...Homemade Rainbows...


Thursday, June 26, 2008

Snowy Crunch

We've been munching our snow peas straight from the garden for a little while now....mostly plucked by little fingers and eaten immediately....and a few are kindly shared with whoever is lucky enough to be pottering or working in the garden at that moment.
I thought it was about time to have a decent harvest for a full meal or two before they continue to dissipate slowly over the season in this indulgent pattern. Really there is nothing wrong or more satisfying and pleasing than nibbling straight from the garden....besides the regular plucking is actually great to encourage more flowering and therefore more crispy flat green pods of sweetness..... except my intention was to feed the family via family meals with the precious things we grow. So half my little cache yesterday went home with "Bob the Builder" and most of the other half along with some greens from the patch went into our salad to accompany dinner.
There are plenty of pods out there still maturing nicely and more delicate little white petal faces bowing there heads so I'm sure (and am looking forward to) more backyard plucking and munching will resume while we water, work and potter in the next few days, and then hopefully month or so....who knows if we control ourselves again we may even manage a few more meals as well.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Renovations

There's been some serious work going on here lately. I'm very lucky!
Some major extensions and renovations are in action. I'm very excited!
It was about time. Things were a little cramped, a little outdated, not overly functional..... and with plans to now extend the family even more, larger and fancier space is needed.
So our very own "Bob the Builder" has come to our rescue!

Saturday, June 21, 2008

:::Happy Solstice:::

It's Winter Solstice here today.
I might work on going to celebrate at Northey street tonight....
Wandering the garden yesterday evening I thought I would capture the last rays of the sun before the shortest day was to grace us. The sky was quite breathtaking as a quick and thick wad of stormy cloud carrying a brief shower of heavy raindrops had passed us by just moments before.


It seems as if to mark the event, last night was particularly cold and I spent a good portion of my sleep in deep shivers under the covers of my bed.

But today sees the sun shining brightly and us collecting a few rocks from the yard to make our own simple balancing stone pile for our table. For Mia we made it to represent the Winter and her magnetic desire to mesh the outdoors with the indoors. For me, other than the artistic merit and today's symbolism, I haven't quite worked out my longstanding attraction to it yet - perhaps it's some unbalanced aspect of my persona (I am certain I have plenty) I am unconsciously trying to bring into equilibrium. Have a look at some amazing examples here.
Happy Winter Solstice.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

That Flickr Game....


Well yes I liked this one...so I've joined in.

I've seen it, amongst other places, here, here and here.

It was fun but it surprised me....I also found it really hard.

These are the rules: Type the answer to each question in "Search" on flickr. Choose your favourite image from the first page of the results only. (Make your mosaic using the image URL's in Mosaic Maker.)
Here are the questions to go with each pic in the mosaic:
1. What is your first name? (Leanne)
2. What is your favorite food? (Chocolate)
3. What high school did you go to? (Claivaux MacKillop)
4. What is your favorite color? (Red at the moment)
5. Who is your celebrity crush? (Johnny Depp)
6. Favorite drink? (Chai)
7. Dream vacation? (Tuscany)
8. Favorite dessert? (Caramel)
9. What you want to be when you grow up? (Writer)
10. What do you love most in life? (My Children)
11. One Word to describe you. (Dreamer)
12. Your flickr name. (HomemadeRainbows)

And there you go....maybe some things you didn't know about me too, in addition to some beautiful images!

Monday, June 16, 2008

By the Bedside...

Mum gave me this delicate and most beautiful little handkerchief on the weekend. It's a sister to the one my sister carried on her Wedding day. It belonged to our Great Grandmother.

I feel it's so precious it should be tucked up somewhere secure like the very back of an underwear drawer, hidden from the world until those moments where you just have to pull it out to have a memory jogging peek and feel.
But just for the moment, I hope not to Mum's discomfort, I have to put it by the bedside. And fittingly also right next to my Great Grandmothers jewellery box.
This jewellery box has accompanied me for many many years now, holding precious items of adornment and small mementos and memories......old rings, school badges, family brooches, charms and buttons.....oh how this box has collected buttons! Unfortunately it is quite worse for wear but it is still my priceless treasure.
Despite the obvious aesthetic value, I love having these items close to me when I'm at my most vulnerable self. So old and loved already by a special woman I barely knew, akin and cognate, I can't help but wonder if we are also allied by nature and life.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

The Festival that is.....

Mia's Birth Anniversary continues all weekend, kicked off by her dinner of choice...pasta...last night with Grandpa as her guest, who generously provided a wonderfully large and most indulgent choccy mud Birthday cake.

By the time we entertain and host all family that want to celebrate Mia it has been known (but not this year....leftovers sound particularly suitable at present) to end in at least 3 meals, 3 cakes, 3 birthday songs over 3 days.....I've decided therefore to rename this time "Festival" rather than Birthday.

Today and tomorrow we are anticipating more family for lunches of homemade pizza and more cake...and fun! ~ My heart feels overflowing for her as I'm sure she couldn't feel more loved having streams of family and friends coming and going all for her.


As she lay tired at our feet late last night snuggled in her flannelet pyjamas... well tired in a Mia way that doesn't necessarily represent the stereotypical tired of quiet and stillness...she turned to us and said in a gentle voice "Thank You for my Birthday".


Thank you so much for your warm wishes and comments yesterday also.

Friday, June 13, 2008

:::4 Today:::

Our Angel, Wildfire, Life in Constant Motion, Teacher, Love, Beauty, Infinite Gift and Precious Little Girl...Mia Anise is 4 years old today!


I've been looking through your photo's and slide shows today with a tear in my eye. It seems like both forever and no time at all since you were my babe in arms.

Happy Birthday Sweet Babe! We love you so......

Please indulge me in maybe a couple of posts in celebration of Mia's Birthday....I'm sure there will be more to come. I can't help my Mummy self.

I can't wait to pick her up from Kindy and hear about her day, the cake we made and then continue our celebration at home tonight.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Nesting

I made Mia's Matryoshka Dolls this week.



They are just a tad rough as I rushed them a bit to get them finished before tomorrow. I'm certain she is going to love them regardless...her "bad babushka's".

Quite cute...the pattern I adapted from here.


Tuesday, June 10, 2008

:::Union of Love:::

Because everyone loves a Wedding:::

My gorgeous sister married her handsome beau on Sunday.

It was a day of....complete perfection; endless beauty; calm excitement; more than a thousand smiles and laughter resounding through many many tears of happiness and joy (literally by almost everyone); pure celebration; admiring guests in shared esteem of being witness to such a divine event of love; fine food; feathery fun; dancing that ended way too soon (when did midnight become early again?), all followed by a restoring brunch the next morning surrounding the newlyweds with family, friends and chatter over new life, love and the celebration the evening before.

Mia was honoured with the role of Flower girl.
The ceremony included the pouring together of these sands which represents the uniting of two lives and two families.
And...candles for "absent friends".

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

A Break in the Wintry Cloud......

There's been a couple of rays of sunshine this morning....I write excitedly as it quickly starts to cloud over and the light dramatically fade again. I can still hear the sound of stormwater running off down under the road. It's been raining and I mean really raining here for days. Something that feels quite foreign to us drought-stricken folk but very relieving. It's been lovely and the ground is well and truly soaked.
Like a Mother Hen I've been worried about my newly planted seeds being washed away and any seedlings smashed in the torrents. I've been dashing out between downpours here and there to check on them but they all seem to have managed to poke their little heads through already and even stand strong including the onions which I have been obsessing over a little due to their fragility. They're OK....a few lost but OK.

It's now officially Winter, since Sunday, and being quite busy I haven't spent a lot of time acknowledging it. We've been nursing both Daddy and Daughter with colds and busy making "nests" to snuggle up in on the couch, though our unseasonal weather is actually making it feel warmer than it was during Autumn. The germs seem to have departed today (I have been downing plentiful amounts of my beloved olive leaf extract) and hopefully if we have a larger break in the weather Mia and I can collect some items to make our Winter centrepiece.... and collect some more beans for dinner.....we are not only being inundated with water. Such abundance (I love that word...).

Monday, June 2, 2008

22 Chicks.....and 1 Rooster

* One excited Bride To Be
* A whole bunch of ladies and one token lad (you're a gem Richie)
* Balloons and feathers
* Randy the Rooster, one uninvited guest ;)
* Lots of laughter, fun and great conversation
* Excellent food and wicked dessert
* Only 6 sleeps to go.......!