Rainy Day Sewing Project

I found an old pair of jeans whilst rummaging around the laundry the other day that I'd shoved them in the material pile months ago after they'd ripped across the knee. I couldn't repair the rip, but they were too good to just chuck out so faced with a rainy (read: no gardening)weekend and a sick partner willing to laze about and amuse the kids, I turned them into a skirt for me and used the legs to make a pair of shorts for the little fella.

Making skirts out of jeans is so easy and quick. I've done a couple of them now. I added a floral border to this one.

I'm getting quite an old hand at whipping up these kiddie shorts too. I've made quite a few pairs now out of old pants and t-shirts. I had my first go at applique on this pair. The star is made from the leftovers of an old polar fleece jumper that I made into tracksuit pants a few months ago.

Two new wardrobe pieces out of what most people would chuck away; not bad for a days work by a total novice sewer! 

Beltane

The Sun is strong now

His light lingers late into the afternoon

Warming the Earth

Vines twist and twirl with rampant creativity

The Lord and Lady unite as lovers

Buds swell and burst into flower

As the Goddess swells with the promise of abundance and new life

Blessed be xo

A New Camera ...

... And the blog mojo returns :)
Although I would be nice if I could have a turn at it.
May I present Indi's first photographic exhibition, entitled 'The Claw'.

And, in reference to the last post, I've decided to keep the blog going.  

Why Blog?

So it's been a while since I've posted again and I'm wondering whether or not to keep this blog going. It seems that the original intention of this blog -- to document the journey of turning a bare grassy suburban backyard into a permaculture paradise -- has fallen by the wayside, and now I'm not sure what the hell this blog is about or why the hell I even blog. At the moment I have lots I'd like to write about but I can't seem to get the words from head to screen. I suppose it doesn't help having two little ones tearing around the house interrupting my train of thought every time I sit down. Then somedays I feel like I'm missing out on the fun of a project because I keep thinking 'This will be a good blog post' and become so consumed by the idea of blogging it that I forget to just enjoy whatever it is we're doing.
I've toyed with the idea of starting a new blog, maybe a couple, and keeping a definite theme (gardening, homeschooling, craft etc) but then I think how entwined all those aspects of my life are; I couldn't really split them up into neat little segments like that and one would spill over into another ... just like it has done here. Maybe I should just stop being so bloody controlling with a theme.

Cassowary Falls

Wednesday we took a drive up to the town of Daintree and went for a walk to Cassowary Falls. It was a bit of a rip-off; we had to pay $10 each to walk through private property but the falls were pretty nice and refreshing at the end. 

Indi was happy because there was a horse lazing around the front gate. She named him ‘Fortune’. 

The walk took us through an open paddock along a creek, then through some denser forest where there was a little pool and lots of big rocks

We followed this creek along until we got to Cassowary Falls. It was beautiful and green and cool, and we had it all to ourselves. We all jumped in for a swim. The boys swam all the way across to the waterfall on the other side, but I wasn’t that game! 

Indi taking in the view

Little freshwater Perch came up to greet us

The Great Barrier Reef

Snorkelling on the Reef has got to be one of the best things I’ve ever done. You really can’t appreciate the beauty of it until you see it for yourself. There are so many different types of fish and coral all combined in this magical underwater rainbow wonderland.

We jumped on a boat in Cairns and headed out to Moore Reef, which took about 90 minutes. Unfortunately we picked a windy day with a fairly decent sized swell, resulting in LOTS of sea sickness onboard! We were ok but Indi had a bit of a chuck in the last 10 minutes of the trip. I think Keanu might have felt a bit nauseous but he fell asleep about 30 minutes in so he was fine when we got out there. There wasn’t too many people on the boat--about 60 I think--and I reckon about 50 of them spent the majority of the ride with their heads in paper bags!

The company we choose to go with have a big floating pontoon on the reef. It’s great with little kids; they have a little swimming area for kids and an underwater observatory area and a semi-submersible boat that takes you around the reef. Lots of things to amuse the non-swimmers! Craig and I took turns looking after Keanu on board or in the swimming area while the other snorkelled with Indi.

Indi was AMAZING. She’d used a snorkel in the pool last summer but she kept saying she forgot how to do it. Well, she was wrong. She could hardly wait to get in the water and once she was in there was no stopping her! 

It was so funny snorkelling alongside her; at first she couldn’t keep her head down for more than a few seconds because every time she saw something exciting she’d stick her head up and tell everyone! Then she realised she could talk underwater, so she was babbling her head off while we were swimming around. 

This is ‘Wally’ the Maori Wrasse. He is pretty friendly; he comes right up to the surface and  he lets people pat him on the back. 

It was pretty rough out there for most of the day; big swell kept washing over us and filling our snorkells with water and the current was fairly strong but Indi spent a good couple of hours in the water throughout the day. Needless to say, she slept like a log last night! The first thing she said when she got up this morning was 'Mum can we go snorkelling again?'

Despite the rough water and overcast weather, it was an awesome day. There really is nothing like it. We've even been considering doing a dive course when we get home so next time we can scuba and see even more (and yes, there will be a next time!)

On The Road Again

Well we’ve driven 3000 kilometres north and it’s time to turn around. We are in the car now, heading back down. I’ve been trying to blog almost everyday but we’ve been so busy exploring that by the time we get back to the van we are too buggered to do much other than pour a glass of wine and maybe watch a movie. Since my last post we’ve spent 4 days in Townsville and 8 days exploring Cairns and its surrounds. It’s been absolutely awesome and I don’t want to leave! I’ve got lots of great pictures and funny stories to write about. We’ve got a few big driving days so I’ll be able to write a bit while the kids are sleeping, so stay tuned!