The Project, Updated

Hello lovely readers. Please excuse my recent slackness. My exciting news is that I am on my final ever prac experience… my internship! So I have a pretty good excuse.

Internship means that we’re back at my Nana and Pop’s for six weeks, and Mayana is most happy to be spending the days with her Nana and Pop. Nana and Pop are most happy that little miss can now communicate with them. Mayana certainly keeps them on their toes though, she’s a total nutter, climbing and jumping off everything… she has no fear whatsoever, and has given us all a few extra grey hairs in the last few days. Tonight, for example, about half an hour after she’d gone to bed I heard a noise and went to check on her. She had climbed out of her bed (she was in a double bed), pulled open the set of drawers, climbed up them, and switched on the fan. Yeah. She’s been demoted from the spare bed and is spending the night in the portacot. Though I’m sure we’ll find her tomorrow morning having found a way to climb out of that, too.

Anyway, that’s not why I’m here. I wanted to stop by to update you all on the shed project that I told you about when I was on prac last. You know, the one where my Pop had purchased the dilapidated old cordial factory and was turning it into a house??  Well, it’s definitely looking a lot less like an old cordial factory, and more like a real live dwelling. I have to say, I was very impressed when I saw what Pop’s done. It’s gorgeous!!! But don’t take my word for it, here’s the proof!

‘Pop’s Lounge room’. It’s huge!!! The light fittings and fans look great, and the venetian blinds are very classy against the corrugated iron.

 The kitchen! Isn’t it beautiful!! I love it. In case you’re wondering, it’s from Bunnings. There were supposed to be kickboards going in, but we’ve all agreed that it gives it an entirely different look being off the ground like that, and I’m pretty sure it’s staying that way.

The main living area. Hasn’t Nana done an awesome job at choosing the colours?? The feature wall looks a but more purple than this in real life. And Pop’s little garden feature in the corner there is also very cool.

The view from the back. The big tanks have all gone, the roof has been painted and the solar panels have been installed. There will be a deck installed on the right hand side, and Nana and Pop’s motor home will live under the left hand side awning.
Pop has started on the bedrooms and bathroom, and Nana’s sewing room is nearly finished. I’m sure I’ll have another update or two in the two months that we’re here, so stay tuned!
All positive feedback will be passed on to the very proud renovator :-)

Can you point your fingers and do the twist?

Mayana can.

She can also stand on one foot and shake her hand; rock-a-bye her bear; roll down the sand dunes and do the knickerbocker number nine.

Yes, my daughter has discovered The Wiggles!

I’m most impressed that she can sit in front of a Wiggles concert DVD for over half an hour, and actually stay focussed on it. She stands up and sings, and follows all the actions.

I’m quite happy she likes the Wiggles. They do have educational value, and as far as kiddy music goes, they’re not so bad. I kind of love that the Wiggles are wowing their second generation of kids.

As yet she hasn’t been exposed to Dora, and I’m putting it off for as long as possible in the hopes that she won’t be interested – purely because that show drives me nuts!!! Same with In The Night Garden and the new Hi-5. So for now, we’re sticking to Wiggles and Vegie Tales.

Gotta love the classics!

Oh Happy Day!

Today was my very last day at uni!!!

Well, we are having a celebration day after prac, but this was our last day of actual learning at uni. I can’t believe it. As in, it really hasn’t sunk in yet, at all.

It’s been a long five years, for both Peter and I, and it’s so amazing to be at the end of it. At the end of one road, and at the beginning of a new and incredible journey. Far out!

I’ve loved this year. I was so nervous about starting this year with a bunch of strangers – my original cohort having graduated last year. But I can honestly say, I have loved being a part of this group of people, and I’m so proud to be part of their group of graduates. I have made wonderful friends, and I truly hope they’ll be a part of my life for many years. How soppy is that!!!

So it’s the end, but not really the end- and I think that’s why it hasn’t sunk in properly. I’ve still got one assignment to hand in by Monday, followed by 6 weeks of internship, then two more assignments. For now I’m going to try and focus on one thing at a time though. And today, I’m focussing on the fact that I no longer have to climb all those dang stairs in G-Block, I’ll never again have top poke at Peter to stop him falling asleep in lectures (okay so that only happened once and he had a pretty bad flu), and most of all that I had a fantastic last day.

weekend… (and other ramblings)

It was party time this weekend… we were back on the coast for a 60th birthday party and a 6th birthday party!

It was a bit of a whirlwind trip, but good fun. The worst bit was, we forgot our camera. And when I say ‘we’ I mean Peter. And yes I’m totally putting all of the blame on him.

But we had a lovely time, even if we are a little tired from it all. I don’t know about you, but we stayed up pretty late on election night, waiting to see if we would have any answers. The matter wasn’t helped too much by the fact that a certain little miss decided that 4am was a great time to wake up and play tickles with us. She seriously has never done that before – wake up ridiculously early and want to play – and my goodness I hope she never does it again!

So I don’t have any great shots to share with you of our lovely weekend, but I do have a couple that I took with my phone that I thought you might enjoy.

[Mayana deciding she’s now a big girl, and will ride the trolley accordingly]

[Latest fashion trend? And yes, she did this all by herself.]

[Giddy-up!] 

Sorry the quality’s not great, but the subject is as gorgeous as always!

The rest of our week is going to be crazy. It’s our last week ever of university classes! The thought hasn’t fully sunk in yet, but it’s pretty crazy to consider. We just have so much to do in the next four days that there’s just not time for it to sink in.

We start our internships next Monday, and in about eight weeks our degrees will be all over red rover!!

I’ve enjoyed this semester – even if has only been six week’s worth. We’ve formed a pretty close group of friends, and it will be sad to say goodbye.

I’m starting to get excited about the next chapter in our lives though!

Owl!! Hoo hoo!

That’s one of Mayana’s favourite things to say that the moment. She’s really into owls for some reason.

So when I came across this incredibly delicious fabric at Felix Loves Fabric’s eBay store I couldn’t resist.

I was so delighted when I received it, it’s so gorgeous. Mayana’s eyes completely lit up when she saw it, she wouldn’t let me put it back in the envelope! She spread it out on her lap and pointed at all the owls, saying “Owl. Hoo hoo! Pretty!!”. And she’s so right.

I have a few plans in mind for the different blocks, and tonight I’ve finished off plan number one.

I’ve appliquéd my favourite square to this t-shirt, and added a cute and frilly crocheted border. I think it sets off the gorgeous print perfectly, and I’m very happy that it turned out pretty much exactly how I imagined it.

I also made this t-shirt for Mayana tonight…

  I’ve done a lot of sewing lately, but it’s been a while since I’ve made something just for my girl, and I really enjoyed it. It was even worth the huge burn I’ve given the inside of my elbow with the iron (yeah, ouch!).

Keep an eye out for photos of my little cutie-patootie modelling these in the near future :)

Oh, and I have t-shirts similar to the second one available on my facebook page. I can also make to order, in almost any size (subject to availability!)