new neighbours

Just back from my week away with my Mum and Dad who moved on Wednesday into their new house in the big smoke, or rather the 'little' smoke of Bangalow in northern NSW. Its such a cute town and I wish I had more photos to show but I forgot to take my camera the few times I ventured into town. Bangalow is a great mix of old and new, lots of great shops and cafes and beautiful historic buildings.

One of the nicest things about being away was spending time with Mum and her friends, who all came to help her move. They are such an inspiring bunch of women and I realised that they have really influenced me and the way I live. Their love of beautiful handmade things, fabrics, food, art, books, music, gardening and crafting has long inspired me. And the blokes aren't bad either ;-)

I got to spend Fathers Day with my lovely Dad too. To celebrate Mum and I went to the wonderful seafood shop in Ballina the day before and bought Balmain Bugs, oysters and crab. We had lunch and then I potted up Dad's father's day presents, some herb and flower pots for the front deck before I had to leave for the plane.

The new house is great, I love it, lots of light and space and a great internal atrium which bounces light around the house. One thing that is especially nice is that it looks out over rolling hills and rural land dotted with houses, which is a reminder of their old place with its beautiful views. As you can see a few of the new neighbours dropped by to say hi over the fence, and share a slice of bread while they were there (yes even the cows)!

While I was there I got to at last give Mum the bag that Cam made for her from one of my tea towel designs. And Cam, she loved it! The first time she used it the lady at the newsagent asked her where she got it and wrote down the details :-)

It was lovely to be away, but great to fly in over Sydney Harbour last night with the setting sun glinting over our beautiful harbour, fly down past the beautiful beaches and in low over the cliffs at Kurnell to land, truly breathtaking. It was even more wonderful to disembark to my little gang and breathe them all in and hear the news, and go home to my little house and my excited dog.

p.s. The line on the sign (which hung in the vegie garden at the farm) comes from a story about a famous old man (can't remember who!) who was talking about planting an avenue of oaks. Someone tried to put him off by saying they would take many many years to grow but his reply was 'well not a moment to lose'.