Home & Family TO BE FIXED – Page 18

I’m sure no-one will be greatly surprised when I recite the story of my morning yesterday … it pretty much follows the vein of the rest of the year, and if I could have seen my own face yesterday it would have had me in fits of giggles for weeks on end, I’m sure!!

So, what happened to bring all this mirth on … well, to be honest I didn’t find it particularly funny at the time – and if my day tomorrow is not pain-free I may not see the funny side yet again … but I’m getting ahead of myself already …

Yesterday was like any other day this week, except that I had a slight sleep-in – the alarm went off at 4.30am instead of 3.30am like the other days this week (thanks to Lucien swapping his 6am shift for my 5am one so he could go and play golf after work). As per usual when I got up it was a hot and humid 4 degrees Celsius (aaarghhh), and the country was in darkness. Being a lazy so-and-so for the first time all week I decided I couldn’t be bothered walking up to the end of the hallway to put that light on, then come back halfway up the hall to switch the other one off, I decided to just brace myself, study the layout of the hallway, and memorise the lightswitch location in my brain … considering it’s only a few steps away, it wasn’t too difficult to do … or do I thought …

Someone else had other things on his mind, though … “evil kitty” all of a sudden appeared out of nowhere – I assume it was him, but I have to say I couldn’t actually see him, and it could have been Satan himself for all I knew … all I could hear was a whole heap of meeowing going on from the area somewhere near my feet. Now I was worried I was going to stand on the stupid cat in the middle of the hallway, so I started swinging my feet out with my footsteps … the only problem was that now I’d been distracted by trying to find the cat in the dark with my less-than-nocturnal eyesight, I also couldn’t work out where in the damned hallway I now was! Aha, I thought – there is a grey patch over on the wall to the left, of course that must be the laundry, as the light will be reflecting through the door … let me just walk out and reach out to switch on that light which is closer than the other one … let me just take one more step and reach ……………

The next thing I know I’m stepping out into mid-air, then with a comical expression of total surprise I find myself tumbling down the couple of steps at the end of the hallway … ’twas not the laundry light at all, it was the kitchen!! My mobile phone went crashing off across the wooden floor, but the final Harry Potter book decided to just sit crying in a heap as it wasn’t in a bouncing mood … me, I just sat there in a heap trying to work out which part hurt most, and which part of my anatomy I should try to move first … crikey, it would have been a picture and a half with that stunned look on my face!!

Luckily, though, nothing was majorly damaged – I felt a bit shaken up and a bit queasy, which I’m sure was from the shock rather than anything else. Because I was on such an early shift I didn’t want to let my colleagues down at work, and seemed OK to drive, so I went into work – by the time I arrived, though, my right foot was throbbing like hell. I ended up tipping a recycling box upside down and elevating my leg under the desk for a few hours, and Lucien got a great deal of mirth out of watching me get up to answer a phone call at another desk when my legs nearly buckled from underneath me … glad I could put a smile on your face Lucifer! 😉

Anyway, today I woke up feeling as though I’ve been run over by a Mack truck – the muscles in my left leg, especially my thigh, feel as though I’ve done 3 hours hard work-out at a gym and are very strained and uncomfortable. My right foot also started really throbbing again after about 6 hours, but luckily today we were working with Bernie who’s a Nurse in her other role (she does a few hours after work to keep her qualifications current) – she had an ice pack put on it, then strapped it up for me. I’ve been given orders, though, that if I get any more discomfort from it tomorrow I’ve got to go to the doctors as she thinks there’s a possibility of it being a hairline fracture – so far there’s only a little bit of swelling and no bruising yet … fingers crossed it doesn’t turn to anything more sinister! I’m currently sitting here with another ice pack on, so hopefully that will help 🙂

So, that’s been the last couple of days for you … on a good note, though, I’ve had some exceptionally gorgeous gifties over the last week that I can finally share with you as I’ve sent off all my thank you emails. I’ll show them in the order that they were received – and I have to say I love every single one of them, thank you ladies!! 😀

First up is an exquisite parcel I received from Isabelle – I must say I tried to help Isabelle and Seb out by buying one of Isabelle’s beautiful bags from her Etsy shop (I fell in love with this one hook line and sinker), after finding out what the proceeds were going towards … and Isabelle said she wanted to send something extra with it when it came time to post it out. Here are all my goodies – am I spoilt or what??! These were actually posted quite a while ago, and I started wondering if they’d gone missing … it turns out they had – they were found at the East Camberwell post office, after I queried it! They’d been having a lovely quiet holiday over there, with no-one any the wiser! No doubt Isabelle will be pleased to know they finally turned up safe and sound. The blue bag with white lace on the left is the one I chose to buy, and the other bag is an extra one made especially for me. Aren’t they beautiful? Not only that, but I now have my very own French XS magazine that I’ve been spreading drool over for days – I think I could quite easily become addicted to these! But the piece de resistance for me would have to be the little bourse at the back – this has extra special sentimental value for me, as this was made from the fabric from Isabelle’s wedding dress … I had a serious lump in my throat when I read that! I’m going to use it as a jewellery pouch for my favourite pieces of jewellery. Thanks again Isabelle – everything will be treasured always, my dear friend – I feel truly honoured to own some of your masterpieces!

Next up is something totally different … while Tessa was away in the UK she found this adorable, gorgeous duck and thought of me when she saw it! I don’t know why?!! haha. Doesn’t it have the most awesome character?? I just love it to death, and it will be a most prized possession in my collection. In fact the day it arrived it spent all day sitting on my desk atop my computer base – it put a smile on my face every time I looked at it. Thanks so much again Tessa – I really love it to pieces … it’s so sweet of you to think of me while you were away, especially knowing the reason you were there {{hugs}}.

Now last, but by no means least … I received an absolutely exquisite RAK from Dawn in the mail today! After tumbling down the stairs yesterday, and feeling crappy for two days, this did an exceptional job of cheering me up today! Isn’t it gorgeous? And the colour is so scrummy, and my fave … BLUE! Thanks again Dawn, for a wonderful RAK – I truly do feel thoroughly spoilt, and really appreciate your gift. I can’t wait to get it on a pair of scissors! I love the postcard too! 😀

Talking of work (well, I was earlier in the post anyway) … I cashed in my bonus payment this week – and bought my GPS/iPaq. I decided to go without the WiFi and extra 1GB of memory and bought the HP iPaq 5765, and spent the extra $180 on something different … I spent the rest of the bonus money on upgrading my compact digital camera. I’ve had my old Canon PowerShot for about 6-7 years now, and while it’s been an awesome camera, technology had most definitely improved over the years and my 3 megapixels are a bit lacking these days. I wanted something with a better macro capability, and I considered getting a macro lens for my Nikon digital SLR, but it was out of my price range … but I got something even better – in fact it’s seems clearer than my SLR lenses, which is amazing! Hopefully it’ll be better for taking shots of my needlework once I get my head around all the settings. The camera make I got was a Panasonic Lumix which has a Leica lens and a 10x optical zoom … I shall say no more!! 😉

Here’s a couple of shots taken on it by Lucien … he spent more time playing with it today than I did!! Here’s one of our office desks in the area I work in … plus one of me actually doing work while Lucien goofs off!! As you can see, it’s casual dress day today yippee!

Then there are a couple of shots I took on arrival home in Daniel’s garden – the close-up views when you zoom in are exceptional on the flower stamens in the 2nd photo … wow!! So much so that Lucien is thinking of buying one now too 😉

So now it’s back on the wagon again spending-wise … time to pull the horns in again and get some $ back into the bank once more. Bless you, though, work management for giving us a wonderful gift of cash … I, for one, wholeheartedly appreciate the thought! I thought of being very responsible and putting it towards bills, but then thought “sod it” and went spending haha. As Mum always says, “it’s money you never had, so treat yourself” 😀

Rightio, time to remove the ice pack for 20 minutes … then it’ll be time to sit back down again with it back on again – if this keeps up you might even see another stitching finish soon … I’m halfway through a Christmas ornie, so you never know your luck in a raffle! 😉

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Update & technical help needed …

19 August, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

It’s a good job I preloaded all those Photo Hunt shots, or my blog would be looking quite bleak at the moment (well, bleaker than it really does anyway) … which reminds me, I must get a few more shots taken, as I only have two more week pre-loaded up! I have been distinctly missing in action – and haven’t felt like blogging at the end of the day after travelling and making dinner. I’ve tried reading a few blogs, but it’s incredibly hard work ploughing through so many and never seeming to get anywhere – I still have well over 1000 feeds to read, and that’s something that won’t be improving in the near future either, after I leave here. It also doesn’t help that when I come into the ‘computer room’ I have to put up with Sean meeowing his head off and bouncing off the door trying to get in … but if I let him in he’s a typical cat and just wants to sit all over the keyboard, desk, or mouse, and throws a tantrum if you don’t give him 100% attention or if you move him out of the way …

I’m still looking at alternatives for replacing my mobile internet, after telling Unwired to shove their crappy service, but I’m not hastily jumping into anything this time but checking out options.

“Three” have a new service where I can use my Nokia mobile as the modem (just have to work out how to download the software etc, as I’m going to need it on my laptop, and for some reason Daniel’s PC won’t let me save anything to disk), and I wouldn’t have to buy a new laptop modem (a USB one is $299 and a card is $399). The connection speeds are much much lower (up to a maximum of 384 Kbps hmmm), but if it saves me $399 short term, it could be worth considering … The costs are $29 for 1GB (which includes both downloads and uploads, which is a pain), $49 for 2GB or $69 for 3GB per month. I think I need to think about this one some more, but I’m likely to settle with this option after looking at others, mainly because I wouldn’t have to buy a separate modem, and it’s like an ‘add-on’ to my current service, meaning I can cancel at any time without incurring costs.

Now this is where I need some technical help …

The great news is that I’m getting my GPS, thanks to my company giving us a bonus – yippee! I’ve decided to upgrade from buying just a standard GPS on its own and get either the HP iPaq 5765 or 5965 which is a PDA with built-in TomTom GPS – for only a small difference in price, I get many more benefits (including not having to lug around a bulky diary everywhere with me with my phone contacts etc). Now here’s my dilemma … I could pay $180 extra for the 5965 which has 2GB memory instead of 1GB, and it has WiFi (the cheaper one doesn’t) … would it be worth the extra money?? I’m thinking I could take it to a cafe in the city, and download my emails (it has Microsoft Office Mobile 5.0 loaded up) without having to lug my laptop around … then synchronise my emails to my laptop at the end of the day. Would that actually work??? I’m thinking that way I could just sign up for wireless internet at the ‘basic’ level of 1GB downloads/uploads … as long as I had an alternative to downloading my emails if I ran out of downloads etc … ??? And I could just make a trip into the city and enjoy a coffee somewhere while downloading my emails – sounds like a dreadful proposition hahaha.

What else have I been up to? Here’s a picture of the fur-babies I’ve been living with recently – first up is Alice and Hugo looking serene and peaceful in the sunlight (you’d think butter wouldn’t melt in Hugo’s mouth, would you?)

Then there’s Sean … I’m very happy to report that Sean now follows me around the house like a shadow, and has ceased all of the hissing over the last few days – he’s back to being a very cuddly and friendly kitty who’s a pleasure to be around. It’s a shame that he’ll probably be back to hissing after a single day of Daniel being home again (although I have to update that – he did it again last night after I moved him, and I got cranky with him and wouldn’t let him back up onto the sofa with me – he sat and sulked for a while on his chair, but I’m not going to put up with his temper tantrums, the little bugger!!) 😦

Anyway, here he is propping himself up on the sofa arm, waiting for me to come and join him in my stitching corner the other night! 😉

Talking of stitching, here are two teeny projects I’ve finally managed to get finished. I have to admit I’m still finding stitching a major chore, and I’m not enjoying it at all – I’ve forced myself to sit for a couple of hours over three nights this last week to try to get myself back into the swing of it, but I can’t say I’ve loved it one iota. I’m going to try to get some more done today, and get a wee Just Nan one finished (updated … it’s now finished, but piccies will have to wait). My Sailor’s Valentine kit will be heading over my way from Perth very soon for the CA Wells class next year, so I’d better hurry up and shape up and get my mojo back again!!! I also need to get the latest round of the Quaker Friendship Sampler RR completed (updated … it’s 2/3 done now). Anyway, here are my two teeny finishes to date:

planted hearts needleroll 1
Planted Hearts Needleroll by Lavender Wings
Stitched on 32ct waterlily Belfast linen
using recommended threads (DMC)
replaced Mill Hill treasure with another glass bead I had to hand

biscornu side 2
Side 2 of my biscornu using Debbie Draper’s design
from Gift of Stitching Magazine
stitched using Carrie’s Creation threads in Ocean Blue and Lavender
(after Jenna’s recent comment this will always be the Jenna/Anne biscornu now!!)

I also have a gift to share but I need to contact the sender first … I’ll try to update soon with the latest stitching finishes and my gifts sooner rather than later – mind you, I’m on 5am shifts this week, so it could be a good thing to keep me awake in the afternoon! 😉

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Really quick line

9 August, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Just to say I cancelled my Unwired service today, so after I move out of here I’ll be going back to using internet cafes to keep up to date. I’ve been unable to connect to my Unwired modem since moving out from Bentleigh – I assumed I wouldn’t be able to access it in Seaford, as it’s out in the boondocks, but I figured Ringwood as a major suburb will have no problems. Today when I called up to see why I couldn’t get a connection here, I found out in Melbourne their service is really limited to the CBD area … which means I’m lugging around a very expensive ornament each month for nothing 😦

Anyway, I told them very politely to cancel my subscription, and I may instead look at connecting with Telstra or Optusnet or somebody else … while their prices are pretty much double what Unwired charge on a monthly basis, they’re a helluva a lot more portable – and obviously much more reliable … what a waste of $200 for this stupid brick of a modem 😦

At the moment I’m able to access the internet via Daniel’s PC (while I owe him no thanks whatsoever for teaching his kitty very bad manners, I owe him a huge vote of thanks for setting me up as a separate user on his PC so I can at least access my emails via the webserver).

Due to the circumstances, though, it might be wise for anyone who wants to contact me directly to drop me a line at work … depending on my shifts sometimes it can take a short while for me to reply, but it’ll be a darned sight quicker than waiting for a response when I can’t access the internet down the track … ho-hum …

Rightio, that’s all I wanted to say … I’ve just got in from work very very late, after driving straight to a friend’s place for coffee and a catch-up … and ended up watching most of The Illusionist movie before driving home at 9.45pm (the movie was OK, even though I abhor Edward Norton as an actor), and having to pick up a Red Rooster meal on the way home, as I hadn’t eaten since lunchtime … now it’s time to hit the hay again. By the way, Mum, it was Dawn and Phil I caught up with – not sure if I’ve told you already, but they’re back together again. Next Tuesday we’re catching up for a night out at the movies as well, which will be fun. And I came home with a pile of new trousers tonight, compliments of Dawn who’s lost oodles of weight, so she kindly handed over her good ‘fatty clothes’, which fit me perfectly! She’s going to go through her wardrobe before next week and see what else she can find that will suit me too … woohoo! 😉

In fact that was this pay-day’s big splurge … I went out and bought two new tops and a new pair of bras. And boy, oh boy, it felt so good! I’m trying to treat myself each pay-day to something I’ve been putting off buying because I couldn’t afford it, and it’s been just wonderful! I’ve been doing a few things as gifts for dear friends lately as well, while I’ve had the funds to be able to do it, but now I’m back in the mode of pulling my horns in again, and getting some money put aside … but I’m still going to have a fortnightly or monthly treat, regardless. First of all my treat was the little stash splurge, then the last one was a new watch in the sales (my old one was battered and disgusting), and now my new bras … I wonder what next pay-day will bring …

Mind you I might not have chance to go shopping next pay-day, as it’ll be a very very social week next week – Monday night is Trivia night at the local pub near work with about 8 work colleagues (and after 4 months of not getting my hair cut yikes, I’m getting it cut and coloured beforehand), then movie night Tuesday, then Friday night I’m off out to dinner and perhaps drinkies afterwards with Fraze and my ex-work colleague Jason … then I’ll be in dire need of a rest, me thinks, as will my wallet! haha.

Rightio, enough waffling (so much for a quick note) … time to remove the Red Rooster carcass, de-poo the kitty litter, and hit the hay for the night 😉

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Melbourne

Quick drive-by

8 August, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

That seems to be all I do these days … pop on here for a quick update then sod off again for days on end!

Thanks for all the comments about my resident fur-monster. In fact he’s sitting right outside the computer room door meeowing his head off as I type this … I used to let him in, but he started hissing when I’d move the mouse etc, so I turfed him out, and I’ve kept him out ever since. I have to admit I’ve started using the water pistol on occasion, and it seems to be working a bit. He was trying to get on me while I was stitching last night (that’s a miracle in itself these days!!), and had his paws/claws digging into my shoulder … when I went to move his paws, his ears flattened back and the hissing started – well, he moved pretty damned quickly when the water pistol was picked up! He doesn’t seem to hold grudges, though, and came back again 5 minutes later to get my attention. He didn’t try to climb up, though, and just sat next to me so we spent a bit of time in civil peace 🙂

I’m still considering moving into a new place in November/December – but then again it depends on how I go with the housesitting over the next 3 months before I make my big decision. I’m thinking, though, of moving to somewhere like Mordialloc which is a bit further out of town but close to the beach again – rent is a bit cheaper, and my down time will still be in nice surroundings … food for thought, anyway …

Seeing as I still don’t have any stitching piccies etc to share, here are a few I took on my walk up Frankston beach in the freezing cold just over a week ago – don’t let the sunny sky fool you, it was only just starting to clear up, and the wind was strong and icy! I love the fishermen at the end of the pier in their winter gear 😀

Here was a bit of the local flora from my wander back to the car via the canal walkway:

Next time I’ll post some piccies of an sculpture park I went to later that same day … it’ll be some time before I post a progress piccie, so this’ll have to do for now 😛

OK, it’s time to head back to the lounge to see if Sean is going to play nice tonight – he’s in an extremely smoochy mood tonight and has hardly left me alone for 2 seconds … it’ll be interesting to see if he stays that way for the next hour while I sit and stitch and watch TV (crikey, that really IS a miracle, two stitching nights in one week, what IS the world coming to?? haha) 😉

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Furbaby hell …

5 August, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

I could shoot Daniel, is all I can say! Before the boys left (when I came to pick up the keys), I met kitty Sean and all seemed well – we hit it off, and he seemed to be a very friendly kitty. Jason (Daniel’s partner) said, though, that Daniel teaches and encourages him to hiss … but so far I hadn’t seen it for myself … until later on into my first night here!

Sean likes to not just sit on your knee, but to lay sprawled right UP your body, with his head on your chest, and his paws (and claws) sitting right on your neck or shoulder … I was trying to read my book, so moved him slightly so I could get to turn my page comfortably, and he turned around and hissed … I nearly died! I have to admit at that close quarters it freaked me out a bit … then he crawled up onto the top of the sofa behind my head and continued hissing at me hmmm. I have to admit, I didn’t let him sit back on me again that night, and just sat forward on the sofa hunched over, as his hissing made me feel uncomfortable.

Last night I came into the computer room, and he followed me in and jumped up on the desk – when I tried to move the mouse out of the way he started hissing again … after a few minutes I have to say I got sick of the hissing and I shooed him out of the room and shut the door on him! He spent the next half hour jumping up and hanging off the door handle meeowing his head off – so I let him in again only to have him start the whole rigmarole over again. In the end I got fed up and went through to the bedroom to have my shower and an early night to read my book in bed …

Tonight I have to admit my patience is wearing a tiny bit thin with him … he’s been hissing at me all night – I’ve filled his food bowl up with biscuits, checked he has water, checked his litter tray doesn’t need cleaning, and held both outside doors open to see if he wants to go out … no response to anything, except more bl**dy hissing. When I went to take the rubbish bin out to the kerb I left the wire screen open to see if he pops outside, and he eventually did … so outside he remains for an hour or so while I get some peace and quiet and he gets some much-needed fresh air!

It’s really disheartening – I adore animals, and I’ve housesat for two lots of kitty families before (2 belonging to my friend Rox, and 3 belonging to my best friend’s family), and at no time have I ever had any problems with them. I was sooo looking forward to having some furbaby company, but this lot have got serious psychological issues!!!

I have to say, as well, that it’s really taking the edge off the fun of housesitting too – I hate to think I’ve got a full 4 weeks of this hissing lark left … Daniel has a helluva lot to answer for, the mongrel 😦

I have to admit I got so fed up last night I started looking online at rental properties – considering whether I can get a smaller 1-bedroom place somewhere, or a 2-bedroom place a bit further out of town, that’s cheaper than what I was living in before. Maybe the next place’s animals won’t be feral like this lot, and maybe I’ll get back to enjoying it a bit – but at the moment the shine has definitely been removed, and I’m dreading walking in the door here … mind you, I’m also on early shifts which might be affecting my mood 😦

I was tempted to pick up some stitching yesterday, but I don’t think sitting in the lounge with the cat having a hissing fit is going to be particularly conducive to any quality stitching … oh well, at least my book is a huge one and will keep me out of trouble in the bedroom for a few more nights/weeks 😉

Anyway, nothing else to report – just felt like getting that off my chest before I let the feral one back in again …

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

No longer missing in action …

3 August, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Actually, I’m not entirely sure how much time I’ll be spending online – I’ve just logged on to a ‘normal’ PC at my new housesitting job, and there are 1400 unread feeds in my feed reader … yikes!!

This is just a really really quick post to let you know I’m in the land of the living – I didn’t have any internet connection at all in Seaford, and have only just arrived in the latest place today so haven’t tried to plug in my laptop and modem yet … Daniel has kindly set me up as a new account user on his PC so I can at least access the internet – I can read my emails through a webmail server, but it won’t let me reply for some strange reason. It will take me a while to catch up anyway, whichever way I manage to get it working … In the meantime if you need to reach me for anything, it might be wise to send to my work address.

I still have 5 more Photo Hunt posts sitting ready to go in the future (I love, love, love that facility of WordPress) … but I guess that means I’ll have to start snapping away again at the end of the month. I took a walk one day last week on the beach at Frankston in the freezing cold and took some photos – plus I took a few photos of the kitties at Ali’s place … they’re ‘interesting’ personalities to put it mildly …

Hugo, the male, is exceptionally territorial and doesn’t like anyone in ‘his’ home other than Ali, so he was a challenge in himself – Alice is the total opposite and runs and hides if someone new enters the house … although she jumped up next to me the other night and actually let me stroke her briefly, which was lovely. She’s a real sweetheart, and I wonder if she would come out of her shell a bit more if Hugo wasn’t such a bossy breeches!

My new ‘home’ has Sean living here … and he’s totally different again – another black and white male moggy, he’s spent the last hour following me around the house, and craving attention and cuddles the entire time … yup, we’re getting along just fine! 😀

No stitching to show – I haven’t had the inclination to pick up a needle whatsoever of late … I’m hoping to get a spot of finishing done while I’m here at Daniel’s, but don’t hold your breath haha. Instead I’ve been watching a TV series on DVD with Ali about a UK Chef called “Return of the Chef” – it’s been wonderful to watch, although now I want to watch the French series as well later in the month. I’ve also been reading – and I’m almost finished with “The Memorykeeper’s Daughter” – normally not my usual reading style, but I have to say I’m really loving reading it, and can’t wait to see how it all ends …

Anyway, time to pop out and get some bread and milk, and work out what to sleep in tonight … Daniel was aware I have my own sheets etc for the bed, but he’s kindly taken the duvet inner away so I have a bare mattress … and I left my duvet inner in storage, thinking I don’t need it ho-hum. It took me over an hour to drive from the storage unit to here with no traffic, so it’s not an option to head back over there again, as it’ll be closed before I get home again. Luckily I’ve packed a sleeping bag in the boot of the car ‘just in case’ or for when I’m washing the bedding at the end of a housesit etc … I guess it’ll be coming in extremely handy this week!!

Rightio, off I trot to starting thinking about dinner for both Sean and I … then it’s time to snuggle up in the lounge with the TV on, and a kitty keeping me warm while I finish my book! 😉

I hope to catch up on all your blogs throughout the coming fortnight (there’s too much to read in just one week, me thinks!)

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

Final piccies of Elwood

24 July, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

When I was cleaning out the last remaining boxes of ‘stuff’ for storage, I came across the following on a CD – which is great ‘cos I had to format my compact flashcard and thought I’d lost them all! These were my final shots of my apartment in Elwood before I moved out … I miss the flat just a tiny bit, but I sure don’t miss those cracks or the window that wouldn’t close! I wonder if they’ve manged to get new tenants into it yet or done the work on the building? Oh well, all power to them … Here goes with the photos:

You probably can’t tell from this photo, but the window sill is actually buckled – the left hand side tilts upwards, and the right hand side tilts down … just goes to show how much the building is moving I guess …

This is what we found behind the bookcase – all of these cracks were much more impressive (and scary) in real life … this one explains the vertical crack all along the wall, we could finally see the source!

Talking of photos, I thought I’d share my storage space with you, so you can see how packed to the gunnels it is … I still have one more box, plus my sewing machine, plus a small suitcase to go in there tomorrow … miracles still DO happen, don’t they? LOL.

On a slightly ‘down’ note, I’ve had the disappointing news a few weeks ago that the housesitting agency I was going to be doing housesitting jobs for has closed their doors for at least the next year … ho-hum. I’ve heard bad things about some other agencies where you just don’t get work, so I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to do now … The guy I was going to housesit for has a daughter who runs an online agency, so I’ll probably sign up for that one – not sure how much business it’ll generate, though. If not, I guess I’ll have to start thinking about moving into a new place again closer to Christmas. At this stage I have jobs pretty much right up until the start of November – after that I’m up in the air quite a bit. I’m going to put an ad up on the noticeboard at work to see if that generates any more business (at this stage all my housesitting jobs have come from my fellow colleagues on the Hotline). I guess my first job now, though, will be to get $3,000 in a kitty behind me just in case I need to move into somewhere new … at least I still have housesitting until my laptop’s paid off phew! 🙂

Rightio, time to get up and start the official house cleaning … and packing my suitcase etc. The food bags are already packed with leftover groceries (I’ve been very lax about cooking while I’ve been here, so there’s plenty of tins etc left) – and my stitching is pretty much packed up … just one more bag of ‘stuff’ to finish sorting out and everything’s ready. It will be nice to have a free night tonight to just kick back and relax knowing all the housework is already done.

I have to admit I had a slight panic yesterday when I came home from the storage unit to find one of the cars missing from the driveway – thankfully I called Sal’s Mum and found out her Dad had come to pick up the car for picking them up from the airport … phew! I’m sure they’ve got the days wrong, though, as I’ve got it in my diary that they’re coming home tomorrow, not today … I guess if they’re not home by lunchtime today I’ll know I’m right. I’ve got the table in the kitchen already laid out ready for them with their piles of mail and the bills I’ve paid for them, plus a vase of flowers, bread and milk, and a bottle of red wine sitting ready with two wine glasses and the corkscrew, plus a welcome home note – hopefully they’ll appreciate it when they arrive … I just hope all my housesitting jobs won’t expect it haha 😛

Anyway, time to start the day … I’m not sure after tomorrow what sort of reception I’ll have for my internet connection – I’m moving to Seaford on the fringe of Melbourne’s outer suburbs, and unsure whether Unwired’s coverage reaches out there or not … if not I’ll be out of action for just under two weeks until I move out to Ringwood (where I’ll be for 4 weeks). Mind you this week the reception here has been appalling, so an improvement would be fantastic! I’ve been trying to post this for well over an hour now, but the stupid reception keeps dropping out hmmm.

In the meantime, have a great week everyone! 😀

I’ll leave you with my latest WIP – the photo is appalling, and half the wording has to be frogged due to stupid mistake, but I’m over halfway with this needleroll …

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Stash

Note to self … and oops … Stash!!

20 July, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Note to self …

“Do NOT watch Big Brother again this week until their weekly task is completed, finished, done and dusted, all over red rover!! If you DO watch Big Brother your heart will begin pounding as though it will burst out of your chest, and you will have cold sweats, crawling skin, and general heeby-jeebies for hours afterwards … just like you did last night!!!”

What am I waffling on about?? Well, I switched the TV on for the first time this week last night to watch Big Brother … only to be confronted by bl**dy great visions of arachnids (ie Huntsman and wolf spiders etc … and if you feel keen please go Google their names yourself, ‘cos I don’t feel like having their piccies sitting on my computer screen right now) as full as life filling the TV screen – I nearly died there and then on the spot! It’s been a long time since I had to put my hands up to cover my face from what is on TV, but I just couldn’t bear to watch it anymore. I ended up turning away and just listening to it … their task this week is to enter the ‘spider enclosure’ of which they reckon there are at least 50 bl**dy great spiders in there, and they have to catch some as part of their task. I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it again!! Aaaaarghhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, that brings me to something else I’ve been meaning to blog about, and keep forgetting – the good news is that I’ve finally booked in to see a therapist towards the end of August (a hypnotherapy doctor) about my severe arachnaphobia. It sounds like I may need more than one session, and at $230 a pop that’s not great, but if it works it’ll be worth every red cent!! The great thing about not paying rent right now is that it’s giving me chance to do something I’ve wanted to do for a while now, and just couldn’t afford it … this is going to be soooooo worth it if it works!!!

That’s all I wanted to say really … still not really in blogging mood yet – and still have more packing up to do, so time to go do it before I settle in for the night. At least it was my final 5am shift today so I get an extra 2 hours sleep in tomorrow woohoo!! I only have 4 sleeps left here, so I also need to start thinking of getting the bedding etc washed and ironed and all the rest of the housework done. I only have my 8am shift tomorrow, then an overnight shift on Sunday (9pm-5am), then I’m on days off for 4 days yippee 😀

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Updated to add … I also forgot to mention that I got stash in the mail today!! Yes, that’s right I’m on the 50 project challenge, and I’m not allowed to buy any charts … if you don’t tell anyone, I won’t! Well, I was rebellious two weeks ago and ordered a couple of things before I go back on my stash diet again. The only thing that made me do it is that I was really keen to get Just Nan’s Queen’s Bluebird Box, and I saw it was out of stock already at one of the ONS’s … I figure if I was ever going to get it, now was the time. As it is I’ve missed out on my all-time favourite Au Fil de Reves designs because they’re no longer in print after dickering for a couple of years whether to fork out and buy the kits … so I wasn’t gonna do the same thing this time! (In actual fact I splurged and ordered two of the AFDR kits from Criss Cross Row in a panic as soon as I heard the news they were going out of print, but they’ve never sent the goods, and are not replying to my emails – and my order went through in February hmmm.) I’ve only bought the chart and finishing kit for the Bluebird box (doncha just LUV that little blue bird?? LOL), ‘cos I couldn’t justify the extra money to buy the silk kit … I may just have to see which colours are needed and buy a few at a time, as well as raiding my existing stash … I have to say I think US$75 for the silk kit that is just “cut to the correct length” is pretty exorbitant … it’d be interesting to see how much it would work out to buy a full skein of each hmmm…

Of course I had to justify the cost of postage for the Just Nan box, and also bought the Trick or Treat Box by Just Nan as well … won’t they look cute in a cabinet together?? Yeah, yeah, OK, I’m just justifying to myself it was a good buy! haha. Oops I just remembered the Just Nan Octagonal Peacock needlecase is also on back order, so I’d better go add another 4 (not 3) charts to my 50 project challenge. Hmmm, maybe I should just give up now!! 😉

The 4th thing I bought was something I’ve been yearning for dearly for a few years as well – I ordered it two years ago from SB&B, but they refunded my money for that chart, and I assumed it was because it was no longer available or in print (they never contact me and let me know why … I just got a PayPal receipt saying you’ve been given money back!) – I’ve been searching Ebay for a while to no avail … and one day recently I stumbled across their website, and saw they take orders directly … and I’m now the very proud owner of this chart, Gazelle, by Simply Old-Fashioned. I also received a 15% off voucher for the next 10 purchases from them, and a very personalised packaging and note … I have to say I was very very impressed with their service! I can now stitch this one to be a matching pair with my ‘giraffe’ that I’ve already stitched (it’s actually the Zebra chart, but for some reason I always thought it was a giraffe … can you say blonde and mentally challenged?? LOL). Here’s the new chart, and my stitched ‘giraffe’:

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

The Walls of Jericho came tumbling down…

18 July, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Well, maybe not the Walls of Jericho, but definitely a dining chair! I took the first load of boxes etc over to the storage unit, only to put one box into the space and have a dining chair come flying down from above!! B*gger!! I didn’t get hurt at all, and it seems that the chair is still in one piece, but it poses a bit more of a challenge now to get everything into storage. While I had everything neatly laid out, I’ve now had to balance the dining chair in a space where there should be NO dining chair … that space was nicely allocated to about 4 more storage boxes … mutter mutter mutter. Unfortunately I can’t reach to put the stupid chair back where it was before (although if there’s any possibility of it moving again, it probably isn’t wise anyway). It will be interesting to see how I manage to get the rest of the goodies into that tiny wee gap that’s left, ‘cos there’s still my computer to go in, 4-5 boxes of stitching stuff, my sewing machine, and duvet inners … haha, I’m laughing out loud just thinking about how it’s all going to fit it! If I wasn’t so delirious with sleep deprivation I’d probably be quite miffed 😉

Anyway, time to head out into the bitter cold again … I very stupidly left my shopping bag with my wallet in it at work (duh!!), and I asked a lady who lives about 10 minutes drive away to bring it home with her – I’ll just have time to pop round and pick it up, come home and jump in the shower, and get tucked up in bed. The ducted heated has been cranked up all afternoon to soothe the chills (6C yesterday during the day … woohoo LOL) so the room will be lovely and warm when I get home again {{sigh of contentment}}. Talking of which, I’d better run …

Food, Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Where did the weekend go??

8 July, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

I actually started posting yesterday, and managed to write the following, before falling asleep at the computer:

“I didn’t think this day would ever arrive … boy oh boy it’s been an interesting week. Work has really kept me on my toes this week, and I’ve hardly had time to breathe inbetween shifts 😦

Karma jumped up and bit me last night … I was joking that I would have a migraine starting at 9pm (it was 6.30pm when I was joking), as the one person I detest working with started at 9pm – he drives everyone on the Hotline crazy, and having to work with him up until 2am is seriously insane 😦 Anyway, it was a pretty stressful night with yet more dramas with people stuck at overseas airports … and by the time 9pm came I did indeed have a splitting headache – yep, karma’s a bitch! 😉

Today I’ve felt so grotty I didn’t get out of bed until 6.30pm (I actually woke up at 2pm yikes) – I just lay in bed with the laptop and fixing up my Outlook contacts and RAK Registry information. I finally surfaced to reheat some of the Thai Green Curry I made yesterday, ‘cos my headache was returning … and I still feel like death warmed up. I think it’ll be an early night for me – especially as I have 4 hours overtime at 5pm tomorrow as well (sucker for punishment, I know).

I’ve just managed to take some piccies on the camera of the goodies I received this week – unfortunately it’s night-time so the piccies didn’t come out too great, but they’ll have to do for now.”

So much for seeing much of the day yesterday! While I was in the middle of typing up my post, I fell asleep! Today was as bad, because I woke up again at midnight last night, and couldn’t get back to sleep until almost 5am again hmmm. I surfaced from sleep at noon today, only to doze off again until 2pm, and have the most dreadful headache that just won’t shift 😦 It means I’ve called in to cancel my overtime, which I’m very unhappy about 😦

I also had big plans to join in with the Xmas ornie FAL this weekend, and had my ornies out ready to go … only to realise my batting is in storage, and it’s now too late to pop up the road to buy some more. Oh well, I may sit and cut up the matboard instead in readiness for finishing them off. Mind you, it probably doesn’t make that much sense finishing them yet, while I’m housesitting, as they’ll take up more room in storage in their finished state than if they’re nice and flat and unfinished … hmmm, that’s food for thought!

Anyway, without further ado, as I don’t want to spend much time on the PC as it’s not helping my headache at all, I want to show you the well overdue piccies from my mailbox during the last week.

First up is the most amazing parcel of goodies from my northern twin, Jenna – she really outdid herself this time! Not only did she send my first ever LHN/CC thread pack (which I’ve been dying to try – and the thread colours really don’t show up well in their online advertising – they’re scrummy in real life) … this one is the Blueberries one … but Jenna also sent a hardanger suncatcher she made herself. Isn’t it the most gorgeous, exquisite thing? – and so perfectly stitched. Unfortunately I couldn’t get a really good photo of it in the dark surroundings. Not only that, though, but she also sent a wooden needlecase – how awesome is that too? And it fits perfectly on a keyring, so it will be a case of “have needles, will travel”. Thanks so much again Jenna for your wonderful, perfect gifts – I adore everything, my friend {{hugs}}.

Next up I need to thank Karen for sending along her Moon Watchers chart that she recently stitched. I loved watching this one being stitched, and now it will be getting kitted up ready for a future stitching session of my own. Thanks again Karen for sharing this chart – you’re a real sweetie! How could I resist stitching blue birds?? 😀

Last, but not least, here is a piccie of something I gifted myself compliments of the Bay of Evil … I’ve been avoiding Ebay like the plague since my financial downturn prior to Christmas, but I let myself loose on it again a couple of weeks ago when I needed to buy some Christmas fabric for a prize pool we’re offering over on the Focus on Finishing blog this weekend (Spotlight and other stores here don’t have any in stock until later in the year boohoo). Anyway, these are the pieces I managed to pick up …

For Mum: Llet me know if you want 1/2 of the Snowman one (that’s the one I was telling you about) – and I also bought you one of the green one with stockings etc on the bottom left, and the middle one at the bottom with the wee cardinals on it.

The fabric on the far left is to finally do the backing of Vicki’s cot quilt I found as a UFO recently – I thought the bright colours would make a nice backing, as the colours match the main part of the quilt. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough fabric for sale to fit the entire back, so I might have to find some plain blue to do a border around the edges. I’ll have to wait and see once I’ve put the quilt back together again to see how it all measures up. Although now I’ve gone back to look at the quilt photo, I’m having second thoughts … and think maybe I should buy some plain homespun cotton instead for the backing … oh b*gger …

Rightio, time to put the PC away for the night I think – Mum’s about to phone for a catch-up, so I’ll go and put the heating on and settle down for the night. Not sure if my head will manage a bit of stitching tonight … I always know it’s a bad headache when it stops me from stitching! 😉

Ooh, before I forget, though, this photo is for Mum as well … this is the poster they’ve got of me in the main office – see what I mean when I say it’s almost life size?? I’ve finally got used to seeing it now … only 6 more months left and it’ll hopefully be taken down … phew! If I had $1 for every time I’ve heard “gee, Anne, you’re a STAR!”, I could retire early!! 😉