hetzel family

a couple of weeks ago i got to take some photos of a sweet trio of a family, sarndra, shane and little alex.

alex is such a sweet little one. he has amazingly wide eyes with gorgeous lashes and a very easy going nature. i am sure a lot of his temperament comes from having very loving and attentive parents. babies truly respond to having their needs met! it sounds simple but in reality it is so much harder than it looks. they made it look pretty easy though over at the hetzel's.

i arrived at their place mid morning on a sort of drizzly day. i was a bit nervous, as i usually am when i am going to take people's photos, also because it was my first time trying a really informal, unplanned style of capturing a family, inspired by the amazing tim coulson. his documentary style approach is the direction i'd like to head in, as that is how i like to photograph my own life and family. i think it is much more relaxing for all involved, much more real, and just plain beautiful to have a record of the everyday.

i ve had this sort of 'fake it 'til you make it' refrain running through my head as of late - i LOVE taking photos, but am a relative new-comer as far as things go. i honestly had only the foggiest idea of what an slr camera was a year ago. and i guess in the quest to be inspired into finding my own style i did a lot of photography blog reading and a lot of trolling online and it seemed as though the only way to make a living taking photos was to polish them. don't get me wrong, i still do love a polished photo - but if you know me, polished is not a word that describes me very well!

where am i going with this? ah. yes, i think i am much more of a fly by the seat of my pants type, rather than a chart the sun and tides and locations type. no pocketful of poses here. and i am relieved that i have come to this conclusion so that i know where to direct my effort in the future.

i loved having a peep into what sarndra and shane and alex get up to when his daddy has a sunday off from his chef-ing and were just banging around the house and neighbourhood. and i super enjoyed just taking photos and talking to these people who were really interesting to chat with rather than telling them where we were going to sit and trying to get them to act natural. goodness, it was so much easier capturing people acting natural when they were actually acting natural!



so, thank you to sarndra, shane and alex for letting me into your home 2 weeks ago to drink coffee and take pictures of your life. it truly was a pleasure.

savouring

with the move to canada slowly approaching, i'm beginning to take stock of all the things i will miss. and when i say things i mainly mean people. oh, and the beach.

friday, the entire livelong day (that's right, a whopping 11 hours) was spent out at our dear friend julie's house. julie and simon's house is the kind of place that is immediately homely and welcoming and full of offers of food and drink and general feelings of good-will. bea would like a house 'like julie's'. enough said.

as usual, the day passed in a blissful combination of tea drinking, chatter, a bit of pattern cutting/sewing plan talk, eating, parenting, and drinking more tea. all this was followed by the dads joining in after work and bbq-ing, having a nice cold apple cider, eating some more and bathing the kids.

although there are still 4.5 months left, these sweet afternoons are numbered and lovely and they are to be savoured.

i know you are reading this julie - believe me when i tell you i don't know if i would have made it here without you. i'm going to miss you something fierce. i wish i could move you with us, somehow.




ok, i just cried my eyes out writing this post. i love you my friend, you will be missed.

xoxo

here comes the sun

after a few weeks of humid, over-cast and wet weather we have finally had a sunny weekend and it does feel as though some kind of burden has lifted. apparently when it is really hot the crime rate goes up. i can definitely see how that could happen, as i know there have been a few short fuses around our place.

but the heat and humidity don’t seem as stifling against a backdrop of bright sunlight, and the past few weeks of rain has been great for greenery – everywhere is lit up in vibrant green. the water has been sorely needed around here.

we’ve been playing in the water a lot over the last few weeks – rain and shine!

. . . . . tugun beach – playing in the rain, au naturel

. . . . . kondalilla falls rock pool, near flaxton, sunshine coast hinterland

. . . . . coming off the slide at her friend Layne’s house, bea is already posed to swim to the side of the pool before she’s even hit the water

i hope you have been keeping cool/warm - whatever is comfortable in whichever climate you happen to be in!

my place and yours : : wherever i lay my hat. . .




this week's meet me at mikes meme theme is 'wherever i lay my hat, that's my home' by tania from Myrtle & Eunice. lovely theme, and lovely blog tania i might add!

we do a lot of shifting around, and we have yet to settle in a 'home'. we also, until recently didn't have many things. i am originally from canada and have been living here for about 4 years - i must say that for me, canada is still home. for me, the notion of 'wherever i lay my hat, that's my home' rings very true!

my little family is my home here - bea and brett. when i get home from work to an empty house, it has no pull. the sounds of welcome from them makes me feel like i have arrived.

3


bea's party with her friends isn't until next weekend so monday, (her real birthday) i had the day off and we did some fun stuff over the long weekend.

• birthday bunting, pink enough for her tastes i think - we had it up in the morning so when she came down the stairs she breathlessly exclaimed 'what's that?'. a suitably cute reaction
  
• opening a gift from grammy
• the gift turned out to be a real winner. a lilac tutu one-piece which was not removed for 2 days except for sleeping and bathing
• a dress i made for bea that she doesn't like as much as the lilac tutu, but the lilac tutu is very cute so i am OK with it
  
• making finn style pancakes for a birthday breakfast
• strolling down at the bay after a swim at the wynnum salt water pool
• running across the playing ground at the windsor bowls club. that flat grass surface just screams 'run on me!' doesn't it?
  
• home-made little bunny who bea named melissa, not as favoured as some sparkly manufactured fairies also received (although she let melissa play ring around the rosie with us this afternoon so i think she is warming to her)
  
• upsy daisy cake, as requested. i would have liked to make a tasty cake, with chocolate ganache and whipped cream, and without the fondant icing laced with food-colouring but alas, 3 apparently is old enough to have preferences and whenever i asked her what sort of special food she wanted for her birthday she would request upsy daisy cake every time. did not forget about this cake idea even when the topic was not raised for 3 weeks.
  

sigh. . . sometimes (and sometimes more than others) i find it hard to play up against all these greater powers that seem to be ever present, like manufactured plastic fairies and television show characters, and not get frustrated. i know she is bound to be influenced by the 'outside world' at some stage but already? i guess when given the choice and with a lack of understanding of the deeper meaning behind 'things' most young children unconsciously choose the bright shiny colours of plastic and glitter over a calico rabbit, and the flashing images of a television over a book, most of the time. we can try to expose our kids to what we chose in our own homes but what about everything outside of our bubble that seeps inside, inevitably? and i don't really want her to grow up in a bubble - i suppose all one can do is provide options and instill some values and hope it all falls into place as they grow.

i wish i had an owl like that

as we are quickly approaching our birthday/christmas season the topic of conversations bea seems to be having are based around presents and presents and what we should have to eat at her party and what is santa bringing. sometimes it feels like a lot of talk of consumption for a three year old. i'm making her presents this year and she is getting into the spirit. she saw an image of an owl softie yesterday and said 'mummy, i wish i had an owl like that. can you make one?'

how can you refuse a request like that?

i think the difficulty to refuse can be attributed to a four letter word starting with 'w'.

a little word she has come around to using somehow is the word 'wish'. we don't go to the shops that often, but when we do she is full of wishes. . .

'i wish i had a doll like that mummy'
'i wish i could have one of those. . .'
'i wish someday i could have a scooter like that'

i'm surprised that she has come up with using this word herself - i don't think i say wish much however i've rarely heard her say 'i want that doll' or 'i want that candy'. wanting/wishing to acquire something has the same desired end result. she still wants to possess a cute owl, or doll or whatever the desired object may be - she still wants things. but sound of the word feels much gentler, a wish is like a whisper, a want is foot being stamped indignantly.

i hope she keeps wishing. . .

dear wee pyjama girl

this little girl is my first attempt at what i think could be considered embroidery! she was inspired by the amazing work of Jenny Hart, founder of Sublime Stitching. although trying my hand at embroidery was fun and i think i could do it again sometime, that time will not be soon. just a dabbling i believe. i am currently into dalliances with lots of little bits and pieces. for the moment, i like it this way - testing the waters here and there.

i've inherited this tendency most definitely from my father. my childhood is filled with memories of his various exploits - wood turning, decoy carving, gem faceting. some of my most vivid recollections involve sitting pyjama-clad on the steps to his downstairs workshop watching and smelling the wood burning tool, hypnotised, as he gave loon decoys feather texture. joining him at the lapidary club and making cabochons. asking questions about all the tools and what they might be used for. the suspense and intrigue at being sent upstairs to wait while a noxious glue was being applied. the thrill of being allowed to paint part of a duck's bill. many a cosy winter sunday was spent absorbing his projects with much interest.

today, my workspace is not a basement full of lathes, drills, wood burning tools and gem faceting machines. we live in a rather small unit - luckily we are in possession of a rather large table upon which my crafty little corner usually overflows. i will have to be satisfied with this space for now, but i would like more room someday. at the moment you will find porcelain paint, felt pieces, balls of yarn, spools of silver wire and stacks of fat quarters. the sound of a sewing machine humming along instead of the squeals and screeches of saws and drills - or the even quieter, almost inaudible sound of a rotary cutter slicing through fabric.

i feel happy to have inherited a love of making things with my hands - it feels meditative, fulfilling and motivating. when i see my little 3 year old daughter making 'quilts' from scraps i've given her and pretending to knit with some spare yarn and needles, i think she too someday will want to make things with her hands, and recall my little workspace and the fun we had there.

a happy weekend

a very lovely weekend, full of walks to the park, friends and yummy food. . .

• birdies by Spool, part of my Christmas sewing for which i feel considerably impressed with myself for starting so early

• the wading pool at the bay side near home was looking particularly appealing on a warm Saturday morning

• beginning the 1st pair of Norwegian fair isle mittens, using horribly sticky yarn which i need to banish from my stash

• Lizzie's chickens. always a big hit with BB, unless she is having a snack and they begin to stalk her

• tea towels (see Things to do. . .) laundered, folded and ready for re purposing

• the Edible Landscapes Nursery at Northy Street City Farm, a permaculture farm in the city
  

• the beautiful violet-purple of a Jacaranda tree, which are all gloriously in full bloom at the moment

• sauteing leek and mushroom for my pie, which was served Saturday night as part of a belated Thanksgiving dinner

• Sunday, was a very windy day, perfect for flying kites. BB and i took in the sights at the Kite Flying Society meeting. yes! such a thing exists. BB wants in.

Hooray for a very lovely weekend!