CHICKENS & DUCKS

It's been a while since the chickens have featured here in my blog.

They are the most relaxing creatures to be around, and are a constant form of entertainment.

If you don't own chickens, you might want to turn away now.

If you do, you will appreciate my love for these little critters!

Living amongst my chooks are 4 beautiful ducks, which no doubt you would have seen here before.

They are much more timid than the chickens, and will definitely keep their distance from people.

But they are so gorgeous to watch.

Did you know that only female ducks can give a good loud 'Quack!'?

The boys have more of a husky, whisper-like quack.

So here they are for your viewing pleasure.

(Oh, and a couple of goats thrown in too!)

Happy Wednesday!

AUSTRALIA DAY 2013

Australia Day.

A day to get together with family and friends, have a BBQ, a few beers (or ciders!) and chill out.

A day to appreciate this truly beautiful country we live in.

A day to wear temporary tattoos of the flag, wear clothing with the flag on it, a flag sombrero, or just wear a flag in some way!

A day to slather flouro zinc cream on your nose and shout "Aussie Aussie Aussie!" and know that someone will always reply "Oi Oi Oi!"

We didn't end up going to the Australia Day party that we usually go to.

It's always a blast, but for some reason I just feel pooped, like I'm still getting over the silly season plus the birthdays that follow it.

Instead we opted to stay at home with the kids pool and our barbie.

There was some games and an attempt at kite flying in the morning, 

then my sister and her family came over and we all chilled together.

Can I just take this opportunity to express just how much I love these guys?

I think I am so lucky to have such caring and genuine people in my family- people who I count among my best friends as well.

We havn't had such a nice day together in a while.

You know the days where you just sit and talk, and really catch up on what's been happening.

And just relax. It was good, really good.

 And Australia Day isn't Australia Day without the good old fireworks by the lake.

They were magnificent this year.

There's something about fireworks, something magical and I sit there oohing and aahing with the rest of the crowd.

I love every minute.

My photos were all crap because I forgot to bring my camera and the iphone can't handle the focus with fireworks! So this one is courtesy of The Courier.

All in all an awesome day.

How did you celebrate Australia Day?

BABY BELLY

Yesterday I had the privilege of photographing one of my best friends

(who also happens to be my sister-in-law)

She is 30 weeks pregnant with her first child.

Her waters broke last week, far far to early, which has resulted in an extended hospital

stay for her in Melbourne.

Not an ideal situation seeing as she was over here visiting from Kalgoorlie for the week, and her husband works in the mines over there.

I'm secretly delighted that she was over here when it happened, as all her family is here.

Imagine being stuck in a hospital on the opposite side of the country, with no one to visit

and keep you company.

So instead of taking the photos at my place as planned, we had to turn the hospital room into a studio and take the photos there!

I love how they've turned out. I've edited them so she doesn't feel too exposed here on my blog!

I plan on taking more over the next few weeks, if she lasts that long before having the baby.

Any suggestions for future shoots?

{52 WEEKS OF HAPPY} 10/52

Oops, missed a week. Typical.

I've been having a lovely time this week.

I have had the week off work, and I would like to be able to say that I've filled my time in wisely and efficiently, but unfortunatley that isn't the case.

I had a bad dose of kankles at the start of the week after a nasty sunburn on this day.

So of course I needed to sit watching movies and crocheting to cure that.

Then I just had a plain old lazy day on Tuesday.

Not a nice lazy day though, the kind where you really feel like you should be doing this or that,

but there just isn't a single bone in your body that is willing to help you get it done.

I disliked that day.

Yesterday I tried to make up for that before having to come back to work today.

So yeah, I got a little baking done and a small amount of cleaning.

Highlight of my week:

I bought a whole bunch of vintage fowler's jars to put all my baking goods into for my spectacular

butler's pantry that I will soon own!

It will look marvelous!

Today I bought a labeller.

No stopping me now.

I've been doing some other things too:

 1. I got some new lady ducks from this lovely lovely lass.

2. Have finished all the squares for Ryleah's blanket, now to crochet them together.

3. Giant cross stitch, just needs a border.

4. The awesome fowler's jars, ace new labels coming soon.

Joining in with Jen.

{While you're here, why not pop on over and follow my facebook page, it's getting a little lonely!} 

A TEENAGER IS IN THE HOUSE

Yesterday my boy turned 13, a teenager.

Finally! he said.

He is so desperate to grow up. I'd be quite happy for him to stay this age.

He is the most lovely, caring and considerate boy, who insists on hugs everyday.

He is so excited to be almost my height, he looks me right in the eye now without

having to stand on his tippy-toes!

He is growing at quite a rate at the moment and I'm not sure how it will feel having him taller than me,

quite strange I expect!

We celebrated his birthday by going to Adventure Park in Geelong with my sister and her kids.

We had a fantastic day, it's like a kid's dream there!

 We came home tired and sunburnt, and were met by the rest of our family for pizzas and drinks.

It's also my Mum's birthday on the same day so she had to blow the candles out as well.

Jesse had the most wonderful day, and just when he didn't think it could have gotten any better, he was given a present from my parents- something that he had wanted for a long time.

He burst into tears and held her for the longest time.

A mixture of a big day and being so happy had overwhelmed him and brought him to (happy) tears.

I love that he doesn't feel embarrassed or ashamed to express his emotions.

I hope he never changes.

It really doesn't feel like that long ago that I was holding him at the hospital, looking at the face of my tiny baby boy and wondering what he'd be like as he grew.

What he'd look like, what he'd be interested in.

I honestly couldn't be prouder of the young man he has grown to be.

Happy Birthday Jesse xx

A NEW YEAR, A NEW KITCHEN

My Dad is a clever guy.

He can build like a pro, and has some pretty amazing looking machinery in his shed.

He isn't a builder by trade, but perhaps he should have been.

He built the desk at Modern Vintage, and even made the timber bench tops by gluing, planing, sanding and lacquering small pieces of wood together.

Most recently he made my brother-in-law the most amazing table for his bar from red gum sleepers.

He's always helped me out with small jobs like new shelving and he even made me a screen printing bench, but lately, as he's stepped back from his shop, he's been yearning for a bigger job.

So...he's offered to re-do my kitchen.

Yep, the whole lot - cabinets, bench tops, everything.

I was so thrilled with the thought of timber bench tops! It's always been something I love.

But very quickly the plan has changed from simply renewing the cabinets to quite a large kitchen renovation.

All of a sudden we are knocking walls out, and extending our bedroom and laundry as well!

These are plans Ben and I have discussed before but were long ago put in the 'too big, too hard' box.

But Dad is keen. So I'm excited!!

I love my little kitchen the way it is now, but the renovations are going to open up the space and make the neighbouring room more functional.

We will have a big island bench, timber floors put down, and a butler's pantry.

At the moment I am going over everything in my head trying to figure out how it will all look, and the space I will have. There's string taped the the floor where walls will be to help visualise. I'm trying to figure out what cupboard space I need, what I would like in drawers rather than cupboards (nearly everything!), and how to lay out the pantry so it is as functional as possible.

There will be a place for everything!

I have of course been going crazy on Pinterest trying to find the exact look that I want.

It's fun but sometimes I look for too long and my brain starts to hurt so I need to

step away for a while. Haha!!

I'd really appreciate it if anyone has any tips for me, as in anything I should steer clear of or something that changed your life for the better.

This is my chance to get everything perfect!