Camping, swapping and reflecting.

I am feeling quite flat; I said to a friend the other day it just seems crazy for life to carry on ~ my friend's baby just died. It feels disrespectful to just keep going...but really that is all there is left to do isn't there? curl up in a ball or keep going.

So I will keep going tho my energy is lacking.

Over the Easter weekend we went camping; with my brother and his family and three other families too.

My brother has 5 acres of land just north of Gympie, loads of gum trees and a bit of creek - nothing else on it for now. So we all set up camp (I am not really a fan of camping. It generally rains, it is uncomfortable, there are insects, no bathrooms, blow up beds, bla bla bla).

I had fun. We met some really lovely people, the children had a ball just being free to be. Of course there was a campfire (read marshmallow on sticks, camp oven stews and fresh baked hot cross buns), chocolate, wine, music and laughter ...and NO RAIN!

A little post parcel arrived just before we headed off camping. I joined in the Southern Hemiphere Season Exchange again for autumn. Autum is my favourite season; I got married in autumn, my first child was born in autumn and it is full of comfort food and chilly winds blowing beautiful leaves everywhere ~ well it is like that in my memory because Brisbane is yet to show me an autumn leaf fluttering to the ground this year...

So I sent my partner a few of her favourite things ~ she doesn't have a blog so I couldn't stalk her and find out secretly, I asked. She likes knitting and crochet and felts, fibres, fly agaric mushrooms and loves autumn, it is her favourite season too. Think I covered it.

In return she sent and autumn fairy and a mobile of dancing leaves - just perfect.

Autumn faries wake today

Spread your colours as you play

Red and yellow, orange too

Purple, brown and golden hue.

Once each leaf is coloured so

from the tree it can let go.

Just the actual quilting bit to go..Oh and a root baby winner

My big girl sewed the last column in her quilt top and after ironing all the bits I needed for borders, amused herself ironing all the scraps (I have plans for those scraps)

I sewed the 16+ metres of borders, mitred the corners and sat back feeling rather pleased with myself.

Today we bought backing fabric and a warm 60% wool / 40% cotton wadding and then after a final iron, sandwiched the whole lot together with pretty gold pins (so many pins in fact that I ran out and had to borrow another couple of hundred from a friend). Tomorrow I will show the big girl how to wind bobbins, get her to wind at least six and then I will start quilting..... I may not be back for weeks!

And the winner is Carole who declared she couldn't crochet to save herself . Hers was the name that popped out of the hat this evening and won herself a little brown eyed root baby ~ Carole I will send you an email in a minute.

A trip to meet Bambi

On Sunday we drove out through the valley to Samsonvale to visit the Lyell deer farm. Our big girl won a family pass a little while ago ~ we had no idea it was even there, and so close to home.

The wee one fed Bambi

and Bambi seems to quite like the taste of her!

They only have little teeth on the bottom at the front - the serious chewers are at the back.

There are four species of deer bred on the farm, Red, Fallow, Chital, and Rusa; they are mainly left to roam and entertain the visitors but the farm does supply deer for venison and their hides (which are so amazingly soft - like velvet)

 This is a Rusa

and a Chital.

Owner, Maureen, explained to me the reproduction of the antler growth. Antlers are hormonally controlled; falling off naturally each year around August. The following season they grow new and bigger ones. Most of the bucks on the farm are castrated so that their antlers don't grow - less risk of injury from all that testosterone.

If I remember rightly ... the antlers closest to the front are from a Red deer, next along are Chital, Fallow and lastly the Rusa. If you look at the base of the second set (Chital) they have actually been sawn off, look back at the first one and you can see what they look like at the base when they come away naturally.

Maureen and Des hold Native American workshops on a regular basis including Medicine Drum Workshops and every month there are Ceremonial Full Moon Drumming Circles. I have left my name with Maureen for the next drum making workshop - how fabulous will that be?

Week one of the autumn holidays done and dusted!

Phew! I am soooo tired. Really should be in bed but feel compelled to blog (could also be the huge helping of cafe grande connoisseur ice cream I just stuffed into my face giving me a sugar rush!)

So Monday we went round to a friend's home to make some needle felted eggs - they look fabulous but I forgot to take pictures ~ I will tho ~ later. Our big girls both grabbed a block of foam, a ridiculously sharp barbed needle and fleece and got very busy making about four eggs each ~ we adults managed two a piece (and I stabbed myself. Oh! it really hurts!). The little ones fought over everything until hers went to bed and mine played delightedly on her own with all the other child's 'stuff'.

Tuesday we joined another friend and her children for a rainforest walk up Mt Glorious. It was glorious too ~ The weather is about 5 degrees C cooler in the mountains so we got to wear cardigans! It has also been raining quite a bit in the last weeks so we treked along about 5km of slippery mud tracks spotting centipedes and climbing trees before we reached the river pools where the children declared it was hot, stripped off most of their gear and splashed about.

Hunger ended the water play and we walked back (a steady incline, a few falls in the mud and with my heart beating a steady exercise induced rhythm) to the main park for our picnic lunch.

The children played so well together ~ there were no cross words, tears or tantrums. My companion knitted (a project for herself!) I did not much other than chase the wee one about. Then we spoiled any good the exercise did us by having a huge chocolate muffin and hot chocolate at a little cafe on the way down the mountain. Magic way to spend the day.

Hmm Wednesday I made quite a few root babies, we baked (dutch ginger and almond slice - Ooooooo yum), I did quilting (actually it is so part of my rhythm now I do it everyday. I am starting to feel positive now tho that I will get it finished in time). My big girl helped me pin about a thousand pins to hold all the little triangles in place because I don't have the luxury of a 'design board' like the pattern instructions suggest I should and you can imagine how long pretty little triangles of fabric would stay in place on the lounge room floor once the wee one got up from her sleep!

My big girl also made my pin cushion look very pretty.

What else did we do? Oh we walked to the park, stopping to talk to all the "ro, ro's" I wonder if she realises that the longer we talk to (stop and look at) the many, many dogs in our street the more often and likely they are to bark? sounds like this RO RO RO RO RO RO RO followed very quickly by the dog next door joining in ro ro ro RO RO ro, and the one next door etcetera.

Thursday. The girls fought all day! this is my fault because I wanted to finish off a couple of things I have been working on - a pincushion for M.Bloom and my autumn exchange gifts as part of the southern hemisphere season exchange. I can't show you pictures of either yet ~ mostly because I want to torment dear Bloom a bit longer - Australia to US postage can take its sweet time airmail or not. While we were out and after we posted parcles, we went to another park, made pretend milkshakes and lemon syrup cakes, slid on the slides and then went home.

Thursday's evening meal was made by my big girl ~ mini beef wellingtons, because she is clever and because I don't like sticking my hands in mince and egg and stuff.

Today. The wee girl woke pre dawn (Again. It appears to be her rhythm ~ I am not a fan) and so after breakfast, a bit of a play, books, a bit of quilting while she was busy amusing herself, we cleaned the fish tank...it was still early, we had not changed out of our pjs.

When the big girl joined us and the fish was busy admiring his reflection (Oh, hello. What big eyes you have) we went for a walk, climbed a few fences by way of a short cut and stopped at the bakery for umm what felt like lunch because I had been awake so long but was actually only morning tea.

We baked again - cranberry and chocolate chip butter biscuits. The wee girl slept. I sewed. The big girl watched Pippy Longstocking dvds.

I am getting there!

After a late lunch we went for a swim. OH MY the water was freezing! That is it for me no more stupid ideas like that til late spring at the very soonest. We bailed out of the let's have a swim and lazy round the pool and retired to the deck for a swing in the hammock and to finish reading Sadako and the thousand paper cranes (we had a big cry ~ much better to have a big cry in the afternoon than just before bed don't you agree?)

Right now? I am about to finish my third glass of wine (must be a record for me, I am not asleep yet, tho I will be as soon as I log off). If you fancy you still have til this coming Wednesday to put your name in the hat for a little Wednesday root baby of your own. Enjoy your weekend.

The last fruits of summer

Look what my mum made and sent for the wee girl - the last ripe cherries of summer.

They go beautifully with her basket of vegetables (a gift found last year under the Christmas tree)

I wonder if I smile sweetly I could talk her into knitting a few asparagus stalks too?

Pattern for the cherries, from this book

Crafting in my wee one's down time

My poor wee girl has had a couple of trips to The Children's Hospital in the last week. She is so little and was so sick ~ frightened the life out of me. She is well on her way back to her silly, busy little self now and has managed quite a few giggles. Nasty virus was the final 'diagnosis' the doctors couldn't come up with anything better, was all a bit odd.

I had a fair bit of time on my hands while nursing my sleeping baby on my lap and while sitting beside her watching the tubes drip hydration fluids in her nose and vein ~ marvellous how well a bit of 'juice' peps up a dehydrated child.

When my beloved left to collect things from home I said "bring my crochet". I am loving that I can hold a sleeping baby twisted in tubes, myself curled up in a big armchair and crochet over the top of the lot!

A sneak peek of what I did in my hospital down time, they are gifts you see so can't go spoiling any surprises.

Back home again she has done a fair bit of sleeping so I have been busy making quilt confetti

and in my beloved's words "making an army of gnomes" who are so patiently waiting for me to finish their hats.

 

Cherry Dress

Remember the mail I got the other day? One parcel had pre loved clothes sent to my wee girl from a friend whose own girl has grown.

And do you remember this post? The Cherry Dress book! The big girl and I did a little dance; the wee girl has a hand me down cherry dress. I have a silly grin and am off to read the book again.

How cute is she?

What a glorious day

It is my wee nephew's first birthday; his birth itself was a triumph for his mamma and I was honoured to bear witness. Those tiny little hands are clapping and waving and his feet are stepping confidently ~ so much to be explored on a whole new level!
For his birthday gift I made him a crazy quilt rainbow book from a beautiful tutorial by homegrown happy  ~ it turned out so well and was fun to make!

 paint some read up in the sky, some orange

 and some yellow way up high. Paint some green

 and blue, some indigo too and then some violet

...and what do you get? all the colours of the rainbow.
Happy birthday wee one xx

My wee girl loves it! I will make her one too but I am going to add extra pages of colour and more texture within them... she gave it a test run to see if there were any safety issues!

gotta love that velcro!


This morning the girls and I joined one of my favourite friends and her children for a picnic and a swim at the creek. We chose to go to Cedar Creek which is a short drive from Samford Valley on some good old dirt roads BUT there was a recent landslip on the road just before our destination and the nice lollipop man (aka council roads workman) supervised our three point turns on the dusty track and sent us back in the direction from whence we came. Only slightly frazzled we headed instead to where the creek wraps itself around the base of Mount Glorious.

As my friend and I stepped gingerly in our bare feet across the riverstones with the cool water lapping our shins and the children kicked off their thongs and bounded into the creek squealing with delight we reflected on our own childhoods and wondered when our feet became so soft and 'princess like'.
As we watched our children clamber over rocks, frolic in the water, throw stones, climb embankments and make boats from twigs and other things they found my friend and I mused that this is what our children should be doing. They should be excercising their limbs and their minds, feeling the sand, the stones and the tree branches beneath their feet and the warm sun and cool shade on their skin - laughing and exploring with their friends.

I had never been to this shady and secluded little spot before ~ I wonder how many others there are hidden or not so hidden in and around the valley. I have a new New Years resolution ~ get out and explore, go on more picnics and laugh with my children and friends.

By the light of the moon

and in the wake of a huge thunderstorm full of lighting and hail stones I finished the new head for my big girl's Christmas doll ~

and in a totally NOT Waldorf/Steiner fashion I made her a belly button!

Cute hey?

Now i just have to attach her head to her body; and her arms, crochet some hair, stitch that on, then dress her ~ I can do that.

(and of course make bees wax polish for the pram..& polish it ~ i have scruibbed it with bicarb and salt and made the mattress, the blanket and a pillow tho ~ make an apron, some headbands, a couple of mermaids and help the big girl with a few 'projects'...i have til Sunday because the girls and I are packing up the car and heading to Byron Monday...Arrrggg).