Creating Charlotte's Web...

One of the books I picked up at the enchanting bookshop in Bendigo was this Australian one "Blue Skies, Green Days" by Jillian De Muth and illustrated by Kim Gamble of Tashi fame. It is the journal of a girl who goes to stay at her grandparents house in the bush and the wonderful things she learns, sees and creates while she is there. Unfortunately this book seems to be out of print but if you stumble across it please take it home, it is worth it.

It was a gorgeous day here today so The Munchkin and I took a little basket and wandered around Mum and Dads block looking for suitable sticks to make the web from the book, nicknaming it "Charlotte's Web". It gave us the opportunity to talk a little about spiders and how they all build different webs. We raided my wool stash for lots of lovely bright colours and headed over to Mum's deck to get weaving.

Mum did one too and it was so nice for the three of us to spend some time together sitting, creating, building memories. I cheated and used some hand-dyed wool with variegated colours to get the banded look, while Mum and The Munchkin tied on new colours as the desire struck. The Munchkin tends to give up if she thinks she is not doing something well so I just let her go and enjoyed watching her find her own rhythm. She was so pleased with her 'Charlotte's Web' and went on to make the little green one for a different spider who makes a funnel instead of a web like we had talked about. With the sticks and Op-shopped wool it was a cheap, fun and colourful activity that I think we will do again soon!

...and look how bright and colourful they are! 

Till next time, xxx

PS. Thanks for all the lovely comments about my new header - I'm really happy with how it turned out, crinkly and dishevelled just like me, and a pretty good overall reflection of this High Maintenance Hippy life. Thanks also for your continued support and positive comments, it really makes my day to know that you have stopped by. You guys rock! xx

Today I love ...

Daisy Lane prettying up our bedroom...

Thoughtful and gorgeous gifts from my sister of scrummy Lindt Delice Macarons and...

Kikki-K Love Mail stamps...

...and finding wonderful books at the oppie for a grand total of $1.70! 

Happy weekend!! xxx

I've been to Ballarat, Bendigo, Seymour, Trawool...

We headed out to Trawool (which is near Seymour and Puckapunyal [the Army base] in Victoria) on Saturday for the night. I had been to a cafe there some time ago with girlfriends and was keen to get back for the amazing pizza but alas the owners and food were different and although the cottage was great it was kind of a let down after making a special trip. The scenery was beautiful though and The Munchkin enjoyed meeting the resident alpacas and has been drawing gorgeous detailed pictures of them ever since. I love my crafty, creative girl so much!

On the way back to Daylesford on Sunday we took the opportunity to stop in Bendigo for a browse. We were so pleased we did as we found the most amazing secondhand bookstore. What a find!...

...Kuan Yin Temple...

...where we lit incense and said a prayer to...

...Kuan Yum, The Goddess of Mercy...

  We also saw gorgeous architecture...

...and found Rosalind Park which shares an amazing playground with the Camp Hill State School. The school itself looks amazing and I would have loved to have been able to explore its historic corridors and rooms...

Mr HMH went across the road and found Grill'd burgers and chips, the kind of franchise you go to when you want to avoid those other awful ones! So fresh and yummy! 

After a fun few hours we did no other shopping or exploring as we wanted to get back to Daylesford to pick up something for our evening meal, but we enjoyed the small corner of Bendigo that we saw.

After spending Sunday night at Cottage Gate Cottages again, this time in The Forge (affectionately nicknamed "The Cupboard" by us as it was a lean-to on The Studio - it was actually quite big and lovely inside!) we headed off Monday morning to Ballarat to visit the Wildlife Park. The Munchkin was keen to check out some Kangaroos and Emus up close as we had spotted a huge Kangaroo in the forest while driving to Cottage Gate one night, and we had told her that there are heaps of Emus in Victoria also. She was not disappointed. The Kangaroos happily lazed about in the sun, a few with sweet little Joeys hanging legs and tails out and were more than happy to be fed and scratched.

The two Emus put on airs of nonchalance but still stayed close and The Munchkin said that they were showing us around. They make a really interesting glug glug sound like a bottle of water being tipped out and The Munchkin was really impressed and has been telling everyone about it ever since. (Yes! It was really cold by the way!)

This is a pretty poor photo but this huge Yellow and White Python (like the one seen on Britney Spears circa 2001, and more recently on the Glee Britney special)  in the reptile enclosure was amazingly beautiful! I'm not into snakes usually but the colours on this one may show up in some of my interior design and strangely enough featured quite a bit in this months Real Living that I read on the way home in the plane. What an odd coincidence!

He he, a little fellow from my neck of the woods. The Tassie Devils quite happily displayed their cheeky tendencies a bit later with the park ranger but the battery went flat on my camera and then I couldn't grab the iPhone fast enough. Cute - but not to be messed with in the wild!!

Sleepy Koala! We do not have these at home except in wildlife parks, they are strictly a mainland animal in the wild. This one is actually cuddled up with her baby which was super cute! There was one guy sitting on top of a roof that was the spitting image of Nigel in the movie "The Wild" - very funny!

After the park we headed into Ballarat city for lunch and a last look around before driving to the airport.  We drove past the mall and thought that looked like the easiest option. There was a Vinnies which I popped in to and came out with a few goodies which happened to be my first and only Op Shop scores the whole trip! As we were away mainly over the weekend all of them were closed sadly. Never mind - my Sue Adams cards from Daylesford more than made up for it.

I walked by this scrumptious art-deco dress shop and had to take a picture. All the details were in chrome and it just oozed retro charm! It was established in 1920 by the Davis family and 90 years later is still run by them! What an incredible thing!

I couldn't resist a photo of Drury Lane which leads from the carpark we parked in, to the mall. Do you know the Muffin Man, The Muffin Man, The Muffin Man?, Do you know The Muffin Man he lives in...

...and Yes! A creative graffiti artist decided to go with the theme - ha ha!...

So thats more or less it! We had an amazing holiday despite having to drive a crappy, gutless, auto Getz around, a few rather large fights over navigational directions and not getting to have a Chai until we got back to the airport. We have most certainly come home refreshed and ready to knock over the reno! Watch out for "after" photos coming your way soon!

Till next time, xxx

PS. Is anyone else having issues with Blogger at the moment?? It is being very obnoxious about uploading multiple photos lately!!

Ah Daylesford - how I love thee, let me count the ways ...

First stop... amazing wood fired pizza at Koukla the cafe at Frangos & Frangos Daylesford, Victoria. I can see why it is a local institution, funky but comfortable decor and excellent staff... 

Afterwards, as it was getting late we headed off to find our accommodation which was a converted shed on a farming property called Country Gate at Springbank. After going endlessly back and forth along the same stretch of road we concurred that google maps on my phone and the street sign we were looking for were disagreeing! We finally took a guess and found the right one and headed off into the forest to find the place. It was worth it!  The owners, Molly and John have done an incredible amount of work to make three of their farms original buildings available for guests to enjoy and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. We would most certainly go there again. It was incredibly peaceful and well equipped, the kind of place you want to snuggle into. Found it a but hard to leave the wood fire and go and explore actually!! ...

 ..the rustic "studio" where we spent two nights...

...scrummy wood fire and reclaimed materials...

...gorgeous, covet able English tea set...

...and a dreamy lady keeping an eye on us...

...we stocked up on art supplies at the variety shop and came back to paint in front of the fire...

...patted the resident horses...

...and woke up to find (and eat!) what was left of the nights snow fall!

On Friday it was off to the Chocolate Mill which is 7 minutes from Daylesford at Mount Franklin. The Munchkin was dreaming of a Willy Wonka style factory and despite the lack of Oompa Loompas and eatable (or is that edible) imaginations she was in awe of the viewing window and the fun, easy going owner Chris. 

 ...Chris and Jen built the mill and house from straw bales (details and progress pics here) themselves and it is awe inspiring...

...they also serve the BEST hot chocolate EVER!!...

 ...The Munchkin couldn't even pick the bowl up...

..."If you can get it off me you can have it!" The Munchkin wrestling Chris for the huge bar of couverture chocolate the mill uses for the base of all their products. They produce between 10-12000 chocolates a week and sell them all on site, no wholesale or anything! No nastys, all fresh, no awful Palm oil! Yummy!

...In the garden was this striking iron Owl, also made by Chris I believe! I tried to convince Mr HMH to drag him home, or one of the emu's or lizards. No such luck...

 ......from the inside all the gorgeous colours of the wine bottles around this door looked like stained glass, beautiful...

 Next stop was the Daylesford Bazaar often spoken of by Alison from Lark and in fact the very day before she had posted this so I was keen to get in and explore. There was so much to see and lots of things were collector prices but I hit the jackpot and came across these four original Sue Adams cards which are the reason Alison started her Daisy Lane range! So excited! Happily out of the 2 packets of Swap cards I picked up in the Lark shop I found two to match my cards! (Please excuse the poor quality pictures btw, dark days and an average camera did not make for good ones unfortunately)

(NOTE: As a lovely coincidence, check out this months Frankie to collect 1 of 4 Daisy Lane posters!!)

...and speaking of all thing Lark we of course visited the gorgeous shop itself and came out with lots of lovely things including the swap cards, one of these and some Christmas presents to pop away for The Munchkin. Alison was there but I got all shy and didn't introduce myself  :P ...

... I had to have this bag from Lark since I have given one as a gift but strangely did not have my own! I was very strong and did not walk out with an armful of Paumes or lots of other gorgeous goodies - but that may have just been the fact that Mr HMH was wielding the credit card this holiday he he...

All in all we:

 a) LOVED

b) ADORED

c) FELT AT HOME

d) ALL OF THE ABOVE

in Daylesford, and would move there in a heartbeat!

Will be back with the remainder of our holiday tomorrow and finally my 100 post giveaway announcement over the weekend. Thanks for your patience!!

Till next time, xxx

A bush wardrobe ...

Hello and a big THANKYOU to everyone who left comments on my last post. I am very pleased to have had something positive come out of a painful experience - if only one other family is thinking about what to do in an emergency now then the bump was well worth it!! (I think)

As you can see above I decided on how to finish my extended top for The Munchkin with some help from some lovely readers. It is now tunic length and the extension is much more anchored I feel by the vintage doily. The Munchkin is happy anyway!

I seem to be on a bit of a roll with these tops/dresses at the moment. I made the "Kellie" dress recently and decided last night to make a new one out of an Oppie cot sheet I found a while back. The Munchkin is super in love with cats and pink so was more than happy with the idea. The mismatched sleeves are from the Vintage Fat Quarter Swap we participated in recently. I have no idea which lovely swapee they originally belonged to but they worked a treat with the colours in the body for a little quirkiness. 

 As I mentioned previously we are off on our Victorian adventure tomorrow until Monday and we are so excited!! We are staying in Springbank for three nights and will be going to the awesome Shed Cafe & Cottages at Trawool for one of the nights. I have had a breakfast pizza there before and have dreamed about it ever since so here's hoping it meets my expectations (and they still have them!) We have a few ideas about things we would like to do but are really just playing it by ear and enjoying some time with just the three of us. One place that is an absolute must visit of course is Lark in Daylesford and we will be putting aside some time on the weekend to stop by and check it out! 

The Munchkin has bravely agreed to leave her best-friend Lion in the capable hands of her Gran for our time away as losing him does not bear thinking about. He was only a very cheap little guy but as such is just not available to replace. My compromise was to do an iron-on of him on a t-shirt and then he would still be close by, plus we will send him postcards! The irony of sending postcards to ourselves addressed to Lion was not missed by my clever girl but she decided to humour me as usual! I used Transfer paper from here which worked well on my test run but I did something strange to the actual one and a little bit of Lions belly stayed behind. The Munchkin was not particularly impressed (read: had a complete meltdown!) so once again Mummy was challenged to come up with a solution which was a "blanket"  to cover his less-than-perfect self. It is actually a little pocket so quite useful too. The fabric is an old one from Amy Butler which I love. Phew, crisis averted!

Wow, this was going to be a quick post but as usual my ramblings have drawn it out! If you are still reading along - thankyou! :) 

The little pansy coloured Amigurumi Owl below was one of the first ones I made. I recently started using the same pattern with a much smaller hook and the cute little white and grey guy is the result! He is off to a new home in NZ very soon where I know he will be well loved. 

Would YOU like one?? They are made with mostly thrifted wool and all now have sewn-on details (ie. eyes) so are child safe (but please still use your judgement on this!). I stuff them with Inner Green instead of synthetic filler as I believe it is a cleaner, safer option. You can chose colours if you like and I'll try to accommodate you as best I can. He stands about 7cm tall and is a great size for small hands, or a sweet little friend to keep grown-ups company too.  How much you say? Well that's negotiable!! Do you have something you would like to trade me? Something you make maybe? Or I'm willing to accept bribes of Kikki-K stationery - he he!! Leave me a comment and we'll chat :)

I hope you have a happy and safe remainder of your week and weekend and I'll be back next week to update you on our adventure, and also to announce my 100th post giveaway that I promised!

Till next time, take care, xxx