A Class Excursion

I realise now that I couldn't be a teacher.  Not that I ever had any aspirations of becoming a teacher, but after a day out on excursion with Master M's class, I know it will never happen.

Having said that, I enjoyed my day.

The day didn't start off brilliantly for us as Miss R was sick during the night so I had been up very early dealing with a sick girl and having to throw a load of washing on at about 4am.

Luckily hubby arrived home from work about 3am so he could look after our girl for the day.  Master M and I were able to head off knowing that the other half of the family were going to have a day in bed.

We headed into Brisbane city for the day and the first stop for our group was the SparkLab Science Centre.  It was so much fun.

I won't show too many photos as a lot of the ones I took had other children from the class in them.  It's very hands on with around 40 interactive exhibits that you can play with, design and build things and test how others work.

My favourite thing was the huge globe.  I've always loved maps and globes and this one you could change to show images of the earth in 24 hour time so you can see where it's night and day time.  

You could click on a more traditional image with the continents and countries distinguished.

You could also bring up the sun, the moon, Venus, Mars and other planets or their moon's as well.  I could have played with it all day but as it was the kids day out I thought I showed great restraint and didn't takeover when they were using it.

The second half of our day was spent at Queensland's Parliament House.

It's a beautiful building but no photos were allowed except for the main staircase.  A minute before  I took the below photo it was full of school kids sitting on the stairs for their group photo.

We don't have many buildings like this in Queensland so it was lovely to explore a small part of it.

We arrived home pretty tired but enjoyed our day.  Master M really loved the SparkLab but struggled at Parliament House and then the bus drive home was long (traffic) and very noisy with excited kids so he was really happy to get home to the familiar quiet of our house.

I hope you are all enjoying your week.

xx Susan

The first thing I ever crocheted

Recently I mentioned that I was sorting through the thousands of photos I have.  Well thanks to a lovely readers suggestion, I have launched myself into the tech age and am currently uploading everything into a Cloud.

I'm loving knowing I'll have access to not only all of our photos but plenty of official documents, especially all of the kids medical, paediatric, occupational therapy, speech therapy etc reports.  They're all now (or nearly) in one file each that I can access on my computer, phone or tablet.

While sorting through the photos I did come across some very special ones.  They are of the very first thing I EVER crocheted.

It was a simple granny square made with really horrible acrylic yarn.  There wasn't much choice at one of the shops in town and all I really wanted to do was practice my new skill so it sufficed until I could buy some nicer stuff.

I also have a couple of photos of the very first time I picked up a crochet hook.  December 21st 2009 was the day and 12.46pm to be precise if you go by the time in the photo information.

I was at my sister's house chatting away and she had some crochet beside the lounge.  I picked it up and asked how you do it and the rest is history as they say.

She also took a couple of photos of the moment because we both found it so hilarious and thought we'd document this one and only time I'd probably crochet.  How little we knew at the time.

I called into one of my local shops on the way home to buy some yarn and a hook because all I wanted to do was practice my new found skill.  I loved it from the instant I picked up that hook and I now do some form of crochet most days.

So there you go.  My first ever time crocheting!

xx Susan

This weekend I'm loving.....

Crochet

I finished the white shawl last week but have only just got around to taking a photo of it to show you.  

I've also been working on the table runner I started a week or so ago.  It may not look like I've done much but I ended up pulling the whole thing apart and started again, this time using a longer stitch than I was using before.  It's coming together a bit quicker now and we are friends again.

Reading

I re-joined my library recently and have been making up for lost time.  I hadn't visited for about a decade and was no longer on file so I've joined again and am now happily spending about half an hour each night reading a chapter or two.  Although if it's a book I'm really enjoying then that time can stretch out quite a bit!

I'm reading books I would never have thought about borrowing before and have decided that if I'm not enjoying it, I don't have to finish it.  Giving myself permission to do that has opened up a whole new world to me.

The best thing is, it's a nice 5 to 10 minute walk to get to the library so I'm enjoying my little outings.

Keep up your recommendations on your blogs my friends as I'm looking up any that interest me and putting a hold on them. 

Eggs

We seem to go through plenty of eggs in this house.  Luckily there's a poultry farm right next to the primary school so I can call in and get a tray (2 1/2 dozen) when I do the school run.

We often have quiches or omelettes and Master M's favourite breakfast is an egg on toast.  When I buy a tray I usually boil some up once I get home and keep them in a bowl in the fridge.  The kids love them for a snack and they're also great with a salad for lunch so we certainly plough through them.

So this weekend we have a bowl of boiled eggs waiting for snacks and plans to make mini quiches to freeze for school lunches.

Sleepovers

I have no photos of this although Master M had a night at my sister's with his best mate and cousin Master R.  They were apparently very excited and quite noisy (usual when they're together) but had a wonderful time.

Miss R and I had a quiet girls night at home since hubby is away at work and we certainly loved the peace!

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend too.

xx Susan

Back into the swing

I wouldn't say the last couple of weeks have been hectic but they've been very up and down.  I'm not sure how else to describe it really but it seems when we've had the down moments, hubby's been at work and I've had to hold the fort.

I'm used to it but it can wear you down and I ended up crashing down with a bit of a thud last week after days of picking kids up early from school for appointments or because they were sick or because they weren't coping with certain things.

So I've pretty well been away from the computer and dealing with what needs to be done around here.  Thank goodness hubby was actually home for a whole weekend as he was able to take on some of the load and I could start putting myself back together.

I haven't been crocheting much either but on the weekend my mojo started to kick back in and I picked up the hook and started on something easy.  I've decided to make a table runner for our old and scuffed dining table and after a few stops and starts, decided on a simple mesh stitch because it was the first thing I worked on that I could vision on our table.

The above photo is the start of the table runner and is my usual 'start of a project photo' that I take to remind myself of what size hook I'm using.  I can't tell you the amount of times I've forgotten about a project then months later when I find it again, I can't remember what hook I was using.  Now I take a quick snap and I haven't had a problem since. 

On Saturday, while hubby held the fort, I escaped for a few hours.  I took a basket with a picnic blanket, my latest library book, some yarn and hook and my camera.

I found a quiet spot to park myself for a few hours and read my book for a bit, crocheted something random, drank tea, ate chocolate and just soaked in the view and the quiet of my chosen spot.

Actually it wasn't really quiet because it was blowing a gale so the wind was a constant companion but it was better than being in an overcrowded shopping centre somewhere.

I chatted to a few people wandering along the path by my picnic table, mainly when I had my crochet out as it's amazing how many people ask what you're making.

I also watched the most gorgeous pelican float around a man with his cast net for about half an hour.  I'm sure it was hoping for an easy feed but no such luck was to be had and it eventually flew off.

So the batteries are recharged again which is just as well as I've just checked hubby's schedule and he'll be away for the next two weekends.

Over the next few days I'll catch up with my blog friends and slowly work my way through my 'to do' list and keep on top of things as much as possible.

All I can say is...thank goodness for slow cookers!

Have a great week my friends.

xx Susan

Crochet update

Things have been pretty slow on the crochet front lately.  I'm making sure I do something every day as it's been helping me over the past few weeks when the kids have had a few struggles, but at times it all seems frustratingly slow.

I can happily say that I have finished my Tea Time Wrap.  In fact I finished it weeks ago during the first week of the school holidays but haven't got around to showing you yet.

It's a light wrap that's perfect for covering the shoulders and can easily be converted to wear as a scarf.  I've happily worn it both ways in the last couple of weeks.

For this particular version I used a Sheepjes Whirl in the colour Green Tea Tipple which I think has the perfect balance of neutrals and colour (for me anyway).

The only other thing I've been working on is another wrap (of course!) which is almost completed.

I hardly have to think while hooking away on this one which is a good thing as anything that requires lots of counting and concentration would be a bit beyond me right now.

So that's about it on the crafty front for the time being.  I did buy a heap of fabric the other day but it's still sitting in a pile on my sewing desk waiting for inspiration or for me just to shake off the apathy I'm experiencing now.

Hope you are all well.

xx Susan

A Coastal Walk - Kings Beach to Shelly Beach

We have been experiencing some pretty gorgeous weather here lately and last week I just couldn't faff about at home any longer.

I was lucky that the gorgeous weather coincided with a few days when lovely hubby was home mid-week.  After dropping the kids at school and walking Patch, I became really, really fidgety about being at home (not a normal thing for me).

Without too much thought, we jumped in the car and headed to Caloundra as I really needed a good dose of the ocean.  I hadn't done one of my 'walks' in ages and I was really missing getting out and exploring my local area.

The last time I walked around the coastline here in Caloundra it was from Bulcock Beach to Kings Beach and you can read more about it here.

I decided to continue onto the next section so started at Kings Beach, near the Surf Club and the swimming pool which is where I finished my last walk.

This section meanders up around the headland so it requires a little more exertion than walking along the flat boardwalk but not much more.

I took my time exploring so I could soak in the views and marvel at how calm it was on that particular day.  Hubby was a bit miffed when he realised how flat it was as he could've taken the boat out so lets hope it's nice like this next time he's home.

This particular section of the coastline isn't that long really but is quite significant.  Not far from Kings Beach is the Centaur Memorial  commemorating the hospital ship the Centaur which was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine off the coast in 1943.  Only 64 people survived the attack out of over 300 who were on board the ship.

For about a 600 metre stretch along this section of the headland is the Caloundra Memorial Walkway which displays dedication plaques for remembrance of service. 

Friends and family of those who served our country are able to commission a memorial plaque to be placed on the walkway.

There's also a special wall commemorating the men and women who have served in the volunteer Coast Guard as well.

A little further along is Anzac Park which is where the Dawn Service is held here in Caloundra every April 25th on Anzac Day.

We've been going to the local service most years (although we missed this year with Miss R getting her appendix out).

The Dawn Service here in Caloundra is on my list of things to do. I think it would be pretty moving experiencing the service as the sun comes up over the ocean.

Access to the rocky headland and water is pretty easy from the Anzac memorial and I ended up spending plenty of time perched on a rock soaking in the view and sounds of the ocean.

I love being able to look back over Caloundra and see the Glasshouse Mountains in the distance.  We really are pretty blessed to have grown up and now live in such a beautiful area.

Last time I took a walk around the area there was a small shark in the shallows.  This time I was able to watch the antics of a turtle floating around just a couple of metres off the rocks in the photo below.

I tried to get a good photo of it but nothing turned out well so you'll just have to believe me. :) 

From the point of the headland the view is pretty well nothing but ocean and apart from many of the Pacific Island nations like Fiji, Tonga, New Caledonia and Vanuatu, the next major landmass is America.

Hello to all my American friends (North and South) across the big puddle!

What a perfect spot for a picnic.

A little further on I ended up at Shelly Beach which was my destination for the day.  This is one of our favourite beaches in Caloundra but we never swim here as it's not patrolled.

It's a great beach for exploration because of the rock pools and is the perfect spot for picnics (great views, a playground and most importantly...toilets).

I can't believe it's almost a week since I did this walk now and I can tell you that the weather is still gorgeous.  So much so that I can't wait to get out and explore the next section of the coast.

xx Susan

Vitamin C (Sea)

Every morning Miss R and I are enjoying a glass each of fresh squeezed orange juice.

Nothing beats a good natural dose of Vitamin C in the winter and we are lucky that my Mum has a LOADED navel orange tree so we pop around for a visit, pick a box full then enjoy fresh squeezed juice each morning.

Master M doesn't like the texture of the fresh juice so every now and then when he wants to have some, I strain it through a tea strainer first and he's happy with that.

I've also had a wonderful dose of the Vitamin Sea kind this week.

I first saw it referred to as Vitamin Sea in the comments section of someone's blog awhile ago.  I can't remember whose blog or who commented but I loved it and thought it was so apt.

We have been experiencing the most gorgeous winter weather lately and I decided that I needed a dose of the ocean.

Hubby is home for a few days this week so during school time we headed down to Caloundra.  He had something he needed to do so he dropped me off at the beach and came back to pick me up a little later and I can't tell you how much I needed that time.

Afterwards we enjoyed fish and chips for lunch before heading home to pick the kids up from school.

Sometimes doing something on the spur of the moment is just the tonic that's needed.

xx Susan