Sweet Fabric [Search results for rain] 

of relaxing Friday at the ranch tonight.

The rain made it hard to hear but gosh it was lovely.

The "Christmas rains" was what we used to call these storms & it's been a long long time since we've had rain like tonight.

I stood in the rain until I was saturated & felt fantastic.

Image source

It’s 11pm. I’ve been walking for 15 hours and I can feel the tears welling in my eyes again. I wasn’t prepared for how emotional this experience was going to be.

The soup I forced down an hour ago is making me feel sick and I wish I was home in bed. I’m painfully aware that I’ve only walked about 3 kilometres in the last hour and am trying to calculate in my jumbled mind how much longer it will be until we reach Mt Evelyn Reserve.

I’ve no idea where the rest of my team is, I’m just following the person in front and hoping that it’s Viv. The team thing is driving me insane, I just want to run ahead and make it be over. Of course, that’s not in the spirit of the event so I trudge on and hope that none of the others want to chat. I’ve got nothing to say and I’m worried that if I have to talk I’ll burst into tears.

The rain is absolutely bucketing down. The Gortex jacket has been pushed beyond it’s capability and I’m soaked to the skin. I think it’s about 2 degrees and I can’t even imagine how cold it must be at the top of Mount Donna Buang. I’m aware that I can’t feel my lips, nose, fingers or toes. The pungent smell of soaked wool and sweat is overpowering and serves to reassure me that I do still have a nose.

I wriggle my toes in my hiking shoes. They are completely numb, I imagine that they must look like little prunes. With each step my socks squelch and the skin around my heel squeaks. I’m so thankful that the support team made me change out of my Asics. At least these shoes have got a bit of grip in the wet.

Each outward breath hits the light of my head torch and the rain. Until it clears I can see nothing. I’m just concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other.

I imagine that every corner we round will be the last and am longing for the twinkling lights of the Checkpoint. I’ve only walked this section in daylight and my memory has failed me. I’m getting used to disappointment.

step…squelch...squeak…step…squelch…squeak…step…squelch…squeak

More cold feet stories here.

Friday is my big run day. The route begins the same as my regular run & then instead of turning back for home I continue & turn & wind & weave.

Autopilot is so weird. I often arrive at places I've driven to with no recollection of how I got there. I haven't had that experience running until today. I turned for home when I should have kept going so I ended up running an extra kilometre. Then the butterfly effect...

I was 6 minutes later getting to the garbage run. So I ran 1 km playing tag with the garbos inhaling fumes & garbage stench - yuck!

I was later getting to Camberwell which meant my coffee shop man was in full swing & I wanted to stop.

I was later getting to the main roads & I discovered that 6 minutes makes a big difference to the amount of traffic on the road.

I was later getting home which meant I got caught in the rain - YAY. Rain is my absolute favourite thing in the whole world. I love it even more now because we never get it.

Image taken by Pip. This is my favourite rainy day photo.

Making this day happy...

the sound of the rain
my uncanny ability to buy fits-like-a-glove jeans from the Oppy
getting stuff done
raw edges
crafty ironing (not houseworky ironing)
making plans
the promise of a pretty drink in about 3 hours

I've got some findings to share.

On Wednesday night I washed my hair using the simple method referred to here. This pic was taken this afternoon.

The comments on the recipe post report varying results but so far so good for me.

I've been using a Natural Shampoo for the last couple of years (twice weekly) & I would say that the baking soda/apple cider vinegar compares well, if not more favourably.

Points to note:

1. My hair is super thick
2. I ran in the rain yesterday morning
3. I ran a LONG way this morning

Considering the fairly serious conditions I'm pretty impressed.

VARIED
Snippets from my week

It's been an eventful week.

* Warm, cold, healthy, sick, tired, energised - you get the picture.

* I'm having a crack at some different stuff, some organic stuff, some old stuff & some boy meets girl stuff.

* I've been totally motivated by Anna Laura, Loobylu & Hop Skip Jump.

* I've been out & about with the Polaroid.

* I've covered myself in gold paint (by accident).

* I've been looked after by the universe which landed me in exactly the right Op Shop at exactly the right time. Tune in Tuesday to see the results.

* I've had some crazy mad giggling type of fun running in the rain with this girl. I'm not sure she enjoyed the experience as much as I did.

Hello! It's a public holiday in Melbourne.

Today I ran in the rain, had a terrible coffee, sewed a bit, shopped with the kids, cooked a bit & generally took things pretty easy.

There have been a few questions about the placemat covers so I've put together a HAC "how to".

Gather your supplies...
Fabric
Fold Over Elastic
Pins
Sewing machine
Circular placemat

If you're planning on doing any embroidery (either traditional or machine), or maybe some other decorative application like gocco or applique - do that before you cut your circles.

Cut two circles approximately 1.5 inches larger than your placemat.

Pin with wrong sides together.

Set your machine to zig zag & stitch the fold over elastic to the outside of the circle shape. You need to stretch the elastic fully. Go slow & remember to keep your needle in your work as you stretch. If you're stumped now's the time to visit Amy Karol's FOE tute...it's a ripper.

Once you're finished the cover should look something like this.

Slip the cover onto your circular placemat & enjoy. Look Liesl it's a shower cap!

Time yourself...super speedy gift idea.

Despite the week long threat of rain & thunder storms, Saturday was the perfect day.

We all trundled out to the Yarra Valley for the wedding of my gorgeous cousin & her gorgeous fella.

My smallest was not officially in the bridal party but she's got a fair bit of spunk & kind of wangled her way in anyway. She did actually look like she belonged which was a happy coincidence.

The little dress was picked up at the Op Shop a few weeks ago. It's raw silk & still had the tags on it. OK so it's a size 4 & she's so not 4 but I think she looks super cute.

“The Lodge” is a disused church camp with about one hundred acres of bush attached to it.

Our “more front than Myers”* mum has negotiated a lease arrangement with the owners of “The Lodge” and the bushland. She pays them an absolute pittance and in exchange we get full use of The Lodge and the bush. We build a holding yard so that our ponies can sleep overnight when we are up for the weekend. We renovate the bungalow and fill it with our belongings, we construct elaborate air riffle ranges with old cups and plates and cookware from the old kitchen.

It’s every kids dream and we have to pinch ourselves every time we drive through the gate.

As we approach the gate there’s a heated discussion about who will be on duty. It’s raining hard and it’s warm in the car. I “win” and haul my oilskin coat on before I dash out of the car to the gate. I wait for mum to drive through and then quickly close the gate and leap back in the car.

Mum stops the car but leaves the headlights on so we can see to light the gas lamps. We all rush into the bungalow. It’s absolutely freezing and the three of us are jumping up and down on the spot to keep warm. Mum sets to work unlocking the storage cupboard and pulling out all our belongings. She lights a couple of gas lanterns and finds that the mantels need replacing on a couple more. She leaves us with one primus and instructions to make our beds.

We roll out our sleeping bags and grab a blanket each. It’s going to be a really cold night. Once everything is organised in our room we drag on our gumboots and prepare ourselves for the mad dash over to The Lodge. We hold our primus up high and see that mum has created a fairly crude bridge system over the puddles in the wood shed.

The puddles and the bridges are negotiated easily and we open the lodge door to find the fire roaring. Mum’s had to rearrange some of the furniture to avoid the drips coming through the rusted roof. There are already a series of puddles forming in the sawdust floor. We are confined to our carpet square for the night as the rest of The Lodge is dotted with soggy sawdust pot holes.

We all head straight for the fire to toast our bottoms. The three of us stand too close to the roaring fire watching mum replace gas mantels in the half light and listening to the rain on the tin roof. We talk sleepily about how much fun we are going to have tomorrow and how full of tadpoles the swamp will be.

More rainy day stories here.

* for non-Australian residents: More front that Myers

I went in search of ponies.

I packed the kids in the car & headed up to Mansfield. I managed to drag the rain with me & it teamed all day yesterday. The ponies weren't very co-operative!

BUT...

I stopped at Pemberton's on the way up just to scope things out. You see this is where we used to keep our own ponies when we were kids.

My heart was in my throat as I snapped this pic.

Happy weekend all.