I wouldn’t consider myself much of a shopper – in fact, there is little I hate more than going shopping (unless it’s book or craft shopping, that’s not shopping). I’m very much a ‘do my research at home and go in and get exactly what I decided on’ kind of shopper – or better yet I shop online. As such, bargains are rarely a surprise.

But even I have to share this bargainy shopping day.

I went into Spotlight to pick up some linen for my next cross stich (come on end of backstitching!) and walked right into their end of season yarn sale. Oops? I’m innocent I swear!

Anyways, I managed to find the linen I needed (first time buying linen, I had no idea) and at $61.94 a metre I was more than a little concerned about getting the right kind so I asked everyone who would listen to me. Thankfully, the amount I needed came to about $25.

Then I had to grab a few balls of basic acrylic yarn for some phone covers I wanted to make (photos to follow) so that came to $8.70.

I picked up a new knitting bag as the green enviro bag I’ve been toting mine in is getting a little ragged… $30. (by the way, if I get to the end of this post and write “the cost of crafting… priceless”, I can’t be held responsible).

Oh! and then they had the Moda Vera sock yarn on display (normally $11/ball) and, well, a few fell into my bag.

So, for those playing along at home (how much do I want to host my own game show right now?

Linen $25

Bag    $30

Acrylic wool $8.70

Sock yarn $120 (*gulp*)

That comes to a whopping $183.70 – enough to get be rebanned from Spotlight for life. Ah! Until you take into consideration that the bag was half price… and the $11 sock wool? marked down to… $2. Oh, and I had Christmas vouchers… so my bag of goodies came to a total of $19.70.

Yes… I think that’s a pretty good bargain, don’t you?

Once upon a time*, I bought a pair of shoes. They were not the flashiest of shoes (though they definitely bright), nor the most expensive (if memory serves I paid $7 for them). They were not the most fashionable shoes, and god know they weren’t the most subtle. But they were my shoes and I loved them.

I wore these shoes near every day - at home (“oh Bec, they’re dorky even for you”), and at work (“We’ve got a sub.” “Which one?” “The one with the crazy shoes”). They were my go-to shoes. Need to run to the shops? I got them. Going to Melbourne to meet your favourite actor? I got ‘em!** Need to go to a wedding? I... got em? Yeah I did... Like I said, I wore then nearly every day. Which meant they went on nearly every one of my 365 photo travels. They were even photographed themselves.

They got dampened in innumerable rivers, meandered through orchards, gleefully skipped through the zoo, and jumped the fence to, uh, soon-to-be-demolished houses. They came with me to buy my first DSLR, on my first trip to a skate park, and my first after-hours school function. They carried me through several trips to Sydney, to learn piano, and see Shakespeare in the Park.

I’ll admit, I became complacent in our relationship. As the shoes moulded to my feet, I flagrantly ignored the splitting of their sides. I refused to see the tearing away of their fabrics. I chose to ignore the feel of pebbled sidewalks under my theoretically not bare feet. When puddles emerged I avoided them – not because it was what my mother taught me, but because I knew it would force me to acknowledge the simple truth that my shoes let in more water than a boat made of swiss cheese.

But then it happened.

I made one step too far. One step too heavy on an already unstable surface. It was a choice poorly made, a choose that could not be undone. I stepped... in the mud.

(photo by an unnecessarily cheerful Bethany)

Was this it? Did this mark the end of my shoe’s longevity? Was this to be their unremarkable fate? To die in service of my photographic roving, sure, but to die like this? Immersed in mud and murky water? Surely they could saved?

But, alas, they could not. Despite a methodical rinse in a car park puddle, followed by a frantic exposure to our front yard hose (knowing full well my mother’s keen eyes would not allow them to cross the threshold), the brightness of their canvas could not be restored.

I knew in my heart they were gone. It was a hard weight to carry, but worse yet was the knowledge that they must one day be replaced. A time would have to come when a new pair of shoes would rise to the station of ‘every day shoes’. It would be they that would accompany me on adventures both big and small, mundane and unique, sunny and hopefully not muddy.

Hoping that a hastening in this inevitable day would lessen the pain of my heart, I stalwartly moved forward to collect these new shoes. And it is this new shoes that I give up for offering to you today.

They are not as noble nor as experienced as their predecessor, but they are youthful and enthusiastic. It is my hope that these traits will prevail in the forthcoming days.

RIP Rainbow Shoes.

You will be missed.

*26th September, 2009 if you must know

** Okay, I’m not over this yet, I’ll link to this whenever I can.

Normally I love a good bout of rain – we live in a drought, any rain is good! I love the sound. I love the smell. I love listening to a storm. I even like going for a bit of a walk in the rain.

Having said that, I do not like it when it rains at this time of the year. It’s hot and muggy, the water feels sticky and everything seems damp and musty.

Last week, however, we had a pretty impressive storm that made all the negatives bearable. The thunder was booming and the lightning truly cracked. And best of all? The sky was orange. Really really orange. Jump up and run outside in your pyjamas to take a photo orange.

I had always intended this blog to be my main, general blog – with heavy leanings towards craft and photography. Unfortunately, owing mostly to my own bad habits, this has not been the case. I like to have some photos to go along with my posts … but I’m rather slow on the processing front.

Because of this, I have two main blogging goals for 2011, with the second being heavily dependant on the first.

1. Be far more diligent in my photo editing and thereby avoiding the backlog. I’m intending to edit at least twice a week. Tuesdays and Fridays for those in a position to give me a nudge.
2. Blog more. Pretty simple.

Let’s see how I go!

January

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Just wanted to wish shutterboo a very happy birthday and all the best for your upcoming non-grown-up year!

While I was at uni, most of my mornings were spent running out the door for the early bus – if I was really lucky, I’d have a piece of toast in my hand as I ran, but it wasn’t often. As such, I usually scraped my hair back into a quick ponytail or bun as I went down the hill. On the days I was a little ahead of schedule, I’d pull it back into a quick braid at the bus stop. Basically whatever was quickest won.

Now that I’ve got a little more time (to actually brush it properly if nothing else), I’ve gone back to pinning back the front à la Dr. Quinn - except not as pretty, because come on, no one has hair like this woman.

Anyways, doing this has taught me two very important things:

1) Bethany has pilfered an awful lot of my hair clips over the years; and

2) the ones I have left have an awful tendency to go missing without a dedicated place to put them.

And so began a session of my favourite kind of crafting: problem solving craft. And because I’ve rambled on enough, I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

• Tudor Nametags

• Hair Clip Board
• Alice in Wonderland Charm Bracelet

One of the things I wanted to do for 2010 was consolidate some of my blogging. I had branched out to the point where I had several blogs dedicated to different topics (yes, blog junkie) – and this was impossible to maintain. So while I’m still keeping my book and fandom blog as is, A Bowerbird’s Nest will now be home to both my crafting and photography adventures.

I’m also intending to make Nest my main home on the net – having been inspired by the many wonderful blogs Renae keeps finding and getting us addicted to – so don’t be surprised if it is more general in topics on occasion.

This page serves as a sort of address book, or calling card, for myself. I spend a lot of time online and make friends here and there, it makes things easier to have a central link list.

Books and Reading
~ Just One More Page (blog)
~ Goodreads
~ The Silk Ribbon (tumblr)

Fandom
~ Believe in the Unbelievable (blog)
~ Fanfiction.net
~ Dare to Dream (tumblr)

Craft
~ A Bowerbird’s Nest (blog)
~ Ravelry
~ Craftster

Photography and Art
~ A Bowerbird’s Nest (blog)
~ Flickr
~ deviantART

Contact

~ email: rebeccajohnson47 (at) gmail (dot) com
~ twitter: rebeccavoy
~ msn: becka_50 (at) hotmail (dot) com
~ skype: rebeccavoy

Ever since I was a little girl my mother has had certain names for me. She’d look over my squirreling tendencies and call me a ‘pack rat’, she’d see me rescue cardboard boxes and coffee tins from the kitchen and call me a ‘hoarder’, and, best of all, when she’d see me swoop in on something pretty or shiny, she’d call me a ‘bowerbird’.

For those not in the know, a bowerbird is an Australian bird who, in an attempt to attract their mate, collects any number of blue shiny objects to take back and decorate their nest… it was an apt description of me then and now.

Now my bowerbird tendencies surface in many forms, but more than anything else in my crafting. While I do enjoy my crafting in it’s various forms, I find that I haven’t had the motivation of late to pick anything up. This blog is my attempt to remedy that… and I’m hoping to entice some friends of mine to play along with me (hint hint).