Giveaway Winner Announced!

Give more, expect less.

Thankyou lovely people for entering my little giveaway of a pretty list cover to celebrate the spirit of generosity and giving. I enjoyed reading your comments and learning a little more about you.

Barbara, I like the way you list quotes which are meaningful for you - do you have a special book to keep them in? I remember my mother doing just the same thing. I haven't started to do that at this stage. I write them on my blog for all of us day by day as they relate to what I'm doing for you.

Homestay Mama, I am glad of your honest confession that you'd like to be more organised :) So glad you're enjoying the music (which I'll have to change now, won't I!)

Shandora, you sound so organised already and I admire your organisation with menu lists and recipes. However I need my spontaneity to retain my sanity with regards to meal preparation. I have my frig stocked with good food, and plan a meal or two in advance with a general idea of what will happen over a week. Menu lists and I can never seem to become good companions :)

Now, the time has come. My delightful Ess has helped me by writing your names on pieces of paper,

folding them and placing them inside the small pocket of the list cover.

And the winner is...

Congratulations Homestay Mama!

I am delighted you have won this giveaway and look forward to posting this to you in the very near future, after this new year's weekend.

Pretty List Cover - Christmas Giveaway

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. ~Charles Dickens

Phew! Australia Post has been visited. My Christmas cards are on their way, along with a couple of little packages for various loved ones. A Lemon Cake for a certain 6 year old's birthday on the weekend has been baked and is awaiting decoration. I have even managed to squeeze in something else on the baking scene but that is a gift, so I can't show you that yet! There are still things waiting to be done - just as well I have a list!

It is busy times isn't it! I have not forgotten you however. On my working table has been sitting a special little something, a pair of them actually. One of them I have prepared just for you. For one of you who will win this giveaway.

Do you remember reading my story of how I made a cover for my shopping list which lifted my spirits in unexpected ways through its prettiness? Now I have made a couple more. One is for you and one will be for my Mum who also saw the beauty of my first one. I have decided that this really shouldn't be called a Shopping List Cover, as lists need to be made without requiring us to go shopping. I often write ideas for things I need to do in the garden, ideas for gifts for various people throughout the year (but especially at this time of the year), ideas for things I want to make. In the end there are often one or two things which need to be purchased in order to achieve my goal. However I am trying to steer away from the notion that in order to give we need to buy. So many of the gifts I love to give and to receive have been handmade and come from what we already have in our home. Are you feeling pressure to buy just because someone else might purchase a gift for you? You know that first gift (the one we are celebrating this season) was given out of grace, the only requirement being to receive. That's the hard part isn't it - receiving!

I hope you'll have no trouble receiving this little gift from me. It comes complete with a pocket for your stamps. A pretty purple pen which just happens to be a Kindermusik one - the colour matches well!...

and a recycled paper list bound with my own hand in stitches of soft satin cotton.

In order to win this giveaway you simply need to leave a comment here. Please tell me something about your own lists. Do you write them in a special place? Have you ever lost your list like I did recently? Do you enjoy list making? Whatever you'd like to share.

I am planning to leave this open until Christmas Day but we'll see what happens.

Flower Collecting for The Rose Fairy

"When a Rose Fairy sighs, it sounds like seven leaves falling from the old tree next to the house. Bring me down, bring me down, the Rose Fairy is sighing.  And the warm evening breeze will know and bring her down." or perhaps for us it is a cool evening breeze ;)

Juliane at Fröken Skicklig

'Twas a breezy wintry afternoon when two best friends walked home from school together.  The journey was filled with anticipation as Bee was visiting with Ess to play in her home.  Bee noticed something special in the stroller with little Eee and exclaimed, "What's that?".  

Upon explaining that I had brought a flower basket for us to collect flowers on the way home, it was excitedly decided that one would ride the bike and the other would be on the look out for pretty flowers to place in the basket, before swapping roles half way home.  The Rose Fairy was delighted.  She knew that added to the last rose of the season, which had been drying in the basket for some months, would be a collection of beautiful wildflowers selected by the girls themselves.

The walk home was very eventful.  We were very glad The Rose Fairy had come to lend a hand as we were chased up the hill by Sharp Tooth, the big dinosaur.  Fortunately he ran straight through us as the flowers we had collected contained special magic.  The fairies had waved their wands over them allowing the collectors of the pretty flowers to remain invisible and thus safe from undesirable intruders.

Bougainvillea and Potato Vine (Solanum Jasminoides)

Protected and enthused, three little girls set about collecting 7 wildflowers. 

Our goal was easily reached despite the fact it is mid-winter here.  Our basket became fuller and fuller and was all but overflowing by the time we reached home.

Once home we laid the flowers out on a large white board and set about making special labels for them, learning their names and how to write them.    There were Correa Dusky Bells, Wattle, Rosemary, Eremophila, Grevillea, Hardenbergia and Potato Vine flowers.  The girls did not want the flowers to die.   Yet, rather than placing them in a vase, we found alternative ways to enjoy them.

We threaded a necklace of Correa Dusky Bells and placed it in our flower press.  Ooh, what a surprise!  Some little flowers, already dried, were still resting, dreamily, sleepily inside the press.

Little Eee and I also arranged flowers from the potato vine in our flower press to preserve for later viewing.  We were so delighted to find older flowers we had pressed years before still inside the press.  They had been collected on flower-gathering walks Ess and I had enjoyed together.  All are now preserved in the beautiful flower press lovingly handpainted for me by my mother years ago.

Just before Bee left for home, she and Ess created two fairy rings for the fairies to dance in and perhaps leave a special something to say thankyou.

The next day they did leave something very special.  Perhaps you might hear about that later.

The remainder of our flowers are floating in a clear glass bowl on our dinner table, delighting all who come to sit and sup together with us.

For now, Juliane is giving away her little handmade Rose Fairy.  Take a peak!

On Being a Garden Guerilla...

für Juliane

We are very fortunate that our neighbourhood is quite well planted.  This street is close to home and around the corner we see this.  However we were inspired to join Juliane's Fröken Skicklig Garden Guerilla project simply because I love to garden and think that the world would be lots better with more plants, trees and bushes of a local variety.  I don't usually plant outside my garden though, so this was a unique way to contribute to our local community.   Thus we committed to participating.  As Ess said "we always do something Mummy...for Juliane's Giveaways".  Juliane is a very lovely inspirational lady, a special new friend, - you must pop in to view her precious handmade dolls.  Ess was also very keen to participate in order to possibly receive some delightful confectionary which Juliane has handsewn.

We found a spot where the effects of the drought can be seen as the plants have died back (see absolute top right) and some have totally disappeared.  This place should be suitable for our Spotted Emu Bush (eremophila maculata cerise flowered form) found at our local nursery.  It is native to South Australia (specifically The Mallee) so we hope it will thrive here in our neighbourhood.

Inspired by Steffi, we also carried along our chalks for a fun afternoon of outdoor drawing.  This is certainly a great way to get to know a few more neighbours.  We had people telling us that they used to see this all the time back in Lancaster - now no longer.  I was told I was creating a graffiti artist (in jest).  The local youths hung out their car door and called out "eat my path" or the like?? :)  We hope many others will look and smile.

So our neighbourhood now has a new little bush (see the planted emu bush in the bottom right corner above).  It is so tiny now.  

Photo sourced at Mallee Native Plants.

We hope it will grow and flower so our street will look like this in Spring - or perhaps one day down the track.  Then we will always remember our little garden guerilla project für Juliane.

Have you ever planted a tree somewhere in your local community apart from your own garden?  Have you contemplated doing it?  I do recommend it.  It satisfies the soul and is yet another thing which will serve to teach little Ess and Eee as we walk past the site watching the eremophila grow day by day.

An Ethical Easter?

The joyful news that He is risen does not change the contemporary world.  Still before us lie work, discipline, sacrifice.  But the fact of Easter gives us the spiritual power to do the work, accept the discipline, and make the sacrifice.  ~Henry Knox Sherrill

I find it quite difficult to eat chocolate comfortably these days knowing that a child may have been ill-treated as a slave in the cocoa farms which were the origin of my chocolate.  Indeed this is the possible origin of 70% of the world's chocolate.  How did you feel at Easter consuming your chocolate Easter eggs?  Or perhaps you bought Fair Trade chocolate so you could indulge knowing that the economy of some family somewhere was being aided by your purchase in an equitable way.

We enjoy consuming Haigh's chocolate because they are superbly made, taste delicious, have brilliant displays in their stores, are local to us in South Australia and also support quality local causes.  They make a lovely Easter Bilby as seen above.  (Yes, it is still in the plastic wrapper and I really did take that photo just this morning.  Our family shares our chocolate and we enjoy it in the weeks following Easter.)  Part proceeds from the sale of Haigh's Chocolate Bilbies helps protect the Bilby's habitat through the work of the Foundation for a Rabbit Free Australia.  They also produced a Murray Cod this year to support this vulnerable species.  These were our Easter treats.

I was not entirely satisfied however, that our indulgence would be "child slave free" so I wrote to Haigh's indicating that "we are becoming increasingly concerned about the means by which chocolate is farmed.  We cannot sit comfortably with the fact that for us to indulge in chocolate a child has possibily been enslaved."  I asked them why they were not on this Good Chocolate Guide to Australia presented by World Vision.

http://www.donttradelives.com.au/dtl/Issues/Chocolate/files/pdf/ChocolateGuide.pdf

The little white bunny in the photo will soon be given away as a random act of kindness on our behalf.  Ess and I didn't read very many kindnesses which were made before Easter.  We hope this is due to the fact that you simply didn't get back here to let us know rather than that there were no kindnesses carried out! So keep being kind and perhaps a little less busy ;)

Haigh's passed my email onto the Confectionery Manufacturers of Australasia who responded promptly to let me know what they are doing to change the lives of cocoa farming families in West Africa.  I find it quite encouraging but I still am not guaranteed that children are not being harmed.  Apparently "all Australian chocolate manufacturers are part of building an ethical supply chain through a holistic process called Certification that assesses labour and farming practices, implements remedial measures and then goes back to check on the progress."  The chocolate industry, local aid organisations and the governments of Ghana and Ivory Coast are working together to educate and break the poverty cycle.  More details can be found on the CMA website - candy.  (The name leaves a little to be desired, would you agree? sshhhh, you cynic).

So it seems that work is being done.  Did you know about it?  Is the media telling us this?  Am I ignorant of the positives?  Or is it simply that the work is supposed to be being done so that we can continue to be ignorant consumers and indulge in chocolate no matter where and how the cocoa is being sourced?  We just need to be told that improvements are being made and trust that hopefully they are??

It comes down to publicity doesn't it.  We can only believe what we are told and then what we discover when we question this information.  Unless we actually go to Ghana and the Ivory Coast and see the children and the families working to make a living on their cocoa farms, we will never actually know the truth of the situation.

What are your thoughts? Do you buy Fair Trade chocolate?  Are you happy enough with the situation to leave it to the authorities and the government to sort out what they think is best?  Did you eat your easter eggs and give a second thought to where they came from?

A Special Kind Deed for Easter Giveaway

The great Easter truth is not that we are to live newly after death - that is not the great thing - but that...we are to, and may, live nobly now because we are to live forever.
~Phillips Brooks

In a couple of weeks from now we will all be celebrating Easter.  So the period of Lent is almost over.  There is still a little time however for you to be involved in doing something special during this unique reflective time of the year.  In her Reception class my daughter has been encouraged to complete good deeds and kind tasks during the period of lent rather than focus on giving something up (like chocolate which so often people seem to do. They then binge on Easter Sunday with choc eggs.  Now tell me what is the point of that!!  You must read here for more info about An Ethical Easter).  I have really enjoyed watching her blossom and grow and perform kind deeds for us here at home.  Yes, sometimes she needs to be reminded but she is still growing and learning about life.

I have also been inspired by this concept and thought it might be nice if a little baby bunny would hop into your door to celebrate the New Life which Easter represents.  In order for you to receive your little bunny you simply need to do something unique and special which will surprise another and cause them to feel loved and appreciated.  When you have completed this task please share with us the surprise your recipient received by leaving a comment here.  On Easter Sunday Ess and I will read through all the kind deeds which have been performed and choose a winner for a precious bunny Easter Giveaway.

If you haven't yet read the story of some of the kind deeds in our home have a look here for Part I, II, III and Finale.

Wishing you a meaningful preparation for Easter time.

The Princess and the Garden

To think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted.  ~George Kneller

I have found that sites which I am drawn to again and again are those which inspire creativity in me.  They encourage me to see the everyday things I am doing in a new light and urge me to act according to my own creative spirit.  One such site is dear Juliane's Fröken Skicklig.  She is having a giveaway this month which propels you to undertake a very special task which will warm the heart of at least one of those special people around you.

Feeling heartened on an otherwise lethargic day I decided to surprise my eldest princess Ess.  While she watched a movie with Daddy indoors I ventured outside to the garden to pick her a bouquet of flowers.

The bouquet contained petunias and a rose, basil flowers, garlic chive flowers and mint.  Its fragrance was beautiful.

I then placed it on her pillow and proceeded to write her a little story, that was coming to mind, in a tiny homemade book.

It is the story of the Princess and the Garden.  It was to be a short little story for her to read and illustrate.  It turned into quite a long fairytale of nearly 1000 words so I may not publish it here.  Let me know if you'd like to read it however, as I may change my mind.  We'll see!

Later that afternoon Ess ran to me calling out, "Mummy, mummy, you've got to see my bed.  It's amazing!  Who did that?"  (I am certain she was convinced the fairies had been in her room again.  I didn't say anything to the contrary but somehow I think she came to realise who the real life fairy was).  "Let me read the story" she cried.  And so we spent the late afternoon and evening reading the story over a few times so Daddy could enjoy it too.

The story commenced thus...There was once a gardener who longed to find a Princess to enjoy her pretty garden with her.  Only a true princess would know all the flowers and herbs and how to care for them.  So the gardener called on the Fairies of the Garden to find her a princess, a true Princess.

“My dear fairies”, she said longingly, “I long for a sweet princess to share my garden with me, to delight in the blossoms, to dance amongst the plants, to enjoy the fragrance and delicious flavour of all my herbs.  Please find the sweetest, kindest, brightest Princess who would love to share this garden.”

And so the fairies set off.  They had seen many sweet girls in their travels from Fairyland, yet they knew the one who’d meet the Gardener’s desires would be a most particular one.  She would be able to see them, those delicate tiny fairies, as they rested contentedly, yet with eager anticipation, in the flowers by which the girl passed.  The girl who saw the fairies would be immediately recognised as a Princess.

The fairies came to rest in various flowers and waited for the little girl to pass as she came out to play.  Patiently, they waited....

The creativity inspired by Juliane's little set task went further as the following day was filled with lots of drawing in our backyard.  Ess enjoyed illustrating the first couple of pages of the fairytale which I had to print out for her.

Later my darling could be heard saying "Thankyou for my present."

Even later she said, "I love my present. Thankyou so much!"

Her gratitude is absolutely thanks enough for me.

An Autumn Morning...and the winner is...

Delicious autumn!  My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.  ~George Eliot

'Twas early on an Autumn Morning, the first one of the season, that a little girl wandered outdoors to enjoy the breeze.  She heard two sweet, tiny birds fluttering overhead.  

They were twittering to one another with a look of confusion and bewilderment in their faces.

"Now where could our nest be?" one twittered to the other, "None of these are just like our own."

For you see their nest had become sprinkled with white.  Something unusual to the birds, not feathers, not fluff, lined their nest.  Tiny pieces of paper had altered its appearance beyond recognition.

Now one would assume that a bird would know, would sense which tree, which nest, which house was his.  This time, however, the destination was unknown.  Until a kind and gentle hand, a small and delicate one, came to help.

It plucked a tiny piece of white from the birds' nest and allowed the bird to see.  It's home was soon to be anew, a home with....

Little Toot will soon make his way from us to you to make his home in yours.  

We hope you have a special place for him to make his little nest.

I will email you shortly Sharon to find out your address and discuss which recipe you would like me to handwrite and share with you.  

Thankyou to all who visited and commented.  I have enjoyed visiting all your blogs and leaving comments for you there.

Have a lovely Autumn! or Spring if you are on the other side of the world, such as dear Juliane - thank you for your narrative inspiration.

A Gorgeous Giveaway in Europe

A lady, with whom I was riding in the forest, said to me, that the woods always seemed to her to wait, as if the genii who inhabit them suspended their deeds until the wayfarer has passed onward: a thought which poetry has celebrated in the dance of the fairies, which breaks off on the approach of human feet.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, "History"

Quickly, quickly, very quickly pop on over to Fröken Skicklig to participate in an absolutely gorgeous giveaway.

Take a journey through a romantic European forest full of fairies, toadstools and bluebirds or whatever your heart conjures up. Be sure to take your daughters with you and enjoy a most enchanting ride.

My Hot Summer Garden

The garlic chives are budding...

The capsicum are starting to fruit again after they were setback by our recent heatwaves.  I can only hope that the heat due at the end of this week (up to 40degC again for a few days) will not sizzle the new flowers and potential budding fruit.

I do not know how this petunia thrives.  It was bought by my Mum when little Eee was born nearly 18 months ago and just keeps coming back.  Such a beautiful bright pink, the photo just doesn't do it justice.

and just look at all these rosebuds....Wow!  Adelaide is definitely the city for roses.  They just can't seem to go wrong.  If you are living here and you don't have one, I strongly recommend you plant one.  This is a rare case of masses of beauty from very little care.

How we have this is really beyond me as our water restrictions are very limited.  I can water with the watering can or bucket, and try to each couple of days, but I have other duties with two littleuns which I must prioritise.  I can water with the hose on Sunday and Wednesday at times when I am usually asleep or preparing meals and bathing the girls. So that doesn't happen regularly either.  Some reports say we have had 1mm of rain this year, yet apart from a few drips I remember on this day, I cannot recall a time when this might have been, perhaps it was down south.  The rainfall for February was supposed to be 20% above average.  The average is 10mm I believe, so we have about 5 days for 12mm of rain to fall.  Possible, I guess, but with a forecasted heatwave I cannot see that happening.

So I wait for Autumn without holding my breath.  Autumn is a lovely time - so cool, so refreshing, so colourful.  I find myself being very creative in Autumn usually so I look forward to this season.

My little giveaway is still open so if you haven't commented yet, please do so on the post below.