Oh my goodness you guys there is only one day left in January this year. Which means after this post there is only one post left in my blog-a-thon for this year. And one more day of our summer holidays for this year. Wow! Wasn't New Year's Eve like a couple of days ago, a week at most?

So I guess the most appropriate thing to do on the second last post is to give some stuff away. Just for fun. Kinda like a thank you for coming along for the ride and holding my hand and making me feel like I'm not alone in this crazy uncoordinated dance I'm doing.

The prize is made up of five parts;

1. My book! It's called Vantastic: Retro holidays in the modern world and it's full of pictures and stories from the caravan trip we took up the centre of Australia and down the west coast a few years ago. There's loads of practical info, craft how-to's, recipes and heaps more fun stuff. If you like caravans and family and adventures - then this book is for you!
2. That Dotty Angel dress pattern that I bought two of by accident. I still haven't made mine but hopefully you'll get yours off the cutting table, onto the machine and be wearing it before I've even opened the packet and chosen my fabric. And you'll look great in it of course.
3. A couple of wash-cloths I crocheted.
4. An apple carry bag that I screen printed.
5. A copy of Slow Living magazine that includes an article I wrote about craft as therapy and the pattern for the wash-clothes above.

On the fifth day of the new year I haven't seen my Indi for five days and I have five copies of this awesome beanie knitting pattern to give away.

It looks tricky doesn't it.

The truth is that sometimes I give myself a hard time because I knit patterns but I never design patterns. Is knitting someone else's patterns really creative at all? But then I knit a pattern like this one and I completely understand why I don't.

This pattern takes something potentially tricky and makes it into such an enjoyable knit. This pattern is so much fun to knit that I could barely put it down. This pattern is so interesting and unlike anything I've ever knitted before that it's hard for me to work out how exactly Georgie even came up with it. And this pattern must have been so technical and so full of maths that I'd have no hope of working it out even if I wanted to.

This pattern uses only one colour per round even though it looks a lot more complicated. This pattern looks awesome in Spider-man red and black. This pattern is probably more intermediate than beginner but it is so beautifully explained that it wouldn't take a lot of experience to get it. And this pattern is called Woohlpooer, which my girls thought was the funniest name ever, but Georgie assures me it's pronounced wool-poor. It's the name of a place near the Grampians National Park in Victoria, Australia.

I knit my beanie in Tarndie Polwarth 8ply. It is the most gorgeous soft wool I think I have ever knit with.

So without further ado I'd like to announce that my Indi is coming home tomorrow, YAY!!

And let you know that Georgie has very generously given me FIVE copies of her brand new Woolpooer pattern to give to five of you guys. Just tell me something about knitting in the comments, anything you like, and I'll announce the winners on Wednesday.

The details of my Woopooer are here.
Buy the Woopooer pattern here.

You gotta be in it to win it and then knit it!!

Big warm headed love

xxxx


The giveaway on this post is closed.
Winners have been announced on the post on the eighth of January 2015.

The girls who live in my house wear shorts under their dresses so they can climb trees, they ask for bows and arrows for birthday presents and they experiment with starting fires without matches. The girls who live in my house explore the forest out the back of our farm on weekends, they carry sticks for fighting the enemy and have lengthy discussions about what they would eat if their home disappeared. The girls who live in my house have scratched up knees, they wear their hair in long plaits to keep it out of their way and they play games about escaping from jail, about fighting dragons and about ninjas. The girls who live in my house are brave, and a bit wild, and a lot noisy.

So I guess it makes sense that the girls who live in my house are interested in reading books with adventurous female characters in them. Books about girls who aren't afraid to find their own way, to break the rules and who definitely are not afraid of boys.

Recently my friend Bron, Maxabella Loves, sent me a book that her clever sister A.L. wrote. Even though it is a book aimed at upper primary school aged kids, I read it in one night. Even though I knew at the time I was risking exhaustion the next day, I could not put it down.

The Mapmaker Chronicles is filled with adventure. It is full of interesting characters, mythical sea creatures, drama, and emotion. From the website:

The King is determined to discover what lies beyond the known world, and has promised a handsome prize to the ship's captain who can bring him a map of the whole globe. To do that, they'll need mapmakers - and 14-year-old Quinn is shocked to be one of the chosen. 

While his older brothers long for adventure, Quinn is content with a quiet life on the farm, but when word of his special talent gets out, he has no choice but to pack his bags and join the mismatched crew of slaves and stowaways on board the Libertas. The other competitors will do anything to win, but the greatest danger may come from the strange sea monster hot on their tail or the mysterious unchartered lands for which they are bound.

I really loved this book and highly recommend it to other nine+ year olds (and their Mum's too).

But I really do have to tell you that my favourite part of this whole thing was when I read on Bron's Facebook page that she'd spent the past month reading a chapter a night to her kids. And her kids LOVED the book and were sad when they came to the end. But only once they did come to the end did their Mum tell them that their auntie Al was the author. Imagine that! Your very own auntie the author of your very favourite book. So cool!!

I have am thrilled to announce that Hachette, publishers of The Mapmaker Chronicles, would like to give away one copy of the book to one of you guys. Yay! Please leave a comment below telling me something about the adventurous girls in your life or your favourite adventurous girls in fiction and I'll choose a winner early next week.

Until then I hope your dreams are sweet tonight.

Big love,

Kate xx

Hello! How are you dear friend. I was wondering if you might like to join me on a quick skip through my past week that was. I know it's a little self indulgent but it was a gorgeous week and I'd really like to catch it before it flitters off in the wind.

So here we go, this past week;

I visited a family with their new baby girl Holly, not even 19 hours old.

I sliced my thumb open on a pair of secateurs.

I saw blood clot and was impressed at my body, but not so much by the sight. 



I woke up one year older.

I thought a lot about what a wonderful place right now is to be.

I threw a little, last minute birthday breakfast in our garden and hired a coffee van. During the party I was serenaded by my family, the girls singing and Bren on the ukulele, on the steps of the cubby-house.

I wrote an article for one of my fave magazines.



I sucked honey out of honeycomb that we stole from the roof of one of our hives.
I planted 100's of seeds.

I started reading my first ever e-book - My Year Without Matches - which I am really enjoying, but still missing turning the pages.

I spent two whole days not knitting due to my cut thumb.

I sent the girls to school with yesterday's plaits due to my cut thumb.



I read through the 102 Clover crochet hook entries and loved every single one. I love how crochet unties us, calms our busy minds and enables us to make pretty gifts from scratch for ourselves and other people in our lives. Eventually I chose Dre at No Frills Mum because her story touched me. Dre please email me your postal details and I'll get gorgeous Renae to mail you your hooks ASAP.

I thought a bit about how cool it would be to run a yarn store like Yarn Haus and how we should support Renae by buying our yarn from her because she is brave and living her dreams and sourcing some really gorgeous yarns.

I spent an afternoon without house water when farmer Bren ploughed through a pipe.

I cleaned up another Mother's child's poo in our bathroom without any water (of course it happened when I had none).



I knitted a hedgehog Softie for Mirabel.

I did half of Indi's painting homework.

I remembered that I'm not such a great painter.

I remembered that I love couscous.

I felt overwhelmed and honoured and thrilled by all the birthday messages and calls and love.

I ate my first mango of the season.



I visited a bio dynamic sheep farm and fell more in love with wool.

I accumulated 246 unread emails.

I accumulated a kitchen table full of beautiful birthday flowers.

I donated to our community's Clay Space project.




I listened to this song and watched this film so many times and felt more than a little bit proud of our Indi, Tim and Geoffrey.

I think that's all the main points. I'll probably think of more once I press publish.

I have to now, my farmer boy is teaching the girls to make fire with a magnifying glass and I don't want to miss out.


So how about you?
What have you been up to this past week dear friends?
Tell me three or four things in the comments if you like, I'd love to know.

I hope you have the most wonderful weekend.

Love Kate xx

What do you give the seven year old who has everything for her birthday?

Why an enormous stripy crocheted snake of course!!

The Sunday before the Friday of our Pepper's birthday we found ourselves asking each other this question often. Seriously, what on earth did she possibly want or need? Being our third girl the answer was most certainly not clothes, or toys, or books. And being seven the answer was most certainly nothing too babyish and nothing too grown up either. And not giving her anything just wasn't an option.

So we were stuck.

And then it occurred to me that I could make her a toy. And hopefully the fact that it would be made by me, and the fact that it would be bright and big, would kind of negate the too babyish bit

So I got to work on ravelry, found a pattern, and every night as soon as she went to sleep I got out the hooks and the cottons and started crocheting. Around, and around, and around.

And you know what? She loved it! She loves it!!

She takes it everywhere she goes, she changes its name constantly and she's even given it a much coveted place in her bed so she can snuggle it all night. (Poor old Big Ted hasn't been as happy finding himself in the crack between the wall and the bed every morning though).

Funny how I am petrified of snakes in real life yet this stripy one makes me so happy.


So, do you want to make a stripy snake for someone you love too? You know you do. The pattern is simple and totally make-able for beginners. I just used lots of scraps of cotton I had from other projects and I used these gorgeous Clover crochet hooks.

And guess what??

Gorgeous Renae of Yarn Haus has kindly offered to send one of you a packet of these wonderful hooks too. How cool is that!!

I am seriously in love with the Clover hooks. The padding is in the right place not to leave an indentation in my finger, I love the colours and I don't think I will ever use another hook again.

So if you live in Australia or New Zealand.
If you love to crochet or would love to learn.
And if you think these hooks are just what your hooky kit needs, then please leave a comment telling me something about crochet. Anything you like. And we'll choose a winner early next week, (my birthday week - YAY!)

Oh I just realised my pink hook is missing from the pics. Oops! Never fear, your kit will definitely include the pretty pink hook too.



In the meantime why don't you check our Renae's;

Gorgeous new yarn haus website here.
Go like her pretty yarn haus Facebook page here.
Go follow her fabulous yarn haus instagram account here.
And go and follow her witty yarn yarn haus twitter here.

You gotta be in it to win it!!

Happy hooking friends!!


Love Kate

xx

PS Miss Pepper's snake is ravelled here

I am SUPER EXCITED about this!!

Gorgeous Anna Ross makes a brand of nail polish called Kester Black that is cruelty free, carbon neutral, ethically produced, carcinogen free, made in Australia, vegan and non toxic.

Sounds too good to be true, right?!

Well it gets better. Kester Black nail polish is high shine, chip free and right on trend with all the latest and greatest summer colours.

I know, right!!


When Anna contacted us and asked if we wanted to try out some of her gorgeous range we quickly replied with a great big YES! My girls love a bit of sparkle and polish, but we are always nervous about all the icky stuff that goes into the cosmetic products and the not so ethical production methods.

To be able to paint my girls' nails in polish that is not only safe for them but for the environment is winning all over.

(Do you like my attempts at fancy cup cake nails?)


I'm not going to write my guide for ethical gift giving but if I did, Kester Black would be right up the top. We are such big fans on so many levels.

And now for the fun bit. Anna has kindly offered to send THREE of you guys her entire range of 15 summer colours!!

That's three prizes of 15 colours each. Amazing right!
Sorry Australia and New Zealand residents only.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below and please make sure I have a way of contacting you. We'll draw the winners next Wednesday and Anna will express post the packages so they will hopefully arrive before the big day.

Yay!

In the meantime, why don't you check out;

The Kester Black website
The Kester Black Facebook
The Kester Black instagram
The Kester Black twitter
The Kester Black blog
The Kester Black shop

Happy weekend.
Be sparkly.

Love Kate xx

I just wanted Arthur to know about these incredible things these amazing women were doing. I didn't want him growing up in a lopsided world when it came to knowing who to respect and admire.

As a mother of three girls I think about the world my girls are growing up in often. The bad and scary parts, and the good. We talk a lot about choosing positive role models from the women around them, the women in the media and the women from history. And we talk about working hard, being compassionate, following dreams and passions and making a difference.

Amazing Babes is a book that brings all of these themes together and then some. It is story book, a picture book and a great introduction into the lives of 21 varied and incredibly inspiring women from the past right through til now.

When I first opened the book I was struck by its simplicity. Then after a while I admired the great and important story it told. And now, I am enjoying the discussion it has begun, the thoughts and stories and questions that are unfolding.

Over the past few days I've sat with my three girls and read through the pages of Amazing Babes and admired Grace Lee's wonderful illustrations and I have loved watching each of my girls pull something different from it.

Miss Pepper, six, studied every woman's picture carefully, noticed all the clues in the drawings as to who they were and then chose to be photographed with Tavi Gevinson because she was the most beautiful.

Miss Jazzy, ten, looked at every woman and described her to me in great detail while I read her the paragraph about her at the end. She chose to be photographed with Malala Yousafzai who is a Pakistani schoolgirl living under Taliban rule who fights for the rights of all children to an education.

Miss Indi, 12, sat quietly with the book for a while reading about each inspiring woman, some she had heard of, many she hadn't. It took her a while to decide but she ended up being photographed with Irena Sendler, a Polish nurse who rescued 2,500 Jewish babies and children from the Warsaw ghetto during the Holocaust.

I know it's cheating but for me I'd love a big, wide angled, group shot and to be photographed with them all. How could I chose only one? The women in these pages worked hard, were passionate and made a difference. Although times are very different now, I'd like to think my girls might make a difference in their own ways, in their own worlds someday too.

Sounds like a great book huh!
I have one copy to giveaway.
If you'd like to win your own Amazing Babes, leave a comment below.
And please make sure to include a way I can contact you.

Big thanks to the kind folk at Scribe publishing for sending me a copy of this book.
And lots of love to Hello Kate Berry for fixing my photos while my camera was having a tanty. xx

Be amazing!

xx

Jodie has also kindly offered up two giveaway prizes for two lovely lucky Foxs Lane readers.

Prize A - A canister each of Motherhood, Sweet tooth and Zen tea.

Prize B - A canister each of Abundance, Daylesford breakfast tea and Happy hippie.

All you have to do is leave a comment to enter.
And the giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere. Yay!

In the meantime you can check out;

The SHE-TEA website here 

The SHE TEA blog here

The SHE TEA facebook here

The SHE TEA twitter here 

The SHE TEA online shop here 

Ok, you gotta be in it to win it so comment, comment, comment and we'll announce the winners on this post on Friday. (Please make sure I can contact you).

And happy tea drinking, or in my case coffee, sorry Jodie.

xxxx

The winner of Prize A is The Life of Clare.
The winner of Prize B is Amanda K.

Last week the peeps at Penguin sent me this gorgeous book in the mail.

The night it arrived, I read it to Miss Pepper about six times.

The next day she took it to show and share at school and her teacher read it to the class a few times.

And since then we've read it a few more times together and she's taken it off and read it by herself a couple of times too.


We love this book!

We think it would be great to read to children preparing for school and also to those already there.

If you think you know just the child to share this book with please leave a comment below.

We have three copies to send to three lucky people!
(Australian residents only. Sorry.)

Please make sure you include a way for me to contact you.

And we'll announce the winners on Friday. Yay!

Happy Tuesday lovely people.

You gotta be in it to win it!

xx

Happy Vantastic day!!

Our baby is finally here and we are thrilled!

Our hopes are that she goes out into the big wide world and is loved and enjoyed and inspires others to take adventures of their own.

What a journey it's been for us since we left home just over two years ago.

Talking about it so much over the past week has inspired us to start thinking about another trip. This time up the East coast of Australia. Maybe in a renovated Airstream, does anyone have one for us?? We'll keep you posted on that anyway.

In the meantime it is my great pleasure to announce the two giveaway winners.

Knitgirl66 - Your book looks so beautiful - I love how your family feels a part of the creation of the your book. Is there a sealed section with a centrefold of Farmer Bren? ;)

Cityhippyfarmgirl - Oh Kate I love, love, love your book and I've only just seen the photos you've shown us on your post. Are you beside yourself, squealing happy, clapping, jump up and down excited? Jeez, I would be...it looks awesome!!!

Please email me your postal details girls and we'll get you your books ASAP.

And Karen with the husband Marty, could you please email me too.
As the great blogging cliche goes, and it's totally true, I so wish I could give every single one of you a copy. I could never have done this without you.

As of today you can now buy my book in all good book shops around Australia, other countries soon, and online here.
If you'd like another chance at winning my book, head over to instagram and snap a pic of my book somewhere, anywhere (in a shop, in a tree, on your shelf, on your bed side table...) and tag it #vantastic. We'll be choosing a winner next Thursday. And if you already have a copy, why not win one for your bestie, your nana, your favourite shop keeper, your postie or your aunt. Yay!

Ok, I'm off now to make celebratory pancakes for dinner. It's a birthday after all.

Big love and kisses to you all and have a Vantastic day!
xxxxxx

An invitation - please see above and please come.

An opportunity to win a copy of my book - please see my last post.

A broken blog - for some unknown reason, the last 158 comments on my last blog post didn't show up on the blog. I have no idea why. I have written to blogger and await their reply. I feel a bit sick.

In the meantime, please write your giveaway entries on this post here.

But not all is lost, I have all the emails that go with your missing entries secured safely in my inbox.

We'll draw the two winners from ALL the entries, on the blog and in my inbox, next Thursday 1st August.

And finally, thank you, thank you, thank you all for the kindest, most heart warming and generous comments on the giveaway post. You have made me laugh (farmer Bren centre-fold), you have made me cry (I'm seriously such a sook lately) and you have completely blown me away. I feel super lucky and thrilled to have you all in my life.

Love Kate xx

The count down has begun. My book will be in shops and available to buy from next Thursday. That's six days from now!!

I really can't believe it. I cannot imagine what it'll be like to walk into a bookshop and see it there on the shelf. I can't believe that after all this time, after the phone calls and contracts, after all the writing and photographing, after the dead lines and edits and word counts, that the time is almost here. Wow!

So I thought just as a sneak peek we could take you through some of our fave pages and then give you a chance to win a copy for yourself.

Here goes;





My book, Vantastic, is all about caravans and road trips. It is for dreamers and adventurers. It is filled with tips and hints and stories. It has recipes and craft projects and other how to's. It shares bits of my family's road trip story. And it is so much more.

I am super excited to watch it go out into the big wide world.

And I am crazy, super excited for you guys to hold it in your hands and read its pages too. I really, really hope you like it. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!!!!

So would you like to win a copy?

Just leave a message on this post and we'll draw TWO winners next Thursday the first of August. The very same day it goes into shops.

We're happy to post anywhere in the world AND we're all more than happy to all sign the winning copies. Some of us may have even been practicing our signatures.

OK, comment away, you've got to be in it to win it.

xx

Please note; the comments are no longer showing up on this post. Please leave your giveaway comments on the post above. Thanks heaps. x

My gorgeous friend Chanie and I go waaaaaaaay back. We used to work together in a shop in Melbourne city while we were still school-girls. She was the cool girl down the back dealing with the lay-buys and I was at the front folding clothes and making sure all the hangers were facing the same way. Sometimes people even thought we were the same person. But we weren't. Obviously.

In 1999, the very same year me and my farmer boy got married and started looking for a farm to buy, Miss Chanie was the owner of her very own shop, the most fabulous shop in Melbourne, Genki. That year Genki launched what went on to become a fashion institution, the I love tees.


Made in Melbourne from Australian cotton and illustrated by clever cookie Beci Orpin, the I love tees went on to become a range of 37 different designs. From I love beer, to I love craft, to I love animals....there's something for everyone.

For the past 13 years these tees have cost $49, but now to compete with the big wide world of online shopping and make them affordable for everyone, the I love tees will cost $25!!!!! Bargain-a-rama I say!!

Check out the whole I love range here.


Anyway, to kick off this great offer and celebrate the cutest, made in Australia, limited edition tees, let's have ourselves a bit of a giveaway.

I have five tees to giveaway. Two of the men's tees, two ladie's tees and a kiddie one (size 4-7).



Click the links and leave us a comment letting us know which tee it's going to be.
Men's, women's or kiddie's tee?
What colour?
What size?
And which design?
Oh and make sure I have a way of contacting you.

Phew, got all that?

We'll draw the giveaway early next week.

Have fun!
Keep cool!

Big love. xx