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Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

Anne S

Updated to add an apology to many bloggers – I’m trying to catch up with blogs, but for some reason the last two nights I’ve been unable to leave comments on beta blogs … it just keeps rejecting my blogger ID. Anyway, I’ve opted to leave it for a day or two then I’ll try to catch up again – I don’t want to just ‘read and run’ … hopefully I’ll be able to get back to commenting again soon 🙂 I was doing so well, too – I’d managed to catch up at the weekend after getting through over 650 unread feeds! 😀

For Carina and Cindy, and anyone else who’s wondering what Babycham actually is … here’s the Wikipedia info … and the official website 😀 I was reading the History section last night, and found it very interesting, and I love the ‘product lines’ … when you run your mouse over the sparkling bottle, the cork pops out haha – I didn’t realise quite how old Babycham is, but then again I have been drinking it since I was very young hmmmm 😉

Well, it’s been an interesting day today – not anything to do with my ‘personal’ situation, but rather one for Melbourne city on the whole. As the Yahoo news team puts it … “Melbourne was shrouded in a thick blanket of smoke throughout today with levels in the city reaching 10 times the acceptable limit. Some city workers found the air difficult to breath in with others more concerned about the cause of the ominous sky.” That kinda sums it all up, really!

It really is quite eerie, and I’ve been tasting smoke all day – I had to shut off the air vents in my car on the way to work, and then by the afternoon it was so bad it was circulating through the air conditioning at work and we’ve all been complaining of headaches and sore throats. We did do a very pitiful rendition of ‘Smoke gets in your eyes’ at one stage 😉 I bet the respiratory departments are run off their feet today, as it really is dreadful – even in bad weather I usually have a lovely view of the skyline on the drive home, but tonight it’s just blanketed in a thickish fog of smoke. I feel very sorry for those who are closer to the ‘action’ and have lost their homes during this disaster.

So today, I’m thankful that I’m not in the path of that fiery destruction – I really hope they get it under control soon so no more property (or worse) is lost. But I’m also truly thankful that today was the first day of an entire month (13 Dec-14 Jan) where we’re allowed to wear casual clothes to work … jeans and trainers for an entire month – I’m in heaven! 😉

Today was also dress-up today at work … apart from a few Santa hats, as usual I was the only one to be fully decked-out in my Christmas tree outfit, and we have some great ideas for my outfit for next year – including getting a load of cheap ‘flashing’ brooches/earrings to attach like lights hahaha … too funny! Two of the Supervisors tonight came and gave me a Luv Ya Work Award before I went home “for bringing some festive cheer and joy into the office” … I have to admit it is a great morale booster, and brings a smile to everyone when they see it … and that’s what it’s all about! 😀 I didn’t take a new photo this year, as I had my hands full with my plate of food etc walking from my car, so couldn’t juggle my camera as well, so last year’s photo will have to suffice 😉

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I am thankful for …

Anne S

That heading is what I’m going to be focusing on for a while … I’m sick of being full of misery on this blog, and I’m sure you’re sick of reading it. Anyway, after my emotional meltdown last night, I think it had a bit of a cleansing effect on me – my fighting spirit is back again, and I’m going to try to focus on the positive things in my life. There are many people worse off than me … while it may be stressful and depressing at times, I need to keep looking ahead 🙂

So today I’m thankful for all my online friends – your cheering on comments both here and in personal emails has given me a lot of strength to deal with the issues I’m facing. As the old adage goes, “a friend in need is a friend indeed” … and I really and truly appreciate you all hanging in with me while I’ve been struggling and less than positive on here.

This morning I spent some time checking out house sitting sites and self storage etc, but I’ve been thinking of leaving any major decisions until the New Year. I have Mum visiting for six weeks in February, and I’d rather have everything ‘as usual’ during that time at least … and it will give me plenty of time to get my head together.

Tonight was a different task … I’ve been sending emails to the UK, to the manufacturers of Babycham! I don’t know why, but since this morning I’ve got it in my head that I want to make up my own stocking. Why?? Because my stocking is the one Christmas tradition Mum did for me every year until I was ‘too old’ for it (I repeat for you again, Mum, I’m never ever too old for it hahaha). Such a simple thing – a stocking was waiting under the tree every year … nothing glamorous and expensive, but filled with love – Christmas just wasn’t Christmas without my stocking! What was in my stocking that made it so special? … There was always a handful of nuts in their shells (brazil nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts etc), maybe an apple and an orange, and a couple of chocolate bars and sweeties, and the piece de resistance … a small bottle of Babycham! When I was in my teens there would be some additional treats in there too, like a pair of ‘fashion’ earrings or something similar. I don’t know why, but that stocking tradition has remained in my heart as something very very special about Christmas.

When I moved to Australia the first 8 months here sharing were abysmal for many reasons (a couple of you know those stories from personal emails, but I’m not going into it now) – when Fraze and I moved out to our own place in Box Hill, it was going be our first Christmas ‘on our own’ … by the time Christmas came, we also had Andrew living with us too – and I decided to do the Christmas stocking ritual for them … although instead of Babycham they got cans of beer haha – they also got a few ‘silly things’ like car polish and DVD cases and things. While I didn’t have my own stocking, watching the two boys unwrap everything in their own stockings was wonderful, and I really loved it. Andrew said that that was the most special Christmas he’d had, and even though he spent the rest of the day with his family, the morning with us was the most magical. I do have to admit I did feel the same way too at the time (shame the rest of our living arrangements with him weren’t quite so magical in the long run haha).

Anyway, being the first Christmas on my own, I’m making my own stocking … and I’m trying to track down whether Babycham is available for sale locally somewhere, as I’ll be treating myself as my big Christmas Day treat. We used to be able to buy it in New Zealand, so I presume you can buy it here somewhere too, and it’s pretty cheap to buy even though it’s imported. If not, then I’ll substitute with a $3.99 mini bottle of Asti Riccadonna instead … woohoo, big spender LOL. Add to that my fave Christmas song playing loudly on the stereo (ie Snoopy’s Christmas – it gets me singing at the top of my lungs every time!), and I’ll be all set! 😉

I’m actually working on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day, which will be a financial boost thank goodness – and someone at work actually cooks up a Christmas dinner for us all, which will be a lovely treat 🙂 I can’t believe how close it is to the ‘big day’ already …

Ooh, I didn’t realise how close midnight was either – better run and hit the hay for the night, as I need to be up early tomorrow. The Christmas tree dress is back out again ready for dress-up day tomorrow, but I have to get up early to get a ‘plate of food’ to share with everyone … so I’m making Doreen’s Apricot Slice again (cheap ingredients, and so very comforting for me, as it brings back all those wonderful happy childhood memories again – the perfect blessing for my day!).

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Will it never end?

Anne S
For goodness’ sake, GIVE IT A REST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today I finally open what I considered to be ‘junk mail’ … one from the NZ Inland Revenue Department – seeing as I don’t live in NZ anymore, I didn’t bother rushing to open it … today I did … and today I found a bill for NZ$50 for a late filing penalty … for the non-filing of a tax return in NZ when I reside in Australia, and have done for 3 1/2 years now – I haven’t earned taxable earnings in NZ since 2003, for goodness sake!!! … payment due 07Feb07 … With any luck I’ll get this one reversed just for stupidity’s sake, but then again it’s a Government department, after all, so anything is possible!

It’s a good job I’m a relatively strong person, or I would’ve sunk into the murky mire of serious depression ages ago … but I am definitely reaching my limits now, that’s for sure!! If nothing else, though, it’s stopped the tears and brought that fighting spirit back again :/ (mutter mutter mutter) I must say, though, it’s starting to feel like I’m starring in some sort of comedy farce … except the sense of humour’s a bit warped and not all that funny!

Sorry, no stitching piccies – I’m just not in the stitching mood right now (plus these shifts aren’t very conducive to it).

I am, however, very grateful to see the beautiful blue sunny sky outside my windows today, followed by the cooling breeze coming through the windows (as opposed to the fiery heat pouring through on Sunday at 42C!).

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Feel free to skip this post …

Anne S

This post may be exceptionally boring and draining, so you may want to skip it today! Don’t say I didn’t warn ya!!

First off, though, this piccie is for Wendy … I keep forgetting to answer your question about where my stitching spot is (from the lounge Christmas photos) – in fact I don’t sit on any of the lounge suite at all, but rather in my recliner which is facing the TV and the rest of the lounge … I have a special stitching corner which is permanently made up all the time, just ready to plop down into – and my 2nd most critical corner of the flat is off to the right of my stitching chair in this photo – my computer desk 😀

Well, today was an interesting day, and I’ve had some very interesting discussions. I finally pulled my head out of the sand today before work to get my tyre replaced (I was on a 2pm start, so plenty of time) … lucky me, though, ended up having to get not just one, but TWO tyres replaced!!! Yup, it seems the right-hand front tyre was getting rather bald and needed to be replaced … what can I say, but life just keeps on getting better and better! LOL. I had to get on my mobile to transfer over the $100 Mum had paid me back from a credit card charge I did for her as my emergency food money if I ever got totally desperate (thanks Mum, love ya!) … I had refused to touch it, as I may need it down the track … well that day was today. The rest of Mr Taxman’s money I’d put to one side plus the emergency money has totally wiped out my bank balance yet again – woohoo!! I had to warn the sales guy I’d just had to transfer the funds across, so hopefully it will go through … leaving me $5-10 in the account double woohoo! So now Mr Taxman has to wait longer, and I’m back to square one again trying to find $500+ … and in my rebellious mood today I say “b*gger you Mr Taxman, I’m going shopping for veges this payday, and I don’t care less what you think about it!” {{big raspberry}} Thank goodness Payday is overnight tonight!!!

I’ve also come to the realisation that I just can’t get ahead living on my own, and I’ve started putting out some feelers about options. Sheree from work, who was looking for a flatmate months ago, is apparently looking at moving out yet again, as her new male flatmate is really inconsiderate with her being on shift work (at least we have that in common, so there’s a basic understanding there between us). The only problem is that she’s really fussy and wants a really ‘flash’ place to live, so it wouldn’t necessarily be a ‘huge’ saving overall (she’s paying $200 per week for rent at the moment in a sharing situation as opposed to my $245 on my own yikes!!). Anyway, I’ve set the seed for her today and I guess we’ll chat about it more at some stage after Christmas.

The 2nd alternative is to pack up all my stuff into storage and go house-sitting for a while. One of the girls from work is doing it (she’s the one who used to flat with Sheree before), and the outgoings are very minimal, but the downside is that you’re constantly on the move to different places. Still, there’s no rent to pay, and unless it’s a ‘longer term’ sitting job there are no other bills (apparently most people if its 1-2 weeks sitting don’t charge you for electricity usage etc, but she’s in one now where she’s there until February and the charge is $30 a week to cover bills … that’s pretty minimal considering there’s no rent to pay as well!). I used to do house sitting for my boss back in Auckland every now and then when I was younger, so that’s not a major issue for me – the big downside would be not having internet access regularly, and I’d have to go to a library or somewhere to get online … and a major part of what’s kept me from going insane here is the support and friendship of you guys online!

Then again, if I’m saving that much I could look at buying a laptop and signing up with “Unwired” which is wireless internet – and my internet connection would travel with me … while it may be incredibly inconvenient for a while, it would also give me a better chance of getting ahead financially for the longer term, and I’d definitely have to take that into consideration, I guess. I’d have to cost up putting my things into storage etc too … anyway, it’s all food for thought I need to mull over … ‘cos at the moment I’m just going backwards every month. This option would still give me the sense of freedom in that I’d have ‘my own space’, but there would be the odd day where I wouldn’t have a roof over my head (although Ali at work has said I’d be more than welcome to stay with her in Seaford during those times – that’s incredibly sweet of her!).

One thing that almost brought me to tears today was the generosity of a fellow blogger … I have some extra Christmas prezzies now sitting under the tree – and after the shock of having to buy two brand new tyres this morning, opening my mailbox afterwards was a huge morale lifter. I’m being good, though, and not opening anything until Christmas Day – then the contents will be revealed both to me and you 😀 But I have to say, Katrina, you really really made my day today – you’re just gorgeous, and it couldn’t have come at a better time! {{hugs}}

In fact, I’m now sitting here in tears writing this. So much for that fighting spirit, huh? I think I’m finally reacting to the stress I’ve been feeling just lately, but repressing … and just writing about Katrina’s generous gifts has sent me over the edge emotionally … but in a nice way haha.

Anyway, sorry for the waffling – just the thoughts running through my head today … as is typical of me, I don’t hide anything, and you get the full story with everything – putting things in writing is a great method of ‘purging’ for me, so this all helps. I’m so sorry I’m not as full of life as I usually am … and I was hoping to get over all this negative stuff a lot more quickly than I have – I think I’m coping really well, then something else happens to knock me sideways … hopefully I’ll get the fighting spirit back again tomorrow, ‘cos tomorrow’s another day!

Thanks for all of your comments, and hanging in there with me through all this ‘cr*ppy stuff’ – it has really helped! {{hugs}}

Finishes, Needlerolls, Stitching Smalls

It never rains, it pours … & I’m flooding!

Anne S

Edited to add this positive news:

Tonight I decided to start a new project, being Sapphire Star canvaswork by Laura J Perin … after getting everything out, and making a working copy of the chart, I realised I’d goofed … I thought I had everything aside from the one thread that’s still on back order from months ago, only to find I don’t have any 18″ stretcher bars … doh! Oh well, it’s not as if I don’t have any other projects to choose from …

Instead I frogged the bottom band on my A Stitcher’s Needleroll by Lorri Birmingham … actually I ended up frogging part of it twice! Firstly to fix the error in the chart by removing the extra space between the body of the design and the bottom band (it was bugging me, and I couldn’t just leave it in) … then because I’d thrown all the kit threads out, thinking it was finished at the start of September, I re-kitted using the colour key … the second bit of frogging was due to misprint in the colour key (geez, I love Lorri Birmingham designs, but I seriously HATE all the chart errors!!!) – I ended up dragging my 500 series of threads out and colour matching with the rest of the finished stitching. I also subbed the bright pink ribbon, thinking a nice purple one would blend nicely, and it’s finally finished into an actual needleroll – which means I can finally add it to my 50 Projects tally … the stitching was done just prior to signing up, but it was within the official starting date of the rules – my compromise was that I wouldn’t add it to my tally until it was finish-finished … and now I can woohoo 😀
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A Stitcher’s Needleroll by Lorri Birmingham
stitched from the kit contents
Photo compliments of Photobucket … bah humbug Blogger!
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Well, the good times just keep on rollin’ in my neck of the woods! Today I was worried I hadn’t heard from Mum and she said she’d phone today … so I thought I’d give her a quick call, only to find the home phone not working. The phone line is fine, as my PC is working with the internet with no problems … but I can’t get a true dial tone and use my home phone. A quick test using my mobile phone and it’s ringing on my mobile, but not ringing on the home phone … which means it’s likely my home phone needs to be replaced! I just cancelled my ‘messaging’ service on my home phone to save money, so the next phone will have it’s own answerphone … I guess my new phone will be my next ‘essential’ purchase. I could actually do without a home phone if it wasn’t for keeping up to date with Mum, and that’s critically important for me.

Anyway all I can say is “bring it on!!!!” … perhaps you can think of something else to add to the ever-increasing list of crappy events before the holiday season is over … well I’m not caving in!!! OK, that’s my rant for the night … now I’m off to sulk in my stitching corner to focus on all the positive things in my life right now … I refuse to let this latest event get me down! Mind you, with the way my financial situation is going, my 50 Projects Challenge may end up as a 100 Projects Challenge haha … although I’m likely to run out of DMC by then LOL. Right, I’m off to start something new to cheer myself up!

And on another negative note, I can’t believe it, but some thieving scumbag has stolen quilts from Amitie Textiles in Bentleigh … I’m absolutely gobsmacked that someone could do this. Here’s the link to the announcement on their blog … I thought I’d mention it in case any of my Melbourne readers are interested. I’m still shaking my head in disgust!

Now I also have a request from you – do any of you have any wonderful tried-and-tested bread recipes for a breadmaking machine, that don’t use a million different ingredients (or even those that do)? I have used a couple of recipes from the machine’s instruction manual that are good, but I also have a cookbook especially for bread machines, and the three loaves I’ve made so far have been dismal, and the book’s going out in the bin! I’d love to find some good recipes out there for trialling 😀 And another apology to Mum – if you don’t hurry up and get over here for a holiday, there’ll be no beer left … I have another loaf of Wholemeal beer and mustard bread baking … my fave recipe so far – guess who’s having cheese and pickle sandwiches for lunches next week again? haha.

Finishes

Happy Dancing!!

Anne S

And a great big happy dance it is too! Today I put the final stitches into Pacific Pohutukawa … and seeing as the Pohutukawa is the New Zealand Christmas tree, it’s finished at an appropriately festive time of year 😀 I have to say, though, my right thumb is quite tender after dragging the thread through those corner Pohutukawa flowers … and if I don’t see another skein of DMC Rayon or Metallic thread over the next 12 months, it’ll be too soon!! LOL. Actually the scan doesn’t do the colours justice – they’re extremely vibrant! 😀


Pacific Pohutukawa by Jen’s Jems
stitched as charted
with recommended fabric and threads

It also means my stretcher bars are now freed up ready to start my Laura J Perin piece woohoo 🙂 And seeing as Blogger photo uploading is playing nicely today, here are the next two ornies I put the finishing touches into yesterday.


Merry Yule by Erica Michaels Designs
2005 JCS Christmas ornament magazine
stitched on 32ct natural Belfast linen
with recommended threads and embellishments


Christmas Tree by Elizabeth’s Designs
2005 JCS Christmas ornament magazine
stitched on 32ct white Belfast linen
with recommended threads and beads

That means another 3 projects off my 50 Project Challenge … leaving me with 34 left to go, I think – woohoo! 😀

Finishes, RAK Registry

RAK Registry & Ornies

Anne S

Thanks to everyone who has supported the RAK Registry database (for stitching bloggers) to date – this has been a really fun project to coordinate. For those who have asked, there is no deadline to sign up for this, as it’s an ongoing project – you just need to send me an email with your details, and I’ll enter you into the blog database immediately. You can either send me an email requesting the questions, or just copy and paste the following and email your answers straightaway to mailto:shakatak@iinet.net.au :). Then if you want to send someone a RAK just drop me a line and I’ll send you their full contact details. Likewise if there’s someone you’d like to send to, and they’re not in the database, drop me a line with their blog details, and I’ll approach them with a request to sign up, or to get their contact details … then they still don’t know who it’s coming from so there’s still a surprise element attached 🙂

A link to the RAK Registry blog is in my sidebar, if you want to check it out. Thanks again for the support, my fellow stitching pals.

First/screen name:
Blog name/URL:
Fave colour(s):
Fave designer(s):
Fave styles of designs/stitching styles:
Fave thread types/brands:
Fave fabric(s) (eg count/colour/type):
Any dislikes (eg colours, design styles etc):
Pets/children:
Birthday:
Withlist URL:
Any small RAK’s that would be enjoyed (eg tea sachets, stationery, chocolate, fridge magnets, postcards etc):
Favourite holiday(s):
Holiday(s) not celebrated/liked:
Full name and mailing address:

As for me, while I was in ostrich mode with my head in the sand yesterday it left my hands (and mind) free to stitch … I managed to put the finishing touches into an ornie I started during the night shifts (the only reason to love that shift is that I get chance to pick up a needle very now and then inbetween calls ‘cos there’s no management around haha) – I didn’t have the right overdyed threads, so I substituted the WDW Kudzu for NN Grecian Olive, and Crescent Colors Blue Moon with NN Blue is Blue – I also swapped 28ct fabric for 32ct to make it slightly smaller … I think it still turned out OK.

Photobucket - Video and Image HostingWinter’s Eve by Country Cottage Needleworks
from JCS 2006 Christmas Ornament magazine
stitched on 32ct natural Belfast
with thread substitutions
I also managed to put the final stitches into two more ornies as well that have been sitting here just waiting for the embellishments to be added. I haven’t taken any piccies/scans yet, though, so they’ll have to wait until later and I’ll add them in. Hopefully by then Blogger will be playing ball with photos again, as I’ve been having to use Photobucket for the last two posts 😦 Perhaps they’re giving me the un-subtle hint to hurry up and move to Beta haha.

All these ornies are destined for a home elsewhere … unfortunately they won’t be gracing someone else’s tree for this Christmas due to financial constraints, but they will be sent out some time in the New Year ready for next Christmas …

And talking of ornies, Nicki and I are discussing having a Christmas ornie SAL on the 4th weekend of every month, and wonder if you’d be interested in joining us? I’ve cheated and copied most of Nicki’s post to save me being witty and thinking something up … and Nicki’s is perfect already

From the words of Nicki:

“Christmas is nearly here and I’ve realised that trying to do all my Christmas stitching in two weeks isn’t a great idea! So Anne and I are thinking of organising a monthly Christmas ornament SAL for next year.

The idea is to stitch one ornament each month, so at the end of the year we’ll have lots of pretties to give as gifts or put on trees. We’ll stitch on the fourth weekend of each month. (That seems to be what works best for everyone who’s answered so far).

If you’d be interested, let one of us know. You wouldn’t have to stitch each month of course. It’d just be a fun way of getting some Christmas ornaments stitched through the year and relieving the pre-Christmas rush!”

I’ve really missed doing an ornie SAL for the latter half of this year, and hopefully this will motivate me again into stitching every month … I’m actually thinking of making my own personal goal to stitch two every month so I get to keep an odd one or two as well as give them away, but I’ll still be happy with getting one done

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L&L conversions

Anne S
Just a quick post … for those of you who are lovers of the colour blue, and also of Lavender & Lace designs, check out some of the conversions for the Celtic Ladies … oh la la!!! Hmmm, I see another couple of additions to my stitching wishlist now … those charts sitting in my stash are offering a whole new dimension to me again!!

Celtic Noel
Celtic Winter
Celtic Winter (work in progress – page down for the latest piccie)
Celtic Autumn

Celtic Summer (edited to add this one – wow!)

And a link to the actual conversion process by Nathalie (from the WIP link above) – Celtic Winter.

As you can see, I’m wasting time today – I managed nearly 6 hours sleep, which is awesome, and now I’m pretending I’m an ostrich and burying my head in the sand for the rest of the day … my car issues can wait until tomorrow … I just don’t want to think about it any more today – there’s plenty of time to stress out tomorrow 😉

Alas today I also logged into Blogger, only to get the Dashboard notice saying my new ‘beta’ blogger is ready for me to move over … considering all the problems people still seem to be having, I think I might wait until they drag me by the hair kicking and screaming into the new blogger dimension … even though they say “all my layouts and contents will stay the same” … yeah, right! Time will tell … but that time’s not right now! 😉

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Downright fed up!

Anne S

The heading of this post really sums it up today … I was feeling quite good after completing my overnight shifts, and coming home for my days off work – even after only having 4 hours quality sleep each night (or ‘day’ to be more precise), I feel OK, and happy … then driving home that wonderful feeling disappeared.

After driving for a while with a slight knocking sound coming from the passenger side of the car, I drove to an open gas station that’s about halfway home and checked around the car, only to find a bloody great bolt head sticking out of the passenger side front tyre … here I was thinking my financial woes are finally going to be put to rest on Tuesday, my bills are all going to be paid, and I’m going to live it up with fresh veges on the dinner table and my stress levels will return to normal … well, so much for that idea! Now it’s likely I’m up for a brand new tyre on top of everything else … fed up? Too bloody right I am!! 😦

I did have an extra bit of excitement on the drive home, though … I saw black smoke billowing on the horizon, and thought it looked like fire smoke … sure enough, I drove past an art supply store that was billowing flames out the front – it was like being on the movie set of Ladder 49 or something, especially at 5.30am with the sky only just lightening up, the colour was quite vivid and very spectacular – I only wish I had my camera, as watching the fireman dealing with it with the flames pouring out the front was incredible!

Then to top it all off a stupid driver started reversing out really fast from his driveway, into the main road, right in front of me … I had to haul on the brakes to miss driving straight into him – between the tyre, the fire, and that moron my heartrate was definitely up by the time I got home … I was grateful just to pull into my driveway! Anyway, the bolt is still sitting in my tyre … I figured I’d drive home slowly and change the tyre etc when I can see it in daylight – and here I was thinking I’d have a relaxing day stitching on my day off … mutter mutter mutter.

Anyway, I have to say I’ve pretty much reached my limits … and can’t take much more testing of my inner strength … whoever’s doing the testing, could you just give me a passing grade, and let me get on with ‘life as I know it’ … enough already!!!!!

Sorry for the rant … it’s now 6am and I just wanted to get it off my chest before trying to get to sleep … ‘cos at the moment I can’t decide whether to laugh or cry, but I feel too tired to do either!

Finishes, Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Picture heavy post!

Anne S

I remembered to take a piccie of my wee Christmas tree during the daylight yesterday – even though it’s only tiny (121cm/4ft tall), it really makes my place feel festive 🙂 My dream is to get a bigger tree, though, so perhaps next year I’ll be able to treat myself 😀 I love the LED lights I have on this tree, they really pack a punch at night!

This piccie is very very sad 😉 I bought this half tree last year in the sales when I decided to start making Christmas ornies myself … last year I just made the one, and it looks so lonely on there all by itself! LOL.

I figured the little half tree would be good just especially for my home made ornies, until I can get a bigger tree later (and I figured it would take me quite a while to stitch enough for a bigger tree). But because it looks so sad, I just HAD to put a couple of my ornies together yesterday to give that poor orphan ornie some family to play with! 😉 Not entirely thrilled with my choices of finishing, but they’ll do (I’m going to replace the white cording on the pinkeep one to a dark blue cording instead next year – hence the reason they’re just pinned instead of permanently attached, although I like the pinkeep look!). I’m stitching one each year for myself with the date on it, and this year that’s my Elizabeth’s Designs Christmas tree one.

Actually, these photos make it look like they’re all taken on different furniture! In fact the left one is hanging off my stitching recliner, but the other two are hanging off my lounge suite … the true colour of the suite is midway between the two piccies – I can’t get a true life piccie of that any time I try!

I have to admit, I really really miss our Christmas ornie SAL on the FGBB – it was a great motivator to get something stitched every month. As soon as the BB stopped, so did my ornie stitching 😦 Maybe I need to set myself a weekend every month and get back into it again next year! Hmmm …

The rest of the photos are for Mum’s sake … my little flat is coming apart at the seams – literally! The landlord is aware of the surface cracking, and he reported it to the Body Corporate months ago, but it’s got a lot worse recently, so a call to the landlord is in order again, me thinks. Apparently all those beautiful avenue of elm trees out the window are what’s causing the subsidence … thanks to their far-reaching and huge roots! Mum reckons I’m going to wake up one morning with the roof on my head LOL.

Rightio, back to it … I’m not sure what, but I know I should be doing ‘something’ – I had a shocking nights sleep last night, so I’m feeling a bit aimless today … fingers crossed I’ll be able to nap for an hour or so later on before work 🙂