This is... something I got, but still haven't used.

This is...my future pillows for my couch. I bought this..hmm...over a year ago now. Karl was sewing and the last needle broke and so we went for a drive to Spotlight in the middle of the night. They were having one of their 12 hour sales. Anyway so we ended up buying this fabric and the pillows to make some pillows for my then-new couch.

Still haven't quite gotten around to it yet. Almost started this week but we've decided that the pattern is a bit too much so i need to get some cream or some other colour to offset the pattern a bit. I go through angry sewing periods. Probably due to the fact that I can't sew very well - the stupid machine starts jamming after a while. At first i can deal but after a while i get SOOOOOOO frustrated and put the whole thing away and don't use it for months after!

this is...something I got but still haven't used

I have lots of things I could be blogging about! I am someone who buys something because it looks nice (even if there is no real need for it) but keeps and treasures it (read: hoards and ends up with a collection of "junk" haha) I also collect REAL junk - like plane tickets, receipts from holidays, brochures, doodles and letters written in school and passed around...you get the picture! I have some shoe boxes filled with that kind of stuff. Justin thinks it's rubbish, but I call them memories :)

Anyway, getting back to this weeks theme: Above is a set of four yellow ramekins that I bought..um..last year? I still haven't used them! But one day I will make a tasty desert in them. Watch this space!

Cooking utensils are one of my weaknesses, I will have to say. Combine cooking with miniature things and there is a 97.8% chance I will buy it. Hence this miniature spring form cake tin..aww. I love mini things. One day I plan on making a mini cake, putting jam in the middle and covering it with icing.

Along with my love of miniature things is a love of big things! I can't even remember where/when I bought these paper clips but I love them! They aren't very useful though, are they...and that giant clip I bought this week! It is the best!

This is something that I didn't buy - Justin's mum gave me this candle for my birthday last year. Something you should know about me and candles - I hate burning them, especially the fancy ones! Although one day we will invite his mum over for dinner and I'll light the candles, I swear ;)

Thanks to flossy-p for this weeks This is...!

My newest toy...

My new Grill pan!!! I have been wanting one for aaaaaaaaaaaaages. Actually you have no idea how hard it is to find it. All i could find is non-stick ones or coated ones. I want a straight cast iron ones. In the end i found one at Wheel and Barrow (see i told you that place is good!). I've seasoned it as the internet told me with peanut oil.

This is me cooking a delish steak - it's covered in cajun rub. Omg it was so hot. Much hotter than i expected. I enjoyed the grill marks it created!!

Kitchen Cleanup!

Today I dedicated to a mini kitchen clean up. Ok it wasn't that mini but it could have been better. I started with my spices. Karl brought a second spice rack the other week and i decided it's time to put it into action. The pic above is the spice and random goods area. There isn't much storage space in my kitchen and all the shelves are really low so boxes have to be stored on this small shelf.

Sorting all my herbs and spices. I have a lot!!!

This is the after-shot. Admittedly it doesn't look that good but trust me up close you notice the differance a lot! I got rid of so many of those silly bottles.

And this is the second part of my project. This is the contents of my 'baking' cupboard. I have decided that i am sick of pouring flour out of the bag only to have flour coming out of a hole in the side of the bag Yes yes you allll know exactly what i'm talking about!!! it's worse when it happens with sugar! Anyway i went to Wheel and Barrow (i LOVE that store) and got some jars and stuff.

Look at that! how exciting is that!! and i still have 3 jars left. I am pondering if i should put the cous cous and oats into a jar or just leave them in their jars. Jars are kinda expensive. And they do come with good-ish boxes!! Ok i kinda lied in the picture. I stuffed some of the bags back into the cupboard before i took the picture - some things are not worthly of jars. Esp things i haven't used in over a year. I should really just throw that shit out!

the friday archives

Claire at loobylu has a new-ish meme called The Friday Archives, where each week you show others some of your old art work. I would love to join in, but I don't really have that much art! Most of it has been thrown away, although there could be some lying around our old house. Anyway, I have decided to temporarily join and post the old masterpieces I have...until I run out...

SO! Masterpiece #1. This goes back 11 years, back in the day when I was in year 9. Ahh, yes, those were the days. I chose to do art in year 9 and 10 and then stopped after that, mainly because I had to choose subjects that were going to help me get into the course I wanted to do at uni (and even then, I did ecomomics/I.T in my first year at uni and decided I hated it and moved on to science ;) - and I can't believe I have been at uni for 8 years now :P)

I can't remember what the goal of doing this painting was (most art projects in school had some sort of goal), but if I could go back in time I would tell myself to paint her face/neck/hands a bit better haha.

old record player/radio

During our hunting at Reverse Garbage I came across this old record player. These things are always exciting!!! I've seen quite a few of them before. I think this one actually does stuff when you plug it in which is very exciting!!!

Here's the one I've got at home. We got this from the tip store for like $25. A little bit cluttered at the moment but hey. It makes a good entry table and we used to have our tv on it once upon a time.

Reverse Garbage

Me and mill went reverse garbage today to forage around in their recycled goodness. There's always so many things there but i can never think of anything to make right at that moment.

In the end i got these fabric samples - i am going to make some pin cushions wit them. Or at least attempt to!

birthdays and wedgwood

It was Justin's mum's birthday on Wednesday! We went to a fancy French restaurant to celebrate and it was goooooood. I had duck with an orange and lime sauce and Justin had a baked rack of lamb with potatoes au gratin. His mum and sister stayed the night, so it was very cosy (his sister on the floor and his mum on the couch - luckily it's a futon ;) ) Justin made a vanilla/white chocolate/raspberry cake with white chocolate icing and that was very tasty too.

I went for an explore in the Wedgwood shop and of course ended up buying some stuff. These little salad plates were on special for only $7 each so I bought 4.

I also ended up buying these two gardening themed mugs as we have a total of 4 mugs (well, used to..) and two of them are too small for a satisfying cup of tea. None of them were bought: mum won 2 of the mugs, and the other 2 were given to us to celebrate the opening of the Blue Lotus icecreamery!

two cold feet's giveaway!

Two Cold Feet has a wonderful package to giveaway! Have a peek, it is definitely worth entering ;)

on my desk...knitted facecloth

On my desk this week is my current knitting project. I made two knitted facecloths a few years ago and they work pretty well. Apparently you can use them as a dishcloth too, but I've never tried it. Mainly cos it takes a while to make one, and I can't bear the thought of food staining them!

This is the one I made for Justin a few years ago. It still looks like new! I liked the pattern, so the one I am making at the moment is exactly the same. I am making it for a birthday present for my mum (in advance - her birthday is in November!) Maybe for the next one I will have a go at a different pattern ;)

Rain and Massage

Here's a picture a took a few weeks back when i went down to the gold coast to visit Jacqui. This is the view from her front yard - i am not shitting you. That's the gold coast!

Anyway i have a massage tomorrow! YAY for me!!!! My plan is to sleep in, get up do some light cleaning. Have my lunch time massage. Hopefully it will rain and i can come home after the massage, crawl into bed with a book and read/sleep for the rest of the day. However i don't think it's actually going to rain which is a little bit sad.

I think i might start my craft project tomorrow too - it all depends on if i clean my dining table in the morning.

a day up north

Justin and I went up to the Sunshine Coast last weekend. It was a looong drive. I hadn't been to the Sunshine Coast for years (I decided on 10 years). We went to Caloundra, Noosa, Alexandra Headland and Maroochydore. I think the only reason we went to these places cos the names were familiar to me lol. It was all a bit mini-Gold Coast.

There was lots of beach walking and a lunch of pizza.

These giant sand bags are sort of cool. They are a lot bigger than they look in the picture. Justin tells me they stop the sand getting washed away...I think they would make a good place to lie in the sun.

At the end of the day I had to take my shoes off cos I was getting way too much sand in them! I still have sand in them, in fact :)