When I opened the bread box this morning…
(which is a another beautiful old piece which mama has carefully paint stripped and restored)
I found the last chapter of Lily’s muffin story…
Lovingly designed for her nana who returns today and is a coeliac!
Have a great day!
That’s certainly cheered me up!
I feel Abit better already…
Mm might go lay down again…
Yesterday i was Waking up to…
Surprise Lily muffins
Well Lily is sure feeling better!
My rest was interrupted by a few
“mama where is flour, do we have chocolate and more…”
secretive business from my girl who’s barely spoken for four days with a sore throat.
When I got up at a request to light the oven…
Look what I found going on in nannas kitchen!
” I just mashed bananas with a little cream then stirred in flour, baking powder and just a tiny bit of sugar!”
Sometimes I’m just heart swellingly pleased with this child’s confidence and imagination!
I am so delighted that she feels confident to make up her own recipe, knows the key ingredients to muffins and method by memory and observation and the savvy to rummage my mamas kitchen for things she needed unsupervised and knows how to be safe about it too.
Enjoying a good mama moment, pleased that I have modeled and encouraged Lily to be comfortable in the kitchen realms. And tidy too! Surprise !
And the big reward my daughter has made me muffins! Yes it’s all about me me me. no really! I am just so touched by her actions and glad she is feeling better , well I am just giving myself a tiny pay on the back for all the kitchen time I’ve cherished with her…
I hope I can swallow at least a little muffin …
It’s been a variety of soups and lemon, honey, ginger and sage teas to fortify us with our sore throats for days now.
Boo hoo miserable painful end to holiday…
Mm they are delicious is the verdict!
And I managed to squeeze one down the hatch.
There’s nothing like being really ill to bring gratitude for simple, special things into my life again:)
I apologize for any nonsensical or silly bits!
to excuse myself I am still suffering momentary delirium….
Evidence of my current knitting addiction is following me around the house!
One excellent selling point on knitting is that You can pick it up and put it down as you need to!
Great for mamas like me. And papas. Though not so common now amongst our menfolk, once upon a time knitting was more a men’s craft…
I am attempting to write my own pattern so I’ll let you know how it goes. It will have a beautiful windmill pattern in the body of the work and
hopefully the rest of it will work out… well imaginatively…
Since completing these mittens, {with only one dropped stitch and one other weird twisted stitch}
(The yarn is a merino,alpaca, silk blend and so soft and smooth to work with. I knit on four double pointed size 3.25 needles and with my personal gauge they miraculously fit fine! Phew. I am enjoying getting more adventurous with knitting, shame the winter months are over…
Being confined with illness for a few days has allowed a lot of knitting time.
The only recognizable boon…)
Yes where was I
Since completing these mittens for Lily
I’ve been feeling braver than ever and am also getting set to upsize a cardigan for Lily. Um that ones looking hard but we both like the pattern and I like how Elizabeth Zimmerman talks in percentages and with humour in her patterns.
Wish me luck
Are you a knitter?
Are you an inventive knitter?
have you ever made your own pattern?
What project are you on at the mo?
Hope you are well and warm
Peace
Port Douglas Markets and more musings…
, 
We have been away for three weeks now on the West Coast.
I’ve just been editing photographs from our last weeks in Far North Queensland.
those beautiful waterways! the warmth and fresh fruit! being outdoors…
i mean really, look at me in swimmers and being painted by a little angel with river ochre!
less than a month ago!
In my bones until next time…
It’s hard to fathom Jesse will be playing his last set for the year at the Port Douglas markets today.
followed by a sunset dinner by the sea probably.
We are in such different realities at the moment, when usually we travel life together.
I’m only just starting to miss my companion and dear friend…
i’ve been wrapped up in the joy and busy-ness of family time and the enjoyment of space from the relating ship,
which is still happening, but I’ve passed half way of the trip and I think my soul is
preparing to travel East again and thoughts are coming in about my friends and family there.
It makes me aware just how difficult it is to simply be present!
Without anticipating the next chapter of life, or even the next moment of life.
How much of my day am i just trully being in the moment?
I know I relish it when I notice i have come in for a time, and feel the richness of the moment.
it’s not that often, when I really reflect on it! neither is it always comfortable moments mind!
I’m practicing though.
When I go through a phase of doing a daily practice of meditation or yoga or somesuch I notice
my awareness is more centred for the rest of the day.
I tend to put good excuses or futurisms on why I’m not in regular practice of some time of
stillness and centering.
Like, when I have a house I will set up a space or when I’m not so tired or when I wake up tomorrow or when I am enlightened or when I grow up….
{my sisters say I was such a procrastinator as a child}
How about right now?
How about you?
What do you tell yourself, which stops you from doing some helpful practice of meditation, stretching, exercise, centering, movement or so on?
or what do you tell yourself which gets you going with it again?
well that was not what I’d been planning to write about! but reading back I enjoy the surprise of it!
I had been wanting to belatedly post these photos of some of the beautiful produce and handmade crafts from the
Port Douglas Markets!
I think I’ll put them at the top of the page now…
Enjoy your spring/autumn equinox
are you celebrating it in any way?
it happens to also be Uncle D’s birthday so we had
decadent gluten free chocolate cake with cream after breakfast…
Peace
it’s the wildflowers
in full festival
it’s the flowers
in every glance a hint of colour to be investigated
it’s the flowers
tiny, subtle, gracious, intricate
it’s the flowers
beckoning me across the road and into the woods
it’s the flowers
delaying me and making little ones impatient with mama as they spring on to new finds
(and me impatient with them for pulling me away, yes must go alone sometimes…)
it’s the flowers
invisibe to a casual eye
revealed with attention
unveiled with presence and patience
delighting all of us with their own groupings and gatherings
what do flowers communicate?
and here and here another another
it’s the flowers
which distract Cedar from falling asleep on walks of that intent
it’s the flowers
the bold red/orange/burgundy pea his favorite and each bush gestured and acknowledged
it’s the flowers
immaculate petalled orchids the queens
puffy pompom wattles
spreading cheerful red leschenaultia and running postman
tall sunshine billy buttons
minute pink fairies
countless silky blues orchids
spider orchids
purple pansy orchids
red beaks
dampiera
dryandras
tiny delicate fringed lily twiner
bright abundant cowslips
tall breezy jug orchids in mint candy striped shirts
at least five variations on the donkey orchid
black eyed pinks
and a myriad more I cannot name but love no less
it’s the flowers
the carpet of which trails our eyes through the open woodland
it’s the flowers
which bring me here in spring
it’s the flowers
whose essence and healing I soak up
it’s the flowers
the discovery of rarities a thrill each one thrillier that the last
it’s the flowers
in rain or wind or warm
beckoning a beautiful bouquet
in amongst the silver brown hued timber
it’s the flowers
enlivening and uplifting me
it’s the flowers
stretching my smile eyes and mind
it’s the flowers.
it is.
{this moment}
a Friday ritual
a single photograph from my week
a simple special moment I want to cherish and savour
if you have a special simple moment you want to share
leave a link in the comments for all to see
Joining soulemama and many others
I know I Know,
I said I wouldn’t be a breakfast blogger, but how could I resist when I realized this morning it was all from the farm around me!
Golden egg omelette with new potatoes I dug with Cedar, greens we picked a minute before they hit the pan, mums pickled peppers from last harvest and Keith’s sri lankan tomato relish… Yum.
I hope you’ve had a good breakfast!
It makes me want my own farmyard.
You too?
Mama and I and the little ones spent a happy day browsing and completing errands in the Coastal Forest town of Denmark
After visiting the two op shops and finding some great embroidered linens and pastel Johnson Bro bread plates we had a tasty lunch at
while Nanna went for acupuncture Cedar Lily and I where playful in the riverside park. A pretty cool playground, some stately old Marri and Karri trees…
I had one of those moments again. one of those precious ones where my heart pauses and I am then flooded with sentiment as I watch my little ones in their innocence and fun and kindness and I give an enormous breath of gratitude to the gift they are in my life, and the beauty and clarity of sunlight and the cool scent in the air almost overwhelms me with the richness of nature and my place in it.
try and imagine how old this Marri tree is… All it has witnessed… the slow pulsating rhythm of being a tree… go and find one and sit or lay under it or climb into her arms and soak up some arboreal wisdom…
Yes Cedar is out and about in his pyjama jumper… he loves it as much as I do… It’s from Engel via Cambridge baby
oh how i love the scent of rivers,
growing up an inland girl the novelty of bounteous water is yet to fade…
the myriad of light refractions on waters surface amuse me endlessly, the green shade and becooled air which stirs about draping leaves becalms me
and refreshes me and i am enchanted in my thoughts as i move us up to the colourful delight of wool heaven!
I was getting distracted from choosing yarn for a bold project I am about to undertake of making Lily a short sleeved cardigan for the coming seasons from an Elizabeth Zimmerman patern resized to vaguely fit an eight! phew. I think I’m abit out of depth but looking forward to the challenge.
I chose an heirloom silk touch Merino, Alpaca, Silk blend and Lily chose a sweet sky blue tint.
Lily had been quietly amusing herself, when I appeared to check with what she was amused I saw…
You know those beautiful enticing rows of neat embroidery threads in every good crafting shop? well…
Mothers panic try to be calm…
“honey what are you up to?”
thinking…oh god We are going to be kicked out, no worse I will have to painfully sort these all out into colour batches and rehang them. oh crikey
“Hi mama, these where all in a jumbly mess, some kids been playing with them probably so I took them all off and I’m sorting them out!”
“ah OK good one that’s really thoughtful of you”
luckily shop lady overheard and pipes up gratefully that it’s OK and thanks to Lily
phew… phew… phew…
Cedar had been happily driving his new tractor and trailor around which we had just found beautifully made at the Denmark arts centre…
after this we perused the Butter Factory Studios and Alpaca Centre
I am in love with Alpace fibre once again and tried to convince my mum to buy an exhorbitantly priced Alpaca coat to no avail… yet…
I found Cedar a sweet duffel coat by Oobi instead and some fantastic local ceramics.
The end
everyone tired and hungry and wants to go home now
goodbye Denmark til next time
I jetted to Perth solo for a special event on the weekend (more later)
From the airport I picked up my brother and we went for lunch and a wander in the
my dear friends who make the music of Laliya first introduced me to this market and I have looked forward to another visit
in the grounds of Clontarf Indigenous College the sturdy stone buildings are with their own stories
(some quite grim as it was once St Josephs orphanage)
St Joseph was on hand to welcome us with his little peace baby
and then in we wandered… under the beautiful gum tree shade
a hustle bustle
bananas three dollars a kilo is the cry
bounteous produce, handmade goodies, real bread, pastries, cheeses, fruit juices, plants, fish, coffee, eggs and on and on more and more
we linked arms and looked for lunch…
turkish delicious yummy spinach, fetta, sundried tomato and olive filled fresh folded pizza like dough thingy.. i cannot remember the name right now! if anyone does let me know…
oh baklava sweet treat of my heart… i have made this delicacy before. deceptively simple, i more than halved the sugar (which is why it didnt glue together properly) and increased the lemon juice… mmmm
i was feeling oh so liberated as a mama in town alone, and with a handsome intelligent fun young man to peruse with!
lunch was followed by delicious sourdough pastries with decadent caramelised nut centres….ooohhhhh
i had a second to photograph this before it was all gone, Max’s hand is just out of the frame on the right!
my other favourite wa bread bakers where there
so began a very special weekend in town, while my family on the farm cared for my little ones. Thankyou
On Saturday the 8th I explored the beautiful Hinata festival held in the gorgeous bushland setting of the Bibra Lake Steiner school in WA.
There where traditional and modern handmade goodies, delicious food, including a burger with grilled pressed rice instead of bread, excellent gluten free option, indigo and plant dyeing workshops, kids craft, music and more and more..
I had such a great time I didnt take a single photograph! yes kicked myself afterwards…
but i did photograph some of the gorgeous things i purchased there…
so enjoy looking at these and imagining what the festival was like,
and if you live in Perth get to the Japanese Hinata festival next year!!
the detail on the pocket of my new denim shift…
playful original watercolour for Lily’s room when we get a house with walls again…
roving/wool tops dyed with, indigo, sour sop, eucalypt and another i forgot
five layer muslin hankies or flannels
I have coveted these in the house of my friends who invited me, ha now I have my own!
buttons covered in vintage Kimono fabric
whimsical artwork by Nuoko
a beautiful day and fantastic handmade specials
I read a great quote which was along the lines of
If you have money buy, something unique and handmade
I love to support artisans and be supported as an artisan
happy making!
RosaLindenTree 