Category: Travel – Australia

Melbourne

It’s the weekend again … for me anyway!

Anne S

Yup, today is Thursday officially, but for me it’s Friday, as I have the next three days off. I’m up early tomorrow morning to head off to the airport, then off socialising for the weekend. Tonight I’ll be having an early night due to only getting 4 hours sleep last night … oops. Fraze came over to stay last night, and we headed off out to dinner to a new place that was recommended to me quite some time ago – it has a special “steak night” Tue/Wed each week, and their scotch fillet steaks sell for AU$12, where it’s usually AU$18, and it’s a great meal … well worth the drive, we thought, anyway. The venue is The Grace Darling hotel, 114 Smith Street, Collingwood – nice atmosphere, and pretty good tucker (crikey, I sound more like an Aussie every year I live here! haha). We enjoyed it so much, we’re thinking of making a repeat performance next Tuesday before I go back to shift work.

We cracked open a bottle of red wine when we got home, and made a ceremonial toast before doing “the deed” … the “deed” in this case was to cut up my gold Amex card into itty bitty little pieces – that gave me such an amazing amount of pleasure, it was awesome! I’ve had nothing but grief from them since I moved to Aussie (it was a NZ credit card), but one of my key reasons for getting debt consolidation was to pay the sucker off, and cut it up – and boy, oh boy, it felt good! 😀

Unfortunately no stitching done yet again, as I was out all day/night, and tonight I’m a bit overtired to stitch (we sat up watching TV and chatting until 2am … not clever when the alarm is due to go off at 6.30am!) The great news, though, is that my batman chart arrived in the post yesterday, so I can stitch that quilt block next week 🙂 I also now have one more exchange that’s been added to my May stitching calendar – a scissors fob for an exchange on the StitchNZ Yahoo group. I’ll start thinking about what to stitch next week some time.

Thanks for your suggestions on my biscornu exchange – I have to admit, I’d already decided to add the initials etc to the bottom, but I was hoping to include a border or something … I had one idea at the start, that I’ll probably end up doing, and hope it won’t take me too long to stitch. Mind you, with luck if I get home early enough on Sunday I could get a bit of stitching done then, which would be great.

Thanks also for your lovely comments on the frangipani … I think it’s one of the most beautiful flowers in the world – but apart from looking beautiful, the scent is amazing! It’s very heady, and very tropical. I didn’t have any luck growing one in Auckland – unfortunately frangipani don’t like frosts, and we used to have a lot of quite harsh frosts turning the entire garden white … it might be OK here in Melbourne, but I have nowhere to grow one … bummer! The weather in Melbourne at the moment is far from tropical – but very very stunning! It’s been a glorious couple of days with blue skies, moderate temperatures, and the autumn leaves giving a wonderful display of reds, bronzes and golds while driving around the streets. I went for a wander at lunchtime today with my camera to try and capture a couple of shots before all the leaves fall off (unfortunately a lot have already disappeared since last week), and thought I’d share a couple with you. It seems strange to think most of you are in the northern hemisphere and enjoying the throes of Spring as we speak, whereas those of us down under are batting down the hatches for the arrival of winter weather … 🙂 The bottom photo I’ve posted is the street I’ve been parking my car in for work – I love scrunching through the leaves in the mornings … makes my heart sing! 😀

If I don’t get chance to blog again over the next few days, I wish each and every one of you a wonderful weekend 🙂

Melbourne

It’s finally the Weekend!

Anne S

For most of you your weekend is already started, but Sunday is Saturday for me this week, as it’s my first day of two days off, yippee! Just went and spent some time with Roseanne and Laure before they headed back to Auckland again – it was lovely to wander down to St Kilda and have a leisurely brunch and coffee … and managed to watch some fighter jets doing acrobatics in the sky, no doubt entertaining the Grand Prix audience just up the road – gave us some added excitement for the day! 😀 I just decided to give you a little piccie of Luna Park, a well known landmark in St Kilda, just for the sake of showing a picture in my blog … I certainly don’t have any stitching updates to show this week 😦 The photo was taken when Mum was here over Christmas – today it is quite overcast and I had to drag the winter clothes out, as the temperature has plummeted overnight … one day the weather is 30C, the next 15C – go figure!! I guess that’s just life in Melbourne! 😀

On a stitching note, if any of you are interested in canvaswork, you have to take a look at this piece on the ANG website … it’s just stunning! Called Bargello Symphony by Loretta Spears, it’s to die for … it’s even in pink, and I still love it haha.

Nothing else to report, really … I’m planning to start my next charity block this afternoon/evening, as I really want to get my commitment stitching out of the way so I can get back to my rotation – I’ve also just added more and more things into my rotation, which might work out to be totally unmanageable, but we’ll see … Fingers crossed I’ll have some stitching to show you tomorrow – I’ve got 3 DVD’s on hand from Homescreen … hopefully something will be worth watching this time – and if not, it’ll aid with my stitching, I guess LOL. OK, off to start kitting it up …

Gifts TO BE FIXED, Melbourne, SBQ

Mixed bag of ‘allsorts’

Anne S

Daft title, but a bit of what this post is all about – a little bit of everything …

First all I want to send a HUGE thank you and {{{hugs}}} out to BeckySC who sent me my final birthday gift – I have to admit, I knew this one was coming, but it was still a lovely surprise to open my PO Box door this morning and find that envelope sitting in there 🙂 And not only that, but there was a gorgeous packet of cards as well, with bright blue butterflies on them – and this was extra special for me, as it reminds me of a trip I did with Mum to Cairns, Queensland when we visited the butterfly farm especially to see those big blue butterflies! Brought lovely warm fuzzies and memories flooding back – thank you so much sweet Becky, I really really love my gifts … thanks from the bottom of my heart!

Today’s SBQ is:

“Do you have an organizational system for your patterns? If so, how do you organize them? If not, have you considered organizing them?”

My physical charts are all in ringbinders, in plastic sleeves – they’re mainly organised by theme, ie samplers, beading, hardanger, canvaswork, etc, and XS charts are organised by theme as well, ie marine, scenery, birds/animals etc – my ringbinders are on bookshelves. I have one ringbinder for freebie charts, and they’re semi-organised into themes as well. Where I have a lot of designs for a specific designer, eg Mirabilia, L&L, TW, they all have their own ringbinder each. I used to keep a spreadsheet in Works that listed every single project/XS chart I owned, so I could do a search by topic etc, but I haven’t kept that up-to-date for years … and don’t ask what number entry I got up to!! LOL.

Next subject … dieting! Last week I did a blonde thing, and fell asleep on Tuesday night at 5.30pm … and missed the sign-up for Weight Watchers – so last night I made sure I didn’t miss out again, and am now officially a member of the clan. We’ve re-nicknamed it “Fat Busters” … after one of our favourite UK comedy shows, “Little Britain” – very very sick humour, but extremely hilarious. One of my favourite characters in the first series was Marjorie Dawes, the leader of Fat Busters, which is like WW … she’s a right royal cow, and very rude to the members – I’d offer to share some episodes with you, but I think it would lose itself in the translation to just tell you about it. Let’s just say that it had such an impression on our household, we still keep asking if we want a bit of cake, … “cos we all like a bit of cake, don’t we?!” And don’t forget the wonderful game of “high fat … low fat … high fat … low fat … Dust!” As well as those other wonderful characters … “Computer says no…”, “Margaret … Margaret … Have we got any pirate memory games?”, and Daffyd “The only gay in the village”. Not to mention the non-stop talking Vicky Pollard, and the hysterical Lou and Andy (“I want that one … I want THAT one … I don’t like it!”) – and my latest favourite, because it’s so incredibly ‘bad’ – “Just call me Bubbles!” If you like really funny characters, have an open mind, and want to have a very adult giggle, check them out if you haven’t already done so – it might take a sketch or two to get into the characters, but once you do, you’re hooked! It’s the only TV series I have to buy the entire series on DVD as soon as it’s released! These two actors are insanely clever and funny – hurry up and come out on DVD, Little Britain 3 … I can’t wait!!!!Anyway, back to the story, I’m now keeping a track of my eating etc, and trying the points system out for two weeks, to see if it works for me – otherwise I’ll skip over to the no-count system instead. I’m paid up for 3 months regardless, so plenty of time to get into the routine of getting healthy again … and I kicked it off well last night by coming home and going for an hour’s walk up the beach (approx 3km).

Now on to something totally different (sounds like a Monty Python sketch) – do any of you clever Aussies know what this creature is? About 10cm in length, it has a caterpillar-looking thing inside that is bright orange with black stripes … unfortunately, a noise startled it and it shot back in its cocoon while I was trying to take a photo. When I got home from work it was hanging by it’s ‘top’ from the roof – obviously some sort of moth larvae or something, but I’d love to know what it actually is!

Well, I think that’s about it for now … still haven’t shaken off my headache yet, but at least it’s not a full-blown migraine yet. Took some Nurofen this morning to try to nip it in the bud, and it had eased off a bit by this afternoon – at least I get a sleep in tomorrow, as I don’t start work until 11am yippee. Then I just have to work 11am-7pm Saturday (my 7th day straight), and I get two days off woohoo. I’ve got friends coming to stay for a week from Sunday, which will be OK – just a bit difficult as I’m on 5am shifts for a couple of the days. They wanted to bring a family member from out of town to stay as well while I was on 5am shifts, meaning they’d be sleeping in the lounge, but I put my foot down … I just don’t think I could cope with it even just for a few days. It means I probably won’t get much stitching done again next week … then H&P will be leaving, and I’ll just have time to change the bedsheets etc, when a close friend will be arriving from Auckland, NZ for a couple of nights, followed by friends from Christchurch, NZ over Easter … blimey, it’s starting to feel like a Bed & Breakfast haha.

Anyway, off now to see if I can get motivated to pick up a needle – my eyes are like little slits, I’m so tired, but it’s only 6pm and I really need to stay awake a bit longer …

Gifts TO BE FIXED, Melbourne

Squishy mail :)

Anne S

I have to say my heart sank when I saw the PO Box worker carry my parcel to the counter before work yesterday, thinking my outstanding Silkweaver fabric was sitting impatiently for me to pick it up … my disappointment was tangible … BUT, when I took the parcel from him, my curiosity was aroused – I wasn’t expecting another parcel … imagine my total surprise and sheer joy to find a birthday gift from Bine – and at a time that couldn’t have been any better if she’d tried. It put a huge smile on my face, and I am very very touched at this generous gift. Bine, you’re a real sweetheart – and I love everything in it! Now, if that’s a “little” piece of linen for me to try, I’d hate to see a big one … my parcel contained some 32ct Permin Country Linen in the colour “shell” – I’d admired it for Bine’s DT Gameboard Sampler, and now I get to stitch on some in real life … it really is beautiful – the colour is gorgeous, and I love the feel of Permin linens (that’s what the Dratteds are stitched on). Bine also sent a gorgeous little address book, and some scrummy beads … funnily enough, I used to do some beading projects, and have been thinking of getting back into it again, so they will come in handy not just for stitching, but for other projects as well. Thanks so much, Bine, for your gift – it was very generous, and very very welcomed 🙂 {{hugs}}

I’ve been managing to keep my nerves etc under check quite well about the interview results, but my subconscious was having a harder time trying to keep itself under wraps, it seems … I was awake almost every hour last night, and especially struggled to sleep after 4am – the interview results at the forefront of my mind each time. Oh well, only a couple of hours left before I get put out of my misery and I get told either way … regardless, I still feel quite positive about keeping to the mantra “it is what it is” … I think ;P

I’m glad today is almost my final late shift for the week – I have taken tomorrow off work so that I can go to my ‘official’ birthday dinner with Ben and friends … we’re going to Cafe Platia, my favourite mediterranean/Greek restaurant with chargrilled calamari, souvlaki, lamb on the spit, various dips and saganaki etc … I’m drooling just thinking about it – I’ve only ever ordered off the menu before, and adore their food, but this time they’re putting a banquet on for us as there is a group of 15. And on the upside from last week, I’m getting the $65 back from my best friend. When asked how much I hate him, my reply was just that I was disappointed and that life is too short for hate … boy, oh boy, living on my own and ‘finding myself’ again has been fantastic – I’m finding it so much easier to ‘let things go’ again. As long as I have my stitching, I’m happy haha.

Talking of which, I’d better go dry my hair from my shower, and try to take my mind off today for an hour and pick my stitching up – I really want to get my little gift finished so I can post it off … then my next project has to be the WTC quilt square – hmmm, after that, who knows? LOL. With any luck my threads will be on their way any day now from NZ, so I can catch up on my “Marine Elegance” (I’m soooo behind now!) – and I also have two more charity squares I’ve promised, so I think I should probably stitch those first before getting carried away with other things … then I think it’s time I get my A into G and get back into my rotation again …

Thanks again for all your supportive comments – that’s another reason I’ve found it easier to roll with life’s punches these days … having the emotional support from you all, even though we’re miles apart and never met, it really does help to bolster you up. I appreciate it greatly, and love you all for your kind thoughts and comments 🙂 {{hugs}} And there was no need to send a ‘pick me up’ gift, Carol – but that’s very typical of you, you’re soooo generous, and just an all-round gorgeous person with a big heart! {{hug}} In saying that, though, I’ll be stalking my PO Box in a week’s time haha.

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Melbourne

Melbourne sightseeing

Anne S

It was a lovely day in Melbourne yesterday – it was very overcast in the morning, but by early afternoon the clouds cleared and it was a glorious day. We took Auntie Monica and Norbert into Melbourne city on the train, which gave us an opportunity to play tourist for the day. We went to Queen Victoria markets, where they were surprised to see camel rides available, and we bought some lovely deli items, fresh fruit, and some tourist souvenirs.

We then headed back towards the river and walked around Southbank – we had a special treat in store for us, as it was Chinese New Year, and there was a big demonstration/celebration taking place.

We had time for a leisurely coffee, before hitting the pavements again, this time heading for a short walk to Queen Victoria gardens.
After that we called it a day, and headed back home on the train and had scrummy fish and chips for dinner (very decadent, for us!). All in all, a really wonderful day out 🙂

Melbourne

I’m melting… & Twilight Zoo

Anne S

Yup, just like a scene from the Wizard of Oz, I feel like the wicked witch, calling out “I’m melting!” … another high temperature day/night – managed to sleep for 2 hours, but have woken up and can’t get back to sleep again due to the intense heat and lack of air in the room 😦

Had a fantastic day today (although no stitching) – I got a call from work at 8.23am asking if I could come in for 4 hours overtime, which I accepted. The temperature was due to be 43C today, so we’d decided to go to Melbourne Zoo later in the afternoon, which worked out well – I could go to work for 4 hours in airconditioning (LOL) then it was home to pack the picnic ‘basket’ and off to the zoo. After wandering around for about 2 hours, we settled down on our blanket in front of the band rotunda, for a free jazz concert. It was incredibly relaxing sitting with a bottle of wine, and some antipastos to nibble on – and a local dancing group called “Swing Patrol” got up and danced to the music, then did a small dance presentation during the band’s break (mind you, they said they’d tamed their show down a lot due to the high heat, as it was too hot to do their normal energetic routine … can’t blame them!) – it was a wonderful and glorious evening. I’d definitely recommend the “Twilights Festival” experience at Melbourne Zoo for anyone who hasn’t done it yet – just lovely. And to top it all off, I didn’t have to miss the nightly lorikeet fly-over ritual … as the zoo is one of the places they must go to roost 🙂 We opted to just walk round about 1/3 of the animal displays due to the heat, then just blobbed out in front of the band stand for the rest of the night. We really enjoyed walking around the monkeys – and the only photo I’ll share, since I didn’t take very many, is one of a gorilla sat very patiently near the glass of the viewing area – can’t say he/she looks too thrilled about the temperature either! 😉

OK, now it’s time to drag the big stand-up fan into the bedroom – I think that’s the only way I’m going to get any sleep tonight for the 2nd night running … I think we have to go shopping tomorrow to buy two smaller ones for the bedrooms (the large one is usually in the lounge).

Thanks to everyone who leave comments – it’s really lovely to receive and read them 🙂

Melbourne, Works in Progress

Still alive …

Anne S

… but not getting much stitching done! Been very very tired this week, and ended up with dizziness and throwing up compliments of a 24-hour virus (which also knocked Mum out yesterday too) – that meant a day off work yesterday, but back in again today. Sat here in a pool of sweat, with a temperature of 41C (if I’ve worked out the temperature correctly, that’s approx 109F!!) – seeing as we don’t have air conditioning in the flat, there will be no stitching done tonight/tomorrow!

I’ve been getting a lot behind with blogging yet again … having Mum here has upset my usual routine a bit (although I’m still loving having her here) – and she sees my time on the computer as being ‘time wasted’ … I may wait until she’s back home before I get back into the swing of things again with blogging …

One thing I’ve been loving over the last week or so, and that’s that the rainbow lorikeet population has been increasing in its fly-overs at the end of the day. There was one day during the week that there was a flock of what must have been at least 100 lorikeets – it was incredible! These are the most amazing birds to look at, although they fly over with the speed of a bullet, and an incredible squawking racket! They’re a really beautiful sight to behold 🙂 That’s one thing I love about being in Aussie – the amazing bird life. It amazed me to be driving down the road on the main roads, to see Gallah’s feeding on the median strips – and this morning we had a couple of sulphur-crested cockatoos squawking on the next door neighbour’s roof – just wonderful!

As far as my stitching’s been going, the only progress I’ve had is on my Le Jardin Silk Sampler – I just have 1 hour left before I finish my 10-hour slot in my rotation (I’m trying hard to get back into the rotation habit again!). Now I’m off work for a few days with Mum, so some more sightseeing is on the menu (although, we’re praying for an easing off in temperatures). We’re supposed to be going to Melbourne Zoo tomorrow during the day, followed by an open air jazz concert at the zoo in the evening … at an expected 42C again, though, we might only go to the zoo for a short time, and hide indoors for the rest of the day LOL.

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Melbourne

No stitching progress today

Anne S

Today I feel a bit battle weary from work, so I’m taking a day off stitching and just blobbing out in front of the PC for a while catching up on blogs, and emails and paying bills etc. Then I intend to get out and have a walk on the beach before heading off to work again … managed to get a dose of ‘acoustic shock’ last night, and ended up being taken off the phones due to the fact that my right ear especially was burning/aching 😦 Our headsets are really sensitive, and one call dropped in where their baby/toddler had just hit its head – right next to the telephone receiver … next thing you know I had huge feedback coming down the phone from the ear-piercing shriek coming from the kid … OUCH!!! Anyway, today my right ear is still a bit achey, but hopefully I’ll be OK to take calls tonight … Anyway, it’s yet another gloriously sunny day in Melbourne, with just enough breeze to keep the heat down – would be mad not to make the most of it and go for a wander.

On that note, though, it reminds me of something I thought about the other day … I live in a predominantly jewish area of Melbourne – I apologise for my ignorance in advance … there are many orthodox jews walking the streets, and it fascinates the heck out of me! Coming from a mainly Asian community where I last lived, it’s a huge cultural difference in this suburb. I love to see them out walking in their traditional clothes and outfits … but what made me think of them today is, how the heck do they survive in the high heat of summer?? I saw an older gentleman the other day in his full black outfit, complete with coat and fur hat – on the hottest day we’ve had so far – sat on a garden wall in the street … first thing that crossed my mind, “no wonder you’re sat down on that wall, you must be bl**dy roasting!!” (not meant to cause offence to anyone). I have to say, I admire these people for being so steadfast in their religion and culture, and not being swayed by outside influences – but I also think it’s easy for someone to target them for being ‘different’. When I moved here, ex-flatmates said “ooh, you’re moving to a very Jewish area”, as if it was a dreadful thing to do … I just see other people like me, that are just in different packaging … anyway, just something I was thinking right now …

Before I go on my walk, though, a quick response to some comments (and back to stitching-related talk) …

Von, now you can understand why I couldn’t stop from looking at that chart all night – Close at Heart chart is just beautiful! I’m going to stitch it in the purple colourway, seeing as I’m not much of a pink chick (although I still think the pink is very dainty and pretty) … unless I can work out some blues that I can use instead from my stash (that’d be a surprise for me, wouldn’t it, changing something to be blue!! LOL). As it is, I’m going to try to find colours in my stash that would work, as I can’t afford to buy more threads for a while. Let me know if you’re going to stitch it next year, and I’ll join in with you and squeeze it in among my other million stitching projects 🙂

And Jenna – on the same note, I just went to your photo site to check out the Close at Heart piccies … just stunning! I really love this piece done on the green fabric – awesome!! Hadn’t thought of changing the fabric colour, so now I’m going to have a play in my stash and look at other options aside from just white … especially if I change the colours to blue 😉 As for the hardanger squares at the bottom – when I saw the chart I nearly choked LOL. I’ve only ever attempted doves eyes in hardanger, so that’s really going to be a huge challenge … will definitely have to do a ‘dummy run’ on a scrap piece of fabric, I think. Oh well, if nothing else, it will challenge me to do something different. Maybe I should come to you for a holiday for some hardanger lessons 😉 haha. In fact I’ve had Walk the Gentle Path by Cross ‘n Patch for years, and the hardanger part at the bottom is what’s stopped me from stitching it … I think if I just bit the bullet and give it a go, I’ll be fine. I actually bought the Janice Love books to help me, but loaned them to a supposed friend at work in NZ, and never got them back (which is a right royal pain considering I’d ordered them specially from the US – she ended up running off with over $200 worth of my books boohoo). Maybe 2006 is my year for finally shaking off and trying to conquer my fears …

Rightio, off for my hour’s walk … especially for Lynn, here are photos of where I live (and where I’m about to go walking) … in the first photo, where the end of the path is (where it veers off to the right), there is a canal – you just follow the canal for about 4 blocks, and you’re practically at my front door 🙂 The photos are taken either side from a hill at which there is a viewing point – I usually continue my walk to the grey concrete wharf you can just see in the distance (in the second photo), then turn around and come back. Last time I kept walking round to the next bay and nearly killed myself! 🙂 I think I need to buy a bike!!! Of course that’s the city skyline of Melbourne in the background …

Melbourne

In a stitching slump

Anne S

Well, after going great guns for a week, my stitching exploits have dwindled to a big fat “zero” … I managed to get a few stitches put into Chatelaine’s Egyptian Garden, but ended up with a migraine trying to see the holes in the 32-count hand-dyed Opalescent Lugana – the air was turning blue while I was trying to stitch over-one! In the end, I’ve decided it’s just not worth the heartache … and have decided to opt for getting the 32-count belfast linen instead – not sure what I’ll use this lugana for, but I’m sure something will come to mind eventually – hopefully something with very little stitching, and lots of background showing haha … hmmmm, something in blackwork, perhaps???Part of my slump has to do with my work shifts this week. Unfortunately (or fortunately, in some cases) I work for a call centre, which is open 24 hours, 7 days a week. There are some horrendous hours, but it has its benefits, such as driving home in 5am traffic … sheer bliss! This week I’m on what I think is the worst shift, for some reason – 6pm to 2am. I’m not sure what it is about it, but I find myself extremely tired during the day, and not sleeping properly, and I don’t have the energy to get up and do ‘things’ before I go to work. Mind you, it’s a full moon at the moment, and the callers have been a bit ‘feral’ at times – people are really cranky with you, and it takes its toll on your by the end of 8 hours. I’m on the Supervisor Hotline at the moment, where we have to take escalated complaint calls from our staff, and for some reason when the full moon hits the complaints are much more irrational and time-consuming, not to mention draining! Oh well, it’s paying the bills … and luckily I only have one more 6pm-2am shift to do for the week, then I have one day of 3-11pm then 2 days off. It will be sheer bliss to only work a 5-day week this week, as it’s mostly 6 or 7 days straight on our roster.

I have to say I haven’t posted for a while – but yesterday I must say I felt really positive about life in general. Can’t explain why, but I just felt ‘at one with the world’. I recently moved out of a negative flatting situation, into a flat on my own, and am loving it most of the time. Where I have moved to is just a short 10 minute walk to the beach front, where I can make the most of the walking track and get some exercise in before or after work (or at least that’s the plan haha). Unfortunately of late the weather here in Melbourne has been shocking, but yesterday there were blue skies and no gale force winds, so I donned the walking shoes and made an effort to get moving. Here is a photo of ‘my’ beach – I find it really calming to walk by the ocean … yesterday it reminded me why I was overjoyed to move to this area 🙂 Well, better hit the hay – almost 4am and tiredness is settling in finally … fingers crossed for a better night’s sleep tonight, as I want to attend the Embroiderers Guild exhibit tomorrow before work … anyway, here’s the beach …