Lately.

Hi there bloggy world!

So, a few fun things have happened recently.  First, I went to Hawaii for almost three whole weeks to celebrate my Dad’s 60th with the whole family.  As it was Anouk’s first overseas trip and mine and Nick’s first as parents it was a lot more tiring than previous adventures.  I’m planning on writing a post (or two) detailing our time away so I won’t go on about it now.

The beach at our resort in Kauai.

The good news is, whilst we were away, we got WIFI!  Finally Telstra came to the party and did their job and it only took 6 months.  Oy!  Following on from the WIFI news is that I finally got a new computer.  I’m currently typing this super exciting post from my Macbook.

I’ve never owned a Mac before so I am a bit hopeless with it, but it seemed like a smart
purchase seeing as I needed a new computer and I already have an Iphone and an Ipad.  I
really like that now everything feels really streamlined and that my tech stuff updates across the board.

New computer! This photo was also my Day 8 photo for the Photo A Day challenge.

The bad news is we seem to have adopted some friends of the mouse variety.  I can hear them scurrying in the walls and seeing as I am petrified of them, Nick is doing his best to get them back out into their natural landscape.

Possibly the most exciting news is that just before we went away I had my 20 week scan and found out that come August, I will be having another girl!  Whilst I have no preference when it comes to sex, I am happy I can reuse all the pretty little dresses Anouk wore when she was a baby.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any crafty updates as despite my best intentions, I didn’t knit once whilst holidaying.   I did do a lot of puzzles on my Ipad though and even managed to get a good amount of reading done.  Now my fingers are itching to pick up a pair of knitting needles again.

And that’s that.

Oh, I know… I am taking part in HerCanberra’s Instagram A Photo A Day challenge.  It’s the first time I have done one and it’s kind of fun to contribute and keep up to date with what other Canberran’s are seeing from their perspectives.  If you want to take part, I am sure you can start now.

Day 7!

And now, that’s really that.  Hopefully I will be updating more frequently now that I have better computer access and things have settled down around this place (as long as the mice don’t eat me!)

P.S. I updated my Books page this afternoon.

A Crafty Update.

So, after a rather large break, I have finally finished knitting my squares for Sam’s project, Bertie’s Blankets.  I first posted about this back in November at which time I had knitted a lovely little square in blue.  Unfortunately, I promptly lost said square in December when we moved house (I’m sure it will turn up in a couple of years) and had my ball of yarn abducted by a one-year-old.

So back to the beginning I went.

I ordered some new yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills (I order pretty much all my yarn from there) in January when it looked as though the weather was going to cool down enough to actually knit and began knitting in February and now it’s March and the squares are packaged up ready to post tomorrow!!!

Here’s my contribution.

Square One – This square was made with 10 ply Luxury Yarn in Denim Blue.  I used a seed stitch as recommended by Sam.  The pattern comes from a Lion Brand free blanket sampler which can be found here.

Square Two – This square was also made with 10 ply Luxury Yarn in Denim Blue and is a triangle pattern.

This pattern looked complicated to me until I had used it a few times and realised it’s a super easy knit/purl pattern.

Using multiples of 10 (for triangles the same size as mine)

Row 1:  K5, P5
Row 2:  K4, P1, K1, P4
Row 3:  K3, P2, K2, P3
Row 4:  K2, P3, K3, P2
Row 5:  K1, P4, K4, P1
Row 6:  P5, K5
Row 7:  K1, P4, K4, P1
Row 8:  K2, P3, K3, P2
Row 9:  K3, P2, K2, P3
Row 10: K4, P1, K1, P4

Repeat rows 1 – 10 until the piece measures your desired length. 

Square Three – My final square was knitted using Luxury 10 ply in Ghost and is a diagonal stripe or rib.

Using multiples of four

Row 1: *k2, p2; rep from *
Row 2: Rep Row 1
Row 3: k1, *p2, k2; rep from *, end p2, k1
Row 4: p1, *k2, p2; rep from *, end k2, p1
Row 5: *p2, k2; rep from *
Row 6: Rep Row 5
Row 7: Rep Row 4
Row 8: Rep Row 3

Repeat rows 1 - 8 until the piece measures your desired length. 

Also, a quick note on my images.  Being that I am a slacker-blogger, I used my Iphone to take these photos and as such they don’t reflect the true colours of the yarn.  You can check out the Bendigo Woollen Mills site for a better representation or to request a sample card from them.

Other than that, I am working on a few little projects including a crocheted tunic for Anouk and a blanket for the new baby.

The blanket is still in it’s early stages and will be warm and thick, perfect for August.

The dress has actually been finished crochet-wise, I just need to put some straps and buttons on it.

On the house front, we still don’t have internet despite Telstra committing to a service date.  The date came and went without anyone showing up and the rescheduled date is not for another two weeks.  It’s safe to say, once we have the connection hooked up, Telstra will not be getting a cent from us as customers, based simply on their incompetence!

Nick and I will be starting to finish the house off room-by-room soon which means I’ll actually have house stuff to blog about.

We also have some fun travels coming up, so after a bit of a lull in activity, it looks as though I’m in for a busy couple of months!

Back from the Abyss of Summer!

So, I knew I hadn’t blogged for a while, but imagine my surprise when I checked the last time I posted and it was December 14 – TWO WHOLE MONTHS!!!  I have a few good excuses though.

First, we still don’t have wi-fi here at the new house (gosh darn you Telstra, you incompetent bastards!) and I am using a dongle thingy that has intermittent service at best.  The good news is, hopefully we’ll be back in the land of modern living before the end of the month.

Secondly, this Summer was BUUUUUSY!  On top of it being Anouk’s first Christmas, she also turned one.  It’s crazy how fast her first year went!  My sister and her husband were visiting from America (they left yesterday) so we spent most of our time with them.  We went down the Coast for a week, had a day trip to Sydney and drank a lot of coffees.

On her #1 birthday!

Most importantly, one of my other sisters was married!  It was a super lovely wedding held out at Poachers Pantry last weekend.  She looked amazing and her the speech her husband made was heartfelt and brought a few tears to eyes from what I could see.

My Immediate Family.   (Not sure who took this photo sorry!  I’m sure they won’t mind me using it though.)

On top of all that, I went and got myself pregnant again (15 weeks tomorrow) and as anyone who knows me in person can attest, pregnancy is not a happy time for me.  Maybe I’ll post about that some other time though.

So, that’s that!  I still have plans to blog about our house, however at the moment, there’s nothing too exciting to actually share.  Nick is in the midst of painting (everything is plain white) and doing some last minute bits and pieces so that we can get our official Certificate of Occupancy.  Hopefully in the next few months I can post fun stuff like curtains, couches and bookshelves!

I’m looking super forward to Autumn arriving as well.  It’s been a long, hot summer and I am craving a bit of cool so that I can start knitting again.  The little bebe is due to arrive at the beginning of August so this time around I have the chance to knit tiny hats and booties.

I’m not promising to blog regularly again until we have proper internet, however, I am looking forward to using this space more.  I have so many crafty projects spinning around in my mind and I need to share them somewhere seeing as Nick is not as interested in talking about yarn as I happen to be!

I hope you all had a Summer as great as mine!

P.S. Sorry about the image quality – both were Iphone photos!

Finding 4th Seed.

Yesterday I was wandering around Queanbeyan with my friend Minha and her boy Jakob and after buying a few bits and pieces at the op shop, I said to Minha it would be great if there was a nice little coffee shop close by.  Well, imagine my surprise when we crossed the road and saw 4th Seed ready and waiting for us to take a seat.

Facade with cute little stools lined up to sit on.

Close up of cute little stool.  The coffee beans are also their logo.

I have not been around Queanbeyan often as it was never close to where I lived, however, now that we’re in Wamboin it is my closest city centre.  For as long as I can remember, the City has had a bad rap for being ‘bogan’ and a less than savoury place to hang out.  It seems to me though, times are changing.

Upon entering 4th Seed, the extra friendly staff informed me they have been open just one day!  How fortuitous for me seeing as I now live in the area.

View from entrance. I love the lights.

Although I wasn’t eating, from glancing it looks as though the cafe will be serving paninis, salads, cakes etc as well as an extensive list of drinks.

Being late in the day, I skipped out on coffee and had a Peppermint Tea that I asked for with a side of ice so that Anouk and I could enjoy a cool refresher.  Minha had a Cloudy Lemonade and Jakob enjoyed a bit of a freshly squeezed watermelon juice (although being 3 means he blew bubbles and drank very little so I got to drink a lot of that too!)

Icy Peppermint Tea. I like the special touch of it being served on a tray.

I think what makes 4th Seed seem so ‘un-Queanbeyan’ is the fitout and decor rather than the menu (which is not to say the menu looked as though it was lacking).   Taking from the current trends of natural, neutral palettes accented with pops of colour (in this case red) and a few industrial & whimsical elements, this cafe seems far too current and trendy for the city it’s in.

Another interior view. We sat at a big communal table in the window.

That said, Queanbeyan is undergoing a lot of change in my opinion, with the recently refurbished Royal Hotel in the same block as 4th Seed and the complete rejuvenation of Crawford Street (seemingly to encourage pedestrians) the only way is up!

I’m looking forward to grabbing a coffee (and maybe a little treat) at 4th Seed next time I’m in town, especially if the staff are as smiley and welcoming as they were yesterday.

P.S. I think 4th Seed is related to 3 Seeds over at Fyshwick Markets.  The branding is similar, I noticed they were selling some 3 Seeds branded jars of something and the cafe at the Markets did close earlier this year.  Thoughts or confirmation?

EDIT:  The Team at 4th Seed have confirmed they are related to 3 Seeds.  So there you go.

Links to Click on a Wednesday.

Anouk & I are gallivanting with our friends out in Braidwood today so here’s some fun links in my absence.

This seems so obvious.  I don’t know why all toy sellers don’t do it.

Some ingenious uses for their own product!

Simply Amazing.

I would be tempted to try skiing if this was where I could retire to after a day on the slopes.

And finally, Muji strikes again with an incredible interactive display.  (FYI, Muji is my favourite shop ever).

 

Only Two Weeks Until Christmas.

I started drafting this post over two weeks ago.  Originally it was all about how I remain stress free during Christmas and listed some of my favourite online and local shops to make purchases from.

For some reason it sat in my drafts all this time despite being ready to post.  Something just didn’t feel right about it, and then it hit me during my move last week.  I don’t want to tell you where to buy lots of things people may not need or want.  I don’t want my blog to seem a though it’s here just to sell you products that are meant to make your life better (because that what consumerism is about right?), and I certainly don’t want anyone out there to think my Christmas revolves around material objects.

So I’m beginning again.

This Christmas will be one of many firsts for our family.  The first Christmas with Anouk, the first Christmas in our house, the first Christmas my sister Ali will be a wifey and the first time her friend comes to Australia!  Nick and I are hosting the whole tribe here this year seeing as there’s so many of us (I believe 13 will be in attendance) and we have a really big dining table!

Really big dining table and normal sized husband!

Since having Anouk, it’s really important to Nick and I that we keep the holiday as simple as possible and more about family (and food) than gifts.  I think these days, we are so bombarded with marketing and people trying to sell us things that it’s easy to get caught up in being a part of the throwaway culture.  We both hope to keep our daughter away from the saturation of ‘stuff’ as long as possible.

With this in mind, we have asked people not to go crazy buying Anouk gifts.  Some time ago, after reading the mantra, “Something you want, something you need, something to wear and something to read” on Jodi’s blog, Nick and I decided to stick to these rules for Christmas and birthdays.

Just so you don’t think we’re big meanies, we got Anouk a xylophone for Christmas as something she wants, seeing as she likes to hit stuff and make noise. (The abacus is for her birthday in January).

We have also decided to forgo a traditional Christmas Tree.  Instead, this year I will be making one from cardboard boxes we have left from our move.  After Christmas we will recycle it and beginning next year, we will use a potted native Australian plant that can be reused every year.  A Crimson Bottlebrush is my number one choice seeing as their flowers are so festive and are a nod to the traditional colours of Christmas.

Flowering Bottlebrush via here.

I suppose in future years, we can get Anouk (and any other children we may have) involved in crafty fun, using their imaginations to create a different tree every year!  The possibilities are truly endless.

Take a look at Nikki’s blog to see what she created with her boys!  And Drea too has decided to do something sustainable and simple for little Marlowe.  Hopefully these ladies (and me) will encourage you to think simply this Christmas in one way or another.

Also, if anyone is interested, this was the inspiration for my cardboard box tree.  I’ll try to take some decent photos of the process and share them.

 

 

A Bloggy Absence.

Sorry for not posting the last week and a bit, I have been super busy moving house!  As many readers know (well, family and friends) Nick and I have been building a house on a 15 acre property just outside of Canberra.

Moving Day!

It’s been a long, hard process and although parts of the house still resemble a construction site (no painting has been done, the hardwood floors have not been laid and a myriad of other projects are incomplete), we have finally moved in!

A semi-organised sitting room with junk everywhere!

Although I haven’t  written much about our build before, I am planning on writing about it quite often from this point on, seeing as we’re pretty much up to the decorating stage and it is much more exciting than bricks and mortar (in my opinion).

Hopefully I won’t be too slack and I’ll actually keep up with posting and sharing lots of photos and hopefully people are interested in seeing them!

Super duper huge pantry! Just ignore the sugary cereal please (it’s not mine!)

Also, if anyone has any questions about the design or building process, feel free to ask in the comments of email me (luna.laluuu at gmail.com) as Nick is the resident expert, we designed the house together and he has managed the project himself and is always happy to share his experience.  I should note, he is a professional Project Manager, not just a guy who decided he’d watched enough Grand Designs to make a go of it.

Oh, hello kitty!

So that’s that!  I’ll still be posting recipes, link lists, crafty bizz and the rest too, so if you’re not into interiors and design, fear not!

P.S. During my bloggy absence I was invited to join the Canberra Bloggers Collective.  It’s a newly formed group of bloggers from around the Canberra region (duh!).  If you’re a Canberra blogger and interested in joining, let me know.  I don’t actually know any of these lovely ladies or gents in person, so don’t be shy about taking part!