point + shoot: return to ythanbrae

This past weekend we travelled back to our old stomping ground in the beautiful Murrindindi valley. It was oh so bittersweet - I actually got excited going to the crappy overpriced little supermarket I used to loathe and Mr M thought I was a total freak (not unjustified). But here in overpopulated Gippsland I never run into anyone I know in the supermarket, I used to spend at least three times longer than needed as I'd run into old Mrs whats-her-name in aisle five in Yea and chinwag about last week's cattle prices. 

We stayed with dear friends in their amazing home, who I used to nanny for and Mr M bred some (pretty awesome if I do say so myself) embryo transfer calves for. The weekend was full of great friends, great local wine, great memories, great organic meals, great house which I secretly want to move in to. A new pony for the boys, who had both grown a foot! Some silage bale jumping in the sunshine, admiring new art purchases and some beautiful looking heifers at Ythanbrae.

Enough words...as always pictures say more.

How was your weekend? Playing along with Lou's point + shoot.

Images by Emma Durkin for Cinderella at Brindabella

power up png

You might remember that last year Mr M and I travelled to Papua New Guinea to visit friends who had just moved there with their two girls (and now new addition third girl). 

We got to explore PNG a bit and live in the community with the lovely locals of Gusap, in between Lae and Madang. We loved every minute (and really want to go back asap!) 

Recently though it was brought to my attention that the local hospital at Gusap no longer has power. What? I hear you say. A hospital with no power? I know. The Gusap Health Centre services roughly about 20,000 people in the Ramu Valley, most have moved to the area to gain employment in agriculture (sugar, palm and beef). The hospital this year couldn't afford to pay their power bill...and so subsequently their electricity was cut off. As you can imagine a hospital without electricity is quite the problem. And this was in February. 

Since then they have been 'making do' - moving beds into rooms with more light. There is a delivery room for women to have their babies but it has no windows, so now this is where the babies are being born...

If a baby comes at night, they simply deliver it my the light of their mobile phones.

My friend, Ange, who lives at Gusap discovered the hospital's crisis and set about finding out what she could do. The power company agreed that if $5000 were raised they would turn the power back on. So this is our goal. I swiftly offered to set up a facebook page with information, how to donate and we are in the midst of trying to organise a fundraising auction night to be held on Sunday 30th October. 

Head to Power Up PNG Hospital facebook page for more information - and if you would like to donate any goods it would be greatly appreciated, simply email me at ellaatbella@gmail.com. Little Miss Emma has got some things up on the auction, we will be updating the album as we receive donations. 

Stay tuned, I will keep you all posted on our fundraising efforts.

point + shoot: garden splendour

This weekend I could hear my garden waking up, stretching and blinking into the early Spring sunshine. 

My favourite Avon View lavender, which I grew so abundantly at the cottage, is starting to peek through the winter fog of my Gippsland garden...

Endless Summer hydrangeas (also transplanted from the cottage) which I thought I had sent to an early grave with a harsh Autumn prune are proving me wrong...

Eggs abound at Brindabella at the moment...

Daffodils are trumpeting after their winter hibernation...

And we came away from visiting generous friends (who are living the dream) laden with their yummy produce.

Life is good.

Playing along with Lou at sunny + scout.

Images by Emma Durkin for Cinderella at Brindabella

point + shoot: the one with the sponge

The weekend brought some dear fellow farming friends to Brindabella. Since moving further south we don't see Tyler and Kate nearly as much, which really is shameful, but a five hour drive is hard to slot in sometimes. It was Kate's birthday on Friday so a cake was in order. I asked her during the week if she had a preference for a type of cake. The reply? A sponge. A sponge! To her credit she had no idea they were quite the tricky cake to perfect (and I had never made one before) and when she found out about my fluster over room temperature eggs and triple sifting dry ingredients she felt terrible! I, however, absolutely outdid myself in the Masterchef ranks though, even if I do so say myself. As luck would have it when I was flipping through last week's Weekly Times I came across a recipe submitted by one of our old neighbours at Ythanbrae: 'never fail sponge'. And fail it did not. Thanks Denise!

The rest of the weekend was filled with far too much farmer and wedding talk, garden walks and thinking about whether things in my garden at Brindabella would work up in the dry north west of the state. We went to see the church where we are getting married, pegged out the marquee size on the site where it will go, went for a drive to find an elusive canola crop we could see on a nearby hill, took Kate for bridesmaid dress fittings (!!!!!) and general mass cheese, quince paste and beetroot dip eating followed by a lamb roast and washed down with a bottle (or three) of Larnoo red talking about the inevitable: The Future. That pesky thing.

A serious case of Mondayitis ensued today. Great, great friends. Feeling blessed to have them in our lives and our future, no matter what that might bring xxx

Head over to Lou's to play point + shoot with me. 

Images by Emma Durkin for Cinderella at Brindabella

the darwin wedding

I'm baaack....refreshed, relaxed and a little bit browner. Ok maybe not more relaxed, it seems I may just need a holiday from the holiday?! I don't think I've drunk so much, eaten so much, talked so much in one week then the one I've just had. Lots of great friends in a great place having a great time.

And the wedding? Well the wedding was amazing. Fun, relaxed, just like the happy couple wanted with all their nearest and dearest in the tropical sun to celebrate with them.

Mr M and I had a blast hitting the Mindil Beach Markets with mates, going on a sunset cruise with the rest of the bridal party (as a surprise to the bride and myself!) and exploring Litchfield National Park where we discovered the most beautiful waterfalls, went on a few walks and found some great secluded swimming spots away from the tourist crowds.

Oh yeah and I totally rocked it as Maid of Honour for all of those wondering - lovely in lemon, frocked out in frangipani's and with an impromptu speech to boot. Sorry I don't have more photos of the actual wedding but well, I was busy! 

Holiday over. Boo! Back to work I guess, far far away from the tropics. Reality bites.

Images by Emma Durkin for Cinderella at Brindabella and some by my friend Tegan - thanks! :)

a quilt for pepe

Our friends recently welcomed their third precious little girl into the world, a babe with a head of dark hair and adored by her two big sisters. They named her Penelope Rose, or 'Pepe' for short. And I made her a quilt.

One of my new years resolutions was to make a cot sized free motion quilt (inspired by the likes of Corrie). Well I couldn't find the needle to exactly work with my machine for some free motion action, and seeing as though I was fairly new to this whole quilting game I thought I'd play it safe with some straight lines.

I'd attempted some quilts before, all have been unfinished and some even disastrous attempts at 'stitching in the ditch' (what was I thinking?!) This quilt had to be unisex as our friends weren't finding out the sex of their third bambino. I chose some organic cotton solids and funky jungle inspired prints of bright hippos and giraffes, seeing as though this family actually do live in the jungles of Papua New Guinea. 

I made strips of various blocks the width of a standard cot size, then sewed them altogether until I reached the required length. I backed the quilt with a simple linen and quilted using a contrasting white thread. I tried to keep the quilting as simple as possible with a 1/4 stitch each side of the horizontal seams.

Once I was finished quilting I must admit I was running seriously short on time before I was going to visit Miss Pepe - so I hotfooted it over to my mum's armed with the quilt and some white bias binding. I knew Mum could bind the quilt in half the time it would take me, and with about a thousand times the quality of craftmanship. Thanks Mum!

Ok so my first (finished) quilt isn't perfect, there's a few bumps and bruises, but it's handmade and I think that makes all the difference. Doesn't it?? It's made with love, a fair few hours of cutting and pinning, as well as a few choice words when I was quilting it all together and stuffed it up a few times! But mostly love.

I hope Pepe likes her quilt and gets to snuggle it, roll and play on it. I had fun making it for her :)

Have you been making anything lately of the quilting variety? Are you a quilting novice like myself, a seasoned pro from way back or have you just dipped your toe in ever so slightly?

Images by Emma Durkin for Cinderella at Brindabella

monty turns six

Once upon a time I lived in a wee little cottage, I was (and still am) a photographer, a livestock assistant / steer wrangler / calf puller / embryo transfer-er / ute-horn-blower / motorbike navigator / vaccine injector / horse-riding-hooligan / chef / maid to Mr M, and also a nanny to one busy little boy who lived over the hill (and often his way-too-cool-for-school big brother would join us too). We would spend our days on the hills of Ythanbrae, making forts and BMX tracks through the mud, having picnics with Lily, races on the silage bales and baking up a storm in the tiny cottage kitchen. I still have the recipe in my recipe journal: 'Emma and Monty's Perfected Cupcakes'. We had those cupcakes down pat I tells ya. I taught him to crack an egg and he taught me not to be scared of roosters and the big drake that would flap and quack at me getting the eggs. ("Don't be scared Emmmmaaahh, he's a friendly little fella!") We were a team.

I started looking after Monty when he was just a teeny tiny three year old, then he went off to kinder and I would pick him up three times a week laden with his paintings of tractors and 'them big cheeky bulls' and his half eaten honey sandwiches. We would toddle off down the main street of Yea for a hot chocolate (for Monty) and a latte (for me), and everybody we passed knew us and shouted out and waved to us. We were an entity - Emmaandmonty. Then he would fall asleep exhausted on the way home and I would let him snooze whilst we waited for the school bus and his big brother. Then we moved to Brindabella, and Monty went off to school and became a big boy. And this week he turns six. How does that even happen? He still seems like the cheeky little two year old I met for the first time at a bull sale, itching to get in the ring with his Dad. 

One thing is for sure, Monty-moo loves tractors. The bigger the better (I really hope he still believes it's 'Massive Ferguson' not 'Massey Ferguson' haha) So for his birthday this year I whipped up a John Deere inspired long sleeve shirt (for those chilly Yea nights) and a cushion for his bed out of a quilting block I had stashed away in my sewing room for such an occasion.

Happy birthday to my main man Monty, I miss your guts out you little ratbag xxx

Pssst....my survey is still going until the end of the week if you want to join in - there are only 10 questions, mostly multiple choice and I would love the feedback! Thanks :)


Images by Emma Durkin for Cinderella at Brindabella

things made for saskia

My friends little girl turns two soon, she was heavily pregnant when the Black Saturday fires ripped through our community. Can't believe it has been two years since the fires, and since Sassy came into the world! Seems like yesterday and forever ago all at the same time. Sassy is the most gorgeous little red head, with a mum who hates pink for her girls, so I thought this blue number would fit the bill nicely.

I have gone a bit ruffle mad lately, originally I wanted to make a little shift dress with a ruffle down the length of it, but like most of my sewing escapades I ended up with something totally different! Whoops.

Please excuse the terrible photos with Mr M's little point and shoot digital camera, as I said yesterday, my camera is away at the hospital at the moment :(

wide open spaces

Amanda over at Calico & Co. is going to attempt to do one thing off a list of 55 things this year. One which appealed to me was to write a favourite scripture on your mirror. I want to get one of those chalkboard white thick pens to do that to my mirror which is standing upright in our bedroom (remember it used to be above our mantlepiece in the cottage?).  In this case though I thought I'd have a crack at all of those photos you see on flickr and tumblr and weheartit with scripture or quotes. This photo really resonated with me, and my favourite verse from Jeremiah seemed fitting.

 

Between Christmas and New Year we headed north. A whole five hour drive north now we live way down here. Our friends up in the Mallee were (still are) harvesting their wheat crop, and Mr M loves nothing more than to jump in the header for hours on end. Crazy much?! Grass is always greener I say, or in this case the wheat is always calling him and if he sat in a header for too long the green hills and spud dirt back here would be calling him too. I can tell he is already missing his Angus and Charolais of Ythanbrae when so many times he would come storming into the cottage from a bad day in the yards swearing that he hated cattle and wanted to farm sheep.

The beauty of the area around Boort always captures me at this time of year, the wide open plains of cropping and stubble, big skies, glorious sunsets and starry, starry nights. It all seems very Australian and I love it. Tyler and Matt spend all day and basically all night harvesting whilst Kate and I have endless cups of tea, made yummy caramlised bananas, lunches and dinners to pack up and take to the boys out in the paddock. Dinner delivery is at an amazing time of day and I was only too snap happy with the beautiful light.

  

P.S. Notice the new blog header? What do you think? I have a feeling I may just miss my chippy flaky paint on the ramshackle farmhouse when we paint it...

P.P.S. I love the photo of Mr M and his best man Tyler above, working together, mateship.

shirt dresses for pikininnies

I have finally been able to unpack my sewing machine and actually made some things recently, which made me feel like a half organised human again until I realised the actual mess I make when I do any sewing. No matter, the end result I was fairly pleased with so that's a bonus.

I wanted to make some little Christmas presents for my friends little girls, they live in Papua New Guinea you see (we went to visit them last year) and the little pikininnies need some long sleeve, elastic cuff, long kaftan type tops to wear at night with leggings to avoid getting malaria. I have been meaning to make these for aaaaaaages (like a year!) but had not found the right pattern, I bought this one, pulled out some fabric I knew my friend had said she liked before and kind of just made it up as I went along so it turned out a bit different actually. The first one I made was the brown floral one, and the sleeves I realised would be about 3/4 length, so I lengthened the ones for her big sister. They were quite billowy and loose, probably good for the hot sticky weather but I added a belt to funkify them a little. Some ribbon through the neck casing and voila!

Two little shirt dresses ready to go! My mannequin is a size 1-2 so the bigger one on the right looked a little baggy on it.

the rains

{ image }

Last night Mr M put a phone call in to our friends up in the Mallee - his best man and one of my bridesmaids - after the weatherman told us there was 54mm of rain in Boort. It was actually more like 100mm. In one day. Devastating.

After ten long hard years of drought this years crops were looking fantastic, only to be ruined by the irony of rain. My heart breaks for farming families and communities that have done it so tough through the drought and now this. Today they are forecasting another downpour in the north west.

our engagement

Our engagement party last weekend was exactly how I had imagined it in my mind to be: a beautiful sunny Spring day on the rolling lawns of Mr M's parents property, lots of kids running about, a few glasses of champagne, all of our very nearest and dearest in one place. Bliss.




Top: My sisters Louise and Creina, my brother Kelly and me.
Middle: Mr M and I
Bottom: The scene on the lawn

We only wanted something very small and casual, it seemed it was either that or a full-blown engagement party with 130 people. No thank-you. Plus, Mr M's parents have just put their property on the market for sale, it is the only home Mr M has ever known and is beyond tranquil and beautiful, we wanted to share that with my family as well.

To their credit all members of our immediate family except for my 88 year old grandmother attended, my sister and brother-in-law and two girls all the way from Brisbane and my brother and sister-in-law and their two girls made the drive down from Wodonga. Mr M's best man Tyler and his wife Kate (one of my bridesmaids) did the five hour drive from the Mallee also, despite locust plague threats and harvest busyness. Having all of these special people there was incredibly important to us and we appreciated the effort enormously.




Top left: My nieces Chloe and Charlotte in their very cute pink tutus and grey leggins ensembles.
Top right: Bridesmaid Kate and Best Man Tyler.
Middle left: My sister Louise and my brother Kelly.
Middle right: My niece Ava chasing her sister Scarlett around the trees.
Bottom left: Mr M's nephew Ethan enjoying his fruit salad.
Bottom right: My sister-in-law Mandy taking the girls down the creek for a look.

 Mr M and his trusty brother Geoff were on barbeque duty (and did a fabulous job I might add) whilst myself, Mr M's mum and my mum made salads, dips, fruit salad and cheesecake dessert. Nom nom nom...so much food! The kids all got along well, my nieces don't see each other very often so it can be a bit full on when they do, and poor Laura (Mr M's niece) is incredibly shy and was a bit blown over by the crazy four strange girls descending on her grandparents! Mr M's nephew Ethan slept through most of the day and woke up with all these strangers, poor little fella. Some fruit salad under a tree soon fixed that.



Top left: My sister Louise with Mr M's groomsman Mika, sporting a nice Movember moustache!
Top right: Ava and her dad Russell
Middle left: Ava and Gracie the dog.
Middle right: My niece Scarlett
Bottom: Cupcakes made by me!

The weather could not have been more perfect, after a drizzly morning and me stressing about jamming everybody inside, but still adament I would be wearing my dress rain or no rain! Ah the dress, I am in love with it, fits like a glove and was perfect for the occassion. The very talented Peppermint Milk made it for me, with a pretty vintage floral bodice, high waist skirt in a minty green and scallop detail on the neckline.

Our generous family got us an assortment of trees for our new home at Brindabella, delivered to Mr M's parents by a tree farm up the road (and where Mr M used to work as a teenager). We got a beautiful big crapapple, an ornamental pear, an orange tree and some westringia bushes, all perfect for my cottage garden we are trying to build.

Mr M's sister wrote us a beautiful poem which she read out, and my brother said some very lovely words welcoming Mr M into our family. Overall the whole day made us feel extremely loved, supported and excited about planning our wedding and our future together with both of our families....xxx

P.S. Sorry these photo sizes, margins and sidebar are not working for me...the whole blog is in a bit of disarray! Hold tight until I fix it up :)

P.P.S. Go here to see some other lovely pictures of some other lovely weekends I'm sure.

{ Gallery 34 }

Two Friday's ago the doors were flung open to my friend (and Monty's mum) Liv Lawson's new adventure: Gallery 34 was open for business. The opening night was an absolute roaring success, about 120+ people when we were hoping for about 50-60! Great for business but pity you couldn't move or see the beautiful paintings!

 

The first exhibiting artist is Leone Gabrielle, a local artist from the Highlands who paints beautiful oil on canvas inspired by her yearly far north Queensland and Indonesian travels. Fluttering birds, vivid greens and dreamy blues dominate with a boldness that is somehow both very ethereal and feminine as well as spirited and dramatic. Liv plans to exhibit local artists for solo exhibitions, each one lasting 4-6 weeks. The local art scene in this area around Yea, Mansfield and up to Benalla has really come along in the past 5 years. A gallery in Yea is such an exciting venture for the arts in the Murrindindi Shire, a credit to Liv's belief in rural business and culture.

The Yea Business and Tourism Association has been trying to promote the area as a destination in itself, not a pit stop on your way to a final destination. Most of the traffic through Yea, in fact I would say almost all of it, is headed for Mt Buller. Businesses such as Gallery 34 are branding Yea as a new tourist hotspot, more of a Daylesford or Beechworth rather than a glorified toilet stop! 

 

The gallery itself was once the town bank, a beautiful old building with double brick (nice and warm in winter and cool in summer) with grand arched windows which let the natural light flood in. Liv went about a total re-vamp of the building - polishing the original floorboards, painting throughout, ripping out some walls and putting up others to create more wall space for artwork. The old bank vault has been transformed into a kids playroom! 

 

What grabs you the most is the details that have gone into the styling of the space - something which I really notice and appreciate in cafes, galleries and retail spaces. The counter tops were custom made and are a polished concrete, giving a wonderful industrial feel. The lighting fixtures above the main counter were sourced by Liv after she went on a hunt for a recycled alternative - they are actually old pianola scrolls with indentations, grooves and lyrics still visible. Even going to the toilets is a pleasure with walls adorned with a big sprawling tree featuring vintage wallpaper remnant leaves and a wall decal I like to think as the old banker watching over us all...

 

Coffee is the order of the day - with Jasper free trade and organic coffee (and milk!) being served. The coffee Liv has chosen to use is from Peru and is produced by women, who benefit from the free trade with new facilities for their villages and business training. A range of locally made cakes, muffins and biscuits are also on offer. The solid cafe furniture was handmade from recycled timber by Liv's clever brother, with a big communal farmhouse style table with bench seats. 

Gorgeous cards are also available, all from recycled papers and most using non-toxic, vegetable based inks and made in Melbourne. (I personally am a sucker for a good card...) JMP silver jewellery features in the gallery, with custom made stamped discs popular to adorn bracelets or necklaces with children's names or birthdates or simple words of love. 

Getting this project off the ground was a huge undertaking which has only come to its fruition through Liv's hard work, determination and passion to create a beautiful space in her town. Well done Liv - I'm sure Tom and your boys are so proud of what you have been able to achieve and create from scratch to make it truly your own. 

Gallery 34 is at 34 High Street, Yea and is open the following hours:

Thursdays - 9 to 4

Fridays - 9 to 4

Saturdays - 9 to 4

Sundays - 10 to 4 (pssst...if you're lucky I might be working on a Sunday and make you a coffee!)

Website is still under construction but should be up and running this week: www.gallery34.com.au


Photography by Emma Durkin Photographics