And after an interlude of three and a half years...

Driving with a glorious sun shining over the Bolte Bridge - Melbourne I love you!

January 2012 is a long time ago, and life has changed significantly since I last wrote. Indeed for the past three and a half years, it is possible you were forgotten dear blog. Forgotten you existed, forgotten passwords, forgotten how to make the settings hum...

And life has gone on. There has been babes - two delicious girls - there has been long periods of time with no work outside of home, lots of walks in the wee hours of the morning, lots of laughter and joy. We have baked, we have swum in the ocean, we have made new friends and build friendships with childhood acquaintances. We have knitted. We have read books galore. Life has been good.

Many, many, many things are sparking creative interest. A post was read yesterday by Made by Rea, where it was reflected about days where one has just too many ideas and simply not enough doing power. And perhaps this is what periods of time in the past few months have been like here. The possibilities of what to do, what to make, what to create seem endless...

But here are a few things that are loved and being made or explored further...

Sewing is kicking on, with two finished and three somewhat constructed Purl Bee everyday swing skirts. How it would be wonderful to have time and space to learn this skill well!

Knit, knit, knitting. A delicious Fort jumper from Brooklyn Tweed is on the final sleeve. Perhaps it will be completed for the second half of winter? Warm and cosy Harvest yarn from the Bendigo Woollen Mills is being used (although no longer available to purchase).

Anzac biscuits with apricot chunks are baked weekly. Each time they are made, it is wondered if they really are a delicious as the fella things. And indeed they are...

Instagram florists - such as Gladdish, She's a Wildflower, Passion Flower, the Flower Dispensary and Sweet Pea and Honey Bee.

Hurrah!

Today: the day that was...

Today was one of those busy days where I simply didn't have time to stop and think. I got to work and ran and ran and ran. People to see, emails weren't sending externally, clients were unwell and needed urgent attention, tensions were increased all around. Lunch was a sneaky half packed of raspberry flavoured m&ms I really should have shared, with a banana scoffed down as a second thought. But when life gets like this, you just get through - don't you.

Running, huffing and complaining don't help. Snapping at a colleague is unhelpful also. Stressing about emails - why bother?

What does help? What was my life line today?

Only answering the phone calls coming in if paged to do so. Or during a designated half hour time frame twice during the day.

Eating those m&ms and enjoying them.

Getting a job application in and feeling proud!

Cycling home at a leisurely pace.

Playing netball and whipping our opponents.

Having the fella make a stellar healthy dinner of chicken soft tacos.

Watering my garden, taking time to smell the tomatoes and zucchinis.

Gosh, if only all challenges were so easily solved. If only all days were fixable! But tomorrow is a new day, more work to be done, feeling calm and having space to have another dose of perspective.

Speaking of perspective - what a view? Using a super ap which knits together images to create panoramas, this phone is sunset over the beautiful country side of Scone in rural NSW. We travelled to the area for a friend's wedding, and had the absolute privilege of staying on the bride's family farm overnight. Their property looking out over the hills, the sun was setting and the sky was fluid, mesmerising and seemingly untouchable. What a beautiful end to a day.

Hope your day has ended well, perhaps with a cup of tea (or gin and tonic).

Musings...

Loving: riding my push bike, getting my lunch daily from pickings in the garden, using the fella's mac, holidays at the beach

Making: a Thomas the Tank Engine knitted jumper for a stellar nephew

Drinking: english breakfast tea with milk and half a vanilla sugar

Wearing: clothes for the hot Melbs weather, and my lovely new Gorman sandals

Hearing: the chooks brood in the backyard

Doing: job applications - looking at applying for a senior job

Enjoying: the Australian Open

Sweating: not the small stuff! Rather on my daily bike ride in the super lovely summer weather

Anticipating: the end of my current read - 1Q84 by Murakami

Wishing: for more time to craft

How about you?

The end is the beginning...

New years often suggest new starts, or at least a chance to consider what went wrong and what you hope to change. It is an exciting time, but it does not have to be the only time for new things. New things an happen at any time. A new hair cut perhaps, a new book to read, a new coffee shop to discover, an opportunity to make a new friend, to love a new person, to welcome the new morning, to start a new habit, to consider a new craft project

NEWNESS.

The sound of it is fresh and crisp, like clean sheets just off the washing line.

So, what is new for you? What are your plans for this new year? What do you hope to start? What do you need to say a goodbye to in order that the new thing starts?

New for me is my garden, is being a careful knitter, using pinterest, the extra cat, being a train traveller, cooking rabbit for lunch, enjoying being calm, saying no to television.

About this new business, I have been trying to get my technology circle working, and consequently I am loving Pinterest. In the process i have discovered beautiful images though a scandi lady named Klara. I have also gotten back to the design files. lovely blogs, lovely images, lovely creativity, lovely homes. Nice.

The last say for 2011

Post-Christmas, the lights are still up. And tonight it is anticipated there will be lights and amazing visual displays all around. Brilliant! How I love fireworks. How I love celebrations. Wonderful to welcome in the new year.

How will you celebrate?

We have a bottle of bubbly set aside. We have plans to ponder the new year as it rolls in. We are considering joining the masses in the city. But should we go to a suburban barbecue to whistle away the hours, in the company of old friends...

Happy New Year.

Christmas blessings, with a twist

A last bit of post-Christmas joy and laughter, and a fitting way to re-enter the blogging business at the end of the year.

What a mix this video is - muppets, Jesus, Queen...

Street arting it up...

This blog has been in hiatus while the world takes second. Lace to the demands being placed on me with work. A lot of my clients are not so well at the moment, and I have been sitting with a lot of their worries. We are also orientating new staff, which means increased work load in the short term. but this happens, doesn't it? And not just to me, but to most out there in the wild world. So this week is time out, a chance to do some "soul searching" as one of my clients put it this week.

Thus today finds me in our Nation's capitol, seated by a fountain outside of the National Gallery of Australia. The sun has been momentarily covered by cloud, a breeze is passing through and I'm under the illusion that the temperature has dropped. The coffee here is decent, sculptures are dotted around the gardens. Families and couples are seated around me catching up on life, discussing the woes of the real estate market, browsing through their purchases.

I've just finished in the Gallery. The space is cool and light. Guards sit in comfortable chairs, seemingly unimpressed by the beauty that surrounds them. What an amazing space, what precious works of art.