the Wise Robin

petal & green

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everywhere I turned this week there were petals & green.  Petals in candy floss sprays, petals fluttering like wedding day confetti, petals in skirts on the ground, petals still waiting, curled in bulging buds & the green, oh the green, it's practically flourescent. The bush is bursting with freesias & chocolate lilies.Thank goodness the freesias are a weed because their smell is irresistable & we can't but help stop & pick some when out walking. The whole house smells like sweet spring, the growing season has begun! We've been mowing for the past month already & its quickly becoming a once a week job. Sometimes I like getting behind the mower but we live on a hill.  I've been casually eyeing our gutters, full to overflowing. It won't be long before fire season so I guess I'll move the ladder down the hill from the mandarin tree & leave it in view from the bedroom window as a reminder for me & a hint for Will. He's on night shift for three weeks so my days and nights are l.o.n.g.  He creeps into bed around five thirty & we creep around the house during the day trying not to wake him. Thank goodness it's spring & we can go play in the petals & green. Last Monday was Zahra's birthday. She was rapt in Miss Juniper Kitty. Turns out we had a teensy suitcase which was the perfect size for the kitter's spring wardrobe. I love how it all turned out, Alicia is one talented lady, but it didn't come together without some pain & a few late nights. My machine could only just comprehend the miniature seam allowances, often grabbing the fabric by it's teeth & dragging it under {perhaps I was using the wrong foot}. Lawn is sensitive stuff. I love it, but responding to fragile was not on my list of sewing skills. It was more reaction than response with a few choice words thrown in. But we both pulled through & now Miss Juniper has a spring wardrobe for walks in the woods & wildmeadows, garden tea parties & library adventures. I even threw in a nightgown and breakfast jacket for those lazy mornings reading in bed. I never understood the concept of the breakfast jacket until someone explained it to me last week. Now I'm thinking I'd like one. Not that I get to laze in bed or sit up having my breakfast brought to me & it certainly wouldn't be one of those frou frou things one finds in the op shops. I imagine something hand knitted, maybe with a delicate fair isle or lace work yoke, three quarter sleeves, swing jacket like. Something you could put on for reading in bed, but get away with leaving your pyjama top on underneath, & strolling around the nighbourhood in, without anyone knowing you were still in your pyjamas and breakfast jacket.  Miss Juniper has taken to sitting up in bed most mornings wearing her nightgown & breakfast jacket as Zahra reads, then it's into her garden party dress and legwarmers for a Sunday in the secret garden. On the day, I spent all afternoon baking. Zahra requested her favourites, caramelised onion & feta tart, homemade tomato soup & rhubarb pie for dessert. I didn't get an after shot because we were so busy eating but I do finally have the vanilla almond cake recipe for you. It's easy peasy to make, dense & moist & morish, just how I wanted it.  I don't know why but I'll just mention this... I never read Charlotte's Web when I was a kid, or maybe it's that I don't remember reading it, surely I'd remember a story like that. Zahra & I finished it together last week & now I've smuggled it onto my bedside table to read it again. What a gorgeous story. The part where he describes the swing in the barn & how the humans don't see how marvellous Charlotte is & how Charlotte dies at the fair, all alone, I was blubbering. What a great book, go grab yourself a copy.

 

 

The Long Track Vanilla Almond Cake

1 cup sugar

1  & 1/2 cups almond meal ( I make my own in our thermomix using raw almonds, so the texture is quite heavy & grainy compared to the fluffy texture of store bought almond meal. You can make your own almond meal too in a food processor. Just make sure you don't over mill the almonds because you will end up with almond butter. They are a greasy nut. Store bought almond meal works fine, your cake will just have a lighter texture)

2/3 cups dessicated coconut

6 eggs

Seeds from 1 vanilla pod 

1/2 to 1 tsp. almond extract, depending on how much you like this flavour. I usually add just over 1/2 a tsp.

1 tbsp. of your choice of vegetable oil { I use a lightly flavoured olive oil or grapeseed oil}

A good handful of flaked almonds

 

Preheat oven 180 ^o  C. Line a cake tin with baking paper making sure to use enough paper so that you can lift the cake out using the paper 'handles' & also to cover the top of the cake once baked ( see the picture above). In a bowl combine the almond meal, sugar & coconut. Mix in the eggs, vanilla, almond extract & oil until the mixture is thoroughly combined. Alternatively you can put everything into an electric mixer & mix on a medium speed until it is well combined. Transfer the mixture to your lined baking pan & sprinkle with flaked almonds. Bake for 30 mins or until a skewer comes out clean from the centre of the cake. Using your paper handles take your cake out of the pan, leave the paper underneath the cake and set it on a cooling rack. We usually eat a piece right away, while it is still hot from the oven. When your cake has cooled use the excess paper around the sides of the cake to wrap up your cake & store in an airtight container. I store mine in a glass cloche which is not airtight but wrapping the paper around the cake keeps it moist. We find the cake gets better with age.  If I am making this recipe to take to a friends house I will bake it the day before. Happy baking.

 

 

 

 

 

catch up

 

135/365

 the old making the bed parachute trick. haven't met a kid that doesn't love it.

 

134/365

 

a rainy day indoors 

 

133/365

 

my little bird watcher , with breakfast on the windowsill, watching all the winter birds. eastern spine bills, silver-eyes, sparrows, white cheeked honeyeaters and wattlebirds

 

132/365

 

 

always reaching for something or other, things that are out of reach. our saftey margin on tabletops and benches is receding as niamh grows, stands on tiptoes, climbs. the back of the couch , our place to stash those few untouchables out of her reach, is no more.

 

 

last week disappered so quickly & before i knew it there were almost two weeks of 365 photos backlogged on my desktop. it was rainy& blustery, sunny & grey, foggy & cold, all sunshiny & warm. the last of the autumn weather. we spent a lot of time indoors, peering out. niamh comes to me with her wellies & a hat asking to go out. zahra is happy to stay in until the sun bursts through then she's gone , into the garden, to her fairy realm & chookie friends. i didn't do any gardening on account of the wet weather, but fed the girls with the glass-bead eyes, who didn't seem bothered by wet feet & feathers. i've been trying to get a good photo of them but they're shy & run under the big, old, apple tree when they see me coming. their eyes are big & black, shiny like onyx & they have petticoat upon petticoat of feathery pantaloons.  we made rhubarb pie & walked through damp paddocks, where chimney smoke & setting sun mingled. there were perfect early morning spider webs & fresh greens to pick from our garden. the last of the roses are opening & soon it will be time to prune, set them to bed until spring. the greyness of winter is usually a welcome sight to me. it means cosying up, knitting, soups & hot chocolate, baking & snow. but for some reason this year i'm dreading the few short, sharp, months of winter & am eager for spring already. not sure what that's about. could be the indoor laundromat we've got going on or the lack of mud room & the bobillion pairs of muddy shoes & mud inside at the backdoor, right in the kitchen.  i do know i need gumboots though. easy in & easy out, into the yard, the vegie garden, up to the compost heap, first thing in the morning to feed the girls. my last pair finally died, so gumbot shopping i must go. i did do some early christmas shopping, can you believe it, i'm feeling very organised. i ordered the miss juniper kitty for zahra and miss phyllis mouse for niamh & another ornament kit which i use as stocking stuffers. that alicia is so talented. the indoor time has been good for sitting down to some knitting. i'm trying out my first lace pattern. if anyone had asked me a few years back if i'd be knitting something fancy pants like this i would have laughed, because back then a rib stitch was challenging. but here i am, following a lace chart of all things & even though i frogged it a dozen times i really am enjoying it. it's challenging & new. who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks. so this week i'll be thinking about mud room solutions, waiting for the postie, dodging hanging laundry, going about our general homeschooling rhythm, knitting, purling, passing slipped stitches over and going horseriding for the first time in five years. i can't telll you how excited and nervous my tummy feels. happy working week wherever you may be.

 

 

meet ivy

 

 

the weather is definitely starting to turn here. yesterday zahra and i spotted leaves that were positively autumnal in tone, not because it's been so scorchingly hot but because it really is autumn now. the weather is sooooo much more mellow. no hunkering down inside after nine o'clock to avoid being frazzled. our house has cooled off completely and now i'm throwing open the windows to let the warm air in. we're living in one of those 40's double red brick homes that typifies the architecture of this town, (unless your counting the revolting developments that have been allowed to go ahead, replacing lovely old houses. local council ya'll know what i'm talking about) which seem to have their seasons all misconstrued. hot in summer, cold in winter. maybe you're living in one too. just means when we're in between seasons it could be short sleeve weather outside but inside we're all rugged up. it's exciting though. i love autumn, she's my favourite season. spring follows pretty close behind but nothing beats those mild days, chilly mornings, the colour, the golden light, thoughts of wool and hot chocolate, cinnamon and warm ovens. bring it on.  i feel like i completely missed autumn and winter last year, spring too now that i think back. we were deep in babyland, trying to catch some shut eye, working out our rhythm as a family of four. now we've emerged. not fully, we only have windows of time with which to work. two hours in the middle of the day, first thing in the morning or late afternoon. and quite frankly who could be bothered even trying to leave the house before niamh has to go back to bed, lucky duck, by nine. we flop around in our pyjamas instead, the girls playing while i get the laundry happening, breakfast cooked, dishwasher unstacked then restacked. i was thinking just now how lovely it would be to have a cleaning person. i was about to say lady, but who says they have to be a lady. that would rock. going out for a wee while only to return to a sparkly house, none of which i lifted a finger to do. however i would feel the need to tidy up before they came. hmmm. where was i more to the point. meet ivy, that's right. this is ivy. she likes sleeping in, lazy afternoons curled up in a sun filled corner of the house, taking long walks in her perambulator, lots of cuddles, being smothered in cosy bedlinen, and general laying about in comfy velour housewear. i made her for niamh's first birthday. the quilt and the cardigan are still works in progress, but ivy, ivy i managed to get finished before the big day. she even comes complete with her own little handstitched quilt that zahra sewed for her. i must admit i'm rather proud of ivy and have been spotted on more that one occassion snuggling with her. oh, and niamh loves her too. she has a round tum and i even gave her a little bottom. she's definitely not the grumpy type, unlike zahra's belle. sorry belle and zahra. this time i had success with a somewhat neutral expression. i used this tutorial rather loosely but it was definitely helpful. the hardest part i found, and only because i'm no good at it, was the mossy green jumpsuit. i love, love this colour, and a suitable autumn shade for my autumn babe i do think. but velour, hooley dooley what a nightmare to sew. i've never worked with stretch fabrics before, i even read up about them in my sewing machine manual, but still had a lot of trouble. in the end all was good and there she was. our ivy, well niamh's ivy.  there you go.

 

 

springtime quilt

 

 

 

ah, spring is nearly over. the air still has a chill to it some days but the blossoms disappeared long ago and the hills are beginning to turn the golden, straw colour of summer. this spring i finally finished zahra's birthday quilt. my very first quilt [exciting]. it was three years in the making, mainly because i couldn't settle on the right fabrics, which now means i have a heap of fat quarter bundles in my fabric stash. this time, instead of picking a quilting bundle i just let loose and keeping zahra's favourite colours in mind, went with my intuition, picking individual fabrics. pinks, purples and turquoise, with the odd splash of red. i used alicia's ollalieberry ice cream quilt for the design and construction, playing with the square size to suit my beginner's needs and the time constraints of having a newborn that didn't sleep much. after a little math to work out how much fabric i needed, i was really surprised how easy the whole process was. i must say i'm a little proud of this springtime quilt. it's light, cosy and fits my girl to a tee. 

 

 

 

 

that's her on the morning of her birthday after unwrapping it. made my heart swell it did. she's growing fast this not so little girl of mine. i embroidered a little message on the back so in years to come when she is snuggled deep in her springtime quilt she'll know how loved she is. now, what's one to do with all that left over fat quarter goodness? a quilt for niamh or a lap quilt for late night knitting? happy last days of spring my friends and happy weekending too.

 

 

 

late August

 

 

There is so much pink and white, lush, lush green and sky blue outdoors these past days. The teasings of Spring have begun. Swelling buds reveal just a hint of the colour and life beneath. The vibrant yellow green of growing grass reminds us of the mowing season ahead and warm sunshine beckons us to stop and soak it all in. Beanies have been replaced with sunhats and the days are becoming noticeably longer as the sun crawls higher in the sky and our girls stay up later and later catching those few last bugs before the night's roost. The soft lingering light of twilight has replaced the hurry home heaviness of Winter evenings.

Doors and windows were thrown open these last few days and the daffodils we planted weeks ago have finally uncurled from their earthy rest. Zahra is spending more time outdoors than in, and I can hear her out in the yard singing in the season. She is a Spring girl this one, born on the first calendar day of the new season. Something she is proud of and holds dear to her heart. When people ask her when her birthday is she replies not with a date but with "the first day of Spring". This weekend she turns eight. An age where I can feel her letting go just a little from me, making more of her own way out in the world in ever so small ways. This year for her birthday I am gifting her a quilt. My first quilt. A quilt for her to wrap herself in and dream big, beautiful, dreams about her life. A quilt to remind her of how loved she is. A quilt that she may, this Mama hopes, have with her for many years to come. A quilt that this Mama has yet to finish.

There is more rain forecast later this week and I'm sure the easterlies will return giving us a final blast of cold air off the mountains just to remind us Winter is not done yet. But in these late August days we are getting out there and breathing in the slow unfurling of Spring.

Happy New season to you

Cxo 

 

fast, last minute birthday bunting

 

 

Yesterday was William's birthday. Presents were wrapped, a cake baked, paper chains hung and party hats made. Then half an hour before he was due home I decided to make bunting, because a) it was an excuse to sew, b) what's a party without a bit of bunting and c) I work best with impending deadlines. Zahra and I pulled out the fabric suitcases and picked out five fabrics from vintage sheets, fat quarter's, ticking and old shirts. My trusty assistant cut the triangles with pinking shears, while I traced using the template I'd kept from the last batch of last minute bunting I made. I have learnt to never throw templates away. With no ribbon or bias on hand that was long enough, I opted for a thick, wrapping string. At which point William called to say he was on his way home to which I responded that maybe he could go do something 'nice' for half an hour.

 

Off to the machine we went. Zahra sat under the table and worked the pedal to the instructions of stop, go, faster, while I stitched.

 

And before William walked through the door half an hour later we had it finished and hung. Super fast, super easy birthday bunting!

 

I love the go, go, gadget arms.

I think this idea of birthday stitching is fast becoming a tradition for our family.

Now to find a hook.

 

Happy Birthday my love

Cxo

PS: the cake, waiting for it's icing and roast hazelnuts, was Nigella's Torta Alla Gianduia.  So yummy.

paper and ink

 

 

Last week I managed to squeeze some card making in between the feeding and settling. It felt good to get my hands into some paper and ink. I'd been thinking I'd like to make something small for all the women in my birth blessing circle, something seasonal.  Inspiration came from the ginkgo tree down in our local botanical gardens which is just beginning to turn a beautiful shade of buttery, gold. The weather has snapped cold and we even had rain last night. It feels so special when it finally does rain these days, I think the last time it fell was the day Niamh was born.  I remember hearing it on the awning outside our bedroom window as I laboured. We've been putting on extra, warm layers indoors these days, as we freeze, waiting for our new heating to be installed. The girls were waiting on the back doorstep this morning, hungry and bedraggled from the weather and a friend dropped by unexpectedly for cups of tea and baby cuddles. We drove around the countyrside to settle the babe, so my hands could be free for a little while, but she was wide eyed the whole way. She is asleep in my arms as I type one handed. Thinking about dinner, seeing blue sky out the window, waiting for my big girl to come home from gym.

xoC

cicada song

 

With the cicada's in full swing , temperatures rising, the surrounding hills taking on a paler hue and  doors closing to keep out the heat, the shift in seasons is certainly upon us. This morning our postman delivered some eagerly awaited crafting materials and books, so Zahra and I  declared our Summer Solstice crafting season officially open. We have a tradition of waiting until December before cracking open the decoration box, Christmas books and music but crafting which is usually left to the last minute has begun early this year.  Zahra hid herself away in her room this morning issuing strict instructions not to come in. She emerged a few hours later declaring all of her Solstice gifting complete and wrapped apart from a trip to the store for some chocolate ( Green and Blacks Dark, with a hint of Madagascar vanilla please).

The snow day embroidery sampler I ordered from Rosy Little Things, back when I was lying on the couch in that first trimester haze, is taking shape quite nicely. They're fiddly things, but oh so beautiful when finished and great for slowing things down. I think I'm living vicariously through that adorable red coat with mittens. Ever since a little girl I've always dreamed of a wearing a red coat through the winter months, there's something kind of fairy tale about them.

Making this time of year meaningful for us in a southern hemisphere context is always a challenge. Everything apart from the old, cliched Santa Claus driving a ute and wearing thongs, which doesn't really fit for us,  takes on a northern seasonal bent of snow and holly, which I must admit I do love, (another dream of mine... to have a white Christmas). This year I'm going to try a little harder to weave some of our own seasonal magic into Solstice.

happy seasonal crafting to you dear friends

Cxo

too cute

 

 

My craft swap package arrived in the mail today. We opened it with much excitement and found this little treasure inside....too cute. Check out Lou's site Bibliographica where she shares all of her handmades and beautiful photography. What a lovely beginning to the week.

Happy Monday

Cxo

weekend sewing

 

 

A little weekend sewing for a dear friend, inspired by Kelly Doust's elegant Clutch from the Crafty Minx, was the perfect remedy for a wintry weekend. I love this fabric, a beautiful, botanical, op-shopped sheet that I've been stashing for just the right project. Paired with some green linen this earthy mix was perfect for a crafty Mama's birthday this week. Happy Birthday Kate! I added a wrist strap and a happy accident resulted in a little feature of the inside fabric on the front flap. I loved the colour combo of the green and mustard so much I made myself a little messenger bag. It fits my wallet, keys, phone and a few other odds and ends comfortably without being bulky or getting in the way. I did discover one significant design fault today... three more inches and there would have been enough room for a pair of needles and a ball of wool.

 

 

And there was some excitement here yesterday when a pair of King parrots found and made a sizeable dent in our homemade birdfeeder. Such a splash of colour against those bare trees. The chooks had a great time cleaning up the  debris underneath....they eat with gusto these beautiful visitors.

 

 

Cxo

a new week

 

In amongst the gardening, knitting (or undoing of), tidying, cups of tea, storybook reading and general weekending business, I finished off a little embroidery and sewing project for a friend.

 

 

Charlottle Lyons' beautiful bib design was my initial inspiration when I started making these little bibs for gifts. And beautiful as they are I found the bib a little small and finicky when turning outside in after sewing. I was excited when I happened upon Oliver and S Little Things to Sew in our local library (which has been on my rather embarrassingly, thirty two page long wishlist for quite some time) and even more excited that there was a bib pattern inside. The Messy Kid Bib is nothing like what I ended up with here but I used its more generous sizing as a guide when making up a new pattern for these bibs.

 

 

I've been watching fern fronds unfurl and mushrooms pop up in our garden over the past few weeks. The fairy wrens have also started visiting us which is exciting, we haven't seen them in our garden before. A tiny bit of Autumn for three new little people.

 

All wrapped up and ready to go. A good start to the week

And a happy new week to all of you

   ~ Cxo~

 

 

 

 

 

this week

This week final year exams were sat...

it rained, all night and into the morning

new moon celebrations

...and a little bit of bag making. One for a six year birthday and the other for river time, pool time and the seaside. It is rather ginormous, the pattern traced from a friends enormous pool bag. But hey, it fits four bath sheet sized towels, spare clothes, nibbles, the all essential book of the moment, my camera, hats, sunscreen, bathers, collected treasures...and all the rest. I love it. Bring on summer! 

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 *

brown paper packages, playlists and other things...

 
 

 
 
 

We spent the better part of the week cosied up inside watching rain fall and settling back into our winter rhythm. We ventured outdoors briefly for some river time but I quickly learnt that knitting in gloves is not an option and knitting without them , well... no need to go there. Normally we would be getting out more, even for a quick walk up in the bush for Kaya, but this week we had other business to take care of. Today was William's birthday so some 'making' was in order.

Before Miss Z and I travelled up north I casually spread some beanie pics around the house and casually asked him if he liked any of them. Oblivious to the lovely patterns that I had spread around the house William stumbled upon a pattern book that I had out for some other project, which ordinarily he wouldn't have even noticed and which just happened to have a man on the front with a black, grey and white striped beanie. Now, I have nothing against these colours, in fact I consider them classic and stylish, however, black and white stripes also happen to be the Collingwood team colours and lets get something straight right now ... AFL is not my thing, I'm more of a soccer kinda gal. Besides, a girl  has got to like what she knits, right?

I must say that leaving the wool store that day with the appropriate amount of black, grey and white 12 ply, Patons JET alpaca/ wool blend hidden under my arm, I felt like a knitting fraud...isn't buying wool for a project you don't particular like and are certain you're not going to enjoy knitting a knitting crime of one sort or another?

 
 
 

 
 
 

Upon getting home Miss Zahra painted up a 'secret business going on, do not enter' kind of sign and headed to the craft books to get some inspiration for her own project. She came across a sweet image in Meet Me at Mike's and decided that embroidery was going to be her thing for a present. She drew a picture which I then traced onto some linen and with a little help from Mama to get her started she was on her way. Meanwhile, after casting on, brewing some chai and spinning some tunes this Mama was having a teensy bit of trouble with the rib. We'd already listened to Curious George, Little Hopes, Shaka Zulu, Stevie Wonder ( and before you say anything "Isn't She Lovely" is Miss Z's favourite right now, and Superstitious has a good beat to knit to), Angus and Julia Stone, and most of Chinatown, when "It's not Happening" came on and... I ripped and started for the third time. It was a simple K2, P2 rib and it was eluding me. When I quieted my mind of all the not wanting to knit this attitude the rib started to flow and we made some progress.

 
 
 

Then I started noticing the feel of the wool and how easy the 12ply was to work and you know what happened next...I found myself enjoying the process and loving how this beanie was coming together. A few rows here and a few rows there, helping my little one in between with her stitching and before you know it, voila, a beanie and an adorable Miss Z original ( Zahra stitched the cloud, ground and flower. I helped with the rest).

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Knitting and embroidery aside, we headed to the store for some small gifts, then it was onto wrapping paper, birthday tags, cards and bunting. I have always wanted to make bunting and with an excuse like a birthday and cold weather outdoors... well, the rest as they say is history.

 
 

I was brought up on pancakes and cake for birthday breakfasts but a big cook up was what this birthday boy was looking for. The whole day turned out to be about food and eating, which for those of you who know Will, is just the way he likes it ( Italian genes and all, what can I say). We headed off to Rutherglen for some Parkers Pies, a divine orange almond baby cake and a citrus tart for Miss Z.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

After which we returned home to a kitchen full of dishes, a light dinner of leek and potato soup with sourdough, and a flourless chocolate cake with raspberry coulis for dessert. Yum. 

I look at the beanie in a new light now, not only has it taught me about letting go...again, which is a really useful tool to have in your belt as a Mama, but it has taught me about compromise. After all, it did have grey stripes in it, which means technically it doesn't qualify as a Collingwood beanie. Well, that's what I'm telling myself anyway.

Happy Week Beginning!

PS: I've had a few requests for tutorials on some of our projects. Let me know what your interested in and I'll post one.

 

journeying

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Some last minute crafting and we were on our way....to sunshine and seaside.

 

(Byron Bay)

 
 
 
 
 

(Lismore winter solstice lantern festival)

Ten days  of friends, warmth, inspiration, exploring, delicious food, like minded souls, sand and seashells, answered questions, knitting, journeying and take home treasures.

 

We returned home exhausted (you know that good kind of exhausted, satisfied exhausted), to storm clouds, rain, near freezing temperatures, familiarity, fresh winter colds and our own beds.

As soon as we walked in the door Miss Z was off finger knitting and asking if she could "please knit with needles now",bless her heart, which was closely followed by some bonding with the chooks and the dog and her room and her dolls and her books...gives a mama plenty of space to put the kettle on and unpack.

This journey was vital on so many levels and has left me with fresh eyes, insight, replenished creative energy, gratitude and resolve to follow where my heart leads....

 
 
 
 
 
 

...oh,and um... a few finished projects.

 
 
 
 

Thankyou notes have been written and posted, woollies have been reapplied and winter stews grace our table once more as we settle into a fresh rhythm at home.

 

midweek

 

  

It's midweek. Wednesday.

Pondering whether Thursday should actually be midweek, three days either side of it. 

The weekend is not actually separate from the week, just different.

Time is measured in so many ways. For us, right now, it is measured by class bells, traffic lights, stolen moments and sleep. So new to us who delight in an easy morning rhythm and pick our way slowly through the day's moments.

And after I have kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear that I love her forever and always, everything seems to fall away and there is space. Space to do those things that seem so distant sometimes when we are together and my awareness of right now is vague. A space that seems so vast yet vanishes so quickly until we are together again. This space is different.

I am in the middle. The middle of finding a different rhythm. It has caught me unawares. Some days the vast space is filled with necessary tasks, some days with an 'out of sync ' kinda feeling, like today.

 I settle into some creating so I can sing to my rhythm

  

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Something for a new Mama who is trying to settle into a different ryhthm too.

(Bib pattern is by Charlotle Lyons, embroidery design is my own)

 

tom

 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I feel extremely blessed and honoured to have recently worked with local ceramicist extraordinaire, Tom Strachan. I have admired Tom's work for some time now and so  was over the moon (and a tad nervous) when I was asked by a dear friend to photograph his latest  collection- Preserved.

 
 
 
 

 I do not hesitate in the least when I say that this collaboration was quite possibly the best photography job I have had to date. Tom generously indulged me with his time and space, afforded me creative control and fed me copious amounts of tea, words of wisdom, almond chocolate and melt in your mouth Italian biscuits. Oh my. Our days in his studio were peppered with tea breaks in his truly amazing garden, and to top it all off,  I returned home just yesterday with my very own little piece of Tom.

 
Tom gifted me with one of his amazing Eucalyptus camuldulensis (Red Gum) pieces- one of my all time favourite Australian trees. These trees seem to carry and speak the ancient wisdom of this land in their being.

I still need to find her a home, but right now I am happy to sneak little peaks of her from time to time.

serendipity

 My final semester assignment is due this Friday and as I have been known to go to extraordinary procrastinatory measures I figured some kind of intervention was called for. So I set myself a little challenge of sorts .... balance. Balance between head and hands.

So each day I will complete one section of the assignment and to maintain balance for my soul I will try to find the time to create something with my hands. I'm not thinking of anything grand, simple works for the soul just as well. It all started well with section one completed yesterday which was balanced by buttons. Four small buttons. The buttons are for another pair of  Saartje's bootees that came off my needles last week which I then machine felted and have since been used by Miss Z in her imaginative play.

 
 

Day two started with good intentions and then serendipity intervened. It started  when Miss Z's shoes were nowhere to be found. To cut a long story short Miss Z ended up spending the day by my side instead of at her classes. The result being that section 2 of the assignment is as of yet untouched. However, it left plenty of room for feeding our souls through  handwork, in the form of birthday present making ( and as there's been another birth among my circle of friends the count now stands at 6 down still 2 to go). 

I found a small but lovely way of including Miss Z on the sewing machine today. So far she has helped feed material through the machine but as she is on the petite side ( meaning little legs can't reach the peddle while still allowing for a birds eye view of what's going on up top) she hasn't had a chance to 'drive'. Filling bobbins was the perfect way to satisfy my little one's curiosity. And let me just say that when this girl finally learns to drive a car she certainly will know how to rev an engine.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A morning of play and crafting resulted in another pencil roll (with a button and loop type closure this time), drawing book and mirror writing wrapping paper, which was followed by an afternoon in the late Autumn sunshine sharing tea with a dear friend and an evening of soup and pudding surrounded by even more dear friends, a fire and the full moon.

Sometimes the universe  has such a gentle way of nudging us in her own direction and creating beautiful moments of balance.  

P.S. The shoes were finally located underneath a pile of dirty laundry in the washing basket.
 
 
 

 
 

these days

When I created this little space not so long ago I had in mind a space where I could share the beautiful moments in my life. A space that would remind me of  how blessed I am. Today I am reminded in so many ways how true this really is....in so many ways.

Truly inspiring, beautiful, encouraging Mama friends. Lovely, little ones and hours of harmonious play.  Fresh baked gingerbread made by those little lovelies. The time and space to create with these hands. New tunes. A catch up with long time, no see friends. Good news. Late afternoon walks in the autumn sunshine. Homemade meals from the freezer. Warmth. A new, late night delivered project. Fresh sheets on a cozy bed.

 

 
 
 
 
 I am incredibly grateful for the more than 5 minute moments on my sewing machine today which were shared by good company, cruisy tunes, conversation and cups of tea. Consequentially, the birthday present count now stands at 5 down, 2 to go. As you can see my sewing prep (you know, measuring and cutting kinda stuff), leans on the improvisation side. When all is said and done, there's nothing a pair of pinking shears can't tidy up,  I say.
 
 
 
 
 A simple pencil roll for my nephew was the result, which was promptly popped in the mail for a 2 week late delivery. These things can't be rushed you know. As a kid I remember being chuffed when late presents showed up in the mailbox. And another created on the weekend for one of Miss Z's classmates.

 
 
( It appears that my self indulgent pin cushion is working.I'm using the pins people!) 

  
  
  

 I love the idea and look of a ribbon for fastening the roll but have found that shoe lace tying skills are required for little ones to successfully manage this themselves. I'm all for empowering and enabling people so I opted for an elastic fastener instead. Although it's much more practical it doesn't quite satisfy my need for practicality and  aesthetics.  I'm thinking a button and loop type style for the other 19 I've been asked to make for the rest of the class. Oh my.....Happy Days!

 

 
 

 
 

 

traditions

Growing up, I was fortunate to be part of a family that had simple yet beautiful traditions for special celebrations such as birthdays and annual festivities. Whether it was the cake and pancake breakfast on birthday mornings or the Christmas tree hunt with Dad in his truck, these small rituals marked moments, seasons and the changes that come with the passing of time.  Moments that are still clear in my mind and dearly cherished.

Becoming a mama has changed my life on so many levels. One thing 'mamahood' has taught me is  that family traditions bring  beauty and rhythm  to everyday life. Time is such an abstract concept to little ones, (who are wonderful teachers of being in the moment), and I find it more and more important that my little one is able to mark the seasonal changes of the Earth and the passing of time with our own rhythm and traditions. While I love the traditions I grew up with, and have incorporated many of these into our daily lives, I am making an extra, big effort this year to take stock of the subtleties of the changing seasons and celebrations in our corner of the world, and create our own simple rituals and traditions.

Autumn is filled with wonderful opportunities for tuning into seasonal rhythms and festivities.

 
There are the changes around us in nature as well as the Autumn equinox, Easter, the ANZAC day parade ( I love an old fashioned parade), and Mama's Day. This day took on a whole new meaning when I became a Mama and it wasn't really until I received my first Mama's day lie in, breakfast in bed and package in the mail from my own Mum,  that I felt the 'specialness' of this day for women around the world. Today I received this year's package in the post ( thanks Mum) and decided it was time to create another of my own family traditions.

 
 
 
 
 Mama's Day cards to be precise, for all those marvellous mama's in my life. A quick, simple and sweet Autumn design, printed on linen and stitched onto card stock, to be quietly dropped into Mama mailboxes under the cover of darkness, with my sweet baby girl in tow of course.

 
 
Happy Mama's Day to all the marvellous Mama's around the world.
 
 
 

crafting

The last few days have a seen a flurry of crafting round these parts. Nothing like a few birthdays and chilly weather to get the creative juices flowing I say.  So let me share with you what has been coming off my needles (very exciting) and out of my studio.

 
 
 
 
  First off the bat is the wrapping paper for all those afore- mentioned birthday presents ( count: 2 down, 3 to go). I love, love, love, handprinted paper and cards  so the lucky birthday gals received just that.

 
 
I make a lot of my own stamps and linocuts but I recently stumbled across these gorgeous  stamps by Kia Hin Fay in one of my most favourite shops at the moment, Made By Others. I was tickled pink when I discovered that these beauties were designed and made by an Aussie gal. There's definitely something lovely about supporting homegrown female artists. The art and design store that they came from  is in my hometown and is always on my list of places to frequent while visiting with my folks. Anyone who has visited this store will know truly how hard it is not to walk out with one gem or another tucked under one's arm and a huge grin plastered across ones face (you know what I'm talkin' about Miss Anna). 

 The sewing stamps are by a Japanese company, as so many beautiful stamps are, and were picked up along with the alphabet stamps from another of my most favourite shops at the moment, My Place.  I swooned and promptly went to heaven when I walked into this store recently and if you, like me, have a fetish for beautiful, modern fabrics and sewing accessories then this is the place to be. Oh my. I went in to 'look'. You know how it is, you tell yourself you're just looking, maybe take home some pretty little buttons and before you know it you are walking out with something like this:

 
A fat quarter of Moda flandango flannel to be precise. I have big plans for this fat quarter. But that will have to wait, just like the fat quarter, which is quietly resting on top of my fabric stack in the corner of my studio.

Moving along to wool. Now, I have a little confession to make about me and my relationship with wool. To start with, I adore wool, and those mostly, cute, little, woolly creatures it comes from. It is my most favourite ( oh my, there's been a lot of favouritism today) natural fibre to work with. I wet and dry felt with it, I dye it, I spin it and up until now,  I've  tried to knit with it.  You see, knitting has been one of those things that I've desperately been wanting and trying to do for so long, like riding a bike without training wheels or pushing yourself on the swing. So long in fact I've been at it for oh, maybe something like 26 years.  Ahh, there it is, I said it. 

My Mum taught me the basic cast on and knit stitch when I was a kid. She patiently fixed all my mistakes and encouraged me when all I could produce time and time again were scarves. Over the years I gradually taught myself a few more stitches,  but the pennies never really dropped. My Nanna, knitter extraordinaire and the best person for me to learn from, sadly gave it away years ago due to her painful arthritic hands. In retrospect (such a lovely thing ) if I had cherished her handwork skills more when  I was younger, I too may be a knitter extraordinaire today. But alas my memories of knitting  are not, as I would love to say, of me sitting by my Nanna while she taught me to knit. The truth of the matter is I was poised over some well loved knitting books , puzzled look on my face, mouth uttering a few choice words, trying to decipher the pictures. Well all I can say now is I am so grateful to still have and wear my Nanna's handknits and... a girl can have only so many scarves before she goes batty with finding places to store them or people to give them to. So this past week I was determined to take my relationship with wool to the next level and guess what...the knitting pennies started to drop. This is what came off my needles:

 
 
 
 A small feat for any experienced knitter but a huge milestone for this beginner. The pattern is Saartje's bootees  from this lovely little blog.

After waiting for 26 years the satisfaction and joy in creating these little bootees for a friend's little one was astounding to say the  least. I've learnt a great deal about determination, perserverence, gratitude and patience along the way, and although the journey to this moment has been long, it has been well worth every slipped stitch.  It's all in the process. 

So what does one very excited Mama do after a whole world of knitting possibilites have just been opened. Well she casts on for a larger pair (we've now officially entered the land of gauge and ply), makes plans for a Spring birthday vest  for Miss Z and makes some buttons of course. You are just about to discover another little obsession , ahem, interest, of mine...material covered buttons. They are just lovely and just the thing for a pair of pink bootees. I must say that I'm usually more of your natural, earthy colours kind of gal but after hunting high and low for something other than a pastel for these bootees ( no time for online ordering if they were to be ready on time), we, meaning myself and a slightly pink crazed daughter of mine settled on, well, pink. 

 
 
What better way to deliver new bootees than in a bootee bag. 

Two other small projects managed to find their way out of my studio door on the weekend.

 
 
 A rather large and self indulgent pin cushion. It's all in the name of encouragement. This Mama is well aware of the usefulness and importance of pinning in sewing, but for some reason I seem to go to extraordinary lengths to avoid it. Maybe it's the time involved when I'm looking for a little instant gratification or replacing them onto the cusion afterwards that seems to get in the way. So I've decided that if I have something beautiful and homemade to work with it might just coax me to take more deep breaths, and delve deeper into the meditation that is the process.

 And last but not least, remember my bluebird of happiness. Well she has added some sunshine and a touch of happiness to my kitchen.  Sunshine and happiness to you all .

 

A little P.S  is in order today: thanks and deep gratitude to the beautiful women in my life who took a peek today at this little space. Your words of encouragment mean so much. You are amazing and bring constant inspiration to my life. xoxox Charlea