The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

It was just Miguel and I this weekend as Chris went to Johannesburg to see the Top Gear Car show with Jeremy Clarkson. Miguel and I just spent the day goofing around and being silly ... It was one of the best days ever!!!

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

he looks like Dick Dastardly from Wacky Races!!

Inspector Clouseau !!

Just a little cuddle .... mmmmmm

not sure if I'm going to get a kiss or he is going in for the kill!!!



His communications watch and rocket launcher!!

I had to draw flames on his feet ... see the blue buttons ? These are the ignition switch for the rockets in his feet!!

I have a couple of projects that I will be Posting soon .... i AM LOVING MY NEW SEWING MACHINE .... IT ROCKS!!!! I cant wait to show you what i have been up to!!

success !!!

Well, Miguel's new school is a complete success, he loves it!! The first day of school he woke up at 5 in the morning!!! Never in his entire life has he ever woken up that early - not even as a new born!! He was so annoyed when he realised that he had to wait 2 hours before leaving!!

" When its time to go I will be so tired that I wont have any fun - its going to be forever!!'

those baby blues get me every time!!

the grade 00 - 0 playground. The class rooms are in the background

He took to it like a duck to water! At midday I went to collect him from his school, bringing along my mom and dad, so that they could see the school and where to collect him from. Only to find his highness lying in the reading corner on some pillows as if he owned the place!!

He could not stop talking about the 4 jungle gyms, the climbing wall, the play cave; also how in this school they have their own swimming pool for the 'small' (grade 00-0) school to swim in and he will be doing PE every Friday. "How cool is that mama - even better than an ice planet!!"

walking with abuelo (my dad) - filthy and tired after a great day!!

huge kisses for abuela (my mama)

posing with his first art work from Thomas More!!

apparently it is a picture of a laser that fires out rainbows!!

When we got home, I made him go down for what I thought would be a short nap .. 3 hours later he wakes up and asks if it is time to go back to school!!! When he heard that it was still the same day and that he would have to go to sleep again in a few hours he was madder than a hornet ..... ' i have to wait forever again!!'

This is one of my old shirts that i recycled, by appliqueing the letters MESS on the front. The fabric for the letters came from a pair of sleeping shorts that had a large burn mark on them. (okay so I suck at ironing!) This is for Miguel to take to school and use it as a painting shirt!!

More goodies that I have finished ...

IM ON A ROLL PEOPLE SO WATCH OUT!!! ....

Miguel stated that he needed some monsters quick .. so I made these bad boys for him on Monday night, based on his detailed requirements ....... I am constantly inspired by etsy and I saw ones there that really inspired me.

After the monsters, His Highness decided that he needed more - but now he needed something that the monsters could scare .. so I made these up for him last night. I think that they look suitably timid enough - what do you think? If these little faces doesnt say scaredy cat nothing will!!

This shirt was a belated christmas present for the ever cute 18 month old Corban --- and i had to put a little heart on the bum just to show how much I love him!!

Miguel is getting ready for school .. well it starts next thursday, but we are getting into the routine now, but he really does not like mornings. He is into Magic at the moment ... yip not only is he going to be a pro-golfer, a truck driver, a builder, an astrounaut (only on weekends though) and a game ranger - but now a magician too!

His favourite thing to do at the moment, is to say ...

'Mom i am going to make some thing dissapear like magic!! Close your eyes...'

and while your eyes are closed he magically makes and entire biscuit or sweet dissapear in his mouth!!!

Cheeky little monkey!!! MMMMM but you gotta love him!!

oooh and just behind him is the ever lovely Kate with her new blanki that i made her, as her fave was falling appart, so I decided to make her a big girl one with graphic flower print and a felt flower with her initial ....

iM SOOOOOOOO EXCITED ... i Start my quilting course on Saturday, my folks and chris payed for my course and the fabrics as my christmas present, now who is the luckiest girl eva!!!!!

Miguels newest invention

Miguel is up to his tricks again ... he loves nothing more than to invent and build. A few months ago we bought his a marble run, where you stack different slides together to make your marbles run from top to bottom triggering different things. We he decided that this would make the perfect loader for the model car that he received for Christmas... so what do you think of my little engineer?

I think that they did an amazing job on the model car. he had to sand it, paint it and then assemble is using glue, nails and screws. They even found tiny Mosaic mirrors to use as side mirrors. They covered the wooden chair with a vinyl so that it looked like a leather car seat! Great job guys!!

the above is Miguel's new pencil case for his new school which he starts on Thursday .. he is so excited to be starting there, as they have a climbing wall that he is dying to get his hands and feet on!! I hand stitched the felt applique and used a great step by step tutorial at Crafster to line it, something i have always had great difficulty. Though I think that this time i hit the nail on the head don't you?!?!

I started my quilting course last Sat... it was fantastic and even though at the moment i am learning the simple log cabin - I LOVE IT!!! I cant wait for this weeks lesson!!! I have to upload the fabrics I bought so that you can see them. I will try to do it tomorrow .. the are to quiltilicious!!!!

m off to finish up MIguels school uniform ... later

This made me happy ... very happy

You need to watch this video ...it will make you smile and lighten your heart ....

14 months in the making, 42 countries, and a cast of thousands.


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Mishap Betty

I have never made a doll of any kind before and I came across a photo of this BLACK APPLE DOLL online... and i thought to my self how hard could this be?? Well armed with only a picture I made my own pattern cut it out and put her together ... I will now say I officially eat my hat. It is really hard to put all the pieces together.

Her head is too short, her arms and legs are too skinny .. plus i gave my self not enough seam allowance. So her leg was not sewn on properly and promptly self amputated itself.... Sewing the head closed is not a pretty sight either!!

I have drawn up a new pattern (can be seen with mishap Betty as she is now officially known.) That i will give a go at tomorrow - will be keeping my toes crossed during the attempt as i need all my fingers to get her right!! If anyone had tip and/or suggestions give me please drop me a line ... or perhaps even a different doll to make for little ones!!!!

But on a much better note, we are FINALLY members of the DUC... Durban Undersea Club. Thanks to our Friends the Zeirvogels and the Radcliffs - THANKS GUYS!!

The club is situated on the beach in Durban at Vetch's Pier, between Ushaka Marine World and the northern harbour breakwater. The facilities at the club include the following : A large clubhouse with bar and kitchen facilities, clean ablutions, dining area, function facilities, a fully equipped dive locker with a 450lt/min air and nitrox compressor and 12 sets of SCUBA Equipment, a washing up area with rinse baths and showers for dive kit and boats, safe parking with controlled access and easy foot access to the beach from the sun tanning lawn area outside the clubhouse.

The beach in front of the clubhouse is protected from large waves and currents by the Vetch's pier breakwater, a +- 500m long submerged reef which, along with adjacent limestone reef, is home to hundreds of species of marine life and is a great snorkel and or shallow SCUBA dive (max 6m depth). The calm waters and protection from the Bluff makes the DUC beach one of the safest and best for beach goers with children.

The best thing according to Chris is that the beers are always cheap and cold!! BBQ's and charcoal are supplied every Sunday, so all you have to do is bring your meat and slap it on the grill!! We cannot wait to make it our home away from home .. it is about 15 - 20 min from our house so its not far at all!!!

this is the view from the grassed area ... on the far right is the clubhouse, the beach is directly in front and on the far left is Durban beach front.

Miguel loves it there, as they also have a Jungle Gym that he spends ages on. I have been teaching him how to body board over the last few days, and he is really getting the hang of it now, unfortunately i don't have any photos of him, as I am always in the water with him. But I will try to get some soon.

This is him setting off fearlessly, with out a backward glance to see if im coming ...

In the water with the Zeirvogels - Mike, Michelle and as Miguel calls him '5 year old Marc' - (don't forget that Miguel's younger cousin is called Marc too)

Carols by Candlelight

WE had the most amazing time with our friends last Monday night. We went to our local Botanical Gardens for carols by candle light with the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra along with the Durban Symphonic Choir and soloists. We all brought our picnic baskets and wine, and just sat and enjoyed our beautiful summer night. The kids were in their own little heaven. first for having the biggest garden in town to play in and secondly, and probably most importantly they got to play when it was past bedtime AND in the DARK too!!!

We handed out gifts for the kids, as we would not be all together again until after Christmas. I make the adorable Kate a ballerina monkey called MURIEL, who is allot like Kate actually... Murial is terribly cute, quietly independent, and a good girl over all, though she does dream of Johnny Depp and being a Debbie Harry impersonator when she grows up!!

I think that it was a great success, apparently Muriel and Kate are inseparable.

I had made super hero capes for Miguel, Mark and cute number two of the night Rachael. But it seems as us 'super moms' enjoyed them more!!

though the kids did finally have a chance to give them ago!!! The boys capes are reversable. Their initials are done in gold satin. And apparently (according to the two super heros) they make you run sooooo fast that hot lava comes out of the back!!!

Sorry about the next photo, but a glass of wine and no tripod does not do camera on a low shutter speed any good !!! But i think that you get and idea of the wonderful atmosphere of the night!!
Goodnight everyone ....

Guess what we did last night ....

Can you believe that it is only 15 days to Christmas ... AAAAAARGH!! We put up our tree On Monday night ... I love our tree it is a mixture of handmade and bought goodies, the best hand made goodie of all, is the gorgeous star that Miguel made for the top of our tree!!

I swear that my son is going to be a really great corporate lawyer with all the wheeling and dealing that he is capable of! Yesterday morning he wakes up and says to me...

Miguel : 'Ma, is it true that God can talk to us in our hearts and heads?'

Me : 'Yes Miguel it is true.'

Miguel : "If God tells you something, you have to do it don't you?'

Me : 'Yes, that is also true.'

Miguel : 'Weeellll, don't you know ...'

It is when you hear those four words spoken that you need to brace yourself for what is coming.

Miguel : 'Last night God told me that the day after you put up your tree is the new Christmas day, so I think that a great plan is to go down stair and open all the presents ... because that's what God told me!'

Remember in the last post I told you that i took the Handmade Pledge and decided to make most of my gifts .. well i get to show you a couple now, as we saw my nephew 2 weeks ago and we decided that we would give him his Christmas gifts then, as we probably would not see him for Xmas ...
I appliqued a rocket man shirt for him, taking into account that according to Miguel no self respecting boy would wear a rocket shirt that did NOT have hot lava spewing out of it. Sp pattern altered and Da Daaa ... Also on Miguel's advice every boy needs a cape with his name on it too, otherwise how are you going to fly faster than a rocket ship?? So i made a reversible cape with Marc's initial on it. As you can see in the photo, I had made the cape so exactly to Miguel's specifications that it has made him a speeding blur!! I have since then tweaked the pattern as I was not too happy with the shape of this one. The last ,was my first dip into the world of Sock Monkeys!! I *heart* them. They are a complete unknown in South Africa and I have fallen for them hard. Sorry Chris the romance is over, I have found a new love .... I cant wait to make more !! I am quite chuffed with this lot ... oooh and thanks to my superb model, Miguel.

A friend of mine Catherine had a sweet baby girl, she arrived 2 weeks early - so I was completely unprepared for little Kira's arrival, so off I shot to get 2 little onsies and i FINALLY had a change to do something in PINK!!! I made these in an hour or so .... No flaming hot lava or bone crunching robots any where ... aaah bliss

And now for you all a little something too ... just two little Christmas tags, using some of the home made Christmas decorations on my tree!!

all you need to do is click on them and then once they are in the new window, right click and Save As ...

love you all ... Later ..