The List

After having read so many wonderful lists for 2012 and for the future in general, I decided I better put pen to paper and actually write down some of the many ideas I have stored in my head.
This list is in no particular order, some I would love to be able to tick off come the end of 2012, others seem a while off for now, but that's ok.

1. Get in the kitchen more- I'd love to make all my own bread, yogurt and butter.
2. Make a timber bed base
3. Build or renovate my own environmentally friendly home, preferably one in the middle of a hundred acres or so, with a huge vegie patch, orchard, and animals, using permaculture principles

4. Grow nearly all my own vegetables, herbs and fruit; and buy what I can't from local sources

5. Get out and exercise more. The fiancé is a regular gym goer, I've never been so a gym membership is on the cards for Orange. And if there's good tracks around the area then a spot of bike riding may be in order
6. Read more
7. Make some of my Pinterest pins
8. Visit the local farmers markets every time they're on, and support the locals producers
9. Buy Australian Made/Grown products from the shops where I can
10. Sew some of my own clothes
11. Make a recycled timber desk/sewing table; and garden potting bench with sink
12. Sew my own curtains
13. Go camping. I've never been.
14. Get chickens again. How I miss the chooks antics and the fresh eggs
15. Spend a whole day on an op-shopping adventure
16. Design labels for my handmade pieces
17. Finish my patchwork quilt
18. Make bunting for every room of the house
19. Get a worm farm

20. Compost all the house scraps

21. Do a permaculture design course with the fiancé

22. Make my own pottery

23. Try macarons. First eating then making my own

24. Volunteer at an op-shop
25. Send more mail, and hopefully receive more too
26. Get involved in more swaps
27. Keep the house more organised and tidier
28. Visit new op-shops
29. Make some pocket money from the things I make (to feed my op-shopping habit)
30. Display more of my thrifted treasures and collections around the house
31. Put together a scrap book of all my ideas for my dream home
32. Make my own shampoo, soap, washing-up liquid and washing powder
33. Make new friends
34. Take more photos
35. Keep bees
36. Comment more often on the blog posts I read
37. Save more money
38. Spend the afternoon snoozing in a hammock
39. Hand rear a calf
40. Plant a window box full of herbs
41. Preserve excess produce- through drying and bottling
42. Make my own Christmas tree
43. Build nesting boxes for native birds and animals
44. Create a habitat pond in the garden
45. Organise my fabric and tea towel collection
46. Make all my own greeting cards for the year
47. Gain as much experience as I can in my New Graduate year
48. Holiday to Tasmania
49. Have fresh flowers in the house
50. Be grateful for all that I have, and for the people in my life

 As a little one. How I would love to still have this old tricycle

Thrifted

Not much thrifting this week, with most of my favourite Op-shops closed between Christmas New Year.

Four Pyrex mugs

And another piece of Pyrex.


I thrifted this dress a few months back and loved the print, but have only just got around to altering it.

Before

and After

I shortened the sleeves, took up the hem, removed the collar, and took it in at the sides a tad.

Am looking forward to some new year thrifting this week, but for now I'm off to check out all the other finds over at Sophie's.

This year...

Wow another year nearly over. How the time has flown. And what a year it has been, I started this little blog, and have gotten to know so many wonderful fellow bloggers thorough their delightful blogs. It's lovely to know there's so many others out there with interests so similar to my own.
This year also saw the completion of three years of Uni, all those hours spent researching and essay writing, all the travel and weeks away on practical, all the time spent focusing on Uni, with 'life' pushed to the side has finally been made worthwhile.

The new year will bring with it new beginnings- a new house, in a new area, and a new job. I'm so excited at it all, but a little bit overwhelmed too.

Currently, I'm a bit stuck between the winding down of the year, and all the packing and organising that's required with moving. I'm going with the plan of packing a couple of boxes every day, and slowly but surely we're getting there.

 

 A spot of reading, am loving 'Decorate'.

 

 

Living out of boxes

 Putting to good use this Christmas present, with a batch of roast pumpkin soup, and several banana and mango smoothies

 The cleaning and organising has yielded some long lost treasures

So to all of you that have commented, emailed and/or sent mail throughout the year, I wish to say thank you so very much, it means a lot. I know especially with comments, it means so much to know that my post's are being read and acknowledged. I hope to improve my commenting on your posts this coming year, as I'm sure you feel the same receiving them too. 

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year. x

Happy Christmas Eve

I thought I better get at least one Christmasy post up before it's all over for another year. There's not too many decorations adorning our rooms this year, but I have managed to add a bit of festive decor to a couple of corners.

Now for an early Christmas prezzie I received

This beautiful Christmas stocking is thanks to Jacinta of Embracing It All. I won her lovely give-away a little while back. She also included some delightful fabrics, some of which I have included in my current sewing project, a queen sized quilt. So once again thank you Jacinta.

There's been a spot of baking, more Melting Moments using this recipe. All that buttery goodness, it is Christmas time after all so I figure if there's one time you can stuff your face and not feel so guilty it's now.

And finally here's one of me, quite a few years back now, sporting the nautical look, and with quite a firm looking grip on that present too.

So I'd like to wish each and every one of you an enjoyable Christmas, may it be spent with the one's you hold dear and being thankful for all that you have.

Vintage Sheet Creativity

Last week the Internet was playing up big time, which was a darn nuisance not being able to view all your lovely blogs and comment on your delightful posts, but on the bright side the sewing machine got plenty of use with no Internet distraction. I began piecing together my first quilt, a basic patchwork design using solely thrifted and vintage linens, many from the sheet swap at green tea and red nails, of which there is going to be another in the new year, I can't wait.

I'm starting to wonder why I chose to make a queen size quilt as my first, it really is quiet large and awkward to handle.
I'm planning on using a thrifted woollen blanket as the batting in the middle, and more vintage sheets as the backing, all in all 240 squares worth to make the front. It's now all ready for the three layers to be pinned together, but I've hit a bit of a brick wall, I think I've already packed the safety pins, and I'm not sure which of the few dozen boxes they're in.

Now I need a spot of advice, so I'm all set for when I find the safety pins; any of you experienced in quilting, I'm thinking just quilting it by stitching along the seam lines of each of the squares (like along each row, then along each column, if you get what I mean), is this the easiest way, and will I be able to do it on an average sewing machine?


P.S. I spied this lovely quilt on Dee's blog Dee Construction and if mine turns even out half as good as this beauty I'll be very happy.

Op-shopping

A pretty floral saucer or three, 50c each

A couple of childrens books for 20c each

How sweet is Leo the lop.

And lastly a couple of pieces of milk glass, both from the same op-shop and both $2 each.

Blueberries

Earlier in the week we made the 45 minute trip to Waitui to Brackenridge Blueberry Farm. I'd been years ago, but the other half hadn't so we thought we'd make the drive before the big move. On arrival you're given a bucket each and pointed in the direction of the blueberry paddock and you can pick as many or as few as you like.

Between the both of us we collected 4 litres of berries at only $5/litre of chemical free berries I think that's a pretty good deal.

And they have been put to good use- 

2 blueberry crumble slices

Jam, using just over a kg of fruit. The big jar was full, but it quickly disappeared when the fresh bread came out of the oven. This was my first ever attempt at making jam, it set and is edible so I'll take that as a success.

 

Blueberry bushes have now been added to the list of plants that I hope to one day have growing on a place of my own.