Stuff[ed things] I Made

Here are some pics of fun little toys I made in the hols:
(click on them to enlarge photos)


Smirky.

I've got to admit that he is my favourite. I just love his blissful smirk and the way he slouches around so contentedly wherever he is!


Ginny the Giraffe

She was actually given eyes, but I didn't get a pic with them before I gave her away.


Elephant - I can't remember if he ended up with a name!


Little Pup


Thanks to the supercute patterns and ideas in the More Softies book - The Penguin Group 2008.

Funny bits from Desert Trek which I would do cartoons of if I was as clever as some of my friends..!

- Pete playing Bunny Bunny Carrot Carrot (sorry, you had to be there!)

- Sam melting marshmallows on his fingertips


- Watching boys fruitlessly chase goats up and down steep rocky ridges

- What happens when someone who'd been balancing on the other end of a log to someone else gets up

- Doughboy wars
- Running out of sugar and Katrina sweetening pikelets with blobs of marshmallow - so good! They went all caramelly and yum.

- The mines inspectors Mark introduced himself to. They'd just finished agreeing with eachother that no one ever came out near these mines, being on private property and in the middle of nowhere and all... when next thing they know around 25 people walk past!! And by the time Mark caught up with us to say that he'd promised them we were the only ones who came and we never did anything silly, there we were all standing round peering into a completely unguarded unfenced mineshaft!

that's all for now...

Dessert

For those wanting something to drool over, this is Cleo's lovely choc mousse that I made:



yummo.

Desperately seeking Desert

Hello!
Well the title really is meant to say desert, not dessert, so I'm sorry if you were hoping for a tale of an exciting mudcake experience or something of that sort! If so I'm sure I'll be able to comply sometime in the near future, as the seeking (and/or making) of sweet things is a fairly frequent occurrence for me. Just not this time.

I went on a "Desert Trek" last week. Basically a whole bunch of people went camping out near Broken Hill.

Some of us rose before dawn to watch the day come awake.

Many hours were spent around the campfire sitting, singing, cooking, eating, praying, laughing, sharing and listening to stories - or just watching the glowing, sparking embers.

We spent time alone, time just to listen and to be.


We spent time walking, adventuring, climbing rocky hills and ridges, chasing goats, climbing through gorges and round water-carved pools. Hanging with good friends.

I lapped up the wide wide desert skies, soaked myself in the golden wintery sun and the potent campfire heat, and felt the spirit breathing life.

It was very very good.

Sometimes the night was beautiful
sometimes the sky seemed so far away
sometimes it seemed to stoop so close
you could touch it but your heart would break
sometimes the morning came too soon
sometimes the day could be so hard
there was so much left to do
but so much you've already done oh God...
- Rich Mullins

Thanks for chance to step out of it all and bite beautiful reality.