merry crimbo folks

Merry Christmas all, 

In the background, the boys are cooking up a nut loaf vegetarian roast Christmas dinner, I have a berry pie in the oven and am going to whip Nutella cream, there are root vegies roasting, whisky and egg nog in our glasses - all is well. It is strange to be away from my dear family and friends for this day of celebration and merriment, I missed you all more when I woke this morning, but creating our own little Christmas was fun and sweet. 

Lovely wishes to everyone, I hope your days were filled with beautiful people, connection, reflection and generosity. Much love, Caitlin xx

christmas is 'a comin

There's something about fields of waist-deep powder, decorating log cabins with thick icing, deforming shapes into Doctor Seuss landscapes - it just feels Christmassy. Hearing the soft woof of drifts falling from the eaves, boots sinking past their cuffs in snow, darkness falling at 4.30pm. Today, a home day, just two days shy of Christmas, I spent the morning elving, cleaning, creating a wreath and baking barefoot in the cosy kitchen, listening to the croonings carols of Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. Cloves on the radiator, baked banana muffins and the tree make the house smell wonderful. This is my favourite time of year. 

musings...

sometimes I feel lost in my own head, I haven't yet learned to tame the thoughts making devlish merry in my mind. I tend to find myself drowning in waves of emotionally charged thoughts and start finding things to blame and fault. I guess it's just a human trait.
In these moments, which have been a little too frequent lately, I try to remember what it is that i feel best doing, I remind myself what an amazing place I'm in and that I have lovely folks surrounding me.
Once I take the time to ground myself, It's as if my 'real' self is laughing, saying 'what on earth were you fretting about?' but then a few hours later I feel the same again.
I am so lucky, writing it down helps me to remember that, but this trip has thrown me headlong into a new world, a new whirl. I suddenly have to be a sole person, alone at times, managing my life all by myself. And it has been much easier than I thought, but sometimes I forget that I'm still little 19 year old me and I can let myself feel vulnerable sometimes.

I don't need to remind myself how lucky and supported I am, but I am allowed to have days of missing home, friends, family, boyfriend, house, bed, chickens, dog, neighbours, smells of gum trees.

Just writing these words has alleviated all my down feelings.
Also a little trip back to the start of my blog was just lovely, memories of blissful Irish times.


love

I promise I'll be back with a more interesting post soon ;)

a donation

friends, from one blogger to the next, i encourage you to donate to this family. 

a blogger i follow regularly posted about her friend's family in need, and any small donation helps. 

there is a huge giveaway attached to it, as well!

here's the link!

love and merry christmas, back soon x

light and words

words: I will write about a series of lovely separate days 

Courtenay: it is a gorgeous day. i let my mind fill itself, let the Autumn sun leach in and bloom. 

i go straight into the cold morning, bare my bed-warm feet and let the sodden maple leaves cling, my breath thick and foggy. the light through the red and gold leaves excites me, childhood christmas excitement, my fingers jittering. we are at Janet's house, millet and quinoa porridge is soaking as i wait for elsie to wake, the glacier in the distance is still hiding, but it's there. 

we were having a goat day, a slow day, a nothing day. 

Vancouver: writing. a day alone, i enjoy a slow morning with eggs. the blue sky seems bluer against the october leaves, tiny black birds form a murmuration way up high. the crisp air seeps not unpleasantly through my wool layers. I have opted for a merry ensemble of yellow and blue wool items. vampire weekend is my bus ride playlist, this is a jolly morning. i bounce straight to Revolver for coffee, hands-down best cup that has crossed my lips since leaving melbourne. the room fills in waves, spilling off the sun-drenched street to perfect their morning with a fresh brew. tartan shirts and beards fill cup after cup, smooth and sure. the record player (yes) spins nostalgia tunes and the bench files with coffee-of-the-day. familiar and inspiring at the same time, raw wood and glass, the hiss of boiled water steaming hard. pleasant men in plaid shirts swiftly craft coffee, smooth and practised. i settle with my latte, computer open on the grainy-wood booth table, a bit of journalling, then i begin to let my words flow thickly from my fingers. I'm buzzing with creative juice, burning with thoughts too fast and exciting for my mind to stew, it's warm and humming in here, a hundred words cross paths over my head in a noisy map. the thrum is a comfort, a blanket to fold myself under, safe. everyone is happy today, the sun is out, coffee is hot and the crisp mountains cut fresh against the bluer than blue sky. i remember this morning. the 25th of the tenth.

8.23am

waking to a wedge on the curtain, 

a slab of light against the grainy calico, creamy and mesmerising through woken eyes.

familiar limbs stir as i turn over, warm skin to skin. 

- (an excerpt from a bigger poem for dad's birthday, changed slightly)

Gabriola: slept a little late, the sky is sharp with blue, elsie and i brave the frosted deck barefoot. tiny birds whisper in the stillness. a day for happenings. 

getting sleepy, i'll write more on Gabriola and Courtenay and life soon. x

almost glad we took the wrong ferry...

hello there!
i have been slack, admittedly. but i hope you know it's only because i've been living very busily.
I have been in beautiful Vancouver, swept away by their wonderful cafes and coffee (a recurring theme, ahem), stunning views which i haven't yet had a clear day as well my camera with me, but go ahead and google image it, a fun share-house to live and cook and sleep in, good food, brilliant autumn colour and hallowe'en merriment. also there is organic food everywhere and everyone carries a yoga mat on their back, whether just as an accessory or a real lifestyle, i don't mind. go to Vancouver. now.

These photos are on the (wrong) ferry we took to Vancouver Island. we just took the wrong one to Victoria instead of Nanaimo, but the result was passing slowly and wonderfully through the channel full of Gulf Islands covered in mist and soft colour.

so yummy. I'll be back soon. x

st. johns coffee

Ahhh... I never realised that a town with good coffee suddenly becomes a wonderful town. 

Elsie and I spent a lot of chilly morning and afternoons in the various hip coffee joints in St. Johns, Newfoundland. I only became a coffee drinker this year and already I'm a fussy one, I guess that comes from starting your coffee life in Melbourne. 

Our favourites were: 

Rocket - a cool organic food, handmades and coffee place on water st.

Fixed - great blueberry muffins and hot cider and coffee (of course) on duckworth st. (where these photos were taken)

It was lovely after a long walk in the cold and wind or a boring day of planning to just cozy up in amongst the groovy cafe dwellers and sweet music and fill our bellies with milky goodness. Ah, we did spend a LOT of time in cafes, and why not?

(sending thoughts to all those in Sandy's path)

knit

absent

sorry for my absence, I've been at the Celtic Colours International Festival on Cape Breton Island. What an amazing week, but oh dear i am tired. There was lots of merriment, food and much music, and a lot of knitting. The Autumn hillsides are breathtaking, feral apple trees are laden, we had every kind of weather - hail, gales, sun and snow! And we found home, i feel we will always be welcome here. So lovely to have made many new friends and connections, they are a lovely bunch, those Cape Bretoners! 

Off to Newfoundland now...

Finding Common Ground

Oh, Common Ground Fair.
We had a ball. Barefoot contra dancing, hot apple cider on frosty mornings, fried wholewheat dough with real maple syrup and so, so much friendliness and good food! We were volunteering in the childrens' tent, making pasta necklaces and felt zombie vegetables all day, then knitting on the grass watching bands and drinking root beer. I had a lovely chat with my dear blogging inspiration Soulemama and chatted to the other Taproot folk.
It was cold, though. i could hardly move for the layers i had on! first frost of the autumn.
And somehow, i managed to not buy any wool from the fibre tent, go figure!

back soon

Portlandia

We stayed on a boat in Portland, Maine, we did. It was lovely to meet new people, eat homemade icecream and knit in good cafes waiting for the rain to pass.
Lunch at Duckfat, yum... so much good food in Portland, ME. We mucked about with the word magnets as we waited, and then some. Dinner at Flatbread Pizza Co. we had an absolute darling of a waiter, and a delicious dinner. There seems to be a big emphasis on locally grown, ethically produced and handmade in Portland. And good coffee.
KnitWit yarn store was beautiful, i bought enough Cascade Ecological wool to make a jumper in a warm brown. Shopping at fresh food co-ops, Standard Baking Co is the best bakery i've ever been to, and i worked in two! Root beer is my new addiction!
We also met the dear Carrie from Quince and Co, what a lovely friend, she showed us around the airy Quince office, chatted for a while about wool and travelling and other things.
On our last night we had dinner at Local Sprouts cafe and then grabbed our fiddles and joined an old-timey session for a few hours.
Portland, thank you. you were a hoot!