It's Like Riding a Bicycle Right?

You don't quite forget how. Tomorrow shall be my first brew day since January 27. Which is an eternity ago.  Plus, it will be the Brewmistress's first ever five gallon all-grain batch. With her brand new mash tun. Doing a Nelson Sauvin IPA (because she has 6 ounces of Nelson hops in the freezer). Plus, she gets to meet a brand new baby! Big day all around.

*Sunday update* I did not brew. I had the best of intentions, got my yeast ready and everything. However, Saturday was so beautiful, and the first of such days after two weeks of good hard rain. So, instead, I did all kinds of yard work and finished my garden planting. So, I am now shooting for next weekend.

Cheers, and have a lovely weekend!

art. house. mum.

Ever since I inherited this painting I have wanted to reframe it.  Not that I had any issues with the frame.  But the colour of the linen slip was too dark and it seemed to lock the painting in a box.

So today I took the painting in to work with the idea of looking at reframing it.  We had only just begun looking at frames when my friend commented that the fillet would be easily re-coloured...

Re-painting a slip is an easy job to do at home if you have the paint... and I really don't mind the frame itself.  So that was my afternoon sorted.  I just used some left over interior acrylic house paint.  Honestly, I think that I will jig the colour when I have another free afternoon but in the meantime I feel like the painting has been given a new lease on life.

... It deserved a new lease on life.  It's an oil painting of a building near where I grew up and it has a tonne of meaning for our family.  The artist is Douglas Pratt, a Brisbane impressionist who lost his job as an engineer and was forced to fall back on his art to support himself.  Aint art grand.

g

Three Things... Colour Inspiration

art. house. mum.

I was getting this group of cards together for a project and was struck by the beauty of the jumble of colours.

I hope you find them as intriguing as I do...

Wishing you and yours a great week!  g

life lately..

Sekalinya ngeblog ngapain? ya narsis dunks..
Ritual sehari hari sekarang adalah miting, diskusi, dan justifikasi.. yang berarti melakukan pendampingan untuk user2 yang membutuhkan tim legal untuk menemani mereka negosiasi dengan klien..
Tampang boleh profesional, kemauan boleh maksa, kepentingan perusahaan boleh diperjuangkan tapi klo udah ketemu kamera.. narsis boleh donk tetep jalan..
Ngebaca salah satu blog.. mumpung masih bisa .. :)

The Magic Hour

art. house. mum.

It wasn't just the cotton that we enjoyed on our farm day... Check out the magic light.

And I had forgotten to take my camera... these are phone photos...

Isn't it fun to play with light?

g

Fruit

art. house. mum.

I go to a great Bible study group where we use the KYB (Know Your Bible) studies.  It is one of the coolest things that I do.  

The studies have been sparking thoughts in my mind about what being a Christian is. I grew up as a Christian and part of me hates the word (sorry, but it's true).  Admitting to being a Christian is such a loaded thing.  So much culture of so many different types is associated with Christianity and so many people have such strong associations with Christianity and the Christian church.  Obviously, not all of these associations are good. And many people seem to have really strong, emotive and conflicting feelings about Christians.  Me too.

But what KYB lately has been reminding me is that the important thing is following the man of Jesus. 

I feel relieved with that thought.  If other people find it easiest to throw a label on me, then I guess that the best fit is "Christian".  But in my heart I just want to follow Jesus.  The way that he viewed the world was and is revolutionary.  And the people who I see puting his teaching into practice are the people who I genuinely admire. 

Jesus told his followers to 

• Love their enemies
• Be generous and not to tell anyone about it
• Care for others before themselves
• Be peacemakers
• Talk to God
• Be humble
• Look past cultural boundaries
• Take care of the disadvantaged
• Be responsible
• Be smart

There's a lot which I have missed in this list but it's not a bad start is it?  Just imagine if we all lived like that!

So anyway, I've been inspired lately to get back to the roots of what I believe and look more closely at the teachings of Jesus.  When he left the earth (crazy, hey, going up in a cloud after rising from the dead... don't be fooled by people who tell you that Christians are conservative and unimaginative) he said that he would send someone to guide his followers and give them good counsel, the Holy Spirit.  And he said that by believing in him (Jesus) they would have access not only to freedom from their own failures, but also to the Holy Spirit.  And the Holy Spirit would be evident to others by the way they would live their lives... the fruit of the Spirit.

So I thought that it would be great to have one of those designer lists made up... one that lists the fruit of the Spirit.. something to encourage our family to be striving to live lives that shine.

I'm planning on getting this one printed onto canvas so I've made it to fit on a 40x55cm canvas.  You are welcome to click here to download a PDF image.  It's a big file but that's so that if you want to print it for a 30x45cm you shouldn't lose any text in the edges.  If you plan on printing more than one or two for yourself then drop me an email to confirm permission, especially if you intend to sell them.  Thanks.

Cotton Day

art. house. mum.

There's something good for the soul about driving out of town to spend a day on a farm.  How cool to be invited to show the kids a cotton harvest in full swing.

After some laying down of the law (safetly first!) we got on in and started helping out.  Okay, I'm kidding... we gazed at the fields in awe; we gazed at big machines in awe;

we gazed at some more big machines in awe; 

the kids picked cotton to try to help a broken-down picker (hmmm, well their heart were good); 

they embraced the hard work of helping push all the cotton out of the picker bucket into the module builder (read softest jumping castle with the best outlook ever); 

jumped in the aforementioned piles of soft and fabulous cotton (my photos just don't do the fun of this activity justice... but if anyone ever invites you to jump in cotton you should definately jump at the chance); and generally lapped up the perfect weather and magic twighlight light.

Thanks guys!  This is the stuff that famliy memories are made of... Sammy's still carting around his little bag of cotton...

g

Little Steer

art. house. mum.

This is a little steer who looked like he had the softest ears. 

I had such fun painting him and I'm glad to say that he's gone to a happy home in the mountains.

I hope he's bringing joy in his new paddock...


g

Glasses

art. house. mum.

One of the important things that I keep in my handbag is my glasses.  These things let me see clearly.  And when I saw this glasses fabric I loved it.

Perfect for the new handbag which I was aching to make.  I learnt so much making the last one that the challenge of a new one sounded like fun.

So here's the next step, a brainstorm, a list and a mantra of "if you don't do it then you don't know what mistakes you should avoid next time..."

The dreaded cutting began (I hate that you can't unpick the cutting), the sewing began, and so did the mistakes!

But still, with perseverance, a little unpicking and some long moments stitting still and thinking, finally I had a handbag to wear on my shoulder.

There are things that I got wrong... like the tension of the stitches, but there are things that I got right...

And tonnes of things that I learned.

And again I am enjoying the creation which tucked under my arm is so darn functional and funky!