My greatest creations....

So I've realised, as a lot of people already know, that my greatest creations are my babies.  My 5th child was born on the 28th of November, and had a bit of a surprise entrance!  He decided he'd help my growth by encouraging me to face every fear I ever had about birthing - to birth out of water, be transferred mid labour, go into a hospital for birthing, have a spinal and caesarean, and have a hospital stay of two days........  All of which was nowhere near as scary as I thought it would be, and in fact was conducted with the utmost grace and respect.  We had a bit of an impact on the staff as well - we did a lotus birth and were incredibly greatfull for two stereotypical 'hippies'.  We've called him Balthazar Pheonix Post, to go along with Spiral-Moon Post, Lilith Magenta De-Ath Post, Griffyn Flux Post, and Jessica Kaira Post......

The photo's of all the other kids were taken a while ago, and I only found them again just before Balthazar's birth, and it blew me away how stunning they all are.  Like a friend said, it seems that Currawong and I have stumbled on a good genetic combination!!  Must be something to do with our Friesian heritage.  Speaking of which, I was a bit thrilled to find out that Balthazar was the name of the last rebel Friesian freedom fighter!!!  I've been obsessed with the name for a long long time, and it's good to have a quirky Friesian story to explain it with...

So we ended up with our perfect birth afterall, just not the way I'd thought it was going to be.  After 1 hospital birth, a 2nd hospital water birth that was as close as you can get to a homebirth in hospital, a 3rd homebirth and water birth, and a 4th homebirth, waterbirth and lotus birth, to have my 5th as a ceasarean in hospital has nicely rounded out my experiences and learning.  We found out after trying to do the homebirth thing, and it not working, and getting to Flinders, that his cord was wrapped around his neck, and he was 'leashed' high in my womb by a high up placenta, and there was absolutely no way he would have survived (or me either more than likely), or could have been born, unless we had access to western medicine and a caesarean in particular.  

And I have to admit now that I had been judgemental about caesareans, and western medicine in general, and I'm glad to have had this experience to become less one eyed about the whole shebang.  Considering I'm attempting to write a book about birth, sex, and death, I think it's highly fortunate and timely for this event to have unfolded as it has!  Also taught me to never say never, as no-one would have thought that I'd need a caesarean on my 5th birth with my birthing history!  

This appears to be the lesson of the year for me - to never say never.  To avoid trying to predict and plot the future.  And to surrender to the flow and wherever it chooses to take me.  Which is one of the very greatest lessons about birth in general as far as I'm concerned - to surrender. Birth will be what it will be, no matter what plans you may make in the meantime!

So.

Back to crochet and spinning and the like in my next posting - just had to take a birthing interlude.....

Thickening plots

Thickening plots

There's so much happening in my world.  For a start I'm 8 months pregnant, and after being distracted with a whole heap of stuff - moving to Victoria, moving back, looking for schools, realising my lover and his troupe are percussive geniuses, moving onto a community, trying to prepare my three other little ones for baby 'wildcat' (that came to me in a dream), doing the NEIS scheme and starting up an internet business.................well after all that, it's kinda hard to really sink into the feeling of being pregnant.  To just be with it and realise it.  

I've been really getting into writing about birth and our phobia's around it all, but all of that's for another blog.  More personally, I've been realising for the first time ( this is only my 5th baby!) how birth is meant to be painless.  But just lately I realised that even saying painless is still focusing on pain, so I changed that thought to easy, comfortable and orgasmic!!  Just think about it.  We're mammals!!  How many other mammals have horrific and fraught births??  Why should we??  How would we have survived evolutionarily if it was so horrible??  Surely there must be benefits??  But I've digressed.  This isn't my birthing blog which I haven't created yet, this is my beggining to selling my wares and my theories online blog.

So believe it or not, even while all this is going on, I'm still making making making, creating new ideas and beautiful mohair creations, luscious wraps and folds to lay near your skin.  Seductive fringes that move with your rhythms.  I keep trying to get around to making more felted creatures, but truth be told, I think I'm preventing myself from making them, because I can't bear the thought of selling them.  I find them so personal and 'birthed' and part of me, that to sell them is almost like selling my children.  I did sell one, and I've never stopped regretting it.  

No matter how much I try to fit my passion and art into the box of 'things to sell', I never manage to be very good at it.  I can never make another of something because 'it will sell'.  I try, I really do! But the inner rebel and passionate artist always ends up yelling "I'm not a factory!!" and it invariably turns into something completely unique and quirky.  

Anyway, here it is.  My latest offering to the goddess of creativity.  

7 balls of hand-spun, hand-dyed mohair from my favourite breeder, and two different dyepots. The body of the wrap is one dyepot, and the fringe another.  Rather clever use of different sized hooks to shape it, and a suprising collar when wrapped in a certain way.  Shown off by my beautiful Currawong in our backyard garden.  You may notice the spiderweb I've put in a tree.

Enjoy!

Beginagainbeginagain

I seem to have lost contact with my old blog.  I don't know how it happened, but when I tried to log onto it, I just got brought here, with a brand new blog.  Maybe it's symbolic.  Maybe it's a really good thing.  Start fresh, clean slate and all that business.  

So I will.  Start again that is.

We're living on a community in the Adelaide Hills, about to have our 4th baby together, and my 5th child all up.  I'm writing books and making things that flow, and trying to start up an internet business doing it all.  Inviting you into the world I'm creating from fibre and attitudes, Quantum Physics and plain old ancient's knowledge, wool and mohair and bunny fleece and crochet and felt, and just whatever comes to hand at the time.

I've been creating for 7 years now, and the time has come for my art's Saturn Return, to mature and come of age, and launch itself into the next stage of it's life.  From past experience, and reading, and checking stuff out on the internet, and words from the grass roots, I've decided to steer my way towards Europe and America, where  it  seems the whole handcrafted movement has hit long ago,  and  there is a greater population of alternative folk. 

I reckon I'm a genius, and a revolution waiting to happen.  I've got a whole new approach, and techniques, and attitudes that can lead to an explosion of creativity in your life, that will leak across into all aspects of your creativity, as you decide to try and make things yourself in your own way.  When you get the incredible power and beauty of things that people make, when they're in love with what they're doing.

Passion and love are all that really matter when you get down to it.  We've convinced ourselves for far too long that we have to make compromises, and do our duty, and earn a days work before we do what we really want to do.  Bollocks I say.  You have to just do it.  Follow that passion and do what you want and the universe magically makes it all as good as the feeling that inspires you to just do what you will.

Stay tuned.  I'm going to be making things and taking photo's and videos and organising events, and showing some of the beautiful photo's we've taken along the way. 

Everything is connected.