Attacking the Killer Tomatoes

Well, I’ve been a naughty blogger – but in my defence, I’ve been knitting, nursing 4 colds (mine, Destructoboy’s, the Princess’s and The Accountant’s), adding to the yarn-which-is-not-stash, and rolling up my sleeves to deal with Autumn’s Bounty!

I have dried tomatoes, turned them into a quadruple lot of relish – with chilli and lime – mmmm!, and made enormous amounts of roasted tomato sauce. I have dried pears, poached pears and made caramel pear upside-down cake; I have poached and baked and stewed quinces (we still have paste and jelly from last year); dried nashis; eaten apples – and I’m preparing to dry lots more; made zucchini relish – around 3 double lots, did the plum sauce earlier; dried d’Agen plums and greengages. I’m preparing for the last of the apples, pears and quinces and then the walnuts need to be picked.

Out in the back paddock we have 21 very mature walnut trees. The walnuts need to be picked up off the ground, and then they get plonked in a HUGE basket, which holds around 45kg. When that is full we put them in 15 litre buckets, and boxes. Lots get given away and our friends all turn up with buckets too! Once the walnuts are done I can officially collapse, because it is basically winter and the bounty has finished.

I find it impossible to just leave any of this to rot. My parents remembered the after effects of the Great Depression and I’m sure all this preservation is part of that – I can’t bear the thought that my family could starve over winter! I didn’t make any wine, though! That’s my step-mother’s purview, and she has elderberries doing their thing in a bucket at present. My elderberries and olives aren’t mature yet, so at least I don’t have to worry about them.

Despite the recent visit to Bendigo, I have just received an order from them. I didn’t realise, when I was there, that they had made the rash and unjustified decision to discontinue the Harmony yarn. This wool/cotton/lycra mix is a bit of a fave, so I had to buy some before it all went away. We are writing a protest letter, because in addition to discontinuing the Harmony, there are now only 4 aran colours and less Colonial colours – and the range of colours is getting smaller and much less exciting!

I finished the adapted edge to edge cardigan – here it is in Jet (from the Doomlight of Spot sale)

And I realised I had never posted a picture of Bella in all her glory – so here she is, too:

I’m currently working on the Slouch Rib Cardi from Knitting Daily and thoroughly enjoying it. Yes, that’s in Jet too, why do you ask?

In addition to the Bendi parcel, my yarn that is not stash increased further this week because Kmart had 25% off yarn. I bought up some Vintage hues - enough for a cardi (just scraped together enough of the same colur/dyelot), and some other colours for presents of scarves and hats. Here is one of the scarves under way – it’s the Yarn Harlot’s one row scarf pattern.

That’s it really – my week has been unexciting (unless you’re heavily into tomatoes!). Back to nursing the nose from hell!

Awake!!

Awake, for morning in the bowl of night
Has thrown the stone that sets the stars to flight
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam

The last two mornings I have been walking when the sun came up. I see a lot of sunrises, generally from inside the house, but at present we are in the transitional time of year, just before daylight savings ends, when sunrise doesn’t happen till around 7am and in less than a month it will suddenly jump back to being 6am, and this little brown duck is likely to still be tucked up in her bed then! I hope!

Currently, it is quite light just before sunrise, and then the sun hurls itself over the horizon and taa daa! Daybreak! I am generally walking along the road and look across the paddock where Lucerne has just been cut (mm, the smell of new mown hay), across the river and the trees beside it and over to the hills and here comes the sun!

Yesterday was bird day. Ducks in the creek I cross over; native hens; free range chooks and a number of roosters in one of the paddocks I pass; a hawk hovering low, looking at some poor small creature in the grass; a blue crane (heaps around here); a small colony of what I still call plovers, but are really masked lapwings; and some water bird, hidden in the willows, who goes ‘boink!’. Of course, the usual suspects were out as well, crows (actually forest ravens, native to Tasmania), starlings, blackbirds and sparrows. I didn’t see any sulphur crested cockatoos, black cockatoos, our local kookaburras or lorikeets – nor did I see the resident blue wren (willie wagtail!).

I love living in the country. I happily put up with the lack of pavements and even the fact our roads have no shoulder, just to be able to smell the hay (and occasional roadkill!), and to watch the sun rise.

I am also enjoying possessing an iPod. I walk faster while listening to music and although my walk is taking the same time each day, I actually go further (hell, yesterday I even RAN – for about 200 metres – but it didn’t kill me and I didn’t stop, just kept on walking after undertaking this dangerous activity). I’m looking forward to walking in new places while we’re away.

In knitting news, the neck inserts on Bella are occurring much faster than I imagined (it also helps that I am actually knitting them, instead of hoping that it would happen by osmosis or something!). I am likely (touches wood) all things being well (crosses fingers) to finish her before we leave (pats rabbits foot, invokes saints and knitting goddess and throws self to ground realising she has just put the kiss of death on ever finishing Bella).

I am narrowing down the knitting which must accompany us on holiday and trying to decide whether I should sneak in a pattern book, given that we are calling into Bendi and I may be ultra inspired to cast on something during the trip (Yes, I am bringing my Knitpicks with me so I will have needles – why do you ask?)

Off to referee the fight of the century, tidy up, put out the washing, wash up, clean out the car and put stuff away. Decluttering often happens as a side effect of this haphazard housekeeping. Cheers!

The Dashing 100th!

I currently have 5 quiet minutes to myself, while the kids play upstairs. A quiet moment is rather a luxury in this house – so I’m seizing my opportunity and updating my blog!

On the knitting front not much has changed. Bella continues – I’m part way up the front, have knitted both sleeve caps and started one of the lace inserts for the neck. This was because I wasn’t entirely sure I had enough of the Amerah silk for the job – but I’ve just started the 3rd ball for one side of the neck and even if it takes the whole of the ball I have one left (Hooray!). I also wanted to have lots of plain stocking stitch because an old friend is visiting this weekend and given that we tend to drink nice wine and eat nice food whenever he visits, I figured the stocking stitch front is my safest bet!

I’m still working on the foot of the first Vog On, and the foot of the First Noropup spiral rib sock. I was tempted to cast on about 3 other projects but have resisted the siren call of startitis.

IN, OUT, SHAKE IT ALL ABOUT

Not a great week overall.

IN
28 balls of Jet from the Doomlight of Spot (2 dollars a ball – 3 jumpers worth - sale yarn is NOT stash)
12 balls Patonyle off Layby (Discontinued yarn is also NOT stash)
4 balls Bendi cotton and 1 ball Bendi 8 ply (Stash, unfortunately)
1 skein Ranco, re-housed from Donyale (not stash twice! It’s sock yarn, which doesn’t count AND it’s being re-housed – this means one ball of Bendi is wiped from the stash list!)
1 linen shirt, Opshop

OUT
Enormous piles of papers, old magazines and old telephone directories – recycling (when I say enormous I mean around 4 boxes full)
Old travel and car brochures (ditto)
Selection of ‘B’ grade children’s art work (recycling)

SHAKE IT ALL ABOUT
Large number of bottles retrieved from shed to be filled with Plum Sauce (Yum)

Socially, I’ve had a fun couple of weeks. I’ve been playing on Ravelry a bit (OK, more than is good), and have met a local knitter through there. We had coffee and she knows other knitters – so this may form the nucleus of a local S’n’B. She dropped in a couple of days ago for coffee and brought some qiviut for me to pet. (I want! I. Really. Want. Some. Of . This. Stuff.) There ought to be a health warning about the addictive properties of this fibre. MMMMMMM!! I will know proceed to try and save up my pennies to afford a mere sniff of my very own.

Next weekend we’re off to that sink of corruption, that Sodom and Gomorrah of the South – Hobart. Although it’s only 3 hours away, and I used to trip down there 3 times a month in the times before children, now it takes rather more organisation! But we’re off and I will catch up with Kate, other friends I haven’t seen for ages, Salamanca and other joys!

I’ve had a sick poppet this week, but also managed to get over to Grandma’s and get some sewing done (for the first time in a millennia or so!). I’d forgotten the joy of REALLY instant gratification!!

I finally have some takers for Pay It Forward! Lynn from Too Hot to Knit, Ms Frog Ponds Rock and Baby Amore – you are the PIF beneficiaries! Don’t forget to put this up on your blogs and PIF to 3 other people!

And, by the way, if you didn't notice, this is my one hundredth post! Gosh! So I'd better have a competition. If you leave a comment (and your email address if I don't know you already) before the 30th of January, I will draw out 2 names for a pressie! (MY birthday, so it's reasonable to give pressies!) It will be something from stash, but a nice something! Cheers!

In Which Things are Knitted and Others Picked!

I’m feeling a bit guilty as it’s a while since I blogged, but I’ve been either out or fighting for computer time with the Accountant and kidlets! I’ve been sneaking downstairs early to read blogs and email and catch up on Ravelry!

I’ve also been trying to limit yarn purchases since New Year (given that I knew the BMFARSC2008 bill was coming) but rather fell down with a small Bendi purchase (3 balls of cotton and a couple of other things ready for a certain Ravelry bag swap) and taking a skein of Ranco off Donyale’s hands (a civic duty, really!). I also happen to know there’s a sock kit on its way from Red Bird, and the RSC first kit will apparently be posted on Jan 21st from the USA, so it’s not really that onerous, except, well… I heard of a fabulous sale and had to ask a blogpal in that city and she bought me some of the said fabulous wool which was on sale and apart from THAT, hardly any wool has come in my door! (and technically, neither has that one because she is holding onto for me until I get there in March!).

Knitting has taken place. The Kaibashira socks are finished, the back of Bella and half of one sleeve cap is done (to check if I am going to need more Amerah silk), I’ve done the heel of one Vog On and am down to the heel of the spiral rib sock I’m making from one of my Noropups. I’ve started the bag for the bag swap (from stash – yayayayay!).

Now, no-one has responded to my Pay it Forward request!! Wouldn’t you like me to make you a something-or-other? Remember, the first 3 people who would like me to make them something in 2008 and will agree to offer to make 3 other people something in 2008 can participate. Let me know. It will be a nice something!

So, this week was enlivened by a day out in convoy with other mothers of small children (and my friend’s mother, grandmother, Mother in law and aunt) picking blueberries and visiting nurseries (plant kind, not the other). My children picked and ate enormous amounts (blue poo for a month) and I picked. We came home with more than 8kg of blueberries (at 4.50 a kg!!) and 2 tired and fractious kids!

There was also a birthday party of two of Princess’s classmates (twins) yesterday with a hired jumping castle! Princess had a great time, even though it rained – the first rain for ages and most welcome! It rained most of yesterday and most of the night – hurrah!

Now, I’m just going to pick my bonnet up and swing it by its ribbons, take a short ramble and hope to encounter Mr Darcy in wet clothes (shiver!). Enjoy your day!

Christmas and Resolutions

New Years Eve already!!!

OK – whoever stole November please step forward!

Well, Christmas has been and gone (‘Already!’ sigh some, and ‘Again’ moan others) and brought its usual goodwill and pressies. My present were wonderful – just what I asked for from the Accountant (well, I had given him a list, with those things I especially wanted highlighted) and some great surprises (thank you Happy Spider, Taph, Rosered and Kate). I ate too much and didn’t drink quite enough (although there was a magnum of Moet supplied by my SIL and her partner on Boxing Day!). There was travel – there always is for us – and catching up with family.

The best bits – having my SIL stay (the Accountant’s sister) and bring her partner, both much loved by the kids; the expressions on the Princess’s and Destructoboy’s faces as they opened their Christmas Stockings – filled by Santa some time on Christmas eve, them again as they started practicing on the little bicycle with training wheels from Grandad and Nana, and their sheer unalloyed joy at the whole Christmas thing, from Princess being Mary on the Kindergarten float in the Christmas parade, all the way through to massive trampoline bouncing everyday since Boxing day!

In addition, because the Accountant is on holiday, I slipped off to the movies yesterday and saw my first film on the big screen since Chicago was released (around 5 years ago). There were about 10 people in the cinema on Sunday morning to watch The Golden Compass and I was one of them. Just for the record, I loved it (although this maybe partially because I was alone and could watch with the guilty pleasure of having slipped the leash). I adored Lyra’s knitted jacket – a mohair silk mix I would guess – while she was with the Gyptians. I also loved the fact that I saw it on the big screen instead of waiting for DVD release, for the fact there are likely to be 2 more, for the fabulous casting and for the fact I want to re-read (for the umpteenth time) the books. I was also rather glad to see that ‘Prince Caspian’ will be released in winter – I might have to book the babysitter to ensure I see that one!

I also received my teacosy swap parcel from the wonderful Sheila – she matched my kitchen colours absolutely perfectly and sent fabulous biscuits, chai, a whale tea towel from Canada and a skein of gorgeous Watercolour sock yarn from the Knittery! How lucky and spoilt I felt (and it arrived just before Christmas!)

I spent a very pleasant few hours over Christmas finally getting out the ball winder and swift I bought from Donny back in November (I think) and peacefully wound 29 skeins of sock yarn into balls. This made me realise I have rather a lot of sock yarn, given that I didn’t ball all of it, and this didn’t count any of the commercial yarns already in balls or those thoughtfully wound for me by hand painters and dyers. So please see the New Year Yarn Resolution a post or so back.

I did enjoy the winding, there’s something wonderful in watching a small piece of relatively simple machinery do its job gracefully and perfectly. I made gorgeous yarn cakes one after another – lovely.

On the knitting front, the band of the Bella Blouse grows immensely slowly – I am lucky to get four repeats (of the 32 I need) done in a night, as I apparently cannot count to 15 after 6pm. I have finished 1 Kaibashira sock in Fleece artist Somoko and love it and the pattern (and the little frilly cuff which takes ages and starts with 187 stitches), and think I need a mindless large project at some point soon.

The Princess coined a lovely word yesterday – ‘Stupideous’! I think this will be a very useful term and I intend to use it often for those things in life which are both stupid and hideous!

I forgot to mention Kate’s Pay it Forward scheme, in which I am participating in 2008. The first 3 people who request to be part of this on my blog will receive a handmade something or other during 2008. In order to receive this whatever-it-might-be, you must do the same – ask 3 people to participate and receive an item, and make something for another 3 people. I love the idea and am sure that being knitters, we will provide something just when it is needed!

Have a wonderful and safe New Year! Enjoy the last of 2007 and thanks for sticking with me this year!

And the Country Goes To.............

Australia is like a brand new country today, and I am really tired. I’m glad Little Johnny is gone, I hated what he did to Australia. He took the worst facets of the Australian character and magnified them into ugliness. Our friendship with the USA was turned into an unholy alliance in Iraq, our pride was turned into the worst type of Jingoism, our self reliance into selfishness and our aspirations into greed. What was worse, he made those seem OK. He worked hard to deliberately do these things and worse, he wanted the electorate dumb and compliant, and with the help of the media moguls and commercial television, he got it.

I’m glad he’s gone, and I’m even gladder that he looks like losing his own seat, and being the second Prime Minister since Federation to do so. And for those who study history – Bruce, the Prime Minister in 1929 who lost his seat, also lost it over industrial relations – he tried to push through a constitutional amendment to get rid of the then Industrial Relations court and incipient commission and take the States’ Industrial powers. He lost the amendment, the election and his seat. Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it, eh?

I worked all day yesterday as an election official in charge of a polling booth. I work at a little school (60 students) in the country, with a fabulous principal and nothing but paddocks around. The school was having a working bee, a sausage sizzle and a cake stall. There were only 2 of us working in the booth, but lots of people around and kids playing. The booth is solidly Liberal, busy in the morning and at lunch time with farmers and workers and people dropping in on their way to sport and dancing. Same faces every time.

It’s 10 minutes from home (a good thing at 6.55 am for a 7am start!), it’s always quiet in the afternoon, and I always take my knitting and a book. I got lots of the swing jumper done, bought a carrot cake, some almond slice (yum!!) and some savoury pinwheels. The Accountant brought the kids up to visit and for a play and a picnic lunch. It’s a nice day – but very long. I got home around 9pm after the counting was finished and listened to the result in the car on the way home. It would be nice if the Greens hold the balance of power in the Senate – I wonder if they could still stop the pulp mill going through?

The swing jumper is coming along nicely, as is the second secret sock. I have Bella in a project bag ready for lift off, and have ordered a teensy bit of Bendi wool (sales don’t count, do they?). I have also ordered some Helen’s Lace for Juno Regina – which I predict will be the next Clapotis, in terms of meme knitting (think Clapotis, think Monkey Socks, think Fetching and Dashing). You heard it here first!


IN

Pile of Top Kids magazines– Taph
Lots of kids clothes (attack of the Op-shops part 1,2 and 3)
2 tops for me
2 balls of Patonyle in a greeny sort of colour
4 balls of some Italian cotton that looked nice (it followed me home Mum, can I keep it?)
A big box from Lush – much of it for Christmas presents, lots for me – consider that I now have a year’s supply of soap, bubbles, shower jelly and gel and other bits and pieces
An apple spiral machine (for the kids, naturally)
A large gourmet cookware wok (gift from another de-clutterer)

OUT

Well, some gifts are ready to go – but they’ll go out next week and get reported at some future date
Tea cosy, 1 skein lovely yarn, 1 dishcloth, chocolate, tea and stuff (tea cosy swap pal)
Another 2 bags to lifeline
Another bag of Kids clothes on ebay

This was not a good week. I had an attack of the Oppies and ended up bringing in some stuff – mainly for children. There were sales at the up-market Red Cross shops this week, and the kids fared really well with designer clothes!

I ended up with 2 tops, and admit that I only really like one of them – so I am likely to re-cycle the second. I also bought a pair of gorgeous black linen pants which were to big for me, but they didn’t really touch down – passing through my hands and straight to another!

I have to go – I’m helping proof Amy’s latest book and have around 700 pages to go (in less than 2 weeks!!!!) No Pressure!!!