Extraordinary Mondays - with red earth flowing through my veins

With no better words to describe how I feel after my trip to Cue (I hardly spent any time at Meekatharra at all), I will borrow Dorothea Mackellar's words written in 1904, as corny as it may sound.


My Country
The love of field and coppice
Of green and shaded lanes,
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins.
Strong love of grey-blue distance,
Brown streams and soft, dim skies
I know, but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of rugged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me!

The stark white ring-barked forests,
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon,
Green tangle of the brushes
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops,
And ferns the warm dark soil.

Core of my heart, my country!
Her pitiless blue sky,
When, sick at heart, around us
We see the cattle die
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady soaking rain.

Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the rainbow gold,
For flood and fire and famine
She pays us back threefold.
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze…

An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand
though Earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.

I'm heading off to...

...Meekatharra and Cue tomorrow. It'll be my first experience of red earth and propeller planes.

I'll be taking lots of pictures to share.

For those who aren't familiar, here's an interactive satellite map from Google Maps Australia: (pan down to see Perth)


View Larger Map

I'll be staying in Meekatharra but spending much of my time in Cue which is an hour's drive kinda south of Meekatharra. Cue, known as the "Queen of the Murchison", is a little town with a collection of beautiful buildings as it was once a gracious and wealthy gold mining town.

I'm excited!

The weekend of firsts

Zach went to bed without his usual bottle tonight but instead sat at the dinner table and drank his milk from a mug! His "big boy" mug. He was so chuffed at himself throughout the whole milk drinking session, saying, "I'm a big boy drinking from big boy mug."

Amelia had her first drink of partially hydrolysed formula from a glass bottle today. She didn't make any fuss with the change. The partially hydrolysed formula is in hopes that it might alleviate the problem with Amelia's cheeks. Who knows? Hydrocort is no long term solution.

You might have guessed that we are moving towards eliminating our use of plastics especially polycarbonate for the kids. This explains the drinking from a ceramic mug and a glass bottle.

The next step in this process is to change our thermos. Haven't done enough research to find which one is BPA free. Any suggestions?

Perth Upmarket!!

I braved the grey skies this afternoon to go to the Perth Upmarket at the Perth Town Hall. I parked my car and walked a short distance hoping that it wouldn't rain on me. As I turned the corner, I was surprised by the crowd overflowing from the Perth Town Hall. I guess I wasn't expecting a crowd. Actually, truth be told, I didn't know what to expect. It was kinda encouraging to see such a large crowd coming out to support original handmade crafts.

And what a lovely venue! The upstairs hall was magnificent!

I picked up a dress for Amelia, a pair of earrings for myself AND a whole load of inspiration!! I'm ready to attack that shopping bag of goodies I bought so many moons ago now. Stay tuned.

Finished!

Sometimes, you chance upon...

...a scene that captivates you. Holds your gaze and imagination.

I had such a scene this week when I was on site somewhere in Busselton, wandering through buildings of a disused timber mill. Beautiful!

Introducing...

...my new header! Thanks so much Alina and Sean! I feel like I have had a protracted period of blondness when the answer had always been there before my eyes.

the anticipated unveiling...

...of my new header.

Actually, I can't seem to get the resolution right. Help, anyone? Sean? Alina?

Pigeonhole and Perth Upmarket

Last week, I think I overspent on myself! After reading about this little shop on Karen Cheng's blog, I had to check it out myself. So I ventured into the city to Bon Marche Arcade and walked to the end of it. The smells and sights reminded me of the smaller aisles at Sungai Wang Plaza in Kuala Lumpur.

Pigeonhole is a little eclectic oozing loads of cool. Johann definitely has a certain style and taste. A little off mainstream and a little retro. I now have two new favourite lines of clothing: sü and piccinini.

Now, the best thing about my visit was that Johann was having a spring sale to make way for new stock. There are pieces for as cheap as $10 and almost everything is 50%. It's only for the first two weeks of spring so if last week was the first week, there is only 7 days left of this amazing sale!

If I have pricked your interest, check out the pigeonhole blog and facebook page.

Pigeonhole
Shop 16,
Bon Marché Arcade
80 Barrack Street,
Perth 6000
Phone: 9221 9837


And to continue on this line of thought, Perth is going to have a sudden influx of crafties! Perth Upmarket's market day is on next Sunday (14 September). I'll be there to mainly get inspired and grab some handmade goodies. So, if you live in Perth and like all things handmade and original, be sure to get to Perth Town Hall between noon and 5pm next Sunday.

I'll be looking forward to browse the wares by:













I'll be there! If you miss this one, you'll have to wait till December.