Home made icy poles...

Where I live we are in the middle of a major heat wave -the worst for 100 years. It's about 44 degrees celsius at the moment (about 111 F). There's alot of power black outs due to heat and the air con is not great. I've heard reports that people's pets have died, particularly rodents, birds and rabbits and a co-worker has had to leave due to fire risk around her home. A lot of people are going and staying at airconditioned hotels which I have to admit is very tempting, but we have lots to do as my husband is off to England on monday for his Nan's funeral. Bad reason to go obviously, but I'm envious he is escaping the heat! There's not much we can do unfortunately.

Here's a couple of my icy pole recipes for keeping cool:

Vodka icy poles:

Ingredients:

-vodka

-fruit of choice. I have tried watermelon and pineapple.
-ice

Instructions:

Blend all ingredients and freeze in a mould or plastic cup. If you can't wait and must consume, go right ahead.

Lazy person's icy pole:

Ingredients:

-vodka or gin

-store bought icy pole (aka iced lolly)

Instructions:

Pour a generous quantity of liquor into a cold glass.

Add icypole.

Mush together.

Eat with a spoon.

More spoils from the garden....

I've been propogating several saucepans of succulents to give to friends:


We have had loads of chillies and zucchinis for a few weeks but the other day we proudly harvested these:

Very yummy!

Me in the media!

I forgot to mention that I was interview by uber trendy The Vine by the lovely Gemma :-)

A true romantic....

This was found on a community notice board called Gum Tree

tears

your tears are like an ocean that run into me
all i do is dream of you next to me
always let you be the one in control
never treated you like some dj's girl
ive been sitting in the wrong garden all week
you said you lived on this road but for starts its a street
i followed you to melbourne now where are you?

i spun some records at perth's dodgy ends
was the strippiest night in regards to my feelings being bare
told you every feeling ive had since i could breathe this air
and all the other girls, i shut them down
i love you tarlia, we can work around this restraining order please, i love u

I think 'strippiest' is the best term ever made up, and there's nothing like passing off stalking as a romantic gesture necessitating a restraining order

There's a market for almost everything....

Beautifully sewn custom fabric portraiture of your beloveds by pidge pidge....

Polka Dot Rabbit at Craft Hatch this Saturday!

As a member of Craft Victoria, I am holding a stall at City Library with various other Melbourne craftsters and artists. Come along and view some amazing crafty wares in all kinds of mediums.

If you're looking to spend some Christmas present cash, this is the place to visit!

All proceeds go dirctly to stall holders and it's a great chance to preference local, handmade goods over mass produced, imported products. I'll be featuring some new products for the very first time...

I'd love you to come and say hello, I'm a bit nervous as I think I'm the only stall holder without some kind of qualificiation in the creative arts...(I have a degree in Criminology hehe) so it would be lovely to see some friendly faces!

The Details:
Saturday, January 24, 2009

Time:11:00am - 4:00pm

Location:City Library (1st floor)
253 Flinders Lane
Melbourne

I have the best husband in the world....

He re-organised my craft room!



What a catch!

Interesting things I have seen this week...

A man applying concealer on the tram at 9am

A woman with a ring tattooed on her wedding ring finger

Polka Dot patterned toe nails

New crafts!

I finally finished these ducks, presents for some young friends in Italy.

I made this cushion from a reclaimed tapestry and the skirt of an old dress.

Today I went to the store and I bought....

Well Savers anyway! Some cute sheets:



Teacups, I'm undecided whether to make them into planters or candle for my next craft stall, which do you think?:



Tea towels to make into something interesting:
Cute trim:
Crochet blanket! I'm stockpiling for a special winter project:

A crazy cook book, a pot of herbs and a pair of pants....

Here's a bag I made out of a pair of pants and some recycled paisley fabric. It's my first ever bag I've made so I have some finessing to do, but I figure it's a good start:

Paisley lining:

Pocket:

I bought this hilarious 'cook book meets novel' from an op shop near work:

It has lots of amusing photographs like this:

And here's a few herbs from the garden in an old mug I like alot as it amuses me:

Simplicity is living...

I love these free downloadable posters from Readymade.com, inspired by social art of the 'great depression era, designed by Nick Dewar and Christopher Silas Neal respectively. They are part of a series of five and you can download yours here

Do you make your own bread?

I was interested to read this article about the environmental benefits of making your own bread, with a breadmaker. These include the use of bulk materials and less travel and packaging. Further, it is alleged that a bread machine can do doughs, artisan breads, gluten-free loafs, and even jams and chutneys.

In our house we're not big bread eaters. We struggle to finish a loaf in a week. So for us it would most likely not be cost effective. Further I'm not meant to eat wheat so we invariably buy some kind of organic, whole loaf anyway. But for a big family it may be the way to go, what do you think?

Are there other things you make from scratch rather than buy? A dear friend makes the most amazing jams and chutneys and I've featured the benefits of making your own shortbread and I also like to make scones. We'll also soon be subject to an influx of zucchinis which will nessitate some busy baking. I'd also like to try making tomato sauces for presents.

Bye, bye Wedgwood...?

I was sad to read today that ceramics company Waterford Wedgwood have gone into the hands of receivers. I have a number of small pieces which have been passed down and are of sentimental value...

The therapeutic benefits of knitting!

As you all know, Craftea Chat group was a resounding success. Here's a media interview on a BBC4 mental health radio show about the mental health benefits of knitting. In case we needed convincing!

* The media piece aired on All in the Mind December 29th 2008 and is about 20mins into the program. I always enjoy the program and it features many interesting issues such as consumer rights, mental health initiatives and the like.

Cate in the media!

Recently I was asked to comment on a rather sexist, stereotypical article written about women and craft. You can see my thoughts and the interview here

Gloves for my Etsy Shop!

I embroidered some new gloves with a new designyesterday for my etsy shop...I think they're quite cute, although suitable only for the Northern Hemisphere today!

Zucchini!

We were very excited to find our first zucchini grown in the veggie patch! The zucchinis are a light pale green with a soft prickly fur on the outside, ensuring no bugs get near!

As we were going for Dalyesford for the weekend, I proceeded to make a zucchini cake! I varied the recipe somewhat and used dates instead of raisins and sultanas and almonds instead of walnuts and added some grated carrot. Very yummy!

Our Trip to Werribee Zoo

Chris organised a surprise trip to Werribee Zoo as part of my Christmas gift! I really recommend it, if you are looking for a day out that's a bit different. Here's a few highlights:

Emu!:

Australian water hen:

Chickens were quite abundant. We wondered if they were fodder for the lions:

I adore zebras:

It's a fun day out and the zoo does a great amount of good in caring for endangered species and respectiver breeding programs. You can see more pics here

Christmas!

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas holiday, spending time with loved ones... Chris and I spend Christmas with my parents and brother out in the burbs... here's a few random snap shots:

Beautiful Christmas present for me!:

No, I didn't get a horse...this is a horse we met when we went for a walk on Christmas morning. The hat is my mum's in case you were wondering!:

Mum always has Christmas Lillies:

Chris and Mum:

Me after many wines and champagnes:

I love Mum's Japanese Maple, she grew it from a teeny tiny cutting and it's simply massive!

Backyard:

Obligatory food shot number 1:

Obligatory food shot number 2:

I'm very proud of myself, I made Yorkshire Pudding for Chris! Here's the recipe: