I once ate the most delicious borscht at a dinner party, delicately flavoured and elegant on the tongue, made by a charming gay gentleman whose taste in needlepoint sometimes verged on the risque. I never quite got up the courage to ask him (while 'we girls' ,as he phrased us, were having show and tell of our needlework) if he chuckled while petit-pointing the wobbly bits....
There is always an education to be had in the world!
Isn't that purple and green wonderful?
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Monday, February 12, 2007
Lychees
Look at the wonderful colour variation among these - cream, yellow, pink, apricot, red. Aaaaaaaah.
Rain
It's been raining in a thoughtful, steady way on and off all day. Not the thunderstorm rain-in-hurry that comes then goes and pelts the ground, but rain that must be soaking in and will hopefully reach the catchments and dams - Sydney's dams are hovering around the 35% mark, uncomfortably low. Some of the rain is staccato on the skylights, while other times it's arrived like a rush of wind.
Picture later!
Also pics of some late summer stone fruit - the apricots and peaches are scenting the kitchen, smelling wonderful. Did I buy them a) to eat and b) to photograph? Or a) to photograph and b) to eat? I'm not saying...
Oh, and the 10,000th visitor was from Padstow, in the southern suburbs of Sydney. Most amusing that despite visitors from exotic places around the world (see the map over on the right), that number should be someone in the same part of the world. Hello Padstow!
Picture later!
Also pics of some late summer stone fruit - the apricots and peaches are scenting the kitchen, smelling wonderful. Did I buy them a) to eat and b) to photograph? Or a) to photograph and b) to eat? I'm not saying...
Oh, and the 10,000th visitor was from Padstow, in the southern suburbs of Sydney. Most amusing that despite visitors from exotic places around the world (see the map over on the right), that number should be someone in the same part of the world. Hello Padstow!
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Cauliflower
You'd probably not call it elegant, but there is a rustic beauty about cauliflowers, even with the hacked leaf-stumps. Sometimes on my way to work I've passed fields where they're being harvested.
A while ago I discovered that the dish one of my siblings hated most while growing up was cauliflower cheese (cooked cauliflower drizzled with cheesy white sauce and topped with rashers of bacon). What's not to like about that?! (My most hated dish was a dessert, peeled whole bananas drowned in custard and baked in the oven. Hot drowned bananas - shudddddder!).
Sorry Ma! (she sometimes reads this blog, as I remember when she shows an uncanny knowledge of something I haven't mentioned in conversation....) - there's plenty more that I liked.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Plant in window
I saw this and was struck by the fall of the light and the great variation in leaf colour. No idea what sort of plant it is. But look at that teal, and rust, and mustard. And the not-whites of the window and frame.
There's a quilt in the colours here. But then I would say that. Although it's not necessarily a game I've tried yet - I tend to work from the fabric I see, not start with the world. Probably simpler, but I'll have to play the other game sometime too.
There's a quilt in the colours here. But then I would say that. Although it's not necessarily a game I've tried yet - I tend to work from the fabric I see, not start with the world. Probably simpler, but I'll have to play the other game sometime too.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Old brick wall
It's a wall with a story, if only you could hear it. Still standing, despite the cracks. Think of a modern brick wall, neat, clean, orderly - this one has so much more to say.
I photographed a few textures like this with the idea of possibly using them as backgrounds for photographs in scrapbooking, or printing onto faric. Haven't tried it yet...still thinking....
I photographed a few textures like this with the idea of possibly using them as backgrounds for photographs in scrapbooking, or printing onto faric. Haven't tried it yet...still thinking....
Thursday, February 08, 2007
oh me oh my...
I got serious about this blog in January 2006 but didn't put a counter on it till about April 2006. And now I see that it's almost at 10,000, which is just staggering. Even if half of them are me....
Wonder where the 10,000th will come from? I'll let you know, if I can work it out.
Wonder where the 10,000th will come from? I'll let you know, if I can work it out.
Swimming pool
Carnival day today. Found myself, like last year, interested in the lane line refracted through the water - this time it's shifting in the wake of a swimmer.
You could have stood there for five minutes, snapping away, and never found yourself with an identical photo. I like the abstractness of these.
You could have stood there for five minutes, snapping away, and never found yourself with an identical photo. I like the abstractness of these.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Sunlight
Clearly I have a thing for old doors and windows, and the way sunlight casts shadows. What can I say? If it's a character flaw, I'm OK with it.
We had plenty of sunlight today, it was another hot sticky February summer day - but in the late afternoon, a welcome thunderstorm darkened the sky enough to need headlights at 5pm to find a way through the dim, uncertain light on the road home.
At 8pm, as the light began to fade, it was a delicious post-rain pink, almost as though you could see the air. Looking up, there were high clouds scudding across the sky but every leaf was still in the trees and there was not a breath of wind to be felt.
We had plenty of sunlight today, it was another hot sticky February summer day - but in the late afternoon, a welcome thunderstorm darkened the sky enough to need headlights at 5pm to find a way through the dim, uncertain light on the road home.
At 8pm, as the light began to fade, it was a delicious post-rain pink, almost as though you could see the air. Looking up, there were high clouds scudding across the sky but every leaf was still in the trees and there was not a breath of wind to be felt.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Current reading
Today I hope to catch a train and have time to read one of these. I started The Time Traveler's Wife and it's kinda annoying me at present. But I want to work through that, as I've heard good reports. Plath and Hughes? I've loved Ted Hughes' poetry since high school and 3 unit (advanced) English, and this sounds like an illumination of their relationship and the book, Birthday Letters. Sarah Dunant writes with wonderful humour about travelling in the US by Greyhound, after she unexpectedly wins a Green Card.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Other doors
Three fine blog entries...none of them mine, but ones I've saved to reread.
RS Out of Hand on 20 directions
{A} on one little word
Breed 'em and weep on I might have loved him once
These are all doors, too. Thank you.
RS Out of Hand on 20 directions
{A} on one little word
Breed 'em and weep on I might have loved him once
These are all doors, too. Thank you.
Red gingham door
Monday, the door to a new week.
This door is from Susannah Place (yup, I'm still mining that set of photos - but why not?! - it's my blog and I'll mine if I want to...). (Besides, I liked the weathered wood and cheerful red gingham.)
This door is from Susannah Place (yup, I'm still mining that set of photos - but why not?! - it's my blog and I'll mine if I want to...). (Besides, I liked the weathered wood and cheerful red gingham.)
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Sugar plums
Yup, OK, like you I've heard of the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker ballet.
But this is the first time I ever remember seeing sugar plums. I always imagined they were glace plums, or plums somehow otherwise cooked/preserved. Wasn't it plums that Amy got into trouble for at school, in Little Women? That she bought with Meg's hard-earned?
So there at my favourite well-lit fruit and vege shop was this array of sugar plums. They were distinctly smaller than usual plums, their colour a wondrous range from chartreuse through deep red to, well, plum. There's a hand-dye crossover worth trying (as I'm sure it has been).
I probably should have bought some. But I went for two punnets of blackberries instead, because they're divine with sweet plain yoghurt, and almost equally rare (certainly they are rarely $2.99/punnet) and brought the sugar plums home in my camera.
I might go back next week, though...I'm conscious of the seasonality of all this wonderful stone fruit (had some white peaches last week that were fresh and singing on the tongue), and that it won't last. Already mangoes are becoming dirt cheap, and when they become dirt cheap they're coming to the end of their time - a huge change from the first box of mangoes at the Sydney wholesale fruit markets in spring, which is traditionally auctioned and raises a significant sum for charity.
But then, the flip side of the seasonality is that when they're here, they're good. It's all very well having apples, for instance, available all year, but not when they're not worth eating because they're soft or boardy or not properly apple-y, crisp and with sweet-sharp juice.
Sugar plums are probably nice with sweet plain yoghurt too.
But this is the first time I ever remember seeing sugar plums. I always imagined they were glace plums, or plums somehow otherwise cooked/preserved. Wasn't it plums that Amy got into trouble for at school, in Little Women? That she bought with Meg's hard-earned?
So there at my favourite well-lit fruit and vege shop was this array of sugar plums. They were distinctly smaller than usual plums, their colour a wondrous range from chartreuse through deep red to, well, plum. There's a hand-dye crossover worth trying (as I'm sure it has been).
I probably should have bought some. But I went for two punnets of blackberries instead, because they're divine with sweet plain yoghurt, and almost equally rare (certainly they are rarely $2.99/punnet) and brought the sugar plums home in my camera.
I might go back next week, though...I'm conscious of the seasonality of all this wonderful stone fruit (had some white peaches last week that were fresh and singing on the tongue), and that it won't last. Already mangoes are becoming dirt cheap, and when they become dirt cheap they're coming to the end of their time - a huge change from the first box of mangoes at the Sydney wholesale fruit markets in spring, which is traditionally auctioned and raises a significant sum for charity.
But then, the flip side of the seasonality is that when they're here, they're good. It's all very well having apples, for instance, available all year, but not when they're not worth eating because they're soft or boardy or not properly apple-y, crisp and with sweet-sharp juice.
Sugar plums are probably nice with sweet plain yoghurt too.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Pachelbel rant
This one had me laughing aloud. And I LIKE Pachelbel's Canon, clichéd though it may be...
This is by comedian Rob Paravonian (and posted by him, or so it seems - here's the YouTube URL for it).
If you want more on Pachelbel's Canon, try Wikipedia's entry.
Film: Becoming Jane
It's not released yet, but Becoming Jane looks like one worth seeing. Trailer here, imdb entry here. It's a biopic about Jane Austen. Or, if you want to be cynical, a bonnet drama. Lot of fun to be had with bonnet dramas...
Picture source.
And spookily, I only realised after posting that both of today's images share a palette - blue, yellow, browns.
Sign
Isn't it nice to know, that whatever else may be going on, reliable shoe repairs are just around the corner?
Friday, February 02, 2007
6 weird things meme...
6 weird things, 6 weird things... the weird bit is trying to come up with six things that might be considered weird, since the world is so full of people who might indeed find your weird anything but weird.
So these things may not be considered weird at all. I make no promises.
1. I have a terrible time in large, well-lit fruit and vegetable shops, because the colours and textures and shapes just pull my digital camera out of my bag and so you get photos like the kohl rabi one. I've never had a staff member stop me taking photos there. So I keep doing it, from time to time (seasons change, fruit and veges change - and I'm always happy for an excuse to buy their sweet plain yoghurt).
2. Apropos of 1., I always carry a digital camera with me. It means I not only catch all sorts of things, significant or insigificant, that I might not otherwise catch, it also means I look and see more than I might otherwise. Like kohl rabi. I'm not sure how it feeds my inner designer or my creative soul, but somehow it does, although I can provide no empirical evidence.
3. In almost any op shop I can come up with a collection of garments which will go together to make an interesting quilt. Shirts are easy, but there are trousers and jeans and dresses... and ties. Actually, probably any op shop (op shop/Oxfam/Goodwill/charity shop).
4. My favourite colour for shoes is red.
5. I can do a reasonably authentic Scots accent (does it have to be Glaswegian? my mother wanted to know) and an Irish one (does it have to be so Bog Irish? my mother wanted to know). And can twist a few words in a Northern Irish accent. And I've passed for Cockney , English and American when I needed to, but only briefly. And I once used sign language (Auslan) to get rid of a beggar in San Francisco, but that's another story.
6. While I can and do make 'collection' quilts with fabrics from one collection/designer, I equally believe that fabrics from all over go together far better than quilters assume. I believe we should be game to play, to try new and unexpected combinations, to take courage from what vintage quilts show us of what can and does make a happy quilt. I don't believe quilts have to match decor. A quilt can just be itself. It doesn't have to match a house - it expresses an idea.
OK, who to tag?
YOU, if you haven't done it yet - consider yourself tagged!
So these things may not be considered weird at all. I make no promises.
1. I have a terrible time in large, well-lit fruit and vegetable shops, because the colours and textures and shapes just pull my digital camera out of my bag and so you get photos like the kohl rabi one. I've never had a staff member stop me taking photos there. So I keep doing it, from time to time (seasons change, fruit and veges change - and I'm always happy for an excuse to buy their sweet plain yoghurt).
2. Apropos of 1., I always carry a digital camera with me. It means I not only catch all sorts of things, significant or insigificant, that I might not otherwise catch, it also means I look and see more than I might otherwise. Like kohl rabi. I'm not sure how it feeds my inner designer or my creative soul, but somehow it does, although I can provide no empirical evidence.
3. In almost any op shop I can come up with a collection of garments which will go together to make an interesting quilt. Shirts are easy, but there are trousers and jeans and dresses... and ties. Actually, probably any op shop (op shop/Oxfam/Goodwill/charity shop).
4. My favourite colour for shoes is red.
5. I can do a reasonably authentic Scots accent (does it have to be Glaswegian? my mother wanted to know) and an Irish one (does it have to be so Bog Irish? my mother wanted to know). And can twist a few words in a Northern Irish accent. And I've passed for Cockney , English and American when I needed to, but only briefly. And I once used sign language (Auslan) to get rid of a beggar in San Francisco, but that's another story.
6. While I can and do make 'collection' quilts with fabrics from one collection/designer, I equally believe that fabrics from all over go together far better than quilters assume. I believe we should be game to play, to try new and unexpected combinations, to take courage from what vintage quilts show us of what can and does make a happy quilt. I don't believe quilts have to match decor. A quilt can just be itself. It doesn't have to match a house - it expresses an idea.
OK, who to tag?
YOU, if you haven't done it yet - consider yourself tagged!
Thursday, February 01, 2007
6 weird things meme
I've watched this one travel the blogosphere, and now I've been tagged by the Material Obsession girls. I'll get to it....
Vintage textures
Particularly at Susannah Place, textures and decay have been left as they are, as they were when people occupied these houses. I enjoyed catching the variety of textures on walls, doors, a ceiling, although I don't know if I could live with all of them at home.
Love the effect of authentic patina like these examples. I thought they could be interesting for scrapbooking or to try printing on fabric, to engage with reworking them.
Metaphor for work: a busy week full of various experiences. Lots to think about, plenty to do, some stuff you can change, some you can't.
Poverty bedroom
This is from one of the houses at Susannah Place - they were working class houses, this bedroom also had a double bed in it and the room was shared by 3 sisters at one time. One of them remembered that they were not permitted candles upstairs, so she read at night by leaning out the window and using the streetlight.
(Metaphor for work: first week back is very tiring, you fall asleep VERY easily at day's end!)
(Metaphor for work: first week back is very tiring, you fall asleep VERY easily at day's end!)
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