Growing

In my first year of being in Australia my husband bought me a little pack of Swan River Daisy seeds...as I love gardening and Daisies are one of favourite flowers (they are happy floowrs)...but three years down the line the seeds were still lying in my draw and I decided that it was high time they were given the chance to grace the world with their beauty.

So this week I did some planting; Roma tomatoes, rosemary, spring onions, coriander, red peppers and the daisies.

Now I have to wait patiently while they (hopefully) awaken from their slumber.



Oh I also took a cutting from one of my Calibranchoa (Petunia Million Bells) and within 3 days I can see tiny little roots forming! I can hardly believe how quickly it happened.




The Red and White flowers are the Calibranchoes



Quite a while ago I put a pineapple top in some water and now it has roots too - Yippee, now I just need to find out where best to plant it...Anyone know what's best?



Enjoy your week-end!

Cheers



Going Yellow

With the state of our dear planet, I’m sure you’ve all heard of “going green”...well I’d love to be able to say that I’m going green too. However, I just know that there are some aspects of my life at the moment, where I face internal battles of doing what I know I shouldn’t, not knowing what I should, and just not being able to do what I want at this stage when it comes to changing things to help  our suffering, stressed out natural environment.

To say “I’m going green” just puts way too much pressure on me. So instead I guess you could say I’m “going yellow”. I’m not going to claim that I live a lifestyle that’s perfect, but in my own small way, I do and will continue to try to do little things here and there and gradually implement a more environmentally friendly way of living and improve our health at the same time.

So today instead of jumping in the car this morning, I hoped onto my bicycle and peddled the +- 35km to return my library books and on the way home stopped in at the shops to get a couple of groceries. Now that may sound like it was an easy peasy task for me, but it took quite a lot of determination to actually do it. Firstly, I am not terribly fit at the moment, but I am working to change that. Secondly, I’m dreadfully self-conscious, to the point of being a pain to myself. You see I don’t mind wearing my cycling shorts when I’m on my bike (and they certainly make riding far more comfortable than normal shorts), but to be seen wearing them without my bike just makes me cringe, add to that to be seen all sweaty and red faced wandering around for groceries is not an image I’d like to share. Thirdly, the issue of what to do with my bike when I got my destination – security of one’s possessions  is instilled in me and although you still need to be sensible here, I am probably over cautious. That said we did buy a bike lock a few weeks ago, at my insistence that I wanted to use my bike more, but my excuse had been that its safety stressed me out.

So the ride to the library was a bit slow, but I made it, and when I got there I found that the bike racks where up a serious flight of stairs so had to lug my bike up the stairs, but it was then just a short walk to the returns bay which I managed quite easily. The ride back towards home was great (being 3 fat library books lighter and with a tail wind for part of the way). My next hurdle going to get the groceries was also fine, though after I’d locked my bike up, it did cross my crazy mind that there are a whole bunch of detachable that could be stolen while I shopped, but I shoved that thought to the back of my mind and pushed on. The self conscious issue was also shoved to the back of my mind, and I darted around the shop so quickly I’d like to think I was a blur to the other shoppers JMission almost complete, I just had a few kilometres to lug the groceries in my backpack home...it’s surprising just how heavy 3Lts of milk, a bottle of coffee and a loaf of bread can be!

The feeling of accomplishment when I finally got home made it all worth it and I’m a whole lot more confident to use my bicycle more.

My next “yellow” task was in the garden. To put things in perspective, my garden pretty much consists of a whole lot of pots in a tiny paved courtyard, I wish it was a real garden, but as we are in a rental, it has to do for now. Anyway, back to the task at hand...I discovered that my poor lemon tree had an infestation of Cottony Cushion Scale (Icerya puchasi).

The adults are the large white ones and the babies are a different colour and look like other scale bugs (like little bumps on the bark and leaves)

Firstly, I removed the larger bugs by hand and then filled a spray bottle with water and dish washing liquid and sprayed every inch of the tree. This will be have to be repeated several times over the next few weeks, but I’m sure the lemon tree will be a lot happier for it. Next some general maintenance was required, trimming back a few vines, moving a few pots around and sweeping up leaves.

And now here I sit...it’s Monday, but it feels like it’s the middle of the week...it’s been a good kind of busy day.

To finish off, I’ll leave you with a couple of “Going Yellow” ideas...

     Keep a bucket in the shower to catch the cold water before it warms up and to catch the other drops while you shower and use this water to water your garden.

     Recycle (check with your local dump what they accept and make an effort to keep recyclables out of landfill)

     Ride you bicycle or walk when you can if it’s safe to do so. It might be once or twice a week to go buy a bottle of milk or go to the beach or park or library – that’s great! It saves a bit on petrol, reduces your carbon emission and improves your health

     In the garden, try avoiding using nasty herbicides, fungicides, pesticides, and chemical fertilizers (esp. ones that contain phosphorus). Rather use different cultural methods, like companion planting, hand removal and home-made sprays (garlic spray and dish washing liquid have a multitude of uses for garden pests) and if you must buy, then look for organic ones. The Internet is a great source for home remedies for your garden.

There are so many more so keep an eye out for future posts...

If you have other simple, little things we can do to go yellow, please share by adding a comment.

Cheers

A Blah few days

Since all the excitement from finally revealing the Numbat, I've had a few days of faffing again and haven't achieved much.

I'm still busy trying to tackle Project Simplify's Hot spot #2 of Paper Clutter...my laundry basket is full of papers to sort. My reasoning for using the laundry basket instead of a box was so that I'd have an added reason to actually sort the papers now instead of just putting them in a box and forgetting about them, as I will eventually have to do another load of washing...

I have mended another pair of pants (four down and one to go...), and I thought I'd modify some of the clothing items I removed from my wardrobe to make them wearable again. Firstly I had a vest type shirt, but it was a halter neck style with two tied straps and because I'm me, I love the look of halter necks, but don't like wearing them as I insist they make my neck sore, so I sewed the straps to the back of the top to make a "normal" vest. But then I wanted to make the vest slightly longer, but it only dawned on me after I'd cut and partly sewn the material that it would not work as the material I'd chosen wasn't stretchy and I didn't make an allowance for a zip...ooops! I'm sure I'll find another use for that part sewn material and I have some other stretchy material to use for the top...one day when I'm feeling brave again.

Then I finally managed to sew up the bag I'd cut out in the whee hours of the morning and it's definitely a me bag...It's not perfectly sewn, but it's small and it fits everything I need, and it tucks under my arm perfectly - Yay :)

It is lined and I remembered the batting this time so it holds itself up

A little pocket inside for lip ice, lip gloss, lipstick whatever takes your fancy

Pocket on the front for a phone (two hook and loop patches to close it)



Fits snugly under my arm where it is out of the way

  

And now it's week-end! Time to muster some ideas again for next week.

Have a wonderful week-end.

Cheers

Updates

Something different today...I have finally finished the Turning Tiny Toes Tutorial and have put my before and after photos up for Project Simplify's week one hot spot.

The links to these pages can be accessed via the menu on the right of the screen or click on the titles above.

Cheers

Numbat Day - as promised

Introducing THE NUMBAT... Myrmecobius fasciatus .....featured here is sub sp. smilicus :)

Thank-you for your patience :)

The inspiration for this particular numbat was from this gorgeous image I found a while back,

it was created by Heather, and used here with her kind permission. You can view Heather's other creations on here blog: Pencil Lines

I have always wished I could sketch and try every now and then for a laugh, but that is definitely not one of my talents, so I draw inspiration for my crafty stuff from the works of others.

But getting back to the numbat...

The Numbat is an endangered Australian Marsupial, and there are reported to be less than 1000 of these beautiful creatures left in the wild.

Their existence is being wiped out due to loss of habitat and from predation by feral animals (predominantly foxes and cats). Their diet consists solely of termites, and their habitat is predominantly eucalyptus forests.

In a short while I hope to have permission to link to a fantastic organisation that is helping the plight of the numbats, so keep an eye out for it to see what you can personally do to make a difference.

The next project in the line of toys will hopefully be another endangered animal because they need every bit of help they can get and it's something close to my heart.

**Update**

The fantastic organisation I mentioned earlier is called Project Numbat and here is the link to their web site:
http://numbat.org.au/




Thanks to Daniel Scarparolo, the Chairman of Project Numbat
for your speedy response and kind permission to link up to Project Numbat. 



Lights out

So I decided this week-end to join in on Project: Simplify (you can click on the button on the left hand side of my blog to see what that’s all about.) Yes, the challenge has been going for a week, but I only found out about it over the week-end, so this morning I plunged into our walk-in-cupboard and started making some progress.

But before that, I was up at about 2:30am due to a nasty turn of insomnia. So I figured rather than lie there wishing I could be asleep, I’d make myself useful and finish pinning the patches on some work pants and cut out the numbat’s tail, so that it’s all ready to sew at a more reasonable hour when it’s normal to hear sewing machines buzzing.

While I was at it, I cut out the fabric to make a tiny bag, for my purse and phone.

At 6am I made coffee and then climbed back into bed and had a little snooze.

Once up and about, and inside the walk-in-cupboard, I had a bout of sniffing and sneezing...I’m guessing due to the dust in there...oops, good thing I’ve taken the challenge.

I got a bit tired of that and threw a load of washing in the machine and set out to tackle the mending patches on my man’s work pants. It is mind boggling that he can manage to rip his pants the way he does without losing a few limbs! Anyway after pricking my fingers one too many times and having the bobbin monster grab the thread several times, I decided that it was time to tackle something different and I had every intention of sewing the numbat’s tail and stripes so that I could introduce you to the long awaited numbat today, but alas...the globe on my sewing machine decided it had had enough and it blew...

So now I will have to zoot off and get a new globe, as it turns out the spare globe I have been carrying in my sewing kit for all these years, is not for my machine.

If it’s not too late, and things co-operate a little better than they have been, then you may still catch a glimpse of the numbat later today...though I will have to face the cupboard again before the day is out, or we will not have a bed to sleep in as it has clothes strewn all over it at the moment...

Wish me luck!

**OK, I got the new globe and some pretty new fabric (not part of my original intention, but my fetish and a 50% discount got the better of me). Putting the new globe in required some manly strength and a good dose of patience. However when I tried to finish off sewing the patches on one pair of pants I broke a needle and decided to call it a day...I mean really, seriously, enough is enough and I think I need some sleep.

So goodnight dear reader and tomorrow is earmarked as Numbat day I promise

Tails of a numbat

Fat ones, short ones, long ones, skinny ones...only the perfect kind of tail will do!

Hmmph, I've tried four different tails for the poor numbat, but non of them are working. The first was way too fat and fluffy. The second was a bit short and lost too much fluff to be practical. The third wasn't as fluffy and didn't spontaneously molt of it's own accord, but just wasn't numbat like. The fourth was the right shape, but when I added some fluff it looked like the poor numbat had been dragged backwards through a bush and lost half it's tail fluff.

So at this stage he is a numbat with a very chubby body, four legs and a head, but still needs his stripes on his back and a TAIL.

Ha Ha, I have an excuse to go roam the fabric and craft stores on a mission to find a would-be-tail.

Hopefully on Monday I'll be able to introduce you to The Numbat.

Have a great week-end

The first skirt challenge

My first skirt is finished!

Not quite as twirly as I'd wanted it, or quite as simple as what I'd intended when I started out, but a fair result..

It's navy coloured corduroy and has a small embroidered flower thingamedoodle on the one side.

 It has a side zip with a hook and eye fastener...which I didn't quite position correctly, but now I have a better idea for next time. For practical purposes I added in two little loops for hanging it up.

I found a great video series and used that skirt as a base and then made a few changes. The videos explain everything and if you are new to sewing it is well worth taking a look: How to make a flared skirt
The way that Candi shows you how to put in a zip is particularly noteworthy.

I used 9 panels and each panel was a little wider at the top, and I added in a few "pleats" which were actually more like darts and probably why the skirt is a bit poofy, but it does sit quite comfortably and I'm  happy with the way it turned out.

One of the comments I got when it was finished was "now your next challenge is to actually wear it"...oh dear, I'm not a very good skirt wearer, so I'll have to make an effort to put it on every now and then :)

A special day

Today is a special day for us as we are celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary :) and all I've been able to think about is that we are going to see Riverdance tonight. I even googled pictures of the Riverdance outfits to see what their skirts look like to maybe add a few more changes to the ideas I have for one of the skirts I am making...oh dear I'm like kid I'm so excited.

On that note I'm going to love and leave, as I have to put off being a kid for a little while as dinner is in the oven and I need to go get ready for this evening.

Cheers

A bit nuts

Hmmm. I went a bit nuts today and got the crazy idea in my head that I should not be terrified silly about making my own clothes. So I prowled around the Internet this morning and found two skirt "Patterns" that I'm going attempt. Then I went totally off the rails when I went shopping for fabric. I think my fabric shop fetish has overtaken my fetish for stationery...oh wait, no, that's not really fair as they have sewing "stationery" too.
Well anyway, now I have enough fabric and even more crafty things to play with for quite a considerable amount of time and hopefully one of these days I'll actually have a completed project to show for it :)

Current Projects - An update:

1) The Numbat is well underway and coming together nicely ("cringe" I hear my school teachers at the mention of the dreaded word...NICE)
2) The "quilted" blanket (blanket made of squares) for our nephew - got some more super-soft fleece today. If it was winter I would snuggle up inside it and refuse to come out. The afore mentioned SUPER-SOFT fleece is waiting to be washed, before it can join the other already-cut-out bits that are waiting and ready to go.
3) The SKIRTS - recipes jotted down and changed a few ideas, material waiting in the queue to be washed
4)  The Aloe mosaic still awaits me...peeking at me from the corner of my study
5) The tutorial on turning tiny creatures toes is in progress

And now for my final trick...it's a long week-end and so I'm going to have to put the crafty stuff aside for a few days, but I'll be back and rearing to go next week.

Have yourselves a wonderful week-end and play nicely (....cringe again)

A taste of the sunrises that await me...

Patience please - while I procrastinate

Today has been one of those days where I've been awfully busy, but accomplished nothing.
I think I flitted too much between different projects.

Do you ever have days like that?



Gecko Suckers

Introducing the Multi-spotted Gecko (unconfirmed, but suspected to be related to the Velvet Geckos  Homophilis sp.)

I'm a sucker for gecko's and for a first attempt, I'm pretty happy with the way he turned out. He even has suckers on his feet.

Gecko foot with suckers - Yay!

Some gecko facts:

Some gecko's toe tips have little suckers on them, but they are actually called scansors which consist of a whole lot of tiny scales with minute hairs which enable them to "stick" to pretty smooth surfaces.

Most gecko's don't have movable eyelids and that's why you can sometimes see them licking their eyes with their super long tongues.

Memorable gecko moment:

In the middle of no-where in Namibia, we stopped the car to stretch our legs for a bit and in the distance we could see two Kalahari Gemsbok, the ears of a couple of Bat-Eared Foxes sticking up above the wheat-like grass, and all around us we could hear the clicks of Barking Geckos. If you hear them, you will fall in love with them too.

Beaded wire Gecko made by one of the many talented artists in Cape Town that make and sell all sorts of beaded creatures and creations on the roadsides in order to make a living.

 This little guy sits in my car and is well travelled and much loved :)

I'm busy working on a mini tutorial on turning tiny creatures toes which I will post soon...wait that sounds like torture...don't worry no harm has or will come to any of the creatures.

Cheers for now

P.S. Just to clarify the suckers on his toes are just for show, they don't actually stick to anything :)