Hearth & Health
-
Ranger’s Apprentice Cloaks
Ranger’s Apprentice is all the rage here. As part of their Christmas gifts the older children received Ranger’s Apprentice cloaks. Originally I was inspired by Kimberlee’s Josiah’s cloaks but I made a few adaptions. For those keen like my friend Charlotte I’ll endeavour to explain how I made ours. 1- Measure from the top of your child’s head to where on the body you wish the cloak to finish. Allowing for roughly an extra 6cm/2,1/2inches for the hood. My children informed me AFTER I made them that they would have preferred full length to the ground as Will’s must be that long to hide full length with his feet hidden.…
-
And A Few Hours Later…
We live in a small house, 1000sq feet for ten people isn’t the largest. Most times we cope well but at times we get overwhelmed, with the clutter mostly. Ten people tend to equal a lot of belongings as much as one tries to minimise. On Saturday PC and I attended an auction. State Rail were auctioning among other items a very large site office. 12 meters by 6, imagine the learning room we could set up, imagine how less cluttered our house would be. These were the thoughts we had as we waited for lot number 386 to be up. Well the auction went too high. Back home we…
-
My Solution – Buy Denim
This week Michelangelo literally split the seam of his shorts turning flips on the trampoline two days in a row. Yep he ripped two pairs of shorts, completely, irreparably. Now I realise that he is the third boy so by the time pants are handed down to him they are rather worn; at least he tells me that’s the reason. My thoughts include that he is rather rough on shorts, but I do truly believe they just don’t make them like they used too. The fabric is thinner than I used to purchase. Pondering the problem I hit on a solution! I would buy denim, tough and indestructible Michelangelo is…
-
Crayon Pouches
Last year I was enthused by a discussion on 4Real regards making crayon pouches. At the time I had just purchased some Waldorf (Steiner) block crayons and I wanted to store them carefully. I was so inspired by pictures of Matilda’s and Elizabeth’s pouches that I decided to have a go. I followed the instructions and was pretty happy with my result. I find the presentation is appealing to the children, those crayons are just begging to be taken out and used. I was very impressed with one womans’s ingenuity when she took the concept to another height and made her husband a pouch for his barbeque tools. Does anyone…
-
Jack Jack moves to a ‘Big Bed’
I’ve shared before that we live in a small house, in fact it is 1005 square feet which is a challenge for nine people. A few months back Prince Charming and I decided to settle Jack Jack in his new bed before the baby arrived so he wouldn’t feel dispossessed from his previous place in the Master Bedroom. How to fit four boys in the one room involved some thought and Prince Charming was brilliant to come up with this idea. He designed and made this bed small enough to fit a cot mattress and yet it is long enough for an average five year old. Using bed head and…
-
One Mammoth Task Completed
Just before Holy Week I caught the bug, the de-clutering, organising flu raging through blogosphere, although in my case it think it is more a case of extreme nesting. Anyhow I decided it was time to organise our shipping container. Unfortunately I didn’t think to take a ‘before’ photo. But to give you some background, when we moved onto this property we moved from a very large home to a very small home. Fitting nine people into a space not much bigger than our holiday cabin has been a challenge. One solution was to purchase a shipping container. It sits out of sight up near the cattle yards and has…
-
Our Playground
When we moved to this property no children had lived here previously so slowly we have set about making an outdoor play area for the children. One favourite item which we had bought with us was the trampoline, a combined Christmas present from The Uncles. Our first addition was the sandpit built by Carpenter. Our next addition was the tennis pole. We had purchased these items before and always found that the aluminum pole is too light to stand up to the good hard thwacks of the children so PC decided to take the top off a ruined set and attach it to a metal pole and cement it in.…
-
What Happens When You Juice
The time is drawing nearer, my sister is getting married in a few weeks:) so I have been getting serious about losing weight so as to look my best in my Matron of Honour’s dress. Part of my regime is to juice for breakfast, hence no cereal and no biscuits, cake or bread. I am astounded at how well I feel, how much more energy I have, and how much I have accomplished in one week! Oh and so far I have lost 2kilos and 3cm+ off the waist:) I was sharing this with a friend yesterday and she suggested that perhaps it is not only the juicing but perhaps…
-
Sparkling Bathroom
My bathroom is currently sparkling! I walk past just to catch a glimpse:) How did it get this way? I have discovered a wonderful new product from One Group called Bio Pure it is incredible. It seems over the years I have tried many natural products and aids but to be truthfully honest with a large family they just haven’t been adequate. They work but not quite enough. With the Bio Pure I was just wiping over the mold in the shower grout and it was coming off effortlessly. I am thrilled. Ingredients are: * Purified Water * organic sugar cane molasses * Lactobacillus * organic mineral powder * Sea…
