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".

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!

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!

I ♥ Handmade Toys... and so does my Mum!

My Mum has been a strong influence on my crafting life. When my sister and I were growing up she was a sewer, a knitter and crocheter. Lyssa and I had so many fabulous toys and outfits that she made. My Mum was taught by my Nan who is a knitter and sewer, and Nan also contributed heavily to my childhood craft memories. Some of my very first creations were clothes for my Barbie Doll's, oh so much fun! One year Nan made me costumes of the world for a couple of my dolls and they were favourites for a long time! They were from a Paton's book, which I have seen around in second hand shops from time to time, but couldn't find online (apart from some already sold copies on ebay). Mum has them safely stored away for when Ruby is old enough to play with them.


Mum loves knitting, crocheting and sewing all things baby/child related. When Ruby was on the way, she went into overdrive, and we have so many wonderful things made from her loving hands. Here is a photo of some of the things she's made for Ruby, and also some amigurumi animals my sister made, the pink rabbit is from my Nan and I made the ball. (And Mum made the crocheted rug too). All in the family!!


Mum gets an enormous kick out of little one's wearing her things or playing with her toys, it is one of her life's joys. Nothing speaks more to me about my Mum's love and devotion to our family than with her crafty hands. I love you Mum!! xxx

Sneak Peak of things to come...

I've been thinking(!) about a new 'business' name for a long, long time - in actual fact, since September 2007. Needless to say I haven't done anything about it (apart from a flickr account & blogspot)... until now. Hurray! Now I also have a domain (pointing to nothing at this stage, but a domain nonetheless. I intend to use my new name, Fox and Feathers to promote my sale able goods, and keep Spinning Pretty for more personal stuff.


I've been working on some items to put into some brick and mortar shops and also an etsy shop. They're still a bit of a way off, but I am a bit further along than I have been in the past. Some sneak peaks:





I am hoping to get some patterns, cards, postcards and kits into the shop. I haven't set myself a timeline yet, but that's something I need to do in the next couple of days. Stay tuned!