Fiscal Fast Day Thirteen: It all turned to custard...

What's that? You're missing the food photos?! Well sit back, relax and read on...

Day Thirteen:

Breakfast: Tea. Mixed berry oat temptations and milk.

Morning Tea: Mandarin, crackers and cheese plus one single Iced Vovo from the work biscuit jar (just because it went so well with the book I've finally come to the top of the reserve list for at the Library):

Lunch: Vegetable soup from the freezer with bread and the last of the butter.

Afternoon tea: Tea. Mango danish.

Dinner: J rang inviting me to drinks at Tilleys. I explained I couldn't go because of my Fiscal Fast. She said they didn't mind paying. "Against the rules" I said. So I invited them all to dinner instead. As you do on a Friday morning before you remember the state of the kitchen...

They brought: Wine, Water crackers, brie, kalamata olives, mini samosas and yoghurt to dip.

I made: Penne pasta with zucchini and semi dried tomatoes. Apple pear ginger crumble and custard.Home made from scratch custard. Not like this time last year. Thanks to Dad's comment last year and The Destitute Gourmet's cookbook I am no longer a custard virgin. J, M & S The Sock Queen were well impressed. (And so was I but I couldn't say that at the time - I just grinned contentedly and flitted round in my apron looking suitably domestic)They also brought: Dark Lindor balls.S the Sock Queen gave me permission to hide them before anyone else turned up if I needed to but I was good and shared. And I still have some left over!

Finished today:
* Butter (I bought more almost immediately)
* Egg yolks (I have three whites sitting in the fridge. I suspect there'll be omelette for brunch tomorrow...)
* Garlic (can't live without it so it'll be replaced ASAP)
* Zucchini (on the list for the next vege run)
* Apples (ditto)
* Pear (ditto ditto)

Bought today:
* Butter: $2.25

Total spent since June 1: $62.93
(Thanks for the support in deciding to move the car towing bill back to last month and not feel like I'm cheating!)

Fiscal Fast Day Twelve: Electricity (or lack thereof), interesting mail, more hankies and a conundrum

Electricity:

My theme songs for today:

(as ActewAGL turned off the power just as I hit the shower this morning and it remained off until after 3pm.)

Day Twelve:

Breakfast: Tea. Toast with ginger and lime marmalade.

Morning Tea: The last fruit finger biscuits and a fruit snack pack.

Lunch: The "still no electricity, tempted to go buy a Thai lunchbox, but convinced myself I could cope with opening the fridge twice" lunch: Bitsa plate (bitsa this and bitsa that) comprising cheese, cucumber, tuna, the last of the cherry tomatoes (best before 5/6/08 but still OK), sliced olives, carrot sticks and lettuce. Served with a slice of bread and tahini.

Afternoon tea: A cup of tea to celebrate return of power with a piece of mango danish from the freezer, nicely warmed in the microwave.

Dinner: From the freezer: Mediterranean bean soup with parmesan curls, toasted turkish bread and pesto (lunch club isn't happening tomorrow so I can eat the last of the block parmesan and turkish bread. Hurrah!)

Finished today:
* Fruit finger biscuits
* Fruit snack packs (I'll eat fresh fruit for the rest of the month)
* Cherry tomatoes (I'll see what Choku Bai Jo has when I go next)
* Tuna (Uh oh...)
* Parmesan cheese block (I still have pre-grated to tide me over. For now...)
* Milk

Bought today:
* Milk $5.00 (they only had 2 litre containers)

Total spent since June 1: $60.68* (see below)

Interesting mail:

Telling me I get paid to do my floortalks at CMAG! Who woulda thunk it?! (I wonder if they'd like to book one in each week the exhibition runs??)

(Six) More hankies (and a box to keep them in):


Courtesy of Janet. After I suggested the napkins she showed me the other day looked a lot like hankies, and then told her how much I bought my last black and white hankies for, I may have just helped create a hankie making monster...

A conundrum:

I finally took Miss Daisy down to Braddon Smash Repairs today to get the quotes to sort her out. And it turns out the quote for getting her front end fixed plus the Albury tow truck and emergency repair come to less than the excess on my insurance. Which is good. Except that meant I had to call my insurance company and cancel the claim and pay them the $113.19 they paid Albury Auto Body last month.

Yep, I spent money. I was tempted to do a fiscal sleight of hand and safely tuck the expense into last month's accounts which is when it would have been paid had I paid upfront at the time. I'm still tempted to do that. What do you think? Should I do that or count it this month?

Fiscal Fast Day Eleven: Tim Tams, jelly frogs, a lovely meal and a new hankie for the collection (and me feeling too crap to appreciate any of it...)

It was a good day yesterday. It would have been a better day if I'd been well enough to appreciate it...

I went to work where I discovered an office full of sneezing and coughing ie: people just like me. It's nice to feel part of the team, isn't it? Actually, I've hatched a new theory: starting work in an office is like starting childcare. You'll spend the first three months catching everything that your kind colleagues share with you.

Things weren't all bad though. I got to eat Tim Tams and Iced Vovos from the biscuit jar and jelly frogs from the lolly bowl. Ah, sweets, I've missed you so. Homemade toffee just isn't the same, is it?

After work I went to Taph's for dinner. And what a dinner it was - but alas I was fading fast and probably didn't appreciate it as much as I could have. Sorrry Taph, but thanks for the hankie to add to the collection:I was out of clean ones...

Day Eleven:

Breakfast: Tea. Date oat temptations and milk.

Morning Tea: Apple, crackers and cheese.

Lunch: From the freezer: Smoked salmon, broccoli, red pepper and blue brie penne. Tim Tam and Iced Vovo (not from the freezer!)

Afternoon tea: Anzac biscuits.

Dinner (out): Wine. Silverbeet wrapped salmon steaks with olive, caper and lemon sauce. Zucchini, broccoli, carrots and beans. Cake and icecream.

Finished today:
* Anzac biscuits.

Total spent since June 1: $55.68.

Fiscal Fast Day Ten: In which I had a nose like a tap but was immensely cheered up by some new arrivals

So I've been feeling pretty crap since last Thursday. Taking things easy. Sleeping a lot. That sort of mature and sensible stuff. So why, 5 days later do I feel worse, not better?

Bugger. Maybe I should have been out sculling cheap booze and dancing on tables in skimpy outfits instead and thus miraculously feel fine by now. On the bright side I've got to use pretty much all my collection of black and white hankies this weekend.

Also on the bright side, at Stitch 'n' Bitch last night Rachel pulled out a black row counter! After I calmed down enough to make sense she said she didn't really like it and before she could change her mind I swapped her for a boring blue one from my kit. And now it's mine. ALL MINE!!!! Oh yes, that's another secret squirrel birthday present in the background. (Note to self: must start knitting project I can actually show on my blog.) It's made from some lovely wool I picked up in Wangaratta Salvos. Originally from New Zealand, of course...

More woolly goodness arrived this morning in the form of a package from the Parental Units. It included a lovely warm merino possum hat and gloves. Mmmmmmm.... merino possum...
And since I'm having op shop withdrawals I thought I'd include a photo of the fabric I picked up on my road trip last month. The plains are IKEA, the patterned pieces are vintage. They're now all nicely washed and folded and ready to mature in the stash:
Day Ten:

Breakfast: Tea. Toast and strawberry jam. Cereal and milk.

Morning Tea: Crackers and cheese. Apple.

Lunch: Baked tofu with vegetables, udon noodles and satay sauce.

Afternoon tea: Anzac biscuits. The last of the Ski D'lite yoghurt.

Dinner: Leftover ratatouille from the freezer with penne pasta and grated cheese. In my PJs. In bed. In about ten minute's time!

Finished today:
* Yoghurt pottles (I can buy plain biodynamic next time I'm shopping or borrow back the yoghurt maker I gave to Taph last year. I think the first option is safer as my track record with making yoghurt is rather, shall we say, curdled?)

Bought today:
* Cat food: $2.00

Total spent since June 1: $55.68.

Fiscal Fast Day Nine: a cooking production line

Yesterday morning I baked bread using a slightly different recipe to last year (still no knead but this one involves mixing and then bunging the bowl in the fridge overnight. Which has to be cheaper than running the heater solely to keep the bread happy...)As is my habit I made far too much. Two loaves to be precise. They're not quite perfect (I forgot to check where the recipe was from and adjust the tablespoon measures to suit) but I'm very happy with them (and so is the friend who got the second loaf to take home when he dropped by in the afternoon)Then again maybe the problem is I did exactly what you're not supposed to do: cut a slice off and eat it while it's still hot from the oven. With melty butter. Bliss!

Next up was mango and apple juice made with the leftover tinned mango juice from Saturday's danish and freshly made apple juice. All very healthy looking and quite quite delicious.It went well with the egg salad sandwich I made for lunch, both in flavour and colour.

Finally, in the afternoon I cooked up a large pot of my fave Lentil spinach and coriander soup for dinner and the freezer. And then I had an afternoon nap just because I could.

I woke up at 6pm, had dinner then ran round like a chicken with its head cut off when I realised I was going to Northside Stitch 'n' Bitch but had not one single project on the needles to take!

Day Nine:

Breakfast: Tea. Freshly baked Anzac biscuits courtesy of Janet, who brought them as a bribe when she came to pick my brain

Morning Tea: Freshly baked bread and butter.

Lunch: Egg salad sandwich.

Afternoon tea: Tea. A piece of leftover mango danish. (I came home Sunday night with 4 pieces left over - three are in the freezer for later sugar fixes.)

Dinner: Lentil, spinach and coriander soup. Bread.

Finished today:
* Lemon juice (if I need it I'll have to buy lemons. No hardship, really)
* Brown lentils (not quite finished but not enough to do anything with. I can buy more if I want but I think I'll use up my other beans first)
* Spinach (on the list for the next shop)
* Tinned cat food (it's on special at Woollies this week. I'll buy some today)

Total spent since June 1: $53.68

Fiscal Fast Day Eight: Hard core action, "Tuna Mornay" and TV

Sunday. Gotta love Sunday, especially a long weekend Sunday with interesting things afoot.

Metaphorical Magpie declared I was "too hardcore for her". (Yep, my blog is full of hardcore action...)

I had a lovely time in the afternoon making a mango and almond danish to take to The Jane Austen TV Club in the evening:
(With fingers crossed that using mangos instead of peaches would work out. Which it did)

J,M & S performed a sleight of hand and declared they had a spare free ticket to see Turner to Monet: The triumph of landscape which was on its final day at The National Gallery and was open til 7pm. So I had a late afternoon injection of culture and a sneaky fondle of their shopping bags to stave off withdrawal symptoms...

(Picture courtesy of S who emailed it to me with the title "After the tuna mornay")

The day was rounded off at J&M's with three courses of yumminess and Jane Austen on a very large and very impressive new TV.

And I finally managed to wash the kitchen floor. A perfect day, really.

Day Eight:

Brunch: Tea. My last piece of Burgen rye bread, toasted, topped with pesto mushrooms and a poached egg.

Lunch: "Grazing" ie: the last of the hummus with some rice crackers, the mango slices that wouldn't fit onto the mango danish I was baking at the time, a pottle of Blueberry yoghurt, the last of the toffee.

Afternoon tea: A slice of cheese. Olives.

Dinner (out): Wine. Carrot and red pepper sticks, mini toast, spinach dip and homemade Baba Ghanoush. Eggplant pasta. Mango almond danish with cream. Tea. Chocolate.

Finished today:
* Milk (I bought more pretty much straight away)
* Tin of sliced mangos (this was given to me by Taph so I could use the tin to decorate and put her painted needles in on the stall. But I didn't get round to it and she wouldn't take the tin back when I tried... So not usually something I have on hand to replace.)
* Almonds
* Cream (not so much finished as out of the house and into J&M's fridge)
* Baking soda and vinegar. (Much as I like the idea of not cleaning for the rest of the month alas I'll be buying more of both. Which reminds me: does anyone know of a place where I can get baking soda in something larger than the dinky boxes they sell at Woollies?)

Bought today:
* 1 litre milk: $2.50

Total spent since June 1: $53.68

Fiscal Fast Day Seven: Frustrated at Fink, hyperventilating at handbags and nine with one blow in the evening

Parking is free in Civic after noon on Saturdays and so yesterday I decided I'd take myself on a big frugal adventure to see the Fink exhibition at Craft ACT plus Rae Harvey's handbags downstairs at CMAG.

I hate to say it but I found the Fink exhibition very very disappointing. There were no signs telling you what anything was or why it was significant in the history of the company and the photocopied flier they had was worse than useless. I'd see something on display and have to try and find it in the thumbnail pictures on the flier. If the item was actually there (many weren't) all the flier would say was something like "light. 1994. Private collection." And on the back page were a list of people and their photos. Which really meant nothing if you didn't know who they were or how they fitted into things.

I got confused and left. The exhibition was very pretty though. I'd show you but I wasn't allowed to take photos...

Downstairs at CMAG it hit me. This is the exhibition before mine. Oh! Eek! Argh!

Which made me look at it with completely different eyes than if I'd just rocked up to look at some way groovy lucite handbags. I even booked myself into the floortalk so I could get an idea of what I'd let myself in for. And picked up a handful of fliers which included this: I showed it off to anyone who would look last night at the theatre. Well, people I knew, obviously - not random strangers (that would be just too weird).

And my friends (bless their little cotton socks) all declared that if there wasn't an official opening they would create one (CMAG told me I only get an opening if it's in conjunction with something in another of their galleries. Otherwise I get an afternoon tea...)

Ah, yes... the theatre. To round off my day of free culture I used my first theatre subscription ticket to see Shorter and Sweeter: 9 10 minute plays. Theatre for ADD sufferers. I liked it.

Day Seven:

Brunch: Tea. Apple drop biscuits with vanilla yoghurt, honey and cinnamon.

Lunch: Salmon cake with tartaire sauce, wedges and salad:Afternoon tea: Almond toffee!

Dinner: The last of the olive bread from last Friday (don't worry, I froze it) toasted, with hummus.

Total spent since June 1: $51.18

Fiscal Fast Day Five and Six: In which I expound on a theory to try and cover the fact nothing's been posted here for a wee bit too long

My theory. By The Shopping Sherpa.

Doing a Fiscal Fast is like visiting London.

(Stay with me here)

The first time I visited London it was all new and terribly exciting ("Oh! Look! A Bobby!!" "Marks and Spencers!!" "Woohoo! I'm riding on a double decker bus past some ancient building!)

The second time was much more mundane ("OK, I'll get the tube in from Heathrow and text you as I leave London Bridge Station so we can meet at the entry to Borough Markets and I can chuck my case in your boot.")

Same with the Fiscal Fast. Lat year it was all a new and interesting challenge. This year I know what to do and where to go and what to expect and thus a bit of the fun has been taken out of it.

This morning, for instance I was lounging in bed pondering my breakfast choices after a visit to Choko Bai Jo Farmers' Outlet at North Lyneham shops yesterday evening. "Toasted Turkish bread with wilted spinach, poached egg and parmesan shavings? Yummm..... oh, hang on I need the turkish bread and parmesan shavings (the last of both) for Lunch Club at work on Friday....... Well, then it'll have to be Apple Drop Biscuits and yoghurt, won't it? Just like this time last year.... Yawwwwwwwn."

But I'm getting ahead of myself

Day Five:

Breakfast: Tea. Fruit toast with ginger lime marmalade. Blueberry yoghurt.

Morning Tea: Carrot sticks and hummus.

Lunch: Freezer roulette: Smoked salmon, red pepper, broccoli and blue brie penne.

Afternoon tea: 2 fruit finger biscuits.

Dinner: Mediterranean bean soup with toasted rolls and pesto.

Evening sugar attack: Home made almond toffee (another use for the glut of cream still in my fridge from last week...)

Finished today:
* Tinned kidney beans (I still have dried)
* Tinned 4 bean mix (suppose I can make it myself from the contents of my bean collection...)
* Onions (on the list for when I go fruit and vege shopping tomorrow)

Total spent since June 1: $22.30

Day Six:

Breakfast: Tea. Apricot oat temptations and milk.

Morning Tea: Almond toffee (yum yum yum)

Lunch: From the freezer: Potato, pea and mushroom curry and rice, served with poppadoms and plum "chutney" (actually the last of some plum jam Taph gave me which isn't very sweet so made the switch very well)

Afternoon tea: Wish I could list something terrible healthy and good for me but alas it was more of the toffee...

Dinner: Salad of spinach and pear (from Choku Bai Jo), hazelnuts (discovered in the back of the baking shelf) and the final wedge of blue brie.

Finished today:
* Plum jam (I have plenty more jam in stock)
* Hazelnuts (not replaceable)
* Blue brie (waaaaaaaah!)

Bought today:
I went a little crazy with the fruit and vege shopping but I know this should last me 2 weeks...
* Half dozen eggs: $2.50
* Leeks, mushrooms, red pepper, onions, zucchini, broccoli, Lebanese cucumber, spinach, salad mix: $18.23
* Coriander: $1.50
* Granny smith apples, fuji apples, mandarins, a pear: $6.65

Total spent since June 1: $51.18

Fiscal Fast Day Four: with a huge pile on the floor

Are you sick of pictures of food yet? If so here's a picture of the most exciting thing going on 'round here:which is the contents of four large cartons of damaged Lundby stock that I'll be listing in my eBay store over the next few days.

So let's talk about food, shall we?

Breakfast: Tea. Toasted crumpets and strawberry jam, vanilla yoghurt.

Morning Tea: Hummus and rice crackers

Lunch: Basmati rice, peas and the last of the corn (all from the freezer), heated with a small tin of sweet chili tuna. 2 biscuits from the work kitchen stash.

Afternoon tea: 2 fruit finger biscuits

Dinner: Baked salmon cake on a bed of sesame udon noodles on top of (the final dregs of the) spinach and red pepper.This was one of the moments when I realised creativity in cooking can provide delicious results which should be remembered for future meals...

Finished today:
* Frozen corn (not replaceable)
* Sweet chili tuna (ditto)
* Baby spinach (possibly replaceable depending what's in stock)
* Red pepper (also a possible)

Bought today:
* Cat biscuits: $3.30

Total spent since June 1: $22.30

Fiscal Fast Day Three: Where nothing exciting happens except I discover another roll of paper towels in the back of the top cupboard...

Breakfast: Cup of tea, Apple & sultana oat temptation and milk

Morning Tea: Cheese and crackers

Lunch: Toasted leftover olive bread from Friday night topped with homemade hummus and cherry tomatoes Afternoon tea: Strawberry yoghurt, almonds

Dinner: (The last of the) mushrooms in a sour cream and parsley sauce (both leftovers from Friday night) on top of fettuccine.

Finished today:
*Mushrooms

Bought today:
* 1 jar of tahini: $8.00
* 1 litre organic milk: $2.50
* 1 bottle olive oil: $8.50

Total spent since June 1: $19.00

Fiscal Fast Day Two: Taco Shells and tears

Breakfast: Tea (with soy milk), toasted crumpets with ginger marmalade, blueberry yoghurt.

Morning Tea: 2 fruit finger biscuits, peach fruit snack pack.

Lunch: Nachos (sans frozen corn but plus sour cream of my own making when I realised just how much fresh cream I had left over from Friday's dinner and how little I cooked with it. Add lemon juice and vinegar and voila! Sour Cream!)

Afternoon tea: Rice crackers and salsa

Dinner: French toast made with leftover french bread from Friday, soaked in egg, homemade sour cream and chopped parsley. Sir Nibbs found it most agreeable and I had to fight for my fair share...

Finished today:
* Paper towels. From a stash bought at least 2 years ago. They won't be replaced.

Total spent since June 1: $0.00

I finished reading the Sophie Kinsella I got over a year ago. I cried. I guess there's stuff from 2005 that I thought I had sorted that maybe I haven't yet. I mean crying? Over a Sophie Kinsella??!!

Fiscal Fast: The rules

I realised I have my rules for my Fiscal Fast scattered across three posts (and two months) from last year so it makes sense to pull them all together into one place.

Please note: these are the rules (guidelines?) I feel comfortable with. If you fancy playing along you can use these or make up a set of your own that you feel comfortable with...

During the duration of the Fiscal Fast I can only spend money on the following:

1. Essential groceries. This means nothing pre-prepared (eg: packets of biscuits, tinned beans, flavoured yoghurt in dinky containers, bags of salad leaves). Where possibly these groceries will be locally produced and organic (do I need to mention fruit and vegetables will be in season?). Buying them from local shops, not the supermarket, is encouraged.

2. Utility bills that come due: electricity, gas, phone, insurance, internet etc.

3. Claimable stuff for work (and petrol to get me there and back in the case of job number two.)

4. I am allowed one "Get out of jail free" card (the Fiscal Fast's equivalent of The Compact's Jubilee Day) which will probably be used when Princess B and her sister visit.

In terms of entertaining, it is permissible for me to cook dinner for friends and have them bring wine, nibbles or dessert as this is what usually happens when I have a dinner party. Not permissible is expecting friends (or strangers!) to pay for my dinner, tickets to things or buy me chocolate or wine just because I've decided to do this challenge.

Fiscal Fast 2008 Day One: The Jane Austen TV Club

What a fabulous day I had yesterday! I spent the morning pottering and putting my world to rights (read general cleaning, tidying, new-season-wardrobe-shuffling, ironing and accounts accounts accounts)

Taph popped in mid afternoon for a cup of tea and to pick up the goodies I'd amassed for her on my trip. In return she donated the Whitlams CD she bought a paper to get (aren't friends wonderful? She initially was just showing it to me and I was about to head across to the Newsagents for my own before realising I wasn't allowed to. So she took pity on me and declared she could always spend another $1.80 and get another for herself...) After tea we went clothes shopping for her. Retail! In a Mall! Where the clothes smelt funny and it was weird that there were 6 of the same thing...

In the evening S the Sock Queen (and very pretty it is too) had invited us over to watch Emma, the first of ABC's Jane Austen month. J&M had arranged to pick me up - but when they arrived it was staggering under the weight of a TV! M has been wanting a new big whizbang TV for almost 2 years and they finally bought it yesterday. And donated their 4 year old flat screen (and digital top box!) to me to replace my 9 year old TV. What excitement! How lucky am I?! Aren't friends wonderful!

Dinner was brilliant, and to finish a day of fab gifts, S the Sock Queen gave me a copy of the Max Dupain on Assignment book to add to my collection.

As you can tell, Day One of the 2008 Fiscal Fast was pretty painless:

Breakfast: Cup of tea, peanut butter on rye toast, vanilla yoghurt

Morning tea: 2 x fruit finger biscuits

Lunch: I was planning to make a Salad Nicoise with some lettuce I had left over from Friday's dinner party but it had frozen. So plan B had to spring into action: my standard couscous salad

Afternoon tea: Leftover rice crackers from Friday night, cheese and olives

Dinner (out): Wine. Blue brie, crackers, pesto dip, carrot and red pepper sticks. Potato cakes, broccoli and mushrooms, kidney beans. Clafouti and cream. Roses chocolates and tea.

Finished today:
* Salad leaves. Not so much finished as frozen!
* Milk. No problem as it's allowable under my fiscal fast rules - I'm just too lazy to go buy some. Instead I opened the soy milk for Taph and am frugally using it up before I buy cow milk.

Total spent since June 1: $0.00

May round up and plans for June

May was mad! Insanely busy, but good busy (luckily...)

I managed to read four books from my Modernism pile. I'm pretty happy but have rather a lot of books on the subject still to read (especially as I topped up the pile in Melbourne. Whoops!)

I made it to Atonement, Elizabeth: the Golden Age and The Jane Austen Book Club at ANU Film Group. Alas I didn't make it to the double feature of Control and 24 Hour Party People (too tired on the night) so my cost per view so far this year is $5.45.

I'm looking forward to some serious downtime this month. Luckily I've decided that June is Fiscal Fast month which will curtail reckless gallivanting somewhat. Feel like joining me (or perhaps for the slightly less intense Cook From The Cupboard challenge which I've swiped from Taph)?

June is also (finally!) the beginning of my Canberra Theatre subscription season. I'll be seeing Shorter and Sweeter ("a tasting box of some of the best new 10 minute plays from the highly successful Short + Sweet festivals.") and Bangarra Dance Theatre's Mathinna.

Add to that ANU Film Group's The Other Boleyn Girl, Romulus my Father and The Home Song Stories, I doubt I'll miss paying for entertainment.

Reading-wise my theme is junk. I have a pile of chick lit books that, if I read, I can then sell. So June will hopefully be full of this, this (finally!), this and maybe some of this.

And, of course there'll be bag making and knitting and crafting.

The collywobbles

I often joke that I'm a gregarious recluse.

It's nicer than saying "sometimes I'm like Oscar the Grouch" (which may make people think I like singing "I love trash" rather than wanting to close the trash can lid over my head for a while and shut out the world.)

But the time has come (the walrus said) for a weekend off. A weekend to (maybe) stay in bed and do nothing . Or (possibly) do some cleaning and sorting. And accounts. Always accounts in this house, especially when the end of the month falls on a weekend. A weekend where I plan to ban myself from the computer. As they say "I'll be back..."

A little somefink...

... I wish: That I'd had time to go to this today:

1:00pm – 2:00pm F!NK Fostering Design, "curated by Merryn Gates, is an exhibition featuring products in the F!NK range designed by Robert Foster, maker designer and craftsman, and the many talented designers he has worked with under the F!NK brand. Robert will revisit his twenty one years of practice and the collaborations undertaken with F!NK.

The opening's tonight and I was planning to go to that at least but perhaps it's better if I stay home and start preparing for tomorrow night's dinner for 10 (gulp!)

... I'm working on is this new project:
It's a little hush hush as it's a present but I'm loving the Jo Sharp Silkroad Tweed (a joy to knit.) And I'm also loving how it goes with the library book I'm speed reading before it's due back on Monday

... I discovered today: the dates for Sydney Design this year. (They still have 2007's calendar up on this link...) August 8- 24th, in case you're interested. There's an excellent sounding Symposium on the 8th called Modern Times that I'm hoping to get to plus I'm assuming the fabulous Krispin K will be back

... I realised is that I now officially have a collection of this pyrex pattern:I bought the set of 6 ramekins for $3 at Camberwell Markets on Sunday. Not realising they matched my bowl. It's a good thing I don't know the official name of the pattern - it stops me being tempted to go searching on eBay for some more.

... I'm looking forward to is a very quiet weekend after two weekends in a row of excitement.

The L word, or how an eight hour drive managed to stretch to almost twelve

Monday morning Miss Daisy and I left Melbourne bright and early for the trip home. There was counting on fingers (mine, as Miss Daisy has none): if I leave Kerry's house at 8am, I should be home by... mutter, mutter, count count... 4pm. With an hour for stops that would be 5pm.

Getting out of Melbourne was heaps easier than finding my way in (where it took over an hour to cross 5 pages of my 2003 Melways) and soon enough we'd left the city behind and were flying up the freeway.

We made it safely past the turn off to Bendigo, tempting as it was to make the diversion, visit Bendigo Woollen Mills and simply stay overnight somewhere and drive home like the clappers before work Tuesday. But I had stern words to myself along the lines of "do you actually NEED any more wool?" and we continued up the Hume.

First stop was Wangaratta where we visited Uniting Church and RSPCA op shops and spent way longer than planned chatting to the lovely op shop ladies we discovered there before heading into town for lunch and to check the Salvos again. An hour and a half later, we were on the road again.

It was OK. I should be home by... mutter, mutter, count count... 5:30pm. Only half an hour later than planned.

Drive drive drive.

Quick stop in Albury. Didn't make it to Vinnies last week so will stop for 5 minutes to check it out (not really worth it). Back in the car and out onto the highway.

Then I saw the turnoff for Lavington. Remembered that there was a Vinnies there too (and quite a good one, according to Taph). Quick calculation in my head: if I stop I should be home by... mutter, mutter, count count... 6pm. Still a decent hour. And so we pulled off the highway.

My frugalling nose found Salvos first. It was a nice big old style Salvos and my only complaint was they had their knitting needles in the crafting corner but the patterns with the books. I bought a couple of things including my best find:
which cost a whopping 50 cents!

The lovely op shop lady at Salvos told me how to get to Vinnies round the corner but forgot to tell me about the other op shop 5 doors up the road. It was very small and not worth a visit unless you're in the area for Vinnies and Salvos but I did find a couple of vintage Patons patterns for Taph at 20 cents each so was happy.

Vinnies was huge. And good. I knew I'd be a while when I spotted this vision on the top shelf:

And I was. But once again, was perplexed by the way they had knitting needles in with tableware, the wool in the next room with craft stuff and the patterns once again in with the books. Maybe it's an Albury thing...

We finally made it back on the highway at 3:30pm. Not to worry. I should be home by... mutter, mutter, count count... 7:00pm. Getting late but still OK.

Holbrook. Lovely place. Somehow Miss Daisy stopped outside Lady Gail's Bookshop and Curios without me really noticing what she was up to. There were a number of boxes of books on chairs at the side of the road and as I approached I noticed the big FREE sign on them. So this pile was into the car lickety split and will, at some stage, turn into crafty projects:Inside was an Aladdin's cave of booky and vintage treasure. I had the oddest experience, though, as I pulled out a book from the shelf and Lady Gail (that may not be her name but for the sake of this story it's kind of irrelevant) told me that although it was marked $1 it was actually free as she wanted to give it to someone who was prepared to pay for it. Sort of like a test that you really wanted it and weren't just taking it because it was free.

I wasn't sure I followed her logic but didn't argue. I managed twice to pick up a freebie book and also found some knitting needles for my collection and a handful of thread on wooden spools for $1 each.

I finally pulled myself away just before 5pm, filled Miss Daisy up with petrol and we were on the road again. I should be home by... mutter, mutter, count count... Oh who cares when you're having so much fun?!

Sewing and knitting and boys in blonde wigs (Eurovision 2008)

There was sewing in the postcard for Latvia's entry...
and knitting during Bosnia and Herzegovina's entry:

And that's about all I can say about this year's Eurovision, except that there were blonde wigs on boys in Melbourne...And all up I found it terribly terribly dull...

Even worse is the nasty rumour that Terry Wogan may be quitting commentary for Eurovision. What is the world coming to?!

Back (but buggered)

You know the deal - a 12 hour drive (yes, it should have been 8 but I kept hearing the siren call of various op shops and such from the highway), arrived home, unpacked the car (in the rain. Brilliant timing, thanks nature!), sorted out the (very smelly) dirt box and the (not smelly at all) pile of mail and collapsed into bed.

I'm working today so the pile of treasure in the middle of the lounge floor will have to stay there, the suitcase remain packed (and not washed) and the kazillion photos on my CF card will remain unloaded for a while longer.

In the meantime, for your entertainment, check out the brilliant op shop Taph discovered in Jindabyne this weekend!

Eurovision semi final

Hurrah! Iceland's through to the final. I've finished knitting the Daisy Hoodie. One bottle of red bubbles is empty.I'm happy.

Kerry's rooting for Latvia (Adam Ant eat your heart out!):

We can't wait for tomorrow night. But to fill the time there's another bottle of red bubbles to drink and Abba: The Movie to watch...