Kelly Casanova Weaving Lessons

Kelly

Finding the extraordinary in the ordinary

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The grass is always greener, ain’t it so?

How much time do you spend thinking about the life you’d like to have? How much does this detract from your everyday life?

For me, it’s a real problem. I wish I was younger, prettier, thinner. I wish I had a house in the country with an animal menagerie and space for the children to run. I wish people were interested in my designs and I could make a living from this. I wish I could spend more time doing what I want to do….. I could fill the page with this stuff.

But what are all these thoughts, wishes, dreams going to do for me long term? If they motivate and inspire me to live better, then good. But, if they become a weight that I carry around in the form of restlessness and dissatisfaction? – not good.

From a very young age I wanted to be a singer and entertainer. With a little work I was able to make this happen, albeit on a smallish scale. People would be wowed by the fact that I was out there doing this, but let me tell you the reality. Lugging heavy sound equipment around prior to setting up, performing “popular” songs that I personally hated (Kylie, you did me a great disservice!), breathing in the second hand cigarette smoke of a collective room (before the new smoking laws came in), dealing with drunken hecklers, then hauling all that equipment away again before hobbling (high heels – ouch!!) into bed at 3am, only to get up a few hours later to care for my family. Sound glamourous?

I know what I need to do to feel happier, it’s just that saying it is easier than doing it.

A couple of quotes I like:

“Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired.”
Mother Theresa

“Perfection consists not in doing extraordinary things, but in doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.”
Angelique Arnauld

I must be off, the baby is crying again, which is a regular and ordinary occurence.

But isn’t she extraordinarily beautiful? 🙂

God bless you all.

The Farm

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I took a few pictures at the farm to share with you. This house was built by my father-in-law’s parents in 1915. He has lived and worked there his entire life.

I was speaking to my mother-in-law about the fact that I never appreciated the land as I do now (having also lived in this area from the age of 12 – 18). She said that when she married and came to live here as a young woman, having lived in Ballarat all her life she missed her original home. One day a visitor pointed out the colours of the various crops (wheat, canola and others) and how vibrant they were. She says now, at the age of 78 that she thinks it’s the “most beautiful place on earth”.

They had 10 children. I was lucky enough to marry one of them.


I have spent so much time on the farm it is like a second home. It has been a refuge in times of turmoil and I’m eternally grateful to my “other parents” for their kindness to me as an unhappy teenager seeking purpose to my life.

The garden still survives the long and unpredictable drought.


The chooks are always happy, healthy and producing new life and food to nourish.


Times have changed and things are different at the farm now, but I will always hold it dearly in my heart.

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Thank you all for your supportive comments and emails yesterday. After I posted it here I thought I may have been overly sensitive and over reacting, but I see from your responses that you understand. Thanks again.

So, what do you do to improve the day when you’re not feeling great? You sew, of course! My little one even indulged me yesterday afternoon by sleeping for 4 hours straight! I made her a bib and some much needed nappy covers (she insists on growing so fast!)

I continued the stitchery project I’ve been working on (yes, you’ll get to see it when I’m done 🙂

And I made some shorts for little half pint. I love this fabric, it’s so cheery. Unfortunately she wasn’t so cheery when I took this photo (missed her afternoon sleep).


Who needs a pool when you have a bucket? I’ll admit it’s not quite as fun, but it sure is a lot cheaper.
We’re heading to the farm tomorrow to visit my husband’s parents so I won’t be around for a few days. See you when we get back.
God bless.

https://kellycasanovaweavinglessons.com/2009/11/thank-you-all-for-your-supportive.html

I’m peeved (rant post)

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I usually take the children to the library on a Friday morning. This morning I had the misfortune of coming across a sourpuss. I was browsing some magazines while holding the baby and watching the 2 girls, boy was elsewhere in the library. The baby was silent, as was the 2 year old. My 4 year old, who is a “handful” at the best of times was rearranging some chairs and playing a chattery game in her usual fashion.
A woman sitting nearby turned to a man also sitting nearby and said something to the effect of “People are so inconsiderate, I can’t believe they’re so rude!”
I looked at her in surprise, she was looking down and shaking her head. I realised she was referring to me. I looked at the man and shrugged and smiled, the smile was not returned.
For the rest of the time we were in that section of the library (about 5 minutes total!) she continued to shake her head and mutter.
I considered my options and chose to extend my browsing and ignore her just to force her to put up with us and show that I didn’t intend to be bullied. Before we left I made my daughter correct all the chairs she had moved out of place, this seemed to annoy the lady even more!

Apart from making me angry, this kind of encounter is very hurtful to me.
It’s not just her.
It’s the driver who races up close behind my van in an aggressive manner simply because a van full of children does not accelerate as quickly as their sporty little number. (Yes, this happened on the way home)
It’s the shop owner who looks me up and down disgustedly when I enter with children in tow.
It’s all the people who give me no support (including family) because they think I have too many children and don’t approve of my homeschooling them.

I work hard. I’m exhausted most of the time. I get depressed and feel isolated. None of this is easy for me. My husband and I can only rely on each other for help. It means so much when someone compliments me on my family, even a smile of approval on the street lifts my spirits.

OK, there’s my rant, thanks for reading.

Old treasures

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This cardigan was knitted by an elderly lady I used to care for in a nursing home. She was born with an intellectual disability and was deaf. She was abandoned by her parents at a young age and raised in a home run by some religious sisters. She always had a knitting project on the go and could follow any pattern. All of her knitting was given to friends or charity.


Look at that beautiful trim! God bless you Bernie, you are a treasure.

Having worked in aged and disability care I have seen so many souls languishing, living day to day and waiting to die. Many of these people have knowledge and skills that can’t be measured but are not given the opportunity to use. Lets not forget the value of each individual, whatever their stage of life.

Ayelet’s giveaway

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Ayelet , a talented Etsy artist is having a giveaway on her blog – a gorgeous little fairy print. To enter you must draw, paint or make a fairy and tell her story. This is my entry into her competition.

This is Bridget the garden fairy. I used to see her sometimes very early in the morning or at dusk, nibbling on the rose petals. She would sip the dew from the petals first. Sometimes she wore a red tunic, but mostly it was this lovely green one with purple and pink striped stockings.

She no longer lives in my garden, she was sent to her namesake, a little girl called Bridget. She was lonely, as there were no other fairies of her type in my garden and she longed for a little girl to play with. I believe she is quite happy in her new home, but takes care to avoid the brothers, of which there are 4.

Playdough and going with the flow….

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I woke early this morning and decided to make some playdough. My 4 year old has been “somewhat challenging” of late and I wanted to get her busy straight after breakfast. Sometimes, as a homeschooler, I forget to stop and smell the roses. I forget that I’m in charge and that learning occurs in all different ways.

Normally I expect the boy to start his bookwork by 9am for time efficiency. This morning he took an interest in the playdough, and although my brain nagged at me – “it’s past 9am!!” I left him to it.


This led to a few learning discussions. He made a model of a heart, which provided an opportunity for revision of the heart’s functions. They made me countless “cupcakes” and “pancakes” and other delights.
They had to share in order to get along, this needs much reinforcement!
They learn to use kitchen tools which improves dexterity.
They learn to clean up after themselves when they’re finished.
If you’re a fellow homeschooler, or even if you’re not, I hope you can find time to “go with the flow” today and remember that learning does not have to come from a book.

Aaah, the beach.

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Although I entirely despise the hot weather, I do love getting to the beach with my family. We are blessed that we live not too far from some beautiful and clean beaches (no bay swimming for us!) Yesterday afternoon we had a great time at the beach, I don’t know if the children are ever as happy as when they’re at the sea.
In my typical fashion, I forgot to take the camera, but found this gorgeous photo by Luka Skracic. We were swimming just to the left of the pier you can see here. I wonder if any Victorian readers recognise the location?

From flaw to feature.

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I still make a lot of mistakes when sewing, mostly through lack of focus or simply experimenting. The great thing is when you discover that not every mistake is a disaster and the unpicker does not neccessarily have to be your constant companion. Such a handy tool, but gee I HATE UNPICKING!!
I need some more bibs for very vomity baby and thought I could use some fabric leftovers and make it up as I go along. All went well until I attached the binding and found it was way too thick and looked funny.


I spent ages making that binding in the first place, so the thought of replacing did not appeal. So, I ran a zig zag stitch around the inside of the straight stitch and voila! It anchored the inside of the binding down and balanced out the look.
Now I just need to figure out how to use my new snaps press and I can make a bunch more 🙂