pop pop poppy

I gave my camera a work out the other day at Heide.

More here.

fresh

I sewed a skirt the other night, from the cutting out all the way to the hem, in one evening after work. Talk about proud of myself! I was sorely tempted to go to bed with only the hemming to go, but the thought of the poor thing sitting there for another five months before I got around to it was just too depressing.



It's a simple A-line skirt from my trusty pattern that's easy to make and I know fits me. The fabric is curtain fabric from Spotlight. If anyone out there has curtains like my skirt, I do not want to know, thank you.
I wore it to work the next day, and I'm wearing it again today.



Earlier in the week I cleaned out the lounge room fireplace (because summer has made a sudden appearance) and filled it with pine cones for the warmer weather. I collected those pine cones by the side of the road one very very hot day in January, with Janet, and she took a photograph.

bullets for your Tuesday evening

• Isn't that a fabulous cloud? Awesome, almost.

• It appears I've entered some sort of challenge, only with the housework and without the jogging. So ... today I weeded another garden bed, made a batch of muesli bars, baked bread, and helped the youngest child pack for camp. Hmm, not quite as impressive an effort as yesterday, which featured furniture rearrangement (a major and rare endeavour round here). I really should include the jogging, especially as bathers seasons is practically upon us. Well, IS upon us actually, as it was 33C yesterday. Or something.

• One of my favourite commenters started her own blog, yay!

• We had a four day weekend all because of a horse race. Not bad, huh?

• The Soup family celebrated today's day off with a picnic at one of our favourite spots. The boys and the mister took a soccer ball and three kids from a neighbouring picnic rug and a woman from a different neighbouring picnic rug all came and joined in the game while I wandered through the kitchen garden, albeit somewhat nervously due to the sign placed by the gate saying a snake had been spotted in there recently.

• This morning a cockatoo was trying to squeeze his massive self into the bird feeder. I always forget how enormous cockies are until I see them next to another large bird such as a parrot, or trying to fit into the feeder. (I did photograph him for you, but it's still in the memory card).

• I gave in and cast on a blue cardigan with the Silkroad (mmm, wool, silk and cashmere!) before finishing all the other projects currently on my needles. I justified this by saying I need mindless knitting for occasions such as picnics and SnB sessions, rather than projects that require charts and counting and no chit chat.

• Our department's city office is almost up and running which means I can work the occasional day in the city soon. Which means train time. Which of course means knitting time. Another reason for mindless knitting projects.

• Son #3 goes on camp tomorrow. I don't like this. Youngest children should not be allowed to leave home. Ever.

• We went out yesterday to look at rainwater tanks and came home with a $10 crabapple tree. And lots of tank brochures and prices.

• I'm on a Tudor reading kick at the moment. Currently in the car I'm working my way through Margaret Irwin's Elizabeth trilogy on audio book - Young Bess, Elizabeth: Captive Princess, and Elizabeth and the Spanish Prince. They waffle and get side tracked a bit, as if the author found some really interesting little tidbit when doing her research and then had to work out how to incorporate it into the story. Good though, mostly. On my bedside table are Philippa Gregory's The Constant Princess, about Catherine of Aragon, and The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir. Gregory tells a gripping story usually although she is occasionally a bit repetitive and also has an annoying habit of giving her protagonist some little quirk or habit to denote anxiety/moral dilemma etc which she then bangs on about forever until you are ready to scream YES, WE GET IT NOW LET THE HAIR TWISTING/NAIL PICKING/SMUT WIPING ALONE. I don't know why I just typed all that - I've read all Gregory's books and enjoyed them, perhaps I've just read them too close together (ie all in the last 12 months). Alison Weir isn't a particularly elegant story teller; her prose can be quite bland and strangely stilted, but at least you know her research is spot on, being An Important Historian and all. I'm about a third of the way through both these last two.

• I went to the black hole that is Ikea the other day, and as is the rule, did not purchase what I went there for but came home with two lots of fabric (for skirts) two picture frames and this year's Advent candles.

• I did something the other day that I have mixed feelings about. I purchased The Artist's Way. Has anybody any experience of this practice? Am I kidding myself, or am I on the cusp of beginning a journey I've been heading towards for years? I have my end of year assessment essay due in on Monday (Pompeii again) and only then I will open the book.

• Son #3 let Son #1 cut his hair today. Talk about brave.

feathered friends

A rather cross lorikeet, squawking at me self-righteously. I wasn't filling up the bird feeder fast enough in his opinion.


A pair of rosellas have been visiting lately. They tink politely at each other and take it in turns.


And this afternoon a King Parrot let me get very very close.

fin

The end of Blogtober! I think I missed three days in the whole month, so not too shabby.

It is also the end of Mystery Sock Number One. Behold.



Number Two was cast on tonight and is progressing well thus far. The design details in this sock are typical of Kirsten's patterns - interesting to knit and beautifully thought out. There is a lovely little lace detail in the middle of the cuff, and the leaf or petal design finishes beautifully on the toe. I will definitely be signing up for any future mystery knit-alongs that Kirsten hosts.

In other news, I indulged in a smattering of stash enhancement today. A select tangle of knitting bloggers met up today at Morris & Sons (which happily was having a 30% - 80% off sale) and shamelessly encouraged each other in the exchange of large amounts of cash for some luxurious yarns.

I slipped and fell and accidentally ended up with two skeins of Debbie Bliss pure silk, to be dyed and knitted into a future shawl ...



... and then put back the 10 pack of Cleckheaton Naturals in cornflower blue that I'd been lugging about and exchanged it for the far more expensive but satisfying 6 skeins of Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed. I see some sort of blue cardigan in my future and have already spent far more time than is healthy perusing my Ravelry queue in search of the perfect pattern.



Fin.

PS. Do go back to yesterday's post and read the comment from pebble dash. It's worth it.

PPS. As it's the last of the month, I've updated my current favourite blogs of the moment, over there on the sidebar. My blogroll was getting out of control so I've decided to just highlight a rotating half dozen inspirational blogs each month. Please enjoy.

Friday

Completely unrelated random photograph

Recently I left a comment anecdote rather longwinded story on Grace's blog when she showed a picture of an insanely adorable little sausage dog wearing a red coat, appliqued onto a baby tee-shirt. Grace, who is as gracious as her name suggests, replied to my comment to tell me that she loved my little story and that it should be released to the world. So here it is. (Leslie might like it also, or at least Baxter might).

I am part of a carpool that operates between three families, a high school and a primary school. Thus, three mornings a week I have several grade four and two children in my car for a twenty minute journey. (Yes, I hear all sorts of things - good, bad and sad. But I digress).

During the journey the children always play some sort of hilarious game like inventing ludicrous translations for the acronyms of other cars' number plates, or counting car competitions etc. At the moment it's Hard Rubbish collection around our area and they are constantly badgering me to stop so they can pick up that "awesome" computer monitor/broken office chair/old bookcase/miscellaneous junk off the footpath and take it to their doting teacher or home to their longsuffering parents (I decline, usually).

Anyway, the most enduring game, and one that is generally played every single day even if other games are going on simultaneously, is Spot the Lucky Items. This game has evolved organically over the months and involves the spotting of a number of things that we regularly or semi-regularly see on our morning commute, and the gauging of how good the day is going to be according to the percentage of items crossed off the list. These items include, in order of appearance as we travel from east to west, a shiny yellow VW beetle (circa 2005) in the swimming pool carpark, a red Hummer (for heaven's sakes) pulling out of a particular side street, a rusty yellow VW beetle (circa 1976) parked in the railway station carpark, the 8.51am train (double points if it's going over the bridge as we pass underneath), the meeting of a bus on the one-lane bridge (double points if we have to reverse off the bridge), a vintage brown car parked outside its house, and the little girl walking to school accompanied by her mother who always wears head to toe purple (except for the days she's wearing head to toe red, or orange - is she a closet Hari Krishna I ponder to myself?).

By now, those of you who live near my way, and I know there are a couple of you, may be recognising things from this list.

However, by far the most exciting and important thing to spot is the Little Brown Dachschund in the Red Coat, being walked by his adult male owner and an assorted bunch of children, one or more of whom may or may not be on a Razor scooter. (For a while there in winter the Little Brown Dachschund sported a snazzy brown drizabone sheepskin-lined coat, which while understandable given the winter temperatures at 8.43am, was just not the same. Luckily now spring has sprung the red coat has returned). The Little Brown Dachschund is extra special because we only see him occasionally, perhaps only once a fortnight, and the children get so excited now that they've started winding down the windows and calling out. At first his owners were a bit startled and I suspect thought the children were being cheeky, but now they smile and graciously acknowledge the adoring cheers.

Everyone is agreed; it doesn't matter how few other items are spotted on a Dachschund Day, it is most definitely going to A Most Excellent Day.

PS. A Most Excellent Day to a gaggle of eight and ten year olds = double sport, gardening, library, free drawing and the eurythmy teacher's absence due to illness.

PPS. I promise I didn't leave a comment quite this long in someone's commentbox. Honest.

19

I know, I know, I missed yesterday's Blogtober post. I have a good excuse though ...



... we were very busy celebrating our wedding anniversary.

morning light

Each morning as I struggle to drag myself out of bed, I think to myself Tonight I will go to bed early.

And every night I think to myself Oh, just one more row ... (page, blog, etc).

Inkish

Cobwebby ... ethereal ... delicious.

Ravelled.

saturday sunrise snaps

The morning light has been sublime lately.

Thanks for all your sweet words for Son #3 yesterday. Today's he's less vomitty but still fragile and now with a bonus headache, which I have as well. So he and I had a lovely quiet day today at home while the others went to the school spring fair. The kookaburras cackled all around us and our resident echidna toddled about blissfully ignoring us.

This evening they're all at the soccer match in town (Son #3 dosed up with paracetamol and a chuckbag close to hand), I've got Ishbel blocking on the floor beside me and I'm about to have a cup of tea and indulge in a movie.