So we looked at mobiles at the shops and were always a bit...meh. Miss s is now almost 8 months old and we still don't have one for her. So we have started a challenge...a duel if you will. Mr k and I are going head to head in creating a special mobile for our girl. We have one month and then present our work. Have no idea how it is going to be judged. Mr k is quite artistic so I have a bit of competition however apart from looking up fishing sites and illness symptoms, he really has nooooooooo idea of the depth of inspiration for diy crafts!
I've never made anything crafty before but I'm looking forward to the challenge.
Here are some things I'm looking at. At the moment, I'm thinking lots of rainbow hued felt animals cut out and stitched with lots of length. I'm also thinking of some embroidery hoops wrapped in blocks of wool or embroidery cotton. Feel free to pass along any ideas...must.beat.mr.k
I'm sick. As in I have a head cold which makes all my previous colds look like complete wimps. This one is a doozy. I'm hoping miss s does not get it. I girded my loins, slapped on loads of concealer this morning and told myself to get over it and went a meet a girlfriend for coffee (hello ms c!) but as I drove home I felt worse than ever.
Why am I writing a blog post? Well of course, miss s is full of smiles and wants to groove around on the floor so I need to stay up and alert, not wrapped in my doona watching DVDS on my laptop as I would pre-baby. Luckily I've called in reinforcements and mum is coming over tomorrow at the crack of dawn.
Love my mum.
Luckily my freezer contains some magic soup. It is quite wintery at the moment so soup is quite fitting. I'm actually not in the mood to eat but my milk supply is suffering enough as it is with this cold so am doing the right thing.
I've been making this soup for a long time. It is derived from Jamie Oliver who in turn said he stole it from an Australian chef who stole it from Womans Weekly. Mr k does not believe a meal is a meal unless it contains meat. I make this and he is a happy man. It is his favourite soup and if he has been good, I even make Parmesan toasties to go with it.
When I am in a rush, I just do the stock, canned chickpeas and leeks - nothing else apart from some oil to fry the leeks in and it is awesome. When I have time I add bacon, herbs, special EVOO and lashings of Parmesan. The Parmesan takes it from a simple soup to something truly special so don't miss it out.
2 cans of canned chickpeas (or do your own soaking of dried chickpeas)
2 medium leeks
1 tablespoon olive oil
knob of butter
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
salt and freshly ground black pepper
approx 500mls chicken or vegetable stock
Parmesan cheese, grated
EV olive oil
Slice up the leeks anyway you like. Use white bit only.
Heat up a large pan or saucepan, add the tablespoon of oil and the knob of butter. Add the leeks and garlic to the pan and sweat gently with a good pinch of salt for 10 mins (or less if you don't have much time). You want them to be softened. The longer you cook the leeks the more flavour it will have. Add the drained chickpeas and cook for 1 minute. Add the stock and simmer for 15 minutes (or if rushed for time, bring to the boil and then simmer for 5 mins).
If it is Summer, I like the soup to be all brothy and I add lots of italian parsely and any other fresh herb. If it is Winter and you want a hearty soup, use a stick blender to blend it into a thick soup.
Don't forget to add some yummy Parmesan shavings on the top.
The day miss s was due, my 93 year old grandma came over and we did a little photoshoot. The henna tattoos are from my baby shower held earlier that month. I've always loved her elegant hands. They are strong too...she used to give the best massages. Healing hands my dad would say (he has them too).
Sorry folks, my camera is playing up and I can't get the photos off...and of course the auditors from the local accountancy practice request that an announcement of a winner of the massive happy socks giveaway must be accompanied with verified images.
Hopefully later on today my camera will be soothed by a camera guru mate.
In other news, little s decided to return to newborn status and wake every 2 hours last night. Only problem is mr k is no longer on paternity leave so there is no-one to bring me toast and tell me what a wonderful mum I am during the day...amazing what a little bit of encouragement can do!
Here is a photo for Fifi( a fellow mama on the late night shift lately) I took it on Sunday afternoon on our after lunch walk (as opposed to the before nap walk, after nap walk, before the cocktail/ horror hour begins walk et cetera) ...Fifi, your walks with LP in Perth are going to be awesome too!
So since having little s, my weight has been going up and up. Plus I've been feeling quite blah physically. Good thing is that I had lots of tests and it appears that amongst other things, my thyroid gland is not working very efficiently. I have a renewed feeling of taking responsibility for my health now that I am a mama. I want to be the best I can be for my girl. To that end, I am making what I put into my body a priority. I like to get out and about every day so I have taken to making my lunch the night before and taking it with me wherever I go. I took this photo some time ago but my lunch today looks just like it, except no blueberries, just strawberries and walnuts. Love my smoked chicken too but it is quite expensive so need to start thinking of some alternatives or try smoking my own. What do you eat for lunch?
I have been blessed with some lovely people in my life. You know the kinds that send you stuff in the mail "just to brighten your day" or "saw this and had to get it for miss s". Yep really lucky. I would like to pay this forward and send someone a little gift. I'm buying some socks, specifically Happy Socks - I think they are very cool and I would like to offer a reader a pair of socks too. You can go check out the website and tell me which sock design you like or leave it up to me and get a surprise:)
To enter, leave a comment below - you can just say hi or even tell me a little about yourself - apparently I have a regular reader from Estonia. T'would be cool to hear from them!
Important bits -
#1 - I'll do the mama version of a random draw which will be whatever name Sienna drools/ attempts to eat first). Giveaway will be open until 10th September. I'll then email you/ contact you and send them your way. Open to readers wherever they are.
#2 - I'm not sure how to read all the blogs stats etc but I think I have about 8 readers so you have a really good chance at winning!
#3 - No Mum, you cannot enter this giveaway, you're getting some for Christmas.
No, I don't have an affiliation with HappySocks.com I just really like them and would like to send some sock love someone's way.
