Catching up...

I've been a terribly neglectful blogger.

 The surgery knocked me around a bit.  I ended up with an infection in my right leg and a trip to emergency, all of which has not been fun. I had all the stitches out this week at last although I'm on another round of antibiotics and still have to wear a dressing on my leg so no baths for me sadly. My left leg is good although I think I'll end up heading the posterior compartment released at some stage. The scarring will be minimal due to the keyhole surgery, the actual cuts go from knee to ankle.

I've been struggling terribly with a spot of plantar fascitis (the condition is a bitch to treat effectively) but besides that my leg pain is gone. It's very strange, my body keeps tensing waiting for the pain and being able to walk differently takes a lot of getting used to!

                                  
One happy leg

We've just under a month before we leave for Leipzig. We're frantically clearing out the house, selling  and donating bits and pieces. It's quite a large job, especially once you start selling off furniture and end up living out of boxes and using the laundromat. But it's all part of the adventure!

 Getting rid of my succulents, I really enjoyed finding the little teapots and teacups

I did my last preserving class in Australia. It was a great day and there was quite a haul (apologies for a somewhat blurry phone pic):

Besides that I've just been busy organising our last few Green Renters events and workshops and making door snakes. I was hopeful of taking a finished hexagon quilt to Germany but it will have to be completed there. 

Here's one of the vegan Portuguese custard tarts I made this week.I'll be serving them as part of morning tea at our vegan masterclass this weekend.

On the mend and Food for Thought

Bit of a weird week this week. I went to see the vascular surgeon on Wednesday after seeing the specialist physio the week before. Thursday morning I got a call, I was booked in for surgery the following day! I had a bilateral fasciotomy to treat compartment syndrome. It's basically a condition where one's lower legs feel chronic pain or tightness and the only way to treat it is to cut the fascia vertically. I've tried a lot of other treatment (including six pairs of orthotics) and it's such a relief to be accurately diagnosed and treated. I won't post a link about the surgery as they all involve pictures which don't look great!

                                                 

Due to my limited finances I was able to do it as day surgery which was great as I didn't have to stay overnight in hospital.  I  had a weird reaction coming out of the anaesthetic and had to be sedated. Oops. The pain is now manageable thanks to the painkillers though I have to keep the dressing on for a week. I'm actually teaching workshops everyday this week, luckily I can do it sitting down and I've got some helpers for part of the week!

 If you are in the area, come visit me at Victoria Gardens Shopping Centre between 12pm and 1:30pm next week! I'll be teaching ways a few different things:

   

Tuesday	Jam and chutney making
Wednesday	Love leftovers, reduce food waste
Thursday	Introduction to pickling
Friday	Container and small space gardening
Saturday	Container and small space gardening
Sunday	Jam and chutney making

Here's a few things that are holding my attention this week:

How amazing are these flowers? Hard to believe they are made out of paper!

Loving these images of children's reference books in the 1970's. 

I'm teaching a vegan roast masterclass in June as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival's June Roast series. You can find out more about it herehttp://greenrenters.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=470. I was interviewed by a journo from The Age about it earlier in the week so hopefully it'll get enough bookings to run. By the way if anyone has a good source for vital gluten flour, let me know! I've rang many health food shops and am struggling to find it IRL stores (I like to give everyone info on where to find things). 

I love the idea of visible mending but unfortunately most of my clothes are a bit too far gone by the time I get to it. I even included some works of it in an exhibition I curated a few years ago:

 Tom of Holland has some great imagery and resources that are fantastic!

Love this interview with Mirka Mora on Design Files. Such a wonderful woman.

Stephen King's Top 20 Rules for writers.

I love the good work of Defy Ventures

Laura Kemp's 9 Reasons why I love Chic Lit.