Thank goodness our lovely little school has air-conditioning because we started the school year yesterday which means two days of over 43 degrees in a row as a welcome back!  And last night temps in Melbourne only dropped to about 26 degrees (and that was only for a short time early this morning)…..but the weather man is promising us a cool change later this afternoon – hopefully we should drop back down to 35!  Needless to say there was no ‘outside play’ at lunchtime and I’m sure not heaps of ‘work’ was started!  (I have to be a bit careful what I say as I know that Kate’s teacher for this year reads my blog!) The holidays seemed to fly by for us but it’s kind of nice to be back into routine.

Our garden is really showing the signs of the hot weather and I hate to think what it’s like up at Sewjourn but I’m heading up there tonight to get ready for tomorrow so I will see……it’s certainly not looking as lovely as it was at Christmastime.  Thank goodness the studio has air-conditioning so we should have a cool day as well as a fun one!

One of the mums at school reminded me yesterday that my new years resolution was to finish one UFO per month………hmm the end of January is PRETTY SOON (do the holidays count???) so will have to think about what I will do tomorrow in between entertaining my guests.  With a bit of luck we might start to see some crafty things on this supposedly-crafty-blog.  Worst case scenario I will show you some pics of what all the other lovely crafty ladies do tomorrow.

A few days late again but it’s the end of school holidays in two days time so maybe I’ll get back on track then………..

Backing for my Denyse Schmidt Country Fair panel for the back room at Sewjourn

This gorgeous girl reached double digits yesterday so that is definately cause for a celebration!

On one hand I wonder where those 10 years have gone but then on the other hand lots has happened since 26/1/1999……..two more beautiful daughters, shifted house, renovated, more study and of course Sewjourn.  But mostly just seeing our special little baby grow up into a delightful young lady – Ella you are lots of fun!

And in addition it’s worth celebrating Australia and how blessed we are to live in this wonderful country.

Tamara who hosts Sunday Stash is up to No. 15 so I must have missed a couple now and this week’s comes a few days late as we’ve been away soaking up the sun.  But here goes……..

Bought from Amitie a couple of weeks ago using my voucher – plan to make a Swing Bag out of it – floral for the outside with a stripe around the base and spots for the inside.

I know lots of people are writing post-beach-holiday posts at the moment but here’s a quick glimpse of the great week we have just had. 

Some of the highlights were:

Sun and surf, penguins, bike rides, the Inagural ‘Cook-off’ (won by BJ and I!)

Spending time with cousins.

Hearing my nearly 3 year old nephew talk (non-stop!!)

Eating……….pancakes,

……Zooper Doopers (much better flavours than when I was a kid!)

…….Chocolate Fondue

…….and Choc Ripple Cake. 

Eating popcorn at the Family Concert.

Fishing.

The Carnival.

Searching for the best waves.

Snuggling up with Grandad after a hard session in the surf.

Burying Uncle BJ in the sand (isn’t it great to have (patient) uncles and aunties without children?)

And the chance to do lots of reading – managed to read our next Book Club book – must be a record as our next get-together isn’t until the start of March!!!  It was an easy, entertaining read – perfect for the beach.  Then I started this book but it’s taking much longer to get into – maybe a few days up at Sewjourn later in the week will help!

Tracey has just launched a new website and blog selling her quilt patterns featuring children’s photos.  There’s mermaids, fairies, astronauts, fire fighters and more.  She’s also having a competition to celebrate the launch so pop on over, leave a comment and make a mention on your blog to be in the running……..

Wow, we just arrived back from holidays last night so there’s lots of blog reading and catching up to do (not to mention washing and unpacking!) but there was an email from a friend alerting me to this. How exciting to make an appearance on Whip UP!  Hopefully I will get a chance to write more of what has been happening and visit lots of blogs later today.  If you are in Victoria, make sure you stay cool today.

…….back in a week.  Will catch up on all the news and the Sunday Stash then. 

Have a good week!

Fresh summery prints from Prints Charming – they feel so lovely – the weave of the fabric is so smooth and fine.

Happy New Year!  As always it’s the time for making declarations and planning for the year ahead…….I’ve decided to keep it simple to avoid the disappointment of not living up to all the declarations made!

1.  Have a quieter year – shouldn’t be that difficult as it would be hard to have a busier year that 2008.

2.  Do some more crafting rather that just reading about it on blogs and dreaming (and buying the supplies!)

3.  Aim to be ’40 and fit’ rather than ‘frumpy and 40’ – I have until mid-year to achieve this!

There’s lots of UFOs that need finishing so the aim would be to finish one project a month but I won’t go into more detail than that suffice to say I will show you photos when the projects are done.

So far the year has started off nicely with some more relaxing, a day at the Hanging Rock Races and a wedding last night.  We are off to an afternoon tea in the Fitzroy Gardens today to continue the wedding celebrations in perfect Melbourne weather.  Hope you are enjoying your start to 2009.