frivolousness

I'm a bad blogger

2008-06-03T15:18:00.001+10:00

I think I must be the worst blogger ever. Is there an award for that? Anyway I'm still alive and my son is now six months old. I love him. Wow I can't believe how cool he is and now I understand completely all those mothers out there that write about their kids.

This may be a short post as he will more than likely wake at any moment, like now so cheerio folks.

It's been a long time baby

2007-11-07T12:04:00.000+11:00

Well I'm still officially up the duff. The bun has risen indeed and is becoming as volatile as a bottle of home brewed ginger beer. T-minus six days and counting, of course there is a certain amount of give and take with these things. There is no definite when and where so a certain amount of thumb twiddling is done to pass the time, well one would presume naturally. But in the land of all things ness it is in the state of a proverbial downpour.

Let me paint a picture...

DTB-Dad-to-be has put off renovations until the last minute. Squandering a whole winters worth of weekends on kicking back and putting feet up. Now that it is evident baby will come soon he freaks out and starts ripping the house apart so that the babe will have a room of its own. Partly encouraged by myself of course as I have no intention of rooming with the bairn until it is 5. Amongst the frustrations of a mechanic doing renovation work is the constant reminder from said DTB that he could be fishing or water skiing. Yes well if this was done way back when we had time for such things, when the weather wasn't nice and warm then he would have all the time in the world to go fishing and water skiing, are you all with me on this one???

Classes are still progressing and all the time I have had the past five weeks off work have been spent relaxing. I should have been more diligent in completing unfinished class work in preparation for my portfolio but no, I've squandered my time...not entirely but quite considerably. I am now due to drop the calf, as someone so eloquently termed it the other day, and am freaking out that I don't have the work to make the portfolio something to be proud of. Going through all the briefs with the tutor last night I discovered that my work has improved markedly in the past few months but still I am in that comparison trench of "it's not as good as others" I'm sure I have some selling points to work with when it comes to being gainfully employed again.

Giving up work was a wonderful thing. The place was becoming a source of much frustration to myself with management changes and the testosterone in the air was too thick for my liking. Several "kicks in the teeth and stomach" sealed my glee at leaving and I'm not looking forward to returning. I was under some serious delusions that I was an important member of their team there after serving 7+ years and it felt to me like they were too happy to send me off with a bunch of flowers and a gift voucher. So generous, so thoughtful, can you feel the sarcasm?

My mother was arrested the other day for breaking into cars. The poor woman. Symptomatic of her disease, I'm sure. She had escaped out of the fortress that my dad has created of their home when my brother left the gate open. Dad went out on a recovery mission and discovered at the garage 1.5kms down the road that they had found this vagrant lady trying to break into their customers cars and called the police. So my dad dutifully went to the police station to collect her and they discovered that she had discharged herself. The cleaner had nothing to do with it! They found her down the road trying to get into cars again. This is a massive source of amusement for myself. Imagine, detained people waltzing out the back door of the police station!!! My real mother, the one I knew before Picks took over, would rather die than be hauled off to the cop shop let alone try to open a car door that didn't belong to her. Thankfully my sense of humour in such situations comes from my dad so we both have a good chuckle over this one.

Rosie is still our number one favourite source of love and affection. She is just the best dog in the world. The amount of love that comes to us from her is immeasurable. We are so blessed to have her in our lives, is this what it is like to have children of your own?

I find myself pretty disgruntled with myself at being a step-mum on the weekends. It may have something to do with trying to work with a child who has learnt a completely different way of living without the same morals and ethics and manners as myself. just basic stuff such as hygene and routines. I am in continual conflict with myself and her and as she gets older and hormones come into play it is really giving me a taste of what I was once like, well not quite but I'm sure there are similarities. I find it astounding how much of an attitude a 10 year old can have, complete with death stares and indifference. It is never too early to enforce ground rules peeps! Still she says she loves me at the end of the day so I guess I'm forgiven.

After three months of changes and frustrations I have completed my cousin-in-laws wedding invitations. I'm really happy with them and it has been one heck of a learning curve in some areas. Also learning to work with the constraints of others ideas and wishes is a good lesson to learn if I am ever to do this for a living. They weren't that straight forward to start with. The invitation itself is a wine label on a mini bottle of wine. They had the images from the venue to use in the background but both the images were of a different tonal value so when I converted them to look the same they both came out with very different looks. The groom was telling me it was all fine but I, the perfectionist concerned with consistency, sweated buckets over the images. I nailed it finally and it was well worth the agony. Nothing like a deadline flying past to get it right! The whole package is pretty neat, I created a wine bag to present it all in and which contains a RSVP post card, registry card and also a directory of accommodation suggestions and directions to the area. A really cool package to receive and since they were handing them out by hand they got to see first hand their guests reactions. Well worth the effort.

I also had fun designing baby shower invitations for the combined shower my SIL and I had at the beginnig of last month. This was a lot easier as I had the idea in my head already and didn't have to try and keep someone else happy. I also designed the thankyou cards at the same time so they were a nice package. The course has come in very handy.

Well amongst a myriad of other things going on I have managed to keep my head above water. I'm madly treading below the water line but still here!

Better go and stop this procrastinating. Great to catch up with you all and hope you're all well and thanks for dropping by.

dingbat

2007-08-28T23:54:00.000+10:00

That is me, not sure why but that last post was sitting in editing for the whole month. I kept going to my blog and thinking I had written more since the Pasha Bulker but there was nothing showing. Oh well.

End of August. Time is flying, my belly is bigger than ever but everyone comments that I am totally not looking like 7 months, apparently and according to one father to three it is my youthful and unstretched stomach muscles. Will see how I go when I have babe #2!

Life is as hectic as ever, classes are still full on and fun. I have baby shower invites to create and send and also wedding invitations for D's cousin who is to wed in March '08. She has overseas guests coming and wants them out by October.

I'm finishing up work on the 1st of October and counting down the weeks/days. I have a feeling that all that I am putting off until that time will be put off until the baby arrives and then until the baby is less dependant and then probably until the baby goes to school. Such is my life.

The weather is finally heating up after a week of gloom. It just so coincided with my brothers visit so he was not impressed. He mentioned something about his staying in NZ instead of coming to OZ. I'm glad he is still here to witness the change.

Well better go, just had to check in for the month before it ends and prove to myself that I wasn't imagining things, yes I did actually write a post after #86!

Stay tuned...

Upheaval

2007-07-26T19:29:00.000+10:00

Life has been hectic around here lately. There has been one upheaval after another. After the window was smashed in the ute and a spare set of house keys was taken things went into a down hill slide.
D has been bitten by the renovating bug, spurred on by the imminent arrival of our first child. At first it was pretty straight forward. Put a wall where there wasn't one to make another bedroom. He ripped up the carpet in the area and we discovered that where we were planning on putting the wall and door is exactly where once upon a time there used to be one. It seems that our house was modified by some space loving communal living hippies, no offence to any hippies, I like you but sometimes it is nice to have some privacy!
So he put the wall up and the door is hanging and there is now a room but in either corner of the room on the outer part of the wall where the window is there has been some water damage. What appeared to be just a bit of a crack in the plaster board revealed something much more sinister, the timber framework has partially rotted from the ground up. Then to compound this while D was in the roof lining up the holes for the light switch cable he slipped off one of the supporting beams and his knee cracked the ceiling. He could have gone right through so he was lucky but this certainly didn't help his outlook on the whole project. I think he is seriously dismayed about the whole thing and I am in danger of having my dream of a livable house dashed. Fingers crossed for us that the room is finished without any other nasty surprises and I am allowed to have a living room and new bedroom.
While all this was going on at the beginning of July we celebrated our 6th year anniversary, for the amount of time since we met. This is a joint celebration with his cousin who turned 30 so we went out on the town, I sober for once due to our imminent arrival and he having a ball with all his cousins and friends.
Monday after this night out I came down very suddenly with symptoms of a cold. Tuesday I had trouble getting out of bed and after getting ready to go and do three important things I realised that I definitely couldn't do them as I was so exhausted from the effort of getting ready. So I called in sick to work, cancelled the rescheduled midwives appointment and called in sick to my evening class. Called the doctor and went to bed while waiting for the appointment time. I was in a very bad state when I got to the doctor and was ordered to take the rest of the week off. It is three and a half weeks later and I am still with a residual cough that comes and goes. If anyone out there has had this flu I know exactly what you are going through. It is not nice at all. Not only did I have it but D got it too. The only problem was that he couldn't take time off work to recouperate so had to use the masking effects of cold and flu drugs available at the pharmacy.
While this was happening I was informed on returning to work two weeks ago that my boss was leaving. This was a shock to me and I'm completely missing her. Things are not the same. The new guy is trying too hard and not really what I would do if I were in his shoes in a new company, especially when dealing with someone who has worked in the department for over 7 years such as myself. I wasn't offered the position which I think is an oversight even if I am leaving in a few months on maternity leave. They still could have asked me if I wanted the position and if they had offered it to me I could have groomed the next person to be as good a facsimile of myself and my old boss. Maintaining the standards we have instigated and all the clients are accustomed to. I believe I have strong grounds for discrimination if I choose to pursue it.
Anway better stop now, this is enough for one night.
Here is another pic of Rosie, just because you've been wonderful listeners...

2007-07-25T20:35:00.000+10:00

Hello and welcome back, post 86 has been a long time in the making hasn't it!

I've been somewhat busy these past weeks but nothing really of interest to report to the wonderful wide world. I'm going to post some pics here now to keep you all happy and as a sort of pictorial review of my absentness...

The Pasha Bulker grounded on Nobby's Beach in Newcastle during a storm at the beginning of last month
The seat covers I made when the drivers window was smashed in a parking lot one evening. They stole a spare set of house keys, very unnerving, and left the car stereo

The fungus I found in D's grandmothers back yard, no colour enhancement has been used in the picture, it truly is this bright orange!
My delightful Rosie playing swingball, what a character huh! Oh, mind the junk in the laundry behind her. I really shouldn't bring attention to it but I can't help myself!

Better get going, so I can post another one another day!

post 85

2007-06-06T00:12:00.000+10:00

and counting, only just.

Another month gone and no regular posts. I wonder what it is with me and this new trend. I guess either I am too busy reading everyone else's posts or too tired to think of something interesting for you folk to read. Sorry about this another boring me post coming up.

I went to a baby expo here in Sydney last Friday with my MIL. It was really good to see how many products there are on the market and I thought it was interesting for a newly pregnant person. I'm not sure if around the world it is the same but there tends to be a trend to use cloth nappies again. But the major difference this time is that they are fitted already. They look like a disposable nappy with press studs or velcro for closures. None of that fiddly folding and pinning. If anyone has a comment about this please let me know I'm very interested. The nappies I saw were made from either hemp, bamboo or soy fibre. Proclaiming to be organic and environmentally friendly which of course is a big selling point. I'm wondering how many of these you would need to get through a couple of days including allowing for washing and drying on the line. Would 40 be a too generous number?

The other thing I was really keen on was the pop up travel cots for when you go camping or travelling. I think these look excellent with their built in mozzie nets and compactness. Handy for a night at the grandparents or out camping.

My mother is roughly still the same although dad did mention that she has lost a bit of weight due to her restrictive diet of chicken sandwiches. I said to dad that she may get scurvy if she isn't getting any veg or fruit but he reckons she is fairly healthy. A major breakthrough for dad is that mum is finally cutting back on the alcohol but dad suspects that she isn't getting a kick out of it as much as she used to as he has been watering it down quite a bit. However she has taken a liking to the cough medicine but as I said to dad he'll just have to get the alcohol free kind.

They are trying to get her into a high security home in the city they are near but the folk whom they had sent the application to for assistance had conveniently missplaced it until dad called enquiring about it. They found it on a desk in a corner. forgotten. I can't believe this still happens. I guess it is more of a common occurance these days with less staff and more things to do but it is inexcusable that until someone enquires it is dismissed. The thing that irks me is that no one gets reprimanded for this. What has happened to customer service and management??

This is where I demonstrate my ability to truly procrastinate...

I had four weeks to do an assignment. It was a really fun one to do. We had to create a book cover design and type package without using the computer. All done by hand. I used to love hand lettering all of my school work and once I started this project I enjoyed it. The trouble is that I left it until the morning of the day they assignment was due. I managed to spend five hours figuring out what to do and doing it. I'd tried to start it a couple of days before but found that working at night wasn't good as I couldn't experiment with some of the ideas I had. So there I was on Monday, choosing the simplest of the three ideas. The other simple idea turned out to be a bit more difficult and also I was going down the wrong track with it. It was becoming more literal and not what the book was about,

this is the concept that I worked on for Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. I was really happy with the idea but it isn't really portraying what the book is about. The fish is a 2 with a 2 mouth and I ended up working more along the lines of a saying than a book cover so I had to rethink...

And this is what I came up with on Monday...

I was really happy with the overall end result in the amount of time I had. I did make a mock up with lots of various full colour eyes behind the cut out parts of the numbers but this simple b&w look was I thought more effective. When in doubt simplify! I sketched the numbers and then cut them out with a craft knife, pasted the eyes onto a new page and then glued the white numbers over the top. Then I cut all that out and pasted onto the black card. I traced the authors name onto white paper and inked it in with a black fine tip pen. It is very very shaky and sketchy and I'm not very happy with the imperfections of the name but it was pretty good for a half hour tracing. The teacher asked why I chose that book and I told her the truth, because it was one of the shortest titles I knew.

Skip a month here, miss a mother there

2007-05-09T18:07:00.000+10:00

Happy early southern hemisphere mothers' day to all mums and mums to be out there. You are all wonderful and deserve that extra tim tam or serve of whipped cream.

Missing a whole month of blogging, now that is a bit tragic. But things keep on evolving in my world.
I'm due for my first scan on Friday which is very exciting.
My mother has been rediagnosed with Pick's disease which is similar to Alzheimers but affects the frontotemporal lobes of the brain, either resulting in speech difficulties or severe personality changes. Mum has the latter and it is not nice. She has lost most of her rationality and initiative. Her most recent foray in the public arena involved her trying to find money in cars belonging to other people. If only she knew what she were doing. There was a meeting of sorts in the community and people are more aware of her condition and there is talk of a secure facility for her to stay at.
I'll be trying out a new pinata constructing method tomorrow which should cut down the time spent constructing the main foundation and paper mache-ing, hopefully. It is due Sunday and is supposed to be a seahorse. I was hoping it was due next weekend. Never mind.
My father is contending with debt collectors that mum had inadvertently riled when she joined six mail order bookclubs with contracts for a year to purchase a minimum amount of books. They are very pushy and not sympathetic even when dad has explained mum's impaired judgement and mental capacity. All they want is the money. Typical.
D starts his new job on Monday although he needs another week to tie up loose ends with the business and home, our backyard resembles a scrap yard and is littered with assorted trailers and boats.
Rosie is a darling. I have taught her several new tricks. My pride of these is "Bang, you're dead" where upon shooting her with a banana gun or my two fingered model she lays down and rolls over laying very still for a period of time until I give her the "GOOD GIRL!" and much applause. I also taught her a sitting high five, standing high ten and to drink from the tap/faucet. She also drops the ball/stick/toy when asked so I can throw it for her again. I'm going to be working on crawling and standing upright on her hind legs next.
My course is going well. I got 85% on a test recently which I think is pretty good but I kick myself for wording the incorrect answers the way I did or I would have had a higher mark.
Sewing has been non existent.
Clearing the house of junk has been more prevalent and makes me so happy to have some space to reclutter.
I've been slack on the photo front and many other areas and find myself to be waiting for something.
I think it is waiting to find out if its to be a pink or blue baby.
The weather is beautiful. Raining mostly last week and nice temperate days this past week. It is deteriorating though for the weekend and mothers day. Typical.

Better go, will write soon...I hope

four weeks and four days...

2007-03-30T00:04:00.000+10:00

later and I finally write something on my poor neglected blog.

This does not mean that I am in any way boring or giving up on this whole venture. On the contrary. Things in my world have been on hyper drive.

I flew to NZ at the end of last month to visit my family. My mother has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimers and this was quite a shock to finally confront face to face. She is not the same woman who was at my wedding last year, almost a year ago. She wasn't the same woman then as she was when I was five years younger either. The rapid decline in her personality and demeanor is incredible. You think that the very rock and root of your foundation would never waver or crumble or change. When the change is so rapid and noticeable it is scary.

I won't go on, it is a pretty heavy topic. The last thing I will say on this topic is about something one of my rellies said to me. The wife of and uncle who is the brother of my mother said that Alzheimers is often called the long goodbye. Terrible! This was certainly a trigger for me to break down and let some tears flow. I just couldn't help it. I'm a sensitive thing at the best of times and I think the whole pressure of trying to maintain composure with all the relatives around at the same time, people whom I haven't seen in a few years, it was too much.

So back to Oz and my reality. I've started a night course, which is running for two nights until the end of the year. It is a graphic design course which will have me hopefully ready for the workforce next year. Needless to say I am loving the challenge as it is certainly not easy to come up with creative results in an hour or two. My mind likes to incubate ideas which isn't really how this course works.

Amid all this D and I want to start a family, I was proposing to him that we start seriously trying in June or July as this would give me time to finish the course even if I did fall as soon as we started trying. Well you can scrap that idea. It seems that before I left for NZ the deed was done. Yes I'm expecting. I am of course quite excited about all this change and am looking forward to this new part of my life. The part where it becomes mine no longer. Ok not so pessimistic Ness. The bad timing of it all is the due date is mid November. Yes the course, I know. They are happy for me to keep studying and will give me an extension on the submission of my portfolio etc and will give me a certificate when I am able to with consideration to my status.

Of course there are all those underlying factors such as the fact that I may not end up with a baby due to unforseen complications etc in this very volatile first trimester but I'm not going to worry about that right now. Also to hang with the whole waiting for those three months to be up before I tell the world. I'm telling you now.

Amongst all these goings on I have had work related issues, changing shifts for three weeks and then back again to my normal routine. Rosie is of course over the moon with this as she gets her daily walks again. Poppy is doing well and has a cleaner home, I even managed to make her a cover for her cage that fits properly, well kind of. I had to be creative with it and it kind of looks like a coffin lining, you know where there are all those gathers. Except that it is made out of an old 1980's type sheet. I need to redo it sometime but right now it is doing the job just fine.

Poppy is also finding out about her new found freedom. Her ability to fly. Over the past two weeks she has gone from flying from her perch a few meters to getting lift off and flying the length of the house landing in the netting curtains on the front door. It is rather amusing watching this thing fly past the bedroom door mid height in a desperate fashion, then a minute later flying back the other way again. I may end up trimming her wing again as she is more prone to injury flying around all helter skelter landing on net curtains and squawking for assistance. She still loves to run around on the floor as what I imagine to be like an American football line backer. Most of her feathers have finished their moult. I'm still waiting for some more of her clipped wing feathers to come out and be replaced and then I will really see how well she can fly.

Rosie has taken a liking to playing swingball or totem tennis with B. B gets a bit mad with her when she does get the ball but Rosie just loves the challenge. It really does keep her entertained for a long time. I'll post some pics next month, being only a couple of days away I don't expect I will do it before then.

Take care and stay tuned...

Four-bears

2007-02-01T21:04:00.000+11:00

I finally sorted out the pics of the charity bears that I dressed for Christmas last year.

The first pair, the girl is wearing a reversible dress with matching handbag, the boy has a trendy reflective bag also.

The next pair are also well matched with shades of green, here you can see the boy's bag better. I added some beading to the green side of the dress, you can just make out the red flower motif at the top and if you really look you can see the odd beaded flower on the skirt, that spot below her left paw is one and a white bit in the middle
The back of the boys, since their clothes are not reversible I made sure they had pockets for fun and finds, gotta love pockets!
The two girls together with all the accessories, you can see the necklace on the bear on the right. The pink girl has one too but it is hidden.
You can see her bracelet here. I really like the red button on her bag.

A view of the reverse side of a dress. I just sewed the two pieces right side together then turned right way out through a gap then top sewed around the whole thing again.
I used the fabulous yo-yo to make the bags, great idea! I beaded the outside of this one by stringing beads on a thread and then stitching it around the bag. I love the button for this one
Not such a great shot but you can just make out the velcro that I attached to the opening of the bag so that the contents are less likely to spill out. I filled all the bags with some chocolates for their new owners.

I can't say how satisfying it is for me to make these each year knowing that they will be loved and appreciated by some small person. I hope that this will influence them in the future and remember that kindness is out there in the real world.

Some pics, finally!

2007-01-23T23:27:00.000+11:00

As promised here are some photos of the bush fire that I took very early Monday morning.

Spreading down the valley, I would say it is around a kilometer away from where I was standing but a big valley, the freeway and the train tracks were separating us.

Here the fire is almost at the top of the ridge, check out the flare up on the very right!

A bit more of a wide angle of the prior image

If you are able to click on these and view the larger image you can zoom in and see some stars in the dark part of the sky!

Tiel stuff

2007-01-23T01:00:00.000+11:00

This is a post focusing on Poppy my cockatiel for all you bird lovers out there, especially Nat who has recently inherited a cockatiel from a friend.

The first thing I have to say is find a good avian vet near you. I learnt this the hard way with Poppy when she broke her wing. I took her to our local vet and wasn't happy with the results, see this post, so I had a search on the internet, thank heavens for the internet! and found this site that has a list of avian vets in Australia. You just click on your state and it will bring up a list of vets for you to choose from with contact info and websites etc, very helpful! Even though the vet I went to charged more I was relieved that they knew what they were doing. I think this is really important if you have a serious injury or just really want to have that peace of mind.

Cockatiels are just such funny birds. Poppy loves to be "scratched" all around her head, under her chin and cheek patches, I can even ruffle her crest when she is relaxed. I can pet her on her wings and back too which some birds don't like. I think it is more of a matter of conditioning and gaining trust with the bird. Showing it that you won't harm it is very important. She can be very demanding by coming over and instead of climbing onto my finger she will drop her head as if to say "scratch me please", too cute to resist.

I learnt a great deal of information from a site called birdtricks, these guys really know what they're writing about and their training packages look great, I really want to try them out sometime soon but finances are a bit tight right at the moment. There is a wealth of information out there it is just difficult to know what is good and what is not.

I think the best trick I've taught Poppy is to shake my hand, it is so simple but so rewarding when her little clawed foot wraps around my finger and we shake for a moment. I'm still teaching her stuff and I think this is always be an ongoing process.

Her wing has healed and she is flapping about with abandon, she loves to sit on her mobile perch, lean forward with crest raised and flap madly. The first time she did this I thought she was trying to fly off and did a couple of times but now I'm sure that she is doing it for some exercise and attention. When she does want to get off she holds her shoulders out and bobs up and down looking intently at me to come and get her before she jumps.

Another thing I love about cockatiels is the smell of them. Thankfully Poppy has regained her tiel smell since she has started to moult. I was concerned that she would smell of butter forever. Then I was worried that she would preen that smell through her new feathers, so I am really relieved that this hasn't happened.

Any more questions regarding my feathered friend will be welcomed.

Better go now, work calls

Smokey Business

2007-01-22T22:38:00.000+11:00

Not the best title I've come up with but it will do.

I have personally experienced my first Australian bush fire. On Sunday afternoon we drove past the start of it in Mt Kuring-gai and it was quite a sight. Later in the evening D told me that it was right up to the fence near his SIL's house and he had to go and help hose it down to avoid any embers lighting up the roof. People were evacuated but no properties lost. On my way home at 3am it was one of the most spectacular sights. Great orange clouds of smoke seemingly right behind the houses in Asquith/Mt Colah, where D's parents live. I grabbed my camera when I got home and went back to watch the blaze creeping over the ridge beyond the train station.
I was filled with a whole mix of emotions watching this destruction of nature. Wondering how it started and how far it will spread.

Today was a day of endless smoke and helicopters. Road and rail closures stopped me from getting to work on time but I had warned them with what I thought enough warning. Unfortunately an unsympathetic employer remarked that the roads were opened at 5pm and that I needed to get to work, but this was a pointless remark as those roads were clogged with traffic that had backlogged. The train was only running northbound until further notice so I still could not get to work until the southbound train was running. I just couldn't believe that this person was so uncaring about the whole situation. My supervisor who happened to be away on holiday called to see if I was ok and I relayed the situation to her and she couldn't believe that someone would say such things. She said that if anything was happening that required me to be at home then I should be there rather than work. I am so relieved that there is someone who is understanding and realistic in this world.

Hopefully I'll post pics tomorrow.

belatedness

2007-01-17T00:52:00.000+11:00

Sending out very belated wishes for a merry Christmas and super happy New Year to everyone who drops by.

Also a belated 1 year blog birthday, can't believe I missed that one, or that I'm still blogging, albeit sporadically.
Reasons/excuses for that being mainly wanting to post pics but having the computer away being fixed so no downloading the 600 odd pics and sifting through them. Major annoyance.

A belated "offically thirty-something" birthday for me. My parents actually forgot to call me this year. I ended up calling them and after a couple of subtle hints about "this time 30 something years ago you were pleasantly surprised/your life changed forever..." they caught on and were very sheepish about their oversight. NOW I know how all you folk whose birthday goes past without being recognised feel.

If January is anything to go by then we are in for one heck of a year of procrastination. I find this such a contradiction because I felt really calm about it all, getting back to work, resuming my daily routine, I felt like it was all just so easy.

I was still feeling in holiday mode to the extent that I forgot to wash D's clothes on the weekend so he had nothing to wear on Monday morning. And this was our second week back a work. Can you imagine!

I must resolve to break this procrastination habit. I write lists about what I need to do the next day/week/month and continually leave things until it is too late. That is just so pathetic isn't it. Striving to be organised and continually letting myself down. How do people go about being so on top of it all? Give me some suggestions please, if anyone is listening that is.

Here is a pic of a Koala in a tree that I took while I was in Gunnedah on holiday at the very end of last year. He wasn't in zoo or other kind of enclosure, just near a carpark at a lookout where we were told we may spot one. We had all but given up the idea of seeing one when I was walking over to take the last picture of the view when I happened to look up, the movement of it grabbing some leaves to munch caught my eye. I couldn't help but blurt out "Koala!" to everyone in the vicinity and proceeded to take around 50 pics. During this time he ate and settled back to go to sleep then sat up again and grumpily watched me take yet more photos of him up in the tree. Just like a nonplussed movie star I thought. NB please forgive me if it is a girl I'm not up on distinguishing between the sexes of Koalas.

Well better get going, see you tomorrow hopefully with some pics of the bears' outfits that I made for the charity kids.

Busy little bee

2006-12-11T20:14:00.000+11:00

I've been busy, making and creating and not posting obviously.

My furry babes are keeping me busy too and unfortunately I must admit they have been slightly neglected due to the making and creating but only in the length of walks and scratches.

I managed to make four outfits for the charity bears this year. Each year our company buys teddy bears and gives them to the willing staff to dress. They then send them to a charity who give them to the disadvantaged children for Christmas. This year I asked for four bears to dress. I thought they would have the same bears as last year but these ones are bigger this year so I had to re-design the patterns. Not too different from last year. Along the same lines although these bears have more of an ample behind to sit on. I made outfits for two girls and two boys. Each with their own bag holding token sweets, necklaces for the girls and pockets for the boys. The dresses for the girls are beaded and reversible with co-ordinating bags. I'm very happy with the results and can't wait to post the pics. We of course had a photo shoot, very amateur but still loads of fun and amazing how you can get so carried away with a digital camera. I couldn't believe that I spent half an hour snapping away and changing the outfits around. I wish I had more time to photograph them but I had to rush off to work for a review.

I also quickly whipped up a debris catcher for under Poppy's hanging play perch so there isn't that much mess to deal with, just gather up the cloth and shake it outside. I did manage to spend more time with Poppy while sewing over the past week. I decided to move her perch to the sewing room where she could watch me sew but after a while she wanted down to explore so I let her roam the floor. Yes I still had to keep an eagle eye on her as she would find that errant pin on the floor and promptly start to chew it. The cord for the foot pedal was also another great chewable but I think the cincher was the large mirror on the floor against the wall where she would go and entertain herself for some time before becoming bored with her reflection "parroting" her.

Rosie discovered Milo's grave and has started to dig at it. We've covered it with a grate to deter her while the ground hardens up after the rain but she is digging around this so I think maybe we will have to fence it off for a while. It is quite distressing for us to think that we may come home to discover her chewing something that she definitely shouldn't. Poor Milo, I wish he could RIP.

Will post some pics soon I promise, just as soon as this jolly computer is sorted at home.

Introducing our newest family member

2006-11-21T20:36:00.000+11:00

Rosie!

Rosie - 4 months

The photo attached to the email stole my heart. I had to show D. This was the one! Well I would work on D. I called the owners to find out some more info and to see if they could send me some more recent photos...

This is the more recent photo they sent me of Rosie. Now 10 months. I was still smitten. She'd grown into her ears and looked like a good strong dog. I called the owners again to ask some more questions like why she was looking for a new home. Turns out that she loves to chase the sheep in the next farm among other things. D was smitten too with these more recent photos so I had him call to speak with her owners and he arranged to have a "trial" over the weekend. Fortunately they were visiting Sydney and could bring her with them.

Sunday at the park

I was totally surprised by how small she was. Almost a third of Milo's size. She arrived at our house with D and B late that Friday night. I couldn't believe how exuberent she was. Running around like a mad dog, playing tug and tiggy with a stick in her mouth and coming up for cuddles and checking everything out. She didn't display fear for anything and was incredibly sociable. What a godsend!

Channelling the hyena from the Lion King!

We were totally hooked to this affectionate, smart, quick puppy. What a charmer! We spent the weekend asking each other if we liked her enough to keep her, secretly hoping and knowing the other would agree. How could we not? With her personality we were all in love. She also displayed an equal love for each of us. D was cuddling her on the floor and after a while she got up and came over to me on the couch. Sharing the love around. How cool is that! D had to come and join us too so as not to feel left out. Sweet.

I discovered that she has a natural affinity to learn quickly, she picked up "fetch" in about two minutes and although she didn't know "sit" she is getting the idea. Needless to say she didn't go back with her owners and they were very happy that she had found a new family to be with. We are over the moon in love with Rosie and I'm sure I will have many more tales to tell.

super cheeky birdie and new pooch

2006-11-21T19:46:00.000+11:00

She did it again!

I took Poppy to the vet on Saturday and had them re-bandage her wing. This time they didn't charge me which was really nice so I was happy about going all the way there and back home again. Anyway later that evening before putting her to bed for the night the bandage came off. It didn't even go the whole week, not even 24 hours!

She does seem to have improved use of her wing though. She is able to extend it now so I think she is almost recovered. I can't imagine having to return to the vet everyday to have the bandage replaced.

She's going for another check up on Saturday so I shall see what the vet has to say then.

More exciting news to come!
Stay tuned!

cheeky birdie

2006-11-16T23:50:00.000+11:00

I had to take Poppy to the vet again on Monday. She had managed to work the bandage off her wing.

Last Friday I spent the afternoon with Poppy at D's workshop so that he could go out and do a job. I decided to take Poppy with me so that she could have a change of scenery. I think she really enjoyed this as I hung her mobile play gym up and let her munch on her seed stick to her hearts content. At first she was a bit freaked with all the different noises and if a bird flew past she'd stick her crest up in alarm and get all skinny. I call this her turkey pose, nothing like a turkey I'm sure but cute nonetheless.

That afternoon I started on a very ambitious project, two aprons for an engagement present due the next day. No pattern, just a head full of ideas.

The next day I had to go back to the workshop to wait for a customer while D and his brother were out on another job. So I packed up Poppy and her playthings, grabbed the sewing machine, iron, ironing board and all the other seweing bits and pieces. B had to have her ensemble of all things doll related and together we headed down. I'm so glad I went prepared with the ironing board etc, as I spent all morning there sewing away, ironing and creating. I had pretty much finished both aprons by the time it was time to leave. I just had to hem one last edge and all done.

I packed everything back into the car and headed home. Poppy sat on B's shoulder until she decided she wanted to perch on the headrest. I took her off that and put her on my shoulder where she sat for the last five minutes. While she was on my shoulder she was making some really interesting noises, like she was really having a good preen, it sounded like when a dog has a really good deep scratch, where they moan with pleasure. I was pretty sure she was itching a good itch from the sound of it but I couldn't see as she was on my shoulder while I was driving.

Anyway when I parked the car at home I noticed something down by B's leg. It was white and looked like a tissue. I knew what it was though, it was Poppy's bandage. She had managed to work it off, hence her scramble for the headrest and those ecstasy noises were her having a jolly good itch and preen of those elusive feathers, hidden from her for the past 10 days.

Cheeky birdie!

The aprons were a hit and I was really pleased with them. Of course in the rush I didn't take detailed photos, but I did manage to get the happy couple to pose in them so I shall post those pics soon. I hope!

Stay tuned...

The Patient

2006-11-07T20:41:00.000+11:00

Here's a pic of our very active patient, Poppy, displaying her bandaged wing.

She seems to think she doesn't have a multiple fracture to her right wing and insists on trying to get lift off when she feels like it. I must say it's one way to get my attention. It seems as though she's saying, "I want off of this perch, if you don't come and get me I'm gonna jump, ok you asked for it...one...two...ready...steady...see you were listening after all. Thanks!"

Unfortunately I must apologise for the poor quality of the image, compression sucks. In its 2mb form it is sharp and clear, but emailing and uploading require smaller file sizes so I must compress. Does any one have any tricky tips for retaining quality when reducing the file size to email or upload?

Not a lot else going on. Dreaming up wonderful Christmas inspired projects to procrastinate about.

A big relief

2006-11-02T18:14:00.000+11:00

Very happy bird mummma today,

I took Poppy to the avian vet in Carlingford, very good idea if I say so myself. They were perfect in everyway. They assessed her, I explained what I knew and then they took an x-ray of her poor wee wing.
We waited patiently and I consoled her best I could. She was super snuggly and I relished every moment.
When the x-ray had developed around 10 minutes later it took me a few seconds to realise that the jumble of bones I was digesting were infact human hands and a teeny wee bird skeleton. The fracture was an explosive break. In what would be our forearm consisting of two bones, the radius and ulna, hers were both broken. One of them was broken into three pieces. How that poor wee bird didn't die from the pain and trauma I don't know, what a trooper.
Next they told me that they would strap her with a figure of 8 bandage and I made sure that they weren't to wrap her like a feathered sausage roll. The vet assured me that when I saw it I would better understand. He also said that she may need to be anaesthetised with gas if she is stressing too much.
But true to her trooping form she came out and with a waggle of her white bandaged "elbow" she stood there poised as if to say "look at me, no gas!". I couldn't help but be so proud of her, no anaesthetic, not too much fussing and struggling. Still able to balance and move both wings without falling over. She would also still be able to groom most of herself. I was so pleased and relieved. She may fly but not perfectly. I don't mind as she's a pet and if she doesn't need her wings clipping then all the better for her.
The vet also gave me some vitamins to aid the healing process and in two weeks they'll check the wing and maybe remove the bandage.

I didn't mention this but on the way to the vet which is around a half an hour trip, she didn't want to be in the box I had to transport her in. She was squawking and carrying on and trying to climb to the top. As I didn't want her stressing too much before getting to the vet I relented and took her out of the box and set her on my shoulder. There she stayed while driving to the vet. She was quite interested in what was going on and was very quiet aside from the one or two peeps. She settled there on my shoulder really well and ended up giving herself a preen at one point. I was concious of her presence there and held my hand up for every corner, brake and accelertion I did.
She also rode home like that too. Cute as can be.

I mixed up the vitamins in her seed for her when I got home and put her in her cage. She had some seed, some water and then settled in for a nice rest. I thought she may want to come out again but no, she was quite contented after such a big day.

happy-ness

Happy Halloween!

2006-11-01T00:18:00.000+11:00

Too long...between posts for me.

Here is an animal dominated post for you.

Our cockatiel Poppy has a fractured wing. I really aren't having much luck with our pets at the moment. This is of course making me doubt my role as a parent and being able to raise children.

Poppy's injury wasn't a result of my own direct actions, thankfully, D can account for this one.
I took her to the vet yesterday and they strapped the wing to her body which is what I thought they would do. When they brought her back to me looking like a bandaged feathered sausage roll, I was concerned that it looked too cumbersome for her. The strapping looked heavy. She looked unbalanced. Sure enough when she was put down she promptly fell over and couldn't get to her feet again without assistance. The vet held her in her hand and supported her until she was standing on her own and then when the hand was gone from her vicinity she moved and fell from the hand around 5 feet to the ground. I was as distressed at this as any normal mother would be if not more, I was sure she was a gonner. I hope the vet felt bad about this. Remarkably Poppy was ok, at least she didn't seem to be any more hurt than she already was. I decided that maybe this strapping was not going to work. I asked if we removed the strapping would the wing heal on its own. Yes was the answer albeit with a permanent droop and perhaps she may not fly as well as she might. I rather would take those chances than have her flopping and falling all over and potentially damaging herself further. So we trotted back home and she is as happy as she can be with a broken wing. I hope it all turns out for the best. I'm considering taking her to a proper avian vet but I think D will balk at the cost of this. Will keep you posted on our decision.

About two weeks ago Poppy decided to have a butter bath though, this time it was a result of my actions.
I was preparing a bbq for dinner and D came along a deposited Poppy on my shoulder. As I was taking some melted butter out of the microwave Poppy took interest in this. She remained on my shoulder as I pottered around intermittently stirring the butter as it cooled down. It had cooled enough and I was stirring it before I was about to add the garlic when Poppy decided she wanted a closer look. She made her way onto my chest and then before I knew it she was on my forearm. I moved my arm away from the bowl just as she took a fluttering leap for it. She landed on the rim of the bowl and when I went to grab her from there two-handed she jumped forward landing in the butter. I snatched her right out of there as soon as humanly possible but too late. Like an oil slick victim she was coated with a greasy slick of butter. I put her under the tap but she didn't like all the fuss that I was making, calling for D to come and help. I thought perhaps I should try a bath weak with detergent and wash/wipe her clean but she repeatedly struggled to get free from D's grasp. Quite amazing how she wormed her way out every time. I called the vet after hours and he assured me that I was doing the right thing and there wasn't much else I could do. Well we tried to clean her but I din't want her too stressed out so we relented and confined her to her cage for the rest of the evening to dry out and rest. The next day she had preened most of the buttery feathers and was looking a bit less bedraggled. The day after she was further improving in appearance but I gave her another mild detergent bath, this time in a deeper bathroom sink prepared with the kitchen sink as a rinse. Dunk and wash under the wings, rinse and in the cage. She wasn't too impressed with this. But I think it may have helped in a minor way. The trouble is that it is still all through her feathers, every time she preens she further distributes the butter. She smells like butter instead of the typical lovely cockatiel smell which depresses me a bit as I don't like the smell of two-week-old butter on her. Perhaps I should rename her butterball or popcorn instead.

I did make Poppy a play area for her to play on when she is out of her cage though. I was quite impressed with my creation. I used a plastic hanging laundry with attached pegs, $4.50, some baby connecting rings, $9.95, connected into a chain which was attached to the pegs from each end and a piece of dowel for the perch threaded through the loop of "chain". I attached the bell/mirror and some other small toys hanging from the pegs above and put Poppy on it. She LOVED it! That made me the happiest mum ever! So cute seeing her explore it and investigate all the bits and pieces. The best part is that I can hang it almost anywhere there is somewhere to hang it from! Downfall being the mess underneath it, but this is fine by me, nothing a vaccuum can't fix.

D's daughter B has two mice, Ginger and Tiger. Ginger has been scoffing too much mouse mix and is like a quivering mass of mouse fur with a whiskery nose at one end and a tail at the other denoting that she is in fact still a mouse. I said that she should be put on a diet and B agreed so we separated the mice into two cages and Ginger is doing it tough on rations. I think she has lost a bit of weight. I really should have weighed her before so i could monitor it a bit better. Never mind. Mouse-hood obesity is being rectified.

Still missing Milo, I don't think I will ever forget him. I miss my personal trainer. I miss my confidant. I miss my shadow.

furiousness

2006-10-17T22:53:00.000+10:00

That's me tonight.

I've been without my gorgeous new camera for the past six weeks, gosh I don't know how I did that!

At the beginning of September I was using it and all of a sudden it didn't seem to be exposing images properly. I noticed a burning electrical smell and when that kind of twigged in my slow brain that perhaps it was coming from my camera I took a couple of shots and realised that the flash wasn't popping up.
Any way, the next day I took it straight to the camera shop in the city, an affiliate of the shop/chain I bought it from and had them send it for repair under warranty.
The shopkeeper said it should take around two weeks. I thought that was reasonable considering it was a seemingly simple repair.

WRONG!

I didn't hear from them after two weeks so I called to check if it had been fixed. The person on the other end said that it would more likely be four weeks. !?! I wish they had said that in the first place.

So after another couple of weeks I called since no one had called me and the person on the other end said that it would be six weeks. I was rather outraged at this stage and said that the slip of paper that I was given stated 30 days which I construed as being a month. No they replied that would be working days. For the glory of god! I restrained my ire and was as polite as possible ensuring that they would call me and checking that they had my mobile number which they did.

So this morning I received the call to say that it had been returned. Great! I picked it up from the store on my way into work. I asked the shopkeeper what the reason was and he didn't really seem to have an answer. He checked the slip of paper from the repair centre and folded it back up and gave it to me asking what was wrong. I told him again, this was the same person who took the camera from me in the first place, and he said that the whole flash assembly would probably have been replaced. Ok.

So I got to work, foolishly I didn't check that slip of paper in the store and when I had finally read it through I spotted the bit at the bottom that said, no fault found. WHAT!? I am so mad! I can't believe the camera spent six weeks in a repair facility with an obvious fault that the shop keeper had himself evidenced, only to be held for that amount of time without a repair. Of course I am completely guessing that this is true as I don't have the battery with me to test it so have to wait until tomorrow when I get home. If it is still not working they are going to wish they had given me a new camera.

I will be going to the store I purchased it from if there is still something wrong with it and complain like those irate people that you witness from time to time.

Where is the customer service!!!???

Milo

2006-10-12T18:38:00.000+10:00

It is with a heavy heart that I write this post. I had put it off for two weeks and on the anniversary of his entering the clinic with poisoning it is only now I have the heart to write what follows.

Milo was sedated and well looked after at the vet's. I knew he was in the best possible care there and was positive he would be coming back home with his waggy tail and loving eyes.
On Saturday morning I was woken with at phone call at 08:3oam. It was the vet. Milo had died during the night at around 3am. His gut was severely inflamed due to the toxins being absorbed. I had to hand the phone to D. It was his dog after all. Due to monetary constraints D decided to bring his body home to bury in the back yard. I was hoping that we could have him cremated but this would have cost an additional $250.

D spent the morning preparing his grave in the back yard. Being such a large dog we had a bit of a hole to dig, the ground is hard as bone and as we live on a ridge there is solid rock not so far beneath the soil and clay. D went to bring Milo home later in the morning and we spent some time taking our last glimpse of the beautiful ears I so loved petting. The heavy waggy tail that would knock you over, but he'd already gone and this was just a shell. I don't know why the people who make bait to kill something as small as snails and slugs need to use toxins in the stuff that can kill an elephant.

I still am in disbelief that I'm writing this and there is a noticable lack of presence about the place. I can't keep writing as I'm still so sad about it all, I'm going to have to leave you with a pic of our boy from last year.

A warning

2006-09-28T22:14:00.000+10:00

My poor darling Milo is at the vet tonight.

The worst thing is that I think it may have been my fault. I know in hindsight I could have prevented what happened to him and I am feeling incredibly guilty.

I had taken him for a walk then put some washing on before going to the shops for some groceries. I was gone probably an hour maximum.
When I got home I noticed Milo near the gate and from what I could see he looked a bit funny through the slats with his tongue hanging right out and just looking odd. Usually he would bark at me telling me that I should have taken him with me, how dare I walk somewhere without him!

I put the groceries away and went out to see him, when I opened the back door there was a bit of a mess strewn around, globs of saliva, half digested dog biscuit and other mess on his bed and the ground. I called him and he didn't come so I headed for the gate and when he saw me he came towards me in an ambling gait, head hung low, ears at half mast. I knew something was wrong with him but I couldn't figure it out.
I went in the house and called D. He suggested that it may be a tick but I thought that his reactions were too soon and severe to be a tick. I said I'd watch him for a bit and then call the vet. I went back out and decided to call the vet immediately as he was so obviously not right. While on the phone describing his symptoms searching for a reason, thinking it may have been the dog biscuit but how could a dog biscuit poison Milo, the vet saying it sounded like a tick, I then spied the blue pellets hidden in the grass strewn out of a torn to shreds box of snail bait.

My heart sank and I began to freak. Hadn't I had seen him looking at the very box in the laundry earlier with my telling him not to touch as it would make him very sick, duh. Why didn't I move it. I should've. Now here he was incredibly ill with saliva hanging in ribbons from his mouth looking like he had eaten a dozen snails and slugs, tongue hanging out in a laboured pant with shaking limbs, wanting desperately to go inside the house, not wanting to drink any water, retching and losing control. Completely bewildered.
The vet was telling me that they were currently in surgery and they weren't able to come and pick him up, I asked if there was anything I could do in the interim, she asked if there was anyone I could ask to help. I didn't have a car. D was at work too busy to be concerned that his dog was close to dying. Thank heavens I was home and thank God my elderly neighbours were too.
As soon as I told them what was going on they lept into action and brought their car around not caring about any mess Milo might make. I'd grabbed a blanket to put down in the back and we took him to the vet. They had to redirect us to another clinic in another suburb as he was too sick to wait until the surgery was finished. So we turned around and headed for the other clinic. At least a ten minute drive away and we hit every single red light on the way. I couldn't believe it. They had to stretcher him out of the car, like a whale or dolphin, they administered something to make him vomit and gave him a douche(?). Then they sedated him for the night.
Hopefully he will be ok.

So here's to working night shift and being home in the day for my beloved pets. Please don't chastise me for leaving a box of snail bait lying around in the laundry I have done that repetitively already. It had been in that spot for a year. Now I truly know better. Ironic too is the part of the box that was missing was the part that contained the warning that although the pellets contained a pet deterrent they should be kept away from pets. Why he tore that particular bit is beyond me.
Returning home I set about cleaning up the blanket and bed and picking up those tiny wee blue pellets. What a task getting them out of the grass. I'm glad I still had my head about me as I gave up using my hands and grabbed the vaccuum cleaner. A much more precise way to get rid of them from the grass and cracks in the ground.

Stay tuned,

change of tack?

2006-09-14T00:55:00.000+10:00

Well I've just been inspired yet again to do something diffent.

As far as studying something next year I just found a course that would probably be better for me. Well the fine arts degree is still so exciting to consider but I think realistically I might be better off doing a graphic design course. I found a good one in Sydney where I can do it either part time over a year or full time over three months. The decision to make is which time period and whether to keep my job, if I can...

Ok so this is really more like me, dilemma dilemma.

I'd definitely love to do the fine arts and major in photography but that would take four years. I could do the graphic design course over a year and still keep my night job, I think, if I can get someone to cover me for four hours on two nights. I would be qualified and marketable and back to earning good money in the very near future. I could also probably manage to conceive next year and not have it interfere too much with my immediate plans. If I could manage to complete the graphic design course and then have a baby I could freelance and still earn my keep. I could even possibly do that while working with hubby which he wants me to do very soon.

The only minus is the course is $11k but money I think well spent in the long term.

Am I procrastinating or making my life more difficult or being pragmatic?

Chicks on Father's day

2006-09-06T15:21:00.000+10:00

Here are some of the photos I took of the family of wading type birds on Father's Day last Sunday. We were at Bobbin Head in the Ku-ring-gai National Park. I'll see if I can find out what type of wader they are...

This is the Mummy who is on the chicks protecting them and keeping them warm. If you look closely you can see one of the chicks legs in front of her foot

Here you can see there are three chicks with the mum and they are in various stages of standing, mum had just left them to help defend them with the dad.

We were so surprised at what they looked like as chicks, little balls of fuzz on stilts!

Here are both mum and dad defending their brood with some very loud squaking. Can you spot the hidden one?

Look how long their legs are!

RIP Croc Hunter

2006-09-06T00:59:00.000+10:00

Not sure if you are aware at all that the all Australian Steve Irwin aka "The Croc Hunter" was tragically killed a couple of days ago. Australia is still reeling.

Here is the link from the SMH here in Australia. Quite a bizarre event by all accounts and all I can say is that he is lucky to go in such a way, not being weird or anything but wouldn't you rather go in a way that was quick whilst doing what you love best. Unfortunately I don't think anyone will be capable of filling his larger than life blundy's* and I can't think of all the amazing documentaries we are now missing out on. Of course my heart goes out to his family and the wee ones, thankfully they are lucky that there is so much documented footage of him doing what he loves.

On a bit more of an amusing angle, I heard of a faux pas someone emailed to everyone on their list while commenting on how much this news had affected them, they wrote "RIP Croc Hunter" but missed out the all important r in croc. I hope in writing this no one takes offence in my making light of a tragic situation.

Unrelated...

Hopefully I'll have time to post a couple of pics tomorrow, am rather busy this week organising an afternoon tea for the ladies whom I have worked with over the past few years, they are great friends still even though they have moved on to broader horizons. Of course I am planning a buffet for 50 when in reality there will only be four of us. Several items will be struck off the list as the countdown ensues but this is normal for me. Always with such grand expectations.

Till then,

* Blundstone's / boots

Happy Father's Day!!

2006-09-04T00:01:00.000+10:00

This one goes out to all you dad's out there, young and old, tentative and experienced

Thank You! For being the rock and pillar in our world.

Love as always

Ok so I didn't make it

2006-09-01T00:31:00.000+10:00

25 minutes too late. Never mind.

I got the idea from Subversive Stitching, if you haven't checked them out go now. I did the symbols one for my brother for his birthday, I think he'll appreciate it.

The birds and motifs came from a library book that I found which had basic b&w patterns from early 19th/20th century pieces. I found the animals amusing and thought the addition of the question marks kind of summed up the phrase. There are several parts that are inaccurate and really says that I should have planned it a bit better but working on a time constraint I had to cut corners and make it work as I went. The border is very last minute and the spacing of the whole thing needs a bit more consideration. I made up the flowers and the leaves on the left of the border. I also improvised some of the birds to make them a bit different from one another. But on the whole I am relatively happy with the result. I know dad will appreciate it, thank heavens for fathers.

Better skedadle

3 for August?

2006-09-01T00:20:00.000+10:00

Hope I made it...sometimes being a poster in Oz has its benefits.

Here is the completed, I think, cross-stitch for my dad for father's day. Unfortunately he will be getting it late as he is in NZ and I'm in Oz and I haven't posted it and father's day is on Sunday...I don't think I have ever sent a gift on time, one day though, I'm sure I will get it right.

Please disregard the fact that it looks out of shape, it is a bit since it came straight off the hoop and I don't have an iron at work. I think it's completed but I am a bit undecided on the top border, it seems a bit far away so I may just add another row of stitches beneath it. let me know if you see this today or it will be too late tomorrow.

Shall be on my best blogging behaviour for September, I have pics to show off and other things in the works.

2 for August

2006-08-29T19:28:00.000+10:00

Yes this makes it two posts for August.

A bit of a let down if I say so myself. I guess I've just had a dose of the mid year blues and that has been quite evident in the frequency of posting. Fear not though dear reader. I have been busy crafting, cross-stitching for father's day which is looming here in the southern outposts of the Commonwealth.

I shall post a pic of the result hopefully tomorrow so that may just make it three for August.

Aside from this not a heck of a lot is going on. I have stalled a wee bit on the sketching front but am determined to do more, I have a fabulous pumpkin at home just begging to be drawn, painted and photographed. The poor unsuspecting muse doesn't know it yet but after being creatively recorded I'm going to chop it up and roast it for the last of my winter soups.

Spring is certainly here, the magnolia trees around our neighbourhood are setting in their newest leaves and shedding their blooms. My tardy specimen in the shadow of a scraggy gum is finally adorned with the deepest plummy tulip flowers and the jasmine has started burst from a cloud of purple buds. Oh how exciting it is to have warmer days! the thought of crisp salads and sweet summer fruits is so inspiring to ease me out of the fur lined rut I'm in.

All the best to those in the North venturing towards chilly evenings and warm soups. How I have longed for your climate these past few months!

It's been a while...

2006-08-21T01:44:00.000+10:00

Since my last confession, I mean post...(I wish I knew how to strike out words, hints? )

Well I have been quite preoccupied thinking and lurking.
I've decided that I'm going to apply for art school next year so I have been mad about researching the particular school and all associated things. It sure can take up a lot of time. Thank heavens I sometimes have a bit of that spare here at work. I have to put a portfolio together that will demonstrate how good I am, um considering I haven't really done much over the past few years aside take a whole lot of photographs and made some crafty things I think I am a bit rusty in the drawing department so I am adding that on my daily to do list, practise drawing. Hopefully I shall have a couple of choice pictures to throw in. The school that I am applying to is big on fine arts and drawing is their fundamental skill so I think this is a big area that I will need to show I can accomplish without too much drama. If I make it to the interview there is a one hour still-life drawing test that I'll have to do along with presenting the portfolio. Practice is in order. Also timed practice. I'm going to see if I can join a life drawing class that is held on Tuesday's which I think will be good as I really enjoyed this subject in High School.

Can you believe that even though I am completely psyched about this decision I have managed to procrastinate for the past 10 days and only picked up a pencil to try out my rusty hand tonight?! Absolute procrastinator. How scared can I be? This is just ridiculous, I must be terrified of failing so much that I'm going to sabotage my plan before I even make it to the submission stage, I really do have to be strong and forceful with my-other-self and kick me in the pants every single day. I managed to do a sketch of an orchid flower and to be honest I don't think it came out too bad...

I'm going to be brave and post it so I'm open to any constructive criticism, please feel free to give me any advice. But I don't think I will be too happy to hear the don't do it that some may feel compelled to scream out. OK

I'm a bit sensitive and also please consider the fact that I had to draw under the overhead fluorescent lights which are the horriblest (sp?) kind known to man. Dreadful for modelling any kind of subject under. Oh and also the fact that I didn't grey scale the image when I scanned it. I'm being lazy, in hindsight I really should have done that but it's done now and I want to get this posted.

So please wish me luck for the next couple of months while I toil away at my newest path and also to add preassure to this whole new angle I'm going to be gearing up for summer and lose a few of those sneaking kilos that crept on over winter. Cheeky wee devils. I can totally notice it when I take Milo for his daily walk/run, which I really don't like, the extra wobbles that is. How cliche am I? the proverbial loose for the wedding only to put it back on. I really need to go and flay myself now.

T'ra.

hot off the press

2006-07-24T19:35:00.000+10:00

Well almost, I finally sat down today and figured out how to upload my images from my camera to the computer. Quite a nerveracking time as I was concerned that I wasn't reading the instructions properly and the fact that I had to look in three places to complete the task I was worried that I would mess up the card or camera or something and then what would I do...it all turned out fine, so far. I had managed to rack up 175 pics in the three outings I'd snapped away at and still had around 350 left on the card. I'm sure when I don't use the fully automatic features that capacity will decrease.

So here is one of the first pics from my new camera. Apologies for the crap resolution but I had to email it to work as I ran out of time to post at home. I had to compress it quite a bit in order to send it otherwise the email wouldn't go, all these troublesome technicalities...resulting in a very average picture. It is amazing the quality of the image when it isn't compressed but it was around 2mb when I first tried to email it! I think blogger would have choked on that.

It's a starfish that D found on the rocks when we went fishing the weekend before last. He threw it at me and I rescued it from the seagulls and put it in a rockpool to better observe it. I thought it was rather unusual having more than the classic five "legs" and it was quite rough almost rubbery on the top. Underneath it was all tentacles and pale. It is amazing how fast they can move, upon landing in the rockpool it rather quickly unfurled its legs and made its way to a shadier part of the pool. I put it back in the ocean when we left as I thought it was a bit too exposed to predators in the little rockpool.

more fun to come...

demonic kitty

2006-07-21T01:41:00.000+10:00

Here's one of my all time favourite images that I took about three years ago...

Best Husband in the World

2006-07-17T23:28:00.000+10:00

I am so lucky sometimes.

D mentioned to me a couple of weeks ago that he saw an ad on tv for a digital SLR camera and that perhaps I would be interested in it. I didn't say too much about it at the time for fear of scaring him off. I mean I'm pretty much a nut when it comes to all things cameras and being a dedicated film user I haven't been interested in digital as I would never believe that I could afford to buy the digital camera of my dreams.

So when D brought this up again I sussed out some things about digital using the wonderful review sites on the internet. Such a fantastic research tool, don't you think? I rediscovered a review site called dpreview which I had found around a year or two ago. Back then I had salivated over this exhaustive site and the comparisons for such a long time that I had pretty much committed them to memory, then I promptly forgot about it after broaching the subject with D receiving a negative response.

I was thrilled to find the site again and see that they had current reviews on the camera's that I was wanting, so I spent the best part of the last two weeks checking it all out and coming to a conclusion. Such a difficult matter and I was swayed to the other party on more than one occasion but in the end Canon won out. I took my research back to D with a comprehensive list of prices from local and overseas retailers to show that I had done my homework and on Saturday D said that we were going shopping.

I just couldn't believe it. So soon! We decided that we'd have a look locally and went to the mall in Hornsby and had a bit of a looksie at various retailers and went back to the first one we saw. They won out on several levels. The most important one being service. The other three stores that we walked into were just not up to scratch on their knowledge and customer service levels. One of those reps even said "so you're after the lens and case". To which I replied, "no, the lens and body!" Eeedjiot! They were cheaper but I can't stand that sort of lack of product knowledge and abuse of terms.

So feeling very light headed we waited back in the first store and went through the exciting/nerve racking process of purchasing my first digital slr. I still thought I was dreaming and had to constantly have D reassure me that this was all ok. He even said I could get the CPL, circular polarising filter, which are quite pricey compared to other filters. I also took the opportunity to upgrade the lens to a 17-85mm so that I had a bit more quality and range to play with than the standard 18-55mm. It took quite a long time to get it all together and paid for and during that time I was feeling rather lightheaded and faint. D was feeling the same way too but I think it was more to do with the amount of cash he was handing over at the time.

So now I am the proud owner of a Canon EOS 30D and love it to bits, but of course I love my husband even more, if only marginally.

The only downer about digital was the fact that I had to wait at least 8 hours for the battery to charge. D was thoughtful enough to suggest that we go for a drive to the beach the next day so that I was able to snap away to my hearts content and he could go fishing. FUN!!! I was so excited that I had a great subject to test out the 5fps feature with the waves crashing into the rocks and swelling up amongst the boulders. I also went on a bit of an excursion around the point and discovered a pipe inserted into the rock shelf that had the water welling up inside with the waves and every so often creating a blow hole. I managed to rack up around 70+ images in a few hours so D was thrilled to bits that it wasn't film and it also verified that it was indeed a top/wise purchase.

I'll share some pics hopefully tomorrow once I figure out how to install the software and download them.

Lucky me huh!! And lucky you too, you get topics more relative to time, instead of me waiting for the film to be processed in order to write about it! Note the previous post being a spectacular example of this!

stay tuned!

You led I followed

2006-07-16T21:11:00.000+10:00

Yes I suppose that is just what I did.

I had a film processed the other day and it reminded me of this so thought I would share it as proof that I do indeed make things...

Inspired once again by all those wonderful crafty gals out there I decided last Christmas that I would make my MIL-MrsX a knitting tote for all her books, balls and needles. I'd taken note that she didn't have anything of the sort, resorting to plastic grocery bags to contain her knitting paraphernalia so as far as I was concerned this would not do.

I thought about it and came up with some ideas and then finally took the plunge and put it together. I knew that she likes blues and greens and I had picked up some curtaining material in the remenant bin which I thought would be best. Note please forgive the daggy frieze on the wall in the background and the impromptu "table" on which the tote is displayed, I was in a rush to finish and wrap for the big day I decided that it had to be large and open generously with a pocket to hold her books and patterns. It had to hold many balls of wool and also be a bit different to a standard boxy tote. I decided the pocket that I thought I would add to the outside of the bag should go inside in the centre of the bag and zip up, dividing the bag into two parts. I love zip pockets because they stop things from falling out and mysteriously disappearing. Along the way I also decided that I had time to have a go at making a matching needle roll, but I didn't photograph it, unfortunately. I didn't want the bag to be too blue and green so I lined the inside with another colour that in some ways links with the main fabric, maybe not as complimentary as I am inclined to think...
I had a few hitches along the way naturally, it is rare that these things go without setbacks of course. In the end I was fairly pleased with the outcome, the only bad point being that it wilted rather badly. I used the stiffest interfacing I could find but when it is used only with curtain material I found that it still flopped. I think I should have used light card in the sides or as some of those wonderfully creative "bag" ladies (those who make them that is!) use fleece as an interfacing for more support.
Needless to say MrsX was thrilled to receive such a thoughtful handmade gift for Christmas and noted to me that she had never had such items to help her contain and cart her knitting things around. So one gold star for me and another lesson learned.

I noticed it out and being used last weekend which made me happy to see it in use after six months and no mention to me about any of its shortcomings so this is good. Mind you MrsX is such a wonderfully polite lady I don't think she would even entertain such thoughts.

Stay tuned more tomorrow

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

2006-07-06T20:13:00.000+10:00

Yeah right, the memories sweeten or weaken depending on what the absence is.

Any way I had a wee break, as if anyone noticed, but I've been a lurking and checking out some great food blogs. Noting in particular Delicious!Delicious!and Chocolate&Zucchini. Unfortunately D!D! is currently having an extended break and I am not the only one itching for her to get back. I did have fun reading her blog from beginning to end though.

I found it quite inspirational reading these blogs and even tried out some of the recipes on D. He was a grateful guinnea pig and as he has the flu at the moment and very miserable I decided to try out D!D!'s lemony chicken soup. I loved it and I think D did too but I think his flu-retarded senses highlighted the lemon or else mine have a peculiar ability to suppress it. I thought it was fantastic but D thought it too lemony. I thought he'd like that since he loves chicken sandwiches with lemon juice squeezed over them. Oh well I tried right!

D and I celebrated our 5 year since-we-met / 3 month-since-we-married anniversary over the past weekend. We managed to score a great hotel room at the Sir Stanford in Double Bay for $140/night, booking an hour before we checked in using Wotif. It was also an excuse to catch up with his cousins, one who just turned almost 30! We had a great night out and the pillows in the hotel were fabulous. D's flu is the result of overindulging.

Today I caught up with our wedding photographer, Michael Zanetti, who is just wonderful. Being the self concious person that I am and most brides are, I was a bit nervous about seeing these proofs of being a "beautiful" bride. My held breath was released with relief when I finally viewed the proof photos that he brought along. He did a wonderful job in such spontaneous and unconventional circumstances. The only reason it took so long for us to get these pics back was because we were still trying to find the money to pay for it. Even though in my opinion he is very reasonable, we still had to wait until we'd sold our boat to pay the extortionate tax bill D had received before contacting him.

So here is a gratuitous wedding photo of us to satisfy reader curiosity...

BTW I'm not really that tall! You just have to love the illusion though!

frustration

2006-06-21T23:37:00.000+10:00

Don't you just hate it when you are lurking around and you find something that you like and think you'll remember where you saw it so you don't note it down, only to discover a day or so later that you completely forgot where you were and can't find it no matter how much you check everywhere.
This has happened to me several times but the most annoying was about a month ago. I came across a blog that for the life of me I can't remember the name of or how I came accross it.
But I do remember that there was a post on that blog that mentioned a photographer and of course I checked her out and fell in love with her work.
She shot in a style reminiscent of the 1920's-30's-40's style. She used a photo essay style to exhibit her work and each told a story. Such as the beautiful "dame" who hears a noise and all of a sudden there is an alien in her room. That was one of the "stories" that I remember. There were others of course and all very romantic/nostalgic with twists. They are exquisitely set up with such attention to detail, in makeup, period costume, sets etc.

If this rings a bell for anyone please I'm begging you to let me know if you do, who this photographer is or the blog where it came from.

Many thanks in advance for your diligence.

It's a girl!

2006-06-20T23:23:00.000+10:00

I would just like to congratulate the wonderful Claire of Loobylu on successfully bringing Lilian Jan into the world yesterday! Well done Claire, I'm positive I'm speaking on behalf of the other bloggers out there (by the looks of your 393, and counting, comments!) that we are all proud of you and wish you all the best of everything in this world for you and your new darling.
Thanks to Big P for this announcement too by the way! Obviously you know how much the blog means to us all!

Quickie

2006-06-15T23:57:00.000+10:00

Just a quick post, which will probably will turn to length by the end though...

I had a roll of film processed yesterday from our honeymoon and on it were these pics of this thing...

This is its belly/underneath

This is the topside

Apparently this is a lungfish, hope I got that right.

Any way when I first spotted it I wasn't sure what the heck it was. I was quite a distance away when I noticed this white thing flapping and floundering around in the shallows of the bay we were moored in.
I had taken the row boat to explore and came accross this thing about 100 meters away. The bay was very shallow so I didn't want to go too close as I might've beached myself on the sand/mud.
After watching it awhile I edged closer to get a better look and from where I was it looked like a bird stuck in the mud in the last thoes of its life. But it really didn't seem like a bird, I couldn't see a head.
Next I thought it was a white turtle, flapping around, stuck or something.
So I edged closer and closer until I could finally discern that it was like a giant poached egg and that it had flap-like things all the way around it. I decided that it kind of looked like a sting ray or similar, perhaps upside down. Well it was hard to tell and silly me didn't take my camera with me so after watching for quite a while and thinking that it was probably just playing or searching for food I rowed back to the boat.

D came back from fishing about an hour later and wanted to check for yabbies in the sand flats and I told him about this thing so we went for a row, I remembered to bring my camera and took these photos. We approached the big white poached egg thing and discovered that it was some type of ray without the long tail. It looked odd all white and puffy and there was a hole in it, I think some birds had had a go at it.
So D being a curious male prodded this thing with the yabbie pump and it gave him an electric shock! Quite a jolt too by all accounts. He certainly didn't want to venture any further than that. After I regained my composure from laughing at his folly I coerced him into using a stick to flip it over and after a few amusing attempts he succeeded and then I wanted him to wash it to which I was looked at rather strangely. It was really dirty and I wanted to get a good photo of it for record and identification later. I ended up using the bucket we had in the row boat (for the yabbies of which there weren't any) and standing a safe distance away doused it a couple of times with the little water we were able to scrounge from the shallows. It came to life again, flapped a bit and breathed a couple of times revealing its gills and eyes of which I'm sure the life was fading from. Poor thing. So after getting the best shot on the last frame of film we left the creature to its last breaths. RIP lungfish.

D's Lessons Learned:
1. Don't prod or poke unidentified creatures with metallic objects
2. Use a decent stick
3. Do explore and discover, safely, it can be interesting and rewarding.

Weekend fun

2006-06-14T22:13:00.000+10:00

Yes mission accomplished. The curtains are done and hanging and keeping the precious heater heat in the room instead of being sucked out into the cold. It truly is amazing the difference it makes with them up and useful. I do have another set of curtains to complete but they are not so desperately needed, for the moment.

We had a wonderful long weekend even though I did have to come to work for a few hours. I was glad that I pushed myself to finish the curtains on the day I had to work as it meant that I was free for the next day to spend with D and the family.
We went to a great reserve called Crosslands which is near Hornsby. We took our bikes and had fun riding around with the kids. A couple of roast chooks for lunch with rolls and coleslaw, then a spot of cricket before back on the bikes to wear ourselves out.
Unfortunately that reserve is in a gully so the sun disappeared after two-ish and we soon packed up and headed to another park/playground near Rouse Hill. This was was more of a playground with some great equipment. There was one in particular that was borderline amusement park ride. The only thing missing was a ticket box and operator.
I must say how well behaved everyone was while waiting their turn. The ride was a cross between a round-a-bout and a see-saw. It was on an angle and you sat in a seat at either end of a long arm. There were pedals which you used to make yourself go around and also if you back pedalled it would make it brake and slow down. I had a go with B and managed to get it going pretty fast, I think it would be easier if both people pedalled and B wasn't so we didn't go as fast as we could've. But what fun!!! for free!
There were also twirly poles that were bent so when they went around they looked like a dough hook or screw type thingo and they could spin really fast too. Also a couple of curves with skateboard type platforms which you stand on and hold onto a bar and swish left and right and they were pretty slick moving. I didn't hold on properly at the end and almost came of worse for wear. Really fun watching the kids explore and play working out how things worked and interpreting them differently from others. I really must hand it to the concept artists who come up with the twists on standard playground equipment.

Well I'm going to leave you with a parting shot of a wonderful sunset we had while on our houseboat honeymoon a couple of months ago...

cute-ness

2006-06-08T21:37:00.000+10:00

How cute are they! These are B's new mice, Ginger and Tiger. I suggested Ginger & Gilligan instead of Tiger but she's adamant when it comes to naming things. Another suggestion of mine was Hunca & Munca from Beatrix Potter's book, A Tale of Two Bad Mice, but these mice are good, so far. I can't believe that they have bonded so well already. They came from separate cages at the pet shop, both girls to avoid any mass reproduction of course. They are very cuddly and don't have a fit if one is crawling all over the other.

Long weekend this weekend to celebrate Queenie's birthday for us here in the Southern Hemisphere. I unfortunately have to work Sunday though so you may get another post from me then. I have a cat photo that I took that I am meaning to post as I'm really quite pleased with it so maybe I'll get around to putting that up then.

Am planning on getting on with the curtains that I started last year and never finished. They are for the two big double doorways to the lounge area to try and keep some heat in this winter. This will be a big UFO out of the way so very excited about doing this at the moment. Will see if I can be this motivated over the next few days huh!

Better get back to it. Stay tuned!

Ta-Da!!

2006-06-06T22:03:00.000+10:00

Yup that's it, the magic reappearing toadstool pin cusion. I think I should have taken another angle also to show off the pink "gills" underside the cap, they are only pink felt, nothing fancy so I don't think it is too important.

Well I hope it was all you were expecting and then some for all the weeks that it has taken to find the jolly thing and get it posted.

Better get back to work.

Have a great day!

Stay Tuned

2006-06-05T22:42:00.000+10:00

Finally I have put the film in to process and tomorrow there will be a picture of the toadstool pincusion I made, over a month ago.

I must also apologise to myself and my delightful audience in the lack of constructive posts lately.

I am cooking up the next pinata, I think the latest request is for one of the bunnies from The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. It's a Wallace and Gromitt film, very amusing and how wonderful it is to watch an entertaining film for kids that isn't so modern/wacky. Some of the conventional tv cartoons these days are just a bit too weird for my taste. The clay animation is fantastic, the characters are well rounded and the adult gags are subtle along with the obvious salutes to well known films such as King Kong and Jurassic Park. If you haven't seen it, and I know I'm behind the times! go and rent it!

Unfortunately last weekend B's mouse, Pablo, passed away. I'm pretty sure it was from old age but you can never tell. We did the whole burial in the front garden, so Milo won't dig her up later, and then we cleaned all of her cage items. I was really glad to see that B was so obviously upset about this as sometimes I wonder as to how much feeling kids have to such things. I know pets are special always but sometimes I'm not convinced of that. Anyway we now have two little ones, named Ginger and Tiger and they are ever so sweet. Very nice natured mice and I think they will be happy together. Tiger is very adventurous and Ginger is just so cute, being tinier helps I think and also the fact that she is very similar to a mouse that I wanted once upon a time. I just don't like white mice with pink eyes, they are too laboratory looking for me. RIP Pablo!

Well see you tomorrow with the pic to share! I just know you're excited!

dolphin pinata pics at last!

2006-05-24T02:00:00.000+10:00

success

2006-05-22T01:25:00.000+10:00

The pinata was a success. In total it took 11 or 12 active days. I didn't manage to finish it on Friday afterall. But spent the best part of Saturday finishing off the fringing. I was very happy with the end result and will be posting pics very soon. So stay tuned! The kids each managed to go through four rounds of beating it with a stick so they got value out of it too. I must start making the pinata's not so tough as it was the cord that ripped through the top that was its failing. The adult had to rip it to get the sweets out to a gang of rioting kids who quickly fell silent as the sweets spread on the ground. Very amusing.

Also on Friday night I found the awol pincusion so I shall be posting pics of this soon too. Just to prove that I am a crafty wee thing after all. I was most pleased by this discovery and of all places I didn't look was behind the TV, go figure! How the heck it got there I don't remember but it must have been on the shelves and been knocked off hiding behind the tv and shelves. It was only my moving the tv closer to me that I found it so I was very relieved!

Not much else to report but will be thinking of getting my act together and doing some home improvements that have been put off, like adding the second layer of paint to the bathroom walls. Painting the drawers that have been sitting waiting for the past year or two. Yes more procrastinated projects waiting in the wings. Surprised? I would think not!

Well have a great week~I know I am!

flippin great

2006-05-17T23:11:00.000+10:00

Pinata update

Well the flippers and dorsal fin are attached. I had a go at the nose/snout but it seems too pointy. I think I'll have to pad out the lower jaw part where it meets the head. I think this is because it resembles a baguette stuck to a giant comma. It could pass for an Orca sans nose. But I'm really happy with the progress of this "sculpture" (I guess this is what I should really call them) I'm still in decisions over whether the mouth should be open or closed. I'm leaning towards closed for the obvious reason that it will be quicker and easier. The thought of making all those tiny teeth is just not feesible at the moment.

About this time I was kind of wishing I was digitally up to date with camera equipment but then that would reveal my very alternative supporting contraptions that I use when making these things. The first ever pinata I made I used a large colander as a stand and then when it was larger the drying rack we have for our washing. This time I have incorporated the washing basket and a very odd rigging of old panyhose and rope (our indoor washing line) holding the dolphin off the ground and, yes you're right I don't throw much out, tights/stockings/pantyhose are so useful for many things! I must also thank the heavens that we have an older house built in the 1950's (have to put the 19 nowdays don't I!) and the front part of the house is an old verandah covered in with a lino floor, perfect for my messy creations.

I think the biggest thrill I get out of making these elaborate pinata's is the achievement in turning a free local paper, a balloon or two, a bag of cheap flour and some water into a three dimensional object. And they are, if I may say so myself, pretty darn good!

I'm pleased that I am possibly almost a day ahead of myself at the moment and am looking to Friday as the decorating/fringing day. Usually I am up late the night before the party madly gluing the fringing and adding the finishing touches. Oh the helicopter I made last month was down to the hour, painting the entire thing right up until leaving for the party! That was cutting it fine and I did have to forego the minor detail of painting in the boys age and initials as the 'copters id. What they didn't know didn't hurt them right!

The weather was beautiful today, the greens are greener for a change after our bout of rain the other day which is just lovely contrasting with the yellow/red/orange autumn/fall foliage.

Well back to work, stay tuned.

tails to tell

2006-05-16T00:23:00.000+10:00

The tail is on the dolphin! I even managed to semi-attach the flippers too but I think they are in the wrong position so thankfully I will still be able to move them. All on track for a Saturday finish. It is times like these that I am sure I would be more popular having pics to post of my progress but for now you will all have to imagine what I am doing.

Does anyone suffer from dogsbodysyndrome? I do. Unfortunately I think it is indemic to my position here at work.
People take advantage of the fact that I do night shift and therefore they tend to be of the mind that I don't do anything. I'm actually very busy tonight with jobs and on top of this I had a secretary ask me to do something for her. I wasn't planning on doing it but their manager also asked me to do this so I had to. It was a very simple job. Just pack some documents into boxes, no catalogging required. It took 30 minutes max and little stress aside the one where I mutter to myself that this is not in my job description and I am too old to be doing this sort of stuff and why can't the secretary just take half an hour out of her "very busy" schedule answering phones and do it her self.
I guess some reasons why they ask me, is because I don't wear expensive suits and outfits because of the nature of my job, they know I'll do it, I don't have anyone to pass their job on to, although I did have some help which I must say was most appreciated. It pays to be nice to others doesn't it! I just wish they would hire an office junior. Oh the funny things pride does to secretaries, their sense of jobs beneath them...also what amuses me is their frenetic pace they demostrate infront of others and especially when they are passing a job on, everything is in such a rush they have to pass their jobs onto other people lest they have to que for a coffee ormiss their bus even though there is another coming in ten minutes after it. And the worst bit is that I can't ask them to do anything for me as a favour returned.

Ok, a big sorry to any PA's out there in craftblogland. I just had to vent a bit at what I think is the injustice of it all. I can tell they don't want to do it and that they are asking me not because they don't have time, which is what they tell me, but because it is an undesireable task. OMG! I think when it is time for me to leave here I'll just say no and see what they do. he he

On other news, nothing much to report I'm afraid, still no sign of the pin cushion.

Happy Mothers Day

2006-05-14T19:03:00.001+10:00

Happy Mothers day to all you mum's out there. I wish you all the best brekkies in bed and hugs all round.

Now that I am officially a step-mum I was priviledged to receive a handmade voucher from D's daughter. It was for a housework-free day when redeemed. I immediately redeemed the said voucher and she set to work and made our bed, vacuumed and helped bring in the washing. I was pretty happy with this as I was hosting a Mothers Day lunch for D's family. We had BBQ'd portugese chickens with steak, potato bake and veges. Finished with a London cheese cake topped with passionfruit from Nigella Lawson. Tasty! And what wonderful leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

The dolphin pinata is coming along nicely. I have bulked out the tail section and will be adding the flippers and fins tomorrow. Should be ready by the end of the week!

Take care and put your feet up mums! That includes birdy/kitty/doggy mums too!

Happy Mothers Day

2006-05-14T19:03:00.000+10:00

Ready for the weekend

2006-05-04T20:24:00.000+10:00

Yep I'm itching for this night to end so that I may get on with my weekend.

I don't have a lot planned but I was in such a good mood this afternoon walking to the station that I felt that I had just been a joke this week, lazing around, sleeping in, not doing a heck of a lot. I need it though, especially after hectic periods, I would call the wedding hectic enough to qualify for a whole month of lazyness.

But now I am officially getting over it and really need to do some stuff. I have the pinata of course, that is some sort of progress which I have been working on so this is a little tick in the good things done box. I'll be making some pin cushions this weekend for my mums and I think a needle case would be nice to go with them. Still no word on the AWOL pc.
I'm really digging needlecraft at the moment, I used to be an avid cross stitcher in my teenager- at-home- years. So this is something that needs to be looked at and satisfied I think. I also have thoughts of making a skirt out of some beautiful material I bought the other day.

Well will love ya and leave ya to wonder when the heck I'm going to get some pics up!

pocket money

2006-05-03T21:03:00.000+10:00

A post or two ago I mentioned that I had earned some pocket money detailing a boat, I just had to elaborate on this for a few reasons as you will find out...

Detailing a boat is sort of like valeting a car except it is on water. D had the opportunity to earn some money by doing this for the owner of the boat.

I was of course roped into the job to clean the interior and thankfully D had done a whole lot of cleaning before I got there. It was a smallish trailerable boat with a half cabin with the seats converting to a bed and in the upper bracket of plush. Leather upholstery, all the surplus trimmings and a full enclosed canopy. The guy obviously had some money but he didn't know how to keep anything clean.

I was quite surprised at how unclean everything was. There was a layer of dust and grit and saltspray over every surface and things were left where they lay. It took me about an hour to clean the console alone, all those instruments and knobs and dials are very awkward to get perfectly clean especially when I didn't have a toothbrush to use, those things are indispensible cleaning tools!

At the back of the boat either side of the motor well there were two built in "eskies" (chilly bins/ coolers) . When I opened the hatches they were chock-a-block full of various bottles. Most of them had their caps still on, albeit rusted through, with some murky looking contents. From the design of the label on some of these they had been in there quite some time. There were whole six packs still in their plastic unopened full of beer with rusted caps. Of the ones that were loose and still full with their contents, if I grabbed them by their tops the caps would just crumble and leak all over the place. I was completely astounded. How anyone can be so wasteful of things is beyond me when there are people like us scraping together what we can. Well I suppose there is a downfall to having too much money. Never having to clean your own boat!

I was pretty impressed how clean I was able to make it after all the abuse the poor boat had been through, of course it could have been a heck of a lot worse. They could have consumed all that grog and then left the mess to be cleaned.

Anyways I still am unable to locate the pincushion, so I guess it has gone to the bermuda triangle heavens...

stay tuned

perplexedness

2006-05-02T21:17:00.000+10:00

Well I'm afraid I can't find the pin cushion I was talking about last post. It is most perplexing to not be able to find what you have secreted away somewhere.

I'm so frustrated at not being able to locate its whereabouts. Does anyone else suffer these moments?

The last I can remember was moving it from the coffee table where a glass of wine had just been spilt by D's daughter. I remember taking it into the kitchen but after that I draw a blank. Several times since I have thought I remembered where I had hidden it but when I check there is nothing but the usual items. I do now have an idea where I put it but I don't think it is there now that I think again. It's like someone is playing a trick on me, moving things about and tormenting me but I have a feeling that this is not so.

The only up is that in searching for the pincushion I may turn up the mini plastic shot glasses I was hunting for around six weeks ago after hiding them. They too have mysteriously disappeared. So far I haven't located them either. The worst part is that I hunt and hunt and hunt and search and search and search and nothing. Everything else is where it should be. Where oh where do these things go? What do I do with them???

Does anyone reading this blog, if anyone does, have any experiences of the like?

Hmmmn will check again tomorrow and update...

Stay tuned

crafty doings

2006-04-30T19:28:00.000+10:00

Well you will all be pleased with my recent creation but I have lost it so I can't take a photo of it yet and post it but I shall tell you all about it instead.

Mothers day is looming around the corner and amongst the pinata making I am a touch ahead of myself and thought that I may make some mothers day gifts for the mums in my life that mean the most to me.

On Friday night I decided to have a go at something that has been on my mind for sometime, a pincusion. Of course those of you who are well ahead of me here will realise that I have gleaned inspiration from your wonderful blogs. So thank you very much for all of your inspiring creations. I hope I have come up with something truly original for the life of me as I would hate to be labelled a thief or plagarist!

I thought a bit outside the square and made a mushroom or toadstool I guess would be more specific but I will be following it up with a mushroom. it has a typical red cap with white spots, pink gills and a white stalk. I'm considering adding some type of grass around the bottom but am still nutting it out, when I locate it again I'll decide I'm sure.

Well the pinata is finally at the started stage and will be rapidly progressing, I hope, over the next two weeks. I think it will have to be done for the weekend after next so not much time but enough. just.

better get back to the grindstone that is work and will keep you up to date of course!

stay tuned

Happy ANZAC day!!

2006-04-26T21:26:00.000+10:00

Yeah a day late but let the remembrance linger I say.

D's birthday is on the 24th, the day before ANZAC day so we tend to celebrate on the latter day.
I decided that I would cook dinner for him as a treat and invited his parents and some of the family. I also took the liberty of inviting his bf who was very happy to be invited and came bearing beverages, a trip down memory lane he called it.

I spent the morning prepping things ahead of time. Chopping, slicing, blanching, baking etc. Boy does this help! D reclined on the couch and finished the book, Mao's Last Dancer, that he was ripping through. This is quite an effort for him as he has several books on his night stand which are in various stages of completion and he started this book on our "honeymoon". So it has taken him 22 days to read! I'm impressed.

Then I had a break and we went and bought some office supplies for his business and I bought a couple of winter tops with the money I earned from the detailing of a boat that I did on the previous Friday. More on this later, I think.

It was really nice to have the day together just pottering around. We don't really get to spend much time by ourselves without others demanding attention.

For the dinner I decided on an all Kiwi/Aussie affair with a hint of Malta of course.
Classic roast lamb dinner with roast potatoes and pumpkin, julienne carrots and a gorgeous salad with beans, fetta and pinenuts dressed in olive oil and lemon juice. Pavlova with raspberries, dark and white chocolate shavings and MIL brought a caramel slice with coffee and walnuts in the caramel, tasty!

I found out that D loves the film, The Gods Must Be Crazy, so I thought this would be a great present for him. I was fortunate that there was a promotion on at the ezydvd stores in Australia where they had "classic" films presented in a tin. The tin came with both The Gods Must Be Crazy I and II, I didn't know there was a sequel! So this was a surprise for him when he opened it! I made the paper from a cute image of a baby baboon examining something like a leaf and had a quote from the movie over the top. D read it before opening the gift and after a bit recognised the quote from the movie. I was impressed with this but he had watched half of it on Sunday night so he may have remembered if he'd seen that part.

The thing I love about occasions involving D is that he always states "No gifts, No party's". Bah humbug is what I think and do it anyway, and of course he loves it when it comes down to it. While I was preparing all the food I was trying to keep him from discovering how much of it I was making giving away the fact that the roast dinner I was making for him was for a few more than the two of us. I managed to keep this up until we left for the break to the shops where his curiosity was piqued by the tea towel covering bowls on the table. When he saw how many carrots I'd julienned he became wise to my secret. I didn't let on his bf was coming though. I left that until he arrived that afternoon. Milo barking gave away that we had an early visitor and D's proclamation of "I think someone is here!" in that voice where he knows something is up and I've been sprung again, made me have a wee chuckle to myself and I answered with a "well then you'll have to get the door!"

Oh it was fun to say the least and he even suggested that we cook the roast on the fancy new bbq that his dad had gifted us for our wedding. Perfect, I was hoping this would happen as I was wondering how on earth I was going to roast enough potatoes for 10!!

Next on the agenda is the dolphin pinata for his niece. I like a challenge!

Stay tuned.

absent-ness

2006-04-20T19:29:00.000+10:00

Yes well I am now officially off the market as one collegue put it. I'm married! Yay!!

I can't believe what a whirlwind the last week before the wedding was and there are so many things that didn't get done but we had a wonderful day aside all the things that went wrong, and the list is pretty impressive!

I'll just fill you in on a couple of major ones.

The first is the biggie, my mother ate to top off the cake before we even had a chance to cut it! It might sound really horrendous but it wasn't too bad. I had a profiterole cake, croquembouche, and as a topper I had a crown of sugared almonds. My mum spied the cake not long after the ceremony and asked if she could have some to which the obvious reply was not until after we cut it. A couple of hours later I caught mum red handed stuffing the almonds into her mouth. The obvious tirade of "what are you doing's?!?!" ensued and after a moment I stopped and did the whole, calm down ness, thing. It wasn't that bad but I did have to point out in the speeches afterwards what had happened.

I find it really amazing how many people didn't notice something like that had happened.

I wanted the ceremony to happen in the upper garden at the site. My husband to be on arriving decided that it was much nicer down by the water so moved the guests down there. A few minutes before I arrived a really gusty wind blew up and htb decided that we should get married on the boat. So I was delayed yet more with this shuffling around of guests and was around half an hour late. I was champing at the bit and really just wanted to marry where we originally intended but again this was out of my power and after the initial tirade of "but I wanted to get married in the garden, not on the boat!!!" I calmed down and just accepted what was going to happen.

As it was it was really amusing to see the flower girls walking down the jetty throwing their petals only to have the wind whisk them away into the water before touching the ground. I was in hysterics watching this and thankful for this as otherwise I would have been a mess of nerves.

Pleased to say that I didn't cry at all during the ceremony, it wasn't until the speeches that I lost it because I just love his family so much and am very greatful that I am part of their family for real now.

Well enough mush better get on with my life now that I have some time to craft again. I think next on the cards will be a hat for my beloved brother.

I must say that I'm happy to be back blogging and can't wait to get on with it so stay tuned!!

partyness

2006-03-19T18:41:00.000+11:00

Hens/bucks weekend have been successfully executed and now I am counting down the days, so far 13 more sleeps. I can't believe how quickly it is coming around and I really am starting to be concerned about some of the things that I need to do still.

I have another dress fitting tomorrow at 3pm so I won't be able to sew until Tuesday. Still need to see the boat sometime, perhaps on Wednesday I will be able to do this. I ordered the bonboniere last week and should be arriving this week hopefully.

D and I are completely exhausted. Unfortunately I had to come to work this evening after partying all of yesterday and last night. Had a great time whooping it up with the girls and D's sister J came all the way from Brisbane to join in the fun. I think she was attracted by the fact that we were doing Pole Dancing lessons for a fun activity, now we know some new tricks! We had a blast with the cheeky costumes that were supplied for us to wear. J had a really tarty dress on that was ripped to shreds with strategically placed pieces that weren't ripped. It really was a lot of fun and the couple of drinks we had before the lesson was a great tonic for any nerves that were rattling away in some of the girls. After that we went out to a club and danced the night away until 2:30am. A bit of an early night for us but we were pretty pooped after all the fun we had in the afternoon and early evening.

D had fun too as far a I can glean from him. He has now perfected his water skiing style and is really getting into it. I can't wait until I can have a go sometime. We may be getting a house boat for a week after the wedding so this will be nice to just relax and not worry about phones ringing or doing a thing. I may be able to catch up on my reading for once.

Took MrsX cake tasting on the weekend and have found a place that will be just right for making the cake. We went and saw the movie Tristan & Isolde also on Friday evening which was just fun and the movie is definately watch worthy. I highly reccommend it.

Better dash, stay tuned.

bittersweet

2006-03-17T01:43:00.000+11:00

Ok bad title but it's late and I need to go home soon.

In the meantime here is the card that is going with the sugared almond favours.

I know it reads funny at the end, I have had comments/criticism that it says only four wishes but I interpret the "for Life" as an extra wish, please let me know if you read it like everyone else. I think I'm going to have some explaining to do...the thank you below the poem is the back of the card. I thought it was a good idea...criticism's welcome.

Off to do some chores before heading home.

Upping the Ante

2006-03-16T20:20:00.000+11:00

Yep hitting a higher gear over here and counting down to the big day.

Only 16 more sleeps for me and I am starting to fret a bit about all that is still to be done.
I ordered the bonboniere today so that should arrive next week, fingers crossed. The flower man was fairly helpful and I am confident that I can pull that off without too much drama, I'm sure there will be drama though. MrsX and I are going cake tasting tomorrow, should be a fun thing I think to do. Hopefully we will find the right one. I'm pretty confident we can find something that will be suitable with delivery.

I found out today that perhaps daylight savings will be extended another week due to the Commonwealth games happening at this moment. This will make it fall on the night of the wedding so perhaps after all we will be able to have a bit of leniency there. Should I call everyone and reschedule the time? I was having an issue with the celebrant regarding this, he wasn't sure if he could make it to my wedding in time...

Will sort out transport and accommodation issues with Mr&MrsX tomorrow night. The Hens is on this weekend, and I guess I should be worried but I'm not at the moment.

Need to get the groom and bestman their shirts and make sure that they have shoes and bm has suit. Have to schedule a colour sometime in the next couple of weeks.

Had another dress fitting yesterday and the earrings I found I think will go nicely being a bit quirky which is me but still very nice.

Need to have D go over the vows with me sometime between now and Monday and send those to the celebrant, book a time for a rehersal with him and still have to check out the boat...

So much to do, so little time...stay tuned

Believe it or not

2006-03-13T01:12:00.001+11:00

You won't believe that I have finally cracked out the sewing machine that D bought me for Christmas. Almost three months of restraint! I must be mad.

I can't believe that I have taken so long to take the twistie ties off the cords and plug them in.
I wound all five of the bobbins with white thread in preparation of sewing the flower girl dresses. I even managed to sew the linings up ready to fit the girls. I knew that one of them would definitely be too big. But once I held them up after stitching the few seams that were necessary I thought they were both too big. Thankfully the eldest girl's dress won't need to be adjusted too drastically, just a decent hem. I found the pattern to be a bit strange in the fact that the bustline was rather curved to accommodate a bosom, which clearly an eight and almost six year old don't have yet. So I'm going to have to flatten those out otherwise they'll be borrowing the kleenex for reasons they shouldn't.

Managed to blitz the house cleaning for once. I was on the rampage in this department all weekend keeping on at all involved to clean and tidy after themselves, aside D of course, he's way to busy to even bother listening to me.

Cooked the first roast of the season and had D's brother around for dinner which was nice for a change. I think he appreciated the change in cuisine, I don't think MrsX makes roast chicken much if at all. I made a wonderful madiera cake for dessert and ruined it with real chocolate icing on request from D's weeun. She certainly didn't mind eating my discarded icing. It tasted so much better without the added sweetness. Don't tell yarnstorm I said that though ok!

Can't believe that it is now less than three weeks until the big day. Still so much to be done and organized. Mocked up the program the other day. Not happy with the standard script font that I have on the computer here at work so will see if I can download a nice free one at home. Must sort out the music, hopefully I can do this on Friday...fingers crossed, need to order the bonboniere, sort out the transport and accommodation arrangements for my parents, have another dress fitting, hens night on Saturday, do the cake thing and a myriad of other little things that I have overlooked. Think I may have found some nice earrings though so another small thing off the list.

Winning the lotto now would just be marvellous.

Anyway better get back to the planning...

helicopter as promised

2006-03-08T20:17:00.000+11:00

Here is the Helicopter Pinata I made for the godson's fourth birthday. I ended up spray painting it as it was a heck of a lot quicker and more machine like with the paint as opposed to the crepe paper tassels. What do you think?
I made it so that both the rotors spun around and the rope came through the top of the rotor so it could spin without getting all caught up in the hanging part of the pinata. Must also apologise for the lousy picture. I was in such a rush all day trying to finish it before the party that this was the only one i managed to capture before the kids took to it with the cricket bat!

I think the four year old was rather impressed but of course the only thing they all wanted to do was smash it to get at the loot inside. As you do when you are a four year old sugar junkie!

We had a great day of course, the park is wonderful with a massive play area which is all fenced to keep the wee ones in and the adults relaxed. With sand all around no one can get hurt falling and there is a wonderful view of the river yay yonder behind the distant trees. A very popular venue on the weekend for celebrations, I think I counted happy birthday sung around six times in the vicinity!

Made a mock up of the floral head bands I'm going to make for the flower girls. I think I want to make one for me too, but I'd better not...They are quite easy. I used gypsophyla (sp?) or commonly called baby's breath, cutting small sprigs off the stems and taping with floral tape to a piece of taped wire. I think it took around 20 minutes so these will definitely be done for the wedding. Not sure how well they'll keep once they are completed but if I use flower preserver I'm sure they'll do ok. I guess I could always make them on the morning while getting my hair and make up done...yes we'll see.

I think I'm back on track with getting things organised. Am concentrating on the flowers at the moment and will be sewing up the linings of the girls dresses over the weekend. Very exciting, can't believe it is only 23 days to go...whoa!

Also think I have found some jewellery to give as gifts to the girls and mothers...will see.

stay tuned.

We have the ring!

2006-03-07T22:35:00.000+11:00

Picked up my wedding ring from the jewellers today. It fits!

Not much else to write about aside from having to run everywhere today.

I was seriously in danger of missing my train and therefore missing out on the time to get to a training session scheduled so I had to run to the station. I never run to the station. But this was a matter of urgency. I had slept in also and missed out on my daily run with Milo so I guess in a way I was making up for it. I was really struggling to get there on time and just made it with a couple of minutes to spare before the train departed. I had run to the extent of feeling sick and getting the burning lung feeling. I guess it didn't help that I had eaten breakfast not moments before heading out the door...silly me. Thankfully I have a whole hour on the train to the city so I had plenty of time to recover.

Then in town I changed my shirt and tested a sample of perfume, the new Leona Edmiston one is very very nice. Am thinking of getting it for the wedding instead of the Vera Wang which is also a wonderful fragrance. Then I headed for the venue only to discover that I was heading in the wrong direction. So I turned around and headed the other way only to call my supervisor and discover that I was on the wrong street. So I headed over and began to run again as I was running out of time to get there. They had warned us that if we weren't there five minutes before the session we would have to miss out. I made it to the street that it was on only to discover that I was five blocks too far and had to back track all that time and distance running again. I wasn't very happy with that as I was not wanting to turn up all sweaty, red in the face and breathless. But I did. I was also only five minutes late and they let me in still so I was fairly relieved.

Then after I went to the jewellers to collect my wedding ring. Its beautiful by the way. After that I was taken by some lovely sparkly costume jewellery in a window and enticed by the sales lady offering me a discount for being her only customer so far that day. I think I changed her luck as I was about to purchase something a whole group of people came into the shop and took her attention from me. So I told her I would be back another day. Perhaps it was a good time for me to leave before spending money I don't have.

Spied a wonderful vanity bag in Peter Alexander's shop, he does some great PJ's, a beautiful quilted chocolate satin with burgundy roses. Very tempting. I think I'll be going back for that one...

Checked out the music store and then realised that I was going to be late for work, the third time in as many hours that I had to run somewhere. Thank heavens I'm at work now and I don't have to rush anywhere!

Stay tuned.

Progress

2006-03-05T23:34:00.000+11:00

Happy Mardi Gras to all Aussies out there, that along with the bridal shower were the key events of the weekend that just was.

Also today was D's godson's 4th birthday, a great event with the piece de resistance being the helicopter pinata complete with rotating rotor blades. Obviously pics to come. The kids thoroughly enjoyed bashing it with a cricket bat, how very aussie! The sweets were a big hit too. I ventured to a new source for the sweets. A place called the Candybox where they sell big bags of pinata sweets for $10. A great variety and not stingy on the amount either. I reckon I'll fill three pinatas out of two bags. I ended up spray painting the helicopter instead of the standard crepe paper tassel affair. It turned out pretty good for a last minute rush job in the two hours I had earlier in the morning. Thank heavens we had some wonderful cherry red, Datsun blue and black spray paint left overs that I was able to use. I already have an order for the next birthday coming up in May, this one is going to be six and requested a dolphin, hmmm will have to get my thinking hat on for this one...

The bridal shower was a success although a few of the people I hoped would come sent their last minute regrets. I have a feeling that some people just don't want to feel that they have to spend yet more money on the bride...I would have been happier if they turned up giftless instead of altogether not turning up. Anyway I guess that is the way you find out who cares...right?

Next on the list is the Hens night...now I know that those who didn't come to the BS will definately come to this event. It is hot news right now...pole dancing being the main event. I will be resorting to the diet after the past weekends extravagance and indulgence...too much of the good stuff and not enough of the healthy stuff.

D is moving into his new premises next week hopefully if the containers and fences go up so things are moving along. I have the ring to collect this week and also have to sort out the cake and start sewing up the flower girl dresses. I managed to cut out the jackets and the linings for these last week and will sew them up first to test the sizing...don't want to commit to cutting the main dress fabric until these are confirmed sizes, lest I make a really big mistake in calculations...

habit forming

2006-02-27T01:45:00.000+11:00

I really hope that my slackness toward posting recently doesn't become habit forming.

It had better not.

Anyway I'm in for a long night tonight so thought it would be a good idea to catch up on recent events.

I have been busy with wedding stuff as you can imagine, less than five weeks to go and things are hotting up. Managed to find the other flowergirl's shoes. Had the first alteration dress fitting on Thursday which was really exciting as I was able to see if the shoes went with the dress and to my relief they do, thank heavens! I'm having the dress hemmed so that it will be above the ground and my cute wee pointy shoes will peep out from beneath when I am walking and talking. Ordered my wedding ring to fit. Found a great bonboniere site in the Hunter valley of all places called Hearts and Themes. I figured that they will be able to satisfy my cheap but quality tastes better than any of the other places I have. I also finally picked up the button badges I had made for the hens night, now I just have to remember to take them with me. Discovered that I have a really clueless bridesmaid who is incredibly self concerned and have had to organise the bridal shower with my SIL. Thank heavens for her. Anyway was accused of all sorts of unfair activities by the BM. The BM is rather cheeky to say the least letting glib comments pass such as since it is all organised why should she bother to bring anything...making me very anti BM. After her telling me that she may not turn up things got worse. Accusations of my taking it away from her etc. Gosh only knows how she came to that one. I just knew that 30 older ladies and younger ladies wouldn't fit in her tiny flat. No parking to add to the dilemma had me sourcing another venue. She didn't complain at the time so I carried on. When the invitations went out I expected her to use her initiative and call SIL and take back her duties. but no she rolled over and waited until the last moment. I'm fuming, anyway. It all takes the cake when I call and ask her to call SIL to organise what is going on and get a "i'm so busy and tired" reply, great someone who doesn't care about me. fantastic.

So I've spent the last week finding places for cheap partyware and sourcing great fingerfood and have come up with some nice sounding recipes. The truth will be in the comments...

Stay tuned.

tardyness

2006-02-20T01:01:00.000+11:00

Yes I'm slack, I can't believe I have almost let this lapse for a week. I can't believe it.

I am busy at the moment with work which doesn't help but also trying to organise my own bridal shower too doesn't make it any easier to find the time to blog and do that.

I spoke to BM tonight and after asking her to contact the SIL who is generously having the shower at her house BM tells me to stop stressing out. This did not make my temper any less and I was holding back a myriad of emotions which I didn't think should be let out then on the phone. I can't believe she can't picture herself in my shoes. I can appreciate her working long hours but I'm only asking her to be the friend she is supposed to be and organise the shower.

OK enough b*tching

Am sourcing party food for the shower and am having a dress fitting on Thursday next week. How exciting, I'm relieved that I have the shoes for it! The only problem I will have is the really unsightly tan lines I developed over the weekend.

We went to the lake to go celebrate D's best buds birthday. I had D plaster my alabaster with suncream 30+ and by the time 3pm rolled around I had a really bad sunburn on my chest with the worst tan lines in history. I don't know how I'm going to get rid of these and only have six weeks to fix them up with some creative tanning.
D's mates family is into water skiing and I've never done that before but really was looking forward to a turn. I didn't end up having a go but D did and he got up first try. I think it was a real comparisson to his last attempt where he ended up being dragged behind the boat hanging on for dear life bouncing on his rear and all that dwells there. Poor thing, he took the advice to don't let go a little to literally! But a whole lot wiser this time he managed to pop himself right up there out of the water and zoomed around for a couple of laps. I was so excited for him, it must have been such a thrill. Now he wants to go and buy all the gear and take it up for a passtime. I think it beats fishing for now as there isn't a great deal of fish to be caught due to drastic over fishing of the area. I did manage to have a go on the big tube that was being towed around behind the boat, the driver trying his darndest to flip us off. My shoulder ended up giving in before my vice like grip did and that was the reason I didn't get to go skiing. Next time. right?

Dress cutting soon. Promise!

We have shoes!

2006-02-14T23:45:00.000+11:00

Yes I finally found some suitable shoes for my wedding day.

After dragging D's wee girl around a four level mall for three and a half hours on Saturday all for naught I found a good pair of shoes. I had spied them earlier last week and after the ordeal on the weekend I decided that I should go and try them on. I think they will fit the bill nicely. They didn't cost more than a hundred dollars which is well within budget. I also didn't realise until I got home that the swing tag attached explained that the diamantes on them were in fact swarovski crystal diamontes so I'm super happy about that touch!

D's wee girl did find the perfect pair of shoes for herself on Saturday so all that traipsing wasn't really for nothing. She's very excited about wearing some "heels" to the wedding. Very grownup!

The most trouble I'm having at the moment is with my bridesmaid (BM). She's the only one and is a bit of a "me" person. I think she doesn't really understand what she should be doing and I've tried to be nice and given her some gentle pointers but have ended up organising the bridal shower myself with the help of D's SIL, thank heavens for her! I've had some interesting conversations with BM, the first when we went looking for a dress for her to wear. She tried on a great dress but it was plunging down to her bellybutton and she was wrapped with how it looked and I had to tell her how good it looked on her but I thought it was a bit too sexy for a bridesmaid to wear, very inappropriate. She had to agree with me on that one. The dress that I really thought was appropriate and complementary to my own dress was quite perfect but she had it on and told me that if I wanted her to wear it I would have to pay for it myself. I said that she wouldn't be wearing it then. While I was shoe shopping she called me and said she'd found another dress that was great. I asked her what it looked like and she said fushia, which is not the colour I was hoping for. So she said she'd send me a pic which I haven't received yet and that she was going to buy it anyway and have it altered. There was no way I was able to see this dress and I asked her if she could return it if it wasn't any good, which was a no as it was from a "vintage" shop. I told her that if I didn't like it she would have to buy something else and she agreed. thank heavens. The other day I got a phone call from her and she said that she may not be able to make the bridal shower. say what?! I couldn't believe it. What is she on?? Anyway I said that she should really try to make it and if she is working then perhaps she could ask for an early finish time in order to get to the shower on time. It's at 2:30pm so I can't see why she won't be able to make it. This means that I'll be organising the whole thing and she's not contributing much at all. Very disappointing.

What would you do? anyone out there? I would appreciate some advice if anyone is reading. Sorry about the long posts btw. I have quite a lot going on at the moment.

Stay tuned. I'm cutting the flower girl dresses out!!! Progress!

Here's the one I promised earlier

2006-02-14T01:44:00.000+11:00

So here are the pics from the most recent 2005 Christmas charity dress the bears event.

I made outfits for four bears this time.

Two were girls and two were boys, just to keep it fair.

It's all too easy to make girly outfits.

This year I also made them bags to accompany them so that the kids could keep a wee something in them.

The boys get two pockets. Either on their pants or both shirt and pants.

This guy is looking a bit like he's had one too many honey sandwiches!

See the great lining in the girly bag, I liked this one the most I think.
Here's a wee confession, I only realised after sewing up the bag that I had made it around the wrong way. The yellow flower was intended to be on the right, pale pink in the middle at the top and the other on the left...whoops. That is what happens when I rush though.

This wee lady has a reversible dress with pockets on both sides. One side is as you see and the other is reversed, it has the skirt in floral and bib part in stripes. The bag has the lining you can see on the strap. Its a shame you can't see the stitched stems to the "flowers" that are sewn on the outside.
The dress does up at the back with good ole velcro for ease of removal and changing.

This lass has a lovely yellow gingham dress on the other side of this sage pixie floral print. Finished with velvet green straps and an apron to keep her lovely dress clean. I realise only now that there isn't a pic of her with the yellow side showing which looks great with the apron. Sorry!

Well I think that will have to do it for tonight. Short on time but I have wedding shoes!!! A bit of a breakthrough if you ask me!

stay tuned.

Here's one I prepared earlier

2006-02-13T01:26:00.000+11:00

Way earlier!

These three were from our annual Christmas charity at work, 2004. The charity gives us the teds to dress and then they give them to the poor and disadvantaged kids for Christmas. I think it is a wonderful idea and also lets me flex my creative muscle at least once a year in a charitable way. A lot of the employees make the clothes themselves but some are creative using things like fancy hairties that resemble tutus and others give them to their mum/partner/kids/grandparents to dress. I figured that out when some were coming back with knitted outfits, very cute, cricketers complete with shin pads and jumpers, imagine! We even had a Steve Irwin character this same year! Very amusing. For those who the name doesn't ring a bell, how about the Crocodile Hunter? same guy, I believe he is big over in the states.

This was the first year that I made reversible dresses for the girls. Sorry I don't have a pic handy with the reverse of the outfits to show you. The yellow dress was fine purple and white stripes and the pink floral had green gingham with red rosebuds around the waist. I figured that having two outfits in one was a good idea, kind of like Mollychicken's recent post on how she made a dress for Tibbles.

I have pics of the last recent Christmas 2005 creations which were very similar but they each had bags accompanying them. I shall post them tomorrow as I have tried for the last hour to attach the pics in a decent order only to delete them when I move the text around. Very Frustrating!

So in order to lure you back again tomorrow if you are lurking around there, hopefully someone is! I'll get those pics in order and up for show and tell.

Stay tuned.

Paper and paste and waste

2006-02-07T22:38:00.000+11:00

I've been really proactive so far this week.

I have finished the third layer on the balloon for the pinata. Tomorrow I will be assembling the tail and maybe the rotors. I would like to do away with the feathery crepe paper this time and just paint it since it isn't an animal. I know this is going to show up the major imperfections of the pasting of which there are many. The reason being with the heat of summer the balloon expands and the paper layer is restricting which eventually splits and then I have to patch it up by which time the balloon shrinks with the cool paste and then I get a really ugly lumpy vein-like line. hmmm. Thinking of sanding it to get rid of major problem areas but run the risk of my perfectionist streak getting the upper hand and never being happy with it...oh what to do. I'll post some pics later when the film is processed, not sure if anyone is interested but it is crafty so I think I'd better show something!

I bought and sent dad his birthday pressie, books of course. Unfortunately they are a bit pricey to send as they weigh quite a bit so I am thinking hard of alternative gifts for him. It was a last minute thing though so I paid the price. Did you know that he is a valentines baby? His mum was a Christmas Eve baby!

I've lost almost 5kg since starting my diet a few weeks ago. I'm thrilled with this as I'm feeling so healthy and looking back at some pics of me from a year ago this is just great and a relief. I have a waist again and my tummy is flattening out. Just those jolly hips and thighs need to be whittled away, the last and hardest part! The only downer about losing weight is that my bosom shrinks too. D surprised me on the weekend and said that he wanted to get into shape for the wedding also. I guess I must have inspired him in some subliminal way. He is one of those people who doesn't put on weight. Like a greyhound. But since meeting him a few years ago he has lost a lot of his tone and definition, use it or lose it as they say. I don't mind as his job keeps him fit enough but he was working out with weights before I met him and he was quite buff. His friend had taken his old set and won't give them back so rather than make a fuss on the weekend he went out and bought a set of weights. I've been inspired in turn by this and decided to up the ante also and get into this too. Feeling a bit sore at the moment but this is good right!?
Milo is also reaping the rewards of more frequent walks/runs. Happy dog = no barking!

I must say that I am sad to see Little Birds taking a hiatus, I'll miss reading about her daily life and crafting adventures. All the best with your ventures Stephanie!

Stay tuned!

Badness

2006-02-06T22:15:00.000+11:00

Yep that's me, I can't believe I haven't blogged for like a whole week. Darn work and extra curricular activities!

Anyway a whole lot of things have been happening to keep me from my blog.

1. Wedding Invitations - finally they are out and in mailboxes as I type. I can't believe they are all done and delivered. I had a fit of inspiration fuelled by deadlines whizzing by and made some pretty neat invitations for the showers and bucks parties. Will post some pics soon, yeah promises again! I had a whole lot of dramas with the invitations taking so long and making me really anxious that they weren't going to get done and sent in time, as it was they were a week late in being sent. I'm still getting queries about dates and things and it is so annoying that people are asking me as I feel it is all my fault and ultimately it really is but I don't want to be going there right now.

2. Work - has been really busy lately, full on and no time for invitations and blogging. Everything suffers when work is busy. But it puts bread on the table and a keyboard under my fingers. I'm really very lucky when I think about it, so no complaints. Tonight is quieter so catching up on the past weeks worth of blogs, there is so much I have missed out on out there. Great for those really quiet nights!

3. Wedding to do's - I have a few to check off my list, the invitations, D's suit! and his ring!! I'm thrilled that he was inspired to get these done last weekend. I was quite surprised too that he chose the style he did. This weekend I'm going to be concentrating on my shoes and flowergirls dresses.

Those are all I can think of right now, there are quite a few subgroups that I could include, mostly in the invitation sector.
I've started the papier mache for the pinata I'm making for D's nephew. It's going to be a helicopter so will be quite different again from anything I've done before, for once it is not an animal of some description.
I bought some books for dad's birthday coming up so now all I have to do is get them in the post.

Speaking of post I have received so many wonderful postcards for the year of the dog postcard swap that was organised by My Little Mochi. I was even the lucky recipient of one of her delightful zodiac cards with the rubberstamp dog and ducks on the back. She even stamped the envelope too so I was excited when I saw the dog on there as I knew straight away who it was from! COOL! Also I got an amazing sewn card from Creativelittledaisy which has some sewn embroidery in the shape of a handbag, complete with button closure. Wishthimble sent me an original card using an unusual technique that I will simply have to investigate, great stuff! Weecottagestudio sent a great hand painted card of a dancing dog, cute! and an adorable handpainted card from My Vintage Days, such beautiful artistry. Tenderarts sent a really neat sewn card and Lilfish send a photo of a dog she'd made, that made me wish it was a softie swap instead! and the envelope had dog paws inside it with these great muppet stamps on the outside! Too cute. Beautiful Things sent me a picture of a quilted scene of the Wildwood in Devon, Lafeecoriandre sent me a great collage of some Parisian style and Debbie from Wataame sent me a great sewn card with some fabulous handstitching on it. Thank you so much ladies! I have received all ten of my cards now and am very pleased I decided to do the swap, so much fun. I hope everyone else out there had as much fun sending and receiving their cards.

Thanks My Little Mochi, I can't wait until the next one!

Well better go now. Back to the grindstone...

flying blind

2006-02-01T20:02:00.000+11:00

Yep that's what I'm doing at the moment.

I tried to post the day before yesterday, yesterday and everytime I look at my blog page there is nothing at all there. No banner. No side bar, none of my pics I just managed to figure out how to post. I have no idea what is going on so if anyone else can see what I've written here I would appreciate a comment or email if you have it.

I've been receiving the New Years cards which are absolutely wonderful, I love how they are all different.

I'm going to email some folks and see if they know what is going on and why. I think three days is too long to be out of action.

Anyway until I post again. Stay tuned!

Happy New Year of the Dog!

2006-01-29T22:19:00.000+11:00

Just a quick post to get the pic up and to wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year of the Dog!

Here is the pic I promised I would post of the postcards I made for the swap My Little Mochi hosted. There are some great creations out there and I hope mine was up to scratch, heh heh pun intended folks!

I'm a touch busy at the moment with work unfortunately otherwise this would be one of my usual sagas. The wedding invitations are still being delayed, very annoying considering I wanted to get them out last Friday!!!

Oh well hopefully they will get out there in the next couple of days...

Till next time.

Australianess

2006-01-26T00:14:00.000+11:00

Better get this off too before I leave for a weekend in Lithgow, watching boys ride bikes in mud and over jumps...to think I could be working on wedding related things.

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!!!

Hope all you Aussies have a great Australia day and relax, do Aussie things, wear your thongs and have a few cold ones at a BBQ or the beach, if the weather holds up in Sydney! It was raining last time I was outside.

Take it easy the rest of you and have a cold one for us, or a hot cuppa chocolate laced with some Frangelico or liquor of some desciption.

ness

Guess what I can do...

2006-01-26T00:09:00.000+11:00

I can post pictures!

Here is the pinata I made for D's birthday last year, I know it is a bit late and you probably want to see something current but I'm a touch busy for any of that at the moment so please bear with me and check this out...

It's a fish in case anyone was wondering. D is a very, very keen fisherman, so I thought it was appropriate. I even managed to make some boggly eyes out of an old Christmas decoration.
You can see them better in this next photo...

So do you like the kissy lips? That was purely a me moment. Very tongue in cheek. There is a tv presenter over here called Rex Hunt who hosts a fishing programme and before he throws his fish back in the water he gives it a wee kiss on the lips. Hmmm not sure if I would like to do that, they might bite!

Well the postcards are in the mail so hopefully they should be winging their way over the oceans to their recipients. I'm crossing my fingers that they get there in a reasonable time.

I must also take the time to thank Tania from Tania and Myra from My little Mochi for all their help in sorting out the mystery of making the button appear in side bars and blogs. Thank you very much ladies. I'm really quite pleased that I'm learning all this technical stuff about web pages and the like. Not everything mind you since I'm using prepared templates but it all helps doesn't it? I'm even more pleased that everyone is so obliging and helpful. What a relief!!

Anyway must get back to work...

I did it!!

2006-01-24T23:49:00.001+11:00

Check this out...

I did it! now all I have to do is add it to my side bar and I'll be happy!

Progress on the PC swap today. The photo shoot I had with Milo yesterday was a success. I chose an image that I thought was a bit artsy. I do hope you like it. Please if you get one of my postcards let me know what you think. I will really appreciate it. For those of you who don't get one I'll post it next week, now that I know how to get pics in here!!

Anyway I unlocked the door to my darkroom today, the first time in oh around nine months to a year! Yes procrastinating again I'm afraid. I haven't done any printing for a while and this was the perfect opportunity to get back into my darkroom.
I cleared out the cobwebs and about a dozen daddy-long-legs. I removed the creeping weed that had inifiltrated the minute cracks around the door, slowly making its way to my precious enlarger. Dusted down the benches and then I set everything up. I was really pleased to find that everything was dry and all my gear was in good working order sans cobwebs. Even the paper wasn't heat affected, whew I don't think I would have liked to replace all of that!
I did the proof sheet, test strips, test print and then started the production line. I've never printed in this way before, multiples of the same image. I usually just do the one or two good final prints of the image I want and then forget about it.
To say the least I'm pretty pleased with how it has turned out. I'm sorry I wasn't more creative with my postcard, I know that some of you wonderful bloggers are out there quilting, collaging and the like, but for me this was the perfect first swap, simple and achievable.

My darling D made the darkroom for me about two years ago and it hasn't had a great deal of use since. I think I just wasn't all that inspired. I think he was pretty stunned to hear that I'd been in there printing away. Perhaps even excited. When we met I was very much into bw photography and had my own darkroom set up in the basement of this wonderful wee terraced house. It had this fantastic sandstone foundations that were like rooms beneath the main house. A bit like silence of the lambs which would freak me out if I thought about it so I tried not to. It was also the perfect size for me as I'm fairly short, the ceiling was just above my head, kind of like the old English pubs where you have to duck if you are over 5ft tall. I always had great fun going to them with tall friends. Anyway when we moved I missed having my own darkroom to play in so D converted a back shed that we had there and I was over the moon in love with him, again. He can be just wonderful when he wants to be. He even installed an extractor fan and his dad set up the light so that there was the main switch to turn on the white light and the secondary switch to flick between red and white light. Very fancy!! The only thing I need in there is plumbing but for now I am content. I've had to work in worse conditions!

So mission accomplished, I just have to put in the post tomorrow and all done, for once I made it before the deadline!

Hope you're all crafting along nicely!

Work it baby!

2006-01-23T22:12:00.000+11:00

Milo was working it for the camera today.

It was all in the name of the New Years Postcard swap that I'm contributing to. Very exciting you know. I've never done one of these before.
I found myself talking to Milo like he was a human subject, "look at me, beautiful, wonderful, gorgeous!" If anyone had seen me doing this they would have thought that I'm nuts. Who takes a dog for a walk with a camera, taking pics as they walk down the street? The photos will be interesting to say the least. I think Milo was mildly relieved when we finished, I have a feeling that he is camera shy. A bit like D's daughter.
Thankfully I was pretty much alone with him, we went to the dog park and hung out for a while until I used the film up. D is not going to be impressed. He tends to get a bit crazy about me "wasting" film. Not to mention that I have around 15 to process, some from around three years ago! I know, really bad example of procrastinating. I'm hoping that they will still be ok.
One of the films I processed along with the dog shoot was from May last year. I love that. All those images that you forget about and then rediscover. The trouble is that I never really forget what I take a photo of. I just wonder where it got to. I guess most of them are still to be processed!
There is one example though which is really embarassing and disappointing. I was visiting my G'ma for Christmas with dad and I decided to do a wee shoot with them much to G'ma's reluctance. She softened up a bit once we got into it. Anyway I was on the last roll and the pics were going great. All nicely composed and light just right etc etc. I took some fantastic group shots of us and just of dad and G'ma. Then the next day I went to finish the roll and it kept taking more photos. Shoot! the film hadn't wound on properly and all those pics were never to be seen, ever. I did manage to get a wonderful pic of G'ma and her dog, Spice, which is my favourite memory of that day. All the other pics that didn't make it are still in my minds eye but never to be seen. A real shame and a great reason to go digital, but not yet.

Sorry folks I'm very much a tradional photographer, no digital gizmos for me. The only thing the camera needs a battery for is the light meter. I'll scan some pics when they are printed. Promises, promises, I hear you all say. Well I do mean to do these things that I say I'm going to do. Just sometimes I get so darned busy all at once.

Better dash!

blog guilt

2006-01-20T15:12:00.000+11:00

I find it interesting the guilt that I feel for not blogging everday. I wonder why this is? Does anyone else experience this?

Anyway progress report, invitations are in the process of being printed!

I was originally going to make the invitations myself but I was struggling with the wording and layout, couldn't get the right font and all things wedding invitation. So I decided that since I didn't have a whole lot of time left I would leave it up to the professionals, or at least get their advice. What a great decision!
They should hopefully be ready to send out next week. I can't believe how long I took to come up with the final choice in papers and design. Thankfully I was in a very helpful store, if there is anyone in Sydney on the North Shore who is also searching for invitation ideas then I would suggest the Paperartzi store in Turramurra.
The whole process was quite overwhelming. At several points I thought my brain was going to burst with all the decisions to make and also trying to visualise how the papers would look together and if they should have that trim or ribbon or not and what size and shape they should be...boy oh boy. I think I should have taken a wee course in paper craft before all this happened. I fell in love with one particular example and wished that I was having a spring wedding. It was that pretty and just perfectly designed.

I was really hoping to avoid all the dramas of family politics when organising the wedding guest list by keeping it small. Then D decided that he wanted to invite lots of people as we only had around 50 definite invitees. I want to keep it small as I only have a small family, Mum & Dad and Brother. That's it. I might be lucky to get my Aunt & Uncle to come over but think they won't be able to afford the flights and accomodation. So small was good for me as it meant that MD&B wouldn't feel too overwhelmed by all of D's family & relitives, believe me there are a lot of them!
So after a few months of mulling D decided that since the boat can take 70 guests we'll have 70. That means all his parents brothers and sisters and cousins from one of them on each side are being invited. It turns out that D's Dads brothers wife is a bit of trouble when it comes to things like this and D's parents think that if we invite the brother and wife she will in turn not be happy that her kids haven't been invited as she will see that there are two families with their adult kids there. Apparently she won't get that it is only one from each side that has their kids invited, the ones who D grew up with and we still hang out with.
We don't even see these troublesome people unless it is a family function like a wedding or similar so I am really thinking about not inviting them at all. I would rather avoid any trouble like that on the day and I don't think that D's parents should have to put up with it either. Please if anyone is reading this let me know what you think.
I just don't want to offend D's dad as it is his brother who isn't being invited. Perhaps I should also make the decision to not invite all of D's mum's b&s's There are a couple that I don't see ever unless a family function or similar. Oh the dilemma's.

thanks for listening.

Swappyness

2006-01-17T23:29:00.000+11:00

Ooooh I'm soo excited, I'm participating in my first swap!

I'm also getting over my wee slump I've been experiencing since my birthday celebrations ceased. Just a natural thing I'm sure but very perterbing when I have to keep myself on track.
I've managed to plan out when things should be done and missed quite a few of my deadlines but this isn't major. I've managed to sort out the guest list for the wedding with D, a big relief! We've managed to keep it below 70 so we will all be comfortable on the boat. I'm sure not all that we invite will come so hopefully it will be around 60-65 guests. I might be surprised though!

I have my Bridesmaid (BM) working on the shower and another friend working on the Hens night. The dates are set for both and I just have to sort out the invitations and mail them by the end of next week. Along with the Postcard swap cards...yep my plate is getting a bit full but hopefully I will be able to cope. Still yet to put scissors to fabric and cut the flower girl dresses but I still have another week before I panic on that one. Can anyone see a pattern of procrastination happening??

Hmmm

Work is busier and it looks like I'll be staying back a bit more tonight with the usual markup dilemmas. I might squeeze in another post if it is dragging out more.

Anyway until then I'm going to leave it at this.

Thanks!

Girl at work

2006-01-16T21:36:00.000+11:00

Yep that's me, working for once.

The party is truly over, I've been busy this night and for the past six weeks it's been dead quiet. I forgot to mention how hard I kicked myself for forgetting to take my camera with me when I tried on my wedding dress last Friday. So you will all be in the dark for a while longer. Do you think they would mind if I requested another try on just so I can take a pic? I might ask in another week or so...

Anyway while I have a mo' I'll let you know what else I'm cooking up.

D's godson will be turning 4 in the next 7 weeks so I put my hand up eagerly to make a pinata for him. Asking what his favourite thing was at this moment, always subject to change at whim of course, it turns out he's into helicopters. This was revealed when he was disappointed that Santa had brought him a fire engine instead of a helicopter like he'd asked, much to everyone's surprise!
I've been making pinatas for the kids for a couple of years now and they really are pretty cool if you ask me. The first one I ever made was a dragon for D's wee girls' sixth birthday. I was relieved that I still had that creative bug in me and also really happy that I stretched that creative muscle in a big way. Working in 3D is a fun challenge. I think the helicopter will be fairly straightforward as I worked it out on the spot when they told me. A relief that it isn't another horse, I'll post pics soon ok! As soon as I figure out how to do it...

Another item on the soon to be done list is a set of aprons for my recently betrothed friend and her husband. I bought them a BBQ tool set for a gift and thought aprons would be perfect as a follow up gift for their bbq party they just invited us to at the end of two weeks. Do you think this is enough time to whip some up? I've never made an apron before so will be another cool challenge. I have an idea that I want to make hers very feminine, cocktail style with some ruffles and his of course more masculine, ie no frills.

I also have managed to join the Year of the Dog post card swap at My Little Mochi. So this will also be in the works. I have a couple of ideas already so just hope I can match my minds eye.

Better get back to the grind stone!

Stay tuned...

The party's over

2006-01-15T18:41:00.000+11:00

Yep the party is well and truly over, now I can get on with more important things like organising the finer details of my upcoming wedding!

The date is set, 1st April 2006 - check, river cruise reception - check, catering - check, photographer - check, celebrant - check, bridal party - check, dress - check check!
Things we don't have organised, rings, shoes, suits, guest list, invitations, hens/bucks nights, showers, gifts, bonbonierie, music, flowers, bridesmaid dress, where we're going to sleep before and after the big day, cars...all the finer details and very important ones too!

So now you will know what to expect for the next 76 days and counting.

I'm making the flower girls dresses and will be embarking on that very soon, yay I get to use my new sewing machine at last!!! I think I'll also have a go at making the ring pillow and garter and maybe the veil but I did try on a really lovely one on Friday that would be perfect. I tried on my dress again and it is every bit as lovely as it was the first time. The attendant was amazed that I hadn't put on any weight from Christmas and I think I was quietly thankful that I hadn't. I have been trying to get my weight down of course and walking our dog helps a great deal but sometimes I don't have time to do that so it isn't always a reliable way to loose weight. I'm in the second week of the Liver Clensing Diet - great website here - which is essentially a low fat, non dairy, non sugar diet. Yay I can eat potatoes!!! I've done this before with great results but it is so hard not to smear toast with butter or eat a toasted sandwich without cheese. My reasoning is that this is temporary for 76 days and counting and it won't be long before I can stuff myself with wonderful foods on my wedding day! I think it will definitely be something to work towards...will keep you posted of course whether you like it or not.

We had a game of tennis with Mrs X and D's brother last night, we haven't played since September when I went back on the night shift. We had such a great time whacking the ball around that I can't believe it had been that long since playing last. I have a slight ache in my forearm but this is bearable. The rest of me is ok considering although I did have trouble getting to sleep last night so had a nice sleep in this morning.

I think I might sign off for now and keep you from the torturous long entries of late.

Take care, Ness

But wait there's more...Warning! this is a long one

2006-01-11T19:19:00.000+11:00

How would you feel if your family didn't call you for your birthday even though you asked them to?

Believe it or not this happened to me last Thursday, on my birthday, the biggie, 30.
I had called mum the day before and specifically told her that even though we were talking then that she was to call me the next day with dad and big brother and requested singing and all the rest of it. They live in NZ so this is kinda important to me. I also made sure to say that if they couldn't reach me at home they would definitely be able to reach me on my mobile. Mum confirmed that she had the numbers.
I had my phone with me all day, throughout the hair episode, while getting ready to go out to dinner, while I was at dinner, nothing. Thank heavens I was being well entertained by D's family. I thought that they must've called home and I wasn't there and that they would probably call again the next day.
Nope
All the next day and well into the day after that I was expecting the ringing and singing on the other end of the phone, to no avail. I can't believe they still haven't called. Can you?

When I got to work on Sunday night there was a brief email from mum to say that she had called and I wasn't home and did I get my gifts? No mention of trying my mobile or that she was going to try calling again. I still don't believe I haven't heard from them since the email, six days ago, and counting. Surely I should have by now?

Anyway, thankfully, I had a fantastic time and have tried to not let it get to me, just another minor glitch, and I am still very excited for some strange reason, I must be crazy.

Well how about more about the sewing machine, this is the best story.

My dear beloved D, bless his cotton rayon blend socks, came home the Friday before Christmas to see wrapped presents under the mantlepiece on the hearth, (we don't have a tree, yet) NB: this is a shortened version.
D - Who are they for?
Me - For you and your family
D - But I told you not to get me any presents!
Me - Erm, no you didn't, I asked you the other week what you wanted and you said a million dollars. You know I always buy you a Christmas present. That's what I like to do.
D - Mumbling about wasting money etc - But I haven't got anything for you.
Me - Well you'd better go and get me something tomorrow.
D - How about I just give you some money and you can go and buy what you want.
Me - No, that's not how it works, you have to go to the shops and I suggest you get there early to avoid the crowds.
D - groaning
Me - Just get me some book vouchers or a gift certificate - trying to make it easy for him, nice huh!

So the next morning he went to the shops, thank goodness! When he came home, all happy and excited that he'd bought something good, it worked! I went and took the dog for a walk so he could wrap it. When I got back there were two huge boxes with something smaller on top ??? oooh I got the biggest!!!
Later that day we were watching tv and an ad came on for air-conditioning units and D said that that was what the pressie was. I went ballistic of course - you're not supposed to tell me what it is, it's supposed to be a surprise!!!
I did mention that it was rather smaller than I would expect for and air-con unit. All day he went on about the air-con that he'd gotten for me, saying that we should break it out now and get it going. ARGH!! what the? No! it's my present and I'm going to forget what it is and I'm going to wait until tomorrow!
All through dinner with his parents that night he kept on with the air-con, of course with me going stupid trying to change the subject.
So the next morning he gave me the first of the two big boxes, which I slowly unwrapped so as not to ruin the "surprise" and paper, against his goading to rip into it!
It was a grease gun. huh? this isn't an air-conditioning unit...cheeky little... The next small pressie he gave to me I unwrapped a little more hastily. A pair of dress making scissors and two feet for a Janome?? OMG!!! you couldn't stop me from, rip rip tearing the paper on the last biggest box to low and behold a brand new sewing machine!!! Squeals of delight and hugs and kisses and OMG's and thank yous and, wow isn't that the best present ever! I hadn't even asked or hinted for a new machine as I know how darned expensive they are. I still can't believe it. What a super star. I've been having a bit of trouble with my wee Elna that I'd bought quite a few years ago when I decided that I was staying in OZ for a while. I'm still pinching myself! I can't believe he even thought about a sewing machine! Now there is some serious sewing to be done, soon!!

SO. like I've been saying, stay tuned!

Keeping the repo elves at bay

2006-01-10T02:16:00.000+11:00

I was told when I was still in the single digits that if you didn't take down your decorations before the twelfth day after Christmas the elves would come and take your presents back.

I think this really stuck in my head because that is what I did on the sixth of January after the hairdressers. Thankfully my birthday is eleven days after Christmas so I manage to keep the decos up for it, yay!
I dutifully took down the Christmas decorations that I had been displaying for the past few weeks. I find this a bit sad but theraputic in a way as these are special items only for a special occasion. They need to be packed slowly and carefully so they dont get broken or squashed. I had them all hanging around the redundant gas fireplace which wasn't too bad. Framed by the lonely piece of bedraggled tinsel that looks like some poor mangy tail. I can't wait for next year when I can actually have a reason to go out and buy some more decorations and a tree! It is so hard to stop myself from the temptations that are the post Christmas sales, hence the need for boxes instead of shoe boxes for storing them all in this year.

SO after all that partying and carrying on over the weekend I spent the rest of it slouching around the house, not doing the dishes, not vaccuuming, not doing the laundry, not doing anything. I managed to watch three videos, (we aren't technically up to date as our tv is so old it doesn't have the relevant sockets for a dvd player) War of the Worlds, Lemony Snicket and another Aussie film, A Man's Gotta Do, with John Howard (not the PM and quite good) All were good but I think the Lemony Snicket was my favourite, I have a thing for wonderful sets, costumes and props.

Well now it is back to chores, work and blogging catchups. Thanks to those who've let me link them. Apparently I don't necessarily need to ask but I thought it would be the nice thing to do. Many thanks to those who've commented, I'm sooo excited when I see a new comment, I totally get why everyone enjoys blogging when they get cool comments from such nice total strangers. I can't wait until I get some of my crafty stuff up here for you all to see, do you think there is enough room for me to join in the fun? I sure do hope so. I didn't mention this but my gorgeous D bought me a brand new sewing machine for Christmas/Birthday present. So I can't wait to break this out of the box and go crazy.

More later, stay tuned!

Thirty Thoroughly Celebrated - Part 2

2006-01-09T19:00:00.000+11:00

I must apologise to those who are already bored with my recollecting the extended birthday celebrations, trouble is that this is about me so I guess it is to be expected.

I had a nice wee sleep in and sauntered down to the hair salon for the alterations. I don't get why it took much less time to fix than the day before. I did make sure that while I was being seated I requested a coffee. Still being the morning and all I needed that caffiene and knew from the previous day that I couldn't trust them to ask. Low and behold not two minutes after requesting the said coffee another girl came and asked if I would like one. I can never win! Well, after some lengthy toning process I was all nicely fixed up, blow dried, dusted off and I walked out of there like a starlet which is exactly how I like to leave the salon.

A bit of aimless shopping to see if there were any new outfits for me to wear out that night and then off home to relax a little more.

I snapped out of my aimlessness much later that afternoon and started to get ready to go out. D came home and was surprised that I wasn't already ready. We still managed to catch an early train and made our way to the city. I misjudged the stops and went one too far so we had to back track for quite a while but this was ok because I didn't realise it until we were at the bar. We found an early arrival there waiting patiently and joined him. It was a really nice place. Living up to all of my expectations. But we weren't early enough to get the lounges so we had to congregate near the bar and entryway. Then some of the other people had arrived but there was some trouble and they couldn't get in. They were being told that it was full, utter rubbish. I went outside and explained that it was my birthday etc etc and it was like talking in a dream with nothing coming out, they were so not caring. So we packed up and went to another bar where I knew everyone could get in, trust me they let everyone in there. eek! But it was great fun. Everyone turned up and I was so happy to see that they'd all made the effort and dressed up and some even brought gifts, soo sweet. My bf Sass bought me a beautiful vintage tapestry purse, Bella brought me a lovely bracelet, I also received a book voucher (another favorite!) and drinks coming out of my ears! All fantastic.
As the night wore on some of the guests departed but it wasn't all at once and it was just great. We moved to a club later where one of my friends knew the DJ and had my name put down at the door to get in free, bonus!!! I was relieved to see that everyone there was really nice. Sometimes there can be a bit of animosity when a certain type of person is there causing problems, trying to hit on girls, creating trouble etc. Not fun, but this was great, I didn't have a single problem and my D was just beautiful and so attentive to me. We danced all night and left when they turned off the music. Another friend of mine, Cath had a hotel room for the night as she lives a fair way away from the city so we went back there and chatted and watched the music channel until I was falling asleep, then we went home.

So that was thrity, thoroughly celebrated!

Update on Being 30 - Part 1

2006-01-09T00:07:00.000+11:00

I was told that being 30 was great, and so far I haven't had a problem with it

I did experience a few glitches but managed to keep cool about it.
The first was while I was getting my hair done.

I naturally have kind of mousy hair now. In the past I've tried various shades from honey to chocolate and strawberries in between. I've never had really blonde hair and when four hours later, argh four hours! the girl had finished with my hair, I wasn't happy. I had definitely made it clear to her from the start that I didn't want it too blonde as I'm hopeless with regrowth and it doesn't go with my pinky skin. I was now on the verge of being a Hilton. It was past 6pm and I couldn't have her do it all over again then even though she offered. I had a dinner to go to. Disappointed but thankful that I was able to make another (complimentary) appointment for the next morning, I left in a not so good mood. It maybe had something to do with not having any food or water for the four hours I was there. I eventually had to ask for a coffee after she'd put the colour in!

To top that off I had to pay for parking as I had been in the shopping centre for more than four hours. Totally not happy.

I got home expecting to be told to hurry but wasn't. I found out that we were indeed dining at the RSL which I wasn't too excited about, which in turn stressed poor D out. Then I felt bad because he was only trying to keep everyone happy, not just me. Even though it was my birthday, the big three oh, the first one that I had ever spent with him and his family instead of with mine who live in NZ. I guess I was really just hoping for and expecting a bit of special treatment.

Dinner turned out to be fun even though it was at the local RSL where we have been frequenting a lot lately. D's parents enjoy this cheap dining solution. We do too but I'd only been there a couple of days before so wasn't too excited about it. Not really my choice for major birthday celebrations. I was kind of looking forward to a homemade party. It was good though. I forgot about all of this when I walked in all smiles and had a great time. I even got some pressies!!! Totally unexpected. D's mum bought me a beautiful bracelet and some bath products, I also received a picture, some candles, and a book. (my favourite gift!) I share my birthday with D's dad who is on the 2nd along with D's wee sister's new boyfriend so they too were spoiled. In amongst all the fun we almost missed out on ordering dinner before the kitchen closed so I don't think the kitchen staff were too happy about us putting in a large order before closing time.

Had a fairly early night after returning to D's parents place for cake with candles. Very nice home made black forest cake with all the trimmings. Thanks Mrs X!

More tomorrow!

About turning 30...

2006-01-04T19:59:00.000+11:00

BRING IT ON!

Yes, ahem, it had to happen sooner or later and now that I am loitering in the remaining hours of 29-ness I think I have finally adjusted to the reality. After all, I've had a whole year to come to terms with it.
The first half of the year was spent in denial and generally freaking out that I had T-minus 360 something days left of being twenty-something. I didn't acknowledge the fact that I was already in my 30th year, no siree.
Funnily enough during the last few months I've been looking forward to being a grown up at last. No excuses now, I can definately tick that 30+ box with confidence. (funny how sometimes they have a 26-32 age box, what's with that?)

As bold and confident as I may seem I am secretly coveting the fact that I still feel 20-25. I probably still act it too!

OK so the line up for the next 3 days will be

Pampering at hair salon followed by official dinner with in-law family
Primping. Dinner out and cocktails in a swanky bar (very grown up don't you think) followed by extensive celebrating
Recovering and residing to the fact that I am well and truly 30 something.

Of course it is all subject to whim,

Stay tuned!

Testing, Testing, 123

2006-01-04T01:32:00.000+11:00

So far I've updated the template three times, added and deleted the sub heading twice, and written another update, ok once. Maybe it should be "Checking checking 321"

Anyway a bit about me, I have finally delurked (applause, please!) I just can't stand it anymore, I want to join in the fun that all my favourite bloggers are having and I'm hoping I haven't missed out.

Hopefully soon I will be posting some pics of things that I've made and setting this up a bit more asthetically. So stay tuned!

New-Ness

2006-01-03T23:53:00.000+11:00

Well here goes my very first blog, hope this is all it's cracked up to be...can't wait until I get rid of my training wheels!