Saying Yes....

In the midst of a blog flick last week, I stumbled upon a suggestion from Unplugged Sunday - to say 'Yes!" to all of the requests that the day might bring. Hmmm, an interesting suggestion - one I recommend that you give a go- you never know quite where the day will take you!

A pair of skate pants I make for little Buddha in the morning...

Became a tailored pair of girls pants for Missy in the afternoon, when she asks " Can I wear them too?" Ahhh, "Yes?", and 'Ta - da!', I have the newest idea for girls pants this Summer!

I pull out the baking bowls, and three little people crowd round ( Groan.....) - can we help?

( Grudgingly I mumble "Yes" ) 'Ta-da!' - my shortbread becomes something rather wonderful and beautiful with the suggestion to dip it in chocolate and add sprinkles!

Hubby gently notes " The wind is kinda good today - want to come down and watch me kite board?" Hmmm, becoming more practised in this, and wondering if it will open up to other more exciting things, I calmly say "yes" ( Hubby is rather surprised, but happy, and scuttles off quickly before I change my mind!) It ends my Sunday perfectly, as I am roped into saying 'Yes' to cartwheels, digging caves, and running freely on a windy, wild beach!

Operation Christmas Child

Crowding around the computer screen, the kids are mesmerised by the sunny smiles and dancing children, laughing at them from the screen.

They're watching a DVD from Samaritan's Purse. A charity group that, at Christmas time, delivers shoeboxes full of delight, for those children that would otherwise go without presents at Christmas.

As a family, we decided that we wanted to be a part of this wonderful initiative, so we brought three shoe boxes home, and set to the task of filling them with beautiful and practical gifts, for a child the same age as our own.

I do sometimes struggle to give to charity in this way. The two sides of my brain wrestle in conflict, "Am I pushing the Western notion that Christmas is about presents onto the kids?" , then "Would my children learn more, by going without this Christmas, and learn that Christmas is about being together, rather than giving to each other?"

But in the end, my heart wins over my head. I watch the kids decorate their shoe boxes, and the effort and time that they put, into making it a beautiful box for the receiver. They cut, paste, draw and put love into that box. It seems to me that they are less concerned about the contents of the box, and more concerned about how the opening of that box, will make another little person, just like themselves, feel when they are seeing it for the first time.

That, is the spirit of giving.

Making spaces

I love this roman blind! Avalon Organics fabric, paired with white waffle for my almost finished bathroom.

It was a labour of love. 5 months of slowly plodding away every now and then ( the perfect winter project! ).

There were so many hurdles - I got lost in the fabric, sewed some slightly wonky lines, and cut the lining the wrong width! Ahhh, the challenges of a good sewing project to get your teeth into!

The pattern was found on a google search at this site http://uktv.co.uk/home/stepbystep/aid/145. It's a simple easy to use pattern - I recommend making the casings 10cm wide as opposed to 5 though, or you won't fit the doweling in.

Hubby and I had some fun working out how to attach it to our window - we ended up using curtain brackets turned upside down, and drilling the top piece of doweling into the bracket - this gave it some room to hang away from the window.

A very satisfying project! This fabric matches the cushions I have on my couch - beautiful fabric again from Avalon Organics!

Camping...

What the world gave back to me...

This weekend, was bird sounds so deafening...

Cascading water so thunderous...

Sunlight so bright and reflective off the pools of water...

That I had to close my eyes...

The little one's stopped jabbering, and stood in awe, listening...

And the sounds were so loud, that I couldn't even

hear my thoughts ( the most perfect, easiest meditation ever! )

And in the tent the next morning, little Missy sleepily climbed in beside me, snuggled her cold little nose into my neck, and curled up in a ball.

Thinking she had nodded back off ( as it was only 4am! ) I smiled as the Kookaburra's started laughing cheekily from the trees ( most likely at me, as I was the only one in the campground awake! ), and the ducks quacked their response, and then the wildlife orchestra began. Then Missy slumbily mumbled "The birdies are so noisy..." then she gave a little giggle and snuggled in deeper. And I cuddled her a little closer, as I realised that her awareness and connection with Mother Nature had just begun.

Nourishing... the kitchen

A part of my whole food challenge, is ensuring my kitchen is in tip top shape, and ready to tackle the challenge with me.

I am lucky in this respect, because when we built our house last year, I had the opportunity to design the kitchen to suit me. This was something I had been dreaming of over the past few years. The house we knocked down was an old holiday house - as you can imagine, the kitchen was not designed for a growing family of five. But I do miss that pokey little kitchen sometimes - there were a lot of laughs had in it, and memories made. We still laugh about the open shelving that sat over the rubbish bin that hubby hit his head on every single time! And I can still see my chubby little toddler take her first steps from one side of the kitchen to the other (which was perfect for a new walker, as there was literally a metre and a half in between! )

But these days I count my blessings every morning when I walk into my new, sparkly kitchen. The things that make me smile the most though, are not the flash new oven, or drawers that slide easily closed with one push ( though I do love them! ). No, it's the love that is in every corner.

This beautiful antique blue jug was given to me by my father one Christmas. It is the inspiration for the interior of the whole house. As

with any knick knack in my house, it must serve a purpose - so for today it is the holder of very important utensils.

My windowsill makes me feel warm and fuzzy more than once every day. It holds those precious gifts my children bring me back from a play in the garden, or walking the dog. More often than not, the flowers are a token gesture from my 12 year old, as it's easier to give Mum a flower with your head bowed than say "sorry" when you're 12, right?

And this final photo, is the chaos of a family of 5. It makes me happy every day, to know that this house is a home, because of the chaos of my brood.

I think my kitchen and I are ready...!

Nourishing

Ok, I'm doing it. I've officially signed up for the 30 day wholefood workshop with Heather Bruggeman from Beauty that moves.

After one too many post pasta headaches, bloating and feeling sluggish, I have clicked on 'register' and paid my ( mighty economical! ) $45.

And hubby? - noooo, he's not committed to anything that excludes meat, but he has suggested doing 30 days without beer ( with an intermission at 2 weeks - just in case it's too hard! ). I guess that's a pretty good commitment, I mean an Australian going without beer is like a sloth going without sleep.

Sooo.. anyone feel like joining me? ( or you can just enjoy tracking my progress and pain over the next month as I write about it here!)

Hopefully I can inspire you too, to nourish and clean your body from the inside out.

Click here to read more about the workshop.

Creating...

An inspirational weekend visit to Churchill Island ( Phillip Island ) Heritage Farm, has seen me digging, composting and pruning all weekend long. ( If you're in Victoria, you HAVE to see this place - it's an incredible step back in time )

I loved their philosophy of protect, nurture and support the local farmers!

As the farmer encouraged the kids to milk the friendly dairy cow, he explained the importance of buying direct from the farmer through farmers markets, and the goodness obtained from an organic, unprocessed product.

Mother Nature was giving me all of the signs this weekend that it was time to get the garden in order! A trip to the Osteopath ended in a tour of his residential garden ( which is half the size of ours ). As he pointed out 35 different fruit trees, 10 olive trees and mounds of vegetable gardens overflowing with chilli, lettuce, kale and all sorts of wonderful treats, I knew that I had used up all of the excuses for not tackling ours.

So my next creation shall be the introduction of some bare rooted fruit trees to the rather desolate looking front path! ( Next week shall be even busier as I have ordered over 1000 heirloom seeds for the vege garden - check out The Diggers Club for their amazing range of Organic, Heirloom mail order seeds ( perfect for busy mums who just can't stomach a trip to the nursery today! ) )