Arise, Blogtoberfest! A Pome.

I wandered lon'ly as a blog,

Crafting slowly through the fog

Of work and life and lots of things

But -Hark! O'er there! A clear note rings! 

Raise high the bugle,

Tootle the horn.

Trumple the tuba --

Blogtoberfest is born!

Craft love, appear

again this year.

Trailing clouds of glorious

Ricrac stentorious!

Mascots and memes

And silly schemes

Let forth the host,

of Blogtoberfest posts!

Marmot vom Großglockner
Originally uploaded by _stebo_

Please pass the salt and pepper...

... or could that be, the kitsch?


What delights! Our first stop in Amerrr-ica included a Saturday in Seattle, and while he went off to the Museum of Flight and the Flying Heritage Collection, I went to Pike Place Market.

Now, I admit that I am a spoiled girl, with Melbourne's Queen Victoria Market right on my doorstep, and so while I enjoyed Pike Place Market, it wasn't a life-changing experience (You see, I had that, in the Queen Vic, and I went back to the UK and applied for a visa. That's definitely life-changing.)


So, you can see why I wished that the girls of blogland and the TCB could be here with me when I hit the motherload of all salt and pepper kitsch. An entire shop devoted to crazy character salt and pepper sets.


(I'm sure they're used to women circling their windows and aisles, giggling quietly to themselves.)

But I wasn't sure if they'd want me taking pictures, so there are just a few.

B

That cool feeling of detachmnet

Ah yes, Saturday morning.

Doesn't the end of the week leave you feeling all to pieces sometimes? Things just don't seem quite to match up. There's that - floaty - feeling around the head area.


Or maybe it's just me...


Stunningly scary artwork from the Dover Sampler . These two truncated tootsie-wagglers are from Famous Movie Dance Stars. Oh yes. Just what I always wanted.

Here's a link to the rest of the strange world of this week's sampler, in case you missed it. Its a doozy.

What do YOU say when you see a large spider?

I was editing a primary school textbook yesterday, and the lesson I was reading was all about using exclamation marks.

The students were supposed to fill in the blanks by writing down what they would say in several different situations, such as;

What would you say if you scored a goal in footie or soccer?
____________!

And then:
What would you say if you saw a big spider in the bathroom?

____________!

Two things came to mind:
1. The blank for my response isn't long enough (or big enough), and;
2. I don't think I'm supposed to use words like that to answer questions in a primary school lesson.

Foiled again. I'll never graduate!


PS: The photo above is definitely not a spider. Which I suppose means I also fail in image recognition. It's a helicopter, but don't you think it looks like a bug? I've always wanted to use this image (taken by Mr Tacc) in my blog. Hoppo Bumpo, this one's dedicated to Argy and Bargy.

Just to set the record straight

When saying I was going to 'have words with the kitchen help', I meant me.

Just in case you misunderstood (ahem).

x
B

Pah - pah - PAH!

Home from my early walk and a big bowl of strawberries for breakfast. Left over from last night, when they were cut up and soaked with a few drops of balsamic vinegar to make them sweeter than ever. Cool, too -- from being in the fridge all night with a dollop of nectarine coulis on top.


What's this? Hmmm...

GARLIC??!!

Pah!

I must have words with the kitchen help about the washing up around here.....

Thus confirming that strawberries, vinegar, nectarines and garlic are NOT a taste sensation.

Gaaaaah.

I wonder if it's a new crafting station

Or maybe there's just a better view from here?

Not a bad idea.

3...2...1... You're it!

I was tagged by Curlypops this week, and it's such a fun way to procrastinate - just what I needed - thanks CurlyPops!

Here are the simple rules:
Link to the person who tagged you. (check)
Post the rules on your blog. (check)
Write Six Random Things about yourself. (hmmm. Thinks.)
Tag six-or-so other people at the bottom of the post. (ok!)
Leave comments on their blogs, letting them know they've been tagged! (yup)
Let the person who tagged you know when you've written the post. (yes'm)

So, here we go:

Random thing number 1: I'm a whizz at a jigsaw puzzle. Family training: comes in handy when you're a quilter. All those fine art puzzles as a kid meant that when I came to study art history, I knew some of the paintings in very, very, minute detail. (laughs!)

Random number 2: My favourite sound is the wind in the trees.

Random 3: I used to be an archery coach at a summer camp.

Totally random 4: I can't abide wobbly food. Jelly, tapioca, congee, you name it, it's just not happening.

Utterly silly 5: My nickname used to be 'Biff'. Why? Because I'm the mild-mannered one who accidentally knocked a guy out and then was horrified. (He probably deserved it.)

Random thing number 6 and final: I have a generic face. About once a month, someone I've never met swears they know me from somewhere. In Melbourne, London, and Toronto - for over ten years, this has happened. Someone even tried to hug me once. He was very embarrassed when he found out I wasn't his long-lost friend.


Roses are red, violets are blue, Let's see who's playing, so I'm tagging YOU!

Devliegendekoe for Nicolette, whose walks are divine,
Cath, an old friend, recently re-met online.
Maureen is cheerful at Cooking my Life,
while Lily at Block-a-Day sews faster than light!

I was going to call Bellgirl, but you lot got there first
- If YOU want to join in, go on - do your worst.

Celebrating Blogtoberfest, crafty-like

With a twirl of a dirndl, a heft of a stein, here are some crafty items we photographed in Munich, a day in the life of a Blogtoberfester Craft-Frau.

First, just so you know, the official approach is that we should be relaxed and ve-ery cas. about these craft activities and the whole Blogtoberfest thing:


Play by these rules, please, and we'll all get along fine. Run with your handbags; pose with your case. Good!

Now for some play time. Castles for some, while others...


Make papierfliegers and indulge their skill at Eurogami!


Haven't you always wanted to make paper swans out of your extra cash?

(Or was it extra cash out of your paper .... oh well.)

Now it's off to goggle at some felt shops...

And watch the nice man interviewing a truck.


I wonder what it had to say? Maybe something about classic design?


And when you're done your tour of the town, time to sit down and enjoy something long and cool and understated.


Aah, Blogtoberfest!

* If all of this seems like unwarranted nonsense to you - as opposed to the nonsense you eagerly anticipated - please stroll on over to Blogtoberfest Headquarters and get yourself a badge. Or whip up some Eurogami swans and send them to me for 'judging'. We feel that the 50 euro note makes the best swans....