girl time

Despite having a rotton cold, from which I am now on the mend, it's been a lovely start to the school holidays. I'm a big fan of getting up late and it's nice to have that time in the morning to appreciate the pretty shadows, the morning light.

Mark & Bill have gone with Simon & Ben to a place they call The Shack, up near Seymour, so it's Girl City round here at the moment. I miss my boys but it's also good to have a bit of girl time.

Of course in between the fun there is a few fights
& some tears, highs & lows and lots of laughs.

I love to hang with my sweeties, even if there are a few challenging dynamics at times. Rosie found a wig at the op shop and has been wearing it day & night. It is very entertaining, especially with her wonky tooth.

Last night we all went to a local pub for dinner, The Savoia, which is opposite this beautiful old building, the Old Macaroni Factory.


The Savoia has great bar meals and is very quiet during the week which is good for a group of rowdy girls like us. In between courses there was some serious drawing going on.


Bufferlies



We drove home up the dirt road looking for kangaroos & singing our hearts out to The McClymonts under a big, old moon.

Today I've been chopping up fat, yellow quinces & the house is filled with their beautiful scent. There is something so pleasing, old fashioned even about making quince jelly, I really love it. And I have been trying to finish my name tag, think it's coming along, don't mention pin cushions though..I haven't got ANY ideas, well perhas TOO many is the problem.

What have you been up to? Are you enjoying school holidays too? Hope you are doing something that makes you feel good. See you soon sweeties xo

City

Hey lovely friends. It's Sunday night & I have just been reunited with my computer cable which I left in Melbourne on Thursday. It was a weird feeling being offline for a few days, weird but good. Having said that it's so nice to be back & having a look around other blogs to see what I've been missing. Here's what I've been up to lately....

After Rosie's dental visit on Thursday (more about that in a minute) I drove to Mum's place & she took Rosie back to Daylesford. Suddenly I had a couple of hours to myself....wow!

I sat outside in her little pretty garden and read the paper & had a cup of tea. Ahhh..

There are alot of great plants and things in her garden, like the huge banana plants and this giraffe which was a present from my stepfather, Len.

And towering over the garden, well not exactly towering but very much there, is the

Fitzroy Town Hall. When we lived at Moor St I spent many hours staring out my bedroom window at this magnificent building. Thinking & dreaming and as I got older having the odd sneaky cigarette.

I went for a walk around the old neighbourhood. Some things have changed and some things are still the same. Lots of graffiti & wall art.

This is the side of the house we grew up in. In the old days it just had one bit of graffiti which read "Free Hess'. I didn't realise the political implications of this at the time, as a kid I thought the last few letters had dropped off and it was supposed to read "Free Hessian". Such a child of the seventies...

Our old front door. It didn't used to be blue but hey, I like it!



And here she is again, what a great house it was, and is. When we moved in in 1973 it was a boarding house where Weary Dunlop once lived. There were five families living there and many tiny rooms and kitchens. My room was on half of the balcony which in those days was boarded up and had louvre windows. I remember reading by the street light at night when I was meant to be asleep. After moving out when I was seventeen I returned when Charlotte was a baby & we lived downstairs. Lots of memories from this house that was once our home.

Ok, so then I popped over the road to the good old Napes. The Napier Hotel was a big part of my life for a long time. The first pub I had a drink at, kahlua & milk while listening to Joy Division on the jukebox. Then later I worked behind the bar, for seven years actually, seeing many crazy, scary, funny things happen and serving/meeting millions of people. I worked there until just before I had Charlotte, wobbling around the bar with my big tummy, pulling beers and chatting with the locals. Fun days.


It was nice to see Guy, who has been the owner for a few years now. We chatted about old times and regulars. It was good to see it's still pretty much the same old pub. I'm very fond of this old girl.


But then it was time to head off for Charlotte's parent/teacher interviews which went well. After a quick dinner with her I walked over the river to the MCG to meet my dad & watch Richmond get done by the Blues. Boo hoo. Yep, you guessed it, more character building.

So there you go, a big day in the city. It was fun to wander around with some time on my hands, this doesn't happen much! I like being in the city for short bursts but I'm always relieved to get back home. As soon as I turn off the freeway and head into the country again I feel happy. I love living in the country.

Before I go here is the lowdown on Rosies tooth problem. We went to see the specialist who had a look and explained it was most likely that the tooth was broken and it would need to come out. This was disappointing but not the end of the world. Then the xray came back and...if you don't like xrays tune out now.....

it turns out she has an extra tooth!! Nothing broken at all. Which explains why we couldn't work out how it happened. Anyway you can see above she has a small, pointy extra baby tooth pushing out her front tooth. This crazy, renegede tooth will then also fall out and be replaced by her adult tooth. Wow. What a freakout. So it was a good outcome after all, unexpected but good! We may go back to have her baby tooth rounded out (Charlotte kindly keeps referring to it as her 'animal tooth') but we'll wait & see. Phew. I'm glad that's all over.

So now we're settling in to the holidays. Char is home, yay!! Unfortunately both of us have bad colds. Sniffing and snuffling we are. Hope you sweeties are snuggled up warm and comfy on this rainy Sunday night. To all who sent good wishes, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, my bloggy mates are super special to me. See you soon xo

My Creative Space

My space is full. My head space that is. Full of ideas, lists, children, school, runny noses, Richo, bunnies, driving, parent/teacher interviews, dogs that desperately need a walk, Crazy Hair day, robots, medical emergencies, upcoming birthdays, dreams, garlic, meetings, packages, books & the quinces waiting patiently by the back door.



I think it's quite funny when I hear someone say they are bored. Wow, wouldn't that be different? I'm happy to say that although things are a tad hectic, my creative is chugging away nicely, with bunny orders coming in steadily. How exciting & satisfying! It was so lovely to receive all the positive & enthusiastic comments after last weeks Creative Space. Because I work alone, as many of us do, it's great to get that kind of support & interaction, it spurs me on to make more, do more, be more.





I found these little tiles at our local tip shop yesterday. Not sure what they will become but I'm thinking brooches perhaps. It's fun to find such treasures that are in no hurry for a new life, but happy to sit in a jar waiting for inspiration.





My space has been full too with my dear Rosie, who has knocked her front tooth badly. We are hoping to save this little toothy peg as it will be a couple of years at least until her new one appears. So it has been a tricky few days trying to keep her from skydiving of the couch, somersaulting, generally hurling herself about as she normally does. It's also been hard for her to eat. Anyway we are off to a specialist dentist in Melbourne. I'm scared about it, kind of like I was when Billy had his teeth issues last year. Anyway, it's not the end of the world, I realise that, but I'll be glad when it's over.





Meanwhile my lovely friend Phillippa has been setting up her Etsy shop.

Phillippa, who teaches at RMIT, also works at our school and is just about one of the nicest people you could meet, is also a very talented fabric designer & super star creator of wonderous things.



Look at her beautiful designs, I love them both. But wait...there's more!
Do pop over and have a look at her snazzy shop!

So my little petal pies, how are you today? Did you happen to see my flowers yesterday?

This is day two and they are still looking almost, unreal. They are the most amazing flowers & give me a little thrill whenever I glance over their way. Flowers, like music, have a way of transforming your mood, bringing something magical into your day, don't they? I just love to look into these endless layers of pink & white & purple/red, the shapes, the petals, the colours..so dreamy....they make my space feel fine. Hope yours is too, and for more spaces don't forget to pop over here xo

I wanna be a Richo man...

Ok so we are kind of Richo crazy around here. The Richmond Tigers superstar has retired & this week he will be doing a lap of honour at the MCG on Thursay night, in front of thousands of loyal supporters. I'm happy to say I will be one of them.

My dad & his family, who all hail from Ballarat, have gone for the Tiges since... well forever.



It's an affliction I have also had since an early age, barracking for the yellow & black. Watching them lose time & time again. Jumping out of my seat when they have a teeny bit of success. Celebrating like a mental case when we have a win. Every year we hope for a better year... you could say it's character building.





And Richo, what a guy.

Not everyone in our family goes for Richmond. Lucy, Mark & Rosie are Lions fans.

But they're all big cats right?

Which could account for this fella's attitude.

(Richo who?)

It hasn't all been about Richo today though. How beautiful are these flowers I picked up at the local roadside stall?

Rosie was home from kinder today as she has a problem with her front tooth. She knocked it badly and it's just hanging on by a thread. We're trying to hang on to it till we get to the specialist dentist on Thursday. Hopefully they can secure it to her other front tooth. Otherwise she will be without a front tooth for at least a couple of years. Fingers crossed!

I also made a yummy banana cake..the kids love this in their lunches...

...while listening to the radio & being watched by this little fox that once belonged to my grandmother, Edna. It is one of the only things I have of hers so it's pretty special.

Hey! Guess what? My mum picked out a winner from my giveaway and I'm excited to say that her amazing book 'Artists Tapestries' goes to.....Linda! Yay for you Linda. Could you please send me an email with your postal address? I hope you love this book, it's so full of colour & creativity, thanks so much to everyone too for their beautiful & thoughtful comments.

How has your day been? Hope it's been a fun one, see you soon sweeties

ps. a special hello to my naughty cousin, Kate, who has been cyber stalking me from afar! Hurry up and get a blog slow coach...xo

Sunny Monday

How was your weekend? It's a sunny, cool Monday here & I'm thinking about the different flavours of my weekend. The girls had ballet on Saturday which we all love. It's good to have that time together with the two younger ones, it's something we share and a time to connect. It's also a time to see Shell who brings her daughter and there are a great group of parents to chat to in a relaxed atmosphere. I like the routine, I used to find Saturday mornings hard with everyone at home and all the different expectations & needs. Now we tootle off up the road with music playing feeling a special kind of togetherness.

And you already know I love to drive through the green fields, or sometimes brown as it is potoato planting season, looking out to the horizon or up to the blue sky. I find clouds endlessly fascinating, the shapes & patterns they make, the smudges of white against the blue.

In the afternoon I said goodbye to all my sweeties & took off for an overnight stay in Melbourne. I was off to see a lovely friend who has just had a birthday so I stopped at Kate & Bren's beautiful farm to pick up some sunflowers. Those giant flowers really blow my mind, they are so dramatic and yet gentle. A whole patch of them is like something out of a dream, their faces bobbing in the breeze. Kate cut me five fabulous flowers leaving on the long, long stems. They are a little tricky to manoeuvre as I found out when trying to get them in the car! Carm loved them by the way, what an ace pressie, thanks Kate.

This photo doesn't do justice to this little scene. The pretty chickens of Daylesford Organics pecking and strutting in their little chookie community, what a great setup with their mobile home allowing them to always have access to new areas & food while fertilising the ground. A perfect and picturesque arrangement. Lucky chooks!

When we were kids my mum & dad bought an old Swiss Italian house near Daylesford & we came up nearly every weekend and all the holidays. We always drove up the same way and passed this shop a million times. It took me a while to be able to say this name...

Korweinguboora....Kor-win-jee-boora! Now, you try! Bet you can't spell it without looking. I wonder what this aboriginal word means?

Daisy came along for the ride, here she is looking a little spooky as we drove over the West Gate Freeway. Do you like her crazy beard? She reminds me of Catweazle! Do you remember that show? I can still hear the Catweazle music...

I stayed at my mums house in Fitzroy which is very close to the Housing Commission flats. There was a beautiful community event being held there which I went and watched for a little while. I'd read in the paper about a woman who was organising an opportunity for people from the flats and other locals to get together with dancing & a film night. There was such a great feel to this mini festival, a very relaxed and friendly vibe. I wish there had been more of this kind of thing when we were growing up in Fitzroy.





These girls were so captivating, their dancing so gorgeous and I wished my own girls were there to see them. From there I went to meet Carm for dinner at Mecca Bah. Yum! We had a great night, catching up with all our news, chatting about what's happening in each others lives. Carm is the best of friends, always funny & interesting & great to be with.

The next day I got to spend the morning with Charlotte & we went into the city looking for a new pair of shoes for her. Hanging out together, eating chocolate donuts and having a laugh was heaps of fun. Then it was time to head back to Daylesford. What a relaxing weekend, just what I needed!

Just before I go I was reading recently on a blog about the bitchiness in blogland. Do you know many bitchy blogs? I have only had one experience of this sort of thing but it was only one person & I chose to ignore her. I have found the complete opposite, lots of kind and open people who are creating a great supportive & creative online community. I also love the blogs that are real and authentic, the worlds & lives they describe are not always perfect & pretty and that's ok with me! We all have problems and ups and downs & I think it's good when we can share the harder parts of our lives too. What do you think? Hey, I'm a sucker for a great photo but I also love to read about people's thoughts, idea's, dreams, challenges. I love the way we can connect with each other, in blogland & in real life! Hope you are having an ace Monday, take care sweeties. I'm off to draw out a winner from my giveaway! See you soon xo