Browsing Archive: June, 2012

Tour time! (30 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Saturday, June 30, 2012,

Yes, it's that time of year again. Late nights watching bicycle wheels turn, close-ups of exhausted faces, tension-filled race finishes and lots of beautiful French scenery too. It's the Tour de France :)

My own race preparations have included:

Reviewing the TdF stages and dates to see which nights are going to be late ones
Clearing space on the hard drive recorder for the crucial mountain stages and time trials
Updating my favourite TdF mobile apps: SBS Tour Tracke r; Sportal Tour; and the Tour H...

A friendly hermit crab (30 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Saturday, June 30, 2012, In : Travel

On a recent visit to East Point Reserve, I picked up a pretty shell and got quite a shock when this little fellow crawled out to say hello!

Tim is much braver than I am around creepy crawlies, so the photo is of his hand of course. It was quite fascinating to watch the hermit crab pop in and out of its shell, and explore Tim's hand freely. I filmed a short video of it, which I've uploaded so that you can watch it too :)

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The problem with pom poms (28 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Thursday, June 28, 2012, In : Creativity

A Christmassy/crafty post in June - why not? ;)

Each year for the last few years I've made little ornaments for my sisters' Christmas trees. Photos of some of my previous efforts are on Flickr HERE. For Christmas last year I didn't have much time to put something together, so I decided to make something I'd been wanting to try my hand at for a while - pom poms! It sounded so simple :)

I soon learned that there are a few important things to take into consideration when making yarn pom poms. The ...
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Of pygmies, palms and pirates (27 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Wednesday, June 27, 2012,

Time for some poetry (another daily blogging challenge tradition!) -

Of pygmies, palms and pirates by Mervyn Peake

Of pygmies, palms and pirates,
Of islands and lagoons,
Of blood-bespotted frigates,
Of crags and octoroons,
Of whales and broken bottles,
Of quicksands cold and grey,
Of ullages and dottles,
I have no more to say.

Of barley, corn and furrows,
Of farms and turf that heaves
Above such ghostly burrows
As twitch on summer eves
Of fallow-land and pasture,
Of skies both pink and grey,
I made my statem...
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Found treasures (27 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Wednesday, June 27, 2012,

While I was out walking this morning, I came across some startling red seeds amongst the leaf litter. I just had to collect a few, they were so pretty - hard, shiny and very colourful!

I asked a friend on Twitter - @lokilovesyou - who makes beautiful seed jewellery if she knew what they were called. She told me that the seeds are from Adenanthera pavonina, also known as the Red Bead Tree (fitting!), Saga Tree or Red Sandalwood.

I'm not sure yet if I'll try making jewellery with them in future. ...
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Vintage craft book: "Creative Needlework" (27 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Wednesday, June 27, 2012, In : Creativity

I know, I know! You've been waiting *all year* for another instalment of vintage craft! Well, I try not to disappoint ;)

"Creative Needlework" (1974) by Jo Springer is another gem from my Mum's collection. It has some fantastic retro styling that is quite on-trend at the moment.

But then it starts getting a little iffy ...

Until eventually - dear God, won't someone please think of the children!?!?

Luckily, there are a couple of dapper chaps playing with model trains to rescue us all at the end ;)...
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Polenta with mushrooms and blue cheese sauce (26 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, In : Food & Recipes

It's been a while since I posted a recipe on this blog. This polenta dish is one of my favourite treats, inspired by a menu item served at Il Tempo in Melbourne's DeGraves Street.

This isn't an exact recipe, as it can vary depending on how much polenta and mushrooms I feel like on the night. But the sauce makes enough for 3 serves (or 2 very generous ones!). It's also a bit of a cheat's recipe, because I like to save time by using pre-cooked firm polenta rather than making it from scratch ;)

Polenta with mushrooms & blue cheese sauce

Po...
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Wycliffe Well, UFO capital of Australia (25 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Monday, June 25, 2012, In : Travel

They take the title of "UFO capital of Australia" pretty seriously in Wycliffe Well, Northern Territory. In doing so, they've certainly set themselves apart from all of the other small localities that are dotted along the Stuart Highway, which tend to blend together in the memories of that long, long road trip.

It's a great place to stop and stretch your legs, grab some lunch and a beer, and buy some gorgeously tacky UFO souvenirs! The walls of the cafe are lined with newspaper reports of UFO ...
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Beautiful Darwin sunsets (23 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Saturday, June 23, 2012, In : Travel

There's something magical about watching the sun set over the water at Mindil Beach here in Darwin. The crowds on market nights make it a wonderful shared experience as we grab something yummy from the food and drink stalls and make our way to the beach to see what kind of show the sky will give us. Of course it's different every time, depending on the shapes of the clouds or the amount of smoke in the atmosphere (there are always fires burning somewhere nearby during the dry season).

But do y...
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Pretty paper flowers (22 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Friday, June 22, 2012, In : Creativity

A couple of years ago, my Mum was in hospital and I was planning to buy her some flowers. Then I remembered an online tutorial that I'd come across for making carnations using tissue paper. I'd never really been one for paper crafts before, but these were really pretty - they would last longer than real flowers, and my Mum would always know that they were made with love.

The tutorial for tissue paper carnations was from the Folding Trees blog. The blog authors have stopped posting new material...
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YouTube stardom? (18 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Monday, June 18, 2012,

Hmm, I'm not doing a very good job of daily blogging this year. I took the weekend off, a much needed break :) But now I have some catching up to do!

So I'm going to start getting back on track with a post about my cat - of course, you should know by now to expect blog posts about Roxy on a fairly regular basis - and her YouTube stardom.

Perhaps I exaggerate when I say stardom, but although I've posted a few videos of Roxy on my YouTube channel, there's only one that's really taken off in terms...
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WaterMyPhoto (14 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Wednesday, June 13, 2012, In : Technology

I have lots of photography and video apps on my iPhone. Most of them are free, though I've paid for a few too. They let me edit or play with photos or videos in ways that previously could only be done on a desktop or laptop computer - and sometimes in new ways altogether! Some apps try to do everything (crop, contrast, filters, frames, etc.) and others just focus on doing one thing well (panoramas, colour splash, stop motion).

WaterMyPhoto is a neat little app that does one thing well. It cost...
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Mangrove Boardwalk (11 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Monday, June 11, 2012, In : Travel

Darwin has many beautiful beaches, though they are somewhat let down by the fact that you can't swim at any of them because of the ever-present dangers of crocodiles, sharks and stingers ...

But much of Darwin's coastline is also made up of mangroves and mudflats. Today we went for a walk along the Mangrove Boardwalk in East Point Reserve.

The mangroves have a strange beauty all of their own, and their complex root systems are fascinating. These photos were taken at low tide. The same scene wou...
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Out and about in Darwin (9 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Saturday, June 9, 2012, In : Travel

This is just a "what I did today" post - they tend to be more prevalent during the #blogjune challenge ;)

In the morning we visited the Alawa shops to see the new location of Dragonfly Fabrics. They're Darwin's only specialist quilting shop, and have the most amazing selection of fabrics, especially Japanese designs. They also have lots of other embroidery and sewing goodies. And you can't go to Alawa without stopping in at Dimitrios Speciality Cakes for the most beautiful cakes and Greek past...
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RNIB and Vision Australia libraries on YouTube (8 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Friday, June 8, 2012, In : Professional

I regularly monitor Twitter and other channels for news and developments related to accessibility in libraries and the broader community. I recently came across this YouTube video from the RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People) that explains the work of their National Library Service in the United Kingdom. I was so impressed by it - very professional with a clear communication of the library's value and how advocate on behalf of vision impaired readers. The contributions of some of t...
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Living in an electrical appliance disaster zone (8 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Friday, June 8, 2012,

We found a great place to rent in Darwin this time around. It's a 2-storey townhouse in a nice complex. It's expensive, but well located for public transport, shops, etc.

It just has a few little problems with electrical appliances ...

Fridge - The townhouse includes a fridge/freezer. It doesn't work. I put in a maintenance request when we moved in, but 5 weeks later (yes, 5 weeks!) it still hasn't been fixed. Luckily we have a bar fridge to tide us over while we're waiting but patience is wear...
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Brrr, chilly! (6 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Wednesday, June 6, 2012,

Everyone in Darwin had their winter woollies and long pants on today as they complained about the bitterly cold night we had just had. My colleagues wore scarves or shawls to ward off the chill. And there's no relief in sight for these poor folk - temperatures will be down all week ...

Yes, that's the week's forecast. In Darwin, that's a cold spell. I haven't re-acclimatised to the tropics yet, but even I woke up cold in the middle of the night and had to retrieve an extra coverlet from the cu...
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Manton Dam (5 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Tuesday, June 5, 2012, In : Travel

Manton Dam is located about 70km south of Darwin. It was constructed during World War II, as were many of Darwin's major infrastructure projects, and was Darwin's first reliable water supply. Now it's used as an emergency water source only - the rest of the time it's a popular recreation spot for boating and fishing, and a valuable conservation area.

The short walk to the dam wall is very pretty, and at its end you are rewarded with a lovely view of crashing water over the curved wall. You can...
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Experimenting with origami (4 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Monday, June 4, 2012, In : Creativity

I'd never tried origami before this year, but in the space of a few months I picked up the bug! I bought a book on origami for beginners (oh alright, it's actually called Origami for Children), some lovely origami paper from a couple of Japanese shops in Melbourne, and an origami-a-day calendar for 2012. A friend of mine also gave me some origami paper that she'd bought in Japan.

My origami paper supplies are still boxed up in the craft room / home office - I can't wait to unpack them! - but I...
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Blabberize (3 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Sunday, June 3, 2012, In : Technology

Last year my colleagues and I put together a fun library orientation program for students that involved treasure hunts, QR codes, animated videos and more. It was a great project to work on, and I've previously blogged about it HERE.

As part of the online version of the treasure hunt, we used video clips that I created with an online tool called Blabberize. They were silly, and they made students laugh - which was exactly the reaction we'd hoped for. They were also a hoot to play during the co...
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Welcome back to Darwin (2 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Saturday, June 2, 2012, In : Professional

I returned to Darwin at the end of April, and also to working on campus again after 6 months of working remotely from Melbourne. It's great to be back :)

On my first day back on campus, my fellow liaison librarians surprised me with a wonderful office makeover! How lucky I am to work with such amazing people, and to be welcomed back in such style!

What's in a name? (1 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Friday, June 1, 2012,

Sally sets forth = sallysetsforth

I started using 'sallysetsforth' as my username for all things social and online in early 2009. Where did it come from? Well, ever since I first went online back in the '90s I've been calling myself sallyforth or a variation thereof. Usually a variation, because someone always seemed to snatch it up first!

I've always loved the term 'to sally forth'. I first heard it in a song from one of my all-time favourite musicals, The Pirates of Penzance, and was immediat...
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