I have moved my blog to the following address -
http://lifeattheoldbailey.wordpress.com/
This blog will no longer be updated.
I hope to see you all at my new blog - Life@theoldbailey
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Printable Dramas
Have you ever created a printable? I have - oh ok! I've tried to create printables. I can do ok in Publisher with a plain background and some pretty fonts - but that is about as far as I get. No-where near as purdy as those gorgeously designed printables you can find on just about any blog, Facebook and of course, Pinterest.
I am yearning to set my creativity free, I'm searching for the program that will work for me and my needs. I feel like I've tried them all, but in reality I haven't. I've had a play with Picaso, a squiz at Creative Kit, I fiddled around with Picmonkey and I've downloaded Photoshop 10. I haven't gotten anywhere yet.
I'm looking for suggestions on what programs I could use. What works for you? What didn't work for you? What have you found to be the easiest to work with? The hardest?
I'm oozing creative juices here people!
I am yearning to set my creativity free, I'm searching for the program that will work for me and my needs. I feel like I've tried them all, but in reality I haven't. I've had a play with Picaso, a squiz at Creative Kit, I fiddled around with Picmonkey and I've downloaded Photoshop 10. I haven't gotten anywhere yet.
I'm looking for suggestions on what programs I could use. What works for you? What didn't work for you? What have you found to be the easiest to work with? The hardest?
I'm oozing creative juices here people!
Monday, September 17, 2012
Children, sulking & only child-ness...
Yesterday Master R. was asked to write a birthday present list so that the rest of the family know what he would like for his 8th birthday. I did say that he didn't need to do the list right this minute but he got his pencil and his sheet of paper and set about writing his list.
Master R. got about 5 items in and then started sulking. You know the look, shoulders slouched, staring unhappily at the task, sulky look on face. So I asked him what was wrong - apparently nothing was wrong. Well, if nothing is wrong, why are you sulking? *shrugging shoulders here*
I never did find out what was wrong, but I ended up telling him to put the list (that he had proceeded to cut up) in the bin, get a new sheet of paper and stick it on the fridge. I thought the list would help him keep track of all those things that he comes up to me really excited about, and then forgets a week later.
Obviously I've gone wrong somewhere along the line, we had a list for Christmas last year and it worked pretty well. At least, we didn't get any of the sulking I'm getting now. Perhaps my timing is off, since it is the last week of a fairly long school term (11 weeks!) and he is tired - those horrible blue/black lines appear under his eyes from about midday and he is sulkier than usual. I can only hope that he will pick up after a weekend of horsey fun and then a week of having to do nothing strenuous then his chores.
Speaking of chores, I'm considering making up a chore chart for young Master R. Over the last couple of weeks he has started enquiring as to "why do I have to feed the chickens?", "why do I have to feed the cats and the dog their biccies?" "why do I have to turn the sprinklers off?". My answers have always been the same... "why do I have to go to work?" lol.
He wasn't to impressed with that reply, so I broadened my explanation. I have to go to work, I do the P&C minutes, I do the cooking and cleaning, washing/drying/folding/putting away, the holiday planning, the home improvement planning, the garden planning, the heavy work, the hard work, the grown up work. He has to clean his room, vacuum & mop his floors, strip his bed and help make it, put his clothes away when they've been folded. He also has to do the chores mentioned above, as well as assist with some of the other things around the house like picking fallen palm fronds up and putting them on the bonfire.
I got the look after that explanation. The look that says he doesn't agree with me, that he would rather watch tv and eat junk food all day, but because he can't come up with a better argument he will leave the status quo. I figure that's progress, at least I didn't get the sulky look again!
Do you have a chore chart for your littlies? How do you find it works? I'm worried that it would look pretty lonely with only Master R's name on this big sheet of paper, but unfortunately that's one of the downsides to being an only child. Another downside to being an only child is having no one else around his age to play with right this minute. You know the times when you say "right, go outside and play" and he walks around with that look on his face like... what can I do? Ok, I exagerate a little. He has his trampoline, his bike, his skateboard & ripstick, his horse, his lego, his books, his pencils/pens/cardboard/paper. Sometimes I think he lacks ideas on what to do, because when he hits on an idea he's off doing 'child stuff'.
I was lucky as a child, I had my amazingly awesome younger brother who put up with so much from me. I also had my horse, and since I was a horse mad girl that was often enough, I could spend hours just brushing and plaiting my horse's mane. Master R. likes horses, loves his mare, but isn't horse mad enough for hours of grooming to be enough occupation.
I live in hope though, he has come from wanting a pony, to not wanting to ride horses/be around horses/have anything to do with horses at all to wanting to ride, to handling them of his own accord. One day that horse mad gene might kick in and he'll be trying to sleep with Bella in the horse yards like I did many years ago with my Nicnac.
Master R. is home from school today, he slept in until 9.45am which is a prodigious feat from him, 8am is usually the absolute latest you can coax from him! This long term is taking its toll on his concentration, several times he has started a sentence when speaking to me only to forget what he was going to say! 4 more days of school left and then he can sleep in as much as he likes, except that he won't want to sleep in! I can't win lol.
Master R. got about 5 items in and then started sulking. You know the look, shoulders slouched, staring unhappily at the task, sulky look on face. So I asked him what was wrong - apparently nothing was wrong. Well, if nothing is wrong, why are you sulking? *shrugging shoulders here*
I never did find out what was wrong, but I ended up telling him to put the list (that he had proceeded to cut up) in the bin, get a new sheet of paper and stick it on the fridge. I thought the list would help him keep track of all those things that he comes up to me really excited about, and then forgets a week later.
Obviously I've gone wrong somewhere along the line, we had a list for Christmas last year and it worked pretty well. At least, we didn't get any of the sulking I'm getting now. Perhaps my timing is off, since it is the last week of a fairly long school term (11 weeks!) and he is tired - those horrible blue/black lines appear under his eyes from about midday and he is sulkier than usual. I can only hope that he will pick up after a weekend of horsey fun and then a week of having to do nothing strenuous then his chores.
Speaking of chores, I'm considering making up a chore chart for young Master R. Over the last couple of weeks he has started enquiring as to "why do I have to feed the chickens?", "why do I have to feed the cats and the dog their biccies?" "why do I have to turn the sprinklers off?". My answers have always been the same... "why do I have to go to work?" lol.
He wasn't to impressed with that reply, so I broadened my explanation. I have to go to work, I do the P&C minutes, I do the cooking and cleaning, washing/drying/folding/putting away, the holiday planning, the home improvement planning, the garden planning, the heavy work, the hard work, the grown up work. He has to clean his room, vacuum & mop his floors, strip his bed and help make it, put his clothes away when they've been folded. He also has to do the chores mentioned above, as well as assist with some of the other things around the house like picking fallen palm fronds up and putting them on the bonfire.
I got the look after that explanation. The look that says he doesn't agree with me, that he would rather watch tv and eat junk food all day, but because he can't come up with a better argument he will leave the status quo. I figure that's progress, at least I didn't get the sulky look again!
Do you have a chore chart for your littlies? How do you find it works? I'm worried that it would look pretty lonely with only Master R's name on this big sheet of paper, but unfortunately that's one of the downsides to being an only child. Another downside to being an only child is having no one else around his age to play with right this minute. You know the times when you say "right, go outside and play" and he walks around with that look on his face like... what can I do? Ok, I exagerate a little. He has his trampoline, his bike, his skateboard & ripstick, his horse, his lego, his books, his pencils/pens/cardboard/paper. Sometimes I think he lacks ideas on what to do, because when he hits on an idea he's off doing 'child stuff'.
I was lucky as a child, I had my amazingly awesome younger brother who put up with so much from me. I also had my horse, and since I was a horse mad girl that was often enough, I could spend hours just brushing and plaiting my horse's mane. Master R. likes horses, loves his mare, but isn't horse mad enough for hours of grooming to be enough occupation.
I live in hope though, he has come from wanting a pony, to not wanting to ride horses/be around horses/have anything to do with horses at all to wanting to ride, to handling them of his own accord. One day that horse mad gene might kick in and he'll be trying to sleep with Bella in the horse yards like I did many years ago with my Nicnac.
Master R. is home from school today, he slept in until 9.45am which is a prodigious feat from him, 8am is usually the absolute latest you can coax from him! This long term is taking its toll on his concentration, several times he has started a sentence when speaking to me only to forget what he was going to say! 4 more days of school left and then he can sleep in as much as he likes, except that he won't want to sleep in! I can't win lol.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
This afternoons escapades...
← Spot the cat...
Did you spot my adorable floppy cat Gremlin? →
He helps me with the laundry, follows me out to the clothesline to hang the washing out, follows me back in and has a cat-nap until I fold the laundry and then tries to help!
This afternoon I got a wriggle on and prepared dessert early. Dessert is either an after dinner after-thought or piece of toast or an apple in our house lately. Master R's eyes popped out of his head when he realised I was making my favourite Self Saucing Chocolate Pudding today. I have included the recipe below for those who are interested. I started with this Taste recipe, but since we were out of butter I substituted 3 tablespoons of margarine (without melting it) and I doubled the water for the sauce because we like more sauce (ok, we ♥ more sauce!)
Ingredients...
1 cup S/R flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 egg
3 tablespoons margarine
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup milk
Sauce ingredients...
2 1/2 cups boiling water
1 firmly packed cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
Method...Sift flour, cocoa powder and sugar into mixing bowl. Add egg, milk, vanilla and margarine. Mix well with electric beater until thoroughly combined. Pour mixture into a lightly greased glass oven proof baking dish. Set aside after smoothing the surface.
Lightly sprinkle the remaining cocoa and brown sugar over the surface, then gently pour the boiling water over the mixture. Pour the hot water onto the mixture over the back of a spoon to stop the boiling water from messing up the mixture.
I covered the dish then with a double layer of alfoil and put in the oven on the middle rack at 150°C (fan-forced). I baked the pudding for 40 minutes, checked it and then lowered the heat to 100°C for another 10 minutes. 
This is how it turned out. As you can see, the sauce is nice and thick after standing for about 10 minutes to cool. The cake is soft and very fluffy, it just melts in your mouth. As a side note, this is how my under sink kitchen cupboard turned out after the 20 Day Challenge. There's not much I can do with it at the moment until I find some containers that will be suitable, but at least I can find things in the cupboard now!
My progress so far...
As you may know, I've been taking part in The Organised Housewife's 20 Days to Organise Your Home Challenge.
Here is a recap of my progress so far:
Day 1 was to clean my kitchen and this is the end result...
Day 2 was a challenge I was looking forward to, clean and tidy the main bedroom *excluding the WIR* which means I got a weeks worth of good sleep. I'm one happy person at the moment!
Day 3's task was a laundry room clean up which has made life so much easier for me, which is evidenced by the fact I managed to wash, dry and pull in 7 loads of washing today!
Day 4 saw me in the lounge room, and it looks pretty amazing if I must say so myself...
Day 5 had me cleaning the floors, which really raises the happy feelings in this household, especially now that we have finished installing our Jarrah laminate flooring.
Now, I got behind task during week two, and have there for spent most of today catching up. Today I cleaned and organised my bathroom, which involved scrubbing the shower floor tiles with a scourer!
I haven't completed Day 7's task of cleaning the fridge or Day 8's task to clean and tidy the spare room but they're on the catch up list. Day 9 was spent on tidying the junk drawer... and organising the calendar. Now that was fun, now that I'm using Google Calendar! I love how it syncs my home Outlook calendar, my work Outlook calendar and my Android phone's calendar. Now I have no excuses for forgetting something!
Day 10 had me cleaning the oven and organising kitchen cupboards.
I must say, I'm really enjoying the tidy house, it feels so much more welcoming and open. I don't have to worry about unexpected visitors and I don't feel stressed first thing every morning, which is obviously a great thing!
Are you following the challenge? How are you going with it? I'd love to hear about your progress so feel free to comment on my post!
Here is a recap of my progress so far:
Day 1 was to clean my kitchen and this is the end result...
Day 3's task was a laundry room clean up which has made life so much easier for me, which is evidenced by the fact I managed to wash, dry and pull in 7 loads of washing today!
Day 4 saw me in the lounge room, and it looks pretty amazing if I must say so myself...
Now, I got behind task during week two, and have there for spent most of today catching up. Today I cleaned and organised my bathroom, which involved scrubbing the shower floor tiles with a scourer!
Day 10 had me cleaning the oven and organising kitchen cupboards.
I must say, I'm really enjoying the tidy house, it feels so much more welcoming and open. I don't have to worry about unexpected visitors and I don't feel stressed first thing every morning, which is obviously a great thing!
Are you following the challenge? How are you going with it? I'd love to hear about your progress so feel free to comment on my post!
Friday, September 14, 2012
Spring is here!
Spring is here! Hooray! Yippee!
This week has seen us tidying up the yard and doing all sorts of general gardening and household stuff. The sort of stuff that you do in Spring.
Our animals are shedding bucketloads of hair which is always lovely - not! There hasn't been a day this week where we haven't walked out the door wear cat or dog hair couture.
I put a down payment on a birthday cake for Master R. today. I'm starting to get really excited about planning this suprise party for him. I also bought a digital watch for him off eBay after we had a big discussion about whether he can read analog clocks easily or whether it would be better to get him a digital watch. I considered the education factor of wearing an analog watch for a 7 year old, but I realised that if he can't read it easily he won't wear it and then it will end up in a box of junk at the bottom of his wardrobe.
Now that the weather has warmed up and we are almost finished giving our trees a much needed hair cut a bonfire will be in order to clean up the massive piles of branches and leaves we have scattered around the place. The winds have finally died down around here over the last couple of days so as soon as the leaves have browned off the bonfires will be lit at dusk and we might even toast some marshmallows - if they survive being in our house that long! We have plenty of good sized logs to keep the fires going for quite a while, and with the school holidays less than a week away it will be a great time for a little Mother/Son bonding time over a softdrink, nibblies and a bonfire.
After the bonfires have died down, the ashes will be scattered over our garden beds under a thick layer of mulch and then we'll look at planting some spring colour the week before my big Tupperware/birthday party.
As you can tell, I'm getting pretty darn excited about my party as well as Master R's, and I've been busy searching for yummy recipes for nibblies and snacks I can make for the party. My guests had better come hungry 'cause there's going to be a tonne of food!
If you have a yummy party recipe, feel free to share it!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
I'm on a mission!
Your mission, if you choose to accept it... is to organise your paperwork into some semblance of order!
I have accepted the challenge and I feel like I'm part-way through this mission. What am I doing? Simple.
I went and bought 5 plastic tubs with click on lids, 6 lever arch binders, 300 sheet protectors and filing tabs. I also bought a freestanding hanging file system which includes 5 hanging files and tabs. You don't have to do this. You can buy one folder or tub at a time and work that way through mount paperwork, or you can use folders/tubs/archive boxes/filing cabinets that you may have in your house.
I've designated my tubs '2011', '2010', '2009', '2008' & 'Up to & Including 2007'. I think that's pretty self explanatory? For those of you who are half asleep, I'll explain. As I sort through mount paperwork, I make little piles of paperwork, according to year level. I don't try to sort the paperwork into categories in those piles because they're only gonna be chucked into the relevant year tub.
Then, when I have finished sorting mount paperwork, I'll put a packet of damp absorber in the tub, maybe an incense stick for scent, chuck the lid on and label the tub with the year. Once labelled and sealed, I'll store the tubs up in the shed. Voila! Archiving!
Meanwhile, I haven't ignored those lever archer binders. They've been labelled with the following -
So far, I have tidied my computer desk, my kitchen table, 4 bookshelves in my other bookcase, 2 archive boxes from my room and assorted miscellaneous documents that were hiding in my favourite handbag.
'What about the freestanding file?' I hear you ask. Well, I have sat it on one end of my kitchen bench (although it may end up being moved to the sewing cabinet due to the close proximity of the kitchen sink) and have so far labelled the files with 'To Be Filed', 'Tupperware' and 'Bills - To Be Paid'. I still have 2 hanging files to use, and they will be labelled when I have a use for them.
These methods seem to be working pretty well for me so far, but as we all know, the real test is how long I stick to this particular system. I'll be sure to keep you updated with how I go! This is an indication of how much junk paperwork I have thrown out, I've already chucked 3 boxes out!
I have accepted the challenge and I feel like I'm part-way through this mission. What am I doing? Simple.
I went and bought 5 plastic tubs with click on lids, 6 lever arch binders, 300 sheet protectors and filing tabs. I also bought a freestanding hanging file system which includes 5 hanging files and tabs. You don't have to do this. You can buy one folder or tub at a time and work that way through mount paperwork, or you can use folders/tubs/archive boxes/filing cabinets that you may have in your house.
I've designated my tubs '2011', '2010', '2009', '2008' & 'Up to & Including 2007'. I think that's pretty self explanatory? For those of you who are half asleep, I'll explain. As I sort through mount paperwork, I make little piles of paperwork, according to year level. I don't try to sort the paperwork into categories in those piles because they're only gonna be chucked into the relevant year tub.
Then, when I have finished sorting mount paperwork, I'll put a packet of damp absorber in the tub, maybe an incense stick for scent, chuck the lid on and label the tub with the year. Once labelled and sealed, I'll store the tubs up in the shed. Voila! Archiving!
Meanwhile, I haven't ignored those lever archer binders. They've been labelled with the following -
- Tax & Super
- Payslips
- Shea - Personal
- Master R. - Personal
- Bills - Paid
- Banking
So far, I have tidied my computer desk, my kitchen table, 4 bookshelves in my other bookcase, 2 archive boxes from my room and assorted miscellaneous documents that were hiding in my favourite handbag.
'What about the freestanding file?' I hear you ask. Well, I have sat it on one end of my kitchen bench (although it may end up being moved to the sewing cabinet due to the close proximity of the kitchen sink) and have so far labelled the files with 'To Be Filed', 'Tupperware' and 'Bills - To Be Paid'. I still have 2 hanging files to use, and they will be labelled when I have a use for them.
These methods seem to be working pretty well for me so far, but as we all know, the real test is how long I stick to this particular system. I'll be sure to keep you updated with how I go! This is an indication of how much junk paperwork I have thrown out, I've already chucked 3 boxes out!
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