Sugru

Thank you Rachael for my care parcel!

I don't know which I was more excited by, the packaging or the contents.

The contents: Sugru.

Sugru feels like modelling clay, or Blu-Tack. It fixes in 30 minutes into whatever shape you mold it, and is ready to be used after 24 hours. It fixes soft because it's made from silicone. It sticks to metal, plastic, glass and ceramic. It's waterproof, dishwasher-safe, heat resistant, cold resistant, electrically and thermally insulating.

I don't write this to advertise, merely to explain.

Or if you're more image inclined:

After I fixed the ring and knife handle I was walking around the house like a woman possessed, trying to find broken things, considering what I could chip or bust or smash, just so I could mend it. I gave myself a high 5 I was so excited, when I remembered the missing bit at the bottom of the food processor.

I must admit I had hesitations at first, thinking of all the energy that goes into creating Sugru, but then I thought that anything that promotes the Repair Manifesto, over buying new gear, is definitely a good thing by me.

Take a Seat

From here.

Bike Like

From here.

From here.

From here.

From here.

Thank you so much for joining me for Bike Week. I hope you ride safely, wherever you are.

Pushing Forward

From here.

From here.

From here.

From here.

Rack 'em Up

Even though I live in a country town where I don't need to lock up my bike, I love it when I come across bike racks that are creatively designed. Actually, that's not true; I even love the ones that are purely functional.

From the utilitarian

to the affirmative

to the personalised

to the whimsical

to the busy

to the playful

to the protective

to the literal

to the thoughtful, such as this one that has the added feature of a bike pump.

I love 'em all, because they usually mean that bicycles are not too far away.

Camper Bike

From here.

Today I Can

Falling Books

From here.

Yes Kite

From here.

Co-cane

Happy third anniversary, PJ!

I love growing older with you.

From here.

Contrail

From Doobybrain:

Contrail is a concept bicycle device that attaches above the wheel of a bike and covers the bicycle wheel with a layer of chalk. The chalk then creates a trail or mark on the surface of the road, turning the bike into a sort of large drawing utensil. 

The concept, developed by Pepin Gelardi of Studio Gelardi focuses around the idea of safety in numbers. By using this device, bicyclists will have a clearer path on which to ride safely and out of the way of vehicular traffic. At the same time, as more bicyclists using the Contrail go over a line created by a cyclist before them, the line gets brighter allowing drivers to clearly see a marked bike path where there might be none. It’s sort of similar to what happens when a dirt path appears in a grassy field after lots of people have taken the same shortcut over a period of time.

A Tea Party

From here.

From here.

From here.

From here.

Tins of Teas

These are the tins I have collected over the years to undertake the important job of safekeeping my tea. They are in order, from left to right, of the frequency I open them.

My daily tea is Pu-erh. When I first blogged about it eight months ago I was still a coffee drinker who occasionally flirted with loose leaves. Now I am a monogamous tea drinker who consumes between one and three cups a day made according to a loose version of George Orwell's tea manifesto.

Concealed within the Uncle Toby's oats tin is coincidentally Toby's Estate's Organic Refresh: peppermint, lemongrass and green tea. Because of the caffeine in the green tea I can't drink this too late in the afternoon so rather than risk a poor night's sleep I will steep a handful of peppermint from the garden.

The little Chinese tin is home to a black tea given to me by PJ's parents. In my haste to try the tea I ripped open the packet then threw it away. (The packet was orange as I recall.)

And finally on the right is a jasmine tea whose tin never ceases to make the corners of my eyes crinkle up with a smile because of the brand name: Phúc Long.

Stain

From Tea Finely Brewed:

Stain is a unique tea cup created by Bethan Laura Wood, a designer from the UK. At first, the cup looks like any other cup, but the natural staining that comes from using the cup reveals a hidden pattern.

Ring Ring Ring

From here.

From here.

From here.