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Braidwood: Where all is well

Braidwood really is one of those ideal little towns where you can feel like you are living in the pages of Country Style magazine, or other romanticised vision of country living. Full of boutique shops and cafes, Canberra’s well-to-do & hipsty crowd can feel quite at home here. It reminds me a lot of Bellingen up in Northern, NSW and it might be headed in that direction. Like Bellingen it has resisted instating many of the chain stores and this adds to its charm and ‘authenticity’ (though when a Mill goes from being a Mill to a guest house – well, the only thing authentic about it is its architecture).

Being a Canberran, I love Braidwood with all its quaint stone buildings and expensive stores, not that I can afford much of it these days, but it’s nice to window shop, my husband, coming from Country NSW does find it a bit trite and inauthentic as a country town, but there can be no denying its picturesqueness and beauty as a place to stay for a few days.

And so stay we did, my family and I, we managed to get all bar two (which is a good effort when there are a total 19 heads to round up) into the Braidwood Mill, which ended up being a great base for our venue and it worked out well this time around, but is realistically just a tad too small for our large family.

Braidwood proved the perfect wind down post Christmas, where we could spend time eating good food, walking off our Christmas indulgences, patronising our favourite Braidwood bakery, and carousing over a late night game of Articulate – which is just the funniest game to play with my family.

We made new discoveries like an exercise park which was as good for the adults as for the kids, a new swimming hole where we found (but did not take) large, freshwater mussels and spend a good couple of hours and I roamed the back streets of Braidwood discovering pokey old cottages at 5.30 in the morning.

I have a deep love for my family and investing in times like this is just so good. Of course my sister-in-law and her new little one were missed, but as we all grow and stretch out into our own paths coming back together now and again cements our place and who we are.

I keep coming back to the photo of me and my siblings, it amazes me how who we are is so different to who we were, we have all chosen such varying paths, in the mix we have a Horticulturalist, Photographer, Artist/Apprentice Chef, Accountant, Textile Artist/Children’s author/designer and Soldier. Some are frisbie mad, others into the family way, most of us are mad about traveling and if we haven’t yet traveled far we at least want to. Lovers of language, history and philosophy, books, art and music, good food, wine, beer, cider and every single type of cheese you can throw at us, board games, nature, good architecture. When we come together we know we can indulge in the things we love.

January 10, 2014
Christmas with family

Belated, but here it is for the record.

These picture are not the most attractive of everyone, but pictures like this are not about everyone’s individual attractiveness, they are a document of relationship. If I could only tell you the back story behind these photos, the memories they conjure up for me are (in order) 1. Lighthearted and fun. 2. Painful. 3. Refreshing.

I hate to be so honest, but this was one of the more painful Christmas gatherings I have had the privilege of being a part of with my family, for a great number of conjugating reasons, Just a few days later, however, we spent some time together in beautiful Braidwood and it was warm and comfortable and meaningful and bonding, just as we are usually.

I think I understand (though have to re-remember sometimes) that pain can be a good thing. Things get purged, stuff comes out into the open and then we move past it, we forgive, we forget, we take things on board, we might change, hopefully there is little trust lost along the way. Perhaps more objectivity is gained and once the serious stuff is all aired out to dry we open up a bottle and get merry and laugh about it all – just to remind ourselves that what seems so serious is not that grave and in fact the things of love and beauty and friendship and cheer and togetherness are more important than opinions or inner turmoil or overwhelming emotions that come and go or slips of the tongue. And that, in fact, we are more than what this mortality restricts us too.

January 7, 2014
Wedding Photos

Coming up, a collaboration with florist friend Alicea of Lily Grace Flowers, based in Canberra, ACT, with the most exquisite floral arrangements I have yet seen for a wedding. It was a lot of fun putting this together and I’ve had such a good time shooting and editing these it’s really got me thinking about kickstarting my photography business for good now, especially as my daughter will be going to school this year (something which will hopefully give me a little more time.)

Enjoy the preview, I’m nearly done editing and the full shebang will be up in just a wee while!

(Florist, hair stylist and dresses will be all fully credited in the full version!)

January 5, 2014
Camping at Christmas

Our Summer holidays camping, in which my hair bleached many shades lighter, we bonded with wildlife, relaxed in our new/old tent, read books, fried in the sun, adopted our summer skins,tried fishing, collected a couple of mussels, explored rock pools, ate only the foods we liked, welcomed cousins/family, went blueberry picking on a sweltering summer’s day in which my bag strap melted onto my top, drove down dusty roads, discovered elfin rain forest from the Gondwanan era & just enjoyed being a family all together and also, importantly, on our own, just us.

January 3, 2014
Shanghaied by Life

I don’t know if you ever feel like this, but there are times I have the bizarre sensation of being here…but not really. It’s like I have been kidnapped by life, that all the options which are possibly available to one human being have been funneled down, leaving me with just a few.

I laugh at the fate which has brought me here. The choices and options which have become limits and directions. It is like I am observing my life from outside myself. The me which hides deep inside this body and is shrouded by a personality which I did not choose, rolls her eyes sometimes at the blatant irony of life and at other times in utter frustration at life’s thwarting efforts…such as the constant interruptions of children…the reactions of friends and family…the allocations of money and opportunity.

I mean of course there are some things that we choose, but there is so much more that we do not. Consider; I did not choose my place of birth, my ancestors, my parents, my family, my body type, my children, my in-laws, my health predispositions, my personality, my neighbours, my natural talents, in many ways I did not choose my friends or even spouse as, in a sense, I selected these based on who was around me at the time, which was the most attractive option here, having chosen out of a limited bunch it is then my choice to build the relationship…or not. Of course I have choices; over my eating, my spending, which talents I choose to build on, choosing things like compassion, understanding, gentleness, discretion, love etc. etc.

When the tickets were going for auction did I choose this place and time myself for my arrival on this planet, or was it chosen for me?

There’s an acknowledgement in this that I am beyond this time and space, as I believe we all are. When I think about it that is the only thing that makes sense. We laugh at life as if it is one of the biggest jokes that we a) have the jiggly bodies we have, b) live where we live, c) struggle financially the way we do or d) do whatever it is that we do. It is all an acknowledgement that our value resides in a place beyond the circumstances, the physical limitations and the restrictions of personality which our existence here has thrust upon us.

When I see people taking life too seriously, when I myself take life too seriously, when people quite freely judge other people without any sense of their true worth, taking into account only the fragments that they themselves can see, well, it’s all a bit superficial, it fails to see the other person as more than what is seen.

The truth is that I don’t understand myself a lot of the time – let alone others – and I often wish so much that I had other dispositions, but what more can I do but laugh at this great joke which is life. Laugh and make the best of it, as we all must do, whether we are the poorest of the poor or the richest of the rich, the best, the greatest, the sickest, the healthiest, the most talented. All we can do is make the best of it and together make the most of this wild and messy life.

November 14, 2013
Keren and Child

There are some women who just do pregnant really well and my friend, Keren, is one of them, so I just had to take some photos of her shortly before the birth of her second child, Dulcie. Just see for yourself…

November 11, 2013
Mulberries

The Mulberries are in season in Young and we have been gorging ourselves daily. I can never understand those fad diets that exclude fruit. I mean…look at this! A tree bursting with fruit just cries out to be eaten. It is just plain common sense. I have been a fruit eater all my life and fruit is good. I have a healthy appreciation for all things fruit. Mm, Yum.

Eating fruit straight from the tree is a simple pleasure that is one of life’s luxuries. I am so thankful to my in-laws for planting these rows of fruit trees, they had a thought to the future and we are the benefactors.

This was a happy moment in our day, the kind of moment I relish as a family. I love being together but not…if you know what I mean. We are together enjoying some things, say the outdoors, the weather, food but we are also separately, happily interdependently, enjoying our own things. Sophia munching mulberries, Gunther having an outside bath and hubby and I watching and delighting/working on the bus. All happy, all together, but also enjoying the world around us, the kids gaining independence and learning to enjoy their own company, which is so important.

On the bus side of things we have made much tangible progress. Three bathroom walls are in, still wrapped in plastic (we can’t wait for the great unveiling and hope the colours all work together), and not shown here, one of the kid’s bunk walls are in along with the bottom bunk’s framing.

November 2, 2013
Mittagong

On my last visit to Canberra I took a day out to drive to Mittagong to visit my Grandma. She lives in a very spick and span house on the outskirts of the town. The great boon of the day was driving with my sister the two hours to get there, it was so nice to just be able to chat with her for a couple of hours.

It was also awesome to pop into the Sturt Gallery where my friend, Haeli, has a residency where she is sculpting some giant beasties. I love her artwork. This woman! Somehow she manages to undertake huge artworks whilst having the most chilled out of babies as her constant companion. I am in awe. That was a skill I was never quite able to muster, being perhaps more highly strung…? I don’t know. It is hard to examine oneself. All I know is that this mum does it well and all I can do is admire it from afar.

October 31, 2013
Drawing Together

Being a sick mummy, with sick kiddies I got out of mum’s house for a lie down on the oval.

A fruit picnic, organised by Sophia,

Was followed by some drawing.

Here is moi, complete with 10 finger and 10 toes…and a belly button. She made sure to get my ‘straight’ hair right, and there are rain drops over my head.

Here is Gunny with his characteristically wild hair.

And an accidental selfie which I am including because not many photos of me make it onto the blog – that’s called being a mum for you.

October 10, 2013
Tidbinbilla

For a very long time I’ve been wanting to make the easy and stunning drive down to Tidbinbilla in Australia’s Capital Territory. Not just Tidbinbilla, but the entire surrounding landscape is one of my favourites. Nearby Corin Forest is the stomping ground of the new-ish festival of Corinbank, and when it is not hosting said festival it is a popular family picnicking spot with a cafe, flying fox, toboggan ride and water slide with kangaroos and the odd bit of wildlife moseying about.

Namadgi is a hop, skip and a jump away as well. The harsh beauty of Namadgi guts me every time and I can barely speak when I see it. It is a striking contrast to the groomed and tame city of Canberra. All I can do is absorb. There is a haunting loneliness to Namadgi. The ancestors of the original Australians seem to hang here, at least I feel it and it’s not very scientific or logical, is it, but who can really judge?

As my dad says in all his wisdom: ‘we know nothing.’

Anyway. Tidbinbilla: Finally we jumped into the car and had an all too short visit to this great ‘animal park’ as we were calling it. After a bit of traipsing around we were rewarded with many an animal sighting. After the Emus and Kangaroos at the park, the elegant Brolgas were our first find, stalking about on their long, crane like legs – in fact they are Cranes, Australia’s only one. After reading Olga the Brolga by Rod Clement I am a fan of this bird. Next up were many birds: Magpie Geese, Australian White Ibis, Water Hens, two very large Pelicans who were sunning themselves on rocks in the middle of the lake, a Red-Belly Black Snake, many lizards and a water dragon and most exciting were two – two! sightings of the shy and very elusive Platypus (whose name has no confirmed plural), the very first real live platypus I have every seen.

October 8, 2013