48/52

Taking her job of watering the plants oh so seriously.

A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, as a one year old.

Taking part in Jodi's weekly portrait series

Easter: The first real hunt*

Things you loved: the chance to run amok with your three little cousins, wearing fluffy bunny ears and your birthday tutu (you twirled, and twirled and twirled), eating lunch at the littles' table with the TV turned on (you were looking at me like, get out of town...no way), digging up Vovo's garden mid hunt,   the bunny statue you discovered in the courtyard that morning (you knelt down to give him a little kiss)...but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that eating chocolate was probably the highlight.

This year we had a mini hunt at home in the morning. Mum and Dad were at the Blues Festival so K and I hid a small Kinder chocolate from Grandfather in the courtyard, and found a little home for the bunny from JanMa. We went to Vovo's in the afternoon for lunch and the Big Backyard Hunt. Vovo gave you bunny ears and a basket and I watched you swing it round the garden, thinking how grateful and happy I am that you are going to grow up adored by, and adoring these beautiful cousins of yours.

*Last year you slept through the hunt in Vovo's backyard!

Simple pleasures of ordinary days

...some pretties for the balcony
...from the markets, the creamiest yogurt to pass my lips
...we waited for dada at the bottom of the road to greet him on his first day back at work after holidays
...peepo
...my favourite sculpture in town
...box city: oh to be a child again
...golden tiles
...this would be my last supper: cheese and bean papusa with a mountain of chilli sauce
...we took the Little One for a morning out in town; no trip to the city would be complete without a ride on the carousel (her first)...
...and, she couldn't get enough. And I couldn't get enough of her not getting enough. A lovely memory.
...an outtake from the 52 project
...Happy 100 Canberra. Gosh you look good
...there's that dress up bag again
...but yesterday it was all about the wand

Joining Em and creating a collection of weekly images, recording simple pleasures of ordinary days.

Simple pleasures of ordinary days

...this week saw the first signs of a moody Autumn. Cool winds whipping in the afternoon mean it's time for Minestrone (K calls it Miiiiiine Strone in his best superhero voice)
...In, and
...Out
...It seems as though all her leggings are morphing into pedal pushers
...We took her to a beautiful toystore in town on one of the last days of K's holidays to choose a small treat: a little animal to add to her collection. She chose a bunny. Like the ones at her new childcare centre (oh, that's another post)
...a handmade bag of tricks for a new baby born near the sea (the son of a good family friend)
...I've started working on Saskia's handbound baby book (I go weak at the sight of that stack of deckled edges).
...Another favourite from Sculpture Garden Sunday
...Finally! A nasturtium bloom!

Joining Em and creating a collection of weekly images, recording simple pleasures of ordinary days.

A few little things...

Just a small collection of thoughts - hard to catergorise. I'm trying to find the time to write a little more about what's been happening lately. I have a number of posts I've been composing in my mind, but (refreshingly) I've not spent much time at the computer...

...K has been on holidays and after returning from a week on the ever beautiful South Coast we've been making the most of having him home (blog posting has been at the bottom of our list of things to do...yes, there's a list! Poor K! But our courtyard looks great...)
...This news has me thrilled to bits. I confessed an obsession here.
...On slightly less trivial matters, a thoroughly deserving mama and her little boy are in the running to win a car here. Elliott has Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome (you can read more their story here), and having a car that can be modified to fit his wheelchair would make a real difference in their lives. They are currently in number one position, thanks to an awesome social media campaign (one of those times when Facebook is used for good). Please, any extra votes would be appreciated (vote for the Sheen family). I know Liv only through friends, but think my heart will burst with happiness for her should they win. This is truly a case of need, not want.
...The lovely Bettina has a great little series about discovering new blogs and was kind enough to ask me a few questions about blogging. I love stumbling across a new read - you should pop over! Bettina posts some sweet DIY projects too. I think I'm going to try my hand at this. You should see the house headband I get about in these days...

*Inside my pantry door: snipped recipes, a list of easy go-to-meals (written out in the first few weeks of having a newborn), secrets to brewing chai, the speed guide to the Kitchen Aid, and a growing collection of Anthropologie aprons...

Simple pleasures of ordinary days

...I have a little crush on his work ever since seeing it at Megalo moons ago, and there's now an exhibition in this space
...A little pocket of public art gold in our city
...She explores while I follow with a coffee
...JanMa helped us plant a little crate garden
...Grandfather is a playdough comedian
...A chilly January morning
...the view from Grandfather's shoulders, and
...the view from the Village Centre here

Joining Em and creating a collection of weekly images, recording simple pleasures of ordinary days.

Mornings

In our living area upstairs we have two oversized ceiling to floor windows which would be the first thing you notice about our house if I opened our front door to you. Sliding doors take you out onto the balcony which runs the length of our house, and at one end a spiral Juliet staircase winds down to the courtyard below. You look out to the treetops and if you peek through the branches of the big old silvery grey gum you can see the Brindabellas (I've said it before, it's like being in a treehouse). Kookaburras and cockatoos visit for a natter and there's not a whisper of traffic. With each change of season our windowscape changes. I never tire of the view. It's one of my favourite things about our house in the village.

Lately we've been spending our early mornings on the balcony deck before the heavy heat of these summer days hit. Crayons in old tins, pre-loved tables and chairs made for little people, a pressed metal watering can which clunks nicely and gaps in the railing wide enough to poke your nose through: this seems to keep the Little One happy. Long enough that I can finish my first cup of tea for the day.

*Last week some of Saskia's most treasured friends (Sofia, Iris and little Archie) spent a morning with us on the balcony. There was the gentlest of breezes, a calm about the children, dress ups and games of make believe, strawberry milks in chocolate sprinkle glasses, and stolen baby kisses.

Lately

Eating: bliss balls (I finally made these from Jess' recipe and bought a good quality cocoa powder from the deli...I can never turn back now), a few new 15 minute Jamie meals (the best being the green tea salmon, miso greens and coconut rice - and the Keralan curry which makes friends of cauliflower, chickpeas and pineapple - weird, but ever so right), and these double coconut muffins which have changed my life, and I have this lady to thank.

Watching: Louis Theroux's Extreme Love reruns on ABC2 (I can't stop thinking about Joey's family in Extreme Love: Autism and the charming, still vivacious 89 year-old Nancy and her ever-doting husband, John, in Extreme Love: Dementia). I love his slightly awkward style.

Growing: hydrangeas with petals turning antique green (a present for my Christmas Eve birthday), geraniums in all shades of crimson, marigolds on the balcony table, and some rather piddly nasturtiums (biggest disappointment).

What are you eating, watching, growing?

JanMa's garden

This was the garden I played in as a child. I know where the pavers become bumpy near the shed, where the spiders love to spin webs, where garden sculptures rest. And I love that Saskia is now discovering this little backyard world.

We spent the weekend outdoors: planting seedling baskets and herb pots at home, and here, amongst the shade in JanMa's garden. The Little One delighted in running down the grassy hill as fast as her little legs would carry her and I would scoop her up and swirl her around just before she'd reach the hedge. It was all a bit Huggies commercial but I couldn't resist. We ate mini gelato cones (Sassy insisting on tucking into hers cone first), slipped down the slide, hunted for strawberries and patted the family of (stone) wombats by front path. The kind of spring afternoon that you'd look back on and remember how blissfully happy and content you were.

How was your weekend? Did you spend it outdoors?