the Wise Robin

light

 

 

 

This spring energy has got us all moving. Just this evening I gave the kitchen a deep clean while the girls bathed. You know all those little nitty gritty things that get glossed over for a while until you can't stand looking at them any longer... dirty fingerprints on walls & door jambs, grubby windows,  fridge doors overloaded with artworks & old shopping lists, crumbs in the pantry...all gone. We've been spending all our time out in the garden this week, weeding, digging, planting, the house chores kind of fell by the wayside. Piles of books stacking up on the couch, piles of laundry stacking up on the bed, the girls' craft projects stacking up in the corners, snow gear that still needs putting away. Now that the garden has been spring cleaned my attention has turned to the house. I moved some furniture around & tidied, cleaned & filed in the library yesterday, took stock of what craft supplies are needed & even nutted out next terms school plan. I've got my eye on the linen cupboard & wardrobes next.  The days are warm but the winds are tinged chilly & we still have the heat on in the mornings and evenings. I've been waking unintentionally early, four or five o'clock, listening to the birds, loud in the dawn light, watching the sun creep between the blinds, waiting for Niamh's call at five thirty sharp. "Awake", she calls simply. I take her some milk, a cuddle & try to persuade...even though the birds are calling, she needs to snuggle in a half hour longer. I've  been weaning her slowly for the past six months & we're down to nursing just once a day, before bed time. We converted her cot to the bed as she was climbing in & out anyway. She's loving it & sleeping more soundly at night now. Of my two girls Niamh is certainly the most spirited. More intense, persistent, sensitive & energetic. She must be about to make a half birthday developmental leap because right now I'm finding all the negotiation & tantrums a challenge. I love my sweet pea chickadee but she's hard work. 

There are so many good things about spring. Bush flowers, midday walks, muddy puddles, blossoms indoors & out, light, frocks...especially those made by dear friends, did I mention light, busyness & the satisfying tiredness it brings, salad greens from the garden, soups making a stage left from the menu, BBQ's, eating outdoors, green newness, fresh book baskets & seasonal tables, makeshift garden tents & giggling girls, beetroots & silver beet & snow peas & spring onions & garlic & sunflowers & potatoes & rhubarb all smiling at me from the garden as I sit & knit in the afternoon sun. I t's time to throw open the doors & windows, let the spring breezes dance on in.

 

 

 

 

 

happy new year

 

 

Happy New Year dear friends. We've had a wonderful break the past month & I hope you all have too. I love New Year even though it's tinged with sadness at saying goodbye to my favourite festival, yuletide. The new year always feels so full of promise, like each new day, but in a much bigger way. Last year I made a lot of resolutions, some achieved, some still being worked on & some not even making it off the ground. I like to dream & hope for big & beautiful things. This new year I want to pare things back, simplify. My heart has rested on two intentions. To work on growing my mindfulness in what & how I speak to myself & others, & to try my darndest to just roll with whatever the universe throws my way. I've spent a lot of time pushing against things the past few years & it's tiring. I've already started simplifying our home, emptying cupboards, wardrobes, play spaces, our art room of things that we don't need, use or want anymore. Off to the op shop we go. Our home already feels like it's breathing more freely, we have more room & less dust bunnies. Do you like to set intentions for the year? I wonder about all that positive energy out there fuelled by peoples hopes & dreams.

The river is high and ambling on its way as we head down most evenings to escape the heat. The cooler's been buzzing non stop for the past five days as the indoor temperature slowly creeps up. There's been no sign of the forecast storms, each day dawning brilliantly bright, the haze settling in not long after the sun is up. Despite the heat we've been out on the trails. Niamh is hearing cicada song for the first time. She stops in her tracks and asks "wat's dat?" Beetles my chickadee. And so now all insects have become beetles to her. "Beedle, beedle" she chants. Both girls have been sleeping in & I've been waking early, lying starfish in bed listening to the five am chorus. It starts with the littlest birds, the thornbills & weebills. Not long after the silver-eyes & blackbirds join in & then it's the wattle birds, honeyeaters, magpies & sometimes kookaburras. We have a sweet pair of grey fantails visit us in the evenings, zipping around the garden catching bugs & eyeing us cautiously. After dinner we head out into the frazzled garden. William thought I was watering, I thought William was watering & so it goes. We lost a few things & everything else has bolted throwing off green or white umbrella heads. I pulled the last of the carrots, leeks & lettuces. I'm consoled by the fact that the tomatoes are ripening, we've eaten our first batch of sweet basil pesto & we now have a more comprehensive irrigation system. I do think though that there is something therapeutic, some days, about hand watering. I used to say that too about washing dishes until we got a dishwasher.  Some afternoons I get too cabin feverish & head out in the heat regardless. On solstice Zahra & I harvested our garlic. She pulled about three head then declared it too hot & retreated indoors. I ploughed on & we now have ninety seven head of garlic in the pantry. Not bad if I do say so. I tried the old french garlic braid thing so I could hang them decoratively in the kitchen but the stalks were too dry & I was too impatient. At night we lie awake listening to the buzz of the fans & hear the possums sniggering under our windows as they head out for the evening.

The girls were thrilled with their new ladies, Miss Phyllis Mouse & Miss Dandelion Doe. Niamh calls Phyllis, Physhus, & Miss Dandelion & Juniper Kitty have both been seeing the sights from Zahra's bike basket. I've finally admitted to myself that I took on too much Christmas sewing this year...the two ladies & their accompanying wardrobes, a nighdress & a couple of peasant tops for Zahra, christmas decorations as presens for Zahra's teachers & our own decorations for the tree. I always seem to pick the really fiddly, invovled patterns. Every spare moment I had it was stitch, stitch, cut, cut & if I wasn't doing that I was thinking about it. Then our vac blew up so we ate dinner surrounded by fabric off cuts & pins, cotton trimmings & scissors each evening. Still, everyone was thrilled with their stitched gifts. Next yuletide I will simplify on the sewing front.

Now, three six five. Wonderful & challenging & time consuming & rewarding. Would I recommend it or do it again? Hmm. If we had another baby, definitely. I am however pondering the 52 project. One portrait a week for a year. Jodi sums up beautifully everything I want to say about the 365 project. How I learnt so much about photography, my gorgeous girls, the light in our home, when to engage & when to put my lens down. There were days when I lamented taking on the project but I'm ever so happy I did. I've captured an amazing year of growth & change with my girls & disproved a belief I've had in myself that I fail to carry things through to completion. Just something someone said to me once. It's funny how we take these things on. I'd love to make a movie for each of my girls with the images & I'm already contemplating a hard cover printed album. I'll take it as it comes because right now I'm focusing on that new year intention of simplicity. 

Happy 2015 friends!

 

 

 

 

 

it's beginning to look a lot like...

 

 

 When the hills are clothed in honeyed straw, the gum trees hang loose in the midday heat and sticky mango juice drips from our chins. When bare foot in the garden is not an option because of bindis & the compost heap is high with another round of lawn clippings. When the jacarandas bloom and evening storms break the day's humidity. When Bing, Nat, Frank and Michael come to stay for a month, crooning us through this month of December. When the tree goes up and the smell of fresh pine fills the house. When the Christmas books are brought out and pored over. When I'm elbow deep in felt and thread and needles and notions, when late nights become later the closer we get to summer solstice. When the windows sit tight during the day and are thrown open at night, the slightest inkling of air breezing over skin, bringing sleep. When the last of the year's school work is packed away and Mama lets out a big sigh. When the berries ripen and we head to the orchards. When the days speed up and we hurtle toward another year, then it begins to look a lot like Christmas. 

Well hello there! It feels like it's been a while since I've really been here in this space. Thankyou so very much for all your lovely words about my Nanna. We're all winding down now. William has two weeks of holidays starting this weekend and we're finishing up school this Thursday. How wonderful it feels. It has been a challenging year for me in so many ways, becoming more creative with our homeschooling routine to fit in with a certain busy toddler, broken arms and all the physio, fracture clinic, osteopath appointments that came along with it, dealing with sleep deprivation like I've never felt before, feeling isolated & craving more time to stretch my own wings, my nanna & pop passing. But I'm not going to lament any of this because we're all busy, we've all got stuff going on & now it's my favourite time of year (as opposed to my favourite season) & William will be home for two whole wonderful weeks & then it will be solstice & Christmas. It's a time of endings and beginnings. The heat is only just beginning to wind up, the garden is flourishing, we have more time for crafting and being together. The days are long but will soon begin to shorten, we'll spend more time swimming. I'll start thinking about what to knit with the wool I've been spinning, evenings will be spent down at the river. My mind will be free of school and classes and early nights and being super organised just for a while. Oh how I love this time of year, giving and sharing, traditions and lists and friends and family. It's just started raining again after another humid morning & Zahra's cello lesson has been cancelled for this afternoon, so a cup of tea and some more Christmas stitching it is! 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

violet breezes

 

  

It's dark out. The girls are asleep. The house is quiet & sleepy. There's a blackbird piping in the crepe myrtle outside my window. The garbage truck is groaning it's way up the street. I can't sleep so follow the lamplight out into the loungeroom where William is putting on his layers for the ride to work. Neckwarmers & thermals, fleecies & bicycle jackets. It's odd seeing him at this time of the morning, like I've walked in on something private, his morning solitude. It's usually a few more hours before the house stirs, the girls wake, we enter the day tousled & bright eyed. The days are full right now. Full of sunshine & bare feet, warm breezes that carry violet perfume & birdsong & dry washing on the line...outdoors...for the first time in what feels like a long time. There's cornflower buds busting at the seams & sprays of frothy, white blossoms & magnolia trees dotted around the neighbourhood singing in the spring. There are chook eggs, finally, at the bottom of the garden & perfect little spider webs glistening not with the heaviness of fog but with glorious, golden sunlight. There's wattle in the bush & hayfever to be had. There's billowy puffs of cloud in the sky which block out the sun, but if you lie long enough in the grass they blow by & the sunlight glows through your eyelids & warms your toes. Spring, she is here, & it's all so very exciting.  

On the flipside, our pretty girl Stella died yesterday. We are all feeling rather teary & sad. She was one of the chooks from the first batch we hatched three years ago. We sang her a little song & dug a hole, laid some camellias & the first blossoms over her.  "Night night" said Niamh when she saw her, then off she pottered, up to the chook house "chicken, chicken? she calls prying the lid off the feed bin. A few handfuls of grain from her teapot, the chookies keeping one step ahead of her.

I've been baking scones & roasting what may be the last pumpkin for the season & I think I've come up with a vanilla almond cake recipe that fits the bill.  My nights have been full of stitching & knitting for Zahra's birthday next week. Miss Juniper Kitty is all put together & now I'm working on a spring wardrobe for the adventures she's going to have. I've been thinking that storing Miss Juniper's clothes in a kitty cat size suitcase, something she could take with her on all of those adventures, would be just the ticket, but I'm not sure where to get one. Does anyone know if such teensy suitcases exist & where one would find them? I tend to get ideas in my head about these sorts of things, particulaly about how I'd like them to look & then go out looking for this picture in my head only to run around in circles not really finding anything that matches the picture or better yet finding exactly what I need only to find that the price tag says something absurd upon which time I return home empty handed & fall in a dishevelled & disgruntled, google eyed heap on the couch. 

 There isn't much, if anything left in old man winter. I was feeling sad about how quickly the darkness & rosy lamplight, early bedtimes & frosty mornings seemed to pass, but oh, that fresh violet breeze & sun starched laundry, you just keep on rolling.

 

 

 

 

catch up

 

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

 

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a rainy day indoors 

 

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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

 

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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.

 

 

salt

 

 

 

yesterday was the most beautiful autumn day. the filtered afternoon sun illuminating every silken spider web and wispy seed head in the garden. how i love this time of year. i wish it lasted longer. we really only get a good few wekks of mild weather before doors and windows stay shut and the heating goes on.  we spent the whole day in the garden soaking it all in. my physio has told me no more knitting, for the moment at least. my jaw dropped when the words came out of her mouth. no knitting? what's a girl to do? stay up late catching up on janet king episodes, sewing little people's clothes and stitching quilt binding as it turns out.  today it's chilly and spotting with rain. it hasn't rained much at all really, for such a long time. i looked at the cloudy sky this morning and pondered my fresh laundry. do i? don't i? i did. i'm trying to get all the linen washed as my mum is coming this afternoon to housesit. we are off on a little getaway down south to where the ocean roars and the irish beach calls our name. fingers crossed we'll make it round to the cape. i'm looking forward to taking in deep breaths of salty air and a little second hand furniture hunting. so today is a bit of a mad scramble packing and cleaning, washing and finishing off a photo shoot. we'll be back next week with lungs full of salty breezes and a skip in our step.

wishing you a peaceful week wherever you're going and whatever you're doing.

 

 

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.

 

 

action

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just wanting to be part of the sewing action

 

 

stitch

71/3765

 

 

i couldn't for the life of me pick just one photo today. i get excited when my girl wants to sew, because it's not that often she asks. today, inspired by all the birthday sewing she has put up with over the past week,  she designed her own little quilt of sorts, and did most of it all by herself, including the pedal. I say most because it's hard to use the pedal, concentrate on where the fabric is going and fend off a one year old who justs wants to be part of the action by pushing reverse constantly. so mama helped a bit with the odd bit of reverse stitching. 

 

 

progress

 

 

well there's been some progress around these parts. first up i found a guy to fix our washing machine. i kept gushing to him about how much business he must have because nobody else seems to answer their phones or even have answering machines.  he kept looking at me like i was totally deranged. no matter, five loads of laundry are now all done and dusted. just have to fold and put away now. sigh. secondly, william is home. relieved sigh. thirdly, there's been some birthday sewing going on. hooray.  a quilt and little doll. i so enjoy making dolls for my girls, even if i do end up with sore fingers from pushing my non doll making needle through all that stuffing and fabric. i love the way it all comes together, each with their own personality. i still have trouble when adding the mouth. i can't seem to get the right expression. the doll i made for zahra's sixth birthday looks a little cranky. niamh's doll is all finished up now and has been sitting on my desk for the past couple of days. i think she's lovely, not cranky looking at all. i do hope niamh likes her too. the quilt top is finished, i just have to find some backing fabric. i was going to use a sheet that is still fairly new but shrank in the wash, so we can no longer use it.  turns out it's even too small for the quilt . i've only ever made two quilts, zahra's and this one, but both have turned out much larger than planned. it's a good thing, becasue as the girls grow and their bed size changes (this mama hopes) they'll still have their quilts to snuggle under. fourth, a little knitting too. lastly our girls have finally started laying again. i had words with them about everyone pulling their weight round here and may have even mentioned something about losing the sunflower seeds and corn, scraps only diet. did the trick. ahhh. friday. i love fridays. 

 

happy friday to you.

hug

65/365

 

 

more flatbear love

 

 

this and that

 

 

whenever i get on the phone with my dad we always chat about the weather. has it been raining, how dry or humid it is, who's had the highest temperatures (no competition there, we win hands down dad). so when i sit down to say hello in this little space my mind immediately goes to the weather. what kind of day you have wherever you are. is it snowing? maybe spring is poking her head out and about. here, the light is slowly changing, softening, becoming more golden. everyone including the chooks are relieved the heat has moved on. there is a chill some evenings and most mornings, but no leaves are turning just yet. a few weeks back we had snow in the mountains and that icy air turned my mind to knitting. as a novice knitter i might be getting ahead of myself this season with the six projects i have on the go and the others i have queued. a bit of this and that. cardigans for the girls, a beanie with ties for my littlest who i struggle to keep hats on, a  cardi for mama in my favourite colour right now, mustard, and a knit that has been passed on by my sister in law. all in pieces and in purple, zahra's favourite colour. all it needs are some cuffs and blocking. it was left too long in her knitting basket and then her girls grew. which mine seem to be doing a lot of these days. sleeping, eating, growing. it's next weekend that our baby girl turns one. how is it that one whole turn about the sun flies by so quickly? so naturally to balance out the knitting scene there's been some birthday sewing going on too. we've been walking in the bush in the mornings then sewing or knitting in the afternoons. a bit of this and that here and there. 

 

 

 

you sew, girl!

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being driven indoors by the furnace like heat that is summer round here, has sparked our creative spirits. zahra has been asking for a skirt, so what better excuse does a mama have to head to the sewing machine. half way through stitching her a quarter circle skirt she sidles up to me with some fabric scraps and asks if she can have a go. i've been waiting for the day zahra would ask to use the sewing machine again. having tried it a few years ago she decided it wasn't for her (something about fingers and fast moving needles i think). i showed her how to make a simple seam and guide the fabric. she sewed while i worked the pedal. the result? a simple quilt for her dolls which she stuffed with fleece and finished off by hand. proud mama moment.

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

this past month

 

No matter how hard I've thought about making it here over the past month, it just hasn't happened. With the all day vomiting and nausea of this pregnancy abating just enough this week, thanks to the ingestion of copious bottles of ginger beer, I'm starting to feel a little more excited every day. The past month has been full yet slow in so many ways...

 

 

our first very exciting and very pink, sugar plum fairy Nutcracker season

 

 

last minute Christmas stocking stuffer stitching

 

 

a Summer berry picking expedition

 

 

a visit to the Southern Ocean to enjoy her cool currents and stormy skies

 

 

knitting for the babe

 

 

staying cool indoors with the unrelenting forty degree temperatures

 

 

resting and more knitting

 

 

early morning rising before the heat starts to bite

 

 

growing and evening baths

 

 

still more knitting for the babe and a pregnancy favourite, potato salad.

 

Hope you are all enjoying Summer days that are full and slow too.

xoC

sitting and stitching

 

 

This morning I found myself alone in the quiet of the early hours surrounded by a tidy house. I do love waking up to a clear kitchen bench and not tripping over books or half finished craft projects on the way to the stove to put the kettle on. I love these precious days, soul food I call them. I notice my patience pockets are more full and it's easy to hold cranky words still when I get a few moments of solitude first thing in the mornings. They don't happen so often at the moment , my pregnant belly demanding my body sleep more and more.

 I haven't been visiting this space nearly as much as I think about it. In fact there are a lot of things that aren't getting done right now. I have a long list of those. But they can wait because I know that they'll inevitably get done, crossed off, rubbed out or forgotten about eventually. A clunky computer that needs a good declutter and nearly forty degree heat don't help matters, along with  a babe bouncing around in my belly. Well, they're the excuses I'm sticking with for the moment anyway. Right now the only thing I seem to want to do more than anything is to sit and stitch. Whenever I get a spell to sit I find myself reaching for that old embroidery tin. I even missed last Tuesday's yoga class to take the dog up the hill so I could sit and sticth while she fossicked. So this morning, with my peeps still asleep and a cool breeze blowing through the window before the heat of the day kicked on, I reached for needle and thread.

This morning I'm finishing off the last of the Snowy Day decorations and I must admit I'm a little sad at the prospect of these little beauties coming to an end, much like the sadness you feel when a gripping book comes to the last page, and also nervous as I don't have any follow up projects. I keep peering into my knitting basket at the projects left a while back in favour of needle and thread, but they just don't take my fancy like floss and felt are right now.

 

In between the cross sticth of a Selbu mitten and the icy sequins on a polar bear I've been sticthing away on a few bookmark stocking fillers. As I sit and sticth they sit and read.

 

 

Zahra even occassionally joins me making her own decorations for the tree, another thing on that long list, collaboarting on some Solstice birds, modelling and needle felting a St.Nic. He seems to be her theme this year along with Ruprecht. Last year her theme was Charlie Dicken's  A Christmas Carol. She even left her shoes out on St.Nicholas night hoping for some Lebkuchen. He and his belly, ahem, were much obliging.

 

One thing that did get ticked off that long list was our advent wreath. It may have come a little late... but you all know the saying. Off to find some new stitching projects. Any ideas?

 

Happy stitching dear friends

Cxo

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

this season

 

We've been cosied up indoors for the past four days enjoying a little...

.

 

...seasonal craft, taking down our Autumn window stars and putting up our Winter snowflakes

 

 

knitting for babies

 

 

knitting  for her

 

 

and knitting with her

 

 

making with yummy velveteen

 

 

and wool

 

 

bringing some Winter love to our nature table

 

 

enjoying her garden collections

 

and walking to breathe in the bush and soak up the Winter sunshine.

Just enjoying the season. Hope you're enjoying it too.

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 sunny corner

 

Two posts in twenty four hours... out there somewhere. A little frustrating. So today's post is a little scant again.

half price Echino fabric for Mother's Day. Thanks Mum

Snip out the golden, lichen green and pair with linen

Back with yesterday's leftover tea towel

makes one happy cushion for a sunny corner

~Cxo~

Maybe we'll be back on track tomorrow

nurture

I'm not sure what to say now. I just had a post ready to go and it got sucked away to who knows where. Ah, the joys of technology. It went something like this...first loaf of wheat free bread, first butternut harvest and pumpkin soup for the season, first go at a quick stitched aromatherapy wheat pack using a tea towel with clary sage, lavender and chamomile as the smells of choice and a wee girl on the mend.

Hope this finds you all in good health dear friends

~Cxo~

remembering this day

 

 

I always have mixed feelings about today. On one hand I don't support war and yet on the other the solemness of this day deserves reflection. I have always gone to the parades. Watching those who left their families and have seen things that I would never dare to imagine, pass in front of me. Maybe it was my charismatic high school history teacher that instilled in me a strong respect for today or maybe it is now that I have a child of my own that the full force of what war is and does to families is more tangible, or perhaps it is the emotion of the rouse and reveille.

Last night Zahra and I were looking up symbols of ANZAC day and I felt that I wanted to make something small to remember this day. So I sat and stitched these little pieces, a poppy and a corsage style rosemary brooch for remembrance.

And at the risk of sounding sentimental...

 

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them

    Laurence Binyon,  "The fallen" 
 

 ~Cxo~

winter lists

As a last minute errand over the long weekend we headed off to the shops to get some knitting needles. With a tired and hungry girl in the car the plan was to dash in and out. However as plans can be a loosely bound things, especially when on arrival at the store one discovers forty percent of all fabrics, often they never go, well to plan. You see I've had my eye on some linens, oh how I love linen, for some time, but at twenty five dollars a metre I've just been visiting and looking....and waiting for this day. Half an hour later, with a tired, hungry but smiling girl in tow (with balloon, ahem) and a smiling Mama, we left with a small bundle of linen, cotton lawn and cord. There's some Winter pants and a skirt to make for Zahra, maybe a cushion cover or two and I'm thinking a bag for myself (maybe something like this Syko creation) , with that long awaited ...see I am working on delayed gratification... linen. A good start to my winter sewing list. Oh and the giveaway ends tomorrow so take a peek and leave a comment and some paper lanterns could be making their way to your home.

warmly

~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~

 

 

 

 

 

sewing, sunshine and colours

 

With all the soft Autumn sunshine and beautiful temperatures we've been having, the pull to be outside, no matter what we're up to, is real and strong. Even if that means carting my sewing and embroidery out into that gorgeous Autumn light. A perfect place for it really. Look how the light makes all those floss colours shine. I love the many, many colours and shades you can buy. I linger a while in the store trying to choose, much to the frustration of Zahra who keeps tabs on what we actually came to buy and will not hesitate to drag me away by the hand when she knows all we've come for is a few buttons or some fabric. I keep our shopping list secret now just so I get a few more minutes to hover.

The stillness and quiet that comes with sitting in the sunshine and sewing is just where I want to be right now. I just can't seem to shake this lurgy that came a visiting over a week ago and feeling the sun warm my bones is just what my body is needing. It feels as though it's recharging my batteries. I've just started on this little project which I'll share with you later this week.

Hooray for sunshine, Autumn, sewing, warm days and good health

warmly

~Cxo~

picnic

 

Last weekend we headed out for a picnic and some bush walking in the gorgeous Autumn weather. While packing the basket, which I picked up for a few dollars at the local Sunday markets a while back, I was reminded how much cutlery we'd lost through the gaps in the weaving. I'd toyed with the idea of making a lining for the whole basket then figured making something to hold the cutlery would be a whole heap quicker and easier. With everyone all but ready to head out the door I grabbed a tea towel and switched on my machine.

 

Folding the bottom of the tea towel about one third of the way up, I simple sewed a seam on each side, attached some ribbon in the middle up the top and stamped on a little bon appetit.

 

 

Pop in the cutlery...

 

 

...roll up, tie a bow...

 

...and off a picnicking we go.

 The tea towel pouch is wide enough for BBQ utensils like tongs and deep enough for a generous amount of cutlery. And the best bit is that once home it can be tossed in the wash for next time. Simple is good.

Happy Picnicking

~Cxo~

 

these Christmas skates

 

(my go to pattern, Saartje's bootees, in Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo... yummy to knit with)

I'm a list maker.  And right now my list is growing rather than shrinking. It should be shrinking because most of the things on my list are Christmas crafty, present type things and the number of days between right now and Christmas are slowly dwindling. I've written the list, cleaned my workspace and played with ideas...all that's left to do amidst the baby crafting, birthday making  and seasonal get togethers, is to actually start. Herein lies the problem. Where to start. Maybe that knitted present that I've yet to by wool for, or the needle felted stocking stuffer, and indeed the stockings themselves. Or perhaps Sasha,the doll Zahra has has fallen in love with, the homemade decorations I'd still like to hang or the sewing for my sister. So many choices, so little time.

(Nutcracker by Sarah Jane Studios, tree is Zahra's)

(design by SoSpetember)

There have been small inroads in the decoration department over the past few weeks but these December days have been so crazy, busy that I haven't had time to strap my proverbial Christmas crafting skates on...yet. So this week I have cleared my calendar and I'm looking forward to being at home catching up with my needles and thread, wool and fabric, scissors and machine...slowing down.

Hoping there are moments of stillness and slowing down for you throughout this busy season

warmly

Chontelle

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!