grey afternoon and orange balloons

In an Emily Green, by various brennemans.

With my camera in hand and a secret-garden-reading daughter beside me I rode into the city Sunday. We hadn't done this since November of last year.

Stop number one, Markit at Federation Square. Crafters and the likes coming together to sell their wares. The atrium was dimly lit and kind of like you were stepping into a little hub, the heartbeat of Melbourne's craft movement.

I live in this city I know the place is buzzing with creatives, you can't go ten feet without bumping into an owl or a deer. I love it, for me it was a little outing I hoped would inspire us both.

She, Bea that is, felt we just had to take home a little part of it. We choose an Emily Green necklace, and agreed we'd share it. She even wrote down which days we'd each have when we got home.

After we'd seen it all and seen it again at Fed Square, we ventured a little ways down the banks of the river. Orange balloons lining the way, bright against a grey autumn sky.

We went to Artplay, a great interactive art space with exhibitions as well as work shops for children. On exhibit that afternoon was Ross Brewin's "Play with Cardboard." I took a bunch of photos just to show Aaron, as he always told me "cardboard is a great structural material," and I remembered the sculptures he made when he was trying to get into visual arts many years ago.

He used to make cupboards, penholders, all kinds of mad things from cardboard. Once he made Phoenix a shield and sword where the sword fit snugly into the body of the shield. Why doesn't he do that stuff any more? He never did get into art school, really. Thank goodness he choose to study mathematics, one of us needs an actual income.

Anyhow these small room sized works were like cubbies, little warrens for tiny totts, or just lounging spaces for kicking back. I wanted one of each, fold away of course so I could store it or just build one within the kid's room it would be fantastic.

Heading back towards the train, our next stop was again at Federation Square at a busy Japanese restaurant, Chocolate Buddha, The service was terribly slow, we waited 30 minutes to order. Thankfully the food arrived swiftly, I mean within five minutes, and it looked impressive.

My Ramen noodle soup with salmon was just the thing for a cold Melbourne afternoon. I could also have eaten all of Bea's tofu and greens with rice had she not loved it so much, it was actually tastier than mine. The salted young soy beans were also delicious. We had wanted to order the green tea ice cream but gave up waiting.

After the meal minus green tea ice cream, we walked a little with no real plan.

I asked Bea if she'd like to walk into the Cathedral, then I realised she didn't know what one was. She had only been in a church once ever before and couldn't remember it. She had never seen a place as grand as this. We looked at the tiles, the mosaics, she was engrossed in the high ceilings and the quietness of the place.

I was trying to recall year 12 art: flying buttresses, vaults, naves, and rose windows. Yep I couldn't remember enough to sound even remotely like I knew what I was talking about, and on that note we left. Personal project, revise year 12 art.

In stark contrast to the Cathedral, we walked down Hosier Lane to see some graffiti, stencils, and illuminated art boxes, even some tin can art.

I was glad to have found my favourite stencil ever, this girl and her deck of cards.

Looking up I wondered what it would be like to live up in the apartments there on the lane, with potted garden window sills, the best restaurants on your doorstep. Ok maybe some drunks down below in the stairwells and music from the underground bars would keep you up all night, but it still seems a little parisian, a little romantic.

It was getting a little chilly and dusk bought with it a light fog, we made our way to Flinder's Street Station heading for platform 5 and our train home. Inside though, there are shops and there was taffy.

We'd seen some of it before at Markit, a $20 box of individually wrapped ones, but I passed them up. The box was something special, and I am a sucker for packages like that one, but I was being a little stingy. I mean lunch had cost us $58 dollars! So I'd not gotten them.

But here we were, still with a sugar craving from our no-ice-cream experience, and a second chance at taffy is not to be sneezed at. So we got eight, splitting each one betwixt us - cinnamon, peanut butter, chocolate, strawberries-and-cream. Yum. Darn it I should have skimped on the chai and had taffy for a week, I reckon that was better than any green tea ice cream, however long we'd have waited.


That was our artful afternoon last weekend, I was on a little high all week because of that time, on my day to wear the necklace I felt I had a small part of my daughter with me, something we shared and will continue to share.

catch-up

bubbling, originally uploaded by various brennemans.

I am feeling pretty happy this week.

I finally got round to picking up another sewing project, I'd felt like I'd maybe lost the sewing bug. I hadn't, it just got hidden under mounds of washing, yummy crumbles, too many apples (and chestnut spiky thing-ies) to pick up from the front yard, and sunny mornings too good to stay indoors.

But then the afternoon came this Tuesday where one child slept and one was at kinder, I'd prepared madly all morning, the washing was on the line, the table was clear a simple stir fry was on the menu, for dinner. Tuesday is mad for me, I get the kids ready for my one school pick up of the week that a friend does for me. The two little kids and I spend the morning at home together. We dash out at 1.30 to take Eliza to kinder. I won't even tell you how hard it is to keep Circe awake the whole drive there and back. One wink of sleep and it's a power nap, don't like those. I am out again for 4.30 and 5.00pm pick ups from after-care at school and kinder. Yes it's crazy. So a quiet me time in that kinder period whilst baby Circe sleeps is so rewarding. In that nap I managed to make... a strap for a bag.

I'd really wanted another bag, a smaller one for wallet phone and keys. My recently purchased Linen Wool Cotton book had a great pattern for a messenger bag. I altered the size, added an internal mobile-phone pocket, and used linen instead of wool and hemp. I thought it best to make it tailor my needs and petit-ness. Often bag straps in particular are too long if you are too short like me.

Later that night I finished off the bag, there was a frustrating unpicking episode. I ought to listen to my husband, he always says pin it and then turn it out, I hate it when he's right. Despite the unpicking the end result is a well made great little bag

I love the size and love the orange sugar and spice lining, makes me happy every time I open my bag.

Leading up to making the bag this week I had been on the look out for some vintage linens at the op shop. I have my few places I visit weekly, funnily enough I see the same one man each time I am there, I wonder does he realise he sees me every time he's there too. I wonder why he needs 6 bags, does he resell them, he seems to look for specific items. I wonder whether he is as intrigued by why I am buying 3 vintage linen sheets and 4 belts. Of my sheets purchased my favourite is the floral brown and yellow, I am seeing a lining for a black denim bag in that, and a summer dress and skirt for next year. Besides Pip Lincoln will have a new book out for the Summer and I will need fabric for that. The others may become toddler dresses, summer bloomers for Circe and shared with my neighbour.

...

I am inspiration found and bound for the drawing board after tonight, Dawn Tan's pop up shop was at Harvest textiles.I had noticed a sign up on one of my many car trips to and from kids too far school from home trips. That day I said "Bea did you see that?"

"hah? what?"

She has her head in a book from the moment I pick her up till well after I get into the house everyday. "Dawn Tan is having a pop up store at the textile place," I say.

Her face lights up when I tell her I will take her. I wonder whether she ought to have her head less in a book sometimes and maybe talk to me on the drive home.
I like taking Beatrix out, she appreciates things some other kids wouldn't. We took along her best friend whom also love the work.

Beatrix loved seeing Dawn's work up close, especially the project on all that she ate for a week. We'd seen this project featured in Frankie. We were so inspired we tried it out for a day, I might add here that she is a mighty talented watercolour-ist my little Bea.

But I booked a spot for me in one of Dawn's watercolour class, I cannot wait.

...

After my post last week on Ceres (my local environmental park, organic market- farm) I returned Wednesday to spend another sunny morning and took some shots I promised to deliver!

So if you'd like to see more take a closer look off to the side there at flickr and you will find more on the organic market and get a feel for the place and the kind of lovely laid-back morning one has there.

If you are perusing my blog from overseas note the cost per banana, due to recent cyclone Yasi, ouchh expensive, but hey those poor farmers lost everything.

This has been some of my week, the weekend involves, more picking up of apples and spiky thigies as a prickle under foot of a 17 month old is nasty. We have a couple of brunches one to attend and one to host, we have a friend's gorgoues son to meet a little better on their visit to Melbourne. There will be some baby swooning on my husband's part I am expecting. I wonder whether I will sneek a moment to make that denim bag some time tomorrow, maybe an extra hour from the end of daylight savings will help, ha that never happens when you have kids.

still life friday

danger: toppling, originally uploaded by various brennemans.

old is the new new

regimented, from photos by various brennemans.

I actually gave up my sleep-in this week to get to Camberwell market this Sunday gone by, this place is such a visual feast. I love the fact that you can find all manner of wonderful things there. I picked up an old sunshine biscuit tin painted yellow, my new favourite happy colour.

I bought a few other things in between mad dashes for cover under the awnings to escape the heavy rain. It's always a little intimate it seems when this sought of thing happens, perfect strangers strike up conversations about the "this mad weather were having" or the entertainment stay put in the rain and begin joyfully choral-ling "rain rain go away, come again another day", and we all clap and cheer when it does in fact stop. Then we all go back about our business, like it never happened.

My main reason for the outing to this wonderful outdoor market was to play with my new Canon 60D. Now I really need to actually have a few lessons on using this baby as there are so many settings and things have advanced greatly since using my old SLR. I did manage some ok shots. I wasn't quite sure if there was an etiquette thing related to carrying a tool like this. All my past photographs in public have been of buildings never before of people's things, so it seemed polite to ask if it was ok to take some pictures if they were around. I was on the tram last week where I happened to be near a guy with a camera, I wondered what he'd taken pictures of when out of the blue he took a picture of a girl in the set of seats ahead of us. It was obvious he was taking random shots not meaning to take her in particular, but I did think that took some courage on his part.

So my first attempt was at my favourite stall for the day they stocked the best assortment of buttons and thread. I just love this sort of thing en mass. I have been playing a little with the theme of multicolour. So this place was just fantastic for me. The gentleman was really nice and was really quite flattered that I wanted to take some shots.

My son and I actually bought some film this week, he was desperate to use my old camera. He had taken it down several times playing with the lens and pretending to take shots. He proclaimed after wearing it around his neck that he finally knew what he wanted to be: "a photographer." I thought to myself wow imagine if we really became who we wanted to be at seven.

I am still trying to find what I want to be at almost forty. I wish someone had shown me how to do really practical things at his age. I loved telling him all about how to focus how to read the light reading. He was fascinated by the fact that each shot will be an actual photo that will get printed. He was also quite blown away by the fact that you cannot delete shots as a result he is taking about one picture a week. He is normally so impatient so this is a great exercise in slowness.

It's also nice to show him the way we used to take pictures, so much has changed in the time I've had children, at the rate in which devices are being replaced and upgraded, I had been thinking that I was afraid for the printed word. Then, funnily enough and without any warning, when my husband left his job this week he was given a Kindle as a going-away present. They knew how much he loved books and that the new place was over an hour on the train each way.

I knew little about this product and just didn't like the sound of an "e book." Now Aaron is not shy about not opening a gift if he doesn't like it. Back to the shop it goes, straight to the exchange desk. Sometimes he's not even discreet about the not-opening: "Go on, take it out of the package!" "No, it's fine."

So when I was prying open the Kindle box yesterday I expected to hear 'don't touch that, I was going to take it back.' I mean he returned the cake decorating set he got at his last job, I expected the same here, especially how much he scorns "toys." He doesn't even have a phone.

But I was wrong. He is an avid reader and will be writer some day, so I trust his judgement on things like this: He loves it. He has already used it on his long train rides to and from work today. I am keen to see what this thing actually does, but he won't let me touch it.

Technology is just moving too fast, and damn they make these things look so sexy too. It is such specky marketing, all the more reason to not have one.

In the same vein I bought an old fashion typewriter last year, actually at the exact market mentioned above. I remember the delight and fascination this little typewriter bought to the kids, "It's so heavy" they all commented and "what are these letters" and "what's this tape thing?" I loved hearing them tapping away loudly. Almost daily someone will use it to write a story or make a diary entry, or Circe loves to get the keys all muddled together.

To me it's worth having these things in our lives, to value the way things were and to exercise a little simplicity, to tap away at old keys to have to focus your own photo to write a letter on paper.

I think this is why I also love sewing, there is something noble about these simple crafts which should not be lost.