"once she stopped rushing through life, she was amazed how 

much more life she had time for"

                                                                                                              Unknown

The summer past was definitely a game changer. It marked the end of a year distinguished by rolling sets of challenges: where I'd give my all to reach the crest, snatch a glimpse of the horizon, and have the next set on top of me again. Keep going, keep going, push through I'd think. You're resilient, you work best on adrenalin, you can run on a staple diet of double-shot flat whites and no sleep [btw: you've got no choice here anyway!]. 

Of course it wasn't sustainable. During a few weeks off over the summer holidays I realised I was burnt out. I felt tired and old beyond my years, unfulfilled in spite of all the great things in my life, and unsure of how to properly relax in the limited windows of time I'd get to do so. 

As I was processing this burnout, I experienced a moment that crystalised how much I was caught in the pace of modern living. It was down at our local beach one day: my dad, daughter and I had been kayaking as part of my effort to start to slow down and get active outdoors again. 

As we prepared to make our way home, I was given responsibility for looking after the kayaks and our belongings while Dad went to collect the car.

nature // street vision

"Optimistic design is about daring to be different, about breaking the mould of mainstream design"

Amanda Talbot, author of rethink:the way you live

Today's nature // street vision celebrates the optimism and individuality of vertical gardens: creative, upbeat vistas in the modern urban landscape. 

  

RIP Rover

Hurrah! It's been another slow Saturday to soothe the soul.

It's been a hectic week again, characterised by changes in the air, a toddler with a recurrent bout of bronchiolitis (requiring mid-week grommet surgery to be postponed), and ultra busy days at work. By the end of this week, and with only one full night's sleep in three weeks, I'm run down and trying to stave of a head cold. 

Thankfully this morning saw the dawn of a long weekend here, and I was granted a rare sleep in with the toddler - who had attempted to rise at 4.30 a.m. but eventually surrendered to come and snuggle in bed for a few more hours.

Despite initial plans to head in to the city to enjoy all Adelaide has to offer in the month of Mad March, we ended up spending a quiet day outdoors at home. The kids helped their Dad with home improvements, and me with the gardening.

Today's gardening was all about vegie patch maintenance. We've had a crazy run of weather over the past summer including a spate of heatwaves of over 40 degrees. In addition to warping trainlines and inducing mental meltdowns, the heat's left the vegie patch having to fend for itself and looking worse for wear at the end of the season. 

I again enlisted my two trusty little helpers and we set about to water, clear dead bean stalks from the teepees, trim and re-stake the tomatoes, and give the compost some TLC. Some of our discoveries included eggplants hiding behind luscious leaves, self-seeded cos lettuce germinating, and lots of bugs doing-their-thing in the compost, showing us some rich soil forming much to the kids' equal disgust and delight. 

word // up

lessons from the Faraway Tree

"Going back to a simpler life is not a step backwards."

Yvon Chouinard

For me simplicity is personified in the almost-nightly routine my daughter and I have of climbing up into her bunk and getting lost in a story book. I'm often exhausted by this time and craving some time to myself, but as long as its not too late I'll make sure we read together. We have a deal: I read her two chapters of the current book, and together we slip away on an adventure. 

We are currently [re]discovering the Magic Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton, which was recently re-released as a series of beautiful [and politically correct!] keepsake books .

As a child, I distinctly recall submerging myself in the enchanting stories of the Magic Faraway Tree. And now, like my own mum before me - and her mum before that - I see my child fall under the same spell: my daughter's eyes light up, her imagination fires away, and our story time always concludes with a plea for 'just one more chapter, one more!'.

As an adult, reliving Blyton's books through older eyes, what I also really appreciate is her classic story telling in the context of modern living. Her framing of play, adventure and discovery in nature is so refreshing to me living in a fast-paced, time poor world where we hold so many fears of kids roaming free. She writes: 

nature // street vision

"Nature in our urban landscape and homes is critical for connecting half the world's people with the natural environment. The experience and contact the majority of the world has with nature is more likely to occur in the city or home rather than a rural setting. The more urban our lifestyle, the bigger the need for a connection with nature" 

                                                                                 Amanda Talbot, author of rethink:the way you live

Today's nature // street vision is for roof top gardening to be the norm in modern urban living. Let's foster the creation of urban jungles in all shapes and form!   

   

   

   

   

sources (l-r, top to bottom): unknown (via Pinterest), The Permaculture Research Institute, 

Spitsoskylo, A Paper Aeroplane,  LD5, JaminPaul, unknown (via Pinterest), Nubby Twiglet

lifestyle editing

sunflower sagas

I had great aspirations of making a sunflower fort for the kids [ok, and me] over summer, and boy, did I try. This was my romantic notion, thanks to Pinterest:

source: Bring Blessing 

I started off by putting in some serious effort digging a ring-shape into the back lawn. My daughter and I designed it with a front entrance and a secret side exit, then planted the circle out with a mass of giant sunflower seeds. We were SO excited when they started germinating. Only to discover that so were the snails. And Dad's whipper-snipper. 

After a few more attempts at  direct-seeding we switched tactics to grow seedlings for planting out instead. That was all tracking along nicely until the crazy toddler tipped out the seedling trays. Repeatedly. 

Finally we had grown a batch of sunflower seedings which we planted out successfully. They grew! And then I realised, somehow in the midst of going back for repeat packets of sunflower seeds, I'd picked up a spindly knee-high variety instead of the giants. Wahhhhhh. Parental fail.

Even though the fort didn't work out, we did have success with some giant sunflowers in the vegie patch. They looked pretty magical with their plate-sized flowers, and were practical too - providing some shade to other vegies and acting as a natural trellis for our lebanese cucumbers.   

The giant sunflowers have died off now and we pulled them out over the weekend. I enlisted the kids to help harvest the seeds, which we can hopefully use to make the ultimate sunflower fort next year [I've gotta redeem myself!]. The seed harvesting was a really fun activity to do together - the sunflower heads have great patterns and textures, and there's something therapeutic in hanging out on the back lawn picking seeds. Check out the pics below, and my daughter's video, breaking down all things sunflower.      

  

Take care,

Claire

it's oh so quiet

Here's cheers to slow Saturdays - early morning vegie patch investigations with the kids, cooler mornings with the promise of sunny days, and pottering about the house. 

My toddler's been sick this week and we've ended up [not] sleeping with all four of us in the bed, works flat out and the place looks like a bomb went off. In one of those uber rare parenting moments, I have the house to myself for a whole morning whilst the kids go riding in the parklands with their grandparents and my husband works. 

Time to switch off the computer, put on some beats, drink coffee, and potter with my little shadow, Lotus.

Here's some slow Saturday inspo via Pinterest to set the tone, enjoy...

Claire

   

 sources: (top to bottom): Wit and Delight, Milo and Me, From the Right Bank,

My Darling Lemon Thyme, Freunde von Freunden, Geisslein, Gardenista 

nature play takes off

"...and above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you. 

Because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. 

Those who don't believe in magic will never find it. "

Roald Dahl

Nature Play seriously exploded in Australia this week with Richard Louv's series of talks around the country, the launch of Nature Play SA, Nature Play Qld and a heap of mainstream media coverage on the topic (check out The Project, ABC, and The Advertiser to name a few). 

So what is this nature play biz all about?

In a nut-shell, nature play = unstructured play outdoors in nature:

• research shows nature is vital for children's intellectual, emotional, social, physical and spiritual health and development.
• in the space of a generation, children in the developed world are spending markedly less time outdoors (attributed to a range of factors including increased screen-time, risk-adverse societies, urbanisation and less time for unstructured play).
• today's more sedentary and technology-dominated lifestyles are occurring in conjunction with rises in childhood obesity, depression and attention disorders.
• "nature-deficit disorder" is a metaphor coined by Louv to explain the correlation between increases in social, mental and physical health problems, and less time spent in nature.
• globally, communities and individuals are rethinking the way they live, with campaigns and initiatives that promote and implement nature play principles taking off.   

my daughter getting a nature play fix in Mt Buller

I attended both Louv's Adelaide talk and a recent screening of nature-play movie Project Wild Thing and it struck me how much people are identifying with this. Both events were sell-outs - 400 people at Louv's talk and 300 at Project Wild Thing - and the rooms were buzzing with people from education, recreation, environment, architecture, planning, landscaping and government sectors (let me know if I've missed you!). 

Both events were thought-provoking and inspiring, pitched with a refreshing mix of concern, optimism and wit. Louv's talk, like his writing style, was totally engaging as he eloquently and creatively freestyled the whole talk. He was an energetic and upbeat story-teller who spoke to the heart and common sense. 

On the buzz nature play is creating, Louv asked the audience why is it that this topic is connecting with so many people?

I know this nature play space has captured me and my own reasons are multi-fold: the obvious one is I'm a parent and I want to provide the best I can for my kids. I instinctively know its right for them to regularly experience playing outdoors in nature, and I absolutely want to help facilitate that (especially given my 5 year old would  happily watch tv all day given the opportunity).

But it also goes further than that for me. The way I see it:

• It's just as much about me needing more nature play in my own life - I need to reconnect after a few pretty manic years of raising a young family, working and having little time to myself.  
• It instantly connects me with some of my favourite memories of childhood and provides the opportunity to share stories and relive those times with my kids and others.
• My kids give me the opportunity to see life through a different lens -  it's so easy to get caught up in the craziness of modern living but if I can find ways to slow down and be properly present with them, magic can truly happen.  

yep, mum needs nature too

Over to you! What's your take on nature-deficit disorder and nature play? Does it strike a chord with you and if so, why? Please share your comments below.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Claire