In a wibbly wobbly world of my own

I know what you're thinking ... who is that vivacious woman? Well, that's me. I had number one son take a photo of me. But why am I looking so pleased with myself? Well, it's partly because it's my day off, partly because the sun is out, but mostly because I have a new necklace!

The legendary Cathy Daulman, who comes to my stamp club, has been getting interested in polymer clay, and especially, making moulds. Tiny dolls are a special favourite of hers at the moment. And what are the nicest tiny dolls? Jelly babies! Cathy had a go at making a jelly baby mould - the first go was cast from an actual jelly baby, but it wasn't a complete success. So she turned her hand to carving her own jelly baby, and making a mould from that. The result was completely fantastic! I caught her tinkering with a necklace, and commissioned one on the spot.

We had much discussion about colours. I sent her samples of my favourite colours. I even questioned the colour of one of the prototype beads - but here's the end result, and I think it's FABULOUS!

Want one? Try contacting Cathy through her My Stamps web site, http://mystamps.bizland.com/

Help, I've become a giant!

Home sick today, but a bright moment happened when Leigh, my milkman from Aussie Farmers, turned up to deliver our fruit and Vegie box. As he always does when someone's home, he offered to bring the box right to the table.

So I got to unpack with ease. I opened the bag of potatoes and started pouring them into the potato box. They felt most odd ... I had a look. OH MY GOODNESS! I've turned into a GIANT!

In which my Mum kisses a frog

And for those who have been following the story of my Mum's frogs, here's a final bittersweet installment...

"This is the last frog chapter. We made the great decision to return our little guests to wild. Bobo had been missing most of yesterday, Frodo as usual doing his impersonation of a prune, was squashed into the smallest spot he could find. Bobo suddenly appeared upstairs at breakfast time, so in view of the danger to little frogs, coupled with the fact they wouldn't eat anything I gave them, the decision was made and I kissed them goodbye, (no princes) and took them out to the compost bin where it is a nice damp spot with pots of herbs, and a convenient down pipe to live in. It was sad saying farewell but its for the best. Here is a last photo."

Important frog update

Mum sends this :

"Dear Pauline there I was scrolling through all my favourite apps, and there I was. Looking at my froggy chums. What a thrill, me on the net!!!!
Not much going on in frog land, frodo has adopted a cold little corner and seems to be hibernating, I have given him a cover to crawl under and a tray of water, frogs poop in water just like lizards so no more little parcels in the shower, bobo is around but mostly sleeping in a top corner, comes down to use the bath. I'm worried about food, no insects around at the mo too b----- dy cold."

Bobo takes a shower

Mum sends this frog update ...

"Bobo showered and is now hanging out on the shower curtain!!!"

Eat more fruit

Jonathan was helping me in the kichen. I do like getting them to eat more fruit. One thing led to another, and then I had occasion to call out "Hey kids, there's a banana in the fruit bowl, with your name on it!".

Thomas came to investigate, but claimed I was mistaken.

Did you notice his correct use of apostrophes? We're so proud.

Frog Shower in Ballina

We take a break now from the fascinating life and doings of ME, to focus on my wonderful MUM (you can call her Judi). Mum is retired (i.e. permanently on holiday) with Peter in Ballina on the northern coast of New South Wales. Gorgeous place to visit, too.

She enjoys showing me cool things from around her home, like lizards that come to feed, or interesting plants in bloom. Lately, though, things have got super interesting - she has FROGS in the shower. She doesn't have a blog or anything, so I must share them for her.

This is the first one that arrived. He's on the floor of the shower, and not really perturbed by a nice lady using the shower.

This is the second day of the Frogpocalypse. Her comment was "Frodo has been promoted to soap monitor".

Third day, and she says "This is bobo, Frodo's little brother. I think he is an architect as he is very interested in buildings".

Another look at Bobo.

And then we have Bobo and Frodo together : "I went out for the day, but brother Bobo turned up in the spare wheel cover on the caravan, Peter brought him to me and we quickly decided he was a new member, the proof is in the next picture."

I think we can all congratulate Mum on some very fine frog reporting. All photos have been taken with an iPad, and in the shower, so we can forgive any technical flaws.

Please keep the updates going, Mum!

Vegemite macarons!

I took some macarons into work today - tasty mandarin for everyone except Ben, and a few very special Vegemite ones for Ben. Here's Ben anticipating a treat.

Here's the five special macarons. The filling is white chocolate ganache, generously flavoured with the evocative combination of vegemite, breadcrumbs, and butter.

He enjoyed it a lot, and described it as "not completely bad". Here's Ben enjoying his treat.

Mmmm, num. 

Then Rob came in. Well, actually, everyone came in, because the network was down and there were biscuits. Rob is American, so he got pressured into trying a vegemite macaron.

Rob's a professional writer, so he was super eloquent. I think he said it was "not bad".

Also Jeff made yo-yos. They were perfectly fine.

More girls lunches

The women at work are continuing with "Girls Lunches", every two weeks (we think that's an easy timetable to keep up, and not send anyone broke).

Here's some recent treats:

Anmol at Masak Masak, enjoying an actual coconut!

We are told that the name means something like "playing kitchen", the game we all play when we are about three or four.

My Vegie Laksa at Masak Masak. People asked me if it was too spicy, as I coughed, spluttered, and mopped my brow. "No, just how I like it"...

... while Arina (on right) enjoys the same dish, but asks for extra fresh red chillis. Veronica is on the left, having tasty satays.

Different day, and here we are at "South of Johnston". Hmm, not much on that web site, I'll point you to a review site instead. Here we are at "South of Johnston".

There's Veronica again, and Anmol, both eclipsed by my magnificent tofu and rice noodle salad, which was full of asian-inspired crispiness and yum!

Anmol amused me enormously by ordering a dish described as "Chicken, herbed and crumbed", but pronouncing it as "Chicken Herbert". I will call crumbed chicken "Chicken Herbert" from now on.






Look, it's Anmol's Chicken Herbert. Kirsty is having something fancy with beetroots and goats cheese. The menu here is very breakfasty, but there are so many office workers around, they have added some lunch dishes.

This was one of the friendliest, most welcoming places yet! They guy (kind of) told us off for not booking, but did it so sweetly that we PROMISED to book next time. The autumn themed decor was gorgeous, and obviously worked on regularly. There's a fireplace and sofas too, and they sell Portugese custard tarts. So that's my winter taken care of.

I've been baking sourdough bread!

I bought a dried sourdough starter at The Mixing Bowl in Burwood. I managed to get it reconstituted into a nice, bubbly sourdough starter that just won't stop!

Here's a recent loaf:

... which looks pretty good to me.













When you see sourdough bread, and you want to tell if its really, really sourdough, look closely at the crust. You should see little bubbles like this:

... which is why I was so pleased with this one.

Obviously there will be some fabulous sourdoughs that have no sign of bubbles, because of the other yummy ingredients, so don't go insulting your local artisan baker!

We are eating this one tonight.

One last thing I got at Paperific

As I have noted to a few people, stencils are hot right now. Lots of exciting varieties around, lots of great designs. I mean, look at these ones:

Hmm, they are made of a thicker plastic material than the usual stencils. Each one is about A5 size. Amazing designs!

Had a quick go with the spritzer and a marker - yep, that's going to work.

But the most interesting thing about these stencils is that they didn't come from Paperific at all. They were from the neighbouring Better Homes and Gardens show (I went to both). These are actually samples from the guys at QAQ, who make decorative screens for home and office use. Go look at their site, their ideas are way cool! These samples are 1/10th scale versions of what they sell, and they hand them out as freebies!

My day out at Paperific (May 2013)

Paperific started today - I've supported Paperific since before it was called Paperific, so I had to go!

Here's some of my fun news of the day:

Here's a little skeleton in a closet. The samples at Twiddleybitz are completely awesome. I asked permission to take photos here, by the way. You must.

This is a lovely little chipboard kit, all those intricate pieces all cut out for you, and priced at just $8. Now that will be a fun afternoon at stamp club!

More Twiddleybitz samples - this little house/money box was decorated by a guy! So cool. Bought this kit too. Just $5. It's practically free fun!

"Please try our pens" - thank you, I did. Rossdale are wholesalers of some cool gear, and it was all nicely displayed. They were doing make and takes too.

I wrote the "Art", and the "Smart" and the "Big". There's a purple pig there too, but I definitely didn't draw that.

Joan keeps an eye on me, as I keep an eye on her Distress markers. That was my only make and take today (I'm a busy woman you know).

Rossdale also had : TRIANGULAR BLANK JOURNALS! Proper hardbound, triangular books!

The young people have an expression these days:

"Just shut up and take my money!"

Trickier than it sounds to actually buy them - as I mentioned, Rossdale were there as wholesalers, giving people a lookie at their stuff, not actually selling. But they were hooked up with both Bellbird Place and Little Bits. If you desperately wanted to buy something on the display, one of their lovely staff would walk you around to a retailer.

I dragged another buyer in my wake. I do that, I think I am good for business. We both bought the small and the large book (yes, there are two sizes), for around $10 and $15, which was very reasonable.

If you want one too, be quick at Paperific, or get in touch with your Little Bits, or Bellbird Place, or your local crafty or arty supply shop. Then we can all do triangular books together!

So that's who's been eating the possum food!

I caught this crimson rosella in the garden. It's unusual, we normally get rainbow lorikeets.