Hobart Calling

Time to share some links to other bloggers from the southern islands... they are sometimes as slack at posting as me, but, I enjoy reading the familiar and comforting discussions on Tasmanian food, restaurants and life...


Hobart Life by FoodKitty
The Garrulous Gourmet
Hobart Restaurant Bitch
Jillian Beans
Vintage Household Tas
The Whitey Stuff

Please let me know if you know any more...

Edit: a few more from Food Kitty

Eat Drink Hobart
Ms Creosote (includes Princess Mary sighting)
Breakfast in Hobart

'ristmas 'raft

There must be some invisible elves over at Chez Snoring, because the line up of handmade Christmas thingy's is mounting daily.

I have made some Steiner-inspired fleece angels for the Christmas Ornament swap I signed up for, they are all packaged up and ready to fly...

As well as some Elephant stockings to be filled with more thingy's for some overseas family... I have prototyped some very mod-santa decorations and some gocco-esque felt creations - I will post some photos later.

This last week as been great, full of excitement and drama, catching up with old friends, pirate parties, a flying visit to Melbourne, even faster visit to IKEA in Richmond (we don't have one here), and discovering my pillow from the last post has become famous (that is a bit of an exaggeration, but Hi to everyone visiting from Whiplash).

Next week looks similar, with a wedding this weekend, a double birthday family lunch, the boys leaving for the US on Wednesday and another trip for me to Sydney at the end of the week, plus I am working the whole next weekend. I am hoping the baby stays put until the due date, because I am getting a lot of strong braxton contractions - fingers crossed we make it until the end of Jan!

Evolution of Craft

Underlying many moments of contemplating the art of craft is the tension between what I perceive of myself and my own reality. I really get a deep satisifaction from creating and making things (as many people do) and my medium is often stitching fabric or printing with ink. I suppose the sewing DNA is passed down through gene pool but it is also here that I get unstuck. I guess deep down I associate the 'homecrafts' somehow with either; women bonded in insufferable toil or the idealic 1950s housewife. Both seem to be ancient perceptions that don't sit comfortably with me.

And yet, the crafting gives me great satisfaction and is generally cheaper than therapy. So with all that floating in and out of the grey matter this is my latest offering to the Goddess of Craft... a pillow with alternating irony .

The front - is a reminder of how far humanity has evolved from draggin our knuckles to French Provincial Toile (in pink), or, alternatively, how under the skin of our advanced civilisation lies the neanderthal in all of us.

And the back is if your mother/grandmother/boss is coming around for dinner, simply turn the pillow around and you can maintain your happy housewife facade.

Meet Incy

I was reminded of the joys of being a kid the other day when Luka introduced me to a creature he had found in the garden. He was soon christened Incy and become our mascot for the day. Safely ensconced in the bug catcher with some leaves, Incy the Snail went on a trip around the world, making friends with everyone we met that day including the Doctor.

Even though it grossed me out a bit, Luka was oblivious to the slime factor and even did a photo shoot with incy. The photo of Incy sliming up the bathroom wall was my favourite shot that he took.

Incy was retired at the end of the day and safely returned to green pastures, thus avoiding me the difficulties of working out what to feed this new pet and in fact where his mouth actually is!

It also arose in me a distant memory of being fed a slug by two of my older sisters. I am sure I ate it, near the wooden fence by the wattle tree at Acton. H, can you confirm or deny this charge?

Back Again

I was talking to my sister today (Hello Harriet) and she was complaining I hadn't updated this little blogaroonie for ages. I know, I know, it has been a while.

I wonder if there is a officially a medical condition called blog-block. Sounds a little constipated....hmmm.

Ok, so a quick round up before I head back into the garden...

- the boys will be heading overseas in a few weeks, and I have to say I am feeling pretty happy with the thought of the house to myself for a whole month. Of course I will miss them, but just think, all that book-reading, movie watching, mess making (with no need to tidy up straight away if I don't want to), leaving the house without needing a baby sitter, or bag of spare anything and eating all the foods I love but the family doesn't.... sad for a moment, but maybe some fun to be had as well.

- I have been busy making Christmas Fairies and other related seasonal crafts as presents this year - look out everyone, it is looking like some handmade presents with feature strongly in the sacks this year.

- I am trying to toilet train Sacha at the moment, it is one of things I have been putting in the too hard basket for too long. He is doing pretty well and now there is no turning back.

- I went away to Freycinet Lodge for a week for work, below is a photo of the view from my room. It was a lush cabin and I scored an upgrade, so there was bathrobes and slippers and best of all a massive spa bath. No TV or phone was an interesting challenge, but designed for the total getaway... it was pretty nice, but I did miss the family!