why it's so totally Ok to love some bloggers

 Greetings all,

I was so overwhelmed by your fantastic take on yesterday's post "why it's so totally Ok to dislike some bloggers" with positive responses on what is essentially a negative topic.  You understood my point - that bloggers are a sample of society, some you are just not going to like, it doesn't mean you hate or troll them, just delete & avoid.  When you read about school children to celebrities attempting or committing suicide over comments on social media, geesh, this is serious stuff.  Hate filled vitriol from a complete stranger can literally kill someone!!  If you don't like someone's blog, it's Ok, click away.  

The craft blogging community seems to have the biggest heart.  Of course it's competitive & some blog to sell their handmade goodies, others generously share every new creation with a tutorial & list of suppliers.  My HUGE tip after a dozen years in the craft business & three years of regular blogging is to find yourself a bloggie confidant.  Take your time, test the waters & think carefully, or let it come naturally - which is how it happened to me - after many questions, email, advice, 'dates' & laughter, i just claimed Tania McCartney as my on line social media confidant before i even knew i needed one.  She's my personal sounding board.  I just emailed her to say 'i've pinched some images from your blog & am doing a post about how you are my confidant."  Now my readers know where to find my secrets, don't bother trying to crack her, she's a vault!!  You might get lucky like me & find a blogger who you love!!   

It happened naturally for a number of reasons:

we were both new to Canberra; we are mummies who adore our children, ADORE; have husbands who adore us, ADORE; actually our husbands are very similar kinds of men; we love to travel, sew, bake, exercise, picnic, shop, swoon over homewares, art, garden, read, fashion, smell flowers & photograph everything around us.  Straight up, we don't clash, we share opinions maturely & agree to disagree.  It was an easy real life friendship, we just happen to be on line as well.  

How it has continued to work so beautifully for years: 

we are in different industries (she's an award winning author) yet can talk small business (highs, wins, lows, pitfalls); we love to share travel tips past, present & future; she gives me endless advice on social media, photography & technology, i give her tips on decorating & bargain finds; we're both feisty Aquarian mother lions yet uncompetitive with each other.  She's like the best sister you could ever hope for!!  Tania's also a freaking super model, so i wear heels when we go out together - she just makes me want to be a better person in every way, including my appearance!!

 So she's the finest example of a blogger who i love.  Tania is local, on the same parenting page as me, effortlessly talented & a breath of fresh air in my life, over the past 4 years.  Hallelujah!!  She's personable, polished & present - rare qualities these days.  We might have met at a Mathilda Market as stall holders . . . yet blogging (& reading her incredibly funny book about living in China, Beijing Tai Tai) helped me get to know her early on & has kept us connected on a daily basis.  Back to her photography skills - amazing right!!  The things she is teaching me about my DSLR & iPhone are big-bucks-conference-worthy.

While i try not to polish my blog too much, keep it spontaneous & written conversationally in-the-moment . . . some stronger opinion pieces i want to throw out there . . . i'll ask for some pre-publishing feedback on first.  I'm quite funny in real life, it's hard to convey in flat 2D blog writing, so Tania stops me from falling flat on my face or bombing with a readership i really appreciate & cherish.  Gosh, she's an editor, i wonder how much i owe her??  Tania, i'll pay you in fresh eggs & smiles.

My tips to finding a crafty/ mummy/ lifestyle bloggie confidant are:

try to find someone local, who knows you (now) personally enough to be completely honest, or a pre-blogging real life friend who understands blogs, who can say "i know what you're trying to say but it doesn't read that way" to avoid you putting your foot in it or starting a topical war you had no intention of creating.  Sarcasm is a very difficult 'mood' to express on blogs, even tongue in cheek, best left alone unless upsetting people is your thing, jokes or not . . . i'm a craft blogger, so from my angle, i'm not here to piss people off or make brains explode with mind blowing intellectual concepts, just share the love of handmade creations & time well spent with family.  I'd also try to find someone with more experience (mentor territory - you are not necessarily their bloggie confidant in return, they might have someone else, they MUST be able to keep your confidence & be trust worthy, especially with intellectual property these days, or the firestorm of bitchiness) who can help guide you through social media.  

Anyone who cries when you give them fresh eggs from your precious hens is a true friend.  Ok, so i did wrap them with a tissue pom pom 'rooster comb' for extra effect.  That's the yard stick ladies.  So keep blogging positively, with a full heart & honest creativity.  Find that special someone out there who you can trust with your 'blog' & give you a big "hells no" if you suddenly want to post something crazy or that's just NOT YOU.  Or don't & be completely free, natural & expressive.  Remember i'm talking crafty, mummy, lifestyle blogs here, not satires, politics or high brow intellect.  Personally i keep religion, politics & sex out of my blog, although one blogger - Megan from Edan Rose - said at a craft retreat 'i can just tell you & your husband have sex like rabbits as you're always so happy & love him to pieces.'  See, somethings can be left unsaid & read between the lines.  Classic.  Love Posie

why it's so totally Ok to dislike some bloggers

Greetings all,

Blogs are a melting pot of society - you are going to find the same nice/ happy/ boring/ aggressive/ creative/ sarcastic/ intelligent/ competitive people in the blogosphere as you do at work/ school/ family/ friendship circles.  Yet we're so judgey.  Is it because it's on line; you can be anonymous; or is everyone who blogs in your genre meant to be your potential friend??  Just like in real life, not everyone is going to be your cup of tea.  I've had blogs highly recommended to me & i've either completely misread the tone of the writing or abstract images, not liked them at all . . . next blog please.

For years i had a badge on this blog saying "i have power over social media, if i don't like what i'm reading, i click away."  MUCH easier than real life situations.  So why put ANY time & energy into ANY social media you don't like??  Click X.  Delete.  Move on.  Plenty of lovely other blogs to read.  

I've been in the work-from-home-mummy-designer-business for a dozen years.  I've been sucked in & sucked dry by people stealing my ideas/ products/ creations & using them in books/ shops/ classes.  I've had big stores not pay for stock they have sold, celebrities running galleries who 'forget' to pay my commissions & friends not pay for custom design products.  One client looked at every single fabric i had in stock, cross questioned me about popularity, then set up a mass production product range based on the market research she did 'over lunch at my house!!'  Silly me being so friendly.  She's since made a fortune.  I wonder if she feels dirty about how it started so deceptively??  You can stoop to begging for payment or recognition, take legal action, or let it go.  I have had a dozen cases of heart break during my business years, the big payments i hunted down (they had broken contractual agreements) & others i chalked up to their bad karma.  Any stolen idea is rarely executed better than the original. Can you believe some have since asked to be my friend on FaceBook.  How about 'decline'!!  I still have my dignity & memory.

 I've met hundreds of bloggers now & most live up to their persona, however, some are shockingly different - egomaniacal crazies plagued with insecurities, who are best avoided.  I go home & quietly disappear from their fan base.  Jealousy is rife, it can get bitchy & compared to high school.  The point is - we're adults now - if you read a blog you don't like, avoid it, some are cliquey, many are hype, seek out the ones you truly love as time is precious.  You're not stuck having lunch with these people every day in the playground!!  

I've been attacked on this blog for appearing "too together".  People who care, know my personal life is tough, with a soldier husband constantly deploying to war & Alzheimer's has erased my mother's memory of me.  These are not things i can control, fight, help or change.  As for raising 4 children & making it look easy: i embrace the large family life challenge & create a healthy mind space, while maintaining fair discipline with clear guidelines.  I put in the freaking hard yards when they were babies, we were so poor we couldn't afford to blow money on nappies, so i breastfed, made all their food from scratch, washed cloth nappies (ye olde square ones) & thoroughly deserve the wonderful family, goals achieved & aspirations we have today.  I don't care if you use disposable nappies, formula, jars of food, child care, takeaway . . . we are allowed to raise our children differently & still be friends.  I'll never understand people poo poo'ing the positive.

There are always going to be leaders in social media - be a follower, do your own thing, join them or look from afar, just don't be jealous or hate them, they might well deserve their popularity as they're interesting & innovative + been around for a long time.  You might grow to be become super popular one day too.  With blogging, intentions change - there aren't any rules or limitations - except the ones you impose on yourself. 

It's all in appearances - styled images?? - well personally i wouldn't publish a picture of my washing basket or dishes piled up by the sink as i'm house proud - those chores will be done soon enough, they're not blog worthy to me.  Oh look at Posie, she has a beautiful bunch of oriental lillies on her imported Italian dining table with a fancy bird feeder in the background & more Bison ceramics to show off.  Let me dissect this image for you: i bought the flowers myself, they were $5 a week ago from Aldi; the vase was a Christmas gift to myself as i spent yet another Summer with my husband fighting in Afghanistan; windows need washing; Army housing shitty rental accommodation vertical blinds; we have a tiny back garden so the chickens live down a side passage; the dining table was bought new on eBay from a wealthy family with twins in Coogee who sold it for $1K (value $10K) as they weren't able to have any more children; the awesome polyurethane chairs are now 10 years old & cracking, we can't afford to replace them, so when we have guests - we swap the chairs around so the children sit on them; our neighbours are literally 2m from where we eat dinner every night; the bird feeder was purchased from a market stall next to mine, years ago for a discount, my husband thinks it's stupid but i absolutely love it . . . see what i mean, the same flowers would be a completely different story on someone else's blog!!

No one knows what is truly going on in your life, you can blog just the happy parts or memories you wish to keep for your family, or your struggles which make you stronger.  Do i feel left out when popular bloggers are drinking & going to events - i can't metabolise alcohol & haven't had a drink since i was 19; my children go to twenty times more parties than i do each year, big events aren't really my thing right now - i live in Canberra, not Sydney/ Melbourne/ Brisbane where the action seems to be.  Doesn't mean i am jealous or write a nasty comment, suddenly turn & hate a blogger . . . i just think "good for them, it's their thing right now."  We've grown up, had some knocks & made a million different choices to get to where we are now in real life & on line, so don't let a blogger get you down . . . they might be outright boasting, have qualifications & experience backing them up, or celebrating a new something - important to them.  Me, i avoid the blogs who have let me down or drifted away from my interests - no venomous attack or anonymous nasty comments, cut the communication & move on.  The nasties have left my happy world & i'm much better off without them in my thoughts.  Just like in real life - you meet people you don't like - it's Ok to dislike some bloggers too.  Love Posie

Mem Fox 'Good Night, Sleep Tight' autographed book giveaway

Greetings all,

I was lucky enough to attend the sold out reading at my local library, with my author Tania McCartney (a National Year of Reading Ambassador) & our primary school daughters . . . to listen to the engaging Mem Fox read her book Good Night, Sleep Tight.  I doubt there is a home in Australia without a Mem Fox book in it.  We have dozens.  She was a delight. 

It was so much fun, the nursery rhymes in this book (as told by Bonnie & Ben's babysitter, Skinny Doug) made me teary, remembering how many times i'd sung them to my four children . . . the sweetest memories as they are timeless & generational.  

Mem is also a University lecturer & campaigns for children's literacy . . . it has been proven, if a child can know 6 nursery rhymes by heart by age 4 . . . they will be the soaring with their reading in primary school.  Fascinating & seriously, who can't belt out a few "Round & Round The Garden, Like a Teddy Bear, One Step, Two Steps, Tickle You Under There" while changing a nappy or "Star Light, Star Bright, First Star I See Tonight, I WIsh I May, I Wish I Might, Have The Wish I Wish Tonight" while taking one last look at the sky before putting a toddler to bed?? 

 I had already spent $70 before the event started, my children are ravenous readers & who can resist a book which comes with a green sheep??  Straight up, Mem came over to my 3rd daughter & asked if she could borrow her green sheep, which Mem promptly tucked under her blouse for the finale of reading "Where Is The Green Sheep??"  As my youngest child is nearly 9, it's been a while since i bought these kinds of children's books, but who cares, i'll keep them for the grandchildren!! 

 It was just so much fun, the atmosphere electric, until . . . the wind was taken out of my sails when Mem stopped reading a few pages into the first book to request we didn't take any photos.  I know, WHAT??  How about some publicity & capturing the experience??  Judy made a spiel about not appreciating the moment if you're busy taking photos to look at later.  If you're that famous, SURELY you can't stop people taking photos at a public event.  No one was trampling anyone, no blinding flashbulbs, no media . . . just mums sitting on the floor with iPhones & a baby in their lap taking a few snaps.  I've been to zillions of book launches & events, big & small, this 'no photos' was new to me.     

They had zero issues with you buying some books though.  I purchased an extra book to be autographed & given away on my blog, to one of my gorgeous readers!!  They also requested "no photos" at the signing table.  Seriously!!  It's terrible public relations.  I hope everyone in the queue at least got something autographed.  

So here you go, the mixed world of the book industry.  I assure you, i will always give an honest account of any public relations, products & events.  The books are excellent.

Please leave a comment here if you'd love to win an autographed copy of Good Night, Sleep Tight, autographed by author Mem Fox & illustrator Judy Horacek.  You must be a follower of this blog (on the side, sorry i can't tell if you are RSS fed) & i'd like this to be won by an Australian resident, if you're overseas - i'll gladly post to an Australian friend!!  Of course, an extra entry for every mention of this giveaway on your social media platforms of Blogs, Instagram, FaceBook, Pinterest, Twitter etc.  This is something really special, thank you for sharing the love!!  

 Good luck everyone, winner will be drawn after midnight Sunday 11th November.  Love Posie
EDIT: i am proud i wrote this post as-it-happened-from-my-perspective, i have reconsidered to make it more gushing, then thought . . . wouldn't you prefer your child to have a photo of their hero in Mem Fox, an educator . . . than a sports star or celebrity with questionable real life morals (that your child may be aware of)??  No photos at a promotion, it really is completely bizarre, full stop.  Especially as we were not standing in the crowd of 200 children with flash bulbs, blocking people's view or calling out to the author "look here, work it Mem" . . . we were politely sitting on the side lines, listening to the reading & taking photos discretely because we are fans & paying good money for their products!!

my month with Instagram

Greetings all,

I have just celebrated my first month of playing with Instagram.  What a delightful social media platform that is - just seems lighter, natural, happy & engaging - with just a snap shot, apply an amazing filter effect & a comment.  I was thrilled to discover by day 30 i had taken 150 photos & attracted 415 followers too, so friendly & supportive of a new player like me.  

I have had one of the busiest days of the year today - half hour run, Farmer's Market, Little Athletics, Book Reading (with Mem Fox no less, more on that later, with an autographed giveaway), Puppy Shampoo & Blow Dry, taking twins to a Halloween party, hardware & grocery shopping . . . you can see why we had to skip an Engagement Party!!  Now it's time to cuddle up with my husband & enjoy a movie.  

Here are some of my favourite Instagram shots so far . . . ok, they are Instagram cliches . . . 

 the cute playful puppy . . .

 what i ate for dinner. . . 

 a contented child . . .

 market flowers . . .

 pineapple themed decor . . .

 the good/ simple/ natural/ good/ healthy life . . . my love for our chickens, their eggs & quirks.  Like Trombone here, our Australian x Indian Game bird, who looks like a scary pterodactyl yet is the sweetest chicken ever!!  Often my outdoors shots in full sun, i can't see what i'm shooting, so i hope for the best & check them indoors.  I was so happy with this action shot while hand feeding her.    

So there you go, i've had a smart phone & have been playing with Instagram for a whole month & i really love it, especially the cliche shots.  Oh i didn't include any of the sky, shoes, cakes, car window, pedicure or fashion shopping cliche images here, but they're all on Instagram.  It's such a fun place.  So many great restaurant, shopping & hair tips too.  I've found nieces & nephews on there, cousins, clients & celebrities too.  Check out Posie Shoots, love Posie

snap it 'fresh'

Greetings all,

 Snap It 'Fresh' was an easy topic this week with Faith, Hope & a Whole Lotta Love, as it's the heart of Spring where edible flowers, herbs, fruits, vegetables & salad ingredients are thriving & FRESH.  These went into my herb salad lunch today.

Does anything say fresh like Spring lambs??  Yummy, i mean, super cute!!

Doesn't get fresher than eggs laid in the morning going into baked cakes & delicious dinners.  We've allowed our stock to build up as we're making icecream on the weekend.  Exciting news, those sweet little Pekin bantams we raised from baby chick eggs back in May, have started to lay little white eggs this week.  Well done Oboe & Xylophone, i'm one very proud mama hen here.

Right now i'm drinking freshly juiced carrots, celery, apples & pears - it's my dinner, i'm exhausted & just can't stomach a real meal.  It's hitting the spot.  Love Posie

school reunions: do you go . . . will you??

 Greetings all,

I tossed my family in the car on Saturday morning & headed for my home town of Sydney, were i was born, raised, educated & met the love of my life.  Living only 300km away makes trips home easy, it's a very special city, it calls you home.  When you fly in from overseas, over that harbour - the bridge, Opera House, blue water, exceptional city sky line - i cry, i'm coming home.

It was my 20 year school reunion, from Ravenswood School for Girls, Gordon, a typical exclusive North Shore private school with famous, political & wealthy families who live in mansions with a fleet of European cars.  Some of us were further down the wealthy tree though & from big families who pulled resources to cover those exorbitant fees.  Many of us went to University in Sydney, so keeping in touch was easy, but it was the 90's & email wasn't common, social networks didn't exist.  I was married by our 5 year reunion & already had 3 children & a small business by the 10 year mark.  This time round i was expecting much bigger changes.  I was thrilled to recognise & be recognised by almost everyone.  It was like one massive networking party where everyone was the same age, had a similar background/ starting point & now we were catching up after 20 years!!  Yet it felt SO non judgemental.

I asked if we could do a school tour - see where our parent's money had gone - let's just say, wow, enormous architectural award winning buildings connecting the whole school & very sophisticated grounds.  My nieces went there & it's not dissimilar to my eldest daughter's ladies college here, however, to my school friends who hadn't ventured into 'today's modern school' with cafes, barristers, performance auditoriums & flexible learning centres . . . they were amazed!!

The school tour was a fantastic ice breaker, 40 girls came along & lots of the squealing, hugs & chatter started early.  At the reunion venue, another 40 girls joined us, commence more screaming, laughter & sheer joy to see each other.  Everyone was so happy, upbeat & the atmosphere electric.  I made a speech: to recognise how special our year was & i really knew how lucky we were, as the mummy of a high schooler now, we were a fantastic bunch of girls.  My sister had an awful year group, she'd never ever want to attend a reunion.  It was evident with the number of girls who came along, that we thoroughly enjoyed most of our school years.  Some were boarders, others started in preschool - that's a lot of time together!!    

There was a genuine mix of occupations, mothers, business leaders, single girls & most interesting - so many of us have completely changed our paths, due to discovering the real world, or motherhood, or a passion to do something more meaningful.  Remember i was on the path to be a forensic scientist, before it was CSI prime time cool.  Some girls had lost children, divorced, remarried, parents had passed away . . . they were honest & brave.  My parents were over involved in my life - car pooling, parties, sports - so lots of girls asked after them.  I was telling my father today, he remembers ALL of my friends, he was so thrilled they were interested.  They were of course, devastated to hear my mother has Alzheimer's & is a shell of the former loving, home baking, wonderful mother she was.  

I was reunited with my best friend from year 6, now living in Cairns - would you believe we're holidaying in the exact same place at Christmas??  I can't wait to meet her family.  We were inseparable, then she moved & changed schools, we lost contact.  My two best buddies from middle high school abandoned me for Geelong Grammar, i finally saw them again.  Now we were really up to mischief back in year 10, so to find they are mothers, one's a journalist, the other a school teacher (in my brother's suburb!!) i nearly died.  They can still party though!!  I found a few girls were living here in Canberra, alas, lots of girls i adored didn't come, many were overseas.  I was shocked to see one of the most glamorous girls now has a chronic pain condition & has lost her shine.  Still lovely & chatty, has a beautiful family & lives all over the world, but i wanted to talk to her for hours, see if there was anything i could do to help.  Is the biggest female-faux-pas turning up in the same outfit as someone else??  No way.  The girl i've known since preschool & grew up one street away, turned up in the same blouse.  We just laughed & agreed we still had excellent taste!!  A few of us have four children, some have twins, one girl has five children & cleverly scheduled a 'make over' the day of our reunion so she looked a million dollars!!  

I assume things started to get less pretty after 1a.m. when my husband collected me.  I don't drink but apparently i was talking REALLY LOUDLY & didn't take a breath the whole trip home from North Sydney.  My husband was impressed i wasn't carrying my new glittery high heels (thank you Alannah Hill, they were very comfortable!!)  Of course my husband knows most of these girls too, we're onto our 19th year together.  The general consensus was that 10 year gaps are too long, bring on the quarter-of-a-century reunion please.

Now most of the 120 girls from year 12: 1992 are on line, i can hunt them down & catch up.  I was really flattered that so many girls had followed my design career & knew what i was up to.  Is there any better feeling knowing people care about you??

 Waking up on Sunday morning at my childhood family home in St Ives was really special.  It took a while for my husband & i to realise that one of my nieces has pinched my old double bed.  I love that my children can run around the same house & garden that i grew up in, i know all the great hiding places!!  I adore that handsome soldier has been part of my entire adult life too.  We ventured to his parent's place for lunch in Summer Hill.  It's my husband's childhood family home too.  We have moved 6 times since we started a family, thus our desire to settle & give them a place to bring our grandchildren home to.    

Needless to say being up for 20 hours on Saturday left me rather drowsy on Sunday afternoon as we headed home to Canberra.  I filled handsome soldier in on all the finer details of my girlfriends' lives & a few mentioned "your husband is still hot" when they saw him at the school tour.  We genuinely had a blast on Saturday night, it could have gone on for days!!    

So, school reunions, do you/ would you go along??  Is it girl thing??  Most of us have husbands who don't care about school reunions, they keep in touch with who they want to, a small circle of mates.  Clearly i love them & thoroughly enjoyed my years at school.  We know we got lucky with a great group - we were't cliquey & if there were groups, they weren't exclusive & i'd like to think everyone felt accepted.  Love Posie

my upside down week

Greetings all,

Some weeks just get turned on their heads.  I have been excited about my 20 year school reunion . . . for 20 years . . . it's finally on this weekend.  I'm even making a speech.  I had booked to have my hair done, facial, pedicure, new dress & workout extra hard to look in a tiny bit better shape this week . . . then my darling daughter fractured her wrist.  I have spent hours in hospital mid week & just spent the whole day in an Orthopaedic clinic waiting for news . . . "it's a bad break" . . . the doctor rolled his chair across the room & said "if you can see the break from the other side of the room, it's bad, & this is bad."

She has taken it all in her stride.  Amazing.  Very little chance she can compete at the state or national finals for athletics now.  "That's Ok, there is always next year."  All volleyball season her team has been building & improving, preparing for the school championships in Melbourne at the end of the year . . . now she has possibly 8 weeks in a cast & 8 weeks rest.  No interstate trip.  "That's Ok, i'd rather get this fixed correctly now."  Impressive maturity.

 So while i was cancelling primping appointments & convincing myself i'd feel more comfortable in clothes i already own & go 'as is' to my reunion . . . my thoughts turned to . . . what can i throw together for the children tonight for dinner with zero preparation . . . my wonderful handsome soldier left a work conference early to collect our other children from school & presented us with a fruit platter from the function.  Clever man.  THEN told me "just go, get that pedicure, relax" & i jolly well did.  I came home to dinner on the table: BBQ lamb cutlets with lemon peas . . . gosh i love my husband, willing to pinch fruit from the Army!! 

 One thing i did manage to do was zip into Alannah Hill between the hospital & home for some shoes i spied earlier in the week.  These babies are suede, pink & glittery - the perfect attention grabber to distract my school girlfriends from the weight i've gained in 20 years.  They were reduced all the way down to $55 - practically free for glittery heels??!!

 So my weekend will turn this upside down week back to some version of normal - with the help of pink suede shoes, hot pink toes & a neon pink plaster cast . . . i am so excited about seeing my girlfriends, i expect to lose my voice squealing & laughing all night in Sydney.  Love Posie

If you're in Melbourne, my gorgeous gal pal Claire from Craft Schmaft will be at the 

Finders Keepers Market 

Royal Exhibition Building Carlton VIC 

Friday 6 - 10p.m. & Saturday 10a.m. - 5.p.m.  

Check out her softies & patterns via the side bar advertisement.

my creative space . . . 'romancing the hair'

Greetings all,

Earlier this month Christina of Hair Romance launched a fantastic eBook '30 Days of Braids' & i have been braiding up a storm ever since.  It's not just exciting for my daughters to pick out a hair-style-du-jour & creating fantastic hair styles, it's peaceful quality time where i'm not asking them about homework or chores . . . it's just fun & carefree.  

Yesterday i plaited two Dutch Braids into my eldest daughter's hair for school.  Little did i know by the evening we'd be at Accident & Emergency getting a fractured wrist Xrayed & set in plaster.  Her hair looked fantastic & this morning - sleeping soundly with her precious wrist  - it was hair perfection.

As my 3 girls have different hair types, colours & lengths, i'm experimenting with a variety of styles.  The Waterfall works brilliantly in short hair, across the head or sweeping down.

Out to dinner on Saturday night, i criss crossed her head with waterfalls.

For a day out with friends, i created a strong rope like tight style, it stayed put all day!!

 Her twin sister has waist length platinum hair, it's not as thick, however, it's glorious to work with.  We went French with this sweeping side style, again, first attempt, i swirled it rather than straight across her hair, but it was soft & lovely.  

 I just love how it looks the next day!!

 I've done this one a few times now, it's a Dutch Braid which joins with another one, then combines to create this incredible vine like finish.  I adore it.

 This is how it faired after 6 hours of high winds at the Floriade flower festival.  Whispy!! 

It looks pretty fabulous in shorter hair too.  Wish i finished it with a flower though.

 This is how the Dutch Braid looks . . . simple.  Also know as the Reverse or Inside Out Braid.

 Or try a regular French Plait on an angle, it always looks elegant.

 I've been having fun over on Instagram with these hair styles, i keep getting feedback that mums are all thumbs or just can't braid, they're hopeless at it.  I only learned how to French Plait earlier this year by Kylie from Mealy & i, the month before i had both hands operated on.  Trust me, i was not just thumbs & hopeless, my fingers were numb & i could barely grip a hair brush!!  I persevered & this has been about as creative as i've been all year.  It has given me great confidence in my hand skills though, i'm coming back!! 

For more Creative Space adventures, check out Village Voices.  Love Posie

snap it 'admire'

Greetings all,

Snap It Wednesday is 'admire' & i couldn't think of anyone i admire more right now than my eldest daughter.  She was one of those 'wise' babies, who you could tell from birth she was a thinker.  Strangers would say "she's been here before", she is knowing.  

From the start, everything has been on her terms . . . putting me through 3 days of labour at 41+ weeks . . . she came out when she was ready (albeit with forceps!!)  A text book baby who fed, slept & rarely cried, she was a dream.  Always forward, she stood up & walked at 6 months, preferred to be under the water in the bath & climbed up bookcases.  As a toddler she was so bright & determined, yet couldn't express herself . . . tantrums ensued.  My darling girl thinks life is so hard as the first born, the parent breaker, however, she's a born leader & right where she's meant to be in the birth order.

I worked full time for the first couple of years of this young lady's life.  Her Nanny was a retired paediatric nurse, waiting for grandchildren.  To say Nanny Karen was a babysitting match & new-mother-role-model-made-in-heaven is an understatement.  Karen would give me daily reports every afternoon on what incredible feat my baby had performed or if she'd been to AA (Attitude Adjustment!!)   

She has always watched & absorbed every tiny detail of our life.  My husband deployed to war when she was just 10 weeks old, she knew he was going, i could feel how peaceful she was, as if to make my life easier.  I breastfed her to 18 months, made all her food & we read a mountain of books.  She was my buddy, i'd talk to her constantly & she chattered away in full sentences.  When she commenced Montessori preschool - they were astounded at her vocabulary & general knowledge.  Ok, she was one of those freaky toddlers who understood aerodynamics & spectrums . . . she skipped a year of primary school too.  It was just the two of us most of the time, i'd take her out to dinner, movies, shopping, she was my best friend & wonderful company.  Even when she locked me out of the house in skimpy jammies & i had to call the fire brigade to remove my front door, she was unfazed.  Going from year 6 with 20 girls to year 7 with 200 girls, no big deal.  Getting into the national athletics championships as a 12 year old . . . then told she couldn't attend as it was interstate & my husband was in Afghanistan . . . "that's Ok, maybe i'll get in again next year." I admire her relaxed, positive & accepting nature.  

 Now she's wrapping up year 8, i can't believe in just 4 years she'll be sitting her final exams & be ready for University.  OMG, she might want to leave home, gulp.  This year alone she's won academic prizes, was selected for an Australian Institute of Sport camp & has attended lots of parties.  She's not boy crazy, desperate to wear make up or pushing limits with inappropriate music, movies, clothes, language . . . yet almost everything is an argument - she is a teenager after all.  Handsome soldier has deployed to war five times in her short 13 years, she's a daddy's girl to the core, i think sometimes i annoy her just for being around.  I encourage her to communicate, even if it will hurt me, so i knowhow she feels.  The best advice i've ever heard, to say to a teenager who is in a mood, is "I love you, i'm here for you, when you are ready" then walk away & be ready for them, who knows what they might need from you - advice, time, cuddles - the simplest things can undo girls at this age.  It's a roller coaster ride.  I admire her honesty!!   

Teen years are not easy, i cruised through unscathed with fantastic friends, lots of sport & loving academics, but i hated my body changing, wondered if i'd ever get a boyfriend & i never felt pretty.  Puberty is still yet to strike my gorgeous girl, she's still petit & let's me guide her in clothing choices . . . like this sweet blue dress i picked up in Italy 2 years ago at Benetton.  For a super sporty girl, she'll still wear a dress out to dinner with the family & let me play with her hair.  

Right now, she's at school - i get little emails with links to quirky things she knows i will like - her wrist is in a splint after a heroic dive in Volleyball last night, possibly fractured.  I admire her bravery, tenacity & resilience.  I refuse to dread parenting teenagers, of course she could turn on me at any second & it takes more patience than dealing with a toddler tantrum.  But every child has to go through this so you may as well make it as positive as possible.  She's making the job pretty easy so far, very grateful for that as next time it's twins!!  Then a boy - i'll be completely clueless.
Thanks to Faith Hope & a Whole Lotta Love for this great topic today, love Posie 

all by myself . . . . & blogger ate my statistics!!

Greetings all,

Now i love the school holidays so i've found myself in a very quiet (very clean) house today . . . all by myself.  Cue the music.  School has resumed for the final term of this year.  I have a child who will be let loose into the real world in just 4 years time??  Yikes!!  Anyway, i thought i'd play around on my blog & social media platforms.  Oh great, thanks Blogger, you just ate all my statistics.  I am pitching my blog to potential advertisers & gulp, no one has ever viewed my blog apparently!! Good place to start.  Zero!!

So to avoid panic & staring mindlessly at a statistics page saying "no one knows you exist" i headed into the chicken run.  Oh Trombone, i know how you feel honey, "don't want to be, all by myself."  Actually i've always embraced my own company, i think she does too.  

Glorious sunshine.  Time to hire the hedge trimmer.  We just priced them . . . expensive.

How relaxed is Harmonica??  Our ISA Browns have started to lay eggs.

 This was a total time waster . . . watching 3 chickens roll around & 'wash' themselves in lawn clippings.  It was fascinating, i was mesmerised.   

 Here's some scale for you, Oboe our Pekin x Silky bantam (in a little ditch) versus Trombone our Australian x Indian Game bird.  Boy she has some drum sticks on her!! 

Anyone else having Blogger-Ate-My-Statistics issues??  Or am i all by myself??  Love Posie

social commentary Sunday . . . 'just enjoy YOUR life'

Greetings all,

I was going to do a social commentary on why are we so quick to get angry, hate & judge people we don't even know, other than how the media portrays them or they are classic celebrity disasters . . . i just can't get in the negative mood . . . so i'm just doing a post on 'just enjoy YOUR life.'  You get one life right, so why not just embrace what you have, adore who is around you, indulge mostly your needs . . . with a sprinkle of wants.

 How could i possibly get all bent out of shape when my day started with sweet fresh strawberries from the Farmer's Markets . . . 

 i have pink Stock prettiness on the dining table . . .

 my husband made butter to spread on delictable Italian bread . . . 

& we added a new chicken to our flock, a stunning Australian x Indian Game bird.  We planned to go with Indian Games as our table bird (meat) for when we have a farm, so to find one at the markets was a kick start to loving this breed.  I think i impressed the farmer with my knowledge too.  She is not pretty enough to show (not that we had planned to put her in pageants) but was ugly enough for a discount (imperfect beak.)  Like i said on Instagram, we love an under dog.  Welcome the enormousTrombone.

On to other blissful things . . . working through the 30 Days of Braids eBook with Hair Romance & loving every style.  Today we tried the French Side Sweep Braid, which i need to work more on sweeping, rather than swirling.  A happy 11 year old regardless.

 To wrap up the weekend, we took a drive to the country, that's about 10 minutes in any direction from Canberra, a very regional bush capital city . . . & spied some gorgeous properties (not all for sale) but farm-ideas-building.  No one in this family needs convincing that country life is the way to go for us.   

 So folks, just enjoy your life, it's so easy to make changes for good - focus on the positive & don't get bogged down by the negativity in the world which is so largely irrelevant to your own personal life.  Everything here was under $10 each - the strawberries, flowers, butter & eBook, except the discounted $25 chicken.  Money makes life easier yes, however it doesn't bring you happiness . . . you need to seek that out in every corner of your world, often in places you least expect it.  We never knew chickens would be so awesome, making our own butter would taste so good, or that i could do fancy braids in my daughters' hair.  We are planning a farm & a wholesome country life, yet are still living in suburban Army housing - that's not going to stop up practising how we want to live in the future, now.  Just open your heart & these good things will happen too, making the lovely out of the every-day-simple-needs.  Love Posie