a new space.

i have grown and changed and am moving house.
find me here.
http://piperandpoppies.blogspot.com/
please update your site, link, and come visit often,

♥ ashley

being present

I have recently read a blog post that caused me a wee aha moment, the kind that makes you sit back and take a think about how you want to live.
These moments are important because they allow us to welcome change with open arms.

Honest to blog, I think too much, like wheels turning all the time, waking at 3am because I need a solution to a problem that really isn't. I sit, planning, goal setting, thinking about what to do next.
Rarely do I take the time to sit and savour. Which is the reason I am making my new goal something different, instead of the plan of where I will be next year, next month, in an hour, I am present here and now. It feels good.



In the moment you can savour the smells, tastes, sounds and feel of what is right there in front of you waiting to be enjoyed. For me, it has been the basics. My beautiful family, the fresh air when we play outside, the garden, the food we plan and cook and enjoy, and the friends who come by who I now stop every other thought to focus on. I am here, in this moment.

The week that was...

hump day nuggets (on our family hump day (saturday)).

puddle play on the driveway



truly free range eggs



avos plucked fresh from the tree



old italian recipes



hanging with friends



lunch in a giant grassy field



and a home filled with so, so much love.

♥ ashley

p.s. join in on the nuggets here, and if you do let me know, would love to see them, xx

sunshine, icy pops

our neck of the woods has been chilly and rainy lately. the kind that tingles the tips of your fingers and makes you rub the tip of your nose to make sure it is still there.
so a day of sunshine is a welcome change.
piper and i didn't miss a beat getting out in the garden with pup for a break from hanging in the home and instead dug our fingers in the sunkissed dirt and munched down some mango yogurt icy pops.



following this with a quick spin at the op shop, scoring piper two lovely additions to her wardrobe, meant a very tuckered out little lady heading off to nap time.
I have started back at work three days a week. it is so hard to leave the house in the morning, but somehow i do, and it is making the sweetness of every other moment i have with my precious family taste just that extra bit special.
i was blessed to spend a year at home. but a mortgage and monsieur still at uni externally means i need to help pull in some dollars. i thought it would be harder than it is, but we made it work. p is with a friend once a week and her daddy the other days, then me. she is happy as can be, all that matters in the end.
off to catch up on news in the blogosphere. happy weekend lovelies.
x
♥ ashley

time

i am amazed by the women who have the most valuable thing of all. time. you know the ones who manage life with all the extra time to literally stop and smell the roses.

i miss time, it is taken up by shopping, cleaning, washing, paperwork, cooking, walking the dog, as many know the list goes on. this makes the opportunity for me to sit and sort through my photographs and thoughts few(er) and farther inbetween than before.

but man life is good.

little p is one year. we celebrated in style with a pretty party, she wore a tutu, and went for fancy cake at a local winery. she downed her first babycino.

organic sugar and egg free carrot cake. yummo mama!

a week away so monsieur could study meant a whole lot of exploring with my little friend. navigating markets and op shops like it was nobodies business was bliss.

back to the grind.

hope to pop in again this week. in the meantime the sun is creeping out (rare this time of year) and i am going to soak up the rays. icing on the cake...

today have a 2 hour pamper session at the spa. happy birthday to me! x

♥ ashley

p's place

when we bought our house, an artist had been the previous owner. there are two types of artist homes. the ones that make for very pretty coffee table books of artists in Tuscany with afghan rugs, and mahogany furniture to inspire them. then there was this artist. he had a camping table folded out in the living room and a small television in the bedroom. and a mattress. and a german shepherd. not an inspired place.

so when we moved in we were starting from (-) scratch. i have slowly made this house our home. between having a little p attached to my boobies and supporting my man in finishing his uni degree. it has been a slow process. now, nearly a year after her arrival, p's room is taking form. we painted it 'sea wash' when we moved in, classic gender neutral. everything has been slowly found at amazing shops throughout the world. and of course, monsieurs teddy takes prize place. the blanket on the rocking chair was knit by p's great grandmother, the last thing her tired hands will make. it is peaceful and calm, and maybe at some point my little tornado will be too!

remember when i said that saturday was the busiest work day for us? well today is the start of our weekend. bliss.
big love, off to chase bub...
♥ ashley

for the love of lovey

this little cloth gripped so tightly is a big part of p's world. gripped in her little hands 99% of the day. not sure how it happened, one morning she reached over to a pile of vintage linen and grabbed an old pillowcase, and that was it. security blanket whether we wanted one or not. she sleeps with it, carries it at playgroup, holds it while she nurses, it is her world.

do/did your bubs have a similar bond to something?

happy sunday (its a rainday here!) x

♥ ashley

p.s. not sure if anyone is even visiting me here anymore...

luck

we have been having no luck in the op shops lately. an op shop slump of sorts. but as with all things in life, it was our turn today!
so many brilliant finds, have spent a good portion of the morning scrubbing, washing, and rubbing with eucalyptus. good as new.




that is a full tub of mega blocks along with such a groovy trio of duplex dudes. i prefer them with their happy faces on.



perhaps more of a score for piper. love all of these.

one can never have too many baskets, or good pyrex dishes.

scrumptious, no?!

and a lucky mama too!

saturdays around here are not the best days of the week. my mister works in hospitality which makes saturday the busiest day of the week. thus, piper and i have a big day and night together and my man comes home well into the night. this is a temporary thing as he has a year left of uni and then should be full time teaching. it is easier than it was when p was a tiny little reflux machine, in fact some of the nights are just smiles and cuddles, but...
i don't envy mamas that do it all on their own. it is exhausting and lonely. i mean p is great company but i love being with my best friend too. can't imagine not having him around after 24 hours feels like an eternity.

tonight i have big plans to watch eat, pray, love. and read more of the amazing blogs i have just been discovering, what an amazing world of people there is out here. so that would be my second round of luck today, discovering various like minded souls to inspire me.
hope your weekends are lucky too,
♥ ashley

p.s. anyone have a good way of making a new header. nothing fancy, just a photograph and my title, but done prettyish? ta.

morning sunshine

teeth, glorious teeth. little miss cannot get her fingers, toes, or anything else she finds in the house out of the back of her mouth. something big is coming.

monsieur has finally finished his exams which means that we can be a little family on his days off, heaven. this week we have been scrambling about cleaning and sorting our home after a few good months of drowning in baby, work and well, life! in fact, drowning is not the right word, cause it isn't a bad thing to be too busy to care about that stuff but then...

do you ever feel like a neat house makes everything feel a bit better? i mean, i'm no martha stewart, but i do so love sorting and having things in their 'place'. the paperclip basket, the cupboard where the kitchen gloves live, the coat rack where you keep coats, and only coats...things in their place. i think they are probably happier to have a home too, smile, imagining kitchen gloves cracking a smile in their little spot. like a toy story of homewares.

there have been tons of charity donations made, our clutter becomes someone else's treasures. there is nothing more eco than that.

hope the sun shines on your weekend.

big love.

♥ ashley

regrouped

my dear heart turns all of 11 months old today. what a trip this past year has been. i have had a few full nights of rest in the 11 months/ 341 days since falling in love with something so tiny, and more than a few moments of arggghhh. but for all of that i have had a cup overflowing with joy and the air of the endless possibility that lies ahead for my little team.
i have a new lease on life lately, the one where you throw your head back and really, truly, madly and deeply suck in the oyster that is life. look and feel alive, cause you are, and live it. cause in these 11 months i have learned that all of it will fly by with a blink of the eye. and baby, i am going to soak it up, cause that's what it's all about.
june brings cold snaps and curling up with coffee and chocolate in my land. but also getting out for runs in the brisk air, cooking pumpkin soups and banana bread, and crawling around with my puppy and baby seeing things from down there. gives a pretty cool perspective.
hope your june is making you gush with joy, if not, take a moment (stuff some chocolate into your mouth, or pound your tootsies against the pavement) and figure out what you need to make you gush and then come tell me what it is that is making life the way it was meant to be, imPERFECT.
big love.
♥ ashley