the path

Last Thursday Little Red Pepper dressed up to celebrate the end of Fairy Tale learning at school and I rugged up in two pairs of woollen socks, tights, leggings, a singlet, a long sleeved top, a woolly jumper, cover-alls, a rain jacket, a scarf and a beanie. She looked adorable and I could barely move.

A few days earlier, the principal of the girls' school had asked farmer Bren if we could come and lay some pavers between the preps' classroom and the main building where the high traffic and the wet weather had made a muddy, slippery mess. One parent had donated the pavers and we filled the back of the ute with shovels and trowels, a rubber mallet and a broom and we drove to school to get to work.

First we marked out the winding path, then we cut out the dirt and grass and levelled it, filled it with buckets of sand-pit sand, laid the pavers, banged the pavers in, poured sand over them, swept the sand in the gaps and cracks, built up the edges with the dirt we had dug out and then stomped on the whole thing back and forth a few times to make sure it didn't move.

And although we had chosen Thursday because it wasn't meant to rain, I think it was one of the coldest days I can ever remember. The clouds were so low that we couldn't see Wombat Hill right behind the school, the ground I was kneeling on felt like a wet block of ice and I'm certain my fingers and lips were blue. But gosh we had fun and laughed a lot.

I loved spending the day off the farm with Bren working hard and doing something really constructive. I felt warm and fuzzy every time a teacher or parent or student walked past us and chatted and thanked us, I loved how excited the kids were with their new path and I enjoyed that exhausted feeling of a job finished and well done at the end. But by far the best bit was at home time when we stood with a bunch of school people at the end of the new path and watched as one by one people danced and moon-walked and shuffled back and forth down the path. There was so much laughter and silliness and happy community feeling. It felt like we were part of something wonderful. Something really good.

I have no doubt that by next week the path will be just a path, used but not really noticed, but that afternoon it was something more.

Later on after we got home, showered, changed, had a few cups of hot tea and finally thawed out a little, I told my farmer boy that that day had been one of the happiest I could remember. I feel like we are so lucky to be a part of such a special school, so blessed to be able to spend our day together getting stuff done and I am so grateful for the kindness we receive in return.

And then my farmer boy told me that he believes that the real key to happiness is doing things for other people.

Yeah!! Real, true happiness is not a selfish act. Real true happiness comes from giving and from community and from a place of generosity.

And then I had one of those moments where everything becomes really clear and makes sense. I love it when that happens. Now I can't stop thinking about how to put all that into play in a bigger way in my life.

I hope you have what you need friends.

Happy solstice!



xx



The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater our own sense of well-being becomes.

His Holiness Dalai Lama

Cider house bottling.

Yesterday, nine months after that March day we pressed our autumn-harvested apples, we gathered again for the next part of the process. For nine months those vats of apple juice with added champagne yeast have been bubbling away and becoming cider. Yesterday was bottling day.

First the collected bottles were soaked in a sterilising solution.

Then a teaspoon of brewers sugar was added to each.

The bottles were filled with cider.

And then capped.

Of course, as with all the best community working bees, the working bit was only a small part of the fun. There was lots of music, a feast, happy-wild children and a fair bit of taste-testing too.

One day I'll work out how to add sound and video to my blog. These words and photos seem a bit one dimensional without the background music track to really get you in the mood.

In March I ended my blog saying how much I love community and celebrations of season and fruit and time, I can't think of a better way to describe how I feel today too.

My farmer boy has himself a little hangover this morning.
I wonder how his Dad is holding up.

Happy days to you my friends.
I hope yours are filled with music and friends and a glass or two of something fruity.

Big love. xx

Cider-fest.

It really feels like Autumn!

The early mornings and evenings are getting chillier and darker by the day. The light seems different somehow. Baskets of summer fruit and veg are slowly being jammed and bottled and put away for leaner times. The rows of the kitchen garden are being picked, pulled out, turned over, composted and seeds of winter greens are being planted. And summer's apples are finally ripe and being plucked from the trees.

At this time of the year the farmer boys drive around the area with trailers on the backs of their cars scouting out and picking from the wild apple trees they find along their ways. Baskets and buckets and bags are filled with the juicy fruit.

Last weekend families and friends gathered with their apples nearby at Liam and Kath's for the annual cider pressing.

Farmer Bren brought along his cycle powered apple scratter/grinder/mulcher and others brought their inventions too. Whole apples are fed into the top and turned into apple mush that comes out the other end.

Oops, and there's the photo of me in the ear hat you asked for...

After the scratter, the apple mush is wrapped up in bits of calico called cheeses and layered between wooden racks. Pressure is applied to the top of the pile and the apple juice is sqeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezed out and caught in a bucket below.

The apple juice is then drunk by little passers by, or poured into bigger drums for cider.

The dried out, squished apple cakes look like this at the end. Apparently they cooked one on the fire after we'd left, but from what I hear they wont be repeating that again.

And then of course there was the drinking of last years' cider, the campfire cooking and the Cider House String band.

I barely saw my kids the whole day. They were off running around with friends having as much fun as we were.

I love days like that. I love community and celebrations of seasons and fruit and time.

I do love a bit of cider too. Don't you?

Bye!

This time.

Yesterday afternoon, just after I made this dress and took these photos, we got a call about a bushfire that was burning seven kilometers away and threatening to head in our direction.

All of a sudden the last three years and one day disappeared and I felt exactly like I did last time we had a bushfire here. And then I looked around and realised everything was the same. This time, like last time, I had a pot of jam on the stove and lots of fruit in crates all over the floor. This time, like last time, I knew I had to get the washing off the line immediately so Bren could start the fire sprinklers. This time, like last time, I looked around at our home completely surrounded by forest and wondered who in their right mind would live somewhere like this? This time, like last time, I grabbed long clothes, sensible shoes, computers, cameras, chargers and baskets of crochet and kissed Bren goodbye and drove off to get the girls from school. This time, like last time, there was the familiar look of panic in some people's faces, the oblivious couples sipping wine outside cafes, the sound of sirens from every direction and the looooooooong queues at the petrol station. This time like last time I bought strange and random things from the petrol station after filling up. And this time like last time I tried to stay calm while answering a bazillion little kid questions while keeping an ear on the fire wireless and an eye on the CFA website.

BUT last time I didn't write a blog, I wasn't on the twitter or instagram or ravelry.

This time my afternoon was filled with emails and texts and tweets and ravmails and instagram messages. It sounds mushy but this time I totally felt comfort in my part of the online community. People were watching and cared.

I often wonder about my need to write a blog. I wonder why I feel the need to write about what I make and think rather than just going about my business of doing it.

Yesterday reminded me of the social in social media. Of the community. Of the feeling that we are all in this together.

Thank you.

Luckily yesterday's fire was contained after a few hours. In the heat and gusty winds of the next few days we are crossing our fingers and wishing for a safe and boring weekend.

Who would have ever thought safe and boring sounded so good?

So have you had a moment when you felt the social in social media? The community in the online community?
Do you find it comforting?
Do you remember why you blog?

Do you like my new dress? I made it from a piece of fabric Michelle sent me and some vintage lace scraps I hoard. After I finished it and tried it on I discovered it is see-through but luckily it fits and looks good with a black slip underneath.

Have a safe and boring weekend out there.

Bye! xx

Friends, road trippers, caravanners...

Yesterday we spent the day with three other road tripping families celebrating a friend, Ali's, 40th birthday. Between us we were eight adults and 10 kids. All of us around the same age, all having left the comfort and security of home and work for a six month trip around Australia and all of us having met one another in the past few months.

In his birthday speech to his wife, John spoke about how originally Ali had planned to fly home with her family for her birthday. How she had planned to spend the important mile stone celebrating with family and life long friends. But as the weeks grew nearer she realised that what she really wanted, was to spend the day somewhere on the road with her caravanning friends.

I totally get that.

Road tripping is intense. Road tripping friendships are quickly intimate and true. They are based on an experience in common and they share a language of adventures and memories.

All down the west coast of Australia we have bumped into the same families again and again. The kids have formed packs and have spent hours bike riding, playing at the playgrounds, swimming, exploring and adventuring. More than once a child has been dragged kicking and screaming on a family outing when they would much rather have stayed at the caravan park and played with their friends. 'Who cares about dolphins when I can do handstands with Grace and Tom!'

And to an extent its the same for us. In the absence of our families and community, our new friends have shared the journey with us. They share newly made memories and similar experiences.

They remember camping under the air force flight path in Darwin, the grumpy four-wheel driving cleaner in Broome, the wind in Geraldton, the heated shower floor in Busselton. We commiserate over stories of snoring neighbours, fighting couples and crying babies. We empathise over blown tyres and wet beds. We share the experience of parenting in public, of bathing and laundering in public, of wearing the same thing day in-day out in public, and letting our hair cuts and colours grow out in public.

We share our camping secrets, we copy the movies off each others' hard drives and we swap books

We share stories we've heard of the best camping spots and places to visit and the must nots.

And over time we share bits and pieces about our real lives too. Who we are at home, what we do and why we are doing this trip.

Sometimes I think that in the days and years to come, it will be the friendships and camaraderie that we remember as the highlight of this trip. The excitement of watching a car and caravan full of friends pull up at a caravan park, nights spent chatting and laughing and drinking, trips together to tourist spots, having the van full of kids watching a movie, and the long sunny days filled with children running back and forth between vans and jumping pillows.

I guess in life the friends you relate to are often those experiencing the life stages that you are when you are. School friends, uni friends, work friends, friends with little kids, school Mum friends, craft group friends, road tripping friends...

Happy travels my friends. xx

ps. This night eleven years ago was my last as a non Mother. Wowee!!

Feeling better.

One of the things Bren said to me yesterday to try and make me feel better was how amazing the crafty blog community are and how supportive we all are of each other. My reply was that my blog to date, was more of a visual diary than a personal diary and who knows how the blog community would react to an emotional post let alone a negative one.

So I gave it a go and posted about my crappy day and what do you know but there you all were to support me, encourage me and reassure me that I am not alone.

You have no idea how much this means to me. How many times I have read and reread your comments and how they have helped me feel better.

I do feel better today. Somewhat emotionally hungover and fragile but better.

THANK YOU!

I guess the blog community is all of our secret weapon too.

We have a three year old bug party to go to today. When these dry, I'll sew some gathers in the spotty fabric and stitch it to the singlet to make a dress for the birthday girl.

I hope you are having a lovely Sunday.

The lantern parade.

The end of the annual Swiss Italian Festa in Daylesford/Hepburn Springs brings with it one of my favourite nights of the year, The Lantern Parade.

So yesterday Bren went and found 'the box of stuff you need to make a lantern'.

We make the same type of lantern every year so by now there's a bit of ritual to it.

First we drew our designs on a tin can.

Then we placed a piece of wood in the can and banged a sharpened nail along the design, puncturing holes as we went.

Here they are lining up ready to go.

We drove down to Hepburn and mingled amongst around 300 members of the community. At dusk we all lit our lanterns and walked down the candle lit path to the Mineral Springs Reserve where we were treated to the most amazing fireworks display I've seen in years.

After the fireworks we walked back up the hill in the dark really needing our lanterns for light.

I love the lantern parade because it is an ALL ages event, because of its strong sense of community, because there is nothing for sale, because it encourages home made and because it has become part of my family's history.

Our lanterns will now hang out on the deck for decoration on those lovely warm summer evenings.

There are five days left until I randomly select a winner for my giveaway. Have you entered?