Royal

This is Royal, a little pup who came to stay with us recently while his owners were up the coast.



He missed them terribly and spent a lot of time hanging by the front door waiting for their return.

Maisie seemed to think he was a stuffed toy and kept whacking him on the head waiting for him to squeak, so I'm not surprised he was a little homesick.

Housewife

I was given a copy of Simple Sewing for Baby by Lotta Jansdotter for my birthday a couple of weeks ago.

In that I will, in fact, be a housewife in a couple of weeks (or, you know, lady on a year's maternity leave, whatever) the timing was pretty good.

I meant to save the projects for the six-week period between finishing work and having this baby, but I haven't been able to help myself.

This here is a rattle. It's pretty damn cute, if I do say so myself.

This is a change mat. Duh.

and finally, bloomers! Every baby needs bloomers, no?

Anyway, if you know anyone having a baby who also likes to dabble in sewing (but maybe isn't very good at it, or is a beginner anyway), I definitely recommend this book.

The projects are oh so cute and very simple.

Now, I'm off to make more rattles with the bells from around the necks of all the Lindt bunnies I've eaten so far this Easter.

My Little Heart Out

So, obviously, I haven't stopped by here in a while. But now, here I am - 31 weeks pregnant and already looking 'more than ready to drop', as a kind gentleman pointed out at an op shop yesterday.

Ahem.

But anyway, I do have a sudden urge to decorate. I guess that's the famous nesting instincts kicking in. I decided to put them to good use this weekend and booked myself a barge to Karra today (Sunday).

Yesterday, I went op shopping. I bought this fantastic tea trolley at Lifeline for $50. It was love at first sight.

Then, I stopped in at Deagon Second Hand Furniture, on Sandgate Road. That place is AMAZING, a treasure trove of goodies for great prices. I got this little table, the sign, some fabric and a magazine rack for $20. Score!

Throw in a couple of cheap rugs ($25 each, also Lifeline) and a Persian rug that was my Grandmother's and I was all ready for a few hours at Karra today, decorating my heart out.

It's definitely looking a lot cosier and more homely than it was before and I feel like I've done something more productive with this nesting phase than just folding and re-folding baby clothes...

Next weekend: the nursery!

Eau De Wet Canine

We're just about settled into the new place now, give or take a couple of boxes still to unpack and things to find homes for.

On Monday, Maisie had her first day at home alone here. I'd been pretty worried about her escaping, because the yard is not 100 percent Maisie-proof yet and we're living quite near the train lines now.

Sure enough, it was a stinking hot day, completed with a massive thunderstorm. Nothing freaks a dog out like a good thunderstorm.

She got out.

Luckily, a man spotted her on the road, pulled her into his car and rang me. She was soaking wet and shook that special wet dog scent all over his upholstery, bless her.

To his absolute credit, he parked and waited for Dan to come and collect her, instead of just turfing her out on the road in disgust.

Yesterday, I came home to find her still secure in the yard, much to my relief. We headed down to the beach in a quick break between lazy afternoon storms and she was able to work up another good case of Eau De Wet Canine.

Lovely.

Interested in Pinterest

I've signed up for Pinterest and am curious: who out there is also a member? What do you like/dislike about the site? Have you used it much?

I've only got one board happening at the moment, which you can find here.

If you're a member, leave me a message with your details so I can Pinterest stalk you and steal your cutest pins.

That's kind of the point, no?

1 Million Women

I once read a book called Three Cups of Tea. It's about an American called Greg Mortenson, who has dedicated most of his life to building schools in Pakistan.

The schools are built for both boys and girls, but educating girls remains his top priority. Greg believes that change in a society starts with educating its women.

As he puts it, ""You can hand out condoms, drop bombs, build roads, or put in electricity, but until the girls are educated a society won’t change."

I've always believed that despite the higher profile men have in society as decision makers, it's women who make a lot of the changes in a society.

So, this campaign appealed to me. It's called 1 Million Women, and it's basic premise is to find women willing to sign up to reduce their carbon emissions by one tonne over the course of a year.

I signed up, despite being a little apprehensive. One tonne sounds like a lot, after all. But I was presently surprised.

After signing up, you go through a page of commitments and basically tick boxes of things you think you can do in a year to reduce your carbon emissions.

The website then calculates the deductions.

I only made about four commitments and I was well over one tonne. Admittedly, I'm about to start commuting to work by train instead of driving thanks to the location of the new house, but still. Reductions are reductions.

Now, I just have to explain to Dan why the bar fridge he wants to set up on the back deck of the new house will have to stay unplugged.

New Home

In a surprise development, Dan and I are moving house this week. For the last few months, we have been umming and aahing about whether to move before or after the baby arrives, but in the end we decided before was going to be the best option for us.

Dan needs me out of our current house to finish renovating it for sale mid-year. Apparently, having a pregnant wife around is not so great when there's asbestos to be removed and a lot of hours of hard, dusty labour to be done.

So, we found a rental house we can get comfy in for a year or so while I'm on maternity leave and until we work out our next step.

And this is it!



The house is big, bright and airy inside. It's on the cliffs at Sandgate, a very easy walk from the water. It's also near the pub, Sandgate's town centre and the kilometres of walking tracks along the foreshore.

Basically, it's a great house in a great spot and I'm thrilled we will be spending the next year (or more) here.

Dan and I went up to Sandgate today to pick up the keys and introduce Maisie to her new local play area.





She seemed to like it.



Next Saturday is moving day which makes this weekend all about packing. Moving house is never fun, but we're pretty excited about where we're headed, which makes it all worthwhile.