Things I'm filling my time with

1. Growing a bigger baby bump. Yes, it continues to grow, and like last time there are no signs that this baby is likely to arrive early. It could even be in the new year. Time will tell. At least I'm feeling more relaxed now, enjoying the calm before the storm, with most things ticked off the to-do list and those few things remaining not being particularly critical. (Although it might be good to watch the TENS dvd instructions again just so that it's fresh in my mind...)

2. Building up a stash of baby gifts. It's not just me having a baby at this daft time of year. In some strange feat of synchronization I have 4 close friends, plus my hairdresser and my masseuse (well a friend's masseuse who I am privileged to have also received several massages from on Craft Camp), plus a friend's sister, all producing babies this December and January (the latter being twins). So I figured some bib making and baby shoe making (shoes using this pattern) needed to be done quickly or it wouldn't be happening at all.
3. Spending some quality time with family. Even more important for us this year than it is usually is, given that mum is undergoing major surgery tomorrow morning, and will be spending the remainder of the Christmas period in hospital. There is no good time for major surgery, but it has (quite aside from pregnancy distractions and the resulting pointlessness of making any firm christmas plans) put something of a dampener on our usual celebrations. We aren't tucking into mum's usual christmas baking treats (Snowball shortbreads, Nanimo bars and Christmas cake) or her usual Christmas eve dinner of glazed ham with salads. But we have shared some lovely relaxed time together, and enjoyed a pre-christmas dinner out at a favorite local restaurant. That will do for now.

4. Handsewing some felt birds for a baby mobile. Now to find two perfect branches and to figure out how to attach them and make it balance.

5. Sewing a spur of the moment scooter bag for my son, inspired by the sight of a couple of fat 16ths of Echino scooter fabric when I indulged in some retail therapy at Patchwork on Central Park last week. Not a project that was on the to-do list at all, but sometimes it's nice to be able to go with the flow, to follow an urge, and make a quick, simple, easy project (being greeted with glee by the recipient makes it all the more satisfying).

6. Ignoring the fact that it's my birthday on Saturday. One of those ones that ends in a zero. I'm thinking I'll ignore it and have a"Birthday in July" next year, when I can enjoy more than a sip of champagne. Perhaps. If I can be bothered. Perhaps it's time to stop counting them?

7. Cooking up some sweet treats to share with a friend who has strict dietary needs due to her (breastfed) baby's allergies. Since she cut eggs and wheat out of her diet his eczema has improved out of sight. Miraculously, Salted caramel popcorn with pecans is permissible on the diet. Lucky for those of us who get to eat the leftovers. I made a half batch, which didn't work out quite as it should have -I think I cooked the caramel too long- but it was none-the-less delicious and very hard to stop munching once you got started. Perhaps that's why I'm still growing....

Cherry Jam

One of the things I love about this time of year in Melbourne is berry and cherry season. In past years I've headed up to the hills with friends to pick our own from the u-pick-orchards. Fortunately, although I am in no state to do that this year, I am not without fresh, handpicked cherries, thanks to my in-laws, who once again took C to a friend's property to harvest some of his bumper cherry crop (and gather some blackberries and other such delights).

Last year I preserved the cherries in a sugar syrup (recipe from Stephanie Alexander's Cooks Companion) and we enjoyed them over the course of the year (typically spooned over vanilla icecream). This year I thought I would try out the Cherry Jam recipe from Mish Delish (found via One Flew Over, and worth visiting for a wide array of easy but tasty recipes).



The jam was easy to make (each step of the way here on Flickr) and tastes completely, totally, utterly delicious. I was tempted to lick the pot clean. Four of the five jars are intended as gifts, but it's going to be hard to part with them. And as for my attempt to save some fresh cherries to share with other family members, resistance was futile.

Some seasonal crafting

When I was a child, we used to use my father's old rugby socks as christmas stockings. They were the biggest, longest, stretchiest socks in the house. They may not have been seasonally appropriate, but we kids thought it was quite funny, and somehow Santa always seemed to know whose goodies (which I seem to remember always included an orange) to put into which sock.

With our own young family now, we're establishing some new traditions though. The prime one for me is making something handmade to add to our collection of Christmas decorations, for use in years to come. This kind of arose out of nowhere, but I've done it for the last couple of years, and I like the idea of carrying on with it. There is so much inspiration out there in crafty blog/pinterest/flickr land (check out Whip Up for instance) that I'm sure I'll run out of years before I run out of projects.

This year I was contemplating a wreath, but C got me off the hook (this year at least) when he came home from a Christmas themed library storytime session with a wreath he made (with Grandma's assistance I'm sure) out of paper, coloured patty pan liners and glitter. It's now adorning our front door. So I decided to make some stockings instead- one for C, and one for his future sibling (who incidentally, still appears to be in no hurry to arrive). This is the result.



I roughly followed the instructions on Purl Bee for Simple Embroidered Stockings, but drew up my own pattern, and opted for some button embellishment in lieu of embroidery. The red fabric is a linen/cotton from Spotlight which has a silvery, glimmery coating finish on one side. I had a collection of red, clear and silver speckled buttons that I picked up a good while back in a Buttonmania "buy by weight" sale which I thought would add an easy touch of decorative bling, and distinguishing ID to the fold down cuff (random button embellishment seems to be a recurring theme with my Christmas decorations). C seems pleased with it (discussions about where to best place it so that Santa can fill it have been conducted) and I'm also happy with the result (just hoping that the sizing is OK for Santa's stocking fillers).

I hope your own christmas crafting efforts are proving satisfying too!

Curse you mother nature...

Specifically, curse you stupid Noisy Miner birds for nesting, yet again, in an inaccessible gutter right next to our bedroom. Your pre-dawn sing-song cheeps, and territorial and protective howls as we play in our backyard we can endure, although you really upset our aging cat.
My big gripe is that, once again, one of your stupid young infants has escaped from the nest and into our roof space, promptly falling down the wall cavity, no doubt injuring itself en route, as well as keeping me awake all night with its cries and scuffling and the knowledge that I can do bugger all about it except pray that it dies quickly and ideally at the bottom of the wall, not in the kitchen ceiling space or right next to our bed where it was stuck last night.
I could really do without the pong of decaying bird right inside our home right now.
I mean, why not choose one of the nice trees we have available? Or perhaps in the little nook under the air conditioner? Just somewhere where your offspring won't end up trapped within the structure of our home.
As soon as you've moved on I'm paying a fortune for someone to climb up very high and install gutter guards, so that you can't do it again next year.
And while I'm in gripe mode, I'd really appreciate it if you could put a stop to this humid tropical-esque weather. Varied weather I can deal with- it's what you usually dish up around here- but the humidity that's accompanying the current heat is quite unnecessary.
And I know you already know this, but I'd appreciate if you can remind the baby it should arrive at least a week before Christmas, unless it wants it's birthday to be completely overshadowed by Christmas festivities, instead of just somewhat overshadowed. Besides, I'm really over being pregnant and technically it won't be classified as premature if it's born any time from now. I know we're not completely organised but I'm sure we'll cope fine. (Yes, I know I should have really thought about that back in April, but I was distracted and unable to count to 9 at the time....) 
OK, enough gripes. Let's look at something nice: the beautiful blooms of the carrot that I let run to seed this spring (with intention to harvest some carrot seeds for planting sometime next year, when I am more capable of gardening).

It's looking much prettier than the strawberries in the front garden which are basically stewing on the plant before they ripen (refer aforementioned weather complaint).
Oops, sorry, must get out of gripe mode...