Posted by Sally SetsForth on Saturday, June 30, 2012,
Yes, it's that time of year again. Late nights watching bicycle wheels turn, close-ups of exhausted faces, tension-filled race finishes and lots of beautiful French scenery too. It's the Tour de France :)
My own race preparations have included:
Reviewing the TdF stages and dates to see which nights are going to be late ones
Clearing space on the hard drive recorder for the crucial mountain stages and time trials
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Saturday, June 30, 2012,
On a recent visit to East Point Reserve, I picked up a pretty shell and got quite a shock when this little fellow crawled out to say hello!
Tim is much braver than I am around creepy crawlies, so the photo is of his hand of course. It was quite fascinating to watch the hermit crab pop in and out of its shell, and explore Tim's hand freely. I filmed a short video of it, which I've uploaded so that you can watch it too :)
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Thursday, June 28, 2012,
A Christmassy/crafty post in June - why not? ;)
Each year for the last few years I've made little ornaments for my sisters' Christmas trees. Photos of some of my previous efforts are on Flickr HERE. For Christmas last year I didn't have much time to put something together, so I decided to make something I'd been wanting to try my hand at for a while - pom poms! It sounded so simple :)
I soon learned that there are a few important things to take into consideration when making yarn pom poms. The ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Wednesday, June 27, 2012,
Time for some poetry (another daily blogging challenge tradition!) -
Of pygmies, palms and pirates by Mervyn Peake
Of pygmies, palms and pirates, Of islands and lagoons, Of blood-bespotted frigates, Of crags and octoroons, Of whales and broken bottles, Of quicksands cold and grey, Of ullages and dottles, I have no more to say.
Of barley, corn and furrows, Of farms and turf that heaves Above such ghostly burrows As twitch on summer eves Of fallow-land and pasture, Of skies both pink and grey, I made my statem... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Wednesday, June 27, 2012,
While I was out walking this morning, I came across some startling red seeds amongst the leaf litter. I just had to collect a few, they were so pretty - hard, shiny and very colourful!
I asked a friend on Twitter - @lokilovesyou - who makes beautiful seed jewellery if she knew what they were called. She told me that the seeds are from Adenanthera pavonina, also known as the Red Bead Tree (fitting!), Saga Tree or Red Sandalwood.
I'm not sure yet if I'll try making jewellery with them in future. ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Wednesday, June 27, 2012,
I know, I know! You've been waiting *all year* for another instalment of vintage craft! Well, I try not to disappoint ;)
"Creative Needlework" (1974) by Jo Springer is another gem from my Mum's collection. It has some fantastic retro styling that is quite on-trend at the moment.
But then it starts getting a little iffy ...
Until eventually - dear God, won't someone please think of the children!?!?
Luckily, there are a couple of dapper chaps playing with model trains to rescue us all at the end ;)... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Tuesday, June 26, 2012,
It's been a while since I posted a recipe on this blog. This polenta dish is one of my favourite treats, inspired by a menu item served at Il Tempo in Melbourne's DeGraves Street.
This isn't an exact recipe, as it can vary depending on how much polenta and mushrooms I feel like on the night. But the sauce makes enough for 3 serves (or 2 very generous ones!). It's also a bit of a cheat's recipe, because I like to save time by using pre-cooked firm polenta rather than making it from scratch ;)
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Monday, June 25, 2012,
They take the title of "UFO capital of Australia" pretty seriously in Wycliffe Well, Northern Territory. In doing so, they've certainly set themselves apart from all of the other small localities that are dotted along the Stuart Highway, which tend to blend together in the memories of that long, long road trip.
It's a great place to stop and stretch your legs, grab some lunch and a beer, and buy some gorgeously tacky UFO souvenirs! The walls of the cafe are lined with newspaper reports of UFO ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Saturday, June 23, 2012,
There's something magical about watching the sun set over the water at Mindil Beach here in Darwin. The crowds on market nights make it a wonderful shared experience as we grab something yummy from the food and drink stalls and make our way to the beach to see what kind of show the sky will give us. Of course it's different every time, depending on the shapes of the clouds or the amount of smoke in the atmosphere (there are always fires burning somewhere nearby during the dry season).
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Friday, June 22, 2012,
A couple of years ago, my Mum was in hospital and I was planning to buy her some flowers. Then I remembered an online tutorial that I'd come across for making carnations using tissue paper. I'd never really been one for paper crafts before, but these were really pretty - they would last longer than real flowers, and my Mum would always know that they were made with love.
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Monday, June 18, 2012,
Hmm, I'm not doing a very good job of daily blogging this year. I took the weekend off, a much needed break :) But now I have some catching up to do!
So I'm going to start getting back on track with a post about my cat - of course, you should know by now to expect blog posts about Roxy on a fairly regular basis - and her YouTube stardom.
Perhaps I exaggerate when I say stardom, but although I've posted a few videos of Roxy on my YouTube channel, there's only one that's really taken off in terms... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Wednesday, June 13, 2012,
I have lots of photography and video apps on my iPhone. Most of them are free, though I've paid for a few too. They let me edit or play with photos or videos in ways that previously could only be done on a desktop or laptop computer - and sometimes in new ways altogether! Some apps try to do everything (crop, contrast, filters, frames, etc.) and others just focus on doing one thing well (panoramas, colour splash, stop motion).
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Monday, June 11, 2012,
Darwin has many beautiful beaches, though they are somewhat let down by the fact that you can't swim at any of them because of the ever-present dangers of crocodiles, sharks and stingers ...
But much of Darwin's coastline is also made up of mangroves and mudflats. Today we went for a walk along the Mangrove Boardwalk in East Point Reserve.
The mangroves have a strange beauty all of their own, and their complex root systems are fascinating. These photos were taken at low tide. The same scene wou... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Saturday, June 9, 2012,
This is just a "what I did today" post - they tend to be more prevalent during the #blogjune challenge ;)
In the morning we visited the Alawa shops to see the new location of Dragonfly Fabrics. They're Darwin's only specialist quilting shop, and have the most amazing selection of fabrics, especially Japanese designs. They also have lots of other embroidery and sewing goodies. And you can't go to Alawa without stopping in at Dimitrios Speciality Cakes for the most beautiful cakes and Greek past... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Friday, June 8, 2012,
I regularly monitor Twitter and other channels for news and developments related to accessibility in libraries and the broader community. I recently came across this YouTube video from the RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People) that explains the work of their National Library Service in the United Kingdom. I was so impressed by it - very professional with a clear communication of the library's value and how advocate on behalf of vision impaired readers. The contributions of some of t... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Friday, June 8, 2012,
We found a great place to rent in Darwin this time around. It's a 2-storey townhouse in a nice complex. It's expensive, but well located for public transport, shops, etc.
It just has a few little problems with electrical appliances ...
Fridge - The townhouse includes a fridge/freezer. It doesn't work. I put in a maintenance request when we moved in, but 5 weeks later (yes, 5 weeks!) it still hasn't been fixed. Luckily we have a bar fridge to tide us over while we're waiting but patience is wear... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Wednesday, June 6, 2012,
Everyone in Darwin had their winter woollies and long pants on today as they complained about the bitterly cold night we had just had. My colleagues wore scarves or shawls to ward off the chill. And there's no relief in sight for these poor folk - temperatures will be down all week ...
Yes, that's the week's forecast. In Darwin, that's a cold spell. I haven't re-acclimatised to the tropics yet, but even I woke up cold in the middle of the night and had to retrieve an extra coverlet from the cu... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Tuesday, June 5, 2012,
Manton Dam is located about 70km south of Darwin. It was constructed during World War II, as were many of Darwin's major infrastructure projects, and was Darwin's first reliable water supply. Now it's used as an emergency water source only - the rest of the time it's a popular recreation spot for boating and fishing, and a valuable conservation area.
The short walk to the dam wall is very pretty, and at its end you are rewarded with a lovely view of crashing water over the curved wall. You can... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Monday, June 4, 2012,
I'd never tried origami before this year, but in the space of a few months I picked up the bug! I bought a book on origami for beginners (oh alright, it's actually called Origami for Children), some lovely origami paper from a couple of Japanese shops in Melbourne, and an origami-a-day calendar for 2012. A friend of mine also gave me some origami paper that she'd bought in Japan.
My origami paper supplies are still boxed up in the craft room / home office - I can't wait to unpack them! - but I... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Sunday, June 3, 2012,
Last year my colleagues and I put together a fun library orientation program for students that involved treasure hunts, QR codes, animated videos and more. It was a great project to work on, and I've previously blogged about it HERE.
As part of the online version of the treasure hunt, we used video clips that I created with an online tool called Blabberize. They were silly, and they made students laugh - which was exactly the reaction we'd hoped for. They were also a hoot to play during the co... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Saturday, June 2, 2012,
I returned to Darwin at the end of April, and also to working on campus again after 6 months of working remotely from Melbourne. It's great to be back :)
On my first day back on campus, my fellow liaison librarians surprised me with a wonderful office makeover! How lucky I am to work with such amazing people, and to be welcomed back in such style!
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Friday, June 1, 2012,
Sally sets forth = sallysetsforth
I started using 'sallysetsforth' as my username for all things social and online in early 2009. Where did it come from? Well, ever since I first went online back in the '90s I've been calling myself sallyforth or a variation thereof. Usually a variation, because someone always seemed to snatch it up first!
I've always loved the term 'to sally forth'. I first heard it in a song from one of my all-time favourite musicals, The Pirates of Penzance, and was immediat... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Thursday, June 30, 2011,
Scraping in a final blog post just before midnight - this one takes me to a total of 30 posts in 30 days. Not quite blogging every day, but I'm glad I've been able to catch up and do 30 posts in the month of June.
It's been a bit of a mixed bag. I haven't always had the time or energy for insightful, engaging blog posts - but I hope the readers of this blog enjoyed at least some of my offerings during the month of June :)
For my final post, I don't have much to say except to tell you that I've ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Thursday, June 30, 2011,
Tim has been exercising his culinary muscles in the kitchen lately. I was very lucky earlier this week that he decided to whip up some potato gnocchi from scratch - it was utterly delicious :)
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Thursday, June 30, 2011,
♪ ♫ Madness, madness, they call it madness ♫ ♪
Madness were a little before my time. I first came across them through their appearances on the Young Ones, but didn't know their music well at the time it was released.
It was during my Uni days that I really discovered Madness and their music. I bought several CDs, including a fantastic imported singles collection from the now (sadly) defunct Gaslight Records store on Bourke St, Melbourne.
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Wednesday, June 29, 2011,
We flew down to Melbourne at Easter to buy a new (second-hand) car to drive back to Darwin. On the way, we collected our boat from the friend who was kindly looking after it for us. After doing a bit of maintenance work on the boat after it being in storage, we recently took it out on its maiden voyage in Darwin :)
We set out on a lovely Sunday afternoon from the Dinah Beach boat ramp in Stuart Park. The weather was just beautiful, and the water was calm. It was so great to get the boat on t... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Wednesday, June 29, 2011,
It's something of a tradition that I post a favourite piece of nonsense verse at some point during a daily blogging challenge. I've previously blogged Jabberwocky (Lewis Carroll) and On the Ning Nang Nong (Spike Milligan). I've even posted some of my own adolescent poetry :)
So here's another favourite:
Cinderella by Roald Dahl
I guess you think you know this story. You don't. The real one's much more gory. The phoney one, the one you know, Was cooked up years and years ago, And made to sound all so... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Tuesday, June 28, 2011,
I originally posted this in the Recipe Box page on my website, but I'm now turning it into a blog post too for those who only access my site via their RSS readers :)
This is a recipe I came up with myself for a simple and colourful beetroot risotto. I first made it in Melbourne, where we had prolific rosemary bushes to call on. A dollop of yoghurt or sour cream on top would go very nicely too.
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Tuesday, June 28, 2011,
A beautiful hibiscus flowering in our garden.
One of these days I'm going to set up my tripod early in the morning and do some time lapse photography of a hibiscus opening up to greet the sun. It's one of my favourite sights from the kitchen window each morning :)
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Saturday, June 25, 2011,
This evening we went along to India at Mindil - a cultural festival featuring food, music and dancing that was held at Mindil Beach.
To be honest, I was underwhelmed. We bought palak paneer from one of the food stalls, and found it to be distinctly less than hot - so much so that we worried about the food safety aspect. It was a bit of a measly serve too. We made up for it with a yummy fruit shake, but in that case were let down by poor customer service.
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Thursday, June 23, 2011,
Do you ever forget how good you are at your job?
I do. But today I had a nice little reminder.
A researcher needed help to locate a health questionnaire that had been published in a journal. She'd made some headway, but was stumped when it came to finding the full-text. I took her through a few steps about finding out which database holds a particular journal in full-text, how to navigate through a journal's archive to find an article, using the reference list in an article to locate source doc... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Wednesday, June 22, 2011,
A colleague of mine recently took part in a retro dinner party, where all of the food had to be popular dishes from the 50s and 60s. We had a marvellous conversation on this topic, dredging up all kinds of memories of foods of the era that we'd seen in films or on television, but especially from our own recipe collections. It was this conversation that inspired us to make blancmange this week :)
During our discussion, I reminisced about a set of old Weight Watchers recipe cards that my Mum onc... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Tuesday, June 21, 2011,
Today I attended a forum called "Finding Solutions: Assistive Technology in Education, Training & Employment for People with Disability or Learning Difficulties", organised by the National Disability Coordination Office Program and held at Charles Darwin University.
Accessibility is an area that I've long held an interest in and felt strongly about, so I was really glad to have the opportunity to attend this forum and learn more about what is being done in education, and what *can* be done - e... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Monday, June 20, 2011,
Tonight we found ourselves with a litre or so of milk that was about to hit its due date. While pondering what to do with it, I remembered a recipe that I'd been wanting to try for ages - blancmange!
A couple of years ago, I bought some of Mrs Beeton's recipe books - reissues, or rather modernisations, of recipes from her famous book of household management that had been converted to current measurements. One of them focused on puddings and desserts, and had a section on old-fashioned rice and... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Saturday, June 18, 2011,
Ever since our last #blogeverydayofjune adventure I've been meaning to post another instalment of vintage craft :)
Last time I blogged about one of my favourite vintage craft books, "Crafts for Fun and Profit". That book is part of my own craft book collection, but originally belonged to my Mum. Today's book is one that my Mum has hung on to - I took these photos when I visited at Christmas.
The book is called "Celebrity Needlepoint" (1972) by Joan Scobey and Lee Parr McGrath. It doesn't have a... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Thursday, June 16, 2011,
I love discovering fun online tools, especially when they're free :)
Dumpr is a photo and image editing tool that I came across at the beginning of the year. It has some really nice effects available. A few of the effects that used to be free are now part of their paid "pro" package, but there are still enough free ones to make it worthwhile checking out.
I especially like the Amazing Circles effect. It doesn't work well with every image, you'll have to try a few to find out for yourself which ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Thursday, June 16, 2011,
I really like the Library Minute videos produced by Arizona State University Libraries, featuring librarian Anali Perry. They have a wonderfully light touch, are visually interesting and professional looking, and manage to impart plenty of information (but not too much!) in the space of a single minute.
Have you seen them? If not, do be sure to check out their YouTube channel. Here's one of my favourites:
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Tuesday, June 14, 2011,
I consider myself fortunate to work in a small but energetic team of liaison librarians at Charles Darwin University (CDU), and I love that new ideas for providing innovative and relevant services to our clients are encouraged here. This year we created a fun activity that incorporated library orientation, mobile technologies, learning about our on-campus and online students, promotion, and activity-based learning.
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Monday, June 13, 2011,
I promised that I'd do another blog post featuring Darwin sunsets, so here it is :)
Last Sunday, we decided to get some hot chips and help ourselves to a sunset view at Nightcliff jetty. It turns out we weren't the only ones who had the same idea - it was absolutely packed! But there was enough coastline and enough sunset for everyone, so we eventually found somewhere to park the car and pulled out the picnic blanket to enjoy the view.
I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking (larger ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Monday, June 13, 2011,
Last year I blogged about trying kumihimo (Japanese braiding) for the first time.
Since then, I've bought supplies and set to work making a number of braids using this technique. I find it very enjoyable and relaxing, and easy to do while travelling or watching TV. I've learnt about colour combinations and patterns, and my technique is definitely improving.
I'm planning to use these braids to create bracelets. I've bought the jewellery findings, but turning the braids into "wearable art" is a w... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Saturday, June 11, 2011,
Today we went along to the Greek Glenti festival, held each year in the parklands alongside the Esplanade in Darwin. It was a much bigger event than I had imagined. There were lots of very busy food stalls selling souvlaki, yiros, octopus, oysters, spanakopita, moussaka, honey puffs, baklava, and a whole lot of other sweets that I don't know the names of. Music was playing in the central stage area, and kids in traditional costumes were dancing. And somewhat to my surprise, there were carniva... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Friday, June 10, 2011,
The internet is made of cats.
Therefore, whenever I upload a video of my cat I am strengthening the foundations of the internet - yes? Just performing a community service really :)
String. It gets Roxy pretty excited sometimes.
If the video is too small, you can expand it to full screen or view it on my YouTube channel HERE.
If you want more kitty goodness, I've added all of my videos of Roxy (I mean, contributions to the foundations of the internet) to this YouTube playlist.
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Thursday, June 9, 2011,
On May 26, the ALIA Top End group held its annual Library & Information Week dinner, which was combined with the presentation of the 2011 ALIA NT Recognition Award. A great night was had by all :)
This was the second year that the ALIA NT Recognition Award was, well, awarded. A'Mhara Russell from the NT Department of Health Library was named as the winner, for her innovative use and promotion of Web 2.0 technologies in the library.
I was really impressed by the achievements of all of the nomine... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Wednesday, June 8, 2011,
There will be actual library-related posts appearing during this month, but they're all in draft form and awaiting further attention. In the meantime, please enjoy this offering.
With thanks to my colleague Julie for sending this my way :)
Dustin McLean's literal video version of Tears For Fears' "Head Over Heels". Strange goings-on in the library ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Wednesday, June 8, 2011,
The wonderful and oh-so-talented author Diana Wynne Jones passed away earlier this year on 26 March 2011. She'll be sorely missed. Her works will live on in the hearts and on the bookshelves of her readers. I am one of those readers, and this post is my small way of thanking her for enriching my reading life.
I'm actually not a big fan of either fantasy fiction or young adult fiction. But the most notable exceptions to the rule are, strangely, where the two genres intersect. Some of my favouri... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Tuesday, June 7, 2011,
I didn't really intend for this month's blog posts to be of the "what I did today" variety. Mostly because a mixture of the wet season, assignments, work and tiredness over the last few months have meant that I don't usually do very much that's worth reporting on. But now that the semester is over, assignments are finished, work is settling down and the weather is so much better, I'm finding that I'm getting out and about a bit more. And since the original intent of this blog was to keep my f... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Sunday, June 5, 2011,
You can't spend all of your time studying - sometimes you need to get out and remind yourself that there's life away from the computer. On Saturday I pined for the beautiful day outside while I was stuck in the study, but when evening approached it was time to take a break and get some fresh air.
Tim and I decided to get some dinner at Cullen Bay, but first we stopped off at the boat ramp near the Darwin Ski Club in Fannie Bay. Checking out boat ramps is a regular activity for us, especially... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Sunday, June 5, 2011,
I just submitted my final assignment for the semester. Huge feeling of relief. It was almost a week late, due to an awful combination of illness and fatigue. But I finally got it done.
Illness aside, I wish I knew a way to study that didn't involve massive disruption to everything else in my life. Last minute/day/week assignment panic. All those days and nights where I think I will finish the thing, then discover (or simply decide) that there's lots more still to do - those darn perfectionist ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Friday, June 3, 2011,
I have an assignment to finish, so I'm copping out a bit tonight by posting a recipe. But hopefully you will love it so much that you'll forgive me ;)
Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) is a regular dish at our place. It's so simple and delicious. And it's popular too :) It was the first recipe I ever added to my Recipe Box page, and in fact was the reason that I originally created the page, as it was easier than emailing the recipe to everyone that asked for it!
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Thursday, June 2, 2011,
This is the blog post where I gloat about the beautiful weather in Darwin :)
While you've all been enjoying spring, summer and autumn, here in Darwin we had the build-up (also known as the suicide season because the weather is *that* bad) and the wet season (along with a record-breaking 3 metres of rain!).
But now that you're all turning the heaters on for winter, it's Darwin's turn to shine. The dry season.
About a month ago, the weather in Darwin turned and the dry season arrived. The transiti... Continue reading ...
Posted by Sally SetsForth on Wednesday, June 1, 2011,
Glutton for punishment that I am, I have decided to participate once again in the challenge to blog every day of June.
My blog's been pretty quiet this year due to a multitude of reasons. But I have been jotting down my thoughts and activities every now and then, and my drafts folder has been growing and growing. So although I certainly won't have an excess of spare time on my hands in June, I figured this was a good push to get some of those drafts out there - and then you all might have a bi... Continue reading ...
