Friends & Floods

Well it's been a weird old time lately hasn't it? The weather has gone crazy & we are seeing more rain than ever before. Our summer has become soggy & humid and the rain just doesn't seem to stop.

Today we had a happy diversion, a train trip to Melbourne to see our good friends. I love the look on Rosie's face as she contemplates the scenery outside the train window...it's a big world out there!

And what a contrasting world we arrived at, the steamy hot streets of downtown Footscray! Lots of local colour & noise, so different from our quiet country town.

We had so much fun catching up with Kitty, Carmel, Daisy & Poppy. We ate & played, chatted and laughed and then went on a walk to Savers, yay! The girls found something each and I picked up some excellent vintage fabric & linen. Good stuff. Then it was back to Carm's for a cuppa and then back on the train to Ballan where mum met us & drove us back to the big D. 

It's been a week of catching up with friends, so good to have the time & space to hang out with those we love. Sunday & Rosie & I popped in to see Kate & her family yesterday where we got to see Willow and her adorable puppies.

Oh my goodness...

 is there anything sweeter than a puppy?

 Perhaps these two cuties? 

Sunday also caught up with a good friend this week who came for a sleep over. They danced and sang and played and ate cupcakes and giggled, oh wow!

Talking of friends, you are probably aware of the terrible floods that are devastating northern parts of Australia. Our northern friends are experiencing something truly terrifying & the impact of the floods will affect them for a long time to come. Here in Daylesford I have been so touched to receive amazing responses from locals who are keen to contribute to an idea the kids & I had the other night while watching the news. We are holding a cake stall this Sunday to raise money for those affected by the floods. So many lovely friends have offered to help and it really shows how much people want to help others, it's so heartening to know that we can do something practical to give assistance to those in need.
So if you are in the Daylesford area on Sunday please pop past our stall outside Threadneedle Crafts, just near Coles. We will be there from 10.30 onwards selling lots of yummy cakes & treats. It doesn't matter where you live though, you can donate anytime here Queensland Government Flood Relief Appeal.

Queensland & New South Wales bloggers affected by the floods, I'm thinking of you and sending lots of love. Hope you are safe and well where ever you are, see you soon xo

Loving

Sleepy mornings in bed with a cup of tea and the papers, sun light through the window that tells me that it will be another hot, summers day.

Trees bursting with quinces. Soft, fuzzy fruit hiding amongst the lush, green leaves. Our old fruit trees are so special, giving us so much, planted by people we will never know, so long ago.

Netting the apples trees, imagining the many boxes of sweet little apples we will pick.

Watching our darling duck family scuttle around the garden, caring for each other, eating bugs, splashing

in the water & relaxing in the shade.

Love heart strawberries, home grown bursts of sweetness & joy growing randomly, little surprises waiting to be found.

Two little girls who play all day. Mermaid princesses swimming in the sea of their imaginations, summer girls, fun & fights & long afternoons in the pool.

Lake dreaming, cold, cold water and blue sky. A beach in Daylesford, wild ducks floating by on the shining ripples. 

Hearing from my beautiful family who are farther away from me than they've ever been, camping, adventuring, having fun in Robe. What are you loving this week? 

Have a happy weekend, see you soon xo

Free to be me

Over the last week we have been having some lovely family gatherings,

at home, and at my mum's house in Hepburn.

It's been SO good to see my brother & his wife and their gorgeous girls who I love so much. Both girls are growing up of course, and now that they are far from us I really treasure time spent with them.

I've been thinking too about the new year and all that it holds.

I read Kate's piece on choice as well as Jen's post about living fearlessly and I've been giving some thought (quite a lot!) to what my hopes are for myself in this new year.

I guess I'd like to live more freely, and by this I mean within myself. Sometimes I feel I hold myself back by thinking too much, by carrying around a lot of jumbled up thoughts & baggage that bogs me down.

I'd like to be kinder to myself this year, to care more about myself, to treat myself more gently, more lovingly.

I like to be a good & supportive friend to those I love, and I know I'm always there for my children & hopefully for Mark too.  Maybe I'm not so good at supporting myself, or valuing my strengths.

I hope I can leave some of my past in the past, that I can live more in the present. At the same time I hope I can not dwell too much on the future, on what 'might' happen, on what 'might' be. And if I do I hope it will be about the possibilities of joy, of happiness, togetherness, adventures & fun.

So I'm thinking 2011 will be a year about being free,

free to be me.

With my youngest child going to school this year my world is changing. This is a bit scary and a bit exciting.

Being a mum to my kids is the most important part of my life but there is so much more to me too. I think I will take some time this year to think about what else I might do, I'd love to start something new, to be in another world as well as at home.

Oh the possibilities! I guess that is what is so nice about a new year, anything can happen. I love the idea of freeing myself up emotionally. Of letting go of negative thoughts, of doubts & anxieties. This side of myself is only one side, but it can be a real drag and so exhausting at times.  I'm sure it won't be an easy thing, changing old patterns & habits is hard. But what a relief it will be to be! Have you been thinking about what changes you might make this year? I've really enjoyed reading other people's thoughts on this.

Today Mark & Lucy & Billy are off on a camping adventure! This leaves a smaller household here at home and we have some fun plans for our week. I hope to catch up with friends, go swimming, hang out in the garden, make things with the girls, go out for dinner, go to a movie and hopefully get some walking in too. What are you up to? I hope your new year has started well, see you soon xo

Dreamy January

New Years Day is always a fun one for me and this year was just as good as ever. Lucy & I drove through the hills, past fields with beautiful rolls of hay until we got to Glenlyon to help out at the fabulous Glenlyon Family Sports Day.

We spent the day serving in the canteen, making hundreds of cups of tea & coffee, selling cakes and other yummy things to the many people who came along to enjoy a day in the country.  Our school raises funds for all kinds of things we need and it's one of our main fundraisers for the year. But the best bit is being together as a community, having a chat & being involved in a truly wonderful event.

I love the simpleness of it all, there is no rides or crappy plastic things for sale, just good old honest country fun.

One of the best parts is the kids races,

all jumbled together they wait for their age group to come up.

On your marks, get set....

Go!!

 It was a long day and boy did my legs and feet ache afterwards! But we had a ball & I couldn't think of a better way to start the new year. Do you do anything special on New Years Day? I wonder if you have a tradition or special event.

It's a funny time of year isn't it? Life is almost on hold..or maybe this is life! A softer, dreamier life. The slow days and unstructured time makes time go slower, more quietly. We are getting up later & staying up later, eating at seven not six. I find the kids are arguing one minute then playing long, long make up games the next. I guess we are adjusting to a different time & space. It's been so nice having Mark home to share the day to day things we do as a family too.  Blog land has seemed a bit remote to me, although I have been enjoying a little peek here & there. Oh well, time for bed now dear friends, I 'm going to snuggle up and read my book and drift off....see you soon xo

Brand New Day

Yesterday was a stinker. A hot and windy day where the temperature reached 38 degrees. Not nice. Later in the day we thought we might give the local parade a miss, the kids were tired & hot & cranky and the thought of staying home with cold champagne & icecream seemed so tempting.

But a last minute change of mind meant we ended up having the best time ever! We watched the Brass Band, the Pipe Band,

Kate & Pepper & Daylesford Critical Mass.

big, fat tractors,

and other crazy stuff.

Imagine if we had missed out?? The New Years Eve parade is such a great tradition, I loved hanging out in the main street in the evening heat, chatting to friends, relaxing, having fun with the family.

Our kids are getting older & can find their friends in the crowd and hang out together. 

 It's a good feeling knowing they are growing up together, with mates from kinder, with families we know & love.

I'm so happy we went to the parade, it was a fantastic way to mark the end of the year. 2010 was a tricky year, a year with highs & lows and in betweens. So many happy memories too. But I'm feeling on a bit of a high today as it's the start of a brand new day, a brand new year. What will it hold for us all I wonder? Lets hope there are many new adventures & much joy & love, this is what a wish for you & me my lovely friends. Today I'm off to the Glenlyon Family Sports Day to help out in the canteen, making cuppa's & selling cakes to support our little school. Another wonderful way to be part of our amazing community, something that I love to do. I hope your day is a happy one & that you swing into the new year with the wind in your hair and a smile on your face! See you soon xo