bits

Craftiness on a hot Spring day.

Breakfast onboard a plane.

Learning how to restring a mandolin with Caleb, the discarded strings have become prized possessions, precious treasures to wear and adorn the walls of their room.

One of the few River Festival photos that I took, will hopefully be having a guest photographer here so you can see all the fun.

Are you ready? Dorrigo Part 2

When you have this much fun it's hard not to take a ridiculous amount of photos, so feel free to either dive right in or as a special treat for those who would rather not, here are three links to three posts that delighted me this week. One inspired and grounded me, the other made me stand up and applaud the reminder that we are all trying to do our best, that absolutely nobody is perfect and the importance of just being happy with yourself and all the decisions that you make in your life and the third as always made me feel calm, focused and relieved (the whole simplicity series of Jodi's is delightful).

There are no rules so please feel free to look at this 'weighty tome' of photos and check out the above links. 

Here we go: Dorrigo Folk and Bluegrass Festival Part 1

Prepare yourself lovely ones for a photo bonanza. Yes, last weekend we ventured up the mountain to the Dorrigo Folk and Bluegrass Festival and what a time we had. We camped with two other dear families (and managed to attract at least another four families, based purely on our tribe of children drawing other children in) and had such an amazing time in what was essentially the perfect little musical village. As I mentioned last year, this festival is amazing, it is true grass roots; easy, family friendly and brimming, nay overflowing with talent and joy. Interestingly, this is also a dry festival,which means no drinking at the festival and no smoking, which absolutely adds to the family friendly nature, it seems to help to create a very easy and relaxed atmosphere. Yes drinking does happen, at the campsites, in a generally restrained manner and often (ahem), ends in uncontrollable giggling being passed from tent to tent rather than anything extremely offensive.
This festival although touted as a folk and bluegrass festival is really accessible to everyone of any musical leaning. Our dear friend Eno, who is a drummer and a lover of hard rock had an absolute ball and loved so much of the music. As long as your ears don't bleed at the sound of a banjo and your heart functions well around mandolins, you too would love this festival.
The showstoppers of the festival were The Foghorn Stringband, as I mentioned in my last post, these guys are absolutely brilliant, they made everyone's smiles extra, extra wide, which admittedly did look a bit freaky, but we were all in the same boat, so collectively we just decided to grin and ignore it. A real treat. Other highlights included; Cat and Clint, Oh Pep, The Steamgrass Boys, The Lurkers, Oh Willy Dear, Starboard Cannons, Vic Manuel, Slim Jim, Black Train, Don and Jon The Resonator Brothers,  the amazing Pitt Family Circus and some band that gets around the traps, The Mid North.
It was also very special sharing this weekend with dear friends, it further highlighted the beauty of community, of sharing meals, sharing and caring for all of our children and having such a beautiful and connected time together.
Okay, more to come but this is part 1 of the photo deluge, hope you enjoy. What a wonderful, wonderful weekend.