Sunday Monster Frenzy

Hopefully I finally have an electrician coming to fix the lights in my studio on Monday so I should be able to post some decent photos, in the meantime here are some not so good ones.

These are the shelves all painted and full of my various projects and stashes, I still need sort things out a bit though. Down the bottom you can see my wonderfully kitsch tiger skin latch hook rug that I have been working on this week.

My bookshelves, yarn stash and some of our toys, because the ceilings are so high I still have heaps of room to hang pictures. Scott has given me some nice folios of prints over the years so I have dug them out to try and choose which ones to frame.

Now on to this week's monsters.

Not sure if this one is going on the stall I might keep him for myself, something about his fat bum, little tail and general air of belligerence appeals to me.

A spotty two header who always knows where it is going.

Next week I should have finished my first crochet monster for ages, an new Ubel Ferkel a fair bit bigger than any I have made before.

I also bought a marquee for the market stall, winter up here can be very wet and cold and I don't think Karan and my market umbrellas will be quite up to the challenge.

More Shelf Frenzy

I am running a bit behind this week work has been a little crazy and I am worn out.

Last weekend I did the undercoating.

And did three coats of red on the top shelf.

During the week I made chicken burgers and super freakily both the eggs I picked were double yolkers. That is just weird, one is rare enough but two together is spooky.

Anyway today I did two coats on the rest of the shelves today, I think it is starting to look rather nice and I cannot wait to pack them full of all my crafty hoardings.

They are going to need at least another coat maybe two to get rid of the streaks.

I almost forgot - we went to see Gogol Bordello on Tuesday night, they were fantastic, brilliant anarchistic, joyous, and full of gypsy punkitude. If you ever get to see them play live do not miss it.

Sunday Shelf Frenzy

My completely excellent neighbour, train buddy and all round great guy Graham has been building me some shelves in my soon to be studio.

Saturday was a mightily busy day Phase 1 involved a trip to the hardware for wood and screws and glue and stuff.

Phase 2 was the demolition of the existing crappy cupboard leaving a great big hole in the ceiling and lots of mess on the walls.

Phase 3 was closing off the hole and putting in the posts to hold the whole lot up, the big posts are cyprus and have most beautiful grain.

Phase 4 was the shelf supports.

And finally Phase 5 the shelves.

Plus of course the building inspector had to approve everything.

I still have to fill and sand and paint everything but I am very excited I have never had his much storage space all for my stuff before.

Sunday Storm Frenzy

Hey I know its Monday not Sunday and the big storm was on Saturday but bear with me please.

Work has been crazy busy this last week with meetings lasting till after 9 at night so I have been kind of drifting through this long weekend in a bit of a haze.

Other than that the shawl for my Nonna is progressing well, I cannot knit on the train anymore as the pattern has become a bit too complicated so it had been relegated to evenings in front of the TV. I did not get much work done last week, being way too tired and not wanting to have to un-knit all the mistakes I would make. I remain hopeful that I will have it done before her birthday on the 30th.

Back at Kallista Market on Saturday (luckily over well before the storm hit) both Karen and I had a great day although I now only have 6 Sunekosuri left and will have to get sewing before the next one. We have prepaid for the next 6 months so come and see us if you can, on the first Saturday of each month.

I have begun working to transform my disarranged study into a proper studio workspace. Our fabulous neighbour Graham is building me some shelves so that I can finally rip out the crappy built in wardrobe and organise my stuff properly. Once that is done and I get some decent lighting it is going to be great.

Last night we went to see Men Who Stare At Goats, we had both read the book which is non-fiction and kind of investigative journalism and were very curious as to how they would turn it into a narrative. They did a fantastic job it was hilarious, the casting was brilliant, and the politics were spot on. Another one not to miss is Fantastic Mr Fox, I would not recommend it if you are not keen on Wes Anderson films, but if you do like them then it is not to be missed.

Of course the most dramatic thing to occur in the last few weeks is the massive storm we had on Saturday afternoon. Wendy, Scott and I were sitting on the couch when we noticed the light had gone a weird greenish yellow and then all hell broke loose.

The hailstones were bigger than golf balls.

The road turned into a river.

We had waterfalls in the back yard.

All in all not too much damage, the PT Cruiser has a ding on the bonnet from hail and we seem to have developed a leak in the roof somewhere over the lounge but it could have been much worse.

Friday Zombie

The evening is golden, the black cockatoos are back in the valley and their eerie cry lends a mournful air to proceedings.

I am siting on the couch watching the light change on the mountain zombified after a big week at work, Scott has gone down to the Chippie to get dinner as I am too buggered to cook.

We will eat chips and watch Charlie Brooker and then Fantastic Mr Fox while the dogs look on hopefully and scavenge for crumbs.

My forearms are aching from bashing a star picket into the ground by the front steps. The purpose of this picket is to stabilise the sculpture we bought last weekend from local sculptor and all around gorgeous person Jenny Rowe.

Here she is keeping guard over our front steps:

Our acquisition of this artwork it was funded by my Mum as a thank you for the cardigan I knitted for her. I think I said I would post a picture of it ages ago but never got round to it, this is not the best image but here you go:

I continue to work on the shawl for my Nonna and should have it finished in time for her birthday at the end of March.

Anyway dinner has arrived and the warm chip smell is making my mouth water, better tuck in before they go all soggy.

Sunday Again Frenzy

I have been slack, well slack about posting stuff at any rate, otherwise quite busy.

Scott has had his birthday a big one with an "0" in it, we had a party with lots of wonderful people. You can see the present I got him here, there are 10 pictures in total around A4 size. They look nicer in reality I think they were scanned for the website which makes them look a bit harsher. Had to have a big picture hanging rearrangement to fit them in but they look great.

I have been helping with the Melbourne Satellite Reef project by making a a Blog which you can see here. I have also bee crocheting coral and making flyers and generally helping out.

I am knitting a shawl for my Nonna who is in hospital at the moment.

I am also trying to finish some UFOs and tidy up my study.

I have no pictures because my Flickr account has gone haywire and I can't get in to upload anything. It is a frustrating process it looks like I've been hacked and someone has changed my details so Yahoo just keep telling me the details I am giving them do not match my account - duh I know that that's why I can't get in. Not sure how long this is going to take to resolve.

Happy Happy Joy Joy

In that strange dreamy limbo between Christmas and New Year it is time to take stock of the year that has been and gird ourselves for the year to come. My buddy Andrew keeps telling me it it a fantastic time to be alive right now, and you know what he might just be right.

Here are some of the things about this year that make life worth living:

The Boys

Scott & GIR & Corto make every day a joy. I could complain about the the endless fur, dribble & scratching (that would be GIR & Corto not Scott), but really nothing beats dog love at the end of a crap day. Except of course Scott TLC which is always in abundance whenever I am sick or just feeling sorry for myself.

Star Trek Movie

I must confess I am a total geek for original Trek, not the movies or the beige spinoffs but the campy Shantnerific TV series. I really thought the movie captured the essence of classic Trek - funny, campy, grandiose without being pompous, and full of optimism for the future.

Un Lun Dun by China Melville

The best book I have read for ages, Melville manages to combine influences from a lot of my favourite authors without reading like a pastiche of other peoples ideas which is very rare these days. Plus his heroine is fantastic, a brilliant antidote to the hysterical vapid vampire fixated females you find elsewhere in fiction.

Team Winchester

I know they are pouty slashies with psycho fans but I have a soft spot for Sam & Dean ... well mostly Dean. Season five of Supernatural has been whizz bang, the best so far, introducing those bastard angels really got things going.

Ripe

This cafe in Sassafras does the best vegetarian platters ever - shots of fabulous soup, quiche, frittata, & salads in ever changing combinations. They also do a mean iced chocolate.

The Fall

A truly amazing visual experience and a beautiful heartbreaking story. See on the big screen if you can - maybe The Astor will play it one day, otherwise Bluray on a good size TV. I will not even try to describe it, words will never do justice just see the movie guys.

Monster Magnet

A favourite band for a long time we finally got to see them in concert at the beginning of the year. Sleazy stoner metal at its best.

Uncharted: Among Thieves

This game was so much fun to play, funny and exciting like watching a movie. In fact I played it all the way through on easy for my friend Wendy cos she got so sucked into the story.

Sherlock Holmes

This one just managed to sneak into 2009, a great way to see the year out. Interestingly enough it remains true to cannon while dialling up the action and excitement to 11.