the Wise Robin

little troll: take two

 

Oh, she's a cheeky one this one, taking my ball of wool and having a grand old time with it. That cheeky sideways glance and the giggle say it all. I finished up another little troll vest for her. It's been on my needles for some time. As I  made the halfway point I had in the back of my mind that it would be a snug fit and briefly wondered if I should frog it. But with no other projects on the go I kept on. Well, it is snug because this babe of three months [already], is growing and rolling, wanting to sit and be in this family every waking minute. So I'll pop her in it every day for a week then pack it away for the 'maybe' next babe. Thinking that I should start swatching.  The extra time involved and the thought of a little math drives me away. But blocking is another story, I'm hooked now. There's the vest unblocked and blocked, amazing I tell you. The buttons are off a vintage breakfast jacket that I picked up from a local op-shop years ago. The fairy drops are a Nigella recipe that are so easy to whip up. Pop everything in the blitzer and then in the oven. I have a weak spot for baked sweets.

 

in review

 

We spent this weekend sitting in the garden surrounded by Autumn prunings and winter sunshine, drinking tea and playing hookey. One of my favourite things to do in the yard is to just sit and watch the girls scratching over the leaves, doing their backward breakdancing, as Joel Salatin calls it. I have a chook run on my gardening wishlist. These girls get into everything and I've decided it's time to get serious about where they can roam. Most of my plantings in the herb garden have been scratched up or eaten, they've figured out how to get into our fenced off vegie garden and the poop, well there's plenty of that. I know I'll  miss watching them wandering around the yard.

We gave our old, old apple tree a serious haircut, which will make it easier to net, so we can finally harvest some apples instead of feeding the cockies and rosellas. I felt a mixture of sadness and lightness at seeing its crown come down, such a reshaping, but it's almost as though we could hear the tree exhale with the release of so many branches. Zahra has claimed some of the prunings as a cubby and the girls are now roosting in the open at the very top. They're funny to watch as they make their way to bed each evening, checking and rechecking which is the best approach and branch, as though they've forgotten how they did it yesterday. 

Today the sky was clean and clear, the air crisp and fresh. It's not warm but the windows and doors are thrown open on days like this. We watched spiderwebs floating gently in the air and swarms of tiny bugs dancing in the afternoon light. Niamh fell asleep on the trampoline in the sun. Babies and bonnets... too delicious. Zahra said she finally felt like a big sister today after dancing with Niamh to   'Blackbird'  on the Beatles White album. She is so proud of Niamh, completely adores her, always asking when she will wake up so she can play with her.  I'm still finding it hard to make some space in the day to recharge with a little crafting or reading. I mostly wonder where the days go. A craft post soon, I promise. William took on all the nappies today and some of the settling so I could get a little knitting in. What a sweetheart. I've finally made it to double pointed needles. I feel a little cumbersome with all these sticks jutting out here and there but I like it. It's my new frontier. Just think, there's a whole new world of patterns within my reach now. I'm very excited. And I shouldn't  forget to mention afternoon tea. Zahra is loving making pancakes (I think of them more like pikelets), all by her big self. Love. Another week beginning.

 

wood and other things

 

Today a tree was felled in our yard. There were tears, anger and sorrow. This tree that she would sometimes climb, with its decaying body and fingers sprouting towards the sky has been on our to do list for quite some time. She clung to it's trunk, sobbing, this girl of mine that holds everything so close. I think that's why we kept putting it off. For us it was a move forward in a gardening sense, for her these tears run much deeper. Grief felt for things past, absent people, changing relationships, a new little life in her comfortable sphere and of course for this tree. The grief runs deep and fresh. As we walked this afternoon she asked "why"? As a parent sometimes it is difficult choosing the right words. "When we get home" she replied "I just want to be with my apple tree".

 

a little sewing

 

Especially with babies, days blend into nights, and little in the way of action unfolds. Months go by containing the space of soothing a child to sleep, rocking and nursing. We long to get something done, to go somewhere and accomplish tasks, but instead we tread time. How wise would we be if we had the foresight to count these days of pure being as ecstasy?

I have this quote written on a chalkboard in my kitchen, in big letters, so I can see it and remind myself every day that even though the days seem to unfold without me 'doing' much, the 'being' right now is special and important. Today the house was a mess, there was paperwork and laundry that needed doing, dishes to wash, seedlings waiting to be planted and ...well, no need to go on, you know how it gets sometimes. Today, I wanted some action. I just wanted to do something that didn't just involve pegs or nappies, or indeed something that 'needed' to be done. So I headed for my machine and made three little bibs for Niamh. Some action huh! Oh it felt good.

She is a drooler this one. It seems I keep reaching for blue whenever I think of this sweet girl. I opted for a smaller bib as I'm finding the bigger ones just get in her way when she's using her hands, so I simply copied an existing bib.

 

They came together reasonably easily while my babe slept. Moments for this kind of thing are few and far between right now. And when I do get the chance to pick up my knitting or do a little sewing I feel like I'm constantly looking over my shoulder, on a deadline, watching the clock to see how much more I can squeeze in before she wakes. I've never been one for doing a bit of something now and finishing it later, except for knitting of course, I prefer to hit it hard and get it done instead. I've been brainstorming how I can fit more 'making' into my days.  Perhaps I'll have to do some rearranging in my mind to accomodate a little fragmentation.  Cutting fabric here, a few stitches there, that kind of thing.

Dinner was made, dishes were washed, nappies folded, floors vacuumed, a babe soothed and a little bit of sewing was done. Happy days

xoC

the new red

 

 

Zahra's favourite colour has been red for as long as I can remember. Earlier this year she proclaimed her new favourite colour to be purple and in the same breath asked if I would knit her a purple beret and mitts. That was back when I was still on the couch with morning sickness in my last trimester and knitting was all but a distant memory. Last week I finally cast off her hat after knitting a row here, a row there over the past few months. It was wasn't an immediate hit though. She ran off to have a look in the mirror and I heard a gasp from the bathroom. She wandered back into the room with said hat in hand, not on her head. "What do you think?" I ask. A telltale pause then "yeah, it's nice". Nice, hmm. That's a word that doesn't carry much depth from where I come from, more of a pleasantry really. I was not offended at all, this girl of mine knows what she likes, a good thing. Turns out it is too 'pouffy'. I showed her how to wear it and after another look in the mirror she seemed more pleased. I'm not convinced though. So I'm on the lookout for another pattern, one that's not so voluminous and 'pouffy'.

 

 

 

Cxo

these days

 

 

these days we are enjoying...

soft sunshine filtered through the last of Autumn's leaves 

  ripening...and the assortment of birds it brings into our graden

currawong song

braving bare feet and bare legs...well the younger ones of us anyway

the slow unveiling of our roosting girls as the apple tree begins her Autumn dance

our new daily ritual of making afternoon pikelets in a sun drenched kitchen

watching the bush regenerate after Summer's fire

beautiful baby hands

sunlit eyelashes

the last of the season

 

xoC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

autumn crafting

 

 

We are warm at last. Hooray! We can use our whole house now instead of camping in one room all day. Moving about again feels like I've just exhaled. So good. And now the sun is shining down on us to boot. We've been going crazy with simple little Autumn crafting projects of late. Autumn wreaths, felted acorns, gnomes and beeswax leaves. I do so think that delicious smell of beeswax fits Autumn so well.

 

 

Felted acorns had been on my crafting list for a few years. After Niamh was born I was itching to get my hands making again and this little project was perfect. Small and quick to fit in between feeds or settling, and it didn't have me staying up way past my bedtime. I've figured out I can do one late night, get up  a few times in the night to nurse and still function the next day without being cranky. But two nights, that's a different story. I'm a wreck the next day.

 

 

 

I try and head to our local (albeit 2 hours away) Steiner school for their Spring fair every year mainly to check out the craft stalls. The green gnome was made by a talented Mama there and he quickly became a stocking stuffer a few years back. I thought it was time he had a friend to visit with on our seasonal table. He was joined by a third gnome, which Zahra made and named Turquoi.

 

 

Yesterday we spent the afternoon in the kitchen dipping Autumn leaves in beeswax  then stringing them up in the window to catch that golden afternoon sunshine.

 

 

Oh gosh, I suppose I should clean those windows.

Happy last days of Autumn

Cxo

morning mist

 

 

We're all battling runny noses and sore throats here. Wah! Plenty of chamomile tea with honey and early nights with all  four of us bunking down together, trying to keep warm. There may have been a few tears on the phone yesterday as I was explaining how cold we were and could our heating please, please come soon. Then early this morning, a message saying it was coming tomorrow. Yay!

 

Upon waking today, our little part of the world had been transformed into something magical . Thick fog swirling by and dew drops hanging from every spider web and drooping branch. We rugged up and headed outdoors to enjoy its quiet magic. Then back inside for tea and crumpets with honey. The knitting I had hoped to finish on the weekend, which was left couch side in favour of  sunshine and live Sunday afternoon music  in The Gardens, is waiting for me. Zahra is itching to bake after a day in bed yesterday and Niamh is stirring from her morning sleep. The sun will be shining when this fog lifts and maybe I can get some laundry dry. Our day keeps rolling on.

xoC