a simply great holiday

I have very fond memories of holidays from my childhood. Of course there were lots of different holidays, but my very favourite ones were when my parents would book a house or apartment, first at a place called Burrum Heads on the Queensland coast between Brisbane and Rockhampton and then as we got older, at Noosa on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. For me, the days and weeks just seemed to go on forever - days full of swimming in the sea, playing on the beach, reading, playing cards and board games, eating fish & chips and icecream cones, long walks and socializing with all the other kids we met in the area.  Now that I have my own children, I find myself wanting to recreate the same kind of holidays for my little family, all over again.

To that end, we have actually bought our own house which we will eventually use for holidays, but for now it's permanently rented out to help us pay the mortgage! More on that another time...

In the meantime, I have discovered another place which provides me with everything I'm looking for in a family holiday. We've been twice now and certainly hope to go again sometime soon. It's my friend Andrea's house, called Sommarhus, in Port Fairy, Victoria. When she and her husband aren't using it for their own holidays, they rent it out to others.

You tend to enter the house through the back door from the carport and this is the view that greets you as you round the corner of the house. We spent so many hours sitting out here, eating our meals, drinking cups of tea and reading, playing games etc.

The patio leads out on to this lovely green, flat lawn, perfect for three little boys to run around, play totem tennis,football, wrestle,all the sorts of things little boys love to do.



That chair on the lawn is my favourite spot to sit and read...

This view greeted us as we entered the kitchen through the back door...

Cozy fireplace for cold nights...

Then just a short walk, ride or drive away is Pea Soup Beach, the perfect sheltered beach for young children.  The water is calm and shallow, lots of rocks for climbing on, sand hills for rolling down, rock pools for searching for sea life in, great spot for fishing with a fishing rod too..



Another of the great things about Port Fairy is that it's so flat and reasonably quiet most of the time with bike paths all over the place.  For the first time ever we managed to get our whole family on bikes and we absolutely loved it. We went for a family ride each morning, to have coffees and hot chocolates at one of the lovely cafes in town and then continued on to the park and along the bike paths around the headland. It was a fabulous way to start the day and then we'd head to the beach...

Now that I'm looking through my photos I'm kicking myself for not having taken more - I've missed things like the fabulous outdoor shower, the gorgeous bedrooms, the beautiful river, the lighthouse, the streetscape of Port Fairy, great cafes and homewares stores...what a shame - guess I was just too busy enjoying myself!

I used to love exotic overseas adventure holidays, but at this stage of my life, it's the simple things that make a great holiday for me and my family.

PS If you're interested in renting Andrea's house, you can contact her on 0431 925410 or sommarhus126@gmail.com.





living the dream

Like Karen Christopher, the personal trainer whom I wrote about in a previous post, Cassie Pentony is another inspiring woman in Mansfield who is "living the dream". I first met Cassie when our sons sat next to each other when they started school two years ago and she has since become the much-loved swimming teacher of our three boys as well as many of their friends.  I still remember when I came to Mansfield and spoke to Cassie, thinking that I had never known a swimming teacher before to be so passionate and conscientious about her job.

Cassie started her career as a legal secretary and executive assistant in Family and Commercial law. She dressed in a business suit and heels and went off to work each day in Collins St, Melbourne, for ten years. She eventually stopped work to have her first child, Lachlan, and when she was seven months pregnant, she and her husband James moved the family to the country – Mansfield, in the foothills of Mt Buller.  James started his own business, TST IT Solutions here in Mansfield.

Cassie had always had an interest in swimming and an ambition to get into aquatic education. As a teenager and before work she would swim laps at 5.30am each morning.  When her first son Lachlan was 10 months old, James’ IT business was thriving and thus Cassie was presented with the opportunity to pursue another career.

So, in 2006 Cassie attained her Austswim Teacher of swimming and water safety qualification and started her first season in the pool at the YMCA Mansfield teaching aquatic education classes and participating in the Primary and Secondary school swim programs. Of this time, Cassie says "it was challenging and a steep learning curve for me. But I learned to adapt to instructing in any environment.  It was also very rewarding - I formed strong bonds with the kids - I still teach many of them now 6 or 7 years later." 

A couple of years after starting out, Cassie got the opportunity to use the heated pool at the Alzburg Resort and was also able to put in more hours as her own two boys got a little older. So she became an independent instructor and eventually had a clientele of 95 children at various private properties around the district and at the Alzburg. Cassie was very grateful for the families' generosity but eventually wanted to have her own facility where the conditions such as student-teacher ratios and air and water temperature were more balanced.

So, she and James made the huge decision to sell their home and buy a new block to build a home and indoor pool to create something more permanent. And so, "George's Fish Swimschool" was born....The school is named after Cassie's Dad who once saved a child off Philip Island, but lost the two men who were with the child. This had a profound effect on Cassie's Dad, George, and he always impressed upon his own children, the importance of learning to swim competently. Here's the new home and pool, which all seems to have happened so amazingly quickly...

So now Cassie has many students and a great team member in Janine Polkinghorne, and "George's Fish" has now almost finished two full terms of operation. All classes are full and there is a waiting list too. Cassie says going to work is a simple pleasure in her day. Her hobby has developed into a career - but of course none of this has been easy. Building the pool has been a financial strain and Cassie's husband James helps out a lot at home as well as running his own business, to make this venture work.

There is something, not necessarily defineable, that makes Cassie a fantastic swimming teacher. I asked her what she thinks it is...She replied, "I get a great sense of satisfaction from my work and am genuinely excited about my students' milestones and improvements.  I think being a Mum helps as I come across as something of a mother figure - I really work on building rapport and trust with the children. I do detailed lesson plans and use lots of variety while extending skills, ensure students have fun while learning and give each child both praise and correction.  I really think about the individual - what's happening, what do they need?"

Yep, I think all that sums up just what it is that makes Cassie the wonderful swimming teacher that we have come to know and love!!

more on creative friends

Thinking of things handmade, led me naturally to this story, about another creative friend and member of our sewing group, Jane Hall. Now I might add that Jane is rather embarassed about me writing this story, but is humouring me - thank you Jane! Until this year, Jane had been living and working at Timbertop for five years, with her husband Tom and two little boys, Ned and Archie.  She had always been creative but until last year hadn't done any sewing. She's a determined woman and, when given the opportunity to borrow her friend's sewing machine for an extended period, decided that she wanted to learn to sew. Jane asked me if I would show her how to run up a cushion.  So we spent a lovely couple of hours where I did indeed show her the basics of how to use a sewing machine and how to sew a simple cushion. This was in exchange for a loaf of her delicious home-made sourdough bread, so I difinitely came out on top! Well, from then on, boy did she run with it!! Before we knew it, her lounge room and kitchen were filled with the most amazing array of cushions...

And then she progressed to making patchwork quilts...

As you can see, with a little creativity and some beautifully rustic pieces, Jane made her simple Timbertop house into a warm and inviting home.

This year, though, Jane and Tom left Timbertop and moved on to start a new life, luckily not too far away. Tom's parents live on land next to the Goulburn River near Thornton. Looking after the place is becoming a bit too much for them these days and so Tom and Jane are living next to them and helping out.  Tom's father built the mud brick home and next door shed himself - an amazing achievement.  Tom and Jane have renovated the shed and moved their little family in. Last week our sewing group went down to have a look at their new home. As you can see their 'shed' looks rather more like a Tuscan villa...

This is the new kitchen hutch...

Jane made us a delicious morning tea of freshly baked cinnamon rolls and then fresh salads and bread for lunch...

Here are some more gorgeous corners in the kitchen...

Looking down on the kitchen from upstairs. Note the stunning staircase...

I just loved the 'vintage industrial' vibe and the warmth and homeliness of Jane and Tom's 'shed' - it's a place that instantly speaks of a family who enjoy the pleasures of a 'simple life'. 

handmade with love

It's been a while since I wrote a blog post, but I'm pretty excited to have finally made the time to sit down and write one today. It is said that one of the paths to happiness is to make more time for doing the things that you really enjoy and I certainly find this to be true. Having had such a long  break, though, I've been wondering where on earth I should start again, so basically I've decided to just start nowhere in particular, with a topic that is dear to my heart.

All gifts are given with love of course, but for people who love to make things, a gift that is handmade, is given with so many hours of  time and feelings of love behind it.

Of course, when you handmake a gift, you have to be prepared for the fact that the recipient may not appreciate or understand just how much effort you put into making the gift, and just simply be happy and proud of yourself for putting in that time for someone you love.  In the Christmas holidays I made this advent calendar for my boys, something I've wanted to do for many years but never got around to doing before.  It took me four full days of cutting and sewing in every spare minute I could find.  As I sewed away I received comments from my darling 6 and 8 year old boys such as, "Mum, why can't you just buy a calendar with chocolates in it from the supermarket like other people do!"  Or, another one, "Muuuum, it's already the 8th December and we've missed out on a whole week of treats - when are you going to finish this thing?!!"  When I finally finished it, I filled the pockets with a sweet treat for some days and for other days, a note which had a special activity for us to do written on it.  It was very popular once it was up and running, although I discovered that I could only put treats in the pockets on the day or little Teddy would rummage through and eat them all! But, of course, if the truth be told, it was me who really appreciated the calendar for the way it looked, as opposed to one from the supermarket!!

I can't tell you how touched I was when I received this hand knitted blanket from a lovely friend for my birthday last year.  She isn't an experienced knitter but enlisted the help of her Gran and managed to not only start, but also finish, this beautiful blanket.  I'm really in awe of how she did it and of course I absolutely love it.

It was probably at least 15  years ago now that my Mum made this beautiful patchwork quilt for me, as she did for each of her three daughters.  Each one was very different, in colours and a style that suits each of us.  Each one was made and given with so much love, and is something that each of us will always treasure and pass on to our own children. 

When I turned 40 another lovely friend made this garland of 1000 paper cranes for me.  Not only is it beautiful to look at, but in Japanese culture paper cranes are said to bring good luck - this is particularly significant for me, being a Japanese teacher and having lived in Japan.  Again, I was just so grateful that she put in that time and effort to make such a special gift for me, that hangs proudly on my wall.

How lucky I've been...another very special handmade gift that I treasure. My friend made this arrangement of medallions in the frame - each one names a character strength (this is a term from positive psychology that should definitely be a topic for another day!)that she believes me to possess. They say wisdom, love, peace, inspire...how wonderful if I really do possess those strengths...and how lovely of her to tell me that!

There are so many I could mention, but I should stop before you become too bored...but finally, I bought these pale blue and aqua fabrics from dandi.com.au and made myself these cushions over the Christmas holidays.  I wanted to make the lounge look more summery and I do love them - a gift for myself!

Please do leave me a comment if you can think of one - I can't tell you how much I appreciate them! That would be a very special gift...

inspiring women

Each Wednesday morning for the past six weeks I have been going to a 'Group Power" class (basically the same as "Pump") at the "Toughen up Princess" studio in Mansfield. The studio was opened six weeks ago by a lovely lady called Karen Christopher at the back of her home in their converted shearing shed. As you can see from the photo it's a gorgeous new space - light, bright, airy with views of their swimming pool and the surrounding farmlands. This is a view of the pool from the studio...

And of the studio from the pool...

My greatest disappointment is that I only get to go to one class per week! I can't tell you how much I LOVE going - it really has been the highlight of my weeks. The best thing is that by simply adding more weight to your bar you can really increase the intensity of your workout and in 6 weeks I am noticeably stronger and fitter. Not only are the exercises great, the other highlight is our instructor, Karen, who is so motivating and inspiring. She's a person who exudes kindness and care for others and who is so clearly very passionate about what she is doing. And - it's infectious!! She very kindly agreed to let me take some photos and ask her some questions about how she came to be doing what she is doing now. It's an inspiring story...

Karen is now 41 years old and is married to Bo, with four boys aged 13 down to 6 years old. She said that for the first half of her life she really didn't know what she wanted to do. She started a Physical Education degree at University, completing the first year, but decided not to continue and, instead, to go out and see the world. She spent two and a half years travelling, unfortunately almost dying of cerebral malaria in Africa and eventually came home to Mansfield to fully recover. Despite the illness, Karen said she came home feeling that she now knew who she was and felt far more comfortable within herself.

On her return to Mansfield, she promptly fell in love with an old school friend, Bo, and they married, started a plumbing business and went on to have their four children. After son number two was born Karen took up walking and then running, to find some time to herself - we all know how important that is for mothers in order for them to keep doing the best they can. Exercise became her "time out" and she says that her husband, Bo, understood that and helped make it happen for her. 

Possibly as a result of the malaria, Karen became very sick about 5 years ago, developing a cyst on her brain that had to be removed. She was unable to run for a period of time and it was this experience that helped her to realise what is most important in her life. She said "I never makes excuses not to exercise any more - my health is the most important thing to me as it enables me to be the best mother, wife, daughter, friend and person that I can be!" 

It was after this that Karen started to entertain the idea of becoming a personal trainer as she wanted to help others also achieve their best in health and fitness. When she told her husband about her dream he was totally supportive and encouraging. So, with their youngest son going off to school this year, it was the time to start making the dream come true.

Karen spent 6 months travelling to Melbourne for two days a week to complete her full time course in Certificate 3 and 4 Fitness, allowing her to become a Personal Trainer and Gym Instructor. As well as attending classes, there were weekly tests and assignments to study for, around managing a busy household and a business. Karen said she often left home in tears feeling that she hadn't done enough to prepare the family for her absence, but the sacrifices were worth it in the end.

She was daunted by the idea of doing the course - says she lacked confidence and felt self-conscious (hard to believe!!) "It was a huge thing for me and I put everyting I had into it, tried my absolute best. I felt so passionate and it was so important to me that I wasn't going to waste my time with a half-hearted effort." The hard work paid off as Karen was awarded the "Institute Champion" by the instructors, out of all the participants in her course.

Karen says she felt so self-conscious at first that even the idea of putting on a microphone was completely embarassing. She has clearly grown used to it as she has no trouble waking us up with comments like "What's your core doing?? Turn it on!" or "Don't think about what you're going to do for the rest of the day - focus and engage the muscle!" My favourite - "Squeeze your butt - you should be shaking - if you want results, you need to feel that pain!" It certainly works - we all "make every second count".

I asked Karen "What simple pleasures in life make you happy?" to which she replied, "My kids make me happy. I love the little people that they're becoming. I've always been a Mum who did everything for my kids, because it was easier, but this year they've had to step up and become far more independent. They're proud of me too and see me differently than they used to. They're interested in what I'm doing, ask about my day, how the classes went and try to help when I'm tired. My husband tells me how proud of me he is too and he taught me, when I came across obstacles, to find another angle and keep trying to overcome them." (Oooh he sounds like a lovely guy doesn't he!)

Karen says "It also makes me so happy when people tell me about the improvements they're feeling in their fitness. I'm so grateful that people are enjoying what I'm doing and taking it on... Chocolate makes me happy too."  Of course I expressed a little surprise that she eats chocolate, to which she replied, "Oh yes, it's all about balance. I have more balance in my life as a whole now. I do the bookwork for our plumbing business, which I hate and find very boring. These days, instead of labouring through it, I do it quickly without a hassle, so I can get on with doing the things I love."

I asked "What makes your home a happy one?" Karen said that her idea of a happy home has changed. It used to be cleanliness and order - but with more children and less time she had to let it go. Now, she says, her home is happy when the children are laughing and having fun together. "I'm happiest when we're all together having fun - like in Bali on holiday this year - we all learnt to surf together."

About living in a small country town, Karen says "Great friendships happen - people really look out for you. We couldn't have started this fitness studio without the help of our friends and family, who assisted with renovations, dropped off meals, picked up kids etc. We're very grateful to them. But really I could live anywhere as long as I've got my family with me. The two most important things in my life are my health and my family."

Needless to say, Karen's next 6 week block of "Group Power" classes is already fully booked and you won't be surprised to hear that I secured my place very early on! Thank you Karen for inspiring me to be fitter and healthier and making it so much fun...