DAY TWO OF TEN

We survived Night One

We were quite pleased with night one, Riley only woke twice.

He has only asked about his parents a few times, so that's a relief.

There are only so many times you can say they are at work.

This afternoon it was off to the beach

He loved jumping off the mounds of sand left by the trucks that were working on our beach
I'm the King of the castle and you're the dirty rascal

DAY ONE OF TEN

Today is the first of ten days that we are looking after 2 ½ yo Riley. Our daughter Amy and husband Ryan flew to New York this morning. A 14 hour flight to LA then 5 hour flight to New York. Ryan and his ‘team’ from work have won an award and as the parent company is from USA they are going there to receive the award. The company pays for their flights, accommodation, award night and sightseeing for 4 days – how lucky they are. So they are staying on a little longer to see more of the sights and have a bit of a break.

Today Riley was watching a

DVD of Toy Story 2

This is the first time Riley has been away from his parents for more than one night!!!
I am not sure how it will go as he is a very restless sleeper , dreams and talks in his sleep and quite often ends up sleeping with Amy and Ryan.
Hopefully by the end of his stay we will still be sane. You can sometimes forget how tiresome it can be to have such a little man around full time. He does give us so much love and lots of laughs.
Amy and Ryan return home on the morning of Mother’s Day.

OUT OF THE STUDY WINDOW

TIME FOR A MAKEOVER OF THE SHED WALL

Looking out of the study window all I see is our boring blank walled garden shed

It needed something interesting on it for me to look at

I had a collection of driftwood picked up from my many walks on the beach.

So below is what was made

Three driftwood hangers
All you need is some wire and a collection of driftwood

Drill some holes through each end of the driftwood and wrap your wire around it

I love the texture of driftwood

Just keep adding your pieces of driftwood and you have a fun beach theme hanger

BEACH CLOSED

First time I have seen this at my local beach - Mount Martha

The sign tells it all.

After a long time of losing sand on North Beach they are finally relocating the sand from the South Beach onto North Beach.

It will be wonderful to again be able to have lots of sand under my feet as I walk along the waters edge

They are also repairing storm damage and erosion on the cliff walls

Wednesday and Thursday we took Riley down to see the trucks.

He loved watching them being filled with sand.

Every little boys dream - a big sandpit!!

FINISHED

More or Less

I have finally finished my embroidery. Can't believe that I first put these bits and pieces together on my Day 12 Post on 22nd January. Time just flies by, so many family things happening that stop me playing at creating.

This is the finished embroidery. Now I need to frame it in something, not quite sure what yet. Probably stretch it over a board and then put a frame over it.

Love lives in this house.

I saw this quote on a little tin sign and thought it was sweet.

The door knob is a crystal bead with a little seed bead holding it in place

I love the look of the muslin in the window and door

The tree is also created from a circle of muslin, with a cream button and sequins in the centre and some french knots around the outside

The tree trunk is stemstitched and the pot I just played around with

Enjoying a cup of tea

After a busy week I was happy to have my latest issue of Somerset Life arrive in the mail on Friday morning. Perfect time for having a nice peaceful cup of tea and a flick through the magazine.

I was sitting at the kitchen table and looked up and saw a great reflection in the bottom of the mirror.

It was the reflection of my Family Photo wall.

I love seeing this wall of everchanging photos of my family.

Pretty cup and seaglass from my local Mt. Martha beach on the kitchen table

Love the colour of this wall

I often change over the photos in the frames.

The top 3 photos are wedding shots.

On the left is my parents wedding which was a double wedding shared with my mothers sister.

The middle photo is of my own wedding

The last photo is of Max's Nanna and Pops wedding

The wall to the left of my Family Photo wall has on old meat safe cupboard against it.

I have been tempted to paint it white but so far I haven't done it.

I love the painted canvas on this wall that has a lovely quote on it.

Family Faces are magic mirrors

Looking at people who belong to us

we see the past present and future.

I can't remember where I first saw this quote but I loved it and painted it on the canvas.

Lots of visitors have copied this quote and done it for their own homes

There is a photo of my son Michael taken when he did his army training

Love this old table I use in the kitchen.

Got it for $5.00 at a garage sale. As you can see by all of the cuts and splashes in the table top it was used in a shed as a work bench

I love all of its imperfections

Love the timber and paint left on the legs

Hope everyone has a great weekend

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

THINGS TO DO AT GRANDMA'S

School holiday time here in Victoria, so that means extra babysitting duties.

Had all 3 grandchildren today and they had some fun

They made roads on the deck out of old timber offcuts

Chloe was holding up the Stop/Go sign that the boys were just ignoring

Don't you just love the fast moving legs of Riley trying to do a cart wheel

Cousins ready for a nap.

Lucky Lachlan had Uncle Daniel home for the day to learn how to play cards.

I am nagging Max to let me get rid of these green sofas for some nice cream/white slip covered ones

Excuse the messy surrounds but with Riley 2, Chloe 6, Lachlan 7 and Uncle Daniel all playing around in the one room there is always laughter, chaos and mess.

Laughter beats mess any day!

Chloe and Riley doing handstands together

After 3 days of babysitting I am well and truly ready for a Nana-nap!