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That’s what I thought about my backyard last weekend.
Everything’s at that point where it’s growing crazily (see: previous post), everything’s slightly overgrown, but there isn’t that much to do. There’s a lovely sense of producitvity, activity, quiet working. What a lovely place to lie around and do nothing!
Well, I suppose I could mow the lawn, but that’s the sister’s job. And the both the compost bins and the green bin were full, so I couldn’t do the weeding.
I guess that’ll be this weekend…
So, flickr just rolled out this lovely feature where you can tag people in your photos which I intend never to use (are you crazy?! No.) It also means that I can no longer right click and ‘copy’ on my own photos. I realise flickr isn’t intended as a photo storage place, and I do always link back to them. I upload them to flickr and then copy to my blog because I LIKE the social and sharing aspects of flickr, but I might just be uploading them straight to my blog from now on. It’s a pain, and I will probably have to buy more storage from wordpress, but they can get my flickr subscription since I won’t need it as much.
Aaaaand now I sound like an angry blogger with a chinbeard ‘you can’t take my copy paste away from me! retribution!!!’. That is not what I meant. It’s just not worth my time and effort to upload, tag, and name a photo, and THEN have to click on ‘see all sizes’ in order to blog it. Especially when we’re about to get capped at home and my internet at work is heinously slow – and not meant for blogging at any rate. And then muck around resizing it because it’s huge. This is not social media web 2.0. This is old skool and I dislike it.
I was going to blog about a lovely day I had one the weekend, complete with photos, but now I’m cross again. So only two photos for you. The top one is a squash flower in my garden on Saturday. And this is the same flower the next day:
Ridiculous!
Yesterday was not a great day. I had to take my bunneh back to the vet for a X-ray and possibly more surgery. The infection has gotten into her bone, which is very not good for bunnehs. The vet was not what I’d call positive. I also had to arrange getting there myself, which would be fine if I didn’t live with my sister who has a car (as I do not: no car or license) and hadn’t just done her a huge favour regarding our mother, which had stressed me out a whole lot. I messaged my sister on Tuesday nigth to try and arrange her taking us to the vet and she was so vague about it all that I decided it was just easier to pretend that I live by myself. And by ‘decided’ I mean, I cried for about 15 minutes because I am so sick of doing this by myself and for myself, or being the only apparent grownup in the room, and I really just wanted her to say ‘yes. I will drive you to the vet.’
So I had slept horribly and I was a jangle of nerves. But Pie’s back and although the news is not great, it’s not horrible either. her body is fighting back and she’s got weird boney growths, but it looks like her body is walling off the infected area. So we’re keeping up the antibiotics (I’ve been putting them on sultanas, which are her favourite treat, because the process of squirting them into her mouth is just too traumatic for the both of us) and hoping. Another checkup in a month.
This morning I was so groggy and icky that I stayed in bed an extra hour. Then I got up in a panic, thinking I was going to be late. I got in to work at ten to nine. When did ‘on time’ become ’45 minutes before I start getting paid’ in my head? Well, I will be catching a later bus from now on, because it’s amazing the difference it made to my day. Even though I thought I would be late, it was far less of a scramble to get out the door. And I found out that my preferred bus route has changed just enough that it’s sensible to catch it. Which is great, because the route – both the walk to the bus stop and also the roads the bus goes along – are through old suburbs. And the roses are in bloom. It’s glorious! Sun shining, birds singing, flowers bursting out in wonderful colours. I’ll try and bring my camera tomorrow and take sly photos of a couple of particular gardens with glorious flowers in them. A much nicer way to start the day than a traipse through the semi-industrial (although atmospheric) half of the suburb and a rush accross a main road to get to the bus stop.
So the consequence of that is that I am looking forward to going home – the commute, not just the destination – for the first time in a long while. Usually I find it frustrating and convoluted, which I’m sure it will be. But it will also include roses and sunshine, so I’m ok with that.
Oh, Nordic Ware. Please stop tempting me. I mean, I totally want you. I want dinosaur muffins like you wouldn’t believe (also, why can I find a cheerleader cookie cutter but not one in the shape of a dino footprint?) but I’m trying not to overspend. You understand, right? I’ve put you on my christmas list, but… No, don’t look at me like that! Yes, I lust after your pirate ship! But how often will I bake a pirate ship cake? Oh, yes, it would be worth it, but… fine. I can’t reason with you when you are like this.
Ahem. Here is the quilt book I was talking about. It’s called Contemporary Quilts. There do not appear to be any pictures of the interior on the internets, so I will take a couple happy snaps when I get a chance because they are goooood. And I want to remember them. I want to buy the book, but see above comments re: overspending. I will write it down and if it’s still on the wish list in a couple months, I’ll think about it.
And while looking for photos of it I was reminded of the Purl bee’s tied quilt. Even easier! I could use thrifted sheets for that, too. It’d be like Amanda Soule’s beach blanket, but for my bed.
Speaking of baking (yes, I was. Sort of) I made these on the weekend:
Just cos. Cos I felt like it. I saw some on the internets somewhere, and I thought ‘hmmm. Cookie monster cupcakes. I can do that!’ He’s my equal second favorite muppet, you know. Maybe I’ll make Oscar the Grouch cupcakes next.
Usually I do not enjoy the decorating, but I’ve cracked it. I baked them one day, decorated the next. Just like seaming – when I finish a knit project, it has to sit for a while before it becomes a seaming project not a knitting one and then I don’t mind. The cookies were bought, the eyes are white choc melts with choc chips attached with sugar water (or icing, when I ran out) and the icing is just buttercream with scads of blue food colouring. It was delicious, but I have to warn you, it will make your poop green. Oh, yes, it will. TMI anyone?
OM NOM NOM NOM NOOOOM!!!
More Apartment Therapy inspiration
I came across this today.
Ok so it’s a kid’s room. Shhhh. How awesome is that curtain around the bed! And the leaves… I’ve had a slight obsession with those IKEA leaves, which I cannot find on their website. Maybe I can use this as an excuse to buy some. But you know how I posted about my bed? This is the type of thing I want, somewhere cosy, a retreat but also welcoming and snuggly. Like this OMG YOU GUYS it’s a fort competition. Check it out!
Go look at all the other cool ones, and then look at the – GASP – Where the Wild Things Are blog. Sorry, must go have a lie down, I am so stupidly excited about this…
OK, go look at the blog, and look particularly at this post with the winners. The winner is the coolest, but I love second place a whole lot:
The clouds are so sweet. And she made the lamp out of bottle caps. I love it, you guys. I love it.
I also want a where the wild things are hat.
From here. There’s an instructables link, too. Maybe I’ll make myself one. (I wonder if I ever looked that young? I feel oooold today. Surely this is ridiculously early to feel this old?) But maybe floppier, like this. After I make myself a panda hat (current dilemma: straight up knit, or lightly felted? I like lightly felted, but takes more thinking.)
I realise all this is very silly, but like the second place winner of the fort contest said, I’ve been drowning in adulthood lately. Luckily there’s only myself to worry about and I can avoid a lot of it, but an antidote is better than avoiding things. Sometimes I forget to be silly, which is sad.
On the weekend, I put new bedclothes on my bed.
Everything except the flat sheet is from the op shop. I bought the yellow gingham cover because yellow! Gingham! I never intended to actually put it on my bed, thinking it would clash horribly. This weekend I decided I didn’t care. It’s actually supposed to go the other way but I love gingham a WHOLE lot more than I love stripes. I also have gingham shoes. The other day I had someone over and I kept stopping talking in the middle of sentences because I would be distracted by how much I love gingham, oooh look, gingham, on my feet! Did I mention I love it? They were bemused, to say the least.
Ahem. Anyway, I put the cover on and then none of my pillow cases matched, so on went my thrifted stash of cases. Originally intended for crafting, but they are so lovely I couldn’t cut into them. And I think it looks lovely. A whole lot brighter than I would have thought of even six months ago, but it’s so happy and I love it. A cosy little fort.
Which it looks like I’ll be retreating to very soon as my sister has recently woken up from a nap and also gotten to the bit in her Hornblower bit where (SPOILER!!) Bush dies. And she is v. grumpy and acting like a teenager and likely to reduce me to tears if I’m not careful.
Goodnight.
One of the websites I read pretty much every day is Apartment Therapy. This is because I like to torture myself with nice things I can’t have taunt myself with neat places and soothing spaces gather ideas for my own home, and sometimes just look at the pretty pictures. They’re doing a colour theme at the moment, and some days it’s like candy for your eyes. Eye candy, to coin a phrase.
Lately there’ve been a bunch of quilts (and crochet blankets, here and here, to give two examples) popping up. Like this one:
From this post. (oooh, bonus crochet hexagons!) I don’t think I would want the brown, if it were mine, but I like the combo, and I like the tones. I like that it is traditional but that the colours lift it and make it something different. Maybe replace the brown with another nuetral that isn’t white? How about a natural linen?
Or blue?
From here. Also, check out the last pic on that post, with the white frame against the deep blue. LOVE! Here, as well. (Mirrors!!) I love those deep, bright blues. Soothing but not boring, restful and exciting as well. I think I am going to end up with the reverse – bright saturated furniture and acessories against a white background. Which makes sense since I will be renting in the forseeable future, and the walls are always white.
What about this one? Oooh, look. More crochet. Is that even quilted? Maybe it’s just a throw. But how easy would it be to do? I could totally make one for myself, and I bet it wouldn’t even take that long, if I actually DID it, which seems to be the problem with most of my crafts. The actual doing it phase. Like in my last post, it’s just easier not to do anything, really. Playing computer games or noodling around on the internet is a simple way to spend an evening, and relaxing every now and then. But when it means I don’t excercise or craft anything that can’t be done in five minute chunks, or even read much anymore… then there’s a problem. And the problem isn’t the internet, it’s my motivation.
ANYWAY, I could do it like this. I won’t steal Posie’s photos, so go look. I think I probably have enough thrifted bedsheets that I could do it using only them. And I think a tied quilt is a good way to get my feet wet – no actual quilting involved, which I suspect my machine will not handle well.
I borrowed a Modern Quilts book from the library – will find a reference later, it’s an Aussie one. The ones I loved the most were either lots of little strips put together, or ones not quilted at all, or much. There was an abstract rose one where the quilting was lines intersecting scattered roses. It was devine! But the one that’s relevant here was one that one indigo linen on one side (mmmm) and French toille on the other, and it was tied with French knots. Simple, and beautiful. It had running stitch around the edges and I wanted to snuggle under it.
I don’t think I’m going to start on a quilt like this tomorrow. But I wouldn’t mind at least getting it started cutting in the next few months. Again, if I just DID it, it won’t be hard. And I’d love to have a summer weight quilt before the next heat wave!
An on a final note: speaking of inspiration, have you seen Attic 24? The colours! THE COLOURS!!!!
Begin with a blanket. Then just free associate.
I took these photos last weekend. I have since added another round, which helped with the middle hex which I was a bit uncertain about, and am debating another – or should the next round be the white edging?
The yarn was getting in the way all laid out in colour order on the floor. So I found this IKEA divider thingy that wasn’t currently being used, and whacked it in there.
It makes me smile every time I see it. So colourful!
This one is my favourite.
Although this comes a close second. MMMM that green!
I am coming up with all sorts of excuses about why I must buy more yarn, NOW, for the blanket. So far I have resisted by telling myself that I must wait until after my holiday. It’s been a close run thing, though.
So addictive, those little hexes. Round and round and round, watching the colours. But not portable at all and also I ahve to watch my hands, so I can only listen to things while I do it, not watch. Which is waht podcasts are for, am I right? I’m totally right.
They’ve been put away for a bit because I was trying to get some WIPs out the way (yes, ok, so I can use their leftovers in the blanket) Also, I am flying out for my cousin’s wedding not this wednesday but the next, and I have one measly little repeat left on her stole and then I must block it. I am starting to worry about where. No carpets in my house, you see, and it’s pretty long. Too long for my bed, even if I wanted to give it up for a night. Maybe even too long for my foam puzzle pieces that I usually use, and anyway, they’ll surl up at the edges. Might have to block it on a blanket on the lawn and hope the weather stays as nice as it is now so it will dry in a day.
Course, I have to finish it, first…
In other news, I WON SOMETHING! This never happens. I won a copy of ‘Handmade in Melbourne’ from Nikki at My Black Cardigan.
And I have read the introduction and then got distracted and haven’t had a moment to sit down with it and a cuppa… aaa, bliss! I hope I get a chance to at least skim it before my holiday…
It came in lovely sewn-on wrapping paper, and with this bookmark:
In news of other things that make you feel good: exercise!
Last night, after a nice weekend of doing some things, and a fair amount of lying in the sun, I was sitting in front of the computer feeling pretty cranky. I was full of cupcake, which is delicious, but late in the evening can kind of make you feel icky. I was idly contemplating doing some yoga, since I have been shanghai’d into a group yoga session tonight, and it’s been forever and ever since I did any. I thought some stretching might be in order before I embarrased myself in public. But it all jsut seemed so hard – well, not exactly, but it seemed easier just to sit on my bum and wait until it was time to go to bed, rather than changing, finding my yoga mat, and doing something. And I was thinking how lovely the weather was, and how I am not going to get to ride my bike in this week, AGAIN, because every time the weather is nice (like this week) I am doing things after work every night that make having a bike inconvenient. And then I thought… maybe I’ll go for a ride.
So I did. Before I had a chance to think about it and talk myself out of it, I went and got my bike from out the back where it has been parked, in everyone’s way, for weeks. I tucked my pants into my sock, slipped on some shoes, and went out the door. I was only gone 15 minutes, but it was the 15 minutes just before the sun really set properly, and it was glorious. It was a warm day, and you could smell the promise of summer in the air. Plus, it was just nice to be doign something.
And then I came home and ended up doing some yoga, too. My hamstrings are ridiculously tight, as they always are when I haven’t made a point of stretching them. Freaking downwards dog, I tells ya…
And I felt so good. Why do I always forget that you exercise because the payoff is feeling good? Am working on trying to remember that.
I bought this canopy for myself when I was in highschool, and recently requested it from my parent’s shed. It’s like a cozy cave.
As it’s a bit cumbersome covering the whole bed, it stays like this most of the time, so that I don’t entagle myself with wild flailing when the alarm goes off in the morning.
I wish I’d hung it a bit closer to the head, now, because of that. It looks a bit silly, doesn’t it? Ah, well. It’s a canopy, it’s meant to be a bit silly! I might hang something from the centre, stars or birds or flowers, maybe. It’s the first thing I see when I wake up. Lovely!
My bed is my most favourite place in the whole wide world.
I believe we’ve discussed how predictable consistent I am re: colour, before.
I took all of my earings and brooches and hair things out of the blue drawers and put them on ribbons. Yes, I just happened to have those exact colours. Seriously. The whole middle ribbon is hair things, which is a bit hilarious since my hair is super short. However, I have decided to grow it out a bit because I want to be able to have pigtails again. So hopefully they’ll get some use.
But it’s not ALL about the cool end of the spectrum! Here are some flowers we bought last weekend when we went to go see Up (which was fantastic even though my mother wouldn’t stop patting me and I almost had a panic attack. I highly recommend it. The movie, not panic attacks)
Daisies and I think Asters? So cheerful, and fortuitously match our dining area! They’ve been brightening my week up.
Instead of leaving it to languish as usual, I actually DID something about this one.
On Friday I went into Spotlight (otherwise known as The End of All Hope) and bought five bright skeins to punch up my stash. When I got home I placed every suitable DK yarn in a circle, thus:
New yarn pointed out in notes on the Flickr page
The yellow and the light green down the bottom are from a second trip, because I realised that I have NO yellow in my stash at all! Although that’s a small lie – there are a couple warm colours tied up in a WIP that I think I’ll have plenty of left to add to the blanket. I practically gave myself RSI working on it today, but as it’s currently sitting on 444 stitches a round, it’s going to be a while yet. Still, it was nice to get it out, gave me a nice sense of accomplishment.
As a slight diversion from my story, the second trip to the Pit of Despair (I hate Spotlight so, so much) was after taking my bunny Pie to the vet. Her teeth are growing at weird angles, one up and one down so that she has an absess. She needs surgery, which is tomorrow. I am super nervous because bunnies are hard to operate on. I have to give her antibiotics in the meantime which is very distressing because her mouth hurts and she hates it so much. I cried the after the first time. So upsetting, because she’s such a sweet bunny, so I know when she resists something that she is in a lot of pain. She was exploring the vet’s table and trying to hop up onto the scales herself while the vet was basically telling me she’s quite likely not to wake up, and carefully NOT suggesting any alternatives.
Anyway. Back to the happies.
With the help of my sister I culled the muddier colours. I’m still not sure about the dark green, I’ve put it in a couple and it’s a fair bit darker than anything else in there. I’m keeping my eye on it.
Then I did a couple of trial squares with the rejects. Partly to work out which version I wanted to do, mostly to learn!
I ended up modifying it a bit from these anyway, but in the process I had that ‘ahah’ moment where I actually worked out what I was doing.
Once I got going, I realised that my colour choices were actual pretty limited within each colour group. Especially since three of the greens are essentially exactly the same. So I went back to the stash and pulled out some aran weights.
If you click on the photo you can see the notes on my flickr page, about them. I’m not sure how that will fly, since I’m already working on a 3mm hook and it might be just too small. But we’ll see.
I am pretty pleased with my efforts. And I am proud of myself for learning a new skill, and also having at least SOME follow through. I am resisting going online and ordering skads of new yarn, since I have at least enough to be going with. Besides, the finances are a bit strained, what with Pie’s op, and my holiday coming up soon soon soon. Which I need to finish Juno before, whoops! I’ll be in Melbourne from October 28th until the 1st for my cousin’s wedding (Juno being her wedding gift, if it gets done in time). So if anyone I haven’t already planned a meet up with is interested, let me know!
A while back I decided I was going to crochet a ripple blanket. That would be a good thing, I thought, to use up scraps and also all those odd balls I have of things I bought before I was really a knitter. Dull colours or weird shades or not so soft. Things that won’t ever be a project of their own, but in other combinations will have their moment. The scrappier the better!
But, well, I can’t actually crochet. I mean, not to speak of. I can do it, but it’s hard and I have to concentrate and they’re all wonky. And I find it intimidating. So I never really got around to it.
Then, I decided I’d crochet a granny square afghan. Or maybe a hexagon one! I keep seeing them online and the colours, oh man! I love love love the scrappy ones. And I love the way one colour looks completely different depending on the combination it’s in. I like them edged in white, and I like them edged in black. I loved Kgirls granny afghan she did for her daughter – I loved everything about the project, the sentiment, the effort. We had a couple of conversations about it and I decide to buy white yarn to edge them but I never did.
And then, I found Sarah London’s blog. Again, there’ve been links to it I keep seeing, but. Pow! Wham! GOTCHA!!!
The colours! Oh, man, the colours. I suspect she’s bumping up the colours because that pink looks a bit radioactive on my screen, but, still… And then there’s the Hexagon Love pool on flickr. This is what I want. Now. I want it NOW.
I love her granny a day’s, where she photographs the squares with every day objects of the same colourways. And more recent ones where she takes colourways from fabrics. Interesting combinations that I would never think of. She has a couple of posts for her granny hexs showing how she goes about picking the next colour. I think it’s an opportunity to use colours I am shy of, or dislike by themselves. To get a bit more adventurous and exciting. To experiment, because I always find colour intimidating and challenging. And I don’t mind if it ends up more scrappy than planned, at least for the first one.
I am going to go in to town tonight and pick out five candy icecream colours to start pepping up my stash with. And I’m goign to start. It make take me years, but I am going to have a hex blanket in all shades of the rainbow. And then maybe I’ll do a mini hex one, or a real granny one. It’s important to have goals, right?
And then I am going to make one of THESE!! Imagine it in all cool colours, or all warm. Or a natural colour and some red scattered in…
You don’t think that’s too ambitious, do you?
