Or at least close enough; thanks to that little intermission from internets failure.
A whole month full of daily posts; the first time I've done -that- in a long time. Go me!



Something simple to round up this month, perhaps.
( An Update on those Frangipani )

The photography sensation that's gripping the... well, Me!!



Bokeh is essentially all that beautiful blurry bits in the background that transforms a photograph into something that looks quite impressionistic.

( I Can't Get Enough! )

As soon as I saw this experiment blogged about by the fantastic Susie Can Stitch, I KNEW this was something the nieces and I needed to do.
Not just because it's really -really- cool, but also because I had all the materials necessary to do it just lying around the house.



It was SUCH a big success. ( They LOVED it! )

I've been busy, busy crafting, sadly.. I still can't share any of it with you, Doh!
Which is a shame, because I'm pretty excited to share some, just a few more weeks now what is it, 27 sleeps until Chrissy?

Anyways.. something that I CAN show you is a bit of birthday knitting I did a couple weeks ago, modeled by the happy recipient:



Pattern: Turn A Square Hat by Jared Flood (Ravelry link!)
Yarn: The last of my dark brown Lion Brand 100% wool and Noro
Needles: US 5 and US 6 circulars

Aside from going down a needle size, I didn't change anything about the pattern; it's so quick to make (I threw this sucker together in an afternoon when I realized I was running out of time to send the package in time to reach the recipient in time!) and what a satisfying result! I do love myself some Noro.



He loves it too and my fears that it would be too big seem to be for naught, fits him just fine!
Happy Birthday to my favourite guy in Kosovo!

Current linen on my bed; I'll just let you guess how stoked I was to find that tiger pillowcase.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you Americans out there.
Today I took some time to be mindfully thankful, I think it's a good exercise to do;

* I am thankful for my incredible parents who are so supportive of me.
* I am thankful for my friends, especially those who go out of their way to check up on me.
* I am thankful for my clever hands which allow me to express my creativity in many ways, all of which bring me joy.
* I am thankful for the beautiful place that I am living; beauty beyond words to describe.

"As we express out gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."
- John F. Kennedy

Not all of my various neighbors and house-guests play nicely.
I found this gorgeous redback spider while poking around in the garage, pulling the boogie boards out for the summer.
Looks like it's time for a good clean out!

( Cut for the spider-phobic )

Tis the season, again. Or at least, it was SUPPOSED to have been the season.
The jacarandas, the definitive signal that summer is here around this place, are all in bloom.
I decided last year that I would take a trip up to Grafton; about an hour's drive north of me, this year because it's a town known for its beautiful jacaranda trees.
The town loves these trees so much that they hold a festival in the trees honour every year.
I was expecting there to be more noise about it in the paper; but to my dismay when it occurred to me to check I learned that I had just MISSED this years festival by two days. :P
Also we had been hit by another week of horrible heavy rain causing flooding all along the coast in my area. So I decided to take a trip up north anyway to see how it was looking, but wasn't expecting anything truly breath-taking.
( And this is what I found... )

The cooking part of my lovely Sunday mostly involved this: baking muffins!
( But these aren't your average chocolate chips! )

Today has been a wonderful Sunday.
Full of everything I love.
Crafting, Cooking, Beach, Games and two lovely little girls to share it all with.
I'll be sure to tell you all about it over the coming week (also that trip to Grafton I hinted at the other day!)

Hehehe, I took this photo on a recent trip up to Grafton; a historic town known, amongst other things, for their homes with beautiful gardens.
I suppose this homeowner decided to rebel a bit and go for the easy-care option!
Who needs a lawn? Just pave it over and paint it green. Good as.
Hah!

Remember those freaky monster plant worm things I showed you a couple weeks ago? Here's an update on how they're doing!
( I love frangipani! )

I've been busy crafting up a storm! Knitting and sewing and other assorted exciting and creative things... unfortunately for all of you, they're Christmas presents, so I probably won't get to share them with you until much later.
At least I'm feeling good and on top of things this year!!

I'm currently reading "The Ethics of What We Eat" by Peter Singer and Jim Mason. It's a fantastic read on many levels and I hope, later, when I'm done, I'll put aside some time to really ponder on what I learn from this book. But for now I wanted to share one little sentence from the book that really jumped out at me; from the chapter discussing shopping locally:
"A study has shown that people have ten times as many conversations at farmers' markets as they do in supermarkets."

This rings true to me, and I think for anyone who has allowed themselves to embrace the farmers market experience will agree as well.
And for someone who is (very) shy (people phobic?) and (once again) living all on her ownsome, having an easy conversation starter can be a huge blessing.

I love my farmers market, it's every Thursday and I just feel a little bit incomplete if I have to miss it somehow (of late it's been because of accompanying grandparents to various appointments or meetings; I'm beginning to be convinced Thursdays are the only day their various doctors make appointments..)
I'm also slowly getting to learn what's available seasonally.
It's certainly hot, hot, hot enough for me to DEFINITELY understand that summer is not already on the way, but it might as well be here. But my stomach is having a hard time adjusting to the back-the-front seasons change even two years onwards.

I'll tell you what though; it's beginning to be stone fruit season and this makes me one of the happiest people in the world. All those delicious fruit above cost me about five bucks.. and let me tell you; those nectarines are pure ambrosia. It's making my poor, confused stomach feel much better about adjusting.  

Hurrah! I once more have power over the internets. And oh, the catching up I have to do(!)



Lets start with the latest house guest, shall we?
( My Dapper, Green, Friend. )

Ugh, and I was going so well too...

I'm writing this from the public library: I'm currently internets-less at home, have been for the past couple of days and looks like I'll continue to be for at least a couple days more.

boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo....
Hopefully I'll be back on track surfing the series of tubes sooner rather then later.

Just a quick one since I can hear the beginning rumbles of another storm passing through; one of my favourite rainy day indulgences.
A mug of warm green tea and a couple blocks of orange-flavoured dark chocolate. (Left overs from a recent baking project!)

This is, hands down. The most satisfying treat for the lack of effort that goes into making these. Seriously? They throw together in minutes. They are also soooooo good!
( Recipe and more yummy photos back here! )

The other morning I noticed there was a break in the rain so I thought I'd get up and go for my morning run (something I'm honestly trying to make a habit.. honestly.. really..)
I threw on some clothes, slipped into my sneaks then opened the curtains to the front window to head on out and promptly got scared out of my wits by some unexpected visitors!
( Check out who came to say Good Morning to me! )

Woke up this morning and dear Mother Nature was all "Four days of flooding rain? WHAT four days of flooding rain? I don't remember anything like that happening..."

I'm onto you Miss Nature!!
(at least I got clean laundry now!)

Today, I'd like to talk to you about Artichokes.
( Artichokes. They are Green. )