Blogtoberfest day 7 - 5 is the magic number

Think I might have overdone the hexagons yesterday - I ended up dreaming about them!   But that didn't stop me making up more templates today.  Everyone in the family thinks I've gone mad, but hexagons keep me going when the rest of life feels a bit hectic :)

We had a magical moment today when Little Man, HB, Big B, Duncan and myself were all sitting in the lounge doing our own thing - Little Man leaned over and whispered to me, "the whole family's together in the same room!"   Even though we were all occupied with our own activities whether it be reading, drawing or hexagons, we were all together quietly enjoying each other's company.  A rare commodity these days as our 'little people' are growing up and spreading their wings, and very, very special. xx

Blogtoberfest day 6 - more heavenly hexagons

Continuing my obsession with hexagons ...

Teeny tiny half inch hexies - I'll be sharing what this is going to become as the month progresses, and give you the link to the blogpost that inspired me at the same time.  So watch this space ...  My tiny hexies are surrounding a hexie flower I'm working on for my hexie swap partner.

Then from one extreme to the other - I'm making a knitting bag from the Cath Kidston book "Sew" which calls for slightly bigger hexagons ...

From one extreme to the other.

I'll share progress on this project too ...

Both projects are using vintage fabrics which I've been saving for a couple of years until I found something I wanted to make with them!  I know I do use hexagons a lot in my patchwork and quilting, but they are so very therapeutic - the whole process from cutting fabric hexies, paper templates, tacking fabric to the paper - and that's all before you even sew them together to make the fabric ... it all seems terribly slow, but it's the perfect antidote to a busy life :)

Blogtoberfest day 5 ... a picture

Here's a little tunnel.  I wonder where it's leading ...

I love the way sun and shade play together; can you step only on one or the other?

I love walking through the trees when the light is like this, it's magical somehow.  Takes me back to being a child.  It makes me happy ...

What little things make you smile?

Blogtoberfest day 4 - Mental

Wasn't sure how I was going to do this post.  So it's going to evolve as I write :)

I've mentioned my hard week at work - doing a training course.  Well, this course was an ASIST course - which is a first aid suicide intervention course.  It has been exhausting, so much to learn, role-playing to get anxious about, emotional issues.  All I want to do is sleep.

As a reward for a hard week, I went to see a movie with the lovely ladies I work with - it's called 'Mental' starring Toni Collette amongst many others.  Now I've never kept it a secret that I have experienced depression and still have to manage anxiety on a daily basis, so was this a good choice?  I'd say yes!  Unresoundingly.  It's funny and heart-breaking at the same time. It's about a stranger - Shaz - who is recruited as a nanny by a husband who's had his wife admitted to a mental hospital after having a nervous breakdown.  Shaz helps the family rise up above their present state of feeling like losers by some very unconventional means, making for hilarious and at times shocking results.  But she's only really mean to the nasty people :)  And you have to question who really is the mental one?  (Oh and if you like 'The Sound of Music' you'll love this!)

Having lived with mental illness there is a possibility that I find things funny that others may not - developing a black sense of humour is one of the things that gets you through the experience of mental illness, and something that your peers share.  But I think it's got a great message for everyone, especially considering it's mental health week next week; there are some uncomfortable moments, but it's a good Aussie film that I can recommend seeing.  

I enjoyed it and it was a good way to end the week after so much emotion - so don't read the Sydney Herald review - they don't know what they're on about!  Just go and see it and make up your own mind :)

Blogtoberfest day 3 - First quote for October!

Woah - another heavy day at work with the second day of my training course.  It culminated in having to do role play in front of a small audience to consolidate our learning.  Talk about being petrified!!!  When the facilitator asked me what I thought I'd done well, I replied "just sitting up here and doing it" ... but I did feel so good after I'd finished ... when firstly I'd had to summon all my courage to not run out of the door!

So I came home and decided to do something for myself that I enjoy for a bit of self-care, and today it was looking for inspiring quotes to add to my collection - does anyone else enjoy collecting quotes?

And I found this, very apt I think ...

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.     
~Eleanor Roosevelt

Hope it gives you some inspiration too.  xx

Blogtober day 2 - something going on in the lounge room ...

Phew - what a day.  I've had a really heavy day at work, so decided I would blog about something that made me smile.

There's obviously something going on in the lounge, but these guys have a good vantage point from the coffee table ...

protective cover behind the remote control ...

I love all these little signs of imaginative play, my Little Man making his presence known about the house, even when he's not physically in the room.  This sort of thing makes me smile :)

Blogtober day 1 - the colour of summer

We picked our remaining oranges from our tree this weekend - I'm still amazed that I can grow, pick and eat our very own grown citrus fruit!  This is my little helper checking the quality - he valiantly held the box whilst I was up the ladder reaching the highest growing fruit before I lobbed them down to him - he caught every one!  Even the bees were in a summery mood, buzzing contentedly amongst the heady smelling orange blossom, not even curious about the enormous hand flitting between them taking the fruit.

Hope you can see the myriad blossoms - they smell divine!

A lovely way to start my Blogtoberfest journey ... please go here to sign up or simply to discover more awesome blogs to visit.