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I just had to share this awesome flower with you all. I was getting out of my car today and noticed this amazing flower on a hibiscus bush down the side of our fence that I hadn’t even noticed before.
And just for a little perspective…
I’ll be keeping my eye on this bush, ready to enjoy the next flower!!!
Hi, my name is Jess, and I’m a knitting addict.
I have rapidly aquired a stash, a large array of needles, and a set of twitchy hands.
Here is a NeckWarmer that I knit in the last 24 hours… I love this yarn.
I have already got a scarf on the go with the rest of the skein. To see more photos of this one, and what else I’ve been creating, pop over to Epheriell Designs 
Nick and I have been having this discussion lately at home. You see, we only throw out probably one small kitchen-bin full of rubbish once a week. However, we seem to end up with a huge cardboard-box full of recycling multiple times per fortnight.
I don’t know how any household could fill one of those things with rubbish per week!! We recycle all we can, compost our food scraps (and not a few teabags…) so as to do our bit for recycling and reducing landfill. Not to mention sweet, sweet compost!
Now, our normal wheelie bin is collected once a week, but our recycling bin is collected only once a fortnight. Does anyone else wish these two things were reversed?
I found this post on GreenUpgrader, and just had to share. Another wonderful example of human ingenuity - an entire temple made from used beer bottles. Who would’ve thought that something so inane could be used to create something so beautiful? Just think, all of this would have otherwise ended up in landfill or, hopefully, recycled.
Hey Mark, maybe you and Rosalba should have a beer-bottle wall in your new house
Listening to PM on Radio National tonight on the drive home, I heard some exciting news! An American (of course) company is planning on building a huge electric car powering network here in Australia by around 2012. This is certainly a step in the right direction. AGL Energy has apparently promised to back the venture by supplying all the electricity from renewable resources.
I heard about the similar ventures in Israel and Denmark a few weeks ago, and thought we could only dream of something similar here in Oz. But, apparently we are intended to be the ‘flagship’ nation for the company, proving that if it can work in a country as big as ours, it can work anywhere. At the moment, they plan to power Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and I think also Canberra - stating that rural areas will have to wait a while.
So, what do you think? I’d certainly be interested in buying an electric car if this infrastructure was in place - as long as the cars aren’t ridiculously expensive, of course.
Check out this article in The Age for more info.
…that make you happy to be alive.
The Jacaranda in the backyard is in full bloom.
Nick and I began the day with a cycle to the beach and a swim, before coming home, buying some awesome smoked bacon from the butcher across the road, and having very tasty bacon and eggs.
Simple things. Life is wonderful.
Regular readers will have seen my foray into knitting recently. I’ve really been enjoying it - the creativity and the feeling of growing proficient at a new, constructive skill. It’s funny - I’ve never thought of myself as a ‘crafty’ type of person. Most of my life I have identified with intellectualism, and somehow looked down on traditional ‘feminine’ skills. I’m certainly not a girly girl - I’m not into the latest fashion trends, or shoes; I don’t wear makeup, or buy copious amounts of beauty products (though I still somehow seem to have a stash that rarely get used).
So, when I’ve told people that I’ve taken up knitting (and, also, jewellery making, but more on that in a later post), most of my friends and colleagues have looked at me askance, and said “knitting?!” Then I have to rise to my own defence. It’s fun, creative, constructive, and a skill for when the world reverts to a pre-oil society and chaos (okay, I don’t really say that last bit :P).
And, I have learnt something. One of the things I have been doing is experimenting. With different yarns, stitches, small items, adding beads… and more than once I have made a mistake, dropped a stitch, or just done something I’m not totally happy with… and I’ve unravelled it! I think it takes guts to undo something you have spent hours of your life creating. But it’s also queerly satisfying. Yes, I have created this, and yes, I am going to destroy it because I am not happy with how it has come out - and I’d rather re-use the materials for something else than waste them.
So, I will continue my creative/destructive journey with passion! Look out for some examples of my work. In fact, I have started another site, where I’m going to start selling some of this stuff when I make something I think is worthy of others! I already have a number of my photos and digital art pieces there and for sale on Zazzle, as well as some of my jewellery. If you ever want to check it out, have a look at EpheriellDesigns.com
My interest in jewellery making has also got me intrigued about the art of lampwork - hand-making unique glass beads. Check out a local organisation of mine to see what I mean! This stuff is seriously beautiful. I may have to investigate further…
I’m not the only one in the family who likes making things hand made…
Nick asked me the other morning what I’d like for dinner, and I told him what I’d really like was a homemade lasagne. Now, lasagne is one of our favourite dishes, and we happen to have found a local place that makes a killer lasagne… but we’d never ventured one of our own.
Lo and behold, when I arrived home from work at 8p.m. - homemade lasagne!
Jamie Oliver, eat your heart out!
Mmmm. And let me tell you - it was awesome! There is still some in the freezer… And no, you can’t have any! It’s mine, all mine!! (Well, and Nick’s, too).
