Friday 29 June 2012

Pickle me grandmother!

Does anybody except me remember Ted Bullpit?  Not that I ever watched Kingswood Country, you understand, Gentle Readers, as I believe it was on TV at a time when I didn't own one (and didn't miss it either, I might add) ... the most memorable thing about it was the way Ted treated his son-in-law, who, in real life, was Greek, but who played an Italian in the show.  Apparently the producers thought nobody would notice or care...


Anyhoo..., I have been somewhat unwell today, and yesterday, in fact, and spent most of the past 24 hours prone, in the dark, bucket close to hand.  Got up at 4.00pm to make some cushions (as you do), and to try out this little demon:




which snuck into the house after the craft show.  1100 stitches a minute makes it perfectly suitable to use for upholstery and the best part?  It's the same size as a normal machine, so I can make cushions & stuff without having to find a new house for something this size, 1.25 metres long, 60cm deep, 90cm high (read: needs a large space)... 





Anyway, I whipped out some Amy Butler home dec fabric I've had lying round for quite a while, which MGF Kaz waits patiently for me to make into cushions for her, and thought "oh, why not?"

So, here we are.



I had to fiddle a bit to get the tension right, but I think she'll like them.  Now, what's next?

Ciao!

Sunday 17 June 2012

So gorgeous...

So, just before we went to Perth for a power-free weekend, I may have previously mentioned that we went to the Hunter - and I took the best ever photo of Zozie Pozie - also known as Pozella - what a cutie...


I also took some pics when I was in Perth:


There has been so much rain at my lovely Ma's - the first time we've ever been there & seen heavy rain and wind - not quite a storm, but certainly grey and miserable - and then the next day, the sun came out, and the warmth made some of the trees steam - the rays of the sun coming through the trees was absolutely beautiful...


Here's Mr Golightly doing what he does best - keep the dogs in order:


And making Generalissimo Gus behave, in anticipation of a piece of that chocolate brownie he has in his hands...



And here's Jarrah sticking her nose into my camera, thinking that I might be offering up chocolate brownie: 



And here's lovely Hank, lugging more wood into the house - ably watched by Mr G.


I've never gone without power for more than a few hours before, so having 24 hours with no power made me realise how lucky we are now... imagine what it would have been like, even in the early 20th century, with no source of light except an oil lamp (smelly) or gas lamp to work by - no sewing machine, no computer, no fridge, no oven, no frozen food... oh my.  At least we had the fire, thanks to Hank's hard slog...

And now, three episodes of Star Trek Next Gen later, I need to go to bed.  It's late, and I have to pretend to be excited about going to work tomorrow... Ciao! 




Tuesday 5 June 2012

New boots and panties...

Don't ask why I've given this post that title, I have no idea myself.  Maybe because it's  pi**ing down outside, freezing cold and was pitch dark at 5.00pm.  This, Gentle Readers, is unusual for us.  Our winters are often balmy, dry, modest affairs, devoid of rain or wind.  Not this year.  We seem to have had more than our fair share of rain (note previous pics), interesting wind-type events, catastropic (sic) happenings (not to us, thank the goddess) all round.  I personally blame the Transit of Venus.  Interestingly, when I tried to type that just now, it came out as "the transit of venue".  Yeah, that too.  


The last time we had the Transit of Venue (sic) was in 1769, when James Cook travelled to the southern hemisphere and "discovered" Australia.  That's what I was taught, as a young whipper-snipper (sic) in my first heady encounter with Australian history at my first Australian school. Hmm.


I also had the windows cleaned today, so of course it rained.  The nice man comes by whenever you need him, by arrangement.  He cleans the screens, all the inside glass, up inside the skylights, the mirrors, and all the windows.  Well worth the money, I think.  I hate cleaning ... windows.  


In other news, we had a lovely weekend in the Hunter, spending a pair of days doing absolutely nothing.  There was some fabulous wildlife:




Some fantastic winter colour:


A smidgen of cloud:


And some fantastic iceberg roses:



Not to mention prawn and fresh asparagus pasta for Friday night dinner, delicious home made pizzas for Saturday night dinner, Farmers breakfast on Sunday morning, freshly made scones for morning tea, home made chicken and corn soup, and finally, spring rolls, all made from scratch by the chef of the house.  Isn't it strange how the rain brings out the creative thingy in some chefs, and the urge to eat it all, in some guests???

Now, back to the fridge!  


Ciao!