duolingo.

for ages and ages, i've wanted to learn a little french...
and now, with the help of a handy little iphone app, it's happening!



duolingo is an app that helps you to learn a new language, not just french, but spanish, german, portuguese or italian too!

i've wanted to learn for so long, i just didn't know where to start! but not only does the app give you that starting point, it helps to slowly grow vocabulary and learn sentence structure too.



and it combines different ways of learning too, giving you the opportunity to practice saying the sentences and phrases, putting the right words into the correct position in the sentence, listening to sentences and transcribing them and direct translations from french to english and english to french.



oh and it's all put together into a fun game-like format where you can set daily goals and receive reminders to help achieve them!

do you use duolingo? how do you find learning new languages?


ps. i forgot to mention, the app is free! get on it!

my creative space.

this week, for the last time in hopefully a little while, i'm working on hexies!
i counted out the number of hexies i had cut out, ready to be basted, and realised i was 20 papers short!



so this morning, out came some card stock, the scissors, a pencil and a ruler.
and now...



everything is set out, and ready to go!
i've got 120 hexies left to baste by the end of the month, which is TOMORROW! eep!

i'm not going to lie, i'll be happy to have a break from them for a while, and get back to some knitting and crochet ha ha!

what are you creating this week? are you joining in with koo too?

green love.

another week of making sure that everything is kept well watered... and a few things growing!

the tomatoes are GROWING!



they're slowly getting bigger, and as long as nothing eats them in the mean-time, they should be ready for harvesting relatively soon!

the plants themselves aren't looking particularly healthy though...



both the plants in the front AND backyard are having a bit of a die back... i'm not sure if this is a normal thing for tomatoes or not... but i'm thinking i definitely need to get a little bit of fertiliser on them quick smart!

in slightly better news...



the gerber daisies on the front steps are going from strength to strength! there is one flower head that is just about done, and two on their way up!
such a happy flower, and a happy plant at the moment too!

there are some little bulbs poking their heads up too!



i'm not entirely sure what they are... but knowing what's planted in there, i'm thinking they're probably grape hyacinths... though i'm not entirely convinced it's that time of the year is it?
the weather has been a bit topsy turvy the last couple of week so maybe the plants are confused ha ha!
though maybe not too, it is the end of february after all!

what's growing in your patch at the moment? any signs of the changing seasons?

take heart.

this week is donate life week for 2014.
a week to raise awareness and promote organ and tissue donation in australia!



donate life week encourages everyone to "have the chat", to make sure that everyone's family and loved ones, know their position on organ donation.

also, if you're over on instagram, curlypops, is having a little fun with her #curlypopstwohearts hashtag. two of her wonderful friends are waiting on heart transplants, so it is in their honour, as well as raising awareness for donate life week!

are you a registered organ donor? do your friends and family know your stance?

meal planning monday.

last week's meal plan, thankfully went mostly to plan! hopefully i can keep it up this week and in the weeks ahead!



tonight, we're having leftovers! not exciting, i know! but our fridge is FULL of food to take for lunches, and there's not quite enough lunches in the week!

tomorrow night, bb has requested salmon.so that is what i shall cook! i'll make sure that skin is nice and crispy and will serve it up with lots of salad!

wednesday night, is ncb night. i'll make sure bb has something to cook up for himself as i'll be having dinner there! can't wait!

thursday night, i'm working late. my night's have changed this week, but it still means the same things... the slow-cooker will be doing all the work! i'm thinking of whipping up this bad boy. hopefully it works out ok!

friday night, i'll grab some chops out of the freezer, grill them up, and serve them with some salad! simple and easy!

saturday night, i've requested that bb whips up a pot of his delicious bolognaise! i'll be at work during the day, so he'll have plenty of time!

and sunday, bb has requested home-made salt and pepper calamari! hope we can find some good stuff, and then do it justice by cooking it to perfection!

what are you eating this week? do you ever have leftovers for dinner?

sizing perfection!

the new beanie i cast on during the week was a MUCH better size than the first!



i was super grateful it turned out to be the right size, as i'm not sure i had another one in me ha ha!

as much as it was a bit of a pain having to knit this beanie twice, it's got me in an interesting crochet AND knitting mindset, and i'm looking at different patterns and garments and thinking about whether they would benefit from the different textures that knitting and crochet bring to the table...





raveled.

it's kind of cool how doing something that is a little out of your comfort zone, can change your way of thinking about certain things... watch this space on that front!

oh and also, i've been updating my stash-busting tally on my side bar...
i decided to include wool that has come INTO my stash in the tally, and see how much i can actually eliminate over the course of a year!
with this project (projects!) i haven't included them in my 'stash out' tally, but have included the leftover wool in my 'stash in' tally.
i think this is fair as the wool was bought specifically for the purpose of this hat...

do you tally up your stash-busting? what are your methods if you do? do you find different projects can get you thinking differently about future projects?

little lovelies.

every week, i try and share a little list of lovely things that have happened throughout the week in my neck of the woods, to try and keep myself looking on the bright side of things.

this guy never fails to put a big smile on my face...



he's so great at 'helping' me make the bed...

i decided during the week, that rather than buying a new pair of shoes, to replace the ones that i had almost worn completely through, that i would take them to be repaired by a cobbler...



and i feel like i definitely made the right choice!
they weren't cheap to have repaired... but they don't need to be worn in, and i'm reusing something, rather than buying new.
he also gave them a really good polish, so they actually look a bit BETTER than they did when i bought them!

i've also SUPER enjoyed the cooler weather we've been having this week...



there's been wooly sock wearing happening...

and soup making and consuming...



this was the french onion soup, i threw into the slow-cooker before work on friday afternoon.
it was AWESOME to come home to on an ever so slightly chilly friday night. and absolutely perfect with a toasted and cheesy english muffin dunked into it!

what's been making you smile this week? do you have a helper to entertain you while you're doing chores? how's the weather where you are?