boxing day on the harbour

pete and i were invited out on my friend (and piano student) john's catamaran to watch the start of the sydney to hobart yacht race. the weather ranged from morning drizzle to windy and cool and then gloriously sunny. a crashingly good thunderstorm finished the day. our lazy lunch at quarantine bay was serenaded by music from the talented songwriter gairden cooke, and we did a few songs too. wonderful day!

christmas day

three beauties for bruncholympia, rosie and sophie.
kerstin, adrienne and all served up the most amazing brunch for us all. the only depressing thought was having to repeat the performance for dinner!
and here's dinnerchristmas dinner for 19 was at our place. slow roast lamb and lots of vegies and salads with a superb glazed ham from my parents, and christmas pudding (again thanks to my mum) and pavlova...

last stall for the year

i need to work more on merchandising and really pimp out the stall, but it's getting there. olympia was a great help at our last stall for the year.
i've also bought more lining fabric for my little recycled-coffee-sack gift bags.

today

today i cleaned out the fridge, made a huge lot of soap (it won't be ready till january as it has to cure), did three loads of washing, baked a loaf of sour dough bread, cooked dhal, bought two trestle tables for the markets tomorrow, took rosie and mookhi for lunch, assembled some new shelves for the markets tomorrow, did some gardening, disguised the terribly tragic state of the christmas tree by cutting and attaching (with wire) some bits from a tree outside, rehearsed with pete for our gig next week, practiced my blues piano...now i am about to get ready for our market stall tomorrow, which means assembling all my boxes of stuff and preparing the scone mixture to bake first thing in the morning...

yesterday the girls and i got our my stamps and printed our wrapping paper and some cards for christmas.

our riverside markets stalll

our stall on sunday with simon and pete. need to work on my merchandising, but the hot scones with very berry jam and fresh cream were a lovely way to bring people to the stall.


the fudge didn't sell as well as i had expected. maybe the weather is too hot to consider eating it. it's getting eaten at home. and will be good for next week too.
here are some production shots:


i've made a display out of some really solid cardboard boxes for the markets. it easily supports 9 jars of jam, and holds some more at the back...

olympia's formal dress

olympia has been looking for a dress for her year 10 formal for months now. she and sophie looked in every vintage shop in newtown. she tried the regular city stores, and i combed all the op shops in the inner west. she was very specific (dare i say, fussy?) and knew what she wanted. but, with days to go, she found nothing that she liked. so i offered to make it. am i crazy? probably, and sewing for a three year old where all they care about is pink ribbons and laces and the "twirl" factor is one thing, but a beautiful and rather discerning 16 year old is something completely out there.

we looked at etsy vintage for some ideas and settled on something with a tight-fitted bodice but draped bust, and a full skirt. we used a lovely old turquoise sari and black velvet for the bodice. tulle for the petticoat of course.






well, it wasn't easy as i had to try and make it up as i went, but it turned out well and she added a belt to hod the waist in even tighter.the doorman said it was one of the nicest dresses he'd seen in the five years he'd been doing year ten formals...

here is olympia with scout. you see how exquisite she is...scout is gorgeous too

facebook page for lyrebird jam

i'm making a page for lyrebird jam, so i can let people know when and where our market stalls will be.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lyrebird-Jam/179073935453123