geisha girl

this morning, over coffee, i chatted with a friend.
and with envy listened
to her stories of Japan.

kids with Mohawks,
cherry blossom trees.
auburn hair and fake eyelashes;
doe-eyed beauties.

she tells me that one day
in the gion district
she saw a real-life geisha girl.

she was star-struck, my friend
and she followed this geisha
for two whole blocks.

mesmerised by the perfection
the hair
the intricacy of her being

it was only the other day
while sorting through my cupboards
that i found my photos.

i explored the geisha for my final artwork in high school
the artist as the artwork.
i was intrigued.
i still am.

phone home

I do like a good chat on the phone. That's me in the photo, chatting away on a public phone in Hawaii. That dress is still safe and sound in my cupboard. Still as cute as ever (those little dots are embroidered cherries) and perhaps waiting for a little girl who may one day come along.

It's Hawaii-hot here tonight and I've rediscovered a love of paddle pops. Oh they take me back to late afternoons of street cricket, Sunday summer bbqs and running under the sprinkler. Sweet nostalgia.

I think I even referred to paddle pops in a paint store once when the guy asked me what kind of yellow I wanted. "No not lemon, no to buttercup, got any banana paddle pop?" I think they used to be 50c. In a bygone era.

And because this has somehow turned into a post about ice-cream pastimes I'll leave all you Australian readers with one (hyphenated) word that will no doubt make you smile. Bubble-o-bill.

i love it anyway

In a drawer we found an undeveloped holga film. Always exciting. What did we take pictures of? How long ago did we use it?

Holgas are a bit hit-and-miss ... you don't have any control over light, you don't really know what you're going to get. The 11 shots taken all those months ago were a bit disappointing.

From a photographer's perspective this isn't a good photo. I know. But from a Muma's perspective it captures everything about those first few weeks after birth. The tiny body, the flailing limbs, the joy, the happiness, the tears. The blurry haze, the softness that surrounds mother and child, cocooning them in a protective layer so feeding and bonding and nurturing can take place - uninterrupted. For me it so vividly represents my world at that time.

It's out-of-focus but I love it anyway.

30 days of gratitude : 10

I gave this card to Daniel on his birthday two years ago. I hadn't known him long but at that stage we both knew we were going to be together for life. A few months later we conceived Ché - yes, it all happened very fast.

It was his birthday on Monday and when he hopped into bed that night he told me that it was the best birthday he'd ever had. This made me so very very happy.

I'm so grateful for my wonderful man. He's the greatest.

visiting family

In realising how quickly my little one is growing up I have become a bit concerned about time. This concern was emphasised today when my cousin arrived from New Zealand. He's 11 now and I clearly remember flying to Wellington to meet him when he was three months old. It felt like only a couple of years ago. And today he held my baby. Perhaps it was even scarier for his parents, because I was the two-year-old flower girl at their wedding. Tomorrow we travel north to attend a family wedding. And at the wedding there will be four generations of one family. So many reasons to celebrate.

more sweet memories

Just over one year ago I looked like this;


...and what a miracle it is that a big belly = a new baby, so precious;


we danced by the water...


...and when he was three-months-old he wore mala beads around his neck and we blessed him with the ocean


and with earth from Grandad's garden;


and some days we lay in bed and just spent time being a little family. As we continue to do.


Sweet memories. Today Ché pulled himself up to standing and while leaning on a basket stepped one foot in front of the other. I think they call it walking.

home makes me happy

I think it's wonderful that our kitchen has a hot pink pin board on the wall. Daniel created this beautiful collage last week...including pictures of me 12, 34, 40 weeks pregnant, Che's first bath, first car ride, our favourite engagement card, photos of us as kids, family, cute gift tags, a postcard from Paris etc.

Che had a beautifully long sleep this morning which meant I got time to sit in the swinging chair and daydream. This was the view - bliss...


It lasted 10 minutes before I remembered about the dishes, sweeping, lunch to cook, toys to pick up...all the jobs of a stay at home mum. Looking at this photo makes me realise just how lucky we are to live in this house - where the outside is always inside.