This is a Pikey bream (Acanthopagrus berda) I made for the little bear as a Christmas present. I have had the denim whales by Mevrouw Walvis and the fish Mimi Kirchner makes saved ever since I first saw their posts in mid 2011. At that time Grandad had only recently died and there were some clothes that I just couldn’t bear to part with or have them turned to into rags for the shed in particular were two pair of  corduroy trousers that he wore, which I’m sure were as old as me if not more. Grandad was also a very, very keen fisherman and the idea of making fish toys out of his old clothes for his great-grandchildren seemed like a very good idea. Of course these fish would have to be relatively anatomically correct as well, this is my family we’re talking about. I trawled the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry website for pictures of fish that I knew Grandad had caught. I then turned them into line drawings and from there into pattern pieces.  As you can see in the bottom picture I lost a little height on the fish as with the help of Mum I had to redo the top to get the dorsal fin to fit correctly.
And there we have it, one Pikey bream from 2d to 3d.
I’ve got four days left at my current job before I embark on a big change and go off to be an accountant. I’ve made three cakes to farewell others in the last 10 days and I’ll be making another one tomorrow night for one of the guys who is posting out on Wednesday. All those cakes will be in another post shortly…
On Saturday I went up the coast. After having my farewell party the night before. I was very good and only had four drinks all night. One of those was a frozen apple pie cocktail. That was divine Just like drinking an apple pie. So, so, so good.  Saturday was not classic beach weather but the water was nice and the waves were quite decent. An old Woodfordia friend was having a vintage garage sale on Saturday -> thus the reason for the trip up the coast. I picked up the most divine Osti shirt dress. So, so divine and just the loveliest colours. A photo may appear at some stage.
Going back to the day before, Friday. Friday marked Chan’s last day working for the company and it marked a week left for me with the company before I change jobs as well. Big things abound for the both of us this year. We’ve been desk buddies etc for the last 18mths 🙁 We met up for one last coffee at Pour Boy, the best coffee consistently in our end of town.
I took my first box of stuff home the other day. That’s the first time it really hit me that I’m changing jobs. Nothing says change like packing up five years of your work life and then walking out the door with an archive box filled to the brim. I’ll bring another box home tomorrow and that should be just about everything I think.
I’ve got my eye set on a few events later this year which mean I need to get my fitness back to a pre-uni and pre-flood level. I moved away from Asics GT 2100 series that I’ve lived in for the past x years and picked up a pair of Mizuno Wave Inspire 9. OMG, I enjoyed my Asics but these shoes are like playing in a whole new ballpark. They’re light, just the right bounce and by darn they are blue.
Just like almost every other house in SQLD, the  mock oranges have flowered and then of course it rained so off came all the petals. Will have to give the patio a very big clean on the weekend as those petals almost bake onto to the tiles. Fun times. People keep commenting on the scent when they visit but I smell nothing 🙁
Chan finally had dinner at Catcus Jack’s after hearing the rest of us at work rave about it for for the past few years. Chocolate Nachos, so, so, so good. One time we will go to Cactus Jack’s and have dessert first I think.
Last Sunday, I finally got my beach wish for the summer. Blue skies, great weather, open beaches, perfect water temperature and darn decent waves. I’ve tried a couple of times this summer to go to the beach but every time I’ve been thwarted by crap weather, closed beaches or last minute plan changes. The girls at work near on couldn’t believe it that I finally got my beach day.
Just loved this detail on the Ladies change rooms at North Burleigh.
I picked up a tray of strawbs at the start of the month for $9. Hello strawberry jam!
Strawberry jam, cooling so I can test it for set.
Strawberries, sugar and lemon juice waiting to become jam.
Glass jars all washed and waiting to go in the oven before they get filled.
And one last picture for this lot. A snipped of one of the baby quilts I’m making at the moment 🙂 Just love that May Gibbs fabric.
There we have. The first ten days or so of Feb-ru-ary in photos.
I made Strawberry Jam in December which I gave as part of my Christmas boxes. I finally got round to taking a photo of one of the jars! The felt topper changed between jars depending on what I had at hand but they were all tied up twine and finished with jingle bells.
I will once again say I had no intention of 11 days passing between posts. Oh well. Photos, we all like photos.
Curtains!! 226/365
Yep, at last I’ve finished my curtains and they are up. I went to Ikea between Christmas and New Years. Amongst the things I picked up was this fabric, I had planned to purchase a more “demure” fabric but there was no way I could say no the slightly kitsch, slightly folksy fabric that is Annamoa Fabric … I picked up lining at Spotlight a week or two later… Then the wait happened whilst I tried to find curtain eyelets, eventually I found curtain eyelet tape at Lincraft. I made one curtain at my house on a Saturday. Yeah, let me tell you it was quite an adventure using the kitchen floor as a cutting table. The next day I headed over to Mums and borrowed the kitchen table (such bliss for cutting fabric) and some of her advice. I didn’t quite get the other two curtains finished that day but did the rest of the sewing the following Sunday when I was next over.
They make my room feel so cheery! And oh for lining as well now my room isn’t so bright in the morning and slightly warmer at night.
Yay for new curtains!
Patterned Legs, 227/365
There a few fashion rules I have for myself, one of these is no tights/stockings in Spring and Summer. Really because unless they are 8 denier or less it is just too damm hot to wear stockings in Brisbane during those months. I picked this pair up from Coles over the New Year for a very nice sum of $3.something!
Romatherapy Tomatoes???? 228/365
Yeah this is what Woolies calls baby Roma tomatoes…
Peach Upside Down Cake, 229/365
At what point did it seem like a good idea to make an upside down cake in a spring form pan….. Common sense did question it but no I was going to be good and follow the recipe. Let’s just say I had a ball cleaning a black sugary mess in the oven…. Upside down cake + spring form pan = mess!
Other than it was quite a success. The recipe is off Taste and here is the link Peach Upside Down Cake. I had almonds on hand but really didn’t feel like breaking out the blender to make almond meal so used hazelnut meal I had on hand instead and I think it made the cake even nicer. Had a slightly nutty flavour. One thing to note though is that I made this cake Thursday night to take to work on Friday. For morning tea, the cake was fantastic, just the right amount of moistness. When it came to divying up the last few slices for afternoon tea the cake was a bit dry.
Looking Up, 230/365
I saw The Blind Side on Friday night – man oh man what a movie. I was happy to see Sandra Bullock win the Oscar, man oh man that dress was gorgeous and the hair!
I was kicking back on my bed when I got home with a million thoughts going through my mind and I was struck to a degree by the way the posters look from below.
A single flower, 231/365
A single flower, a single plant. This dahlia is the only thing in the front garden at Mums currently.
Sore Toe, 232/365
A change from photos of metal adorned teeth… For the last week or so the tip of the toe next to my big toe has been quite sore. I thought my toenail was digging in but trimming the nail didn’t help it all. I just tried to ignore it, thinking that yeah it will get better. It’s no longer sore but when I decided to change my toenail polish on Sunday I discovered why it had been so sore! Check out that bruise! Four days after taking this photo, I can tell you it is a bit darker as well.
Welcome Lights, 233/365
On the same trip to Ikea as the one when I got the curtain fabric I also picked up these Welcome Lights/Christmas Candolier from Ikea for something like $3 after Christmas. I love them! I’m keeping these out all year! A much more modern version than the set my parents brought out from Iceland with them.
Melbourne snow dome, 234/365
I picked up this snowdome for next to nothing at Borders one day. I was going through photos the other day and finally found the perfect photo. In saying that, I’m still trying to decide what photo to put on the other side!
This hat, 235/365
I’ve posted photos of this hat before but I love it too much not to share more. I’ve moved it from hanging on the curtain rod to a hook on my door. Now it greets me when ever I walk into my room! I do wish my head was a few cm smaller so it did fit me.
Yeah, that is a whipper snipper, 236/365
Our lawn had a hair cut today or really it got a buzz cut. I’ld call it a number 4. Before it could be mown they “trimmed” the lawn with a whipper snipper!
It’s hard to believe that I am 236 days into my 365 day quest! When I tried in 2008 I lasted 75 days. I’m just about two thirds of the way through now, really happy with that. 😀
Tonight I made my new little camera a new little case. It turned out pretty close to how I pictured it in my head. Now my camera will be protected from bumps and scratches in my bag 😀 I used some Japanese fabric that I picked up a few years ago along with some matching navy linen for the lining. To show who I am I also added a name tag to the back 😀
“Sunday clears away the rust of the whole week.â€
Joseph Addison
Sundays are nice days, out of Saturday and Sunday I think I like Sunday the most. Sundays are not so frantically filled as Saturdays. Sundays are about delighting in the littler things. Wiping the kitchen benches down and taking a moment to pause and smile at those clean surfaces. Ripping out 70% of the crochet you had done that day because you discovered a mistake which you know you could never ignore. Whipping up a very fast treat baked treat for Brown Owls. Sitting on your bed and just listening to James Morrison. Finding the basket for my bike that fits my criteria the most, now to get it painted white. This was my Sunday
This is my current wip, that I started this morning at Brown Owls. A granny square with larger than life dimensions, no idea yet as to how large it will get but thought is that it needs to be snuggable, so I’m thinking it will need at least 7 skeins. I am using Noro Taiyo in colour 11, which I just adore, it feels so lovely.
This arvo after I had done another row or two, I was looking at it closely and realised that on one side I had managed to get two extra clusters, gah. I thought about ways to reduce it but ended up ripping it apart till I had only three rounds completed…. I’ve done about seven rounds now and it looks much better than it did before.
Yesterday I made my book case curtains and today I borrowed the drill and put it up. It looks so pretty! I love the fabric. I had a fun time using the hemmer foot.
This is what I took for morno’s at Brown Owls, a pear and hazelnut torta which is a recipe by Belinda Jeffery in the May 2009 issue of Delicious. It took me about 10 minutes this morning to put it together and then it was in the oven for about 30 mins and ready to go. I am going to make it again in the near future but playing with different nuts and fruit.
