Easter Monday To-Do List and BIG Plans

tea, iron, sew, tea, chocolate, knit, tea, cook, draw and did I mention tea?

That's it pretty much. Its been fairly manic around here so I'm looking forward to a day of pleasure; except for that big iron in the top-left which is not my favorite chore but when your husband decides the wardrobe and drawers must be malfunctioning... needs must.

The knitting is a jumper I'm making for E. The pattern is from the March 2011 copy of Lets Knit (not a magazine I usually buy but the pattern is sooooo delicious!).  It has lovely little knots (the photo isn't as clear as I would have liked) which give the fabric a beautiful texture and grain. And the yarn really is quite special. It is Sirdar Crofter DK in Granary 57. It knits up with a beautiful fair-isle style finish which looks more clear on smaller items than this. I've had so many people comment on it as I knit! I'm thrilled with the finish- a light summer weight with a lovely stitch definition. I will try to remember to post a final picture when I finish.

 I've let the cat out of the bag properly on Facebook now so I guess I can safely say that our plans are to move to the USA.  M has a greencard application pending which we have to wait for the next step. Our house is under offer and on the verge of exchange of contracts. So we are going to move a lot closer to M's work until we are within a couple months of emigrating, then we will (thanks to the very generous and gracious kindness of my in laws) live with M's parents until we have a set moving date.  At present it looks to be early 2013 God willing.

I can't wait. Literally cannot wait. I want to be able to go down the road and knock on a door and find myself a home where I know I will be welcome and loved. Where there is no tension or fear of judgement. I want to be able to talk about my family and loved ones with other people who know and love them too. I've missed so many years of being with them all I know going home now will be very different and nothing will bring my Mom or brother back but I can make the most of those moments I have left with the rest of the people I hold dear. This year can't go quickly enough for me.

X Jo

Sunshine, Friendship and Cake

There are some weeks when all the most wonderful things come together. They are unusual in their beauty and pleasure. Time passes slowly as every minute is filled with fellowship and the bliss of being with great friends. This last week has been so brilliantly memorable I expect it will take us a while to wear out the warm glow left behind.

So monday through friday went like this:

cooking, sunshine, cooking, cooking, sunshine, sleep

sunshine, reading, friends, sunshine, walk, play, icecream, sunshine, games, sleep.

sunshine, beach, picnic, sunshine, beach, rollerblades, sushine, park, ribs, games, sleep.

 

 sunshine, pancakes, gifts, Longleat, picnic, sunshine, play, fun, animals, Alice's tea, games, sleep.

sunshine, park, sunshine, goodbye, misssing, sleep.

X Jo

Follow the White Rabbit

Things are getting curiouser and curiouser around here.

  

Kitty turns 13 years old very shortly and we are expecting her cousin and best friend (Ruth) down for a few days with her mother (the loveliest most gentle person I know) and we are so excited. Kitty didn't want a party as such she just wanted to spend some time with Ruth and when her mum suggested they both come down for a few days visit it was the perfect opportunity to get together.

I've been secretly planning an Alice in Wonderland party for some time since we took out the stunning book Paper Cuts by Taylor Haggerty from the library. So while the girls were recently with their grandparents for a little break I cracked out the pva glue and string and started to create a little bit of wonderland for our home.

The White Rabbit:

This scrumptious little man is a Lindt chocolate rabbit. A middle size one (500g) which this time of year are fairly easy to come by in a large supermarket. I wrapped him well in cling film so that there was no chance for the PVA glue and acrylic paint to taint the chocolate. I then paper mache'd him up with a layer of white tissue using Decopatch glossy glue; a little slightly thinned PVA glue would have been cheaper and just as good but I had the decopatch to hand and I didn't have the PVA. Because white tissue is so transparent when used like this I then covered him with a layer of white acrylic paint followed with a final layer of white tissue and glue once the paint had dried.

His snappy little suit I painted on using acrylics in two shades of green, blue, brown and a tiny bit of yellow for his buttons. I based it on John Tenniel's original illustrations of the white rabbit.

The straws and gift bags:

Sourced from the lovely products at Project Pretty She will personalize flags and stickers for the bags and straws but I chose to make my own eat me/ drink me tags from Cath Kidston stickers I had hanging around.

  

This adorable fellow is a friend of the Mad Hatter and likes to sleep in tea pots. He came from the wonderfully creative Etsy shop Quernus Crafts and has been resident with us for only a few weeks.

X Jo

Embarrassment

I am intermittently a clumsy person. I've known it most my life. From the time that I tried balancing along a tree branch (it doesn't just hurt for blokes!) to tripping down the cinema stairs last Friday. I will be a perfectly normal person for a few months before I morph into my alternative personality and begin banging my head into things, tripping over air and fumbling with innocuous objects. My early relationship with Matt was a miracle in survival and love- we were like Laurel and Hardy. Between me accidentally kneeing Matt in the head and on to getting a black eye when I inexplicably rammed my eye into his elbow the poor man still married me.

So in the last week I have:

•  dropped a cake
•  fallen down stairs
•  poked Matt in the eye while he was driving
•  dropped a teacup in a shop which managed to fall against a cake stand and a pile of plates: breaking six objects.
•  walked into a door

The long and short of it all is that I broke the glass of my phone. So for all my bragging my last post... I still dropped it while checking my messages and my beautiful little case did nothing to save it. Traitor.

Hands free

I like to carry my smart phone with me everywhere.

Not because I get calls... I get one or two a day (almost always from Matt).

Not because I have interesting apps (Windows 7 phone- was great but now getting a bit glitchy).

I just love it's carry case!!!

This was cross stitched onto cream evenweave and then just sewn with a felt lining to the right size with a ribbon for carrying. The design is by Kerry Morgan and can be found in Cross Stitcher isssue 247.  It has this adorable title line which you can personalize. Mine says "California Dreaming" and who can resist a classic? Not to mention; I do... dream of CA that is.

I love it. I don't have to scrabble in my bag looking for it, forgetting it on coffee shop tables, setting it down somewhere in the house where it disappears into the background because of the bland black colour, or (and yes sadly I have done this before) put it in my pocket where it slips out just as I go to use the loo!! No not for me because... THERE! SEE IT? My phone hangs sweetly from my wrist. 

I got approached by a bloke in the music industry who wanted me to make him some (500) to include with parcels he wanted to send out. After controlling my initial surprise and telling him it wasn't my design to sell I asked him how much he thought it was worth per item... Well let me just say that men in the music industry clearly have no clue how long it takes to produce a small cross stitch pattern because his assumption was grossly undervaluing my time not to mention Kerry's lovely design! 

So if you see me strolling down the sidewalk with my arm waving in the air crazily: I'm not hitchhiking/distressed/mad/having a heart attack. I just want everyone to look at my uber-awesome phone case!

X  Jo

Obsession #1 and #2

Obsession #1:

I'm still playing with my Momma's photos. At the moment I'm putting all the older ones (which have been shoved in boxes and envelopes in cupboards and basements for who knows how long) the safety and security of an acid free home.

Obsession #2:

Prismacolour Pencils.

'Nuff said.

Ohh how I wish that all these pesky little issues like feeding people, homeschooling and keeping a house tidy would just disappear so I could properly obsess.

**Sigh**

Verde Huevos y Jamon

We've been sooooooo so busy. Whew. Little bits of Spring seem to be creeping into our space. Snowdrop coated spaces, the buds are swelling on the magnolia tree and the grass looks just that little bit greener. Not that I expect it to last. We still have March to get through before the nice weather will set in in earnest in these parts.

I would like to share with you a little home school joy!

SPANISH:

I'm not sure why I never thought of it- or have never heared of it before- but the girls decided they were getting a bit of Rosetta Stone Fatigue (an illness that makes you whine when its you're turn to get on the computer for your Spanish lesson) so they chose books from the picture book section of our multitude of book shelves to translate into Spanish! They have had so much fun, the excitement during Spanish lessons is palpable.

So for last week Kitty has been translating a book called George and the Dragon by Christopher Wormell.  It is a gorgeous story about a mouse named George who moves in next to a dragon. It is very British in its situations and language (George declares "Oh blow!" when the dragon cant lend him sugar for his cup of tea) and completely charming. It has always been one of Kitty's favorite story books and I couldn't count the number of times I discovered her reading it to her sisters.

Esther has been translating Green Eggs and Ham by Dr Seuss. That has been so much fun. I cannot get out of my head : "Yo no gusto verde huevos y jamon. Yo no gusto Sam I Am."  I'm driving my family nuts every time I spontaneously burst into Seuss en Espanol.

 BTW I am Loving this months Mollie Makes. Best issue yet!