A Collection of Thoughts

Clean Eating Anzac Biscuits

It was lovely having a day off on a Thursday - especially for Richard who has had to work ten days straight :(

Tals decided she wanted to go to a dawn service so we plumped on Southport. 4.00am for the march and 4.28am for the service. That meant getting up at 3.00am which she thought was an awesome adventure.

She took her torch so she could read in the car.

It was a lovely service and so many people - they said their biggest turn out to date.

 

 We headed home for hot tea and a little rest :)

Our lovely neighbour Barry has been unwell lately with a slew of conditions and is on a strict diet. This weekend is his birthday and the girls have been cooking for him since the beggining of time. Whenever they make a batch of something they always take some over for him - he is their official taste tester he tells them. So they wanted to make him a cake that fitted with his dietary requirements. Off they went with cookbooks in hand and pen and paper and were back half an hour later with a plan.

So yesterday they made him an orange and rhubarb almond cake with syrup. ( He is not allowed apples bananas chocolate gluten ( among other things ).

 Turned out perfectly and was a big hit.

They also made these clean eating anzacs - super yummy, healthy and not as sweet as the traditional ones.

• 1 cup wholemeal spelt
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup rapadura sugar
• 1/3 cup macadamia nut oil
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarb

Sift the flour, add in oats, coconut and sugar.

In a pot add maple syrup oil and water. Once combined and heated add in bicarb.

Add the liquid to the dry ingredients.

Roll into balls and bake on a  tray for 10 - 12 minutes.

I was allowed in the kitchen after that so I made some apple bread - I highly recommend it - even faster than banana bread to make and you don't have to worry about having over ripe bananas. Perfect for in lunch boxes.

And of course I spent a little too long playing candy crush!

 Hope you had a lovely day too.

 

 

Porject Life Week Fourteen and Fifteen

  YAY at the end of the catch up.

Week 14

 

We had Ma and Pa for dinner for Easter and the girls cooked. Talia made her first creme brûlée which she served with fresh figs. It was a real hit and she says she has found her new signature dish. Ma and i spent some time this week looking at a children’s book she has written and I am going to turn it into an electronic book that can be purchased on line. She has done all the illustrations. I spent some more time with Aunty Leonie and her crochet lessons. The girls made play doh and went to visit with Hannah from school for a play date. They made a chocolate marble cake with a crazy amount of food colouring for icing. Less is not more for them.

• Lunch with Paul and Rhonda at a gorgeous organic cafe filled with lovely nic nacs
• Friday night crafting with the girls making air dry and shapes for our glitter tree
• Waiting for the Miss Manners workshop to begin at the Vintage Fair in Brisbane
• I finished my first real crochet project using a pattern called Not Your Grandmas Doily  - cool name cool project
• Photo Booth Fun at Vintage Love
• A trip to Brisbane is not the same without a stop at Sweetopia for yummy cupcakes and coffee

 

Week 15

Dinner Party + Girls
When I posted on facebook last week about  Talia making Creme Brûlée, Mel was quick to say wow those girls of yours should cook a dinner party for us. I asked them and they jumped at the chance. There was much discussion through the week and a bit of planning about the styling of the event and they menu. It was decide they wanted a flea market style theme. Glass jars with coloured water and floating candles and pretty flowers and lace doilies. We even pulled out Ma’s special dinner set that was made in the 1930’s and teamed it with another flowery one that I have. The night was so lovely and the girls were very focused and professional. Everyone really enjoyed themselves and there is talk of doing it again. No one wants it to be at their place though and Natalie has decided that the girls should come and live with her. Maybe we will consider another one in the June holidays.

Birthday + Paul
This week we celebrated Paul’s 62nd birthday.  Time just keeps moving I remember his 49th birthday. Not much has changed he still is happy to get a box of chocolates. He is getting harder and harder to buy for. This year we gave him a hand massage and heat machine thingy and a red vest for work. We had dinner at the Bevan's. Rhonda set the table beautifully and Tomos managed to stay awake through the whole meal - just. He is doing some serious training at the moment and had his first session of cross fit so was super tired.  The girls were in charge of bringing the dessert aka cake. He requested a flourless chocolate cake. Sofia made it and decorated with a chocolate ganache and fresh raspberries. They really wanted sparklers too but he only wanted candles much to their horror. It was a lovely night and the dessert was delicious finished off with Talia’s raspberry coulis.Tomorrow I'll share this weeks completed pages. Fingers crossed I don't get behind again.

• Mischief would have to be the most spoilt cat in the universe with Ninja coming in a close second
• I'm excited to be back with a blogging schedule and making plans  for more collaborations
• The Color run was cancelled due to the crazy amount of rain we have had. It's rescheduled for June.
• I love that the girls wanted to sit with us for our dinner. I thought they would get bored but no they loved every second.
• Niggling ongoing pain and a long day of waiting  for bloods to see if there is infection
• I love that the Bevan's asked the girls to make dessert for Paul's birthday. Raspberries are nearly $7.00 a punnet at the moment.

I'll be back tomorrow with this weeks pages :)

Project Life Week Eleven, Twelve Thirteen

Having used three pages for last week I just did one for Week Eleven

 with one little journalling block

 Week Twelve and Thirteen

I completed a double page spread and a review of sort of week 12 /13 and Easter - then the next three pages cover our end of Term and Easter celebrations.

Our week In Review

These photos represent the last week and half before the end of school term We were unusually busy. I had a heap to finish and surgery scheduled for Wednesday. The girls completed their Planet matrix. My goodness they worked hard. They run rings around me when it comes to focus and that is saying something. We held our last Lenten prayer group and the girls sang for us. I received two lovely gifts - some easter goodies and a thoughtful card and scratchies from a colleague I had helped out with her VET accreditation. The girls received a surprise parcel from Mel and were thoroughly spoilt with homemade gingerbread biscuits. Sofia redesigned an Easter bonnet that she had from Year 2 for her guides Hat parade. Talia decided that she didn’t want to participate. The girls gave all their class a plastic egg filled with a rainbow of jelly beans each one representing an aspect of Jesus’s love for us. Red was for the blood he gave. Uncle Charlie’s memorial was held on Tuesday with over 250 people attending. Surgery went without incident and I was home in just a day.

and so ends March

Project Life Week Ten

Week Ten for us involved a very special wedding. So instead of documenting our week I just added in the details of the event.

 Love + Friendship
We never imagined nine and a half years ago when a sweet young girl answered an ad in the paper for a nanny for twin girls that Simone would come to be such an integral part of our girls lives. We are blessed to have her and her family in our lives. Kenny and Jo are like grandparents and love our girls as if they were their own. When Simone asked me for coffee a few weeks ago I knew something was up. I didn’t realise though how exciting her news was going to be. She and Simon had decided to marry in secret on the morning of their engagement party and the girls were to play a special part.

Preparation + Excitement
On the night before the secret wedding we met Simone and her bridesmaid for manicures and pedicures. This was so exciting for the girls. They have had their nails painted before but never as a real manicure and pedicure. They were in heaven sat up in the big chairs chatting with us. Simone had lots to tell including the wedding dress saga of how the week before she found the dressmaker had altered it and it no longer fitted. A quick trip to a number of stores and replacement was found. Talk about stress. She was remarkably calm about it all things considered. We prayed the rain stayed away.

Bride + Groom
All went without a hitch. The girls woke early and looked so pretty. They loved their outfits. The service was held in a pretty spot n the beach at Burleigh just as Simone and Simon wanted. Simone was beautiful. Kenny and Jo did an amazing job of transforming their home into a pretty venue and all the guests were happily surprised when they appeared in a Just Married van carrying Mr and Mrs signs. We partied till late and enjoyed a wonderful meal complete with a cupcake tower that Ken had decorated himself. We are just so happy for them both. May they be blessed as they journey together.

I used a double page of instagram photos too with an insert from American Crafts

 Happy Days

Project Life Week Seven, Eight and Nine

Are you still with me ? I'm playing catch up sharing Project Life.

 Week Seven

This is what the journalling 4 x 6 pieces look like - I then place the instgram photos over the top - cut to size of course.

Valentines

Valentine’s Day passed with not even a blink except for this cute DIY printable I made for the blog. The girls didn’t even take anything in for their friends either.  We don’t really celebrate it and it was slap bang on the start of lent too. I often think for half a second each year it would be nice to do something but inevitably we don’t. 

Lent

Lent seemed to come around quickly this year. We have been blessed to be asked to host a weekly prayer group for past and present PCIA candidates in the lead up to Lent. Anne Cheung has organised the program and we started this Tuesday with eight people. I wasn’t sure what to expect but so far we are both really enjoying it. While it was a rush to get ready it was totally worth it.

Youth

We have been thinking about finding  a youth group for the girls to join for sometime. There are two options one is at their school and another is down at the Uniting Church at Robina. Both have their pros and cons. We have decided to let the girls try both and work out which one is best for them. I have a feeling which way I want them to go but time will tell. It is important for them to learn to make choices

 The pocket money photo is just a screen shot from my phone :)

Pocket Money

A busy week filled with a to do list and ticking off some stuff we had been planning for sometime.We have trialled without success a whole series of different ways to manage chores and pocket money - none of which have been successful. I finally plumped on a way that may just work. I’m using the IAllowance app in which you can add chores and also individual money banks so they can save for different things. They both have a charity bank too that they add to. Richard and  I have also set up a long term saving too which we will double each dollar they put in. Fingers crossed this works.


 Races + Dedication

My lovely friend from work Natalie has signed up to do the progressive series with me. When she says she’s doing it with me she really is. She is running at my pace which is slow for her. This Sunday we ran our first 5km. It was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be given I haven't been doing a heap of running. There were a lot of people and we made it in about 37 minutes which is slow for me and uber slow for Natalie. Still as they say we are lapping those who are still sitting on the couch. It’s nice to be out there amongst it and I’m looking forward to the next one. 8km 10km 15km 10km to go then 21.......

Dress Shopping + Secrets

We went shopping for dresses for Simone and Simon’s wedding. The girls have been asked to be ring bearers and are so excited. It's so hard for them to keep it a secret but so far they are doing a great job.  The dress shopping was not easy. Sofia found lots she liked but Talia was not so fortunate.She has quite a distinct style that she likes. We just couldn't find anything that coordinated so they ended up with the same dress. This caused tears but the promise of different shoes and accessories soon dried them up. They are going to look so pretty I'm as excited as they are.

Week Eight

 

Thinking Day

The girls headed off to Thinking Day for guides in Brisbane this weekend. A day celebrating the founder of Guides. We didn’t know too much about it really just that it was on so imagine our surprise when I instagrammed a photo of the girls with #thinkingday hashtag and was rewarded with friends from all over the world explaining their own Thinking Day celebrations. Seems it’s celebrated by guides everywhere. We thought that was very cool.

Technology

I am slowly going crazy trying to negotiate the new technologies that have come into place since I have been on leave. I pride myself on not being too technologically challenged but honestly it is doing my head in. It seems like every time I go to do something that I have always done there is a new way of doing  it. Office 2010 and I are not friends. Couple that with using Mac at home and PC at work and I feel like I’m aways second guessing. I know it will get better with time.


Guides + Craft

I love to know when the girls head off to guides that they are going to make some fun things. Sometimes I feel so responsible for making sure they can cook and sew and craft. It is nice that they get the chance to do some of that in a different environment too. This week the girls came home with these sweet as little owls they had hand sewn.  Sofia has named her Sherman - Sheldon. Talia named hers Fat Owlbert. They are so cute. We are so fortunate that they have such lovely leaders who are dedicated to making their time at guides rewarding.

Date Night

One of the nice things about the girls going to a Youth Group every second Friday night that  means that Richard and I get to go out for dinner. The girls finish at 6.30pm so it’s the perfect time to pick them up and take them with us for a hot chocolate for zert. The girls eat at Youth. It’s a nice time to connect as a family and chat about the week that has been before we rush into our crazy weekend schedule and activities.

Super Power

Richard announced today while we were at the Bleach Festival at Kirra that he definitely had a new secret super power. It was circus juggling. The girls and I got such a giggle out of that. For a start who needs that as a super power? and why is it a secret? Is it because he didn’t know? or is it he doesn’t want anyone to know? Either way we are pretty sure that he won’t become either rich or famous for this super power anytime soon.

 Kite Flying

I’ll say one thing for the girls is they are certainly participants in life. When I told them we were heading out to Kirra and they might get to make kites they were oh cool. Sure enough when we arrived the Suitcase Rummage was well underway and there was kite making happening. I really wanted to make one too but had to live though the girls. They had the option of decorating there but decided to just fly and decorate at home.

 Reflections

Week Two of our Lenten prayer program happened this week. We are beginning to get to know the others around the table and it’s interesting to hear they have the same struggles as we do.
Having their prayer program certainly adds a new layer to Lent for us and we feel so blessed that we are part of this. I would love to run a ladies prayer group or scripture study twice a month. It is something I need to look into organising.

Tap Dogs

We had the chance to go and see Tap Dogs at the Casino on Saturday night I almost decided not to because we had a busy weekend but in the end I thought why not. The girls and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Tap dancers are so talented. I had never seen anything quite like it. The girls were disappointed we weren’t sat right at the front and we would have got wet. I on the other hand was quite relieved.I had two very tired but happy girls that night.

Week Nine

Award

I love that the staff at Kings take lots of photos and share them on a facebook page. when I logged in today I found this photo of Tals receiving an award on assembly. It was a lovely surprise and so nice to see. Far out she is tall in comparison to the others lined up beside her. Her award was for “working exceptionally hard on the science matrix”. I am so proud of her she really is putting a lot of time in on this assessment.

 New Shoes

We went shopping for wedding shoes for the girls this week. Holy dooly they are now a whopping size 8. I blinked and missed the time when we could share shoes.We ended up at Novo and they had a special get the second pair half off. I love the styles that they both chose. Totally them. Sofia has her very first official “wedge heel” and Talia has gone for something a little more blingy than she would traditionally wear.

Uncle Dean
We organised a skill swap today with Uncle Dean. He is a talented musician and the girls had to write a national anthem using garage band for a planet. I am clueless - I could hear what they wanted to do but had no idea how to help them. Uncle Dean sorted them out quick smart and I think  enjoyed the process almost as much as they did. In return I have promised Japanese lessons for Joey or Mia or both and some English assignment help.

Week in review
An ordinary week in the scheme of Bostock lives. Work, school and play. We are in full production mode for the Planet Matrix that the girls have to work on this term. They both spent a whole day on creating a  board game each. They were so colourful and well constructed. The scrapbooking supplies come in handy for assignments. Mel has convinced me that I can crochet and that I need to join her ripple along revolution that is taking instagram by storm. I think she has 40 ladies signed up to #ripplealong. I have started but I don’t really feel like I know what I am doing yet. I have to keep looking back at the instructions and it doesn’t feel right. I am just going to keep at it. I love the colours that I have chosen. The plan is they will go with the furniture I have in mind for the lounge room. Thursday night we went to late night at Robina. We went to The Malthouse which was lovely for lunch but dinner was not too special I don’t think we will go back.

And so ends February :)

What's on your....

I saw this list over on Ali E's blog and liked it. It's a bit different from the usual reading watching etc and thought it would be nice for project life too.

via pinterest.com

 

VANITY: Revlon Colour Stay Lip Glosses, Burt Bees Lip  Gloss (do you see a pattern?)

PERENNIAL TO DO LIST: Organise organise organise

REFRIGERATOR SHELVES: Peanut Butter Lindt balls ( only two left sob ) Spinach leaves, feta, tomatos, olives, pumpkin soup.

ITINERARY: Heading to Masters and Bunnings

FANTASY ITINERARY: Tokyo - Harajuku with my girls 

PLAYLIST:  Clare Bowditch, Birds of Tokyo, Lady Antebellum, James Arthur 

NIGHTSTAND: Bible, earphones, ipad

WORKOUT PLAN: Sigh - still on rest... one more week - 10 k on Sunday 

IPHONE: Instagram. Facebook. Mailbox App.

TOP 5 LIST: 1. Giving Thanks  2. Participating 3. Documenting 4.Planning 5. Creating

BUCKET LIST: Rennovations, Cruise, Paris, Retire.

MIND: I saw something the other day that said a woman's mind is like having 2689 windows open at once. That's me right now.

BLOGROLL: Ali Edwards Cathy Zielske  Rhonda Mason   Petra Corcoran  Liz Tamanaha  ( a bit PL obsessed atm)

WALLS OF YOUR FAVORITE ROOM IN YOUR HOUSE: White walls +  Kate Mason Art work = LOVE

LIQUOR SHELF: Omni - always

LAST CREDIT CARD EFTPOS STATEMENT:   Masters, Woolies, Spotlight

SCREENSAVER: Currently a plain  Mac background but since Tabitha Emma no longer makes them ( I always had hers!)  It's on my list to make my own.

TV EVERY NIGHT: My Kitchen Rules! Finals week bring it on. Also excited about Mad Men Season  6  and Game of Thrones

Project Life Week Four, Five, Six

I will share my catch up of Project Life in weeks of three  :)

 Week Four

Blood + Donating

When Richard’s dad contracted cancer he became a blood donor after realising the importance of giving blood and how much transfusions helped people undergoing chemo.Twenty years on he still donates regularly with a set appointment so he can give as often as he is allowed. This week I also had to do bloods and I came out with just a tiny bandaid  as per usual. Check out Richard’s bandage in comparison. Honestly? Overkill just a little we think. I said he had to take it off before I would be seen with him in public. Happily he agreed.

New Games + 500

We realised the girls finally had the comprehension skills required to play 500! I tell you this is so exciting. For years before children Richard and I would spend hours playing with friends. They cottoned on to the concept pretty quickly and they certainly have their own style. I play with Sofia who is super conservative and rarely calls even with a strong hand. Richard plays with Talia who is the polar opposite and happily calls 8 on one bower and a picture card. Funny thing is she usually gets them too. Happy days.

Australia Day

Australia Day almost passed without thought this year. Mostly because the weather has been horrendous. It has not let up with rain. After a very lazy sit around do not much day the girls decided that we needed something yummy for dessert. I begrudging allowed Richard to go buy a pavlova, tin of peaches and some cream with just 10 minutes to spare before the shops closed. They quickly whipped this beautiful pavlova together added some Aussie flags we had here and then took two giant pieces over for Barry and Mary next door to celebrate.

 

For the second page I have used Instagram photos printed at 4 x 4 and trimmed. I  printed the journalling straight to white card and then stuck the photo to the top.

New Shoes

One of my most favourite things about back to work is buying new shoes. I wear size six so I am pretty lucky there is usually lots of choice at reduced prices. If I had it my way I would wear a different pair every day. Always heels never flats and this season my preference is for wedges as they are so comfortable and give me that little bit of height which I desperately need. These cuties were from Novo for $19.95 and I also got a second pair for $9.95. Bargain indeed.

Nite Club

These are words I thought I would never type.  Friday night I went out clubbing. To a rather old establishment called Melbas. It was as I remembered noisy dark slightly uncomfortable. I wanted to see a dear friend Sophie who has supported me through this BC journey. It was her birthday and her choice so Melbas it was. We finished the night with frozen yoghurt and the promise to do it all again soon - perhaps somewhere else.

Cute Nails
I am loving having nails. I know they are not super long and sometimes they are not even strong but when they are painted they look cute. For back to work I went with way out there for purple for me. I figured there was only a day or two with students so I could go back to my usual range of super conservative pink, beige, pale pink, off white in the following week. I can’t wait until the girls are older and better at nails then I won’t have to go to a salon.

Date Night
We still don’t really get the chance for date night even though the girls are starting to get older. It still costs to much to get a sitter. Fortunately Barry and Mary our neighbours are happy to keep on eye on them for an hour to two while we duck out. This week we headed to Robina for Richard to give blood and I wondered the shops. Afterwards we met up for a quick coffee and shared a chocolate brownie from Nespresso. I could have eaten the whole thing myself.

Back to Work
Far out it was a baptism under fire with back to work this week. I officially didn’t start till Thursday but I went in early get sorted and  work out what I was doing. Lucky I did I found I had to prepare a PD to present on the first day back at 10.00am. All about VET never going to be popular that is for sure. I thought my head was going to explode getting through everything but this little pile of papers on my filing cabinet meant all was good.

Sydney
We have only just got back from Sydney and already I wish that we were still there. I want to be planning another amazing holidays right now but reality is that won’t be happening. Instead I have to live through our photos and memories. Love all the shots I snapped on my phone and this week I really enjoyed wading through them all to narrow them down for this project life album. A few words and lots of images. I feel I have captured it.

 Week Five

I decided I wanted to include the image of my photo a day that I do. Some photos are already included but some aren't, so it's nice to have it there.  I have created a little file to drop the image into so that each month it's going to be easy to add it.

Baking for Charity
The girls spent Saturday afternoon baking for a group called Baked Relief for the community at Mt Tambourine who had been without power for 5 days due to the recent floods. I was so proud of them. I told them of the call out on facebook and  explained why they needed food. The girls went straight to planning and baking. Sof made 8 dozen chocolate chip and double choc muffins and Tals whipped up ten dozen freckle cookies. Each muffin was wrapped with a label as were ziplock bags of cookies.  Interestingly the homily from Fr Antony this weekend was around the importance of teaching our children to give and the act of charity. Richard delivered their cookies and muffins to the drop off area and the girls went with him. I dare imagine they were the youngest bakers in the group.

I used Cathy Z's Month in review template and edited to say Our Week in review. I was a little short on photos for this week hence the extra journalling. I originally thought when I was planning these pages that I would add some paper titles over the top but once I actually pulled it altogether I decided enough and done is done.

Our Week In Review
This week marks return to school for real. Richard is pretty excited because it means he will have the house to himself all week for the first time in 18 months. I'm returning to four days a week with some trepidation. The girls couldn't wait to get back to school. It was a far cry from past years where they have always wanted us to drop them to school. They happily set off by themselves to the bus without even a look back. They were so excited to get their brand new apple mac books pros. We had an info night running through the dos and don’ts and some paper work to sign and then suddenly in our girls hands were these amazing machines totally stocked up with all manner of programs. I'm excited to see what they can do. They even have the full adobe suite.  There were a gazillion books to be covered we went for cute labels and scrapbook papers and covered with plastic. Took forever but I try to remember that these days pass quickly and to take them for what they are.

Homework
From the first afternoon the girls have been straight into their homework. They still start the easy stuff on the bus and the work on the rest at home. The little table we bought for Ikea has been worth it's weight in gold. It’s the perfect spot for them to work. All we need now is a  recharging  station for their laptops we are making do with cords at the moment.

Learning New Things
Sofia was horrified this week when she tried on her day uniform and realised that she had grown and it was way too short for her liking- many tears ensured. This was all unbeknownst to me. Off she went to school very upset. With a quote for new hems to be done coming in at $30 a hem I decided it was about time I worked out how to use my blind hem foot and stitch on my sewing machine.  Thanks to You Tube I won. I tried to charge Richard $30 x 4 uniforms but he wasn’t coming to the party.  Oh well at least we had happy girls with a more suitable length hem.

Naplan
We are gearing up for another year of Naplan as the girls head into Grade Five. Tired of being on holidays they were anxious to get started on something so this week I bought them the Naplan excel books. As soon as I took them home they were straight into it.  We decided on the literacy books because they think they are more fun than numeracy though I'm conscious that I should be encouraging them to love maths too.I love that they participate with such gusto. They are quite competitive and do not like to get things wrong so that is something we are working on taming.

Week Six 

This is our chinese new year celebration week so the whole spread is just about how we celebrated over the weekend.

 

 Chinese New Year

This is traditionally the busiest week of our year in some ways as we celebrate Chinese New Year. We decided to allow the girls to invite a couple of their friends for dinner so our numbers swelled yet again.  This was our first year making gluten free Chinese to accommodate Mr Ryan. While it wasn’t super tricky it just added to the list of to do. I am however  noticing more how helpful the girls are in the kitchen. I can set them tasks and they just get on and do. Mary bought this incredible dessert to share and  even after much prompting she still hasn’t given up the recipe. It was a combination of coconut, caramel and custard and was so divine it even outshone Kenny’s cheesecake.  We lit the brazier with coals once it became dark ,and the kids were given as many sparklers as they wanted which they loved but gave me conniptions. Sofia was chuffed to be in charge of Poh Poh’s secret recipe for dim sum and received lots of compliments. Margie, Phil and Ryan stayed the night and we headed out for breakfast the next day. In Surfers in the afternoon was a market called Engaging China designed to celebrate New Year. It’s the first time it has been on. The girls made lanterns and competed in a chopstick competition at which they were truly hopeless. There were unnecessary tears.  For me I was just happy that this year was a far cry from last year. No hair, drugged up on pain killers and spun out on dex somehow Chinese New Year happened in 2012 but without the joy that this year bought and so another year begins.
Kong Hee Fat Choy

   Three weeks down :)

Pinspiration

Another week and another pretty colour combo. I used last week's as an nispiration for my new blog header and the colours for fonts and my side bar images.

This week something slightly different  - Magenta and Lime. It's very striking don't you think?

 Image One  Pinned here and original image here - from a stunning wedding party

 Image Two  Pinned here and original image here-from a beautiful interior design blog

Google Reader - going going...

If you are anything like me you probably went into meltdown at the news that Google Reader was disappearing. WHY????? I hate change. While I didn't really LOVE google reader I certainly loved what it could do - allow me to read all my blogs easily.

At first I thought well this is a good chance to start afresh with a new reader and a new lot of blogs because my taste has changed over time and so many blogs I used to follow have stopped writing or have evolved to be other things that don't interest me.

But that would be kind of drastic so I instead I decided to trial a few before it disappears for good.

 At the moment I'm using

 Feedly on my Mac  (I'm yet to put it on my school laptop .. but it's on my to do list.)

 

I love the look of it - it's pretty and easy to follow - it's more like reading a mag.  You can pin just by hovering over a photo - you can email an article add to evernote tweet or facebook. I like it alot.

On my phone/ Ipad I tried using the free version of Feeddler. I liked it too - simple to use and a good easy interface. It's more like what Google reader is like. BUT I'm going to switch to Feedly exclusively.

I spent some time tonight organising all my feeds - and I ditched a heap and sorted  them into categories. It was simple to do- much easier than with google reader.

At the moment when I sign in  I'm signing in using my gmail account which is obviously my google account - which holds my google reader stuff so everything just transferred.

BUT apparently they have a system place so you don't have to worry about it after google dies. You can read about that plan here

So do tell what are you using ??? Am I on the right track do you think? I know lots are switching to blog lovin...

 

Project Life Week Three

I realised that I never shared my Week Three pages from project life although they were completed.

The LHS. I had so many photos to try and include and too many stories to tell - in the end I decide to choose my favourite shots and favourite experiences and added simple text so that we could remember where we had been.

The RHS. Because there was so much to share I decided to complete another double page.

 

I love that I was able to fit 64 photos in these four pages by using my Foto Frame app to create little collages and printing them at 3 x 3 to fit in the 3 x 4 pockets.