...and now there is one

Now heres an interesting state of affairs..... I am the mother of one!!! One, I say! Well ok, I'm still the mother of seven but only one is still under my wing so to speak, still hanging on my every word (I wish), still asking my advice or my thoughts (and occasionally heeding them), still spending lots of time creating, reading and travelling the countryside with me. Its a novel occurrence really but one I'm finally beginning to embrace.
For many years I mourned that my troop were gradually thinning and there were no more babies on the horizon - don't get me wrong, I'm not a clingy mother at all but I'd been mothering for so long and felt kind of special having them all with me (yes, I've seen a therapist haha!). As they've grown up and moved on, my place in the world became less important, I thought, and I felt a bit useless and empty. And tired too. Definitely tired.

Last week the third last one moved out. Now there are only two at home - which I remind myself is 'normal' and what most people have - and the 16 year old has a full time job (apprentice chef) so he's mostly not here - so theres just the baby and I and Stuy when he's not at work too. We spend our days in a much quieter manner than ever before, Miss Bliss and I, and I like it.
I do.
Finally, I do.

my life is (too) sweet

There have been a number of sweet things in my life of late. Too many sweet things in fact which made it hard to refrain from tasting, savouring and tasting again....sigh... (guess what my New Year resolution action might be??). Yes last year was not a sugar free year for me although it was a lite-sugar version! Miss Bliss, 14, has discovered cake making and decorating as well as photo styling which, paired with Instagram have become a full time hobby! But we have had some delicious treats and a few very fancy birthday cakes! 

That cheery red poppy and pansy creation above, was a simple chocolate cake topped with whipped cream, 'wild' flowers from our very overgrown garden and some crumbled frozen raspberries. It looked smashing for a 19th birthday cake in November! 

Then came Chocolate Mint Power Balls and Raspberry Bliss Balls. Now these were naturally sweetened with medjool dates and other nutritious ingredients and I did manage to try one of each before they were inhaled by various loved ones who always seem to be visiting when there's something yummy to be had! And they were delicious!

This lovely pink confection was my birthday cake in December - a lemon butter cake with pink frosting and fresh roses. All I wanted for my birthday was a big bunch of homegrown roses (which were obligingly obtained from the park by one child and a backyard by another!) and Miss Bliss used some to decorate the cake so beautifully. Not a good photo but it did look impressive and I'm pleased that she's following my tradition of using flowers, seeds and homegrown bits rather than sugary, shop bought decorations.

In our home, its not Christmas without loads of traditional biscuits and while this time, there were only four varieties, there were still ALOT! These ones, called Spitzbuben (loose translation = "cheeky boys", don't ask me why!) are made the closest to Christmas as they are the hardest to keep for longer due to our summer weather as opposed to winter in Austria. We made three batches of these - which were finished first because they really are so very more-ish! Here is a recipe in English for you to try.....mine doesn't use lemon rind but the rest is similar. 

Miss Bliss received a gorgeous cookbook from lovely friends, 'Natural Harry' by Harriet Birrell and naturally (haha) she had to try a frozen sweet delight immediately! And oh my, it was divine! The recipes are all plant based - this one is Peppermint Crisp Slice. Once again there were medjool dates and nuts involved but the best part was the mint flavour from the peppermint oil and the smoothness of cashew cream centre and cacao topping......I'm drooling over my laptop just thinking about it!! 

Now its mid January and I'm firmly putting my New Year Actions into place - it only takes 21 days I'm told but if she keeps trying out new delights my willpower is going to be seriously depleted! 

Wish me luck.....Evi

my creative station

Also known as a work desk although putting 'work' in that description is not really correct. This space is where I create delightful things such as art in journals or on canvas, collage in repurposed magazines, hand carved stamps, watercolour flowers in my nature journal, handmade books and planners and more. This desk mostly looks like this and sometimes worse and I constantly feel I "should clean up" but you know?.....creativity is messy and when the muse strikes its difficult to stop pulling out more hoarded treasures to use, more paint to splash or another book to cut up! All these things are certainly not work and in fact have been a life saver for the past few years, when I needed to process and sift  through lots of inner turmoil and some rage. I believe its personal therapy. And its opened up a whole new world for me, one which I am hoping to share with others some time in the future because I believe All Of Us Need To Express Ourselves With Paint! Or Pens! Or Paper and Glue!

On that note, Ive been busy making my diary/planner for this year. It's based on a Midori travellers notebook, also called a Fauxdori when they are home made - here is a basic tutorial but there are many more on Youtube, in all different arrangements and uses. I originally made mine two years ago and just bought small notebooks to use inside, dating them every time I added a new one but this year I wanted blank pages so I could do a bit of drawing and doodling as well as planning! So I just folded A4 sheets of heavy weight copy paper in half and stacked enough together, making a booklet for two months at a time. The days of the week are stamps that my youngest daughter and I carved and I'll just doodle, stencil or stamp the numbers, one booklet at a time. I can fit 3 in the cover, which is 6 months and they can just be taken out when one is finished, shuffled to the front and the new one added at the end. The Midori is a very clever idea but a bit out of my price range and besides, I like to make things!!!

For the last few years I've also been using Leonie Dawsons Brilliant Life Workbook (mostly because its just so prettily colourful) but also because I like to spend a chunk of time in January looking back over the previous year and writing down goals and possibilities for the new one...........and, well..... I just like to write and make lists! I've also been ruminating over my 'One Little Word' for 2017 - this is the fourth or maybe fifth year that I've used one word as a lodestone for the year and its always a gentle reminder of how I want to grow and what I want to focus on. I'll share a bit more about that in another post (perhaps).

I'm off to coax Miss Bliss to carve me some more numbers stamps - which might inspire me to clear my creative space! Is it worth it, do you think??!!!

Sending painterly hugs your way, Evi

happy new year!

Its 2017 and I've been away from this space for more than a year!! Oh my! Its been an extremely busy year and I just couldn't find the brain capacity to share much here. My life has become quite a bit different to how its been for almost 30 years - which part of me is happy about and another part mourns for. And I suppose thats another reason for not writing here.....I'm not doing/making/creating many of the things I used to post about and just couldn't find new ideas and new words! I've been mulling all year whether to start a whole new blog, continue this one but with different types of interests or stop blogging altogether. Decisions!

I like writing. I like to share. I like interaction and inspiration. But I have changed. I have been Changed. For a while I did not know myself. Now, though, I am forging a new path and although I am still the old me, theres a new me too. I'm learning to embrace the new while still being true to the old bits that stood me in good stead for so long. And thats the same in this space - I'm doing many new activities and creativities and less of others and I've needed to get it 'right' within myself before changing or deleting this blog.

I hope that whoever is still stopping by here continues to 'hear' what they heard in the first place - love of family, passion for creativity, interests in all sorts of weird and wonderful things! If you have been following these rambles for a while and are still popping in from time to time, thank you. I truly hope that you will still enjoy reading my thoughts and following along whatever new path is opening itself up before me. I'm sure there will be art involved, new places visited, radical thoughts, different achievements and a whole new outlook on life.

In gratitude, Evi