Trip to Ikea

I met up with Amie & Jonah today at Ikea after we both dropped our girls to school. There wasn't many there at 9:15am, so we headed first to get a late breakfast. $3.95 for a big breakfast is fantastic, and on Wednesdays it's $1.95!!! After that we wandered around a got what we wanted. I haven't taken photos yet (will do another day) but got a new quilt cover for our bed, new pillows for family coming on Sunday (gee pillows are expensive!) a vase, a stool for the bathroom, cushions for the dining chairs, a few different size glass jars, lots of chocolate! I love Ikea, but I really only get there about once a year.

Bargain of the Week

I found this for Jonah at the local church OP shop on Friday. $3. Bargain. They retail for over $200 new. Only one piece of the decoration (cardboard) was missing, but it did have extra trains. One happy little boy.

Crazy Hair Disco

New Products

We all love these new biscuits out. Seriously they taste just like homemade goodness. What's also good about these (apart from the 3 delicious flavours) is they are made up of individual packets of four biscuits so perfects to take anywhere!

On the bookshelf

I gave the bookcase a bit of a clean-out today, donating books and toys to the Salvos that were no longer interesting or used. We still have plenty left, plus the girls have books in their rooms and we have a bookcase in the dining room.

We love Enid Blyton books. The girls' have read heaps of them (from home and the library) My favourite growing up were the Secret Seven books. I've found a few from OP shops over the years. Trixie Belden were another favourite.

This Mallory Towers was Amies set and will be passed onto Ruby once my girls have read them. The one with the yellow cover we searched for for ages, finally locating it in an antique shop in Oamaru on a last trip away with my parents and Amie in 1997.

Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes was a favourite of mine growing up, so I was thrilled when I found a copy. The second one "Ballet shoes for Anna" I found in an OP shop.

Some favourite classics the girls love!

I love all the Astrid Lindgren books, Lotta ones were an all-time favourite. This green cover Winnie the Pooh was on our families bookcase growing up. I was happy when Mum gave it to me awhile ago to enjoy with my kids.

This collection all holds a special place in my heart for me. "Old hat New hat I remember bringing home from the town library ALL the time when Mum and I used to go on Monday nights. Dad would always say "not that book again!" Ha ha! The Coles Funny Picture Book is very old. It belonged to my oldest brother Warwick, and was given to him by our Granny. "Bread and Jam for Frances" is still regularly read by the kids. It's falling apart though, which I think just adds to the character.

These are some of Ella's absolute favourites. So much so, that she keeps them in her room and no one is allowed to touch them :) 

We also house small toys on the shelves, done up in categories in Systema containers. It makes it very easy for the kids to see where everything goes as they are labelled!

In the Morning Light

I'm loving the change of season. After a very hot summer, the cooler mornings are a very welcome change. I can actually hang out the washing until about 10am without nearly getting heatstroke! It's nice to be able to open the curtains and let the sun in. It's been too hot for months to have the roller shutters up in the day. The days are still warm, but thank goodness the nights are cooler now and sleeping is easier!

Our Weekend

 

1. Banana bread.

2. What Kate was the support act for yesterday.

3. The Regal Theatre where the performance was.

4. Ella scans the OP shop racks.

5. We stopped for tea after the show. Love Kate's smudged lippie!

6. OP shop find!

7. New towels to be washed.

8. Beautiful marigolds.

9. 10. 11. The vegie garden is blooming!

12. Warm days still to dry the washing. 32 deg today.

13. 14. 15. Making berry crumble.

16. Kate learning to knit. Needles and wool I found at the OP shop.

17. Ella spent quite a lot of time in her room in the afternoon drawing and listening to her ipod.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend too!

Our Daily Bread

There is something deeply satisfying about homemade bread. It doesn't matter whether its made by machine or hand. I often make bread by hand for a change. Today I used the machine. I love the way the kitchen smells so inviting when bread is baking. I love eating the first warm piece topped with butter and raspberry jam. Homemade bread is much more filling to me, one piece fills me up quite easily.