Cultuvorians unite!

This afternoon J, S and I decided to mark the Australia Day holiday with a cultural round up.

First stop was The National Museum of Australia (where we bumped into Nigel Sutton as we came in which was very weird - he was saying stuff and all I was hearing was "burble burble burble DORA burble" as I was in shock at the weirdness of entering the museum at the exact same moment he was leaving. I'm sure he thought I was a loon...).

Oh yeah - where was I? National Museum. Papunya Paintings. A fitting way to spend the Australia Day holiday I thought, and a nice way to follow up from this documentary. Then there was coffee (for S) and icecreams (for J and I) and more Australianisation as we checked out Behind the Lines 2007: The Year's Best Cartoons. Luckily I had J on had to translate some of them ("Who's the woman with the pointy nose and the orange hair? Who's the chap wrapped up? Why is there humble pie?")

Then we headed across the lake to The National Archives and the Max Dupain exhibition. Where there were some odd resonances. Like seeing the exact same design CSR sugar bag we'd seen used in a video back at the Pupanya exhibition rolling off the assembly line in a photo taken by Max Dupain. And seeing vintage pictures of skiing on Kosciuszko, just up the road from where I was last weekend...There were some odd sugar marketing pictures (sorry about the light reflections). Would you trust this man to sell you sugar (or any other white powdered substance)?How about this family shot with a table laden with sugary goodness? ("Here darling. Have a coronary and leave us in peace")Once all the serious stuff got all too much for us we played a giant sized vintage parlour game called Courtship and Marriage: a fascinating game for 2,3 or 4 players (yeah we found that last bit a bit odd too...)
(ahh... that's why I've never gotten married. I stopped playing croquet when I was a kid!)

After such a lot of excitement (and education) we ended the day at Tilleys with cider and ginger beer.Followed by a fine Thai meal. A good mix of cultures which is pretty typical of Australia.

I should know better by now...

Really, I should.

After 2006's Kittyville disaster I should understand that me and knitting hats (especially when learning a new technique during the knitting of) never works.

So did this stop me wading into the Koolhaas Hat pattern this morning full of misguided confidence that I'd manage not only a tricky pattern, but a tricky pattern on circs and one that is graphed to boot (I've never knitted from a graph before - well not for cabley-bits anyway...)? Hell no!

And here's the result, moments before it fell into the frog pond: Definitely not looking very Koolhaas-like...

I'd give up and knit socks (yep, I'm a sucker for punishment: "Hey! That really tricky hat pattern didn't work out. I know! I'll relax by trying to knit my first pair of socks. Using dpns for the first time. What a great idea!") except, luckily, it would appear that I do not posses the correct sized dpns.

Oh well, serves me right for trying to sneak a new project in while I still have UFOs waiting for attention...

Seven Things Spring/ Summer Week 21

In:

* 1 Lundby diving board
* 2 packets marker pens, 2 packets of beads (gift from Cuzzy C)

* 1 Lundby rug
* 1 black leather satchel bag, 1 envirobag (gift from Duchess N of Mosmania)

* 1 new cat collar

* 1 book, 1 CD, 2.5 sets of knitting needles, 2 stitch markers, 1 lot of fabric, 1 miniature knitting set

Total In this week: 16.5

Out:

* 11 items of mine sold on eBay:

* 17 Trading Assistant items sold on eBay (I'm counting these because they've been in my house for 18 months and have pretty much taken root):

* 1 plastic mini dresser: donated to Janet
* 1 grungy old cat collar: bin

Total Out this week: 30

Shake-it-all-about:

* 1 bag for my Black & White Swap partner.

Net items out so far during Seven Things Spring: 329.5

Second Hand Saturday - scratching the itch

I haven't been op shopping for over a week and since I slept through yesterday rather than take eBay packages to the Post Office I decided this morning to head over to Belconnen Mall (where the Post Office is open Saturday morning) and post them. And check if Kmart had any decent cat collars in their 20% off sale. And pick up some cheap sushi.

And, you know, while I was in the area, it seemed silly not to check out a few op shops... Vinnies supplied me with a book to read ($2) and a CD to listen to ($4).
And found in the craft room of the new Y's Buys in Weedon Close: 2.5 sets of cream knitting needles ($1.50 - and for a change the odd needle matches one I have in my odds and sods jar!), Paytonyle sock pattern (50 cents), how to knit book for friend Tracy who wants me to teach her in March ($1.00), MIP dolls house bowl of knitting (how weird is that? $1.50), 2 vintage row counters (50 cents each)and, finally, this piece of cotton fabric ($4 for 120 cm x 240 cm).

Total (including a cat collar and sushi): $25.50. I'm happy.

A four letter day (don't worry, it's all good!)

Big A little a - what begins with A?

Flying to Sydney and back on an airplane!

A, A, A.

Big B little b - what begins with B?

The lovely leather satchel bag Duchess N of Mosmania gave today me as she no longer wants it!

B, B, B.

Big C little c - what begins with C?

Camels of the weeping variety with Taph and knitting at NLA - another Culturovian outing this evening!

C, C, C.

Big D little d - what begins with D?

Dosh. I got a pay rise today which is pretty exciting as it's the first one I've had in over 10 years!

D, D, D.

I just don't know what to do with my house...

I ended up taking more than a photo for you: try six! And still haven't made a final decision...

The first thing I knew I wanted to add was a rug. Something to give the place a bit of warmth, with a 50s or 60s feel that would tie the red and white and soft blue together. After rifling through my stash of vintage rugs and not finding what I was looking for I realised I had the perfect solution. In stock in my eBay store (handy that) so sold it to myself.

Actually, by using this rug I broke one of my cardinal rules of not using things in my vintage houses that were produced later than the house was built. But sometimes needs must so rules are broken...

Option 1

The second thing I felt was needed was to bring the yellow from the painting into the room. So I trialed a yellow plastic tea set I bought from Kristin Baybars in London on the table, moved the blue vase back onto the desk to replace the carafe set and added a very 50s looking cat ornament.

And then I took a photo of option one. Decided the yellow was too intrusive where it was and the room looked very "left heavy". So it was on to:

Option 2

The tea set was moved onto the tea trolley (which sort of makes sense and also toned it down rather a lot). While I was on the right hand side of the room I added a blue cushion to the divan .

The blue vase on the desk disappeared and the black cat moved over. And I trialed a multi coloured jug by Margaret Hunt on the table. It's actually 1/12th (and, once again "new" ie: made in the 80s but since I already broke that rule I figured it didn't matter)

Photo taken and studied and I decided much as I like the jug having it and the rug in the centre seems to "muddy" that area.

And so it was option 3 was created:

Option 3

The tea set on the tea trolley disappears and is replaced by the jug. I dig out a 1/12th scale bowl of lemons for the table. The jug looks lonely in the corner and the colour of the lemon bowl isn't quite right. The photo confirms this.

So lickety split we're onto Option 4:

Option 4

I try a yellow ceiling light I find in my box of lights. Leave the table empty for a change. And add a basket of wool (same basket as here, different coloured wool) Take a photo. The wool stays, the light goes (as I think it fights with the picture too much...)

Option 5

Involves a bowl of fruit and the return of the blue vase. I actually think this would have worked (without the vase) if the fruit bowl was blue. But the one I have is far too big (and in use elsewhere). I know before I take the photo that this isn't a winner.

Option 6

But neither is this. By now I'm almost cross eyed and dizzy with choices. I remove the blue pillow from the divan. Move the blue vase back to where it started and the jug to the desk. And the cat mysteriously disappears.

I decide better is OK and perfect is not achievable. Well not today, anyway. I'd be interested in hearing what your thoughts are on the various options and suggestions for future trial runs...

I take pictures, photographic pictures

I've been taking photos of my dolls house collection for a project I'm working on and realised I've never shown what is probably my favourite room out of all my 3/4" scale collection: my Lisa dining room.

Of course, now I've taken the photograph I can see what needs to be added to make the room "pop" even more (that's one of the things I like about photographing my miniatures: it's very clear what needs to be altered to make things look more "real")

Maybe I'll spend some time this afternoon going through my miniature stores and see if I can find what I need to complete the room. And maybe I'll take another photo for you.

(Desk, stool and divan: Hanse of Denmark. Table: Lundby. Chairs: Arne Jacobsen for Brio. Plastic trolley: unknown (possibly German?) Telephone: Barton. Metal carafe and cuos: Barton/ Lundby (?)Vase and greenery: Lundby. Cushions: Lundby (?) Pictures: Unknown (possibly German?))

Yeah we're going to be so neat, dancing to the Lundby beat

One of the Holy Grails for Lundby dolls house collectors is the pool, which was only available from 1972 to 1974.

I was incredibly lucky to be given one a couple of years ago by friend Miggs, who found it with a pile of Lundby furniture in an op shop in Wellington, New Zealand. I still have very clear memories of getting to the bottom of the box of Lundby stuff and squealing "YOU FOUND ME A POOL!" She just thought it was some sort of packing. I was a happy girl indeed.

Alas, my pool was without its ladder and diving board. Until now. In an international co-production a We Love Lundby Club member in the UK is selling replica diving boards made by a collector in the USA. With a feel good twist as all proceeds going to support cancer research. And my board arrived yesterday.

Now I just have to track down the correct metal ladder for it. And the other Lundby Holy Grails I don't yet have...

And there will be snow in Canberra, this Christmas time

My Christmas Kiwi care parcel from Cuzzie C arrived today. It was held up by the Customs guys (I wonder if they took anything for afternoon tea?) and is full of the usual chocolatey Grain Wavey Snow Toffee Poppy goodness. I'm not sure how long it'll all last but I'll have a very happy tummy while it does!

Thank you, Cuzzie C. I promise to play nice and share with my Canberra Kiwi buddies.

Do I love you my oh my, lake not deep at all mountain kinda high...

Last night when I was at J & M's they said they were going on a day trip to Thredbo today to get their mileage up. I asked if I could go too and so we set off bright and early this morning to The Snowy Mountains. Which, to Kiwi eyes, weren't really mountains at all.

I'd never been further than Cooma before so was pretty excited. I had some idea what the area was like after watching Somersault and Jindabyne and having seen pictures from the 1997 landslide.

In the middle of a pond in Thredbo I spotted this:So I got some miniatures into my day. And I saw Harry Seidler's Lodge so got some architectural history too...

We stopped for lunch at Jindabyne on the way back and It was confronting to see how low the lake was, especially as M said it was even lower the last time he saw it. And in Cooma I found the most divine ginger icecream and promptly forgot who had made it. Rats!

Seven Things Spring/ Summer Week 20: a record week

In:

* 2 magazines
* 5 books and 1 piece of spotty stretch fabric
* 1 pair cream knitting needles, 5 pieces vintage fabric and 1 pair of sock's worth of Patonyle from Happy Spider
* 2 pieces of vintage fabric and a length of wood to edge my garden from J&K

Total In this week: 18

Out:

* 1 very very dead mobile phone keypad (after weeks of trying I finally managed to pull my phone apart): bin
* 1 purple headhugger flower: given to Janet to attach to a purple Time Thief Watch Cap she was knitting when she visited.
* 63 records donated to Happy Spider

Total Out this week: 65

Shake-it-all-about:

* Zero

Net items out so far during Seven Things Spring: 316

Fluffy Friday

I had plans to spend today working on my list of unfinished projects for a triumphant Finish it off Friday posting this afternoon. But then I ended up staying up most of the night reading and, once I surfaced this morning, decided I really would prefer escaping the teetering pile of dishes waiting to ambush me in the kitchen after last night.

So I delivered my box of spare records to Happy Spider (who *shock horror* has a turntable set up permanently!) and spent a very enjoyable time stroking her stash.I'm very proud that I drove within 3 blocks of Cassidy's $2 wool sale and didn't waver from my route home. Neither did I check out my favourite Friday op shop wool container to see what was new.

I did, however, have 2 balls of Patonyle 4310 follow me home from Happy Spider's. Between that and my declaration that this year I want to learn to knit on dpns, I strongly suspect there is a pair of handknitted socks in my future. Just as soon as I finish those 34 cupcakes, 1 cardigan, 1 hoodie...

Ms Pollyanna says happiness is...

* Getting rid of Mr Grump
*The laptop finally noticing it has a printer attached to it. And printing!
* Having coffee with two lovely people I've not met before.
* ... then randomly bumping into two lovely people I have met many times before.

* Finding a length of spotty sweatshirting fabric perfect for practicing stretch sewing (hopefully during the creation of a hoodie in March) for $5

* ...plus 4 books for $11

* ... another copy of Alison Holst's Meals without Meat for $2

* ... and an Emily Strange notebook for Cuzzy C (not sure I'm allowed to link to her blog...) for $2

* Not caring that the above just blew your entire weeks' spending money in one lunch hour.

* Going to a free concert (6 harps!) with friends in the evening.

* Having said friends agree that coming home to your place to eat was a much better idea than going to a restaurant.

* Feeding said friends out of the contents of a "day before grocery day" fridge plus lovely goodies they brought along to supplement.

* Having deliciously yummy tub of chocolate decadence ice cream in freezer after friends leave.

*Being asked for the recipe of what you made for dinner:

Oct 4th 1996* (aka Zucchini Pasta)

Serves 4-6

4 Tbspn olive oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp dried basil

3 tsp sweet red paprika

1 kg zucchini - sliced lengthwise as thinly as possible

100g cheese, grated

1/4 - 1/3 cup wholemeal flour to thicken

60g pasta per serve (I used penne)

1. Heat the oil in a very large skillet or frypan and gently saute the garlic with the herbs and paprika for a couple of minutes.

2. Turn the heat up and stir through about 1/3 of the zucchini. When it is coated with the oil and herbs, stir another third through and then the final third. Turn down the heat and allow to simmer until the zucchini is soft.

3. Stir the grated cheese through the zucchini mixture. When the cheese is melted, thicken the mixture by removing a little of the juice, mixing it with the flour and stirring it into the skillet until the mixture thickens.

4. Meanwhile, cook the pasta. Drain and serve with the zucchini mixture on top.

Serve with a crisp tossed salad with tomatoes and kalamata olives.

(*I used to use old A2 diaries to write recipes in)

Mr Grump and Ms Pollyanna are having a fight at the moment.

Neither of them want to talk to you.

You might want to come back tomorrow.

Sorry.

A stick(l)er for details

Since I pulled out my box of photos for this it's been sitting (purposefully*) in the middle of the office floor. I did a minor sort last weekend - culled some double ups, and sorted the loose photos into envelopes and some semblance of order.

But now it's time to bring out the big guns and do a major sort, cull and label (which is where the stickers come in). It's a job I've only been meaning to do for 10 years or so (which, unfortunately is going to make dating some of them a pain in the proverbial)

I was thinking of scanning the photos I wanted to keep and binning the originals (while keeping the negatives) but I know I've already had one round of data loss when I bought a laptop that didn't have a floppy drive and a pile of stuff I had was saved on floppies. So I think keeping the original photos is the way to go.

So now I need to decide how to sort the photos I want to keep.

* By when they were taken?
* By who's in them and what they're about?
* Or a mixture of both?

Is it more important, for instance, to have all my 30th birthday pictures together? Or all the photos of one particular friend together, no matter when they were taken? Maybe I should scan the photos after all, tag them with tags for both options and just keep the prints together in the top cupboard as backup?

So here's a question for you, my wise and thoughtful reader:

Assuming you don't keep your print photos stuffed higgledy-piggledy in a cardboard box, how do you deal with them?

And speaking of stuffed, look at the size of the courgette I was presented by a dinner guest last night!It's a good thing I like courgettes....

(*Using the theory that if I trip over it constantly I'll get pissed off enough to do something with it)

Playing around

Last night, after returning home from a fine picnic in the Botanic Gardens, I finally pulled my toy knitting machine out of the cupboard. It's not a new knitting project at all but part of this week's "use it or lose it" approach to The Seven Things Challenge.

There were a couple of tools missing, but nothing I could approximate with something else I had on hand. It was fun. And fast. And brought back childhood memories - especially the weights:which are baby versions of the ones Dad used to use.

It wasn't quite the same feeling as relaxing on the sofa with handknitting on bamboo needles and something good to read. At the moment I'm not sure if I'll use it in the long run (although I'd like to try an experiment making a sleeveless vest or something for 2 year old E and see how that goes - as long as it doesn't need more than 50 stiches, of course!)

For now it's safe. It can stay.

The perfect Sunday afternoon movie

The Last Knit, spotted on Craftzine

Seven Things Spring/ Summer Week 19: The might of one small word.

There's one word that constantly causes chaos in this challenge:

Might.

Here's an example of a typical week in the TSS household as the pressure rises before the Saturday midnight STSS deadline...

Me: "OK, I need to get rid of some stuff or we're not going to meet target this week."

Me: "Well, what about that red and white stripy T you bought last year that you hardly wear?"

Me: "Well, I might wear it. You know. In the middle of winter. If it's been raining for a while so most of my usual choices are dirty and I'm desperate. Or I could layer it. Besides, I might feel like some colour..."

Me: "OK then. That pair of sneakers that go with the orange 3/4 pants and the khaki 3/4 pants. Neither of which fit you at the moment. So maybe you could get rid of them while you're at it..."

Me: "Well I plan to get back to the gym so will fit back into them and then I'll need the shoes. Besides, it seems a pity to get rid of perfectly good shoes. I might wear out all the rest one day and need them..."

Me: "All those suits you don't wear now you work from home so only need one to wear out to visits and stuff?"
Me: "Might move into an office/ change jobs/ wear out current suit choice and need back up/ get bored..."

Me (sighing heavily): "That roll of wallpaper you picked up years ago to use in a vintage 70s dolls house roombox which has never been built?"
Me: "Might get around to it and be pissed off I threw out the perfect wallpaper..."

Me (starting to look very frustrated): "Big pile of empty boxes in the garage?"
Me: "Might get thrown out of flat and need to move..."

Me (with steam escaping out ears): "Pile of videos you've watched? Books you've read? Games you hardly ever play?

Me (looking supercilious): Might want to watch them again/ read them again/ play them again!

Me (Banging head against wall): ARGGGGHHHHH!

In:

* 5 magazines

* 25 videos (A gift from someone in our Sydney office who offered them to me when she discovered that *gasp!* I still used a video player. How could I say no to a lovely selection of Ab Fab, Red Dwarf, Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister, none of which I've seen yet? I justified the acquisition by deciding I'll pass them on when I've watched them)

* 1 black zipfront hoodie (boy's size 12. Fits perfectly. Mwhahaha!)

* 1 Space Explorer apron for repurposingand 1 vintage French DMC cross stitch book (I thought I *ahem* might be tempted back to cross stitch this year.)

My total frugalling spend this week: $1.50 for both. (We won't talk about what I picked up for Taph just yet...)

* 7 orphan cream knitting needles from Taph. Two of which found matches in my orphan needle collection.

Total In this week: 40

Out:

* 4 washcloths, 1 knitted cupcake, 1 book: gifts

* 34 Avant cards that have been hanging round for ever and I know I'll never use (because I still have a heap I like that I'd use instead): recycling.

* 20 duplicate photos. Remember the old days when it was cheaper to just get the whole film printed twice than go back for reprints? What I want to know is why I still have the extra prints over 10 years later and after a trans Tasman shift: recycling

Total Out this week: 60

I have to admit this was a tough week with the arrival of that box of videos. I'd been focussing my attention more on finishing stuff off for Finish it off Friday - which, in the long term, will result in more outs (34 knitted cupcakes, anyone?) but doesn't help the figures much.

So I pulled the old Avant card clearout out from up my sleeve where I'd been saving it for just such an occassion and used it to obtain the emergency number boost I needed. Sort of like my Get out of jail free card. So the numbers are fine but if I look at the net bulk of stuff coming into and out of the house this week it's not good...

Shake-it-all-about:

* See Finish it off Friday

Net items out so far during Seven Things Spring: 269

Patterns

The theme for the weekend so far (apart from stinking heat) seems to be patterns. There appears to be a pattern developing of all my social plans morphing at the last minute - dinner last night with friends was moved to next week because they were sick and tired (not of me. I hope...)Lunch with another friend today was cancelled because she needed to help someone buy a bike helmet and water bottle and tonight's picknit with Taph and Happy Spider has become dinner Chez Happy Spider (or should that be Hoppy Spider?)because there's a 70% chance of rain this evening...Helmet buying friend and I did manage to catch up and escape to oppressive heat by heading to The National Museum to watch Mr Patterns, a documentary about Geoff Bardon, the person who triggered the Western Desert art movement of the Papunya community which is described as "one of the most significant art movements of the 20th century." And have a coffee. And (of course) take some pictures.

Finish it off Friday 2008: Week 1

I'm feeling pretty chuffed this week.

The hardest thing is not having any knitting on the go because I'm not letting myself start anything new until I've cleared the backlog. After I finished Princess B's stole and unravelled the half-knitted project that came with the wool I still have 484g of the Geranium wool left over which is crying to be made into something. Pity it's not specific about what exactly that something is!

* Greeny blue cardigan (started October 2006) Started sewing it up 10/1/08

* Soft trees (buttons collected December 2006, trees 80% sewn December 2007)
* Wooden suitcases (bought and dismantled Feb 2007)
* Black daisy hoodie (started April 2007)

* Various bags (half sewn November 2007)
*Cotton cupcakes (knitted (but not sewn up) November 2007) Started sewing them up 10/1/08
* Various coloured cotton washcloths with ends that need darning in DONE 9/1/08
* Princess B's stole FINISHED 9/1/08 (except for the buttons but I'll wait til I see Princess B before I sew them on so I can check on positioning)

I'll huff and I'll puff...

My trip to Ruapehu, September 1995:Kinda put me off skiing for life.

And cruising past Krakatoa, December 2007:I have to say I was a little unsettled after my previous experience with close proximity to volcanoes. A bit concerned I might have started a tradition: Me + volcano= big explosion. Which would not have been a good way to end my holiday.
.
I appeased my sense of unease by deciding that dying while on a cruise ship in a massive volcanic explosion was a pretty good way to go. And besides, since we weren't allowed to get closer than this we were probably pretty safe.

Still don't understand why everyone was so excited by it though. It was a volcano. Puffing a bit of smoke. So?

Maybe it's because I'm a Kiwi and therefore volcanoes are pretty ho hum...

Mid week meme fun: What band are you?

Courtesy of Zoe here's a new creative time waster:

1. The first article title on the Wikipedia Random Articles page is the name of your band.

2. The last four words of the very last quotation on the Random Quotations page is the title of your album.

3. The third picture in Flickr’s Interesting Photos From The Last 7 Days will be your album cover.

4. Use your graphics program of choice to throw them together, and post the result.

More photos

I finally got my Singapore pictures up onto Flickr.

That leaves only Cairns (and Krakato if I can be bothered with a picture of an exploding volcano. I lost interest in them in 1995 when I took a picture of Mt Ruapehu exploding. Which was front cover of the first edition of the Evening Post the following day. After that any picture I take of an exploding volcano has to be a let down, right?)

A gregarious recluse

Sorry for the unexpected silence (and lack of photos)

Somehow after trashing my kitchen on Sunday (did I mention I have no magic tidy cupboard* and only a very small hot water tank for the kitchen?) I decided it was a fine idea indeed to have an Indian feast on Monday night. And share it with 4 others.

There was a chickpea, tomato, spinach and potato curry. Basmati rice. Poppadoms and yoghurt. Mango chutney. Wine. And banana pikelets and jam for afters. A late night. Good company. Too little sleep. Too many dishes. No photos.

So tonight I'm on the couch. Working on Princess B's stole for Finish it off Friday. Listening to a Jazz in Melbourne CD. Reading Real Simple magazine. Smelling Les Floralies Seascapes burner oil. Drinking a little wine. Perfect!

(*dishwasher)

The first 2008 meeting of the Frugal Cultuvorians

Taph and I met at lunchtime for a picnic in the grounds of The Australian War Memorial and what a frugal feast it was:Taph's home made village quiche (so called because all the ingredients came from either people she knew or locally), my couscous and I-made-up-the-recipe-myself Moroccan carrot salad (using leftover's from New Year's Day's lunch), snow pea sprouts (also NYD leftovers), rice crackers and home made hummus. With local apricots courtesy of Happy Spider (who was spending the afternoon entertaining the migraine monster instead of us) and banana pikelets with jam for afters.

Once we'd finished we wandered up the hill and spent 4 hours in airconditioned comfort watching Lawrence of Arabia and knitting time thief watch caps (as you do).

Now I'm tempted to spend the evening watching The English Patient but I'll contain myself and sort myself out for the work week ahead...

Seven Things Spring/ Summer Week 18

The thing I'm finding most curious about being part of The Seven Things Spring/ Summer challenge is that, when I started, I thought it would be all about clearing stuff out of the house. What seems to have happened in reality is it's become more about not letting so much stuff into the house. For example, I recently saw some funky Avanti cards, picked them up, looked at them, decided I couldn't be bothered finding two things to get rid of to make them worth taking home, and put them back.

Similarly I've not been op shopping since the week before Christmas even though this is usually prime op shopping season (with everyone having a clean-out over the Christmas break). Firstly because my finances are still recovering from the beating they took through November and December but also because I really don't need anything. (I suppose it helps that I have my spies out there who will let me know if they see anything particularly juicy!)

I realised there had been a significant change in my attitude last Friday morning when I had a couple of spare hours in Sydney before I had to catch the bus home. I'd just been to the buttons shop so was in Newtown - home of rather a lot of very nice shops to explore, and also handy train-wise to a few places with half decent op shops, large malls containing delights such as Smiggle, kikki K and T2 or cultural institutions with excellent shops. So what did I decide to do? I found a nice cafe, ordered a coffee, pulled my book out of my bag and passed the time in a very pleasant way before I headed back to Central Station and my bus. Very scary.

The other thing I've noticed is some things just aren't ready to leave my life yet. A couple of weeks ago I decided I'd clear my back issues of Elle Decoration. The last issue I bought was August 2005 and thus, according to my Collection Development Policy*, I shouldn't be keeping the back issues. So I pulled them out, sorted them into years and decided to start with the oldest issues - ripping out the bits I wanted to file and getting rid of the actual magazines. I picked up the April 1999 issue, started flicking through it, started feeling exceedingly grumpy and thus decided the time just wasn't right to let them go. Rats!

In:

* 2 magazines (newsagents)
* 1 CD (I have a tradition whenever I take the bus to Sydney of popping into Cash 'em in CDs at the bus interchange and perusing their bargain racks for something new to listen to on the trip. This week, for $2.50, I picked up Electricity: 2 CD compilation of capital beats & bleats: electronica club acid house trance drum & bass power-noise ambient techno at a limited edition low promotional price. Before I decided to buy it I took it to the counter and asked the chap "Is this in the bargain bin because it's utter crap?" He convinced me they'd just had it for a while and I decided for less than a cost of a cup of coffee it was worth the gamble. Well worth it, as it turns out since I like at least 80 % of it. Yay for local music! Yay for cheap CD roulette that works out! Boo for websites (http://www.blatantpropoganda.com/) that no longer exist so I can't link to them)* 1 giant safety pin bought from All buttons great and small in Newtown. I really wanted one of their giant buttons but this was heaps cheaper and easier to carry home. It goes rather well with the giant bulldog clip I picked up in Smiggle last time I was in Sydney. I have a thing about scale - be it very undersized or very oversized.)

Total In this week: 4 (I'm well impressed)

Out:

* 1 journal, 1 set of coloured pencils, 1 washcloth, 1 groovy green bag: gifts
* 1 dead sheet: bin
* 2 bookmarks (I have far too many. This is probably only the first rationalisation...), 1 milk bottle holder which never really found a use around here, 1 Mickey Mouse tin case, 1 Mickey Mouse plastic pencil case and 1 free souvenir Merlion dangly thing from my trip: The Smith Family

Total Out this week: 11

Shake-it-all-about:

* 1 groovy green bag
* Princess B's stole

Net items out so far during Seven Things Spring: 249

(* You can take the Librarian out of the Library but you can't take the Library out of the Librarian!)

On the button

Apart from seeing The Special Beat, the only other thing I needed to do in Sydney during my whirlwind trip was visit All Buttons Great and Small on King Street Newtown and buy the perfect buttons for Princess B's stole.

Alas I made an erroneous assumption on Thursday that a) they were open til 5:30pm and b) probably later as it's late night in Sydney on Thursday. I arrived at 5:04 to discover a darkened shop. Argh!So I tried again Friday morning and spent a happy hour looking through the many many shelves of buttons.

I narrowed down the choice of buttons for Princess B's stole to 4 and was happy to find that my favourites were also the cheapest options (under $3 each as opposed to $17 each for some of the other options I pulled out.)

Yes, there were some breathtaking buttons to be bought. But there were also some breathtaking prices (one button I was admiring cost $32. For one button. Eek!)

There were also some very cozy Babushkas:and a selection of very big buttons.I would have been tempted to buy one but luckily they didn't have any wood dark enough to entice me. Phew!

364 days ago...

... I started Finish it off Friday to try and clear the backlog of half finished projects that had crept into my life.

Guess what? I seem to have the same issue this year (but mostly new projects). So I guess Finish it off Friday will become a January tradition.

Here's a list of what I found (so far) that need to be finished:

* Greeny blue cardigan (started October 2006)
* Soft trees (buttons collected December 2006, trees 80% sewn December 2007)
* Wooden suitcases (bought and dismantled Feb 2007)
* Black daisy hoodie (started April 2007)
* Various bags (half sewn November 2007)
*Cotton cupcakes (knitted (but not sewn up) November 2007)
* various coloured cotton washcloths with ends that need darning in (also November 2007)
* Princess B's stole (started 23rd November 2007 and knitted from Canberra to Sydney then up through Indonesia and Singapore before returning to Canberra. That's one well travelled (and quite famous onboard) bit of knitting!)

I'll add to the list as I uncover other unfinished projects (gulp!) and take great delight in crossing things off as I finish them. I reckon fits quite nicely in with the whole Seven Things challenge. Feel free to join me. After all it's only for 4 weeks!

I confess

The Special Beat were brilliant!

There were mod haircuts. Polo shirts. Tartan. More pork pie hats than you could shake a stick at. And (sadly) but one lonely Vespa parked outside at the end. I guess everyone was being super-responsible and taking public transport home.

I was having too much fun to remember to take photos until quite late (the fact that both Neville Staple and Roger Charley were topless at that point had no input into my sudden remembrance that I should maybe take photos. Oh no siree!) But because of the lighting levels they didn't come out.

So instead here's a photo montage from the Easter 1996 New Zealand Scooter Rally in Hunua which will be always linked in my mind with The Specials and The Beat as that's what was blasting across the camping ground most of the weekend:

We discovered one interesting (and probably unplanned) side effect of the new smoking ban - when someone lights a joint in the mosh pit it's pretty bloody obvious what's going on!

I'm going on a sleepover!

Heading up to Sydney for the night to see The Special Beat with Princess B and Princess M.

Since it's just one night I can pack my smallest (and most loved) suitcase. Using this suitcase always makes me feel like I'm about 8 years old and going to stay with a little friend for the night. Which means, of course, that I should take my favorite stuffed toy to keep me company.

But I'm a big girl now so the rabbit stays at home!

The frugalescence of Cultuvorianism*

Oh yes, back to work today. Not used to it at all. Urgh.

Taph and I entertained ourselves by planning our super-thrifty social calendars for the next few months**

Between the Australian National Botanic Gardens, the National Museum, the Australian War Memorial, the National Library, and the National Gallery (we're ignoring the National Film and Sound Archive as they expect us to pay more than $1 to see their outdoor movies!) we have a slew of things to keep us amused between now and March for no more than $1 a pop. And we haven't even started exploring the Summer in the Capital options...

We also have nasty evil dastardly plans to capture a copy of the ANU Film Group's programme when it's released and buy a single membership between us. Each membership has 6 guest passes so as long as we can agree on films we both get to see 6 movies for a total cost of $60 (or $5 each per film). Less if I can convince various other friends who are members with guest passes to take us along to movies!

Q: What cheap or free things are available where you live to keep you entertained for not much money?

In other random news:

1. I've set up another Swap-Bot black & white swap. See here for details and to join in the fun. I've decided to keep these going this year but to do them quarterly.
2. I found a funky new Canberra-based blog: Canberra's Got Style. Might be worth checking out.
3. Summer's finally arrived. I'm hot. I'm not happy.
4. One of my favorite cotton sheets ripped on me this week. I shouldn't complain, it's done me 18 years. But that in itself is very very scary...

(* Frugalescence: A new word I made up today. Cultuvorianism: a new word Taph made up today. Definition: A person who consumes culture. Preferably for free (or very little!)

**Not in work time, of course!)

Seeing in the New Year with style

As is tradition round here, I was tucked up in bed fast asleep by 10:30 last night (I stayed up to watch a DVD) and the New Year was celebrated with a slap up lunch chez moi today.

The table was set with a crisp white cotton table cloth, my favorite "best" Johnson Brothers crockery, the monogrammed cutlery I gave myself for Christmas and my very ancient much loved damask napkins.We toasted the new year with hibiscus flowers in champagne,ate too much wonderful food then lay around reading magazines (catching a quick 40 winks) until we had the strength to move again. All in all, a perfect start to the year!