SUMMER: GRATITUDE (AND SEWING!)

This summer, we've had the pleasure of enjoying (again) a pile of tableclothes that my mother-in-law gave me some time back, before I was married. The tablecloth above is among them; the labour of her hands and completed some time in the 1970s when she was living in Zambia, where she emigrated to from post-war Geece as a 14 year old!(the pattern came from Greece). It's a nice reminder of family at meal times.

And a new hat for my four year old, Elsa, using a pattern from here with fabric chosen by Elsa from my stash. The hat's reversable and I love to get two for one! You'll get a glimmer of the 'inside' of the hat  in a picture further down - I used a polka dot fabric. Because my little girl has the head circumference of a big girl, I used a bigger size (read: adult!) and reduced the width of the brim using another of her hats as a guide. She loves the hat - phew! (she has many opinions about this kind of thing!). Apparently it's perfect for yoga on the beach, and dancing, among other things.

And the reference to gratitude? There's so much to be grateful for this Summer....

Lovely shared meals, from the most basic of morning teas to elaborate barbequed lamb cooked on the barbeque by Dada, and sometimes Mama too!

For a beautiful new skirt for Mama, and the lovely friend that made it with an old sheet I had set aside for such a skirt for a while now!...she made it happen (sorry Em, I still haven't been able to capture it properly!)....

For a garden full of tiny creatures and some not-so-small ones like the possums who visit the garden every night and 'Funny', the kids favourite hen who, after providing us with an egg almost every day since moving in, died while we were away on holidays. Just a chicken but, she was our favourite! And then there's the dog, of course, Gnocchi, who always provides hours of entertainment. Lately I've been contemplating adding some more small creatures to our yard..perhaps.

 For swinging...

For cousins to play tennis, and so many other games, with....

For choices...

For quiet moments...

For exploring...

For a gnome garden that provides hours of entertainment..(we found this 'garden mushroom' under piles of garden waste down the back of the garden and slowly, it's becoming a home for little friends)...

And, of course, the beach...and so much more...

SUMMER: BREATHING OCEANS (AND SEWING)

  
Some Huck Finn Pants for our little Raf! I used a basic handkerchief linen from here. It's difficult to tell when he's standing like that but, they're actually quite cute!

This time last week we were relishing every aspect of a fun-filled, enriching week here.

A simple daily, beach-entrenched (!) ritual evolved; a (very) early morning walk on the beach, back to the cabin for breakfast and to gather our things followed by long mornings on one of the local beaches,  'home' for rests (and to avoid being in the sun during those hot midday hours) then, back for a long afternoon of more beach fun.

It was a holiday much like those of my childhood; easy, simple, so very wonderful and muchly needed (when is a week at the beach not needed!?). My picture-culling skills are poor (and inclination low) so...apologies in advance for the abundance of images.

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Unfortunately, home for not quite 24 hours, Rafael was in hospital That not-so-polite and, actually quite insidious, Asthma-demon has been to visit and left us feeling less than on top of things, particularly our little boy's health. While he is now home and doing much better, we continue to watch him closely with the overwhelming possibility of another hospital stint looming should his improvement taper off in the next day or two. As we dose him up with every manner of appropriate/relevant herbal tea, tonic and vitamin etc etc (my pharmacist Dad would've been proud!), we have our fingers (and toes) crossed that his recovery will take place at home.

This, his second bout of Asthma, was/is a lesson in humility for me. To be honest, I've felt very removed and almost protected from the risk Asthma, though I know many who have experienced it. For one, neither side of our families has experienced even one Asthma attack and given the size of my family in particular, that's a significant sample size! I've always been of the opinion that healthy living, good diet, proper sleep etc would exempt us from ever considering this condition. But that's often the thing about opinions isn't it, you should never be 100% sure of anything (well, most things).  At a whole new level I can now see that, while healthy living choices are important, some things are outside our control. What a reality check. It's one I've had on a personal level for my own health-related issues but to have that extended to the children is something else. We like to think we're in completecontrol and can manage our children's health don't we!? Sometimes we need a little help from others. And that's where I'm ever-so grateful for the services of our local hospital where Rafa recieved the best of care, the kindest of attention, the most informed and knowledgeable assistance. We really are lucky to have such good medical care at hand and for that I am, once again, grateful.

But I am on a bit of a rant about hospital food at the moment. I can't imagine the technical challenges that come with operating a hospital, including  in terms of food services. And , from what I hear, hospital food has improved a great deal over the years but, surely there's a further challenge worth rising to in this regard. I'm convinced one is needed. During our hospital stay this week, Raf was served various concoctions of food, generally with high levels of sugar, additives, preservatives and  'bad' fats. Certainly not nutritionaly optimal, or even close to! I know, I know, we have it good here; for one, we have a functionally medical system but really, serving this type of food to sick kids (or anyone for that matter) doesn't seem conducive to restorative health and recouperation.Surely 'we' are missing part of the picture! Thankfully Dada and Elsa brought in an array of fresh fruit and vegetables which Raf and I much appreciated!

Perhaps Jamie Oliver can take it on in the same fashion he did British schools?! Or even better, a local figure. Stephanie to the rescue? I can just see kitchen gardens operating in every hospital.

 Perhaps we need another week at the beach to prop us up again! And with plus 30 degree temperatures just around the corner, the thought is even more appealing. For now, the memories sustain us!

SUMMER:WATER (AND SEWING)

When considering the easiest way to give an update of events around here, a few themes jumped right out at me, the first being 'water'. Summer and water go hand in hand for many of us, perhaps especially in childhood. For me, that strong assocation extended well into adulthood; summer always equated with lengthy beach holidays and frequent weekend, weekday, any-day (!) outtings where days were spent in the water and on the sand, interrupted only by quick trips to the fish and chip or icrecream shop. Ah, to body-surf the days away, or simply linger in the ocean catching rolling waves ever-so close to breaking. We're heading to the beach soon but for now, we're enjoying water in other ways. More on that below. I'm also sneaking in some sewing at every opportunity.

With another niece starting high school, I was sewing headbands galore. While the vast majority of Aussie school students wear uniforms, her school doesn't require it so, I was free to pick any fabric from the stash. A few headbands using this free pattern and a headscarf that had me practising sewing rolled hems. And then because her Mama returned to work this year after 15 years at home with her children, a headband for her too (using the same pattern).

 And the water....

 

This Summer, for Elsa and Rafael, it's been all about swimming in their cousins pool (preferably with their cousins), the sprinkler, the hose and the river. I've gone overboard with the photos again but, I couldn't help it!

 

 

At the Warrandyte Bakery (above), so perfectly close to home and below, off for a walk along the adjacent river, where we were more than a little mesmerised by the ducklings and their not-so-new but equally as beautiful Mama.

 

And those cool owl pants? A Christmas gift from friends made with a pattern from here.