ON OUR WALLS

We spent our Sunday afternoon hammering in nails and hanging up art we've been wanting to display since we moved in (oh, around two and half years ago now... oops!).

First to go up was the gift we gave ourselves for our first wedding anniversary - a custom piece by Rachel Castle with felt letters spelling out the lyrics to The Wedding Song by Angus & Julia Stone (our very first dance together as husband and wife) hand stitched onto linen. Fresh from the framers, it's now featured with pride on our living room wall so we can look at it every day.

Next to it we placed a shadow box, an op shop find I painted a lovely coral, now a home for all my little treasures. And next to that hangs one of my favourite art pieces, bought on a whim one day and now (finally!) properly framed - a lightning bolt screenprint by Kate Banazi.

Cleaning out some drawers during the week I discovered two Shanna Murray wall decals I purchased when I was pregnant, still wrapped carefully in their packaging. So now on Everly's wall above the change table is 'You are loved' (with a picture of her and I when she was 3 months old), and on our mirror in our bedroom is a line from my very favourite song (I sing this little ditty at least twice a day!).

Yesterday, I found myself at a Typo discount store and picked up this lovely 'Home sweet home' decal for $5. It now has its place above our bed.

So many beautiful things on our walls, making my days happier and brighter!

You can see more pictures of our home here and here.

JUST US TWO

 

We woke and remembered there were no bread or eggs in the house. I had an idea, something we hadn't done before. A special breakfast date, just her and I. We quickly dressed, hopped in the car and drove the short trip to nearby Croydon. There is our favourite little strip of shops and cafés, all nestled in a row on Queen St. (You will often find us here on Saturdays!)

We sat at a little table in Queen Street Café. We shared scrambled eggs and bacon on gluten free toast. I ordered Everly her first (soy) babycino. She loved the little flecks of chocolate on top, but was a little unsure about the rest of the foam. She stirred it with the spoon but left it relatively untouched. Maybe next time. Coffee for Mama in a bright yellow cup.

Everly loves to watch. She watches people talk, laugh, eat, drink. She points to them, then looks back at me, grinning. Every little nuance is a delight to this observant girl. I have to remind her not to point or stare too much.

When we'd finished breakfast, we walked around the corner to Croydon playground. It sits right along the train line, where trains come every few minutes. We hear the bell Ding-ding-ding! as the boom gate lowers to stop the traffic, signalling a train is on its way. The children run to the fence to watch the train pull up. We all wave and sometimes the driver pulls the horn - Choo choo! 

Everly's favourite part of the playground is the slide, but most of the time she is simply content wandering around, sometimes squatting to inspect flowers and leaves. Often she watches the other children - she listens to them talk, watches them play. Sometimes she'll wander up to a group of Mums and stand there, staring up at them, listening intently to their chatter. After a while I have to go over and redirect her to something else, a little embarrassed that I appear to have the only child in the whole playground who doesn't like to play on the equipment! My Everly, she is different. But, oh, I love her so!

We had a brilliant morning together, just us two. I know Everly wouldn't have realised the significance, but I wanted to take some photos and write down my thoughts from the day so I can remember it always.

THESE DAYS

/ Girls' night out with another Mama - a funny comedy show, a walk around the Garden and yummy dessert

/ Meatballs for dinner (from this lovely recipe) 

/ Bubbling away in the dutch oven

/ Trying to get some fluids in after this little poppet had a nasty stomach virus

/ Cute pictures painted on stobie poles in Croydon 

/ At the playground, always watching

/ Her first babycino (more photos in another post tomorrow)

Joining Emily from The Beetle Shack in a weekly collection of snaps. 

8/52

A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, for 2013.

She watches the other children at the playground so intently. Taking everything in.

I still can't get over how grown up she looks with her hair tied back. Slow down little one...

Joining in with The 52 Project at Che & Fidel. 

THESE DAYS

/ Everly and her Daddy picked a flower from the garden before he left for work one morning. She left it tucked behind her ear all through breakfast, and then proceeded to flick through the local street mag
/ Mustard butter popcorn with fresh chives (recipe by Heidi Swanson, from her cookbook Super Natural Everyday)
/ Gluten-free and dairy-free fluffy coconut pancakes, made with coconut flour. I had almost finished devouring them when I thought to take a photo! (recipe from Nourishing Days)
/ Raw peanut butter cookies (recipe from Sprouted Kitchen, but I added 2 tablespoons of coconut oil)
/ Humble summer broccoli and garlic past (recipe from Whole Larder Love, with some leftover pan-fried ham thrown in)
/ A storm came rolling in Friday night... but then kept on rolling by. No rain or cool change for us unfortunately.
/ Squeals of joy after learning how to jump off the concrete step in Oma and Nonno's backyard (see the mid-air shot here)
/ I love her smile
/ More proof that my daughter is not quiet! (Luckily, photos don't come with sound!)
/ She loves to help Oma hang up the washing
/ Learning to love being in the picture (even with greasy hair and no makeup)

Joining Emily from The Beetle Shack in a weekly collection of snaps. 

SATURDAYS

We have a little Saturday morning ritual, this family of mine. After scrambled eggs at home, we head out for morning tea to Red Door Bakery in nearby Croydon for takeaway coffee and delicious pastries (Mark, an almond croissant; Everly, a plain croissant; and me, always a fruit danish). We walk around the corner to the playground where Everly is usually content to play by herself on the equipment for a few minutes, giving Mark and I precious relaxing time to sit back on the bench and sip our coffees. Then we take it in turns helping Everly up the rock wall and cheering her on down the slide, until she's had enough and it's time to go home. It's such a lovely, relaxed start to our weekend. I love Saturdays!

*More pics of Red Door treats in an old post here (mmm... pies and crème brûlée tarts!) It was one of our weekend regulars, even before Everly came into our lives. We ate there so often I wrote a little story for Adelaide's Five Thousand magazine.