Countdown to Christmas 6

Countdown to Christmas 6 - Blast off!

How do fruitcakes travel? Stories of fruitcake on the Crusades, battles and pilgrimages as well as a more recent report of a fruitcake being taken up to Mt Everest are not surprising. My own travel story involves Papua New Guinea and my friend, Phil who makes fruitcakes and vacuum seals them to be opened later as a special treat when travelling and working as volunteers on special projects in the PNG highlands. Not only did the cakes travel well, they were delicious and so welcome as a treat with a cuppa, - always timed perfectly when homesickness and fatigue set in after being away from home for too long. Earlier in this countdown, I discovered that on some airlines fruticake is a banned substance becuase its density confuses scanners.. Phil's fruitcake has never had a problem travelling by plane!

from http://mentalfloss.com/article/60595/15-fun-facts-about-fruitcake

So much for going to exotic places! This fruitcake I think has the best travel story - to the moon and back! Disguised in a space food package, this compressed pineapple fruitcake was flown on Apollo 11 Space Mission. . As it was not consumed during the mission it was returned to earth and transferred to the National Air and Space Museum from NASA. The food was protected with a 4-ply, laminated film coating. This protected the food from loss of flavour, moisture and oxygen invasion, spoiling and excess crumbling, and was used on both the rehydratable and the bite-sized foods. from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. A typical Apollo menu suggests pineapple fruitcake as a lunch item for the astronauts.

from http://io9.gizmodo.com/vintage-menu-recalls-a-time-when-pineapple-fruitcake-wa-1688775507

I am not sure what is the going price for a piece of fruitcake which has been in space, but here is an auction lot described if you would like to own one.

Unique freeze-dried ‘space food’ from the collection of Apollo 15 commander Dave Scott. The first item, labeled “Corn Chowder,” measures 3.5 x 11 and rests within a sealed pouch to which a nozzle is attached. The label also bears the simple heating instructions; the other is a 4.5 x 3.5 block of four pieces labelled “Pineapple Fruit Cake.” Also included is a sealed skin cleaning towel. Accompanied by a letter of authenticity from Dave Scott stating “I hereby certify that this Apollo Food is from my personal collection.” In fine condition. RRAuction COA.

http://www.rrauction.com/bidtracker_detail.cfm?IN=541

There are few foods which can claim to be still edible after outer space travel - is that a positive or negative characteristic of the fruitcake? At least, it has the reputation of not spoiling in extreme conditions.

Tomorrow - Fruitcake's connections to royalty.

Too Precious to Waste

Stitched tea bags/ old doily "tea lights" - Wilma Simmons More than a year ago, a decision was made. The annual exhibition of NCEATA ( Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists) 2015-2016 will have the theme "Mottainai". Mottainai in Japanese refers to more than just physical waste (resources). It is even used to refer to thought patterns that give rise to wasteful action. Grammatically, it can be used in Japanese as an exclamation ("mottainai!") or as an adjective phrase ("it feels mottainai"). There is no plural form. The collection of mottainai things could be called mottainai koto ( もったいない事 ? ). As an exclamation ("mottainai!") it means roughly "what a waste!" or "Don't waste." [2] A simple English equivalent is the saying "waste not, want not." A more elaborate meaning conveys a sense of value and worthiness and may be translated as "do not destroy (or lay waste to) that

'Anything Goes" and It Does Matter.

When 'anything goes", does it follow that "nothing matters" ? .... I think not. When I interpret "anything goes", I think it means taking a few risks and experiment, but also care about what you are doing and finding a purpose in the process. Currently, the Tag Tuesday theme is "Anything Goes" ... This describes my daily art practice at the moment. I am doing #the100dayproject and each day I am responding to weekly published colour prompts #coloricombo, curated by artist, Este McLeod. During the last week, the suggested colours were jade green, primrose, vermillion and purple grey. Each day, I've been trying to experiment with colour and technique with the goal of developing and learning. Here are some of the tags I created using these colours, or at least as close as I could manage with stuff from my stash... I have titled these "Fragments from Afar" as all of them feature an image or a postage stamp from somewhere far from

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks .... The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or my husband or from off cuts gifted to us from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks. Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as wrapping str

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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