Recycled homes

This is a fabulous article and slideshow.

I saw it and pinched it from Rixa.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/09/02/garden/20090903-recycled-slideshow_index.html

The homes he builds are just stunning! They would make me consider moving.

Report card

The bathroom now has some black floor tiles. Tomorrow there will be some plain gloss white wall tiles. The feature tile of cut green marble chips was sealed today (stinky and sticky work). It looks FABULOUS!!!!!!!! The colour is divine. I'm very excited. It will be another week or so until he is all finished, then the ceiling and door must be painted. Luckily the weather is holding and the outdoor shower (hot) is not palling yet.

Mother's Day was had. I have a lovely double yellow hibiscus in a large pot. I will try not to kill it. The gardener (not me) has made a similar vow. I arranged a picnic at Matilda Bay for my family. Some of them came. Long story. Food was eaten, photos were dutifully taken (but not yet uploaded). The Bag was much admired. No comment was made, or the 'feature' even noticed by the recipient. The lining was a special hit. Contractual obligation met. Tick.

My husband chivvied one of my offspring into delivering breakfast in bed. I walked past my hibiscus and the cards 9 times before they were actually proffered towards me. Sigh. One of them had other plans for lunch that involved playing cards, with like minded men. I cooked the picnic lunch, texted everyone madly to arrange a meeting point and tried not to cry that my family will never all be together again. It was all quite pleasant in the end, if smaller than I had pictured. Everyone brought their manners, which is not always guaranteed. Long story.

I went home and had a nap. No, not just a nap, an excellent nap. Dinner of lamb chops was cooked by the guys (now home from playing cards) and I watched some TV before retiring to bed and reading the last of the 4th Twilight book, which series I have just enjoyed re-reading.
I am now reading a charming midwifery memoir set in London's East End in the 1950s.

Today I have cut out a bag for a friend's birthday next weekend. Much planning involved. I also plan to give her a lovely vintage frock that I just know will suit her beautifully. She's having a rough time lately, and needs a boost.

Its only 5 weeks until we go to Europe. EEEKKKKKKKKK! DO I have the right shoes to stomp around Amsterdam?

Ah, the perpetual question....and I'm lovin it!

Where has the midwifery content gone, I hear you ask? Well, to be honest I barely feel like I have been at work lately, but I promise there will be some soon.

I did save a baby from a sticky name last week. It was an entirely culturally appropriate name for this little girl...but I'm sure her parents wouldn't have willingly named their daughter anything that sounded remarkably like "Shitty", even if it didn't look like that when written down. I carefully broached the subject, and made the comparison for them, clarifying the implications. They were very practical about it, and quite horrified at the near disaster. Phew. Welcome baby Lakshmi, nice name!

In other news on the naming responsibilities faced in the world..... I really look forward to hearing what twin boys 'Lefty' and 'Righty' resolve into when they are named by their sweet parents.

Be good, or good at it!

Granny love

Did I show you the granny square crochet rug I found?

Its a biggish lap size, not quite single bed size. I just love it.

Nearly done

I've been working steadily on Jarryd's quilt this weekend.

It's looking good! It's even got some lighthouses on it!Lesley can have it for quilting soon...(edited - GONE!)

Lesley says hi

Just a quick post to pass on a message from Lesley of Chapter III .

She says to say a big hello to all, and to say that she has moved into a FABULOUS rental house this week, and the internet will be connected on April 3rd. She is well, and has had a trying week or so and can't wait to get back to her computer and bloglife.

I spent the day with her today and she is enjoying settling in and unpacking (a bit) in the house - it really is a great house. The main stuff will hopefully arrive by mid-April. She has lots to tell you all, but I'll let her do that.

I'm as busy as a bee, but was thrilled to have demolished heaps of my to-do list by 8.45am!!!

I was gobsmacked. It helps when you are phoning (twice) the east coast which is 2 hours ahead. But it left me free to get to Les earlier than I'd hoped.

She is living behind where my paternal grandmother used to live. Grandma died when I was 15. Yet today I was near her house, and when Les and I were out driving I saw a very early model Ford Escort, same colour, similar rego to the one she drove at the end of her life. I think she was with me today...somehow.

Off to a meeting now...more minutes.... :(

See ya

Welcome to Holland

I wonder if you have read or heard of this piece before?

It has been in my mind lately for many reasons.


***************************************************
WELCOME TO HOLLAND
byEmily Perl Kingsley.


c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you are going to have a baby, it is like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The flight attendant comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I am supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

Nevertheless, there's been a change in the flight plan. They have landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they have not taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. You must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

Its just a different place. Its slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. Moreover, for the rest of your life, you will say “Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very, very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.
************************************************

Its true. Some families only ever get to speak Italian. They never think twice about it.

Some commute back and forth from Italy (that can be very confusing). An Italian kid and a Dutch kid in the same family. Some of us have Dutch uncles :)

We become bilingual. Its a talent. An art. Not one we aspired to from an early age, but still...

For those who find themselves in Holland - welcome to the club.

And congratulations to my little Dutchie, my little spekulaas, for landing a job. Woo-hoo!

I wouldn't change you for all the pasta in the world.

I am here.

Just busy....being good.

Typing minutes while at the computer instead of blogging.

Seeing High School Musical 3 with the girls (finally) - OMG it was sooooo great, I really loved it. Ahem. No... really...it was good clean fun, with much UST (unresolved sexual tension). You could just tell that they were dying to get it on. And the music makes so much more sense in context, and it was much funnier than I thought it would be, and slightly less cheesy. And we went with A, who was squealing with delight. She is pretty well, if scarred. Its been good to see her twice this week, for two sleepovers and much cuddling. Concerns continue, but cuddling is reassuring.

Watching Northern Exposure on DVD - a real blast from the past, and still quirky and funny.

Op-shopping a bit. De-stashing in my head (sorry Vic, you're the ONLY recipient, it will be an awaited pleasure -soon).



Nursing a very tender ingrown and infected big toe that I can barely reach due to the stiffness of my back (since long ago surgery). I am trying to be a tough wuss, but my son thinks the faces I pull when hubby drips alcohol on it to dry it out (while gripping it tighter than he knows) are hysterical. I am trying not to vomit in pain, and he's snickering. He's very lucky he didn't have to push out (himself) as a 10lb baby. Adorable swine.



Going to work a lot.

No playing of bingo. Not much reading. NO crafting (hmmph).



Lots of Bloglining.



Trying to sleep in dodgy heat of 22 - 25C overnight. Sigh.



Looking forward to holidays.



Not getting the camera fixed yet. Tomorrow.



Growing my hair. Down one day, up the next. With flowers, clips, pretties etc. Very girlie.

Checking out pizza ovens. We are likely to build one ourselves from a kit. What fun! I've always wanted to try mosaics! I know if I uncover/de-stash enough piles of books I will find the book I bought about how-to-mosaic (stop laughing Widget. You too Lesley). The oven will also be green (the colour) - to match the newly rendered wall that has finally been completed. We are scrounging tiles and china and materials.

Getting quotes for a bathroom renovation.


And so it goes. Keep in touch.

Happy New Year and 100th post!!!

Well, that says it all really.

Somehow I have now typed 100 messages to the universe, known as the internet.

Some of these message threads have floated out into space and connected with some of you. Like gossamer into the world wide web.

We are anchored at each end. Alerting the other to our presence through a gentle tug at the line now and then, occasionally catching another cross-thread between us and each sensing it, following it to a new friend.

This is the way that we share our daily/weekly/whenever communications.

I can assure you I had no idea how addictive I would find Blogland to be. Especially now I use Bloglines as a reader. 100+ feeds, sigh, yet I care about each of the lives I peer into.

I thirst for the latest news, creation, baby, musings, and updates on loved ones.

And don't get me started on the photography I have seen.

My life feels richer for 'knowing' new people through this medium. Most of us have never met, nor ever will.

But there you are. And here I am.

Thanks. For listening. For commenting. For writing and sharing. But most of all...for being there.

Does anyone fancy a random de-stash draw? You'd be helpin me out. Honest. Most of you have NO IDEA of the chaos I am sitting in.

(Continue to) Save me from myself.

You know the drill. Leave a comment.

You've got a week (until midnight next Friday night).

See ya, keep in touch!

The whirlwind returns- now with photos

I'm back!

I feel like that's been the opening line for a number of posts this year. No, I'm not going to check.

The conference was great! It was a co-badged event with the Australian College of Midwives, The Royal Australian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine. There were guest speakers from Canada and the USA, and all over Australia. There were some ugly, shameful statistics and some stories of hope and inspiration. Most of all there were stories that traced the pattern of the erosion of normal birth, and these are steps that can be reversed to a large extent to reduce the interventions in normal birth, reclaim the skills that have been lost (i.e. vaginal breech birth) as a result of overestimation of risk and to increase 'parturient autonomy'. This will also free up midwives to practise more fully with women within the full scope of their skills that they already have. We heard the terms VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean), NBAC (next birth after caesarean) and GBAC (Give Birth A Chance!!), industrialised birth, and in an hilarious debate heard an obstetrician challenge anyone to approach a woman labouring on all fours (as her pelvis would dictate) and to perform a CS 'doggie style'. Ah, it was an earthy crowd! (BTW, I have no idea who that fat chick is on the right wearing my clothes).

The Gold Coast of Queensland is an area I have never been to before, but it has a lot to offer. I was picked up by my dear friend Kate (who was married on the beach in March) and we drove back into northern NSW to see her little town where she started work this week. What a lovely spot. She and her husband have just bought a beautiful property backing onto two national forests and plan to birth their first child at home on the property in March next year. Kate has just started to 'pop' - so exciting- can you see the bump? After a bit of lunch we headed back over the border and checked into the hotel and had a nanna nap. Then off to the reception and opening speeches which really set the scene well for the next few days.
We ate well, especially the conference dinner on Friday night sponsored by the Northern Territory crowd which featured Darwin market food - such delicious variety! Asian influenced, bush tucker, kangaroo and emu, oysters, limes, fish, absolutely fanastic food. The hotel was good, and catered well for milling crowds of midwives and others without long queues. It was really great to get a chance to meet others from my state and elsewhere, and share info from the concurrent sessions that we had attended. The program was really well organised, not a dud among them. A great success. I even put my plump toes into the Pacific Ocean at dusk on the last night, and collected some tiny rocks and shells for my collection. So Natalie, if you go and have a toe-dip in a few weeks time - we'll be sharing wading water!

On Sunday I headed to the airport for the trip to Melbourne to see my niece perform for her graduation concert. She was really lovely, and in good company. There were 14 dancers graduating and each was featured in various ways and within larger ensembles. Without bias I can say she was in the top group of performers that night. She certainly deserves good things to come her way. I hung out with my sister, niece and Mum and because accomodation was a bit squashy I lobbed in with another niece for the night, so got to see her, her partner, and her sister and husband (the Melbourne wedding of March this year) for brekky the next morning. What a gorgeous group of young people they are! SO interesting. They all went off to work and I returned to my sister's place for the day.

We went to see Wall-E which I had been looking forward to for ages. I confess I was slightly disappointed. I got the concept from the start, but found the rest of it predictable. I laughed out loud at some bits. I was touched, but not deeply moved as I had expected to be from the hype. There was nothing terrible about it, it just didn't rock my world as I had expected. Palpable waves of boredom from the seats alongside probably didn't enhance my aesthetic experience. I think the rest of the party were annoyed for having been persuaded by me to go! Sigh. Choosing a film is such a responsibility!

The last leg of my jaunt was to get to the airport early - never usually a priority for me. Why? WHY? To have my first blogmeet! It was so exciting! How would I recognise them? I had seen a few photos of Frogdancer, but never one of Widget (deliberately). But having spoken on the phone to Froggie a few times I was quite sure I would know that voice anywhere! And I knew she would be carrying a bag containing a QIP (a Quilt in Progress). So I was looking for a shortish woman, carrying a bag, talking a blue-streak with a woman who looked like a 'thirty-something' blogger who could be a music teacher. I look pretty much the same as my photo up in the corner. And I had texted them to tell them where I was sitting. But I spotted them first! (I think).

It was like meeting old friends, in many respects, except I had 'forgotten' what their faces looked like. I won't again. We had a really easy time together, within the culinary confines of the airport, although we didn't have to resort to Hungry Jacks (phew). We discussed the pros and cons of Pierce Brosnan vs Daniel Craig as 007 (verdict: neither would be turfed out of boudoirs), mutually confessed our mucousy reactions to the deaths in the last 2 Harry Potter books (it was all too close to the surface for, ahem, some of us) and talked employment history and how nannying really is a rehearsal for teaching.

But the piece-de-resistance was seeing the progress on the quilt. A while back Frogdancer was having a pretty crappy time, so I decided that she needed a quilt and should raid my (considerable) stash and derive some comfort from it. It was such fun putting together the package for her in pinks, greens and neutralsand sadly didn't even make a dent in the stash, but I can now reveal the result! Its just lovely. So beautiful. From 66 different fabrics for scrappy quilt, Froggie has produced this. Tah-dah! Take a bow Froggie! She's done a wonderful job with it all, and there was enough fabric leftover to make a potholder for Widget and me as little side presents. I'll treasure it - and its not going NEAR a pot I can tell you! These are Widget's hands displaying pressies, with her rings removed for de-identifying purposes. I gave them each a tiny bracelet with red and green beads with butterflies, and I have one too. We're a team!Widget takes her anonymity seriously! But will see me in Perth again in December when she is in WA for a holiday. Woo-hoo! Next blogmeet my place! I was a bit self-conscious at first, but my plane was delayed and it was just as well - we got on so well we could have talked for ages! It was really nice to meet them both - I wish Froggie had been able to bring her boys too! Isn't the internet an amazing medium?
So here I am, back at home and loving it as I have a week off work now. And a daughter home to keep me company (I didn't plan for that). I did have plans for creating and crafting in my jammies all day, but its Wednesday already and we have appointments together and .... rats. I'm still catching up on all the bloglines to read (208 on return - yikes!) Still I will definitely be making more Wild Women brooches for upcoming birthdays and the like, and if I could just get Blogger to cooperate with uploading photos (3 tries with no luck) I would be well happy. We did a bit of craft together yesterday, and I plan more today. Its good for both of us.

The news on baby JJ is that he has been moved to the children's hospital and is not fabulous. I will probably see them this week too. I am their midwife, and want to see this through.

Must dash! Please de-lurk and leave a comment and say hi, and maybe where you are from! Its the nearest I can come to putting the kettle on!

Have a good week!

This and that, ici et la.

I am still alive. I am still in slacking mode too (could you tell?).

I've had some nice shifts - very busy, laughably busy, but great for teamwork busy, where we're all so pulled in every direction we just shrug and laugh and pull together. BYO sense of humour, really. Its been good.

At home I've just been running errands, cooking a bit (winter roasts on the menu a lot lately, mmmm). Phone calls to back up our daughter as she starts a new job placement for technical college. Eating delicious bread she bakes at college!

Eating w-a-a-a-a-y too much chocolate. It is a separate food group, right?

And also spreading the joy of Wild Women! I got a package from Artchix this week, similar to Artgirlz with more spare parts for my lovelies. I have been trotting them around to all sorts of places with me, I just love them. Woman and Polly have each been worn for outings and were much admired. Bluebell (previous post) has been sent to her new Mummy, who gasped at her name and told me that bluebells were really significant to her and how did I know? Aaahh, the universe works in mysterious ways! I also gave Bluebell's Mum a kit to make her own WW, which was received with much glee. A future pleasure present indeed.

I caught up with one of my oldest friends who I haven't seen for a good natter (or even a short natter) for ages (she lusts after a WW brooch for her upcoming birthday too). We ate Italian biscuits over coffee by the fire, then I dragged her to her computer and showed her the online world of fabric shops....I hope she forgives me....meanwhile the economy may experience a temporary surge!

And because I have had such a creative week, I also dropped in on my old church craft group the 4Cs - Creating, Care and Compassion through Craft. I just love this bunch of women. I am the youngest by far, they are all old enough to be my mother, but they accepted me with open arms when I was a busy, busy SAHM with wa-a-a-y too many committee duties who needed a creative outlet. It is always so good for the soul to walk through that door and be greeted like a long-lost favourite daughter! Many hugs, lots of chat and laughter, news, gossip, catch-ups, who's got a new grandchild, its great to see them. Sometimes I even get to sit down and do some craft too! We bounce off one another, and seek second opinions from each other, and lead and follow and share so much. I made this WW there this week. Her name is Serenity. She is on the same needle felted merino and cotton muslin base as Bluebell. With some ribbon from a new WW kit that arrived this week. She looks mellow and serene, just drifting and sinking back into a midnight and purple haze and watching the dragonflies meander through the flowers. Her hands are open to the universe. Last night I sat watching So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD - I love that show) and I just need a hand stitching project. So I needle felted a new base with silk, merino wool and cotton and fussy cut a new WW, leaving the beautiful new textured base to be seen much more than any other WW I have done. Does she look more wild? She's got presence I think. Her name is Dowager. I just know she's seen a bit of life and sorrow, but has a wisdom from it. She's crowned with it. I'm really taken with her. Her colour haunts me, I dreamed of her last night. Call me strange. Another section of her background has a landscape quality to it, I have trimmed it to a pleasing shape and will explore embellishing the surface. Mmmm, it feels really good to be exploring a new technique.

I am also quite keen to get my Etsy shop up and running. I am creating way too much stuff to be sensible, so might as well bite the bullet and stock it up! Would I get any customers? I don't have that many readers to send there....oh well, I can but try. It feels a bit fraudulent to consider myself as Etsy worthy, but the point of Etsy is to provide an avenue for the small creator. I buy stuff from there and absolutely LOVE that it is a one-off. Let me know what you think.

And in final news, well, old news, this time last year we were in Paris. Yes Paris. Pinch me. God, it was pretty bloody fabulous, even though it poured with rain for the first 3 days, it was Paris people!!!!!! Notre Dame, gargoyles spouting rivulets of water, the Metro, the Louvre (a very cropped picture, removing the CROWDS of people around her)getting ripped off by a gypsy con-artist by the Seine, the Eiffel tower - Oh God it was all stunning. We stayed in a bijou hotel near the Luxembourg gardens, and walked and walked, and trained and bused, and ate and ate, and museum-ed and gallery-ed and took so many photos 'cos they let you! OMG! I would go back in a heartbeat.

I'm a lucky girl.

Introducing...

Introducing Bluebell.

She is the latest in the stable of Wild Women (WW). She is destined to be a birthday gift for a friend.

I have used different sizes and shapes of beads for her to create texture and to hint at hidden depths. There are many layers and facets to Bluebell that are not immediately obvious. She is going to a rather special friend. With hidden depths. And layers.

Here she is with her sisters Polly and Woman. They need more sisters. I know someone red, and someone green are just lurking somewhere. Maybe someone bluesy. Someone even more wild (did you see the comment that their original designer/creator left on the first post I did about them?). I spent a bit of time online choosing accessories for more WW -I'm trying to challenge myself to make someone genuinely wild, instead of pretty or elegant (I never thought my work being described as elegant would make me feel I'd been safe).

Anyway, when I'm not creating elegant Wild(ish) Women I have been to work, where I had a day as section queen, and then a lovely shift with a primip who seemed to warm to me instantly and declared herself very keen to push her baby out into my hands.

Her story had me feeling slightly reserved about the possibility of this happening, as she had had an epidural at 1cm dilation (!), was a fairly large lady and had collapsed and spent a while on the floor until she got feeling back in her legs. The trace looked pretty dodgy as soon as I saw it, and I was quite sure that the docs would be hovering and keen to use any excuse to chop her.

However we bonded nicely, and she was quite unaware of the concerns we were feeling in the background. The synto was on at a reasonable level, and the baby was moving heaps - always a good sign. The docs were busy with a string of other emergencies, so they had enough to keep them busy while I just kept her calm and distracted, and we chatted and laughed, and talked and I answered her questions and it was all sweet. When it was time to examine her I felt she was very well dilated. almost fully, but the head kept moving and swinging from side to side as if baby was jockeying for position for descent. Its a strange feeling, but you know baby has a bit of room and energy to move well, so its usually good.

We positioned her on the side to await the last little bit of dilation and to allow the baby to descend as completely as possible before she started pushing. The woman had a medical condition where it was preferable to avoid prolonged pushing effort. There was a lot of rectal pressure pain, but a bit of epidural tweaking helped with that. In the end, she only pushed about 4-5 contractions worth and pushed out a very sweet little girl, creamy and pink with fair hair. The medical student (the one who had got such an eyeful on her first birth [forceps, very ugly] with me in early July) got a lovely catch and we couldn't praise little Aimee's Mum enough. So clever. What a complete genius she was to labour so beautifully, and push out such a splendid baby with so little fuss. Her mother and husband were thrilled to bits, as was she herself. It was such a love-in. Baby Aimee went skin to skin with Mum while she had a few stitches put in and was calm and alert and cooing and communicative. It was gorgeous.

So I skipped home, glowing with delight at having helped to create such a positive birth experience for this young woman. Those kinds of births really help sustain one's energy. Even though there was an epidural, and augmentation of labour, and a continuous trace, and fluids and catheters and blood in the urine, there was a pretty normal birth behind it all. In the end her cervix dilated really smoothly and she birthed beautifully. I just know her next birth will be even better, with the confidence that she now has in her body and her abilities.

I love being a midwife.

Wild Woman - correction Women

Hot off the needle. I can see a few of these being made while watching Olympics coverage! And now I have made the second one too!

This is Polly. She has a brooch back and is about 4 and a half inches high.

I needle felted the base from hand-dyed merino wool and pink chiffon. The hair/ruff/mane is from a trim I'm fond of and it made a great textured base for the embellishments.

The skirt is individual lace motifs stitched together, coloured and embellished. She took about 4 hours to make.

Ah, I do like a hand stitching project. Even if it does involve a few seed beads being spilled. (At this point I shall apologise for Blogger being most uncivilized about formatting and ignoring my paragraph marks. Just pretend I have been educated and formatted this correctly. OK?)

She was most satisfying to make. And I just know she'll need some sisters. I can barely sleep for all the images of them in my head. Shame I ever have to go to work really. I kinda miss being a full time crafter, but just as well that I LOVE being a midwife too eh?

Well, who have we here? A sister already? Why yes, her name is simply Woman. She was my first one nearly finished, then Polly butted in. Woman is patient. She didn't mind that her woolly minded sister jumped the queue.

Isn't her face beautiful? These faces (along with the arms & legs) are bought pieces, from Artgirlz. I coloured them with some groovy special marker pens. Variegated threads work wonders with these kinds of stitcheries. As you can see, they sometimes make just the hair you need. Just what I needed. Woman is about 4 inches tall, including dangles.

In other news ... Steph has got a laptop computer, wirelessly connected, so by default - I have this computer all to myself, and coincidentally that also means that no-one else need come in this room for computing (or any other purposes really) but me. Yes- just me. So I rule this room! My cunning plan to clutter it up so badly that no-one else could find a thing has worked! Total world domination is only a heartbeat away!!!!!!! I may get delusions of grandeur and start calling it a studio soon. I have plans y'know :)

This time a year ago we were coming to the end of our week in London. The weather was divine, the art was superb, the city was like a childhood story and a Monopoly board come to life. We went to the Proms (terrible program), we ate like royalty at my aunts' house, we tubed and walked, and M&S'd and Westminster Abbeyed in pure delight. I'm so pleased I've been there and can't wait to go again. I can scarcely believe I have been to (and enjoyed) so many of the world's greatest cities. I am a very lucky girl.

Our next stop (Aug 12) was Edinburgh and a few days in Scotland which was also absolutely wonderful (even if drizzly in an entirely appropriate Scottish way). I'll catch you up on those when next I post.

Ciao.

Picture diary

Thanks for the comments. I read and appreciate every one. When I asked if anyone was still there it meant I hoped you hadn't stopped visiting because there was nothing new to read! I must say since I started using bloglines my blog reading has been greatly simplified. Instead of rabidly going to every site just in case I missed something new, now I can see instantly who has posted and I can relax about all the rest. I am spending less time on the computer, but am still in touch and up-to-date. Phew.

Which leaves more time for sewing!!!! I have been going a bit mad lately and loving it!

OK I promised photos. First - from my birthday. Here is the cake. Black Forest Cake. YUM.

And my oldest friend called late in the day and came by to join us for dinner. We hardly ever get to see each other any more - she lives an hour or so away and now I work shifts with less holidays its too easy to let time slip by. But we manage 1-2 visits per year and it is always such a hoot to see her.

We met when she moved to our area at the start of year 5. For the only time in my childhood or since I was picked to choose a softball team. Such a responsibility! I was always picked last so I knew the anguish of waiting to hear your name spoken. So I chose all the kids who usually waited and waited, including all the interesting kids who were new or who had accents or different coloured skins. It is a decision I have never regretted, least of all because it brought Bobbie into my life. We were inseparable from that moment on. It still feels like that. Can you tell?

I was her bridesmaid at her first wedding. The first quilts I owned were made by her for each of my children - I still have them and treasure them. She is such an inspiration to me. She went back to uni to complete her high school, and became an environmental scientist. She is a grandmother now, and still her own self. I just love her. It was so good to see her.

Here is a very bad shot of the Michael Buble concert, which is badly out of focus but conveys something of the atmosphere. Jeez it was a great concert.

Here is a quick excited photo of my sister and I in the audience. Even though its crooked, I like this shot. She is not usually so pale, she's been unwell. Yep, that is the favourite pink cardigan of the moment getting another outing!

Something else exciting happened last week. I received my labels. See? Its a name that a family friend used to call me (my family call me by my middle name) I accidentally ordered iron-on ones (sigh) which don't necessarily suit every fabric I use to make a bag, but they still look very satisfying to have on my products. Even if sewn a little rustically.

Speaking of rustic, here is the bag I just had to make on Friday instead of doing housework (I don't recall making an active choice - was the housework ever a realistic option? ;P )

I had found the orange embroidered jeans in a favourite op-shop on Thursday. They fitted Steff but she felt she wouldn't wear them. Ditto the black chunky cord Diesel jeans we had found a few weeks ago. So....she requested a shopping bag. Et voila!

I was very brave and even put in an internal zipped pocket - my first time - piece of cake. Everything on this bag was chosen for recycledness (is that a word?). The outer fabric, the lining fabrics, the zip, everything had been used before. I'm really pleased with it. It wears my label outside and hers inside!

Which brings me to the weekend....sigh. It was an oasis. I took a healing doll that I had started back in February sometime, that I got stuck on. It was meant to be my inner child, but she looked so vulnerable that I just couldn't move forward with her alone. She needed longer arms to reach out to people. I was a long lanky kid (snort), and while the hair colour was about right, and she had big brown eyes I felt stuck. I knew that if I took her with me to a safe place she would be able to evolve into herself.

We chose messages from a set that spoke to us. Mine were about not believing and living old, negative messages, and how I could create new beliefs about myself, about how I am alright NOW. These tapped into some thought patterns I needed to change. Remember don't believe everything you think ..... So I set to work.

We learned about the orphan archetype and the pros and cons of examining the orphan within us all. We heard the story of "the Ugly Duckling". We journalled. The opening sentence was "I want..." A very powerful tool. We danced through a guided meditation through a four part garden with gates dividing the areas. We experienced the long hard winter that precedes transformation and growth. Rocks for grief, sticks for anger, water for despair, and sand for feeling depleted. We then went for a silent meditative walk about the bush. It was the winter solstice and people all over the world were also engaging in that exercise simultaneously. We were encouraged to see if anything called to us on our nature walk and to collect them for inclusion in our dolls or journalling. The sticks of anger had called me during the meditation. It was time to examine their purpose.

The other women had mostly not made the dolls before and we all had kits in front of us for a new doll. So did I. So I made a new one as well as working on my inner child doll. She had come with me as plain Jane. I was called that a lot as a child. This weekend I made her/myself blossom.

I used the sturdy sticks I collected to first of all give plain Jane a backbone. Next I entwined some curved sticks to her to give her longer arms to reach out for help and comfort. Next she needed to stand taller, so some very strong branches were bound to her short legs. These new limbs were bound in a tartan that reminded me of the little tartan pinafores I wore as a child - with a plain cotton top and a beautiful pleated skirt. They were worn with a pretty white blouse and a cardigan over the top. My new doll seemed more confident already. She had been mousy and brown before, and I look hideous in brown. She wasn't happy being brown. As the dove-grey and green tartan strengthened her she seemed happier. Suddenly I knew she needed more green. A scrap of sequinned green spoke to me. I bound this across her heart. There were some leaves that filled a gap or two, then she sighed contentedly. At last, you are getting to the heart of me. Returning to the treasure chest I found a small sculpted baby, painted gold. This touched a very deep chord. The little one was immediately tucked next to her heart. Scraps of green gingham, more layers of beautiful dyed green cotton with leaf prints, a few more sequins, a tie or two, more hair, a flower for blossoming happiness, a jewel or two, a few pearls, following our instincts. Then someone brought me an amazing gift. There, in a small velvet covered matchbox, was a tiny baby with a message in the box that read "I love you just the way you are". It was just the message she/we needed to hear. She held a stick to acknowledge the rage at her mistreatment, but it was softened by a growth of green, as she didn't want it to define her. It now looks like a wand to achieve transformation. A friend across the table said, you realize, don't you, that she is Mother Earth. A bell rang somewhere. Many people call me an Earth Mother midwife. Others have called me a Demeter figure. But of course. My inner child had blossomed into a manifestation of something that feels very natural to me. An earth mother. I was profoundly moved by the whole experience and can barely take my eyes off her. She is just right. I had never imagined that I would create something as beautiful as she is. As green as she is. But she is "No More Plain Jane" now. And I love her just the way she is.

The white doll I am holding is my midwife warrior I made in the first healing doll workshop I attended. She is full of symbolism and has a long story too. Her new red sister is also related to the meditation. She is a goddess of rage, who trails her anger behind her and has no problem expressing it. I think her story is one for another day....

Here is our group with their dolls at the end of the weekend. We all found it a very powerful and symbolic exercise, an oasis in our busy lives as mothers of children with special needs, some bereaved mothers. We had danced, including a belly dancing session, journalled, ate great food, talked, laughed, cried, discovered, meditated, slept and relaxed and shared an incredibly intimate weekend.

I am very lucky to have access to this type of workshop. It is a lifeline for me, a tool to have an inner life that allows my inside to match my outside. This doll making is a stunning exercise when taken as a whole 30 hour journey in a supported psychotherapeutic environment with trusted friends. And now I entrust the sharing of it with you, dear reader.

Peace and love.