Winter holidays

An hour and a half on the road from Townsville we drove through Paluma. The kids were amazed that we were actually driving through a cloud.



The turn off to the Lake had a cassowary warning sign. Our eldest son being petrified of birds was not at all impressed. Thankfully we didn't see one up close..



Wasn't long before the tent was up and we were ready for camp fire action.



I threw a few spuds in the coals and we had baked potates for dinner. It was totally gourmet with garlic butter, bacon, cheese, sour cream & shallots. Is now the time to mention that we forgot to pack the bbq utensils and only had plastic knives and forks & a wooden spoon to cook with. Yep, it was intresting.



The camp kitchen. We learned quickly that all food stuff must either be put in the fire or the car overnight because we were kept awake the first night by a persistant native, wait for it... giant white tailed rat!



Looking at this sign I'm glad it was only the rat and not say a snake!



Next day we drove back in to Paluma and took a stroll to Witt's lookout, a 3 km round trip through the rain forest.



It was such a beautiful walk. The smell, the shade, the colours...



The art of nature... a strangler fig having it's way with it's host. love it.



And we made it.



I think the river down there is Crystal Creek and in the distance is the ocean & some islands, i seriously can not see that far.



Fox had the gps in hand and there was a cache near by.



Many adventures to be had with geocaching & treasures to be found (& swapped).

There is a lot of wildlife around this area and each morning we woke up to the beautiful sounds of literally hundreds of birds making their morning calls. It was like a bird symphony at the crack of dawn with the most amazing sounds, you know like the ones on the meditation cd's.



Some birds didn't mind being seen and Dman enjoyed watching the "turkey lurkey show" where the brush turkey's would come down from the forest and try and grab any bits of food that might have been dropped. I guess they're the seagulls of the rainforest.



And after a relaxing few nights with nature it was home time before we knew it. We all really enjoyed staying at the Paluma Dam and can not wait for our next trip out there.

7 Years ago

I eloped with this awesome man,



he wore a paisley shirt & I made my own wedding dress because I couldn't find what I wanted at the shops.



We hired a luxury cat from Cullen Bay and got married on Darwin Harbour with 7 ace friends on board.



Best day ever.

My creative space

More beanie making for our camping weekend. Meeka chose the colour to match her cardigan and I actually followed a pattern with this one.

But sadly it does not fit. It won't even fit Dmans head so I guess it's suited for a 1-2 year old and I just so happen to know a little girl who will be one next winter.

So it's back to the hook to whip up another...

Check out Kootoyoo to see what's going down in craftland.

Rugging up

Oh my goodness, who knew that North Queensland could get so cold? It's been freezing ... well in the mornings anyway and when I say freezing I mean 11 - 13 degrees celcius. So maybe not freezing compared to say Canberra but when you're use to 30 c days it really is cold. So, this week I have located my box of winter clothes (packed away when we left Brisbane) because we're going camping by a lake in the mountains this weekend and if we're cold here in the city, I can only imagine what it's going to be like there. Luckily I still fit my winter gear from last year but the same cannot be said for the smalls. So I got to crocheting a beanie for Dman. No pattern, just mixed up the yarn & crochet stitches etc. And ta da one happy boy who cannot wait to wear it & try out his new sleeping bag. I made a pompom for the top after fox said i should (he always tells me what i should do to improve my projects, bless him) and with inspiration from posies latest efforts but i think it looks better without.



And while we're on the topic, I went in to PomPom Rouge today and met Kristen who has a sweet little fabric/yarn shop & craft/sewing place out back. I think i'll be hanging out there a bit.

And now to make beanies for the big kids... i really need to find a pattern.

My creative space

This week I have made some crochet trim to go on a top for self stitched september.
It was a little tricky sewing it on because of the bulk, but I tacked it first which made it easier.



Thanks for checking in.

For mor creative spaces check out Kootoyoo.

Thanks for a good yarn

Recently sew mama sew had a massive giveaway day and I won some absolutely divine yarn from Johanna at Star-Cooked . It really is gorgeous stuff.

I was so excitied when it arrived that i didn't even take a pic of the yarn but got straight to crocheting an earwarmer for my early morning walks. I know I live in the tropics but it really does get cold in the mornings and my big ears catch the wind... :)

So I used Johannas yarn for the middle section with some grey yarn on the outside. Iv'e never made a headband before but it really was quite easy. Just do 60 chain then either single crochet or mix it up with a row of triple until it get's to the width you're after then sew the edges together. it's that simple.

Trying to get a shot of the head band... not so easy.






And I finally got the headband. Those colours are even more awesome in real life.

Thankyou Johanna, I love it. And thanks also to sew mama sew for holding such a fun giveaway. Next time I will have to get involved and give something away too.

Take care you xox

sewing and so on

Haven't blogged for a week. It's been crazy with fox at home after having elbow surgery. He's really enjoying hanging out with me and the Dman and I have to say it's been very nice having him around. It's not often that we actually get to spend time together.



I took the opportunity to create and over the weekend i whipped up this snugly pirate blanket for my sisters eldest boy. Happy Birthday for Tuesday Jo xox



I made this skirt too. Not sure if it goes with my whitey white legs but really i just wanted to see how the pattern looked and used up some remnant fabric i picked up from spotty for a few dollars. I will make it again but in a plain fabric next time.
I have to get cracking on making some more clothes because I have entered into Self stitched September with So Zo and otherwise I'll be going naked in September and well that's not the aim.

It's the Queen's birthday long weekend and we'll be putting up our tent and checking all our camping gear for an upcoming adventure into the Queensland wilderness.

Ciao, enjoy your weekend x

My creative space

It's all about Lego, buliding, creating, smashing & creating again. Dman likes me to copy the catalogue pictures and recreate the scenes before he smashes them apart and makes his own.



Fox went to the big smoke (Brisbane) this week and picked up this awesome toy story lego.
Toy Story is the one movie that our whole family is happy to sit and watch together. And it looks like this Toy Story 3 will be the first ever moovie we take Dman to see at the cinema. He seriously can't sit still, which kid can? I'm game... So it will be interesting to see how that goes...lol.





In the mean time, it's back to playing lego.





Visit more awesome creative spaces Here at Kootoyoo

Morris the sensitive bear

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Little Morris is now complete. I finished him today during our craft morning. In my rush to get out the door (and take full advantage of the kid free time) i remembered, then forgot to put my copy of Meet Me at Mikes in my craft bag. I had already finished the crochet part and just needed to stuff him and put on his nose, arms, legs & head.



I think he looks cute, and already there has been great debate as to who will own him here...

Eenie meenie miney moe... lol