The end is the beginning...

New years often suggest new starts, or at least a chance to consider what went wrong and what you hope to change. It is an exciting time, but it does not have to be the only time for new things. New things an happen at any time. A new hair cut perhaps, a new book to read, a new coffee shop to discover, an opportunity to make a new friend, to love a new person, to welcome the new morning, to start a new habit, to consider a new craft project

NEWNESS.

The sound of it is fresh and crisp, like clean sheets just off the washing line.

So, what is new for you? What are your plans for this new year? What do you hope to start? What do you need to say a goodbye to in order that the new thing starts?

New for me is my garden, is being a careful knitter, using pinterest, the extra cat, being a train traveller, cooking rabbit for lunch, enjoying being calm, saying no to television.

About this new business, I have been trying to get my technology circle working, and consequently I am loving Pinterest. In the process i have discovered beautiful images though a scandi lady named Klara. I have also gotten back to the design files. lovely blogs, lovely images, lovely creativity, lovely homes. Nice.

Woollen lovelies in the post...

More wool, more knitting. And some crochet too! I'm really getting into the woolly crafts. These balls are destined for lots of things, like bags, leg warmers, woolly mittens and probably something for a new little niece/nephew that is busting to pop out any time soon.

Yet again trusty Bendigo Woollen Mills has delivered. The wool took around 7 days to arrive, but I did order it over a public holiday (Cup Day). But postage is free if you spend over $30, and I bought 8 balls so easily spent over this amount. I find it great value for money (around $12 for 200 g), the product is made locally and thus is ethically and environmentally preferred by me. The range of colours is enough for most of your standard projects too. I'm happy to tout their products any time...

Down at the local... library

Lovely image from Whipup.net - with instructions for making this libary bag too!

Do you ever frequent your local? Yep, your local. It's full of colourful characters, of stories being told. How I love the library.

We try to go every fortnight, often after work and before a coffee. We search the shelves for hidden treasure, things we never considered reading. And we return to old favourites, much loved and borrowed often. Plus the local has a dvd collection, magazines to rival MagNation, wireless net, and all the facilities you need to create a zine! And if you make a zine using library resources, the library will add it to their collection.

The most recent library adventure resulting in a wide variety of books. A crafting book - Weekend Sewing - which has a shirt dress I'm keen to try as well as some trusty looking day bags that would make great gifts. A book about the history of sushi in the USA, some Alexander McCall Smith for general loveliness, a story set in Tehran prior to its radical change in the 70s (not sure of dates, have to read it to know when the country became closed). Also a simply amazing book which is inspiring me to bake, aptly called Baked.

What have you be reading lately?

Winter wondering...

Winter has hit Melbourne, do you agree?

The mornings are dark and foreboding. The sun dares to peak out when it is feeling brave, but overall hides behind the low clouds. The temperature is only just over 10* C, meaning one needs to rug up, to find gloves hidden in the depths of the cupboard, snuggle into slippers and ugg boots, long for a warm hand-knitted scarf. People are wearing black more black than is expected for Melbourne, and often look more than a little cross in the morning. I'm one of those cross-lookers, I must admit. It is hard to get out into the cold, to be bold enough to open the front door and experience the weather before the day has gotten going.

How will I get though? I am asking myself this more often than I should. It is only early June, just the second week of winter. I calculate that it won't be consistently warm, bone-nourishingly warm until November even December. And then only for a few days... Oh, for some weather that is laced with the sun, which encourages you to throw open the doors and windows, which necessitates sandals and sunhats. Oh, I can dream...

Winter, putting up with the cold has to have some benefits though. Like jumping into a bed warmed by a hottie (be that a loved one, a cat or even a hot water bottle). Purchasing new tights which you know will hug your legs all day long. Drinking whole pots of brewed tea, wrapping your fingers around mugs of the stuff with glee. Making vats of winter stews, full of root vegetables and meat that longs to be cooked low and slow. Walking amongst the last of the fallen leaves, and seeing the sun emerge from between the branches of bear trees. Knitting up things that keep you warm, like socks, and scarves, and hats, and rugs... Snuggling under patchwork quilts that were made with love and intended for cold nights such as these.

What do you love about winter?

Lovely things considered on a Saturday morning...

A bird on a bicycle, how lovely, how Melbourne (a gift to myself to celebrate being back in town).

Lovely things to cherish:

the fella learning to knit

the cat running away from the vaccuum cleaner

coffee on a Saturday morning

birds, beach finds and blog give-a-ways (thanks Sara)

bags of oranges from the markets, waiting to be turned into jam

lily season

a clean house

knitting until you have finished a project

watching Masterchef when you are too sick to go to work

Spanish chocolate with a hint of cinnamon

Douglas and Hope's Melbourne canvas tote

watching Rage and Video Hits until they end

baking bread, with dried fruit and spices

What lovely things do you cherish?

Oriental lilies in abundance at the markets, I couldn't resist taking some home.

A beautiful bird, a warrior found at St Kilda beach and a print from In the Light of the Sun.

The fella's efforts at knitting - he is getting there!

Inspired to knit like crazy.

Image from www.birds-n-yearn.com

Simply loving knitting at the moment. I'm yet to start a project beyond tea cozies for the year, but slowing working up to something massive! Such as a lovely owl yoked jumper from a lovely lady living in Scotland. Do you think I could do it?

Image from www.needled.wordpress.com/designs

Reading the owl pattern lady's blog, I feel really inspired. She knits. Amongst other things. But knits she does. She sees someone wearing a nice cardie will look at it for a while and then whip it up over a few weeks. How incredible! I think I'd like to aspire to this level of knitting adeptness. It would be incredible.

But currently I'm not even keen to finish off the last bit of crochet on my most recent cozie. All I have to do is finish off the handle opening. Maybe tonight...

Where I lay my hat... My place and yours...

Wow, what a perfect MEME theme this week (thanks MMAM and Myrlte & Eunice)! Perfect as I'm about to pack up all my belongings and transport from one side of Aus to the other! Perfect as I will be living out of a suitcase for a month. Perfect as moving is an ideal time to re-think what treasures belong with you. Perfect as this upheaval is putting life in general in perspective. What do I want from a new place to live? What is important for a work-life balance? What is important for my relationships? What gives me peace? What looks after my mental health? What helps me love and serve others?

Is it stuff? Is it belonging? Is it spirituality? Is it security?

I'm not sure of answers, and thinking about things is making me listless. But I do know some things that are essential. Where I lay my hat has to do with the following things:

1. Where the fella is.

2. Where the Crick-star is.

3. Where I feel loved and can give lots of love.

What is important for keeping your hat hanging - with bells and ribbons on?

This is Mr Cricket, my little cat. He is not so little any more. But he still likes to hide in safe places.

My place's best feature, so nyoice!

(a tropical lightning storm around 2 a.m. - so powerful, so beautiful, so Darwin)

What is unusual about my place? This is the question asked by Tony from Little Suitcase in the MMAM meme.

Lots of things really. But nothing that makes me cringe too much. And nothing that is really out of the ordinary. We live in a pretty standard apartment. Three bedrooms, an open plan living area, a decent sized balcony. Nothing strange there. We don't live up that high, just on the fifth floor. We get decent reception on the telly, can spy on the neighbours if needed but have sufficient privacy too. What is unusual is maybe where the house is, who else lives around, and that it is in a tropical climate.

We live in the middle of three apartment blocks, all of which have the same street number. This is unusual. You give directions to people and say "come to the middle tower". Lost tradies will approach you down stairs and say things like "where do I find unit 78?", as it could be in any of the three buildings. Our building is named after a war person, some guy who did something heroic. There is a picture of him next to the lift, with a spiel about his accomplishments. This is strange, maybe a little embarrassing also. And everyone who lives in these apartments works for the company the fella does. I really cringe about this, and certainly wouldn't say this is nyoice. If I'd known before we had moved here, I would have found alternative accommodation. But it hasn't worked out too badly.

But what is unusual, and the feature that I love is the view! We overlook the water, seeing the sun rise and set over the sea daily. There is a fishing boat marina just outside, and when a good haul comes in fireworks are set off on the boats. One such catch reached shore last night. It was spectacular to have fireworks exploding right outside our bedroom window. Oh, I will miss this. I've not lived so near to the ocean before and truly love sitting on my balcony and contemplating life. With a good book, a glass of red and the breeze lightly rustling through my pot plants. Please enjoy this unusual feature of my place, particularly as we are leaving it in only two weeks!

What's going on with me

Making: a picnic backgammon set
Writing: job applications
Eating: healthy stuff
Drinking: good red wine
Thinking: about living in St Kilda
Planning: for the big move
Wishing: for some serenity
Loving: lightning, parties for two year old girls
Reading: not much - I need something new
Watching: Capitalism, a Love Story
Wanting: to go to bed now

But before I go, a picture of this funny looking dolly. She was at the Tip Shop when we went exploring there on Saturday. I think she is too scary for words. I could just imagine the horrors she gets up to at night. Surely there is a film about a discarded doll who goes on rampages after twilight sets in...

My collection, better late than never

Life (well time anyway) seems to be slipping away from me. There is too much to do. In just over two weeks I will be moving from one side of Aus to the other. And I have to finish work, communicate with the removalists, plan where we will be staying along the way after we devise a route to take, buy Christmas goodies as we will be arriving on Christmas eve, orientate a new worker to my job, clean the mess we live in, encourage the cat that he will be okay on an aeroplane, apply for any job in Melbs that seams okay, etc!

So much to do, not enough time.

So the Meet Me At Mikes meme just got away before I knew it. I've not posted for the past couple of weeks, I've not trawled through the creative posts others have put up. Oh, so sad.

The theme of the past week was around collections, with this lady asking the question "What do you collect?". I collect junk, shoes, recipe books, board games, metal cigarette cases, dust. But most consistently I collect birds in the form of Christmas decorations. My ultimate plan is to one day have a tree just full of birds. And to tell you the truth, I sometimes put them up when it is the middle of the year. They are too lovely really to have hidden away. The bird thing started after the demise of my real bird, Hairy the Canary. He was a lovely little fellow, who died after dehydrating in the typically unseasonably hot Melbourne weather that sometimes hits. The gold papermache bird was purchased in memory of him. And the collecting took off from there.

Want to make me happy? Buy me a bird ornament thanks. What do you collect?

Beautiful things to drool over...

All images from NoteMaker, all products from the O-Check brand.

A while ago I discovered NoteMaker, a stationary supplied based in Melbs. They have an online shop, and also sell wholesale to stationers. They sell quality and quirk. They source well known European brands as well as those coming along in Asia. For some reason, Korea seems to be a good source of note paper, printed sticky tape, interesting cards and bits and bobs. This seems strange to me somehow...

One particular brand I've enjoyed is O-Check. NoteMaker have a great selection of their stuff, as do MagNation (how I love that store!). I tried to find a website, so check this out. But you need to be a wholesaler and purchase in bulk. Plus they are in Korea. So I will stick with ordering through NoteMaker, who have free postage if you spend a bit (great for Chrisie), deliver in only a few days, and my most recent purchase from them came in a sweetly printed calico drawstring bag.

NoteMaker also has a blog, for all things paper related. I was interested to learn more about the 100% recycled notebook options, and am looking into a diary for 2010 with a similar production philosophy. And then I'm thinking of making my diary a grey wool cover, with a little pocket for some business cards, a slip for a pen, and a red elastic fastener. Sounds cosy!

My place and yours - secret weapon revealed!

My secret weapon is not crafty. It is kitcheny. Yep, I love to bake. I love the rewards that come from baking. I love passing recipes on to colleagues. I love being on morning tea and needing to come up with the goods. My secret weapon is now around a year old. She was a birthday giftie from the fella. And I love her with a passion. In the event of a cyclone, I would rescue her along with the cat. She mixes so smoothly. She takes the muscle out of bread making. She whips up the lightest icing. Oh Ruby Red, I love you!

Thanks Pip for the ongoing My Place and Yours Meme. Thanks My Bricole for this week's theme. I'm enjoying taking part.

Red around the house

I've been inspired to create lately. But I'm struggling with the time. Where does it go? When I get home from work, it seems to be 10 p.m. before I realise. There is so much I want to do but don't have time for.

One simple creative exploit I've gotten up to was inspired by a meme I've been part of. The meme is in my last post, and shares bits of your home with others. So I checked out my home and took some happy snaps. The photos are a mix of made, found and bought items. Some I love and treasure. Some I stumbled upon while taking the pictures. But all are red. Ah, red... Such an inspirational colour for me. It is somewhat gender neutral. It goes with brown and green (the fella's preferences), and is okay with pink too at a pinch. It wears well, is classic and classy.


Red inspiration
Originally uploaded by the_bashful_owl

1. Red cake tins, 2. Red sewing bits, 3. Red toes and the cat, 4. Red softie legs, 5. Red twinkle toes, 6. Red sewing scissors, 7. Red sewing threads, 8. Red quick-unpick, 9. Red rebound book back, 10. Red cushions, 11. Red Swedish Mustard, 12. Red tropical flowers

Blogging games, I'm joining in...

Hurrah, discovered blog-link funtimes care of Meet Me At Mikes.

I've not played these sorts of games before, and those involved seem like the nice sharing kind. But alas, we still don't have a great functioning camera. One has been interstate for about 6 weeks now being repaired. The other went in yesterday to a fantastically bespoke little store. We climbed up a flight of stairs in an undusted narrow passage. A carved red door was on the right, and behind it was a camera repair lady! She had shelf after shelf of SLR lenses. She had little buckets with caps and bolts and bits and pieces. She said she will tell us in a week if the camera can be repaired.

Back to the theme, my shelves are not as fun as the camera lady's. But here is a camera phone photo of my treasured things that are grouped together on a shelf.

My clever mum cross-stitched the eggplants for me. My darling sisters bought me the pink tea-pot (on the left) and cups. They discovered it in the Oxfam shop in Camberwell. So nice of them, and it was a great birthday gifty five (five!) years ago. The pink thermos gathers preposterous amounts of mould on it's cloth-covered cork stopper, but is perfect for transporting warm honeyed chai tea in. The little tea cup and saucer tucked behind is a treasured op shop find, one that made me wonder why someone felt the need to give it away. Lots of lovely things. Lots of pink, lots of love and lots of little details. Loveliness, on a shelf.


I hope I remember to participate next week...