slow as a wet week

Its been raining for a week now which meant a long slow weekend tucked up indoors doing nothing much. I enjoyed that, very indulgent. Its been cold too, but its about time for that really, we've had an unseasonally warm autumn and start to winter.

I am on the sixth week of my 5:2 fast, only one day of fasting to go. It will be the last for a while, I've been struggling with it the last few times and it will be nice to have a break. Actually I've found the thing I miss most is unlimited cups of tea! While we've only lost a few kilos each, it has been noticeable around our middles which is great, we're happy about that. We look a little slimmer and feel a lot healthier. The big gain is the way it's made us think about what we eat, we now unconsciously choose the healthier alternatives even on non fast days. Our portion sizes are down, we don't snack as much in between meals and we are eating less meat. Win, win, win.

I wanted to share this recipe for prawn curry with you that I discovered while on the fast. Its quick and easy and tastes delicious, not like diet food at all, indeed I had to doublecheck the calories myself to be sure I wasn't going over. It will definitely go into rotation around here. Delicious! I'm getting more confident lately about cooking curries from scratch, do any of you have any curries that you make regularly, I'd love some new recipes.

Last Wednesday saw a break in the clouds and I attended my last primary school Athletics Carnival! I feel a bit sad at each school event knowing it will be my last at the school we've been at for 11 years. The end of an era! It was most noticeable at the Expo day when Master D spoke about his years at the school, while welcoming the new kindergarten kids for next year!

Oh, and you remember I was dithering about my new Blog Reader choice post Google Reader. Well I'm happy to say I've made the switch... to FEEDLY! Thanks for everyone who put in a vote for this reader, its great. My one big quibble was with the way they didn't display the blog list to the side, but this seems to be fixed, so I'm happy.

I would love it if you wanted to join me on Feedly, or Bloglovin' or whichever new reader you've chosen. I've put buttons up there on the right to make it easier to follow. I'm a bit worried that many readers will be lost to blogs when Google Reader turns off next week. For me none of the other social media give me the depth of communication I'm after so I'll still be reading blogs. What about you? Have you made the switch?

p.s. the cooking photo is a chicken thyme cacciatore thingamebob, I love winter casseroles don't you! And in front is a tray of Kate's fruit leather recipe made by master J and eaten in less than a day! The last photo shows my new printed cards from origrami.

my creative space - hottie two

It was the perfect weather this week to be working on my entry into the Open Drawer Hottie Cover Challenge Exhibition - it was freezing! It was also the final week before the Friday deadline which helped get me focussed, nothing like a deadline to spark your creativity!

I'm part of Cam's group entry again this year, the exhibition raises money and attention for the Margaret Pratt Foundation which supports lung and heart transplant patients, a cause I'm delighted to support again. (2011's entry is here in case you missed it.)

The idea of a hottie fabric design came to mind, and I thought I could make my hot water bottle cover from that. Teaching my stamp carving course has been inspiring me recently to get out the lino tools and make some new stamps. This craft is so versatile and simple, and it was a great way to make a multicolour print quickly and simply and cheaply. (If you're interested in learning this craft I have some more workshops coming up, check the SewMakeCreate site for dates.)

Here's the design I came up with. I'm in love with this repeat and it will definitely become a digital design so I can order some yardage for pajama pants! How cool would that be?! In the meantime I whipped up a pillowcase for my bed with a hottie repeat panel on the front. Something to make these chilly nights a little warmer.

The front is lined with cotton and the back is made with my Harlequin stencil print from way back here. It has an opening to slip the hottie in and an opening at the top to access the lid. I'm feeling quite smug that the pattern matches up on the back there. Actually though a hottie cover is a simple and rewarding sew. I might need to make some more.

If you want to see the rest of the amazing hottie covers, check the Flickr group or the instagram hashtag #hottiechallenge2013. And some of the hotties will be for sale either at the exhibition or afterwards. And its all for a great cause. I just wish I was close enough to be at Opening Night.

Joining in this week, after a long absence, with My Creative Space.

replacing Google Reader

google reader

feedly

bloglovin'

the old reader

g2 reader

bloglines

I have been dragging my feet when it comes to choosing an alternative to the soon to disappear Google Reader. In fact every time I see one of those pop up messages warning of Google Reader's approaching demise I start to panic. Google Reader has been part of my routine since I swapped across from Bloglines years ago. I use it most days and can't imagine using anything else.

Anyway over the last couple of months I have been seriously looking for a new Blog Reader, trying out the alternatives and seeing how they feel. Here's a rundown in case you're looking too. I think I've chosen one, though when I went back to take screen shots I saw that most of the readers have improved their useability and added new features, so I'm a bit torn now!

The good news is that there are lots of wonderful alternatives being developed. The end of Google Reader is no longer something to fear and there are some great choices to be had. 

Here are the alternatives I've tried:

bloglovin'
One of the first I tried bloglovin' is a nicely graphic reader but I'm not sure I like the difference between this and google reader, in that it sends you across to each blog in turn. I have lots of blogs in my reader and I like to see them listed in one place so I can see which ones are updated and if I'm in a hurry just read a chosen few. I do like seeing each blog on its page where its meant to be viewed though, hmmm. If you are a bloglovin convert you can subscribe to flowerpress here.

Feedly
Feedly has the best graphic interface in my opinion. I found it a little more confusing to use, but to be fair I haven't spent much time exploring. I'm a bit stuck in my ways though and while I understand its very customisable I just want a new reader that's easy to use and comes in the form I'm used to.

the old reader
Looking for a simpler more familiar replacement led me to this no frills google reader clone. It took quite a few days to upload my subscriptions and  I haven't used it much but it seems like a very basic and familiar way of reading blogs. I don't like how the text runs the full page though and centred pics default to range left, and I'm not keen on the green, but it seems serviceable.

g2reader
Another reader that's similar to google reader is g2reader. It is prettier, more graphic and has more features than google reader or the old reader. I really liked this reader and it is one of two at the top of my list of alternatives. I like its looks and the way it displays the feed and centres pics. One drawback is that the line lengths are too long like the old reader, but this application is still in Beta so I'm going to keep an eye on where they go with it.

Bloglines
This is my current favourite. I love the functionality of this one, you can add other widgets to your feed like weather, google analytics and facebook. I've only recently discovered it so haven't had much time to play around with it but I found it quick to get used to and it has lots of features and ways of customising the views. Sadly the pics don't centre and the line length is longer than google reader but its a bit shorter than the old reader and g2.

Edited to add: Hmm, playing around with Bloglines and there are some glitches appearing. It wants to log me out every time I try to navigate around. And also my blogs are listed in two alphabetical lists, with no way of working out how to combine them in one. They don't seem to have any backup to help fix this, so while I'll keep watching, maybe G2 is a better alternative.

Its a relief to find such functional reader replacements. I'd be really interested in everyone's feedback and I'd love to know which one you're changing to or have already switched.

I probably won't truly change until the last minute, July 1st, but at least now I feel happy about where I'm going!