the most SPECIAL knitted set - hoot hoot

Now you may of read the title and thought I was exaggerating, but now you've seen the photos......



.....Isn't this set just fabulous?.

I must apologise to the lovely lady who made this , Shannon, I have had it for a few weeks and thought that I had blogged about it but I obviously hadn't, so shame on me!!!!.

I can hardly put into words how happy I am with this set.

It is knitted so perfectly, is so soft and squishy, the colours are perfect and I can feel the care that went into making it.....cabled pockets, button details, the OWL!!!

This will be Ari's 1st birthday present.

EXTRA SPECIAL THANKS to the beautiful Shannon not only for making Ari and I this beautiful set but for lifting me up and bring me joy.

XOXOXOXO

Portabellopixie Dress "Claire"

I made this dress today from the Portabellopixie pattern "Claire".

The pattern goes from 6m to 8 years and the pattern piece took up most of my lounge room floor, lol, I made size 5 for Beth...next time I will make size 6.

I love the old school style and the overall girlyness of the dress - to me it looks like a little girls party dress...not like some of the ones you see in shops that seem to be something an older girl/woman would wear, iykwim.

Beth put it on and we went outside to take the photos.....and she follows her brothers and climbs a tree......in a party dress, lol.

How Our Garden Grows - February 2009

Or maybe that should be, how our tomatoes grow, lol. Our tomato plants in the garden are going great, (except for the ants that keep eating them)! Scott commented this afternoon that we should of made a bigger garden!! He doesn't know what he's gotten himself into, lol.



The basil is also growing profusely, its great on pizza and pasta and our little capsicum plant has flowered once leaving us a tiny little capsicum and another flower is ready to open.



I really enjoy spending time outside pottering about and I do agree with Scott, we definatley need a bigger garden.

Vegie Garden - All Mulched

Looking pretty good if I do say so myself, lol....now I just have to keep it all alive.

We have eaten 3 cherry tomatoes so far and there are a few more ripening up now. And we used some of the basil in home made pizzas, yummo.

I am (DH is) going to screw the trellis to the fence (with a block behind it so there is a gap) behind the tomatoes so I can tie them off or poke them through if I need to.



Its great fun and I am attempting to grow some shallots and carrots in the little seedling trays to put in the dirt patches you can see.

Wish me luck, lol :)

Ari has his first train ride

I took Ari down to Sydney last week which involved his first train ride :) He was a dream, happy and excited and we had a lovely day meeting some members of Baby Carriers Downunder.



Total travel time for the day was about 5 hours so we were knackered when we got home...left at 7:30am and got home at 6:30pm.

I wouldn't do it with all the kids but it was a nice day for just the 2 of us.

How Our Garden Grows

Well I have managed to keep things alive so far, although my large tomato plant in the pot is getting a little dead in places, lol. I have since read that tomatoes grow better in the ground.

I decided to dedicate a part of the back yard to the growth of food and that involved removing turf, which I had trouble doing so DH helped, and also framing up some hardwood from our old garage to act as the garden sides.

So here is a picture of what the back corner looked like before....sorry I didn't actually think to take a before shot so this is as good as it gets, lol...



This is what it looked like with the frame empty....please excuse the dodgy night shot...



Today I got a delivery of some organic soil mix......I shoveled it into buckets and filled the frame. My arms are so sore from it but it was nice to get out and do some physical work....I still have a little more to shovel tomorrow that will go on the other cleared area right in the corner. I want to plant some dwarf lavender and some chamomile.

In the veggie garden I planted some tomatoes and basil from my Nana and also a tomato plant I had here in a pot (from my sister), it looks like its a Roma Tomato plant....



I used 2 bessa blocks from the old deck as stepping stones so I can get to the back plants without stepping on things.

The marigolds are in metal pots we used at our wedding 5 years ago...I knew they would come in handy, lol. The flowers are so pretty.



I have plans to sew some seeds....dutch carrots and shallots....in the next few days, I will put some in pots and then transplant if they germinate. I also have to buy some sugarcane mulch.

Here are a couple more photos of the plants...




And Ari...hmm whats this mum??.....(Lemon Basil).....I don't think he liked it, lol.

Chicks

My sister has chickens and the other day she came over with 4 little chicks that she had been given as replacements (or really as a sorry gift) because she was sold the wrong breed last time.

Nate is quiet a curious little man and he was quiet happy to hold a chick. He has seen and patted Amber's cooks at her place and is always so excited when he sees Amber and talks about her chickens :).



At 2y9m he was not quiet able to hold the wings down (or grasp why he needed too) so Amber helped him....was so lovely and you can almost feel him learning and growing as he does these things.

It is so hard to believe that he will be 3 in March (and Ari will be 1!!).