yet another long catch up

it's been a while since the last post - been a little difficult to get a fast internet connection!

after leaving ubud, we caught a small boat over to nusa lembongan. finn thought it was great - especially as there was a little mouse on board! 

i'm pretty sure finn is going to turn into a watermelon before we get back to melbourne!

freya did a little surfing....

we spent about 5 days in lembongan then headed back to bali to a surf spot called balian - a little off the beaten track. it was a gorgeous spot. we had a beautiful joglo (a javanese style house) to stay in, which initially, i thought was perfect. however, it turned a little pear shaped overnight... before i went to bed, i saw a small frog jumping through the kitchen - "oh well", i thought "traditional bali living"... the next morning (around 5am) freya woke up absolutely covered in mozzie bites - poor love (i felt so negligent but had taken all the precautions possible!) . anyway, we were sitting on the floor playing when at least five large toads jumped under the front door! i shrieked and then noticed at least another three or four already inside! as PT swept them back out the door, more kept hopping on in, leaving slimy toad poo around the place (great with freya crawling about!). we ended up going to seminyak a couple of days early (and stayed in complete luxury for super cheap - really lvoe those last minute hotel websites!). we'll go back to balian when the kids are a little older!


selamat hari raya gulungan dan kuningan - this is a little like christmas but happens every six months... instead of christmas trees, the balinese put penjors at their front gates - they are supposed to be in the shape of dragons, with the head at the bottom of the bamboo pole and the tale hanging from the top. they are really beautiful! this street in the village we live in at ubud...

here is a ceremony on the beach in seminyak - celebrating gulungan... 

 we are back in ubud now - just hanging out.... freya got her first pair of shoes (i didn't realise they were squeaky until she put them on)....

i have so many 'love from finn' products and am super excited about showing you - stay tuned. xx

living life in bali

i was lying in bed last night, trying to get freya to go back to sleep... as she tossed and turned i thought about this blog. it is something i often think about but do not get to as often as i'd like. i guess i have that issue where my days seem to be super busy yet i feel like i have nothing of interest to report. it seems to be one of those things a parent of young children goes through. anyway, over the last couple of weeks we really have not done alot apart from live a normal life, in a warmer climate!

freya has learnt to walk - pretty exciting!...

freya has been enjoying the tasty juices...

finn is loving the tasty fruit...

we spent a few days in seminyak which was fun. although, it is pretty hectic there. in fact, at times it was difficult to tell that we were actually in bali, given the amount of tourists (us included)..

the clothes i have been getting made for 'christmas at the studio' are almost finished, so i'm super excited about that! i will post some pics soon! 

also, i tried to learn to ride a motorbike but crashed it after about five seconds (no exaggeration). it resulted in a slight bleeding leg injury and few tears. i'll have to try again at home, i think (rather than the little lane at the end of the rice paddy...)

we are heading to nusa lembongan and then on to balian for a bit of beach and surf, so until next time, adios amigos xx

a great day in amed

a couple of days ago, we set out early to head to east bali. i picked up my coffee from the little cafe at the end of the village and jumped in the car with the fam.


first, we went to klungkung market. a fantastic, sprawling market full of couloured cakes, enamel kitchenware, and bolts of fabric... my dream market really... i bought quite some great material - stay tuned for super cool clothes coming soon...


we then drove the long and winding road to amed. it is a pretty chilled out place, especially compared to the beach towns of legian and seminyak. lots of good seafood, kids selling sea salt on the beach, snorkelling... i usually don't like black sand beaches. however, this one is quite beautiful... 

given everyone in staying in the house has been having regular massages, finn thought he'd give it a try and, to my surprise, he has taken quite a liking to them! perhaps he will turn into one of those shiny faced, stretchy yoga'd, bali people  who sit by themselves in  cafes smiling serenely at nothing!!! only time will tell. xx

the first week in bali

well, we've been here just over a week and life is pretty different! 

we landed in denpasar at about midnight. finn and freya were both great on the plane (much to my relief! i always feel a little anxious leading up to a plane trip with small kids). finn actually asked halfway through the flight, 'when are we going on the plane?'

getting through customs and out of the terminal at denpasar airport is somehting i am pretty used and it is all quite familiar. however, to the kids, particularly finmn, i think it was a little overwhelming. the heat, the smells, the people looking different... as we got into the taxi, he asked if we could go home...  anyway, it took a few days for him to get used to this but now he is in the swing of things.

we have been doing alotr of rice paddy walks, walking into ubud and even braved seminyak. all in all it has been super fun... 

this is the first morning we were at the house....

this is the view from our verandah...

finn just chilling out, recovering from the long journey from melbourne to ubud...

finn and freya sharing a drink at sari organik - a gorgeous restaurant out the back of ubud in the middle of the rice paddies...

we walked through the monkey forest in ubud. i really didn't like the monkeys there, they are super ferocious! finn and freya seemed to think it was pretty exciting though....

finn is cautiously approaching the monkey on the ledge, just to the right....

finn practising riding a motor bike (a skill he will be allowed to master in about 25 years....)

one of our balinese friends bought these pyjamas for the kids so they could look more like locals - it seemed to do the trick..

finn has taken a liking to photography and took this photo - it is on the walk into ubud

this morning, finn plucked up the courage to venture into the local kinder. although neither of us could understand a word, we both really enjoyed it and will go back in a few days!

all is good xx

finn's winter festival

it was a dark and stormy night last wednesday, the winter solstice.... we all had to rug up to attend finn's winter festival at kinder...

we were then in for a performance... first a quiet song and then the party really started with "funky monkey".... finn rocked...

the kids had all made gorgeous lanterns and we went for a (quick)walk in the dark - it was very sweet. there were long tables covered with brown paper and lit with lanterns and the kids sat down and ate soup. it was a really great night.

let's now celebrate that the nights are getting shorter and the days are getting longer! xx

let's catch up

i've been really trying to find the time to sit down and write but it keeps slipping away! i have a lot of ideas swirling around my head each day and plan on writing them here but just can't quite to get it. anyway, again I am going to try and make a real effort to get back into the blogging swing!


this last week has been a bit of an indoor week, winter is definitely upon us.... finn decorated some cupcakes....

freya has discovered the joy of climbing into things....

i've just started reading an hilarious book a friend lent me "poser - a mother's life in twenty three yoga poses" by claire dederer. i have to say she has described motherhood for me down to a tee! now, i usually don't like it when people read out aloud or write long slabs from books,but i'll have to make an exception here...


claire writes: "we, the mothers of north seattle, were consumed by trying to do everything right. breast-feeding was simply the first item in a long, abstruse to-do list: cook organic food, buy expensive wooden toys.... sleep with your child in bed, ensure that your house is toxin free,... carry your child in a sling, make your own baby food,... don't quit your job. but be sure to agonise about it... also, don't forget to recycle."


as I sit here typing with my cup of tea with bio-dynamic, unhomogonised milk (i am unable to get raw milk in this neck of the woods!), eating my organic sourdough smothered in organic butter and honey and looking over at my lacto-fermenting home grown (must i even mention the word 'organic') beetroot, admiring my children's drawings done in natural honey bees wax crayons, i realise i have well and truly jumped on the organic bandwagon and the twenty-first century of style motherhood for women having children in their thirties... i stand by what i am doing, i don't feel that it is just a trendy thing to do. however, i do find claire's descriptions easy to relate to, obviously accurate, and really very funny. i totally enjoy motherhood (most of the time) and looking at the funny side of it. however, i must remind myself not to take everything tooooo seriously and not to feel guilty of my kids eat 'processed food' every now and then and that i draw the line at cloth nappies (no way can i go there!)   xx

messing about in boats

it was a beautiful winter's day yesterday - calm, freezing but sunny - perfect for boating. we set off from rye jetty, slight panic setting in when the boat didn't start, but eventually we got going (not so much out on the open seas... just in port phillip bay). we headed to out to the heads and checked out quarantine, looked for some seals and then headed back just as Freya fell asleep and the the sea fog set in. a perfect day really...


Captain Finn and his Deckie, Freya...  xx