knitting and reading

This week I'm joining in with Ginny and all those other wonderful knitters over at Small Things! Not much to show but I need a little push to keep the inspiration happening, so I figure if I show it off, then I will finish it too!! I have been very slowly knitting away at this gnome-ish baby hat for a couple of weeks now. Sounds very slow, doesn't it but I have an excuse - I lost one of my double pointed needles!! True! I searched and searched and growled and started gnashing my teeth but to no avail!

Most of you lovely knitters will have oodles of needles in 50 different lengths and sizes but as a novice I only have two sets - a thin set and a thicker one! And I needed the thicker one to make the pointy bit on the hat. So I searched and gnashed a little harder and eventually decided to visit my knitty friend to borrow another set. As I raced out the door I grabbed the pattern book and there was my needle, masquerading as a bookmark!!

Now I am knitting again because this weekend we are having visitors of the tiny new baby girl kind and I would like to send it home with her........ after a photo shoot, of course!!

As for the reading bit - well, I have started reading 'Animal, Vegetable, Miracle' and I think I will like it. Perhaps it doesn't quite pertain to us here in Oz but I guess the idea and principles are the same although it just doesn't resonate like an Aussie book would. Does that make sense?
Do you think a book written by a fellow countryman or women has a greater meaning for you?

nature journal

When my older children were a lot younger, I purchased (and read!) a book that really struck a chord within. Wild Days by Karen Skidmore Rackliffe is a simply delightful book about how to incorporate Nature Study into your child's days. Sadly, my copy has been packed away for 4 years but I still remember how excited I was that she made it sound so easy and do-able! If you are home educating (and even if you're not) I highly recommend that you try and get hold of a copy - I'm sure you'll be inspired too! 

Of course, we each started a nature journal all those years ago and I love to look back on the early paintings and drawings that the children painstakingly sketched in the pages. I do wish though that I had been a bit more diligent about getting out into the natural world and filling their books more - although my Golden Girl continues to add to hers, which is lovely to see! Some of our children were very keen to sit still and draw, while others were mostly not so amendable but we persevered regardless ;o)   

Today I remembered how much we'd enjoyed it, so we pulled out the journals and paints and headed out to the garden. Only Fairy Girl and I sat amongst the flowers and contemplated - the others were all busy. I settled on a nice tall echinacea bloom and the small girl painted a beautiful, bright pink Cosmos flower, as well as some beans that caught her eye! We always date our page and write a bit about the day - the weather, who we were with, how we felt, botanical name and so on - although I hadn't done it when I took the photo.

Life has been so busy these last few years (yes, more so than when I had seven little ones!) that I'd forgotten to stop and record the natural world that surrounds us. Todays little foray back into the pages of our nature journals has inspired me to remember to take note more often!   

family fun & piggy love

You know how sometimes you only kind of look forward to going somewhere and then when you've been, you sit back and think, 'wow, that was fun'? Our little excursion to the Penguin Sustainable Day turned out to be just like that! I've been struggling a bit to get all sorts of agenda's and necessities happening around here, and wasn't really feeling like going out anywhere but a day out among lots of like minded peeps was obviously just what I needed  because today I'm facing The Impossible Tasks with a little more gusto!! 

We left home in the dark at 6.30am and had to scrape ice from the car windscreen - oh yes, our first frost! All day I kept thinking about how the garden would look when I got home....hopefully not too frost burnt! I really like this idea that I saw in the garden at Sustainable Day. I'm thinking it would keep plants a little warmer for longer - it's a steel frame covered with chicken wire and then plastic. Both ends are open but I wonder if it would be acceptable with the ends covered in plastic too? With perhaps a small area at the apex left open for some air flow? 

That's what I like about going to these type of places - Inspiration!!   

  (The verdict on our garden? The zucchini's were burnt a little and so were the beans. Luckily I had covered the cucumbers and most of the tomato's with a large sheet of plastic the night before - and the remainder were only lightly burnt. Not long till the end, though!) 

 

I have to point out that although I am ecstatic about my carrot growing capabilities, these bio-dynamic ones put mine to shame! And the daikon radish were easily two feet long! I picked up a brochure about a bio-dynamic course available in May and had momentary thoughts of going along but perhaps not this year.......

The children spent a large part of their day in a pig pen!! Lovely Eliza from Mount Gnomon Farm very generously allowed them to frolic in the hay with four two and a half week old piggies! Now, I know these piggies are destined for someones table and as a veggie lover I should be horrified about such happenings but I'm a believer in 'each to their own' - my choice is not every one's choice, nor is yours mine. I'm ok with that because we all travel a different path - and I know some very nice carnivores as well as herbivores! (Having said that, I do get a trifle disturbed about seeing BBQ'd piggy tails, which you will find if you scroll down a little on Eliza's blog!)

All that to say I had a lovely, relaxing, chatty kind of day. There were less visitors than last year due to the Day having been postponed, but that meant that we weren't spending all our time discussing heaters and could drift around to other stalls. I was really wanting to bump into some people from Bloggy Land but sadly it was not to be. Kate commented that she was too shy to say hello which makes me feel like a minor celebrity.... because I really wanted to have a photo taken with Tino Carnevale from Gardening Australia and I was too shy!!! And he is a celebrity!! I hope to meet you another time though, Kate!   

signs

From the Penguin Sustainable Living Festival - today in Penguin! 

More on that tomorrow!  

cold

Autumn popped in for a very brief visit a couple of days ago, right on time, in fact. 

But today, three days after Equinox, King Winter has arrived in extravagant style. There's snow on the nearby mountains, howling wind around the house and sudden blowy squalls soaking both verandah and garden and anything that may have been forgotten outdoors. 

Oh yes, the Cold Weather has certainly arrived! 

                                  

I struggle with the cold weather, I really do. I didn't realise how much I liked the sun until we moved to Tasmania. Here, the summers are truly beautiful - mild and sweet with so much growing potential - but the winter is oh so long. The cold wind is often unrelenting for days and weeks and it's almost impossible to spend any time outdoors. And then there's no sun for days on end which can be a bit daunting for a sun worshipper! Cooped up in the house, especially such a tiny house is just a bit stifling for six months of the year. It's really not surprising that some people in gloomy northern climates get SAD (seasonal affective disorder). I must admit that I do get a touch gloomy and irritable during winter and will be supplementing my quota of sunshine with some good quality Vitamin D....... and perhaps a glass of sweet, red happy juice, now and again!! 

Enough of that...... I really just wanted to document this first cold day! 

The first of the years fires was lit this morning - oooh it was toasty and we all basked in the lovely radient heat. I love the smell of the wood smoke that wafts up into our tiny loft - it makes me think of pioneers and old timers roughing it in the bush! 

There hasn't been much happening in the craft dept here but I did manage to crochet these tiny hearts a while ago and today I pinned them to the bottom of an old fruit box a pin board, sprayed them with water and hopefully they will stay nice and shaped when I pull them off! 

There was some rail road building happening and quite a few derailments too. 

We've been collecting this large set of Brio/Thomas Tank Engine wooden railway line over many years. Not cheap, but bit by bit and birthday by birthday it has amounted to a fairly extensive rail network and still provides lots of fun.

  

The youngest one wanted to crochet and I knitted! Once I would have crocheted too but not now - now I am a knitter and am diligently working on a gnome hat for the new baby. 

I did start this last week and then lost one of my double pointed needles so couldn't continue........aarrgh, I was cranky!! Who lost it?? Who moved it?? Where could it be? I searched and searched for days to no avail and had given up when I happened to pick up the book that the pattern was in...... and yes, you guessed right - there it was as a book mark!!! 

  

A new chart for Fairy Girls times tables. We warmed up this morning by clapping and stomping as we recited them - much to the dismay of the other family members. I told them they should loosen up and join in!!

Late this afternoon I rushed out between rain showers to pick some beans, carrots and greens for a creamy lentil soup. Yes it was delicious and warming! 

I have to face the fact that the beans, tomatoes and cucumbers won't be around much longer. The wind is so cold that the tomatoes are shivering under their leaves and the beans are curling with the chill. The Best Man did bring home a few metres of clear plastic and I will attempt to cover the tomatoes tomorrow so that the almost ripening ones have a chance, but..... we'll see. 

I've been perusing a few blogs today too and am just a teeny bit jealous of the coming spring at the top of the world. It's always interesting to see the changes of the seasons and I'm fascinated that we are winding down in the south and in the north life is picking up pace. Like dying and rebirth in opposition to one another. Yet perfectly balanced.

Amazing indeed. 

dewy morning

Fairy Girl called me outside this morning - "Take a photo of this tiny frog, mum." So of I went to do her bidding......... and I discovered a fairy land of dewdrops covering the plants in the garden. The sun was just shining enough so that all the tiny drops were catching the sunbeams and the whole world was glittering. 

Sometimes I'm called and make excuses; and sometimes I'm called and get grumpy and then spend an unhappy hour in the company of Mr Guilt; and sometimes I answer the call of the Young Ones and find myself in a wonderland of one kind or another.  

Those last ones are the times when I am grateful to be a mama and grateful to be Here. Now.

May you find joy in a dewy morning world, too! 

weekending

1. Digging more potatoes - Nicola and Brownell - and finding a fossilised teddy bear head!

2. The first of the beans....... I am hoping the frost stays away just a little longer. 

3. Fresh radishes for our evening meal - I love radishes! 

4 & 5. Enjoying the last of the summer blooms..... both the bumble bee's and I! 

6. The beginnings of the polytunnel/hothouse - I am so excited about this, I already have visions of loads of tomatoes and cucumbers next summer! 

7. Guinea pig grooming time....... I walked inside after an afternoon gardening to find the dining table covered with seven little piggies, towels, combs and munchies!! Here they are all rugged up after their bath, nibbling on fresh carrots that had been filched from the carrot bed! 

I was not amused!

After writing out this list and pondering a little on all sorts of things, I have come to the realisation that our weekends are mostly the same as our week days.......working! I'm thinking that this needs to be remedied and will use this space to record that we need to make an effort to have some adventures of the travelling/beachy/relaxing kind, away from the ever present jobs that need doing around here.

Do you ever feel like you've forgotten how to relax and enjoy the wider world? 

sjoel anyone?

Doesn't Christmas give a lot of mileage in this blogging world? I mean, we can start with prospective gift making early in October, without seeming too zealous - after all, lets face it, we'd all like to be that organised!! Then November moves in with more show-and-tell and the beginning of Advent traditions. December has food - lots of it - as well as copious quantities of trees and tree decorations! And even in January (and occasionally Feb, too) there's the gifts received from loved ones and the hand made gifts that can only now, after they've been gifted, be shown off! 

I love it!!! For four months of the year, I can in turn be inspired by the excessive creativity of my fellow bloggers, or disheartened by the fact that I am never far ahead in my planning and mostly flying by the seat of my pants! 

So, all this to set the scene for my own exploitation of the silly season......... yes, I know it's mid March, and I am breaking the above 'rules' but I did mean to post this a while ago - my excuse? I was side tracked by new babies and Knitting! 

Do you remember I posted about the woody gnome home that my 16yo son built for his littlest sister the Christmas before last? Well, this Christmas just gone, my sweet friend S asked our Dreamer to conjure up a Sjoelbak game for her family for a secret Christmas gift. He likes to challenge his wood working skills and with only 2 weeks to go, he set to work.

S's husband is Dutch and this game called Sjoel, is apparently a game played in pubs, in homes and at competition level in the Netherlands. I'm thinking maybe a bit like the ubiquitous pool table that is found in most pubs here in Australia.

With some instructions and plans from here, he put together a very professional set up. 

These pics are from Boxing Day, when the two families had a friendly family round or two (yes, the Golden Girl was still filling out!) 

Let me just say that this game is so much fun!!! Everyone can play - from the little 5 yo and the pregnant mama, all the way up to the older visitors that popped in to spread the Christmas cheer with a bottle of wine! 

The idea is to get the little round discs into the four small openings at the other end - you slide/glide them, quite fast, and if you hit them hard you can push the others in  As you can see in one of the above pics, they do get a bit clogged at the entrance if the player hasn't really got great aim....we'll blame that on the bottle(s) of wine! 

Luckily my boy is a very obliging young man and when he finally finishes one for our family (he's working on it), we will be having friendly competition matches, complete with a Silver Cup or perhaps a Shiny Shield, to win and hang on the mantlepiece. 

Perhaps we'll play Dutch Sjoel with Austrian Schnapps and good old Aussie humour! 

What do you think? Would your family enjoy playing this kind of game? 

I'm linking with Linda for Creative Friday - pop over and have a look at other peoples creativity!

I knit my love a beanie...

Woo Hoo!!! I finished it earlier today!! 

Well, okay, the ends weren't sewn in when I took these pics but it's wearable!! 

I'm afraid I got a touch carried away and it's a bit too long, which is why he has it turned up a bit further than the end of the rib. And next time I might cast on more stitches - don't you think the ribbing looks a bit pulled? although it's not tight on his noggin. 

But oh my, I am so very proud of myself, wonky stitches and all!!  

In fact, I'm feeling so good that I've already cast on again for a little pixie hat for the tiniest family member....... and my brain is spinning with future possibilities!!!  

I promise this will be the last post about my knitting - this week!!!

Edited to add - I have linked up with Ginny at Small Things!! I've always admired the looonng list of lovely people with their knitting goodness on her weekly Yarn Along posts and now I'm there too!! 
I don't have anything to add in the reading department though - other than a very close look at the hat pattern and some technical info from 'Baby Beanies' by Amanda Keeys! 
Perhaps next time I'll have time to read a book as well as knit!!  

wool gathering

I think I might be getting closer to calling myself a Knitter.......... along with the many, many other titles that we busy mamas have, of course. This particular title is one that I'd love to own and  although it's been my nemesis, this knitting business, for a long long time, I think I've finally GOT IT!!! 

But lets not get too excited because I still can't read a pattern without asking Mr Google for a quick slide show; or indeed, I have no idea what ply to use where with what needle...... BUT I am a step closer since last week! 

Because I really, really want to knit!!! 

   

So with that thought in mind, I visited the Spinning Shed at Steam Fest on the weekend. 

The lovely ladies took pity on my poor unknitty self and very kindly took me in hand....... after I'd hung around gazing soulfully at all their funky knitted goodness for a while! 

What type of wool? Try this one dear, you should be fine with that.

Which needles? Here's a whole packet love, they will set you up for life.

A pattern? Of course dearie, I have just the one for you! 

So feeling like a complete fool, I gratefully accepted their offers of help and forged ahead with the best bit - buying the yarn!! 

I just can't resist bright colours. I know, I know there's only so much that can be made from such overwhelmingly florescent shades but they really make my heart sing just to see them hanging around!! oops ;o) 

Here's the most exciting bit - I am almost done with a winter beanie for my man!!! All day I've been knitting a row or five in any spare minute and it's growing just as it should! The coffee coloured balls are just odd ones from the cheap basket - dyed with onion skins. They seemed just right to use for my first try on the lovely new bamboo circular needles that I purchased. 

Yes, thats cream wool you see there....... but it won't be staying so beautifully bland, oh no, we intend to have a go at dying with food colours!! Then they'll be Bright!! 

As you may know, I have a baby to dress again. Fortunately for my new knitting fetish, her mama has pronounced that she will be a Hat Baby. I think this purple/yellow/peach will look just dandy in the little gnome hat. 

One of the spinners gave me the sweet pastel multi coloured yarn to knit into another little hat - but I'm having such difficulty choosing which style to knit it into (gosh, that makes me sound very experienced, doesn't it) There are so many cute ones in the book that I want to knit them all!! 

So, yes, after spending time with a cuppa and surrounded by all that wool, I'm feeling just a wee bit closer to adding that new title to my list - KNITTER! 

Just in case you didn't notice, I've put this post under a new label - knitting - which is really giving me a thrill! Just so you know.....!!!!

Edited to add - the book here is 'Baby Beanies' by Amanda Keeys, lent to me by my sweet knitting friend....... all three little hats pictured are from this book!