Happy Birthday Guinea!

One of my old childhood friends, Peta, recently turned 30. We have known each other since about 10 years of age when we lived a few houses apart. We played together after school and on weekends, made up songs on her Mum's piano, did astounding acrobatics on her trampoline (with no safety net!), excluded her younger brother and sister from our grown up games, rode our bikes everywhere and enjoyed a carefree childhood together.

Peta and her family also had a healthy (read = frequently multiplying) number of guinea pigs. Guinea pigs make the cutest little sound as they scurry about eating and multiplying.

Now, Peta had quite the infectious giggle and I often compared her giggle to a guinea pig sound - the evidence was right there in front of us! From that day she was unceremoniously referred to (by me only) as "guinea".

Guinea turned 30 a couple of weeks ago and had a big pool party. I was so sorry to be unable to attend the party but instead offered to make her a cake.

So here it is.

And I couldn't resist!

How does your garden grow?

The garden has been such a work in progress. We basically dug it all up and started from scratch again. My advice is this - never, EVER, plant palm trees. We removed about 15 palm trees from our yard and the result was a root system like I've never seen before. A bobcat was called in, a dump truck took away 8 cubic metres of tree roots and then delivered 8 cubic metres of fresh soil to start again.

So you can imagine my delight when finally - FINALLY - the garden has started to show signs of being happy again. My favourite flower is the gardenia, both for the appearance and the smell. Heavenly.

Before digging up the garden we managed to preserve a HUGE cycad. We kept it not only because it looks great in the garden but because, to replace, it would cost around $300! The poor cycad was extracted by a excavator and pushed to the side of the yard where it sat above the earth, clinging to life, with an old sheet wrapped around the root system for about 8 months. When our new garden bed was ready the cycad was dragged into place by a rope and a ute and planted.
A month ago I was despairing whether the bloody thing would ever be happy and grow; it was looking a little sick.

So when I saw THIS -

Happy days.

And as I surveyed the yard for more rubbish to take to the dump, my eyes fell upon the old bucket filled with dirt and weeds. It definitely had to go.

Until I saw this.

Oh, alright, it can stay for a bit longer.

Spotty dotty

I bought a piece of this fabric at the Craft Show for $8. It measured 100cm x 30cm and was the perfect size to make a skirt for Mia.

It's called "Snorkel" by Cosmo Cricket for Andover fabrics. Love it.

Dolly, dolly, which one shall I make?

I recently visited the Craft Show at the Convention Centre. Whilst it was more geared for quilters I found one little gem of fabric from my favourite stallholder, Peppermint Stitches. I'm grateful their actual shop is about 30 minutes from home so I don't get there very often - it's too easy OD on fabric.

This is called Rag Doll Panel by Patty Young. It was about $13 for the three dolls so it would make a very economical present for a little girl's birthday. The dolls are about 40cm tall so they're a reasonable size to work with.

I thought it would be quick and easy to make. I was right about the easy but not the quick. It was just fiddly and placing the stuffing into the limbs so that they weren't too stiff but not too floppy (hmmmm, that sounds rude!) was quite challenging.

But the one doll I made turned out nicely and a gorgeous little girl I know is getting her for her second birthday. I also made a removable skirt and necklace. The ballet shoes are sewn on.

I hope she likes it.

One for the boy

Poor Tom doesn't get many hand made things for him - sewing for boys is a bit more limited (and , let's be honest, not nearly as much fun) so he tends to miss out in the craft side of things.

But!

Yesterday I found this great fabric I KNEW he would love. A bargain at only $9 a metre too. He is obsessed with all things transport, especially anything that tows something else. So I made him a pillow case that will result in dreams of cars and caravans, and more cars and more caravans.....

Home made museli

Thanks to the lovely Emma I decided (read= was hounded till I made it) to make some toasted museli. This is the stuff that deli's will charge an absolute fortune for. Throw in the word "organic" and you've got museli worth more than the price of gold.

However.....

It's so simple and doesn't take much time to do it. It also only has a tiny bit of sugar and fat but heaps of taste! Just get yourself a large plastic pourer from the supermarket and it's stored in the pantry ready for breakfast.

Toasted Museli

1kg rolled oats

200g bag slivered almonds

1 cup dessicated coconut

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup maple syrup

3 tbls vegetable oil

Dried fruit to add at the end can be anything you like. I included chopped apricots and dates.

Combine all dry ingredients well then add the liquid. Stir until combined and coated really well.

Preheat oven to 150 degrees celcius. Take a couple of flat baking trays and line with baking paper. Pour a 1cm thick layer of mixture on the baking paper and put in oven for about 20-25 mins. Take the tray out after about 15 mins and toss mixture so it cooks evenly. Return to oven till it's a light golden brown.

Wait until it's completely cooled before adding dry fruit and storing in an airtight container. Yum!