'Working' from home

The last rose of summer . . .
in between jobs - why not try out the new gingerbread men cutters? Mine are more like gingerbread cavemen.
. . . and then there's always muesli to make.
ANYTHING but sit down and do the end of year accounts.
Oh, and there's toadstools still on the front lawn. Sigh.

Colds and Coffee and Cycles

You know, despite feeling like THIS, with a chesty cough and sore throat, I made it here:
to meet these people for coffee and brunch at Henderson, on this:
in the murky weather. Impressed?

An explosion of the senses. . .

Texture time - that's Autumn - and it has burst forth in its usual array of colours and fabric.The toadstools still dot my front lawn and delight me each time I go out there first thing in the morning, in nightgown, to see what else has sprung up.
Love the speed with which these emerge and then turn from small round red with spots into concave and cup-like brown receptors for rain.
and talking about textures - I can't get enough of the sewing done, on these fabrics I bought last weekend. Yum. This was the first item.
This the second.
and last night I squeezed in a third item, redundant with lace and shiny material, and creamy paua buttons.

Sewing frenzy!

Don't know what came over me - change of season? too much pulp fiction? Anyway, I set off for a material shop this morning that I saw offered $10 off if you mentioned their ad, and bought up large on what appears to be mostly Italian fabric - yum!! Softly glinting or textured or drapey or knotted. . .
Made this high waisted drapey thing which can be worn over skirts such as the one above. It pulls in a little at the front and has a wobbly hemline. I like just cutting out on the ground after rudimentary drawings have been done. What a relief these two came out. (Not without some sweaty moments and a few unpickings of seams!)
This I almost gave away halfway through - it felt like just an old sack sewing it, but it looks and feels okay on. Like the alternative shiny fabric collar, and the paua buttons. The back drops down a bit, and needs a bit more work. That's a t-shirt forming the 'sleeves'. This one can be worm over any of those midlength sleeved t-shirts through winter. Finally, something NOT off-the-rack!

Toadstool Time

There are a number of good things about Autumn - here in Auckland it's about the best season. Light winds, blue crisp days, still enough heat in the sun to sit outside on the porch and have coffee. And I feel sudden urges to bake and have people over. Yes, I'm bragging now - that's yesterday's effort on the top of the stove cooling: apple pie, pork roast, lasagne and berry shortcake from the left over pastry. I'm having the Aussie rellies over for dinner tonight and am all set to heat and eat.
Meanwhile out on the front lawn, strange things have been happening - weird vivid balls have been rising from the grass and dotting the section with colour.
Some unfortunate creatures have even attempted to eat them.
It's all a pleasant compensation for the falling leaves and encroaching winter.

Later that same day. . . .
And here we are at the end of the day - Ma and Pa, Trev and Margo, and moi. All food accounted for.

Journal saga continues . . .

I spilled my coffee on this page - as requested - and had help rubbing and gritting some grounds into the page (neighbour and his children), and found a rather satisfying creature emerging from the image.. . . and this morning, before I put too much more in the journal, I thought I'd follow the instructions on THIS page.
oooooeeeer. . .
and here it is hung out to dry. Pleasantly disheveled but clean!

Great popularity of journal revealed. . .

the ongoing saga - these are found objects both on Waihi Beach and Springbank Lane, Te Atatu - some offerings by neighbours children.
I'm amazed at how warmly the concept of this journal is received - especially by children - (well, that's not amazing I guess). When I was showing it to my friends down the road, I had abundant offers to treat it badly by the children there, who dropped it from the top of their pine tree, and threw it against walls in the kitchen. I had to rescue it before it lost all sense of dignity. Well, it hasn't got much of that left.

A few days down at Waihi Beach. . .

I was down at the family bach at Waihi Beach by myself this Easter break - came back early to go to a crack of dawn singing that the church is initiating tomorrow morning - Easter Sunday. One of the fun things I took with me to the beach was my 'Wreck this Journal', and I've been looking forward to taking it for a walk, which is one of the page requests throughout the book. So I did, I took it for a sandy walk along the beach on the afternoon I arrived.
It scudded over shells and sand, and was quite an odd sensation tugging it along behind me.

Satisfying marks in the sand.

And a pleasantly dishevelled look when I finally picked it up. Yes, that is a dead bird by the log.
Then I got up early on Good Friday and at 6am made my way down to the deserted beach to see the sun rise and murmur a few songs.




LOVELY time just sitting on a log doing that.
Today I did a couple more pages in the book - since there were so many dead birds, THIS page was easy.
and I did a few rubbings while I was down there too.
Happy Easter.

It has begun!

THERE IT IS - waiting for me this morning, softly glowing in the early morning sun.
Needless to say I'm softly glowing at the prospect of what's inside the parcel.
I am SO READY to do this!
Page after page of delicious destructive commands. . .
I probably should have squashed some of my muesli into it - but there's time enough yet.
So - I'm taking it down to the bach with me this Easter weekend, and shall endeavour to befriend its concepts. It seems like the perfect companion.
Randomly found one page to start with and have DONE it. More to come. . .