Day 60/366

DARE TO BE DIFFERENT

Leap Day - 2012

Is it just coincidence that 29th February is the sixtieth day of the year?

Pancakes Twice

I missed Pancake Tuesday!  You know, it came and went and when I started wondering what all the  fuss about pancake recipes was all about it had come and gone!

Can't believe we're preparing for Easter already.

So we had pancakes for dinner last night.

These circles of fabric and wadding so remind me of pancakes!

Mr Honey Pie's niece and her hubby are expecting their first baby in May.

I'm making this super efficient cathedral window cot quilt for their baby.

It's a quilt as you go, no binding quilt!

You can find the instructions here.

I've added two more rows to make it larger.

As you may have guessed, they're expecting a girl.

I've managed to get The In The Pink Quilt Top  I've been working on off the floor.

Yes, off the floor!  It's huge and the floor had to be my design wall.

It is now numbered and pinned and some of the squares have been stitched. 

But now the cathedral window cot quilt is my top priority.

I've decided that my hexagon scrappy quilt is never going to progress if I don't double up on my fabric selection. (Hey I might even triple up or quadruple it.)  So I've taken that up again at night.  Hopefully this way progress will not only be quicker but I'll get to use up more of my scraps.

There's been no progress on my French General quilt top or the Dragonfly Japanese Fabric one.

It's been a long while since I've linked to WIP  Wednesday.

Why don't you drop by and visit Lee at Freshly Pieced?

WIP Progress Wednesday

Teacup Tuesday

I bought myself a new teacup and saucer with side plate yesterday, from a community garage sale page.

I'm hoping it's the first of many.

My understanding is that this cup was made sometime between 1954 to 1973.

Linking to

Teacup Tuesday at 

Artful Affirmations.

Day 59/366

Once a goal, now an Art School.

The entrance.

Day 58/366

Angophora Costata is renowned for dropping its large branches (and therefore not a good idea to plant close to buildings).

When a branch drops off a knobbly growth develops.

Indigenous Australians slice these growths off close to the trunk, hollow them out and use as vessels. 

Day 57/366

Angophora Costata shedding its bark.

A mound of bark collects at the base of the tree's trunk.

Day 56/366

Angophora Costata (Smooth-barked Apple)

From the Greek meaning vessel or goblet (angophora), and ribbed (costata) taken from the shape of the seed pods.

This tree is,

in my opinion, the most majestic tree in the Blue Mountains.

She is a member of the Myrtaceae family, and therefore at risk of being affected by 

Myrtle Rust.

The Angophora has the ability to change the colour of its bark by the hour, depending on the weather and the time of day.

The colour of the Angophora bark can range from grey to blue-grey to pink to salmon to terracotta.

Once the tree sheds its bark, it is left with a satin smooth trunk.

Angophora Costata grows to a height of 15-25 metres.

Day 55/366

Eastern Yellow Robin

Day 54/366

Zebra Cactus In A Pot.

Native to South Africa.

Drought tolerant.

Day 53/366

Every time I walked past you, I could see you shouting:  Look at me!

Amongst all that green, I couldn't avoid you...so I took your picture.

Day 52/366

Remember these?

You picked up the receiver, dialled the number, waited, spoke, replaced the receiver.

Day 51/366

Today, the sun shone.

For the third consecutive day, the sun shone.

And then it rained some more.

Day 50!/366

Pleased to meet you!

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Day 48/366

Some Sad Sometimes...

...you learn that the horrific traffic accident you heard about on the news last night is closer to home than you would have liked it to be.

You learn that another road fatality statistic is much more than that: a daughter, sister, niece, a cousin - a friend.

You didn't know her well, but she has been a member of your small community since infant-hood.

You first met her when she was a toddler; then watched her as she progressed through school, until one day she was confidently working part-time in the local supermarket.

Now you imagine how her family received the news, and you are drawn back to the day you  took that phone call four years ago almost to the day, and you were told to sit down, because the news was bad.

So you sat down, right there on the kitchen floor; because the closest chair was more than two steps away, and as you heard the words you felt your heart being wrenched out of your chest.

Today, you want to tell her family that the anguish they feel will diminish, but not in a day, a week, a month, nor even a year.

Eventually the heart-pain will diminish but not for a long time.

For a long time they will think of her every waking moment, then eventually they will think of her every day, then maybe once a week.  But they will never stop thinking about her completely.

I want to tell them too, that even though she is gone, eventually they will know she is always with them, because she had never left.

But if I told them these things, I know they will not understand.

Today, they will not understand, but eventually they will.

Knowing this comforts me a little but sadly it does not comfort them.

Rest in peace Sarah.

Twenty three years young.

Day 47/366

At The Bottom of My Garden

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Day 43/366

Tonight, I could have posted about the frantic storm we had this afternoon.

I could have put up photographs of the hail,the overflowing gutters, the trees bending in the wind, the mess left after the storm, but I chose not to.

Instead I've posted a photograph of one of my rose geranium plants which is thriving with all the rain we've had.

When the sun was shining and the sky was blue, it seemed to sing a little tune about the colour green.

Besides the aromatic properties of this plant, it's great to have in the garden because its little purple flowers attract bees and encourage pollination in other plants.

It is said that it makes a good companion plant for roses as it repels pests and encourages growth.

I grow it because I adore the fragrance of the crushed foliage and for its bee attracting ability.

Also, it seems to thrive in our poor, sandy, acidic, soil providing much needed greenery in our garden.

Rose geranium leaves may also be used in cooking to flavour custards and to decorate fruit drinks and punches.

Essential oil of rose geranium is produced from this plant and provides a economical alternative to rose oil used for scenting cosmetics and beauty products.

Day 42/366

Crop and Swap Saturday

 

This is my response to our local Crop & Swap Culinary Challenge.

For lunch we ate lemon verbena gluten free bread topped with plum paste, cucumber, chives and (shop bought) Camembert cheese.

We drank ginger beer garnished with limes,and for afters we had white  chocolate and berry muffins.

The table was decorated with a Queensland Blue pumpkin surrounded by rose geranium leaves.

In the fridge, apricot jam awaits tasting.

This meal cost us nothing (except for the cheese).  The food on our table was swapped with herbs grown in our garden, and one little hand knitted rabbit called Rosie.

But that's another story.

Day 41/366

Walking On Sunshine.

Last night was a nightmare.

Up to eight o'clock this morning over 64mm of rain had fallen in the past twenty four hours.

This morning I woke to sunshine.

Everything was dripping drops of rain.

The mist rose in the valley.

The lorikeets were so excited to see the sun they came for a visit.

By early afternoon, the rain was back, accompanied by thunder.

But I can happily tell you that as I write this, less than 30mm of rain has fallen in the past twenty four hours.

Day 40/366

A Window on the Weather

(Or I can't believe it's Day 40 already)!

Day 39/366

Tonight's sunset.

It's still raining.  

Day 38/366

This is a photograph of a close up of my son's jewellery.

He is a jewellery designer and maker.

These are some of his very early makings.

Plastic shopping bags are stripped and spun into a fine thread which goes to make the 'chain' onto which fine silver is threaded into or hung from.

All the findings are hand made from silver, by him.

Other than cropping this photograph, it is untouched and taken on manual setting.

Day 37/366

In The Pink.

Today, I managed to do some sewing.

So I played around with  half square triangles.

Then I played around with the camera.

Manual setting,shutter speed, white balance, tripod,two second timer.

Today's photographs weren't as successful as past days, but the colour in the above shot was very lifelike.

Two second shutter speed, ISO 100, white balance set at tungsten.

Day 36/366

Playing around with camera.

Shutter priority, ISO 200, 2.5 second shutter speed.

Used the tripod with two second delay and quickly added myself to the photo. I moved around while the shutter remained open - this almost made me transparent but that depends on how much movement occurs.  I think that the more movement there is, the more transparent the object becomes.

Day 35/366

Happy 60th Birthday Mr Honey Pie.

Day 34/366

Mr Honey Pie received a birthday present from Eldest son...A Canon Supershot extremely compact camera.

I took the above photograph with it.

Another, grey, wet, miserable day by the way.

Day 33/366

Mr Honey Pie and I visited Reverse Garbage at Marrickville today.

Their mantra is reuse, reduce, recycle.

Here is a link to something I created from materials saved from landfill.

Today, I purchased more fabric, mainly samples - a shopping bag full cost me $5.

I'm dreaming up a wool patchwork quilt.

The above collage shows some sculptures on Reverse Garbage grounds, created from scrap metal.

In the top right hand corner of the collage is an image of the 'lost soul' room.

Day 32/366

Fall of Giants, by Ken Follett is the first book in The Century Trilogy.

Mr Honey Pie gave this to me as a Christmas gift and I'm loving it.

Prior to this book I'd been reading Jane Austen's Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice and had to complete them before tackling this tome.  I'm afraid that I have to confess that I'd never read these two classics before and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed them.

I'm presently revelling in Follett's novel.

He turns the First World War into a personal affair and reveals to the reader the behind-the-scenes of the war at the basic level without over-simplification.

Five families, from all walks of life are intertwined in an uncomplicated narration.

Follett is very clever at weaving definition into the story line.

He teaches the reader the intricacies of a variety of cultures, national policies, and social classes with ease.

I'm finding that Follett doesn't bother himself with flowery vocabulary or emotional nuances. 

He is concerned with facts though and cleverly intertwines history into the lives of fictional characters of an ugly war.

I'm finding that he explains the rationale of World War One better than any text book I've encountered.