Mish Mash

School is back, two weeks down so far and I have to say I'm very much enjoying teacher Pre Primary two days a week this year.  I have taught Pre Primary before and I did love it then too so I shouldn't be surprised.  It is nice though, having my ex students from last year again as well as some others and what is even better is the lack of hard work that the Kindy students bring at the beginning of the year.  Pre Primary students already know how to sit down, listen, put up their hand, follow instructions, behave, cut, count, glue, tidy up and really, everything that you'd need for a smooth running classroom at the beginning of the year.  My one half a day with brand new Kindy kids is putting me in bed by 8pm due to the sheer amount of full-on-ness they bring to the room.  And then times that by 20 little bodies.  

There has been a plethora of school related photos of instagram lately because my life has been taken over by preparation of new resources, planning lessons and neverending checklists.

In other news, my mystery surprise veggie which everyone who commented thought was a pumpkin, seems to be said pumpkin of the butternut variety and has just begun to fruit.  I found this one this morning when I was heading out to the car.  I've been looking each day at the flowers and wondering when they are going to start vegetablising but this sneaky one obviously has been doing so for a while whilst hiding under a nice big shady leaf.  I'm a bit concerned it might bake sitting on the pathway like that but we'll just wait and see.  There are a few other flowers that are starting to look a bit vegetablish at one end too.  It's all a bit exciting.  Pumpkin bread, pumpkin scones and pumpkin and corn fritters might be featuring a bit in however long it takes for them to grow and ripen. 

Finally, in some craft news, there isn't realllly any news because of the complete take over of my life by school work but on the nights where I have been awake past 8pm and not dead on the couch or busy cutting for 3 hours (my Tuesday night this week) I have managed a little bit more of my Bertie Couch Blanket, only the last 2 rows of purple this week but it has still come a long way since you last saw it at just two rows long in total! It's getting to the stage where the weather really needs to cool down before I get much further on it.  Hot days and a lap length blanket draped on me are not necessarily too enjoyable.

 

Veggie Surprise

 

There are some areas of our garden that are pretty much just sand.  Hydrophobic sand that is so scared of water that it just shunts it across its surface to a section more accepting.  So we've been working (a little bit, quite sporadically) on improving it.  We've added clay particles and cow poo and I got MR to dig me a hole and I was chucking veggie scraps in it and covering them over to add some nice organic matter so that maybe, some time in the future, we might be able to get something to grow there. 

A few weeks after doing that for about a week and then forgetting, I remembered and went to chuck out some more scraps only to find a little plant growing in one corner.  It looked like a veggie plant to me so I gave it some water and threw the scraps elsewhere.  A couple of months later it is now huge, taking up a whole corner of our garden that was previously just sand and had nothing growing it in.  It is starting to spread its tendrils out across the path to our front door.  And the flowers have opened now too, they are about the size of my palm.  I've been nursing it through the heat, watering it in the morning before I go out and in the afternoon when I get home to droopy wilted leaves and it seems to be coping okay.  I'm hoping that all those flowers do turn into tasty homegrown veggies.

I have no idea what it is, having only ever grown tomatoes and peas before.  MR reckons a pumpkin and that is possible because I do remember throwing pumpkin gizzards into the hole.  I'm hoping for cucumber though because I don't really eat pumpkin very often.  Maybe I'll have to start.

Any ideas what it is?

 

A rose by any other name

This year at work I don't have my own class.  I'm the DOTT (Duties Other Than Teaching) provider for the Early Childhood area.  Which means I take each class while the teacher goes out to do planning.

I still get to keep my own room though and the students come over to me, which is nice not running around but also means I have to make three classes worth of name tags.  Most Kindy kids certainly can't write their names and Pre Primary students often need it written in front of them to copy to make sure they put all the letters in and in the correct order.

So I've got all the class lists in front of me and I'm typing them into my document and some of the names this year!!

There's the names when you look and them and wonder, is that a girl or a boy (it's fun to guess before you look across to see). Brooklyn, Bobby, Darcy, Ghadeer, Jordan - have a guess and see down the bottom for the answer.

And then the names in which you have to guess the pronunciation.  Those are fun too.  My pearlers for this year are Aania (a-NIA ?), Sheinna (SHE-na ?), Jatin (JAY-tin ?), Ginalen (GIN-a-len ?).

And the ones that rhyme or sound similar.  Jaylen and Kaelan (both in the same class), along with Brayden, Hayden and Jaiden, thankfully not in the same class.  Also across the classes I have a Shantae (pronounced Shone-TAY), Jonte (pronounced JOHN-tay), Shenae (Sha-NAY) and a Shanzae (she's new so no idea).

I also have students named Chardonnay and Rhythm.  Who am I to judge I suppose,  it certainly keeps things interesting.  And better than having to deal with Bob X, Bob Y and Bob Z.  Although I do also have two Tristens in one class and two Hannahs in another.

My strangest named student ever was called Ned, surname Kelly.  I kid you not.


 

  

Brooklyn - boy
Bobby - boy
Darcy -girl
Ghadeer - girl
Jordan - girl

Did you get them right?
  

Yarn along

Once upon a time, a long, long, long time ago I learnt how to crochet.  It was one of my New Year's resolution for 2010.  Probably the only one I kept.  My Mum taught me. 

My very first granny square, January 5 2010

I remember being so proud of my first granny square.  I was going to make a big blanket for my queen size bed.  Except I only got up to 27 squares.  Then I realised I had been making my squares in English double crochet which meant they were tiny and took forever and fell out of love with it.  They got packed away in a box and left until the first days of 2014.  Pretty much exactly four years after I first learnt to crochet. 

In between this time I have made various other crochet items, including a large granny rug for my sister to cover her queen size bed in big squares with only one colour per square.  This is called smart crocheting as it involves less stitching together and less sewing in of ends.

However, now I wanted to make a blanket for the couch at my house and these squares sitting in a box were bugging me in their unfinished-ness.  So I laid them out and got to work.  No starting the new blanket until I'd finished this one!

Snipping off the last stitched in end

No big reveal yet though.  It needs a good blocking and I have no foam things to block on, not having ever blocked anything before.  Once I've hunted down one of those foam alphabet puzzles and blocked it I'll be able to show you the results... but in the mean time, I can show you the start of my next blanket.  Crochet mojo is running high around these parts!

Joining in with Ginny's Yarn Along, for the very first time!

Roast pumpkin, corn and feta fritters

For Christmas I was lucky enough to receive Jamie Oliver's latest cookbook, Save with Jamie.  It's my first Jamie cookbook.  I'm not a huge cookbook person, I'm a bit fussy on the ingredient front so I tend to just search online or make up my own thing.  But I watched the TV show and it seemed like my sort of book so I added it to my wishlist.  

I've already made two recipes from it (with some alterations because I just can't help myself).  They were both pumpkin recipes based around roasting a whole butternut pumpkin and then scooping out the flesh.  Half of the flesh I used in a pasta recipe with the mashed flesh and some crème fraîche becoming the sauce.  I added some snow peas, cherry tomatoes and chicken to it as well.  It was so tasty.  So tasty that I didn't get a photo because we were too busy enjoying it.  And I particularly like that it was so veggie-fied.  I never eat enough veggies.  

The other half of the pumpkin flesh went into these fritters above.  In the original recipe they were just pumpkin but I added corn and feta as well.

Roast Pumpkin, Corn and Feta Fritters

1/2 butternut pumpkin, roasted and flesh scooped out

150g cottage cheese (I used Philly cream for cooking because I forgot to buy cottage cheese)

100g self raising flour

1 egg

1/4 tsp nutmeg

salt and pepper to season

corn (I didn't measure, maybe about 3/4 cup?)

about 100g feta

Mix first five ingredients in a bowl, I didn't even bother with a mixer, just used a fork.  Add corn and feta and stir through.  Cook in a heated pan with melted butter or oil (I used a bit of both for flavour) Dollop spoonfuls in and flatten out for better cooking through.  Cook until golden brown.  Mine took a couple of minutes on each side. 

I served mine with some tomato relish and salad and they were really yummy.  I had the leftovers cold with some butter spread on them like pikelets for lunch the next day, just as tasty.

I'm really enjoying the holidays, so much more energy to enjoy cooking a nice meal for dinner.  This one was very quick though, I will definitely be adding this in for the school night meals and leftovers for school lunches!

 

2014

Just near Huka Falls, Taupo, New Zealand.  So pleased we made it there in 2013 - twice!

So it's here already and I didn't even manage one post in December.  And only 33 posts for the entire year.  Terrible!  Must work on that this year.

I'm looking back at my post of goals for 2013.  It's actually quite nice to have it all listed down (even though I didn't get through much) just to see what I wanted to achieve, what I did and what I didn't.  My word - organise.  Pretty much utter failure.  Apart from organising my finances.  In 2013 I managed to pay off my credit card.  Something I haven't done since getting a credit card 13 years ago at 19.  A big achievement for me.  I'm also saving towards a new car at the moment and MR and I managed to save up for a holiday to NZ in October.  I'm pretty pleased with achieving our financial goals.  It's quite nice to feel (a little bit) financially responsible.

As to the other goals, I also did the Run for a Reason again and I did manage it at faster than 50 minutes - 37 minutes this time!  Maybe better again for this year?


So on to the future.  I'm scrapping the word.  I never even remember the word.  And I work better on small achievable goals.  So here's my list of them.

- learn how to bake (good) bread from scratch
- keep my credit card paid off
- submit my picture book manuscript (I just keep putting this off, fear of rejection and all...)
- tidy out my craft room (determined!!!)
- make a crochet blanket for my house
 

Of course, in the back of my head are those typical resolutions of get fit! exercise! be active! and I'm always hopeful on that front but 32 years of it not happening yet may just win over once again.



What are the small things you want to achieve this year?
 

A milestone reached

High Four for Responsibility!*

I think I may have finally reached the milestone of Official Responsible Adulthood.  I certainly feel responsible anyhow.

How did I get here you ask?

Well, it wasn't turning 18.  Nor moving out of home.  It wasn't buying a car.  It wasn't my first holiday overseas without my family either. Or finishing uni, getting a job and moving a three hours drive away from anyone I knew. 

This week marks the week that I paid off my credit card for the first time since I got one when I was 19.  That's 13 years folks.  13 years of paying off bits and then spending more, repeated ad nauseam.

Hooray!  I can't describe just how chuffed I am with myself that I didn't spend my tax return on a Thermomix or a fancy new blender (my two initial thoughts of how to use it).

This means that as of now, apart from about $500 of HECS debt (uni fees for those nonAU people), I am completely debt free.  Admittedly, MR has lots of debt because he bought our house but it was his decision to not do a joint mortgage. 

The opportunities are endless.  Unfortunately, now I feel like I have lots of spare money because I have an empty credit card so I need to get onto reducing my limit quick smart before I belie my above claim to responsible adult-ness.   I do however have a bit of extra cash each pay that used to go towards paying off my credit card which I'm going to save all of and, oh all right, some of and put it towards a deposit for a new car (and some more debt). 

The other bit, if I'm entirely honest, will most likely be blown wildly on new clothes that I don't need and craft stuff that I don't use.  Just like usual.


Maybe I still have a little way to go...


 
Do you feel like a responsible adult at least some of the time?  Did you have a defining moment of reaching that milestone? 



 
* I may have been struggling to find a relevant photo and Meow has such cute fluffy paws...

Made by hand :: baby pants

I'm belated joining up with Christina's new(ish) linky, Made By Hand today.  I've been meaning to join in for a while but Thursdays are busy ones for me and when I get home I'm usually a bit too tired for blogging.  Thursdays are my Fridays.

A couple of weeks ago I went to visit Sally and her brand new little bub.  The night before, I chastised myself for not yet having made a present for little baby A.  So I got online and looked for a simple pattern that I could hopefully make without staying up past midnight or getting overly frustrated with my continued inability to sew things and have them turn out how they should.  I came across Brindle and Twig on etsy and found this nice easy two piece pattern Sarouel baby pants.  Two pieces. Now that's my kind of pattern. Even better, it can be made with knit or woven fabric.  Also, the pattern includes sizes from 0-3 months right up to 2-3 years.  Very handy. 

I got sewing and managed to get them made in a few hours.  Well before midnight even.  The only fiddly bits were the leg hems and that was only because they were small. 

I used a Robert Kaufman fabric from my stash that I think I've had for perhaps 3 or 4 years.  I have a big stash for a not very confident sewer because I always like the idea of sewing things but when it gets to it I have the above mentioned problem of it not turning out right so I buy the fabric and then baulk at the sewing.  So it was very nice to find something suitable already in my house.

I was really happy with how well they turned out.  They looked like I imagined.  Wonders will never cease.  Perhaps I should stick to two piece patterns from now on?

Sally very kindly took some photos of A in his pants and emailed them to me so I could blog them.  Doesn't he look so cute!

 

New Zealand ::South Island::

Continuing on from here.

From Wellington we got a flight down to Queenstown.  We decided to do it this way because by now we only had 4 nights left before we flew out!  Time goes so quickly on holidays.  The view coming in to land in Queenstown was just beautiful, even though we were apparently on the wrong side of the plane for the really big mountain views.

Snow!

We had two nights in Queenstown, the first place we stopped at properly since visiting family.  We stayed at the Pounamu Apartments which I would definitely recommend.  I made sure we booked somewhere with a washing machine so we could clean all our dirty things and there was even complimentary washing detergent next to the washing machine.  Although we had a back apartment because we just booked a studio room, there were one bedroom and two bedroom apartments at the front of the complex which had absolutely amazing views of the lake and mountains behind it.

The ski fields were already closed but we took a drive up to see some snow (which was very icy because of melting) and we just missed a freak Spring snowstorm the day after we left which left people trapped where they were and unable to get through the mountain passes.  While it would have been pretty awesome to see snow falling, we were glad not to have to change our holiday plans.  While up at the snow fields, I was captured by an discarded, unmelted icy pole which must have been there for a few days at least as the place had been closed for almost a week.  You would never see anything like that in Western Australia!  The view up there was pretty amazing as well.

We also went up the mountain/hill on the Gondola and down via flying fox, or as they call it, zip lines.  I'd done a flying fox in Dwellingup (south WA) on a school camp and loved it so I was really the drive behind doing this.  It was the only adrenaline style thing I was really interested in doing.  It was so much fun.  There were 6 zip lines in total, zigzagging down the hill front.  Unfortunately, we completely forgot to go to the store to see the photos of us on the tour that we could buy and we didn't take very many while doing it.  We were about an hour out of Queenstown when I remembered we were supposed to go and look at the photos.  I did get a couple of us turning upside down in our harnesses but because they were taken from behind all you can see is bums.

The gondola ride up and the view from the top

Ziplining and the amazing view between the trees

Queenstown is such a gorgeous place, I could easily have spent a week or two there.  There were rugs draped over the back of the chairs in the outside seating area of the cafes and pubs to keep warm.  So cute.  There were daffodils growing wild on the banks of the river and the side of the road.  It would have been lovely to hire bikes and go for a ride around (part) of the lake but we just ran out of time, as we did everywhere.

Following Queenstown, we drove to Dunedin.  On the way there we stopped at a cheese and winery and bought some picnic supplies.  We found a beautiful little spot by the side of the river with a little waterfall to sit and picnic next to.  We were so lucky with the weather, it continued to be sunny and even though it was cold, sitting in the sun was just glorious.

We were only in Dunedin for one day and spent most of it just wandering around until our flight which was in the evening.  We went to the Otago Museum and (more minibeasts alert) went to the Butterfly area in the Discovery World Tropical Forest.  The new butterflies were released at 10:30am and I was like a little kid rushing through the museum to make it in time (our breakfast took a bit longer to come out than we thought it would).  Because the new butterflies were still a bit dozy and their wings were still drying off, they were quite happy to be placed on the hand of a person and just chill out there until they were ready for flying.  So exciting!  I had one butterfly land on my nose but was too slow to take a photo.  There used to be a butterfly enclosure at the Zoo here in Perth but it closed down many years ago and now there are no butterfly places around.  Whenever I travel I always check for butterfly places. The tropical forest had three levels, ground, mezzanine and sky.  Down the bottom there were some tortoises in a pond which were pretty cute as well.

From Dunedin we flew to Auckland where we stayed the night just outside the airport and flew out the next day.  MR secretly upgraded out tickets to business class on the way back as well and because it was a newer plane we got the Skybed seats.  So amazing!  I read an entire book and watched a movie in comfort with my feet propped on the ottoman or stretched out on my bed.  Definitely the way to fly if you can!


Currently, it is seven weeks before we head over to New Zealand again for Christmas and while we won't get a chance to go to the South Island again as MR's family is in the North Island, I really cannot wait to do some more exploring.  Number 1 on my list is to have a bit of a soak in a nice warm geothermal stream somewhere, one of the things we ran out of time to do this trip. 

Do you have any other suggestions of places to go or things to do in the North Island?  We will be around the Te Puke region and I'd welcome any ideas, particularly good shops to hunt down!

 

Trend setting

One of my students wears a cat ears headband which she has been wearing on and off for the entire school year.  It usually gets worn to school once or twice each week (or our two and a half days at Kindy).  It looks pretty much exactly like this set, but nowadays much more tatty.

She wears it inside (I don't mind), outside (over the top of her bucket hat), at rest time on the mat.  I'm sure she wears it quite a bit in other places when she is not at Kindy.

She has never lost it, which I think is quite a good feat for a Kindy child to have managed. 

Back in Term 3 I noticed another girl wear a set of cat ears to school one day in a different colour.  And then a few weeks after that two more did the same.  There are now about five girls in my class who occasionally wear these cat ears headbands to school.

It had never really occurred to me that trend setting can start at that age.  Maybe as a child I saw a girl wearing something I liked and wanted one myself, I don't know - I can't remember my Kindy years.  I remember when I moved towns in Year 3 and at my new school the fashion was for wearing your pleated skirt over your trackies in Winter.  And when we moved again when I was in Year 5, the fashion was for surf brands, which I never had.

How old were you when you first wanted something another child was wearing?  Or were you that child that everyone wanted to be just like?