Loving these days

What do you do after two weeks of runny noses, coughs and fever?  Head to the beach of course!!!  Winter is finally coming to a close and, just to prove it, Mother Nature has sent us a week of the most beautiful Spring weather.  Sunshine all day and barely a cloud in sight.

There was so much pleasure in packing up a picnic basket and getting out of this house at last, leaving all thoughts of sickness behind us and just getting out there to enjoy ourselves.  Well, we were still cautious - more so than most it seems.  My lot did tend to stand out as they still had long sleeves, long pants and gumboots so they could go sploshing into the water and explore with warm, dry feet.  Around them, children were splashing about in bathers, shorts, t-shirts and (gasp) bare feet!  It did look lovely to enjoy such freedom but I am not prepared to risk going back to another two weeks of being house bound with four sick children.  Summer is coming and there will be plenty of time for bare feet.

It has also been a wonderful time in the garden with fruit trees beginning to blossom, promising crops of juicy plums, apricots and peaches.  Oh, yum!!!!  We also managed a trip to the plant nursery to choose a shade tree for the back garden.  At the moment it is still a rather tall and very bare twig but with time, will grow into a beautiful, frilly, white flowering Crepe Myrtle big enough for the children to climb and for those of us too old for tree-climbing, to sit beneath with a cool drink.  I am so looking forward to seeing it grow.

My Creative Space.......my what???!!!!!!!

Please....ahem......excuse me.......Just a moment while I  pick    myself     up.....humph....off the floor and dust myself off, which could take a while since the floors are so horribly....well, lets not mention the floors.  However, I was down there laughing mirthlessly at seeing the words "my" and "space" in the same sentence.  And as for the word "creative"?  Well!!  The only creative things going on around here lately have been finding 'creative' ways to ignore the gathering debris under the kitchen table and 'interesting and delightful' new ways to step over the mess everywhere else in the house because if I bent over to pick anything up I was rewarded with a massive pain ripping through my skull.

You see, a rascally flu virus took up residence in our house two weeks ago and settled in.  I could tell it was planning to stay for a while because it unpacked all its' bags, put everything neatly into the drawers and carefully placed a photo of its' family next to the bed.  So I have had to spend the better part of each day and night looking after the dratted thing, bringing it cups of chamomile tea / hot soup / cooling water / fresh juicy fruit, filling up the hot water bottle, soothing its'distressing cries when the nightmare inducing fevers hit, keeping a supply of clean hankies on hand.  It really has been the most ridiculously over-demanding house guest one could imagine and one we will not be sorry to say goodbye to. 

Some flues, in comparison, seem relatively meek and well behaved.  They settle gently over the household, lay you low for a day or two and then they are on their way.  If it were possible to choose ones flu virus, I would certainly be selecting one of these little numbers, perhaps in a nice shade of turquoise.  But our visitor has been nothing but greedy, violent and completely lacking in manners.   It landed suddenly (obviously uninvited), smacked us all about the head and neck, tied our shoe-laces together and roughly knocked us over, stuffed our heads with cotton wool and our noses with glue then applied tight torniques around our brains, lit bonfires in our throats and then sat back in our best chair, put its feet up on the table and demanded service.

You will understand then, why the idea of having had any "my space" in the last two weeks seems not only laughable but cryable (is there such a word?).  Throw the concept of creativity into the mix and I will be throwing myself on the floor once more, in a fit of sobbing this time for all of that lost opportunity.  Actually, I just had a quick look around me and there isn't really enough uncluttered floor space to throw myself on.  I could do myself an injury.  It would have to be a very well calculated throw, taking into account bits of furniture, baskets of wool, piles of paper, childrens toys that have snuck into what really is supposed to be "my space",  and a metal filing tray that doesn't know where it belongs.

Although it has been a tough two weeks, it hasn't been all bad.  I did make a sufficient recovery after one week to mow the disastrously overgrown back lawn and tidy up the yard which had become so bad I didn't like going out there anymore.  I'm pretty sure it set back a full recovery by a few days but I think it may have been worth it.  So nice to be able to walk outside and not feel like crying.  It has also given us time to watch...are you ready for it?......a Little House on the Prairie DVD set I bought months ago but haven't been able to sit long enough to watch.  The children are loving it, just as I did thirty odd years ago and join me in exclaiming at how nasty and horrible Nellie Olson is, not to mention her mother Harriet.  Oooohhhhh, just the thought of them...!!  I'm quietly hoping that some of Laura Ingles' work ethic will rub off on the children, along with some of Charles and Caroline's wholesome-ness. 

Another positive to come out of it is that our visitor has shown the children that they can find within themselves the strength to fight.  Some took to the challenge more readily and with more strength than others.  Jovanka has amazed me with her resilience and quiet determination.  She didn't want medicine (which I keep on hand as a last resort) even when she was in the grip of fever and could barely walk.  She lay silently on the couch with her pillow, her blanket and her favourite soft toy and stared off into space while her body did what it needed to do.  The following day she was up and about, still tired, but ready to get on with things.  The boys were, well....let's just say, they needed rather more help but they have both found their way through and we have had a biology lesson along the way on viruses, antibodies, blood circulation etc, etc.

At this point in my (aiming for) regular "Creative Space" posts I usually zip off and link into the Our Creative Spaces site to share what I've done with other crafters there.  I think I'll spare them this one but it's always worth a visit there anyway to see what everyone else has been up to.  And now that we're on the mend, I'm feeling open to a little inspiration.  Care to join me?  Just click here and we'll be on our way.

Hope your house-guests are of the welcome variety.

My Creative Space- almost matching socks

A few weeks ago...ah......four to be exact, I proudly put up a picture of this half finished sock, confident that by the following week I would be able to add a picture of the completed pair.  Well.......um......now I feel like a student having to explain why their homework has not been handed in on time.  You see, we went away on a little holiday to Warburton to play in the snow for a week,

then we got home and there was a LOT of washing to be done and then there was Jovankas' third birthday and David designed a special cake which was sufficiently complex enough as to require a practice run but it all turned out splendidly and here it is:

Davids' Chocolate crepe, choc mousse, strawberry layer cake with a chocolate dome.

and then I needed a little rest and finally I got to sit down for a couple of evenings and finish these things off and here they are.

I did actually finish the first sock before we went away.  Jovanka was so excited she put it on, hot off the needles and proceeded to wear it with any other sock she laid her hands on.  Before I had even begun the second sock, this first one had already been on adventures.  It went on holidays with us so she at least had one nice warm foot when she was playing in the snow.  It went for a walk in the shallow edges of the upper Yarra River near where we were staying, and then it went in the not so shallow edges and got soaking wet.  It then got mixed in with the rest of the river sodden clothing and put in the washing machine and dryer

(uh-oh).  Consequently it is a little out of shape and slightly baggy - it's the one on the left. 

 A little aside here, it is a constant curiosity to me that I can say something to the children like "If you go any deeper in the water, your boots will fill up and you'll have wet feet" - fine in summer, not so good on a cold winters day, then they walk in deeper water, get boots full of water, soggy socks and cold, wet feet and then look at me as if to say "Why didn't you keep us out of the deep water?  Why didn't you tell us?  Now I've got wet feet and they're cold and how am I going to walk home like this?"

So now with the socks finished, I can get on with the cardi I started for Jovanka in May.  At this current rate of progress it should be ready in a couple of years.  Good thing she has a little sister to grow into it.

The Birthday Countdown

Birthdays at our house are very much a family affair.  The children decide what they would like to do for the day and what they would like for dinner.  We might have one, or both of my sisters over for lunch or dinner, sometimes a friend or two who have similar aged children.  I have really never been a great "thrower of parties"


Davids' first birthday was one of the few exceptions.  You know how it is.  First child.  First birthday.  I was planning it for a good two months - the guest list, the presents and very importantly, the menu.  Risto cooked a goat on the spit.  I practically lived in the kitchen for three days making the biggest dish of moussaka I'd ever put together, all my fancy salads too fiddly for every day, baklava, lemon tart and a sacher torte birthday cake.  And we gathered together all of the people we loved best and who, we knew, genuinely and truly loved us.  The people who I had relied on throughout my life.  The people I wanted to share this joyful and special occasion with.


Even when it's a much smaller affair though, the menu planning is a very important part of the preparation.  It's a good excuse to get out the 'special' recipes.  No fast food parties for us.  There is some serious cooking to be done and other things must wait. 


Last year David desperately wanted me to make a Black Forest Cake he had seen on Masterchef.  Not for his birthday, mind you.  For Jovankas' second birthday.  It had been a four hour challenge on Masterchef.  The jolly thing took me three days to build and a shopping list of ingredients that looked foreign in my trolley.  This was no ordinary black forest cake.  There were cherries soaked in brandy, layers of chocolate ganache, chocolate hazelnut praline mousse, and multiple other layers of chocolate on chocolate on chocolate.  Recipe is here.  It all got put together late at night....the night of Jovankas' birthday, after a day climbing the You Yangs, the local mountain range.  Did I mention that I was 32 weeks pregnant with my fourth child at the time?....And had climbed all the way to the top - a feat I would not normally expect I could acheive when not pregnant.  So, 10 o'clock at night, we sang Happy Birthday, Jovanka blew out her candles, we ate cake amidst the wreckage still on the kitchen table (sorry to say that this wreckage is the reason I wouldn't let photos be taken of this glorious cake.....something I now regret) and we went, exhausted, to bed.  It was a very good day. 





It's a bit of a cheat, I know, but since I didn't take any photos of our cake, here is the official Masterchef version.  Ours looked almost as good.....really!!!



Next morning, David introduced the idea of a Macaron Tower with Kalamata Olive and Beetroot and Raspberry Macarons for Aristos' fourth birthday, two months ahead.  Keep in mind that I am, at that stage, 32 weeks pregnant....and I began to question the wisdom of allowing him to watch Masterchef.

This year David has taken over the cake operation for Jovankas' third birthday.  He has designed it himself, based on a recipe he made up almost twelve months ago.  After a couple of attempts to describe the structure that the cake should take, his poorly concentrating Mama asked him to diagram it so I could see what we were in for.  Once that was done and each of the 'elements' discussed (yes we watch WAY too much Masterchef) it was decided that a practice run might be a good idea.  Just to make sure it would work - no last minute surprises or disappointments for something so important as his little sisters' birthday cake.  Thank heavens we did that practice run.  Because now I know that the chocolate dome will work, we will need double the quantity of strawberries we first estimated (unfortunately they are not in season, unless we live somewhere else so I am cringing a little at the idea of including them) and I will be required to make triple, oh yes, triple the quantity of chocolate mousse that I made this time around. 

 Most importantly we know that the whole thing, when put together, tastes exquisite because we had to eat the practice run, complete with a rehearsal of us all singing Happy Birthday and Jovanka blowing out the candles.  Perhaps when we get to the real thing, I'll make sure the kitchen table is clean enough to take a photo, or maybe just let pride go to the four winds and take a photo amidst the wreckage.







This moment

{this moment} - a beautiful idea from Amanda Blake-Soule at soulemama.  A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

My Creative Space - socks for Jovanka

I found this great site called Our Creative Spaces where crafters can link to, each Thursday, with a picture of whatever they've been working on over the week.  For me, who hasn't picked up so much as a knitting needle for a couple of weeks, it has been a good motivator to get on and DO something again.  I found that I was also getting a bit antsy which is exactly what happens when I go for a while without doing any creative 'work'. 

So, out of desperation just to get started on something I picked up the ball of wool that was sitting on top of the heap in my basket, selected a set of DPNs close enough in size to match the ply and cast on 48 stitches for my favourite sock pattern.  And aaaahhhhhhhh sweet relief.  Liken this to going without a cup of tea for a stretch (or coffee, or whatever fuels your day) and then taking that first sweet sip.  Mmmmmm.

The beauty of this particular pattern is that I have knitted it up so many times for each of the children that I don't have to think about it too much - just get on with it amidst everything else that is going on around me.  And the self-patterning wool makes it look much more impressive than it actually is.  All I have to do is just keep on knitting.  Around and around and around.  This time I am adding in a little bit of shaping at the ankles for a better fit.  I wasn't sure what the standard way is - probably there is no standard way, just lots of possibilities (and I didn't want to interrupt my knitting to get up and look at a pattern) so I started decreasing one stitch every second row for a while until it looked about right.

I'm up to the heel of the first sock so far.  This is usually where I do reach for the pattern but, again, I didn't want to interrupt the knitting to get the pattern which was in another room so I am winging it and it seems to be working okay.  I have written down what I've done so I can do the same again for another sock because, as much as I tell myself that I will remember it, I know that I won't.  Check in next Thursday to see if it worked!

Never thought the day would come but you know what they say.  "Never say never".  So now I'm on Facebook.  Woohoo!!  If I knew how to put a facebook link thing on here I would but, being new to both FB and blogging as well as being a bit of a ludite, I really don't have a clue.  I'll work on it.

So why did I resist Facebook for so long?  It does feel like I am almost the last being on the globe to join up.  From what I had heard of it, most of what goes on is pretty inane stuff.  And I have to say that now, having had a look at some of the comments flying around there, I was right.  Some of it is really messing with my head so I will have to put some blinkers on I think and edit out what goes into my brain.  The other reason is that I have trouble just keeping up with email and reading my favourite blogs so the idea of spending more time checking in on another site and administering all of that just seemed like too much time at the computer when there is SO much else to be done.

Well, why did I give in then?  Because the way information is shared these days is changing so much and it seems that if I am not on Facebook, I don't have access to certain information that I want.  For example, the local home-ed group has set up a page where activities and outings can be posted.  If I'm not on Facebook, I don't get that information.  Gone are the days when a group email did the trick.  The clincher though was that I wanted to join a gorgeous group site called Pininterest and I needed to be on Facebook for that.  The only problem is that I have spent so much time getting the Facebook thing set up that I haven't yet got around to setting up my Pininterest account.   I'll keep you posted because when it happens, it's going to be a beauty.

Having written all that at the beginning about not being able to put a facebook link on, I think I have just done it....  maybe not such a ludite after all.....