Late autumn sunlight

The soft light on these warm sunny days is so wonderful...

Tree hugger

Gus loves his peppercorn tree!




That little blob just above the fork in the branches is Gus as he races on up (a bit tricky to catch on camera as he's pretty speedy).


.... and after all that climbing, he decides that there's still time to play on the ground.

Guerillas in our midst

I joined a guerilla gardening group a while ago but haven't yet taken any action in our local area (apart from making a no-dig garden around our street tree to try and soften the streetscape a little). Neighbours have given me lots of compliments for that tiny patch of garden and I know that there are endless opportunities for brightening our neighbourhoods further.



Edina Tokodi's urban moss graffiti provides even more inspiration - it's so easy to do!



...I just love the whole guerilla gardening movement in general.
If you're in the Brunswick/Fitzroy/Carlton/Parkville/Coburg area and would like to join in, please let me know. Anyone can sign up to the online community to find out what's happening in their country and region.

Here's a book for some background reading.

How would you score....

... in this 1939 'marital rating' scale?
(click on the picure to expand)


I'm very proud to say I scored several DEMERITS!

Illustration adoration

I'm not sure whether or not I've blogged about the Animation Archive before. It's a treasure trove of illustrated goodies!





So intriguing!

On a completely different note, I'd like to thank the wonderful Kris of Kris' Color Stripes for this delicious broad bean salad recipe - yum!

This is .... something I got but still haven't used

I feel so guilty, but it's time to fess up. When we received a beautiful little pasta-maker for our wedding in 2004 I was super-excited about the prospect of making delicious, fresh pasta whenever I felt like it. Chefs and cooks such as Maggie Beer always make it look so easy.

Somehow the years have passed and the dear little set is still in its box..... but not for much longer! Thank you to flossy-p for her 'This is ...' theme - it's prompted me to crack a few eggs into flour and get this baby rolling!


Check out the 'This is...' group at Three Buttons to see what other bloggers have got but not yet used....

Pup goes up ...... but what if he falls down?

I have a dilemma ....

One of Gus' favourite pastimes is climbing - he just loves going to parks or gardens with large trees or children's playground equipment. He runs up slides and climbing frames if there are no kiddies nearby who might be frightened by him. There's a peppercorn tree in our local park that he particularly loves to climb, and he walks out onto branches that are about 3 metres above the ground, his tail wagging furiously the whole time. He is also adores elm trees and oak trees (I think he's trying to find possums).



He gets a lot of energy out when he jumps and climbs in trees and he obviously enjoys climbing almost as much as swimming and getting muddy. Am I being reckless in letting him do this though? There's a chance he might fall and hurt himself I guess ....

Click here and here for more pictures of Gus with his beloved trees. I'll try and find some more climbing pics and post them soon.

Unmentionables

My grandmother had seven maiden aunts who lived together for their entire lives in a big house called Wanganella. I think they had three more siblings who didn't stay in the family home, and from the stories I've heard they were an interesting family.

Recently I inherited some of The Aunts' underwear (!), which may seem a little quirky but it's rather fascinating from a textile/clothing history point of view. There are several pairs of lace-edged cotton bloomers, some sewn as separate legs joined only at the top (the easy access option for women constrained by corsets):

... and one pair in the 'entire' bloomer style, with enough room to accommodate a curvy female bottom:


In addition to the bloomers there is a pretty hand-stitched camisole (underblouse?) in a much more delicate fabric:

... as well as a pair of men's woollens that presumably belonged to one of my great-great-uncles.


(readers from Victoria will likely recognise the tag).

I think these clothes are at least 100 years old, and some are a little yellowed. If anyone can give me some tips on the best way to wash and care for them I'd be very grateful!

Emerson's busy day

Late Autumn

We had some lovely rain on the weekend, so all the beautiful yellow leaves that I spread on the garden turned brown. I don't mind though, because rain and mulch are just what my little garden needs as it settles down to winter!

This little fella is also getting rugged up for winter, spinning gossamer threads to anchor his cocoon, but I don't think he understands the whole camouflage concept yet:


I think Gus wants to go and play in the rain ....

This is .... my way of recycling

~ I'm a leaf thief!*
In our household we recycle as much as we can, in all sorts of ways, but the other day I think I embarrassed my beloved a little bit by gathering several sacks of the beautiful golden leaves that pile up along Royal Parade in autumn.
They're detrimental to local aquatic ecosystems but wonderful for the garden and our compost worms!

(don't tell G, but I might gather some more this week, taking Gus as my accomplice...)

Don't forget to check over at Three Buttons to see who else is playing 'This is ...' this week.

* Thanks to Annie for this great description

Delivered safely

Yay! I'm so relieved that BigCat liked my contribution to her art swap.




I've only ever participated in one swap before, and because my partner didn't have a blog and I didn't have her email address, I never found out how my mobile fitted in with her household (I also didn't receive anything in return .... boo!)

But this swap was good fun, and all the pieces created look really special. Thank you Cath for organising it!

Listening skills

I've been meaning to write about this site for a while now - UK musician Nick Penny has created a wonderful audio diary, documenting sounds from his daily life in a beautiful exploration of the contemporary Northamptonshire landscape. I could spend hours browsing through the varied sound morsels, imagining the settings as I hear a creaky gate closing, workmen removing the facia on a house, a bumblebee seeking escape from indoors, footsteps crunching through frost, wind brushing through pine trees, birds and animals calling to each other ....

You can read about Nick here in a BBC article. He quotes part of my email at the end of the story :-)

Aprony goodness

Have you seen the range of pretty and sassy aprons over at Lana's Etsy shop? They're rather sweet. Shawnee has organised a Flirty Apron swap with a good ol' American theme to match .... Details are over here.

Sneak peek 2

Today I (finally) get to post off my little contribution to Big Cat's art swap, for which the theme was 'In the Woods'. It was my fist attempt at being crafty with paint so it's pretty amateurish, but I hope she doesn't think it's too tragic.

Here's another little peek for you, Big Cat:



I hope they reach you before your birthday!