What I'm into... August.

linking up with the ever-fascinating Megan at SortaCrunchy...

August. Last day.
Seriously?? Only four months left in this year???
Yikes!!

So, here's what I've been into this month.

What I'm reading:
Still (slowly) working my way through One Thousand Gifts. This woman slays me. I have to read a chapter and then put the book away, and then come back and re-read it. And then read it again. And again.

Georgette Heyer. Regency novels at their finest. I found an omnibus edition with five of her stories in it at the thrift store.

Terry Pratchett. Discworld novels. I love biting, witty, dark humour.

What I'm watching:
Eureka. Sci-fi geekery. I'm sad that there's only one season left.

That's it for TV these days... and no movies either this month.

What I'm listening to:
I pine for silence. My kids always have something playing... don't know what it is most of the time... I treasure the quiet moments.

What I'm making:
Pots. As in pottery. Thrown on a wheel.

Pictures. My 365 project bit the dust, but I'm still experimenting with my camera. And loving it.

What's cooking:
Tapioca in the crockpot. Salads of all kinds. Corn on the cob. Macarons. Sushi-shaped caked rolls. Cinnamon buns. Bread-and-butter pickles (3 dozen jars).

The only thing I'm not doing (that I should be) is menu-planning. Generally these days, 5:00 finds me polling the family. "What do you want for dinner?" Not the best way to be doing things.

Blog reading:
This month I pared my Google reader down drastically. Like, there used to be 400 blogs on the list, and now there's 75. Hmmm. That still sounds like a lot...

Pinterest:
It takes up more of my time than I care to admit. But now at least I've got a plan. It involves me actually *doing* some of the things that I find there. Which is cool. And fun.

What I'm looking forward to next month:

• school is starting up... and for the first time in 15 years, I've only got one in school. Hooray!! Boxes of school books have been arriving on our doorstep the last couple of days - I'm really excited about doing Grade 1 with Ellie this year.
• rehearsals begin in earnest... I'm thrilled to be playing Mrs. Darling in Peter Pan.
• the continuation of pottery classes... it's been a real challenge for me, and I think I'm finally getting it.

pinterest: cake stand and skivvies

Do you Pinterest?
I do. I can lose whole chunks of my day to that place if I'm not careful.
It's a wonderful tool for inspiration and keeping track of where you found things.

The problem is, it's super easy to pin all these wonderful things... sewing projects and tutorials, inspiring art, recipes, home decorating ideas... and then, having pinned them, it's also super easy to just move on and look for more wonderful ideas.

My intention (for longer than I care to admit) has been to actually do/make something based on some of my pins. And thanks to a figurative kick-in-the-pants from Sarah, I now have done.

Actually, I've got two projects to tell you about.

The first one was actually done in July, but I neglected to blog it then, so you get to hear about it now.

my inspiration pin

I started with two cake tins, the lid of an almond roca tin, a ...???... stand of some sort, some large wooden beads, and two cans of spray paint (one white, and the other oil-rubbed bronze).


I took the stand apart (it unscrewed at the bottom of the heavy marble base) and put all of the bits, along with the wooden beads, onto what I called my +10 board of holding so that they could be sprayed with the bronze paint.

The cake pans and tin lid got large-ish holes drilled in their centres, and then sprayed with white paint.

When all the paint was cured, it was time for assembly. Because of the extra wooden beads that I wanted to use, the original threaded pipe in the stand wasn't long enough to hold all the pieces. So I went out to my local thrift store and bought a cheap lamp that had one of sufficient length. (I just threw out the extra lamp bits, since they were very ugly.)



So... here's a picture of the stand, all assembled and full of cupcakes at my niece's wedding early this month.

My other project that I made, you don't get to see. Mostly because I found it really hard to take a decent yet modest picture of my own skivvies in action.

my inspiration pin

Let me tell you, these tap pants are the most brilliant thing to be invented. Ever.

I'm one of those unfortunate souls whose thighs (I blush to admit it) touch. So wearing a skirt on a hot day leaves one feeling sticky and sweaty in unmentionable places. (I can't believe I'm even talking about this!)

Today I wore my tap pants all day. They're made of a silk-cotton blend fabric; so light weight as to be hardly noticeable. And there was no thigh-sticking-together action. None.

So there you have it. My pinterest board has proven its worth. My goal is to do at least one thing every week.


**linking up at Emerging Mummy**

five minutes: older

Older. Yes, I definitely am.
There's grey in my hair. Surprisingly lots of it.
My knees creak when I climb stairs.
My back aches in the mornings.
There are crows feet beside my eyes, and wee lines at the corners of my mouth.

But on the inside?

Not so much.

I look at 'older' people... not the *old* older ones, but the ones that look like me... and I wonder when I'm going to feel like I fit in with them. I wonder when I'll feel like I've attained the wisdom that supposedly comes with my years. Because, on the inside, I'm still uncertain. Still trying to figure things out.

On the inside, I'm still about 21.

she's 18 today.

By request, as is the custom in our family on birthdays, we had sushi for dinner. Abby has been planning this for a year, at least.





Nathan had a piece with extra wasabi... I'll spare you the pictures of him with steam coming out of his ears. Suffice it to say that the rest of us were highly entertained.












What Abby didn't request was any specific kind of birthday cake.



So I (very thoughtfully) stuck with the sushi theme, and made Matcha cake rolls.














Lizzi made her obligatory stereotypical-Japanese-tourist-girl-squee-face during the lighting of the candles.

 And Abby was suitably surprised and pleased.

And the candles-who-do-not-lie told us all that she has 5 boyfriends.

Hmmm.

Oh well... happy birthday, Abby!!

picture this

 The light this evening was simply, unutterably perfect.

five minutes: new

It can be a curse, this magpie brain, this thing that can't hold onto things long enough to let them take root and grow. This brain that is like a sponge, absorbing everything, only it's set inside a colander so that thoughts just pass through, leaving faint memories of moisture.

Look! Something shiny!

I thought that I was being clever. Calling myself a crow. Calling this place the corvidarium - a crow in a fishbowl. I think maybe it was my depression associating itself with the darkness. Black calls to black.

But the other is the more basic truth.

I'm constantly looking for something new. Different. Better. More fulfilling. Shinier!

Only now, I'm being called to something new. Deeper. Focused. Settled.

Time to grow up.

five minutes of focused writing... no editing, no worrying about perfection; just fingerpainting with words.

summer rain

A sudden crack of thunder caught my attention.
Literally out of the blue.
Then the rain, big fat drops plopping on the dry ground with careless ferocity.

I ran outside, suddenly worried that I'd left the car windows open; that there were perhaps blankets or books left outside, careless in the knowledge that it's summer time - nothing could possibly happen.

And then it hit me. That smell.
Indescribably fresh.
The thirsty ground soaking up water as if it can never get enough.
From the back yard came a waft of mint and basil; a scent offering of thanks.


Then it was gone again. Gone as fast as it had come.

And I was grateful.