Our coffee table this evening.

ahh, autumn

Such a glorious autumn morning. The sun is out, soft light filters through the golden hues of trees shedding their foliage, creating colour everywhere. I see Children enjoying  the sound of the crackling and crunching leaves  as they wade through glowing piles that are yet  to be swept from pathways.

You see, I'm taking a walk to our local op shop this morning in search of some winter gear. There are many temptations for sure in this second hand emporium; one being a beautiful ivory toned stoneware bowl. I reason to myself - an op shop is just another retail experience; an extension of our consumer mentality that has been fed to us from birth. So I pass it up as being unnecessary.

I find a couple of items of clothing ; that being a grey knitted button up waistcoat, and a full  linen skirt of a grey green hue. Unfortunately however, this isn't enough to be able to pay by eftpos as the total comes to under $10. I need to find something else, so my thoughts return to the stoneware bowl. (I tried to resist, honestly)

Meanwhile on the one kilometre walk back home, my eyes feast on the many liquid amber trees that line my  street. Though beautiful, I remember these seed balls as being a nuisance whenever I pushed my children along in a pram as they always managed to get caught up between the wheels. haha. Even now, these cheeky little studded sprites will still manage to try to trip you up,  if you're not careful.

Op shop shenanigans aside, a little of my crafting of late. It took me a fortnight of leisurely crocheting , and about 6 old sheets but my rug is finally finished. Will post a photo some time of the finished piece. I don't believe anyone is looking , but I don't care really to go unnoticed here in blog world. Makes life a whole lot quieter and simpler.

Low clouds and thin sunlight

Well it has been rather dreary weather here, and I have been passing the time creatively. Using my stash of new found fabrics, and a  few that I have had stowed away, I stitched up a patchwork pillow of sorts, using a french seam method for added interest and durability. The process was a rather time consuming one, but I believe, the more time spent on quality craftsmanship, the better the finished article.

My sister's birthdays are within days of each other in the month of May, and they being nature lovers themselves, I thought it apt to make a couple of cards with a simple potato print pattern depicting a Banksia flower. The poem that i have over printed on is by Australian poet Ella McFadyen and I would like to share it here, as it is most appropriate at this time of the year.


THE BANKSIA INN

The clouds are low and the hills are grey,
And the sunlight cold and thin.
Hungry and chill is the bush today,
Said one little bird : "Prey where
do you stay?"
And the other bird piped from a
wind blown spray:
"I lodge at the Banksia Inn.
There's room for you and there's room for me,
At the friendly Inn of The Banksia Tree."

"The boughs are thick and the beds
are rare,
To snuggle us warm from cold;
The guests are fed on the sweetest fare
Honey for all,  enough to spare
And yonder it stands all glowing there
With it's lights of red and gold
Supper and bed for you and me,
At the kindly Inn of The Banksia Tree."

Ellen McFadyen

Been collecting old fabric from op shops some of which will be used for crochet rag  rug making and patchwork too. With such a jumble of mismatched items on display in junk shops, it pays to have a colour scheme worked out beforehand - in my case, a palette of various blues, colourful greens offset buy a complementary brown  neutral.