Uncategorized

Out of Action

Unfortunately my phone line at home is as dead as a dodo … so I can’t access emails or the internet/blogs … fingers crossed it will be fixed before Christmas, but I’m not holding my breath 😦

If this doesn’t work, and doesn’t post, I’ll try to access the internet from a library or something somewhere … what am I going to do at home now?? I guess I’ll have lots of stitching piccies to show and tell by the time I get back! LOL.

Updated:

My apologies to those of you who read the previous post and got all the info about my work 😦 Obviously that’s something I won’t be repeating … but at least I know it works!!

It turns out it’s unlikely I can get the phone line checked before Christmas, which means I won’t be able to access blogs etc very easily without going to an internet cafe or library (which is where I am now). If you need to contact me urgently regarding the RAK Registry or anything else, please try contacting Nicki (Plush) or Carol (Garden of Stitches) and they could let you know my work email address. Otherwise I’ll try to pop into a cafe or library once a week to check incoming emails.

Apologies for the quick post, but I only have 15 minutes of access allowed here, and need to pop into my ISP website to see if I can access my emails. If I don’t get chance to say so beforehand, all the very best to all of you and your families for a wonderful festive season!

I’ll quickly close saying I have received a wonderful giftie today from Carol (Garden of Stitches) … and I adore it! I’ll post properly when I get chance, but Carol will no doubt give you a taste of the contents on her blog πŸ˜€ I’m sorry this isn’t a proper thanks, but I’ll write more when I have more time πŸ˜€ (Luv ya Carol!)

Works in Progress

Back to a Rotation

Well, so much for my plans to grid up the Leporello last night … it was quite late, so I thought I’d just stitch on an ‘existing’ project for the rest of the night, and start the Leporello today … um, well, that was the “plan” …

In reality, I started stitching Chatelaine’s Egyptian Garden, and I couldn’t put it down … so I ended up putting an entire 10 hours into it, and thus starting back into my rotation, which is well overdue πŸ™‚ Here’s my progress to date.

And now I may have a partner in crime stitching with the Leporello – I’d love to do a SAL with you, Jenna … I’ll drop you an email shortly and we can work out how we want to do that.

Which also reminds me, I also have to get my Macaw or Rainbow Lorikeets kitted up for a SAL with Carina … as well as the Bordeaux Sampler with Leslie and Carol, it’s gonna be a busy time coming up πŸ™‚ But what a wonderful group of projects πŸ˜€

I’ve actually been getting over a small dose of a virus since Thursday (I had to come home from work early on Friday), so it’s been a perfect weekend just blobbing out and stitching … heavenly πŸ™‚ But tomorrow I’m on 6am shifts, and there’s a loud party going off next door … not quite so heavenly :/ But then I look back at my Egyptian Garden, and that heavenly feeling comes back πŸ˜€

I am thankful for stitching – and all the sheer pleasure, peace and joy that comes from it.

Finishes

Another ornie stitched

I can’t believe it’s been a full week since I’ve done any stitching, but today I was lazy and sat and stitched up another ornament … I don’t have the Mill Hill Treasures, but I figure it looks OK without them πŸ™‚ That means project 18 crossed off the list – down to 32 left woohoo πŸ˜€ I also washed and ironed my cream Belfast linen ready to start the Chatelaine Leporello, now I just need to grid it up and start stitching …


Christmas Eve by Elizabeth’s Designs
from JCS 10th Anniversary Collection
stitched on 28ct lambswool linen
with recommended threads and beads

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, PhotoHunt

PhotoHunt – Annoying (& Silly)


|

This week’s theme is “Annoying” … there wasn’t much I could think about this week for annoying that I could actually take a photo of, so this is the best I could come up with … it was incredibly “annoying” finding this great big bolt head sticking up out of my tyre driving home from work after night shift – and even more “annoying” having to buy two brand new tyres out of it (although admittedly I’d been thinking the tread was getting low on them anyway). Sorry for the poor shot, but my camera battery died and I couldn’t take a clearer one.

And an archival one just in time for the festive season – here’s my Dad, the Christmas fairy … my choice for the “Silly” theme. It’s amazing what a party at the local RSA will make you do!

Uncategorized

Take THAT Beta Blogger!

Aha, I think I’ve finally worked out the very simple solution to be able to post on Beta blogs … after giving up trying to post on many blogs (some would allow anonymous comments, some wouldn’t etc) … I finally opened up a Google account, which was super simple, and it’s allowed me to comment everywhere so far … although I have to admit I’ve only made a few comments so far this morning before work. Anyway, anyone who’s still having problems commenting might want to try doing that.

After seeing Nicki’s blogs copy across just fine, I decided to bite the bullet last night and migrate mine … but apparently one of my blogs can’t be migrated yet, so I have to wait in line for longer – I don’t mind at all ;P

Nothing else to post today, really …

Except to say today I’m thankful for fresh clean sheets and bedding … how lovely is it to slip into bed when you’ve just changed all the linen? Ah, heaven πŸ™‚

Gifts TO BE FIXED, RAK Registry

Ornies and RAK

I was thinking what a great mix of nationalities we have so far in the RAK Registry database, and just in case you were interested I thought I’d share … so far we have a total of 38 stitching bloggers taking part, and they’re from the following nations:

15 – USA
4 – Canada
4 – United Kingdom
4 – The Netherlands
3 – New Zealand
3 – France
2 – Australia
1 – South Africa
1 – Switzerland
1 – Finland

A couple of quick replies for Nicki and Lisa … the dress isn’t that ‘light’ to wear, I have to admit – it has a separate skirt underneath with curtain wire hoops. Mind you, I said yesterday if I keep filling out my body any more than it currently is, I soon won’t be needing the hoops! ROFL. The dress itself was made from some plain green homespun cotton fabric by Mum, then I added all the decorations onto it – in fact the tinsel needs to be replaced now, I think. The tinsel and string of balls are pinned on from the inside with safety pins, so it can be removed for washing – next year, though, I’m going to superglue the caps to the balls, as a couple of the new ornaments I put on this year to replace missing ones aren’t as robust. I do love it, though, and I have another stupid idea in the back of my brain as well … making some felt ‘boots’ that have a flat inner section up my calf, with the outside part pushing out, so when I stand with my feet together, it looks like a plant pot … or hanging some presents from the hoops … yup, gotta love that festive season, it really does bring out the child in me! ;P

Now on to really FUN stuff … I was given the OK by Katrina to open one of my little gifties from under the tree – and now I understand why … I am now the proud owner of the most gorgeous ornie with beautiful stitching and finishing, and I’m absolutely thrilled with it! Thank you so much Katrina, I truly do adore it! And it’s on my little ‘ornie tree’ already! πŸ˜€ Doesn’t that sad little tree look so much better now? Mind you I still have to make up the two ornies Mum gave me (she did the stitching, and I’m doing the finishing), and then that’ll possibly be it for the year … depends how keen I get between now and Christmas hmmm.

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

The next two days are going to be quite social – we have a team meeting for all us ‘Hotliners’ (Seniors), and we’re doing it over breakfast for our Christmas get-together. Brekky is at 8am and I don’t start work until noon, but I thought I’d potter around in the neighbourhood until then, as there’s no point coming all the way home again. Then on Saturday I’ve been invited to a friend’s place for a party (J), and I’m driving to B’s house first then we’re going there together, then I’m staying at B’s house for the night – which means we can let our hair down for the night … it’ll do me good, I think πŸ˜€

Today I’m thankful for my best friend’s Mum Doreen – her apricot slice went down a treat yesterday, with a few people coming up to me especially to say how yummy it was (most people brought in supermarket cakes, so I guess the home-made stuff really stood out LOL) … I’m also thankful that I made a double batch and that I still have some sitting in my fridge (my hips won’t be thankful though) … but not just that, I’m thankful for Doreen for giving me so many wonderful childhood (and adult) memories, and being one of the people that has helped shape me into the person I am today – I love you loads, Doreen!! πŸ˜€

Uncategorized

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

Updated to add an apology to many bloggers – I’m trying to catch up with blogs, but for some reason the last two nights I’ve been unable to leave comments on beta blogs … it just keeps rejecting my blogger ID. Anyway, I’ve opted to leave it for a day or two then I’ll try to catch up again – I don’t want to just ‘read and run’ … hopefully I’ll be able to get back to commenting again soon πŸ™‚ I was doing so well, too – I’d managed to catch up at the weekend after getting through over 650 unread feeds! πŸ˜€

For Carina and Cindy, and anyone else who’s wondering what Babycham actually is … here’s the Wikipedia info … and the official website πŸ˜€ I was reading the History section last night, and found it very interesting, and I love the ‘product lines’ … when you run your mouse over the sparkling bottle, the cork pops out haha – I didn’t realise quite how old Babycham is, but then again I have been drinking it since I was very young hmmmm πŸ˜‰

Well, it’s been an interesting day today – not anything to do with my ‘personal’ situation, but rather one for Melbourne city on the whole. As the Yahoo news team puts it … “Melbourne was shrouded in a thick blanket of smoke throughout today with levels in the city reaching 10 times the acceptable limit. Some city workers found the air difficult to breath in with others more concerned about the cause of the ominous sky.” That kinda sums it all up, really!

It really is quite eerie, and I’ve been tasting smoke all day – I had to shut off the air vents in my car on the way to work, and then by the afternoon it was so bad it was circulating through the air conditioning at work and we’ve all been complaining of headaches and sore throats. We did do a very pitiful rendition of ‘Smoke gets in your eyes’ at one stage πŸ˜‰ I bet the respiratory departments are run off their feet today, as it really is dreadful – even in bad weather I usually have a lovely view of the skyline on the drive home, but tonight it’s just blanketed in a thickish fog of smoke. I feel very sorry for those who are closer to the ‘action’ and have lost their homes during this disaster.

So today, I’m thankful that I’m not in the path of that fiery destruction – I really hope they get it under control soon so no more property (or worse) is lost. But I’m also truly thankful that today was the first day of an entire month (13 Dec-14 Jan) where we’re allowed to wear casual clothes to work … jeans and trainers for an entire month – I’m in heaven! πŸ˜‰

Today was also dress-up today at work … apart from a few Santa hats, as usual I was the only one to be fully decked-out in my Christmas tree outfit, and we have some great ideas for my outfit for next year – including getting a load of cheap ‘flashing’ brooches/earrings to attach like lights hahaha … too funny! Two of the Supervisors tonight came and gave me a Luv Ya Work Award before I went home “for bringing some festive cheer and joy into the office” … I have to admit it is a great morale booster, and brings a smile to everyone when they see it … and that’s what it’s all about! πŸ˜€ I didn’t take a new photo this year, as I had my hands full with my plate of food etc walking from my car, so couldn’t juggle my camera as well, so last year’s photo will have to suffice πŸ˜‰

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Uncategorized

I am thankful for …

That heading is what I’m going to be focusing on for a while … I’m sick of being full of misery on this blog, and I’m sure you’re sick of reading it. Anyway, after my emotional meltdown last night, I think it had a bit of a cleansing effect on me – my fighting spirit is back again, and I’m going to try to focus on the positive things in my life. There are many people worse off than me … while it may be stressful and depressing at times, I need to keep looking ahead πŸ™‚

So today I’m thankful for all my online friends – your cheering on comments both here and in personal emails has given me a lot of strength to deal with the issues I’m facing. As the old adage goes, “a friend in need is a friend indeed” … and I really and truly appreciate you all hanging in with me while I’ve been struggling and less than positive on here.

This morning I spent some time checking out house sitting sites and self storage etc, but I’ve been thinking of leaving any major decisions until the New Year. I have Mum visiting for six weeks in February, and I’d rather have everything ‘as usual’ during that time at least … and it will give me plenty of time to get my head together.

Tonight was a different task … I’ve been sending emails to the UK, to the manufacturers of Babycham! I don’t know why, but since this morning I’ve got it in my head that I want to make up my own stocking. Why?? Because my stocking is the one Christmas tradition Mum did for me every year until I was ‘too old’ for it (I repeat for you again, Mum, I’m never ever too old for it hahaha). Such a simple thing – a stocking was waiting under the tree every year … nothing glamorous and expensive, but filled with love – Christmas just wasn’t Christmas without my stocking! What was in my stocking that made it so special? … There was always a handful of nuts in their shells (brazil nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts etc), maybe an apple and an orange, and a couple of chocolate bars and sweeties, and the piece de resistance … a small bottle of Babycham! When I was in my teens there would be some additional treats in there too, like a pair of ‘fashion’ earrings or something similar. I don’t know why, but that stocking tradition has remained in my heart as something very very special about Christmas.

When I moved to Australia the first 8 months here sharing were abysmal for many reasons (a couple of you know those stories from personal emails, but I’m not going into it now) – when Fraze and I moved out to our own place in Box Hill, it was going be our first Christmas ‘on our own’ … by the time Christmas came, we also had Andrew living with us too – and I decided to do the Christmas stocking ritual for them … although instead of Babycham they got cans of beer haha – they also got a few ‘silly things’ like car polish and DVD cases and things. While I didn’t have my own stocking, watching the two boys unwrap everything in their own stockings was wonderful, and I really loved it. Andrew said that that was the most special Christmas he’d had, and even though he spent the rest of the day with his family, the morning with us was the most magical. I do have to admit I did feel the same way too at the time (shame the rest of our living arrangements with him weren’t quite so magical in the long run haha).

Anyway, being the first Christmas on my own, I’m making my own stocking … and I’m trying to track down whether Babycham is available for sale locally somewhere, as I’ll be treating myself as my big Christmas Day treat. We used to be able to buy it in New Zealand, so I presume you can buy it here somewhere too, and it’s pretty cheap to buy even though it’s imported. If not, then I’ll substitute with a $3.99 mini bottle of Asti Riccadonna instead … woohoo, big spender LOL. Add to that my fave Christmas song playing loudly on the stereo (ie Snoopy’s Christmas – it gets me singing at the top of my lungs every time!), and I’ll be all set! πŸ˜‰

I’m actually working on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day, which will be a financial boost thank goodness – and someone at work actually cooks up a Christmas dinner for us all, which will be a lovely treat πŸ™‚ I can’t believe how close it is to the ‘big day’ already …

Ooh, I didn’t realise how close midnight was either – better run and hit the hay for the night, as I need to be up early tomorrow. The Christmas tree dress is back out again ready for dress-up day tomorrow, but I have to get up early to get a ‘plate of food’ to share with everyone … so I’m making Doreen’s Apricot Slice again (cheap ingredients, and so very comforting for me, as it brings back all those wonderful happy childhood memories again – the perfect blessing for my day!).

Uncategorized

Will it never end?

For goodness’ sake, GIVE IT A REST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today I finally open what I considered to be ‘junk mail’ … one from the NZ Inland Revenue Department – seeing as I don’t live in NZ anymore, I didn’t bother rushing to open it … today I did … and today I found a bill for NZ$50 for a late filing penalty … for the non-filing of a tax return in NZ when I reside in Australia, and have done for 3 1/2 years now – I haven’t earned taxable earnings in NZ since 2003, for goodness sake!!! … payment due 07Feb07 … With any luck I’ll get this one reversed just for stupidity’s sake, but then again it’s a Government department, after all, so anything is possible!

It’s a good job I’m a relatively strong person, or I would’ve sunk into the murky mire of serious depression ages ago … but I am definitely reaching my limits now, that’s for sure!! If nothing else, though, it’s stopped the tears and brought that fighting spirit back again :/ (mutter mutter mutter) I must say, though, it’s starting to feel like I’m starring in some sort of comedy farce … except the sense of humour’s a bit warped and not all that funny!

Sorry, no stitching piccies – I’m just not in the stitching mood right now (plus these shifts aren’t very conducive to it).

I am, however, very grateful to see the beautiful blue sunny sky outside my windows today, followed by the cooling breeze coming through the windows (as opposed to the fiery heat pouring through on Sunday at 42C!).

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Feel free to skip this post …

This post may be exceptionally boring and draining, so you may want to skip it today! Don’t say I didn’t warn ya!!

First off, though, this piccie is for Wendy … I keep forgetting to answer your question about where my stitching spot is (from the lounge Christmas photos) – in fact I don’t sit on any of the lounge suite at all, but rather in my recliner which is facing the TV and the rest of the lounge … I have a special stitching corner which is permanently made up all the time, just ready to plop down into – and my 2nd most critical corner of the flat is off to the right of my stitching chair in this photo – my computer desk πŸ˜€

Well, today was an interesting day, and I’ve had some very interesting discussions. I finally pulled my head out of the sand today before work to get my tyre replaced (I was on a 2pm start, so plenty of time) … lucky me, though, ended up having to get not just one, but TWO tyres replaced!!! Yup, it seems the right-hand front tyre was getting rather bald and needed to be replaced … what can I say, but life just keeps on getting better and better! LOL. I had to get on my mobile to transfer over the $100 Mum had paid me back from a credit card charge I did for her as my emergency food money if I ever got totally desperate (thanks Mum, love ya!) … I had refused to touch it, as I may need it down the track … well that day was today. The rest of Mr Taxman’s money I’d put to one side plus the emergency money has totally wiped out my bank balance yet again – woohoo!! I had to warn the sales guy I’d just had to transfer the funds across, so hopefully it will go through … leaving me $5-10 in the account double woohoo! So now Mr Taxman has to wait longer, and I’m back to square one again trying to find $500+ … and in my rebellious mood today I say “b*gger you Mr Taxman, I’m going shopping for veges this payday, and I don’t care less what you think about it!” {{big raspberry}} Thank goodness Payday is overnight tonight!!!

I’ve also come to the realisation that I just can’t get ahead living on my own, and I’ve started putting out some feelers about options. Sheree from work, who was looking for a flatmate months ago, is apparently looking at moving out yet again, as her new male flatmate is really inconsiderate with her being on shift work (at least we have that in common, so there’s a basic understanding there between us). The only problem is that she’s really fussy and wants a really ‘flash’ place to live, so it wouldn’t necessarily be a ‘huge’ saving overall (she’s paying $200 per week for rent at the moment in a sharing situation as opposed to my $245 on my own yikes!!). Anyway, I’ve set the seed for her today and I guess we’ll chat about it more at some stage after Christmas.

The 2nd alternative is to pack up all my stuff into storage and go house-sitting for a while. One of the girls from work is doing it (she’s the one who used to flat with Sheree before), and the outgoings are very minimal, but the downside is that you’re constantly on the move to different places. Still, there’s no rent to pay, and unless it’s a ‘longer term’ sitting job there are no other bills (apparently most people if its 1-2 weeks sitting don’t charge you for electricity usage etc, but she’s in one now where she’s there until February and the charge is $30 a week to cover bills … that’s pretty minimal considering there’s no rent to pay as well!). I used to do house sitting for my boss back in Auckland every now and then when I was younger, so that’s not a major issue for me – the big downside would be not having internet access regularly, and I’d have to go to a library or somewhere to get online … and a major part of what’s kept me from going insane here is the support and friendship of you guys online!

Then again, if I’m saving that much I could look at buying a laptop and signing up with “Unwired” which is wireless internet – and my internet connection would travel with me … while it may be incredibly inconvenient for a while, it would also give me a better chance of getting ahead financially for the longer term, and I’d definitely have to take that into consideration, I guess. I’d have to cost up putting my things into storage etc too … anyway, it’s all food for thought I need to mull over … ‘cos at the moment I’m just going backwards every month. This option would still give me the sense of freedom in that I’d have ‘my own space’, but there would be the odd day where I wouldn’t have a roof over my head (although Ali at work has said I’d be more than welcome to stay with her in Seaford during those times – that’s incredibly sweet of her!).

One thing that almost brought me to tears today was the generosity of a fellow blogger … I have some extra Christmas prezzies now sitting under the tree – and after the shock of having to buy two brand new tyres this morning, opening my mailbox afterwards was a huge morale lifter. I’m being good, though, and not opening anything until Christmas Day – then the contents will be revealed both to me and you πŸ˜€ But I have to say, Katrina, you really really made my day today – you’re just gorgeous, and it couldn’t have come at a better time! {{hugs}}

In fact, I’m now sitting here in tears writing this. So much for that fighting spirit, huh? I think I’m finally reacting to the stress I’ve been feeling just lately, but repressing … and just writing about Katrina’s generous gifts has sent me over the edge emotionally … but in a nice way haha.

Anyway, sorry for the waffling – just the thoughts running through my head today … as is typical of me, I don’t hide anything, and you get the full story with everything – putting things in writing is a great method of ‘purging’ for me, so this all helps. I’m so sorry I’m not as full of life as I usually am … and I was hoping to get over all this negative stuff a lot more quickly than I have – I think I’m coping really well, then something else happens to knock me sideways … hopefully I’ll get the fighting spirit back again tomorrow, ‘cos tomorrow’s another day!

Thanks for all of your comments, and hanging in there with me through all this ‘cr*ppy stuff’ – it has really helped! {{hugs}}