What I made, by Sharon

 We had a four day weekend - Tuesday was Melbourne cup-day so, like most of Melbourne, we took Monday off and made a holiday of it. On Friday after work, Skip and Bee came and got us, and we drove down to Skip's parent's place in Portarlington to borrow their caravan. In the morning Leon and I did our last long run before the half marathon we are doing in Marysville next Sunday. We ran along the foreshore and it was beautiful. Then we drove up to Dick and Carly's place. they live at the foot of the Gariwerd (Grampians) on a great big property and it's beautiful.  A bunch of us camped there. That's Skip and Bee's caravan in the forground, and our little tent in the background. The weather was perfect, and we ate good food and drank good wine. Mostly we relaxed, hung out and breathed fresh air. I visited the sheep: We finally climbed Mt Zero, which is a walk the other way from the Grampians Peak Track. I got a lot of knitting done, and not quite as much reading as

I have two bags I take away with me - my hiking pack and my Country Road Kit bag. Prior to my hiking pack, I borrowed Elise's backpacking pack. I've never had proper luggage. I bought my Country Road bag in about 1996. Anna had one, and I wanted to be like Anna. It cost around 100 dollars. It's been everywhere with me. It comes on planes as carryon, it goes car camping, it's great. Here's it packed for Thailand in 2017: It's got two problems - it's starting to tear at the handles and it's not that comfy to carry full - it cuts off the circulation to my arms. After our last trip to Bendigo I decided to upgrade to a bag that could also be carried on the shoulders. I'm lucky enough to work very near Little Bourke Street, where there are a lot of travel shops, and I went looking for the perfect bag. Which I found at One Planet , who not only made my hiking pack and sleeping bag but actually manufacture in Melbourne. Its a convertible kit bag, that can al

We have come to the end of sOctober - my favourite month of the year. To celebrate I am knitting  Sake  by Cookie A . It's not overly difficult, but every stitch is charted and every row has cable crossings, so it's a slow knit. I'm also knitting the sleeves of Leon's jumper, which are very simple and soothing. We're going on a road / camping trip this weekend, which will be a chance to make some good progress on the body. After a couple of not so great books I'm reading  The Watchmaker of Filigree Stree t by Natasha Pulley  It's a lovely book (cosy fantasy, maybe, although not that much fantasy) I really like the way Natasha Pulley writes, which is great, because she has written ten books, and I think the library has most of them. Next up is  The Close-Up by Pip Drysdale.  A review book which is apparently a twisty thriller. That's probably what I will read.  I like Pip Drysdale, but I mainly selected it for the cover: I love a face cover, I love palm t

W elcome to part 18 in a series of non-fiction book reviews, originally based on the idea that the books I request tell you everything you need to know about me.  I have, after so many chapters of this series, realised that all these posts say about me is that have eclectic taste and endless curiosity. This time I am exploring whiskey cocktails, gnome poems and a book about counting sheep designed to help children sleep. All books in this post are kindly provided in e-arc form from the publishers through NetGalley. The 20 Little Poems for 20 Little Gnomes by Raven Howell (already released)  I've recently become a little obsessed with gnomes , so when I saw this book I had to request it. It's a beautifully illustrated book of lovely, positive little poems. I thought it was utterly charming, and ended up reading half the poems out loud to my husband. I would buy this book as a gift for a friend with a new baby, or for an early (1s, 2nd or 3rd) birthday present. Utterly charming.

As I write this I have just finished a library book -  The Lessons by Naomi Alderman . I loved it. Now I am embarking on the oldest book on my Kobo -  Transmission  by Morgan Rice .  Look at that cover! It's the first in a sci-fi series about aliens arriving on earth. It's pretty short, and I've just discovered it's young adult (quite young) so I don't know how why I bought it. After that I have  Happy Place by Emily Henry,  which I had on hold at the library, and it just appeared when I had my Kobo on wifi to return The Lessons. There was no email or anything, and now I am confused as to how I'm meant to know that a book is ready. The only thing that has come over from previous weeks is the audiobook  Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke . Not my favourite cover, but I am enjoying the book. 32 hours for an audiobook is good value, and I'm enjoying the narrators tone. I've got less than ten hours left, so I'll have to start thinking ab

 I'm not sure why, but last week it popped into my head that I wanted to make some polymer clay gnomes. I hadn't sculpted for a while, and I had SUCH a screaming desire to make gnomes that I couldn't control myself. On Saturday I mentioned it to Elise, and she asked if she could have a gnome. So I make a platoon of pink and purple gnomes. The little ones I made into stitch markers and earrings, and I intended the big one for Elise, but I fell in love and am keeping her. Then on Monday night Dani asked if I might make some gnomes to match a photo she sent me of a four woman juggling troupe, so I made these: And I made this chubby gnome for Elise. I also experimented with some Halloween coloured  gnomes, for those who celebrate I've got a busy few weekends coming up, so I've put the polymer clay away for now, but you can be sure it will be coming out before Christmas, because what could be better than a Christmas gnome?