I love my time in Melbourne....

Coming from a smallish country town and going to the city can be pretty exciting....so when my brother said he was renting a house out just off Brunswick St in Fitzroy I was a little excited to say the least....It was walking distance to the Melbourne Garden Show where he was exhibiting and just around the corner from The Rose Street Markets which were closed when we were there in January and only a quick tram ride into the city to catch the sky bus to the airport.....too easy!!!!!

'all you need is love' was spotted on a wall while sipping on a coffee and just called me to photograph it....

Here is my little worker man Sasha, at the Garden Show working for his uncle. 

I loved this easter shop window display...

the view from the roof garden in Fitzroy

some street art...this was actually painted on to the front of a house...

Brunswick St

Jason's two gold medals from the show...

another window display..

just because...

What about you...are you living in the country and excited by the city or from the city and excited by the country?? 

Have a lovely weekend xox Jo

happy Sunday......

Today was our Christmas with Justin's family....we head down to Sydney at the end of the week for another Christmas, on Christmas Eve with more of Justin's family and then Christmas no. 3 with my family on Christmas day....

We have been blessed with quite a bit of baking over the last few days.....Camilla and Florentyna are used to it being cold and snowy at Christmas time so are baking, baking to try and make it feel a little more like Christmas to them......these bickies are soooooo yummy!!!!  

And Sasha is a bit of a baker too and made these Christmas shortbreads....

And Puddles received a Christmas treat too....one that he is not so impressed about....a bath!!!

Hope you are having a yummy Sunday too....next Sunday will be Christmas day.....I can't believe it.

Big or little plans???

♥Jo

happy weekend....and my new apps

It is not my intention to go quiet on the blog world front....I am just sooooo busy with getting orders out for Christmas that I literally can't fit everything in. I have had a couple of 5.30am starts which is not my normal routine, let me tell you. I have just woken and my mind quickly shifts into "ok when I get up, I will....." until it just seems easier to get up and do it.

We have had a little rain and grey weather and were expecting it again today but to our surprise it was a glorious clear and shiny kind of day. So we did our usual Sunday morning 'thing'....dropped the boy off at work and went for a stunning walk along the beach. I have a new app on my phone so thought I would give it a go....I love it - it is so much fun....reminiscent of old photos of me as a baby and of my mum and dad. 

Curly in the chook pen....I think he thinks he is a chicken.

My youngest has saved all his money and hired a dingo for the weekend to make bike jumps. It is his ideal way to spend the weekend......he loves to work!!!

Hope your weekend has been enjoyable...whatever you have been doing.

Have a great week and I hope to be back soon 

♥Jo

relaxing Sunday....

My eldest has just started working on Sundays down at a cafe in Brunswick Heads. He starts at 7.30am which is pretty early in our house for a weekend (except of course in soccer season)......so we decided to drop him off and go for a walk along the beach and come back for a coffee before venturing home for breaky. Today was one of those perfect mornings on the beach.....calm, warm and very peaceful.

Last year when we were visiting Sydney, we went down to an Eastern Suburbs beach with some friends. Our kids could not believe the people.....every bit of sand was taken up with towels and bodies. I was use to it.....when I was younger every weekend would be spent hanging at Curl Curl Beach with my friends. My children have only experienced beaches where you have plenty of space around you and you can throw a ball and even have a game of soccer if you want.....lucky them.

my decaf cap....

And the working man himself....sorry it is a little blurry as I was trying to take it without him seeing me.

I work everyday - I can't help myself...when you have a small business there is always a huge 'to do' list. But today, writing this post is the first bit of work I have done. Instead I did a spot of spring cleaning.....went through my clothes (again), wiped down areas that really, really needed it and it feels good. 

I really hope you had a great day too!! 

Was it relaxing or hectic, peaceful or chaotic? I would love to hear...

♥ Jo

Jack (John/Sasha) of all trades.....

My little Sasha is a bundle of enthusiasm and energy. He is the family researcher and the family doer. I was going through my photos today while trying to clean up my desktop (ha) and realised how versatile he has been over the last few weeks. 

Firstly, he built a house with Pa for Curly the Sheep to sleep in ....

and here it is again with its bunting ♥♥

Then he made a pair of groovy shorts - red with white pokka dots....

The finished product......he hasn't really taken them off yet.....love the undies.. 

He fell off his scooter (while riding down a hill) and landed himself with 4 stitches in his knee but that didn't stop him from getting behind the sewing machine.

Then their was a cupboard to make with dad....

                            

And sheep to look after.....

and chocolate covered strawberries to make......and eat.

oh and here is Curly at school ♥

School holidays are almost over.....I am a little sad as I am soooo enjoying the house full of laughter and plans for what to make next. I purchased an overlocker a few days ago so am looking forward to having time to make more clothes...

Thanks so much for taking the time to read through my blog....I really appreciate it.

♥♥ Jo

breathe out....it is school holidays.....

Well I think this....I think "yah school holidays" - time to breathe a little and slow down and get some of the much needed jobs done around the house and get on top of my business. I am fooling myself really as I always over extend myself and therefore everyone around me. I am a bit of a workaholic (I know where my Sasha gets it from) and I can always organise both Justin and myself and also the kids.

I have high hopes of painting the house..this is one that I really don't think will happen. For starters everyone is quite happy with it being blue - I am ready for it to be white. We are having building steps days and walk in wardrobe building days. The beauty of old weatherboard farmhouses is that you can cut out here and add on there and it all works out. We are also doing renovations to the chook house as the chickens keep going into Curly's (the sheep's) little bedroom to lay their eggs and then he comes along and squashes them which is not good.
Amongst all this I will be dyeing wool and felt to try to get ahead a little. Which brings me to today. I was going to spend the day sewing and crocheting my blanket together but instead I am a little tired. I heard an imaginary phone ring at 1.30 this morning and ran to answer it in the kitchen. Both my teenagers were staying out for the night so I immediately thought of them. But as I said it was all in my head...I must have been dreaming it. As a consequence I couldn't go back to sleep and ended up listening to podcasts of Women in business - Australian Business Network at 3am. I am working on an order for Luisa from Dance in my garden and she mentioned them the other day so what else is there to do at 3am (except sleep of course). It is the "can't waste a moment" part of me which was still working at that hour.

Here are some photos of the amazing vintage fabrics I picked up yesterday - some from op shops and some from a specialty fabric shop. The second one is of some Christmas bunting I have just started working on....don't you just love bunting?

And an update on the new family member.....he is sooooo cute. He comes for walks around the block in the mornings and afternoons with Puddles (the dog) and Sasha and myself. Sasha has been getting up at 6ish to feed him his bottle. Here they are....

Sasha is out there now with Pa building him a shelter. I will show you that next time.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend were ever you are. 

I would love to hear from you so please leave a comment.

♥Jo

introducing our new family member....

This is "Curly"...... our new little month old lamb. My son Sasha has been quite obsessed with wanting a sheep since we spent a week at his Uncle Curly's farm near Croockwell in the Southern Highlands of NSW when he was about 9. He came home from that holiday and announced he wanted to change his name to John. 'Why' we asked (as it took us 4 weeks to finally choose his name when he was born) 'because I want to be a sheep farmer and I don't think Sasha is a good sheep farmers name'. Who could argue with that? His friend Mia from Sydney was visiting us at the time and decided she was going to be John's helper so she should change her name to Mary......

Sasha/John has researched everything....made lots of phone calls to farming equipment businesses and timber companies in his search for getting the best item at the best price as we didn't even have a fenced area for him.. He has also had lots of long conversations with Curly (the human) making sure he had all the right info. So after working in a 35 degree spring day yesterday with his dad and his Pa, we now have a wonderful 60m fence to keep Curly (the sheep) and as a bonus, the chickens in as well.

So here are a few adorable photos of our new little CURLY.

 He is still bottle fed so Sasha/John was up at 6.15 this morning making his bottle and feeding him.

  His mum was unable to look after him and his twin died not long after being born so Sash is his new carer.

I am looking forward to when he will need shearing so I can spin the wool and crochet a blanket to keep us warm in winter.

And I am sure this will not be the end of posts on Curly and Sasha (it really is hard to call him John).

What do you think...are we mad??.....maybe just a little???

I would love to hear from you ♥ Jo