walks

trying out the pram.....and admiring all the gardens whilst we're at it!

40 degrees today though so staying inside and trying to stay cool

happy new years

mornings

k at work and Lottie asleep.....these slightly crisp, sunny Melbourne mornings sure are lovely.

now my feet have returned to their former size now I'm not pregnant any longer, i have been finally able to order my belated birthday present. a new pair of clogs! i already have these which i love but thought a pair of low ones would be a little more sturdier for life as a mama!

oh dear - 38 degrees tomorrow! what shall we do to escape that Lottie?

she's here!

Lottie Pearl

//born 13 december 2010\\

yes please!

this found via see hear say

beautiful

love this work by anna gleeson

colour / shape / pattern perfection!

oh sheesh

every now and again something comes along that really makes my heart swell.

this knitwear by cooperative designs is one of those things............

found via thank you, ok

decorations

i must admit - even though i'm not buying ONE single present this year (our thought is that we are hand crafting a BABY this year for everyone!) i always do get excited about decorations and seeing what all sorts of crafty people are getting up to out there. i particularly love the fact that christmassy things don't HAVE to be red and green......

it is also super fun looking at all the northern hemisphere blogs as they enter the depths of their christmassy winters. all that knitting, cosiness and bunkering down is such a contrast to the high temperatures building here!

pretty garland found at whip up

day and night

DAY // harvesting german chamomile flowers from the garden to make tea

NIGHT // late night gelati...perfect for this weather

lovely summer days

had the most divine last couple of days.....and it continues! beautiful japanese dinner in fitzroy, relaxed lunches (including my big love for chopping up any crunchy salad bits we have along with fresh mint and parsley from the garden) and you can see a gorgeous wooden phone we bought for the mini lady in an op shop. also made a yoghurt citrus syrup cake (from the yoghurt section in stephanie alexander's the cook's companion) as a friend came up and cooked us a beautiful eggplant and lentil lasagne.

the weather is heating up and all the wonderful plans i've been making (in the hope that she'll come along and ruin them) are coming to fruition! i am so, so, so, so lucky to have some wonderful friends that either think (or are good at pretending!) that hanging out with an overdue pregnant woman is almost fun! well thats how you all make me feel guys - so big love to you all......

xox

alexandra gardens

kee took me for a stroll in alexandra gardens this morning in kew and it was beautiful. overcast and lovely and just right for a very preggy lady to stroll through......

around my way

o

gardening, crafting, napping, ice-block crunching, nesting, walking all continues as we wait for our bubbaloo to arrive.

turned the phone off yesterday and napped four times and made it my perogative to rest up for her big arrival.

i made tabbouleh and kee made burnt eggplant and tahini salad - another winning recipe from the amazing book Plenty - yum! we must enjoy making these lovely dinners as soon i'm sure it will change when she arrives (for the first little while anyhow).

come on little person - come and meet us! we so can't wait for a cuddle and smooch!

xox

due date

today is her estimated due date and like we knew all along, she'd never be as compliant to arrive before or on this day :)

so despite her becoming very heavy and all the annoying calls from everyone asking "have you had your baby yet?" i will take advantage of this time and continue with all manner of things - namely crafting and napping!

beautiful mobile by Cocon found via 3 Sheets

visit from mum

burp cloths made with vintage fabric and flannels

mum left last night after visiting for 10 days. can't say we ventured far outside my postcode due to me being heavily pregnant but we did walk the streets admiring gardens, did loads of sewing, watched crappy dvd's, went for coffee and cake and did lots of work in the garden. thanks mum for helping us with the finishing touches......now all we need is this baby to arrive!

gingerbread

since being pregnant i must admit to indulging in the occasional gingerbread biscuit....i will also be attempting a double ginger cake for a friends birthday next week.

these gingerbread biscuits by Alicia Rosello found via hello sandwich sure look good!

mum arrives tomorrow morning - that means lots of relaxing, walking, pottering, gardening, crafting and learning how to fold nappies!

morning

feeling a little lacklustre this morning so my antidote has been 'go do something!' and crossing things off the to do list always helps......

did some baby related things, had brekky at Babka, bought a birthday present for someone at Kleins Perfumery and indulged in a beautiful Nathalie Lete ceramic plate - ridiculously cheap and after all, she is my fave illustrator/artist.

and finally, i bought a lil chrissy deco - to commemorate our first christmas as our own little family.

this arvo i'll paint some little house shelves for her room, nap, head to the pool and continue to crunch on iceblocks - tis pretty hot and muggy!

lovely

lovely 'inside garden diary' blog: belle fleur de lis

found via M

ingredients

the ingredients for her mobile....

sweet sunday

waiting for folk to arrive - we've got bbqing and rugby on today's agenda!

that and a little crafting. will continue working on the mobile i'm making for the mini lady.

above is our prized jute carpet we bought a while back (hello belly!) and also a necklace i made in about 5 seconds last night before i went to bed. i love wearing jewellery but my habits will have to change with a little baby around. my theory is, is that if i make everything suckable/chewable or kinda like a toy i'll be okay!

happy sunday whatever it is that you are doing!

today's bread

50/50 rye white organic, stoneground sourdough - i'm very satisfied!

half of this will go sliced into the freezer along with yesterday's red quinoa spelt sourdough loaf - all in anticipation of bub's arrival.

the other halves remaining? oh what a shame - looks like we'll be devouring it over the coming week!

saturday morning sunshine and coffee

walked up to a new little cafe called Boundary Espresso for a morning coffee....the sunshine is a delight. felt nice to go for a slow stroll with camera in hand.

yesterday i baked a red quinoa and spelt sourdough loaf - didn't exactly work out up to my standards but the flavour is brilliant. spelt flour is about double the price of normal organic flour so i'm ringing around for a few different bulk prices. will spend next week trying to perfect the loaf as it was so delicious!

still feels so wonderful to be out of hospital and i'm certainly looking forward to a crafternoon with naomi later on today!

eventful week

an eventful week - was unexpectedly admitted to hospital for 4 days.....bub and i all well now and thankfully back at home.

so glad to be in my own bed, with unlimited cuddles from kee and fresh, crunchy food! today we made bircher muesli, a beautiful salad, soba noodle and vege sorta thing and i'm about to put a spelt and red quinoa sourdough loaf in the oven.

also realised i've been having braxton hick's contractions! nothing to do with real labour starting but all good practice for our big day!

long weekend

lucky enough to have a 5 day weekend and it started with a 28 degree day....so i took a trip over to footscray and visited the huge savers and had a look around.

found the most gorgeous old toy pram but was wonderfully strong and resisted the urge to by it for her. instead i went home with some purple spotted seersucker fabric, 3 vintage floral pillowcases and an awesome multi-coloured embroidered cotton scarf for me.

i've also made the decision to stop driving anywhere further than my local pool.......a picture speaks a thousand words.

today is muggy and rainy and i'm taking it easy. kee was a driving force and helped me finish off packing our hospital bag which feels good. a few more things to pack for baby but at least all of our stuff is sorted. really is super surreal getting to this stage of the pregnancy!

preoccupied

organic white flour and semolina sourdough

well, just too busy/preoccupied/tired to seem to be able to post anything on this here blog!

somehow the festival is over for another year and i have only 3 days left until i go on maternity leave.

4.5 wks until her estimated due date!

anyway - apart from all the getting ready/napping/working - a constant has been my bread baking. hopefully i can get into a rhythm and post more about my bread. will have a bit more time on my hands in the space between finishing up work and having my baby so one can only hope!

big hiatus!

lots of growing baby, napping, working hard, crossing things of to-do lists, learning to bake REAL sourdough................and keeping up with our friday night tradition of making pizzas.

hopefully the break in intermission is over - but maybe not - think i'm starting to slow down a little.

29 weeks and counting! :)

baker baker

cooked my first loaves using the River Cottage Handbook #3 on Bread and the results were mighty pleasing. used beautiful stonemilled organic plain and wholemeal flour with a mix of sesame, linseed and sunflower seeds. coated the finished loaves in oats. made two and will swap one loaf with a work mate for his sublime sourdough tomorrow.

spent a quiet but productive weekend. lots of crafting, cooking, relaxing.....made it to the pool this morning for a class and after getting up fairly early to bake bread am a little pooped!

about to put a big pot of dahl on for a lazy sunday night dinner with friends. hope your weekend was just as lovely!

necklace swap

nina and i decided to swap handmade necklaces. she recieved mine yesterday and thankfully it makes the cut! i used fabric i bought in tokyo and some other bits and pieces.

can't wait to see what mine looks like when it arrives.

just bought some patchwork implements (a rotary cutter, a cutting board and a square template) as I'm going to try my hand at making a playmat for the mini lady. i've got pretty bad preggy induced rsi in my right hand at the moment so i thought i'd swap things up from my crochet to some sewing. wish me luck and stay tuned for some progress shots!