3 dinosaurs and a laptop

Stegosaurus likes to stop and smell the flowers.

Tyrannosaurus has a soft spot for ice creams.

Protoceratops is afraid of mice.

...I thought they needed a little humouring.

Stencils are from this book- a crafty gift from Grandma.

More about Pebeo pens here

A good stencil bush like this is recommended to prevent bleeding under the stencil.

Cheap laptop for sale... anyone interested?

olives

For the past few years we've been bringing a little bit of the Italian livelihood into our home, by making a regular thing of picking and preserving our olives.

When they start dropping from the tree and the birds begin picking at them, we know it's time to get the ladder and some buckets and get down to business.

I'm not sure of the variety we have (they certainly aren't fat Kalamata size but they are definitely tasty.) It took about 5 years for the trees to fruit enough before we payed them any attention.

We tend not to pick the ones that haven't ripened into a deep aubergine purple for fear of them being too bitter. But it says here that you can pick the green ones too.

The fattest ones are (as one would expect) always on the most northern side of the tree.

Friends of ours also have a big olive tree at the back of their lovely villa cafe. So, like the good gleaners we are, we collected a few from theirs to add the the mix.

Baskets seem to make gleaning and foraging that much prettier don't you think?

To brine your own olives...

Soak them in tap water for four days, changing the water every day.

To get the brine just right, place an egg in a bucket of water and slowly add salt until the egg floats to the surface (about 150 gms per litre). Place the olives and brine in a jar and preserve for three months. Rinse before serving.

I also like to add some garlic cloves and a few olive leaves into the jars before preserving... for a bit of decoration.

...don't however, do what I did one year and put them in agee jars using rusted screw bands. The brine will make the seals rust onto the screw bands and no amount of effort will prize them apart...doh. Ordinary recycled jars will work fine. I have had mine in the pantry for a year or more and they are still perfectly edible. Keep them refrigerated once opened.

I cannot emphasize enough how easy and worthwhile it is to try this yourself.

We are still eating our way through last years lot (below) although dreams of escaping to Tuscany are far from being put to rest!

Now... if I could just get together another dozen or so jars...all donations will rewarded with olives!

ironing boards made beautiful

The kids think I have gone mad.

I have just spent the last ten minutes photographing my ironing boards.

But this is the weird part... until yesterday I didn't even own an ironing board.

Then out of the blue, I bequeathed two.

One was dropped off by a caring friend (and a perfectionist sewer, who probably could no longer bear to hear of my making do on the kitchen bench with a bath towel)

The other, I spied on the side of the road like a stray animal.

I thought they could be friends.

But both were a tad tawdry, so I bought one new white stoppers for its feet and hacked up an old wool blanket and made new padding for both and then went all-out, and in the space of two hours sewed up two pretty new cover for them both.

One of the prints is an Amy Butler and other an old bed sheet.

The iron looks pretty happy about it and the boards look positively energized.

I found some good tutorials here, here and here.

I just noticed the iron is called "vogue" It always cracks me up when they try to brand domestic appliances by making them sound slightly alluring and sexy. It's being borrowed from my mother in law while she's away on holiday, in the hope that the iron I own (which recently fizzed sparks and smoke from it's frayed cord) can be re-wired by a certain clever man.

I also realized that it's made with Teflon which pretty much is banned around here... not that I'm going to be eating off it, but isn't there a risk of it over heating and releasing carcinogens? Anyway I prefer to err on the side of caution, except I very much doubt one can even buy an iron that isn't coated in the stuff.

...and while we're on that note, can't they make them look cool? like funky wee animals... they do have that giant mouse look to them.. have they done that yet with a computer mouse?...given them little felt ears?

The kids must be right, except they too must be going mad because they keep asking me when they can go surfing... with my new ironing boards.

I just might be mad enough to let them.

awaiting inspiration

I happened across this beautiful voile at global the other day. Half price!

Also fortuitously some cotton cord in a complementory magenta/shocking pink tone.

Just enough to make a loose summer blouse for the wee lady, with a drawstring in a cowl neck or something...Hhmmm... off to the drawing board.

It does seem rather Kandinsky inspired.

The flowers are from my Mum, who works part time in a plant nursery. I am the lucky recipent of the odd bouquet of rejected blooms, which I noticed perfectly echo the colours of the fabric.

70's simplicity

This pattern was published by Simplicity the same year I was born.

I pulled it down from my stack of cut outs ready in waiting, and made it up in this delightful (also 70's) fabric from that (SSsshhh, it's a secret) junkshop ...in Mayfield.

I had a spot of difficulty sewing the pointed yolk to the dress front. It was very fiddly, but I threw caution to the wind, put my foot down on the peddle and went for it (top stitching away the unevenness as much as possible). I reckon that back in the day, it wouldn't have been considered very clever to 'wing it,' and precision, knowledge and technique were of the up most importance. I guess back then, we had a few tricks up our sewing sleeves, so to speak, and were generally more experienced sewers and the patterns of the day seem to reflect this.

The bow at the back lends a lovely party dress look.

She keeps talking to the dog on the front...

and is mesmerized by the graphics of pigs and bikes, flowers and little hobo folk.

I think I picked this pattern up from an op shop for about 50 cents.

Yay for cheap successes, even if you do have to 'wing it' on the odd occasion.

favourite things #2

I am an op shop whore to the core, and an eco consciousness lass too, but I still have the tendency to go weak in the knees for things of exquisite hand crafted beauty, usually procured at considerable expense.

So, in appreciation for hand crafted finery, made to the highest quality and standards...

here are a few acquisitions that are making my heart sing...

Paton's delicious crepe wool. $7 a ball.

Long lasting quality, smooth finish and less likely to pill than ordinary 4 ply.

Knits like butter on a pair of steel needles.

Why would I ever knit with anything else again?

Shown here in a deep slate grey/ liquorice. A spring Cardigan for the wee lass.

Issac Ibbotson earrings. Sterling silver forged and beaten to perfection. A birthday gift from my man. Available here. I am an earring addict and since the arrival of this pair, several months ago, all my other pairs have been relegated to the back of my drawer.

I have several pieces made by Issac. They are contemporary takes on timeless classics.

His swamp Kauri rings are quite something to behold.

Deep mahogany brown oiled biker boots.

Handmade in Italy by these folk.

The anatomy of this boot is exceptional. Balanced yet edgy. Modern straps fastened with stainless studs and slightly Victorianesque with the curved edge detail on the toe cap. They are my new ten year pair of boots (that's how long my last pair lasted me) and I'm planning on getting at least that out of these gorgeous puppies.

An expedited lay-by from here.

Much could be said about attempts to reverse the trend of cheap, toxic and badly designed and disposable purchases, and efforts to support businesses whose ethos is built on sustainability. But, there is never any moral high ground on such matters and so I try to simplify the dilemma by sticking to these rules...

Never buy on impulse. Question the need. Consider longevity. Where possible it ought to be maintainable and repairable. Function before form (but only just!) Buy once and buy right (within your means).

After all, there is nothing quite like the smell of a long loved piece of leather and the characteristics of metal worn smooth over time. Patinas that develop given the chance. A measured materialism, with an heirloom approach.

What are your favourite things?

school hols- a retrospective

The school holidays finished two days ago and once again (perhaps thankfully) there is the reinstated and familiar routine of early wake up, drop off, regimented nap times, kindy, pick ups etc

But I do love the school holidays. I really miss the big boy (who has been at school for nearly a year now). Though, I'm not particularly good at organizing myself during the holidays, and more often than not, I am prompted by other mum's ideas of ideal outings and get togethers.

I'm not sure I have the stamina for full time events coordinating and the intensification of 'doing' a million and one things and paying through the nose for it all. They make their own fun most of the time, so I can continue having mine! (that's not technically neglect is it?)

We did host play dates and we were guests at others. We made huts and ice blocks and went for a ride on the tram. We train spotted, and there was a session of kiddy yoga too.

But mostly breakfasts dragged out into lunch times and lunches into another round of snacks. Boredom came in the form of cuddling and reading on the couch, for hours, like blobby lounge lizards.

The days all rolled into one ...and the play dough into the carpet.

I took 3 boys to the movies to see Toy Story 3 (tho prey tell why must we be subjected to half an hour of unsolicited crappy trailers before the movie has even begun? They didn't even seem age appropriate. And we ran to get there in record time, trying not to be late, and had one kid fall over and eat concrete in the rush ...in time for said crappy trailers) It was schmaltzy and cliche but its pixar and it is good.

We had a vomit bug... eeeerr... yellow bile. Enough said.

The highlight of the holidays had to be visiting the local lock shop and seeing the vaults, safes, electric key pads and trying our hand (and ears) on the manual combination dials. There were also photos of safes after burglars had tried unsuccessfully to break into them with blow torches etc ...the boys were fascinated to no end.

Obviously there is always a lot of craft. Boxes strewn everywhere and sellotape galore. A house decked out like a mid winter christmas tree.

After watching Mary Poppins (we must be nearing the 100 mark) we thought of the hungry birds outside "tuppence for the birds" so we made birdie biscuit treats.

Chop stick perches poked in take away coffee cups,

match sticks tied with string to hold the mixture in muffin cups once it sets,

the unbearable smell of animal fat wafting through the house for too long afterwards.

The strategic positioning of treats within birds reach in the familiar old pear tree down the back of yard.

And the medals we made and awarded ourselves, for being funny people and tolerating each other, and for living in each others pockets as best we can, in a small house that by the end of the holidays began to feel as if it was closing in on us all.

Mine is the mother hen one, of course.