Canberra: stage 1

So, we're here. The move from Port Macquarie to Canberra is over. I spent nearly four weeks on my own, with two kids, running a business and packing up a 4-bedroom house. So glad that it's finally over. Exhausted just doesn't describe how I was feeling last week. I have never been so tired in all my life. But I survived. We're home. A family again.

Needless to say one of the things I've missed about the capital region is the seasons - spring blooms, crisp autumn mornings followed by glorious days, winter afternoons by the fire.
We've come home to the most beautiful spring I've seen here in years. The drought is gone, the trees and flowers are making a comeback. And the yard at our modest little rental is just beautiful!

Even in this afternoon's rain, my girls have had a blast - playing on their new (gifted) slippery slide, riding their scooter, tossing the ball for Charlie and watching the little birds flit about the garden. They've already got their fairy garden set up again and are waiting for their first visitors.

Happy Father's Day Daddy

The simple things

It really is the simple things that make me most happy.
Today is Day 1 of my life as a (temporarily) single mother. Clinton left last night for Canberra to start his new job. The girls and me, well, we're holding down the fort here in Port Macquarie until we can sell our home and find a new place to live. It's a scary prospect - we won't see him for two weeks - and there is such uncertainty around just how long we're going to have to live this way.
I don't know how these FIFO (fly in, fly out) families manage. But I guess it's what you get used to.
But back to the point.
When Clinton left I made a pact with myself - to make the most of this rather ordinary situation. I want to spend more quality time with my children. To enjoy the simple things. To get out and visit the beach, the parks and all the great things that we love about our coastal lifestyle. One last time.
Today we sat on our back deck in the sun. We cracked open the big box of inkpads and stamps and went wild. It was messy, there were fights. But amongst it all I found myself just wanting to pick up the stamps and write something. I could have said a lot of things, but I reckon this sums it up...

Nanna's passionfruit pie

I love a good tart. A pie. A strudel. Anything sweet really. And it always tastes so much sweeter when it's made with love. My Nanna gave me her recipe for passionfruit pie when I was just starting out as an independent woman. I made it often for Clinton and our friends and for a while there it even rivalled his mum's lemon meringue. It has been years since I made one, and with an abundance of lemons and frozen passionfruit pulp that needed to be used, I decided to give one a go.
For this recipe you will need:

• biscuit base (packaged, or home-crushed)
• butter
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 can reduced cream
• juice of two lemons (must be fresh - don't substitute bottled juice)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 cups water
• 4 tbsp custard powder
• pulp of 4-6 passionfruit
  

Prepare your biscuit base and press into a pie dish or flan tin. Refrigerate. Combined a small amount of your water with the custard powder to form a paste, then slowly add your remaining water and sugar. Stir over a medium heat until the mixture boils and thickens (it will become translucent). Set aside to cool. Combine your milk, cream and lemon juice and beat for 2 or 3 minutes to give it some air (it will thicken a little, but sets in the fridge). Once base it chilled, pour in your cream mixture. Return to fridge. Once your jelly mixture has cooled, stir through your passionfruit pulp and pour over the top of the cream mixture. Refrigerate until set.

Introducing... Imaginart

People are always telling me ‘there’s not enough for boys’ when it comes to shopping handmade. And so, with the big Collaborate for a Cause charity auction just a few days away, Little Toot Creations and Imaginart have teamed up to create this great ‘boisterous bedroom’ themed auction item.

I’m very excited about this collaboration – firstly because Lisa is the very talented lady behind my own Little Toot artwork – but also because this auction will mark a whole new direction for my little business.

I’ve worked super hard these past few months to develop a range of boys’ and girls’ sleepwear that is 100% Australian made AND Australian Standards compliant. I don’t know of a single other handmade business in Australia which can make that claim.

Our auction item consists of a pair of Little Toot Creations PJs (made to the winner’s chosen size) and "Pillow Fight", a 7x9" print illustrated by Lisa especially for Collaborate.

Many of you may not know Lisa’s work, and so I’ve asked her to share with us a little about her business…

Tell us about your business, what do you do?

Imaginart has been evolving over the last four years. This has involved lots of painting and illustrating as well as the odd bit of Graphic Design.

What inspires your art?

Mostly my children, how could they not? I also find myself longing for a simplistic and happy world and love to recreate this. I’m just a big kid really!

And what about the process of creating an artwork? How do you go about it?

My creative mind works best at night, when the kids are tucked up in bed! I’m currently doing a lot of illustrations. Sometimes I have a plan and idea ready to go, especially if it is a commissioned work. Other times it just evolves. I can spend hours sketching and reworking before I have a finished illustration that I am satisfied with. Then I digitally colour my images. Being a bit of a perfectionist this gives me a great deal of flexibility and control which I love.

What do you enjoy most about working from home?

I’m still working out the delicate balance that is working at home. In saying that, I love it! What I appreciate the most is spending precious time with my two little girls. I am quite happy to skip the daily commute too.

And where to from here? What’s your goal for Imaginart?

I have a lot of dreams and plans. I have particularly been enjoying doing the odd fabric design and have also been working on some children’s book ideas. I look forward to seeing where this adventure takes me next!

Where can people purchase your work?

http://www.imaginart.com.auhttp://www.madeit.com.au/imaginart

Thank you Lisa!

Make sure you log-on to Facebook this weekend to check out the auction (you can bid on either of my two Collaborate items – see my earlier post for details on my partnership with Little Lou Lou).

x Bec

Collaborate for a Cause

Next weekend, Little Toot Creations and Little Lou Lou Handmade will be taking part in a fantastic fundraising initiative called Collaborate for a Cause.

The aim of Collaborate for a Cause is to promote friendship, understanding and fun in the handmade community, while raising money for those less fortunate.

Lisa and I have teamed up in support of KIDS Foundation in Australia, which is a not for profit health promotion charity dedicated to childhood injury prevention and injury recovery (Kids in Dangerous Situations).

I found KIDS Foundation through their Port Melbourne to Port Macquarie cycle event, which is one of their major fundraising events each year.

Luckily, no one in my family or circle of friends has gone through the unimaginable trauma of serious childhood injury, however it’s nice to know that this fantastic support network exists if ever we should need it.

About KIDS Foundation

On an average day in Australia about 5000 children are injured in serious accidents. Accidents are also the leading cause of childhood death.

For eighteen years KIDS Foundation injury recovery programs have provided services and facilities to support children, families and carers adjusting to life-changing injuries, with a particular emphasis on survivors of severe burn trauma.

The foundation runs an annual burns survivors’ camp that provides burn survivors and their families a place to talk, feel emotionally comfortable and supported, whilst enjoying time away from the ongoing treatment associated with recovery. Camp TANGO is run for teenagers.

KIDS Foundation relies on the support of corporate and community sponsors to also provide young people and their families with specialist equipment, such as bicycles adapted to a child’s ability, and laptops to assist where hand-writing is difficult.

KIDS Foundation also works extensively in the field of injury prevention.

Their safety education programs are being introduced into pre-school, primary and secondary schools across Australia and with adequate funding they hope to have their program taken up by every school in Australia.

You can learn more about KIDS Foundation’s great programs at www.kidsfoundation.org.au.

Lisa and I will be auctioning this size 0-1 Strawberries and Cream dress matched with a pair of 6-12 ruffle bloomies.

To bid in the auction simply visit and like the Collaborate for a Cause page on Facebook and be ready to bid next weekend!

GOOD LUCK!

x Bec

Down on the farm

I love the farm. The place where my husband grew up. It was his father's home too, and his grandfather's, and his great-grandfather's before that.
'The farm' is a property of about 600 acres located an hour's drive north of Goulburn in the NSW Southern Tablelands (see here). This time of year the mercury bottoms out about zero and doesn't climb above 6 most days (and that's being generous). Of course my favourite place to be while the men are out working is on the tiled hearth, right in front of the wood fireplace.
As you could imagine, the farm is a place steeped in history.
There's Clinton's Mum and Dad's place (a quaint little fibro that's modest but comfortable), his Nanna's old house (built in the early 1900s) and a plethora of old sheds and outbuildings that each have a story in their own right.
They run sheep, mostly, and grow potatoes.

On the farm, it's about as handmade and homegrown as you can get. I've learnt a lot from watching, working with, and listening to my in-laws. It was Margaret who inspired me to buy a Fowler's preserving kit to bottle fruit and vegetables while they were abundant and in season.
She's shared with me her recipes for tomato sauce, relish and chutney - not to mention that famous chocolate slice. Her kitchen is small, but it runs like a well-oiled machine - churning out jams, scones and Christmas dinners for 15+ without a hiccup or a complaint. It's not uncommon to find a roast leg of lamb cooling in the meat safe, out in the walk-in pantry.
This latest visit to the farm was to help out with the annual task of lamb marking - the process of innoculating, ear branding and tail docking the young lambs. It's not a fun job - it's dirty, hard work - but the kids love getting up close to the animals and having a chance to help out their grandparents. This year we were joined by some friends of ours from Port Macquarie, who relished the opportunity to get in there and have a go, and learn something new.

We also took the opportunity while the weather was mild to make a batch of lamb sausages. I skipped that job - choosing instead a lovely visit with my dear friend Anita from Winnie&Clem - but returned to find about 40kg of delicious, all-natural sausages hanging in the meat room.

And of course, I must not forget to mention the chickens. Oh, how I wish I could keep some chickens! The girls just love traipsing down to the chookyard with their old tin can filled with grain to feed (and with Nanna's help occasionally hypnotise) the chooks. And for me there's nothing better than those soft little hands cupping a warm, freshly-laid egg.

Yep. I love the farm.

x Bec