12 Days of Christmas - Day 7 and a New Year Resolution

New scissors

These will be replacing my current needlework scissors in the new year.

Speaking of the New Year, my resolution for 2017 will be to take better bloody photos!!

More Festive Goodies

First off is this years christmas tree. Very minimalist!

Made from a magazine, very therapeutic all that folding LOL

Now for my 12 Days of Christmas.

Day 3 - two cute little kits.

Day 4 - Cute Kitchen Timer, crumbs included LOL

Day 5 - Bobbins

Day 6 - included a needle minder, I have always wanted one of these.

So how is everyone's Christmas prep coming along. I hope to finish off my shopping today or tomorrow. I have one last grocery shop to do, which will be Friday as I am not going near the shops on Christmas eve.

Thankfully I don't need to wrap to much...Yay for gift cards LOL!!!

But I do need to go out and buy myself a trifle/salad bowl as I am am down to make trifle for Christmas day.

The forecast for Christmas Day is looking to be about 35 degrees Celsius which isn't to bad. 

Well that is about it for now. I hope to post later in the week with the rest of my 12 days of Christmas.

Finally Have Time To Post

Wow where has the year gone!

I may as well jump straight into a Christmas post.

At work we decorate our areas and I decided to go with a Star Wars theme. I picked up the paper at Typo (three rolls for $10, the excess is coming home with me and being put to good use wrapping presents). The tree was about $5 dollars from Big W years ago and the decorations were the toys out of Kinder Surprises.

So with out further ado here is my decorating for Christmas 2016......

Now I have pulled back on the number of exchanges I do due to the high cost of postage but the one I do do each year is through a Yahoo Cross Stitching Group. The exchange is called 12 days of Christmas. You send your partner 12 wrapped presents and one is opened each day from the 13th December. This year Lynne from Scotland sent me a parcel and so far this is what I have received.

Day one/ A cute little cross stitched hand towel.

Day two/ Christmas Tree Candle

I love this exchange and can't wait to open the rest of my pressies.

UPDATE BLOGGER BEING A PITA

Arghhhh the list of blogs I follow is missing!!!!

Update.....
I am having to recreate my blog stalking list, I have no idea where it went or if it will ever come back.

If you follow me and you please send me a link to your blog so that I can add it back to my stalking list :)

Two Posts In A Week

I know, I know. Blog posting with me is either feast or famine and apparantley August is heading towards the feast side of things but I just had to share.....

I picked up my August Fandom of the Month Box this morning on my way to work and just had to share what it contained.

Now this should give you a clue - it was on top and is a postcard and a fridge magnet.

Do you know what this months theme is yet? Another clue to follow:

Yes it is a HOGWARTS themed box and it contained:

A bracelet made up of all the Houses badges (now not sure if I will wear this but it can be repurposed)

Earrings - which if you look closely have Hogwarts on them (these I am currently wearing)

A Fat Lady necklace and she moves when you twist it from side to side (now I will probably wear this but take it off the chain and perhaps put it on a ribbon or something)
And last but not least.......

A Whomping Willow ring, this is awesome and have already had comments about.

For about $33 Aus a month this is a great little treat to myself. Now wonder what the August box will bring. Oh and I promise I will take pics from the beginning of the opening process :)

What August Already

What happened to July, it seemed to just whiz past.

I thought winter was supposed to be a time of hibernating, lounging in front of the fire/heater, binging on tv and crafting or reading the weekend away....nup not for this girl. July seemed to be super busy what with work and committments on the weekends (I did manage to have a few three day weekends but that extra day was spent doing housework).

Anyhoo what did I get up to in July......

We have had lotto jackpots everywhere but alas nothing for moi.


I have been op shopping (charity shopping for those not in OZ) and picked up some great little bargains...

Got this for $5, I now have friends scouting around for the rest of the set. A complete set on ebay is $$$ and I don't mind if they are different colours. This one has had the handle glued back on but that doesn't worry me.

Next I picked this up

This too was only a couple of dollars, it was the colours that I feel in love with and I repurposed it into a votive candle holder which is currently sitting on my kitchen bench.

This gem was only $2.25 as it was damaged, now I think something from the 1930's shows wear not damage and all I could find was a little chip on the underside of the rim.... It is English china and it is gorgeous.

Now I am not someone who puts this stuff on display and not use it. The flour container is holding flour, and this bowl will be used when needed.

I didn't get much cross stitch done in July but did finish knitting the back of my new jacket/cardigan and hope to get this finished in time to wear it a couple of times before summer arrives.

All my tv shows seem to have finished at once so I am looking around for new things and found Thirteen "26-year-old Ivy Moxam steps out of an ordinary house, on an ordinary street, on an ordinary day. Ivy hasn't been seen for thirteen years, she was kidnapped in 2003 at the age of thirteen."
I have watched episode one and have enjoyed it so far.

What I have tried to watch in July and just couldn't get into:

• Wayward Pines S2 - loved S1 but....well I don't know what it was but I have now deleted it from my planner.
• Mama Mia the movie - OMG I wanted to poke my eyes out after 30 mins

Saturday night I made this for dinner Bacon Wrapped Chicken with parmesan  hassleback potatoes, it was lovely but I think I will tweek the recipe next time and use some maple syrup instead of brown sugar and do more potatoes according to MOTH!

Ciao till next time
PS

*Rita if you are reading this post ..... you will have a letter soon, I am writing it in dribs and drabs :)

In The Words Of LRB "Reminiscing"

I was out for a walk at lunchtime making the most of the sun on a coolish winters day and noticed the amount of people either talking or looking at their mobile phones and it got me thinking back to yesteryear, well actually early 80's and when your phone looked like this

 and if you were really lucky you had one stuck to the wall and it might have even been push button.....

I remember getting home from work in the "olden" days and then spending the next few hours ringing my friends or family up and filling each other in on our days or making plans for the evening or weekend that was coming up.
None of this constant vibrating, beeping or flashing like there is now around a table.
We also seemed to have less emergencies then as I very rarely remember work collegues getting rang up at work due to an emergency.

Don't get me wrong I carry two mobile phones around, one work and one personal and play games on it at night but I don't walk around with it stuck in my face.

Okay rant over I am off to dust off my zimmerframe and and play words with friends on my phone LOL.....Words with Friends now that is a topic for another blog post another time!

Now Into July

First off update on my June UFO stitching.....

Beginning of June - Glendon Place Witches Wheel

End of June - Glendon Place Witches Wheel

This one was fun to stitch, I have found it really hard to pack it away until its turn comes around again in my rotation.

Now July is back to this one - yet another Glendon Place Stitch (I think I am addicted LOL)

This was where I was at at the end of January, so will be interesting to see how much I get this month. Mind you I have got three count em, three long weekends coming up this month. I am trying to use some annual leave up.

Our baby girl that returned home last month is doing great, mind you MOTH* and I are so paranoid about her going out the front it is hilarious. The vet reckons she might have a had a small brain fart and when she came back to normal she was not in her comfort zone which is our street. Her "brother" is so happy to have her back and is back to annoying the crap out of her.

On the food front, it is winter here and soup has been the main thing cooking. I got home last night and was greeted by the smell of sweet potato and butternut pumpkin soup ready to blitz. Love using my slow cooker !!

Now I follow a great blog called Epbot. This blog is for all of you that have an inner geek, so far Jen and John have put me onto to some fabulous artwork and now I have them to thank for signing up to https://fandomofthemonth.cratejoy.com/  I have just picked up my latest package from the post office and once opened this is what I saw as the theme:

And inside the little cotton bag was:

Isn't it fantastic. Each month you get a magnet and a postcard which gives you a clue to the theme if you don't know what it is. Now I have a meeting tomorrow so I might accessorise with these goodies and see if anyone notices. LOL.
I think next months theme is HOGWARTS!!!! OMG OMG OMG!!! (does this seem a trifle over the top for someone who is turning 53 in just over a week - no don't answer that question thank you :)

Last months was Sherlock Holmes themed but I forgot to take photos. But have had comments on the necklace when ever I have worn it.

The weather is supposed to come in craptastic tonight and hang around until next week with hail, thunder, lightening etc. I hope it behaves enough for me to record the final episode of Outlander for the season on Sunday night - I get it through satellite tv and it tends to drop out in bad weather. But to cover this possible incident I am going to record it at different times over the following days if need be.
So next week with no Game of Thrones, final episode of Outlander and Wentworth nearing an end for season what is to become of my tv viewing.......hmmm might be time to pick up relationship with Buffy again or the ladies from Charmed or one of the many other DVD's that I own.

Well thats about it for now. Till next time

Ciao.......

Back Home Where She Belongs

Update on my Update


Yayy, all her blood work came back good. She was given a needle to help settle her stomach and that appears to have worked. Fingers crossed she is on her way back from this ordeal.

Update from my last post.

Well after 6 weeks missing our baby (well really old) furbaby is back home where she belongs.
I wont post any pictures of what she looked like on Friday when we picked her up from the wonderful people that managed to grab her, as the pictures show a very thin, scared old girl.

Friday night, Saturday and Sunday have been good days but  we took her off to the vet today as she didn't have a good night last night and they have done blood work to make sure she hasn't picked up anything during her adventure and to also try and pin down what made her suddenly take off.

She is still rather stressed and tense and the vet has said that if that doesn't start to come better over the next few days we may have to look at medication.

But hey our baby is home and that is all that matters.

Little Did I Know

That the title of my last blog entry would set the tone for the month......

But first an update on my UFO progress.

I finished my May UFO, yes finished it I tell you!!! Little did I realise that I had so little to do to finish it off.

As usual a totally craptastic photo, but a finish is a finish :)

Now my June UFO is this one.....

Glendon Place Witches Wheel

It is supposed to have beads on bits of it, but I hate beading so I will do a DMC conversion.
And I very rarely used the recommended fabric colour.....as you can tell LOL

Now to the rest of the month of May.....did a black cat cross my path, did I walk under a ladder!!

1. Early in the month, May 7th to be precise our 14 year old furbaby vanished, just like poof off the face of the earth. We drove around our area for 4 days straight looking in building sites, stopping and talking to people and nothing!

This has been so hard for MOTH, Norman our other furbaby and I. It is the not knowing that is the hardest. I have been posting on social media, putting up flyers, etc and nothing. Oh we have had the odd siting or two but it is never her. All we can do is continue to search and hopefully get closure on this.

2. My work computer is possessed, I keep getting locked out of my account at random times during the day. This has IT stumped, they have run so many scans and rebuilt profiles but nothing is helping so it looks like I will be getting a new PC in the coming weeks.

3. As I am not getting any younger I went to get my eyes retested and order new glasses. Now I paid my money upfront at the end of the exam for two new pairs of glasses. Last week I go to pick them up and only one pair was there, they had forgotten to order the second pair. Now I need two pair cause I leave one pair at work and carry the other ones in my bag for use at home etc so it is very inconvenient having to remember to take them home at the end of the working day and bring them with me each morning. Fingers crossed the other pair arrives next week.

4. We put our car in to get the bonnet and boot resprayed as the lacquer was peeling off and the car was looking blah. We get a phone call......oops your windscreen broke while we were taking it out (this is actually pretty common...apparently), MOTH had to ring the insurance company and get a new one fitted. Yay for the one free windscreen a year bit in the policy (which we have never had to use btw). So any hoo, we get the car back and it is crap. The job was done by a mate, well one of his staff actually, so they car is going back to get fixed up!

5. And the last thing which I am not very proud of is that I was rude and horrible to my mum on the phone and as soon as I hung up I felt so bad :(. I have never done it before but she rang me at work and I was having the above mentioned computer problems and working to a deadline and throw in a mini pity party behind my partition, and she just went on and on and on. I did apologise over the weekend when I next spoke to her (we don't live in the same town let alone country so we only talk weekly unless there is an emergency) and she is fine and coming to visit at Christmas time.

So if you have read this far sorry for the rambling but had to put it out somewhere LOL

Until next time ciao!

May Mayhem

First off progress on my April UFO stitching...

Beginning of April

End of April

Now this is what I have picked out for May

This is where it was left.

When I pulled this one out of its bag I realised that all the main stitching was done, it is just finishing off stems, roots, vines etc with is all single ply and not much. I can't believe I put this one away without finishing... I might even get a finish out of this lot. (sorry for the crappy photo but I couldn't get it to fit in my frame as it is a longish piece)

I did finish my knitted cowl last month and have started a pair of fingerless gloves as the weather is definitely turning cooler here in my part of the world. I have one glove done and ready to be sewn up. It is a super quick pattern and once finished I will post details of links to where you can find it.

Well just a quick update for now, hope to post again soon.

Monday Monday

I am just loving the dresses from Season 2 of Outlander. After last seasons fashion based on the highlands the opulence and colour in this new season is just so in your face. Here is a couple of highlights from episode 2.

Don't worry I wont be posting any spoilers here as I am sure there is enough to be found around the internet for those interested.

Well I have had my leave for Friday approved so I will be having a four day weekend...and all I can say to that is BRING IT ON!!  Next Monday is ANZAC day in Australia and New Zealand and it ties in nicely with the UFO I am currently working on and hope to have finished for ANZAC day next year...here is a memory jogger. I will post a photo of my progress at the end of the month, and I must say even I am impressed :)

I will leave you with a reminder that next Monday (here in Oz) is also a very big day in tv land.....

Finally Friday

Wow what a busy week.

Is anyone else watching season 2 of Outlander, it is brilliant. It did take me three nights to watch episode one due to MOTH taking over the tv to watch his crime shows and shows on the history channel (why do people watch the history channel...People it is history the outcome is not going to change!!)

I am currently knitting this 

The colour I have chosen is more of a dark grey/silver . I am up to the armhole shaping on the back, so may have it finished by next winter LOL. It is a free pattern by Cascade Yarns. Not sure how it will look on me as I am a bit chunky and this might be to short for me to get away with.

I did finish my "outlander cowl" from my previous post but not sure if I like it or not as it didn't turn out long enough and I used all the yarn that I bought for the project. I may undo it and knit it again using two balls of wool instead of 4 as originally done. It wont be as thick but it will be longer.

Can't wait for the weekend, I am going to whip up a big pot of butternut pumpkin and kumera soup and freeze it ready for the cooler weather, mind you the nights are getting a bit chillier around here and we did have soup one night this week.
This weekend I am also going to get some more stitches into my April UFO, do a little more knitting and try and watch a backlog of tv shows I have recorded on Foxtel and Free To Air...oh and along with the usual weekend chores.

I really need to start planning a holiday as it has been nearly 5 months since my Christmas break and life has been super busy and I am totally worn out. Next weekend is a long weekend as ANZAC day falls on the 26th, I have put in for the 22nd off but haven't had it approved yet.

Well better get back to the grindstone Ciao everyone.

April is Autumn

First of all update on my stitching....

At the beginning of March

At the end of March

Personally not bad progress but probably could have done more. But I really only get to stitch on the weekends.
Now on to my April UFO project..... This would have to be one of the first kits I ever bought, it has been languishing in the UFO bucket of doom because...honestly I have no bloody idea LOL.
Any whoo this is where it was when I picked it back up on Saturday afternoon.

And this is what it will look like when it is completed.

I have decided that at the end of June I will pick up my January UFO and just rotate the 6 for the rest of the year.

I also picked up a knitting UFO this weekend as winter is coming (GoT reference here people, can't wait for the new series)  I really want to finish this cowl/scarf whatever it is called...

I am using super big needles and using 4 balls of yarn at the same time, it is only basic plain knitting but the size of the needles make it hard for me to do more than a few rows at a time.
Well think that is it for now. So off to grab some lunch.

A Moment Of Insanity

OMG what have I done.... I have only gone and signed up for http://www.stepsafari.com/ which means trying to do 10,000 (yes 10,000) steps per day for 6 weeks. I totally know that I will be struggling but hopefully with the encouragement of the other people in my workforce that are taking part I wont totally embarrass myself LOL.

March Madness - Stitching, Music and Ramblings

Now where to begin and it is only Friday 4th March....

Here is an update on my UFO stitching from February

This was at the beginning of February - Lizzie Kate Very Scary Mystery Sampler

End of February

(WOW what a difference in the quality of photos when you get a new phone, thank you my darling brother!!)

Now my UFO for March is this one.....

Glendon Place - Frank's Family Portrait

As of the beginning of March my progress to date is very sad......

Now this one will be interesting as it has a lot of colour changes and that is one thing I hate LOL.

Treated myself to some new tunes to listen to.

The first one is the soundtrack to the new HBO Show "Vinyl" - brilliant show and awesome soundtrack - warning it does have bad language throughout the show but that isn't a problem with me.

 the next album I bought was

I first heard this when I was staying at my brothers place when I was on holiday. If you are into "alternative" meaning this will not be played on normal commercial radio then I totally recommend this album.

Next (hey I have been new music deprived for years LOL)

This is a New Zealand Reggae type band - highly recommend them as it is also very easy to listen too.

And finally.......

A couple of these songs have been totally overplayed but still a good album by a young Australian.

And some final ramblings...

Work is uber busy and we currently have a recruitment freeze in the State Government so replacing anyone who leaves is virtually impossible, so everyone is under the pump doing their own jobs and helping out where we can.
Thank god it is a long weekend here in the west so I will get three days to recharge my batteries.

I have been watching the US Presidential race on TV, OMG is the prospect of Donald Trump becoming President scary or what. I just hope the people who vote use commonsense to ensure a good outcome.