it's been a while

my goodness, I was distracted a moment and totally lost track of time.

what happened to those two months? lots and not a lot particularly blogworthy.

there was some knitting for the Majura Primary School spring fair...

don't you love cheezezombie's slugs? I sold all three to 9/1o year old boys!

In amongst that was stealth knitting for my love's birthday....


fittingly 'van dyke' socks from the book 'socks from the toe up' and knitted in our own talented local dyer fibreweb's yarn - it was very beautiful.

They are very appreciated - and isn't that important for hand knitted sock recipients!

I've started a summer cardigan - I think I have managed an inch and that was on our recent holiday with about 2o hours in the car! Three kids on an 800km each way drive doesn't actually allow much knitting time I found. We had few lovely days in Armidale being proud at my love's doctorate graduation and visiting her family and some of the spectacular local spots.


We went horseriding. I really dislike horseriding. Horses scare me. A lot. In fact I think I would be more comfortable skydiving than being on a horse. Maybe. But the pirate was keen and I had to be brave.

the next little while is going to be so so busy too. You see we have plans....

They involve turning my 96m2 60's house into a 120m2 thing of beauty and fit for a family of five. It's fun and I am getting to totally indulge my frustrated inner architect. We are working very hard to keep it as sustainable as possible ( I plan to blog about that soon!). And cheap. The plans are off being tweaked and drawn up right now, all going well we will be able to afford it and find a builder who will start sometime in the new year.

Oh and I almost forgot to mention - my sister has started her stem cell treatment. She is amazing. And hairless. I think she is only the 2nd MS sufferer in Australia to be accepted for the treatment. So far it is going very well and we are all hopeful. The next step is the most difficult. Fingers crossed it will go well and she won't feel totally totally awful through the next lot of chemo.

phew

well that was christmas 09. I took a little while to get over it. I won't bore you with all the details - it was busy. it was fun. it was productive.

it was too short.

here is a snippet which includes presents, renovations, a broken arm, the first visit of the tooth fairy, knitting, walking in the mountains, lounging in the mist, a new bike for the pirate, a letter from santa, a letter to santa, heatwaves, vegies, job applications, visitors, friends, parties, naps, sewing, cleaning, freecycle, plans, crushes, wine, champagne, grandparents, air conditioning, travel, new friends, new resolutions, new plans, and a whole lot of love and friendship

Honestly I think I am the luckiest person alive with the friends I have and the support I get. I hope you are as lucky.

And what did I learn these holidays?
that my aircon does work, that freecycling can get rid of mountains of stuff and it feels very very good, that the tooth fairy can remember to come, that a waterproof cast does exist, that it does not come in green, that it costs quite a bit, that you can knit a scarf and not go insane, that stones and a mountain stream can keep 4 boys under 8 occupied for hours, that march flies like blue, that it does get hot in Guthega, that you can get good coffee in Cooma, that knitting socks from the toe up is fun, that you can find a pattern for pants that isn't too bad, that having an oven again is magic, that the pirate can cope with a broken arm without too much problem, that a child can have a broken arm for days and a mother not be sure it really is hurt, that new birkenstocks feel fabulous, that shopping for clothes and fabric after a fabric and clothes diet feels fantastic, that leaving salmon in the car in 5 days of over 35deg isn't at all good, that eggplants produce very very well and peas only grow with mulch and much much more.

I hope your 2010 is a lovely one.

last of the deadlies

We have been back almost a week and the holiday is starting to fade in the hurly burly of daily life. However, I am not quite done with tales of food and near death experiences and so make this one last post - then you will hear no more of it, I promise.

I have photos of delicious things to eat - all collected on our camping trip. First we had cockles, then mud muscles, sea snails and finally Long Bums (yes really!). They were all delicious and even the pirate couldn't get enough.



And as for the deadlies - the small people and I shared a rockpool with a blue ringed octopus - which managed to swim right between us. I had always wondered what an encounter would be like.

Then, on the last day, we went for a walk along a beautiful beach. We stopped for a moment or two for my brother to do a little fishing. He spotted a large crocodile swimming past and we all watched it heading out to sea.

Then it vanished.

It came up a couple of minutes later much closer and followed us all along the beach for a few hundred metres hovering about 15m off shore. It made its move when we reached a narrow part of the beach where it came right up to the waters edge, had a very good look at us and seriously considered having a go.

It was nice to make it back to the safety of the car. My photos didn't come out very well at all - but the circled black dot off shore is it waiting till we reached the narrow bit.

culture shock

I have travelled widely in my time. I have spent a year backpacking in Europe, including time behind the iron curtain, lived and worked in Borneo, been to Asia, spent months travelling India, been to the USA and back to Europe again, but, I am ashamed to admit, visiting an indigenous community in my own country has been, with the exception of India, not quite culture shock, but very much out there as an experience



I expected it to be vastly different to my own existence in this country, though much like I had seen on the TV as an engaged viewer and a past student of indigenous history at university. But, even though I had all this knowledge, I had no idea what to do and what to say, who to talk to and where to put myself.

Thankfully I had help in my sister-in-law, who interestingly is a recent migrant from France, not local at all. It does not escape my notice that the person who acts as my guide happens to be from somewhere completely different, but I wonder that maybe this makes accessing indigenous culture so much less complicated than for the guilt ridden overly sensitive 'Balanda' like me.



Having someone show me the way opened up a path to the kind of experience and slivers of understanding I always wanted. It was thrilling and something I am so very thankful for. We went to a few ceremonies, there are a lot this time of year, where we were welcomed warmly and not considered the intruding voyeurs as I had always assumed to be the case. I met some great women who took the time to teach me about what I was seeing.



So on top of the wonderful time on holidays with family I love, full of the usual highlights of a holiday in the warmth of the tropics, I had a cultural experience I cannot wait to repeat.

the grass is greener

in Melbourne

In fact Melbourne not only has green grass, unlike dry Canberra, but it also has a love affair with green...

maybe that is part of why I love it so much - and there is more to come on our few days in this great city.

holiday snaps

We are back to the usual routine all too soon. It is always too soon isn't it?

We did have a lovely holiday - visits to grandparents, friends and old haunts. Cocktails and squid on the beachfront at Noosa, finding enormous worms in the garden and some daredevil driveway rafting.

Grandma has a tin of buttons which belonged to her mother. I was a treasure chest for both a button fiend like me and the pirate.

They began to find their true form during a relaxing second week at the south coast...

and for the first time, I do believe, I managed to both start and finish a project in one break.

The details:

Taters cotton cardi. Free Ravelry pattern.

Made for Cousin Edie in Size 2

Yarn: Mama llama squish in Cowgirl. A mix of cashmere and merino. It is so so soft and is about a 5 ply. I have to say though that it is best not to knit with it whilst wearing black.

I would have added a photo of the lovely Cousin Edie wearing it if only she hadn't refused to put it on.

There was more making going on - but this I will save for another day.

The holiday was nicely polished off for the pirate with a visit to the powerhouse in Sydney to see... THE Star Wars exhibition. Oh such bliss for a 5 year old.

And now we are back to cold, snow capped hills and our little home - bliss for a sprout.

a holiday

2 weeks off work and a few days alone cannot be wasted.

The week ahead will be full with a mix of things such as:

relaxing with these goodies saved up....




while doing a lot of this...



while trying not to eat this found in the clean up of the pirate's room....



what kind of a 5 year old leaves this much chocolate uneaten?

then some work on these cobbled together by hand very late christmas eve......





giving these some much needed attention....





before moving this....





trying to dye this less peach and more orange for the orange rainbow swap.





packing these away..





all the while procrastinating about this................





that chocolate santa is looking very good don't you think?