This Is... what I want to be when I grow up

When I was a little girl I wanted so much to be a teacher. That was until my disgruntled year 5 teacher told me that it is a crap job and that I could do whatever I want. Way to sell the profession.

For now I am very happy as a housewife. I love what I do and my only goals outside caring for our family are building my personal interests like knitting, charity knitting and breastfeeding advocacy. 

j / f / photos

In anything goes land, I would love to be a yoga instructor. For the record I have not been to yoga for a very long time and when I did go I was a total beginner, but I would like to be one all the same. 

Thanks to Bugandpop for this week's theme and Handmaiden for being the caretaker of the Meme while Angela is abroad. 

This Is... My Trade Secret

Well, for the first time in ages, a knitting post on what is supposed to be a knitting blog.

This is.. my trade secret. Not so much a secret, but the way I like to organise my cherished knit picks interchangeable knitting needles. With my knit picks I have been able to pass on all my straight needles and just have a few 30 and 40cm fixed circulars in regularly used sizes. By using the long cables and a variation of the magic loop, I have been able to do without DPNS as well.

My only issue with them is that the points do not come with any markings identifying the size, however some id tags are provided in the kit so I have used some hair elastics to slip over the id tag and then wrap around the needles. It keeps them looking neat and now I can see them at a glance.

My Mum tip of the trade, is remember children are people too.

This Is... My Phobia

Vile little creatures.

Cane Toads are considered a pest in Australia because they:
* poison pets and injure humans with their toxins
* poison many native animals whose diet includes frogs, tadpoles and frogs' eggs
* eat large numbers of honey bees, creating a management problem for bee-keepers prey on native fauna
* compete for food with vertebrate insectivores such as small skinks
* may carry diseases that are can be transmitted to native frogs and fishes.

Photo credit- Ozwildlife

Info about canetoads- Australian Museum Online

Thanks to Angela for this week's freestyle theme. After all the fluffy This Is posts I have been churning out I thought it time for a little grit.

This Is... What Makes Me Happy

My life makes me happy. I have my health, wonderful family and fantastic friends. I am not hungry and my drinking water is clean. I am not too hot or cold and no one is hurting me. The only fear I live in is things I put into my own mind or if I get sucked into watching the news. I am able to be at home with my children, but have the freedom to be able to work outside the home if that is what I desire.

I know, another cheesy post from me this week, but I really am a happy camper at this point in my life.

Thanks to Jacinta and Angela.

This Is... What Gives Me Goosebumps

Juddie at Flightless Boyds flouted the rules by choosing two themes this week, so I will do my own flouting by listing some of the many warm and fuzzy things that give me goosies.

1/ My precious girls

2/ Call to prayer

3/ Newborn babies (what is it that makes them smell so divine?)

4/ k.d. lang's awesome voice. Seeing her live was something I will always cherish. Simply amazing

5/ The moon, especially when full or other special times like last year's red eclipse

6/ Puppies

7/ Again with my children. I am just so full of love for them

8/ Home air

9/ The love of my wonderful husband. All together now; awwwwwwwww, or if you are in a different frame of mind; bleughhhhh

Angela at Three Buttons as always hosts This Is.

This Is... My Most Treasured Childhood Possession

This week's theme is from the lovely Danielle at Teacups on Treetops. I adored blip, a bunny who quite literally fell to pieces years ago. She is in this photo from my first Christmas tucked behind my right leg.

Actually, I just spotted another treasured possession that is still loved and played with by my daughters today; my buzzy bee right there in my lap.

And on a crafty note, like my Womble? (immediately to my left) Granny made it for me and also did one for each of my brothers.

Please visit Three Buttons for the This Is blogroll.

In other news we got over our jet leg in no time and have been very busy catching up with friends and family, but that leaves very little internet time. I will try to catch up on my daily reads, and post some recent knitting projects as soon as possible.

This Is... My Best Op Shop Find

Mine will probably be one of the more simple finds for this week's theme as selected by Lino Forest.

In recent times, I have become a very selective Op shopper and often walk away empty handed. Before last year my life was too cluttered to dare add to it, and now that we have streamlined I would hate to become a pack rat again. Something has to be really special or I have to be certain that we will use it.

The girls use these silver napkin rings most nights and at the bargain price of 25c they are certainly my best find.

You can see the growing list of This Is players at Three Buttons.

Edited to answer questions asked in comments: I found the napkin rings at a store on the Gold Coast, Australia long before we moved to Dubai. Sadly I have not seen any thift stores / op shops here. Although I hear that there are some around.

The gorgeous napkins and matching table cloth come from Butlers, a German chain of homewears stores that are all around Europe and as it happens, my local in Dubai.

this is... my most favourite outfit that expresses my individual style

With thanks to Kitty's Kaboodle who chose out theme for the week, may I present my favourite outfit that expresses my individual style.

Actually, I don't know that this is my favourite, but it is a typical daytime going somewhere with aircon look for me; jeans, fitted shirt, comfortable shoes with a little bling, some nice jewellery, sunglasses and my bag. I also wear lots of long skirts and dresses.

You can see who else is playing and what their sense of style is over at Three Buttons.

This Is... The Space In Which I Create

One of the reasons that knitting has become my craft of choice is that it is just so portable, not to mention easy to drop at a seconds notice if one of my children needs me.

Up above we have; 1. the passenger seat of the car 2. cafes 3. when watching the girls swim in our pool 4. my favourite chair 5. bed, 6. pretty much anywhere, all I need is my yarn, a pattern, and maybe a few notions. If I had to name the place where I do the most creating I would have to say my bed.

Sidenote. If pic #2 looks a little snowy for Dubai, it is because we were at Ski Dubai, the indoor snow place. I don't go there often, but happened to think to take a photo when we were there this week for a birthday party.

Thanks Angela at Three Buttons for hosting This Is and Michelle at Quilting Mick for our fun theme.

This Is... My Favourite Travel Memory

Oh I wish I had a photo to share from my favourite travel memory, but it was pre-digital and I left most of my photographs in Australia.

The first international holiday I took with my partner was to be his dream holiday seeing the Malaysian Formula 1 GP. It ended up being our dream holiday when he proposed to me over the plane's pa during our outbound flight, something he had pre-aranged with the airline.

Actually, all my holidays with him have been dreams come true. Be it camping up the coast, our honeymoon or holidays with our girls, we have been to some amazing places and had some great laughs. Thanks Hila for picking this theme and Angela for hosting This Is.

This Is... Our Pets

Growing up in the suburbs of SE Queensland, we always had pets. From dogs, cats, birds, chooks, goats and I believe one of my brothers had a snake for a short amount of time.

My pets as an adult have been ~

Venny captured by G Sept 07

Venny who decided to adopt us about ten years ago, when I was still living in my hometown. She stayed with Charlotte, the lady I had been living with when I moved to the GC. All these years later, the girls had a ball with her when we briefly lived at Charlotte's before moving to Dubai.

Toby

In our first year living together as a couple, we decided to get a dog. Along came our cheeky boy, Toby, a sweet shar pei. Six months later, his sister Bailey was born and we fell in love with her the day of her birth when we held her in the palm of our hands.

Bailey

They grew with our family and it was hard to say good-bye when we moved over here. Maybe when we live somewhere more suited, and are not planning on being away for long stretches of time each year we will have some pets again.

Thanks, Two Peas in a Pod for this theme. It has been fun sharing. To see lots of other pets, pop on over to Three Buttons.

This Is... Something I Got But Still Haven't Used

I can't think of anything for this week's theme except my yarn stash, so here it is.

It lives in two 50l containers; 1 for natural fibres and 1 acrylic. Before we moved here the tubs were chockers plus another container about half the size also bursting at the seams. Now we are back to the 2 containers and they are only 2/3 full, so living away from decent stockists has been a blessing after all.

This Is... Recycling Dubai Style

Our theme today is this is my way of recycling.

In Dubai there is no kerbside collection for recycling so here is our routine-

Step 1- Recyclables go into our trusty ikea hamper, and newspapers into a paper bag.

Step 2- On shopping day we drop the newspapers at ikea to be used at the check out for wrapping around breakables and the rest of the waste is dropped off at a recycling centre near home.

This Is... Mother's Day

To celebrate this special day I will be doing both themes offered at Three Buttons

From Zoesquid This is... a photo of my mother and the best piece of advice my she gave me.

So this is my Mum, back in the 70's when she was just 20. The stunning creature in her arms is me, her third child and there are another six after me. (yes we had a TV, no we are not any religion that encourages making lots of babies, yes my parents understood how the birds and the bees works)

The best piece of advice was not really something that she ever had to say, but what she demonstrated through her actions; mothers milk is the normal food for little ones and breastfeeding is normal. My breastfeeding relationships with my own daughters have been very important. After a rough start with my first, I may have given up had I not seen breastfeeding as a part of our family life growing up.

From Angela at Three Buttons, This reminds me of my mother.

Tupperware! For a time when I was younger she was a Tupperware lady. She didn't do much for herself outside the home so it was good to see her doing something other than caring for us. I liked watching her get dressed up to go out and enjoyed getting into her sales kit. She bought a TV with some of the money she earned and it was still going strong many years after she finished up with them.

I still think of her when I use my extensive collection.

Happy Mother's Day

This Is... a Shoe One

From Hip Hop & Banana Bread This Is The Pair of Shoes I Would Sleep in if I Could.

I am no shoe fiend. I have around 10 pair, most of which are casual and will almost every time consider comfort before look, so the passion behind HH & BB's title does not befit my shoes.

Anyway, here are my current favourites. Not super special but I like them.

As for actual sleep, I can't stand anything on my feet. (Won't show a pic of my bare feet though as they would cause monitors to explode!)

Thanks again to Three Buttons for hosting.

Oh and for this week we were going to do a pic of ourselves pre-1985. This is me on my second birthday and as you would guess from the decor, this is not the 80's.

This is.......My Unconditional, Passionately Loved and Favourite Book

My favourite book is The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. Why? Because it is a great story that had me so glued the first time I read it that I pulled an all nighter.

Thanks Daisy in lala Land for this week's topic and Three Buttons for hosting This Is.

This Is... My Latest Discovery

My latest discovery is that once it sprouts, ginger grows very quickly. The first photo was taken ten days ago and the second earlier today. It has been so easy to grow. I popped some ginger from the grocer into some potting mix and watered once a week until it sprouted and now water everyday.

Another latest discovery is that one of the people from last week's This Is will be having a baby this Spring (Aussie spring for Northern Hemisphere readers)

Thanks to KnitOwl and Three Buttons

This Is

From Lily and Agathe This Is my perfect dinner party guest list.



Our bridal party-



We are spread out all over the world and have not all been together since our wedding so it would be wonderful to get back together for a night of great food drink and conversation.

This Is... My Knick Knack Box

I'm joining in the fun of This Is...

...my knick knack box, a gift from a dear friend for a season who I still think of very fondly.

So what's inside?

• an old paper Aussie $2 note


• seasick wristbands which I bought before my Fair Princess cruise back in the 90's


• a satin drawstring pouch


• my girls' amber teething necklaces


• beaded bracelet


• a twin bead to the one I placed on my special friend's blessingway necklace


• rose quartz heart


• a couple of crystals that used to hang by my bedroom window


• superhero Lisa Simpson


• compact mirror


• box of matches from Jupiters Casino


• heaps of colourful safety pins- all matched up together


• a random key


• microfibre glasses cleaning cloth


• a plain silver ring bought from a street vendor outside La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona


• dice


• bell


• insence that is just for keeping the box smelling yummy


• 5c (Aussie again)