So what is this initiative you speak of?

This is INITIATIVE!!! 

In its simplest form it is thinking of and planning something, you can do in the form of a physical job or task and following this through to completion.
I'm not talking about grand plans that need grand rewards. There should never need to be any kind of self boost from helping someone. This isn't something you do and then plaster all over facebook to your friends, or blog about.

Simple examples of Initiative:

For the husband

1. Husband sitting watching favourite T.V. show can just sit there OR he could use some initiative and fold the washing that Wife has washed/pegged/unpegged/brought in off line/left in basket hoping said Husband may tonight have found a spare can of initiative in refrigerator not another beer can.
2. Husband has told Wife it is her night off dinner duties. Husband has no idea how to cook so you could either ask wife how to do everything - starting with what shall we have for dinner... OR you could use some initiative either plan a meal from a recipe book, online, call your Mum/sister/MotherinLaw/bestfriend. But do not tell Wife she has night off and then have Wife wishing she had just bloody well done it herself as it was easier. All else failing order takeout.
3. Wife gets told its her day to have a sleep in. Husband can tell she is tired. Husband can tell children to quietly watch tv and get their own breakfast while he stays in bed too on his computer/phone/tablet OR he could use some initiative and take the children to a special breakfast outing somewhere followed by a morning out with Daddy {while Mummy rests in peace and quiet}
4. Husband offers suggests Wife has an early night as things are getting on top of her lately. Muchly appreciating the offer exhausted Wife goes to bed, then Husband sits and watches T.V  OR you could use some initiative and do the dishes, pick up the dirty washing, fold and put away the clean washing etc etc. There is nothing worse than going to bed for an early night to get up the next morning and find that nothing got done and you are a day behind on chores.

For the new parent 

1. Make a few home cooked meals/baking {that are suitable for freezing} and drop them off in the first few days/weeks after the birth of their new bundle. This is the motherload initiative. Dinner time is called the witching hour in households with children for a reason. Make sure they are in containers that can stack neatly in the freezer and can be reheated {the supermarket and dollar stores have these}. Write on the containers whats in them - it saves trying to guess what tasty treats you may be getting and find tonight we are eating lammingtons!
   A really organised friend may even be able to get a few friends on the go with this to have a roster system going where hot meals are being delivered at tea time. I prefer the reheat option to gives you the control over what time you eat and if you are having a super organised day and managed to do dinner yourself you still have back ups in the freezer. If you are going to go with a roster of freezables make sure the organiser has spyed out the available freezer space - usually the Dads are the go to option for this they never say no to food where the Mums may feel bad or that they aren't doing enough as a mother blah blah. This is help/gift/initiative not judgement
2. When dropping off presents - unless you have arranged a time or can see/hear movement - don't go knocking and expecting to be let in. Leave the present on the doorstep with a lovely note/card and arrange a time that is suitable with the new parents to stop by again. Ahem I hear initiative.
3. Finally getting to see the baby - when you arrive baby is asleep and Mum looks exhausted. Hello initiative either let you friend know you are happy she/he/they are still alive and shoo them off to bed while you leave them to rest and you will catch up soon. OR offer if there is anything you can do - hang out some washing, put a load on, fold some, some ironing, take an older child with you some they can rest, do some dishes, vacuum. Just use some bloody initiative.
4. If by chance you actually make it in the door for a visit and everyone is alive, well and rested initiative does not go out the window. This is where YOU get up and make the cuppa and while you are there you also might do some washing up or stack the dishwasher. You may also realise the fridge is almost bare due to new baby and no time to shop - so make a mental note to either do a small online shop and have it delivered or go to the grocery store,  fill a box and drop it off of some essentials, easy snacks and a few treats for Mum (milk, bread, butter/marg, yoghurts, fruit, cold meats, nuts, some chocolate, snack bars etc etc).  
5. Don't stay too long Babies get tired, Mums/Dads are exhausted. Unless you are Mother/Father/Brother/Sister/Aunt/Uncle and you are staying at the house to HELP (not be a pain in the ass and be waited upon by your already exhausted children/siblings). Use initiative and know when its time to go - or when you need to stay longer. Ask if you should leave and know when they are being too polite to tell you to feck off already!
6. DONT give advice unless it is asked for. Use some freaken initiative babies are all different and so are the parents. What works for you doesn't work for everyone. Be there to listen and if you are asked for advice give it but always add this is what worked for me. That way they don't feel like they left some manual behind that everyone else got or feel judged that you could do it when they so clearly are having a tough time. Tell them about a struggle you had to let them see we all fail at this and somehow it all turns out okay (ish).

In public 

1. Old lady with shopping walking towards door struggling with bags OR you could practice some initiative and hold open the door, offer to carry a bag and help her to her car. Even better! get the kids to help! {Teach your kids initiative now people before its too late}
2. At the park little boy on trying to get on swing. Mum juggling newborn saying I will feed you once Johnny has his swing. You could think poor child, welcome to the real world, you are going to be ignored a lot more than just this now! OR you could say to the Mum is it ok if I help him up and give him a push? I remember whats its like to have my hands full! Use some initiative Mother will be grateful son got swing he has harped on about for past two weeks and she is able to feed baby who is no longer wailing like a firetruck.
3. You see a mobile phone sitting outside the grocery store - clearly forgotten - no one in sight. You could think. Poor buggers probably wont be there by the time they come back OR you could hand it in at the grocery store service desk using your friend Mr. initiative. 
4. You are at your favourite family restaurant - The Golden Arches. After you have enjoyed your meal knowing the children will be eternally grateful {until the next time you have a fight which will be in approximately 1.5 minutes when you tell them you are not playing on the playground} you look around a see all the tables lined with trays and rubbish. You could get up and walk away thinking the lobby girl is going to have fun once she gets out here OR you could use some of that awesome initiative to go and put your trash in the bin and the tray on top. How hard was that? Would you expect your children to leave your table looking like that? So why is it okay just because you are out?? 

Initiative works best when you also have common sense and know your Husband/Wife/Parents/Children/Family/Friends well. If you know they are lacking support but there is no way you can help due to time and space try take the load of buy sending a gift in the mail to let them know you are thinking of them. You can even do most of it online these days where you don't even have to go to the post office. 

If it is a family member rally the family {there may be a group of close friends instead} to share the load and see what you can all do between you. Everyone has different talents and abilities and between a group of people there should be a few ideas to help out.

Just don't do nothing! ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS. Words are great and touching when we need some uplifting but action it by putting them in a really nice card and posting it - to say hey! I thought of you enough to pick this card especially for you, and then said lovely things too.

 I think the world could be a better place if we could all learn to use a little initiative.

Tuesday Tutorial - Crochet grannys part 2 learning to square

With the completion of Jaybugs granny blankie. I thought I would start a Tuesday tutorial for my squares and the way I border joined them. Part 1 is here - a few tips and beginners readings.

Part 2
I want to give a pictorial of my square pattern I used, please remember this is my first crochet how-to and it may be a little less professional than other online ones....

I used US crochet terms so if you use UK you may find it helpful to look at a crochet stitch conversion chart. If you are new to crochet knowing that there are US and UK terms is something worth knowing - that I didn't know for a few months into my learning to crochet and I couldn't work out why somethings worked and some didn't!


CH - chain stitch

SL - slip stitch
SC - single crochet
DC - double crochet

With a 4mm crochet hook and 8ply yarn:

 Start with a slip stitch

ch 4

 join with a sl to first ch to make a ring.
(As pictured)

ROUND 1:
ch 3 (counts as first dc), then dc twice into ring (makes 3 dc group as pictured)

ch 3 (makes corner)

3dc into ring, 3ch. 3 times

 Join last 3ch to 3rd ch of first 3ch with sl to join the round. (As pictured)

(you will now have 4 groups of 3dc and 4 3ch corners)

ROUND 2:
3ch (counts as first dc) 2dc 3ch 3dc into 3ch corner space.

*3dc 3ch 3dc into 3ch corner space 1ch** repeat from * to ** 2 more times

Join last ch to 3rd ch of first dc with a sl to join round.(as pictured)

ROUND 3:
3ch 2dc 3ch 3dc into 3ch corner space.

1ch 3dc into 1ch space of round 2 (as pictured) 1ch.

*3dc 3ch 3dc in corner space, 1ch, 3dc in 1ch space, 1ch**

Repeat * to ** twice more

Join round with sl to 3rd ch of 1st dc (as pictured)

Here I am going to show you how to change colour.

Remove hook and pull yarn tight through stitch to fasten off. (as pictured)

Take new colour and make a sl
slip sl onto hook (as pictured)

NB. if using one colour just continue from join to 3ch as first dc.

Join with sl to any corner space. (as pictured)

ROUND 4
3ch 2dc 3ch 3dc into corner space, 1ch, 3dc into space, 1ch, 3dc into space 1ch.

*3dc 3ch 3dc into corner space, 1ch, 3dc into space, 1ch, 3dc into space 1 ch**

* to ** repeat twice more

Join round with sl to 3rd ch of 1st dc.











You can make as many rounds as you like by 3dc 3ch 3dc in every corner and 3dc in every 1ch space of previous rounds.
Add 1ch between every corner group of 3dc group of stitches.

i.e. ROUND 5:
3ch 2dc 3ch 3dc into corner, (1ch, 3dc into space) 3 times 1ch.
*3dc 3ch 3dc into corner, ( 1ch, 3dc into space)1ch** * to ** twice more.
Join with sl to first dc.

Here are some of the different colour combinations I used to make different patterns.

Happy hooking everyone and please let me know if you have any questions or want some clarification on any of my explanation.

edit: If you are completely new to crochet I have most likely been of no help at all and you will find much more benefit here at Meet me at Mikes.  

See you next Tuesday for part 3 - how I border joined my granny squares.

Russian Fudge - Fast and Easy

I think Russian fudge is wonderful, delectable, marvelous and positively scrumptious, but it takes a long time of delicately stirring and gently boiling to get this amazing fudge. It is a work of art that takes the right person with the right touch to get Russian fudge just right.

I tried to develop different methods for passing the tedious thirty minutes of standing in front of the stove (although some husbands have been known to say this is the rightful place of a wife!)
I have tried my favourite CD to listen to, movie or TV drama but it is still thirty minutes of standing and hoping that you get it just right.

So I thought there must be a better way??
And I found it!

The microwave....

Here is my recipe for Microwave Russian fudge:

The first thing is a LARGE bowl or jug - I used to use a pyrex 2 litre jug but now I use the bottom of my Tupperware stack cooker (3 litre) and lid.

3 cups white sugar

1/2 tin condensed milk

125g butter

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup milk

1 Tablespoon golden syrup

pinch of salt

1. Place all ingredients into a LARGE microwave bowl.
2. Stir to mix and cook on high (I do 80% for my Tupperware bowl) for 12-15 minutes stirring every 3 minutes, So I just do 3 minutes stir, another 3 minutes etc, until it is golden and thickening.
3. Beat with electric beaters until thick.
4. Pour into a well greased slice of square pan.
5. Set aside to cool and set - if the temp is warm pop it in the fridge.

And voila! Russian fudge in no time at all!

WARNING! Russian Fudge is highly delicious and you may be caught eating far more than you should....

Tuesday Tutorial - Crochet for beginners granny blanket part 1

I finally finished Jaybugs granny square blanket. I remember blogging about it here in February and saying that it would be finished in no time. But my problem is I get distracted. I tend to have about 10 projects that are either on the go or in my head begging me to make them....

With moving two weeks ago I made myself promise myself that I wouldn't touch or think (too much) about another project until the blanket was finished. And whatta know?? I did it!, I finished - finally!

For the blanket:
I used Moda Vera Marvel Plain 8ply yarn (from Spotlight). It comes in lots of great colours and I have used 6 colours in this blanket. I think I used between two and three balls of each colour in the end so roughly 15 balls of yarn.

The blanket size is 10x11 or 110 squares - this fits Jaybugs single bed which is what I wanted.

A 4mm crochet hook (or a 6 in USA and 8 in UK)

Please note I crochet in US terms as it seems to be mostly what I find online and it also seems to make sense with the stitches and stitch names.
Here is a crochet stitch conversion chart to make it a bit easier.

Abbrev	American	Abbrev	English
ch	chain	ch	chain
slip st	slip stitch	sl st	slip stitch
sc	single crochet	dc	double crochet
hdc	half double crochet	htr	half treble
dc	double crochet	tr	treble
tr trc	treble triple crochet	dtr	double treble
dtr dtrc	double treble double triple crochet	triptr	triple treble
trip tr tr trc	triple treble triple triple crochet	quadtr	quadruple treble

Before I start with my square pattern and then how I joined them using a border I will give you some good resources I use. Stitch instruction for complete beginners can be found in lots of place online or in crochet books.

Some good online rescources:

Crochet Australia here - they also have left handed instructions if you need them
Crochet for Dummies here
Crochet Dictionary here
Crochet How-to the basic stitches here
and there are plenty of others out there if you search for them.

There are heaps of great videos links on Youtube for beginners here

And a few good blogs I read

Meet me at Mikes - here, 

Paisleyjade - here and 

Crochet school - here

And many more....

A few good beginners books in my crochet library are:

Stitch and Bitch - the happy hooker by Debbie Stroller

200 Crochet Blocks by Jan Eaton

Cute and Easy Crochet: Learn to crochet by Nicki Trench

Hooked on Crochet! Hats by Annis Attic

Crochet Bouquet: Quick and Easy by Cony Larsen

Little Crochet: Modern Designs for babies and toddlers by Linda Permann

Amigurumi World by Ana Paula Rimoli

Note: All the links are to the book depository as this is the site I personally use for my book purchases but you could find these titles any where you like.

And my favourite resource of all is Ravelry for crochet and knitting. Here there are patterns, ideas, forums, yarn suggestions, an online project library and so much more

So I will leave you will a whole lot of reading and searching but will be back with part 2 and part 3 soon.

Tuesday Tutorials - Last Minute Valentines Day Cards

Happy Valentines Day! I thought today I would share my own tutorial on making easy valentines cards with only a few tools - for those last minute needed cards!

These are just three simple cards all designed and made with the same basic tools. Each card took less than five minutes to make, which means there is no excuse not to whip up a few at a time!

 

So the how-to: I used tools and papers which were in my stash and I'm sure you can find something in yours, or at last resort beg, borrow, buy or substitute.

• A paper trimmer
• Roller tape or glues dots, double sided tape, mounting squares etc
• Pop dots
• A heart punch
• A boarder punch
• Scraps of paper (Yes this is the perfect time to bust out the horded bits I couldn't throw away)
• Cardstock - I like to use American Crafts AC cardstock or Bazzill Basics but even pre-cut and folded cards will be fine

 

If using cardstock trim it to the size you want and fold in half - there are many different sizes and styles of cards so play around with different sizes to get different looks.

 

I then punched out a bunch of hearts out of different scraps of paper from my stash, including patterned papers, plain papers and cardstock.

Next play around with placement ideas for your card before sticking anything on. And remember it is your card so be inventive and play around with how you want it to look, alternatively you could remake card ideas you have seen.

Once you have decided on design stick away. I used pop up dots for the hearts to give them effect but you can just stick them down if you don't have any available.

Here are the cards I came up with - one for each of the school teachers and one for the hubby.

Jaybugs Teacher

The Hubby

Quacks Teacher.

NB. I used a Fiskars border punch for along my card edges but this is merely decorative, don't race out and buy one unless, of course, you have been waiting for the right excuse to!

Then for inside the card. I always like to use another piece of paper stuck inside to write on.  

For these cards I used a light coloured patterned paper and matching mini brads for an added something.

Trim paper to fit inside of card - I always like to leave a small border of the card popping through so make the inside paper slightly smaller.

s.e.i chick-a-dee tiny bubbles paper

I then stick then inside paper down with roller tape and then make holes for my mini brads with a super handy big long pokey needle I have for crafting - of course a yarn needle or point of scissors will do the same job.

Awesome brads picked up at Spotlight NZ for $2 a pack.

I placed the brads in the top left corner and bottom right corner, but you can place them anywhere or no where at all.

Hey presto! Super simple Valentines cards finished.

 

Hope you have a lovely Valentines and if you haven't managed to get your sweetest something whip up a quick card. Nothing says I love you and appreciate you like a home made card!

(remember Valentines is a great time to tell everyone you appreciate that they are special, not just your Mr or Mrs Loveydovey)

A big two year old and his Cookie Monster Cupcakes

Yesterday our wee man turned TWO! - oh no two's are terrible aren't they? I have already done it twice so I am hoping third time is a charm. Also with two at school it means more one-on-one time with Mr Squeak so hopefully this all helps with TERRIFIC TWOS instead - I'm fooling myself aren't I...

Happy birthday Mr Squeak.

The blackboard is thanks to Quack who is just about to turn seven. He is Mr Cool at the moment and have a few "too cool" attitude missions, so it was nice to see him think of someone other than himself. He worked on it the night before Squeaks birthday so that it could be ready and waiting for him in the morning.

With the whole moving to another country thing and being the newbies - loners - in town, everything about birthdays is making me cringe. I love to plan a good party and stretch myself preparing, planning and mostly of all - making the cake! But I just couldn't seem to find anything in me to become motivated to do so.

Squeak is obsessed with trains right now and Bubba suggested a train cake from the ever fabulous Women's Weekly Cake Book - Vintage edition.

I just wasn't feeling it. My Mama made me the same cake for my second birthday but even that couldn't muster up the excitement to want to do it. So I decided to leave the whole cake thing and maybe whip one up on the weekend - when I had more time I told myself.

Adding to the guilt was the fact that I hadn't even been out to buy Squeak a present yet. Not. One. We finally got a vehicle last weekend so this wasn't the problem anymore. I just can't bring myself to get in the car and go into Muswellbrook at the moment. And yes I know I could have bought something online but I just wasn't sure on what to get him. I wanted to see it, to touch it and know, and yet I don't want to go to the stores..... more on that some other time.

So I told myself it would be fine. Squeak and I would just spend the day together and for dinner we were having some cute dino shaped fish bites and crumbed chicken chunks that we found during the groceries. The big people got herbed fish and salad - which was super tasty and cheaper than what we have found fish and chips to be over here.

But my guilt got me thinking about cake. Ok so I didn't want to go through the whole process of making a big cake, plus who would we share it with. So it got me thinking I might do cupcakes and just ice them different colours. It was better than nothing. Well turns out google images for cupcakes is pretty inspiring too. I ended up finding quite a few that I like and decided to tackle Squeak's best bedtime friend Cookie Monster.

These were HEAPS of fun and even better they were EASY!

 

So how did we (yep even so easy Squeak helped) do it??

1. Bake cupcakes - We used vanilla sponge cupcakes but it can be any flavour, homemade or box. Leave the muffins to cool after cooking.

Wow my oven door is filthy - must clean after blog writing.

2. While muffins cook and/or cool prepare fur and eyes. 

• FUR is simply coconut with blue food colouring rubbed through it ( either pop in plastic zip bag and rub colour in or stir it in in a small container making sure all colour is absorbed.) Pop aside for fur to dry.
• For EYES I used white chocolate melts, dotted them with icing and then added chocolate chips/drops for middle. Pop aside to set ( as it is quite warm here I popped them in the fridge).

 

3. Once everything is Cool, Dry and Set mix up some blue icing. Either homemade icing, butter cream or store bought icing (I used store brought vanilla frosting as I don't have a mixer or electric beaters yet).

 

 4. Take a cupcake and cut a small slice out where the cookie will sit.

 5. Swirl, paste, plop or spoon on your blue icing....

I had to make sure I remembered the placement of the cut to my hand so I knew where it was later as it gets lost under the icing.

6. Gently roll top through coconut to cover the iced top.

  7. Push eyes into place - you want to gently push into the cupcake so the stay put.

8. Pop chocolate chip biscuit in place ( I used whole ones to start but looked better with them broken in half or in pieces in Cookies mouth).

9. Repeat until Cupcake batch is complete - Volia!

10. Eat and have fun!
N.b. the blue colour may leave you looking a little like our Blue Tongue Lizard Tom - more on him later!

Scary I know!

And then it was bedtime. Although it seems Squeak didn't want to spend it alone on his birthday. When we went up to check on the kids we found Squeak having a sleepover in Jaybugs room!

Happy birthday little dude. You are growing into such an independent young man. You surprise us everyday with new things you can do and say. Like counting to 10 for us on your birthday and asking for more kiwifruit. We are proud to be your Dad and Mama and know you do us proud by being you. We love your cheek grin and your red curls. Love you little man, we look forward to watching you grow.

Mama and Daddy xxx