Bad dyer

In January this year, before I was overtaken by Events (they should have a capital E, all things considered) I put in four lengths of calico to soak in soda ash solution. Last week - they were still there.

The bucket's been outside for ten months. It was only half full when I put them in, and it was full when I opened it, so it must have let the rain in. And some leaves and dirt too, by the looks of this.

In January, I made up some dyes, used most of them and put the leftovers in the fridge. They were still there too - doesn't it look grotty? It's a spare fridge, but we do still keep food in it. Not if we can help it though - it freezes salads.

So, last week I put on my sexy and fashionable dyeing clothes for the first time since January.

And I used all the leftovers. You certainly won't see that recommended in a dyeing book but it all turned out fine.

Landscapes

I'm painting again. Number two son had his birthday last week and we gave him a decent set of paints / brushes / paper for his own, seeing that he was so interested in mine. So he painted, and I painted, and number one son painted, and we made a mess all together.

I'm going back to the watercolour instruction book after getting the humph with it. I wasn't too sure about the landscapes, but let's face it, the flowers weren't so crash hot either. So the book and I worked step by step through a mountain cabin. The book did this:

I did this:

Number one son did this:

Number two son did this:

Then we gave up and put a DVD on.

Cupcakes - real ones this time

Food colouring is the boys favourite ingredient. Green pikelets, blue icing, orange pancakes... and pink cupcakes. I was quite surprised just how pink they turned out to be.

And bright blue icing covered in sprinkles (the boys call them) and hundreds and thousands (I call them). We have a few Australia / NZ dialect differences, my children and I. Sometimes I win - they say the letter H as 'aitch' and not 'haitch', and the queen lives in a 'cahstle' not 'cassell'. Sometimes the Aussie wins and the boys definitely go to the swimming 'poowill' not 'pull'. And sometimes there is just a yawning vocabulary chasm when I ask them about jandals or sticking plasters.

Baseball started again this morning which introduces another layer of weird linguistic diversity. Batterup!

Pinned up pineapple blossom

I'm able to stretch and bend and pin quilts up now - yay - so there is a backlog waiting my attention. First up is the pineapple blossom. I went with two different red borders with the offcut triangles in between. I like the red because it's warm and happy like the rest of the quilt.

This is being held up by two helpers who weren't really in the mood for it. I just took the photo as quick as I could! I've started hand quilting it in big-stitch clamshells with a dark cream perle cotton. Anything more subtle would just get lost I think. I took it to quilters' daytime meeting today and happily sewed away. I hadn't been for months and it was lovely.

A good week ... with dessert

The boys have been up at the beach all week with their grandparents - having a wonderful time swimming, canoeing, bike riding and walking by the sounds of it ... and falling asleep at the dinner table every night! Well planned, Nan and Poppy. It was the longest we have ever been without them and their first plane flight on their own - and it all went just fine. Of course.

Despite missing them a teeny little bit, we had the most wonderful week - even both being busy at work was a treat - we could stay late and fuss about our own little corners of the working world without also having to wrangle the boys. We went out to several lovely dinners - including one at the Argentinian Ambassador's residence - Hola Argentina! and did the fancy four-course at a restaurant in town. I made my husband take a photo of the dessert which was crepes suzette flaming beautifully - except the flames don't show in the photo. But you can see the mandarin sorbet and various foams (of course! bloody foams) and it was absolutely delicious.

But, to be honest, not as delicious as the poached pears in saffron with golden syrup ice cream that a friend made for us for lunch the next day. That was just amazing. She didn't mind I took a photo either.

There was also heaps of time for sewing. I quilted the little cot quilt - straight lines in the middle and feathers in the border.

I did just one long feather and I'm not sure if there's enough variety to look super good, but geez it was easy.

Putting the pineapple blossom blocks together

Just a bit of boring sewing here - putting together the pineapple blossom blocks. It is a little bit exciting because they form a nice secondary pattern. And there are lots of little offcut blocks to trim too, I'll sew those together for the border.

I think I might hand quilt this - big stitch with maybe perle cotton. It will give it a nice rumply feel, to go with the warm colours.

Art ... and not art

My husband and I just went to see the Fred Williams exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia - it's a public holiday here in Canberra for reasons unknown (we seem to have a special day all of our own). I didn't really know anything about Fred Williams but went along to be companionable. It was fantastic - his paintings are extraordinary and show a clear evolution through his life but at the same time staying constant to themes and ideas and interest.

It's the first time I've seen the new entrance to the NGA - much lighter and nicer than it used to be. I'd like to start doing some of the guided tours to introduce myself to the whole place. It's bit intimidating just to rock in and start wandering round! I need a guide.

Every time I see something good like the Fred Williams exhibition it makes me happy ... until I line it up against my own ordinariness. Oh well. I draw things because it makes me happy and stops me watching endless crap on Lifestyle Channel. (Although maybe I could combine my two hobbies and do a portrait of Phil Spencer!!! Nude!!! Mwhahahaha). Here are my hibiscus.

They turned out OK - at least they are recognisably hibiscus flowers.

I am not so pleased with my lemons and oranges.

More work needed.