yarn along

This week I've been waiting impatiently for Ginny's Wednesday yarn along....... just so I could show the only bit of creativity thats happening in my life right now! I guess it's not really the only bit, it's just that any other creativity has been in the form of cooking, rearranging and tidying - not really worth posting about! 

I'm knitting my second beanie - the Journey Hat - which I first saw a while back at Natural Suburbia. This one is for one of my clan but as it's a secret, I won't disclose which one! I'm using one of the lovely wools I purchased from the knitting ladies and I'm completely in love with the colour - one moment I think it's a witchy, toxic sort of green and then I'm reminded of mermaids and sea anemones.....both of which give me a thrill! 

I cast on once then had to pull it undone because it didn't look the right size, so I cast on again with extra stitches and this is my second lash at it! I'm still not sure how to gauge what size wool will make what size finished garment and I haven't as yet ever purchased the wool for a pattern - I buy the wool then think about what to make with it!! But that's about to change........... I've been having a look around on ravelry and there are some very sweet and easy baby cardigans and jumpers that I'm sure I could knit up - wish me luck!

Oh and I'm also reading - very slowly - Louise Hays 'The Power is within you'. A bit of self help is sometimes needed and I have a few books in the queue, all on self empowerment for women. A touch of self confidence is always a good thing, yes? 

And can I just say that it's a privilege to welcome some new folks that have come and visited here in my space. Thanks for all the nice comments you leave and for the opportunity to share my thoughts and pics with you. 

colour: pink

Last week, I was working my way through the thousands of photos that fill my hard drive, deleting some and naming folders that cause concern for my man when ever he happens upon them, which is fairly regularly........ I think he checks on purpose so he can remind me of all the reasons why I shouldn't take 27 shots of the one flower!

As I was saying, I was kind of sorting out the blurry and weird from the wonderful and the 'keep' worthy, and I had a brain wave!! Why not run a series of posts with all those pics that never made it into a post of their own and why not do it by colour? Why not indeed!! It's seems such a shame to let all those photo's languish and never see the light of day. So I spent quite a few late nights going through and picking out the best 'colour' pics I had. Initially I thought I'd just do the rainbow colours..... except that I also found lots of passionate pinks and a large number of drab and dreary colours! And as these posts evolved in my drafts folder, I thought that perhaps you might like to join in and then we can all post a series of pics for that weeks colour! 

So here is my plan - on Mondays (or as near as possible) I will post my colour coded set and if you want to join in and post your own, please leave a comment with your link so we can all have a look. If I knew how to use those linky link things and that there was enough interest to warrant me finding out how, I would add one....! 

I'll be posting them in this order - 

pink

red

orange

yellow

green

blue

indigo

violet/purple

black 

brown 

grey 

white

Some of these will have a lot of photos because some colours are easy to find but there's a couple that I had to really search the archives for! You could just take a few shots during the following weeks, or only post one or two photos each time or simply enjoy what others see through their camera. 

Maybe you are a colour therapist and can add some interesting info or perhaps you could tell what you like about the colour or what it means to you. Whatever, there's no hard and fast rules - it's all about the fun of sharing!  

So here's my first one - pretty Pink. 

I always think of pink as being pretty and girlie but I realise that's because I had four girl babies that wore pastel pinks. At the other end of the scale is hot pink and thats certainly a hot and wild kinda colour! 

Not one of my fave colours unless it's right down on the magenta almost purple end of the spectrum - like those pansies and the purplish bits of the seaweed.

My colour therapy book tells me pink is the colour of unconditional love, and provides feelings of caring, tenderness, self-worth and acceptance. 

There's a well known saying 'in the pink', meaning in perfect condition.

And here is a great site with an abundance of interesting pink trivia! 

I do hope you join in and share your thoughts and pics! 

possum magic

My daughter Elli, is an animal lover. Not just your average everyday garden variety type, but a truly committed sort....... one that will handle any foul animal parts or droppings without batting an eye yet can't stomach a mouldy bit of food from the back of the fridge. She has raised young magpies, five scrawny sparrows, rabbits, baby mice, a calf and several guinea pigs. Her ideal would be to raise a few orphaned wallabies but I just can't bring myself to stop and check every dead wallaby on the side of the road! We are as encouraging as we can be but sometimes I do not like sharing my small space with three cold guinea pigs and a sick lamb! 

Luckily she has a very good friend that does share her love of all things feathered and furry. H also has a passion for raising orphans and over this last summer he spent all his time bottle feeding a baby brushtail possum. Now, I know they are very cute but they are a nuisance around here, eating garden goodies and roses, and sleeping in roof cavities. However, JD the possum has been successfully raised, thoroughly spoiled and completely loved, by both H and my girl. 

These pics were taken a couple of months ago but I was reminded of them when we recently saw H and he told us JD was going to an animal sanctuary as he was too 'soft' to survive in the wild. It will be a shame to see that cute, furry bundle go..... but I'm sure there'll be another critter to take his place soon!

what a hoot!

Aren't these so cute?? My Dreamer did a bit of maintenance on a friends washing machine and she gifted him with these fabulous gingerbread owls! I couldn't resist taking a photo of them perched on a branch with a bunch of friends!

I'm amazed at the detail and time involved in making these, as I would never have the patience to make them look so perfect!  

A work of art, indeed. 

cradle mountain

I was searching through all my thousands of photo's over the weekend (I have an idea that I'll share with you next week) and found these pics that I'd taken over Easter when my friend Joh and her children visited. We were lucky enough to have a snowy day, so we packed up the car and took ourselves off to Cradle Mountain National Park. Every time I go there I think to myself that I must visit more often, but you know how it is....... life gets busy and I just forget till the next time. We've been in December when the weather is quite summery, in autumn when the Antarctic beech trees are a glorious orange and twice on a snowy winters day - not that Easter is exactly winter but it seems that way when everything is covered in snow! 

I think my favourite time to make a pilgrimage to Cradle would be autumn/winter...... the weather is crisp, there's a clearness and cleanness to the air and of course there is so much colour. Green shades of tufty lichen and mosses, red berries, pink wildflowers, russet leaves and fungi and snowy white ice crystals. If you are really fortunate there'll also be clear blue skies! We had both - snowing clouds and wind, then blue sky and sun, and in a short space of time, more snow and wind! We have a saying here that if you don't like the weather just wait 20 minutes and it will change........ and thats certainly true here at Cradle Mountain! 

Cradle Mountain is part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage area and attracts huge amounts of visitors each year. The walk around Dove Lake is a fair hike on boardwalks and up and down chunky stone stairs but has some beautiful views of Cradle as well as a diverse range of microclimates. I'm also a bit of a fan of Gustav Weindorfer, whose vision brought it all into being......  he was a lovely Austrian, after all! 

If you ever come down to Tassie and don't mind hundreds a few, tourists, it's well worth the trip to visit  this special place, no matter what season it is! 

global chicken

I received a teeny parcel in the mail today and when I opened it and saw what was inside, I was so excited about it that I wanted to share!

Besides being a lucky mama to my own children, I have some 'adopted' ones, too. There's a few extra's that know they'll get treated just like my own when they visit and that my home and heart is always open to them. One of these beautiful young ones sent me this thoughtful gift for Mothers Day. It just came today, which is great because I love receiving gifts over a period of time rather than all on the same day!!  

I've seen this idea in catalogues before but have never given or been gifted one.  Now I have and it gives me a real thrill to think about the magnitude of one tiny bit of love.

Thank you, sweet Bonnie! The funky green chicken is going to remind me every time I open the fridge, that someone, somewhere on this big, green globe, is hopefully enjoying an egg laid by the 'real life' chicken that was a part of this gift.
How cool is that?

learning all the time

You know how sometimes when you're a  mum you think you know it all (well, thats what I tell my kids anyway!) and then sometimes there's an amazing revelation? 

Today I learnt something new!

We have always done leaf or bark or coin rubbings by just using the crayon on the paper, which made a nice rubbing but also left lines and wonky edges. I had certainly never seen them done this way but when a friend showed me today I was so excited! Just look at these - they finish up so tidy and beautiful!

How? By first drawing with your crayon, quite darkly, on a small scrap of paper, and then using that scrap to rub over whatever object you wish to see. It's like magic, really! 

Now, I know many of you will already have tried this, but I was just so tickled that in all these years of home educating and crafting with my children, I had never seen rubbings done this way. 

I'm having visions of Christmas cards with a tiny tree shaped leaf on the front.....

thoughts on mothering

I've been thinking a lot about Mothers Day since Sunday.  

Like Kate, I didn't have all the clan here this year. Two of them are a little further away - one building up his business in Melbourne and the other all the way up in Walgett NSW working on a wheat farm. But the rest of our children were here to help eat, drink and be merry, including my 'adopted' son..... a family friend, who slotted in amongst them all a long time ago and has a little piece of my heart, too! 

When we had lots of little ones, there were hand made cards and home made gifts as well as the occasional purchased gift instigated by the Best Man. And always tea and toast in bed with babies and toddlers snuggling close and begging bites. But somehow as my children have gotten older, my expectations of Mothers Day have risen and sadly, haven't always lived up to my grand expectations. It should be all about ME.... shouldn't it? And everyone should worship at my feet for all the things I do for them all year, yes? 

Well, this year I decided to gratefully appreciate the day how ever it came and to accept the flow no matter what. This was the first year that not all the children were here and it did make me a little sad to think that from now on there will likely be one or more, missing. I accept that too though I guess it will get easier as time goes on. 

Later in the day I read Tanya's post (and sweet words in my comments) and I realised why I had been missing the essence of Mothers Day........ because it's not about me as a mother and everyone being grateful for my mothering. No, it's about me being grateful for the opportunity to be a mother.

I feel privileged that seven little souls chose me to nurture and guide them on their journey here on Mother Earth. 

I am amazed at what awesome young people they are becoming, while at the same time I'm not really sure how much of that I can take credit for. 

I am grateful that they show me respect and love in so many little ways, all year.
I am honoured to be able to call myself Mother.

I think that in this emerging season of mothering - this-growing-up-and-moving-on-of-children season - I'll be taking a whole new approach to Mothers Day. I won't be needing a morning of pampering in bed to make up for sleepless nights and fussy babies but I will be completely engaging in a day of joy - just being in the moment - with which ever of my children are able to spend the day with me.
I also think I'll be having a nicer Mama Day than I have had for a long time!

I was also very happy to celebrate as a new Oma ....... but it sure was strange to wish my dear daughter a Happy Mothers Day!!! 

summer blooms

Wishing all you mamas 

out there, 

a peaceful 

and relaxing

Mothers Day. 

Found so many summer blooms in my photo folder that I had to share three with you! 

early morning

Moving on.

 And heading out. 

An early start for a driving lesson with an instructor was on the cards for today, so with four young ones in tow I headed into Devonport. I am rarely out and about early in the day - mostly we have our lessons in the morning and head out later. I do visit the Farmers Market once a fortnight but then I have a mission and am not inclined to stop and savour the scenery. 

While my Dreamer was having his hour of instruction, the Three and I wandered the foreshore.  Watched by the Moon........ we found autumn roses, fantastic sea creatures and a secret bower that was much coveted by my Fairy. 

When there isn't a rush to be somewhere for a purpose, early mornings have a unique beauty that's extra special due to being so rare. Mostly we are on a mission and don't see the magical part of mornings - that new beginning, full of promise when the veil is beginning to lift. 

I am aiming to change that. 

I propose that now and again we just get up early, grab the camera and drive to a special place of beauty. Or walk. And take the time to really enjoy the mist, mystery and dewdrops that the night has left behind. 

How about you? 

home

To the many friends that stopped by in my last post and offered me some encouraging words and ideas for winter serenity - thankyou! 

I am touched by your caring words and amazed once again by this blogging community - from all over the place, people I have never met are happy to spend a few minutes of precious time to write me a few words of wisdom. Beautiful. 

I've been meaning to write a post about our little home for some time, but have been a bit embarrassed to post pics of this tiny cluttered space....... although the clutter might a be a bit more understandable when I tell you how small it actually is! I'm not posting about our home to elicit sympathy (well, maybe just a little!) but rather to share a bit about our circumstances and how we live. 

Okay, so here are the specs.......... your lounge/dining area is possibly as big as my entire house - 6 metres x 8 metres! Yep, thats right, we sleep 6 people in here, as well as eat, learn and play. Oh and for me, wash, cook and clean and sometimes create a little bit!! 

This is how it looked when we bought it......cute and muraled! That little add-on is the bathroom. We added a new room in the corner spot in the foreground.

This one's a year and a half later. Thats the new room with the diamond paned window and you can see the existing bathroom under the new roof line. It will be removed and a bigger bathroom put in there. At the moment it still looks like this.

We bought here for a couple of reasons and are intending to extend, but somehow the extension just seems to get put off in favour of other things. Life is busy. The extension will be on the right hand side of the pic above; a duplicate of the existing house. 

This bright and funky place is the living area. We have a table, bench and chairs for eating and schooling and sometimes a couple of lounge chairs, depending on the season! The front door is right there on the left - where the heavy artillery is pointing - and stairs go up to the tiny loft which is my bedroom/creative space, and on the right is the door to the kitchen/walkway.  

Sorry, this is a bit dark and messy! My space - mattress on the left - wall to wall - and sewing machine under the cover on the desk. All the rest is Stuff! It's about 3m x 2m in size. 

The latest fashions are being modelled here in front of the barrel heater and this also shows the opening through to the kitchen. If I remember correctly I was out that day and the children had a lovely time dressing up and watching videos! 

 This one is looking from the stairs towards the kids bedroom - two double bunks on either side and when Miss 18 was here we had a trundle bed as well. This room is that new one that I mentioned in the first photo. 

And here we have the kitchen which doubles as a walkway to the laundry/bathroom. It's about 1.7 metres wide and what you see here is all the bench space there is. We must have been having a very carroty dinner that day ;o) 

As I am writing this and searching the archives for photos, I have come to two interesting conclusions. One - all of these spaces double up as dual purpose spaces, and two - while looking through the pics I noticed that we have a lot of large (for this house) parties considering that it's always a bit of a squeeze!! 

Christmas 2010

Easter 2011

Easter 2012

Winter Solstice 2011

Right, so there it is...... one teeny, tiny house and sometimes, one very squashed mama!
Your thoughts were very much appreciated and I am sorry I didn't get to reply to any in my last post. I'm hearing you all on 'trying to embrace the cold' and I certainly agree, even if the sunny months are my preference! So, on that note, I have come to a realisation that I can do something to alleviate the feelings of dullness and gloom that threaten to over whelm me when we are all squeezed together on a cold and windy day!!

Collectively, you sowed a seed that brought forth an idea that I will be putting into practise. I really need to reclaim peace and tranquillity, so firstly some of the shelving and general clutter will be moving out into the new loft in the shed. This will mean that we need to go outside if we want to find any books, sewing things or toys but it will also mean that it is 'cleaner' inside.

And we'll be painting the inside white!! Now this is a big occasion because I am not a white person. I like colour, strong colour and bold walls. In this case I am liking white though! (the woody walls are the originals) I'm hoping that white will allow me to take clearer photo's of any indoor bits that we do over winter. I am also writing out a list of affirmations......... they'll be just above me, on the ceiling, so that they're the first thing I see when I wake each morning!

Once again thank you all so much for stopping by and letting me know you were here. I appreciate each and every comment left and am pretty excited to think that there are so many lovely people out there that choose to read my rambling!

In gratitude.....