Back.

I'm freshly returned from my short trip to visit my family....a bittersweet mix of new pregnant bellies, gorgeous neices and nephews, and the sad loss of an old friend...

Having never lost anyone close to me before, I am reeling a little, but now that I am back in my own house again, it is clear that everything still goes on, despite the part of us that would live in the past and mull over memories......

And so, my first Completed Project, for my neice that heals my heart....

Unfortunately, getting active little girls to pose in new dresses is pretty much impossible, so you'll have to just take my word for it that she looks VERY cute wearing it....

The other benefit of family visits is country op shops..... of which I take full advantage when in that part of the world.....

Thrifted vintage trim - yards and yards of it, for $5 a card.....

A big haul of 80's enamel earrings, probably destined for Ebay....

A few books to expand my collection of Golden Hands - brilliant craft books from the 70's with kitsch instructions for all sorts of macrame, patchwork, applique, and knitted delights....!!

A handbag that gives true meaning to the term Plastic Fantastic!!!!

And then, on arriving home on a cold, rainy night, there was a much anticipated package from Superbuzzy, containing my Japanese Straight Stitch Dresses book.....

Full to the brim of lovely frocks I'm dying to make......

If only I can figure out the instructions..... all in Japanese!

Perhaps it's the last few days, being immersed in loss, but I find I have a huge desire to create something, to make something new and beautiful to put out into the world, I am always amazed by the way a realisation of mortality can motivate in ways that no other feeling can.... it's a strange mixture of recognising the futile and embracing the terribly important - a rearranging of prioroties, if you will....

I think that in our regular, busy lives, the time to reflect on such matters can be all too easily lost, and it's times like these that offer us a chance to reclaim that.... Without wanting to sound like an Oprah-esque self help guru, the last few days have made me realise that I am lucky, that my life contains a lot of special things, and my regrets are few and far between.... a good place to find yourself, methinks.....