Note to Self:

Happy Thursday, boys and girls.  Friday night can't come fast enough for me!! :-)

Flannel Chenille Blanket

I sent a link to Miss M for a gorgeous vintage peach chenille blanket, and of course Miss M was more than happy to receive one. :-) I was anxious to start one of these gorgeous, soft blankets, so I dove into it right away over the weekend (ignoring my housework and the fact that we were, yes, having friends for dinner on Sunday night), and chose a bright Cotton duck fabric for the outer layer.  If you do know what cotton duck is, I'd be happy to hear it!!  Add to that three different flannel pieces - I chose one bright orange, one more subdued blue that matched my cotton layer, and a plain white - and then I was home for an afternoon of pinning and sewing looooong straight lines.

Here's the four fabrics I used - I chose a white with bright dots for my outer layer, as I was making it for an older teen as a lap blanket, though it would make a beautiful, soft baby's blanket.  You can't see the bright outer colours on the cotton in this photo, but you can see how nicely the two blues blend together:

 Lay the cotton right side down, with the three flannel layers right side up:

And stitch them together with diagonal lines, a half inch apart.  Now, they must be sewn across the bias in order for them to fray nicely.  If sewn across the grain, the fray will just be all stringy and unsightly.

Now, I'd guess this took me about six hours all told, in amongst escorting Son C to a soccer trivia night, and having friends over.  It's not a quick process!!

I'll just finish my binding, and I'll be back....

Winter Illness

The Favouritest Boy-Child is down with a little bit of a head-cold, and the persistent school sore whenever he gets sick.  Poor blossom.  And he’s in high school, trying so hard to be a young man.  So, he is spending some quality time with his grandparents today, and I get to go and hang out with them all tonight, which also makes me happy.  Silver linings. :-) :-)

We Did It!! Or, Our Ekka Story!

Well, we braved the crowds on the final Ekka Day for 2012, and we survived quite a lovely day in the sun exploring the grounds.  We haven't been in about six years, so it had all changed, the police exhibit had been moved to opposite the Meat Hall, and the Showbag Pavilion was down behind side show alley.  And, it had crowd control ropes, to control the inflow of people.  Wowser!!

We budget every year that we go - "two rides, two showbags" is the mantra my parents lived by and I have closely adhered to.  So, rather than dole out each person's quote, I just allocated them the money and forked over cash - they were in charge then.  Son C is 12, and Miss M is 18, so they were more than ready to take charge of their own funds, and in fact, neither even made their way to side show alley.  It was mainly spent on (too many) showbags and food treats.  I had to have a strawberry ice cream, and it didn't let me down!!

I even bought myself two showbags - the Better Homes and Gardens tote bag, and the Marie Claire tote bag (both of which were half price, mind you, another benefit of going on the last day!!) and it was nice to have something for myself.  Miss M however required an extra bag so promptly acquired one of mine.

We were all a bit tired by the end of the day, as we arrived just after opening time.  There were a few grumbles on the way home, but all in all, I must say it was a successful day.  Probably my last Ekka obligation as a parent, though.  A little sad.

Menu Planning

There are so many resources and good sites out there for menu planning.  I would love to be more organised than I am, and say that there is a constant list of healthy, balanced meals on the front of my fridge for preparation at a moment's notice.  But alas, there is usually an arm-load of dirty dishes, and a kiss and a promise for more attention later.

I was idly blog-hopping last week, and came across the blog I'm An Organizing Junkie orgjunkie.com, with a section on menu planning and links to recipes.  It's certainly inspiring, and I will certainly wile away another afternoon poring through the old blog posts.  They are American recipes though, and it's a bit hit and miss as to recipes I like.

I've even dabbled in the concept of Once a Month Cooking and found more familar recipes at http://www.aussiecooking.com.au/articles/oamc.html.  Again, I'd like to tell you that I jumped headfirst into neatly labelled boxes of healthy prepared freezer-ready meals, but again, all I wound up with was a folder of wistfulness.

Anyway, there are only two of us at home these days, and we are a bit more fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants when it comes to cooking, though my budget could certainly use some help from organisation.  So, this week we are having pepper steak burgers, tuna mornay and beef casserole with mashed potatoes.  Lots of leftovers for lunch.

Are you very organised when it comes to meal preparation?  What's for dinner in your house tonight?