....?

Warning: venty whinge ahead!!

For over two years, we have been trying to get out evaporative cooler fixed. We rent, and have landlords who passed Tight-Arse-Academy with flying colours. It has been such a long, drawn out, ugly process.

And now, Melbourne is in the middle of a heat wave; the likes of which haven't been seen in 101 years. Over 40C for a week. 43C today and tomorrow. That's 109F. Bloody hot. And with a humidity level of 8%. Dry hot.

To try and deal with the heat, our house is dressed up like a circus tent. All my loudest vintage floral sheets are strung across the front of the house, which faces west. You have to duck under them to get to the door. We make one big scary landmark!! I think it has made a small difference though.

Gah. I'm off to die somewhere quietly in my lovely cool 32C house.

Whinge over. :P

back to reality

I've been back for a few days from what was my first bush camping trip in waaay too long. We found the loveliest little spot in the Otways alongside a river, and set up camp amongst ancient tree ferns and trees of a size that make you feel humbled. (Stopping to think of the logging that goes on in parts of these forests is utterly depressing.) We had a lovely time and enjoyed all the grime that goes along with bush camping. No showers for a week, camp oven dinners, beautiful walks, and sleeping every night to the sound of the water rushing over the rocks and those huge trees filled with wind. It was lovely and cool up there too. While Melbourne roasted, we were enjoying the coolness of being in a thick temperate rainforest.For the most part, we were there alone. We felt thankful as we were packing up to come home, right as the Australia Day long weekend began. People started cruising through looking for places to camp. A car with a trailer stopped to unload two dirt bikes. They hooned off up some tracks, ripping the bush up behind them. Another car cruised by sounding a musical car horn. (Groan...) Now I can see why the locals of this area like to keep this place a secret, and have been known to remove the signs so people can't find it!

skirt

It's been a while that I've made something for myself that I'm happy with... I'm glad to say that I'm liking this one so far. It's a simple a-line skirt with extra fabric at the front that I folded over at an angle to create detail. The print has been sewn on, and continues around the fold so that you can see more of the print when you move. I've got some variations of this in mind to try in the next little while.

tree print

I exposed the screen for this print using small branches from a tree we have growing out the front. It's indigenous to this area, has long spindly leaves and masses or yellow flowers in late spring/early summer. As summer progresses, small berries/seed pods appear, as the print shows. (See the twigs/leaves in the exposure unit below.)This panel is part of a skirt I am making for myself at the moment. I hope to finish it tonight. :o)

more gocco...

I thought I would have some dresses to show today, but the hemming gods have turned their backs on me. I stuffed around with one of the dresses for so long that I can't bear to look at it! The lining was slightly larger than the dress itself, so I had to ease it around to make it match. But I'm still not happy with it. I'm going to have to unpick the hem and take a bit of fabric from the lining so it sits nicely. Tomorrow. I have had enough of these dresses for one day!!In the meantime, I thought I'd show some prints I did a while back. I have based the image on a photo of my Dad from about the mid 50's. All combed and collared for an auntie's wedding. I have gocco'd the images onto knitting patterns from the early 50's.

school boy print

New bulbs and screens arrived in the mail yesterday, so the gocco's back in action!! This print is I guess the companion print to this one. I've based the image on a photo I have from my brother's first day of school. Most have been printed onto 1940's dictionary paper. I love the dictionary- it has a lot of pictures through it... and often some interesting descriptions. It's great reading them. You can really see how our understanding and perceptions of the world change through time. Even through such a short time as only about 60 years.

kangaroo grass

I've wanted to try exposing a screen with kangaroo grass for a long time. I love indigenous Australian grasses, and I would have to say that kangaroo grass is my favourite. I love the shape of the seed pods. They hang so heavily, and look so ripe.The screen didn't turn out fantastically (experienced screen printers, look away now!!). I still have a long way to go to getting an even screen coverage, especially on a big screen. If you look at the photos of the screen in the exposure unit, you can see how unevenly the emulsion has gone on. I really wanted this to work well, but... ah well. It certainly better than last times effort!! And it's been fun playing around with the few usable parts of the screen.I tried printing on denim, but it was a dismal failure. Partly I think because my squeegie is to small for the screen. It went better on linen.But I think I like it best on a card. I was unsure of whether to print one or two of the grass prints per card. I went with two, but am wondering if I should have left it at one...

melbourne girls

There is an image I have been trying to get right for a while... basically a little boy version of the gocco print in my header. I finally thought I had it *near enough* today. I put my last two bulbs in the gocco, set up the image, then went to put in what I thought would be my last screen... but alas! I have already used it. Bummer. It's gocco supply shopping for me tomorrow.In the meantime, I am still pumping out the cards in the picture. I have filled their skirts over the months with fabric, vintage paper, storybook illustrations, wallpaper, knitting patterns, road maps and now Melways maps. I find it interesting how these cards always take on such a different character depending on how they're 'dressed'. These ones are part of an order.Happy Sunday! :o)

opped

Freshly opped, at just two dollars... a gorgeous wooden vase, or narrow mouthed bowl- all hand made/turned out of a solid piece of wood. I'm loving this piece. I'm glad I didn't leave it behind. I nearly did.By the way, for those who come to visit me to see crafty things, I promise there will be something to show soon! I'm still pottering about and making things... I'm just not always showing them, or I forget to take photos! I did make more jam today. Apricot this time. Inspired by a post by a culinary genius mama, I left large cut pieces of lemon in the pot. Oh. My. God. If you make jam, you must do this. Pulling the pieces out at the end to eat is pure bliss. Tangy, sweet and all lovely and candied. You are genius, Sister S!!

a taste...

...of freedom? For the first time, all three boys went out for a few hours with their uncle, leaving us at home alone. It was pure luxury to spend time going out as a couple for brunch. We have never been able to do this before, as Zeph is always so bloody clingy. But I think now he is ready, and the major attachment stage is slowly lifting. I'm sure the attachment stage will be a sweet memory one day, but for now I am pleased to see an end in sight! My smallest boy has been so much needier than the others, at times driving me spare!And after said brunch... I spent time taking pictures of tomatoes. Yes, tomatoes. They are starting to ripen!! Woot!

pottering

After being away for a week (and being inspired by how lush my Mum's garden is!) I have spent the day just pottering. Planting new things, mulching, and generally putting some energy into a very neglected garden. It has so far been providing with the reward of no water and no maintenance. Who said tough love doesn't work?! ;o) My pottering included a bit of time in the kitchen. I made some jam with blood plums given to us by our neighbour. I didn't have quite enough plums, so I padded it out with a little rhubarb from the garden. Now that I have moved it to a spot where it gets more sun, the stuff is going absolutely mental. It has the hugest, thickest stalks and is begging to be eaten!! It has given a nice tart tang to the jam, which takes the edge off the sweetness of the plums and sugar.

And it seems there is more jam to come... I gave Angelo a jar of jam to say thanks. And now we have another big bag of plums!

-thanks for the lovely comments yesterday. Taran is doing well. He has been so laid back about his injury, and hasn't complained at all.

long time....

...no blog.I've been away. Christmas, family, the beach. Good stuff. It's been nice to be away, and to joyfully close what was an utter corker of a year. It seems that is seems to be a common feeling. So many people I have spoken with agree that 2008 was in general a pretty crap year. Lets hope that this year is a good one.2009 is not off to the best of starts though. Ash managed to trip in his Ash way and split his forehead open. I cannot believe the amount of blood that comes out of a head wound. I think this is a war wound he will carry for life. And today, Taran fell out of a tree at the zoo. And broke both bones in his wrist. He currently has a cast almost up to his armpit. Poor little dude. The school holidays are going to be a little different now to how he envisaged. He loves riding his bike, and rides impressive distances- by anyone's measure. No more of that for a while.But this has to be it, right. Broken bones, gashed foreheads. We're done with the bad stuff. Bring on happiness, love and all the other goodness that 2009 will bring.Happy New Year to all of you! This is going to be a great year!!