May Day.

On Saturday morning Elsie, Bec and I had a go at filming some jelssie. Hopefully Bec can magically edit it so that its not just a boring video of 2 women eating brunch! It was really fun though. The food was very healthy as you can see. There was nary an egg on the menu, and the only bacon was disguised as speck. Then we had a sticky beak in the CentraPark development which is covered in plants and has a big heliostat awning which is mirrors to direct natural light. Then Elsie and I walked up to Newtown via a makeup shop called Scotty's that sells professional equipment for special effects makeup and stuff. Also we saw a man walking on a tightrope in the park and I had a go. Also we found 2 different locations of angel wings on a wall that you stand in front of. Cute. Promo for a theater production.

JK joined us and we walked up to the Doctor Who shop, which was not that interesting, and in another shop I went mad and bought 2 dresses, the same cool dress that fit well, one red and one grey with penguins on it. Then JK and I went to myer cos there was a sale but all I bought was a pair of socks but JK did better. Then we went to Arisun for fried chicken with a friend of JK. Then we went to darling harbour for the vivid light water show, which was amazing, the second one included fireworks. Then I had no wait for a bus home! It was a perfect day. This is my dress.

http://www.origamidoll.com.au/products/all-along-watch-tower-dress

Music: I asked the Lord.

Words by John Newton. Music by Indelible Grace.

I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith and love and every grace
Might more of His salvation know
And seek more earnestly His face

Twas He who taught me thus to pray
And He I trust has answered prayer
But it has been in such a way
As almost drove me to despair

I hoped that in some favored hour
At once He'd answer my request
And by His love's constraining power
Subdue my sins and give me rest

Instead of this He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart
And let the angry powers of Hell
Assault my soul in every part

Yea more with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Cast out my feelings, laid me low

Lord why is this, I trembling cried
Wilt Thou pursue thy worm to death?
"Tis in this way" The Lord replied
"I answer prayer for grace and faith"

"These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set thee free
And break thy schemes of earthly joy
That thou mayest seek thy all in me."

Water.

Because it's raining. It's dark and rainy.

Luke Thompson (who I recently saw live) with Lydia Cole (Anna's cousin!) in NZ.


Here is the proper music video which is really nice.

Family weekends #2.

Went to freezing Goulburn for Saturday night, and had a Chinese banquet dinner for Grandfather's 90th birthday with about a quarter of the family able to make it, so a nice number not a massive crowd. It was really good and I realised that I'm rather fortunate that both sides of my family are pretty wonderful and everyone gets on. Also we had the loudest Happy Birthday To You in the restaurant.

This is Grandfather cutting the cake with a carving knife he made when they were first married. It's worn away to a stiletto now.

What happened the rest of the weekend:

And then we went home on Sunday afternoon, and I drove, and then I went to church but it was pretty much a write-off because I was too tired. I wrote in a baby book, and then went home and realised I might have written to the wrong parents. Lucky I've got lots of vitamin C tablets, I'm running on half power again this week.

Family weekends.

Last weekend was my Grandma's 80th birthday, this weekend is my Grandfather's 90th. Some photos of most of dad's side of the family from last weekend. Tomorrow we're off to Goulburn for mum's family.

Braces update.

Short story:

:( :(

Long story:

Yesterday I saw the 3D scans of my skull and teeth. Crazy. He's finalising the treatment plan. Then they make the robot wires. If I had known I wasn't getting wires on til the middle of the year, I would have taken them off in January. Today I don't care about improvements in my bite, I just regret still wearing them.

The xray showed a giant black patch on one side of my face, which is my left sinus full to capacity. Gross. And also so weird because I don't feel any different on one side of my face and I don't have headaches or a blocked nose on one side. I never knew. But that's another thing I'm going to have to chase up.

In other news, I've been watching the biggest loser this week because I love a makeover. But there was also a 5 way tug-of-war. Wow, I've never seen so much human character revealed so fast. It was perfect reality TV. First of all, it was unfair because girly teams are so disadvantaged. But putting that aside... I'm pretty sure the dad on the blue team has some kind of personality disorder—the ego and the manipulation at every opportunity. The game-playing, the twists, the false hope and desperation, and the green team who continually impress. So good.
http://thebiggestloser.com.au/video.htm?movideo_m=340433&movideo_p=50950

Alterations.

Oh I am super proud. I had an oldish shirt with puffy sleeves shaped like bows, which looked nice in the shop but I forgot the rule that I don't like puffy sleeves on me, and they look bunchy under jumpers and stuff. So on Thursday night I cut the sleeves off but left a little bit and hemmed, so now they are small 'cap' sleeves. So at least I can wear it under cardigans. Felt wrong cutting off the main feature of the shirt, but they made it unwearable, so it was better that they go and I will wear the shirt more.

 Before:

Sleeves shaped like bows:

After:

What I call 'cap sleeves':

Here's a secret: Although it is satisfying, sewing is not glamorous and creative. I'm not a perfectionist, I'm a getthejobdoneist. I only do alterations like this when it's economically the best thing to do. I'm not that confident that I can always improve things, there is usually a significant chance of mangling things up. So if I don't mind possibly ruining it, I feel safe to try altering it. And when it's something that's never getting worn, there is nothing to lose. I'll actually spend months pondering an unworn dress or whatever, figuring out what would make it more wearable, and if it is within my abilities to achieve, then I'll suddenly hack into it and do the most basic alteration I can. If it doesn't work, it goes in the bin.

D sent me a link to a good sewing blog. I love love love this post! After my no-shopping challenge I tried to be extremely deliberate about buying clothes that helped build outfits. Limiting colour palette etc. I still have some lovely but rarely-worn skirts in my wardrobe that don't go with anything, but I've been working on the situation and gradually supplying my skirts with shirts and cardigans that "match" (in a non-matchy-matchy way).

What I'm happy about.

Some gushing.

The mornings are stunning. It's why I'm trying to walk to work a lot. The air is cold and hazy and feels so clean, the leaves are turning, the angle of the sun is lighting everything more beautifully. So a couple of times a week I wake up at 6, and leave the house at 7, and get to work at 8.30. I feel SO fortunate that I can commute like this and start the day with so much beauty.

I'm reading North and South again. Loving it. Not so much the love story, which occasionally seems a bit weird and idolatrous, but the plot and the deaths and the discussions about the big things in life. It's chewy and satisfying. If I had the DVD I would have watched it again because I really want to hear Mr Thornton's lovely voice, or his mother, but I'm glad I can't do that because it's better to go with the pace of the book.

Going to Bathurst tomorrow for a family thing for Grandma's birthday. Really happy about it. Bathurst is quite cold: blanket cape! I'm getting there by bus to Central, train to Blaxland, car to Bathurst. My weekends go opposite extremes at the moment, either it's full and fun, or I don't leave the house. I'm in the mood for a full one, whereas last weekend I didn't leave the house apart from church stuff. I feel like there's an emotional rhythm matching my diary.

A lot of joy this morning, I booked flights for my September holiday today because we had our dates all organised and were waiting for a Qantas sale. $59 flights to regional NSW, unbelievably cheap. BUY! Normal economy is like $100-300 price range. Let alone the time saved cos it's most of a day to drive or go on the train. Train would take 8 hours and costs $95.

And now, for some music… you should watch this lip-syncing video. John Krasinski is one of my favourite male leads, up there with Richard Armitage and Tom Ellis. One of my "top persons", if you like. His 'Teenage Dream' cracks me up cos I hate that song.

Cake Herman.

I made the friendship cake after church on Sunday night. This was great. So easy and delicious. I'm not sure how much Herman starter I had left in the bowl after I transferred some to a nice jar, but at least a cup. The recipe says apples and raisins, but I used pears which were cheaper, and frozen berries which are nicer than raisins. Also I threw in an old banana from the freezer. Really good results.

Find Herman here. http://www.hermanthegermanfriendshipcake.com/

Note: I always fed my starter with water instead of milk because I'm stingy, and I did not pour sugar in by the cup either, because whoa. It is still plenty delicious.

Sourdough bread Herman.

Elsie have me a Herman 2 weeks ago and I kept it alive but I didn't have time to cook it. I was a bit scared of using starter, rather than a nice teaspoon of yeast. I'm more of a bread baker than a cake baker so I started with that. The recipe I found, though, requires quite a time commitment. That seems to be the secret of sourdough: normal bread lets the yeast feed for about 90 min but sourdough takes all day, let alone the cup of starter which was2 weeks old!

After I got back from the Newsagency, and D and I both went to Coles so I bought flour, I put washing on and stuff and then it was midnight, which was perfect cos my recipe said 8 hours is the longest time for the first stage. A cup of starter and 1.5 cups warm water and 3 cups of flour. Stir it, go to bed. Hope it's warm enough to grow. That's my bowl of Herman starter on the left.

8 hours later, wake up, and it worked! The yeast fairies visited. Then while my porridge was cooking I added salt and flour and kneaded it then put it back in the bowl for 2 hours. Seriously, this is easy. Slow, but easy. I will probably have bread for lunch. Eventually.

I had no use for two loaves so I decided to put one lump of dough in the fridge and try baking it later. That works for the no-knead bread so it's worth a shot.

So you need starter, and 6 to 12 hours, and flour and water and salt. The only cost is time. The dough was excellent to work with, not as sticky as it looks. The result of this attempt was just slightly heavier and stronger tasting bread than I normally make. Not like the shop stuff which has big bubbles in it and a really chewy crust. Maybe a warmer night would have given it a better start or something. I don't think the results warrant the extra hours, personally. Instant yeast is enough for me. But I'll have another play around with starter and try for better results.

Music at the Newsagency.

 

My favourite venue. Tiny, cheap, not too loud, quality music. I think D and I are going to keep going there as a regular thing whether we know who is playing or not, because you can't waste money there.

Most people at this gig were older than us. I didn't know any of the songs, it was just nice to listen to. The Yearlings were lovely, and Hayward was raw, and when they played together it was magic.

Friday Music.

Hoping to see Hayward Williams tonight at the Newsagency, if there are still tickets at the door. Otherwise eat ice-cream and go home. I haven't heard of him actually, but he's in the right genre, and he's here from the US so I want to support anyone who comes this far to play for peanuts. I wish more would. He's playing in Maitland on Saturday night, which blows my mind. Of all the places. Maitland. Who stops at Maitland when on a small tour of Australia? It's almost worth a trip up just to confirm it.

Bright nails.

Rimmel Sky High with matte topcoat. It's a dark aqua, slightly greener than this photo but nice and bright. I particularly like bright coloured nails because I often wear brown and grey, esp my winter clothes. Rimmel 60 seconds range has nice colours and a flat brush, so it's about the best you can get in the $5 range, the formula dries very thin though so it looks a lot classier with a good topcoat to protect it and smooth it out.

Katoomba on a Saturday.

Decided to do a day-trip like Bowral. It was harder because 4 of us and trackwork. I think these work better with 2 people and no trackwork.

Knew there was trackwork from Blacktown but decided to go anyway, because the date worked and the weather was good. Public transport was not at its best though. By the time I got back home I felt permanently bus-sick. I'll be glad if I never have to see Blacktown station again too.

But we enjoyed Katoomba. Brunch and shops and a frappe and home again. We found a little "amiable guinea-pig" but didn't buy it, we just said hello. I bought some yarn for my tapestry. The Anglicare op shop was excellent but we didn't end up buying anything. We enjoyed a shop with a lot of paisley shirts. We enjoyed the hat shop. Basically it was nice to be there not for a conference and just be lady tourists.

Excellent frappe. I taught my new friend how to crochet on the coach home. The thing I forgot about learning crochet is that the stitches aren't hard, holding the wool and the hook is hard. You feel like such a baby, that you can't control a piece of wool and a big needle with your normally sensible hands. It's as hard as driving manual or braiding your own hair for the first time.

 

 Was so exhausted and bus-sick I had porridge for dinner and spent Sunday with TV and tapestry.

Braces.

Not sure when I'll get robot wires, it wont even be in 3 weeks, which is my next appointment. The 9 months haven't started yet, so we're looking at a 50/50 chance I'll still have them when I turn 30 next March. My eyelid is twitching.

Telling myself: be thankful it's free treatment from now on. Be thankful my orthodontist is nice and the office is close to work. Be thankful I don't have anything else going on that I would really want no braces for, like wedding photos. Be thankful that I don't notice them most of the time, they rarely hurt or bother me.

Randwick Avocado Festival.

What a beautiful harvest day.

I got up a bit early and got a batch of bread happening, a load of washing on, and ate porridge. First porridge for the winter. Caught up on The Following. Baked bread, and then walked to E's house. Enjoyed seeing families from Cathedral days. Enjoyed painting my nails while the men cut avocados off the tree and the kids ran around picking them up.

This is my bread. Mmmm. E did home made sausage rolls.

This is the harvest at about 500. Each plastic bag contains 20.

The climber throws to the catchers.

Total harvest was 616! And then we finished the afternoon with E's cake made of layers of cream and crepes. Nom nom nom, as the young people say when something is delicious.

I took a bag of 20, and gave 7 away to different friends I met as I walked home. It was a lovely day. So full I didn't have dinner, just yoghurt and cookies. I was kind of disappointed that I had to go back to work on Friday. But, I cheered up when I went to bed (at 8.30pm) because I was sleeping on clean sheets on a weeknight!

Favourite music at the moment.

Yes, I am interested in other things than nail polish. My latest muso to plug is Jon Bryant. He's on Spotify, but his new album is unfortunately NOT on iTunes in Aus. But, he sells on bandcamp so I shall be buying it there soon. When my ipod is fixed.


This live version is quite nice, but it's very different from the album version which I love, it's just that I look for performances on youtube—otherwise you might as well just go and listen on bandcamp. The song is about being ready to die today. I also like Evening Sun. I like lots of them.

What grown-ups really do.

I went to bed at 8.15 last night. No joke. I think I fell asleep by 9. There was nothing on TV and I was too tired to read or anything, so I went to bed. Why not, I say!

Layering nail polish.

Trying out some effects. Putting a pink shimmery nail polish over an orangy brown.

Tapestry.

It's underway. I sorted the colours. I've started stitching. It's quite hard on the fingers, and I need good light to pick the right colour for each section. I think it's already half done though. So I aim to mostly finish it by the end of the year. I took these photos at night, so they are yellow.

Opi the it colour.

Like organic egg yolk. It seemed too orange at first, but after a day I think it had faded back to the warm yellow I was expecting. It probably took that long to dry properly, because I put at least 4 coats on, the polish was thick but the colour was thin, if that makes sense. It is always harder to get light colours up to bottle colour.

New nail polish.

The front 4. Sequin red, rose pink, copper brown, warm yellow. New to my collection. Ooooh soooo pretty. A little bit darker in real life, the yellow is like golden egg-yolk, right on the border of orange and yellow. These are the most expensive bottles I own. At Myer, the OPI range is $20 each. However, these were on sale on ozsale for $10 each, and also can be bought cheaper in America - so ask a travelling friend to pick things up for you, or find a way to ship them. Nail polish can attract a dangerous goods fee. I'm probably going to stick to local bargains from now on. Well, I'm probably not going to buy any more.

I'm particularly excited about the burnt orange and yellow ones. They will warm my fingers up in autumn and winter. I'm not so much of a pink person but they can look just so nice and pretty, without making a statement, so pink is an important part of a collection. The red is a bit scary. It's so deeply scarlet, with gold shimmers in it. Looks very glam. Not really me but I think it might be worth a try, and again, what is a nail polish collection without a bold red?

One thing I want to try is masking. I can't find my flower craft punch, but I'd like to try punching a shape out of masking tape, sticking it on my nail, and painting. Example of very simple nail masking… http://hellomissong.com/tag/masking-tape-uses/

A final note: they are on sale again right at this moment, and I am RESISTING! Even though I really NEED some green, a nice forest green and maybe a cool teal or aqua. UNLESS anyone else wants to order some and we can split postage. But I don't want to twist anybody's arm.

New shoes, new project.

I had a stay at home pottering weekend. I could have done dvds all weekend, but I did Jillian, and made myself read North and South out in the park. Because it was such nice weather. Good little me. I bought a pair of shoes as well. Black mary janes. I've been looking for new shoes for work, which I can put orthotics in, and potentially even walk to work in. They tick the first 2 boxes, I'm just going to break them in for a bit before I try the walk to work. I'm trying to walk to work every morning. Also, the shoes are in the sweet spot of not too pretty/shiny/fragile and not too sporty/casual/chunky. The satisfaction of shoes well bought.

On Sunday I had a quick music meeting in the middle of the afternoon, and then some time to fill so I went to EG shops to buy tapestry needles. Sussan had thick coloured tights on sale, so I did some more shopping. It were an expensive weekend, but I only bought things on my list.

Tapestry is my next thing. Grandma gave me one she started, it's a Frederick McCubbin painting I like. It's quite huge and only a quarter done. I did a few stitches last night, and it's surprisingly hard work. The needle and wool are fat and slow so it's hard to pull through the weave, compared to cross stitch.

Just keep walking, just keep walking, just keep walking, walking, walking.

Today, Thursday, I did my 3rd walk. Was feeling a little bit tired this morning and thought of taking a day off… the long walks are catching up with me, and I had bible study last night… but I was already out of bed, so why waste the morning. These autumn mornings are perfect, except when they rain and you forget your keys. Other than that anomaly, I think I'll try and walk every morning. Don't need a jumper, and don't get sweaty. And the lower angle of the winter sun is very pretty through dewy grass and the beginning of autumn leaves.

It's strange that the more I do the walk, the length of the walk feels less epic. I thought a 1.5 hour walk was too much to do every day, but it's really fine once you get used to it. Also, 90 minutes sounds shorter than 1.5 hours.

Something from the soundtrack of my life at the moment:

http://www.last.fm/music/Matt+Corby/_/Light+Home

One of those mornings.

Had a fail day. Woke up early, good. Ready to walk to work (as part of my walk to work every day this week challenge) and it starts to rain. Really rain. I would walk in a sprinkle, but not a drenching. Ruination of my challenge. So change of plans, change of equipment. From backpack to handbag, from joggers to water-proof boots; and armed with an umbrella I walked to the bus stop, because at least if I get to work early I can get home early and do Jillian.

At the bus stop I got the nasty feeling that in changing bags twice this morning my keys were not in the bag I had with me. So I was locked out of the house. Too annoying to go home and wake up my housemate to let me in and find the keys, so I texted her to leave some keys in the letterbox and got on the bus.

At 7.55am I walked out of the elevator, saw the office door, and realised that without keys I was also locked out of the office. And on the one day of the week when normal early starters weren't there early. So I had an hour to wait. I decided I deserved a hot chocolate at this point so went to the cafe over the road and listened to my audiobook. And went to Coles and bought nuts. Perri perri flavour = super hot, so not very nice. Spicy pudding flavour = tastes like pudding, personally I don't like pudding flavoured nuts. So that was a bit of a fail for me, but a win for the coworkers who are enjoying eating pudding-flavoured or mouth-burning nuts.

I'm going to paint my nails tonight, and my OPI should arrive soon, so I'm one polish away from exciting new polishes.

How great was Miranda S3E2!! I might rewatch it tonight as well.

It is finished.

Bit late for Easter, but this is the song I want to share.

http://bifrost.bandcamp.com/track/it-is-finished

When God's own begotten Son

heav'd His final sigh;

everything was fully done, 

hearken to His cry:

It is finished, finished!

What more could He ever do?

Nothing either great or small, 

nothing can you claim;

Jesus died and paid it all;

only plead His name.

It is finished, finished!

What more could we ever do?

Lay your deadly doing down, 

down at Jesus' feet;

Stand in Him and Him alone,

gloriously complete. 

It is finished, finished!

What more could we ever do?

There the robber, there the priest,

Gathered 'round they stand,

reaping now that blessed promise

nailed in to His hands:

It is finished, finished!

What more could He ever do?

Bowral day.

It was hard not to have a nice long weekend, with such weather. It was good weather for cleaning and washing, so I did some of that. I enjoyed morning church on Good Friday. Had the most fabulous swim on Saturday morning, and had lunch in the park with a friend. Had a ladies lunch with excellent home cooked food on Monday in Ashfield, with nail painting and Miranda for entertainment. I am now wearing purple Butter London nail polish, and I'm not sure about it... But that's the fun of nails!

The centrepiece of the weekend was Sunday, when E and I caught a train to Bowral for the day. I had to get a 6.40am bus for the 7.28 train, which took almost 3 hours to get up there with a bit of a connection wait at Campbeltown. So we arrived hungry and it was a little cold, so we rushed straight to the elephant boy cafe and had tea and shared a slice of cake. That's what it's all about.

Then we went to the bag and scarf shop, where I almost bought a bag and a scarf. We went to the earring shop Kish, where I did buy 6 pairs of earrings, but some are for gifts... It's my favourite earring shop. I am still wearing a pair from when I lived there 6 years ago, almost every day. The have so many earrings. 4 of these tables.

Then we went to some antique shops and I bought a brass box to keep nail polish in. E almost bought a dressing table. I almost bought another bag. Then we had a really nice cheap lunch, in an organic bakery... $6 pie for me, it had big strips of steak. I should make pie. Here is the pie with the brass box.

But after that I didn't have as much energy, and the shops were hot and I just wanted to sit down outside. So eventually I sat on a husband bench and read while E browsed nail polish, she found quite the bargains! 2 bottles of Butter London polish for $10 each! Then we found D who drove up for the afternoon, had a little walk, went to a last cafe for an iced chocolate, which revived me like it was a magical potion, so that's the power of sugar I suppose. Then we drove back to her place in Sydney which was very fast, and got the train and bus home from there in time to watch Doctor Who. What a night of TV Sunday is now! Doctor Who, Elementary, Mentalist, Miranda, not to mention Call The Midwife and Downton Abby which can't fit on my list unfortunately.