Hand Made with Wood

Latest projects out of wood...... in my little downtime over the holidays.  There's nothing I love more (other than my hunky hubbie) than to be stuck in the garden shed, with my solar-powered radio blaring out some old hits.  And a mountain of off-cut wood pieces, my drill, saw, hammer, tape measure and nails!  And a good uninterrupted 3-4 hours stretching ahead of me!

My outdoor relaxation lounger - hand made, all but for the triangular Thai cushion.

The base is made from Ferrero Roche crates attached!  Sweet!  The mattresses started out their lives as nappy changing mats.  The covers once-were-curtains.  Perfect for spending a little reading time under the trees.

I have always wanted to attract wee fairy folk to the garden, so for the fairies, I made a little doorway into this old ponga tree stump.  It's pretend - does not really lead anywhere - but if they want to, they can excavate their own room!

Hinges were once a Red Bull drinking can (fossicked from the road-side), handles from small tree seed cones, door from off-cut pieces of cedar.  Methinks I shall make several more to erect around the garden, and town.

My dahling husband deemed I was worthy of a new car, since I gifted my old trustworthy Toyota Corona to my daughter, after her little Jellybean was relegated to the scrap-heap when a 17yr old boy rear-ended her and wrote it off!  5 months of walking to work in the rain, hail and sleet (doesn't really snow here, so that is a little exaggeration) was making my thunderous thighs slender, but my mood hugely dark and dangerous!  Hence, we now have this fine, sleek 2010 Honda Fit parked up in my carport.  She is sooo sexy, I fell in love with her as soon as the keys were placed in my hands.  Sooo much room, I could swing the cat around in it.  She's been named Jazz (European Honda equivalent). However, I digress.  I'm supposed to be writing about things wooden, which is why I introduced Jazz.  I wanted to make a wooden boot carrier for Jazz to avoid the usual messes and spills associated with car boot packages.

Measuring up the box in the shed.  The bottom is made from packing crate wood, the sides from off-cut cedar shutters.

The rustic wooden box with handles, oiled with coconut oil, fits perfectly in the boot of Jazz.  Now I can transport groceries, gardening supplies etc. and still protect my little Jazzy car boot.  Nothing to fall over and spill.

The case of the curious cat!  I said, Swing the cat, not Carry the cat, Shanti!!  The little fluffy feline finds it difficult to sleep on the curving front bonnet of Jazz, so scoots up and sleeps on the roof!  Am trying to discourage such destructive behaviour, for fear of Jazz being scratched to shreds!!  So far, training is slow and repetitive!  Might need to make a cat box to encourage her to sleep in..... My next project!

Hand Made of Recycled Bits

These Hands........

These hands of mine.  They have worked for nearly 5 decades.  They've known how to heal, how to discipline, to love, to work, to hold, to soothe, to feed, to decorate, to create and to make.  Never still. Always working.  I admire these hands.  They have helped me feel my way through life.  To experience life and to participate.  I love nothing better than to set them on a creative project!  Ah, but to have the leisure to make and create to my heart's desire.......  These last holidays allowed me to have time to do a little creating.....

The life of a retired t-shirt-turned-shopping bag.  Enhanced with a little fabric paint printing.

Orange t-shirt bag with pocket

Big bag capacity.

Cut off sleeves.  Cut a circular opening around neckline.  Sew the bottom together (inside out) Add some printing and a fringe for fun.  Move over Dolce  & Gabbana!  This is funky style shopping at little cost to the environment!  Or bank balance!

Recycled T-shirt Printed Shopping-Bag makes a great hand made gift.

Take one woollen vest shrunk in the wash.....(accidental)

Turn it into a cosy little cushion, create new life from old.

The buttons of the vest make a great opening for the cushion.

Decorative detail on cushion cover, crude hand-stitching for effect.

Take one worn back massager cover and use the remaining bit of woollen vest to create a patch.  there is practically nothing left of the vest!!

Back Massager Back-in-Action.

When hemming a skirt for a friend, we cut off a 10cm strip ...... the strip was re-purposed to create 6 lavender bags.  No mess, no waste.

Lavender bags to scent drawers and cupboards and keep crawly critters away.

Know any musicians?  I tend to keep old credit cards, membership cards etc. and then fashion plectrums or guitar picks out of them.  The edges can be lightly sanded for a smooth tapered edge.  The more plastic we can divert from landfill, the better for our planet!  I Love religious icons, hence the recycled CD crucifix.  Again, plastic waste becomes art.

Oh for more time on my hands.......

Art Made with Love

One month after Christmas, and we have new art lining our walls, reminding us of The Love! of the Season of Giving.  My daughter spent a good few weeks leading up to Christmas, creating these wonderful artworks for her brother, his girlfriend, and her father and me! She found her inspiration online, and set about creating some love to line our walls.  I have always loved to receive hand made gifts, it makes them super-special and personal!

African Sun by Shayni

African Ellie by Shayni

Imagine my surprise, when we were presented with yet another fantastic expression of love, from our son's girlfriend, Rachel.  Buddha reminds me every day when I wake up: "Each morning we are Born Again.  What we do today is what matters most!"  I love to be reminded of how precious each day is!  Life affirming!  

Buddha painting by Rachel

After Christmas, Mike and I went to Rotorua for a night and I was absolutely delighted to spot this bit of Street Love on Fenton Road.  Yarn-bombing is a Love-Graffiti and is usually a group project to brighten up public spaces and can occur on trees, lamp-posts and just about on any public structure!  One day, I want to take up my knitting needles, crochet hook and do a little woolen graffiti in our town.

Yarn-bombed Sign post

Pom-pom Street Lurv

Cat Yoga

Ephemeral Art: Sun in Tree Arbor

Divinely Delectable, Super-Healthy Blueberry Ice Cream!

Yep, 4 glorious weeks of year-end break!

Being on a break from work has given me all the play time a girl could want or need!  I even had time to play with my new  "app" that allows me to write on photos to make them self-explanatory - such fun!!  Learning to be a little more techno-savvy this year!

I have spent much time outdoors, in the garden, in the shed and soaking in a few rays of Vitamin D, for 10 mins at a time.  Enough to be sun-kissed and not sun-burnt!
(And no, those hairy knees above, are not mine, but belong to my son!)

Mixed fruit and berry smoothies for breakfast makes use of  produce from the garden: blueberries, strawberries, nectarines and a frozen half banana (store-bought).

It's soo simple, it's a recipe that needs 2 things: vanilla ice-cream and blueberries.  Oh yes, and a blender.  Simple.  Delicious.  Simply delicious and deliciously simple!

And, it's incredibly healthy junk food!!

I have had even more time on my hands for 10 days as my Buddha Boy went for a Vipassana 10 day retreat, leaving me home alone, on my own sort-of-head-space retreat!  And indeed, absence does make the heart grow fonder!

 

The dilemma of my cat; to snooze or not to snooze!  What a marvelous role model in taking life less seriously!

Definitely 2015's New Year's Resolution for me!  To sing more, to enjoy more, to chill more!

Eco-Cycle Tour, Bali and the Chocolate Factory

Ornate doors signal entry to homes... what lies beyond such sumptuous gateways??

I couldn't resist the proverbial "flogging of the dead horse"; Bali Memories.  It is such a Land of Beauty and Contrast!  A little like India.  I think I could easily have taken 20 photos a day - 10 days in Bali = 200 images!  

We wanted to try something a little different on our holiday, less shopping-craze, less resort-laze, so we opted for an eco-cycle tour.  Nothing too untoward there for the average tourist, but wait.............. I haven't sat on a bicycle in 15 years??  And then, only brief flirtation with 2 wheels quickly discarded as a bad idea.  I did try to once cycle to work - all 4 blocks.  It nearly killed me - and that's mostly flat ground!  After that, my legs were like jelly and I could barely get off the darn contraption and walk the 5m to our kindy gate!!  So what was I doing putting my hand up for a 3 hour eco-cycle tour in Bali???

A Bali bicycle parked up at the beach.

I should probably rather have put my hand up for scooting around where you don't have to exert much effort in such a hot climate, but no, I had a trick up my sleeve!

Litte fella is showing me how cool it is to ride a scooter!!

Or perhaps I could have asked this local for lessons riding a paddle board sitting down,
 with a salad bowl helmet on for safety

When I told my friends about the cycle tour, they looked at me with wide eyes and questioning grins - how did I ever expect to succeed, as exercise is just not my thang!  Everyone knows that!

But ha! I had read that the cycle tour was 3 hours downhill!  I reckoned if I could just steer the thing, the bike would do all the work free-wheeling down the mountain!!

Our tour started with a buffet breakfast on top of Mount Kintamani,
overlooking the crater lake below.

We were picked up from our resort and driven 1 1/2 hrs to our breakfast stop, before being taken to the waiting bikes.  There were 8 of us, and a tour guide, a young buck from a local village (the tour is a village initiative).  I must admit to being a little nervous when I realised that the bikes were big, and I suddenly doubted my ability to not tumble off on a corner or when applying brakes!  With heart pounding, I made sure I was one of the last to leave so no-one would see my ineptitude (my gallant man offering to cycle behind me and ensure I didn't get left behind)!

The proof we did it!!

Rice paddies

The saying, that "it's like bike-riding, you never forget", well, it's true.  It took me 10 mins and I felt like the king of the downhill road!  My confidence picked up with each passing village!  After about an hour, we stopped at one village and were guided through a typical home compound.  We were shown the family shrine, the typical layout and learned a little about Balinese life and culture.

The pavillion building where families gather for feasts, for death and birth ceremonies (bodies are kept on ice on the raised platform for 3 - 30 days!!) and on this same platform, women give birth!

Drying cloves in the sunshine.

Balinese woman making baskets

Ingenious children's eco-swing made from bamboo

Old lady watching festival parade

Festival procession

The women's procession

We stopped to view an awesome, spiritual-Avatar-like 500yr old Banyan tree, where we were given water and a banana to replenish our energy.  Then we walked into a rice paddy and were given a agri-lesson on rice growing, and finally, we stopped at a coffee and spice plantation for a tour and taste testing all the different types of coffee beans.  Truly a broad spectrum view of rural Bali for off-the-beaten-track tourists.  I made the cycle tour, (just - there were 3 small hills - the first I managed, the second winded me and the third nearly killed me with the effort required in the tropical heat, and in fact I nearly caused a 3 cycle pile-up when I hopped off!)  Afterwards, we were taken for a sumptuous lunch - vegetarians generously catered for!  And then we were driven the 1 1/2 hours back to our resort - a full day's entertainment all for less than $50!

I felt such an immense sense of achievement!  Yay, I made it!  Lil' ol' lazy me!!

Charlie's Chocolate Factory

After seeing how raw cacao grows, we were keen to discover another unusual little attraction; Charlie's Chocolate Factory in Jasri Beach.  What an amazing discovery!!  Charlie, an ex-Aussie lives in a basic little shack on prime real estate beach-front paradise!  He builds his empire with bamboo and has created some fantastical Hobbit-like shacks to house his chocolate-making factory.  We bought some chocolate and goji berry drops, and had the BEST-EVER hot chocolate drink whilst his mournful honking goose followed Mike around like a faithful love-sick dog!

The chocolate factory office

Hand-crafted to perfection, Bilbo Baggins would have LOVED this!

The Chocolate Shop

The beauty of the inside, with sky-lights for natural lighting

Charlie's Goose

This is where Charlie lives.

Of Charlie, we caught but a glimpse!  I guess he is not used to too many guests, and he scarpered a quick getaway dash as we arrived, leaving us in the capable hands of his beautiful Balinese right hand lady.  In a rustic bamboo factory, he produces chocolate, soap and candles to fund his love of surfing.  Gotta love a guy who follows his dreams!!

Charlie's view - a popular surf spot

Charlie is busy building a bamboo shipwreck restaurant to serve his chocolate treats in.

The factory

A swing suspended between the coconut palms - Charlie calls it the Chair of Enlightenment!

So if your'e headed down Karangasem way, Charlie's is a definite must-see!  Inspirational!  Check out the video link above for a 15 min interview with Charlie.

Back in Sanur, we took a walk along the beach and discovered these gems:

Some eco-art, bottle caps hammered into drift wood demarcates a beach-side restaurant,  I loved the sign!!  "Sorry.  No wifi.  Talk to each other."

A beautiful re-purposed pallet table.

A Yoga Retreat with shop below, with Hammock Therapy.

Sign says it all...

I think I need Hammock Therapy.  Everyday.