*e*

here to tell you about...

hello again friends (yes, from the toilet!)...may i share with you today this fantabulousalicious online class that has me itching to get my sewing machine and crafty stuff back and sew something! arrrgh!

perfect for beginners (i have already gifted the class to my lovely sis-in-law jane who just got her first sewing machine) and sewing enthusiasts alike, this class is packed full of funky, juicy, hip projects that you can whip out and flaunt about the place.

your teachers are the delightful  Leigh-Ann Keffer, Rachel Denbow and Courtney Tucker (way cooler than my high school home ec teacher mrs. wiliams - she smelt funny and was lacking in any sort of humour. although i guess having teenagers throwing bread dough up onto the ceiling and sewing the sleeves of their school uniforms together will do that to a woman).

How this Online Class Works: A new project will be posted on the private blog Monday through Friday (sometimes Saturdays) over 5.5 weeks but this is a take it at your own pace class, there is no pressure to do the projects in line with our posting schedule and the private Home Ec blog will stay up for one full year so that you can continue accessing the material, working at your own pace with your schedule in mind. Leigh-Ann, Rachel and Courtney write their tutorials with demonstrative photos and step by step written instructions; they are pretty and very easy to understand and follow (plus the class has 2 video guides). Once registered, you can visit the private blog and work on your projects any time you want, as much as you want :) Class begins on August 10th.

 

Full Class Details and Registration Info HERE

Home Ec includes 3 Guides, 26 step-by-step Projects with at least 1 new Sewing Technique in each, 3 Live Chats and a tips post on How to Invent & Adapt projects of your own!

(questions? email Leigh-Ann FreckledNest@gmail.com)

i hope to hear the whirr and purr of sewing machines worldwide very, very soon!

(i also really need to fix the hole in my skirt today. it's getting embarrassing)

look! i'm blogging again! (about the cute little animals this time)

 

 

i'm discovering all kinds of good old fashioned fun to be had over here - like sweet little local farms to romp around on a hot summers afternoon.

little people + little animals?

BIG HAPPINESS!

(ps i found out there is a faint wireless signal while sitting on the toilet. don't ask me why. but i'm happy to be able to blog again! next up: tackling my insane inbox)

i'll wear my kaftan and pick blueberries today, thought he...

 

the girls were moving too fast, running up and down the rows of blueberry bushes (bushes? bushels? i had never seen a blueberry growing before and i was surprised at the size of the bush/tree/whatever-it's-called!) picking and squealing and eating for me to take their picture.

but this little boy of mine (oh how i love saying this little boy of mine), he spied some juicy berries hanging low, crawled his way over to them and stayed there - content as can be while i soaked up his gorgeousness right there on my little patch of grass. he was in heaven, and so was i.

he is as juicy and delicious as those berries he was stuffing into his face!

and the kaftan - the kaftan! it's his sunscreen 'alternative' - LOVE IT! it fit him at 10 weeks and still fits at 10 months. from the creative delightfulness over at lilies of the valley (a lovely sponsor this month - watch for a giveaway later this week). i want one for myself. and i think these are brilliant too!

spending our days

i'm happy to say we have settled into a rhythm here in gorgeous (still humid!) new england. it really is so different here than the west coast, it almost feels like we are in a different country!

we have to vacate our little dorm during the daytime, so each morning we pack the pram with lots of water, snacks and craft supplies to spend our time outdoors...the campus here is huge and beautiful and there is plenty of magic to be found wherever we venture!

ivy has a special tree she likes to climb and finger-knit anklets/bracelets/necklaces for the whole faimly (and anyone else she spies)...

yindi will spend hours either a) weeding (!), b) making 'fires' with twigs and little leaves, c) making up and performing the most hilarious songs or d) finding new and 'fun' places to go to the toilet outdoors!

banjo kicks back in the pram for a nice little nap each morning...

and i sit or lay on the grass feeling very blessed to be their mumma. i love having nothing to focus on other than these three beauties of mine. 

of course if i do decide to pull out a book or some craftiness then their play stops, the nap is over and all three must be on top of me, vying for lap space!

our favourite time of the day is when we get to see this guy...wheeeee! oh we love him so.

we make a little picnic dinner (sandwiches! again!) and sit enjoying views such as these as we compete for his attention.

not a bad life hey?

we may get to enjoy it a lot more than these few weeks too...mick has been offered a job here come autumn. decisions, decisions!

i'll keep you posted ;)

hi from (crazy) the pool

this is how we have been spending our days...

when i mentioned hot, i should have said HUMID. i'm used to hot, but a dry heat. this is a whole other fiasco! at 7pm i collapse into a puddle and feel as if it is midnight after a day of bootcamp! i'm blaming the humidity but it may also have something do to with these three crazies pictures above - mick is attending classes from 7am-9pm and with no mobile phone reception or anything else to distract me, the four of us romp around in the fields and the swimming pool (praise for the swimming pool!) all day long.

frogs have been captured and released, caterpillars played with, trees climbed, mud balls made, baby robins discovered. they are in heaven.

and i am reminded yet again - to just enjoy. to breathe and stop worrying so much about everything and take each day as it comes, just as these three happy, crazy creatures of mine do. 

and thankyou again and again for your lovely words, and for sticking around with me during my boring and sparse blogging patches!

i.n.t.e.n.s.e.

...is how i would describe the last few weeks, especially this one.

'intense' is a little word i like to throw around when things are almost too crazy to even talk about, and also to replace the swear words i'd like to write if only my mother didn't read this blog.

the little ones and i have joined mick on the east coast where we are hot, homesick and homeless(ish). we are also unplugged from the outside world with no phone reception or internet hence the lack of blogging and replying to emails (mum, i'm still alive. i think.)

thanks for bearing with me during this (intense!) time. i hope to have some good postcards and blogging to come soon :)

goings on from our week

the kiddies and i have been hanging out in LA all week while mick is enjoying full nights of sleep on the east coast while attending a conference (yes, i am bitter).

it's not been so sunny but we've had a lot of funny anyway.

ivy got a fringe (after much begging and fetching me a pair of kitchen scissors)...

yindi developed a snazzy new pose for the camera...

 

we hung out on the beach in santa monica with some friends...

 

we also ate some really yummy food at pitfire pizza - i'm hungry just looking at this picture!

and we played with amy, cindy and the puppies and took lots of polaroid pictures!

 

postcards from me to you

dear you,

the first few days back in california felt really weird.

it's like we are living a double life, and now we have left one and are living the other. it's good to be here but we pine for home all at the same time.

on the weekend we drove down to san diego to see some friends. when we reached the crest of the hill and saw this view, i felt so happy! i'd missed that view from my front seat. mick used to cycle to work along this road every day - nice, hey?

i'll send you another postcard soon, i promise!

love, em xo

meet wilfred

wilfred is ivy's latest knitted creation. she finished him a few days before we left perth, after working on him for about 2 months at school. i loved hearing about his progress each week when she hopped in the school after craft day -

"i did the boots and 3 rows of his legs!"

"i'm up to his belt!"

"mine has light brown skin same as lilith's!"

etc.

(cute)

she is SO proud of herself (and obviously so am i!), and he journeyed all the way over here in a little pink suitcase. who knows what adventures he will get up to in america...?!!

GLEE!

  tara captured ivy & anna's reunion on video from the other side - it was so adorable! i had tears in my eyes, they were literally bursting with excitement! this day has been a long time coming for two little best friends.

so good to be hanging out in this happy house again :)