we've been

Cycling with Poe, who has been getting more confident everyday. 

Drawing with fabric crayons.

Loving how cute this bird is, if it didn't kind of also look like an airplane, I would have got a tattoo of it, oh still waiting for the picture that will adorn my arm. 

Loving Ilo's running dialogue as he creates (actually he has a running dialogue all the time). 

Making pancakes on a whim. 

Adoring these curls and the colour of his hair. 

Delighting in what Poe creates with these stunning bamboo blocks. We got them for Poe a while ago from Flying Penguin in Newtown

Enjoying more colours as I hide the majority of my fabrics away in cupboards and delight in the simplicity of the minority. 

Loving seeing the way Poe and Ilo have been playing in their fabric cubby house. Poe decided to sleep in it one night. My mum, the amazing crafter that she is, created this for Poe's 4th birthday. 

WARNING TO CASS, ANOTHER COMMUNITY EVENT COMING UP NEXT.

After all this home time we decided it was time to get loved up by the community (again!). This time was a bit more exclusive as we headed to Chrysalis for a Carnivale. Again, it was really lovely to spend some time at the school, it is very easy to forget you are an adult in such a place, you can easily get caught up in the wonder of it. There was music (yes a bit more drumming, I think Scott started to feel just a little scared), delicious food (prepared and cooked by some of the students) and kids (and parents) running around, dancing, laughing and catching up with friends. 

The Bellingen River Festival

Last Saturday was the inaugural Bellingen River Festival, it was run by Transition Bellingen, with the aim of celebrating the Bellinger River; "creating an opportunity to enjoy, learn about and explore our relationship with our river". A transition town means that "it is a town that is part of a global transition network that aims to build resilience so local communites can survive and even thrive in the face of global challenges like peak oil and climate change", definition from here.
On the day there were workshops, activities, bands, canoe races, lantern making, krathong workshops, weaving, story telling, tree planting and a lantern parade that was simply amazing, but more about that later.
I started the day slowly by going for a massage (not at the festival) and while I was lying face down and trying to still my brain, Scott, Poe and Ilo went busking (also not at the festival), apparently it was amazing with both Poe and Ilo getting right into it. Some favourite tunes amongst the passer-bys were "Spoon full of Sugar", Scott's "Holy Water" and "Chim Chimeree". They made a whooping $25 big ones and then donated half to the Bellingen River Festival and Animal Welfare.

We then rode down to the river and were so excited to see the bridge decorated with lanterns and flags, it looked so beautiful. We met up with friends, laid out the picnic blanket and then went for a little paddle in the river. We ate homemade (not by us) sushi and rice paper rolls, planted a few trees, watched the canoe races, met lots of people we knew and generally enjoyed the beautiful day.

Poe spied an inflatable water slide and after a little jump on the jumping castle got his wetsuit on and went for it. Scott and I were watching and both held our breath as he reached the top, we were so sure he would back out but no, down he went, oh what a thrill. Not sure whether you can see it but his face looks totally terrified as he heads down the slide.

At a certain point we thought it would be a great idea to go home for some dinner and a little rest, before we headed back to the festival for the lantern parade. As we walked in through our gates Scott spied a water dragon near our garden (at the end of our street is a creek, where they usually hang out, but we have never seen one in our backyard before), as we didn't want to freak it out we gave it a wide berth and headed inside. But then Scott, called out "it's laying eggs" YES, can you believe it, it was laying eggs in our garden. So amazing. It then buried the eggs and camouflaged it with some leaves and then scooted under the house for a rest. Apparently the incubation period is a couple of months and then the little dragons (!) hang around for a while before heading to the creek. Has anyone ever experienced this before?

From one magical event to another,  The Lantern Parade. As we cross the bridge we watch as the krathongs,  made out of banana leaves, flowers and candles were placed onto the water.

Then the drumming started, now according to the program, when the drumming starts we had to go to the north side of the bridge and so we did, feeling the excitement welling around us.
A little aside: anyone who knows Scott well, knows that he is not a fan of tribal drums, due largely to five years spent in Byron, where at every party, at every gathering there were tribal drums and fire twirlers. But and yes, it's a big one, these drums worked, they unified people, they created momentum and excitement, they sounded great and what's more they were fun. Scott has amended his dislike of tribal drums to something along the lines of 'they are amazing on the right occasion'. (ie please use sparingly).

A friend of ours, Soli (gorgeous looking human to the left in the picture), astounded us with her drumming prowess.

Then the dancers arrived, which gave everyone even more energy and created even more excitement. 

Lanterns were being lit all around us and slowly we began to dance across the bridge following the dancers and the drummers. 

Oh my goodness it was like a group hug, everywhere you looked you saw different people from the community, some we recognised, some we didn't. But there was everyone and they were all beaming. 

The truly wonderful thing about this festival was that it was just for the Bellingen community, the celebration of our river, us. It wasn't about making money, selling merchandise, it was about celebrating.  In the past week we have had countless chats with people about town who have commented on the beauty of the festival and as they talk you can see the pride in their faces, what a town!

craftiness

dear friends, Edie and Poe

Amidst all the galavanting up mountainsides, down river beds and into bluegrass, I have managed to squeeze just a little crafting in. For our dear friend Edie, who is such a kind, funny, sensitive and fun friend I made this top. Designed to keep Edie's very special arms out of the sun. For the past three years I have been making a top similar to this for Edie and it is always lots of fun to do. Edie, I hope you love this year's version. 

Packed safely next to Edie's top was Ruth's headpiece order. Thanks Ruth, hope you and those five heads love them.

And then I started on some Christmas crafting, oh yes, and it has been really successful and lots of fun. I do however miss my crafty partners in crime.

Oh but I did manage one craft night with the lovely Kelly, who brought along her spinning wheel, she was spinning wool from her Angora rabbit, pretty awesome I say. We also drank tea, ate cake, consumed some delicious homemade rose wine jelly (thanks Kelly) and had some really lovely chats, oh so nourishing. I hope we can make it a regular event. 

Weave is starting to run a craft-in every month on a Saturday afternoon with chai, cake and conversation, so hopefully I will find some more crafty friends.

Dorrigo Bluegrass Festival 2011

In the last couple of years Scott has embraced Bluegrass music as his genre of choice. I think part of the reason behind this is it's relaxed nature and community spirit; when jamming and playing everyone is usually pretty laid back and everyone gets a chance to shine, I think they call it "taking a break".

In Sydney town he used to frequent the Annandale Bluegrass society monthly get togethers and really, really loved it, he felt welcomed and inspired, it was very cool to watch. Since that time he has purchased a banjo, fiddle and mandolin and can kind of get away with playing all of them (as is his way, damn him and his multi-instrumental talents), but continues to shine with a guitar by his side.For those out there who know not of Bluegrass and I am sure there are plenty of you out there. As far as I can gather, in Bluegrass there are banjos, guitars, fiddles, mandolins, double bass, dobros, harmonicas but NO DRUMS. Some musical examples include a lot of the "O brother where art thou" soundtrack, Alison Krauss and Union Station , Bill Monroe and then at a stretch Old Crow Medicine Show, well, they are really Americana but they are totally awesome so are definitely worth a look in.

Anywhoo, as mentioned Scott is totally into Bluegrass and usually just listens to the great stuff but sometimes.... the hoe-downs become just a bit too much and I have to hide the clogs and tell him to calm down.  He frequents Bluegrass festivals and workshops but never so close to home as The Dorrigo Folk and Bluegrass Festival, which is conveniently located just a 30 minute drive up the winding and a little treacherous road to Dorrigo (think Peruvian mountainside) and this time the whole family had a chance to get their Bluegrass on. 

pre gig rehearsal

Yet again we had a house full as Nick and Lyn from Dear Orphans and their two medium sized kids; Zoe and Libby up from Sydney and mandolin player and friend Phil Upton also from Sydney on the pilgrimage to the festival. So with that much enthusiasm in the house it was pretty exciting as we woke Saturday morning, gathered the troops and made the trip up the mountain. When we arrived it was a little chillier than expected, being in the mountains and all and the size of the festival was a lot smaller than I anticipated. Basically it was a strip of grass and a couple of old weatherboard halls, hmmm.

But luckily before long the sun broke through the low lying clouds, people started to arrive and I was amazed at the transformation of this lowly "strip". There were a couple of big old trees providing some great shade, where everyone parked their picnic rugs and from this vantage point you could basically see where the kids were at any given moment, as well as all sorts of folk jamming about the place, flags flying against the blue sky and people strolling by. Wonderfully, the festival is alcohol free, probably one of the only ones in Australia. It was really cruisey and highly entertaining, even me, someone who doesn't really rate Bluegrass as the music I would listen to above everything else, totally enjoyed it all. There were some really cool acts.

Speaking of cool acts, back to Scott. Scott's band is called The Mid-North and I use 'band' as a very loose term, it is a kind of hobbled together group and the extremely talented musicians who played with him at the festival had never played together before (the first full rehearsal of the band was an hour before the show). There is a somewhat dearth of Bluegrass musicians in this area so the band is mainly Scott and a couple of people he borrows from other bands both in Bellingen and Sydney. The Mid-North were the first act on the Saturday morning and they were great (without any bias this is based purely on public feedback). The lunch pavilion (where they played) was totally packed and people were applauding with great gusto, laughing appropriately and singing along. What a festival debut! Here....you can check it out for yourselves.

Footage courtesy of Rachel Woolhouse

Now to the other cool acts:

Dear Orphans

Serenation 

Present-company

Mithra from The Lurkers

We made a special trip up to see The Lurkers on the Sunday, they were as they always are, super entertaining and totally inspiring. Poe and Ilo were particularly thrilled to see them, as the last time they danced to them was nearly a year ago at the Peats Ridge Festival. Unfortunately their favourite song "Padlock and Chain" wasn't sung but their second favourite song, "North Shore Pirates" was performed so all was forgiven.

Martin from The Lurkers

Mithra and Griffin (for those Lurker friends in Sydney and Bega)

Another band that was pretty great, but I didn't photograph was The Perch Creek Family Jugband, a band with six members, a number of whom are related. Totally quirky cool with retro stylings and a huge variety of bluegrassy instruments; you don't see enough jugs being played nowadays. Take that as you will. 

The jamming that was happening everywhere (and anywhere) was particularly lovely, perched under the shade of a big tree, eating picnic treats, watching Poe and Ilo hang out with friends, whilst listening to my lovely one sing and have so much fun, was all pretty wonderful. So anyone planning their Bellingen 2012 visit, keep in mind that a whole world of Bluegrass can be pretty great and worth a look in.