Monday means Menu Planning Day

This morning has been busy. Persuading the children to rise and shine, and then actually to go to school. One of them regards school as a perpetual play date, the other doesn't see the point of attending. Sigh.

I've powered through a lot of the items on my list of chores. This is worthy noting, since I'm fairly easily distracted. So part of "Do the washing" was sorting through the tub of backpacks we keep in the laundry. A worthy task, but hardly urgent. Still, it's done now. As well as the washing.

So, the menu.

Monday; stir fried hokkein noodles with minced beef and vegetables.
Tuesday; bulgogi pork with rice and stir fried veg
Wednesday; sausages and creamy pasta ( based on carbonara but with veg)
Thursday; chicken Kiev, potatoes and vegetables
Friday; toasted sandwiches.
Saturday; lasagne and salad
Sunday; leftovers

In addition, I'm baking an orange cake and plan to make some biscuits as well.



The grocery list is delightfully slim; some vegetables, lasagne noodles and some cheese for the lunch boxes.

Sunday night's random thoughts

This isn't a busy time for me, although it probably should be. The children have been back at school for a week now, and we're back in the swing of things.

My parents made a quick trip over during the week to help out my sister, so it was nice spending some time with them.

I've been dreaming of a camping trip, just like the last one.  Sadly, there are months to go before it will be warm enough.

Cleaning, sorting, and organising have continued. I know we've made a lot of progress, but there's still a long way to go. A friend has just gotten rid of all her cheap and nasty yarn.  Maybe I should do the same.  I've been thinking about knitting a new cardigan, but have started to itch around my neck when I wear my hand knits.  It's a worry.
Next year, I want a quilt in the show.  This year would be a good time to get started on that.  Maybe I should make my own kits, parcelling up fabric with a pattern.  Then, when I have that time open to me, there's be a plan waiting, so less dithering... and maybe even some sewing.  Kind of like meal planning for quilting.

Maybe other people already do things like that; it might be one of those organisational things I don't know about.

My children have been spending lots of time playing Zoo Tycoon on the PC.  It's been a long, long time since I played but I remember how absorbing it was.

This week, I'll be

• attempting to menu plan out of the resources we have here - striving for only one trip to the supermarket, with minimal spending.
• organising yarn
• taking photos on the camera, not using the lazy option and just using my phone. (Hmmm, will also be locating the camera!)
• Sewing!  Something, anything.  Hopefully quilting my scrappy tripalong. That would be a good thing.
• Adding creative tasks on my To Do list.
• Blogging three times.

Knitting with the Ashes

My all time favourite sport to watch on the tv is cricket. I think it's because the commentators speak, rather than yell. Quietly spoken men, recounting strange anecdotes and complaining about the scorching conditions (up to 27 degrees today!) It's the soundtrack for a good deal of my childhood, and as such, I find it soothing.
Particularly when my husband's away for work, as he's not tempted to flick around the channels in the ad breaks. I guess the reason my Dad didn't flick around like that was that we didn't have a remote. Ancient history.
Knitting is the perfect accompaniment to an evening of cricket, especially now my cat is no longer quite so inclined to eat the wool. I've got quite a bit done this evening, although have noticed my shaky hand is trembling quite badly. Next time, I think I'll have to take my doctors advice and have some wine with my knitting & cricket. (Apparently the alcohol can ease my shakiness {obviously, consult your own doctor!})

Modes; Creative vs Survival

Lately, all I blog about is how hard it is to find time to make. And that's still my theme, really. I've been letting other things take precedence. My husband's been working hard, long hours and quite a lot of travel. The kids haven't been 100%. Lots of reasons, or excuses, depending on how bad I'm feeling.

We're nearing the end of school holidays, and have had a pretty busy time.


We've made glass tiles, visited the Mint and seen robots making our money, we've had lunch with Daddy.




We've played in the new Pod playground at Canberra's Arboretum (along with every other child in town these holidays), been swimming and been to Sydney to see Disney on Ice. We've caught up with two sets of cousins, and been to see two kids movies (Despicable Me 2 and Monsters University.) the girl's been horse riding, the boy's been to an AFL clinic. And a play date each.

The kids have played surprisingly little Minecraft, due to worries about some of the scary characters encountered. Even choosing creative, instead of survival mode apparently doesn't remove these problems.

Myself, I'm stuck firmly in survival mode. And reading this list over, it's not that surprising.

Meanwhile, tonight I'm planning to knit. Watch some tv, put the tablet down, and knit. It sounds good.