C is for Clare

Today I'm going to be a bit more self-absorbed than usual and focus on all the Clare's I know.

First off there is me. I have had the name Clare my whole life. As a kid I didn't like my name. I wanted to change it to something else. I'm not sure why exactly, but over time I got used to it and actually quite like it now.  Some variations of the name that I have over the years include: Clarey (most current), Clare Bear (very obvious), CB (short for Clare Bear), Clareabelle, Chocolate de Clare and Clairol (like the shampoo).

A little photo of Nicholas and I (it's difficult to find a photo of myself without Nicholas in it).

The meaning of Clare is bright and clear and is from Latin origin. I'm not sure I am either of these things but the name has a nice meaning anyway.
 

http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-clare-of-assisi

When I was a teenager and used to whinge about things, my Mum and sister's would join in a chorus of saying 'poor Clare' three times. I think they did this just to lighten the mood and remind me that things probably weren't as bad as I thought. A few years ago I found out that there was a Saint Clare of Assisi who founded, along with Francis of Assisi, the Order of the Poor Ladies or the Poor Clares in 1212. From what I have read these types of nuns live a very solemn and isolated existence from the world (or they did at least back in the 13th century). They take a vow of poverty and stick to it. I'm not sure I would have the inner strength to be able to live a life like that to be honest. I like having my little comforts. I just find it interesting, that having heard nothing of the Order of Clare my Mum used to say 'Poor Clare' to me when I was younger.

A Clare I admire for her talent and her passion is Clare Bowditch. I have enjoyed her music since the beginning and have seen her play live many times. The first time was a smallish gig at the Republic Bar and Cafe many years ago when this song was super popular.

I even found this photo of her from that gig on my computer, from all the way back in 2005.

I'm not sure I know many other well known Clares. I can say though that all the Clares I have met throughout my years, whether spelt Clare, Clair, or Claire have all been lovely. It must just be that those with the name Clare are just innately awesome :).

B is for Bees and Backyard

Over the last few weeks we have been spending a lovely amount of time in the backyard. I have been pulling weeds out of everything. Daniel has been espaliering trees and making beehives. I just love spring/summer time. All the fruit is out on the trees, the bees are buzzing around and Nicholas just loves playing in the water, so why not spend as much time outside as possible.

Daniel's beehive being built.

The Nashi tree being espaliered.

My raspberry and strawberry patch being covered up to protect it from all the blackbirds. A few weeks ago actually I counted 16 blackbirds in the backyard all hoping and jumping around. I had never seen so many in one place before.

 And Nicholas enjoying some water play.

A Month Of A To Z....Advent.

Today is the first day of December, and as I was browsing through my list of blogs that I read in Google Reader I found this exciting little challenge run by JustB. For the next month I will post something everyday (ideally) starting with each letter of the alphabet. It might be a photo, a blog post, an idea...whatever I want. On December 1st I have to post something beginning with 'A', on the 2nd something beginning with 'B' and so on. I am a bit excited about this as I figure this will be a lovely little challenge that will get me back into posting on a regular basis.

So to start with... A is for Advent.

I still haven't quite finished my advent calendar from last year but I am definitely excited about how it is looking. I only have the binding to go now and it will be finished :).

In my advent calendar this year I will have little explanations and bible verses that tell of Christ, his coming, and the importance of it in relation to the promises God made long ago. I don't think Nicholas is going to really understand what I read to him, but it is a good introduction nonetheless.

I was going to find a bunch of verses and write up explanations myself but a friend linked to this wonderful blog and resource on her facebook page, so for this year at least I will be using this well thought up and biblical guide to developing my child's understanding of Christmas.

Here is today's entry from Part of the Main: 

"Day 1: The (Empty) Stable: Waiting for Jesus Then and Now 

Right now we are beginning the season of Advent. At the end of Advent is Christmas. The word “advent” means “coming.” It is the season when we remember the coming of Jesus Christ, God’s only son, into the world. Have you ever waited for something for a long time? God’s people had been waiting for a very long time for God to send a Savior to them and keep all of his promises. That Savior was Jesus–who was born long ago in a stable in Bethlehem. The baby Jesus would grow up to save all of God’s people. Yet that is not all of the good news. It was God’s plan to send Jesus to the world twice. He came long ago and he is coming back again. Like the people of Israel, we are waiting for him to come. 

Jesus, thank you for coming down into our world! As we learn about your coming help us to see what you have done for us. Help us to be ready for you to come again. Amen. 

Bible Readings: Psalm 130; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18"

<sup>Psalm 130

A song of ascents.
1</sup> Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
²     Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
    to my cry for mercy.

³ If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
    Lord, who could stand?
⁴ But with you there is forgiveness,
    so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

⁵ I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
    and in his word I put my hope.
⁶ I wait for the Lord
    more than watchmen wait for the morning,
    more than watchmen wait for the morning.

⁷ Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
    for with the Lord is unfailing love
    and with him is full redemption.
⁸ He himself will redeem Israel
    from all their sins.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

 

100th Post!

In recent months Clare's Creative Corner has been rather uncreative and unproductive. Writing this blog and being creative has taken the backseat to things like uni, a prac, a toddler, being pregnant, running a house, etc, etc. The list goes on, but as of today I am going to try and get back into the swing of it. Hopefully, with the change of seasons and the weather finally warming up this will be the inspiration I need to start being creative again and spending more time writing.

During the last few months of not writing a lot has been happening. I finished all my uni subjects, and a few weeks ago I finished my last prac. As of today, I have officially passed everything and so get to graduate in a few weeks time. I am slowly getting used to this lifestyle without study. I sometimes still get this feeling that I should be sitting down, learning something and writing assignments. It's a strange feeling, not studying, after five long years of it. I somehow feel free but also a little bit lost. I spent so long working towards finishing this degree and now that I have it, I am not in the position to go out into the workforce and use it. There is a big part of me that really wants to go out and work, while the other side knows how important it is to be at home with my kids, to watch and guide them as they grow and develop. I don't feel comfortable, at this point, leaving this to someone else, so it all falls to me (which I am fine with). As my children's first teacher, the skills, theory and knowledge that I developed at uni over these past years will definitely not be forgotten or go to waste, as they are certainly transferable to the home. At least for now, my official journey in the world of learning is on hiatus. However, as we all know, learning never really ends.

I am also now in my third trimester of pregnancy and due mid February. I am both excited and apprehensive about having two kids... will I ever sleep again? My first trimester of pregnancy this time round wasn't any worse than with Nicholas. However, I did find the tiredness more difficult to deal with, and food was a little bit more repulsive. I put both these factors down to having a toddler. I only got to sleep when he slept, and I had to cook food so Nicholas wouldn't go hungry. The second trimester went smoothly but rather quickly because I was on prac, and now that I am in the last trimester I feel like time is slipping away from me. Christmas is just around the corner, than it's January with all its birthdays and BBQs, and then all of a sudden it will be February and I will have two 'outside' children to deal with. Arrgghhh...how will I cope?

While I have had the time, I have been trying to be a little more creative. Once a week I go to Frangipani Fabrics for a sewing session, while Nicholas spends time with his grandparents. The freedom it gives me is great, and I get to make things I would never have the time to do at home. I have a few projects on the go at the moment. Firstly, I have almost finished off Nicholas' quilt, which I started making a longgggg time ago. I only have the hand sewing to go and I intend to finish this before Christmas (hopefully) so I can give it to Nicholas as a present. I started a quilt for Daniel and I (based around this quilt), and in the next week or so will begin another quilt for baby girl. The sewing sessions are really informal and the customer service is excellent. Without the help of Briony and Anne there is no way I would be able to make my quilts. If you are in Hobart and you want to learn to quilt, this is a great option.

I was ultimately hoping that my 100th post would be a little more exciting than this, but as an introduction back into the world of blogging I think it will be satisfactory enough :).

No blackberries today!

Sadly, this Autumn we did not had the chance to pick any blackberries. Dad chopped down all the easily accessible bushes (which always bore a lot of fruit), Daniel works all week, and then I work and play soccer on weekends. Mum went away and I didn't want to leave Nicholas asleep and alone in the house while I wandered around the property picking blackberries, plus the nice Autumn days have been few and far between. I also couldn't imagine carrying Nicholas on my back and walking around my parents very uneven property in the wet and cold, so it just didn't really happen.

I was afraid having kids would somehow impede on the things I enjoy doing, such as preserving fruit. In some ways it has and it hasn't. If I didn't have Nicholas I would have happily walked around picking blackberries alone and in the cold. It's been done before. But because I don't want to risk tripping, for instance, and hurting Nicholas, I just didn't bother. I've also found that before Nicholas it didn't matter if I stayed up late preserving. Now for obvious reasons I want to be in bed before 10pm, which means I have to be a lot more organised, something I am not particularly great at.

Thankfully, the Thermomix makes preserving super easy. I just put the fruit and sugar in, set the timer, turn it to the correct speed and off it goes. All I have to do at end is just pour the jam into the sterilised jars...so easy. So even though I am disappointed that I didn't get my hands on nay blackberries this year, when I saw a bunch of jamming figs going cheaply at the markets I couldn't pass up the offer.

So I got all the ingredients prepared:
Figs, sugar and lemon juice,
Put them into the Thermomix, set the timer and let it go.
When I returned, it was finished :).

I definitely I want to plant a fig tree this winter, but like the mulberry tree it can get huge, so I'm not quite sure if we have the room in our backyard for it. I guess we'll just have to find some!

Soccer: Round 4

It feels like weeks since our last round of soccer. We started with our first game and then nothing. Round 2 was moved to May because it was during the Easter long-weekend, and then because of the uneven amount of teams Round 3 for us was a Bye. This means Round 4 is actually only our second game, and even though we lost, we did score our first goal. Woot! In the end the score was 3-1.

It certainly wasn't a bad game this weekend against Olympia Blue, and I would definitely say that our skill level was quite evenly matched. Sadly a few easy goals got in, including a penalty in the box and it quickly put us behind.

The game was played at a pretty quick pace, with lots of good passing and lots of shots on goal. From what I saw at the back of the field, in right full-back position, we had majority of possession most of the game, we just had trouble getting the ball into the back of the net. The one goal we did get though was great. Emily ran it down the middle of the field, then passed it off to Hannah on the left, who kicked it and scored. It was well executed and well timed. Just what we needed after 80mins of play and no goal. Earlier in the game we missed out on a header, from a beautiful corner kick that hit the top of the goal bar and bounced off. It just wasn't our day to score goals. Despite the lack of goals, I still think we played really well as a team, and will continue to improve as the season continues.

I actually played in a right-full back position this week. A position I haven't played in for a long time, but I really enjoyed it. I remember when I first started playing soccer, all those years ago, I was placed in this position and told to just man-mark. It took me back a few years. I just hope that my skills have improved since then. My main struggle though is with my speed. I am just so slow. I struggle to keep up with players and get the ball once they are on the run. Also, since having Nicholas I feel somewhat fragile. A feeling I've never had before. I'm somewhat scared to go in and tackle. I really don't want to get injured. If I injure myself I can't look Nicholas properly and so maybe I am a bit reluctant to play 100%. At least I am aware of it, and I hope that I can overcome it.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to next week's game. It will be out first home game. I'll try and get Daniel to take some pictures as well :).

First Birthday!

This weekend we celebrated Nicholas' first birthday. Although a month early, because of work and soccer on weekends, it was a wonderful day and the weather was surprisingly perfect. It was warm and sunny and all the more better because all our close friends and family shared the day with us.

All Nicholas' closest little friends came along. So many children in our life now. It is wonderful. Nicholas enjoyed eating cake for the first time and spending time with all his friends.

I decorated the backyard a tiny bit with bunting that I made for a friends wedding and picnic rugs. I even splashed out and made Nicholas his own birthday bunting from coloured paper and twine.

I tried not to overdo it with the food as it was only morning tea, so I just kept it to the essentials. Jelly cups with fruit, my Mum's delicious cream cheese and curry dip, bread and dip, and bright green muffins.

Emily, my wonderful sister, who is so great and talented at decorating cakes, helped me out quite a bit with Nicholas' first birthday cake. We decided to make a bear seeing though we often call Nicholas 'Nicholas bear'. 

I love how the cake turned out. I wouldn't have been so game if it was only me making and decorating the cake. I would have only made a face and I'm pretty sure it would have turned out terribly.

I just can't believe that we have almost had Nicholas is almost a year old. It has just passed by so quickly. I never imagined how much joy one little person could bring to your life.

Thermomix adventure no. 1

So I did something recently that I never thought I would do. I spent an obscene amount of money on a kitchen appliance. But not just any kitchen appliance I might add... a Thermomix. And I must say, this is one of the best decisions I have made in a long time. I think it is fantastic. It saves time when cooking and motivates me try new food, and since it arrived on Tuesday I have been using it two to three times daily.

On Tuesday, after it was dropped off, at 3pm in the afternoon I used it 3 times. I made a carrot salad, cauliflower soup and quince paste, and the quince paste turned out amazingly.

I used some quinces I picked up from the side of the road, and I followed this quince paste recipe I found on the Thermomix community site. Unlike my attempts at making quince paste last year this was surprisingly easy because it avoided all the time wasted in straining the paste to make it fine and smooth. 

Here I am cutting everything up.

This is the core and peel after it had been blitzed, and before the water had been added.

Here it is after being cooked for 25mins, but before being strained to get the liquid out.

After cooking for a massive 50mins it is ready to be placed in the tray to cool and set.

Such a vibrant red colour.

The end product: so smooth and tasty :).

 I am looking forward to all the Thermomix adventures that are ahead of us.

11 months

Not long until Nicholas is a year old! It's gone so quickly.