THESE DAYS

1. Coffee and walnut cake from Jude Blereau's amazing book Wholefood Baking. I was lucky enough to meet Jude last Saturday when she did a baking demonstration at the Organic & Sustainable Market. She made a delicious apple tart, and these scrumptious oat and barley scones, and then we feasted on them fresh from the oven with cream. The coffee and walnut cake did not last long in our house, but I remembered to take a quick snap before I devoured the last piece!
2. Freshly hung Donna Wilson plate (that I was gifted almost two years ago! Better late than never...)
3. Tulips from the husband
4. Gum leaves collected on our weekly Saturday morning outing
5. Everly loves to make us cups of tea. I am forever tidying up random cups all about the house, it's very cute!
6. 'Driving the car' while we waited for the rain to stop
7.  Delicious wood-fired oven pizzas at a friend's 30th
8. Freshly baked bread on a Sunday morning
9. A beautiful card from a dear friend congratulating me on two years since my birthing day
10. My little succulent friend
11. Picking up stones to make stone soup

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.

THIS HOUSE, OUR HOME

I've been too afraid to make it a home, this house. We moved in, I was pregnant shortly after, we did some basic renovations, most of our things stayed in boxes. Then Everly was here, and even if I wanted to make it a home, I had no time. Truthfully, I hated this house for a very long time - it was supposed to be the house where Everly was born, but she had other plans. Then we decided we would move, to a little country town with a lovely school for our children. We found the perfect house, but alas it wasn't meant to be. Not yet, anyway. Ever since then we have been living in limbo, not wanting to put up art or photos in case we had to remove them shortly after in order to sell. Never settling in, living like we are renting, never feeling like home.

Last week, while Everly napped, I stood back and leant against the kitchen sink and looked at the dining table, covered in dirty dishes, and it suddenly dawned on me. This is it, this is home.

I pulled all our art from storage and the next day we took a trip to Bunnings. We hung our wedding tree on the wall. (Well, I decided where it would hang, and Mark nailed in the hook. We're a great team.) Then we hung the 'Angus' print, a Scotty dog on a yellow background, bought on a whim one day when brunching at a little art gallery café. I took our custom Rachel Castle embroidery artwork to the framers. I surprised Mark with it on our first wedding anniversary, it is lyrics from the first song we danced to as husband and wife. I can't wait to finally hang it on our wall.

I walked around the house and took photos of some of my favourite things. Fern, my first indoor plant. She is still alive, although a little withered in parts. She has migrated to the living room, away from the harsh sun beaming in through the dining window. A photo of Everly when she was five days old, and the bunting from her first birthday cake, both taped to the wall above my bedside table. Our record collection, mostly inherited, but we add to it every now and then. Me and my girl, we dance wildly around the living room, we dance until we are out of breath and laughing. Current favourites are Bob Marley and Louis Armstrong. My monster with big orange eyes, bought in Melbourne in August 2010 for the baby I thought I might be pregnant with, the little soul that never will be. Only one short month before Everly was conceived. Our little nature display - gum nuts, leaves and bark Everly has taken a liking to, from our walks down the street waiting for Daddy to come home. Him and I, us two, forever held in time as two little wooden people, she in a white dress, he in a grey suit (custom made for our wedding cake). The industrial light shade, bought at our favourite vintage shop. It was way too expensive but I was pregnant at the time and was very convincing. Mark gave in.

Then there's our dining table, found at a secondhand store shortly after Mark and I bought our very first home together. It has since moved twice. My love and I have shared many a gourmet meal on that table, and now we share (much less gourmet) meals as a family. We three, we sit down together every evening, we light a candle, hold hands and say a blessing. After dinner there are big belly laughs and the occasional fart (our cheeky monkey will do anything for a laugh, just like her Daddy).

Slowly, over the past two and a half years, we have filled this place with love and memories, without even realising it. Even though Everly wasn't born under this roof like I hoped, she has lived here her whole life; she knows no other.

Whether it's for another month or another year, I am happy here.

This little red brick house, with its old windows, peeling paint and rusty gutters, it is our home.

A HAPPY HOME

I love Spring and its sense of renewal. Not only in nature with new growth and blossoming flowers, but also of self and home, brought upon by the big Spring clean and the lightness of longer days. I'll be sad to see it go as we enter the hot and (oh-so) dry Summer that is synonymous with the south of Australia. This year I am especially thankful for Spring because, despite it taking me almost the entire three months of the season, I have finally discovered what I need in my living space in order to be happy (and being a Mum who spends a lot of time at home, I really needed this!). The result is my own little four-step guide to a harmonious living environment, one that I can refer to again and again, to remind me that a happy home equals a happy me!

So, here's my recipe for a happy home:

1) Declutter! I am a habitual collector - I love things. This was a challenging task for me to confront. But once I got started, I loved it! I found the easiest way to start the declutter process was by doing the '27 Fling'. I took an empty cardboard box, then went around the house until I had collected 27 items to give away. Allow yourself only 10 minutes so you don't get sidetracked or over-think the process (set a timer if you get easily distracted like me!). Then put the box(es) in your car immediately, and drop off to the Salvo's/opshop/thrift store the next time you go out. Now when I'm out opshopping I find myself pausing longer to decide if I really need this or that in my home.

2) Clear negative energy. I used a white sage smudge stick (bought at my local healing centre). Light the smudge stick and gently blow out the flames, allowing the stick to smolder. Walk through the areas of your home you wish to clear (I did the entire house), commanding that all negative energies be removed. Leave your house closed up for an hour or so. On returning, open up all the windows and doors and allow the sun and breeze to spread through. You may also like to light a candle and burn your favourite incence or oil (I burned Spritual Guide incence to spread the fragrance of peace). Finally, bless your home by asking that only peace and serenity be in the dwelling at all times. *Cleansing with white sage is good to use after arguments or any upsets or traumas, and also if you have a lot of secondhand furniture, which can harbour negative energies from its previous owners. 

3) Add colour. It has taken me a few years but I've finally realised that my favourite colours are pink and blue. In all their variations and shades - fluro pink, pastel pink, coral, blush, bright blue, light blue, mint - I love them all. I discovered I had a lot of pink and blue in my house already, but it was just lost amongst all of the other stuff I had on display. The decluttering got rid of the items I no longer need or like, so my favourite things in pink and blue are now centre stage.

4) Bring nature indoors. An impromptu trip to Bunnings one early evening while Mark and Everly played in the bath (the store at the end of our street comes in very handy!) resulted in a lovely fern for our humid kitchen, a vibrant pink New Guinea Impatiens for the lounge, and a little potted succulent. Their presence instantly lifted the mood in our home. Studies show that simply looking at plants and natural elements reduces stress levels, and plants also have the ability to cleanse toxins and pollutants in the air. Next on my list is sourcing a vintage hanging basket so I can add a fern to the bathroom, and buying two larger plants to sit next to the computer and the TV.

Now, with a lighter, brighter and happier home, I finally feel I'm ready for the busy-ness and intensity of Summer.

Do you have your own special ingredients for a happy home? I'd love to know!

EVERLY'S ROOM

Everly's first months were spent in our room, either snuggled up with us in the big bed, or next to me in her bassinet or cot. When she moved into her own room it sat undecorated for many months -- the room looked out onto the carport, it never received any natural light and it just didn't feel right.

A few weeks ago, I cleared out the study and moved Everly into her new space. When she wakes in the morning and I open the blind, she now sees clear blue skies, the lush green of our backyard and the beautiful sunlight streaming through the window. Ah, finally! It feels oh-so right.

Her room is very simple -- a cot, a chair, a dresser and a wardrobe. A rabbit nightlight, a little teddy from Maiike, a couple of prints and treasured toys on a shelf. She sleeps beneath the violet patchwork quilt she was given on her Naming Day, and her name is on the wall.

It's simple and it's perfect.

happy mother's day

Some beautiful afternoon light finally prompted me to dig out the SLR and take some 'proper' photos.

1) flowers from my Mama, who on Saturday brought over homemade chicken soup and a pantry-full of groceries when she found out Mark and I were sick with the flu. She also took Everly out for two hours to the local park so we could have a break, then cleaned our kitchen and folded all the washing while we all napped. Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful, kind-hearted and generous mother - I love you to bits!

2) jars of dried goods. I currently have an obsession with quinoa. I have made quinoa porridge with almond milk, lamb koftas and quinoa tabbouleh, and am going to make quinoa patties this week from this book. Do you have any favourite quinoa recipes?

3) I am in love with our freshly painted white kitchen, and our new rangehood. (I still can't believe we survived for two years with no fan above the stove. Windows were open in the middle of winter and the smoke alarm went off quite regularly!)

Despite being poorly on my first Mothers' Day, I've had lots of cuddles and kisses from my baby girl, had breakfast in bed and was surprised with a lovely handmade card and an endota spa massage voucher which I can't wait to cash in!

I hope all the Mums out there have had a wonderful love-filled day! xxx

Our week

Everly and I spent the last week living at my Mum and Dad's while Mark painted our kitchen/dining, laundry and toilet. Ceilings, walls, skirtings, window frames, door frames. My amazing husband used the Anzac Day public holiday, two days of annual leave and his entire weekend to get it finished in time, only stopping for a quick lunch break. He is truly awesome! The walls were a horrible dirty grey, now they are a crisp white to suit the rest of the house (which we painted before Everly was born). We also (finally!) had our vintage industrial light shade installed, after it had been sitting in storage for two years. It sits directly above our dining table (which isn't in the picture as we hadn't moved the furniture back in yet). I'm in love!

Everly loved looking out the windows at her Oma and Nonno's. Our house was built in the 50s so the windows are all adult waist height, so she was loving the fact she could see outside into the garden from every room of their house!

We recently signed up to a CSA (community supported agriculture) with Jupiter Creek Farm and we received our first box of organic fruit and veg on Thursday. Our usual shopping routine is Sunday mornings as a family to the farmers market for fruit, veg, eggs and bread, then Everly and I take a solo trip to the central market on Tuesdays to buy meat, dried goods and gluten free/dairy free things, and fruit and veg we can't get on Sundays, like bananas. But with our weekends full for the next month or so (birthdays, baby showers, weddings), it will be impossible for us to get to the farmers market. So I decided to give Jupiter Creek a go. It will be different menu planning after instead of before, and I'm really going to miss our Sunday morning adventures, but I'm willing to give it a shot. Even if we do it for a couple of months until our weekends quieten down.

Especially if we get delicious organic produce like this every week - a pomegranate, shared in the backyard with Mark and Everly (and Billy).

I hope you all had a lovely weekend!

♥ ♥ ♥

We co-sleep with Everly, so her bassinet is next to our bed. She wakes at least twice a night to feed, so we also have a chair. She's starting to get a little too big for the bassinet, so we now also have her cot at the foot of the bed, ready for when we make the move. (Although, as you can see, its current purpose is my own personal clothes hanger!)

As she generally goes down for the night a couple of hours before we do, we have found ourselves undressing in the loungeroom and tiptoeing into the bedroom. How ever hard I try, I never seem to find time in the day to put our clothes back, and it's kind of pointless anyway as we just do the same thing all over again that very evening. (If we have visitors, however, I promptly pick it all up and dump it somewhere out of sight.)

Don't get me wrong, I love having Everly in our room! I know she feels safer, and it makes my life a lot easier at the moment as I don't have to leave the room to feed her in the middle of the night.

But I can't help dreaming about what it would be like to get undressed and into my pj's in my own room, and talk to Mark without whispering, and, shock horror!, perhaps even read a book or a magazine in bed with the light on! Not to mention having less clutter in our bedroom, and a tidier loungeroom.

Has anyone else experienced this? Or are we the only crazy oddballs who use their couch as a wardrobe?

wall art

We are yet to finish painting our interior walls, but I have been slowly collecting more artworks for when we finally complete the Dreaded Painting Project. I saw the above on the Real Living blog highlighting affordable artworks. At $48 including shipping, this beauty by Sydney girl Kate Banazi is on its way to my house, yessiree.