28. Have a real garden

These are a few photos from my yard. Top left is the passion fruit vine I got for Christmas that has quadrupled in size, top right is the nicest mint that I've ever grown (very green!). Bottom left is Damien's little turtle chilling out in the crazy strawberry plant that has a mind of its own and bottom right is a view of all.

The parsley and mint were both totally ripped out when I planted the passion fruit and have resurrected themselves. Not that I mind. The strawberry was there when we moved in, but has just gotten out of control huge. Again, not that I mind!

This is actually just a small part of the garden and I have a real veggie patch now. But to be honest it's a little ugly at the moment. Just a few snail eaten chillies and leeks... Hopefully I'll get a good winter crop in though and it'll be prettier for photos!

-Jemma

41. Make 5 quilts start to finish - Quilts 1 & 2

Quilt 1 of 5.

This one was made for my nephew Seth for his first Christmas. Made using this technique by Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts.

It was made with Michael Miller Robot Camp and plain red cotton. I can't remember the binding, sorry! It was very fun to make, very easy despite the complex looking end product and nice to work in colours I wouldn't usually choose.

Very good in all!



Quilt 2 of 5.

Made with two City Weekend charm packs that I got about 100 years ago from the Badskirt Shop. I actually started making this 3 houses ago. So maybe, four years??

Anyway, this is the first quilt that I've made just for me. And I use it everyday on the couch, it's very snuggly!



-Jemma

32. Donate blood for the first time.

Look what I did on Monday!

It was much less scary than I thought it was going to be. And none of the problems I was worried about happened (my iron being too low, travel, being rejected because of my back operation).

It all went very smoothly I think. I won't lie, it did hurt but it was nothing that I couldn't handle and it's all over fairly quickly. So no big deal.

One tip, don't get cocky about how well you're doing. Then don't only sit down for a few minutes after instead of the recommended 15. You will nearly faint and then have to lie down on the couch for 30 minutes in front of everyone and look like a huge dork.... That was pretty embarrassing.

So make sure you go to www.donateblood.com and make an appointment! It's really easy and you get free chocolate milk and cookies after. There is no downside.

- Jemma

101 in 1001

Just a quick note to let you know that I've decided to use Blogtoberfest as a platform to kick start my life list of doing these 101 things in 1001 day. Not sure how many days I've gone through yet and I've already done NOTHING

Anything from my 101 list is going to be put into a Mighty Life List. So even if it's not done in the 2 1/2 (ish) years. It will be done!

Have you made a list? I think you should, it's fun to make the list even if you don't think you'll really be doing it all...

-Jemma

48. Buy a house - Day 2

One more set of papers to sign and this house will be ours. It's in Belgrave for those Victorians who know the area and we can hear the puffing billy go past from our back yard.

500m walk one way to a local pool, 500m the other to the local footy ground. In the middle of a triangle of 3 national parks.

Sounds good, huh?

Any moving tips you wish to share? Also, expect a "Cleaning out the house to move" giveaway in a few Friday's time.

-Jemma

10. Go to the Americas

LA - Vancouver - NYC - Washington DC - San Diego - San Francisco - Vegas - LA

Trip planning is well and truly underway. We're going the last three weeks of July 2011 and I'm super excited!

First things to do include getting Damien a passport, working out the itinerary (so many places!), finding out about car rentals/trains/domestic flights in America and looking at Anthropologie catalogs online to see what I can buy.

I'm also going to stop eating between now and then so I can partake in things like the double down and the footlong cheeseburger! (Ew and eww)

Have you ever been to America? Any handy hints, or must sees?



- Jemma

AFI Top 100

I decided to use the 10th anniversary list as opposed to the original, just because there’s a more modern selection. I have crossed off the ones that I’ve already seen, no need to go again. But I’ve left off the ones that I know I’ve seen, but have no memory of. I know that I watched some like it hot with my mum in my primary school holidays once, funnily though I remember nothing about the plot. So watch it again I will!

1 CITIZEN KANE (1941)
2 GODFATHER, THE (1972)
3 CASABLANCA (1942)
4 RAGING BULL (1980)
5 SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952)
6 GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)
7 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)
8 SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993)
9 VERTIGO (1958)
10 WIZARD OF OZ, THE (1939)
11 CITY LIGHTS (1931)
12 SEARCHERS, THE (1956)
13 STAR WARS (1977)
14 PSYCHO (1960)
15 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)
16 SUNSET BLVD. (1950)
17 GRADUATE, THE (1967)
18 GENERAL, THE (1927)
19 ON THE WATERFRONT (1954)
20 IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)
21 CHINATOWN (1974)
22 SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959)
23 GRAPES OF WRATH, THE (1940)
24 E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982)
25 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962)
26 MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939)
27 HIGH NOON (1952)
28 ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)
29 DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)
30 APOCALYPSE NOW (1979)
31 MALTESE FALCON, THE (1941)
32 GODFATHER PART II, THE (1974)
33 ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (1975)
34 SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937)
35 ANNIE HALL (1977)
36 BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, THE (1957)
37 BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, THE (1946)
38 TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE, THE (1948)
39 DR. STRANGELOVE (1964)
40 SOUND OF MUSIC, THE (1965)
41 KING KONG (1933)
42 BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967)
43 MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969)
44 PHILADELPHIA STORY, THE (1940)
45 SHANE (1953)
46 IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)
47 STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, A (1951)
48 REAR WINDOW (1954)
49 INTOLERANCE (1916)
50 LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, THE (2001)
51 WEST SIDE STORY (1961)
52 TAXI DRIVER (1976)
53 DEER HUNTER, THE (1978)
54 M*A*S*H (1970)
55 NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
56 JAWS (1975)
57 ROCKY (1976)
58 GOLD RUSH, THE (1925)
59 NASHVILLE (1975)
60 DUCK SOUP (1933)
61 SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (1941)
62 AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973)
63 CABARET (1972)
64 NETWORK (1976)
65 AFRICAN QUEEN, THE (1951)
66 RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)
67 WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (1966)
68 UNFORGIVEN (1992)
69 TOOTSIE (1982)
70 CLOCKWORK ORANGE, A (1971)
71 SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998)
72 SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, THE (1994)
73 BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969) 50 -23
74 SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, THE (1991)
75 IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967)
76 FORREST GUMP (1994)
77 ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (1976)
78 MODERN TIMES (1936)
79 WILD BUNCH, THE (1969)
80 APARTMENT, THE (1960)
81 SPARTACUS (1960)
82 SUNRISE (1927)
83 TITANIC (1997)
84 EASY RIDER (1969)
85 NIGHT AT THE OPERA, A (1935)
86 PLATOON (1986)
87 12 ANGRY MEN (1957)
88 BRINGING UP BABY (1938)
89 SIXTH SENSE, THE (1999)
90 SWING TIME (1936)
91 SOPHIE'S CHOICE (1982)
92 GOODFELLAS (1990)
93 FRENCH CONNECTION, THE (1971)
94 PULP FICTION (1994)
95 LAST PICTURE SHOW, THE (1971)
96 DO THE RIGHT THING (1989)
97 BLADE RUNNER (1982)
98 YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942)
99 TOY STORY (1995)
100 BEN-HUR (1959)

13 down, uh…. 87 to go…

-Jemma

101 things in 1001 days

Idea from here.

But mostly inspired by this amazing lady. You really need to read her blog. Really, really. 

1. Get better at embroidery.

2. Learn about wines.

3. Organise my kitchen, throw out containers with no lids, make a special place for recipe books and throw out expired things.

4. See old friends, make new friends.

5. Learn to drive a manual car.

6. Get good at crochet.

7. Take portraits of my immediate family, frame and hang.

8. Bake fresh bread every week for 6 months.

9. Sell something in a store.

10. Go to the Americas

11. Do washing before I run out of clean clothes, not after.

12. Make something for charity.

13. Get better at Gocco.

14. Learn to do my hair and make-up really well.

15. Have my posters and prints framed and hang them.

16. Have my own business cards.

17. Collaborate on a project.

18. Walk the dog everyday for a least half an hour

19. Meet more bloggy people in person.

20. Don’t eat any refined sugar for a month.

21. Learn to make soap.

22. Do Pilates

23. Watch the top 100 AFI movies

24. Increase my typing speed.

25. Organise my sewing room really properly - not just big piles in a vague order

26. Throw more things out.

27. Post on my blog everyday for a month (at least)

28. Have a real garden

29. Get a tattoo

30. Finish all of my video games!

31. Have a market stall

32. Donate blood for the first time.

33. Bring my lunch to work at least twice a week.

34. Write a tutorial.

35. Have one of my nephews sleep over.

36. Get a manicure and pedicure.

37. Find out more about my family history.

38. Take more photos.

39. Put $50 a week in my savings account.

40. Clean my linen closet.

41. Make 5 quilts start to finish.

42. Wear more vintage clothes.

43. Alter a complicated patter without help

44. Spend more time outside.

45. Find a hat that compliments me.

46. Learn how to make real coffee.

47. Pay my bills on time.

48. Buy a house

49. Visit central Australia and Perth.

50. See more of my local area.

51. Appreciate my stamp albums and start collecting again.

52. Drink more fresh brewed tea

53. Learn a language

54. Eat at 10 new restaurants.

55. Cook 100 new recipes - at least 20 of which I think are too hard.

56. Take a road trip to Sydney

57. Take piano lessons

58. Make homebrew.

59. Learn to use Photoshop

60. Make my own balms and salves.

61. Teach someone a craft, who’s never done it before.

62. Take a short course at a TAFE - in anything

63. Display my collections.

64. Read 10 books that people have recommended to me. (Suggestions please)

65. Take a cooking class.

66. Learn how to fix my computer when it breaks.

67. Buy a big bookshelf and organise all of my books alphabetically.

68. Enter something into the Royal Melbourne show.

69. Go to the dentist. Gulp.

70. Buy a candy thermometer and use it.

71. Take a pattern making class.

72. Paint a room.

73. Go to a rugby game.

74. Register as an organ donor, and convince as many people as I can to do the same.

75. Have something for sale in a store.

76. Remember to take out the rubbish bins every week.

77. Learn knitting stitches other than knit and purl.

78. Don’t eat take out for a month. (Maybe two)

79. Perfect my pancake recipe

80. Make a dress from my own design

81. Get a clothes dryer of my very own!

82. Eat breakfast everyday for a year.

83. Go to Europe

84. See Damien graduate.

85. Make progress in my job.

86. Organise my fabric in colour order.

87. Don’t walk into anything for a week.

88. Have my own fully stocked tool box.

89. Take a defensive driving course

90. Meet my neighbors.

91. Buy a filing cabinet and have my papers in order.

92. Make all of my Christmas presents one year.

93. Learn to use my camera properly.

94. Don’t eat meat for a month.

95. Make my bed every day for a month, then realise I like it and keep doing it forever!

96. Have waffles for the first time

97. Support local businesses.

98. Make a really good book with all of my recipes. Not worrying about order or how it looks for once.

99. Get a lime tree.

100. Make a custom order, of anything.

101. See snow for the first time.

It's a lot to do in 3 years. Some will be easy, some I already know I won't do. But just having them on the list makes them more of a possibility.

You should make a list too. And if you do, you should post it. So I can see too, and we can inspire each other. If you make a list, leave the link below. 

-Jemma

*in no particular order*