Favourite Things Friday

Twenty one years ago tonight I crept down to the hospital nursery to stare at my beautiful daughter in her humidity crib and marvelled that I had made something so tiny and perfect.  Even if she had made me sick for 8 entire months every single day and had prevented me from eating cheese for my entire pregnancy. The trade off was that she liked strawberries and chocolate milk so that's what I ate for 9 months. 

Between the ages of 14 - 18 I wanted wild gypsies to come and take her away in the middle of the night and return her again after she'd learned to be a human , but for the majority of the last 21 years I have been utterly , deeply and madly in love with her. So I want you all to indulge me today while we celebrate Chloe's 21st birthday because there have been times when I was pretty sure one of us wasn't going to survive to celebrate this rather large milestone. Having done so is my favourite thing this week. 

I'm resisting the urge to show naked baby shots and all the other embarrassments of her life (gawky pre-teen years , bad fashion mistakes, and all those shots of her scowling and looking rebellious and emo through her teen years ). It would be fun for me to play "lets stick all those incriminating photos on the internet" but if I do it today it'll lessen the impact when I do it next Saturday night at her party in front of people she actually knows. Sometimes you have to chose the greater of two evils.   

My life has taken a few twists and turns since that night in the nursery , many of them unexpected.  There really has been joy , and sorrow and challenges and jubilation. There has been happiness and anger, frustration and emotional highs and finally, over the last few years, a relationship based on us both being adults. (which doesn't mean I can tell her what to do occasionally because I am after all, her mother - and dammit Chloe you will listen to me because I know what I'm talking about ) 

Her Royal Highness  started the day by telling me I wasn't allowed to take any pictures of her until she had showered , dressed, slapped on make up and done her hair. Yep- she's always been a princess.

It isnt a birthday without balloons 

And flowers 

We went out for lunch 

Someone over indulged on the baby cinos...

Presents were unwrapped 

Cocktails were enjoyed 

And my cupcakes weren't a total disaster. 

So Chloe I just want you to know ...I love you once,  love you twice, love you more than beans and rice. 

XXX 

Oh and I was totally bullshitting about not showing nudey/ embarrassing shots of you . I have another set lined up for next weekend. 

Feel free to link up and show your embarrassing baby pictures or anything else you like this week too. 

To all of you who have emailed me this week offering your good wishes for my surgery obsessed family, my Dad is fine and Little P sailed through his surgery and woke this morning to wreak havoc through my house as usual. Thank you so much for your lovely emails. 

15 Minute Challenge with Kate

After weeks of bitching and whining about my lost mojo , complaining about how tired I am and a serious case of sewing inertia I have something crafty to show this week.

Drumroll please. 

Yes- I managed one whole hexie this week . Not a whole flower- just one hexie. That one there at the top.I was thrilled with this monumental effort. 

Linking up to Kate's 15 minute challenge because I'm sure it will make someone else feel good about what they got done. (Snicker , snicker )

When will the slackness end? Will Mrs. P ever find her mojo and motivation again. Has she used up all her inspiration genes?  Stay tuned for the next exciting instalment !

A relaxing weekend

I was given strict instructions this weekend not to post anything incriminating about family members on my blog. That pretty much means I have no photos and nothing much to tell you. I can say that it was a relaxing weekend, in a wonderful location and as a family we really should make an effort to do this more often.

Friday night was heralded by this gorgeous sunset (taken from the balcony of the house we stayed in which was just lovely) 

Saturday morning we were up bright and early to go to the Willunga Farmers market. This was my breakfast at the market along with a very large cup of coffee. There  was  also free taste testing of boutique beer at 9 am which my oldest nephew thought was the best way to wake up ever.

I love going to markets because you can buy things you hardly ever see at the regular shops. 

These spice mixes looked tempting....I'm not averse to a bit of spice 

I've wanted to use preserved lemon in something for just about forever and now I can finally give it a crack. The Jamato sounds interesting too and that Moroccan jam ...yum!

I snuck in some op shopping (even if my Dad did grizzle about having to stop )  I couldn't leave this soup tureen to the mercy of someone who wouldn't love it as much as I did.... 

Other Nephew of Pyjamas (who says I don't mention him often enough in my blog) taught Miss P  how to play chess.

Giving Other Nephew his 5 minutes of fame here ....

It is tradition in our family when we all get together to try and eat as much Mullers Metwurst as possible. This was my effort . I did see one of the boys wandering round with a 4 inch hunk at one point so I couldn't declare myself the winner this weekend. It took us less than 24 hours to completely polish off about a kilo. 

On Saturday night we went for dinner at The Star Of Greece which sits atop a cliff and looks straight out onto the sea. 

image source 

The happy couple celebrating 50 years of wedded bliss. Dad jokingly asked Mum for a divorce. At least I think he was joking. 

Miss P , me and Sister of Pyjamas after a few cocktails. It was about 100 degrees so we all look like we're melting. 

Nephew of Pyjamas and The One who always looks gorgeous. (who actually has the same name as Miss Pyjamas which means things get very confusing sometimes when we are all together ) 

It's going to be a busy week.  Dad goes into hospital today for surgery and Little P is  scheduled for surgery on Thursday. Once we're through all that kerfuffle we have another big celebration on Friday. Somewhere in amongst the pressures of the week  I'd like to get some sewing done!

The Miscellaneous Post

I've been chasing my tail for the last few weeks and at times even questioning whether my life is decent blog fodder any more. Lets face it-posts about non existent crafting and sewing don't exactly make for scintillating reading. I am beginning to fear I've lost my capacity to poke fun at myself along with all traces of my sewing mojo.  Maybe I need to renovate something again. That usually provides me with more fun than I can poke a stick at. 

Anyway, today you're getting this conglomeration of things that have been going on here while I have been lurking but not actually posting.  

Miss P's birthday cake has been ordered . I almost died of shock when I got the quote. Who knew flour , eggs and water wrapped in a bit of fondant would necessitate a house re-mortgage?  Since Mademoiselle requires two cakes (one for the actual birthday and one for the actual party ) I have decided to go it alone for the family birthday cake and set out to create the worlds biggest cookie cake as a prototype this past weekend. 

I'm showing you the good side. On the other side features the guts of the cake leaking out. Very unappetising. I'm desperate to come up with something that I can make that won't end up looking like dog food. I'm thinking cupcakes. I can cover the mistakes with plenty of icing. And cheat like buggery with some store bought cake toppers. Naturally the supplies have ended up costing me more than buying the cupcakes already made would have. Obviously I didn't really think that through.

I've been a bit spoiled in the mail department lately. Firstly from Ms. Mistea, who thoughtfully sent me some selvages, wrapped in other goodies. Is this a cute mini pin cushion or what ? And that little pouch is perfect for my lip gloss collection that used to reside at the bottom of my handbag, that I could never find in the 3 seconds I had to apply lip gloss in the mornings. 

And I did a swap with the wonderful K at Shocking Hocking for a goodie bag of red and white fabrics so we can both have more variety in our  Farmers Wife Quilts. Look at what she sent me !  Talk about generous. 

Close encounters of the gardening variety have been occurring here as well. In the last three weeks I have  planted mint, parsley , coriander, leeks  and basil. And despite remembering to water them I have managed to annihilate the leeks.

And all of the coriander.

And I had to get Mr. P to build a fortress around the mint and parsley because my cats thought we had provided them with very swish toilet bowls.  

The past weekend saw me being a social butterfly. I attended my monthly Farmers Wife Quilting Group. Pop on over here if you want to see what we got up to. I always remember to take my camera and then forget to take pictures!  It was fantastic to catch up with the girls and gossip and sew. Here are the two latest blocks I have finished (which makes a HUGE total of 4 - only 107 to go ...)

Progress has been made on the hexagon cushion.  A finish could be lurking in the wings but I'm not making any promises. 

I've also been working on the hourglass quilt but I've been too lazy to take pictures ...

And in my last piece of news, my parents have been married for 50 years on Friday and we're all going away this weekend to the land of no wi-fi (I'm pretty sure my Mum organised that on purpose)  to celebrate this incredible milestone. Happy Anniversary Mum and Dad. So FTF will be on hold this week since I wont be around to be amazed by your posts. Hold onto those happy thoughts for another week ! I have a big post coming up next week. 

Just in case you think I was joking about leaking cake guts ...

and FYI marshmallow fluff explodes in under 30 seconds when you try to heat it and it coats the inside of your microwave like builders concrete.

Favourite Things Friday

I'm shuffling in late to my own linky party this week. I kinda feel like I should have a note from my Mum to avoid a tardy slip...It's still technically Friday...just. 
My favourite thing this week is planning. I love to think things through and plan their outcomes. I love details and planning surprises or anticipating wonderful things to come and this week has been full of that kind of activity. It's been very exciting.
Plotting and Planning Scenario Number 1...

Someone here is going to be having a very BIG birthday soon and some of my week has been taken up with planning and organising, not one, but two celebrations for the birthday girl. I cant say too much just yet because I don't want to ruin any surprises so you'll have to stay tuned for further news. Let's just say there are lots of fabulous things going to happen. 

The second big thing for this week is the decision I made out of nowhere on Thursday to start planning a holiday for this year. It took me all of about 5 minutes to decide where to go.

I've already picked up the passport application forms, finalised an itinerary, bought electrical appliance adaptors (America has weird arse power points )  and tentatively booked the flights . We're going to spend this weekend nailing down the final accommodation choices.  Anyone want to do a meet up in Hawaii? Does anyone have any tips or recommendations? We're going to be there for almost two weeks. Im jumping up and down- Im so excited.

OK your turn - what's your favourite thing this week? 

Favourite Things Friday

Welcome to Friday! I'm so unbelievably happy it's arrived. When you go back to work they don't let you have an afternoon siesta at 3.00pm ( I asked) and they expect you to concentrate on things for longer than 15 minutes at a time. It's been a busy week and I'm looking forward to the weekend. 
I have never been one for video or computer games. I'm not really good at them. When I was a kid the closest thing we had to a video game was Ping Pong Tennis and my coordination was always off.  In Mario Karts I spend most of my time reversing out of walls, fences and off grass. Crash Bandicoot and I never really bonded. I get bored with games really quickly because I'm hopeless at them. 
As soon as I got my I pad I started downloading game apps like a crazy woman. I discovered that maturity has not helped my coordination or my ability to concentrate on games one little bit. One by one, usually after about 10 minutes of hilariously bad game play, I get rid of them. 
With one notable exception. I'm completely addicted to Bakery Story. I've been playing it daily for months. 

My Bakery 

For the uninitiated, Bakery Story is a game where you build your own bakery by cooking and preparing cakes, pies, breads, and drinks. The more stuff you bake the more things you can buy for your bakery such as tables and chairs, ovens , candy makers , and donut makers  and the more customers you can serve. You can swap parts and baked goods with "neighbours" (other people who play the game ) to build special appliances as well. In my pretend world I am a master baker. 
And just like in real life baking you can stuff it up and your food can go mouldy and manky. But it's OK because you can throw it in the trash and nobody will ever know. 
Virtual baking is my favourite thing this week. It's a lot less stressful than the real deal! My cakes always rise, my cookies don't look like Chinese throwing stars and decorating cupcakes is a breeze. They always look perfect.  
What's your Favourite thing this week? 

All the above being said I baked a vanilla and chocolate zebra  cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting this week that actually turned out . I was doing the happy dance I tell you .