The Last Post Before Christmas

Since my two dogs act like they have just snorted a line of coke when you put their christmas hats on I had to resort to using an image I found on the net.......

Merry Christmas to all my followers and may you have a safe and happy holiday season.

The Ornament I Received and Other Things

Well as mentioned at the end of my last post here is a picture of the ornament that my partner sent me....the stitching and finishing is beautiful :)

I really want to learn how to finish off ornaments more beautifully rather than the slap dash methods I  tend to use due to running out of time.

The end of November MOTH and I had been together for 22 years and after dropping a hint the night before I got home from work and found these waiting for me.....

They were amazing!!
I was talking to my mum the next day on the phone and the conversation went something like this.....
Me " I had a wonderful surprise waiting for me when I got home from work yesterday"
Mum " Oh what was it ? "
Me " A large bunch of flowers"
Mum " Who were they from??"

WHAT THE LOL. So my response was "from the butcher" then she clicked and said "what did "N" do? "  LOL

Oh and finally here is a photo of the extent of my Christmas decorating so far....

I think I am going for the minimalist look this year LOL

123mb Ornament Exchange

For the last few years I have been participating in an ornament exchange over at a message board I frequent.

The exchange is super well organised and I have always received a wonderful partner.

For 2012 my partner was Barb, this is the ornament I sent her......

It is from the JCS 2011 ornament issue and the colour palette is my own. The only thing I would change would be the white "o" but it is supposed to be a snowflake :-)

My next post will be the lovely ornament that I received from Barb.

Friday Funny

This Weekend

SEASON 5

My Exchange Parcel Received

Well Mariann finally received my halloween exchange parcel......

And I also included some chocolate as what exchange is complete without chocolate. LOL

Now back to stitching christmas ornaments for exchanges.

Exchange Goodness and The Wedding

Well, the wedding was lovely but the spring weather was as usual unpredictable. We drove down in the pouring rain, checked into our hotel and well it being a country town there wasn't much else to do so went and sat in the bar.

Saturday dawned overcast and drizzly but as the day progressed the sun decided to come out and the clouds decided to vanish.

The venue for the wedding was amazing the spring blossom was out on the fruit trees........

Once the sun went down though holy moley it got cold and I mean freezing cold, most of us ended up playing pass the jacket, I ended up with MOTH's nieces jacket, she had on her boyfriends etc. It actually got so cold that we stopped drinking, yep that is correct it got to cold to drink LOL.
We ended up back in our hotel room by about 10pm. MOTH was asleep and I was lying there freezing my ample butt off so I got up put on a jumper, cranked the heater up and then managed to get some sleep.
All in all it was a great time and it was good to get away for the weekend but it is also good to get home again.

Now for some crafty news

I participated in a fob exchange and I made my partner a crocheted fob

Which I adapted from this pattern Yellow Pink and Sparkly Blog

and I received this in return from my patner (apologies this photo is totally crap but if you are a regular reader of this blog you know I take crap photos!) I currently have it hanging on a multi tiered candle holder as it really is to pretty to use as a scissor fob. (oh and I am debating as to if I should dye the lacy tablecloth in the above picture to some funky colour!)

I was also involved in a Halloween exchange and I had the most wonderful swap partner called Mariann, I don't think she has a blog :-(
Mariann sent me the most wonderful box of goodies and the ornament she stitched was fabulous......

I can't show you what I sent Mariann yet as it is still to arrive in her mail box, it has only been 15 days so far so hopefully early next week.....

Well the weekend is nearly upon us and I am happy to report that we actually have nada, zip, zero things on this weekend which is a first for us in awhile and I am totally looking forward to it.
The weather is supposed to be warming up with a high of about 27C on Sunday which means that MOTH will get the Harley out dust of the cobwebs and take it for a ride which will leave me at home on my own for half the day and I intend to craft that time away and watch the Simpsons - yes every Sunday morning I get 4 hours of the Simpsons on Foxtel. It is a nice way to start finishing off the weekend.

Well until next time Ciao

Am I Abnormal?

I am sitting here at work pondering the ways of the world and reading some blogs (now before some of you get all snippy this is between doing what I am supposed to be doing) and it got me to wondering...........

* Cue Sex in the City Theme Song

AM I/WE ABNORMAL .....

• At home I don't have a wireless internet device we are plugged into the wall. (not dial up though thank God)
• I don't have a laptop I have a PC
• We still use windows xp
• My mobile phone is not a "smart phone"
• I have an iPad but it is a work one and kept at work
• We don't download movies or tv shows
• If the power goes off I need to read the DVR manual to reset the time
• I still have a stash of VHS movies sitting around
• MOTH will not do internet banking or pay bills online
• We don't listen to music at home through an iPod we still use CD's or "gasp" listen to the radio
• I accidentally found out how to "series link" a tv show on my DVR

Do you sometimes feel that technology is just going way to fast for you to keep up with?

This Weekend

Tomorrow is a......

We are heading away for the weekend to stay here...............

To attend a...............

There will be lots of..................

And.....

And Sunday I will need to face a 4 hour drive home with maybe this as a passenger.... Oh I will be the passenger as MOTH will be driving LOL

Yep I Am Still Here

Wow, I can't believe how long it has been since I posted on my blog. Maybe it is because it is winter and life revolves around work and keeping warm, mind you here in Western Australia winters are very mild compared to other parts of the country/world. The Almond tree over the fence is chock full of blossom which means that spring should just be around the corner, well actually as tomorrow is the 1st of September that is spring but I mean the warmer weather, lighter mornings etc.

So what has been happening since I last posted....well.

I have had a birthday, next year will be the big 50 and frankly it doesn't freak me out but ask me that again in 2013 LOL.

I have been doing some hooky happiness. I found this wool at a $2 shop and couldn't resist the colours. It will eventually become a throw for the back of the couch and more than likely the dogs will claim it as their own, but with the wool being acrylic I can just toss it in the washing machine.

I received in the mail this fabulous magazine and leave it out on the coffee table for inspiration along with all my other crafting crap LOL

In the left of the picture is the new Lizzie Kate Mystery Sampler I have part one and two to complete and the only mystery will be when will I get this finished LOL

I have completed my exchange piece for the scissor fob exchange but can't post any pictures until it arrives at its destination, at this moment it is either over the Indian Ocean or Europe. I am now in the process of doing my exchange piece for the Halloween Exchange and that is going to be this weekends project along with watching season 3 of Dexter!

Oh and I have created a new page on my blog for Celtic Banner. I have joined a SAL with 5 other stitchers to try and get this piece finished. I don't know what it is about this piece but the mojo just isn't there with it and it will be stunning when it is finished. The other stitchers either haven't started the piece yet or like me it is languishing in the unfinished pile, so fingers crossed this works.

So really the last 6 weeks or so have been work, come home, work, come home oh here is the weekend blah blah blah. Oh hang on we went to a quiz night last Saturday night, we hadn't been to one for so long and it was fun except that you could hear the questions better when you were in the toilet rather than when you were at your table which was hilarious and I can't believe out of 6 people on our table I was the only one who had read Harry Potter and could answer the questions on this topic.

Well if you have stuck with me this long on my ramble thank you so much and I promise that my next blog post wont be in 6 weeks time.
Ciao for now...............

Back from my Winter Break - Picture heavy post

Now you know why I flew from Wellington to Christchurch LOL.
30 Minutes on a plane beats 2.5 hours of throwing up!

Mind you I did miss scenery like this....

It was great being home again, mums birthday party went off without a hitch, no earthquakes, no snow but it was still freezing that night. I was so glad that it was held at her place and we didn't have to venture out LOL

MOTH, myself, my brother and SIL all put in and bought mum a new 41" flat screen tv, she had no idea we were getting if for her and was a great pleasure to replace her old tv that was something like this....

Last time I was in Christchurch was Feb 2011 and as many of you remember that was when the devastating earthquake hit Christchurch and many lives and buildings were lost.
I did do a quick trip into what used to be Cashel Mall and from this in February 2011...

It is slowly being transformed back into a shopping hub with shops reopening in brightly coloured shipping containers.... It is great to see tourists returning to the area.

I made two new friends while I was away :)

WALTER

PUGLY

So really it was a whirlwind trip home, but well worth it as the wine, food, family, friends etc were excellent as usual and with mother nature behaving it felt like the Christchurch of old.

Off to the Land of the Long White Cloud

My mother is having a significant birthday, so being the most wonderful daughter in the world I am heading home to help her celebrate.  MOTH* is coming along for the ride too.
But we are not doing things the normal way by flying from Perth to Christchurch with a 3 hour stop over in either Melbourne or Sydney.....NO...... we are taking our time getting there.

1. Leaving Perth and it it wonderful winter weather - I might have to retract that statement as we had a storm come through yesterday and we had no power for 6 hours!

Average Winter Temperatures
June: Daytime 18-21C	Overnight Minimum 9-12C
July: Daytime 15-18C	Overnight Minimum 6-9C
August: Daytime 18-21C	Overnight Minimum 9-12C

2. Arriving in Melbourne, catching up with friends for dinner and staying the night at a hotel.

3. Flying from Melbourne to Wellington, and spending the night in another hotel. (I haven't been to Wellington since I was about 10 years old and MOTH has never been there. But we don't arrive till near 5pm and being winter it will either be nearly dark or dark so we wont actually see much)

4. Now this is where it gets interesting...The next day MOTH heads off to catch the Ferry across to Picton (according to today's weather forecast there are gale force winds in the Strait!)  What the crossing may be like when he arrives in Picton he then jumps on a train and arrives in Christchurch about 6pm.

(a) Where as I being of sound mind  will be flying from Wellington down to Christchurch and arriving at lunchtime

Have packed some crafty stuff to take with me, in case we get a dumping of snow and I cant get out and about - which happened last week in Christchurch!

Photos and updates to occur when I get back as my mum doesn't have a computer and I dont' have one of those smart phone things :)

*Man of the house

A Funny Thing Happened On The Weekend

Now those of you who know me, know I hate ironing. In fact I go out of my way to buy clothing that doesn't need ironing.

But the MOTH in a moment of fevered I don't know what went out and bought himself some clothes.  Amongst the new purchases were a couple of black dress shirts. I thought geez that makes a difference from him wearing a polo shirt out when we go out or pulling on a tatty old tshirt with a saying splashed across the front.

Well yesterday we had a family picnic to go to and about half an hour before we were leaving MOTH announces he was going to take a shower and that he would like to wear one of his black shirts.....

My first thought was holy c*** where are the shirts and then I stopped panicking when I realised I had washed them the other week so they were clean which is a bonus point, but then it was minus 5 bonus points when I realised it was still in the bottom of the clean laundry basket arghhhhhhhhhh

My next thought was holy holy c*** where is the iron!!
Now I haven't seen the iron for about 12 - 18 months but I faintly remember my mum using it when she was over at Christmas time ( my mum is an ironaholic, so obviously that gene missed a generation)

Now I know that no one was going to buy the excuse.......

especially MOTH so I had to find the iron and fast. I knew that he was nearing the end of his shower and would want to head out the door soon after.

After finding the ironing board rather quickly (in less than 5 minutes) and no, the iron was not with the ironing board!

I checked the laundry, the master bedroom cupboards, the office, the guest room and well basically that was our house (it isn't a McMansion) I still couldn't find the iron. 

I was starting to panic and thought oh well, good ole polo shirts here we come when I went into the guest room to turn off the light and there sitting on top of the filing cabinet (yep I know I said our house has an office but the filing cabinet is kept in the guest room and that is totally another story for another day) was the stupid iron!!

Now I'm not sure if it mysteriously orbed there from an alternate universe or if I just hate ironing so much that I had a man look and didn't register the evil household appliance sitting there........

So anyhoo, I was ironing the shirt when MOTH got out of the shower and came over to see how I was going.

He opened his mouth and the following started to come out....."Your mum irons better than you" well I turned to him and he was on the other end of this ......

Well the above was  better than an iron shaped burn mark on his forehead!!!!

RIP Disco Queen

Attending Disco's in the 70's would not have been the same without the music of this woman.

RIP Donna Summer.

PS I was working part time while at school back in the 70's and an album of Donna Summers was one of the first albums I ever bought with my hard earned money.

 I wont tell you what the another album was that I saved up to buy - that is just way to embarrassing LOL

Thilent Tuesday

Why Didn't You Tell Me What I Was Missing??!!

Well the MOTH* is currently away for a week having a bonding session with his blokey mates and when I am getting home from work the dogs haven't being much of a conversationist, except to welcome me home with so much enthusiasm you would have thought I had trekked to the South Pole and back ( I am only out of the house for just under 12 hours, mind you in dog time that is a long time). Once they are feed I am pretty much ignored but this lead me to thinking how to fill the few hours until bed etc.
I tried rewatching some DVD's I had but just couldn't focus so the other day during my lunchbreak I went to the DVD store and there sitting out on special was...........

All for under $20 a season. So I picked up season 1 -4 and settled in on Tuesday night for a bit of DVD watching.

Have I been living under a rock or something, I love this show! I love the fashion! the music! the people! How come this has been on tv for 4 seasons with the 5th season just started here in Australia and I had never watched it!

I have just started watching season 2 and can't wait to get home tonight, fill the dogs in on my latest expedition, pour a glass of wine, hit the play button and be transported back to the 60's.

Oh and if Don Drapper knocked on my door while MOTH was away I don't think I would be telling him to go away...who knows the dogs might like to hear about his latest expedition :)

*Man of the house

April 25

Liebster Award

I have just been awarded the Liebster Award by a fellow blogger. Her link is here:

http://remakeremixreuse.blogspot.com.au

Thank you so much :)

This award

is given to a blogger with less than 200 followers.

It is a german word that holds many

meanings such as favorite,

dearest or beloved.

There are 5 rules

1. Post the Award on your blog.

2. Link back to the blog that gave you

the award.

3. Reveal 5 things that no one knows about you.

4. Give the award to 5 other bloggers.

5. Leave them a comment telling them you

gave them the award.

The 5 things that no one knows about me are:

1. I do not have a driving license. My late dad reckoned I had the coordination of a pineapple...and as fathers always are... he was right!

2. I have been with the same man for ohhh 22 years this year and when people ask us if we are going to get married, we look at each other and laugh hysterically.

3. I don't eat brussel sprouts, cauliflower or parsnips.

4. My dad and I shared the same birthday.

5. When I was in my mid 20's I got retrenched from my job and spent all my money on a round the world air ticket.

Now it is time to tell you the following blogs

whom I will give the Liebster Award to. I am

sure that you will like them all as well as I do.

1. Trucking with Molly

http://truckinwithmolly.blogspot.com.au/

2. Needles Pins and Dragonflies

http://needlespinsanddragonflies.blogspot.com.au/

3. Furry Bottoms

http://furrybottoms.blogspot.com.au/

4. A Bit of This and That
http://mylittlestitchingblog.blogspot.com.au/

5. Taffys Treasures
http://taffystreasures.blogspot.com.au/ 

All that is left is to leave

them a comment telling them that I have

nominated them for the Liebster Award.

And so another weekend begins. Have a good one folks!

Big Corporations Do Not Run The World

Apple have been taken to court here in Australia, do they think that we are some backwoods country who doesn't have 21st century telecommunications!!

Apple Offers iPad Refunds

They need to look at their advertising or use of words very carefully and realise that not every country conforms to what is available in the US.

No Aprils Fools Joke

Whoo Hoo, we just got our tickets for the West Coast Blues n Roots music festival. Sunday 1st April us old folks will be grooven with the younguns!!  Huh and my brother was bragging that he got tickets for christmas, well all good things come to those that wait :)

West Coast

Blues ‘n’ Roots artists

• 

  John Fogerty

• 

  Crosby, Stills & Nash

• 

  The Pogues

• 

  The Specials

• 

  Buddy Guy

• 

  My Morning Jacket

• 

  Blitzen Trapper

• 

  Steve Earle

• 

  Keb’ Mo’

• 

  Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue

• 

  Gin Wigmore

• 

  Husky

• 

  The Sheepdogs

• 

  Zydecats

• 

  Felicity Groom

• 

  Ruby Boots