Little corners of heaven on earth

After a lazy breakfast at the scrumptiously gorgeous Hawker Street Cafe, a touch of garage sale-ing and stumbling across some cheap as chips plants at a church fete with one of my very nearest & dearest, we ended up at her parents place for an impromptu visit. Upon walking through the front gate & into their rose-laden garden, I instantly knew this would be a soul-nourishing trip. They guided me through their family home, pointing out endless treasures, most of which were lovingly handmade & each accompanied by a story. I felt so at home and could have happily perched beneath their backyard canopy for the entire afternoon, being reminded of why family, art and memories are so important. They are the glue that hold our ( sometimes cracked ) pieces together & without them life is kind of, well, wonky. After wandering inside & out, we drank tea and ate slices of home-grown peaches. We talked about the importance of change & new beginnings. And we laughed.
This was one of those unexpected happenings that left me floating rather than dragging my feet. Reading this & this from 2 of my most favourite blog crushes also helped remind me that even the people we admire the most also face the tough stuff. And at the risk of sounding like I'm pleased to know others are struggling, it is just so comforting to remember we are all human. Fragile. Vulnerable to heartache. Making our lives richer, our appreciation deeper & our art more likely to reach out and tickle the hearts of those who need it most.
xx Jessie Lee

A case of the dreaded wibbly wobblies

Lately I've been a little wibbly wobbly which is why I haven't posted for a while. I intend to bop this feeling on the head but I also know that sometimes we just need to let ourselves feel a bit out of sorts rather than get cross about it. That way we can properly heal and find the strength to keep going in a healthier, happier direction. I am a positive little Vegemite at heart so I don't want to lose the hope that I won't feel this way forever. Heartache is a strangely powerful thing and I guess we can try and use it to learn more about ourselves. These things take time but it can also lead to insane outbursts of creative productivity and that is something I could certainly do with.
Here are a few snaps of the more productive moments in the last couple of weeks. Admittedly, they have been few and far between.
I hope you are squeezing the life out of these last few warm Autumn days. The sunlight is beautiful medicine for a wounded heart. So are unexpected visitors & cards left on the doorstep. Tuna dip lovingly made & delivered. Waking in the morning to the sound of rain when you don't have to be in it. The sweetness of possibility & the knowledge that sadness will ebb & flow. A giant hug at the end of an awful day. A mocha with extra froth & a biscuit that reminds you of being a kid. The feeling of morning air on your face as you step out into the day & the relief of putting the key in the door when you've made it home.
xx

A little birthday prezzie I made for my bestie's birthday in February. Couldn't post anything about it until it was in her hot lil hands! It was oodles of fun to make.

My humble garden was looking so sad & neglected until I charged out there with a broom & scissors & a hose & a cuppa, of course. I pulled muscles I worked so hard! Now it is pleasant to sit out there again & just watch the happy plants do their thing

beautiful mess

I threw a surprise pary in my backyard last night. The weather was picture perfect, my tiny yard was chocker block with gorgeous people, there was a hum of love & togetherness. Food was had, candles were lit & fairy lights twinkled. Blinking through sleepy eyes at the aftermath the next morning is always a little scary but I felt happy that it was mess from something so delightful. The only plant in my garden that fell victim to lots of bodies squashed into a small space was my begonia which lost a few stems... not bad, I reckon! Now that the excitement is over & the cleaning accomplished, I'm about to nestle into bed with a cuppa & 'The Little Prince'... Bliss!
xx Jessie

backwards & forwards

Very early on Wednesday morning, bags were packed, zips were zipped, tickets were checked, eyes were wide with anticipation and I wheeled my suitcase in the creeping dawn light to the bus. I was going to Melbourne. It's been almost a year since I last had the opportunity & I was quite looking forward to it. However, going back there is always an experience tinged with unknowing. It is a place I fell for, hook line & sinker in my late teens & dropped everything to move for when I was barely 20. The 3 years that followed were difficult & ended with me deciding to come back home. Thankfully that was a decision I have never regretted yet the whole experience left me with an odd taste in my mouth. It is a place that I KNOW is beautiful & incredible & inspiring & gob smacking but every time I thought of Melbourne, I was instantly stung by the memory of how sad & scared I was living there. Such conflicting & tortured emotions for one tiny city!! Each time I have returned for a visit over the last few years, it's been a mixed bag of feelings; total awe for a place that will always manage to swallow me up in it's unarguable magic & a quiet discomfort for my unhappy attempt at living there.
It is wonderful to say that THIS trip was entirely different. It was just pure & utter bliss. The inconvenitent cobwebs of memory were brushed from my mind & I seemed to see everything through new eyes. I went to places that I have always had a fondness for & many that I had never seen. I visited dear dear friends, made some new ones, spent lots of time on my own & relished the feeling of annonymity in a place that gives you complete freedom to be entirely yourself. Sound cheesy? Well, refreshingly, nothing about Melbourne is. The grungy dirty unkempt parts are what adds to it's charm & appeal.
Of course, I can't take full resonsibility for being able to enjoy myself there. Having some beautiful friends to visit really made this trip so worthwhile. Some have lived there for a while, all settled into a lovely home with a rambling garden & coffee always at the ready. They are accustomed to the hum of such a lively city. Others have only been there a short while & are still up for exploring & falling in love with all of it's quirks. This was the perfect mix of company & allowed me to do a little of both..lazing & adventuring. I was so caught up in the surprise of how comfortable I felt being back there that I didn't take many photos but here a few that I snapped along the way.

I don't think I should even attempt to describe how well the do the 'cafe culture' in Melbourne! Needless to say, almost every one that you find yourself in is cozy & unique & a often a little crazy. I felt relaxed (or pooped!!) enough to sit in one for a while & draw. Something I rarely, if ever, do in Adelaide. This wasn't to match the ideal of the tortured artist, scribbling & brooding in the dark corner of a cafe but more to do with the fact my mind was literally brimming with ideas that I had to get down. I didn't feel at all silly doing this as people in Melbourne are very good at minding their own business. Everyone is completely involved in their own cup of coffee or company. This is a refreshingly welcome change from home where people always seem to have one eye peering around, making sure they are doing it right. 

Being in Melbourne at a time when I am so chock-a-block with ideas for my next arty projects was fantastic. The place is a smorgasboard of visual delights, awakening stale ideas & sparking new ones. One of my most favourite moments was stumbling upon a nursery in Fitzroy with my gorgeous friend Margot. We share a mutual obsession with all things garden & this place had us just about weeping with joy! Take a look..

....SO. MANY. POTS! If I wasn't flying home, I would have happily taken some of these babies with me! I definitely got a fix to fulfill this new-found potty love of mine. When I'm not scoping out unsual colours & shapes, I'm contemplating drilling a hole in something just so I can grow a plant in it. This could be dangerous. But no-one has left my house with a hole in the bottom of their shoe. Yet.

The best part of this little trip was coming away with an untainted view of a place I've struggled to make peace with in a confused heart. The challenges I had there will never disappear & I understand, now, that most of them have helped shape the person I am today. I can't undo the mistakes I made or the people I allowed to hurt me there but I can use this recent experience as a reminder that time & experience help us grow & stretch into people who are equipped to make new memories. This might sound painfully simple but until you make these realisations for yourself, they are just delightful theories you hope to one day comprehend. 

I hope you enjoyed reliving this adventure with me, it's been really lovely to think this out.  For all the people who made this last trip so unique - thank you. Words don't do justice to how grateful I feel. You were magnificent hosts.

xx Jessie Lee.