Friday, August 28, 2009

the finished quilt (plus Lola and mouse)


the quilt plus Lola and mouse, originally uploaded by elaine the pirate.

I never did post pictures of this, did I?

until now.

Remember I was banging on about making a quilt? This is the finished item.

I'm rather pleased with it.

Here is a wider view for you
the quilt

The back side is one large square surrounded by the off-white and then the orange binding.

quilt back

So there you are!

posted by elaine, 12:17 pm | link | 4 comments |

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Thursday Likes on time for a miracle.


gin and tonic sorbet, originally uploaded by elaine the pirate.

You know what I like?

I like cooking. I also like gin.

On Saturday last, I had a Ginner Party.

Three courses. All dishes involved a matched gin.

Entree - Tanqueray cured red snapper
Main - Old Raj, lemon and saffron risotto with my special roast chicken (I slice chorizo and stuff this and butter between the skin and the meat prior to cooking).
Dessert- Hendrick's and tonic sorbet. served in gin and tonic.

There were five different bottles of quality gin in my house. The food was pretty great. My house was populated with some of my favourite people.

What's not to like?

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posted by elaine, 10:04 am | link | 2 comments |

Thursday, August 20, 2009

sneak peek


crochet, originally uploaded by elaine the pirate.

Here is a peek at one of my current projects. Available for purchase soon over at my etsy store.

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posted by elaine, 1:25 pm | link | 0 comments |

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Dear Amy


postcard 1907, originally uploaded by elaine the pirate.

My father inherited half of a wheat farm last year. It is a completely Dickensian tale.

My father's first cousin, Cedric, and his wife, Alice, were childless. Cedric died some time ago and Alice followed last year. Out of the blue, my father receives a phone call, Alice had died, leaving the estate in equal share to my father, his brother, and the one other first cousin. My uncle passed away a while ago so the estate was to be split 50/50 between my father and his spinster second cousin. A dear lady straight from the pages of Dickens or Austen. 60 years old, still lives at home with her elderly mother, never married, lived a very small and confined life.

So now we have a farm.

This postcard, the first in a series spanning over 30 years, to Amy from Aunt Gwen is dated 5 April 1907.

It got me to thinking about how future generations will find out about us. We send text messages and email that is deleted. We deride people for putting their personal details up on the internet. But it used to be commonplace. A photograph of ones self or ones children are put on card and written on the back for all and sundry to see in the delivery system. So long live things like blogs and flickr and twitter. Its banality is the best reason for its existence.

And perhaps more importantly, back then girls loved their kitty cats too.

posted by elaine, 10:27 pm | link | 4 comments |

Friday, August 14, 2009

like!




today I love this cartoon.

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posted by elaine, 3:25 pm | link | 0 comments |

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Happiness is




This is how I've spent the past couple of evenings and it makes me so very many types of happy.

Bed. Under the quilt. Lola on my lap. Knitting. Watching films/True Blood.

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posted by elaine, 9:21 am | link | 1 comments |

Monday, August 03, 2009

My new favourite craft

is crochet.




Yep. I have come a long way in a few short weeks.

From a mangled looking almost granny square to hooking away on crowded trains. I've been making teeny tiny crochet things. Prototypes, one may call them. Sort of like these but smaller. And different in design.



One of the things I like so much is that I can tuck a ball of yarn in my coat pocket and happily crochet in a crowded train carriage rather than standing bored for the 30 minutes or so. It maked commuting a bit more fun. Hurrah!

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posted by elaine, 9:58 am | link | 2 comments |