Making Mondays: Fabric Bread Bag

The typical bread you get here is delicious on the day you get it but no good by the next day. So when I saw this post about making bread bags over at Soule Mama I knew I had to try it. Apparently fabric is ideal for storing bread!

I made a simple rectangular drawstring bag from some linen and a piece of one of Senol's old shirts. I love this shirt so was very happy to use part of it! The stripes and buttons gave it some colour and detail without me having to spend extra time on it - yay!

I made my bag pretty roomy to accommodate the different shaped loaves we get. The typical bread you get everywhere here (this is the bread poking out in the photo on the right) is fairly long and I am also hoping some of the round breads I get will also fit. Interestingly, the bread that we refer to as 'Turkish bread' in Australia is actually only widely available here during Ramadan -which is a pity because it is so tasty.

Fingers crossed that this helps the bread to last a little longer. I hope you like it!

ps terrible light for taking photos today so these were the best I could get :(

My new blog address

Welcome to my new blog address! I'm so glad you're here!

I remember my very first post over at a pink canary's nest when I talked about change. At the time my husband and I had just moved to Turkey from Australia with our little boy (he was 4 months old when we moved).

Only 5 months before that first post I was just finishing up at my job as a lawyer in Melbourne, struggling to fit in anything suit like for a meeting, sipping on my lemonade at the after-work drinks, wondering what I would do if I went into labour at work! Strangers would smile at me in the street and offer me their seat on the tram and I was busy preparing for the birth of Yashar.

I had high hopes and dreams about what was about to come. I wanted to be a good mother and to raise a happy, healthy and content child. I also hoped that this would be my chance to really live a creative life. To explore what I enjoyed and find something that I truly cared about doing. I wanted to be inspired. And most of all I wanted to build a happy and fulfilling life for my family and I.

So here I am, ready for more change! Moving closer to making those hopes and dreams a reality.

Thank you to everyone for your support, encouragement and inspiration along the way. It has been a wonderful (if at times a little bumpy!) year.

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.