Matching Pegs

As the kids had a curriculum day today (no school, teachers plan the curriculum) we stayed in the country for a long weekend. We enjoyed the slower pace, the space, as well as catching up with family, and catching the local footy (Aussie Rules of course - this is Victoria).

Of course I took along the camera and took more photos of the area where my husband grew up.

on the left are some Peppercorns and on the right is a magnificent eucalyptus.

Here is a view of his home town, which is in the north of Victoria.

And, because I can’t help myself, here is another sunset.

Hopefully my next post will be some sewing/creating.

They shall grow not old,
As we that are left grow old,
Age shall not weary them,
Nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun,
And in the morning
We will remember them. Lest we Forget

This is the verse of the ode that is said during the minutes of silence on Anzac Day.

For the sacrifices that have been made, and those that continue to be made, by the men and women that serve their country, and the families that they leave behind, we are grateful.

(instead of a Fairy in the garden).

I have finally done something with the little doll that was going to be a fairy, she morphed into a ballerina - lets call her Belle.

Her skirt was really easy to make, I just looped lengths of ribbon around a short circle of elastic to put around her waist. Her hair was a little trickier. I wound tapestry wool around a business card (along the longer length) and then stitched through it, 1/4 inch in from the end. I managed to break a needle doing this, so it may not have been the best way.

I left the tails of thread (where I started and finished stitching) quite long and used them to sew the hair to Belle’s head, stitching along the line of machine stitching, in a “crown”around her head. I then tied the thread off, after passing them through her head to a spot that will be hidden after the hair is arranged. Finally I wound the long hair into a large bun and tied them with a ribbon. It feels good to have actually finished something for a change.

After a suggestion from my friend Rebecca, who is not well today (we were commiserating on the difficulty of producing dinners on such nights), I thought I would post my advice for a healthy, quick meal on those nights when everything is all too much*.

I have discovered frozen fish fillets in the supermarket that are just fish - not crumbed or sauced, just plain fish. All you have to do is steam the fillets in the microwave, they only take a few minutes. My kids love Smoked Cape Cod fillets. To go with this I cook potatoes in their jackets, also in the microwave. While these are not really quite as nice as roasted jacket potatoes, they become slightly more tasty with a little butter on them. Lots of microwaves have a button “jacket potatoes” or similar that you just have to push once for each potato, just make sure to poke a fork in them first or they might explode! I round this meal off with whatever other veggies I have, steamed again in the microwave.

This meal induces far less guilt than take away, but is about as easy as a trip up the street with three kids.

* Cooking is by no means my forte, I would much rather sew - but I do like healthy, easy food where possible for dinner - lots of veggies especially.

**While i was writing this post this afternoon, I thought that Michaela was in her bedroom, next door to her father, who was in our room. We should have realised that it was too quiet…….

This is what 5 shades of lipsticks, smooshed together looks like. Arrrrghh.

No more applying a quick slick of lipstick at the red lights. Now I will have to carefully apply my lipstick with a brush before I leave the house (after sticking the brush up into the lids where all my lipstick now resides).

Well the past weekend flew by. Luke and I had our night in the city for our tenth anniversary, and the kids had a lovely day at the zoo with Grandma and Grandpa, followed by a sleepover at their place.

Amelia took the following photo of the Lion.

Yesterday afternoon we had a little fun with the “Photo Booth” program on Luke’s new Apple Mac Book Pro. This amused the kids for a full half hour. Have a look at this Bizarre Family.

Now all I need to do is get some time to create.

10 years ago today we said “I do”. Best Decision Ever!

No matter what kind of wedding you have, it is a pretty special, and powerful thing, to declare your love and commitment publicly, in front of all your family and friends. Marriage is not a fairy tale, we have had plenty of good and bad times already. It is easy to love someone in the good times, but I have to say (again publicly) that there is no other person who I would rather face the bad times with (or the good ones of course). We make a great team.

I feel so very lucky and blessed to have met such a wonderful, gentle, caring, amusing, interesting man to share my life with. Here is to the decades to come.

Please indulge me while I reminisce with some more photos……

That’s my family looking very spiffy. My very talented Mum made all the bridal dresses; My dress, the bridesmaid dresses, her outfit, all the ties that the men wore. I helped her with things that my skills were up to, and I made my veil. My cousin Janet cut the pattern for my dress, wasn’t she clever.

This is us having dinner on our honeymoon, don’t we look young, (23 and 21yrs).

So I seem to have fallen in a blogging heap lately, not posting as often as I would like. In my defence, lots has been happening in the Matching Pegs household - not all of which would be very interesting to read about. One thing of note is that Luke has a new job starting in a couple of weeks which we are very excited about. This has meant he has been working very hard to finish up properly at his current job, and has not been getting home until very late for the last two weeks.

Luckily, this weekend the two of us are getting away to a swanky city hotel for a night to celebrate our 10th anniversary tomorrow, (thanks to Mum and Dad who are looking after the kids).

I am still not sewing much, to try and give my arm a rest - it is getting better though and I am itching to give it a real workout! As a result, I don’t have any interesting work to show for myself, so I thought I would show you another treasure that I have from my wonderful Grandma.

This is my Cooking Man.

Although I believe he was intended to hold spaghetti, he is empty - his most important job is to smile encouragingly at my cooking efforts, from his post beside the stove, and to remind me of my Grandma, (in whose kitchen he used to live). I don’t know how old he is, or where he came from, (The name scratched into his underside is Macky) or whether he is worth anything. None of that matters, he is a Treasure because he came from Grandma (My Grandmother passed away 7 years ago on Sunday, so she is on my mind).

Here is somthing else that my amuse. Not only do I match my pegs, but my pins as well. I use a complimentary colour to the fabric that I am pinning (but one with enough contrast to stand out) and when I run out of one colour, I switch to the next and keep pinning.

This trait seems to have been passed on - these are Amelia’s pins that she won as part of her prize haul. She doesn’t really use them yet, but don’t they look delecious!

I have been writing and rewriting this post all week…

Andrew Denton’s interview show “Enough Rope” has a slogan, “Everyone has a story”.

Last week he touched on my story, my family’s story.

Among the stories of celebrities, Andrew shows us stories that do not get much coverage. Last Monday his show was called “Angels and Demons” and was about living with mental illness. I have a close family member who has schizophrenia, and other members of the extended family who have this nasty illness as well.

Andrew treated the people that he spoke to with dignity, and let them tell their stories in their own words. Together with the people he spoke to, he shone some light on to what living with “Angels and Demons” can be like. The more people that talk about this, the better. We need to break down some of the stigma that gets heaped upon people that already have enough to deal with.

I am profoundly grateful that Andrew and the Enough Rope team have made this show.

I don’t really want to say more here on this blog, as this blog is really a place for me to show my creations, but wanted to publicly acknowledge Andrews contribution, and my gratitude.

Frustrated by the hindrance that my cubital tunnel syndrome is causing me, I have not been game to do any hand- sewing until yesterday. I was keen to join in on this project from Lynette Anderson’s Blog, and luckily this month, the dove is only a tiny 2 inch design. It was a nice small test for my arm.

I chose embroidery floss that I already had in my stash, and have a particular colour-way in mind for the fabrics, lots of warm colours - yellows, greens, peachy/coral tones, browns/terracottas, as well as lavender and that slightly greyed blue, (like the colours in this project I have on the back-burner).

I also decided to colour the calico prior to stitching, (like I did in this project), so I got out the derwents and had some fun. Here is the finished stitchery, which is waiting for its fabric border.

Even this was a little too much for my arm, so I will be waiting a little longer before I attempt the bunnies, (which were actually from last month, right in the middle of preparation for my sister’s wedding) but they are coloured and waiting to go.

Today I decided to do a tiny bit of machine sewing during Michaela’s nap, to cheer me up. Here is the quick project that I came up with.

Our church is currently planning for a Wedding Gown Parade, and I have been working on the invitation/flyer and ticket design.

My gown is going to be in the parade, so a couple of weeks ago I opened up it’s storage box and tried it on. I could fit into it and do up the zip - that is, up to where my bust started. 10 years and 3 kids has left me with a different body than I had when I wore it last, so someone else will wear it in the parade. Trying it on was not as bad for the ego as I had feared - it fitted over my waist and hips! One thing my mother and I obsessed about was the colour of the fabric we used for the different dresses, (my mother made all off them) - what a surprise.

My dress was a creamy colour, but rather than being a cream made by adding yellow to white, it was a sort of rich mango cream colour. My bridesmaids wore a shade of copper.

The ends of the scarf are made from scraps of my wedding dress material, and the rest of it is a remnant that my mother was getting rid of in a fabric purge. Perhaps I will wear it on our 10th anniversary later this month. I only wish that my photo could capture the colours more accurately.

It is a glorious Melbourne autumn Sunday, (crisp morning, very sunny day-but not too hot) and we have been enjoying the delicious treats above.

Rory and I went to a birthday party yesterday, and have another to visit late this afternoon. While we were gone yesterday, the girls and Luke made gingerbread, but Rory was home in time to enjoy decorating them too. The ones above are the Happy Gingerbread People. Those below are the Angry ones….

We have been taking advantage of the “extra hour” today, after the clock switched from Daylight Savings Time overnight, doing lots of odd jobs around the house. I have been washing our windows after the amazing windstorm that we had during the week - Much of Melbourne was without power and some people still are, so a bit of dust is no big deal.

As the birthday parties are now here (I am sure you are not peeking Debbie, just an hour before the party) I can show you the sewing I have been doing - 2 Piratical Aprons!

It was somewhat of a struggle to get Rory to agree to model one for me, but he gave in eventually.

So, we are off to a party shortly - I had better get out of my cleaning windows gear - but I will leave you with a laugh. Here are the Sad Gingerbread People. Mr Gingerbread was devastated to discover that his wife had been attacked by an enormous “little” girl, who could not wait to try……..

This is a most beautiful book, that just drips with inspiration for any creative types out there.

In the absence of any of my own creative endeavours to post about, (I have been sewing on my sewing machine, but I have been making gifts, so no peeking.) I thought you might like a look at this.

It is a new edition of a book first published in 1856, when it was called “The Grammar of Ornament”. Architect Owen Jones first published it as a reference, in installments for subscribers. Owen Jones travelled widely recording patterns and ornamentation that he found decorating many buildings like palaces, churches, mosques, and temples.

The page below (144) “Consists of different mosaics taken from pavements and walls in private houses and mosques in Cairo.”

This edition is published by Tess Press, an in-print of Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers Inc. and my lovely husband gave it to me for Christmas in 2006. He did well choosing this gift didn’t he!