Monday crush

Okay so I have some odd loves...but I proudly admit that I am addicted to paper and all that it can create. Working for a printery means I feel and lust textured papers on a daily basis. above all that paper has to offer, I find that nothing is more treasured than a hand written letter mailed in the post to friends and family.

I love paper for it's simple purpose, decorative nature and wonderful crafty DIY's. Most paper projects will take patience and a little time but well worth it in the long run!

Here are just handful of the wonderful paper crafts that some amazing artists make as well as links for the easy DIY's

Bet you get addicted just like me!

Tutorial on Kusudama flowers. Click here.

Farzier & Wing mobiles

Yulia Brodskaya - view more here

Paper Mache birds

DIY Paper Banner craft

A gorgeous new use for those old magazines. Made by Urban Outfitters.

Way out west.

A station out at Cunnamulla

I had always dreamed of going out west and having a good 12 month adventure. After I left school and several options failed to really entice me, I noticed in the local paper an ad for governesses to apply for positions on property stations. Wow what an experience that would be! Young, impressionable and definitely naive meant that I thought of all the positives of life in the wild west and none of the negatives.  My days would be filled with riding horses, teaching some gorgeous kiddies and adding to my great circle of friends with some real fair dinkum country bumpkins. I thought I would look mighty fine in a pair of RM William jeans and hat with a cute little flanny.  I can just see me drinking a cold Tooheys New as I sit on the old barbed fence watching a glorious sunset. Ahhhhh yep that's a life...that is the adventure for me.

It took only a week for me to be accepted to governess on a property near Cunnamulla, a 40,000 acre sheep station. 40,000 acres!!!! - It was a 30 minute drive to reach their back fence!

Before I quit my job Mum offered to drive me out and check I was really happy with it all. Now that I look back on it, it was Mum that was checking...not me.We did it in 3 days. 9 hours there, a day looking around and meeting the kids, than 9 hours back. I didn't absorb it at all. My mind was made up, I was heading out west.

At the end of January in 2000 I packed up the Commodore kissed my Mum and Dad goodbye and started the journey to my new home, 9 hours from anyone I had ever known, leaving for the first time the safety of my parents nest. I loved the trip out there immensely. Driving with windows down, summer breeze flowing through my hair, snacking on some cooked chicken Mum had packed while belting out the vocals song after song. I was free, untamed and open to all that lay in front of me. It went from gorgeous Great Dividing Ranges to a flat, red, arid horizon that had a charm that sucked you in.

Finally I made it, greeted the family and unpacked my belongings.

The quarters I was staying at was not like your 5 star hotel...actually I'm not sure you would rate it a one star. When I walked in I cut my foot on a nail that was sticking up from the rough unsanded timber floor with gaps so big I could see the shingleback lizards sitting below. I grabbed a hammer and started nailing and nailing and nailing. As I assessed my new home I noticed a few things that I hadn't noticed in the first trip. There was no windows just screens with big rips in them, no outlet for a tv or phone, no hot water, no lockable door. Okay so it was a bit different, but we rough it in the country right? It's part of the experience?

Remember the positive, naive person I was talking to you about? Well she crumbles pretty damn quickly.


The days routine was always the same, waking up covered in bugs and spiders, school of air and teaching in the morning, preparation for the next days class, meals at the main house and cleaning. Everyday the same 5 faces, every day the list of chores for me to do grew and every day I was there the more frequently the kids would call me Mum. At 19 I was a mother of 3 kids looking after a house and a husband.

If I was older and stronger I could have handled the situation but I was neither. As a very social person the isolation was very confronting. I didn't have anyone to talk to as the Dad was busy on the farm and the mother was busy meeting friends and going in to town. I had no day to day knowledge of the outside world. The change was too dramatic for me and I found it very hard to cope. Every meal was lamb or mutton, I got to a point where I never wanted to eat lamb again! As for the cleaning which they had told me wasn't part of the job, I had to clean their toilets, wash and fold and put away all their clothes, clean, dress and feed three kids and even scrub the ceiling with a toothbrush.

One day I was taking washing off the line and the mother came and joined me. She offered some words of wisdom "You know Hayley so many governesses come out here looking for a husband. They look for someone with a nice big broad brimmed hat and think he is rich and has a good property and steal them away from their wives. It's not going to happen here Hayley" WHAT!!!!!! I was 19! What would possess her to think that?? She turned very quickly on me after this asking me to do more and more ridiculous tasks and spitting one word replies to questions. What had I done for her to turn on me?

I can't explain how life changing going out west was. I would have come home days after arriving but I was stubborn and felt like I had to prove to everyone and myself that I could do it. My view of the world and people unfortunately changed out there. I changed. I was not eating, I was sad and most of all I was alone. Until you are isolated and cut off from everything you know and love, its hard to understand how much that impacts on you emotionally and physically.

Finally after realising the dream was becoming a nightmare I mustered up the courage to say I was leaving. I was there for 90 short days...3 months and I was leaving a very broken person. A few days later the wife, the lady that gave me the job, the one I had connected with over the phone asked me to leave that afternoon. Nobody travels in the late afternoon out west. It is too dangerous with the amount of kangaroos and emus running about. But I left, I traveled to a motel in St George a 2-3 hour drive, I ordered chinese at the local takeaway and cried as I ate it from pure joy that it wasn't lamb. Unable to sleep I left at 3am in the morning. It was a long and dangerous drive home. I was so tired but I did not stop driving, I was hallucinating, seeing things jump in front of me, swerving to avoid them and I increasingly found it hard to keep my eyes open. To this day I know how stupid that was and I would never in my life drive like that again.

When I finally got home my Dad ran to the car hugged me and cried. I left a very fit happy go lucky girl and came back 8 kilos lighter, week and frail. I slept all that day til the next morning and I woke to find everything back in it's rightful place. I was home.

It took me a good year to cry after Cunnamulla. I became one hard nut to crack. I would love to go out west again and visit but to live...it's not for me. I think the people out there are amazing. Strong and tough they endure the hardships and isolation easily. I learnt a lot about myself. I learnt to weigh up the good and the bad before making a decision and I learnt to appreciate the gorgeous Northern Rivers and friends and family that surround me.

It was a harsh lesson, but she taught me. She made me grow up, I don't really like her for it but we all have this lesson at some point.

Dinner plate date!

After years and years of the same dinner set its numbers have slowly dwindled and I am now on the hunt for something new. I must admit the choice is hard, after browsing the internet I found the choices below that caught my eye.

Denby Azure 16pc Dinner Set $599

 Gordon Ramsay by Royal Doulton $175.00

Handmade Red Dinnerware 6 plates $160.00

They are nice right? Modern, stylish, sleek? But just not quite me. I looked further searching google images under "plates" and came up with some wonderful finds. I realised what really caught my eye were the mixed and matched vintage style plates that were cleverly put together to form their own creative set. I will need to choose a colour base to begin with and then build on the set with pieces that seem to belong. So now the true hunt begins, scouring my local op shops and garage sales for hopefully something that looks close to as gorgeous as the pics below!!!

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From a newly found blog I love Elegant Economies

Can't wait to show you some of my finds. Happy thrifting x

A Passion

When I was a little girl of 3 or 4 years old, all I did was dream of dancing. I would spend hours each day flitting around the back yard imagining myself up on stage performing, certain one day I would be a star.

When I was 5 my dream felt like it was coming true when my mother took me to our local dance academy. I can't remember those first few lessons but I can imagine you couldn't wipe the smile off my face! As the years went by it became the constant thing in my life. I was doing ballet, jazz, character and my true love tap. Dancing was becoming a part of me not just a thing I did. I would tap as I talked to friends, arabesque just because I felt like it and pirouette with pure joy.

Dance was the greatest outlet I have ever had. When I was mad I would put on my music at home and tap until my legs would shake and my heart would beat out of my chest. When I felt love and joy I would do ballet with a beautiful big skirt, bedroom lamp behind me, watching as the shadow I cast danced across the wall.

It answered every need I had. It was my passion

Gene Kelly was my idol. His dancing was effortless, smooth and unique. I would spend hours learning the dances from Singing in the Rain, Take Me Out to the Ball Game &  New York New York. While everyone else was recording the top hits on the radio I was listening to jazz and cabaret music.

When I completed Year 12 I also finished up at the dance academy. 14 years ago was the last time I truly danced, and yet for 14 years I have still felt the hole within my heart, my passion.

I yearn to dance again, feel that joy, the physical fitness, to have the ability to move in any way I felt my body should when the music is beating through me.

I wish I had tried harder, I wish I had chased my dream, I wish I had found a way to keep dancing.

When my daughter started dancing it took me right back to those joyful days but she was a very nervous shy little thing back then and was always worried that everyone was looking at her, something that I thrived on as a kid. I feel like I was born with all the confidence in the world and slowly it has diminished. Erika was born with none and, to my delight, it is slowly building. Erika did ballet for 12 short months before she decided that it wasn't for her. I was gutted but understood that it was her choice.

What I have come to realise is that it wasn't about Erika doing ballet, it was about her having the chance to feel what I did, to find her true passion what ever that might be. Every child deserves to have that.

So now I wait patiently as they begin to explore their options hoping that they find their one true love.

I know after all this time I will never lose this feeling I have for dance and I am so thankful for everything it has given me. Nothing will ever compare to this feeling, this love...for dance.

Find your passion!

Monday crush....

is teal! It has a sweet feminine feel and is strong yet dainty at the same time. Teal against a deep grainy timber just oozes warmth and style. My top 10 gorgeous teal images are below with a hint of country charm. What colours are you loving at the moment?

I have a love for buttons. Coming close to drowning in brown buttons, I found a hibiscus print I liked on google images, printed it out and traced it on to this canvas I painted in a teal colour. I then started to arrange the buttons so they were snug on the canvas and glued each one on. This was the very first one I tried but have now completed many since then.

In the afternoon

You always forget how beautiful and amazing the place is that you live. You see it so often that it becomes familiar and you stop appreciating it's true value. So yesterday I set off to capture some of the amazing images that surround me. Little did I know I would encounter a snake! These photos are taken at my home, my parents and down the road all in one afternoon. I am a lucky girl x

Australian For Life

 My daughter Erika - 7 years old

The motto for Surf Life Savers across the country is Australian for life. I love it and it represents what we do every Sunday morning in the warm Summer months for many many years to come. It's an early start with beach bags packed and every sleepy body in the car by 8am. We then take the 45 minute drive to our local beach Evans Head with a big sunscreen session before 9am kick off.

I love the smell of sunscreen. It reminds me of hanging on for dear life as my Dad would push me on to a wave on the boogie board, double scoop ice cream cones, collecting shells and the best fish and chips money can buy. Family memories crash through me just like the ocean waves every time I smell it.

My son Keagan - 5 years old and his best mate Brad

To make the commitment every Sunday for 6 months of they year can be difficult but it's worth it, family time always is. 

As all the tiny little blue and white capped heads bop up and down on the beach sprinting for the only flag left, there is always a big brown and burly surfer grinning from ear to ear at the joy the nippers bring to the beach. It's adorable to watch them turn to mush.

When time is called and all the body surfing, flags and general team fun is finished they all throw their caps off and dive straight in to cool blue mass in front of them. I appreciate greatly that they can play in the small waves with confidence and not fear and they are looking back all the time to check they are between the flags.

Now we are making the memories that were made for me and I enjoy it twice as much...even double scoop icecreams.

Sundays, beach, family, fish and chips, fun in the sun - Australian for Life x

For more information on surf life saving visit their website

Monday Crush

I have a major crush on these patchwork finds!

 Furniture from Squint Limited x

A Stones Throw Away...

The saying goes that a picture is worth a thousand words. This I've found is true. It's hard to write next to this man...I feel my words can't... well they just can't. It would be easier not to try, it would be easier to stare endlessly at the warmth that surrounds him, but he is important and the only way to explain is to use my words.

My Grandpa and I were born with a connection, with invisible string our hearts were tied together and as he lived to a ripe old age there were many memories made.

He lived just a stones throw away from us and it only took a 10 minute bicycle ride to reach his place. I would arrive to find him tinkering in the shed solving many a problem using his hands and the endless bits and bobs that surrounded him. I loved that about him, that he didn't need to buy a solution, he made one.

He made a cracking coleslaw and a mean fricassee, he wore an apron to hold the pegs while hanging clothes on the line, he drank a freshly squeezed lemon every morning to help keep him young and danced and danced for as long as his legs would let him.

Since I was a little girl I have marched proudly wearing his medals with eyes full of tears and my head held high. He didn't understand why I was so proud of him. He wasn't on the front line, he didn't even hold a gun. But when Darwin was bombed and they lost their radar he was one of a small group of men that worked day and night to get the new one built and on it's way. He did this through most of the war, kept the soldiers connected. That is worth your medal and it's worth my pride.

Just short of 2 years ago he had a fall at home and the trip to the local hospital brought bad news. Hip was shot and heart was weak - he won't be going home, if he pulls through he'll be in a nursing home. It was evident a few days later that the nursing home would not be needed.

I had never faced death before, not like that, not there is front of me. 

So I just stood in front of the door to his room, hesitant to enter and helpless.But the string, the string tied to his heart pulled me in, and I sat with him hand in hand, heart with heart.

He died later that day... after I had left the room. I knew that he wouldn't let go until I had.

Seeing him afterwards was an experience that can't be written, it was very silent but comforting as well. Tears fell like heavy raindrops yet I was happy. After all these years he would be able to look into his wife's eyes and show her that he had learnt to dance too. Now they can spend eternity together, waltzing around the stars.

I have kept many things including his War Medal, and when I miss him I tinker with all the wonderful little treasures that made this man my Grandfather. How honoured I am to have been a part of this gentleman's life, to be his Granddaughter, to know his story and to have heard his wisdom filled words.

As your birthday approaches, Australia Day, I'm glad I have these memories - they make you feel just a stones throw away x.

Boys bedrooms.

This will be the year of styling and renovation. I am not sure whether I'm telling you this or just trying to convince myself! But here are a few boys bedrooms that inspire me to start off the young fellas first!

 

http://shabbynest.blogspot.com

A movie with pensioners.

 

Dad and I went and saw the movie War Horse the other day - a real tear jerker. As we got our tickets I was amused at Dad flashing his Seniors Citizens card. Having just retired, I had to have a quick one liner at his expense but withdrew from the battle defeated when he threatened not to buy my ticket!

As I walked in to watch the movie I was hit with unfamiliar cinema smells -  talcum powder, imperial leather soap, even maybe brill cream. I looked around and realised I was the youngest there by about 35 years and the next youngest was my Dad!

The message to silence mobile phones began and the reaction was astounding. Flustered little old ladies started fumbling around in their bags digging furiously through the contained masses of the unimaginable. Following the now found phones was the harassment of husbands for help while buttons loudly blurted out their sounds around the cinema. I sat back and watched with amusement at how stereotypical the whole scenario was...little did I know how much better it was going to get.

Beside the distraction of the old man behind breathing so loudly I assumed he had swallowed a microphone, in the midst of the pre-movie silence someone let one off making that sound when you blow wind into an empty bottle. "Oh dear Lord don't let it smell" I thought to myself as I clung to the chair holding my nose trying desperately not to laugh out loud. The entire time I struggled to regain control every other person just sat  there not moving a muscle as if to say "could of happened to anybody".

The movie began and so did the running commentary "Oh Harry we used to have a horse like that, what was his name?", "Pat she is going to get a saddle, I bet you it's a saddle", "Oh isn't that beautiful, look at that", "Ha ha ha look Patty, Jacks got tears in his eyes ha ha ha".

Needless to say the movie was enjoyable and so was the carrying ons of the oldies.

As I exited the movies I got one last hoorah as they all entered single file into the toilets before the trip home.

You know what was the best bit, they didn't care two hoots about what anybody else thought, they all enjoyed the social outing with smiles from the great company they shared, and tears from the great movie. 

It goes to show they may be getting on but they all still remain young at heart.

My mate Alex

When Kirk and I bought our first home oh so many moons ago we decided that the first big step was over. The second step was dogs!

It didn’t take long for Kirk to find his little sweetie Georgie, a whippet cross kelpie with too much energy!!! She would zip across here and then turn on a 10 cent piece and be darting off in the next direction. He loved her from the moment their eyes met. She was abandoned by her previous owners, tied up with rope to a tree and left, most likely to die. But she chewed through the rope and landed with the local animal rescue shelter which is where we met her. She was the first dog to join our family.

A few weeks later the shelter was holding an open day and my mother offered to look for a dog for me. She only asked me one important question “What do you want?” I didn’t know if I should get male or female, long haired or short haired, big or small…there were just too many options. So I decided “find me the ugliest dog they have. The one that no one wants”.

That afternoon mum was back with dog to boot. As he popped out of the car I had to laugh. He was a scrawny little thing with an over sized head and had obviously been in a fight due to a large scab on his jaw. He was ugly, scared and in need of some serious cuddles. They had named him Tarzan but he didn’t look like he was any jungle warrior to me, so I called him Alex.

If Alex was a man he would be an old gentlemen, kind, warm and giving. Alex and I have an unbreakable bond, an unspoken understanding. He is my mate, and I am his.

He treats my children as his own little pups, giving them cuddles and sweet licks and letting them do more to him then any other dog would put up with. My youngest Toby who will be turning two in March has found his own little spot in Alex’s heart. The two are virtually inseparable, and I spend many a moment watching the two laying together wrapped in happiness and friendship.

Alex is showing signs of age of late, waking stiff and sore in the morning and not keeping up with the hustle and bustle of Georgie and the kids. I can only hope that time is on his side and I get to share a few more precious years yet.

My mate Alex…there will never be another dog like him x.

“20 years from now you’ll be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Hug someone...

It can say all the things you don’t have words for.

A little miracle