Three do a Thousand Part One: Canberra to Cowra

Remember about a month ago I went on a drive to Thredbo with J&M in a quest to get their mileage up?

Well the quest is far from over so yesterday I joined them again for a mad adventure to explore Central New South Wales. I knew it was going to be a long day so packed some knitting to do on the way...

We left Canberra at just after 8am with me madly knitting Dad's Koolhaas Hat in the back seat, headed out towards Yass then up towards Cowra.

First stop was Lake Wyangala to continue our tradition of visiting almost empty dams. It used to look like this:and now it looks like this:

And here's a Koolhaas closeup in Cowra (try saying that three times fast!):

Finish it off Friday 2008: Week 5

I'm starting to realise that sometimes (often?) there's a reason things don't get finished...

After 5 weeks on this project I haven't really got much further than I was on Week 1:

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

Well, I managed to sew the shoulders together. I safety pinned the arms into the armholes. I pulled the remaining ball of wool (yarn?) out of the container the unfinished cardigan is stored in and realised THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL I HAVE ENOUGH WOOL TO COMPLETE THE FRONT BAND. The whole lot is back in the container while I assess my options. I'm wondering if I could get away with no band and pretending it's some new style which involves just have crocheted loops for buttons. Taph thinks I should frog the sleeves and reknit them shorter (she tells me 3/4 sleeves are very flattering.) I'm tempted to frog the whole thing and knit something completely different. Or give the %$^#*! wool away...

* Soft trees (buttons collected December 2006, trees 80% sewn December 2007)

It's February. You think I can see a point in sewing Christmas decorations?! NEXT!

* Wooden suitcases (bought and dismantled Feb 2007)

I unwrapped another of the three cases and stared at it. Thought of some more options for decorating. That's as far as I've got.

* Black daisy hoodie (started April 2007)

It's a scary thing. I keep telling myself it would be awfully useful to have this finished for my trip to Wellington next month where I'll, as usual, seriously underestimated the level of frigidity in the weather compared to home.

Then I remind myself that I'll be learning to sew hoodies so if I need one (above and beyond the two I plan to be taking anyway) I could always make another. But knitting the last bit of this is like rubbing my tummy and patting my head all while reciting the alphabet backwards. In Pig Latin. Maybe I'll feel like doing this next week... Speaking of pigs, maybe they'll fly...

* Various bags (half sewn November 2007)

Still half sewn. *sigh*

*Cotton cupcakes (knitted (but not sewn up) November 2007) Started sewing them up 10/1/08

OK, finally something to be happy about. I have 18 completed cupcakes waiting for the Valentines Day rush that never happened. I have 6 which need the final seam sewn, and 10 with bases but no stuffing.

You want cupcakes? I got cupcakes! Silly Made It only lets me list one at a time but if you want one (or a half dozen with free postage) email me and we can have some cotton sweetness heading your way lickety split...

* 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)

Meanwhile the Koolhaas Hat Mark III is going great guns. Is this on my list of things to finish off? No. Am I having fun (when I'm not cursing the fact that this pattern requires almost complete concentration?) Hell yes. Am I ever so proud that I've mastered knitting from a chart AND using circulars? HELL YES!Am I a little concerned that sometime soon I'll have to learn yet another new skill - that of knitting with DPNs (to finish the top)?

Let's just say that knowing this is for a Parental Unit means that (hopefully) any cock-ups will be tolerated. Either that or you'll be seeing The Koolhaas Hat Mk IV coming to a computer screen near you soon!

It must have been love...

This picture was taken by Taph last night seconds after I pulled a skein of Happy Spider goodness out of a bag she'd handed me.

The photo was sitting in my inbox this morning with the following comment:

"I know it was lerv at first sight but did you have to get into the heavy petting quite so soon and so publicly? "

Sorry. My only excuse is that it was Valentines Day...

Speaking of lerve... notice my new stripy T? $5 from Salvos. I love me a good cheap black and white stripy T.

Tired and emotional

Gawd, what a week it's been so far!

I'm tired because I've been a social butterfly and have been out every night. And when I've finally made it to bed I've not slept well because it's been too cold/ too hot/ the cat's hogging the bed/ the possums are playing chasey in the roof above the bed/ someone's having an arguement in the alley next door/ I'm having crazy dreams or (last night) I had to be up early for a breakfast function to mark Library Lovers' Day this morning and was scared I'd miss the alarm so kept waking up to make sure I hadn't overslept. Urgh...

On top of all that, in the last 48 hours I've:

* Seen photos from a friend's relatives of the Darling River filling up after the Christmas floods upstream. A pretty amazing sight (I'll see if I'm able to get permission to post them here)

* Been moved to tears while watching the Australian Government's formal apology to The Stolen Generation. Canberra was a grand place to be yesterday.

* Accepted a new part time job starting next week. (Yep - in an office. With airconditioning. And other people. Across town. So I'll have to commute. And think about what I'm going to have for lunch before I've eaten breakfast. All quite scary. Luckily the people are lovely so I'm sure there'll be someone around to hold my hand when it all gets too much. And if all else fails I'll just think of the money!)

It's all been quite overwhelming but also very positive.

I'm out again tonight - off to The National Library's screening of Landmines: a love story. Hopefully I won't fall asleep halfway through...

Free food from fabulous friends

I've been very very fortunate this past couple of weeks, with a constant flow of free food heading into my kitchen (and my happy puku). Monday's grapes were just the tip of the iceberg...

Taph brought 4 Granny Smith apples from work with her Monday night. There's only one in the photo above because I used the other three to make a ginger and apple crumble to take to J & M's for dinner on Tuesday night.

I didn't leave their place empty handed. When I arrived I was handed a bowl and told to go play in the laden tomato patch and take home what I found. With some of the (bolting) basil to go with it. And M has just returned from 2 weeks' work in PNG and had brought back coffee for one and all (he's very proud that it's organic).

But that's not all. In the last couple of weeks I've also had the following turn up with Taph and not leave when she has:

* A block of feta cheese

* A block of soy cheese

* A 1 litre tub of French vanilla icecream (now residing in J&M's freezer as it wandered over last night with the crumble)

* A 4 litre ice cream container full of stewed pears

* A quarter full bottle of Cointreau

* A jar of homemade plum jam

* A bag of yellow squash

* A 5 litre cask of wine

* A bottle of wine

So if I've not said it enought you're all wonderful people and I appreciate your donations. And you have an open invitation to Restaurant TSS whenever you wish (just be warned you may be eating ever so recycled food...!)

We had a de-vine time

Taph and K came to dinner last night and while K was wandering the wilderness of my backyard looking for Nibbs I asked Taph if she knew how to tell when grapes were ripe. She looked at me, went outside, picked one and popped one in her mouth. "They're ripe" was the reply.

So we had some fun harvesting the grapes we could reach from the neighbour's vine which seems to have decided life on this side of the fence suits it rather well...

Holy crap!

Am I the only person in the miniature world to not know about Althea Crome's nano knits?

I'm gobsmacked. And humbled. And completly blown away.

(Thanks to Sister Sticks for the heads up at Northside SnB this evening)

Miniature memories

Feb/Mar 2008's Home New Zealand magazine arrived in my post box this morning and there, on the cover, was a chair which looked quite familiar.

You see, way back in 1994 our miniature club hosted the New Zealand Miniature Convention and our theme was A little look at the twenties. And our club project was to each make a bedsit using the same basic pieces* but put our own spin on it. We had a choice of a bedsit set in the 1920s or what the bedsit might look like now. And we had to create the back story for our bedsit inhabitants.

At convention our bedsits were arranged into sets of four, with a foyer and stairs between. I have a (bad) photo of them set up somewhere if you'd like me to load it later...

Here's a (scanned) photo of mine (the original no longer exists although I still have some of the furnishings):It's rented out by an 18 year old who's just left home and moved into her first place. Her job doesn't pay very much so she's had to furnish her bedsit with bits and pieces from the op shop and hand me downs from friends.

On the left as you enter you can see her kitchenette area with a small new fridge (the old one that came with the flat blew up so the landlord bought a new one), a convection microwave, a small amount of bench space and cupboards. The noticeboard next to the door holds her bills so she remembers to pay them and she hung the piggy picture above the fridge as she's heard about the "Freshman five" you put on when you first go flatting...

Behind the kitchen is a small bathroom and between the bathroom door and the bed (her old divan from home which her parents let her borrow) is a wardrobe with a curtain (no room for doors on it!) Not seen on the back of the wardrobe is her collection of Beverly Hill 90210 stickers and pictures, so she can fall asleep each night staring at Luke Perry. Ahhhh...

Speaking of beds, she's turned hers into a couch for daytime use with a new duvet cover she bought with her first pay and various cushions she's made. She thinks she's too old to still be surrounded by teddy bears so brought just her favourite childhood one from home and has a couple of teddy bear cushions to show her devotion to arctophilia. And she's very grateful for the extra storage space in the drawers underneath - this is where she keeps her manchester and craft supplies.

The small blue 1950s chair is a perfect fit next to the kitchen table and is great for reading in the evenings. Since she can't yet afford a TV (or the space for one) she does a lot of reading and knitting here or crafting at the kitchen table (which came out of her father's workshop and so is covered in paint splatters, which she kind of likes)

Finally there's a very ratty chest of drawers with a missing handle that she found on the side of the road up the street which she keeps her clothes in. Her clock radio and tape deck live on the top and she has a beer crate which can be used as seating for extra visitors or a coffee table for anyone sitting on the divan. A small cheap mirror is attached to the wall above the dresser - she's heard that mirrors make a space seem larger and God knows she needs all the help she can get!

For the same reason she chose red as her accent colour when she bought her kitchen bin and containers and recovered the footstool. She also hopes that her books and ornaments on the windowsill and the vase of flowers on the dresser divert visitors' attention away from the peeling and watermarked wallpaper and the lack of view.

(* We each started with the same basic box with the "bathroom" (actually space to keep the battery for the lights) and front door either on the left or right. There was a club workshop for a stove (which I chose not to use because I needed the space for a fridge - even though in real life I didn't have a fridge when I first went flatting!) and also for the kitchen units. Originally they were curtained underneath but I added sliding doors to make it seem more updated (ie: 1950s rather than 1920s))

Seven Things Spring/ Summer Week 23: In which a miracle happens and the deluge of stuff In is somehow matched by a slightly larger stream Out...

It was a bad bad week 7 Things wise. I realised it was going to be challenging as early as last Sunday and until this morning really didn't believe I was going to be able to meet my target of Outs to make up for the deluge of incoming goodies.

Here's a week of excess in day-by-day glory (or is that gory?!)

In:

Sunday:
* 1 almost-set of towels to match the Laura Ashley handtowel I got for Christmas (I'm actually quite proud as it took me a whole 6 weeks to make it into Laura Ashley to check out the rest of the set. Usually I'd have been in there Boxing Day)
* 1 ball worsted weight wool and 1 Shaun the Sheep & friends mobile pattern from Taph
* 1 wooden letter A, 1 ball of cotton yarn, 1 half-made child's dress: gifts from Happy Spider (Odd - it was her birthday but I got presents...)

Monday:
* 1 Ben Watt In the mix CD (from eBay. It's Ben Watt. Errr... Watt more can I say?!)
* Parcel from Sew Thrifty containing: Polka dot ironing board cover and fabric, apron, bag, stripy hat, 2 mugs, 2 plastic jelly beans, 10 black and white cat cards, 2 pads of post it notes

Tuesday:
* 1 video and 1 pair pantihose from Vinnies ($3.50 total)

Wednesday:
* 1 Canon Ixus 300 and case (weehee!)

Friday:
* 1 Energizer rechargeable compact charger (courtesy of Taph). I'm one step closer to being a (recycled) card carrying Greenie...
* Black and white glass daisy plate
* 1 freebie DVD of Lagerfeld Confidential (which was the only reason I bought this month's AU Vogue)
* 8 videos + 1 DVD from colleague in Sydney (the box contained a heap more but I gave some to Taph and threw out the mouldy ones and the ones recorded on long play which my machine won't play)

Saturday:
* 13 things from The Frugalling Fiesta (TM).

All week:
* 6 magazines

Total In this week: 63 (erk!)

Out:

* 1 old ratty bike basket which was replaced on my newly returned serviced bike by a lovely shiny new bike basket.
* 11 misc items packed up and posted as part of a parcel in return for this loveliness...
* 30 fabric bits, 1 book, 4 broken miniatures: Friday gift to Janet

* And off to the op shop this morning: 3 videos (watched and not needing to be kept), 2 old Nokia 3310 phone covers (really, I'm never going to use a navy or an orange cover. Ever), 1 hat (very cute but alas too small), 1 glass bottlely vasey thing, 1 suitcase, 1 messanger bag (never used either of them. Doubt I ever will), set of 8 retro melamine plates which I bought at an op shop for a swap and never sent (and I'll also never get around to listing on eBay), 1 cup and saucer, 2 cups, 1 candle holder, 1 almost full packet of white plastic cups, 1 white plastic fan (which works but is butt-ugly and thus I can't bring myself to use. By getting rid of it maybe I'll finally get my beautiful retro-looking black and silver one fixed...)

Total Out this week: 70 (phew!)

Shake-it-all-about:

* Koolhaas hat mk II begun.
* 1 dozen cotton cupcakes finished.
* 7 more washcloths knitted while watching videos, reading blogs and magazines and waiting for my very slow laptop to do things (thus proving once and for all I'm a process knitter not a project knitter)

Net items out so far during Seven Things Spring: 354.5

One Word Week: Saturday

Stuff(ed)

One Word Week: Friday (part 2)

Finished!

One Word Week: Friday

Fabulous!

One Word Week: Thursday (part 2)

Corners

One Word Week: Thursday

Tyred :-)

One-word Week Wednesday (part 2)

Upgrade:

One-word Week: Wednesday

Almost...

One Word Week: Tuesday (part 2)

Cool!

One Word Week: Tuesday

Kool?

One Word Week: Monday (part 2)

Mail :-)

One Word Week: Monday

Blogiversary!

One Word Week starts today

So I'm jumping on the bandwagon and have decided to have a quiet week (let me tell you, that's one of the ultimate challenges for a Gemini).

So until next Sunday I'll be posting one word posts. Like this:Bunny!

(Hopefully I won't end up posting a kazillion one word posts per day which make up something longer. Or cheating by leaving long and rambling comments on my own blog. Well no more long and rambling than usual...!)

Seven Things Spring/ Summer Week 22

In:

* 4 magazines
* 1 CD
* 1 cup and saucer, 2 tea towels, 2 packets of post it notes, 1 notebook & 8 magnets from my Swap-Bot partner.
* 1 pair black knitting needles.
* 2 lots of fabric.

Total In this week: 22

Out:

* 9 items to my Black & White Swap partner (she says being all mysterious)
* Charles Rennie Mackintosh earring set and necklace: given to Diva, an eBay buyer who came to pick up an order and talk modern dollshouses and architecture with me. She's got the Dolls House Emporium Mackintosh House so these will be well used by her as drawer pulls and wall art.
* 1 wooden dolls house cupboard: given to Janet.
* 2 NRMA Open Road mags: recycled.
* 9 oldish copies of Madison, marie claire, US Elle & US Vogue: donated to Happy Spider.
* 2 nightshirts (I realised I hate wearing nightshirts as they almost always end up tangled up round my waist somewhere), 1 knitting pattern (which I bought for Taph and she already had), 2 sewing patterns (which I'll never use), 2 bookmarks (ditto), 1 white short sleeved shirt (with far too much polyester for comfort - originally bought to wear over togs on the way to the pool. The pool I've been to once in about 5 years), 1 pair of shoes, 3 tea towels, 2 summer tops (which I realised I'll always pass up in favour of something else), 1 Crossroads envirobag (yes, I occassionally buy really cheap and nasty clothing but do I want to tell the world on a regular basis? Especially when my black and white envirobag collection has a number of much nicer bags in it?): Smith Family
* 1 old oil burner from my office when I used to work away from home. (It was $2. It's covered in gunge. If I ever work away from home again and need an oil burner I'd probably just take my spare Bloom one...): bin
* 1 set stitch markers: birthday present for Happy Spider.

Total Out this week: 40

Shake-it-all-about:

* 1 set of stitch markers.

Net items out so far during Seven Things Spring: 347.5

Whose bed is it anyway?

Here's a photo of my bed taken approximately 30 seconds after I woke up this morning. It's a fairly normal morning view on the nights his Lordship decides he wants to sleep inside.

I have a queen sized bed. Lots of room to spread out. Why then do we both fight over sleeping in the middle (and, more importantly why is it I usually lose the argument?)

In which I hopalong to Cassidys*

So, finally, I made it to the Cassidys wool sale this afternoon after Janet called me with some cock and bull story about how she didn't know where the Kingston store was...And there it was, the mythical $2 a ball wool!I could hardly contain myself... In heaven was IBut all too soon I felt overwhelmedand bummed out that many had obviously come before meand (more importantly) that my fiscal reach was very very shortAnd so I (and Janet) left empty handed. After making lots of appreciative noises.

Of course, op-shop wool has now lost it's allure when priced at a "low" $2 a ball. We know better. Dammit!

(yes I know there's a missing apostrophe but I'm being very very sic)

F words...

Am I the only one who loves the first day of each month? I'm not sure if it's because for many years I worked in a role where I had monthly targets so the end of the month was intense followed by a clean slate and a day to sort and clean things up on the first before starting the whole process again.

For me the first day of the month is the time to:

* Do my end of month accounts for the month before and find out exactly how much I spent and on what (how exciting was it this morning to discover that, in January 2008, I spent under half what I spent in January 2007 (excluding rent and car loan payments) and still had a good time! This is just as well, really as last month I earned 60% of what I earned in January 2007...)
* Sort out my eBay accounts (this isn't particularly exciting but it's a nice feeling when it's done) and do my monthly Lundby stocktake and order.
* Change my dressing gown, mattress protector, razor and kitchen sponges
* Think about what I'd like to achieve in the coming month.

While lounging in bed this morning I decided February 2008 will be about:

* Finishing it off. My Finish it Off Fridays were a bit of a disaster in January. I'll keep trying this month. Also under this banner: the end of the month sees the end of Summer and thus the end of Seven Things Spring/ Summer. No more lists of the crap that comes into and out of my life!
* Ficton. I've realised in retrospect I've been keeping to a reading theme for the last couple of months: December was Dresses (ie: people involved in fashion in one way or another) January was about Juveniles (ie: people who had crap childhoods) so this month I'll take it easy and try and get through some of my backlog of Fiction.
* A Festival. I have plans to go to lots of free things during The Multicultural Festival this month. Cultuvorianism continues!
* Fitness. Can I make it back to the gym? Regularly??
* Frugality. I did good in January. I want to keep it up in February. And March, and...

Finally it would seem that I'm a flaming trendy. Taph forwarded me a link to an article from The Age which said in part:

"...There is, on the other hand, an influential band of about 4 million Australians who are happy to spend more on less. This new breed may not heed the call of Reverend Billy or become followers of The Compact and stop shopping entirely, but they are far more selective than their traditional cousins.

These new consumers are less interested in the commodities of life and more fascinated by discretionary spending: what is known as elective consumption. So they're buying less stuff and spending more on creating emotional experiences.

They are paying for yoga classes and private trainers; they're drinking fewer glasses of better-quality wine; they're travelling more; they're investing more; they're going to the theatre and opera more; they're reading more books and passing them on to their friends.

In short, they are becoming collectors of memories, not consumers of commodities. Those who aren't giving up alcohol entirely are drinking cocktails in some anonymous bar or meeting friends out for an espresso and pastry.

The traditional shopping centres are not for them - unless they need to make a flying visit to David Jones."

Sounds rather familiar, except for the wine bit - I'm drinking about the same amount of much cheaper plonk these days!

Dear Easter Bunny

Yes, I know it's a little early but since Hot Cross Buns have been in the supermarket since January 1st I figured you're probably already on the job.

Any chance you can drop off a ticket for this for Easter this year? Failing that this would be fine as would this...

Yours ever so hopefully
The Shopping Sherpa

Magic Carpets

If you're into modern miniatures and are a stitcher there's one book you really should have in your library: (from 29 cents in Amazon Marketplace!) Although the patterns in this book are originally designed for full sized latch hooking I've discovered they work perfectly when translated into miniature using 27 count canvas.

And the choice! There's an Art Deco rug design, a 1930s rug design, a jazzy 1920s design, a Wassily Kandinsky based abstract design:
a Mondrain constructivism design, a Miro inspired surrealist design, Popeye and a 1950s collage design amongst many others...My favourite from the book remains the naked lady rug insipred by Picasso's Nude Woman in a Red Armchair (circa 1932):

(If you stich a rug from this book for your modern miniature scene please add it to my Modern Miniatures Flickr pool!)

Reconciliation and Eternity (plus op shopping!)

January seems to have been full of worthy things - great educational films and exhibitions, a constant diet of non-fiction books (I finished Architecture and Happiness from the Library this week and cracked open Florence Broadhurst: Her Secret & Extraordinary Lives this morning. Also from the Library. I'm feeling much love for ACT Library Service at the moment - they're saving me a bucket of money.)

But I'm starting to think I need something light. Perhaps Feburary will be chockablock full of swashbuckling adventure films and chick-lit...But it's still January. I'm still a hardened cultuvorian. So it was off to National Library at lunchtime today to see Eternity.

Oh. My. God. What a fabulous film! The cinematography was mind blowing. I'd actually gone along in my quest to become a more rooly trooly Aussie and learn more about our history but I spent most of the film breathless at the angles the film was shot from and wanting to run out of the theatre, leap into Miss Daisy and hot-foot it to Sydney to see if I could recreate some it. (It probably didn't help that I'd seen Max Dupain the day before)

I'd arrived half an hour early for the film so took some pictures of Reconciliation Place since I realised I hadn't been there yet: And then, to recover from an overload of culture I dropped a boot load of stuff off to Womens' Refuge for Taph and then headed out to the Queanbeyan op shops for the first time since I went away in November.

I shouldn't have bothered - there wasn't anything stunning but I did get some vintage curtains I think might be perfect for Mum's music room. I'll take them over in March and if she doesn't like them I'll cut them up and turn them into bags....

Swap goodness

I'm super impressed - the posting deadline for my January Black & White Swap hasn't even passed yet but when I went to the Post Office this morning to send my swap to France this was waiting for me! All the way from the USA!!

More lovely black and white stationery for my collection (I'm particularly loving those post it notes although it'll be a while 'til I get to them as I still have a pile of Smiggle skull and crossbones ones). Some magnets. A cup and saucer. And (a little perplexedly) dark chocolate (yum) in a brown wrapper (huh?) and some definitely not black and white teatowels. Which are telling me they want to move to Sydney and Princess B's tea towel drawer.

It was such a good parcel that now I want to set up a February swap. But I promised myself (and, more importantly, my budget) quarterly swaps and so I'll just have to be patient 'til April...

How to be a cul...cultu...cultuvorian. By Little E (aged 2)

First find something cool and free that is happening.Hopefully very big. And very loud!Invite Mummy and your grown up friends along. If you are lucky they will bring nice food.Go on big adventures to exploreand make sure you dance to the songs you really like(or just enjoy listening)And go home when it is dark.The End

(Extra for experts: befriend random strangers on picnic rugs around you)

Almost had me fooled...

I spotted a fabulous apartment (house?) on Design *Sponge today: Very cool.

It wasn't until I reached photo 8: and recognised the ubiquitous yellow canisters that I realised it was actually a modern miniature setting.

It takes a lot to fool me when it comes to miniatures. I'm most impressed...