a prayer for jude

jude is having an operation on her heart on monday .. come on angels.... look after her.

i did write a long post...but really in the end all it comes down to is connection and love.

easter folded up

i learnt today what to do exactly with bias tape over at angry chicken. how exciting. i have at least one top which needs to have the sleeve hems fixed because i had no idea how to put the weird stuff on properly. its not weird anymore, its nifty lol.

i also ended up on itunes and they had blackbox on one of their front pages. i looooved blackbox in my groovin days... so i downloaded it and have been so happily singing and dancing (realising i cannot move the way i used to) around the kitchen. im not sure what the kids thought. they did have interesting looks on their faces. at one point veda asked me if this was the radio.

i cut out another dress pattern. yeh baby. but havent found the space or energy to make it yet. maybe tonight when the kids are sleeping.

the kitchen table has been a hive of paper folding busyness the past week. lucky for all those chicks, they got cute little baskets to live in.

sindri became the master at paper balloon foldings. the fun in blowing them up led to more and more. amelie almost 4 year old does more freestyle type folding. she sees things i cant see :-)

im glad i brought back most of my luggage allowance filled with nice papers from japan..... . .

today i gave our garden some more hay-love. i have sweet pea seeds begging me to plant them. i just need somewhere for them to climb. im going to kick myself if i dont get them planted soon. soon sweet peas i promise.

so i just cleaned the kitchen and do you think im feeling like going back in there and cooking tea. you are right.

hello thai takeaway.

henny penny

happy easter to you :-)

dress

i have a new dress. . i made it from nani iro pattern book. i have nice fabric coming in the mail... its silly im making summer dresses in autumn and ive been wearing winter clothes all summer.

average friday

it began like a good friday. i didnt have to jump out of bed. i could roll out slowly. drink my coffee slowly. mow the lawn in my pyjamas. fold little paper baskets with the kids and my boy. slowly, slowly.

lets ignore the middle of the day.

the end is the end of a good friday. fish n chips for tea, tired happy kids, a movie, Big Fish, to watch if i can stay up long enough with my eyes open. ive got my boy onto the origami. he has the mind and patience to make those decahendrons or some similar sounding shape. you know. the ones we like. lets see what he comes up with. tomorrow he has to go shopping because he ate all..ok...most of the easter eggs. how about that.

and tonight. hello moon.

...........

it wasnt a dream

it was only just over a week ago i was in japan. it feels like a year. i hate that.

top

this is what came of the pattern previously mentioned. it was fun , like doing a jigsaw. following just a picture or two, and japanese writing. i ended up only sewing one wrong piece. and i have a top that is wearable. its likeable too. the next one will have a better neckline. that was where i messed up a bit.

so next is a dress. i need one. im walking around like its winter, in winter clothes. and im starting to melt. maybe if i make some summery clothes i will scare the sun away to the other side of the world where it should be.

out here in the country......

more extremes. a night spent at a country show, my boy with his cows . my little cow girl with her little cow, Lilly.

they won lots of ribbons too . hooray :-) i cried at the cuteness of her.

its another little world.

making space

im trying to eat the rice crackers slowly so they last for long but its so hard. they are addictive and delicious. my secret midnight snacks. there are too many things i want to do. where do i start. how do i choose.

for a girl who sews without patterns. my visit to japan has done some strange things to me. talk about extremes.

today

its another day. such a hot day. but from 7.30 am i have the cooling on and then i can wear my new cardigan and socks around the house and pretend its cold outside at least for a few hours, or until i have to drive into town ( ten minutes away) down a boring road that i am totally sick of driving down, to get some food from the boring supermarket. oh yes you are hearing me.
my feet are itchy.
veda made delicious swirly biscuits from my new cook book from my sweet friend. and i made a chickpea dish from the jamie oliver in italy cookbook. god. he is .
it was yum, considering i put lentils too which i wasnt meant to , and i had to scrounge for a chicken stock cube( it was probably ten years old) and no doubt Jamie had fresh chicken stock (vomit). mine was vegie imitating chicken which in some way is probably worse.
if i fed my kids properly i think i could easily stand in the kitchen all day. either cooking food or cleaning the dishes. both of which may just be at the moment my least fave things to do.
so i have nice pattern books for clothes from japan and now i will have to work out how to use them . .to make clothes .. that fit. they seem to be quite simple in shape and im hoping that doesnt mean they are deceptively complicated to sew .
im eating too many easter eggs at night. and i dont know where sindris school uniform for tomorrows return to school post me being in japan. im hoping for an early morning miracle.
veda is all excited about the calf tied up next to our house. her and murray are going to show her at a show on the weekend. its so cute, but wont be so cute if she moos all night near my window.
a mooing cow at my bedroom window. ? i never imagined.

back another day.

bride surprise

ninjagachahorsie

tokyo somewhere

and just one more for tonights new moon welcoming, to balance the previous two out.

smile

so i just thought how funny it is i post that photo. really manda....it could have been a photo from my garden. HERES a photo. courtesy of melindas quick photography skills.

arrigato.

sometimes words are pathetic little creatures.

im home again from japan. from hanging happily out with minda and hana pie. in tokyo and around the place.

its 2.52am and i have aeroplane and tokyo induced insomnia.

its also my birthday.

and international womens day.

and a new moon at 3.14am.

maybe thats why coco cat woke me up. so i could be conscious for the new moon. not sure what ..or why... or how... but anyway. i love the moon. and here i am. welcome new moon.

so instead of trying to type some sequence of words to try to describe how very wonderfully nice it was to be by myself in japan, in the home and lives of beautiful family. and also to try to describe just what tiny bit i experienced of this insane other world....i think i will just post some photos for awhile.

lets start with one pretty blossom tree. i saw maybe five of them. its not blossom time yet.