off to the local farmers market....

As I always work on Friday's in my little shop, I unfortunately miss out on our local Mullumbimby Farmers Market. Well, I could get up extra early and be really organised and go before work....but well that just isn't going to happen. So as another school holiday treat I headed to the Mullum Showgrounds bright and early to grab some amazing local produce and to also get some vege seedlings. 

I just love the variety and the quality of the produce....freshly dug potatoes, just picked eggplants and you can't beat this one.....fresh bread straight out of the wood fire oven....so yummy!!

Fresh strawberries and marshmallows drizzled with melted chocolate....Mmmm

 Mandy - one of the "PickleChicks" was also there with here delectable pickles and preserves made from locally sourced grown ingredients....

Farmers markets are popping up all over the place which is a wonderful thing....next to growing your own it is the next best thing. And it is great to support the local growers and makers - just like supporting handmade (only different)......
Do you also have great local growing community? and just love this kind of shopping experience??

Happy eating yummy, fresh food ♥Jo

a day of celebrations....

Today is Fathers Day......

Almost every Sunday we have a lazy family bacon and eggs breaky. We cook up fresh tomatoes and mushrooms and squeeze fresh juice from our fruit trees, with cups of tea and the paper. Today though was a little bigger than usual. My parents are visiting from Sydney and all of Justin's family came over as well to celebrate a combination of Fathers Day and his sisters birthday.

We had four fathers, one very soon (as in any day now) father and one birthday to celebrate. We had our yummy breakfast cooked on the bbq with cups of tea, then the birthday cake and coffee......our tummies were a little full....

We then decided to take my mum and dad for a drive up north a little to a picturesque little village called Tumbulgum. It is on the Tweed River and has a cafe called "House of Gabriel" which is in a one hundred and twenty year old historic homestead which has been restored to its former glory. It has a really cool antique shop out the back and a clothes/gift shop.

My dad's name is Monty and on the drive home we saw a stall on the side of the road - 'Monty's Strawberries' so we couldn't drive by without a photo.....and buying the yummiest ever strawberries.

And because every Sunday night we have a roast with Justin's parents and another family we finished the day off with more yummy food....I don't think I will need to eat for a while.

What else is happening this week.....
Eating: very excited to say - the first very mulberries of the season....I will take a photo of the poor tree laden with fruit....branches almost touching the earth.
Reading: the latest issue of Mollie Makes.
Working on: frantically getting ready for Shearwater - The Mullumbimby Steiner School Spring Fair this Saturday.
Lovin': this sunny weather....it means all my wool dries faster...yeh
                                                                 
                                                    ♥Jo

my new addiction.....

Crochet has become my new addiction....yes I know it could be worse and much more expensive so I am quite happy about it. Lucky I have pretty much a never ending supply of pure wool as I paint it myself but books....there are so many of them. I have been tempted to buy a couple.....and will show you them when they arrive. I learnt to crochet when I was a child....I can still remember the pale pink and white baby wool blanket I crocheted when I was about 10. I have no idea what happened to it.
So I was very excited last week when I learnt how to do other stitches. Last Saturday at the MILK and HONEY CRAFT MARKET, Mary one of the other stall holders showed me how to do the double stitch and I was off......I created round, rectangle, frilly bits with chain and kept pulling it apart to do more. I was hooked, so to speak.
So you can imagine my excitement and happiness when I finished my first pair of wrist warmers. (at almost midnight because I couldn't put them down). I used a 5mm bamboo crochet hook and 8ply hand painted Autumn Rainbow wool and it took less than 50gms. Check them out.....what do you think?

Coincidently, another stall holder at our market, Helle Jorgensen was offering crochet workshops starting yesterday and running for three Saturdays for two hours learning how to make flowers and experimental and freeform crochet techniques......yah!!!! so of course I just had to go. I went along with Julia (another amazing, creative friend) and this is one of my new creations.

Just a quick look at Helle's gorgeous studio in Murwillumbah and her amazing creations. Helle works alot crocheting with plastic bags and receives them from all over the world so she has an amazing selection of colours. On her blog there is even a PLASTIC BAG YARN TUTORIAL....check it out and you can also see more of her photos on her blog too.

And just in case you are in the area and want to join in the fun, here is Helle's workshop poster.

Oh if only I could just sit in the sun today and crochet and crochet......fortunately/unfortunately I have more painting of wool to do so it will have to wait. I will show you more soon.
Am I the only one who is crochet mad at the moment? (or maybe just mad)
Have a lovely day and would love to hear from you ♥Jo