Little Shops are open!

Gosh, that took a while. It's actually quite time consuming opening a little shop..even an online one. We finally have a few little products for sale on ETSY and Madeit and soon to be found at LOFT in Bridgetown. Sweet boutique for hand made local crafts filling a much needed market in our town. Hopefully it will here for years to come and providing an outlet for lovers of hand made goods and those who love to be creative.

Rescue Chickens

We have some new chickens. They have been rescued from a commercial barn laying setup and are 60 weeks old. They came cram packed in a dusty old truck....about 10 to a very small cage. When the man gave them to us he held them upside down by their legs and then dropped them on their heads in a box. My poor children watched as their new pets were treated like no one loved them. One of the chickens has lots of feathers missing...my guess is stress. It has been good in a way because the girls wanted to send back the ugly chicken and we talked about acceptance and having a good heart and that the chicken probably had a beautiful heart and we shouldn't...judge a chicken by her feathers..... We already had a chicken, Pecky, very loved and pretty with black and green feathers. These girls are Highlines and large and well ..we just all need to get used to each other.Day two today and they are all in their new lovely hutch and seem like they are becoming friends.

Lunch sacks

We have been making a big effort to get rid of some plastic in our house. It appears to be never ending...Lunch boxes, plastic toys, plastic bags, plastic toothbrushes. I was reading a good book about plastic and a lady wrote down everything in her house that had plastic in it. Frightening. So, I made a tupperware mountain and threw it all out. Well, I left it by the outside bin and I threw out 80 percent of it. Anyway, I have made the girls some cotton lunch sacks and snack bags in the Japanese triangle bag style.They have been so cool about not having a plastic lunch box and really seem to like them. I really get a kick out of filling them up so will post a few photos. It makes me look forward to packing their lunch. Next step is to get them some fabric they like. I saw some really lovely linen bowl covers in the 101 cookbooks shop. May try to make some on the weekend.

Raw/ Grain Free /Chocolate Fudge

Thought you may like to try this......

Chocolate Fudge Cocoa Soaked dates Almond Meal Coconut Pumpkin Seeds Sunflower Seeds Dark Chocolate Chips (Optional) Mix everything together. Wrap it in a log shape Slice Dust with cocoa

Rainbow days

Charlotte and I had so much fun dyeing our first mini skein of rainbow wool. After we painted it together we rinsed it in lavender water and dried it by the fire. We couldn't wait to knit it up and admire our work! I want to sell some of these with child size knitting needles in the Madeit shop, Little Lamb which is really for children and beginners. My ETSY shop, Pommeraie, is for Knitting Needles topped with handcrafted ceramic beads and linen needle cases.

School Jam Project

Our little school produces a line of jams and chutney that are sold throughout the year at various fundraisers. Today I was finding more clever Mums to whip up some of their favourite recipes. So far we have Onion Jam and Zucchini Relish. Hopefully we can find some seasonal produce to make it worth our while.I hope this is something that is carried through the school for...years and years.One day we'll look back on our first batch of Plum Jam and Tomato Relish

Little Lamb

I've been doing a little bit of work on the design for my shop.Everything I've ordered has started to arrive.Its nice to get little parcels each day.I think with four children it is better to focus on a product I can source and assemble rather than actually crafting something. That way I'm not under pressure to do something really well which is hard when the kids are little and need you. Well that's for me anyway. I like design and packaging so I'm going to enjoy finding nice wool and pretty beads for the needle tops. I have found some great large wooden needles for kids and no I'm just working on the best wool. I really like the chunky Merino wool and its great for little hands. Now to work on some pretty pastel and earthy colours. Emx

Simple Grain Free Tips

Changing your diet can be hard. Especially after eating a certain way for such a long time, maybe even since childhood. Changing your ways can feel....isolating at first. However when you start to feel better, behave in a better way and look better, it gets easier. I remember back when gluten free was 'different', now its very mainstream and readily available in supermarkets and on the go. It won't be long before grain free hits the shelves. Sometimes its hard to go into a supermarket and find you can't eat 70% of what is on the shelves! I love eating this way now and don't see myself going back in the near future. The kids eczema has gone, the tummy aches, irritability and the constant hunger that comes with too much wheat and sugar. Now we have a lovely network of local people who eat this way too and its nice to share notes. Here are some of my tips. 1.Introduce change gradually. Maybe start by eliminating processed foods that aren't healthy. Take pride in small changes. 2.Make sure you get enough good fat with avocado, coconut oil, nuts and seeds. We use butter too. 3. Buy a food processor.Our kids found chunky vegetables too hard so we use the processor to make great mixes which we use for salad and sauces. We also use it for dips and icecream. 4. Icecream in our house is frozen banana with cocoa or blue berries or seasonal fruit. We also use Greek Yoghurt as a base too.

More hand dyed wool

This is some more yellow yarn created with parsley from the school kitchen garden. Very pretty.

Tree Wrapping

One of the trees in the main street has been wrapped. Its right next door to the local wool store and is a fantastic advertisement. So lovely to see something different as you drive down the street.

I have been playing around with simple pattern ideas for the knitting kits. As I'm a beginner I'm hoping that if I can master it, another beginner could to. Last night I made my first ball with hand dyed chunky Merino wool, pink and teal. It was very simple and fitted nicely in Charlotte little hands.

Loveliness

Having only ever knitted in a square or rectangle, I have broken out and started to knit George a jumper. I've nearly finished the back and have now started on the front.It's going to be a bot neck style and plans are to finish it before the winter is up. Today at sewing circle with my lovely friends, I admired a beautiful skein of wool from Italy, bought in England and now being knitted with in Australia. How far will we go for a bit of loveliness. Some of the wool for my knitting kits is hand dyed from Bath in England. I don't mind though because I'm also doing local wool which I feel balances it out. Kind of......

Felting

I have always had an aversion to felting. Sort of a fiber snobbery. I didn't like the feel or look of it. After taking the kids out to a local Alpaca farm and doing some felting with them....I've changed.Daisy made a sweet butterfly picture which we framed. Today Charlotte did some felting for her options class at school.George and I went along and helped and had ball.Kids ranging in age from 2 up to 10 all worked very independently and produced some great work. I managed to felt little ball with some left over wool. So.......people can change.