School Holiday fun and Buying Nothing new

 

The big one made gingerbread biscuits this week, she started cooking on her own, then a friend came to visit, and then the smaller ones joined in, and it was an all in cookie fest.  She was very kind and patient with the cookie dough stealers and later did a gorgeous job decorating them. She's really found her cooking hands, or would that be a brown thumb? Little one had to have her sandwich in shapes once the cutters were out.




After my sister helped me remove some of the excess stuff from my life I have felt a duty to carry on her hard work, so I am continuing to cleanse and have made a pledge to Buy Nothing New Month.  Great marketing promotion by those who deal in all things second hand, but also thoroughly worthwhile. I really shouldn't buy anything old either, as this is where my gathering problem lies. So far so good, although I had to control myself in Acland Street - Saint Kilda yesterday, especially in the book shop which had so many lovely reads.  I think a month will go by quickly, I wonder if I could do it for a year?


I do love a challenge, so I have also joined Blogtober hosted by tinniegirl, which requires its participants to post in their blog daily.  If it was Blogtember I would have been successful.  I think I should be pretty OK on this one too, I was always the kid who kept talking and the last to go to sleep at sleepovers.  Perhaps a bit less stuff, and a few less blog words, or perhaps a few less blog pictures.  Can you see how I am filling up my blog with clutter?  A gadget here, a picture there.  I'm gathering blue bits for my bower down the right hand side of my blog, they're all things I've posted about.  Just can't help myself.


Others I know of who are Buying Nothing New this month
Little Poppa - http://littlepoppa.blogspot.com/2011/10/i-pledgeto-buy-nothing-new.html
Amanda Brooke - http://amandabrooke.typepad.com/amanda_brooke/2011/10/october-buy-nothing-new-month.html
The Byron Life - http://www.thebyronlife.com/2011/10/day-1-thrifty-gardening.html


Have you made the pledge? these amazing ladies are going without new for a whole year
Dottie Angel - http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2671/3935309072_fc172cfd6d_b.jpg
And then there were four - http://www.pilesofwashing.blogspot.com/


Dottie Angel has a huge list on her blog of those who have joined her challenge, that's a whole lot of recycling going on. I like the hand crafted clause however I'll keep away from that this month too.




I think in the name of decluttering, and Blogtober, I might find something to give away, stay tuned.

Autumn in Spring and hoarding

The maple that lost its season, I'm wondering if it will lose it's red leaves or hold onto them through summer.


I have my beautiful sister visiting me at the moment.  She's moving to England and has narrowed her life down to 8 small boxes which she's storing at my place.  I get to have some of her lovely retro bits around my house while she's gone.  Gosh I'm going to miss her, we've managed to visit her in Sydney once a year with cheap flights, but paying for 5 return flights to London? unlikely.


In return for the storage, my little sis has helped me reclaim some of the downstairs room which I have been filling with, well crap is probably the most truthful way of putting it. It is turning into the mother of Spring cleans and I hope to turn an on Autumn on my ridiculous, hoarding, gathering ways.  Losing my red leaves, or at least my red cheeks. I was so embarrassed of our downstairs room when the electrician came to put in a Smart Meter this week, that I told him we were storing stuff for someone else (this was before my sister's things had arrived). I laugh at you Bloggers, photographing your mess, having chaos pride, those houses look positively clean! you ain't seen nothing. No photos from me, waaay too embarrassing.

My sister brought her Ipad and the children were drawn to her like moths to a flame.

You can tell the warm weather has arrived when the flies arrive.  We had some really pesky numbers bothering us at dinner time.  They were quite keen to eat our rice paper rolls with prawns and salmon.

The kidlets did some water colour painting after dinner, the youngest is addicted, biggest was using wet on wet technique - beautiful.

Happy Father's Day

 Spring cleaning - have got the kitchen window done, only every other space to go!

I have a salt cellar fetish

Yep its been a fun filled day. 

Book week last week - Robin Hood (or Robin Hoodie) and Clarice Bean - pretty lame dress ups (like my pretty lame photos) but they came up with them and they were happy.  Little one wanted to join in too, but was devastated when she found out that she didn't get to go to school.

Happy Fathers Day, hope it's filled with adventures, I'm on poached egg and mushroom duty in the morning (orders made today), although the big one was volunteering to do the cooking....

Big hugs to Lolo, my dad, who is actually in the right country, just the wrong state to give a cuddle on Fathers Day. I appreciate your efforts in bringing up your brood of three now that I have three of my own. Sorry I was such a pain in the butt at times and thankyou for still loving me, regardless.