Isn't this pretty? Joe, one of the woodworkers at the Woodworker's Club that the man of the house and I belong to, made this little wheelbarrow using a scroll saw machine. Joe has an exceptionally delicate touch and turns out lots of beautiful work. I've got to tell you that every one of those lacey holes is cut by removing the saw blade from the machine, threading it up through a drilled hole in the work, re-fixing the blade in place, cutting the hole then doing the same thing over and over until the lacework is done. You can go mad doing that sort of thing and you need a lot of patience. And I should also tell you that the whole thing is only about 20cms long by about 12cms high. Beautiful job, Joe.
Our daughter took us out to lunch today to celebrate the birthday of the man of the house. Lovely grub and no dishes to wash so I enjoyed his birthday too, lucky me.
Bye for now until next time.

Just For Fun

One of the fun things about reaching my senior years is the fact that I can do nutty things and get away with it. In fact its almost expected of one. So here is one of my nutty things. Being a knittaholic I accumulate an awful lot of wool ends. Sure I use them to stuff cushions and soft toys but just for fun I decided to join them all together (the pieces of about 30cms and over) and knit them up into a blanket. I push the knots to one side of the fabric leaving one side smooth the other fluffy and there it is, a nice cosy rug. I knit it on big needles and in strips of about 45 cms wide then sew them together when they get to about 180cms long. I left about 25cms of the seam unsewn in the centre of the first two strips that I put together so that It can be worn as a poncho while I watch telly though the man of the house usually grabs it for that. I don't care if anyone thinks I'm nuts because its fun and its warm and I'm using up waste wool. Daughter & grandsons visiting today so I gotta go. Bye until next time.

Day of Surprises.

No pics today. Have spent the morning tidying (long overdue). The man of the house calls me a "messy pup" which, considering the age bracket I fit into, is very kind of him. So the silence of the morning has been punctuated from time to time with shouts of "Ahah! So that's where that got to." Untidy people live a very exciting life as we're always coming across pleasant surprises in the form of something we were sure we had lost. I keep meaning to improve but I never have. "Turn Over A New Leaf" was the term my second grade schoolteacher used to use. That one kept me in a quandary for some years as I never could work out where the leaf was that I had to turn over or what it had to do with my mess.
Anyway, a cup of coffee and then back to work I think. Wonder what I'll find next? Bye for now until next time.

One good turn.

Wouldn't you know I'd get it wrong. Yesterday's blog was supposed to start with the waving hand at the top but I forgot that you have to load the pictures backwards. Note to self: write things down so you don't forget them and keep trying.
Anyway, I'm spinning today - not the kind that makes you giddy but the spinning wheel kind. I promised my sister that I'd spin the combings from her little pomeranian dog's coat into knitting yarn. Now before you start advising the man of the house that he should book a nice padded cell for me I must warn you that I've done it before - spinning dog hair that is. Some dogs, (the spitz variety) have a double coat that consists of long outer hair and a softer fuzz close to the skin that keeps them warm in Winter and sheds in the Summer. The fuzz is good to spin and makes a lovely soft, washable yarn. Once its washed there is no doggy smell and its incredibly warm. Our daughter's beautiful Samoyed, unimaginatively named Sam, comes under the spitz heading and sheds great bags full of fuzz everytime he is brushed. Here's one of the scarves that I have make from the yarn that his fur makes. If you can stand mohair and angora you could tolerate doggy yarn as it has pretty much the same sneeze value. Bye for now until next time.

Not waving, drowning.

Drowning in a sea of weeds, menaced by marauding mosquitoes (cue theme music for Jaws - Da dum, da dum, da dum.) Fighting a losing battle with all the aches and pains to prove it. There are some compensations, however; daisies put on a show no matter how I neglect them. Even the poor orchid valiantly defies the slugs. Oh well, onwards and upwards. I'll get at the weeds again tomorrow. Bye for now until next time.

Potato Boston Bun

This is especially for the man of the house - its one of his favourites - no butter in it you see, that means he can eat more of it. (his reasoning not mine). I usually make it with left over mashed potato (no onion or pepper) but if you want to start from scratch I find that one good sized potato is plenty. I cook the potato in the microwave for about 4 minutes then mash it with a potato masher. Here's the recipe if you'd like it:

1/2 cup each of mashed potato, caster sugar, milk, dried fruit (I use sultanas)
1 cup of self raising flour. (I mix wholemeal & white)
Beat the sugar & potato together until they are creamy (I use an electric beater)
Stir in the remaining ingredients until well combined.
Pour mixture into a 7 inch (18cms) sandwich pan and bake at 180 for 35 to 40 mins. Test with a skewer as for a normal cake.
I ice it with vanilla flavoured icing and sprinkle the top with coconut. I put about a teaspoon of melted butter in the icing as I find it holds its shape better, but of course that's optional.
It's yummy spread with butter but nice without if you're watching your colesterol.
You can bake it in a loaf pan for probably the same length of time but I've never done that so I can't say how long it takes.
After two hours pulling weeds yesterday you can't even see where I've been so I'll be back at it today. Ah Spring. Bye for now until next time.

The man of the house has been working at his wood-lathe and here is the result. At first he said it was a cake stand for someone who is on a diet but then he decided to make this teensy bird for it, so now it is a bird bath for very tiny birds. It was made from a couple of nice little pieces of wood that he didn't want to throw away. Woodworkers can be quite miserly with their bits of wood; every little scrap must be looked at twice before it goes into the fire to keep us warm. It can be quite embarrassing to go walking with them as you never know what they will pick up and bring home with them - old, discarded fence posts, builders offcuts - its all fair game.
It's not raining at present so I'm off to the garden to pull some knee high weeds. Bye for now, until next time.