Birthday Girl

A big day on Sunday....a party to celebrate our smallest princess Mia's birthday. She turns 5 tomorrow. Five! It sounds so grown up....a rather special milestone of course because it means SCHOOL next year....no longer a baby of the house....a "big girl" just like her sisters. Our Mimi is not one who likes to be in the spotlight - last year she didn't even let me bring a cake to preschool cos she'd be "too embarrassed" - so it was a huge thing for her to invite some little friends for a party at home where she would be the main attraction. She coped beautifully opening her presents with all eyes upon her and resisted the urge to hide when "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" blared out at 100 decibels.... We had Pass-the-Parcel, Pin-the-Cherry-on-the-Cupcake, a Treasure Hunt and a hilarious soccer match which had us giggling hysterically - not sure who had the most fun - the kids or the adults....do you like my sensible protective head gear...? One of my fave photos of the day.....my dear friend Tracy, Mia and I.....party queens in our inflatable crowns..... A couple of my latest pages to share.... .....and it was nice to be appearing in the mags again after a long break from submitting (check pages 48 and 81)...... The bottom of my wardrobe hides pretty pink-wrapped parcels awaiting (no doubt) an early-rising mop-haired excitable little girl....a choccy cake yet to whip up tonight for her to take to day care......and another busy day at work tomorrow packing (our office has been sold so we're moving)......and it's already after 9.....best be off this computer! Take care, see you soon xxx

Lemon creme pie, horsey time and a little trip.

Anyone with a lemon tree at the moment will be wondering what the heck to do with all the lemons. I made this yesterday....a very easy and yummy way to get rid of a couple.... LEMON CREME PIE Thaw out one sheet short crust pastry, line a greased pie or quiche dish, trim away excess, blind bake in 180 degree oven 10 mins. Remove rice/beans used to blind bake and cook a further 10 mins. Cool. For the filling, whip a can of condensed milk with 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice then fold through 300ml of sour cream. Chill until set. Serve up a slice with some whipped cream and a sprinkle of icing sugar.......mmmmmmmm. Today Tim and I played with Hannah - our lovely quarterhorse mare. Tomorrow we have to say goodbye to this gentle girl when she goes to a new home. After a hoof trim (I like to call it a horsey manicure) we saddled her up for a final ride. Could be our last one for quite some time now we won't be horse-owners anymore.... This week we took a lovely little trip 4 1/2 hours south-west of here to Coolah. This teeny weeny village was hosting a rather large event - the regional cross country for the North West region of schools. The countryside along the way was just beautiful, as was the weather....ice on the ground early then glorious sunshine....the perfect day for a 2 km run! (Kate was doing the running, not me.... naturally.) And golly, we were so proud of her! Here she is approaching the finish line.... ....12th place out of a field of 60...woo hoo! Red in the face and almost in tears from exhaustion straight after (why wouldn't you be?)....then not 2 minutes later she's on her feet laughing and chasing around with her friends. Oh, to be young again!...hang on, I don't think I was EVER that fit!!! On the way home we took a detour through Tamworth so I could have a shop at Spotlight....of course I headed right for the scrapping department....and picked up some goodies for my next class. Working on the layout now, but you'll have to wait and see.... That's all the news for now. Keep warm and take care. xxx

Things to do on a chilly weekend

Find a sunny spot... Snuggle up nice and close... Have a mad soccer match in the backyard... Contemplate life... Put your feet up with a good book... Wear a cute woolly hat... Chuck a snag on the barby (and a few spare ribs too)... Be led down the garden path... Rug up in your fave winter coat... Gaze at a waterfall... Cuddle a puppy dog... Hold a Uno tournament on the top bunk... Brave the cold and enjoy the view... Go wombat sighting... Have an afternoon stroll with a buddy... Life is good. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Hope your long weekend was as wonderful as mine...

June Workshop

Something a bit different from my usual "cute and bright" designs..... ...using the new "Market" papers by 7 Gypsies, the stunning Art Flowers by Hero Arts, hand made cork embellishments and heaps of distressing. It suited a wide variety of photos, from the lovely heritage baby shots that Lee had brought along, to Chris's gorgeous travel snaps of Indian architecture, and everything in between... Rosalee Rhonda & Meleah Lee Jennie Gloria & Libet Di Chris If anyone was after this as a Class-in-a-Box...I'm so sorry but I don't have any left! Enjoying some long-awaited rain here at last. When everyone else has been inundated, we seem to have missed out. The sound of water trickling into the tanks is a very happy one indeed! Any plans for the long weekend? We'll be spending time with some very good friends of ours over in Armidale....so I'm busy packing winter woolies and extra quilts! Hope you all have a good one, whatever you're up to. Hugs xxx

May Workshop

I was just about to show you the photos from this week's class....when I realised I still haven't put up the ones from May! So here they are..... Rosalee Rhonda Meleah Lee, Lisa W & Chris Katrina, Tracy & Debbie Jane & Lisa H Di Dana & Libet It always amazes me...in a good way...how one class can produce so many different-looking pages using identical supplies, techniques and instructions.

Girl Power

The past six days have been an absolute whirlwind of activity in the Hackney household. My girls amaze me every day, but this week I am an especially proud Mum....

This girl, our darling middle daughter Bethany Mae....


....turned 7 on Saturday and played the perfect hostess at her first ever sleepover party. Two days earlier her and big sister Kate performed "Walk the Dinosaur" with their school at the Inverell Dance Eisteddfod complete with wild green hair, crazy caveman moves and a tonne of energy and enthusiam.....they got the biggest reaction from the audience, and have been asked back to dance at the Gala Concert finale tomorrow night!

This girl, our sweet little Mimi Rose....(with the most extravagant eyelashes ever seen on a human being)....


....fought her nerves to appear on stage at her first ever Eisteddfod. Dancing with her group in the Under 6 years Classical, she remembered all her steps beautifully and did so with the biggest smile on her face! She raced off stage full of excitement saying "that was the best dancing I ever did!" I had to agree!

And this girl, our lovely Kate, blew us all away with her achievements this week....


Wednesday: first place at the Zone Cross Country - now she's off to Regionals!
Thursday: danced her heart out with her school in "Walk the Dinosaur"
Friday: an extra long clarinet lesson and learnt 4 new keys
Saturday: recruited to the school soccer team at the last minute to play at a local carnival and came runners up
Sunday: performed a stunning routine with her ballet group at the Eisteddfod in her gorgeous red tutu.

You can understand why I am bursting with pride......:)

All this hectic-ness has thankfully taken my mind off the fact that I am NOT going to the Brisbane Scrapbook Expo next weekend....boo hoo....hopefully next year I'll be more financial.
However, this layout....

....IS going! It will be on display in the centre of the convention hall in the Inspiration Corner....(excitement!). Be sure to let me know if you see it there!

With hardly time to scratch myself on the weekend, I was pleased to achieve this....


....using one of Pip Prosser's fantastic Takeaway Packs. The perfect solution for a creative fix when time is short! Most enjoyable and very pretty....gorgeous Heidi Swapp papers....and a lovely trip down memory lane with photos of Mia's christening 4 years ago.

I'm looking forward to another Scrap With Penny class tomorrow night....I'll be back later in the week to share the photos with you.

I'll leave you with this thought:

"Memory is the land of enchantment which belongs to us forever."

Night night and thanks for stopping by.........xxx