A bear, a bike and a basket

(and some washing on the line in the background, but I didn't really think that fact worthy of a post title mention)

Dropping a massive hint

Urgh. I'm still residing in the Valley of Snotty Nose, but am keeping myself cheerful by gazing at these gorgeous works of art by the supremely talented Louise of Art & Ghosts.

I mean, seriously, what's not to love about red stockings? And rabbity hats! And soulful eyes? I think I'm in love.

Oh, Galumph? She has an Etsy shop. And my birthday is soon... I'm not saying, I'm just saying, you know?

(COUGH COUGH HINT HINT)

Small but productive (and I'm not talking about Grumbles!)

I had a list as long as my arm, detailing things I wished to accomplish this weekend. Instead I was struck down with a sore throaty, feeble cough lurgy, so my accomplishments amount to snapping a few pics and doing lots of moaning about how sick I felt.

However, the Galumph was on a roll, and under the watchful of eye of his temporarily invalided wife he cleared out our front garden, and planted out our brand new vegie patch. Previously the front garden was a wonderland of odd weeds, with a few tomato plants in summer time if we were organised enough, but with food prices going through the rooft, plus lots of thinking about the negative impact of excessive food miles, I decided it was time we dug for victory and did our bit. And by gosh if I was going to do it at all, I was going to do it properly. I wanted decent beds, with paving to help control weeds and darn it, I wanted it to look pretty!

We have spent the last few weeks keeping a weather eye out for stray bricks, and on Saturday hit brick gold when we discovered a family down our street doing some renovations. We asked very nicely and they gave up all their crappy bricks ("Trust me honey, you're doing us a favour by carting them away!" I was told in a big booming Italian baritone), which we promptly laid down in the garden, forming four mini beds.

The front two have been planted with silverbeet and beetroot, and the back beds have broad beans and snow peas. Keeping these company are a couple of pots containg rocket, Freckles Brunte lettuce and Mesclun lettuce mix. All seeds are heritage ones from Diggers - not only do they ensure that genetic variation isn't lost, but they also perform like crazy!

Not bad for a wee space measuring 2 x 1.5 metres!

Darwinian, that's me

Every time I plant something I do exactly the same thing: I scatter far too much seed around, then a week later kabam! Hundreds of tiny little seedlings emerge, hopefully poking out of the soil and into the sunshine, eager to grow, little aware of the awful fate awaiting them.

I'll be outside, anxiously hovering over my pot (in this case rocket), when the Galumph will stop by. He'll peer in, sigh, look at me, look at seedlings and then say, "You know you're going to have to thin them."

"Noooooooo!", I'll wail. "I can't! I'll be a murderer of innocent plants. Don't make me do it!"

And the worst of it is that I only scatter so much seed in the first place because I so desperately want the plants to germinate, and figure the more the better. I'll be standing there with the seed packet in my hand and think "Oh well, bottoms up!", and before you can say Eruca vesicaria three times quickly half the packet is in the pot. But then my misplaced enthusiasm turns into this horrid survival of the fittest scenario when every single seed comes up with the goods.

Eeeeeeek! I'm so sorry, little plants. I'll just be over here with my eyes closed, letting you sort it out for yourselves.

Waste not, want not

Petrol prices going through the roof? Check.

Gas and electricity prices rapidly escalating? Check.

Interest rates on loans going up every single quarter? Check.

Basic essentials - bread, dairy, rice etc - skyrocketing in price on a weekly basis? Check.

House prices and rents climbing steading upwards? Check.

Wages going up? Dude, don't make me laugh!

Of late I've been realising that our household budget only has so much give left in it, yet I'm also faced with the undeniable fact that Grumbles was still in dire need of winter clothes. Apart from her two tops and two pairs of jeans, everything else was bought/made two years ago, and hence are all sitting mid-calf and above her wrist. This is not only a very unfashionable look, but a rather chilly one.

So I put on my thinking cap, assembled all my scraps and got to work. Ta da!

(Scraps from here and here respectively)

Project specs
Pattern: Ottobre Design Magazine, 4/2007, design #17
Fabric: Left over denim, left over Amy Butler cotton print
Notions: 8 buttons, found in stash

Rosy cheeks and so much more make life very good indeed

Almost a year ago (only two days over, actually!) the always inspiring Jane was pondering her own 'small pleasantnesses' - the little joys in one's life. Whenever I chance upon one of my own, I always remember that blog post, and spend a few minutes happily thinking of them: bamboo knitting needles, really good hot chocolate, the smell of freshly sharpened pencils, birch trees with leaves turning red, warm summer days filled with the scent of freshly mown grass, sitting in a darkened cinema, the shadows of trees on my bedroom wall, putting flowers in old milk bottles, passionfruit spiders, reading Anne in bed on a cold wintry afternoon, watching girls in cute dresses riding bikes, orange flavoured dark chocolate and getting on down to cheesy pop music in the comfort and privacy of my loungeroom.

Oh, and getting Grumbles up from her nap and giving each warm rosy cheek a wee little kiss.

What are your small joys?

Drawing a name out of a ramekin...

...because I was too lazy to walk up to the bedroom to find a hat. So, drumroll please:



Congratulations, Audreyjay! I hope you enjoy the tix, and thanks everybody for entering.

That book meme

I've tagged by the lovely Nichola with the literary meme, the rules which are as follows:
1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

Since I'm reading two books at the moment you get them both. Bwahahah!

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

"They took frequent excursions to the Alps. Franz would bend over, the girl hopped onto his back, and off he ran through the meadows, declaiming at the top of his voice a long German poem his mother had taught him as a child. The girl laughed with glee, admiring his legs, shoulders, and lungs as she clasped his neck."

Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

(Um, only just noticed that this slim volume only runs to 113 pages, so you get that page instead.)

"It has to be, at any price, I shouted in terror. She hung up without saying goodbye, but fifteen minutes later she called back: "Alright, she's here." "

I'm hopeless at the whole tag thing, so if you feel like doing the meme, be my guest and tell them Jorthy sent you.

Speaking of all things bookish, does anybody have any book recommendations for me? I'm after something light-ish, with a nice bit of humour. Suggestions?

And, finally, don't forget to enter the competition. Go!

Miss Pettigrew Lives, I tells ya, lives!

Last Tuesday the Galumph and I had a date night, and trotted off to see Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day, and had a marvellous time. The movie was exactly my sort of flick: gorgeous costumes, wry humour, toe-tapping soundtrack, with a sweet ending.

So desperate was I to see this movie that I also entered a competition to win two tickets to it. Of course, a mere week after paying to see it, I won the bloody tickets. Oh, the irony! I never get to the flicks, and then when I finally get to see one, I also win tickets for it after the event.

So that's where you come in. Lucky sods! Leave a comment, telling me why you deserve the tixs, and you might be lucky enough to find them in your hot little hands. Take your partner/best friend/favourite cat! The tickets are valid at all participating cinemas within Australia (sorry everybody else).

What are you waiting for? I'll post the winner on Thursday, so chop, chop. Comment away!

The NQR Jeans

I have rung up all my friends, and issued them with the following order: If ever I decide to make jeans again, and start to shoot my mouth off about it, can they please slap me until I come to my senses.

It felt like everything that could go wrong did go wrong. The number of times my machine just grunted at me in exasperation, as if to say "How the heck am I meant to sew through THIS thick el cheapo denim?" soon reached double digits (there's a good reason the stuff was only $5 per metre, and trust me to find out why the hard way). I couldn't even put the buttonhole in, as the fabric on the waistband was too thick to even sit under the machine's foot! All my topstitching seemed to be crooked, and required unpicking, and then to be unpicked some more, and the zip - oh, it simply doesn't bear thinking about how agonisingly awful it was to put that in. And to top it all off the bloody things didn't even fit properly, so I had to unpick the waistband and put some elastic in the back. GAAAAAAAAAAH! If I managed to sew a seam without hauling out the quick unpick/stabbing my finger with the pin/jamming the feed dog on the machine/breaking a needle I quietly sat there, waiting for the herald angels to burst into celestial arias because it felt like a @%#$ing miracle.
Still, Grumbles thinks that they are pretty sweet, and happily tells everybody within earshot that her mummy made them. I guess that's all that really matters (although can you really trust the views of a kid who runs about pretending to be a rabbit? See second pic below)

But seriously - SERIOUSLY - next time the kid needs pants, I'm going to make like a normal parent and go and buy them. These may have only cost $8 each to make (yes, stupid me made two pairs), but they also cost me my SANITY. If anybody wants me I'll be recovering in the winged area for acutely afflicted sewers.

Gone away

One of my beloved uncles passed away suddenly on the weekend, so I'll be away for this week, journeying back to my hometown to bid my farewells.

xo Jorth

Get cracking

Time to crack the whip. So far these jeans (admittedly I am making two pairs, a la production line style) have taken me 6 days, and I'm only just putting on the yokes. That means the fly fronts and waistbands - notorious amongst sewing circles as being the most fiendish to do and do well - still have to be done.

However, like a scandal-tainted harpy with her eye on the biggest prize, I am determined to get these done by the end of the week. I'm officially making getting these done the happening thing.

Really!

PS Nifty pocket, hey?!

For all the sewers out there

And that would be SEW-ers, not pipes of effluent. I can see how that could be confusing, especially since I am wacky enough to potentially post an entry all about effluent.

Anyhoo, enough of the idle chit chat - let's get to the point. Looky see what I treated myself to last night:

Three miniature ladies! I mean, a vintage pattern. Ahhh, I couldn't resist! Look at the nifty straps! And the pockets that are gathers that are pockets that are gathers - so smart! I purchased it from So Vintage Patterns, and let me warn you now: that site is a dangerous place. It quite often sucks not only time but money away from me, never to return, but like a lover who can't resist the bad boy, I will happily concede that it's always, always worth it.

Red. Definitely the red one. With some dressy vintage buttons. Lovely!

New York Times Sunday Magazine - The Green Issue

"Why bother? That really is the big question facing us as individuals hoping to do something about climate change and it’s not an easy one to answer. I don’t know about you, but for me the most upsetting moment in “An Inconvenient Truth” came long after Al Gore scared the hell out of me, constructing an utterly convincing case that the very survival of life on earth as we know it is threatened by climate change. No, the really dark moment came during the closing credits, when we are asked to . . . change our light bulbs. That’s when it got really depressing. The immense disproportion between the magnitude of the problem Gore had described and the puniness of what he was asking us to do about it was enough to sink your heart."

Absolutely fantastic article on why we should bloody well care by Michael Pollan for the New York Times. Read more here.

Riding, riding, riding

Hello! We're back from our biking holiday. We rode the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail, starting at Beechworth and going all the way through to Bright. The clean mountain air and plentiful sunshine have done us the world of good, and with all that peddaling we now have muscles on our muscles!

If you're looking for a cheap family holiday, you really can't go wrong with a Rail Trail. So much to look at: mountains, beautiful trees, the bike path stretching out in front of you, farm animals, native animals, the bike path stretching out in front of you, places to take a quick leak before another rider comes trundling past, the - ah - bike path still stretching out in front of you...

Seriously, heaps of fun. Grumbles loved it, Galumph relished it, and I'm pleased to say that my pink bits survived hours on a bike seat each day. And the autumnal scenery was incredible.

This one has birds on it!

Eeeeek! I feel like I'm running just to stand still at the moment. I have about as much energy as a sloth, and everywhere I look there are things to be done: ants to be rid of, dishwashers to unstack, late basil to plant, sheets to be washed, floors to be mopped, windows to be vinegared, books to reshelve, dust bunnies to exterminate, neighbour's jeans to be taken up, knitting to be frogged, overlockers to rethread, quinces to be poached, songs to be sung, hearts to be won (ok, I threw the last two in just to see if you are still with me).

At least I got another top for Grumbles made. Now that's something!

Project specs:

Design #15, Ottobre Magazine 1/2005 (same pattern as this one)
Fabric: Cotton quilting fabric
Ribbon: Very pricey fancy french ribbon

Fabric and ribbon from Patchwork on Central Park

Sunday bike ride: a black and white photo essay

Well, parents, it's a Sunday morning, and you've just informed me that we're heading off for a bike ride. If that's the case, then I'll need a good breakfast to keep me going. I'll take three Nutella pancakes, if you please!

As we ride along I spot a playground. "Pull over!", I command. A girl's gotta play, you know!

Playing and pedalling. It's hard work for one so small, so a tiptop lunch is in order, I'd say. Salad sandwiches? Geez. Here sparrows, help yourselves.


More riding? You guys are going to wear.me.out. Just as well Dad packed some dates and sultanas. Oooooh - is that a chocolate bud I see? Mine, all mine! Hands off, daddy-o.

Come on, Mum! Put the camera away and get on the road already!

Sing it with me now! The wheels on the bike go round and round and twinkle twinkle with Humpty Dumpty on the waaaaaallllllll! (Note: she actually did sing that)

Faster, Jorthy, faster!

No time to blog in a coherent manner. I'm way behind on sewing Grumble's winter wardrobe, and we're going on a bike holiday in a week and I still haven't made any more pants for her. No pants! She's be a pantless rail trail-er! ARRRRGGGGHHHH! The panic button (and the '!' key) has been pressed!

And that photo I took is immensely craptacular. Gah.

A Tale of Two Patterns

Tsk, tsk, Rowan. Look at what you've made me do!

Look, let me start off by saying that I love you. Really, I do. You make spiffy, wearable knitting patterns in gorgeous yarns. But please, what is with the pattern instructions? I'm yet to knit up a Rowan pattern that wasn't in some way needlessly complicated. Take the Dream cardi, for example - why not knit it all in one piece, rather than knit half the bodice in one section then pick up all the stitches to knit the remainder? It doesn't make any sense your way, even taking into consideration that you want to thread the ribbon through. Couldn't you just sew loops on afterwards for the ribbon? Wouldn't that have been a gazillion times easier, and then you wouldn't have an ugly seam hiding out beneath the ribbony bit. I mean, really, what sort of knitter did you have in mind - one who actually enjoys picking up tonnes of fiddly stitches? Huh? HUH?

So, after wrestling with the instructions, I gave a great sigh, picked up my trusty greylead, and rewrote the pattern myself. Strangely enough, I found myself enjoying the process. Just enough maths involved to make me feel smart, yet creative at the same time. And I've done such a good job of it that I've now decided that I want to be a knitwear pattern designer when I grow up. Sheesh! As if I didn't have enough things to do!

I'm pointing the finger squarely at you, Rowan. It's all your fault.

A girl, her dog, and some MC Hammer pants

Finally got stuck back into the sewing!

Project specs

Top:

Design #15, Ottobre Magazine 1/2005

Fabric: Cotton quilting fabric

Pants:

"Desert" pants, design # 17, Ottobre Magazine 1/2008

Fabric: Light-weight denim

Both were really quick sews, about 3 hours each all up, including doing the fiddly topstitching. I'm rather happy with the top, but I'll confess: the pants are a leetle bit too 'MC Hammer happy pants' for my liking. Still, Grumbles gives them a sticky thumbs up and requests to wear them everyday, which either means that she really really really likes them or that she has no taste.