I could have gone for tinsel, but who can resist the Grumbles?!?!

Ahhh, the wonders of the urban jungle! First solo bike ride - rawkin'! Merry Christihanukawanazmass, all you wonderful readers. May your holidays and the coming year be full of joy, happiness and the occasional estactic bike ride.

Lotsa love,
Jorth and co (i.e. Grumbles and Galumph)
xoxoxoxoxo!

PS How cute is that concentration?

Too whit! Too whoo!

"Oh dear!", sighed Mr Dottlepanger as he scrutinised his rather bespottled legs, wings and torso. "I do hope I'm not coming down with the measles. That would put me in a spot of bother!"

Determined to cheer himself up (after all, too much negative thinking can make an owl feel rather dotty), he perched in front of his favourite sewing machine, and gazed out the window, hoping to spot his favourite animal, the lesser-spotted quoll. Having no luck with quoll spotting, he decided that a spot of elevenses would be just the thing, and made himself a lovely big mug full of tea, accompanied by a jam drop or two.

Things I am loving

- The above rather spiffy Jorth fambly portrait, done by the awesomely talented Aunty Cookie. Cheers, Shannon!

- The fact that the parcel containing a Marimekko fabric dress for her wee little one plus a little something for Shannon finally arrived, although it took it's sweet time about it, and had me in constant conniptions in regard to it's whereabouts. Phew.

- This biscuit recipe. Yum-o-rama!

- That Grumbles has declared that for Christmas she would like a beard. So I knitted her one. Mo ho ho!

Tradies

I've had quite the morning dealing with tradies. The first fellow, who came to fill in all the ceiling gaps, wasn't exactly Mr. Talkative, but he seemed nice enough, and did a good job. He even offered to vacuum up afterwards (admittedly after I'd vacummed), so no complaints. A chemical headache, but no complaints.

But the guy who came to replace a couple of cracked windows? Um, cracked in the head. Big time. I can handle eccentric, but when eccentric comes with extraordinarily loud and continued swearing in front of Grumbles, and ends with my discovering hundreds of tiny glass shards all over her bed, then that's when it becomes ridiculous. Not to mention unprofessional.

I was going to spend this blog post ranting and raving in a very cutting way about him, making hilarious but snide comments about his personal hygiene etc, but then I remembered that golden old rule: If you can't say anything nice about a person, don't say anything at all.

So:

However, I shall say this - don't expect too much from people wearing Jim Beam hats. I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

Paper, cotton, leather, linen, wood!

On this day, 5 very short years ago, I married the Galumph!




The bride wore green, and a big goofy grin. The groom wore the darkest of blues, and an even bigger grin. And they both carried hearts full of joy, and a promise to walk together in the many days ahead.

Who are the nutters in your neighbourhood?

Grumbles is going through her 'whhhhhyyyyyyyyy?' stage. It was slow to start, and for a few blessed moments I thought that we might have escaped it, but alas, no. It's taken off with a vengeance! I wouldn't mind so much if she actually listened to my answers, but she doesn't, and it's driving me BARMY.

So I began, at the end of the question thread, when no more possible answers were possible, to say in my best Grover-on-speed voice "Because I say sooooooooooo!"

And I've completely and utterly created a rod for my own back, because all she wants to do now is make Mum do that crazy voice, so it's all "Why? Why? WHY?" But who could blame her? It's highly entertaining, especially when I team it with a mad muppet run and up and down the hallway, bellowing "Because I say soooooooo! I'm the Mum, and I know best! GAAAAA-RAAAAAAHHH!". Sometimes she laughs so hard she has to lie down in order to recover.

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In other thrilling news, I'm going on a date tonight. Eeeeeeeee! It's been so long since I've done one of those that I'm no longer sure what to do. Any suggestions, o peoples of the internet, for a night out in old Melbourne town that costs less than $50?

Holy schmoly! I should probably point out I'm going on a date with my husband. Phew! Just imagine that kerfuffle I might have caused if I didn't clarify that!

Doing the photo thang

Firstly, thanks everybody for your good sleep suggestions. Breaking the caffeine habit will be the hardest, I suspect. Such a vicious circle: can't sleep, feel tired during day, have a coffee, too much caffeine, can't sleep and on and on we go. So no more coffee after 11, as suggested by Jo. Also, a good pal told me about the breathing she learnt during her hypno-birthing classes, so each night you'll find me lying in a relaxed position in bed, working that tummy up and down as I breath in correctly. Or so the theory goes.

But really, you don't stop by my little neck of the woods to listen to me blather on about my sleep problems. You're after madcap adventures! Crazy schemes! What new adventure is that loony Jorth embarking upon now? Well, I think I might just enrol myself in a photography course. Stop the old brain from rusting, etc etc. Plus I like to be really good at things I do regularly, like sewing and knitting and now taking photos. So that's the big plan for next year. Photocity, here I come!

Mrs Jorth does Ebay

Well - good news on the health front. All the results came back, and everything appears to be a.o.k. She gave me some sleeping pills to help me sleep, which I don't really want to be taking, but I guess anything is better than the 3 hours of broken sleep I've been averaging for the last couple of months. If anybody has some ideas regarding achieving a good night's sleep, then don't be shy - pass them on! I'm all ears!

Rightio - onto the Christmas cheer. I scored a tree on Ebay! I'm not really a fan of the ye olde plastic tree, but the real ones in pots we bought kept dying on us, and I feel bad about the cut ones. Yet I didn't want to buy something brand new either, as it doesn't quite go with our plastic-free life. Yet I did so want for Grumbles to have the Christmas magic that comes with a tree, and the traditions a family can create that are associated with it (you know, like dancing around to Rosemary Clooney whilst hanging the decs, inbetween getting out the dustpan and brush to sweep up the ones that Grumbles dropped on the floor - note to self: no more clay decorations until she is old enough not to drop them). Sight - whever is a Christmas-loving environmentalist to do?

So one morning I was browsing away on Ebay, and I saw second hand trees for sale. Geeeeeez, how exciting does that bidding get? I think I gave myself RSI from the refresh clicking I was doing, but I was determined that nobody, but nobody, was taking my second-hand tree away from me!

So I'm pleased all around. We didn't cave in and buy a new plastic tree, and we've recycled (the person who sold us the tree said they were going to throw it away - gasp!). Hoorah!

Home made paper

Ta da! How's this for an eco-friendly Christmas: home made paper, made with scraps of coloured paper saved all year long (Nerd alert! Nerd alert!), then mixed with old print outs from Galumph's dad's work. I like to recycle where I can, and according to The Guardian, "One of the biggest sources of waste in the UK each Christmas is wrapping paper, with more than 8,000 tonnes being used each year - the equivalent of approximately 50,000 trees." Well, make that 8,000 tonnes minus about 3 metres from us. Except that we're not in the UK. Now I'm confusing myself.

Anway, that's my Christmas gift wrapping all, er, wrapped up, bwahahahahah bad pun intended. Although, since I let Grumbles help me there may have been a bit of a story invented about how we are making Santa's life easier by providing him with the paper, so he doesn't have to wrap the pressies, being so busy and all. Now, when he gets to our place, he grabs the gifts from his sleigh and then does a bit of Santa-style magic and hey presto, gifts wrapped in paper we made for him.

So, the paper is pretty nifty, hey?And this was only one batch, done on those crazy hot days last week. Tell you what, don't make paper on a 37 C day. Not a smart idea, being out in all that heat, squatting down and lying the sheets of wet paper pulp just so. (Don't worry, Grumbles was inside having her nap at this point - she more helped with the ripping of paper) At one stage I got up and was soooo dizzy I thought I might pass out. At least I was out the front, where hopefully a neighbour would have spotted me sooner rather than later, preferably before I was pecked to death by crazy maternal nesting magpies. Because death by 'pies would be a sad way to go indeed. Plus the Galumph would never get his bond back if he couldn't remove the blood stains from the front steps.

Ewwww! Enough of that. Back to the heat. You should have felt the effect it had on my heart! It was going ker-whallop, ker-whallop, ker-doing. Actually, it's been doing that for a while now. So yesterday I trotted off to the doctor, who 'hmmmmmmed' in a most disconcerting manner before ordering blood tests and an ECG. Oh, the fun!

Test results on Monday. I'll keep you posted.

It's a privilege - don't take it lightly

Oh Australians, I'm not one to tell you whom to vote for, but please please please don't vote with your wallet or with your own superficial interests. Vote for the good of all others. Think about those who will come after you. Think of them and our future. Think of your children and their children and of all the children who will ever be, growing up in this world of ours, which maybe never to be repeated in regards to good environmental fortune and sheer simple luck. We have so much to treasure - and so much to (rapidly) lose.

Think of them all. And for God's sake cast your vote accordingly. As the Guardian says, this is the first environmental election.

A dress for Election day!

Do you remember a while ago I was blathering away about my summer wardrobe, and how spiffy it was going to be, what with the hand knitted matchy matchy cardigans and all? I'd forgive you if you had forgotten, as the silence around these parts concerning aforementioned wardrobe has been somewhat on the deafening side, ja?

Well, let us be silent no more! This week has seen me put aside projects for Grumbles (and when I say projects I mean two more spotty tops, plus another top with a fitted bodice and flared bottom, AND a dress for the daugher of a friend and yes, hopefully I'll blog about them all when I take a decent pic) and finally claim the machine as my own.


I've been using Vogue 8184, which is a terrific pattern, as the basis for the dress. I've pretty much kept the bodice intact (because who wants to make their own bodice pattern? Pwah, too much hard work!), taking the side seams in 1 cm at the top, tapering down towards the waist in order to make the dress fit my not-so-ample bosoms, but I have gone all freelance like on the strap and skirt.

The skirt has been quite easy to do. I slashed and spread the front and back skirt to create extra fullness (take a peek here for how to do it, although I didn't utilise the dart points), then did random gathering to make the flouncey look. Fingers crossed I get it finished tonight, because I think it's just the thing to cast my vote in this Saturday! Elections only occur once every three years - you've gotta dress up for them, right?!

Playing with dust motes swirling in the afternoon sun

The Walk

Wow - what a day! The Jorth fambly joined 50,000 (!) others on the Walk Against Warming, and what a walk it was. We'd organised to meet Nichola, but unfortunately we completely failed to find each other in the crowd. Darn!

Hopefully all these people walking will get the message across to the pollies that we want something done about climate change, and we want it done NOW!

Speaking of all things environmental, if you fancy figuring out your carbon footprint, the Galumph found a most excellent site last night: ZeroFootPrint. It's the most thorough one either of us has found to date, and it offers great, well thought-out suggestions for lowering your impact, based on the answers you give. Well worth a couple of minutes of your time.

Okay, that's enough blathering on for today. Hope you all enjoy this sunny Monday (or whatever the weather is in your part of the world).

Thank you!

Well, there's a whole heap of good feelings going on around chez Jorth in regard to the response to the whole Etsy shop thing. Cheers, maties! You'll all be mucho pleased to know that I've decided to take the plunge, and open up me own wee little shop.

Check it out right here! I've put the earrings from the last post up, so if you really did fancy a pair then you'd best get cracking and snaffle yourself a pair, as they are all very extremely limited edition, few-of-a-kind wonders! And as a happy, make-you-feel-good bonus, $2 from each sale will be donated to Greenpeace. Hooray!

Rightio, that's enough blathering from me. Hope you all are having a tremendous weekend. Don't forget about the Walk Against Warming tomorrow, Aussies!

Should I or shouldn't I?

I've been having a little think lately about crafting and blogging, and Things In General, and, well, I'm wondering if maybe, just maybe, I should open up a little Etsy shop.

I could have spotty tops, and clothes for big people and small, and maybe even a few of these:

Whaddya all think?

Walk Against Warming

What are you guys doing on Sunday, 11th November at 1 o'clock? You're doing the Walk Against Warming? Excellent - so am I!

The more people we can get, the more notice the politicians will take. This is a fantastic way to let them know that we are serious about what is at stake, and committed to preventing any further climate change. It's especially important that we get the message across in these crucial weeks before the Federal election.

So get your friends together, pack a picnic basket, and meet up to do the walk. If this plea of mine doesn't move you, then just think of the penguins. Oh, the poor global-warming-affected penguins!

Walk for meeeeeeeee!

7.5 weeks - yikes!

I glanced at the calender the other day, and was most surprised to discover it was a mere 8 weeks until Christmas. And now that 8 has turned into 7 and a half - yikes! Where has the year gone? Sometimes I wish that I lived in a very cold part of the Northern Hemisphere, where it was be so darned freezing outside that you'd be happy to stay in, pottering away, plenty of time to get all those hand made gifts created.

But oh no. I had to be born here, in hot hot hot Australia, where Christmas season means being out and about as much as possible. No time for craft, nosireee. There's parties to attend, and end of school years, and beaches to lay upon, and horse races and "Let's catch up before Christmas!" drinks and work dos that you really can't not go to so the husband doesn't look bad and simply no end to things to take you outside and away from your craft table (not that I'm really complaining, it isn't too bad a life, you know).

But if you like to be a handmadey gifty person like me, it means you had better be organised. Which I'm not. In my brain I am, but alas that somehow doesn't translate to aways.getting.things.done. Thus today I am rushing around like a headless chicken, making lists and checking them twice, panicking about how little time I have to do everything, and instead of being sensible about it all, and actually working my way down my list in an organised manner, I'm doing a trial run of gingerbread biscuits, even though I made them only a couple of months ago and know perfectly well that the recipes works.


Still, it fills in the time that might otherwise be spent doing a bit of planning so I don't end up frazzled and barking at everyone and bugger-off-with-your-ho-ho-hos-can't-you-see-I've-got-a-deadline-here attitude. Cos who wants to miss out on that?

Spotty Top

First cab off the rank: One spotty top for Grumbles, using the pattern I always use. I can't help it - it's the perfect top! Easy to make, easy to wear, washes well, and is cute without being too girly. And she can play in it. That's the most important bit. Nothing worse than feeling constrained by your clothing, no matter how trendeeeee it may be.

I can't fully take credit for this top, though - Grumbles helped. After every seam was sewn, I'd clip my thread, and hand them carefully to Grumbles, who would dutifully race around the table to plonk them in the bin. Occaisonally, when she could see I was sewing a tricky bit, she'd rub my back and say "Good work, Mum!" What can I say - I LOVE this kid!

Once done, we trooped outside for our photoshoot. It began to gently rain as we did it, for the day was muggy, dark and dense, so we packed up the camera and then remained outside to suckle our homemade strawberry yoghurt icypoles. Suddenly the rain really began to pelt down, but instead of being sensible and heading inside, we stayed out, squealing with delight, and attracting a few odd looks from people scurrying by. Grumbles was a tad concerned about the birds getting wet, so kept squarking out "Bird! Get.Out.Of.The.RAIN!", waving about her icypole as she bellowed. I was beside myself with laughter - she looked so funny, wearing her stern, bossy face, ordering the minor birds around as the rain came down.

Man, it was a good afternoon!

Cables and goodbyes

After weeks of wrestling with that darn cable needle, I finally got around to teaching myself how to cable without one. And, surprise, surprise, it was easy! Well - the right cable was. I couldn't figure out how to do a left cable sans cable needle, because I'm rather idiotic when it comes to spacial things. Oh well, I suppose I'll have another crack at it tonight.

Anyhoo, if you are interested in learning how yourself, trot on over to this marvellous tutorial by Grumperina. My inability to each myself should have no reflection on her thorough, well photographed explanation.

So there you have it. Another spiffy trick added to my knitting arsenal!

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On a more sombre note, rest in peace Dina Rabinovich. The columns she wrote for the Guardian, exploring her way along the mine-ridden path that is a breast cancer journey will stay with me for a long, long time, serving as a continual reminder as to how lucky I am, and how I should never, ever take a moment for granted. My thoughts, heavy and sad, are with her and her beloved family today, and I'm sure they will be for quite some time.

The Swing

How do you like to go up in a swing?
Up in the air so blue
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
Rivers and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside

Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown,
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!


Robert Louis Stevenson

(It's the best thing a child can do, to be sure, but it's even better if your favourite dog can join in the fun!)

The pen is mightier than the "Send" button

It can all seem so difficult, this environmental stuff, can't it? No matter how hard you try in your own life, all effort seems to be completely and utterly negated by those who keep driving their Hummers, leaving all their lights on, eating out-of-season food flown in from other countries, flying themselves around the country or the world whenever the whim for a mini-break strikes etc. It's enough to make you become a hermit. How can one little person make a difference with all this going on around them?

How? Vote! And let your representatives know what issues will get your vote. We have an election coming up here in Australia, and now is the perfect time to start harassing politicians and canidates on issues such as Kyoto, greenhouse targets, coal, energy efficiency, land clearing, carbon pricing, nuclear power, uranium mining and more. One simple and easy way to do this is to head on over to The Big Switch site, and use their forms to send emails to the pollies on these issues. Changes need to be made NOW if we are going to prevent our world heating up past 2 degrees (which in itself is quite disasterous).


Emails are pretty good, but if you could send an actual paper letter, that would be even better. My husband used to know a guy who worked for one of the major parties, and he said that emails were routinely ignored, but paper letters, by rule, had to be opened and then answered.

So what are you waiting for? Pen to paper, and make a difference. Remember - they NEED your votes, so show them how to win 'em. For a small window of time, the power is most definitely in your hands.

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By the way, thanks for all the yoghurt advice. Jamie Oliver, Schmoliver. Looks like I'll be checking out that Easiyo next time I hit the supermaket!

Yoplait - it's French for beeping frustrated!

On the weekend, I tried to make yoghurt. Note the use of the word tried. The olde yoghurt definitely wasn't a success. I followed the Jamie Oliver recipe, which says to bring a litre of milk to the boil, let cool to room temp, then stir in 1/2 litre of yoghurt. Let it sit around for 6 - 8 hours then hey presto! Yoghurt!

Except, not. I got watery, milky, yoghurty smelling sludge.

Not to be deterred, I did some research. According to Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian, you only need to mix a couple of tablespoons of yoghurt into the litre of milk. Confused? Moi aussi. Shouldn't my 1/2 litre of yoghurt guaranteed that I would end up with yoghurt, when normally only a mere few tablespoons usually do the trick? How hard can this possibly be, if shepherds tooling around with storing milk in goat bladders could come up with yoghurt? Is that the secret - a goat bladder?

Gah! Tearing of hair! Does anybody have any sure fire yoghurt tips? Purlease, help!

Oi there, you zips - stand to attention!

Creeeeeeeek.... kerthump. What's that noise? Why, the sound of the overlocker and sewing machine being hefted from their winter hibernation spot in the cupboard, up onto the table.

This, my friends, is a call to arms. Put those knitting needles aside, and bring out the pins and tape measures and tailor's chalk. Blow the dust off the sewing machine, and give the iron a clean. Assemble your bias binding, your elastic thread, your buttons and zips and hooks and eyes. Ready yourself for gathered sleeves, and negative ease, and crooked buttonholes, and zips that refuse to sit just so and make you quiver with rage, for the sewing season has begun!

Fingers crossed, Grumbles will have a brand new spanking wardrobe, quicker than you can say "Eeerr-I've-stabbed-myself-with-the-quick-un-pick-again!"

Of the environment, and other things

I've been tagged by Nichola with the book tag, which works out very nicely indeed - I'd been planning on writing a post about Blog Action Day, but forgot (d'oh!), and am currently reading a book that is 100% guaranteed to scare the willies off you - Six Degrees by Mark Lynas. The book looks at the effect each degree of warming will have on the earth, starting at one degree and moving up to six. Absolutely horrifying stuff. (For a terrific summary of the book, go here to read what ye old Guardian says.)

So, as per the meme, I'll open the book at page 161, find the 5th sentence down and have a look at what it says:

Lowe's work shows that flooding of this kind could hit the coast every few years by the latter part of this century, leaving whole villages, towns and huge swathes of farmland uninhabitable.

Well, that's a cheery thought, innit? Yet still we drive our cars everywhere, guzzling up all those fossil fuels and spewing more carbon into the air, which only serves to heat up our planet more and more and more. We add to this by consuming food that is grown with fertilisers based on fossil fuels, that not only contribute more carbon to the atmosphere, but ruin entire eco-systems - either by being part of agribusiness with nothing but single plant varieties grown for miles around, or by the fertilisers washing off into our rivers and bays, destroying everything except algae which sucks out the oxygen from the water, destroying the marine life, and then rots, releasing: you guessed it, more carbon! Oh, and don't forget that all the food we eat travels thousands upon thousands of miles before it hits your plate, with all those miles toting up to release even more carbon into the air!

But never mind the heat - just buy yourself a lovely cooling air conditioner. Sure, they suck up a bit of electricity but since the marjority of Australia's energy is created by burning coal, I'm sure that it will be quite all right. What's that you say - burning coal is a very dirty business indeed - in fact, it's the most carbon releasing way of creating electricity? Well, hot diggity damn! With an emphasisi on the hot! I suppose I'd best unplug my fragrance releaser (insert other completely useless electrical equipment here).

Okay, enough sarcasm. And I know I'm not perfect. I occaisonally ride in a car. I sometimes eat food that comes in plastic packaging, from locations far away. I'm not at all averse to buying nice shiny new food magazines when I see them in the newsagency. I, like most of us, do not fancy wearing a hairshirt.

But I do try, very very hard. As a family, every purchase we make (um, except for the food mags!) undergoes strict scrutiny. Do we need it? Is it ethically produced? Can I get a similar product with less 'miles' attached. Is it organic? Can the packaging be reused or recycled? Do I really need to buy it, or can I borrow one from a neighbour or the library? So, in the spirit of all things environmental, I thought I'd give you a snapshot of my average day, where the focus is on trying to do the least harm, whilst still living an enjoyable life.

Oh, and congratulations if you've stuck this far!

Sometime between 6:00 - 7:00: The Galumph and I awake to the noise of Grumbles calling out "Muuuuuum! Daaaaaaaad!" in her room. I usually roll over, murming "Oh, isn't it your turn?" and let Galumph grab her, whilst I grab another 5 minutes shut eye.

7:05 - Yawning and scratching my belly, I meander down to the kitchen. The Galumph has already boiled the kettle, bless him, using only enough water for our breakfast beverages, so I fire up the computer while I wait for him to make me a coffee, using Fair Trade coffee and organic milk. He, meanwhile, loads up his laptop to check his work emails (yeah, we need to work on having both running at the one time).

7:30 - Grumbles demands breakfast, so we begin to organise it. Her and Galumph both have organic porridge which I buy from an organic grocer, bringing my own bag. The porridge is usually topped with organic stewed fruit (I use whatever is in season). I have toast made from bread from the local baker (take my own bag there, too!) with whatever is lying around the fridge.

8:00 - Shower time. Galumph and Grumbles go first, making sure that they stay in the 3 minutes allocated by the egg timer attached to our shower wall, otherwise they get yelled at by Miss Charming over here. I pop in after them, and try and beat my personal best time. Best so far is 1 minute 27 seconds (needless to say, I didn't really feel very refreshed, although I got a good workout, scrubbing so quickly). If it's a hairwash day, I take a little bit longer, usually nudging the 3 minutes, soaping up with my plastic free soap bar from Lush. I then pop out, moisturise with my Aesop cream (glass bottle, and is manufactured in Carlton!), and then deodorise using some crappy supermarket job. I tried the Lush ones, but they just didn't work for me (although they do for Galumph - I've guess I'm just stinky), and I concluded the washing my clothes after every single wear was far worse for the environment than using the plastic deordorant.

8:15 - We all get dressed. Grumbles and I are usually sporting something that I've made myself. By making my own clothes, not only am I cutting down on some clothing miles (yes, the fabric travels, but not quite as much as it would if it went to another factory in Chinas to be made into mass produced fashion), but we think we look pretty cool! Also, you really have to want something when you sew it yourself, so it stops random spur of the moment purchases. If I do buy a new piece, I try to get pieces made by local designers. They do cost a bit, but I wear them year after year after year. Fashion is art, darling!

8:30 - On goes the washing. I load up my front loader with environmentally friendly detergant (haven't got to making my own yet, Nic!), make sure it's on the eco-cycle, and cold water setting, and away it goes.

8:35 - Grab the shower water, saved in a bucket, and use it to water the plants.

8:40 - Kiss Galumph goodbye, after making sure he's got his leftovers for lunch, plus some organic fruit to eat, as he rides off to work, rain, hail, or shine, on his bike. I then hang out the washing on the clothes line. No tumble drying for us!

9:00 - Do the dishes, using eco-friendly detergant, trying to keep water to a minimum.

9:30 - Whilst Grumbles is happily doing some colouring in, I write out my shopping list for the day, on old bits of scrap pattern making paper which I save when cutting out a pattern, then bundle together as notepaper. Once I know what we need (based on our monthly menu plan) we either walk or pram to the shops (we have to, since we don't own a car), bringing our own carry bags and paper bags. We stop at the organic green grocer, buying our fruit and vegetables there, then pop into the small local supermarket for any dairy that we might need. Depending on the day, we might stop and have a coffee with one of the girls at the grocers, or with the friendly chap at the second hand book shop. We always wave to the man at the fish shop, and say hello to the video shop fellow, who gives us free dvds in return for home made muffins, and then might go to the cheese shop, where Grumbles is always treated to a piece of cheese (that kid is yet to meet a cheese she didn't like).

12:00 - Whoooo, look at the time - we'd better have some lunch! Usually we have left overs from the night before, or maybe we'll have a toasted sandwhich, or soup I've squirrelled away in the freezer. Unless it's a very dark day, no lights go on at our place during the day time. It's not uncommon to glance up and realise we've been sitting in the dark! After lunch Grumbles heads down for her sleep.

1:00 - With Grumbles down, it's now 'me' time. I'll fire up the computer again, check and answer emails, and perhaps update the blog. I like to read the G2 section of The Guardian, as well as checking out Treehugger. Then, after closing down the computer I decide what activity to occupy myself with until Grumbles wakes up. Either I knit, read a book or I sew. The sewing does require the use of a sewing machine, plus lights, so I do use a bit of electricity there, but the knitting or reading always takes place with me tucked up in bed. I do this for two reasons: 1 - To stay warm, so I don't have to put on the heater, and 2 - So I can be close to the window, thus negating the need to turn on any lights. Yes, I am a big dork. But I'm a dork with toasty warm legs and a clear conscience! I'll remain at my activity until I hear Grumbles stir.

3:00 - With the tiger up and ready to play, we have a snack of fruit, then decide what to spend the afternoon doing. Either we walk down to the park, or meet up with a friend, or do something crafty at home, like painting, or colouring, or making our own paper, or inventing stories with her collection of home made toys. The focus is always on using what we have. Apart from colouring books, it's rare that Grumbles gets anything new like a toy or books, unless it's her birthday or Christmas. I'd much rather frequent the local library, or help her make something from scratch.

5:30 - Time to get dinner organised. I turn the computer on, and let Grumbles watch a dvd whilst I make tea. We don't own a television, so this is her 'quiet time', and keeps her from being tired and over excited, and under my feet, while I make dinner. Dinner is always vegetarian (read more about it here!), with most things being made from scratch, which can take a little while. Occaisonally I bomb out and realise that I forgot to soak the beans or whatever so I'll crack open a can, but mostly I try to keep the food packaging to a minimum.

6:30 - Galumph is usually home by now, so we play some nice music while we sit down together as a family. We talk about our days (well, we try - most of the time dinner is spent asking Grumbles not to leave her chair until everybody is finished and please pick up your fork and now pick up your spoon and don't warble whilst Daddy is talking and Grumbles I just told you not to do that and do you want to tell Dad what we did today? Oh, now you've gone quiet!) and any notable events that went on in the world (although if it's about politics or tax I may tune out - sorry honey!)

7:00 - Galumph takes Grumbles to the couch for some story time, and I have another quick look on the computer (coughcoughcelebsdressingsobadlyit'sfunnycoughcough!).

7:30 - After going through the toilet routine, then the drink of water routine, Grumbles is tucked up into bed. I sing Moon, Moon to her, then it's lights out and goodnight.

8:00 - Adult time! Actually, I don't know why I put an exclamation mark there - we're really not that exciting. We'll read, or perhaps watch a dvd on the computer. If we do that, we drag our couch up nice and close (I refuse to get a bigger monitor until this one actually explodes - there's enough useless appliance upgrading going on without me adding to it), and we'll grab the doona from our bed to cover ourselves so we keep warm and don't have to turn on the heating. If it's really cold, I put on a hat. Hey there, sexy! Attired in such a fashion we snuggle down and watch our film, then head to bed.

Whew! That took forever. So that's how I live my version of a green life - okay, sure, I'm no Colin Beavan, but we do make sure that we are being conscious about our footprint, and endeavor to reduce it as much as we possibly can, given our financial resources. We don't drive, nor fly, eat meat, or mindlessly consume. We have green power, invest ethically, and are happy to go out and plant some trees ourselves.

I'd love to hear what everybody else is doing - new ideas are always great. And remember - we're all in this together.

Dermalogical dramas

Lady Jorth cast her knitting down upon her book, and reflected that she and cable needles would never - simply never! - get along. If it wasn't hiding underneath a cushion the moment she needed it, then it was slipping out of it's stitches, leaving her to watch in dismay as her swatch for Cherry unravelled. She ran her hand lightly over her sore face, and gave forth a great sigh.

Her husband, Sir Galumph, looked up at the exhalation and, ruffling the pages of his broadsheet, inquired "Why, whatever is the matter, my dear?"

"Oh, it's nothing really - just these blasted pimples on my chin. They do hurt one so!"

"How, at the ripe old age of 30, do you come to be having pimples, my love?", inquired Sir Galumph. He carefully put down his paper, and strolled over to have a closer look. "My God!", he cried as he recoiled in horror. "You dare call these pimples? My girl, you have a veritable pimple goatee! Please explain immediatley how such a thing has come about!"

Blushing, Lady Jorth tried to cover her face with her hands. "Well, it was that business with the hairs!", she cried. "I glanced in the glass the other morning, and realised that I was growing an absolute beard, so I thought to myself that something had to be done, and rushed off to the beauty salon for a wax."

"A beard!" murmured Sir Galumph in tones mixing disbelief with detestation.

Glancing up at his tone, Lady Jorth was struck anew with the abhorrance her new look was causing those around her. She glanced over at Jeeves, who resolutely kept his eyes to the ground. Falteringly, she went on. "And now it appears that I've had some sort of reaction, resulting in the formation of - what did you call it?"

"A pimple goatee", groaned Sir Galumph.

"Yes! A pimple goatee! And to think that we have the garden party on Sunday. I can never face the world in this state!". Wildly she rushed from the room, tears coursing down the valleys and hills of her now acne-scarred face, knitting left behind and forgotten.

"Jeeves!", bellowed Sir Galumph. "Get me a whiskey - a strong one!"

Dead rat three times

Does anybody else remember that song? Although I think it's actually called DCX3 - dead cat three times. Oh lookie here - not the actual video but you can hear the song. Anyway, I mention it because the worst that could occur, has:

The rat has died somewhere under the house. Did Dante's Inferno feature a house verily consumed with dead rat smell? Because that is the hell I am living.

Oh, and Grumbles spent most of Sunday day and night throwing up. Damn gastro bug. Note to self: tie up her hair before she next begins to vom. Makes life much easier if you don't have to wash hair alongside the jim jams, sheets, pillow etc etc.

What's a wintry day without a hand knit cardi?

Project specs:

Serin from The Rowan Story Book of Little Knits

Size: 3/4

Yarn: 6 balls Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran

Needles: 4.5mm

Buttons: 3 hand carved wooden buttons of ever so slightly varying sizes from Boutique Beads (179 St. Georges Rd, Fitzroy North)

As per usual, just in time for summer. D'oh!

Technical note: I didn't much fancy the way the stripes were worked according to the pattern, so I varied mine so that you couldn't see a purl row of the contrast colour coming in. My stripe sequence was thus:

Stocking stitch using main colour, ending with a purl row.

Begin stripe sequence:

Row 1 - *Knit one row using contrast colour

Row 2 - Knit

Row 3 - Purl

Row 4 - Knit

Row 5 - Change back to main colour. Knit

Row 6 - Purl

Row 7 - Knit

Row 8 - Purl

Row 9 - Knit

Row 10 - Purl*

Repeat from * to * until stripe sequence is complete.

Memorable recent quotes from Grumbles

In no particular order:

- "EEEEEEK! I just got scared by my Lego!"

- After bursting in on me whilst I'm on the toilet: "Mum, I'll always remember that I love you. Bye now!"

- "Hey Mum, look now - I can see my face in my poo!" (I think she was referring to her reflection in the toilet bowl, but who knows?!)

- "Mum, I just hurt my foot!"
"Are you ok?"
"Oh yes, foot very happy now!"

Dinner Daily article

As some of you might know, I also run a food blog, called Dinner Daily. A while ago I was contacted by the Life and Style editor of the Newcastle Herald newspaper, wanting to do an interview about the blog. "Well of course!", I replied. "Bring it on!"

So, without further ado, I am pleased (and just a little bit excited!) to present the article to you all.

Cyber food. One woman's menu for the world.

A month-long plan for simple meals with supermarket ingredients, and even the shopping list's done. Jenny Tarran is blissed out.

At last, recipes for the suburban kitchen

Last week hundreds of families around Australia were dishing up sweet potato and split pea soup with feta bread on Monday night, followed by Greek pastries with roasted root vegetables and maple syrup salad on Tuesday.
Then there was shepherd's pie with minted mushy peas on Wednesday, followed by cauliflower, broccoli and gruyere bake with braod bean toasties on Thursday and a slap-up dinner of chilli polenta chips with a green salad on Friday.

The reason behind this culinary co-ordination is that home cooks have been turning to Dinner Daily for some Monday-to-Friday meal inspiration.

Dinner Daily is a blog written by Melbourne mum Leisl, who each Saturday fires up her computer and works out a menu for the week.

Not only are there recipes involved, but most of the meals comes with photographs and she also includes the shopping list for the meals, broken down into fresh produce, dairy, dry goods and kitchen staples.

And it all came about because she and her husband decided it was environmentally better not to have a car.

The only problem with doing away with the car was that Leisl found that grocery shopping was difficult, so she decided to do the bulk of the shopping once a month, and then ony do short runs to her local shops that she and her toddler could turn into a fun excursions.

"We didn't want to always be begging friends or relatives for their cars so we could hit the supermarket, so I devised a plan", she said.

"Each month I sat down and figured out a monthly menu.

"I happened to mention our monthly menu plan to a few friends, and the response was always 'what a great idea', and most were flabbergasted to know that over the month we didn't eat the same meal twice and quite a few asked if I could share my recipe plans."

So she set up the Dinner Daily blog and, true to her word, has been sharing her recipes and shopping lists with the world.

"After having a think about it, I thought 'Why not!', and decided the best way to do it was to set up the website," she said.

"Also, eating meat has a huge impact on the environment, so I thought that putting some great vegetarian recipes out there might inspire people to reduce their meat consumption. Every little bit helps!"

So now Dinner Daily is being read by thousands around the world and giving the home cook a little bit of inspiration that comes from a domestic situation, not a huge corporation, and done with children in mind as well.

"I've had some amazing feedback from people, with quite a few admitting that now they just print off the shopping list each week and away they go," she said.

"One lady in New York actually prints copies out for her friends!"

"From a personal point of view, it's thrilling to know that people are inspired by the recipes, and find themselves happy to be in the kitchen trying new things."

The site: dinnerdaily.blogspot.com

How about that, hey? Wheeeeeee!

Meet my soon-to-be new wardrobe

A wee little while ago I went shopping, and picked up this:

... with the intention of making myself three variations of these:

Vogue 8184

So far, so good. But then I thought: Hark! I'll also need a wee little cardigan or two to go with my cute summer dresses.

So into the city I went. I had four criteria the cardigans had to meet: [1] They had to be green and red, to match the dresses; [2] they needed to be made out of natural fibres; [3] ideally made in Australia by an Australian company (gotta watch those clothing miles); and [4] they needed to be cute! And wearable!

I looked. And I looked. And then I looked some more. Now, if you are in the market for a nylon yellow very uncute cardigan with bows and frills and frippery of all sorts adorning it, I'm your girl. I know exactly where to find one. Or many. For they were in every single bloody shop. And all made in China, to boot (may I now ask, when did Australia stop producing knitwear?) And they all cost in the vicinity of $120 plus.

Now, in the words of Mary Poppins, that will never do! So I turned to the trusty internets. And what did I find?

I found Cherry! Cherry is the creation of the incredibly talented Anna of My Fashionable Life (and what a fashionable life it appears to be!). Now, run, don't walk, to the link, and have a click clickety click. Trust me, she's a beauty! Seriously - how cute is this cardi? It's sweet, and summery, and modern yet kinda vintage. Sigh. Just exactly - but exactly! - what I was looking for.

So of course I needed to run out and buy some of this:

So if you see a girl wearing a cute summer dress with a cute summer cardi in the yarn and fabric shown above, chances are it'll be me, so come on over and say hello. I have a feeling that it's going to be a splendid summer!

The new invasion

So, I have a confession to make: we poisoned it. I was completely freaked out by everybody's rat stories (trust me, when it comes to rodents, nobody has a nice story!), and a cat was out of the question thanks to our rental agreement. So poison it was.

We haven't seen him for a week or so, so I'm supposing that he's gone to the big rat nest in the sky. Sorry, Mr Rat!

Maybe the karma has already caught up with me, as now we have an ant invasion. Sigh. They are everywhere. From every single nook and cranny they have come pouring out - it's like the 10 plagues of Egypt! So I've gone for my trusty old remedy of talcum powder - apparently they hate it, and it seems to have done the trick, as none have ventured out for the past couple of days.


So, that's my life in a nutshell. Feeling guilty about the rat, and living in a house festooned with a light covering of talc on every bloody surface. And it's not at all annoying when it makes odd marks on your clothes, usually around the lady bits part. Oh no, not at all. Oh, I'm loving living in my white, violet-scented hell.

In cheerier news, this is my 200th post. Hooray!

Ours isn't nearly as cute as Remy below

I was in bed the other night, just dropping off to sleep, when I heard the unusual sound of dishes clanking in the kitchen. "WTF?", I thought, and got out of bed to investigate.

As I crept slowly down the passage way, the clunking got louder. I was getting a bit nervous by this stage, so I turned on the light and in a quavering voice said "Whooooo - who's there?"

Then I heard this: scurry, scurry, scurry, squeak, squeak, squeak. The rat heard this: GARRRRRGGGGGHGHHHH!


I raced back into the bedroom and assailed the Galumph with a frantic, panicky "There's something in the kitchen!" He sat bolt upright, and said "There's somebody in the kitchen?!" "Nooooo!", I replied. "It's even worse - something!"


I threw myself under the covers, and shook (yes, I was being a big fat girl about it all!), whilst the Galumph went down to investigate. I could hear odd thumping noises, but that was it. When he came back to bed, he was bearing bad, bad news: it was a rat that had been in, as evidenced by it's wee little bowel movements that it left behind.

When the morning come (the night had been spent with out bedroom door firmly locked - what if it tried to get in during the night, ewww), Galumph investigated properly and found that it had come in through a hole in the wall where the heating duct was, then nibbled through the cupboard in the kitchen, and squeezed it's way past the dishwasher so it could scamper all over my dish rack. I spend the entire day washing and disinfecting everything in sight. I even found myself peering paranoidly into cupboards to look at dishes that it couldn't possibly have found access to, wondering if maybe I should wash them, just to be on the safe side (truly, there can be no bounds where my rat paranoia is concerned).

So, we've plugged in the hole with steel wool, which apparently they hate and won't chew through, and are now debating what to do. I'm not very keen on poisoning it, but then again I don't want it anybloodywhere near me. Should we invest in one of those $100 hi frequency things you plug in that send them crazy, then send them away? The little devil is still out there - the last few nights we've been watching Pride and Pejuidice (hey, I needed comfort viewing), and I've seen the little @#$%er racing across our courtyard - shudder. He's probably gathering all his rodent friends so they can launch a mass vermin assault on the steel wool and make themselves completely and utterly at home (paranoia again).

So, any suggestions? I just want him gone! It's funny, I can handle spiders, leeches, maggots - heck, even dead bodies, but rats and mice give me the heebie jeebies.

Heeeeeelp!

What have I been doing?

I can't believe it's Thursday already. Thursday! This week has flown! So, a quick round-up!

- On the weekend we rode down to the Abbotsford Convent for the Slow Food Market. It was awesome! I highly recommend the nougat. I also bought a bunch of nettles, but then felt too intimidated to actually use them (bad me), so they sat on the bench until they drooped into oblivion. As you can probably tell, I'm feeling inordinately guilty about that. I'll just have to console myself with that fact that while I was sitting at a bench near the market, scoffing a supremely delectable lemon tart, the lovely Felicity came over to introduce herself.

- Thinking about it, I'm not sure I made such a good impression. That's the worst thing about being spotted as you go about your day to day business: when somebody comes up to say hello, you're busted with a really bad case of helmet hair (trust me, it wasn't pretty) and lemon tart all over your face. And stinky coffee breath. Note to self: try to look more pulled together.

- In my efforts to maintain that Plastic Free lifestyle o' mine, I bought myself a Sigg bottle. Best thing ever. It's lightweight and is specially coated on the inside so that your liquid cannot be contaminated, which can be a problem with other vessels over time. I think it's rather cool, even if, to quote a friend, it looks like I'm swigging petrol out of a fuel bottle every time I have a drink. That would explain the odd looks I've been given when I offer Grumbles some water. Oh, the trials and tribulations of being me.

- I just finished reading The Memory Keeper's Daughter. I highly recommend that you do not read this book. It was like a long drawn out soap opera. Too many words to say too little, and predictable to boot. It's a pity, because the premise was good, but the story just plodded on by. I was disappointed that they didn't truly explore the issues and the absolute joys of raising a child with Down's syndrome, instead just focussing on the administritive side of it all, like getting Phoebe a decent education. When the author did elect to mention other concerns and worries, ti felt so token and unexplored. And I'm sure that the parents would have felt more emotions that just guilt. But that's just my opinion. Feel free to disagree!

- On a sunnier note, how amazing has the weather been?! It feels like summer already, even though winter doesn't officially end for another day. I've been possessed with a need to launder anything and everything, as it all dries in a matter of hours. Fabric in my house, consider this your warning: You are not safe from my maniacal desire to clean!

- There's a laneway at the back of our house, and certain people who work nearby often speed along it in their cars, and give you a lot of grief if you happen to get in your way. Never mind the fact that you may be just trying to get your small children into the back door. As I'm sitting here typing with the window open, I can hear one of my neighbours blasting them for their rudeness. Hooray!

On the weekend

Wow - what a crazy, hurly burly weekend we just had. We:

- Took Grumbles to the Aquarium as a belated birthday trip with her Gram. I think she enjoyed it, even if she did yell herself horse screaming "Look, Emo! (That's what she calls Nemo). Look, Dory! Look, EMO! Emo, Emo, EMO!"

- Got ourselves taken out as a belated birthday trip to the Rialto's 41st level restaurant. It was a lovely evening, even for a person who is scared of heights. I'm probably the only person ever who ate there to keep her back most assiduously to the window! The worst bit was when the Galumph's dad kept insisting that we wander around to view the city from every possible angle. I was holding tight onto that wine glass - I needed all the Dutch courage I could get!

- Got my other blog, Dinner Daily, featured on Whip Up. Wooohoooo! Thanks, Whip Up folks!

- Started developing a sore throat, just when I'd thought I was safe from the illnesses suffered by the Galumph and Grumbles for last couple of weeks. To you, sore throat, I say No! I REFUSE to get sick!

Dog days

One of the nicest things about having my Motherinlawship come up to stay is her dog.

Hmm - that really didn't come out the way I meant it.

But anyway, back to the dog. Isn't he handsome. Oh Fudge, how I love thee!

Aunty Cookie says relax

Oh dear - the Grumbles has that dreadful cough that is going around. She's in her room now, supposedly for a sleep, but all I can hear is her feeble little 'cough, cough' noise. Poor old tiger who doesn't sleep.

So it's a quiet day around chez Jorth. I'm going to bring out the paints for Grumbles and amuse myself with my awesome Aunty Cookie goodies (thanks, Shannon!). Oh, and maybe peruse the first ever issue of Mix Tape magazine. How good is it?

And to keep you all entertained, since I am infinitely boring today, here's some spiffy links. Don't say I don't keep y'all occupied.

FitzPatterns - some pretty cool free sewing patterns to download

BurdaStyle - even more rocking free sewing patterns

The Modern Pattern Design book, published in 1942 - this is actually a great pattern design course for anybody who is interested in designing their own clothes.

Mr Bean-style Teddy Bear - what can I say except awwwww!

Keepin' It Real - what would celebs look like if they were just normal folk like you and I. Freaking hilarious! The Gwyneth one is my favourite.

Houston, we have a finished Holey Jumper. I repeat, finished Holey jumper!

So I FINALLY finished the holey jumper. Phew! Man, I am so crap at taking those self portrait shots. Oh well, I'm sure you'll excuse me. I honestly took about a billion photos, and that was the best one I could find. None of them show the stitch detail (fault of the black yarn, I'm guessing, and my dark dim house), so pop on over here to see what the official version looks like.

Anyhow, I'm pretty pleased with it all. It wasn't the easiest knit I've ever done, but quite satisifying once you got into the rhythm of it. Doing all those yarn overs and slip stitch knitwise then knit 3 then slip slipped stitch over 3 felt pretty nifty!

I made it in a size medium, as it's for my sister-in-law, not me, and I'm glad I did, as she's a wee bit bigger than I am, and the jumper is pretty darn snug as is. Warm as can be, though. All in all, it's come out rather well. And I learnt how to do the free loop back stitch for attaching the neckband, so it was a fabulous knit to learn some new techniques on.

Rightio, down to business - Project specs:

Pattern - #20 - Pull, from Phildar Tendances Automne 05/06

Yarn - 3 balls of Bendigo Woollen Mills Alpaca in Jet Black

Needles - 3mm and 3.5mm

What's for dinner?

Tired of figuring out what to have for dinner each night? Feel like you're running out of creative meal solutions? Fear no more - my spiffy new food blog, Dinner Daily, is here to save the day!

So drop on by for 5 - that's right, 5! - new meal ideas each week. Huzzah!

Ways to fill in a rainy afternoon

[Guest post by Grumbles]

1 - Get a nice big sheet of paper out.

2 - Tell mum repeatedly what you'd like drawn. I found, in this instance, that saying "Cats, Mummy! Let's draw cats!" over and over again finally wore her down.

3 - Jump up and down in excitement while aforementioned cats are being drawn.

4 - Offer to help Mum with paints by squeezing the paint onto the bathroom floor. This step isn't really necessary, but I find it's always good for a laugh.

5 - Get stuck in! You can paint on the actual paper if you like, but I also find painting the table, chairs (usually prompts Mum to bellow "No, Grumbles, not the chair - it'll staaaaaaain!", and then make a mad dash for a cloth to wipe it up. Totally good fun!), more of the table, and my new dress really gets the creative juices flowing. Oh, and a word from the wise: try not to lose interest after only a few minutes. That can really make for a grumpy Mummy, and she might withold your afternoon banana or even worse - not let you get the glitter out to sprinkle over everything!

I am a free loop back stitch virgin no more - huzzah!

After pushing it aside, and ramming it into the 'too hard' basket, and trying my best to ignore it, I finally realised that if I didn't get over my fear of the unknown, in this case doing the free loop back stitch attachment of the neckband to this top, then it would never ever be finished. I'd already blocked the darn thing, so there were no excuses left - it had to be done, and that was that.

So yesterday I sat down, needle at the ready, with nerves of jelly (what if I botched it up? What if the neckband unravelled uncontrollably and everything, including me, went to pieces? What if the neckband sat wrong, and looked stupid and crooked? What if the Russians actually do end up claiming the Arctic, and begin drilling for oil, thus destroying prisinte, untainted land for ever, and a new cold war eprupts as armed countries begin a fight forfuel resources? - oops, wrong issue) and began. And guess what?

It wasn't that bloody hard after all (of course).

Careful work, yes. Time consuming, yes. Utterly boring, and tempting to do only half and leave the rest to tomorrow, yes. But I stuck with it, and now the neck line is very neatly, and, if I do say so myself, quite adeptly sewn on. Hoorah! I'd show a pic, but the black wool photographs really badly in my dark, dim house, so you get a picture of two more dolls made over the weekend instead.

But before I bless you retinas with the pic, I'd like to give a big shout out to Becky, for without her excellent free loop back stitch tutorial I'd have been utterly lost, and damned to a lifetime of neckband avoidance. Thanks, Rabbit!

Ok, ok, the dolls - sheesh!

We came. We saw. We planted.

300 people. 4,000 plants put in. Two sausages and one falafel roll each eaten afterwards (hey, all that planting makes a person hungry!). Not a bad effort, methinks.

Lots of volunteers, hard at work.

Carefully putting in a plant.

The few buckets got snaffled up pretty quickly, so our heroic water bottle came to the rescue. Grumbles forgot halfway through she wasn't supposed to drink the dirty water and had a big gulp. Silly duffer!

Related links:

Planet Ark - National Tree Day

Merri Creek Management Committee