Home & Family TO BE FIXED – Page 17

KarenV and an interview

4 October, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Just a quick note to say “I have an interview next Friday” … yikes!! I’m actually on days off Tue-Thu, but they said to me not to do it on my days off, they would pay for my airline ticket to fly up to Sydney on Friday and back again straight afterwards. I think there are only two other candidates, but I could be wrong … anyway I have a week to have a nervous breakdown before the big day – because I’m TRULY dreadful at interviews (dunno why, but my brain just goes dead the minute I walk though the door to the interview room hmmm) 😉

The other thing I wanted to mention very briefly, is the situation with my good friend KarenV. Some of you have noticed recently that Karen has removed her blog – I just wanted to put peoples minds at rest, and stop anyone worrying, as I’ve been chatting to Karen and she’s doing just fine, but is taking a sabbatical from blogging for a wee while.

As for my stitching … this may actually become a stitching blog again soon over the next few days haha … I have a day off work tomorrow, and I thought I’d settle in for the day with Season 1 of NCIS on DVD and the dratted Winnie the Pooh bookmark and get it finished … with any luck I’ll also have a “good” stitching day, which will mean getting a start on Nicki’s Quaker RR piece, so I can get it sent off to Katrina on mailing day.

Then on Saturday I’m starting 5am shifts for 3 days (yucky!) – but I’m playing chauffeur to a couple of ladies on Saturday straight after work. I read on the EGA chat list that they wanted info on Melbourne stitching hot spots to see in one day, and I’ve offered to pick them up to drive them between venues so they can cram as much in as possible. Hopefully all works out OK and we can do a spot of stash enhancement for them 😉

Rightio, time to head off and heat something up for dinner – I’ve arrived at my new housesitting job tonight, and Jan and family have just left for the airport … I don’t know what to do with myself, being home in ‘normal’ hours and being able to watch prime time TV – I haven’t been able to do that for over a month, it’s sheer bliss!!! I got given a crash course in using the flash coffee machine, so I might have to go and christen it soon haha. I’ve also been told I have to live out of Jan’s cupboards instead of buying food … and Jan is an exceptional gourmet, I may never leave!! haha. Talking of which, I’d better go heat something up and bring my stitching in out of the boot so I can kick back and relax for the rest of the night 🙂

Hopefully tomorrow there will be a stitching piccie of some sort …

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Melbourne

Crikey, I’ve gone and done it now!!!

2 October, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Today I got my ‘big boss’ to sign off on my application form, and I faxed it along with my CV and cover letter and applied for the job in Sydney … OMG, now I’m starting to freak out!! If I have to interview for the job I’d better start applying for more housesitting jobs in Melbourne, ‘cos I’m useless at them … but if by any freak event they just decide I’m the best candidate and offer it to me outright, I’m all set haha. Apparently they had two other applications received by the deadline, but they were considering extending the timeframe a bit longer – which to me means they weren’t too thrilled with the candidates concerned for whatever reason. Also, apparently, the boss in Sydney was speaking to one of our Supervisors asking why no-one from Melbourne had applied for the job, which is quite interesting – it seems that Melbourne Hotline have got the best reputation across all three call centres for knowledge and expertise etc (and some staff members will actually call us directly because they don’t want to speak to the other sites hmmm). Anyway, all-in-all, the boss in Sydney is going to try to let me know an update by the end of this week, or on Monday next week – whether that means an interview time, or something else, I’ll just have to wait and see.

The awful thing is that this has all been so rushed, and with the hours I’m working and the time difference, I haven’t even had chance to discuss any of this with Mum – she’s read all about this new adventure at the same time as everyone else! Sorry Mum!!

Of course, all I could think of on the drive home tonight was that I’d have to start making a list of all the things I’d need to take with me in the car, if I moved to Sydney for the year … forget about bedding, and all those important and critical things, the list that was being created in my mind was all the stitching goodies haha. Even though I’m not stitching much at the moment, it’s still at the forefront of my mind! LOL. I’ll only be taking with me pretty much what I’ve been housesitting with -the storage unit is too well packed to get much of it out, although my computer printer and stitching stash, along with sewing machine, are nicely accessible and definitely compulsory packing items. I think I’ll also be trying hard to reach back into the unit to get my hands on my floor model Ott-Lite. Anyway, I might be counting my chickens before they’re hatched, so I shouldn’t start getting my hopes up …

On to a totally different story … here are some of the photos I took yesterday at the Australian Garden display – there are a couple of ‘overall garden’ photos, as well as some close-ups of some of the Australian native plants that Iliked.

Abbey, from NCIS, would love these plants – lovely black flowers!! 😉

“Matted bush-pea”

“Tiny Thomasia”

Native orchids

I love this display, it’s quite artistic and funky … I DON’T like those webby things, though! 😛

And it’s amazing what you can find among the flowers when you have your head down

And on that note, I’ll call it a night … 🙂

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Melbourne

Rotation … again … and a decision made …

2 October, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Thanks for the positive feedback about my rotation – in fact it looks more complex than it actually is … essentially it’s just a rotation with 6 projects on the go at any one time, and rather than having a measured period of time per slot (ie 10 hours or one week per slot), I’ve given myself project deadlines to complete before I move on to the next project in the rotation. Basically the slots will be:

Commitment stitching (until all 3 item are completed)
Snapperville – Bent Creek; then Stitching Leporello (Chatelaine)
The Drawn Thread – It’s Halloween, then Autumn Arbor, then Garden Recipe – then Victoria Sampler’s Crimson Fire Sampler
CA Wells – Sailor’s Valentine, then Cottage Etui, then Pyramid Etui
Lanarte – Sea Life
Free choice

The next few projects that will be added as time goes by are – Blessed with Happiness box (The Cat’s Whiskers), Blueberries (LHN/CC thread pack), My Treasures Workstation (Judy Odell), plus a myriad of others, all vying for attention. There are many ‘smaller’ projects that will slot in very nicely into the “free choice” spot, as they’ll only take a couple of nights of stitching to get each one finished (such as Xmas ornies etc).

As for right now, I put one whole hour’s stitching into the dratted Winnie the Pooh bookmark tonight – it’s the first time I’ve actually brought my stitching out while staying at Ali’s, and I can’t say I was particularly productive, but it was nice to get the frame out and give it a go!

I actually had a pretty rough night’s sleep last night and didn’t feel too perky when I finally emerged from the bedcovers. I was cheered up pretty quickly, though, by a visit out to see Lisa to take her house keys back … and I was spoilt to death by being taken out to lunch to an awesome beach-side cafe at Parkdale (I would definitely recommend that to anyone in Melbourne!), as well as being given a really sweet tote bag from Harrod’s, and another wee black bag from Hong Kong – wow! Gifts are always lovely purely because of the sentiments behind them, but these are super useful! 😀

After we had lunch I decided to head out to the Cranbourne Botanical Gardens, and walked around the Australian Garden, which is full of Australian native plants. There isn’t as much to see and do as there was at the other gardens I’ve recently been to at Arthur’s Seat etc, but it was lovely to spend an hour walking around and seeing some native species I hadn’t seen before. It was also lovely to see loads of Superb Fairy Wren birds flitting around among the ground cover – I just adore the colourings of the male bird, the bright blue is, indeed, “superb”! 😉

After wandering around the gardens, I headed back to Seaford and picked up a healthy dinner option – fresh Mediterranean salad (mixed lettuce leaves, with crumbled feta and sundried tomato dressing), a bunch of fresh asparagus spears (yummo!), and a piece of fresh salmon fillet. All I had to do when I got home was to crack open the bottle of Chardonnay I also picked up, nuke the salmon and asparagus spears for 3 minutes in the microwave, and pile everything on a plate … it was absolutely divine! Of course, the added company of Ali chatting to me during getting everything ready was an added bonus! 😀

I’ve been chatting to a few people at work about the option of applying for the job in Sydney, and the consensus is that I should go for it! I wanted to chat to Ali especially to get her feedback – even though I’m only just starting to find my feet socially here in Melbourne after being here for 4 years, it’s a damned good opportunity to give it a try. The salary is about $7,000-$10,000 more than my base salary here, although with the shift allowances it would even up a bit overall. I’m currently on a level 5 salary band, and the training salary is level 8 for the first 3 months, then it goes up to a level 9 (which is basically above our Supervisors in Reservations). Anyway, it’s only for 12 months, and it would be fantastic experience – and it seems there’s no time like the present, since all my things are in storage! So, basically, I’m going to “go for it” … that’s not to say I’ll actually get the job, but I won’t get it if I don’t officially apply!

Crikey, I’ve just seen the time … I’d better hurry up and call it a night, as I’m on earlier shifts this week, and the traffic is horrendous so I’ll need to leave early and allow about 1 1/2 hours driving time ho-hum. I have 2 hours overtime after work tomorrow, so that will at least see me leaving to come home outside peak time, which is great! 🙂

I’m going to call the boss in Sydney tomorrow, so hopefully I’ll have an update by the next time I jump online … I’ll also try to remember to post some piccies of the Australian Garden too 🙂

Cross Stitch, Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Um … stitching blog?

29 September, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

I remember the good ole days when I was posting some stitching progress or finish every few days … it seems so very very long ago LOL. These days there is very little stitching activity happening … and very sporadic posting too! I must admit, though, since having my wireless access I’ve been doing a bit more blog reading than I have in the past … and … shock … horror … even the odd comment or two over the last 24 hours from me on a few blogs!! 😛

It’s going to take me forever to catch up, but having the wireless access means I can sit with the laptop on my knee in front of the TV and read to my hearts content in comfort (well, as much as my monthly allowance will allow anyway!). Tonight I’m sharing the sofa and heater with an old pooch. I have to admit I was a bit stressed about housesitting for a ‘bigger’ dog, but Muffy is a big old softie – I just adore doggies (even more than kitties), so it’s wonderful having some pooch company. Here’s a photo of Muffy laying on her ‘bed’ 🙂

Lisa eventually got home from Sydney, and we’re catching up on Monday so I can hand back the house keys … and she’s taking me out to lunch to say thanks for housesitting, plus give me some gifties she bought me in London and Hong Kong – spoilt or what? 😉

As for the stitching, I haven’t touched a needle for a few days – so the bookmark is nowhere near getting finished. This is as far as I’ve managed to get … quite pitiful really! LOL.

As for my planned new start – the biggest struggle I have is working out which one to start first … I’m tempted to start a mini-rotation of three projects, but seeing how little time I have for stitching these days, maybe that wouldn’t be worthwhile. Here are the main projects I’m trying to choose between … all are screaming REALLY loudly to be started … the question is “who will scream the loudest?” 😉

I’d offer a poll to see if you can help me decide, but WP won’t allow polls on their blogs (one of the few downsides to WP in my eyes) … I’m only here tonight (2 nights in total this visit), then back to Seaford, and I don’t feel comfortable stitching there, so I’ll probably be reading for the next 4 nights instead … we’ll just have to wait and see which project pops out of the project bag next week! Heres the list of prime candidates so far (although, I reserve the right to add and subtract on a whim LOL) … I haven’t included the Friendship Quaker RR, as that’s a commitment I need to do, not a new project choice:

Bent Creek’s Snapperville
(photo taken from a fellow stitcher’s album)

The Drawn Thread’s Autumn Arbor

Shepherd’s Bush Bee Scissor Fob

The Drawn Thread’s It’s Halloween

Lanarte’s Sea Life
(not actually this sampler, but a set of 4 designs using a lot of these elements plus a few more)

As for the Sydney job … it turns out I sent an email one day late – it closed for applications 27 Sep … BUT, they’ve said they’d be willing to extend the date and accept my application if I’m serious about applying (not sure what to read into that one hmmm – either they have few candidates that have applied and they’re desperate, or they think I’m a good candidate LOL). I’ll make a call on Tuesday and find out more about the details (starting date and pay etc). While it’s not exactly what I want to do, it’s an insight into higher roles that would be worth putting up with it for 12 months … maybe 😉

Rightio, time to start thinking about getting off to bed … after letting Muffy out for her evening garden walk and bladder relief 😉

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Still here …

27 September, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Lisa is stuck in Hong Kong (the joys of staff travel when you work for an airline, you have to travel standby everywhere!) – she’s missed out on two flights today, but hoping to get on the final one tonight … or she’ll have to try again tomorrow. Which means I’m housesitting here for one more night – if she doesn’t get here tomorrow, then I’ll have to work out how to get Ally into her cat basket and take her to the local vets until Lisa can get home (I have a dog to look after tomorrow night, so it isn’t an option to stay on longer here).

Because I had the day off today (I swapped with a girl at work, so now I’m working her Sunday instead), I had a lovely relaxed day washing the bedding and headed off for a quick drive to the Edithvale Wetlands & Bird Hide. Unfortunately the Bird Hide was closed, and it was blowing a gale, so there wasn’t too much to see. I then drove down to the beach and sat in relative shelter and spoilt myself with a big cooked breakfast … even more special because they had HP Sauce!!! haha. You can take the girl out of Britain, but you can’t take Britain out of the girl! LOL. That’s about the only thing about me that’s British (aside from the pale freckly complexion maybe) … I’ve been brought up on HP sauce, Bovril, and Yorkshire puddings – and to me a cooked breakfast is without a doubt the best with HP sauce!! 😀

The main BIG news is that today after stuffing myself with breakfast, I went shopping … and I surprised myself by coming home with a wireless internet modem! One of the girls at work yesterday was telling me about an offer for existing 3 customers that gives half price internet access for the first 6 months, with a free modem (worth $299-$399) – while it means having to sign up for a 24 month contract, I chatted with the guy today about the price of cancelling out earlier than that – and as long as I stay for 9 months, even with having to buy out the contract, I’ll have recouped the cost of the modem etc, so it works out quite do-able. The offer ends this Sunday, so it was a make-or-break decision today, as I’m working all weekend. While I still won’t have the same amount of uploads/downloads as I used to have with iinet, at least it means I can access my own emails and check the internet occasionally without having to go to a cafe etc on a regular basis. And the best thing about the modem (as opposed to using my mobile phone, which I was originally planning to do), aside from the fact that it’s super fast, is that it’s automatically set not to pick up roaming signals – meaning there’s no chance of accidentally slipping into roaming and getting charged big bucks for the access (which you can’t do with the phone option) … that in itself could potentially save heaps of money anyway! I’m basically getting 3GB for an extra $5 a month I was thinking of paying with my mobile phone for only 1GB … at least it means I’m more portable, and contactable wherever I go now!! And the USB modem I opted to get (as opposed to the PCI card) is minute compared to the stupid brick Unwired give you! It truly IS portable!! 😀

I’m also considering checking out the possibility of a secondment to Sydney with work for 12 months – it’s a more senior appointment, although it’s pretty hard and gruelling work, but would give me the opportunity to work in the main ‘hub’ of the business which would give me a great grounding if I wanted to go further within the company down the track … and it almost makes sense to try it while my household items are in storage. Anyway, I might check it out tomorrow to see if I’ve missed the deadline yet and see if it would be an option … hmmm …

Rightio, time to get back to packing the place up … I’m going to try to squeeze some more winter clothes into my storage locker on the way to work tomorrow, as well as some items I haven’t touched over the last 3 months, which will hopefully free up some space in the car boot/trunk. Then I might be able to squeeze in those extra stitching projects I brought from the storage unit last week when I was craving a new project! 😉

Anyway, hopefully I’ll be able to keep in regular contact again now … yippee!! 😀

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Going offline for about a month

26 September, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

This is just a really rushed post before I lost access either tonight or tomorrow. Depending on what the flights are looking like, Lisa will be returning home either late tonight or tomorrow. I went out to meet the dog and house I’ll be looking after next last night, and I won’t have internet access there – I’m there for two nights Fri/Sat this weekend, then back out to Seaford for 4 nights, then back out to the same house again for 3 weeks. It turns out it’s not in Balwyn, but in Pascoe Vale South … groan … will be a pain in the neck getting to work ho-hum. Oh well, c’est la vie …

Hopefully by the time I get back online again I’ll have another finish (or two) – if anyone needs to contact me, just drop me an email to work if you need a relatively quick response … otherwise I might see about hitting an internet cafe in a fortnight to clear out emails (or borrow a supervisor’s internet access at work to sneak a peek via the webmail page). If you want my work email address, try contacting Carol (Garden of Stitches blog), Nicki (Plush blog) or Barbara (Mainely Stitching blog), as they have it handy (I’d rather not post it on here for privacy reasons). Sorry, but I don’t have time to add the links, as I’m racing to get this done, get ready for work, and do a quick spot of packing/cleaning all in half an hour!

Rightio, off I go again – it’s gonna be a loooooong day today with yet more overtime and sitting next to my buddy in training – she’s struggling a bit with her confidence, so I’ve asked them to let me have another day sitting with her … hopefully it’ll help …

Have a great few weeks … 😀

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Just a quickie …

25 September, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

To say I’m going to sign up for housesitting with a proper agency until February (if I can find somewhere) … if I could find something more long-term it would be absolutely perfect, but in the meantime I’m on the hunt for more housesitting jobs again. It’ll cost me about $200 to sign up, but hopefully it’ll be worth it in the long run …

On another note, I’ve got my fingers crossed that I can get some annual leave approved – if that all pans out, I’ll be heading back over the pond to have a visit home to see Mum & Dad, and my closest family friends, in November. With any luck I’ll get the chance to have a full two weeks over there, which would be great (even though Dad will probably have me going through my stuff in the garage for a full week … groan … LOL). Just imagine, two whole weeks of being pampered at home, with no pets to look after, or driving to be done … two weeks with plenty of time to stitch, and stitch, and stitch … of course, I just have to get the leave approved first! 😉

At work I’ve been asked to be a ‘mentor’ to new people wanting to do relief Hotline work, and take another 4 people under my wing as a kind of buddy/trainer … plus another big project I’ve taken on for 3 months … who says life is boring? LOL.

Talking of which … time to see if that darned cat has returned home to roost yet, as she’s been out for ages, and I’m soooooo keen to get into bed before midnight for a change – it’ll be a welcome change to the 3am’s I’ve been doing so far for the last week or so! 😀

See, I told ya it was just a quickie!! 😉

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

Not much stitching going on

21 September, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

In fact, not much of anything going on!! I’m on my final shift today of 4 weeks of late shifts (6pms, overnights, 4pms, etc) – and as usual in this part of the roster I’m fighting a migraine and feeling quite generally like death warmed up, and have been all week 😦

Even though I haven’t been online too much, I haven’t been stitching a great deal over the last few days either – I do, however, have a stitching progress piccie from the other day that I can post … I was hoping it would be a finish I would be posting by now, but this will have to do. This is the infamous plastic canvas project – and I have to admit I’ve hated every single stitch I’ve put into this damned thing! After getting RSI years ago, I’ve found if I hold a hoop etc in my hand for very long, my hand cramps up (I now stitch using a lap or floor frame with scroll bars) … well, holding plastic canvas is worse for me. Even though I got suckered into stitching this one for my friend, I did say I’d do it, so here I am finally getting it out of the way – I have a day off work tomorrow, so I think I might just stay in my PJ’s all day and sit and get it finished. Then I just have to stitch her Winnie the Pooh bookmark (which isn’t even started yet) then my commitment is all over red rover … phew! (Mind you, I have to pick up some more DMC 702 to finish this one off – because I’m stitching it all with a tent stitch type stitch, I’m using more thread – but it’s the only way I can get my needle under the back of the threads without having a temper tantrum!!)

Emails have still been arriving, though, while I’ve been offline – which is making my wishlist grow ever longer haha. Here’s some more enabling for you {{insert evil laugh here}}. Here’s the latest collaboration piece from The Cat’s Whiskers & Dinky Dyes – I love it!

Also for those that I’m starting to enable towards the Group Correspondence Courses at the Embroiderers Guild of America, here’s the link to the entire education page of GCC’s {{insert second evil laugh}}. I’ve just succumbed to getting one more project (yeah, as if I need any more!!) – this one has been on my wishlist for a few years now, and it’s finally retiring at the end of December to make way for new classes starting up … well, I could hardly NOT sign up for it now it’s my final chance ever, right? Well, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it! ;P

GCC Florentine Christmas Ornaments

I’m actually a member of the Cyberstitchers Chapter of EGA, and because we’re a very spread out group, we get many many opportunities to sign up for GCC’s throughout the year (everything is mailed out, and a Yahoo group set up to chat about the project and discuss any problems etc) – as well as a chatty Yahoo group to keep in contact with everyone in general. If you don’t have an EGA Chapter near you to attend face-to-face meetings, I’d highly recommend it – and they take PayPal for the membership dues and course fees, which is awesome for those of us “across the pond” 🙂

I’ll finish off my quick post with a shot of Ally cat (she’s a real lady, too, Ally just like you! – definitely a perfect housemate!!). Ally doesn’t even meeow, never mind hiss … and she enjoys a quiet cuddle every now and then, but mostly she’s left to her own devices and spends most of the time dozing around the house. The house is a beautiful villa, and I spent a lovely morning at the start of the week sitting on the front porch in the sun with my stitching before I went to work … sheer heaven.

And on that note, I’d better start making tracks ready for today’s day at work. I need to drive by my storage unit to pick up some DMC that the local store didn’t have (for the infamous plastic canvas) – luckily it just means driving a bit of a roundabout way to work, it’s not majorly out of the way. I’m also dumping my duvet inner back into storage for a wee while too ‘cos it fills my car boot up and I end up having to put my suitcase etc on the back seat … I should actually take a photo of my travelling kit … I always feel quite sad when I look at it and think about all my lovely stuff in storage – but it’s a means to an end, I guess, and I just have to keep remembering that!

Rightio, onward and upward – into the shower I go then off to work … did I mention, it’s the LAST ONE?? WOOHOO!!!! Apart from the 4 hours overnight on Sunday night, of course, but that’s my own doing … I’ll be kicking myself later, I’m sure, but at the moment I’m putting my name down for overtime left right and centre to try to give the finances an extra kick (buying all these GCC’s aren’t really helping the cause – thanks overtime for giving me the option though!).

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Melbourne, Quilting, Travel

A couple of VERY picture heavy posts coming up!!!

11 September, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

I’m back briefly for a two-week stint on the internet, before losing it again for possibly a full month … I wish I could say I’ve been spending my time offline stitching my little heart out, but the truth of the matter is I’ve hardly touched a needle the whole time … I’ve had my nose in a book instead, and finally read Diana Gabaldon’s latest novel “A Breath of Fire & Ashes”. All I can say is “wow!” – over 900 pages, and once you get into it you just can’t put it down!!! Those novels would have to be some of my all-time favourite books – and every single one has had me hooked and enthralled through every single page! Next up I’ve borrowed “The Kite Runner to read, which apparently is supposed to be exceptional – everyone I’ve spoken to so far has raved about it, so I thought I’d find out what all the fuss is about … 😉

Anyway, I can say that I have done some sort of stitching, although it’s not embroidery … I finally hand-stitched all the binding onto my Quilt UFO – this would have to be about 8-10 years old, and it’s a great feeling to finally get it finished. One of the Supervisors at work has offered to buy it from me, as I wasn’t too sure what to do with it now it’s all finished, so I’ll probably take her up on her offer – even if I just get $20 for it. I need to get it drycleaned first, though, to get rid of both the old musty smell and the wrinkles 😉

As to what else I’ve been up to … there have been some hiccups with my housesitting, which I won’t go into in huge detail, but it’s started me thinking about giving it up and looking for my own place in November. Daniel came home from overseas a day early, when I was in the middle of packing up … I got a call at 7pm (on a 6pm shift) to say they were at home and basically wanted to get into their own bed – having no spare room, they stayed at his parents place overnight and kept saying “how early can we come over?” so I felt really uncomfortable, I ended up finishing my packing after work at 2am and doing the last lot of cleaning, then going back to work at 5am to pick up a key from my pal a day early … she wasn’t expecting me turning up at work, of course, and let’s just say I had a frosty reception. Made me realise how much I rely on her for my ‘inbetween’ times of housesitting, and I think it would be better to call it quits (mind you, I did get an apology from Daniel when I saw him next.) It would be perfect if I could get something for 2-3 months over Christmas, but I guess that’s not going to happen, so decisions need to be made ho-hum 😦

While I had my days off, though, I made a concerted effort to get out and see some more of the Mornington Peninsula – I headed out for a drive to Arthur’s Seat to take in the views, then spent time in both The Enchanted Maze Garden and Ashcombe Maze & Lavender Gardens, before taking a quick drive out to Sorrento and back home. It was a wonderful day out, and even though most of the garden wasn’t in bloom yet, it was a really pleasant way to spend the day. I’ll definitely have to go back again when the flowers are out, as the gardens will take on a whole different personality again 🙂

Here are some shots of the views from Arthur’s Seat … there’s usually a chairlift operating to the summit, but it’s closed during winter, so I just drove up to the top instead 🙂

The next couple of posts will be dedicated to both of the individual gardens I went to, and they’ll be pretty chocka full of photos – I took oodles more as well, and in fact went a bit snap happy overall haha.

In the meantime I’ll close this post with photos of some of the colourful beach huts on the beaches of the Mornington Peninsula – I just adore their bright colours, and I’ve been dying to take some photos of them forever. I still want to head out to Brighton beach at some stage and take photos of those ones too, as they’re the most famous ones in Melbourne, I think (there’s a great shot here – love it!). Here are a few from Dromana anyway …

Rightio, while my next lot of photos are loading up into Webshots, I’m off to clean up cat sick … that was what greeted me on my first ‘morning’ here in Edithvale – I woke up after my nightshift to find a pile of cat sick on the lounge carpet and floorboards … there’d better be some rubber gloves somewhere, that’s all I can say!!! Let’s just hope I’m not like I normally am … I often join in in sympathy at the sound and smell of sick … yukky!! 😦

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Small finish and lovely visit

27 August, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Just a really quick post to show my latest small finish – I’m thinking of picking up a bigger project next, so it may be a while before there’s another finish … as well as the fact that I’ll be losing my internet connection again in a few days time. I’ve just spent a couple of hours uploading piccies for the next couple of months for the Photo Hunts, for that exact reason – I’m not sure when I’ll be up and running for the internet again, and uploading and downloading is a tad harder at an internet cafe than it is at home … anyway, if you don’t see me online for a while soon, you’ll at least see one post a week, as I’ve uploaded posts for the Photo Hunt right up until 3 November – I know I’ve said it before, but I seriously LOVE that functionality of WordPress!!

Anyway, onto the piccie – here is my latest finish:

Miniature Bellpull Ornament by The Drawn Thread
from 1999 JCS Christmas ornie magazine or 10th Anniversary issue (which is where I got mine from – the 1999 JCS ornie mag is the only one I don’t own … {pout})
Stitched on 36ct summer khaki Edinborough linen
using DMC and Needle Necessities threads as recommended

In other news – my foot is perfectly fine … I had a lot of stiffness and pain in it on Saturday, and went to see a GP as I felt quite worried about it – but she said I hadn’t done any major damage and I still had relatively good mobility, so just to keep applying the ice packs. Well, you’d never believe it, I woke up on Sunday and hardly had a twinge!! It feels fantastic! 😀

The other great news from Sunday is that I caught up with Tannia and had a lovely relaxing stitching day (hence the reason my Drawn Thread ornie got finished – I just did a couple more hours when I got home and finished it up). As always, Tannia is wonderful company, and it was great to just kick back and relax with needle in hand, and old movies on TV, without a care in the world. There’s also a treat in store for you, Mum, next time you come over – Tannia has very kindly given me some Christmas ornie magazines for you 😀

Not much else to report apart from that … I’m now off to the lounge room to watch a couple more episodes of series 3 of Moonlighting while I put a few more stitches into another ornie, then tomorrow is “clean up” day when I start packing my things away again in preparation of moving out. I have another week out in Seaford, then I’m looking after a place in Edithvale for 3 weeks with an elderly (and apparently well behaved – that’ll be a nice change) kitty.

Rightio, time to get cracking again …

(Updated to add:) Forgot to say, I finished reading Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows yesterday morning – couldn’t put it down in the end! Even though I haven’t read any of the others yet, I have no regrets whatsoever for reading it. It’s unlikely I’ll sit down and read the other books yet, and I wanted to read it before I knew what the ending was. I’ve seen all the movies to date, so at least I knew all the characters and the terminology … although after seeing the movies, I have to say all the characters in the book were now ingrained in my head as the actors who played them … much less imagination needed haha. Anyway, I have to say I loved it! 😀