floating world

right now

I haven't done a meme for ages, and the lovely Miss Lulu tagged me for this one:

Outside my window… the sun is shining and it's a gorgeous day - sunny but not too hot.

I am thinking… that I should get on with work. That I should make another batch of jam. That I can't believe there is so little time left until Christmas and the end of the year. That Mark is the hardest person in the whole world to buy Christmas and birthday presents for.

I am thankful for… my family. That Ali is growing up healthy and strong. Our little house. My friends. Technology that makes the world so much smaller, keeping me in touch with friends and bringing so much information straight to me.

From the kitchen… there is the lingering scent of the apricot jam I made yesterday. I'm going to eat some with homemade yogurt for morning tea.

I am wearing… my working-at-home uniform - a short denim skirt, black havianas, a favourite old APC t-shirt, dangly earrings.

I am creating…. For me: a striped cotton dress and cushions for my bed. And a curtain for our room to replace the sheet that is currently clipped up to the curtain rod. For Christmas: jam, cards, gift tags and oven mitts. And hopefully some stockings too. For work: Christmas cards and packaging labels. And I hope that I am creating a happy little family, and the beginning of Christmas memories and traditions for my son.

I am going… to head out for a walk soon, and have a coffee at the bookstore around the corner to clear my head. I get distracted if I try to work at home all day. And then back here to do some more work. And then to pick up the little one.

I am reading… The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp. Lots of great ideas & inspiration. Discipline Without Distress, to try and work out how to best handle my feisty little toddler. And I have a stack of new books on the way from Amazon.

I am hoping…  that Ali is having a good morning at daycare. That Qantas has found my brother in law's suitcase with my Amazon books in it (and all his clothes). That the economic crisis / recession / end of capitalism isn't as bad as the worst reports suggest. That the caterpillars stop eating my tomatoes. That I have time to do some sewing this afternoon or tonight.

I am hearing…  drilling and banging from the new block of units being built in Camperdown. Closer there are birds. And the occasional plane.

Around the house… there is a big jug of yellow kangaroo paw on the dresser, knitting by the sofa and a new valance on my bed. And a sleepy kitten curled up on the desk behind my laptop.

One of my favourite things… is when Ali first wakes up in the morning and we bring him into bed with us for a few minutes of cuddling before he demands his Weetbix. The feeling of pudgy baby hands squeezing my arm.

A few plans for the rest of the week… I'm working the next two days, but hopefully will be able to squeeze in some time for sewing. And I'm looking forward to some time playing with Ali and hanging out with Charles. It's Mark's birthday on Friday so I'm going to make him a lemon cake. If it's nice weather on Friday I might take Ali to the beach at Nielsen Park, and then head to the local Playgroup. And on Saturday we're heading up to the Hunter Valley for a school friend's wedding.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing… (some things that are making me happy right now) 

I am no good at tagging people, but I would love to read other people's answers so if you feel like playing along please leave me a note in the comments.

x

more of the same

It's almost a year since I adapted the Built by Wendy 3835 top pattern (View C) to make a little beach dress for my sister, and I finally got around to making one for myself.

The fabric is perfect - it's a gauzy remnant from Publisher Textiles, and so soft and comfortable. I had originally planned to make a more fitted shirt from it, but then I couldn't bear to cut it up into smaller pieces. I think this simple pattern does the print justice.

Time for the beach!

 

growing things: an update

When I posted about the herbs I was growing back in August, I received lots of great tips on how to grow other things to eat. It really inspired me, and so now one of our balconies has turned into an inner city version of a vegie patch. There are 3 tomato plants, 3 zucchini, tubs of lettuce, spinach, rhubarb and herbs. And yesterday I planted a choko.

So far it is all thriving: we have been eating home-grown lettuce, rocket and herbs for months now, and I was very excited today to see that the alpha zucchini plant has almost-eating-sized fruit on it. Some of the tomatoes are getting pretty big too, although they're still very green. There were a couple of fat green caterpillars eating the tomato leaves last week, so they look a bit manky, but they stayed away from most of the fruit.

I don't think we've saved any money, with having to buy pots and dirt etc, but it is very, very satisfying to watch things grow and to be able to pick things moments before you eat them.

some cards

I got the gocco out yesterday and made these birthday cards, something I've been meaning to do for ages. Next up: Christmas cards and gift tags, but first I need to buy more paper.

still here

I'm still here. There are lots of things I want to show you but the camera card is full. When I went to the supermarket the other day I picked up a box of 10 CDs for $8, which I thought was quite reasonable, but it turned out that they were $8 each, and hence $80 for the box. Not impressed, and needless to say they remained at the check out. And I haven't got around to buying more since, so the camera is still full and I have a pathological inability to delete things from the camera card until they are safely on CD, regardless of whether or not they are also on the computer.

There has been some sewing, finally, and lots of gardening, and a new light shade and a big bunch of kangaroo paw, and other photogenic moments that have passed unphotographed.

But, in the meantime here are some links.

If you are in Sydney, go see Yinka Shonibare at the MCA. Fabulous, fabulous colours and fabrics and shapes.
I love Abby's photos. If the $A wasn't so poxy right now I would buy them all.
Lisa S has gorgeous prints too.
I really love these cards. Aren't the colour combinations great?

Hope everyone is well xx

speigeltent

On Sunday night Mark and I had our first night away from Ali since he was born. He stayed with my parents, and we went to see Dave McCormack at the Spiegeltent which is currently parked on the Opera House forecourt. The weather was perfect, so we arrived in time to have a glass of champagne at Opera Bar, and to watch the city buildings and the bridge light up. It was lovely to sit and chat, and to be able to finish an entire sentence without charging off to intervene in kamikaze toddler antics.

The show was great - and I loved the Spiegeltent. It is such a contrast to the vast concrete-ness of the forecourt: small, cosy and elaborately decorated inside. The tent was as much a part of the experience as the band (or maybe more). And the music was fabulous too. I left feeling uplifted and energised and full of ideas.

And Ali came home in excellent spirits after lots of new things to investigate and lots of attention from his aunt, uncles and grandparents.

[Photo pillaged from the Opera House website]

magnolia

I've been waiting for this magnolia blossom to open. It finally unfolded on Monday, which was a baking hot day, and so it got a little toasted around the edges, poor thing. It's still beautiful though, and is helping me stay serene as the builder chips away at our render and digs up the bathroom (again).

Right now I am eating Hedgehog Slice, and it is delicious. It was one of those serendipidous cooking things, where I felt like something sweet, saw this recipe and realised that I had all the ingredients in the cupboard and could make it in 10 minutes. Yum. I am a big fan of instant gratification cooking, so will definitely be making this one again.

more melbourne

Melbourne was so much fun.

Mark and I aren't big  sightsee-ers. Our approach to city breaks was honed when we lived in London and took cheap flights to Europe for the weekend as much as possible. We had to get up horrendously early to get to Stanstead airport, and so by the time we arrived in Strasbourg or Lyon or Lille or Venice we were still slightly sleep deprived and shell shocked, which is not conducive to museums and galleries. So we tend to potter instead. We drink coffee, walk around, buy bread and ham and have picnics in parks, people watch and stop for cake. Fortunately this style of travelling is very compatible with travelling with a baby and also with Melbourne, so we had a great time. There are lots of "must-do" Melbourne things that we didn't do, but there is always next time.

(this photo is of "Welcome to Cocker Alley" by artists Bianca Faye and Tim Spicer
More info here.

What we did do was:

• explore the inner city lanes and alleys - Hosier and Degraves and Centre and Flinders etc and the pretty old arcades
• buy gourmet provisions and nice beer at the Victoria Market, and then have a picnic in the park
• drink lots of good coffee at Degraves Espresso and Journal
• meet up with friends from Tokyo who are now in Melbourne. We took Ali out for dinner with us a couple of times, way past his bedtime, and he was a total star
• I got to have morning tea with the lovely Sooz and Wil. I've read her blog for years, since I was in Tokyo and she was in Thailand, so it was great to meet her.
• walk through the Botanical Gardens

• go up Eureka Tower to see the view (well, you have to do some touristy stuff, right?) Ali was most impressed with the LED displays in the floor.
• visit the Yarra Valley, to taste wine and eat delicious food at Giant Steps and Train Trak. It is so pretty out there.
• go out for breakfast at Lawson Grove Shop and Harvey's (I love breakfast out. Such a treat)
• eat dumplings and barbeque pork on Toorak Rd
• go to the photo booth near Chapel St for a family portrait
• visit Sticky and buy lots of zines. Such a cool place!
• catch trams. The city circle tram was awesome, we got a really old wooden one and Ali loved it.
• eat Italian food on Lygon Street
• buy chocolate frogs at Haighs
• explore the beautiful Nicholas Building

I hardly did any shopping, apart from a stripey t-shirt at Kinki Gerlinki and the zines and chocolate frogs, and I didn't even make it to Amitie. But we just ran out of time, and it's hard to feel like shopping anyway with all the talk of economic doom and gloom.

Hopefully it won't be too long before we can visit again - we're already planning what to do next time.