Nose to the Grindstone

Recent Peak Oil Prep at our place included buying a manual grain mill so we can grind our own flour, corn and beans. It sat forlornly on the flour unused till Hubby made a super duper new kitchen shelf for it to reside on. Now we're away! The novelty of hand-milling wore off after five minutes as I thought it would;-) We're using a mixture of 1/2 home ground & 1/2 store bought flour till we get a better rate of milling going. We got this one specifically so we could add a motor to it at a later stage so Hubby is planning that as his wee "craft" project.

I often joked to friends that I wouldn't ever be a "true" homeschooler with less than five children unless I ground my own flour - so maybe I really fit into that crazy hippie homeschooler mode now?

My Peeps

Look at the gorgeousness I get to spend my time with!!

We're back into "field trip" mode - C8 determinedly working away on his Arched Bridge with the helpful Fraser.

Knitting and Sewing

While we work on re-establishing some of our daily rhythms around here I've been plugging away at a few little projects. The big project continues to be "The Kids";-)

This little Wave Jumper is destined for the Auckland branch of SANDS once I've knitted up a few other weeny bits and pieces. I used Stella Bamboo and it was not my friend - too splitty for my liking but I'm pleased with the end product nonetheless.

More bamboo. Some Coquette Socks for I6. Again, I found the bamboo sock yarn a bit splitty but it is nice and soft.

More socks. I had leftovers from my Caterpillar yarn so did a weeny pair of socks for Miss Kaia who has been most unwell this week. Get better quickly Missy!!

I whipped up the Monk's Bag from The Purl Bee out of bits of leftover denim and some $1/metre fabric I scored last year. I'm using it all the time as I love bags that I can sling across my body when out and about with the kids. I hope to make another one in fabrics that appeal more to me.


In keeping with my current Bamboo theme I had some 100% bamboo fabric I'd purchased to make nappies with back in my nappy days. I hated it as it was too thin. But it's turned out to be perfect for t-shirts for me. I used a simple t-shirt pattern from Sew U Home Stretch. It's a lazy rush job as I just overlocked the edges (I couldn't figure out how to do a rolled hem despite taking my machine back into the shop for a demo...sigh). Looking forward to trying more patterns from this awesome book! I hand-dyed this but was hoping for an even blotchier look than what I achieved. Ah well...all good for yoga;-)

I'm indulging in a bit of voodoo styles needle-felting. This is a cover for a notebook for A3 and has his name needle-felted on the top too.

I still daydream about making a nice lap quilt for reading on the couch this winter, and continue to plan grown-up knitting for Hubby and I.

Happy Valentine's Day

"This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love."



We had fun doing a couple of wee Valentine's crafts one rainy afternoon this week. M9 blanket stitched the red wool felt hearts from an idea in All Year Round - a book we're using for our seasonal crafts. Both girls beaded these pipe cleaner hearts. It was a nice easy activity for our little friend L4 to join in with.