Matching Pegs

Here is a look at my beautiful daughter (but reluctant model), Amelia, sporting my latest felt creation.

Unfortunately it is not in her school colours, so she only put this on after school, (I am one of those boring mothers who do not let their children bend the uniform rules, even when they would get away with it). I can feel a maroon and gold flower coming on.

The butterfly is just a test for the Butterfly Library bag for Brooke, and the Butterfly Doona cover for Michaela. It is not too bad, but a tad too small, and the colours for Brooke will be different, her bag is going to be pink.

Lastly, a Magnolia flower.

The Magnolia tree in our backyard is just wonderful. It has lovely dense shade and when the weather turns you can sit under it for about 5 minutes before raindrops get through .

It flowers in late winter/early spring, when there are no leaves on the tree and then it seems to flower again a second time when it is full summer, with the leaves. There are no downsides with this tree and I love to sit under it almost all year round. Thank you to the lovely person who planted it about 40 years ago.

Today I finally got to make a start on Corey’s shark. Here it is all cut out, that is, except for the teeth.

I have started stitching it together using the needle-turn method, which I really enjoy, even though it does take some practice. It is tricky to see that marked lines at night though, on the dark fabrics. I will have to stitch it up mainly during the day, here and there as time permits.

Here is an Oklahoma rose for you to enjoy, one of the last this summer I think. It has an amazing fragrance, take my word for it.

Last night, as I sat down to watch the excellent ABC show “Collectors“, I was excited to discover that one of the featured collections was of pegs.

According to the program “Mike Bradley is one of only six peg collectors in the world. He has the largest collection with 1500 pegs. Known as a “peg-lo-maniac”, he’s drawn to and amazed at the amount of thought and effort man has put into the design of the peg.”

What made me laugh was when the lovely, and extremely stylish Niccole Warren fessed up to being a bit obsessed when using her pegs. She admitted that when hanging out her washing, multiple pegs on the same garment had to match each other, and co-ordinate pleasingly with the garment in question. Sound like anyone?

As people discover my website, quite a few people are letting me in on their strange peg habits, or those of relatives, and it is not always about the pegs matching. Sometimes it is about the numbers of pegs you hold in your hand before reaching for more or some such thing.

This is not actually a shot of nappies or serviettes, but of my small way of being green. I have made calico wraps, to wrap up the kids sandwiches for school. Actually they usually have Jaffles which I cook and leave to cool before packing them in their Lunch boxes. I hated soggy or dry sandwiches, so I am quite happy to whip up a Jaffle in the mornings, if it ensures that a healthy lunch is eaten at school.

While searching for descriptions of Jaffles for you non-Aussie-speaking people, I found this lovely looking recipe for White Chocolate and Raspberry Ricotta Jaffle, Yum! Looks much more decadent than my Ham and Cheese or Apple puree and Currant Jaffles.

As of about 11am this morning, we no longer have a Treasure of the Intestine, but a piece of smokey quartz, liberated and thoroughly cleaned! What a relief! Notice the frequent use of exclamation marks - the situation warranted it.

The following shot may give you an idea of scale - “The Ingestor” herself is holding it (couldn’t get her to hold it still though, hence the blur).

This last shot is just for my sister Alison. Here are the shoes Mum and I managed to find today for the girls to wear as flower-girls in a few weeks time. It has been very hard to find shoes that are the same for a tiny size 5, as well as the larger girls sizes 13 and 2. These are almost identical and span the sizes that we need. Thanks Pumpkin Patch. There will be no more sneak peeks, but I thought that the shoes would not give much away in terms of the overall scheme for Alison and Scott’s wedding. Hope you like them Al.

….changing all the time. I like so many colours and have so many combinations that I like. My brain is always imagining or noticing colour combinations that I see as I go about my day.

The other day Lara, over at Kirin Notebook asked what everyone’s favourite colour combinations were.

On that day, this was my answer.

It is a combination that I see every day - the bricks of our house and garage, and the painted garage door, with the grass of our backyard (lovingly tended by Luke, who mows it every other weekend). I love it.

I guess though, if I narrow down my preferences, that I tend to like bright colours and tend to choose warm colours when pushed to make a choice.

When it comes to clothing, black (which I never used to wear) has crept into my wardrobe over the years, but mainly because of it’s availability. If there is ever a choice between black and brown I always choose the brown. When I wear these darker colours, I always have something on that is colourful, even if it is only beads, or shoes. I have more red shoes than any other colour.

Here is an fascinating article about people who only wear one colour, ALL THE TIME! ( posted by Heather on her Skinny laMinx blog). I love it how the lady that wears blue even buys white shoes that she colours in with Sharpie Permanent Pens - what dedication.

Michaela has officially swallowed a Treasure of the Earth. A small crystal that comes with a magazine, each issue with a different gemstone or mineral.

Another child at school must be receiving this exciting piece of publishing, and had given Amelia her crystal, which I believe must have been smokey quartz. I can’t say for sure, because I only had a glimpse of it while busy washing dishes. “You had better put it somewhere safe” was barely out of my mouth when Michaela starting making alarming noises in the next room. As I wrote in yesterday’s post, Michaela swallowed said item and we are now awaiting it’s emergence. The GP sent us off today for X-Rays to track it’s progress.

It looks to be moving along, and not causing any problems so we are serving lots of sultanas and keeping an eye on young Mickey-Moo. I keep looking at my kitchen wall at this…

which should become the family motto.

I first saw this WW2 poster over on Hop Skip Jump, and followed Fiona’s link to this shop, where I purchased it. I had it framed for Luke before I took off on my overseas holiday last year, leaving him with three kids for 2 weeks. I love everything about it; the sentiment and story behind it, the design, and the colour, especially in combination with the wall behind it.

On to other, more exciting news. Loobylu is back blogging again! Claire’s blog was the first that I discovered (about 4 years ago) after she was profiled in The Age’s Green Guide, “Website of the Week”. She has taken just over a year off from blogging, and has just started again. If you have never had a look at her site, go on over, she is one talented and inspirational Melburnian Mum, and has a great name as well!

Not a lot of creating has been going on here, at least by me, but Rory has been busy.

I did manage to get out and purchase some material for the shark library bag, which has now been washed and dried. I have been itching to get started but I have just been too busy with being-a-Mum “stuff”.

Yesterday was a low point as the car broke down (again) and later Michaela (2.5) managed to swallow a toy of Amelia’s that is still yet to make it’s reappearance. A frantic call to the “Nurse on Call” hot-line calmed me down somewhat. Under directions from the nurse, I gave Michaela some water to drink and a piece of bread to eat. Her lack of problems in swallowing both showed that it was not lodged anywhere and had made it’s way to the stomach. Now we are hoping it comes out OK. The item was actually quite large, and very hard, so I watching Michaela nervously for any signs of stomach pains, etc. According to the nurse, if the kids can manage to swallow the item, they can usually manage to expel it at the other end, so if it does not appear in the next two days we will be making a trip to the hospital. Fortunately we have an appointment at the GP for another matter tomorrow morning, so I can get her to check Michaela over while we are there.

Here is the only think that I have made in the last week, another felt hair clip. This time a Butterfly.

Here is a scary creature from my sketchbook, which will hopefully become a library bag for our friend Corey before too long.

Unfortunately I have been so busy lately that I have not had much sewing time. Also, holding me up is the fact that bluey greys are a little absent from my fabric stash. I have a small range of greys, but none that say “Shark”to me. My stash also seems deficient in the very dark, murky red (inside of mouth) department. I think a trip to the fabric store is in order sometime soon, probably when I can accomplish it with only one child in tow.

I am also wondering if this composition needs a poor little fish, called “Shark Bait” perhaps?

Here is a look at some more Butterflies, also in preparation for a library bag.

Drawing is about all I can accomplish at the moment with three children at home.

Last week we had a day at home with a teachers strike, and now today it does not feel like the weekend, as Luke is at work slaving over a hot computer. Speaking of which, it is time to turn this one off, the youngest just woke up from her nap and the others have finished their colouring in.

……Sorry.

Finally a very important day has arrived. The New Prime Minister has apologised to the Stolen Generations* for the government policy that removed so many aboriginal children from their families, purely on the basis of their race.

Today I feel so much better about calling myself an Australian.

Here are some details on myths about the Stolen Generations and information that busts those myths courtesy of Get Up. The following is taken from that same document.

*Who are the stolen generations? The term ‘Stolen Generations’ refers to Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Australians who were forcibly removed from their families and
communities by policies of government, welfare and church authorities as children and
placed into institutional care or with non-Indigenous foster families. The forced removal of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children began as early as the mid 1800s and
continued until the 1970s.

The apology? A central recommendation of the 1997 ‘Bringing Them Home’ report was the
need for a national apology to those individuals and their families and communities affected
by past policies of removal. Members of the Stolen Generations have indicated that
recognition by the Government that the policies were wrong would help in addressing the
trauma and suffering that they have experienced. The need for a national apology is also
regarded as an important component of the broader reconciliation process between
Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

I have been thinking about felt.

I love the texture and colours of good quality felt, but have not attempted to make much with it as yet. But I have plans. Amorphous vague plans, but plans none the less. This hair-clip is something I have made with beautiful felt from here. I think I need to start off by making some more of them.

This is a stack of the felt (100% wool, hand dyed) that I got on that particular shopping trip, about a year ago this month. My mother and I ventured into unfamiliar territory to go there, as we needed cheering up - my little sister had just had brain surgery and it was a time in our lives when everything seemed pretty grim.

This beautiful stack of colour was just the ticket, but I have been reluctant to cut into it.

I got some more felt in Loch last weekend at the Quilters Barn. It had no details on it, but it does not feel like it is 100% wool, although it does still feel pretty nice.

There was a good reason to get so much brown. I have plans (yes more plans) to make some gingerbread men for our Christmas tree at the end of the year, but I have no intentions on starting on that little project just yet. What are you making with felt?