the week that was... foam fun

We've had constant rain, high winds, flood warnings and closed beaches round our region in the past week or so.
Although there were floods and roads closed north and south of us, all we had to deal with was copious amounts of foam on the beaches! No swimming last week or this as the waters in the river and ocean are dirty as. So we just got out and about in the foam!

sew summer

Christmas in my family this year had the theme of recycled, second hand or hand made.  So for my sister and mum I challenged myself to projects that required me to step up my sewing skills

I have conquered continuous bias binding, piping and zips! Oh it feels so good. 

We have a new european cushion cover for my sister's couches... my first attempt was but through quality control test by her 2yr old... fail.  I'm learning! Time and practice will improve the quality of my work I'm promising myself!

A cot quilt for my mum who has now kitted her home out for when her 'grandies' take over when visiting!  My projects are all from recycled fabrics.  This quilt used vintage hankies, sheets, doily and scrap material from the op shops.  Love the individuality and one-off preciousness it gives my projects.

And then a little New Years present for myself.  Some summer cotton cushions.  Just need some more piping to finish off the others for my new lounge collection.  My hubby is a texture phob - so there are a few cushions I have collected over the years that he relegates to being foot cushions as he can't stand the feeling on his skin.  We have success with this one. It's his new favourite!

They all have their lovingly individual imperfections. :)  Looking forward to practicing more so I can look at selling creations in the future! That day will come... when my sewing skills catch up to my dreams!

beachin' it

Arh... just another cruisy evening at the beach chilling with the hubby. Yep. I'm cloud and scenery obsessed.  Will bring you some crafting and op shopping real soon...I promise!

fish-n-chip friday

Many couples have date nights... we call ours marriage night as a reminder to us both that this time is vital to our marriage - to our communication, to quality time and memories together, making sure we have one night each week where we have a chance to talk about more than just how our day went - to share some quality time away from distractions and make sure we're clearing the air, learning together and keeping on track with our marriage.

It has become 'fish-n-chip Friday'.  We grab some terribly unhealthy, salty, fatty goodness from our local and head down by the river to sit and take in the week that was. 

Seemed we were the only locals out this evening so we had all the seagulls to ourselves!

The start of a lovely day of rest on Saturday to revive and refresh our bodies, minds and souls before taking on another week. If you don't give yourself a day of rest each week or a marriage time with your spouse each week - I recommend it. Book it in sometime soon!

oxymoron #1: dishwashing fun

I have never been a dishwasher. My hubby finds it relaxing to clear the benches and cannot sit down and relax with me until its done. I don't understand it at all!

BUT -
I found a product that achieves all my goals for eco friendliness and being sustainably minded. Yep. Something as boring as earth-friendly cleaning tools can rock my world! Any time I need to replace a product in our home I look to see if there is a more eco minded product that I can choose to treat our home environment as well as the greater world environment the best I can.

Discovered 'Full Circle' cleaning product range at a local kitchen store (thank you 'Kitchen to Table' @ Yamba).

Biodegradable plant 'plastic'
Interchangeable brush heads - Natural and recycled bristles or Biodegradable cellulose sponge
Renewable bamboo handle
Packaged with recycled paper and eco-friendly inks.

Thank you Full Circle for going all the way. I get frustrated with eco products and magazines etc that still come covered in plastic or don't use recycled paper in their packaging or print material. I can't wait to try some more products at my next visit to Kitchen to Table.

hello chinies my old friend

Haven't been to my favourite beach 'Chinamens' in many months. Sad how getting rid of our second car stopped me taking myself on adventures here. All that is stopping me is a large hill to walk up! I'll give myself that challenge for this week!

We had the beach to ourselves this evening. Amazing, since it was school holiday time and tourists have invaded every inch of our town!

See you again soon dear friend.

bye bye christmas

Didn't get to share Christmas with you all since I was out of blogging habit.  Packing away the little touches of Christmas this week. 

This year's theme in my immediate family was handmade, reused or recycled.  After all, so much focus of Christmas can get lost on having to shop or spend money at this time of year.  A lovely challenge to be more resourceful or support those who are producing products more resourcefully.  I made my first cot quilt for my mum (will share a pic soon!), op shopped a fab electronic guitar for 2yr old Nephew #1 and made a softie monkey for 4mth old Nephew #2.  Other family and friends received jars of citrus marmalade and envelopes of flat leaf parsley and coriander seeds dried from my garden. (Dried them just like drying the foliage of herbs for future use. Only takes a couple of days). Looking forward to more sewing and resourceful present challenges for the year ahead!

Till next year my little Christmas creative delights!

bundjalung

One of my favourite outdoor escapes is bushwalking. We finally, after living here for 18mths, checked out this bushwalk through Bundjalung National Park.  It's only 300m away from our house. Couldn't get over the changes in different sceneries/habitats during a walk of only a few kilometres.

The Marriage Tree - a gift from the Wahlubal tribe at Tabulam
gave this to the Bundjalung people when a wedding took place.
Such a presence this tree has on a lovely bend on the Evans River.

This hugely tall tree is hollow at its centre all the way to the top!
A few people could fit inside standing on each other's shoulders
 for sure! Sadly, I was pregnant at the time so couldn't try this out.
 I'm sure my hubby would be keen to prove this theory in the future!

The peace that comes from gettting out into nature still amazes me. There are all sorts of great walks hidden in nearby national parks all over our country.  Even lovely walks through parks can give you the peace that comes from a day out in nature.

Hope you all get a chance to escape into nature sometime soon. Be still. Stop, listen and breathe it all in!

just another day...

Everyday we can, my hubby and I walk to the break wall.  My favourite time of day. Stresses from the day drift away, breathing in deep the smell of the sea... and you just never know what you're going to see.

This was about 6pm... loving daylight savings and seeing people out enjoying the water till after 7pm!

This day we saw dolphins in the river (still struggling to capture a good piccy of dolphins! Looking forward to getting my mum-in-laws old cannon camera to play with!), police escorting a boat into the marina, full on large police patrol boat waiting for the little police boat out past the bar, old school plane doing laps over head (I think he was checking out the patrol boat too!) and someone's discarded bike that had been selvaged from either the river or the ocean.  What an outing! Surprising what can happen in our quiet piece of the world. :)

my second wedding...

If I had the chance to have another wedding, I would just as easily choose this one as I would my original own.

Our friends Brendo and Jess married on December 3, 2011. A wedding in the park, riverside in our beachside town and a reception at a nearby organic tea-tree and vegie farm set next to a serene water scene with amazing birdlife and horses wandering by in the background.. A wonderful atmosphere with family and friends for a couple truely in love.  The vintage and personal touches that they placed around their ceremony and reception venue were so lovely and all of my favourite things.  Jess is a girl after my own heart!

Hydrangeas and garden flowers,  old chairs from our church for the signing (which I envy every time I see them and think they'd look so inviting in a corner of my home!) doilies her girlfriends and grandmas collected (and made!), herb and vegie pots for the guests, dress-up and photo booth, my favourite - the guest libs and instead of a signature book or board they had a fingerprint tree to remember the guests at their wedding. There were even more touches that I missed capturing but oh it was such a lovely evening you wanted to sit back and enjoy it rather then miss it by being caught up behind the camera.

As I'd say to anyone getting married soon or in the future, a lot of effort is involved but it is so special to make the day your own, a day that speaks of your relationship, interests and things you want to share and remember - and it is all worth it.  Weddings have become more special to me as I reminisce at every one I attend, since my own, of the specialness of our day and what my marriage means to me everyday since. It is the start of a beautiful, yes challenging, but always rewarding journey.

Blessings to you both, Brendo and Jess.

my my my... i'm back.

I can't believe it has been this long.
How sad to look back and see a path you chose distracted you from the one you know that brings your heart alive.
Poor health and the distraction of taking a job that once again didn't bring alive the creative joy inside me distracted me for over a month of connecting with you creative bodies out there.  I've missed the inspiration and the sharing.  Now I'm back.

So what's install for 2012?
- Learning more about back-to-basic home cleaners
- Learning more about whole food cooking and making more of my own foods from scratch
- Investing time into my organic garden (which has also been neglected these past 6mths!)
- Op shopping of course! Have a few new finds I'll have to take some pics of and share with you in coming weeks.  Loving the transformation of my beachside batch as more vintage finds make their way into my heart and my home.
- Sew! Sew! Sew! Practicing cushion and quilt making to start selling my own creations at markets...There is the goal of my own business.... however may be delayed by....
- Welcoming Baby #1 into our family in May! So will also be learning more about eco friendly, sustainably sourced baby products and toys.

Can't wait. Looking forward to dropping into your blogs again soon and reconnecting with your adventures.
Nais.