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Good things that have recently arrived in the post.

1. A gorgeous knitted jumper and scarf for BB. One of my lovely readers emailed me to tell me about her grandmother, who loved to knit and unfortunately passed away last winter. She sent me these two beautiful things that were made for her children, who have now grown out of them. I feel so lucky and honoured to be able to receive such a thoughtful gift from someone I've never met and lives on the other side of the world. Thank you.

2. My copy of French Egg Magazine. I was interviewed for this a little while ago, but I certainly didn't expect to be on the cover! PB keeps telling people his wife is a swimsuit model. Ahem. Not quite. Read it here (in French).

3. Some new toys for BB. We don't have a lot of toys for her, but in an effort to get her more interested in grabbing things other than my hair, I ordered these by NZ company Gepetto. I clipped that cat rattle onto the capsule this morning and we made it through a 20 minute drive with no tears. Only the sound of jingles coming from the back seat. (The way home wasn't as successful.)

4. These vintage baby shirts. (Which I clearly didn't iron before photographing...) They were mine when I was a babe, and my mum found them in her boxes and sent them to me. The white one may be just a little too small for BB, but the patterned one will be just perfect. Hopefully we can keep these in the family for her children one day.

I've also popped something in the mail today. For a lovely little girl who I know loves getting mail. There's something beautiful about letter writing. I am going to make an effort to post things to people more often.

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Last week I received my weekly Kidspot update: Sometime around week 15 your small bundle that once stayed where you put her will now be on the move. One the move? Nope. BB's not on the move at all.

We don't worry too much about these official milestones – this is when they should roll, this is when the should crawl – generally taking a relaxed approach to this stuff, although it did make us think that perhaps we don't let her spend enough time on her own, as she's always being carried or cuddled. Over the last week we've made an effort to give her a bit more floor time, and it was evident straight away that she was trying to roll over. After watching her frustrate herself all week, today she finally got there. I turned around just in time to see the final flip-over, something I'm very grateful for. By the end of the day she had it mastered, and happily played up for a few photos. Although for now she can only roll one way. She can't turn left. Just like Zoolander.

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A little while ago PB and I met a really lovely lady at a local cafe. She used to be an Early Childhood Nurse and was very supportive of our home birth, and we sat around the large communal table and chatted for ages. The other day whilst PB was out he bumped into her again, and they got onto the topic of knitting. It turns out that she spins her own yarn and offered to donate some to my knitting endeavours. How nice is that? I went over this morning to visit her and we had a great ol' natter and I left with some gorgeous hand spun yarns ready to be made into a little jumper for BB and some wrist warmers for us. So far my skills have not exceeded baby scarves so this is a little bit ambitious, but I'm looking forward to the challenge.


(How good does natural hand-spun yarn smell? So good. Makes me want to start using Eight Hour Cream again, I've been on Lucas Paw Paw for a while know... tough choice.)

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The sky is grey and blue and so are we.

(I got me some of those fancy grey trackie pants, from Witchery, on sale for $29. Score!)

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Relaxing at a cafe this afternoon,
reading about how our nation
came to get its first female leader.

(PB surrendered this morning's surf
to listen to the live broadcast on ABC radio.)

And drinking coffee. Real coffee.
(I asked for a weak one... it still tasted strong)
No crazed cleaning ensued this time.

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We've gone a bit bonkers over here with the knitting. Our family and friends are on a knitting rampage! I love it. I'm about to start my third scarf.

This little outfit was made by Granny Jane – PB's mum – who says she hasn't knitted in years. Um, looks pretty good to me!

(More knitting posts to come...)

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BB meets her new toy. Verdict?

Delicious. 

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We appreciate good coffee here at the Rummey Bear household. I really think Australia has the best coffee in the world. I'm not just saying that because I live here. Honest.

When I fell pregnant with BB I stopped drinking coffee, just the smell of it made me feel ill. I've stayed off it since but the other day I really felt like one so I went out and got myself a decaf. It was delicious and very satisfying, even though I've never thought there to be much point in drinking coffee without the caffeine. Next time we were out I ordered a proper Flat White. Real thing. Shortly after I went home and cleaned out all the kitchen cupboards, talked non-stop and had an awful feeling that something in my body was terribly wrong. I was shocked at how much it affected me. To think I used to a have a few of these a day. Isn't it amazing how our bodies adapt to things?

I was considering battling it out until my tolerance level rises again, but I don't see the point if it's not doing me any good. I think I'll stick with decaf. Or herbal tea.

As an aside, I flicked through and old issue of Notebook while I was out and about. Has anyone read it? For some reason I had the impression it was a daggy mum magazine, but it's so not. I really enjoyed it. (Or am I just a daggy mum now?) There was even an interview with Pip from Meet Me At Mikes. And really cute interiors. And yummy recipes. And nice (wearable) clothes. Yup, gold stars for Notebook.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. – SouleMama

(I'm cheating here as this was actually taken a couple of weeks ago, but I'm too sleepy to go through this weeks pictures tonight. I've noticed a lot of our Moments are sleep related... a favourite pastime around here!)

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Today was the perfect sunny winter's day. PB decided he would sit in the front yard (if you can call it that) to read his book in the sunshine and BB and I went along to do some knitting. She was asleep covered in the sling most of the time but woke up at the end to give me a hand. She's very good, although holds onto the needles a little too tight.

Afterwards I swapped my slippers for shoes and we headed out for a walk. These are the booties I had on lay-by which I finally picked up and I also got this little scarf in the sales. I felt so guilty for buying something for myself. Guilty enough to stop me from even walking into a shop for a while. I could only think of everything else I should be getting instead, especially considering what happened in the supermarket the other day.

Isn't it funny how life changes so quickly? Not so long ago I had a disposable income and was dashing around London footloose and fancy free. Now I feel terrible for getting myself a cheap scarf and the first pair of shoes (besides wedding shoes) in well over a year.

I'm not complaining. I love this life. It's just an observation on how things change.

PS. That's not our dog, he just came along to say hello. I think his owner was a little confused why I was sitting in the street on a kitchen chair knitting. Why not?

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This morning I received an email about our next Mother's Group. I couldn't make it last week as I had something on, and this week I happen to have an osteo appointment at the same time. To be honest, I think I am pretty okay with just letting Mother's Group go. I've realised I've made my own circle of mama (and mama to be) friends that live nearby. A couple I have met on my own, and a couple I have met through my husband, who works at a local cafe and is one of the friendliest bastards you'll ever meet and always happy to pimp his wife out for friendship and freelance design work. (Thanks PB!)

The other day I was at the cafe waiting for my take away coffee when I started chatting to a lovely girl that was pregnant with her first child. We got a long really well and I thought it would be great to catch up again but I didn't want to be all I'm Full Of Advice and freak her out, so we parted and I figured I'd probably bump into her again sooner or later.

The next night PB came home from work with a little envelope for me. Apparently someone had dropped it off. It had my name on the front and a little green star – the kind you get at school when you've done excellent work – on the back to seal it. Inside was a note from the girl I'd met the day before saying she'd love to catch up for coffee and hang out with me and BB sometime. She had left her phone number so I got in touch and we're going to catch up next week.

That's the second good random thing that has happened to me in the last few days and I'm very grateful for it. Although I still go through the annoyances of the daily grind, little gems like this really make me feel all warm and happy and good about life.

(Image of BB's flowers she received from her mate Henry, who is only about 2 weeks old! I can't remember the name of these blooms, but they smell so good, like sweet sugary butter.)

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I hesitated a little before writing yesterday's post. I'm not sure why. But after reading all of your comments I'm so glad I shared what happened. I agree, I should pass it on somehow, and I will. Although I'm not sure I will write about it here, because maybe that's bragging and it defeats the point. I'm not sure...

I've finished BB's scarf. There are three teeny mistakes, but generally I think it looks ok. I'm never really happy with anything crafty I produce, but I'm happy with this. I think BB likes it too!

The next project it a blanket, but I'm going to make a few more scarves first, for friends. It's getting cold here and I think those gorgeous little baby necks need to be kept warm.

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Yesterday I was the reciepient of a random act of kindness from a total stranger.

PB, BB and I were at the supermarket, discussing what to get for lunch. We had friends coming over and we were trying to think of what we could make that was yummy and within our weekly budget. I had a bunch of vine ripened tomatoes in the basket. PB was suggesting to get salmon. We weren't arguing, nor were we speaking loudly. The conversation went something like this:

We could get some salmon?
We can't afford salmon.
We only need a small piece. For baguettes. It will be nice.
OK. What about these tomatoes?
We have other tomatoes at home.
OK, we'll use those. I think we need cheese.
What cheese do you want?
I dunno. I've lost track of our budget this week. And we bought the heater last week...
Yeah. I have a fiver in my wallet.
I have a fiver too.

Now don't get me wrong, we're not by any means poor. Although we rent a teeny flat we're in a lovely part of Sydney. When we lived in London we went out for dinners, movies and I bought myself new clothes (probably a little too often). Coming back to Australia and starting a family so unexpectadly has made us have to shift things around a little. We live on one salary. We took a small loan to get a car and with the left over bought a camera. The camera is an investment that we hope to put to good use in the near future. We now have a weekly budget. It's not huge, but it allows for groceries, take-away one night, petrol, one visit to an osteopath and maybe a couple of coffees. But I digress...

I looked at the tomatoes and said I'd put them back, but we were still no further along in what to get and I started to get a bit flustered. PB said he would go for a walk to give me a couple of minutes to have a think about what I wanted to do. I walked over and put the tomatoes back and went to check out the cheeses.

A lady walked up to me and put fifty dollars in my basket. At first I thought I must have dropped it, but I knew I didn't have that much on me. Then she said 'Sweetheart, go and get your tomatoes'. I looked down at the money and back at her. I was in shock. I felt my eyes well up with tears and tried my hardest to keep them from spilling over. I grabbed the money to give back to her, telling her that we were really okay and I couldn't possibly accept it. She looked at me again, 'I've been there, I know what it's like. Take it. I can afford it. Go and get your tomotoes and get yourselves something nice. ' I only just managed to get her name before she walked away.

Jan, I know you'll probably never read this but thank you so much. Your kindness will never be forgotten.

I don't expect we'll ever be rich. But I hope one day we'll be a little better off, and maybe I can do something like this for another young family starting out.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. – SouleMama

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We have our new camera! (I've already posted a few photos of BB with it...) A Canon EOS 5D. And a 50mm/f1.4 lens. Oh my. The lens is so sexy.

This is a huge splurge for us. But we have plans for this camera. Hopefully I can share them here in a few months.

Top photo: Taken with the new Canon DSLR. 
Bottom photo: Taken with the Canon Powershot G10 (and accidentally cropping a foot... ooops!)

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I'm nor sure if it's motherhood or looking at too many food blogs, but lately I have lots of motivation when it comes to the kitchen.

I'm not a baker. Anything to do with flour and raising agents terrifies me. But after the chocolate cobbler and date scones I was inspired to try some more. Yesterday whilst BB slept peaceful in the sling I managed to manouvre around a tin of Golden Syrup and make Hot Gingernut Biscuits, and to my surprise they turned out really well! I also did a load of washing and hung it up outside, met my in-laws for lunch and then another friend for coffee, prepared dinner and did some knitting. Go me! 

For some reason I just felt full of beans all day.

(This sudden burst of energy may or may not have been due to the copious amounts of sugar in the biscuit dough I ate first thing in the morning. Ahem.)

Here's the recipe:

HOT GINGERNUT BISCUITS

from Breakfast, Lunch, Tea: The Many Little Meals of Rose Bakery 

200g unsalted butter, softened

3 cups self-raising flour*

3/4 cup caster sugar**

3 tablespoons ground ginger

1 1/2 tablespoons bicarbonate of soda

240g golden syrup

40g treacle, warmed***

* I used wholemeal

** I used normal white sugar

*** I forgot to warm my treacle. Not sure if it made any difference.

Preaheat oven to 160 C/ 325 F/ Gas Mark 3

Butter a baking tray or line it with parchment paper

Cut the butter into small pieces, mix dry ingredients together and rub the butter into them with your fingers. Add the treacle and golden syrup and bring together to form a dough.* (Mine was really sticky. I'm not sure if that's how it was supposed to be...)

Break off pieces and shape them into 3cm balls.

Place well apart on the prepared tray and bake for about 10 minutes. The biscuits will rise and fall a little. They should be crisp on the outside and a little chewy on the inside. (Mine were more chewy than crisp, so I tried it with a hotter oven and it helped a bit.)

Cool.

*The dough it really good eaten raw. You can stop at this point if you like.

(Rose Garden plate in the photo was thrifted as a gift for BB from my mother-in-law. Thank you!)

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Yesterday we drove up to the Blue Mountains to visit some friends and their delicious dumpling little baby girl. (Thanks for dinner guys, it was delicious! So good to see you again.)

This was to be BB's first long car trip.

She's not so fond of the car, although lately it has been getting a lot better. If we go somewhere during the day it's fine, but as soon as it gets dark she's not a happy camper. One of us sits in the back with her but it doesn't always help. She must be thinking – Why are you watching me scream and not picking me up?

Yesterday's two 90 minute drives were challenging. On the way up it wasn't so bad. She was okay for about half an hour before she had enough, and somehow with a lot of shhhhing and rocking I managed to settle her until she fell asleep, although it broke my heart to see her little bottom lip quiver every few seconds as she dozed off.

The return trip was harder. She had fallen asleep in the capsule before we left, but when we clicked it into the car she woke up straight away. As we drove off she started screaming. I was driving and all I could picture was her little open gummy mouth in the back. We stopped to get petrol and I gave her a boobie in the car and she seemed to settle. We tried again. No go. After about 5 minutes we pulled off the motorway and I climbed into the back. She was inconsolable. It broke my heart as normally she'll stop crying as soon as I hold her. The whole situation was awful and I felt like it would never end. We were all angry and upset. After a few minutes she calmed and stopped crying, and we sat in a steamy car on the side of the road for another thirty minutes before trying again.

The last thing I wanted to do was drive. But I had to focus on getting us home safely. PB sat in the back and sung Sarah Vaughan. It was soothing and started to dissipate the built up tension in the car. Soon my passengers both fell asleep. I drove silently on the wet roads until we reached home. Other than a dozey little feed BB didn't wake again until the morning. It sounds silly but I thought she might have hated me after the ordeal, but luckily I was greeted with a big beautiful gummy smile. 

We're not going anywhere in the car for a couple of days.

(Photo on my iPhone with my new Hipstamatic app. Love it!)

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BB is three months old today. No longer a newborn and officially a little baby now.

She has changed so much in the last couple of weeks. She has gotten chubbier, her movements are bigger and more intense, there is lots of dribble and she has finally found her hands. Those things are so much fun! Especially when you try and put the whole thing in your mouth. Or grab mummy's hair. Or smoosh the boobie. Yup, BB thinks having hands is pretty cool.