Christmas is coming and in most years it seems to sneak up on me from behind and wollop me over the head before I have a chance to duck. This year I am determined not to let that happen, if at all possible. So I have started making pressies for everyone at work. This is not as easy as it should be. If I chose my favourite work people and gave them really good pressies the others would be, well maybe not jealous, lets just say they would make life a bit more difficult than it already is. So I want to give every one more or less something similar, all for a few dollars and a bit of time cross stitching, painting, stamping and assembling.

I will also have to do nice things for the relatives. Some handmade cards, a few pressies. Of course the daughter wants something with Dr. Who. At least that makes choosing something easier. I refuse to give the grandsons any more toys or clothing. Wading through their room is hard enough as it is without adding to it. Books for them. Not rocket science that one.

The old person only wants clothing. Sack cloth should do there.

My sister and her son will need something nice. Maybe I could get away with Dr. Who for her as well and a book for her boy. If I get her something I feel obligated to get my other sister something, and that is a large pond to swim in as well.

There are a few other relatives, eg. my father and his wife and my aunt. I will be a very busy person. And I am going to photograph all projects and post them on here. After Christmas.

The garden is pottering along. Still. I saw an interesting concept on Gardening Australia yesterday that I liked (okay I watched it again today, I was cross stitching, okay?) to do with charcoal, fish emulsion and soil/sand. So I am thinking I might experiment myself with some corn. I used to have much success when I lived in Whyalla with just soil, kooch grass and horse manure, so if it grew in that (did I mention kooch grass?), it should grow even better with this stuff. Gotta find some charcoal.

I love compost. I love making it, I love turning it, and I love using it in my garden. However, as the old person has never made it etc., before, he doesn't believe in it. He will end up in it the rate he is going. Anyhow, one useful thing in compost, at some stage in the proceedings is to use waste paper. Best thing to do, is lay the paper down, water it, pile the organic matter to be composted onto it, add some manure (in our case horse but any kind is good) and mix it in. Then cover it over with some plastic (in our case, old horse feed bags) and leave it cook for, oh, about a month to six weeks. I turn it every two weeks.

Waste paper can be ripped up old phone books, newspaper, misprints from your fax/printer etc., but even though colour on newspaper is okay, I don't use glossy paper unless I know for sure they are made from recycled paper. So unfortuneately junk mail is, to the most extent, not used. However, on the topic of waste paper, it can also be used for papier mache so don't be in too much of a hurry to turf it all into the compost and you can use glossy mags/junk mail. This is a recycling area quite large if you want it to be. You need more time than money. Haha.

For glue, although there are a ton of flour recipes on the internet, I prefer PVA glue mixed half and half with warm water. PVA glue is more expensive, but if you are using your papier mache for art it is a much better choice. You can colour the PVA glue with acrylic paint, the stuff you can wash out with water.

When you soak the paper, don't throw the water on your vegetable garden, but on your flowers or lawn. The vegetable gardens can get water elsewhere, but your lawn doesn't get much water at all.

You can make a real pulp for this by using your stick blender (use a separate one to your kitchen stick blender). You can add almost anything to this, including glitter. Shape it around your base or armature.

Anyhow that is your bloomin' lot for today. chuckle.