inspired by: paper

I spent quite a few holidays in Hong Kong and China. Paper cuts are one of the many exotic things you can buy as a souvenir. I've always like the beautiful simplicity and intricacy of them. I doubt they are still handout as they probably were once. This book introduced me to other creative ways of paper cutting. I can only imagine how many hours these artists spend on each piece. Crazy.

It's warm!

And I've been making stuff! Sewing of course (photos later), but also doing some DIY around the house: painting the chairs lime green (Josh hates it!) and some garden seats for the boys. They're not the prettiest but hey, they're flat and the boys fit into them!
I used whatever wood bits were lying around, roughly sawed them and nailed them together. 10mn each, done.

It was Earthquake day last Wednesday, so we made jelly to take to our playcentre. Did you ever notice how when you shake jelly it looks like an earthquake? We figured it would be a good way to show the kids what happens when the earth shakes. Tahi was delighted, most kids thought it was funny but just wanted to eat it really.

Josh took the boys to the beach the other day, it was sunny and warm and the boys had a ball. They even went into the water and met a cute little baby seal.

Patience

We're now well into spring, , there are flowers everywhere, the days are warmer and we haven't had a fire in a while... It's been really nice to be able to hang out in the garden, get the vege beds ready for spring planting and sow some seeds. Watching seeds sprout then grow into seedlings and later plants has been my favorite part of gardening. Whenever I think about it, I still find it amazing that a living entity can emerge from such a tiny thing. It definitely puts life into perspective.

When it comes to gardening, spring feels a bit like a waiting game. At the moment, half of the vege beds are composted, mulched and just waiting for some seedlings. The said seedlings are growing in seeds trays until they are strong enough to be put in the ground. And so I have come to the stage where I just have to be patient and wait. Wait until the time is right. Sometimes I find this wait excruciating. I just want the garden to be full of veges growing everywhere, and sometimes I just can't wait anymore and put some seedlings in too soon. Most of the time I loose half of them (to birds, snails, dog-crossing-the-vege-bed-although-he-knows-not-to, aliens?). I could try and stop whatever ruins my seedling from ruining them (I do use bird netting now and again, but I don't really like to kill too many things, and no nasty Round up type chemicals of course). Or I could just wait.
So spring for me is just a game of patience. And if I manage to refrain myself and just go at nature's pace, I seem to end up on the path of least resistance.

The boys

When Josh is away, we all sleep in the same bed. Oh well sometimes I do wonder if I would be more comfortable on the floor.

I have monsters under my bed though...

Collecting snails. Monsters love snails.

inspired by

Spring crafts

Every now and then I sneak into the workshop and get some sewing done. Mainly for my shop, but every now and again I feel like doing something for us. Miro has pretty much destroyed the banner that was hanging in the hallway (paper+kids=disaster waiting to happen), so I decided it was time for a small revamp.
I saw some cute fabric patchwork clouds on Etsy and pinned them.

Source: etsy.com via Natacha on Pinterest

Bits of fabric is what I am not lacking, so it was pretty easy to put together some fabric. Tahi even gave a helping hand stuffing the clouds.

I also made a 3/4 sleeve shirt for Miro from one of Josh's old tee shirts.

For a while I've wanted to try making a lamp shade in the style of the doily lamp shades.

Source: blog.mad4flash.com via Natacha on Pinterest

Since I have no doilies and none of that special glue you need, I thought I'd try it with pattern paper. It turned out as I expected, the various bits of paper overlapping look great. The shades do look a funny old kind of faded yellow, not the prettiest, but when they are lit they are pretty and they add warmth to the room (I've put them in the bathroom).

meanwhile in the garden

Spring is finally here and the wind has picked, announcing warmer days. I have been spending a lot more time in the garden getting it ready for summer planting. Most of the seedlings are still in boxes and I'm itching to put them in. This year I've even managed to get tomatoes, basil, capsicum, eggplant and cucumber going in the house where the temperature is much higher (these plants need a soil temperature of about 15ºC) and they have shot up very fast.

spring flower

borage flowers (edible)

After spending the last month digging a new potato patch (our garden spreads every year, there's never enough space), fertilizing most beds with horse manure, adding compost and mulching, the garden is looking a bit empty but tidy (this stage never lasts!).

peas growing in the foreground (with Cds on the teepee to keep birds away), netting over strawberries to the right and cape gooseberries in the background

My favorite crop of the moment is asparagus. If you've never tasted a freshly picked asparagus, you're missing out on a beautifully delicious crunchy asparagus. When I pick some I don't even steam them when added to salads. Well worth the three years wait for the roots to get strong.

asparagus... yuuuuuuuuummmmm

Miro loves giving a helping hand, watering the garden to death with the hose or a watering can, pricking out seedlings and trowing them in the air, tipping out soil (usually with newly planted seeds)... I guess at least he's showing an interest in it, even though it can sometimes be frustrating (and take me twice as long to go through my list).