Cabin Fever

 I've been  pretty slack on the school holiday activity front. Every one is scratchy from being stuck inside, & now we seem to have the flu in the house NEAT!

We were, however pretty spoilt with 3 whole days of awesome sunshine & NO wind! The kids got some well needed vitamin D making huts & bouncing on the tramp, its amazing how good you feel in sun when we haven't had it for a while.

Yes short lived it was, so yesterday we were back to grey & gloom so the needles are out & the girls had a go at doing some embroidery. They firstly drew a picture that they would like to stitch, Anya chose to draw a fantail (piwakawaka) & Fleur chose a self portrait, very cute. I was surprised at how well Fleur took instructions and listened to what I said, like holding onto the thread & the needle! (Fleur called it the 'knitting thingie'!) Anya was off with very little help which shows me how much shes growing...eek! She is knitting on her own now too, once again, I'm amazed at how much their fine motor skills develop so fast. It was a lot of fun for me & the girls, but short lived thanks to the smallest one who must have 'boobies' & touch everything on the table!! Even though there's only 2.5 years between all the kids I still manage to forget the demands of breast feeding & how it effects the amount of one -on -one you get with the others.

She who must have boobies is currently clogged up with boogies so the boobies are a frustrating experience for the both of us, poor little peanut : (

Today however she had a little nap & Fleur & I escaped into the studio where I whipped up some vintage floral bidibids for her with lamb skin soles...nice & warm with her green merino leggings I made last week xx

Hope you are all keeping warm, & surviving the holidays for those with babes at home...unless of course you're a home schooling goddess who does it every day...bless!

xoxoxox

Stuff that been doing

I recently scored some very special 'little bugs'

Kefir to be exact. I had heard this name popping up more & more, in particular in Kay Baxter's book 'a change of heart' which I would recommend to anyone who is interested in the Weston A Price principles of eating & lifestyle. This is all quite new to me, but I feel the fundamentals sit right in my gut. I purchased both water & dairy kefir grains from HERE.

They come with detailed instructions, &  are easily Incorporated into your daily routine.

I've made two batches of soft kefir cheese, which is delish on crackers. In this batch pictured I've added sweet Thai chili sauce, crushed garlic & chopped herbs. All the kids devoured it which was refreshing! Dairy kefir is cool as you can make 'yoghurt' (I think it's just called kefir, but slightly runnier than your average yogurt?) without having to heat the milk, insulate or anything else you would usually do when making normal dairy yoghurt. With kefir you just add the little granules (they look like tiny squishy bits of cauliflower) to milk in a jar and wait. The waiting depends on the weather. At the moment it's taking 3 days for approx 3 cups to ferment. I read in Kay's book that she had a friend who left their kefir in milk on the bench for 4 months and they were still thriving!!

Water kefir looks like crystal rain ( the stuff you put with water to keep your plants hydrated)

They live on sugar and can be added to fruit juices to make natural fizzy drinks. Its a lot of fun

Kefir draining in muslin to become kefir cheese

The other 'things' I've br=een uo to is restoring some old towels. These towels had gone all weird at the bottom. Kind of gathered where the...'thing bit?' is. So I cut it off and hemmed them with some homemade binding turning them into spunky new hand towels. I haven't managed to get handmade home to myself yet, but from what I sneak when I visit my girlfriend Tink, I'm pretty sure she has something similar in her book

old towel with 'weird syndrome'

sexy new towel!

 It's funny as my blog posting (& I'm sure to many other Mums as well)  seems to coincide with breast feeding time. tonight Imogen was so knackered after her 'before bath snack' she simple went back to sleep sitting up! Would you believe that now it's bed time & shes wide awake 'DadadadaDADADADADING'! Sigh

flying high

I made this mobile for a special wee man's 1st Birthday.

I used THIS pattern which you have probably seen floating around the net

It's funny when you craft things and have a clear picture of what your going to make, only it takes on a form of it's own, creating itself...I have a very talented FRIEND of mine who makes the most beautiful cloth dolls & I remember Debs telling me about her experience's where the 'dolls' are almost making themselves...you are just holding the tools.

I'm hoping to make Ginny one next ( her current mobile is half broken & periodically falls on her while she sleeps...great Mothering)

Anyway....Hope you are all keeping warm...& nourished!

I have been enjoying THIS blog....& THIS one too.

& I've been chilling to THESE guys...

& grooving to THIS fulla.

Have a great week

xxxx

P.S Sorry for not replying to any of my comments lately. One of the many problems I seem to have with blogger at the moment is that I can't post comments on my own blog...and many others too...
boo hoo!

P.P.S Can some lovely soul please tell me how to add the 'you might also like' gadget at the bottom of my posts, linking them to other posts?' It doesn't seem to be on my gadget list???

Domesticity

I've been an absent blogger lately.

Fleur was home with a tummy bug & Ash all week with tonsillitis

Imogen has had a very sore thrushy bottom & thrushy mouth...which became sad thrushy boobs!

Boo hoo! And now she has decided that her maximum sleep during the day will be 15 min & waking 3-4 times a night...Bliss....NOT

And to top it all off, the house my lovely thought he'd be building in 2 weeks time, which was going to be our saving grace, has fallen through...Grrrrr

So now there are all sorts of crazy ideas being thrown back & forth. A friend of ours has suggested he try out for work with him, great money but away 10 days & home for 4! Whilst myself at home with the 5 babes. I'm not too keen.....super woman I am not!

On a brighter note, I have actually been doing a little bit of 'stuff''.

In the name of thrifty-ness I have made some rather styley dish cloths out of some old towels and over locked some nice cotton fabric onto one side. They work great, were FREE & look fab hanging over my taps!

Inspired by old towels I made Imogen some super styley bibs using the same principles.

Ta daa

I have also made a merino blanket for bubs which looks rather crap in the pic, but is cool I assure you (blowing my own horn she says) Its green on the other side with a green birdie. We are lucky to have a very neat factory shop down the Kapiti coast way,about 45 min drive, which is a merino knitwear shop. End of line & factory seconds, you get top quality merino for between $5 & $15 a metre. I have just got some neat mustard, sage, charcoal & black to make the kids some leggings...which leads me to another exciting thing...I have just discovered PDF patterns on Etsy. I know..I can hear the words slow & retarded being thrown at me, but this was rather exciting for me, I'm looking forward to making some winter coats for the girls.

One last thing before I become domestic goddess again & return to my mountain of washing,

I wanted to share with you a very cool & extremely cheap recipe I found here for making your own laundry liquid, & with Rhonda's permission I am sharing it with you:

Laundry liquid:

1/2 cup washing soda

1/2 cup borax

1 cup grated soap (i used a cake of sard wonder soap but you can use anything really)

1.5 Litres of water

Essential oils ( I used 1 Tbsp of Lavender & 1 Tbsp of eucalyptus)

you don't need to add these if you're after an unscented product.

8 litres of cold water

Put the first 4 ingredients into a pot and bring to the boil, then gently simmer until the soap is dissolved.

Put this into a plastic 10 litre bucket and add cold water making the total up to approx 9.5 litres. Add your essential oils & give a good stir. Then pop into containers leaving enough room for it to be shaken as it will turn to a gel consistency. I kept mine in a lidded bucket, & refill an old eco store laundry liquid bottle as the cap measure is around 1/4 cup, what I use for each load.

This stuff is fantastic, very cheap to make. Safe for front loader machines. Smells fab & lasts our house of 7 for 3 months.

Happy brewing.