Monico Family Travels

James took off for a 2 day road-trip of personal discovery on his beloved motorbike, so the girls and I maxed out on some of the amazing craft workshops offered in Ubud.

First up was jewellery making.  We picked a design (a piece to copy), and then dove in, Bella stencilling and cutting a sheet of pure silver, and Millie drilling holes in the disc that was prepared for her by our teacher.

It was all pretty intricate, and to be honest we had a fair bit of help, especially when it came to wielding the blow torch!

Here is some work in progress:  Bella’s feather takes shape, and my tear drop slowly expands in a series of concentric wire bands that are molten together then bashed flat.

A beanie foot pumping air to fuel the blow torch

Bella adding some finishing touches

Bella’s masterpiece!

Millies masterpiece

My effort

A moment to count some of the blessings we experience daily in Bali:

The classroom to beat all classrooms!

The incredible wildlife that we share our lives (intimately often!) with every day:

The bamboo hut at the bottom of our garden where we take yoga classes with atmospheric sounds and smells of the jungle enveloping us.

Our second creative effort of involved a bigger set of mallets, and chisels.

Bels getting started on her design with a block of wood nailed to a bigger block of wood!

Emily and I both bashed our thumbs before we got the hang of it, and there was some minor finger chiseling, but ultimately no permanent damage done!

I worked hard at a cheesy gift for my beloved James:

Bella makes steady progress:

Millie displays her final work of art!

And here is mine!

While Daddy was away we girls tended to bundle in together in the master bedroom, and we may have possibly indulged in a few breakfasts in bed…..

Freshly woken!

But we were VERY happy when Daddy came home (in one piece!).