lockdown 3.5

day five of lockdown and today we found out it would be our last day! huzzah!!
the snap lockdown that the government decided to go with last thursday, seems to have done the job and allowed the contact tracers to do their jobs effectively. for us that means, an easing of restrictions tomorrow!

have plans to catch up with my folks and maybe a friend and run a bunch of errands that have been patiently waiting on my list to be done...
first cab off the rank (after kinder drop off) will be a tub full of mulch as i got to finish pruning the daisies this afternoon!



the job i've done is quite severe, but i'm hoping that they'll come back regardless... must remember to keep the water up to them the next couple of days as it will be quite warm here!
still need to take care of that purple salvia in the front there, but my purple daisy and irises are neatened up already and i can't wait to be able to call this garden bed done for a wee while.

another kinder day today, and this was what got packed for ag to eat during the day...



salad sticks with hommus, watermelon and grapes, leftover sausage with some tomato sauce and some crackers and cheese. he also had some cooked leftover pasta for his lunch, though that wasn't as photogenic ha ha.
i do get a bit of a kick out of packing up his lunch and snacks to take to kinder at the moment. and i say at the moment, as i'm sure it will become quite the chore as our education years wane on and ej joins in on the action too ha ha.

and a note to self here...



don't leave ej unattended outside for more than 2 seconds.
he grabbed a big toy car, and hoisted it at our bird bath. why? i'll never know.
but you'd better believe finding a replacement dish at the opshop is on the agenda for tomorrow!

had any toddler-related disasters lately? what was the favourite part of your day today?

lockdown 3.4

day four of lockdown number three saw me eating wayyyyyy too much chocolate brownie. baking was a bad idea folks, i still have no self control despite my best efforts to build better habits the last month and a half...

in order to rid the household of it quicker, i threw a wee piece into the lunchbox i packed for ag to take to kinder today.



not at all upset to send him off to kinder today, after he had last week off with a cold.
though it did feel a bit odd with my brain firmly in lockdown mode.

in the hour or so break i had while he was at kinder, and before ej woke from his nap, i got busy in our front yard.



this is what i call my 'stick fence'. i started it in march of last year, lockdown 1.0 using long straight sticks that we found on our daily walks.
it's definitely a long term project as we have a looooooong front fence (especially as our next door neighbour has mentioned if i feel like continuing along her property line too, she wouldn't be opposed... we'll see!) but it's nice to be able to make progress when i can!

speaking of progress, the last week i've been working on a relatively quick knit, a nappy cover!



i knitted a bunch of these in the smaller 2 sizes before ej was born, and used them constantly with terry towelling flats for months and months, and then just stopped. i don't even remember why to be honest, but when i tried to get back into the swing of cloth nappies, the covers were all too small for my growing bub and it's taken me this long to get around to knitting any more...
thankfully i know they don't take too long to knit, and once i get a couple off the needles, i'll be able to start getting some cloth onto ej's bum once again.
can't wait, as the cost of nappies at the checkout, and the full rubbish bin at the end of the fortnight are both really starting to get to me!

do you have any long term garden beautification projects too? what are your go-to lunchbox snacks?
what was the favourite part of your day today?

lockdown 3.3

so it turns out i lasted 3 days into this third lockdown before breaking out the sweet baking... oops!
since the begin of 2021, i've been working on my comfort eating proclivities, and i must say, though i haven't been comfort eating toooooo much this time around, it's definitely sneaking back in!!
bread on saturday, and now chocolate brownie too!



i'm convincing myself that it could be worse, as at least this batch has a big whack of zucchini through it... between that and the cacao, it's basically a health food right?

anywho, before delicious baking happened, we got out and had a mega family walk today.
it was lovely as we'd all been (mostly) home for the whole weekend. spending time both inside and out, but home all the same.
we took a stroll into town, and then out to the recreation reserve, where we ran around the football and cricket ovals and got in a quick swing before heading back home on tired legs.
was a great way to get out some daily widgets, and sail into naptime nice and smoothly ha ha.

speaking of which, it wasn't just ej down for a nap, but me too! i had a lay down to read a few pages of my book and fell straight asleep! oops!!

i made up for my midday malaise by getting out while dinner was cooking (roast lamb for the win!) and getting busy with the hedge trimmer!

out the front of our house, in front of our little porch (which is currently the catch all for so many things, gah! i'm working on it though!) is a hedge of four pink daisy plants. when i planted them out originally, i had no idea they'd get SO big. in fact, i planted other things in between them, but they were completely crowded out and died!



in any case, as you can see in the above photo (maybe, the sun was not in a kind position and i was taking VERY quick photos!) they're quite bushy and out of control. they're also covered in dead daisy heads. well at least they were...



i got quite savage with the hedge trimmer and took them quite a ways back.
though not quite as far as i intend to take them...



i'm hoping to get them all trimmed back like the above photo, over the next couple of days. then i can weed around them thoroughly, sort out the purple daisy and salvia that are growing in front of it, and give this whole bed a good mulching.
hopefully it'll be soon looking in tip top shape, can't wait!

any out of control corners of your garden? what's your go-to baking recipe? what was the favourite part of your day today?

lockdown 3.2

day two of lockdown today, and an exciting one... well as exciting as a snap lockdown can get...
grocery shopping day!
to be noted, grocery shopping normally gets done on a sunday round here, it wasn't some ploy to get out of the house. though it was definitely a perk ha ha!



i also found a wee bit of time to throw some polish on my nails, which i haven't done for an age and read a few pages of my current book.

then there was a whole bunch of boring daily stuff like loads of washing, bed changing and making and a bit of furniture rearrangement just to spice things up a little!

i was kind of hoping to get some gardening done, but my energy levels were not up to it. instead i podded beans and watched bb mowed and played with the kids. restorative!

do you wear nail polish? what's your favourite shade?
what was the favourite part of your day today?

lockdown 3.1

so how do you start a blogpost after two and a half years?

over the many weeks of lockdown that we've experienced in victoria over the last 12 months, i've thought many times about firing up ye ol' blogger website and tippy-tapping out some thoughts, but it's taken until this lockdown, a hopefully only 5-day affair, to actually get started.

quite a bit has happened over the last 30 months, so much work on the house we'd just moved into. lots of gardening, a bathroom reno and a whole lot of primping and fussing ha ha.
we also welcomed another bubba into our lives. young edward john (or ej from here on out), joined us earth side in june of 2019. he's now a 19 month bundle of cheeks and giggles and gas and is an utter delight when he's in a good mood.

then there's the last 12 months of on and off lockdowns... make a plan and covid-19 is here to ruin it... it's been a blessing at times, as well as an absolute nightmare. looking after small people, cut off from your village is a tough one. but it has also meant that bb has experienced so much more of their little lives than if he was working from his office five days a week.
we've also been lucky to live where we are, with an abundance of space and very few community cases. our health has never felt in huge jeopardy, and we feel for others who are in different situations to ours.

anywho, i thought this an opportunity to reset, get back on the blogging bandwagon, and perhaps establish one or two nice habit to get through the day...





today brought some delicious pancakes for breakfast, egg and banana style, with a scraping of this deliciousness and some microwaved strawberries.
followed by a dance party in our lounge room while it rained down outside.
the sun started shining so we all got outside for some gardening time, until it started raining again... then i persisted, pottering about, repotting seedling to share, and planting some others in our various veggie patches and starting a long overdue tidy up of a couple of our flower beds.
the afternoon found us watching a movie together. ej wasn't so interested, so vascillated between cuddling and playing. ag is now four, and is all about an afternoon movie!
i escaped back out in the backyard for a little while with a glass of cider to catch up with some friends via zoom, before popping back in to sort out dinner... turns out though, when you bake a fresh loaf of bread, that is all anyone wants *facepalm*
the children were not at all interested in the chicken and vegetable soup i had on the table for them, and the salmon and veggies for bb and i... well, leftovers are plentiful!
once the boys were in bed, i caught up on the temperature blanket i'm working on for this year, while bb and i watched 'wandavision' which i am LOVING!
i'm not a huge marvel nerd, but it's SO cool to watch it all come together and play out within the season and i CANNOT wait until the next episode. so exciting!!

how have you been coping with lockdown over the past 12 months? what's been the favourite part of your day today?*



we always ask that last question over dinner as a family, it's always interesting to hear what ag and bb say... and it's a nice way of reviewing your day with gratitude too!

nicole talks knitting - episode 7

and then another few months went by...

but now there's a new video up on my youtube channel and you can watch below if you'd like! grocery girls video podcast finished headband vanilla soaker quince and co - lark great ocean road mill - eva brownwyn pattern music by https://www.bensound.com/

what are you working on at the moment? what are your favourite knitting podcasts to watch?

nicole talks knitting - episode 6.

so it's been a while since my last video... a casual six and a half months actually...

anywho, watch along to catch up a small amount, more to come in the future hopefully!



my milo vest

milo pattern by tikkiknits

my take heart hats

take heart hat pattern by fiona alice

garter ear flap hat by purl soho

alfie's bobble jumper

heidi's queensland beach headband

my queensland beach headbands

queensland beach headband pattern by fiona alice

memory blanket pattern by tikkiknits

music by https://www.bensound.com/

what are you working on at the moment?