this & that

A couple of weeks ago we ventured out to The Lodge to see a friend's band play their very first gig. To see the nerves, the uncertainty beforehand and then bear witness to this little crew of young folk create some seriously impressive music was a delight. The harmonies were rich, gentle and just right, the songs (some covers and some originals) were perfectly chosen and the closeness and joy that they shared as a band was particularly endearing oh and did I mention they have a banjo, yep, that alone is enough for me. So wonderful. But be warned, this band Patchwork Cavalcade they will feature heavily in the next couple of posts, lucky for us, they didn't just stop at the one gig.

Words can not describe the joy we feel to have this wonderful human back in town with us, yep, your loss Bangalow, Nicole is back to stay. Not only am I so grateful to have her warmth, love and delightful joy nearby but I am so beside myself with glee that Poe and Ilo get to have 'aunty Nicole' back to adore, love and delight in them. To see the way their faces (the kids and Nicole's) light up when they see each other melts me and I feel so blessed to have Nicole and a couple of other beautiful folk around town loving my children in this way.

Ah, ha the now famous No. 5 Garage Sale, I think to call it a success would be an understatement. It was an incredible amount of fun, a delight seeing children running about, people clutching various treasures with smiles on their faces and it showed what a wonderful community space this could be. Hmmmmm, stay tuned, their are wonderful plans afoot for this space.

Oh and what kind of Garage Sale is it without ricotta pancakes and poached pear I ask?

Ilo and I were lucky enough to have a sleepover at Amy and Peppa's, we snuggled by the fire, watched Ilo perform the O'Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack whilst Peppa jumped around making up her own 'hack n sack' tune, hilarious. We devoured some of Amy's homemade tempeh (made out of Borlotti beans it has the texture and the crispiness of tempeh, but without that sometimes weird soy taste)I am hooked, complete with brussel sprouts, smashed potato, sauerkraut and red wine (for those of drinking age of course). I do love having sleepovers.

Another cosy night at The Purple Carrot but this time for curries and some music, after an emotional and busy day, this is just what we needed. We are extremely lucky in this town to have so many beautiful restaurants full of local, wholesome deliciousness and even more lucky that a couple of them are owned and run by incredibly beautiful and very dear friends. It feels like we aren't entering their restaurants but their homes, as we are greeted with looks of joy, huge embraces and always a kiss or two.
In between all this getting about we have been enjoying the gloriously blue winter days and crisp winter nights, we have been planting (yes in winter, sounds crazy but more on that later), preparing for guests, supporting Scott with his increased workload, dancing, snuggling, reading and you know, all that other stuff like cleaning, cooking, occasionally yelling, laughing, crying and stealing sacred and precious moments of nothing.