sneekery peakery

i hate that phrase 'sneak peek' especially because it is often spelled sneak peak. i have similar feelings about the incorrect use of the apostrophe and people saying 'myself' when they mean 'me'

but this post is not about grammar but about saying hurrah - for my challenge quilt is, i think, done. it's still at the stage where i look at it for a while to see if it needs anything else but i'm pretty happy with it. after staring at each other through narrowed eyes yesterday i took the bull by the horns and just got stuck into the cutting assembling, quilting and burning. the whole thing will be unveiled here next wednesday 31st.

and here is a photo of toby looking like an alien. i caught him pulling pins out of my pincushion and tried to take a photo but he was too quick and rushed up to rub his nose on the camera.

and thank you for those nice comments about my shoes - they're birkenstocks, the most comfortable shoes in the world :) bought from the very good shoe shop in station street fairfield

you may have to use your imagination for this one....

a couple of weeks ago the lovely susan gave me a sisterhood blog award here. it's for blogs which show great attitude/gratitude :)

unfortunately the great attitude evaporated as i found i have lost the capacity to post logos or badges on my blog - i had the same trouble trying to put the handmade helps out badge on my blog - very frustrating and i feel like a luddite dolt. i did know how to do it once upon a time but that part of my brain seems to have fallen off (very like the number plate on my car when it went through the car wash on the weekend but we won't dwell on that...)

so imagine the same badge thingy that's on susan's post
here

and now the convention is that i:
1. Put the logo on your blog or post
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received your award.

now the last time i did one of these awards one of the nominated heaped invective not on me directly but on the notion of blog awards in general so i hope the following bloggers (whose words and pictures i truly enjoy and look forward to reading) don't mind being outed as favourites of mine

1. suse
2. other susan
3. jackie
4. celia
5. annabel
6. shula
7. laura
8. penelope
9. jorth
   
10. susan
    

and if you're wondering why i am blogging on a monday morning instead of attaching my nose firmly to the bureaucratic grindstone, i am looking after a gastro-struck A who is supine on the sofa and about to be borne off to the doctor. and, something to be grateful for, no photos.

sunday sunday

it has been a quiet but productive weekend -

luscious octopus on friday night
some assiduous cleaning, including a white tornado in the bathroom (preparing for the advent of The Cleaner - hooray!)

i almost finished a bag (still need to find some groovy handles) and decided that i am not cut out for making bags - too fiddly, too demanding of perfection.
although i was very pleased that i managed the magnetic snap fasteners.
and the challenge quilt? the one that is due for display in the web by the 31st? weeell i took another photo of its constituent parts. and calculated that i would need 2 hours to finish it. and started something else.
i have a real mental block with this piece, i just can't get my act together to finish it. perhaps i need a deadline screaming down at me? i'm also bored by it. coming up with something original for the theme 'brave new world' has been really hard - my imagination just said 'meh'
part of avoiding working on the challenge quilt saw me taking some happy snaps of my sewing table.

the lovely sue at mousenotebook sent me these lovely birds as part of her recent blog giveaway
and the process of taking some more up to date photos of me for my blog picture yielded a most bizarre but typical shot of me being attacked by w while billthedog bumbles genially in the background. we all look as though have attenae (mine is especially elaborate)
and the quilt still sits.....

oh brave new world that has such bargamonious vegetables in it

another bargamonious trip to psarakos today. we have had a bit of an ad hoc approach to meals lately and i thought it was time to have a bit of forward planning (she said ironically)

so the menu for the next week chez urbane seahorse is as follows;

• tonight - octopus legs
• tomorrow - moroccan fish
• sunday - egyptian aubergine

then through the week the options will be

• chorizo pilaf
• spag bog
• chicken schnitzels
• chicken orzo
• takeaway

(note that 'takeaway' becomes the last option rather than the first)

a glossy, tight aubergine cost me $1.50 and the green chilli that will go in the pot with it cost only 12 cents. i didn't think you could buy anything for cents anymore....
before our foray to psarakos w and i had a civilised coffee/hot chocolate at maize which is round the corner in high street. we wanted to go to pippa's but she is open saturday to monday at the moment, having recently had a baby.maize is good but doesn't have the same living room atmosphere as pippa's. i had a latte and w had a hot chocolate and we shared a raspberry friand - good but could have done without the flaked coconut which had an unfortunate tendency to stick in the craw. the coffee btw was excellent and w's hot chocolate looked good and chocolatey.
we also made playdough today - and in this photo you can see my new apron (another bargamonious purchase - this time from dymocks where they were selling them for $19)and my favourite shoes....(also a favourite of the backyard cwa who come and peck at the flowers....)

new blog

the scrumpster and i have decided to have a blog dedicated to the eating project - if you're interested in totally subjective reviews of the various eateries up and down high street, northcote you can nestle over here

gratuitous billthedog photo

sunday domestics

no, not of the argy-bargy kind.

but of the washing kind


and the baking kind



and the finally starting the challenge quilt kind