Jikana Damaru

~ Weekend Reading ~

Finally I have my hands on a copy of the new Ikea Catalogue so I am off to spend my weekend scouring the pages for yummy products - I have even noticed that they are now open until 9pm every weeknight - sounds like heaven!

Hope you enjoy your weekend.

Salt Water sale

Laura's Design Inspiration
This little mood board inspired the high summer story of delicate silks, etched dragonflies, and gilded details.

Saltwater is a British clothing design label based in London and Cornwall.
They make women's clothing with a fresh, soft, vintage feel. Think pretty vintage printed skirts, hand embroidered dresses, faded print tunics and fine knits. I am loving their blue and white China bird skirt in the last pic, which has over 50% off in the sale!

Have a great day!

New Stockist for Lulu froufrou!!

Just dropped this order off to Betty at Little Hollywood in Hughsdale - a wonderful exclusive kids hairdressing salon. Betty and her dedicated team specialise in haircuts for children in an environment that is fun and friendly - trust me I had a hard time getting Lou out of there when we visited. If your in the area (or not it would be worth the drive) and its time for the little ones haircut why pop not in and make them feel like a star :) !!

~ Doctor Doctor ~

This week has been a bit of a week for Doctors - poor little Indi has today had to have a nasal endoscopy - not much fun for an 8 week old and thankfully the lovely nurse wisked her away quickly and she was back in my arms 5 minutes later.

I feel very blessed that I have made it 5 years without any major health ordeals with my girls and today was the first time we have had to undergo any minor operations.

The Doctor confirmed that Indiana has Laryngomalacia which is basically a soft floppy larynx. This is something that she will grow out of with time and it just means she is very noisy when she breathes. I am sure a number of people have thought I had a little piglet in my pram at times. Such a relief though to have the procedure done and dusted and to know all is fine.

Now we just have to get through Friday's immunisation - poor little sausage she is not having a fun week - a great excuse for lots of cuddles.

(A cuddle from nanna)

~ A Day in the Life ~

I'm hungry, I want to do craft, Give me back my barbie, I want water, Mummy I'm on the toilet - come and wipe my bottom, I want to draw, I'm hungry - I want a biscuit, She hit me, I'm hungry, Where's my pink necklace, I'm hungry, I'm hungry, I'm hungry....... (and it is not even 8am yet!)

Life is very hectic at the moment with these two cheeky monkeys plus a newborn to look after. I can't quite believe the constant need for someone in our house to have food!

To add to that last night at 4.30am we were woken by the wrong baby! Miss Sienna's new Baby Alive decided that she was going to wake and keep talking and do you think I could stop her! I had to resort to the screw driver! Lucky I am good with a screwdriver at 4.30am and was able to get those batteries out quick smart.

(Sienna and her new baby back together after it's middle of the night operation)

The grumpy 3 year old has kept me on my toes all day.

(Sofia and her typical 3 year old snarl!)

We have danced ...

Decided to trash our bedroom by getting all the pillows from all beds in the house...

And finally went to ballet ...

(Lucky they are cute once dressed for ballet!)

Oh the life of a mother - No wonder I had half a jar of peanut butter at 5pm this afternoon.

Monday and Tuesday are non-preschool days in our house so by Tuesday evening I am well and truly ready for time out!

I hope you enjoyed a brief look into our afternoon - hope yours was just as interesting and that Wednesday is a little less hectic!

Craft & Creativity

I wanted to share with you Craft & Creativity, a Swedish lady named Helena who posts the prettiest pics of her house on Flickr. I have been admiring her pics for over five months now and recently featured her necklace hanger in my Flickr Faves post, 'Vintage blue'.

At the weekend she posted some new pics of her little daughter, Annie's, room. I immediately fell in love with the tea/coffee set with the cutest wooden cakes. Doesn't she have just the nicest taste!

How fab is Annie's room with the hand crochet kitchen towels, and pretty storage solutions?

I adore the bright patterned cushions and floral wallpaper in Elin's room, and especially the hand made 'E' cushion.

Miniature plates and cakes by Craft & Creativity

And I have to have the miniature plates and coffee/tea set from Ikea.

Duktig 10-piece coffee/tea set

Duktig plate/bowl

Impending Backyard Blitz

before....

In the early 1990's, red patterned concrete may well have been the fashion-forward flooring alternative for a courtyard. Living with it in 2009... fashion-forward, not so much.

We inherited our landscaping when we bought our home, and mostly the previous occupants got it right. But the concrete courtyard kinda does my head in. There's no greenery, no protection from the elements, nothing to provide privacy from the neighbours. In short, nothing to entice us to utilise it, and so it has sat neglected for quite a while while we worked out how we could turn our sad little space into a functional outdoor room.

Of course, I've watched Backyard Blitz, read all the Jamie Durie books and initially came up with some pretty grand plans for the space. Unfortunately, reality set in with the realisation that maternity leave is not the highest paid job in the world and our plans have now been scaled back a bit. But we have, we hope, come up with something that will transform our coutyard from drab to fab!

Stage one will entail built-in bench seats, a new planter box under the big ugly window, large square pavers (goodbye red brick!), and a large timber screen (goodbye neighbours!).

The building starts tomorrow and I can't wait. Who's coming over for cocktails once it's up?

wow! A feature dog kennel! Wonder why my yard is not featured in a Jamie Durie book?

Drab brick wall... begone!