apr, 29th - blog block....

day 1167 / 266:

has this year been a bit of a mixed bag so far for everyone or just for me?.......i suspect that it can't just be me because many of the blogs that i read seem to have been in a similar lull......it hasn't been all bad....in fact, there are many exciting things happening but i just can't seem to settle......(anyone else feeling this?)....i have posts left in draft that i'm not inspired to finish and page after page of photos that i can't muster the enthusiasm to edit....i have todo lists of the todo lists that i need to create....

so, even though the my these lists are crazily out of control.....i jumped at the chance to take the girls to Italy with my sister last week.....i always find it such a grounding place......full of simple things and time spent enjoying views, earth beneath the feet, sun on the skin and of course, family.

after a week, i've come back restored...(although Claya also came back with a bug that challenged my new zen with explosive nappies and impressive puking all weekend).....and i've also bought the simplicity home.....good food, family, hard work and nature....surely that has to be the recipe for settling the soul. let me know if you think there's more to it.

mar, 26th - our weekend....

day 1133 / 232:

family and good friends....we miss them when we are all so spread out across the globe....last weekend we were lucky to have them both in town. 

the pic above, is Limi with my brother, Shels. she still calls him 'Yay Shels' because we always used to say 'Yay, it's Shels' when he called. it was the first time that he had met Claya, so it was a special time for all of us.

we also had some fantastic friends in town who are Limi's godparents {see......she loves the concept of a god-mama and god-dadda.....and she had a ball with these guys who were so patient with her demands to play hide-n-seek, visit the garden, show them the small details in the Shoebox and watch their daughter doing ballet over and over again on the phone.....

we feel quite bereft now that they've all gone.

p.s. we had lunch at a favourite {see day 518}

mar, 1st - a london bash....{the after pics}

day 1109 / 208:

by the end middle of Limi's party, everyone and everything looked alot less like this. 

i had also run out of steam on producing the amazing birthday cake that had been floating around in my head for weeks and opted instead for a decidedly underwhelming, store-bought, victoria sponge (that gave us a chance to sing happy birthday and limi and friends a chance to blow out some candles). 

dress-up costumes had been discarded.....

and almost everyone was wearing some sort of crown (and in Limi's case a bodyful of gold stars)......

a bit of general chaos = a good party in my experience.....

jan, 23rd - rock pools....

day 1072 / 171:

as a child, growing up near the coast, i remember being utterly fascinated by rock pools. i would spend hours trying to catch teeny tiny fish, putting them into a glass jar and then 'releasing' them back into the wild again.

while we were away, one of Limi's favourite things to go down the beach to some rock pools. she charmed the local fishmen who launch their boats from there and they even gave her a gift of a squid (or 'squod' as she called it). if fact she was more excited by her 'squod', that she proudly carried back, than by the calamari it was turned into for lunch. on another day there was a local kids party happening on a beach and we managed to join in for a bit......

on all our visits to the rock pools, we didn't manage to capture any fish (which may have been due to using the world's smallest fishing net) but we did get to spend time completely absorbed in staring at pools of water looking for any darting movement and reliving our own childhoods all over again. 

safe to say, the magic of rock pools hasn't faded over time.....

jan, 4th - boxing day....

day 1054 / 153:

okay, i need to move on.....i feel like i'm stuck in 2012 and this year is already motoring along.

so here are the last of the Christmas photos...for now.....

on Boxing Day, we wore our Christmas Day hats. they were meant for Christmas Day lunch but we didn't quite manage to get them done in time so we decided to dress up on Boxing Day instead (any excuse really). my sister is incredibly talented when it comes to hat making so these were made from scratch.....each petal was hand shaped and stitched. i wanted to capture more of the creative process but we were on a tight deadline. under her tutelage, i made Limi's which is why the flowers are not quite the right shape....definitely need a bit more practise....although, Limi didn't seem to mind notice.

i love the below series....a new dress for Christmas and Boxing Day hat....

and this pic, which looks like we have stepped out of a Victorian portrait....

and this final pic which is of Limi with her cousin. it would be sweet if i didn't know for a fact that she had his arm in a vice-like grip and wouldn't let go.....she adores her cousins and they, as you can tell from his face, are extremely accommodating with her.

dec, 28th - our christmas table....

day 1047 /146:

although Christmas already feels like yesterday's news, i can't move on until i share some of what we ate, drank and unwrapped......

growing up in a hot climate and having some Norwegian ancestors, we have always celebrated Christmas Eve as our main event.....(it just never seemed right to cook and eat a feast in the middle of a blistering Summer's day in South Africa)......it also leaves more time for lounging around in pyjamas on Christmas Day!

dec, 28th - christmas preparations....

day 1047 / 146:

wow, another Christmas gone.....

some people get their kicks from spending time balancing their accounts every year or putting together IKEA furniture.....my sister and i get ours, from planning a holiday celebration or birthday...........the more party headgear, themes, dress-up, the better. 

this year, the theme for Christmas was yesterday, today and tomorrow (which is what we call the violet flower in South Africa). we fashioned a tree from local branches, made some stockings, headgear and crackers....and loved every second.

it always feels more special to have Christmas with family, surrounded by things that we have made together....

dec, 25th - merry christmas....

day 1045 / 144:

wishing you all a Merry Christmas from a sunny beach in Thailand. 

it is so great to be able to spend this time with my sister and her family...especially for Claya's first Christmas and now that Limi has a much better idea of what this day is all about, she is loving spending it with her cousins (ahem, yes, i am talking more about the presents, family and a bearded/belted guy rather than the nativity scene)

hope that you are all having a wonderful break with family. enjoying the cold or the hot and taking the time to regroup before we tackle 2013. it's going to be a good one!

p.s. thank you so much for all your lovely comments this year, it means alot that you take the time to leave a message and they always help inspire me to keep the blog going. x