Umbrella Prints Fun

I've been playing around with my Umbrella Prints stash.
Result?
A cute Owl Tee for Niko (very on trend!) and some arm candy for me.

Little Groovers

From kitchen table to shop.
My "Little Groovers" range of toys + one dress (made for a lovely little friend). The toys are available now at Nest Studio.

Whale Lino cut

Printing on calico.

 Slightly wonky, but made with love, flip tunic. Japanese fabric (actually direct from Japan, thanks to a wonderful husband who totally knows my taste in fabric), whale print on calico and wooden buttons.

Owl print on calico. 

 Lino Prints turned into baby "Shake me, Chew me, Hug me, Love me!" toys.

In the shop, next to beautiful Umbrella Prints fabric and a gorgeous roddy&ginger print.

And a Date Night!!!

 We went on a date. Sounds dumb doesn't it? But it wasn't. It was cool as. We got dressed up a bit and took this photo in Niko's room, just to include him a little bit.

We went to a nice restaurant and had a lovely meal and a lovely bottle of wine. Then we went to a pool hall and had a game of pool and a beer. And then we went to the movies and saw "Inception" and ate a bag of Fruitchocs (actually, that was just me - Chris had a Choc Top). And we did it all on the same street. That's how we fitted everything in.  And after all that, I went to Mum and Dad's to pick up Niko. And he got all wide awake. And when I got him home, I nursed him back to sleep because I kind of missed him on our date. I'm totally dumb and sad. Oh well.

Get Your Gig On

 A couple of weeks ago, my brother and I did a gig for SCALA at Higher Ground in Adelaide. I was totally a ring-in. They had another female act lined up but she had to pull out so Christopher was asked to fill it. He dobbed me in. Bastard.

 Performing originals is not something I'm used to. And since just about all of them were written when I was 17 or 18 (bar one - written at 20), it was quite the journey back in time and really, a little bit squeamish.

But people seemed to enjoy the songs. They were incredibly dated to me, but completely new to them, I suppose. Anyway, good performance practice.

Must be in the blood though...My dad loves playing guitar to his grandson...who love drumming in the nude. As you do.

His Dad...

His dad had his first Father's Day so his son painted a picture.

His son got all creative and messy.

His dad opened his present with his son.

His dad ... and his son...

I belong...

We have been back now for 4 weeks and many people have asked me how the holiday was, what it was like. I can't describe Fiji. It is beyond words...at least my experience of it is.

It's not just the scenery, the weather, the friendly people. Although I do realise that for most people who go to Fiji, this is exactly what they experience and exactly the memories they love to take home. I love all of this too but for me, Fiji is deeper than that.

I feel the weight of my culture and the responsibility that goes with that, but at the same time, I am cut off from it by a severe language barrier. I'd love to know more and understand more deeply, but it's so hard! I spent a long time sitting with the women, trying to decipher what they were saying, but it takes such a lot of concentration! Brain power that I don't always have... oh well! I have come back from this trip with more vocab than any other time so something must have worked.

These pictures don't do justice to the enormity of the feeling of being in Fulaga, but this is a tsmall representation of what it's like....

This house was built by my grandfather. My father and his 9 brothers and sisters were all born inside. It used to be thatched - roof and walls - but there have been too many hurricanes and tin is a cheap and easy replacement. When he built this, it was the biggest house in the village. He was 5 foot tall. Hmmm.

The view of the village from the top of the hill. The large building is the church and unreal colours are all actually real! And intense! The light is different in the middle of the pacific and the greens and blues are enough to burn your retina!

My cousin Niko (from England) and I were summoned by another mataqali (clan). They wanted Koroi's first born (Niko) and Veiqali's first born (me). We went into their house and the women rubbed coconut oil onto our hair and arms and they dressed us in sulus (floral material) and masi (bark beaten into a cloth and block printed with traditional designs). Niko was given a salusalu (the leaf and floral arrangement around his neck) and we were paraded through the village as the people sang. They presented us back to our mataqali and a small ceremony took place. We were able to keep our masi and sulus but I chose to leave mine in Suva with the family. They are amazing pieces of work and are used all the time and continually passed on in Fiji. I have so many here that just sit in drawers.

Niko was given masi too... and this tabua. This is a whale's tooth and is considered to be very sacred in Fijian culture. They were used by traders during the whaling days in the early 1800's. They are Fiji's antiques and it is a real honor to be presented with one. Again, we decided not to keep this. Tabua should really not leave Fiji...

This is the beach opposite the village. It's hard to believe that such a place exists...let alone that I have been there...let alone that I belong there!

And that is part of the enormity for me. I BELONG there...and here. And now Niko and Chris do as well. And I have a responsibility to pass on as much as I can...which just means I have to go there as much as possible. And I can totally handle that!

And We're Off...

We're off to Fiji via Sydney today and it's too exciting for words! We will be heading out by boat to the tiny island of Fulaga, where my father was born, and lots of rellies from Suva and Nadi are coming too! The island is so beautiful and untouched - there is no electricity or running water...

Anyway, I made a hat for Niko out of Umbrella Prints fabric:

I'm pretty happy with it, but I'll have to put a dicky elastic strap on it to make it harder for him to rip it off.

OK Fiji...here we come!

My Old House

Well...we've moved.

A long and, at times, painful process made easier by a wonderful mother and mother-in-law who both flew over to Sydney on separate occasions to look after Niko while we madly piled things in boxes.

And when I say "we", I only mean "we" when Chris was there.

The rest of the time it was "I" because Chris needed to earn lots of money to pay the moving guys.

But before we started packing up the house, I took photos.

I loved that house and I wanted to remember it the way we had it.

My lovely friend has moved in there now, and I know she loves it too.

But here, for prosperity, is My Old House.

And I can't wait to move into my new house and start making it all lovely and mine.

Guerrilla Knitting Capital of Australia

On the morning of this beautiful wedding in Brisbane:


Chris, Niko and I went for a walk along the river to Southbank:


And everywhere we looked:


Guerrilla Knitters had attacked!


Giant balls of wool rolled down the streets:


Cold metal kangaroos wore woolly sweaters:


Statues with chilly necks had cuddly scarves!


But Niko was unimpressed.


Car-Ay-Zee Queenslanders! Love it!

P.S. Big Congrats Jase and Marissa!

Florence

I love this song and I love this clip. The lights and mirrors, the heart beat drums and the crazy dancing - moody but pretty. I wish I had a dress made of lights. And I wish I had red hair.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (I mean... Ferries)

We went for another jaunt up north the other week. This time we visited my sister-in-law and her partner in Townsville and then went to a lovely wedding in Brisbane.

As we travelled, it occurred to me that a number of travelling "firsts" were happening for Niko.

First time on Jetstar - oh dear


First ferry ride: To Magnetic Island


First Train ride in Brisvegas

Busy

Cairns


Food


Drink


It's been a BIG WEEK. We booked our moving guys, had boxes delivered, went to Cairns for 24 hours and Niko had his first bottle of breast milk and his first lot of farax.

Walk on By

Here are some more shots from our walks. This lot and the last lot were all taken in Adelaide. Niko and I spent two months there living with my parents while Chris commuted back and forth.
We did it to see if it could be done and guess what? It can.

Greece?


St Morris RSL


T-Towels


Deco Stripes


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