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squam art fair ~ june 9th

just a quick hello from the depths of many, many piles of tshirt scraps to let you know i will have a table at the squam art fair on june 9th, selling my skirts...it's open to the public and in the most glorious location on squam lake, so if you are in the area - come!

after the sewing frenzy for the fair is over, i'll be re-opening my online shop to sell skirts, pants and some other fun stuff...i wish there were many more hours in the day to get things done, or at least toddlers who play quietly alongside the sewing instead of causing tornedos of destruction if i dare turn my attention elsewhere for a moment!

anyway, i'm back to it!

squam art fair details here

facebook page here

in the merry month of may

yindi has been dancing around the house all week singing "in the merry month of may! in the merry month of may!" which is now stuck on repeat in my mind! looking through my instagram pics, i see it has indeed been a merry and busy month of may!

we have danced the maypole, brought home 9 little chicks, brought home a rescue dog, enjoyed many sunny and getting-warmer days, watched our garden growing with all the rain, froliced with bare feet, legs and arms, visited friends new piglets several times (they're just so cute), seriously purged and organised a new studio space, painted the ugly kitchen cabinets, i made yoghurt for the first time (in the slow cooker!), eaten a lot of salad for dinner, gone on hikes and marvelled at the beauty of springtime here.

and been eaten alive by black flies and mosquitos...fresh blood!

i'm missing home (more australia posts coming i'm afraid!), but remembering to keep my eyes open to all the magic and beauty of right here, right now.

prezzies for the cuzzies

when my nanny passed away, i kept a few of her handknitted cardigans, a couple of dresses (she had a distinct style!) and also found a few of grandad's flannel farm shirts in her drawers (bless her heart), with the hopes to make something special out of them for my dad, auntie and uncle one day. last year i met a woman at a craft fair who turns old clothing into the coolest stuffed animals - and so i commissioned her to make gifts for my cousins, brothers, dad, aunt & uncle!

i was completely blown away and squealy-happy when i recieved the animals! pigs for all the boys (my uncle is a pig farmer and his boys worked the farm with him and grandad for years), hens for my auntie and cousin helen, and my dad chose a horse - reminded him of their family farm growing up in england.

we had a rellie bash in the park one night while i was in perth with all but a few family members there, and i was able to give out the gifts. of course, everyone loved them and i'm so pleased we all have some little pieces of nanny & grandad in our homes.

(my dad and his brother the pig farmer!)

(part of the hill mob - note all the short ones are partners - we breed tall in this family!)

mmmmm i miss my family! and those cheesymite scrolls we ate in the park...

here's dad with his horse. cute hey? (my dad and the horse)...

noticing it all

this is the backyard where i grew up playing, dreaming, reading atop rocks, building cubby houses, creating magical gardens and hideouts, chasing my brothers, being chased by my brothers, riding bikes, throwing boondies, feeding the chickens and geese, tormenting our sheep, collecting coocoons, being so free...7 acres of bushland and paddock with so many memories and emotions swirling each time i return.

i wandered around alone one afternoon with camera in hand, noticing every little detail and texture and familiar sight. the bushland feels so comfortable and comforting to me.

my kids are so happy and alive here too! it is such a delicious sight for me to see.

this image of ivy writing in her journal tugs deeply at my sentimental heart! it could be an image of me, at the same age in the very same spot where i used to like to read and sulk (keeping a close eye on the house to see if anyone had noticed me 'missing') when a brother offended me!
i love this place and am so grateful for the magical childhood spent within these green leaves and crunchy ground.

happy mothers day!

to all the lovely mamas who make this world a more loving and kind place, and to my own mother who taught me how to love with her gentle sweet example. love you mum!

turquoise green and blue medicine

the first time i saw the indian ocean on my trip to perth my heart literally stopped - i could not believe this magical, breathtaking scene right before my eyes! was it possible that i had actually forgotten how amazingly blue and crystal clear the water was in our ocean? as much as i hate living away, it is such a gift to go back for a visit and see everything with multiplied gratidude and wonder.

on this particular day, it was toward the end of our trip - i was beginning to unravel from tiredness and emotions...and mr banjo's increasingly rotton behaviour - we decided to load up and meet aunty jane and cousin eli at the beach for a morning. and it was exactly the medicine we needed.  



i'm aching as i look at these pictures but also feeling so filled up from the beauty that we got to experience there...

some friendly faces

the kids and i stayed with my mum while we were in perth, in my childhood home - and were lucky to see kangaroos every day. they come out to graze in her paddock every morning and evening...but would bounce off if we got anywhere near them. it was fun to see them all over her 6 acre property during our stay (fun for us, not for her - they eat her veggie garden), as well as many other 'local faces' that were such a part of my own childhood - lizards, snakes (eek!), birds, bandicoots.

i also couldn't let a trip to perth pass by without actually getting up in the face of a kangaroo (and a bunch of other lovely creatures!), so we spent the day at caversham wildlife park. such giddy happiness for my three to hand feed these tame beauties!

and there were so many joeys! i don't think i've ever seen them so big, or so mobile as this visit. look at the huge long legs sticking out of these mamas pouches!
the little white one crawled out of her pouch, sat on the ground for a bit and then stuck her head back in to nurse...and crawled back in. it was kind of like a magic show!

we got to see some beautiful birds up very close...my favourite being this kookaburra. i miss sitting out on my verandah and hearing a kooky laughing.




(emus are freeeeeaky!!)

it was really special for all us of to get to interact with the animals like this, much better than a trip to the zoo! we loved it! especially this ol wombat who has been here for years - i remember holding him on my lap when ivy was a baby. isn't he adorable?!!

banjo wasn't so sure.

paused

hi folks,

thanks for thinking of me. nothing dramatic has happened - i'm just incredibly LAME and haven't got my groove on to blog for the past month! has it really been a month?!!

i've been feeling mixy-uppy about blogging for quite some time and am still trying to figure out what i want to do. it was nice to not think about it for a while. there are lots of fun things i would love to do here, but this phase of my life right now is not allowing much time for it!

so - what has been going on during this blog pause? i spent my last week in australia busy busy with my brothers wedding, family family family and then a lot of crying in the last 2 days leading up to our departure! then there was the l.o.n.g haul home (not kidding, 38 hours travelling), the recovery + reality of being back after such a trip, snuggling up with my man who i hadn't seen for 5 weeks! and general getting back to normal life.

and now here we are!

so i'm back, and i'd love to share the rest of my australia photos and stories with you, and then hopefully some crafting and one of these days a house tour...i'd love to reconnect in this space if you would?!

xo