it's busy here!

Oh my goodness!! This last week and a half has been filled with so many different and un-usual happenings that I've hardly had time to even look in on this space let alone have a peek into yours!

I hope to be back here soon with my Sustainable June post but in the meantime I'll leave you with some (older) photos of my oldest daughter and her two little ones - who have been taking up some of the aforementioned time ;)

junes photo hunt

Well I'm late again with my photo hunt! I've been on the look out for suitable photos all month....although when I saw the prompts I did wonder how I was going to manage finding flowers and gardens in the (not quite) middle of winter!! Considering the lack of gardens and such like in my life right now, I have been a tad 'loose' with some of my interpretations but that's what prompts are for right? Simply a springboard for ones imagination!

1. My garden: Yep, this is the extent of it!! Mind you, this teeny patch is quite needy and demanding of just the right conditions to facilitate proper growth without rot! I don't mind though, since there's such a quick turnover and a high yield both in terms of input to end result, as well as nutrient wise! If anyone is interested - I use what I think is a cheap meat defroster to grow them in!!

2. Flowers: As I said, there are no flowers right now, at least not here where we are staying. Stuy and I went for a drive to a local look out one Sunday and although I did find a small native shrub with some pretty white bell flowers, it was so windy that all the photos were blurred - although I can't completely blame the wind since it's probably my lack of photography skills, haha!

Anyway these tiny little fungi were shining so enticingly in the weak sunshine that I just had to snap a few pics of them as well! I was on my tummy on quite a steep and moist downward slope and didn't even see the tiny broken one that's stuck to the top of another! It wasn't until I got them onto the computer that I noticed!! They would have been only about 6 or 7 cm high and I may or may not have had my specs on ;o)

3. Insects: I spent a delightful morning painting with my 8 year old granddaughter recently. She has been doing arty bits with me for years and now wants to learn a bit more about watercolours, so I'm having her once a week for some fun! She has a nature journal so we went for a walk and discovered....leaves ;o) I wanted to paint the pile of insects that we found in the bus when we pulled the wood panels off the windows. The unfortunate bumbles, beetles and dragonfly met a nasty end but shall be immortalised in my journal!

4. Sunrise/Sunset: Although one can't actually see any pretty clouds and setting sun, this was taken at sunset on the Winter Solstice Eve last week. I'd gone back down to the cottage and as I drove up the hill I noticed how the last off the suns rays were just picking out the family as they gathered around the small fire. They were all wearing red so it really stood out. Of course my pic doesn't really capture it all that well....but I've found sunsets have to be experienced in real time to get the full feeling that accompanies them!

5. Something wild: There's a couple of wild things here - my dashing man and the magnificent scenery visible from this hidden lookout. It was simply freezing, there was a big drop and I'm a tad nervy of heights but the view was glorious.

6. My choice: I found this amazing contraption out in the paddock one morning. Its a White Basket Fungus (Ileodictyon cibarium) and while it's a bit stinky and gross looking, it has a strange beauty too. It stayed out there for days before it eventually sank down and disappeared back into the earth. Apparently they are edible when immature but after seeing what the mature fruiting body looks like, I think I'll give it a miss!

Since I'm late to the party I can't link back to the original post but if you want to have a look at what others have found for the June prompts take a peek at Kates lovely summery blog. 

may's photo hunt

And just like that...its June!! I cant believe how fast this year has gone - although I've been saying that for a number of years now! Are they going by faster? Has time sped up? Is it just that I'm busier? Or that I'm older? I can remember the years dragging on when I was in high school. Although maybe the summer holidays went faster, I think. Hmm. Certainly I shall have to savour each and every moment from now on!!

So now that we've established that it's June, I shall share with you some photos from the month of May. This time I actually went looking for some suitable subjects since the prompts are all shapes!

1. Triangle - There are a lot of old and older fences here on the property and while I drive past this one quite regularly, I'd never really 'seen' it. Only when I was actively looking for a triangle did I notice how triangular it was! 

2. Circle - This one made me reminisce on my childrens younger days - when we homeschooled with a decided Steiner/Waldorf slant using lots of colour and creativity. These bright and cheery mandalas were churned out regularly just for fun! I found these two in a box of random paper bits and will stick them into my art journal for posterity. 

3. Splat - Another arty one! From the time my oldest granddaughter was around 3 years old, I have painted with her. She has numerous art journals that were filled on the days she came to stay and she continues to make art of all kinds now that she's older. We still make art when both girls come to visit but whereas we used to use lots of acrylic paints, we now use watercolours. It's interesting how different children are just within the one family - the second granddaughter is not half as careful and particular with paints and we've had a few mishaps with acrylics, hence the watercolours!!! 

4. Square - I crocheted up these two dishcloths using a ball of thrifted cotton yarn. It's a really bright and garish colour but I figured it wouldn't matter after a few washings up! Neither of them are actually quite square but I thought it was close enough to it!

5. Star - The bloke that owned this property before our son bought it was a demolisher and he left behind a treasure trove of goodies! All manner of timbers and loads of old iron gadgets, machinery and paraphernalia. There's a pile of the smaller bits in the shed and the light was shining directly at this star shape when I was browsing around recently. I think it's the foot pedal from an old buggy or carriage although that's just a wild guess. I just love the patina of age on old metal objects, don't you?

6. My own choice - I'm in love with this photo and might even use it for my blog header one day! It's the only tree on the very top of the hill on this property and even though it's dead, there's a simple beauty about it. Lots of birds use it as a vantage point and it will be a sad day when it eventually succumbs to the elements and falls. The Best Man and I had a little picnic lunch up on the hill a few weeks ago and I snapped a quick pic. Perfect!

And here is a link to this months photo hunt although I cant seem to leave my link over there...oh well, do have a peek and see what other bloggers found for these prompts.

we've moved!

Yes, we have upped sticks (and bus and belongings) and moved to this glorious piece of paradise!
While Stu and I both enjoyed the company of Bee and house mates, Stu is a lot less of a social butterfly than I am and he needed more of the quiet life. Our oldest son owns this gloriously situated acreage and suggested we move into the cottage since it was empty. This is where Stuy has been working for the past few months - fixing up all manner of things on the cottage - readying it for rental as an AirBnB. Isn't it just the most amazing outlook?

It's been an interesting week for sure. Just me and my Best Man, birds of all varieties, a few deer that pass through now and again....and my thoughts.  I am learning/trying to be more content with being alone. But it's not easy. I love people. I love socialising. I love organising. I love inspiring. And I love being inspired by those around me. I've also not been on my own for over 30 years so I'm used to all of the above! Its truly not easy for me to not have someone around all day but I'm getting better at motivating myself and am almost enjoying this very alone time! Almost.

Fortunately restrictions are somewhat easing here so I did have a visit from Oldest Daughter and her two small girls. The girls and I went on a bush bashing adventure and followed wallaby trails through tall paddock grass, while their mama relaxed on the verandah. Both girls needed a good run around in the fresh air and sunshine.

And so did I.

april's photo hunt

I take a lot of photo's both on my phone and on my camera. Consequently most of them never get used on the blog... after all I can't really write quite that many posts! But sometimes I really really want to share them because they are pretty or funny or interesting. So when I discovered that theres a party happening each month over on this new to me blog, I thought it would be perfect timing to join in and use some of these extra images. And yes it was a hunt through Aprils photos to find some I hadn't used before and suited the prompts!

So here goes using the prompts that were given for this month -

1. Happiness is...... a healthy green smoothie for breakfast! With cucumber, almonds, spinach and coconut oil, this are not the sweetest smoothie on the block but it sure is packed with loads of alkalising goodness! 

2. Makes me smile....... walking into the bathroom and finding daughter Bee on the floor sorting out her extensive earring collection! She's off work for a while so with all the time on her hands she was inspired to pair them all up!

3. Relaxing with...... a game of Carcassone. Once again, living with the young folk - who are both temporarily out of work - means theres plenty of time to clean and play games! 

We all highly recommend this one.

4. Busy with.....bottling and pickling. I used to do a lot of this before I studied and last year moved into a bus and I'm really enjoying it all over again. Bee is keen to fill her pantry or 'store stump' as she calls it and I had fun showing her the ropes of bottling apples and pears. 

5. Positive about...... my sourdough skills! I haven't made bread in years and have had to re-learn the basics. The loaves have been progressively getting better and I'm feeling very positive that I've re-mastered the art of a good loaf!! 

6. My own choice..... how could I not share this gorgeous passion flower? They are such a fascinating design - not really showy in colour but making up for it in style! It was scrambling over someones front fence when I went for a walk. 

And thats it. Just a few random photo's from the April files.

Thanks so much for stopping by - its been lovely to see some new 'faces' here! 

is this too much of a good thing?

Recently I came across a humorous thought from someone...it went something like this - 'By the time we all get out of isolation, half of us will be pregnant and the other half will look pregnant!' It made me laugh at the time but now I'm not so sure if it isn't the darn truth!

There's been a lot of eating going on here. Eating that might have been done at a cafe before isolation I suppose, although I mostly just had a coffee or a hot choc at the cafe where my daughter worked. Mostly....there may have been snacks too. And maybe the odd lunch. Hmmm.

Anyway, I don't think it's so much that I cook more because I always cook meals and often snacks, it's more that since I have lots of time at home, I'm cooking more bready, floury things that take time - of which I have ample - to produce. And having Stuy plus the two young ones to feed means theres three very good reasons for making extras! Young men of 22 summers need a lot of feeding to fill their 6' selves! And when that young man is trying to keep up his workout 'gains' - half a loaf of bread disappears quickly in one sitting!

A friend gave me some sourdough starter a few weeks ago, so I've been trying to get back into sourdough baking. I feel my brain has had a mid-life crisis because it simply cant remember how the heck to make sourdough - and I made it for years back when my children were younger!!! My starter (which I haven't named yet but would love suggestions!) is being well fed and keeps getting bigger by the day and every so often I need to use some up...until such time as I feel able to tackle an actual loaf! Last week the extra made a very tasty focaccia. Of course it went straight to my hips.

The next day the two young ones went to a nearby pine forest for some mushroom hunting. Whats a mama to do when there's a couple of baskets of delicious Saffron Milk Caps to be had? Make pasta of course!! That took up an afternoon and provided us with lots of enjoyment......as well as a delightful meal of Creamy Vegan Mushrooms with pasta. Yum! I think this lot went straight to my already well padded tummy.

The mushrooms weren't the only thing foraged in recent times...there are also The Apples. I feel we are apple magnets because not only have we been gifted a lot of homegrown ones but once again the young folk went out and brought home more! There's only so many we can bottle (although daughter Bee is doing a great job on those!) so since dessert is necessary on occasions - for the soul you know - we whipped up a sweet as Apple Crisp. Straight to the hips again, I'd say.

Apples again? Yes, yes it was. Breakfast - pancakes with sourdough starter (I cant bear to throw any away!) and blueberry apple topping. I couldn't find the cinnamon so improvised with some Chai latte mix and it was pretty impressive although the pancakes were a tad chewy from the sourdough. Next time I'm going to try these Vegan Coconut Pancakes that I found via CJ's post although it might help if I knew what 'free from coconut milk drink' is!!

I've given up wondering where on my anatomy the pancakes ended up ;)

a different easter gathering

Like most people, our Easter celebration was a little different this year. The biggest difference was the absence of little ones. Although my daughter and her two small girls live only a seven minute walk away, we couldn't have a gathering due to the 'rules'. Instead there were only six of us - and all adults - to search for our baskets of rabbity offerings! We invited the two young folk that share the house (live in the third bedroom) to join in and although they were a bit trepidatious at first, who can resist the joy of searching for chocolate eggs under shrubs at 8.30am? Haha! 

This year - owing to the adults only theme - the sneaky Bunny hid the baskets in a variety of hard to find places and it took them all nearly an hour to rummage through every vine, shrub and bit of undergrowth in the front and backyard. Meanwhile the sneaky Bunny took photos and laughed at their futile endeavours! Even without the small children, these young ones managed to find amusement and joy in the whole procedure - even the two boarders, who I am sure had never done anything like it!!! 

Breakfast was the usual spread of cheeses, bread, buns and olives - which was, like every year of course, liberally sprinkled with chocolate eggs! Yes, it was a smaller table of loved ones, there was less childish enthusiasm but we still had a special time together. 

We even had a Zoom video call with our children near and far - organised by a son - and I must say this was where I really missed having the family around (and may have shed a few tears). The video was a little clunky and it was hard to catch everyones voices but oh I did/do miss them all. Mind you, although I don't see them all the time, I think its just knowing that I cant see them if I want to, that's a bit hard. Having said that,  I am just sooo grateful to have had even just two of them to celebrate with this year. And I'm certainly hoping they can all come home for Christmas!!

finding normal

Our days are slowly becoming the 'new normal'. Maybe not quite 'normal' as yet but certainly we are settling into a rhythm of sorts, considering that our living arrangements are also rather new! I mentioned in my 'debut' post, that we are currently living with our 22yo daughter and her partner for the foreseeable future but I thought I'd also share why!!

About 3 years ago Stuy and I thought it would be a good idea to buy a school bus. And it was a good idea because we live in Tasmania and my mum who is now 91 lives about 2000 km's and an overnight boat trip away on mainland Australia. Our idea was to fit out the bus, drive to mum's and live in it while spending some quality time with her now that we only had one child still living at home (she came with us). It took us almost two years to actually get organised to leave - we needed to finish renovating our house to rent out, as well as fit out the bus. Neither of which were fully accomplished by the time we left, but in April 2019 we boarded that boat and headed off on a new phase of our life!

We loved it! My mum was delighted to spend time with us and I am so very grateful that she is still alive and kicking (rather well in fact - she's still amazingly sprightly!).

My brother-in-law offered us the use of this very sweet, secluded little cabin on 100 acres to live in and we spent a happy 6 months soaking up the northern NSW sunshine, rummaging through fresh food markets, swimming in crystal clear waterholes and creeks and eating all manner of delicious warm weather food.....

 .........like pawpaws, fresh from my mums trees! Not everyone likes them but they are one of my favourite fruits along with mango and watermelon!

My sister who also lives in the north, was creating a heartwarming space for her aspiring business Sacred Earth Funeral Home and Sanctuary  * and I spent a lot of days planning, sewing and decorating the hall and the old church building with her.

Then the bushfires came and the idyll was over. I think it was late October when we were evacuated and had to move the bus to the local Showgrounds along with many others. It was scary and sad and happened really quickly

We returned to Tasmania in early December for Christmas with our children and fully intended heading back to mum in April. On Easter Sunday night in fact - tomorrow. But now it's not to be. We'll be staying here in Tasmania until the government says we can leave again. And because our house is rented out, and winter gets pretty cold in a bus, we have moved into our daughters spare room. Fortunately we all get on really well and are quite social people so life certainly wont be dull for the next few months!

I hope wherever you are gives you a feeling of home and who ever you are with can feed your soul with love and laughter.


*Do have a peek at my sisters website even if it's just to look at the 'gallery' page, it really is so beautiful. Not many people want to think about, let alone talk about dying, however my sis has a way with words and you might find something there of use to read about at this time.

visiting home

Ive been gallivanting around the country again but this time I've been home. The place where I grew up.....or fairly close to it anyway! My brother still lives near our childhood home and its always lovely to come back and be reminded of my roots.

It's funny though, because I do now feel that I have several parts of the country that seem like 'home' to me. There's this area here where I grew up, went to school, moved out with a friend, and spent the early part of my mothering years - this is 'home'. My mother moved to the north NSW coast from here about 20 years ago, so when I visit her now I still feel like I'm home simply because that's where my mum is.

We spent 13 years raising our children in a lovely place on the mid-north coast and I think thats where I feel is where I've truly put down roots. It's where I'd choose to live if I had to stay in one place forever!

There's also the home Im currently living in which is in Tasmania. We've been there for almost 10 years and while its grown on me and its my home at the moment, (and Im happy to be going back there tomorrow) it doesn't really feel like Home. I think its been a place to grow and learn and it has many beautiful memories but its not where my heart really is.

And then theres my feeling of home relating to my Austrian heritage. I long to live there for a few years and really get to know my abundance of relatives and I hope to make it a reality sometime in the future.

Perhaps thats always the way. Perhaps we feel at home anywhere we put down a few roots, share some joys, live through some sorrows and make new friends or enjoy family. Maybe its the familiarity of a place that makes it homier. The more you spend time there meeting people and seeing familiar faces, the better you feel about it. Maybe thats the key. The people.

Yes, it is for me.

How about you?

...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.