At last, 5 minutes to write down all I have been up to over the last little while.

In between working two jobs, having my house flooded, hosting interstate visitors and some fine dining, I have managed to fit in some more little handmade treats for my Etsy store. I am very excited also to have been asked to have my designs on consignment in a store here in Melbourne - something I am new to and hope will be a big success! So also I am frantically trying to complete that collection before the deadline! Phew.

I have been feeling very special of late as a costume I made has been pictured on a billboard in the middle of Melbourne. I nearly fell off my tram seat when I first went past it, and it is a lovely feeling to look up and think "I made that!"

A little more experimental cooking has been happening, mostly through flicking through my various cookbooks and choosing a page at random. My gardening has also taken a turn for the better, with some seed planting taking place - I am eagerly awaiting tomatillos and chillies to sprout to be used in my cooking.

See my store for all my new and exciting baby wear - you'll notice a bit of a nautical theme!

The Alchemist

Recently I have discovered a new Etsy addition, Alchemy. It's a section that allows people to describe exactly what they want and have people bid on their description to make it. I think, though it does have some flaws, it is an excellent extension of Etsy, something that truly allows people to be creative and to see the scope of ideas present there.

I have been enjoying both being the alchemist and the alchemee (?), both by placing an ad for a red scarf and hat (that I am eagerly awaiting for the Melbourne winter, fast approaching) and by winning some bids on some baby wear.

I just finished this set of onesies with fruit and veggies on for a lady with twin girls who have strong food preferences!

And at the moment, I am making a dress with an embroidered owl and the girl's name. What I like best about it is the great feeling you get from bringing someone else's ideas to life.

In other news, I have also discovered the joys of online seed stores. I have just received 4 packets of tomatillos (green tomatoes), and different kinds of chillies for my cooking adventures. Stay tuned as they grow and get added to some kind of yummy meal!

A Lazy Day At Home

This week, my sewing skills and expertise have been extended - I have been very busy working on an unusual project. She is a large rag doll for a dance company. She was an interesting challenge!

I am pleased with how she turned out. She hasn't got a dress yet, but it will come!

This week the Melbourne Comedy Festival has been on. Sadly, Ross Noble, my favourite and

first choice was sold out, but not to be deterred we got tickets for Nina Conti, a great UK comedian who is a ventriloquist. Now the image that springs to mind on hearing the word "ventriloquist" is a creepy one, I'll admit. But the puppets Conti uses are super cute (in appearance, at least ) and I enjoyed her show immensely.


I am enjoying Food Safari on SBS so much lately that I have made Wednesday nights "Experimental Cooking Nights", ie. cook something from a book or magazine cutting that you have never made before! I think of it as a useful expansion to my Recipe Culling 101, which is still slowly going! Last night was a combination of Jamie Oliver and 1080 Recipes, the classic Spanish tome (that is the only word suitable for such a weighty book!). Jamie provided us with chargrilled BBQ pork fillet, and 1080 gave us rice with beans, capsicum and onion. Accompanied with corn on the cob, it was a delicious, satisfying soul food meal. Yum! And all made whilst watching George Columbaris of the Press Club, one of our favourite restaurants, work his magic on Food Safari.

It's getting cooler here which means the joys of winter plants in my little garden. Yesterday I stocked up on primulas, foxgloves, pansies and some more herbs for my ever-expanding collection. I am itching to get outside and plant them so this edition of blog is finished!

Bits and pieces

Back in Melbourne now, and it is lovely to be back. Back to my fish, who survived a lonely week in a dark and quiet house. Back to my recipe folder, which thanks to a visit to the Royal Easter Show has now doubled in size with yummy things to try. Back to my cosy house, my thriving little garden and crazy weather. Back to my Sewing Machine! Hurrah!

First of all, I must bid a sad farewell to one of my longest and dearest friends.

Spotlight at Dee Why is no longer! As fabric stores go, it was the greatest, exceeding all others in fabric chaos, reliably predictable staff, and of course aisles and aisles of every crafty bit you have ever needed.

I am really sad to see the end of an era! Now it has moved to a giant horrible mall miles away from any sort of decent public transport.

Would it be sad to buy a car purely so I can drive to a fabric store?

In happier news, a new recipe test will happen this evening. It is a bit of a variation on a Gordon Ramsey Fast Food Recipe - http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes/chefs/gordon-ramsay/bacon-pea-goatscheese-omelette-recipe_p_1.html where I will use pancetta instead of bacon and spinach instead of peas (GROSS, peas!!) but I am hopping around in excitement to eat the goats cheese. It is sitting in the fridge beckoning to me.

Next to try will be a spinach and chorizo soup, but I'll regale you with the ins and outs of that after the Gordon Ramsey fest.

Yesterday I made my Mum's classic homely cosy yummy pumpkin soup. Here's the recipe - so easy and basic but SOOOO rewarding:

750g pumpkin

3 small brown onions

60g butter

1 1/2 cups water

3 chicken stock cubes

Salt and pepper

To serve: chopped chives and cream, if desired.

Chop pumpkin roughly and boil in unsalted water until tender. Melt butter in pan and cook onions until soft but not brown. Place all ingredients in a blender and whizz til smooth, or push through a sieve. Reheat as desired.

See? So easy, and wait til you eat it. Yum! And it should be served in bowls like the ones above, by http://ginadesantis.etsy.com/ as it gets cold quickly!

Travel All Over The Countryside...

It has been a while since my last little musings, and this is because I have been On Tour! Doesn't it sound posh and glamorous, and believe me when I say it really isn't - but there are lots of other positive ways to describe it!

Seeing the sights of regional Australia has been something that makes me very aware of who I am in the world. My job tours around to big and small towns in Australia and occasionally overseas, and the things you see make you feel very small. Today we flew over floodlands in Queensland and the landscape was like nothing I had ever seen before, in any country. The way the rivers twisted and blossomed with coloured sand amazed me. Seeing whole fields of sugar cane flattened by the rains tore at my heart. And yet being in the torrential rain in Northern Queensland I felt I was experiencing the real landscape - a proper RAINforest.

Another thing that I have discovered that I think is absolutely great is http://www.improveverywhere.com/. My friend posted their video of "Frozen Grand Central Station" on facebook and I think it is just fantastic. That's really my kind of entertainment. Creative, witty, funny, and done for the pleasure of all, and just for the hell of it. Check out their video:




As far as my NeverEver store goes, I have some Big Ideas coming very soon to my store, which has been a bit dormant while I have been traipsing all over Australia. Think Laptop Sleeves, Doorstops, Tote Bags and more gorgeous baby clothing and some accessories, too. I have been dreaming it all up for a few weeks now, and am ready to go. Stay tuned! I am excited about this "season" of goodies, as it were...

Fish Frenzy

My new sewing machine certainly had a workout last week, and my little fabric box is growing by the day and threatening to overtake my flat, like someone pouring soap powder into a fountain.

It is exciting to be making things that I like so much. I have just received a delivery of eco-friendly tote bags to sew my designs onto, so hopefully they will be on Etsy next week.

I mentioned that I started a fish bowl last week. Well, I have discovered that I have an extremely mean fish. He scared and chased the other two little ones (Dave Grohl held out slightly longer than Josh Homme) and I think the poor things died of heart attacks. Mean old Jack Black is on his own now, and I hope he enjoys his cruelly-won solitude. He is very pretty to look at but I think he has a very miserly attitude.

Recipe culling 101 is going well but slowly. It is too taxing to cook unknown meals every night. Sometimes you just crave something familiar and requiring no thought whatsoever. Good old curried sausages have had a whirl, as has spaghetti bolognese and chocolate mousse (served in the cutest dishes ever, look -)

- amongst the marinated steamed salmon (a winner, 8 out of 10) and the pesto chicken gnocchi (JUST acceptable, too heavy, 6.5 out of 10.)

By the way, I have discovered that I make a mean sangria. Mmmm Mmm MMMMMM. I got so inspired by the fruit I took a photo of how pretty it looked.

Learning the Art of Restraint

As the flat I have just moved into is the size of a handkerchief, I made a resolution to get rid of any Non Essential Junk. Of course I don't have any. What I do have is a giant folder of cut-out recipes from magazines and newspapers (I have a dreadful habit.) So my first concession to streamlined living is to implement a Ruthless Recipe Culling Program, the aim being to throw away any recipes that are tasteless, boring, involve too many ingredients or require the skills of Jamie Oliver. This means that, one by one, I will cook each meal from the folder. If it makes the grade (only above 7/10, as decided by my gentleman lover) it will be stuck into my special blank-diary recipe book, where only classics may go. If not, it makes the recycling bin. Tough but fair, I say; my house has no room for dull and boring recipes!

In other news, I am having difficulty pulling myself away from my laptop for long enough to actually sit down and do some Hard Work. I get engrossed in the Etsy forums and just looking at the sheer amount of beautiful things to buy. I need to stop! Or my things will never get made!