SUN DAYS

The weather over the weekend was absolutely amazing. Beautiful blue sky, warm sunny days with fresh mornings and nights. My parents were staying over for two nights and had the rare opportunity of hanging with J. D and I got to go out for dinner and ran into friends we hadn't seen for a while. I made a fort of pillows in the courtyard and lay around Sunday afternoon with J reading books and playing with his new train toy. We had some beers and ordered pizza for dinner. It was a little bit nice. I hope the rest of spring/summer is this lovely

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HAPPINESS

I came across a post on A Cup of Jo the other day about a new documentary all about happiness, Happy.

Although I am yet to watch the trailer, it got me thinking about the little everyday things that make me happy,
like:

Sharing strawberries with J one of my favourite fruits

Getting the bed all to myself for an hour or so the mornings D gets up with J

Sitting outside in the courtyard with a coffee/tea/beer I love being able to sit outside 

Being able to see the stars this doesn't happen all that often in the city

Swimming being underwater

Music being able to sit and play the piano for a while, sing, listen to D play the guitar or work on a composition

Cuddles with J while we are reading books or watching In the Night Garden

Thin crust pizza with a side salad covered in balsamic vinegar 

Sharing a kiss with D.

The best thing is that most of these, if not all can happen in a day!
What makes you happy?

MY BOY

I have had the pleasure of spending the last couple of days with my boy. I usually work three days a week but have had 4 days in a row at home with him. Apart from the 5am wake up calls the last few weeks have been lovely. There has been no teething or major new developments to cause any stormy behaviour. His beautiful personality has been shining through and he is so funny, happy and sweet. He is really into giving kisses at the moment too. Just mention the word 'kiss' and he goes all serious, closes his eyes and leans in for an open mouthed sloppy smooch. He especially loves kissing his "Daa-dee" and will climb up on him to plant one on his lips. Too cute.  

   

ZZZZZ

Dear J,

I love you dearly but I am not a fan of your 5am wake up calls. I realise that you are a bit of a go-getter and like to grab the day by it's weary horns, but 5am is really too early for that. The day isn't up yet honey. It's dark. Don't let the birds fool you, they are just confused and always have been. I am hoping that in the next couple of weeks daylight savings will set them straight and sincerely wish that this is the case for you also as I don't know if I want to go on living if everyday is going to start in the dark with a whiny toddler stuck in a cot and my phone proudly displaying a time without the number 6 in it. A 7 would be preferred if you are feeling especially kind.

Love Always,

Mumm-mum xo

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COCKATOO ISLAND Part II

As mentioned earlier in Part I of this post, my friend and I went on an art date to Cockatoo Island to see part of the 18th Biennale of Sydney.  Our toddlers with us, it was a little experiment on mixing grown up sophisticated activities, art and small (active) children. I am so happy to report that this time around it was a success. A bit of a win for me as I forget that I can mix the old me with the new toddler attached me and it actually work. Sometimes. 

The four of us caught the free ferry over from Circular Quay to Cockatoo Island which took about 15 minutes. When we landed on the island, we made a beeline for the interactive installations in an attempt to beat the lines and see what the little ones thought of it all.

Ed Pien, Source: Corridor of Rain, 2012

J loved this work (and so did my friend's little one) and we had to go back to the start and walk through a couple of times. It was a spiral labyrinth made of paper with a corridor of hanging rope that tickled your face as you walked through.

Philip Beesley, Hylozoic Series, 2011

This installation looked liked some cold fantastical wonderland from a distance. The hanging structure featured heat and touch sensitive technology so that you could interact with it causing sections to light up and move. Another hit with J, although a little more tricky trying to keep tiny hands from pulling it all apart. 

Nina Canell and Robin Watkins, Overcoming the Current Resistance, 2012

Monika Grzymala, The River - Preliminary Sketch, 2011

Another of my favourites for it's beauty and fragility.

I am sorry that I don't have pictures of some of the other works; however if you are interested you can find out more here. Some more works of note (for me anyway) were:

Daan Roosegaarde, Dune, 2007

Alec Finlay, solitary bee nest, the bee library, 2012

Fujiko Nakaya, "Cloud Parking in Linz, Cloud Installation #11060, 2011

Cecilia Vecuna, Quipu Austral, 2012

COCKATOO ISLAND Part I

A friend and I (our two babes in tow) went on a trip to Cockatoo Island the other day to see part of the 18th Biennale of Sydney. Exhibited in 5 different spaces/locations around the city, the Cockatoo Island site showcases collaborative and interactive works which focus on the senses and their relationship with water, wind and earth. The Island has a rich history having originally been a fishing site for the Eora Aboriginal people of Sydney and later a convict prison and shipyard for the Royal Navy. And while you are there you can't help but notice all these historical elements. You are surrounded by industrial yards, disused buildings and  federation houses not to mention magnificent Sydney Harbour (I say that not just because I am proud of our harbour, but because gee wiz! on a sunny day she really does sparkle). My friend commented on how funny it would be to go back in time and tell one of the convicts working at the site that it would later become a tourist attraction, festival space and camping ground. They wouldn't believe you! 

Anyway... end of history lesson. Phew. Now to the art.

I had a confession to make to my dear friend. I didn't wait until our scheduled art date to check out what was on the island.  I went a couple of days earlier with D's mum and J for a little day trip which turned out to be a little disaster. J wasn't truckin' with "You have to sit in the pram bubba, it's too dangerous to run around" and somehow we managed to go the wrong way around the island and find all the rooms that were impossible with a whingey toddler in a pram. But I am glad I made the trip, as this time around I knew exactly where to go first. J was in a better mood and happy that his friend was in a similar "you have to stay in the pram" boat. Turns out, art and toddlers do mix, if the art is interactive and there are no crowds and waiting lines.  They both had a ball.

Peter Robinson, Snow Ball Blind Time, 2008 

This was pretty impressive. Large and small chains upon chains all carved out of polystyrene, weaving and interlocking around the architecture and disused industrial machines of the site.

 Susan Hefuna, Celebrate Life: I Love Egypt, 2011

This is a collaborative work featuring hand written personal wishes for the future by participants in Egypt and London. The 'wishing structures' were constructed in Cairo and shipped over for the Biennale. The work also features handmade and decorated tents and video interviews on life in Egypt since January 2011. I think this wish is a good one.

Jonathan Jones, Untitled (oysters and teacups), 2011

Tiffany Singh, Knock on the Sky Listen to the Sound, 2011

This had to be one of my favourite works and it was a complete surprise that we found it. We were walking around the island, trying to get our babes to nap in their prams and we came across this very small room, without a roof at the edge of the island. As we ducked our heads and walked inside we were greeted by the beautiful gentle tones of hundred of hanging bamboo wind-chimes. Against the bright blue sky and industrial buildings, this room just had me mesmerised. Check out the awesome shadow pattern! I could have stayed there all day.  

As part of Tiffany's work, people were encouraged to take the wind-chimes home, decorate and return them  to form a collaborative work. These are some that were brought back to the island. 

I have more photos and works to tell you about but thought that it might be too intense to do it in one blog post. So... check back later for part II.

THURSDAY

 

An early morning shopping expedition. 

D teaches guitar Thursday mornings so J and I leave the house bright and early and play in the park and do the grocery shopping. Grocery shopping is AWESOME at 7:30/8am. No-one is around.  

In the wars.
My little man seems to be in the wars this week, with a graze on his nose from earlier in the week and now a rather large egg on his forehead from a fall onto the kitchen tiles. Poor possum. Here he is practising today's new skill of threading a lid on and off an empty milk bottle. Pretty clever for 16 months thinks his mum.
Comfort mug.
A not so great photo (sorry, I only have limited skills on my iphone) of a very milky hot chocolate in one of my favourite mugs. These mugs are big black bowls of hug. I love them. A cafe I once worked in used to serve house special chai tea in these monsters. Mmm yum.

THURSDAY

The broken school bus two doors down from our house. Astro Boy lives in a garden on Cavendish St. Roadside treasure and red clogs. My little explorer. Gorgeous weather. Ginko dress. 

SYMPHONY FOR THE COMMON MAN

Friday night D and I went on a date. Instead of the usual dinner and drinks, D suggested that we do something a little different and see if there was anything on at the Opera House. It turns out that the Sydney Symphony were performing Copland's Symphony No.3 along with Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a  Faun and Takemitsu's From me Flows what you call Time. I love 20th Century classical music and pretty much anything French so the line up sounded good.

We were seated up the back with the crowds in the cheap seats (row X!) but it didn't matter. We could see the whole orchestra from our aerial view, along with the audience and empty seats in the not-so-cheap section. (Funny that!) Debussy was lovely as always and Takemitsu's piece was very interesting. I recall studying it at Uni. Sections seemed very familiar especially the flute and percussion solos. I think D enjoyed it also. We were advised before the start of the performance that it would be recorded for radio airplay and so we were on our best audience behavior trying to keep coughing etc to a minimum. Although during the Takemitsu there were gasps and ahhs from the audience as two of the 5 soloists walked over to the coloured ribbons hanging either side of the stage and tugged them to reveal bells at the top. (I wonder if they will edit the audience out of the recording?) The ribbons; white, blue, red, yellow and green, represent the the five Buddhas at the centre of the mandala and symbolise water - blue,  fire - red, earth - yellow, wind - green and nothingness - white.


Afterwards we had a couple of (very expensive) drinks by Sydney harbour then caught the train back into our neighbourhood and had a couple more reasonably priced ones there. We ended up at The Green Room Lounge in Enmore were there was an exhibition of Rock and Roll shots taken by French music photographer Emmy Etie as part of the Sydney Fringe Festival. Some great shots taken over a number of years of artists such as the White Stripes, The Cramps and Joan Jett.

A lovely date night. Wish we had time to do it every weekend!    

SPRING

It's Spring! I am a bit of a fence sitter at times, and so it is no surprise that my favourite seasons of the year are Spring and Autumn. I love the anticipation they bring, the warm days with crisp air, heralding a change in life's pace for the next couple of months.

Spring really has sprung around here. It's 26 degrees today, not a cloud in the sky and there is Jasmine everywhere. I can smell it around every corner where we live and there is very abundant bush a block away from our house. J and I (he is my little partner in crime) keep stealing bunches of it whenever we walk past. shhhh. It sits in my nan's crystal vase on the piano and makes our home smell beautiful and Spring-y. I figure that said (over) abundant bush has enough to share and will only bloom for a couple of weeks so why not make the most of it. I also noticed some Wisteria creeping over the back fence yesterday too. Why hello there! Here I was thinking it was a dead weed, but no. For the next couple of weeks we will be treated to her beautiful blooms via our neighbours yard. Thanks guys.

All this is making me feel inspired to fix up the courtyard for summer. I ordered some airplants (Tilandsias) online the other day for our hanging pods and I have been scouting around for some vintage baskets for the hanging plants. I imagine we will live out there over the next few months playing during the day and enjoying the warm spring/summer nights.

Spring, you are very welcome in my life right now.