Anne S

Today we had a meeting at work with our ‘team’ … and it got sidelined a bit by ‘my boss’s boss’ – she gave us an update of where we’re heading and the fact that they are trying to get some positions confirmed for our team (but obviously no guarantees!). It was good that she said she appreciated some of us had moved interstate and they were aware of the huge commitment that takes, so they are doing what they can (although there are hiring freezes on, so who knows what will happen). All-in-all, though, it was really good to have our situations acknowledged and a faint glimmer of hope that things will become more concrete in time (fingers crossed) 🙂

Added to that we are now taking on the work of three overseas call centres that are closing down (1 down, 2 to go), so our workload is certainly not diminishing in any sense of the word!! It will be ‘all hands on deck’ for a few months yet … and I am brushing up on my fares skills (as I’m the only member of our team that’s Fares & Ticketing II trained) to assist with writing procedures – it’s all a good challenge and keeps the grey matter active!

Aside from being head down, bum up as normal, today we were given a little treat – our bosses nominated everyone in the team to take a bus trip for an hour or two to drive over to the Jet Base … it was great! We had a full tour of the Airbus A380 aircraft sitting in all its glory in the hangar … it was a wonderful opportunity that we just don’t normally get! The biggest highlight prior to that was meeting John Travolta when he visited our call centre in Auckland 6 years ago! 😀

I normally like to keep my work totally separate from my blog, but thought I’d share a couple of the photos of the aircraft in the hangar.

I haven’t shown any photos of the interior (even though I took a sum total of 72 photos this afternoon!), as I wasn’t sure if that would be appropriate to publish. I couldn’t resist taking this shot, though – this view greeted us as we walked back to board the bus … I just love seeing all the planes lined up in a row! Every day I drive to work either under the international runway or under the domestic flight path, and drive past the Jet Base … and I just love to see the aircraft lined up from all the different airlines – puts a smile on my face every morning (but unfortunately due to security and safety reasons we obviously can’t normally get up this close and personal) 🙂

So, all-in-all a pretty good day … definitely can’t complain … and to top it off I’m going to stitch a word or two of that dratted sampler – hey, can’t have TOO good a day, hahaha 😉

I’ll finish off with another work photo … and definitely one of THE highlights of my career to date … yep, the infamous John Travolta in the flesh, in his dashing pilot’s uniform! {{sigh}} 😀

Updated to add: In both the top and bottom photos, that’s me in the blue top (had to be blue, didn’t it?! LOL) – unfortunately I no longer have my VERY expensive blue wool jacket in the bottom photo – Fraze kindly thought he’d do the laundry washing one day (which he’s never done before), and kindly put my pure wool into a hot washing machine along with everything else … I ended up with a toddler-size felted top … not happy Jan!! 😉

Almost at the finishing line

28 September, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

Thanks for all the support while I’m stitching this ‘dratted design’ – especially to sweet Tannia who has offered to finish stitching this for me. As it’s meant to be a gift for someone, I thought I’d best just knuckle down and get it done … then I can move on to something more fun 🙂

Unfortunately there was a lot of frogging tonight – I changed the honeysuckle flower colour to show up more on the fabric, but then decided I didn’t like it, so I’ve unpicked and restitched it in the original colour.

I’ve since finished one more green narrow band since taking this photo, which means there is just one more band of wording, one more green narrow band, and one more floral band, so hopefully by next weekend a finish will be in sight 🙂

Katoomba, Naxos, Photo Hunt, PhotoHunt, Santorini, skifields, Travel - Australia, Travel - Greece, Travel - New Zealand

Photo Hunt – View

27 September, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

PhotoHunt | PhotoHunt

This week’s theme is “View” and there are so many “views” that blow me away that I can’t narrow the choice down to one photo.

This view of the Three Sisters at Katoomba really takes my breath away.

If that’s not enough, here’s one view that I could sit and look at every single day! This is Santorini, Greece.

Then, sticking to the Greek theme, we have the island of Naxos … I just adore the history and archaeological monuments you see at every turn. I can sit and look through my Greek photos for hours and not get bored.

And finally, here’s something a bit closer to home … the view from one of the skifields at Wanaka, New Zealand – now if that doesn’t take your breath away, nothing will!! It’s like a view from the top of the world! 😀

Uncategorized

Feeling homesick

25 September, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

Blimey, I’ve lasted 5 years in Aussie (I actually can’t believe I’ve been here that long!!!), and tonight is the first night I’ve actually felt homesick … on TV tonight is a travel programme called “Getaway”, and they’ve nominated New Zealand as their “Country of the Year”, so the entire programme is devoted to NZ and the best it has to offer … and it’s bringing back so many memories for me. Perhaps the glass of Chardonnay I just drunk that has gone to my head is assisting the melancholy, and perhaps by tomorrow the yearning will be gone … but it’s been about 3 years since I’ve been home, and I think it’s time I made a visit … hmmm …

As for other news, there is none haha … my stitching is non-existent this week – I keep looking at my Drawn Thread piece and my heart sinks. I’m worried if I start working on something else I won’t get my DT piece finished, but in the meantime I’m not stitching at all ‘cos I don’t want to work on DT … ah it’s a vicious cycle! LOL. I think this weekend I’m just going to have to ‘suck it up’ and pull my finger out and get this thing stitched up!

And on that note, I’m going to take my wine-riddled head to bed and attempt to put one strand of thread into it … maybe 😉

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

Garden Recipe update

21 September, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

I sat superglued to my stitching all day yesterday (plus Friday night), inbetween doing a couple of loads of washing – I was sorely tempted to pick up a more ‘fun’ piece of stitching after a few hours yesterday, but have a feeling if I put this one down I just won’t ever get around to finishing it. So, perseverance is the name of the game right now – once this one is finally finished, I can choose something more “me”.

In the meantime, though, here’s the current progress … which is substantially different to the last progress piccie! 😀

Thankfully that means I’m now halfway through this piece … fingers crossed one more week of stitching plus a session next weekend, I will see this one finished 🙂

Paris, Photo Hunt, PhotoHunt, Queenstown, roads, Travel - France, Travel - New Zealand

Photo Hunt – Road

20 September, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

PhotoHunt | PhotoHunt

This week’s theme is “Road” and I couldn’t make a decision which photo to use, so I’ve got a whole bunch of them! The photography quality isn’t fantastic, especially the Paris ones, as they’re scans of some prints I took years ago with a point and shoot (which Mum very kindly bought with her from home when she last visited) … but I still love ’em 🙂

First up is from one of the views we had driving from Sydney to Coffs Harbour a couple of months ago – we took a detour and drove through the native forest for a while.

Next up are some photos I took years and years ago when I visited Paris for my 2nd time – Paris still remains my all-time favourite city in the world to date. These are views from the Arc de Triomphe.

Finally, this is a photo I’ve used before, and is the winding road up to the Remarkables skifield in Queenstown, New Zealand – it’s a bit hairy when you meet traffic coming the opposite way … the photo doesn’t quite do justice to displaying the steep drops off the side of the roads! It is a very picturesque part of the world, that’s for sure, especially in winter when the alpine peaks are covered in snow 🙂

C A Wells, Stash, The Drawn Thread, Uncategorized

Anyone seen my mojo???

19 September, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

‘Tis quite pitiful the amount of stitching I’ve been getting done of late … the following is the sum total of 4 nights of stitching – I’d normally get this done in one night!! Just pitiful, it is 😉

My current stitching (The Drawn Thread’s Garden Recipe) is something that was intended as a gift for someone some time ago, but I never got around to stitching it … it’s not ‘my thing’, so perhaps that is also holding me back from blatting through the stitching, or it could just be that I’m too darned tired at night these days and don’t feel like stitching a the weekends either (which is usually my stitching haven time). Oh well, one day it will be finished, and every little stitch counts, right? I’m going to have to swap out the pale apricot thread on this one, because you can’t see it on the fabric – it’s supposed to be stitched on a darker neutral colour, but I chose Flax Belfast … oh well, finding an apricot colour that will show up won’t be difficult 🙂

As for other news, I heard yesterday morning that I’ve got a “stay of execution” at work for 3 more months … that means I get to stay in Sydney until the middle of February. My colleagues at work think it’s disgraceful that they’ve only extended it for 3 months instead of 6 or 12 … but I’m remaining positive, ‘cos it’s better than “0” months! To be honest the job itself doesn’t jangle my bells heartily, but I DO love being here in Sydney – and having an extension means I can start looking at alternatives after Christmas within the company (if there are any). I’ve already had a chat to my “big boss” down in Melbourne and told me my preference is to stay in Sydney – I thought it was only a courtesy to let him know my plans, although he’s also aware it might not pan out that way … but hey, I have 5 months left to worry about it 😉

I received my class projects this last week for my CA Wells class in May next year – this will likely be the last one I’ll attend, as it really is an expensive weekend away, even with discount travel … and I could be spending the same money and visiting somewhere further afield, such as the US or somewhere tropical. So, this is likely to be my final CA class for the time-being (although I also said that last year too, until I saw the two projects that were going to be stitched!). This time, though, I’m thinking of doing a ‘good job of visiting’ and bringing Mum over with me for a week’s holiday – we can then hire a car and see a bit more of what Perth and surrounds has to offer. I’d also love the chance to catch up with other fellow stitchers one weekend too, if possible – it would be lovely to finally put the faces to names of some of my WA pals 🙂 Anyway, here are the supplies of the two projects:

First up is the Mermaid Bag – with Annie colours!!!! Yippee!!!!

And then there’s the Acorn Etui – wanna guess what I’ll be doing with all that pink silk???? Yep, I sure ain’t gonna be stitching with it LOL. Just have to decide what colour would work best to substitute … of course my preference would be blue, but I thought perhaps I should do all the other stitching first, then make a decision … and I may change my mind and just ‘go with the pink’ … but maybe not – a rich gold may also work nicely 😛

My name was drawn out of the hat for the August Xmas ornie challenge, which means I have been very lucky to receive some gifts donated by very generous ladies – the first prize arrived yesterday … 5 skeins of very scrummy silks from Jo at Dinky Dyes – I could sit and stroke them for hours! I haven’t spent my other prize yet as I’m still deciding – I also won a gift certificate to spend at Colours Down Under … another very generous offering by Janine. I have to say I’m really impressed by Janine’s selection of goods on offer, and I have a feeling I won’t be spending just the gift voucher when I finally decide to go shopping LOL.

And lucky last, something completely different … this one is for Mum – on Wednesday night I was thrilled to see the final episode of the US “So You Think You Can Dance” … but also very sad it’s now finished. The dancing this year was absolutely incredible, and this show remains one of my all-time very favourites and not to be missed (right up there with NCIS and ER!). The winner was Joshua – and I’ve borrowed the shot from Fox News’ website so you can remember which one Joshua was, Mum (although I think you’d remember anyway). I loved watching Joshua dance, especially when he was partnered with Katee … and it was fantastic to see him win! 😀

And on that note, I’d better get into work!!!

Cross Stitch

DMC on sale!

14 September, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

Just in case any of my fellow Aussies are interested, Riot Art & Craft have DMC on sale this month – normally 99c a skein, it’s down to 69c a skein … stock up while you can!!! Here’s a link to the online ad.

Mum – let me know your list if you want me to pick some up for you 😀

And after that public service announcement, and staring at the computer screen for the entire day, I’m off to bed! 🙂

Focus on Finishing, Uncategorized

Focus on Finishing blog is moving to a new home

14 September, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

I’ve just posted on the Focus on Finishing blog, but thought I’d do a ‘cross post’ here as well … That’s one of the things I do LOVE about Blogger, the fact you can tweak your own template – this one is based on a free template from Simply Fabulous Blogger Templates. I absolutely ADORE this template, and had originally earmarked it for my own template, but it would take me forever to work out how to apply the various components to the WP template (and of course WP charge you an annual fee for customising any of their existing templates). Oh well, at least I can visit and smile at the new Focus on Finishing blog instead 🙂

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Hi everyone – it’s been a while since I announced the idea of moving the Focus on Finishing blog to the more popular Blogger platform. That idea has finally come to fruition, and the new site is ready to have all the posts copied over. Here is a preview of the new look:

Anyway, I hope you will enjoy the new home … I, for one, am quite thrilled with the clean, fresh new look of the blog (it’s been fun spending a few hours tweaking the HTML codes!). The new link is:

FOCUS ON FINISHING
(http://focusonfinishing.blogspot.com)

It would be wonderful if you would be willing to post photos of any items you have finished using our tutor’s classes, or any other finishing methods you would like to share. If there is enough interest, I would also be happy to reopen the idea of having a weekend set aside each month to focus on finishing our projects languishing in the finishing pile.

Please update your bookmarks so you don’t miss any new posts – these existing pages, however, will still be kept open as I will continue to maintain the classes schedule etc via WordPress as I find that easier.

Unfortunately each WP post has to be copied over individually into Blogger, so it is going to be a long and arduous task to copy over the old posts and classes, but they will gradually be added over time.

Thanks for your continued support of this blog 🙂

Kind regards,

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Another good reason to stay in Sydney (updated)

13 September, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

New South Wales, unlike Victoria, actually knows what Rugby Union is … and apologies to my Aussie pals, but I just can’t bring myself to barrack for the Aussies tonight – GO THE ALL BLACKS!!! 😉

Tonight is the final game for the Bledisloe Cup – the annual challenge between the Kiwis and Aussies … time will tell whether I will be cheering or crying … but regardless, the best team will win, whichever one it is. As for me, I’m about to sit and get chills from watching the Haka 😀

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Updated to say: YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And if you want to see the new Haka that the All Blacks now perform, you can check it out here (for those of you who are uninitiated, the Haka is a Maori war dance that the All Blacks perform before every match – it’s supposed to intimidate your enemy – there’s a great clip on You Tube here that tells you all about the Haka itself, and an example done in traditional Maori costume – it’s quite interesting) … hmmm, it appears WordPress doesn’t like embedded clips from YouTube – boohoo to you WordPress!! Sorry, but you’ll have to follow the LINK if you want to see it!

To be honest, though, I still love the ‘old’ Haka … although the new one is pretty passionate, and the coverage tonight was great! Here’s some great footage on You Tube of the ‘old’ Haka compliments of Adidas – I love this one that has intermingling shots of ‘real’ Maori warriors (not great quality though):

And if you thought that wasn’t enough, here’s another ad that’s got some great shots in it – very powerful graphics, and very well photographed in the studio!

I’m very happy about the win tonight, but I do have to say, though, I was very disappointed in the reporting coverage by Stu Wilson. The only thing I have against living in Aussie is that I find sports coverage here very one-sided and at many times unsportsmanly (one comment I heard on the radio during the Olympics is in Aussie a sport isn’t a sport until we’ve won it) … but I have to say that Stu tonight disgusted me. His comments at the end of the match were arrogant and uncalled-for … another reporter commented “the one thing I can’t stand is a smug Kiwi”, and I have to say I agreed with that comment … pull your head in Stu! We were lucky with the win … it was an awesome finish – I don’t think I have any fingernails left, and the neighbours are in no doubt of my allegiances (I sounded like you tonight, Mum!). Yes, I’m glad we won, but you don’t have to be cocky about it, Mr Wilson! mutter mutter mutter.

But I AM happy 😀

It’s funny, but I was actually singing a Maori song in the shower a few mornings ago … it’s one of the most well-known Maori songs, it should almost be the NZ anthem LOL. Anyway, if you’re interested you can check out this clip by Hayley Westenra – it actually has a very good Maori welcome and Haka at the front of the clip, and about 3 minutes in she sings Pokarekare Ana, which is a really beautiful Maori love song. Hope you enjoy it 🙂

And if you just want to go straight to the song itself, check out this version by Kiri Te Kanawa as part of an old Air New Zealand ad campaign … LOVE IT!!! And if you want to sing it yourself, here’s the Maori lyrics:

Pökarekare ana
ngä wai o Waiapu,
Whiti atu koe hine
marino ana e.

E hine e
hoki mai ra.
Ka mate ahau
I te aroha e.

Tuhituhi taku reta
tuku atu taku rïngi,
Kia kite tö iwi
raru raru ana e.

OK, that’s enough from me about NZ for now! 😉