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!

stocking stuffing

I’ve been feeling a bit guilty because I’m not hugely into Christmas – I do really like the gathering with people and eating of yummy things, but I think it will be a while until a Christmas tree makes it appearance chez nous. Outdoor lights probably will never make an appearance. Lucky for us, we have a mother in law here who loves her Christmas season (being born on Christmas day, perhaps has been imprinted from birth!) and when we do go to Canada for Christmas, I will have my mother to lavish all the excitement on the grandkids.

For me, a Canadian in Australia, Christmas sweltering in the heat just doesn’t feel right – probably this helps keep homesickness at bay. Can’t wait to have a white Christmas in Canada someday and neither can bea! She really would like to wear a snowsuit, she says.

This year I have tried to step it up as bea is at an age where she is really quite excited about the whole thing – mainly the idea that she has to leave some milk and cookies out for santa, and a carrot for his reindeer. We’ve been reading Christmas stories and I made her this quilted stocking for a few goodies from Santa.

Something i am liking this year are Christmas stories. These are our favourite Christmas stories at the moment:

This fun book was given to Bea a couple years ago by julie and simon. the rhymes are really well done and it is nice to read a christmas book that isn't about the north pole and all things non-Australian summer-ish!

The Polar Express was my favourite book when i was little. The copy we have used to be mine so that makes the book extra special. Chris Van Allsburg writes amazing stories and i like that the illustrations are all a little dark and kind of mysterious.

christmas workshop

felt decorations from my christmas workshop assembly line. . .

i am not an assembly line lover! but i can attest to the efficiency of it, and i do like thinking about each piece and how to make it an individual. i'd like to have a little market stall or some such platform someday, so i should really get used to some semblance of an assembly line i suppose.

ah, handmade gifts to give - sometimes i think the term 'handmade' is funny because aren't most things largely handmade? and those people working under terrible manufacturing conditions are actually very skilled and efficient hand-makers of things, albeit anonymously, without reward and under deporable conditions.

i think like the term 'homemade' for things that are made locally or by an independent hand, at their home or studio. . .