Mel is here from the Land of the Koala!!

  This week's Feature Friday is Mel from Mellywood's Mansion!  She is awesome and does some great crafts, especially jewelry..and has a craft room I love!

        1.You live "Down Under."  Is it as awesome as we in North America think it is?

Between wrestling crocs and riding our kangaroos, it's pretty awesome! To be honest I love my home, most of us live in close vicinity to the beach and there is nothing better than a warm day, chilled wine, BBQ and the beach.

 

2.  One of your recent projects is your crafting room and you also host Inspiration Café and have a linky party....what's your favorite leisure activity?

I love crafting its my thing but my favourite thing to relax is to sit outside with a bottle of moscato and just chat with Jules.

 

3.  Speaking of leisure--you don't have much, because you have a whole bunch of kids.  Yet, you are pretty successful at keeping them out of your blog.  Is this intentional? How difficult is it, when they are so much a part of your life?

It is somewhat intentional, being the mother of teenagers I feel they need to keep their life private I don't want them to feel anyone with an Internet connection can find out things that might embarrass them. Although they don't mind when I make a bit of fun like the "Hey Girl" post. I also started blogging when I finished working, I missed having a place where I was just me, everywhere else I'm someone's Mum or wife so I didn't want to make it about them.

It's not really difficult, it's easier to write about myself than them.

 

4.  Beer or wine?

Wine, and preferably anything made by Brown Brothers

 

5.  If you could take a month-long vacation (without children), where would you go?

I'd love to go to Italy, I once heard there are streets that just sell leather purses, that's my idea if heaven!

 

6.  Who was your favorite Spice Girl?

Ginger Spice, she was always a bit sassy, I like that!

 

7.  Are all the guys in Australia cute surfers?

No!

 

8.  Charcoal or fog?

Charcoal

 

9.  Be honest--how do you REALLY feel about burlap?

When I started reading blogs it was when burlap was everywhere and immediately I decided I wanted some, it must be amazing stuff. So I looked everywhere and I couldn't get it, I kept asking for burlap and I would get an odd look and was told they didn't have it. So eventually I decided to order it online and googled it. Turns out we call it hessian here and I nearly wet myself laughing, as a kid if you ruined your clothes you were threatened with wearing a hessian dress.

Having said that, there are some amazing crafts made with burlap/hessian.

 

10.  Are there any bloggers whose posts you can't wait to read?

Too many, in fact the worse thing since starting my own is that I don't have the time to keep up with all of them, I love people who make me laugh.

As you can see, Mel is delightful and honest--and a breath of fresh air in blogland.  My mother used burlap as a threat, so Mel is someone after my own heart!

Please welcome Danni, who has pumpkins!!

I'm not sure when I first met Danni...but she is one of the most down-to-earth folks in Blogland, and I consider her my own personal moral compass.  She also has graciously invited me to guest post, and her guest post (an awesome bell with a backstory set at my precious Downton Abbey) is my second most popular post!

 

 

 

1.  You work in a liquor store--what are some of your recommendations?

Thanks for starting out with my main area of expertise!  I'm mostly a gin and tonic with lime girl, but since it's summer right now, I'm expanding my horizons with UV Salty Watermelon Vodka and once in a while Caravella Limoncello, yummy and imported from Italy.....get ya some! In the fall I like Yukon Jack and Apple Cider.  In the winter, Black Velvet Toasted Caramel.  Oh, and I just discovered a basil vodka that is quite tasty and I'm going to try making a pasta sauce with it.  I could go on and on, but then people might think I have a problem and I'll start getting concerned emails. 

2.  You also have a lot of land--is it landscaped or just au naturel?
Right now it's mostly just hay fields, but my creek area looks like a park.

3.  McDonald's or Taco Bell?
Yikes!  Neither, but when I just have to have french fries, I'll go to Steak and Shake.

4.  How do you like painting furniture?
Having just painted my first two pieces last week, I have to say it's a lot of fun, especially if you have a great teacher like I did when Karen of Somewhat Quirky Design came to the farm.  It's almost instant gratification and I'm all about that!

5.  Where is your number one vacation spot?
The mountains in Montana.  I miss them every day.  I loved Acapulco too, but I hear it's rather dangerous these days.

6.  Pumpkin or apricot?
Ha! Ha!  Since I'm a sometimes pumpkin farmer, I'm going with pumpkin!

7. You're well-known for your crafts--do you have any favorites?I'm flattered that you think I'm well-known for anything.  I guess my favorite projects are the the pallet ones, like these ...(can I blatantly promote myself and post a couple of links?)http://silohillfarm.blogspot.com/2012/11/deck-halls-pallet-art.html
http://silohillfarm.blogspot.com/2012/09/pallet-shelffinally.html

8.  Gas or electric?
Well, I'm a farm girl now, so I heat strictly with wood in the winter, but my kitchen stove is electric.

9.  If you found $100 in the dryer after you finished the laundry, what would you spend it on (besides liquor)?
A kick-a$$ Italian dinner...or some more furniture paint...or some rockin farm boots. 

10.  Are there any fellow bloggers you want to give a shout-out to?
At the risk of sounding very Miss America-ish....I really do love all of the inspiration I get from the great big bloggy world, but....I would like to give a shout out to the girls at the Inspiration Cafe,(Natalie, Mel, Mary and Heather) they each have their own awesome blogs and their talents seem limitless to me.  They've been my friends since almost the beginning of blogging and I love them.  All of my readers have wonderful blogs...except for Cheryl in Wisconsin (you know who you are) and I wish she'd start one!  I'm also very fond of some old French Hens...but that's another story.

I'd like to thank craft maven Danni for stopping by and putting up with my silliness!  If you'd like to be featured in a Women Who Blog post, please let me know!  I am currently soliciting victims  interviewees!