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prairie needed something to put into her classes winter raffle basket. i was sitting there last night in front of cold case and in front of the big ball of yarn so i just picked up a pair of needles and started knitting a little gnomey hat. then i made the doll. she is a typical steiner/waldorf doll for a little one. stuffed lightly with fleece, she can be chewed on quite happily with no ill effects. that hardly used any yarn so lots left for a project!
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a term used a lot these days in this house. i got an order of wool yesterday from down the line. i get my carded fleece from there and they have great yarn too. i rolled this up last night off the hank and when i held it up michael uttered the word blogable which i instantly turned into blogaball. ha ha. i thought i was pretty funny. it was late. i don't know what i'll make out of it but i just loved the colours!
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yesterday i was sneaking in a few rows of my new knitting and a daytime watch of mash (which i have to say still stands up, beautifully written and still very funny, and poignant) anyway, i digress. the courier arrived with a package from the fabuloso maize!
she had only e mailed a couple of days before to say it was on its way and i was just about to e mail her back to say how excited i was and that i would stand by the gate and wait. but no, here it was. i have said to maizt that it was like mary poppins had packed the bag. you can see, in the gorgeous handmade bag, just for me, that i have already put my knitting in there.
i feel truly honoured to have some of her beautiful jewellery. her mommy tags are so special as is the circle of love. go and see for yourself over here, and they make the most divine tinkle! i have admired them for a long time and can't belive i actually have them around my neck and wrist.
and i am lucky to have one of her handmade brooches and wristlet as well. the wristlet was peeled off prairie's wrist this morning. hey i need that for my photo shoot! i might let her wear it tomorrow.
this sweet little fairy was pinned to the inside of the bag. you can make one yourself by going to maize's fantastic diy site. there are lots of other cool things to make as well!
but wait, theres more! a domino mag that michael keeps sneaking off with then telling me about things that i haven't even read yet, some great stationery, some cool ribbon, a teeny eiffel tower and some of her sprouts, made from scratch! and some wonderful sounds which have been palying pretty much non stop!!! the little pink daisy is filled with the sweetest tiny little glass animal beads - tucked in there for prairie. she was very very happy about that! and...not forgetting the chicken!!!
and last but not least, a hairclip. i realised i was wearing it when i was shooting everything else!
maize, you are one clever, generous, funster! thank you so very very much. you sure know how to make a girl feel special!!!!
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not so long ago the old lady that i grew up next to for the first 6 years of my life, died. she was old, not well and it was her time. she died at home, never having to go into a home, with her pussy cat by her side. i have very fond memories of her, especially playing fruit shop on her kitchen floor with the scales and brown paper bags. the local greengrocers name was mr lala and till the day she died that is what i called her and always in a deep voice. it would make her laugh even if she was tired or feeling unwell. our family moved away but stayed in touch and for the last few years we have made our home back in the old hood so i saw her more often.
these canisters of hers i have always loved and they will always remind me of her kitchen and weighing out a pawpaw for sale. rip mr lala.
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yesterday a package arrived from england. it was the charlie and lola magazine that we were lucky enough to win from a draw. the lovely ali thought it was such a great magazine so bought an extra one and offered it up to anyone who didn't think they would be able to get it. thats us, we are so far down we are just about at scott base conversing with the penguins! but......it wasn't just the magazine she sent but the sweetest little bag that she had made. don't you just love those little extras that are tucked in. i had first turn, prairie thinking that it was a prairie sized bag thought she should. we were heading out to the beach to see my brother and his family. we always pack a great big basket of spare clothes, towels and warmth. even though it is sort of winter, tommy and prairie cannot help themselves and get wet. i put my wallet, phone and keys into the little bag so they wouldn't get lost in the mass in the basket. perfect! so kind ali, thank you soooooooo much!
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this is the gorgeous new zealand book where i found the term 'suffolk puff'. even though it is a history of craft in new zealand it happily crosses international boundaries of the western world.
and this is the page that alerted me to the new term which after your comments i realise, appears to be well known on this part of the planet. these puffs, if readable, are plastic! what do you think was the purpose of this piece of work? a curtain?
last night my girlfriend nadene and i went to see this man. what a fantastic talk he gave, mainly about his passion for colour and how he transferred it into his work.
nadene, who is a jewellery student arrived with a little black purse she had thrifted that very afternoon. but she had dressed it up with a suffolk puff that she had made then resined. it was very cool. yet another puff. she said she had always called them yo yos too but an older woman on her course told her of the SP term.
after the talk i bought this book to get signed (i am such a groupie) and when i was reading it later over a cup of sleepytime what do you think i found?!
yup, another reference, this time by a californian quilter called mary mashuta who called them SPs. i wonder where they will turn up next!!! i must say though, using the words prairie just uttered as she was reading the new post, they'll always be yo yos to me!
p.s. the new book is sitting on a kaffe fassett designed tapestry cushion i must have stitched 15 years ago. i must confess that it is waiting paitiently to fulfill its destiny.
p.p.s. and this really is the last. i must apologise for the somewhat crappy picture quality - tis a wet grey day here, anyone would think it was winter!
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this is the fabric i got on trade me (like a tiny e bay over here) i love the pink and red together. the colours are so clear and fresh. it is supposedly from the 30s. it is floppy and delicious and when it arrived i cut straight in otherwise i thought i would be too scared to use it
i made 2 little lavander pillows (just a little cut!) for my mum and godmother, being 30s babies. the heart yo yo was from penny sanford. i can't even remember how i found my way there but i send a big thank you out to penny as it was such lovely extension to the humble yo yo (or suffolk puffs as i saw them called the other day in a fantastic new zealand book called 'thrift to fantasy' which is the history of craft from the 30s to the 50s, fascinating stuff) the 30s babies were very happy.
also on trade me i got this book. when it arrived i was flicking through and was thinking it looked awfully familiar. i really must be going mad. how could i buy the same book? so i hunted out my vintage apttern books and sure enough i have it but a later edition with a completely different cover - orange with line drawings! ah, mind not quite on the way out! and my version has the big sheet of patterns which the older one didn't so i'll be able to copy that.
anyway i just had to make a couple of rabbits. the first was the lilypond rabbit and the second was the one who looks like nursie. she needs a little charge.
i had a lovely surprise yesterday. ali e mailed me to say i was first out of the hat for the charlie and lola magazine she had got and thought it was so cute she got another to give away to a poor soul who was unlikely to get it. me! well, prairie really. she was so excited to hear the news. so thank you ali, that was a very cool thing to do!
i hope you are having a lovely weekend. mine is nearly over now. time to look at what we need to do to get out the door in one piece in the morning.
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the name of my new cookbook. i was taken with the cover alone. i love those little red shoes. tommy and prairie both used to wear little red or navy t-bars and the cover took me back there. the photography is beautiful, the recipes simple and organised under colour. tessa writes beautifully, there are life observations which are worth reading by themselves let alone the recipes themselves. both michael and i have been cooking out of it and the book seems to make its way around the house with one of us as we plan what to cook next.
this was the honey cake. it had an unusual flovour as it had chopped rosemary through it making it taste almost as if there was ginger in it. it was iced with lemon frosting and covered with little rosemary flowers. the big people liked it but the smaller ones would have been better having it just with the honey and cinnamon. i so strongly associate rosemary with savoury that i was unsure about putting it through but good to try new things.
not out of apples for jam was some fig jam with the name for the jam inspired by this book. it is a favourite book of prairie's about a silly little fox called figgy twosocks. i used to love reading it to her as i had to use a really high voice for figgy and a low drawl for her big cruisy friend, jefferson bear.
i bought a tray of fresh figs which were right on the turn so googled a recipe and made a big pot of jam. it has little chunks of lemon rind which have gone all chewy. i think they are my favourite part. might just have to go and toast a nice seedy piece of sourdough right now!
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first and foremost, a pet shot, of the infamous jupey. the tabby prince on his throne. he gets less boney everyday and we are still in awe of his return!
this is a doll of prairie's called johnny. he is sitting on the 'ghan i am making for tommy which i am over half way through but needed a wee rest from the squares and johnny needed new duds so i whipped up some pants and a new sweater. i am now back on the squares. even though it isn't finished it is big enough to be in use so gets used when its a bit chilly.
and and and here is the lovely surprise i got from simmy the other day. a late birthday gift and what a gift. thank you again my friend, i was truly touched by your generosity!
when i opened the box i was greeted with a pair of beady eyes and i lifted out the sweetest autumnal gnome and a card made by her rohan.
then these magic wands! i have been yearning for some of these and got as far as filling out an order only to find they do not ship out of the states. i asked maize if she would ship them for me but i think these will keep me happy for a while!
and to top it off at the bottom of the package was the most beautiful piece of fabric from ikea (ikea is as far as australia and rumoured to be coming) i just love it. a skirt, a bag? what an amazing package to receive. i was fair skipping about the house thinking i was the luckiest girl and that i so heart this blogging life we live! oh tis sooo good to be back!!!!
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on friday afternoon i had just had a shower when i heard a yowl at the bathroom door. thinking it was ellie i pushed the door open asking why she was yowling so. imagine my surprise to find jupey boy standing there, skin and bones but very much alive! he had been gone for nearly 3 weeks and i really didn't think he would be back. he must have been trapped somewhere. he seems in good health and is eating and drinking well and his fur is nice and shiny. he is soooo thin and a little wobbly if he jumps up on something but purrs and purrs and sleeps a lot of the time in a basket (lined with a granny square knee rug my grandma made) by the fire but gets up and spends time outside. needless to say he is getting a lot of attention!! it really is a miracle and thank you all for your comments.
i am really missing my mac and once again i think the technicians are slack dogs. they had it for a week before they even tested it. i have to bite my tongue as they have us over a barrel and if i get snarky they'll go even slower. it seems like it is the power switch again so that is being replaced. hopefully early next week.
i have been taking lots of photos and am busting to post them. i got some 30s fabric on trade me (a little nz version of e bay) and a vintage toy pattern book. i have made a couple of rabbits out of that. and a sweater for johnny, a doll of prairie's. i got tired of granny squares and needed a little change. but all will be revealed when the mac is back!
i am about to whip out and buy a rotary cutter, ruler and mat as my mothers day gift to myself then we are all going to the garden centre to buy 2 feijoa trees that we will plant today. not really for the significance but to stop them sitting and dying in their bags! feijoas are funny green egg shaped fruit which i adore but some can't handle, michael being one of them. they are the sort of tree that everyone had in their backyards but with all the infill housing trees like that have disappeared and now they appear in the supermarket for $9 a kilo!
i hope you have a lovely mother's day.
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