Bargin!!!!!

Wow it pays to ask the universe and wait for the reply.  Just picked up a dinning table with chairs for only $320.  Not often do you come across an 8 seating table with the chairs in second hand places.  And it was wood.  And it wasn't knocked about.  And it had the lovely shaker style chairs so no more catching my blouses on the chair back knobs and ripping off the buttons.  Haaaaaa.  It is slightly larger than our old one so can seat 10 with a comfortable squeeze rather than a shoehorn and "mind your elbow"

Its been raining here and P has made the children their own bows and arrows.  Amazing what a piece of bamboo gardening stake and twine can do.  Oh and don't forget the bright blue duct tape.  Appartently you NEED it to stick accross your face in tribal stripes!!!

Vest----FINISHED!!!!!

In between packing, moving and unpacking I finished this glorious vest

It is so soft.  Its hot pink with lime green trim.  I am starting another one for MrM.  P has asked for one but since the pattern is for a baby and I did some tweeking to get it to fit MsR-3 and a little more to fit MrM-nearly 5 I think I may have to do LOTS more tweeking to make it fit a 42yr old man.  ???
Still it was an easy pattern and made up quickly.
THE awesome singlet pattern  go forth and knit it.

Whew!  Finaly have enough space to sit and think.  The move went good and we are all moved in.  The kids have settled in to school.  Unfortunately for MrJ and MrS there seems to be no pokemon fans at the school so they are doing their best with playing touch football at lunch.  Everybody tells me it is the best school in the area and at only 190 students is very close.  I tried to get MrM and MsR in to the local kindy but they have loooooong waiting lists, I was told I could pay $20 to have MsR put on the list but she would most probably not get in even next year!!  So no I wont throw away a non refundable $20 on the off chance.  I could send them to a daycare 30-40 min but for what?  I don't want daycare I want them to go to a good and caring kindy.  I am able to get to some meetings from an internet forum I frequent and THANK GOODNESS for that.  I went to one last Friday and I was so nice to sit with other mummas and be surrounded by real women and sweet babes.   
The house is taking some adjustment as it is a highset and of the older variety.  There are 2 1/2 bedrooms upstairs, combined bathroom toilet, lounge and huge kitchen and dinning.  Downstairs is another toilet, 3 rooms and a double garage and laundry.  Unfortunately the are no internal access stairs so we are all upstairs-the boys in one room, the girls and all the clothes in another and DH and I have the teeny 1/2 bedroom.  We took that as it has huge windows and I didn't like the idea of the children being anywhere near the upstairs windows with out some kind of guarding. 
It is good to not have packing and moving hanging over our heads.  Maybe now I can back into some serious crafting...

Packing, packing, packing

I am just sneaking in to update before going off line for goodness knows how long as we disconnect and reconnect the internet. 
Wow the things that I have thrown out or donated!?!?!  I cna't believe that I moved some stuff twice in the last 4yrs and still haven't used it, so away it goes.  And some stuff that even after living here for 3yrs we didn't unpack.  Embarrassing!!!!  Feels good to declutter, though I expect with a large family you are never really clutter free. 
Well its 2days till moving day and still have heaps to do.  I found the big things easy its now the little things that I keep finding.  There will be many boxes labeled 'odds and ends'.
My knitting is going good.  I got 3/4 of the back of the vest done and realised I had forgotten how to cast off and I had packed all my craft books and the internet was unaccessable for 2days as we had to have the loungeroom floor retiled.  Retiling completed and internet back on and I seached and found the instructions how to cast off.  Stupid me was doing it the wrong way round.  Redid it and have finished the back.  Yeah!!!  I started on the  front and got 1/2way done and one of the little blighters lost one of my needles and unpicked it.  GAH!  So back to the start.  It is relaxing to do a few rows after a hard day of packing even if I do fall asleep mid row.
 

I have been drawn to the dark side...

yep after years I have finally picked up a pair of knitting needles again.  I have some bamboo/cotton blend that no matter what I tried to envision it crocheted as it never quite turned out right.  I found a knitted vest/singlet pattern and thought YEP!!! so I dug the bamboo out of an already packed box and the knitting needles out of my crochet bag and away it started.  I must say I do miss the slight click, click of the needles and the softness of stocking stitch.  One of my most treasured items is a shawl that I knitted myself many years ago with visions of flickering candle light, princes on white horses and wild romance.  None of that happened but I do have a very nice soft shawl that MrM spent the first week of his life earthside wrapped in. 
On the moving front we have packed up more of the house, decided to sell more furniture and get a new dining table when we get to Brisbane.  Poor old dining table won't see another move :(  It is so wobbley.  It is so soft and smooth on the surface as it has had many scrubbings after dried up weetbix, painting, playdough and just general dirt.  Strangley I am very upset to see it go. 

On the move

We are moving.  We have been discussing this for well over 18months and finally have the oportunity to do so.  Things have just not worked out for us here.  For me personally I hope that with out being constantly reminded every time I drive in to town of the hospital and what they did to me and MsR I can somehow over come this oh so wonderful ride of birth truama and get my life back on track.  Well I can hope. 
So DH was offered a job back down in Brisbane, with a house (rundown and old) with cheap rent so we went down to check it out on the 12June.  Decided there and then yep so returned home and started packing.  We want to be there for the start of school after the holidays so are leaving here on the 6July.  Oh my goodness!!! 
We have so far packed up 3/4 of the house, thrown away 2 wheelie bins full and donated 2 ute loads to the charity shops.  I just don't believe that we will get it all done. 

My Garden

In my garden grows....well not much :)  I try but with things being up in the air my vegetable growing has taken a beating.  At the moment I have shallots growing a-plenty and I have put in another container of lettuce.  I am going to attempt some mixed pots of cherry tomatoes.  I am trying to keep everything movable so when we do move I can take it with us.

I came across this great method of using old broken sandpit clams as planters and it really is a wonderful idea.  It is heavy but not totally unmovable when full but easy to empty.  I have 1 and 1/2 full with shallots using a sneaky cheap and free way of planting the chopped off ends and waiting until they regrow!!!!! It is brilliant.  Just leave a little more than normal on the ends when you chop them off and plant them in your garden.  I don't pull them up just cut them off and they regrow. 

I also plant the tops of the swedes and they send out leafy green shoots that I love.

The other clam shell has just been seeded with lettuce.   I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE lettuce and going out into the garden and just picking a few baby leaves, throw in a few of the baby swede greens and a few herbs-boy oh boy it is a wonderful lunch.   It feeds my soul and much as my tummy to wander, pick and eat something that you have grown.  It has been way too long since I had that comfort of looking out of the window and seeing the chickens scratching round the garden and knowing that a 15min stroll around will full my basket and provide dinner.