the Wise Robin

simple remedies

 

 

 

 

There was a lot of down time around here last week with a new season lurgy spreading it's goodness. "It's going around" as they all say but so far so good for this Mama who has managed to avoid the fevers and vomiting. Illness is a great reminder to slow down, take it easy and bring it back to basics. Looking out the window at where I wanted to be, in the garden getting those summer vegies snuggled in their beds, I wondered how I could bring a little of what I wanted indoors for now with my sick kiddo.  I finally settled on the golden-ness of the calendulas with their wonderful anti-viral and anti-inflammatory qualities. A little bit of research and a quick harvest of the most sunshine filled flowers... makes for one honey sweetened calendula tea (just right for soothing little tummies) and an afternoon of chapter books. 

 

 

Fast forward one week and the fevers and vomiting have all but disappeared. The snot however lingers.There really are only two options here (well three if we're counting the bush blow)... hankies or tissues. Eco friendly tissues, as friendly as they may be for our Earth, are not so friendly on the nose after a day of constant wiping, so hankies it is. I must admit here to having a slight bias toward hankies and the prettiness of a good embroidery stitch. So with a little inspiration from Soule Mama's latest book The Rhythm of Family, we embarked on a morning of handmade hankie making. Simple sewing using re- purposed cotton and flannelette sheets...and soft on the nose.

 

 

 

We kept it rolling with six double-sided placemats. That makes for twelve days, yes twelve, of clean table linen my friends.

Happy days.

 

 

signs of spring

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Signs of Spring in our backyard...

glowing evening skies

apple blossom buds

peach tree blooms

dandelion puffs

apple tree time

trampoline days

prickly borage 

and forget-me-nots

 

What  signs of Spring have sprung in your part of the world?




 

handwork

 

 

 When we're in need of some quiet time or slow moving around here we find ourselves heading for the handwork basket. Zahra tells me that for her, handwork is " like getting stuff out of the road, out of my mind".  There's definitely a meditative rhythm to handwork that not only creates mind space and stillness but often leads to something beautiful and practical to have in the home or give as a gift. Whether it be with wool or thread, one needle or two, a spindle, wheel or shuttle, handwork has become part of the fabric of our days.

 
(homemade loom from Earthwise)

 
 
 
 
 

Seeing Zahra use her hands in this way brings immense joy, pride and peace. A combination of imitation, rhymes, poems, determination and being surrounded from a young age by a Mama and Meme who love handwork and handmade, have led this little girl from burlap and blunt ended tapestry needles to felting, knitting and embroidering her own designs. A few well placed tips from other bloggers out there and books such as the First Book of Knitting for Children, The Creative Family , and Earthways have also certainly helped to bring handwork into our home.

 

 

 

 

 

(bib pattern by Charlotte Lyons , embroidery design is my own) 

 
 

 A lovely exercise I was taught in a women's workshop earlier this year reminded me just how much our hands do and how precious they are. Much like a meditation body scan this exercise gets you focusing on individual parts of the body, sensing them and creating a space of awareness and gratitude. For each body part we all repeated "these are my ...., I am grateful for my .....". And so with the hands. These are my hands, I am grateful for my hands. It was a  reminder to myself that each part of me is unique, intrinsic and something to be grateful for. Our hands really are amazing things. What they accomplish each day is mind blowing. They prepare meals that nourish, hold loved ones close, wipe away tears, get us from A to B, express words, touch, hang on, let go, dig in the Earth, create and when we need to, they can slow us down. Renate Miller offers a beautiful insight into handwork. She is a woman of my own heart and her words bring  home to me why I find myself turning to handwork time and time again.

Here's to many days filled with handwork and peace.xox Chontelle

 

 

I heart...

 

Driving home from university yesterday I got to thinking about this time of year and how crazy busy it always feels. There was the surprise of the first truly warm day, with a hint of Summer's promised heat blowing in a breeze that felt like it was coming off desert country. That slow, inward energy of Winter was all but blown away with this wind, as nature springs into a time of creative action and growth...as do we. Looking at my thoughts I realised my mind was all a swirl with  final assignments and exams, studio time, gallery shifts, exhibitions, parcels to post, homeschooling, planting Summer seeds, dinner, this space, walking the dog, connections with family and friends...and on it goes. A little too fast and chaotic much like the feverish Spring growth and hustle and bustle I feel all around me. At times I feel swept along  with the fast moving pace with nothing firm and grounded to hold onto to and yet at other times I feel that I am moving slow and simply while the whirl wind continues around me. It is these times when I feel grounded and slow, when the hustle can bustle as fast as it likes and I am not carried along in it's grasp, that my mind is quiet and things get done, without hassle or stress no matter how small or big a task. And yet I always find that when the current has such a strong grip that I struggle to keep up I am thrown a lifeline that forces me to slow down, take a breath and regroup. Yesterday this lifeline took the form of a lifeless camera battery, small critters making their home in Miss Z's hair, an evening of being unplugged from the wide world of the web, a night of fevers and disturbed sleep which has been followed by a day of rain. So while today's lectures went unattended, last night's post went unpublished and assignments have not been started we have have slowed, breathed and grounded ourselves. Sleep is being had by a feverish little one, our girls' nest full of fresh eggs has been found, laundry hangs on the line, albeit soggy from the Spring showers, our hair smells sweet from a natural essential oil creepy crawly treatment, freshly roasted muesli cools on the stove top and the vegie seeds are doing their do. 

 

Through this I hear the voice of my Wise Robin singing her sweet song. It is the song of slow and simple living, being present in the moment with myself and my family, connection with the Earth through her seasons and truly listening... listening to what I heart in life.

What song does your Wise Robin sing?

 

There's a lovely giveaway on Madeline's blog The Things We Do. Drop by and enter to win some Spring goodness. 

little birdwatcher

 

 

   

It was a while ago now that I started on a cushion for Miss Zahra to cosy up on whilst birdwatching through the window. We are blessed with beautifully wide window seat style windowsills, the sort you can spread out on and enjoy the winter sunshine, gaze out from and watch the changing seasons, curl up on and read a book or in this case wait on to watch the feeding birds. They've been begging for some cushions to entice us to spend more time just being.

This was my second attempt at patchwork and after having learnt from my first attempt that a little brushing up doesn't go astray I headed straight for this book and opted for the simple log cabin style. Miss Z requested that a  blue faced honey-eater, her favourite to watch Winter bird, be somewhere on the cushion and after deliberating over colours and fabrics the whole thing came together surprising quick. Honest...if you can sew a straight line on a machine and use a pair of scissors then Bob's your Uncle.  This patient girl of mine has been asking me for the last three months if I've finished it... and finally I could answer not with a "soon", but with a resounding "yes, it's done." I had it finished for her birthday , on the first day of Spring, and it has been sitting, waiting 'window -side' for my girl to venture back to, for her morning bird watching ritual.

 

 

 

 

And while the camellias have finished flowering and the blue faced honey-eaters have moved on there are still plenty of feathered friends about for my little birdwatcher to enjoy.
 

 

 

this new space

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

I have a new space.

It's not big. In fact it's tiny... six feet by twelve. A shoebox or storage cupboard of sorts.

But it's full of natural light, I'm surrounded by artists and it's by the river.

I'm not really sure what I'm going to do in this new space and if I'm really honest there's a little fear behind the scenes.

What if I'm taking creativity out of our home, am I really an artist, can I even call myself that, what if it makes my life complicated when I'm striving for simple, what if I don't produce any work, what if...what if...what if...

I stop and breathe.

I look around as I sit in this new space, sunlight pouring through the window, my girl painting on the floor in between rushing in and out with handfuls of flowers from the garden, friends popping by...

I have always dreamed of having my own studio. A space purely for creating. A space that gives structure to ideas. A space where I don't need to pack everything away so we can eat at the table. A space to let my hands, heart and head wander.

So amongst all the mind chatter I find my heart, the voice of my Wise Robin, and I listen.

This new space feels good and exciting. There's possibility.

For the time being I am happy to sit and be in this new space. Get a feel for it.

...and the rest will follow.

lately

 Lately we have been...

 

creating

 

finding

 

 

gathering 

 savouring

 shifting

breathing in 

breathing out 

and generally soaking up Spring 

 

 

to me Spring is....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

To me Spring is...

a huge breath out after the long breath in of Winter

sunlight on waking

open doors and windows

birdsong

 bold colours of the bush in flower

blue skies and fluffy white clouds

moisture oozing up from the Earth

showers of blossom petals

a quickening of the last Winter vegies in the garden

the unveiling of Wintered white skin

 warm sun on bare arms

the scent of freesia and wattle

soft breezes

a lush, flush of green

rustlings in the grass

light in the sky at dinner time

dewy mornings

the beginning of forgotten clock time

the colour and smell of fresh flowers throughout our home

cleaning out of clutter

the steady hum of bees

the sound of hustle and bustle

a refreshed, revitalised and re-energised mind

the golden glow of sunlight through eyelids

packets of seeds, mulch and curious chooks

growth in many forms

new beginnings

 

(Marjan van Zeyl)

 

To you Spring is....? 

 

 

 

from me to you

 

 

Remember this little ...head? Well he or she had been staring up at me along with Mother Earth for some time. And seeing that Mother Earth was getting her body I thought it only fair that this one should also claim a body. So when I was making felt the other day I made some extra.

 

 
 
 
 

Seeing that it is Spring I thought I might inspire some of you to add to or start your own seasonal nature table. So I'm offering this Spring child as my first seasonal giveaway to one lucky reader.

 

...with a Spring fairy thrown in for good measure.

All you have to do is leave a comment (overseas readers welcome too) and I will announce the winner via this post on Sunday 11th September.

*Happy Spring Everyone*

 

 

these hands

 

This past week has seen these hands busy with birthday making.

Birthdays seem to creep up so fast and before I know it there's less than a week to get something together. Remember Mother Earth...patiently waiting for a body?

 

Well, she's been joined by these three...destined to be Mother Earth's root children for our seasonal nature table. As Miss Zahra's birthday falls on the first calendar day of Spring, changing our seasonal nature table has become a fun birthday tradition. I still remember when as a three year old she was so excited to see the new season displayed this way on the morning of her birthday. Every year I make something new to add to the table.

  
 
 

 
 
 
 

I loosely followed the instructions in this book and bought last minute supplies from here (ordered on a Thursday... had it the next morning!) I must admit that I am quietly relieved to see Mother Earth in her entirety and I no longer have to look at her bodiless head sitting on my studio table.

 

 

 

Every year I also add something to Zahra's birthday crown. While I soaked up some of that delicious early Spring light a sun took its place next to last years moon and her 4th year heart. 

 

 

 

This skirt kind of came about by accident. I set out to buy half a metre of fabric for another project and came home with two metres of this. I'm a sucker not only around birthday time but for fabric, especially when it is something as cute as this mistletoe and owl print ( it came off the Christmas fabric rack!) and is chosen by my girl for a skirt with twirl factor.  This Oliver + S Lazy Days Skirt is super easy to make. I tried a french seam for the first time ever instead of your basic seam to give it that little extra bit of Mama washing, kiddie wearing strength.

 

 

And remember this Moda flandango flannel fat quarter bundle? When I bought it months ago I had grand plans of making Zahra a quilt for her birthday. I got as a far as cutting the fabric to size...but you know one day before a birthday there are some things that just need to be let go of.

* Happy Birthday Sweet Girl *

another beautiful day

 

 

an early wake up

watching the sunrise

surprises

pancakes, lemon, sugar

music

 memories

 tears

the yoga garden game...over and over

window drawing

blossoms and sunshine

sausages, sauce, bread

riverside

lying in the grass

ice cream

balloons

friends, tea, cake

dal, naan, gulab jamun

sleepy girl

home

sheets

sleep

dream

And so starts her seventh journey around the sun

Love to all who made this day special