tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313185662011-11-24T08:22:42.423+02:00Started out as my blab-all blog. Evolving into my craft blog.Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.comBlogger421100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-73428397925214030652011-10-01T16:23:00.002+02:002011-10-01T16:30:42.055+02:00

M and S both wanted t-shirts. M wanted a cat - surprise, surprise. And S wanted a shirt "just like M". M wanted little paw-prints as if the cat had walked over the shirt, but this was a bit sophisticated for her brother. I took pics of the whole process that you can see in this flickr set, but here are some highlights:Just starting:Then we made the stamps from sheets of craft foam and drawer /

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-91390544191581515932011-07-10T22:13:00.003+02:002011-07-10T22:44:45.374+02:00

I discovered, quite by accident, that my son likes to do directed craft. He had shown absolutely no interest in painting or drawing, so I had not really tried to do any craft with him until Easter this year, when, in desperation and boredom, we made Easter chicks with two yellow circles and a black pen. And he loved it! I was flabbergasted. So I've decided that I need to do more cutting and

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-30664158856834018992011-02-14T10:30:00.008+02:002011-02-14T11:38:25.040+02:00

For my daughter's birthday, she requested a cake "carved into the shape of a cat". Yes, well, ok. How to start?So I searched flickr for pictures of "cats curled up", and looked through a couple of thousand pics. I also took lots of pics of our own cats lying in the right pose, like this one,and I watched these videos on sculpting a cat. I made a little rough cat out of playdough, and I found a

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-591178773092185972010-10-30T23:00:00.003+02:002010-10-30T23:01:17.693+02:00

But I have plans (TM) to post here when I get a chance. I have another 2 cakes to post, plus some cupcakes, and I'll be making at least 3 fancy cakes in the next three months (3 birthdays!)

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-40694875919152789362009-06-03T21:29:00.002+02:002009-06-03T21:45:02.675+02:00

I promised to post pics of what I did in the edible rose workshop that I got to go to as a birthday present, so here they (or their links!) are. It was a great workshop, really fun, and I learned quite a lot. I now need to get a couple of fragrant rose bushes for the garden though, to put into practise things like Rose syrup. Mmmm.We started out by crystallising rose petals with castor sugar. At

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-63381812902129247522009-06-01T20:46:00.004+02:002009-06-01T22:05:23.041+02:00

I finished the Wild Rose Blanket just in time. The teacher loved it. (I loved it too). It looked really good, and the colours worked really well. Since I don't consider myself to have a great eye for colour I was very pleased about that. Each time I added a new colour (the yellow border, the green extra interior border, the pink join) it just made the other colours brighter and more beautiful. I

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-33166807992649255042009-05-20T21:32:00.002+02:002009-05-20T21:35:40.849+02:00

I'm making a blanket for my daughter's teacher. The teacher goes on Maternity leave next week. I have to finish this thing by Friday. It is taking a lot longer than expected - mainly because I didn't work out how long I expected it to take. If I didn't think this teacher was actually absolutely fantastic with my daughter, I would be not be making the blanket. I'm guessing I won't be getting a

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-41098555015772571612009-04-04T21:20:00.005+02:002009-06-04T11:00:45.175+02:00

It seems I have not posted any details of the cake decorating I've been doing on this blog. I meant to post a whole lotta detail about each cake, and I'd still like to get to it. This set on flickr shows a whole lot of making cake stuff. The order of the cakes, and what I learned from each one, is as follows:1st: January 2008: Zeb's 3rd birthday cake. A bird cake.I learn: That one can buy

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-16554413974058316682009-04-04T21:02:00.004+02:002009-04-04T21:17:30.545+02:00

Finally finished the first installment of my pay it forward stuff. Here they are:A pair of fingerless gloves for starmadeshadow, about oooh, 16 months after the request. (And actually modelled on the hands they were made for.)I might not be speedy, but I get there eventually :). These were super fun to knit, and I used Elle Elite, a wool / cotton blend. More details, including a link to the

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-61048808301369491652008-06-18T20:48:00.002+02:002008-06-18T20:52:58.604+02:00

On Saturday my mom, my daughter and I went to a coffee shop in Nelson Mandela square for World Wide Knit in Public Day. (My husband tagged along to entertain the sprog, and shop for books!) It was really nice. The food was good, the company was very pleasant, and we learned a new way to pick up stitches! Worth it just for that.I've also finally decided what to make for everyone on my pay it

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-50092730322982163802008-01-09T22:06:00.000+02:002008-01-10T09:10:17.098+02:00

And it was a good christmas. My Mom, mother-in-law and I got busy making these really pretty decorations for the tree.They come from a pattern (quite modified) that I found in my pattern file. When I checked the date I was quite shocked to discover that I have been personally clipping knitting patterns for 20 years!! This pattern is from Your Family 1988!I'm not old enough to have been cutting (

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-64769827012498307962007-12-07T10:33:00.000+02:002007-12-07T10:38:19.159+02:00

My husband has a much nicer phone than I do. This has caused some tension in our household. One of the things his phone does is retrieve his email for him. Then it beeps. And he reads his email. And I bitch and moan becausea) My phone can't do it &b) He's always reading his damn phone.My daughter has a little green toy phone that beeps and plays noises. Yesterday she brought it to me looking

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-2417514589511600292007-11-27T09:30:00.000+02:002007-11-27T09:38:23.416+02:00

This is kindof a sneaky post, as I know hardly anyone reads this blog! Anyway, there's a crafty, handmade Pay It Forward meme out there. It works like this - the first three commenters on this post get a handmade gift emailed to them some time in the next year. Really. I've got to tell you, though - that they will be small.... my track record with big projects is not good :).I got this from

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-38405190684985329312007-10-01T13:38:00.000+02:002007-10-01T13:46:17.410+02:00

Last night my daughter came running up to me in the garden, urging me to come with her. (If she sees anything scary now, she fetches me and I have to come and look.) "See that, Mommy - that brown thing, with eyes", she says, pointing to a small (~10cm high) clump of mud and leaves in the flowerbed. There was a bit of white gunk on it that could conceivably have been mistaken for eyes. I explained

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-52533807614091620182007-09-18T12:21:00.000+02:002007-09-18T12:31:54.299+02:00

My daughter has developed a major phobia about buttons. You know, those things that pretty much all mens' shirts have, and most of my smart, for-work clothes. Well, she started off last Tuesday having a complete hysterical fit whenever she saw a button, and refusing to be in the same room as her Daddy until he changed into a T-shirt, and she has gradually been improving all week. On Wednesday,

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-43861712364348642662007-05-16T22:15:00.000+02:002007-05-16T22:24:53.714+02:00

The other day my daughter dashed outside early in the morning, while I wittered on in the background about it being really cold and her needing to put on her slippers. But she completely ignored me and carried on walking carefully around the pool bricks (it's netted). So I walked out a bit further (it was cold), and said "Did you hear what I said? What did I say?" *Little Zeb, without looking up

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-22426126541684725342007-04-03T22:13:00.000+02:002007-04-03T22:20:14.386+02:00

It's a bird of paradise.It's not a dove.It's not a peacock.It has a fancy tail -It's definitely a bird of paradise. - Made up by my 2-year old, bird-mad daughter today. I can't remember thetune, but there was one. She made that up,too.

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-59824328083680803142007-03-27T11:08:00.000+02:002007-03-27T11:22:47.182+02:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was in a restaurant with my daughter sitting on my lap. She accidently pushed her elbow into me, and I said, as one would "Don't elbow me!", at which point she fell over, convulsed with laughter.I said "what? what?" - wondering if it was some strange sort of fit - and she gasped through her chuckles "Elbow me! elbow me!" and collapsed again. So I said "What's so funny

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-358372858411070832007-03-16T11:26:00.000+02:002007-03-16T11:33:35.834+02:00

I have just reread The Princess Bride. It just gets better and better each time. I'm reading a lot at the moment as I have a UNISA assignment due and my wabbing structured procrastination is taking a bit of a hit.Anyway, today I found, in a marvelous example of universal synchronicity, one of my favourite web comics doing this.Made me feel all warm and fuzzy :). Hooray!

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-60638842276188967552007-02-26T12:01:00.000+02:002007-02-26T12:11:35.164+02:00

We (at work) got notification today that the book that our paper will be in will be out soon.It's one of those catchy, easy to remember titles...The Geospatial Web: How Geo-Browsers, Social Software and the Web 2,0 are Shaping the Network SocietyThe book has an accompanying home page here . My contribution is the paper / chapter titled "Fire alerts for the Geospatial Web".

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-21301765068613479582007-02-12T09:00:00.000+02:002007-02-12T09:06:38.036+02:00

So this weekend I .... hemmed the curtains. At some point I'll blog the list of things I have for my structured procrastination experiment. It was a scary list. (Yes, wedding samplers appear on it).

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-49629203068936598782007-02-06T10:19:00.000+02:002007-02-06T10:21:35.742+02:00

but just check out this post on structured procrastination - it made me laugh a lot, and really, it's ultimately going to improve my work productivity, so could reasonably be classified as work. Really.

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-21300025991923598622007-02-06T09:47:00.000+02:002007-02-06T10:02:24.144+02:00

I don't know how many of you have seen the ridiculous furore caused by FNB dropping their proposed anti-crime ad campaign. Of course government delegations should have pressured them into dropping it. I mean, God Forbid anyone should venture to suggest that there is anything even vaguely not brilliant in our country that the government could possibly be doing anything about and isn't! Anyway,

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-59962747872627598602007-01-07T15:42:00.000+02:002007-01-07T15:45:03.350+02:00

I broke my toe this morning while carrying the potty to the bathroom. It hurt quite a lot.I have spent quite a lot of the day trying to convince my daughter that I said "flick".

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-69901563850014183702007-01-02T19:55:00.000+02:002007-01-02T20:13:16.142+02:00

As Marginalia said, this is important.Then, courtesy of Confluence , a fiendish word puzzle, Funny Farm . BTW, if anyone can get the unobvious three letter word linking to "chicken" (you'll know what I mean when you get there), please tell me - it's driving me nuts.

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-7444237816788801172006-12-29T21:12:00.000+02:002006-12-29T21:38:28.988+02:00

to all those recovering from Christmas and floating around until New Year. My Christmas was wonderful - my daughter had an absolute ball, and every now and again looks around the wrapping-strewn lounge (I'm not really an efficient tidyer), and says hopefully "I don't know where all those presents have gone!". She had so many presents that we were still opening them yesterday - so she can be

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-78400564962883383792006-12-22T09:41:00.000+02:002006-12-22T09:45:22.519+02:00

Extemporanea had a weatherpixie on her site - and I thought it was so cool that I grabbed myself one - proudly now displayed top right.

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-11823196569792544352006-12-21T10:19:00.000+02:002006-12-21T10:38:15.315+02:00

It should be ho! ho! ho! - but I am sitting at my desk with a monstrous headache, unable to take anything more exciting than panado. My total abject failure to wean my daughter has some downsides - like the fact that the sight of two panados is enough to just about make me weep with relief. So I've started a really really long uninteractive process on my pc, and now don't need to concentrate

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-16975335174509433022006-12-18T10:26:00.000+02:002006-12-18T10:35:12.219+02:00

We are all moved out of our old house, and gradually settling into our new house. My daughter has been quite unsettled - understandably, as we have just upped and shifted her away from the only home she probably consciously remembers. I have got the water switched on, but Eskom can't find the property on their computer system. Also, two of our electricity meters have identical serial numbers -

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-26840838711803671082006-12-08T20:47:00.000+02:002006-12-08T20:53:59.600+02:00

DM of the Rings made me laugh a lot - despite all my stress re: moving, and seeing a therapist today who basically told me that feeling depressed and anxious is all my own fault. Ptoooie. Ah well, maybe she'll have some good suggestions despite her obvious lack of understanding of clinical brain disorders.Anyway, looking at her pricing structure convinced me that psychologising is a viable living

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-53737716149002398782006-12-08T08:28:00.001+02:002009-04-04T21:22:20.273+02:00

We are in the throes of packing, due to move house tomorrow. Yesterday, I took my daughter and mom to see the new house. Zeb has been quite interested in the moving process for a while, and was very keen to see the place.So we ring the doorbell, and the current owner, Mrs S, opens the door. I say "Mrs S" - she says "You!!". Turns out we went to school together. Since I haven't lived in this

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-51625691601892114972006-12-02T21:37:00.000+02:002007-07-12T13:33:52.638+02:00

So, I use iBurst. I've mentioned this politely. They still have not managed to solve their open relay problem, or even give me feedback on how its going. Tonight I'm emailing their customer support manager this:------------------------------------------------------Dear Mr Hall,I have repeatedly reported this particular issue to your iburst technical help desk - with no luck. It seems they either

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-67972572461317801682006-11-18T21:36:00.000+02:002006-11-18T21:39:42.135+02:00

This (xkcd) brought tears to my eyes. Literally. It's an absolute gem of a webcomic find.

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-19378485231600227822006-11-15T08:37:00.000+02:002006-11-15T08:40:12.239+02:00

A good news story from the CSIR - some researchers are studying solar disinfection of water. This would be an easy way to ensure much safer drinking water for many people in sub-saharan Africa, and would hopefully dramatically reduce fatalities in children.

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-68147378882350848542006-11-14T20:01:00.000+02:002006-11-15T08:36:49.745+02:00

Most of my friends have livejournal accounts. This appears to be an accident of history. Anyway, I use iBurst to access the 'net. (Because Telkom, don't-get-me-started, took over 5 MONTHS to install just a normal phone line inour house, and an adsl line would have taken some months more). But iBurst apparently,at least from my location, accesses the 'net via some dodgy relays. Sooo, if I try

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-36793741871122112732006-11-08T21:37:00.000+02:002006-11-08T21:50:00.977+02:00

Today in our strategy session at work, about how to work as a team from shared values, the facilitator stressed how one has to commit to one's goals - how only by committing to them can one set in motion all sorts of synchronous events and energies that can help you achieve your goals.He had a very cool quote about it, too, but I can't remember who from. Anyway, I've decided to actively pursue a

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-1162020338095361702006-10-28T09:21:00.000+02:002006-10-29T15:34:14.064+02:00

I'm getting very into the idea of growing food in my soon-to-be back garden. So I planted a whole lot of mielies (corn) in a seedling tray two weeks ago. I planted them with my daughter so she could also watch them grow, and she's been watering them every day.Mielies are completely psycho growers!! I planted them about 5cm down, as per the instructions on the packet, and the little shoots were

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-1161682751063745302006-10-24T11:28:00.000+02:002006-10-29T15:34:14.000+02:00

Having been rapped over the knuckles (figuratively) by wolverine_nun, for pointing her to this site and then not having anything posted - I have decided that I should post short stuff from work.I know I'm behind the times, but I've just this minute started using del.icio.us - and I'm completely sold.What a brilliant concept!!! Storing bookmarks on-line --- being able to see what other people

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-1156794471037418632006-08-28T21:34:00.000+02:002006-10-29T15:34:13.941+02:00

Absolutely exhausted. Set some goals - utterly failed to meet them this month. My mum, who looks after my daughter while I'm at work, and generally, like some good angel, keeps my household running smoothly and cleanly, broke her arm on Thursday while trying not to land on my daughter as she (my mum) fell off a small step-stool. So she hasn't been able to do anything round the house, and I, as a

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-1154377435006842802006-07-31T22:03:00.000+02:002006-10-29T15:34:13.881+02:00

He's my brother - and I've decided to follow his inspiring example and try to set some goals for myself.One of my goals was to use this blog to comment on interesting news. My specific idea was triggered by the notion that part of why the world and the general news is so depressing, is because of the sense of helplessness it brings with it. On 702 today, they were talking about exactly this

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-1153338106774903112006-07-19T21:36:00.000+02:002006-10-29T15:34:13.818+02:00

I got a cute bluetooth hands-free kit for my phone. Seeing as I'm in the car at least 2 hours out of my day - this counts as a necessity. It's very cute - and sounds very clear to the number of people I tested it on by phoning them from the car today! It has a little blue flashing light - and, most importantly, doesn't hurt my ear like the other one did. My boss feels that great excitement over

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31318566.post-1153250672174270022006-07-18T21:19:00.000+02:002006-10-29T15:34:13.751+02:00

This is a place where I can vent, lament and generally air my feelings without fear that my friends will start avoiding me. ('Cause they can simply NOT READ it, if they don't like it, right?).I'm also going to try to post a bit about work (which is often interesting, sometimes intensely infuriating - and a lot more stressful than I was hoping for), how I feel about current news (with a strong

Schedule5http://www.blogger.com/profile/07210100357430337240noreply@blogger.com0