I’ve just been told by the lovely team at Frocktober that I raised $440 for Australian Ovarian Cancer Research.

I’m extremely happy with the result, I had no idea that I’d end up raising so much to be honest.

I want to say a huge thank you to everyone that donated to this extremely worthy cause.  You’re all winners!

Lets hope with the combined fundraising efforts this year we can keep more of our loved ladies safe and healthy.

Now it’s over to you, Movember!

I’ve just listed Archibald in my Esty store!

He likes: naps, Narwhals and nachos

He dislikes: navel oranges, Naruto and nasty people

Archibald is hanging out with Harriet and Leopold in the craftyllama store.

Serious contender for cutest street art ever.

I’ve just listed this very sweet draft snake in my etsy store.

His name is Leopold.

He likes: croquet, croquettes and croque monsieurs

He disklies: crocodiles, croquembouche, and crocs

He’s keeping Harriet company at the moment, Archibald will be joining them shortly!

My little niece Sofia turns 2 next week, and I wanted to make her a special toy for her birthday.

I found this great tutorial for making a ruffled hedgehog on the lovely blog Matsutake. I’m pretty sure that Katie’s version is much more petite than Hazel, like handful size.  But that’s ok, Hazel is more the size of an actual hedgehog, and I like that.

I made Hazel out of a great printed vintage polyester shirt that Mum gave to me a while back.  It wasn’t the right style or shape for me, so i’m glad it’s been upcycled!

The purple and black ruffles are made from felt.  They took ages to sew on, I didn’t want to have any issues with a little person being able to pull them off and choke on them.

Hazel is in the post and on the way to Sofia now, I think they’re going to make very fine friends indeed!

I wanted soup.  Something bursting with greens.  Something healthy, light and tasty.  I had a head of broccoli and some home made chicken stock in the refrigerator, and after trawling my google reader feeds I came across Heidi’s recipe for Broccoli Cheddar Soup.  I used her recipe as inspiration and ended up with this magical green goodness.

I served it with a big dollop of organic yoghurt sprinkled with smoked paprika.  I imagine it would be great with Heidi’s recommended croutons, but we had cheese on toast instead, which was perfect in it’s simplicity.  The next day i reheated some for myself over the stove top, and poached an egg in it as it was warming through.  It was totally delicious, and added some welcome protein.  Enjoy!

10g unsalted butter

1 onion, finely chopped

2 sticks celery, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

300g podded broadbeans, blanched and peeled

1 head broccoli, cut into small pieces

1 bunch spinach, roughly chopped

1.25 litres chicken stock or water

1 bunch chives, finely chopped

40g grated cheddar cheese

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

salt and pepper, to taste

Melt the butter in a large pot over a medium heat.

Add the onion and celery and saute for a few minutes until soft, add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds.

Add the broadbeans, broccoli and chicken stock.

Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the broccoli is just cooked.

Turn off the heat and add the spinach.  Stir until wilted and combined with the rest of the soup.

Blend with an immersion blender until smooth.

Add the chives, cheddar cheese and smoked paprika and stir until the cheese is melted.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4

Rolled oats soaked in organic rice milk, topped with mango, stewed rhubarb and organic yoghurt.  I love the colours of this mornings breakfast, they’re so vibrant!

We’ve nicknamed this month NOvember.  We’re training 5 x a week, counting calories and eating really well.  We both feel great!  I suppose it’s a bit of a detox too, in a roundabout kind of way.

This giant 2 metre snake is heading to New Zealand, as a gift for someone’s 1 year old nephew.

For the moment he’s been making himself at home, hanging out at our place.

He’s been sitting on the back of our couch, keeping an eye on the kitchen, and occasionally slithering over the cushions to see whats happening outside.

My spec from the customer was that he wanted the snake big enough to fit around his nephew while he was sleeping, he wants him to wake up and get a fright.  Hopefully this doens’t instill a lifelong fear of snakes in the little guy!

I’m really happy with how I got the tongue and face to look this time!  Yuss!

Congratulations Mr and Mrs Stannard!

Here’s to your fairytale life together, happily ever after.

I hand embroidered these pillowcases as our wedding gift to the happy couple.  I hope they like them!

Today is my last day of my Frocktober challenge!  I can’t believe that i’ve managed to wear a dress everyday for 31 days, or that I own 31 dresses.  Eep!

We’re about to leave to go to our friends Candice and John’s wedding.  We’re both really looking forward to it!

This dress was given to me by Joh’s mother Fianach about 8 years ago.   It’s a lovely special occasion dress.

The sun and wind were really making these photos hard to take, hence the hilarious shot below.

Remember, if you would like to support the Australian Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation during the month of Frocktober you can.  Click here to donate.

My registration number is 539381.  (you can put the registration number in the final page of your paypal payment).