Since learning to knit about a year ago I have been after something to keep my growing collection of needles in. I had a look in a few shops, but didn't quite find anything that fitted the bill either through style or the material used to make it. One of the books that I used when I was learning to knit was Debbie Stoller's Stitch 'n Bitch and in the patterns section in the back of the book I found a fantastic sounding pattern for a "roll-your-own needle case" by Echo Devore. I used some material that I'd had in my stash for a while (originally from the John Lewis bargain bin) and I'm really ... read more
Archives for June 2008
An Australian Tale
This book was passed to me by my Mum, and I have to admit to not really knowing what to expect from it. Andrew McGahan's The White Earth is a complex story, told by two of the book's main characters, John McIvor and his nephew William. Following the death of William's father, he and his mother go and live with his Uncle at Kuran Station, a once grand typical Australian station in the plains. Here the history of Kuran Station and of the areas previous Aboriginal residents comes to light. The book certainly taught me a fair amount about what happened in Australia to the Aborigines, something ... read more
A summer afternoon…
After a haircut and some book scavenging in the local charity shops (more news of the outcomes later) I decided to make the most of the good weather before the surrounding dark clouds took effect. Mr C and I arranged to meet in the local pub beer garden for a nice drink in the sunshine. A perfect way to spend a summer afternoon. ... read more
Lemon, lime and bitters
When traveling round New Zealand earlier this year Mr C and I discovered a fantastic soft drink there that provided a level of refreshment that couldn't be matched by anything else and became very much the drink of our trip (despite all the fantastic local wine). Bundaberg's Lemon, Lime and Bitters provided a fantastically refreshing drink that was much needed after a day of driving around in our campervan. An Australian drink, we knew that we'd have to find some way of recreating it for the British summer. Upon returning to the UK we did find that our local Waitrose did stock bottles, but ... read more
Wombles
A second BBC News magazine atricle has also caught my attention today, but this is one that I'm not totally sure what my views are... Lucy Kellaway's article is entitled Making good use of the things that you find, and starts by talking about taking some her late mother's possessions down to the tip to dispose of them. When she talks about getting rid of things though she refers to it as "an enjoyable leisure activity - a bit like a sport" and then says "the other beauty of getting rid of stuff is that it leaves one free to go out and buy some more". Now I'm afraid that this started to get me ... read more
The joy of pottering
This BBC News magazine article caught my attention this afternoon. There is nothing I like more than pottering. At present I don't have a garden or outdoor space to potter about in, but even just spending a day pottering inside our flat can be a delight. I work in central London and find all the rushing about there quite stressful at times and dream of being able to potter through the days. I think this article is right in that "pottering" has been given bad press. A day of pottering at home can completely de-stress me and prepare me mentally for the work week ahead. Yet, when work ... read more