retrospective: january - create

retrospective, looking back in time [L. retro, back, specere, spectum, to look.]

I've been thinking a bit lately, about Christines' Slow Living idea from last year. I really loved thinking back over the previous month to what I had done/achieved/created and kind of felt that it would be good to do something similar again this year. I didn't get to join in all the months as I was away for a few and then December just raced by and took January 2013 with it!! But I kept thinking that some sort of record might be good - cathartic even - to remind me that I have done more than just cook, clean and chauffeur; wash, weed and ahem.... whinge! 

While I loved Christines' style, I often struggled with some of her categories when it came to typing them up, so I had an idea - why not just do individual posts on say, three topics? I've been meaning to do a garden update (grow)..... and I've taken some nice shots of foodie bits lately (eat)....... and I've even managed some creative endeavours this month (create)! 

So out of my random thoughts and haphazard photos, this retrospective idea was born!! 

I would love to have a similar thing happening where you can all link up here but I"m really not sure (a) if I will be as regular as clockwork each month (I'm not renowned for pre-organisation) 

(b) if I can find photos and items for all three categories each month 

and (c) how to add links to a sidebar thingy, like Christine did. 

So having said all that, if you do want to join me in a bit of retrospection and remind yourself of what wonderful things you achieved in a month, please join me - perhaps leave a link in the comments so that we can all have a peek at how clever/busy you've been!!  

   

So here's my little bit of creativity for January -

I crocheted. This month has been busy with extra tasks for me due to Stuy being away, and while I do need to sit and relax more often, I can't sit and do nothing! There have also been a few stressful moments, so what better than something simple and mindless - dishcloths! (I also read books to quieten the thoughts, but theres not much achieved when I do that, as I mostly read trashy novels!) 

I used two strands of thinnish cotton yarn, bought as short ends of skeins from op shops and this pattern from Tanya at Suburban Jubilee. I cast on 40 chains and hooked until it was square, then a single row of double crochet around the edge. Viola! 

They are so thick and fluffy and a friend commented that they were too nice to use for dishcloths and need to be made into a blanket..... but thats a major endeavour and not something I'd like to attempt right now!  

As you see in the pic above, I had a tiny amount of yarn left and finished it by hooking a few tiny hearts to add to gifts. Oh my, it felt good using up that ball of yarn right to the end!!! 

With a completely different end result in mind and with a different medium, I also conjured up this little diary. I've been browsing through a few German and other European blogs and have found some interesting ones which I will share another time....(what? you cant read German? haha, they all have translate buttons!!) 

It's that time of year, you know, and it doesn't matter which country you are in, you start planning and acting on your New Year Resolutions.... and so I stumbled on this post which led me to another page and I discovered the 2013 Incredible Year Workbook and Planner. by Leonie Dawson who happens to live in Australia. 

When I started using a Steiner based lesson plan for my Fairy, we purchased a good quality wire binding machine to bind up the various books I'd bought as ebook's. As I hadn't yet discovered a new daily planner for this year, I thought I'd use a page from the Incredible Planner and make a little personal one for myself. I printed out a lot of double sided pages, cut them in half with my quilting cutter and scrounged through my old Country Style magazines for a pretty cover. Thats the front cover in the above pic. 

I have to write in the date and day on each page but I don't mind at all. I use a pretty pen and colour in the peaceful mama and the wildlife as I'm thinking about what to do for the day! 

This is the back cover - front and back both looked so good with the plums on our table, that I couldn't resist using them as props! The rest of the Incredible Planner is also excellent and a lot more colourful than this page and I'm looking forward to having some spare time finding the time this coming weekend  to really delve deeper in its pages! 

This colourful artwork was not created by me but I thought it needed showing anyway! My 15yo Elli made it using a cheap canvas, even cheaper crayons and a borrowed hairdryer! They must be all the rage right now because if you Google 'melted crayons on canvas' in images, you'll find heaps! It's sitting on our mantle shelf for now but will need moving when the fire is required in Autumn - otherwise the rest of the crayons will run to the bottom!! 

So here it is..... my bit of creativity for January. Not a great deal but enough that I can look back at the photos and say, "yes, I did do something that made my heart sing"!! 

Thank you to all of you that take the time to leave a comment here - some regulars and some just once - all of your thoughts are very much appreciated and although I might not always answer, I do read them all.... twice!!!! 

Im Januar war ich recht beschäftigt aber immer hin hab ich noch etwas zeit gefunden zum ein paar Sachen her basteln! Zuerst drei gehäkelte Spüllappen aus baum wolle. Sie sind so dick und weich und fast zu schade zum verbrauchen! 

Und dann ein kleines selbst gemachtes Tagebuch. Der umschlag ist von alte Magazinen hergestellt. 

Und ganz unten ist ein Kunstwerk von meiner Tochter - einfach Wachsmalstifte mit Hitze verschmolzen und schon hat man ein buntes Bild!!       

postcard from India (1)

You may have been wondering what has happened to my man? Well, he's having a wonderful time taking in the sights and sounds of mystical India but..... he has managed to send me a few photos and a bit of commentary every now and again!! With his permission I'm sharing them here along with his words. 

18 Jan 2013         

Hi Evi

Andrew and me had a blast of a night in Allahabad yesterday. Some awesome shops. Shops are open here from 10am to 10pm, 6 days per week, and lots stay open on Sundays as well, because they want to make more money. Im used to walking the streets now, and don't feel self conscious anymore, although everybody still stares and lots come and ask to have a look at my tattoos. 

The people here are incredibly friendly, and we've had the most amazing offers of help from all kinds of strangers. This place just has an awesome vibe to it Evi, its fast and fun, you'd love it I'm sure, once you get over the filth and grime, beggars and merchants, extreme poverty etc. once you can see past that, you start to become part of a different culture, and you start to blend with It. 

Im wandering around all the time by myself now, and know a lot of the local shop keepers, and I'm learning a lot about these fascinating people, there lives and how they live and survive. There's no dole here, and the people here are just real goers, and incredibly resourceful. We in OZ have a lot to learn about life. I'm really enjoying meeting as many people as I can. Some are just so so, but you come across some real great ones. Life's busy for these people, but they always stop what there doing and have time for you. And sometimes that may mean an hour. 

25 Jan 2013

Hi All
We loaded our boat onto a trailer today and towed it down to the Sangam. We made it through all the security checks except  the last one, so we couldn't launch our boat today, pity. Indian beaurocracy.
Anyway, it was the most awesome fun, thousands of people turned out to see us. Lots of media coverage, and a live to air interview, after we were told we couldn't launch our boat without certain permissions. We were also told that we could launch our boat if we paid certain people a certain amount of rupees. This was bullshit, so we're sticking to the proper channels.

I've sent some photos and I video   Hope you all enjoy Them. These Indian people are just so unreal. Friendly and helpful. I'm glad I decided to become involved in this project. It's certainly been a learning curve, and very worthwhile. Enjoy. 

26. Jan 2013

Hi everyone
Thought I'd send you all a few photos of our trendy little flat. Just remember that this is top end Indian living. Lots of doctors etc live in this street.

It's funny because the houses in this part of town are rather nice, but the street is just like any other street. Heaps of filth and dirt, piles of rubbish and crap everywhere, peasants walking up and down. There's still heaps of stray dogs and cows walking everywhere, but none of those festy, disgusting pigs that wander around in groups, sifting through the mounds of rotting rubbish, and wallowing in the open drains that line all streets, that are filled with the most horrifying substances as well as mouldy old drainage water and sewerage. So who wouldn't live in this part of town !!!

I've included our little grass patch. You might not think its anything special. But it's very special to me. The reason being, its the only bit of grass I've seen for a long long time. I love lying on it, sitting on it, feeling it. We take alot of things for granted in Australia. Things like grass, peace and quiet, services, hot water, a working toilet, clean drinking water, shops that you can trust to buy food from, water that you can trust to wash your hair under( you don't want to get a drop in your mouth just in case), and of course some nice fresh air to breath. The air here has a funny smell. I can't describe it really, but some days it just stinks.

I suppose today I'm just missing a few home comforts I suppose. Andrew and me feel like crap today and have the shits. We ate quite a bit of street food yesterday, and probably ate something we shouldn't have, but it's nothing drastic, just a short term tummy bug ???

Just had some good news. Andrew has had confirmation that we have permission to launch our boat at the Sangam today at about 5pm local, so I'll try to get down there. I don't want to miss it. There should be alot of media there too. This trip has just been an adventure, and I wouldn't swap it, even though I feel like crap.

Buy the way, this place is costing us 300 AUD to rent per month. 

So here is just a little bit of his adventure for you to share. 
Do stop by and have a look at Andrews blog where there are lots more pics and a few videos with really cool music!! 

And hello to the new friends that have chosen to 'follow' this blog.... enjoy!! 

juggling..... and crowns

Well!!! I didn't mean to be away this long! I'm trying to juggle a lot of balls at the moment and sadly some of them keep falling...... actually I've never been very good at keeping all of them in the air at once and have finally resigned myself to that fact!

 I can write out and keep a menu plan going and I can keep the garden watered, weeded and mulched but oh dear, the washing isn't done nor have the children got fresh sheets. 

I can sew wonderful clothes, create fancy decorations and crochet a rag rug but oops, the lesson schedule hasn't been started yet and that email I meant to reply to? Forgotten! 

Is it just me? Do other mamas get it all done without forgetting/not noticing/disregarding other bits? Perhaps there are just too many balls that I'm trying to keep aloft....I don't know. 

So let me move on to what I had wanted to share last week after I posted about the fairy party.... the crown! Oh and I just have to add that some of you thought I'd organised that gorgeous party, but no, not me. It was my lovely friend for her daughter and we were fortunate to get to attend! While we have had some super fun parties for our children over the years, I've never done one with quite so much detail as this one! 

In case anyone is interested, the crown was made with a rainbow coloured wool felt outer, cream synthetic felt inner and layer of medium weight vilene in the middle. I hand stitched the flowers with embroidery thread, after pinning them to my satisfaction and tried to sew them so they bunched up a little and stood out. The cream felt lining was added last and all three layers stitched together on the sewing machine. I wanted to hand stitch running stitch all around but ran out of time, although I am very happy with the result. Oh yes, and at the back there is a piece of non roll elastic covered in a scrap of shiny fabric just so it fits that sweet little faery for a while! 

So there it is. I can move on now and scoop up another of those fallen balls....perhaps the one named 'plant those winter veggies now or you'll regret it'

...... or maybe the one that says 'Breathe'!!! 

Diese Feen krone aus wollnen filz hab ich gebastelt für unsere kleine Freundin zum Geburtstag letzte woche. Gans einfach, nur mit vorne und hinten filz und dazwischen Vlieseline zum ein bissen verstärken.  

a faery tale

Once upon a time in a magical land, not very far from home, a wee faery sent a birthday invitation to all her faery friends and fellow woodland creatures.

Es war einmal, eine süsse kleine Fee die Geburtstag hatte und sie schickt alle ihre freunde eine Einladung. 

 One little faery girl was very excited and asked her faery godmother to make her a special dress. 

Eine kleine feen Freundin war sehr begeistert darüber und hat ihre Mama gefragt ob sie ihr ein neues Kleid nähen könnte.  

She filled her basket with gifts and covered it with a finely spun cloth of glittering cobwebs.

Mit ihren Korb voll gute Sachen....

She wandered slowly through green meadows with tall, rustling grasses,

wanderte sie durch das lange grüne gras, 

and paused briefly under two gnarly old plum trees.

und langsam bei die alten Zwetschgen bäume vorbei.

Lifting her velvet cloak, she followed a meandering path to the Old Grandfather tree.....

Mit ihren samtenen mantel ihn der Hand, wandert sie neben den alten Großvater baum....

and there she crossed a rickety wooden bridge over the tiny, burbling stream. 

und über die alte wackelige Brücke.

On the other side she met a tall, mysterious woodsman, but she was not afraid.....

Auf der anderen Seite hat sie ein geheimnisvollen jäger getroffen, aber sie hat sich nicht gefürchtet...

because just over the bridge she met up with her faery friend. 

They wandered on and stopped for just a moment in the welcome shade of an age old archway.

....weil grad über die Brücke hat ihre Feen Freundin gewartet.

Finally they reached the home of the wee birthday faery and knocked on the door.

Some of their woodland friends were already there..... 

Nach kurzer zeit klopfen sie an der Tür ihrer Geburtstag Freundin.

Es waren schon andere freunde bei der Party....

   

.....Beechnut Bunny, all preened and pretty....

...ein sehr modisches Häschen...

......Gurtweed Gnome in his best birthday suit.....

ein alter Zwerg und seine Uhu frau....

..... Sarlec the Stag with his handsome set of antlers....

...ein junger hirsch.... 

.... even the sly woodsman was there, trying to get his hands on the pert bunny! 

...und der geheimnisvolle Jäger, mit seine Hände auf das Häschen!

The wee faery unpacked the basket and unwrapped her gifts and was very happy with the beautiful delights that her friends had brought!

Die winzige Geburtstag fee hatt alles aus gepackt und bewundert.

Of course there was faery food too! The wee faeries mummy waved her magic wand and all kinds of treats appeared in the twinkling of an eye! 

Natürlich war auch viel gutes zum essen,

  

The enchanted mushrooms were sweet and tasty and loved by all the woodland folk, but.....

überhaupt die verzauberten Pilz kekse, 

the Very Special Birthday cake was almost too pretty to eat!! 

und ein ganz entzückender Kuchen.

The fairies all danced around under the light of the summer leaves and the glow of the shiny red moon apples.

Die feen haben getanzt und gespielt unter die grünen baume.

And the sweet wee birthday faery? She felt like a faery princess in her new flower faery crown, and danced and sang until it was time to nestle down in her bed. 

Und die allerkleinste Geburtstag fee hat ihre neue Prinzessin Krone denn ganzen tag getragen. 

The End!!

I have linked this with Creative Friday on Natural Suburbia -
I know it's lots of days old but I think the party idea was just too cute not to share!! 

christmas present(s)

You might remember me telling you about our families' secret person gift. Some time in the second half of the year we put all our names in a hat and everyone draws out one person and tries really hard to keep it a secret until Christmas! Mostly it works! 

This year there was no awesome fairy abode, rather a whole swag of small items that were just as gladly received and admired. That part of the evening is always my favourite - we sit in a circle and pass the gifts around, one by one, waiting until that person has opened whatever delight was created for her/him. Oh, the oohing and the laughter, the congratulations and the awe, it's so wonderful to see, but what is especially uplifting to my mother-heart is the thought that goes into each gift - everyone takes the time to think about what the recipient really likes and creates accordingly. 

Of course it helps that we have a big list on the wall with likes, wishes and wants but secrets are kept and wonderful, thoughtful gifts are the result!  

Here are a few that I remembered to take a photo of......

Created by sand and waves at the beach, finished by Master 12 - a rustic tea light and incense holder.

From one sister to another, a wise old owl! A few years ago, my Golden One requested a cushion each birthday from her sister but this year it was a Christmas cushion! 

This gift was pretty spectacular though unfortunately the photo is not too great - a very small hand crafted dagger! Nina's partner is a jeweller and a very good one at that..... this tiny little weapon was his handmade gift to one of our female contingent..... she was impressed. It's only about 3cm long and will have a holder on a necklace, which he didn't quite finish in time. 

A gorgeous leather belt from my daughter-in-law-to-be to one of our girls. She did such a great job, all by hand, and it looks even better than a bought one!! 

This one was from me but once again I made it too long and part of the hat bit is showing when the rib is turned up...... oh well, keep trying, Ev! 

For Master 12 from his older sister, there was a zippered pouch to keep his journal in...... as well as a few coloured pens for inspiration! 

And another cushion, gifted to a sister, admired by the boys!! 

Sewing and fabric type gifts have always been a mainstay here - after all there is a large stash of fabrics to be had and I do sew a lot! When the children were younger there was always a drawstring bag or two, often some pillowcases, and sometimes even a garment! Sadly I didn't document those sweet child made gifts in the early years, not even with a photo, so they are now lost in the mists of time or perhaps tucked in the memories of the maker or recipient. I do notice that the variety is becoming greater now that they are older but, for the girls especially, sewn gifts still reign supreme! We also used to allow IOU's but sometimes they weren't followed through by children or parents (yes, that would be me!) so they are no longer a viable gifting option! 

This is probably not a highly exhilarating post, unless you are Grandma and Grandpa, who read here too - hello, hope you like these, Mum and Dad!!! 

Ein paar Foto von selber gemachte geschenke. Jede Weihnachten muss jeder für jemand anderen etwas selber gebasteltes machen aber mit aller Heimlichkeit. Und jedes Jahr sind etliche interessante Ideen hergestellt. 

Heuer war von oben - ein Kerzen Halter, ein Polster mit filz Uhu, ein 3cm langes Messer als Halskette Anhänger, Leder Gürtel, gestrickte Mütze (hab ich gestrickt!!!), eine kleine Tasche und noch ein kleinen Polster. 

Dieses Jahr waren mehr Kleinigkeiten, nicht so was einmaliges wie  dieses Feenhaus, aber immer noch macht es mein Mama-herz so froh wenn ich sehe wie nett alle denken auf den anderen.         

christmas past

Really, Christmas is all too short. The good bits are anyway. 

Every year it feels like it drags on for months - at least thats what the department stores would like us to think - and by December, everywhere is shrieking Christmas, until I'm fit to burst with all that false Christmas cheer. 

Even at home it seems to take over our life... between cards and carols, cleaning and decorating, making, baking and wrapping, it's all about The Night (or The Morning for most of you)

Have you noticed though, that the day after is always such a relief? It's as if some one has pulled the plug and deflated a huge ballon - the pressure escapes and all that is left is a feeling of lassitude and inertia..... oh, and a lot of mess and good food!!  

All our girls looking beautiful (yeah ok I'm biased!)

Nina, our oldest, and her partner Zac who is a very talented jeweller......every year we hope he has one of us girls for his secret person!! 

Layla and her partner Danial who seems to like the title on her little book! 

Our oldest son and his delightful fiancee..... who was not inspired by the talking parrot he got! 

Two clowns in new underwear.... what can I say? 

But really, between all of that there is a good bit. Thats the bit when The Big Dinner is on the table and I know that what ever wasn't done or didn't go right or hasn't been made, baked or sent, doesn't matter any more and the only thing left for me to do now is E.N.J.O.Y.

I finally had a chance to look back at our Christmas photos today and I was reminded of that small window of time - when everything was just as it should be in that very moment. And I wanted to document it in this space because really that's what all that busyness and pushing-myself-to-the-max culminates in, right? An evening of joy, togetherness and family. 

The wee granddaughter slept through Christmas Eve but did get to open her gifts in the morning.

As we expected, she loved the baubles and paper more than her gifts! 

And although every year I feel overwhelmed for all of December and every year I think that next year I'll do/bake/make less, when I look back and reminisce over the photos, I think how beautiful it was; how special and how much I love them all.

I love them all enough that next year I'll do it all again - oh so gladly! 

Und so ist Weihnacht wieder vorbei. Ich bin froh. Es ist mir immer so viel Arbeit und für so eine lange zeit voraus..... aber wenn ich hinten her alle Foto anschaue dann ist mir die Arbeit immer wert! Am heiligen Abend wenn die Kinder alle zusammen essen, lachen und sich freuen, dann denk ich wie lieb sie alle sind und wie gerne das ich jedes Jahr ein schönes fest mach!

Foto von oben.....

1. L bis R. Layla, Shamir, Eljana, Nina

2. Nina und ihr Lebensgefährte 

3.Layla und ihr freund  

4. Juri und seine verlobte, Monica

5. Remo und Juri blödeln mit neue Unterhosen! 

6, 7, 8. Unser kleine Enkelin beim ersten Christbaum.