Kim Archer | Mindful Living

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sold out!

The baskets all sold out! All of them. All NINETY FOUR of them sold out! Phew!

But sadly, they didn't sell out in the first hour. So I got to see very little of the fete. I did duck out and take a couple of photos while everyone else was still setting up. It was only early in the day and the fete hadn't even started yet but there were quite a lot of people around already!

And then the people arrived in droves - despite the very WINDY conditions. It was blowing a gale and there were some very envious stall holders outside who wished they had our prime classroom position.

And then the fete officially kicked off and we had customers!! Lots of them! Here's the Basket Lady herself..Leesa and me! Thanks mum for the photo!

And look here I am..primping and rearranging the baskets!

I did manage to duck outside for a very quick look and watched Capri dancing. Um, someone move that pot plant! I couldn't get a decent shot..and was dodging around the pot plant stand...

and a couple of back shots...

I was SO in the wrong position to be taking photos..behind the action!

Thankfully I managed to squeeze into a spot at the front ...

..but the dance was almost over...

Here's Capri with one of her best friends Tegan - they've been dancing together since they were in kinder!

Marie and Bridie came and visited the fete and the girls got to have a catchup and look around the fete together.

And here's Capri with Maddy and her mega snow cone! Yes, Capri is tall but Maddy is also extra short!

At the end of the day lots of stuff went for bargain prices. We had about 20 baskets left at 1pm so we marked them down considerably and they walked out the door! And then my kids started appearing with pot plants! And seedlings. Lots of them! For free. They were GIVING them away on the pot plant stall.

And my two scored these..

They both came home and busily potted plants and seedlings all afternoon. I have no clue what half the seedlings are but some were marked and we have quite a collection of herbs and various other things including a mulberry tree cutting. I mean, doesn't every house need a mulberry tree?

And so ends another year at the school fete. Our last big mega fete as we only have them every few years and the last one was when Brandt was in maybe Year 5 so that was about 8 years ago!!!!!

So we won't be at the school for the next one and some other crazy mother will have her hand up to help on the basket stall!!!

all baskets are now complete!

Tomorrow is the BIG FETE day.

And my last installment in the never ending baskets story! I have spent more time than I realised I would on these damn baskets. Leesa, the Basket Lady herself has spent even MORE time on the baskets and I know she is over them as well - especially after her 2am finish the other night to get the last of the little gems all done!

Annnnyway, yesterday we were given access to the room at the school we would be using at the fete and we could give ourselves a headstart in setting up! Capri had an inservice day so she came as well to give us a hand. I honestly thought I would be finished within the hour.

But 3.5 hours later I finally arrived for lunch at mums!

It took AGES and it was lucky we did utilise yesterday to set up and price as it would have been a nightmare to do it tomorrow in the hour we have before the fete starts.

I meant to count them all. I think we did many more than we realised we had.

In fact they were stored in various places around the school and when we went to collect them from one of the rooms,  Leesa and I walked in there and were confronted with a room totally covered in baskets - on the floor, the desk, the shelving, the window sill. We looked at each other and I said, "Did we make all these baskets!!!"

They looked great all lined up in the classroom. And poor Leesa had to make up another five baskets as someone arrived with more basket and product donations!!!!! There's Leesa at the back of the room doing the last few baskets.

We ended up with such variety! And I must say, they do look impressive...

Lots of themes..

and all priced from $5 to only $65 ...bargain!

and cute stuff like this cake mix pack!

and Leesa also made up these great little kids gardening buckets..small buckets, some seeds, kids gloves, tools etc...they turned out so well!

and some very nice indeed hamper type baskets...GREAT Christmas present ideas...

So HOPEFULLY they will sell out within the hour because I don't want to be sitting at the basket stall AAAAALLLLL DAY trying to sell the things!

The fete's on from 10am - 2pm tomorrow. If you live locally (Newcastle), email me and I'll let you know where you can find THE BEST BASKET display in the whole world. LOL.

why is it orange outside today mum?

Last night we had a bad storm. I know it was bad because Mojo was going nuts and shoulder barging the side french doors trying to get in! Our dogs HATE storms. The thunder wasn't that loud really and the rain was heavy in patches but nothing too extreme compared to other storms we have had. And I certainly didn't expect to wake up to the scene we did this morning.

Jammo came in at 6.45am this morning and asked why was it orange outside.

I hadn't really taken much notice, although there was a strange orange glow from behind our timber venetians in our bedroom and then I realised it WAS rather orange out there. Weirdly orange. The sky was blood red and the air was thick and heavy with red DUST! Very eerie and weird!

These are straight out of my camera and taken at about 8am.

Here's some more pics...looking down our street.

The winds have really picked up but the red/orange isn't as bad as it was and I took these ones around 10am this morning.

and again looking down the street.

I can taste the grit in my mouth and on my teeth and can certainly smell the dust! Capri's school looked like a ghost town when i dropped her off - all of the kids were inside and there will be no outside play or outside assemblies etc which is good.

I know other parts of Australia experience this dust storm thing quite regularly but for us here in suburbia, on the coast, it's certainly something we haven't seen before and its eerie and weird and freaky and a tad unnerving!!!

It's supposed to clear this afternoon!

44 days to go..yikes!

I must admit I'm starting to feel excited about the @Home|Away retreat and finally getting to meet people I have only ever known online.

I was cutting and assembling nametags with Capri the other night and that first pang of excitement hit me as I started taking notice of the names of the girls coming along and where they're from! It's quite surreal to think so many are travelling in from all over the place.

When I first started to set the wheels in motion for the retreat, I didn't really consider that people would travel far and wide to be here. I guess I just thought we would get local people and maybe some Central Coast and Sydney people.

But people are flying in from all over the country! Very exciting.

And many girls are traveling alone. I think that is so fantastic! And brave. But I KNOW everyone will be so welcoming and excited and happy to be there!!

Only 8 more days to before bookings close. It will be good to tally everything up, pair up roommates and get some things finalised! Bookings close 30 September..only a few places left!

You can book in here or email me for more details!

Ps..thanks for sticking with me and my blog - I *promise* to post more regularly...sometimes too many things happen at once and my little blog, which I do love keeping, gets sadly neglected!

@Home|Away Workshops announced!! Yay!

Finally, finally..I am thrilled to announce the new workshops are announced for the @Home|Away Weekend Retreat.

Saturday is workshop day during the retreat weekend and Mardi, Janelle and I are all teaching additional classes. I LOVE the kits we have chosen and everything is coming together so nicely!

To read all about the new workshops click here.

The classes are open for retreat registrants only, so book your place here. We have a limited number of spots left for the retreat (there's NO 2 bedroom apartments left - only a few twin share rooms left now).

The extra classes are OPTIONAL EXTRAS and there's still plenty to see and do and participate in besides the extra classes. We have designed the retreat to be as interactive as you want it to be:)

Bella has left the building...

Little panda bear/racoon Bella Puppy has left our family to be with the Hall family.

 

And it seems she's fitted right in with her new family and is living it up in her new digs! read all about it here.

We now just have Dotty left with us....and it's hard to part with her so we're keeping her for a few weeks more and will see what happens after that.

Poor neglected little blog

Trying to post more regularly.

Time is flying past and the @Home|Away Retreat is fast approaching. And the plans are all consuming - living and breathing the retreat plans here like you woulnd't believe! Lots of work but exciting and SO worth it!

Annnyway, here's a puppy pic - puppies are starting to go to their new homes this weekend - which is kinda sad but it's time to move them on and know they are all going to happy homes. In fact the first one leaves the nest this morning - in about an hour so I should get moving!!

 

This photo cracks me up. Such serious little faces and a total fluke that they all were lined up like that because a split second later they were scattered all over the place. They like to explore now. And wrestle with each other. And race round like mad things. They're busy little dudes. And are in and out of the garden - hence the scruffy coats.

They need baths as they are a bit dusty and scruffy but they're too little yet for a bath...

Our White Boy who is to be names Charlie by his new owner is heading off this morning. He's the one second from the left. His new owner is a young girl and she was smitten as soon as she saw him!! So he leaves us today, followed by a few of the others over the weekend.

Thanks for still reading - i know the posts are few and far between and I'm trying to post more..stay tuned!

63 days to go!!!!!!

Wow.

The time is flying by and there's only SIXTY THREE days until the @Home|Away Weekend retreat!!!

And we only have a few spots left.

In fact we have only ONE of the very popular two bedroom apartment upgrades left (for a party of four) and some of the twin share Lagoon rooms left. I've had a few bookings today and some email enquiries so if you have been planning on coming or contemplating coming, make sure you let me know ASAP.

BOOKINGS MUST CLOSE by the 30 September 2009. $150 secures your place. Balance to be paid by the 30 September. BOOK IN HERE or email Kim for more details.

For regular updates, sneak peeks and all the latest Retreat news, check the @Home blog.