Autumn Harvesting and the missing words

Autumn Harvesting
Originally uploaded by redmag

....I've been a little short on words lately and I've sat down to blog a few times this week only to find I have nothing to say....this might become a photoblog for a while....I'm not sure why its happened maybe it's a side effect of spending the majority of my time with small children with my daily dialogue has been reduced to:
Child - More cake? (Despite the fact its been over a week since he's seen cake)
Me - No more cake
Child: No more cake
.....
Child: Cake?

I need to find something else to use as a bargaining chip in getting good behaviour at the supermarket before the weekly shop tomorrow...

Or maybe its just that the colder months are clearly coming this way and my brain has decided to hibernate this year....

Either way here are some of the last of the summer fruits from the garden....we have loads of green tomatoes and I'm not very good at throwing things away. I plan to make this with some of them......

Green tomato relish from Robert and Maria Strybel’s “Heritage Polish Cookery” – it’s a fantastic cookbook if you like polish cooking – I warn you though – there are very few pictures so its not one of those very lovely food porn numbers you can pour over on a cold winter’s night – here’ an abridged version

Slice one kilo of green tomatoes and 500g of onions thinly. Combine with one and a half tablespoons of salt. Leave over night at room temperature.

Preheat your oven to 195degrees C. Pack the tomato/onion mix into small clean jars (no need to sterilise them – yea!). Separately in a saucepan combine 1¼ cup of water, ¼ cup sugar, ½ cup of vinegar, some peppercorns, mustard seeds and a bay leaf. Bring to the boil and then pour into the jars over the tomato/onion mix. Cover loosely with the lids and pop into the oven for 20-25 minutes – This will pasteurize them. Once out of the oven seal tightly and allow to cool.

But for the rest not sure - might have to try fried green tomatoes and see what all the fuss is about!

If you have a delicious way of using the poor late tomatoes that missed the sun leave a comment I'm all ears - There are actually about 5 more kilos of the things beyond those in the picture.

On review maybe I’m not as short of words as I thought…

Easter in the big city

Toddler help in the big city
Originally uploaded by redmag

This photo sums up my easter break.
A flying visit to Melbourne - a city I love because its big and noisy and exciting but not in a too big way , its colourful and filthy all at once and while I dont live there.....its home

That blur in the middle is ours - a toddler, nicked named the cyclone months ago, who found a sense of determination over the weekend which is both wonderful ( he now does puzzles) and frustrating for everyone and manifested itself in insisting on pushing his own pram everywhere for miles and miles.

For more pictures of cute grafitti see here, here and here.

Hope yours was a good one!

An update

An update
Originally uploaded by redmag

This isn't going to become one of those blogs that is just a vehicle for sellig things and it will largely continue to be a document of my mundane daily goings on.......but given things on the toy making side have been so quite for so long I thought I'd just add a short note to let people know that I've added some new toys to my etsy shop.....and there are more on the way in the next couple of weeks....I'm also open to swaps and special requests.

For those of you in the Canberra area I'll also be at the next Handmade Market on 23 May, 10am to 4pm at the Albert Hall ....its my first market and is looming as very daunting so stop by and say hello.

9: A new project

9: A new project
Originally uploaded by redmag

Just over a week into my things of joy project and I'm fasting working out that often the most joyous things sneak up and hit you out of the blue and dont lend themselves to photographing - things like a little person's first smile at you ever - while some things can be photographed later without introducing a fakness many can't so rather than feeling bad about skipping days both on the blog or on flickr I figure I resolve to capture what I can.....

Here's something that has been making me feel pretty good for the last 24 hours.....its a new quilt in the making.....I love the intial stages of project....any project really but especially a crafting one......I love the big piles of fabrics that get assembled and disassembled as you look through your stash for just the right things.....and then the trip to the fabric store to buy what you dont but absolutly must have....

I love the way it feels to make things......its weird I once had a house mate who upon completeion of her Arts/Law degree announce that she wished she learnt a trade instead because she thought it would be more fulfilling to work with her hands - at the time as someone from a decidely working class background with parents who both had hands that had suffered terribly in order to earn a crust it seemed like the utterings of a middle class fantasist....and I guess part of me still does think that it was.....but I also agree that there is something deeply satisfying about making something with your hands - however the real joy comes from being able to also do it on your own terms - your time, your design or idea.