You are Invited...{Blogtoberfest 31}

I'm inviting you to come and have a cuppa tea with me.....take a break for just a moment....

What are we drinking?

My newest favourite blend .....

Turkish Apple & Cinnamon combined with Strawberries & Cream

purchased from here while on holidays.....

What are we going to toast to?....

Well the fact that I blogged 31 out of 31 for the Blogtoberfest Challenge.!!!!

Not sure it was riveting reading every day but I did get a chance to pop over and read along with others and....

I have another month of our lives recorded here to remember the craziness of life.

5th Bunting {Blogtoberfest 30}

Here is the fifth and last piece I received from the bunting swap

Thanks Grace it will look lovely with the other pieces I received.

Now to string them altogether and hang somewhere special.

Flying Time {Blogtoberfest 29}

Everywhere you go, with every one you talk too the conversation is always the same......

Where has the time gone?

This time last week I was hanging out in Melbourne with my sisters....

Tonight we were off celebrating our church's 19th Anniversary....

This time next week we would have covered so much more ground doing life!

Where have my babies gone?...

Where has this  year ticked away too?

How can Christmas be so close again?

One thing is for sure that time isn't slowing down any time soon...

I just need to make sure that each bit of time I have is well spent and hopefully well balanced.

What a Bazaar {Blogtoberfest 28}

Another most amazing place we discovered while in Melbourne was the

Chapel Street Bazaar.

This was on our list of places to check out while looking for some vintage bargains!!!!!

Oh My Gosh...what a mind blowing place for anyone looking for anything !

This place has over 80 different dealers showcasing their collections....some were deceased estates, some just selling off their personal collections.

Every item was individually priced and you made your choice then it all went through the one check out counter at the front.

we were told there was an 18 month waiting list for a month lease on the free standing cabinets alone.......

I have never seen such a mine field of goods...you name it and you would have found it...

My whole childhood and growing up years were found in that building...from toys , to things I ate off, to  things I used at school.

Photos don't do  justice to this place ..all I can say is you have to see it to believe it.

This is what I really wanted to leave with in my bag.......

but for $950 I had to rethink.

It was a fantastic strapless lined dress made from doilies.

This is what I did purchase though......

I remember my nan giving me one of these when I was a tween......don't know what ever happened to it...

Now I have my very own again.

My Creative Space {Blogtoberfet 27}

Because of being away...my creative space has not really been active....

 But....

I did receive  a great injection of creative motivation in the form of visiting here.....

I was able to purchase the newest book {they were actually sold out in the store so purchased mine from Readings St Kilda}

Then a little further down Brunswick Street as we wandered...we stumbled across a little shop with a closing down sale.....OOOHHH

This store had a mixture of really cool funky items and tucked away on an obscure shelf amongst the homewares and cushions, was some goodies that my youngest sister and I knew we just must have.....

A roll of this most beautiful lace.......$10 for over 24 metres!!!!

A card full of this lovely white wide  cotton lace ....$10 for approx 24 metres !!!

and this fabulous nursery rhyme print fabric {quilting weight}

$20 for over 8 metres!!!!!

 We weren't aware of the quantities until we returned home, we only knew that there was enough of each to be a complete bargain....This stash was responsible for having to buy another bag for "carry on" to come home.

So I can't wait to get going and be creative....

Oh after I give my sister her half of the stash.

More creative spaces here.

Delivery {Blogtoberfest 26}

Today was delivery day for the 92 shoe boxes that we began preparing for back here....

These shoe boxes were packed by my church family and they are destined to light the world of a small child in a far off country  at Christmas time.

You can check out more about Samaritans Purse Operation Christmas Child here.

Awesome {Blogtoberfest 25}

Thanks to Three Awesome Husbands ..we three were able to slip out of the state for a few days to hang together........

Such a privilege to have two beautiful sisters that are great people to hang out with ,  can share lots of laughs ,who can give a straight  word and who love me heaps ....

we had the most fun time together.......

Melbourne turned on it's wet weather ....

it's windy weather.....

and also some sunshine so we could play tourist.......

we found lane ways full of treasures and food......

we found the yummiest treats to satisfy ......

ate at "cheap and cheery" establishments that did not disappoint.......

indulged in some treats that have been on the too expensive list for too long.....

lingered over some yummy foods in some of the lane ways.....

....and that was just the food....let's not start talking about the shopping yet....

 

Did I say... we could have only done this thanks to wonderful husbands who held the fort!!!

A delayed flight last night saw us arrive in the dark of the night and straight back into work today feeling a little over tired from too much fun.....

I will be back to share some of the "shopping" we did and some of the treasures we stumbled across.

Time spent together that doesn't come around nearly often enough.

 

Sisters {Blogtoberfest 24 }

This photo was taken back in May when my dad turned 70 and we all gathered for a long  weekend away. My youngest sister and her family travelled from Tasmania to be with us and we had a fabulous time as a family.

Well this weekend I am  away with both of my beautiful sisters .....to celebrate the birthday of the 

" middle child" of us.

Thanks to our wonderful and capable husbands we have left them in charge of 10 children between them,  took a plane and have been hanging out, exploring a city elsewhere.

So will be home soon...{yes kids, with goodies for all!}

Happy Birthday Sis we all love ya!

4th Bunting {Blogtoberfest 23}

My 4th piece of bunting for this swap arrived.

From the lovely host Rachael x

3rd Bunting {Blogtoberfest 22}

My third piece of bunting from this swap....

From  the lovely Sophie xxx

Taylor Louise.....

My words are few....

My memories are too many to share....

My tears are overwhelming....

Just know that we miss this girl just as much 7 years later....

2nd Bunting { Blogtoberfest 20}

My second piece of bunting from the swap...

From the lovely Lauren  xx

Ms Tippy Toppy {Blogtoberfest 19}

Excerpt from Fraser's Year 1 reader for tonight!

Guilty!!!

My husband did return home from work this afternoon only to find me laying on the couch "slightly" resting my eyes!

The kids were watching TV ....I was just resting.....

I don't have any real excuse other than I feel weary and tired ...like I feel I could quiet easily have had a full Nana nap......

How bad is that? Especially as my husband has ridden his bike 20km to work and then the 20km's home again!

Hmmmm some days I just get the Ms Tippy Toppy thing!

I {heart} buttons {Blogtoberfest 18}

I have been a button collector for a while.....

I have jars on shelves sorted into colours......

I have made heirloom pieces using my mum's vintage crafting and added her vintage buttons.....

I have larger jars of buttons on yet more shelves....

I have my nan's and mum's button collections in a tin......

While out and about on our getaway I spotted this clever button creation......

If you have a love or fascination for buttons as well you should pop over and check out

Bonkers about Buttons.

Always a button fix to be had there.

To Do List {Blogtoberfest 17}

Today was the last day of school holidays.....

So a list was in order to check off.......

• Hair cut for the boy
• Restocking the food pantry with real food suitable for school lunches
• Last week day coffee shop outing for 9 weeks
• A shopping trip with Miss 12 for some essential girl things and some non essential girl things
• Maybe a new movie purchased in their for her brother.
• Preparations for playgroup which returns tomorrow.
• Dinner preparations for this meal.
• Continual loads of washing.
• A promised fishing trip with dad made good..........

• Two fish returned home to prepare for a snack after dinner cause mum didn't have any faith and prepared  dinner .

•  Floors mopped for the first time in a couple of weeks.
• Finally an attempt to have on time exits to bed in preparation for school tomorrow.

So many things that I should have accomplished over the holidays but didn't ....so many things that came around unexpectedly that we did do......

Now we are on the run to Christmas which is an unmentionable amount of time away.

Which will mean the end of primary school for Miss 12 ...but that's for another day!

Happy week ahead to you! 

Blast {Blogtoberfest 16}

A spot under a shady tree and an ice cream were the order of the day today.....

while the east coast of our country is being blasted by the winter return.....

we here on the west coast were blasted by the Summer visiting early.

Treasures {Blogtoberfest 15}

Our two kidlets stayed with their grandparents the last two days  so that I could attend a work conference and hubby could work.

That was just a great excuse to encourage the relationship that my kids have with their grandparents.....time to hang out, time to talk, time to hear stories , time to be disciplined or not !

I love to hear their tales when they return.....

tonight Fraser was very keen to show me a bag full of smelly things.....

what was inside was the most incredible collection of sea sponges, coral and shells I have seen for ages.

We laid them all out and he came up with the plan to make a beach picture...only problem with that was he didn't bring home the beach sand to lay the foundation.....

Lucky for us we are headed for a 35 degree Spring day tomorrow so a dash to the beach may be on the cards for sand collection.

Red Dog {Blogtoberfest 14}

Last week on our little getaway we took the kids to the movies......

It is increasingly trickier to find a movie that we all are going to enjoy without too much of a compromise for any of us.

I don't usually nominate movies to see but had an interest in seeing "Red Dog". It was not every one's choice but  I had heard the reviews and thought it may be a good safe, but interesting see.....

Now being a Western Australian born and bred girl growing up in the 70's I loved the story line that was set in our states north West.

I loved the fashion or lack of it ....I loved the Aussie vernacular....and I loved the story line knowing that it was based on a true story.

Warning....Very Sad!

The kids thought it was OK {seeing one really wanted to see Monte Carlo and the other

Spy Kids 4}

A few spots that probably went over their heads but overall a  neat story.

A few weeks earlier we had seen Hatchi on DVD a similar story line set in another country...equally as sad.

We usually catch movies on DVD much more economical way to see a movie as a family.

Seen any good movies lately?