a little gift

Some of you may recall that a year ago we attended a very special birthday celebration, a celebration that turned into a surprise wedding. Yes, really. If you are new to this space you can find out all about it here.

Just after the celebration I was inspired to make a little clip about the day and seemingly true to form the night before Woo's birthday this year I finally got to it (yes, seriously, what was I thinking?).

It was interesting looking at how much I have learnt in the last year (I did cringe quite a bit at my filming and photography), it was fun having a play with final cut pro and it was challenging working with limited footage, which led to including stills. In the end I was pretty happy with it and believe it reflects the beautiful day, the celebration of Woo and the oozing of love that occurred. 

Hopefully you all enjoy, smile a little, laugh a little and embrace the love, especially since the disaster that was the elections last night, an election result that was so far from what is good for everyone, what is good for our environment, for the minorities, for communities, for people who need help, for a better world. An election result that was seeped in the 'I' not the 'Us'. Anyway, I could go on but I won't here, I guess sometimes it has to get worse until it gets better, the bad thing is that our world is already in a seriously messed up state, these kind of results set us back quite a bit, okay, rant over (for now).

Happy happy birthday/anniversary beautiful Woo, you of that amazing laugh and twinkling eyes. You, who loves your dear ones so, held firmly in your heart and close by your side. We love your frankness, your humour and the delight that you see and share with the world.

Here is the gift I made for Woo and Eno, enjoy. xxx Ah love. 

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Woo and Eno

By scott collins

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Delights for a 4 year old (or 2, 3, 5, 6)

Here are a few of the beautiful gifts Ilo received for his 4th birthday, I feel like they were chosen or made with so much intention and consideration, so very special. They have already been adored, played with and delighted over. 

• little foxes mask and vintage snakes and ladders

• handmade hooded cape made with love by Woo using this book
• a perfect bag for all sorts of adventures made lovingly by Victoria
• a beautiful felt pencil case and the necessary brushes for everything from discovering dinosaur bones, applying fairy dust and even painting
• handmade finger puppets from Jen (how gorgeous is the display hand), the elephant and the rabbit are particularly well loved

Other loved gifts, not pictured here included a shovel, a whole lot of flowers to plant in Ilo's garden, a precious little pouch from Sharma full of fairy glitter, a hanging fairy lure, tiny sparkly stars and a fairy crystal and of course Ilo's very own panda. 

I decided to include a whole lot of Ilo's favourite books at the moment including some that he received as presents, the right book will be held close for so many years, some are even held firmly in the child's mind and heart well into adulthood. They are the most perfect gift.

• Annie's Rainbow - Ron Brooks
• An Awesome Book - Dallas Clayton
• An Awesome Book of Thanks - Dallas Clayton
• Miss Rumphis - Barbara Cooney
• Brambley Hedge Winter Story - Jill Barklem
• To Market to Market - Nikki McClure
• Nobody Owns the Moon - Tohby Riddle
• Just Another Ordinary Day - Rod Clements
• The Fairy Houses Trilogy - Tracy Kane
• A Child's Book of Seasons - Satomi Ichikawa
• The Barefoot Book of Earth Tales - Dawn Casey

• The Shore Beyond - Mary Joslin
• The Runaway Dinner - Allan Ahlberg and Bruce Ingram
• The Magic Beach - Alison Lester
• The King and the Seed - Eric Marden
• All through the Year - Anna Walker
• When you were small - Sara O'Leary
• The Clever Stick - John Lechner
• Oh the Thinks you can Think -Dr Seuss (other favourite Seuss books are The Lorax and Oh the Places you'll go)
• Mama is it Summer yet? - Nikki Mc Clure
• The Adventures of a Nose - Viviane Schwarz
• Flamingos on the Roof -Calef Brown

There are quite a few more but I hope this will suffice. 

• Oh and a magic growing tree (do you remember these?), pretty fun. 

garden guilt

I love gardens that provide, gardens that wander and overflow with produce, gardens that have meaning in their confusion, gardens that run in everywhich way. I love them. My heart feels happy when I see gardens not lawns, gardens that run with mint, chamomile, dandelions, then layers of dense but plentiful bits and pieces. I love to pick for every meal, to be creative with abundance to honour heritage and heirloom, to challenge and delight.

But, I must declare I feel like since we have been here I have failed in this vision. True we are only renting and have lived in two places in the last two years but it is more than that. I feel like I am so out of touch with how things grow here, last year I planted as I would in Sydney and although I had prepped the beds I didn't realise how depleted they were, my seedlings remained seedlings and then shot up to seed. Not to mention my ignorance at the big lemongrass sucking my garden bed dry.

Hmm, I tried again but to no avail. Finally before heading to Malaysia I gave the beds a serious talking to and hit them big time with all matter of manure and compost and glorious seaweed concoctions followed by layers of newspaper and sugar cane mulch and let it work it's magic for a couple of weeks. I also decided to plant a lot earlier than I previously had, it seems to have worked, kind of, but it's just starting. We are now getting deliciously juicy tomatoes that smell and taste amazing, wonderful glorious sweet potatoes, almighty brilliant Kale, a multitude of herbs and a few other bits and pieces (I didn't want to go too crazy in case I failed again). 

In other areas, I have pulled up a whole lot of plants that look like ginger but are in actual fact one of the many varieties that look like ginger or even galangal but are in fact neither, I plan to plant a whole lot of turmeric and actual ginger there instead. There are a few plans afoot without going too crazy, keeping in mind this is a rental. The kids have their own garden, filled with herbs, flowers and other random vegetables. 

I want an overflowing garden, even within our small confines, I want big leaves, hidden gems, many morsels of goodness. This makes me so happy, happy in my bones, my heart. But I feel like I still stab in the dark, in Sydney our small permaculture garden was a delight and produced a lot, here I find that mulching does not work it's magic in quite the same way, I am tempted to go a bit Biodynamic and expose my soil to the elements. 

Anyway, I feel like I have owned up to a dirty little secret, my failure (over and over) as a gardener, but I will try again and again, I will ask more questions, observe more and do my darndest to make what we have of a garden a snippet of my fantasy. 

Another thing I love about gardening is the passion that I feel afterwards, I have more of a spring in my step and smile on my dial, after this particularly fun session with Ilo, we hopped off to the kitchen to whip up some muesli, anzac cookies and a whole lot of nut butter (full of almonds, cashews, pepitas and hemps seeds), yum. Yes, it is true that after all this baking, dinner came a poor second, as we ended up having a bit of a slap dash baked bean nachos meal, albeit complete with guacamole, salad and yoghurt, hmm, it seems my baking mojo got used up prior to dinner, oh well, it was so worth it.

* update - I love nachos, like really love it nachos and all things mexican. 'Slap Dash' is more indicative of the depletion of said cooking mojo, basically you sneeze and nachos is cooked (well not exactly sneeze and definitely not over the food but you get the picture). 

four

Oh Ilo, now you are four year old, wow. As Scott and I sit down to write you a little letter we reflect on the you that is blossoming and evolving. We love your vibrancy and delight, your wonderful and expansive imagination, the tales you tell with so much conviction, your humour and wonder as your vocabulary and understanding grows. As a three/ now four year old, you love to perform, to dance, to take on voices, faces, personalities and scenarios, you really don't miss a trick. You challenge us in ways we never thought possible as your spirit pushes through and we have to use all our parenting know-how, life experience and humour to help and support you as much as we can. But even now in these last few weeks we see this shifting, shifting to a space where your words are being used so much more, regardless of your frustration. I loved when we were talking about this you said matter-of-factly " Well, that's what happens when you grow up".

I love hearing you and Poe as you wake in the morning, side by side, continuing to confess love, plan the day or tell little stories (but not so fond of those rarer mornings that sound like a monster has been unleashed in the room and cannot escape). 

It amazes me when you wake some mornings with a song that you have written in your head, with the instruments you will use already planned. My favourite is the yet to be finished "And the water flows down the river, out in to the sea. I am thinking of you are you thinking of me", and the explanation as to how you came up with those lyrics and melody, is so considered and beautiful. Remembering a time when you have missed someone and explaining the beauty of the river and where it goes. 

Oh my beautiful little one, so full of zest, life, beauty, spirit and fire, so many wishes of four to you. 

We had a very little afternoon Panda party, it was a simple delight, easy, fun and small. A couple of games of musical chairs, statues, Sharma painting panda faces, playing find the panda and then everyone left with a four felt heart mobile, to share the love of four. 

The gifts Ilo received were so beautiful, I thought I might do a post on them separately, some really lovely and inspiring four year old gift ideas.

ink & tart

For anyone who has ever visited or had the good fortune to live in Bellingen, I am sure you would definitely agree that there is no shortage of fine establishments in which you can partake in a caffeinated beverage and of all these establishments a large majority serve a pretty fine brew. However that hasn't stopped nor hindered the opening of another said establishment (albeit replacing an existing espresso bar), but this space is different, not only is it run by one of the most beautiful humans on the planet but it is tucked away, up some stairs, like an oasis. Those fortunate enough to know about Ink & Tart have often been seen up on the balcony looking over the main street and laughing at the misfortune of those who have not yet travelled up the stairs (well maybe not laughed, but i am sure there is a certain degree of smugness being bandied about). 

Nicole, yes, yes, the beautiful human, has been graced with the eye, the eye for beauty, care, remarkable ceramic skills and a laugh that turns heads wherever she goes, oh yes all this and the ability to make a delicious brew, yes despite evidence to the contrary she is of this world. 

This perfect little space, serves an array of delicious hot drinks (not just the greatest, fairest and greenest coffee on the planet) as well as delicious organic morsels of sweet delights. 

Oh and if all that isn't enough, Ink & Tart also has Nick Warfield's latest creations, tables, yes, the most beautiful coffee tables you would ever see, another human whose talents know no bounds. 

back on the farm

I just can't seem to keep away from the Funny Farm, in the last couple of weeks I have had the pleasure of not only some quality time with this lovely family but I also had the pleasure of snapping some very precious breastfeeding moments for Emma and Sassafras, some lovely 3/4 family pics (Susan was down with the dreaded belly bug) as well as a peek and some snaps of their guest accommodation on the property. It is a very sweet place, simple but delightful, if you are ever up this way you should definitely stay there, unless you are friends or even semi acquaintances of ours, in that case you must stay with us.

I was really happy with both these shoots, the light was just a delight to play with and obviously it helps  to have such wonderful subjects.

Susan and I are also hatching some plans for  a couple of Bellingen Food Festivals for next year, festivals that celebrate the amazing produce that is grown in this area in a way that engages everyone within the community, we had a brief meeting yesterday, it is looking pretty wonderful, I look forward to sharing more with you as it progresses.

to market

I realise I have been embarrassingly slack with regards to posting any of the clothes that I have created, then presented and then in some cases sold at the markets every month. And speaking of embarrassing don't even bother going to my Blue Caravan shop, boring, same old, same old. But I am vowing to right this wrong and get reinvigorated with photographing and posting my cloth creations both here and in my shop, so stay tuned, oh and now that I have said this, I will feel the eyes of all of you boring into me until something is done, so I have no choice really.
Anyway, here are a couple of tops that I made today for tomorrows market, nothing like the last minute.