomorrow which is baking right now, and one on Saturday at her party), with added balloons and bubbles. Should be fun! I have been slack on the photography front lately, so instead of sharing any of my own pictures here are some of the images I have been saving on Pinterest to give me ideas for our little girl's big day.

I'm going to start blowing up balloons as soon as this post is up so that we can do this in the doorway for the morning:

Source: treyandlucy.blogspot.com via Katie on Pinterest

And yet more balloons will be strung out on the patio like this:

Source: ohjoy.blogs.com via Katie on Pinterest

And her cake - at least the party cake - will be an extravaganza of sprinkles:

Source: raspberricupcakes.com via Katie on Pinterest

And of food colouring:

Source: sugarspicedesign.blogspot.com via Katie on Pinterest

And be based on a little bird:

Source: etsy.com via Katie on Pinterest

Anyway, it's late and I must get puffing on those balloons, but isn't it a parental tradition to be doing birthday prep at midnight?

Indoor camping

I am sparing you all my over-excited ramblings about home grown mushrooms tonight ( I think I might be the only one who cares. And there are none in the box right now, anyway), and say instead 'look, look! I actually made something!' Sewing and crafting are one thing that has been missing in my life since SP fell into it, and, I confess, that I tried to cut out the first fabric triangle for this project while my 19 month old was awake and roaming about and I very quickly remembered why I don't do this kind of thing while she is around normally. Got just a wee bit frustrated. Lucky for her that she's cute! Ahem. Long story short, I put the scissors aside until she was in bed later that night.

I told you the other day that I've developed an obsession for children's indoor teepees (and outdoor bean teepees). I've even been collecting pictures of them. I decided I was going to have a go at making one myself, since it was only a few dowels and a couple of big fabric triangles, and I have a sewing machine gathering dust in the back of the cupboard. It was actually pretty easy to construct (once the SP was in bed!), just don't look too closely at the seams!


And I'm pretty sure my wee babe likes it and will have fun with it for years to come;


It even kind of folds up so we can store it more easily if we want to;

If I was a really dedicated blogger I'd draw up little 'How To' diagrams and write out instructions, but there are tutorials out there on the WWW already and I didn't follow any of them myself and I don't expect that anyone would really want one from me. But here's a couple of details just in case you are interested:
Materials were 4 x 180cm wooden dowels (18mm diameter), 1 x rubber band to hold them together at the top, and 2m each of three different cheap fabrics. I made the pyramid shape with the dowels and measured up the sides and cut my fabric to size. There are three, equal sized triangles of fabric for the back and sides and I used leftover fabric to make the door at the front. I stitched the sides together (with French seams which was probably unnecessary and a waste of time), leaving a hole at the top for the poles. I draped the fabric over the poles and hand-stitched the fabric to the poles along the seams in a couple of places to hold the whole lot together. That was it, pretty simple if you're at all craft-minded (and your eyes will be glazing over if you're not!)

The project was not quite as cheap as I would have liked. The dowels were a bit over $6 each, fabric varied between $4-$10/m and cost about $40 all together, all up the project cost a bit under $70 and about 4 hours of my time.

Gosh, feels good to actually make something! I should do it more often.

Two parter

Tonight's post has two halves which have absolutely nothing to do with each other :)

First up? I have become a bit obsessed with these:

Source: google.com via Katie on Pinterest

Source: mejin.tumblr.com via Katie on Pinterest

Oh yes. Teepees! Specifically, cute little fabric indoor teepees for kids. I am on a mission to make one for SP. I bought four 1.8m wooden dowels the other day, and today I had a whole entire afternoon to myself to go shopping in the city and I got some fabric to make the outside of the teepee with. I've decided on a bit of a retro, green theme.


I apologise for the crappy photos, this seems to be becoming a recurring Saturday night theme (uploading bad photos, that is). So tonight I have put my dowels together in a teepee shape and measured the triangles and have drawn up a wee diagram. I'd love to get cutting and sewing tonight too, except my sewing machine is all packed away and it's 11:48pm and I'm off to a friend's wedding tomorrow, so I think just this once I shall have to be sensible and put the scissors and thread away for now. I am looking forward to working on my project during the week, though, I haven't really done anything creative in aaaages.

And now, for part two, and what else would I talk about on a Saturday night other than...wait for it... mushrooms! How cool is this?!

One week ago:

Two days ago:

Tonight!

Looks like it's the Portabello half which started before the white half. Chef D will be pretty happy about that; it's the brown Portabellos which he prefers. I think we might be picking the first of our mushroom in just a couple more days.

Gardening with toddlers.

SP and I went shopping today, and our last stop was at the Giant Hardware Store, so I could spend too much money there (again). SP had had enough of shopping by this stage and I spent most of the time we were in there picking up debris pilfered from my handbag and then dropped over the side of the shopping cart. So I rushed around, as you tend to do when out with a toddler, and along with all the other planned purchases I impulse bought a 'Panama Red' grafted passionfruit vine, figuring it could go alongside the other black passionfruit vine I'm hoping will cover the fence. Then we left and went home. SP roamed about the garden while I unloaded everything from the boot of the car, and then I went to water my new plants...


Oh. Crap. For a hopeful second I thought my new passionfruit had just been yanked out of the pot, but no, it was snapped in half as well and below the graft too. Thank you, SP. We owned that plant intact for approximately 40 minutes, which I think might be a new record for a plant death in our garden.
But, hope springs eternal (it must, when you are a parent, and when you are a gardener too; I think we are inherently optimistic people) and as we were about to rush off to a dinner date I shoved the stems and roots back in the pot and I'll have another look at it tomorrow to see if I can try my hand at grafting and rescue it. Maybe? Possibly? Or see if it will send out shoots from the top section of the graft? Gah, I don't know!


Here's a photo of the culprit as she contemplates destroying my baby beans or pulling out a bok choy instead...


What are the keys to gardening with toddlers? Only that you need patience, tolerance, a sense of humour, and to try not to get too upset when plants are pulled out, or sat on, or trodden on. It's all terribly interesting when you are 18 months old after all, even when you have the attention span of a mayfly.

Do you recognise that child?

That's right, that's my very own Small Person, gracing the 'Dear Essence' pages of the ABA's Essence magazine. Some months ago I read an article in Essence which struck me so deeply I felt compelled to write a letter in response to it and send it in, something I've never done before to any kind of publication.

Now, I must say that I'm not particularly evangelical about breastfeeding. Feeding Emi was difficult for a very long time, and often still is for a variety of reasons I won't bore you with, and quite often I feel more of a martyr to breastfeeding rather than a supporter of it. Nevertheless, I have pushed on because I knew I would feel more guilty if I stopped - what would be worse? The guilt from not enjoying something you are supposed to, or the guilt from giving up? - so here we are nearly 18 months on. Anyway, we go down, we go up, we go back down again, and then my letter gets published and we go back up again, and so on although for how much longer I couldn't say.

So here was what I wrote - to save you from squinting at the screen to read the photo! - in all it's uber-formal glory:

Kim Lock’s article, ‘Breastfeeding to sleep,’ came at the perfect time; I read it less than two hours after hearing my first negative comment about breastfeeding toddlers. Imagine if this negative person learnt our 15-month-old daughter, Emi, sleeps in our bed as well! Sometimes, when you parent in a way that is outside the norm, it can be difficult not to feel you might be doing things the wrong way. Like Kim’s child, Emi is ‘wakeful.’ I have been told many times that I need to be ‘doing something’ to put a stop to her waking, and I need to resist the feelings of inadequacy; this is particularly difficult when we have had a long night and been woken 6, 7, 8, or more times, and I have found myself feeding her back to sleep for the majority of those wakings. It was refreshing and reassuring to read Kim’s story, to know that other people parent the way we do, and that it’s OK and normal. I will never regret having our girl in between us in bed at night, and even though I would dearly love an uninterrupted night of sleep, I love having her there curled up safe and warm beside me. I know it is the best place for her to be.

I'm quite chuffed; I'm officially published!

This is very deliberately not a mama-blog, however since I've digressed from that today indulge me while I show you my new idea for something fun for SP.

The other day the fitted sheet on our bed ripped straight down the middle. Muttering to myself, I washed it anyway and wondered what I could do with all the fabric that was still OK. I hung it over a clothes rack and my girl ran underneath and we played peekaboo through the folds, and then it came to me: I'll make an indoor cubby house with it! I'm not sure how yet, and I think I'll need to dig through the rest of my stash to find extra fabric, and I'm tossing up between a teepee-type cubby or a more traditional house shape, but I think it should be fun and SP will love the extra hidey-hole.

12 days until Spring!

Good Morning!

Nothing quite like a hot cuppa on a cold June morning, is there?




[SP at 15+ months old]

Letter for SP

My Most Gorgeous Emi, 

Tomorrow, at 3:05pm, you will be one. I can't believe it; where has the year gone? The first six months were such a blur of feedingsleepingchangingfeedingbathingsleeping. The next six months slowed down a little and we have had more time to really appreciate the sunny little personality, our Goodwill Ambassador, that you have become. 

At 12 months you are cruising freely about the furniture and walls. You can be a little hyperactive at times; you rarely sit still. You have discovered animals recently, and greet them with screams of excitement. You are a happy little ball of energy, our Energizer Bunny. We call you Munchie, or Munchen, or Munch. We also call you Crazy-Emi, Destructo, Cyclone Emi, and Danger Mouse.

You're quite little compared to most babies your age: light as a feather, a wisp of grass. You eat everything we try, but not usually a lot of it, like a little bird. You only have two bottom teeth, but this doesn't slow you down. The only food you have trouble with is leafy things, which make you gag every time! You love toast, ham, and cheese, and would eat your body weight in mango and papaya if allowed. 

Your favourite toys right now are Tompee the Elephant and Oggie the Dog. You rush up to them with a squeal and hug them tightly to your chest whenever you see them. If you're tired, you lay your head down on them, using them like a pillow. 

When I pretend to eat your hands you think I'm hilarious. 

When you were tiny, you would make a high pitched squeak while you were sleeping which sounded exactly like one of Auntie Susan's monkeys, Peter. You're very chatty now. Sometimes you sound like a parrot! You say 'Nom Nom' when you want some food, and 'Ta Da!' when prompted, flinging your hands in the air. 

I think you are a performer, like your Auntie Annie. I'm sure you do some things just to make us laugh; you're so funny!

We just adore you. You are our Adora-Bubble, our Gorgeous Babe. I can't imagine life without you, my Covered-in-Kisses, Little-Gorgeous, our Lady of 1000 Names.

Love you to the End of the Earth and back again, 

From Me. xxx

Our Masterpiece.

Lots of pictures, masses of them, in fact (over 30, you have been warned). Our baby's first cake was a triumph of Artist meets Chef. I don't want to be too smug, but we were pretty impressed with ourselves by the time it was finished. I made the cake (Strawberry flavoured, if you're not from the US you'll need to un-Americanise the recipe), D and I iced it together, taking turns with the fiddly bits and bickering over who got to do the black parts.

The inspiration was a doll given to SP by a friend when she was about 5 months old.

And strawberries, because our girl loves strawberries.

I had a play with some fondant.

And was very satisfied with my black icing.

SP supervised from the recycling basket.

I have never smoothed a cake batter down so thoroughly.

I cut out the pattern.

Enter Chef.

Steady Hands.

Supervisor-SP needed a better look.

Crumb layer.

Tracing the pattern.

Starting the tricky bit.

I recommend having a practise go with the piping bag before you begin.

Especially with the finer work.

Then you may start.

Gorgeous, lurid red.

Taking shape.

At 1:30am this morning...

Not bad!

D-Day. Or is that B-Day? Adding some finishing touches.

With her inspiration.

The fatal cuts.

Half gone already.

Dishing Up.

Taste test! Hmmm. It's not bad.

Love you, my most gorgeous birthday girl xx