photo tricks

lots of firsts this summer

fun with friends

at 'our' riBer

 love this pic above
it has us all in it! plus ....

have you spotted the

'trick' yet??

have another look ....
and here are a few other very clever ones ...

 how you ask??? ahhhhh .... very tricky hey!
 clever iphones

thanks ellen!! great fun

wk 5 :: 52

a portrait of my boy

once a week

every week

for 2014

 5 :: 52

summer time fun

sparkling water

hot hot temps

swim little fish swim

spring thrifting

weekend just past

went to our riBer

with a couple of girls

with whom i have shared the journey

of what is motherhood thus far

lovely time lisa & cassy & we missed you naden
 saturday morning just 'had' to be
an op shop hop

yes that would be quite the haul hey

included here is a new-to-me 1980's

heavy metail janome sewing machine

that no ... was not found in an op shop

but my 'personal shopper' found it for me

on buy-swap-sell

lucky me hey ....

oh & there's an embriodery hoop in there as well

might come in handy  ..... for something circle-y

thanks for an awesome weekend girls

my mosaic village

 ok so at our cabin, on the riBer, that we love,

there is a table ...

t'was moved there 2 or so years ago 

when we packed up our first home to move onto a new adventure

at that stage it had sat .... a UFO .... for quite some time

in fact years .... i'm too embarrassed to say how many ...

managed to talk husband into the idea that the riBer would be its perfect home

it is a mosaic village

& by the time i finish it... it's rather lengthy story, will have been told

to the 'entire' village ..... 

yep, you may have heard recent whisperings 

by said husband, that he's still not sure 

where this table's final resting place should be??

he has both suggested & threatened the tip many times!!

so ...

i thought i should crack on with it! he he ...

after a mega materials clean up & sorting

the sun is now shining brightly with rays of gold on a blue blue blue sky day

the church stands strong on the hill beyond the olive grove

the large gum sits neatly over the ridge

the cobbled piazza is the centre square in town

i'm into symbols ... noticed much?

"well see" .... its our 'village'

in a village the meeting place is the piazza ...

and to me a table is a place to meet & share a meal & our heARTs

& the best bit is that a mosaic of course brings all 

those little pieces together to form one big picture

 ... there is still a LOT to do ...

but it is my work in progress

and its kind of been 'freshly pieced' once again

joining in ...

my village

i love the village that surrounds me

if we've ever chatted in person i'd have been likely to have referred to

the age old concept that

its the village that raises the child

our modern village is built in the flesh blood heart & soul

of the people we surround ourselves with

the people we choose to spend our hours with

& in return those who are intentionally interested in the same investment

i am more the richer for this village

to me it is priceless

may have mentioned from time to time

that we have a little cabin up on the riBer

to me it is the space to breathe deeply

to laugh to eat well to tell stories to spend time

there is just nothing like spending bulk time with people

its this little place in our hearts that helps form

the village around us .... & our boy

this easter we soaked ourselves in

laughter & new experiences

there was some boat play...

& yes, that is me below with a friend traveling at great speed!

timber sawn & marsh mellows toasted

biscuits ridden, paddle steamer action, eggs hunted, books on bunks

a new room was constructed with 1st & 2nd apprentices

lunch to be had, walks & parks, card games .....

some crochet & a touch of sewing ...

.... oh & some mosaic? (tune in later for another post!)

 as it turned out, i drove home in a car by myself

i'm perfectly fine with my own company

i just crank up my playlist .... no apologies for my music taste!!

but that winding gracious road ... its fields of yellow gold now barren

the scraggy siholette of gum trees scattered farm houses the wine country

then the rocky top of the great divide that reminds me...

 of a scene in the Princess Bride ....

.... it always steals my thoughts & heart

i adore & enJOY that journey

each time i venture northward it changes me just a little

.... i love my village!

ps .... thanks to Karen who took most of these photos!!
pps .... did you spot the rainbow??

riBer

 'sew' there-was-a-whole-lota ....

sewing & chatting & eating & laughing
scraps & steam ironing & fun-ish & hints & unpicking

ran away with 2 of my most favourite crafty peeps

to our little spot on the murray

i achieved lots but finished nothing

but check out Sam's large whirly gig quilt top

i would like to make one now too

skies were all blue blue blue

in the summer time

summer binding

murray riBer mud

causal lunches

burning heat

card games

g&t's

water skiing

great friends

hand stitching

beach days

we all "heart" the EmmyLou

lots of wonderful time simply

spent relaxing together

doing things we love

Happy New Year ...

... as quoted by a friend

"2013 is a year of Freedom!"

& to quote Bilbo

"..... I'm going on an adventure..."

for a new year is always a new adventure

enJOY your journey this new year ....

our riBer

 spent some lovely days at our riBer

time with friends

the river is warming up so

ski boat season is officially 'open'

bbq's were had

cards & wii games were played

some stitching was done

music was played

a spot of thrifty shopping!

... there was a skiing 'first' made

& someone else said "next time i'll get it!"

there were face plants & stacks

jelly arms & glassy water

aqueducts & channels were dug into the murray mud

wakes were jumped ... on land & water

a flat tyre was fixed

sore aching muscles ... but that adrenalin rush is worth it!

we love our cabin on the mighty murray river

& so thankful for friends to share it all with

thrifty riBer hop .... blogtoberfest

 whisked away this past weekend once again

was a little thankyou to some of the amazing helpers

from our Playful Market

so spent some time at our riBer cabin

thanks for a fun time miriam, katrina, amanda, kate & genna

just the "ladies" this time ... plus Oscar

had to have another wagon group pic taken ....

a op shop hop was in order on Sat morning

3 op shops out of the 6 i know of in Echuca/Moama

& the farmers market .... lovely time

and then on Sun morning a fun visit to the Moama market

& the Little Birdie's market & the Port ....

.... to taste some Port ... & see the "steamers"

 so here are some more thrifty finds

there are distinct patterns here if you notice

some Tups ... 

children's books/toys

something for me

something for the studio/market stall

something retro ....

do you spot it .... oooh ???

when i spotted this aqua blue jar i was almost jumping out of my skin!

you see i have been collecting for years these retro jars ....

some have had cork tops & some glass lids like this one

i love the siluette shape without a top ...

they are lined up in a quirky spot ....

but until now i have only managed

red & orange & yellow & mustard & emerald green & brown

 the count thus far is 15

ranging from about 12cm to 22 ish

great classic retro colour palette

but i know the aqua is out there ....

my mum has a couple!

she needs to keep an eye on them or they may 'walk' my way!

.... but i found one .... & now it's found a new home

yeah i've searched on eBay & often found them

they go for too much in my book

& there's not quite the same thrill of the find in that!

... so yay for up-cycling ....

 joining in with Blogtoberfest once again ....

so stay tuned  .... you can join in too

today is day 1 .... thanks Kat!!

could a sausage dog wrench me from my sunshine-y slump?

i saw a sausage dog today

later i saw an image ...

put the two together &

i have the beginnings of an idea ...

... lets see if i can turn the idea into something

don't hold your breathe just yet 

as sometimes (no most of the time!)

i need the fledgling idea to simmer for a while

been in such a creative summer slump

this usually seems to happen

over january as we spend so much of the 

summer sunshine-y days

at the 'riBer' ...

its all wonderful

full of the 

glorious aussie summer sun 

& blue skies

& friends 

& ski ropes

& the Emmylou

& grass fires

& fun 

& late night tennis viewing

& card games

& lake-side happy hours

& great food 

& water play 

& GandT's

& shimmering heat

& the murray river mud

& sun-kissed skin

... all new memories

for me, for years australia day

has marked the setting of these endless lazy days

(from now there are

only stolen weekend visits 

to see out our summer on the river!)

& now its time ...

time to be clicked or kicked

back into the routine of my wonderful

full, busy, blessed life

... time for my creative vision to take me on another journey

we have some new journeys planned for this year

be sure to always enJOY your journey

as you just never know how long or short it may be

thrifty toadstools & more treasure

 been at 'our' riBer ... (translation from Oscar speak = river)

whilst north managed a now traditional shopping expedition ... 

to 2 op shops ... my favorite ones ...

these little handmade toadstools just had to come home with me!

i have plans to polish them up a bit but they have already been well played with

this is the treasure hoard! i seriously only spent about $40

tupperware colander for sandpit play

& a slice n'store & a sweet keeper

& hamburger press molds that look like they have never been used

& a cool rusty brown butter container ... i have been searching for one of these for years
... my aussie farmers butter will live happily in this i am sure

and a single bed boys cars & trucks doona cover set
that is 100% cotton & is handmade as one large piece of fabric & way well become the backing to some wonderful quilt for my little boy

& a really groovy paisley printed patchwork design
double doona cover that actually matches some pillow cases i bought a while back
... perfect for a cabin!

a denim jacket & a pink top for me

t shirt & shorts & japara & a CR woolen jacket for Oscar

balls of wool ... that have already been attacked! (see next post!)

x2 awesome crochet hooks

a wiggly giggly game (not pictured) already been well played with!

dominoes

wooden bowl ... which will head straight to a studio ... one day!

a great bag full of little animals ... & an excellent pyrex mixing bowl ...

a new or almost new barbie-mate ...

yep i think that was all

whoo hoo!

thankyou to all the people who love cleaning out their unwanted items at new years ... they become someone else's treasures!!

our 'riBer' ... quote: Oscar

our VICtorian pseudo extra long weekend

there was a horse race ... ? oh yeah ...

@ the old port in echuca ...

we were there to see the 'steamers' that Oscar dearly loves

with this great crowd:

Tim, Kate, Bryan, Marie, Lucas, Izzy, Amanda

along with Andrew & Genna

 awesome time away ... 

got the boat out for its 1st run for the summer!

 after all the flooding of summer 09-10 

there is amazingly still a beach left of sorts

along with whole massive trees that are now not there 

and new ones that are!

the river seems to be back at a level as we know it!

 our favourite 'steamer'

the Emmy Lou

 most of these pics were taken by Marie ... thanks Marie!

 andrew taking the little girls out!

go sophie! - go lilly!

 lovely photogenic moment of tayla & genna

 go kate!!!

she made the switch ... but can she make it back??

come again you guys

loved hanging out, getting to know you all some more,

the games & cards & music ... fabulous!

our little cabin by a little lake next to a huge river

 my favourite place for a 'consumed bouquet'

(hey Simon ... you can just still see "aririani" ...)