Look at the rubbish that passes for news these days

Tee hee! Too much fun! You may need to click on it to make it big enough to read, though. Make your own here.

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The lovely ShellyC asked for the chickpeas nibblies recipe mentioned in the previous post. It's not really a recipe per se, but here it is anyway. Oh, warning: These are darn addictive.

Preheat your oven to 200 C. Line a baking tin with baking paper. Drain a can of chickpeas, then spread them evenly onto the tin. Douse them with a glug or two of olive oil, then add salt, cummin and chilli powder to taste. Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes, then scoff them as soon as they cool down enough to eat. Deeeelicious!

Five things

Things that make me angry:

1 - Four wheel drives.

2 - Four wheel drives that only appear to have one person in them EVER.

3 - Skidding on a piece of lego and flying across the room before landing very heavily on my bottom.

4 - Doing the above in front of dinner guests.

5 - People who are incapable of telling the truth, and lie about everything - even the small things. Why? WHY?

Things that make me happy:

1 - Autumn leaves.

2 - Ordering wool or pattern books over the net, and then gleefully waiting for them to arrive.

3 - Riding my bike, and hearing Grumbles on the back singing "Row, row, row your boat" to herself as we sedately peddle along.

4 - Whipping up some salty, chillish, cumminish baked chickpeas on a Saturday night and then scoffing them down with a bottle of red whilst watching a daggy romantic comedy with the Galumph.

5 - A Word A Day - such a little thing, that email, but it really brings me joy.

Weekend wrap-up

And what a weekend it was! The Galumph took Friday off, and we raced around and did a thousand and one odd jobs that we'd studiously avoided doing for months. We took Grumbles to the maternal health nurse, I had a doctor's appointment and rejoiced to hear that I had antibodies to measles, mumps and chickpox, therefore didn't need any immunisations done (yay, needle avoidance!), we had a lovely lunch out and then plodded through the rain to do our grocery shopping.

Then on Saturday we hunkered down at home, and I spent the day cooking for that evening's dinner party. We feasted on proscuitto and fig tarlettes; carrot, leek and Dutch cream potato soup; simmered garlic sausages on a bed of braised lentils with pancetta and then polished the whole lot off with home made chocolate and Kahlua icecream. Burp!

The next day I thought: Cripes! What a pig! Best do some exercise, so we raced around on our bikes for a while, then finished the afternoon off with a trip to the park:

Oh, and I cut my friend's hair and finished a top for Grumbles. I also cooked quinces, since it was so cold. Vanilla beans and cloves are the key to a mighty fine quince. And lashings of cream. If I keep going like this, I'll soon be so fat that I won't be able to get out of the house.

Ok, off to do some star jumps (or at least think about doing some, because I am nothing if not lazy). Have a good day!

Runny noses and loyal dogs

The mother-in-law's dog, Fudge. He's a sweetie.

I'd like to claim that my lack of blogging has been due to some highly unexpected but terribly exciting adventure occuring, which was so replete with action that even if I'd had the inclination to blog I wouldn't, alas, have had the time, but no. The sad fact is that in reality I've been laid up with a nasty touch of the flu, and had my mother-in-law to stay. Enough said.

However, I'm not so ill that I can't make a list! Oh how I love me a good list, and this list shall indeed be good - full of the good things I've noticed over the last few days:

- Autumn has truly struck in my little corner of the world, and the town has put on it's finest colours to celebrate. I can't get enough of those magical leaves.
- I have a lovely pile of quinces on my benchtop, waiting to be slow cooked and then devoured tonight with organic cream (actually, I don't know if they are actually waiting for either act, which I dare say would come under 'barbaric' for the quinces, but since I'm not a hard-core fruitarian I shan't trouble myself over the quinces' feelings, and instead happily eat them tonight)
- Grumbles said 'Ear' this morning in the bath. Woo hoo! I'm hoping she'll say oesophagus next.
- Anna has a lovely new pattern up on MagKnits. Go check it out!
- I've just finished reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell again, and darn this book is good. So good that I'm actually missing not reading it. Does anybody else ever feel that way?

Lamps, murders and knits

As I sit knitting this...

... I am continually reminded of another knitter who always seemed to be knitting something airy and fluffy. Whilst I may not possess her shrewdness when it comes to solving murders, we do have the knitting in common, therefore I have named the latest project in her honour. Everybody, meet Miss Marple (not to be confused with the Rowan doppelganger):

I'm knitting MM on 4mm needles using Phildar Aurore in Poudre (now discontinued). And the best bit? I'm knitting from stash! I've had this yarn lying around for far too long, so I'm rather chuffed that I saved it from it's cobwebby home, blew off the dust and got a-knitting. Although I have to admit that it's not really a night time yarn to knit with, unless you perch yourself right under the reading lamp. Aurore + poor light = blind Jorth and many dropped stitches. So that's one thing in common that I do not have with Miss Marple - she had excellent eyesight, all the better to see all the shenanigans and people acting dubiously with.

So we can conclude that Miss Marple was probably smart and didn't knit her light, fluffy knits during the evening when the light was poor. However, in my defence, I'd just like to point out that she didn't have a toddler to look after during the day who has lately become fascinated with knitting needles, requiring all knitting to be safely stowed away until she's tucked up safely in bed.

Speaking of, she's in bed now, so to the knitting I go. Hoo roo!

5 Tag

Woohoo! Another tagging, this time by the supremely talented Aunty Cookie. So, here goes...

Five minutes to yourself: how would you spend them, ideally?
Five whole minutes? Without any nappies to change, laundry to hang out, dishes to do? Probably in a daze, completely at a loss! Actually, if this were the idea magical world, I would wait until the Galumph got home, then I would teleport myself down to a snug little quiet bar playing soft jazz, order myself a glass of merlot and some nibblies and hunker down with a favourite magazine. Oh, and maybe I could freeze time like the witch from Sabrina, The Teenage Witch used to do, so I could actually have an hour or two!

Five bucks to spend right now; how would you spend it?
On a magazine, of course! I think I'm addicted to magazines. Sad, really.

Five items in your house you could part with, right now, that you hadn't thought of already?
Too easy! Ratty computer desk, dining table and chairs, stinky old spare bed mattress, sugar container and the grumpy mood currently swirling around my head.

Five items you absolutely, positively could never part with in your house?
Computer (as it has our life in photos on it and is also sadly my life line), my Phildar magazines, Grumble's first toys (Bert the butterfly and Trotter the horse, see pic), my bookcase (and all the books inside, yes, I know it's cheating but c'mon! I'm running out of ideas here) and the bath. Even though it's huge, and you always run out of hot water before it's filled decently, and I always feel super guilty about having a bath, I still love lying in all that blissfully hot water.

Five words you love?
Only five? Sheesh! Okey dokey: Superlative, refulgent, malheureusement, crapulent and Parthian.

I'm baaaack!

... and fitter than ever before! Rather than use Easter as an excuse to slob around, doing nothing but occasionally look surprised at how many chocolate dribble stains are accumulating on my t-shirt, this year we went Rail Trailing! We stayed at a very comfy place in Bruthen, and hit the trail for two days running, riding to Nowa Nowa the first day (great pub lunch at the end, and the people running the pub were so nice!) and on the second day heading to the Nicholson River winery. The tracks were well maintained, and apart from the very occasional hill, very easy to ride on (especially when one finally figures out how to use their gears. Ahem.) Highlights:

- Managing to be happily tucking into lunch at the pub, nicely under shelter, when the horrendous rains struck.

- Not falling off my bike (instead, I fell ON my bike and oh my goodness me you should see the horror bruise I have on my inner thigh, right near my privates - but at the least the bike and Grumbles remained upright).

- Popping in to see the gorgeous coastal town of Metung - how darn pretty is that place?!

- Enjoying a glass of sparkling shiraz in the sunshine at the winery, whilst Grumbles happily played in the sandpit (very thoughtful of the winery owners to put one there).

- Playing pig-in-the-middle frisbee on the winery lawn, and chuckling as Grumbles erupted with mirth every time it whizzed over her head.

I'll let the pics do the rest of the talking! All in all, we had a wonderful time. I'd highly recommend it to anybody.

Eeek! I made a mistake in the 'Ruffles' pattern

... for which I hope you'll all forgive me! It says to knit for 10 rows, but you should actually be doing stocking stitch. Hope this makes it all much clearer, and I've corrected the pattern so that it's now correct. Big thanks to Joanne for the heads up!

Off and racing!

We're off for a few days of Rail Trail biking, so I'll catch you all when we return. Wishing everybody an eggscellent Easter (so sorry, I couldn't resist!), after which I'll be back, hopefully with stories to tell - and equally hopefully none of those involve being run over. Hoo roo!

Ruffles pattern

Wheee! Back from some time away, down at the coast. And what a marvellous time we had, too: a lovely wedding in a country setting, a splendid walk along the wild and woolly coastline, and fish and chips down at the Geelong foreshore (how fancy are those bollards!). But enough gadding about - here's the pattern for Ruffles!

Materials:
1 ball Rowan Kidsilk Haze (this makes for a short 'neck' scarf, but feel free to use another ball for a longer version)
1 pair size 3mm needles
1 pair size 7mm needles

Stitches:
Stocking stitch (knit one row, purl next row)

Method:

Cast on 42 stitches using 7mm needles.

Knit stocking stitch for 10 rows, beginning with a knit row.

Row 11: Using the 3mm needles, K1, *k2 tog*, repeat * until one stitch remaining, knit last stitch. There should be 22 stitches.

Rows 12 - 16: Continue in stocking stitch, changing over to the 7mm needle on row 16.

Row 17: *K1, M1*, repeat until one stitch remaining, knit last stitch. There should be 42 stitches.

Row 18: Purl.

Repeat rows 1 - 18 until all the yarn is used, or the scarf is at your preferred length. Cast off loosely.

So there you have it. Now, I have one request - if anybody makes their own Ruffles, please please PLEASE send a pic so I can swoon in joy. Ta!

(Please note that this pattern is copyrighted to the author, and cannot be republished or distributed without prior consent.)

Ruffles-a-rama

You want knitting? I got you some knitting!

Ruffles is finally finished! Big thanks to Doggie for modelling - doesn't he look dashing? (Well, it was either that or put my ugly mug on the blog again, and I thought twice in the space of a week was probably too much for you all to bear)

So, a question for the big wide internet: Is anybody interested in the pattern? Let me know, and I'll post the instructions for it.

Ka-boom!

Happily tucked into bed last night, just about to drop off to sleep when all of a sudden: bang bang bang bang bang wheeeeeeeee bang bang bang! "Fireworks", mumbled Galumph sleepily. Suddenly the Sandman disappeared, and having carefully wiped the drool off my face I was out on the street in my jim jams (along with half the neighbourhood), enjoying the light show that was the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games.

It was amazing! There were fireworks being shot off the top of all the buildings - how cool is that? It almost looked like the entire city was exploding, albeit in a rather pretty manner. But the best bit was watching all the neighbours we rarely see, venturing out to enjoy the show, and seeing their faces light up as the fireworks exploded. Oh, and see what sort of pyjamas the rest of the street wears, bahahahah!

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Thanks for all your kind comments about Grumble's new top. It made our weekend!

Spots!

The scene: Our measley backyard.

The event: Spotty top with sleeve ruffles photoshoot

Participants: Grumbles (model), Jorth (wielding camera with a complete lack of composure and panache)

Dialogue (at this point, all pretty much by Jorth, with lots of headshakes and frowns from Grumbles): Okay, Grumbles, let's do some smiles for the camera. One, two, three - cheese! No cheese? C'mon - let's do some smiles - ok, now! Not now? Cheese? No cheese?

(Continues in this vein for an exasperating 10 minutes. There is some out loud wondering if Helmut Newton ever had this problem.)

Jorth slips to the ground, exhausted and out of ideas. Grumbles, spotting an opportunity for her latest passion, runs over for the piggy back. Much comedy ensures, with Jorth trying to get a photo whilst piggybacking a very wiggly child and ignoring the blood rushing to her head (due to the piggyback resembling the sort done by, oh, Quasimodo)

Result:

You can't really tell from the photo, but my torso is actually at a 30 degree angle to my legs there. Huzzah! All that yoga really paid off!

Cat in a hot backyard

Yes, it's all about the cats at the moment, which is somewhat odd, as I'm not really a cat kind of gal. This little number was kindly bought for Grumbles by her Poppa when he came up to see his new granddaughter - ahhh! I particularly like his crop top - quite the look for bright orange cats these days, or so I am told.

Actually, that reminds me - on our walk down the street we often pass a gorgeously handsome aristocratic sort of cat. Grumbles loves him, and we often find ourselves parked in front of him for a good 10 minutes while Grumbles dissolves into giggles every time he miaows. Yesterday I popped into the library, and saw a notice declaring him missing. How sad! Now I can't walk past his house without doing a big scan to see if he's come back, which I probably should stop doing in case the owners think I'm casing the joint for cats to steal. Gulp.

Not a great deal of excitement going around here. I've been cutting out heaps of tops for Grumbles, and started sewing some of them, but I didn't feel the activity worthy of a blog pic. I've also been figuring out her winter wardrobe, which will consist of the above tops, some overalls, jeans, cords, jackets, fluffy cardigans, jumpers and a really, really cute coat! Busy - oh, just a little! However, I'm determined to make as much as I can, with the exception of shoes, socks and spencers. And since she's still sleeping, I'd best get back to the machine. Whirrrrrr!

Happy Mail Day!

Today was a good, good, good day for mail! Check out what the lovely, supremely talented Aunty Cookie sent me:

Look at this marvellous art work! I'm in love! I especially love their shoes - I think I need to get myself some pairs like those. But best of all is the cat - what a ham!

I think I'll get them framed, and hang them in Grumbles room (she hasn't seen them yet, but I can guarantee that when she does she'll point to the cat and say 'Miaow!"). And they were so beautifully wrapped (thanks, Shannon!) but of course I was too eager to rip them open to bother taking a photo. Ahem.

And in other breaking news, my sister had a baby girl on St Patrick's Day - hooray! Dad, Grumbles and I are heading in to see the wee little leprechaun this afternoon - I can't wait!

Long weekend

Small pleasures from this weekend included:

- Grumbles saying 'hat' and 'flower' for the very first time

- The baking of some stupendously good chocolate cup cakes (with 300g melted chocolate in them, they had to be good!) topped with orange juice icing

- Swimming with our dear friend K, and enjoying a coffee at a cafe afterwards

- Riding around Melbourne in the sunshine on a Rail Trail, with pho in Victoria St for lunch

- Spending more of that lovely sunshiney day at an East Melbourne park, where Grumbles indulged her love of the swings (see pic)

- The purchasing of quinces - the season has begun!

Not so good thing:

- Turning up at a bbq held at our French teacher's house the day after it happened, happily scoffing some cake and tea, and then waltzing out the door without realising anything was even remotely amiss (although I did think it slightly odd that a student we vaguely know turned up for a lesson during our time there). D'oh!

Pat on the back

Happy International Women's Day to all the wonderful, inspiring women out there.

Bunnies

I was thinking that I might make Grumbles a bunny toy for Easter. So, this morning I sat down and did some design plans. Unfortunately, what I was hoping would turn out cute merely turned out to be freaky. Why is it that what is in my head never translates correctly to paper?

As a child, I (and my little sister) would give all of our toys voices and characters. The above bunny's voices I can already hear far too clearly...

"Haaaaapppppeeee Eeeeeeaster, o little one.... snicker, snicker". This, of course, would be immediately followed by the sound of poor Grumbles running for the hills.

Concerned about child labour? Make your own clothes!

Interviewer: Jorth, do you have anything new to show us today?

Jorth: Why, yes I do! Taaaa-da! It's Grumbles in her groovy new blouse (or, as I fear it shall be known around here, the art smock).

I: Art smock indeed - it's more the drinking vessel that I'm worried about. Have you engaged your young daughter in an act of product placement?

J: Never! I swear - it's all a horrible coincidence. I'm a treehugger, for goodness' sake! We don't do product placement. She was thirsty, that's all. Look where she's holding the bottle - right under the tap - doesn't that tell you something?

I: All it seems to tell me is that you don't give your daughter enough fluids. But, since you appear to be a kind, sewing-all-your-kids-clothes sort of mother, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt there. Do you have any other sewing plans for Grumbles in the near future? Is she going through winter wearing nothing but 'Clothes by Mum'?

J: Ahem. [mutters something about not answering of grounds of incrimination, and beating the system burble burble burble]

Project specs

Pattern: #15 from the Spring 1/2005 Ottobre Design magazine
Fabric: Playground by the Alexander Henry Fabrics collection

A boy on a swing

Can anybody guess what it's going to be?