I made it!

It is done. One post per day for the 31 days of October. Wow!

While there have been days when it's been quite difficult to come up with something, I've found it far easier than I anticipated. Being fairly new to this blogging thing (and having a dreadful track record when it comes to keeping paper journals), I really wasn't sure that I'd succeed without veering too much into drivel land (that might be today's job). But I've been pretty happy with the posts I've done, and I think the content has been fairly close to what I anticipated this blog would be about (crafting, cooking, gardening, living, and occasionally parenting). Daily posting this month has helped consolidate for me what this blog is about.

I've enjoyed the challenge of producing something each day. This is probably the first daily non-parenting related thing that I've committed to since becoming a mum, and it's nice to discover that I can maintain a commitment, even if it is only for 5 minutes some days!

I've also enjoyed finding new (to me) blogs, though I haven't got anywhere near halfway through all the people who signed up, so I expect I'll find even more to add to my reader as I continue through the list!

One of the biggest drawbacks of Blogtoberfest for me has been an inability to keep up with my reader - I currently have over 250 posts to catch up on, so I'm hoping that once everyone stops blogging daily it will be easier to maintain!!

Thanks Cathy for a challenging and fun month. I think I will try to maintain regular posting as it helps me feel like I'm achieving something, but 3-4 times a week rather than daily (phew, I hear you say). I'm taking the day off tomorrow!!

Hot and not...

Today I'm joining in with Loobylu for what's hot and what's not...

What's Hot:

* Picking up the new Mike's Book Club book from the library. I'm looking forward to reading this one, though I'm hoping it's not toooo sad because I've developed a problem with watery eyes since having a baby!! I can't start it yet though - I need to finish my current read first, the particularly highbrow O is for Outlaw by Sue Grafton (fun though!)

* Finding yet another use for my very funky knitting needle stoppers. I just realised I needed 2 extra stitch holders for this project, so a pair of dpn's with stoppers on each end are functioning nicely as a temporary fix!

* A baby discovering the joys of crawling. It's particularly entertaining to watch her discover her expanding sphere of influence at the moment!

* Making it to the second-last day of Blogtoberfest without missing a post so far - exciting for me, possibly tedious for everyone else ;-)

What's Not:

*Hems. How is it that I can successfully negotiate buttonholes (after a few false starts) but be undone by a hem?

*A baby discovering the joys of crawling. It means a serious re-evaluation of the state of our house. Bookshelves everywhere are not such a wonderful thing from this new perspective!

*Teething. Not fun for anyone in the house, especially at 4am.

my creative space

It's growing! Surprisingly quickly, really.

I've used my fandangled new stitch holders, and I'm about to embark on some 'short rows'. Just slightly scary as I've never done them before. But if I can do them here, that's another reason to start knitting socks, as short rows seem to play a big part in heel flaps. Can't start socks until I've finished the jacket though!

I'm quite enjoying this project! And because I'm the beginner knitter, the pattern corrections are coming through from other, more competent knitters before I get to those bits! I figure I'm testing the pattern to see if it really is possible for an 'advanced beginner' :-)

To see more creative spaces, visit the queen of the quilt project (which was amazing by the way, I'm so glad I got to see it in person!).

Flower hack

I have several flowers blooming in my garden at the moment, with very little the result of my work - some of it even in spite of it!

A few weeks ago I hacked back the rose bushes, to the point where I was questioning the likelihood of their survival.

They HAVE survived, and one of them is already rewarding me with lots of pink blooms!

I think these are pelargoniums (like geraniums but with serrated edged leaves). I've done nothing to it and it's completely covered with large enthusiastic flowers!

And finally, here are my petunias, actually potted by me! Also blooming with gusto, in spite of my inability to remember to water them.

It seems to be gardening day in blogland - Nic has some lovely geraniums to show you!

Three more days till the end of Blogtoberfest!!

Word of wisdom for the day

Don't hammer when cranky.

There's an old, decrepit, non-functioning gate in our side fence that until a few weeks ago hadn't been opened for years. There was a large rock placed in front of it by a previous occupant to stop it being accidently opened. However, apparently when you're a nincompoop with a few too many muscles, you can force it open, effectively removing the bottom plank from the rest of the gate. Grrr. Someone used it again today while I was out, leaving it wide open. So, I decided to fix it. Sadly, my incompetent hammering abilities are unlikely to stand up to over-muscled nincompoops, but hopefully it will hold up until tomorrow when my dad arrives for a week. He's good at fixing things....

Special Delivery

When the AUD hit 0.92US, I decided it was necessary to take advantage of it and go yarn shopping. (Though it just keeps getting better. Maybe I should go shopping again?) Excitingly, my box of yarn all the way from America arrived this morning! Here's what I got....

...a skein of kettle dyed fingering yarn (looks like 4 ply?) in Chilli Pepper. Maybe a shawl? It's very soft and the colour is striking, and I've never knitted a shawl before...

....2 skeins of Spud & Chloe Outer - possibly earmarked for child hats, it's so lovely and soft!....

and 5 skeins of Cascade 220 in Mallard. It's so very pretty and not expensive at all, so I got enough to make a decent sized child's jumper or something.

I love yarn. I'm trying very hard to not buy any just because. It needs to have a possible project in mind to be able to justify a purchase. Only, I have so many possible projects in my head at the moment, that I could probably nearly fill the house and feel justified! Maybe I need to come up with some other criteria....

spaghetti with smoked trout, fennel and tomato

When we were at the Melbourne Show this year, we managed to sign up for BeerMasons, which is kind of like a wine club for fancy schmancy beer. It's rather fun - you get tasting notes for each of the beers in each pack, and it includes food matching suggestions. One of the beers in the first pack we received is matched with smoked meats. Mmmm. This is a passion we share with one of our cats (who stalks anything smoked: smoked cheese, smoked fish, smoked meats. Slightly annoying when you're not paying attention...).

Anyway, we decided that smoked trout was to get pride of place the other night, but needed to be a little creative. My smoked trout salad has preserved lemon as a key ingredient, but we've run out and I haven't made any more just yet! So I did an experiment that turned out rather well! It's a very quick pasta dish that is perfect for warm spring evenings. The beer was pretty good too!

Spaghetti with Smoked Trout, Fennel and Tomato

(serves 2-4)

approx 100g spaghetti per person

1 fennel bulb

juice of 1 lemon

glug of good extra virgin olive oil

salt & freshly ground pepper

2 fillets or one whole smoked trout

1 tomato, diced

1/4 cup parsley leaves

Cook the spaghetti according to instructions. Meanwhile, slice fennel very thinly (I use a mandoline type thingy), and toss with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Set aside. Break trout into chunks, trying to remove as many bones as possible. Once spaghetti is cooked, return to saucepan with fennel, trout, tomato and parsley. Toss, adding more olive oil, salt and pepper if required. Serve!