Flea Market Finds

A couple of weekends ago we went to a garage sale run by the school to raise money for the Christchurch earthquake fund. It was great we made over $3000 for the Red cross fund. Anyway I managed to pick up this awesome Dick and Jane book and these cool stencils. Jack has been having a ball reading the Dick and Jane book and writing his name with the stencil. He can actually read the Dick and Jane stories by himself which is so cool. He is so ready for school and he still has to wait for another six months. I was originally going to cut the book up to make cool vintage story book blocks - but how could I do that when Jack loves reading it so much, + the fact that it's almost a little wrong to cut up such a beautiful old book.

March - the month...

March is going to be an awesome month - yesterday I won a weekend away at Bluewater resort in Tekapo - Yes the very one that Steve was construction manager on. So one weekend this month we will whisk our little family off to Tekapo for a weekend away, which will be lovely. I would like to think that this month is going to be a productive month for me - but I see myself probably working a bit more than my 2 days a week that I normally do with an extra 50 students that have enrolled at school from Christchurch.
My project list for this month consists of
Finishing 20 Ponchos for kindy and that is it. If I get time which I doubt I will then I will start some winter clothes for the boys and some extra stock to put on Felt or in the Musterers Hut.

1 week on..

from the terrible earthquake that rocked Christchurch and people are still being pulled from the rubble unfortunately not alive like the first couple of days. This tragedy has rocked our world down here - we are 3 hours south and inland from Christchurch... but still own a house there and have the majority of our friends and family there. My Mother in law had just arrived in Twizel at the time of the quake to help look after the kids as I was teaching all week. Father in law rang to say there had been an earthquake but he was OK. However at that stage he couldn't get hold of Steve's sister or her husband to know if they were OK. I had felt the earthquake while sitting having lunch in the staffroom. And today exactly a week after the quake the whole school and staff and community stood outside the school near the marketplace and showed our respect for the Christchurch Quake victims with a 2 minute silence. The church bells rang, the firemen sounded their siren as a mark of respect that echoed through our wee township. We also had the families and alot of the parents that have fled Christchurch there too. It was a very somber and reflective moment. I sit here very grateful that all our friends and family are alive. Though some have lost houses, they are still with us - the most important thing. I also feel for those families who have lost everything or someone and know that with Christchurch being the community it is we will know at least one person that has perished in this awful disaster.

Kia Kaha Christchurch

Declutter and organise - month 1

So you are probably wondering how I am going with my declutter and organise goals from this post.
Well we are just about at the end of the first month and I have been busy in Charlie's room. Although not quite busy enough to post pics just yet. However you need to see the before pics first.
So here goes


and I know what you are thinking - "it's not that bad" Well this is true - it's not - however the wardrobe is a problem with a birthday coming up i feel there will be another inundation of toys so i need to clear some space for some toys to go before his birthday arrives. Also half of the stuff that is in the wardrobe is stuff that he doesn't use anymore - mostly baby stuff. The capsule is going to my sister for her baby so that's one thing out of the way.
So next time you hear from me i should be back with after pictures

So clearly...

I suck at schedules.... In my last post I had scheduled to do the Kitchen declutter and organise further down the track. But with school starting again tomorrow - my mind has been trying to find things to do that somehow drag my mind away from lesson planning and the reality that I DO in fact really have to go back to work tomorrow.
So anyway I started trying to sort out the pantry. Here are the before photos - sorry the first one is so bad - not sure what happened there


I am currently working on reorganising it. I purchased some sistema containers and have been busy putting things into containers and I also hope to convince my wonderful man that he could build me a vegetable box for the bottom of the pantry. I will update soon with photos and we will see how the convincing goes.
oh and while I am at it - i have been working on some dresses as presents for a couple of special little girls. The first one is for little Lily for her first birthday, and the other is for a friends wee girl Georgia who is turning seven. They are as always for me a hash of a few different patterns with several changes to them. - I can't seem to stick to just one pattern at a time. Hopefully i will have some modelled pics for you at some stage too.

Accountability

Right I am writing this here so you guys will be able to keep me accountable. One of my goals this year is to declutter and organise big time in this house. So what I am planning is to give each room a month to get decluttered. So I thought why not start now. So I started with Charlie's bedroom yesterday. I cleared out 4 bags of baby clothes for my sister, listed a whole lotta stuff on Trade Me, and took a bag of stuff to the op shop. Charlie's wardrobe is looking so much better, actually so is our walk in wardrobe. So this is my schedule: Technically I wasn't planning on starting till February, but started Charlie's early - probably just as well cause his will take the most work as it has all the baby stuff to get rid of.

February: Charlie's room
March: Jack's room
April: Our room
May: The Kitchen
June: Lounge and dining room
July: the sewing room/sunroom
August: The bathroom and ensuite.

So technically by the end of 2011 this end should be well and truely decluttered and organised, which I am looking forward too.

Hmm a bit sad really

After just doing a post I looked at my blog and the little followers badge on the side and realised it really is quite sad that I only have one follower - I am thinking that maybe I need to bribe people to follow my sad, lonely old blog. What do you think, a competition in order....?