Flowers, country drives and presents

The good thing about having my birthday fall on the Queens Birthday long weekend, means I get to have 3 days of birthday celebrations.

Always.

And this year was no different.





I was so very spoilt: flowers, money! and some beautiful presents. For a minute, I forgot that it was all because I was getting another year older.

I remember when my Nana was 85 years old, she told me that no matter what age she was, she always felt 21 years old. To a then 23 year old me, I could not understand what she meant.

Now I get it.



It was a full weekend:

• On Saturday morning, Mum joined us for lovely long breakfast at our favourite coffee shop. Despite the cold, we sat rugged up in wool scarves and jackets, drinking cappuccino's and hot chocolates to keep us warm. The children were happy to ride their scooters and climb trees.

• The afternoon was spent taking a long drive in the country. Making detours and driving along dangerous, unknown roads. We enjoyed the warmth inside of our car as we passed lush green farms of rolling hills, dotted with cows. The pouring rain did not bother us.

• We rediscovered the beauty of this little town and enjoyed a coffee in the old bakery.

• For dinner we celebrated my birthday with Dad, Tiya Ning, Granny and Poppy Don. We shared a Chinese banquet at a local Chinese restaurant. Way too much yummy food!

• On Sunday we sent 'the boys' to the beach and 'the girls' went to the 'two golden hours pop-up shop'. After looking at the gorgeous vintage wares, Tiya Ning and I sat on the verandah late into the afternoon, we watched Miss Moo Moo make friends in the garden, climb trees and collect flowers.

• On Monday we visited Mr Moo's parents for morning tea. They have recently returned from overseas. We enjoyed listening to their travel tales and eating freshly baked scones.

• For lunch I took Mr Moo out to the 'two golden hours pop-up shop'. We ran into lots of people we knew. The weather was perfect. We lingered on the verandah, enjoying the beautiful jazz music, a glass of wine and a delicious lunch. This time I took my camera. This place is gorgeous.

• In the afternoon we went to visit my aunt who had also just returned from travelling. We left with a bag of homegrown lemons, a 5 kilo bag of peanuts from her friends farm and a bundle of fabric she had collected for me.



It was a great weekend, but all that running around has left me feeling a little under the weather. It has been a busy short week, as all short weeks are. In between appointments and play dates, I did manage to curl up under the blanket with Miss Moo Moo and watch the Sound of Music one afternoon.

Sometimes it just needs to be done.

I'll show you some pictures of the lovely Yandina Station tomorrow.

Beautiful.

Dreaming of long bike rides in the country

Since taking the trainer wheels off of my son's bike a month ago, he has spent nearly every day on his bike. When I'm cooking dinner, when I'm hanging the washing or even when I'm trying to take a shower, he is standing by my side asking can he have a bike ride. This is all very good, except I don't have a bike and Miss Moo Moo is not very good at riding yet. Not to mention, Spunky Monkey is not at all road smart.

I'm a little jealous, I love bike riding.

Late one afternoon over the Easter holidays, Mr Moo and I went for a beautiful bike ride along the coastline near my Dad's place. It was so much fun. I spent my childhood and teenage years practically attached to my bike and was I shocked to realise that it has been over ten years since I had last ridden. Lucky it is just like riding a bicycle (sorry).

So my goal for the next 6 months is to get Miss Moo Moo good enough on her bike so that Santa can deliver new bikes for Christmas.



one for me



one for the man in my life

Bikes are from papillionaire

Two Golden Hours

In you live close by or are in the area for the Queen's Birthday long weekend (this Sunday and Monday). Come along and check out the Two Golden Hours Pop-Up Shop at the very beautiful Yandina Station.



Have a read here to see some of the gorgeousness that is on offer.



Miss Moo Moo and I are planning a girly day out. Jazz, high teas, flowers, vintage wares, jewelry, dresses and ceramics. What more could a girl want in life?



Hopefully you can make it too.

(All images are from here)

World Environment Day

What a curious little butterfly.

We had a lovely Sunday.

World Environment Day.

We went to the the World Environment Day Festival and had a fun day with the kids. There were many things to see and do: face painting, making spiders from pipe cleaners, making spiders from twigs, recycled craft and handmade dolls. We loved interacting with Renata's 'think green and keep it clean' show and also played with sea cucumbers, starfish and turtles. We learnt more about Phoebe the fruit bat and the tawny frogmouth that were on display. There was food, there was music, there was recycled and organic clothing and there was the meeting of old friends over an organic coffee.

There was an electric car that I want to buy.

By mid afternoon, however, it was time to go and drive to the other end of the coast to see one of Mr Moo's favourite bands playing in the park. We whiled away the rest of the afternoon with the kids happily playing in the park and riding scooters.

We had pizza for dinner at mum's on the way home and early to bed for everyone.

Of course, the important message of the day: 'how to live a greener life', has left me compiling a list of small changes that we can make in our home. I'll post it another day and perhaps you can make the changes too.

Flea market finds...

A couple of weeks ago I needed to go into town to get a new tyre for the car. It just so happens that along the same road there are seven op shops.

Oh happy days. I had so many good finds, this is part one: Retro finds

Cute retro tea towel (above) that I plan to turn into a shopping tote.



I love this beautiful silky oak platter, 40 cm in diameter. I almost didn't get it. I'm glad I did because when I got it home - it is perfect. $4.00



Stylish, simple and never used. This wooden salad bowl and servers , $7.00







But here we are..... the piece de la resistance!

Here is what all the excitement is about. This time last year I became a little obsessed at finding a vintage fondue pot. I searched e-bay and found some great fondue sets in bright orange and yellow. The only problem: the ones I fell in love with were either in America or the UK. The postage was not something I could justify at the time.

I have been thinking about fondues again recently. It's that time of year. On the day I bought this fondue set I was in my first op shop and saw a cast iron one for $15:00, it wasn't the kind I was really looking for and I thought that $15.00 was bit too much, I was in an op shop after all. So I left it there, thinking I might go back. Then I walked in the next shop and nearly fell over. Here it was! $6:00, made in Austria, never used. The forks were still in the original box. I scooped it up and quickly took it to the counter while I continued to look around.

My only regret is of all of those other op shop outings when I have left sets of never used fondue plates on the shelves.

So my search continues. But plates or no plates, I think that there might be some fondue making appearing on my new blog sometime soon.

Come back next week to see the rest of my finds from that day. Part two: pretty and girly.

Go here, to see what other treasures have been found this week.

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.

Simple pleasures

This week is the first week that I have flipped the page in my diary and seen blank. NOTHING. No appointments after school or classes to attend, no helping out at school or school functions to attend, nothing to collect from the library, nothing to buy or fix or return (winter clothes, flat tyres, etc.) OK, there are few little things on the list, there always is, but nothing pressing. Yay!

I have been enjoying the slow rhythm of life at home and finding happiness in the smallest moments of my day.

• making homemade chicken stock for the freezer
• chopping up fresh oranges from a friends tree, ready for eating
• hand washing: a woollen dress of my daughters, crocheted and embroidered doilies from the op shop
• decorating cupcakes for morning tea
• eating 'mashed egg' sandwiches on a blanket in the backyard. In the winter sun, with Miss Moo Moo
• cleaning out the fridge and making soup from the contents. A soup reminiscent of eastern European recipes for cream of chicken soup that I have made in the past
• plaiting Miss Moo Moo hair in tiny plaits for Kindy, just as she wanted
• cooking pancakes on a weekday morning, as requested by Spunky Monkey
• time crafting with the children after school because dinner was already cooked
• leisurely folding piles of washing still warm from the sun

The best part of all, has been the background of my days: a quiet house, except for my daughter playing and singing at my side. Dressing up and role playing, making her own lunch and picking up her own toys as she goes.

I don't dare turn the page of my diary to see what is happening next week.