My new friend*

I'm making slow but steady friends with a certain something I have only small amounts of experience with... Growing into Mamahood has filled my life with opportunities to practise it, and I feel (often- but not always..) massively blessed for those opportunities. But to finally be learning -even at a snails pace- how to bring this new friend into other facets of my life- Wow! It is both terrifying and empowering.

Patience my love.*
(check out my super awesome low-tech wordyness!)

 I have this mantra scrawled across my kitchen-sink window sill in chalk. And it soothes me every time I read it. I spend so much time in that spot too, it's well placed...! So instead of holding my breath in wait for... the summer, or a wonderful new home to be ready for us, or the intrigueing details of how a certain new friendship shall develop (whew- hard work!) I am slowing down, and letting myself experience, and marvel at, all that is happening right before my very eyes! I don't want to miss a moment of it through wishing it away -except maybe that fiercely wild spring wind, that can get the hell outa here!
Arohanui Xx*


The wind stilled enough for us to go on a long awaited 3 wheelin' adventure*

Patience- pfft! These guys are growing faster than a bunch of beautiful weeds! ;-).*

The Daddyo, helping out my small, beautiful, creeper-y (Minecraft, ok?!) boy set up his stall selling doughnuts and 'Little Beasties' :-).*

The making of the Little Beasties*

Best op-shop score in ages!! This gorgeous, tactiley-satisfying (those wee dots are smooth, raised blobs of glaze!), deep (ocean of tea!) terracotta mug, made in Scandinavia. Sigh! :-).*

Closer*

I mentioned the other day about a surprise.... Well, here is a sneak peak! Absolute chaos in the studio space has been slooowwwly (painfully slowly!) making way for actual usable, wonderful sewing space!!! Yay! :-D. So, I'm about to get back into it for a half hour before my beautiful boy comes home from his Dad's. Arohanui, Tink Xx*

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Happy days!!!*

Slowly, slowly organising*

Carnage!*

More carnage!!*

A very small selection of my fabric collection :-).*

Maybe heading off to a babe near you...! ;-).*

Syncronicity*

Kia ora beautiful people :-).
Lately I have been feeding my soul- and at times, keeping my head above water- with heaps of THIS beautiful wahine!!! Oh Mama, Lucy, thank you! Your vids are small checks in of gloriousness in some waaayyyy too busy weeks at the mo! Actual goodness :-). And y'all know about her blog too eh? That article about spirited kids- oh my! Tears of happiness and totes gratitude for the recognition, and the awesome way Lucy puts stuff into words. Legend!
Okaaaay- enough hero worship! ;-). Let me fill this page with photos as I'm not yet at the place where I can express- succinctly, or in written form, what I one day hope to be able to!! (One day, right!) :-).

So, after two years of awesomeness, tomorrow is our presentation/graduation/celebration day for our Permaculture Design Certificate class! Yay!
And, I'm on the last module of my Cert. Small Business Management class too- which means it's nearly, so very nearly time to sew again!! Oh, sewing, I've missed you!
I'm up to my eyeballs in paper, and scribbles notes, and deadlines, and not up to my eyeballs in sleep... not at all.... But soon eh, soon I'll sleep and sew, and sit in the sun with my boy more :-).
Xx*

Wild things!! A brand new friend gave me these wicked boots, as she's moving into a housebus. Aaand those two lurvely carpet stools! Mmmm.... I love free stuff, bright colours and vintage treasures!! :-D.*

Taproot; So. Damn. Good.*

I was recently listening to a recorded talk- Dr Christiane Northrup (more hero worship!) talk on the subject of her book Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom, and she mentioned THIS book. My ears perked up, I scribbled it down, and promptly lost the paper... But as I walked past a display at the library, on a particularly 'head down' kind of day, I looked up, briefly, and there it was! And it is gooood!*

My boy's art- taped to our door and drawn on the back of old bank statements :-).*

This is how he tends to 'rest' when watching the odd youtube clip in my phone...*

Haircut. I like it- shows off my glitter strands :-).*

A few of my favorite things...*

Go on- sing it, I dare ya! ;-).
Whew! I needed to make a wee post about stuff I love. Life has been flipping out onto the rough side a bit lately. Not super hard- just a bit rough. My beautiful boy has been sick for several days, so we've been housebound, and that, plus the weather (pluuus the fact I'm a super-solo-Mama..!) has made getting out for a walk, or any fresh air/cobweb blowing impossible! I am desperate for some walking- even in the wind! I've been grouchy. Shitty-sweary-grumpy-bitchy-grouchy. Not the Mama I want to be, or the Mama I know I actually am (Oh, see what I did there! :-).) It's been dvds, youtube on my phone (erk!), endless uno (actually awesome!), and other sanity-scrabbling/saving attempts. And plenty of opportunities to practise patience. And plenty of opportunities to try again.
SO, here are some thing I love- things that make me smile, glimpses into my home. Sunny spots, art I love (made by people I love), and some exciting news... Read on loved ones :-).

Sunny spot plus yumness = bliss! Really enjoying these books by Eleanor Ozich at the mo, and managing to sneak in the odd page of that awesome Yin Yoga book too.... (sigh!)*

I absolutely ADORE this print, 'Meow', by my super talented friend Bec White.*

Just. One. Day. At. A. Time. Made that one for me :-). And the cloud castle (as I refer to it...), beautiful mahi by my lovely friend Kirsty Porter*

One of my super precious pieces by my dear boy. That's us jumping on the tramp :-D.
And underneath, black n white Xmas Day by my fantastically clever sister Nina, and baby made by me ;-).*

Heru, Craig Kawana; Embroidery, Hannah Joy Southward; Scary Faces (guess who :-).)*

My ol' buddy 'Keep Calm I Love You' :-). And a stainless steel sculpture co-lab my Papa and I made, titled 'Ma' (Eeek! Where's the macron key...??!!)*

Bliss. A precious memory of some wonderful quiet time with my one and only :-).*



After months of having photo frames in various stages of repainting clogging up living space, now they're decorating wall space- Woohoo!*

I miss this...*

It's been so long... Woefully long! I have missed this. It has certainly not been through lack of wanting that I have been so absent. Life. Been. Busy.
I'm studying some ( a Cert. in Small Business Management through Te Wananga o Aoteroa) and getting 'officially' into home educating the beautiful boy- because we've always been doing it, just now there's a piece of paper from the Ministry of Education endorsing what we do (which is sometimes helpful... maybe more on that another day). Oh, and no kindy drop offs (or days for this mama to get her study on, or make appointments...). But it's AWESOME! I feel SO blessed to be on this journey with the most important person in my life. And to have EVEN MORE time to spend with him?! What more could this Mama want :-).

Tea party!!!*

Rock on my little love :-).*

I wish you could really see that grin! These girls are magic, I tell ya!*

Chicken palace, built with love, artistically styled with crazy-naughty alpaca photo bomb...*

It's true. But if war was generally more responsible for creating positive change, then this might feel like an accurately represented comparison. It still resonates with me though. Greatly*

More fridge space*

Corr! Man do I love him! :-).*

Actually, the small guy has been going to a one-day school kinda program called Hinengaro, which has been choice for him, and meant I can keep reasonably up to date with the study. He's there with a bunch of other home-ed kids, and some fantastic facilitators. Aaand he takes a packed lunch- this is so new to me, as his kindy was Rudolph Steiner they provided organic meals and snacks for the kids, and we took lunch together to Playcentre, so 'pre-packing' (ie chopping/spreading and wrapping stuff) was way less necessary. So far his lunch consists of mostly the same deal- he is such of creature of habit (I hear that is developmental... Crossing some fingers...!)- Salami, apple n cheese, pear, banana, mandarin (ahoy winter fruit!), popcorn or crackers, and his new favorite- nori sheets (praise the universe!!) I'd really love some more suggestions.... What do y'all feed your small, wonderful ones?
Hey, thanks for stopping by- I hope to see more of you soon :-).
Arohanui, Tink*

Small Blessings*

Well, actually small blessings that feel HUGE! Like having an actual table to sit at and eat- Oh! How luscious! (after 1.5 years of eating on the door step- although the nothing will beat that view out across the valley :-).)

Beautiful kai, 10 minutes quiet, and some reading I am DEEPLY excited about finally getting my hands on! :-). Xx*

Peachy porridge*

My new love*

Last year, on January ninth, my wonderful Grandma passed away. I think of her nearly every day- often more than once. She was full of kindness, and she inspired us all to explore the world. Things will never be the same without her, but they shall still be all the better for having known her. 

She left me a wee smidge of money (each of us grandkids), which I tucked away, and just last week, with help of my lovely neighbour- who is a clever and talented photographer, and a great friend, I bought (on trade me!) this beautiful beast! :-D.

It is an Olympus DSLR E-300, with a 14-45 lense, and yes, I am still learning what that all means, and yes, I am just at the very beginning of learning how it all works- but already I am smitten!

Here is me 'appropriating' (y'all know that's the proper term for when artists copy stuff eh! ;-).) THAT picture of oneself holding ones camera that is so common. But it's different if it's a new camera, and one is all loved up right? ;-).

Life is already looking better through that wee peephole. I can't wait to see more! :-).*