I snapped on macro lens on my good ol camera yesterday and went around the front of the house. Managed to get some shots of flowers. 
I love how close I can get to the flowers!
This flower was the size of my thumb. Sooooo tiny and yet so perfect!!!!!! <3
Ughhh… I may be the worst blogger ever…. The only reason why I remembered this blog was because I had to renew the domain name… I was wondering if I should since I can’t seem to keep up with blogging regularly and also because this facebook thing has been so much more efficient in updating my comings and goings…. (Well, only to people I know though…)
But I think about how long this blog has been around and funnily enough, we do develop some attachments to something that is virtual…. I still like writing and blogging and I know I would want to have this form of outlet available to me when I need to, even if there isn’t anyone else coming here anymore (incidentally, IS THERE anyone out there reading this? HAHAHA).
2011 has been a very busy year for me and my family. We had a new addition mid November. Here’s a few pics of him:
Carrot (as Chubbs had nicknamed him when he was still in my tummy), is a very good baby. He sleeps through most of the nights and is generally cheerful. He is also outgrowing his clothes fast. He is about 2 months old now and almost outgrowing clothes for 3-6 month old babies!We are very blessed to have him. 
On the uni front – I did very well in the last semester. (1 High Distinction, 2 Distinctions and 1 Credit [which was 2 marks short of a Distinction!])
As I have taken summer semester off to have Carrot, I would be replacing the units in an extra year. I am returning to Uni at the end of Feb… (hope I would be able to update the blog still!!!!!!)
On the arty crafty front – I’m still knitting and sewing. I do have some bags in the store and hope to sew more bags to add to the store as well as handdyed yarn.
Photography wise, I would like to join fatmumslim’s Photo-a-day challenge. I *may not* do a photo everyday.. (don’t want to promise anything! Look what happened to my project 365! LOL) but I try my best!
We had a barbie by the beach yesterday. Lovely summer day! The coastal drive down was beautiful and the food was DELICIOUS! I wished I took a photo of the food before we ate!
We then went for a hike after lunch:
There were uphills and downhills and it was fun for the 2 older kids. Our purpose was to wear them out for easy bed time… hehehehehe.
This picture was one of the first I took yesterday. I forgot to check the camera settings and therefore had overexposed shots. Ack!!!
Sunshine walking down the stairs leading to another beach.
We found beds and beds of MUSSELS!!!!!! Most of them are tiny but some of them are big enough to be eaten. Not that we eat mussels though.
This oyster shell got me into trouble – I didn’t see the tide coming in and my shoes and socks got wet! Chubbs also had a wet shoe as he stepped into a tide pool by accident…. Hahaha.
After the hike, we had delicious watermelon (ahhhh the joys of summer!) and then we went to rest for a while at our friends’ house.
She put them in her wheelbarrow and wheeled them around her huge garden!
Alrighty. I promise to TRY to write often. Do holler in the comments if there’s still anyone lingering around!
Oright…. so how can I make up for the lost time on this blog?
Would posting a heap of photos help you forgive me for abandoning this place?
Okay.. just roll along with me here….
First up, recent photos of the kids!
I love his feet and toes.
Through my (fisheye) lens.
Look at the way he is looking at her! LOL.
He was about to push her!!!!
So…. are we interested in what I’ve been up to recently?
Well.. I’m having school holidays at the moment and return to Uni early July (which is soon!!)
I’ve been knitting loads and reading loads, happy to be away from assignments and exams for a bit!
Here some photos of my WIPs (Work In Progresses):
My Olive blouse, knitted with Wollmeise (Blau Tinte 100%) and the collar was knitted with Malabrigo Sock (Caribeno). It’s an endless Stockingnette stitch right now and I only work on it when I need a project that doesn’t need much brain juice.
Well I thought knitting a blouse or cardi in sock weight was bad enough…. Clearly I’m insane to start a Featherweight cardi with malabrigo Lace. I know, right? It’s not in hibernation yet but this is at the bottom of my WIP list. Grrr.
This is my Huntington Castle Pullover. Knitted in Rowan Summer Tweed. I’m left with just a little bit of the hood and seaming the sleeves to go!!!
Uh… another semi-abandoned project… This is crochet and I’m trying to make a hexagon blanket throw for our sofa.
I have another major WIP (possibly the last of its kind too) that I’ve been brewing and that is this:
Which kinda explains why I’ve not been updating much (on top of the school work and housework I have!)
I know my tummy is big for weeks (16 weeks now) but I am assured it’s normal as it is our 3rd baby and my insides expand much faster for subsequent babies.
I’ve JUST finished with feeling nauseous and horrible everyday and am now able to keep my dinner down much better. My spirits have improved although I still feel tired a lot of the time.
We are not finding out the gender of the baby and he/she already has a nickname! It happened when one day we asked the kids,
Me to Sunshine: Do you want a baby brother or a baby sister?
Sunshine: Hmm.. I want a baby sister.
Me to Chubbs: Do you want a baby brother or baby sister?
Chubbs (eyeing the carrot in his food bowl): I want a BABY CARROT!!
Thus, we have our little baby carrot.
Okay dokey. If you are on my list of Facebook friends, you’ll be able to see the other photos I’ve taken……
Once again, sorry for the absence… I will try to make up for lost time. 
Before I explain the title of the post, I guess some of you must wonder about my uni entrance results as well as my exam results. Some of you might already know from Facebook.
I did well in my exams. But unfortunately, not as well as I had hoped to. Thus getting in to Medicine would be tough. Also, as the uni advisors gave me some misleading information in the start, I found myself stranded in a very weird entrance category where I am neither a high school leaver NOR a mature aged student…. either that or I’m both. It’s very confusing.
Anyway, I would have to wait till January till they decide what to do with me. Meanwhile I will be appealing my case and pray.
Now, lets go on to the birds.
We’ve had an affinity with birds of late. For starters, we have 2 backyard hens who are absolutely adorable. Especially Lizzy:
We don’t know her breed exactly as she is mixed but we reckon she might have some Silver Laced Wyndotte in her.
She trusts us completely and runs to us whenever she sees us around, crouches down and ‘asks’ to be carried.
See, she happily comes close to Sunshine during feeding time!
She also invites herself into our house. I don’t think I know another hen who behaves like this. Hahahaha! We love Lizzy to bits.
We also have visitors………
When I was young, my mum used to tell me that these are mandarin ducks. The one with the green neck and head are males and the plain brown ones are females.
While she is right about the gender, these are not mandarin ducks and I only found out a few months ago. -____-
For all my life I’ve been going around thinking they are mandarins. I wonder if anyone else thought the same??
These ducks are Mallards and are the most common kind of wild ducks found here.
We get visits from them almost every other day and they would waddle up to our front yard. They sometimes even fall asleep, nestled in the grass!
Sunshine loves feeding them!
A few months back, we woke to wonderful chirps from above our bed. Birds had made a nest in our roof and the nestlings had hatched.
We were okay with this at first but as the nestlings grew older, their cute chirps sounded more like “Baarrraaaaaapp!!! Brrraaaaaaaaappp!!!!!! CRAAAAAAApppPPPP!”
They were irritating and when they were learning to fly, you could hear their claws scratching against the colourbond surface. It sounded like nails on chalkboard.
Our neighbour advised us to clear out the nest after the nestlings leave or otherwise the birds would come back next spring.
Well they didn’t come back next spring. They loved our roof so much that they decided to come back AGAIN NOW.
Either that or they told their friends, “Hey, know where’s a good place to nest?”
I would think it’s also because of the weird weather. It warmed up a few months back but then became bitterly cold again. Then it warmed up a little and now it’s cold again! And we’re already in summer!
I’m not complaining though. I love the cold.
I don’t have a clear picture of the bird and neither do I know the species but here’s a picture of one of the parents:
It was about to feed its noisy offsprings.
Okay.. that’s all about birds.
I’ve been soaping and designing a cardi for girls. Taking life easy for now. I feel a little lost without homework or studies but am otherwise happy to have a little break.
My expandabags were completely sold out within days of the update. Malabrigo has been ordered and hopefully would be here by late January (fingers crossed!)
Take care!
I’ve quite a few things to write about… so to make the post slightly more readable, I’ll put them in point form.
1. I’ve released the pattern for Ulverstone Stole on Ravelry.
This stole is knitted with Malabrigo Sock yarn and takes two skeins. I was left with about 30g from the second skein so was cutting it pretty close!
When I blocked it, it took up the ENTIRE length and width of a single mattress. Didn’t expect it to be that big! I’ve encouraged people to use smaller sized needles as the stole was a little too airy. Some knitters have also expressed interest in using lace weight yarn for the stole. I’m looking forward to seeing the projects of other knitters!
I included diagrams to help with the knitted on edging and what I hope are detailed instructions. This is my first time doing a knit on edging too so if I can do it, so can you!
I’ve offered the pattern for free until January 2011 when I will start charging a small token for it.
I was pleasantly surprised to see 431 downloads on the first day, 123 downloads on the second and 66 on the third upon its release! I had a flood of comments and well wishers congratulating me. Made me soooo happy! Thank you all for your support!!!!!
2. Fun on a pony
We’ve been bringing the kids out quite a bit!
I called up this horse riding school one day and asked if they had a pony for a 3 year old (and hopefully, for a 1.5 year old as well). He said yes, they have a pony but only the 3 year old can ride. We were so excited and thought of Sunshine riding on a miniature pony (think Shetland pony).
When we arrived, the pony is this big:
Apparently, a horse that is less than…ummm.. 16 hands (??I cannot remember how many ‘hands’) in height is considered a pony. This ‘pony’ is one hand short of being a horse.
Look at her glum face…
She wasn’t unhappy. Just a little apprehensive. I had to hold her hand the whole time we walked in the bush. If I let go, Sunshine whined and wanted me to hold her hand again. So being the poor mother I am, I had one arm up, holding on to her while walking beside the horse pony and bumped at the side by the pony’s buldging tummy. -___-
Some parts of the bush had really thick foliage and it was hard work walking beside the pony as the path was so narrow. Once uphill, I tripped on some branches and fell. -___- The things we do for our kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3. Fun at the beach
Since it has warmed up a little, we brought them to the beach.
They enjoyed playing with the sand, flicking it into our hair and eyes. Chubbs even tasted some just to make sure he didn’t miss out on yummy food.
No.. he didn’t like it at all and we had to wash out his mouth. Silly boy.
Their cheeks were really rosy as it was rather warm. Nad held up an umbrella to shield us from the strong rays. I sat knitting while enjoying the sea breeze. Granted, I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn’t wearing jeans!
4. Fun in the backyard.
Here are some pictures of the kids in the backyard. Chubbs is very hardworking. He sweeps the grass instead of the paths.
Am I cute with pouty pouty lips?
I love her smile.
Nad reckons they are twins. What do you think?
Our chookies. Lizzy is on the left and Penny is on the right. I love them so much, esp lil Lizzy. She lays the most awesome eggs. Penny is broody at the moment and not laying. She keeps sitting on Lizzy’s eggs. We have to take it away and lift her to the branch to try to break her broodiness. 
Hope she snaps out of it soon.
5. Fun at home
Some random shots from home.
They crawled into their highchair and Sunshine read to Chubbs her bible story book. SOOOO SWEET. He was listening to her too! I didn’t know until I heard her reading and turned around to see this. *Heart melts*.
Random shot.
They each have a piggy soft toy. And they love sitting in their toy box, pretending to be in a boat.
He put the headband on his head all by himself. Soooo funny.
Chubbs is the happiest with food in his mouth.
He’s pretty serious about food.
So happy that we can’t see his eyes.
6. Of Lizards
So 2 days ago, I was in the backyard trimming the bushes when I heard benji growling and emitting low barks. I took a look at what he was growling at and saw what I thought was a skink. Except it had a long tail.
It was stuck in the bird netting we drape over our pots of veges. Walked right into the net and got its head and upper body hopelessly stuck.
I came in and told Nad about it while shooing Benji back into the house. I reached for the scissors but Nad said to look up online about it first.
We found out that it was a Eastern Blue Tongued lizard. And that it makes a good pet.
Nad wanted to keep it. -________________-;;;
I said no… we do not need more pets. I can’t say I wasn’t tempted but we simply have no time!!!!!!!
Then we went out together and freed the poor fella.
It’s a fat fat lizard. Look at its waist line!!!!!!!!!
I was surprised when Nad put it in the bush. I asked if he changed his mind about keeping it. He said yes. Because he read it wasn’t advisable to keep with children under age 5 since it may spread reptile samonella. (Hence the gloves we wore while handling it).
I think it looked relieved and happier in the bushes. Don’t you think?
We think it’s a beautiful creature. Sunshine had different opinions though… but then again she has a growing list of animals she is afraid of/ dislikes. Spiders are number one on her list and flies are another. I suppose the lizard made it on the list as well.
7. Exams
Well I’m done with the pictorial part. My exams start next Tuesday and ends 24 Nov. I cannot wait to finish! Part of me wants to drop all studies and run screaming from it. It’s really really tiring. I know how hard it is to get into Medical Science so I have decided to let God decide if I should enter or not.
It’s not surprising for me to be rejected as the entry levels are really high. You really need to be one of the top students to get in and I cannot say I am one. So….. there is a high chance I might not be accepted and if this were so, I will not persue. I will stay home and be a good wife/mum. While knitting. And sewing.
I will still study hard for my exams, of course. Thus far, I am getting majority of ‘A’s in my school work except for Biology and English. English is a tricky subject to score in. I never liked languages as a school subject! They are so subjective. Heh heh.. see what I did there?
So I guess I will be MIA again until exams are over. Then I can be a normal person again.
8. My granny
My granny who is 95 years old, had a stroke a few days ago and is now in hospital. It pains me to be miles apart from her. She is not doing very well and I hope she feels as comfortable as she can be and not in pain. She has my other family members around her, although she cannot remember a lot of people but I am relieved that she is not alone.
I feel for my sister as she is doing her major exams there now too and still she visits granny every day. She’s a good girl.
My other relatives are flying there to see her this Saturday. I don’t know if she is waiting for them or not but I do hope she goes peacefully. I do miss her at times.
Rightio. I’m going to snuggle in bed now. I’ve a LOT of yarn to dye up after exams! I’ve been reskeining some coned yarn and also dyed up a sample which I am very pleased with. Can’t wait to play with yarn again! I just look at the yarn blanks (undyed yarn) and am filled with inspiration! Soon! Soon!
