Monday, June 25, 2012

Crochet success, and sighs about technology

Today there is a gremlin in my office.  None of three printers are working, the technician can’t come till Wednesday and the suppliers inform me that they are out of toner and will only be able to deliver in three weeks… who ever heard of such inefficiency?   To top it all my new Windows 7 computer crashes whenever I try to access any Google pages.   I am writing this post from a borrowed laptop running on XP.  Apparently there is a technology war going between Google and Microsoft… I wish they would make it up so the rest of us can get on with making bears.  Enough grumbling.
Over the last few days I managed to complete the little dungaree for Schnozzel.  Here are some cheerful pictures.
I took stacks of photos as I was making the dungarees.  After overcoming my mental block about working without a pattern it was fun. 
Next week I will be offering the Schnozzel pattern on Etsy, and I will post a free tutorial on this blog to crochet the dungarees.

Till next time, wishing you a creative week.

Monday, June 18, 2012

The start of a week

And so it goes.  The start of a new week and it seems that all the fun is over.  T's visit was much too short, but we crammed in an incredible amount of jaw-wagging, sitting on the floor reading books, and activities that involve needles, crochet hooks and scissors.  We also ate and slept, of course.
Here are T's early morning impressions of Irish Cottage, where she was staying.



And a leisurely breakfast in Cape Cottage.
This week I am working on three things.  One involves an umbrella, another uses a tomato paste tin, and the third is a project that I abandoned last year.
No, it's not a skirt.  This was meant to be a dungaree but I battled with it so, I gave up.  I think sometimes I try to re-invent the wheel.  I could have found a pattern a long time ago to help me figure it out.  Today I am going to do just that.  The little bear is Schnozzel from CAZ bears.  I am busy updating and rewriting the pattern instructions.  It will be available as a kit and pattern again soon.  I will let you know how it all comes together.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Fire!

One of the hazards of living on a farm with no winter rain is that the veld becomes very dry and there's a danger of fires. We cut the grass around the buildings and make fire breaks. We also usually water the compost bins and the processing area around them. The compost bins can generate a lot of heat. With one thing and another we haven't remembered to do the watering lately and to my horror I heard Henning shouting shortly after breakfast and looked outside to see a column of smoke.
Well, if you are thinking barbecue type fire, just think again. We ran with hoses, beat
the flames with wet blankets, eventually started running with buckets of water from the dam. The flames would hiss and die for a few moments, then spring up again. The fire started spreading into the veld, but fortunately there was no wind and we managed to head it off after a while.
In the movies you always see the heroine walking away from the burning ruin with a stripe of soot on her forehead and a perky pony tail. Let me tell you that reality is an over all sooty monster. By the time we beat the fire I had red eyes and cracked lips, my clothes were singed and my shoes were ruined from running on hot ashes and getting doused with water. Not to mention snot running down my chin and tossing my cookies quite early on from all the exertion. I am not going to become a fire fighter when I grow up.
All's well that ends well. The damage can be repaired, the plants will grow again, and the dogs really enjoyed hunting for and gobbling up cooked compost grubs once the ashes cooled down.
What an exciting week it's been so far. On Monday accosted by a pervert in the grocery shop, on Tuesday a fire...
On Wednesday my special friend arrives. I am hours behind with preparations, and so tired now that I can hardly drag myself along. Nothing will dampen my pleasure in anticipation of seeing her though.