this is how I recycle

Well. I like to recycle.
Just about all my clothes are from the op-shop, with the exception of "smalls" of course! The kids also get a fair few gems from the oppy. I also cull regularly. What comes home from the oppy does not always get to stay. If it doesn't becomes a firm favourite, then "out she goes" back where it came from. When we have had new babies sprouting up in our little dead end street, they often get hand-me-downs, if I think the parents will approve. A family near us with three small girls younger than Pepper all got to thoroughly trash her cast offs. I love it!
This week however I have been mainly sweeping the leaves. They are now squished into the compost bin where the wormies will recycle them for me.

This is...my dinner party

Henry Rollins Press Photo (1996)
Originally uploaded by revengeradio

I guess the word will be out now....if D ever reads my blog.
I love Henry Rollins. I used to think that if we ever met, that Henry & I would fall madly in love. He is so charismatic and extreme.
The dinner party theme is so difficult though. Do I have to be responsible for keeping the conversation flowing between the attendees? I"d love to invite Nick Cave too. What a creative genius. Over the past 20 years, his music has always been in my life. I also love Judith Lucy (who shared a house with D in the early stages of our romance) She's so much more than an on stage persona.
How about Nigella Lawson? Apart from catering the evening, she's a delight to watch & listen to.
I've gone a bit blank. I suck at this activity.
Embarrassingly I once told Mark Seymour that I loved him while he innocently shopped in the bookstore. He could come too. Although he would probably decline I expect. Can you imagine being pursued around a shop while you browse, by a demented shop assistant/stalker type?
I don't feel quite right leaving out some of my wonderful REAL friends, who entertain me and provide the daily sort of joy I could easily squeeze around this dinner table.
Should I include any world leaders or great thinkers of our time? I'm too lazy I think.
Just eat, drink and with this company....be merry!

This is my "effeminator"

I hope I have the right theme for this week. I have been extemely lax with my THIS IS contributions. Thanks to Anastasia for this lovely idea.
I also have to be very quick because our modem is doing strange and unpredictable things at the moment.
Years ago, a friend's husband referred to that area of a bedroom used to arrange & collect all the girly essentials as THE EFFEMINATOR. A term that has stuck with me ever since.
It can be any assortment of stuff, as long as it is the sole domain of the girl (big or small) of the house.
So this is mine. It works all together as mirror, jewellery box and trinket collection, including the hanging decoration at the top of my son's first "proper" shoes with a floral headress made for a dress up fairy day at Dymocks. (where I pranced about like a demented loon and embarrassed my precious daughter...herself at the tail end of fairy-loving times)
I have lots of earring in the top segmented drawer, it's perfect! I only wear about three pairs regularly. The next drawer has stuff I hardly ever look at, and the third has a random smattering of rings & bits, very hard to open & close on account of the huge knuckle-duster at the front. A particularly eye catching bit of costume jewellery from Leghorn Rouge in Flinders Lane.

This is..my inspiration board

I'm not sure that I've got an inspiration board really.
I get so much inspiration from looking through craft books and reading great blogs, but my corkboard is more like a storage spot for bits & pieces.
Maybe I should pop on a photo of my favourite craft books instead!

this is my...favourite accessory (ies)

Rather than having to retitle this one "this is my most shithouse photography", I cheated and had Mackie & Pepper take these photos.
It is very difficult to take a photo of a pair of earrings in the mirror.
I also had trouble deciding which of my accessories was the favourite.
I adore these earrings. I wear them very frequently. My Mum gave them to me as a birthday present a couple of years ago. They are made by Kitty Fisher and they came from the LULU store in Carlisle St Balaclava, which to my delight now stocks my own creations, the Utter Puffery clips & badges.
Just in case you can't tell from the photo, one is a tiny teacup decorated with little blue flowers and the other is its matching saucer.
I always get lovely comments from strangers when I wear them, so they are a great pick-me-up when you're feeling blue or invisible.
Still, now that I see the close up of my "old lady"neck, I may not be inviting such scrutiny!

This is my collection!

I'm not a super big collector.
We haven't got enough room in our house to go overboard.
Who DOESN'T have a button collection? Mine are housed in magnetic tins that attach to an overhead metal strip above my workbench. When I got them down to photograph, I accidentally knocked open the pink/purple tin....drat.
I also LOVE these gingham tablecloths and napkins. I find them at op-shops all over and just recently decided that I would offer them refuge in the linen cupboard. The embroidered designs were obviously a trend in some bygone age and they are subject to all manner of wear & tear, stains etc....AND LOVE.
Thanks everyone for your well wishes following our spontaneous combusting vehicle adventure of recent days!

Getting on the bandwagon..This is my favourite cup, and my other favourite cup

Just manouvered my way through blogland to discover Angela's great new Blog idea.
Posting picks that correspond to the weekly theme of "this is"
I'm backtracking to the cup theme, and proudly share with you my favourites.
D and I are old fogies at heart and we like a cup of tea at or around 9.30 every evening.
This first cup has a partner of a different design(which belongs to D). They were given to us by my Mum when we first "shacked up". They are lovely and big. I love my cuppa. I rarely have more than one tea a day and it must be HOT.
This next tiny handmade cup has a gorgeous design by Sylvia Halpern. It was given to me me by a dear friend that I haven't seen for ages. I am sure it was one of her op-shop finds. It is too small for a drink I think and so I use it as my "paint water" cup.
I discovered years later that another lovely friend of mine also has a cup with a very similar but different design by Sylvia Halpern! That means we are MEANT to be friends for life!!Doesn't it?