I'm grateful for...

This week I am grateful for orange juice.

Fresh oranges from grandma's tree, squeezed by the hands of babes.

My poor little boy has been home sick all week. I think it was Thursday, when I started getting cabin fever. I laid the big picnic rug in the backyard and ordered everyone out into the sunshine. Miss Moo Moo brought her board and drawing pencils, I bought a pile of books. But Spunky Monkey was still miserable. His pale limp body glowed in the sun, he headed back into the shade of the patio. He sat on a chair swinging his legs then asked "can we make juice?"



The panadol had just kicked in and we had a good hour or so until he would be back on the couch curled up in a ball. I said yes, and helped him bring a bowl of cut oranges, the hand juicer and a jug to the table, he brought out three cups. I was happy in the sun with a new cookbook from the library, so I left the kids to get started. I listened to them discussing how good oranges are for you as they worked.

Spunky Monkey squeezed as much juice out of the oranges as he could, then gave them to Miss Moo Moo, who ate whatever was left inside, every so often, I would get the remaining juice from any oranges Miss Moo Moo hadn't eaten.

It only lasted about 20 minutes, but it was the highlight of my week, that simple bonding time between the three of us, and the juice.....

It was delicious - made with love.

Go over to 'maxabella loves' for more gratitude posts.

I'm grateful for...

(lining up for yummy dessert at my aunts house - pear, sticky date and chocolate pudding)

Today I am grateful for the last few days that we have spent with our cousins.

My cousin and her little ones having been visiting this week. It is not often that they get to come and hang out at our house, so it was nice. Lots of tea and chatting, although not nearly enough crafty chat, as we had intended.

On Thursday, I gave my kids the day off school and we hung out at home: playing, dressing up and making a 'good pure fun' mess. It is so beautiful to see the next generation of our family forming loving bonds, just as we did at their age.

Running, laughing, scheming, creating, laughing, tackling, jumping, laughing, squealing, singing, dancing, laughing.

Go over to 'maxabella loves' for more gratitude posts.

I'm grateful for...

Today I am grateful for.... open gardens.

During the school holidays, in between being sick and our farm stay, we went to visit a local open garden.



After first getting lost. (I was on the wrong road - who forgot the map?!)

We almost gave up. But I'm glad we didn't. We eventually joined hundreds of people walking down the long birch lined drive into the valley, autumn leaves crunching underfoot.







We soon came to the luscious gardens that are Camellia House. Over 600 species of beautiful matured camellias growing in the dappled shade of large pines and poinciana trees. It was beautiful.



The children loved getting lost in the hidden pathways that opened up to a large pond surrounded by fruit trees, tiny bridges and a giant chess board.

For someone who has a backyard the size of a postage stamp I am so grateful for the people who open up their gardens to share. I always come away feeling not only inspired but truly relaxed. So happy to have had the chance to wander in the magnificence of a large garden like this.



Go over to 'maxabella loves' for more gratitude posts.

I'm grateful for...

It's been just over one week since Oprah's last show'.

How moving and profound was that show!

Over the last 20 years, I have watched this program when I could. On sick days, in between jobs, on rostered days off and while breasting feeding my babies. Unfortunately, over the last couple of years, time has not allowed me much time to sit and watch TV at 1pm in the afternoon.



(I loved Madonna's words to Oprah)

But after sitting with a box of tissues, watching her last three shows, I have been thinking so much about 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' and about how much her words and often the words of her guests have influenced my life. Different shows for different reasons have had a major impact on the way I think and see things. Salt and nectar has a great post about Oprah and some of her own 'aha' moments.

I have been thinking about one particular episode over the last couple of months. It made me look at the world differently, and how I wanted to live in it..... I think there were a few different women in different circumstances, but the message was the same. It was a show on rich, successful woman who had lost everything (material possessions), one through a house fire, one through divorce. It was the young mother with 2 children, a girl and a boy who stuck in my mind. She had moved into a two room cottage in the country, they all slept in one room and she took up home crafts like quilting, and growing her own vegetables out of necessity. They could not afford a TV or a car and they spent their time together exploring the woods, bike riding, reading and drawing. She stood there glowing, telling how she had never been so happy.

I have always had a 'were there's a will there's a way' attitude, but after discovering Oprah when I left high school, I believed even more in my ability to make things happen. To choose my own destiny. Without Oprah, I wouldn't know about the beautiful Maya Angelou, Kiva or 'not to be taken to the next location'. I would not have started a gratitude journal. I wouldn't even know about Martha. There are so many important books that I have read because of her and beautiful music I have bought.



I am grateful today, that that little girl from Mississippi found her voice and shared it with the world. Look what she has achieved.

What could I achieve?

Go over to 'maxabella loves' for more gratitude posts.

I'm grateful for... books

(this book can be found here. All images are from the book)

We have books in almost every room of our home.

On my bedside table, on Mr Moo's bedside table and on a small table by the bedroom chair. On Miss Moo's bedroom shelf, on Spunky Monkey's bedroom shelf and in the playroom. On the coffee table, by the TV, on the dining room sideboard and in the kitchen. Then there is the wall of books in the lounge room and the shelf of children's books in the playroom. And lets not forget the car and my giant handbag.

Clearly, I can not live without them.



I am grateful to have stolen a few moments this week to explore the homes of Beatrix Potter.

Through the pages of this beautiful book, I was able to wander, uninterrupted through her beautiful homes and gardens.



I have fallen completely in love with the Lakes District.



I loved Hill Top Farm, her first and most famous home.



The Hall at Hill Top Farm is my favourite room. How lovely it would have been to taken afternoon tea in this room.



It was like I was the only person visiting, as if they had opened the doors just for me. I was able to stare for long periods of time at the careful arrangement of furniture, paintings and collected objects. I could look closely at the decorative wallpaper that she had hung on the walls. I studied the fine porcelain pieces that had belonged to her father and the paintings painted by her brother, that hang in her writing room.



I discovered her passion for beautiful furniture from the area and looked for a very long time at the detailed carving on each piece. I was able to truly appreciate her home, it's contents and what it meant to her.



I loved the wallpapers that she used in Hill Top Farm. This one above, "Daisy" by William Morris was in her bedroom and a lovely floral wallpaper in similar colours, was used for the walls and ceiling in the Hall.





I was able wander through her walled kitchen garden and her beautiful cottage garden that surrounds the house. I could almost smell the soft fragrance of the climbing roses. I wanted to pick huge bundles of hollyhocks and bunches of fresh carrots (for Peter, of course).





It was so lovely to see Hill Top Farm as the settings for her stories. As seen above.

I have been told Hill Top Farm can be a busy little tourist stop. Despite this, I am putting it on my list to visit one day, along with some other houses from this period that I have also seen in books. Charleston in Lewes, England and Lilla Hyttnas in Sundborn, Sweden.

What beautiful coffee table books have you been reading lately?

Go over to 'maxabella loves' for more gratitude posts.

While we are on the subject of Beatrix Potter, actually, not really related. I saw the movie again recently. I love, love, love this song. I cry every time I hear it. I'm not sure why.

I'm grateful for...

Today I am grateful for......... the Arts.

This morning we went to see "The Gruffalo". A favourite story adapted by the very clever, Tall Stories Theatre Company in the UK. It was brilliant. I'm so glad that the show was able to make it to our little part of the world

Earlier on in the week, we also went along to our school's 'Music Night.' It was a really fun night. The school choir sang beautifully, the teachers did a great Abba sequence (very funny) and the boys choir 'rocked' as all good 8 and 9 year old boys should.

I know for a fact, that seeing shows like these as a young child, encourages a life long love of the theatre.


(image from here)

Take myself for example. I looooove marionette puppets. I remember sitting in our huge town hall with all the other 6 year olds in Grade One, watching the puppet show, "Peter and the Wolf." The School Arts Council travelled to small towns bringing culture to the country folk. I for one, am very glad that they did.



And more puppet love. I think that watching the 'Sound of Music' every school holidays, also had something to do with my enthusiasm for these little wooden people. The 'puppet theatre scene' is definitely still one of my favourite parts of the movie. My kids love it too.

Go over to 'maxabella loves' for more gratitude posts.

I'm grateful for...

Today, I'm grateful for these amazing woman.

Zoe, Jen, Treann, Alison, Val, Megan, Karen, Heather, Lindsey, Crafty Mermaid, Elsa, Megan, Jan, Melissa, Jane, Tat, Ceila, Roslyn, Karen, Rachel, Fran, Isabelle, Vanessa, Amanda, Mary Jo and Prue.

How could I not be? These beautiful women have donated time and materials to make such gorgeous soft toys for children who have lost everything during the Queensland floods in January.

I am overwhelmed by their generosity. Thank-you, Thank-you.

I chose to do my Dolly Drive for Queensland, because it was very close to home. But my heart is with all of the families and children who have suffered through natural disasters this year. Floods, fires, cyclones, earthquakes and tsunamis, both throughout Australia and the world.

My thoughts and best wishes are with the people of Japan today. So much devastation and lives lost. Truly heartbreaking.

The names of the women above, are the makers of the dolls, I have already received. Actually a few are still on they way (but I've seen pictures!)

Go over to 'maxabella loves' for more gratitude posts.

I'm grateful for...

Today, I am grateful for my Mum.

I know, it is a little bit of a cliche. Which is why I haven't written about this before now.

So many times I have wanted to just say a BIG THANK-YOU to my Mum. For always being there.

Because often, I just forget to say it.

At the moment Mum is on the other side of the world, By day two, I realised how very much I rely on her. I am missing our two plus a day, phones calls. I can always find her at the other end of the phone to tell good news, bad news, funny news, my bright ideas, my hopes, my dreams, things that are frustrating me, things that I are worrying me and to ask for good old fashioned Mum advice.

I do not take this for granted. I know how incredibly lucky I am to have this special bond.

So Mum, if you are in Spain reading this.

"Te amo mama"

Go over to 'maxabella loves' for more gratitude posts.

I'm grateful for...

Today I am grateful for sleep- ins.

They don't happen very often, but when they do - bliss. So it was a happy Saturday this morning, when I stumbled out of bed at 8 o'clock. I was, of course, awake at 5 am, but I pushed Miss Moo Moo out of bed to go and play. And quietly play she did.

The day has moved slowly since. Scrambled eggs with basil and feta, black coffee and the latest copy of Donna Hay Magazine (now on subscription- yay!). Later, orange and almond cake and a pot of tea with my aunt, when she came to visit. A few odd jobs around the house and soon perhaps, I'll sit with a book for a moment or two. For dinner, an easy barbeque, it is way to hot for anything else.

And that will be the the end of a lovely day, and it all started with a sleep in!

Go over to 'maxabella loves' for more gratitude posts.

Also....

Perhaps you would like to make a doll or softie for the Queensland Flood Appeal Dolly Drive. There is still plenty of time. The close date is the 18th of March. We would love you to join us. Please read more on my original post.

I'm grateful for...

Today I am grateful for my family. For my extended family, that surrounded me when I was growing up.

For my parents, for my uncles, aunts, great uncles, great aunts and my grandparents. I was so very lucky to have them all so close, when I was a child. I am grateful for the important values that they taught me, even though, at the time I did not know it. But I know it now, as I raise my children. I am constantly looking to my own childhood, back to what I saw and how they lived. Today, I am looking back, for guidance forward.

"it takes a village to raise a child" - African proverb

No, we did not live together, like the Walton's. But as families spread out and move further away from each, you can see they had the right idea. Love and support - right there. As a seventies child, I loved the Walton's. In fact, I wanted to be one of them.

Go over to 'maxabella loves' for more gratitude posts.

Please don't forget that the Queensland Flood Appeal Auction has started and ends at midnight on Monday 24th January. A master list of other crafty auctioneers can be found here.

AND

Don't forget my Queensland Flood Appeal Dolly Drive. Perhaps you'd like to join us

I'm grateful for...

Oh yes, this week I am grateful for so many things:

• I'm so very grateful, that, at the moment, all of my direct family and friends are safe and have suffered no loss from this great disaster on our doorstep.

• I'm grateful that my uncle's heart operation went well, in a city that was under water.

• I'm grateful and proud to call myself an Australian and a Queenslander.

• I'm grateful to be part of the blogging community and what it can achieve.

Go over to 'maxabella loves' for more gratitude posts.

Please don't forget that the Queensland Flood Appeal Auction starts here on Monday 17th January. A master list of other crafty auctioneers can be found here.

AND

Don't forget my Queensland Flood Appeal Dolly Drive. Perhaps you'd like to join us.

I'm grateful for....

Just like Maxabella loves, today I am grateful for the school holidays. In particular, our mornings.

I am enjoying the slow pace, that holiday mornings are. Sleeping in late, well later than usual. Relaxed and happy children, playing quietly when they wake up. Lazy and late breakfasts of pancakes or scrambled eggs. A second cup of tea, both cups, being enjoyed and finished. Staying in our pajama's until mid morning. Not having be be anywhere and not wanting to be anywhere, but home.

Yes, home.

Mr Moo took this photo a few mornings ago at 5:30am. He had taken Spunky Monkey out and about, so Miss Moo Moo and I could sleep in.

Go over to 'maxabella loves' for more gratitude posts.

Welcome to my newest follower Heather from 'a day in the country'. Heather, we are off to cook your mother-in-laws baked doughnuts now, I'll let you know how they turn out.

I'm grateful for...

Today I am grateful for my ability to cook and also so for my great love of cooking.

During the week, I was chatting to a friend who told me that she can't cook. Of course she can get by, she has a small family to feed. But while I spent my formidable, teenage years, learning the basics in home economic class, her teenage years were spent globetrotting around the world with other goals in mind. Homemaking, as it was taught in my country high school, was far from her mind. Until this conversation, I think I took this life skill for granted, doesn't everybody know how to cook?

Far from the school kitchens, my Mother and my Nana were, and still are, my greatest influences in how and why I cook.

Apparently, my Mum couldn't cook either, when she was first married, but with the help of the Women's Weekly Cookbooks, she soon learned. I grew up during the dinner party era. Dinner parties were hosted and exciting, new recipes were tried. As for me, I am a recipe addict and rarely cook anything twice. My Nana would call herself a good plain cook. And that's what she was. Perhaps she tried new dishes in her early cooking life, but when I knew her, as a grandmother, she had only a small and simple repertoire of recipes. We wouldn't have had it any other way. She taught me how food and cooking nurtures a family.

And in my husband's words, "food is love", Yes indeed, it is.

Go over to 'maxabella loves' for more gratitude posts.

I'm grateful for...

Today I am grateful for 'thank-you's'

I almost teared up when Spunky Monkey's prep teacher handed me a small gift yesterday. It was so unexpected. It was to say 'thank-you' for being a 'mummy helper' throughout the year. Honestly, I had been feeling a little guilty for not being more involved. However, it became obvious to me, that what seemed like a little bit to me was a lot to someone else.

So I will share this quote with you again:

"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do little" - Edmund Burke

As I write, I am enjoying my gift. Tea in my new cup, that was filled with santa chocolates, and a handful of different teas.

Shhh.... don't tell anyone, but I'm also eating a santa chocolate too. I haven't even had breakfast yet.

I'd like to also welcome my newest follower, 'Maxabella loves', for who I am also grateful for:)

Go to her blog now to see what other people are grateful for today.