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Saturday, December 25, 2010

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 :)


 

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Do You See What I See?

Back in November,
while driving down to Hamilton with a friend,
to visit the

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
is now in full swing for 2010,
will post about it after the chaos is over

Be Good
Jacqueline

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

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

Sunday, November 28, 2010

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

Friday, November 5, 2010

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

 

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

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


Have a nice Tuesday
Jacqueline

Friday, October 29, 2010

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

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

Jacqueline

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

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  

Thursday, October 21, 2010

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.

 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
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
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,
where you can make an online donation too.

Here are a few of my favourite entry's...
and few more too.

Jacqueline :)

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

My Madeit Designer Spotlight Interview

Last month I was asked by Bec,
founder and all round duties gal at 
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 :)


I have had wonderful feedback from the interview and
the shop has been busy too.
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

Have a great day
Jacqueline

Saturday, October 9, 2010

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

Have a great weekend
Jacqueline

Saturday, October 2, 2010

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
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

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
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}

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