treading this way ...

This image is a a fairly apt representation of how I'm feeling about my life at the moment.
Not the smoothest path, nevertheless beautiful.
Can't quite see the end - and how I love to know what's going to happen! - but this period of my life is surrounded by beauty.


My life is filled with fabulous friends, vibrant colleagues, loving and supportive family, a terrific job - perhaps you remember I was particularly wanting that back here, and I'm feeling especially grateful. It seems to be panning out nicely. Now where's some wood to knock on?!

Y Cate

love potion

http://www.heirloomroses.com/roses/love-potion.html#

It's nearly a year since we've moved into a lovely home. New house, a new community, new school, new jobs: and still I don't have the 'at home' feeling.

I haven't planted anything yet. Mr Blossom faithfully mows the weeds lawn but we have no gardens. Have I mentioned we live somewhere referred to as the Garden City of Queensland? Hmm, well I thought buying a plant might help us fit in and speed up the belonging feeling.

Hence the beautiful rose sitting on my back deck waiting to be planted. She's called Love Potion and I have acquired her as much for her divine scent as her glorious mauvey-pinkness.

This little jug stuffed with daisies is my other acquisition. The view in the background is from our deck. The large tree is a Ghost Gum and is home to a pair of beautiful parrots. We watch wallabies and kangaroos bound through that grass and tiny wrens twitter to us from the dark green scrub.

My pink flowery beauty therapy is working it's magic and with fresh eyes, I know I'm lucky to be calling this home.

Y Cate

ok goodish good

ok - goodish - good are my current descriptors.
3 little words that I use to describe my photos [ok], my mood [good], the health of my children [ok], the state of my home [goodish], last night's chicken soup [good].


I have left out hellish and fantastic. Descriptors belonging on opposite ends of the scale. Words I would need to use if I was describing work or lovely Chocolate Cottage cappuccinos with a praline chocolate on the side. 


I have been indulging in a decent amount of beauty therapy at the moment. The the kind that requires the softest wool in graduating shades of blossom pink to raspberry to plum.

It's the kind of therapy that lifts me from my work induced [hellish] mood to that of a more serene-happy-mummy [good] mood.

I am using Attic 24's simple Teeny Tiny Flowers pattern to crochet a multitude of happy daisies and then stitching them together. I am envisioning a pretty scarf with lovely loooong woolly tassels at the ends. It's not the first time I've used this pattern with beautiful results.

Y Cate


p.s. I'm working on the work thing. Aiming for good.

Creatively Beautiful

I love having flowers in my home. Sometimes the budget doesn't stretch far enough to buy a bunch and I don't have a garden yet. 

So my beauty therapy today is a beautiful big fresh bunch of mint {$2.50} sitting in my old silver teapot.

Also making me smile is this pile of passion-fruit sitting in my blue bowl. A just-off-the-vine gift from my husband's colleague. 

Thank you! 

Passion-fruit {and raspberries!} are my favourite fruit.

Y Cate

Dangerous and Cheerful

A friend of mine (from waaay out west) has been knitting since she was five. We celebrated her 80th birthday a couple of years ago. That's over 75 years of knitting experience! 

This lovely, lovely lady was very generous with her knitting expertise and shared lots of tips and kindness with me. Recently she became ill and ended up in hospital. A long way from family, friends and home, in pain and possibly feeling a little dismal. 

I knitted these jar cozies to conjure up a little cheer and gathered a posy of roses, lavender and  jonquils to accompany them. When I got to the hospital and the nurses made me dump them unceremoniously in a hazard bin: I was a little tragefied! Turns out that cut flowers can harbour bacteria that is harmful to people with a weakened immune system. Good to know.

The jars and their cozies made it in and my friend loved them. Happily she is now back home with my little jars up on her windowsill. I do Y happy endings.

Hope your day is sunshine-filled-cheerful and danger free.

Y Cate

Metaphorically and Physically Exquisite

<a href='http://www.123rf.com/#catesunshine'>123RF Stock Photo</a>

A gifted artistic friend of mine, once had a piece of her work described as : 'metaphorically and physically exquisite'.

That is also how I describe her.......

Amidst a day of the sky falling in and my world crashing to a halt, I have been gifted with the kindness, wisdom and loyalty of friends.

Before I even knew the 'bad stuff' was about to begin,  I was fortified with a quick visit to a friend down the road. A squeeze of her cherubic baby daughter,  a loan of a lurvely pattern book, a quick squizz at a newly found fab blog, a lesson on pumping up car tyres: and I was on my way.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/88665901/flower-painting-pink-geranium-small 

Then the 'bad stuff' happened and an answered text from an alerted friend combined with a 6 minute power debrief on the front verandah of another friend (we both had places to be!) kept me going. I held it together through afternoon homework, cooking the dinner, putting together a lego set with Little Bear, chivvying little ones through evening routine, reading stories and finally tucking them into bed. Phew!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/88342479/red-pink-grey-and-silver-embroidered 

Now I could deal with the feelings that made me want to rage like a lunatic or collapse in a weeping heap. {Yes I live my melodramas in a way that would make any one of the Brontë sisters proud!}

Remember that first friend I told you about? The metaphorically, physically exquisite one? She then entered centre stage and threw me a solid 90-minute-of-texting life line. She lives on a another planet to me. One on which pragmatism reigns equally with compassion and madcap ideas, like: all this bad stuff is really a huge compliment to me because the offending party is threatened by my natural, in-built flowing power. Truly! What's not to adore about a friend who'll think that about you?!!

http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com.au/ 

I know my story won't end here. But I have loyal friends that will see me through it. My husband arrives home tomorrow night too - that's going to help!

The bygone language of flowers depicted pink geraniums as symbols of true friendship. I find them simple and exquisite. That's how I find my friends too, ahem, sans the simple part of course! My life's feeling pretty metaphorically exquisite right at this moment too...... thank you. xx

Y Cate

The Sweetest of Medicine: pink felt fabric flower

This is what I made yesterday..... A layered flower made from fabric and felt, sewn together with a pretty button on top. A group of women gathered around the table: talking, sharing, creating - that's what I call beauty therapy.

I had so much fun that I want to do it again... today. So I'll remember that a little bit of medicine goes a long way and yesterday's dose of creating and socialising will sweeten  the housework, office work, grocery shopping and caring for loved ones  that is on the menu today.

Sending out my wish that you can get a little beauty therapy in this week. ☻/ღ˚ •。* ♥ ˚ ˚✰˚

Y Cate