So, Ive spent the last couple of days making the most of Sharron's (Tom's mum) vintage Jenome sewing machine.  It's been SO nice to sew again after a good 4 month break from sewing what with work and packing up all my stuff and moving out of the studio.
Thought I would keep you guys up to date with the creations and put some photos up here of what Ive been making!
I made Sharron a copy of one of her favourite dresses as a christmas prezzie, it was made out of white cotton with really cool pockets and mix/matched red beads, I havnt got a photo of this one yet but will get onto that.  It was pretty hard to take a copy of it, as it has lots of darts in it, but i managed and it looks really lovely on.
I also made Tom a waistcoat for christmas with a thick cotton linen mix and a purple lining, pics to follow.
Today (boxing day) I made myself a really pretty dress from a vintage pattern i customised a while back.  Ive made the pattern a few times as tops and dresses and its really flattering.  Today I used some beautiful hand blocked cotton Tom and I bought in Fitzroy, Melbourne when we were looking for waistcoat material for him.
Here it is!

The fabric is dusty pinky colour with black paisley/indian block print on it.  I cut the fabric so it looks like it has a waistband but its actually just the print of the fabric....pretty cool though huh!
Well, hope you guys all had a lovely xmas, you englishies will be waking up to boxing day now, and lots of turkey sandwiches!!! hehe. xxx

Merry Christmas everyone! Im writing this from Ruffy, taking a little break from the family merriment of christmas day with Toms family.  We arrived here yesterday from the city, so nice to finally get back here after 2 weeks in the city when i was only intending to be away for 3 days!!
Its been a really interesting couple of weeks in the city, staying with friends and family of Tom, particularly the Hartman family who really took me under their wing, and i was staying on my own with them for quite a few days whilst tom came back to ruffy.  I tried and failed at getting a job, then tried and succeeded, so im heading back to the city in a couple of days before new year to start work waitressing on the harbour in port melbourne.  Its a really swanky location right on the peir, and double the pay of what i get in england so cant complain. 
Really missing all you english roses, had a bit of a teary day thinking about what you guys are all up to on your christmas eves and mornings.  Looking forward to some jolly christmas skyping later with the parentals and chatting to my christmassed sisters ;-)
Here are some photos of the last couple of weeks :

 this is Ruffy, properly out in the sticks! Makes buxton look cosmopolitan!

This is Degraves street in Melbourne, best coffee in town, and great for people watching too.

 Anna Hartman, John her boyfriend, and Tom eating at the Auction Rooms in North Melbourne, taaaasty!

So much love to you all and more to come soon! Ill be back in Melbourne on the 27th, moving into our new room in North Carlton, then starting work on the 28th.  Xxx

6/12/11

Cant believe its December, its July really and the calendars just pretending! Dont think i could ever get used to this whole season switch thing, march being the beginning of Autumn....nnnnnaaaahhhhhh!
Spent the last few days chilling at the family home in Ruffy, doing some hardcore Macrame making (been making a macrame pocket belt-photos to follow when its finito), lots of The Wire watching and general lazy summer sun worshipping.  Tom was away from saturday til monday night which was a bit strange, making myself at home in his parents house while he was away, and meeting his bro and bro's lady without him there.  Bit nervewracking but all good.  Tom was off at a friend reunion with some of his ol'time homeschooling chums, sounded like he had a good old chin wag.
Spent some lovely evenings eating outside in the dusky sunsets with the family...its so nice to be able to congregate outside at the end of the day and have a bit of a feast.  Yesterday we lit the home made clay pizza oven outside and made tastey crazy pizzas with the most random toppings- courgette flowers, potato slices- and tastey mozzarella and olives nom nom nom! Was so beautiful out there with lots of mosquito candles all like and a big fire lit next to the oven to keep us warm.  I took some pictures that ill add at the end.  Its still pretty chilly here in the mornings and after sunset, toms parents say its more like spring weather right now then summer (which is a bit worrying as to me its super hot already during the day!).  Me and tom had a go at the raspberry bushes this afternoon, got a good little harvest from just 20mins work, id say there was still 20 times more vines to do then we picked their harvest is HUGE!  You have to wait til after the day cools, because otherwise the risk of snakes is too high to be going that much into the grass- i was pretty proud of myself that i went in there at all even though i was pretty wimpy and tom has been known to have the odd demand to carry me through long grass....self preservation i call it =)
Were heading off into the city tomorrow until sunday for a good few days of city time.  Cant wait to get out and see some more Oz! Ive been on the farm for nearlly a week without leaving because its just SO remote, so itll be super nice to see some lovelies in Melbourne and got shown the sites! <3 Going to be staying with some of Toms pals and also his bro's.
Other then that, not much new really here, got a bit of a cold coming i think or it might be hayfever so feeling a bit under the weather, but chirpy enough=) Lots of love to you all! Xxx   Zzzzzzzz!

3/12/11

Woke up at 2:30am this morning! Jetlag SUCKS! So far ive woken up at 5:30am on the first day, 4 am on the 2nd day and 2:30am this morning.... not good.  I think im going to have to be really hard on myself and not sleep at all during the day, sup away at some coffee or something to keep me awake until at least 9pm so i can try and get my body back in wak.  Its pretty full on, really wasnt expecting it to be this bad!
Toms just in the garden with his dad having fun with a chainsaw and moving lots of logs around, they're in their element =) Him and his mum are heading off to the city in a bit, tom to go to a gathering with all his homeschooling pals, and his mum to pick up toms brother and his american girlfriend Kim and bring them back to the house.  I decided to stay in the country over the weekend and get over the jetlag, instead of going to the meeting tonight and meeting up with the lovely Judith who is a Melbourne BV member i met in india this year. 
Gonna spend the next couple of days chillin outside in the sunshine, getting a bit browner (without roasting! the sun is SOOO hot here!hole in Ozone layer etc etc), and making some more makrame jewellery with the plan to sell at some point.  I made this bracelet whilst i was waiting for my flight when i was in Bristol...but i dont have any more stones to play with....wish id brought more when i was in India last time! Tom's pretty dead set on heading out there in February for a few weeks, so maybe Ill get a chance to sooner rather then later, money trees providing!

Had a lovely skypeyskypey catch up with the gorgeous miss jenni this morning which was a really nice treat, though connections are pretty shocking here and I could see her lovely face but she couldnt see mine. Wish i could transport you to the warm for a bit Jennibum! <3
Much love to you all and more pics and updates soon xxx

1/12/11

FIRST DAY IN OZ! I arrived into Melbourne Airport at 7:30pm yesterday afternoon with the best airport greeting since Love Actually.  The journey was pretty hellish: travelling back from the family farm at 11am on Monday and arriving back into bristol for 4, failing at getting some shut eye before my coach at 2:30am to Heathrow which took nearlly 3 hours, 3 hours wait in the airport, 6 1/2 hour flight to Abu Dhabi, 2 hours wait and then 14 hour flight to Melbourne, and 2 hours drive to Ruffy! What a journey!!
Within the first 20mins of the drive to Ruffy I saw (and this is not an exaduration) a good 200 Kangas, and as we were pulling into Ruffy there was a Koala crossing the road which looked at us for a sec then bounced off up a eucalyptus tree near by =) Pretty amazing start to life in Oz.

Despite being really exhausted it felt like trying to go to sleep at midday, when we went to bed at 11pm.  Tom's still suffering from jetlag 5days in, and I can see that its not going to be as easy as i thought to nip it in the bud.  We were both wide awake at 5:30am this morning, snuggled up in Toms gorgeous family home in the bush in a little hamlet called Ruffy.  The house is gorgeous and the gardens even more so, it looks like a big tree house surrounded by fruit trees and flowers and vegetable patches.  The house was built by Toms dad, John, and is all wood except for a bit of stone work on the outside where you can see that the house used to be an old church.  Theres a beautiful wood stove inside that heats the house, and its so beautiful and cosy! Its pretty chilly here when the sun goes in, so weve been cosying up and keeping warm next to the stove when we havnt been catching some spring sunshine outside, picking strawberries, and making pancakes and strawberry crumble! What a gorgeous first day =) Toms dad is a wood sculptor as well as amazing at all things DIY, and he has a studio out in the gardens with some gorgeous wood sculptures hanging around in there and out near the trees.  I took some pics of them which will be at the bottom of this entry.
So the plan is to relax here tomorrow, then were both going to head into the city on Saturday, Tom to a reunion with his friends, and me to catch up with some pals and do my first BV open meeting from Melbourne!
Sleepily excited and so happy to be here, love to you all and enjoy the pics =) <3 xxx

1 week.

This time next week Ill be waiting to get on a coach to the airport in a few hours! Its amazing, I cant believe it is all going to happen so soon.  Its monday today and tom flies on friday this week, then Im off with dad up north to drop of my stuff being stored at the farmhouse, and spend a few days with mum and jon and the girlies, then back down to brizzle on the monday and coach at 2:30am on the tuesday morning to the airport for a flight at 9am.  Eek.  I am so excited =)

Had a gorgeous leaving do on friday, so lovely to collect so many people to play, we ate delicious Thali's at the Thali Cafe in easton, and went for drinks after.  It really hit home what was about to happen when i was sitting next to ash and jen, lots of happiness but also sadness.  But life is made for adventures and im sure my lovely ladies will soon be galavanting off around the globe on their own adventures, Ash already has plans for another Brazil visit in 2012 which sounds amazing!

So, yeh, 7days to go, 2 1/2 days left with the lovely Milo boy ive been nannying since August, and my last cafe shift tomorrow!  Some more serious packing needing to take place this week, which im secretly looking forward to.

Speak soon, maybe from my new home of Melbourne. All my love, until then,
Bex xx

Barcelona!

Its mine and tom's first night in Barcelona and we're chilling in our amazing shared apartment overlooking the hustle and bustle of a busy saturday night on the Grand de Garcia, a gorgeous district in the north west of central barcelona.  We seem to have landed in a mediteranean inspired idyll in the centre of the city, a huge apartment complete with 2 balconies and stunning traditional tiled floors.  After a bit of a bone shaking easyjet flight for yours truly, we arrived a little tired after our early morning start, but seriously happy to be greeted by the warm sunshine of november in the mediteranean.  The streets were alive with locals and tourists alike, all sporting flipflops and tshirts instead of the customary british puffa jackets and boots of this time of year.  I quickly noticed that my furry jacket was not going to be needed for the next 5 days and switched into sunshine mode.  We spent our first afternoon miandering around the back streets of the area surrounding the Placa de Catalunya, surrounded by a beautiful maze of tall apartment buildings and tree lined streets.  We had some tastey grub at a cafe we stumbled upon through an archway hidden down a bustling back street, spent some time slurping on syruppy frappe lattes and pondering what on earth to order on a menu that looked like a dyslexic english person had written it; half guessing at words that might be what they look like but at the same time could well be a far cry from what we intended to order! We luckily ended up, thanks to a very friendly customer who spoke a little english and could translate our gobbldigook to the lovely waitress, with the tastiest salad with fresh tomato, buffalo mozzarella, pesto and lettuce, and a salmon toasted roll.  The food was delicious, especially when eaten in a foreign city surrounded by the mysterious language and sights of a city that was waiting to be explored!
Bed and an early night cosied up watching movies calls, with plans of many adventures for our first full day in Barcelona tomorrow!

Until then =) xxx

10 months on...

So much has happened since I last used this blog- it was so lovely refinding this and reading through my last post on here and really remembering the beginnings of this year and my journey with Balanced View.  I stayed in India until the 20th April, spending up until the middle of March in Arambol working and studying at the Balanced View centre there and also taking a 7day intensive massage course with a lovely man that I met at the centre called Tapesh.  I went off around Hampi and Kerala with a lovely girl called Miriam that I met whilst taking part in the massage course, and then headed up north through Delhi with a gorgeous spanish gal called Gabbi and up to Himanchal Pradesh and Baksu.  I stayed in Baksu for my last couple of weeks, camped up in a beautiful communal living space high up in the foothills of the himalayas with some wonderful friends including the lovely rosie borey who i had wanted to catch up with the whole trip.  Such a lovely way to end my trip and experience the calmness of the north in summer.  Gorgeous memories.
After flying back from India, ridiculously skint, I managed to land a fantastic temporary nanny role with a family in Bath for 3 weeks, looking after their 2 sets of twins.  Intense thing to do pretty much straight away after landing but great for the bank account as I earnt over a grand tax free for 3 weeks work.  The bank manager was smiling.  During this time I also heard news via facebook that Chai Wallahs the festival crew, were recruiting for the 2011 festival season, and applied for a job with them.  I managed to get a reference from Nutmegs ex who had worked for them in 2010 and after a lovely summertime interview with Toast who manages the cafe section, secured the job! So I toured around with the chai wallah stage from the beginning of June until the end of August, doing 7 festivals and a lot of travelling!  During this time I started seeing a lovely aussie fella called Tom who was a fellow newbie to the Chai Wallah crew.  Working for the Chai's was pretty tough at points and really hard work, but such an awesome experience and being with Tom throughout was so lovely.  Since finishing working with the Chai Walli's I have been pretty much perminently been living with Tom in Bristol, and have secure a job nannying a little 1 year old boy called Milo in Clifton, Bristol.  I started working with Milo 3 days after my last festival, and he is such a joy to look after!  My most recent news is that I am in just over 3 weeks moving to Melbourne Australia with Tom =) whos return flight is on the 25th Nov.   I am to fly on the 29th with Etihad airways via AbuDhabi, and due to land after a 23 hour flight.  Its such a big step after just under 5 months of being together, but it felt such a natural thing to do, and is the only way to give our relationship a chance to grow... meeting Tom has been such an amazing experience, and seeing how I have changed during this year is pretty phenominal.  I know for a fact that I would not be in this relationship if it wasnt for my Balanced View training and the support of the Mainstays, and since Tom has started attending and taken part in his first intro training our connection seems to become more and more amazing.
So that is a bit of an update of my 2011 year so far since I last wrote.  Im intending to write quite regularly with updates from Australia, and photos etc.
Until then,
Over and out =) xxx

Hey guys!
Wow, its the 2week benchmark...one of those where you cant work out whether time has gone mega fast or slow, a pretty intense 14days but so amazing in ways that I couldnt ever explain fully.  When i decided to come to india a large part of it was escapism from being unsatisfied with my life in bristol...more then anything I think to escape my own head(!).  I wanted to go to India to find the cure- Haha...the age ol' quest to find yourself in India.  What is astonishing and highly unexpected is that I actually seem to be doing just that.  Jen- Im having a good old giggle to myself about that mural in the restaurant in Padangbai Indonesia ''you will not find the meaning of life whilst travelling'', hahaha! Legends.  This journeys plans are already changed massively, and as a control freak and a mega Capricorn that is progress in itself =P
Goa is beautiful, and Goa is full of points of view.  Its India whether it believes it or not and its full of extremes- extreme poverty, disabled people/elderly/kids begging...their only interaction with westerners being askign for money with muddy sad faces and miming hungry signals.  A universal language that is the same in any country.  And more hippies then you could swing a dreadlock at! Guys, Im talking Primal Screaming workshops, finding your inner shamon, 'Love yoga'....questionable.  Its hilarious.  Buying kilos and kilos of hippie gear (and i count myself in this description!) and eating samosas and pizza in this strange east-meet-west unharmonious clash of cultures.  Its vibrant ill give you that, and it gets people really talking about the meaning of everything...whether we have more to gain from indian culture then we would happily let on, and i suppose vice versa.  Im learning a happy balance between trying my hardest to suppress my western guilt and finding ways of giving I feel more comfortable with, like giving half of my food away or sharing my water...or just being silly and going rockpooling with a gaggle of little naked indian kiddies, with their kohl-ed eyes and hindi waist belts swinging away bringing them good luck as they play.  Ive started funny little relationships, like giving half my apple every day to the same little begger girl that sits right next to the fruit stand...she must be around the same age as freya and has never been to school just.like.her....that always makes me smile, what a funny ol'world i have grown up in(!) that we have the opportunity to go to school but choose not to.  As much as I am pro-homeschooling it does make me cringe a little to think of how many more possibilities these little'uns would have with a better education.  I met a girl called Premadona(what a name!) on the beach selling sarongs to tourists- she is 17 and being forced unhappily into a marriage with a 67yr old man because she is from a low caste and has never been to school...her parents cant afford a good dowry so its her only obvious option.
Ive moved rooms now 3 times in Arambol, now away from the beach a little and into a cheaper room (200rp a day).  My intentions of travelling to Hampi and then volunteering at Sadhana have been superseded by my taking part in more courses and being more involved in the community at the Balanced View centre here.  I was really really up for going to these places and still fully intend to in the future, but the sacrifice doesnt even begin to compare to how much stability and enjoyment I am gaining here.  Im finding my inner calm and couldnt recommend it more (www.balancedview.com - a bit of shameless promotion but thats the last of it i swear).  So yeh, my days revolve around yummy meals, trainings, open meetings, sunset hula jams in the drumming circles on the beach...and lots of lovely people in between.  The last 3 days Ive been doing a 3 day intensive training at the centre which is pretty much 7hours a day as well as coming early to open meetings to help out within the community. Im gaining so much from the whole process and loving being part of the community and the fact that there are so many Bristolians here (random!) makes me so much more grounded to my home city and really looking forward to my return and new beginnings- so many lifelong friends being made, with such amazing talents and skills and laughs!  Makes me miss you all and appreciate you all even more!  What a motley crew you all are =)  Love you all so much...
So bex is finding her inner optimist and her inner contentment finally.  Its been a long time coming and happening so simply in a situation I never dreamed I would be part of.  Isnt life a funny ol'thing?!
Lots of plans a brewing to visit new found friends around europe in the near future, and a real pull to start dreaming up new ways to make my money- I wonder if selling flapjack could pay the rent? (joking, joking....kinda).  Im also really considering getting Offsted registered so as to be able to childmind properly (means that the family can get the money available to them for childcare from the gov, which in turn means im more likely to get a yoghurt-weaver sorta family!), pretty expensive process but should be pretty fulfilling in the long run.  Also really looking forward to my massage course starting in March, and hopefully all the doors that will open.
So yeh~ So much excitement and so much enthusiasm at the possibilities we all have...dont get me wrong-im still feeling lonely..overwhelmed....tired, but learning slowly that I am fine with all that.  Feeling strong!
Lots and lots of love to you all,
Bexi xxx

Hey Peeps =)
Well I managed 10days in India without belly getting the better of me, i count my blessings.  Im living on a cocktail of random herbal remedies that random travellers keep on giving me- from coconut husk which turns to jelly in your stomach and flushes out impruties (called Satisubgol in Goan), to natural antiparasite capsules from Amsterdam, and herbal tea from Israel... as well as the usual troweling through the numerous homeopathic remedies i have with me.  Im afraid to say that so far, Ibuprofen wins hands down.  I feel my hippie mumma cringing ;-)
So Ive been taking it nice and easy...my body seems not to want me to be in the sun so ive been spending lots of time helping out and going to meetings at the Balanced View centre ive been doing workshops in.  I spent last night at the Teepee village that my new friend Leah is staying at...Its a beautiful place, and if i end up spending next season in goa id love to live there.  Its about 20mins walk from town along the beach and is a bit of a closed community run by an excentric old hippie lady who's smoked a little bit too much Charis in her day and popped a few too many pills =P Lovely lady though and great fun to spent time there.  She has 2 MASSIVE pigs that just wander around the teepees, about 4dogs and a new born puppy who i have been looking after while leah is doing her workshop- SOOOO cute! Jenni, you would have been in puppy heaven.  Its one month old, eats a diet of puppy biscuits, rice and dahl, and falls asleep across your belly getting his nose as close to your armpit as he can manage.  We've been thinking of lots of different names, none of which he seems too chuffed about =)
So i start my next workshop tomorrow, a 4 day workshop at the Balanced View Centre, which finishes on Saturday, and then Im heading off into the sunset....for a joyous 18hr 'Sleeper' bus (irony in words!) to Chennai and then a local 7hr train to Pondicherry, to get to Sadhana Forest just outside of the city.  Looking forward to truly getting stuck into India....Goa is getting a bit too easy for my liking now, haha. And DEFINITELY too expensive.  Im spending almost double what i intended so looking forward to volunteering and easing off the ol'bank account a bit! Ive bought nearlly all of my pressi's and going to post them back before I leave Arambol.  Lots of pretties for my pretties =)
So yeh, Ive collected a couple of nice blokies who are gonna travel with me to Sadhana...a swedish bloke called Hampus and also an english guy called Steve who may come too.  Will be nice to have some company and man-protection, though they are both not the most manly of blokes, hehe.
Lots of love and hugs,
Will try to sort out an Indian simmcard soon so I can call you guys cheaply.
Much love and thinking of you all.  Off to eat some dry toast....fun fun fun!
Xxx