good enough to eat

I nearly lasted a week without posting about soap! This is my latest batch of soap- chocolate and cinnamon bark. It smells amazing. I've cut it into huge chunky blocks. I love cutting soap into big irregular sized bars. I like my soap to look handmade. Goodbye for a couple of days... I'm off to Sydney in the morning!! Wahoo!

buttony goodness!

In Melbourne, and looking for something to do? Buttonmania are having their vintage button sale until the 28th. Usually their buttons are sold per piece, but during this sale, you can fill up your tray with pretty much whatever you find, and pay by weight. Too good to pass up! I bought a HUGE amount of buttons, and it didn't really cost all that much at all.

-thanks for all the well wishes over the past couple of days. I'm getting used to the cam walker, and am getting around okay... just a little lopsided! :o)

industrial!

So, my ankle is broken... but we are still going to Sydney, albeit at a much slower pace.I got fitted for a 'cam walker' today. $195 later, and I'm walking. A lot of money, but it's better than hobbling about on crutches, and better than being stuck in a plaster cast. It's bloody huge, and feels industrial! A quick look around, and for twice the price, here's a match! Do you think they would sell me the left foot only?! ;o)On the upside, I've discovered that 'left-footed' sewing isn't so bad. It's just the getting up and down to iron as I go that's the downside!

why is it...

...that my timing never fails to be so completely out? Last night I managed to roll my ankle really badly. I was sent off for x-rays to see if I've fractured the ankle bone. I'll find out later this afternoon. Oh joy. My partner and I are meant to be going to Sydney this weekend ... alone ... the first time we will have done anything just the two of us in over 7 years. I hope there's nothing seriously wrong. I want to go and be able to enjoy myself without hobbling like I am now! And in the meantime, I can't even sew! I have all this stuff cut out and ready to go, and I can't even manage the peddle on my sewing machine. Sniff, sook! It will get better! It has to! :o(

big chunky love

Hi there google weirdo's... bet you didn't think you would end up on a craft blog!! *waves*'Big chunky' refers to soap! Lots of bars of big chunky soap filled with cinnamon bark and other spicy goodness. I'm seeing these turning into little mothers day gifts or the like... it's coming up! I'm never particularly prepared, but I am trying to start looking forward!!On a completely different note, there's a facebook group going around at the moment. Apparently the American Westboro Baptist Church is planning on protesting at the memorial service for the bushfire victims at the Rod Laver Arena on Sunday. There was a doco on telly a while back about this group. They are seriously f'd up little puppies. I hope they don't do this. So very very wrong.

meet Sally

Meet Sally Singer. She's on short term loan, kind of a try before you buy deal. I've wanted a sewing body form for ages. If she makes much of a difference, I will look into making the investment of buying my own. I found some instructions that help you make your own, but I like the idea of having one I can adjust. Does anyone out there use one, and do you find it makes a difference? Was it a worthwhile investment?

thank you

I just wanted to pop in and say 'thanks' to the people who have bought from my etsy store over the past couple of days. :o) It's so nice to be able to do something, however small. It's so inspiring hearing all the different things people are doing, and knowing that my little bit is part of a bigger whole. My partner has volunteered to work with some of the children in the bushfire affected areas tomorrow. I'm so pleased that he is. I can't begin to imagine how those children must be feeling.I have just put up a couple of badges, and will be adding more things over the coming days. Please head on over and have a look, and while you're out wandering, go have a browse through handmade help and see all the other wonderful things people are donating.

handmade help

Yesterday I mentioned this amazing initiative. Handmade Help has grown so much already, and is meeting such a great response. I am joining in on this one by donating 50% of my sales to the Bushfire Appeal. I don't have a lot in my shop at the moment, but will be adding more in the coming days, and will be sure to mention it here. Look for stuff like more badges (of course!), cards, kids teed, pinnies and other bits and bobs. These are a few of the things I listed today.

getting busy

I so wanted this soap to work. I was short on one of the oils, and made it up with more of another type. But I think that coconut oil is something that you can't skimp on in soap making...? It looked fine. Smelt great... but on attempting to cut the bars, it just crumbled. I'm going to try again. I am loving the way the scent worked- fennel and cumin seeds, cinnamon bark, nutmeg and cloves, with a hefty splash of orange oil to lighten it a little.But all of the above is feeling pretty trivial... while I'm sitting here rambling on about crumbly soap, whole communities have been lost, and at the last count, there are 181 people confirmed dead. I haven't had a chance to spend much time on the computer over the past couple of days, but in just a quick glance around I'm amazed at what is happening.All through blogland, crafty people are getting busy. People are creating stuff to sell on Etsy or Ebay, and donating their sales to the bushfire appeal. How good is that? Visit Handmade Help or Meet Me At Mikes for more info or to get involved. I will be. :o)

eye spy ... something delicious

Eye Spy ... something delicious. (I am still playing along with this game, even though it's been a long time between overs!!) This weeks theme comes from Handmaiden.So this is what I cooked for dinner yesterday - lamb and eggplant kahi curry with tomato and lime chutney. (vegos look away now!! ;o) ) I have been cooking a lot out of Karen Martini's book 'Cooking at Home'. I love it. It's really accessible amazing food.
I love cooking from scratch, and watching food develop and transform. From spices, to a rich deep curry after a few hours of simmering on the stove. (Sorry no pics of the chutney- should have taken one, it completes the meal perfectly.)And something else delicious- more soap! I just made this tonight, so it'll have to wait until tomorrow to be cut. This is a spicy soap- cinnamon bark, nutmeg, fennel and cummin seeds with a bit of orange essential oil. It's smelling pretty delicious so far!For more 'deliciousness' go visit Bug and Pop. :o)

fire

This is insane, fires everywhere. I *promised* I wouldn't talk about the weather today, but... It reached 46.4 (116F) in the city today, and 48 (118) nearby to where I live. There are fires all over the place. Apparently King Lake is gone, burnt to the ground. That's a town gone. We know people there, and are thinking about them. People have died there today. There have also been fires in the outer suburbs of Mellbourne. So many lives lost, and over 100 houses gone.

I have been thinking a lot about the CFA. The people who go and fight these fires (often deliberately lit!!!). The things they must see. And some lose their own homes while saving other people's properties. My heart goes out to all the people touched by the fires.

And whoever says climate change is bollocks must have their heads in the sand. These temperatures have been out of control. And while the south of the country burns, Queensland is under water. Then over the other side of the world, they are under huge amounts of snow.

Somethings got to give.

manky grey? NO! It's GREEN!! ;o)

This linen blend would have to be the hardest fabric to photograph ever. To look at the fabric in real life, it is a greeny-brown colour. But to photograph it, it just looks plain grey. I have whinged about this fabric here before, I'm sure.I've made some of these dresses before, but didn't print all the way around the bottom. This time I did, but just printed one set of the 'flowers' on the back between the shoulder blades.

Melbourne (and Adelaide!!) people, wishing you well tomorrow... we are set for another insanely hot day tomorrow. 44C (111.2F). Omilord. I feel for the people in the country. It's as dry as anything. It wouldn't take much for it to all go up. Rain... we need rain!

-hey thanks for the 'hooray' for cooling comments! :o) It will really be put to the test tomorrow!! (I promise I'll start posting about something other than the weather soon!! hehe)

bounty

It's been a while since I last posted... I haven't completely faded away, or melted... We actually had a new evap cooler installed yesterday, so our landlords are on the way to redeeming themselves!! We joked that now that the new system is installed, we are likely to get no more hot weather this year. But apparently we will get to see how well the house stays cool now we have cooling again. Melbourne is set for another 43C day on Saturday. Oh joy.

In the meantime, we are enjoying what our garden is offering. It didn't completely fry last week. (Just most of it!!)Lovely green and black zebra tomatoes, secreted away in the garden and enjoyed after dinner. So sweet and luscious they are like dessert.And millions and millions of sunflowers. I love this variety. It is an heirloom sunflower, and not so readily available. I collect the seeds every year. Anyone know an easy way to crack into them??And a super short stemmed dahlia, picked by tiny fingers, now floating in a teacup.

(PS- what happened?! Bloglines has just eaten all the blogs I have subscribed to!! I think it's time to check out Google Reader... or is there something better??)