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Some of the gems from the film I had processed this afternoon. Photographing an active toddler with manual focus was much harder than I had anticipated. This evening PB and I discussed the attachment of an imaginary darkroom to my imaginary screen-printing studio, while we holed up in our dining/lounge/study eating frittata, which is absolutely not to be confused with tortilla. (Sorry Chef).

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A few people have mentioned that the intentions of my last post were unclear. I am indeed taking a little blogging break. It's been over two years of this here space and I'm taking a step back to consider What To Do Next. I'm in my fourth week of returning to regular yoga practice after many years off, and my head is calm and clear. The old Canon AE-1 has been (literally) dusted off and I've armed myself with a roll of black and white to see what happens when I take it back to basics. 


Sleep is being lost over the thought of getting the film processed. As BB would say, I get blahla-flies in my tummy every time I snap a picture!

* iPhone snap by PB.

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Recently I was sent this incredible children's book, Operational Alphabet, by the Ministry of Letters. It's a creative and charming tale, beautifully illustrated and printed on gorgeous stock. Inspirational rather than educational, aspiring to instil a love of words and letters into children.

It's a beautiful book and is available now in Australia (and online). Supplemented on the technology side of things with a blog, gorgeous animations and an iPad and iPod app called The Singing Alphabet.


As you can see, the arrival of this book has come at a perfect time for us:



(She's improved in the days since I recorded this. E, F and G get an honorable mention in there too now).

Speaking of which we've all been hitting the library around here – some of us more literally than others. I have solid hope that one day, BB's love of books will overpower her need for movement and we'll leave the library with our heads held high instead of the shameful swifty we currently employ.

I've mentioned before we don't own a TV, neither do we have TV set up on the computer but never-the-less, I find myself spending more time on here than I'd like, perhaps out of sheer habit. Despite the obvious comparisons, the thing I find the most re-assuring about a book is the intimacy of a singular focus within a time frame; one subject as opposed to a bottomless pit of words and images.  Whilst the internet is an amazing tool, I always find after a hefty stint I need a break.

So I'll leave it at that for now. Thanks for all the kind emails and comments over the last few months, despite my need step away occasionally I do find this to be on the whole, an incredibly supportive and inspirational online community.

See you soon. xxx

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When making such claims to shoot outfits daily for a week, I should have first confirmed the use of a photographer for this task. I can't say PB was too impressed when asked to participate this afternoon, after being up since 3am, using his only morsel of daylight to partake in something he finds on the whole, a tad bit stupid. You can imagine how even less impressed he was when I informed him I planned to do this every day. For a week. Yup, not so into it.

I can't really blame him. When I really think about it if I were him I'd be raging too.

So more than likely this will be dispersed over a period of time. I had a hunch that would happen.

And, because I'm being a bit of a chicken leaving my face out, here's a dodgy head-shot, accentuating my lack of make-up, unwashed hair and nose which I think is a little large. Poor BB was very concerned about the spot near my bottom lip...

BB: Mummy, what this one is?
Me: On my mouth? Maybe Vegemite?
BB: No Vegemite mummy. This one. Mummy hurts?
Me: Oh this? Maybe it's a pimple?
BB: Get a bandaid!

Thankfully I managed to convince her that would be a bad idea.

Vintage army shirt, Bassike stripe tee, Kate Sylvester shorts, Daisy boots by The Horse. 

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Recently, two items came into my possession and since then I can't fathom how I ever got dressed in the morning prior to their arrival. Has that ever happened to you?

This army shirt was the result of a late night eBay scour (one of a few, if I'm honest) and I've pretty much worn it every single day since receiving it. Unlike some of my other favourite jackets I don't freak out when BB goes to smear a grubby hand on me. It makes a superb tea-towel, art-smock and toddler-hanky. Throw it in the wash and Bob's your uncle!

The boots are a very kind gift from the lovely folks over at The Horse, and will be my trusty companions all through winter. Comfy, a bit shiny and fancy and best off all easy to put on when dashing out the door like a madman. I was thinking about a way to show my gratitude (other then advertising) and decided that for one week only, this here little space will be converted into a style blog. Hurrah! (Sorry PB, I know you're cringing.)

Daisy boots and army shirt worn in an outfit every day for a week and documenting it.*

Good idea? Who knows.

* What I really mean is I'll try my best to take a photo every day, but more than likely I'll end up with about 3 shots over a period of two weeks.

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Some recent iPhone pics. I'm close to starting a tumblr for all these – the only thing that's stopping me is I can't quite decide on a (design) theme.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day here in Oz. Sadly my dear mum is overseas at the moment and PB is working, but we'll be sneaking into the cafe for an early breakfast before the Mother's Day rush.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mama's out there, my beautiful mum and my dearest mama friends, who inspire and support me daily.  xxx

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Hello! Still here. Just lost a bit of my blogging mojo. Considering calling it an official break but still hanging in there. (Mainly to document sewing triumphs. There's a very controversial pair of trousers in the making).

New objects in my neat (because-I-threw-everything-else-to-the-other-side-for-the-photo) corner of the room:

Cat pillowcases: When life brings you friend with rad vintage sheet collection make pillowcases. I'm not even going to say how long these took me, but they are extremely neat (with french seams!) Cutting them up was terrifying. One chance only folks! Phew.

Kilim rug: At garage sale around the corner for $5. (Plus $30 for a dry-clean).

Hobby horse: Picked up from Vinnies and later worked out through investigation of marks and scratches that in fact, this was at one stage in Jill's ownership until she took it to (a different) Vinnies. She informed me her reason for donation was due to constantly kicking it around the house. Yup, I can now see that.

In other news night-weaning is going great guns. I'm now not feeding BB until about 4am, and only getting up once or twice before then to rub her back to resettle. I understand that for some people this isn't a triumph, but for us it is.

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Two important events happened last Monday. BB received her first bike (and has since been tearing down hills scrapping up her legs even further) and I made a real, concerted, conscious effort to start night weaning.

I adapted a plan from this article* in which the main difference is the extension of each stage for as long as it takes for all parties to feel ready to move onto the next. Time limits stress me out, I prefer to work at my own pace – usually a slow one.

When putting BB down on Monday evening I explained she would be having boobie when we said goodnight, but then when waking at night she can have only a little bit of boobie and then I'll rub her back. I wanted to make sure she understood what we were doing and felt part of the process. I explained carefully and she listened earnestly, and when I asked What's going to happen if you wake up at night? she looked me square in the face and said Uuuummm, ride a bike mummy!

I was terrified that it would all go pear shaped but actually, she accepted it, even when transferring to our bed at some point in the night we keep the same thing going. She has a little feed, rolls over and falls back asleep, and I don't have to sleep with my arm up accommodating her head anymore. My back is thanking me. Thanks Anna, hi fives!

The next stage is to cut out the night feeding all together, and just rub her back, hoping that eventually she'll sleep through. The first few days she woke often (6 times in 2 hours!) but generally the periods of sleep are getting longer, and the first stretch has extended to about 6 hours rather than the usual 3. And on Friday night, she didn't even want to be fed down to sleep. First time ever (!!!) She asked for a drink of water and Mummy rub a back. I was shocked, happy, sad and proud. Mostly I couldn't stop grinning, which makes me think it's the right time for both of us to commence this slow and gentle process.

So that's where we're at for now. Tonight she fed a little to go to sleep and then asked for her back to be rubbed, and next week sometime I'll try and encourage her to stop feeding at night and wait till the morning.

Needless to say, despite the success it's been an exhausting and emotional week, so please excuse these ramblings. But for those people that have supported me and asked, I wanted to let you know how we were doing.

* which I'm pretty sure was left by a reader in the comments of a previous post – thank you.

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Jill, her kids, my kid and finally – the pineapple skirt.

We've got a good early Saturday morning routine going lately, I'm so lucky to be able to hang out with these guys and partake in their malarkey.

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Our weekend is a Monday, one measly day that usually goes tits-up.

But today we managed to get it just right.

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BB: Mummy, check the time is?
Me: What is the time?
BB: I don't know have no got a watch on.
Me: Have a look at Babcia's
BB: (glancing in general direction of my mum's arm) Fiiiirrrty minutes!

BB: This one not a blue leggings mummy. This one a white leggings. White leggings – Yay!

I have to keep noting these things down otherwise I'll forget them.

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There's a slew of photos from the last week with Babcia, but for now her departure is too fresh for me to sit down and edit them without tears (and hysterical sobs). I have, however, been trying to get around to THIS post for a while now, but not quite known how to approach it. (So please excuse me as I fumble my way through).

With the recent onslaught of emails from PR agencies (some of which have very clearly never read this blog) I'm becoming much more aware of how powerful a marketing tool blogging can be. Owning a small business has been a bloody hard slog for us this last year, and without the kind support from friends and strangers it would have been even harder.  During my recent conversations with Amy from Jonah and the Girl and The Horse I realised that I have a small opportunity to help out other people having a go with their own businesses, so I've decided to make a bit of space for some Rummey Bears sponsors, and I'm chuffed to have them up there to start it off.

And, whilst I have no issues with people selling ad space on their blogs, it's something I don't feel I could do for this particular space, so no monies have or will be exchanged. Any of the ads you see here will be a result of a fair-dinkum love and sincere thank-you.

Top: When not leaping from heights hanging around my legs. 
Bottom: Our (incomplete) Polish Easter Basket. I so earnestly tried to dye my eggs in beetroot and failed. Luckily Babcia succeeded with her onion skins. 

UPDATE: PB thought I was a little vague with my explanation so here I am to clarify. No, I'm not selling ad space for cold hard cash, but yes, I'm trading it for goods/services. (Kind of how we started out with the cafe – Want to make us a website? We'll pay you in dinners!)  These ads will always be relevant and something I sincerely love, and for now they're just a way say thanks to people who have kindly sent us something, and help support their businesses.

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PB decided to open the cafe over Easter, so we're bunkering down with Babcia (who flew in a couple of days ago), cooking up a Polish Easter feast and hangin' in the Autumn sun.

I hope you all have a happy and safe long weekend, and thanks so much for the comments lately. I know I haven't been able to reciprocate them as much as I hope to but I read and appreciate every one.

xxx

PS. Unsurprisingly, today's backyard session ended like this:

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Inside or out, always naked, usually jumping.

Today marks the end of daylight savings and the end of my favourite month of the year.
So long March, see you in 2013.

xxx