Things to be Thankful for: this space.

 

I just checked my blog stats for the first time in a year. They're not what they used to be. But you know what - I think I've really come a long way and let go. I used to care so so much about building readership. I wanted to be A Cup Of Jo, you know? But holy crap! I am not A Cup Of Jo! And that's okay. It's been so good blogging when I feel like it, rather than feeling obliged, and you know... I'm still here so thats good right?
I mean to say: thanks for coming along for the ride. And I'm thankful to have this space. I met another blogger in person the other day *hi Plain Jane!* It was so lovely to meet someone who I didn't know who reads my blog. It was kinda encouraging.
It's funny how you almost seem to keep up with your peers in the blogging world. All those blogs I've been reading for years now are like old friends. Even a Cup of Jo is totally like an old friend. She posted a video with her speaking and I was actually surprised at how American she sounded (der!) in my mind she has an Aussie voice. Stupid but true. Many that I read have gone the same way of not posting on the dot every day. Many have gone huuuuuuge too. Many have finished it. I feel pretty good for now. Just pottering along.
Anyway all this to say: haven't we come a long way little blog? Haven't we come a long way! So much so that I even missed our 4 year blogiversary in September. Never fear. I'm sure I ate cake at some point that month.

{North Wagga Skies - I love it here}

In my letterbox...

The wait for the post is becoming very exciting... not just because it's my birthday very soon but because we continue to be blessed by our friends after the floods. A dear friend of my husbands (and therefore of mine) wrote to us asking if there was anything we lost that we might not think to replace - something seemingly insignificant but still special.
We thought about it and it occurred to me that I had lost my entire wrapping paper collection. I always unwrap carefully and save every piece I get given to use again. Wrapping a present beautifully is a joy of mine. Second hand wrapping paper is not really something you can replace or is technically that big a deal.
Tim lost most of the seeds we owned and had been excited to plant in the garden, small not that big a deal but time consuming and expensive to replace. We told our friend this - and since getting back from the desert we have been receiving package after package. Some filled with wrapping paper - some with a mix of seeds and wrapping - a whole subscription to the diggers club - from this friend but also all her friends - some we know - some we don't. Amazing. The kindness of others - being on the receiving end, it's an incredible experience. And, although I lament  this year as being "washed down the Murrumbidgee"... still the bigger experience of it is awe inspiring.

Flea Market Finds

My new blue suitcase: A bargain for $5. Yup from the same Vinnies in Wagga. Gosh I love that shop.
I just took it on holiday the other day and it worked a treat. It held my stuff. All the cows and horses thought I looked retro cool (it’s so easy to be the trendy one when not in Surry Hills - Hurray!). Hubby likes it so much he doesn’t mind about the collection being expanded! (up to 7 now). Win win win.

More Flea market finds over here.

Under water.

Well that's the worst of it. We are the little blue house in the pictures. The waters receding now we hear and we are just waiting, feeling a bit dysfunctional, getting upset, feeling okay again, going to public meetings and cheering on the SES. We feel incredibly blessed to live in a first world country where grants and support are available to us. We're feeling incredibly tight for money. We're feeling incredibly close to each other, checking in on our feelings (or telling them to the dog) every few hours. We're feeling bored and confused about what to do while we wait. But mostly we're feeling lucky. Lucky to have building insurance at least. Lucky to have a place to stay, not being in an evacuation centre. Lucky to have so many offers of help. Lucky we've only got a dog so far not chooks and fish and goodness gracious babies!

My Creative Space*

There is a big spotlight here. And I mean B.I.G. When going in to grab some curtains for our guest room, I couldn't go past these three fabrics. They look fabulous together and awesome in our living room "colour scheme" {read: what we have and how it is vaguely coming together}. Anyway, being lazy when it comes to sewing, and only having an antique (gorgeous) hand driven sewing machine, I cut around some cushion inserts I had, sewed 3 sides together and made one piece of fabric long enough to make a tuck at the end, like on a pillow case, for the cushion to sit in. No buttons, no zips, no hand sewing. Genius. I don't know why I hadn't thought of it earlier. Anyway, as long as you don't look inside them at the wonky sewing and loose threads, you'll see they look rather splendid!

Oh yeah and the pink one is all creased because I just got up form sitting on it to take the picture! Tehehe. Nothing like a bit of real life eh?


More Creative Spaces over here.

Dear 8 years in Surry Hills,

I will miss you:
* Dasher the Wonderdog
* St Minas fruit and Veg
* Yullis (lets try somewhere different for a drink... naaahhhh)
* Coffee coffee coffee
* The Hipsters
* The laneways to explore
* Bumping into people on the street
* Feeling like I live in the centre of the World
* The bike lanes
* Cat Alley
* Bakers Bun Yes (screw you Bourke St Bakery!)

I won't miss you:
* The crazy loud neighbours
* People pouring out of The Clock at midnight every night
* The expensiveness
* The Hipsters
* The buses
* Renting
* Never feeling cool enough
* People Puking/pissing/defecating (no I'm not even joking or nuthin') on our back steps...

I can't actually believe its our last day being Sydney-siders. Wow. Just. holy fricken wow. Tim and I have been counting down for a while now, and the eyes... the look of "....wow" really lets us know that we're both feeling the same way.

Wow.

My creative space...

 

Is it cheating if its over 15 years old? Our dear family friend (and awesome artist), Jules scanned this in to her computer and sent it to me the other day! She had kept it all these years because clearly even at the age of 10 I was completely adorable! Ha! Have to confess my drawing skills havn't improved much since then... Though I am now quite good at drawing feet... yup, there's a Random Fact of the Day about me for you. You are SO welcome.

More creative spaces over here...

Blue and brown

SOOC as they say on Flickr. I love home. Up the top there is Dasher. The neighbourhoods pet.

Shameless

Shameless self promotion that is...

 

Please come see our play. It's on next week. Bring kids 8 and up (or a bit younger if they are tough and don't mind scary robots). And if you don't have kids please come anyway! Small independent theatre: Huzzah! Drop Bear Theatre do new plays for kids of all ages (even though this particular one is for the slightly older).

That's my boy in the picture up there, and I am doing the lights for the show as well as "cracking the whip" (technically known as the production manager)...

Tickets are only $17 and it's on from Friday 1st July to Friday 8th at 'The Reginald' Downstairs theatre at the Seymour Centre, Sydney. Book here!

The ultimate breakfast muffin, rehashed.

Remember this post... and remember how I said I'd get around to giving it a go and posting a recipe well... I did, and I didnt...
I did in fact make them, last week. But only because a recipe for them, from a lovely reader arrived in my inbox! Thank you kind sir! Inspired, he gave the muffins a go, using a savoury muffin recipe from "The Good Taste Collection: Baking" by Anneka Manning. He vegetarianised (is that a word?) it and added the all important egg in the middle!
Inspired by my dear readers inspiration, the very next day I kicked myself up the bum (not easy) and gave it a go.
I changed the ingrediants around a bit because I didn't want to go to the supermarket. I added a zuccini for green and yum. Used veggo sausages instead of facon (you know what I mean - that smoky smelling cardboard that does actually tastes like bacon when fried in heaps of oil and chopped really small and covered with other things too). I wish I had chives as was suggested coz I just know they would work so I've included them in the recipe anyway. They took longer to cook for me than is originally suggested and I strongly suggest you line your muffin tin because I pretty much destryoed mine (the muffins not the tin) getting them out of there (hence the squished appearance in the photo!).
I love that instructions on how to boil an egg were included. For all my baking experience and prowess, I continually stuff up the simple egg boiling process. I'm so impatient I usually chuck eggs from the fridge into already boiling water which means they crack and *eurgh* leak every time. I never look at the clock and so the amount of time they have been in is a guessing game and its always pot luck if it is runny or hard. These instructions are completely new to me. If your happy with your egg boiling method, stick to it. But I have included these instructions, not because I think you're dumb, but because sometimes simple things actually are not.
I'd also like to try this with a more basic plain muffin recipe, though the grated potato does add that extra awesome hash brown breakfast element... Who knows, may be this can become a real breakfast thing for us? They are hearty, tasty and healthy (depending on how much cheese you sprinkle on top, heyhey!). Certainly one for the imaginary cafe that every one dreams of owning one day... I know I know, shut up and post the recipe already...here we go... 

and we soaked up the sun and sold sold sold!

The markets on Saturday went so well! Look! Look at our pretty stall! The Beautiful brollys where by Basil Bangs and the whole shebang was organised by the cool kids of the bicycle film festival. I sold clean out of muffins and bicycle wheel shortbread. I even sold one of my braclets to Lee from Remy and Lee's. The collective 'PS' comrades sold their artwork, spoke cards and bicycle cards too! Generally it was just blissful fun sitting in the sun, watching the cool kids with cooler bikes peruse and chat with lovely people.

Presents!

 

 

Look what I got in the post! My first ever giveaway win from blogland! Thank you so much to Kel from Green Tea and Red Nails for such an amazing box of joy! Owly (I've always been imaginative with soft toy names) has taken up residence on our bed. The tea ready to be brewed in the kitchen, the glorious vintage fabric stash in the fabric stashery with grand designs ahead of it and the envelopes are so great I kinda don't want to post them to anyone...

More creative space...

On a Mission

Friends of ours have moved to South Asia. It's a predominantly Muslim country and whilst they are there through a Christian organisation I wouldn't call them missionaries as such.
Missionaries are something I really struggle with the concept of. I don't really think its cool to go off to another country tell them they've got it all wrong, have had it wrong for thousands of years, and that this other religion is how it really is*. But my friends aren't doing that. They are going to work. They (unlike me) have useful degrees that are helpful to people. She is a pharmacist and will be assisting a pharmacy in a very poor area and he is an engineer and will be assiting with building infrastructure in the city.
Going to live somewhere different to anything you ever experienced before is an amazing way for you to find what it's like to be different, be a minority. It's a scary thing to be in the minority, especially when it is as conspicuous as the colour of your skin.

(Generally its assumed that if you are white in "non -white" country you're American. Interestingly when we were in Uganda people often asked me if I was Muslim because I had a Muslim name... Sofia. Even though I introduced myself as Sophie and Tim introduced himself as Tim we both got translated to Sofia and Timoty straight away. I digress. )

(Sore thumb much?)

While we were in Uganda I got completely fed up of being stared at and having things assumed about me because of how I look. It's devastating to think people live like that every day in our country of muddled up races too. It's devastating to think that the people who were here first are the minority and may feel that way. I admire our friends, and some other people I know too, for choosing to live in a country where they are different because they want to make a difference..


*On the flip side, may be what my friends are doing is what being a missionary is all about. We tend to only here the crap stuff about religion in the media. You don't hear that a dramatically higher percentage of religious people (equally across all religions I may add) give to charity than non religious etc.

{source}

Sydney's best Op shop...

Well I am completely loath to let this one out of the bag, because, as we all know, there are no cheap 'n' fabulous op shops left in inner Sydney anymore. All but one (to my knowledge) has been sifted through by "vintage store" folks to sell for 12 times the price. However, if you wander down to Wooloomooloo, the dodgy end of it, on Forbes street you will find Hopestreet's op shop. And it is full of gold. Except right now it might not be because I just visited... but they refill every week. Here are my recent acquisitions from this tiny awesome Op shop.

Very cool set of 4 1950's Mally cannisters
A cute neck tie and
A VERY 90's denim, zip dress, that I am still contemplating whether to wear in public... it's a bit more errr... "figure hugging" than my usual attire!

ps. That cool cat Curbside is talking about sharing op shop love... so I thought I'd spill. I was just going to show you my spoils... but Hopestreet does pay my boys wages too, so I have a vested interest in you visiting! Enjoy!