Green Week - Day 3 Wednesday

Look carefully, yes, it's true, there are raindrops in our pond!! We are having rain for the second time in a week. OK, it was only a little, but we are enjoying every single drop. The girls are very excited - 10 years of drought makes up their entire lifetime - so when we have rain they really do love it. Sometimes this means running around the backgarden in sheer delight - grabbing pots and pans from under the gutters and tipping them over all the ailing plants - all done with much laughter, squeels and dripping hair and clothing!

I'm loving this...

I think I would have liked to have been a beekeeper in a past life. This gorgeous postcard comes from Marie over at Vintage Postcards - she has collected some very yummy things over there.

Green week - Day 2 Tuesday

Day 2 - Tuesday 10th March

My favourite little green folk from Ostheimer - I can't resist them! Made it with a second to spare - too much twittering tonight!

Green week - Day 1 Monday

I've been inspired by Shelley at waldorf mama. To mark the beginning of Spring, in the Northern Hemisphere they are celebrating green week . I thought I would celebrate too (albeit a week later). Here in Melbourne in the Southern Hemipshere we are entering Autumn, but with a little rain after a long hot summer, drought and bushfires, instead of turning shades of gold and amber, we are experiencing joyous (!) splashes of GREEN. This is a celebration indeed!!!

DAY 1: Monday
Even after the drought Mother Nature has still provided some harvest in our garden.

Easter is coming...

We had so much fun in the shop over the last few days getting ready for Easter and redecorating our window. Lots of lovely treasures (that make a nice change from an overload of chocolate) - the painted wooden eggs look stunning hanging on a bare branch I think, and I do love the Ostheimer hen house - I've seen a few copies of these around lately, so do be careful and ask for the box or a label when purchasing. Walter and Adeline Ostheimer began the forerunner to today’s Ostheimer Wooden Toys company in 1939. Their toys are based on the theories of Waldorf (Steiner) Pedagogy. Each animal is handcarved and painted with tranparent non-toxic paints. The smaller fake animals I have seen are factory made in China - such a pity - and you can not be sure of their toxicity, timber and labour sources. Help support handmade goods and make sure you buy an original.

The little brown doll is by designer Evi - these are ethically made by women in Brazil using natural cotton and pure wool stuffing.

Can't wait to get started on some Easter craft now - I think the girls will be ready for some of the more complex egg decorating ideas from Easter Craft this year, and maybe we'll sew the little egg cosies too - this book has so many lovely ideas we find something new to do every year.

The waterfall place...

Sunday afternoon at "the waterfall place" (as the girls call it). We have been coming here since they were first walking. It doesn't seem like a waterfall to them anymore now their perspective has changed...but it is still our special, secret, relaxing place.

Autumn is here!!!! Everyone who knows me well, knows also that this is my favourite time of year - slowly (in Melbourne) the weather starts to cool, the leaves turn and the shadows grow longer. It is also the time of Lent leading up to Easter. For me, there is a golden thread of truth running through all spiritual traditions - it resides in the human heart - it is the mystery of being human.

It is a gentle time of year, and as I watch the garden's subtle changes, I am reminded of all that must die away in life in order for something new to emerge. It is a time of quietness. This year I am having to let go...the drought has really done it's work...so many plants lost...so much barren ground where there was once green...

In our kitchen stands a simple empty bowl (a punch bowl given on our wedding day) on white cloth (a lovely piece of linen I bought in Eygpt 20 years ago) - each time I pass it I am reminded to make space in my life for all that is really important, and to empty out all the noise and clutter - all that stuff we hold on to - whether it be material, mental or emotional.

It is a time to be still...and be.