The latest scoop - hot off the press!

Couldn't resist that title! I was putting some washing away the other day, straightening up my tee shirt drawer- and discovered I have made 9 "Scoop" tee shirts, from the wonderful free pattern from the "skirtastop" blog.
9 is an odd number, so when I found a remnant of stripe fabric left over from my first Mandy tee, I had just enough to cut out one more scoop!
Because you can never have enough stripey tee shirts!



Yes I still need to thread in the ends, and top stitch the neckline, but I wanted to snap a pic straight away before I forgot!




And while I had the overlocker out, I made a couple of mini heat packs - just the right size to drape around a sore neck when needed. I think I need one today - not for a sore neck, but for warmth - it is absolutely freezing here today, such a contrast after the weekend. Have barely ventured outside today, other than for another little craft project - more on that next post!

Spring has sprung 2 - spring gardening

Wasn't the weather this weekend just gorgeous? We had lunch outside on the back verandah on Saturday, then got stuck into the garden on Sunday. I had seen some cheap punnets of seedlings at Woollies - but they had run out of cheap potting mix - so needed a trip to both Bunnings & the supermarket to get started. Vege seelings at 2 for $5 was too good a deal to miss, so I bought lettuce, snow peas and spinach. Earlier this year I bought lettuce & parsley seedlings at the supermarket (50c each because they were looking well past their prime). The lettuce is still growing - waiting for the last pants to go to seed, we have baby lettuce plants popping up all over the place! And the parsley is going strong, this one in a pot-






And this was in the ground, but I moved it into a pot yesterday, because it was growing next to the fence, which needs to be replaced, so I have started moving some plants so save them being trampled later on.





Hopefully the parsley will survive both being transplanted to a pot, and being placed outside the chookyard. I figure the mint and cress both have very strong tastes, so the chooks won't touch them, plus it is nice to have some greenery next to the chookyard.

I also planted some raddish seeds in a foam box, and spinach seedlings in an old tyre which has been lying around in the backyard for ages.







I have been saving eggshells for months, not sure if it does actually deter snails from eating the seedlings, but it does look kind of pretty around the baby plants!


Hopefully the snow peas will take off and climb up the wire behind the tubs they are planted in.





The chooks and rabbit do make great pets, plus they are useful in other ways - eggshells for the plants, and plenty of poo! My goodness can those chickens poo ( which reminds me, the chook house needs cleaning out AGAIN!). We put the chook poo, bunny poo, bunny litter ( recycled paper pellets) and straw from both bunny & chooks, into a series of tubs/ plastic barrels. I was elbow deep in very stinky poo yesterday ( rain had got into a tub of chook poo unfortunately!) but it is mixed with the dry bunny litter now, and in the compost tumbler to be tumbled every day of the holidays. The stinky liquid poo has been layered with dry poo/ pellets/ straw in another barrel, and is no longer stinky!

I buy the el cheapo potting mix, and then mix it up with the wonderful worm filled compost from the bunny/ chook mix, hopefully it makes a great growing medium - even better than the top shelf potting mix! And the rabbit gets to eat some of the parsley, lettuce, and leaves from the raddishes, so it all goes around in the circle of backyard life!

Now I just have to find another foam box to plant the lettuce in...and get the fence fixed!



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Spring has sprung!

A couple of photos from the garden-



Blossom on the plum tree, we had our best ever crop of plums last year and made lots of bottles of plum sauce ( we use it for stir fries), and my H made a couple of plum cakes. I wonder how many plums we will get this year?



Grape hyacinth- I think we bought a mixed bag of bulbs from a kinder fundraiser about 10 years ago, they have been rather neglected but still manage to flower!




Random chicken photo - they follow me around the yard when they are let out of the chook yard. The other day I was hanging the washing out and had to be very careful where I stood with 2 chickens at my feet! In the chicken world people= food, so they are always hopeful!

Spring Op Shop bounty

I visited one if my favourite op shops the other day, I don't think I have managed to get there for about 6 months, but it was certainly worth the trip. Not that the shop is a long distance away, just a little bit of a detour, but I have to allow enough time to get there on the way home from work and still be back in time for school pick up!
And what did I find? from left-






I vintage green print sheet for future craft projects; 2 navy sheets I will use to make throw covers and curtains to cover open shelves at work ( having the contents - musical instruments- on view is proving a little too tempting for the toddlers at play group!); a piece of floaty, sheer fabric ( can't think what the proper name is just now) to use at playgroup - floaty scarves to wave to music probably;a cute spotty scarf and stripey grey scarf (I have gone from having only 1 pashima- style scarf to a collection of about 5 now, all op shop finds); 2 t-shirt patterns; and a doily ( another craft project, more on that next post!).
I have been finding a lot of great DVD's at op shops lately, and added these 2 to our collection-





The "Family Guy" special is a very funny, cheeky, Star Wars spoof. And "Big"? Classic 80's comedy, great family movie. It is not always easy to find current movies suitable for younger kids and teens, but there are plenty of 80's & 90's classics that foot the bill.
More great coat hangers, although the kids claimed them - 2 each, sonI have only ended up with one, and not the neon one either, I got the 2nd from the top one with the flower on it.



But the ultimate find on this particular shopping trip was this amazing find-



White Gandalf and Saruman action figures, big hit with the teenager! ( had to take a photo and check if he wanted them first - " yes of course Mum!", and break out my emergency $10 to buy them!).

* PS big HI to Lucy - small world huh!

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Vintage op shop treasure!

I made a detour on the way home from work recently, and visited an op shop I haven't been to for about a year. And I found the most gorgeous vintage jacket-





The label stitched inside the front of the jacket tells its own story-



Made in the UK, the jacket was then purchased at the " Buckley & Nunn" store in Melbourne. I have been trying to find some history of the manufacturer/ designer "Richard Baker", and to date the jacket ( which is in near new condition! I had it dry cleaned, had to stop & think where to find a dry cleaners as I can not remember the last time I ever had any thing dry cleaned!).
Anyway, all I have been able to find so far is an advertisement in "The Age" from 1970 - and the diamond/ chevron pattern in the illustration looks fairly similar to my " new" jacket really...will have to keep searching & see if I can unearth any more info!

Sussex St Neighbourhood House Artisan Market stall

Here is a photo of my stall set up last Sunday.


Like my " trees" ? Prunings from our plum tree, standing in a jar of pebbles! I was supposed to be sharing a table with Kate, but when she got there we had been given a table each. Thankfully she gave me a quick call to let me know, so I dashed around the house and found a couple more old ammo boxes lift things up and fill up the table a bit more! A couple more markets are coming up on the calendar, will keep you posted!



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To market, to market... Getting ready for Sunday

The Sussex St Neighbourhood House Artisan Market is on THIS SUNDAY 11am - 3pm. I will be sharing a table with my friend Kate who has been busy making the most gorgeous looking, wonderfully scented candles. I have been busy sewing and crafting, but have not gotten around to taking photos of everything ( plus it has been too cold or wet to go outside to take photos!). Here is a quick round up of some of the things I have made so far...



Gameboy fridge magnets


Fabric brooches, labelled and ready to display on my "tree"...





Fabric buckets - different colours, mostly in sets of 2 - 1 large, 1 small, denim & 70's sheet fabric. Yet to be photographed!


Rope bowls - few different shapes & colours this time, tried some coloured dyes out as mentioned previously, but in the end only coloured 3 bowls.



And here are some of Kate's beautiful candles-














Hope to see you there on Sunday!