Making Mondays: Sunprints

Hello! I have just put a new post up over at my new blog: www.thelightgarden.blogspot.com. I hope you make the trip over!

A present for me?!

I have just posted over at my new address...hope you make the journey over: thelightgarden.blogspot.com

Making Mondays: Fabric Bread Bag

Hi everyone!

I have just put a new post up on the blog at my new address: http://www.thelightgarden.blogspot.com/

Hope you make the trip over!

Moving to a new address ... my new blog!

Can you believe I have been posting for over a year here at a pink canary's nest?!

It has been wonderful. I have made some fantastic friends, been inspired by some amazing people and I have been able to show my family and friends (and anyone else that is interested!) what our life is like here, what Yashar has been getting up to and how he is growing. Thank you all so much for reading, looking, commenting and for all your support. It really has made such a difference to my life here.

I am hoping this will all continue over at my new blog: thelightgarden.blogspot.com
I would love to see you all over there.

p.s this change is all part of the exciting leap I am about to take of opening an online shop. Aaahhhh! Exciting but also a little scary! More on that very soon!!!

The World According to Mom: Around the World in 80 Clicks

As today is Children's day here in Turkey I thought it was an appropriate time to post this.

I was recently asked to be part of 'The World According to Mom: Around the World in 80 Clicks'. Basically it is about finding at least 80 bloggers in 80 countries to describe 5 things they love about being a mother. It all started with this candid post at Her Bad Mother.

And like 'Her Bad Mother' I do not love everything about being a mother. Sometimes it is hard, sometimes things don't go according to plan, sometimes I just want a break. But it is all part of a package, a life changing, all consuming package that I don't regret opening.

So, apart from the obvious...the love I have for Yashar, the strong bond we have developed and that basically I think that he is the most amazing and wonderful being on earth...here is the top 5 things I love about being a mother (in no particular order):

1. A rediscovery of the simple joys in life. The pure, untainted emotions. Stopping to look at a flower, or a rock, or a piece of grass. Taking things slower and being forced to live in the moment.

2. A connection with my community. Turkey is a very special place where children are truly adored. Because of Yashar I have been able to feel connected to a place so different from my home. Because of him I know our neighbours, local shop keepers and baristas. Whenever we leave the house we are stopped by numerous people wanting to say hello to Yashar, to have a quick chat, to ask how we are. Because of him I have been able to build new relationships with so many people, people that I can meet with if I'm having a hard day, or if Yashar needs a playmate, that help us when we need it, people to enjoy our life with.

3. Having Yashar has allowed me to live a more creative life, to give me time to explore what it is that I really enjoy. Of course, at times it is hard to be creative when so much time is taken up looking after him. But for the most part he drives my creativity, both in my limited spare time and through being creative and playing creatively together. I no longer work for the man and that is something I love!

4. I love that, because of Yashar, getting outside every day is mandatory. We go to the park, go for walks and soak up the sun every day we can. I'm not in an office, in artificial light, that I don't leave until after the sun goes down. We notice the seasons, breathe the fresh air and listen to the birds.

5. The smiles, the love, the hugs and the laughter.

I was also asked to nominate other mothers to participate so I have picked three women who have given me inspiration and support as a mother:

Keryn from eightydaysdesign
Simple Answer
Tanya from forty-two

if you have time (and I understand if you don't!), I would love to hear what you enjoy most about being mothers.

Tulip time at Emirgan Park

It is tulip festival time here in Istanbul. Although tulips are mostly associated with the Netherlands, they are actually indigenous to Turkey and central Asia. And so tulip season here is celebrated, especially at Emirgan Park.

It is so gorgeous there! If you ever have the chance to visit Istanbul at this time of year don't miss it. We always take our guests there and when we took my mother in law there she cried!



The park and the three restaurants within it (I have posted about one of them -Sarı Köşk- and some of its history before) are all run by the council and they have spent a lot of money recently improving the park, building new playgrounds and preparing for the tulip festival.



The amount of tulips alone is amazing. What a gorgeous way to spend a morning!

Yashar weekly photo: amongst the tulips

More on this amazing park soon!

Little Lamb Cards

Some little Spring lambs! I know, I know - a little late for Easter, but these are fun to make for any little Spring lambs you might know! Yashar and I made these – last minute of course – for his friends from our wonderful Saturday playgroup. Yashar actually really got in to this activity- I think it was because the cotton wool was so tactile and because he knows what sheep are he could make little ‘maa’ noises at them – very cute!

I’m sure you can work out how these was made pretty easily, but I have put it down step-by-step for your easy crafting pleasure! For the non crafty types, please look away!

1. Firstly, while Yashar was having a nap I quickly drew a little lamb and then traced a few of them on to some thick paper (I used watercolour paper). If you would like to make some of these cards and don’t feel like dreaming up the lamb yourself, please feel free to copy my one.

2. Now get the glue stick out! This is a favourite activity of Yashar’s! With some guidance from me he put some glue on each of the lambs’ backs very nicely. Then I had to sneakily tempt him away from the glue stick and give his hands a quick clean so that the cotton wool didn’t stick to his hands instead of the cards.

3. Yashar loves pulling things apart so we then spent some time breaking up the cotton wool.

4. And then I showed Yashar how to put the cotton wool on the lambs’ backs and away he went. For some reason, saying ‘pat-pat-pat’ as we went really gets him into doing this activity.

Yashar also liked ‘patting’ the lambs afterwards hence the slightly bent card in the photos!

Yashar Weekly Photo: Party Time!

Yashar had such a wonderful time at a little friend's birthday party on the weekend, which included an Easter egg hunt! I couldn't believe how quickly those little kiddies were at picking up all those eggs!

I just realised that I tend to pick the calm, peaceful photos of Yashar as my favourites (I wonder why!)...I mean I could have picked one like this where he looks like he's about to go have a slug of some red cordial, shove some cake all over his face and go rip some dolls heads off... ;)
ps. since there is no Easter holiday here I have claimed one for myself! So I will be posting 'Making Mondays' on Wednesday this week - yep, I'm really shaking it up around here ;)

What it means to be a good mother...

First of all, thank you so much for your emails and comments about what it means to be a good mama. They really meant so much and for me, they articulated many of the thoughts swimming around in my head. I loved how it was put in this comment:

"I think that deep down, a good mother is one who makes her children feel loved completely and utterly...is their biggest fan."

Also the importance of patience, encouragement and living in the moment were mentioned. I plan to remind myself daily of all these things. For most of us, I think, parenthood is an amazing learning experience, a time when life is shaken up and changed forever. Patience, support and finding joy and peace in small things every day is so important.Looking back, some of things I really appreciated (and still do appreciate) about my mother is that she was always there for my sisters and I, to encourage us, support us and love us, no matter what. I liked that she had a life outside of parenting and a strong independence (a good example for us I think), but no matter how busy she was, or what else she had happening in her life, we knew we could count on her and that we were her first priority. She gave us so much love and such a strong foundation for us to go ahead and live happy lives. So thank you Mum and well done to all the wonderful mothers out there.

The Pebble Vest for Spring

I decided Yashar really needed a little woollen vest for Spring. I found the free pattern for the Pebble Vest at The Thrifty Knitter (via Soule Mama). I really liked this pattern. It was so quick and easy to knit up. I'm a pretty slow knitter and this was complete in less than a week -I just worked on it most evenings while watching a movie or a couple of shows.

The pattern is sized for a baby, but I just used a thicker wool and larger needle size (5mm), added two extra stitches to the front and back (so CO 84 instead of 80) and it worked out perfectly. The finished vest measures 33cm lengthwise and 30cm across.

There is something about the vest that makes Yashar's little round tummy look so cute!

Yashar weekly photo: Still loving bath time!

I'm bringing back the 'Yashar weekly photo'. Yay! So...now that the weather is warming up Yashar is enjoying his long bath times again -(remember this?). Only now he gets to control the shower head (a very important job) Oh and he can splash waaay bigger now!

On being a mother...

Sometimes I find it hard to believe - not only did I have a baby, but now he's not a baby anymore, he's a little boy! This is him at 3 weeks old. So small, so fragile. At sixteen months, he has really started to become so much more independent, running around at the park, throwing himself face first down the slide, learning new words everyday, wanting to be able to put his shoes on himself...

Something that is often in the back of my mind is whether I am doing a good job as a mother...and what on earth does that mean? I think that people are often quick to judge mothers (and fathers), to jump to the conclusion that if a child is behaving in a certain way that then the mother must being doing something wrong, that if a child is crying then the mother must be doing something wrong and so on.

I also know that mothers can be so hard on themselves. I know I can be. I often feel guilty for wanting time to myself even though part of me knows that this is important. And then there are those times when Yashar starts screaming in the supermarket, or tries to hit me in the head with a toy or snatches pencils away from other kids at playgroup and, even though I know these things are 'normal' for this age, I wonder, am I doing something wrong, could I be doing something better?

So what is a 'good' mother?? Of course there are the basics - Yashar is fed, safe and generally healthy. But then more difficult questions emerge. Am I providing him with enough opportunities to develop and learn, and is he learning the right things, does he get enough attention from me and his Baba, am I strict enough, am I too strict, does he need more structure and organisation to his days, am I too 'go with the flow', is he having enough fun!? When is enough enough? And what about me?!

Everyone has their own way of dealing with it, there own style of parenting. But it's also so valuable to learn from other people's experiences. So, for you, where is the right balance? What do you think makes a good mother? What was it about your own mother that you are thankful for?

I would love to hear from you all.

Making a Kusudama

As soon as I saw this on Folding Trees I knew it was my next project! You can find the tutorial on how to make the kusudama here (part 1)and here (part 2).

I used this pretty wrapping paper that you might remember from my little paper hand project. It worked really well for the kusudama because the back of the paper is a darker blue colour which you can see in the centre of each flower.

The tutorial doesn't specify what type of glue to use but you need something fast drying because you need to hold the paper in place until the glue dries. I used superglue, which was great because it dried so quickly but not so great for breathing in fumes :( and then there was the time I stuck my fingers together, um, make that three times. Argh!

In the tutorial beads are used to tie on the bottom. Instead I used some wooden buttons - you can see how I tied them on -just threaded the string through two of the holes and tied a knot above and below each button.

This project took a little while but was perfect for doing on the way to and from my mother-in-law's (much safer than knitting in the car!) and while we were sitting around there on Sunday (because just sitting around doing nothing much tends to drive me slightly insane!).

Got a spare 3.3 million?

Last night we went out for a quick walk just as the light was fading. We headed to a little parcel of vacant land that we spied about a month ago. It's in a quiet little area close to where we live at the moment.

The light at this time is so beautiful.

We talked to a couple of locals and found out that the land belongs to the government but the land adjoining with four rundown (and badly built in the first place) houses on it is for sale...a cool 3.3 million Turkish Lira (very roughly 3 Million Australian dollars or 2 million US dollars).

Sure the places look pretty ramshackle (and apparently there is a condition on the land that you are only allowed to 'restore' them)

But the views!
At the moment we're just going to keep on dreaming!

In the spirit of 'free-ness'...

I thought I would continue the theme of free things with a link to this great project called 'Feed Your Soul: the free art project'. The project is being organised by IndieFixx and has some cute little prints ready to download and many more in the works.

My favourites so far are this one by Mandy Sutcliff (from Belle and Boo)



And this one by Jessica Rose


I had a look at the upcoming schedule and am also looking forward to the contribution by Ryan Berkley (Berkley Illustration).

Yay! Free art!

Notepaper: A download for you

Yesterday morning I made some mini note cards - not too big, not too small. They are about 10cm high and 9cm wide. Just the right amount of space to tell someone you miss them, or you love them or to thank them very much.

I thought you might like to send some little notes too, or leave a list of jobs for your partner (hint, hint!) or put a note in your little one's lunch box. So here is a download for you. They print six to a page. Just click on the link below, click on download and print away!

Click here for the mini notes download.

This is the very first pdf download I am posting - so fingers crossed and let me know if you have any problems.

**edit: reposted now and you should now be able to print without having to deal with setting up an account or anything like that. Yay!**

Technical difficulties...

Due to technical difficulties Making Mondays will be 'Making Tuesdays' this week. (technical difficulties = a little boy who does not want to go to sleep!) See you tomorrow!

It don't mean a thing...

...if it ain't got that swing!
I got inspired while at my local coffee place when they were playing a track that sampled this classic jazz piece.

This was the result - some cool little cats playing some swinging tunes on the roof top.

I am having a little trouble getting these pics for the net to look crisp and clear like the actual work (it's all a learning process I guess), but I wanted to give you a peek in the meantime.
What have you all been up to? Making anything at the moment? Spring cleaning? Having fun on the weekend? I would love to hear from you...

Minestrone for Spring

I love having a fresh tasting Minestrone in early spring, when the sun is starting to shine through but there is still a chill in the air. Minestrone comes from the part of Italian cooking called 'cucina povera' - the poor kitchen and it can vary a lot depending on the chef and what vegetables are in season. This is my Spring version.

Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 leek, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
2 potatoes, chopped
3 ripe tomatoes chopped (you could use a can of tomatoes, but I use fresh tomatoes to keep the flavour a little lighter)
1 1/2 cups of water
2 1/2 cups of vegetable stock (I prefer the kind bought in liquid form, it is so much tastier, but here I am stuck with cubes)
1 cup of pasta
Spring onions, chopped -about a handful for soup and extra to serve.
Grated Parmesan (to serve)
It is also delicious and fresh tasting with basil stirred through it just before serving - I just couldn't get my hands on any.

Cook onion and garlic in large saucepan until onion softens. Add leek and carrot, cook for 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, potatoes, water and stock and bring to the boil. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Cook pasta. Stir pasta through soup. A few minutes before serving stir through spring onions. Serve with spring onions, parmesan and pepper on top. And of course some delicious thick pieces of bread.


Perfect after a morning working in the garden or running after a certain 16 month old at the park!

Making paper flowers for Spring

OK, so I am crazy in love (with the emphasis on crazy) with this weeks project - paper flowers in blossom branches made using the tutorial from Dozi Design. I knew that I had fallen head over heels when Senol caught me staring lovingly at it. Lol!

This little crafty project would be great to make with kids -it is so easy. It just involves drawing a swirl on some paper, cutting it out and then rolling up the swirl of paper.

Yashar is a little young to be wielding scissors just yet but he had a great time collecting the branches with us. The blossom petals were falling down on us like little snowflakes. It made my heart all tingly.

And Yashar loved being held up in the branches to give the blossom a closer inspection.
After making the flowers I just arranged them on little twiggy bits on the branches with a sneaky bit of blue tac when needed (not often). I think a long thin vase would be great for this but the jug (which I love) was all we had. I used paper that was slightly thicker than standard printer paper and that had a little bit of texture to it which I think this worked well. Once the blossom falls off I will put some smaller paper blossoms closer to the ends of the branches. Hello Spring!

Election time is here again...

The most popular campaigning method appears to be flags...everywhere! So fortunately the flag makers of Turkey need not worry about the current global financial crisis just yet. And what looks and sounds like a party bus - with loud Turkish music that makes you want to dance like you're in a Shakira film clip - definitely an essential campaigning tool.

And then there was the report on the news about the candidate that gave people new washing machines to 'win' their vote. Except the people he gave them to didn't have running water in their houses so they had to traipse through the snow and carry buckets of water back to their house to fill the machine (still beats washing by hand I guess).

I would like to say 'only in Turkey' but I have a feeling that's not quite true!

A little fishy...

The area we live in is packed with fish restaurants and has some little stalls by the side of the water where you can get some really fresh fish!

Fish are pretty popular as is fishing - the banks of the Bosphorus are usually packed with people from early in the morning until late at night -rain, hail or shine. These people are committed to their hobby!

We took Yashar to one of the little stalls on the weekend to get some fish for his dinner. He had a good look at the live fish in the tank and got pretty excited about it.





While we waited we watched the fishmonger scale and fillet our fish. I love their light fitting!




This guy pulled up on his motorbike while we were there - and ordered drive through style.





And we looked at all the birds flying around the boats behind the stall.







Not a bad way to wait for your fish!

I really enjoyed making this! It's a terrarium - I found the instructions over at SmoothPebble (via Maya*Made).

I bought a jar at the pazar (local market) with what would have to be the most ugly lid known to man, so I quickly covered it up with some linen. Then I used a little Eiffel Tower my sister brought me back from Paris and I cut some clouds out of an old milk container. I thought this would last better than paper because there is so much moisture in the terrarium.


Of course Yashar had lots of fun doing a bit of digging for this project. And then carefully putting the dirt into the jar for about 30 seconds before deciding to tip the rest of the dirt over his head!


I snapped a photo of him just before the 'incident'. I think this is his concentrating face!



I put it all together very late one night - which was lucky because if I wasn't so tired I could have spent hours on it. I am slowly coming to the realisation that I adore all things miniature - especially those totally overpriced miniature designer chairs you can buy in art gallery shops. I had thoughts of little flying birds and city skylines made out of wire...next time?

The search continues...

Not so long ago I told you about the ridiculous amount of hats I have been knitting for Yashar and my search for the ultimate knitted hat.

Along the way I made a hat using this pattern from SouleMama. This hat is really cute and quick to knit but I just couldn't seem to get it to fit right. :( I first made one that was too small and then made this blue one but it always seems to slip off. It kind of looked a little girlish too I think - and we can't have that! If I made it again I would use a thinner wool and it would probably be suited better to someone that didn't want to pull their hat off all the time!

Then I really thought I had found the one. I used the Thorpe/Topper pattern and it was so promising - a hat and scarf in one with lots of ear cover but... I am going to make it again with some modifications. Next time I will make the split for the scarf at the back of the neck a little lower, will make the ear flap parts come in closer around the face, will make the ribbed band around the top of the face a little longer and I think I will make the scarf parts longer. This one is a kind of weird length that means we usually end up tying it in a knot at the back. I will also try to find a nicer yarn next time -definitely something a bit thicker.

Then my mother in law made this and blew all of my hats out of the water! You might have seen this one in a few other photos I have posted here- I especially love the photo of Yashar wearing it in this post. I think this hat is so cute, the cream really suits Yashar and she also made a matching scarf with pompoms on each end.

But I am still continuing the search! Maybe by next winter I will find the ultimate hat??

Exactly!

I discovered this idea on Maya*made and all the instructions are here. Maya has a gorgeous blog with so many ideas ...I'm sure I will be making more of her projects soon! Some flowers were just what we needed - hello Spring! They didn't have any bulbs at our local nursery (wrong time of year I think) so we just grabbed some that had already started to grow and I used some linen I had in my stash to cover the tin and plastic containers we used.


Yashar had so much fun getting some extra dirt for these from the garden today - can't wait for the weather to really warm up. He is going to have so much fun!

And I think he is going to like watching them grow.

Finito!

Quinces are my new favourite fruit. The colour of them cooked and uncooked is gorgeous. And the taste - I like them cooked but my husband likes them raw - he likes the dry fibrous texture - yep, sometimes he's weird like that;)

And I especially like that they remind me of this painting, which I love. There is something about the subject of kitchens and food like fresh fruit and vegetables that appeals to me. Maybe it is something to do with their symbolism - of home life being worthy of our attention, of a warm kitchen, a productive garden, of growth and nature and the natural beauty of a pumpkin or some eggs (subjects in other favourite paintings of mine).


I have been meaning to make this recipe for a long time. Sorry I'm not sure where it is from - I have had it written down in my recipe book for so long now - but it seems like a basic jam recipe I think.

Quince Preserve:
4 quinces (about 1 kg total)
5 cups sugar
5 cups water
3 tablespoons of lemon juice

1. Bring quinces, half a cup of sugar and water to the boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for approximately 1.5 hours. Put quinces on a plate to cool and reserve cooking liquid.

2. Coarsely chop quinces, and return to pot (including seeds, cores and skins). Bring to a boil. Slowly stir in remaining sugar and lemon juice. Cook, stirring, until mixture is thick and deep orange (about 25 minutes). Put through a fine mesh sieve. Discard solids. Let cool.

3. Transfer to airtight containers - refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Changes: Next time I make this , when the quinces are cool and I am chopping them (step 2) I plan to remove the seeds so that when it comes to putting it through a sieve the left over solids are ready to eat - I tried a little of them from this batch and they were so delicious and would be perfect with ice-cream or on muesli. Such a waste not to use them.

The preserve was so delicious. It didn't totally set but is beautiful and thick - for my first attempt I was very happy. If you have any jam making secrets let me know.

Today I had some on toast with parmesan cheese and we had some with yoghurt for dessert. So good! Quince and cheese are made for each other.

Making Mondays: His little hand

I love this - it was so quick and easy, looks gorgeous framed and is a special little Yashar keepsake. I came up with the idea when Yashar and I were drawing and I was tracing around our hands.

All you need to do is trace the little one's hand on the back of some wrapping paper (some nice fabric would also look great). Ok, this was actually a little harder than it sounds - Yashar does not keep still for more than 2 seconds!

Then cut the hand shape out and glue it on some nice textured paper (I used some thick water colour paper). I also wrote Yashar's name and the date underneath.

I put it in a plain box frame from Ikea and put it on some shelves where we keep some of Yashar's books and toys. I think it would be so nice to do one with a few hands lined up in it - either as he grows or with 'paper hands' from his cousins. Yashar is growing so quickly, it will be so good to have this record of his little hands. I hope you make this one too!

p.s. thanks for the new name!

pps. I have now moved to a new blog address: www.thelightgarden.blogspot.com
I hope you come over for a visit!

Come and spend a morning with Yashar!

Now that Yashar is walking our daily outings are so much fun! I thought I would share what we did on Friday morning with you, which is pretty much a typical weekday morning for us.

This morning, knowing our usual routine, Yashar got his shoes and sat down by the door trying to put them on - so cute! Then he carried my scarf over to me and then tried to put his shoes on me. He loves to go out for a walk!

We got rugged up and quickly headed out the door and walked down the steep hills with me holding his hand very tightly and making lots of stops along the way to say hello to neighbours. The area we are in mostly low rise apartments (3 or 4 floors) - many have a different generation of the same family living on each level. Others are rented by professionals and students. Most of the gardens are full of fruit trees, especially mulberry, pomegranate and cherry trees. One of our neighbours even has beehives in their front yard:
I love the faded pink paint on this place.

And Yashar found the beehives mesmerising!

Then it was on to the park.
With a stop to look at all the birds and dogs around.

Then over to the local cafe to warm up and to have my essential coffee for the day. Lots of the customers stop to chat to Yashar and one lady helps him to pat her gorgeous and friendly dog. The staff there all know Yashar well and play with him while I relax. Love it!

Then the walk home, today through our Friday market. I stopped to do a little fruit and veggie shopping while one of the stall holders, a beautiful older lady that brings in produce from her village, gave Yashar a cuddle (like she does every week!) and then she showed him some sheep in a yard next to the market. Yashar was so excited!

By then Yashar was pretty worn out so I carried him up the last few steep hills and he fell asleep in my arms not long before we got to the front door. A perfect morning!

New work

I just put the finishing touches on this girl and her little friend. I think I will do one more, find a really good printer and then open the etsy store. Ahhh! I am so excited!







Thank you all so much for your kind and encouraging comments about the illustrations. You all really made me want to jump in and try it!

Crafty Monday

Yashar and I have been getting so crafty lately - as in making stuff, not using sly moves and Yashar's cute smiles to get me free coffee (although that also works well for us!) So I toyed with various ideas - 'make it yourself monday, 'take a bedazzler to it Tuesday', and finally decided on Crafty Monday! (I'm taking submissions for a new name as this one kinda sucks!)

I am hoping to share a little project with you every Monday and I hope you join in with us now and then and get all crafty too!

This week we made some cards for all of Yashar's cute little playgroup friends. These were for Valentines Day, but I could also imagine using them for birthdays, fathers day, any day!

First of all we used the idea for 'Jell-O Fingerpaint' that Tanya gave us. We used Raspberry flavoured jelly for that sweet-heart colour and just slowly added hot water to it until it was a nice thick consistency. I let it cool, put Yashar in a tracksuit that I detest, spread some newspaper down and let the finger painting begin!

Yashar had so much fun doing this! I would drop the fingerpaint all over the place and he went crazy smudging it all over the paper (and himself!)

I let the masterpieces dry over night and prepared small cards from some thick watercolour paper I already had. Then I cut little hearts out from Yashar's artworks and stuck them on the front of each card using a glue stick. I wrote each of Yashar's friends names on the front and a little message inside.

I think they are pretty cute! We have one that we made for his Baba hanging up and I love it!

Oh, and can we pretend it is Monday today...

Handmade Help

There has been such an amazing response to helping all the people affected by the bushfires.

My blogging friend Keryn emailed me about the blog 'Handmade Help'. Through this blog people can donate handmade goods that are then sold, with the money going to the Red Cross and Wildlife Victoria. They are also coordinating some other projects and have a great list on their right sidebar of so many ways to help. What a great idea.

Through this blog I found the 'OzBushfireAppeal' etsy shop. Many generous people have listed handmade items in this shop and all sales go to the Red Cross. They have already raised an amazing $10,000. Wow! Here are some of my current favourites from the shop:

I love the atmosphere this Winter Tree photo block conjures up.

These pears look so soft and tactile.


These whales would look so good in big white box frames in a little boy's room. Grab them before I do!

What an amazing photo! And the tones are beautiful.

Turkish home cooking - my favourite dish

Of all my mother-in-law Sevim's Turkish home cooking this is my absolute favourite. It is called Karnıyarık which means 'split belly'. Sounds a little scary when translated into English but it is so yummy and the split belly being referred to is the belly of the eggplant (and maybe mine after I eat so many of them!).

I actually never have to cook Karnıyarık because Sevim is always sending some home with us - she knows we love it. But I asked her to share the recipe with you all and she proudly obliged. All the measurements are approximate - of course Sevim never uses a recipe, she cooks it by heart.

Karnıyarık

4 or 5 eggplants - the thinner type are best
2 onions
Oil
Mince -about 250g
Salt, Pepper
Lezzet - literally translated this means 'taste' - it is a spice mix usually made from paprika, pepper, salt, dried tomato powder, grissini flour, semolina, dried parsley and dried thyme -If you can't get lezzet I think some paprika and parsley would be fine.
Large spoon of tomato paste
Water

1. Chop tops and tails off eggplants and put in a large pot. Add enough oil to come about half way up the eggplants. Cook on the stove until the eggplants are soft (making sure you turn to allow all sides to cook).

2. While eggplants are cooking, dice up onions finely, then fry in pan until golden, add mince, salt, pepper and lezzet and cook mince well.

3. Take eggplants out from pot. If they are large chop them in half length ways. Take off a small slice along one side to make a flat base for the stuffed eggplant. Lay the eggplants down in a casserole dish.

4. Slit eggplants down the middle (don't chop through the ends) and fill with mince mixture.

5. In a small bowl mix tomato paste and 1 cup of hot water and then pour this over the eggplants.

Bake in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes.

We love to have it with thick slices of bread. This recipe is definitely worth trying (if you don't have a Turkish mother in law to cook it for you that is!).

In search of the ultimate knitted hat

I have been knitting a ridiculous amount of hats for Yashar lately. This is attempt number 2. I saw this wool at the local Pazar (our local Friday market) and suddenly I had the impulse to make something bright and colourful for him, instead of in the pale blues and greys that I would normally choose.

This one is pretty simple - I just knitted from the bottom up in a rib pattern on circular knitting needles. Once it got to be about 15cm long I started decreasing by knitting two together at the start of each rib on alternate rounds. I had wanted to it to fold up at the bottom but it isn't quite long enough (although it is long enough to keep his ears nice and warm). I think it looks like a little tea cosy!

I have knitted two more hats for him that I will take photos of as soon as we get some light enough weather. Despite all these hats, I need to make more! None of these have been quite right. So I had a good look on ravelry.com - a website I had known about for a while but only just got into. There are some really gorgeous patterns to be found on there (after a bit of searching). I especially love this owls jumper.

I think/hope I have found the ultimate hat for Yashar. It is on the needles at the moment. To be continued...

Victorian Bushfires

I have been hearing from my family about the horrific fires that have been burning in Victoria and have been reading about them in the paper. Even though I am so far away I still feel the shock of something so devastating happening so close to 'home'. My heart is heavy and my thoughts are with all of those affected by the fires - the family and friends of those that have died, the people that have been injured and the people that have lost their homes.

Donations to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal can be made through the Red Cross Australia website.

Make a wish...

I just finished this little illustration and I am so happy with it. I hope you like it too. I think I must have been dreaming of warmer days when I did it.

I really feel like I am progressing with the illustrations I have been doing. I have been learning so much along the way and, most importantly, it has made me so happy. I think that this is the first time I have felt like I have found something that I would be happy doing forever and ever. I am seriously thinking about trying to make 'it' happen - with the first aim being to open an etsy shop.

I love the idea of etsy - people from all over the world being able to sell their handmade goods - and would love to be a part of the 'handmade revolution'. I am thinking I should just take the leap...

ps. thank you for the comments on playdough, especially all the recipes from Tanya (who writes a really interesting blog about living in Cambodia) for playdough, including yummy edible kinds (which will be perfect for Yashar!) and the recipes for fingerpaints - edible and non edible.

We are going to have so much fun with these! Check out the comments from yesterday's post for all the recipes.

Yashar Update: Playdough!

Yesterday we finally made playdough! I had been wanting to make this with Yashar for a little while but hadn't been able to find food dye or cream of tartar which most of the recipes use. Five supermarkets later I decided to improvise!

I diluted some powder for a flavoured bright red drink and it ended up making a pinkish dough. Now I just have to find some more colours! The recipe I used was:

1. Put 1 cup of flour, half a cup of salt, 4 dessert spoons of oil and a third of a cup of water (mine had the red drink powder in it) in a large bowl and mix (Yashar did the mixing).

2. Knead until it forms a nice dough adding more oil if it is too crumbly.

3. Play time!

Yashar loved it and I am glad I didn't just buy the playdough ready made - making it was definitely half the fun for Yashar (and me!). We were also lucky that there was the perfect play surface already in the house that made clean up easy. It was a big board left here by the owners that's used for rolling out the large pastry sheets used for making desserts like Baklava and savoury 'borek'.

Does anyone have a different recipe? I would love to know what it is.

I feel an emotional post coming on - about being a mother and how much Yashar has grown - but I will leave that for another day when I have time to contemplate it all.

Soup making weather

Usually my posts are inspired by the photographs I take, but it has been pretty overcast and grey here lately. Often I look out to fog blanketing the Bosphorus, only just being able to make out the huge cargo ships moving through it. They sometimes sound their fog horns to warn the little fishing boats.

So it is definitely not photo taking weather, but it is soup making weather. This version of Avgolemono was delicious! I believe that Avgolemono refers to the egg and lemon base used for soups and sauces (Avgolemono is the Greek name) and that in Turkish it is called Terbiye.

I actually got the base of the recipe from the Martha Stewart website and changed it a little. The main change I made was using burghul instead of orzo which I think worked really well. Martha Stewart actually has some really good recipes. Her show is one of a few English language shows that are free to air here and it is repeated three times a day so I usually watch at least a little of it. She often has chefs from great New York restaurants (the show is made in New York) in to make some of their recipes and they often look so delicious! So don't knock the Martha!

Here is my version:
5 cups chicken stock (I would usually use the fresh non-powder type but that is all we had last night)
1 chicken breast (sliced into strips)
1 onion
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup burghul
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
Freshly ground pepper

Fry onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, add chicken and fry until just cooked. Let chicken cool slightly, and then shred (I pulled it apart with my fingers). Cook burghul as per packet instructions.
Bring chicken stock to a gentle simmer and add burghul and chicken mixture. Simmer for about fifteen minutes. Then reduce heat to low.
Beat together eggs and lemon juice in a medium bowl until smooth. Ladle 1 cup hot broth into egg-lemon mixture, whisking constantly until mixture is warm to the touch. Stir the egg-broth mixture into the broth in the pot. Make sure that the broth doesn't start to simmer again as the egg will curdle. Season with pepper when serving. Martha's recipe also added dill which sounds nice.

I have a confession to make. I have been serving my soups with thick slices of bread that I have fried in olive oil - I know - probably not particularly healthy but soooo golden and yummy - like a giant tasty crouton. Mmmm. My excuse is we don't have a toaster. Ok, one more confession, I then have the left over pieces of fried bread for dessert with thick lashings of nutella on them. OK I think I have said enough.

Another favourite...

One of the highlights of our trip back to Australia was being able to see an exhibition of my great grandfathers work on at the Art Gallery of South Australia.
Before moving to Turkey, Senol and I spent many weekends with my Dad framing prints of my great grandfather's work. It was a wonderful time for us - up in the mud brick studio, which is surrounded by gum trees and garden, far away from the noise of the city where we spent our weekdays. The only sounds would be the birds calling out, the occasional possum on the roof or the classical music that would usually be on quietly in the background. Senol would cut the glass and prepare the backing boards, Dad would make the frames and I would cut the mounts. We would spend time together deciding which frame would suit a particular painting and which mount would bring out the colours of the artwork. And of course there were plenty of coffee breaks.

Now every Sunday we go down to our favourite coffee place and I love that they usually have Mozart playing and I think of Dad and miss our weekends framing together.













After spending so much time framing prints it was wonderful to see so much of great grandfather's work 'in the flesh'. The vibrancy of the work is what struck me most. And I was able to see many paintings that I had never seen before. I also loved seeing the development and change in his work when he started painting the Flinders Ranges.

This is the little summary from the Gallery's website:

One of Australia's greatest artists, Hans Heysen (1877-1968), is celebrated with the first major retrospective of his work in three decades at the Art Gallery of South Australia. The Hans Heysen exhibition features more than one hundred works created over the artist's seventy year career.

Born in Germany in 1877, Hans Heysen emigrated to Adelaide, South Australia with his family at the age of seven. After four years studying in Europe, Heysen embarked on one of the most successful careers in Australian art, becoming synonymous with the Adelaide Hills town of Hahndorf, where he worked and lived.

The Art Gallery of South Australia holds the largest and most representative collection of works by Hans Heysen, including more than two thousand drawings, oils and watercolours bequeathed by the artist himself. Included in the exhibition are many of Heysen's greatest oil and watercolour paintings, alongside rarely-seen
preliminary sketches and studies.

Testament to Heysen's national standing, the Gallery has borrowed masterpieces from every major collection in the country as well as from many regional and private collections, to tell the story of Heysen's art. In addition to his iconic ‘gum tree' paintings, the exhibition takes a fresh look at Heysen's lesser-known themes. Hans Heysen traces the artist's development from early student days painting in Europe from 1899-1903, including images of Paris and Venice, to the revelation of barren
landscapes and ancient mountain forms in the Flinders Ranges from 1926.

The exhibition will be touring Australia for about 2 years, including going to the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery and the National Gallery of Australia.

PS. Recently Sharon, creator of the website Expats Moving and Relocation Guide, contacted me about putting one of my stories about living in Istanbul on her site. The end result - 'Manyak Misin?' - a post I wrote after one of my early driving experiences here is now on her website. Sharon sounds like she has many interesting stories to tell as well - she has been an expat in the US, Venezuela and Canada.

There doesn't seem to be any tradition of card giving here in Turkey. In fact, the whole time I have been here I have not seen a single card given, received or for sale. So I was so so happy when Keryn sent me over some of the gorgeous cards from her business gryb at home. They are made using Japanese fabrics and are just so pretty! Thank you!

Keryn's blog is also a favourite of mine, with beautiful photos and great finds.


And while we are on cards and great finds, here are some of my favourite cards for the upcoming big L day (although I am more into year round loving!!)

2 from Sweetbeets

Octo love from Pearl & Marmalade


Valentine Invader by Anemone Letter Press

Snuggle up!

Hey everyone! I think that I mentioned before Christmas that I was working on some 'projects' that couldn't be unveiled before certain people got their presents. Well here is the little illustration I did for my dear little sister Maia. Miss you Maia!

I used the same method I did for the eagle for this one - a sketch in ink and then digitally colouring it.

We had such a wonderful time when we stayed with Maia (and Dad and Barbara). Maia was amazing with Yashar - a natural with children that is for sure. I hope she enjoys having this in her room!

Some favourites

My favourite photo from the trip:My second favourite restaurant from the trip (am planning to post about my favourite very soon): Libertine - French dining in North Melbourne. Mmmm, the lavender creme brulee - so delicious.


Favourite new recipe: This delicious watermelon and marinated fetta salad my Mum made on Christmas day. The mint makes it taste so fresh.

Was there a dressing on it Mum?

I will definitely be making this one in Summer here. Watermelons are sold from the back of huge trucks here in Summer, and of course there is no problem getting fetta here!

Just when I had given up hoping...

(and had thought that the Turkish postal system had struck again!)...a heavy package arrived from Canada.



A little while back I asked for help finding a birthday present for Yashar on etsy and, after getting some great ideas, I ordered some wooden toys from Diamond Isle Treasures.

In her book, The Creative Family (on my reading list at the moment - I'm halfway through reading it), Amanda Soule encourages choosing toys that are beautiful, simple (to evoke imagination and creativity), and that are made of natural materials. And she says that "Finding toys that will hold up to lots of use and play - versus poorly made toys that will break easily - will encourage your children to value human work and experience over consumption." These toys fit so well with this approach.

The look and feel of the timber is gorgeous...so much more satisfying than a lot of plastic toys (although some of the plastic toys we have, especially the better quality ones, are lots of fun). Yashar has already spent hours stacking and unstacking the blocks, pulling the wagon around, giving me the blocks one by one with a huge smile on his face. I hope these toys will be around us for a long time.

Hello! Remember me?

Just dropping in quickly to let you know that we are back after a gorgeous three weeks in Australia. Here are a few photos to give you a taste of what it was like (although it was actually a little cold some days - Melbourne weather is like that!). I am just getting settled back in around here but will be back with more news and photos very soon. And yes, things didn't quite go as planned with the posting while I was away... but I am excited to be back (and sad to have left Australia again). I have missed this whole blogging world and am looking forward to catching up on all my favourite blogs and to hearing from you all again!

Getting ready

Look at this grown up little man! He is really not a baby any more. As you might have guessed things are pretty busy around here (and I'm guessing you are all pretty busy too)- not much time for posting on ye olde blogge. I have quite a few little projects on the go, but no unveiling before Christmas!

It feels strange to be digging out the bathers and summer dresses when it is so cold here - I keep thinking 'surely it won't be warm enough to wear this'. We have been packing ready for a trip home for Christmas which means seeing all my family that I have missed so much and showing them how much Yashar has grown, lots of yummy christmas food, kids playing at the beach, lying in the hammock, dinners with old friends (preferably outdoors and with the rosy glow of some good wine!), spending lots of time with Senol...I am so excited!!! I keep thinking of Yashar, with his little backpack on, walking out of the gate when we arrive.

My plan is to post a photo each day we are away, but you know, the thing about plans...

Chestnuts and persimmons

Thanks for all the pumpkin soup ideas! I am definitely going to try adding some curry powder this week (getting more pumpkin at the market tomorrow) and I like the sound of adding some chilli and ginger. Yum!

Well I haven't been around here in a little while for a couple of reasons. This week is a national holiday here in Turkey for Kurban Bayrami - The Sacrifice Feast - where rams and cows are sacrificed. The traditions is that 1 third of the meat is cooked immediately, another third is given to the poor and another third distributed among relatives and neighbours. Of course I think that sharing the meat with the poor is a wonderful practice, and I like to think that I am pretty open to different cultures and practices, but...ah... I'm not so into the slaughter part. Don't worry - no photos here. In the morning we saw lots of cows in the back of trucks, but when Senol's family were calling me to see the slaughter in the backyard (a butcher came to the house to do it) I was like 'no way!' and hid in the living room with Yashar.

The other reason I have been MIA is that Yashar got a pretty nasty infection, and has been though a lot the last couple of days, including very high fevers, night time rushes to hospital, a blood test, cold baths (the paracetamol and ibuprofen wasn't working in getting his fever down) and generally getting poked and prodded too much :( He was such a good little trooper. Although he cried during the tests and cold baths, and even though his fever got as high as 39.6C, he soon gave us sleepy little smiles when we showed him the fish in the aquarium at the hospital. Poor little man. The doctor and nurses were fantastic and I am happy to say that he is recovering well.

So instead of taking photos of cows being sacrificed and an anxious visit to the hospital, I thought you would prefer some more photos of our neighbourhood that I took on a little walk and drive we went on just before all this. Warm chestnuts, winding narrow streets, the Bosphorus and persimmons hanging like lanterns from the tree.

Seasonal recipe

Remember when I mentioned my brilliant idea a while back - a seasonal recipe each month. Well believe it or not - I actually got around to doing it! The recipe this month, while not exotic or mind blowingly original, is yummy! It is also so easy and spot on season wise here.

It's my Mum's Pumpkin Soup! My sister reminded me about it when she put together a whole lot of recipes for me because I was running out of ideas for food for Yashar (what a good sister I have - and Yashar loves it!).

The thing that used to put me off making pumpkin soup was chopping the damn thing up! But here at the Pazar (our weekly fruit and vegie market where I took the photo above) and even at the supermarket they have a guy whose sole job is to chop up the pumpkin for you on the spot - yay!

1 diced onion
1 peeled and cubed pumpkin
Chicken stock
Bay leaf
Nutmeg (I didn't have any, but added some paprika instead)
1 tablespoon of butter

Fry onion in butter. When soft add pumpkin and enough water with stock to cover and add bay leaf. Simmer until pumpkin is soft, take out bay leaf and vitamise with a pinch of nutmeg. Return to saucepan until ready to serve. Serve with a dollop of cream, a sprinkle of nutmeg and bread.

There are few variations with this recipe - I know my Mum sometimes adds curry powder and I think coconut cream (?). Sweet potatoes are also nice to use instead of pumpkin but at $20 a kilo here...

Do you know of any other yummy variations for me to try out? I am going pumpkin soup crazy!

Yashar Update: All Rugged Up

I get Yashar all rugged up before going out now. The weather is starting to get cold! He has got used to wearing his little beanie now. He used to try to get it off the minute I put it on.

We are so lucky with our apartment because we have discovered that in Autumn and Winter the sun streams in our front windows in the morning, heating up our living room like a little glass house. Yashar likes to rest his head in the warm sun. I wanted to say that the sun, streaming in in the mornings, sparkling off the Bosphorus is glorious, just glorious - but really 'glorious' just sounds sooo uncool. So, you know, the sun is like, way cool... and stuff.

The watchful eagle

This is another little illustration/artwork I have been working on. I am so happy with how this turned out. I think it shows what I love about a hand drawn sketch that I talked about in an earlier post, while also making the most of the strong, flat colour that you can get using digital colouring.

I really enjoyed the process for this one. I did a quick sketch and then took my time inking in the detail. Then I put it into photoshop and coloured it. As always, the detail shots give you a better idea of how it actually looks.

I had my dear little 2 year old nephew Riley in mind when making it (I can just picture his smiling little face as I write this!)- hoping that he might like it as a Christmas present. But I am not sure if it is too fierce looking. What do you think? I might try to see if I can come up with something a little more colourful and fun in time to suit the fun little boy that he is. Knowing how long it takes to get things done here though, it may not eventuate :( If not, then hopefully this will be something that he can grow with.

Photos from the hood

I realised that I hadn't posted many photos of our neighbourhood, so here are a few before the Autumn leaves totally disappear.

The leaves on this very old wooden house are amazing - such a vibrant pink.

The house is very dilapidated and boarded up, with a Doberman and a Rottweiler guarding it - which keeps us from taking a closer look at some of the beautiful details we have spied :( I heard on the grapevine that someone on a neighbouring property has bought it and the next old house along and will probably pull them down at some stage. Until then we get to enjoy a peek as we pass by (and a fright when the dogs appear with a snarl!)