daisy chain

Another This is.....

Thanks to Flossy-P and Angela for this week's This is.....which happens to be This is something I got, but still haven't used.....This is my pile of tiles ready to do some Mosaic work that I dream about and have ideas for but I haven't actually done anything yet!! I even have the special tile cutter thingy, grout and glue but that is about as far as I've got!

Another thing that I've had for ages is this beautiful candle made in Africa that I thought was just too lovely to use but now it is out of it's cellophane and all ready for me to take the plunge and light it!

On Saturday my lovely sister and I had a wonderful day doing sisterly things like visiting this art gallery/cafe at McLaren Vale. They had an exhibition of objects painted with henna which was just amazing.

One of my favourites was this paper weight by the visitor's book.

We stopped to have a glass of wine in the garden setting.

Another favourite was these ceramic Babushkas.

Thank goodness for the sanity of weekends!

Not Much Crafting Going on Here!

I have been  busy writing mid year reports and it is such a relief that they are done! Yay! Now I can attempt to get some balance back into my life!! School kind of just takes over sometimes.

The other day one of my mums from last year came to see me after school with a brand new book she had borrowed from her library for me! Such thoughtfulness. Anyway, when she showed me I got very excited indeed.......

Here is a glimpse of what is inside-sweet indeed!

It seems like a useful book to buy to me (any excuse to add to my craft library!)

I went walkabout with my camera yesterday....

The bridge I cross on the track to the beach.

I must find out what these actually are-I think they are the leftover outer skins of these blackish caterpillars that hang around in clumps on Eucalypts that we used to call `Spitfires` when we were kids or they may be some kind of grub casting......will have to do some research!

A bit of a sandy post.

Bark of a lovely tree in our garden called,`Silver Princess`.

Bougainvillea hanging around.

And I'll leave you with some Joyfulness!......

This is....my way of Recycling

Lots of recycling happens in our house. We empty the washing water on the lawn, have 3 bins (one for green waste, one for recycling and one for items that go to landfill.) We are also lucky in South Australia that we have a 5c deposit on drink containers such as iced coffee, water, juice and drink cans, etc. It is surprising how it all adds up.You drop them off at the depot to be counted and drive away with extra cash! Any money we get from this goes towards buying plants for the garden. I quite enjoy visiting the recycling centre as it is extremely well organised and runs efficently and smoothly.

We have a compost bin also but I have just been intoduced to a new way of composting using a Bokashi Bucket. I have just started one for the classroom and one for our home food waste.

The food scraps are mixed with Bokashi Mix and then they ferment in the bucket.The contents are dug into the garden where it breaks down to create highly fertile soil. During fermentation a vinegary liquid is produced which is drained off and used as a liquid fertilizer.So far, so good and you can add all kinds of things like fresh fruit and vegetable waste,prepared foods like sandwiches and leftovers, bread, coffee grinds and cheese! Not that there is ever many wasted leftovers at our house but it is nice to know they have a place to go rather than in the landfill bin!

My toilet rolls that I mentioned a few posts ago now look like this....and are nearly ready to plant.

Happy recycling everyone!

Had a lovely Sunday today at the RSPCA Million Paws Walk-a great turn out(I think there was an assortment of more than 4000 dogs and dog owners all walking around the River Torrens!) And the weather stayed fine after all yesterday's rain. My dog hasn't moved since we've been home-except to eat dinner-I imagine it was olfactory overload for him!(a bit like too many chocolates at Easter time!)

Camping

Last Friday and Saturday we managed to get some R&R at one of our favourite camping spots Innes National Park.We had two wonderful days and nights and were back in time for Mothers' Day. I crocheted all the way there and back on the four hour trip!

We had Shell Beach camp site ALL to ourselves!

Walking track to the beach.

This is why it is called Shell Beach!

Lots of lovely treasures lying about.

We had frequent visitors of the furry kind.

We cooked our freshly caught fish and potatoes in alfoil on an open fire.Five star meals for sure!

Freezing cold nights and mornings but lovely sunrises.

The weather was glorious.I even went swimming!

The Sooty Oyster Catchers were busy.

Always love a good web.

I would like a garden shed like this one!

We were so lucky with the weather-lovely warm days. Good job we are not going this weekend as the forecast is hail, storms and rain!!!

This is...What Reminds me of my Mum

So many things remind me of my mum many times a day. Everyday things, long ago things, special things. Probably one of the main things is roses....especially this one...Angel Face.

Mum gave me this card awhile ago and I will treasure it always.

Happy Mothers' Day to my beautiful mum.

Small Mums

At about this time last year I was inspired by applehead's wonderful smallpeople postcards.They are amazing collages made with all sorts of different papers and all have a quirky phrase accompanying them. Last year I took my set of postcards to school and the students had a go at making their own smallmum collages for Mothers' Day. I did the same this year with my year one class and was pleased with how they turned out-hope their mums are too!

My mum is beautiful and likes flowers.

My mum likes to go and look at flowers.

When I am happy my mum is happy.

My mum likes putting out the washing in our new big back yard.

Thank you mum for making sure we have clean clothes.

Thank you again Marianne for continuing to be so inspirational!

This is....the Pair of Shoes That I Would Sleep in if I Could!

Not at all glamorous but built for ease and comfort-in fact these shoes are THE most comfortable shoes that I have ever worn! Love them or loathe them-I am a fan of Crocs for sure(especially purple ones!) Thanks to Hip Hop and Banana Bread for her suggestion this week! And thanks again to Angela .

I spent a very pleasant Sunday gardening and felting.....

Loving these lovehearts!

Friday

Every year I order our spring bulbs from here. It is a most enjoyable experience. Firstly, you receive a catalogue (love a good catalogue!!) in the post. You take your time flicking through the pages time and time again until you have made your decision. Then I usually have to decide which ones I can't have as my wish list becomes bigger than Ben Hur!!! Budget in check and the ordering is done. In about a week you receive a package(we all know how great it is to receive packages in the mail!) And in that lovely package there are lots of brown paper bags of labelled bulby goodness! The ground is nice and soft now after all this welcome rain we've had so I can plant them this weekend.

Here are some images of yesterdays morning walk after the rain....

Have a great weekend!