Bird bag

There was an urgent household job that needed attending to. I could ignore the collapsing back fence, The Child, who was home from school nursing a sore mouth due to new braces, was banished to her room and I swept my arm across the dining room table flinging paperwork to the floor clearing the way for the sewing machine.

We needed a new peg bag - and we needed it now.

Making this was so easy, I could get a one-woman production line going should there ever be a worldwide peg-bag shortage. Best of all, I got to use up some of the bird fabric I bought for a lampshade (but then changed my mind about) and a couple of old linen napkins for the lining.

The Child is a good soul. "Nice bird bag, mum. Good job," she said when I proudly thrust my creation through her doorway. She may have even half meant it.

See what others are doing in their creative spaces today here.

My precious

I don't buy clothes, apart from basics, all that often as I prefer quality over quantity, which comes at a price. If I'm going to spend proper money on something it has to pass a checklist: washable (don't mind handwashing), well made, natural fabrics, value-for-money, timeless and will work with what I already have in my wardrobe. And by timeless I don't mean timeless in an Audrey Hepburn-pearls-and-little-black-dress way but will-I-still-want-to-wear-it-in-five-years way.

Which leads me to Lee Mathews. I pop in once or twice during winter and summer and usually love most of what I see and try on. However, my budget doesn't always stretch to buying. When I visited on Friday I realised I hadn't been at all this winter, which is just as well as there was so much that I wanted to bundle up and take home (or roll around in like an over-excited bank robber in a heist movie). As everything was on sale, I did come away with a couple of things but had to leave behind something that ticked every box in the above criteria. Apart from the budgetry box, which is more of an arbitrary conscience vote (that annoyingly kicked in that day).

It was purely by accident that I went when the winter sale was on so when I got home, I checked to see if they had a mailing list so I'd know next time. Not only did they have a mailing list but they also had a relatively new website. On this website was last summer's range and all 70 per cent off (only winter was on sale in the shop and nowhere near this sort of reduction).

I had a look around and found a dress I'd tried on last summer, but couldn't afford at the time. There it was. And not at the original $345 but for $103.50. I figure if I'm patient, the dress I couldn't bring home on Friday should turn up on the website when the new season summer stuff hits the shops.

So, like Gollum, I'm waiting for precious to come within reach. And for the postman, as my Lucy dress should be arriving any day now.

Image via Lee Mathews's summer sale email

Bracing ourselves

Even though it's a school day, the Child and I slept in and then had a leisurely breakfast of apple pancakes and maple syrup. All because in less than half an hour, the Child is having braces fitted.

As soon as we're finished, we're planning to visit the cafe near the orthodontist's surgery and have hot chocolates and pastries to test run how they handle food.

As NAPLAN and half-yearly exams are now over, figure this is one test we should have a little fun with.

Green clean

These three items form the basis of what I clean the house with.

Spurred on by a dislike of under-sink clutter and a preference for natural ingredients, I've come up with a few standard mixes of these products. The only other things I regularly use are eucalyptus oil, Method's shower cleaning spray, Chux magic eraser sponges and no-brand metallic-looking mesh scourers (as the magic eraser stuff rips apart too easily when scrubbing tiles - but is great on glass shower screens and stainless steel sinks).

For a general cleaning spray, including benchtops, I mix water, a dash of eucalyptus, a squeeze of washing-up liquid and half a cup of vinegar and it works a treat.

For floors, into a bucket of warm water goes a squeeze of washing-up liquid and half a cup of washing soda (it's a great degreaser, bit like a natural sugar soap).

For glass and mirrors, it's a half-water half-vinegar mix. A professional window cleaner once told me the best way to wash dirty windows is with soapy warm water, the soap being washing-up liquid, a sponge and a squeegee. That all I've used on the windows ever since and it works every time.

I know some people swear by bi-carb soda but I find it too gritty. I do toss some of it in an empty dishwasher with a cup of vinegar from time to time to give it a clean, though.

Now I need to go and actually do some cleaning rather than write about it.

For the love of linen

Another Friday, another fresh linen day. Clearly, I'm easily pleased.

Today, these vintage embroidered pillowcases, which were picked up at Calico & Ivy a couple of weeks ago for the princely price of $25 are getting a run.

Even more pleasing than fresh linen, though, was a knock on the door last night at around 9pm. Expecting a sales person of some sort, the Husband went to answer it.

Turns out he had left his wallet on top of a parking meter in Surry Hills. A woman, a regular customer of a nearby cafe, picked it up and took it to the cafe. After work, the owner, drove the 4km to our house to give it back.

Thank you Hao's Cafe in Cooper Street, Surry Hills, that little act of kindness made my week.

Cat nap

I spent a silly amount of money on a beanbag for the Child when she was a toddler because, back then, small ones that weren't covered in Barbie or Bob the Builder logos were hard to find.

Turned out to be a wise investment as once the Child outgrew it, the Cats claimed it. Now there is only one Cat who's getting on so spends a vast amount of time in it. Particularly in winter.

I've recovered the beanbag several times, the latest being today. Now the Cat has a new barkcloth cover to alternate with the other very faded barkcloth cover.

Don't be alarmed by the above photo, the Cat is not in fact dead. Just relaxing in her beanbag.

To see what others are doing today in the creative spaces go here.

Glubs

I was in Calico & Ivy checking out these fingerless gloves, thinking I could make them. Seems I was being incredibly transparent - well, I was counting the rows - because from behind the counter I heard, "Would you like to take a photo?"

Feeling guilty, I looked up to find the question was genuine and not facetious. Phew. So, of course, thanking Sarah, whose name I found out later, I did. So now I have three balls of wool - the person I have in mind has a thing for purple - and another woolly project to begin before finishing all my other woolly projects.

We, the Husband and I, call gloves glubs as that's what the Child called them when she was a toddler. While she grew out of the term about 10 years ago, we haven't.

So glubs it is.