Checkin' Out

Hello and apologies to all my followers and passerbys for my slack posting record lately.

I have been, and am currently dealing with some personal stuff from the past and present and feeling like I should be updating my blog just adds to my stress. And I don't want to say "look at these pretty banners I made" etc. and pretend everything's hunky-dory. That sounds very alarming but it's not, so don't worry.

I will be back and in the meantime, here's a picture of Minni to make up for all that doom and gloom.

Look what they got me!

Last week the girls had their netball break-up and as a gesture of thanks for my coaching and managing the team, the other Mums put together and bought me this gorgeous apron in shabby pink and green fabric...

which they had embroidered. (The Elmos was the team name.) I was very touched.

They also gave me a gift voucher for Apron, one of my favourite kitchen shops on the main street.

 So I bought this plate stand

and these fluted blue and cream pie dishes. Not that I need two but they looked so pretty.

Next year the girls are moving up to B-grade and want to change their name. BUT half the girls want something cute and fun like the Elmos or the Big Birds and the other half want something sporty like the Bullets or the Rockets. So far the tentative name is the Redbacks (6 votes out of 9) but we're trying for something better. Please, help with suggestions.

I've thought maybe the Fireflys or the Hot Peppers? Maybe not!

Going green in a pretty way

I found some pretty floral curtains in Vinnies the other day for $2 that came straight home with me. No, I didn't need new curtains but the material was great for a little project that had been stewing away in my mind.

Like most people I try to use green bags shopping but don't have anywhere handy to store them, except for chucked in a corner of the laundry area. Let's face it, they're ugly, I don't want them where I can see them....so of course I always forget to take them with me because out of sight,out of mind.

But I thought to myself, "What if they were so cute..so pretty that I'd be looking for an excuse to take them out?"

Are you making the connection?  Nice, strong curtain material with a lovely vintage-esque print (when does something really become vintage? Does being second-hand and not obviously new make it vintage? I wanted to put vintage in the post title but wouldn't want to mislead anyone. I could just hear them say, "Vintage? Scoff! My mum has those curtains in her kitchen etc.")

Anyway...Nice, strong curtain material with a lovely vintage-esque print becomes trial bag number 1. I made it to the same dimensions of my current green bags so I could use their removable stiff bottom and I purposely made the seams on the outside for a bit of frayed goodness.

The only drawback that I can see is, unlike the original, the sides are all floppy, hence the posing with the fake groceries. But I can live with that. Now to make bag number 2 with the leftover fabric. And if you listen carefully you'll hear Rosie's horrified cry of, "Oh, no, Mum, not more granny fabric. Please don't take that out in public."

Thank God she's okay!

Imagine this.

I'm in the kitchen. Mitch and I hear a scraping noise from outside and think "What on earth is that?"

Then we hear a scream. We bolt to the windows to see.....

our car rolling backwards down our driveway with Ella, terrified, inside.

We dash outside to see Ella dive from the car and to watch helplessly as our car just cruises out of our yard, across the road, through the park, perfectly between these two trees

 and come to rest with an almighty bang in the shallow creek.

She was in the car getting a CD. We don't know how it happened because afterwards when we checked, the gear was in park and the hand brake was on.

The front door was open and scraped along our other car and hit our open gate. The front of the car was ruined, the back of the car was ruined, there was a huge bulge underneath where the exhaust was dragged along and stuck.

But it could have been so much worse.

It was Sunday and the traffic was light so no one else was involved.

When Ella jumped she also had to avoid the open door rolling towards her. She could have gotten crushed between the two cars, she could have been crushed on the fence. She could have stayed in the car longer and jumped out on the road. She could have stayed in the car, and injured herself in the impact of falling in the creek. She could have fallen UNDER the car while trying to get out.

All she got was a small cut on the finger and one HELL of a fright. The poor thing was firstly terrified because she thought she was going to get into trouble. Then she wouldn't stop shaking from the shock.

It's just a car and insurance is taking care of it, but even if we had no insurance...it's just a car. Replaceable!

We could NEVER replace our daughter. Someone was certainly looking after her that day.

P.S. If you see someone waiting with their car ready to be towed, by all means stop if you genuinely want to help (we had lots of angels all eager to help and concerned for my daughters safety) but do NOT just slow down and stare. We are not putting on a show.

Do not come over with your saggy pants and missing front teeth and go "Oh wow, look at that. Cool! What did ya do?"

And do not drive past cheering and yelling. How do you know that someone wasn't badly hurt and the person with the car isn't traumatised? Show a bit of respect.