The Good, The Bad & The Bump(y)

The Good

• Maternity leave!!! So glad to not have to drag my butt into the office anymore. It was getting exhausting.
• Family weekends away.
• Positive doctors appointments making me feel more relaxed about everything.
• Getting so close to meeting our little girl.

The Bad

• Tiredness! Luckily now I can sleep in and have afternoon naps to combat it.
• Not being able to decide on a name.
• Missing my girls from work.  It's weird not seeing them everyday.

The Bump

 

It's hard to believe that this is my first week of maternity leave.  It has come around so fast and I feel like someone is going to turn around and tell me to go to work one day.  Yesterday was my first day by myself and it was very strange.  I guess I should take advantage of the quiet alone time though because pretty soon things are going to be very different.  I am pretty excited for the change though.  It's going to be a hell of a ride and I can't wait.

Weekend Adventures

This past weekend we enjoyed a weekend away with my family.  My sister & her fiance came up from Melbourne to join my mum & dad, grandma & her husband and Corey & I in Woolgoolga for the weekend.  Most of our time was spent by the beach and then Monday we hit the hinterland of Northern NSW to check out some wedding venues for my sister.  It was a very nice relaxing start to my maternity leave.  It was really lovely to be able to spend this time with my family.  The next time we take a trip like this there is going to be one extra person and crap load of extra luggage :-)

Last Day Of Work

Last Friday was my last day of work and I am now officially on maternity leave.  It was a very surreal day on Friday.  I had handed all my events over so I didn't have a lot to do but the day still seemed to go really fast.  I was ridiculously spoilt by my work mates arriving to find my desk decorated, getting a a big pack of Movie World goodies for bubs, going out for lunch and getting our 3pm chocolate fix with a delicious cake.  I also received a lovely gift from two of the girls of a subscription for Mother & Baby magazine and Recipes + magazine.  I can't wait for the first issue to arrive.  I am hoping they get here before baby so I get a chance to sit down and read them.  It still feels very strange to not be at work.  Today is my first real day at home and it feels very weird.  It doesn't feel like a permanent thing. I still feel like I am on holidays and I will be going back to work soon.  For now I am just trying to relax and enjoy this time before Squishy joins us.

August Reading List

I am pretty happy with how I went this past month with my reading.  I think this month is going to be even better.  I think it is because I have found a good series that I am enjoying and am powering through all the books.  For August I read.....

The Diary of Mattie Spenser was probably my least favourite book. It was a bit of a slow read.  I am not really that into period dramas so it wasn't really my sort of thing.  I trudged through it though.  The Pilot's Wife was an awesome read! I smashed it out in a couple of days.  It was given to me by one of the girls at work and I loved it.  I think I need to investigate some more Anita Shreve books.  One for the Money is the first book in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich.  Stephanie Plum is a bumbling bounty hunter who has a knack for running into trouble while trying to chase her targets.  The books are hilarious and such easy reads.  I also managed to read book 2 (Two for the Dough) and book 3 (Three to Get Deadly) in August.  Don't be surprised when my September list comes out if it is basically the rest of this series. I am enjoying them that much!

This month brings me up to 29 books which leaves me with 23 books to read in 4 months.  Fingers crossed I can get there!

Successful Scones

 

Who would have known that these three little ingredients were the key to my scone making success!

 

I have never been able to make a successful batch of scones.  I have treid a few times and they always turn out horrible and don't rise properly.  I was telling my friend Mahnee the other day and she told me to try out this recipe and lo and behold she was right.

 

All it takes is 3 cups of self raising flour, 1 cup of thickened cream and 1 cup of lemonade.  Mix your cream into the flour and then mix in the lemonade.  My mix was quite wet so I added a little more flour.  Then turn out onto a floured surface and pat or roll to 4cm thickness.  Bake at 190* for 12 minutes or until golden and your all done.

And that my friends is the first item crossed off my 101 in 1001 days list and only 4 days in from the new start date.  That's pretty good progress I think!

101 in 1001 - new list

So I wrote up my new 101 in 1001 list before I even finished the last list but I didn't feel like starting it straight away. Today I am feeling a little flat and I feel like I need a bit of inspiration and a kick up the butt so what better way then to start my new list.  I think this list is probably a bit easier than my last list.  There are not as many major items that I want to tick off but they are all things I want to get done.  I'm pretty excited to cross some of the things of this list!

Start Date: 6th September 2012

End Date: 4th June 2015

Bold - completed
Italics - in progress

Sewing

1 - Learn how to sew my own patterns

2 - Sew a pair of swimmers

3 - Make all the unused patterns in my collection

4 - Make Squishy a black apple doll

5 - Make Squishy a teepee

6 - Make Squishy a Halloween costume

7 - Make Christmas stockings for me, Corey and Squishy

8 - Make another quilt

9 - Mend all the clothes in my mending pile

10 - Make myself 20 new dresses

11 - Make a jumpsuit/romper for me

12 - Make a lace yoke macaron dress

Crochet

13 - Make a summer garden quilt

14 - Crochet a granny stripe blanket

15 - Crochet 10 items off my Ravelry queue

16 - Write a crochet pattern

Knitting

17 - Knit myself a wearable garment

18 - Knit 10 items off my Ravelry queue

19 - Knit a pair of socks

20 - Try and knit intarsia

Cooking

21 - Make homemade fudge

22 - Make cookies for Santa with Squishy

23 - Make jam

24 - Make swiss buttercream icing

25 - Make marshmallows

26 - Learn how to flood cookies with icing

27 - Make homemade pasta

28 - Make whoopee pies

29 - Try 50 new recipes

30 - Make banoffee pie

31 - Bake a pull apart loaf of bread

32 - Bake a decent batch of scones

33 - Make vanilla extract

34 - Make a carved/shaped cake

35 - Take a cake decorating class

Christmas

36 - Make Squishy a Christmas Dress

37 - Make cookie mix jars for Christmas presents

38 - Take Squishy to see the Christmas lights

39 - Make an advent calendar

Easter

40 - Make Squishy an Easter Dress

41 - Have an Easter egg hunt for Squishy

Travel

42 - Go to Perth

43 - Go to Tasmania

44 - Take Squishy to Copa

45 - Take Squishy to Melbourne

Personal/Health

46 - Lighten my hair again

47 - Learn how to do decent “cat eye” makeup

48 - Lose the baby weight

49 - Do couch to 5k

50 - Get a manicure

51 - Have another baby

52 - Get a pedicure

Fashion/Style

53 - Have 30 items of handmade clothing in my wardrobe

54 - Spend a day op shopping

55 - Try to dye one of my petticoats

56 - Buy a pair of Bernie Dexter jeans

57 - Learn 10 new hairstyles

58 - Buy a pair of Hunter Boots

59 - Buy a pair of Lotta from Sweden clogs

60 - Wear high heels at least once a fortnight

61 - Create a vintage inspired wardrobe

Photography

62 - Take another photography class

63 - Learn how to use photoshop

64 - Take my camera to all family events

65 - Buy a tripod

66 - Buy a macro lens

67 - Get family photos taken

68 - Hang all the photo frames that are hiding in our cupboard

69 - Take monthly photos of Squishy’s first year

70 - Take monthly photos of Squishy’s second year

Watch/Read

71 - Watch season 8 of One Tree Hill

72 - Watch season 5 of True Blood

73 - Read the Millennium Trilogy

Other Crafts

74 - Make a scrapbook of Squishy first year

75 - Make a scrapbook of my pregnancy

76 - Put together a wedding scrapbook

77 - Make a scrapbook of Squishy 2^nd year

78 - Make a house rules artwork

79 - Make customised tea cups

80 - Make a piece of wall art

81 - Make a melted crayon canvas

Celebrations

82 - Have an awesome 1^st birthday for Squishy

83 - Have an awesome 2^nd birthday for Squishy

84 - Have a Halloween party

Random

85 - Try stand up paddle boarding

86 - Buy glass drink dispensers

87 - Build an arsenal of cake decorating basics

88 - Have monthly date nights with Corey

89 - Have a girls weekend with mum, Hayley and Squishy

90 - Go to the strawberry farm and pick strawberries

91 - Go bike riding for a day

92 - Learn how to use Publisher

93 - Make play dough for Squishy

94 - Plant a fruit tree

95 - Plant a vegetable garden

96 - Fly a kite

97 - Make photo books from the photos stored on the computer

98 - Try 20 new restaurants

99 - Fill my etsy store with handmade goodies

100 - Go indoor rock climbing

101 - Buy a dog

So there it is, the new list. I am pretty excited to get started.  I find these lists are great for those days when you are lacking inspiration.  All you have to do is read over the list and pick an item to tackle. It's a great way to find your crafty mojo on those days it seems to have slipped away.  I am hoping that I will be able to beat my 65% completion rate of my last list.  Fingers crossed!

No Knead Bread

I found this recipe on Saturday morning and was whipping it up on Saturday afternoon so we had fresh baked bread to go with dinner on Father's Day.

I have only made bread once before and it turned out ok but it was a lot of work.  This bread was super duper easy and it turned out delicious.  Seriously the longest part (apart from the cooking) was measuring out the ingredients.

I love that you just mix it up in a bowl and walk away.  Then you come back the next day and you have a dough ready for baking. Easy peasy!

 

I am thinking this will be great for when baby comes because I can chuck the dough together before I go to bed at night then all I have to do in the morning is shape it and chuck it in the oven.  What can be better than fresh baked bread for lunch! It will go perfect with the vegetable soup I am planning to make and freeze before Squishy arrives.

If you have never made bread before you should definitely give this recipe a go. It is just way too easy! I am thinking of making another loaf with rosemary, lemon and cheese like the original recipe suggests. Yum!!!