handmade hearts

A couple of weeks ago now, my lovely friends were married.  They had a fantastic vintage inspired, handmade wedding.  They made metres and metres of heart shaped roadmap bunting which they strung through the Wesley Anne bandroom for the reception.  Now these hearts have been installed in the window over at Olive Grove - a small concession to the arrival of Valentines Day on Monday!

simple chemistry

I love the simple chemistry of soap making.  Oils and lye combine so easily to make such a luscious product.  Essential oils and spices create magic.  This batch has been lovely to make; lemon verbena and black pepper, topped with poppy seeds.  It smells incredible.  I have another batch on the go that I'll cut into bars tomorrow.  It's what I call 'mocha spice'- freshly ground organic coffee, chocolate, with the oils of nutmeg, cinnamon, bergamot and patchouli.  Last time I made this, I discovered the bite mark of a certain four year old... apparently it doesn't taste as good as it looks!

Dad

This gocco print was taken from a picture of my Dad when he was in late Primary School.  I made these cards a couple of years ago now.

I've been out of the blogging loop for a while now.  Life has thrown some pretty serious curve balls, ones that have been hard to catch and accept.  Ones that have floored me and have been hard to get back up from.

Two days after my last post, my Dad had a very sudden and unexpected stroke.  He was airlifted from Mallacoota to Melbourne, kept alive via life support.  My Mum, brother and I sat with him the next day as he died.  He was 65.  It's hard to express the pain of losing my Dad.  He was a rock.  An amazing man.  He was always there... and now he's not.

Sometimes it still doesn't seem real.  It's hard to imagine a world that he's not in.  But this is it I guess.  I'm getting back up.