Don’t disappear sweet blog of mine

 I got an email saying my blog may disappear if I don’t do such and such with google. 

Please don’t disappear blog. 

Maybe i will return to you one day soon. 

XOXO 

busy day
woke up too late for school
son didnt want to be there to sing holy songs in church
fair enough
he has church issues
school did that to him
so we stayed home
daughter has a bit of a cold
i have a whole cold
i havent had one for a long time
id rather this blocked nose of today than the sore throat of yesterday
the kids played hacky sack with rolled up socks
and i sewed and got shop orders together and sent off
that felt good
then i filled some little babushkas with rice
the kids thought that was the most exciting thing
they played with them for a long time
at times they threw them too hard
then i told them to go outside where the space helped
im getting ready for the market in bendigo:: dec8th at the town hall
its going to be a big fun day
i cant wait
well i can actually
i still have things to do for it
amongst the other things
like pack a girl , well not a girl but stuff for the girl, ready for camp
and pack a picnic for a 90th birthday lunch
visit melbourne and the people i love there
to name a few..
add in some clearing sales christmas makings and doings…..
i really need to get rid of this cold.
goodnight.

beautiful sunshine
i do love your warmth that reaches deep into my bones
and the shadows and rainbows you make in our home morning and night

sunshine you also woke up the snakes
and there have been too many getting too close to our home
rosie warns us if theres one visiting
i love her for it, and for protecting the chooks from the foxes

im torn
i love living closely with nature, her beauty fills me with awe most days
but its also so hard at times

i have to write down how we survived a really horrible time this year with our youngest being so sick.
i suspect it was some sort of whooping type cough.
i dont think we've had such a nasty, almost evil germ in our home
i was sick with worry and so tired , so very tired.
we survived it
it feels like a horrid dream
she still has left over coughs here and there

the end of the year is getting close
i feel some crazy times coming up
my sore throat is telling me to take it easy when i need to
you have to listen to those little voices inside

next week im determined to go play with my sister and her beautiful girls
ive been trying to do it for months now
no more excuses im just going to do it. somehow.

sore throats hurt.

i need to be making some of the ideas in my head.
but time only fits so many things.

in a few weeks i will be at some markets with the babushkas
they are always big, fun days.
being so close to christmas…should be extra exciting.

time for sleep.
thought i would just drop by.

I'm here. Cooking for the hungry mob-I'm sure they are all sprouting upwards again, I'm dreaming about holidays, loving my family, photographing small and big moments,  playing dolls and flipping coins off elbows and catching them, pulling out weeds, holding onto my beliefs, planning for spring, eating oranges and spinach from the garden…which is a perfect combination. I've been seeing so many beautiful sunrises, and early bedtimes reading Pearlie books until sleeptime. I'm surrounded by brilliant perfect yellow fluff ball wattle trees…they are magical. really. I try to imagine seeing them for the first time.  I'm busy and I'm lucky and life is so complicated but so simple too.
and p.s.  i'm off to the Square Market in Bendigo in the spring time….September 15th ! oh jeepers! so much to do so little time.

mid winter reunion with the blog

hello…we are all still here, we meaning me, my farmer boy and our kidlets. its the middle of winter and some days we are truly aware of that with the mud that we have to get through to get off and around the farm, and the frozen windscreens in the morning and the frozen fingers that need to defrost before they will move, and the constant burning of wood to heat our nest, and the amount of baking and eating that is happening. and then other days the sun is shining and the skies are beautiful and flowers are flowering and it feels like spring. but i guess when all the blossom is blossoming and the mud has dried and become a bumpy landscape we will know its spring. 

my little babushka shop has been buzzing busily which has been so much fun and has me motivated to think about whats next and what is possible. im working on a christmas babushka and hopefully i will be at the bendigo square market in spring. 

ive had moments of digging through the cave of treasures that is my studio, which has become a storage room for everyones excess stuff! i feel a big garage sale coming on when the weather is right. - more spring action! ive put a few things that ive found into my shop, some of my handprinted old style babushkas. id like to do some more printing. and more dyeing with plants too. 

Amelie has become the cake-maker in the house. Thankfully she has moved on from the chocolate cake which she can now make on her own….I'm hoping orange syrupy cake will be next. 

the wattle tree that we planted as a tiny baby is now in full magnificent bloom. i could look at that yellow all day.

 whilst on my way home from taking the kids to school this week i met the creature above. it was a little surreal to be staring into the eyes of a fox. normally they run away as soon as they see you…..thats if they are alive…..the ones we see are usually dead. this guy just stood there staring at me and even let me take photos. i wonder what he was thinking.

50 cents each on my latest garage sale adventure. and they work. and i dont need three more lamps but i couldnt resist… 

we woke up very very early and with the kids we carried their doonas and little bodies to the lounge room at 5.30am to watch the olympic opening ceremony.  

and now its Sunday, my favourite day of the week. the sun is shining here helping the wattle to glow even more if thats possible. bye x x

flowers in winter

....rainbow chasing and playing with friends and feeling frozen grass under my feet while spying on flowers popping out of their pods, wondering if the moon really is getting any closer to earth because it seems to be getting bigger and bigger...., and receiving a roll of my babushka fabric in the mail, and deciding i would put some in my shop and see if anybody wants to make something with it. and tomorrow we are going to a wedding. my nephew is getting married. i remember him so clearly as a little baby which must mean i am getting old. weird. amelie is going to open her own clothing/cake shop/art gallery called Come to Heaven. (when she is older!), inspired by what she likes to do lately and her new most favourite book ever :: A bus called Heaven by Bob Graham. 

trying to avoid the kitchen...so im in the lounge room

 i want a fish tank instead of a television. this is at our local thai restaurant the other night.

 babushkas and pompoms......may as well go all the way!

sindri on a big green hill on a sunny spring-like winters day. i want that hill in my backyard. and oh how i love that sindri of mine. i love that hes 11, and he gets out of the car when he gets to school and says bye mum, love you.  and then i love watching him walk in...knowing him. and knowing hes my boy. hes just cool.

going babushka crazy

                                                     new flags in our old plum tree

                                my new fabric soon to become an apron/wrap type of dress for me

                                                 every day seems to be ending like this

                                                                                   piles of my new fabric

more dolls. they now come in the same sizes as takeaway coffee. 

goodnight. i obviously need more sleep. x x

some things .....

 winter is here. its cold. its not very rainy. the spiders and dew are leaving magical art all over the place in the mornings. the sun is still shining. but did i mention its cold. fog comes out of your mouth with the words.

 instead of doing goodness knows what else i fill my days with....i am now busily buzzing around stitching and printing and spying on fabric that is travelling across the sea...hoping it gets here in a hurry,.... getting ready for the market in two weeks. what market? the Square Market in Bendigo Saturday June 16th at the Town Hall.

 playing with ideas on how to make my colouring books look even prettier... and ready to give as a present. in the process i rediscovered how much i like to print.

 and finally.....my little babushka girl is sitting over (well in an internet kind of way...) on the Umbrella Prints Trimmings 2012 Pinterest board. sitting amongst a lot of wonderful makings from all over the world. you should go see,  and then vote for your favourite.....it's on for just one week.

and back in our home....my snow white is still sleeping....her performance last night was magical.....i could watch her on stage forever...and it seems in the mornings she becomes sleeping beauty. okay...back to toast myself in front of the fire. it seems i may be turning into a marshmallow.

x

sunday night

                                        .. this is Izzy...quite clearly shes an autumn girl. She's extra happy because her friend has been playing with her and making her clothes and giving her wonderful hairstyles.

the birthday trip to melbourne was a fun one.....the birthday boy got spoilt in all sorts of magical ways...and i think he maybe had the best birthday ever. . . topped off with a big dish of gelati and giggling away with his three cousins. he really loves to have boy company....sob sob....i wish he had a brother.

today was a great day.
actually this weekend has been one of the very nice kind.
yesterday it poured rain and i sewed all day
and today we had our special friends come to visit and play. a super dad with his three little boys.

cuteness i found happening in the lounge room one day

busy busy happy busy

                


we love these boys. we played with fire, balloons, the skate ramp and soccer balls. i always promise to see them more often. im going to really try this time. tonight amelie decided they were now our cousins and so we can call them our family.
....i have the Square Market coming up on June 16th in Bendigo..... and the reality of how soon that is seems to have sunk in this weekend also.. which is maybe why i brought my sewing machine in from my back studio room and dumped it (with love) onto my kitchen bench.

yep....i cooked patchwork purses for dinner......hmmmm..

i have ordered lots more fabric and i got a little nervous when they sent me an email and asked me...or actually highly recommended that i order swatches first. i quickly replied no time for swatches just send me the fabric asap.
fingers crossed on that one too. i seem to be crossing my fingers often these days. i think its a good sign that im just doing stuff and trying not to think about it too much.  trying . .

our house is so warm from our fire....its a wonder any of us are awake when we are inside.

then we go outside and its so refreshing...that icy air.

id like to visit the snow again. we had the best time when we went a few years ago. i think its time for another snowball battle. the kids still giggle about the last one.

so anyway....ciao for now
manda x