my hands don’t stop

What’s that saying??? Something about idle hands being the devil’s playthings??? Never going to happen to me. Here’s what I’ve been playing with for the last few days:

A new case for my camera…

 

A new ‘sock’ for my phone…

And another handtowel. Which is headed for my Madeit shop. I’m also thinking of listing a few of my beaded bits and pieces over there.

We’re home again in Toowoomba. Missing the family but at the same time it’s nice to be in our own space doing our own thing again. Pete’s got an assignment to do that’s attached to the prac he just finished. It’s due next Friday but I’m really hoping he’s finished with it before then.

Next week sometime, it looks like we may be making a flying visit to the Gold Coast. Pete may have a very fortuitous day of work, which will do wonders to our Perth spending money stockpile.

Speaking of which (Perth, not the money) it’s only 19 more sleeps till we fly away! In that time I have soooo much to do. We’ve got family photos at Portrait Place on Friday; I’ve got to get in touch with the daycare centre I want to get Mayana into next year and see if I can get a spot/go on a waiting list to get a spot; get in touch with uni and enrol out of Arts and back into Education; begin planning Mayana’s first birthday party, as we only get home 2 weeks before it; finish off some beading christmas orders; catch up with uni friends before they all choof off to their new teaching lives… and there’s so much more around the house, sewing that’s calling me… cleaning that needs to be done… Plus we have to go out to Mundubbera for my cousin’s baby shower!!!  Phew!!!

Like I said… you won’t ever find these hands idle.

My beautiful sister…

Well my gorgeous lil sister Alexie had her school formal on Saturday. School is done and dusted for her… she is moving into a new era and is really growing up!

She looked so incredible on Saturday.. I couldn’t believe it was my little sister! She really did look so grown up and gorgeous… here’s the proof!

The gorgeous graduate. Featuring especially designed jewellery by yours truly, of course. I have to show you some photos of what I made for her… I’m pretty proud of it.     The whole family got to go out to pre-dinner drinks, so we all dressed to the nines and got some lovely family shots while we were at it.

My sisters, my daughter and I… the only good full-length shot I’ve got of Alexie on my camera.

The family. Mama, Bethanie, Papa, Alexie, Me + Mayana, Jordan, Pete, Lockey (B’s boyfriend).

Me with my gorgeous husband and daughter 

two gorgeous princesses…

10 months

The Mayana Berry was 10 months old on Wednesday. Double figures! I’m really loving this stage. I love every stage.. I can honestly say that I have enjoyed every different stage my baby has gone through so far. But this age is just SO much fun! Mayana has so much personality and she’s so cheeky and she’s just a lot of fun to have around.

She’s well and truly on the move. She can really take off when she’s crawling and she loves to hide and crawl under and through things. She really keeps us on our feet. She stands up on anything that stays still for long enough and walks around holding onto furniture and loves her walker. She can stand up on her own in the middle of the floor and can take one step. I don’t think walking is too far away!

She is so cheeky and his this most awesome crooked smile that she pulls when she knows she’s being a little bit naughty. It’s hard to be stern with her when she pulls that one! She’s really starting to understand what we’re saying to her and responding to us. For example, she constantly puts things in her mouth, but now, if we go up to her and say, “Mayana spit it out!” she immediately pokes her tongue out and spits whatever it was into our hands. If you ask her for a cuddle she snuggles into you, puts her little arms around you and pats your shoulder, as if to say, “I love you!”.

Her favourite word is “Jack!” which means dog. Jack is one of my parent’s dogs and Mayana loves him. So now, all dogs are Jack- any shape or size. Even if she hears a dog bark across the street she will sit up and point and exclaim, “JACK!!!”. The other day a barking dog woke her up early in the morning and we hear her over the monitor mumbling, “Jack… Uh-Uh Jack!!” in her croaky morning voice. It was so cute!

She also says (in context), Mama, Papa, Opa, dat (that- when pointing at things), dere (there- when we play peek-a-boo..- as in there she is!), ta, and Bah- (which is the word we say when she does a stinky nappy).

She is obsessed with her Kami (my mum). If she has to make a choice between Mama and Kami, Kami wins almost every time. She also thinks Opa is pretty special, and thinks Oom Jordan is hilarious. My brother and sisters love how she recognises and knows exactly who they are now, and has little games and things that she does especially with each of them.

She learns so much every day and every day is just a huge adventure with her. She finds everything so exciting.

She really is such a delightful child. There’s no other way to put it. She lights up a room with her cheeky toothy grin and massive baby-blues. She loves freely and fully and melts my heart every day.

There is nothing better than the feeling of those chubby little arms creeping around my neck as she snuggles into me, patting my back.

I love her to bits, and I would not have life any other way.

Happy 10 months, precious daughter of mine.

Proud doesn’t even cut it!

(Alexie front row, fourth from right)

Last night my precious littlest sister Alexie officially graduated year twelve. I can’t even believe it. She’s so grown up and gorgeous and I’m so proud of her.

She won an armful of awards, including the prestigious Peter Slipper award for contribution to the Arts. She duxed a few of her subjects. And she also achieved her Certificate III in Music! She’s awesome! 

(Alexie, middle front)

Alexie, I’m so proud of you babe, you have so much in your future, and I can’t wait to see what you achieve! I also can’t wait to see you all dolled up for your formal on Saturday. You’re going to be soooo HOT!

  I’m also proud of my lil bro Jordan. He also won a swag of awards last night, including duxing a few of his subject. But most impressively, my little brother has been elected Vice Captain of the College for 2010!!! Go Jordan!

(Jordan, the one in the middle of the photo, showing off, as per usual)

So if my head looks big right now, you’ll know why…

too close to home

This week, two people have been killed on Sunshine Coast roads. On some of the exact roads that my family travels on every single day. Roads that I have travelled on, with my baby, a number of times over the last week.

I saw one of the accidents, my sister saw the other. We didn’t see them happen, we saw the aftermath. And I wish we didn’t.

It feels too close to home, knowing that these were just normal people, driving in normal cars, travelling normal roads that we travel all the time. They got out of bed, went about their days.. would you ever suspect it would be your last? I wouldn’t.

Please everyone, drive safely. Be aware of what’s going on around you. It’s just happening too much lately, we don’t need any more people to be killed on our roads.

crochet queen

Okay, so maybe not. I’m just a beginner afterall.. but I’ve unleashed a beast. I LOVE crocheting! Endless possibilities… I’m a little addicted.

Aside from my cutsie crocheted flower headbands, this is some of what I’ve been doing:

My first ‘granny square’. I’ve been finding awesome patterns and youtube vids and teaching myself. I’m not sure what to do with this. I was thinking a scarf, but I bought el-cheapo wool to play with and I think it will be a bit scratchy. I might make a few more and make it into a cushion cover or something. Cute though, huh?

Grandma hand-towel. I love these. They’re super useful. We use them in both the kitchen and the bathroom. My Great-Grandma gave me a whole stack of them just before she died (which was just before I got married) and the ones she gave me have just about worn through. I got my Nanna to make me a stack more, and then decided that I wanted to learn how to do it too. She obligingly taught me. I actually remember her trying to teach me when I was about eight, once I got knitting down-pat. She got frustrated and gave up, because apparently I hold the crochet-hook wrong. But it works for me, and I got the hang of it quickly this time.

This handtowel is headed to the lovely Amy. I’m thinking of whipping up a few more and putting them on my madeit shop.

Any excuse to crochet! 

busy like a busy bee

Hello blog. Sorry for being sooooo neglectful lately. I’ve been so buys. So much to do. We’re staying on the coast at the moment, Pete’s doing prac.

I’m busy being a Mama as always. The Mayana Berry has been particularly inquisitive lately, and is doing lots of new things. Tomorrow, she will be 10 months old!! Amazing!

I’ve also been busy making. I’ve got some jewellery orders to work on, including formal jewellery for my lil sister’s formal on Saturday. She graduates tomorrow!!! I’ve also become slightly addicted to crocheting. It’s so cool!

I started off with making handtowels.. you know like the ones grandmas make … a tea towel with the crocheted top that buttons over the oven handle?? I’ll have to take some photos of the ones I’ve done. My Nanna taught me how to do it. Then she taught me to make flowers, and I have used them to add to my collection of baby headbands and hairclips for sale! Now I’m thinking about Christmas decorations, camera pouches… the lists are endless!

I’ve also made a prototype of a sleeping bag. Mayana will be keeping this one, it’s not quite right but it’s helped me figure out how to make it perfect. So at some stage I’m hoping to get more of them made. I also have to work on Mayana’s Christmas dress so it’s ready for her to wear for our family portrait which is booked for when we get home.

So unfortunately my poor little blog is being neglected. But once all these projects are completed, this blog won’t know what’s hit it with all the pics I’ll have for it!

So stay tuned…

In the meantime, go check out my madeit store: www.madeit.com.au/particularlyzoey and have a look what I’ve been working on!

Zoey x

I love breakfast dates

My gorgeous husband took me out to breakfast today! Mayana berry is with her Kami and Opa. This is what's left of our strawberries and honeyed cream... Yum! Now off to the movies. I love dates!

I just finished reading…

‘A Pocketful of Pearls’ by Shelley Bates. I really enjoyed it.

It tells the tale of Dinah Traynell, a woman brought up in the (fictional) cult/sect, “The Elect”. It’s one of those sects that are “Christian” but do not live a Christ-like life. Where the men are basically God’s mouthpiece and the women are nothing much. The leader of their area is called ‘The Shepherd’, and he is seen as their direct link to God. I promise you, he is not a Godly man.

The beginning of the story sees Dinah at her father’s funeral. Her sister has recently been ‘silenced’ (shunned) as she became pregnant outside of marriage. Her mother has major issues, and the two of them don’t get along. Enter Matthew Nichols. He appears this night, and Dinah decides to employ him as a hired man. He is actually a professor, but after a false accusation of sexual abuse, he lost his job and decided to go on a road trip. However, his car broke down, and his savings quickly dwindled, and by the time he gets to Dinah he is looking quite vagrant-like, is starving and needs help.

In a series of twists and turns the two of them somehow manage to help each other through weird times in each of their lives, including when Dinah’s sister abandons her baby to their care.

There’s some pretty full-on themes in the story, some crazy cult-related happenings.

I really quite enjoyed reading it. And whilst adding it to my Shelfari bookshelf, I discovered that it’s actually part of a trilogy… so I will have to keep an eye out!

The Cruicible

Yesterday I got the opportunity to go to Brisbane with my brother and sister’s school and see “The Cruicible” at the QPAC theatre. I used to go to lots of live theatre with my school drama classes. Lots. I’ve been to nearly none since finishing school. It’s so sad. And yesterday I realised how much I miss it!

The Cruicible was fantastic. It’s not a fun story, it’s pretty dark and has some intensely deep themes, but it definitely makes you think. And it was SO well done. The actors were fantastic, the set and lighting was amazing…. I just loved having the opportunity to experience it. There were some pretty renowned actors in it too. The gorgeous James Stewart, who plays Jake in “Packed to the Rafters”, Paul Bishop who used to be Ben in “Blue Heelers” and Andrew Buchanan who starred in Sea Patrol for a few seasons, as well as a number of seasoned stage actors who have been around for a long time. Pretty cool huh!? James Stewart is seriously hunky. All the highschool girls majorly swooned when he walked on the stage. He played the Reverend Hale for those who know the story, and did a fabulous job.

The story is crazy. You just can’t get over the ridiculousness of it, but when you think about it, it happens every day in our society, in our media.. If you don’t know the story, click the link up there and have a read. Or I’m pretty sure there’s a movie version of it you could hire out.

If you have seen/read it… tell me what you think.. Was witchcraft REALLY rife in the Salem? Were the girls really seeing/being affected by spirits, or did their make-believe just become hysteria, each of them fuelling the others into ever greater delusions. Did they really see anything that day in the forest, or did they just pretend it all so they wouldn’t get in trouble for dancing naked? Or was there magic mushrooms in the ‘brew’? So many questions.. so much unresolved.. what’s your take?

I’m leaning towards the magic mushrooms delusions. Making up stories to get themselves out of trouble. It all starting off as a game and spiralling out of control to a point where it was too huge for the girls to reel back in. And I think Abigail was just vindictive and evil.

Either way.. the insanity of it all is overwhelming. Condemning good and decent Christian people to death over the claims of silly girls. Freeing them if they ‘confess’ to once working for the devil but having now turned back to God, murdering them if they stand firm in their convictions and insist that they have only ever been good, Christian people. Hanging anyone who realises what is going on and dares to stand up and question the courts. Craziness!

Oh I love the theatre. I really should make the effort to go much more often.