Kangaroos, emus, and cute little baby pigs

Easter.  

Chocolate. Waffles with blueberries, icecream and maple syrup.













Sculpture in the water and on the hills.

Kangaroos, emus, and cute little baby pigs.

Markets, hippies, music, sunshine.  Laughing, looking, forgetting to sleep. Ridiculously early mornings and late nights.

Scavenging, swapping, finding, planning. 

Maps, suitcases, thermal underwear. 

And a whole 'nother day to go.

after the before

Befores and afters, this week.

I could show you the befores and afters of my hands, but you probably don't want to see happy snaps of broken fingernails, blisters, and other wounds.  Ouch.

I've also been working on some new fish, I have 3 commissions to complete before I depart on my Big Adventure.  More of that next week.













Before:

I got this stool a while ago, I like these wind up stools, and this one has a wooden mechanism.  The seat was, as we say, gestumphened - an ex-seat - but I found a handmade lazy susan at a garage sale to replace it. It had been very thoroughly and meticulously made by an older gentleman, which means that demolition took a long time and caused most of the aforementioned injuries.  It took a chisel, some bandaids and a lot of patience, but I'm happy with the result.

After:



(As an unrelated aside, the repurposed dishwasher drawer makes the best underbed storage.)



I've been thinking about garden art for a while now, I've been gathering the bits and struck out this weekend to make some prototypes.  


On the recurrent Alice theme, I like the old enamel teapot.  It's quite small, but I like the colour.  I'm working on some teacups to go with it.

And on the more ethereal front, I like these glass ones, they are upcycled light shades and the light makes them almost glow.

And some new jewellery....

A rainy day, what's a girl to do?  I made some jewellery.

Elementary, my dear Travis

I think I could get used to only working 3 days a week, the whole 4 day week thing is getting old. How long is it till the next long weekend?

I'm watching the first episode of Elementary, the newest and much-promoted Americanised Sherlock Holmes.  I don't believe that my Sunday nights will continue to be devoted to it.  So far it's cheesy, tedious, and unoriginal.  The transformation of Watson into Lucy Liu is such a stretch I'm waiting for the snap...ping [ricochet, ricochet] as the suspension of disbelief caves and crumbles under ridiculous stress.  I'm a televisual optimist but even I can't commit to this one. I would have channel skipped by now but I'm busy typing. Rating: an hour of my life I'll never get back.

my first crop of potatoes - yum!

The hound and I had a quiet and uneventful weekend, working on a few projects, pottering about. My new old Travis McGee books arrived (finally) and so I've been travelling back and forwards to Florida in the early 70's during tea breaks. I think there are only 2 or three books in the series I haven't tracked down yet but I suspect I'll be on the hunt for those next week.
The link even has a collection of quotes and recipes for drinks and food. 

I demolished the telescope tripod (just me and a can of CRC, pliers, a vice, a hammer and a hacksaw) and rubbed back the wooden bits and re-polished them without the ghastly cheap varnish.  I'm currently contemplating whether to replace the (hacksawed) bolts with brass or steel, and leaning towards steel.  It will end up as an industrial-style lamp, I have the other lamp bits stashed somewhere.

I took the top off the wooden stool from a week or so ago, rubbed it all back and refinished it in readiness for a new (not broken and warped) top.  I'm contemplating the size and type of the top. I think it should also do double service as a table, so slightly larger, methinks.  There are a couple of options in the wings, some from an old lazy susan.  

I finished a little mixed media project to match one I made last year.  These frames are hard to come by but they turn up every now and then. They look as thought they were handmade.

I also made a wire ball.(Because I could, OK?) I used a roll of rusty wire I've had for ages, and I really like the way it's come out.  I ended up covered head to foot (literally) in rust but seem to have avoided tetanus, so that's a win.

I broke 3 fingernails, stained my fingers, glued, sanded, oiled. I finished the usual gazillion baskets of washing. I read 2 books. I spent far too much time on Pinterest.  All in all, a good weekend.




I forgot this one last weekend, I love it, 40's plaster model, won at a rural show.  I know it's a bit on the worn side but still magnificent.

a long goodbye to the busted flush....

Having spent another torrid week with Phillip Marlowe, I've found time for a few little jobs.  The temptation to sit on the shady veranda and read was awfully strong.







I looked after this:

(although she ate my favourite and most comfortable pair of Camper shoes.  She was very sorry but unable to stop herself, apparently.)







I did some work on this:

And was quite pleased with the outcome so far. 












 I also got this:

cleaned up and inside (where there is just NO room for it!).  Still some work to be done but on the upside you can get to the back door now.  Casters?  Legs?  Hmmmm....

I only went to 2 garage sales yesterday, one was a farm clearance (and you know how I do love those!).  We got quite a lot, really - so much the guy who helped to carry it to the car didn't think it would fit.  It was a very small car.  Some neat packing and we made it home safely and even with room to spare.

Amongst the treasures:  boxes, boxes, boxes

and this:

which is now this:












and this (well, it will be soon.  Are you thinking what I'm thinking?)

I also now have enough ginormous bolts for several interesting rustic hat/coat/key racks.




The second one was a friend's and also proffered treasure, however the excitement was such that I seem to have forgotten to take some happy snaps.  I'll try to do it this week.

I'm nearly out of Phillip Marlowe, but I understand that a bunch of Travis McGee novels are winging their way towards me.  Just in time, really.

How to repair a market umbrella, and other useful information

Preparations for the girlbaby's 18th birthday proceed apace, and her list of requirements for the celebratory festival is getting longer... so far I've managed to find, amongst other things,  4 dining chairs (interior), 5 easy chairs (exterior), 2 sunlounges, 2 sunlounge cushion sets, (matching) chair pads for the outside chairs, a table, and 2 umbrellas, including one huuuge mint condition white canvas market umbrella, in full working order.

And some of this was done in the rain.

I also learned, incidentally, how to fix the problems causing most market umbrellas to be discarded.  If you take something to bits and see how it works, often the problem can be fixed with only minor attention.  In the case of umbrella #1, a 20cm piece of common or garden fencing wire.  This approach is not to be recommended with electrical goods.

The suitcase supply is still growing, my friend Obie takes a dark view of these things, and is watching like a hawk in case I disappear on holidays without him. I think the count for this year is 5 so far - or is it 6?  I'm particularly keen on the nice one with the initials, and the fabulous stickers for the airlines and shipping companies and destinations.

Found inside that one was what is known colloquially I believe as a 'ging' - imported from the UK, according to the label.  There was also an old cap gun which I rather like. 

I found some West German pottery, apparently in demand - who knew that the common description for the glaze is 'fat lava'? Apparently a mistranslation of the German 'thick glaze'.  ( Now you do.)  I have  2 large serving platters, one white, one clear glass, with a fine scene etched into the bottom of the glass, and  2 oversized glass brandy balloon candle holder thingys.  And continuing the kitchen theme, 2 Le Creuset French enamelled iron casseroles, large and medium. Yep, the gen-u-wine articles.

If this keeps going I'll end up cooking, which only leads to cleaning and thus is to be avoided.

Don't even ask about the virtually brand new lawnmower - we know what that leads to.

Quite a lot of the photos will count as the 'befores' in the before and after shots to come - if I ever get a minute to actually get some things done. 

This quilt rack was in pieces - do people not know about good glue?

I'm thinking of erecting the fabulous Black Wolf tent, found yesterday, to house the other projects while I get things sorted and put up the brilliant indoor/outdoor rollup sunshade on the back veranda.

Or maybe I'll just sleep in the tent - less housework...It would be like a holiday, without the suitcases.