Feather Stitching

The Enchanted Maze Garden

11 September, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

My first garden stop was to The Enchanted Maze Garden – this would be a fun place to take your kids on a nice day … there’s something there to please both adults and children alike. When walking through the garden entrance gate, one of the first things you see sticking up out of the main maze is this wee fella … and there’s a quirky tone like this throughout the entire garden.

There are different ‘theme’ gardens – for example the “Tile Garden”, which has a beautiful magnolia tree surrounded by pieces of tiled artwork planted throughout the garden plot … the “Enchanted Garden” has whimsical fairies etc dotted around … and the succulent garden is gorgeous (just love those terracotta pots) … and the “Christmas Garden” has a topiary arrangement of reindeer and a sleigh.

There is a mix of different styles of artwork and sculpture throughout the gardens (you can click here to find out more about the artists and their work – and more abou the gardens themselves of course) – I especially loved the marble sculptures near the pond. Unfortunately it was the wrong time of year to go there, as the gardens in that area are bare … it will be superb in summer when the flowers are in bloom, and I’ll definitely be taking another trip out there later.

This was one of my favourite places in the whole garden – I just love this sculpture! It was so incredibly peaceful standing and looking at it, listening to the water running … ah, bliss!! 😀

There are a number of different mazes – there is a brick maze where you follow the brick path (no chance of getting lost here, as the maze is at ground level!), a children’s maze where each corner is set aside for different settings (such as dinosaurs, jungle, beach), a kid’s playground with three separate brain teaser mazes (loved the tyre one below), as well as the more traditional large hedge maze (which I have to admit I’m not a great fan of, so I didn’t go in).

There is also a tiny wee petting zoo for the kiddies (with a sheep, goat, chickens, and ducks) … and a sculpture walk through the bush, where the main focus is on the artwork by Ken Blum – those carvings of aboriginal people are stunning! To top it all off, you are surrounded by the peace of the bush, with lots of native birds flying overhead … I managed to recognise a few, but there were loads I didn’t know.

Here’s one more sculpture that I really love … and very unique to Australia, I guess … the Swagman (OK, altogether now … “Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda ……..) 😀

At the end of your time here you can buy souvenirs or lollies from the gift shop, or have a bit to eat … but I had things to do and places to see, so I just hit the road and went off to the next gardens on my list – Ashcombe Maze & Lavender Gardens!

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

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

11 September, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Stitching Smalls

Two more small “finishes”

30 August, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

I managed to get a couple more small finishes done last night – as well as taking a better photo of my finished needleroll today (so I’ll replace the photo in yesterday’s post). I’m finally trying to make up a close pal’s gift that is months overdue, so I did this as a trial run first – definitely not my finest finishing ever done, but it’ll do …

Then I sat and finished off my Pansy Magnet Pillow into a finished pillow. I just adore this piece – it’s a shame to see it go into storage now it’s finished, as I just want to sit and admire it … I just love looking and playing with all the beads in the fringe! 🙂

Lucky last, I used the sewing machine to stitch the binding on my oldest quilting UFO, and it’s all pinned ready to do the hand-stitching on the back of the binding – I’m coming up to almost 4 weeks of late shifts, so I thought it could be the perfect project for the office on the overnight shift. Mind you, one week will be spent training a new person on the Hotline, so I might not get quite as much done as expected hmmm. No piccies yet until the whole thing is finished anyway … I have no idea what I’ll do with it when it’s finished!

Rightio, back to packing up … so far I’ve cleaned out my car boot ready for loading everything into it again – done the laundry washing for the week, all apart from my bedding which I’ll probably do next week in Seaford, and most of my stitching is put away again. My sewing machine will be packed away tonight, in readiness to going back into storage again either tomorrow or Saturday before work. Only two more sleeps left before I head back to Seaford again for another week, then off to Edithvale for 3 weeks.

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Needlerolls

A tiny spot of finishing

29 August, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Today I started putting together a needleroll tutorial for use later next year on the Focus on Finishing blog – and managed to get the following needleroll completely finished (excuse the very poor photo, it was getting dark and I couldn’t get a decent shot without flooding the whole stitching with the flash), plus one more to the stage where I just need to add the ribbon and stuff it (this was actually my subject for the photos, but I realised when I got to the ribbon stage that all my ribbons are in the storage unit, except for the one I kept out for the Planted Hearts one ho-hum). Anyway, it means this one is finally completed and can be sent on its way to a new home somewhere 😀

While I was at it, I also decided to keep going with the hemstitching, and finally put together my Thistle Bag that Tobie kindly sent me the kit for ages ago. It’s about time I pulled my finger out and got this bag made up – and once I put my mind to it, it didn’t take too long whatsoever! 😀

That means I can finally say I’ve contributed to the monthly Finish-a-Long on the Focus on Finishing blog, instead of just being on the sidelines cheering everyone else along 😀

I may try and squeak in one more quick ‘finish’ tonight … something that will be super quick to finish off and won’t take up much room in storage (that’s something I started taking into consideration today – I was going to make a tie-on pillow using KarenV’s tutorial, but I decided I’m probably better off leaving everything ‘flat’ rather than stuffed, as I just don’t have space for it at the moment).

Lastly here is my latest stitching finish – I completed this yesterday afternoon … and I just love the colours and shimmering gold metallic thread – the photo doesn’t do it justice whatsoever. The red is deeper and richer, and the metallic just glistens and twinkles 🙂

Christmas Heart by Birds of a Feather
Stitched on 32ct white Lugana
with WDW and RG gold Petite Treasure Braid
(instead of Kreinik #4 gold braid)

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

Small finish and lovely visit

27 August, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rightio, time to get cracking again …

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

Cross Stitch, Gifts TO BE FIXED, Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Evil kitty … and squishy mail (picture heavy!)

24 August, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

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, Round Robins

Stitching progress

21 August, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Just a seriously fast drive-by to upload these stitching piccies … I’m on 5am shifts at the moment, and I can hardly keep my eyes open, so I’m going to go lay down for a short time – but wanted to post these while I’ve got them on the computer screen …

First up is the latest progress shot of round 4 of our Quaker Friendship Sampler RR. This is the piece belonging to Barbara, and as normal the photo does the actual piece no justice at all, it’s truly gorgeous! Love the choice in colours! 😀 I can’t believe we’re actually 2/3 of the way through this RR now, with only 2 more stitching sessions left! That means I must have Nicki’s arriving on my doorstep next, followed by the last in line (for me), Katrina’s. I’ve loved stitching this, my very first full quaker design … and I’m sure it won’t be the last.

Next up is a tiny wee finish, that believe it or not took me three whole days to stitch (yep, my mojo is well and truly lost – I’d normally sit and stitch that in less than a day hmmm). Anyway here goes – here’s Snow Faces by Just Nan:

Sorry for the crappy photography just lately – I always seem to be taking photos at night and the lighting here is appalling … but you get the general drift.

Rightio, I’m off for a kip/reading/TV session … no doubt his nibs will be wanting to use me as a cushion as well, so I’d better get my battle gear on ready. Not sure whether I’ll be reading the final Harry Potter book (thanks to Daniel for buying it, I’m starting my first Harry Potter book by reading the final one – dopey? probably!) … or whether I’ll be watching season 3 of Moonlighting (also compliments of Daniel and Jason – Jason especially LOVES old TV shows, so I’ve been watching seasons 1 and 2 all week) … but either way I won’t be sitting upright! 😉

The GREAT news is that I cashed in some gift vouchers at Officeworks and bought a 2GB flash drive so I’ve FINALLY been able to download this month’s Gift of Stitching magazine – the DVD/CD drive won’t let me copy files on Daniel’s PC, and I won’t have the internet after I leave here for a while … now I’m very very happy as I’ve been able to download and copy the August issue .pdf file plus a couple of online freebie charts back onto my laptop – yippee!!! 😀

Rightio … off to my sofa in the corner I go before I fall asleep in a pile of drool on the keyboard! …

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! 😉

Melbourne

McClelland Gallery & Sculpture Park

18 August, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

I keep forgetting to post my piccies from my afternoon’s excursion in Frankston’s McClelland Gallery & Sculpture Park about three weeks ago (I’ve had the photos uploaded and this sitting as a draft fora while) … I have to be honest I’m a very boring and traditional person where sculpture is concerned, and I obviously don’t have a contemporary artist’s bone in my body, ‘cos some of the stuff on display I found just plain ‘bizarre’ and definitely not ‘my’ idea of art. But I know the saying ‘each to their own’, and some of you may like some of these pieces, so I thought I’d share. If you are interested and want to see some more, you can check out their website via the link above, and they have a small slideshow happening on the home page covering some more of the pieces that I didn’t bother including below.

First up are a couple that I have to admit I really like (and I absolutely ADORE the large bronze male sculpture – he’s huge, and very very detailed – I just love him!):

This isn’t the best photo, with all the background clutter, but I wanted to show you the scale of him compared to my wee feathered friend in the foreground … in fact this duck must’ve realised I was a kindred spirit, as he came up onto land and followed me halfway round the lake quacking his little heart out, before he finally gave up and headed back into the water, bless him 😀

Here he is in a bit more detail

Now we move to the more ‘interesting’ exhibits – I like this one just because it stands out so much in the parkland with its bright whiteness, but still very bizarre … like a pile of huge larvae!

Ever wanted to know what to do with your old electric frying pan lids? Well, now you know …

I’m sorry, but this one just reminds me of someone’s intestines on display …

And this is just plain “what the?” to me … barbed wire shaped into a square … sorry, but it just does nothing for me (my apologies to the artist concerned)

In any case it’s a nice park to walk around – although there are warning signs for summer saying to be wary of snakes, so I guess I’ll never get Mum in there to look around (I have to admit, I was freaked out enough on my own seeing that sign even in the middle of winter!!).

I’ll finish with one more piece that I DO like … there are three pieces that are more along the line of the Greek sculptures … much more down my alley!! Here’s just one of them for you 😉

A more ‘general’ update on what’s happening around here will follow some time over the weekend … I’m not really in a blogging mood (and haven’t been for the last few weeks), but I’ll try to get something together over the next few days …

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 😉