Category: Uncategorized

Jenna, I’ve been trying to email you for the last week, but my emails have just started getting returned saying “timed out” deliveries. I’ve been unable to access your blog for the last week … and can’t access One Star’s Light site either … not sure whether there’s a problem at your end or mine (and I can’t read your blog to see if you’ve mentioned the issue already, as you only have ‘summary’ feeds in my Newsgator reader – hopefully you’ll see this, as I can’t think of any other way to get in contact to let you know 🙂

I was sat here contemplating my navel, after a most hideous 4 hours at work, wondering what to do with myself for a few hours, when I started thinking about books … as in ‘novels’.  I recently finished Bill Bryson’s “Down Under”, and I have to say I really loved it, and I’d love to read more of his books as his sense of humour is right up my alley! 😉

So, I popped online to check out Audible to see if they have any of his books available for download, when I realised it’s been quite some time since I sat down and listened to a book!  We listened to one while Mum was here, but that was just one book in at least 10 weeks now!!  I trotted over to my account, where I realise I have my latest 2 credits sitting in there, and I’m currently downloading my latest choices (before I saw the Bill Bryson one – which is now sitting nicely in my wishlist for next month …).  These are the little pearls I still have in my library yet to be listened to – me thinks ’tis about time I sat my bum down and got some playing on the PC (actually maybe that’s also a direct reflection of not getting much stitching done lately either, I just haven’t been sitting down long enough to actually focus on either hmmm).  Since my latest downloads tonight, I now have the following left to listen to (all unabridged … gotta get my money’s worth you know! LOL):

• Whitethorn – Bryce Courtenay
• The Vanished Man – Jeffery Deaver
• The Twelfth Card – Jeffery Deaver
• The Quest – Wilbur Smith (need to read Warlock first, though)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 1 – J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
• The Ape Who Guards the Balance – Elizabeth Peters (haven’t read anything of hers before)
• Lord John and the Private Matter – Diana Gabaldon
• Brother Fish – Bryce Courtenay
• Black House – Stephen King and Peter Straub
• Anybody Out There? – Marian Keyes

Well, I reckon that’ll keep me out of trouble for a while haha.

Now for something totally different … if anyone’s offended by bad language, don’t hit ‘play’ … for anyone with a wicked sense of humour, I just love this advert – it really tickles my sick sense of humour. 😉

CLICK HERE for a link to a review and YouTube video … (I can’t find it on YouTube directly to place a playable link on here)

Gives me a giggle every time I see it! 😉

Rightio, enough playing around … time to settle down for a couple of hours stitching.  Only 4 more hours of work left tomorrow, then I can relax for 3 entire days yippee 😀

On my wishlist I’ve got both the Summer and Winter Snapperland series by Bent Creek … I was wondering whether anyone would be interested in going halves with these?  I’m a bit strapped for extra cash right now, so this would be a few months down the track, but I thought I’d put ‘feelers’ out there now.  I was thinking of either one person buying the Summer, and one person buying the Winter series, then swapping with each other for the alternate series when we’d finished stitching them … or perhaps buying 2 each of a series, and swapping the two designs once they’d been stitched … anyway, food for thought for the future … 😉

Rightio, I really must go work out what to have for dinner now … time is a wasting haha.

Thanks for your positive comments about my decision to go to Perth for the CA Wells class.  The way I thought about it this morning was that there could be two types of regret … the first is that if I went I may regret it financially until I manage to rebuild my finances again, which might take a couple of months … the second is that if I didn’t go, I may regret it for the rest of my stitching life … when I looked at it that way it was an easy decision to make.  The short-term regret may start next week when I get my car bill … but that’s days away yet, and I’m going to enjoy this time away and not think about it too much – after all, as some of you have put it quite accurately, this could in fact be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity 🙂

I have to admit that once I’d made my decision I really enjoyed the day today – I feel as though a small weight has been lifted off my shoulders … and I’ve even enjoyed the wonderful public transport system that Melbourne has to offer.  It’s only when I have to use it more often that I remember just how wonderful it really is – and it’s lovely being able to sit back and relax, not have to think about where I’m driving, and enjoy a good book while being ‘chauffeured’ about Melbourne without a care in the world.  Today I took a train to Richmond, then changed trains and hopped on another one out to Surrey Hills where I spent the quickest time ever in Bustle & Bows … it definitely was a personal record!  I didn’t want to spend any money on things I didn’t need immediately so didn’t look around at all, and I was amazed that I managed to buy everything I needed in one spot within a 5 minute period – thanks to the owner showing me where everything was that I asked for! 

The main thing I needed (and which I was actually stressing about ever so slightly) was 4mm silk ribbon for the finishing of my Pyramid Etui this weekend – as luck had it, there was no 4mm silk ribbon that matched the colours I’d chosen, we ended up going for a ‘mock silk’ ribbon which matches beautifully, and the owner thought it would be more serviceable in what it was being used for anyway … put it this way, if it doesn’t work (as it’s marginally stiffer than the silk), I’ll just unpick it later and re-do with something else once I have my car back and can go shopping more far and wide (ie to Ringwood).  I was also surprised to see sewing machine thread in there too, so I picked up a cream thread ready to finish my cream button bag, plus a couple of other items in dire need of finishing (Just Nan’s And Many More needlecase being just one …).  I also picked up some red glass-headed pins, but on reflection I decided they were going to be too small and would be lost on a pinkeep, so they’ll now go into my sewing basket as they’ll be perfect for pinning things together.

On the way home I had to pass where I work, so I hopped off the train and made a slight detour – I had to pay for my PO Box renewal (of course I hadn’t been able to get to them during business hours recently because of my shifts/no transport, so it was now overdue), so I got that out of the way (another $110 hmmm), then cleared out the contents of my mailbox … lo and behold there was some squishy mail sitting in there from Carol – it’s true that gifts seem to appear in my mailbox when I really need them … I knew Carol was sending me another skein of my favourite DMC Variations thread, but I was very surprised to also find a wee Easter duck hiding in there too – isn’t he cute sitting in his little flowerpot? Hehe, I think he’s just gorgeous – I’m such a kid where ducks are concerned!  I love him, my friend, and he really put a smile on my face for the rest of the day 😀

 It was then back onto the trains again, where I made a snap decision while changing trains at Richmond station … I decided to jump on the Frankston train line and take the train to Malvern, to the Spotlight store there.  Unfortunately that particular store is the bane of all Spotlight stores (Mum and I hate going there on the whole ‘cos their staff know next to nothing, and everything is always a jumbled mess, plus you have to queue for 1/2 an hour for anything) – anyway, the other Spotlight store on the train lines was further away in Box Hill in zone 2 of the transport map, and I only had a zone 1 ticket, so Malvern it was …  I was actually surprised that they had what I needed, being some more berry pins, so that I can finally finish Tessa’s pinkeep for her and get it in the mail – yippee! Now all I need to do is stitch something that will warrant using the yellow, green and orange pins 😉

I’m booked in for an airport shuttle bus in the wee small hours of the morning tomorrow (before daylight), so I decided to hop on a tram into St Kilda so I could work out where the pick-up hotel was located.  I was originally going to just walk down to it, but seeing as it will still be dark, I think I’ll organise a taxi instead to the pick-up point.  I can’t believe the bus is only $30 return, whereas when I took my car to the airport for my Sydney trip it cost me $45 in car park fees (long-term parking), plus the e-tag toll cost for the freeway, plus petrol … I wish I’d known about this eastern suburbs shuttle bus sooner, it’s wonderful (it originates in Frankston and comes through the eastern suburbs before heading out to the airport – awesome!).

Anyway, all-in-all it was a wonderful day today.  Now all I have to do is get my stitching etc packed ready for the morning.  I’m going to have about a 5-6 hour wait at the airport on Sunday night after the class, so I need to pack something I can sit and stitch there over and above the CA Wells projects.  Because I’m travelling on a standby ticket, I’m not flying out until 11.35pm, and get home at 5.15am yikes.

Now, before I run away and start doing that, I thought I’d show my pitiful progress on Bordeaux this week … hmmm, hardly worth showing, really – I only just remembered it was SAL night at 11.30pm last night, and only managed about 1 1/2 hours before my eyes were almost closed.  I just got a bit more of the side border stitched, and started the golden blackwork – at least this band is a lot more fun that those pesky over-one grapes on the previous band (and yes, for those of you who are very observant, they’re still not done haha – I couldn’t fact them last night).  Hopefully from next week I can get back to my normal routine again with my stitching and my SAL’s … I wonder how my SAL partner Carina has been doing with the Macaw in my absence?

Anyway, thanks again for your lovely comments, emails and support – as always it’s really appreciated {{hugs}}.

Well, I just had a call from the mechanics … unfortunately my car woes have just got worse … they’ve fixed the new clutch pedal, and took the car for a test drive, but they found during the drive that it’s the actual clutch that’s gone – and they can’t give me any estimate whatsoever to the costs until they know if there is any additional work that will need to be done … which puts me in a major quandary about the weekend!

I’m sitting here taking deep breaths but I have to admit I feel pretty upset about the whole thing – I just don’t know what to do … they’re hoping to have an answer for me on Friday, Monday at the latest … but by then it’ll be too late!  They haven’t given an even slight ballpark figure … I have no idea whether it will cost $200 (which I doubt now), $500, or even $1000 to fix this stupid car.  For the first month ever I felt as thought my head was finally well and truly above water after my end of 2006 financial woes … but it seems the powers that be have decided my testing phase isn’t complete yet.  I’m sure by tomorrow I’ll be smiling again … but at the moment I’m not sure which emotion to feel the most … let’s just say the air was ever so slightly blue a few minutes ago when I hung the phone up.

Time to go analyse the bank account with a fine toothed comb, I guess …

I knew it was a crappy day when I only got 5 hours sleep … then driving to work tonight the clutch on my car broke … snapped … dead! 😦  It died at the traffic lights of Princess Highway (Dandenong Road) and Kooyong Road, unfortunately on a slight incline so I couldn’t push it … much to the annoyance of drivers behind me (and thanks again to all of you for not stopping to help whatsoever – have a lovely evening mutter mutter mutter), I had to roll it in reverse across the two lanes of traffic so I could park it on the side of the road.  Anyway, I’ve just walked in the door from being dropped off home by the tow truck (I had to wait for an hour on the side of the road) … and I’m taking a couple of minutes to chill out and decide on  my options.

The awful part is doing night shift right now, because it means option 1 is to catch a taxi to work (which will be approx $30 minimum), and lose at least 2 hours pay (depending on when the taxi arrives), then I’d have to catch two trains home in the morning and stay awake until the local garages open, and try to find one that can fit me in.  That also means I wouldn’t be getting to bed until at least 9am, and I wouldn’t be able to get much sleep because I’d then have to go back to pick the car up again by about 5pm.  Geez, that option 1 doesn’t sound fantastic, does it?

Option 2 is to just write off the night – I’ve checked with the Supervisor on duty and there’s a relieving Hotliner that could fill in for me tonight if necessary, in which case I could at least get a good night’s sleep before dealing with it tomorrow … and they’d probably let me take the time off as an RDO, which doesn’t cost me megabucks (especially as a new clutch is likely to set me back a few hundred, if not closer to $500).

I’m also starting to worry because I haven’t paid for my Perth airline ticket yet either, and I hope like heck I still have enough left over to go … oh bloody hell, I don’t want to think about that!

Rightio, off to call work …

I’ve just told the Supervisor I’m not going to come in for the night – I feel totally crappy letting them down, but I also know that if I don’t get some sleep tomorrow I’ll make myself really sick (I already had a couple of dizzy spells this arvo due to it) and I’ll be of no use to anyone.  I still feel really bad, though …

I think I’ll go crack open that bottle of Chardonnay chilling in the fridge … if nothing else, it might help me sleep, and relax a little!

Thanks again for all your wonderful and supportive comments – I’m glad to hear I’m not alone out there, and a number of us deal with similar issues. Sorry to those of you that missed the posts, so you won’t know what I’m talking about, as I’ve now deleted them both … time to move on …

Unfortunately I haven’t managed to get the time off over the weekend that I needed, but I did finally wangle tomorrow off after a bit of negotiating … and as it turns out the flights aren’t looking that crash-hot so Mum’s ending up going home two nights earlier than planned.  It was either that or she was going to have to stay for at least another week – and to be honest I think I needed a day to myself before flying to Sydney to unwind a bit.

Today I decided to pamper myself a bit to make myself feel a bit brighter and positive about myself – I’ve booked myself in for a haircut and colour on Monday (the original flight day for Mum), and tonight after work I went in to get an eyebrow shaping and eyelash tinting done … it was a really nice pick-me-up.  Anything that makes me feel a bit better about myself this week has got to be a good thing! 😉

Tomorrow I’m driving out to Dandenong to “Big in Black” a shop that apparently specialises in eveningwear for the larger and voluptuous figure … thanks to the generosity of Sharon, though, I have a back-up plan of a black jacket/top that I can borrow … at least I have the day off tomorrow to work on it.  Then Monday I can take the entire day off (hopefully) to pamper myself – unfortunately I still have to work all weekend, so poor Mum has to sit at the airport for a while … we’ll probably have to leave here at about 6.30am at the latest for me to get her there, drop her off, and have time to drive back again in time for a 9am start at work.  Unfortunately Mum’s flight doesn’t leave until 11.45am, so she’d better take a good book or her stitching!  At least if she doesn’t get on that flight, the evening flight has more free seats so there’s a back-up option.  Unfortunately because I can’t get off work, we can’t just go in for the evening flight, as I finish work at the time she’s supposed to be checking in.  Anyway, everything will sort itself out, I’m sure 🙂

Now I’m off to chill out for a short while – I’m not in the mood to stitch, and it’s possible I won’t touch a needle over the next week or so while I’m in Sydney, as I’m not 100% sure whether I’ll bother taking any with me … that’s something else I can decide on Monday 🙂  Right now my stitching has lost its priority … c’est la vie …

I heard from Vash that my Ducks RR is finally completed and they will be winging their way homeward to the Southern Hemisphere soon – it was wonderful to see a piccie of the completed RR on Vash’s blog today … and I immediately did a mock-up to show Mum how I was thinking of framing them when they get home.  I thought I’d share it here too, seeing as it will be a while yet before I can afford to do the framing … but I couldn’t wait to start dreaming about what it will look like.  The colours are obviously not exact, as I’d need to find a matboard and frame what will pick up the colours in the stitching, but it’s more of the concept of what it will look like … kinda 😉  I used the photo that Vash posted (hope that’s OK Vash) – aren’t they beautiful?  Vash has been in a stitching slump due to personal reasons, so I’m appreciative she managed to get them finished during trying times.  I’ll post again when they’ve actually been received 😀

We’re having a slow start to the day today – I only managed to get 5 hours sleep thanks to a ringing phone and the aerial display of the fighter jets, so I feel a bit jaded (I didn’t get to bed until 4am) … I have the weekend off, though, and any day off work is a good day   I’m hoping to get one side of the Peacock needlecase totally finished, then I thought I’d have a break and stitch one or two over-one grapes on the Bordeaux Sampler … I’ve been missing my weekly SAL with Carol and Leslie dearly, so I thought an hour or two tonight wouldn’t go amiss to have a break from the CA Wells projects …  It’s given Carol an opportunity to catch up now, though, and I think she may just have overtaken me this last week 😉