*e*

'our' farm

some people are amazing and grow their own amazing veggies.

some people (ie me) can't keep houseplants alive not-to-mention move house every year therefore do not grow their own amazing veggies.

we joined a CSA as soon as we moved here last year - soon becoming friends with the lovely family who run the farm. our favourite day of the week is pick up day - the day we go to the farm for our share. the kids run off with glee to visit the horses (the farm is entirely horse powered - no electrical machinery at all), pick flowers, follow farmer frank around and frolic in the fields. it is truly the most picturesque place imaginable.

 



farmer frank is one of the most interesting and knowledgable characters i've met - the kind of person *i* want to follow around (i just follow the kids following farmer frank!). he and his family live incredibly simply, sustainably and together they have built this beautiful biodynamic farm. *gush, gush* the produce is alive and tasty, we see where is grows and get to 'help' with farmwork, we support locally grown food, we feed our souls.

...and on lucky days like these, the kids not only get to frolic and take huge bites into cucumbers, but get a lap around the barn on one of these giant beauties.

we like 'our' farm a LOT :)

back to school wardrobe for $0!

i spent all day yesterday huddled down with the girls sewing - irene passed through here with loads of rain, wind and fallen tree branches - but kindly left us with power (thinking of those who weren't so lucky...)

with school about to start i gave myself the challenge to outfit ivy for the new year with a total cost of nothing! so, i gathered up clothes she already had that were too small (i should note that the clothes she already has are either thrifted or hand-me-downs, i rarely buy anything new)...dug through a bag of size 6 clothes someone just gave me for yindi...and then took it all down into my studio to meet my many piles of thrifted tshirt scraps!

snipping and sewing and music and chatting and milos-with-whipped-cream all day...ivy has herself a very colorful and very 'ivy' new set of clothes...

pair of mama size trakkies cut down to fit, new waistband and part of an old fave too-small tshirt.
her favourite 'comfy pants' - had a hole in the knee and major highwaters. cut them at the knee and added scraps to make them longer, and a bit at the hem.
same same. size 6 - too short but still fit her tiny waist. so chopped the bottoms off and added new panels!

too short and waist too tight on these brown pups. new waistband and stripey cuffs at the bottom. and an apple. (i'm just glad she didn't request an elephant)
highwaters become shorts with ruffly edge. leaf and spiral a must in 8 y/o fashion.

boring brown pants are way more fun with orange cuffs and randomly placed flowers.
tshirt skirt to match one i made for her friend last week. big plans to rock the 2nd day of school in these twinsies.

twirly tshirt skirt made a few months ago (to match bff anna's.) she chooses all the fabrics from the piles. i love her combos.

twirly asymmetrical skirt with scrappy flower. perfect for layering.

old mumma top made into cardi with pointy fairy bits and wooden button. and a flower. always a flower.


my personal favourite! thrifted jumper/sweater from last winter, cut to make a cardi. felt balls for buttons, leaf, knitted pocket and swirly flower. it's all about the little earthy details for this child!

 

these were all really quick 'fixes' and a LOT of fun to do...i love to personalise plain/stained/thrifted stuff for my kids. easy on the budget and i get my crafting high. it's a win win for all!

now, if only a few snips and scraps would make my wardrobe (and self image) this happy!

things i like in my home:

fresh, colourful things from our local biodynamic farm...

homegrown flowers from a friends garden...

sisterly love...

i also like clean laundry, toddlers who nap, crafty time and non-filthy floors but for today i'll be content with what i do have ;)

weekend adventuring - NYC!

remember our friends the hippens recently moved to NY? well, we loaded up and went to visit them for the weekend and finally got to see NEW YORK CITY for.the.first.time! wheeeee! it was just a bit exciting if you know what i mean ;)

this is us, snapped by karalenn right as we came up out of the subway onto times square. we all tood there, frozen in disbelief and overwhelm for a minute before venturing out. it was CRAZY! but so much fun to see.

as always when visiting a big city, we just did a lot of walking and taking it all in! with 6 kids and a limited budget between us, we did pretty well to not lose any children or spend any money other than the train tickets and an icypole for each kid! i couldn't believe we were really in the city...it was so beautiful and i loved the vibe. so much life and happenings everywhere we turned. we spent the whole afternoon in central park exploring, and headed home before there were any tiredness meltdowns (just in time too!)...i can't believe we only live a few hours away from this other world, and am so excited to go back and see more next time....eee!

if you've been, i'd love to hear about your first experience to the city!

the summer of becoming best friends

i wish i knew exactly how it happened (so i could save the formula and use for the next 15+ years, and also share with the world), but these two have suddenly 'clicked' into the 2 sweetest little best friends i have ever seen. all summer long they have played & played...shutting themselves into their bedroom and creating happy play...caring for one another and actually sharing in ideas as well as belongings.

this has come as quite a surprise after the past 2 years of many jealous rages, squabbling, whining and general sisterly mean-ness!

isn't sibling-squabblery the most tricky element of parenting to maneouver around? i have been beside myself on many occasions trying to mediate and understand where it was all coming from. not having a sister myself, i guess this is a new and mostly beautiful journey for all of us...

anyway - whatever has been unfolding with these two is making this home so much lovlier, and this mumma so so grateful. and i am crossing every part of myself that it continues.
(little besties back in 2007. before they knew how to get annoyed at each other!)

i'd love to hear your sister-ly stories, and how you encourage the love to flow..!

beach crawl.

our days in maine were made up of visiting one beach to the next, we wanted to get as much saltwater on our skin and enjoy that sunshine while we could!

first there was the cool little beach at our campsite. the tide went right out in the evenings so we ran around and oozed mud through our toes, chatted to the clam diggers, walked for miles and gathered shells.

down the road from out camp was this pretty scene...we spent an impromptu morning rock walking and duck watching here...

then with picnic and blankets packed it was on to reid state park. what a magical spot!
these three kindly posed for mumma for a total of 2 seconds before tearing off to play the water and sand for the rest of the day...

as part of the pleading/pursuading me to go camping, mick promised me a day of total laziness on the beach - which i collected on. i lay under my beach umbrella with a book and sent any starving/thirsty/squabbly/toilet needing child to dadda. yes!

heading home we stopped to check out old orchard beach - and WO! i have never seen such a crazy crowded beach, even compared to those LA beaches on a public holiday. it was PACKED!

under the pier was the only patch of bare sand so we plopped down our stuff and settled in. with loud music coming from above the girls got their dance on before chasing some waves...

we hovered over our children so as not to lose them in the sandy moshpit - so it wasn't quite as relaxing as i like a beach to be - but nevertheless, it was an experience we won't forget in a while...and the water was much warmer too. i'm hoping it wasn't from all those people peeing in it.

i really miss living so close to the ocean...when i think about how good we had it in san diego it makes me wanna cry! but a good reminder to appreciate whatcha go when ya got it - which i do :)

the car is full of sand and my dreads are nice and salty. thankyou beaches for the good times and the soul enlivening you always provide!

free fun at bpc

You are invited to a FREE festival packed full of big ideas at Big Picture Classes this August! Join us for 12 fun-filled days featuring 12 of our talented instructors. Each instructor will be giving you a word of the day, which we hope will inspire you, along with a downloadable template (in both printable and digital format) so that you can create a mini layout about that day's word and how you applied it in your life.

the festival starts today! so click on over to big picture and have a squizz..my video & word will be posted there on saturday if you wanna check it out!

(Scroll down to the bottom of the page to register, remember it is free and you will not see a charge in your account, but you do have to check out.)

weekend adventuring - camping in maine

our weekend adventuring hasn't been happening much lately, but we had a good one to make up for it this weekend. to tell the truth, i was poo-pooing on the idea (the packing, feeding people, long drive, squeezing us into our tiny tent etc etc) but with 4 sets of puppy dog eyes and jumping up and down begging me to say yes (along with mick's promise that i wouldn't have to do a 'thing'!! yeah right) made me say YES :)

and i'm so glad i did.







(can you imagine living in that sweet house right on the beach?!)

hints for a successful camping trip (you know you want them):

*go spontaneously when you see 2 straight day of good weather forecast (a rareity here so i'm learning). don't go spontaneously without checking the weather like we did on our last camping trip.

*head off around cranky little persons nap time, and enjoy at least 1 hour of the trip without their squealing and whining.

*colourful socks make for a stylish camp (and at least attempt to fend off the mozzies)

*hammocks are not only for relaxing in (never happened for me), but trapping small and cheeky children who want to jump into campfire.

*wear thongs in the shower (i'm talking the ones on your feet!), those places are just gross.

*plan camp meals in advance, and then plan about 6 extra meals on top of those. camping means hungry!

*8:30pm for bed is in no way uncool.

other than mr banjo wreaking havoc, it was such a lovely re-charge and happy family connect weekend...with nothing to distract us from just being together. conversations that wouldn't have happened otherwise, sibling games and caring for one another, working together, enjoying just being together. so so needed and so so grateful.

and the beach - gah! divine-ness. pictures from beach-bliss coming up next :)

he takes ice-cream eating very seriously

a firm hand grip, complete concentration and full face dive into the scoop required.

and speed.

eat fast, then lunge for the nearest family member and their half eaten cone.

at the lake with friends

we had some dear old friends from LA visit us a few weeks ago, karalenn and i hadn't seen each other since we both left there four years ago - back when there were 3 kids between us, now there are 6! k, kenzie, kendall and pip kept us company for a few days while mick was away - first place we loaded up and took them to was 'our' lake. it's more 'home' than our actual home considering the amount of time we spend here!
the girls all got along famously, like they'd been best friends their whole lives. karalenn and i chatted (and cried!) non-stop catching up over the past few years and all the different twists and turns our lives have taken. it felt SO good to be with someone who 'knew' us, that we have a history with. comforting, and comfortable.

mr banjo, meanwhile, wanted nothing more but to torment poor little pip in every possible way his cheeky self could think of...


oh, that boy!

karalenn and her family recently moved to NY, which means many more get-togethers and sleepovers like this, hooray for good friends living 'close'!