Pinkerton Manor

A few nights ago I started my first freehand embroidery. It’s an owl for my Nanna, but I didn’t have time to finish it before I saw her. I’m going to finish it off when I get chance in the next few days and post it. I also need to decide whether to make it into a brooch or make a little frame for it. I’m thinking I would really like to do some more sketchy freehand embroidery too.

Speaking of sketches, I found this while cleaning out the spare room. It’s hard to believe that it’s actually eight years old. I remember doing it and everything. I was so annoyed that we didn’t get more male models. Drawing women is great, but variety is the spice of life. As soon as I have some kind of reliable income sorted out I’m going to go to life drawing classes. Drawing from photographic references just isn’t the same.

Also, I made cupcakes! Vanilla rose cupcakes. I added rose nectar as the liquid in vanilla cupcake batter. The rose flavour was very subtle and I really want to experiment more with it. But everyone seems to have liked them anyway. Next I think I will make chilli chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting or maybe Ming‘s beetroot cupcakes. Hoorah for cupcakes!

So, I have a few posts drafted that I haven’t been entirely happy with and I’m making it my goal to have at least one of them finished over the weekend. I’m writing a sticky note to remind myself and everything!

So, my AS has been flaring up like a mofo lately. Last week we traveled to the Sunshine Coast for a few days to see family. Three and a half hours on public transport to get there, two nights on a lumpy futon and two and a half hours on public transport to get back. My spine hates me. But we had a good time. Had afternoon tea with my grandma (who sent us home with some lemon curd – yum!), hung with Matt’s sister, saw my sister and my dad and even fit in a little thrifting sojourn.

And on Saturday we had a little bbq gathering for Matt’s birthday which was lovely. I’ve been taking photos with my ten year old Pentax 35mm camera lately and snapped a few at the bbq too. Can’t wait to get them developed.  Sunday was all day in bed with horrible, horrible back pain and Monday was mostly filled with gentle movement, Nigella and gingerbread cookies. Tuesday was much the same and then today I ventured out into the world for sushi with Matt.

Oh, and did I mention I started a tumblr blog? No? Well, I did! It’s called Pinkerton Manor(ish) and I’ve  been posting all kinds of random thoughts, inspiration and exciting and amusing things. Ch-check it out!  It does carry a NSFW warning though (I occasionally post nakedness and related things).

Next post I will show you the awesome belt that I thrifted for a dollar and how it is totally perfect for my nautical top.  And some other stuff.  Yay!

I haven’t really been posting much lately and I would love to be able to say it’s because I’ve been busy, but actually the opposite is true.  I haven’t really been doing (or wearing) anything worth posting about.  I’ve been unemployed for four months and ran out out of money (which I saved in Canberra) a little while back.  My days at the moment are filled with job hunting, household chores and trying to figure out my university applications.  And a bit of moping for good measure.  So, I’ve kind of been in a bit of a funk about the whole lack of job/lack of money thing.

I’ve been to a couple of interviews so far, but no dice.  It seems to have been small things that have been the problem.  The last interview I went to was going really well until they asked if I was a student.  The position was for a casual retail assistant, 12-15 hours per week, but they wanted someone with ‘full availability’.  So, my applying for university was a problem for them.  It made me glad that they didn’t go ahead and offer me the position anyway because it probably would have been a bunch of 3 hour lunch cover shifts and the expectation that I would drop everything to fill shifts at a moments notice.  But I have another interview tomorrow (following on from a phone interview yesterday), so it’s not all bad.  And at the very least, the other interviews have been good practice.

I would have posted my interview outfits on here, but I usually change into them just before leaving the house so I don’t spill things on them.  And then I’m usually so keen to change into something more casual when I get home that it doesn’t even cross my mind to take a photo.  I will try to remember tomorrow though because I managed to dig out a plaid skirt I thrifted years ago and it is awesome.  I was actually planning on cutting it up, but now I’m really glad I didn’t because god knows what I was thinking!

Anyway, outfit post tomorrow (hopefully) and I’ve also drafted a post about my experience with the contraceptive implant.  When I started this blog it was meant to be my craft blog and then I got really interested in fashion blogging and I changed tack, but now I’ve kind of realised that for me to remain interested and enthusiastic it needs to reflect who I am as a person.  So, in the future I’ll be posting more about issues that are important to me.  And I’m totally going to make a new header image soon too.

I’ve also been playing with Poladroid a fair bit too haha.

My first round of listings on eBay just went live.  You can have a browse here if you’re interested.  Much, much more to come!

Back in Brisbane and loving it.  Still adjusting to the humidity after so much dry weather in Canberra, but it’s great to have good coffee and sushi places in more than two locations.  And multiple Nando’s, all of which include drinks in the meal deals!  Plus I love Brisbane.  It’s home.

I’ve really missed that view.  I’ve been walking a lot lately, taking everything in and making an effort to take different routes and occasionally deviate from my destination.  I want to get to know the city better and hopefully get some good photos along the way too.

Second hand or hand made is going well(ish).  I bought swimmers from a store the other day, but I justified it to myself with the fact that I’m incredibly fussy about swimmers and these were only $17.  And I needed them asap since my previous bikini disintegrated in Melbourne and I need to start swimming as exercise for my knees (I’ve even been looking into aquarobics).

Speaking of aqua, Matt gave me one of the best gifts I have ever received for Christmas.  A fish tank!  And once we have it set up, he’s taking me to buy a couple of fantails.  I’m so excited.  We went and had a look at some fish last week, they’re so cute with their swimming around and looking pretty.  We also looked at seahorses and although I could keep them in my tank without any problems, Matt thinks they’re weird (and I would probably spend all my time watching them with quiet awe).

And now I leave you with what was meant to be an outfit photo.  I didn’t realise how great being able to use Mum’s tripod was until trying to take these photos.  I think I will have to invest in my own.

Hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas and New Years!

EDIT:  Reading By Hillary just now and was reminded that I forgot to include what I’m wearing in the above photo.  So, here it is.

Awesome t-shirt – thrifted, very comfortable purple pants – Tree of Life, amethyst earrings – gift from Matt, necklace with pendant watch – eBay, garnet bracelet – made by me.

Holy crap, it’s nearly next year already!  Tomorrow will be the last day of 2009 and I’ll be jetting back to Brisbane.  I meant to post a phone sock tutorial before the year ended, but my camera batteries died so it will have to wait.  For now though, let’s talk about new years resolutions.  I’ve never really liked new years resolutions since every time I make them I inevitably don’t stick to them or they become irrelevant or I forget what they were.  So, for 2010 I am calling them goals.  And here they are.

• Get my learner driver licence
• Go back to uni or study of some kind
• Look after myself better, eat healthier and relax more
• ‘Second hand or hand made’

I’d better explain the last one.  I buy a lot of clothes and fashion related things and this year a lot of those purchases have been from shitty chain stores or discount outlets.  Sure they’re cheap and fun and sometimes I get some excellent stuff, but I’ve decided that in 2010 it has to be ‘second hand or hand made’.  I’m also going to shop local as much as I can.  From buying my fruit and veg from the local farmers market to supporting local designers and craftspeople.  And I’ll be blogging about it all the way; featuring Australian designers, artists, craftspeople and purveyors of fine wares and calling for suggestions too.  I’ve yet to decide what I will do if I slip and buy something from K-mart, but I’m open to suggestions for that as well.

See you next year!

I’ve been a little quiet lately.  Mostly because I’ve been busy.  I went to Melbourne a few weeks ago for a holiday and it was hands down the best week of my life so far.  Hands down!  I’d never been there before, but people had always told me that I would like it.  They weren’t wrong.  I want to live there.  I met up with my ex boyfriend from Brisbane and we shared a hotel room for the week.  We’ve kept in contact a lot since I left Brisbane and we’re very good friends.  Even though we’d been a couple for nearly three years, Melbourne was our first real holiday together.  Anyway, here are some photos before I explain more.

Matt in front of Flinders Street Station

Lord of the Fries

I think that’s a theatre or something

Bikes we hired for the day

Church we stopped to look at on our ride

Matt with his bike

Cupcakes from my new favourite place, Little Cupcakes

Matt at Little Cupcakes

The cupcakes were delicious

I didn’t get nearly as many photos as I would have liked since I kept leaving my camera in the hotel room.  Sometimes because I had the dumb and others because I was achey and couldn’t be bothered carrying it.  We ate so much amazing food, my favourites being Little Cupcakes and Soul Mama.  We went to Soul Mama for a date.  It was the greatest date ever.  After we ate what was easily one of the best meals ever we headed over to Luna Park.  We went on the Scenic Railway and laughed so hard it hurt, then Matt played a sideshow game and won me a purple snake softie which I wore around my neck afterwards when we went for cake in Acland Street.

The other highlight for me was riding a bike.  I hadn’t ridden a bike since I was a kid and I was a little worried that between the arthritis in my back and the problems I have with my knees I might have a bit of trouble.  But I desperately wanted to do it and Matt was incredibly supportive.  We rode along the river for a while, but my knees started to hurt so we decided to cut through some suburbs in order to get to Abbotsford Convent.  We walked our bikes for a bit and then when we came to a slight downhill run Matt convinced me to get back on.  I had the time of my life!  We rode the rest of the way with no problems at all.  On the way back to the city I even rode in a bike lane on the road.  On the road!  I really want to buy a bike now.

In the weeks since I’ve been back I’ve done a lot of thinking and Matt and I have done a lot of talking.  I’m moving back to Brisbane on the 31st of December.  Moving back in with Matt, but we’re taking things slowly and seeing what happens.  I’m planning on going back to uni to finish my creative writing degree mid year and I’m going to put a lot more effort into the blog and my various creative endeavours.  I’m so happy and enthusiastic about life at the moment.  It’s fantastic.  I’m glad I moved to Canberra even though it hasn’t lasted that long.  I’ve spent lots of time with Mum and Louie and Matt and I have both grown and learned to communicate with one another much better.  Plus I’ve saved some money while I’ve been here so I can afford to go for my learners licence next year and get driving lessons.  I’d still rather a bicycle though, but I can probably afford that too.  Yay!

Apparently the Wild Things are in Canberra. Or at least they were. I spotted this awesome graffiti every day walking to work in the mornings and it always made me smile. Until this morning when I discovered that some jerk had covered Max’s head with an ugly poster. So glad I got a photo of it now.

The last few days I’ve been trying to decide whether to do outfit photos for the days I go to work. I love getting dressed on the weekends and always put effort into what I wear, but when I go to work it’s more a question of ‘what clothes do I have that look good, but I won’t be upset if I ruin’. So I kind of wear a lot of the same.

Right now I’m wearing black pants, a maroon cowboy check shirt with a grey knit vest over the top. It’s actually a pretty neat outfit, but I’ve worn it once a week since I started this job. Plus I’m usually too rushed in the mornings to be taking photos and too tired in the afternoons. Perhaps for now at least I’ll skip the work-day outfit photos. Unless I’m feeling particularly spectacular anyway.

So, I neglected the blog a little. Sorry, blog.

What have I been up to? Well, I’m currently knitting a scarf, getting back into drawing and painting, looking for a new job, plucking up the courage to post outfits over at wardrobe_remix, putting the finishing touches on a goldfish plushie for a friend, falling in love with a few newly discovered blogs (bread & honey, The Uniform Project, mimilove), redesigning the blog and drinking Lady Grey tea.

So, now that I’ve made the blog a bit prettier I’ll try real hard to update semi-regularly. Promise.

I organised my fabric stash!