Lebenskuenstler

Back in Bali :)

back in bali

relaxing

eating yummy food

visiting friends

doing a bit of research & planning for the

creativity retreat in july 2013

Sunday Night...

after a day of teaching felting

i put my feet up on the daybed.

there's heavy rain and howling wind outside

but i can here a ukulele and someone humming upstairs

and someone else is playing the piano...

 

then it's play time with lovely luna...

 

before two of my three men 

start pottering around in the kitchen...

 

it's a simple and happy evening 

in a small and cosy place :)

i'm back!

it seems that our lives have been turned upside down and inside out since i last blogged 6 months ago!

change was in the air - but it all happened so much faster then we thought... we put our house on the market thinking that we might sell it and move by the end of the year - and sold it within 10 days!!!

and then we found a nice little townhouse down near the beach... so we moved from up in the hills to down by the sea...

but first we literally had to turn everything inside out to move from a family home on a bushblock with a studio and lots of storage into a small townhouse with a small courtyard and no storage - we got rid of about two thirds of our belongings...

and this is our new place just after we moved in in early may :)

we are absolutely loving it! it's so nice to not have all the maintenance anymore, i can clean the whole house in no time and i always know where everything is - i feel totally in control!

Beach Days...

since early december we have spent many days on the beach. one reason is that we have an exchange student from berlin living with us. and what better way to show him the aussie summer lifestyle then going to the beach...

we've been going to beaches around perth including south fremantle...

and we've just spent a week down in margaret river visiting several beaches - rain or shine...

another reason for all the beach visits is that luna just loves it...

she's a real beach babe... going for swims, making friends with other dogs and playing with the boys...

 

we've had some golden sunsets too...

and just a really, really great time!

 

looks like there will be a lot more beach visits this summer :)

Seasonal Musings....

 

i hope you have all had a

joyous and peaceful christmas celebration.

as always, we celebrated german-style with my mum and sister on christmas eve...

and then had an aussie christmas - complete with BBQ - with paul's family on christmas day...

 

christmas in the southern hemisphere is so different to the short dark days of the northern hemisphere, to the quiet cold that draws you in, the smell of spices in the baking, the candle light...

as the days have been getting longer and brighter and warmer here the air is buzzing with activity: christmas parties everywhere. girls in short dresses and high heels. the smell of meat burning on the neighbours BBQ...

but i guess it doesn't matter how cold or hot it is when you spend precious  time with family and friends and also think of all the loved ones around the globe...

Free Tutorial!

lynda asked the other day how i made the scrappy scarf.

so i thought as a little pre-christmas present

i would make a tutorial for my blog readers :)

 

scrappy scarf tutorial

as well as making a tutorial this was also a great opportunity to make a little gift for my aunty who is visiting from germany. plus she was very curious to see how felting actually works.

so here you see my aunty, ready to observe my felting skills...

we've put the bubble wrap - bubbles up - on the table

and have the wool tops in my aunty's favourite colour

and a bowl of warm soapy water ready...

first i divide the wool tops into small strips.

if you use wool scraps do the same...

then dip them one at the time into the soapy water...

and lay them out on the bubble wrap

making sure that they overlap regularly

and that the fibres of the individual parts are not twisted...

this scarf turned out in a grid pattern.

the pinky one on the top is just a random pattern.

after laying out the pattern the scarf is rolled up in the bubble wrap...

then the bubble wrap is rolled to start the felting process...

after about 5 minutes unroll the wrap...

roll up from the other side...

and roll with your hands (or feet) for another 5 minutes.

then unroll and change directions again.

repeat several times, until the fibres have felted together.

to further strengthen and shrink the scarf throw it onto the bubble wrap for another 5 minutes...

throwing is lots of fun :)

but remember to check every once in a while that the felt is shrinking nicely.

and within no time you will have a beautiful scarf!

now rinse the scarf in cold water...

and after it has dried

keep it either for yourself or give it away...

 

ha ppy fel ting everyone!

and if you need some beautiful

fine australian merino wool tops

in hand-dyed colours

you can order it through

my etsy shop

Expressions of Creativity...

i haven't had time to do anything creative in the studio for sooooo long - life has been very busy!

but i tell myself that creativity comes in many shapes and sizes... like baking sourdough bread...

or creating a weed-free backyard (still a long way to go!)...

and making yummy lunches...

or turning the burned-off 'open forest' bush at the front  of the house

from a leaf and fallen wood littered area...

into a tydier, safer space...

and some of the 'busy time' has been really great too,

like attending the teenagers graduation ceremony...

still...

i have a few ideas in my head

that i have to get my hands involved with soon...

and hopefully next week i will fit some studio time in :)

Walking With Luna

a LOT of my time these days

is taken up by luna - and...

I LOVE IT!!!!

 

she is so cute and beautiful and intelligent and...

(okay, i am biased)

but i do love spending my time with her.

apart from training her and feeding her and keeping a constant eye on her,

i take her for walks and playtime with other dogs twice a day.

and on the rare occasion (like this morning) paul has time to come along...

 

we can walk straight from the house

along the paths and smaller tracks through the bush...

and when paul asked me this morning 'so, are you glad we got her?'

there was only one answer - YES :)

Update....

what a busy week it has been...

i've been working on my felted light.

and made another necklace with one of my crocheted beads for my mum's birthday...

 

and we had a real german birthday cake feast at her house...

i mean, can you believe it... two cakes for six people!!! but it did take us two days to finish them...

 

we also had the fire brigade coming around to get ready for summer. apparently it is recommended to burn off the bush every 6-8 years. ours hadn't been done for 11 years!

our neighbour came over after the fire brigade left to look for any creatures with the boys. but they didn't find anything - dead or alive. so that's good because it means they all found shelter somewhere...

everything looks black now, but at least i will feel safer this summer and fire is the way the australian bush regenerates itself, so in the long run it's healthy...

well, that's all the update. and i am off to the park with my dog now for 'dog club' :)

have a great weekend!

On Being Enough

do you know that feeling... no matter what you do it's never quite enough?

i'm a stay at home mum/homemaker/artist/occasional teacher. i get up early to cook fresh breakfasts and lunches for my family. i love doing that. i love to provide them with healthy meals and a nurturing home environment.

but hang on... doesn't one of my friends also bake for her family every afternoon? am i really doing enough? maybe i should be more organised...

 

i also love being creative. making things with my hands... exploring new things... so i potter around in my studio. a bit of felting, a bit of spinning, i love to knit, i want to do some sewing, i also enjoy painting and drawing...

but is it quite enough? shouldn't i come up with some major idea? be really disciplined in my work? plan ahead and work towards something bigger...

 

these kind of thoughts and questions have been burdening me over the years. i am not a very ambitious person, i do what i do because of who i am, because i love doing it. but is that enough?

the answer to that question came in bali when i had my balinese horoscope read:

'you don't have to make any major decisions or plans. just go with the flow...'

 

 

it has taken a while to digest the month in bali. and i am starting to feel the message sinking in. i feel a step closer to 'being enough'. there is less pressure and thinking about what i should or could do. and with that more calm enjoyment in what i am actually doing and who i am.

let's just hope i don't get to relaxed ;)

'Jalan-Jalan' - Going For Walks...

we are going for lots of walks. the weather up here around ubud, in the centre of the island, is just perfect at the moment -  crisp in the mornings, warm but not too hot during the day and cool at night. we've been walking from our house along the rice fields and down into ubud where all the shops and restaurants are...

that's our dog where we are staying, coming along for a walk and rounding up the poor ducks!

 

lots of bright flowers wherever you go...

 

and shadow plays in the rice fields in the afternoon...

 

a little 'pondok' (hut in the rice field) to rest the wary bones...

 

and more narrow alleys and steep steps on the way to ubud...

 

after sunset in monkey forest street...

 

we found a nice little cafe for dinner where they serve the essential food for teenagers - pizza and mexican ...

Bali!

A Very Quiet 45...

i had my 45th birthday yesterday and my birthday wish was to spent the day at home with just my family and have a nice quiet day. my three men did all the housework while i played with my new presents, relaxed and ate cake - what a great way to turn 45!

Vintage Photos

the sartorialist asked for submissions of vintage photos. so i sent him this one yesterday...

it's a picture of my grandparents, berta and hermann pfaffmann, taken in december 1932 in the forest outside stuttgart, germany. my 'oma' was 26 years old and my grandfather would have been 33. they had gotten married the year before and had photos taken to send to my grandmother's family. this is what it says on the back...

'Maria & Pappa - Ein recht frohes Weihnachtsfest wuenschen Euch Berta & Hermann - Weihnachten 1932'

maria & pappa - wishing you a very merry christmas berta & hermann - christmas 1932

the following is the oldest photo i have of my grandmother's family. it was taken around the turn of the century, before she was born and shows her older sisters and brother - from oldest to youngest:

Maria, Hedwig (called Hete), Mathilde, Hubert and Katharina (called Kaete)...

they had another sister, Wilhelmine (called Minne), who was born in 1902 and then my grandmother, the youngest, Berta Hubertine, who was born in 1906.

here are two pictures of her as a teenager in the 1920's...

when berta was 22 years old in 1928 she went by ship to america to work as a nanny in new york and new jersey for two years. on the ship back to germany she met another young german nanny, trude,  and they became friends. when the ship returned to europe trude was picked up by her brother hermann - and that was how my grandmother met my grandfather.

the following two pictures were taken at christmas 1938. the first one shows the five sisters. in the front row from left to right: Hete, Maria, Minne, Mathilde and in the back Berta and Kaete...

in the next one you see them with their 'pappa' and brother hubert...

and last but not least, my favourite picture, also taken in december 1932 for my grandmother's sister minne...

 

Keeping Warm...

as the temperatures have been going down here in western australia, i have been wrapping myself in warm felt...

last year's - which is a teeny bit too small, but still very warm - and the new one...

so now my mind is ticking... how can i make another one that is bigger then last year's and easier to make then the new one... there must be a way... stay tuned...

What Else...?

what else has been happening here over the last week other then fairy wool magic???

i've started making a smock top in kathy's amazing online sewing class for 'backwood mamas'...

and i made my first (absolutely amazingly scrumptious) raw vegan chocolate cake for paul's birthday. here it comes...

ta-dah...

for mother's day on sunday, i was served the best ever scrambled egg in the shape of a gingerbread man with freshly baked turkish bread - thank you sebastian! and on my way to the breakfast table i found all these colourful japanese cranes spelling 'thank you' on their wings...

i have also been working on a VERY LARGE felting project...

more on that soon ;)

 

AND... if you would like another chance to win a spot in the

rebecca, who is a young mother and training to be a waldorf school teacher, is having a give-away on her beautiful blog, 'bending birches'. here's the link: give-away

good luck!

 

Celebrating Easter

this morning nature is celebrating a new beginning. it rained yesterday, on easter sunday, and everything looks sparkling new - even the air is sparkling with a beautiful mist...

 

our easter celebrations yesterday included visiting family, sharing little gifts, great food and good company...

sebastian was remarking on how sad it is, that there would be people who are lonely on this day. and it made me aware of how important it is to have meaningful festivals and family celebrations in our lives.

paul and i have been participating in a 'festival course' for the last couple of months. here is the course description:

The idea is to form a troupe who wants to create new festivals of the spirit. We will work with drama and music - the newest work of Jennifer Kornberger and Paul Lawrence - and shape events of culture that are then gifted to this community.
We will also engage in a deepening process, understanding the festival content from the perspective of the spirit of our time. The festival is seen as the whole process leading up to the celebration. Our preparation includes developing the thoughts that allow us to live a spiritual year. It will be joyful, enlivening work and anyone can join; you do not have to be a singer or an actor to participate.

for more information look up the website for the  school of integral art. i'll be sharing some more on this exciting work soon...

 

School Holidays...

the school holidays have started and i have got all my three men at home. this means endless amounts of food... another trip to the shops... more cooking... more cleaning...

it also means no alarm clock in the mornings... not having to look at the clock in general... starting another craft project with sebastian - this time he wants to make a squirrel from felt...

 

and i've got a few projects for myself too. like tidying up the studio. things have been piling up everywhere, to the point that i feel totally uninspired to do anything. so i started by cleaning up my felting kitchen...

 

there's also plenty of work to be done outdoors. we have still had no rain - unless you count the few drops a couple of days ago... everything is so dry. i found this tiny flower poking it's head between the dead bamboo leaves...

but the lettuce is growing in it's pots and the wattle has started flowering. we have also just finished the last of our honey and i will have to open up the hive soon to get some more...

and i would really like to clean the windows before easter... am i getting too ambitious here???

and what i would really like to do since it's the holidays, is to put my feet up, read a bit and watch some good movies...

and here is another job staring me in the face: my socks need darning - they've got a hole on the heel :(

what are you doing during the holidays?

Twenty Years!

twenty years ago today i married a beautiful young australian guy in a historic church on a desert island. here are some pictures from the wedding album...

i am very happy to share my life with him... and looking forward to the next twenty years ;)

ps: that's a windmill up there not the church!

Hot, Hot, Hot....

i have just woken up to 25C/77F at 6am in the morning...

we have had a very hot weekend with temperatures over 38C/100F. but i am not complaining... i so prefer the heat to the cold (as long as there is no easterly wind...). seems that emily is experiencing the opposite. and i feel for her. i lived through four winters in europe with paul - aussies are not used to being house-bound. paul used to say 'in australia we can at least be outside in the sun in winter...'

to keep cool i took sebastian and two of his friends ice-skating yesterday...

it was his first time on the ice and they had a ball.

on saturday night our school had it's annual bush-dance. it was a beautiful, windless, balmy night with lots of dancing at the local oval. at 9:30 the sprinklers on the oval went on and the children had so much fun running through the water and getting soaking wet...

and on friday, on another hot night, the teenager had his year 12 ball. there were a lot of hot girls and a couple of cool boys when i dropped him off to the pre-ball party, but i don't dare show you any more then this little view from the back...

 

i hope you all had a great weekend - whether it was hot or cold. xo