13 tamarind

Dancing Penguins

These past two weeks have been extremely weird.

Dave and I have been walking alot.  It's amazing how walking clears the mind and breeds answers.  We are both unhappy here to varying degrees and are moving back to the coast within the next three weeks.  Back to beachy sand, green everything, family and much loved friends, pets and fun...back home.  Walking and talking has found the answer.

I'm not sure if walking around the roads brought this toad many answers though.  Perhaps it did, who knows what he was wondering.

Sometimes the most unexpected things turn out to be the most beautiful, like these dancing penguins in a pile of gutter rubbish.  It's these little things that remind me to wait for the sun after the rain.

In the same way, after 41 degree days the evening clouds are always stunning.

Hinkler Hill always looks gorgeous, but that tiny full moon up there has been keeping me awake.

One day spent at the library and Dave now has a comfort friend who he has named Honki.  I learnt alot making this little one.  I really love his floppy ears.

Honki already has a love interest, Suki (not made by me).  She tends to sleep alot and didn't even notice when we took her out to a lovely restaurant for lunch.

Here are some 13 tamarind tags I have been whizzing up.  They have a little thank-you for buying blurb and mini story about the toy inside.  It's a great way to use up little scraps of fabric.

Well, I finally have an overlocker...cheers...clapping...squeeling...sewing at two in the morning. 

This little companion is Damita: Damita is a baby princess as her name suggests.  She really hates peas in the bed.  She loves vegemite on apple and running under the sprinkler nude.  She really dislikes lemon toothpaste and garlic..yuk.  When she is all big she longs to dig all the way to China with a toothpick.

Damita's bot-bot pic (how rude).

Many other friends of Damita are waiting for stuffing.  I can only find tiny, expensive bags of toy stuffing here in Mt Isa so they will have to wait a little longer yet.

Lahoma and Faisal waiting for stuffing.

I love Faisal's little owl cheeks.

That's all for now..Bye later.

Sultanas

Friday again, and still a long way off until I can afford an overlocker.  Definitely a day for sultana cupcakes.

mmmmmmmmmm..sultanaaaaaass.

All the frangipani trees here are ecstatic with flowers, especially this gorgeous one at the end of my street which I will have to get a pic of to show everyone.

Frangipani Wine?

These wooly wools on sticks are flying over the fence from our neighbour into our front yard.

Close-up the tips are a wild green colour.

I wonder if you  could spin this crazy stuff?

Have a lovely weekend :)   

Breathe Deep Of The Sea

Now that I live far from the tumble of the sea and the endless stretch of beach that burns the eyes with its glare, I can feel a piece of my heart missing...left behind with the crabs perhaps.

When we lived closer we visited the beach at least two or three times a week..walking to the rocky point to pile the smooth washed stones into castles for the salty spirits and then wading through the still water with its murky and slimey film across the bottom. 

Zephyr (our dog) who often suffers with arthritis would strut and grin like a young spritely pup, sniffing into crab holes and rolling in dead fish.  I will always have fond memories of Mudjimba Beach.

It's the tiny moments that fill our hearts with joy, the little treasures that fill our lives with meaning.

 

Sweet Pinny Giggers

Ah sweet pinny giggers...what are they feeding you? 

--- This little man is called 'Killer' ---

My funny little round boombas always make me smile.  They screech and squeel when I open the fridge or use the chopping board even when they are exhausted from munching for an entire morning. 

I can't imagine how I would feel without pets...they have always been around.  Growing up on a farm there has always been horses, cows, chickens, ducks, guinea piggers, piggers, peacocks, cats, dogs, fish and the occasional hurt or injured wild creature.  How full they make my heart swell and how much I love them.

Melbournio

Phew, I feel like I have been away for a year, but it has only been a month.  So much has happened lately I can hardly keep up with what I have been doing.  In the first week I made it back to the gorgeously sunny Sunshine Coast and spent an absolutely ecstatic week traipsing through all 13 of the op-shops in Nambour. 

-- Stunning Japanese Fabrics --

My fabric shelves now look a little smilier and of course much messier (grin).  Now that I am wheedling my creativity out from under the rubble of life, clutter doesn't worry me so much anymore.  I like the shelves brimming with treasures from our travels and the piles of unmatched cushions strewn through the house.  I realise now that for a long time I was living like a robot.  Sewing has broken me out of a life I thought I should be living, but never really enjoyed.

-- Tiny owls from Japan, I couldn't leave without them --

In this same week some gorgeous friends welcomed an even more gorgeous little man and a 13 tamarind toy joined their brood to keep him company.

The next week I visited Melbourne and I am absolutely smitten!  What a tantalising and gorgeous city.  Cobbled alley ways, coffee lounges, jazz bars, burlesque shows, street festivals, short films and trams...am I still in Australia?  I can't wait to return and definitely want to live there for a while.

-- An alley after a sunshower, freshy fresh - Melbourne --

-- Amazing graff art - Melbourne --

Back on the Sunshine Coast for the final week and I am blessed to be with my gpa when he passes away.  It's truly a strange time when an elderly person leaves us.  I feel longing for just one more session of tea and assorted little cakes with him, but more than anything I feel inspired by his full life and reassured that the most positive impact I can have the world is to be happy and fulfilled in myself.  What a special gift.

--- Gpa Tonky & Ambrosia ---