koala

I've been keen on koalas since this trip to Australia last year so a koala seemed a good choice to get back into softie making. I'm trying to think up a name for him/her. Alliterations like Kevin and Kylie seem too obvious.

Watching: Re-runs of A touch of Frost and Frasier - still good after all these years

underwater

It was a wild, wet weekend spent indoors. I think the weather helped give these photos a strange, sort of submerged glow.

Reading: Love is a mix tape by Rob Sheffield

take out

There are things about my neighbourhood that I really like. I love the idea behind these two street book exchanges. They're just sweetly decorated cupboards really - one on the edge of a park and the other in someone's garden. The idea is you "take one out, put one in" and not necessarily at the same time. I don't know if the libraries are monitored in any way but I have noticed there never seems to be a shortage of books and there are always different books so maybe it just works. Nice.

Reading: The New York dog by Rachael Hale McKenna. This is a collection of photos of dogs living in New York City. Best quote - "One of the great things about having a dog in the city is that it encourages you to socialize. You can meet interesting people for about five minutes, which is a nice chunk of time." William Wegman (artist)

pom-pom scarf

Just as Spring is arriving I've finished my pom-pom scarf. I've been knitting without following a pattern - just a few simple things like scarves and beanies.

For this scarf cast on enough stitches so that the scarf will be about 16 cm (6 in) wide. Work in garter stitch (knit every row) until the scarf is as long as you want then cast off. Voila - scarf! I made mine 180 cm (70 in) long. Then, if you want, gather up the ends by threading the cast on and cast off "tails" in and out across the ends of the scarf and pull tight to gather. Make pom-poms and sew on to the gathered ends. After a few failures I discovered you don't want to make the pom-poms giant. Big is big enough. I made mine using cardboard rings about 10 cm (4 in) in diameter.
I used Patons Cosmos 12 ply yarn and 8mm needles. But you can use any yarn and just see how it turns out.

Watching: Fabulous fashionistas - an inspiring documentary about six extraordinary older women

a walk in the park

Thursdays with my granddaughter are getting more adventurous. We went to a local park today to see the birds - ducks, geese, black swans, gulls, pukeko - that hang about there in large numbers. We were lucky to see ducklings and fluffy grey signets. It must be spring.

How's the weather in your neck of the woods?

Reading: Butler's ringlet - a novel by New Zealand writer Laurence Fearnley

orchids

Photos of two very different orchids from the New Zealand Orchid Society's Auckland show that I visited today. I don't know - sometimes I think orchids are beautiful and sometimes I think they're creepy. Especially the really big blooms that are so perfect they look like they're made of plastic. Maybe just don't look too closely at them.

Reading: Can't we talk about something more pleasant?- a memoir by Roz Chast. The author is an only child and her parents are in their nineties. It's about how she experiences their decline and deaths. And it's honest and sad and funny.

babysitting

 some random photos taken during nap time

Reading: Lost cat: a true story of love, desperation, and GPS technology by Caroline Paul and Wendy McNaughton