Jikana Damaru

A Good Friday

It was Good Friday today! and let me tell you it was a GOOD Friday here in the K household. For the first time in years we had no plans to go away. No camps to set up, no traffic to fight, just me and him, at home, together. I had plans in the afternoon but they got changed to Monday. This worked out perfectly as I could spend the whole day with my man and then spend a beautiful morning on Monday with my favourite gal! Perfect! I had a late night last night so I slept in a little and I woke up to Rob building the girls a play gym!

We have been planning this stand for a while now and actually bought the black stand a few months back. It only had a single wooden perch and this, of course, would not do for our girls! We wanted to have something they could sit on but also play on! We also wanted to use natural timber. Ruby loves stripping the wood and making marks in the wood and I hate to think of what chemicals are in the wood they sell at the shops. So Rob got to work and designed and chopped and screwed and tied and created the most amazing bird play gym I could of ever imagined. It is huge and big enough for both the parrots to be on. I LOVE it so much!

TA-DA - The finished product!

Enjoying a chilli each while Dad gets more wood!

Sabrina smashing out some chin ups!

Rob couldn't and wouldn't stop there - he caught the bug and was go go go! Who am I to stop a man who wants to build things for our home! His next project was to build a fishing rod holder that would keep his rods off the floor, keep them straight and also display them. He got the idea from his boss and whipped up this little beauty in about 15 minutes. I think he achieved the look he was going for!

Next on the list was to create a space for the boards so they were off the ground, out of the weather and not taking up too much room. Rob once again designed, measured and created our vision! He started with a couple of meters of steel and turned them into brackets. He cut each piece and weld them together using my grandpas welder! Its still going strong after all these years! He lined them with rubber and screwed them onto the wall and....wallah! A perfect space to store all our boards! Looks fantastic!!!

....and me...

Well you know I just hung out! Helped out here and there! Played with all the animals! Took photos, got the cold beers from the fridge...I had a very big role ;-)

But seriously I just enjoyed being with my husband! Watching him work his magic. I loved just sitting by and watching him work. Everything he does amazes me and every day I thank God for how lucky I am to have him by my side. He's truly talented and such a dam hard worker. I am so very proud of him! Tonight, as I look over all the work he did today, my heart warms with pride! I am the happiest, luckiest wife in the world!

x S.K.K x

Hand-made chocolate carrots

Last year I made pink chocolate carrots with green chocolate tops, but I found that a lot of the tops fell off! So this year I made peach carrots and painted the tops with edible green dusting powder. No breakages so far!

Chocolate carrots
What you will need:

Instructions

Temper (melt) white chocolate
Stir in peach powdered food colouring a little at a time until you have desired colour. Stir well so colour is even
Spoon chocolate into icing bottle or bag fitted with a small nozzle
Squeeze chocolate into moulds
Lightly tap moulds so chocolate lays flat and air bubbles are removed, and leave to set
Turn out chocolate carrots
With a damp brush, lightly paint the carrot tops with the green dusting powder

After posting about my bunny jars for Easter the other day, Bonnie Leigh from the blog Three o'clock on Tuesday suggested making mini ones using baby food jars. What a great idea! So I made some more bunny jars, this time using baby food jars and some very small bunnies I've had knocking about since last year which I bought from Acorn & Will.

Hand made chocolate carrots in mini bunny jar

Have a sweet day!

52 Weeks of Grateful: Slow

Glorious weather and two school holiday weeks shining ahead. Two school holiday weeks that have not involved mild panic - what to do with the schooless children?

Nope, just me, the kids, a week down the coast and guest appearances by a working husbie.

Could a pig in mud be any happier?

So, this week I'm grateful for...

227. The slow life - Got the chickens in, I'm distributing seeds, I borrowed these three wonderful books from the library this week. Says it all really.

228. Cousins - my Tsunamis have a very easy, familiar relationship with their six cousins and we can't wait to spend a bit of quality time with them.

229. Sausages - did I tell you we had 19 adults and 27 children here for dinner last Saturday night?

Come over and see me at Kidspot where I'm celebrating technology in general and, of course, the internet in particular. Where were you when you first saw the internet in action?

Join our Grateful community by adding your post to the list below (please add a link back to our list here or at Kidspot). Then visit some of the other lovely link-ups - it's a beautiful way to spend a little time. Oh, and it would be lovely if everyone visited a few of the 'late arrivals' to the list each week... it's sad to be late and not get any love, don't you think?

[Photo by Tim Coulson]

Happy Pastel Easter

Easter has arrived along with 2 weeks vacation for the kids.

I pulled out my lovely pastel Easter decorations last weekend to make the house festive - the kids are now excited and looking forward to an easter egg hunt on Sunday.

May you all have a wonderful and safe Easter - enjoy some pastel inspiration from our house!

Glitter eggs

For this year's Easter tree, that I am in the process of making, I need some new eggs to hang on it. I have recycled my previously painted eggs from my Easter 2010 table by covering them in glitter to match this year's Easter colour scheme of mint, peach and gold.

Glitter eggs
Tools and Materials

Hanging plastic eggs
Gold egg hangers
Glitter
PVA glue
Gold embroidery thread
Small paint brush

Glitter eggs, How-to step by step

Start by carefully removing the plastic stopper from the plastic eggs. Then brush PVA glue on to top of eggs. Sprinkle coloured glitter onto glued area of eggs. Tap gently to remove any excess glitter, and leave to dry. Push egg hangers into hole at top of eggs and thread gold embroidery thread through loop in egg hanger, and knot to secure. Brush PVA glue onto rest of eggs and spoon glitter onto eggs, covering entire surface. Tap gently to remove any excess glitter, hang and leave to dry.

Have a sweet day!

Yeehaw, it's a farm party invitation

Giddy up, folks, we're having ourselves a farm party.

The invites went out at school this morning. Maxi was very anxious about their delivery as it's the first time I've said 'no way, do you think I'm completely insane?' when he wanted to invite every kid in his class. He has invited 11 kids in his class (and combined with assorted cousins and other friends, that's still 25 kids invited to the party because yes, I am in actual fact insane). (Hopefully only half can make it.)

The main cause of the worry was about what he'd say to the kids who weren't invited. "You tell them that you aren't allowed to invite everyone and maybe next year," I said crisply.

"What if they cry, Mum?" He replied.

"You tell them you'll give them something to really cry about if they don't stop being little whiners," I said.

"Okay, Mum," he said, relieved that he had a strategy.

Not really. In the end I had no answer to the crying thing, so we enlisted the help of his teacher to safely, and subtly, deliver to the chosen few.

I am most excited about the fact that there are four girls on the list. Last year he told me he would rather be run over by a car than invite a girl to his party. He's growing up, my boy.

I so enjoyed making these little seedy farm invitations. I'm looking forward to seeing carrots growing across our suburb come winter. Won't the parents love me!? Oh, and yes, I have indeed designed a logo for my son's eighth birthday party... I probably need to find another job when you think about it. Too much?

What do you think of a 'farm' theme?

I am most excited!

someone say ice cream?!

we are having some gorgeous sunshine here is Melbourne & with the school holidays in full swing i feel like everyday is saturday! todays activity of choice is to head to our favourite ice cream shop. i also need to do some secret easter egg shopping & my eldest has decided she needs a new pair of shoes. i really should be hanging out the washing to dry in this summer we never had kind of weather.

do you love ice cream too? my fave is chocolate. what about you?