Little Fearse and the Bump

As promised. xo

The beauty of blank spaces.

I’m not a blank spaces kind of girl. I like to see those spaces used for their purpose. Bookshelves full to overflowing with interesting books and drawers full of pretty clothes and knickknack shelves full of (preferably vintage) thingies.Over the past two years I have learnt to love blank spaces. They show me that I have made progress. By leaving them blank they incite my imagination. All the things I could do with that space, the way I could curate it or fill it with stuff I love. And being able to imagine is enough.

Here are some of the blank spaces I have cultivated since we began our BNN year. Even though they are spaces filled with nothing, I sometimes think this is my biggest Buy Nothing achievement. Currently I am piloting an e-course for Bethany of Our Journey to Ithaca (which I will look forward to recommending to you when it’s up and running. The e-course runs alongside reading the e-book Clutterfree by Leo Babauta and Courtney Carver (full disclosure: I purchased this – but education is something I’m always willing to invest in). I haven’t read enough of the book yet to recommend it, but so far it reconfirms a lot of the things I have already learned about living a less clutter-some life, and also reminds me of some home truths I choose to forget sometimes. This quote, which I read today, is particularly relevant to this post: When you have emptiness in your home you have space to fill it with conversation, play, laughter, and silence. 

 

I’d love to hear your tales of blank spaces! Share photos! 

Mamaxo

Garden magic.

Despite my best efforts I have let winter get the better of me again this year. I have really felt the oppression of the grey skies and the claustrophobia of day after day hiding from the rain. Even when outside I’m wrapped in so many layers that I don’t feel fully free. The first signs of spring have appeared here and there and I can already feel myself breathing a little easier. September 1st is the unofficial first day of spring in the Southern Hemisphere and it is my absolute favourite day of the year. Spring brings hope and restoration and rejuvenation.

Little Fearse has been asking me lately if she can plant something. They have been talking about gardens a lot on Play School and I think she has got the green thumb bug from there. I’m still stalling over that veggie patch and am not a confident gardener, but I felt as though maybe I could manage a small succulent garden. Of course, I did already have a small succulent garden in the bathroom which I managed to kill, so time will only tell whether I do any better with this one.

I took her to the nursery to choose some pretty succulents and then we took some cuttings from a couple of plants at home. At the op shop she chose a little shell, a miniature bird bath, a tiny little gentleman bear and an old Christmas angel to decorate her little fairy garden. She was super excited and kept saying things like “This is fun! This is a good day!

The three of us made it together. Little Fearse got a kick out of throwing dirt around with the trowel and BP got a kick out of teaching her how to squeeze the pot to get the plants out and I got a kick out of being outside.

When her garden was finished I made the most of the sunshine and set up a couch my Mum picked up from hard rubbish and restored for us. We always intended to paint the cane coffee table (something Mum’s cousin picked up from hard rubbish for us) the same colour, but I’m tired of waiting for it to happen. There are enough different greens in our yard for it to not really matter anyway. I added a few more potted plants and created a little oasis, ready for some yard fun during the spring and summer.

I’m feeling really excited about the change in seasons. How much are you influenced by the weather? Do you enjoy all seasons, or have a preference for one?

Mama xo

Communing with Nature.

For the past two weeks I have taken part in a Joyfully Green online photography course. It has been such a lovely step outside my day-to-day life. I can even say that I love some of the photographs I’ve taken. The wonderful thing about the course was that I could do it using any camera at all. My own camera broke (and then broke some more when I attempted to fix it) a few weeks before the class started, so I was left with only my phone camera to use. I found that this was pretty good for taking nature photographs (though, of course, there are things I’d like to do but can’t really) and I even learned about some cool features on the camera just by playing around with it on a daily basis.

I love that now when I’m out and about in the wintery weater I’m looking for something unusual or beautiful to photograph, rather than bemoaning the grey skies and constant drizzle.I’m so grateful to Joy for giving me the confidence to explore photography in this way.

 

I look forward to sharing more of my artistic endeavours with you in the future.

Mama xo

Making connections.

There is a lovely short video making the social media rounds at the moment. It is an excerpt of a speech by Dr. Brené Brown, matched with a gorgeous animation by Katy Davis. If you haven’t seen it, here it is…

(This should be showing up as a video, but it appears to not want to do that right now. I’ll look into how I can fix this, when I have more time.)

During hard times it is the people who can make a connection me that I am drawn to. Sometimes nothing that can be said is going to help. We spend a lot of time focusing on what we can say to those in pain, instead of focusing on how they might feel and how we can support them. The friends that have been able to put their arms around me, make me meals, send me a box of organic groceries, let me cry on their shoulders – they are the ones that have made a difference in my life this year. I want to be connected – to my friends and my family and my community. I don’t think that we should only be generous and caring and think of other’s at Christmas time. I don’t believe in the significance of the changing of one year to another (I don’t believe we can wash our hands of the pain of one year by changing the last digit in the date), so it is probably just coincidence that I am making this decision at this time of year.    I am no longer going to focus so much on what I should say that I don’t say anything at all. Relationships are more important than that. I hope that in the future I can support those that have supported me (and those that haven’t) in ways that mean something.  I’d love to hear your tales of connection with others – especially when it has surprised you. Mama xo