Performers All Round

Bronte was lucky enough to have made her 2nd debut singing in the Concert Hall at The Sydney Opera House on Saturday with Australian Girls Choir along with 600 other girls.

It was fabulous and as always delightful and so special seeing Bronte up on stage singing and dancing.

Another excuse to get out the sewing machine and sew Bronte the required white dress/skirt and top outfit.Miranda proved to be a wonderful audience member and sat beautifully throughout the performance.

With the weather threatening rain all day we were grateful to enjoy a leisurely afternoon in and around Circular Quay after the performance.

Miranda gave her own personal performance to passers-by dancing for over 20minutes to the tunes played by the busker and his saxophone. At the end of each song she graciously curtsied to those who had stopped to enjoy her show.

Koalas Peacocks and Kangaroos

On Sunday we headed off to The Koala Park to celebrate my sister-in-law's birthday.It was a great day out -as Miranda described "This is the best picnic ever mummy" - a nice day out after the last few weeks of mayhem.
We got to pat lots of native animals and feed some very lazy kangaroos, the peacocks were really putting on a show and Koala spotting was a test on any one's patience but we found one out of it's enclosure and not too far up a gum tree (the Koalas are able to roam free around the park and pick any tree which suits, most koalas at the park were born their naturally without any human intervention)And this one makes pregnancy look a breeze!

Colonial Style Dress

I don't often sew for Bronte my older daughter but when she reminded me (with 2 days to spare) she needed to go to school dressed in English Colonial Style clothing (Australian History Lessons), the machine was out and boxes scavenged through.

A simple tired peasant skirt and top with apron and bonnet in plain blue and some cream. The cream band on the bottom of the top was used to lengthen the top as it was a little short.

I was rather stuck on the bonnet but with a little adaption Hoppo Bumpo's Shower Cap Tutorial
fit perfectly with the theme.without the bonnet and apron it has turned into a pretty spring outfit.

Out with the Old in with the New

Well not completely new -
The last month has been rather busy with packing, moving, unpacking settling into a new community and communting to the old.


So here we say goodbye to our old house


and hello to our new house (Bronte's 5th and Miranda's 3rd)

a new school -
Bronte seems to have made 2 freinds very quickly and settled into her new school very well
a new bed in a new room Miranda has moved out of sharing a room with me in a cot, to sharing a room with her big sister in a big girls bed
a different oven I was devistated to discover that the oven door in our new house would not shut properly but after a week it was fixed and Miranda is quite keen on baking weekly.

There are still boxes to unpack, rooms to organise, activities to be reloccated and little creases to be ironed out but we are settling in slowly,

Whilst moving to a new area poses many challenges which I could name a few, here are some special things about our new community -

• A short drive up the road to the local big grocery store sees us in semi-rural areas with hobby farms and cows to look at out the window.
• We have a lovely view looking over Sydney's south west from our front door/lounge and bedroom.
• Driving home after an afternoons commute sees lovely views of The Mountains.
• Whilst we are on the fringes of Sydney we are still very close to many large shops and on a good run it only take us 15 mins back to our old community.

Because she is so cute!

Bronte photo's taken last month (they really capture her especially the second) - I just love her freckle nose.

This Is......My current reading material, kitchen appliance and me signing off.

This weeks this is.....my current reading material - I quite enjoy reading and will read each night when I hop into bed before sleeping - no matter what the time -it's a bit like brushing my teeth something I can not go to bed without doing.

I am currently reading

Wild Swan by Jung Chang - this current book has taken me quite a long time to read (more than 3 months - I read approx 10 books in the first half of the year). I am into my last 150 pages and have found the last half more about Jung Chen's life amongst Chinese Cultural Revolution much easier to read than the first - about her parents and grandparents life within Communist China.

Wild Swan has been a bit of a history lesson, a bit of gratitude for a life I have lived and some empathy for the Chinese Culture, especially those living around me. I have enjoyed it but am looking forward to finishing it and reading my next book - Heart of Darfur by Lisa French Baker - a nurse who works with Medecines Sans Frontier and is her own personal accout of life as a nurse in Darfur refugee camps.

From last week This is......My Favourite Kitchen Appliance

Yes the humble old Oven - this is/will be my old oven last Sunday after I had finished scrubbing it, I want to open the door just to admire the shine (mmm I know I am weird) - a fitting theme for the week.

We have the keys for the new house and have been there twice now and would you believe I could not get the oven to work - I have finally worked it out but the door does not shut that well :( I am hoping that gets fixed quite quickly as I really love using the oven.

This is me....signing off

Tomorrow I spend the day finalising boxes and dismantling beds, computers etc, the trucks will be here on Tuesday and I will not get connection back for 1 week - I am online more often than not so I will be shutting down with a sign - see you on the other side.

To see who else is playing This is....head on over to three buttons

Miranda's Packing Tips

Pick up anything lying around the room, throw it into a box (make sure there is nothing hanging over the edge), when 1/2 full sticky tape shut.

If only life was so simple.

Music Madness - Bird Style

Some time out in the mayhem of packing - a great free event run by Sydney Olympic Park