Santa found us in Bali!

We had a great christmas here in Bali. Alex was so excited about all the presents that he found under the tree (when we finally woke him up!!), although apparently unwrapping is tiring work as after unwrapping one present and discovering what was inside, we had to coax him into opening more. Odd child! But he did have a great time discovering new toys, having been completely spoiled by Santa, us, my family in Tassie, and his godmother Lydia...

After a Skype date to Tom's parents, we headed off to have lunch with some of Tom's colleagues. The venue had been decided as the Intercontinental Resort at Jimbaran beach... not a bad backdrop!

Walking through the resort there was lots of 'oh wow - look at that, oooh - look!' moments. There were an array of different pools and water displays, as well as beautiful stone work. I couldn't resist but take a few pics... especially since Santa brought me a lovely new Canon 'Point and Shoot' camera!

At the restaurant itself we were treated to the private dining room used for visiting VIPs. We were feeling pretty special! Rather amusing to then see four highchairs lined up at one end of the room.

Our meal was exquisite although perhaps not what everyone would think of as traditional christmas. It was an Italian restaurant (my fave!) with buffet antipasto entre, soup that tasted just like my mum makes, mouthwatering main courses, and buffet dessert... I wasn't complaining!! Alex's favourite part of the lunch was the strawberry gelato we found at the dessert bar, accompanied by watermelon and panetone...

What a great way to spend Christmas - no cooking yet exquisite food, and then no cleaning up! The only thing missing was extended family, but hopefully we can convince family to visit for next year.

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and Boxing Day relaxing and spending time with family

Until next time! xx

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Oddly, having done all my Christmas shopping before moving, the silly season has crept up on me and all of a sudden things have been busy over the last week or so!

I finally put up the Christmas tree last Friday, although I think when I visit Canberra again I may have to make a trip out to the Christmas Barn in Bredbo to get some more pretty decorations for next year as it's looking a bit sparse. I love the Christmas Barn - it always has such a great range of unique decorations.

On Friday arvo we had heaps of fun at the Christmas party at Tom's work, followed by more drinks with Tom's colleagues on Saturday. It's a great group of people, and there are heaps of other kids now of similar age to Alex. This morning I met even more mum's by going along to a 'Bali Babies' christmas event at a play centre - Alex had a such a great time and it's so good to meet more people.

When we're not out and about I've been trying to get into my hobby room. I'm happy to report that I've pulled out the scrapbook supplies and done up a page of Alex's scrapbook (I'm a bit behind... still only up to 6 months of age!!) and I've done a couple of 'mend it' jobs on the sewing machine like putting a hem up on a skirt that was too long.

I've managed to get in a little bit of Christmas stitching but not as much as I would like... I'm working on a 'Merry Christmas' bunting by one of my fave designers, Rosalie Quinlan, but considering I've only completed 'm' and 'e' I don't think it will be done by this Christmas!!

I can't believe it's only a week until Christmas... if I don't manage another blog entry between now and then, have a wonderful Christmas and stay safe over silly season!!

Until next time xx

A room with a view

Last weekend Tom took me shopping... for a large table that would be my craft table :)

Here in Bali we've come to discover that you can go to a hardware shop and not find much in the way of hardware, and conversely you can go to what seems like an ordinary home furniture shop and buy reception desks... shops continually suprise us. Anyway, we went to the furniture shop in the mall and bought a table that would suit my purposes. Ok, so it's technically a 'meeting table' for an office, but a table's a table right?! It's about 2.5meters by 1.5meters... perfect!!

On Monday it was delivered and on Tuesday the men came to assemble it (don't ask me why set up couldn't happen the same day as delivery). And then the fun of setting up my hobby room. What do you think?

In the corner that you can't see there's a single couch to sit and stitch, and on the other side of the room I have a rather large desk set up with my computer. My music stand is in the corner to encourage me to pick up my violin from time to time, and a bookshelf and Tom's desk fill the rest of the space. Plus room for Alex to play... did I say it's a rather large room!?

So with my room set up, time to use it...

Having finished the stitchery panels I showed off in my last blog, it was time to put the apron together. It was so great to have plenty of room around my sewing - anyone who has saw my sewing corner back in Canberra would remember how cramped I used to be!

All done...

My grandma has mentioned that aprons that tie around her neck agitate her spine, so I've made an alternation there, and contrast to the original pattern, I added the stitchery rather than appliqued pockets.  I love the final result and hope my grandma does to!

And did you see the view from my room?! For the photo, I hung the apron on the doors to the balcony off from my hobby room... 

Sorry to brag... less bragging next time I promise!

Some stitching

Despite my lack of 'show and tell' in the craft side of things, I have actually been doing some stitching when time has allowed. I am currently working on a Christmas gift for my grandma. My darling grandmother is forever in the kitchen and her apron is therefore a fundamental piece of her clothing... So when I saw a cute apron pattern in a Homespun magazine I thought it would make an appropriate gift! Me being me though, I've adapted the pattern so it includes stitching, and added a strip of gorgeous flowers along the bottom. The stitchery for this strip is taken from Leanne Beasley's Vignette Magazine but using colours I think my grandma will like.

Now I just need to finish two more panels, assemble and have it in the post by next week so it gets there for Christmas! Easy right?!

A quick update

Thought I'd quickly write a quick update of what's been happening this week... from my trusty computer which arrived yesterday!! That's right folks, my stuff has finally arrived... my fabric, my patterns, my scrapbook supplies, my computer... and a whole lot of that random stuff!

Tom and I have found it amazing to see how much stuff we actually have and how much of it we really haven't missed while it's been packed up. I think it's going to be a good chance to do a bit more culling of the things that just clutter up one's life :)

Other than that the week has had it's interesting ups and downs. We spent Sunday with Jen, her mum and Rafael before they headed back to the airport and back to Australia. Alex and Rafa were just the cutest... the way they interacted and played together was just incredible for children so little. A few pics to come once I get the chance to upload everything onto my computer.

The downer of the week... I got 'bitten' by a dog. Well, more 'my knee found it's way into a dog's mouth'. Someone's pet dog went charging and barking at another dog, which made me jump and meant my knee landed in it's mouth. Big bruise on my knee and a small puncture wound where one of the dog's teeth broke the skin is the damage caused. Tomorrow I've got to go and have an injection just to be on the safe side. Hoping however that Alex and my shares of semi-serious injuries are over for a good 12 months!

That's all for today... I best get a few more things put away.

A tumble and some visitors

What a week it's been!

First off, on Friday afternoon Alex took a tumble and gave me a fright. Our house is surrounded by fish ponds which we have been concerned about since day one, however Alex seemed to be ok around them. The initial solution prior to my arrival had been to at least make the ponds shallow by partially filling them with rocks. But when the rocks arrived they were volcanic rock... so just as bad if not worse than deep water.

Anyway, Alex loves the fish and generally is good about standing back to observe them. Unfortunately, next thing I know on Friday, he's head first into the pond... I was right behind him so fished him out and ran out to the guards at our house for some help. Our driver quickly took us to the Internation SOS clinic (great clinic by the way!) and Alex got a couple of butterfly clips instead of stitches. The butterfly clips have now been removed and the little cut is healing nicely. And as you can imagine, Tom's work is looking into solutions to making the fish ponds safer for children.

On Saturday our first visitors from home arrived! Jen from my mothers group in Canberra is visiting Bali with her mum and her little boy Rafael who is the same age as Alex. The two boys have been getting along like best friends, it's been so cute. 

On Monday we went to Ubud where Jen and her family are staying for the rest of the week. We went to visit a Guru, where the gardens and temples were just stunning

On Tuesday morning we headed to the Monkey Forest, where our two little monkeys walked around holding hands

While we were at the Monkey Forest there was also some excitement... there was suddenly a lot of commotion and then we noticed they were filming the Amazing Race US. Jen is a huge fan so she was very excited to meet the host of the show. It was so much fun just to be around the contestants as they did there thing!

That's all for now... until next time.



In the groove

Well, nearly in the groove! Tom officially started work today really cementing the fact that we live here now - it's not just an extended holiday (ok, well maybe for me it is in a way!).

Earlier this week Alex also started at his new playgroup which he'll go to three mornings a week as a chance to interact with other children. And he has hit the ground running! He loves it there so much that it's hard to tear him away from the toys (particularly the cars and bikes) after his two and a bit hours are up. Plus it seems that I will be a good way for us to meet other families here in Bali - just this morning Alex and I went on a play date with another family from the centre.

It has been a really good couple of weeks spending time as a family. We've gone for a few longer drives, up into the hills or along the coastline (we had a lovely lunch one day near Nusa Dua further south from here - glorious!) but we've also spent some great quality time at home or wandering around where we live. Alex has been getting rather used to chilling out with his Daddya and a milkshake or fresh juice! Quite the Bali boy already :)

For those interested in my sewing and craft, I have been making the most of not needing to go to work and doing a bit of stitching (although really looking forward to my sewing machine and stash arriving!) and will probably share a pic or two of what I've been working soon.

Looking forward to seeing a good friend this weekend and into next week... the lovely Jen from my mothers group back home will be visiting with her little boy Rafael!

Now that Tom's started work, I should little excuse to keep my blog up to date on a more regular basis... so until next time :)

First days in Bali

Wow, I can't believe it's now our fourth day living in Bali! So far it's been an interesting experience trying to adjust to the climate (very humid) and to our new surrounds. Having never visited before, I didn't know what to expect, and I think I'm still finding it surreal that this is my home for the time being.

Ok... so I guess I should begin at the beginning: the plane ride. As Tom was already here, Alex and I travelled on our own from Canberra. Overall he was a good boy, holding my hand when I asked him to, and playing happily while in the Kids Zone of Qantas Club while we were waiting for our international flight in Sydney. Then, as we were waiting to board he fell asleep... and happily slept for the first couple of hours of the flight! After that he relished the business class cheese, crackers and fruit while watching Madagasca the movie, bliss for me!!

When we got off the plane he wasn't too happy, but after another nap he was very excited to see his Daddy and show off all his cars and books that were in his suitcase. I too am extremely happy to be reunited with Tom, it's been a long three months!

Over the last few days Tom has been busy showing us as much as he can: from our closest shopping mall (where there are many shoe shops and of course I had to indulge in a pair... ok, two pairs) to a local eating places, to a beautiful temple on the other side of the island.

Surrounded by tourists (and therefore merchants of all sorts), the Pura Tanah Lot Temple was amazing, situated on rocks on the water - you could see why even an Indonesian nun had come to visit. Although, for awhile there Alex was far more interested in the nearby ducks... what can you do?

Anyway, I better get back to the family... more of our adventures next time :)



Moving days are here

It's been a busy couple of days, with a total of three removalist teams by the end of it. Yesterday three men came to pack up everything that is coming with us to Bali, this morning another guy came to prep and pack everything up ready for storage and now I'm just waiting for the last crew to come and take all the furniture and remaining boxes into storage. The house feels rather empty as you can imagine, however Alexander and I still managed to have our last night here yesterday.

Tonight we're off to stay with some friends for a couple of days before leaving Canberra and Australia on Friday!!

In-training

Here we go, I said I would do it and finally I have: I have created my very first blog. Here I hope to share what I'm up to, particularly while I'm living in Bali with my husband and son - from sightseeing, to family pics and of course, my crafts and stitching.