Whip It Up

New craft blog launching tomorrow - see Whip Up - organised by Red Current. Looks exciting. Weekly columns and news about the outer-reaches of the crafting world by a range of people including: Loobylu, Molly Chicken, Bird In The Hand, Craftapalooza and more.

Cookie Monster

Clever Craftapalooza has started a Cookie flickr group. Here's a few of mine. I've got about 20 but find them hard to resist. Such simple lines but my imagination is always quick to fill in the blanks. However, that Dragonfly is a kicker...I don't think I've ever successfully lifted it off the baking tray without ripping its wings off. Cooking can be cruel!

Post Card Swap

Finished my cards for the Post Card Swap organised by My Little Mochi. So much fun. I really had a great time cutting, sticking and sewing. I kept it pretty simple but each card is different - but all black, red and white. To print the picture of the dog I photocopied an image from an old book, then cut it out, held it face down on the card and rubbed turpentine on it - peeled the paper back you the image appears on the card. I probably got high doing it! Next time I'm going to wait until it's not 41 degrees in the shade. Thanks again for organising it Myra.

Storm Friday

The train was so slow thing morning, stopping for 20 minutes between platforms. Everyone look so tired, but because it's a country train, we get lovely comfy seats, so everyone just took a nap.

Such a clear and sunny morning, you could see cloud shadows flickering over the paddocks, which have turned from green to sandy yellow.

Since I got my ipod, I haven't been reading on the train, but think I'll start again next week. My reading tends to be governed by the seasons so every summer I usually re-read books like To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I never get tired of that book. In winter it's Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and who can resist Jane Eyre by Charlotte, or "the whey faced prig" as her brother called her - on a rainy day?

This year I'd like to read a few books that I've always meant to read but never have: this and Voss by Patrick White...and The Turning by Tim Winton.

Anyone else have a book or two they've always wanted to read but haven't?

Apparently a storm is on the way. I love Storm Friday. Have a good weekend.

My Sister's Garden

On Sunday Em and I caught up with two of my sisters, their lovely husbands and four of my nieces and nephews. Beautiful weather, wonderful lunch and cute little Pixie belongs to my niece.

Three Little Girls - All In A Row

Here are the latest three: all the same pattern, but with each one, I tried not to repeat the same mistakes. I'm afraid dolly No. 3 could do with a neckbrace - knitted, of course - but they were fun to make.

Here Goes

I've been tagged by the lovely Connie at MumboJumbo, so here are my answers.

Four Jobs I've Had In My Life:
Receptionist at an Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic
Avon Lady (I was hopeless).
Editorial Assistant, newspaper.
Journalist

Four Places I've Lived.
Broadmeadows (Melb)
Kensington, Kensington,
Broadford

Four TV Shows I Love
Buffy (sob)
Survivor (usually)
Medium
Cutting Edge

Four Places I've Been On Vacation
Vietnam
China
Paris
New York

Four Websites I visit daily
Salon
The Age
Amazon
Readings

Four Fav Foods
A great curry in winter.
Grilled prawns in summer.
Bombay Gin and Tonic (liquid food).
Poached eggs on toast.


Four Places I'd Rather Be Right Now
Tokyo
Finland
Belgium
New Zealand

Thanks Connie!

Psyched About The Post Card Swap!

More confidence than cake.

Finally some craft! These are some of the things I made on my week off. Not entirely happy with them but the patterns are wonderful. I get so excited when I make things that I tend to speed everything up. I really need to just slow it down and take my time. I think I like the doll the best. What a difference a sewing machine makes? All of them are from this fantastic book first spotted over at MOLLY CHICKEN





My little bubble burst. Yes. I knew it would happen. I got a tad over confident with my recent driving skills and made a doozie of a mistake. Boring details but essentially, I slowed down when I should have sped up and ended up having to veer off the road and breath heavily into a brown paper bag. The two cars behind me were not impressed and HONKED and HONKED as they drove past. I didn't dare make eye contact, but I have a feeling veins would have been throbbing and fists raised. Emma took over controls, but I did drive later on in the day - when I was feeling less feeble and miserable!


The latest Martha Stewart Living has a Year of Cakes - one spectacular cake each month. It made me realised that I've never, ever actually made a cake from scratch. Muffins, biscuits, slices, scones, bread etc but never a cake. So that's what I plan to do this year - bake a fab cake from scratch. As a kid I remember being in awe of Maryanne (on Gilligan's Island) when she managed to produce an amazing coconut cream pie...why does reality always have to ruin things?

Only Monday and already I'm feeling inspired thanks to Loobylu's post about The Artist's Way. I'm going to dig it out again and have another look at it. Might help me get started on writing more poetry. Speaking of which:

The White Bats

Where are the white bats?
My life frightened me again tonight.

Does your shadow love you best?
Shadows tell me so many true stories.

What does a wish look like?
Mixing twilight with the perfume of living things.

Have you ever had an illicit day?
The night is subdivided by our screams.

What is the poet carrying?
Wine and vinegar.

What do I think I'm salvaging from reality?
I say to my roof, please let some rain in.

What is the name of this?
The shape of the storm over my soul.

from beautiful, unfinished by MTC Cronin.

Left, Left, Left Right Left.

On Christmas day I had a chance to catch up with some of my lovely nieces and nephews. Elizabeth (12) was showing me a book she'd made in class celebrating her six years of primary school...because this year she'll start her first year of High School.

It was a lovely collection of school-work and photographs and stuck on one page was a gold and gleaming School Captain badge.

I was in awe.

Even at my advanced age (late 30s) I felt suddenly so proud and envious! It was crazy...I couldn't take my eyes off it! The closest I ever got to any kind of school excellence were two of the most (be honest) lame areas ever. One was a Blue Ribbon...in (ahem)... marching and the other was being made (ahem,ahem)...Plant Monitor - and even then, the plants died.

Still...as fate would have it, this Plant Monitor ended up with a former School Sports Captain. Who knew?

Speaking of my daggy past (!). The other night at dinner some friends and I started talking about bad 80s fashion. We started swapping our Worst Ever 80s Fashion Faux pas. Believe it or not, I won hands down with an outfit I wore one day TO WORK:

Purple shirt (collar up with should pads) with a lovely green, knee length skirt with a woollen vest complete with 3-D sheep and hill applique with patent leather pointy shoes.

Now where did I put those shoe bows?

BrmmBrmm

Yesterday I had a double driving lesson on my first highway! I always imagined that there would be a huge difference between driving at 40k and 110k...but I was really surprised at how easy it was to speed. I can't say I enjoyed it, but I wasn't totally freaked either, so that's a good thing. I did have a bit of a Duel moment as a massive semi trailer rushed up behind me, but then it just sped past. My instructor is so lovely and calm, which really helps. I also got a chance to tackle a round-about and felt like a kid trapped in a revolving door. I get some kind of devilish pleasure from watching pedestrians change their mind about stepping off the curb. They take one step, notice the big LEARNER sign and quickly retreat. Haaaa.

The rest of the day was spent playing Tomb Raider (what am I? Sixteen?) and sewing a doll. This year seems to be all about learning to drive something: car, sewing machine. I'm not big on resolutions but this year I do have a few things I want to start building into my life:

1. make better food choices - "gosh, I feel like a nice piece of tofu..."
2. drive - "brake, brake, BRAKE"
3. be a little less sarcastic - "as if"
4. sew straight and smoothly and avoid "crazy stitching".
5. read more poetry, write more poetry.
6. talk less about myself - "back to me".
7. send birthday cards/gifts on time - "sorry I'm late"
8. use what I have
9. read my tarot cards more often
10. stop referring to my outstanding, fantastic partner of 13 years as "bear two". Her name is Emma.

Dear TiffKnit

Dear TiffKnit...you won the book so please email me an address to spindle2@tpg.com.au and I'll post it asap. Thanks.

2006: A Blog Odyessey

Well Christmas has come and gone. I'd like to think I was "there" for most of it but I admit, the actual day is so crazy, I can get a little light headed. We drove from here to lunch with Bear Two's wonderful family on the coast - about 135ks away...then doubled back to have dinner with my family...then drove back here - got home around midnight. Both our families go all out! It was great to see everyone over hills of ham and pudding...lots of laughs.

Boxing Day will forever be known as THE DAY MY NEW IPOD DROVE ME MAD!!! How could such a tiny object create such rage? Won't go into all the dull techy details but I managed (with the help of some poor guy called Garry on the phone from Melbourne) to work it out and now, of course, I love it. Thanks Bear2!!!

The rest of our holiday has been about taking it easy. Today we went to Bendigo to see the Cecil Beaton portrait exhib. Loved it - all those creamy textures - so theatrical and rich.

The heat has been crazy. Yesterday was 42 and the nights have been a bit hellish. Today the cool change arrived, helping contain a massive fire near Stawell. Being a city girl, bushfires have never seriously been on my radar but they are up here. It was so hot yesterday that even the birds stopped singing...and when the breeze did pick up (that Northerly burst) the leaves didn't move so much as rasp. But now the rain is here and every door and window is open. Bliss.

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year. We had dinner at a local winery among the vines.

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