Almost finished...

... just one more round to go, ends to sew in, blocking to be considered and then discarded because I am lazy and then I can send it off to a little baby girl born a few weeks ago. 
 

This week I'm grateful for...

 

via weheartit 

  

... generosity - I was talking with a colleague in the staffroom this week about passionfruit and how they're always so expensive in the shops.  The next day she brought me a bag of five passionfruit from her mum's vine.  I was so touched at her kindness and thoughtfulness and the sheer surprise of it was just lovely.  Also this week a mum from my class asked if I'd like some lemons from her tree and brought in a whole shopping bag full just for me!  I'm going to make a lemon meringue pie for my Dad, perhaps make some homemade lemonade and have lots of lemon-y water in an attempt to get rid of the now three week old cold I have going on.

... anticipation - two weeks of school left, that is just 8 working days for me, until school holidays.  I can't wait!  MR will be home for the whole first week of them so we are thinking a few days away to his home town and visiting his parents and while we're there I'm planning on catching up with a few friends I haven't seen since moving to Perth at the end of last year, one of who has just had her first baby.  I'm also planning a bit of a 'date day'.  Now that we're living together we haven't done a lot of going out special sort of things so I'm thinking lunch in the Swan Valley and a bit of a drive, maybe some mini golf depending on the weather.  The second week is going to be pyjama filled heaven, definitely finishing off sorting out the craft room and getting the sewing machine going, reading books and perhaps even a bit more housey stuff buying.

... energy - I'm up to day 57 of tablets today, so very close to the two month point at which I should start to feel more normal and less side effects.  The only problematic one I have experienced is fatigue and over the last week it has been beginning to lessen, a very exciting feeling let me tell you!  Next term I will be going back to working Fridays, (goodbye three day weekends, very sad) but I will have every second Wednesday off for a bit of me time.

What's been making you feel all special inside this week?  Maxabella has the list over here.

 

Belated bandwagon jumping

via weheartit

I used to love fashion as a teenager.  In fact I dreamt about becoming a famous designer one day, until I realised that my drawing and sewing skills were lacking, and that it would be really hard work to make any income out of it.  Yes, I'm a bit of a realist.

Over the years my interest in fashion has waned slightly as more and more fashion I thought was ugly came out.  Gypsy look, 80's look, harry-high-pants look, they are very not me.  And I never got into skinny leg jeans.  I have hips so I thought it would really just look quite ridiculous.  I have never really got into the "I'll-buy-it-because-then-I'll-be-in-fashion" idea.  If I don't like it or it makes me look like a misplaced hippy bag lady it stays behind.  I would rather look presentable in public in something that suits me than like one of those teenage disasters you see in the shopping centres walking around in clothes that Very Much Do Not Suit Them and that were Most Definitely Were Not Made For Your Body Type.  You know the ones that make you cringe when you see them?

Turns out though, either my tastes have changed or they don't look as ridiculous as expected because yesterday, inspired by wanting to show off my lovely new spanish leather boots and finding bootleg jeans just didn't tuck into boots well, I bought a pair of dark blue skinny leg jeans.  And they looked okay, even with ballet flats.

In fact, they looked so okay, today I bought another pair of skinny pants, this time in a black brushed-cotton-cords-without-the-stripes sort of look. (Yes, I am well out of touch with the accurate fashion terminology...)  They were on sale.  And I thought they might look quite nice with ballet flats and a dressy top for going out in. 

I haven't worn either of them out in public yet (so hopefully no one cringes at me) but either way, I have been sucked in to some very belated fashion bandwagon jumping.

Are you anti bandwagons?  Have you ever sucumbed to the trend in the end?

 

Couch-y goodness

Last Thursday we finally got our lounge suite we ordered back in March.  It has been a painfully long wait, particularly seeing as we didn't have any proper couch to use in the meantime.  But the couches thankfully stood up to the anticipation build up and every night since I have been out on the couch, reclining in style, heater keeping me toasty.  Ahh yes, so lovely.  Bring on holidays in two and a half weeks ten working days (woop!) You'll be able to find me at home.  On my couch.

Next on the list is a coffee table and a rug.  Our couches are black (due to grubby boys and the lack of finding any grey leather couch anywhere) and our entertainment unit (and future coffee table) is a dark wood so we were thinking a charcoal or light grey rug...

...perhaps like this, I do quite like this sort of pattern and our tiles are a very close match in colour.

Then we can have some light grey cushions with splashes of turquoise or duck egg blue...

...like this from here, or I could get motivated and make my own.

 A lovely piece of artwork found sometime in the future on the wall behind the couch...

...perhaps like this, from here

It's such a slow (due to expensive) process, this furnishing and decorating of our home, thank goodness window shopping and daydreaming are so much fun!


What new piece of furniture or home accessory are you currently dreaming about owning?

Llama Face!!!

For anyone who loves The Emporer's New Groove as much as MR and myself...

 

I took my class on an excursion to the Cuddy Animal Farm in the Swan Valley the other week.  They were tremendously excited and as soon as we turned onto whatever road it is, West Swan or something with all the small farms and wineries I told the kids to start looking out for animals.  The rest of the trip there involved loud shoutings of:

"HORSEY!"

"COW!"

"HORSEYS!!!!!"

"SHEEPS!"

"MOOOOOO!"

"MORE HORSEYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"LOOOOOOOOOOOOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

And then we got to the farm and got to touch the animals and oh my goodness, is it hard to contain 12 four year olds who just want to touch everything all at once.  Phew.

PS.  Is there any difference between a llama and an alpaca or are they just different hemisphere names?

 

It's been a long time baby

My poor blog and life has had a major crafty drought lately.  Not even lately really, more like for Ages.  I think the last time I picked up and did some craft was almost two months ago.  No wonder its been so incredibly boring reading about my life lately!

I was thinking about this for two reasons.  One, I was over at Homely One and Amanda had just posted about putting things off.  No crafty projects til the house is spick and span.  Now I definitely do not have this problem, my house is never spick and span and I think MR and my family would fall over dead if they came home to / visited a clean and (more to the point) tidy house.  I have mentioned before about my very helpful sister who actually likes to organise and comes over to my house and Dad's house to organise us messy ones. 

I do however suffer from Puttingthingsoffitis.  I am a great thinker-about projects and a great buyer-of-stuff-for projects but I am not so good a starter-of projects and I am a downright dreadful finisher-of projects.  For no particular reason alright, I'm a bit lazy.  And I like to read.  And the energy levels have been a bit low of late.

 

a poor neglected stack of chunky wool to work into a scarf this weekend,
providing I can unearth one of my three chunky hooks to whip it up
(nice and quickly so no time for puttingthingsoffitis)

Which brings me to my second thought.  Enforced crafting time is helpful.  But it can't be enforced without someone to enforce it!  So a place to do it and some people to do it with makes it even better.  Yay for Brown Owls!  I didn't make it last month, but I'm looking forward to this month.  It's on this weekend in fact.  So if you are in Perth and feel like some craftiness and some friendly chatter (let me know) and come along  with whatever you're working on and a gold coin towards tea/coffee/hall hire to the Drill Hall, cnr Murray and Crowther Streets in Bayswater from 2 - 4pm this Sunday 19th June.

We'd love to see you there!

This week I'm grateful for...

I've been umming and ahhing over a few options with work for a few weeks now and I've decided that as of next term I am going to drop my hours from full time to 9 days out of 10 per fortnight.  I'm still struggling with this fatigue and I just don't see myself coping with going back to full time after doing 4 days a week this term.  Ideally I would like to keep with the 4 days a week but I don't want to use up all my sick leave or have to decrease my pay too much so by dropping just one day I am only losing $200 per fortnight, and keeping my sick leave for when I really need it.  $200 doesn't seem like much but when you have just bought a house and are still trying to furnish it and would eventually (in a couple of years) like to renovate the kitchen and the two bathrooms plus save money to go on a overseas holiday late next year, $200 is a lot of money.

I've spoken to MR about it and brought up whether we can manage on that much less per fortnight.  He was not at all concerned, brushing off my worries and stresses with a 'pff, of course we can'.  Of course, this didn't stop me from stressing about being lazy and not contributing to the household, or doing up a mock budget for the next year based on the decreased wages to make sure we would be alright.  I am just like that.

So this week I am grateful for...

... balance - MR's calmness and unflappability (if that could be a word just for now) balances my stresshead worrywarting.

... flexibility - it is nice to have a job where it will not at all be a problem that I want to drop a day.


Mosy on over to Maxabella's for the rest of the grateful crew this week.
 

Today...

... I went for a drive out to York to catch up with a friend for lunch.  

There really is nothing quite like the rich shade of brown of freshly plowed earth
and the lush* green that springs up after the first rains.

* the Western Australian version of lush green that is...

  

 

This week I'm grateful for...

... four day long weekends - it's a public holiday here in WA on Monday

... pseudoephedrine - my CML medication interacts with paracetamol and codeine so I'm not allowed to take them so when I got the first dreaded cold for the season this week I was ever so grateful that I can still take something to help.

... yummy smells coming from my oven - my wonderful MR cooked me a delicious roast dinner while I was resting whinging sick in bed (and he even washed the dishes!) and tonight my house was filled with the aromas of an oven baked chicken, pumpkin, tomato and leek risotto.  Mmm, it was tasty.

... freshly squeezed orange juice - hand squeezed by my muscly man (he does it so quickly and easily)

... my new convection gas heater - keeping me warm in the womb couch

... the rain - so nice to hear it on the roof for four nights in a row, first time that's happened in a long long time.  Even better, it reached a fair bit of the Wheatbelt in WA, which is in desperate need of it.


Head over to Maxabella's with me now.  I'll wandering through now while I wait for dinner to settle before I head to bed.  I've missed the last few weeks of gratefulness so I'm looking forward to a catch up.
 

An Unexpected Moment

"I think we went to school together, I was a couple of years younger than you." 

I found this a strange thing for someone to be saying to me.  Especially someone tall, thin and beautiful.  Someone who looked like she was definitely in the popular group.  Immaculately groomed, completely stylish. And I didn't recognise her.

Ten years since she had been in highschool, twelve since I had.  And she recognised me from school.  From a big school that had around 150+ girls in each year group.  And she was two years younger than me.  Now, to some people this may not be a strange thing but for me it was.  Normally I am the one recognising other people and them not recognising me. 

I was a bit of a nobody at school.  I didn't do any sports, I wasn't in any groups.  I wasn't smart or creative or pretty or funny.  I wasn't rich or outspoken or confident.  I wasn't in the popular group or the unpopular group.  I was a boarder for half of my time at the school and a day girl for the other half.  (It was like going to a whole new school making that transition.  New friends, new places to sit and eat lunch.  It's hard to keep those friendships strong with girls who you no longer live with 24/7 and can't hang out with after school or on the weekends.)  There was nothing about me that would have made me stand out from a crowd of 150 girls to anyone. 

But somehow I did.
  

I work with this girl.  I am a bit intimidated by her.  For no real reason though.  She is like a ballerina.  Pristine, stylish, self assured.  I am fluffy haired, daggy and uncertain.  On the outer we are oil and water.  

I don't really know her as we don't work together.  But if I did I would ask her.  Why did she recognise me?  How did I stand out when I felt lost in the crowd?  

And I wonder, what was she like at school?
  

in the pink

I've been working on a little project, which really isn't all that little, since the beginning of the year and I made a bit of headway on it over the holidays while couching and bedding with the tv on.

I'm making a granny blanket for my sister in lots of shades of pink.  Big squares - 10 rounds each - in just one colour so less sewing in those dreaded ends.  I think I'll need about 30 and I'm now up to 12. 

I'd like to say I'm almost half way, but then there's all that joining together to do.

And all those ends to sew in...

eek!

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