Monthly Archive

S is a cool letter. I like the shape of it. I realised when writing this list that now that I am up to Letter Number Nineteen I am becoming rather repetitive. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you can probably chant the list of my favourite books and films and musicians. There’s nothing mysterious about me, I’m afraid. Still…

Sewing: well, duh. Some times I like sewing. Sometimes it’s a pain in the butt job that has to be done.
Sleeping: I have a natural talent for sleeping. Must be half wombat. Or sloth.
Scrapbooking: I’ve tried not to get interested but it’s so hard not to buy all those really cool papers and who doesn’t want to write about themselves??
Soft things: down pillows and comforters, foamy soap, fluffy angora, babies, my daughter’s ears (ooh she’s going to hate me for that!)
Soaking in Spas (translation: jacuzzis): have a tendency to induce sleep, however, and I worry about drowning.
Starting Things: I’m very good at starting things. Not so good at finishing. I’m what you might call an “Ideas Man”. (calling all fans of The Castle!)
Nina Simone,Bruce Springsteen (don’t laugh at me!),
Dusty Springfield and one of the Great Loves of My Life, Michael Stipe.
I will love Kevin Spacey forever because of American Beauty - enough even to forgive him for K-Pax
I couldn’t take my eyes off of Tilda Swinton in Orlando.
Egon Schiele:one of my favourite painters.
Has anyone out there seen Shortbus yet? Given my love of Hedwig, I’m keen to see it, but it might be a while before I can - North Queensland is a wasteland when it comes to progressive film.
John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath is still my favourite book ever.
Salad: my favourite food, especially green salads. Which should make me skinny but sadly does not.
Silk.
Spirit: all of its meanings Go on. Pick one. OK, not strong alcohol. All the meanings except that.
Symbolism: it’s fun finding the puzzles and being all arty and enigmatic. *hahahha*
Sassafrass: I don’t even know what that is but it sounds very cool.
Singing loudly and wantonly and raucously, even, to my favourite songs.
Sneaking kisses when no one is looking.
Shoes.
Finally, in my haste to dispatch the R list, I forgot a BIG favourite - The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Sorry, Frankie. You know there’ll never be anyone else.

Well, well,well. What have we here? ONE YEAR of blogging, that’s what!! I can hardly believe that it’s a year ago since I decided to leap into this world. It was definitely one of my more inspired moments and I’m really very glad I did it. Meeting you guys has been wonderful
Cake and icecream for everybody!!

Oooh Oooh!!! Stop Press! BIG NEWS!! I have received a Blogiversary (don’t you just HATE that word??!) gift. My darling brother and darling sister have been working feverishly and are delivered of a new web site for me. Have a look. Let me know what you think and tell me if you find any glitches!

Liesl at disdressed has posted a lovely image of a doll quilt that she made for her daughter. The quilt is backlit by sunshine. It has a gorgeous glow and reminded me of this photo that I took in New Zealand of a begonia. The flower was as big as the palm of my hand and, with the sun shining through, it was the colour of a sunset.

Whew. That whole process was smooth as satin. Now for more…

It’s happening - I’m making stuff again. Teaching at Symposium in New Zealand was such a good thing for me to do. I hadn’t realised how out of the groove I was and spending a week with supportive old friends was just what I needed. It wasn’t just that either. My brother and sister are great for me. All that encouragement and enthusiasm was just the boost I needed.

You probably need a little background info. Five years ago I was on a creative rampage. I went to Quilt Market in Houston and sold my patterns. It was a success on a number of levels, including making some great contacts and proving to me that I can do this and do it well. I could really see my place in the world.
Then a few things happened. My tendencies for procrastination and self-doubt started eroding my plans, my son James’ medical problems took a nosedive, blah, blah,blah.
Anyway, nearly three years ago Jamie died. Then we left New Zealand and moved to Australia. The network of artistic people that I had around me were now thousands of miles away and I started to lose my direction.
Talking with those friends again has shown me that I hadn’t really acknowledged quite how much those events had rattled me. I’ve been great emotionally and intellectually, but the creative side of my life took a knock. I’d even been giving lots of thought to changing direction completely and leaving quilting and designing behind.

Enough whining - I’m back! I know now that this IS what I want to do. I’m good at it and I like it.And I’ve identified the things that I need to do to keep the focus.
My mates and I are going to keep in regular contact and keep each other aloft.
I will surround myself with stimulating design and cool stuff… via Selvedge and Wallpaper and other fav magazines and wonderful books,etc.
New fabric - I need new fabric from time to time. Fortunately my mate Donna has a quilt shop and she knows what I like
Every day I will be Thankful for the constant flow of inspiration that God provides.

Yes. Good.

How many bloody goes will it take for me to not stuff something up on this blog??
I use Firefox, so I didn’t know until Katja told me this morning that my sidebar was waaaayyy down the bottom of the page for IE users. Another fix accomplished - I deleted that humungo photo from my appalling attempt at a first post.
Pity really, you could have printed it out and had a great poster.

Oh, and I know I promised crafting, and it WILL happen. SOON…
Maybe even tonight.

… you do something dumb like setting up a blog that only other WordPress users can comment on! Sorry about that! And thanks Stomper Girl and Plastic Tupperware Queen for waving the warning flag. Anyway, it’s fixed now, so Come One! Come All! Comment away!

I did do ONE clever thing today, however. I managed to get a cute (orange, but cute) button installed at the top of my sidebar for you ALL to use. Just click on and you can subscribe to this blog (new address, remember? you can unsubscribe from the old one AFTER you subscribe to this one!!). If you don’t already use a feeder to read blogs, try it - makes keeping up with everyone a snap.

Tune in tomorrow - I have CRAFTY STUFF happening! With real fabric and everything!!

I’m back in town and my head is spinning with new ideas and plans for this year. To celebrate I’ve spent the morning creating this cool new home for twolimeleaves.
For a couple of days during my last week in New Zealand, I stayed at a beautiful beachfront holiday house with my mother, sister and her two little girls. What could be more perfect? Private beach (a rocks throw from the house), no neighbours, no cars and only ten minutes drive to a cafe. Don’t hate me. Just blogroll my new address and in days my posts will be back to their old whiny selves.
I’m hoping that with the new, friendly, easy-to-reply-to commenting system, it will be much easier for me to reply to your comments in a timely manner (sorry about the past eight weeks - it’s been tricky!). I’ve really missed the interaction with you which, after all, is the best part of blogging.
A moonlight photo taken from our beach house deck…

Yes folks, I was really there. It didn’t suck.

ps don’t forget - new address on the blogroll xxx

Today is my last day in New Zealand. The past few days have been fantastic. Mum and Dad and I have been scooting around doing Holiday Things. We visited Zealandia on Saturday. Fabulous and rather other-worldly. Ate dinner here (Salmon. Suffer, Peasants!). And…

…wait for it…

…yesterday, we went to Cirque du Soleil. Yay us! It was way cool. But you know that already (unless you’ve been on another planet for the past few years).

How about an R list?
R is for
Rivers: I’m a river and lake person. I love fresh, cold water. Makes living in a place like North West Queensland an interesting experience I’ve begun a collection of water photos…Ripples…
Remembrances and Recollections: little snippets of life saved for another day that recall the smell and sound and touch of where we were.
Real stuff: who wants fake? who wants faux? Gimme real, baby. I want Attar and Essence, not Smells Like and Suggestion Of.
Red Red Red Red Red: like a fire engine. (But, no Gary, not Brick)
Reflections: all kinds - thoughts, images. In water and glass…Risotto: I’m good at making risotto. Except when we have guests, and then it always turns to glue. My favourites are mushroom and pumpkin.
Respect: essential and all too often lacking. Hard to quantify but it’s absence is always obvious.
A short list - time to pack.

R words that are fun to say…
refuge, reef, recluse, ragamuffin