soupe du jour

I have a new routine. On Sunday afternoon I make soup. Something simple, something tasty. Really delicious in this almost cold weather. Especially with a good crusty loaf. Today it was potato soup, last week pumpkin soup with a good dash of curry. The week before I made vegetable soup which we had with onion and cheese melts. We eat it for dinner that evening and then the next day I take some to work for lunch, which of course makes me feel super productive! Reading Molly Irwin's One Good Loaf blog has me tempted to try my hand at baking bread. A woman I work with said she has her mother's recipe from when she was younger and living on a farm. Maybe I'll start with that one - it is supposed to be fool proof. I'll test it!
[image from Country Living]

scratchy post about nothing in particular

I am envious of knitters. I tried knitting...once. When Nicholas was a baby I (with my mum completing it!) knitted Nicholas a jumper from a Debbie Bliss pattern, with Debbie Bliss wool. It is a book full of beautiful things. But knitting is definitely not my thing. I pull the wool too tightly. I drop stitches and I take forever. In the time I attempt to knit something I think of all the other things I could have sewn. Or all of the work around the house I could have accomplished. I'd love to knit scarves, gloves, beanies. beautiful warm jumpers. I have been admiring all the handiwork on this blog. Oh well. i will continue with my envy. She also sews a lot of Oliver + S patterns, so I will take comfort in working on those.
Last Saturday night David was chefing (which always means he is gone from the afternoon until midnight) so when Nicholas and Audrey went to bed I sat on the couch hand quilting and watching North and Sounth (I love it Heather!) Move over Mr Darcy :) with Mr Darcy we always know we aren't supposed to like him because he is mean and proud. But it was easy not to like Mr Thornton. by the middle of episode two though I was willing the main character to fall in love with him! I watched the final scene about 4 times, and won't post it here so i don't spoil it for anyone who wants to watch it, but here is another clip.


I went to bed last night with the two patterns I have for Audrey, intending to read the instructions through carefully. And I promptly went to sleep. No wonder - I had a huge day (not to mention the past two weeks) at work.
An early morning post. The kids are still asleep so I have been able to have my breakfast alone in the quiet - a little luxury for me before our day begins.
Last week we had daisy (the class monkey) for the week again. Audrey loves it almost as much as Nicholas! (They are dancing in the background of this picture)
Nicholas is having pyjama day at school today! Very cute. he is very excited, but told me to pack extra clothes in his bag in case other people weren't wearing pyjamas. Does that self-consiousness really start that young?? I hope not. I want my children to be oblivious to that and just to enjoy being who they are.

what a day, week, month...

...and something to make me smile.

I cannot describe how work has been for me the past couple of weeks. I have always said I handle stress well. I don't know if I have ever really felt stressed but in the past weeks I have certainly felt pressed. You know the saying, "if you want something done, give it to a busy person...?" Well enough is enough! While it is flattering to be considered capable, I don't want work to take up any of my mind space. Or any space outside my work hours. Which just so happens to be three days per week only, I would like to remind them!
Anyway, enough to say that I am actually seeing my doctor tomorrow as my body has been behaving unusually, and I think it may be my body's way of saying "Enough Already!"
So last night I finally pieced my quilt together (with Melanie's help as she has so much common sense when it comes to this stuff). I drew my stitching lines and used a million safety pins to keep it together.
What better thing to do that stitch to take my mind away from things I don't want nesting there. And to do it all while listening to Jane Eyre (I have been reading some and listening to some) or watching North & South, care of Heather.
When I came home tonight, this package was waiting for me. A beautiful print each for Nicholas and Audrey. Nicholas LOVES dinosaurs and the other day set up his own dinosaur museum - with bones, drawings of the dinosaur the bones "came from", ropes, a bookshop and himself as the tour guide. All himself. Something to make his wanna-be curator mum proud! Apparently my job is to write three notes for our "neighbour-doors" (Nicholas-speak for next door neighbours) inviting them to his museum. I think he will love the print I got for him.
Much nicer to think about all this instead of work...

we love books!

David took Audrey and Lachlan to story time as part of his Literacy on the Street assignment...

It was therapeutic, yesterday. Splitting the pods and letting the tiny seeds fall into a small bowl. It was addictive. I kept thinking "just one more pod". Now I have more rocket seeds than I needed to plant, but nothing that I couldn't place in an envelope for another time.

Caterpillars have been munching on the broccoli and cabbage leaves in the vegetable garden. And what they haven't had, I fear the hail got to in the storm on Tuesday!

Now I am reading about companion planting. Marigolds would look lovely too. If you came to our house and went to the bathroom, you'd think you were in a greenhouse! Our basil is coming along really well, and hopefully the rocket seeds will sprout soon.

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We visited friends this morning. They gave Nicholas a set of soldiers. He spent all afternoon setting them up. Soldiers aren't something I have considered buying for him before. He loves them. He insisted on holding the box in the car. They weren't to ride in the boot! They are pretty special.

Children's Toys

"Real isn't how you are made" said the Skin Horse.
"When a child really loves you for a long, long time,
not just to play with, but really loves you,
then you become real."

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

I love that Nicholas and Audrey have their favourite toys. Toys they really love. They always go to bed with them, and they have to have them if we travel anywhere. they take them to their nan's house twice a week while I am working...

Nicholas has 'Puppy', 'Humpty' and 'Winnie'. David bought Winnie the Pooh when Nicholas was born.

Audrey (who cannot stand still for a photograph!) has 'Teddy' and 'Baby Giraffe'. We are good with naming toys!

children's literature

The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More books were waiting to be read!
Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales
Of dragons, gypsies, gueens and whales
And treasured isles and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants.

~ 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' by Roald Dahl

This sounds like our entire house!

I'm excited to get these books (for Nicholas and Audrey!) We have borrowed some of them from the library, and I was pleased to find one on sale at our local newsagent. The illustrations are beautiful and the stories are just so lovely.

Speaking of children's books, I came across this blog that included a quiz on You've Got Mail'.

1. What book is Kathleen Kelly reading to the children during story hour when Joe Fox, his brother, and his aunt, stop by The Shoppe Around the Corner? Boy by Roald Dahl

2. Joe gives Kathleen some sage business advice gleaned from The Godfather. What is it?
Go to the matresses

3. Who does Frank suspect Birdie was in love with? (Hint: Birdie says he ran Spain.)

4. Facing the failure of her business, Kathleen visits Fox Books. While in the children's section, a customer asks an employee about 'the shoe books'. Who is the author of the shoe books?

5. Part two of question 4...which shoe book does Kathleen say is out of print?

6. Frank, Kathleen's boyfriend, is the nut from The Observer. What inanimate object is he so in love with? Typewriter

7. What is the name of Joe's dog? Brinkley

8. What is Kathleen's favorite flower? Daisy

9. Which book did Kathleen's mother advise a customer to read with a box of tissues?

10. Perhaps unfairly, Kathleen states in an interview that she has heard Joe Fox compare the books he sells to cans of what?

hmmm. I'll have to watch it to see what I had wrong, or did not know. I know that I know the answers to numbers 9 & 10....