sometimes life looks better in b/w

We went out today for a couple of hours, and I came home feeling hot and tired, with a hot body and a heavy head. I felt like cutting all my hair off, it was weighing me down.
Sam let me sleep for a little while, until the afternoon sun came into the room, waking me up. He took the kids for a walk, a little later on, and I looked at these beautiful photos. They surely helped to cool me down a little bit.
Then I put my own camera onto the black & white setting. Looking at our house without the colour changes the way you see things. The background noise (mess) wasn't so obvious. The dominos left over from the games played wasn't annoying, the bowl and fork from a late snack of pasta looked more interesting in b/w than in real daylight heat and colour.
I'm sure I'll switch back to the colour mode of the camera tomorrow (we are going to my dad's for the weekend, a bit of a relax and some walking in the forest, and photo taking. Refresh and inspiration), but for now I'm enjoying what the arty, grainy b&w is making me feel.
See the rest here, including some beautiful images of my two little precious ones.

Routines and rhythms seem hard to come by these days, for me. I cannot get myself into any sort of consistency of getting things done, or having any sense of achievement at the end of the day.

This trying to work from home thing is proving to be much harder than Sam or I imagined. Not having a studio space, away from the main living section of our tiny house is making things difficult. The kids want to be with us always, on top of us, beside us, under us, over us, pushing, pulling..... (Does anyone have good tips on how to manage working with children beside you? What are your good games to entertain them for longer than a millisecond? While we do our computer work, or my sewing).
All this means that any project we do is taking longer than necessary. And photos are sometimes hard to get right - you know, when a kid is dragging at your arm, bit hard to keep a camera still long enough to focus it!
But things are happening. And my mind is tumbling over itself with ideas waiting to get out. Jumping about, talking to each other sort of ideas. Things that go from one thought to the next without you realising it.
So, living in my mind isn't too bad. In my mind my house is clean, the kids play quietly on their own, or happily together for longer than five minutes, I am sewing sewing sewing, and Sam is designing and printing and drawing.... And things are happening.

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I made some yummy little cakes last night. And iced them with the remaining chocolate mousse icing from the party cakes. The best and simplest icing in the whole world! (I *forgot* to take photos of the birthday party, so these will have to do. Hopefully some good ones from my father-in-law).To make this tasty icing all you need is 600ml single cream and 250g block chocolate (best quality). Put half the cream in a pan and heat, then pour over chocolate, which has been broken into pieces. Stir until combined and nice and smooth. Then leave to cool. Whip remaining cream until almost stiff peaks, then fold gently into the chocolate mixture. It should be a good consistency to top your little cakes with, then put a half strawberry on top of that.
Put it in your mouth in one whole bite! And be surprised that chocolate, chocolate and strawberries can taste so good.I froze the remaining icing (from the party day), and dug at it slowly over each night; easy peasy icecream. With some fresh strawberries to 'tone it down a bit'. My dad didn't think it was too bad either!

Or you can let it thaw and top your cakes with it. It won't last long what ever you do.

the bowl of your hands

my brother left a comment on my blog, last week, which lead to a little email conversation.

these two little simple yet perfect images from him - no photos, only words. but for all of us word-smiths, that should be enough shouldn't it?

last week while he was driving home he saw a baby echidna. So small it could fit into the cup of his hands. imagine, please, this teeny tiny little precious creature. so fragile, delicate, soft and small - yet hard quills, for protection (though being a baby they were possibly still a bit soft).

this weekend it was a tiny golden crowned snake, that, also, could have fit into the bowl of his hands.

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This blog has brought me so many things. So many unexpected, yet wonderful friendships. And, in that same way, it has changed a friendship with my brother - who reads my blog (which I love). It's opened a communication of sorts. Emailing seems easier to write and say things, than talking in person or on the phone.

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Okay - this is the de-lurking post! I would love to find out about you, why you visit here, what you like (or don't like) about this little spot of mine. I'd love to hear from family, friends, near and far, those I've met and those I haven't. So, please leave a comment. And, yes - I have a little something that I'm making (almost finished, I promise) as a little thank you and a giveaway for you being my special guests here. So, come on - all our lurkers out there. Say hello!

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Edited 28/10/08. Photo of golden crowned snake, taken by my brother, here.
Have a look at some of his other small things photos - the tiny aspects you don't notice so often, when walking in the bush.

party preparation

One more sleep!

We have been counting down every day this month, waiting waiting waiting for Ari's birthday day to arrive. And finally, here it is. Well, tomorrow. The boy has gone to bed as a little three year old, we told him to get a good sleep as tomorrow will be a big day. He'll wake up as the biggest four year old I know. Mature and caring and thoughtful and intelligent. So grown up.All day today, and this past week, I've been doing little things in preparation for his party. I enjoy the party preparation just as much as the actual party itself. The anticipation of what the day will be like, who will come or not be able to come. Will the cake taste good, will it rain or be gloriously sunny. And mostly, will everyone have a lovely time.I think, also, in a way the whole party set-up and food making and decoration feed that part of me that always wanted to be an interior designer, or a magazine or food stylist. Also, for me now, it reminds me of the parties my parents had, while we were growing up. The fantastic parties - but also the day before of baking and cleaning and working together as a family were just as fun and maybe even more memorable than the actual parties themselves.Right now there is a carrot + apple + ricotta cake heaving and growing in the oven. The chocolate mini-cupcakes are cooled, and will be iced in the morning. Olives were quickly marinated (in lemon juice + slices, peppercorns, garlic and of course olive oil) today, and are steeping in the fridge. Cheese + rosemary bread sticks were kneaded and risen and rolled (and rolled again, as Mishi hopped up to help me), and baked. And some of them tasted as part of a late impromptu dinner.

New birthday shorts have been sewn (except for the hem - he may have a big growth spurt overnight!). Flags have been made, to be hung in these park trees tomorrow. (But hung here this afternoon, for fun).
Ribbons dyed and dried, and soon to be put onto sticks as rainbow ribbons. Little booklets printed, and soon to be stitched. Playdough has been made (thank you Anouk). All for the little handcrafted party bags we will be giving our friends, as thank-yous for playing at our party.
A "4" birthday t-shirt is still to be stencilled. And presents to be wrapped.
All before bed tonight......

Oh, the anticipation. Will we get it done on time (maybe), or be up until all hours of the morning (probably). Will the boy like it all (definitely), waking excited and happy and jumping....

Birthday breakfast in the morning. Ari's favourite croissants, with sugar-free jam. And family. And then onto the rest of the party prep; making dips, and cutting vegie sticks, and rushing rushing rushing to get ready and look pretty. And be there on time to set up, and then try and stop and relax and enjoy it all.

Look up at the sky, hope it's blue, but some clouds are okay. Watch the trees. Look at the new seeds growing into the bigger trees. Just like our boy.

remains of the day

We had quite a lovely day today. A lot of spur of the moment doings.
:: a nice little stop at a cafe, after dropping Sam off at his brother's place for the day; kids were well behaved, we sat and chatted and played with the cafe toys (plastic horses and transformers and noise making things that we don't have at home!).
:: had a look in a lovely shop - that is styled quite beautifully. A lot of pieces in there that both the kids and I wanted to take home. And I wish I'd had my camera to take a photo of Mishi putting her hands in her pockets and walking around 'looking, not touching' for a matter of moments only.
:: Ari and me doing a little ribbon painting (more on this later), which lead on to some beautiful painting from all three of us.
:: Pleasant picnic lunch in the loungeroom. A vege stick platter of all "C" veges (cucumber, celery, carrot, capsicum), which lead to some letter and word talking.
:: Cake making with minimal fuss and bickering. Mishi peeled and mashed all the bananas without assistance from me, with much concentration and focus on her job. Ari measured and broke eggs and tasted and turned the mixer on and off - he really is a great baker who knows the process.
:: A glorious afternoon rainstorm. Dancing on the front porch, watching the lighting and listening to the thunder, and watching the rain splatter on the roofs around us. Dancing in the rain, which lead to much excitable dancing in the house.
:: The afternoon sun shining through the rain, and onto the kids eating their cake, and waiting for Daddy to come home.
:: Ari seeing hail for the first time. Tiny little pieces that melted almost as you touched them. Little spots of ice jumping down the stairs and in the front yard.
:: And then, for me, a little nap as I put the kids to bed. Lying and giving Mish her milk, I seem to slip into sleep without noticing, and wake up hours later not quite ready for bed.

Goodnight xx

stationery for presents

A monumental birthday (50th) of a family member happened a week or so ago. Luckily we didn't see her until this weekend just gone - as Sam and I were still finishing her present on the morning of driving down to see them! Same old, hey...

Anyway, it was something that I've had in my mind for a while. Working out the logistics of it before I started cutting into the fabric and sewing. Of course there are always more things you find, as you sew and then look at the finished product, that need a bit of tweaking and fine tuning. But I know that especially for family people they a) don't mind these little "special mistakes" and b) they might actually like them as it's the real proof that I made it with my own hands especially for them.I used my beautiful hemp / organic cotton in the natural colour, and combined it with some Amy Butler greens and blues. Those soft hues being quite perfect for the recipient, I think. A simple fold-around, or wrap, that does up with buttons. With one long pocket inside, that was divided up into three smaller pockets. I finished the edges with a fabric twill tape that I sewed together to form a sort of not-bias binding.Sized just right for our own custom stationery. Some of my fabric stitched cards, as well as some A5 sized printed pale-colour designs that Sam made for the writing paper aspect of the stationery set. Little bird on a brach, and teeny tiny gumnut seeds in blues and greens.
There are a lot more of these planned in the coming weeks, for an upcoming market stall we are having. Some with embroidery, maybe some with screenprinting, and definitely some with contrasting quilting fabric panels. I think, though, that I will make them all with the hemp / organic cotton as the main body of the wrap, as I love the texture of this fabric and the depth tones in the naturalness of it.I also made this recently, a custom order of pink pink pink stationery with wrap. I fabric stitched the writing paper, which was really fun.

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Keep a look out this week, as I am going to have a de-lurking day. I want to get to know you all a little better. A special prize will be for one of you is going to be made (well, started) tonight at my fortnightly craft night!

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Poppy Rabbit

This weekend past we went to an open-day at the Steiner School my nephew attends. A lovely day seeing family members we don't get to visit with very often. Listening to fantastic music, and watching some great Latin dancing on the dance floor.
Afterwards we went to Brunswick Heads, where we had chips and cool Summer drinks, with my brother, nephew and my Grandma. A play in the park, watching kids walking on the low-tide mud in the river mouth. What a perfect afternoon; with warm and sunny weather and family friendships.While at the Steiner Fair I bought some little wooden creatures for the kids. Of course, a turtle for Ari - who seems to know a lot about turtles, and innately really like them (or at least talk about them a lot). For Mishi I couldn't help but choose this friendly little Rabbit.
I had to keep reminding myself to not call it Bunny, but rather Rabbit - so I named her Poppy Rabbit. For no reason other than I'm quite sick of all those animal humanised stories where the animals have alliteration names; Penny Pig, Henry Horse, Clara Cow... you know what I mean.
I took this little photo shoot this afternoon, of Poppy Rabbit and some macros of stones, seedpods and shells. With small children clambering on my back and whinging in my ears (and that was a constant today).

Birthday Pary inspiration - dreaming....

Birthday Pary inspiration - dreaming...., originally uploaded by petalplum.

Today Ari and I were browsing through flickr, having a little dream about his planned birthday cake. Some absolutely wonderful pieces of cake art to look at, and drool over. I know that even if I wanted I could never make something like some of these.
Our particular cakes will actually be much more humble. We are going to have a carrot cake with cream cheese icing. And a chocolate + beetroot cake with icing and strawberries. He keeps talking about strawberries in the cake - but I think better on top. Little cup cakes should be fun, rather than one big cake. And we will (possibly) make some for our vegan friends.
Oh, planning parties is so much fun. I'm not sure we'll get everything made that we want. But planning is half the fun, and the dreaming of what we could do.....
I'll give you a party wrap up after it's over, in case I don't manage to tell you any details before.

These are two cupcakes that wouldn't show up in the flickr mosaic, they look and sound delicious. Strawberry blossom cupcakes and Vegan raw cashew cheesecake cup. This is a blog I'll be frequenting; it's called Tofu and Cupcakes; yummy recipes and beautiful photos.

volcano

Volcanoes have been big around here for a while now. Ari draws them, talks about them, looks at pictures of them, talks about them.....

Amongst all the talk, and looking for pictures on the wonderful internet. And trying to explain that my Dad doesn't live on a volcano; actually within the rim of a very extinct volcano.
I moved our blackboard into the kitchen, and the kids have been drawing and writing while I cook and clean around them.
I told him letter by letter how to write the word, after which he drew this fantastic volcano to show us all what it was. Don't you love that blast coming out. Last week he wrote 'lava' too. Sometimes he writes his words from right to left because he's left-handed. Both my brother and sister are left handed, and it seems Ari is the only next generation to be. I do remember a lot of mirror writing from my siblings as we were growing up; them learning how to write with a fountain pen and not smudge too much!
So, I guess we have been doing our homeschooling just while we do our daily living. I think that I've talked a lot about homeschooling over the past year or so, and now Ari says that he doesn't want to go to school and that he wants to school at home.
I think from having read many great blogs, I know this is very possible. I know that Ari, and hopefully Mishi, will be the right sort of children / people for being homeschooled. I'm just not sure if I have the energy or continuation to do it. Make sense? Also, I keep thinking, school is more than just learning. It is about the socialisation and being part of something else - firstly I'm not so good at 'making friends' for myself or my children. Secondly, should they have to be friends with who I am friends with, will they have the opportunity to find their own friends, people who I would normally never have anything to do with - but who are right for my kids.
Just more thoughts on this homeschooling option.

We are going, this weekend, to a Steiner Spring Festival, which I am very excited about. Haven't been to one for many years, and my children have never been to one. Candle making, bead making, silk dying, tie dying as well as music and lantern parades and food and ..... Oh the wonderful things from my childhood. Ari asked her to make a funny face, so he could photograph her - this is her silly face!(I think she's copying from Ari, who quite likes to make the same sort of face).

in which I make a feeble excuse at my absence, and send you all around the place...

It would have cost us $42 to ride the Ferris Wheel, so we just watched from the ground. (Photos taken on Sam's phone camera. Also, I'm on Sam's Mac - photos are sideways and I don't know much about Mac stuff. Sideways doesn't seem too bad for these images. Just click on image to view it right way round).

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:: Computer + internet issues have kept me away. And then, just life stuff. (I like the way Anna describes it here).

:: Currently loving Abby try again. Check out her beautiful, nostalgic, emotional photography. Sure to give your day a different perspective, and a bit of peace.
:: Lots of little things simmering away here. Bits of sewing, and planning, endless talking about the same things we want to achieve.
:: Ari's party is big talk here, he rings Grandma and talks about the cake and the food over and over.
:: Sam and I sat down today, over coffee, while Mishi slept. To chat about some upcoming *important* planning. And Ari chimed in saying that we needed it to be more "designery." So, I suppose he really should be part of our chats more often, maybe we'll get him to take notes, or do the brain storming.
:: I also just came upon this very stylish family and these shoes. (Via 2 or 3 things I know).
:: And this lovely place (where the exchange rate is a little nicer to us Aussie's). Felt. (Via tinyhappy).

Talk soon. Take care. E xx

parenting as I was parented

I want to thank my father for the wonderful words he always offers me; the advice and care, and thoughtfulness of my situation. He reminds me that I don't need to be doing 'projects' with the kids all the time, that the general everyday living is life in itself. I think back to my childhood, and we didn't have planned craft activities; we adventured and explored and watched and learnt and were involved in the life around us. My parents didn't read how-to parenting books, or activity books; they just did what they did and we were there doing it too. I suppose they also watched what we, as children, naturally wanted to do, to learn or explore and supported that :: the building of roads in the mud for our Matchbox cars, or houses and clothes for our Barbie dolls, or making fairy houses in the garden, or going for walks in the forest and telling stories, and finding treasures, or looking through endless books that fueled all of our imaginations. Too many books, and stories and memories to even begin naming; collected over many lifetimes that both my parents seemed to live. And also, very importantly, my parents left us alone and didn't constantly prompt us in what we should be doing or thinking or feeling or wanting. They let us go off up the hill, down the creek, across the ridge, around the corner; and out into the world on our own.

originally written 10th July