Point + Shoot

One of my favourite bloggers, Chantelle of the brilliant fat mum slim, has had the inspired idea to make a game she's called 'Point + Shoot'. This Sunday (6th December) is the day to take photos, many or just one, of whatever you happen to be doing that day, and then post about it on Monday. I'll be down at Jervis Bay, hanging out with Baboushka and my dad, sewing bags with my mum and hopefully getting some swimming lessons in.

I tried to get started on a similar, slightly more ambitious project a few months back. The plan was to take a photo every day, of anything at all, and post it up at my Flickr account. It was flawed from the beginning, as I was posting the photos in chunks (having the time each day to transfer photos from the camera, resize them and then upload them was not very realistic). Then our computer kicked the bucket, and all the photos I'd been taking so diligently each day are currently stored elsewhere. The idea of finding them and continuing with my little project gave me a bit of a brain hernia, so I abandoned it. Ah, blithe abandonement. Where would I be without you?


Anyhoo, back to whatever vague sort of post I was stringing together. Ah, yes. My ill-fated photo project and this weekend. I can actually make a not-so-tenuous link between the two! Above is one of my 'Photo-A-Day' photos of (a very small percentage of) the material I'll take with me to make into shoulder bags, using Amy Butler's 'Birdie Sling' pattern. I am eagerly excited to be finally making my way through the acres of material I've been amassing over the last year or so, while my mind has been bubbling away with sewing ideas that I haven't had time to realise. Never mind that I haven't touched a sewing machine since high school. I figure, the more hideous the result, the better the blog fodder ;-)

What the heck is with this wind?

I am beginning to wish that our toilet wasn't outside. One of my favourite stories of my grandmother's involves a particularly windy day, and her elderly father having the outside dunny literally blow off him, mid-...er, ablutions. I'm trying not to think of waterfalls.

My two lovebugs have got the right idea - they've been snuggled up and asleep since 6:30pm (4 hours ago). Leaving me to peruse the Intermanets uninterrupted, a rare bliss indeed. The Explorer socks are out in force, I had oatmeal for dinner, I discovered that B52's tickets are $100 (d'oh) and I've fallen for these two blogs:


The Little House By The Sea


and Thrift Candy.
Oh, to be in a floral dress in a sun-filled, un-windy garden.

Speaking of wind, I just had a thought: I wonder if the French words vent (wind) and ventre (stomach) are etymologically related? Because, the stomach is part of the digestive system, and when one has 'wind'...ah, you know what I'm getting at.

Yet another project to add to my list...

This is Michelle Jank. Sigh. She's just gorgeous, no?

And talented, too. In my quest to find lovely ladies who emulate my idea of 'Art-teacher Chic', she was one of the first few who popped into my head. Yep, sorry guys, but I have a feeling I'm going to go on about this idea (henceforth referred to as ATC) ad nauseum ;-)

Her clothes are lovely (anyone remember this amazing dress?), but it's her own personal style and her amazing jewellery that I adore the most.





I'm going to have a go at making a similar floral neck piece - this pink one is gorgeous, but I'm not a big pink-wearer, so I'm looking for flowers in greens and blues instead.


Isn't this one heavenly?



(First image from here; second two are from the Sart, and the last two from here)

Question: how does one find the time to both maintain a blog while reading the blogs of other people?

I think I've found my answer: by writing about the other blogs! Some days I'll go from blog to blog and end up at a particularly great one, and not remember where I started or know how I got there...

Anyways, here's one I managed to stumble upon: The Catskill Kiwi. I love how she combines gorgeous photos with rad-looking recipes. The Brown Sugar Cookie recipe looks particularly enchanting.

(Image from The Catskill Kiwi)

I'm ba-ack!

Pat, Baboushka and I are back home from our little voyage to Brisbane. It was lovely, we somehow managed to see and do a lot while having a good old-fashioned relax.

But before I write about any holiday hijinks or put up any pictures (that will probably take me a little while - lame traveller that I am, the plane trip has left me feeling woozy and as though I'm rocking in a boat. Or a CityCat, if you will.), I have to share this site that I recently read about - Tom's. Not only do they have some very rad footwear, but they have a social conscience. For each pair of shoes that you buy from Tom's, they will donate a pair to a child in need :-)

On my wishlist:









And for Baboushka, these adorable wee paint-splatter shoesies!

Jaded

If I were to answer that ridiculous, yet for some reason, ubiquitous question, "What's your favourite colour?", my answer would be turquoise. But really, my love of blue-green hues extends from darkest Midnight Green, through viridian, jade, aquamarine, celadon all the way to the palest shade of seafoam. I knew PAt was the man for me when he got me the above Pantone mug for my birthday (and, because hot beverage enthusiasts can never have too many mugs, I later purchased this one to keep 337C company).

So, along just about everyone with a passing interest in fashion in blogland, I was immediately enamoured of Karl Lagerfeld's latest collection for Chanel:






For probably the first time ever I even noticed the models' nail colour. I was briefly tempted to hunt down a similar shade for my own talons, which is unheard of for me (I will never reconcile myself to nailpolish. Or most makeup, for that matter). I also loved the pale shell pink (also unheard of - poor Baboushka is often mistaken for a baby boy as she's so rarely in pink).

Sometimes I wonder if, when starting each new collection, Karl et al simply pull a crayola out of a hat. And then sit back and laugh when they see us wearing it..

Ode to op-shopped furniture..

This is my lounge room. Well, half of it. Or maybe just a corner...anyway:

The sideboard was from my favourite op-shop, and at $120 I think it is the most I've ever paid for a piece of furniture. I saw it, decided to think about it for a day, and that night I had nightmares about other people buying it. I raced to the shop at 9am and almost peed with relief that it was still there.

The lamp...well, that's a nice little story, maybe I'll leave it for another post. The armchair was a side-of-the-road find (there are actually two of them). While I was lugging them home on my back, heavily pregnant and in the middle of summer (not a good idea), a carload of young males drove past, stopped to drop a friend off, and drove away. And they say chivalry is dead!!

My photos don't even come close to showing just how lovely the dark wood is, nor the pretty bakelite handles. The Ladurée bag came home from Paris with my mum, complete with a box of delectable macaroons, and is a daily reminder that I should..erm, eat more macaroons..

On top of the dresser live some of my favourite botanical and marine curiosities. The triangular thing is a piece of coral my brother The Yeti brought back from Thailand, and I drew the crayfish myself!

And my little collection of butterflies. I had found all three of them, already dead, and so my mum got me this box to keep them in. Behind is a bowlful of Pat's origami.

This is the first 'proper' artwork I ever owned, created by one of my outrageously talented aunts.

The Parker coffee table *sigh*. I fell in love with it's Danish good looks and $30 price tag (same op-shop as the sideboard). Only when we got it home did we discover the Parker stamp, which, brand-snob that I am, made me love it more.

(a close up of the strip of rad-patterned barkcloth on the coffee table.)

Maybe one day I'll get around to tidying the other half of the room..

PS: How hot is our carpet?!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Ooh, I love this cake. It used to be my 'thing' - I made it often, sometimes several times a week during school holidays, and while I flirted with a few other favourites (like Walnut Torte and Double-choc Brownies), Chocolate Zucchini Cake was default dessert. Until I discovered cheesecakes, and began devoting my baking time to first perfecting the classic New York and then experimenting (Nigella's Lime and Chocolate is divine, but that's another post).


The other night, out of nowhere, I was stricken with an incurable craving for my old Choc-Zucchini friend. Well, not quite incurable - I made one and, by the next night, it had been completely demolished.

CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI CAKE

Ingredients:
Ingredients:

* 2 cups flour (I used wholemeal spelt - I reason that this makes it an essential part of my diet)
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* pinch cinnamon, pinch nutmeg
* 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
* 3 eggs
* 1 1/2 cups white sugar
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 3/4 cup buttermilk
* 2 or 3 raw zucchini, shredded
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans (optional)
* icing sugar

Method:
1) Grease a 10-inch cake tin. Preheat oven to 180°.

2) Sift flour with baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cocoa; set aside.

3) In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs until light in color and fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar until light and fluffy; beat in oil.

4) Beat in the sifted dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk. (The mixture is quite liquid, and I thought it would turn out badly; as it was, the cake was just the right amount of moist and dense, happy days!)

5) Fold the shredded zucchini into the flour mixture along with vanilla and pecans (if using). Spoon into prepared tin and bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a clean knife inserted in center comes out clean. (My cake took a bit longer, maybe 15 minutes or so.)

6) Cool in tin on rack for 10 minutes, then remove from tin to cool completely. Sift confectioners' sugar over cake before serving. (It is even better served with some thickened cream drizzled over. Which kind of cancels out the health benefits of the sneaky serving of vegetables..)

The Redhead

I feel I've been receiving subliminal messages lately to dye my hair red. Tori Amos has a new album out. I've been re-watching Six Feet Under for the hundredth time (okay, maybe seventh) and as infatuated as ever with Clare's Pre-Raphaelite locks. And now I can't stop listening to La Roux (who, it is said, draws inspiration from possibly my favourite redhead of all time, Annie Lennox).



I'm even going to look past the grammatical glitch of her pseudonym (it should be 'La Rousse') in my admiration. Look at her cool threads! :




(pictures via Google - yes, back to Google image-pilfering. Too tired/hands too full to snap anything this week)

If I'm going to shamelessly style-copy with the hair, I may as well go and find myself a cameo pendant to boot..

PS: although something tells me I won't do anything to my hair, and The Bobble will continue its reign..

It's cold outside and my feet are like ice-blocks!

One of my goals this winter is to keep warm. That seems kind of ridiculous, but I've got that 'strayan thing when it comes to winter, the one where we just sort of ignore that it's cold and grit our teeth until it's warm again. The reason that my feet are so cold is because they are bare, which is because I'm not quite used to having to wear shoes yet. The thing is, I pined for the wintry weather over summer - all the lovely soups and stews, the endless pots of hot tea, the coats and gloves and scarves and warm blankets - so I'm determined to throw myself wholeheartedly into the frostiness and embrace it for all its nappy-drying unfriendliness.

Thus, my shopping list for next week (whenever I can bear to put on a jacket and venture outside) looks something like this:

- Explorer socks (in green and purple, oooh)

- A non-hideous anorak for rainy days:
(Maybe this one from American Apparel?)

- Gumboots (also for rainy days, of course):
(I am in love with this pair from Poyntons of Essendon, although I wouldn't say no to a pair from Hunter, either)

- Rooibos tea (see future post for rant on hot beverages)

- Lots more soy yarn (I've started a scarf for Baboushka in this I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Wool and now want one for myself. Then again, Baboushka is 4 months old and wouldn't remember if I were to steal her scarf..)

- Earmuffs:
Okay, I probably won't get any earmuffs, because a) it's a clear advertisement of what a sook I really am when it comes to the cold (my Viking ancestors would be unimpressed); and b) where the heck can I even get a pair?

Topknot

Ooh, more Bobble goodness. I love Stam's topknot, probably needs a whole bunch of hairspray, though. I particularly like the Bobble + Metallica tee combo. It reminds me of something I'd wear out to my mailbox, blinking in the morning sun, only with a pair of Bonds Cottontails in place of the jeans. My neighbours are no doubt sick of seeing my underwear, but Cottontails are so enormous that they are practically shorts, no?

(Image via Le Fashion)

Forget Mother's Day...

..I think 'Grandmother's Day' would be more apt. It's this weather - as soon as the days get shorter and the nights have a chill in the air, all I want to do is shuffle about in my dressing gown and get seriously cosy.


Give me a lap blanket, a teapot full of tea, slippers and some knitting (I've just started a new scarf, but I so very badly want to be able to make the blanket above). Add the dulcet tunes of Billie Holiday or Charles Trenet and voilà! Happiness.

(Image via Google)

Kay loves vintage...

I'm very envious of blogs that showcase rad vintage finds like Kaylovesvintage, not only for the rad vintage finds but also because the photos are always so beautiful. I feel I am going to have to take up a photography course.

But yes, Kay's blog is lovely. Her vintage finds are stupendous, and it's one of many blogs that nudge me to enjoy the simple things, like a snail on a window or coffee in a pretty teacup. I especially love her idea of a perfect day - coffee, newspaper, chocolate, cooking and origami...I might try for a similar one tomorrow.
(photos from Kaylovesvintage)

Liberty love

Gargh! It's the zeitgeist. I started writing this post on Friday night and got distracted (easy to do when one is housing a dairy). Come Saturday morning, the Sydney Morning Herald's Spectrum segment is hailing Liberty prints as being 'in' (garrrgh!).

Anyways, my intention was simply to confer my love of Liberty. Not just their pint-sized petal prints, but their abstract-patterned silk scarves, their jewellery and silverware and, most of all, the luxurious, stylised art-nouveau designs from William Morris (who's a bit of a hero of mine).

Liberty's miniature florals are why I want to take up quilting, and also why I've always loved the designers Cacharel. William Morris is why I started collecting vintage silk scarves (I use the term 'collect' loosely - my collection is not very extensive). His 'Hera' feathers, his cheeky 'Strawberry Thieves', his lovely 'Ianthe' print. I want this, this, this, and this. Lordy me, if I were to set foot in the Liberty store, I would not be responsible for the mad clamour that would ensue.

Tillsammans

This could be my favourite movie. I used to think that it was impossible to name a favourite, but this is one I can watch over and over and still grin the whole way through it. I love Göran and his beard so much; I love Anna and her insistence on lower-half nudity, Klas with his bad haircut and his nervous crush on Lasse, friendly old Birger and the little boy Tet, who wears girls' shoes and plays 'torture' (where he and Stefan enact Pinochet's regime by pretending to electrocute one another. It shouldn't be funny, but it sort of is). And Erik, I love Erik and his socialist angst.


But it's the end scene, the soccer one, that kills me. No matter how cynical, cranky or melancholy I may feel, I'm always left feeling cheerful/calmer and/or hopeful that there is still some good left amongst us miserable human beings.

Oh, and the soundtrack is rad.

I'm rather keen on...

...these beautiful leggings. I remember loving leggings about 15 years ago when I was still in primary school - I'd wear them with oversized knit jumpers and bright, baggy t-shirts, hmmm - and my love has never really waned. These ones are not only an amazing colour, the fabric is made from reclaimed soy fibre (left over from soy milk and tofu production). I love that there is a high-waisted version (maybe it's a reaction to not having a huge pregnant belly anymore, but right now I can't think of anything more comfy than a high-waist. I've been wearing giant Bonds cottontails to bed...although that may be a subconcious method of contraception). I want to buy the three-pack...

(photo from etsy store Bobelly)