I've been banging on about dolls houses. Again.

An interview with me by Angela Owens from ABC Central West radio aired this morning. You can listen to it over here.

And it's Monday, so time for the Collectors magazine giveaway. Congratulations Pubdoll, you won the draw! Send me your snail mail address and I'll get the mag in the mail to you.

(Photo above is Angela Owens (on right) with her childhood dolls house)

Blogging from the beer fridge

Taph emailed me after today's ABC 666 interview where, when asked if I had any frugal tips for dealing with the heat, I replied "Hang out in the beer fridge at Woolworths"

"But can you blog from the beer fridge at your local supermarket?" she said.

Well yes you can.... (Sorry, my Kiwi heritage go the better of me there...)

Posted from the Woolworths Macs Liquor Cold Room in Dickson:

Summertime bounty

Look! From the garden:Unfortunately not from my garden. Things aren't looking too good out there:but I take comfort in the fact that at least this year it's taken two extra months before all my plants die on me. That's progress, right?!

The massive zucchini, cucumbers and the Italian parsley are from a colleague at work who was saying she was overwhelmed by giant zucchini and masses of parsley and seemed quite surprised that I offered to take any she didn't want. Until I explained that I had a very good distribution system worked out and that they should end up feeding 5 households and I could probably get her lemons and plums in return if she needed them. Which she seemed quite excited about.

These really are giant zucchini.They make last year's delivery look like a dwarf variety...

The cherry tomatoes are from J&M and were swapped for zucchini #1 (not shown).

I'm loving this too-ing and fro-ing of free produce and have been incubating a mad plan to set up a Fruit tree register in Canberra (if there isn't one already). You've heard of Freecycle (where people offer stuff they no longer want for free and other people who need it take it): I'm thinking of Fruitcycle where people with trees (or crops) they can't or won't use can register and be matched up with people who will use the produce that would otherwise go to waste, perhaps supplying the tree owner with jam, chutney or preserves in return.

I'm sure there are issues I haven't even considered which means it won't float: if I fall out of your tree while picking your fruit are you liable? If you eat my chutney and get sick can you sue me? Could some unscrupulous person use the info to work out who's elderly and lives alone with nasty consequences?

While I think about that you'll find me searching through my recipes to find something that uses a rather large amount of zucchini. Preferably without needing a beater or blender: still broken, alas...

Oh, and if you're at a loose end tomorrow morning you might like to tune in to ABC 666 around 10:40am. Just saying.

CMAG, CMAG, CMAG

Still no luck working out how to embed a player in a post to play last week's ABC 666 outside broadcast so I'll give up and go the old school route.

Here's a link to my interview on the YouSendIt File Delivery Service. Unfortunately the link will expire on Friday (or after 100 downloads). Hopefully by then I'll have worked something out...

I was back at CMAG yesterday watching movies for the second Sunday afternoon in a row. This week the presentation was Selling the capital: reflections by David Kilby

Since the 1930s a number of short films have been produced promoting Canberra to tourists, potential residents and unwilling public servants being relocated from other capital cities. David Kilby will explore how the capital has been ‘sold’ in 16mm films from the 1930s to the 1980s. As a collection, the films provide a remarkable record of how The Garden City has been promoted nationally and internationally.A must-see for long-term Canberra residents and newcomers alike.

There were quizzes and prize lollies: it brought back memories of going to the Saturday flicks in Riccarton as a kid, which was more about the prizes and the games beforehand than the actual movies. Pity CMAG doesn't do a movie every Sunday afternoon: it was a most agreeable way to spend a couple of hours...

(Picture courtesy of Paul Webb)

(EDITED TO ADD: Interview is now available to listen to on the CMAG site)

Um. Um. Um.

My ABC 666 interview is supposed to be here for your listening pleasure.

But, as usual, I thought it would be much easier to embed than it's turning out to be.

If you have embedded audio into your blogger blog successfully please let me know how you did it!

Cheers

What a day...

Bad night's sleep (including a very odd dream where I left my family eating dinner at a restaurant to hunt through the pots of vintage knitting needles they had for sale!) followed by an 7:15am breakfast function (can't complain: free breakfast continued the November ligging theme) and a half day's work.

I washed my fabbo new towels. I bought myself a DVD I've wanted for ages (40% off coupon expires today) I did a wee interview with ABC 666 at CMAG (I've been promised a copy of it which I'll then try and work out how to load here for your edification).
I met a lovely fellow Canberra blogger for the first time. I ate a fabulous afternoon tea (you really should join as a member of CMAG if for no other reason than their stunning catering!) and took the leftovers upstairs to a meeting with Craft ACT to talk about a(nother) mad plan I have. I visited Olivia's pears and gave them a pat.

I came home and bought some wine on special. And now I'm going to ignore the fact a few of you are waiting with baited breath for me to list the rest of the Lundby Gotland range and

I'm

going

to

have

a

night

off.

Odd concept really: crawl into my bed which has just been changed to summer attire (interesting that that link also includes a CMAG event, the fact I was having trouble getting my proposal for the exhibtion written and the certain belief that I was going to be in Vienna in 2008!), knit some gifts, read some magazines and listen to some music. And maybe have a glass of wine.

(All photos thanks (again) to Roving Reporter Rowan. More coverage of the day from CMAG can be found here)

Radio Ga Ga

ABC 666 radio will be interviewing me on Thursday afternoon as part of their outside broadcast at Canberra Museum and Gallery. I thought it was a good excuse to pull out a gallery of DJ Me through the years:Death to Dawn show at the old Radio Active student radio studio at Victoria University of Wellington. Not sure of the year (around 1986 I think based on my trousers). Tim's looking quizzical as usual. I'm wearing a Radio Active T shirt I always hated because of the chinese collar but there was no other choice. Jane's in her PJs because she lived just up the road and wandered down for the start of the show at midnight after crawling out of bed. Not sure who took the photo: probably Tim's girlfriend at the time whose name escapes me.Afternoon show in the new Radio Active studio, circa 1989-1991 ish. I think we'd just got back from Auckland as that's the white muslin hooded shirt and fake glasses I bought at the markets there. Guessing I'm just about to fade into a link based on the fact I'm staring intently at the clock and have my fingers on the faders. This may well have been through the summer varsity break where I'd end up on air for up to 18 hours a week covering the gaps caused by students who were away.Around the same time I was also Assistant Station Manager at a short lived community station in Lower Hutt called Valley FM (or V90 FM). Here's a picture of the crew circa 1990-1991 (see? same top as last time with the addition of a very trendy hat and orange floppy fringe.)And, finally, five years later (and on the other side of the Tasman) at Club Retro in Sydney, where we were holding a special Erasure pre-evening. I used to spend a lot of time visiting behind the desk at Club Retro as I lived just round the corner...

Tuesday's news chez TSS (and surrounding areas)

1. Watch out for a Canberra Times interview on the exhibition, probably later this week. I'll keep you posted and will try to load a copy up here...

2. ABC 666 radio are running an outside broadcast from CMAG on Thursday 13th November from 1:30pm. And you're invited to come along if you're interested!

3. In the nearest thing to knitting news you'll get round here at the moment, The Front Cafe in Lyneham are still as rude to Stitch 'n' Bitchers as they were in September last year. Just thought you'd like to know...

4. And, finally, flowers. Is it terribly bad of me to have done thisto the bunch I was given on Saturday?