November 15

Another brilliant flowchart, this one by Headup, spotted on Typcut.



Which brings me to the question I have been pondering of late: will I continue with Sunday dinners in 2010?

The guests keep coming, and I always end the evening happy. But perhaps, next year, I'd like to spend my Sundays somewhere else but the kitchen. Like outdoors. Our few days in Yosemite renewed my urge to camp, to hike, to be out there.

Josh is about to go away for five months (that's another story), which makes me both less and more inclined to continue with Sunday dinners. Less, because he is a big help in pulling these off, and I'm not sure I want to attempt it alone week after week. More, because I will especially welcome the adult company in his absence. And Lauren is so keen that we continue. She has offered to do all the chores that Josh now does both in prep and cleanup. Of late she's tackled the dishes alone to show me she is both willing and able to fill his shoes.

So I'm not sure. I'm thinking I will stop extending invitations, and just see how it evolves. See who calls and asks to come. Make simpler meals, maybe just vegetarian. Ask my guests to bring dessert. Give myself time to get out for much of the day, and still welcome friends for a few hours of fun and laughter in the evening.

Happy? Yes. But not sure I want to keep doing exactly what I've been doing. Going with the flow here, and seeing where we end up.

November 14

Working on some vintage/retro gardens, while the rest of the family has gone to see The Cat Empire. I just wasn't feeling up to it .... Playing with rick rack and yo yos was what I needed tonight.

November 13

Zipper pull earrings. These work well for Lauren, whose piercing is quite high on her lobe. But the set I made for myself with larger, heavier pulls do not look so good; they bend the bottom of my lobes back. I might try again with smaller pulls like these.

November 12

Thrifted straight-sided glasses: 50c each. Votive candles: 50c each. Linen scraps and embroidery thread: from stash. Joy, love and Rhea: priceless.

Love this

As someone who has been known to create a flowchart or two, I absolutely love this flowchart of the Beatles classic, ‘Hey Jude.’ I can't figure out who to credit for it; please know it's not mine!

November 11

I'm not much of a knitter, but I started this project before going to Yosemite, to help me avoid sewing-machine-withdrawals. I finally got it felted last night, and dried today. Yay! It's a 'brown paper' lunchbag! Want your own? The pattern's here.

November 10

I needed a quick project tonight, so whipped up a magnetic corner bookmark using this tutorial. I think the design could use some refinement. It's a pretty bulky end result, even using the thinnest magnetic tape I could find. In fact, the magnet is so weak it barely grips through the fabric and the page, so it may as well not be there. I might try again using just stiffened fabric. Or not.

November 9

I was only in San Fran for 26 hours, but managed to cram in quite a bit. We did the 49 mile scenic tour, which took us to parts of the city we'd never seen. We visited the de Young Art Museum, and of course the various piers. The highlight occurred on Saturday night: walking down Green Street near our North Beach hotel, we stopped outside Club Fugazi, wondering why crowds were gathering. A young woman asked us if we would like free tickets to the show about to start. She had four, but two of her friends couldn't make it. We had no idea what we were in for, but gladly accepted in a spirit of adventure. What followed was two hours of laughter as we experienced the long-running (35 years!) San Francisco institution Beach Blanket Babylon from the front row. What a great night.

I drove home on Sunday but left Rhea up there for another 24 hours to have some solo adventures, including the Alcatraz tour. She returned tonight by air, with a fully loaded camera and a big smile.

We love San Fran!

November 8

Back from a weekend in San Francisco with Rhea; photos to follow!

November 6

We said a sad good-bye to my wonderful sister and her daughter Jessica tonight; they have been staying with us for the past few days, enroute back to Australia after Jess ran the New York Marathon last weekend. I'm really spoiled by so many of my loved ones who make the long journey to stay with us in LA. This was Sister's second visit this year! Next time, I'm going Down Under. That trip is way overdue.

November 5

I used the last of a favourite thrifted sheet to make myself some comfy (clown?) pyjama pants tonight. I'm on the lookout for some flannel sheets now!

November 4

I've been wanting to make snack bags for ages. I even bought some laminated cotton for the purpose back in April, but didn't get around to using it, perhaps because it was kind of stiff.

Today was the day! Inspired in great part by some wonderfully soft Kaffe Fassett (rhymes with Safe Asset) laminated fabric, I whipped up several bags in different sizes tonight.

I made some with cotton on the outside, and others with the laminate on both inside and outside. I think I prefer the latter.
Let me introduce to you: my nutsack (giggle). So yummy.

November 3

I stayed up late making a wintry garland, and woke Josh up by hammering nails in the wall to hang it. Poor man had to get up for work at 3:45 AM so didn't appreciate me making a sudden loud noise at 11:30 PM :-( Bad wife.

Wow, it's hard to photograph long things like this!
I tried again this morning in the back yard.
Now I'm not sure if what I fondly imagined to be shabby chic actually looks like a bunch of rags. Yes? No?

November 2

I'm feeling a surge of creativity, so before I unleashed it, I thought it behooved me (love that word) to finish up a few projects and clear off the sewing table. There's an unborn baby boy out there somewhere; this scrappy quilt is just waiting for him!

November 1

This morning my big girl and I headed out early to the Natural History Museum to be first in line for the Spider Pavilion which closes next weekend.










For old times' sake, we spent an hour at the Science Center too, before coming home to prepare Sunday Dinner. I love that she loves to do this kind of thing with me ... she always has, and it seems she always will. I am going to miss her so much when she leaves. Heart break ...