Today we.....

asked Ilo where he would like to eat breakfast.

tried out the new billy cart, 

 complete with a very handy boot.

were entertained

and enchanted.

 delighted in some circus tricks.

hung out under the "big top". 

Happy Birthday Ilo

 Sweet, sweet Ilo, what an amazing little person you are. I have loved looking back at the last year through photos, gazing, laughing and adoring you. I love that looking back I see your personality shining through. 

photo by Cass

I loved seeing the beautiful and quiet moments that you share with your dear friend and very lucky brother, Poe. How sometimes you are both so close but get caught in something separate, the peace between the two of you in those moments seems like the easiest thing ever. Two people together but apart, even today, these moments give me such joy whenever I experience them. 

  I was also able to catch a couple of moments of quiet reflection of your own. And I guess as an added bonus,  I was able to capture your love of pockets, unfortunately I haven't yet captured the times when you create pockets in pants that don't even have pockets, in these moments all I see on your face is pride, pure pride, "oh yeah", i can hear you think. 

Capturing, your enthusiasm for food and sweet way in which you have always fed yourself (you bear a striking similarity to your Aunt Suriya when you eat yoghurt, who even now continues to eat yoghurt in this fashion). 

You are so affectionate and amazingly aware of others feelings. Even when you might do something that upsets Poe, you often fold your arms and dig your heels in and then within seconds I hear you coming up to Poe and saying "Dorry Popo" and patting him on his back "kay now?" and then offering a kiss or cuddle, which Poe always takes up.

Your humour never fails to astound me, for someone so young you just get it. For instance in this photo with your uncle Manu, you knew that the pointing of the finger was crucial to the humour of the moment and then you spent weeks after laughing as you reminisced about you and "Mamu" wearing funny "hats" and pointing.

 Your grandfather Phil, decided that it would be interesting/amusing to have you copy him as he listed various airlines (Phil did a similar thing with  Poe at the airport when he was also around 16 months), you would repeat the word after him, "QANTAS, KOREAN AIR, MALAYSIAN AIRLINES" and then Phil said "LUFTHANSA" and you just put both hands in the air, oh my goodness my darling one, so so funny (if you don't get it, say LUFT HANS A slowly).

Your love for the guitar/banjo/double bass/fiddle, whatever it is at any given moment is just a delight. I adore hearing you singing dadda's songs, songs from preschool or songs you make up ( a particular favourite of mine is the "Booba" song). Even as you adapt Dadda's songs from "Going the wrong way Jesus" to "Going the wrong way Banjo", I love seeing your ability to be creative, to know the words but delight in creating your own. One day you and Poe were playing and Poe, being quite shy decided to whisper to you a song you should sing. You sat there and listened and listened and listened, taking it all in and then you just launched into this amazing song, with noises unlike I have ever heard, but with such passion, focus and totally ernest. Poe meanwhile was rolling around on the ground laughing "that's not what i said to sing Ilo".

Ah friends, what a delight they are. I love how now that we are in Bellingen, you continue to talk about special moments you have had with your friends, how your friends are in your heart. I love the way you foster certain friendships and how smitten some people are when you fix your gaze on them; Vince, Annie, Ruth, Rod, Mamu, just to name a few special ones. 

Seeing you and Poe together as you potter throughout the house, as you sleep together, as you work stuff out, hearing your voices, the games you play and the way in which you are so content in each others company, it just oozes love (ok, there are definitely um "moments" but this is the place where you learn how to work things through).
Poe delights in having you in bed with him, he makes sure that you are not too hot and he instantly reports anything that happens to us "Mum, Ilo's cheeks are really red and he feels really hot, come and look", "Mum, I just held Ilo's hand when he was sleeping and he smiled".

I love hearing the pitter patter of feet in the morning as either you or Poe make your way back into each others bed (when Dadda and I go to bed, you come to bed with me). Poe loves being there when you wake up and often has something for you; a doll or special toy to cuddle, ready for when you wake up. It definitely makes Poe's morning to have you smile at him as soon as you wake.

Lately you have been asking more and more questions, which is so wonderful, seeing that mind grow. Often the questions relate to things in a way that is so heart warming, you are really interested in "Who made that?", I guess because we do so much crafting, making our own clothes, food, things around the house, etc and then have friends who do similarly. So gorgeous. To hear you say with pride "Mumma, made it for me". Oh my. 

Another question is "Who is that?" and this may be someone singing, anyone we may be walking pass, any number of people really and then when we tell you, your "Ohh" is so considered and thoughtful. Like Poe you are also aware of people (rather than a he or she); what is that person doing? Such a simple  way of not attaching gender stereotypes. And seeing people as people.  

Sweet darling one, so beautiful, kind, caring, funny and happy. When Poe is at preschool you often potter by yourself and between Dadda and myself. One day Dadda was playing guitar out on the back steps and he marvelled as you got some paper and a pencil and then just lay down by his feet and drew, enjoying kicking your feet casually in the air, totally content.
Around the same time I was sewing on the same back steps and you remembered that a while ago I needed a cushion for my back so without saying anything you went and got a cushion for me and said "here Mamma, so back doesn't get sore" and then when I put the cushion behind my back "better now Mumma?" Oh my, these sweet moments happen everyday.

Little Ilo, from a young age you have been able to engage people in a way that is so transparent in it's beauty, thank you for shining that light our way, and letting us be the lucky parents who get to assist you in your journey through this life. We feel incredibly lucky and so honoured to be your parents. Thank you and Happy Birthday beautiful. 

a whirlwind week in Sydney

(hmmm far too tired to give Ilo the gushing he deserves, hopefully tomorrow)

presents at Peeba's

Poe's first pedal bike ride - this happened in seconds, amazing!

Mamak-no visit to Sydney is complete without it. 

adventures in Edie's super bunk

luxuriating in the presence of these three

Sydney Park

Family Portrait 1 - by Dom

Family Portrait 2 - also by Dom, thanks Dom, you are amazing

Another night, another sleepover. Saul striking an intriguing pose.

Rock the house; The Opera House.

farewelling beautiful friends

and a fairy party to top it off

Going through the photos I realised that I had no documentation of a home in which we were lucky enough to have stayed in not once but twice; the ever accommodating and always welcoming home of Tracey, Vince, Jenna and Remy, oh my goodness, no pictures! I think the problem is that we were too busy, eating, laughing, chatting and embracing. Thank you, thank you beautiful ones, amazing.
Thank you everyone who accommodated us, we love you all so much and had such a wonderful time. I particularly cherished all those late night chats...ahhhhhh.

beautiful annie & the pirates...rah, rah, rah

Have you ever been lucky enough to meet someone, become friends and then have the friendship grow in ways you could have never imagined and then the friendship turns into love, the very rare kind of love that only happens a few times in a lifetime (and only if you are very lucky)? Well I have been lucky enough to experience this and it is pretty damn amazing. This friend I am talking about is Annie. Annie  definitely makes me want to be a better person, hey she makes the world a better place and the future of the world that bit more hopeful, she is someone who is so open and honest and loving with those around her that i often just stare at her in awe. And, oh my goodness to see both her and her lovely; Pearl, together, yikes, they are the most inspiring couple i have ever met. 

Anywhoo, Annie as i may have mentioned in a previous post, is the ultimate crafter, her ideas and the way in which she creates them blows my mind, but it also (luckily) totally inspires and delights me and makes me feel that anything is possible.

 So this year's present to Annie started with the love for this book (and a conversation about embroidery and tattoos):

The book led me here

then here

and here

and finally here,  safe in the bosom of the lovely Annie

This embroidery/applique piece was created by hand and it was so much fun to make but it definitely went against my usual freehand approach to embroidery, which meant i actually had to draw what i was going to sew first (crazy i know), just so things didn't end up looking wacky and totally our of proportion or just crazy weird. It was an interesting insight into how other people get their pieces looking so neat, a definite aha moment for me but one i won't be dwelling on too much as i quite like the more um let's say relaxed approach that i usually adopt. Annie was totally delighted with her gift (which also included one of these to keep with the foxy theme and because it is totally amazing and looks hot on), which makes me very happy.

Annie was celebrating her and her daughter Olive's birthday in Pirate style, luckily we were able to swing by Sydneytown and enjoy the festivities!

the arrival of some particularly fetching pirates

those beautiful faces, such delight

handcrafted pirateness 

hand drawn amazingness

Oh so much to say, so few hours in the day. Will post again tomorrow about the amazing Ilo who just turned Two, get ready for some gushing. 

Happy Birthday Mum

                           

Over the years I have done a variety of family portraits; felt applique portraits, portraits on felt houses and embroidered portraits using anything from wooden hoops to doilies. My Mum has seen, admired and delighted in these portraits over the years and subtly made a few hints that indicated that she also desired a portrait. And so after many years here is our family portrait. The top row shows Ilo, Suriya (my sister) and Scott, middle row; Mum and Phil (my Dad) and bottom row; Poe, myself and Manu (my brother). I found it really hard to distinguish between myself, my sister and my mum because in theory (and embroidery language) we all look alike. I am most happy with how Manu turned out, creating a likeness using a couple of threads is pretty amazing and satisfying. 

In other crafty news, I have finished Annie's gift, which I am totally delighted with (photos in a couple of weeks).  I have also been making treasure bags from here, creating my own dress (with zilch dress making skills this is ummm interesting and totally liberating), making some gifts for Ilo (Scott is, as I write, sewing a pair of pants for him), a top for me and crafting a package to send to some dear friends in Melbourne) ahhh birthday season. A season that is so delightful in an utterly manic and inspiring way. 

On Friday we are heading to Sydney for four birthday parties (including a little party for Ilo), a gig at the Opera House (yep Scott is playing some death metal guitar here) and lots of visiting friends and family. We are really excited about catching up with everyone and enjoying some beautiful birthday celebrations. 

disclaimer: mum's birthday was actually in June but due to selling our house and moving there was little time for crafting.

what we are doing right now

5.01pm Wednesday
Dinner in the oven, this in the backyard:

more later xxxxxx

Another day by the river

warning: if you continue to follow this blog, you may just get a little weary at the sight of "days by the river" as there will be many many many many many more to come or maybe it will just entice you all up for a visit, ah ha a cunning plan

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