"Chicken Maiden"

A little while ago I dyed some wool blue. I was after a light blue icy colour to make a King Winter doll. The blue wool that I had dyed came out too warm - it was a beautiful turquoise colour. I wasn't sure what to do with it. I started needle felting the body of the doll, not sure of what sort of maiden she will become.

As I love chickens, I thought.......... Chicken Maiden. At the moment we can't keep any chooks as our yard is too small. Yes, I even thought about a chook tractor with 2 bantams but with 3 kids that love playing outdoors, I don't think there is enough space for the chooks to escape and hide, particularly with an over-enthusiastic 2 year old with lots of cuddles to give. Also, 1/4 of the backyard where I am renting is concrete - not a very happy place for chookies. I know that once I get my own place, I'll have chickens again.

So, here she is..... The chicken maiden collecting the eggs with a little spring chick at the back of her dress, which is very cute...:)

"Festival of Joy"

On Saturday, the Blue Mountains Community Gardens at North Katoomba had their Festival of Joy.

The rain held off for a little while. We got there a bit late. Most of the kids activities were packing up but we did get to see some live music and have a yummy cup of chai.

One of the veggie patches

Herbal Spiral

This sculpture is a work in progress. We were here 2 years ago making our little mark on this huge mosaic. It is nice to see that most of it is still there and has stood the test of time.

A red love heart that I did with my son who was 3 at the time. He stuck most of the red tiles on with a bit of help from his Mummy. If you look hard enough you can work out a heart!..... LOL :)

It was nice to see it again after 2 years.

This is Katie's work from 2 years ago. She made up a story as she was mosaicking about the elephants and the peacock. They were on a journey somewhere - we have both forgotten the story now. But Katie was so excited to see that most of what she did that day has still stuck. She did another part of the mosaic on Saturday but it was starting to rain and I didn't get a picture of it.

Belly Dancing in the rain

Yes, this sword is blunt. One of the belly dancers was performing with this sword but my camera was getting too wet, so I missed the picture. Katie was happy to reenact the performance for you :)

Cuddles for Mumma

Little Lou wandering

This is a hut that a Medieval reenactment group had made.

"Fairy Spotting"

It's been so cold, misty and rainy up here in the Blue Mountains for the last few days. It was lovely to go for a wander out into the garden this morning, looking at all the spring flowers and soaking up the sunshine. It's a good time to go fairy spotting too! Just as well I had my camera with me..........;)

~"SPRING"~

Spring maiden hanging out with her Gnome friends.

I made these  for the end of year craft stall for my son's school.

Now that I have my new glasses. I can see what I doing close up with out the headaches.

So I been away from blogland for the last week or so. Busy catching up on a bit of crafting and knitting.

Felting Workshop With Pam De Groot

Today I did a felting workshop with Pam De Groot, a famous felt artist here in the Blue Mountains. We started off with a flat bit of felt and experimented with different fibre textures, silks and wools. The flat piece of felt I made didn't look that exciting - so I didn't bother posting a photo of it here.

The second item we made was a felted bowl. I loved this. I want to make more of these as they would make great Christmas presents.

We put layers of wool over a template, turned it over and added more layers of wool.

When we had enough layers, we added bits and pieces from a mixed bag that we bought from Pam. It had wool, mohair tops, bits of silk and other fibrous odds and ends. We felted it onto the wool to decorate the outside of the bowl.

We cut a hole to take the template out then shape the bowl. There was more to this process but I am leaving a bit out - this is only to give a general idea. To know more, you need to go to one of Pam's workshops.

What I like is the ever changing process of the felting. I never know how it is going to turn out. I have a general  idea but I always get pleasantly surprised.

  

Rice Play

The wind has settled down a bit. It's been so windy - I've been watching birds being blown over my roof as they are trying to fly.

It was a nice morning to go out on our balcony. We had some paper and rice. With the rice we made pictures - just a bit of fun with texture and form. The boys played with the rice through their little fingers, changing shapes, just letting their little fingers go where they want to go on the paper.

Lou got a bit excited - after a little while rice was going everywhere (LOL good fun :) ). And of course he, like most 2 year olds, couldn't help himself and had to have a nibble on the rice. He wasn't too keen on the uncooked rice which he spat out quickly. :)

His big brother was more gentle with the rice, making creatures and talking about what we saw in the picture. It was like looking at clouds and how we see shapes and forms. :) And like the forms that we see in the clouds, they're not permanent either......

..... just enjoying the moment.

The Rental Blues

Do you know what really shits me as a renter? We make it our home for the time we are there, transform the place, then move leaving the house 100% better, nicer and CLEANER than when me move in. Yep, it's happened again..... we moved into someone else's filth. I have been busy cleaning a very sticky, greasy kitchen and cleaning this orange nicotine grime that's over everything!

Not to mention that on the day we moved in, the carpets were only cleaned the day before so when Lou sat down to play with his toys he had a wet bum and knees from the carpet. There's no garage to put our stuff in while it dried so we had to move in on wet carpet and hope it didn't get ruined.

...... And to find out that the landlord wants to tell us where to put a veggie patch when we plan to do it.... aaarrrhhh!!!. My ex-next door neighbour gave us a brilliant reference - she told how we transformed the backyard from weeds to a beautiful native garden and tiered veggie patch. We had to make the backyard a bit more child friendly - that's why we did it up a bit. Anyway, that's what got us this place (according to the real estate). I think the new landlord thinks we are going to do a backyard Blitz on his place! I'm over doing up other people places to make it look more homely and not a rundown rental. Hopefully, this will be our last rental place - we are saving for our own place.

But it is a lovely place in a beautiful spot in the Blue Mountains. I do feel like I'm in a holiday house. I have a pine forest out my kitchen window which I never get sick of looking at. In the afternoon the sun shines through it - it's so magical. We are next to a bush walking track but it has been too windy to go bushwalking with the kids.

Katie has a beautiful cubby house..... just have to be careful of the bees!