TropicalSoup

Self Defence classes for spinach

The kids and I planted some baby spinach leaves and flat leaf parsley out into tubs yesterday afternoon (I'm too embarrassed to tell you how long they sat in their sad little seedling punnets, waiting!). Until we get our veggie and herb garden up and running, tubs are definitely the way to go - plus, with the amount of baby spinach leaves we go through in this house, growing our own will be quite a blessing. And a saving!

And here are those same wee plants this morning after I found them all dug up and located underneath a small cat's arse, perched and mid-poop in all that lovely potting mix. Kebab sticks - the last line of defence for baby veggies!

(Don't panic, I cleaned out the plants and the potting mix and otherwise disposed of the poop!)

If you're a neighbourhood feline...

(image from Funny cats)

...consider this Public Service Announcement a warning. A magnetic cat door is on the way but in the meantime, the next one of you I find inside spraying my furniture or eating Cookie and Mahes' food...it's slippers for you. I think I've figured out a way to make them with cats. Plus I have cold feet - just you go ahead and see if I don't use you as my guinea pig!

Today I am:

~loving how well Cole and Imogen get on;

~envious of Immy's bold and fearless fashion sense;

~posting off more custom knitting and embroidery orders...

~trying to spend a bit of time on some new patterns that have been rolling about in my noggin;

~frustrated at the adjustments I need to make to current patterns to accommodate one of my wool supplier's changing from a plied to a crepe wrap...thereby changing the knit gauge of the yarn;

~deciding on colours and invite ideas for Cole and Imogen's birthday party in a months' time. And decorations. And conscious of the fact that whilst I overthink everything - and for ages - I am in grave danger of doing my usual trick of leaving it all to the last minute again. Ack, make a decision already Jo!

~in denial that my babies will be 4 in less than a month. Four! How did that happen so fast...and has it really only been four years?

~considering whether having another baby is right for our family and do we do it now or soon or when?

~trying to also come up with some ideas I really love about rebranding and modernising, business wise. Why do I get fixated on what's already taken? come on creative brain, I know you're in there somewhere...

~conscious that I need to do more paid work this month...need to pay for that party!

~in awe of el husbando magnifico D, for all the usual reasons, and a few extras I'll be thrilled to tell you about soon. The man rocks;

~missing living in the same space as my gorgeous girlfriends, who can (almost) always be relied on to get me moving. Thank God for free phonecalls at least;

~needing to mop the kitchen floor. And yet finding excuses...

~building splendid train tracks and little villages with zoos and supermarkets and playgrounds;

~afraid of the scary ironing pile in my studio. And the other piles scattered around that room;

~laughing at knock knock jokes told really badly and hysterically by 3 11/12 year olds;

~eating freshly baked feijoa and white chocolate muffins;

~receiving sloppy kisses;

~grateful.

My Creative Space...

I'm joining in with the Creative Space meme over at Kootoyou...

Today's creative space is somewhat distracted - today a dear, lovely practically family member is starting chemo. It follows an operation that seems to have gotten all the nasties, but this is backup. And I wanted to send a little *thinking of you* package her way. This little hottie and a few bits and bobs are on their way. I've been working on the pattern (and some variations) in between knitting orders, and it seemed fitting for this first one to go to C. It's a mini hot water bottle - the bottle itself is less than 9 inches long, just enough to warm your hands or pop behind you on the couch.

And because I'm a bit silly, it seemed appropriate for this bright orange hottie to have a silly wee smile too - a spare for when C's run out of hers. 

Crouching Knitter, Hidden Skein

...I completely get her need-a-fix at the end with the scissors, though given recent experiences, I confess I shuddered a bit as they got near her fingers, ha!

I think Albert would have been a hard case drinking buddy...

 

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.

~Albert Einstein

An ego boost is...

...having someone actively hunt you down (after buying a BahaCoca hat 3 years ago from a retailer) so you can make her toddler and young baby another set of hats. Yay, that kind of thing always makes me feel like some sort of real designer or something!

Busy

That's me at the moment. Busily trying to keep a few extra balls in the air at the moment, and - thanks to particularly charming case of Tonsillitis (again!?) - sounding like the result of a love affair between Demi Moore and Alvin the Chipmunk. Which is going to make selling at the Market tomorrow extra entertaining...what are my chances of getting some sympathy sales? lol

 

The usual (closely cropped to miss out the chaos) shots of what it's like in the studio at the moment, packing and getting ready - tomorrow is CraftMad over in Hamilton. Plenty of divinely warm hand knitted hats and luscious skeins of hand dyed merino coming with me tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it, and hoping for a nice day - it's mostly an inside venue, but my stall is outside on the covered tennis courts...we're protected overhead but as there are no walls, a biting wind or horizontal rain could make things decidedly unpleasant!

I was hoping to release a couple of kits there tomorrow that I have been working on, but I think I've left it a little too late. Pity, but will be something fun for next month I guess - non-baby related patterns and kits...who knew!?!

(the bank is completely innocent...just happened to the pen in the shot!) Then again, piggy bank cosies....mmmm....