Category: Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, PhotoHunt, Travel

PhotoHunt – Time (& Wet)

Anne S


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This week’s theme is “TIME” … I was originally going to pop up the road and take a photo of a local building with clock face and flag flying, but the weather has been awful today, so it wasn’t worth going (and during the week I didn’t have shifts that were conducive to being home in daylight hours either). So instead I came up with the following …

Very wise words said many many years ago … “Take time to smell the roses” (Russian Proverb) – over the years I’ve come to realise how important it is to take time to enjoy the simple things in life, and everything that each day brings … These roses were from the flower markets in Hong Kong – I just adore how every single bud has it’s own protective packing!

Then just for fun, here’s my Dad dressed up as “Old Father Time” 😉

“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.” Carl Sandburg

Now here is one from the archives again … this time the subject is “WET”. I didn’t realise I’d brought this photo with me when I moved to Aussie, but sure enough I just found this during the week … a very VERY old ph0to of me when I was about 17 – on Christmas Day in NZ, wearing my brand new dress I’d bought for the occasion (I was working full time back then as a typist) – my cousin who was visiting from the UK very kindly threw me into the swimming pool, then to add insult to injury made Mum throw a bucket of water over me while he took photos … have to admit, it’s a great action shot! 😉

The next photo is me being stupid – sitting waiting for a bus at Nadi bus depot … in the middle of Nadi being flooded! I think I was in for a looooong wait! 😛

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

“I feel good! na-na na-na na-na na”

Anne S

Yep, the title is me singing that song … today is the first day I’ve felt ‘normal’ in a whole week, and I have a bit of energy back again woohoo!! For the first time in days I’ve got my stitching mojo back again, and look forward to a happy dance tonight with my needleroll. I only got as far as finishing the top band of smyrna crosses and seeing half the top row of snowflakes done last night, as my eyes were really really heavy. I was in bed by 10pm, and still kept waking up every 1-2 hours as seems to be the norm after night shifts for me, but for the first time I actually woke up feeling quite refreshed this morning yippee!

I’ve caught up on a few blogs … only 196 unread feeds left (it had got up to over 400 again from the other day yikes), done the dishes, and even started getting the urge to bake (and that NEVER happens LOL). For now, though, I’m going to don the walking shoes and get outside in the sunshine and go for a walk round the bays for an hour, then it’s off into the city to meet up with Fraze for dinner. Seeing as I’m going in by train (I never drive into the city ‘cos I have no idea where I’m going) I want to head in a bit early and do a spot of shopping at a discount store for some plastic folders for my WIPs – and at $2 a packet of 5 they’re just wonderful 😀 If the weather stays fine, I just might head up the Rialto tower as well for a spot of sightseeing and cross that off my 101 things list … although the weather forecast doesn’t sound too good.

And seeing as there’s no stitching update today (yet anyway), here’s a photo of me the midget (only compared to Fraze, though, as I’m actually an average size of 5’6″) and Fraze the 6’4″ giant from a couple of years ago (me less quite a few pounds from now, with a lot more blonde – probably one of my fave photos ever of me, which is why it’s on my profile haha … and Fraze will probably kill me for posting this one of him LOL).

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Budget reduction (updated thanks Jess!)

Anne S

Today I feel like death warmed up … these shifts are going to be the death of me this week – thank goodness tonight is the final 6pm-2am shift! Last night/this morning I didn’t get to bed/sleep again until 4am (standard stuff on this shift), but I was awake again at 6am, and couldn’t get back to sleep until almost 9am, tossing and turning the whole time … I kept dozing on and off until just after 12 noon, but after the 3rd night of only getting about 5 hours sleep, I feel like crap (‘scuse the language!) and everything, especially my stitching, is suffering ‘cos I’m wandering around like a zombie {heavy sigh}.

Yesterday I tried to blow away some cobwebs before work and went for a walk and signed up for membership at the local Video Ezy store … I then came home and put my Homescreen membership on hold for 3 months, because I think I’m wasting money unnecessarily each month by not sending my movies back quickly enough … I think it might be better to pop up the road on my days off and pick something up when I really need it, rather than having them turn up on inconvenient days etc. I’m hoping this money will be better spent on other things … such as … a trip up to Sydney to visit friends, and a trip home either just before (unlikely, though) or just after Christmas.

With those goals in mind, I’ve also reduced my Monthly bits cost at SB&B to a lesser monthly amount, and cancelled my Silkweaver FOTM for the timebeing. The way I look at it, especially after looking at the list of all the projects I can stitch from my stash (gulp), I really don’t need it all … admittedly, though, the Monthly Bits from SB&B are just threads that I need for specific projects, so that’s not so bad – I’ve also asked if I could get the WDW/GAST threads more quickly than the rest, too, as those are needed more quickly (and it’ll also give me more choices to substitute from for other charts).

Anyway, time to really cut back on unnecessary items, and focusing on the things I really need rather than just want … not something I’m very good at! LOL. Luckily I get a travel discount through work, but with all the airport taxes and fuel surcharges it still makes it a costly exercise to travel these days … but it would be so worth it to catch up with everyone. At least the room rental’s cheap where I’m travelling to LOL … so fingers crossed that all going well I’ll be heading north to Sydney in November, and then back across the ditch in December/January. I’ve decided to try and get back to NZ for one week every year from now on.

As for right now, I think I’m going to drag myself out and get some fresh air by walking round the waterfront for an hour … I have no idea how I’m going to survive the night at work tonight – but I’m thinking tonight might be a fantastic time to try out those sleeping tablets I’ve had sitting there ‘just in case’ I need them, I’d KILL for a good night’s sleep 😦

Then tomorrow I can finally pick up a parcel that’s been lurking in my PO Box since before the weekend … they’ve been closed each night this week as I’ve been going to work late, but tomorrow I’m on 3-11pm, so they’ll be open woohoo … I LOVE getting those little slips of paper in my PO Box, which means there’s something larger than the usual bills waiting for me … it also usually signifies stitching stuff has arrived! Yippee!! 😀

And to finish, here’s another cultural experience I had … attending an Indian wedding not long before I left Auckland to move here – that’s me in the blue (shock, horror!) sari … what an awesome experience!!
Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
Piccie by Photobucket ‘cos Blogger won’t uplift for a change …

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Travel

50 Projects lists

Anne S

I decided not to list a list of projects I want to complete as part of my 50 Project Challenge, as I need the flexibility to pick and choose as the mood fits … and considering my HUGE list of possible candidates in my current stash, there should be no problem whatsoever in finding 50 projects. My relatively full stash list is here, and is by no means complete (eg I have most of the TW charts in existence from a stash collection spree years ago).

There are a few projects in the “highly desirable/pretty definite” pile, though, and these are:

  • Lavender Rose Sewing Case – Fancy Work
  • Bordeaux Sampler – Sampler Cove (WIP)
  • Egyptian Garden Mandala – Chatelaine (WIP)
  • Dolphins Domain (aka “The Dratteds”) – Cross My Heart (WIP)
  • Winter Queen – Mirabilia (WIP)
  • Stitching Leporello – Chatelaine
  • Star Spangled Scissor Finder – Calico Crossroads
  • Apricot (“Marine”) Elegance – Cindy Valentine (WIP)
  • Autumn Arbor – Drawn Thread
  • For the Birds – Drawn Thread
  • Summer Solstice needleroll – Eventide Designs
  • Quaker Swan Case – Fancy Work
  • Golden Garden Sweet Bag – Forget-Me-Nots In Stitches
  • Raphael’s Raspberries – FMNIS
  • Secret Garden needlecase – FMNIS
  • Folding Cross Needlebook – Indigo Rose
  • Le Jardin Silk Sampler – JCS magazine (WIP)
  • Pacific Pohutukawa – Jen’s Jems (WIP)
  • Polynesian Paradise – Jen’s Jems
  • Evening Star – Just Nan
  • Winter in the Square – Just Nan
  • Sapphire Star – Laura J Perin
  • Angel of Love – Lavender & Lace
  • Coffee Menu – Little House Needleworks
  • Needle Nick – Lizzie*Kate
  • Sun needleroll – M Designs
  • Schwalm Whitework Pinkeep – Moss Creek Designs
  • Lavender Blue Celtic Knot Quilt – Nancy’s Needle
  • Onyx – Paw Printings
  • Here Comes Santa Claus 2005 – Prairie Schooler
  • Rainbow Lorikeets – Ross Originals
  • Flight of the Bumblebees – Ruth Schmuff Designs
  • Nature’s Resting Place – Stoney Creek (UFO/WIP)
  • French Monogram – Twisted Oaks (WIP)
  • Crimson Fire – The Victoria Sampler
  • Bunnies in my Garden – With My Needle
  • Strawberries So Faire – With My Needle

Other than that I have the freedom to choose a project at will 🙂 So much for not making a list!! oops hahaha

Thanks to everyone for their comments on the Aussies vs Kiwis – it is true that every country/race has their minority that are less than tolerant of other cultures, and friendly (and sometimes not-so-friendly) rivalry … and yes, the Brits vs Scots and Yanks vs Canucks are definitely right up there too! LOL. Personally I’ve always been very accepting of all races and cultures, and that’s been part of the wonderful experience that life has given me so far. While I’m certainly not perfect on that score, I try not to be judgmental and accept everyone for who they are … and have made some great friendships and learnt a lot by doing that. One of these life experiences was staying with a Fijian friend’s family outside of Suva, in a typical Fijian home (they were very poor) … they taught me a lot, and I treasure a lot of the memories from my time there.

Still no stitching news … tried again last night, but to no avail – I took a Shepherd’s Bush needleroll into work again, but not much chance to stitch, plus I was very tired last night after only 5 hours sleep (and last night it was the same, so heaven help me tonight! – geez I hate these 6pm shifts!!). I have had great plans of stitching a gift for a friend, but can’t get my head around designing/choosing the project … it might end up being a late arrival, as this week just isn’t the right time for me 😦

I’ll end of saying “welcome” to the new commenters here … it’s been nice to hear from you, and I’ll be popping over to your own blogs soon to return the favour 😀

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, SBQ

SBQ and ‘stuff’

Anne S

Just for a change, I thought I’d answer the SBQ as soon as I received it … I actually wrote this post, then saved it as a draft, and forgot all about it until now, two days later!

A busy couple of days, with not a stitch in sight – I did a whole pile of hemstitching on 5 different needlerolls on Wednesday night, as I couldn’t concentrate on much else, but I still have to get the sewing machine out to do the seams before stuffing … and there’s too much clutter around to do that at the moment hmmm …

On Thursday morning we were up with the larks, to let in the ‘odd job man’ who does the maintenance on my unit – I’ve been having problems with the front door lock for quite some time, and finally decided to mention it when I had my recent inspection … it turned out Paul had to go out and get a new lock to fit, so we had to spend a bit of time waiting around at home – but at the same time as Paul being here, the delivery van arrived with my new lounge suite. To be honest, I was really disappointed with it when it arrived, but it’s grown on me since then … I only saw the colour on a wee swatch, and it looked a lot darker when it arrived, and not quite as ‘blue’ as I thought. It’s got a bit of a violet tinge to it, in some lights … then looks ‘french’ blue in others (a bit more french blue than DMC 792). I have to say, though, it’s 100 times more comfy than my old one, that’s for sure! Here’s a piccie of the new suite … I’d take a piccie of the whole room to show it off better, but it’s a shambles at the moment (I’ll say why in a minute …) … I’ll take an ‘overall’ photo once the lounge is tidied up and finished. In fact the photo makes it look a lot bluer than it actually is – it has more of a ‘792’ tinge in real life …
Before:
Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
After:

We’ve had a drama trying to work out what the hell to do with my old lounge suite. Fraze decided that he didn’t want it after all (I only found out the night before the new suite was delivered), and the Salvation Army won’t take it because it has a tear in one of the arms (that happened while it was in the old flat – I let them hang onto one of the chairs for a while after I moved out, as they only had a sofa … so now I’m stuck with this bloody thing). I found an online Yahoo group to give away ‘free stuff’ for the taking, and I posted a message earlier this afternoon for my old sofabed and chairs “free to a good home” – and within an hour I’d already got a response saying someone would like it, and will pick it up on Monday. At the moment it’s piled on top of each other between my lounge area and dining table (hence the difficulty in getting to the sewing machine at the moment, as it’s on the dining table) – with the size of my flat, that’s the last thing I need piled up in a ‘corner’! 😦

To top it off my mother has been a very very bad influence … she’s helped to drain my bank balance in its entirety (as at yesterday I have $20 to my name again!) – but it was for a good cause 🙂 We went to Ikea earlier in the week to check out some storage ideas for my future wishlist, and I found some bookcases etc that I love … well, after coming home to my lovely new lounge suite, we ended up going back to Ikea and picking up a few things … my last two days have been spent playing DIY Queen, and I’ve made up a bookcase with doors for a new china cabinet (so a lot of my glasses have been able to come out of storage yippee), plus a CD tower to match (I previously had 4 x mini CD towers that were a bit rickety in front of the lounge windows, but decided they had to go in readiness for cat-proofing my home), and a new coffee table to match as well. On top of that, we also got 4 sets of mini drawers for my flosses etc to go into, also freeing up some cupboard space. I spent last night and this morning staining them with wood stain – white for the outsides, and blue (surprise, surprise) for the drawers – and hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to fill the first lot (I’ve only painted two sets so far, ‘cos we didn’t have enough room to do the whole lot, as it’s covering the last remaining space in the lounge).

Today I’ve got Rogan Josh marinating in the fridge, so we can have an Indian curry for dinner tonight … unfortunately no stitching will be done again tonight, as I can’t get to everything in the shambles that is currently our lounge, and I managed to put my neck/shoulder out lifting the DIY stuff – I’m just a walking disaster area healthwise these days! hmmm …

Now onto the SBQ … Today’s SBQs were suggested by Ami and Anna and are:

“Do you have an organizational system for your fabric? If so, what is it? If not, what do you store your fabric in? How do people store their fabric, especially those small but potentially usable pieces? Do they sort by count? How do they label it or otherwise know what each piece is?”

Basically I just have all my fabrics in three separate plastic storage bins – one for 32ct, one for 28ct, and one for everything else … I just keep them in the original bags with the labels on them, and regardless of size it all just gets lumped in together – definitely not very flash! 😉

Charity Stitching, Finishes, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Travel

Week of the Dragon! (2nd post)

Anne S

Nope, I didn’t get that wrong in the title … it’s not the “Year of the Dragon” – for us it’s been the Week of the Dragon!

While we were in Hong Kong I made Mum pose in front of the Nine Dragon Wall in the temple gardens, and laughed saying it was now a Ten Dragon Wall hahaha …

Dragon #1 (ie 10th Dragon)
Then tonight it was a true dragon-fest … I put the final backstitches into my dragon quilt square, while watching Dragonheart on TV, with my own mother dragon stitching away opposite me … an absolute plethora of Dragons!!! LOLOLOLOL.

Dragon #2

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Melbourne

Very contented …

Anne S

The title describes my mood today … I got up early and vacuumed most of the flat (still have to do the lounge, and that’s it), then mopped the kitchen, bathroom and toilet floors, cleaned the bath, and started a bit of a tidy-up effort in the spare bedroom – until I can afford a new bookcase and storage cabinets (my latest plan for the spare room … one day), I made use of the file boxes I freighted my last lot of books over in, and turned them into a makeshift book storage area – not very flash, but it’s a lot tidier than having them all piled up on the floor!

Today is a most glorious day in Melbourne – it’s still a bit nippy, but the sun is shining, and it feels good to be alive 🙂 After my morning housekeeping, I treated myself at lunchtime to a walk into St Kilda and a brunch of bacon, eggs, and mushrooms at a local cafe, plus a couple of lattes to wash it all down … it was glorious to sit outside in the sun, with a gas furnace heater taking the chill out of the day, and reading a book, sipping lattes without a care in the world (insert contented sigh here …) 😉
Then I took my time and strolled up the St Kilda Pier, which I’ve never done before, and dawdled off home again taking the beach route. I really do feel very much ‘at one with the world’ today – and it feels good 🙂 Catching the train this week has been very beneficial – it’s got me back into the mode of enjoying walking again, so I’ll have to keep it up … better bring your walking shoes, Mum, ‘cos you’re coming with me! haha (yeah, I know you love walking, which is a good thing!). The next photo is a street very typical of my area with elm trees lining each side of the street – they’re looking very bare at the moment, but it won’t be very long before they’re starting to sprout spring leaves again – I just love these avenues of trees, and they make me feel really peaceful to see them 🙂 (And with my flat being on the 3rd floor, I get a birds-eye view of the ones on my doorstep!)
Nothing else to report, really – just felt like blogging about what a wonderful day it is 🙂 I only managed an hour of stitching last night, so nothing new to report. I actually did 2 hours on a Christmas ornie a couple of nights ago, but decided not to post a piccie until it’s all finished … hopefully next weekend that’ll all be done (won’t have much stitching time this week due to visitors) – but then I have 2 1/2 weeks off work when Mum first arrives woohoo … just think, it’ll be stitching heaven at my place, now there are two of us stitching haha 😀 (we might be fighting over the Ott-lite, though haha).

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Amendment to 101 Things

Anne S

OK, I think I was perhaps a little over-enthusiastic with my list, and to be honest a little bit unrealistic about my travel plans … so I’ve removed three items that are the least likely to be met – there’s still a lot of travel in there, though, but at least they’re more ‘possible’ within the timeframe … maybe if I win Lotto anyway (although my odds would be highly improved if I ever bought a ticket) 😉 I’ve removed the travel to Bangkok/Phuket, Greek Islands, and Paris – and replaced them with the following:

  • Attend a Stitch & Craft needlework show in Melbourne
  • Try a SuDoku puzzle
  • Put curtains up in the lounge and fix those in the main bedroom

I’ve also created an new 101 Things blog so I can keep a track of my progress in one place. So far I’ve met the last two days of my daily goals – drinking water, and taking my multivitamin tablets (which I’ve had for months, but keep forgetting to take them!) … drinking water makes me ‘gip’ (there’s a pommie/Yorkshire saying for ya!), and I’ve struggled with it, but I know it’s for my own good {shaking head with horror – I HATE plain water}.

The GREAT news this week is that my landlord is coming on Thursday morning to finally screw in the vent in my toilet (it fell down months ago, and still hasn’t been fixed – I’ve got a piece of cardboard shoved up there to try and stop 8-legged visitors, but it keeps moving with the breeze hmmm) … and best of all, I’m hoping he’ll be able to relight the ducted heating pilot light for me, so I can have HEAT once again in this icy flat woohoo!! I also asked if it’s possible to have extra hooks put up on the lounge and dining room walls, as I’d dearly love to have more of my embroidery and pictures on the walls (especially some Greek prints I have) … and lucky last, if it’s possible to have a cat here, if I make the decision to go down that track. I figure there’s no point in considering it more if it’s not allowed … (and Nicki, I forgot to mention, Sheree doesn’t like cats ‘cos they leave hair everywhere … another reason/”con” for flatting with her).

Which reminds me, there were a couple of comments I need to reply to …

Tannia – would love to go to the footy one day … I have to admit I’ve been to two Hawks games before I moved to Melbourne, but it’d be nice to see another game, and I think you definitely have to go with someone for it! Another friend is a HUGE Hawthorn fan and suggested I go with Dawn when they play in Launceston, so I can see a bit more of the country (actually, that would cross another state off my list too, just thought about that haha). If you let me know what team you barrack for, I can check the footy listings and see when my shifts would work against the game times 🙂

Ally – an “ice bar” is literally that … everything is made of ice – literally! The bar itself, the glasses (!!) … everything! You have to wear big fleecy coats and boots etc to go in, and you’re limited to the amount of time you can stay in there because it’s so cold, and it affects the way alcohol hits you – I’d love to do it just for the novelty of trying it. There’s an ice bar in Auckland (and I have a funny feeling one was opening here somewhere, but I’m not entirely sure on that) – Fraze and I tried to get in last time he came with me for Dad’s 70th, but we didn’t realise you had to make a booking, so missed out. All I have to do now is find someone who’s daft enough to come do it with me! LOL.

And because there are no piccies to share, here’s a photo sent by my best friend in NZ … welcome to the world Jayden Ross! He was born 17 June at 8lb 5oz … I’m not a baby person, but he is cute … and will be even better in two years time LOL (those who really know me, know me well enough to know how I feel on that score LOL).

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, SBQ

SBQ … part two (3rd post today!)

Anne S

OK, 2nd time lucky for my stitching nest piccies …

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting The second request comes from Singular Stitches, and she is asking for “a pictorial tour of [the] special place that you go to create your wonderful stitched creations.”

The first piccie is my permanent stitching area – only a few of my stitching folders are in the bookcase, with the rest of my stash in my bedroom closet, and spare bedroom (still unpacked since I freighted it over at the start of the month). The plastic tub holds my DMC collection, with my stitching tools etc in the basket. My essential tools are there – my floorstand and my OTTlite … as well as my cuddle blanket for my legs now the colder weather is here. Then I have a couple of WIP’s tucked in the corner on scroll bars, and my latest addition, a bin to hold my empty scrollbars (they won’t be empty for long once I get back to my rotation!). Lucky last is my little folding table with other essentials … my ort-bag from Toby, highlighter pens, Tacky Bob from Carol, tub of udder cream and wet facecloth for my hands. The great thing about living on my own is that I can have everything cluttered in the lounge without annoying anyone haha. (You should be able to click on each piccie for the up close and personal versions …)

Straight ahead of me is the other essential tool for stitching – my TV for watching DVD’s LOL. As you can see, one cover is missing from the furniture, as it’s still in NZ (I forgot to bring it home with me oops). My next spending when I have the money will be a new lounge suite and table – although, our $150 garage sale lounge suite has tided us over very well, and the sofa bed is very very comfy (shame the sofa itself isn’t the same!) – and I’m using the table that Frazier made at high school in woodwork class (his Dad sold it to me for $20 hmmm). As you can see, at the moment that little table is housing my basket of smalls.

From where I sit, off to the left is my little nest of tables, where my Melanie’s exchange from Jenna is currently residing happily 🙂 It’s joined with a ‘seed’ picture I gave Grandy a few years before she passed away, so it’s now back with me again. I brought it back with me from NZ, so it will always remind me of her when I see it. I had a bit of difficulty getting it through Customs – but once I told them it was of sentimental value, and why, they let me through with it without any further problems – go Customs guys!! 😀 My poor sunflowers have seen better days, but I haven’t found any nice ones to replace them with yet.

Behind my stitching chair is my dining/balcony area – when it’s a nice day, I can pull my stitching chair right back in front of the windows to make the most of the daylight – but it’s usually where my laundry ends up drying every week 😉 You can see my new ‘short’ curtains 🙂 The colour’s really dark, though – the blue is a bit brighter than it looks. My computer desk sits here, directly off to the left of the photo – my chair is basically where I was standing to take the piccie … I get to look out the window and enjoy the view 🙂

Lucky last, this is the view as you look back from my stitching chair … back to the dining table and the kitchen. See, I wasn’t joking when I said you’d get to see half of my entire flat!! The only thing you can’t see is the two bedrooms, the bathroom/laundry and toilet haha. As you can see throughout my piccies my theme of “blue” is definitely very present … and you have probably spotted the odd duck or two around as well LOL.

So, that’s it in a nutshell … end of tour 😀

Exchanges, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Round Robins

A mixed bag of allsorts!

Anne S

Before I forget, for Myrna – the needleroll SAL is Katrina’s brainchild (and she is the QUEEN of Needlerolls LOL) … we’re doing this the 2nd weekend of every month – it’d be great if you could join us 😀

At the start of the month I posted what my commitment stitching deadlines were – I decided to post it again now, just for my own motivation, so I can see I’ve actually made some headway in meeting those goals, as well as seeing what’s left to meet … I feel as though I’ve still got huge weights hanging over me with stitching deadlines, so it helps for me to map it all out and see it’s really not as bad as I think …

* 12 May – Melanie’s Exchange (SBEBB)
* 15 May – Biscornu Exchange (SBEBB)
* 15 May – Batman logo quilt block (Jordan B)
* 25 May – Scissors fob exchange (StitchNZ)
* 5 June – Mail Art Exchange (SBEBB)
* 22 June – final Christmas RR ornie (Ornaments RRBB)
* 1 July – Round Robin first posting due (my first real RR)
* 1 July – Strawberries So Faire SAL
* 15 July – Racing cars quilt block (Jay B)
* 15 August – Dragon quilt block (Caitlin R)
* late Aug/early Sep – Needleroll exchange (Robin’s Nest BB)

The scissor fob is under control (meaning I’ve at least made a start on it – but my headache didn’t ease off, so not a great deal of progress yet), but I’ve decided to wait until I get to NZ to post it, as it’ll probably arrive more quickly at its destination that way. I still have no idea what to stitch for the mail art exchange – it might have been easier having a set theme … hopefully inspiration will hit soon hmmm. As for my own RR, I’ve decided to stick to my original plan of having four of the blocks from the Stoney Creek Wings of the Wild afghan series from way back in 1991 … I thought I’d send copies of all the charts I have with me (9 out of the 11), and the other three people can choose a duck square, so I still get a bit of a surprise when it’s stitched up 🙂 Being duck-mad, and owning loads of duck charts, it’s pretty bad that I’ve never actually stitched one for myself yet – having this theme will make this RR extra special for me, and will give me something to truly treasure every day I cast my eyes upon it. This is what the original afghan looks like:


On non-stitching news, I want to extend a HUGE congratulations to my Aunt and her partner in Canada – Monica and Norbert tied the knot (finally) in Las Vegas at the end of April … congratulations to Mr and Mrs Schwarzer! Norbert, it’s about time you made a decent woman out of her! teehee (running and ducking for cover …)

And continuing with non-stitching ‘stuff’ … I’m excited to be going home for many reasons this coming weekend – aside from catching up with people I haven’t seen for a couple of years, I’ll be going through all my stitching stash, and possibly parcelling everything up and freighting it over here … that would be wonderful! … but aside from all that, it’s FEIJOA SEASON!!!!! I nearly fell over when I saw a plastic bag filled with feijoas in our work kitchen last week, but they were so tiny they weren’t ripe yet and very sour (didn’t stop me from eating some though, just ‘cos I’d missed them so much! LOL). I intend stuffing myself silly with feijoas every day I’m over there … I just love them! I originally thought they were a NZ fruit, but according to Wikipedia, the Feijoa originated in the highlands of southern Brazil, Uruguay and northern Argentina, and is also known as the Pineapple Guava. Yummo!!!!!!!!! Mum and Dad have a tree in their garden, and we used to give bags and bags of them away … they won’t get chance while I’m over this time haha.

A reasonable week of work shifts this week – starting with 3 x 10am shifts, and finishing with 3 x 6am shifts. It’s amazing how quickly my body has become adjusted to not doing shift work – it’s a bit of a shock to the system to get back into it, but it’s just a case of getting into the routine again. Luckily while I’m way I’m getting out of my least favourite shift – 6pm to 2am … I hate those shifts, as I don’t start feeling tired until about 4am, so I might as well do a “doggo” (overnight) shift – unfortunately it means whoever is covering me while I’m on annual leave will have to do them … there are so many benefits to being a ‘permanent’ Hotliner – having a stable shift roster is without a doubt the best!! Forgot to say, I had a huge highlight in my job last week … after having a slight meltdown in my patience threshold, the next day (the mentally challenging one) the Consultant I was helping out with this horrible problem for almost 2 hours, came and gave me a “Luv Ya Work” award … I was so touched! We have a new programme at work to award your colleagues when they’ve done something exceptional – you fill out the award and the Supervisor keeps the details in a central register, and you can eventually cash them in – 2 awards gets you an hour off work before or after your shift starts, 4 awards gives you two hours off or a $10 voucher from stores like Myer, JB HiFi or a bookstore … it’s a really nice way to recognise internally that you’re doing a good job, and it was designed to lift morale – I think it works 🙂 I got another one last week, too, as I got a score of all 5’s for my evaluation (where they listen in to 6 of your phone calls, and make sure you’re giving the correct information, creating a rapport, etc etc) … which means I now have a sum total of 5 awards sitting in my folder since the programme started a couple of months ago – how wonderful! 😀

OK, enough rambling, time to get ready for work … Have a great week everyone – hope to catch up on all your blogs this week, as I doubt I’ll get chance in NZ (Mum has the worst dial-up connection in the world!).