A little bit of magic to keep the home hearth burning.

We have a very old garage, where I set up this little tableau.

I love the inside of this small forgotten building....all rustic , old brick walls

and exposed beams. Spiders galore, happily residing under the roof.

I like it that way. Infact , I feel guilt when I clean the cobwebs from

inside the main house. When I think of  the harmless little spiders that have

carefully constructed their homes within

our own home. Let them be I say, never mind what the visitors think.

So, I put my little handmade matchbox home in the spiderly garage,

and lit a candle in honour of  'the home'.....big and small.

It will come in good use each time we light the fire this winter.

The joy of making hand made paper

My daughter and I , in creative mood, took advantage of a sweet sunny autumn day

fossicked around in the studio for my mould and deckle
in the intention to make hand made paper.

Pulp at the ready, we filled our vat with plenty of water, adding a cup or two

of pulp, with the addition of geranium petals and grass clippings.

Paper then hung on the line while still wet, softly blowing in the breeze,

didn't take long to dry in the warm sun. I love the finished paper's fragile, tactile qualities

- perfect for some japanese book binding and various other decorative projects.

Paper is so versatile, here displayed on my paper mache small table.....

Hope I have inspired you to take up this satisying craft....
it's worth having a go.

Andrea

A blessing for the home.

.......found trinkets, a plastic ballerina,

an old key, glass bead, string, silver thread and crumpled tea stained paper,

hapazardly bound together. 

With love ....

and blessings for...

the home.

Safety Beach, Rosebud, Victoria

Colorful and vibrant beach huts along the shoreline.

Trio of Silver Gulls......

Southern view of Safety Beach looking towards the opening to Port Phillip Bay.

 Northern aspect , Mount Martha in the distance.

 Today I wanted to show you some photographs 

taken during the summer holidays at Safety Beach here in Victoria.

Safety Beach is located in the Port Phillip Bay area , on the easterly

coast, and is a wonderful calm beach, with access to walk out far, without

it getting too deep. As you can see , on the day , it was quite deserted

you could almost be the only person on earth.

Abundant in wildlife, we swam amongst little schools of fish, crustaceans and

the odd sea star, one of which was about the length of our feet.

Not so pleasant was the close encounter with a large jelly, of which species

I was uncertain, and not willing to get close enough to find out. 

A sting from it, would have finished our day there and then.

There were the typical Silver Gulls hoping for a scrap of food,

and even a wary Southern Petrel was seen at a distance- floating calmly on

the tide but keep a watchful eye on me, the observer.

The Southern Petrel is a large bird,

similar in appearance to the albatross and migrates from the antarctic to warmer

australian southern waters.
So , we spent a few hours here, slowly taking our time, taking in the views,
swimming, collecting shells and sea glass......

and what a great day out we had.

We are grateful to our children's uncle who kindly drove us 

to this location, for without his generosity of spirit, trips 

such as these would not be possible for us.

Finally, I've heard so much about this magazine on various blogs,

that I thought I would treat myself to an issue of Jean D'Arc Living Magazine.

It arrived in the post , beautifully packaged in tissue paper and string.

A pleasant morning was spent , outside, in the shade,

perusing the pages of this unique magazine. 

I was impressed to discover the paper is all recycled

and it seems too, the inks are used sparingly as the photographs

are of a soft , faded quality. Quite different to the many garish, glossy

commercial lifestyle magazines so readily available these days.

Still dreaming of the coast....

sigh.

A

Quiet reflections on Australia Day

A nice quiet Australia Day here in Melbourne.

Started the day with a good clean up around the house.

What is it, that makes the atmosphere suddenly change

after a good clean? It seems with the dust, goes all the stagnancy,

all the 'invisible' weight that might be accumulating around the home

...either way, as the prime caretaker of the home,

I 'feel' the difference after a good clean.

After all, mother nature knows when a good clean is needed

as her rains and  winds relieve the environment of dust and grime.

And as it does outdoors, so does it feel better indoors too.

The photos show views of the place I call 'home'.

'White Cloud Drift' hangs above the sofa in the lounge room,

while a couple of new op shop finds, sit displayed on my grandfathers 

beautiful hand crafted cabinet. I have a penchant for old sewing memorabilia.....

...spot my sons' 'feet'! :-)

The cushion I fashioned from old pieces of cotton fabric,

adding  detail with pin tucks and free embroidery in abstract designs.
sigh.....what i wouldn't do for a new camera tho'.

A