Origami Happiness...tomatoes...and crocheted bobbles

It may not come as a surprise to you if you have seen my Pinterest Boards, but I am fascinated by Origami. I have been constantly amazed at the degree of complexity that origami artists can achieve with just a bit of paper and a pair of hands. I am no expert, but decided to delve into the technical aspects of Origami...to that effect , I found a fantastic book by Robert J. Lang called Origami Design Secrets: Mathematical Methods for an Ancient Art. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Robert Lang is just simply an Origami Legend!
I also found some lovely Origami papers online at Loot, which made me a very happy puppy :)

The papers have various themes...one set are all animal prints...croc skin, tiger print etc...another has traditional kimono designs and traditional Japanese prints...very, very nice!
If you are interested in Origami, I can highly recommend two sites:
www.oriland.com
and
www.happyfolding.com

The Origami artists of Oriland are Yuri and Katrin Shumakov. Their site is filled with amazing designs, many of which you can buy with step by step instructions. I have recently bought two of their offerings...
The Oriland Magic Star
Dinosaur Skeletons

Below you can see their Origami Stegosaurus...I just love this! There is even a Neanderthal Man for you to fold :) I am hoping to fold a small Steggi sometime this year...
The eBooks themselves are exceptionally well written, with countless illustrations to guide you...honestly, I really think even a beginner could follow along!

Sara Adams is the star of Happy Folding. Her instructional videos are really superb (and there are loads of them!). Even if Origami isn't your thing, check out these sites...you will be amazed at the designs and the artist' cleverness!

It has been a boilingly hot day here in SA today, and I suspect we are going to have a heck of a thunderstorm later...I have managed to get the worst of the offenders out of my vegetable garden and have even harvested some more stuff, including some Purple Dragon Carrots and really red, lovely and fat tomatoes. I am going to make a pasta sauce to use in my Bolognaise sauce...any good recipes you know of...please let me know :)

The Purple Dragon Carrots are such a novelty...lovely and burgundy on the outside, but bright orange inside...they taste the same to me as regular carrots, just not as sweet at the Little Finger Variety I mentioned before....they look fabulous in a salad!

As I was sitting in bed last night, listening to a lecture, I played around with some yarn and a crochet hook, and came up with a pretty crocheted Bobble Edging...very easy to crochet and potentially quite versatile. I have been thinking about an edging to use for Nani's Hexagon Blanket (...on that topic, I have been a very good little crocheter, and crocheted several hexagons since New Year ;) ), and think that this bobble edge will be a cute final round...
If time permits, I will do a photo tutorial later this week :)

I have spent the last couple of days slaving in the garden, and I swear, must have staked a thousand tomato plants!!!!!!!!!!! Remember when I said earlier, "Plant less Lettuce"?...well, add to the list if things I learned about vegetable gardening..." Plant LESS TOMATOES!!"...you don't need a hundred different types of tomatoes...no, really!
I made my sister swear that she would forcibly stop me next season, when I say something idiotic like "Oh, just one more seed...after all, maybe it won't germinate"...she has been instructed that violence may freely be used as a last resort!


Speaking of Sisters...it's my one and only dear sister's birthday today...so 'Det...

*-...-•"*-...-•"*-...-•"*-...-•" Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!! *-...-•"*-...-•"*-...-•"*-...-•"
May your Rhubarb grow like Khakibos, your strawberries grow the size of lemons, your husband buy you yarn for no reason, and may the pests in your garden all emigrate next door!
Have a happy, spoiled day!
*PS...your pressies await....

Have a fruitful Tuesday folks...
♥Heidi