Happy-Making: Slow

I've been readjusting my view of the world lately, and I've come to a conclusion: sometimes slow is best. Soaking up experiences, savouring, creating meaningfully. Slow is good.

I'm reading all about creating a slow home here, and I dig it. It's basically what I'm all about, only more articulate.

This weekend will hopefully be a good mixture of fast and slow. Lazy mornings, birthday parties, maybe some gardening and continue the declutter.

Some things that are currently inspiring me:

5 Reasons to Declutter your Home, via Re-Nest.

This incredible vintage Airstream caravan/home/studio, also via Re-Nest

Nine Quick Tips to Identify Clutter, via zenhabits

DIY: Recycled Road Map Cork Boards, via design*sponge

These amazeballs cups made from plastic bags, via The Supercyclers

Wonderful Weekend

Oh, Monday, you cruel mistress.

Today is a gorgeous bluebird day again though, which is lovely and most welcome. We had a fabulous weekend, where we actually managed to start and finish (can you imagine!?) a couple of little projects in the yard. The weather was so gorgeous it really felt like early spring, not the first month of winter, so we took it with both hands, thankyouverymuch.

Sparky raked up a bajillion leaves from the front and backyard, so I've got about ten bags of leaf mould on the go now, which is awesome.

Meanwhile I started and finished (!!!) a new little path in the backyard, that doubles as a garden edge. The new bed backs on to the new deck and we'll soon be planting three ballerina (dwarf) apple trees, as well as a dwarf mandarin tree and a lime tree that is currently up the back and not getting enough sun to fruit. The soil needs a bit of work first, but I'm super excited to see some progress in the garden, finally! (Meanwhile the painting is still not finished, but no worries.)

We also spent a couple of hours down at the local craft/produce market on Saturday morning, where they now have a heap of really great second-hand stalls. I had to hold myself back from the vintage garden tools, but did spend the princely sum of $2 on these four orange 70s-ish tin cannisters. Fun, aren't they?

Plus, there was many an hour spent in the backyard with my three delights. Two of them pint-sized and one Sparky-sized. Wonderful all-round!

I hope you had a productive weekend and soaked up the sun? xx

Happy-Making: Instagram and Yoga

Geeking out for my regular Friday happy post. I'm so ridiculously addicted to Instagram (are you on it? let me know!) and have started to find excuses to take photos of pretty, unexpected things just so I can play around with them on IG. It's actually been great - it's seen me take note and appreciate the little things a bit more.

Also, I've always loved the idea of yoga, and any time I actually try it I find myself much more centred, chilled and just healthier in myself, but I've never had the cash or consistent time to make it a regular thing. About a month ago I found this yoga (for iPhone) app and it. is. awesome. Best $2.49 I've ever spent.

So if you're into yoga or interested in starting, I totally recommend it. (And I'm not being paid for this - it really has helped my state of mind so much, and in turn is a massive happy-maker.)

This long weekend is due to be a chilly one, but we're going to make the most of it, with a stew cook-off, maybe some painting, a bit of op-shopping and tons of chill time on the lounge. Maybe a red wine or two. Or three.

Hope yours is full of fabulousness too! x

Things I Have Learnt

So I was struck down with a super nasty tummy bug on Friday (hence the radio silence) and spent a fair bit of the weekend looking after Isy, who also got sick, and tackling a hefty mound of gross laundry after I recovered. Fun, you say? Of course!

Despite the yick-factor, we actually had a really nice weekend. The weather was delicious on Sunday, which meant lots of outdoors, plus getting through a heap of tiny projects we've never gotten around to since moving back in post-renovation. Things like hanging curtains in the kids' rooms, putting some bits and pieces up on the walls of the living room, fixing the laundry shelf. You know, really exciting stuff.

Things I learnt on the weekend, in no particular order:

- After rubbishing castile soap as a shampoo, I am now having to eat my words, as I've discovered it is the best shampoo going for my short short hair. It kind of makes it feel like salty beach hair and not 100% clean, which is good when my hair is short because super clean hair = boofy = hair helmet. My apologies, Dr Bronner.

- There is no such thing as an ill-timed Christmas party.

- Never underestimate how many people are searching the Google for a 160cm Salomon Snowboard. (Hi guys!)

- Even though meatballs and bolegnaise have virtually the same ingredients, meatballs win. Every time.

- Using craft leftovers for more craft is ridiculously satisfying.

- A paper crown could well make someone's day.

- Sweet peas are incredibly easy to grow (so far). Plus, I shouldn't underestimate how good gardening is for the soul.

- A liberal spray with vinegar and water will get rid of unpleasant smells.

- Pretty things on the wall make me happy. Even more so when some of them have been made by me and Isy.

Meat-Free Monday coming up shortly!

Best. Ever.

How's this for the best Mothers Day present ever?

Kitcsh? Yes please!

Hope your weekends and Mothers Days were suitably awesome?

We had a cracker. Sparky and I spent the whole of Saturday painting the front of the house, ate the best pizza and drank amazing Porter on Saturday night, then caught up with our families on Sunday. The weather was delicious and I got another night of 5 hours sleep in a row. Everything's coming up McAlary!

I really hate packaging

Except when it is this pretty.

I bought a couple of Orla Kiely pillowcases (on sale! I would never pay $80 for pillowcases, but $10, why, sure, thank you, Mr Myer!) and while I love them, it was actually the packaging that first caught my eye. I need to come up with some way of reusing this sweet little box.


I had planned on doing something with it over the weekend, as I had planned to do many other things (go out for yum cha, clean out the bathroom cabinet, have a sleep on the grass) but, alas, none of those were to be. I did get to go out for a few hours on Saturday night and catch my brother-in-law's gig in Newtown though. Super fun! And eating a meal out after 8:30pm while having a glass of wine was way novel.

Aside from that, I watched the Royal Wedding, we started the little man on rice cereal yesterday, I listed some stuff for sale on Ebay (more to come this week. I'm trying to keep up on my "Get rid of five things a week" challenge but it's, well, challenging) and I've been brainstorming craft projects and homemade gift ideas for Mother's Day and my nieces and nephews birthdays.

I hope you all had wonderful weekends?

Meat-free Monday coming up a little later. x

Happy-Making: Four Years

Sparky is the ultimate happy-maker.

*Cue groans*

Fromage-fest aside, I hope you all have wonderfully, fabulous long, long, long (if you're in Australia or NZ) weekends. We are, of course, painting, chilling on our finished deck (hurray!), eating soup, having a picnic, baking bread and (maybe) hot cross buns, cleaning up the backyard and generally soaking it up. Should be all sorts of nice.

Happy Easter! xxx 

Lessons from the School of Life

Over the past week I have learned:

The best thing to remove an entire tub of Sudocream from every surface in your lounge room is, in fact, baby wipes.

Removing Sudocream from your toddlers' hair is an altogether trickier exercise.

If you should happen to get cherry red spray paint all over your white bath, straight vinegar will, thankfully, remove it.

If you should happen to get cherry red spray paint on your favourite pair of jeans, you should add some white and some orange spray paint and just go with it, sister. It could be a new thing.

It is perfectly acceptable to eat French toast for breakfast on a Monday, even though you feel like it should be a Sundays-only thing.

Sometimes it's OK to cross out one item on your to-do list and replace it with "Drink beer". 

The weekend here was filled with family, cleaning, painting, haircut expeditions, a quick pub lunch. It was all round lovely. Plus the weather is amazing right now, so we lapped it up.

I hope yours was lovely and wonderful too?

Meat-free Monday coming up soon (I know, on a Monday and everything!).

Happy-Making: The Simple Things

 

Isy has spent hours playing with these tiny animals I found for her last week. We build farms out of cushions and mountains out of beanbags. We feed them apples and have races. We make sock monsters to chase them, but end up turning them into tickle monsters so as not to scare ourselves.

I also love exploring and finding new things. This beautiful lagoon is not five minutes walk from our house and this is the first time we've been there. So pretty.


As for the weekend, it's shaping up nicely. The weather's meant to be gorgeous (great for painting = win), I'm getting a haircut tomorrow, hopefully catching up with some lovely people for a coffee sometime, a lamb pot roast, maybe a movie and some caramel popcorn (RED or True Grit? Decisions.)  I also bought some bits and pieces to start making Easter presents, so hopefully I'll have time to mess about with those too.

I hope you have an awesome weekend your good selves. xx

Happy-Making: Smalls

The things that make me happy this week are BABES! They're everywhere! I'm in the middle of a delicious baby bloom with about 10 ladies I know delightfully up the duff. Oh, the glow! The shine! The roundness! Love.

And not surprisingly, it's making me clucky. Which, with a 25 month-old and a 4-month-old is where the madness lies. The madness! 

I also loved spending this morning with my nan and the kids. It was so super lovely to see her have a cuddle with both of them. It's not easy mixing the toddler with a nursing home but Isy did remarkably well.

Anyway... Happiness:

It's been pretty light-on here this week and for that I'm sorry. You know those weeks where everything that needs to be done gets done, but everything else is left at some percentage of complete (like, 12%). That's me, right here. But next week is sure to be all kinds of lovely and all manner of awesome, just you wait!

The weekend will hopefully see me get stuck into the painting at some stage, which is, you know, unexpected. I also have a heap of projects I've started or want to start, so hopefully I may get some time to do one or two of those.  I have spray paint and am not afraid to use it.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!! xx

Weekend = Work + Fun

Sorry for the lack of post yesterday - it's taken a bit of extra time to get over what was a massive, yet wonderful weekend. IKEA, bed construction, turf laying, dinner hosting, cuddles = Saturday.

Backyard Before.

Backyard After Turf.

Cuddles!

Sunday we got free tickets to the zoo so decided at the last minute to make the trip in. So so so glad we did. It was such a pleasure spending the day as a family wandering around the zoo. Fresh air, lots of sprinkly showers (meant it wasn't too busy) puddles to splash in, ammools to see. It was memory-making magic.

Happy-Making: Flashmobs

I love a good flashmob. In fact, Sparky tells me that I'm like Cameron from Modern Family, "It's one of my life's ambitions to be in a flash mob," and I tend to agree with him aside from the fact that I am a straight lady.

I get all weepy and goosebumpy watching the good ones, and only mind a little bit that they're getting all corporatised.

This Bondi one is cute and I love love loved the bus driver birthday flashmob in Denmark.

Anyways, we've got a massive weekend planned around these parts. A trip to IKEA, 60 square metres of turf to lay, catching up with the outlaws, maybe some painting...

I sincerely hope your weekend is filled with fabulousity. xx

How Does Your Garden Grow?

The weekend just gone was a really insanely wet one, and I think it was only by sheer determination that I got outside and did a little bit in the garden. My rain jacket got a workout, put it that way, but it made me oh-so-ridiculously-happy.

I planted a flapjack in the chamberpot. It looked a lot healthier at the nursery, so I don't have high hopes for it, but we'll see how it fares.

I also dug up the liriope from the garden, where we plonked it about a year ago. We knew nothing about gardening then (still know very little now) and thought it was a native. It's not. And it would also take over the garden if we left it there, so out she came. I divided it into two and put it into two old pots though, which will go to the front deck.

We have a long, empty stretch of garden bed where my beautiful lavenders died off late last year (the shame!!). Too much water then not enough water meant very sad plants. We're not entirely sure what to put there yet, so rather than waste money I decided to throw a few snapdragon seeds in there for some winter flowers. I merrily emptied the packet in the turned soil and watered in well. Then I read the packet and saw that I had just planted 1500 snapdragon seeds. 1500! If it's not a spectacular display of colour then I will feel mightily ripped off. Of the 1500 I'd expect at least 12 of those seeds to give me some flowers. That's what I get for gardening in the semi-dark at 7:30 on Saturday night though, I guess!

Get Out!

Get. Out.

They were my exact words when our wonderful cousins gifted us with this most amazing Jason Wing painting over the weekend.

Get. Out.

In other, less aggressive news, we had a wonderful, wet weekend. There was some gardening, a long drive, we visited the farm in Richmond to buy our fruit and veges and Sparky moved the three cubic metres of topsoil to prep for the turf next weekend. (Just a note: three cubic metres is a lot of soil.) I also managed to undercoat all the trim in the laundry, we played in the rain with Isy and we made French toast, vegetable quesadillas, lamb pot roast and chocolate brownies (not all at once).

Simple, yet really enjoyable. Maybe the Lav. Experiment is having a beneficial effect on this ol' stress-head?

Happy-Making: Campfires

There's something truly hypnotic about campfires. Whenever Sparky and I go camping I'm the one who is all, "Is it time to light the fire yet? Really? Just because it's 11am, I can't light the fire and sit around it and drink red wine? Are you sure?" I even remember having quite an argument with Sparky after we tried (and failed) to light a campfire in. the. rain. I got quite emotional. In my defence, I was pregnant.

Camping is absolutely one of my favourite things to do. It's just so damn relaxing. The toughest decisions of the day are based around food, fire, beverages and marshmallows. What's not to like?! This is so what I'd like to be doing this weekend:

Instead, we just received a delivery of 3 cubic metres of topsoil that needs to be shifted to the backyard and laid down where the slab used to be. We're turfing next weekend so we need to get it sorted tomorrow. So Saturday is all about the shovel, shovel, shovel, push wheelbarrow, dump, rake, rake, rake. Rinse and repeat. I'd also like to do some more paint prep but we shall see. I'd also really love love love to do something garden related, as I feel the autumn planting season slipping away from me, but I should probably just fertilise the plants we have. (Remember, the beginning and end of the footy season are the ideal times to prune, fertilise and mulch your native garden. Just make sure you use a native-friendly fertiliser.)

Hopefully Sunday we can go for a drive and see some lovely people, drink some coffee, maybe go for a walk. There's some easy bushwalks around here that we've never done, so we'll see.

Hope you have a fabulously wonderful weekend!! x