Conquered... hopefully

It's Week 2 of Term 4 and I haven't (yet) gotten sick.  It's a miracle!  The last 3 terms have seen me sick every Week 2. Twice in hospital and once just at home.  I'm so pleased.  Now to just hold out and not get sick at all for the rest of this week and then for the rest of the term.

Because of my terrible past history I've only just signed up to go to this Light the Night walk in Bruce Rock.  I was away in New Zealand for the Perth event and MR's Mum has kindly organised this one in MR's home town.  Isn't she a champion?

For those not in the know, I have Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia.  This type of leukaemia is the one that is closest to having a cure found for it.  Currently, there are these 'wonder drugs' that mean we (usually) don't need chemo or a bone marrow transplant.  I am lucky enough that I can take these tablets and have a good quality of life.  I work three days a week due to fatigue issues but apart from a few aches now and again and a reduced immune level I am all good.  Many people suffering from blood cancers are not so lucky however and every dollar you can spare goes towards finding cures for Leukaemia, Lymphoma, Myeloma and other types of blood cancers.

So, you have exactly two days to generously dig deep for some loose change (or your credit card) and donate to my cause right here.  You could donate just $5 - like I said, every dollar really does help (and is tax deductible).

Thanks so much in advance!

First Crop

Way back two and a bit years ago, when we first moved into our home we planted some fruit trees.  One of them was a cutting of a loquat tree from my Mum.  I must admit, I was entirely dubious as to how it was going to grow let alone fruit when it was just a stick from her own tree.  But grow it did and fruit it has.  In fact, it has beaten all the other fruit trees to producing edible fruit.  I've been enjoying these since I got back from New Zealand.  MR had one the first day we got back when they were ripe enough for tart-taste-loving-me but not for him.  Unfortunately he hasn't been home since then so I am trying hard to limit myself to two loquats a day so that there are still some left for him to enjoy when he gets back home on Saturday.

It's a very exciting moment to have my own fruit growing in the garden.  Our other trees are going okay, with out apricot having one single green apricot on it and our nectarine having quite a few.  Our nectarine had some fruit appear last year but we pulled them off so it could concentrate on growing.  It is still quite small but we decided to leave the fruit on and see what happens this year.

Nectarines

Apricot

Is there anything exciting happening in your garden at the moment?

 

Two

Today my liver turns two. 

Two years since that precious gift from an unknown young man. 

I think about him and his family as I make my traditional anniversary cupcakes. Raspberry, Apple and Cinnamon this time. Do they do something each year in remembrance of him? Or does it pass quietly, individually, retrospectively?  I feel he should be celebrated. But I understand if they are not ready yet.  

I've just gotten back from my first overseas holiday post transplant.  New Zealand.  A place I would never have had a chance to experience if not for the generosity of an anonymous family.  So many experiences I've had in the last two years and so many moments to come that I owe to them.

How do you say thank you for something like that?

Unfortunately, my leukaemia disallows me from donating organs or blood.  But if you are allowed to, you should consider becoming an organ donor or a blood donor.  There are so many people in need and it is such a amazing gift to be able to give.

Last week I wore a bikini for the first time since surgery.  My scar is still there but it is now just a part of me, I often forget it is there. Parts of it have faded a lot, parts are still pink. I don't mind. Oddly, I am less self conscious of my stomach now than I have ever been.  I'll have to take another photo soon for the records and compare.

Oh look, I made something.

You would be forgiven for not realising (or remembering) that this is a bit of a craft blog.  There has been such a big drought of crafty activity of late on here.  However, that is not to say I haven't been making things.  I've made 3 crochet slouch beanies (and sold one).  As mentioned in yesterday's post I've also started to learn about circular knitting and knitted one beanie with another on the way.

I also finally finished putting together this clock that I started over a year ago.  It was originally destined to be an engagement present for my best friend but I ended up finding a quite expensive wedding present that she had oohed and ahhed over quite a bit whenever we went past a certain shop so did a combined wedding and engagement present.  So then it was going to be a Christmas present but I got a bit slack so finally it turned into a birthday present.

I've made one of these clocks before, also using ink and spindle fabric which is just perfect with its classic and not too fussy designs for a bit of embroidery embellishment.  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, particularly with just the embroidery down the left side.  I think that adds a nice touch of detail to the overall look.

I toyed around with adding buttons or numbers but my friend isn't a super handmade-y sort of person so I just went for not too much.

I combined a red and a brown floss together to do the brown section of the robin to give it a more feathery appearance.

I had trouble with both clocks in this area, sticking down the fabric when it was highly embroidered.  Lots of bubbling which I couldn't work out how to fix.

Finishing off the clock has made me miss embroidery so I've decided once I've finished this beanie the next project is going to be back to the needle and thread.  Perhaps I might finish off my final sashiko panel?


Also in the things I've made recently category is this cake for my Dad's 60th.  He is a bit Lego fan and collects quite a lot each year.  He is also slightly obsessed with the colour highlighter green.  So with my sister's help we decorated this cake I made with fondant.  Our first attempt at ever using it! I definitely couldn't have done it without her help, for one thing I didn't have the arm strength for rolling it all out as well as she does!  It may not look big but that cake is big enough to serve 40 people! That is a whole lot of eggs, butter, flour, buttermilk and sugar and lots of surface area needing to be covered smoothly by fondant.  MR helped as well, he has a very good eye for measurement and he was in charge of leveling out the cake top.  I used this vanilla buttermilk cake recipe which is now my official birthday cake recipe.  SO so good.  Dense but moist and super high on flavour.  And even better, for those of you who love a bit of raw cake batter (like me) but who also wish to avoid the eating of raw eggs (which I should, but often don't) in this mixture you add the eggs in last of all so there is plenty of yummy cake batter tasting moments to be had and believe me (and my post raw cake batter feast sore tummy), cake batter without egg is just as tasty!

After Emma's beautiful butter icing Lego cake just a few weeks prior, I'd had a chance to get a few tips from her about tricky bits - ie. the Lego 'bumps' on top.  To combat the difficulty of icing rounds of cake, Oreos or marshmallows we simply rolled out some extra fondant and cut out circles with a scone cutter.  Much quicker and easier.

Certainly not perfect but for a first attempt we were pretty pleased with our efforts.

Two sleeps

Just two sleeps til MR and I head off to NZ for 11 days.  It is finally starting to feel real. 

Today I looked up the weather in NZ and it is forecast for between 14-20 maximums.  Good thing we have been out and bought some thermals and nice thick merino jackets. 

I have finished making a beanie for MR to wear and I am about half way through a beanie for myself.  I finally bit the bullet and gave circular knitting a try and it is actually incredibly much easier than it looks.  Both beanies have been/are being circular knitted.  Unfortunately I am not at all very fast at this knitting business and that means I am going to have to work hard to get mine all finished in time.  Of course, I am making myself a slouch beanie which means a bigger area of knitting to be done.  Silly!

We've booked all of our accommodation bar one night where we're going to be on the road and not sure how far we're going to make it.  Our car hire is booked and we've borrowed a tom tom off a friend who has the New Zealand maps downloaded to it, saving us about $100 from if we were to hire one with the car so that's nice.

We haven't booked any activities yet, we'll wait til we're over there and make some decisions there.  I have a big list of things I would like to do/see though.

I've got all our documents photocopied twice to put in the carry on and suitcases.  MR got a case for himself and it just happened that we were in Myer on a day they had 40% off luggage so that was a big score as well!  However, both of our cases are still sitting in the lounge room completely empty.  My next job for today is to start doing some outfit planning now that I have all the washing just about up to date.  I am a terrible packer but I've been reading some tips from Jarrah Jungle and Jacana and I'm determined to make a better go of it this time.  I want to have lots of space for shopping, even though MR thinks shopping is not a necessary thing to schedule in to our holiday!

NZ Baby!

You may remember me mentioning a couple of months ago that MR and I were thinking about planning a holiday to New Zealand.

Well, that thinking has turned into action!  I got my letters from the specialists, found out that I could get travel insurance and now we've booked!  We're going in October for 11 days and I am quite beside myself with excitement.  That's only five and a bit weeks away!

For those who are interested, it was only an extra $100 to have my Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia and Liver Transplant covered during the trip.  I was expecting a lot more that that!  I guess it does depend on your age, status of your condition and where you are travelling though.  NZ and Australia have a reciprocal health agreement which makes things more friendly.

Of course, after we booked, I was driving home one day making up lists of what to take in my head and into my mind (thankfully) popped the passport aspect.  Mine had expired.  Argh!  After having a big stress about not being able to go because my passport wouldn't arrive in time, I found out it only takes about 2 weeks for a new one to arrive so off I went for new photos and to fork over a ridiculous amount of money.

Look what old age steroids have done to my jaw line.

We've even planned a bit of an itinerary.  We're flying in to Auckland at about 6am so the plan is to jump into a hire car and drive to Te Puke (MR has family there) where we will visit for a couple of days and do things like glow worm caves, waterfalls, a big flying fox and hot pools.  Then we're off to Rotorua, Taupo and Masterton on the way to Wellington.  We're going to stop in at some cheese farms to indulge in lots of yummy cheese.

Following that we're flying to Queenstown where we'll stay for a couple of nights and then head over to Dunedin before flying back to Auckland and flying out.

For the south island we have planned:

• snow
• maybe Milford Sound
• Arrowtown
• some famous burger joint in Queenstown
• Butterfly Experience at the Otago Museum
• maybe a penguin experience

Of course, there is still lots to be planned, where to stay, what else to see, hire a car and so forth.  So I'm very open to suggestions of great places to go (or stay).  Particularly cool crafty shops or nice galleries.  We've been saving up for some art for our walls and are thinking about buying something while we're over there to remember the trip by.  So have you been to NZ or are you a local?  Please, please share your expertise!

Life lessons

Last night I was just about to fall into bed when I realised I had yet to take off my makeup. And I wondered, why don't I ever take it off as soon as I get home? Instead, every makeup wearing night I ponder the actual harm of going to bed in it. And sometimes, even though I know better, I still do.

It got me thinking about other little life lessons I am still working on learning. Things I know I should do but am just not quite there yet...

Like:

Put it away once you're finished with it.

Case in point: look at all those things I hadn't put away until
yesterday when I cleaned my desk.

If you don't try it won't happen. 

Eat five serves of veggies every day (yesterday's pitiful effort was a big fat zero).

Everyone is neither talking about you or judging you.

Don't put off til tomorrow what you can do today.

Every hour of sleep before midnight is worth two after it. 

Exercise regularly.

Of course, after making that depressing list that makes me sound like a fussy make up wearing five year old, I had to counter it by listing the life lessons I have learnt... 

Appreciate the small things. 

Have regular conversations with your partner. 

Take time for yourself (I do this way too well). 

Do things you enjoy. 

Pity I still sound like a fussy make up wearing five year old (with a boyfriend). 

What makes your lists of still learning and achieved?

  

The Really Just Right Shoes

Today while reading Maxabella Loves I came across a new little group to join.  My type of group that might encourage me to write a bit more, something I've been wanting to do for a while but am entirely very slack about actually doing.

The Blogfast Club is run by katesaysstuff but it seem to have a different home each week so we can all tour the traps.  This week it is being hosted by Syrenex.

So I sat straight down and came up with this little short story for the theme this week which is a children's story about New Shoes.  This is a ten minute job and could probably do with lots of tweaking before being sent out into space but that's the good thing about this sort of writing, it's just about putting it down and getting it out there.  No need for perfection and I can always come back and fine tune it for my own benefits at a later date.

Also, please ignore the fact that the picture does not at all relate to the shoes in the story, we'll just gloss over that part...

The Really Just Right Shoes

Last night as Mum and I tidied up my bedroom Mum said I need new shoes.

“No way!” I said.  My shoes are just right.  They are red and they have lights that flash and even though the Velcro doesn’t stay stuck together and I kick them off when I play soccer in the playground, they are still just right for me.

“Wouldn’t it be nice to have some different shoes though?” Mum asks me.

“No. I like my shoes how they are.  They are comfortable and they don’t squeak and even though the sole is coming off of one they are really just right.”

“How about if we looked for some just the same then,” Mum asked as she tucked me into bed.

“No, there’s really no need Mum.  My shoes are so quick and easy to put on even though they are actually a bit hard to put on because they are tight at the toes and I have to stomp a bit to get my foot in.  But they are still Just Right.”

“Hrm.” says Mum and she looked at me.  You know that look where her eyebrows go up and her mouth goes together all scrunchy-like to the side and she just waits.  That one.  I looked back.  It lasted a little while.

I know what that look means.  Mum uses it all the time.  It means Have you really thought about what you are saying?

“Mum, really.  They are Really Just Right.  Even though there is a hole in one toe they are.  They Really Are.”

Mum just kept on looking at me with That Look.

I sighed.

Maybe she’s right.

Tulips

These beautiful tulips from MR are on my tallboy in the bedroom at the moment. Catching the afternoon Winter sun. Looking amazing. I could lie here all afternoon smiling at them. They make me happy. Just what I need after a few annoying days stuck in hospital. 

I am not really much of a flower type girl. Many of them are too pongy and give me a headache. But Spring bulbs I could have in my house any day. Tulips, Snowdrops, Bluebells and Ranunculus particularly. I love how you can gently pull down the tulip leaves a little bit and they go all curly. It's like hair styling for flowers. 

I often think as I am looking at photos of flowers (or trying to arrange a bunch myself) how do you get them looking so beautiful? I never seem to get it looking quite as nice. The only thing I have learnt about arranging flowers, or anything really, is that odd numbers grouped together look better. It is something I did a little bit instinctively without really realising and then when I read it, it was a bit of an epiphany moment. 

Are you are flower arranging queen or have you done a flower arranging course? I've love some more tips. 

And what flowers would you have in your home year round if there were no climatic restrictions? 

  

Shopping for an occasion

Not too long after my transplant a few years ago, I found myself out at the shops looking for a whole new set of clothing for a particular occasion.  The occasion of having to be stuck in hospital and wanting to wear something other than pyjamas. 

Now don't get me wrong, I do love my pyjamas and happily wear them all day when I'm not feeling the best.  But sometimes you have visitors, or want to pop down to the cafeteria for something more palatable than the hospital meal you've been served.  And sometimes you just want to have proper clothes on in the off chance that the doctors will look at you, see that you're dressed, presume you are well and send you home.*

Winter hospital clothing is quite easy, trackie dacks or yoga pants, a few loose tees and some cardies or zip up jackets.  Jumpers are no good due to cannulas sticking out of your arm in awkward places and having your obs done every hour or so.  I also like to buy the stretchy crop top bras because they are more comfortable to lounge around in if you feel the desire to bother putting one on.

Summer hospital attire is a little bit more difficult.  There really is nothing that compares in comfort and coolness to a pair of boxers.  I've purchased a few trial items such as knee length trackies but am still looking for just the right garment for the bottom half.  Yoga pants sometimes work okay as the air con is usually set to The North Pole.

Luckily at the moment it is Winter and my wardrobe now has sufficient amounts of trackie dacks and loose tees.  Luckily, I was up to date on my washing.



Have you ever shopped for a strange occasion?







* unfortunately this has not yet happened to me.