Category: Home & Family TO BE FIXED

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 😀

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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! 😉

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 😉

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Darling Harbour, Finishes, Finishing, Friends & Family, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Lizzie Kate, Stash, Sydney, Val's Stuff, Works in Progress

Ah, Bliss …

Anne S

Today I walked out from work at 5.10pm … and felt like a little kid skipping out of school early!  It feels really fantastic!  Helped that today was the first day that I haven’t been pulled in a million different directions due to urgent things being thrown at me, I managed to actually get some of my own work done for a change … serious bliss!

My rant did me good last night – on top of the productive day, and normal working hours, I feel much brighter today.  Apologies to Mum, as this is not how it sounds ‘cos I love having Mum visit, but it’s been really nice to come home to an empty place and not having to have a conversation – I have been anti-social for two days and have found it a great chance to unwind properly at the end of a stressful day without having to chat.  I’m hoping by the end of the week to be a bit more back to normal again 🙂

Mum returned home on Monday morning, but we had a wonderful weekend before she left.  On Friday we spent the afternoon visiting craft stores – although neither of the stores we visited were really ‘fantastic’ we did manage to find something at each one to spend a couple of dollars on.  At Lyn’s needlecraft I managed to buy some pink and cream fabric (yeah, me, pink!! LOL) … and a duck!! (I don’t have space for the ones I currently have, but that makes no difference LOL).  At Hobby Sew I bought a smaller version of the wire hanger I use for my embroidery scissors – this one is to hang my junk jewellery on, and was proudly hung on the side of my computer desk tonight.

Friday night saw us having dinner with Brenda and Nigel, and it was really wonderful to catch up with them again.  I’ve had to promise to visit again soon and stay the night – that’s no hardship, as I’m looking forward to it.

Saturday morning saw us up bright (OK maybe not) and early (most definitely) and driving into the city.  That’s my first attempt in driving into Sydney city itself, and I have to tip my hat to my TomTom GPS ‘cos he managed to instruct me perfectly and painlessly to the parking building I wanted.  We picked my friend Jason up at the airport then went to Darling Harbour in the freezing cold where we stuffed ourselves on a cooked breakfast, followed by the compulsory stop at the Lindt cafe for takeaway delices and a Mochaccino … yum!!  It was really nice to see Jason again, and I’m really glad we changed our plans to visit with him (he was transferring through Sydney on the way to Asia on holiday).

Anne and Jason

As soon as we showed Jason the way to the train station for his return to the airport we hot-footed it down the motorway to Rosehill Racecourse to the Stitches & Craft Show, where we met up with my good pals Alison and Amanda, and met some new ladies Karen and Rowena.  It was really awesome to catch up with these ladies again – they’re always such fun to spend time with.  I was pleasantly surprised with the contents of the show … we parted with a fair amount of cash, although when we got home we didn’t seem to have as much as we remembered 😉

My biggest splurges were two pieces of hand-dyed fabric – one from Peppermint Stitches (for Mirabilia’s Enchanted Mermaid hopefully), and one from Stitches & Spice (36ct mottled/vintage neutral colour), plus a big Santa for my main Christmas display this year (thanks to Dodgey Brothers R Us removalists, I no longer have my beautiful ceramic Christmas tree centrepiece, as it arrived in a squillion pieces).  Here’s a photo of the full stash haul (combining both mine and Mum’s purchases).  I nearly squealed with delight when I saw a butterfly charm (Susan Clarke design) that will match my Just Nan Dragonfly scissor purse … I didn’t care about the $27 price tag, I HAD to have it!!! (The Christmas items aren’t in the photo as I can’t be bothered unpacking them from the box.)

Stitch and Craft stash

Other purchases were some metal charms for scissor fobs, some Dress It Up buttons (snowflakes and stars), cheapo scissors for travelling, and the most adorable metal hanger for my Christmas quilted wallhanging.  Doesn’t it look perfect?

Xmas wallhanging

Crikey, I barely blog for two weeks and now I can’t shut up!!!

I’ll finish for the night by showing my very minimal stitching from the last week or so – here is my latest finish:

LizzieKate-Lifes a Stitch
“Life’s a Stitch” by Lizzie*Kate
stitched on 32ct natural Belfast linen
with recommended GAST threads

And here is my current work in progress – I’m trying to stitch predominantly those charts that I’ve bought special threads and embellishments for and are essentially kitted up.  Once I get through a few of them, I’ll add the designs to my trade list (I’d better hurry up and get stitching or you’ll be waiting for a while!).  This project is Just Nan’s “Evening Star” which is a retired class piece.  At my current stitching rate it should be finished some time in the middle of September haha.

Just Nan 1

Last night I was in such a cranky mood I vented my frustration by doing the finishing on my August Christmas ornie – if that’s the result of being angry with work, I should keep it going every night!! LOL.  I added a little white pom-pom-thing with glue once the pillow as finished 🙂

Kitty Klaus finished

And now it’s time to settle in and get some stitching in (after once again lugging up my next round of laundry washing – I figure the more I get done tonight, I won’t have much to do at the weekend).

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Still around …

Anne S

Just a quick post to say I’m still around, but not particularly stitching and certainly not doing anything exciting.  I’m still struggling to get over my bugs – as soon as I think I’m coming right they knock me back down again.  Monday saw my boss plus my other team member off sick so it was back to being just me in the department, which is definitely not conducive to getting my own work done … It would be lovely to get my head above water just for a short while workwise, as I’ve forgotten what that feels like!  Once Mum goes home I’ll probably go back to working a day over the weekends just to catch up a bit.

Unfortunately this all-work-no-play lark has affected my stitching mojo, and I’ve barely lifted a needle for the entire last week … and I have no desire to do so.  Instead I’ve been sat up in bed playing mindless computer games for a couple of days on the laptop, which has relaxed me more.  I have a small Lizzie*Kate project that would normally get finished in 1 or 2 nights, but it’s taken me all week so far, and still not finished ho-hum.

On Friday I’m taking the day off so Mum and I can visit some LNS’s in the northwest of Sydney that I haven’t been to before, then we’re having dinner with my old friends.  Saturday sees us up bright and early having breakfast at Darling Harbour, when we catch up with a friend from Melbourne who’s flying out to Saigon on holiday and organised a 5-hour layover in Sydney so we can catch up.  Once he heads back to the airport we’ll be rushing up north of the city to the Stitch & Craft show to meet up with Alison and Amanda and some other ladies I don’t know.  We may go to the Zoo on Sunday, depending on the weather, then the Dragon flies home on Monday. 

I feel bad because this visit hasn’t been a quality one for Mum – I haven’t wanted to do anything or go anywhere due to illness, and when I’m sick I don’t want to be around anyone, so that’s put on an added strain.  In the evenings I’ve just wanted to curl up in a little ball and pretend the world doesn’t exist.

I also feel bad because I’ve been nominated for some Awards by some beautiful, beautiful people, and haven’t had the energy to sit down and acknowledge them and pass them on.  I will rectify that in the near future, hopefully.

I have to admit, though, I’ve been having thoughts over the last few months whether to give up blogging for a while, as I’m not really getting any enjoyment out of it just lately and it’s starting to feel more like a duty rather than pleasure.  I’m not sure what I’ll end up doing, but it is likely that I won’t be posting as regularly as I have been (although I’ve already started posting less and less to when I lived in Melbourne).  I like the sentiments about “Blogging Without Obligation”, so I need to take that sentiment on board when I start feeling guilty about not posting.

Geez, I’m a real bundle of joy today!!!  I’ll sign off for now and jump in the shower before another looooong day of meetings and getting no work done (!) … I hope I can get the ringing out of my head while I’m in there (someone’s smoke alarm has been going for the last hour at least, which is seriously doing my head in – who needs an alarm clock??).

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Val's Stuff, Works in Progress

Is it snowing outside?

Anne S

Well, the weather will surely be changing because a miracle occurred in Chez Shackles over the last 24 hours!  I managed to get my August ornie completed before the middle of the month … now I KNOW I’m not feeling well!!

Val's Stuff-A Merry Kitty Klaus
“A Merry Kitty Klaus” by Val’s Stuff
from 2007 JCS Christmas Ornament issue
stitched on 32ct white Belfast linen
using Crescent Colours Sassy Brass and Cupid,
Olde Willow Shale, Wisper thread and DMC for the remainder

Went to the GP yesterday who confirmed my bugs are just a viral infection (which I’d already guessed) – I’m now loaded up with Buscopan for the griping stomach cramps and on orders for Panadol, fluids and rest … if that doesn’t work I have to go back to have blood tests, but I’m sure that’s all it is (which is the main reason I hadn’t bothered going to the GP before now).  I was still pretty crook throughout the weekend, and definitely not my perky self (commented on a lot by colleagues at work, which didn’t do anything to help my mood, especially when someone drew a smiley face on a piece of paper and wrote “SMILE” on top for me … made me want to throttle them instead of smile!  I’m terrible when I’m feeling ill, I just want to sit in a corner away from people until I get over it hmmm).

Still haven’t finished my needleroll, as I need to concentrate a bit on the buttonhole stitch banding etc, and don’t feel up to it yet … hopefully it won’t be long now before it is completed though.  Now it’s time for me to jump in the car for another thrilling day at work (can you tell I’m really not in the mood right now?)!

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Lack of posting

Anne S

Aside from work being manic as usual, there may be more of a lack of posting from me than usual over the next few weeks … ‘cos …

Fire Breathing Dragon by Pegasus Publications

“She’s baaaaaaaaack … !!!”

Yep, the Dragon arrived safe and sound into Sydney Airport this morning, and we’ll be spending time over the next three weeks when I’m not slaving away at work, doing the mother-daughter bonding thing.  Hopefully that’ll also mean my stitching mojo returning as there’s nothing more relaxing than sitting in front of the TV with a good DVD on with my Mum as my stitching partner.  In fact I sat and put a few stitches into a new project today while Mum had a lengthy snooze on the sofa.  It was very peaceful. 

I’ve been feeling ever so slightly ‘flat’ of late due to work stresses, so it was a really nice pick-me-up to have Mum’s company today.  Unfortunately I may end up going into work over the long weekend this weekend to try to bring some sanity to my working week next week, but the sooner I catch up at work the better for my future health and mental state!

If I’m not around, you’ll understand why – I’ll be hanging out in the Dragon’s Den! 😉

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Party time in Sydney

Anne S

Yep, I actually did it!  Ended up going to a meeting in the city just before drinkies time – we were invited by the group that were hosting the drinkies as an extra incentive to get us in there, I think … and I’m really glad we went.  We had a cordoned off area set outside at the Cargo Bar at Darling Harbour for drinkies and nibbles … even though it was raining and freezing, we had outdoor gas heaters blowing and it was very social and very cozy.  I had a WONDERFUL time.  I only stayed for 2 hours, and opted to leave at that point while I was still OK to drive!  I was sorely tempted to stay longer, but that would likely entail a $40 cab ride home then having to get a bus then a train into work tomorrow morning … so much better to leave with a clear head 😉

I must say something a bit soppy here … tonight at the celebrations I finally felt as though we had launched the project – it truly came at the right time for celebrations, and a lot of the members of the project team  that we’d been meeting with from the myriad of different departments over the last six months were present.  The only people invited from our department was myself and my boss, as we have been the only ones working on the project until the day of launch when it was “all hands on deck” to load the procedures etc in the database.  It was great to meet the top tier executives from that department, and be invited to join the group.  I have to say (here’s the soppy bit) I felt really proud to have been part of the whole project tonight and to see it launched very successfully … geez it felt good tonight to actually feel the positive emotions about the whole thing!

Anyway, that will see me hitting the hay with a smile on my face … now I’m off to drag out the winter-weight duvet inner to throw on the bed to keep that smile on my face during the night, ‘cos the temperature has plummeted today.

Tomorrow is now Friday for me, as I’ve been granted a day in lieu for all the additional hours I’ve been putting in lately … I figured Friday is as good a day as any to take off, as my flatmate is away that day too which means I can blob around and be lazy all day … so now I’m guaranteed to get the Sunflower Sampler finished this weekend 😀

And on that note, I’m off to bed 😀