Half way between Florence & Siena we stopped for lunch in Panzano in Chianti.
This is the view from the trattoria where was supped on panzanella and crisp white chianti under vines whilst watching clouds slide over the valley below.

As Mr Blue-eyes is the designated photographer i don't often take the pictures around here so my camera and cable had kind of fallen to the wayside.
Over the weekend i finally found the missing camera cable and uploaded a whole bunch of pictures. Some of these date back to our honeymoon in Sep/Oct which was Vienna/Venice/Tuscany/Corsica/Rome.
So over the next little while i'll be digging out some of the better ones.

The first one was a great piece of street art in a underpass in Florence.

Well I put my hand up to participate in Meet Me At Mikes Word & Pictures Cosy last week and before i knew it i'd let the week go without actually posting something.

So when i think cosy i think of my dad's place in Blackheath (Blue Mts). I usually make it up there a 3-4 times a year and regardless of the season more often than not it looks like this.
This picture was taken at xmas 08 where most other places in the country were experiencing 30c+ temperatures in Blackheath it is misty and below 20c.
Suits my dad just fine as he prefers the cooler the weather, i've learnt that whenever visiting to bring cosy things for at least 2-3 seasons.

From the very talented and fab Dan Funderburgh comes this great video of how wallpaper is made by Flavor Paper.

So my fave stylish-yoga-teaching Auntie is turned a very unlikely 50 today and tomorrow is having a Red party at the Firehouse.
I had this dress the Mr Blue-eyes bought for me at Anthropologie in NY the other year (how i wish they were or delivered here).

So the dress ticked the red box but needed vamping up in the shoe dep. Shoes and i have a fractious relationship, i appreciate what they bring to an outfit but my feet don't get on well with most shoes in the store. I'm a 6.5 C and most shoes are just too narrow.
So I am well accustomed to seeing a lovely shoe and feeling like one of cinderella's step-sisters as i try to jam my bunions in.

Birkenstocks are my shoe of choice in warmer months although i know they don't work for all situations.
So when i set off on my mission today to find a hot red medium heel round or peep-toe i knew it would be challenging.
Lunchtime today included visits to 5 shoes stores and the David Jones shoe dept before i found these by Scooter in Emporium.

Amazingly i can walk in them comfortably without wobbling or wincing after 5min.
I've been wearing them around the office today strutting about to make sure they last the distance tomorrow night.

In other news some in Sydney may have noticed that Lincraft had dissappeared from Pitt St mall leaving a sewing/crafty gap in the city. Well it is reopening in the Supre basement of what was the old Gowings building. Very exciting to have this back within reach, especially with my increased craftiness inspired by Brown Owls.

Now we have no excuse for not having fresh yummy food in a fridge with these markets now every Saturday a mere 300m from our house.
Bruno loves it for the smells and the possibility of dropped scraps of bacon. Mr Blue-eyes likes to practise his l33t camera skillz. And I like it because i can see and taste the freshest in season goodies.
Here are some of my favourite pix we took last weekend (more here)
Mr Blue-eyes has been getting tips on how to make his own salami from Eumundi Smokehouse's Dave - stay tuned for the trials and tribulations of home made salami.


My mouth waters just looking at this chewy sour dough again

So i was going through all the blog posts that i star to follow up and found this gem from Wooster Collective the awesome fun Melbourne group Architecture in Helsinki embroidered clip for Like it or Not. Seeing as i don't really watch music TV these days i'm assuming this has been out some time but it still doesn't make it any less impressive.
It makes my embroidery efforts look tiny in comparison, as shown here by the Crafty Librarian at the first 2009 Sydney Brown Owls Meeting.
Yes it really is something i have hoarded since 1989, with intentions of completion. At Brown Owls the other night i made progress on it for the first time in years and have nearly finished the bow.
I'm yet to recall the colour of thread i used for the eyes but have most of the other threads from my yr9 T&D class in my stash. Mr Blue-eyes didn't seem so keen to have it on the couch with our modern ikea cushions but i'll work on him.

I enjoyed my first Brown Owls meeting, being able to talk crafty goodness with kindred spirits is a nice change from work etc. And meeting lovely gals that either have creative jobs or manage to be creative in other ways is very inspirational.
And having never been a girl guide etc i'm looking forward to earning some merit badges.

Not that it keeps me up at night but now i know how likely a parasitic infestation is via a random quiz via the most random quirky site Neatorama

So what we see here is by first attempt at sewing a garment in dome years. Mr blue-eyes set me a challenge to actually make something from the material in my stash. As a born hoarder I have managed to acummulate quite the fabric stash through hand- me downs, squirreling and fossicking through chuck-out piles from prop cupboards on magazines shoots I have scored an interesting assortment of material.
So one afternoon after a trip to wooleys wheels we ended up at ariel bookshop and I finally saw SewU.
With all the basic handholding included it was what i needed to actually get the scissors out and get cutting.
I did need to alter the pattern for the basic skirt a little because well my hips didnt quite fit into the sizes included but that wasnt as scary as i thought.
A trip to Tapestry Craft in the around the corner from work took care of the notions and i found the perfect coloured bias binding and my first zipper.
I nearly did it all by myself but a machine malfunction meant i needed mr blue-eyes to recalibrate the machine before we could finish the waist band with the bias binding.

I might wear it to my next brown owls meeting

Does peaking through the fence count?

A moment pressed up against the chain link fence late in 1994. On a road trip with a uni friend and her uncle. We pulled off the motorway and decided the queue and fees were too much and was content to look through the fence, they are kind of hard to miss.
Back when one had rolls of film with photos to develop, i managed to lose the roll that had this trip to Winchester & Bath on it so I have no pictures of the moment but i do remember the sheer imposing size of the stones.