sunny day

A bit more Crown Lynn: Sesame Street bowls and a mug for the granddaughter. I, and she, particularly like the Bert snowman on the mug. I just wonder how many more bowls I need to get before we complete the alphabet.

And I've been productively occupied doodling on bread tags. This is a good rainy day activity for older kids - and some adults, it seems. Just make sure to test that your pens work on the plastic. It's disappointing to smudge your best work because the ink hasn't dried. I found that Sharpie permanent markers and Elmers opaque paint markers work well. If you're unsure about your design you can pencil it in first. And gluing on plastic goggly eyes works every time.

Reading: The elements of eloquence : how to turn the perfect English phrase by Mark Forsyth. This book explains the figures of rhetoric. It is surprisingly entertaining. Not something I can read from cover to cover but wonderful to dip into. Listen to an interview with the author here.

The secret diary of Hendrick Groen, 83 1/4 years old by Hendrick Groen. A fictional diary about life in a care home.

Listening: Podcast S-Town

pink stripes

I don't like knitting in summer but we haven't had our usual hot weather yet so I've just sort of continued on. This little baby sweater is for the Little Sprouts charity. I'm working on gathering a few things together to donate soon. The pattern is in Panda book #205 Adorable baby knits. It seems to have become a go-to pattern for me. I've knitted it twice before - in brown with red buttons for my granddaughter and in blue for my little across-the-road neighbour.

I have added these little "tango" side plates to the Crown Lynn collection - even though I'm madly trying to get rid of things. This could be a regular blog feature - matching Crown Lynn pieces to crafted goods. What do you think?

Reading: The year of living Danishly by Helen Russell. The author decides to find out what makes Denmark the happiest country on Earth. She gives up her job editing a fashion magazine in London and moves with her husband to Denmark when he accepts a job working for Lego.

anew

Happy new year to you.

I look forward to the new start, don't you? And the promise of new adventures. This year instead of making resolutions I've decide to set myself a challenge - to sew one garment per month. I fear I'm asking a lot of myself but let's see how it goes.

I've been busy preparing for long-term house guests. My son, his partner and three-year old daughter will be staying while their house is being renovated. So we've been having a bit of a clean up. I even reorganized the pantry. It looks great (I sometimes just stand in the doorway and gaze into it) - all clean and neat with just about everything labelled. And nothing past its best before date. We've got rid of a lot of stuff and it's a good feeling - liberating. Of course, a big clear out means you can bring in a few new things - like those Crown Lynn color glaze cups.

Reading:  
My father's island by Adam Dudding. Son writes memoir of father, Robin Dudding, one of New Zealand's great editors (most famously of the literary journals Landfall and Islands)

A life discarded by Alexander Masters. 148 diaries are found discarded in a skip in Cambridge, England. The author reads, obsesses and tries to understand then discover who was the diarist. Intriguing and, surprisingly, gripping. Alexander Masters also wrote Stuart: a life backwards (2005) a biography of homeless man Stuart Shorter that I really enjoyed and must read again.

stitching

"Gentle stitching is not fraught, demanding or nerve-jangling. Instead it is simple, straightforward - something that can be done while relaxing, talking, sitting in the sunshine or on holiday. It doesn't require great amounts of skill, confidence or planning and is best started by simply threading a needle, abandoning high expectations and creating stitches on a nice piece of fabric."

And so... encouraged by these words from Jane Brocket and inspired by the Japanese art of sashiko stitching and the traditional kantha stitching from India I've been enthusiastically stitching. I've used the simplest stitch of all - running stitch - on linen (off-cuts from this project) to make some lavender bags and a potholder. I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed making these things. It was just so relaxing.

Also, posing next to the lavender bags is a little Crown Lynn "reflections" dish recently purchased from here.

Reading: The gentle art of stitching by Jane Brocket and Six poets - Hardy to Larkin: an anthology by Alan Bennett

Eating: Feijoas from our trees

Listening: Big inner and Fresh blood by Matthew E. White

museum

A recent visit to the Crown Lynn museum (te toi uku) with my granddaughter (who tells me she is very cute. I can't deny it.) The museum is small but fascinating especially for kiwis - most of us grew up with Crown Lynn. My aunt had a full dinner set of Fiesta Ware - white with multi-coloured spots randomly scattered across a grey (sort of) grid pattern. With pastel coloured cups to match the spots. All displayed in glass-fronted cupboards. As a 12-year-old it was my dream kitchen.

The museum has lovely crowded displays - cup handles rescued from the rubble of the old factory and cups and mugs showing the huge variety made over the lifetime of Crown Lynn. I love the child's cup. The little green cart being towed along by the sleepy looking snail has Express Parcels Co. written on the side. I guess life was a little slower back in 1955.

Plus some Crown Lynn I bought recently for my own small collection. Happy days for Tasman Pulp and Paper when the number 2 newsprint machine was officially opened on 8 May 1963. I just like the sailing ship logo.

Reading: The stories of Bill Manhire - collection of short stories by NZ writer

Eating: Figs from our tree

plates

Some Crown Lynn treasures - "staccato" side plate and a pair of "narvik" dinner plates - found on our last holiday at Matakana. And a plate by Pauline McCoy purchased at the Big Clay Day Out held by the Auckland Studio Potters on Sunday.

Reading: Between you & me: confessions of a comma queen by Mary Norris who is a copy editor at The New Yorker. She started working there in 1978 so you could say she's an authority on spelling, punctuation and grammar. Which is what the book is about. Sounds pretty dull but, actually, it isn't. Review here.