Rewind.

…because I missed it, because I like it & because I still have a bunch of labels to use up, we shall now return you to our regular ‘Punky & Me’ programming…

(sign generator here)

I should have known….

*sigh*

Today has been ‘one of those’ days & I should have known from the outset & perhaps stayed in bed.

I had plans to drive into town to go to a farmer’s market we’ve never been to – I used to love farmer’s markets in Sydney, North Sydney being a particular favourite, so I had visions of bringing home a luscious bounty of fresh fruit & some veg, maybe a bread stick or two & some stuffed olives…

…so everyone was up early, Punk was dressed & looking spiffy & we were almost off out the door when I realised that The Boy had my eftpos card with him at work; while I was calling him to get him to meet me when I drove down to get it, Punk decided to pee… nothing out of the ordinary there except she neglected to go to the bathroom or partake in any of the other usual procedures.

After cleaning her up & changing her, bundling up Suspence & the seventeen bags of crapola one oohparently requires for a day out with two children I got everything & everyone into the car & headed for The Boy’s work. He wasn’t waiting like he said he would be. I circled. I waited. I got the huffs & got Suspence & Punk out of the bloody car again, only to turn around to The Boy standing there with my card.

Gah. Everyone back in & buckled up. Off we went to the markets!

On the drive in we pass no less than four garage sales – couldn’t stop though as we had markets to get to!

We arrived & parked the car – Suspence was hungry so we stoped off for a snack for him & a (enforced) loo break for The Punk who proceeded to lock the door of her stall & delight in my whiney pleas for her to please come out because there are other people waiting.

Hooray – we made it to the market! There were animals to pat &… not much else. Two veggie stalls that failed to excite, some honey, some olive oil, some salami sitting out on tables in the sun & an understandably large crowd around the coffee van.

Punk was happy to pat some animals but screamed as though I were murdering her when I got her to put some of that water-free sanitary hand wash stuff on her hands… this from the girl that yesterday painted the heater with the conditioner from a pump pack.

All was not lost though – we still had a birthday present for The Boy to find & sushi to eat so off we went. We settled in for Sushi but Suspence didn’t want to stop moving & Punk just didn’t want to stop. She broke the plastic thing that holds the drink menu & spilt a large puddle of soy sauce on the table before her sushi rolls arrived, then insisted on various items from my bento even though we both knew she wouldn’t eat them…

…retail therapy is purported to fix all, so off we went again to find “something”. I did find the perfect “something” but it was very expensive, after counting out all my change & factoring in the money I had on my card I had just enough, with $2 to spare! Things were looking up – I even bought the undeserving Pumpkin child a stamp with the $2 in celebration & thought “the sooner we get home the better”; which made me realise that to get home we would have to pay to get our car out of the car park. To her credit, Punk was quite good about me returning her stamp – although I did have to promise to buy her something better later.

A trip down an escalator (why do people wait until the absolute last minute to move when they are on escalators, leading to a virtual six person pile up behind them…? I fear I am becoming a crowd intolerant country bumpkin…) & up in a lift (where Punk, with her hand covering her eyes so that the people in the lift couldn’t “see” her – like an ostrich with it’s head in the sand – fell over a sleeping Suspence’s pram…) saw us on the wrong floor for our car which I stupidly didn’t notice until walking to the other side of the car park; so back to the lift we went.

One would have thought that would be the end of it – that we could all just get in the car, take a deep breath & head home but nooooooooo….

We were barely out of the car park before Suspence was kicking up a real stink so we headed to a car park as surely he must have be starving to be ranting so – out of his car seat though he wasn’t interested in eating at all & just wanted to laugh at me so again everyone was buckled back in…

Finally they both fell asleep & I was SO GLAD, until I remembered about those garage sales that I would still not be able to pop in to because I had two slumbering children in the car that would be woken up before we made it home over MY. DEAD. BODY.

Good Morning.

That’s what we’re having here so far. Miss Punk is now a kinder-girl, she started last week & loves it; abandoned Suspence & I at the door & was straight into painting & play dough…

So, back home we came, Supsence ready for a nap & Mama ready for an apple Danish & an iced coffee.

A good morning indeed – although I am a little bit lost without my big girl here, a problem that will be remedied in about forty minutes, when I will be asking myself why I didn’t do something constructive while I had the chance.

Oh So Pretty…

I am writing this in eager anticipation of an imminent craft project. Yes, that’s right, I’m planning on making something! I know. I’m shocked too.

I’m going to make a bag, another Emma Day Bag – since I had to give my last one away & I am just a teensy bit excited about the fabric I have chosen for it. I’ve never really been one for favourite fabric or designer collections – while some people drool over the latest Heather Ross print or scratch each other’s eyes out for the last scrap of some exclusive Alexander Henry fabric, I have been happy to squirrel away old sheets from the opshop & the remnants of forgotten fabric stashes at garage sales. I appreciate pretty fabric as much as the next person, but I didn’t need it to make my crafting world complete… but…

I have found a fabric designer who is so unique to me that they seem like a genius mastermind! There is not a single print or colour-way that I don’t adore, so I wanted to share the love (or enable, if you will) & introduce those of you who, like me, are not particularly in the loop or designer fabric savvy, to Japanese designer Etsuko Furuya, and her Echino collection.

Her work & collections aren’t new, just new to me, but her designs are just… well… I’ll let them speak for themselves. I want to cover every surface with them, wear them, admire them & most importantly MAKE STUFF with them… & I will be making something, soon! As soon as my fabric arrives & I can wrangle an hour or two alone with my sewing machine.

So, if you are more into the funky fabric world than I, do you have a favourite designer? Share the love!

(Images & my pending fabric delivery from Kelani)

Zucchini fever.

After The Boy brought in a massive yarrow (look at me with my gardening knowledge… a massive zucchini is called a yarrow & probably tastes just as appetizing as it sounds…) from his garden last night I realised I haven’t shared it with you yet – so here are some pictures of his pride & joy.

Oohparently, zucchinis grow like weeds, & The Boy planted a lot of them. We eat quite a bit of zucchini, but not that much, so his peeps at work have been receiving bagfuls, as as his Mum, there are yellow ones, stripy ones, round ones – it really is zucchini fever over here!

Also thriving are potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, rainbow chard, spinach, silver beet, corn, lettuce, cabbage & probably some other stuff I’ve missed – he’s from the Jackie French school of gardening – throw everything in as close together as you can & see what happens.

I love going outside to the lush greenery of the garden & realising that it’s all for us! We don’t have a single flower-type plant in the garden – there were a few here but The Boy ripped them up quick smart – they were taking up valuable veggie room!

Punky takes great pride in declaring all the produce from the garden “Hers” & greater pleasure in snaffling tomatoes as soon as they’re ready. She also likes the “white butterflies”… Daddy; not so much.

One downside is our water bill has gone up quite a bit – The Boy had the audacity to blame it on Suspence’s lovely nappies!!

A new obsession.

Blythe is gone from my thoughts – pushed out by pretty nappies, but now the nappies have been replaced too… What the hell is wrong with me…?

Why do I always have a ‘thing’?

Psychoanalysis aside, I have a new obsession & it’s baby carriers. Looking back on past ‘carrier use’, I should have seen this new addiction coming. I should have seen the signs… I wanted to use from the very beginning. I spent hours thinking about how good it would be if I had one. I tried different kinds of them. I kept going back…

With Le Punk I tried a stretchy wrap, a baby bjorn, a sling & finally, happily, the ergo. When we first found the ergo & found it worked for us unlike all the others I was so very happy. That ergo was a life-saver, helping us to navigate around an unfamiliar city on decidedly pram-unfriendly public transport. Punk would sleep in it, laugh in it, eat in it, I found if comfortable for long wear & super sturdy, so when expecting Suspence I was again looking forward to wearing it, I purchased the infant insert & was content. Punk even has her own little ergo!

But then… Suspence hated it. He would have no part of the bloody infant insert… in desperation I bought another sling… no love there. Another second hand baby bjorn too – I hate them but know from Punk that even if I find them objectionable, tiny babies don't necessarily – we were able to use that for a grand total of 2 weeks before Mr Tubby was just too heavy for me to carry comfortably… Then, disheartened, I thought “I’ll wait.”.

I’ll wait until Suspence is big enough for the ergo on his own. I’ll bide my time. I’ll not carry him… impossible. This kid needs to be in arms most of the day! So, when the nappy group I am a part of started a swap event I offered up my brand-new ergo infant insert for swaps & received a ring sling in return; because, ooohparently, I never learn.

I loved the ring sling when it arrived, it fit better than other slings I’d tried & was comfy & easy to adjust – if only Suspence could have felt the love too…! No dice. But. The fact that I personally liked the ring sling when I never thought I would got me thinking; “What else am I missing…?”, so when a Baby Hawk Mei Tai came up for sale on a forum (nappies, again…), I snapped it up. I had never even given the Mei Tai much serious consideration – all that tying looked like a capital pain in the butt & it couldn’t be as comfortable or easy as my beloved ergo….

I. Was. Wrong.

The Baby Hawk arrived yesterday & I am IN. LOVE. It was cute for a start, but most of all it was EASY. Easy to put on, easy to get the perfect fit, easy to wear & according to Suspence; easy to fall asleep in. This thing is so much more comfortable than the ergo that I find it a little hard to believe…

…& now that I know how fabulous Mei Tais are… well… I want another one. Or two. I want a prettier one. With a hood. Or a pocket. Or both.

A quick Google found me a plethora of free Mei Tai patterns & tutes – but I really am kidding myself if I think I am going to get the time to sit down & sew my own any time soon, as much as I’d like to, so now I am going to save up for something special… something like this, or one of these.

Do you baby wear? Have you tried but failed? Do you intend to? What on earth is my next ‘thing’ going to be (because you have just about as much of an idea as I do!)?!

Isn’t it Ironic…

…that I am probably “online” more than I have ever been – one handed via the iPod while Suspence is feeding or sleeping or crying in my arms – yet am blogging less than ever?!

(*please note that the following pictures have absolutely nothing to do with anything, they’re just some favourites taken recently…)

It is very near impossible to blog from my iPod kids, & just as hard to keep up with the blogs I read – commenting on them is quite the pain in the proverbial… but as I keep saying; I MISS YOU! Really & truly & would like to “hang out” with you again – but until Suspence is, oh, I don’t know… 12, My blog is going to be verrrrrrry quiet…

…so, I may have a temporary answer at the very least – I’ve just this moment, while Suspence is looking at me accusingly & starting to whimper – created a facebook page for the blog here.

Come & ‘like’ it & we can chat! Share your blog posts with me there if you like, or photos, links to your own fb pages or cute things to buy or make or tricks to get babies to sleep on their own… whatever you like & I will be there… A LOT. Like even at 3am. I might not make much sense then, but it’s the sleep deprived thought that counts.

…and if you don’t “do” facebook (because you have stronger resolve than I!), I will, eventually be back… but damn I can’t see when. I am so very crap at being a mother of two!