a tooth for a star

Last night while we slept the tooth fairy paid her very first visit to our home.

Today there is a slightly lispy and excited girl with precious coins jingling in her pockets.

Tonight we will be out looking for the newest and brightest star in the sky.

::: winter :::

:::winter:::

number four

beautiful salvaged hardwood

an impromptu backyard fire pit

a quickly gathered circle of treasured family, neighbours and friends

a shared fire cooked Sunday night meal

a good red

planting the seed

In celebrating the UN International Year of Biodiversity and the exquisite work of Sophie Munns and her residency project "Homage to the Seed", there is a call out to all bloggers to get creative with mail art and create some postcards based on the theme of Seeds!
Sophie is the 2010 artist in residence at our Brisbane, Mt Coot-tha Botanical Gardens and the work she has been doing in highlighting the humble and actually most often fascinating and beautiful seed and it's global importance is truly inspiring.
Sophie recently said to me... "In working with cross-sections I am trying to draw attention to a way of looking at seeds and capsules that many aren't used to... so in the effort to draw people to look more closely at seeds, perhaps think a bit - this was one vein of thought I am following."
Well it's working...for my consciousness anyway. I don't think I have heard the word seed nor viewed images of seeds without thinking of Sophie and her work since I first viewed it.
There are already works in progress that will even make their way here from across the seas!
What a special show this will make indeed.
I am going to join in too. My ideas have been bouncing around from grand, to well, manageable for me...I say with a smile. Perhaps just a print or two of some of my beloved photographs?

So I am passing on the invitation on behalf of Sophie.
Get creative and crazy....or keep it simple.
Make a postcard and join in on the snail mail fun by forwarding your very own piece in Homage to the Seed!
Just click on the picture above for all the details.

And while I am here....
I saw the movie Food Inc. on it's opening night here on Thursday. It was impressively sold out thanks to a change in decision from not screening it here after an email onslaught by like minded and passionate locals. I did feel, for me, however that it did not particularly break new ground especially if you have seen "The Future of Food" or read books like "The Ethics Of What We Eat" by Peter Singer or "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan (who is featured in the film), all of which I highly recommend. However it is a great piece and it is out there for mainstream viewing and that is a grand, grand thing. Here is the trailer....make the effort and get along to see it sometime over the next three weeks!

See you Monday for more winter-y images. Happy weekend.

the love of whacking

My Dad parted with our childhood totem tennis set on the weekend.
It now lives breathing a new, but not unfamiliar, life in my backyard.
I had forgotten he even had it. In fact I had almost forgotten it even existed.
But now I've laid eyes on it again the memories have tumbled back home.
Australian summers of the 70's.
Barefoot and dodging bindii's in my Dad's backyard.
My big brother and I.
Terry towelling hats, riding bikes, making jumps, being jumped over! (the compulsory role of the younger sister isn't it)
And whacking that totem tennis ball.
It's been a long time.
Things have changed.
But let me tell you when I held those bats in my hands again the other day...and ahem each day since...that whacking came straight back to me. Except maybe this time harder, stronger and if it's possible, more fun.
Hmm Mama could possibly match that beloved older brother who used to spin that ball round and round that totem coil not allowing his little sister to have her turn...joyfully living in his own world of whacking. How about it bro? Rematch time?
All hands here have had a go at this new, old, toy.
It's even been used in dispute resolution with a challenge having been set to the Mister. It never happened but it all ended in giggles and a few hours of good natured "talking it up".
A good tool to remember.
So even though it's cold here now, it's standing out there again. Perhaps in training for Summer.
I wonder if it will survive my two little one's antics?
I wonder if they will grow up and remember the days of totem tennis where one outhit the other or where one needed to jump the bmx over the other....
Who knows but for now we can aim for that, except maybe with the occasional.....

"Stand back kids...Mama's going to whack this one!"

::: winter :::

:::winter:::
number three
sunrises and sunsets
beach and backyard
today marks the shortest day of the year
that means more sun from here on out
joyfulness
happy solstice friends

the sea and six

Our seaside abode and adventures of four days.
We left with a girl of five and returned with a girl of six.
With a long weekend falling on or near Mia's birthday each year and this year falling on the very same day of her birth to be exact, we decided to take advantage of it and spend a few nights celebrating by the sea.
Her only requests were to return to *our island* and that there should be no goannas...difficult but with the cooler weather I was confident we could fudge our way through without a close sighting anyway.
So we stole an extra day from school and took off on an adventure to sleep under a glorious starry sky...our southern cross shining brightest... and to indulge in the sound of the gentle lapping of the Pacific by day and night.

We spent complete days in the sand...
sitting, digging, looking, lazing, basking.
We parachuted from she oaks...
swinging, flying, bouncing, falling, laughing.
We played and fished and walked and dipped our toes.
We roasted marshmallows on an open fire and warmed those same toes beneath the blanket of night.
We indulged in the company of good friends.
We hung the birthday bunting from the trees and sang and celebrated six...
the sea and six.
No goannas in sight.

::: winter :::

::: winter :::

number two

a little late but here is the view as I stood just yesterday at sunrise

early morning light and the gentle ebb and flow of the sea

I will be back soon with the tale of our escape

for now there is unpacking and washing to be done

calls of tired little ones and sand....lots of sand.

::: winter :::

::: winter :::

number one

light streaming through windows touching places untouched before

candles during the day

il sole

The sun was shining this morning.
Bright uninterrupted streams of warm light from a cloudless sky.
It feels like forever since we have had a clear day like this and I decided to lap it up.
I hung my washing on the line just knowing I will bring it in tonight smelling of light, with that crisp slight stiffness of being dried outdoors and that it just may still be warm when I plunge my hands into the bottom of the basket to pull it back out and fold it all.

The boy and I sat outside on the day bed on the front verandah, chasing the sun in the north, to drink our tea.
His chamomile, mine lemon myrtle.
Him swinging on my legs and me reading my gardening books.

Both enjoying the view to the garden and the streams of sun shining within it.

winter

Winter joins us today.
And my peach tree is starting to bloom because of her.
Though I'll admit I'm not so much welcoming her this year at all, nor perhaps now each year to come.
I think I've reached that uncertain age where I can confidently make such a bold assertion.
Instead I am just assigning myself to her steady recurrent presence.
Meeting her with a comfortable yet equally icy reception.
I am going to be counting the days waiting for Spring...
the warmth, the sunshine (oh, the sunshine) and the smiles that seems to so easily bring...
But I will move through her with grace.
I'm planning to create another record of her visit with weekly pictures just as I celebrated the Summer, every Monday, because she does still hold beautiful things in her grasp.
I don't have to be her friend but I will be a congenial host.