I GOT AN INTERVIEW

I have an interview for a job tomorrow at 9.00 a.m., don't panic. don't panic. Okay PANIC, oh my god what do I wear, what do I say, will I lost lost - don't be silly, its right on the edge of the lake.  Think girl, of all the questions they will ask you, sell yourself.  oooooohhhhhhhhhhhh I can't do that, I'm hopeless at selling myself, I freeze, I forget what I'm saying mid sentence. Don't panic, don't panic. Your're 51, grow up. Somewhere in there is a mature woman, what a time for the inner child to make her entrance.

Okay panic over, I'm calm, serene.  I've polished my shoes, made sure my clothes are ironed, I'll go through the selection criterea again. I'll go put petrol in the car and give it a quick clean. 

On a lighter less stressed out note, I just made roasted pumpkin and parsnip soup, very tasty.
Yesterday I sent off the amigurumi dolls to the magazine - they want them and the cheque for the last design is in the post.  It looks like my life is on the up and up. So even if I don't get the job at least it is experience, one more interview under my belt, I suppose each time it will get better.  See, I can be mature when I want.


ooooooohhhhhh Norma you like Johnny Depp as well, perhaps I should imagine the guy thats interviewing me is Johnny Depp star naked. 

Jan

A Frog he Would a Wooing go.......................

Pucker up Babe, your prince is here..................

Come on, look at me, aren't I a fine figure of a frog. You know you're just itching to kiss me. Take a chance. No tongue though. 

speechless still..........

........croaky and snufling.  Sounds likes an undertakers.

Matt knocked the head off the Balinese Running Duck last night.  How on earth am I going to shut the bathroom door now. I remember walking round Brisbane with it tucked under my arm, we caused a stir when we were waiting to cross the pedestrian crossing, I placed him on the floor and then stood back and watched the confused faces of the motorists.  My friend at this stage had totally disowned me. My husband was having a liver op and as we walked into the hospital to visit him he had been allowed out and was sitting in the hospital cafe with a cousin he had only just met that day. At least she knows now that the insanity doesn't run on their side of the family.  The duck I should say before the RSPCA come get me is a 3ft high wooden one, well he was before his head got knocked off. I got locked in the loo when the lock broke and a neighbour had to come break the lock off to get me out, I was intending to fit a new one, I've got the new lock and I'm hoping that if I look desperate enough I can get someone to fit it for me.  I can do it myself if I try, its not rocket science but until I get that bored the Duck will suffice with or without his head.  So now I shall shout - Locks broken on the loo door, ya'll have to out the headless duck behind the door.
Of course I made Matt feel really guilty, his late father collected ducks, it was a special present for him after his op, something to bring a smile to his face etc etc etc.   I wonder what damage he's going to do today, oh god I hope they don't let him loose with the chainsaw.

Jan

FUMING. SEETHING, ROPEABLE.........................

................. and a little bit mad.  I'd had a burst of energy around about 2.00 p.m. and went out to check the mower fuel. Since there was a little bit of fuel left I decided I would mow at the back of the house until the fuel ran out. I moved my car into the spot my son usually leaves his car and got to work. I finished the whole back lawn. Went in to get dinner on and left my car where it was. Son comes home from work and parks where I normally park my car.  Long story short, he goes out of house in a mood and promptly reverses into my car smashing the headlights. Of course its my fault for leaving the car there according to him.  I am so mad I am finding myself at a loss for words.


Jan 

and still snuffling.................

....................one box of tissues, endless packets of cough lollies and having a choking attack this morning scaring me, my son and the dog half to death have made me book a docs appointment. My throat just closed up and I couldn't breathe in or out, I was hammering on the bedroom wall and rattling the wardrobe doors and staggered out to the phone and had my finger over the 0 just as I managed to  breathe again.   I rarely get coughs and colds and when I do I can throw them off pretty quickly. This has floored me.  I had the Swine flu and normal flu vaccines a month ago  so I thought I was safe. 

I can't concentrate to craft, I'm struggling to read or do sudoku's and I have no appetite (which is good since I might finally lose a bit of weight). Matt starts his new job tomorrow with Parks and Gardens, he's hovering round like a mother hen, making sure I have plenty of  fluids and has brought me chicken soup.

Jan

Still snuffling, doc says its nothing to worry about just a spasm through coughing too much, if it happens again, just relax and wait for it to pass.  I'll remember that when I'm rolling round the bedroom floor going blue in the face.  I had a temp and my B.P was up but nothing major. I've just got to ride it out and hope everything clears up in a couple of days.
A few people I have spoken to about the flu vaccine have said they got a nasty cold shortly after. 

still snuffling

Still feel like crap.  Its wet and miserable and I've no money. Got up early and went into town and did a quick shop and put petrol in the car. Got to drag myself out to pay the phone bill shortly. 
Had a burst of energy last night and tidied up the place before I went to bed so not much to do today.

I'm going to do a couple of pedigree charts today, found out mums dads cousin was married to mum mums cousin.  My lot certainly believed in keeping it all in the family. Its starting to get confusing so I now need to keep track of them all.

Jan

I woke yesterday snufflng and sniffling. I had to drag myself out of bed to go into town. I parked the car far enough away so I could get a good walk in, walked all the way down to my bank to discover their hole in the wall wasn't working so had to walk all the way back and further to my other bank. Happy discovery that I had money in my account so I could pay the bills. Walked back to where I normally park the car to find I'd parked it somewhere else.  Oh well at least I'd got a good walk in.  Did a quick shop at IGA, remembered I needed rice.  I was home before 9.30, packed the shopping away to find 2 packets of rice in the cupboard already.  I dosed myself up on panadol and went off to a friends to help her sort out her new printer. I just couldn't get my head round it. I managed to get her new webcam up and running though (quite by accident) what a shock that was seeing myself suddenly on the computer screen - not a pretty picture.  Then home, dizzy and aching. Matt made me a cup of tea and I lay down on the sofa while he cooked dinner.
Hardly slept a wink last night, when I did doze I had the ancestors chasing me with all these remedies for colds and flu, the dog had terrible wind all night (thank god I couldn't smell anything). I tried to read, did a couple of sudoku's, got up, pottered around, went back to bed. I don't get colds, well not full blown ones (scuse the pun), just little sniffles I usually throw off after 24 hours. I had the flu jab a few weeks ago so I'm hoping that I can throw this off.
Still its a good excuse to just laze around and do nothing, no guilt over staying bed half the morning with a good book. Though knowing me of old I will probably rush around doing the housework and cleaning so that if someone does come round the house will be tidy and they won't think me lazy (this is a inherited trait from my mother and my nan). The guilt does creep in and I succumb to a cleaning frenzy. Basically I am an untidy person, I could quite easily allow the place to become a hovel but where other people have inner children I have an inner cleaner who suffers from OCD.
I did the thumbs on the mittens (I'm knitting two mittens at once) and because they are being donated to a charity that provides warm clothes for the homeless I did a larger size, the thumbs looks massive. I only have little hands and they drown me. What is the average length of a thumb of a woman about 5'6"+.
I've got to tackle a couple of assignments for the job network I go to. I'm not good on bigging myself up but.
I'll try and tackle that, then get the forms for the mystery shopper job out of the way and posted. Then I can sit and tackle the practise transcribing for the Lancashire OPC. I went to the op-shops and managed to get back the books I'd donated for Excel and Access and I have to try and get this fuzzy dizzy head round all that. This is me being lazy by the way - after my triple by-pass I had to be literally forced to rest while my friends cleaned for me, I moved off the sofa and there was always one of them spying on me. The inner cleaner got really wound up over that, but luckily the inner slattern came to her rescue.  I am hoping she will surface this weekend and allow me to rest.


Jan

Thanks for the hugs Cuz

I was thinking of taking a day off from the ancestors.......................

.....................well I thunk about it, deleted the very long post I made first thing this morning and I'm just taking a breather from cleaning walls and ceiling.  I have to see the dietician this arvy - do you think it would be possible to lose 2 kgs by then, Nooooo, I didn't think so.

I wrote a very long and weighty piece this morning about relatives losing touch with each other even when they live in the same place, even the next street. I asked mum about this and she said each family kept to themselves, there was lots of fallings out over silly piddling things, there was no big scandal that she could remember, just petty squabbles. It seems such a shame now. I have uncles and an aunt that live still in the area their ancestors came from and cousins living near by yet they know nothing of them (or choose not to).

Rereading the original piece I wrote this morning I felt it was way too heavy for a simple craft blog. All those names on that family tree - we share a common ancestor, we have genes added to the pool from other places, we are all individual, we make choices, we move away from the pack. Sometimes the grass isn't always greener but it might be mowed and weed free and occassionally the view is great. There is so much in this lifetime for us to get wrapped up in, so many opportunities to occupy our minds and time with other things that there doesn't seem time to keep up with the reli's and before you know they are gone.  Families are not just for christmas and easter you know.  I am lucky that the people I am close to are family orientated, I have a large extended family full of in-laws and outlaw and I have wonderful new cousins who I feel I have known forever.  I am lucky that through the internet I am able to keep up with the family in the UK using Facebook.  I don't know why my mothers family grew apart and I wish I had stayed in contact other than christmas cards. 
So, phone a reli today, hug a reli today, be a good reli today.

Jan

Ami photo shoot

Here are a few ami's and bears that I have left.  I forgot to go to the yarn shop this morning - Bumped into a friend and we got stuck talking about family history, as we chatted her hubby had finished the shopping, gone through the check out and packed everything away into their car.  I finished the cross stitch. Now I'm going to catch up with the housework now Matts gone off to Taekwando for a few hours. Dinner is leftover spicy sausage casserole with garlic bread and pasta.

Jan

Playing with piccys

I am soooo bored.  I've been playing with my piccys. I know I've posted this little bear before but here she is again only multiplied.  I should make more. I was playing with colour changes and she looks quite nice as a varigated green colour and an orange colour.  Neither of which I have and I think I made this one up as I went along and didn't write the pattern down. Once the mittens are finished I might make a couple more bears up and see how they look.  I can work out how many stitches etc, its not rocket science and with amigurumi's the weirdier the better.

skeletons in the cupboard

Oh boy and what a nasty evil one it is too.   Most of the Australians I have spoken to about tracing their british ancestors are always eager to find a criminal amongst their ranks and they are quite proud of this.  I unfortunately have a fourth cousin just discovered that is a very nasty piece of work. I have discovered more of my nans family and have filled in a few more holes - they have william dying in 1900 as well Norma and don't know much about him.

I googled the family name and came up with a report of a murder trial of a young man with the same name, a horrible murder. He's just been given 23 years.  This was before my new cousin in the UK told me one of 'our' lot had just got 23 years.  Put two and two together and we have one evil evil man.

I'll have to go and immerse myself in getting this cross stitch finished to get rid of the nasty taste this discovery has left. 

Creature from the black lagoon

This is my latest project, as soon as I saw it in a vintage Aunt Lydia's yarn book I just knew I had to make it. What style, how cute. My grandbubs would love it - what kid wouldn't.  Okay so I'm joshing with you. I have posted this little horror before over on Rantings a few years ago. It looks like something out of a B grade horror movie - swamp monster or The Thing that crawled out of grannys knitting bag.  Its got to be the ugliest looking toy ever made. Now I've left you with the prospect of nightmares I'm off to put the bins out.

Oh Yes Norma, its like bread making - punching out that dough LOL.

Another beautiful day today, despite the fact I had to pay part of my council rates.  I treated myself to marshmallow choccy eggs on special at Spar in commiseration at parting with all that money.  The choccy must have given me energy - I sailed through the ironing and ripped a few weeds out as well. Finished the gloves last night and started on some mittens. Something not to taxing on the old grey cells.

I've got till thursday to finish off the cross stitch. Don't think I'll be starting the rose this time round.

Jan

Didn't get one thing at the garage sales and the new second hand shop was hopeless as well, though it did have some very nice vintage clothes in.

This morning I had a lie-in, then fired up by the beautiful blue skies I went off to market. A friend has a stall there so I hung out with her for an hour.  I wanted plants but the plant people weren't there.  I've got the house to myself for a while. Might do some meditation since the house is quiet. Everybody mowed this morning, whippersnippers going off all over the place - making the most of the good weather.  So now its peaceful I might just chill out.

I've got 5 Sue Grafton books to read and a couple of other novels. Plus I started knitting more fingerless gloves last night, just got half of the second one to do and thats it, might knit some mittens nexts. It doesn't get cold enough really here to warrant gloves but I'm sure I'll find good homes for them. I just can't sit and watch tele without something in my hands and I need to use up some of the yarn stash.

I don't do a lot of the needlefelting Norma, it does get rid of a bit of tension - stabbing bits of wool into things with a very sharp needle (which also hurts like hell if you stab yourself).  I haven't tried wet felting yet, though it is on the very long list of things to learn.

Jan

Day 3 - SouseLob

The Lobby is no more, as predicted Matt came in last night and dived into what was left with the last of the crusty bread.  So I can claim a success, it will go down on the list as comfort food. He didn't complain that it wasn't spicy enough (the celery leaves gave it just a little peppery bite) or that it looked disgusting. He listened when I told him about the ancestors coming home from downT'pit who would have been grateful for the meal he'd just had and sometimes thats all they had day after day.

Guess what we had as dessert..............christmas pudding and custard.  I found the last of the damm things at the back of the freezer (I won 3 puddings in 3 different raffles). THis one was the smallest so it should be gone by tomorrow. 

I should really craft today, I felted a knitted square and want to embellish it with a bit of needlefelting and embroidery. Its just a practice piece but I want to make it into a coffee plunger cosy. I need to finish off the cross stitch flowers and make a start on the rose one.  I've gone two days without doing 20 mins a day.

These are the practise piece needlefelted hearts, the biggest is about 4 inches tall.  I bought some hand dyed roving from a lady that spins and dyes her own wool. 

Should I go garage saling today, I want to but the lethargy is setting in. Its a beautiful day today, the rain has gone and the sky is the most beautiful blue, I have enough petrol in the car was a 50 klm round trip, come on girl, think of all the 'pretties' that are out there, thats it hit the publish button, come on you know you can do it, thats it, a little bit further

ScouseLob - Day 1 and Day 2

There are actually quite a few recipes for 'Lobby' as it was known in our house. Its amazing what you get when you google ScouseLob - its where the term Scousers (meaning Liverpudlians comes from).  The history of it is too much to go into here but it is interesting.

All I did for this one was use diced lamb (HeartSmart of course), but gravy beef or skirt which are all cuts suitable for long slow cooking are just as good. Tradionally it was left over meat and whatever veggies you had to hand.
This is Day 1 (8th April)

Antipodean ScouseLob

Half a kilo of meat  - Lamb or Beef - cut in chunks
3 or 4 large potatoes - some chopped small and some chunky (after the long slow cooking the smaller tatties will break down to thicken the gravy
2 large onions - chopped not too fine and not too big
3 carrots - prepared the same way as tatties
1 small swede  "         "        "     "    "     "
Sweet potato - I used half of a gold one. prepared as above (Not traditional I know before the purists jump on me)
olive oil (personal preference) Use your normal method of browning meat
Salt and pepper
Rosemary
parsley
Chopped up celery leaves (These have a taste similar to Parsley, a bit peppery) Optional.
Worcestershire sauce (Again - same comment as for the sweet potato)
Vegetable or lamb stock, I made enough up (Shop-bought liquid stock and added water)

Brown the meat in a large pan with a little oil

Add onions and gently cook till soft, add the chopped veggies and cook for a few mins, do not let burn, keep stirring.
Add the seasonings. herbs, worcestershire sauce and the stock. There should be enough stock to cover everything in pan.

Bring to boil, put the lid on pan and turn down the heat to lowest setting. It should just be simmering gently.
It should have at least 2 hours cooking time, Stir occassionally to check it isn't sticking to bottom of pan.
The constistancy should be thick and sludgy (sounds disgusting) but that is personal preference and it could be more souply if you like (Don't think thats a real word but I like it).  Mine cooked for 3 and half hours, with the lid off and the heat turned up slightly for the last half hour.  Serve with fresh crusty bread and pickled red cabbage.

Tradionally (well in our family) the meal was added to each day, more potaties, more carrots etc. It certainly tastes better 24 hours after cooking. The remains usually ended up being put into pies.

I think a lot of  Northern regional areas had their own versions.  Some say it had to be lamb others say Beef.
I wouldn't put anything other than the stated veggies in it. Definately not celery (apart from the chopped leaves and that is my own preference), definately no garlic (Boy, was that hard not to use - I stick in everything), no capsicums or zuchinni. 

Now it has Welsh connections, Lancashire and Liverpudlian as well and since I have found out I have both Welsh and Liverpool Ancestors as well as the Lancashire ones its definately 'an old family recipe'.


DAY 2 (9th April)

Half a pan left - Added more celery leaves, 2 more potatoes and an oxo cube. There a few pieces of meat left so they should break up even more to flavour everything.

Enjoy

Look at my 'prettys'

On the way back to the car I decided to call in at the op-shop, so glad I did. Since I have been very good and not had one bit of choccy over easter I treated myself to the ceramic tray, its about 12 inches long and PINK.  I'd eyed up the little spoons last time I was in and at 50c for the four it was a bargain. Not sure wether they are egg spoons, they are smaller than a teaspoon. 

I've been busy all day, all I have to do next door is and I'll do that first thing in the morning, my son came round to clear all the tree debris from the weekend he cleared for me, now I can see whats to be done in the garden. I wish this infernal drizzle would clear up so I can mow.

I've cooked up scouselob for dinner tonight, an old family favourite resurrected from the archives.  Its been simmering away for about 3 hours and smell delicious, lets hope it tastes like the one granny used to make.

Jan

The men in white coats will be here soon.............

My wonderful new cousins will be seriously thinking about cutting me out of the family tree after this. Well at least now they know which side the insanity runs in.

........and I wasn't even thinking of the ancestors when I did it.  There I was making breakfast, thinking about fitting everything into the my day, I have a meeting to attend, I have to shop, I have paperwork to do, I have to finish the cleaning job. Here there and everywhere today. I put my coffee and sugar in my cup, put the jug on to boil and got out the cornflakes. It was only when I poured the water into my coffee cup I realised what I had done - the soggy looking cornflakes floating to the top of the cup gave the game away.  In another life I might have thought - oh well, it all ends up in the same place and eaten coffee flavoured cornflakes.  What a start to the day.
I had a lousy nights sleep, the dreaded night sweats have started again.  I did four suduko puzzles in between tossing and turning, tried to read, then the legs cramps kicked in.  The poor dog got fed up with being kicked off the bed so many times. 

I didn't craft yesterday, I did pick up a needle and thread though so that should count, even if it wasn't for me and was just 'normal' sewing. 15 mins before he had to go out my son informs me I had sewn the stripe on his martial arts belt in the wrong place. I remember asking him exactly where it had to go. 'Sons',  no matter how old they get (he's 22) they will always be a pain in the rear end.

Jan

I got the job

Two posts in one day, I'm on a roll.

I've just had a phone interview for the mystery shopper job and I got it. I can fit it in with whatever I am doing, you choose where and when you work and the areas.  I have a cleaning job as well this week. Perhaps yelling at the universe that I was not happy at what it was handing out to me worked after all.
So far this morning I've defrosted and cleaned the freezer, done all the washing, put yesterdays washing away and I'm going to make a start on cleaning next doors holiday home. 

Jan

Look what I found under the Bed

.........apart from all that dust, spiders and an overdue library book.

These little treasures.  I collect pin dishes and mustard pots with the occassional egg coddler thrown in. I must have put them away after a massive clean up. So now I have to rearrange everything in the wall displays to fit them all in. 

A friend was also having a clear out and had a few of these cups and saucers so she asked if I would like one. I love the strong bold colours. I'm not sure whether the red was supposed to go with the blue saucer, but I like the match whether or not it does.

After cleaning out the laundry broom cupboard I finally found a use for all those shower curtain rings I don't use.

Better nip off now and go get dressed, I've excelled myself this morning. Just read Norma's comment so I suppose I'd better go take my meds as well.

Well I'm still here, didn't die in the night - I'd forgotten to take my heart pills for three days cos I was so engrossed in my new obsession and then I found I'd run out of them and I'd lost the new script, which wouldn't have done me any good anyway even if I hadn't lost it.since it was Easter and the chemists were all closed.  Cost me $25 for a quick in out visit to the docs to get a new script,  I hadn't even got my bum on the seat before he'd got it printed out, he asked a couple of quick questions, did my blood pressure and that was it. It usually only costs $16 if you are ordering a script but they've changed the rules and you have to see a doctor. I wouldn't mind but I was only there just over 10 days ago and that cost me $50, with the medications I've spent nearly a $100 on the docs, I got  a bit back on Medicare.
There isn't any doctors around here that bulk-bill Medicare so we have to pay up front. My own docs usually quite good if she knows I'm strapped for cash, she will waive the fee.  Doesn't happen very often and I'm grateful when it does. Just glad I have acess to great health care and can afford it.

I'm still doing my 20 mins a day, its moving me a little bit forward getting everything finished before I start on anything else.  I renewed my library book with the gorgeous crossstitch flower designs in it and I'm now doing anemones.  Nearly finished and I think that might be it though if I have the book for another week it might just give me time to do a rose one.

Because of my new obsession and equally my old obsession I have dragged out the slow cooker, got a beef curry cooking away in no time and now I don't feel guilty when my son comes home and I'm either sat at the puter digging up my great great great great granny or sat buddha like on the lounge room chairs, surrounded by coloured threads with needle  poised over fabric - just one more ancestor and I'll cook dinner, just wait till I get to the end of this thread and I'll make a start on dinner.  I long for the days when I am on my own and only me to worry about, I can spread myself all over the place with no-one to whinge about needles in the chairs or bits of paper covered in names scattered all over the dining table. 

The Skeat family tree is getting like an octopus,  arms everywhere. I just wish all my grandparents hadn't died young, I just wish we had had more contact with the reli's that we did have while we had them.  But we were strangers and for some reason outsiders.

Jan

So now all the excitement of the last two days has sort of died down a little, its time to start getting back to normal.  Well as normal as this household gets anyway.  The weathers wet and miserable again so gardening is out. My youngest and his girlfriend turned up yesterday and I managed to get him to finish trimming off the trees behind the shed. So now I have this mountain of branches in the middle of the back lawn.  I might potter on the verandah and repot some plants up.
I'm still managing to do 20 mins a day craft, I finished my gloves last night. I got a pair out of one ball of Carnival Soft yarn, its just under $3 a ball so thats not bad.  I think with these and the wool pair I did last year I should be right for the next few years, considering how often we get really cold weather they will not get a lot of wear. I still want to do another pair of socks, masochistic I know.
I need to finish the cross stitch I started the other week. What I really need to do is finish the ufo's that have crept up again before I start anything new. 
I want to start on my new embroidery project, not sure yet wether it will suit prim naive or the more traditional embroidery, perhaps somewhere in betweeen. I love jacobean/crewel work but it can be time consuming on a large design and I love thread painting but that will definately be too time consuming for what I have planned.  I can see two designs coming up now and sitting here at the puter is not going to get them down on paper. I will probably keep putting if off and making excuses like I normally do.  As I am typing away a couple more ideas have sprung up but I really don't want to go there - Applique. 
I'll make a start my sharpening my pencils and rescuing my colours from the grandgirls toy corner.  The desk in the craft room has to be cleared as well, but that means all my threads have to be sorted and put back and that means I might as well finish the cross stitch first and a couple of embroideries. See.....I managed to find that excuse not to make a start on the new project.
I'm trying very hard not to jump into Family Search today.  It is so tempting to just go look for one more clue in my search for the ancestors.  I need to find confirmation on one of my great great grandfathers I think I have finally found.  Its a wonderful feeling finding someone from your past and when you find LIVE reli's its even better no matter how distant the common ancestor is that you share. 
Should I or should I not go garage saling today, theres only two down in the paper.  I would need to put petrol in the car first, and theres a new second hand place just opened up on the edge of town as well I want to check out. Do I ignore the bills piling up, do I ignore that voice of reason that was so good when it came to not going to the Spotlight sale, but what if I miss that elusive bargain of the century I've been searching for, that perfect piece.  Grrrrrrrrrrrr.................


Jan