hillsyde

CHRISTMAS

2011-12-19T23:12:00.006-07:00

At least two of these photos reflect the truth of Christmas around here. Sure we've put up a tree and decorated the dog a couple of times ( before he got carted off for his million dollar knee reconstruction, Merry Christmas), sure we did a bit of wet felting in an attempt to make some looovely hand made decorations ( didn't actually work but photo looks good). Yes the two photos that really tell the story of what is going on around here is firstly Tobie at the M.A.C counter at Myer ( stuff the windows she just wants makeup), and Hazel sittin' on the couch, watchin' telly, eatin' chokky waiting for her turn to get the headlice treatment. Hmmm...come to think of it, my head feels a bit itchy.

But I think about the carols the other night and the fact that my dear friend Ange is back ( and making lists bless her), and I think back to Sunday afternoon at the Botanical gardens for our friends Christmas picnic and watching babies being passed around and just the familiar thing of knowing someone for ever. There is an excitement around here that only comes when children are little and Santa is on his way, and even though I feel like it's wizzing by I sit at this and tap away and suddenly realise that I do see all the other truths about Christmas that are the traditons we follow and that we begin. Friends on Christmas Eve, little faces on Christmas morning, family, chutney that worked, that present that you just know someone is going to really love, summer holidays at Lorne, emails from far away treasured friends that just understand everything, the list does go on and on and I am so lucky and grateful, but now I am yelling down the stairs and distracted and being pulled back but so happy that I took a minute to stop. Just a minute of course.

THE FARM

2011-10-31T16:16:00.002-06:00

It has been so long since I have been to the farm, the longest ever I think between visits. I have allowed too many things to get in the way and I always say that I will change this but reality is that life gets busy, your children play sport, you have friends you want to see, we have travelled and pottered around at home but then I get a yearning for that place and it felt so good to wake up there and take a coffee out into that fresh crisp sunshine and watch my little ones jump on the trampoline, and Russell bound around like the puppy he still is, and to sit and watch the magpie family who have been here as long as we have, it was truly the best coffee I have had in a long time.

I think the girls all felt the same. Daryl gets up here when there is work to be done, but the girls have never seemed so pleased to be here either which made me so happy as I dread that day when they protest about going to the farm ( sign that they are growing up and we all know how I feel about that process!). But I am home now, sitting at the computer on cup day morning, a day of planting veggies in my suburban garden ahead of me, I feel like I have had my fix, but could happily drive back there tomorrrow and go for a bigger walk, prune a few tips off that apple tree, and of course, spend many more hours just doing my favorite thing, sitting and knitting on the front porch.

I have posted quite a few photos and they always feel like they are in the wrong order so I will start by explaining the little painting. As always the farm also involves a trip to Savers ( My girls love OP shopping nearly as much as I do, and as we neared the end of our visit, and everyone had there own little treasure ( piece of crap that I will be chucking out when they are doing something else), I had one last little fossick through the old frames and what should I find but this little water colour print of the Mission in Santa Barbara! Now that is an OP shop find!

So, to sum up our weekend.....

A buriel for our wee little ratties ( yes they have been in our freezer all this time!)

Relaxing under a shady tree

Losing a big front tooth, how cute does our Tobie look.

Teenage girls doing jobs ( maybe about to run over a bike)

The blossom I thought I had missed

Tea breaks

Oranges from our tree, squeezed into a big sticky mess that I freak over because I hate oranges!

Little fairies in trees

Exhausted Russell on his favorite couch ( boy those rabbits are fast)

Concerts on the back porch

Running through the sprinklers

Happy kids, who could ask for more than that.

2011-10-31T16:10:00.001-06:00

THE FARM

2011-10-31T16:02:00.003-06:00

THIRTEEN

2011-10-13T05:29:00.003-06:00

Happy birthday my sweet girl.

HAZEL

2011-10-05T16:57:00.002-06:00

While Daryl and I have been having sunset drinks, or paddle boarding or shopping, our youngest child has taught herself to ride a bike. Our intial amazement and joy has I must admit been overshadowed by my slight guilt. Where were we when she decided to get on this two wheeler without training wheels and start riding? She has seriously never done this before and we infact had to ask our other children if they had noticed her doing this. Lucinda reckons she heard her say "I'm going to give this a go", and well, so she has! Admittedly when we first discovered the bikes here we did encourage her to try but she was reluctant and frightened about falling off so we just presumed that was that and I guess, lost interest (us), but somewhere in that mind of hers was a determination that unfortunately Daryl and I were slightly unaware of. Good for you Sandy Butt Cakes, you have taught yourself to ride a bike!

SITTING AND KNITTING

2011-10-05T16:56:00.001-06:00

Friends and Family

2011-10-02T23:05:00.009-06:00

The Sun is coming

2011-09-26T21:24:00.002-06:00

Much to our horror, the days here have not been consistantly sunny. It is sooo not the weather we have become accustomed to but finally today a beautiful afternoon. It is quite amazing because with the sun comes the dolphins and the seals, learching above the waves to taste that warm light. I even shuffled my way into the ocean today, encouraged by my curiosity to try the paddle boards we have rented. And much to my dear husband's surprise, I am actually quite good ( water sports have never been my thing), but this was lovely and almost relaxing! ( Photos to come). Speaking of photos I had decided to use the photos Daryl has taken on his fabulous camera for my blog only to discover I don't have a "slot" for his "sim" ( hmmm, that sounds a bit rude, sorry Mum and Dad). So unfortunately I am forsed to use the photos I have taken on my pretty hopelss "this camera is stuffed", digital, only to discover I have left it at the restaurant we ate at tonight! Aaahhh!!!

Looking forward to the Melbourne folks arriving tomorrow.

2011-09-21T12:31:00.001-06:00

OK, IT IS ALL ABOUT ME.

2011-09-21T09:32:00.002-06:00

So with the Magic Kingdom behind us I am left to contemplate why I love Disneyland so much. This year Tobie has moved out of my realm of teacups, Dumbo and Princess's. She is totally fearless, coming off the scariest rides with a huge toothless grin screaming "that was Awsome! Hmmm... aren't we supposed to be sitting in a little boat tootling along to the tune of "It's a small world after all? Oh well, I've still got Hazel, and that is what I love about Disneyland. I love going on the rides she loves and just watching her face. It is a time that I just plant myself next to her and go along for her ride. I'm not cleaning or washing or cooking or driving anyone anywhere or phoning anyone or getting to an appointment, I'm just there with her and that's exactly where she wants me.

I look around at all the families doing exactly the same thing. Being together and having a lovely time. It is quite true, everyone seems to be just that little bit more connected to each other as they stroll through the castle's entrance. I'm sorry, I make no apologies, I love it ( as you can probably tell).

CALIFORNIA

2011-09-18T22:52:00.006-06:00

I wonder what it is that pulls us back to this place year after year? It was never just a holiday destination for us, Daryl needed to be here for work so we all came, rented a house, put the girls into school, discovered this new town of ours.

But the girls are getting older and so pulling them out of school at home isn't quite so easy and I suppose we started to question just how long we could be here and there, we were starting to feel a little unsettled. And so now it is just a holiday except we know this place so well, the mountains and the sea are so familiar, such a wonderful reminder of the longer stays we had here.

It's hard to explain why we keep coming back, creatures of habit perhaps. I don't know but as I drove down the 101 on this beautiful Californian Sunday afternoon, a Starbucks in the cupholder and a smile on my face, I thought how wonderful it is to have this other place even if it is only for a few short weeks.

So I hope this time to give an impression of our time here, mainly photos but some words as well. It is off to bed now though as we have an early start in the morning. Off to the happiest place on earth!

MY NEED FOR CLEAN

2011-06-15T16:12:00.004-06:00

Some people ( including myself), may say that I am a little on the anal side. Perhaps even a little "Mommy Dearest" at times. If you don't get the reference it's probably not a bad thing, but if "NO WIRE HANGERS!!!!! rings a bell then you may be getting a picture of me on a bad day.

I don't like this side of me, this neat as a pin, constantly tidying and nagging about tidying, oh if I could only let go just a little bit, stop staring at the floors looking for sticky spots, I would probably achieve so many other worthwhile things.

Having said this, Hazel decided during the last school holidays that she wasn't getting my full attention all of the time so took to drawing on the walls. Beautiful, fanciful little creatures and butterflies that I just love and will NEVER remove, infact I've actually thought of getting her to colour them in. So this is my point. When you do let go, or should I say when I do let go, when I stop rearranging pencils and putting things out of reach so they can't be messed up, when I stop "styling" the craft table and just let the girls go for it, do what they want, absolutely amazing things happen. I look at this doll that Ailee made Hazel for Christmas and just can't believe my eyes. Stop unravelling, rubbing out, unstitching, folding, stacking and sorting because one day this house will be tidy and neat and so very very quiet and I know how much I will miss them and hope that I don't feel I ever restricted their creative expression by my need for order and control.

Winter Sun

2011-06-13T17:13:00.002-06:00

Baking and Sewing? Am I kidding?

2011-06-07T20:54:00.009-06:00

And blogging? No, truth be told I'm burning, going back and forth to the sewing machine shop for the 'unlimited hours of help " that came with my new Janome. "Open that door Gwen I know you're in there! My problem is that when Daryl travels I tend to go overboard with activities to "busy" myself. Sorry, five kids not enough I hear you say? Well, I have some time alone when Hazel is at kinder so I set myself the task of making Ailee and Lucinda a quilt. Each. As you can see it all looks very industrious, and maybe a little staged, the reality is I'm getting nowhere and while I sit here typing the Anzac biscuits are turning to charcoal in the oven. How burnt is too burnt? Black teeth maybe? Sitting and knitting, that would have been a much better use of the little bit of time I had.

A blog I love to follow is Soulemama. One post ( or maybe two), were dedicated to the art of sitting and knitting ( the guilt free version). Sitting and knitting as the household whirls around you rather than my usual thing being the opposite, me whirling and never sitting. Busying myself on the periphery of my family is not very satisfying. Sitting and knitting, the girls coming over for a snuggle or to read to me, I know this lovely state of things never lasts very long, there is always something to get up and do but those moments are so lovely if I would just take more time for them.

Autumn afternoons

2011-05-23T22:43:00.005-06:00

"Who's going to make the fish next year Hazel when you're not here?

"Don't worry Mum, I'll do it when I get home from school".

I'm going to miss these cosy Autumn days, Russell snoozing on the couch and me and Hazey doing our little jobs together. I'm really trying to make the most of it, it's my favorite time of year and there is nothing I enjoy more than taking some knitting to the park and watching Hazel play as Autumn leaves whoosh around us, wooly hats on little heads. I think nature feels so much more present as I get older, don't know why but I find myself stopping much more often to enjoy it than I used to.

Yes I do feel a slight dread as I anticipate my last little one going off to school. I will miss having her around, stories on the couch, pottering in the garden, Dora on the telly. She just called out to me to come and read her book.......it is going to be very quiet indeed, until 3.30 rolls around of course.

Easter at Walnut Hill

2011-05-22T22:51:00.002-06:00

The farm is such a measure of time for me. Phemie was only six months old when we bought the property, maybe around one when we planted the first seeds. We certainly have been busy. Time rushes past so fast and yet at the farm it seems a little more still. I feel like I can breath there, take notice and wonder at all we have. And then I pile the girls into the car and we head home to such busy lives, but that place is always in the back of my mind, just a quite picture of somewhere I truly love to be.

2011-05-22T22:49:00.001-06:00

Two and a half years later...finished.

2011-03-17T04:31:00.002-06:00

Switching off the lights before bed, spot a little photo that makes me smile. Where have we been? I lost a cord, have found it, will load some photos and return, I miss my little post, my time for reflection on the good parts, plus we have Russell now and he is adorable!

2010-11-27T19:41:00.005-07:00

Well it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas......except that my dear friend Ange is a million miles away under a drift of snow I suspect, in Ottawa. It's just not the same this time of year without her. I miss her Christmas flurry, her endless lists that she ticks off with pride, the way she walks past the Myer windows with her eyes diverted until the night she officially goes to see them with her family . By now we would be planning our traditional Carols in the Women's Peace Garden ( I have sent out a lame email, I will plod on with that without her), she truly is so joyous this time of year, well actually, she is pretty upbeat most of the time truth be known, but Christmas sees her whipped into a festive frenzy which always rubs off on me. I need to stop moping and lift my game, it's Christmas after all and I do love Christmas, it's traditions, it's chaos, it's potential for warm family moments. We may be seasons away from each other this year, but I can picture you tapping away on your iphone, tick tick tick, a happy smile on your face. Merry Christmas my dear friend.

OCTOBER 14TH 1998

2010-10-13T04:23:00.004-06:00

It's coming up for 10pm. This time twelve years ago, Daryl and I were only hours away from the most amazing experience of our lives...birth. At 1.07 am our beautiful baby girl was born. If I really concentrate, it is as vivid as if it were yesterday. The amazement at this child in my arms, ours forever, a whole new person in the room.

The excitement afterwards kept me awake, and I can still remember that first dawn as I looked across the skyline of Carlton, thinking to myself wow, this is the first morning of her life. Amazing. She now waits for me to come downstairs and help her with some homework. I'll get up tomorrow, a little earlier, look out at the dawn then go down to the kitchen and make her pancakes.

Happy birthday for tomorrow my sweet Phemie.

R.I.P Birdy

2010-09-05T05:48:00.003-06:00

Our dear little Birdy is now snuggled between frozen spag bol sauce and some puff pastry. Oh I know this sounds incredibly unlike me who can't even cut up an orange because I find the smell too offensive, but I needed time to plan a proper little buriel and well, decomposition waits for no body ( no pun intended!) The truth is, I was a howling wreck and the vet's when I had to take her in to be "put down", and to all those people who suggested a brick over the head well, just get stuffed! It is not a good feeling to make that decision to "snuff the life out of" any living creature, but she was suffering and the time had come. My heart goes out to Lucinda who never took much interest in our little ratty pets, but has not put Bunny down since she lost her companion. You are gorgeous Lucinda.

Baby pictures

2010-08-09T21:43:00.003-06:00

Phemie and I had a fight this morning. Nothing too dramatic but I may have told her she was a pain as she refused to get out of the car, pouring rain, Lucinda stressing about being late, sort of a typical morning really. I threw the keys at her and told her to wait in the car while I went into school to talk to the principal "About the class trip to the movies I am organising for YOUR class!!!!! Did I really say that to the baby in this photo? In my defence I did make her a cup of tea when we got home and held her in my arms, but really, how does the mother /child relationship change so much just because they no longer wear grow suits and need their food pureed?

And so I turn to the baby photo. Any baby photo will do ( preferably of my own children ), but seriously, looking at baby photos just stops me in my tracks. I am taken sailing back to that moment when I first saw my new baby, a life in my arms the future ahead of us. Suddenly I just want to get in my car and bring them all home from school and snuggle in bed and look at baby photos together. But I guess in real life we have piano lessons and dinner has to be made and friends to pick up or drop off and readers and projects, it just goes on and on and I suppose adds to the stress that then causes a mother to call her beautiful daughter a pain. I'm sorry Pheme. Maybe I'll glue a baby photo of you to the steering wheel.

PHEMIE'S BLANKET

2010-07-29T21:55:00.003-06:00

I have to finish this before Phemie starts highschool. Something about wrapping her in my love before she goes out into the big wide world. Can I do it? I've been working on it since last September. Beautiful Koigu wool purchased at Purl in New York. You can do absolutely anything with that wool and it is going to look lovely.

It could seriously take me another year to sew in all those ends!

Winter Veggies

2010-06-21T23:08:00.002-06:00

Good and bad days can be side by side. Last night I went to bed feeling like I'd spent the whole day yelling and nagging (mind you, curriculum days throw me), disconnected from what is really important, the worst mother in the world basically. Today was a glorious day in the garden with Hazel planting our winter seedlings. It's amazing what a bit of nature can do for the soul.

PAPA BILL'S TREE

2010-05-25T22:53:00.003-06:00

When my Father-in-Law was still in good health, he pulled Daryl aside one day at the farm and pointed out the gum tree he had chosen to have his ashes placed under when the day finally came....

Bill died at the good old age of 85 and true to his wishes, a lovely ceremony was held under his chosen gum. The girls know he is beneath the soil as they all took a turn at digging the hole!

They love "Papa Bill's Tree", and now as they begin to venture out further from the farm house, this spot has become somewhere special for them to go. It is only marked by an old bench seat, but also quite often by the pile of bikes and baskets and other things gathered along the way. I'm sure Bill would approve of the noise, the sound of little girls playing, arguing, laughing.

I never really noticed that tree until the day came to scatter Bill's ashes, but it took my breath away. It is by far the most majestic tree on our property, it's bark swirling around as though formed during a wild storm. Yet now it stands, large and quiet except for the wind that lifts the sound of life through it's branches. A gentle old man it is....

HARVEST TIME

2010-04-06T20:03:00.003-06:00

The scones rose, the nuts were delivered, my Easter babies turned nine, the sun set on another beautiful Autumn day, but sadly the dog went home.......

EASTER HARVEST

2010-04-06T19:42:00.001-06:00

EASTER HARVEST

2010-04-06T19:25:00.001-06:00

HARVEST TIME

2010-04-06T19:07:00.001-06:00

WAKEY WAKEY RISE AND SHINE IT'S HARVEST TIME IT'S HARVEST TIME.......

2010-04-01T04:25:00.006-06:00

A very dear friend of mine once said that the secret to a happy life was to aim low. I need to remind myself of this as my expectations start to creep back up only to result in disappointment and frustration. It's back to baking. Why why why am I so utterly and completely hopeless when it comes to this fine art of domesticity? The sponge that heralds "morning tea everyone, come in from your outside work and have a cuppa and a piece of me lovely sponge", or the bread that warms the home and just says simply "I love you all". Nope, the panic stricken teary expression that my poor eleven year old daughter is faced with as I turn from peering forlornly towards the oven door just does not fit the hope I have of the perfect morning tea.

Let me put this into some context. It is harvest time at our walnut farm. The beginning of Autumn, Easter infact, the weather could not be more perfect and our farm is a hive of activity. As the girls are quite young, my job is still to make sure they don't step infront of a tractor so my time as a woman of the land is probably a few years away yet. I am however, no longer breast feeding, changing nappies or have a babe on my hip so I decided that my contribution to this our forth harvest, would be food, beginnning with scones, jam and cream for morning tea.

Well all I can say is thank goodness our pickers are French and probably have no idea what a scone looks like. Snags in bread with sauce and onions for lunch went down a treat which just goes to show that "aim low" does pay off. I am determined however, to perfect that bloody scone before the end of the weekend. "You up for another shot at those scones tomorrow Phemie? Ummm.....

2010-03-15T04:02:00.000-06:00

2010-01-15T02:11:00.000-07:00

2010-01-15T01:50:00.002-07:00

Summer....

These months are full of traditions but there is one I particularly don't enjoy and that is the fact that for the last two weeks of the school holidays Daryl goes OS leaving me to fill the days without him. I tend to simplify, this is the key to survival, so here I am night one, pizza. Who cares. I plan but I don't, it is nice to have a little bit of an idea of how I am going to fill the days, movie here, school shoe shopping there, but one of my favorite things is to get up a little early, make a coffee and fold laundry while the house is still quiet. I think my sister thinks I'm weird but it feels productive yet tranquil as I fold and sip and contemplate the day ahead. I also prefer to be up before the girls greeting them cheerfully, starting their day on a good note ( 'cause God knows it's only going to go downhill).

So Daryl is somewhere up there, I don't like to think of that too much and am always glad when he has landed. He will have a day in Santa Barbara followed by a funeral in Tulare (those connections can also be so painful), then New York then London. Phemie said tonight how much she likes it when we are all in the same room. So do I.

Anyway, summer has been wonderful and isn't over, I must remember every moment how much I love to have the girls around and really do savour the holidays. I'll head back to Lorne where we'll eat two minute noodles and ice cream and play in the rock pools and read and snuggle on the couch and then we will come home and so will he and we'll all be in the same room again.

2009-12-23T05:39:00.004-07:00

So nice to be back at the farm although with temperatures soaring this was probably one of the few pleasant weekends we will get over summer. Hazey has really grown up over the past three months, happy now to venture off on her bike with her big sister.

2009-12-02T03:23:00.001-07:00

2009-12-02T02:54:00.002-07:00

I called my husband the Anti Christ in front of the children. I meant to say "anti-Christmas", but it came out wrong, saddest part is I think he took it as a compliment! I love Christmas, I love Christmas, full of festive cheer and family tradition ( too much alcohol and screaming at the kids). Well this year I determined to change all that. It is going to be about lovely family memories, togetherness and simplicity. I just don't feel that Daryl is totally with me on this but I'm pushing on, starting with a nice night of carols while we put up the tree. So the sound system, after 23 years, decided to fail us just when we most needed some background music ( mostly to drown out the sound of "Thats mine I want to hang it"), but finally the tree was up and decorated with our very eclectic mix of ornaments, many made with loving little hands over the years. Then for the introduction of my new tradition (always risky but they have to start somewhere), the Advent verse and lighting of the candles. Daryl also found some Advent stories on his iPhone (I'll embrace technology if it adds to some old fashioned family fun...hmmm?), but the first paragraph contained the word "bosom", so through peels of laughter we decided to wrap it up and send the kids to bed. I feel a bit defeated. How do you make Christmas about meaningful things, not necessarily over the top religious but just about togetherness and gratefulness and family without Mummy screaming "fine, stuff the lot of you, I give up, I'm going to bed! It has happened.

2009-11-30T16:06:00.002-07:00

Home feels flooded with memories of newly weds and dinners with friends and shopkeepers I know and much treaded paths and first baby bumps that I can barely believe and art I've made and hung around here and my own old tea towels and a cup of tea in my old mug and dropping in and the warmth of Summer reminding me to put up the same tree with the old decorations that too are part of many years with the man I love and now the children who bind our family and run around inside our home. It is just that, it is the history of our life that swims around us here that makes it so nice to be back........

2009-11-25T14:51:00.000-07:00

2009-11-25T14:34:00.003-07:00

BEGINNING THE JOURNEY HOME....

2009-11-25T14:25:00.003-07:00

BOSTON..........

2009-11-25T14:23:00.000-07:00

2009-11-25T14:20:00.000-07:00

2009-11-25T14:17:00.000-07:00

2009-11-18T20:19:00.002-07:00

HOMEWARD BOUND.....

Well, maybe New York with five kids wasn't the best laid plan and now I am obsessing over the flight home. It's like going to be two days or something of commuting! Is that child abuse? Anyway, I'm in New York, I love love love New York. I even love the grimy basement of our apartment block where I've just been doing the laundry, little bit crime scene potential (Mum insisted on coming down there with me), it just so New York! But I do admit the last three days have had their ups and downs. It was a pretty busy and emotional week of goodbyes in Santa Barbara. I was dreading those last few days of school and was avoiding eye contact with everyone but still managed to weep all over the place. That school is so wonderful, I can't imagine I have done my last drop off there. Maybe not.

So we arrive in New York, fairly late, bit hungry and tired, only to discover that the apartment is booked for six not eight (Beryl is with us), and so Daryl, Lucinda and Phemie have to stay somewhere else because it is illegal to have so many people in an apartment this teeny. Anyway, blah blah, all got sorted and somehow we are all back here together and it's legal (weird), and we have gotten used to the faint smell of gas and I would actually go as far as to say that is a cosy and I love the noise (really), and lying in bed looking out at all the other thousands of apartments around us. I really really love New York. Then of course there is the ice skating at Bryant Park. When I glide onto that ice my tired whining children are a distant sound, drowned out by the whoosh of blade on ice. And after a few hours they too managed to stand and then to skate so we went back again today because we all agree (finally), that it is the best thing to do here.

But I'm starting to feel homeward bound and yes I'm quoting Simon and Garfunkel but then I am in New York! There really is someone playing the sax under a stone bridge in Central Park so the music drifts up and through the trees that are those absolutely perfect autumn shades. It really is just like in the movies. But home is just a week a week away and I can feel the shift and I think the girls need to be there. But in the meantime, Mum and I look forward to our glass of red around the little kitchen table at the end of the day and tomorrow we will meet Greg and Sam up and FAO Swartz (toy store), and then we head off to Boston to visit our dear friends and I can't wait to see them. So there is still adventure and travel but soon there will be our home and familiarity.

Photos to come....

2009-11-07T16:28:00.002-07:00

Ailee ended up with a stitch in her head, it was bound to happen sooner or later, probably worth it considering the hours of fun the girls have had on that rope!

2009-11-07T16:25:00.004-07:00

No, I still believe that letting the girls decorate their own birthday cakes is less stressful than me trying to make something beyond my ability...and it isn't my house. Happy third birthday Hazey!

2009-11-07T16:20:00.004-07:00

WELCOME TO HALLOWEEN!

2009-11-07T16:06:00.002-07:00

Halloween just got busier and busier with costume making and pumpkin carving. I was seeing black and orange in my sleep, even my morning Starbucks had Halloween potential but quite frankly a pumpkin spiced latte just sounds disgusting. The needle felting finally got finished, probably not quite to the standard I had in mind but really, whose is going to see any of this in the dark anyway? Poor old Hazel ended up in a nasty acrylic koala suit that was a couple of sizes too small, next year I will start on hers first. And as with every family event that has "build up", the moment we were all ready to get in the car had the usual melt down possibilities (me), but tears dried and a few deep breathes, off we went......

2009-11-07T15:56:00.002-07:00

The Halloween Journey at the Waldorf School is really something special. The teachers set up these amazing vignettes at the school and you are lead around to one and then the other. The woman on top of the black structure is the moon and as it got darker you are less aware of the structure below her. To us she looked like she truly was hovering in the sky as she sang a song about the moon. The girls were mesmerized as were the parents. There are about eight vignettes and after each one the children are offered a small gift such as a crystal or a little bell or some fabric. The final vignette was a puppet of a young Chinese girl in a boat. She was so life like I could have watched her for hours. I think Chinese puppetry might be my next obsession!

2009-11-07T15:52:00.002-07:00

Sadly however, after all the lovely needle felting, pumpkin carving and the gorgeous magical Halloween journey, this is in fact my final memory of the day.....

2009-10-28T13:12:00.000-06:00

2009-10-28T13:00:00.002-06:00

HALLOWEEN IS OFFICIALLY OUT OF CONTROL!

2009-10-27T21:16:00.000-06:00

2009-10-27T18:11:00.002-06:00

TULARE.....

When Daryl was fifteen he headed off to Lake Tahoe in the US with the Rotary Exchange Student Program. Then due to some amazing twist of fate (stuff up but let's put a posative spin on it), young Daryl ended up at the home of Glen and Carleen Lewis in a smallish agricultural town in the heart of The Central Valley named Tulare. Glen was at the time Principal of one of the local high schools and Carleen a teacher, but they also happened to live on a "walnut ranch", and so the love affair with that particular nut began!

Glen and Carleen embraced Daryl as if he was their own son, and so began a thirty year friendship that has seen many harvests, our own walnut farm up and running, marriages, babies and sadly losses with Carleen's passing this year.

But the relationships formed through this one chance meeting are so far beyond just Daryl, Glen and Carleen and too complex and interwoven to go into here on my blog, but I picture a tornado where the relationships that began all those years ago still whip and weave around each other. I have to give an example.... After Daryl, Glen and Carleen had another student stay. His name was Pale and he was from Spain. Daryl and his brother Don visited Glen and Carleen

during that year and met Pale. A couple of years later while visiting Spain, Daryl catches up with Pale and is introduced to Pale's friend Maria. Some time after that, Daryl's brother visits Pale in Spain and also meets Maria. They have now been married for about 16 years and have two children. That is just one example!

So back to our road trip to Tulare. I don't know why I love Tulare so much. It is a little run down in parts, it is flat, there is a strange haze like the sun is slightly filtered through smog coming up from LA, it is true farming country where the dairies are huge and the cattle barely see sunshine or grass, the cotton fields stretch on like a sea of white fluff and the walnut orchards are big and lush and shady. Must be the farmers wife in me. Of course the outlet shopping is sensational so that also hooks me! But I think this town had a big effect on Daryl, it was life changing and character forming. I imagine him there, working out in the field with Glen, playing high school football and asking Jennifer Sae to the Graduation Prom.

It was my (and Phemie's) fifth visit to Tulare and I will never get tired of that amazing drive through the Sierra Nevada Mountains and then suddenly the mountains are behind you and the vast never ending plains of the Central Valley stretch before you. Until next time....

2009-10-27T18:03:00.002-06:00

2009-10-27T18:00:00.000-06:00

2009-10-27T17:56:00.001-06:00

2009-10-27T17:55:00.000-06:00

2009-10-21T23:06:00.000-06:00

2009-10-21T22:42:00.004-06:00

I'm back. Made it to my knitting class maybe even a little ahead of the other students (thank goodness for The golden Girls marathon on late night telly). So the knitting has been put aside for the needle felting and that isn't going well. Ailee thinks her lion's head looks like a brown flower. What am I going to do? I'm committed! I've told so many people I'm needle felting this years Halloween costumes I have to keep going. I can't go to Costco now (and get the costumes the girls actually wanted), I have a reputation to establish as that amazing Australian woman who needle felted those beautiful costumes! Maybe Ailee could just be a big brown flower! I'll run that by her in the morning.

So The Munari/O'shannassy's left us and the overcast skies of that weekend opened up and it rained for three days, night and day, solidly. Amazing. I had to go out and buy wet weather gear because there is no such thing as rainy day schedule at Waldorf, no, it's get out in that rain and jump around in those puddles ( so long as you are dressed appropriately of course). Phemie told her class how exciting it would be if we got rain at home like this.

But on the forth day the sun came out and it was back to the banana lounges and there hasn't been a cloud in the sky since. I was getting ready to make soup a week ago and now we are back in the pool.

We did have a birthday last week, Pheme turned 11. One of my personal favorite birthday traditions in our family is letting the girls make their own cake. They love it and if you think craft causes me stress well baking just tips me over the edge! (Hi Lee, Hi Jules). Using her array of Halloween decorations (Thanks Lee), she set off to create a spider web cake. Yummy.

2009-10-18T20:25:00.002-06:00

I'm on a knitting deadline and if I don't finnish the body by Tuesday night then I can't start the sleeves and it's the last class and anyone who knows me (hi Mum), will know what stress this knitting business can cause me plus Halloween is fast approaching and I've told the girls that this year we are not throwing cash at the costume shop, nup, Mummy's going to needle felt you all a costume! So blogging has taken a back seat at the moment but after Tuesday I am back on board with loads of photos to post.

2009-10-12T17:12:00.002-06:00

No it can't be the true, cloudy in Santa Barbara! Sadly for our visitors from Down Under, we experienced the first really cool and cloudy weekend. Still managed to have a great time, going to the Santa Barbara Seafood Festival ( oh how Daryl loves a festival especially when there is a craft market attached!), followed by some shopping in State Street, and then an adults night out starting with drinks at a wine bar and dinner at a mexican restaurant.

Sunday was slightly slower, lots of pool time ( freezing as it was there are some braver that I), trip to Costco for undies, cameras and champagne, dinner, bed. Hope they are now having a great time heading up the 101 on their way to San Fran!

2009-10-09T07:42:00.002-06:00

Back to the subject of knitting for just one moment. I have to mention that one of the most amazing knitters I have ever known is my own mother and I am so grateful that she had the patience to teach my sister and I to knit. Thanks Beryl xxxx

2009-10-08T18:22:00.000-06:00

2009-10-08T18:03:00.003-06:00

It would be remiss of me as one of the founding members of the Kensington Ladies Auxiliary (better known as the KLA), if I didn't post some updates of my craft endeavors! One of the things I really wanted to do whilst I was here was to attempt some more difficult knitting, and after a few attempts at the Elizabeth Zimmerman's Febuary Baby Jacket ( read crying and swearing and eventually ripping!), I booked myself in at the local wool shop for a six week workshop in making that exact cardigan but in a large size ( coincidence or what! ). I am well into it and it has become an obsession, even stopping me from reading Twilight which I confess I was also becoming a little too into for a forty something person! So I thought I had passed the difficult bits but this afternoon saw me heading down to the wool shop, five hot and tired kids in tow, in a panic because I couldn't work out what I had done wrong and after many attempts at fixing it, I yelled to the girls ( who were all happily playing a the park), "GET IN THE BLOODY CAR I'VE DROPPED A STITCH". They all knew what that could mean for the rest of the afternoon so all aboard and off we went.

Much to my surprise (and embarrassment), it seemed, after close inspection, I had actually managed to fix it myself! Hmmm...well what do you know? I think the shop owner thinks I'm a freak.

So anyway, my dear friend Ange is the only knitter I know clever enough to have finished this cardigan so if I can do this I will be very pleased. Pity about the poo brown wool I chose, it will be great at the farm!

2009-10-04T14:57:00.003-06:00

It is Sunday afternoon. We had breakfast by the beach and a play in the sand but now Daryl has headed off to a conference in Palm Springs and I am faced with a couple of days here without him. I can't quite put my finger on why I find it harder here when he is away. I guess it is not having friends and family around and that feeling of being quite alone up here in the hills. it is also very windy today so I have closed up the house and we will probably hang out inside. The girls are watching Tarzan at the moment, giving me a little peace and quiet to blog.

Discovered a great beach yesterday down behind the university. Must say though, the sea of buffed gorgeous youngsters was a little too Abercrombie Catalogue. Fortunately the woman in charge of keeping people and dogs away from the Plover colony was making sure everything remained PG, perched on her chair with her sandwich board lodged in the sand describing the plight of this sweet little coastal bird.

Went for a drive through the grounds of the University of Santa Barbara, had to take a photo of all these bikes! It is a huge campus and students just pedal around.

2009-10-04T14:54:00.002-06:00

Going to the park with a coffee and my knitting just isn't the same without some mates! I have Haze of course but even she isn't as keen without her buddies.

2009-10-04T14:49:00.000-06:00

2009-10-04T14:46:00.000-06:00

2009-10-04T14:18:00.003-06:00

On Friday morning we all headed to Goleta beach to celebrate the Michaelmas festival. Michaelmas is a celebration of the equinox, when as the colder seasons approach and the days become shorter, we recognize the need to gather our inner strength and resilience to face the winter ahead. It is about challenges and bravery and so the school began its morning with Saint Michaelmas slaying the dragon. As the children gather in a circle and begin singing to the deep loud beat of a drum, the dragon appears from behind the trees threatening to kill the princess. I remember last year how amazed I was that somehow they had managed to keep this dragon out of sight until the play began and the combination of the drumming and singing and then the appearance of the monster made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. And so Saint Michaelmas courageously slays the dragon and saves the princess. The end.

Following this, the whole school is broken up into teams of all ages and their own challenges begin. Last year each team had to build a giant dragon in the sand and the team who finished and lit a candle in its mouth won that challenge. This year the most amazing challenge was where the each team had to dig a giant trench and bury each other up to their shoulders. They had to be sitting cross legged with their arms by their sides and the supervising adult had to bury the last child once everyone was in the whole! Hmmm, not something I would suggest normally but the determination and team work that these kids demonstrated was amazing. Once the winning team was announced, everyone jumped out and ran into the ocean for the next challenge which was swimming around a kayak. At one point I looked out toward the ocean and saw this little blond girl swimming for her life way out in the ocean, then I realized it was Ailee the Brave!

The festival ended at 12 midday so it was nice to go home for an afternoon by the pool. In the end everyone except Phemie had a big afternoon nap. Finding one's inner strength can be exhausting!

2009-10-04T14:15:00.000-06:00

2009-09-29T20:04:00.003-06:00

No matter how many photos I take of these mountains, I never really seem to truly capture their beauty or the sheer size of them. The light at about 5.30 pm is amazing. It is soft and pink and you can picture it falling over the whole of California. Maybe it's the smog coming up from LA. It is a similar light that I remember in India. It really is breathtaking. I love to just pull up in the a chair at about this time of the evening and watch the light move across the mountains ( maybe with a little glass of wine).

2009-09-29T17:56:00.000-06:00

This house certainly provides some alternatives to watching TV!

2009-09-29T17:26:00.003-06:00

Well Lee, Chris and Ava have headed off to Washington and suddenly it feels like we are no longer in holiday mode, although Tobie and Hazel are floating in the pool, Ailee, Lucinda and Phemie are playing in the tree house and Daryl has just walked through the back gate at 4.15. So I'm not complaining, it's just that we had such a great time with them.

I spent another morning at the "nursery", Hazel's orientation is taking a little longer than anticipated although getting clobbered by a broom today didn't help. Tobie is having a great time with Miss Sally and the girls are always on a real high when I pick them up from school with plenty to report. Phemie is a little stressed about having to knit a pair of socks on four needles ( don't blame her), but apart from that the girls always get into the car with stories of funny kids that make them laugh, fun in the play ground and yes for all those skeptics, homework that they more than happy to do. Despite the ridiculous amount of driving that I have to do and believe me everyone hears about it, I think the experience of this wonderful little school is worth it. And to be honest, the scenery is pretty spectacular no matter where you are and I am rarely without my Starbucks "tall latte with an extra half shot please".

2009-09-29T17:24:00.000-06:00

2009-09-29T17:11:00.000-06:00

2009-09-29T17:07:00.002-06:00

Seeing as I had to make a donation to the cause just to get a photo, I thought I better pop in on my blog. Hope that's OK with you Dr Kush! Must say, Venice beach is quite unusual, nice to ride through on a sunny day but not sure I would want to live there.

2009-09-24T12:09:00.001-06:00

Woops I seem to be following my own blog..how do I delete that?

2009-09-21T23:29:00.002-06:00

Back in Santa Barbara. Returned home tonight after a school meeting, stepped out of the car, had to take a picture. This photo doesn't do the view justice. Always makes me think of the Hotel California album cover....or as Chris says, a Hang Ten t-shirt.

2009-09-21T23:20:00.002-06:00

On Sunday we decided to hire bikes and ride from Santa Monica to Venice Beach. After the usual carry on about what bike would suit who, we headed off along the beach track enjoying the sunshine and sites of this famous LA shoreline.

2009-09-21T23:17:00.000-06:00

2009-09-21T22:54:00.002-06:00

I have to say I do love Disneyland and I refuse to believe that the next time I go back there might be with my grandchildren. I literally do walk around with a smile on my face ( for most of the time), just soaking up the atmosphere of the "happiest place on earth". You rarely hear parents screaming at their children despite the long queues, soaring temperatures and crowds. And when things do get a little hot and bothered well you just step into line for "It's a small World", and let yourself drift through the loveliest, most innocent ride of all as you hum along to that much loved tune ( get that Saddam doll outta there Jon Saffron, you should be ashamed of yourself!).

I truly did feel sad as we wandered out of the park close to midnight on our last evening, wondering to myself, is that it? Was that the last time I would watch my daughters stare up Tinkerbell sailing over the turrets of that famous castle, mesmerized by the most beautiful display of fireworks I've seen since Jeff and Clayton's wedding. Luckily I think Daryl feels a little bit the same so until next time...dreams come true. Ohhh....

2009-09-21T22:51:00.000-06:00

2009-09-21T22:50:00.000-06:00

2009-09-21T22:46:00.000-06:00

2009-09-21T22:44:00.000-06:00

2009-09-21T22:43:00.000-06:00

2009-09-21T22:34:00.000-06:00

2009-09-21T22:21:00.000-06:00

2009-09-21T22:20:00.001-06:00

Yes it really is Disneyland even though I missed the sign by a few inches! The excitement was mounting, the head count was still ten, lets go!

2009-09-16T12:29:00.002-06:00

Heading off to Disneyland this afternoon after school pick up. I can't believe how excited I am. Good news, Tobes seems to have stopped vomiting! Hopefully she hasn't passed something foul around. Meeting Lee, Chris and Ava in Anaheim tonight.

2009-09-16T12:27:00.000-06:00

2009-09-16T12:22:00.000-06:00

2009-09-16T12:21:00.000-06:00

2009-09-16T12:18:00.000-06:00

2009-09-14T22:16:00.003-06:00

September has come around again and we say goodbye to Spring in Australia and" hi there" to Fall in California. We are situated in the foothills of Santa Barbara, about and hour and a half north of Los Angeles, surrounded by mountains and ocean.

Our daughters have happily settled back into the Waldorf School of Santa Barbara, bringing home their "old" friends as though we had never left. It feels more familiar every time, the road up the mountain, the places I stop to get coffee, the organic market across from school where I grab a few things for dinner on my way home, the woman in the knitting shop ( should say "yarn shop"), who knows me as that woman with all the little girls. But this blog in a lot of ways is a letter home, home to where my friends are gathered in the mornings over coffee, and I miss that a lot. But it is three months in this beautiful place where deer literally walk through the garden, where the sunlight at about 5.30 across those mountains just stops you in your tracks, where the girls pack little baskets each morning with their lunch and napkins and their knitting, and where on Sundays we just lie around all day together and only get in the car once if we feel like ice cream or a sunset drink on the beach.

Mind you, the kids still drive us crazy, we still have to deal with nits and tantrums and "what's this" when I serve dinner, and husband stressed at work and me just wanting "five bloody minutes to finish this row", and tummy aches and spills in the rental car, and "who broke this? or "who did that? But for the next three months we will do it all from here.