This and that

Ever since I started this blog for fun on my birthday in 2008, I have had the same photo of a fairy nestled in amongst blue lobelia flowers for my header. I never found another photo that seemed the right one to replace it, one that summed up my life/outlook/philosophy. But then, while flying my big girl's kite in the park the other day, I managed to hold the camera with one hand and the kite string in the other and snap a picture of it flying above me. Every time I look at this photo, I feel happy. It makes me feel hopeful and reminds me that the world is still full of beauty and simple pleasures despite earthquakes, floods, and other bad things that happen to good people. Plus..... I do have a little rainbow obsession.

I don't know where I used to find the time to do more posting on this blog. Suddenly, I just don't seem to be able to manage to find a spare 20 minutes to find the camera, upload the photos and stick them in a post with a few sentences. I could only find one of our two cameras tonight so some of the photos I was planning to post will have to wait until another time. I know I had our camera at Gallery of Modern Art on Friday and don't think I have seen it since, which is a worry.

A few posts back, I mentioned a quilt I was making for a special friend who has taught me so much about mothering, loving kindness, living in the moment and "letting go". After a couple more weeks of stitching it was finally finished, wrapped up and delivered. This quilt pretty much made itself and I loved making it. I loved the colours and the pictures of herbs and the simplicity of good old squares and rectangles. I love that it has gone to a happy home where the door is always open to friends, even when they have wandered down the street after dinner in their pajamas.

(I apologise that there is a tiny bit too much of me showing in this photo, but, hey, it's only the internet).

The autumn weather has made it a joy to be outside, especially in a park. A few weekends ago, we went to our local park with our friends to fly a kite and get in some extra monkey bar time.

Can you see the kite disappearing over the bridge?

When I sat down at the computer this evening to upload the latest batch of photos from my camera, I came across a bunch of gorgeous photos that I had never seen before. What a gift! Not sure what I was doing when my husband snapped them but I can't resist showing them to you. This is the side of our house where the weeds run rampant and we never seem to get around to making it beautiful. When we bought the house, the architect friend who did our building inspection warned that the landing didn't meet safety standards and we should add a railing. We did get a quote but never followed through on it. Nearly four years later, no-one has fallen off it (touch wood). Somehow, an old geranium has grown in a neglected corner and enchanted two girls having fun with a beachtowel and an umbrella. Thanks Scott for the photies!

Thanks Universe for two happy, healthy children (who didn't fall off the landing!)

babies and quilts

There's been a bit of drought of babies in my life the last few years, but suddenly there are beautiful babies appearing all over the place. Part of my motivation for learning to quilt was so that I could start making baby quilts.

My big girl has had a fantastic year in Grade 1, mostly due to her lovely teacher. So when Mrs C announced she was leaving at the end of the year to have a baby, I thought it was the perfect time for another baby quilt to be made. I secretly told the children in the class that I was making a rainbow quilt (with help from my girl) and took the squares of material in to show them while we made Mrs C wait outside the classroom. All the children managed to keep it a secret right up until we gave the teacher the quilt on Wednesday, although one little scallywag of a boy kept threatening to give the game away. Mrs C loved her quilt and here she is holding it up. I edited her out of the photo though for privacy reasons. (Not sure that she wants to appear in my blog!)

I was originally going to try and get the children to write their names on baking paper and trace them on to the quilt and embroider over them so that they would be part of the quilt making process. But time was running out so instead, I gave them all a square of white cardboard and asked them to draw a picture for Mrs C - maybe of themselves, Mrs C, her baby or a quilt. I was stunned at the beautiful artworks they produced. They really love this teacher and it showed in the effort they put in and all the loving messages and love hearts etc. Here are a few samples. We punched holes in the pictures and joined them into a little book with a piece of ribbon.

At the same time as this was all happening, the friends of the beautiful Jo were making a quilt to celebrate the impending home birth of her third baby. The amazing Melissa sewed all the hand made squares together into an absolute work of heart. (That was a typo but I think "work of heart" works just as well as "work of art"). Here's the link to the photos of the quilt on Melissa's website. A beautiful "blessing way" was also held to honour Jo and give her and her baby lots of love leading up to the birth. I had never heard of a blessing way before and I described it to Scott as sort of a hippie baby shower. As part of it, we all sat quietly and sewed little felt angels with crystal, embroidery etc to make a mobile for Jo's baby. Here's a photo of Jo with the mobile. Her little baby boy arrived safely at home last week and was safely caught by his Daddy, Simon while Hugo and Isobel watched in excitement. Jo is so clever that she gave birth to Otto in less time than it takes to bake a cake and before her midwives arrived.

The next baby to arrive is my brother's and his new wife's baby boy in April. My family are over the moon and my sister and I are going to make a really special baby quilt together. His wife is East Timorese so we think we might buy some beautiful colourful Bali pop material to remind him of his part of the world. My sister and I haven't met our new sister-in-law yet so we are impatiently waiting for her to arrive in Australia on Christmas Eve.

quilts and gardens

I have finally planted some vege seedlings in the new garden. Some eggplants (which were great for Scott's homemade gluten-free pizzas last year), some weird round looking carrots and a strawberry plant which looked very healthy at the garden shop but already looks a little worse for wear. It wilts very quickly and so I have to remember to give it some water in the mornings before the sun starts to burn. Emma is actually out of shot watering the seedlings (her idea for a happening photo!)

The whole point of the pavers and chicken wire was to keep Kipper out. Dad built a little stile for the girls to climb over, but of course, Kipper, now climbs over as well. Out with the stile!

My only other Kipper proof garden (apart from my three hanging baskets) is filling up nicely with nasturtiums, lobelia and snapdragons. It brings me so much pleasure to see some colour when I look out of our front door (and, literally, past the dog's breakfast that is sitting on the patio).

I took this of the quilt fabric I bought a few weeks ago in readiness for my first quilting class. (E loved the yellow floral material and was so disappointed that I didn't choose it for the front of the quilt that I bought it for the back) The fabric cost much more than I bargained for so making the first cuts and stitching the first stitches was a little bit nerve wracking. After lesson two I am feeling more confident. I'm amazed how well my corners match up now that someone has shown me how to pin the seams together so that the corners match up! Sounds obvious, I know, but I was just making it up as I went along before and wondering why everything looked a little wonky. Never mind - at least my first two quilts don't look factory made!

I haven't been blogging much as life is a bit hectic and I am a little down and overwhelmed by life which is how I am sometimes. Sometimes, it's hard to know what to say or blog about and after admiring Beck's exquisite photographs and words and laughing at Tammie's dry wit, I'm a bit lost for inspiration. But of course, blogging is not a competition and the joy of it is that we are all ourselves and that's what makes it such a great patchwork of people and ideas and images to stumble around in. I am also conscious of editing what I say sometimes as some people I work with know about my blog and I don't want to completely spill my guts about every little thing. Perhaps I need a new "secret blog".

I'm enjoying seeing what you are all up to so keep blogging girls.