LadyMeerkat's Perfect Pot of Tea

It might seem obvious but if you want to have the perfect cup or two of teapot tea then you don't want to drown the tea leaves in excess water.

Swirl some hot water around the pot to warm it up. Do the same with the cups and the measuring jug if you want to be really thorough, especially if it's Winter!
Measure out however many cups of tea you need by the metric cup (1 cup = 250ml) with a heat proof measuring jug.
Add one heaped teaspoon of tea to the pot for however many cups of tea you want to make, PLUS one for the pot. One cup of tea = 2tsp  Two cups of tea = 3tsp etc
Add water and brew to taste.

cU  \(~)?  cU



Green Thumb Tip:
Scatter the spent tea leaves widely over your garden beds or add to your compost / mulch heap. I like to scoop them out with a tea spoon then rinse out the pot and pour that water in the garden as well.

Harvest Fish

I harvested a bunch of limes, mini capsicums and chillies in the garden on Friday afternoon. After dumping them on the kitchen bench I noticed an overall shape. I worked with that, embellishing it with the chillies which I collected in a bowl.

Identify your ear buds quickly - by tattooing one!

Yes we can tell L from R but when one is in a hurry it's nice to just grab them and pop them in your ears.

My brother came up with the idea of putting odd coloured ear bud covers on his iPod ear buds. The rubber around the speaker detiorates with time so the covers mean you don't have to throw them away, you can keep on using them. After my own odd coloured set wore out I was only able to get a pack of all black pairs from Dick Smith. Ear bud foam covers are really hard to find!

If you have ever got biro or permanent marker on something vinyl or rubber you know that even if you clean off the surface ink it penetrates into the material. This 'life hack' takes advantage of that.

You will need
a small point, permanent marker
cotton buds
methylated spirits


Carefully draw a line around on the end of one bud's stem. Leave for about 5 days or up to a week for best results. The colour will start to bleed a little into the rubber.


Swab off all the surface ink you can to reveal a permanent tattoo.

Wrapped up tree: Triage by Louise Lavarack

Coming in to work one morning I saw workmen wrapping up this tree with something soft and white. I wasn't sure if it was to protect the tree from adjacent construction or an installation artwork. My botanist coworker thought it might be an arborist thing. As it turns out Triage is an art installation by Melbourne artist Louise Lavarack. There are tributes to the dying tree at its base but I prefer the surreal quality of the tenderly wrapped boughs in the afternoon sun:

Post box puking...

This one has been here quite a while I think - in great condition too.
Near Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne
June 2013.

Kicks Cat Bus sticker

Homage to Studio Ghibli's CatBus from My Neighbour Totoro by Kicks.

Have been cycling past this one on the bike track between Parkville and Brunswick, Melbourne - between the underpasses.

Alan Brough to Colin Lane on Spick and Specks
"You want a piece of me?!"
"Yeah!"
"Well there's plenty to go 'round. I'll give you a little bag."

A teapot is not a hammer. Just sayin'...

From a product information sheet for a either a stainless steel teapot or coffee pot (can't remember it was over a month ago) at work.

Vintage Corn Oil advert.

Back page advertisement from a 1981 National Geographic.
Looking at this now it makes me think of the artifice of G.E. products rather than a kaleidoscope of fresh food.

WTF mudskippers

Via WTF evolution and making the blogging rounds: the funniest natural history segment I've ever seen AND it's endowed with the melifluous tones of everyone's favourite narrator, Sir David Attennborough.

The Brooch Show

My first foray into art jewellery for sale is at The Brooch Show, run by the Contemporary Art Society of Victoria. I have four brooches in the show. Here is a sneak preview of one of them.

Garth

ink, paper collage on plywood, acrylic lacquer, metal brooch fitting

The Brooch Show

Fitzroy Library (wall display cases)

128 Moor St, Fitzroy

2 May - 29 June 2013
OPENING: Sunday 5 May 2013 at 2pm 
   

The library Hours are:
Monday: 10am - 6pm
Tue & Wednesday: 1pm – 8pm
Thursday: 10am – 6pm
Friday: 1pm – 6pm
Saturday: 10am – 4pm
Sunday: 2pm – 5pm.

Then the exhibition will go 'on tour' to

Toorak/South Yarra Library (foyer & display cases)

340 Toorak Rd, South Yarra

2 July - 30 August 2013

Library hours are:

Monday to Thursday: 10am – 8pm

Friday: 10am – 6pm

Saturday: 10am – 5pm

Sunday: 2pm - 5pm

The back wall of 639 Brunswick Street, North Fitzroy, Melbourne.

The back wall of 639 Brunswick Street, North Fitzroy, Melbourne


On the corner...

First there is a monkey who continues the mural around (not shown) then a squid:


and so on...



Detail of unicorn by Kaffeine.

Devondale's new logo is odd

The old logo on a small pack of UHT milk. I prefer the old packaging. It's less cluttered. That old cow has been their mascot for as long as I can remember. The map of Australia in her marking is a nice touch.


The new logo on a small pack of UHT milk.


The new logo is odd because although it has a more realistic looking ruminant, if you look at it properly you will see that is four people holding aloft a legless cow. They are her legs and they work together to hold her up. She seems happy enough. The mesage/idea behind it is good but the end result is a little macabre.

Pride and Prejudice meets Twitter.

Original image from a Girl's Own Annual, Victorian era. I have slightly doctored the book to look like a Macbook and added text.

North Fitzroy mural of monkeys : The Giant Storybook Project

On my morning commute in February a gorgeous new artwork could be seen from the 112 tram. I knew I had to go back at my leisure to take some photos of it for this blog. Here they are:


639 Brunswick St, Fitzroy North, Melbourne

This is the nineth mural in a series that is part of The Giant Storybook Project. Check out the link to see the other images from the story around the world


The mural covers this side of the building but also wraps around the other side with a surprise, extra monkey. I'll try to get back there another day to get a picture of it for you. More images of work by other artists in this future post on the back wall of the building.

[cough]

Quiet, southern NSW beach. I'm strolling in the shallows. A man with his small child strapped to his back walks past. The child coughs briefly.
"You got the Black Lung son?"

Warning: Frozen salmon fillets contain fish

Who'd a thunk it? ;)
From a packet of New Zealand frozen salmon fillets. Perhaps it's a legal requirement but when it's clearly labelled as salmon and only salmon it seems superfluous. If anyone with a seafood allergy is stupid enough not to know that a salmon is a fish then ... Darwin award anyone?

A bird in the hand...

Tattersalls Lane, Melbourne CBD, November 2012

Mr Potato Head - Chef Edition

I work in a shop selling chef's clothing. Some customers always like to be fashionably dressed, expect off the rack chef's clothing to be tailored to their body and think they fit a size or two smaller than they should be in order to work comfortably in a kitchen environment. * Others have a more pragmatic idea of what they need in order to work. One such customer is a charming, middle aged French man I served yesterday. Upon discussing the size he needed and being told the uniforms have a generous fit:
"I don't mind if it is baggy but I don't want to look like a potato."


*You've got to be able to squat to check ovens, reach up to get equipment, and most importantly have some breathing space between you and your clothing because you are going to get warm if not sweaty.

Colour your world/city

Tattersalls Lane, Melbourne CBD, November 2012

Crayola crayons have been around for one hundred and ten years - check out their evolution.