noisy happy life

my hand is all the more beautiful ( it was looking quite wrinkled and showing its age) now that it is decorated with beautiful warm brown henna

our home is full of laughter and screams of delight and noise and random things being thrown across the room by our little Hana

the garden has beautiful silver birches planted and silver princesses waiting patiently to be planted

our melindatrees is home. i think i might go plant her in the garden too, so she cant go anywhere

this winter weather is really beautiful. the cold makes me happy. the mud, not so happy. the rainbows, happy.

home

this tree , i think may be , the most beautiful tree ive ever met. she lives in bendigo. ive sat near her twice in the past two days. every part of her is so perfectly beautiful.

she is the silver princess tree.

i am loving these grey cold rainy days. i can happily live in this weather with a wood fire to cosy up to and just an appearance of sunshine every now and again.

we have my sister and her hana-pie safely snuggled up in our home.

today was a great day.

the cows take over the blog

yes, so following on from the last post with the reality of the situation. the reality is the kids bounced back from chicken pox and are full of childish joy. i bounced back and seem to keep bouncing..up down up down. nothing unusual.

the reality is that our love birds have two little babies in their nest for the first time and after laying countless eggs.

and that a sick calf named chocolate is consuming the thoughts and emotions of the girls as they try to nurse it back to health. and i ride the emotions with them.

the reality is ive been cleaning the house madly, giving away stuff and burning the rest in my own little bonfire ceremonies.. i need to make some space. for sanity and...

.. for a little kid to run with the bigger kids. and a big big kid to play with us.

and making a new bed for a princess to sleep in. and probably her little princess too. and my bed loving princess couldnt resist so tonight she is sleeping in it.

the reality is im trying not to burst with excitement, to conserve energy.. because its only 3 more sleeps until they get here.

just three. and one of those is on the plane. so really just two.

i know my blog is going all weird on me.

truth is im trying so hard to sew some clothes but i dont get any further than piling fabric up on the table and flicking through pattern books that i dont understand, but i like.

im planting a forest

yesterdays gardening has left my right arm so sore. so much digging and lifting. i planted mums new magnolia. and mowed her lawn which was probably guilt driven. somehow i got their old mower to work. i didnt do it in the neat rows like they do. im more of a freestylin' kind a gal. probably resulting in my mums horror when she sees it. at least she still has some grass will be my response.

her old salvaged magnolia , i took it home and it sat on the gravel for awhile.. . not knowing its destiny... then i knew where to plant it. it now lives near my dads apple tree in the backyard. my dads apple tree has never been happy where it is. now they are happy together. seriously. they are.

i also planted some birch trees which are a new found love of mine. my boy doesnt like the mess they leave behind..(virgo) ..but the kids love throwing the seeds at each other. (kids) today i went to the supermarket with birch seeds in my hair. (feral. a bit .) i know. or pretty?

annnd i planted a definitely pretty nectarine tree that is flowering in pink blossom with new fresh green shoots. it is beautiful. it minds my front gate entrance now. the bees love it and i love it each time i see it. trees. they give me energy.

and in the last few days, quite sneakily, our amazing wattle tree has burst into flower. im happy my sister will get to see it flowering this year. its very very beautiful. i think i will stick pieces in her hair. lots of them.

now if i could just work out how to find the pieces i need for a dress out of my new japanese pattern book, i would be able to sew the dress i want to sew. hmmm let me see how many days until my japanese interpreter aka sister arrives? um 9. how exciting.

in the garden

thats where ive left all of saturdays energy...
so have a look at this amazing origami i found whilst visiting swissmiss




funny

ssshh

can i tell you a secret? well my mum is on holiday...her house just down the driveway from ours.. and well the other morning my farmer boy came in and said " i have bad news". oh oh. the cows got into your mums garden.

she has just spent the last 6 months making a garden out of bare ground...im talking grass, trees , bushes, paving, looking very nice. my heart sunk. dirty. rotten. animals.

i delayed it until the afternoon to go check out the damage. lots of cow hoof prints near the side of her house. muddy foot prints on the paving. and not much other evidence apart from a broken in half magnolia. i was a little relieved. i can replace the magnolia. and the grass still looks like a nice patch of grass. it could have been so much worse. maybe i shouldnt have been sooooo mad with my farmer boy the poor thing. although how hard is it to keep a cow in a paddock? very hard apparently.

so anyway... ive just found out my mum is coming back sooner than i thought because our two wonderful girls are moving home...oops i mean visiting. ive got to replace that tree today. and im not going to tell her the cows got in the garden. i'll see if she notices. dont tell her will you.

and ps. if i keep saying 'well' its because i caught it off my daughter.

before the clock strikes 11

hanging on my wall. a bird bag i made today. i also made a bonfire with the kids. a daytime fire. we felt like we were camping. and i made lasagne for tea. i am now thoroughly exhausted and couldnt possibly have another late night without me being so very grumpy tomorrow. and its already after ten o clock...quickly approaching late-ness.

so off i go to have some sweet dreams..........

missing

my dad. i love this photo. i see me in him. him in me.

me and the spotties

im slightly sleep deprived. feeling a little like im not quite in my body. im following it around watching as it does all the things it needs to do to bring these three kids back to their sunny little selves. as im following it im trying to look after it as well because its still weak itself. im counting down the days. and in between..... i take whole pieces of beautiful wax paper and cut them into tiny pieces and stick them back together again. its oddly very fun to do.
.. the next morning the kids saw what the mumma elf had been doing the night before and when i finally forced myself out of bed i found their beautiful creations alongside mine. i love that.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
today some nice fabric and trims arrived in the mail. a card dropped in my letter box suggesting there was something good waiting for me at the post office. i have to drive 20 kms to pick up parcels. i asked the kids if they felt like going for a little drive. i was sure it was going to be a moaning nooooo.. (and fair enough ) , but it was three okays . hello sunshine :-)

friday

friday was the day i had worked out in my head that the kids would or wouldnt be getting the chicken pox.

this morning sindri walked in to my room with the answer. an itchy spot on his tummy.

i leapt out of bed.

three kids with chicken pox.

its going to be a long week.

the school holidays just started early.

one day down.

not so much itching or illness.

i hear restless sleeping.

fingers crossed they dont wake up covered in spots.

amelie has the most spots at the moment.. and is feeling the worst. poor baby.

im even feeling itchy again.

god i hope i cant catch them back again.

that wouldnt be funny.

wish me luck.

make me happy

i visited a new naturopath today. and although i was a little confused , bewildered maybe at the machine she was using to diagnose... .... well firstly, it was a machine. rather than her talking to me. which is not my style. but anyway,,. i did all the talking and almost told her what i needed.
but the machine which detected through vibration what my body needed. . seemed to be working with me... so now i have a special little bottle of flower essences and some herbs that will hopefully help me get some immunity back, after the chicken pox + the world around me took it off me.

and before the naturopath i visited bunnings- hardware nursery megastore.. and oh goodness. i have now, sitting happily in my garden- in the exact place where those annoying four legged black and white mooing pests destroyed my last tree, a BiG BEauTi FULL silver princess tree. I was so very excited to find her. and around her i have planted lots of daffodils, some of which are flowering. im cheating sort of. i know.but that is irrelevant at the moment. the silver princesses are flowering at the moment in the local area.., but this one has no signs of flowers. you dont know how happy i will be if she flowers in my garden. well melinda knows how happy. and my mum too. my farmer boy is now talking of putting them all the way down the driveway. funny boy.

i also found some perfect garden tools for the kids. wooden handles and real metal tools. kids sized.... inspired by a montessori book i received in the mail yesterday ( im thinking my sweetheart may put me into therapy soon for this shopping addiction i have right now. BUT at least im buying nice things ;-) .

so today we dug in the garden. planting, watering, sweeping. my garden is messy but beautiful. tomorrow im going to buy some paint and we will paint the kids poles and platform cubby land on the weekend. i still need some rocks. maybe i will ring somebody? the rock delivery person.... and order a truck of gravel and rocks. what am i doing? oh and some sand. we need to re fill the sand pit. or just have a pile of sand for digging. its a pity i cant move a beach here.

frosty monday

this morning i went out to get some wood for the heater so that we didnt all turn into icy poles, and also to see who was making all that noise last night. i found them .. beyond the fence thank goodness. im sure they were having a party out there last night. they were up early though..
and the spiders were weaving their magic also
not to forget the b e a u t i f u l green velvet fairy dance floor we found

on the weekend i made myself a dress with fabric i had printed another time. it fits at least. which for me is always a success in itself. and i kind of like it. i feel a little like molly from a country practice. but you know i always loved molly. and here i am. on a farm. i never knew. we never do know do we?

heart

i sent some photos over to Pia for this nice project shes working on.....

her own space

a new cubby for Amelie

magnolia

as much as Amelie would like to add this dolly to her collection, this one, Magnolia is for the Softies for Mirabel project. i like her necklace best. maybe she wants some shoes on before she gets in her parcel to be posted.

blogger wont let me add anymore photos, i made her a bird dress.

yes im feeling better each day. thankfully.

slowly

i went for a little winter walk with Amelie today. The fresh air and the gentle sunshine was nice.

pink

My Sindri,.. he may tell you that they are some other creatures, but im sure he knew the chicken pox were coming. its been sitting on my fridge for a few days now (before i got them) inspired by shulas beautiful stitching i had worked up some energy to do something in bed other than sleep, so i found some pink and stitched with some more pink.
the spots are still coming. i look very scary. i slept so much yesterday. today im awake. tomorrow we will see. i look forward to being fully alive again,..im sure i will be different. im sort of shedding a skin here. strange.

with a spot over here

unfortunately many of the spots landed on my head and face. the urge to scratch is growing. its half funny and a bit annoying and a bit depressing and a bit scary. yes they are chicken pox. the chances of the kids catching them are something like 99% according to medical information...which i dont always agree with... they will or they wont.

feisty echinacea is helping me fight this spotty bug. that and rest...

so i thought i would honour the appearance of the chicken pox with an early morning painting. its not everyday this sort of thing happens. (thankfully).

scared cat

and to answer a previous question.. only one superhero made it into school. it wasnt the animal one. shes here playing piano for my sore head.

oh dear

chicken pox. yes indeed. im going to the doctor this afternoon. but im pretty sure thats what the spots all over my body are. oh dear.

i really dont want the kids to catch it.

chicken pox!

ssssh

i have a sore throat. this is following the flu of some sort i have had the last week. ive had a full 24 hours in bed and many stolen hours here and there. i just cant shake this bug. and now its in my throat. so i cant really talk because it hurts. but i do sit here in my cosy corner on the couch looking at nice photos and reading until my eyes hurt. you know when you look sideways and it hurts? i have that bug.
i have to try not breathe on the kids. i really dont want them to get it. and that hurts too. i cant hug and kiss them too closely.
but nothing hurts so bad because i have a friend who is very sick. and she has little babies. a sore throat or a sore head is really nothing for me to whinge about.
ive taken no photos either. hows that for fun.
what i did do today is clean the kitchen table aka my studio. it was totally visible until the kids came home.
then tonight it became the site of superhero costume making for tomorrows hero dress up day at school. my kids. sindri made up his own hero. involving a cape, aeronautical flaps attached to the side of his top and a triangular headband. veda. she is going as a black and white snow leopard. animals are her heroes.
now lets see tomorrow who actually wears their costumes out of the house.
maybe i should have dressed up too. oh gosh. i should go make myself a costume. if i wasnt feeling like i was swallowing nails i might just do that. instead i think i should go to bed.
i'll be back soon. hopefully in one happy whole piece. with pictures. :-)

spitfire

my childrens lives have been consumed with the arrival of my daughters pet caterpillars...which we know as 'spitfires'. given to her by a friend at school. the kitchen has strands of grass everywhere after tonights feeding frenzy. we had one lost caterpillar, many tears, one found caterpillar, more happy tears, one dead caterpillar and dear little amelie heartbroken because she was so sorry to have killed her caterpillar. . and hence,.more tears. mumma mia. the emotion. tomorrow.. dead caterpillar burial.

compost

i think it may be raining. hang on i will just go and check. nope. i was imagining the sound. maybe it was because my sister put the thought of rain in my head tonight. my cat millie is sitting here next to me. shes been in our family for 12-ish years now. when i look at her its like i almost see a person in her face. shes someone.

i henna-ed my hand on sunday night with a tube i got in melbourne. its a bit too orange coloured and the lines, a bit too thick. and now i have to look at it for a week or so.. on monday i got my package of henna from india. so happy. if only i had waited one more day i could have had nice warm brown henna patterns. oh well. i can always do some feet mehndi. it was fun to see the kids faces at kinder when they got a glimpse of my hand. i think they liked it when i told them i drew on my hand with special paint.

this autumn weather is very nice. i dug around in the garden with amelie today. id really like to build. with some rocks. i need a pile of rocks. im thinking of andy goldsworthy. thats his name isnt it. without checking. and relying on my ageing memory . oh dear. im making a compost heap. well ive been feeding wild animals with our scraps for a few weeks now... but now ive covered the scraps with dirt and im hoping the worms will come to the feast and we may have some compost action happening soon. and looking at my moon calender tonight it seems now is the perfect time to be composting. fancy that.

i potato stamped some fabric the other day. with amelie. of course. she is my little shadow at the moment. she doesnt venture very far from my side. anyway.. it was fun. but not so pretty. but i can see the potential. i have some big pots of screenprinting ink that wont fit through a gocco screen. so i thought maybe i could stamp some fabric. im sure it would work somehow. maybe i need to water the ink down some. lotta jansdotter makes it look easy. i only had two potatoes left in my cupboard to dissect too. i will try the potato stamping again. oh and i was trying to stamp pink ink onto black fabric which probably wasnt helping the situation.

anyway. why i am telling you this i have no idea. i could call my blog the midnight ramble.

sunday

doll got her face today. and a dress. and then after much dancing and playing with her daughter doll, she went outside to climb trees and play on the tractor.

what else could one possibly do on this day.

run away?

even though the cows trashed my garden, there is still beauty to be found out there. for just a bit longer until jack frost comes and bites everything he finds delicious.

my new shoes. i will be happier when they soften and loosen up. they are a bit uptight at the moment. amelie is trying to help me break them in. the other day she spilt her baby-cino on them. oops.
i have to say.. if it weren't for my children and my love i may just put those shoes on and walk my way to the edge of the world. maybe in search of the sea. or at least to a place where there are nice people. or no people. people are too complicated. maybe just trees and flowers.
i made a doll today. a blank felt person. the kids took her before i could give her a face. or some clothes. she doesnt need either of those apparently. shes already become the mother to their dolls.

a week later

so much life happens in a week.

im here on my new computer. its empty. my old one is so full. i like the emptyness. and its pink.

but it has no mouse. which is strange for my fingers.

in the middle of the week our super boy Sindri had his 7th birthday.

a magical day it was. a magical boy he is.

now its friday night ..or saturday early morning.

the moon was full on his birthday.

we ate marshmallows cooked in our wood heater

we want to go see angus and julia stone playing in melbourne in june. we really like them. i doubt that we will be bothered though.

veda lost two teeth in the last two days. the tooth fairy will get a surprise tonight. two teeth to carry back to her fairy castle.

veda reads books faster than anybody i know.

i cant keep up with her.

amelie patted a pony walking down the street today with its owner. just going for a leisurely walk down the street.

the autumn weather is sunny and cold. frosty and foggy. and a little muddy.

while i was away in melbourne on the weekend the cows got into my garden and made a big mess of it.

why do they do that? im sure its telling me something im just not sure what. (apart from confirming the way i feel about them)

i have made nothing. apart from rum balls and birthday cake. i guess that is a big something. birthday cake is big.

i think about making skirts and i brought some stuffing to stuff some toys with. what those toys will look like i have no idea. amelie suggested i make a sun. i like that idea. they will be for mirabel if i get myself moving a little faster.

my favourite day is monday. amelie and i get to be in her kinder. we always leave energised. i didnt go to kindergarten when i was little..maybe this is my chance to do it with ammie. way more fun. apart from mondays i then look forward to fridays so it can then be saturdays and we can all live at our own pace.

hmm.. want me to keep babbling.

ok. k ..

im looking for somewhere for us to go for a holiday. overseas.

i feel a bit nervous about taking the kids into the bigger world. we live in a cocoon in many ways.

but how exciting it would/will be.

family. oh goodness. what a complicated thing family is.

it doesnt have to be does it.

should we or shouldnt we make our house bigger?

somehow i love the kids more and more, deeper and brighter every day. im so lucky.

ive been reading some nice books with amelie and it makes me want to write and illustrate a book. again. i wish i could make my mind up and just do something.

i like going to the coffee shop with amelie. we have a nice time hanging out together.

sindri likes reading books called captain underpants. of all things! i thought about making him a doll to put his underpants on. hes a superhero, captain underpants. taps into his boyish humour. which there is definitely such a thing.

rage is playing music on tv. i havent watched rage for years. memories........

and what else.

tomorrow theres a clearance sale on. i would like to go..but i am really running out of room for more stuff. really. although i always have room for old fabric and lace and trims, buttons, books,.....

the chances of me getting the kids out of the house on a saturday morning are not good. understandably.

so anyway. off to bed i should go. its nice to be back talking to myself. and to you if you are out there somewhere reading .

goodnight.

thursday again

delicate