yay for second hand!

For a long time I've been wanting a wooden play kitchen for my Apple Blossom day care.
I contemplated making one but it was far (far far) beyond my woodworking capabilities.
After months of looking for something second hand that I could make into one I stumbled upon this gorgeous little kitchen dresser!
I still cant believe my luck, once I add a sink, stove burners and taps it will be exactly what I wanted but didn't think I was going to be able to in my wildest dreams find! Beautiful handmade play kitchens are few and far between in Australia but I've finally scored us one. I pick it up on Sunday and look forward to sharing photos of it done up and polished very soon

 Martha B Rabbit, the fairies cook has been my favorite nap time book lately and I love seeing parts of it acted out in the children's play, so sweet:) I cant wait to see the day care boys play cooking and preserving in the new (old:) little kitchen

I'm afraid my socks haven't come along as much as I would have liked. There is a down side to tooth pick thin knitting needles, and aside from how fiddly they are.
I took my knitting along to my friends beach shack on the weekend and one of the tiny needles got snapped. Not that it was so bad, I really didn't need my knitting to distract me from the beauty and wonderful friends I was surrounded by. We had such a fabulous time and once my needles are replaced the sock knitting will continue. On the Saturday night we made friends with a fox. Sarah's boyfriend tempted him to the back door with sausage and bread and he was quite friendly. Foxes are introduced pest here in australia but they are so beautiful, much like rabbits

While I wait for new needles I make some little projects

green

Last week I visited my aunt Levin and she gave me this gorgeous Madeline tosh yarn. I'm so in love with it! Its slowly becoming the mermaid socks I dreamed up for it. I say slowly because I've only ever knitted socks in 8ply. I feel like I'm knitting these on tooth picks!

 this week the sun has been shining and days have been almost entirely spent outdoors. Ropes are so handy, they can become so many different toys. We make rope swings, bells on ropes to jingle and a basket tied to the veranda can be so fun to swing and twirl. A swing for toys or a good place for a collection of shells or rocks

With these warm days it feels like the garden is growing so much each day. Ive been spending so much time out there. My parents came over on Monday. We spent the whole day lazing in my veggie patch, snacking on a pancake picnic. They helped me build a big new garden bed and change the garden bed design a bit. Next time I will show a before and after 

 Potatoes are supposed to grow in the summer in Australia aren't they? I have quite a few volunteer plants from compost and I'm hilling them up to see how they go. I have to be honest, their doing a lot better than the summer potatoes I planted and lovingly tended to

 broccoli is surprising me. I haven't had a single successful broccoli since I moved to this town, each year I get little bugs that go crazy for them, this year I have the bugs but they just seem to be on the leaves mostly. Definitely wishing I had planted more. I will get a few seedlings tomorrow

 I like this old fence post with peeling paint that is now sitting in the middle of a veggie patch with no purpose. My cat mishka likes to sit on it for a good view

 Afternoon light peeking through the lattice fence

Garden update

Hi, me again. My computer is feeling a little under the weather but it occured to me that perhaps i can blog from my phone and apparently i can. The last few weeks ive been keeping buisy and keeping warm. Ive been making good use of the thick wool socks i felt silly for knitting in the middle of summer. Oh not so silly at all! I had my daycare annual re approval. As usual i got stressed about it and as usual it went fine! I love my assesor, she is so lovely and positive. Im always worried they will comment on the lack of toys outside as there isnt much but the kids never run out of things to do. Before we even got there it she was mentioning how much she loves that i dont over do the toys and how little 'things' are needed for healthy development and learning. Its nice to know that my hippy ways fit in with mainstream childcare too, sometimes i worry that im living too far from waldorf schools and dont fit in here but i hope in general most people can appreciate my daycare for what it is even if they dont know much about why i do things the way i do. Anyhow, i did say this was a garden update didnt i! Benny has put up a beautiful new fence to keep the chickens out of my veggie patch. Ive been enjoying green juice from all the thriving spinich, nettles etc. everything is doing well except the broccoli has its usual little bugs that ive had the last few years. I realy need to figure out how to get rid of them because we love broccoli and it grows so well here.