Penguins!

For all the booklovers out there, this is a super fun game from Penguin.

Test your literary knowledge - simply find one (or more!) of 75 titles hidden in this section of the image...

I'm ashamed to say it took me a while to find my favourite Penguin paperback, High Fidelity. I kept looking for a cartoon John Cusack or Jack Black!

Watching: Season 8 of Project Runway... claws out...rrr! (oh dear)

in the sun

when we started learning how to throw clay onto the wheel, our teacher mr j baffingly said to us: You have to stop looking at the clay.

not that any of us beginners have quite got to that stage yet, but slowly, we have come to realise that if your hands are in the right place, applying the right pressure, you could even potentially throw a pot with your eyes closed!

mr j also says: I'm teaching you to make a canvas.

no matter how perfect or "individual" your pot, the choice of glaze or other finish is make or break. we have a wall of beautiful glazes to choose from, but we also had the opportunity to play with Japanese washi paper.

very kool!


Listening: lovely summery 60s pop sounds of "Volume Two" from She & Him and the new Teenage Fanclub album "Shadows", ah!

PS: Don't forget to subscribe to the 3RRR radiothon!

pot luck

Mount Sturgeon

we recently spent a long weekend in the Grampians National Park with ms k and dr jp, the latter now firmly ensconced in adelaide ("ït's ok").

we stayed in dunkeld, a sleepy township not quite half way between adelaide and melbs. we were well chuffed to hear that this is a well beaten path: a local told us that Maggie Beer used to drive down from the Barossa Valley to meet up with Stephanie Alexander, from Melbourne, at the Royal Mail Hotel.

it's a beautiful part of victoria: we were rewarded with clear skies and stunning views on our walks.

On top of Mount Sturgeon

we wandered into local artist Anne Fleming's gallery on the main street and admired many of her beautiful pots and drawings. her work is elegant and simple, beautiful!

it was so inspiring that i've since been taking pottery classes. after a couple of months, a few pots came out of the kiln:

not quite as delicate as fleming's, but a good start and plenty of room for improvement =)

ps: i couldn't resist posting this pic too: you will find this shop on columbia road in london, past the flower market

passion

yesterday, had a great afternoon catching up w ms j, who has just dropped the ex from ex-pat, returning home with hubby in tow.

everything's good, but we have both been feeling a bit stretched at work. how do we let ourselves burn our time into the 9-5s (or alarmingly, the 8-7s) and then wonder how we don't have time for our passions?

which begs the bigger question, what would we be otherwise doing?

of course, we didn't solve this problem, but plan to do so in future cake sessions =D

winter woollies

after the last few sunny days, i've decided that being a winter person is not the go. there are small green buds emerging on the tree outside our bedroom window, even the tree is impatient for spring.

so, as we brace for a week of cold and windy melbs weather, i was dismayed to find moths had chewed on a few of my favourite woolies! eek!

how's this for a potential fix: woolfiller is a dutch company that sells felting kits to mend mothball munched holes in your loved woolies.

ingenious!
and no, i wish this was one of my repaired items, this is an example from the woolfiller website - don't you love the splashes of colour on the grey cardie?

danger danger

uhoh.

Anthropologie is now shipping to Australia.

last year, in the dreary london drizzle, i dragged poor elmo to anthropologie on regent street during the christmas rush, so he may (or, credit card pending, may not) be pleased that i can browse away to my heart's content online!

Now please excuse me while i have another squiz...

brisvegas

we recently escaped to brisbane to visit dr m and mr p in their west end queenslander. anyone else over the frosty melbourne mornings?

let's all imagine that we are basking in the sun (in july!) here:there were even a few people sunning themselves at this fake beach at southbank. we happily warmed ourselves in the glorious sun, celebrating our ingenious escape to the sun with icecream (again, in july!).

we also had the pleasure of being woken up each morning by the lovely, affectionate hamish. who are we to say no to snuggles from such a cutie?

Watching: amazing papercut process from rob ryan and Masterchef final (on the menu: green tea dumplings and chocolate fondants in honour of the finalists - thank god, we'll resume normal life soon!)

friendly frankie

lucky me, this 'rather desperate housewife' brooch by hungry designs arrived in the post on friday. thank you frankie!

your adventure is about to begin...

Ah!!! I've been ready to embrace this weekend for a few days...

Moving further into an early nana-hood (!), I had a couple of requests for baby blankets and so, I have been learning how to embroider from this op shop book. This book is fantastic: clear diagrams and simple instructions. I treated this first quilt as a primer of sorts, using chain, laced chain, twisted chain, lazy daisy, feather and sheaf filling stitches around a few animals on a children's textile from Ikea.

I think it's safe to show a small reveal of the rest of the pressie (otherwise, look away sis!).

Petals/leaves ready to be assembled into Autumn bunting...

:: Autumn leaves before ::

...and this perfect papercut card for the new parents: Our Adventure Is About To Begin.

You might recognise papercut artist Rob Ryan's distinctive style; we found this at Ryan's wonderful London shop at the Columbia Road Flower Market and simply couldn't resist!

Great Ocean Walk

In denial about summer's end, we made a last ditch attempt to capture some of that summertime feeling and went camping on the Great Ocean Walk.

From east to west, the GOW runs alongside the Great Ocean Road, starting at Apollo Bay and heading westward towards The Twelve Apostles. If you are super keen, we reckon the whole walk would take just over a week.
But if you are not that hardcore, you can drop in and out as you wish. Even a small section of the walk will reward you with spectacular coastal views, the beautiful forests further inland in the Cape Otway National Park, and the many lovely bays and inlets. The campsites have rainwater tanks (!) and lovely tent beds - quite posh really. And as much as I enjoy being one with nature and all that, I really do HATE camping food. Instant mash is weird and wrong. Any camping food advice welcome with open arms!!
In fact, the bad food is the one thing that really prevents me from being more enthusiastic about camping....that and the emphysemic toads that lived in the bushes at the Cape Otway campsite.

It's not as ridiculous as it sounds (or maybe it is. elmo had a good laugh at me).

As we were making our instant mash (grrr), we heard a low lying sound from the bushes.
A regular, breathy, deep, ribbit kinda sound [shudder].

I kept expecting a R.O.U.S. to jump out and tussle with us!

We only heard them a few times once we were in the safety of our tent, but due to my overactive imagination, we scoped out other campsites on the way out for next time, emphysemic toads not welcome thanks!

Call Parks Victoria to grab a permit for your campsite, you won't regret it!
Don't you love a long weekend? This Easter holiday: completing sewing projects in between bouts of work-procrasti-nation
Watching: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Thank you ABC2!)
Listening: Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings new album (Thanks heaps elmo!)

cherry blossom girl

After collecting these books for a little while, I have finally made my first dress from a Japanese pattern book - hurray! Luckily, the diagrams are clear and numbered (and I did have help in deciphering instructions =) ).

My sis picked this dress and fabric; I quite like how the shoulder straps double as little cap sleeves. I hope she likes it!

Watching: and loving New York shows! Project Runway Season 7 - back in NY after a season in LA, and Bored to Death, an HBO "noir-otic" comedy starring Jason Schwartzman as an unlicensed detective, Zach Galifianakis as his comic book artist best mate and Ted Danson, his editor. Dry humour, silly stories, special guests stars - including Jim Jarmusch and Parker Posey, and awesome soundtrack to boot.

ching ching!

on our way home from london, we stopped over in hong kong to see my side of the family. in the instant that i saw my relatives, the six long years between drinks disappeared - a very comforting feeling indeed.

we stayed in tin hau, a relatively quiet neighbourhood on hong kong island. tin hau is dotted with excellent hong kong style cafes (think congee, or rice porridge, for breakfast and noodle soups for lunch) and the most fantastic dessert house, ching ching (i kid you not).

that's right: a house of desserts.
and so many to choose from: from classic tong yuen (rice dumplings) in ginger syrup, tofu fa, red bean soup and my absolute favourite, black sesame soup. you can choose to eat the desserts hot or cold, or you can add semolina pearls or tong yuen, or any combination that you desire.
the first night, i ordered black sesame soup that included coconut milk and semolina pearls. this was smooth and silky, with sweet pops of pearls in each mouthful and a lovely nutty taste from the black sesame. mmm.

elmo ordered red bean soup with mango pieces (of course). the mango was absolutely delicious. how i would love to live in a tropical country - think of all the fruits!
we returned later to sample the mango pudding and the tofu fa - equally silky and delicious.
we were in heaven!

eating aside: a mere two weeks in london and paris were not enough preparation for the excesses of hong kong.

the buildings are BIGGER.
the number of people: HUGER.
the shopping centres: HIGHER.
the smog: SMOGGIER.
it's a vibrant, bustling, elbows-out, get-on-with-it kinda city.

and though we barely embraced consumerism while we were in london or paris, we shamelessly lost control in hk at muji.

muji is a japanese lifestyle store that offers everything from furniture to fashion to food. there was something about the clean design and practical simplicity of their products that we couldn't resist.

we confess: we want to live a muji life!

elmo found this and immediately declared his love for it.it's a portable speaker, almost measuring 3cm across, that is charged via a usb port. this cute little cube flips out a plug that fits very sweetly into your mp3 player of choice. for its size, the sound is pretty good. and so far, we've got through a leonard cohen concert without losing power.

i can just imagine: elmo as dj at all our summer bbqs...

two-for-a-fiver

we have returned from a lovely two weeks in london where we met elmo's new nephew, mr x.

last time i visited europe, i felt like i was in a theme park: 'i guess i better see the [insert famous icon/building] since i'm in [insert big city]'.

so, other than a few days in paris, it was a nice change to just hang out with the locals in east london and spend time with the newest member of the family...

mr x and his mum, L, took us to their favourite local haunts including a fabulous shop that sells fresh, buttery, flakey croissants near the columbia road flower market.

and what a gorgeous market too: i just loved the stallholders with their sing-song 'two-for-a- fiver', 'three-for-a-fiver' chorus as we strolled through their lovely roses, tulips, black eucalyptus plants and many many more. they all looked so beautiful - i so desperately wanted to take some plants home with us!

rosebud

I'm also excited that plants are waking up in the spring air.
One rosebud, taking a stretch, about to bloom..
And some mint for summertime Pimms...

Tell Mama All About It

You may or may not have noticed a slight proliferation in toy related posts.

Yes, it is that time in life when folks all around us are sprogging.
As one former, ahem, backbencher used to say: one for mum, one for dad and one for the nation?

It's fun. We get to play with the kiddies when they're well behaved, and then we return them as they become spewing/pooing/crying... well, babies.

This is for Tamsin's 1st birthday this weekend, Mama Bear from the Softies book.
I debated with myself: is it right to present the apron on the bear?
I wouldn't want the 1-year old to think that a woman's place should be in the house, apron in tow, ready for domesticity. I spose you could use an apron for...woodwork? ....or something else associated with little boys.

[I can already hear my siblings groaning at me...GROAN]

Would a 1 year old even register this thought? Even subliminally?

Feel free to tell me that this is political correctness gone mad (my siblings would), and I should get over it already!

Though, I quite like how the apron is reversible...

Rewatching: Flight of the Conchords, Season I
Relistening: Sunday Night Safran podcasts

good golly miss polly

Deja vu: another Softies toy- this time a Miss Monty from the Miss Polly pattern by Nest Studio.

I must confess, I am jealous of this Miss Monty: she will live with Miss Leila in Karratha, a mining town way waaaay north-west in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Before I went back to uni, I travelled from Perth to Exmouth, some 1500 kilometres along the coastal highways of WA . The expanse and deep colour of the west coast ocean is something to be savoured - breathtaking clear greens and blues us East Coasters simply miss out on.

We slept in swags on the beach, committed small sins against the environment by going sand boarding (beware of this activity if you don't encourage sand going where sand should _really_ not go), and climbed majestic gorges in Karajini National Park. The absolute highlight was snorkelling in the Ningaloo Marine Park at Coral Bay, a small town that sits just near the Tropic of Capricorn.

Maybe it's because these experiences are all pre-Phud, but I can't help but associate a sense of calm and warmth with this part of the world. Perhaps all the Melbourne Spring rain is just making me a bit nostalgic for some sunshine?

This winter, we finally made the pilgrimage to Logan's Beach, a whale nursery in western Victoria, in the hope of glimpsing a Southern Right Whale. In anticipation of a long wait, we had brought along a thermos, a couple of books and even Scrabble.

In the end there was no need: as we joined the other whale watchers at the lookout, we immediately spotted four cows and two calves.

It was amazing how close these beautiful creatures were to the beach. Most of the time, you can really only see the top of their long black bodies (maybe you can see a whale about a quarter of the way down in the photo above), but we did the occasional fin when the whales were body rolling or, more magnificently, a glimpse of a whale's mouth as she skyhopped.

Although the weather turned the next day, to the pleasure of all us crazies braving the wind and rain at the lookout, we managed to spot a tail (more images here). The whales will head to the Antarctic soon, but are in Australian waters for a few more weeks if you're keen.


Of course, my favourite thing to do on a country road trip is visit the local op shops and markets. We bought fresh produce, a bucket of honey and a large assortment of CWA-style biscuits and treats - think anzac biscuits, jam drops, yo-yo biscuits and jelly cakes (our absolute favourite). Oldies but so good(ies).

We also picked up a couple of plates: the first with a sweet floral design, maybe to serve jelly cakes?
And I love the pattern on this oven proof plate. It's oval in shape and the perfect size for steaming a fish in the wok.

Doffing bonnets

I finally graduated a couple of weeks ago, and received a pot of gorgeous roses from m's and ms k (thanks guys!). These lovelies sit proudly on my balcony, greeting the morning sun.

After such a lengthy thesis submission/ examination / revision process, it's easy to overlook the simple fact that being awarded your degree is an achievement to be celebrated, the official coda of your university life. So it was a good opportunity to take a step back, be grateful for making it to the end, and thank family and friends for their support and endurance - not only during my studies but also of the ceremony itself (mum didn't waste time: she crocheted a baby blanket for Elmo's new nephew who arrived on Monday in London).

After the ceremonial bonnet doffing to the chancellor, we joined the other graduates snapping photos with their families on the sunny university lawn. I reflected on all those years spent on the lawns: skipping lectures to lie on the grass on a nice day, sitting with a coffee under my favourite tree or rushing through on the way to a seminar. It was an immeasurable feeling to think: I Do Not Belong Here Anymore.

ground control to major tom

elmo is about to become an uncle for the first time, so we are sending this cosmonaut over to london, all wrapped up in a kitschy australiana teatowel i picked up at the vic market. the pattern comes from the softies book and was a breeze to make.

we had been to see the Blackeyed Susans at the Forum that afternoon, so i spent a few hours listening to old susies ceedees while making Cosmo. i think this is why his smile looks so sly, like he knows something we dont know. yet.

one down; three more toys for three new bubs due before the year is out.
back to the sewing machine...

Flaming Lips

Flaming Lips @ Festival Hall
29th July 2009

My two hopes for this gig: Wayne Coyne in a bubble strolling over the punters (check), and a live rendition of Race For the Prize (woohoo, check!).

We used to listen to The F'lips every Friday afternoon in the lab. It was the perfect way to end the working week and, of course, we secretly hoped that Coyne was singing about us and our research when he says:

Two scientists were racing
For the good of all mankind
Both of them side by side
So determined
Locked in heated battle
For the cure that is their prize
But it's so dangerous
But they're determined

We can dream can't we?

The Flaming Lips are famous for their spectacular live shows: dancing furry animals situated stage left and right, "magical spheres" gently punched in the air and regular bouts of confetti/streamers snowed on the happy crowd. To the punters' delight, the band delivered all this and more on Wednesday night. All aspects of our aural and visual senses were assaulted: video projections, strobe lighting, giant caterpillars - you could even feel the bass through the floorboards.

In some ways, all this spectacle might equate distraction and render the band as mere soundtrack. During some parts of the evening, all this fervent energy threatened to outdo the true core of an amazing awesome gig: so, was the music any good?

The music of the F'lips veers from sweet, wobbley melodies and characters (think Yoshimi) to crashing, crunching white noise - sometimes within the same song. The production on the night was definitely not as slick as some of their records, and the songs had quite a rough sound at times. The set included a few new songs, and plenty of sing-a-long moments including: The Fight Test, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and Do You Realise?.

My favourite aspect of this gig how inclusive it felt - Coyne is a charismatic front man and speaks to everyone in the room (even the poor souls on the outer edges of Festy Hall). The energy in the room was simply amazing. I think this is what separates the Flaming Lips from other, more pedestrian bands: it was an incredible, intense experience - the animals, the music, the confetti, it was just so much fun. Everything you might expect from the F'lips. I have been finding random bits of orange and yellow confetti in my jacket and purse the last couple of days, and am happy to be reminded of this wonderful gig this week.

So when Coyne asks us all to join in a mass karate chop during Yoshimi (it's our only chance to karate chop in the evening after all) - who are we to say no?