bye bye 2009

From my little crew to yours, we wish you the happiest of new years with lots of hugs and laughter in 2010 x

time away

We went back to my parents for Christmas. Dad worked Christmas morning. The grapevine property he works on also has a small fish farm (Murray Cod) unfortunately the new fish have a disease and not all are surviving. Not the nicest of Christmas mornings, unusual and quite interesting though I suppose.


Ther rest of our Christmas day was rather quite. There are no small kids in our families. It was just us, my parents, my two brothers and my grandparents, one of which is in a nursing home so it was nice for her to be able to join us for the day. Of course there are the usual dramas and Mum forgot about the ham until after we had all eaten! And as you can see from below there were the usual mismatched tables are chairs that are always part of our Christmas not matter who / where we seem to spend it! Overall it was a lovely and relaxing day. There weren't many pics taken though so I don't have much to share.


There were walks by the river. Not on Christmas day but in the days following.



A BBQ at my little brothers and more time with his new(ish) pup, Buddy. He is little but very strong and has LOTS of energy.



Starry night pic, taken quickly. It kind of looks like raindrops I think.


I hope you all had a lovely time over Christmas no matter what you got up to.

wombok

I will be away from blogland for about a week so before I go a very big, cheery Christmas to you all. You rock! Yes, you do. But you don't need me to tell you, surly you already know!

One other thing which I have been waiting to share is this little guy. Wombok.
Can you believe how darn cute he is? I can't. I was beside myself with grins of happiness what he arrived on my doorstep after I purchased him from here.

But, I can believe he was created by the talented Jess from Teddy Bear's Wednesday, because she is cleaver like that - making the sweetest, heartfelt bears and friends.

Wombok was bought as a gift for a special little someone and I was SO tempted to keep him all for myself but decided it was probably better to give as intended! I will just have to get another fabulous Jess creation of my own.

teeny-tiny goody-two-shoes

Since I was without internet access Sunday I was able to find time to finish the Tiny-Tiny Goody-Two-Shoes from the Meet Me at Mike's book I'd started a week ago.

The two pairs with the green tissue in them above were about to be wrapped and gifted to twins. The other pair were a practice run - still cute but one is slightly different in size to the other.

There are so many good projects in the Meet Me at Mike's book I can't wait to try more.

christmas giveaway

*
< :: GIVEAWAY #1 ~ BEARDED BLOKE BROOCH :: >
Veja Cecilia


*
< :: GIVEAWAY #2 ~ LITTLE INDY GIRL FELT BROOCH :: >
Kadhy


*
< :: GIVEAWAY #3 ~ PROFILE PEEPS CLAY BROOCH :: >
Miss Muggins

Congratulations to all and thanks to everyone who played along! I hope you enjoy your little brooch, lovingly hand made by me. Each is a one-of-a-kind piece with it's own perfect imperfections. Enjoy.

P.S. Sorry I am a day late announcing the winners our internet access is down at home at the moment.

shake it up baby now!

image : cshadwick.etsy.com

Look what I found on Etsy! These salt and pepper shakers would make a perfect match for these guys. Don't you think?

Also a big thanks to everyone for your lovely comments on the giveaway items. There is still time to enter so please do if you wish and good-luck to all. I look forward to announcing the winners tomorrow, after I have been to watch this - finally!!

giveaway #3

< :: GIVEAWAY #3 ~ PROFILE PEEPS CLAY BROOCH :: >

Same deal as Giveaway #1 & #2 posted below.

I know. I know. Another bearded bloke. I'm not sure what's going on there!

Each little giveaway item is something handmade by me.

To be in with a chance all you need to do is leave a comment on the particular giveaway post you would like to enter. I will draw all giveaways this coming Sunday. Quick! Comment before its too late.

x

giveaway #2

< :: GIVEAWAY #2 ~ LITTLE INDY GIRL FELT BROOCH :: >

The top pic is the one up for grabs, below is a serving suggestion only!

Same deal as Giveaway #1.

Each little giveaway item is something handmade by me.

To be in with a chance all you need to do is leave a comment on the particular giveaway post you would like to enter. I will draw all giveaways this coming Sunday. Quick! Comment before its too late.

x

giveaway #1

< :: GIVEAWAY #1 ~ BEARDED BLOKE BROOCH :: >

I've decided to have a couple of little giveaways over the next day or so to get in the giving spirit of Christmas.

Each little giveaway item will be something handmade by me.

To be in with a chance all you need to do is leave a comment on the particular giveaway post you would like to enter. I will draw all giveaways this coming Sunday. Quick! Comment before its too late.

x

new york city - last stop!

SO many buildings! The incredible view from the Empire State Building. When I see Manhattan Island like this I can't help but think, 'Why doesn't it sink?'. Hehe.

The Domino Sugar building in Brooklyn, spotted from a ferry cruise around all of Manhattan Island. To anyone heading to NYC I highly recommend seeing the city this way, provided you have a few hours to spare.

Madison Square Garden, NBA match. Celebrities in the crowd - Whoopi Goldberg and Spike Lee, oh and one of the ladies from the Golden Girls - we think, we can't quite remember. Also spotted was Kate Hudson entering The David Letterman Show. We weren't aware of who she was at the time as we were on the opposite side of the street and she looked tiny, like a 12 year old girl. It wasn't until later that night we tuned in to the TV and realised it was Kate.

NYC was our last stop. It was also the coldest place on our trip but it was by far one of the highlights. It was my partners third visit and my first so there were a lot of places he wanted to show me. We did heaps of walking and exploring, there was always something to see. And although we were here for the longest amount of time we somehow don't have as many photos as every other place... perhaps because it was towards the end and we were a little tired of snapping away!

Anywho, we were so sad to be leaving and for our time abroad to be ending that we didn't even mind the 2 hour delay snow had caused to our flight home! The plane needed a hose down (with everyone inside) before we could take off. Even with this delay we landed in Oz on time, however the one and only flight we would miss on our whole trip would be the one from Sydney to Melbourne!

Thanks for following along while I have been posting our trip photos from this time last year. I have really enjoyed looking back at each place and sharing some of our snaps with you.

Stay tuned... I will be having a little giveaway this week to get in the spirit of Christmas!

the three c's

Today was full of cleaning, crafting and cooking! A nice way to spend a Sunday me thinks.

The crafting bit was mostly cleaning my crafty mess but I'm now feeling organized and ready to tackle a new project, as well as feeling much clearer about finishing a couple of almost-there projects I have on the go!

As for the cooking bit, well while I was out Christmas shopping I spotted the lovely new Donna Hay - Seasons cookbook on sale and couldn't rest. The Pumpkin and Feta loaf pictured was the second thing I have made from the book so far and it was really simple and totally tasty! Don't you love how nothing ever turns out looking like the pictures in cookbooks. Food stylists possess a touch of magic I reckon. I don't mind though as long as it still tastes good!

pop!

What are you doing today?

If you're at all like me there is still Christmas shopping to be done and with any luck I'll have time to POP over here to get some done...

cuba : trinidad & havana

Another trip post for you! They are slowly coming to an end. Only one more stop to go before we made it back home.

This time last year we were in Belgium and by the time we made it to Cuba it was the week of Christmas.

We spent Christmas day in Trinidad, mostly at a local bar listening to a local band, drinking beers and having a generally relaxing time. It was the first Christmas I had spent somewhere that didn't celebrate as we do with all the material trimmings. No large Christmas trees everywhere, no Christmas lights all over houses yet there was a festive vibe and lots of cake! We stayed with a local family in both Trinidad and Havana which was a fantastic experience. And for the family we were with at Christmas it was business as usual apart from time at church.

The street we stayed in while in Trinidad. The house was on the left towards the end and had the cutest rooftop patio we would sit on in the evenings.

Absolutely beautiful scenery which softened the bumpy 5 hour drive it took us to get here.

When we arrived in Cuba via Mexico from Rome, we had a 5 hour drive ahead of us to Trinidad. Little did we know there was only one bus that left well before we had arrived so the 5 hour drive ended up being in an old car with no springs in the seats. This may not seem so bad but when the roads have not had any work done to them since they were first laid it could get pretty bumpy. And with our very limited Spanish speaking skills and a non English speaking driver we weren't even really sure we were heading in the right direction. We stopped to pick up one of the many locals that hitch a ride home from work in the evenings along this stretch of road and we're pretty certain we took some extended back way to drop him off as we would find out the return drive was a lot quicker.

Green is my favourite colour.

Where we spent Boxing Day last year! Heaven!! This year there will be no beaches , only Mallee scrub!

Cuba was definitely an overload for all senses! Both good and bad at times. I think our time may have been a little tainted as my partner fell extremely sick mid way through. However we both wish to return one day, me especially for the coconut ice-cream! Food fetishes aside if we did decided to head back I would love to learn to speak Spanish before we went so we could communicate more.

corky, screwy & cappy

Introducing Corky SR, Corky JR, Screwy and Cappy!

I spotted these guys at the Camberwell Market a couple of Sundays ago and couldn't walk away. Wonky hand drawn lettering and faces - too good!

The paint is a little worn but they are all in tack and otherwise good condition. Now all I need is a bottle of red!

italy : florence, pisa & rome

Giant cats guarded the cities in Italy. Well, I'm not sure exactly what they were doing but I liked to think they were like guardian angels to the ancient ruins.

Florence. I didn't want to leave it was so amazingly beautiful.

Guess where? Clue? Look at the very last building to the right in the pic.

The ruins of Rome were hard to fathom, coming from such a young nation like Australia.

Cheap wine never tasted so good!

Sugar Doll

A little while ago the very fun and clever Zoe from Conversation Pieces gave me The Fabulous Sugar Doll Blogger Award. How sweet. Thanks Zoe!

There were two parts to Zoe's awards post one was 10 Things About Me... and the other 7 Personality Traits. I'm not sure which one was meant for me and I don't think it matters but since I have done 6 Things About Me... before, I will go with the 7 Personality Traits this time.

Quiet - I observe and listen more than make noise. I'm not much of a talker (most of the time) I'm more of a listener.

Kind - It's important to me to be kind to others, it's a simple thing but can make a huge difference to someone's day.

Forgetful - I constantly forget peoples names and street names, venue names, if I turned the oven off, iron off, grabbed my keys before heading out the door etc. Sometimes I must seem pretty vague. I do try to remember things but I just can't help it.

Empathetic - Sometimes I think I have an unhealthy amount of empathy - if there is such a thing? It can be quite overwhelming and emotionally draining.

Organised - Well I try to be. I'm a compulsive list maker. I have lists everywhere. On my desk at home, at work. Near the phone. In my work diary, personal diary - you get the picture!

Intuitive - I used to ignore my intuition or perhaps I wasn't quite in tune with it but now I always listen and believe it knows best.

Creative - Being creative is what I do and on days that I don't get to put my creativity to much use I become irritable and a HUGE grump! Needless to say I try not to let this happen.

Now that I’ve shared a little more about myself, I will pass this award on to some other lovely bloggers.

My Sugar Dolls are;
Clare - Checks and Spots
Jess - Teddy Bear's Wednesday
Hannah - One Yellow Jumpsuit
Sara - In the Light of the Sun

As Zoe so put it, 'You guys know all the rules… pass [this award] on if you want, do the tags if you want and generally just keep on being your super lovely selves.'

x