Bottoms Up

A Big Merry Christmas to Everyone!

There are 3 very very exited boys all tucked up in bed

I can't wait to see the exitement in the morning.

Have a great day and enjoy.

Jacqueline :)

 

Do You See What I See?

Back in November,

while driving down to Hamilton with a friend,

to visit the

 Three French Hens Market

we passed this paddock, just outside Cavendish...

Do you see what I see?

Is it my imagination, or are they

Christmas Tree Hay Stacks

created by a festive farmer... 

Speaking of Christmas,

we have our very own decorations in the vegie patch.

Our first red tomato!

Every "Vegie Patcher" seems to want to have

tomato's by Christmas... this one will just be in time.

And, speaking of Christmas again....

the boys

Reindeer Food Shoppe

is now in full swing for 2010,

will post about it after the chaos is over

Be Good

Jacqueline

One Shot

I was taking some photo's of the strange clouds this morning.

As I walked back down the drive,

fidgeting with the settings on my camera,

to find the black and white option,

these 2 came around the corner.

I said, huddle up, I will take a picture of you.

This is the picture.

One shot, and one shot only.

That never happens with the 3 boys,

let alone adding a dog to the mix.

I love it.

Heath and Max are such good buddies,

they spend their days playing and exploring around the yard,

waiting for the school boys to come home.

This shot has captured their relationship perfectly.

Hope you are enjoying the Silly Season

Jacqueline

October Was Sew Busy

October was a very busy month at ZippyZippy HQ

Lots of Odd Sock keepers went off to new homes

Name Garlands and Gift Tags

Buntings have jetted all over the country

Laundry bags and market buntings have new homes too

Some cushion covers were even created as a request

to match some buntings

There has been lots happening here,

but not a lot of time for blogging though,

seems to always be at the bottom of the

To Do List.

And Santa Sacks began to leave ZippyZippy HQ.

Hope you have all been well,

I have been snooping around blog world,

keeping an eye on you all ;)

Jacqueline

Patch Update

Thought it was time we updated the Vegie Patch before Spring passes by.  The Winter vegies are being  harvested and the spring plantings are filling up the last of the beds.  Spring has been very mild with lots of rain, everythings been easier to look after than the past few years.

The Corn is taking off, and I've just planted Cucumbers on the frames at the back.  There's still some space for Zucchini, I've planted a couple varieties in the seed raising box, just waiting for them to get a little bigger before I plant them out.

Potatoes were late going in.  I planted three varieties, Sebago, Coliban & Pontiac on 3rd Oct and they were up in 14 days.  They haven't looked back, no signs of the earwigs I had problems with last year.  Some have just started to flower.

The Root bed is in full production.  The carrots planted in Winter are ready to use and others are at various stages up to a few weeks old.  Just pulled Beetroot in the last few days. Made Beetroot Relish out of some and Pickled others. 

Here's some of the finished product.

The Broccoli Bed is loaded with Broccoli, Lettuces, Parsley, Coriander and Beans.



The Onion Bed is full, they went in back in June, as close as I could get to the Winter Solstice on June 19th.  There's Red, White, Brown and Orderless Onions as well as Garlic and Chives.

The Tomato Bed is nearly full, 4 different types of tomato, Basil, Coriander and two varieties of Capsicum.  Most of the tomatoes came from last years seed. I planted Tommy Toe and Tiggerela in the seed raising box in late Winter then planted them out in October.

Now they're in the garden and flowering, growing like crazy.  Tomatoes by Christmas!

Happy Digging! . . . . Peter

 

There's A Giveaway Across The Road!

The lovely lady

across the road,

down a little bit,

and up in the attic....

is having a giveaway!

Off you go then....

make sure you look both ways

before you cross the road

Lets Go Moerkabout

Have a nice Tuesday

Jacqueline

National Bandanna Day

Today is National Bandanna Day

To raise money for CanTeen

a wonderful organisation that supports children living with cancer.

You can make an online donation

HERE

We are very lucky to have never used the support of this organisation

And hopefully won't need to.

I know many others are not so lucky.

After I entered my bunting into the

Madeit National Bandanna Day Competition,

Canteen contacted me, said they loved it,

and commissioned me to create a 12 metre bunting to

hang on their tent in Martin Place in Sydney -

the National Bandanna Day hub!

So here it is at home and today it is hanging in Sydney :)

This is the bunting I made for the Madeit competition.

It was one of the 6th finalist, chosen by CanTeen,

and is now on display in Sydney as a large photo

and will be disributed on

postcards around Australia during the next year :)

There is now a Peoples Choice Award on Madeit

for all the entries

You can vote for your favourite

Over Here

Jacqueline

Wot The - Buying Chips

Last Saturday, Peter cooked a lovely roast chicken.

We decided to just go and get some chips to go with it.

He rang a "fish and chips" shop - not our usual one -

as we needed them a bit earlier,

and the usual one started cooking a bit later...

anyway, he rang and ordered $6 worth, 

and this is what he came home with.

$6 for 500g of chips....

the boys would polish them off in no time by themselves!

I was a bit cranky and weighed them - for the record.

Then said.....

"ring the usual and order $6 worth of chips, lets compare"

And this is what he came home with....

$6 for 1.359kg of chips!

Big difference, now we had way too many!

(the first pic is 500g of the second lot,

did not get a shot before the first batch were eaten)

Now as a family on 1 income, it's my job as

"The Kitchen Technician"

to pinch the penny's and feed the brood.

How do these shops work out what is $6 worth?

Should I be asking for chips in weight?

Should I be checking how big their scooper is?

I can't think of anything else that we purchase this way,

when we just trust the store owner to

give us 6 bucks worth.

And for the record - second purchase was yummier.

Food for thought :)

Jacqueline  

Madeit Bandanna Day Competition

This week Madeit ran a Bandanna Day Competition,

in conjunction with National Bandanna Day.

Bec put the call out to all Madeit sellers to get creative and transform

CanTeen Bandanna's into something other than a Bandanna.

CanTeen

 is a wonderful Australian organisation

  for Young People Living with Cancer, 

a national support organisation for 12 - 24 year olds

who are living with cancer,

and is the only organisation of its kind in Australia.

The inspiration behind CanTeen is the belief that

young people are better able to cope with the

uncertainties of a cancer diagnosis

through meeting and talking with other young people

who have had a similar experience and

understand exactly what they are going through.

Next Friday is

National Bandanna Day 2010

where Bandanna's are sold to
raise money for this great organisation.
Bandanna's are $4 each, available from
Woolworths/Safeway, Myer and Spotlight just to name a few.

This is my entry.... a bunting of course!

I chose a bunting because they are bright, cheerful and happy.

And.... My Bandanna has been chosen as one of the 6th finalists!

edit...

my bunting has sold and

is off to it's new home with Rebecca

Thanks Rebecca!

All creations have been listed on Madeit

FIND THEM HERE

and go on sale at 5pm (AEST).

Madeit will be matching the sale price of every

Bandanna creation sold and donating it too CanTeen.

I will be donating the sale of my

CanTeen Bandanna Bunting

to CanTeen,

Over Here

where you can make an online donation too.

Here are a few of my favourite entry's...

and few more too.

Jacqueline :)

My Madeit Designer Spotlight Interview

Last month I was asked by Bec,

founder and all round duties gal at 

Madeit and Craftumi

if I would like to do

The Madeit Designer Spotlight Interview.

I said YES! Does a one legged duck swim in circles!

At first I was exited, then I was scared,

then I had writters block, 

had no idea what to say to answer Becs questions,

then doubted anyone would read it anyway 

then could not concentrate with the littles around.

Then I had to submit a shot of myself (we all love doing that!)

Anyway, I submitted my interview

and it was published :)

You can see it here.

I have had wonderful feedback from the interview and

the shop has been busy too.

(I am number 13 on the top sellers list!)

did you know you could look that up?

Thanks to Bec for offering the opportunity

and thanks to Lisa for child minding while I concentrated.

If you have Bec knock on your email door - say yes too!

And while I am blowing my own trumpet.....

I can because it's my blog :)

have you seen my new

Odd Sock Keeper?

Have a great day

Jacqueline

10th of the 10th of the 10th SALE!

$10 Off my Santa Sacks!

To Celebrate the

10th of the 10th of the 10th tomorrow,

I will am taking $10 Off my Santa Sacks :)

They are usually $50, ($2 per letter to personalise) and free post

But, until 10pm, Sunday 10/10/10

They are.....

$40 ($2 per letter) and free post!

You can find them

in my Madeit Shop

Have a great weekend

Jacqueline

The Results Are In

Kinder Gardens - Let Them Get Dirty

has announced the winners.

Congratulations to everyone!

It was a great group to play along with.

NOW,

it's the "readers choice"

where you get to vote and

ZippyZippy

made the short list with our boys and the patch...

so, if you so feel inclined, pop over

here

and vote for us :)

Voting is open till Tues (USA time)

Most of the participants are in the USA,

so we may just get the whole country behind us :)

And checkout the winner of the

Cutest Zucchini Grower

Jacqueline

Handmade Christmas Challenge - Strawberry Sauce :)

This weeks

Handmade Christmas Challenge is

 Homemade Strawberry Sauce.

Recently, the supermarkets have had the little

red berries on special - too tempting to pass up.

I bought some, he bought some, I bought some

and so on - till we had a shelf full of them in the fridge.

I hunted for recipes to get rid of the glut,

and found this treasure - it's soooo easy to make!

This would be a great little gift -

even looks Christmassy (is that a word?)

Homemade Strawberry Sauce

250g Strawberries

juice of 1 lemon

1/2 cup castor Sugar

1 tbsp brandy or liqueur

(I left this out for the littles)

Blend all ingredients in a blender

until shiny and sugar crystals have disappeared.

The recipe says to press through a coase sieve,

but I did not bother with this.

Use within a few days or freeze.

Only problem now is keeping up with the icecream supplies.

We have also been using it in milkshakes and on pancakes.

If you want to play along, pop over to

Knicky Knacks

This week there are some great labels there

for your Strawberry Sauce too!

Jacqueline

(I know, I can't fix that white bit -

it's too late and I can't be bothered

maybe the blog fairy will fix it for me)

{Thanks Blog Fairy Bianca

nice surprise thismorning}