The Harvest Festival

With the run of warm weather we've been having it's hard to believe that winter is nearly here. Our annual harvest festival seems to be getting bigger each year. As well as soup and pumpkins there were also pizzas, preserves, cheeses and wines.  There was lantern making and face painting and drum lessons, story telling and dancing. There was the annual veggie sculpture which is always a great display of creativity. But I didn't really see any of it as I was so busy setting up and running the craft stall. I couldn't properly capture the 'tree' I made out of a branch of our neighbour's fejoia tree, for displaying handmade (& knitted!) necklaces. Despite what I considered the aesthetic success of the tree-as-display-stand, it didn't work very well as an actual showcase. The necklaces only sold once I took them off and put them front and centre on the table. As always it was interesting to see what did and didn't sell.  Elizabeth made a bundle of poi in great fabrics and they walked out the door.  Wooden Mine Craft figures that hadn't sold at the fete were incredibly popular today. Scarves and beanies did well, as always, but hand knitted jumpers didn't do much business, even at the absolutely bargain basement price of $12. Admittedly many were in small sizes that wouldn't fit school age kids and all had been donated by various grandmas. We rely on the kindness and productivity of these women, many of whom are only peripherally linked with our school. They make the bulk of the beanies and scarves and countless bags, knitted teddies and other goodies that form the backbone of our stall. 

I had the heartbreaking task of telling a little girl that the 10c she proffered wouldn't cover the $10 price tag on her chosen item. She looked in confusion at the number 10 on the coin and back at me as I tried to explain the difference. 

Martina made beautiful patchwork scarves out of old jumpers and did an equally beautiful job selling them off. Sarah bought up big and then dropped her bag and smashed a jar of beet root preserves that was also in it. Why did it have to be beet root? Clear popular winner of the day was the $1 lucky dip which we used to move some items that have been lingering round the stall for a few fetes and festivals now - mostly badges and brooches and other little things. 

Poor Lily found the day a bit exhausting. By late afternoon she'd had enough and the uncomfortable plastic chair was as good as it was going to get for a nap. Next year no doubt she'll be racing around as a little preppie herself but today she didn't leave my side. It was nice to have her there. 

Tiny happy people

I've become a little bit obsessed with these tiny little wooden dolls lately. It's something about the very easy versatility of the wooden form - a few dots and a dash, there's a face, a lick of paint for a dress. It's also something about the little scraps of felt or lace or linen that it takes to make them undressable.  Nothing is quite so frustrating as a glued-on hat to a child. But truthfully it's just the tinyness of it all. I'm rediscovering my lifelong love of the titchy tiny, a love I had largely shelved until I had children.  Nina's thrill over (for example) the mini toothpaste you get given on airplanes, reminds me of my first visit to Southeast Asia and where I discovered pharmacies full of tiny products - mini shampoos and tiny packets of band aids and single cough drops for sale.  I can't really explain why these things are appealing. I can't understand myself why I can spend hours sewing a tiny red linen cape lined in grey with a tiny buttonhole, when I often can't be bothered measuring things properly. Why do I like cutting out tiny autumn leaves, or making miniature cucumber sandwiches but hate making sure my lines are straight? One sort of attention to detail I am all over, the other totally not. 

Monsieur Aubergine and other Vegetable Creations

We grew this bizarre eggplant in the garden. Nina decorated him for the now-annual vegetable sculpture competition at the Harvest Festival. He was so naturally fabulous he didn't need much adornment but check out some of the other vegie creations.

Aren't they great?

Harvest Festival

We had our school's annual Harvest Festival on Sunday. Last year I was in Hong Kong so I missed it. It was pretty hectic setting up the craft stall and trying to keep track of the kids - Craig had taken Ruby to the netball to see the Vixens defeat Central Pulse so I was on my own for most of it. The crafting community at the school is particularly lovely and generous, with time and skills and donations of beautiful goods. I hardly got any photos, but we did come home with a few crafty goodies made by talented folk. The choir performed their usual eclectic selection of songs, an enormous mound of pumpkins walked out the door under arms, god-knows-how-many gallons of pumpkin soup was consumed and I'm pleased to say that all my little felt veggies sold, as well as an astonishing number of beanies and scarves (thanks for the cold day Melbourne). Lily tried and failed to smash that jaffa, I had some truly delicious cheese and left five and a half hours later thoroughly exhausted.

Snowbabies

The weather isn't that cold yet (and in Melbourne it never will be).  But who can resist snowball babies? Made out of old jumpers and scraps of felt, with little knitted shawls.  For the harvest festival of course.

Leaves, Nuts, Seeds

Gum nut babies, gum leaf babies, seed pod babies.  Made from wool felt, yarn and old wool jumpers.  For the harvest festival.

Spuds

At some point I'll run out of vegetables to make but right now I can't seem to stop. The cuteness is killing me. I think these are my favourites so far.

Eggplants

I haven't stopped at pumpkins. The cuteness is rampant round these parts....

The Great Pumpkin

I was a huge Peanuts fan when I was a kid and I especially loved Linus, whose devotion to the Great Pumpkin survived yearly disappointments. I've been making a pumpkin patch of my own for sale at the harvest festival.





Cute? Or too cute?