Category: Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Probably offline for a few days

Anne S

Just so no-one worries, it’s possible I’ll be offline all week – an unexpected event at work kept me there until 10pm tonight, and it’s likely the issue will continue tomorrow … it’s highly unlikely I’ll have the energy to get online after work much this week, and I’m heading away for a girl’s weekend away on Friday.  Lisa will be able to enjoy the peace and quiet on her own LOL.

With any luck, though, I’ll be able to get some stitching in this weekend, so there may be a bit more pink to show … then it’s highly likely that a Halloween design will be showing its face (especially for you, Giovanna! LOL).

Have a great week everyone!

Cross Stitch, Friends & Family, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Works in Progress

Housewarming Party

Anne S

I forgot all about adding a couple of photos from a Housewarming Party I went to on Saturday night (what a social butterfly I was this last weekend – very very unusual for me!) … here are a couple of photos taken of me with friends during the evening (I’m the one in the blue top – how unusual LOL).

n616108287_831073_2582
Alex, Anne and Lisa

n616108287_831085_6014
Nat, Katie and Anne

n616108287_831077_3658
Anne, Katie and Lisa

And just to prove this is still a stitching blog, here’s my bit of stitching from Sunday night and late yesterday afternoon – LHN’s “Home Sweet Home” on 28ct cream Jazlyn (I think it’s Jazlyn) (stitched in pink, so obviously this one isn’t for me teehee).  Even though I don’t enjoy stitching in pink normally, I DO love the Pink Peony darker pink colour in this one … and have to admit I’d almost be tempted to keep this one, except I already have visions of re-stitching it in scrummy blues 😉  This one, however, is destined to live with Karen at The Stitching Post in Katoomba – finished as a cushion like the cover model.  I’ve bought what I hope is the most perfect finishing fabric, but time will tell when it’s stitched up 🙂

LHN-Home Sweet Home 06Oct08

I’ve had a couple of pieces where I’ve ironed the fabric all ready for stitching, and the kits all sitting in a shopping bag – I’ve got the fabric hanging up on a “skirt hanger” to keep the pieces crisp and flat, so I’ve been working my way through those pieces before starting on anything else.  I still have a serious urge to start some other pieces, especially a Halloween piece, but want to get some of these hung-up projects finished off.  This LHN piece was one of those projects – as was Just Nan’s Evening Star and Drawn Thread’s Garden Recipe … at least this project I’m actually enjoying stitching!  The remaining two projects with fabric hung up are Victoria Sampler’s Crimson Fire sampler and Calico Crossroads’ Spring cushion – then the fun starts again deciding “what next” … although I’m thinking of using a “pick a number” system like I used to do with my UFO’s, then I don’t have to actually decide!  We’ll see what I feel like when I finish this one … ‘cos tomorrow’s another day! LOL 😀

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Music, Sydney

NRL Grand Final

Anne S

Yesterday was a fun day as Lisa and I joined 1000’s of Rugby League fans for the Grand Final match between Manly Sea Eagles and Melbourne Storm.  Neither Lisa or I are League fans, but at least I’m a Union girl so I knew a fair few of the ‘basic’ rules.  It was a really fun trip out, and Melbourne Storm got a total a**-kicking at 40-0 … sorry Melbourne, but that’s just pitiful, especially as the Premier winners from 2007 – I bet a few Melbourne supporters were hanging their heads after last night.  Manly had a very deserving win, and the local crowd went nuts at the end, very understandably ‘cos the better team most definitely won on the night!!

NRL 6

Personally we felt the highlights of the match for us (heathens that we are) were the pre-match entertainment sessions.  We were treated to songs by Jon Stevens of Noiseworks fame … and loved the “BBQ lids” banging session, it was like a live version of Tap Dogs – it was great fun!

NRL 9

NRL 8

We were then treated to a couple of songs by Living End (including their current hit White Noise) – the pyrotechnics were fun!

NRL 7

NRL 4

NRL 5

Finished off by the National Anthem sung by Anthony Warlow – what a terrific voice … we were unfortunate not to see him sing at Phantom earlier this year, but now at least I’ve seen him perform live, even just for the one song 😉

Our final highlight before the match was when a sea hawk helicopter flew into the stadium and landed smack bang in the middle of the stadium to hand over the trophy … that was awesome!

NRL 3
NRL 2

As for the game, the final 1/4 hour was thrilling watching Manly score try after try … but otherwise to be totally honest I found it a pretty boring game (I’m obviously a Union girl still at heart LOL).

NRL 1

Straight after the game Lisa got the train home and I drove over to Brenda and Nigel’s to stay the night.  It was a lovely relaxed evening sat drinking wine and watching a DVD while getting a little bit of stitching in.  Then we went out to the local Flower Power garden nursery for lunch today, and I bought a stunning blue pot and a few plants to make a succulent display for our balcony, and a few herbs ready to be potted up this week.  Nigel also kindly donated one of his stunning tomato plants to me, along with some basil plants, bless him.  I ended up unexpectedly staying for dinner as well tonight, and got to watch the Golden Compass DVD before driving the hour’s trip home.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend full of socialising with good friends 😀

But now it’s time to hit the hay ready for another wee of torture at work …

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Alien invasion

Anne S

I’m sure that’s what’s happened to me recently … Aliens have invaded my body!!  There’s just no other answer for it!  And no, I’m not referring to the fact that my stitching mojo has been struggling – perhaps the alien abduction may be part of that answer as well, though!

Over the last couple of weeks my body has voluntarily been waking up by 6am every day … I repeat, in case Mum thinks she’s made a mistake reading that … yes, that’s right … VOLUNTARILY!!!  What the heck is wrong with me??? LOL.  I am sooooo NOT a morning person, but it appears I no longer have the urge to sit up stitching or watching TV/DVD’s until midnight … no, NOW I get the urge at 7.30pm to crawl into bed and go to sleep!  Oh my goodness, is the world coming to an end?? 😉

Seriously, though, it is really really bizarre – I started making myself turn off the light between 9.30-10.00pm at night, and I have to admit it’s really given me awesome benefits.  I get so much more done in the extra hour every morning – I have so much more energy during the day, and my concentration is much better at the moment.  To top it off, I’ve also gone back to walking in the mornings before work, which is fantastic and something I really need. 

I bought a couple of pieces of clothing at the weekend, because I hardly fit any of my ‘fat clothes’ anymore … after buying a few tops from Autograph, and some jeans from My Size, I strolled into Target and tried on a top ‘just for the sake of it’ … best thing I could have done!!  Unlike the other stores, Target have the mirror set-up that shows you all angles, and I was totally horrified at what bad shape I’m in … seriously!!  I knew I’d put on weight after working all those stupid hours and not eating properly, but oh boy I hadn’t realised just how bad it had gotten.  Seeing those rolls of flesh hanging in the mirror is what has promptly got me back into walking again … bless you Target!!! – my body and my health thank you wholeheartedly!  Of course the change in seasons has also helped, ‘cos now it’s light enough in the mornings to get up early and go walking in daylight … another reason I feel soooo much better during the day this week particularly.  Although, it’s now 7.15pm and I’m starting to get bleary-eyed already LOL.

Rightio, off I go to finish off the final wording band on the dratted sampler – but I’m so so close to finishing, thank goodness … then I have to find something else to treat myself with! 😀

Friends & Family, Home & Family TO BE FIXED

No stitching to show but … “Da plane, da plane!!”

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.

A380 Annie

A380 wheels

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) 🙂 

Qantas tails

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}} 😀

John Travolta group edited

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!! 😉

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Another good reason to stay in Sydney (updated)

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 😀

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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! 😉

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Update on my job

Anne S

It seems I may be put out of my misery very soon – my boss replied to yesterday’s email asking me to give her a few days before she responds, but she should have an answer for me next week.  At least then I will know what to plan for … and if necessary I can start putting job applications out if I need to 🙂

It will just be nice to know what I need to start planning for … and whether I need to give my old boss in Melbourne a courtesy call to let him know my intentions of not returning … but hey, a week more of not knowing I can handle … as long as it doesn’t keep getting extended …

I think a lot of the positive vibes in Sydney come from where I’m living, more so than the job itself, and my life outside work … I have a much more balanced life here than I did in Melbourne.  A lot of that is probably due to working ‘normal hours’ instead of 24/7 shift work … but the proximity to work and being so close to the beach (and away from the hustle and bustle of Sydney itself) is just wonderful.  Lisa is a pretty good flatmate and very laid back, and life is just very relaxed here.  Perhaps that is a lot of it too – in Melbourne I had such a hard time for a while, that has perhaps coloured my view a little bit … here everything is, well, “positive” 😀

Anyway, enough of the reminiscing, off to bed I go … 7.30pm, but I’m off to bed already … not to sleep, but to stitch – I HAVE to stitch so I can make my announcement tomorrow, ‘cos I’m just about bursting at the seams wanting to blurt it out already! 😉

Cross Stitch, Get-Togethers, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, stitching pals

No stitching … again (updated with photos)

Anne S

I sat down in bed for an hour’s stitching on Monday to commence a new routine for me … putting at least one strand of thread into my stitching on a daily basis … only to find my ‘knob’ dropped to bits on me!  I am loving sitting up in bed and watching TV and stitching away to my heart’s content instead of sitting up in the freezing cold in the lounge, and was mortified to find my lapframe in pieces in front of my very eyes.  Unfortunately the wooden part has come away from the screw part, but this part of the screw is actually the ‘top’ and doesn’t have a normal thread to it so I can’t just get away with whacking a lugnut or anything on the end.  This is NOT what the knob should look like!!!

lapframe

So for now, there is no stitching … zip … nada … I get cramp in my hand when I hold a Q-snap etc for more than a few minutes at a time hmmm.  But the good news is that I contacted Artisan Designs straightaway, and it’s only going to cost me US$5 plus postage (I think), and they take PayPal, so hopefully it will only be a few weeks before I get a replacement in my hot little hands (once they finally give me a payment amount and place the order!).

Even though I have no stitching to share, I DID have some stitchy-related fun … on Sunday Alison kindly picked me up in her car along with her daughter, and chauffeured me to Amanda’s place where we had a hoot of a day drooling and fondling charts, kits, and threads … and “literally” rolling around in her stash of fabrics!  I have never seen such a fabric collection in all my born days – she should charge admission fees to come and visit it 😉

Anyway, Alison kindly took a whole host of photos from the day, so I hope to be able to share with you the great time we had after pilfering some photos.  Updated:  Here are a couple of my favourites (thanks for the copies, Alison!!):

Picture 077
You have to imagine the Gollum voice impression, while playing in the “precious” – see what I mean about that fabric stash? LOL – You’re the QUEEN, Amanda, I tell ya! 😉

Picture 088
Probably my favourite photo of all – the looks on our faces just sums up the day – hilarious fun!
From left to right:  Alison, Amanda, Anne (AAA packed full of fun)

Picture 094
And finally a “nice” shot of the three of us!  Apart from the fact my Weight Watchers obviously isn’t working ‘cos I can’t fit in the photo haha

I haven’t laughed that much in ages … those two are the BEST company and an absolute riot!  I’m looking forward to the next catch-up already, and we haven’t even planned anything yet!  In fact after the weekend visit Amanda finally got coerced into starting her own blog (Confessions of a Fabric Floosy), so make sure you go pay her a visit … she does some beautiful stitching (as do both these two ladies)!

On the work front, today we had a ‘burning issues’ meeting, which is basically a get-together of the “team” without the boss being present … and we got to chatting about the secondments coming up to finishing deadline etc.  It turns out that one of the ladies is thinking of giving up the whole job at the end of her secondment in January, which means it’s likely they’ll have to readvertise again later … but one of the reasons this lady put her had up to the boss officially today to tell her is so that it might make a difference to them extending the secondment for me (and Lisa if she’s interested).  I only have about 8 weeks left to go but still have had no indication whether they will allow me to stay longer or whether I have to start thinking of uprooting myself again to go back to Melbourne … which is a bit stressful in the back of my mind all the time (especially after the debacle of moving up here with Dodgy Brothers R Us etc – I really don’t want to have to go through all that again).  So if you can all stitch with your fingers crossed over the next couple of weeks, that’d be great!  I’m hoping now that this lady has raised the issue with management they might finally start to discuss their options in earnest, and fingers crossed it goes in my favour (although there are never any guarantees!).

Rightio, time to go hit the hay and forget about work for the night … and pout at my Evening Star project … hmmm, maybe I should drag in my floorstand from the the lounge for tomorrow night … LOL.  If not, I guess you won’t see any stitching again until after the weekend has been and gone, ‘cos I don’t want to sit out in the lounge all on my own in the cold … I must prefer my cozy beautiful bed! 😉

Cross Stitch, Flowers Trees & Gardens, Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Spring is here!!!

Anne S

lavender gardens 13

What an incredible feeling it was on 1 September to realise that winter is over (not that it’s been really bad, it’s actually been relatively mild compared to what I’m used to in Melbourne!) … what I’m excited about is that the days are getting longer again and daylight is returning to my mornings (and my evenings too now that I’m leaving work at ‘normal’ hours).  The above photo was taken in Melbourne about this time last year.

With that comes the idea of spring cleaning … well, those that know me well will know that any form of cleaning is a “dirty word” (no pun intended), but I have made a realisation today that I need to ‘let go of baggage’ and start afresh with a few things.  With that in mind, I’ve also come to realise that every time I open up my newsfeed reader to catch up on blogs I feel incredibly depressed and overwhelmed.  This feeling builds up more every time I see this pop up on my screen:

Picture1

This is after I’d managed to clean out 700+ unread feeds over the last two weeks, but I’m so so far behind and there are still over 1000 left to read … I don’t want to do it, but I think for my sanity’s sake I’m going to have to mark all as read and start again afresh.  At least that way part of the blogging pressure is removed and I can hopefully keep on top of new posts on a more regular basis again.

Still no stitching to share yet … I almost completed Just Nan’s Evening Star on Saturday, and decided not to bother with a WIP piccie seeing as it’s so close to completion … um, 5 days on and it’s still no further on … perhaps this weekend I’ll see it finished, then I’m going to pull my finger out and probably try to get my In the Dark Needleroll finished off … and get some gifts made up that I’ve been wanting to do for a while now.  Although I’m heading down to Woollongong for a SAL with friends on Sunday, so perhaps it won’t be as productive as I hope haha.

In fact, I’m home early tonight, so maybe I should pull my finger out earlier and drag out the needle and thread tonight instead of sitting staring at the screen playing computer games for the evening (such as I have done for the last 3 nights running).  Maybe a happy dance will follow before the weekend … maybe 😉