A gorgeous ruffled skirt!

I found this pattern on the internet & absolutely fell in love with it. Of course, I could only buy it on the internet so had to wait AGES for it to arrive ((I am not so patient at times!)) Mum came fabric shopping with me, & thank goodness for that, because picking seven different fabrics to fit with each other in some way is not so easy. Luckily Mum & I have similar tastes, & it was such fun to do with her. The skirt itself was really easy to make, it is basically just panels, with no tricky sewing at all.

More little dresses.

Last weekend & this weekend I made two more of the little dresses, in glorious polka dots, and this time I added the sun hats. I think these will be the last ones of this pattern that I make for a while, but they were fun to do as first projects.

Cousin Cathie's Wedding

Myself (looking slightly mad) & Cathie (& baby - I think a girl?)

On the weekend just gone, husband & I were invited to the wedding of my gorgeous cousin Cathie, who married a rather yummy English chap, John. The wedding was held in the Ballarat Art Gallery, which is a beautiful venue, with the reception at a local hotel. Cathie is the one cousin who looks like me, so I'm told, & apparently we are both similar in our humour & attitude. I'm happy with that - Cathie is terrific!

Father of the Bride, Me, Aunt & Uncle

The wedding ceremony was brief, which is the way all good ceremonies should be, & I was a bit teary, much to the amusement of my children However, all weddings make me tear up, as they are such joyous events with huge promises for the future.

The wedding favour - what a damn good idea! How nice is this plate?

Congratulations to Cathie & John! Your wedding & reception was a great, fun filled event, but I know that your life together will be one of the best marriages going. You guys rock xx

Terry Told Me Off!!!

I have had a very timely reminder from a dear friend, in that I have not updated this blog in like FOREVER, & he is totally correct. But given that he has publicly shamed me on Facebook with his reminder, here is my payback - here is a photo of the gorgeous Terry & myself at a work Christmas party in 2oo8.

So, what has happened recently?

• We had a great Christmas, which we spent with my brother's in-laws. It was a fantastic & joyous day, with none of the family members having to work at all. Brilliant! It was a 10 hour party marathon, & I would think that it was one of the best days I have ever had.
• The boys spent NYE with my bother & his wife down at the beach. Jem & I were both off, it was a stinking hot night, but then the power went out during a massive thunderstorm. We lit candles to see, but that just turned out to be disastrously too hot, so we blew them all out & were then covered in stinky candle smoke for quite a while. Not as romantic as you would think really.
  
• Both Jem & I have had holidays at home, but took consecutive 2 week blocks to try to cover the school holidays as best we could. We're both back at work now, & the boys go back to school at the end of next week. Mum & Dad are doing the grandparent thing & all seem to be enjoying themselves.
  
• Both boys have moved up a grade at school, Jack being now in Grade 5 & Tom moving into Year 7. It's been a marathon of book buying/covering, clothes buying/naming, shoe buying & form filling. Both boys are looking forward to the new school year to see all their mates again. I just feel like I'm getting old & am losing my babies as they march into adulthood at a very rapid rate.
• The animals continue to rule the house. We are their very obedient servants, so all is right with the world.

So, what now?

• I promise whole heartedly to Terry to be more diligent in my ramblings here.
• We have "Briards in Ballarat" coming up on March 7th at our home. All the gang will be here it seems, plus a new member, Miss Tee who is just a delight & I can't wait to meet her & her Mum! Will definitely have a ramble or two about that day!

Tom's Baby Gift

When I was pregnant with Tom a friend of ours made this beautiful cot patchwork quilt. I love the fact that so much work went into this, from a woman I really didn't know at the time - I think I had met her once or twice, but our husbands had been longtime friends.

Unfortunately for us, somehow we have managed to lose contact over the years, probably not helped by the fact that we live in different states. Plus, I think I just assumed that the guys would work to maintain the friendship, and that us girls would tag along. However, I've learned that men sometimes don't do this work, but that girls do.

So, to my dearest friends (and you know who you are), even though we may live in different neighbourhoods, cities, states & for some, different countries - I love you very much, and want you gals in my life forever, you are part of me and my family and I am so thankful to be your friend.

Lazy Weekend

I returned to work last week from being off for the school holidays with the boys, and what a shock to the system that was, although now of course I feel that I haven't been away at all. The plus side is that I adore the people I work with. I'm very lucky to be in a good team where we do actually care about one another and look out for one another.

However, this has been a great weekend at home, despite the fact that Husband is a work for the weekend. I've raced through all the drudgery early on both days, so the afternoons are relaxation time. We had a soccer match yesterday - we won 7 - 3, and Jack scored a goal, total brilliance of course, and then we watched "The Terminator", and both boys loved it. It is a good film. Today we're just bludging around, and I'm just waiting for the final of "Masterchef" at 7 30pm. I never thought I'd get hooked on that show, but I am totally sucked in. Tomorrow I'm on an ADO, so I'm going to Melbourne to visit with my wonderful friend Libby and her 10 weel old son, Lachie. Can't wait - and will post photos of course!