Sunday, March 28, 2010

Weekend Fun

It has been a weekend of markets and brunch. Two of my favourite things!

We had a delicious brunch with friends at Mantra, a lovely place on King William Road. Despite not having any high chairs (who doesn't + there were lot's of people with children there), my breakfast was totally delicious. The service was very good also, and I love the size of their tables. Nice and big... roomy even!

The Bowerbird Bazaar Market at the Queen's Theatre was fantastic! I went home with a few goodies, a full belly and some details about some stall holders I want to hang onto until I have more money to spend! We met up with some friends on Saturday, had some delicious food courtesy of Let Them Eat, a delicious beer by the Brew Boys, sweets by Careme, and wandered around. On Sunday I returned with my sister and my mum, to follow up on purchasing said goodies seen on the previous day... including:

A necklace by Victoria Mason:


A necklace by Angus & Celeste:



Cards by Able & Game. This is not one I bought, but I love love love... I have to keep some things secret!



People who's things I covet:

Bilingual - beautiful jewelry, including this piece which can be worn as a ring or as a pendant:



Hood Scarves by The Encouragement Award:


Prints by Printspace:

Lyssa loved this fan necklace by Sara Rothe:


Art by Sue Ninham:



...and the list could go on. Fun Fun Fun. It is so great to see a lot of these people and wares in the flesh. I am looking forward to doing some Christmas shopping at the next market in October!

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Sickness

We have had a bout of cold, stuffy, sinus sickness around here. The little miss has been the worst off, poor darling, and DB and I are trying to fight it off, with varying degrees of success. Consequently, crafting has been on the back burner. I always find when I am unwell or tired I have so many ideas and loads of things inspire me. I want to launch into a million different projects, but haven't the energy etc.... and then when I'm feeling better, I manage to spend a lot of time procrastinating... hmmm.

Below, some pre-sickness fun:



1. I've got something to say Mum..., 2. Me & Dad, 3. Visiting Cousins, 4. Scrambled Eggs, 5. Ruby, 6. Brunch at Sellick's Beach, 7. Visiting Cousins, 8. Sand Fun, 9. David & Charlie

Hopefully this week will bring some healthy bodies and crafty spirits with it!

Friday, March 12, 2010

Girl's Night Out

I have dinner with my Mum and sister once a week. Ruby usually comes with me and occasionally DB, but this week we took advantage of the Adelaide Fringe and went out for some theatre and dinner. The three of us are big Jane Austen fans, so when the show Austen's Women was advertised it seemed like a definite... and it was fantastic! Rebecca Vaughan who co-adapted the piece along with Guy Masterson (who also directed it), was a triumph!


A narration pieced together from Austen's work, flows effortlessly between her heroine's and (sometimes) villains, to paint a picture of the many women who inhabited Jane Austen's world. Whilst I was familiar with the bulk of the characters, there were three characters from novels I have neither read nor even was aware of! The Three Sisters (Juvenilia), Sanditon and The Watsons, were all new to me and I will have to seek them out!

Characters, in order of appearance (from the Programme Notes):
Narrator Various Writings
Lizzy Bennet Pride & Prejudice
(I think here should have appeared Anne Elliot from Persuasion as I recognised a lot of her character)
Mary Stanhope The Three Sisters (Juvenilia)
Marianne Dashwood Sense & Sensibility
Mrs Norris Mansfield Park
Miss Bates Emma
Mary Musgrove Persuasion
Catherine Morland Northanger Abbey
Emma Woodhouse Emma
Fanny Dashwood Sense & Sensibility
Diana Parker Sandition
Harriet Smith Emma
Mrs Augusta Elton Emma
Miss Elizabeth Watson The Watsons
Lizzy Bennet Pride & Prejudice

I would thoroughly recommend the show and if it is appearing anywhere near you, go along and enjoy!

For dinner we took a short walk to The Apothecary 1878 on Hindley Street and had some lovely wine and delicious tapas. We had Chorizo with tomato sugo & chipotle chilli; Eggplant, green bean, fetta, red onion and mint salad; Baked goat's cheese with roasted cherry tomato & balsamic and Dutch cream potato tortilla with taleggio. These tapas were followed by some yummy sweets of Chocolate pudding & pannacotta with praline. Divine!



Thanks to my ladies and of course to Jane Austen for her "two inches of ivory".

Friday, March 05, 2010

Sand Pit Toys

Ruby received this set of sand pit toys for her birthday from her grandparents. Unfortunately, they've sat on the back bench looking untidy since then...


...well no longer! I finally made a drawstring bag for them to go into! Hurrah! I love it when I have an idea and then actually put it into action, instead of thinking about it forever. Of course, I had been thinking about this since she got them, but now it's actually done!

I appliqued some shapes from the set onto the terry towelling, and then finished off the beachy vibe with some soft rope for the drawstring. Voila!



Ruby loves the sandpit at Playgroup so I've been thinking that I might get one for home, but it needs to be able to be closed so that the Sushi monster doesn't get into it. A couple of these will do the trick I think:


I'm pretty sure Big W or Kmart will stock them, just need to go and look!

Thursday, March 04, 2010

Le Grand Macabre

D and I went to the Adelaide Festival Theatre last night to see Le Grand Macabre by Gyorgy Ligeti. I've only been to a couple of opera's before, and this being described as an anti-anti opera, was very different. Visually it was stunning, really spectacular. The set designer, Afons Flores, did an amazing job. The set was so dynamic, pieces opened to reveal the inside of the woman (the bowel was particularly impressive), doubling as bars, kitchens, night clubs, graveyards, observatory's and so on. A hideously life like tongue protruded from the mouth during the lovers songs, moving suggestively, quite crude but perfect for the moment. The use of projects on the body was fantastic too... how different the face looked - quite fantastic.






The performances were great, and the orchestra did an amazing job, but overall I think I do prefer a more classical opera. I understand that Ligeti was being ironic and critical of the opera tradition, but for me it didn't quite hit the nail on the head. Having said that, it was a spectacular to behold, and given that we don't expect to see too much more this year for the festival it was pretty amazing.

Last week we saw Heroin(e) for Breakfast, which was very interesting too. It was performed at the Holden Street Theatres on a very warm night, and unfortunately the venue was stifling hot. I enjoyed it, but probably would have a teeny bit more if it hadn't been soooo hot and my glass of wine less than cold.

My last show I think will be Austen's Women, which I'm hoping to see next week with my mum and sister. I love a bit of Austen!