Anzac day

We remembered them at the memorial service in rangiora today, with what seemed like the whole town.
My maternal grandfather served in the navy and spent long periods in iceland ("we hated it because none of the local women would talk to us") and the usa where he got copious tattoos and fathered a daughter about whom he knew nothing until 1982!
I know nothing much either of my paternal grandfathers service, he too along with his 8 brothers were all in the navy. Only 2 of them made it home.
The photo is of barry, my elderly neighbour. He was in j-force who liberated prisoners of war and cleaned up after the atomic bombs in japan. He just cried when we asked about it. He was 19.
And sophie scholl. I've just finished reading her biography. She was beheaded by the gestapo aged 21 resistance work in germany.

Imagine.

I haven't whined once about how overworked i am today, though i'm sure normal service will resume tommorow.

Food my kid refused to eat this week

                                                                     An instagram essay.

i'm a real weirdo, with some things. are you too or is it just me? for example, i don't like the lights on at this time of year, when the sun actual rises and sets close to the time we rise and set. i've got this half-baked idea that it's good for you, you know, to 'experience' the changes in light at as the sun rises and sets, and so we start our days scrabbling and squinting around in the half dark, and end them, or Claud's anyway, watching the sun set. It quiets her in a way nothing else does, and it's so soothing for us after all the rush and stress (of trying to dress, cook and eat in the dark, and live with a weirdo). 

another weirdo thing is Claud's eating. we've never forced or bribed her to eat or drink, nor castigated her for not doing so. she never had puree or spoon feeding. it's based on a weirdo theory i developed after 10 years work in an eating disorders clinic. my theory is called 'no food rules' rules. an interesting pattern emerged quite early on where she would eat very little for a week or two, then have a growth spurt, then eat stacks. she's in her not eating phase again. we like it in a weirdo kind of way cause i get into making 'tempting' food and then she doesn't eat it and we fight over who's having her leftovers for lunch the next day instead of fighting with her over her not eating it.

and, did you know you can only follow a limited number of blogs, not as in, 'gaw'd i follow all these blogs but i don't have time to read them' but as in 'you've reached your limit and can't like any more'? well it happened to me so I deleted millions of blogs from my feed, but not yours of course, and since then I've been filling up on foodie-esq blogs, and cooking from them.

i made this cake today

and this hummus

and this is the husbands new favourite 

do you go through blog phases?

 i've not been around long enough to know (1 year this month!) but i'm thinking, is it seasonal?

 I was all into interiors blogs a couple of months ago, but now Apartment Therapy's ceaseless posting is driving me batty (f**k your 'small, cool' spam-bot style blogging) but yes I still have room in my heart/following cache dodad for THE best interiors blog ever.

 i've cooled on craft blogs, and have frozen out fashion.

i just want food and funny. and perhaps weirdo. and defo books.

any recommendations?

Maptastic thrifty finds

  Straight from the geography teachers drawer, circa 1960-something.

 I like this world map stamp as a maptastic bit of decorative treen, but I'm also thinking wrapping paper; Claud colouring in-geography lessons, and, maybe, even, wallpaper...!? 

Nah, I'd never get away with it, much as I'd like!

What would you do with it?

Found these too, the very next day.

gorgeous colours and thick paper, took me age to date it to 1978

(when the Ellice is. became Tuuvalu but the Gilbert Is. had not yet become Kirabati-in 1979)

just one of a pile, yuss!

Isn't this one a sweetie

And while we're on the subject, have a look at what the op-shopper extrordinaire 

Kylie sent me a wee while ago.

A map table cloth!

Which, as maps do, provides important geographically information.

(I live slap(per) bang where the fastest girls reside!)

As for poor Kylie

Thanks darl!

Sharing at Sophies

My Creative Space-American Braided Rug

The American braided rug is under way

The course was great, and already, only two days later I feel like I'm really getting the hang of it.

The strips of wool blanket are folded in on themselves, like a bias binding, as your braiding. The fold opening is always to the left, and it's braided tight. The lacing  is done as you go, row by row. I'm quick on the straights but so slow on the corners. You lace using a bodkin. Bodkin. Great word. I had heard of them but had no idea what one was. It's like a needle with no point.

I'm going to warm up the rug with this fawn in place of the beige after another round.

Then maybe pink, and red (if I can get an old red wool coat of something similar),

It's so relaxing.

Which is good as it will take at least 6 weeks, working on it a bit each day, to make this one for in front of the fire. (Then I'm going to braid one from old towels for in the bathroom; make one in bright colours for Claud's room and...)

But right now I'm just looking forwards to having it big enough to sit on as I braid in the next couple of weeks.

Sharing at Our Creative Spaces

A blanket rainbow

Just in the nick of time, I found some wool blankets for my american braided rug course on Monday. From the Salvo's who have had a demolished-due-to-the-earthquake hotels-worth of blankets donated. Not super-cheap but absolutely immaculate, really good thick quality, and in an array of colours (though I'm still desperate for a pale grey one, the one in the pile here is more of an army green/dark grey). 

Whilst I was there there, tired, kid wrangling, grinding my teeth, there were two young guys theatrically wrapping themselves up in the blankets laughing. One of them was very good looking, tall and tanned. it cheered me up watching them. My brain invented a winter-toga party to explain the lunchtime enthusiasm for blankets (they didn't look the rug weaving type). Until they were charged the special price of 50c each. The homeless price. 

Another good reason to love the salvo's.

Sharing at Sophie's

FYI Katie Fitzharris ceramic/fabric creature

For those people who asked, these ceramic/fabric creatures were made by Katie Fitzharris, a New Zealand potter. You can see more of her work here; and here (man, I'd love one of those ones), and her contact details are here.

I would have loved her work anyway, it's so tactile and interesting, (especially seen in the context of a traditional pottery exhibition full of  more traditional ceramics) but both pairs have personal resonances for me too-the empty arms of the first pair; the second pair the tamest from a show focused on twins, all the creatures hung about with red threads which I walked into shortly after miscarrying twins.

My Creative Space-Picture Arranging

I've finally finished off this picture arrangement  

We'd been putting off rehanging stuff until the earthquake damaged had been fixed, but its looking like that will be years away. It took ages to do, yet it looks so easy when you see these kind of arrangements in magazines. Clearly there is an art to it. And I'm at the finger painting level. We also have to use a hammer drill to get nails in the poured concrete wall. I think it looks a bit top heavy, but it is good to have white space behind the pottery and stuff. i might also move the pottery/fabric hanging creatures and put a little something more colourful there instead. What do you think? Do you know any good places on the interweb that guides you as to how to these kind of mass picture hangings well? PLEASE let me know if you do, we still have a slew of pictures we picked up in out gallery lounging/disposable income days which have to be hung since we need the front bedroom for a hopefully not in the too distant future 2nd kid.

That crack matches one in the kitchen behind the wall. According to the assessors its not structural?!

I've also had a brief clean-up play with the cool glass box thingy i op-shopped. Not that fussed about this arrangement, but defo going to do something with the red, white, blue and gold...

Sharing at Our Creative Spaces.