pass the slipped stitch over

saturday snippets

2012-01-28T18:23:00.000+11:00

Here's a fun Saturday snippet which my son sent me. He and one of his brothers love very hot mustards, chillies, sauces and so on. He said this one was so-so, possibly because how can it be hot English mustard if made in France?

I've had a couple of days recovering after having Miss M, 11, here for some time. We filled in our time well. Powerhouse Museum, Maritime, Australian Museum. We saw Tintin in 3D and ended the time with a family birthday party at favourite pizzeria near here for her uncle who had a significant birthday.

However, it was tiring. After almost six hours at the Powerhouse, a favourite place of hers, she asked if she could go home as her feet were killing her. Mine were killing me too, only a good three hours before hers. She checked out all the new things she hadn't seen and then visited her favourites several times over. We took lunch and just as well. She made ham and salad bread rolls. Fruit and water. However for morning tea, I bought myself a small bottle of Schweppes drink and a very ho-hum supposedly date and ginger biscuit. It wasn't very nice and the two together cost $7.50!

At the Australian Museum, she happily toured the exhibits taking a long video on her iPod. I bought a bath toy at the shop there for her brother. It was a small whale which swished its tail, gyrated and dived. Yesterday his dad rang to say he'd been instructed to tell me this was his ONLY bath toy now. In fact, he'd been dragged from the bath to eat his dinner. He's a good eater so it all went quickly and he went back to the bath for more play. I hit the jackpot with that toy.

Tintin was a bit of fun. It was not a film of any one story but a film in the manner of Tintin. The rolling 3D waves churned my stomach. The 3D was much better than the only other 3D film I had seen, Avatar, which didn't impress me on many levels.

That evening was the birthday party. It was also a time of tremendous rain. Son from Central Coast took two hours to get here instead of just over an hour. Son from the western suburbs took an hour to cover what normally takes about twenty minutes. I was dreading the start as those two DILs can be a bit touchy. I almost suggested some deep breathing, but things turned out well. He's now in Perth with his wife as a birthday event for the significant number. They found some very cheap fares, well cheap in comparison to what it normally costs to get to Perth, and have gone for the weekend. Back on the red-eye flight arriving early in the morning here, Monday I think. And on to work.

still ahead

2012-01-21T11:11:00.001+11:00

The just thirteen year old eldest grandchild decided to see how far he could push me through the week. I've been doing a lot of minding them. My son who was bashed is finally back at work full time. Because he had so much time off, even justifiably, he had a lot to catch up so didn't take holidays over Christmas apart from the public holidays. He's a manager for a not-for-profit company specialising in finding employment for those with severe disabilities. DIL took a week off but she works for a fairly inflexible company and couldn't get more time off, even without pay. So the family has been stepping in, me in particular. Here he is at a birthday party for mum when he was thirteen months old. Now thirteen years old and feeling very independent.

"I promise I'll do it later, Grandma," he said. I've seen what happens there before. "Yes, I really, really will."

I felt up my sleeve. Yes, there were some cards still up there. He forgets I had three boys, all of whom were thirteen at some stage and all of whom seem to have survived. "Andrew, you wouldn't perhaps be arguing with me, would you?"

Visions of his iPod or his new adult sized expensive bike being removed for a few days floated through his mind. "I'm very sorry, I apologise." He wasn't happy, but he did apologise and did as I had asked so I said no more.

It's been tiring and I'm glad there's just one full week left. His school goes back on the Monday and his susters' on the Wednesday.

Tomorrow I collect his cousin who is eleven. She'll be here most of the week. I don't anticipate problems with that.

It has meant I'm tired when I get home so I haven't been on the computer much at all. Nor have I done much, although a sock has been faithfully accompanying me out there and back. It has hardly left my bag.

saturday snippets (sort of)

2012-01-15T13:50:00.001+11:00

Yesterday seemed to disappear and along came three grandchildren needing minding. When I arrived home, all I wanted was bed. It was late last night and the rain was bucketing down outside. I fell into bed about 11:15 pm and slept in this morning. Squabbling children, a screaming tantrum thrower and a yappy puppy do that.

So Saturday snippets have turned into Sunday lunch. I decided to do an eat from the pantry, a bit like knit from the stash. I can order organic eggs with my fruit and vegetable order and had about ten left. I like eggs, but I don't think about them much and they have to be cooked just right for me. That means either mixed or with very firm yolks and well cooked whites. Runny yolks I just can't cope with and the smell and feel of the whites churns my stomach. There was some fairly substantial white bread left in the freezer which tasted OK, especially for white bread. So out that came. Big thick slices of some reasonable brand.

So what would it be. French toast, something that was one of my dad's specialties when I was young. Not sweet though, savoury with lots of pepper and salt. When I first was served sweet French toast complete with maple syrup, I didn't know what had happened with my cafe order. Thought a mistake had been made.

The top picture shows three fairly fresh eggs. I've had them possibly three weeks and they are still far fresher than supermarket eggs. You can see the white is still almost jelly around the yolk. I whisked them up with a fork and had trouble whisking the egg white as it was very thick and firm. I added some good freshly ground pepper and a bit of salt and some milk till the mix looked right.

I cut the bread slices in two and put them to soak.

In my good heavy pan I melted some butter and put the soaked bread in. When it was nice and brown I turned it carefully. It's easy to break, but these slices were solid and turned well.

I had to add a little more butter for the last piece of bread but they cooked well. I really like the eggs I get and will always buy organic over ordinary produce. I'm not a fanatical greeny person, but in most cases I prefer the taste and there's definitely a difference between organic and non-organic. I suppose if I had a large young family I might have to reconsider because of cost, but the decision is easy for me now. I buy organic milk and butter, chicken and beef if at all possible. Chemicals etc are also best avoided. Organic vegetables too when I can get them at places like farmers' markets.

So here's the lunch plate. Two slices of bread and some vegetables. There would have been some healthy rocket s well but when I pulled the packet from the fridge, it felt very squishy. It was disgusting and smelt like silage, which I can assure you is very green, very rank and putrid. Lots of good food especially in a drought for cattle but definitely not for my lunch plate.

Two nectarines finished my lunch which was very enjoyable and substantial. Sorry about the shadow, it's not my head, I think it's the edge of the lens. I've seen questions about it on photography forums but no solutions.

I'm psyching myself up to get back to the Transatlantic Shawl by Stephen West. I put it down about three months ago and haven't touched it since. Just sort of lost interest. However, I've seen some photos in other blogs of it and am beginning to regain my enthusiasm. It's not at all difficult and looks good, I just haven't done it. Mine is in a creamy white and a soft grey-green.

afternoon tea and crochet

2012-01-11T18:58:00.001+11:00

At afternoon tea time, I have been making myself something to drink and taking it and my new crochet book and yarn outside to the balcony where I sit and sip and practise some more. All very genteel. The balcony is shaded by then although it doesn't get a great deal of sun through the day and there's usually a breeze. Just as well, I'm still adjusting to heat after the cold wet start to summer.

All these need blocking. This is called a picot leaf. Not quite right at one end where the picot should form the point at end of leaf.

This next is called a small picot flower which was quite easy. It was shown as a slight spiral in the book. It's curling a bit here much like a stocking stitch scarf.

I decided I'd not rip them back but keep them as a memento of learning new stitches and patterns. That probably means I should darn in the ends. I doubt that will get done.

The last is a small spoked flower. I see I've made a mistake in the set up foundation row. I'll probably try this one again. With a bit of blocking it would indeed be a square. I did crochet a yellow and white pram cover when I was pregnant with first child. Lots of squares joined together with smaller circles. I also made an enormous 8 ply granny square lap rug. Just the one square increasing on each round. By the time I finished it, each round of colour took over one ball of yarn. It was colourful and warm in a holiday house we built in the bush where winters were cold.

Here are three pictures of my grandmother who did such beautiful crochet. Unfortunately the glass is broken on one and the photo itself needs restoring as there has been a fold across it. She was born in 1897 and died in 1975. The first picture shows here at about ten. There's no date on the back. A bit stiff and formal. It's a pity the second one is hard to see. She's sixteen and has a beautiful blouse with lots of fine tucks on it. I can see where my curls come from. She's wearing a lovely silver bracelet I now have. It's hinged and has a safety chain. The top half has a garland of raised flowers and leaves dancing across it.

The last picture shows her at 20 years of age , on her wedding day in 1917.

You can see them a bit larger by clicking but the details are still not really clear.

a touch of yellow

2012-01-10T14:56:00.003+11:00

I got out the big Nikon about an hour ago and too some photos. When i downloaded them I had over thirty photos to download. Usually I keep them up to date. Take, download, edit. I found the photos of the two earlier practice runs on crochet edgings. However, I trashed the photos, must have had one of the settings wrong. I may re-crochet the pieces, maybe not. There are plenty of projects in the book for me to choose from.

It's amusing to see the results of the in-camera editing function. I've used the line drawing outline before but though the palm should be suited to it.

Over at Project 365 I have now reached 70 or 71% of the 365 photos. One a day. Some of mine have been recycled and some have been when I've taken a few at a time and posted them over a few days. However, the majority have been originals, not used before and taken on the day they were posted. It's been a good discipline and I've learnt a lot from actually taking the photos as well as from the comments and forums. Oh, and from the discipline too. Good word that in the sense we use it of discipline and also because it comes from the Latin of teaching. I've certainly experienced both.

There is a theme for each week and other themes occasionally too. The interpretation of the theme is entirely up to the photographer. This week's theme is yellow. Now that's a colour I have not worn much for many years although I can remember some favourite clothes in that colour back when I was at uni. It so happens that I bought a top about ten days ago in a golden yellow colour. I love the top, it's good and long and the sleeves are elbow length. Underwear is a bit problematic as material is sheer although it doesn't look like it at first. and I think I'll need a tank top or similar under it. I love the tucks but hate ironing them. The top was just washed and hung dripping on a hanger this morning. Ironing can wait.

I took this photo about an hour ago and have put it up at Project 365.

Am off to pick another bit to crochet. Something bright and cheerful perhaps like the clothes and colours I seem to be buying now.

a storm of crochet

2012-01-09T14:30:00.002+11:00

I've been fiddling with some of the patterns in the new book of crochet edgings and motifs of one sort or another.

I dug around and found my crochet hooks and pulled out a deeply buried ball of Cleckheaton 5 ply crepe which I've had for years. I chose the crepe because as I finish a motif, I take a photo and then rip it back. The crepe yarn is fairly tightly spun and can take this treatment several times before the yarn becomes unusable.

I have some photos of more edgings but think they must be still on my big camera.

Bear in mind that none of these has been blocked and ends of yarn are there because I rip it out after photo.This top photo is called loop daisy. Now, who would have guessed that name? Blocking or a press would improve this enormously.

This second one is called a large simple flower. Well, of course! This one required that I pay attention and not forget that the pattern is written in American terms. The height of each petal increases and then decreases and I needed to watch what I was doing here.

I need practice in keeping my tension even. I suppose that will come with more practice. I also see now that in lower left corner I must have put hook through the wrong part of the loop and made a hole.

We had several thunderstorms last night from early evening on. The early storm had heavy rain but little in the way of lightning or thunder. Then it rained for a couple of hours and after that we had a deluge, accompanied by constant lightning and very loud thunder for quite a long time.

This last photo was taken about 11:00 pm last night after the rain had stopped, although there was still lightning for several hours and some showers again this morning. I walked through the lounge room and could see the rain water pooling on my balcony and forming drips along the framework of the table and chairs.

This photo was taken as I lay flat on my stomach on the lounge room floor to get the angle I was after. As I said this morning to the friend who encourage me to get the DSLR, "Now look what you've got me doing!" He just laughed.

Flat on the floor and I wondered if I'd be sleeping there! I went to get up, was on one knee and moved the other leg to rise. For about five minutes, every time I moved that leg, a severe cramp grabbed the back of my thigh. It eventually eased and I carefully got up.

Saturday Snippets

2012-01-07T08:54:00.003+11:00

I've decided to try my hand at some Saturday snippets of what ever takes my fancy - photos, jokes, pieces of news. I'm not placing pressure on myself about this, so won't promise every single week.

This photo was taken perhaps ten years ago by my youngest son in Hornsby. I found it in a long forgotten file on my computer recently. Nominative determinism at its best.

thanks, YARN

2012-01-06T10:02:00.002+11:00

In the edition of YARN magazine published before Christmas I had a letter published. All letter writers for that issue were promised a copy of this book.

Now I had totally forgotten all about that. As I went to bus yesterday, I checked my letter box. I haven't done that since deliveries resumed after New Year's day holiday as the lift here is still not operational. Hopefully today. I wasn't expecting anything important, most of my bills are paid by direct debit. Several floors down also means several floors back up! Not worth it to pull unaddressed advertising from my box.

I found a padded envelope from Yarn and put it in my basket, thinking that it didn't seem three months since last issue. It was this book which had forgotten about. I really like it, so thanks to you all at YARN. I can crochet and do so occasionally. A few decorative flowers here, an edging or a bit of picot there. My grandmother taught me when I was about twelve, I think. She was an accomplished crocheter and did exquisite work in the finest of yarns on the tiniest of hooks, so small that it was easier to run a finger along the shaft to feel the hook than to peer at it to see it. She became frustrated when I asked for directions, teaching was not a strong point of hers. I remember being told to just look at what she had done and do the same. Not much help to an absolute beginner.

The book will help me improve my repertoire of crochet stitches. There are pretty edgings, bits of lace and dozens of flowers and decorations. It's clearly laid out and has both graphs and written instructions. I've never followed a graph for crochet work before, always written instructions. I certainly found them different to say the least. While eating breakfast this morning on the balcony, I looked at a chart for a fairly simple flower. It began in the middle of the chart shown. I looked at each piece and then checked the written instructions to see if I had worked it out properly.

The book was published in USA so uses USA terms for the stitches. However there is a chart of the corresponding British names for them.

So thanks to the girls at YARN for this. I'll enjoy it. I've always enjoyed the magazine too and have subscribed several times. When we moved and I knew I was moving again, I let the subscription lapse. However, Once I was settled here, I subscribed again. It's always a lovely surprise when the magazine arrives. Before Christmas I realised that the last issue of the then current subscription was due. This time I renewed for two years so don't need to worry about it for a while. A whole eight issues will slide through my letter box.

bits and pieces

2012-01-04T09:23:00.001+11:00

This post is as much as test as anything. I had major problems getting BLOGGER to let me do anything with photos yesterday. It certainly wouldn't let me put any up.

After I arrived at Central on Monday, I took a few photos of some of the renovated parts of the old station. This is one of the side entrances to the main area. It's very attractive in real life. The pink on the outside of the squares is more of a dusky pink than shows here and less of pink primer paint. The ceiling is quite high, possibly 25'. (I'm old fashioned about ceiling measurements and can visualise how high that would be. Can handle metric in most other areas. LOL.)

This clock is on the wall just outside the entrance to the area shown above.

The writing in the centre of the clock face says New South Wales Government Railways. Unlike many of the historic clocks around Sydney, this one was working and said the correct time.

Government Railways have been through a few incarnations since that clock was first put up. I wonder if much has changed in that time. Even I can remember going to the city from Burwood when I was young with my grandmother on a fast train which stopped Redfern, Central and then the city stops. That trip was fourteen minutes. It usually takes longer than that now for the same trip.

This is in the main area of the station looking up to the very high roof area. As it was lateish afternoon, there was no sun shining through the glass area, so the contrast is good. I like the outline of the beams.

The red glimmer on the left comes from streamers of Christmas decorations about three or four metres long.

Seeing as these photos seem to be going up OK, I'll try one more from the beginning of the journey at Woy Woy.

The station there was renovated quite a few years ago and there's now a transport hub with bus terminals, bicycles racks, toilets , lift access, taxi rank. The buses always were there but the area is now covered.

This used to be a blank concrete wall, usually covered in slogans etc. This photo shows a mural done quite a few years ago now. The interurban trains are no longer the design shown here. The mural shows signs of age and wear, but it hasn't been defaced. The writing in the centre says Woy Woy, although it's a bit hard to read.

Spoke Milligan called the town the "largest above ground cemetery in the world," although that's been applied to a few other places too. His mother lived there. That's all changed. Housing is cheaper than Sydney and many people commute to work each day. There are lots of young families and a vast number of teenagers. Unfortunately, many of them do not have a job and have time on their hands. There's quite a bit of graffiti around the town. However, like Sydney suburbs, it seems that if there is something like this mural, it's respected and not defaced and tagged.

Well, so far so good with the photos. I have washing to hang on balcony and rubbish to take downstairs. The lift broke down on the Thursday before Christmas. Four men from Otis arrived yesterday and were here for some hours. They took away a large piece of machinery so I hope it's soon returned. Four flights down and back with a dodgy knee is more than I want. However, today will be hot and I don't want it left in my store cupboard. I twisted the knee at son's on Monday.

I also need to get back to knitting. I have a pair of socks just over half done and I haven't touched my transatlantic shawl in at least two months. Probably longer.

another year's on its way

2012-01-03T08:07:00.001+11:00

I slept in on New year's Day. Now many probably did also, but I don't normally sleep in, regardless of the time of going to sleep. I woke up five minutes before I should have been out of the place and on my way to the bus. So I didn't go out. I had a quiet day here and there was sunshine. I'd almost forgotten what thta looked like.

I've had a few comments about the scrolling greeting in the New Year's Eve post..

You can do it too. I used to have a journal, not a blog, and knew quite a lot of HTML. I could do all sorts of fancy things with templates and images and much more. Most of it forgotten now. This will be a longwinded way of showing you what to do. If I write it out as it should look, all you'll see is the scroll result.

You need two pairs of arrowhead brackets like this< > < > Between the two arrows in the first pair, write the word marquee. Between the second pair of two arrows, write /marquee. Now in between the two pairs, write your greeting. Christmas, birthday, goodbye, happy new year, whatever you want. Format those words with size, choice of font, colour or whatever and there you go. Easy peasy.

I went to Central Coast yesterday The train up was very crowded. I was glad I had gone to Central Station instead of Strathfield which is closer. The train starts there and I had a seat. I forgot my knitting but it would have been awkward doing it anyway.

It was pleasant with a breeze and sunshine. My youngest grandchild, who was in Kindergarten last year is coming along in leaps and bounds. He's good at following illustrated directions like complicated Lego and his sense of logic is developing too. He knew that three sixes make eighteen. Doesn't know multiplication tables just addition. His dad who is on holidays asked him what three twelves would be. No hints were given. Instead of writing them down and adding up, he used logic. Twelve was twice six so the answer would be twice eighteen. There was a slight problem as he figured that out in his head as it involves carrying the one from the addition. However he did it and was very proud of himself.

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T21:30:00.000+11:00

A happy new year to you all.

I hope you find much joy and satisfaction in your crafting this year.

Happy New Year

catch up

2011-12-29T20:30:00.002+11:00

To me Christmas seems a long time ago. In one sense it was, as the family Christmas was on 19/12, a week before. I had little that needed to be done before the official day. This weeks seems to have been in slow motion and I have had to constantly stop to work out just which day it is. Summer holidays. Festival of Sydney through January.

Even Christmas to the rest of the family seems to have been calmer as one DIL put it.

I made a very definite decision to have Christmas Day to myself. I enjoyed it. I went to church in the morning where we sang lots of carols and had a light morning tea afterward. Many were away with their families so there were few children out. As we greeted each other, I had my hand kissed! Let me say it's been a very long time since that last happened.

I returned home and had a lovely meal of prawns and a couple of pleasant salads. I spoke to all the rest of the family and wished them a happy Christmas and spent an afternoon reading etc. I totally enjoyed it.

Boxing Day was lovely. My friend picked me up about 10:30 and we went to Blaxland in the lower Blue Mountains to friends of his. Well his friends originally, but I've now known them for some time and been away with them. The four of us were teachers although only one is still teaching. They have a very pleasant house on five acres. 70's style but very comfortable and done up to suit them. The husband now works translating and writing and his wife is a school librarian.

We sat outside seeing if we could name the birds as they flew past. Leftovers from Christmas was our lunch and we sat and talked, listened to music, told jokes, used Facetime to speak to their daughter in London. The afternoon went on and eventually there was another simple meal. It was a lovely day catching up with them and my friend walked me to my door at just before midnight. It had been a very satisfying day.

Son and DIL with whom I lived gave me a Samsung digital photoframe. I've heard such things can be frustrating to set up. I opened it yesterday and put it together. Drat! It would not run from USB cord and computer. It wanted an update of firmware or drivers. The link gave only something for Win XP. It's been some years since I used Windows and I don't care if I never have anything to do with it again. There is a program to simulate windows on an Apple, but I didn't want to go that way, I love my Mac. I hunted and searched on forums to find updates for a Mac. Nothing. So today I bought a big USB memory stick and transferred some photos to it as a trial. After a bit of fiddling and pulling out plugs and replugging others, the thing works. Now I can load up the stick with more photos.

It's far from quiet here. There are often lots of ibis and gulls who feed from the rubbish bins. Lately the cockatoos have decided this is their territory, although they don't have same eating habits. About twenty of them have been flying around screeching for the last half hour. The other birds have left and the cockies will leave a few cockatoos on watch, obviously where the phrase originally come from. A few sweeps over the place for the next few days will guarantee no ibis etc for the next ten days or so.

a merry Christmas to all...

2011-12-24T17:08:00.001+11:00

Something sunny to match the day outside. It started off quite damp but has turned into a beautiful day. I even dried washing outside on the balcony. Tomorrow, Christmas Day, should be reasonable too, I think. I saw an article where the weather bureau said that not only was it Sydney's coldest and wettest start to summer in over fifty years, but also that this month we have been colder than Melbourne, Hobart or Launceston. It's felt pretty cold a lot of the time.

So, to see the sun and some blue sky today is glorious. We had a good day last weekend with the family together. The rain held off, although it was very grey all day. We didn't get to the beach but enjoyed a meal together and then the grandchildren played backyard cricket. They used Master Six's set with tiny stumps and a small wicket. No one suggested backyard cricket, I think this might be a genetic trait in Aussie kids! LOL. The game just happened.

I'll be at home by myself tomorrow. Don't feel sorry for me, this is a conscious decision I have made with no pressure on me. Both sons with children asked me to lunch, but both are going out mid-afternoon. Neither place is easy to get to by public transport on a public holiday, especially for just a short time frame. Other son is away for several days. I'm happy to be here, I have prawns and other food and drink. I will have a quiet day and think about the get together last weekend.

Church will be at 9:30 tomorrow and I'm planning to get to that. I'd go to the midnight service tonight too if I still lived with son and DIL a few minutes walk from the church.

On Monday, friend and I were going to have lunch or dinner. We hadn't made up our minds. He rang the other day and we are going to friends of his for lunch and dinner. I haven't seen these friends for a couple of years and will be glad to catch up. Lovely people, easy to talk to and we all have a lot in common. They live in the Blue Mountains so it will be enjoyable there too.

My brother and sister both were impressed with the tapestries I had framed for them. I'm glad of that.

Have a great time everyone and I'll be back in a few days.

busy, busy

2011-12-22T09:51:00.000+11:00

Busy, busy, but who isn't at this time of the year?

I've actually not much more to do, just need a few groceries etc. Our family do was last Sunday, hastily re-arranged to my son's place instead of the beach. It actually didn't rain but was fairly gloomy all day. Much better to be under shelter than to need to move in a hurry. It was a pleasant day and we all enjoyed ourselves. All the children played cricket with Master Six's set. Not a present but he was thrilled to have what seemed like a whole team to play with him.

On Monday late afternoon, early evening really, we had a cracker of a thunderstorm here. Very heavy storm with lots of lightning and big claps of thunder rolled in from western Sydney. DIL who's an SES volunteer in her area was called out to a number of distress calls.

After it had gone, there was almost sunshine. I looked out to see a very peculiar, very pink light all around. Then I saw a rainbow going into the sky with an almost vertical arch. There was no corresponding right hand to the arch, just the ascent. I knew I would not have time to set up big Nikon, so grabbed my phone and hoped for the best. As I took this first picture I realised there was a double bow to the rainbow.

I have seen a few photos of this but have never seen a double arch in all my life. This photo has been downsized a bit, although you can enlarge it by clicking. However, I haven't retouched it in any way at all. That really was what the light was like. Very eerie.

I'm glad to be home. Have spent two days at son's place minding grandchildren. I must be getting old, but I was very glad to return to my quiet tidy place last night. Miss Seven screams. And screams then some more as if she was being murdered. Admittedly, her brother hit her with a plastic baseball bat, but she'd already chased him for some minutes wielding the bat herself. Unfortunately she seems think screaming is a good response to anything at the moment.

They have a newish puppy who didn't know me. He barked and barked whenever he came near me. Hearing aids amplified his barks far too much. It was good to be home.

I finished my pink sock several days ago and have started the next one. Fortunately I haven't done much on it as It was moved in the bag I took to son's place and I must have pulled out a needle. I think I'll rip it back and just start over, it' only a few rows lost.

before and after

2011-12-17T10:03:00.000+11:00

Here are my pieces of beef with prosciutto for tomorrow's Christmas family lunch. Before and after. I carefully spread the spinach, cashew and parmesan dip on the top, although I think almost any flavour would have gone with this, wrapped it in the prosciutto and fastened it at the back with toothpicks. Not really mentioned in the recipe, but it seemed to need something to hold it together.

The recipe called for a 1.5 kg fillet of beef. The larger of these pieces was 800 gm. Instead of roasting at 200° C for 45 minutes I used 190° for just barely 30 minutes. Since replacing fan element in my oven, I think it runs hotter, so I have to make adjustments.

It smelt amazing as it cooked. I'd had breakfast but enjoyed the smell of the prosciutto cooking. As I took it out of the oven to rest, a piece of crunchy broke off, all by itself (yes, really!) It was very nice. I'll let it get quite cold and decide then whether to slice it here or take it in a couple of big pieces. I think unsliced would probably make an easier journey than sliced which might fall apart if not carried carefully.

My brother usually brings a terrine, often duck, so I decided to be fancy this year. His terrines which he makes himself, are always beautiful and one year he gave us a container of duck fat for roasting vegetables. They were amazingly good. I see that Coles now sells small tubs of duck fat in the meat cabinet near where they sell duck fillets. It's really good for roasts.

fresh bread

2011-12-16T16:02:00.001+11:00

I haven't made bread for some weeks now. I don't eat a lot of it and just didn't get around to getting any. I was given a loaf of a good brand as part compensation for a mix up in my fruit order and I bought a loaf from a bread shop. The good loaf was OK and the other wasn't, but I think I'm spoilt by eating homemade bread usually.

This is mostly multigrain flour with the amount made up with some strong bread flour. I added a handful or so of pepitas and it tastes very good. I had milk which needed using so that's the liquid instead of water. I glazed the top of the loaf with the last egg I had and this has given the golden shine to the bread.

While shopping yesterday I bought a container of what is really a beetroot pesto. Beetroot, cashew nuts and parmesan cheese. I had two medium thick slices of this bread, spread with the beetroot pesto. Along with some fruit, this made a pleasant lunch.

Yes, that's Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac you can see. It's the hardcover anniversary edition which has more in it than the smaller paperback edition which I also have. I bought this copy last Christmas, I think. Each time I read her work, I find more in it, or I see more clearly what she is describing.

I was wondering what to take to the family lunch at the weekend. There'll be lots of BBQ things and I wanted to avoid anything with gluten in it.

I found this recipe for beef wrapped in prosciutto in an email from the Butcherman from whom I occasionally get meat ordered. I used his business when I had the canteen. The meat is around the same price as supermarket for ordinary cuts of meat, but it's much better butchered and packed. Fancy cuts and restaurant style cuts are dear, but meat's dear anywhere these days. Have you seen the price on cutlets? Not on my shopping list anymore, I'm afraid.

I couldn't find a beef fillet near the size suggested so bought two. I'll have to be careful not to overcook them. I'll do them tomorrow and take it up as a cold meat.

After I'd bought the beef, I found a largish pork fillet. I think I would have preferred that but the other was bought. The pork was cheaper too.

I've been fiddling with my camera and trying different things. This is just a normal photo and settings but it's taken from the roof garden here. You can see how there is a garden courtyard on each floor. The roof garden is really five floors up. What you can see is the fourth floor or level 3 counting the ground floor by itself. I'm on level 2 (third level) and my front door would be in the very right hand bottom corner below this level.

There's a bit more cover on my level as the walkways across from one side to the other are covered.

christmas bounty

2011-12-15T14:21:00.001+11:00

Cherries are on of my favourite fruits. Unfortunately the season is just so short that they are gone while I'm still getting used to them being available. I like the variety shown here, Ron's Seedlings, big, fat, juicy and flavourful. Unfortunately their season is even shorter than the general cherry season. This year's summer is weird weather. I took these photos in early afternoon and some look as if it was dusk with very dark clouds. As always, you can see more detail by clicking to enlarge. Last night was chilly and I pulled a light cover over the bedclothes.

We are having our family get together on Sunday and it was to have been at Pearl Beach. However the forecast is for about 21° C and rain from late morning. We have changed venue to son's place for lunch. He's about ten minutes away. If it fines up, there may be a trip to the beach later. We thought about temperature, then clouds and rain and considered a cold breeze off the water so changed.

I'll be glad when this is over. We all have a good time, but it's been hard to organise this year with date changes, people changes, food preferences and so on. we started the organising in what should have been plenty of time, not this year.

I was out late last night minding grandchildren while son and DIL went to SES dinner. She has belonged for over five years now and has most of the qualifications for many types of emergency work as well as floods, fires etc. It was a strange coincidence but my silent number landline was rung early in the morning. Charities are allowed to ring private numbers. It was fundraising for SES. I said DIL belonged and my support was minding grandchildren when she was called out, sometimes for a week or more in floods up the coast or fires in Victoria and other places. She couldn't do the SES work without my contribution so I consider it as valid as financial aid.

Miss Seven whose thundery face appears a couple of posts below, has finally decided reading is fun. She read me quite a long book last night. I asked her if she'd read it before. No. She did a creditable job in working out new words and read along without a finger under the line or the lips moving as she said the words to herself, so a vast improvement.

I did some sock knitting while I was there, but jabbed myself in the finger with the point of a sharp Harmony dpns. It's OK today but a bit tender.

2011-12-13T19:57:00.001+11:00

I have been knitting on the pink sock and am almost down to the toe but this is a more interesting photo. Clicking will enlarge it.

This truck has been broken down in the truck lane of the service station outside for over six hours now. I've glanced out many times to see a couple of men disappearing into its innards, but the truck still cannot move. A large tow truck was brought in, but not large enough. the small white car belongs to a mechanic called in to help.

I'll be watching with interest later on. This service station sells lots of fuel and has at least one delivery everyday. The problem is that the truck is parked over the covers to the underground tanks.

My son who was bashed and mugged on October 19 has been back at work for two weeks now but on reduced hours. He's been working twenty hours a week and this week that was to increase to twenty seven. He was planning two long days and three shorter.

However, he was barely at work yesterday when the police rang and asked him to come in to see if he could identify the mugger from a line up. It seems that while the police had not heard of the mugger with a skateboard when son was mugged, the fellow has been emboldened and done several more. He was finally shown on a surveillance camera.

Son went into the city feeling so churned up he could not eat even an apple for his lunch. He's fairly sure he could tell the right guy, although two were very similar. I can understand the churning stomach - mine still turns over when I see a skateboard. He was very upset and sounded dreadful when I spoke to him. The doctor gave him a certificate for two days off. He said it all came rushing back.

There's been no rain today and the next two days should be fine. However the rain is forecast to return on Sunday. It would. Lunchtime is family get together at the beach.

pink and more pink

2011-12-12T10:24:00.001+11:00

Rain, rain and more rain. Throw in a few thunderstorms, one at 4:00 am this morning and there's the weather for today. Thunder is still rattling around. My brother's suburb had 72 mm of rain in a few hours last night and I think we would be following that closely.

I was planning on going out to local shops but don't really need to, so why bother? The stick blender I used for yesterday's aioli is on the way out, quite rapidly I think, and I'll get a new one. Just not today. The mixer is third hand so I think it's probably done its dash.

Here's the pink plain sock. Just plain, round and round and round with little thought to anything.

The yarn is the Moda Noir from the big place no one likes much. I bought it when I was out at Penrith with Lynne to get tapestries framed. It was reduced to $2 a 100 gm ball. Who could argue with that? It's OK to knit with and will do for everyday socks. I used some of this same yarn in a small shawl last year sometime. I wasn't happy with it then as there were many spots in the black and grey mix which had no dye on them at all. This ball hasn't suffered the same way, thank goodness. As you can see, I'm well down the foot now.

I was watching the men's hockey championship from Auckland yesterday on channel 2 before dinner and got quite a lot done on the sock. I've been watching the matches all week and have seen four or five. I enjoy hockey and used to go with DIL when she played goalie in top Sydney grade matches. Men's hockey is much faster and more cut throat. although I could name some teams from the Sydney competition for whom winning was everything, regardless of how it was achieved.

Wow! It's stopped raining. That doesn't mean much, there could be another cloudburst by the time I reached the bus stop two minutes away. Think I'll wrap presents. The family get together is next weekend at Pearl Beach. Weather was supposed to be fine but week's forecast has rain now. #3 son and family live a few minutes away from the beach, so we have a backup plan.

eclipse

2011-12-11T13:21:00.001+11:00

I am not at all experienced with night photography, I think this is the second time I've tried some. However, last night I stayed up to see if I could get anything at all from the eclipse of the moon. Clicking on the photo will give a bigger picture set into a darker area which makes it easier to see.

It was a bit amazing that any moonlight could be seen at all with the cloud cover we have had lately. The first picture was taken a bit after 11:30 pm from my balcony. I don't have a proper tripod and I think that would have improved the shots as it's hard to hold the camera for time required. There was a lot of ambient light around from street lights from the highway, McDs, service station etc. There was a fair number of clouds which gave their own problems with the light.

The succeeding photos are about five minutes apart and the eclipse is nowhere near finished. However, the cloud cover was beginning to drift over the moon and I was getting cold on the balcony, so I gave in and went to bed.

I've made mayonnaise before and while it's fiddly, the taste is superb. Today I added garlic to the mix and turned it into aioli. Very nice it is too. Just as well it's fiddly to make. I could eat a lot of it but make it only a couple of times each summer. If I buy mayo, I buy the Thomy egg type. A jar lasts quite a long time, but this is much nicer than even the dearer supermarket brands.

Two or three egg yolks. I used three.
tablespoon or so of lemon juice. I used a quarter of a large juicy fresh lemon I had already cut in fridge.
pepper and salt to taste.
a teaspoon or so of dijon mustard. I used a heaped teaspoon but that was what came out on the spoon.
finely chopped garlic. I used three small cloves.
1 cup of olive oil or a mix of olive and other oil to lighten the taste.

Put everything EXCEPT the oil into a container, deeper rather than flatter makes it easier to mix. Mix with hand mixer or whisk etc thoroughly till very well blended.

Very gradually, no more than a teaspoonful at a time to begin with, add the oil. Beat very well till blended. If you put too much in, especially at the beginning, it won't emulsify but will sit separate as a layer to the other ingredients. Keep doing this till oil is all added and well blended and mixture has thickened.

I had some rye mountain bread. I used two pieces of this each spread with aioli. A slice of ham and some salad stuff. Roll up each bit and enjoy. Finished off with some cherries in the sun.

Just in time too. Sun has now gone, it's too dark to read without a light and the rain is pouring again. There's thunder around too.

I'm actually knitting a sock. A sock! Will take photos tomorrow or when light is better. Apart from a couple of pairs of baby socks, I haven't done a sock for a long time. Just plain sock. round and round, no real effort or thought going into it. I'm well down the leg on the first sock now.

four years

2011-12-09T08:00:00.000+11:00

My calendar popped up the reminder that it's been four years since I walked out and left my husband. He had actually told me some time before that he considered himself no longer married to me as "I wasn't the person he was supposed to have married." Much twisted thinking went into that. Eventually, that and abuse and infidelities got just too much for me to cope with and I left.

Right on Christmas, it was hard to cope with everything, and I spent a lot of time knitting and trying to get myself back together. I knitted fourteen (I think) pairs of socks in the souther Summer of Socks challenge in the weeks leading up to leaving. Very soothing, no brain knitting.

I spent the next year settling down and started seeing a lawyer after that. He was very good but took some months off to deal with a major tragedy in his family. Things were finalised last year and my house was sold, although the settlement did not come through till February this year. I bought this place and have now been here eight months. Now I live by myself for the first time in my life and have had to make a lot of adjustments. I'm trying to be always tidy and to put things back immediately I have finished with them. I know that's easy for some, but I'm not that sort. However, if I make the mess, who else is there except me to clean it. Put my keys in the same spot and don't go outside without keys and phone. Eat properly at the right time. All things which are just plain sensible and good for my health, safety and mental well being.

So what does the nativity scene have to do with all this and the anniversary? My husband did not approve of such things, he seemed to think they were superstitious or something like that, so I never had one. He had a violent temper and I wasn't going to risk anything by provoking him. I bought this last year but this is the first time I've put it up in my own little place. It's missing some of the more traditional characters that some sets have, but I like it and the curves and colours.

The little angel on the right obviously is not part of the set. She was perhaps the last thing my mum bought for me and on the box she had written, "For your Christmases to come." Mum was amazing with presents. She loved giving things away and spent a lot of time searching for exactly what she wanted. Right up to the day she died just before her 90th birthday she could tell you all the birthdays in that particular month and what she had bought. This was not only for immediate family but grandchildren and great grandchildren, a large circle of friends and all their children and great grandchildren whom she treated as if they were her own family. This little angel is handmade.

After the Christmas when she gave me this, she had a fall and a stroke along with a couple of other nasty illnesses. Much to her disgust, she entered a nursing home as she needed care we could not give. She needs two people to support her standing as otherwise she crumpled to the floor. Six months later, she had a major stroke and never regained consciousness, and died some eighteen hours later.

So lots of thoughts have been running through my mind these last few days.

a page from grandma's brag book

2011-12-08T10:03:00.001+11:00

Well yes, definitely a page from grandma's brag book today, but why have a book and not brag? LOL

Youngest granddaughter who is Year 1 won an award for the number of awards she's won through the year! I hope this is an encouragement to her. As the youngest in the family, she coasts a bit, knowing that her elder sister may well pick up the slack for her. She's not inclined to exert herself either for much the same reason. However her teacher seems to manage her quite well.

Here she is on Grandparents' Day at her school. Miss Seven has a temper and has been known to throw the occasional tantrum. This is in her class presentation an hour after her father took her iPod Shuffle from the collection of treasures she had put on display in the classroom. Pupils had to bring things from home in a small container which showed something of themselves to others. Well the iPod Shuffle definitely does that, but taking it to school without permission was not a wise thing to do. It would have been stolen as all the displays were easily accessible to anybody in the room. School, BTW, does not allow such things to be brought.

So I hope the award gives her an incentive for next year's schoolwork. She's quite bright and well capable of excelling at whatever she has to do, not just the things she wants to do. The happier photo was taken at my birthday party in August.

This is Master Six screwing up his nose at the camera. He's a funny little boy with his father's quirky sense of humour. Loves the Goons, Dr Who and similar. This was taken in August, also at my party, but somewhat earlier in the morning. He's the one who believes large spiders have nine legs as I detailed a few posts ago. The ninth is to support their head.

School has been good to him and he's at the end of the Kindergarten year. This time last year he was determined he wasn't ever going to school as his sister, five years older, had told him that "they" would give him homework and he'd be in big trouble if he didn't do it. He used to be easily annoyed and was frustrated. I think much of this stemmed from his then poor speech. Family could usually get what he was saying but not always and frustration at not being understood would cause major behavioural problems.

A year of speech therapy before school helped enormously. He settled in to school quickly and his last report was very good. He's reading well and improving every week and his maths skills are good. Even better, his report said he was the most popular person in class as he was kind and helpful to his classmates, a far cry from earlier times when other young ones could not understand him and shunned him. There is a big certificate on the fridge at his place for having 35 "excellents" in a row and a certificate for participation in the Premier's reading scheme.

His dad, my son, rang yesterday. Finn had an Awards Day yesterday and received the prize for Citizenship in the whole of the Infants School. This carried a book voucher from Dymocks books and a voucher for KFC. So they celebrated last night at KFC. Son, a very god cook, grudgingly admitted it was edible. They hardly ever eat at places like that so it was a real celebration for young Finn who will happily boast today at school, I imagine. Good to be part of the gang, I suppose.

So grandma's brag book is filling up.

Edited to add:

I've just had an SMS from my son to say that Finn's big sister, finishing 5th class has also won the Citizenship Award. Primary School Awards day is today so parents have had to backup school attendance. I wonder if son can back up for KFC again tonight?

Here she is with the two kittens, Monty on the left and Python on the right. She has a good command of language and is quite bright all round. However, right at the moment it is not cool to show intelligence. I hope she gets over that!

This is the girl who jumped on my neck when I was minding her before she was three. At the time, I had a headache from, stiff shoulder and neck muscles and was not very happy when she took a leap from teh stairs behind the lounge onto my shoulders. Her comment, and remember she wasn't three at the time, "You not a happy chappy today, Grandma!"

parcel posted

2011-12-06T20:58:00.001+11:00

I hope my parcel to England has a first class seat all to itself and the best of service from plane staff. It can forego any food or drink but should be tucked in neatly. It ought to. I was astounded at the cost. The small vest shown in the previous entry. I have washed and blocked it, a small book and a small light shawl for the baby's mum. All in a padded envelope. Cost was over $30!

It was not really heavy nor large. I have long associated expensive postage with the USA but I thought this was somewhat steep.

hooded vest

2011-12-02T16:12:00.001+11:00

The hooded vest from Jussi is finished. Ta da! Well, I still need to find some buttons for each side from my stash, and it very definitely needs a washing and blocking, but I have woven in the ends.

I'm not going out again today and it won't be dry, but I'll send this on its way to a long awaited and joyfully received little boy in England on Monday. After many miscarriages and other unpleasant things, little Richard Charles stayed full term and is now five days old.

I have bought Jackie French's book, Diary of a Wombat, to accompany the little vest. Something from downunder.

I chose a good day to go shopping today. As I said, I have been replacing well worn and fairly worn out items of clothing. I went into Target today and they had 20% off tops and underwear. I found a good everyday top on special and then less 20% so put that in my trolley. Thought of Cindy as it's a pleasant green. Walked around a bit further and five bras in pretty colours, my size and preferred style, fell into the trolley too. Much needed and I'll happily throw out most of what's in the drawer with worn out elastic and droopy straps. That caps off a good week. I was in Woolworths at the beginning of the week and they had Bonds branded underwear, two to a pack, reduced to $4.40 a pack. I bought several packs. Reduced from $14 and all I could see was that the packs were a bit dusty. Woman at checkout said she'd found them too and bought several packs. All sizes just thrown into a trolley near Christmas things.

Now to wash and block the vest.

c'est fini!

2011-11-30T18:56:00.001+11:00

November 30 and tout est fini for NaBloPoMo. Two days missed only and no guilt felt.

So to celebrate, here's a peaceful picture taken from the rail bridge over the Hawkesbury. The road bridge is out of site further down the river. Despite all the rain of last week, the river was relatively clear. Rain usually turns the river to a muddy brown. Mid-field are the pylons originally put in place for another bridge. Small boats often anchor in the lee of these while the owner fishes out of the breeze.

And not only is NaBloPoMo finished but my vest with hood from Jussi's pattern is almost finished. I've joined the shoulders in a three needle bind off and have picked up around the neck for the hood. I'm about a third of the way up it. Then there are ends to finish off, a couple of buttons to find from my stash to hold back and front together at the sides and then to wash and block and post. This is for a much longed for little boy who was born a few days ago after many years of heartbreak for his parents and many miscarriages. They live in England and I doubt this will be delivered before Christmas, but I wasn't planning that. I also bought, in Coles of all places, Jackie French's Diary of a Wombat to send and I'll keep my eyes open for her tale of the wombat baby. The hardcover edition of Diary of a Wombat was $15 which I seem to remember was cheap after the last one I bought a while ago.

a conversation with my grandson

2011-11-29T14:13:00.001+11:00

Setting the scene.

My son and his family live next door to a large open area with playing fields. Grandson, kindergarten age, and I were stand-in near their fence. A large open drainage ditch runs along fence and crosses under the road in a pipe. Not a large pipe but small, about half a metre in diameter. The soil here is very sandy and water sinks through it very quickly and the ditch is very wide, so I think the volume of rain needed to put water in that pipe would be tremendous.

Conversation.

"Grandma. Can you see that pipe? I could go through it and come out on the other side. Then the cars couldn't run me over."

"I don't think that's a very good idea. Pipes like that can be dangerous."

"Why?"

"Well, one little boy went into a pipe and a lot of water came down it and he drowned."

"Oh. Was he deaded?"

"Yes, unfortunately."

"Well, perhaps I won't go there. Anyway, it's dark and there might be spiders."

He has an abnormal fear of spiders as does his mother. I didn't want to encourage the fear, but also didn't want him near that pipe.

Non-committally I said, "There could be spiders, I suppose."

"Really big, big spiders, I think," he said, spreading his fingers to show the size. "Spiders with nine legs."

"Now you know, spiders have eight legs."

"Oh, but grandma, the really big spiders have nine legs. They have an extra leg to hold up their head."

I could see this conversation was going nowhere fast so we went to play on the swings.

Answer for Cindy. Yes, Woy Woy was where Spike Milligan's mother lived and he went there fairly often. He called it "the largest above ground cemetery on earth," although apparently this term has been used of other places too according to Google. Woy Woy has changed. It's now Taree and Forster further north known as death's waiting room, and Woy Woy has many young families there now. it's within commuting distance from Sydney, has beaches close by, and houses are much cheaper than Sydney.

November 28

2011-11-28T19:50:00.001+11:00

Two more days after this entry and it will be December! I've missed writing on two days so far and hope to make the last two without missing any more.

I went to Central Coast today for DIL to give me a haircut. It was much needed and I feel better for it. I took my knitting but did none as I have had a very sore shoulder for a day or so.

On the return trip there were only about eight of us in the top of the carriage. This is most unusual at that time of day. There are often few seats spare.

Suddenly, the man over the aisle from me sneezed very loudly and unexpectedly. All of us, including him, got a surprise. From down the carriage another man said loudly, "Bless you." The sneezer replied, "Thank you." To which the unidentified man said, "You're welcome." I could feel everyone of us smiling.

One of life's little civilities.

The picture is taken after emerging from the tunnel near Woy Woy at the end of the inlet of the Hawkesbury River.

more knitting

2011-11-27T15:25:00.001+11:00

I've finished the front of Jussi's vest pattern and am well up the back. So I should be, it's only a baby size. I think the trouble with the shawl was that it went on and on and still has more to go. Because I wasn't knitting anything else, there were no finished objects and I had forgotten the good feeling that they give and the encouragement to continue which comes with finishing something.

Today's gratuitous photo is the storm water canal down here which drains into Parramatta Rive about two kilometres downstream. It's usually nothing more than a trickle where the local birds drink. I took this photo about 8:30 this morning after 24 hours without rain although it had been wild before then.

It's about 5 metres across and quite deep.

rondo vest

2011-11-26T12:12:00.001+11:00

A quick entry today to be place holder. I started Jussi's vest pattern last night and have done 12 cm. My fingers started aching then so I stopped for a rest while watching Midsomer Murders.

The colour shown here is Seaspray and the yarn is some of the Rondo I bought a a couple of months ago. I bought several of the big balls but can't remember at all what I had in mind for them. This is reasonably accurate, although it's possibly a bit more aqua in colour. It is rolling a bit, hence the phone and ball of yarn holding it down. I found it pleasant to knit.

And speaking of "aqua," we've had more than enough aqua here for a while. It's been very cold for November, enough to have had two lightish but long sleeved layers on and I was just nicely warm. It's been wet for days and I seem to have misplaced my good, new umbrella. I can distinctly remember putting it in the bathroom to dry and now I can't find it at all. I have another one which I used this morning when I went to get the paper downstairs but it's one of those very small folding umbrellas. It also has several tiny holes in the fabric, probably from age. I've had it a long time.

The rain last night was incredible. It became heavier as the evening went on. I was speaking to my son on Central Coast a bit before 10:00 pm and he said the wind was bad up there too. When I went to be an hour later the wind had started here. The rain was blowing almost three metres across my balcony, under the floor of balcony on floor above me. It was hitting my lounge room door from top to bottom. Hundreds of drops all over it. Picture shows drops making a pattern on bottom of door frame which must have had a lot of dust on it!

In the time I've been here, we've had several very heavy storms but no water has ever touched the door. This morning my balcony was sodden. The large deep saucers under the pot plants were overflowing. There was water all over the small table and on the top of the air conditioner, Fortunately it's a sealed unit and installer said storms were no worry and I could hose it if it was dirty. I have a couple of canvas folding chairs near the door and they had puddles on the seats. I stepped out onto balcony with bare feet, to discover the door mat squelched under my feet. Enough is enough.

There was a bit of blue sky an hour ago, but the cloud now looks as if it's gearing up for a thunderstorm. They were part of the forecast.

knitting news!

2011-11-25T16:49:00.001+11:00

I've decided that i really am not monogamous in my knitting. It's been days since did any work on the Transatlantic shawl although I like it and it's easy. I answered a comment somewhere lately that I seem to work best where I can swap around with different projects.

Suddenly light dawned. I needed to start something else. I've been thinking about doing some of Jussi's baby designs for my friend's baby in Canada. All made easier by winning an e-copy of Jussi's Baby Basics book. Thanks again, Jussi.

I'm going to make the hooded vest which is one of seven designs in the book. (Ravelry link)

I have some yarn for it and should have needles.

I threw out some clothes today. Yes, threw out. I've bought several new tops this year for summer and decided that I needed to get rid of some old things. Not getting rid of them because of new ones. They were old, very old, in some cases and most were no longer suitable even for slumming around at home or doing the housework. So I summoned up my courage and threw them out, stuffing them down into the rubbish. They were past using for anything except rags and I already have more than I need of them.

It's been cold here this week and I've had two layers on my top for the last three days. Back in 1995 and I'm sure of that year, I bought a jumper made from recycled milk bottles. Not fleece, it looked like a heavy cotton and felt good.

It has been worn and worn and worn. I even knitted some sample patches of patterns a few years ago and used them as fun elbow patches. I put it on this morning, it was warm and comforting and comfortable. Then I caught sight of myself in the mirror and realised it really was no longer wearable. I had some regrets about pitching this, but it's just as well none of the DILs have seen it recently or they would have been saying something at the very least to me. If not sneaking it from my drawer.

I can't do three posts in a row without a picture so here's a gratuitous picture. It's the reflection of Parramatta Road in a shop window at the bus stop. The gloomy day made a perfect reflection.

one week to go

2011-11-24T21:15:00.001+11:00

Counting today, there's one week of NaBloPoMo to go. That's good but the scary thing is that will then be December. I've missed two days so far, but as far as I can see, the sky hasn't fallen or anything else catastrophic like that and I'm not guilt ridden about the omission..

Blogging daily like this is a discipline. Another discipline I have so far been successful in following is Project 365. Link will take you to my pictures but there are thousands there from others too. I first heard of this just after I bought the Nikon DSLR and decided to try to do this as a good way of learning. I have now posted a photo every day for 211 days! I find this hard to believe. Not all have been taken on the Nikon, some are phone photos, but I have done this. That leaves 154 more days to complete the year. It's been good for me to do this. I've learnt heaps about using the camera, I've taken some really great shots and had others fail spectacularly.

It's made me aware of different angles to take photos from and also to see things in a different light. Each week there is a theme, this week is "patterns." Themes are like prompts, not compulsory, but it's amazing just where I have found patterns this week. Seeing shots by really good photographers is inspiring and forums are a help with problems.

I heard today from my friend in Canada. Her parcel of baby things and other bits and pieces arrived yesterday. Pretty slow going. She loved everything in it so that was good. I've been thinking I might do a couple of things for her boys from Jussi's baby patterns which are both cute and practical.

It's about the temperatures here to dig out the knitted garments. Wet, windy and cold. It was 11 &dg;C at 6:00 pm at my brother's place on the North Shore the other night. This is November. Yesterday it poured all day. Today has been 50/50 wet/dry. Still, I think I would rather have this than a heatwave.

focaccia

2011-11-23T19:56:00.001+11:00

A question was asked about focaccia after my picture at the end of the previous post. It's not a difficult bread to make at all and can be done by hand or bread machine or mixer.

If you are using a bread machine, please put ingredients into bowl in order your machine likes. Very important, I've seen some spectacular failures through not being careful.

This recipe is easy to follow but there are plenty of others around and a quick search on Google will find them easily.

Last important thing to know. Like most cooking, success in bread depends on proportions. The basic ingredients are flour, liquid, usually water, and yeast. As a general rule, a starting point for flour/water proportions is 100/60. Bear in mind however, that Australian flours, even just the usual purchase from the supermarket, are stronger or harder than flours from the northern hemisphere. More liquid may be needed to get the dough right. Be careful, start smaller and add more water slowly. If dough is too sticky and you need to add more flour, too much will make a tough dough. I find even the weather can make a difference too, especially if the humidity is extreme one way or the other.

Heat oven to around 200° My oven runs quite hot since the fan element was replaced and the fan is fairly savage and can't be turned off, so I use 180°

So, into machine bowl in order for your machine, or into bowl if using a mixer or doing it by hand:

500 gm plain flour or bread flour
320 ml warm water
slosh good oil, 1-2 tablespoons
1.5 teaspoons salt
5 grams dried yeast

If using bread machine set machine to dough setting and let it do the work.

If using mixer or by hand, blend all ingredients till dough forms a ball and leaves sides of bowl.

Knead for about 10 minutes.

Cover bowl with some oiled plastic wrap and leave to rise, around an hour.

All methods. After dough is risen, turn it out and knead gently a few minutes on lightly floured bench or pastry board. Place on baking paper on baking tray in shape desired and cover again with oiled plastic wrap. Leave to rise 20-30 minutes.

Remove wrap and poke fingers into dough to make indents all over. Brush dough with more oil letting some sit in the indents and sprinkle with sea salt and whatever else you like. I've used olives this time and some could have gone into dough as well if I had remembered. Rosemary is particularly nice too. Bake 20-30 minutes checking after 20 minutes. Crust should sound hollow but not be hard.

When ready, turn onto wire rack to cool. I've cut the bread I mad yesterday into meal sized pieces and frozen them in individual sandwich ziplock bags ready for lunches.

Enjoy.

my name is Nigella...

2011-11-22T14:27:00.001+11:00

... and I'm a domestic goddess! Probably not, in fact, definitely not, but just sometimes I can pretend.

I had a delivery of my fruit and vegetable box today and it's all unpacked, put away and dealt with.

No pictures, but I've cooked a bunch of rhubarb, paying careful attention this time to avoid the disastrous burn when I turned my head for thirty seconds last time. It took me days to clean the saucepan of the burnt, crusty mess. I also have apples to cook because there are more than I'll get round to eating. I could have put them with the rhubarb, but I like my rhubarb neat, not diluted with another flavour.

This was a large bunch of English spinach, but I have a lot of green vegetables already and decided to freeze this. So I chopped and washed the bunch, then blanched it with boiling water and refreshed with cold. Here it's sitting in a colander in the half sized sink draining, before I package it in sandwich size ziplock bags. I'd rather eat it fresh, but this will go into something and be fine. Possibly lasagne, possibly something with eggs, perhaps a frittata.

At least it's not wasted and allowed to wilt.

Yesterday I found a recipe for a vegetable tart. It had fennel in it baked, along with other vegetables. While I like fennel, I wasn't going to buy it specifically and the recipe suggested substituting. So here are the raw ingredients before baking. Aubergine, onion, small potatoes and zucchini.

I baked them at about 180° C for about 20 minutes. I need to watch the oven closely as since the fan element was replaced some months ago, it can be a bit savage.

I baked a case from puff pastry, which was pricked very well all over. It still puffed where it wasn't supposed to. Filled it up with the baked vegetables, added shallots, the last of the parsley and some rather ripe Roma tomatoes sliced, and tipped over the topping. The recipe said eggs and crème fraiche. Again, I wasn't going out just for that, so have used a bit of Greek yoghurt. I have another dish with a similar topping and it always works no matter what the dairy product is. Bake again till topping is set. Here's the finished product.

It looks good, it will do three possibly four meals. I even washed things as I went along, so my bubble of domesticity didn't deflate when I looked at the dishes in the sink. I realise Nigella probably doesn't have to do her own dishes. I imagine they are whisked away by some lackey, the minute she puts something down when an episode of her program is being recorded. I speak too soon, the kitchen floor needs some attention.

In between chopping and peeling and baking and the rest, I made some focaccia. This has sea salt and sliced olives on it. I was looking for my rosemary too but must have used it all. I had some for lunch and when it's fully cooled, I'll cut into pieces and freeze individually. All ready for lunch. I even have some smoked salmon in the fridge to go on it.

Spring is well and truly here and summer is on the way, although it's pleasantly cool today. My fruit delivery had good bananas in it and nectarines, rhubarb, and peaches too as well a s more prosaic fruit.

mandevilla

2011-11-21T14:34:00.001+11:00

So I've missed another day. I'm actually quite relaxed about this and not worried. When I did Blogtoberfest a couple of times, I really felt pressure, applied by me to me, to make sure I posted every day. This time I decided no pressure. All effort made but too bad if I miss a day. I'm competitive but compete against myself. When doing assignments and exams there was a minimum mark below which I would not let myself go. Mind you, that mark was always in the High Distinction range! I didn't worry about others' marks, but mine had to be in the realms acceptable to me. But this time round, no pressure and here we are November 21, not many days till December.

This mandevilla flower was given to me by my mother, possibly about ten years ago. It's moved three times recently as I have. It had been at DIL's but her thumbs are brown and when the weather began to get hot, she was horrified it might die, so she brought it over. It's a climber but as it's in a pot it has not grown much at all, perhaps some stems are about 1.5 metres. It was healthy looking but not really happy. It's been here about three weeks and has already decided this is home and it's produced about a dozen flowers. It probably gets more regular water than it did at DIL's.

This nodding violet or whatever its real name is came from a cutting I took from a holiday house at Pearl Beach many years ago. Lots of cuttings have come from that piece and this is growing around the base of the mandevilla. It doesn't take much to keep this plant happy. A bit of sunshine and some water.

My Transatlantic shawl grows, but slowly. I'm very happy with it but will do some more as I have plenty of wool.

church fete

2011-11-19T20:43:00.001+11:00

Just a very short entry tonight. I've been out most of the day in the heat with several conflicting engagements. As I was still awake early this morning, I'm tired and am going to bed early.

The Anglican church I attend had a fete today. There weren't many there when I arrived fairly early so I hope the number picked up later. I bought a couple of second hand books, a Ruth Rendell pack for a son and a Jackie French story for one of my grandchildren.

The inner-west parish originally had two churches in two suburbs but in the 1970s one was sold and there are now units on the site. A small chapel with the same name was built in the main church and given the name of the smaller church and that is what is shown here. I think the windows were from the original church. We have much larger, very beautiful windows in the main church. The church itself, 1880s construction, is through the wooden door to the left. The group here was playing for those having morning tea in the hall next door.

We have a very old organ which has just been restored at great cost, it's unique in Australia. Until recently we ran a programme for many in the area. Lots of people with mental illness live around here. The programme gave them an address for mail, very cheap food, access to doctors, free legal advice from pro bono solicitors, and a safe place to meet. An op shop is in the main street of Newtown and helps support such things. There are many artists the largest population of those classing themselves as such in Australia apparently, lots of Goths and a large number of Greens and environmentalists, not mention those who call themselves Anarchists. (Interesting to note that their book shop was well fortified with bars and chains on the windows and doors. Apparently anarchy is ok, so long as it doesn't touch them.)

photoblog today

2011-11-18T08:56:00.001+11:00

I've been doing a bit of knitting each day and the transatlantic shawl is progressing. Slowly. Better I suppose than regressing.

Some photos. The first is of local shopping centre when I sat down and ordered a coffee the ceiling lights in section I was in went out. The stores were all lit and a few downlights hadn't gone out. I was concerned my coffee might be delayed with power gone, but all was well.

I liked the way these big lights stood out in the semi-gloom.

The man in blue shirt was one of a group of elderly men seated around an enormous square table. Most had glasses of Turkish coffee which they sipped slowly. A couple let strings of amber worry beads feed through their fingers as they listened to the conversation and nodded their head in agreement. The tables are newish and so are such groups. Marrickville shops, not the Metro, have many spaces where such groups gather and pass the time of day, but I haven't seen them here before.

Here's one of the smoke from the big controlled burn by the RFS at West Head the other day. We did not get much smoke where I was but this was interesting. It was very windy and I thought that the smoke would be more widely dispersed. However, here it's in layers and fairly compact. To my left, further west , there was more a pall of smoke. All caused I guess by the local geography and its effects on the wind.

I don't think I've shown this before. My membership, unsigned I note, in the Argonauts' Club. I was an avid listener to this and tried to never miss an evening. I did not even realise that Mum had kept this till I found it a few weeks ago. DIL bought me a tape of excerpts from the show some years ago and I enjoyed it. I imagine my son probably still has means to play a cassette and I could upload it to computer and make a CD ROM from it. Humour, stories, serials, songs, and contributions from listeners who worked their way to gain the Golden Fleece and Bar for sterling service to the club.

And this is really showing my age! I remember as a young child listening in the mornings to the Kindergarten of the Air with Ida Elizabeth Jenkins and other presenters. This was the forerunner to Playschool, still the best of such programs in my opinion.

going bananas

2011-11-17T16:08:00.000+11:00

Cindy challenged me to come up with the goods with the bananas after I left a comment about whizzing them up on her post about yoghurt icypoles. So when I was fruitlessly searching local shops for icypole moulds, I remembered to buy bananas. I wasn't at all sure how the experiment would go because I like bananas barely off green in colour, just a tinge of gold on them and certainly no brown flecks at all. I'm told it works with riper bananas as well, but they are not for me at all.

I came home and sliced up two large bananas to freeze before I had even considered getting lunch. Picture here shows them on baking paper after several hours in the freezer. It's not a good picture, I need to do some research on avoiding the lens shape in close-ups. I've had it happen before and I've cropped the photo here to avoid most of it. Still almost all the bits can be seen.

Into the food processor. I used the bigger metal cutting blade. The smaller plastic mixing blade seemed too small to mix properly. I might give that a go another time. I'd also try a stick mixer as I reckon doing it in a narrow diameter, deeper container would work well.

I was surprised when I stopped it first. It almost resembled rubbing in crumbs for pastry. I had been using the pulse control on the food processor.

I switched to a constant low speed and stopped several times to scrape everything down. Then I upped the speed just a bit and added about a tablespoon of neat Buderim Ginger Refresher Cordial. I saw where someone used lemonade. I don't drink such things so made do with the ginger as I thought those flavours would go well together. Having done this once, I think perhaps any liquid would work. Cream might be really nice or rum if you are so inclined. I'm not. Even water would probably work.

Then another few pulses and this is what I got. Actually, this is less than I got. There were several more spoonfuls which I ate straight from the food processor bowl.

My lunch had been quite light, so this was afternoon tea. I would have like a stronger ginger flavour so might try a bit of grated fresh ginger in it next time. Some cinnamon on top would be nice and a dash of vanilla would be a pleasant change.

The texture was very pleasant, like a soft serve icecream but a bit thicker and heavier. I wonder if the type of liquid, if any, which is added would change the texture.

So there you are. It works well and tastes good. Icecream for anyone and especially for those needing dairy or gluten free products. Extra fruit too in day's rations.

I can see clearly now...

2011-11-16T14:34:00.000+11:00

...now the rain has gone. Or since I bought new specs.

I've had my old glasses since before I left my husband. I think they were probably six or seven years old. I've been contemplating a new pair for a while as I could tell they were not doing as good as job as I needed. Last week, I was at local shopping centre and on an impulse went into a store to try on frames. In about five minutes, I had chosen two pairs, one a back-up in case multifocals with different zones did not fit in the preferred style.

When I went to counter I was told they had a vacancy in twenty minutes for an examination, so I grabbed it. I had been looking for the store I knew and couldn't find it. Apparently it was taken over and while this was SpecSavers, they still had on record my details from that time. All I needed to do was update phone and address.

I was back in the same place this morning when a message came through on my phone that glasses had just been unpacked. I was actually almost outside the shop.

I'm really happy with these new glasses. The new script is brilliant and I can see how much I must have been missing for at least a year. They are comfortable, although right now I'm getting used to the wider ear piece which I can sense outside my normal line of vision. The other pair had a much narrower earpiece. They have multifocal lenses which I have used for years. Transition lenses, similarly used for many years. Anti-glare coating which my last pair had. Last pair, six r seven years ago cost over $900.These were around $550 with all the same features.

They totally update my image, particularly when new hair colour is taken into account. I'm not fashion conscious very much at all but am pleased with the new frames.

missed a day

2011-11-15T08:37:00.001+11:00

I missed a day at NaBloPoMo. I've been trotting along quite reasonably and not letting any pressure get to me. That was one reason I didn't do Blogtoberfest. However, this morning, I realised I missed a day.

I put that down to heat affected brain. Well, that's my excuse. It was 38° C here yesterday which is very hot for this area. I expect that further west, not so much here.

I had some things to deliver to my brother so went into the city by bus. I'm glad I allow time for the vagaries of the buses here. This one was nine minutes early! Late often, but early and by that much? It would have been quite possible that the next was late by the same amount. Found his office and sat in foyer in air conditioned comfort.

We had lunch together and I walked back to Town Hall where fortunately there was only a minute to wait for the bus. It was an old bus and quite hot. Two blocks down the road from my stop the bus broke down. As I said it was an old bus, very rattly and generally run down. The folding front doors refused to close. The driver lifted and banged and opened and shut the back door, but front door remained open. The bus would not go with the door open, so we all piled out, fortunately into the shade of a shop awning.

I wondered what to do. I really could have walked home. However, there's no shade at all in those couple of blocks and it was very hot. I felt guilty about it, but when an empty cab came up the side street, I got in. It took about two minutes to get home and cost me $6.50. I guess most of that was flag fall charge. Extravagant really, but I just could not face the walk home in the sun and the heat.

cursted and yogut

2011-11-13T15:59:00.001+11:00

One group of grandchildren was camping with their parents and friends this weekend.

This is the shopping list of one of the children who's in third class. I note her spelling is well behind her abilities in maths where she understands and practises concepts and ideas well beyond what is expected of her age. She's always been that way.

I also find the foods listed puzzling. They do not eat many lollies at all. Sweetness comes from fruit, usually. She's one of the two girls who are coeliac. Well she definitely is, and her younger sister's gluten intolerant but not yet coeliac diagnosed.

She hates GF bread, although eats a little of the bread her mum and dad make and leave before baking in the fridge for up to a week. That alters the dough structure so it's more acceptable. The "cursted" may be OK, depending on what it's made from. "Yogut" should be OK, but some brands have additives she can't have.

What I really find strange is that she's very particular about what she eats and has been for a while. She knows the difference something with gluten makes to the way she feels, possibly even landing her in the hospital with severe stomach cramps.

2011-11-12T08:10:00.000+11:00

It seemed fitting to be writing this entry today, even though I'll schedule it for tomorrow to be published. Today is Remembrance Day, 11/11/11.

I found five tapestries in amongst Mum's stuff which my sister sent down. These were all done by my Dad who incidentally was in Army Intelligence in WW II, so another remembrance of him.

Dad was in a nursing home for eleven years before his death some thirteen years ago He had Alzheimers for 12-15 years before going into the nursing home. That would make the tapestries probably 25-30 years old.

Dad did all the sewing when I was a child. His mother had been a seamstress and worked many years for the original Children's Hospital at Camperdown, mending tears in sheets and nurses uniforms and things like that. He learnt to sew. He used an early knitting machine although I don't remember much of its output. He made all my clothes, leaving mum to sew on buttons and turn up hems. She hated even that much sewing. He even sewed a bit of my wedding dress for me.

He had a standing frame for tapestries and spent evenings doing them.

I have had these two framed as Christmas presents for my brother and sister who know nothing of this blog so I think I'm safe publishing the pictures. Lynne took me to a place at Penrith where she has had such things and cross stitch framed for years with good results. They were very helpful there in choosing mounts and frames and Lynne says she has always had good service there. I'm very happy with the way they have turned out. Apologies for the quality. They are wrapped in cellophane which has wrinkled and I am leaving it on as they are a gift.

106 years and still knitting!

2011-11-11T07:55:00.000+11:00

I saw news of a man who was 106 years old and still knitting. He lives at home and mostly looks after himself. "He knits," said the newsreader, " and credits knitting with keeping his brain active." Evidence of his knitting could be seen in the many rugs he had made which covered the lounge and other chairs. He said he knitted every day.

Yesterday I went to my grandchildren's school for Grandparents' Day. Lots of people there, more each year, so the principal said. Each group of classes performed an item and we looked in the class rooms.

My son is still off work after the mugging, although he's improving, so he picked me up from the station. School is in the western suburbs and I don't know my way around there well.

After morning tea, I made my way out to Penrith where Lynnehad taken me a couple of weeks ago to have tapestries framed. They were ready to be picked up. I'm really happy with the results and may try a couple of photos later. Not sure how they'll turn out as each is wrapped in cellophane.

Right now, installers for my airconditioner are due. They were supposed to be here two days ago, but had a job to finish which had been interrupted by rain last week. I'm having it in the bedroom only so I can use it on those nights when sleep is hard because of the heat. I can cope during the day and we almost always have a breeze here.

it was a dark and stormy night

2011-11-10T07:22:00.000+11:00

It was indeed a dark and stormy night. Hang on, this is November and it wasn't yet 5:00 pm.

After a very hot day on Tuesday, the storm moved in again. We missed the worst here on Monday night but it was a cracker of a storm on Tuesday afternoon. It arrived almost without warning and lights came on everywhere. Huge claps of thunder and I wondered if my computer was OK. For very many years I've been used to the computers in the house being on a separate circuit to anything else and equipped with heavy duty surge protector. However, all seems well.

I set my camera to the multiple photos setting and snapped half a dozen in a few seconds as I moved across the screen. The last shows how heavy the rain was, particularly when the time is taken into account.

Things cleared up for a while but we had it return twice but not with such severity.

what a surprise

2011-11-09T15:00:00.000+11:00

I was not long home this afternoon from taking refuge in the shopping centre away from drills outside and ill-temperd smoke alarms outside my front door. When the buzzer rang.

It was my ever so not friendly Australia Post courier. When I went downstairs I found a large heavy package to sign for. I'm very glad I was home to take delivery. I wouldn't want to deal with this by collecting at the Post Office.

I am not due any orders so wondered what it was. A gift from the company which deals with Kitchenaid appliances, not the retailer but the wholesaler. I'd seen some mail in my Spam folder lst week. Gmail is fairly good with diverting spam and I knew I hadn't ordered anything, so ignored it.

It was this cutlery set which feels really good in the hand. Eight pieces of everything plus salad servers and teaspoon which aren't shown in the picture. Separate soup spoons and both dessert forks and spoons and bread and butter knives. I left behind a very classy and comfortable set when I walked out, thinking I could get something. Well, I did buy something, but the knives are hard to use.

A lovely surprise.

ear plugs

2011-11-09T07:13:00.000+11:00

Do you think woollen earplugs might have a niche market? Which would be better, knitted or crocheted?

I may be only joking, but I could have used something all day yesterday. The road is noisy to a degree but no worse than what I've lived with on North Shore of Sydney next to the Pacific Highway.

However yesterday was bad. Down in the parking area outside were several trucks all day. One looked like a small tanker and had a long hose and noisy motor. It worked alongside a huge drill drilling chunks out of the pavement and tarred area. The small tanker was actually a vacuum cleaner. When one hole had been drilled workers moved in with another noisy truck to do something in the hole while the first two appliances moved elsewhere and started over again.

This went on all day apart from a break for lunch. They were forced to stop after 5:00pm when a heavy thunderstorm moved in.

However, the storm brought its own problems. In the courtyard area on each floor are smoke alarms in addition to what is in each apartment. Probably spaced at one outside alarm for every two front doors. Either the storm or a creepy crawly set off not mine but the next one down. Definitely no smoke, no fire. A high pitched scream which lasted over an hour. It then eased slightly and occasionally stopped. But only for about ten seconds before it was off again.

If I had had a stronger broom, I would have given it a good whack. However there are stickers near every alarm warning of electrocution as they are wired in. I did have a substantial pole which would probably have disabled it. The pole was metal and I didn't fancy finding out about the electrocution warning the hard way.

It gradually subsided . I don't know if someone was able to disconnect it or just what action was taken and then there was blissful silence. I had been contemplating sleeping at son's and DIL's which is easily accessible. Then I remembered it's fruit and veg delivery today and I would need to be up very early to get back here just in case delivery came early. I'd just decided I could sleep on sofa bed in spare room with the door shut as an extra layer against the sound when there was quiet.

So 8 ply do you think and multiple sizes? Must get paper and pencil out for a design. LOL.

I actually am still keeping to one post a day for November. This was scheduled for November 8th, but somehow didn't post.

SES week

2011-11-07T16:13:00.001+11:00

I have just seen that from November 7-13 is designated as SES week.

One of my daughters-in-law has been a member for over five years now and I have seen some of what they do. She trains every week for some hours at night and has special compulsory training weekends. There are specific courses for various emergencies and members are examined for their proficiency in handling the emergency.

As safety is important to both the volunteers and those actually involved in the emergency, SES volunteers must operate with what each has been trained to do. So no roof or chainsaw work etc if untrained in those areas. There is even training in driving particular vehicles, although the volunteer may already hold an ordinary license.

When the call goes out for help. out come the volunteers and they usually stay till no longer needed. If emergency is on a large scale, then help from other divisions is called in. DIL spent a long time on house roofs after a huge storm some years ago. They fixed an extraordinary number of tarpaulins and plastic sheeting over leaking roofs. She's been out for days in floods, operating boats, carrying people and supplies etc.

So a huge thank you to all those involved here. Dirty, dangerous work often, performed for others. Thank you too to all involved in similar work, ambulance people and paramedics, fire engine crews, RFS volunteers, St John Ambulance volunteers, police, electricity workers restoring power after storms. I'm sure there are some I haven't covered.

the pen is mightier than the computer

2011-11-06T13:58:00.000+11:00

There is a list of prompts at Nablopomo, (link in sidebar) to use if needed. As I'm knitting on only one project at the moment, I thought I would see what was there. Must beat pictures of endless repetitions of stripes and increases on a shawl.

The prompt which shows for today, actually yesterday, since we are ahead in dates here, was a question about preferences. Do you prefer to write with a pen or the computer?

Now truly, just what sort of a prompt is that? Both have their uses but for speed and convenience, then surely a computer is in front. When I came back to academic assignments, I found they needed to be typed. I can remember sitting in front of the computer and not being able to get started. I think that may have been because I used to start at the very beginning, like Sound of Music and work through to the end. Writing with a pen meant I needed to be quite organised in my thoughts and arguments. Computer word processing made the nitty-gritty of corrections easy. Supposedly.

I learnt to be able to jump around a bit and then found that I could write with a computer after all. However my writing also depended on handwritten ideas and thoughts. I kept several pages for assignments in the back of my folder and when I thought of something, saw a reference, whatever, I made a note. I started this page or these pages as soon as assignments were known. I think that much would then tick over in my mind. Come the actual writing and I would go through them. Crossing out bits that really were irrelevant, organising ideas, pushing an argument fell neatly into place for me. With the skeleton done, I could work on fleshing things out.

I hated doing bibliographies for assignments. Here a computer made life easy. If I followed my ideas of course. At the time there was not a lot of help around on the net for such things. I made myself a template in Word and every time I read something, I would enter it that day in the bibliography template. With all the details needed and the right punctuation and spaces etc.. It was easy to update and, come the final full stop on my essay, the bibliography was easily checked and added. This saved hours and hours.

I said that corrections are easy using a word processor and then added "supposedly". I'm sure we've all seen errors not picked up by the spell checker, there/their and similar. We've probably all seen the substitution of an inappropriate word too.

I spent most of the night once typing up notes from a visiting lecturer for the many students whose native language was not English. In a three hour lecture, they had been unable to keep up. I had about 5000-6000 words typed and I was tired. Ran everything through the spellcheck and made some corrections. I printed out a copy and took it for photocopying the next day to hand out. A lecturer friend of mine who had been giving a class during the visiting lecture's class asked for a copy. As I left the office I could hear much laughter. She pointed out my late night mistake. All through those many double spaced pages, the checker had substituted "juiciness" for "Jewishness."

If anyone is interested in doing some writing and runs a Mac, then I'd recommend Scrivener which is very good. Not free but well supported and updates usually are free. It runs storyboards for organisation, folders, research areas and photography too. It has the ability to draw on any of these and and incorporate stuff into a whole. Much more. There is a free trial. It's not a word processor like Word or similar. It's a writing programme. There may be stuff as good for a PC but I haven't heard of anything.

I learnt to write in an old fashioned class room with inkwells which were filled every day before school. We used government issues pens with replaceable nibs. If the nib was damaged it easily caused a blot on the page. My hand writing was not good. I recently found my primary school reports which had been kept by Mum. All high marks except for writing where I usually had 60%. Comments were always made about my book work needing to be neater. One said that I needed to slow down my brain so my hand could catch up!

High school saw a graduation to a fountain pen and my hand writing writing improved a bit. I well remember sitting for the leaving certificate, now the HSC, and coming out of an exam with an aching elbow and cramped hand. Physical writing is certainly harder than using a typewriter.

Recently I have become nostalgic about fountain pens. I had a Platignum and a beautiful Sheaffer, a gift from my much loved grandmother. Lost, I suppose. I found a Conway Stewart of my Mum's but it's too far gone to be easily fixed. I shouted myself a Lamy and am enjoying using it. Once again notes and ideas, although I've written some cards and a couple of old fashioned snail mail letters. It felt good to use.

So horses for courses, I suppose, but the feel of the fountain pen is lovely. Then again, a computer has its uses too.

transatlantic progress

2011-11-05T07:03:00.000+11:00

A couple of photos today. I was up quite early today and had washing out before 7:00. This picture of the sky was taken not long after 6:00 am. It's sunrise about 5:45 now, but there was still quite a bit of cloud around, so the clouds are just beginning to colour from the sun. I hope the sun comes out properly so the washing dries quickly. I've changed my bed too as I must have scratched my leg somehow and there was a bit of blood I noticed as I was making it. So off came the bedding and all was changed.

I once saw someone ask what would they do if they had loads of money. One sign of luxury for me would be to to have someone make the bed everyday with fresh sheets. Of course, I wouldn't have to deal with the laundry side of that either. So a lovely fresh bed to look forward to tonight.

The other picture is progress on the transatlantic shawl. It is suggested that the ends of the shawl could be woven through the enormous buttonholes. I have the last buttonhole to make, the smallest of the three, in another four rows. I wasn't planning on making the buttonholes, I was quite happy with the centre detail of the shawl, but decided to be different. Why not do them? Why not indeed. No good reason, so there they are. The buttonhole edge will have a crochet chain to stabilise it and to add a bit of contrast. I'll do that at the end.

mastercrafts

2011-11-04T10:00:00.000+11:00

Blogger decided for me to give me a new look to the blog. I carefully saved my template and settings. I've been caught out before in this sort of thing. Then I started exploring. I didn't find anything I really, really was happy with, so decided to restore things while I looked some more.

Alas and alack! My carefully restored template was no longer acceptable. According to the comment made, it had errors in it. I'm surprised it worked for so long !

I'll leave this for a while, it may grow on me and then I'll have another look and experiment a bit with colours etc. I know a bit of HTML and did design a few basic sites, but that was years ago.

So, to my title, Mastercrafts . I've been watching this series with Monty Don at 6:00 pm on Channel 2. Last one is next week, November 10th. The craft featured in that will be stone masonry.
Each week three apprentices are shown the basics of a different craft by a master in that craft. Tonight's was weaving. In a few weeks of intensive tuition they learn the basics and then produce a piece judged by other experts. I've been amazed at what can be produced. Tonight's was on weaving. Beautiful cloth, although I could easily identify with the one apprentice who had major problems getting around the working of the loom.
The crafts are centuries old ones, thatching, woodwork, stained glass. The show gives glimpses of old examples. The tapestries woven and shown tonight were breathtaking in their skill and beauty and also in the time and effort expended now to restore colours and damage.
I've always liked the feeling of knitting as being connected with the past. Socks and shawls especially nurture that feeling for me. Old patterns are being restored and followed and re-interpreted for today.
The craft continues and we hand it on.

glorious madness?

2011-11-03T08:30:00.000+11:00

The logo for Nablopomo talks of glorious madness.

Well I don't know if this is glorious madness, or just plain madness. I miss gardening and I miss picking and eating stuff from the plants. I've always managed something. I saw these small pots in Kmart so bought these. I've had both great success and dismal failures with similar pots in the past, but for $12 for the three, I thought I'd give them a go.

The tomato plants supposedly are 8" high. Not very tall. The chillies I can use. For just one person I use quite a bit of chilli. My fruit and vege box always has one about the size of my middle finger and I always use it.

I do have a balcony. It faces north and I also have two wide, northfacing window sills to use as well. The balcony does not get as much full on sun as it did in the winter when the sun was lower. However it gets sun for almost all the day. So I'm optimistic about this little venture. I'll have to get a soluble fertiliser for them, probably a sea weed type.

nablopomo

2011-11-02T14:28:00.000+11:00

I've been enjoying looking around at the blogtoberfest entries. Not all of them by any means. I took part in this several times but missed last year and this deliberately. Last year I was in the throes of selling a house. Sale was scheduled for late in October and this year, well, this year has been a bit of a write-off in many areas. In one sense I missed the discipline but was sensible enough to realise I could do without the pressure of a daily post.

However, for quite a while, I've been thinking about nablopomo which is running through Blogher. Many people have mentioned it and some have done the month in a different month. So I've been over, signed up and made a promise to myself that I will try. Nothing more than try. I will try to post each day, but if I don't, I will try to not allow pressure to get to me. As I use my camera everyday, some will be photo posts. I may even try to revamp this blog a bit. I've had the same layout for years now.

I set out this morning for the mid-week meeting at church. The bus was very late and when I reached Broadway where I change buses, I still had a wait for the other bus and at least ten minutes in the bus. It was two minutes before meeting was due to start.

So I went to Kmart to look for presents for grandchildren. This year I have plenty of ideas for adults and almost nothing for the young ones. My youngest grandchild is a boy who turned 6 mid-year. He just loves Lego. When I saw this, I grabbed it. There weren't many there and I know that things like this disappear quickly. Even though he can't read all the instructions well, he's always been able to follow the diagrams. Just the opposite to me, actually. This just looked like him. One down, more to go.

transatlantic

2011-11-01T15:01:00.001+11:00

I finally frogged my Catkin shawl. It was getting to me and I just couldn't see what I was doing that was wrong. I had had Stephen West's book of patterns for a while and had almost decided on the Transatlantic Shawl when I saw a couple finished or being knitted.

I pulled the Catkin out and rewound the wool and started. They use similar techniques of slipping a stitch for a couple of rows. This one however is very easy to follow. It is written so that the principles of the pattern are given, rather than actual umbers for each row. That means it can be as big or as small as wished. I have a reasonable amount of wool so will try to use it all. It's written for sport wool but I had nowhere near the amount needed and I did have plenty of this thinnish Cleckheaton 8 ply. As I have just been through my stash and found how much wool I really have (eek!), I decided to go with the 8 ply.

Thank you for the good wishes about my son. He's getting better. Doctor gave him another two weeks off work from last Thursday. The scan confirmed the x-ray, that there was no fracture to the skull. However, I stopped for a coffee last Sunday as I was very early for church. Man at next table to me had a skateboard and I was horrified when he picked it up and I saw just what was underneath. It's been so long since my sons had boards I had forgotten just what they were like underneath. I felt sick as I visualised the axle assembly being wielded on head and am very thankful he's alive.

I've mentioned before that I bought a DSLR a few months ago. A friend gave me the standard lens used on such cameras as he had two. I've been enjoying it and use it almost every day. I've been posting on Project 365 and have now managed to post for over half a year. However, the lack of much of a zoom was frustrating me. I did some research and asked advice and looked on the net. Then I went down to Digital Camera warehouse at Canterbury near me. They are also in Melbourne and Brisbane. They also sell on the net and have a comprehensive web site. Canterbury has good prices and great, helpful staff who don't laugh at a novice's questions. Friend did not come with me so I was out on my own to make a decision. He's a photographer from long back and has a range of equipment.

I bought a big zoom lens 18-270 mm, and have had a good time experimenting. I was on roof this morning trying to take a photo of Bunnings clocktower down the road from me in the old Peek Freans factory. The other day the wind blew branches as a frame around the clock, but it was not co-operating this time. I moved the camera slightly and saw I was being watched attentively by a currawong. It opened its mouth and sang to me. I was immediately taken back as I am every time I hear that sound to Pearl Beach on the central coast. Early in the morning, sunrise, currawongs, shiny light and the soft sound of the water on the sand. It has always had a calming effect on me and today was no different. I know currawongs kill and eat small birds, but their song brings serenity to me with its memories.

Thanks, Lynne

2011-10-27T11:10:00.002+11:00

A good day yesterday. Lynne met me at the station near her and very kindly took me to the place she has used for many years for framing and blocking cross stitch. The place near here which I have used before seems to have disappeared. I was pleased to have a recommendation of the quality of their work and I could see from their samples that care had been taken.

I had five woollen tapestries I discovered when I unpacked the stuff from Mum. They had been done by Dad. I'm not sure how old they are. He died just on thirteen years ago and had Alzheimer's for about the same length of time before that. I decided I would have two blocked and framed to give my brother and sister for Christmas. The woman in the shop was amazed they were in such good condition especially when we worked out how old they must be. That would be my mother's storage and care. She was meticulous about such things.

We spent quite a bit of time choosing colours for the mount and then a frame to suit. Thanks, Lynne, I'm looking forward to seeing the finished article and I'm quite sure neither my brother nor sister will have any idea what's in their parcel.

After I had finished we went for lunch and a chat. Lynne and I have had email correspondence for quite a while now but have not met before. We sat and talked about all sorts of things over lunch, particularly our grandchildren. Very pleasant. Then she directed me back through the maze of the shopping centre towards the train station and we parted. The centre is divided in two parts and while I vaguely knew one area, I was a bit lost. A train came in as I came down the stairs so I had a good day as far as transport was concerned too.

I walked past a large fruit market and saw these berries on sale quite cheaply. I use frozen berries on my morning muesli but was happy to buy all these. The raspberries were $2.90 a punnet where they are often double that and I don't buy them. All the strawberries and some I ate yesterday as well, a kilo, cost $5 and I've inspected them carefully. All good. They are a splash of colour on a fairly grey day here.

So thanks, Lynne. It was a good day.

Edited to add: Thanks for good wishes and concern about my son who was mugged. He's making progress but is still off work. His headache has eased most of the time, but if he touches the wound the skateboard axle made on his head, it returns immediately, very strongly. He is to have a scan to see if there is something the original x-ray missed. Doctor seems to think nothing will show up and it will just be time to heal. He's also had some counselling for the trauma.

baby steps

2011-10-23T11:21:00.002+11:00

Baby steps right now for babies. I did the booties a while ago. They are a fun easy pattern to knit. However, I've only just bought some ribbon for them. The hat is the free pattern from Jussi, called Aviatrix. It's an easy pattern too. This is newborn size and I completed it all bar one strap in an evening. My fingers began to ache or that would have been finished too. Now I just need an address to send them to in Canada.

Jussi's pattern is lovely to use. It covers a multitude of sizes and about four different weights of wool too. It's well set out and easy to follow. The hat relies on short rows for shaping.

I think I have just about everything sorted now and have got rid of all the bulky rubbish. I would normally be at church now but am at home. I went downstairs to front entrance here to find the inside door handle of the security lock on the floor. I have no idea how that happened but I think it will need a visit from an emergency licensed locksmith to fix. Only licensed locksmiths who are registered with police can deal with those locks or the keys for them.

There's a door on the other side of the building but that involved a much longer walk around to the front and then across road to bus stop. I found it hard to believe but the bus was early. I'm used to late, up to fifteen minutes, although I don't rely on that fact, but early?

My son and three grandchildren were here for dinner last night. He's been miserable and his wife was on a compulsory SES training weekend. I suggested I'd mind the girls while he and his son went to movies. I'd been on Friday with a friend to see Johnny English Reborn. Not what you'd call a great movie in many senses, but friend and I had a good laugh all through and found it a good stress relief. No bad language or nasty scenes for a 12 year old, but lots of action and chases. He enjoyed it.

Son enjoyed it too but I was concerned. He has a nasty head injury. He was mugged in the city and hit hard over head with the axle side of a skateboard. Middle of last week. He was on Panadeine forte but his own doctor prescribed another much stronger pain killer as the codeine can raise pressure inside skull and it's sore enough already without adding to it. We were fortunate that the injury was not worse, it could easily have been. Also thankful that the mugger was interrupted by someone coming into the toilet area where it happened. Son lost wedding bands, designed by him and made specially, his watch and his work phone. Another minute or so and more would have gone.

almost there

2011-10-18T11:18:00.000+11:00

Another reason for little knitting has been the unpacking and sorting of my spare bedroom. The mess was really getting to me. It was a mammoth job and I would have appreciated DIL's help. She's very good at this sort of thing and having someone to talk to is a help too. I've just vacuumed the floor in this room and feel much better being able to see the floor!

The room is basically done now. At least what I can do. The blind is not easy to use and the one in my bedroom is also partly broken. That will be next on my list. I can't fix them myself. I have some boxes of yarn on the floor still. I intend to do a major clean up of yarn. Some books are still sitting on top of books in shelving. Desk is a disgraceful mess and there is some filing to do. That won't take me long. It's just making myself do it. I still have a few broken up boxes to take downstairs but nothing like the number from when unpacking books.

I've also been unpacking stuff from mum. Some photos are in previous post. I described this to a friend as somewhat melancholic. He understood what I meant because on the same day he'd been going through some of his dad's stuff. Melancholy is not a bad thing at times. It produced some reflection and opened up areas which I have kept tightly closed for a long time. A good thing perhaps.

I did not even know Mum still had these. Mine. Rather sweet, I think. I think my sister must have had them framed when Mum was in the nursing home. They have mum's name and room number written on the back. My small granddaughters were very taken with them. One is a pink girl and the other likes purple but will take pink too.

Speaking of framing, I found five, originally four, woollen tapestries from my dad. The workmanship is fine although he was not skilled at tapestry. He used to do it on a standing wooden frame. My brother does it tapestry too. I decided I wanted to frame a couple and give to my brother and sister at Christmas. Then I found that the people who used to be nearby who did quite good blocking and framing are no longer there. So I did a search and didn't find much anywhere close at all.

I did find one place at the end of one trainline sort of close to where Lynne from Never too Hot to Stitch lives. Not close as would be thought of in inner-west but I know from my sister who lived many years fairly close that even 40 minutes drive in places like that is regarded as local.

I emailed Lynne to ask if she knew anything of this place. Then came a lovely surprise. She lives close to the other trainline. She offered to pick me up at the station and take me to where she has had cross stitch framed in the past. She's very happy with the jobs she's had done there, but it's a bit awkward to get to from the station. Then we would have coffee or lunch. Lovely. She and I have had an email correspondence for a while but have never met. Just lovely. I'm looking forward to it.

Mum wasn't a knitter. In fact, she hated handwork of any sort. When I was a child, my dad made my clothes and mum reluctantly sewed buttons and hems. A knitted jumper started for me was finished by one grandmother eight years later for my sister. She did start to knit later in life as therapy for very bad arthritis in her hands. However she did only beanies and some scarves. I was surprised to find two knitting bags, one I made for her and the other plastic quilted. There were odds and ends of wool but I threw out most of that as it was moth eaten. To my surprise, there were several dozen needles. They didn't come from her mum who was a crocheter who hated knitting. Some she'd bought herself, I recognised the brand and there was pack of Beehive needles, possibly 6 mm, still in a wrapper marked 0.88 cents. There were loads and loads of heavy steel dpns, most extremely rusted and corroded. However I found these in the picture too. A small tool with ivory handle. The two pairs of needles on the left are hard to recognise. They are quite rigid with almost no flexibility. Metal and quite golden in colour. The pair on the left are lovely but I won't be knitting with them. Possibly and old fashioned size 12 or 13. They look like ivory but aren't. Strong again and unbending. I think they are metal with a coating on them. Some of the coating on the point of one has chipped off, it's hard, leaving a super sharp point which would be too painful on my fingers to use. They would soon be raw. What I really liked however was the silver cap. It is silver and each end has been engraved in a pretty swirly pattern. No size marked or any other identification given.

And finally one more picture. Mum's fountain pen which needs attention. I've been admiring pens lately but don't think I'll get this fixed. It's very light. I like pens to be not necessarily chunky but solid and heavy in my hand. I usually put the cap on the end when I am writing with such a pen to make it heavier and to provide some balance in my hands. There was probably a pencil with this, but I don't remember ever seeing it. It's quite a pretty little pen but the lever used in filling it has corroded and is very stiff to use.

token knitting

2011-10-15T15:35:00.003+11:00

Lots of photos today, but here's some token knitting as my Catkin shawl is still in timeout. A friend in Canada has an almost 2 year old and will have another child in a couple of weeks. Booties are already done for that one and I think I may have a baby hat in the present basket. I decided to make some socks for the older boy. I'm right out of practice for such a size and my youngest grandchild was a big boy, so what I did for him was no help. I've finally seen an up-to-date photo, so have a reasonable guess as to size. The yarn is Heirloom Jigsaw, bought for socks when grandson's favourite colour was orange. Thank goodness he now likes blue better. Orange is hard on the eyes to knit and blue yarn is much easier to find.

Here's lunch. Vegetables are in the loaf and the fruit is on the plate. I found the loaf recipe and made it. Next time I'll spread it into a bigger tin as it has made a very solid loaf. This slice is at lest four centimetres thick. There is mashed potato and zucchini in the loaf, although I used kumara. Cheese, oil are also there. It took well over an hour to cook and is quite dense although the flavour is good. Slices of pre-boiled potato, more cheese and zucchini are on the top. The mango and eight kiwifruit are part of my fruit and vegetable delivery so I've been enjoying a taste of spring at lunchtime all week. And the Saturday newspaper spread untidily on a chair. I can't quite crop it out.

Now that I have my books about 90% sorted and most of the amazing mess from them cleaned up and over twenty boxes taken downstairs, I've started on the things my sister sent down from Mum. Some I threw out. I didn't recognise quite a bit of it and there was no monetary value in holey tea towels and similar. I have a suspicion she could not make the decision herself so passed it on to me. I thought I was OK about doing this unpacking,but in Burwood yesterday I bought a cup of coffee and then found myself eating a piece of very rich caramel slice. Comfort food. The old fashioned one made with real chocolate on top and the caramel from condensed milk.

I have four of these beautiful plates. My grandmother was born in 1897 and these plates were a wedding present to her great, great grandmother. I have no idea of that time but am guessing with those "greats" that it easily could be in the 1830s. The flowers are beautifully done. There was also a set of lovely bread and butter plates which belonged to the Cox family who made the road over the Blue Mountains in 1813. I think my brother got those. There are no markings on any of the plates so I can't identify them as I have no expertise in that sort of thing at all.

The two perfume bottles I've had for years and I'm emotionally attached to the small bowls. I doubt they have much value but I associate them with a small house in the Blue Mountains and childhood holidays.

The three handled cup in the foreground is a different matter. The colours are rich and sumptuous. When I tried to research more into them a few years ago, I could find mentions of English auctions, but very little more.

There's more information around now and I found a picture of an identical cup. It's made by Royal Crown Derby at their Omaston Road works. These works are still in operation. There's a clear marking on the cup and I found a page of dating marks with a bit of searching. This cup was made in 1911.

Unpacking and clearing up has taken quite a while and I still have stuff to sort. I found my primary school reports. I was a sickly child and regularly had much time off and time in hospital. I remember being sick but was surprised to see that practically every year, I was absent for 12-14 weeks of school. That was the equivalent of a term then. There were three terms/year. Still at the top of the class. When I taught, classes were bigger than now. Classes in my primary school however, had between 46-48 pupils. I noted that in third class, the comment on my English compositions was "original and entertaining." I really wonder what I wrote! Perhaps I found another conclusion to "we arrived home, tired but happy." LOL

sewing

2011-10-12T22:24:00.000+11:00

When I was at Birkenhead Point the other day, I bought three lots of material for some summer clothes. Nothing expensive, just something for shopping or around the house. I bought two patterns, first I've bought in many years. One had a selection of tops, the other had a top, jacket, dress, skirt and long trousers. I set out today to make a toile from one of the fabrics I bought.Just as well I did and hadn't cut into the better material I also bought. Look at the neckline and armholes. Yes, it needs a good press but that won't improve the structural problems. The pattern does not have proper facings given. They are just quite narrow strips cut on the bias. They cut into the piece of material I had after the main pieces and have made some awkward shapes there. By the time the bias strips are hemmed and sewn on, they are very narrow indeed. They need interfacing to avoid the sloppy line left around the neck. I'll trace off the pattern and make proper shaped facings next time. The armhole facings have the same problem as well. I also need to trim some fabric from the vertical section of the armhole and make the depth better too. As for the bust darts - they are almost parallel with the waist line. No support at all for the model and I'm more generously endowed than she is.

While at Birkenhead Point I looked at some sewing machines as I knew my Husqvarna was not working well. I was disappointed with the quality they had. Well known brands but they did not look well made. Knobs did not turn well and smoothly and the entire machine looked cheap and nasty.Now I have not used mine much in the last four years. A couple of pairs of lounge pants for me from Amy Butler book and some easy skirts for the little girls for Christmas a couple of years ago. Not much at all. I was having problems with the stitch length changing and with the tension. Now the tension on this Husqvarna is preset at the factory and should not need adjusting, but it was very poor.

However, today I took it out and had a look. M-H from Witty Knitter,emailed me with a recommendation for someone local to service it. Thanks very much. I've rung them and they do this brand. It looked solid and well built and I know it should work well. Lynne suggested trying a change of needle. So I've done that and it seems at the moment to be working. I will get it serviced as it was bought in 1994 and has never been touched. It could probably use a good cleanout at least. It was expensive then, $900, so I wouldn't want to pay today's equivalent. So thanks too to Lynne.

I'll try adjusting this before I cut out the better material.

I don't eat a lot of meat and I never eat liver by itself but decided I want to make some pate. I bought 500 gm chicken livers and made several small pots. The one in the foreground has been sampled and I've given away another couple of pots.

This one has half a cup of brandy blended into it and a goodly amount of tinned green peppercorns. It tastes good, although I have only a small amount at any one time. The recipe is easy. The worst part is trimming the livers before cooking them lightly. I wore the thin rubber gloves for that bit.

etc. etc.

2011-10-10T16:26:00.000+11:00

A bitty post today with no real cohesive theme.Today I went to Sp*tl*ght at Birkenhead Point. I am still after blinds for my two bedrooms and they had yet another sale announced a day or so ago. The only ones I liked were custom made and I'm beginning to think I might have to go down that track. I've been looking in various sites and online for a couple of months now and not been satisfied. To my surprise, I was over an hour in the shop. I came out with three lots of material for summer tops for me. Nothing special, just something cool and fresh for this summer. That's the problem with stocking up at the one time on clothing. It wears out at the same time. I also looked at sewing machines.My Husqvarna is over fifteen years old. It hasn't had a great deal of use for the last five years. It was expensive when it was bought in 1994, about $900, and it comes with some baggage. I realise now it was a guilt offering, bought to assuage the guilt my then husband felt about something he had done. Now I realise that's something I have to deal with. It's really my baggage.I have done some research and see that that brand and several others all come now from the same stable. I wasn't impressed by the brands in the shop, although they were well known. Many of them looked cheap and nasty and even the better brand was mostly plastic. The knobs felt uncertain and the dials weren't smooth moving. They all had far more stitches than I want. I am not interested in heirloom embroidery or similar. I want basic stitches for woven and knit materials, a good buttonhole and a few other features. I think I will have to get my Husqvarna serviced. When I bought it, the manual said not to adjust the tension. It's not a happy machine. The stitch length is skipping and variable and the tension is occasionally in a knot. Literally.My problem is two fold. I'm not sure where to take it here to get it serviced. It was bought at David Jones in the city. The second problem is that I need to ask DIL to take it for me as I don't have a car and there's no way I'm carting it around without a car. I think a service would probably not be as expensive as buying a machine of the sort I'd like.The picture shows the roof trusses and reflections of the roofing at Birkenhead Point over what used to be an open area.

Here's a beautiful belated birthday present - an amber necklace, made from pieces of amber goodness knows how old. This is amber from the Baltic Sea, but when I did some research, I found that amber has been found fairly recently washed up on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Carpentaria in far north Queensland. There are a couple of commercial sites for it and some scientific sites as well. I find it beautiful, warm to the touch. The beads are not identical, some are fat and others almost flat. There aren't any insects caught in this amber although many of the beads have traces of what could be insect legs or tiny threads of bark or something similar.

It's a good length, neither too short or too long. I like the contrast in times. The necklace made of ancient amber is hanging from my up-to-the-minute LED daylight lamp with its elegant curved design. The second picture shows some of the beads at closer range and if you look carefully, you can see tiny pieces of organic material trapped inside the solidified resin.

I'd love more of this, but I don't wear a great deal of jewellery although I have some lovely pieces and amber is quite expensive. Pieces of just amber can be bought but I would then need to pay for design and making. So I can enjoy this bit and dream of other pieces.

Last week I unexpectedly minded three of my grandchildren when their school holiday child minding arrangements collapsed. I had a frantic call from my son about 10:00 pm wondering if I could have them the next day. I would have preferred to have gone to their place. However I had a delivery booked for somewhere between 8:00 and midday. It arrived at 11:55!

So they arrived here bright and early so son could get to an important meeting at his work. Master 12 wondered if I had a football he could kick around here while we all waited! Well, no!

Three days before, I had ordered two felt brooch kits from Cam at Curlipops. They were intended to be a stocking filler for Miss Nine and her cousin at Christmas. They arrived really quickly so I took them out. Miss Nine is good at many crafts and set to to make her brooch. She quickly cut out the pattern pieces for the petals, traced them onto the felt and cut them out too. Cam's sample has the edges of each petal sewn down with a running stitch, but she decided she like hers so they could bend up like real petals. Her brooch didn't take her long at all.

Miss only just Seven required more help. She needed help cutting out the pattern as the smallest petal has tight curves and I didn't have child sized scissors. Then I helped with the felt too. So the photo shows Miss just Seven wearing her brooch, She was very proud of it and they both liked the colours. I've packaged up the pieces and pattern from these so we could make some more with more felt bought. Miss Nine intends to pin hers to a hairband.

I've just about given up on the catkin shawl. I spent most of yesterday afternoon trying to move the other second section. I had the right number of stitches, I'm accustomed to using a chart. I understand the principle of a pattern repeat marked out with a border on the chart. I've used it in several shawls. I can't get it to work out in real life. I did it about six times and undid it about six times. I think I am going to abandon it and substitute another pattern. Then again, I might just put it in the naughty corner till I forget yesterday's frustrations and have another go.

pass the slipped stitch over

2011-10-09T15:01:00.000+11:00

I was reading Lynne's blog and she mentioned she had been to Dawn's blog Sweet as Cinnamon where readers are asked to give an explanation of their blog name in a giveaway.I've been blogging in various forms for many years now.I had a diary at diary-x and, like many others there was very annoyed when the whole thing crashed and we discovered that the owner of the site had no back-up although we had been told this existed. This was really more a diary than a blog and the entry for the day came at what would be the bottom of the page rather than the top like a blog. This was personal and I'm sorry it's gone. I've learnt my lesson. I run a Mac (RIP Steve Jobs and thanks). I use Time MAchine and an external hard drive and my machine is totally backed up several times a day to the external drive. When that fills, the program starts the back up again at the beginning of the drive. Simple and such a source of peace of mind to me.I started another personal blog at Typepad but that's currently in abeyance. while I make up my mind about paying for another year.At much the same time, I came back to knitting and it wasn't long before I found literally thousands of knitting blogs. Most of these at the time were from the USA. I read eagerly and soon had a long list to read. These were mostly called something cleverly linked to do with knitting, so I cast round (pun unintended ) for a name for the blog I planned. So pass the slipped stitch over was born. I used Blogger and have been through several incarnations of this. I can assure those who have problems now that these are nothing like the turmoil and frustrations the early Blogspot could arouse in me and others.For a long time this was pretty well knitting only, but as my life changed, I began to include other bits and pieces. Knitting, whinges, trial, kindnesses, support, grandchildren have all been part of this. About fourteen months ago I bought my own domain name. I looked for something to express how I was feeling in the name but my favourites were taken. The URL for my blog now mentions the passage of life as I moved from one stage of life to another. I still use Blogger to post to this domain.I no longer feel guilty if I don't have knitting mentioned. To feel this way is silly really, it's my blog to write as I wish. However, I do try to keep track of projects. In fact, writing this entry is taking time I had promised to myself would be devoted to sorting out the next stage of my Catkin shawl. Back to the needles!

eggplant salad

2011-10-04T12:49:00.000+11:00

I've been busy for some time unpacking books and shelving them and am up to unpacking some of the stuff my sister sent down after she had gone through mum's stuff. I'm sorry to say that some of it I haven't seen before, some I have no sentimental attachement to. I wonder if passing it on was all she could do herself at the time. Now I have to get rid of quite a bit.

So there hasn't been much knitting. I haven't had a lot of time to spare and constant unpacking heavy books and throwing out bags of rubbish strained my right wrist, so little knitting. I'm up to the colour change, doing the middle section of Catkin shawl but haven't touched it for the best part of a week. I think I'll make myself a drink when finished here and peruse the next section of pattern carefully. When I printed it out, I had a quick glance and found it confusing, but I was tired at the time and would go no further. Perhaps I've learnt that lesson finally.

I have a box of vegetables delivered. This saves me having to cart heavy stuff home in the bus. It's not cheap but everything is of very good quality and the box is delivered by a cheery fellow who puts it on my kitchen bench. It's probably fairly close to what I would spend anyway. I really get a small box of vegetables which has some fruit in it and for $10 extra, I get a boost of extra fruit. Organic eggs, good oils and cheese, pasta and bread are some of the extras available too.

The box before my latest delivery had eggplant on the list. I really like eggplant. It was missing, so I rang the business, thinking it may have been an oversight. No, not an oversight. He didn't consider the quality at the markets to be up to his standard and had substituted other things. However, he made a note and this time around there was a really beautiful one in the box, although it wasn't listed as a general ingredient for the week.

This is the start of eggplant salad. Chopped eggplant, fried in oil and draining on paper.

Into a bowl went some peppery rocket, some cumin seeds, chopped tomato, and some of the Bulgarian sheep's milk cheese which is the nicest in my opinion. A small box, the one with the green stripe around the lid and the name Kebia. Add in some chopped black olives and some shredded preserved lemon. I used what I had preserved a few weeks ago. I tasted a piece last week and ate a whole piece which I enjoyed, although rinsing would have removed some of the extra salt on it. As you can see, I haven't been too fussy about getting rid of the lemon flesh. I enjoy it and will eat it.

Add in drained and cooled eggplant and here's the finished article with a little extra lemon juice added. I think I'll have some of this with a piece of steamed fish for dinner tonight. The lemony flavours should work well with the fish.

It's hard to make food for just one person, but I'm gradually getting a balance. I don't mind leftovers, but I don't want huge amounts of them and I'd like to be able to freeze some, rather than eating the same food for several days.

I spent some of last Friday and the weekend up the Central Coast with youngest son and his family. His wife is an expert hairdresser and does my hair. I pay her, but it's a better job and cheaper than chancing a salon around here. I trust her judgment but asked her a while ago about another colour as I seemed to be getting more grey! Unheard of at my early age!! Not really.

She said there was still too much colour in brows and general complexion but has now decided it's time. For my birthday she put in lots of blonde foils. I've had loads of compliments about it so she's repeated it. While I was never truly blonde, I was not dark brunette either. This suits me and actually has made me look years younger. I've not been really well for about three months, not really sick, but not right. It's taken a toll and this colour has given me a lift. I still look twice when I see myself in the mirror. It's different but in a good way.

Youngest grandchild was amusing. He'd been in the bush earlier in the week and picked up a tick somehow. It had lodged over his spine and my son took him to the doctor to get it out as it was very firmly embedded. He proudly showed me the little critter which the doctor had given him in a specimen jar. There were no problems and it's healed well.

He also asked me if I would like to hear his SPEECH. His emphasis. As he had speech therapy for a year before he started school, this was to be encouraged. He's also shy, so it was confidence building for him. He had fourteen pieces of paper, numbered and in order. All about his old cat and the two new kittens. Apparently it went down well with his classmates and he was happy. He stood up and basically read from his cue cards, accompanied by a few giggles. School and speech therapy have been good for him. Now he can make himself understood, he's not frustrated any more.

red shoes again

2011-09-24T13:13:00.001+10:00

Last year I bought some beach sandals by Teva. They are extremely comfortable and I enjoy wearing them, but as they can be worn in the surf and sand, they are definitely very casual. I found a pair like this in Kathmandu at Birkenhead Point when I was buying wool at Spitlite's still ongoing sale. ( Does anyone else have the impression this is a fire sale? It's really been going and advertised now for five or six weeks but every few days it changes its name in the TV ads.)

Anyhow, back to sandals. These come in burgundy, stone or black but my size wasn't in stock. My feet are hard to fit properly. The left foot is well over a size different to the right and the arch is fallen. Birkenstocks are heavenly comfortable on the right foot but abysmally uncomfortable on the left as the side presses into the arch bones. Tevas suit my feet and the support they give is great as my feet are very flat. Doctors at school used to ask if they ached, even when I was quite young.

I've been tracking these down all week in shoes stores all over Sydney and on the internet too. A couple of days ago I was in Burwood and walked past the Athlete's Foot shop where I bought the casual pair last summer. On an impulse I entered although I could not see the style in their display. A very competent, young assistant took my order. He knew exactly what I wanted and knew they had my size. A quick try on and walk around the shop and I bought them. They are leather and have a leather lining on top of sole which is cork. They are light as a feather and very comfortable. They had just arrived in the shop and not yet been entered in their stock so he had a bit of fiddling to do to get computer to sell them to me.

To prove I have been doing some knitting, here is the almost completed first section of Catkin. available on Ravelry and elsewhere. Next section is the white and the last is a mix, creating a catkin effect with slipped stitches. The pattern is for finer wool but this is Cleckheaton Country 8 ply as I thought something warmer would be good. It's strange but the green is quite splitty, both balls so far, while the white is fine. The colour is less blue and rather more a gum leaf grey/green mix which is very calming to look at.

I have one more garter stitch strip to do before the second section. It's been slow going. I felt terrible for several days after the stress of MIL's funeral a week ago. However, each son has thanked me for attending and that was really the reason I forced myself to go. I could not concentrate at first on what I was doing and had to rip back a couple of times because I had more stitches one side of centre than the other. More than once, unfortunately.

As I've mentioned several times, I am gradually becoming more familiar with my new camera, a Nikon D3100. I'm even contemplating buying another lens for it. There was a fire up the road a couple of days ago, a truck actually on Parramatta Road. I could get the billowing smoke, but a zoom of some sort would have made a much better photo than I could take with my current 18-55 mm lens. I've been in that situation before. So I intend to ask Santa for such a lens.

The camera has in-camera editing functions. Now many of these I've done with an editing program. However I hadn't used it in-camera itself.

The subject in itself is scarcely inspiring, but it was suitable to fiddle with. The effect is called colour outline and I could also turn the photo into something which looked like miniature furniture for a dolls' house. I can add star bursts to light sources and crop within the camera. Multiple photos can be layered on each other and more.

moving on

2011-09-19T08:16:00.002+10:00

MIL's funeral is over and could have been both better and worse. It was a very long day for me. I left here just after 7:00 am to get to Strathfield Station where I was to meet son from Central Coast. His train left his home station before 7:00 and he's definitely not a morning person. Buses on the route to the station are very unreliable. There are two routes, each supposedly coming twenty minutes apart, so there should be a bus every ten minutes. I have waited 35 minutes and then caught one of three arriving together, all the same route number. Most unreliable and I could not afford to be late. Another son picked us up at Westmead and we went to cemetery where burial was at 9:30 am.

This son was very tired. He had found where his father lived just by accident and had offered help. He'd been busy making a slideshow to show after ceremony and scanning dozens of old photos. He'd hosed down lot of brushfires with his dad, done an order of service and diplomatically managed to persuade his father that the funeral was not about him but his mother. This influenced music, what happened and other things.

There were about 40 people there which surprised me. I had thought there may have been twenty. Some were those I would have called friends, one I had known for over forty years. I was soundly snubbed by them. I knew it was likely to happen but had hoped they would rise above such pettiness. A local pastor spoke for quite a while and the coffin was lowered. The winding mechanism to lower it needed attention and as the coffin went lower, it squeaked ever more loudly. People looked this way and that and up in the air. We all tried to pay no attention to the noise but it really was unavoidable. She was not a big woman, so it was not as if there was extra stress on the mechanism.

After a cup of coffee at McDs we made our way back to the church which was in an industrial area at Glendenning, one of many newish suburbs around there. Thankfully it was air conditioned s it was very hot.

Son who had picked us up played the keyboard. Each son spoke briefly and well and eldest grandson read the 23rd Psalm. Also well. Then ex-husband gave the eulogy, really not much more than a chronological account of her life. He made many mistakes as to dates even putting our wedding date some years out. He dropped a big bombshell at the end, which I can't really say anything about here. It won't affect me but will definitely affect the boys. He says it's legal, but my solicitor brother doubts it vey much. Pastor spoke again and said much as he had already done but took three times longer to say it. Either there were aspects of her life he didn't know about or he was gilding the lily. Her life was really nothing at all like he made out. Just nothing like it. Everybody from the family who was there recognised it and mentioned it, so it wasn't just me.

There was a light luncheon and more snubbing, this time from my husband's former pastor. We finally got away and went to the club near son's place. They thought this was fitting as MIL spent probably 90% of her time at the club. We actually sat in the cool and watched the lawn bowls and talked more than anything. I arrived home twelve hours after leaving.

I bought the bag shown above to match the new shoes bought earlier. It came from the Strand Arcade in the city and is a deep burgundy. It feels and smells wonderful and will probably last just about forever. The leather is good and the craftsmanship is superb. I was surprised at my reaction to the funeral. I was knocked for six at the weekend. Didn't sleep and felt really bad. I'm sure this was due to the bombshell I mentioned, the snubbing and the emotional situation all day which had nothing really to do with MIL's death. I'm beginning to feel a bit better now.

I went to Spitlite at Birkenhead Point on Saturday to their latest sale. I've noticed that they have had probably four big sales in the last couple of months. I'm almost expecting to see a final sale. I bought some Cleckheaton Country to make a Catkin shawl (Ravelry link). I've done just on forty rows of it. Also bought, against my better judgment, some Moda Noir sock wool. The green yarn is less olive green and more grass green than shows here. I was not happy with the dyeing of the ball I used earlier for a shawl. There were lengthy sections of white yarn with no dye in them. I hope this lot is better. All the wool shown in the picture came to just over $35. The Cleckheaton Country is 8 ply and I think I'll return this morning and get a bit more.

one shoe, two shoe, red shoe, new shoe*

2011-09-12T22:26:00.001+10:00

I really have no need for dressy shoes at all. Smart shoes, a bit. However, the one pair of dress shoes that I do have won't go with clothes suitable for this time of year so I went shopping today. These are deep burgundy with a burnishing of dark blue which is hard to see in the photo. The wedge is a bit bigger than it seems from the photo but not high. I no longer do high heels and live in boots or flats. And even better, they were $40 cheaper than the price marked on them, although there was no notice of a sale in DJs.

So why the need? My ex- MIL died just on 24 hours ago. It was not unexpected. She had diabetes related gangrene in both feet and an operation for amputation would not have been survived. She has had dementia for some years and has never looked after herself. Poor diet, no attention paid to health even after the diabetes was diagnosed. A heavy smoker and drinker most of her life till the last few years and absolutely no exercise at all.

The funeral will probably be on Friday. I don't want to go at all and hadn't planned on going. However, each son has separately said they would appreciate my being there. I think they are not sure how their father will act. He can be very strange at times and we all suspect he's bipolar. So I think that while not definitely asking me, that's what they really are doing.

She has never liked me and has always been rude to me. One birthday present was a club bingo prize she had won - a packet of flour, a bottle of sauce and some laundry detergent. To this she added a washed but stained teatowel with lots of holes. She had a nasty, vindictive personality. You may think I am exaggerating. Several times in the last few years she has been in hospital. She caused chaos every time as people in beds near hers insisted on being moved elsewhere.

So I'm going to the funeral wherever that may be. I'm going to dress up, put some jewellery on and show that I have moved on. My ex-husband won't notice, he never paid attention to things like that. But, as one son said, others there will see and get the message. He's not popular with some of his family either and some have told me quite startling things he had said or done before I left, which I had no idea of. I know this is a fairly shallow thought but right at the moment I feel flat and unenthusiastic about anything. Right now, it's a coping mechanism.

* Dr Seuss was never one of my favourite children's authors, I avoided his books usually even with my sons, and I seem to remember the actual quote was about fish. However, this phrase stuck in my mind.

books, books, books

2011-09-10T15:54:00.002+10:00

It's been a few days and I'm sick of sorting books so opened up Blogger to see their new interface. Have seen comments but this is the first go with it. I daresay I'll figure it out.

Knitting? I went all week and knitted one row only on a sock and nothing else. I'm using some of Ailsa's sport weight merino in Amethyst. However, one row was all I did.

Last weekend I was in Mittagong on our annual gathering with friends. It was beautiful and a much needed break away. Friday was grey and chilly but the rest of the weekend was beautiful. Very clear blue skies and lots of sun. Saturday was very cold, ice on the windscreen at 9:00am sort of cold. Cold all day too, although clear. Sunday was much milder and still sunny. Friend and I stayed in the motel we always go to. It's not the most luxurious but rooms are perfectly adequate when all we really need is a bed and bathroom. It's very clean and beds are comfortable. There's heating, electric blankets for those that like them and it's close to town centre. When we first started there some years ago, rooms were $60. They are now $85 but for once a year that's still OK and certainly cheaper than almost anywhere else down there.

The picture shows a sandstone bowl at the motel reflecting winter-bare branches of the tree above it. It was taken early one morning before we went out for breakfast.

The whole area is bursting with signs of spring. Blossom and bulbs are everywhere although the tulip beds in the parks are still securely covered to stop predators of all sorts from spoiling them before the Bowral Tulip festival.

Friend and I drove around sightseeing on Friday afternoon. We found a winery, Centennial Winery, not far out of Bowral and decided to visit. It's also a cattle property and just oozed money and care. Huge bulls, Limousin I think, lazed under very old trees. The driveway was was lined with trees and each of those was surrounded by probably fifty daffodils, all blooming. The place was well set out, there was a cafe and restaurant but we didn't go in there. They hold functions and receptions there and it would be perfect for photos. It's set on a rise and the gardens are terraced and hedged with low plants and everywhere there were more bulbs blooming. Service in the tasting are was attentive and informative without being pushy at all. My friend bought a couple of bottles of wine and I bought some rhubarb and ginger jam, locally made. It's very good. I also bought some locally produced raspberry vinegar to replace what spilt into my yarn a couple of weeks ago.

This is part of St Stephen's Anglican church, built about 1880. It reminds me very much of the church I went to in my childhood, about the same age and size. An extension has been built to this at far end of church of stone which almost exactly matches the old stone in colour. It's been well planned and integrated with the church building and it's a useful addition to the facilities of the small town as it is well fitted out and has a new commercial kitchen. There's another parking area the other side of the church at the front and two years ago we watched as the well polished prime mover of a semi manoeuvred its way in their for a wedding. It held the bride who had to be carefully helped down four steps from the high cab.

I have spent a lot of time this week sorting books and populating my shelves. It's been lovely to collect knitting stuff in one spot again and my cooking books too. I have thrown a lot out into the recycling. They are not books that others would want, they've been packed 3 1/2 years and I've never even thought of them. Probably hadn't thought of them for twenty years before that either. I probably should not have packed them all up when i left. DIL and I were in a hurry to pack a van and get away and I don't think that emotionally or psychologically I was in a place to even think about discarding some.

This was in my letterbox yesterday and I was glad to see it. Also glad to see the needles. They are short 2.75 which I had been trying to find for Ailsa's sport yarn. I'd done the ribbing on a cobbled together set. Last night I switched ribbing over to the new needles, undid the one row I had knitted during the week and set off again. Donyale's pattern for mismatched socks with ribs, cables etc is in this issue.

I have now done about 50 rows of simple knitting on those socks. It was fairly mindless, what I needed last night. I was feeling blah and flat. The distribution of Mum's estate was finalised yesterday and it took probably 90 seconds to be handed my share of the estate. We didn't even get to see the solicitor but had cheques handed to us at desk. Both my sister and I just felt that the end did not seem fitting to us, although I suppose that really did not concern the lawyer. I felt quite down for the rest of the day even after banking the cheque. Money is definitely not everything.

every cloud has a silver lining

2011-08-28T16:11:00.000+10:00

A mixed bag today indeed. I was out this morning and looking up saw this cloud over the city with a shiny silver edge. I grabbed my phone, I don't take camera to church, and snapped it. The shot isn't marvellous, I was looking straight up with just a phone camera and the light was very glary, but the silver is clear. The second photo was taken about a minute later and there's a hole in the cloud with more silver poking through.

I have a lot of sky photos taken lately, both with phone and camera. Some of them are very beautiful of sunsets and sunrises with lovely colours. Some of them show the sun lighting the city skyline from the west and Sydney Tower and Centrepoint as well as other tall buildings stand out against a dark foreground.

Others are very dramatic. Yesterday afternoon I took one of a very dark cloud which appeared to have texture. I know clouds are water vapour, but this one seemed like an eiderdown or doona, all soft, snuggly and squishy. The sky changes so quickly that most of the time I'm not prepared and miss out on a good opportunity. Still, I try. My title about clouds and silver linings really had no meaning hidden behind it, it was just a comment on the photo.

Last night I spent most of the evening re-reading an old weight loss journal which I used to keep on Angelfire. Five years worth of journalling, actually. I knew the title of it but couldn't find it in any search and couldn't get into the editor feature. Last night I tried a different way and finally cracked the password I had used and the full title which Angelfire had been using.

I've always known the therapeutic value of journalling and what you see here isn't the only blog/journal I have. However, when I looked at the big picture, written over several years I was surprised to see how therapeutic it must have been. I often mentioned my online friends and the support we gained from each other. The group has split up now but I'm still in contact with some of them. Here I also find friendship and community based on various interests, mostly knitting. I see friendship and support to others here too and I'm not speaking just about myself.

Much of it was interesting about my grandchildren. I did quite a lot of babysitting even then and minded my eldest granddaughter for two days a week for over a year when she was tiny. I had a good laugh at some of her deeds and sayings over that time. I went one morning with a nasty headache caused by tight shoulder muscles. I must have been a bit cranky from it , because I have recorded that she told me, "You not a happy chappy today grandma." She wasn't three then and I do remember that morning. She still has a way with words at eleven.

I've been putting the Kitchenaid to work. This was dough made the day I bought it and kept in the fridge. It hasn't really become sourdough yet but it has a great flavour. It slices easily and well.

I poured boiling water into a baking dish as I put it in the oven and it has developed a really crusty outer to it. Seen here from lunch yesterday of a couple of slices of bread, some olives and cheese and some fruit all eaten outside as it was mild. Very pleasant lunch it was, too.

I've just made some more dough to cook later in the week. This time I've used some wholemeal spelt flour. Spelt is ancient and unchanged from Roman times. We eat the same variety as they did. It has a nutty flavour and many who have a gluten intolerance can eat it where they cannot eat modern varieties of wheat. In a couple of places I've read that leaving the dough for 18 + hours also helps some and it's thought that the modern methods of hurrying dough along, and cooking from start to finish in three hours or so prevents the developing of a dough suitable for all. The hurrying holds good for both commercial and homemade dough. This seems borne out by research and experimenting but I'm NOT offering medical advice. Do some searching of your own and check with health advisor if you are intolerant.

Lastly, what I hope may be a bit of a kick to my knitting motivation which seems to be sleeping somewhere. My navy blue sock is very plain and boring, the shawl I started is really not working out in the yarn I'm trying. I've sent off all the little alligators I was knitting and have done hats for all my sons bar one. Ailsa, Knitabulous, is kindly dyeing some more wool for me for that one. I had ordered some of her lovely yarn, two skeins and asked about some in black. She emailed me and is now doing some. I love her service and the yarns are beautiful too.

I was in Kinokuniya late this morning and looked at the knitting books. I have quite a few lace books but not this one. Lovely patterns there and not s expensive as I had seen some time ago. The Nicky Epstein is copyright this year and has loads of interesting things in it. Cables, ribs, i-cord edges and more. I would not have chosen the colours she has for the samples, but they definitely show the patterns and stitches very clearly. I've found a cable there which I might use as the base for son's hat. Joined and then pick up the stitches around, somewhat similar to the Coronet hat from Knitty. I've made several of those. This one was about $25.

I'e been very careful over the last four years about buying books of any sort. I had nowhere to store them. Have bought some but have really been very restrained. Last week I ordered six sets of glass and chrome shelving and two other shelves as well. They'll hopefully display whatever my sister has sent from mum. I had a call yesterday and they'll be delivered on Tuesday, so I can begin unpacking. I've enlisted DIL's help. Give her some lunch and I'm sure the job will be done in basically a day on Wednesday. She's great at that sort of thing.

smoke gets in your eyes

2011-08-25T17:12:00.002+10:00

I've been having fun with my now not-so-new camera. I've learnt a lot and have, mostly enjoyed the challenge. The other day I decided to bite the bullet and try the manual setting. I found this very daunting but at least I'm not paying to have mistakes developed, I just wipe them from the camera. I wandered around the building taking shots of all sorts of things. Some worked, some didn't. I was surprised that one I took of the controls in the lift turned out. The lift has shiny plywood or similar walls, the control is shiny steel and overhead is a vicious fluorescent tube. Lots of light sources to deal with but I managed. Probably more beginner's luck than good management.

I really like this particular one of a clivea near the front security door. The colour is fairly true and I like the concentration on the details of the flowers.

Last Saturday we had a family birthday lunch at son's on central coast. There are several of us who have birthdays from late July to early September, so we decided combined lunch was the way to go. As it happened, my birthday was actually last Saturday so it was a good choice. I went up the day before and stayed overnight. DIL is a hairdresser and did my hair with loads of blonde foils. Totally different from normal, quite striking but something else I really like.

Beautiful day but freezing. Son wore heavy jacket and an alpaca beanie I had knitted while doing the BBQ. The wind was cold but all the cousins ran around madly and jumped on the trampoline and so on. They hadn't seen each other for a while, so they really enjoyed themselves and there were no accidents and scraped knees etc.

Some time after lunch, there were cupcakes and candles and a gluten free cake, also with candles. Then I had a surprise. DIL presented me with a large box wrapped in brown paper and a purple gift bag to go with the box. A Smokey Joe small Weber BBQ for me, along with firestarters and heat beads. I've been missing grills and using the stove here often results in the smoke alarm being set off. It's not in the kitchen but seems super sensitive to the slightest fumes.

We had a fire inspection here a week ago of fire alarm, door closer and condition of front door which is a fire door . The chap who did it said everyone complains about the alarm's sensitivity to cooking. Better safe than sorry, I suppose, but I turn fan onto high and open a door if I grill or dry fry food. That's a bit much in cold weather.

So now I can cook on the BBQ and close the vents when finished. That will put out the heat beads and they can be relit another time if unused.

I was coming back in the train, so left the BBQ for #1 son to bring back in their car. He's vastly improved although he still gets pain, but he's off crutches and his little bike/scooter. However, while they live ten minutes from here by car, their car has only two seats. It's a little Citroen Berlingo van. There have been short drives when he has sat in the back, well down out of sight but I wouldn't et him do that now. So I came home by train.

I've rearranged kitchen a bit and moved microwave down to bench. I don't like it there, but it's much more convenient and certainly safer for getting hot stuff out of it.

So look what has moved in and taken up residence. I left my Kenwood behind when I moved out several years ago. My second Kenwood, actually. I've been using a small handheld mixer which I bought when we had a place in the bush outside Cessnock. It came from Woolworths when they had long counters down the shop and lots of shop assistants and cost $14. I'm not joking. We sold that property in 1985. It's getting very tired and I think I may need to be merciful to it before it burns out the motor and throws the circuit breakers here.

Kenwoods such as I had are now about $1500. I nearly choked when I saw the price although I think my first one was $300 a very long time ago. There is an unattractive smaller model which I didn't like and that was over $800. This comes with a DVD for instructions and a CD-ROM of recipes.

I saw a recommendation for this book on another blog, although I can't remember which one. I've made bread since I was at primary school and started with decent hot cross buns. I have several bread books but this is certainly one of the best. It was under AUD$20 and I bought it from the Book Depository. It has a large introductory section on the theory behind what the author does and why. It's easy to read, although the print could be bigger and the print of the index is almost unacceptably small. There are lots of recipes and an easy starter for sourdough. Flat breads and celebratory breads are included.

The author has a horror of throwing out bread, so there also recipes and ideas for using stale bread.

SO I'm making bagels. I have forgotten to take photos but may take some of the finished product if I'm satisfied with the way they look.

And knitting? Well, not much to be honest. I'm going to frog the shawl that I started. It's really not suitable wool for the purpose although I love the colour. I've done a bit on the sock but my hands have been sore and I jabbed the end of middle right finger and it's also sore.

unplanned stash reduction

2011-08-18T15:07:00.001+10:00

Most of my cotton stash, some very nice stuff has gone. Emptied by garbage men this morning. Yesterday I had a delivery bought online from Woolies. I've been glad of online shopping since I broke toe and have been sick for three weeks now. I'm glad to say that I think that's behind me now.

I also get a box of fruit and vegetables taken straight into my kitchen, another online purchase. It reminds me of the grocer delivering to mum when I was young. No online ordering then, though.

So I unpacked it all straight away and put it into my pantry/store room. I opened the door to that room late in the afternoon to get some ingredient for dinner. There was a strange smell in there, a bit like Worcestershire sauce. I checked all my sauces and condiments which sit in a tray with an edge all round. Nothing there. Picked up a few packets that I had put there in the morning. Nothing. Then I heard a couple of drips.

There had been a bottle of raspberry vinegar with a looseish lid that had survived two house moves. Somehow it had been knocked over and the vinegar was slowly dripping down through the shelving. On the floor under the shelves was a plastic tote, open, as the lid had broken. It had a great pile of cotton in it and my possum/merino wool. Most of the cotton was soaked, it must have been dripping for a while. Some of the possum was wet. I pulled it all out and decided to throw any thing affected. I don't think I would have got it clean and washing would have been difficult. So out it went. There was about a cup of raspberry vinegar on the bottom of the tote as well. A couple of small pieces of cross stitch were also soak, so they went out too. What a waste.

I've been here almost five months now and am gradually thinking about what I can do in the kitchen. The rest of the place, including the bathroom is fine, looks like new, but the kitchen is tired and not well planned really. It's small, very small, about 2.5 metres either way. That's wall to wall, not the space in the middle.

The cupboards are mostly too high for me, the exhaust fan vents straight back into the kitchen and activtes the smoke alarm in hall outside. The cupboard under the sink needs remaking. It doesn't have a hinged corner door so the space in the corner is almost impossible to access and is really wasted. The shelf needs more support than it has and there is a bow in it.

These cupboards are quite high and the microwave is difficult to use at an odd angle.

There is a corner door here for easy access but look at all the gas and water bits and pieces.

The drawers here look OK but are falling apart inside and need new bases.

I called in at a kitchen place near here today. I liked a lot of what they have but the woman was reluctant to tell me unit prices. Their kitchens start at $10,000, she said. I want to have something I like that is well planned and useful. I don't want shoddy stuff but neither am i going to pay enormous amounts for it. One possibility is getting someone to replace the doors with something more to my liking and fixing the coupe of major problems with the cupboards.

I'm thinking of some glass shelving down the all on this left hand side for cups etc. I don't want cupboards as it would close in the area too much. I need to do something with the lighting. At the moment the light has been placed in ceiling in middle of the space. That means that I cast a shadow and work in that shadow, no matter what bench I am at. Floor tiling is fine and I would really like a glass splashback. The bench is OK but I would not have chosen it. It's in good condition.

alligators

2011-08-15T12:39:00.000+10:00

Herewith a congregation of alligators. At least that's what wikipedia and other sites tell me is the collective name for a group of alligators. These are done for a friend who is making a memorial banner for another internet friend who had the nickname of alligator. The pattern is cute but not well written. The largest was the first one I did and I've gradually adapted the pattern making changes to suit me till I finally tweaked it to my liking. Three were other bits which were awkward as well and I decreased stitches across shoulders of the beast to make it in proportions more plesng to me.

Some I did in i-cord, rather knitting six stitches in the round on three needles! The feet pattern was also awkward and not very attractive.

I've used mostly sock wool, much of it just scrappy odds and ends I had. A lot of it was Patonyle, although the yellow was a little left from socks made in yarn from Needlefood in NZ, no longer in business.

The animal was supposed to be stuffed but it's going on a banner and already three dimensional. Ends of wool have been stuffed down inside the body to give a bit of bulk. It' can be flattened or rounded to suit, however my friend wants it.

The smallest crocodile is for my friend's grandson who is known as "croc." She suggested her mother would put it on a baby hat to keep his head warm. Her choice to do whatever she wants.

When I looked up the collective noun for a group of alligators, I also looked it up for crocodiles. There's a choice for them. A group can be a congregation or a float or a bask.

preserved lemons

2011-08-08T14:30:00.000+10:00

There has been some knitting but it's not worth a photo. The leg of the first navy sock is a bit longer and I've done not quite half of the edging of a shawl by the Shetland Trader, Gudrun Johnston. The yarnovers are picked up when the edging is finished and the shawl knitted from there. This means the number of stitches decreases as the shawl grows.

I love the flavours of Moroccan food and the beautiful aromas as it simmers away gently. I love the spices and the preserved lemon which is an important part of the flavour. Now when I was with DIL and son, I used the very large jar of preserved lemons which they had been given. I've been missing it since I moved.

I'm a bit of a lemon freak. Preserved lemon usually uses just the rind and the flesh is scraped off. I'll happily eat a piece straight from the jar, flesh and all. If a slice of lemon is served with a meal, I can eat all of that too. I was surprised a couple of years ago when one of my granddaughters asked for a slice of lemon to eat as I prepared a meal, so she has the same tastes I have. However I hate preserved or candied peel and loathe marmalade unless it's the ginger variety with lots of ginger as well as the peel.

So I decided to make my own lemons.

You'll need lemons, salt and spices which are optional. I can't tell you how many lemons, it depends on the size of your container. With winter here, lemons are cheap, plentiful and of good quality. Even better, many have them growing on their own trees, a luxury I no longer have. Choose lemons with unblemished skin if possible, as that's the part which is used in a dish.

Wash and dry your container. I have a glass jar and lid as the acid from the lemons and the corrosive salt will attack a metal lid and your lemons will be spoilt and inedible.

Cover the base of the jar with salt. I've used sea salt as I had quite a bit of it, but other salt is fine too.

Cut your lemons. I used 6.5 lemons for this fairly small jar. Some recipes suggest cutting in quarters but not all the way through. Open the lemon out like a flower and pack with salt. Slices the size of a quarter would overpower the smallish dishes I try to cook for myself, so I cut my quarters in half again. I actually think they can be packed down more easily cut like that.

After each layer, cover the lemons with more salt. Spices can be added if liked. Not essential. I've used star anise and cinnamon stick. Coriander seeds would be good too, but I'm out of them.

Keep adding layers of lemons and salt, packing them in as tightly as you can manage. When you have filled the jar as tightly as possible, carefully pour in fresh lemon juice, letting it trickle down to fill any spaces in the jar.

Close jar carefully, wipe clean, label and date. That's all there is to the process, except you have to be patient. Place in fridge and turn every day for a week. If the level of juice goes down as it's absorbed, top it up with more juice to keep the pieces covered. You will need to wait 3-4 weeks for the skin to soften and mature.

Use in Moroccan dishes. Preserved lemons are also good with veal or chicken. Sit back and enjoy the aroma in your kitchen and then enjoy your meal. Bon appétit!

let there be light

2011-08-05T19:39:00.002+10:00

This lamp is brilliant. These are navy blue socks in Patonyle. Very navy blue. In the last few weeks I've been trying to work at night with dark green wool and black as well as this dark blue. You can see from the photo how clearly and evenly the stitches are lit on the needles. Prior to this light, even the bamboo light coloured needles made little difference to howI saw the knitting. Not any more.

I find the light pleasant to my eyes as well as being bright. I'm sure the light will be very useful for reading and other close work too. It costs next to nothing to run, although it certainly wasn't cheap to buy. However, discomfort and eyestrain and headaches all cost something even if not quantified financially.

Two more pictures of the Chimei lamp, one side on, the other from the front. It has a heavy base so would not be very easy to knock over. I like the sleek, dynamic design too. The on/off switch is in the base at the front in the centre, easy to find and operate.

The light is in a flattened area at the top about as long as my hand from fingertip to wrist. Although that part doesn't swivel by itself, the whole lamp can be twisted to different angles bot of the focus of the light and of the bend of the flexi part. It reminded me of the bendy figures my sons had as toys when they were small.

When it was being packed up for sale the salesman apologised as he could no find the box. This particular one had been part of a display. He bent the whole lamp almost doubled over so he could wrap it well. It not only doubled up but could have been twisted like a rope. However when opened out it's quite sturdy.

As you can see, I'm pleased with my purchase.

food, glorious food...

2011-08-04T14:29:00.000+10:00

First cab off the rank in a post with a lot of pictures is my new camera bag from Epiphanie bags.

I found these on Justine Turner's blog. I was using a bag lent to me by my friend but it really was a squeeze as it had not been designed for my Nikon D3100. When I added the neck strap which had to be poked in to the bag, I could see I needed something bigger. This has an across the body shoulder strap and the ends of the bag have adjustable belts. Inside are pockets, padded, which can be made in the configuration I want at the time. I will buy a wide angle lens and possibly a telephoto lens when I m really used to the original which came with the camera. I'll get a spare battery in the next month or so as well.

Jussi had her bag from Texas in five days. This took over two weeks, pretty well all of that in transit to here, according to UPS. When it arrived there were at least five large stickers on it which said it was International Express Post. International it definitely was, but express? No way. More like a carrier pigeon carrying it. I think.

I had a fruit and vegetable delivery this week. I always get a surprise with the contents. I can't specifically order the entire contents but can make adjustments to the order. I like the surprises. This week had four tangelos in the box. Now I am at long last beginning to feel a bit better and less of a blob with a stuffed head. One blob has gone through almost two big boxes of tissues in the last two weeks. I hardly ever use them but was glad to have them in the cupboard. I've had some infection from the cold but don't know quite what it was.

Today I juiced three of them for a drink at lunch. It's currently very mild here, although another cold blitz is forecast for next week. So I ate spring food. You can see how much juice was in them and they were very easy to juice. They were sweet and tangy.

Along with the fresh juice, I had baked eggs. This is a tiny cast iron pot with a lid. In it went some Bush Spirit relish, about a tablespoon, two shallots sliced very thinly, about a tablespoon of light sour cream. I usually use ordinary cream but had none. Two organic eggs filled up the pot, I said it was small, and I put a topping of panko crumbs and good grated cheddar. Pepper and salt on top and into the oven. I cooked mine with the lid on for ten minutes as I just cannot eat runny egg yolk. Then I took the top off for the rest of the time till eggs were to my liking. I've also used good parmesan or reggiano on this and that's nice too. Freshly grated, not the awful stuff from the supermarket shelf.

Talking about baking... I'd really like a display on oven controls which reminds me to check the placement of the shelves. I grilled the other day and forgot to lower shelf till today. After the oven had heated up.

What's this? Fresh bread with no test slice baked into it? My sons used to be puzzled when they were small that I could cook a tray of slice with a test piece cut from one corner. No test of the bread today, yet. This is ordinary flour and multigrain mix about 50/50% Some chia seeds too. It smells wonderful. I enjoy bread making and will try some of the no knead recipes. This was done in a breadmaker. I hadn't intended to get one, but my benches here are higher than I would choose and kneading ordinary bread on the bench made my shoulders very achey and sore. I make about a loaf of bread a week and even when it's a week old the toast is great to eat.

And finally the obligatory knitting content. Patonyle socks in navy. I found the interesting scallop and used it. I've done ruffles before but not scallops. I think it's different . There was also lace for the leg and foot but I found it less than inspiring so ditched it and am doing 3x3 rib.

I've done several things in dark colours lately and it's been hard on the eyes. I gave in and bought a daylight lamp yesterday by Chimei. Photos next entry perhaps. It's very good and the switch responds a bit like the old touch lights, with various degrees of brightness. The light is LEDs rather than a tube and is supposed to last at least 15 years. It's certainly made a difference to my comfort last night and will be good.

deja vu?

2011-07-29T10:52:00.000+10:00

Déjà vu? Almost. Another pair from the Bendigo Celeste, merino, silk and alpaca. The same pattern as shown a couple of posts down which I did for my sister. I like the way this knits up but sometimes I found it came unplied just a little bit.

I used the thumb gusset from the Veyla gloves and of course the buttons from my friend's stash are different. These are really quick to make and very easy. That is, unless you also have a head stuffed up with a cold as I do, and do the wrist band so that there are two gloves for the left hand. I thought I'd got rid of last week's cold, but it's freshened up quite a bit again and my head is very stuffed up. I had to unpick where I'd sewn one wristband on so I could reverse the shapings.

These are for the DIL with whom I lived for several years. I've made gloves for her before but that was several years ago and I know those have had a lot of wear. She'll wear these I'm sure.

Now, apart from eldest grandson, everybody has had something practical and good this winter. I asked grandson what he would like. However, he had been put on the spot at a swimming lesson. His mind was on other things. He suggested slippers but when I said knitting, he wanted them THICK. I rang son again the next day as I'm sure we both had wires crossed. I think grandson may have been visualising something like ugg boots. If that's the case, I'm happy to buy them. If I were to put a monetary value on my knitting, I'm sure ugg boots from Target or similar would be comparable. They'll probably last longer too. The family has a new puppy, just three months old, and he still has sharp puppy teeth (and nippy habits). I don't know just how long my knitting efforts would survive with Max's current behaviour.

light as a feather

2011-07-27T09:33:00.000+10:00

I opened the balcony door yesterday to let some fresh air in. It was actually sunny and quite pleasant. This tiny feather floated in and landed on the carpet. I've been keeping the camera handy as I try to learn about the multiplicity of functions it has. So I grabbed it and took several photos on different settings.

I can see the details of the feather here and the carpet colour is pretty accurate too. The carpet looks great when I've just vacuumed but being totally plain, it shows every little crumb or tiny piece of paper or dropped wool. I'm thinking of buying a large rug which would actually cover most of the main area and would not be such a pain to keep clean. I could vacuum twice a day and still find bits the next morning. I really don't know where they all come from.

I've never been a neat freak but find that since being by myself, I am extra careful abut putting things away properly and tidying up after myself. If I don't do it, it doesn't get done. When I lived with son and DIL, the place was OK as there were three of us to do things. Here I'm it, as I know many bloggers also are.

I should have listened to this wool some years ago. I bought it at a Spinners and Weavers Guild Open Day quite a while ago. It was a miserable day and I was miserable personally too at that time. I loved the bright fresh colours which looked springlike, full of newness and fresh opportunities and growth. No idea was given as to length of the wool but obviously enough for many small projects. It has a crepe finish and was classed as 5 ply on the swing tag.

I've tried it in several projects but didn't like it. It's been ripped out each of those times. At least three times, possibly four. I'm caught up recently in small projects which are quick and satisfying to finish. These are for DIL married to # 2 son. Hot off the needles and unblocked, they are another pair of Veyla fingerless gloves. That makes a hat for my son, gloves for DIL and his two small daughters. I've sent him an SMS asking what my eldest grandson might like. Then that will be the whole of that family.

The buttons are yet more from the hundreds my friend gave me from his mum. It's like a treasure trove and many of the buttons are beautiful. I find it hard to get buttons I like which are new now. Lincr0ft and Spitlite are not very helpful. The button shop in Newtown is great but I am no longer in walking distance of there so I tend to forget it.

rain, rain, go away

2011-07-22T14:08:00.009+10:00

It's still raining here and looks as if it will never stop. It rained without stopping for 18 hours yesterday that I can vouch for, probably longer. Parts of Sydney have also had strong winds and a large gum tree fell on a school classroom. Very fortunately, no one was injured.

I made these for my sister. A quick easy knit from here, and the pattern is also on Ravelry. More vintage buttons from my stash. The mitts are made in Bendigo Celeste, merino/alpaca/silk. I find it pleasant to use. She lives on North Coast of NSW and yesterday I sent her an email saying I had made these as part of an early birthday present. She was thrilled and called it spooky, because on Wednesday which was when I started these, she had decided she just had to get something like this. She'd been typing in the cold wearing gloves which worked, but she couldn't use the trackball with gloves on.

I told her that I would post them to her today if the weather eased, otherwise it would be next week. It did ease, so I rugged up and caught the bus. I was far too hot in the shopping centre with my jacket on but managed to get her parcel and the cowl for friend in NZ posted. Came out and it was tumbling down again. Went to bus stop and a cab pulled up in front of me, so I hopped in and came home. I would have been another 40 minutes if I had waited for the bus.

Now for something somewhat more cheerful than the weather. Some more of the cockatoos of a couple of days ago. This time I've used a small collage from Picnik which is an editor you can use in your browser without having to instal a program. It has the facility to round the edges of the photos and to regulate the separation between photos in the collage. Lots of collage possibilities, too.

I've been inside for nine days now and really had to get out for a while. Cabin fever was developing. I stayed in three days last week because TPG had arranged for a T*lstra technician to call to check their lines. He came last Friday, late afternoon, quite unannounced. Not at all unusual for that mob. Then I developed a nasty cold and with the cold and wet weather and the cold itself, I have been inside.

#1 son's ankle has another almost three weeks in plaster before specialised physio and much work on his part. The surgeon says his ankles are stronger than anywhere else in his body now.

Not to be outdone, middle son is right now having surgery on his thumb. Left hand, fortunately. He took up soccer about four years ago and plays in a district team and enjoys it. Never was the sporty type but he's now done a triathlon, much walking and biking and soccer. He's also entered in this year's City to Surf run next month so he's a bit of a late developer. LOL.

Last Saturday he fell over at soccer and the thumb was the first part of him to make contact with the ground. Result? One broken bone and several floating bone chips. He tried local ER and it was bandaged. The path mapped out by them would have taken several weeks so he was given a referral by his own doctor to a hand specialist, apparently one of the best in Sydney. Day surgery today and probably $2000 out of pocket even after top cover is taken into account. Still, it's done, on the mend and done by a hand specialist orthopaedic guy.

I have warned #3 son to be very careful. Enough is enough.

kid gloves (not!) *

2011-07-20T12:43:00.000+10:00

After several hats in a row, I wondered what to do next. Then I found the Patonyle sock wool I had bought a few weeks ago and not added to the sock wool hoard. Ysolda Teague's Veyla fingerless gloves has been on my wishlist for quite a while , so I bought and downloaded her Whimsical Little Knits 2 and printed off the pattern. I have an old pair of fingerless mitts which have seen a lot of use and my kid gloves are years and years old and are showing sad signs of wear.

Fingerling weight yarn was suggested so I chose the deep green which matches my silk jacket well. I knit loosely so went to 3 mm needles instead of the 3.25 mm suggested and I made the bigger size. My hands are average size, perhaps a bit smaller, and the larger needles would have been better. These fit but I think either next size up needles or perhaps a truer fingerling weight than Patonyle sock wool would have been better. The picture shows them hot off the needles, unblocked. I have quite a bit of 50/50 silk/merino from Knitabulous and may make another pair from some of that. I think it's a bit thicker than the sock wool.

They were a quick knit and quite easy but a bit fiddly as my 3 mm dpns are longer than the smaller sock needles I usually use. The thumb was particularly awkward with just 21 stitches to work around. I found the buttons in the stash my friend gave me from his dressmaker mum who died over ten years ago. They were still on the card and the number was just right. I usually find a I have a couple left over or there are not quite enough on the card and there's only one card. I think they suit.

The weather has been incredible up here. Bitterly cold yesterday with snow just west of Sydney. Then torrential rain and strong wind overnight and more rain this morning. I saw a photo of the surf at Bondi this morning and it was very rough indeed. Minutes after I took this photo the sky clouded over again and down it poured. There were three of these cockatoos when I went to photograph the gloves but one flew off. I couldn't make out what they were gnawing on but it was actually in the gutter and kept falling back into it. They would combine their effort and pull it upright again for another chew.

* Song about kid gloves is here.

a woman of many hats

2011-07-16T15:28:00.001+10:00

I've been without internet access for most of the last week till late yesterday, Friday, afternoon. Somehow some fiddling was done with cables by T****** and my access was cut. A ring at security door yesterday afternoon announced a technician . I thought he'd come upstairs but apparently he could investigate without coming up. So everything's back and running..

A couple of weeks ago I did a plain hat in grey alpaca for #1 son. I made him a similar hat in black some years ago and it's had a lot of use. It's looking somewhat tatty. So I made a second for him in Bendigo alpaca in grey. I couldn't remember how many stitches I had used and made this one a trifle large. No problem. DIL took it and turned it into something slouchy for her. She loves hats and looks good in pretty well any style.

So that left son still needing a hat. Bendigo alpaca again and fifteen stitches fewer than the previous hat. He hasn't tried this one on yet as DIL has been away and he's still on crutches. He has another three weeks in plaster and then even more physio than he is currently having. However, it's considerably smaller. Very basic design. My sons like the skull cap effect and I do a big band of moss stitch and then decrease in stocking stitch. Apart from getting the number of stitches right, it's easy. They find the style comfortable and warm even though they don't look wonderful when photographed.

#2 son decided he would like one too. Bendigo alpaca again, this time the blue called Britannia. Eighty stitches all around as his head is the smallest of the three of them. This one is fresh off the needles a few minutes ago and hasn't been blocked yet.

I seem to have a talent for getting lens cap in the photo. I think I put it there so it's obvious when I finish and can replace it easily. My head is very light headed at the moment . I came down with a nasty cold yesterday and rally don't feel wonderful at all. With the weather as cold as it has bee lately, I don't think I'll be going to church tomorrow in the cold air. Who wants someone who is sneezing 8-12 times in succession ?

And now for something a bit different. Still a hat, the fourth in the last two weeks. This is for my friend in Christchurch NZ and I'll send it with the Patonyle cowl I did last week. There is a row of what could be called medallions around the hat. It's super warm as she will need but it's a bit of a case of coals to Newcastle. The yarn is Naturally NZ possum/merino mix and the label called it 10 ply. It's done on 4.5 needles and is fine as a hat but I would go up a couple of sizes for any other garment.

Thank goodness #3 son wanted scarf, not a hat. I'm a bit over them now for a while.

bo-peep's mittens

2011-07-07T14:42:00.000+10:00

Two small granddaughters have been staying with me all week till tomorrow. So new fingerless gloves or mittens as they have been calling them are in order.

The pair on the left are for Miss Six. They are a mix of alpaca and silk from Bendigo Mills, very pleasant to knit. Actually a deep purple colour.

Those on the left are for Miss just Nine. No prizes for guessing her favourite colour. These are Bendigo alpaca which I had.

They are a better fit than shown, although I have allowed for growth in the purple pair. They were about to leave this morning and just threw them on , sat down and were up again. No time for window dressing of any sort. Still, these cover their fingers and will be warm.

blow, blow thou winter wind...

2011-07-02T13:13:00.000+10:00

Just finished and unblocked at time of photo. This is a Patonyle cowl for my bike-riding friend in Christchurch. I made it longish so that it can be pulled up if she so desires. If it bunches up, it won't be bulky around her neck. Facilities at her place come and go according to aftershocks, so the Patonyle is fairly easy care and can be tossed in machine to wash if needed.

I tried a couple of photos of it on me, but they didn't turn out very well. My model has let her striped study shawl slip off her shoulder. I didn't notice till I downloaded the photo.

I have a few children's hats already done and put them away. I'll send them too and she will give them to social workers working with children after the earth quake. I didn't want to burden her with distribution but she has said she'll pass them on.

I am being a glutton for punishment. The cowl is done in knit 2 purl 2 rib and I've moved on to a beanie for my eldest son. About three years ago, I made him a black alpaca hat with all the lower part in moss stitch. I made him a slightly different style just before I came here but he's asked for another just like the first. I had an order from Bendigo and he picked out grey alpaca. So off I went again. Knit 1, purl 1 all round on an uneven number of stitches so the moss stitch took little concentration. I'm almost up to the decreasing which will be done in stocking stitch to make things easy.

please grandma

2011-06-30T19:45:00.000+10:00

I received a text yesterday purporting to come from Miss Six. It said Please grandma, make me some more which cover my fingers!

I made these last year from some scraps and they didn't take long. I don't know what she's done to the one on her left hand. Did she chew it while in the car as she is now? Did the cat claw it? Or perhaps the dog played with it. Who knows? They are certainly too small for her now.

Next week she and her older sister who turned nine yesterday will be here for several days. I think I'll make them when she's here and i can try as I knit.

I am not a quilter. I did make a couple of small quilts many years ago and I know people who do beautiful quilts and two who have many prizes for their quilts. So far however, quilting holds no attraction for me to do myself. I bought this quilt, it's silk and not heavy. I bought it for the colours and I tried this photo for its colours. I find that red and sometimes purple is difficult to get accurately. However, I'm pleased how this has turned out. I can see the sheen of the silk and I'm quite happy with the colours. I take some photos pretty well everyday, so perhaps am gradually learning something. It's very grey outside although my bedroom has lots of white and light.

The green is my Kindle which had just finished charging. I'm currently reading The Bell by Iris Murdoch on the Kindle. If it's not wet tomorrow, I plan on walking up the road opposite to join the local library. It's a branch but close. The main library in a neighbouring suburb has just re-opened after a major construction job involving the old Town Hall, council offices and library and the shopping mall. I'll get there soonish I hope.

this little piggy went to market...

2011-06-21T20:09:00.000+10:00

...and these little piggies were blue from cold. This strangely coloured picture shows something I whipped up last night and this morning. Son had reconstruction done on his right ankle last Thursday and his little tootsies were cold. They would have been even colder tonight had I not done this. A cold change, with snow on the Blue Mountains whipped through this afternoon dropping temperatures by about 10 degrees, more if windchill is factored in.

I used 8 ply in what is really a rich dark green and 4mm needles with 66 stitches. It's quite long, son is 6'5" with feet made to carry that height. Not as big as Ian Thorpe's but a size 14 I think.

All a bit of guesswork really, because when I saw him, I forgot to measure how big the cast was around circumference. It looked as if the sock would fit but I found some very wide, strong elastic, turned over a hem and threaded elastic through. He says it's working fine. He can't put that foot to the ground for at least six weeks and is on elbow crutches. He also has a contraption especially manufactured for such times. It's a cross between an old fashioned scooter and a skateboard and bike. He rests the bad leg on it bent at knee, and propels himself with other foot pushing along the ground. It has a rest on it so he can keep foot up when he's sitting in a chair. The cast goes up to his knee and is quite heavy.

Hopefully this is the end of such surgery. This is the ankle that was mended years ago and which was torn apart again after Christmas when the already injured left ankle collapsed and he fell heavily on outside stairs. He always was accident prone as a boy, but has been fine for many years. He's still on strong painkillers, two types of morphine but hates them so weans himself off as soon as possible. Tramadol in particular makes him hot and itchy but he needs the relief right now.

I've done a few more of the small alligators from the post several down from this and tweaked the pattern to suit me, and I've just finished some little booties for a friend's grandson. They need ribbon or braid.

it's been a while

2011-06-18T16:08:00.001+10:00

It's been a while and looking back, I can't work out what hindered me from posting. Certainly the weather hasn't been inspiring for much at all. Rain, rain and more rain. Last Monday which was a public holiday, I was all set to go to the Central Coast to see son and his family and have SIL cut my hair. She's a very good hairdresser and while I do pay her, it's not as much as I would pay down here.

The morning was wet, very wet. I checked the buses to the city and found they were running every hour. What?? Even on Sundays they still run 30 minutes apart. I know because I catch the bus to church. What was worse was that there were no trains on the mainline or north shore line or from Hornsby to Newcastle. Trackwork on a holiday Monday. I know plenty of people come to Sydney for football etc and trains are usually packed.There's no shelter where the trackwork buses go except small tents with no sides. Two hours were allowed for my trip which normally takes 50 minutes. Still I got to bus stop down here and it poured. I turned around and went back inside.

I have been knitting and playing around on Ravelry. I made a scarf for Master 5 who wanted something to go round and round his neck like I did for his daddy. His words. I made him a scarf in 8 ply and embroidered an initial on one end. It worked out well, his new favourite colour is blue which is what I used from stash. That colour has been orange for over two years and has finally changed. I made some fingerless gloves for his older sister and again she had just asked her mum for some for early morning rides to school. However, I forgot to take a photo before giving these away.

I've made quite a few more little alligators as shown below and have tweaked the pattern so they are more to my satisfaction. Not so fat and with a bit longer tail. I also made the tail i-cord as it's much easier to do than a tube with just two stitches on each needle. Currently I'm doing some booties for a friend whose daughter is having a boy in a few weeks. I must remember photos before I send them off.

Speaking of photos. I'm gradually getting used to my new camera. I've taken a lot of photos, some have been great, others I've deleted as soon as they were downloaded. As today was pleasant I went walking and took the camera. I was reminded of the man in his 90s who walked every street in almost 300 Sydney suburbs.

I've been trying not only different settings on my camera but also different angles and techniques. I've joined the 365 Project and am attempting a new photo posted there every day for a year.

This top photo is taken in the fire escape near my apartment. The colours are fairly true and I like the way the top steely grey is picked up again at the very bottom of the shot. This one reminds me of some of the work of Escher although I think that was more by good luck than good management or my skills.

I loved the contrasts shown in this shot which is also Escheresc. The shininess of the wet leaves against the plain rails. The straightness of the lines of the planter boxes and rails contrasted with the curves of the leaves. I didn't see all of this at first, I was most interested in seeing if I could catch the shininess of the wet leaves. So now I am spending time on looking for different angles when I use the camera.

Click to enlarge.

never smile at a a crocodile

2011-06-06T15:25:00.000+10:00

Actually, in this case, never smile at an alligator. An alligator was the avatar of an admin on an internet board I frequent. She died very suddenly, most unexpectedly, several months ago, and a group of us is collaborating on a memorial banner. Some have embroidered some of her famous to us sayings. Others have done something else and I'm knitting alligators to go on the banner. This is the first, and I've emailed a picture to the co-ordinator of the project. It's about the right size I think, but I really want to shorten the legs a bit. They seem out of proportion but I followed the pattern.

Some of the last of the Bendigo Melody. A child's hat, recipient unknown at the moment. I'll put it into the charity/gift box for the moment. It will warm someone's head soon.

Speaking of warming...it's very pleasant inside and it was meant to reach only 16° today. I have a long sleeve top on, but it's not thick. I'm warm. However, I went down to check the mail just before this entry. It was chilly outside and when I opened the south facing doors to the letterboxes, I had to push the heavy door against a very strong wind. Very cold outside the block.

Finally, just because I can, a shot of the inside fire stairs near my end of the block. There are stairs each end of the block on every floor as well as the stairs which some use instead of the lift. I was experimenting with my new camera again. The colours are fairly accurate as the light bulbs are yellowy. The concrete is raw on the stairs and the tiles are a deep cream to mustard. Clicking will enlarge. I like the way the colour of the rails at the top is echoed right at the bottom of the stairs.

The stairs lead up to a roof garden as well as to outside in an emergency. I spent quite a bit of time up there last Friday when it was sunny, experimenting with aperture etc on the camera. Some worked, some didn't.

is there such a thing as too much sock wool?

2011-06-01T14:49:00.000+10:00

I doubt it, I've used sock wool for shawls, scarves and berets as well as for socks. If it's Patonyle, I'll buy it because I like to have it on hand. Great for all socks, especially children's.

I went to Spincraft in Sydney today for the ribbon. I won't be going there in a hurry again, if possible. It was worse than a jumble sale, even worse than many Spitfight shops I've been in and they seem to be lifting their game somewhat at the moment. Stuff was everywhere, including on the floor. I think that was because bins were overfull and even brushing past them caused a cascade of items to the floor. Most of the yarn was acrylic, 100%, and I wasn't interested.

The end of practically every aisle had a screen playing some form of tutorial, always loudly. Over the top of it was some radio station playing something very mediocre. Noise and mess - I couldn't get out of there quickly enough.

So what did I buy? The Patonyle in the picture and the ribbon, which was the original reason for braving the place. Now I think about it, Woolworths at Town Hall Station sells spools of ribbon, I should have checked there first for colour and width.

I have a very warm, quilted silk jacket which has had a lot of wear. I've been wearing it for the past week. We've just had the coldest May for a very long time and Sydney has been extremely wet. Very heavy deluges of rain which have fallen with little warning. I've lost two umbrellas this month by having them blown inside out. The jacket has been quicker protection than an umbrella in a deluge and gale.

I put the jacket on yesterday to discover the cuffs are worn out. Little splits down the cuff all the way around the wrist. The rest of the jacket is in good condition despite the use. I decided I'd put some braid there as reinforcing. No braid in width needed. No grosgrain ribbon in proper colour, not even black. So this is what I bought and I think I'll try sewing it by hand. A bit like the edging on a quilt.

Sigh. They just don't make things as they used to. After all, the jacket is only just over twenty years old!

so what will I do now

2011-05-31T20:45:00.000+10:00

Since I finished my shawl, I've been at a bit of a loose end. I've started a couple of things but have pulled them back, not happy with either. I think I may make some beanies for my friend in Christchurch, NZ. She works at a school and several dozen beanies for pupils were donated, but more could be used. She also knows others who would appreciate them too.

She emailed me the other day to reiterate how tired she is of aftershocks. There had been thousands between the shocks in September and the next big one. She said there had been one of magnitude 3 the other night, but she had woken in a panic sure there was another huge shock. Turns out her cat had jumped on her in bed from the top of a wardrobe! Almost two metres away.

I decided that if Cindy can post about food, then so can I. She is cooking her way through the alphabet and today has spicy kumara wedges. I had another for "K". The box of fruit and vegetables has a King Brown mushroom in it. It's the funny looking bit slightly right of centre. I hadn't tried them before and I cut two slices from the stem. On the plate of food they look a bit like potato slices. They were delicious, a rich, strong flavour and a good texture. I must keep my open for more.

I've been having a box of fruit and veg delivered once a fortnight. It would have pretty much the same selection as this box but more of everything. I had some left so bought a small box today. I have some control over the contents but am mostly happy to get a surprise. There are few things I don't eat as far as fruit/vegetables are concerned.

Neither of the two large supermarkets here delivers any more, although it's possible that they do from another suburb, more of a nuisance to get to. I don't have a car and don't intend to get one. My eyes haven't been the best for driving although once upon a time I drove many miles. I would need to go out for fruit etc every few days as I can't carry heavy stuff home, particularly in the bus. So I'm happy for the delivery.

There are over twenty different things in that box, really just a sample of many. The plate is tonight's dinner. It looks like a lot of meat, several meals for me, but it's veal parmigiana and the slices are very thin indeed. Had they been the usual thickness of steak, that amount would be more meat than I eat in two weeks. Eggplant, fresh beans, King Brown slices, and some salad greens with balsamic glaze on them.

I do a stocktake of the fridge before placing an order. Sometimes soup is made from what's left. That's good for lunches especially in this cold wet weather Sydney is having. It's bucketing down now. Again. Leftover fruit is cooked up to go on my muesli and all is ready to start again.

striped study shawl

2011-05-26T11:06:00.000+10:00

I'm off to lunch today and will probably be wearing this. Cast off last night. What a lot of garter stitch. It could have had a slightly wider green border but I was sick of it. The 100 metres in the next ball would have given me only about eight more rows maximum and I decided the effect wasn't worth the effort.

The effect of the short rows can be easily seen here with the shawl on the floor, even though it's unblocked as yet. Larger photos by clicking on image.

The colours are not really accurate here. The black is an intense, deep black and the green is a rich forest green without the blue tinge at all. They look good together and even unblocked the shawl is large.

The designer has another shawl, really more like a scarf done using similar principles with short rows. I like the result but can't face more at the moment, although the scarf is smaller.

Here it is on my model keeping her warm. It's a good deal warmer than yesterday and the gale force winds have dropped. I went out as I do most Wednesdays and was waiting for my usual bus. It didn't arrive. Neither did the next one. Ten minutes after that a bus came, I don't know whether it was either of those two or the next one early. It made little difference to me. I was very warmly dressed with a hooded, quilted silk jacket. I'd been at the south facing bus stop in a gale for almost 45 minutes. I was cold. I don't know if it was the weather or some accident or what but the traffic was appalling. Sydney grinds to a halt in on the roads in bad weather. When I was still at least twenty minutes away from where I change buses, I was about a kilometre down the road, stuck outside Ashfield Park. I came home. I would have been arriving when everything was over. So it's cold enough to dress up my model.

Actually all my grandchildren are offended by her and also by her several equally unclothed cousins at DIL's place. I find it amusing but all things considered I'd rather they had some sensibility like that.

It's not a well composed shot at all. The slash of red next to the model is actually a rug over a chair behind her and the frame of the chair can be seen on the floor too. The window in the rear of the picture opens onto the common courtyard area contained inside the building.

Rather than upload a huge lot of photos, here's a slide show you may find interesting. It's the replacement of a huge advertising poster over from where I am. I had a lot more photos but have edited these. Mostly cropped out is the road. Parramatta Road, one of Sydney's busiest roads is directly under where these men were working. The wind was blowing a gale and one of them had no safety harness.. Here's the link. Posters in a gale. I was scared watching them work.

red sky in the morning, shepherds take warning

2011-05-24T16:29:00.001+10:00

I've been busy and BLOGGER was uncooperative for at least two days last week. Possibly more. I've also had a nasty tummy upset and any information about that is more than anyone wants to know. DIL took me back to IKEA and we exchanged the door with the broken glass for another whole door, taken straight from another box. I hope no other purchaser finds themselves short a door, but I can see it could easily happen. I spent quite a bit of money on the shelves for my storeroom and now have them up.

The longer shelving to the left was erected twice. I had it all done and found it was too bug for one person to stand up. Then DIL and I discovered that it would not go into the space allowed by less than a centimetre, taken up in the door frame. We undid it and put it up inside the storeroom and it just fits in nicely. The shelves are more than twice as wide as the temporary shelving I had there. I even have boxes of stash across the top which is not really convenient but I have strong steps and really, how often do I need to investigate it.

Some boxes have been in and out a couple of times and may yet move until I find where they really work properly. Practically every time I go shopping I buy something else needed for general household living. Today it was a very expensive chef's knife. I have good smaller knives and didn't want a block and a full set,but I've been used to a decent sized chef's knife so bought one.

With the new cupboard in the lounge, I've moved plates etc to there and freed up some space in the few kitchen cupboards I have. All the plastic ware has been sorted and is no accessible.

Here's the larger cupboard. Wine glasses are now accessible on the top shelf but I need to buy some glass tumblers as I have only one or a few small whisky style glasses. Even they are small than the usual for that purpose and a couple of times I've been tempted to have two gin and tonics before dinner. I haven't, I've stuck to one. I've been able to unpack some really old stuff, vegetable dishes and meat trays from my grandmother. I think that clicking will enlarge any of the photos.

The drawers which were here are now in my bedroom and again, more sorting has been done. Winter woolies are easy to reach which is just as well. A couple of weeks ago, the mornings here were down to about 3° C but lately they've been higher. However, a cold change came through here about two hours ago and the temperature has dropped considerably and it's raining.

This place is delightfully warm for a large part of the day when it's sunny. It's three rooms wide and the lower winter sun streams in and warms the place up very well indeed. It cools quickly from mid-afternon, again because it's three rooms wide with a large area of glass in each of those rooms.

This was taken about 6:45 this morning and is the reason for the title of this post. True to the saying, this beautiful sky did not last much past lunch. It's now grey enough to need a light on to read and is much colder than when I was waiting for the bus to the shops. It's taken from my balcony, looking toward the city skyline and I like the silhouetted outline of trees in the foreground as well as the buildings standing out against the sky. A larger picture by clicking shows the sky really well. The clouds are intensely coloured.

I have about 250 metres to knit on the striped study shawl and a lot of ends to sew in as I used individual balls of Bendigo's Melody in deep forest green and black. Just how much depth those 250 metres will add to the border, I'm not sure. There are over 300 stitches now and while they move around on the needle, I can't spread it out for a photo. Each row eats up a bit more wool each time. I'm going out for lunch on Thursday and would like to wear it so I can see some time tonight and a good bit of tomorrow doing it. I bought a TV about two weeks ago so knit while watching. I am unaccustomed to watching TV, haven't seen any for 17 months and really little has changed. Many of the ads are the same and very little seems to have happened in the programming.

Now I need to decide on dinner. Lunch was very good pumpkin soup, one of the nicest batches for quite a while and some homemade fresh bread, also very good, a mix of rye and multigrain. Something easy and I can knit while it cooks.

striped study shawl

2011-05-10T16:48:00.000+10:00

I mentioned I was doing a small Aestlight shawl with some 5 ply of unknown length. I am quite unsure just how far the yarn will go, so have decided to turn it into a neckerchief, for want of a better term Definitely not a shawlette. Eeeuw! Not a pleasant word to write, look at or say.

So I wanted something fairly mindless but still attractive for which I knew I would have enough yarn. I poked around on Ravelry and found I had already stored the Striped Study shawl in my library. It's originally done in 4 ply on 4 mm needles but I had plenty of two colours of Bendigo Melody which is an 8 ply. I'm using 5 mm needles but have much more wool that that specified in the pattern for the thinner yarn. There should be enough. I have black and a lovely deep forest green and am happy with the combination. 12 repeats of the contrast stripe are called for. I'll see how big the shawl is after ten repeats of the thicker yarn. I've done seven contrast stripes. Look! Patterns on the Kindle. This makes it very easy to carry around and it's clear. I can mark and make annotations if needed too. I think clicking on picture should enlarge image. I've downloaded a copy of Nikon D3100 for Dummies and am making progress through it. It's much more clearly written than the manual which came with the camera.

I'm gradually getting what I need here. I think the only major purchase left will be bookshelves for the spare room. I've priced some which are sturdy and reasonable to look at but need to arrange for not only delivery but someone here to help with the delivery. Oh, I also need a sofa bed which looks fine, is comfortable, well made, and easy to use. I haven't yet looked for one at all.

My son scored a new TV for me on ebay and I hope the delivery is today. I've been tracking it and it should be. He paid $243 for something which is over $400 retail and it costs another $39 to come from Melbourne. All bells and whistles on it, live pause or whatever it's called, flat screen, lots of other letters too denoting what he says are good features. 32" which is fine for the size of the room and for me too. I don't like the room to look dominated by the screen and I don't watch it for hours on end. I haven't watched TV for 17 months now so am right out of the habit. However, I think that with winter rapidly approaching it will be pleasant to be cosy knitting and watching. Particularly as I'll be by myself most of the time.

Lots of visitors on Mother's Day and dinner the night before too. Two sons and their families. A simple, easy lunch of homemade chevapi, BBQ chicken, salad, sausages etc. Most of the grandchildren hadn't been here so were glad to see my new place. It was all very relaxed.The picture is Master 5 with a crewcut from his hairdresser mother. He took blunt children's scissors to his hair and ended up with a half-chewed looking mess. A crewcut was the easiest way to fix it. He is a bit abashed by it and I doubt he will try doing his own haircut again.

I bought some wine which was also delivered today by a very rude Aust. Post courier. Am hoping the next delivery will be more pleasant. At least he did deliver it. My last delivery by one of those couriers did not even rate a ring at the security door downstairs. Even though it was a small package, it was taken straight to PO and I had to collect it. I was not very happy, he didn't even say which PO and there are three all much the same distance from here. He also carefully did not put his name or truck number on the card left.

I think my poor toe is making a bit of progress. I've had shoes on most of the day and it feels reasonable. I'll lose the nail and am not sure whether there will ever be another nail grown with the damage to the toe, but the I believe the toe was itself also broken. That bit seems to be recovering and about time too.

kindle

2011-05-06T13:19:00.000+10:00

I had planned on being out of the place this morning fairly early, but forgot my plans when I woke up. Put washing on and had a leisurely read of the paper while I ate my breakfast. Mum would have been horrified. Certainly no reading at the table for her, even when she was by herself.

The security buzzer went and there was a UPS man wanting entry to the building. I had ordered a Kindle last weekend and was expecting it to arrive on Monday. Perhaps. It was early. So I've spent the rest of the morning fiddling.

I plan to use it to hold books, there are thousands free but I have actually purchased two and downloaded them. The two I've bought are what I'd call manuals for my new camera and they come well recommended.

I've tried to connect to my own wi-fi network instead of their 3G network, using my coded password records. Never had problems before and my iPhone connected just fine. One of my computer whizz sons will be here at the weekend. He set it up and he can hack back into it for me and I'll join the Kindle to my own network. I can see at least a dozen neighbouring wi-fi set ups including MacDonalds from downstairs and out the front. No problem usually in decoding my notes.

Another use I intend to make of it is for patterns. PDFs are easily downloaded and I've set up a shawls folder already.

The interface is very clear and easy to read and there is a light in the cover. Not planning on using that now, but it's there. I bought a Kindle a few months ago as an expression of thanks for the support from one particular friend over a long period of time. Strong shoulders and a listening ear and good, well considered advice for me. I have always intended to get one and almost did then. Now our dollar is s much higher than it's been for a long time, this was cheaper than the first I bought. I know a high dollar causes problems in other areas, but right at the moment, I'm being selfish and making use of it for myself.

At a family reunion last week I was using my phone to retrieve info or something similar. The wife of a long unseen cousin remarked how brave I was to be up with technology. My jaw dropped and I actually didn't know what to say. Anything I thought of sounded like boasting or putting her down. With two computer gurus for sons and a more than competent in that area third son, I would be hard put to be illiterate. They make me find things out for myself and only interfere when something major is planned. They expect me to be able to do stuff, so it just happens. She was afraid of even entering a contact to her phone. I showed her some useful applications but she just shook her head.

more than a week

2011-05-05T09:55:00.001+10:00

There has been some knitting but really, who's interested in seeing a slowly growing triangle of the start of another Aestlight shawl? I found some 5 ply wool dye in a mix of pale green and white and am using it up. Yarn was bought at a Spinners and Weavers Open Day at Burwood, NSW some years ago. and unfortunately, while the weight is given there's no indication of length. So a small Aestlight has been commenced, but it's a bit like watching paint dry to see an increase.

My son has put a picture of grandson on the family Flick'r page. He's wearing the tiger toes socks shown below a bit. I can't link to it as the photos are private, a group family project. Nor can I copy it. He's wearing Shrek pyjamas, bright green and then the socks with their bright orange stripes. A really good look fashionwise! All complimented by the crewcut given him by his hairdresser mum because he took his small, blunt scissors to his own hair and made a horrible mess. Apparently my guess to size was pretty good and these have good room allowed without being sloppy. He loves wearing bed socks and sleeps better with them. Cold feet must wake him up. I'm the opposite and always end up shedding the socks if I ever try wearing them.

So I've compensated with a picture of one of life's pleasures. My second cup of coffee in the morning. That's my limit for the day. It's taken on my glass dining table which gives the delightful background of plain grey carpet. I'll not do that again quickly. I cropped the picture or you could also see multiple chair legs and frames through the glass. I enjoy my coffee, I'm not really a tea drinker and it tastes so good that I often refuse to buy coffee when shopping as I know I can easily do much better than many baristas. A good deal more cheaply too than buying at a coffee shop.

flowery headband

2011-04-24T10:33:00.000+10:00

A short and snappy entry this morning as I'm due out the door very shortly.

This headband was also short and snappy to make and used some leftover, probably vintage yarn I bought some years ago. It was old then and had a wrapper stating kid mohair on it, a Woolworths name(!!) and it originally cost 2/6. The price in itself betrays its age as decimal currency came in on 14/02/66. I bought ten balls from a Melbourne warehouse for $2.50. I've used some in various bits and pieces. I doubt it's kid mohair, it's not soft enough.

However this is a small something for Miss Ten who is coming with her brother and parents for lunch today. The tiger toe socks below are for him.

The button is also well and truly vintage from a bag of over a thousand which was given me by a friend. His mum had been a dressmaker and these were what I would call stash. As she died quite a few years ago and hadn't sewn for a long time before her death, I really can't put an age on the buttons but they are definitely quite old.