The Weekly Dozen Vol. 4

Over the last week I've not had as much chance to get out with my Nikon DSLR but managed to grab a few snaps with my iPhone 5.  We were house-sitting the past couple of weekends in Silver Lake which is an area of East LA and set up in the hills.  We spent most of our time on long walks with the dogs, and cooking.  We are hoping to move this way in the near future so it was great to spend a weekend here living like a local.

The view from the top deck in the back garden {Taken with iPhone5}

Flowers on a walk up in the residential neighbourhood of Silver Lake {Taken with iPhone5}

A hidden door to one of the houses up in the Silver Lake hills {Taken with iPhone5}


If you haven't already got bored of my brunch foods, here is another frittata.  This time I made it with white onions, potatoes, parsley and feta cheese.

{Taken with Nikon D80}

{Taken with Nikon D80}

{Taken with Nikon D80}

Another brunch favourite of mine are soft boiled eggs with Vegemite toast soldiers... {Taken with iPhone5}

Mr Theo Curran {Taken with Nikon D80}

An afternoon sugar hit whilst I'm working {Taken with iPhone5}

Knitted cacti on sale at The Holy Grounds Coffee and Tea {Taken with iPhone5}

Project in progress Hudson Bay Inspired Blanket {Taken with iPhone5}



Hitchhiker scarf {Taken with iPhone5}

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The Weekly Dozen Vol.2

It's week 2 of The Weekly Dozen and this week I have included a few of my Instagram and iPhone5 photos.  Mainly because I didn't get to go out with my Nikon D80 as much this week, therefore it's more of a 'my week in photos' post :)

I have a friend in town from the UK staying with us this week which has been awesome.  It's always so great seeing friends from back home.  He brought us a lovely egg cup each from Liberty, which is one of my favourite stores in London!  I bought the little woven matt from my favourite thrift store here. {Taken with Nikon D80}

In an effort to use my 'big' camera I headed out into Culver to do a bit of exploring.  Whilst on route I spotted this super bright green door.  This photo is by no means earth shatteringly good but I just liked the colour. One thing I will note about this pic is that having shot most of my pics last week indoors, outdoor photography is WAY harder! I'm hoping to head out this weekend to the beach to get more practise in. {Taken with Nikon D80}

This tower is part of the Kirk Douglas Theatre building in Downtown Culver. {Taken with Nikon D80}

On my adventure I stopped off at the Farmers' Market.  I only really got a few pics that were decent enough to pop up here (and I know it's a stretch at that but this is a learning challenge after all) {Taken with Nikon D80}

I also managed to fit in a bit of thrifting again this week and stumbled across this cute kid's wicker chair.  I almost got it for Mr Theo Curran but I decided against that one... I did however buy the floral glass.  I love it because it's pretty tacky but also has gold on it and I love pretty much most things that are gold.  It has now quickly become my new favourite water glass.  {Taken with iPhone5}

I realise that I'm clutching at straws with this one but it was breakfast time and I like the look of the beans so what the heck here is No.9 of The Weekly Dozen.  {Taken with Nikon D80}

These two were taken today on a fabric shopping trip for The Fig House with Emily. The flamingo fabric didn't make the shortlist but I just had to take a pic of it.  I'd love to use it somewhere someday.  And the other fabrics did make it into the shortlist.  It's pretty evident that we are hooked on velvet. {Taken with iPhone5}

I couldn't do this challenge without getting at least one pic of these two knuckleheads in here... Mr Theo Curran and Mr Laertes von Vonderson Stinky Banana aka Bubba  {Taken with Nikon D80}

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The Weekly Dozen Vol.1

As if one photography challenge a month wasn't enough to take on, I've decided to participate in another.  Cyd from The Sweetest Occasion has set herself a challenge after she recently upgraded her camera.  I'm a big fan of Cyd's blog so when I saw that she was doing a photography challenge called The Weekly Dozen I thought I'd give it a go myself.  

I got a few tips last week from my yarnista friend Evi who is also a professional photographer,  so I'm carrying my camera around a lot more and practising whenever I get the chance.  The challenge only runs until September 15th but I may end up continuing as my photography interest is rapidly increasing.

I'm hoping that as the challenge progresses so will my photography skills. I'll be the first to admit that my confidence levels can be pretty low when showing people my work.  But what I like about putting a challenge like this on my blog is the fact that I (and you) can see how my skills develop.

Don't expect Max Wanger or Bonnie Tsang levels of work, I have a very, very, very long way to go before reaching their incredible ability.  But since this is the first time of shooting without just using 'auto' I'm kinda happy with the results.  

Here is the first instalment of my Weekly Dozen...

The first image is an ode to Evi as this was taken in her urban knitting store Gather.  The crocheted hat was designed by Renaissance who is the owner of Raghouse International.  The pattern will be available to purchase on Ravelry in the next few weeks.  The second image is my current yarn-a-long project: the Medano Beach Bag.  I think the photo really captures the true colours of the bag.  More images of the finished product coming soon!

I love to make a fuss over weekend brunch in our house, and it most often involves eggs in some way like a frittata or pancakes.  Last weekend, I was gutted because we only had one egg left (bad planning) so instead I rustled up a quick pasta using Farmer's Market ingredients.  

We took Mr Theo Curran and his brother out to a BBQ las weekend.  We don't have a back garden yet so when we go somewhere that does, he really likes to takes advantage.  You can see more pics of Theo on Instagram search for #theocurran.

PC and I have a weekly ritual that developed pretty much as soon as I arrived here in November.  Where every Tuesday we take a trip the local Farmers' Market.  We often stop by the fish stall to pick up some clams for linguine vongole but this week I made an East Coast special... New England Clam Chowder. Now this dish is particularly tricky because PC is originally from New England so he has had some of the best chowders you can possibly get your hands on.  As it happens the East Coast boy was pretty happy with the results, especially because it was served in a sourdough bread bowl.

I'm in a bit of a baking stint at the moment too on Sunday I made a blueberry pie.  It's ages since I've made my own pastry but I have a good recipe from one of my Mum's books that never fails her.  It tasted like flakey buttery shortbread, clearly super bad for you but comforting on a dull Sunday.

I have a friend in town next week so with a few days out, hopefully I'll be able to pick up some more good snaps for next weeks Weekly Dozen.

Happy Friday! 

You can follow more of my photography on Instagram and follow my blog with Bloglovin

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Things I Love Thursday

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

I'm mixing a splash of colour with some more neutral imagery this week.  I love the deep coloured floral print in image #1.  I don't often go for chintzy floral patterns, but I like this because of it's depth and shades of blue.  I was using a chunky pencil to write on the walls of the Fig House site the other day and it was pretty satisfying to scribble with. Much like when you get your first set of Crayola's as a kid, and why I like the wooden pencils in image #2.  I have been researching timber moulding of recent and my eye was drawn to the detail of the timber doors of image #3.  The light feature in image #4 is simply awesome and works well in this tall, bright and airy space.  There seems to be more and more textile designers coming up on my internet research of late, which is making me want to design my own fabrics.  There are lots of DIY's for napkins out there, but these ones (image #5) are already avail to purchase.  

Image #6 firstly gets its very own paragraph, as the dude in the picture is one of my very best guys in the whole entire world.  Theo is a bit of a sickly puppy and often suffers from asthma attacks.  He has a bit of a crooked jaw from it being broken when he was found on the streets.  When I say he's a sickly puppy, he is also the sweetest little puppy ever.  He lives for his treats which he gets after his morning walk, loves his belly rubs and often wears little sweaters when he gets cold.  I've never seen a tail wag as fast as his does and never seen someone so keen to get upstairs to bed when all he does is sleep all day.  I was staying away one night last week and he had a little sickly moment, so PC took a photo of him and sent it to me (notice the spit up between his front paws).  He was totally fine afterwards but now has a little cold and keeps sneezing.  I didn't grow up with dogs and when I moved to LA I wasn't just moving in with PC, I was moving in with this guy and his older brother Bubba.  Even though they take over the bed and have stinky breath they inspire me everyday.  I never understood the term 'puppy-dog eyes' or 'a dog is a man's best friend' until I moved here.

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30th Birthday Poster

The boy turned 30 on Tuesday!  So as a homage to him I created a very silly poster to put up on his Facebook page.  He has this obsession with pulling funny faces, especially showing his teeth (or 'teef' as we call it), so I just had to use this as ammo.  When I started out the project I was concerned that I wouldn't have enough photographs to use.  I mean, how many 'teef' photos can there actually be in the world??  A lot in fact!  The ones shown below are the the best, (ahem...most ridiculous looking) of the bunch. Enjoy...  

Of course our dogs had to feature somewhere.  So I took what is a well known photograph (amongst family and friends) of Mr Bubba and Mr Theo and made them into 'birthday celebration dogs'.  A little extra fun for the day.

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Yarn basket so far

I got to work on this project pretty quickly.  The grey yarn is much thicker than the pink, so it didn't take me long to get through it.  It is not quite big enough yet to complete the basket, so I'm planning to track down more of this lovely grey yarn. 

As soon as I laid it down on the sofa, Theo climbed on top of it.  He has such a love for soft blankets.  I think he's hinting for me to make him one :)

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New Bike Accessory

Since the new year has begun I've been hopping out on my bike a lot more. I'm getting used to the roads now (although Patrick would beg to differ saying I'm still too slow) and enjoying discovering new places in the sunshine.  On a visit to the yarn store in Santa Monica, we stopped off at the Linus bike shop in Abbott Kinney.  I treated my bike to a new accessory: a lovely wicker basket to hang from the handle bars on the front.  I am not sure that Bubba or Theo would fit into it but you can be damn sure I'm gonna try :)

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Purl Bee Garter Cowl

Whilst in New York for my birthday, we visited a store called Purl Soho.  I've been following their blog for a good while and once I realised they had a store I was dying to go.  I purchased the bag with the hot neon pink lettering (pictured below) and some yarn for Patrick's Mom, who I refreshed on how to knit over Christmas.  I also bought a ball of hot pink yarn for me, as well as a blue and red merino yarn to make the Purl Bee Garter Gaiter pattern.

It took me a while to get this project started.  I attempted it using the magic loop method but realised that wasn't going to work so had to buy more knitting needles.  I could open a shop with the amount of needles I now have! It's a beautiful pattern and the yarn was $20 a ball, so there was no way I was going to mess this up.  I got Theo to model the working progress, and I think he quite liked it.

I have yet to finish it.  I have a habit of starting a project and moving onto another before finishing.  Currently I have four projects on the go including this one, and a list as long as my arm of things I'd like to knit :)

Garter gaiter so far . . .

Diva!

"We'll help out in a minute, honest"

"Its my wool, not yours!"

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Hiking in Runyon Canyon

New year, new work out: For the dogs...

With the pooches gaining a combined four lbs. over the last year, it's time for them to get their LA workout on.  So, on this sunny Thursday morning, we set out for a hike up to the summit of Runyon Canyon.  

Lovely weather, great views, ideal workout and perfect for people watching!  

   

As rituals go, a trip to Runyon is usually followed by a stop off at Canter's Deli for a quart of matzo ball soup and pastrami on rye with a pickle.  Not really in the New Years resolutions (trying to cut down on the meat), but try to come between me and my pastrami and you're a dead person! :) The girl loves her pastrami!  Plus, I've been trying to shake off a cold since before Christmas and matzo ball soup is the perfect elixir.

Hopefully see you next week Runyon.  We're aiming to make this a weekly venture to keep the boys young and fit.

Nice day for a hike!

View over the city

View of the Hollywood Hills

The Hollywood sign

View of Downtown LA

Super Theeeeeeeeeee!!!

Matzo ball soup, pastrami on rye and pickle:
The ultimate cure for a cold!

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