Hello out there

Hello Kellyville!  Hello West Roxbury, Massachusetts!  Greetings from Sunny Newport.

I made this little guy on Saturday.  One of the advantages of not working is that I don't have to rush around on the weekend doing loads of washing - but, I hear you say, why don't you wash in the week?  You have all that beautiful sunshine and all those long days!  Well, Gentle Readers, the washing machine '12' cycle takes 45 minutes.  If I get home at 7.30, it's 8.15pm before it goes out, and you know what?  It's dark then and I don't fancy going out in the dark to fight off the mosquitos and spiders to hang out the washing!  Poor Mr Golightly left work at 5.20pm yesterday, and arrived home 'early', at 7.00pm.  That's 1 hour and 40 minutes to get home, on a good day.  See why I don't want to work in the city any more?

Anyway, back to the little guy.  I made him from this book, but the pattern was so fiddly at 100% that I took it to the nice man in Mona Vale and had it enlarged to 150% - still fiddly as hell, but slightly more manageable.  That's a terrible photo, isn't it?  Must try again...

Anyway, it's for MBF's son, H, who was the Dux of Year 7 at his school.  What a fantastic achievement, which deserved some form of squishy recognition.  Hope he likes them both - he already has the smaller, slightly not so well made version, and he can have this one as the parent.  I love the vintage button for his/her nose, it's a great touch.  Ideas for names?  Apply below.

The eagle-eyed amongst you may recognise the fabric.  I love that sock monkey stuff.  Should have bought two metres whilst in Perth...

What else?  I feel slightly under the weather today, my right eye has been producing all sorts of green crusty stuff & it's a bit puffy, and I'm delightfully wearing a t-shirt & shorts which are both waaaaaaaaaaaaay too big for me - you know how the drawstring on your shorts can only go so far before it starts grabbing at the material in the waist?  Yep, it's there.  Hooray for me - but I look like I'm wearing bombay bloomers!  

What else?  It's 1.02, so time for lunch and a quick check of the mailbox.  I ordered a pattern from an Etsy shop some time in November & it hasn't arrived yet... and I found my birthday present from Mr G at Palm Beach Markets on Sunday - isn't the way?  I used to take him into Victoria Buckley Jewellery in the Strand Arcade & he would pay for whatever I pointed at, so I guess it's the same principle.  I can't show you a picture because these lovely people don't have a website, but I will drop the 'E' word at them when I go to pick it up this week...

That's it for now.  I would love some of you to try the Journal tutorial & let me know how it works for you, so I can improve it.  And now, I'm off to ham & cheese sandwiches for lunch & the rest of Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince, which I started yesterday & had to stop when Mr G came home & wanted NCIS.  Accio!

Ciao!

No news from here...

Just more happy pics - I was busily taking pictures of the gloriously green Hunter Valley on Sunday (did I mention, Gentle Readers, that it's as green as I've ever seen it?  That would be a good name for a book, don't you think?  "How Green was the Hunter".  Might be a best seller. I should write it.  Ahem.), and the pooch, the very gorgeous Zoe, decided to run into my shot just as I clicked the button.


She's got excellent timing, that dog:

So of course I had to take a proper picture of her - dogs are normally hard to photograph because they never want to sit still, and they never look at you when you've got the camera in your hand (with the possible exception of Zeb, who knew she was a movie star, and knew how to hold her chin and knew when to smile and how to work the red carpet)

So I persuaded Zoe to do the same, kind of:

And she's laughing her head off at me.  Smart dog!

Welcome, Newest Gentle Reader

Did I mention, Remaining Gentle Readers, that I was happy to see a new Gentle Reader join your discerning ranks?  How nice it is to have your company, ArtyGal, and how inspired I was by your running blog (not quite inspired enough to get off my lardy arse & join in, but inspired nonetheless!) - I gave up running after item #14 on the Life List of Things I Never Want to Do Again, Nosireebob - running is way too hard with fallen arches & pronating feet, you just keep falling over.  

I used to enjoy it, when I was a teenager, out with the dog(s) every day (only one at a time, sadly, we had Honey first, and after her (hit by a car), Chocky (came to us because her family was temporarily living in a caravan park & couldn't keep her)... pictures?  Sure:

Taken in 1973.  See, I knew how to take pictures even then.  Joke.  Honest.

I'd love a dog now, but Mr G quite rightly says it isn't fair to be out of the house 12 hours a day & leave a dog on its own, but MGF Kaz is working on convincing him that two dogs (Remember that great joke, the punchline of which is "why do you ask, Two Dogs Fu**ing?") would be fine together (No?  Ask nicely, I'll tell you it privately)... he's not convinced.  Maybe I would be better to dedicate some Sundays to spending time with the waifs and strays at Monica's Doggie Rescue???

And back on a crafting note, I have finished the four small trees, and I did a few gussying-up thingys on the Amy Butler one which I will post at some point today.. I showed them to two separate yet equally biased audiences yesterday, and all audience members seemed to think they were just the ticket, so hopefully Kerry The Beautician will be equally pleased. I plan to do nothing more complex than a little sparkly beading on the Japanese balls, as it is glorious enough already... but as always, suggestions welcome.

And that, for now, is it.  I'll be back when the sun is up, and after a pleasant cup of coffee with My Best Friend this morning.  Enjoy your day!

Ciao! 

Woof!

He's here!

Delivery date is Friday.  I don't want to spoil the surprise in case the lucky owner happens to read this (unlikely, she's 10 & has no internet access on her PC) but I feel I should wait until he's been handed over before doing the big reveal.


Today, Remaining Gentle Readers, news from the West is good, with a positive outcome from the latest visit to Specialists, so I'm a bit happier.  Also, Mr Golightly & I are jetting off to Bali on Sunday, where we've never been, for some quality time with lovely Ma & Hank, and we're staying here, which should be amazing.  I intend to return with the tackiest souvenirs I can find, for distribution amongst family members and friends, so if you're one of those & you're reading this, watch out.


Today I will also go to the post office & post off the frogs I made for Alix & Claude's wedding, which was rather a long time ago now, but they're going to double as a birthday present for Alix, which I know is rather cheating, but hey, they're handmade, so all should be forgiven.  I'll include some nice smelly things too, to make up for it.


I'm also going to be knitting frantically to finish the scarf I'm making for my friend Gill, in Brighton; her birthday was in September but that kind of came & went - I was only knitting on the bus, but of course that's gone by-the-by now, so I'm busily inflicting tennis elbow on myself by knitting at night, during the lunch break, anytime really.  Ouch.


I also spotted this on Tuesday morning:

Rather gorgeous, with all the sun on him. Sadly the web didn't survive the arrival of the Weeding Lady, who used his home to shift all the weeds - she did an amazing job removing all the Trad (Tradescantia albiflora) [also known by a rather pejorative name which I won't repeat here] from the garden, and is coming back on Friday to do the same with the other weeds - I love having a garden, but I'm not a gardener.  It's a bit obvious, really, when you see the weeds! 

That's it for now.  I am going to get dressed & wash up, and then go & work on the Sydney Pies.  Yum!

Ciao!

Sunday television is sh*t

Just thought I'd share that with you.  Mr G, having spent a busy day mowing the lawn for the first time in what looked like a decade, and then pruning the hedge between our eastern neighbour in preparation for a spring growth spurt, is sitting in his beanbag watching, simultaneously, the football score on his laptop, "Wipeout Australia" on the tv, and nibbling almonds whilst waiting for me to whip up a magnificent Sunday night repast of toasted sandwiches.  


I, on the other hand, have been extremely busy.  I went with my lovely wonderful MIL to the Mosman Town Hall today to an exhibition of embroidery, being held in Mosman Art Gallery, then we had a lovely fantastic lunch... then I came home and made these:

for lovely delightful Leanne at work... (note the lovely professional background?  It's the sewing machine cover - talk about classy)...

Edited to add:  I can't believe I used 'lovely' four times in two paragraphs.  Thanks, Baino, for pointing this out.  Woman, get thee to a Thesaurus!

Last week we were lucky enough to spend our long weekend in the freezing cold Hunter Valley - we went up on Friday night, and didn't come back until Monday night, because of course Monday last week was the August Bank Holiday - and Mr G & I both work in the Finance Sector, so we were both off!  

What'd we see?


Some interesting wildlife:

This guy stood there no more than 20 metres from us; he was at least 2 metres tall, and wasn't even slightly bothered by the dog.  He just watched us walk by, before walking (leaping?) off in his own time... 

A red-bellied black snake.  In freezing-cold August.  He, too, just sat there watching us, not bothered either.  Maybe the kangaroo & the snake were in league?

This was a kangaroo paw print.  Twice the size of my hand.  Maybe it belonged to the guy up the top?

These guys have just started their mating rituals, all twining necks and bobbing and weaving... looks like more swanlings on the way...

And a Sunday morning visitor, just a small one in comparison to the Saturday visitor - quite happily out the front of the house, nibbling away on the weeds... 

And how's this for a big tart?

Oh, pat me, please, pat me, pat me... 

Ah, bliss

It was warm, you know, and sunny, and above all, dry!  It was quiet, and peaceful, and I did a spot of bird-watching...

and a spot of garden watching...

and a spot of dog-watching...

This is Gus.  He's very funny, sitting right in front of the fire, even though he has a mat only 5 feet away from the fire.  He's just small enough to fit there, and Jarrah, who's the other Dog of the House, is very jealous, but too big to fit right there!


Note the big chunks of wood?  That's Jarrah.  People like me pay lots of money to have beautiful furniture made out of this wood, my kitchen bench in particular...

(Please excuse the mess but you get the idea) and over in the West, they burn it.  Amazing.

What else?  A nice lunch out here, a spot of sewing (pictures to come, I promise), and a spot of fabric shopping.  I feel very relaxed.  Well, I did till Tuesday, when the madness started again... however, only one more day of whining from me, and it's all over, back to 'normal'.  Can't wait, I have to say!

When I finally unpack the sewing I did in Perth, I'll post some pics.  And in the interim, I collected this from the post office this morning, from here:

and this:

I can't wait to trim something!

Ciao!

Hi, my name is...

Dunno.  Not good at naming beasties.  Ideas?

And these are terrible photos!

Rain rain go away

Well, actually, don't, but could you at least let me get the washing dry?  I've tumbled-dried sheets and towels, but some things I just refuse to put in the dryer (who doesn't remember what the industrial-strength tumble dryers at the laundromat/laundrette did to your bras, back before we owned our own laundry equipment?) & so the back of our house looks like a chinese laundry... and none of it is any drier than it was when I put it out yesterday!


Apart from this:

which turned up earlier in the week from here, and although I know they're old and have been superceded by equal bouts of loveliness (actually, if I never have to look at that whole Wildwood collection ever again, it won't break my heart, you know why...) but there's something just so fantastic about the combinations you can make with them that I wanted to buy some to keep.  Forever.  

When lovely Clare from Lulu Carter visited me, we talked about how to keep favourite fabrics forever (hey, we could start a club, the 'FFF Wits'.  Nice...) and I commented that I'd seen it done on her blog and that's my plan, long term - pieces of my favourite fabrics, in embroidery frames, on a wall.  Nice.  When?  Who the FFF knows?

 

Thank you Miss Lulu for letting me share your image!

In other news from The House of Wet Washing & The Outlaw Josie Wales*, I made this:

which is going off to Brisvegas, for a lovely customer who lives in NZ, and I spent some time ogling these, which came from the V&A, one of my all-time favourite places in the world, as a slightly late but I wasn't going to mention it birthday gift from Doc Rosie and her other super-talented daughter, Miss Alix, who lives in London (hello, yes, April, not long now)...

  

Trouble is, when given ribbon as beautiful as this, you never want to use it, so you start hoarding.... (joke... 'start' was a very long time ago!)... and then you need a bigger house!

Now, off to break my fast, move my washing & sit in my lavender-scented Small But Perfectly Formed room, and make a dog!

Ciao!

*Mr Golightly spent yesterday watching Clint Eastwood movies.  What else would you do?

Some kind of irony

Does anybody but me see some kind of weird irony in being asked to make a toy dog, less than a week after The Best Dog In The World has gone to Doggy Heaven?  Goodness me but life is weird.


Anyway, Mr Golightly's nephew, Master E, has a friend, Master L, who is having a birthday, and "could Aunty Golightly make a dog like mine, only for the Cronulla Sharks?"... Last year I made a dog for Master E in the colours of his favourite Football team (or a close, Joel Dewberry-type approximation thereof).  

For those of you out there not completely au fait with the NRL (oh, you too?), the colours are apparently blue, grey and white.  So, one did ones best, as they say somewhere else:

To be named, somewhat appropriately, "Sharkey".  I'm a bit cross with myself because I forgot to make him a collar, but as Master E's mother so wisely said "he'll never know".  Well, yes, but I will.  Next time, too, I will dig out the florist's wire & make the ears a bit more standy-uppy, but I quite like floppy-eared dogs.  Why wouldn't you?


And now, back to the disaster that is Australia Vs Pakistan.  Mr Golightly is off getting wet & miserable at the Cricket Ground today and very shortly I'm going to do the good wifey thing & make spaghetti for dinner.  He'll need something to cheer him up after Australia's performance today! 

The hills are alive...

With the sound of music... well, now that I've figured out why I couldn't hear any of Mr Dave & his happy buddy Mr Ry playing merrily on my lovely new machine, that is - she who is the self-proclaimed music junkie forgot to turn the external speakers on.  Hah!  What a dope.  Anyway, I proved it wasn't my possibly somewhat-lacking skills on the YouTube front by watching this Podcast & when there wasn't any sound, I thought I'd uploaded it wrong.  You know, what happens to old people when confronted with new technology - they get it, almost, but not quite..


What drove me was one of the other other blogs  I follow regularly was having that Podcast & they'd worked out how to stick the YouTube thingy into the post, the smarties, and I wanted to see if their voices sounded like I thought they should (and they did, which is kind of creepy), but anyway, there was no sound coming out of that either, so I did what any semi-literate computer user would do - I called the help desk.  


Just kidding.  I went to the control panel & checked for my speakers, which were apparently all working, and the little sound level they so kindly give you on Vista was going up & down, living proof (well, not quite living, but you know what I mean), so I figured "There must be something else going on".  Brilliant.  This is why I earn the big bucks, y'know?


Anyway, guess what?  The cable was plugged in.  But they speakers be not turned on.  Turn they speakers on.  Magic.  Well, actually, I don't believe in magic, but it was a nice result.  Sound, lovely sound.  Sharon Lee sounds just like I thought.  Steve Miller sounds just like I thought.  Plus interesting, as a bonus.  Now I have to sit & listen to the whole podcast.  Maybe.  But first, the results of some labours last night with the stuffing implements & a whole bag of fibre-fill:

He is so cute, and of course, he's for my lovely DSSIL*.  Last time I made her a froggie, she pressed me to come up with a name, and I folded.  Anyway, eventually we went with 'Guido', but I'm still not sure if that's the best name.  So, for this lovely colorful canine, I'm thinking that I should throw it out to my huge audience, and see if anybody can come up with something more appropriate.  A small prize is being offered for the best name.  Miss DSSIL* obviously cannot participate.

Now, I only have to sew up the open bit (and there are absolutely no prizes for guessing where that is, and figure out how to get him up to where she lives... Australia Post loves a challenge.  Just as well! 

And I want it painted black...

I just had a look at lovely Lulu Carter's blog today, I check her page religiously, not just because she has such an unerring sense of style, but because she is so clever with her use of colour - the images she has for her easter banner are just gorgeous... you owe it to yourself to check it out.

I also put some encouraging words on the bottom of Fluid Pudding's blog; she's trying to work up to getting the sewing machine out & make some kids clothes - I have to say that when I got to about 30, yes, yes, I know it was last century and all, but I do remember that far back... I got the urge, you know the one, the producing urge -not the reproducing urge, but the urge to make clothes.  I didn't even know what a selvedge was, and I had to ring my mother up to find out which way to pin the pattern onto the fabric.  

I persevered, and I made things, reaching the peak of my skills with a 17th century style corset I made at a course run by our national Drama Institute.. dressmaking is infinitely satisfying, and the opportunities to improve your skills just go on and on and on... but you have to take that first step.  I'll post a piccie of the corset one day, it was quite an achievement in the end, all the boning had to be cut to size, then the ends rounded with emery paper, the eyelet holes for the lacing went in using a huge victorian press, all the stitching was done on industrial machines, which are a completely different prospect to normal domestic machines, then I had to stitch the binding on by hand - all 4 metres of it... but it is spectacularly gorgeous... if I say so myself.

Once I found patterns I liked, I made a bunch of the same thing - 8 gore skirts on a yoke, a t-shirt blouse, flippy skirts with a frill on the bottom (come on, I was young once too)... and I bought metres and metres of dress fabric - and most of it is still sitting in my sewing room - cotton shirting,  beautiful raw silks, organza, linens, beautiful italian wool velvet, sari silk.. is it wrong to consider making froggies out of that stuff?  It's just sitting there in the boxes, looking at me... because I can't be bothered any more..

All that pressing, pinning, cutting out, marking the grain, measuring from the edge to the grain line to make sure it's all straight, cutting out the notches, then doing it all again for the lining... I've mastered french seams, darts, pin tucks, blind hemming, piping...

Froggies are a nice easy option for those of us whose attention span is shrinking as our waistlines are expanding... as are these guys:

Nice, huh?  And so much fun!

But, please don't let me put you off!  Get that sewing machine out from under the christmas decorations, on top of the cupboard, under the bed.  Cut out, measure, sew, wear with pride.  You can do it, and when you have, put it on your blog and share it with the world!  Go girls!