summer loving

I'm loving summer. I love the smell of summer, the raspberries and cream taste of summer. The birds in the blue sky sound of summer. the slightly sunburnt, way too tired feel of summer, after a day at the beach.

I've loved having a couple of days in Melbourne with my two youngest girls and my eldest. I loved watching the girls play, together, running in the wind, holding hands, swinging, climbing high. I love the way they try to work things out, the simple joy of watching them having fun is so beautiful.

We had a crazy old, funny time at the beach. For my country girls it's such a huge adventure. One a little nervous but her sister helped her to find the courage to step in, go deeper.

I found a beat up old chair and plonked it in the sand next to an extremely tanned exotic dancer. She was amazing in her red bikini on a striped banana lounge. The girls skipped over waves, splashed, looked for shells, watching the beach police driving up and down, the groups of families, the gulls and the ships dotted on the horizon. They were amazed at the rubbish in the water and helped to drag a whole newspaper out. Eventually we had to go, we left the chair for someone else.

We got to do city things too. The Muppet movie was incredibly great! I loved it and so did they. We did a little bit of shopping and Rosie practised her escalator skills. They negotiated crowds, learning to walk so as not to bump into people, a tricky thing if you are never in a crowd.

We stared up at the roof of Melbourne Central with it's beautiful old shot tower, gracefully still standing amongst the endless shops and bustling throng.

We spent time with our beloved Char. When the girls were in bed she & I became detectives and hunted down lost family on Ancestry.com./

 So much fun, so addictive, so amazing. We found the ancestors of  dear William Henry Walker who died in a gold mine.  His grandfather, his brother, our relatives, our blood. Char found the shipping information for my parents trip to England in 1960 - their names crossed out as they jumped ship in Marseilles, hoping to hitch hike to London.

We went out for dinner, walking the hot & steamy  footpaths of Lygon Street where I had flashbacks from the 70's. There once was a pub on the corner of Lygon and Faraday and I went there often as a child, with my friend and her mum. Us kids looked for lost coins on the sticky carpet under the bar, and ate peanuts from a machine. All to the sounds of Skyhooks and The Stones and Bob Dylan on the jukebox.  It was such a different time, we did as we pleased really, as the adults drank and smoked and partied on. Hard to imagine now. What was that pub called?

I took the kids to  Ikea where we looked in all the rooms, picking our favourites and sitting on couches not wanting to ever get up.  I wonder if anyone has ever crawled into one of the beds for a nap and stayed the night. Imagine that.

We managed to sneak in a bit of op shopping too. The amazing oppie in Woodend had a half price sale, woo hoo! And a trip to Savers is always fun. We tried on dresses and skirts and found some ace treasures. 

We're home now and our summer holiday continues. I'm loving the looseness of time, the sleep ins and the freeness to do as we please. Although it was fun to be at school today for a working bee, nice to see old mates and give the grounds a tidy up.

What's happening in your world? Are you finding some simple things to make you smile? Hope so,

see you soon lovely ones xo

 Tagxedo by Sunday

Weekend

Freddie had been loving this wet winter we are having. There is a lot of leaf snuffling going on in Duck Land lately, and much puddle grazing & exploring of mud, with beak. Just after his family hatched out this year someone told me that a large lay of duck eggs means a wet winter will follow. Remember, they had 13 ducklings! Seems that particular old wives tale was spot on. Another bit of folk lore I heard recently was that your hair will fall out in chestnut season! Which is weird because mine did just that. Not all of it, but a lot!  Luckily it's growing back now. Do you know any weird wives tales? Funny how they are called that. I wonder if there are any husband tales out there...

Speaking of hair... Rosie found a wig in the dress up box and wore it all of yesterday.

The effect was strangely unsettling & compelling at the same time!

How was your weekend? We had a good one, not too busy, just right. On Saturday after we got home from ballet I had some time in the garden. Raking, tidying up the beds, putting new hay in for the duckies and chooks. Fun! I found a stash of chook eggs so now I know they are laying again I can keep an eye out. I love having fresh eggs, it always seems so weird to have to buy them. The next day the kids and I sorted out Bill's Lego. It was surprisingly fun! We bought new containers and colour coded the massive box of little pieces. Very satisfying.

Besides that we just hung out, having fun. And a few tantrums as well, for good measure. I also went for a walk around Lake Daylesford, just to check my legs still work (they do). It was very muddy and slippery, but still so beautiful.

Back home with my lovelies we had cupcakes for afternoon tea,

a test run for Rosie's party next weekend.

Wow, I can't believe she is turning 6 soon! How did that happen? She has been trying so hard lately to be a big girl. Getting herself dressed, remembering her manners, being more independent. It's so sweet to watch.

Speaking of birthdays, guess who turns 4 today?

Little Daisy. Rosie wrapped up some treats for her

and made a card.  Happy Birthday Daisy!

What's happening in your world this week?

I have a long list of things to do and think about, including

...looking for work,  (!), organising passports,

planning Rosie's party, parent teacher interviews,

possibly having dinner with Charlotte,

and a million or so other things.

I have a feeling it's going to be a great week,

hope yours is too.

See you soon xo

Beginning's

So the holidays are over. Here are some random things that have gone through my mind over the last little while.

Kids: Our son is growing up! He is almost 10 and moving into that next stage of his life. Being the only boy in the family (not counting Mark) is sometimes hard for him but he is pretty good natured about it and gets along with the girls. (Most of the time.) He is a great boy and I couldn't ask for a better son.

I've really enjoyed hanging out with him over the holidays. All our kids are growing up, it's scary! The four younger ones are so close together that they seem to age in one big group. When they were little (and we had four kids five & under) it was so crazy and hectic, it's really a blur. Now they are older it's a lot easier, and I've just noticed lately that they aren't little kids anymore.

Birds. I am really into birds. I've bored my Facebook friends with this photo already but I just couldn't help sharing it with you too. I was actually snapping the bird in silhouette when the other one swooped down to get a piece of the action. Chook scraps that is, not camera.

Family. I've been really conscious of the many dynamics within our family over the holidays. Ups and downs, phew! One thing I've tried not to do is to get involved in every little argument, it gives it all so much more importance and then the situation seems to escalate. It's boring at times, listening to their little niggles, and frustrating. But that's family life isn't it? I guess this is how they learn to work things out. I"m loving the cuddles though, see above, and the way my kids have each other to play with. That is a real bonus of having children close together. So I guess the good outweighs the not so good.

Pet love. Is there anything sweeter? We're all about pets around here. Daisy is always on hand for some loving. She seems to be very sensitive to anyone who is upset or crying, she comes on over to lick those tears away.  Dearest doggie. Our fluffy silkie bantams are going really well and I"m hoping for some baby chickies when the weather warms up. Guess what? One of the back yard chooks laid an egg today! Woo hoo! Keep them coming girls..

Weather: Yesterday there was actual SUNSHINE! Can you see it?

Such a good day that I made the girls go outside where they 

had heaps of fun of course. Tea parties, shops, petals & sand cakes, alright!

This week I fully intend to continue with my attempts to keep exercising despite the 

cold, wet weather. Here's hoping.

Imagination. Children have such amazing imaginations. Rosie worked so hard on her Snap game, and it's so fun to play! I love watching her learn to read, to write, losing herself in a world of colour & shape & words. Holidays are good for that too. Gee, I'm going to miss that Rosie Posie when she goes back to school. She's still my little baby you know...

Love. Need I say more? 

Char came home on Friday night for the WHOLE weekend. Yay!  She carved this apple, cute huh? It's been so good to be all together. I love that Melbourne isn't that far away and she can visit us anytime. Not so good is that Mark's sister & her family are a long plane flight away. We keep up on Facebook but sometimes it's hard watching the kids grow up on the computer. We hope to visit next year...can you imagine how amazing that would be?

Ducks. Thank you for your suggestions re duck names, there were some real beauties!

After much consideration we are naming our ducky girl, Jess, in honour of the

Queen of Wonkiness herself. Jess, there is something so sweet and honest, kind and clever and thoughtful about our little duck that she reminded me of you.  Oh and she is very pretty. Her brother, Platypus, agrees.

Jess

So, me hearties, it's the start of a whole new week, a whole new term!!

I wonder what we will all get up to over the next ten weeks.

I love beginnings, they are like a lovely present that you slowly unwrap.

Anything could be inside..

hope your week is a great one,

see you soon xo

all good things must come to an end...

The school holidays are coming to an end,  boo hoo!

Here are some photo's from the last two weeks....

beautiful chookie..

sun light through the trees..

happy girls..

pussy cat..

rosella in the front yard..

                                                               

 Woody & Rosie at ACMI..

black lambs at Glenlyon..

...and of course vegemite! A favourite food around these parts!

It's been a great couple of weeks, we've been to the city, to movies, played outside,

seen friends, baked heaps of delicious cakes & biccies,

been to op shops, parks, cafes, exhibitions, taken photo's, made things,

celebrated a birthday..phew..what else?

We've had Charlotte home with us, we've planned a new renovation (!),

we went to a wave pool, out to dinner and

we've talked about the possibility of going to the US next year (!),

there's been dancing, making, gardening, dog walking and some adventuring!

And today I"m so happy to say that we signed up to sponsor a child through World Vision. 

So it's been a full and fun time, have you been on school holidays too?

Hope the last few days are happy & relaxing,

and not too taxing..:)

See you soon lovely friends

xo

Home, & away

Ooh it's a cold night tonight.. almost as freezing as it was on Monday when we left for the city. 

Daylesford was covered in a thick, pea soup mist, so magical & beautiful.

Over the last couple of school holidays our family has spent time together and in smaller groups. This really works well as everyone gets some attention, it's easier for Mark & I and much easier to negotiate the hustle & bustle of the city. This time I took Rosie & Sunday to Melbourne for a couple of days, it was great to get away.

We checked out a great new playground in North Fitzroy, just near Charlotte's old school, Nth Fitzroy Primary. I loved the design of this playground, in was designed with great sensitivity and care. The kids had a ball, being slightly deprived in the playground department! Daylesford is sadly lacking in this area...

We also went to Ikea, where I picked up some fabric, and out to dinner with Charlotte. Rosie made friends with the waiter and drew him a gorgeous picture. Next thing we knew she was meeting all the kitchen staff! Funny. Brunetti's for gelati, need I say more? Delicious, mmmmm. We also took a tram into the city to see a movie at ACMI. On the way Rosie dropped her toy doggie, Rosebud Honey, at the playground near mums. 

By the time she realised we were already watching Toy Story 3 so we had to hope & pray that RBH was still there when we returned. Luckily Mum drove by and found her so thankfully there was a happy ending. I LOVED Toy Story 3, what a great movie. I even had a tear or two at the end (so did Sunday), ...sniff!

After the film the Rosie & Sunday busted some cool girl moves at Fed Square and we caught a taxi home. Rosie was pretty excited about this as it was her first ride in a taxi! Woo hoo!

Living it up :)

Mum very kindly took the girls to the National Gallery one morning & I got to check out the 

Fabric Store in Brunswick St. Amazing!! Lovely, helpful staff and so many gorgeous rolls of fabric. I bought a few bits & pieces which I'll post about next time. Do go and have a look if you are in the area, it's amazing.

I also had fun looking at the city scapes, houses, buildings, people. I always see faces in houses, like this one above. I would love to make a series of something house related. Cushions? Embroidery? Sofites?

Not sure but there was plenty of inspiration. This is one of the many benefits, for me, of time away from home, the chance to see other things, to see differently,

to step out of the every day.

And because Fitzroy is like home to me, it's familiar yet different, which I like too. Coming home to Daylesford today felt good too, as it always does. And today I was thrilled to interview another wonderful person, Ken, who has had the most interesting and colourful life. I am so loving this project, it fills me with joy and I feel so lucky to be hearing so many amazing real life stories .

What are you up to? Are you on holidays too? Wherever you are & whatever you are doing, I hope you are also finding inspiration & joy. There are many sad things in the news lately, so much tragedy and despair, it's so important to find the sparkles of goodness, hope & love too.

Take care lovely friends, see you soon xo