MOLLIE AND SNIPPETS

A little summary of things around here of late, excluding the house-related 'stuff' that is truly wearing me down and the trip to Sydney, which requires a whole separate post with lots of photos that I don't have the internet capacity to upload for now (which is also wearing me out!). To start things off, our lemon tree has blossoms (above) and one wee lemon growing ever so slowly but growing just the same.

Mollie Makes

One of my sisters recently discovered this magazine and passed on the four issues published to date. I'm impressed and grateful for having access to her subscription (I might just need one of my own!).

The Beach

Soon we will live further away from the beach (ouch) so we've been maximising our time there often sharing the outing with friends. I can't even begin to explain the effect being near water has on me. It is my ultimate exercise in 'grounding' and is so entrenched in my past and present that I fear I'll long for it terribly when a beach is further afield. To compensate, I have all kinds of long beachside adventures in mind and thankfully I can console myself with the other wonderful benefits of the upcoming move.

All this from a girl from Sydney who once scoffed at the idea (and reality!) of a Melbourne beach. Such attitude! Somewhere in the past ten years I broadened by definition and appreciation of 'beachside' and learnt to enjoy the bayside beaches of Melbourne while continuing, at every opportunity, to visit exposed, coastal beaches too. For now, we inhale, love and revel in the nearby bay beaches and feel grateful for the nine good years we've enjoyed living within a stone's throw on them.

The Market

A few recent excursions to Footscray Market have left me wondering why I haven't taken the kids there more often. They were a little overwhelmed during our most recent visit because it was busy and they were tired but they've generally always enjoyed the sites and sounds of the market, particularly the fish stalls! And then there's the little 'cafe' (and I mean little - one table!) tucked away amongst coffee machines, dried legumes and an array of nuts, among other wonderful things. They make a great babychino, or so it seems!

And we never fail to duck across the road to another favourite haunt. They've been going since the mid-50s - amazing! And we know why. The kids love the little cannoli piped with half vanilla, half chocolate custard.

The Kitchen

I really should do a whole separate post on recent activities in our kitchen - and I will very soon but to an extent this photo says it all. We've been sharing so much time cooking and baking together, mostly in a cooperative fashion. Rafael has found his inner chef calling and his big sister is only too happy to instruct him on all she's learnt to date! There have been some very funny moments.

And to top it all off, there's been plenty of swaggering from this little boy as he gets more and more control over an increasingly active body!

TOTEM POLES AND TEEPEES

Last Friday was Canada Day. It actually wasn't Canada Day in Canada until the next day but we celebrated on both the date here (1st July) and there. Since, of course, Australian's don't celebrate Canada Day you'd think we'd simply choose between the days but, we had so much planned that it seemed appropriate to spread it out over both days! And so we did.

I decided that we needed to explore the First Nations perspective, in the very limited way that we can and  in a way that was appropriate for the kids. So, we focused on our First Nations story books (Kids Books has a good supply) and occassionally looked on line for related images. Elsa asked whether we can sleep in a teepee next time we go to Canada?!  There I was thinking I'd introduced untenable dreams when we found this and now I'm dreaming too. Perhaps one day. For now, we made plenty of paper teepees and totem poles. We had fun and learnt some things too!

We also had our fair share of pancakes with maple syrup and these shortbread biscuits made with the help of these (perfect  for our celebration!).

ALL THINGS YELLOW

What beautiful sunshine we're experiencing. True, the sun shines often down here but there's something especially nice about the Autumn variety. It inspired us to dig up the vegie patch yesterday (a perfect place to remember Dad who had the largest vegie 'patch' I've ever seen - really, it was a paddock!). Elsa collected our last bowl-full of the season - yellow pear tomotoes - and then took so many photos of them! Not sure where she learnt that! This last bowl should do nicely on the pizza we're making tonight. Now we're in planning mode for our autumn garden.

Perhaps all this sunshine is what inspired me to start this cardigan for Elsa. The colour is 'Camomile' but she calls it "sunshine". I love this 'knitting in the round' business, no seams! I could be addicted, if I'm not already. In the words of the Whitlams "it was the beginning of the end, if I wasn't already in the middle". But I think Tim had something other than knitting in mind!

Her response to this latest project? "Mama, is that bit of sunshine knitting really for me?" "Yes Elsa it certainly is, and it reminds me of sunshine. Elsa: "Wow, again? You're my best Mama" (despite this comment, she does know I'm her only Mama! Though it would be nice to have an extra set of hands around here at times!). Mama: "Thanks Elsa" Elsa: "Mama, will you knit for me even when I'm a lady, when I'm all grown up?" Mama: "I'm sure I will" . Elsa: "That's soooooo exciting. I don't like wool but I might when I grow up".

HUH!?!! Oh no! And I felt panic surge through my body. Oh no, not now, not yet, she can't object to wearing wool yet! Looking at the pile of it in my lap, the latest cardigan well-underway, the waiting balls nearby I hoped she was kidding while realising all the while that her three year old sense of humour is not yet so developed. Taking a breath, I reminded myself that she actually likes wearing wool but recently heard another child express his dislike of all things woollen and was 'trying it on' for size, so to speak. So, I ignored the comment and went on knitting.

We also changed over the Nature/Celebration Table last week farewelling the shells, sand and bright yellow silk in place of fallen leaves, twigs, nuts, seeds...now it's void of all things yellow with the exception of the rare tinge amongst fallen leaves and this little fellow of course.

All this sunshine inspires one of my favourite things. Eating outdoors with lovely friends of course. A good excuse to eat scones with butter and jam. Does one need an excuse?

And I love how the sun moves further into the house as we move closer and closer towards winter. Now, that placement of yellow in this photo looks completely contrived but really, it wasn't, unless Raf was providing some 'artistic input' when he abandoned his 'bug' in the middle of the room to run with his big sister.

Happy, happy, bright, yellow, sunshiny days to you whether they're with you right now or just around the corner.