Nothing is permanent or certain in this world...

Yikes! Where has the time gone?!

To be honest I have not felt like blogging over the last few months. I have been kept busy by the light & shade of life & being addicted to Instagram!

Watching my 'Baby Beatniks' grow up to fast. Working in retail fashion and random stints of floral design & vintage pop up shop gigs.Hardcore thrifting & throwing myself into Yarn Bombing community projects/installations. Tending to the veggie patch & chasing the dream of a more eco existence. 

Having my heart ripped out due to two people who meant a lot to me being taken away by evil Cancer.

Juggling life in general and digging deep to try to be the best I can & to live mindfully. 

I've been through a spiritual mind fuck and an amazingly creative journey!

Nothing is permanent or certain in this world, something I'll have to embrace through the ebb & flow of this mysterious yet magical life!

Cooee!

Cooooeeee!

Anybody out there?!

Super slack blogger here ...just calling out into blogland to say I'm still here and ...have had LOTS to write about yet been super slack about blogging it! I am keen as to get posting again though and have heaps to catch up on, so I WILL be back here very soon!

P.S. Since it's NAIDOC week aka National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee week which celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, I'll give you a little WIKI explanation on the ole 'Cooee' term...

The word 'Cooee' originates from the 'Dharuk' language of the original inhabitants of the Sydney, N.S.W area and means 'come here'.

A handy call out that gives you an indication where your peeps are located and a little trick I have used many times in the Aussie bush! My fave 'Cooee' is the unexpected kind ...when you yell 'Cooee' and get a response from randoms amongst the gumtrees! That's a mini celebration in itself! 

COOOOEEEEEEE!

My Little Empire

I've been shop swooning again.

Well how couldn't I, when this little treasure trove of pretties bursting with colour and beautific things appeared right before me?!

 My Little Empire stocks stunning home wares, supports local Artists and is a friendly little pod of fun and amazingness located at 245 Charman Rd. Cheltenham. Which is where a nice little pocket of opshops and a fresh flower supplier also happen to be situated. How WILL I keep myself away??? 

Urban Tree Hugging

I've been excitedly following the Yarn Bombing work of Melbourne's Yarn Corner for some time now, and been dying to check out their latest annual installation in Melbourne's City Square. Yarn Corner's current project is as gorgwaa and inspiring as I expected. The 'Baby Beatnik's' and I are big fans and we thoroughly enjoyed some gentle tree hugging in the lovely Melbourne sun!

Whilst we cruised the city streets we went around testing out some of the super cool pianos on display as part of the Play Me, I'm Yours project by Artist Luke Jerram. The work consists of a collection of street pianos decorated by local Artists for everyone to enjoy playing and listening to. Members of the community young and old blessed us with their music ability in the busy urban environment, it really was super fun and beautific and made me wish I knew how to play the piano!

  

Baby it's damn hot outside!

What calls for breakfast ice creams, a vintage fan collection... in full use, icy cold ciders, backyard inflatable pool dips and late night beach time??? Last week's melting heatwave in Melbourne! That's what!

The heatwave led to some sunkissed 'Baby Beatnik's' at my heels (in the nudey rudes) requesting our fave iced tea, so a yummy batch was whipped up by 'Mama Beatnik'! The recipe is made from T2's - 'Lemon Cooler' tea and...

...it goes like this:

Throw a couple of heaped tablespoons of the 'Lemon Cooler' loose leaf tea into a big old teapot

Brew it

Let it cool

(You could use the cooling time for many things; a quick swim, or to hide away from your nudey rude hot and bothered kidlets in a closet and catch up on some interior mags, or you could spend the time praying the scorching heat does not fry the veggie patch!)

When cooled, add a drop or two of Vanilla Essence and some organic brown sugar to taste

Sliced lemon is a must. If your lemon tree is not delivering, you could forage or 'borrow' one from someone in the neighbourhood. (It seems those rare and lovely people who leave out little baskets of freebies never seem to be in stock when you need some!) 

Grab a handful of mint from the herb garden (that Mint goes cray cray if you let it go wild, so use that minty goodness up!)

Then some fridge time needs to happen and theeeeen the when your thirst can wait no longer serve with lotsa ice.

It's really delish and oh so refreshwaaa!

Pineapples make me thirsty for Pina Colada's!

So the Pineapple trend is in full swing and I am totally into it, those tropical summer lovin' fruity things are popping up everywhere and enticing me to want more Pina Colada's and beach days in my life!



Keren Brown fabric via Bondville



Eco Chic chair via Style Hunter

ASOS sunnies

Freedom Pineapple statue

Country Road Tee

Sportsgirl Coin Purse

There are a lot of Pina Colada recipes floating around so I have selected Wiki's version to share on the blog, cheers to summer sips gorgwaas!

PINA COLADA

Blend

 30ml White  Rum

30ml Coconut Milk

90ml Pineapple Juice

with ice and garnish with a Maraschino Cherry, Pineapple slice and I personally find it very necessary to add a cocktail umbrella!



What is 'Nanna Cool'?

Check out my guest blog post on the Nanna Cool Markets blog.  A market with 'Craftitude' & a 'Yarn Bombing' dream coming true!