New Beginnings

I often find this time of year very reflective. The crazy busyness of the holiday season tends to bring out hours of thought and assessment of the year that will soon be over and the new one just around the corner. 

For awhile now I've been looking for a change. A new challenge to sink my teeth into. So I decided to apply for uni. I'm very excited to say that I have been offered a place next year to undertake a graduate diploma in arts management! I think this is the intellectual challenge that I've been looking for. 

While I don't remember the enrolment process being quite as involved last time round, largely to do with the questions asked for their statistic data collection, it was relatively easy and I'm looking forward to it. There seem to be a few people I know who are going back to or are already studying so I'm in fine company.

So now that I've enrolled it's time to start getting ready and also to enjoy a bit of pre-studying time as I'm sure I'll be busy next year!

Melbourne's weather has held up its reputation in the last couple of weeks. After a scorching 38˚C day followed close to a week of low twenty degree days. Sadly the respite is over and tomorrow we are expecting it to warm up to 37˚C. Of course Melbourne being the fine city that it is... Monday we're expecting rain and the temperature to drop back to 20˚C again. 

My plan is to drop the blinds in the house, crank up the fan and hope that the apartment retains the lovely coolness that we've cultivated over the past few days until the cool change comes through. Sadly I don't think I can haul all the plants back in off the balcony to do the same... something about most of them liking sunlight.  I really hope that they'll be okay in the heat as it was the heatwaves that decimated our balcony garden last time!

Our garden has grown a little with the addition of borage, soapwort, woad and some alpine strawberry. 

The borage is looking a little worse for the wear after spending two days in transit before seeing the light of day. Luckily the latter three are quite hardy and have perked up quite nicely after planting, a good water and some sun. 

Today we had our first harvest of spinach:

This was happily eaten for dinner along with some delicious wagyu burgers. 

I was also very happy to see the first zucchini buds for this year:

There really is something quite soothing about spending time tending to plants. Not to mention the immense satisfaction of harvesting your own home grown produce! 

Intentions

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.” 
― Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

After a hiatus of close to 18 months I've decided to pick up my proverbial pen and start writing again.
It's taken me nearly two years to find my words again and if I'm being honest with myself I'm still finding the words to express myself after what were some of the hardest times in my life so far.

In the last 18 months I've been learning a bundle of new hand crafts including spinning yarn and weaving which have both taken up a bit of room but made me immensely happy. There's lovely sense of achievement processing raw fleece and turning it into yarn which you then make into something. Not as hard as you might think either!

I'm teaching myself to weave on a rigid heddle loom and so far my projects have been limited to some sample fabrics, scarves and tea towels. I have a vague obsession with the idea of making tea towels. Everyone one needs tea towels right?

Earlier this month I was lucky enough to head to New York with Andrew for a week long holiday. We saw some shows (Warhorse, Once, Bring it On, Peter & The Starcatcher, Newsies and Spiderman), ate some great food (a lot of pizza) and caught up with some friends. It was just the change of scenery that I needed.

Oh and we narrowly missed Hurricane Sandy. We flew out just before they closed New York. Despite watching the news while we were there, as the US Election was on, we managed to not hear a thing about the storm until we were at the airport where a little girl kept repeating "Mommy are we flying into the storm?". We thought she was referring to a thunderstorm.

A week after returning from NY I started work on a short touring gig which was great fun. Now that I'm back from travels, both work and play, I'm back into a bit of a nesting mode as we've just planted our first lot of plants in our second attempt at a balcony garden. Our new balcony has a lot more  light than our old one did. We also have a translucent blind now which means that we can actually see the plants so with any luck it will be harder to forget that they're out there.

We managed to (miraculously) germinate from seed some tomatoes, basil and capsicum. It was one of the most exciting things to wake up and discover a tiny shoot of green in the pot of dirt that hadn't been there when you went to bed last night. Possibly I need to get out more... but it was exciting to me! We've also planted some spinach, rosemary and zucchini seedlings.

Hopefully all the plants will have had the chance to establish before the blistering hot Summer hits. On that note it's time to check on them. It's our first 38˚C day this year... of course this being Melbourne we're set for storms and the low 20˚s tomorrow. Love it!

First Sock of the Year!

So it turns out that my first sock of the year wasn't any of the four that I mentioned previously. I had been determined that Twisted was going to be my first pair for the year but since the gauge disaster i decided that I should wait until my sock needles arrive as I think they'll be easier on my hands.

One of the KALs I joined is one that is making its way through Cookie A's book Knit Sock Love. The first sock on the menu is Hedera. The first sock has come together wonderfully quickly and I'm looking forward to making its pair in the next couple of days.



I've also been trying to keep a bit active while I've been knitting so I've also managed to drag my sorry self to the gym and used FitFu on my phone to remind me to get up once every 45 minutes.

Not much else to report other than having made it through The Pacific and two seasons of Spooks and looking forward to several more as I complete the socks.

Looking Forward to a Year of Socks

I feel a little bad about abandoning my blog last year but there's not a great deal I can do about it now except attempt to write more often this year. It was a pretty incredible year which saw my Dad getting remarried and three new family members as a result. Here's hoping they'll actually be able to join us in Oz on a more permanent basis soon!

Otherwise I spent a lot of time looking after myself as I'd gotten run down. This meant baking, lots of tea, some knitting and the rediscovery of sketching and jewellery making. So I have many reasons to look forward and now seems as good a time as any to start moving ahead with some projects.

2011 is being touted as the "year of legs". So in celebration of that I've decided to make it a year of sock knitting. So far so good!
I cast on the left sock of Twisted on Christmas day using a skein of my stashed Araucania Ranco Solid yarn in green which is looking gorgeous so far. The tiny 2mm needles have been proving a bit hard on my hands so it's been slow going. I've just gotten to the heel flap which I made a slight error on due to misreading the pattern but having solved that I seem to have discovered that I need to start over anyhow as the sock is a little too tight. ARGH!

Dad's Thuja socks, also cast on on Christmas day, are flying along. The 4mm needles are bliss to work with and Panda Magnum Soft is truly as it's named (soft that is, not a panda). Just turned the heel of the first sock and am a quarter of the way through the foot.

I also found the socks I had started to knit out of my pretty yarn from Norway. For the last two years they showed up around the house, I'd look at them, think how pretty they were and then lament the loss of the pattern and the broken needle. Finally the day after Boxing Day last year I decided that I could reverse engineer the pattern from what I had done already. After all I had one completed sock and 13 years of knitting experience. Armed with a stitch book and a new set of needles it took me a grand total of half an hour to work out the chevron pattern.

The final sock pattern that I currently have on the go is the Adirondack Socks which are my current crochet project. I'm making this out of a ball of Moda Vera Noir that's been in my stash as well.

Phew, that is a lot of socks! I do like working on several though as I find it easier on my hands and my interest levels. at this point I'm working on a different pair/pattern each day and it's entertaining me marvelously. I'm also really looking forward to making socks with Fi as we embark on some KALs this year.

Here's hoping I have a wonderful collection of socks by this time next year!

Lost

"There's a world, there's a world I know
A place we can go where the pain will go away
There's a world where the sun shines each day
There's a world, there's a world out there
I'll show you just where
And in time I know you'll see
There's a world where we can be free
Come with me"

39 Q & A on 2009

My annual, where-did-my-year-go post. Happy New Year all!

1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
Saw more live theatre performances, that I wasn't working on, this year than ever before.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Honestly can't remember this year's resolutions so perhaps I'll just skip them for this year. Oh wait, I still can't juggle three balls.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Thankfully not this year.

5. What countries did you visit?
America, Macau SAR, Hong Kong

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
More work!

7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Saturday 7th Feburary because it felt like the city was burning down around us.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Working out what I wanted in life, what's important to me.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Getting sensible amounts of sleep.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Not too badly this year. Except for slipping down some stairs and even that wasn't so bad.

11. What was the best thing you bought in 2009?
My Muppet!!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Clio & Zeus for being far more sociable than expected.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Can't think of anyone so it must have been a good year...

14. Did you do to any weddings?
Yes, three in fact.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
My Muppet, my new camera, traveling and the amazing shows I saw, not necessarily in that order.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
"I'm Alive" from "Next To Normal"

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
---happier or sadder? Much happier
---thinner or heavier? Heavier
---richer or poorer? My life has been more enriched this year

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Baking and reading. Can never bake or read enough.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Procrastinating

20. How did you spend Christmas?
Euro Christmas with my adopted family on the eve, Christmas Day at home with the pugs trying to learn how to draw, Christmas night

21. Did you fall in love in 2009?
:)

22. Were you rejected by anyone?
Not per se

23. What was your favorite TV program?
I'd have to say Battlestar Galactica, but I'm a bit behind in my TV viewing.

24. Do you dislike anyone now that you didn't dislike this time last year?
Nope.

25. What was the best book you read?
The Brain that Changes Itself by Norman Doige, MD

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I still remember how to play the violin

27. What did you want and got?
A digital SLR

28. What did you want and did not get?
To go to the Merrell store in Hong Kong

29. What was your favorite film of this year?
I enjoyed most of the films I saw this year. Maybe "Up".

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I had the day off work and I'm still 26

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Nothing, it was a pretty good year all round.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Blue jeans, black top.

33. What kept you sane?
My wonderful friends. They know who they are :)

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
No one really.

35. What political issue stirred you the most?
Gay marriage.

36. Who did you miss?
My Mum and I still miss her.

37. Who was the best new person you met?
The lady in Washington Heights who showed me what berries to pick in the park.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
Time is the most precious gift you can give.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
"Happiness is anyone and anything at all that's loved by you."

Sights, Sites & More!

What can I say? I love this city! I love how green it is, with every inch of free space teeming with plants and parks. From rooftops to canopies to the tiny park across from the hotel with a waterfall drowning out the sounds of the city. It is truly a remarkable city.

Day one saw a trip to the newly opened High Line which was gorgeous. A beautiful reclaimation of space that is already visibly seeing the surrounding areas clean up.

Walking through Chelsea it was great to see the different buildings and the variations in their architecture.

It was a reasonably clear day so it was off to the Staten Island Ferry for my first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty. The tours up to the crown have sold out till September but it was nice to see her from the water.

A quick trip down to Wall Street to check out the Stock Exchange and it was time to see my first show on Broadway which was The Little Mermaid which was fun.

Since then I've seen West Side Story which I can only describe as amazing and 9 to 5 which I really enjoyed against my expectations.

Spotted my first squirrel in NY yesterday and had many failed attempts to capture this on film. Made up for this by going to a camera/electronics/cd store to browse. Came out lightly with only two CDs.

Have also discovered that mixed drinks are much stronger over here. Will bear that in mind for the next time I'm out.

Toured Radio City Music Hall and was blown away by the architecture, the detail that went into the restoration and the stage lifts and just the whole place was pretty incredible. Again, there are many photos.

I spent the evening exploring Times Square, trying to become familiar with the theatres, their locations and what was playing where. Not sure how successful that was... Walked along until I caught my first glimpse of Central Park where I took a mini bike-cab tour of the western side of the park. I was hoping to get a ticket to the final Shakespeare in the Park performance but it was not to be.

Tomorrow the crazy run of museums begins!

Vegas Baby!

It's amazing how much we rely on the internet nowadays... Four nights in Vegas largely without internet gave the illusion of freedom from the everyday and holiday mode kicked in!

Arrived in Vegas on 5th July at around 10:30pm (local time) and headed straight to TI to drop off bags before heading for a quick look at the Strip. As is tradition, ice cream must be eaten upon arrival in a new location. Cue Ben & Jerry's. Watched a couple of the short shows at the Lake of Dreams at the Wynn before watching the Sirens of TI from across the road.


Black out curtains are wonderful things. Slept in on the 6th before heading out for the first attempt to make it down the Strip. Managed to get most of the way down the strip but had a slow, snap happy, start with the Venetian before moving on to see the Wynn, Palazzo, Bellagio (fountains), Paris, Miracle Mile Shops (skip the fountain shows), Coca Cola World, MGM Grand (cute lioness asleep at the top of a waterfall, didn't take a photo for some reason). Took many photos of umbrellas (Palazzo) and hot air balloons (Bellagio). Saw my first Cirque show, Mystère at TI and loved it. Straight off to the next show, La Reve at the Wynn. What can I say, I do love a good water show and it was stunning.

Day 2 in Vegas started the day with the breakfast buffet at TI then headed off down the Strip again doing the interior of some of the aforementioned casinos. More balloon photos. Was impressed by the curved escalators in Caesar's Forum Shops. More umbrella photos. Had around exterior of Paris & around New York, New York. Must be time to see a show right? Zumanity was very pretty!

Day 3 booked an express tour to Hoover Dam. "Won" $1.50 from the vending machine I bought snacks from. Many photos at the Dam. Then took a helicopter flight over Hoover Dam and boy was it windy up there! Back at the Strip was M&M happy at M&M's World before having another look at MGM Grand, New York, New York and making it down for a quick look at Excalibur, Luxor and Mandalay Bay before hightailing it back to Luxor to see Believe which was um... yeah. Then off to MGM Grand to see Ka which was AMAZING! When in Vegas how do you not play slots at least once? Managed to come out a whole $7 (give or take a few cents) on top. Decided to cash out while I was ahead. Ha!

9th July was a travel day. Check out at noon off to the airport to head to NY where I am at the moment. Loved Vegas but am very excited to be in NY as is demonstrated by my waking up at 6:30am having gone to sleep at 3:30am. Wee!

Signing off now to go see the city, and possibly purchase a giant bag of Reeces pieces...