awesome op shop find!

I was in the Greensborough area (in Melbourne) this morning, and found a fantastic op shop - it had rooms! It even had a whole room for linens and fabrics and sewing stuff. I had to show a great deal of restraint, but I ended up parting with 50 cents (!), and came away with this old tea towel ...

... and this knitting book (just for the photos!!) ...

I particularly liked this photo ...

I have been trying to think of witty captions, but my brain is mush (not enough sleep). Let me know if any (clean ones!) spring to mind when you see this!

Anyhoo, the all important details:

St John of God Op Shop

108-130 Diamond Creek Road (just off the roundabout with the Greensborough Hwy - look out for the sign)

Greensborough

Open 9-3 Mon - Fri, and 10-2 the first Saturday and third Sunday of the month. If you're up that way, it's worth a visit - LOTS of stuff.

Have a great weekend!

P.S. Thanks for all the comments yesterday. A few people asked what machine I have - it's a Janome Memory Craft 9700. I love it!

my creative space ... part two

OK, the laptop has had a very stern talking to and is now on board with my new software and its needs! Last week I went to a Janome demo session with their new flash sewing/embroidery machine that does everything. The great thing about the session was that I learnt about some pretty cool stuff that my machine can do. In particular, with the addition of some software and a flash drive, I can machine embroider my own designs. So I did!

Can you guess what it is?

Yes! It's my artichoke drawing ...

Me likey!

My brain hurts with all the possibilities - fun city!
P.S. The multicoloured thread is cool too - it's a bit darker in real life - noice!

my creative space ...

... is outside on the deck this week - drawing and reading in the sunshine.

I'm having a play with shapes and designs with a vege slant. Little Mister and I went to the market and picked up some interesting looking veges - artichokes, beetroots, radishes, and bok choy. I'm liking the artichoke at the moment - the "petals" are fun to draw.

On the studio front, there have been some delays with the rewiring, but (fingers crossed), I'll be in next week. Until then, not much news, I'm afraid.

Aside from that, my laptop and I are not speaking - it refuses to do what I want it to do (won't recognise hardware). Naughty laptop! I sooooo want a Mac! If I can get it to work, I'll be back later with my creative space part two - a nifty bit of embroidery software for my sewing machine ... stay tuned!

For some far more interesting creative spaces this week, drop by and visit Kootoyoo. Have a good one!

inspired - geraniums ...

Inspired by Kellie's beautiful photography and her blog 74 Lime Lane, I'm sharing my favourite geraniums with you today - they are in full bloom at the moment and just a beautiful shade of crimson.

Geraniums get a bad wrap sometimes - I've heard them refered to a smelly old weeds - a waste of space. Geraniums transport me back to Europe, and Italy in particular - window boxes overflowing with brightly coloured geraniums and other flowers. They are super drought and brown thumb tolerant. They are happy little flowers I love to have around.

Have a lovely day!

tarty tuesday - cherry clafouti

Inpsired by retromummy a couple of weeks ago, I made this lovely, easy recipe last night (Monday nights are pudding nights at our place!). I used a copy of Julia's recipe which was on the Recipe Zaar website here. I have also included it below...

Julia Child's Cherry Clafouti

• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 2/3 cup sugar, divided
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup flour
• 3 cups cherries, pitted (canned work fine)
  
• icing sugar, for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Using a blender, combine the milk, 1/3 cup sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt and flour, and blend.
3. Lightly butter an 8-cup baking dish, and pour a 1/4-inch layer of the blended mixture over the bottom. Set remaining batter aside.
4. Place dish into the oven for about 7-10 minutes, until a film of batter sets in the pan but the mixture is not baked through. Remove from oven (but don’t turn the oven off, yet).
5. Distribute the pitted cherries over the set batter in the pan, then sprinkle with the remaining sugar. Pour the remaining batter over the cherries and sugar.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 60 minutes, until the clafouti is puffed and brown and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
7. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm.
8. Servings: 6-8 for dessert, 4 for breakfast.

 

Mr yardage gave this two thumbs up - it was delish! It certainly made up for my broad bean side dish that I served with dinner. I have never cooked broad beans before, and didn't realise that I needed to take the hard, chewy cover off the beans themselves (no wonder people say they are a labour of love to prepare - I thought they were being a bit dramatic!) - it was a good laugh!! Once we did that, they tasted great with the sauted onions, mushrooms, thyme and butter. Live and learn!!

does this design work?

... for a tea towel, apron, whatever!

Tram/train/bus rolls are not a new idea, but I liked it with a foodie reference for the kitchen. I'm also thinking of other colours besides black. Does it work for you? Thanks in advance for your thoughts - every one helps.