Singapore - the land of breakfast, breakfast, lunch, lunch, dinner, dinner....and tiffin

Mr Mangolime and I had such a good time in Singapore. It is amazing to just be a couple again, without all the non-stop super-consciousness necessitated by having kids. We felt so indulgent and selfish, sleeping in, walking lots (no little voices: I'm tiiiiiired), looking at museums (no little voices: I'm booooored), eating (no little voices: this is spiiiiiicy and yuuuuky), shopping (no little voices: I just did a wee on the floor!), and lots of other fun stuff. The children had a wonderful time with their beautiful cousins and lovely aunties, uncle and grandparents - we are so lucky to have such support. 

Singapore truly is the land of good food. How can you not love a city where every time you turn a corner there is another food hall? It is my perfect place. We gorged on masala dosa, vadai, vegetarian thali, yum cha, more masala dosa, banana prata, all washed down with lassis and lime juice. Yum.

In between meals, I did search a bit for fabrics. Apart from Malin Textiles which had some cute Japanese stuff, most of what I saw was synthetic. Oh well.....looks like I may need to go to Tokyo next!

a plumber's house is always leaky

I'm sure its the same for anyone else who makes stuff to sell - their own kids run around in shabby crap and they wear whatever is not in the wash. People expect me and my kids would have a beautiful handmade wardrobe, but the reality is Little Mr A gets all the nappy seconds and the pile of beautiful fabrics that I want to make into skirts for myself just keeps getting bigger and bigger....one day. Sometimes it takes a last minute clothes crisis to spurn me on, and a national conference at which I am giving the opening welcome was just the thing I needed!

I love this hand screenprinted fabric from the Babbarra Women's Art Centre of Maningrida in East Arnhem Land, featuring long necked turtles and lily pads. I have some more fabric from the Centre that I will whip up into skirts, next time I feel the pressure! And yes, that champagne went down VERY well....

mango season

I'm sorry I haven't been blogging - its all been a whirlwind here of conferences, visitors, the Darwin festival, family, projects and the election I can't even bring myself to talk about....

And although we are sad to see the end of the Dry (and what a crappy Dry it was), and although we are dreading the build-up which seems to get worse every year (or is it just our tolerance declining?), we are oh so happy to see, touch, smell and gorge ourselves on this season's mangoes. Yum. Little A has a permanent orange stain around his mouth - looks a bit like Homer Simpson. Little J makes this groany sound as he tucks into a mango which is nothing but the 6 year old chime of pure pleasure.

It is both scary and exciting that Mr Mango and I are off to Singapore on Friday for a child-free weekend! I've never been to Singapore before. Don't suppose anyone knows of any fabric shops there (or any other recommendations)?

When I'm back I promise to fill you in on all the gaps - how I made a new skirt one night in utter desperation, doona covers for the twins, hopefully a Singapore stash, and the next mangolime stocking.

August stocking...finally!

And finally we have a June July August stocking. I am sorry about the delay. I really want to do more regular stockings but it is so hard to squeeze everything in, so I hope this one is worth the wait. The stocking will be on this Monday at 8.04pm Central Standard Time, and all items can now be previewed on the site. There are a few nappy wallets as well as nappies. Some old fave prints and some newbies too.....

I've had a few request for wetbags and swim nappies too......Do you think I should try my hand at those?

Nappy showcase success

The CEA nappy showcase went really well. It was very fun getting to talk to people all about nappies for a good 2 hours, and really nice to hear feedback. That face to face contact with customers is something I would like more of - internet selling is great but its also nice to actually meet customers, see (and squish!) their babies, and watch their reactions to your product. And to do a bit of on the spot market research. Might be time to start checking out markets.....

It was also lovely to see some internet friends in real life, and to meet consultants from some other brands.
This was the first time I've ever sold my mangolime stuff in person, and I was a bit nervous at having to do a talk. Thanks to my mum and my sister for coming and thanks to CEA for hosting and thanks to Arlo for modelling, charming and willy nilly trying to give away stock to every passer-by. If you are in Darwin the CEA said they will do another one soon, given the popularity.

And I still have enough stock left for a stocking so I m looking at previewing stock Saturday night and having it all up for sale on Sunday. Hope you are all having a lovely day!

Ah. The logic.

Trying to teach your 2 year old about life beyond the supermarket:

Me: Where do you think milk comes from Arlo?
Him: ....From the bottle.
Me: But where does it come from before it is in the bottle?
Him: Oh yes....(with a sage nod)...from behind the lid!

new stocking

I am sorry to everyone waiting for the next stocking which I did promise would be at the end of July - obviously that didn't happen. I do have heaps ready to go but I also need to have a sumptiously stocked table at the Childbirth Education Association modern cloth nappy showcase next week - if you are in Darwin please come along - it will be very fun!

The stocking will be held in mid-August and it will be worth the wait I promise. The exact time and date will be announced here, on the mangolime facebook page and on the newsletter.