Yarny Stuff

When in Perth there are a certain number of very necessary visits to make. One, as I wrote about yesterday, is a visit to the hairdresser (sob again!). The other trip of upmost importance is a visit to my favourite yarn shop, Crossways Wool and Fabric, in Subiaco.

Oooh, I do love to go there and have a good sticky! Pauline and her highly skilled and experienced assistants always keep this shop well stocked with a variety of products and colour ranges, and it's always fun to check out what new and lovely yarny stuff they have in store.

 

 

 

What was particularly exciting for me this time was that I had a rather lovely voucher from Christmas to spend, and spend it I did! My first priority was to stock up on yarn for my misnamed 'Stash-busting Hexi Blanket'. You know, the one that I was working on last year? The one that was meant to help me use up all my 8ply leftovers? The one that is evidently anything but a stash buster??

 

 

 

I also picked up a couple of skeins of a rather luscious Aslan Llama and Mulberry Silk worsted in a plummy colour. Mmmmmmm!

 

Ahhh. Look at those colours! I can't wait to get them home and get cracking on some hexis again. But it shall all have to wait a little while longer for I have a Line Break shawl to finish, not to mention the two girlie dinners I have to attend in the next few evenings....

 

Yay for holidays!

 

xx

Haircut

Going...

 

 

going....

 

 

Gone!

 

 

 

Sob!! 

  

A trip to Perth is never complete without a haircut, but this is not quite what I had in mind for Miss M.

Of course, she has a mind of her own.

 

I wonder where she gets that from??

 

 

xx 

Earworm Correction

Okay, okay.

It seems that the Will.i.am song is actually my Earworm. Miss M is adamant that this song from Bruno Mars is the one that the girls actually prefer.

I stand corrected.

Yay again!

xx

Sesame Street Earworm

 

Oh, I do love a catchy tune and this week's Earworm - suitable for all ages and considered to be very, very cool by the girls (and me!) - is brought to you by Sesame Street and Will.i.am.

 

Yay!

 

xx

 

 

Perkins Beach Paddle

Every year on ANZAC Day we also celebrate my Mother-in-law's birthday, which means a picnic for the extended family is in order, as long as the weather is good enough.

And today, it most certainly was!

A picnic at the Torbay Inlet campsite with a paddle on Perkins Beach for afters - perfect - for family, reflection and appreciation for what we have and how we came to have it.


What did you do for your ANZAC Day?


xx

New Painting

 

Little Beach 2

Oil on Paper

125mm x 125mm

 

 

I've been working on a series of three small paintings since my visit to Little Beach a couple of weeks ago, and this is the first to be finished, even though it is second in the group.

 

And....oops....there's my surname for the first time on this blog..... Oh well. There's no need to be shy (me? shy??) if I am looking to exhibit and sell my work again!

 

The next step in this process is to research framing options, which I will sort out when the other two paintings are also finished. In the meantime, I'm leaving this one to thoroughly dry.

 

 

Sam xx

Shed

 

 

One of the many great things about our new home is it has a shed. That the shed is also meant to be the garage hasn't affected G's plans - the shed is now G's workshop.



This makes G a very happy man because he did without a shed for eight years at our last place - not that he had had a shed before that, only, you know..... he has one now!

 

And now that G has a place to work, there is one very particular, very positive outcome for me as well - I get to use the shed too!

 

The current project on the production line is the painting and reconditioning of an old Freedom furniture bookcase that has been lurking about my various abodes for almost 20 years. Our idea is that by painting it white it will disappear into the background, no longer dominating the space with its dark toned wood. It was very 90's. Now it is cool. Cool white.

 

And there is another reason why I am keen to get the big bookcase finished and back in the house, because that's when we can start work on a smaller old bookcase we picked up from the second hand store on Saturday. It will eventually take its place in my studio as extra storage for my paints and brushes. Woohoo!

 

And after that, well, there's a rather sexy 70's coffee table with copper patterned top from the same Saturday shopping spree that also needs some reconditioning love......

 

Love that shed!

 

 

Sam xx

New Header

 

 

Yes, I have changed my header image. It seemed more appropriate to have a new image that better reflected our current reality. And while I loved my chicken painting that was my original image, but since we no longer have chickens and despite planning to have them again somewhere in our future, I felt it was time for a change.

 

I took this photo while out on an early morning walk two weeks ago, watching the sun rise over Princess Royal Harbour. You might be able to see just the slightest hint of the first light as it touches the rocks on Mount Melville. And how convenient that the flock of birds decided to fly past at that very moment!

The beautiful sunny weather of the past week has been replaced with cooler, rainy and windy patches - perfect for a spot of knitting - as if I need any excuse!

Hope you are having a great weekend.

Sam xx

Green Pool

 

Today we had another glorious Autumn morning - no sign of the promised thunderstorm,  and I had the day to myself. Yeehaw!

 

It didn't take me long to throw my bathers and camera in the car. I was SO excited as I hurtled towards Denmark (that's the town on the South Coast of WA, not the country....)

 

And once I got there, to Green Pool at Williams Bay on the other side of Denmark, it was divine! I was at the beach, the sun was out (most of the time), and I had hours to myself to take photos and swim until I had to head home to collect the kids from school.

 

Ahhh! A brilliant day!

 

 

Sam xx

 

 

PS Sorry about not posting for over a week - my computer needed debugging.

 

 

Book Chat on Instagram

Last month's bookchat winners - from instagram.com/kimpearsoninteriordesigner#

 

I love a good read, and I love being a part of a book club, but I never thought of starting a book club on instagram.

 

But somebody did!

 

Kim Pearson* thought of it and mentioned it on instagram. Julie Gibbs, Penguin publisher, read Kim's comment, got in contact, and they now run instagrambookchat on their instagram pages as well as on facebook.

 

Check it out - they are announcing the topic for April on Saturday and there are always bookish giveaways to be won!

 

http://www.facebook.com/instagrambookchat

 

Happy reading!!

 

Sam xx

 

 

* Kim Pearson is my talented and very clever sister. You had better believe I have a personal interest in mentioning her!! :)

Rainbow Creatures

 

For a supposedly small garden we have a surprising amount of birdlife around our home; silver eye finches, blue wrens, seagulls (not so exotic), pelicans soaring above our heads.....

 

and "Rainbow Birds".

 

I think it is a rainbow lorikeet that flew into our window this morning. It lay stunned and winded on the path for a few minutes, turned itself upright, sat quietly for a few more minutes while it gathered its senses, and then, suddenly, flew away.

 

All of this was witnessed by the girls who had run into the front room to see what caused the "bang" on the window. The suspenseful moments of "will he, won't he" were accompanied by my running commentary about what was happening and what the positive and negative outcomes might be. Phew!! I am soooo glad the rainbow bird survived! 

 

 

And there are other rainbow creatures hiding in our garden - Miss E took this photo of her newly completed Rainbow Doggie as she frolicked among the foliage. Awwww! Miss E often sneaks away with my phone for her covert photo shoots. I must admit, I do love to check out the images which magically appear on my phone from one day to the next! 

 

Rainbow creatures on the rainbow coast.

pattern:: Muffin the Puppy
yarn:: assorted 4ply yarns from my stash
needle:: 3mm

A rainbow puppy sister for her birthday doggie.

 

Sam xx

New Knitting

 

I couldn't help myself - I loved the other shawl I made so much, I just HAD to cast on another Line Break shawl, once again in the lusciously beautiful Madeline Tosh Merino Light, but this time in the Charcoal colour way.

 

I was sad to see the last one go, but I am delighted it has been so enthusiastically welcomed into its new home. That it is so appreciated makes me feel good!

 

Ahhh. I do love a new project.

 

 

What projects are you undertaking at the moment?

Do you have a gorgeous yarn that you would recommend?

 

 

Happy weekending!

 

Sam xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little Beach

 

Wow! The weather has been amazing here these last few days, although I'm told by the locals that this should be its last hurrah before it gets cold and stays that way for winter. That's why I'm trying to get in as many image gathering opportunities as I can while the weather is good.

 

With that in mind, today I picked up my Mother in Law on the way to Two Peoples Bay where there is the most divine little beach called...well, Little Beach! It's not always the safest of beaches - some poor fellow lost his life here a few weeks ago - but today it was utterly gorgeous.

That's my MiL on the beach in her new red hat. It was good to have her company for this outing; doubly so, for she brought a picnic lunch for us to share!

 

Perfect.

 

 

Sam xx

Easter Outings

 

If we weren't painting the front room* this Easter weekend, then we were playing with friends, new and old**, eating chocolate, or spending time at the beach.

 

I gotta tell you, I've been thoroughly enjoying this landscape painting, material collecting, research caper! And while the weather holds, I am planning some more field trips this week. Yippee!

 

Hoping that you have all had a wonderful weekend.

 

 

Sam xx

 

 

* It looks amazing! Shame about the furniture.

** Loooved seeing friends from our old Mundaring stomping ground.