Saturday, December 31, 2011

A tribute to a friend...

When I was 15 I was lucky enough to meet a 19 year old man who would take me under his wing & guide me through some tricky times.

Ben was a fit and healthy man who was working at the local surf club where I was studying to gain my Surf Life Saving Certificate. Ben was teaching the theory side of the course. I grasped the theory easily but the physical side of my exam - a swim in particular - proved to be difficult. I had never swum in a pool properly before then.

Ben was a stickler for the rules. He was meticulous. He also had faith in my abilities. He was encouraging and it was hard to believe, after speaking with him, that I couldn't complete my swim in the allocated time.

Fortunately my determination and Ben's faith in me paid off and finished my swim, gaining my certificate. I then completed many patrols on the beach. Neither Ben nor I fitted the mold of the 'typical' life saver. I was not particularly athletic or competitive and he was not macho! For that reason alone we had a lot in common and we spent hours talking.

At the end of that summer Ben returned to his teaching degree at uni and his job in Sydney but we regularly wrote to each other. He returned the following summer and he was never shy at giving advice. He always reminded me to 'sit up straight' and 'look after yourself' and told me that I was never alone. Those were my teenage years and I hadn't met another person who could pass on such advice without sounding condescending. He had never drank or smoked and he never would.

A few years later Ben regularly checked-in with me as my Higher School Certificate exams approached. He wanted to be certain I gave it everything I could. One morning Ben drove from Sydney to where I lived and stayed a few days while he arranged a study schedule for me consisting of a good breakfast and exercise, a couple of hours of study then lunch a couple more hours of study, a walk, dinner then good rest.

Ben left at 5am one morning to return to Sydney so he wouldn't interrupt my newly adopted schedule.

After my exams were finished he, once again, drove to my house. This time he collected me so that I could go bush walking with him and his new girlfriend. We walked for 2 days through the Grose Valley in the Blue Mountains- camping out one night and swimming in the rock pools before walking up the steep Govett's Leap.

The exercise was about endurance and achievement and Ben thought it reflected perfectly the accomplishment of completing my exams.

My HSC results ended up being quite good and I decided to complete a teaching degree at university as well.

During my uni years and afterwards I kept in touch with Ben but more irregularly than I should have. Our lives were busy and I was living in Canberra. My husband and I attended the wedding of Ben and the girlfriend I'd walked with in the Blue Mountains. They had moved down the south coast and then had a daughter. Ben was teaching at a local high school where he was the year advisor for a whole year of students as well as a mentor for young indigenous students. Ben was a volunteer fire fighter, he continued his work with the Surf Club and was involved in a choir, among other pursuits.

Ben was the sort of person who, if he saw a need for something, especially for those who were disadvantaged, he'd stick his neck out. He wasn't afraid to speak up about injustices even if and when that made him unpopular. I know that in his work as a teacher he did this many times when it would have been easy to go along with the status quo. Being a 'stickler for the rules' doesn't always make you a popular person either but Ben didn't care. For that reason you knew where you stood with him.

Ben remained body conscious, ate well and exercised daily. Late in 2006 Ben taught a group of life savers how to use a defibrillator.  As he did he remarked "you never know you may have to use it on me one day."

On New Years Eve 2006 Ben had just completed a patrol for the Surf Club. He signed off and decided he might go for a swim when he saw some swimmers who appeared to be getting into difficulty. He watched them for a moment before he suddenly dropped to the ground.

Ben had a heart condition called Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. His thickened heart muscle meant the heart had to work harder to push blood around and the valves in his heart were also weakened under the strain.

His colleagues did exactly as they were trained and moments later they were using the very defibrillator that Ben had taught them to use, on him.

Sadly, as in many cases of Hypertrophis Cardiomyopathy, the defibrillation was not enough to save Ben. Nothing could have.

Ben was just a few weeks away from his 30th birthday. His daughter was just a few weeks away from her 1st birthday.

My husband and I happened to be down the south coast and we'd intended to meet up with Ben, his wife and their daughter. We were moment from town when we heard what had happened to Ben. We immediately made our way to his home. We grieved with Ben's wife and family.

Because he was such a community minded man there were many who needed to pay their respects.

Today, as in many days throughout the year, but especially on New Years Eve I remember Ben. I remember everything he taught me - from good posture, to health and fitness, to believing in myself and friendship.

I am infinitely grateful for Ben's devotion to me, his kindness and love. I am so lucky to have met such an inspiring person who dedicated so much of himself to others. Wherever you are Ben, know that I will always think of you. I will continue to love your wife and your daughter.

I miss you.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Apologies but we've been busy...


.... kayaking,


feasting on a camp smorgas board,


soaking up the sun & water at Bristol Point Beach,


and enjoying a visit from a dutch cousin.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Calling all bilge rats!


 67 cupcakes.... a little help from Donna Hay. *


 Taste test...


Birthday cake.

Treasure Chest.


Digging for treasure. **

We also followed clues to find treasure (treasure/lolly bags.) Remember that treasure chest? 


Delicious!

* 120 triangle sandwiches (cucumber & garlic chived cream cheese, egg, mayonnaise & crunchy lettuce); sausage sandwiches; fruit swords (fruit skewers); sunken treasure (fruit in jelly).

**We also playing Pin the Patch on the Pirate!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Happy Anniversary

4 years ago my husband and I promised to dance each other to the end of love.

We are still dancing.

Love you Darling.


Eric Bibb sings 'Dance Me To The End Of Love."

Farewell my friend

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb. And when the earth shall claim your limbs then shall you truly dance. (Kahlil Gibran) 
 May you drink, climb, dance and eat your way into the next life.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Ahoy Me Hearties!


December is HUGE for our extended family. Aside from Christmas we celebrate four birthdays including our two children's. This year we've decided to have a 'Pirate Party' for the kids so it's going ahead (pending the weather) this Sunday.

I made this treasure chest so we can have a treasure hunt (for 'lolly bags'). I covered an esky with newspaper and used masking tape to secure it. I didn't have any brown paint but that didn't matter! I just mixed red, blue and yellow together!

My son and I painted the newspaper (inside and outside of the esky) before I added the 'gold' trimmings. I found a 'skull and crossbone' image on Google and drew it on a piece of thick paper. I cut out the bits that I wanted to appear in white paint.

Stay tuned for a recap of the party & the activities I have planned!

In the garden...



Perhaps we'll have a home grown cucumber. It looks promising. 

This year our self-seeded tomatoes (thanks to the worm castings we dug in) are truss tomatoes.  A friend came over and insisted on giving the bush a big prune (doing away with superfluous branches) so that the plant concentrates on its fruit.

During summer my favourite dish takes about 3 minutes to prepare. I like to duck out to the garden and collect a bunch of, mostly green, ingredients- spinach, rocquette, basil, parsley, fresh mint and tomatoes- cut them up and put them in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil. The mint, I believe, is the winner in this salad. It adds freshness and a touch of summer!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

farewell my friend

Today I found out a very dear friend of mine is at the end of his life. Sadly he will die before the end of the year and likely before the end of the week. He's fifty and he's had cancer for two and a half years now.

My friend has decided to die in his parent's home and his four children are with him. At every moment of the day he has someone with him and his children are taking turns sleeping beside him. My friend's diagnosis was such a shock at the time.

He's done everything he can to hold on to life without making his last years unbearable.

Last week his ex-wife and best friend took him for a swim, his final swim, in the wide ocean.

It is truly devastating news to hear that our friend will no longer walk among us. Its devastating to think that he will never hold his grandchildren or walk his daughters down the aisle. I am comforted by knowing that he will no longer suffer and for the last moments he has in this world he is with the most important people in his life.

Losing someone over a long period of time isn't like losing someone suddenly. We have had time to visit and say goodbye. There'll still be a gap when he's gone. My friend's children are fortunate to have these precious moments with him, at home, rather than in palliative care, where they can participate in his care and help him into the next world.

"Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb. And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance." Kahlil Gibran

Today I shall farewell one of the most beautiful men I know. I salute one of the most wonderful fathers I have ever met. He may never hold his grandchildren but everyone who knew him will carry his memory with them.

May you sing and climb, dance and eat your way into the next world Stevie. I love you.

A note to my readers...

Occasionally I 'check in' to see if anyone is reading my blog. It is intriguing to see the traffic that comes by and I am enthused by the interest. I'd like to shout out to those readers (and there are a few) from Russia that regularly check my blog.

It does make me wonder what life is like for you - across the world- why you read my blog and what you get from it. Does it make you want to live in Australia? Can you relate to parts of my published life?

I originally started this blog as something for me. A hobby. I like the idea of sharing my experiences and a little of my life. 

I hope that you continue to 'check in.' Thanks for reading!

chook looks




Aren't our Rhode Island Red chookies looking healthy? The girls are awake at the crack of dawn (as you'd expect) and by about 7am they are going berserk. I usually have some food scraps from the night before which I feed the girls. It seems to calm them down.

They went broody a few weeks back and my husband mentioned that when chooks went broody at his place when he was young they'd string them up in a hessian sack until they started laying again. Apparently chooks can go broody for months. While we aren't running an egg factory here it would be a shame to have to buy eggs again!

These girls don't have a rooster (they are prohibited in NSW suburban backyards) so there is no point them nesting.

We tried for a different method (I was dubious about my husband's suggestion). We took the straw out of the laying box and after a couple of weeks of avoiding the box (because it was so uncomfortable) they started to lay again.

I love having the eggs again. Ill have to find the link to the pellet dispenser my husband bought. It's a New Zealand designed and made contraption so they have pellets all day long and pests can't get to the pellets.

Strawberries in Summer



Our strawberries never seem to stay on the plant long enough to ripen but I still have my fingers crossed for this year's crop!

Monday, December 5, 2011

Book Worm


Does this look like a familiar children's book illustration to you?

Children never cease to amaze me.

Our boy was busy doing something late last week. I didn't see what until a while later when I found this little treasure on our front step.

His accompanying comment was something like "egg on a leaf."

Suddenly it clicked. Do you know what illustration he was talking about?

You can see what I mean when if you click here.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Christmas tree, oh, Christmas tree.


My son and I collected a couple of good branches the other day. We do have a big plastic Christmas tree but setting it up is such a palaver that I wondered about decorating the foot-high one we have and making another out of the branches.

Since I took the pic I have 'thinned' out the decorations. It does make for a less-cluttered tree lounge room!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Christmas must be coming..




I know it's not traditional to begin Christmas before December but I guess we don't follow much of the tradition of Christmas.

There are hints around our house that Christmas is on its way. I like the fun around Christmas- making things, eating great food, being with family and friends and having husband home from work!

I have a few things that come out each year too. The first is my twin nisse which came from two beautiful Norwegian students I had in my second year of teaching. The girls could only speak a few words (literally) in English when they arrived - "toilet" and "thank you." They arrived during a very hot summer so I'd frequently find them drenching themselves under the bubbler - trying to keep cool. These girls are now 11, living back in Norway and I keep in touch with them via their parents. Each Christmas, especially, I think of my little nisse girls.

The Santas are also Scandinavian. Nordic Fusion has a great range of stock at Christmas time. Although it's not cheap (you can always wait 'til January) I like to have a few precious keepsakes that come out each year.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Sneak Peek...


A little sneak peek at some things I have been working on. Watch this space!

* Don't forget - I only started sewing a few months ago and I'm self-taught so they won't be anything too fancy!

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Beautiful Biscuits... well, sort of





 

One morning late last week I asked my son what he'd like to do and he replied that he'd like to make biscuits. I took down two of my favourite Woman's Weekly cookbooks and told him he could choose the biscuits we'd make.

We had fun with the cookie cutters and hundreds and thousands! (they didn't taste too bad either!)

Monday, November 28, 2011

Clay Play











Squeezing, rolling, twisting, cutting, sculpting...

I try to make the most of each day with my children but every stay-at-home parent is guilty of occasionally hoping the day goes by quickly (sadly). I find our days are best spent when I invest time in my kids - play with them- the washing can wait!

If we are not out and about I like to think up little projects to do with my toddler while my baby has her morning sleep. He loves making things be it a painting, a sculpture (thank you Mister Maker), a cake, a meal, a herb garden. He even just likes watching me sometimes like when I sew.

Last week at the mall I remembered that I'd had a thought about buying some clay and so I ducked in to Riot Art & Craft (which I discovered has another good website when I arrived home). For about $13 I brought home a big 1kg block.

I particularly wanted to use it reinforce our son's fine motor skills but also for his own exploration.

From my years of teaching Kindergarten I know how important (essential) it is to have a plan (even when there's only one child!) So I had a little hunt around and found this fantastic and simple article by about clay play for toddlers and Pre-schoolers. 

I like the idea of fairly open-ended activities. You can see that my son used a bunch of 'things' to manipulate the clay. I only wished that I had given him more 'natural' things  (not just the usual play dough tools). There's always next time!

I do believe in 'skilling up' children. By teaching children to use tools safely (under your supervision) for example, a butter knife, you are teaching the skills necessary for life thus empowering independent little beings.  It could be easy to make these everyday objects scary but I would suggest that children can learn from you not to fear them but to use them confidently and responsibly.

For the record he dressed himself. Who am I to tell him he's not wearing his top properly? As far as he's concerned he is (and he's only been dressing himself a week or so)

I was pleased that my son's final product did include the few seedpods I'd given him to use. He told me they were "eyes." I might have had some clay play of my own.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Sources of Inspiration

 

After almost three years of intermittent reading (i.e. two or three full books, half-read articles and a stack of Good Weekend and Spectrum's that serves to prove you don't read as much when you have children. It gets a cull every 6 months or so not because I have been skimming through them but because they threaten to take over the lounge room).

Been reading a bit of frankie lately. I like the mix of creativity, a tad bit of retro shopping, personal stories and crafty ideas.

The ballerinas are a project I will attempt at some point: redecorating old cork coasters with favourite illustrations (or as I think I might do - favourite magazine clippings.)

I am AIMING to get to the Finders Keepers market in early December too - an Indi craft market.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Olive View


About 7 years ago my two lovely brothers-in-law gave me two olive plants and they finally look as though they are fruiting. I know the lovelies need to be transplanted out of their pots but I guess they must be a little bit happy.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Christmas Craft






  


 

This is the beginning of my Christmasy projects. This weekend I got all inspired to sew again and it was partly to do with a few things:

@ A comment my husband had made "You love sewing. You are so happy when you sew!"

@ frankie. I even indulged yesterday evening by telling my husband "I'm just going to run a bath for myself." It was the kids' dinner time and he knew that was code for "Can you please make dinner for the kids while I have some 'me' time?" I lay there, submerged, reading frankie.

@ Xmas. I do love an excuse to make and buy some interesting things but I do hate the commercialism. Mum gave me a bag of Christmas fabric scraps not long ago. I remembered that I have a Xmas tree decoration that my mum made when I was a baby. She traced my hand, dyed some fabric (using onion skin dye) then cut two templates of my hand. She then sewed them together, stuffed them and added a little ribbon to hang on the tree. 

@ That there, Xmas, is no better an excuse than to MAKE & SEW. 

I had some painted hand prints and footprints from my children from a few months ago so I used these to make my templates. 

* Trace the hand prints and footprints onto calico, cut those out then trace around those on Christmasy style fabric (keeping to the original print as much as possible.) 
 
* Cut out two identical sized pieces of fabric and sew the footprint and hand print to them. 
* Sew them together inside out leaving a small gap to squeeze stuffing in and to attach the ribbon.
* Turned them in the right way and filled them with hobby fill stuffing. 
* Carefully place the two ends of a short piece of ribbon (20cm) inside the gap and machine sew the gap closed (remembering to sew those raw edges inside.)

These may seem like a dud pressie for a child but give a few years I think they'll enjoy getting them out each year and comparing them to how big their hands and feet are. 

** The second decoration I made is much neater because I sewed the hand print and footprint on using the machine BEFORE I sewed the two pieces stuffed it. (I hand-sewed my daughter's so it's not nearly as neat.)

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Todays Lunch



I had a delightful High Tea with a girlfriend recently and that is where I was reminded about the humble cucumber sandwich. They were a tad too garlicy so I had a thought yesterday - replace the garlic with chopped garlic chives (of which we have plenty in our garden!)

These ones were delicious!