weekend reading

 

This is our last Friday in Alice. Well, last Friday for this trip. I do hope we come back.

This is our last Friday in Alice. Well, last Friday for this trip. I do hope we come back.

It's been a week of packing and sorting, of saying goodbye and of doing last minute visits to places and people we have loved meeting.

I like the line in the sand that traveling draws in life, the lead up to a departure is like having a deadline a clear time in which to get things finished and the things that don't get finished are low on the priority list and probably didn't really matter that much anyway.

Here are a few things that have caught my eye around the net this week:

I enjoyed discovering artist Alena Hennessy via Soulemama.

Closer to home I've been introduced to the art work of Minnie Pwerle

Have you seen Heidi's latest cookbook?

And Pete's?

One for the baby lovers. Brace yourself for Joan Scarlett. Huge congratulations Heidi & Ben x

We're stopping here on the way home. Can't wait.

Come say hi on Instagram. You can find me @wholefoodmama

I'm reading Kim Mahood's memoir Craft for a dry lake. A wonderful read for anyone traveling to Alice or interested in a first hand account of life in the outback with all its enchantment and complexities.

I took the boys to see Oddball this week. LOVED it. Highly recommend. Especially for anyone living in the desert needing a fix of ocean viewing! Beautiful footage of the wild Victorian coastline plus wonderful story to boot.

Happy weekend everyone! How did it get to October so soon?! x

today

A man I'd never met before arrived at our door yesterday afternoon with an injured River on his back.

River had been playing footy at the little park four houses away in the court where we're staying. I'd been down to check on him about twenty minutes before he was returned home with a swollen, bruised and scraped right knee.

I'd agreed nervously to let him go down to the park with the other kids who live in the street, I'm usually one for keeping my boys within sight. But the park here is bordered by the homes of the children that River was with and the day before they'd been at the park and there were other parents around. What could happen I thought? Gotta let him have some independence some time. All those kind of thoughts were going through my head as I walked back from the park after checking on who was at the park. There were no adults when I went down there, just four boys. "Come straight home when the others go home" I instructed River. "Yes Mum" he answered immediately.

Instead, some of the other kids parents and uncle joined in the footy match and when one kicked the ball to River he was so busy focusing on the mark he forgot about the knee high fence behind him. Bang went his knee into the fence, he flipped over the railing and landed on his back. He was extremely lucky to get out of it with a bruise.

Ice packs and arnica cream seemed to help. Although, he went to bed with a throbbing leg wondering how he was going to sleep. "Remember that time Archie fell out of the tree house at Van's and landed on his arm and thought he was ok and then woke up in the middle of the night in bad pain and it was broken? Well what if that happens to me?" River asked.

I did my best to reassure him that if his knee was broken he'd be in too much pain to be going to sleep. As mothers do best I kept my thoughts to myself that wondered the same thing, what if he'd really damaged himself? I had visions of returning to Melbourne with River in plaster.

He slept soundly as he always does and despite laying straight as a board when he first was in bed, by morning he was tangled in his sheet legs bent and splayed in opposite directions. Clearly his knee hadn't bothered him overnight.

Pete set off at 6.30am out to a community where he is building a women's healing shelter. He had a long hot day in the sun ahead of him and wanted to get started early.

At about 7.30am I heard River hobbling his way out of bed. He still couldn't bear any weight on his knee. I helped him to the couch where it looked like he was set to stay for the day. Without a car and with River injured we were house bound. As it turns out, a day at home was just what we needed.

With so much to get involved in in Alice Springs and knowing we are only here for a limited time, I had forgotten the value of having a day at home.

Sol stayed in his pj's and ate buckwheat pancakes in the morning sun. River read for the best part of the morning and relished having a rooibos tea with milk and sugar because we'd run out of honey. We raided the bush camp bag that had sugar in it for when we made billy tea.

We did manage to do some school work, River wrote three songs and Sol created imaginary worlds and battles with his Star Wars figurines. I even let them do some maths games on the computer! A very rare event.

By the afternoon we'd all earned some down time, a movie for them and a cup of tea and time reading 'Wrong Way Round' a fabulous true tale of a family who packs up their life in Fitzroy, Melbourne and hits the road. Written by Lorna Hendry I'm aiming to finish it before the weekend when I'm going to a workshop Lorna is presenting at the Writer's Festival. I've been reading it to the boys too, they get totally lost in the story asking for one more page, one more page.

As I sipped my tea and soaked in the quiet of the house and the rhythm of Lorna's story I felt a slight pang of guilt that I should be doing something else, something more 'productive'. To stave off the guilt I told myself that essentially reading the book was work. I am a writer after all and I needed to 'study' the book before the weekend. The guilt also stemmed from thinking about Pete building in the blazing sun while we were in the cool comfort of the house. Guilt, it is so pointless isn't it?

By the end of the day River was back on his feet. At 4.30pm when the boys' buddy Jacob and the other kids in the street arrived home from their school day River's injury was a distant memory. "Who wants to play hide and seek?" they all scattered to find their hiding spot.

Have you forgotten the art of staying home? Are you caught in the busy loop too? Take a day off!

desert mob alice springs

 

 

Desert Mob is one of the many celebrations of Aboriginal art and culture that happens here in Alice Springs. We've been lucky to coincide our visit with the 25th anniversary of Desert Mob. 

A week ago on Friday evening we joined the crowd pictured above at the Desert Mob Dancesite where Aboriginal women from a number of Central Australian communities sang and danced their traditional songs and dances.

The magnificent women pictured above dressed in yellow skirts and white feathers are from Tennant Creek they are dancing the Munga Munga dreaming, looking for water in the Dreamtime. (I was scribbling this down while keeping an eye on kids so if I have any of that incorrect apologies! Let me know and I will update it).

Desert Mob is hosted in partnership with desart the association of Central Australian Aboriginal Art and Craft Centers. The annual Desert Mob exhibition is a highlight at the Araluen Arts Centre as is the Desert Mob marketplace held on the Saturday. Pete and I managed to have a morning without our boys (thanks Jodie, Scott and Jacob!) to visit the marketplace. Market goers were in a buying frenzy as you can see from the last few photos. The art market is a unique opportunity to buy Aboriginal art at remarkably affordable prices (the majority of work on sale is under $500) and if you aren't in the market for a canvas there is jewellery, cushions, scarves and t-shirts.

Don't you love the t-shirt? The artist who painted this is the youngest artist from the Minyma Kutjara Arts Project, he is 6! 

The design on the first cushion cover pictured above is owned by Mary Anne Nampijinpa Michaels. It tells the story of a sheltered rock basin where the rockhole Lappi Lappi is a permanent source of water. It is surrounded by country rich in bush tucker. The rockhole is home to a warnayarra, a rainbow serpent that travels underground between various rock holes. You can read more detail of this story here.

The second cushion cover, the design is owned by Betsy Napangardi Lewis. This design tells the story of all a group of women of all ages who travelled to the east gathering food, collecting 'ngalyipi' (snake vine) and performing ceremonies as they travelled. You can read more about this story and purchase this cushion cover from Better World Arts.

Winter is a perfect time of year to visit Australia's red centre because the weather is perfect, blue skies every day, and there are so many festivals and events that provide a great opportunity not only to learn more about the art and culture here but also to meet Alice locals.

Now that it is Spring, the temperature has jumped up into the low 30's. Cannot imagine living through summer here!

Happy Monday everyone x

weekend reading

I'm reading two books at once, gearing up for the NT writer's festival. I can relate to much in Lorna Hendry's Wrong Way Round, I'm reading it to River and Sol we're loving it. And I'm only a few pages in to Kim Mahood's craft for a Dry Lake.

Here's a practical and positive approach to supporting asylum seekers in Melbourne.

New study released today shows the negative impact of eating a junk food diet on the brain.

Why depriving your kids of toys is a great idea

Have you made Georgia's healthy chocolate, coconut almond bars? They're one of my favorites.

I found this an inspiring read, one woman following her calling.

What have you been cooking lately? What's on for the weekend? It is my birthday on sunday!
"Two more sleeps and you'll be turning 24 right mum?" asked Sol. Bless him. More like 41 :)
I'm looking forward to it. Have a great weekend x

weekend reading

Have I told you lately how much I love Alice Springs?

The day we arrived here I was already thinking about how we'll be sad to leave. We're not leaving for a while but it has cast a spell on me as has happened to many, many people before me.

During the week Pete dropped us in town to go to the library, twenty minutes later after he'd driven off I realised the school book bag was still in the car. Instead of maths and writing we did a walking art gallery tour, spending time at Papunya Tula

On Friday night we spent time at Desert Mob to see some beautiful traditional dancing. I'll write more about that next week.

And enjoyed good coffee and friendly service from The Coffee Horse

I've added this cookbook to my collection since I've been here, I want to make so many of the recipes, I don't have an oven here though so some will have to wait til I'm home

I'm loving the Artful Parent, so many great ideas for art with kids

Winter is over here in Australia but for anyone still fending off the common cold here is a great post from Georgia, Top Five Foods to Reduce Mucus

I've mentioned it before but I'm really looking forward to the NT Writer's Festival

I've taken SO many photos this week, can't wait to share them with you. I'm hunting up recipes too!

I hope you're all having a beautiful weekend x

postcard from Alice

My camera and photography skills don't do justice to the magnificence of the land here in Alice Springs and surrounds.

I can completely understand how people become enchanted by the desert. The natural beauty is captivating, red dirt, golden grasses, olive green trees growing against all odds. The light, the changing colours it all draws you in.

Alice is our base and from here we travel out with Arrernte Elders to spend time with them on their land. What a gift.

I am a heart on my sleeve kinda gal - cry at the sight of a newborn sorta thing - so to meet Elders of this land and hear their stories, tears are frequently filling my eyes. So much humility, grace, strength and wisdom in the Arrernte people I have met in the short time I've been here. More about that later as my heart and head take in the depth of life and culture here.

We shared a simple and beautiful kale and veggie soup made by our hosts neighbours, a delightful couple B and her husband S, who escaped the cold of Victoria and living their retirement in full colour. They're savouring the weather, the landscape, and the increasingly "alternative community". B is a celebrated artist here, we're looking forward to visiting her in her studio and opening our budding little artist's mind (Sol) to the painting life.

I don't even know where to begin writing about the Indigenous art here. The colours and stories are so vibrant and the canvases abundant. I am trying to take it all in slowly.

I've embraced the art of the honest selfie in this post. I'm soaking in the amazingness of this place on broken sleep. Hands up who else has a five year old who rarely sleeps through the night? Not that I was going back to have a third baby but there is NO way I could do serious sleep deprivation again. Hats off to mothers of newborns, you are doing an amazing job!!

Homeschooling on this trip has fallen into a fairly easy rhythm for which I am extremely thankful. As with pretty much everything you do with children, if you make it fun they're up for it. In this photo of the number cards, the fun part for Sol was using a huge long stick as a pointer to point to the numbers as I said them. He was having fun with the long stick and brushing up on number recognition at the same time. Simple but effective.

Getting him to write each day proves a little trickier as he just wants to draw or paint, so I let him do the drawing or painting and then ask him to write some words about the picture. I'd like him to write more but I figure the drawing is helping with the fine motor co-ordination needed for writing so it will all fall into place eventually. She hopes!

River is totally engrossed in a project about Red Kangaroos "I'm enjoying it so much Mum I'll be sad when I finish it!" Dream child. (I may or may not have had to spell out my expectations about attitude the day before. Seems to have worked).

That's enough from me for now. Friends and family I'm missing you! Thanks everyone for reading.

More soon x

weekend reading

A gorgeous blog find, if you are following GAPS you'll like this

Love this

I thought Melbourne had a lot of festivals and exhibitions but I think Alice Springs has taken the lead. Let's see, there's the Desert Song festival coming up, The Alice Desert Festival and Desert Mob and that's just skimming the surface!

Pete and the boys and I were lucky to spend a day at Akeyulerre this week, an Aboriginal healing centre here in Alice. You can read more about Akeyulerre social enterprise and healing products made from traditional bush medicine here.

We've also been fortunate to spend time with MK Turner a respected Arrernte woman and author of a beautiful book Iwenhe Tyerrtye - what it means to be an Aboriginal person.

I'll be talking more about Thrive over the coming week, a fantastic new e-course for Raising Kids Who Love Real Food. Put together by two wholefood mamas and health coaches, Alexx Stuart and Brenda Janscheck. You can read more about it and sign up here. (I'm an affiliate which means I get a small commission if you sign up via my link, just so you know!)

I support domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty and her online campaign Never Alone, they've had a win this week with Tasmania committing to a respectful relationships program being introduced in Government schools from kindergarten to Year 12. Join Rosie's campaign and help put pressure on the other states to do the same.

Have a great weekend everyone. X

smooth revolution

How cool is this bike?

We spent last Sunday morning at the desertSMART eco-fair here in Alice Springs and River blended up a smoothie for him and Sol using pedal power.

Note to Canberra: solar and pedal power are the new black!

No doubt the harshness of the climate and the limited water supply here means that environmental concerns are at the forefront of people's minds. The eco-fair is heralded as Central Australia's Premier Sustainability Event and offers visitors opportunities to participate in activities and workshops so that they can learn and create.

The highlight of the day for Pete and I was hearing Arrente Traditional Custodian Aunty Doris Stuart in conversation with Costa Georgiadis and our friend Jodie Clarkson, speaking about connecting to country.

Aunty Doris spoke from her heart about responsibilities of traditional custodianship, the importance of sacred sites and what this means living in a modern Alice Springs. Aunty Doris's words stirred much emotion in her and in the audience.

"We get our life from our land. It's not just a hill, it's not just a tree, when it's cut we feel that pain. 
Everything comes from country and goes back to country. 
Country is kin, country is family.
Kinship is a map. When people are born that map tells them how to relate to country and to people".

Pete and I had tears rolling down our cheeks as we listened. At times Aunty handed her microphone to Jodie to speak while she took a moment to compose herself. Jodie has lived in Alice for twenty years and describes arriving in Alice "Like coming home to a place I'd never been before," I can appreciate this. Jodie's deep connection with the land and its people is clear, the friendship and respect between Jodie and Aunty Doris was moving in itself to witness.

Aunty Doris shared a vivid and fond memory from her childhood. She remembered sleeping outside and hearing the sound of singing and chanting carrying through the night air from women in ceremony at nearby sacred sites. "We'll never hear that again because so many of our sacred sites are gone," said Aunty with sadness. It made me think about the younger generations of Aboriginal children who have grown up or are still growing without this experience of their culture.

Being a Traditional Custodian brings with it responsibilities and decision making that cuts deep. Aunty Doris explained that for Aboriginal people being asked to choose which tree to cut down so a road can be built, so that people can save 5 minutes on their travel time, is like choosing a relative to be killed. To non Aboriginal people who don't have an appreciation for the depth of connection between Aboriginal people and the land, that may sound extreme but for Aboriginal people it is a painful reality.

"All we want is for our sites to be respected" - Aunty Doris Stuart.

Culture and environment, that's where we need a smooth revolution in this country.

stills collection

1. The wide open road. South Australia desert.

2. Road train

3. Road school

4. Exploring Coober Pedy

5. Roadhouse cuppa

6. View from the top of the hill at Olive Pink Botanic Gardens Alice Springs

7. Barefoot and happy

weekend reading

We're here in Alice Springs! And wow the desert has already woven its magic around us. I am being amazed by the miracle that anything at all grows here! So much red dirt and sun. I can't even imagine what the heat would be like here in summer. Alice is so rich with arts, culture, community and at this time of year, the perfect amount of sunshine.

Today River and Sol and I spent the day at the Olive Pink Botanic Gardens where the annual desertSMART ecofair began today and runs all weekend.

Pete and I are very much looking forward to hearing Rosalie Kunoth-Monks speak on Sunday at the National Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame

River is doing an assignment on megafauna this term ("They're big animals mum," Sol tells me),  so I think a trip to the Alice Springs Desert Park will happen soon

We joined the Alice Springs library today - I love public libraries - and there is so much on offer there including A Young Writer's Group for children and young people aged 7 - 15 which will be perfect for River

And for my little emerging artist Sol we'll be heading to the Araluen Cultural Precinct to soak up the colours and stories of the paintings

On the food front I'm looking forward to visiting Kungkas Can Cook

The photo above was taken at the Coober Pedy Bakery where despite its basic shopfront and modest decor you'll find surprisingly good coffee and er, top notch French pastries! Coober Pedy is known for opal mines not cuisine so I wasn't expecting this find.

I'm looking forward to sharing our Alice Springs adventure with you. Happy weekend everyone xo

weekend reading

Jodi's post about her feelings on her post baby body struck a chord with many readers

Two of my favorites in the one place

I love a good chia breakfast bowl

Chocoholics this one's for you

Jay popped back in to blogland, I've missed her!

Seeings our trip to Alice Springs has been delayed I've been reading up about local art online

We'll definitely be shopping here in Alice

And now to find a yoga class in Alice. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

Have a great weekend xo