the egg hunt

just a few snaps of the easter morning egg hunt.

the night before we had left out a basket of eggs that we had decorated during the week and some carrots from the garden.

there was great excitement in the air

on the back doorstep we found the evidence that the easter bunny had been, an empty basket and the tops of the carrots left behind,

we followed the bunny footprints across the paving and up into the garden.

coloured eggs had been hidden with care,

the grass dewy and cool, we hunted through bushes and flowers placing each found egg gently into the basket. at last there was just one left to be found... 

a special chocolate bunny and egg hiding in amongst the wheat grass green manure... 

a little girl who couldn't get at it fast enough.

back inside the chocolate eggs were uncovered from their shiny wrappings, the little egg eaten and the chocolate bunny left sitting on the table... maybe for later?

these days

this week... was all about easter... of course!

1. origami easter bunnies.

2. beautiful good friday sunset.

3 & 4. bathed and ready to eat chocolate pudding from a sweet thrifted tea cup, giggling away at the action in the background.

5. we celebrated a birthday this week... mine!

6. daisy home from uni for a few days over easter.

7. inspired by bec's easter terrarium, i made a couple of them, one with a wooden bunny and johnny jump up seedlings and the other with an egg we found at the beach (whole but empty) and some wheatgrass.

8. jessica was so excited to find that easter bunny had left a chocolate easter rabbit and promptly unwrapped it but didn't want to eat it!

9. birthday candles.

10. a very pleased girl with the easter morning loot!

11. pretty blooms in the garden.

12. the mornings have been so dark this week. its been nice to have a candle lighted while we have breakfast.

13. making a felt ball trivot. harder than i anticipated and although it is finished i prefer that no one touches it for fear it will fall apart... and everyone wants to pick it up and touch it as its so tactile!

14. the easter full moon setting just before the sun rose.

15. our newly painted chalkboard is always in use. if i start drawing jessica immediately joins in. such a great way to encourage some joint art.

16. the glitter got a big workout at play group this week decorating easter egg shapes.

17. the cosmos continues to bloom in the garden and i can't help but to keep taking photos of it.

18.  the beautiful upside down pear cake was made by eloise using the recipe from here. very yummy!

joining in with the lovely Em

13/52

"A portrait of my littlest, once a week, every week in 2013" 

joining in with jodi over at che and fidel

jessica: the serious business of cracking eggs for a special chocolate pudding treat. 

i am enjoying this 52 link up, i have found so many beautiful blogs along the way. 

there were so many great photos last week with lots of little ones sleeping off colds and flus. i really do love photos of sleeping children but my favourite was of sage captivated by the candlelight with all that beautiful wonder in her eyes.

knit knit

another knit completed...

despite having started this beanie five times i really enjoyed knitting it. i just couldn't get the size of the needles right to begin with. my pattern was for a beanie made with hand spun yarn and i had 8 ply, hence starting five times trying to get it right! 

it is a beanie for alistair made using cleckheaton's perfect day alpaca wool. so beautiful and soft and the natural colour is very pleasing to my eye. since al is away i had to make do with my very obliging little model, very happy to be wearing daddy's new beanie. i can't wait to give it to him and i am hoping it fits perfectly.

i am finding knitting to be so calming and i really must make sure that i always have something on the go. that way whenever i feel a little stressed or moody i can pick up the needles and knit.

easter is nearly here

last year i read meagan's lovely easter story on her blog and wanted to recreate it for jessica this easter. in preparation i have been crafting and gathering a few things for it these past few weeks and this week we are telling this story every night before bedtime. 

i knitted a waldorf style rabbit to be the mother rabbit. the pattern is super simple and i found it in creative play for your toddler. a book i have used quite a bit to make simple toys for jessica. jess loves this bunny the best at the moment and has played with it constantly over the last few days. 'its sooooo cuddly' she says as she squeezes it tight.

i wet felted some coloured eggs. they are sitting in a nest we found (empty) last spring in the middle of our drive way. 

i hand sewed three adorable bunny finger puppets by the purl bee.

i also stitched up this little bird using felt, wool fabric and some vintage material. i kind of made it up as i went along, hoping it would turn out okay and i think she is quite sweet.

... and these little bunnies were a last minute addition after spotting them on pinterest last week.

all of the above make up our story props along with a small pot of wheatgrass, some sticks with little autumn leaves glued on and an assortment of blocks and playsilks to form the landscape. it all looks adorable and jess has been playing with the little scene ever since we set it up together.

i very quickly whipped up these bunny ears last night while chatting on the phone (they are that easy!). all you need is a headband, pipe cleaners, strips of material and a bit of glue. you could use bias binding but i kind of like the frayed look. they will be in jess's easter basket on sunday morning and i know she will love wearing them!

today we prepared our eggs. we were going to use natural dyes and i made up batches of beetroot, onion skin, tumeric, red cabbage etc yesterday but when we went to dye them i didn't think the colours were going to be strong enough for the brown eggs we had, so we ended up getting out the good old food colouring. we will place these out on saturday night for easter bunny to hide in the garden.

i have so many lovely ideas on my easter board that i would like to do/make but i have probably nearly done enough. if you are needing some easter inspiration hop* on over and have a look.

although... bec from thirteen red shoes inspired me yesterday with her easter terrarium. i love it so much i think i am going to make one before the end of the week.

also... i loved this little bunny that summer made her daughter...

* sorry bad pun i know!

these days

this week... some stills with a distinctly autumn tone to them.

we have had a slow week mostly at home, giving some much needed time to catch up on some things. (hence all the shots are once again from around our home). 

my eyes were drawn to earthy colours and by the end of the week it was starting to feel a little more like autumn around here. the mornings so dark... we seem to wake up late but when we do venture outside there is that feeling in the air, that softness of autumn. the days are a little cooler and in the evening that feeling is there again... that autumn feeling, as the sun is setting, the days growing ever shorter.

1. jess and i created a autumn leaf hanging with some very crunchy leaves saved from last year and some wooden beads.

2. an early easter present arrived from granny. bunny ears and tiny easter chicks. they are adored and played with for hours and hours. granny always gives the best presents.

3. falling... leaves...

4. a cold(ish) morning chia tea about to be put on to brew.

5. we have very wide verandas around three sides of our house so the only time the sun actually shines in is in the evening or early morning. i do love the play of light and shadow cast across the walls.

6. i brought home a huge box of peaches from a local farm earlier in the week and their smell is beautiful as they await on the kitchen bench to be preserved. these, the last peaches of the season will satisfy our taste buds come winter and spring.

7. waiting for the chai...

8. fennel seed heads caught in the evening sun.

9 & 10. sisters. both with messy top knots, baking muffins together.

11. upon my kitchen bench... a new batch of kombucha tea fermenting away. little jars of sage and garlic infused honey, one ready to send off to my eldest daughter daisy and one for us, to sooth sore throats, if needed. and the most gorgeously packaged jar of coconut butter (the photo not doing it justice i am afraid!) it looks so lovely i almost don't want to open it. so absurd!

12. my knitting in the morning sun shine.

joining in with the super lovely Em.

12/52

"A portrait of my littlest, once a week, every week in 2013" 

joining in with jodi over at che and fidel

jessica: it may have been the autumn equinox and started out as a cool day but by the afternoon you decided summer was sticking around and it was still warm enough to shed clothes (like you do most days). no clothes do help with the post icy pole clean up though. (these home made watermelon and raspberry icy poles were declared to be the best!)