Mother's Day 14

I am Loved. I know this because at 4 a.m. my four year old woke me to tell me. She told me again at 5 a.m. and 6a.m.. She loves me a lot.

Gratuitous photo of child doing what she should be doing at 4 a.m.

 At 7.20 a.m. I found a perfectly made, albeit tepid cuppa on the bedside table. At 7.45 a.m. Fishy came in to tell me there weren't many eggs today and one of the chooks was dead on the grass. Through sleepy eyes I realised I would be enduring breakfast in bed without parental guidance and that I'd be disposing of Ruby Redneck's mortal remains at some point today. 

The Big Fella is interstate so he has left instructions for the offspring which they are interpreting free form. There was a crackling sound from the kitchen. I made a pact with the powers that be that I'd bury the chook graciously if I didn't have to visit the Royal Children's Hospital today. We have been accruing frequent flyers points there of late.

Then they appeared like the Magi bearing gifts. With beaming faces and laden tray they stood above me urging me to wake up and smell the bacon. 

Indeed it is a happy face bacon portrait of Dad so he is here in salty spirit. We all gnawed on his crispy facial features. 

Shorty Divine provided her twist on the Banoffee cake with a cupcake topped with a chunk of banana. We shared that too. I like to share the food my children prepare me although it means there is less for me to enjoy. (choke)

There were gifts, home made, dodgy and delectable. There was a spoonful of kisses, a promissory note of massages, chocolate, magazines, a be-sequinned frame of their faces, a carved wooden dolphin(???) and those home made cards. I always keep the cards.

Soon I will rise like a phoenix from the tissue paper and ribbon to assess the kitchen debris and bury the chook. 

We'll prepare Fishy for his rugby match, hang and fold a canyon of washing and visit the grannies and sisters to celebrate the perfection and glitches that come with membership to Club Motherhood. 

On the whole though I have surmised that one un-iced banana topped cupcake outweighs two baskets of wet washing and a dead chook any day.

P. S. Ruby Redneck has also risen phoenix- like from the back yard. Turned out she was sun baking.

Play Eat Run

Today I was playing with an idea for the year 7's but you might like to try it for your children.

 It could even be a 3D Mother's Day card if you want to keep them busy for a couple of hours this week-end.

 

Somebody bought in an interesting cookie box this morning. When you take the white cone off it folds open like a star. So we were thinking how this could work as a construction activity for the wee tackers. I photocopied one side and the base then cut them out and printed them onto stiff paper. This one is on water colour paper but you could use any card that goes in your printer. The template was on A3 sized paper.

We thought about how a twelve year old could transfer a bit about themselves onto the "Identity Pyramid". That sounds very New Age doesn't it? How about the "Cone of Self" or the "Me Prism"?
Mine shall be known as "Fishboy Facets". Each side is another side of his lovely personality....strings, piano, swimming, football and himself. Everything runs into the next as his busy life is getting a bit like that.

 The base and tip were made from a photocopy of a little canvas I painted a while ago for something else. It's just about him, now, this year. I didn't get too gushy as it is an example for other boys the same age.

 

It's up on my desk for a while till we've used it here but I'm looking forward to giving it to him. He can hang it on a string or sit it on his desk or, more likely, lose it under some dirty football socks. Ephemeral art!

Why I'm not going anywhere just yet.

Big, wild skies.

Small people in the flotsam.

                                                     Disipating storms, a fine balance.

Light

Colour

Wind on salty skin.

Small people.

Scissors, Paper, Rocks

Remember this pretty peck of pebbles from the beach?

I thought I'd put my money where my mouth is and do something with it. So I cut (scissors) some nice thick water colour paper and drew on it with charcoal.

Then I made up a purple solution of the old Condy's Crystals and dipped the paper in it. BTW, did you know Condy's Crystals were once considered de rigueur for chook farmers to flavour their chooks water and  rid them of parasites. As it is a caustic solution, they may well have been rid of their chooks' digestive tracts too.

When it oxidises, it changes from purple to brown.

Then comes the magic science part. With some plain lemon juice, bottled or fresh, the paper can instantly be bleached back to white. It can be spattered on, or brushed or dripped. The edges can be bleached back too. The random organic nature of the runs is part of the charm of anything  on watercolour paper.

Then some colour can be added back over with water colour pencils and a wet  brush. Maybe a little white pastel can highlight bits and pieces. I'm still playing with this in between classes.
The yellow rock up the top is still my favourite just like in the photo.

On the Rocks

Still pondering on the beauty of that week at the beach, I found some more photos that might bear doing a bit of work with. 

Our lot favours the coast north of Brisbane for many reasons, some sentimental and some aesthetic. 

One of the characteristics of the beaches there is the large expanses of coffee rock deposited by volcanic activity some gazillion years ago. It is marvelous stuff, providing rock pools, bridges, caves and waterfalls to intrigue and occupy children (and adults) for hours. That has probably gone on for a million years or so too.

One of the interesting properties of coffee rock is that, being quite porous, it breaks down easily and can be carved and eroded into myriad different forms.

It seems to have deposited a fine black sand that emerged as the top layers of white sand were washed away in the storms. I remember being on a Greek Island with sand like this. I don't remember which one but it was near a volcano. Anybody?

We discovered that by drawing in the top layers of white sand, the lower layers of black sand showed through like some kind of lovely, natural etching.

While the girls were drawing in the sand, it occurred to me that the sands and tide had produced some rather exquisite drawings without any human assistance whatsoever.

   

Some of these lines would make for delicious drawings on heavily textured paper

and would translate beautifully into black and white ink or charcoal drawings.

They had such a strength and fluidity from the rock and sand.

Only nature could dream up such inspired composition.

I think this is my favourite. It would make a rather striking large canvas.

Just saying.

Finishing off

Finally the radioactive rug is finished. 

After it was all joined up I realized it wasn't quite big enough for our bed which was where I hoped it might live. I just couldn't face any more granny squares. A girl has her limits. So I just kept going around the outside in a border till it was the right size. It went a bit wonky the first few rows so it had to be disciplined with a severe pulling out of stitches and started again. Second and third time I finally figured out that I had to ditch all the connecting chains and just do the trebles. 

Then at the beach it was cool and quiet enough for me to whack on a scalloped edge to finish it off. 

  Done! Ta and Da at last!

So once again for a final appearance and yet another closure to the cycle of last year's Kafuffle.

We have the radiotherapy rug, a.k.a. family blanket ,

the biopsy blanket, a.k.a. rainbow ripple for Shorty Divine,

and of course the chemo quilt, a.k.a. Lala's blanket.

Here they are in their natural environment back home. Lala likes to bask like a cat in the sun. This is permissible in glorious Spring  Autumn sunshine. 

I love this time of year. We can finally behave like normal humans who live in more temperate climes and enjoy the benefits of gentle morning sunshine.

Usually I cower like a vampire in the Queensland sunshine. It is finally cooling down enough here to wear sleeves and long pants and a covered shoe. Bliss!

Lala likes to peruse the Aldi catalogue for such treasures as the travel pack of Zoobs for around $12. 

I only bought them because I wanted to say Zoobs a lot.

 "Where are the Zoobs? Have you got your Zoobs?" Try it. It's a satisfying word.

 Having decided to not crochet anything else for a goodly time we then stumbled acoss this tasty little pouffe in a gift shop.

Rainbow hexes, indeed. Couldja...wouldja...?

 Perhaps one close up of the stitches just in case.