Sydney!!!!

Bill and I had a fantastic trip to Sydney! 

Probably the best part for me was the look on his face when he read out my last post on my iphone as we took the turn off to the airport. He just couldn't believe we were going to Sydney not Melbourne!  I don't think he really did until we were on the plane, what an excellent surprise it was!

Although it was raining quite a lot of the time we were there we still had fun and did so many things. We both loved the ferry ride across the  magnificent Sydney Harbour...where we saw..

(replica) ships from the First Fleet....

sail boats...

..tug boats...

....and massive ships. I loved being on the harbour, there is so much to look at and it is truly such a beautiful place to be. How could you ever get sick of such views? Lucky Sydney siders.. :)

Over on Manly beach we just enjoyed being at the beach, something we miss in Daylesford.

 We looked for shells, swam in the water, watched people, boats and clouds.

It was simply..

blissful.

Bill and I packed a lot into our 24 hours in Sydney, we stayed at the YHA in The Rocks (which was great) and climbed a million steps up and down. It's such an amazing historic area, I loved it.

We watched a film about the making of the Harbour Bridge, went to a book shop & a movie, we ate waffles, and hot chips and ice cream.

We caught trains, and cabs and ferries,

 and the monorail! Fun!

One of the highlights was the Power House Museum. We both walked around in awe at the many mind blowing exhibits. The oldest steam train in NSW, planes hanging from the ceiling, rocket parts, the penny farthing..old tram cars and carriages...all so beautifully made and decorative.

I have so many shots from the museum so I won't bore you with them all but we had the BEST time there and I can't wait to go back one day. Bill loved all the scientific sections with experiments etc. Not so much my cup of tea but it was fun to see him enjoying it.

Another highlight was catching up with Susie from Flower Press. We almost didn't make it but I'm so glad we did. Susie took us on a trek for coffee through the crowds of School Spectacular students, an amazing motor bike jumping display (!!), Darling Harbour and past Paddy's Market. A real splice of inner Sydney! It was great to finally meet Susie and sit and have a chat with her. Susie, thanks so much for coming in to see us, I hope next time we can come and visit you and meet your family too.

I could go on forever about our mini trip to Sydney but I'll finish up  now as it's hard to know when to stop sometimes. I'm SO glad I did this with Bill, it was a precious moment in time that we will both remember. Life with kids is so busy and it's easy to get caught up in the Managing and the Surviving, the Cleaning and Organising that sometimes you need to step back and just enjoy time together.

 I really enjoyed chatting with Bill and hearing his ideas and observations. It was good for him to go somewhere so different and bustling, a big city with so many different cultures and things to see.  I like having some special one on one time with my kids, whether it's a big trip like this or just doing something more simple. I guess it's the time spent together that is what you remember. I definitely want to do this with all my kids - I hope I can.

So I've been rambling on..what have YOU been up to lately?

Hope it's been fun and inspiring, and that you are not to caught up in the end of year stress.

Take care lovely ones,

I'll see you soon xo

Birthday girl

Yesterday our Rosie celebrated her 6th birthday, what a fun day it was.

In the morning we iced her cake, an old favourite, The Smartie Rainbow Cake!

Rosie dressed up in her princess dress, we loaded up the car with kids and food and set off to nearby Kyneton where we had booked a fantastic party place called Pass the Parcel.

Upstairs, above a shop, the party went of with a bang! Lots of games, dancing and fun.

I had my support team there, Lucy was so helpful, setting up the table, looking after the kids, just wonderful

It was a real blast, the kids loved all the singing & stories and the puppet show. Rosie was pretty excited about this part and kept jumping up and grabbing the frog puppet! Hope he's feeling ok today...

It was fun watching the kids faces, aren't they at an adorable age?

Sunday joined in too and looked pretty cute in her pirate outfit.

The kids and Mark did a great job getting the food all sorted, we missed Charlotte though, celebrating just isn't the same without her.

I loved the party space, the room was set up so sweetly. Rosie had a lovely day and she is lucky to have such a gorgeous group of friends. Birthdays are often a time of reflection aren't they?

Even though Rosie doesn't turn 6 until Wednesday I've been thinking a lot about when she was born, 

and all the things that have happened since. The happy days, the chaos & the love.

So today I'm just catching up with myself after a huge weekend. (I also just managed to delete some birthday photo's off my camera! Oh no. Does anyone know if there is a way to get them back?) Feeling a bit tired & teary actually. 

But anyway, life is good and we are so happy & grateful to have our Rosie in our lives. She is a real character, a real fire cracker of a girl, showering us with sparkles of excitement, life, colour, love, fun, ideas and endless kisses & hugs. She is such a little treasure. I'm sure I'll be full of more tales of Rosieness on Wednesday, see you then 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

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