Nourish Me:: Week Nine - Keep Calm...

One must take ones Yuk's where one finds them.

Ok. So it hasn't strictly been a weekly post. I have been attacked caught up by the usual dramas of family life - 'She's got chicken pox. No, it's not chicken pox, it's just the exact symptoms of chicken pox in the exact order they usually occur in without it actually being chicken pox. Oh. Right. So we needn't have cancelled everything then...', cleaning, cooking, kinder, school tours, baby stuff, tantrums (mine and other people's), blah, blah, blah. It has been so busy and I have been completely exhausted by it all that, instead of posting, I've been sitting in bed watching True Blood again and knitting my little ass off. A friend told me about this little sign (above), based on the English wartime signs, and it made me laugh.  That's a good enough reason to include it here methinks.

SJK Handspun Blue Face Leicester Light-Bulky 

Apple of My Sky (109g-157yds) 

from SeeJayneKnitYarns on Etsy

Ah knitting. How I do love thee. It's been especially pleasurable because for the last two weeks I have had my good friend Docwitch, up here in the these thar hills. Oh what bliss. We have spent many days together touring Ye Olde Goode Op Shoppes (thrift shops), having lunch both in and out of my house, making fires, drinking wine, baking and yes, knit, knit, knitting. I have to say that Doc's knitting is of a different calibre than mine - i.e. it looks like it's supposed to and it fits it's recipients but it was just such a pleasure to sit and talk and knit and watch stupid YouTube clips together. It doesn't happen often unfortunately as we live in two different parts of Melbourne and though they are only 40 minutes to an hour away, it takes an awful lot of logistical planning to get us both in the same place at the same time. So I soaked up the opportunity to spend some quality time, with a wonderful witchypoo friend and her gorgeous daughter. Our little witchlings, though 4 years different in age, played wonderfully together, though I do recall Doc's daughter becoming a somewhat draconian schoolmarm and threatening to give Beanie 'the strap' if she talked out of turn in class! Ah twas fun indeed.
When they returned to their normal life in the 'cidee', I was then joined by the lovely Solyluna who will remain up here until early June. Oh but I shall be completely spoiled by then and shall be bereft when they leave me up here all by my lonesome. Until that fateful day arrives, I shall revel in all the time spent with such delicious company and top up my sorely depleted batteries. I don't think that either woman realises just how precious their friendship is to me nor how much they lift my spirits with just their presence and conversation. I am very blessed.

So knitting. I am, I fear, almost as big a yarn slut as I am a book slut - and that should tell you a lot about me. I have yarn envy, I covertly 'touch' other people's yarn, I fawn over their projects, I stroke the pretty skeins as they flaunt their colours and textures and invite me to buy. I start one project only to get unusually excited about something else and thus starts the slippery slide into the 'multiple projects on the needles' which justifies me buying a bit more of this lovely yarn, and oh, look at that one, it's so purdy.' abyss... I LOVE it though, knitting aside, I seriously think that I am developing some even more old ladyish qualities. I've started to make chicken stock regularly for goodness sake. And baking? Darning? Don't ask. Next thing you know I'll be drinking sherry and smelling of piss 'n' biscuits.

Lovely, lovely Noro

I am just about to complete a beautiful 'Rainbow Dress' for Beanie. It has knit up really well in gorgeous Noro silk wool and it has been my first big project on circular needles and I am hooked. Literally. Knitting in the round is so easy and it's so satisfying. No seams to sew up at the end (and I can't tell you how many projects I have lying around waiting for me to sew them up!) and no boring knit one round, purl the next - you just knit each round and miraculously, stocking stitch appears on the other side. It's magical. I am also knitting up something for my wee Bear and I hope to have that finished next week. It's so exciting. I spend most evenings just watching movies and knitting. I haven't yet mastered reading and knitting but one day...one day.

The glorious and amusing art of 'wool' or 'yarn' bombing whereby something ordinary gets a knitted makeover. 

Truly though, knitting and crafting, which it seems like I've been doing constantly in the last four months, is keeping me sane. When things get tough, and they have been, it is a balm to my shredded soul. There is something so meditative about knitting, something so soothing and calming. It brings me into the moment and gives me something to focus on beyond my cares and woes and day-to-day struggles. And the truly great thing about knitting is that its so easy to see progress and that is exceptionally satisfying. 


I've also been crafting up a storm for a number of swaps I'm engaged in. I will post more on those later, with piccies, but for now know that, in my blogging absence, I have been beavering away in earnest and enjoying myself (in this at least) more than is strictly proper for a woman in the autumn of my life.


I'd best be off. My knitting is singing to me like a siren. I'm so close to finishing the dress... But. Before I leave, I will once more share my latest sweet nourishy bites with you.

:: watching :: True Blood Series One & Two again. Oh that naughty, naughty Eric but then in series three there is that hunk of werewolf Alcide. Oh my. Be still my beating heart. Did I hear someone say 'doggy style'? Really. You ought to be ashamed. He's a person, not a hunk of extremely desirable man meat. Tsk. Tsk.

I like it Ruff!

:: loving :: I'll give you a clue...it involves yarn.


:: longing for:: some time alone. To sleep, to think, to write, to make stuff, to dream.

:: looking forward to :: comfort food, mulled wine and more knitting in front of the beautiful fire in our little coonara. The Winter Solstice - particularly the lantern parade that happens in our community every year. New crafting projects.

:: heading towards :: some scary soul searching and shadow dusting.

:: enjoying :: the heady array of flaming autumnal colours that surround me. I find myself holding my breath as I pass yet another tree on fire with colour - pinks and red and oranges and yellows abound but there is also scarlet and peach and honey and green and chestnut and russet and crunchy dark browns. Oh how they delight me daily. A work of fiction on audio cd in my car - The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton - it's terribly intriguing and lovely to read some fiction for a change.

::making:: wool roving swans, wool roving summer fairies, felt toadstools and yes, a rainbow dress for Beanie with my beautiful, colourful (almost all gone!) Noro wool. Ravelry pattern here. I'm still making lots of lovely soups - I made one today that was oven roasted vegetables and kale - mm mm mmmmm. I've also been making apple pies from hand picked organic apples from a friends farm. SO yummy. Recipe here. The only thing I did differently from the recipe was I stewed my apples for 10 mins in some dark muscovado sugar to soften them.

:: surprising myself :: by putting myself first for a change. I have made some small changes to our sleeping arrangements here at chez skarbek, changes to give me more sleep and it has had a positive knock on effect with the children. I am learning, slowly, that if mamma isn't happy, ain't nobody happy. It's only taken me 4.5 years to stop being so bloody guilty over every friggin' decision I make and to realise that no matter what my ideals, if it isn't working for our family then it's time to let it go.  

:: feeling :: challenged and, if I'm honest, a little bit afraid.

:: hoping for :: positive change, connection and acceptance.

:: grateful for :: good friends, good wine and the early dark.

And with a swirl of her (knitted red riding hood) cape...she was gone.


*excuse the awful spacing - my page seems to be having a 'moment'

Swaptastic!

The last of summer's bounty

I have been busy recently as I took part in several craft exchanges:


First off, there was the Four Seasons Exchange organised by Nalina. Nalina focuses on celebrations that are important in the Waldorf/Steiner tradition. Hence the first swap was focused on Easter (Spring). There will be three more - 2. St. John's day (Summer), 3. Michaelmas (Autumn/Fall) and 4. Christmas (Winter).

Easter derives its name from pre-Christian goddess symbols of rebirth, fertility and spring. The renewal of (wo)man's being is celebrated with that of the earth. Ancient symbols of the hare and egg are both known as signs of the return of life after winter's sleep.

St. John's Day - June 24 - Midsummer Day: Ancient peoples, watching the sun reach its high point at this time, lit bonfires to encourage it to shine and ripen their crops. It is a time when the cosmos brings the spiritual to man - a time when the spiritual, which animates and weaves through everything in nature, is revealed.

Michaelmas - September 29: St. Michael is known as the conqueror of the dragon, the heavenly hero with his starry sword (cosmic iron) who gives strength to people.

Christmas - An ancient festival; celebrated when the sun sends the least power to the earth, as a festival which awakens in the human being an inkling of the very wellsprings of existence, of an eternal reality. It is a time when the soul withdraws into the innermost depths to experience within itself the inner spiritual light.

We sent these to our swap partner:

Tweet Tweet

Easter Bunnies meet the Bluebirds of Happiness

The birds were inspired by We bloom here - she rules when it comes to all things peg doll. The rabbits I made up, out me 'ead like. I think they turned out pretty good meself.


And we received these back:

Beautiful Window Star

Autumn apples, cutey pie little gnome, wooden eggs, crocheted autumn leaves.

I love that my partner created autumnal themed things along with the Easter stuff. My nature table looks so pretty now.

I also took part in my first Bits of Goodness Easter Exchange:

This group does regular craft swaps with lots of different interesting themes and they run them about every two weeks or so. A great group if you really enjoy swapping things regularly. (And I do!).


We sent in little Nature Children inspired by Twig & Toadstool:

A fairy ring of little ladies

*Yawn* Just five more minutes Mother Earth. Please?

All right. All right. I'm up!

And we received these gorgeous goodies in return:

A little bendy doll with Easter Egg, a patchwork rabbit, a little needle felted Easter scene (see below), a little 'Bunny Crossing' sign & a wooden matching game. 

It's a mother duck and her four baby duckies!

Oh yes - I certainly hope so.

 Lily immediately demanded we play the matching game. She is extremely good at this game and absolutely wipes the floor with me whenever we play it together. She plays it with butterflies - matching parts of it to the whole (very hard!) and with her cute little Tinkerbell Fairy game (a birthday present). Let me admit right now that I do not try to 'let' her win. There is absolutely no need - she has the memory of an elephant, that kid.

Then there is Katie's Southern Hemisphere Seasonal Exchange for Autumn, which has been so much fun. Take a look at the flickr site if you want to see the wonderful things people make. 


I took part in the Summer exchange last season and it was just fantastic. This is a great swap for those of us living in the southern hemisphere, but people from all over the world join in. Contact Katie here southernseasonalexchange@gmail.com if you want to join in the fun. I'm guessing the next one will be Winter. I can't wait, it's my favourite season next to Autumn.


We sent these:

Hoot 1 & Hoot 2

Teensy ickle pumpkins

I tawt I taw a puddy tat a cweepin' up on me...

The whole enchilada (minus one fat knitted feline)

You can find the pattern for the knitted pumpkins here and the pattern for the cat here. I warn you though, they are very addictive to make!

Our lovely swap partner Emma Jaine (aged 8) is understandably a little behind on getting our swap to us, (they were among those who experienced those frightening tornadoes in the US - thankfully she and her family weren't hurt but their neighbourhood was), but I am told they should be posted next week. So stay tuned for piccies of our goodies received later on.


So now I am working on another swap for the Bits of Goodness group. The theme is Gnomes, Toadstools and Hedgehogs! Plus they have just announced a Summer themed swap too!

And am definitely signing up for We Bloom Here's new swap which will be announced shortly. Check out her website tomorrow for all the details.

I'm also doing another Craft Hope project with the girls - its called 'Orphan Outreach'. Read all about their new project here and please do join up if you can. It makes such a big difference.

And as if that isn't enough crafting - I'm knitting up a storm too. I will leave you with the words 'sheepy pants' because it's a cool name for what I have on the needles right now!

Phew! Stay tuned for some nourishy goodness coming your way soon.

Nighty Night.

Nourish Me:: Week Four - Random Acts of Kindness

This week I have been pulling from the deep well of nourishment that is giving to others. As much as I need to nourish and take care of myself, I have found, quite unexpectedly, that giving to those in need brings a smile to my heart.

Quirky and whimsical wee bunnies.

As I mentioned in my previous post on Craft Hope, my girlfriends and I have been busily making up our birthing kits for the midwives in Haiti. We had a few hiccups to overcome, not the least of which was two of us have babies to lug around with us (and older kids in school/kinder) and the other one being a very busy working lass with a new business to cherish and grow! Still, apart from the joy of crafting (and it is a joy), it was a wonderful excuse to spend some time with two lovely women and catch up, have a giggle and still manage to do something for those in need.

Beautiful totes created by our gal Tracey

Some of the other little question marks with our kits were:

Are we allowed to send ORANGE drop sheets (yup, couldn't get the clear ones anywhere local!) and would they mind if they were a bit bigger than the suggested size? We figured that it might be helpful if they were. We certainly hope so.

Will they let us post the hand sanitizer as it apparently has ethanol in it. This might cause a kerfuffle with customs apparently. We sent it anyway as it is so important. Let's hope the Gods decide to let our box through without inspection!

Will they mind the big bars of soap as we couldn't find the little ones?

Would my cashmere bunnies be too fluffy for the newbies? They are so cute and soft and lemony but they are a bit fluffy. I'm hoping they will be alright for the little ones to cuddle and love. Laura did such a good job embroidering the faces - so cute!

Receiving blankets  - all finished and so soft!

I have to say though, that the nicest part of this whole experience was how it left me feeling. I felt good about doing something that didn't benefit me in any way but that was so important to someone else. These kits will save lives - newborn's and their mother's - that's an awesome feeling to take away from this. I CAN make a difference and hopefully, despite the quirks with our kits, we WILL!

The kit all bagged and tagged and ready to go! Cute bear made by Tracey.

The girls got a bit of a shock when they came to post our offerings. It cost a whopping $160 to post our boxes to America to be sent on to Haiti. Yikes! That was really the only downside of this particular project. Australia is so far away from America that postage really stings. But then, this just happened to be a particularly hefty project. Lots of their other stuff isn't, so don't let our experience of postage put you off. We shared the cost between the three of us and, like I said, it feels good to be helping. Anyway, isn't life priceless? It is to me.

The all important contents of the kits.

Unbelievably, just these few items save lives: Rubber gloves, hand sanitizer, a drop sheet, 3 pieces of string (for tying off the umbilical chord), alcohol wipes, a bar of soap(!) and the little extras that make it truly special - a soft toy and a beautiful snuggly receiving blanket.

So - I've been walking about with a big smile on my face because of a few hours spent gossiping, giggling and eating delicious food (thanks Laura!) for a good cause. If any of you are the least bit crafty, get on over to Craft Hope and take part. I promise you it will be the best thing you do this year.

And on that simple note, I leave you with two more things to make your heart smile.

Check this out because it made me go, 'awww'.

AND

Check this out for ways to put a smile on someone's face.


Don't forget to let me know what you guys are up to with the whole nourishment thang by leaving a comment and providing a link to your post. And don't forget to link back.


Hope you have a fantabulous week.


*All photographs taken by Laura of Warmth and Light. Good Job lady!

Craft Hope - Birthing Kits for Konbit Sante

Just a quick post to highlight something that I think is really important. I've taken some of the information from their website, so that you understand the importance of these kits and maybe be inspired to get involved. If not in this project, then in the next one. As someone who has only recently had a baby, it is especially close to my heart. It feels good to be doing something for other people and to know that something so simple can help drop the infant and mother mortality rate in such a challenging environment, makes my little heart smile. Please get involved and do what you can. 

Craft Hope is an organisation that crafts for charity. This is not as light and fluffy as it sounds. 

This year they are going back to Haiti. Project 11 (running until end of Feb) will benefit Konbit Sante, a wonderful organization that has, for nearly ten years, worked to provide the education and resources necessary to improve capacity within the public health system of Cap-Haitien, Haiti’s second largest city.  Even before the earthquake, Haiti’s health statistics were dismal, and now the need is even greater.  Shockingly, one in eight Haitian children dies before the age of five, and their maternal mortality rate is 1,400 deaths for every 100,000 –a  reflection of the fact that the majority of the population lives in poverty/on less than a dollar a day. Only one in every 10,000 Haitians has access to a physician.

For the past three years, Konbit Sante has been spearheading a family planning and maternal health project in the most needy neighborhoods of Cap-Haitien that includes working more closely to support trained birth attendants (TBAs) who attend the vast majority of births in the community. They began supplying them with safe birthing kits to use in their deliveries. TBAs attend the vast majority of births in Haiti and have no formal medical training to speak of.  The kits represent a “value added” component to their services, offer a measure of status, and are well received. There is ample evidence internationally that the kits can reduce infant and maternal mortality.

Delivery kits are one important step to improving clean delivery practices within integrated maternal and neonatal health programs. Delivery kits have several key objectives. When introduced as part of clean delivery programs, they contribute to the:

• promotion of clean delivery practices;
• reduction of maternal sepsis;
• reduction of neonatal tetanus, sepsis, and cord infection;
• reinforcement of maternal and newborn health programs; and
• provision of a convenient source of clean supplies.

In the home, supplies needed to conduct a clean delivery often are not available. Even where reusable delivery kits are used by trained TBAs, the instruments are seldom cleaned between deliveries, and necessary supplies such as clean cord ties may not be restocked. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that “The use of simple, disposable delivery kits will help achieve as clean a delivery as possible.”

Go HERE to sign up for this (or other projects) and to get a list of what to include in the kits. Or you can click on the CRAFT HOPE button on my sidebar.

Please spread the word about our current project by tweeting about it, blogging about it, putting their button on your page (the embed code is on their website), and by joining their facebook group.

Three of my bestest girlfriends are getting together tomorrow to make some kits with me. We are really excited to be doing something so worthwhile and I will be adding pictures to my flickr page and to the Craft Hope flickr page.

Go on. Get stuck in.

You got me hotter'n Georgia Asphalt!

To quote my favourite Laura Derne line from the movie 'Wild at Heart'.



But her reason for being smoking hot is, alas, not the same as mine. I am hot because of the bloody stinking heat and I will categorically state for the record that I hate it. I do. I know, as a pommie whingebag, I should be lapping up the high temperatures, the blue cloudless skies and the complete lack of an ozone layer - but I would honestly rather be at home, in England, enjoying the complete lack of sun and the frequent snow showers. Oh the thought of rugging up and sitting in front of a roaring fire with a hot chocolate while the snow piles up outside is almost more than I can bear. I am not a Summer chick. I am an Autumn and Winter chick and I cannot wait for them to arrive and relieve me of this tedious, odious heat.

It doesn't help of course that I am 25 weeks pregnant and already have my own little internal furnace going 24/7. Adding insult to injury is the fact that the temperature has a twisted tendency to stay above 26 degrees even at night, causing much sleepless tossing and turning and seeking of cool places to put one's inflated body. Ack! I will, eventually, show a picture of the beach ball that my body now emulates but right now, it's just too hot to even contemplate such perverse action.

Because I really don't have a lot to say and lots has happened, I thought I would do a pictoral representation of recent days. That's if I can get my camera to relinquish its visual goodies. It's been a bit temperamental of late, so we shall see...

Lily's first ever day at Kinder. I know - Ahhhh...:


Lily's fine artistic representation of her pregnant mummy. Note the comb over hairdo:


Lily's 'button sewing' felt scarf - hand crafted all by her own self:


Some photo's taken by the Beanster. Good eye, no?


I love this photo she took. It's red and there's movement in it. I have no idea what it is but I likes it.


The Bunny what mummy made...


Actually, I'm rather proud of this. It's from a 'cashmere bunny' tutorial here and I made it in just over an hour, out of a thrifted super soft fluffy yellow cardigan that, I suspect, had been shown no love since the late 80's. I have enough for a small army of them and I've been using the scraps and cut-offs from my (WIP) patchwork quilt for the Beanie. One day I'll finish that too.

Oh, I don't really do New Year's Resolutions and all that bollocky stuff (mainly because I hate the New Year pandemonium and I never keep resolutions) but I did make myself one promise this year and that was to find and make one completely new recipe every week. I have pretty much done it too - whoohoo! If you haven't already been here, take a look at 'too good to be true' because I've made the pasta, the frittata, the stir fry sauce AND the chicken and wild rice soup from there. All have been totally yummy. Well done Sasa!

I'll keep you updated about new and exciting food discoveries as I find and discover them.

Ok. That's it for now. I can hear my daughter having a minor meltdown and the cavalry might be needed.

Sees ya lata.