One of the best things about moving into our new house (which by the way is anything but new...except in the sense that it's new to us) has been unpacking all our "things" that have been in storage for 5 months. I'd started to think that life would be better without all the "stuff", without all the clutter, but having lived without it all I'm firmly resolved in the belief that we do indeed need our things...they define us, they adorn our homes and each little piece carries a story, a history, a memory....I'd prescribed to the modern thinking of paring life back to the raw basics and getting rid of all the useless bits and pieces that seem to involve so much time and energy to maintain, not to mention the cost of acquiring them in the first place.

Unpacking box after box was like a long drawn out Christmas morning where delightful surprises kept arriving. I'd forgotten about some of the gorgeous fabrcis I'd accumulated, the inspiring books I'd purchased, not to mention the photos and treasured trinkets. Who said there wasn't fun to be had moving? Here's a pic of my collection of glass bottle, my genie bottles that my husband on the surface barely tolerates but I suspect deep down has grown attached to (who couldn't???).

June has seen my baby boy turn THREE. He continually tells me he's a BIG BOY now...I beg to differ. He has grown out of his cot now and is only using this quilt for nap-time now. He calls it his "cowboy blankie". I've almost completed hand quilting his single bed size quilt. My first hand-quilting attempt I'm finding it isn't as slow going as I'd expected, the result is awesome, and it couldn't be a better time of year to sit and patiently and lovingly, stitch by stitch, finish off what has been a marathon project (that story for another day...). Anyway,

happy birthday to you big boy....

FUN, Fun, fun...

I must have been having too much fun because time has been flying. Just celebrated 10 years of married life we went to Hobart, Tassie for 4 nights of child free time. Soooo good to be people and not parents for a few days.

Loved the Salamanca markets on Sat morning, brilliant creative locals selling all sorts of delights. Vintage stalls, craftsmen and women with ceramics, clothes, toys,....i could go on, by far the best markets I've been to, and believe me I've done the rounds. If you've been to Sydney's Rocks Markets the Salamanca version is along a similar theme with around 4 times as many stalls.

I rode (and crashed in spectacular stlye) a mountain bike down Mt Wellington, ate gorgeous food day after day and enjoyed the bliss that is the HOTEL ISLINGTON.... massage, private dining, complete luxury...unfortunately I'll have to wait another 10 years to celebrate like that again...

The image below is "The Rose Room", voted Hobart's most romantic room- it gets my vote. We had an amazing evening of fine food and lots of laughter...They set up a little table for two and our personal chef cooked just for us!! Wish I could have fit him in my suitcase and brought him home with me, he puts my cooking to shame. I fell in love with his toasted muesli at breakfast, don't even get me started on dinner...

And onto the craftiness that has occurred of late, knitted teddy bears....there are 2 more being stitched together at the moment as well as clothes and a world of cuteness to match. They're from the lovely Claire Garland's book- Knitted Bears.