oh joy

I love spring. And one of the things I love most about it - fresh spring veggies! The fun of buying (and growing) organic is the little friends you collect along the way...

This little family of three was off for a jaunt somewhere....

I thought they might be happier out in my garden instead of in the sink while I washed lettuce, last I saw they were headed that way!

525,600 minutes...

... ago, give or take, my sweet boy was born.

(my favourite shots? The crazy out-of-focus ones where he hears the camera, and crawls towards you so fast you can't keep up with him!)

Happy first birthday, sweetie!

big sky...

What do you get when you combine - rain the day before, little or no wind, and a saltlake with 1 inch of standing water?

Endless reflective sky, stretching on forever...

A day that we all agreed would only be topped in heaven.

Visiting us from the Gold Coast - Jenny, Tim's sister, Lesa, our old flatmate from our newlywed days, and Josh, who just happened to be in town for work at the same time.

I love being mama of this boy so much.

It Came From Behind

I can't believe I'm about to write this.

I've been swanning around the house all morning, thinking poetic thoughts, trying to decide which of the worthy topics I should blog about today.

I was going to write about my take on envroinmentalism, and what I'm doing to lessen my impact on the earth.

I was going to write about the fun we had at the Park last sunday, and the gorgeous weather we're having this autumn.

I was even going to write about food - my favourite recipes this week, what new things I'd like to try, and the fact that I'm hungry ALL THE TIME.

Craft was even going to get a mention - I actually managed to make a few wee things this week for the bubba. Not to forget the Ikea shopping we've been planning (in our heads).

And I chose poo.

I just have to get this experience out of my head. I was doing the dishes and heard the rumble coming from the highchair, where Ewan was happily demolishing a slice of pear all on his own (did I mention 4 wee sharp teeth have made an appearance in the last 2 weeks?) Thinks I, no worries, we were due for one of these. So I head on over to the change table, and discover it was one of those ones.

The nappies where you don't quite know where to start.

"SWEET CUPPIN' CAKES, BUBBA!" (That's not what I acatually yelled, but I don't want to post profanity.) "No, it's fine, I can do this... OH MY... " (discovering more and more..... you mamas know what I'm talking about - UP THE BACK).

At this point, Ewan thinks it'll be a great joke to play his newest trick on me - and flips over.

"NOOOOO!!!" (The neighbours must be wondering what's going on at this point)

Then - ooh, I better reach around and see what's going on here....

"BUBBA! YOUR HANDS!!! Oh dear Lord...."

So you get the idea. Yikes.

I'm off to wash both our hands again.

Easter IV

Easter IV
Originally uploaded by Heloni

Happy Easter, all. :)

Easter II

Easter II
Originally uploaded by Heloni

...the woman is bending over her worktable, muttering quietly to herself. Her hands are busy with what, you cannot see. The sun shines through the open window above the table, striking the long braid down her back, throwing back golden red glints. She doesn't seem to notice anything outside that which holds her attention. A bee flies in through the window and wanders lazily through the warm air around her head. Raising a hand absently, she brushes the air beside her ear...

"Suscitatio aquilo, pulsus notos"

she murmurs as she works
The warm summers afternoon goes unnoticed, even as she straightens her back and seems to stare out the window, the honeyed sun bathing her face with warm colour. Her blue eyes are looking beyond what lies directly in front of them, lips pursed in thought. Her hands still from their work, and one rests on the table as the other reaches out to seemingly twine the sunbeams around her fingertips.
The herb-scented breeze teases her nose, and seems to bring her back to this world, her eyes fully open and gaze outside to the forested hillside, their cloudless blue reflecting the sky. The bee, finding no flowers from which to sup, ambles back towards freedom - the garden where the brightly bejeweled flora offer up their faces to kiss the sun, a golden promise of sweetness...

cold feet

everyone else is sleeping

... except me. So, instead of sulking about it (tempting~!) I thought I'd get around to posting something that I've actually created recently. I'm having an extended love affair with bamboo fabrics these days, and after the relative success of my winter bamboo dress (see... oh, I think August last year?) I really wanted to make one for summer that I could breastfeed in. So I hopped on over to http://www.bamboofabricstore.com.au/ and nabbed some bamboo/spandex jersey, and some 100% bamboo jersey. After tossing it all in the machine with a couple of packets of Rit "Sky Blue", I ended up with this colour:

(wee tree not included) So excited was I, that I immediately went and grabbed a t-shirt with a useful neckline, and taking scissors to fabric, and with my newly donated overlocker (SO EXCITED. OH MY GOODNESS. THANK YOU SHARON! SORRY ABOUT THE CAPITALS) I put this together in an afternoon!

Don't look too closely at it, you may be shocked at some of the corners I've cut. But I don't care! It's yet another relative success with no pattern to reference, and thanks to the overlocker it was a pleasure to sew! The little trees were added later with my very under-used silkscreen, and due to a happy accident, I left the edges uneven. I mean, they do match each other... uhm, well that is to say.... ah never mind. It seems to work. So now I'm psyched to make an ankle length version with long bell sleeves for winter. I'm thinking a warm colour, maybe rusty orange, or a rich red? What do you think? There are only certain shades a strawberry blonde can get away with.

And to finish, here's a photo of my wee poser, on the beach on wednesday. Yes, we're visiting the Gold Coast again to see all the family and friends. Loving it, but I wish I was having more SLEEP!

I love you so much, baby boy.

so thankful

My heart goes out to all those who have lost family and friends, as well as everything they own, in the fires in Victoria. The danger isn't over yet, as many of the blazes continue to rage on. To think that some of these fires may have been deliberately lit just sends me beyond mad.

We lost everything in a housefire when I was younger, and you never ever forget how that feels.

Anyone who hasn't heard the details, the current death toll is 131, expected to rise even further. http://ninemsn.com.au/ has more details, and those wishing to donate can go to http://www.redcross.org.au/ to make a one off contribution. Already people are rallying to support those affected - in our own town, someone has organised shipping containers to take over goods for others - clothes, household goods, dry/canned foods etc. I can't think if a better reason to simplify my life than to make someone elses better!



I look at this little face every day and I am thankful.

The Lunch Date Blouse GIVEAWAY!!!!

The Lunch Date Blouse GIVEAWAY!!!!

This woman is amazing. Who does this sort of thing anyway???? I can never enter any of her other give aways, cos I had a wee boy, but this time there's a mummy-sized outfit going! Yay!!!