sallysetsforth

I was just having a quick look through my folder of draft blog posts (searching for something that I could finish off and post quickly) when I came across a post that I wrote when I was blogging every day in December - my Advent calendar of blog posts. Oh, and yes I am obviously a glutton for punishment to do it all over again!

The post that caught my attention was called "Hot Day". And it occurred to me that the perfect title for this blog post, 6 months later, is "Cold Day". Last night was the longest night of the year. It was also the coldest night of the year so far. Out our way the temperature sat close to zero for most of the night. We woke up to a very frosty morning indeed - I decided to wear knee-high boots under my work pants, it was that cold! Gloves were a necessity of course.

Today I stayed back at work, so got home at about 7.30pm. The heater was turned on straight away, but 2 hours later I'm still hunching and shivering and my fingers feel stiff and frozen. The electric blanket is already on, and I think I'm about to give up on doing anything useful tonight and go to bed.

It's funny, you'd think I would find Melbourne positively balmy after living in Canberra, but I found that -8 degrees in a double brick apartment is easier to bear than +3 degrees in a weatherboard house. And winter days in Canberra are so marvellously sunny that you almost forget how cold it is :) I don't think I ever got the winter blues until my first year back in Melbourne after leaving Canberra - the grey winters really get to me now.

I'm working on a job application right now, so don't have time for a full blog post.

Instead, I'm sharing this lovely photo uploaded to Flickr by the Victorian Public Records Office.

This is how the State Bank handled internal correspondence until 1974. It reminds me of the tubes used to disseminate "information" in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. Also, check out the shoes!



P.S. Let's not talk about how much time I spent on Flickr looking for a photo that I liked, when I could have been either working on my application or writing a proper blog post ;)

Photo credits to Victorian Public Records Office.

I was a bit surprised that I hadn't written more craft-related blog posts this month, considering how much I talk (and think) about it, but then I realised that I've spent so much of my spare time blogging that I didn't have much time left over for crafting!

Despite that, I did find some time to play with my new crafty toy. It's a French knitting bee, also known as a knitting nancy or a spool knitter (remember those cotton spools with nails hammered into the top?). Most people come across these tools as children. There's a lovely web page called The Lost Art of Knitting Nancies that explains how they're used, and even roadtests the different varieties available.

They're very easy to use once you get the hang of it. French knitting produces a knitted tube (or cord) that varies in diameter depending on the number of prongs. I used a YouTube video to help get me started. I have since discovered that French knitting is very easy to do while on the train and watching television, so it's easy to find time to do it. And it works up quite quickly - I timed myself and found that I can produce about 11cm of knitted cord in 10 minutes.

I came across some variegated yarn in Christmassy colours at Lincraft and thought it would make a great Christmas tree garland. Here's what I've made so far, and I think it's looking pretty good :)

I first discovered Georgette Heyer's books when I babysat the children of a family friend. I can't recall now whether she loaned me some of the books, or whether I read them at her house after the children had gone to bed, but I do vividly remember that she had a whole shelf full of them, and I thought it was wonderful!

Once I started reading Georgette Heyer, I couldn't stop! I absolutely devoured her books as a teenager. The Regency romances were my favourites, but I also enjoyed her historical romances from other time periods.

The first of her books that I ever owned a copy of myself was Simon the Coldheart. I remember taking it with me to school camp :) Other favourites include The Corinthian, These Old Shades, Devil's Cub and Black Sheep.

I accumulated a few more of her books over the years, but it's actually quite difficult to find second-hand copies. I prefer the old Pan editions of her books, rather than new copies, as they are the versions that I originally read - the feeling of nostalgia is like a bonus sensory input :)

A few years ago, though, I hit the mother lode! I managed to snag a bulk lot of about thirty Georgette Heyer historical romances at a local market. When I combined them with those I already had, I found that I was only missing three of her historical fiction novels (that's now only two, thanks to @GirrlitsBooks).

Last year I rediscovered my love of old-fashioned mystery novels, and tried a couple of Georgette Heyer's mysteries for the first time. They were also great fun to read, and I'm now working on completing that collection too!

Thanks to a recent influx of bookshelves in our house, I was finally able to move my collection out of the box they'd been stored in and onto a shelf - and now I have my very own shelf full of Georgette Heyers :)



If you're interested in viewing my collection in more depth than the photo, I have, of course, catalogued all of my Georgette Heyers on LibraryThing!

This post is dedicated to Jenelle! It's a response to her blog post about Icehouse that sprang from a fun Twitter conversation / singalong :)

The Sharp released most of their singles during my first couple of years at Uni. I saw them perform at Union House (University of Melbourne), and thought they were pretty wonderful!

They are probably better remembered for their skivvies and the big double bass than their music, but they really did create some terrific songs. I still play them on a fairly regular basis, and the first album I ever converted to mp3 was Sonic Tripod!

The Sharp's first album was called "This is the Sharp", and it had several big hits such as Scratch My Back, Talking Sly, Yeah I Want You and Train of Thought.

Talking Sly -



Train of Thought -



Scratch My Back - filmclip not available but you can listen HERE

Their second album was "Sonic Tripod". It's my favourite, and also had big hits like Totally Yeah, Alone Like Me, and Where Am I Now?

Alone Like Me - filmclip not available but you can listen HERE (music starts at the 20 second mark)

Nightclub - this song always gets me rocking! This video of their performance on Hey Hey It's Saturday is pretty awful quality, and it doesn't have the same thumping groove as the CD track. But I know Jenelle loves that awful show, so it seemed appropriate to include it ;)



Finally, no tribute to The Sharp would be complete without the D-Generation's parody: Skivvies Are Back!



P.S. According to their MySpace page, The Sharp will be performing some shows in the next couple of months. Hmmm, I think I'd rather leave them in my past :)

I have so many blog posts in draft form, but they need more polishing than I have time for tonight. *sigh*

So I thought I'd share a photo of one of my favourite things :)



This beautiful Hoya Carnosa is growing on my back balcony. I adore its waxy texture, starburst shape, sweet scent and velvety petals - truly a feast for all of the senses!

Hoya Carnosa is my favourite variety (we always had a plant growing next to my parents' front verandah), but there are many different Hoya species available in a wide range of colours and shapes for both the flowers and leaves. If you're interested, you can have a look at the Hooked on Hoya Database and the International Hoya Association's photo gallery for some examples :)

I'm tired and this is a lazy post.

But if you haven't met Simon's Cat yet, then you're in for a treat :)



You can see more videos at the Simon's Cat YouTube channel and at the official Simon's Cat website. Oh, and there's an app for that.

I don't normally blog about my workplace, but I'd like to share an experience that I had today.

This afternoon I spent four hours on the reference desk, and during that time I encountered what is often referred to in library circles as a "nutter".

Happily, not in person. My workplace is a special library, and is something of a closed shop to the general public. But we do have a phone number, and sometimes take questions from members of the public, as long as they are relatively easy and quick to respond to.

So, I got a phone call. Within a few sentences I realised that I had an aggressive person on the other end of the line, who was making an unreasonable request in unreasonable terms. After a variety of attempts to negotiate an acceptable outcome with this person (and after putting up with a fair amount of abuse), they demanded to speak to my manager. By then, I was very happy to comply!
 
The most interesting thing about this incident for me, though, was my reaction to the situation. By the time I got off the phone, I was shaking. Not from fear. Not from anger (okay, a little bit of anger!). But rather from frustration at not being able tell this person where to go.

It's very difficult to maintain a friendly, customer service demeanour in the face of unwarranted aggression. But of course I had to - to keep up my own professional image, and to protect my library's reputation.

I probably have it lucky compared to those who work in public libraries (or in other industries, such as retail). But it's still extremely unpleasant when it happens, isn't it?

I know it hasn't been very long since my last recipe blog post, but I brought these coconut macaroons along to #creativebarter on Saturday and was told that I *must* post the recipe :)



Easy Coconut Macaroons
Makes approx. 15

Ingredients:

• 1 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 Tb cornflour
• 1 egg
• pinch salt

Method:

• Combine coconut, sugar and cornflour in bowl. Beat together egg and salt, stir into dry ingredients; mix well.
• Place heaped teaspoonfuls of mixture on to greased and cornfloured oven tray (or tray covered with baking paper), press mixture lightly into peaked macaroon shapes.
• Bake in moderate oven (180°C) for 15 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from oven, loosen on tray immediately, allow to cool on tray.
  

Credit: The Australian Women's Weekly 100 Delicious Biscuits and Slices (1982), edited by Ellen Sinclair.

P.S. I've also added this recipe to my Recipe Box page.

Thank you so much to Kim for giving Ruth, Zaana and I our first crochet lessons on Saturday!

We were all terrible fumble fingers to begin with, but one by one we started to get the hang of it :)



My first attempt is pretty wobbly looking. I accidentally twisted it at some point, so I'm pretending that it's a crocheted Möbius strip ;)



I've been itching to learn crochet for *so* long! The technique feels very strange, especially for an ex-knitter (though not a very good one). I can see a lot of practice in my future before I begin some of the projects that I've been looking forward to trying!