mtp

2011-10-31T21:05:00.002+09:00

it is hard to hang a toilet roll on a clothes hanger.

inside outside

2011-10-31T21:00:00.001+09:00

2011-07-25T17:11:00.000+09:00

2011-06-19T22:01:00.002+09:00

tonight hana told me she doesnt understand anything.just out of the blue.totally seriously.she did then go on to say she understands hello and things like that.but i am not to tell her cousins..i wish i told her i didnt understand very much either but i didnt.because i didnt think of it. so i will tell her in the morning.and she probably won't understand me.

kaj franck

2011-05-04T19:31:00.001+09:00

love this.

2011-04-30T10:05:00.000+09:00

lovely wall in rushworth, victoria.

2011-04-30T09:55:00.004+09:00

peppercorn trees were my cherry blossoms this year.

2011-03-25T20:40:00.005+09:00

peach? blossom petals this time last year

i am sorry.incase you were wondering, i should have written sooner, that my family and i are all fine after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit japan.it was very very hard for me to leave japan and my husband to come back to australia. if you can please donate money to the redcross
or second harvest or help japan in anyway you can.

love, melinda.

2011-03-10T15:56:00.002+09:00

pretty garden.

red turnips made into pickles with cucumbers.very nice colours.next time eat as is.

the pink hyacinth grew huge and kept tipping over so i had to cut it off.i had visions of it tipping over on my new mac while i was sleeping.a new one is growing now though not as big out of the same bulb.

bought walnuts that have so little edible nut in them that i will boil them and change the colour of some cloth (hopefully).apparently dont need a mordant when dyeing with black walnut.hanas old kindergarten (we changed to another a bit further away) had boxes of these nuts hanging around the yard although i didnt notice the tree.

2011-02-27T22:01:00.000+09:00

i LOVE bulbs.

beetroot and hyacinth

2011-02-21T17:08:00.002+09:00

2011-02-18T12:06:00.001+09:00

our snap and fish cards.so much fun to hear her explanation of the pictures when we are playing fish..

2011-02-15T22:04:00.003+09:00

tsutsumu

2011-02-13T21:04:00.003+09:00

traditional japanese packaging.
meguro museum of art
must go.

fabric tulips

2011-02-13T20:54:00.001+09:00

2011-02-13T18:21:00.003+09:00

arts and science

their shop floor

and scarf in 2011 s/s catalogue by diane de clercq

2011-01-26T21:35:00.000+09:00

what should i make with this fabric?

bloom magazine issue 20

2011-01-21T21:22:00.004+09:00

this issue is so beautiful.i got mine from ebay uk.

woah

2011-01-19T21:05:00.001+09:00

by tom fruin found here.

collaboration with discarded flowers

2011-01-15T13:04:00.008+09:00

yesterday on the bike road home from a very emotionally challenging trip to the kindergarten i stopped and asked a lady who was cutting the pansies back if i could have her 'rubbish'.

i had seen what india flint had made and i fell in love with textiles again.
patterns dont excite me like they used to.if i was to do textile design again i think i would find it really difficult.but to stain and colour cloth, thats joy.

who knows what i will do with them or how permanent they but i did just really enjoy the process.and as they fade and change maybe back to white silk i think that is just part of their magic.

2011-01-13T22:07:00.003+09:00

my sister drew this picture for the flood appeal auctions/ raising money for the people affected by the floods in queensland australia ♡

year of the rabbit

2011-01-10T22:22:00.003+09:00

was a public holiday in japan today.we all went to a bookshop.hana and i went upstairs to kids books while koichi stayed downstairs reading fashion magazines.then we swapped.
there was a book upstairs about making different animals from your mandarin skin.you draw on the peel the instructed lines and then make cuts and peel.i didnt know what to think.i kind of put it down just shaking my head.
when we got home koichi pulled it out of his bag.he had bought it.

2011-01-05T23:44:00.003+09:00

the cold wind and too many dishes are hurting my hands.ive just searched 40 of 18o something pages of mitten patterns on ravelry and have decided on these☞ (oh looks like i cant copy the photos so i will take my own when i finish them).they are called pescovegetarian mittens incase you are on ravelry too.
i liked this knitting too..

merry merry season

2010-12-27T16:13:00.002+09:00

christmas day photo taken by jody ♡
hope you are having fun and keeping warm or cool.

some things that make me happy

2010-12-12T22:20:00.005+09:00

cold air and sunshine, clean sheets, hot waterbottles (filled), fleamarkets, essential oils, herbs, clean floors, empty spaces, hana, travel, my mum, my mums dog, seeing my mum with her dog, my mums soup, my mums handkerchief drawer, my sister, my sister pulling up at my mums driveway to pick me up, hana healthy, hana happy, bikeriding, the smell of art shops, the smell of health food shops, organic food, wholistic care, beatiful clothes that fit, letters, dreaming.
inspired by manda and kate

2010-12-10T20:42:00.000+09:00

weaning myself off coffee moving onto green tea via japanese sweets.

2010-12-10T20:35:00.002+09:00

hana s embroidery. teaching me everyday.

2010-12-02T22:16:00.002+09:00

last night i finished our advent calender.hana helped me cut the numbers.when she went to bed i needed her help to finish.her wonkiness couldnt be replicated.
when i woke up koichi had opened up until day 5! .....
i stuck them down.
the stickers hana got werent as satisfying as the doll she imagined would jump out of the paper.
the tree comes inside on the weekend.it s outside having a drink from the sky.

2010-11-28T16:17:00.002+09:00

saturday morning breakfast.forgot to take a photo of the foods we ate.
went with friends from australia i havent seen for 6 years.so suprised how much their kids have grown.hana played so happily.
i have a sore throat.possibly allergic to my apartment or maybe i am run down and serioulsy anemic. have been sculling ginger concotions.i love ginger.
bought a new christmas tree.cut up the dead one with my neighbours tough swiss army knife.that was a bit sad.hana was a little traumatised by the whole thing..

2010-11-25T21:23:00.003+09:00

2010-11-25T21:08:00.002+09:00

hana with mountain crabs and wild grapes (presents from hotel staff).the crabs are best eaten as tempura.eww.

i finally bought some fabric which was so hard to find when it was released.this is my favourite colourway.have no idea what to make or if i will make anything.

fruit peel

2010-11-23T08:14:00.000+09:00

weekend pools

2010-11-23T08:04:00.003+09:00

indigo vats (plant derived!) Matsuba
hot spring (with slide!) Nasu

Louise Bourgeois: The Fabric Works

2010-11-18T20:41:00.005+09:00

♡ candy.

2010-11-18T11:24:00.000+09:00

mess.

2010-11-18T11:17:00.002+09:00

new socks
rinshinomori koen picnic view.

2010-11-14T15:05:00.002+09:00

2010-11-12T20:53:00.002+09:00

beautiful flower shop in nakameguro.i couldnt buy any.they all belonged in there.

2010-11-12T20:47:00.000+09:00

tokyo..

2010-10-19T11:06:00.002+09:00

i dont remember the last time i saw rainbowS.
the sky really is so beautiful everyday.
all the fruit trees were in full bloom.
some early mornings i heard owls. most days i saw wrens.

this is the house i would buy if i lived in kyabram.not that its for sale.not that i probably would if it was.but i hope that changes.

2010-10-19T10:52:00.002+09:00

hi there.we are back in tokyo after visiting home for a little more than a month.

2010-08-10T21:36:00.003+09:00

speaking of watermelon..
i would really like to know where i can buy the fruit in this country that is not perfect not packed in polystyrene not imported not crazy expensive not dried and organic. it s out there somewhere surely. and yes that is a square mamma watermelon with square baby.

2010-08-08T23:27:00.000+09:00

strawberry flavoured watermelon biscuit with choc chips.

2010-08-08T22:59:00.003+09:00

hana is at a doll dressing up stage.she made some new clothes from felt for her.i just sewed the bits on.
i started making hana a new doll last night.she is constructed like a waldorf doll. i thought about her today when i was out.i wanted to come home and work on her.slowly she now has a head.no face.and a neck.a nice weight so far.and nice cheek bones.
we went to the yokosuka museum to see the bruno munari exhibition. after, koichi and hana swam in a pretty grey looking ocean across the road.at the museum there were 2 other things i loved. a painting by Asai Kan e mon called roses.up close it was just a mass of colour mixed thick chunky oil paints that as hana said still looked wet nearly 30 years on, but far away it was a vase of garden picked full bloom flowers.hana and i liked that.and then there was another show of musical objects that we could play with. heavy metal balls, like the little one i have on a necklace, to roll about on structures or cylinders with curved bottoms to rock back and forward.they sounded beautiful.

tokyo art book fair

2010-08-02T20:41:00.003+09:00

i knew if i went kayaking on saturday i could get koichi to look after hana while i went to the art book fair on sunday.i wanted to go last year but i heard the crowds were crazy.
so i went sunday alone and i had lots of fun.
i got to see people i hadnt seen in ages and i could chat to them for as long as i or they liked.
i suppose this was the best part for me.
im sure there were many many more books i missed but i was happy with what i saw.
the venue is pretty fancy.i will check out the rooftop garden next time.

anna missing in action but i found her, i wish she still lived in tokyo.

noriko sato

2010-08-02T20:28:00.002+09:00

i love these 3 zines (are they zines?) i bought from her (was it her?) at the book fair.they are A3 pages folded in 1/2 then 1/2 then 1/2 again.opened right up on one side a large collage on the other side the smaller ones.

2010-08-02T20:15:00.002+09:00

manon van kouswijk's book hanging around which i bought at the book fair.

2010-07-26T20:51:00.003+09:00

hana and hanna s exhibition is so beautiful!! lovely to see the work up close.i fell in love with hanna s dandelion bits plate..
one good thing about not being able to go back to australia was i was able to go to the opening and meet hana and hanna.

spaghetti

2010-07-26T20:39:00.003+09:00

im telling myself its too hot to cook.ive heard some people say it and it sounds good to me for now.so dinner time we usually go out.lucky there are some nice places nearby.a little night time bikeride is good too.tonight there was lightning as we rode which was a little exciting scary.
i have conjunctivitis.ive spent today bathing my eye in chamomile.its made it almost better.wonderful plant.
today i bought i huge bag of sunflower seeds we are going to dye some wool.i wanted to collect them from the huge headed flowers that usually grow at the nearby park but they didnt plant them this year.there are some in shibuya, i ll have to go raid them.i just have this sudden urge to dye with plants.i used henna on my hand today but the line was soo thick so i washed it.it still smells good though.

broken

2010-07-20T21:12:00.002+09:00

so, my faithful mac is in pieces.after an unsuccessful trip to a fleamarket monday(public holiday) morning, after losing the auction for the below tshirt the night before, i opened the front door to find my computer sitting in a puddle of water as hana had just kicked over a glass whilst attempting to hide from me.tomorrow i have to take it to the genius bar at the mac shop and hopefully its not dead.im thinking it is.i tried to turn it on.when it was still wet.which i read is like throwing a hairdryer in a full bath.not empty bath.now im using one borrowed from my lovely neighbour.he has 5.he loves apple.he went to a steiner school and has feet 30cm long.he is climbing fuji san tonight and live streaming it.

so for now i cant add photos, maybe not for a while... and i have some really good ones to show of a tree house.

2010-07-14T20:56:00.001+09:00

yahoo auction japan stalking.a tshirt i designed that would fit hana.4 days left..

finished

2010-07-13T19:10:00.003+09:00

finally.ive been shaking my head all day wondering how soulemama finishes sweaters in a week. its taken me god knows how many to finish these.i knit this pattern for hana in orange and purple.i love this pattern.i love making the bobbles.knitting and purling one way, knitting back the other way then slipping the stitches.people who make write knitting patterns fascinate me.

2010-07-12T22:06:00.002+09:00

will have to take a photo of the plants before they finish.its been fun to pick them daily.the raspberry and blueberry gave us no fruits.i think my soil has too much compost in it.my sunflowers are about to flower and they are only 40 cm.my dill is struggling.the chocolate cosmos rather than going to seed, looks like the flower heads have melted.
oh well.cant get too attached if i head to australia soon no doubt they will shrivel within a day of my departure.i should bring them all inside and put them in the bath.
that way when koichi showers with cold water he can water them too.

i wore my nearly dead manon van kouswijk necklace today.i love this necklace.all the white stickers are turning varying shades of brown.
i went to an izakaya for dinner and ate finely sliced raw onion dipped in poznu.very bad idea.
i watched kamome shokudo today.havent seen it in ages and loved it all over again.what i was really craving was onigiri.

2010-07-10T17:36:00.001+09:00

wool soup and pizza dough face.
housebound.wake me up when its over (heat that is..).

2010-07-07T21:39:00.003+09:00

the next thing i make for hana will be a picture book for the folk tale stone soup.its my favourite story and maybe hers too.i always tell it to her so maybe its better i keep the images really abstract.or maybe i dont need to make it at all.better left for her to imagine..
she loves pop up books or pocket books so maybe i could make something like that.

2010-07-07T21:35:00.000+09:00

2010-06-29T10:49:00.003+09:00

showa kinen park. misty forest and hana.

2010-06-25T22:02:00.002+09:00

drinking-elderflowercordial+mineralwater+ice+orangejuice
eating-yamagata cherries
planning-raspberry picking weekend in yamagata
missing-my mum
thinking-of taking hana to a homeopath as soon as possible
i should be planning the homeopath visit.
lili sent hana a wonderful package of inspiration and adornment and play and ♡
thankyou sweet too far away friends.
hana was sick all over me this morning.her eyes were so scared.i tried really hard not to cry too.she was fine as soon as.thankgoodness.
i hope the wind is cool this weekend.

2010-06-22T21:45:00.006+09:00

its been so hot and humid.i wonder what i ever did to entertain hana in this heat?now must be about the time i get on an aeroplane? i thought i was doing her a favour not sending her to kindergarten so young but sometimes i doubt my decision.the girl uses the bored word a little too often.
if i do go away my plants will surely die.hana pointed that out to me today.
this morning she was enjoying watching a queen bee on the echinecea until it flew onto her pointer.two huge tears ran down her face.i swept it off with scissors and they were both fine.i like my plants.
have been sewing.made very wide navy, verging on indigo, linen pants.i threaded elastic in the bottom seams and they are like mums tracksuit pants only linen.
have been wearing my sisters magenta shoes with them.they make that noise when i walk.
the john galliano diptyque candle smells especially good tonight.
have been really slack with cooking.trying to feed hana lots of magnesium to help the cramps she gets in her legs.pumpkin seeds and peanuts, bananas.wish she loved spinach.i can get her to eat almost anything if i tell her she wont be able to watch any madeline on youtube.i hate bribing her.
tomorrow or before i miss it i want to visit this exhibition and buy an umbrella.

Fujiwo Ishimoto

2010-06-16T20:57:00.002+09:00

ceramic flower garden.oh my goodness they are so beautiful.the colours and shapes and textures.id like nothing in my house but his ceramics.his textiles are also wonderful.what a talented man.
go see it if you can at spiral, aoyama.

japan

2010-06-16T20:55:00.000+09:00

tomato flags at natural house.
bad bad bad waste.

one year ago today

2010-06-15T21:59:00.002+09:00

i was in melbourne, loving the shadows of iron lace on old houses.
postponing flights back to tokyo because of sick hana who liked blue lipstick.
staying with my favourite friends in their beautiful home.

2010-06-15T21:47:00.002+09:00

susan cianciolo s cookbook, this cookbook is made for jesus. i bought it today.not that i need another cookbook.but its not another cookbook.i like the colloborative paintings between her and her daughter.the messiness, the interview and her recipes.
hana loves to paint cooking too.

2010-06-15T21:45:00.001+09:00

my dinner.
after which hana ate chickpea parsley and tomato soup and a bowl full of asparagus.she loves asaparagus again :-)

2010-06-15T21:44:00.000+09:00

600 yen. i was seriously tempted.

2010-06-10T09:07:00.001+09:00

himonya house.

so-en love letter.

2010-06-10T09:02:00.002+09:00

meguro station ikebana

2010-06-07T15:28:00.000+09:00

we spent a big chunk of the weekend at

D♥Y.koichi had a stall there along with lots of others offering fun things to make and do. great food like deep fried pizza (kinda like an italian samosa).hana and i had lots of fun others looked like they did too.look ☟

2010-06-07T15:14:00.003+09:00

hana made a colourful airvase.she had the most fun playing with the dressups.awesome glasses.

2010-06-07T15:05:00.003+09:00

mitsuru koga
we made a beautiful envelope.the edges were cut with that tool (not sure whats its called)and then folded onto themsleves not needing any glue.its hard to explain...

stamping

2010-06-07T14:59:00.003+09:00

spoken words project

at D♥Y
this was really nicee.they set up on the hotel roof and it was a really sunny day.they had a lots of cloth which they had already patterned to which you could add more.all with stamps.hana loved it.stamp queen.

blueprint

2010-06-06T17:34:00.004+09:00

a very nice machine that was.definately could have alot of fun with one of those.
i love my mums letters.her writing. and her words to me.
hana and i did a collage and then had it printed.when i was in primary school our worksheets were printed by a similar machine? no actually the ink was more purple and had an intoxicating smell.mm i wonder what that machine was.
andi stole some wattle today. one of the best things at claska their acacia.

2010-05-31T17:23:00.002+09:00

200 oven.cooked chickpeas mixed with some oil, some spice (cumin,paprika,coriander,celery seed,cinnamon whatever) bake 20 minutes or until a little crunchy.yum!

postalco x kiosk

2010-05-29T20:31:00.003+09:00

until 26th june kiosk visits postalco.once upon a time i found these interviews with the owners of both shops.have a look.really inspiring ♡. it was so very hard for me to not buy the suprise ball.

2010-05-27T21:13:00.002+09:00

and completely unrelated, today hana and i were caught in very heavy rain on my bike.made me realise how little shelter there is from my house to nakameguro, apart from the train bridge.but it was getting boring waiting there.so we got so drenched.i was lucky to be able to see.and luckily i got a plastic bag from one of the shops i went to which i could use to wrap the library books in.all 11 of them.i know there are 11 because the librarian pointed that out to me.i had a dreadful time at the city hall.apart from meeting an adorable old lady who was so excited hana could tell her she was 3.apart from that i completely embarrased myself with language miscommunications and it seems as my new passport now lists my middle name unlike my old one, i am not really here.hahahahahaha.
tomorrow i am meeting old friends from work.im a little excited a little nervous.
today i made friends on facebook with a boy i liked when i was 14.he used to skateboard past my house.then i moved away.he accepted my friend request but didnt know who i was and asked me to jog his memory.so i did.facebook is a strange world.i made biscotti again this afternoon.theyre not so good.i decided to freestyle it and theyre bland.wish i could wet them and add some spice and bake again.and i finally found a firm firm tofu.im so happy about that.now if i could find a futon that stays soft.

2010-05-25T22:47:00.003+09:00

himma 4 ecocolo ♡

2010-05-25T22:46:00.000+09:00

baba lunch.

2010-05-23T01:07:00.002+09:00

1:11am and missing home.not tired at all.hanas latest is having me talk in different characters all day.kind of same strange accent but different names.fran is her favourite.i put the letter v in front of most words.hana is definately in need of a bigger family.

2010-05-23T01:01:00.000+09:00

neighbours

2010-05-23T00:44:00.003+09:00

view from kitchen window late at night.much better than daytime view of occasional internet obscenities.must say though they have a Daisaku Chou chair in their other window,obviously unused, that im hoping they put out in hard rubbish.
compost man picked us some berries.he is so sweet.

store

2010-05-18T17:49:00.002+09:00

store
hana played dressups there today.when did she get so big?

2010-05-17T10:52:00.003+09:00

free dill flowers this weekend.

fresh off the vine (truck) organic broad beans,mmmm.hanas job to pop them out.

2010-05-14T21:19:00.000+09:00

2010-05-12T22:52:00.000+09:00

kyabram glitter.

2010-05-12T22:42:00.002+09:00

tonight i only wanted to be in this mint coloured paper bag.look at those beautiful shapes and layers.tomorrow i will stick it to the window.

2010-05-12T22:39:00.003+09:00

today a cuckoo bird visited our park and cuckooed all day.with short intervals.but not hourly.or 15 minutely.i hope it stays and wakes us again tomorrow.i heard it hasnt been heard at the park for 30 years.

2010-05-12T22:37:00.000+09:00

4.drawing

2010-05-12T22:32:00.002+09:00

things to be happy about.

2010-05-02T22:11:00.002+09:00

bunch of dill flowers from sunday organic vegie van that parks just near my house.
wisteria putting on a show.

hammocks and hammock bike in nearby park to play with
very good crepe and a daughter to teach me to draw.

2010-04-25T08:03:00.002+09:00

yokoyama yuichi ♥ opening party goodness.flavours inside flavours.

2010-04-23T21:30:00.002+09:00

mmm mame daifuku, we meet again. i fell in love with japanese sweets all over again today.

2010-04-23T18:44:00.002+09:00

my billums.i love them.all bought at fleamarkets. 2 in the same month recently in tokyo.the others from camberwell market more than 10 years ago.
now im keeping my eyes out for a cast iron tape dispenser like this.something about cast iron and fluro pink masking tape delights me.or any masking tape.and hana gets so frustrated when the tape cutter moves as shes trying to tear it off.
blahh blahh.

2010-04-22T10:20:00.003+09:00

great little book filled with pictures made by japanese grade 4 or 5? children.

i swear i didnt copy it but jeepers look at this.my scarf above...

my sister and i are going to make an online opshop.japan and australia finds.because all the fun is in finding and my room is full and so are hers.arent we manda?

2 exhibitions

2010-04-22T10:07:00.003+09:00

yokoyama yuichi

inokuma genichiro.

pinkandgreen

2010-04-22T09:56:00.003+09:00

ginza mikimoto

ginza subway

shirokanedai

next door spider infested area.very scarey to walk on.ironically i threw all my worm infested dirt over the balcony and onto it.now all last years chamomile is doing wonderfully over there.i went and stole it and repotted it.ridiculous.

2010-04-15T14:48:00.003+09:00

ps) im not the crazy one who sweeps up petals.

picnic spot

2010-04-06T14:05:00.001+09:00

2010-04-06T08:16:00.002+09:00

cape gooseberries, primrose and tarragon and something.please grow big.

happy easter

2010-04-04T22:01:00.004+09:00

we woke up far to early without me knowing it.but got to feel the sun coming up.mmmm.hana said easter bunny is so sweet for leaving her chocolates.here she is pecking my head with her hen or maybe rooster.

and our neighbours tonight are having hanami in their room, spot lights on the cherry blossoms.makes nice viewing from the futon.

2010-04-03T22:17:00.001+09:00

little hana with her friend oden.
cherry blossoms out my window.
picnic in the park.yamano san with gold nasa endorsed blanket.