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 :)