“If drudgery only means dreadfully hard work, I admit the woman drudges in the home….
But if it means that the hard work is more heavy because it is trifling, colourless, and of small import to the soul, then, as I say, I give it up; I do not know what the words mean.
To be Queen Elizabeth within a definite area, deciding sales, banquets, labours and holidays;
to be Whitely within a certain area, providing toys, books, cakes and boots;
to be Aristotle within a certain area, teaching morals, manners, theology, and hygiene;
I can understand how this might exhaust the mind, but I cannot imagine how it could narrow it.
How can it be a large career to tell other people’s children about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one’s own children about the universe?
How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone?
No, a woman’s function is laborious; but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute.
I will pity Mrs. Jones for the hugeness of her task;
I will never pity her for its smallness.”
G.K. Chesterton
Etsy goodness in the mail
I got a little parcel of these headbands from Ema Lou at Scarlette Rose Fairy in the mail today, there was one for me too. The colours don’t show too well here but they’re really pretty and vibrant. They smell lovely too! Even my older girl, who usually hates to have anything in her hair is wearing hers happily.
Ema Lou popped in this cute little dyed singlet as a present for the new baby, just lovely! There is something so satisfying about buying handmade goods, particularly from mums at home.Check out her shop, she has a wide variety of totally gorgeous goods!
Birthday doll
Its the little one’s 2nd birthday on Monday, so I couldn’t let it pass without making one of her favourite things – a doll! This is one of my little 6 inch dolls and I knitted her a little dress and matching headband out of lovely soft baby yarn.
Just for something different I drew and painted her face on instead of embroidered. Her hair is alpaca and merino wool.
I’m working on a birthday apron too.
I’m starting to feel like I need to cram everything into the next 11 days (yes, 11 days!!!) before the baby arrives. I know I won’t even be able to contemplate sitting at the sewing machine for many weeks. This baby, like all my others will be born by caesarian section and I know by now that the recovery is slow.
The softie giveaway is still on!
A fine Winter’s morn’
” Its a little chilly but perfect for a stroll and a scratch, wouldn’t you agree Henrietta?”
“Oh, indeed, how right you are Miss Feathers, particularly now there is so much worthy greenery about and that dreadful moulting business is over. I almost felt I could never show my feathers in public again!”“Miss Brown, I do wish the paparazzi would cease following us about, all that hovering and clicking makes me self conscious!”
Thought for the day:
“A glad heart maketh a cheerful countenance”.
(Proverbs 15:13)
Some clips for the shop
I made these ones yesterday, I’ll see how they go in the shop. Its lovely to work on something that is completely hand sewn, so I can rest on the bed and make something at the same time.
Just over 2 weeks to go, I had a baby dream lastnight, the baby was a boy. Another dream I had last week the baby was a girl. So we’re still guessing…….
The persuit of cute
It took me a few days of contemplation to figure out what to do with the silver clips I bought from Charlotte . I already had the beautiful wool felt, just needed some imagination.
I experimented with glue and got a mess, so these ones are all handstitched. I have used clean carded wool for filling.
The girls love them!I’ll be making some for my Etsy shop, but in the meantime I’m more than happy to take custom orders.
Remember the giveaway from the last post!
GIVEAWAY!
This could be my last giveaway for a while, only 19 days until baby arrives!
This softie is a prototype, so she isn’t perfect and she’s a little unusual, but I’m sure someone out there would love her!
She is made from very soft flannel and stuffed with polyfil. She is 40 cm tall (15.5 inches) She is meant to be a cat, though my husband begs to differ.
Her button eyes make her unsuitable for a very young child. I’ll draw the winner on July 5th.
TO ENTER:
Please follow the link on the sidebar to my Etsy shop and tell me which item is your favourite and why.
Please feel free to link to this post on your blog (you can use the pictures of the softie too if you like)
This one is open to Australian Residents only please.
Wee little bairny
I think my impending arrival has made me a little “baby mad”! I made this little waldorf baby this afternoon after fiddling around with a head and wondering what to do with the rest, it just seemed to become a baby. I needle sculpted her face, her body is polar fleece (really snuggly) and her hat is knitted from organic rainbow wool. She has a soft flannel wrap for swaddling that does up at the back with velcro. She is 8 inches long.
She will be in my Etsy shop shortly, I think I’ll be making another one for the little un’s 2nd birthday coming up. Just realised I won’t be able to call her that for much longer, there will be aneven littler un’!
And thankyou all for your positive comments on my last post, it means a lot to me š
Sweet Little Mary Janes
I made these newborn sized Mary Janes from a pattern by Sweet Little Patterns. They are so
cute, a bit fiddly but not too difficult. These are for one of my husband’s work colleagues who is expecting soon.
Now to something not so cute that I just have to share. I received an email from my older brother this morning that included a passage that was upsetting to me. Here it is, he is referring to the impending arrival of our fourth child:
“Surely 4 will be enough…I hope for your sake you’re not going to go back for any more, otherwise you’re going to be 60 before you get to live a bit of life for yourself. Your decision of course…”
Hmm. Not sure how to respond to that, in fact at this point I don’t think I will respond. He only has 2 children himself and of course is not having any more. Its so saddening how anti – life our society is and how deeply penetrating it is.
How to roast your own coffee beans…
My husband and I love to brew our own coffee in the mornings. We used to buy freshly ground coffee at the market each week until my husband made this discovery. Buying coffee beans in their raw state will cost you half as much as market coffee and much less than supermarket coffee (which usually tastes like dirty dishwater anyway!)
We brew our coffee in an Italian stovetop espresso pot (a marvellous invention).
Here’s what we do:
These are raw coffee beans. We buy Ethiopian beans from a little African supplies shop.
We dry roast them on a just lower than moderate heat in a deep frypan. The roasting takes about 20 minutes and needs constant stirring, so be patient! You want your beans to be very dark, crackling and smoking. It feels like you’re burning them, but its necessary to get a proper roast. The beans should also seem much lighter (in weight) and dryer by the time you’re done.
Once the beans have cooled grind them in a grinder (we use a little electric grinder that we bought fairly cheaply, it does a great job). The ground coffee in this picture is actually much darker than it looks here, yours should be nice and dark too.Store the ground coffee in the fridge either in a lined paper coffee bag or an airtight container.
Enjoy your delicious coffee!