Tilly turns six

My dear girl is finally six. It seems like a forever wait. All her best friends are six at the beginning of the year. But........ now we are six! She shared her day with her beloved Nan and Pop, a handful of her bestest friends and a beautifully decorated house!

     

  

Everyone pitched in to help me before friends arrived. There was a bead craft, pass the parcel, hide the hankie and duck duck goose. Plus the balloons provided an endless entertainment all of their own. Tilly chose her own cake and decorated it. It was a nice party and she enjoyed it. Couldn't ask for too much more. 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

  

To celebrate the occasion, Tilly memorised 'Now We Are Six' by A.A. Milne. We forgot to recite it to the children however!! Too much fun was being had. One of her presents from mummy and daddy was the book by the same name. She just loves poetry and can sit and listen to me read for hours. 

When I was one, I had just begun.

When I was two, I was nearly new.

When I was three, I was hardly me.

When I was four, I was not much more. 

When I was five, I was just alive.

But now I am six, I'm as clever as clever.
So I think I'll stay six now, forever and ever. 

Happy year of being six Tilly our darling girl. 

A lovely day.

Today we took a lovely trip into Di Hua Street. A beautiful street full of vendors selling nuts, dried fruits, teas, medicines etc. I've got the sewing bug and on one end of this area is a fabric market, full of shops selling everything "sewing". Here it is, but there are also shops outside up and down the street selling fabric.

 

This whole area is historical. Those are old wooden shutters on the windows. 

 

Some of the goods on display in one of the many shops. I really love this place. 

 

 

We got a little worn out and needed a coffee. So did the teddies. 

 

We stumbled upon this cafe and inside was literally a museum and some of the best coffee in the city!

 

The owner of this cafe explained that this building has been in his family for over 100 years, and he has preserved it to its current state. This photo shows the wooden slats that are still on the inside of the wall. 

 

I loved everything about this cafe. Steve disappeared for over ten minutes and we hadn't realised he'd been taken upstairs by the owner for a tour of his home/shop. He spoke English and then took Dad and gradually everyone else for a little tour and explanation. 

 

Original ceiling. 

 

Original window frames though the glass and mechanisms were fixed in the refurbishments. We loved the fabric shopping and coffee so much that we've decided to come back before Mum and Dad leave. I came home loaded with inexpensive material ready to make bunting for Tilly's birthday party next week!! More to come I guess!

Sewing lessons with Mum

Some time ago I said to my husband, I think I should get a sewing machine. They sell fairly cheaply at Costco. And he said, Oh. And then that evening he brought one up to the house. He said, Here you go. Brand new. Client didn't use or want it. Such is the way we do things here.

So it sat unopened for a few months. And I thought, I'll wait till Mum and Dad come and then we'll whip it out. And we actually did. I found cute baby doll patterns online to practice on. Here is my first attempt. Sewn completely on my own with Mum's steady guidance behind me. I'm a little ashamed to be so old and just learning to sew... But so be it.

Serious business

Everyday exotic

After a surprisingly dry and warm Chinese New Year, the rain has come back. And with a four day holiday and Daddy busy with work, the only thing to do is stay indoors. And while the girls play dress ups in the bedroom, I get my cooking on..... One of my favourite chefs, Roger Mooking of Everyday Exotic was on the travel and living channel last night cooking Chicken in Papaya BBQ sauce. Delicious!!! Look at that papaya.... so gorgeous. This recipe is divine...... 

His recipes are great and the ingredients are readily accessible here. YUM!

City slickers..... country at heart.

Today we had BSF. We had to turn up half an hour early for a fellowship meeting with our group. That means we had to leave 30 mins earlier to make it on time. No problem, can do!

But it also meant that we were right in the thick of the early morning peak traffic, transport and foot traffic alike. We walk 20 minutes to the subway. It's a 30 minute ride. We navigate 7 elevators and three different stations, we ride over the top of Taipei City on the way to our change over station and then we go deep into the belly of the city all the way down to B4. And today, at the point where we change stations, we navigated ourselves through literally thousands of commuters. Thousands upon thousands. The escalator from the second floor that travels all the way down to B3 is so steep that one might actually think they were travelling vertically.... (we skip that for the elevators of course, no strollers on that!!)

The whole station was packed to the eyeballs from every angle.... barely room to move. We have to scoot in and out of these people and I must say, we are pros! My girls are city slickers... Tilly handles the elevator buttons for me, she handles the swiping of the card, she keeps up right beside me. She knows how to dodge. We push that stroller through and we get to the other side and there is no stopping us!! But that might be because Taiwanese people are generally polite and accommodating, even in a packed subway station. But I like to think it's because I'm super mum.

Of course there are other subways in this world that are a whole lot busier than that. But this is enough for us.. My girls can handle themselves in the big smoke. Tilly now rides her bike without training wheels all through the streets. She stays close behind me, obeys the rules, stays sensible and gets to the destination in one piece. But all that aside, we went back to Australia recently and there is no mistaking it - these girls are actually country girls at heart. What they really love is:

.....digging like this.

.......gardening like that.

.......dancing like this.

.......chilling like that.

........dressing up like this.

.......watching that.

.......making hard to remove art mess like this.

.....making discoveries like this with uncles like that.

......watching daddy get his man on like this.

.......eating dinner with favourite loved ones like these. 

.......being as free as that.

.......learning to jump like this.

........bouncing like that!

......getting their crazy on like this.

....working hard like this.

....chillaxing like that.

These, without a doubt, are some of their favourite things - these country girls at heart.