the Wise Robin

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 

stitch by stitch

 

The beautiful Autumn sunshine was replaced this week by steel grey skies, drizzle and rather chilly weather. With snow falling in the mountains and no sign of our heating being installed anytime soon, we've been spending our days camped next to a space heater a friend lent us. The hotties have come out of storage and mugs of dandelion tea with honey and almond milk , oh so good, are permanent fixtures throughout the day. My knitting basket has been waiting quietly by Niamh's bouncer for the past ten weeks or so, ready for weather such as this. The early stitches of something new for each of my girls are taking shape.

In the dim light of our bedroom, where I spend a lot of my time these days settling this sensitive little eight week old soul, the woodland green stitches of Niamh's knit go round and round. An easy knit that is perfect for low light conditions, snatched moments, a stitch here and a stitch there, makes no difference whether I'm coming or going kind of knit. And the bonus being it gets left by the bedside for a few rows before lights out.

 

In the moments between settling, feeding, playing, schooling, cooking, showering, laundry and general day to day stuff that fill our days, there is the huddling by the heater or curling up on the couch with a  cosy throw purple beret knitting. I'm determined to have this hat on my girl by weeks end, to keep her head warm as she cuddles chooks, builds fairy houses and climbs trees, all barefoot I might add.

These days are guaged by the stitches on my needles. Whether a few stitches or whole rows I know the day's been a good one when I've had the needles in my hand.

Cxo

 

sweet rain

 

Yesterday we got caught in the rain. Sweet rain that we need so much, the garden is so dry. The warm Autumn sunshine has disappeared, now it feels like snow in the mountains. Laundry is drying in the loungeroom, Kaya is curled up in front of the space heater that we're running...still no sign of our replacement heating. Enjoying the vivid Autumn colours spread like warm blankets on the tree roots. Branches are bare and raindrops hang like jewels on their fingertips. Feeling snug and cosying up with hot drinks on the couch as we listen and watch it fall.

xoC

 

babylove

 

I promise you this will be the only time I post sequences of baby pics. I couldn't resist that cheeky smile. I wore that dress when I was a bub!

xoC

 

 

Meme

My Mum has been visiting for the past week. Living so far away means this is the first chance she's had to catch up with us and meet her newest grand-daughter. This now makes her Meme to eight grandchildren. Today she left, heading back up North, after a week so full of her generosity and amazing-ness. I know that's not really a word but I couldn't quite find one that fits her so well. Our house is sparkling, there are meals in the freezer, piles of fresh laundry to put away, a gifted hydrangea bush ready to pot and books to read.  Her last night with us was spent concocting a treasure hunt for Zahra. So clever she is this Mum of mine.

 

Start at the mail box and look inside please,

Be quick as a fox to look under autumn leaves.

 

 

Look in the garden where grey rocks lie,

Fairy daisies will catch your eye.

 

 

Behind the camellia fairy's house, a rope ladder you will find,

Look in the branches to which is entwined.

 

 

Climb the stairs to the rasberry bush,

Fairies live here, be careful, do not push.

 

 

Go back down the stairs and through the gate,

around the corner where the wheelbarrow waits.

 

 

Look to the swing, look up high,

the fork of a tree you will spy.

 

 

Go back along the path, turn right at the door,

the chive flower fairies have something instore.

 

 

The pumpkin fairies are out and about,

look among stems and flowers to scout them out.

 

 

The rhubarb queen is so devine. Red, tall stalks, she is sublime.

Under the leaves you will find, clue number nine.

 

 

The chook ladies love to nest in here, fresh eggs every day,

Lift the lid to see the hen that is hiding clue number ten.

 

 

The trampoline is good exercise. Climb on, look high.

The tree holds a basket, inside is your prize.

 

It was with sadness that I waved her goodbye today, not for the help she has given us, which is deeply appreciated, but for the fact that there is nothing better than having your Mama's company when there is a new babe in the house. 

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mama's out there who are spreading their amazing-ness

xoC

 

those days

 

Today was one of those days...but at least there were fresh eggs, sunshine, tea roses and dark chocolate.

xoC

today

 

Today was a good day. Breakfast in bed for my oldest little and a very interested onlooker.  A trampoline day. There was a bite to the sunshine, the last reminder of a Summer just gone, and a first date post Niamh. It may have only been to the store for late night grocery shopping, but it felt good. Both girls tucked up in bed and us out on the town. 

 

Happy Days

xoC

this day

 

Well, I know I said one picture, but I liked all three.

Me and my girl in the bush, while my amazing Mama soothes a baby, cooks us tea and does all those wonderful things that only a Mum could do.

xoC

these days

 

We're taking things day by day here in the house on the hill. Niamh only sleeps on my chest, next to my heart, as we go about our day.  The sun still warms us but is disappearing behind the hill earlier each afternoon. We're slowly finding a rhythm to family life once again. Autumn is in her full glory with bursts of earthy colour carpeting the neighbourhood, clinging to branches and shimmering in the golden sunshine. Our house is chilly as we wait for new heating to be installed. It seems that Autumn is disappearing fast and Winter will be soon upon us.  We wait eagerly each morning for Jake, our postie, to deliver the first installment of the Grey Fox Epistles. Things are just chugging along.

Thought I'd post a picture a day for a while. A reflection on these days.

xoC