We are extremely lucky to have access to a fully equipped art studio at the local yoga centre, and have been spending time lately throwing some pots.
No, not against the wall (although I'm sure the boys would LOVE that) - on the wheel!
There is something truly hypnotic about the smooth wet clay under your hands and the spinning patterns on the surface of the whirring wheel....the boys adore it and are even happy to do the lengthy prep and cleaning up process that is involved.
We have enough pieces to fill the kiln so will let you know when the firing begins! (No, not like in 'The Apprentice' oh - you know what I mean!).

Apart from swanning around being a homeschooling bohemian (ha ha) I have been focusing a tonne of my energy into an upcoming community event. Our 'Jam N Pickle group KISS has been given a grant from the council to do fun stuff with and this little festy is part of that...Gav and I have participated in organising and running a bunch of events over our time together - nationwide songwriting competitions, bodypainting extravaganzas, kids art festivals, open mic stages and lots more. It's fun.... if you have the right attitude. I have always adopted the idea that as long as I am creating an event I would love to attend, then all's good. It seems to flow that way.'The Taste of Spencer' is really going to be a great opportunity for the little community to network and meet each other, hopefully sharing contacts, ideas and plans for the future. It's also a chance for KISS to show off the wonderful preserves we have been making! I'm really hoping it is a fun, relaxed day with enough food and stuff to do for people to arrive enthusiastic and hungry and leave inspired and satiated!
Sooooo, if any of you guys out there are interested in checking out our little hamlet of Spencer (otherwise known as The Hub of the Universe ;), please come along! Here's the promo:

A sweet little song for a sweet little town,
where you listen to music, watch the sun go down

Children are busking on the side of the street,
selling drawings of fairies and good things to eat.

We walk up the road to a church on the hill,
where Gav will be painted (he has to keep still!)

Shopping for trinkets and playing with toys,
full of bright slushies are two happy boys.

So, I thank you St Albans for coming to life
and becoming a part of my festival life!

We have had a wonderful break over these last easter school holidays....lots of eating, visiting with friends and family, playing and, yes, LOTS of learning! When you take away the classroom walls and the 'hours' in which education occurs, well you just can't stop learning. Here are some moments for you....

We have studied Harry Potter and the Wiggles at the Powerhouse museum, henna tattoo art, how a Catholic christening goes and the ways of a church , flying in a plane, what sort of clouds you can see out of the window and how they change depending on wether you are below or above them, the beach and the ocean, the meanings in the story of 'The Lorax' by Dr Suess, what life is like in San Fransisco and Canada and sooooo much more....

Abundance is often messy. Very messy.
Take my garden for example. Due to the excessively rainy summer we have just had, and the buckets of compost tea and love that have been poured into the earth, the pumpkins and cherry tomatoes have gone berserk. We are picking pumpkins of all shapes and sizes using wheelbarrows as they are too heavy to carry. We are eating so well, and cooking for so many without having to think of frugality at all. It is a luscious, exciting time in the garden AND it is EXTREMELY unruly. The spent vines are wrapped around all the other plants, and I dare not pull them out as there may still be baby pumpkins clinging and thriving on their ends....the tomatoes have become a force to be reckoned with, and they too have taken on the personas of jungle plants, climbing up native trees and popping their little rosy cheeked trusses out from any available space.
It is a little overwhelming to be honest.
Don't get me wrong - I LOVE abundance - it really fits well with my spontaneous and somewhat indulgent personality. But using the garden as a metaphor, I can see how moments of true abundance in life, if not handled carefully, can result in piles and piles of mess.
For example: someone wins the lotto. Confetti spurts and anthems play! The winner is flush with joy and the sense of possibility that abundance brings, throwing piles of money in the air while lounging on a massive heap of hundreds (see how the images we are served by advertising creep in!!). It seems as though they will live happily ever after....but then....distant relatives sidle up asking for 'loans', investors call offering advice, the question of using the money 'well' arises....as Martin Seligman writes in his book 'Authentic Happiness' (and I'm paraphrasing); it is consistently shown that happiness  rises momentarily after winning large amounts of money and then, almost ALWAYS, decreases!
I think that is because of the mess. The sense of overwhelm. The perceived increase in responsibility and 'work' that must be done to make things clean again.

We had a few days of abundance here at the freedom farm this week when some friends came up to stay. It poured with rain - a deluge of water from the sky, creating a stunning series of waterfalls off the sandstone mountains and a real charge in the atmosphere. A light blew up. After a rich and delicious dinner party we got abundantly drunk playing pool under the thundering corrugated iron of the shed roof, turning the turntable speakers to full so The Doors and Neil Young could compete with the drumming of the rain. It was luscious and a bit wild, open and decidedly free, we played like mischevious children loose in a world of fun.

But we created mess. The messy heads consequence of an abundance of wine, the records strewn around and needing work to re-pair disc with sleeve, emotional catalysts creating raw truths and big questions.

Abundance and mess. They go together like roast pumpkin and cherry tomatoes! It's a bit of work to peel and roast, chop and season, but when you do the result is truly delicious. And really, really good for you.

The key is to resist the overwhelm. It's ONLY pumpkins/money/rain....you can handle it with a bit of laughter and some buckets. With an abundance of love for yourself you can clean up any mess....now, I'm off with the fam to the ST Albans folk festival....the garden is just fine and the mess can most certainly wait til tomorrow!