Dear Lucy,

I know you're just a little dog but it's an old and hackneyed device to address a letter to someone when you aren't feeling very creative. I've had a big day and I'm pooped.

It's Mothers' Day and all is quiet.  Been a big two weeks and the pace doesn't seem to be slowing at all.  Only 12 working days to holidays, that's got to be a good thing.  Today was really nice and sunny, right up till it wasn't.  Then it was lightningy and thundery and haily, but by then the washing was dry so it was all good.

The white stuff on the grass is called hail.

There was reduced opshopping this week, but I managed to turn up a few bargains, including a new dress, some nice warm jumpers, and a very nice winter tee.  Did I mention the Spencer and Rutherford handbag?  How remiss of me.

 

It was a pretty uninspiring list of garage sales this week, possibly due to coinciding with Mothers' Day.  I did pick up a dear old silver teapot, a kero pump, and an old rolling pin.  I have cunning plans for all.  There was also a shop mannequin for just $5, and I just can't leave them behind. And one of those shelfy things you put across the bath, which fitted my bath perfectly.  I hope my use of technical terms isn't too off-putting for you.

I've been keen to get the sewing machine out - winter = sewing and knitting = love. (I read that in a magazine so it must be true.) I had to wait till I'd done with the jewellery and fishes and the girls for the market, but the machine is out and operational.  I have a pile (literally) of mending, alterations, and new projects to work through.

I don't as a general rule  read junk mail but a coupon on the Spotlight catalogue caught my eye.  It offered $40 off if you spend $100, and on the next page, 1000 threadcount sheets for $80. (They SAY $79.99 but we all know it's $80.)  Long story short, they had the sheets but none of the other fabric I wanted, but I did find some union jack panels which have made some amusing cushions.  And I got everything for $61, which is cheering.  We had a great fabric shop in town before Spotlight loomed over the horizon.  Now, we have seconds, faulty and end of run summer fabric when I'm shopping for winter.  

Hopefully the handmade revival will see a resurgence in the sale of good fabric, because its one of those things you really need to see and touch before you buy.

 I've taken a heap of pics of my jewellery and drawings, but at the moment this is loading photos at the speed of the common or garden snail dragging a pebble in long wet grass, so I'll put those up during the week.

So Lucy, it's probably your bedtime, and by next week I'll be ready to write something original and creative. You, of course, will still be a cute but small dog.

The rules of haircare are simple and finite

Another week, another little gallery.

A damp and coolish week, the lawn has grown about 2 inches and everything smells quite clean and fresh. Ah, February in Albany, Western Australia.

I spent some of the time reading Augusten Burroughs' Running with Scissors. I have had it in the 'to read' pile for ages, but distracted by Sookie Stackhouse- yes, I admit it, I love them -I hadn't quite gotten around to it.

I was doing some housework on the weekend - even I was surprised- and decided that the piles of books growing on the floor again needed to be dealt with. Rearranging my books is one of my favourite things and I rediscovered several I had forgotten about.

One of the passages which will stay with me has to be
"We were young. We were bored. And the old electroshock therapy machine was just under the stairs in a box next to the Hoover."

Burroughs' description of his life as a child and adolescent is dark, witty and insightful - and strangely familiar in its frenetic and often bizarre descriptions of dysfunctionality. A cracking good read, AND I feel better about my own parenting skills.