Autumn Zebra

Today is the first day of spring because a giant bumble bee flew in our window, and it is the first one I have seen this seasonal rotation. It flew in the window and I though it must be some giant alien insect come to kill me it was so noisy, but it turned out to not be that after all. Now, the giant bumble bees, especially those flying around at the start of spring, are the QUEENS. They have to lay the eggs, collect the food and raise the "children" all on their lonesome until the first little larvae turn into big grown-up bees and start helping out around the house. So, please don't kill them and please rescue them if they get stuck. I like all bumble bees, but I don't mind so much what your response is to a small one later in the season, but wiping out a potential nest in one blow is a bit harsh. Another thing is to not leave blue containers out where they can collect water as the bumble bees will fly in and drown themselves, being attracted to the blue. What if yo...

This here is my favourite dress, generally referred to as the orange dress. It is based on a drawing of a Victorian chemise, and this is where the neckline comes from in particular, but the ruffle I added myself. A chemise of the time would be white linen or cotton most likely. I like to wear it over some kind of top and some tights, and is more-or-less my ideal outfit as I have discovered I don't really like trousers that much., but this still keeps you warm. I am making some stays and had wanted to finish them to wear to Gwri's work dinner, but we had thought the dinner was on Saturday and when we discovered it was really on Friday I didn't have enough time. But on Thursday evening I had enough time to modify the pattern for the orange dress and make this new dress, all in 3.5 hours. I shortened the orange dress, widened the straps, shortened the upper back, widened the skirt very slightly and added a different kind of ruffle - the ruffle is actually twice as long at the...

At work, I decided I wanted fancy tea, so went through the building, briefly outside, and then into the organic food shop. I'm wearing my paint splatter effect tights, nearly-knee-high very expensive brown leather boots, orange dress with the purple striped top underneath, and a red and blue tartan cloak (so I figure I don't fit in anywhere). (They are my favourite clothes.) I ended up doing some very expensive grocery shopping, getting only 5 teabags as I am trying the dandelion and burdock flavour, no-salt NZ peanut butter made from Aussie peanuts, organic yellow yams (oca, from South America), organic cha soba (green tea noodles) and spicy blue-corn chips. I have some crackers at work that I might try some peanut butter on as I work late this evening. The soba luckily have a little recipe on the back for an appropriate soba sauce, which I might make, and somehow I will cook the yams and mix them with salady things I got from the Farmer's market last weekend, and that...