Eee is Two!

Wishing you a day full of fun and presents and giggles

and candles and cake for your 2nd birthday

written on the card received from Granny

We enjoyed a delightful day at home yesterday celebrating the birth of dear little Eee. It was special because Daddy was home, unlike last year. Although big sister Ess was feeling unwell, she enjoyed helping me decorate a special little lady bug and her family of four baby beetles as a surprise for our growing baby.

It was small, it was quiet, it was special.

So lovely for us to revel in the delights of our two year old as a family.

Eee looked at us incredulously as we sang Happy Birthday to her on her waking. We have enjoyed a number of birthdays of late and I am certain she could not quite understand that it was finally hers. Upon seeing the bunting freshly hung for her she exclaimed "rainbow" and knew this was indeed a special day.

I made some decorative hangings to add to our birthday collection this year. I decided against the lovely Martha Stewart lanterns which I have seen around and made some origami diamonds. These were also greeted with much enthusiasm and called "rainbow".

For my precious growing toddler,

We love you just so much.

Happy Birthday!

Carrot, Banana and Honey Muffins

A film is just like a muffin. You make it. You put it on the table. One person might say "Oh, I don't like it." Another might say it is the best muffin ever made. One might say it's an awful muffin. It's hard for me to say. It's for me to make the muffin." ~ Denzel Washington

Carrot, Banana and Honey Muffins

Prep time: 15 mins

Cooking time: 20 mins

Makes 12

2 cups of Spelt flour with ½ tsp bicarb and 1 tsp cream of tartar (or 2 cups self-raising flour)

½ tsp bicarb soda (yes pop some more in)

2 teaspoons nutmeg

1-2 tablespoons brown sugar (optional)

¾ cup light olive oil

¼ cup honey

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 large banana, mashed

1 small carrot, peeled and grated

1. Preheat oven to 200ºC. Line a 12-hole standard muffin tine with muffin cases. Sift flour, bicarb and nutmeg into a bowl. Add sugar if desired, stir to combine.

2. Put the oil, honey and eggs in a medium jug and whisk with a fork to combine. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Add the banana and carrot, pour in the olive oil mixture and stir with a fork until just combined. Spoon batter into each muffin case, no more than two-thirds full. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until well risen, golden and firm to touch. Put on a wire rack to cool, dust with icing sugar before serving for a professional touch.

Adapted from a recipe seen in Better Homes and Gardens magazine years ago

A little Sprinter in our Garden - Freesias blooming already!

If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom. ~Audra Foveo

Little Eee and I have been enjoying a little Sprinter in our garden of late. Along with many we have experienced warmer than usual temperatures for this time of year, indeed I think the whole of winter has been a warm one. I am still waiting for some chilly nights and frost! I remember how I froze in the middle of the night while standing at the change table with my newborn baby just over two years ago. I wonder whether September will bring us those freezing night temperatures again or if we really have seen the last of Winter this year. I do look forward to the forecast rainy and stormy weather next week, although I fear it will bring no frost.

Last year, Spring sprung in my garden right on time, on the first of September with the blooming of our first freesia. This year we are already enjoying our freesias...

...and I am enjoying photographing them with my new camera with outstanding macro capabilities. I am sure I will learn more as I go and improve the way I capture the beauty in a blossom. I used to wonder why my mother photographed flowers, I preferred to enjoy them in real life. I still do, and so does she, yet I enjoy taking more time with them now.

I sit with the flower absorbing all its beauty as I move the camera exploring different angles. It is much like the way I spend time with my daughters. I sit with them, my agenda is refined, they become my only priority and I observe them from all angles.

In the coming years I will be able to recall with beautiful photography the changing beauty of my daughters. In the coming years I will also enjoy remembering the changing blossoms of the these bulbs as I plant them year by year. My memory fades with rapid change. My girls grow and change month by month, the blossoms come and fade so quickly. Will I remember the delight in my baby as she 'skips' to collect more water for the flowers. Will I remember her busy contentment. Will I remember how many freesia blossoms we enjoyed last year and the way we paused to watch them grow? Will I remember their unique patterns of colours?

So pause to capture, so you'll remember, allow your daughter to linger longer over watering the blossoms, fill the watering can up yet again, allow her busyness in solitude while you remember to nurture your own. Take time...

Hippo Drawstring Bag for my Musical Staff

Music is an essential part of everything we do. Like puppetry, music has an abstract quality which speaks to a worldwide audience in a wonderful way that nourishes the soul.” -puppeteer Jim Henson

My very faded plastic Myer bag which was used to store my homemade life-sized musical staff was long since overdue for replacement. When I found some sweet hippopotamus fabric in this Etsy store I knew immediately what I would do with it. The tiny little black hippos with their rounded bodies reminded me beautifully of musical notes and would perfectly suit the admirations of a group of 5 yr olds.

A simple drawstring bag was all I needed to house my five black rope lines to be laid out on the floor for the staff. The main part of the bag is made from a white curtain remnant which is quite sturdy so I didn't line the entire the bag, rather just the top few inches with some of the hippo fabric as a feature.

A ribbon threaded through a casing provides ample fastening for a soft bag with its soft contents. A little clear pony bead helps to hold the opening closed.

The musical staff would have to be one of my most favourite music education tools as it brings to life that rather abstract notion of musical notation. Once grasped it is very simple, however it can be quite daunting when one does not understand the relationship between all those dots, lines and spaces on the page. I use discs made of card covered in black contact which children can place between lines in the spaces and also around the lines to represent notes on the lines. (see how complicated it can become!) What is more fun however is when children actually jump and run through the lines and have swimming races and perform balancing acts on top of the lines in order to familiarise themselves with the notions of line and space. I love to play the 'Musical Machine' game whereby children actually physically become musical notes by standing on the lines and in spaces. I crank up the machine and hope for the best when I tap each 'note' on the head encouraging the children to sing the note they represent (with guidance from me where needed). I am always amazed at the results. Sometimes the machine doesn't work so well, it plays incorrect notes (on purpose ;) ) and leaves gaps of silences. It is simply a matter of cranking up the machine again and we are off creating musical melodies with our voices. All due to the inspiration of a simple musical staff on the floor.

Due credit must be given to the authors of Kindermusk for the Young Child for the inspiration of aspects of these wonderful games.

Warm Day ~ Cool Day

The Day Before ~

warmth radiating from the concrete floor beneath my feet

heat warming me through the screen of my car window

I turn to see the sweet, calm face of my sleeping baby

the sun's rays shine on her face

my heart is warmed

my day lifted

peace

The Day ~

greets us with the freshness of a cool morning

no sun, no warmth

winds blow and the cool remains

I cuddle my baby clad with jumpers and jackets

we tickle, she giggles

my heart is warmed

my day lifted

fun and enjoyment

peace

The French Horn

The discovery of song and the creation of musical instruments both owed their origin to a human impulse which lies much deeper than conscious intention: the need for rhythm in life… the need is a deep one, transcending thought, and disregarded at our peril. ~Richard Baker

It had been a while since since we had seen Grandad so we took the scenic route to visit him at his house. I am certain there was some enticement by a comment conveyed to us through my Generous Gentleman: "Apparently he has something for us all, he won't say what it is, but he wants us all to visit." I too had been gently nudged by the remark, "it's been a while since you've visited me", last time he phoned. It's true, time had flown. It's been winter and hanging out at Grandad's is best done outside which is not so enjoyable during winter, as you might imagine.

We collected oranges from the orange tree, lemons from the lemon tree, observed his Gouldian Finches and had fun exploring sticks and twigs, gumnuts and goldfish. All the delights of a grandparent's home.

At some stage during our visit, a French Horn appeared. I was very bewildered as I know Grandad, my father-in-law, as a guitar/banjo cum harmonica player. Never had I imagined that he might own a French Horn. 'Twas a pity as it would have been useful last semester when my Kindermusik for the Young Child class and I were exploring brass instruments. The thought crossed my mind to ask whether I could borrow it for a week, yet not knowing the origins of this horn and how precious it might be, I left my thoughts awhile.

Grandad decided that we simply had to listen to Beethoven's Romanzen via LP, yes an old record, on his brand new record player, with wonderful surround sound speakers. So we all sat and enjoyed this marvellous work sounding very rich and full and with those lovely old scratchy sounds a record makes.

Upon our departure I noticed that the French Horn was coming with us. All of a sudden I made the connection between the horn and the comments about us needing to visit him, and his having something we all needed to be there to receive. I am not sure why the giving was very understated, yet there are some things we just don't understand about our fathers-in-law and some things we just don't ask ;) Especially after I asked where it came from, to which I received the reply "Nanna's dead boyfriend's brother!" Goodness only knows!

So now we are in possession of a very old French Horn. I would love to know exactly how old it is. It certainly needs a polish. However that has not taken the shine off the enthusiasm of my precious Ess who enjoys playing it as often as she can. Each evening she enjoys playing Lucy Locket and Bell Horses and other wondrous explorations on her glockenspiel for Daddy. Now we endure, rather enjoy, the dulcet tones of French Horn blowing....um playing. Perhaps this little video tutorial will come in handy for her at some stage. Do let me know if you have any wonderful French Horn resources at the tip of your tongue. Come on, I know you all do! ;) I'd personally love to be able to understand all the meaning lying behind the symbols of the trademark. I'd love to be able to play a tune or two, but with all those overtones, it is very challenging.

Meanwhile in order to nurture my children's creativity, I can see I am about to develop a passion for the French Horn.

Beachfront Bicycling

Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride. ~John F. Kennedy

On an unseasonably warm and windy day on Saturday we packed up our bicycles and headed to the beach for another dose of beachfront bicycling, something we all love. Although we just happened to hear a little cry from a pink 5 yr old on a pink bicycle about how she needed a rest just as another playground was approaching. There are at least 5 playgrounds within easy cycling distance of each other along the Semaphore Foreshore. We were often stopping :)

Another little lady was keen for some "dig, dig, digging" time so Dad bribed her to get back into her bicycle seat on his bike for a quick ride down the path to where our friends were kite flying. There was sure to be opportunity for sand play and grass tumbling with them.

I meanwhile, enjoying the serenity and solitude the bicycle affords me, rode a little further on towards Largs Bay. Breathing in the salty, seaside air, absorbing the soothing sounds of the gently crashing waves and lapping waters, I took a wee break from my family to nurture myself. My Generous Gentleman bid me take my time as he rode off in the opposite direction with my two little treasures, yet somehow, quite quickly, I was drawn to be right back with them again. Even he commented he was surprised I had ridden all the way up to Largs in the time I had taken. Yes I do need my space, but my sense of obligation to my family as well as my desire to be with them overrides that so often.

I rode past the Semaphore Jetty which still has a big piece broken from the centre of it. The pale sky and rich blue ocean contrasts beautifully with the yellow ocean in the foreground created by the numerous soursobs. Blue, green and yellow blending to create such calm.

I enjoyed the vivid, almost fluroescent yellow of the soursobs (oxalis), a persistent weed which brings such delightful bright colour in the wake of winter. I explored the zoom on my new Pentax Optio X70, belated birthday present, camera and am very pleased with the results. I wonder if Blogger will let you see their best here.

The zoom lens is very effective as well. This sailing ship was but a dot on the horizon to the naked eye. It speaks of such serenity in this image here. I absolutely adore watching a lowering sun over the waters of the Gulf of St Vincent. Growing up on the east coast of Australia meant the sun rose over coastal waters. Seeing the sun setting over the Gulf here is magic.