Auckland, Food, Photo Hunt, PhotoHunt

Photo Hunt: Greasy

Anne S

 

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This week’s theme is ”Greasy” and this meal from a favourite el cheapo dining place in Auckland (“Kiwi Country”) should taste greasy with that deep-fried chicken, but it never ever does.  One of the things I miss from working in Auckland city centre is picking up the occasional lunch from here.  It’s located in a little side street, downstairs below street level, and is a real little goldmine – my Mum keeps up the family tradition now and occasionally visits with a dear family friend, and of course we pop in ourselves when I’m visiting Auckland.  My mouth is salivating already at that chicken dipped in chilli sauce and that succulent crispy salad – yum!

Photo Hunt, PhotoHunt, sculpture

Photo Hunt: Wrong

Anne S

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This week’s theme is ”Wrong” and you can call me a philistine if you want, but I just don’t ‘get’ a lot of contemporary art … like this example at the McClelland Gallery in Frankston, Victoria. Quite frankly it just reminds me of pile of intestines, and that to me is just plain “wrong” (I have no idea what it was supposed to be, but I’m sure it has a lot of meaning to someone who is more cultured than I am).

Canberra, Photo Hunt, PhotoHunt, sculpture

Photo Hunt – One

Anne S

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This week’s theme is ”One” – here is one beautiful piece of sculpture at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, with one solitary pigeon sitting on his shoulder.

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I don’t think I’ve written about our trip through Canberra as yet – I really should do that, as the trip to the Australian War Memorial really affected me and we ended up spending over 3 hours there and still not seeing everything!

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

“It won’t happen overnight, but it WILL happen”

Anne S

And so went the words of the Pantene shampoo advert … which has been very true of the latest change in my life.  Many of you may remember that I applied for a new job about a month ago … well, after two interviews and a skills test it turns out that the words are in fact correct … it didn’t happen overnight, but this week I found out that it DID happen!!

Which means that the last few days have seen me going rapidly from this:

(which is supposed to display the emotion “excited” haha)

to this:

(yep, that is definitely a “scared” emotion happening there!)

And pretty much every emotion inbetween!

It turns out that the delay in telling me about my acceptance is that there was another position that has become available within the same group, which is actually better than the other one that I applied for – I assume I was getting offered the other job anyway as my current boss had already had the discussion about release dates two weeks ago now, but since then this other opportunity came up (which I was offered) and I get to continue using my current airline experience with the new role while still getting the opportunity to learn new ones.  This makes the transition even easier because I have the comfort level of not just a bunch of people that I really like to work with, but also still knowing a fair bit about the business side of the position – double bonus!!

It means big changes are afoot, though, as I will no longer be able to hop to work in the car (I currently live and work relatively close to the airport), sadly it means having to do public transport once again and do the daily commute into the city each day.  But even here there are large bonuses – being within 5-10 minutes walk from Darling Harbour and being able to get back into hydrotherapy at the city pool will be awesome – not to mention more places to buy lunch and socialise with people from work that I already love to bits.  I’ll be honest and say it’s not my perfect job, but then again the one I’m doing now isn’t either, but the benefits of this new job far outweigh the negatives and it’ll be really nice to have a work challenge to get the brain active once more!

The funny thing is that I actually wasn’t job hunting at all, ‘cos I was kinda settled in my current job and relatively happy – but one of the Managers I’ve worked with a lot from that side of the business called me to tell me about it and recommended that I apply.  I figured what the heck, it doesn’t hurt, and it’s the first time I’ve actually been tempted by a new job that much … and I guess the rest is history!

We’ve also just heard that one other team member from our team has just got a new job as well, plus we’ve got one new team member who’s only been with us for a week, so I’m thinking they’ll be playing pretty tough on a release date, but I’m happy with that … it’s just nice to know it’s all over now and I don’t have to stress waiting for that ‘call back’.  It may mean longer hours at work and less time for relaxation at home but that just means that I have to work harder to ensure I keep that work/life balance happening and spend my free time more wisely … and the extra $8,000 a year they’re willing to pay me won’t go astray either ;P

So, there you go … that’s the major news for the week … it’s all a bit exciting, and frightening, and joyous, and terrifying, and … I can’t wait! 😀

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Freebies, Indigo Rose, Lizzie Kate, Sweetheart Tree, Works in Progress

Stitching for stress relief

Anne S

Last Sunday I managed to start getting a mini migraine in the afternoon … stressing out about my 2nd interview on Monday, I think – which means most of the plans I had on Sunday afternoon went down the drain … which is where my day’s baking went as well, ‘cos it was a total flop!  We were putting on morning tea for a work colleague who left on Tuesday (this is the one I had issues with last year, although we actually get on OK now – we’ll never be the closest of friends, but we had a working relationship that was OK).  Anyway, I have to say my baking Sunday/Monday was a total disaster … I think my head was too stressed out about my 2nd interview that I had on Monday – I felt physically sick during the interview, and I know I didn’t do my best in there, but it’s too late for that now, and the chips will just have to fall where they may.  I was supposed to hear something back by last Thursday, but so far no news either good or bad.

I haven’t particularly touched a needle for the last few weeks, but this weekend I’ve made up for lost time – it’s all I’ve been in the mood for!   I’ve superglued my backside to my mattress, and sat up in bed with needle in hand and clearing old DVR recordings … it’s been really enjoyable.  Following are the results of my stitching efforts.

First up is a new WIP that I started a couple of weeks ago – it took me 4 whole nights just to stitch one pumpkin and the border, so this one has been sloooooow going – this is a 2nd hand chart so I don’t have the embellishment pack, and I can’t find my little black Mill Hill petite beads so this one’s now sitting in a pile waiting for them to turn up … I lost all motivation when I realised I couldn’t finish it quickly.  Never mind, it’ll get completed ‘one day’ …

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Next up is a piece that I stitched up slowly over the last week – an Indigo Rose freebie – not my usual style, but it was really enjoyable stitching it up.  I can’t say I was too thrilled stitching all the queen stitches (definitely not my favourite stitch), but eventually when I got into a rhythm with them it seemed to fly along (helped by watching Rescue Special Ops on TV to make the time go fast).

Indigo Rose-Four Little Strawberries
“Four Little Strawberries” freebie by Indigo Rose
stitched on 32ct Summer Khaki Belfast linen
with recommended DMC threads

Then there is this weekend’s productivity – three Christmas ornaments by Lizzie*Kate.  This is probably what has finally got me back into the swing of stitching again – it feels great, but I’m not sure how long it’ll last!

LizzieKate-Noel Tiny Tidings XIV
“Noel” by Lizzie*Kate
from the chart Tiny Tidings XIV
stitched on 32ct hand-dyed Belfast linen by Silkweaver ~ colour Golden Harvest
with recommended Weeks Dye Works threads and embellishment pack

LizzieKate-Mistletoe Tiny Tidings XIV
“Mistletoe” by Lizzie*Kate
from the chart Tiny Tidings XIV
stitched on 32ct hand-dyed Belfast linen by Silkweaver ~ colour Golden Harvest
with recommended Weeks Dye Works and DMC threads and embellishment pack
but substituted GAST Butternut Squash

LizzieKate-Christmas flip-it
“Christmas flip-it” by Lizzie*Kate
stitched on 32ct Summer Khaki Belfast linen
with recommended GAST threads except substituting DMC white for Whitewash
and using DMC 898 for bird beaks and legs instead of DMC 310

The rest of the weekend has been spent guzzling a bowl of Tiramisu that I made on Saturday night – I’ve been craving some for months, so I finally pulled my finger out and made a half-serving of it … and took a wee plate full down to my elderly neighbour yesterday.  I suppose all-in-all it’s been a productive weekend – not quite the productivity that I had planned for, but what my body and mind needed, I think 🙂

Exchanges, Needlerolls, Paris, redwork, Ruby Tuesday, Travel - France, Uncategorized

Ruby Tuesday … just ‘cos I feel like posting!

Anne S

Here is my choice for this week’s Ruby Tuesday – a very old photo scanned from the printed copy of a brasserie in Paris … my favourite city in the world.

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And in trying to keep with the ‘crafty theme’, here’s a redwork exchange I sent to Nicki five whole years ago in 2006 … probably one of my most favourite exchanges I’ve completed! (The photo was compliments of Nicki, she did such a wonderful job of the photography!)

Needleroll Exchange for Nicki Lampon

Ruby Tuesday