voodoo pincushion

Thanks, Betty Sue, for the fabulously nifty voodoo pincushion. It has a person on the front, and a place on the back where you can insert the name of todays voodoo victim. Following voodoo pincushion protocol, I wrote on a little piece of paper the name of my victim, inserted it into the pincushion, and began moving pins from my current pincusion to the voodoo pincushion. The first few I inserted with feeling into vital areas - chest, head, hands and feet, until he looked like a gingerbread, like so:

voodoo_gingerbread
Originally uploaded by djbebe.

Although I mean no actual physical harm to my victim, it felt good, like a form of release. Since then, I have just used it as one would normally use a pincushion: absently inserting pins as one is sewing. And I think since part of the voodoo magic is surely the malice one feels for one's victim as one is inserting the pins, one might have to take time aside from sewing and insert pins into it with feeling. However my voodoo pincushion is always handy, since I'm never far from my sewing machine, and it is also handy to have the voodoo disguised in pincushion form - thus avoiding embarrassing explanations when visitors discover instruments of voodoo on the coffee table.

mystery seeds

I planted some seeds that have been in my kitchen drawer for a year or so – there’s four packets, and there’s only two labels – so I’ve planted some of each to see if they grow and what they might be. And after only 4 days, some are already sprouting. Looks like some kind of brocolli/cauliflower and snow peas so far. I forgot to mark which packets went with which punnets – so will have to do that for the next batch. It’s exciting!

See more progress on: grow my own vegetables

ex library books

Every now and then libraries have sales and sell off old books. How do the libraries decide which books to sell? Is it because nobody has borrowed them for the last five years? Or has somebody read them and decided they are no longer worthy of library status? Or do they just get rid of the older books to make way for the new ones?

And to make things worse, the poor books are scarred by bar codes and stickers and dewey decimal numbers - or worse, the part of the cover that had the bar code has been cut out, leaving an unsightly gap. This makes them somewhat of a second-class item at secondhand stores, so these poor books may never be read or loved again. They might be a bargain at the library booksale for a dollar or two, but they have very little resale value.

on the virtue of sarongs

• even if you put on a kilo or two they still fit comfortably
• cool and breezy, and satisfy almost any dress code
• simply fold over the top for adjustable length
• can also be used as a blanket, nanna-type knee rug, sunshade or neck-pillow
• easiest thing in the world to make - no darts, buttons, zips, sleeves, plackets, pleats, facings - not a curve in sight
• if you sit in something that leaves an embarrassing stain, just turn the garment upside down - stain gone - or at least moved to somewhere less embarrassing

Big shout out to Betty Sue, who brought me some fabulous fabric from India which I didn't make into anything for ages because I didn't want to make something that I might not like. So the other day I just hemmed the edges and voila - the best looking sarong in town. And if I find a pattern one day that I want to make it into something else, I still can because I didn't need to use my scissors at all.

black cats and the afterlife

A bit before Christmas I was visited by some friendly neighbourhood Christians and a black cat. They said they didn't bring the cat, it just followed them to my door. I have not seen the cat before or since. They asked did I believe in God, I said no, they said ok so what happens to the people you love when they die, and I said when we die we get buried and eaten by worms. (I actually said that - it felt really good.) And they said oh that's so depressing... And eventually I had to say ok well thanks for your time, good luck with your converting (yes I actually said that too, and gave them a thumbs up) and I shut the door on them.