Creative Space

Half way through a botanical illustration that hopefully will be finished by the end of class tonight.
Many many other spaces here.

If you can't stand the heat

The thought of turning on a heat generating appliance for any amount of time is rather unappealing as we roll into our fifth day over 30C, even if the kitchen is 7C cooler than up here at blog HQ. Thankfully soba noodles cook in 4 minutes max. A rather tasty salad to which broad beans, grated carrot, spring onion & celery were added. Based loosely on the one I found here. I went light on the vinegar in the sauce though, because too much of that stuff has destroyed a meal or two in this household.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

It's a good thing Mr T doesn't pop by here. These are the tags for his advent calendar. I thought about sewing one, but really I wanted to make use of things we already have. The quilted mason jars I ordered for my party as extra drinking glasses will do nicely. I'll fill them with a small gift/trinket/in-joke/activity/or map to bigger present that doesn't fit in a 375mL jar. My Christmas shopping is well underway!

Stomping the Divots

It would have been a perfect weekend had I not lost my wallet. *Sigh*.
Saturday involved some time on the bike before it got too hot, time in the garden and time at the beach. Sunday was all about the ponies at the Polo. What a way to spend a Sunday afternoon! It was glorious. The game is quite amazing in that each player has 6-7 ponies that he'll ride through the game for about 3 mins each time. The skill of the players and the agility of the ponies was impressive and the Moscato to accompany the day was delicious. Spectators are invited onto the field during the break to stamp down the divots. The girls took the request seriously, the boys not so much. Thanks BG for a lovely day out.

And no I haven't forgotten, Papa, Happy Birthday.

Sketch Saturday

It was all about the double watercolour class this week. Attendance at both Wednesday & Thursday night sessions. The first night I was able to catch up on what I missed last week. Namely an ink drawing. The process went as follows, trace said plant, in this case a strawberry flower and associated leaves. Transfer tracing to paper and go over with ink. Old school, in that there was a nib involved. New school in that the ink is waterproof. Well new to me.

I failed to grasp the hang of using the pen until well after finishing this drawing/painting. Elements I'm happy with include the stem & flower. The leaves, well they're just a disaster. I'm pretty keen to explore this further. I quite like the effect.

Starting the day right

With the arrival of the Christmas edition of Inside Out magazine last night I decided to get up early this morning and treat myself to a flick through. So many wants! Accompanying me was my Turkish coffee. I have a tiny ibrik that serves one. In it I put in water, 2 tsp of Turkish coffee and a tsp of vanilla sugar. Then it requires gentle heat until tiny bubbles appear at the side. A quick stir off the heat, then back on the heat for a brief moment or two. I watch it like a hawk, too many times it's boiled over and been disappointing. This morning it was just right.

Creative Space

My creative space has been in the car this week, we've done a bit of driving. But no one wants a photo of Mr T's old station wagon. So here's the product. It's normal to crochet in the car, right? It's about the only thing that doesn't make me car sick.

For a whole bunch of spaces, have a peek here.

9985 Steps

I kind of gave up logging my steps on here, given I was also entering the data on the 10000 steps website. For the month of October I averaged 9985 steps per day. Which means I didn't quite make my target of 10,000 steps every day. The epic hangover, plus a week chained to my desk trying to meet a deadline didn't help. But it's not a bad exercise to have done. It certainly made me re-evaluate the need to take the car to the local shops and encouraged me to get out in the fresh air at lunchtime.

No challenge this month, with the weather on the improve I should be on my bike a whole lot more. Double happiness indeed.

The weekend continues

Long weekends allow for cooked breakfasts, time at the sewing machine and walks.

The Derby

Yesterday the heat was turned on. I spent a good part of the morning pottering in the garden, weeding, killing aphids, watering and mulching. Mr T and I then strolled through Footscray before landing on the banks of the Maribyrnong for afternoon tea. I'd picked up a red bean bun at the bakery and ate it while waiting for the race of the day. From our vantage point we could see the horses run clearly and almost hear the race call!