Gumnut babies

It has been so cold in Melbourne these last few days. It hasn't helped my cold. My wheezing sounds like a rusty spray can being shaken. The BOM says it's currently around 10 degrees, which is a heatwave compared to the 7.2 degrees at midday yesterday.

I get extremely cold. Even in the office. My head gets really cold. Especially because there is no protective layer of skin to keep it warm - my protective layer is constantly shedding. So I wear a hat. Even in the office. It's an equal combination of keeping warm and avoiding hat hair.

Someone told me I look like a Gumnut Baby today. You know, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie by May Gibbs. Cute compliment!

Here is what Gumnut Babies look like.

And here is what I looked like today.


I am wearing a hat my parents bought me from Tasmania - it is hand felted and knitted.

Perhaps it does make me look like a Gumnut Baby? With suitably more clothes, of course.

And this is the closest I've come to wearing a suit in a long time:
Skirt by Brown Sugar circa 1985 from Mum's wardrobe
Top by Target (over merino jumper from Glassons)
Tweed jacket by Target via op shop in Tasmania (it has awesome floral patchwork detail on the bottom)
Button down leggings OVER stockings
Shoes by Myer
Necklace by Oh Deer
Brooch via Esty (it's a felted nest with blue pearl eggs inside).

I usually wear a lot of grey in winter, well, all year round, really, but lately I've taken to wearing this camel coloured skirt (it's wool and super warm) with other camel coloured clothes. It's ever since I bought the Fauxpard Jacklet from Target (because it goes with camel!).

Sometimes I wonder whether I should do more outfit posts on this blog. My colleagues know I blog so I could easily ask them to photograph me. But then I wonder if it would detract from the intended substance of this blog. Not that I am highbrow all the time... What do you think? More outfit posts?

In completely unrelated news, but it did make me think of (and surprisingly yearn for) some warm weather - me and Business Chic are going to see Bon Jovi in December. I got tickets tonight. El-cheapo ones, which literally mean row x, but that's the price you've gotta pay when you were too young to appreciate these sort of bands in your youth. I told you, I got a male bogan gene.

I can't wait to sing my heart out to this. Like a male bogan. I wish I had big hair.

(Check out Keri Russell in the clip! She has big hair.)



I love music videos of the 90s. When they still told stories. And werent full of half naked, gyrating women. The women in this clip are far classier than that, despite still being half naked.

And on that note, proving that the topics within Radio Carly are really sometimes irrelevant, goodnight. Who would have thought May Gibbs would feature alongside Jon Bon Jovi.

Hospital badge

When I used to stay at the Royal Children's hospital, there was always such great things to do.

I went to school there - I did maths and English, but I also made a lot of crafty things.

I remember doing heaps of Garfield artwork on a very advanced computer program for 1989. I think it may have even been on an Apple Mac. I'd make a lot of comic strip type stories cutting and pasting pictures of Garfield and friends into scenes. If anyone remembers the name of the game, please let me know.
(Edit - Wikipedia - the ever reliable source - says: 'There is a computer program called "Scholastic's Comic Book Maker Featuring Garfield" which allows users to make their own Garfield comics by using different characters, objects, and scenery from the strip'.)

I went to the zoo once, all bandaged up and in a wheelchair.

I watched a lot of Lift Off and Round the Twist. Brilliant ABC kids TV shows.

Mum bought me Paul Jennings, Roald Dahl and Pollyanna books, and she and I would read them.

And I met children's author Morris Gleitzman.

I learnt a lot in hospital, and despite the pain of it all, I enjoyed it there. I felt safe away from teasing, and I enjoyed being around people who seemed to value me. As mentioned, school was difficult for me so hospital was a bit of a safe-haven and a chance for me to be myself. I even made some lifelong friends there.

Each stay in hospital, I'd make a badge. The pink ladies would have a badge making machine set up occasionally, and we could choose any picture in the world to put inside the badge.

I found this tonight when I was hunting for things to make into brooches.

(Excuse the photo quality - my Canon Ixus is flat from all the dinner/brooch photos so it's another iPhone not-so-special.)

I used to treasure this - my May Gibbs blossom babies name badge.

I know the hospital has changed a lot. There are laptops for kids to use - with internet access! I used to queue for the pay phone! Adolescents are allowed to come and go. And there seems to be a lot more social support services.

But I really hope they still have the badge making machine. I know it was the best part of my stay.

I like rediscovering things from years ago.