Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Get real. Get serious. Get a real, serious life.


(myspaceantics.com)
According to Ms Paris Hilton:
"I have done everything that I wanted to do and I feel very blessed that I have been very successful in every area. So it's very exciting. There is nothing else to do"
(source- smh.com.au)

Nothing?
Nothing at all?
Can't think of a single, little thing?

I have three knee-jerk reactions to this.

The first is might be considered somewhat inappropriate and involves handing her a shotgun
along with a comment about her doing us all a favour and putting us all out of our misery.
A bit more oxygen for the rest of us.
This is one person I don't want my daughter to grow up to idolise.
Given the option, I'd really rather that my daughter aspired to be Barbie.
(trying oh-so-hard to stop myself from making comments about Barbie being less plastic and more intelligent)

My second thought is to offer Ms Hilton a job.
Minimum wage cleaning bathrooms.
Cleaning my bathroom.
And my oven.
It doesn't matter how many times I clean the bloody things,
they are still there getting dirty again.
My work is never done.

The third is to try and stop gaping like a goldfish.
I don't care how many episodes of  "The Simple Life" she did,
this chick has no idea how the other half...
no, make that the other 99.999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 %
of the world's population live.
Maybe she could focus on using her significant (yet unfathomable) influence and finances
for good.
Real good.
Humanitarian good.
Real humanitarian good.


Functioning as a non-practicing god-parent.

Little Boozle 2011

I try to sew something for my god-daughter's birthday each year.

Little Boozle 2011

I have 2 god-children.

Mr Boozle and I were chosen to be god-parents to one
as his parents wanted us to temper the very religious tendencies of his grandparents.

I was chosen to be another because I was a good (Catholic) friend
and a Catholic friend, no matter how lapsed, was required for the job.

I was rejected by another friend as I was not a practicing Catholic.
In that case,  the "lapsed" bit was certainly an issue.

Little Boozle 2011

My aim as a god-parent is to be approachable and open-minded
and to teach understanding, compassion, generosity of spirit and acceptance.

I don't think it matters if you attend church every week.
(Well, technically, yes, in the fine print it may matter)
But I think that it matters more that you are wanting to help
nurture these little human beings into beautiful people.

Pattern- free Flirting the Issue skirt by Anna Maria Horner
Fabric- Lincraft sale score

Monday, March 28, 2011

Come on Winter. Get your butt moving.

It is a beautiful, sunny, warm-ish Autumn day here in Adelaide.
The leaves are starting to turn glorious shades of yellows and red,
the days are getting shorter
and the mornings are turning a little brisk without requiring an overload of clothing.

Bah! Go away, Autumn.
I want to accessorise!

Little Boozle 2011

Pattern- Gathered scarf by Maryse Roudier
Yarn- Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed (wintergrass colour)

Little Boozle 2011

Little Boozle 2011

Little Boozle 2011

Pattern- Not Quite Stright scarf by Nicole Hindes
Yarn- Noro Taiyo (colourway 1; dyelot F)

Little Boozle 2011

Little Boozle 2011

Yes, I am that superficial.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Should parents play Fashion Police?

(listicles.com)

My husband doesn't think so.

I disagree.

When my 7 year old child wants to wear sandals and socks to school
(just like his grandpa has been known to wear on occasion),
I feel that it is in his best long-term interests to inform him
 that this could well be interpreted as mega-daggy at school 
and could make him the source of ridicule,
possibly ...OK, I did say probably... for a very long time.

When my 6 year old wants to button his school top all the way up to his chin,
or alternatively, channel the cover of a Mills and Boon book lothario
and leave all the buttons undone,
I cannot stop myself from correcting a perceived fashion faux pas
and undoing or doing a button up so that he is...well, normal.

I like to think that I don't sweat the big stuff.
If my kids head out the door wearing 3 clashing shades of blue,
no worries.

After all, they are hardly likely to get pulled up by their 6 or 7 year old peers
to tell them that Cerulean blue, Prussian blue and Ultramarine
really don't not compliment each other.
In time, I hope that they will get an eye for colours
and maybe care enough to dress without clashing.

Gumboots and bathers with a fairy dress is expected uniform for a 3 year old.
But once they start school,
I do feel the need to control what little bit that I can
to keep them safe from peer pressure.
I admit that I have no idea of what the tweens and teens of today are wearing.
The fact that I can buy hipsters and sequined boob tubes for my 3 year old
scares the heck out of me and I really don't want to know.
(I do hope that "wear-oversized-baggy-trousers-that-drag-on-the-ground-
with-a-really-loose-belt-so-that-everyone-can-see-your-really-cool-designer-undies" look has run its course.
It probably already has.
Who would know?
Not a 42 year old mother of 3 under 8 years)

(befuzzled.wordpress.com)

I am not a slave to fashion.
I wear what I love and/or what is comfy, even if it may not be the best look for me.
The last thing that I want is for my kids to want this or that,
because it is what everyone else is wearing.

(Besides, even wearing what is trendy now will set them up for ridicule,
some time in the future.
I am still hiding evidence of some of my fashion choices in the eighties.
Who'd have thought perms and harem pants could now be considered such a mistake?)

I do want my kids to grow up with a sense of individuality,
not just in what they wear,
but in their decision making and their interests.
I am not a fan of conformity
but I also appreciate that life can be easier for kids
who don't stand out in the "wrong" way.


(blogcentrale.co.uk)

Mr Boozle reckons that I will make them self conscious
by informing them that wearing socks and sandals will ruin their lives forever.

I didn't quite say it like that...
but I didn't let my son wear socks and sandals to school.

Was that wrong?


Thursday, March 24, 2011

Dame Elizabeth Taylor (1932- 2011)

(allposters.com)

Today the world lost one of the last and greatest legends of the Golden Age of Hollywood.

An amazing actress.
A mulitple Academy Award winner.
A person who lived a private life to rival a movie script.
A passionate charity worker.
(And let's not forget that vintage glamour and those beautiful eyes)

Hollywood of today is a different place.
It doesn't make them like it used to.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Nature Series: Natural predators- part 3

The natural predator of the (6 month old) Felis catus
is the domestic vet.

JFM 2011

Sorry, my furry babies.
It is not pleasant but it is necessary
and will be accompanied by many cuddles
and some particularly yummy treats.

(On this day, I am glad that I am not longer registered as a vet.
I could never operate on my own pets
and had to beg, borrow or steal another vet to do so...)

Definition of cute.

JFM 2011

Cute is your newly 6 year old son
asking you if you want an "O" or a love heart
in the word "love"...

Sunday, March 20, 2011

A Loony Tunes birthday.

When I was One,
I had just begun.

JFM 2011

When I was Two,
I was nearly new.

JFM 2011
When I was Three
I was hardly me.

JFM 2011
When I was Four,
I was not much more.

JFM 2011

When I was Five,
I was just alive.

JFM 2011
But now I am Six,
I'm as clever as clever,
So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.
(A. A. Milne)

JFM 2011

Happy birthday, my blue eyed, dimpled, cuddly boy.

(Yes, Mr Boozle is the sushi chef in this house.
I love it when the kids want sushi for their birthday dinner)

Sew fast. Sew simple. Sew pretty.

Without wanting to appear (too) superficial,
I felt a little fragile this week after my daughter
attempted to...well, I don't know what she was actually attempting to
do with those scissors and that hair.

(Fragile is not quite the right word. Frustrated is better perhaps)

So I wanted to sew up something quick, easy and pretty.
This pattern along just at the right time.

  Little Boozle

Little Boozle 2011

Little Boozle 2011

I do love a classic rose print.
Next time I'd like to try it in a lighter fabric
but also want to give it a go in a fleecy for winter.

Pattern: Ruffled Scarf by Ashley Johnston- Sewing Republic
Fabric: Tanya Whelan- Free Spirit- Ava Rose

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Nature Series: Natural predators- part 2

The natural predator of the
Polystyrenus beanbagballus is Felis catus (also known as the domestic cat).

Little Boozle 2011 942 (Small)

Little Boozle 2011 944 (Small)

Little Boozle 2011 879 (Small)

The feline will toy with its prey until one brave victim may valiently attempt to cripple its attacker
by trying to crawl into the nasal cavities.

Little Boozle 2011 888 (Small)

While mortality figures are high,
the sheer breeding capacity of the Polystyrenus baenbagballus species
means that their numbers will never be eradicated.

Little Boozle 2011 877 (Small)

Eventually the cat will become bored (or full.
Yes, even cats can be silly enough to eat bean bag balls)
and will give up to search for another, easy to catch but significantly more palatable, prey,
like, say, a finger bun.

Little Boozle 2011 872 (Small)

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Nature Series: Natural predators- part 1

The natural predator of the electrical cord
is Felis catus (also known as the domestic cat)

Little Boozle 2011

Little Boozle 2011

Little Boozle 2011

(Natural selection will ultimately favour the electrical cord)

Two words: LOVE. NORO.

Little Boozle 2011

Little Boozle 2011

Little Boozle 2011

Little Boozle 2011

(ah, those carefree, heady days before the hair got unceremoniously butchered...)

Little Boozle 2011

Pattern: Eden's Eve- Georgie Hallam

Yarn: Noro Blossom 21 G

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Childhood Rites of Passage: #17

Right between #16
("Hurt yourself so there is lots of blood, head trauma and/or a foreign body lodged in an orifice
but do it after hours so that a trip to the doctor
requires a 10pm Saturday night car ride to the emergency department")

and #18
("Once toilet trained, poo somewhere
that is really embarrassing and inappropriate.
such as...
let me see...
the electrical aisle of the local hardware store...
oh, and make sure that you do it on the floor.")

is #17:
"Sneak some scissors into your room and
role play When I grow up I want to be...
a hairdresser"

(also called "Freak your mother out when she brushes your hair the next morning
and thinks some kind of weird scary hormonal alopecia thing is happening")

Little Boozle 2011

Little Boozle 2011

Little Boozle 2011

(I think that the last photo is where she worked out that she had given herself a mullet...)

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

I am having a Tom Cruise moment.

No, not this one:

(dailymail.co.uk)

This one:

(techcrunch.com)
After a long weekend with family visitors pushing the household to 7,
I woke early this morning to get everyone on their way
out of the house for the day.

Which leaves me.
Just little ol' me.
All by myself.
For a whole 7 hours.

What should I do with this blessed "me" time?

I am feeling pretty chipper this morning
(2 coffees before 9am can do that to a person)
and am thinking that a
Tom-Cruise-Risky-Business moment is in order.

No, not the moment where he invites a prostitute back to his house.

I mean the one where he dances around the house in his underwear.

So I am off to crank up my daggy ipod playlist
and sing and dance to my heart's content.

Hope you have the time for a Risky Business moment today.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Grateful for a very ordinary day

(ecologichomemakers.wordpress.com)


Even as the Queensland floods and Christchurch earthquake
are still in our thoughts each day,
we have awoken to new devastation in Japan and beyond.

I think the thing that really gets to me
is the thought that so many of the victims
in each of these tragedies
woke in the morning on those days
and started their ordinary tasks on their ordinary days.
It could have been you or me,
simply chatting on the phone to a friend,
hanging out the washing,
exploring a new city as a tourist,
driving to an appointment,
shopping for new shoes,
having a business meeting,
 stopping for a quick takeaway coffee...

That is when it hits home.
These aren't people who were doing anything risky,
anything out of the norm,
anything that should end in tragedy.

Today I have hung out washing,
I have made some party games with the kids in preparation for a future weekend,
I have sat at lunch and played referee to fighting siblings,
I have grabbed 10 minutes to knit
and we are planning to take the family to the beach tonight for a play
and a treat of fish and chips.

And I am grateful.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Still feeling a bit sew-sew.

Little Boozle 2011

I am glad that I started sewing with knit fabrics a couple of years ago.
It opened up a whole new (sewing) world to me
and, as everyone kept saying,
it is easy once you get started
(once you overcome your fear of your overlocker)

Little Boozle 2011

5 more Modkid Pennys
for my daughter and for gifts to friends' daughters.

Little Boozle 2011

I am spending a lot of time thinking about sewing,
looking at fabric,
sorting patterns,
getting excited about possibilities...

...then I go and knit.

Little Boozle 2011

Part of the reason is that my fabrics, patterns and sewing area
could be currently rated as a disaster area.
Yes, all things do tend towards chaos,
but nothing more so than a craft area methinks.

Little Boozle 2011

The other part is of course my current knitting obsession
which still shows no signs of abating
(I currenly have 5 projects on the go)

Little Boozle 2011

My favourite from the batch is this gorgeous old-fashioned style fabric
which I have wanted to sew up for my daughter for nearly 2 years
but have faced resistance...until now...

Little Boozle 2011

I am hoping that I have enough left to make myself some summer bedwear.

Little Boozle 2011