Awesomesauce

I'm awesome. I must be.  I got me an award.  Ashley from over at Misty Mountain Designs nominated me for the Readers Appreciation Award!  Woooo!! Everybody dance now!!

Anyway, thanks very much Ashely, you're also awesome.  Let's make a club!  Also, I see your memory of My Grandmotherly Ways, and raise you a Geoknitology!

Everybody, go check out and follow Ashley right now, if you know what's good for you!

This award comes with rules, which, to be frank takes a bit of the fun out of getting an award eh? :P  Those rules are:

1. thank the person that nominated you [check]  (what kind of black hearted person wouldn't do this anyway?)
2. answer 10 questions.  Well, I'm going to cheat here, becuase these questions look to be about the same as those for the Sunshine Award, and I've answered them here.  So please check that out if you want to know all about my hopes and dreams :3
3. nominate some other bloggers. 

Ok, Imma try to nominate peeps I haven't before.  But see here, here and here for other cool bloggers whose blogs I really really love.   It doesn't mean I don't love these peeps any less, but I'm just spreading the love ;)

• One Grey Elephant
• A Tad Plaid
• Ginx Craft
• Granny's World
• Good Enough
• Yarn Berry
• Plutonium Muffins

The hunt for the ultimate Melbourne CBD eggs benedict: Urban Deli

Last week took us to one of those mega cafes that feed the masses of Melbourne.  Urban Deli has ample outside dining and also some space inside for a nice sit down breakfast.

Dining Date: 17 Oct

Location: Urban Deli
121 Exhibition St
Melbourne, VIC 3000
Ph: 03 9662 9003

I forgot to take a pic of the menu, but I promise it was the usual fare.  I'd been to Urban Deli many times for coffee and lunch, but never for Eggs Benny, so it was about time to try it out!

Individual ratings:
Tanya:  5.5/10

Base: Turkish bread.  Nice enough, not too crunchy.
Eggs:  Cooked perfectly.
Sauce:  Nice, but similar to a few we've been too.  I suspect it is premade, but it had an extra little vinegar-y edge to it.  Not terrible, but unusual. 
Ham:  Fine.  You really can't go wrong with ham.
Price: $14ish?
Coffee:  Ok,  nothing to write home about.
Service:  Very good.  Got the sense they were trying to shoo us out quickly after we'd finished our dish.
Overall comment:  A solid offering, but nothing made Urban Deli's EB stand out for me.  Symptomatic I think of the fact that this venue is a fast paced restaurant catering for the take-away crowd.  My only other comment was the choice of artwork on the wall.  I couldn't stop staring at this nipple.  Totally not my fault right? 

Lil sis:  7.5/10
Last week's eggs Benny were pretty yummy! I think it will be hard for any eggs Benny to live up to last week’s dish but I was overall satisfied with my morning breakfast. Eggs were cooked nicely and there was a generous amount of hollandaise which was actually really yummy! The bread was a mini Turkish bread I think which went well with the dish.

And how does that look on the Benedict-o-meter?   6.5/10 Benedicts!

Make sure you check out my map to see the other eggs benny locations lil sis and I have checked out.

Poo!

Hi.  I've been having a few issues with my commenting system lately.  I was using Disqus because I thought it was trendy and was a clever way of replying to people and interacting and all that jazz.

Anyway, for a bunch of reasons Disqus and I have decided to go our separate ways.  Sorry Disqus, it's not me, it's you. 

Thanks all for leaving lovely comments for me which are now being kept hostage by Disqus.  For now I'm reverting back to the ol' blogger commenting system, which seems to work just fine, albeit in a basic kinda way. 

Does anyone have any suggestions for ways to improve this commenting malarkey?  I know a lot of times I comment on blogs and there's no way I know if there is an answer or not until I re-vist said blog.  That's kinda annoying. 

Caturday XXXI

It's Caturday!  The day I dedicate to The Kitten and her cuteness, and invite you to do the same with your kitties!

Today, The Kitten makes love to the camera for you.  Meow.

And I have something to show you!  Check out my cute kitty shoes.  A gift from the Lil Sis.  

Got a kitty related post to share?  Fill in the Mr Linky below!

blerg

Blerg!  I'm currently working on many different things to try to relieve some of the WIP guilt I've been feeling. Now is a good a time as any to air out the grievances right?

The things I'm currently trying to get through are:

1.  Sailor's Delight.  Who remembers this one?  I was going gangbusters on this for a while, but got distracted.  It doesn't help that it takes a good 45 minutes to get through one row.  Yep, 45 minutes.  Also, I need to dye more yarn to get it bigger (see white stuff below).  I bought some called 'Americolour' I think.  Anyone used this dye before?

2.  Aran Toggle Wrap.  I was feeling quite positive about this a couple of weeks back (Positive in the sense that I was nearing completion) but haven't touched it since!  I've since received the toggle buttons in the mail (which were a friggin bargain on ebay by the way), so my excuses for shelving this one are running out.  Well, it's nearly Summer and this is not going to be used until next Winter... as good an excuse as any right?

3.  Summer Garden Granny Square Afghan thing.  This is a legacy from when I just started to learn to crochet.  I was smitten with Lucy and wanted to emulate her.  My crochet skills, and taste have since moved on, so this piece is not as alluring to me as it once was.  Plus I made a bunch of squares with way too small a hook and my tension was UBER tight.  Trying to compensate a bit now by distributing those squares throughout the blanket, but this has definitely lost a lot of it's appeal for me.  I've made heaps of progress since I shared this last (like, a billion years ago). 

This is about half the grannies I want to make.

4.  Honey Cowl.  This is nearing completion, and should be done by next week.  Fingers crossed.  This is my commute project, but I've found that I haven't had the energy lately, or rather, I prefer to just stare blankly out the window during my train ride and zone out. 

Can you see my mistake??

5.  Baby things.  A new project!!  Baby is due in January, and I don't want to be rushing the pressie this time.  Added complexities include that I have a long list of requirements for the pattern:  (a) I don't want to do the ripple because I'm sick of it; (b) mum's allergic to wool so must be cotton; (c) need a 4ply pattern; (d) must be something that can be unisex as mum won't tell me if it's a boy or girl; (e) need a pattern that won't be too stiff in the cotton; (f) I want a stitch pattern that's reversible because everything will use the same pattern and I want the blanket to be reversible because I just do ok? Any suggestions?  I'm considering Sue's no holes hexagon baby sweater, or the similar Hexagon baby jacket with ruffles (probably without ruffles) or Aunt Jens sweater or Old fashioned baby sweater set or Twin stitch baby sweater hat and booties or Lacy set to crochet cardigan or baby set cja-babyset.  So because I haven't made up my mind and dont have an appropriate wip pic to show you, you get a picture of the yarn I'll be using.  Green = unisex right?

Actually, it's Honeydew.  Get it right.


Ok... I didn't realise there were so many.  I reiterate, blerg.  And this are only the WIPs that I'm actively trying to progress.  There are others.

Linking to- WIP Wednesday (Tami's Amis) | WIP Wednesday (Ambassador Crochet) | Yarn Along (Small Things) | Keep Calm and Craft On {Crafting on} (Frontier Dreams) | What you doing Wednesday (SusanD1408 Crochet Addict) | Hookin on Hump Day (My Merry Messy Life)

The hunt for the ultimate Melbourne CBD eggs benedict: The European

After a couple of weeks worth of eggs benny at those cheap and nasty cafés, we decided it was time to go a bit more up market.  Plus I received a recommendation from Pris a couple of weeks ago to visit this venue, so didn't need any more persuasion!

Dining date: 10 Oct

Location: The European
161 Spring Street, Melbourne.
Ph: 9654 0811

From the moment you walk through the door you know The European takes food seriously.  Already bustling at 7.30am, with many tables booked.  The whole experience was very pleasant, and the atmosphere was cosy (read: cramped).  They have this weird double door situation going on when you enter though, and it was actually very squishy to get through the door!

Individual ratings

Tanya:  8.5/10

Base: English Muffins!  Mine were a bit on the chewy side though, perhaps over toasted?
Eggs:  Cooked to perfection!
Sauce:  Perfect consistency, generous amount and tasty.  The Eurpoean's sauce is one of the lemony variations.  If I had to fault it, I would say it could use a bit more of a punch, but that criticism comes at a stretch.
Ham:  The highlight of the dish for me.  I think I could have gotten a whole plate of ham and would have been happy.
Price:  $18.00
Coffee:  Very good.
Service:  Excellent.  Very friendly.
Overall comment: One of the best I've had so far. I haven't rated this higher simply because the memory of the chewy English muffin is holding me back slighlty.  Alhthough lil sis doesn't share my thoughts on this point.

Lil sis:  9.25/10

Yum yum yum, last week we had a most delectable Eggs Benny. They were on the traditional English muffin, eggs cooked perfectly, the ham was as it should be and there was a generous amount of sauce which was also a good consistency. Although we were at a super fancy over priced café I think this might be the best Eggs Benny we have found on our journey. The service was excellent but the fanciness of the café isn’t really where I feel at home. Breakfast was served in a bowl?!?! The entry doors were also stupid however it’s all about the Eggs Benny and I would defiantly go back to the European again.

And how does that look on the benedict-o-meter?  Rounded up to 9/10 Benedicts!  The definite standout and new front runner on the Eggs Benny Leaderboard!

Make sure you check out my map to see the other eggs benny locations lil sis and I have checked out.



[sorry for the repost peeps, I think I deleted the original somehow -_-]

Caturday XXX

It's Caturday!  The day I dedicate to The Kitten and her cuteness, and invite you to do the same with your kitties!

Today, insta-kitten!  Yepyep, now I have my new trendy phone I get to play with Instagram.  I didn't get the appeal previously, but now I am super hooked!  It's much more convenient to snap The Kitten using my phone which is usually within reach.  I'm 'omlair' if you'd like to follow me :D  Expect many pictures of The Kitten!

Got a kitty related post to share? Fill in the Mr Linky below!