baby born story

I'm heading to another blog love fest in October. Thanks for the invite, girls. First thing I do when invited to these things is check out the other invitees' blogs. Which makes me think they might do same. Which made me think I should write something. Which makes me think I should. Write. Something.

Anything??



Nope. Nothing coming.

Then, Leslie to the rescue. She has just given birth to Mae and graciously shared her story with all of us. She has also asked that we graciously do same.

Yay. Truly a joy for me to share.

Our youngest was born during a summer sunset. By the time you'd finished your dinner that evening, she had arrived. I was right up for a new years eve birth (her due date), so when I had some tweaking labor pangs, rather than pains, in my parent's pool a few days later I was happy. Lovely lover and I headed home, leaving our eldest out back wacking golf balls with poppy. We had a beautiful birthing celebration a few days before and I went about our home, lighting the candles we'd been given, adorning the beaded necklace my special lady friends had made for me, lighting the oil burner....it's all so lovely at that point, isn't it???....Within an hour we were in the car heading to the birthing centre. We got to the birthing centre, contraction in the reception area and another in the lift, walked (waddled) into the birthing room, headed straight for the bath, stepped in, squatted down and she was born into the warm waters 4 pushes later. I remember the wild pink of the sky as we headed down the mountain road to the birthing centre, and the look of innocent shock on the 12 year old boys' face who witnessed my fine self experiencing a full on 'my baby's coming!!' contraction in the reception area as we walked in. Poor kid.

Hey, that was fun. Thanks, Leslie.

planning a party

The boy is 3.

Location sorted - not our house, which means we can go away weekends for the next few weeks instead of running about planting a birch tree forest playground with mushroom settee for the smalls

Invites sorted - Boy has been on paper cutting frenzy lately so we used his cutting pile and ta-da turned it back into home made paper sheets

My intent is to make some goodies for the small folk to take home. But should that go awry, etsy offers me:

spaceman crayons by gaddy nipper crayons


French vintage ephemera by surrender dorothy


june bug soap by anniepoo


and wristlets by jc casa


I love parties.

music box love

I Love Bjork

I love the moments mmediately prior to nearly almost we love it and they love it but it's a kid size accordian for pete's sake at the market on Sunday. Maresi!

And check this one out! If I saw this in a market someplace, it would surely be mine. I mean, theirs.

Should you be inspired, go check out what Kirsty has been making with tin cans and pegs. What a clever lady.

more I am liking, madam

Neighbours that come tell us when the chooks have got over the fence (and then watching the smalls chase 'em back into the back), when old friends call in when they're in my 'hood and hang out ALL afternoon, 20 editions of Golden Hands for 20cents (so much GOLD in Golden Hands), the thought of rugging up and heading into the Melbourne Design Market this weekend, and Feist on Sesame Street. Lots to like.

liking and not

I'm reconsidering this whole blogging thing. I recently read a post from a fellow blogger about her smalls having a go at one another and it all ending in tears. Mamma blogger snapped a photo of one of said smalls, in the moment of tears and unhappiness, to show off the latest little outfit she had sewn for said small. I wanted to hug the teary little 'un. To me, this was a demonstration of the ugly side of blogging - the relentless paparazzi capturing the moments throughout your day only for the purposes of sharing with your readers, regardless of what those moments contain and what they may require from you. I can see how it all happens. I recently headed down that path with my intention to share some 'daily love' with you all, in the form of snaps of stuff I've loved throughout my day. The first set was snapped just after we'd put the smalls to sleep and I wandered in to their playroom. There were little piles of goodies all about the place, they looked so beautifully and conscientiously placed and ordered and yet I knew they were the result of random acts of play and joy. I snapped, and posted, away. In the following days I loved the sticks we had stuck in the herb garden as a makeshift barrier to keep the chickens out. I loved looking into the bag of winter woollies we had worn during our winter walk, discarded as we warmed with each few steps. I did snap these images and they are beautiful. But I felt like I was looking too hard, like I was trying to capture an experience within a moment to hang on to for no other purpose than to publish it for others, and not to enjoy it for myself. These things arise and then they pass. Like the pain in my right ankle during a long sitting meditation. I have spent a third of my life learning to observe that which arises, to enjoy the moment while it is with me, then to graciously let it go, without attachment. I cannot help but do this now. So, another time, another place and you may have got some more daily love (by then I'll be a better photographer, too!). Instead, I give you a random list of stuff that I'm finding kinda wonderful at the moment. Be sure not to attach yourself to it, now!!

Indian villagers (LOADS of Indian villagers!) saving elephants from drowning. This is truly wonderful.

Hitchiking beetles. Spunky beetle travels across the seas looking for love.

Energy revolution. Former colleague fighting the good fight. Sign on, people!

yoga-mazingingly soggy

I cried today cause it is so cold and soggy in the hills. And the smalls are all cold soggy on the inside which means it's all books and baking for us inside dwellers. Which is ok. But we'd rather be outside discovering new mushrooms - we are totally surrounded by them at the moment. There is one just outside the front door under the wattle tree that is so big a whole clan of faeries could live beneath it. It's like to 100 ares of organically farmed land in St Andrew's with 3 houses on it that we oh so much wanted to buy with our pals but missed out by a few '000 a few months back.

So I put the soggy smalls to bed and rolled out my yoga mat for a little shanti shanti in front of the fire. I got lazy and downloaded the yogamazing video podcast. Chas is practicing surya namaskar on the gulf of Mexico at sunrise and I'm following along on the fire-front floor, trying to pull of downward dog in socks. Tricky business. I am also loving the Friday Night Family podcast by They Might Be Giants. TMBG were a favorite of mine throughout the early 90's and I love that they are now singing the good stuff for my smalls to enjoy. I played them the most recent TMBG podcast this afternoon when we were all booked and baked out at around sunset. I loved it and I loved that they loved it. I remember this post on that same nervousness you get when introducing your smalls to the stuff you love. Inconceivable! I'm so happy that there are free podcasts for folks to enjoy. No need to consume and have it posted via airmail, just download the bits you want and play it whe you want. Perhaps we'll actually play the Friday Night Family podcast on Friday nights and thus make it it a new Friday night tradition in our home, right alongside crumbed flathead and thick roasted 'taters with sauce.

I've also started a new thang on this blog - daily love. Stuff I'm loving daily. Me thinks that capturing and being reminded of it one of the essentials for carrying me through this southern winter. Capture and document and share. Check it out over there. First lot of love is some snaps from the playroom at closing time tonight. Enjoy.

gifts

A darlin' pal recently gave us a mega magazine to hang on our mega blank white walls of the studio out back. The only other picture on that wall is an op-shopped flamenco dancer in a bad but big wooden frame. She is hung on a big old golden hook, too. I also have my Tibetan chuba hanging up out there - big, red wool with that big, sweeping collar that the Tibetans stuff their wares into. All things big are possible on these walls. The thing is, the mag now really brings the space together in that perfect way that only a blu-tacked 3-tone mega-magazine can and I now want the Stones vs Beatles issue.

Once I was a Beatles girl - I learned how to play the White Album on piano when I was a child, and I had way long relations throughout my 20's with a jazz man who got me stoned and taught me about the weird yet genius Lennon-McCartney chord progressions (or something like that). I always preferred George, anyway. Maybe that's why it didn't work out? But more recently I'm a Stones girl. Cause Mick does good scarf and my smalls love grooving to Mothers Little Helper. Oooh la la.

Thanks, J. We are loving it.