Who knew?

I can confirm that wearing gym clothes all morning does not trick your body into thinking that you've exercised.

Bummer.

Paper 2

I may well have found the least functional website in Australia.

http://www.paper2.com.au/

Enjoy.

Cluck cluck cluck

Just a quick post because I had to share the news that I have a beautiful new niece. She's all shiny and new and doing very well over in Atlanta, GA, USA.
Welcome to the world, Katherine, your aunty Duyvken promises to drag her sewing stuff out of the cupboard to finish your quilt very soon!

Window Shopping for Christmas

J would love this.

G has this and uses it all the time, you can even buy extra mini hangers and papers. I love it when they think of refills!


For people with display tables and children who know not to put their fingers into open flames. i.e. not us!

I love this cocktail length dress but for some reason this style of neckline makes me look enormous.

This is a great idea. Although, I don't know where I'd keep it when it wasn't being used.

And if you have school-aged girls you probably already know all about Smiggle. According to the website it's fashion forward stationery. No, I don't know what that means either but the pretty colours, the scent of fresh paper and zipper laden pencil cases get me every time.

The thing about string

She loves collecting pebbles, climbing the ladder to the cubby 'all by her own self', waiting for the postie, drawing with her big sister's textas, snuggling under her quilt and answering the phone. She has also discovered the delight and possibilities of string. She's been carrying it around for a couple of days now and shows no signs of growing weary of it. Adorable!

Things I love

New growth on the camellias, blue skies and turpentine trees in bloom.

Cycling Jerseys

Mr Duyvken is selling these cycling jerseys through Velociti, his cycling blog. They're a little different from the other jerseys out there and are great for people who don't take themselves too seriously. The Republic of Anaerobia one is my favourite, I love the red blood cells and the cold war aesthetic.

If you're interesting in buying one and helping me get the huge box out of my bedroom email me or follow the links on the Velociti blog. They're only AU$85 each including postage which is a bargain for a quality cycling jersey.

Zaishu

I love these slot-together little tables or stools. I saw them at the Powerhouse and then again in My Home magazine so I thought I'd look them up. I about fell over when I read the price. I mean, honestly, have a look at them and play a little guessing game. How much would you expect to pay? They come flat-packed, you slot them together and they're made from plantation pine.

So, what did you guess?

I thought I would pay about $120 for one of these and I thought I was over-estimating how much it would cost. You know, when you really like something and try to trick yourself into thinking it's a bargain and it's therefore easy to justify purchasing it.

That didn't work this time.

They cost $350.

Each.

Oh my.

They claim that this is collectable artwork that also functions as furniture.

That tricky word 'artwork' probably jacks the price up quite a bit.

Because normally I hear 'pine' and flat-pack' and I start thinking IKEA.

I'll just have to admire from afar.

Maybe, you'll be lucky enough to do more than that!

The carport almost has artistic merit if you break it down into small pieces and don't look at it as a whole. It's a wonderful spot for the children to play when it's raining but it isn't at all practical as a space to keep the car. Our car isn't particularly wide but if you park under the carport you can't open the doors. This led to some rather amusing moments in the weeks after we moved in but we gave up on trying to park here pretty quickly and have created a space for the kids instead.

I should be quilting...

...because my new niece or nephew is due in a week and a half and the quilt top is still not finished. In true Duyvken style it is almost finished but just not done. Oh my, when will I learn!

I was going to get it out tonight, set the sewing machine up on the dining table and finish it but Mr Duyvken started on the great late night lasagne bake up of 2008 and had crumbed and fried a couple of eggplants before he realised that we were out of tomatoes so, being the excellent wife that I am, I drove to the supermarket to stock up. It's 10pm and the lasagne has only just gone into the oven.

It's going to be a late night!

Yesterday was a very special day

PS Can you tell I'm loving Photoshop at the moment?