may it be

1. In season at the Subiaco Farmers Market 2. Cute dress made by a local Denmark girl 3. Woolie warmth 4. Orange socks and the new cot 5. A gift for a Mum to be: In My Nest by Sara Gillingham and Lorena Siminovich 6. Juicy apple bags at the Subiaco Farmers Market

giddy up

I always wanted one of these when I was a kid, and just had the kitchen broom to ride on, but now I have two. Well not actually me, but the girls do. I've been on a bit of a creative frenzy making things lately. Made from scraps of material they are now horses with personality. My handy man made up the beautiful wooden poles and wheels.

fruity mushrooms

I've had this colourful fabric sitting on my 'to make' pile for ages, and finally this weekend I managed to make it into something. Lucky Hannah.

story time : the quangle wangle's hat, edward lear

On top of the Crumpetty Tree
The Quangle Wangle sat,
But his face you could not see,
On account of his Beaver Hat.
For his Hat was a hundred and two feet wide,
With ribbons and bibbons on every side,
And bells, and buttons, and loops and lace.
So that nobody ever could see the face
Of the Quangle Wangle Quee.

The Quangle Wangle's Hat is a story of total nonsense, which at the same time seems to make a lot of sense, with its many layers of meaning and illusion. This whimsical poem was written by Edwar Lear, a Victorian author, poet and artist. It was first published in 1877 in his book Laughable Lyrics: Fourth Book of Nonsense Poems, Songs, Botany, Music &c.

I love Lear's imagination. His fantasy creatures such as the Fimble Fowl with the corkscrew leg, the Pobble who hast no toes, and my favourite the Dong with a luminous nose.

Lear was born into a family of 20 children, in Holloway England 1812. Financial difficulties left him to his elder sisters care. Raised and educated by his sisters, he then began earning his living as an artist at age 14. He had a difficult life suffering from epilepsy and depression for which he felt ashamed and would often retreat from public view. He was a well travelled man, having explored Europe, Egypt and India. He briefly gave drawing lessons to Queen Victoria. During this Victorian era it was Lear, together with Lewis Carroll, who helped establish this new literary genre of the humorous, irrational and nonsensical. Lear died in 1888 from the heart disease he had been struggling with since 1870.

This tattered edition of The Quangle Wangle's Hat was Will's from his childhood. Published in 1975 by Puffin Books, this version is illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. Oxenbury also illustrated Mem Fox's children's book Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes, another one of my favourite children's stories.

And at night by the light of the Mulberry Moon
They danced to the Flute of the Blue Baboon
On the broad green leaves of the Crumpetty Tree,
And all were as happy as happy could be,
With the Quangle Wangle Quee.

Opas Cot

When I was pregnant my Dad (Opa) asked us what we still needed for the baby, I mentioned a cot. He decided to make one! Little did he know how mammoth a task it was going to become, and with trying to find time to work on it in between family and work commitments it was a slow process. But it is now completed and it is so beautiful. Definitely worth the effort.

Every little bit of it is handmade, from getting all the timber by sawing up logs of Cypres Pine in the sawmill with Grandad, to designing and building a sliding and locking mechanism for the front gate.

He finished it this weekend, and came up to Perth to deliver it. The perfect 1st mothers day surprise, and to make the day even more special it happened to also be Hannah's half birthday. Happy Half Birthday Hannah!

playtime

Will's sister Abi made this beautiful play rug for Hannah, which she uses every day and has become a permanent fixture in our lounge room. We love it! The fabric comes from the Ikea Fabler range, which she cleverly created into a unique blanket with ribbon and stitching detail.

I didn't want to buy another activity gym for Hannah because nothing would be as lovely as her rug, but I still wanted to hang her toys above her and encourage her to roll around. So I made some flexible foam arches using insulation foam and irrigation piping and covered them in fabric to match the rug. If I get more time I want to gradually make more interactive, rattly or soft toys to hang from it, but she has a dragon fly to start with.

beautiful april

1. 'Peter + Paul' handmade by a local Denmark girl and found at the Denmark Easter Markets 2. Smokey autumn sunset = smokey washing 3. Edible cheeks that never stop growing 4. An orchard full of juicy pink ladies ready for picking 5. 'Twiggy' the handmade doll by another local Denmark girl and found at the Denmark Easter Markets 6. The fluffy red French cardigan, (hopefully Loren and Lil have started Hannah onto a love of beautiful second hand clothing).

birthday cupboard

My other special birthday gift was this old cupboard. We saw it one evening on the side of the road a few blocks away, thrown out for bulk rubbish collection. Will rescued it wheeling it all the way home that night on a sack trolley down the middle of the road. He spent weeks in his shed cleaning it up; sanding off all the old paint, fixing broken drawers and varnishing.

I wish I had taken a photo before it was cleaned up, with its cracked white paint and awful big blue plastic handles. I would love to know this cupboards history. But it now has a new life as my wardrobe.

mum's wall hanging

I was given two of the most special birthday presents this year. One was this wall hanging Mum made when she was in high school back in Holland. This is Mum's wall hanging and her story, so I will let her tell it:

“I was 16 years old and at high school when the arts teacher asked us to create a 'painting', using a different medium than paint. The task was to create an imaginary 'space', where we could place ourselves one day later in our personal life. I dug through my mother's boxes and boxes of materials, to find little treasures for my project, and I painted a place of my future, snipping and stitching it together, layer over layer. Well, my prediction through this 'painting' has well and truly come alive: Thirty years ago I immigrated from Hilversum, a major city in The Netherlands, (after bumping into my husband Kim on a bush track in Australia), to the most incredible natural environment in the world: a peaceful valley in the middle of the Karri forests, with old growth trees, permanent creeks, abundant bird- and wildlife and wild flowers galore. It is here that I became a mother of three absolutely beautiful children. I loved my pregnancies, the bonding and mothering and truly can say that I feel rich, despite all the challenges. And there were plenty of them!

My art teacher told me that she was impressed with my work, but she also asked me: "Do you really think that this is where you will be one day Marianna??" Wouldn't it be interesting, if Mrs De Lange could come over to see me here in Australia today? I can't remember what mark she gave me for the wall hanging and that seems totally unimportant.

I seem to be able to predict, without trying, certain events in my life and I have been very accurate with my predictions at times. So, it is not surprising to find me today in my 'painting'! I am hoping to stay here, in the beautiful green valley of my 'painting' for as long as I can!"

One of my earliest memories is looking at this embroidery, studying all the colours and textures and daydreaming that it was me lying in Mums arms at the edge of the forest, not realising that she actually created it with this image in her mind all those years ago.

Now that I am a mother myself I feel so lucky to have this image hanging in our lounge room. Despite it slowly deteriorating with old age, I hope it will continue to be an image in our family of new life and new generations.

time for vegetables

Hannah is getting big and so is her appetite. We had to start her on solid food quite early. Just rice porridge in the beginning, but it is time to mix it up with a few vegetables. Pumpkin from our garden is the first.