I love the voice, humility and grace of this woman – a truly inspiring performer.
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Another spiral skirt
This time I used really strong fuschia and turquoise to spiral dye this circle skirt.
To fit ages 5 -6 (more measurement details in the Etsy shop listing)
The last one sold within half an hour so I’m hoping for a similar outcome! I hope to stock my shop with lots of these and my market stall (if and when that happens!)
Aren’t I lucky to have such an obliging little model?
Sunflowers!
The very first sunflower of summer. The bees love them too!
This one hasn’t bloomed yet but is absolutely giant. I had to take this picture lying down on the path to fit it on the screen! The kids can’t wait until the seeds are ready to feast on.
My husband has quite a cactus collection, some in pots and some planted into the garden. This is the first time this one has flowered. The blooms usually last one to two days only. The scent is like freshly cut melon – beautiful!
A little secret for those who are unaware. Don’t waste your money on packets of sunflowers from a seed producer – you can get marvellous and massive blooms (like ours) from the supermarket by buying a bag of bird feed! Naturally, you want a bag with only sunflower seeds. I got hundreds of seeds for roughly $4 and planted them everywhere.
Etsy shop sale
New year = out with the old, in with the new! I’m offering 10% off any order in my shop for the month of
January. Simply enter the coupon code DOLLSALE2011 when purchasing and the discount is automatically applied. Happy shopping!
Happy New Year!!
Wishing you all a very blessed and happy New Year!
Image credit
Red in the Flower Bed
“Red in the Flower Bed” by Andrea Nepa is a touching and beautifully crafted children’s book on the topic of interracial adoption.
The story follows a little seed from the beginning of it’s journey of uncertainty to the end where it becomes a flower with positive nurturing and care. The seed is an analogy for the child who is to be adopted and gives a gentle explanation for the adoptive child who may wonder why.
The illustrations are very simple yet emotive. The book would suit not only an interracially adoptive family but any adoptive family.
I am a great supporter of adoption and I lament the fact that the adoption process is made so difficult and sometimes inaccessible for so many. The author is an adoptive parent herself which is quite obvious as this is a book written from the heart.
You can learn more about Andrea Nepa or purchase her book here.
* I do not receive payment for reviews unless otherwise specified.
Easy peasy apricot jam
I’m so pleased with the amount of apricots we got from our tree this year – however, the birds and insects (consequences of an organic garden) left me with a lot of partially damaged fruit. What to do? Make jam of course!
Start by cutting up your apricots and de-stoning them. Weigh your cut up fruit. This determines your sugar quantity. Say I had 300grams of cut up fruit, then I would use 300 grams white sugar.
The juice of half a lemon, or thereabouts.
Place fruit, sugar and lemon juice on a low heat in a saucepan. Add a couple of tablespoons of water if it seems a little dry as the sugar starts to dissolve. Stir fairly often while it’s dissolving.
Leave on a lowish heat, it will start to simmer and bubble, then eventually foam. Stir occasionally and watch that it doesn’t foam over.
When the foam starts to subside and the jam looks glossier, do the saucer test.
What is the saucer test? Place a small amount of the liquid from the pot onto a saucer and pop in the fridge for a minute or two. If the liquid “sets” or is nice and thick and gloopy when you take it out then you’re ready to jar.
Have your sterilised jars ready. That means washed in hot soapy water and placed in a low oven (leave the door ajar) on newspaper to dry and sterilise.
While the jars are still hot, ladle your hot jam into them carefully and seal. I just use plastic jam covers as I’ve found them to be the most mold resistant.
With a recipe like this you can make huge or tiny quantities.
Still loving mandalas!
The weather is perfect here for dyeing at the moment so I couldn’t let the opportunity pass.
8 point mandala on 44×44 inch habotai scarf.
Very challenging for my photographer (my son) to take good shots today – too bright outside, too dark in!
16 point mandala on 44x44inch habotai scarf.
Both are in my Etsy shop now.
I hope it’s sunny wherever you are today and if not I’ll try to send you some!
Dark Cherry Cheesecake
I love cheesecake. Looooooove cheesecake. Mmmmmmm.
I made this one for Christmas using this recipe but with few adjustments. I didn’t like the idea of a chocolate base so instead used plain Marie biscuits. I also wanted it to be child friendly, so the rum was omitted. I think the only thing I would change next time is to add a little more lemon juice to make up for the absence of rum. I highly recommend this recipe.
Has blogging changed?
Or is it my naivety that leads me to ponder in this way?
The number of bloggers who seemingly start out as your everyday “I’m here to share” type personality and quickly become “hey, I have 600 followers, time to make some money!” seem to be on the increase. Have you been romanced yet? The blogger who “finds” your blog and leaves a comment for every post you write, quickly becoming your best blogger friend. And what happens when you become a follower of their blog or buy something from them? You never hear from them again. Ever. No emails, no comments, nothing. Sound familiar?
I realise that blogging can be a good way to make money. It can be a great advertising platform for your business (I always mention a new Etsy listing and have links to my shop) but doesn’t there need to be more than that? These thoughts led me to revisit my reasons for starting a blog in the first place.
I enjoy reading other blogs.
I have learned a great deal about various crafts, homeschooling and so many other interests from the internet and blogs. I felt that I could also share skills in this way.
Initially I wanted to document my sewing and crafting journey. My blog has become more personal over the years so that I now also share a lot of myself and my family.
I still think blogging is a great thing, but I guess from time to time I start to feel a little disillusioned by the whole “big blogger, small blogger” thing. Kinda like a popularity contest?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject……
Oh, and by the way – if you’re one of those bloggers I’ve been “romanced” by – I no longer visit you. But then I guess you wouldn’t be reading my lowly little post now would you?