Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

I love my neti pot.

I use it several times a week to keep allergies and sinus problems at bay, and it always leaves me feeling sooo much better.

For the uninitiated, a neti pot is a device used to irrigate nasal passages by pouring a weak saline solution through them.  It takes a little getting used to at first, but in our family of hayfever sufferers, it’s an invaluable tool.  If you’re interested, do have a look on YouTube where there are several videoclips of the pot in use (I’ve opted to spare you from the direct link here – it’s not exactly the most appealing viewing!).

A word of advice though – don’t let your husband use it for separating the fat off gravy, or it will never be quite the same ever again.  Sigh.

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I love David Attenborough wildlife documentaries.

Oh, how I love these!  We have almost every series he’s ever hosted or narrated, and many a bad day has been cured by an hour or so of marveling at the natural world with Sir David.  And it doesn’t seem to matter how often I watch an episode, there’s always something new that I missed last time, or some detail I’ve forgotten, and each and every time I’m blown away all over again.

My current favourite series is Planet Earth, with its groundbreaking  cinematography and astonishing breadth of material.  I found an excerpt on YouTube:

A tip for fellow Aussies – many of these dvds are now on sale at Amazon.co.uk at massively reduced prices.  I believe the UK, like Australia, use a PAL system rather than NTSC and therefore the discs should be compatible with our local dvd players (but please don’t hold me to that, as we have a multi-region player, so I can’t be certain).

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I love my industrial sewing machine.

In a tale reminiscent of a Thomas the Tank Engine story, we saved it from scrap and had it repaired, and now it’s living a happy and productive life in my sewing room.  It’s over 40 years old, but still happily chugs along, powering its way through heavy duty fabrics and anything else I throw at it.

It’s a straight-stitch only machine, which back tacks at the beginning and end of each line of stitching, and  then, best of all, automatically trims off the loose threads.  I’ve used it to sew everything from giant kites to vinyl beanbags to children’s clothing, and it’s never let me down.  It’s produced over 500 beanies for charity, pieced together a wetsuit from scrap neoprene, and sewn leather handguards for all the French horns in the school orchestra.  The last repairman who serviced it told me that it would probably outlast me!

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I love Splayds. So much so that I have a box set aside for each of my sons when they move out of home.

A dozen of these clever and aesthetically pleasing eating utensils live in our kitchen drawer, sharing space with the more mundane cutlery.  A shiny splayd makes eating dessert a special affair!

And since we’re big xkcd.com fans, it seemed apt to post their splayd (spork) strip here…

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Finally, I love my Panasonic Lumix camera.

I’ve previously blogged about my pocket Lumix, but this larger version is my everyday camera.  It takes almost all the photos on our blog, with the exception of pics shot when we’re out and about.

My larger Lumix is an SLR with a fixed zoom lens, autofocus, an adjustable white balance and an ISO range between 80 and 400.  It’s now nearly eight years old, and I use it every single day.  Compared to newer cameras, it’s old and clunky – even the little pocket Lumix is lightyears ahead of it in terms of functionality.  Plastic bits are starting to fall off the back of the unit, there’s flour caught in the crevices, and the rechargeable batteries are near the end of their life, but I’m resisting the urge to upgrade.  It’s been such a loyal worker for so long, I’ll just use it until it can’t do the job anymore.

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Tell me, what are some of the things you love?

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