Hi there,

I've found a new home over at Typepad- you can visit me here

See you soon!

It's with much sadness that I say goodbye to this Quiet Cricket blog. I've really enjoyed my small adventure into blog-land for the few months I kept this journal, and making some friends here too. However, I think it's time for me to create a new website (my lack of posts over this past week is due to blogdrive problems and problems with me being uninspired to write on this particular website...) I've also been feeling a little overwhelmed with life and  family and trying to be supportive to friends who are going through some hard times at the moment. So I think it's best to take a break and concentrate on my 'paper journal' for a while. I'll also try to update my Flickr site with pictures of all the crafting I'll have time to do, haha...

Thank you to all friends and family who have been stopping by here to see what we've been up to. I have been totally blown away by the fact that anyone would actually find my ramblings worth a read... sometimes I feel so overwhelmed with my 'smallness' and the amount of amazing creativity on the internet and in the world... and knowing how best to respond to it. I'm pretty sure it's to stay immersed and involved as much as my free time will allow! So, I'll see you again soon.

Love, Melissa.

Here's a little corner of my bedroom. I'm sorry it's not such a good picture. Tom has taken our digital camera to work today so I can't improve on it. Never mind.

It's quite hard to make out the photographs in this corner. On the left is a frame with three pictures of Arlo's first day in the world. And next to that is him looking like a tiny mouse in Mum's handspun blanket, I think he is about eight weeks old there. That picture was taken by my good friend Kylie when she came to visit us. (Happy belated birthday Kylie, and could you please send me your new address? I'm sorry I didn't get through to you on the weekend!)

Above that photo is a pastel drawing she did on that same visit. I love it, and it's something I look at every morning when digging through the drawers for clothes. It says 'three happy hoboes, growing tall and strong'; 'three hoboes' because we were back then- also I think because of Arlo Guthrie's song 'Hobo's Lullaby' that I loved enough want to call my son Arlo! (Have you listened to those lyrics lately?)

There's also some little tree prints from Korea and a picture of Keira feeling shy with a white rabbit next to her. On the drawers is my knitting basket- given to me by Tom's Mum Clare last birthday. It's made from woven plastic strips, in an iris pattern. It's just so useful and quirky, I love it. And then, you can see just the top of my cello! It doesn't feature very strongly in my life at the moment, but I hope to get back into opening up the case more often. That cello and I go a long way back. And we're attending our first orchestra practice in... hmm, years next week. Should be good.

You can find more Corners here.

The Bonnie Prince Billie concert was amazing. It was so cool to hear an international act in our favourite local bar; with familiar faces all around, and he had such stage presence! He sold out so quickly that he put another show on the next night! But alas I couldn't make it to that one as well. If he comes to your city though, you should go and see him.

Today is Waitangi Day and I enjoyed listening to National Radio's coverage of the ceremonies taking place around the country this morning while I had a bit of sewing time. It was very thoughtful. I've decided that listening to NR, drinking coffee and crafting make the best combination of things to do by yourself. Some may say I'm getting old before my time, but I recommend it, anyway.

Here, drying on our washing line is this cute quilt I found while second-hand shopping. It cost all of a dollar! I gave it a few washes and a lot of washing line time, because it wasn't in such a good way when I found it (all squashed underneath a pile of old cushions at the Recycling Centre.) But I couldn't resist the fabrics. It's very simply made, I guessed maybe for a child? (It's roughly single-bed size.) But it makes me smile when I see it. And that's got to be a good thing, right? If you click on my Flickr button to the left, you can find some more detailed pictures of it. 

My most exciting news for today is that this evening Tom and I are going out to see Bonnie Prince Billy tonight. We've been fans of his music for a while now and so couldn't believe it when we saw posters for his gig go up around our tiny town! It appears he's only visiting tiny towns so there you go. (If only more artists would adopt this policy?!) I don't think I've really seen any live music since Arlo was born so I've very excited!

Since this is supposed to be a craft blog I thought I'd show you some of what I've been sewing this week. I finally got organised to make some boy's pants for my market stall which is tomorrow. I've been changing this pattern around a lot lately, trying to get the perfect fit. And I think the most pleasing thing about this pattern is: that the top part of them is big enough to fit cloth nappies (woohoo!) I really hate it when store-bought pants are too tight around this area on little babies- like they always expect you to use disposables. I've used quite a soft elastic which means most sizes fit Keira and other pre-one year olds as wide-legged pants, and Arlo and his friends as shorts. Long-lasting clothes have got to be a good thing, right?

The two pairs on the left were my first foray into fabric dying. Also possibly my last, as I really need to find out more about this and I didn't much like the chemically smell or mess involved with the little pots of dye I bought at Spotlight. But I admit it was really fun waiting to see how the fabric turned out and the different effects achieved by using different base coloured fabric. I used light blue pinwale corduroy and green dye to get the colour on the left. And the next ones along were made from calico which I dyed brown, but the colour was too orange-y so I dipped the fabric in a pot of green dye instead. I'm really into pseudo-tie dye at the moment, especially for kid's clothes. I love that uneven, patchy look. I think next week if there's time I will try and track down a woman in Nelson who makes natural crystal dyes. I used them a few times for dying my handspun wool but I haven't seen them around in a long time.

All the pants have appliqued patches on the bottom of one of the legs, and just below the waistband on the back too- one is of native toitoi bushes and the others are vegetables!  Let's hope I don't get anyone asking where the racing car and truck pants are!!

It's undoubtedly salad-season here and I feel as though I'm always running around outside shifting the sprinkler to different parts of the garden that are getting drastically dry. So today I decided to make Arlo a little garden, one that is easy for him to look after himself- I figure two years old is a good time to start, right?

I found these home-made planter boxes at the Recycling Centre the other day, drilled holes in the bottom and filled them with compost. Then Arlo helped me plant some lettuces, rocket and coriander in two, and violets and lemon balm in the other two. He's already been using his watering can with gusto, so I hope he can keep up the enthusiasm!

Another 'personal history' self portrait, (although I didn't take it myself!)

This was taken at my family bach in the Marlborough Sounds when I was about four I think, by my Mum. I'm pressing up against a ranchslider door (I love how 'kiwi' those are!) There were some fantastic 70's paisley curtains to my right that look a bit blurry. I do wonder what I was thinking about, and whether I knew the picture was being taken. I can't remember if it was posed or not. ( I think probably not, as I hate having my picture taken normally, although maybe I didn't when I was so small.)

I found this picture last week when Tom and I were having a clear-out in the basement. He made me a journal while we were living in Korea, with this picture on the front of it, which he must have found amongst my luggage, then scanned and glued to the front of the book.It was strange to read through it again- being full of extremely serious poetry and 'observations' about life in Korea. I turned 22 over there and found out I was pregnant with Arlo shortly after that. I'm just 25 now so I'm not sure why I feel so grown-up compared to then!

You can find more self-portrait bloggers here.

We've been having the best sewing nights lately- lots of yummy baking (as always), some new members and a great sharing of creative ideas and skills. Tuesday nights have become such a highlight of the week! And even more exciting, Rhiannon has set us up a livejournal page! Now you can find us here. I'm really looking forward to updates with pictures of what everyone has been making.

And speaking of sewing night, I've been realising just how amazing female friends are. At the moment it feels as though lots of mine are going through difficult times, and I struggle with being the best supportive friend I can be- especially with things like knowing how I can help without being overbearing; give advice without being judgemental, and probably mostly keeping in touch as I seem to get so caught up in my own day! I hope they know how much I love them and that I think about them all the time! Does anyone else ever feel like this? It's something I worry about a lot.

In other crafty news, look what I scored over the weekend:

A little Janome Mylock over locker/serger. It's on loan from my Mum, while I'm sewing so many little clothes and, um, supposed to be actually sewing them neatly. This means the end of the zig-zag stitch for me- hooray! Thanks Mum!

After a fairly quiet and uneventful morning at the market, my friend Amelia and I decided to take a trip to the Recycling Centre (a.k.a rubbish dump) just out of town. I have to say I often forget about the tip when I feel inspired to do second-hand shopping. But I think I'm becoming more and more addicted to it! Last week I found a beautiful Steve Fullmer bowl that came to the grand total of... erm, one dollar. Can you imagine? Taking one of those to the tip? I hope it was by accident. But we'll be able to give it a very good home.

Today I found this amazing 'Tala icing set':

I don't know how old it is (from a Google search, maybe 1940s-50s?), but it's made from stainless steel and looks as though it's NEVER been used. The box is very old though - I can imagine someone finding it in an abandoned basement or something. I've always wanted one of these. Don't you think they'd be great for Arlo and I to ice cupcakes with?

And also this:

A finished, but unframed piece of embroidery which I found peeking out of a box of dirty old bits and pieces. It's definitely in need of a wash, but I'm a bit scared as some of the stitching is beginning to unravel, so I'll try to do it tomorrow, carefully! The photo is terrible, because as usual I've left it too late to photograph without the flash, but it really is such a gorgeous piece of embroidery- the vase is beaded with tiny crystals and the flowers are made from very fine ribbon. I hope I can find a frame big enough, and restore it to it's former glory (before it ended up in that box of car parts!) I think maybe this one is heading to my Mum.

p.s. can you believe that if it wasn't for 'Recycling Centres' and secondhand shops, treasures like these and so, so much more would end up underground? It's so crazy to think about how much we throw away every day.

Arlo's been enjoying painting and drawing on paper since before he turned two- but now he's turned two and a half he's decided the walls are much more impressive once adorned with his creations.

Tom and I were having a discussion in the kitchen yesterday which was lasting for a remarkably long time without interruption. When I went into Arlo's room to see what he was up to, I found this: