OH YES, I HAD A BIRTHDAY AS WELL AMONGST EVERYTHING ELSE.

But don't ask me about it, cos I've slept a few times since then.  I seem to remember lunch at the Botanical Gardens in Cairns, the family coming round, a day out with friends and something else.  My mom phoned me to wish me happy birthday, normally she's about a month late but this time she was a couple of weeks early.  What did I get - a three legged gold tiny gold pig, a pretty rose patterned china mug, smellys, a bottle of wine, a tarot book, a cook book, a plant book and fushcia pink towels.
I am blessed with a wonderful family and good friends.

How can you accidently mistake my car for yours.

Got a phone message - Er Mum, I accidently put a big rusty cylinder in the back of your car by mistake, sorry.   His car is a silver Magna,  mine is small white Laser hatchback. How can you make a mistake, and when I checked it wasn't there anyway. So where did he put it.  Who's car did he put it in.

He noticed yesterday (when he was going through my food cupboards for things he could 'borrow') that I had a new cheese grater. No dear one, that my nice new one to replace the old battered one you borrowed and never returned - you can keep the old one.

His parting remarks was - It would be really nice if you would invite me round for dinner a couple of nights a week, we could catch up, spend time together.

Note to self - Get all the house locks changed, put a barbed wire fence up (no make it an electric one) and a security gate.

I love my kids, I really do. But this is my time now. You gotta fly my little birds.

The one thing my boys do know is that I really love them and despite my naggings, that there is always  a home for them here if ever they need it. 

Its been a miserable past few days, weatherwise, the sun can't make up its mind what to do, its been a grey old day, drizzly, but luckily it stopped enough for me to get back to my car after TAFE.

Tonight I will make a start on the new designs for the robot amigurumi pattern, the first robot I made up as I went along, now I'll tweak and write it all down as I go. 
Then the lion gets done and another bear and maybe a dinosaur.  

My craft room is back to its old messy self again, definately time for a declutter.  My yarn stash has grown again.  But I have plans for that.

Love, light and hugs

Jan

So Sorry - I've been very remiss

No excuses.  I've just not been in a very bloggy mood.

Updates..........passed the first part of Myob, not going to do anymore, passed my customer service, passed writing documents, assessment for creating text documents next week. Start spreadsheets next week as well.
School hols been and gone, did stuff with the grandgirls - they came armed with a list of things to do with grandma - it was a very long list and I think we will still be working our way through it during the summer hols as well.
Matt has moved out finally into his own place. Ryans split up with his girlfriend, Liams changed his job.
I've finally got my ami patterns up and running and in the shops, I have a crochet ami  in January's Handmade mag. I'm still decluttering, I've had a few job interviews and thats about it.
Discovered that one of my ancestors was Myles Standish, won't mean anything to the brits and aussies but it will to the americans.  Theres also a Prescott ancestor that has a big statue erected in his honour somewhere in Mass. 
Well i promise i won't leave it this long again. I'll be in at the weekend and post some piccys.

love, light and lots of hugs.

Jan

IT feels like the sun is never going to shine again.........

it does, the days have been grey and dreary, everyone seems to be longing for the sun to show its face for anything longer than five minutes. We're all vitamin D deprived.  Winter isn't usually this wet.  My neighbours ducks are loving it though, you can almost hear the pleasure in their quacks. A weekend trip to Kuranda for a day of girly shopping and playing at tourists was not spoilt by the constant drizzle and wind and we managed to stay out all day dodging the rain drops. 
TAFE is going okay, though I am finding it hard to get my head round manual book keeping and MYOB and also getting my 'homework' done. I really need to discipline myself.  I'm going to have to arrange to go into TAFE out of hours to use the computers as they work on
Microsoft Office 2007 and you can't get it anymore, I use Open Office.  I happen to prefer Open Office, less bells and whistles than MS Office and it gets the job done.  But I must admit I do like using 2007.  My touch typing is getting slower but more accurate, I have to have a 98% rate. I'm approaching that but only managing 35 to 40 words a minute. But accuracy is more important than speed so I am not stressing out over it.  I haven't touch typed for many years (try 27) and have got sloppy and my fingers have a touch of the old rheumatiz in them but I just plod along and get the job done in the end.
Still haven't picked up the knitting needles again or the embroidery or even looked at a craft pattern. I did go into Spotty last weekend and bought a bit of stuff but haven't even taken it out of the bag. I just threw it straight in the craft room.
I was rudely reminded that I have a birthday coming up in a couple of weeks, I was hoping that everyone would forget. For some time I have been saying I was 52, but then realised in fact I was only 51, silly me. But now when I am asked how old I am people will think I am lying when I say I will be 52.  You are as old as you feel, well right now my body is feeling like its eighty but my mind is still somewhere in my teens.

Jan

No rest for the wicked

Thursday and friday were just as busy as tuesday and wednesday, thursday I continued to run between TAFE and Neato's. No student parking near the TAFE as they are set on the High Schools grounds and there is building work going on so all the school teachers are using the TAFE parking which means parking the car the other side of the school and having to walk a block and then back again, then drive back into town, park and walk to Neato's. Everytime I got out of the car it started to rain, everytime I drove anywhere it stopped. It felt Like I was under this rain cloud following me around.  I was too tired yesterday after cleaning all day to go to get the dogs flea stuff so that was thursday chore as well. Then I decided enough was enough and I met up with a friend and went over to Mareeba to check out the op-shops there.  We also went in the big Priceline chemist and tried all the perfumes - believe it or not and I really hate to own up to this but the Brittany Spears perfume Fantasy is really nice, most perfume go off on me pretty quickly but this one didn't.
Then off for coffee and a late lunch, back to town and then another run to Neato's to make sure everything had gone through okay.
Started the course Friday, wasn't as bad I thought it was going to be. I really thought i would be one of the oldest there, but out of about fifteen there was only a couple of girls younger than 30 and the rest were late forties or early fifties. All being pushed to get back out there into the workforce.
Today started off lazy but then I felt guilty and scrubbed the bathroom floor tiles, not that anyone will notice, I was going to mow but ran out of fuel. I planted more corn, watered the veggies and weeded and now I'm back to being lazy again.
I reckon if I was going to drop dead with a heart attack it would have happened this week with all the hard work and rushing around i've done. But I'm still here alive and kicking.
.......and the bonus is I've lost another kilogram.Back on track with the weightloss.
Haven't picked up my knitting needles since I threw everything into the spare room when Ryan wanted his tv unit back. I went into a beautiful scrapbooking and paperart shop on thursday, while I admire it and thinks it looks wonderful do I really want another craft, can I resist.

Jan

Wednesday

Yesterday I was on top of things, I decided to move my room around and managed to lug my heavy mattress off my big wooden bed so I could move it. I cleaned all the dust up under and behind the bed, I polished, I cleaned walls, I put everything back all nice and fresh. I then started on the living room, vacummed under furniture, polished the big tv cabinet, cleaned out its cupboards, tidied everything up. It took me nearly all morning and half of the afternoon. But when I finished it was good to sit back and see everything sparkling and clean. I plonked myself down at the puter to post on Clares Treasure Tuesday. Then............the youngest phoned up "mum, can I have my tv cabinet back please, I'll be up in a couple of hours to pick it up.  So this meant I had to undo practically everything I had done that day. His tv cabinet was bigger than mine so rather than put his in storage he let me use it and my smaller one went in the bedroom, prettied up with a sarong cover and a silk beaded table runner and I put all my pretties on it and stored all my tarot cards and books under neath. All the living room furniture had to be moved, I emptied my cabinet and his, all the stuff from his has just been thrown in the spare room. I dragged out a white chest of drawers I want to paint and which I store a lot of my crafty bits and pieces in. I managed to get all my cards in it plus my spiritual books and covered with the sarong and runner it looks okay.  It was 8.30 p.m. before I plonked myself down to watch Packed to the Rafters with a glass of wine in hand.  Dinner was  oven chips, fish fingers and beans. Today is not going to be quiet either as I have to go clean someones house and declutter, chase around after this course I want to do, go to the gas shop cos my gas bottle connector is leaking, get flea stuff for the dog and shop for dinner.  Thursday won't be any different and if I manage to get Neato's to pay for the course I will be doing my orientation friday morning and my first class friday afternoon.  I have to do Cert II and components of Cert III in Business studies before I can do the Cert IV in justice admin, but with my car and phone both being out of service last week i nearly missed the deadline so theres a good chance of not getting on the course. 
All I really want to do is knit, I found a really great pattern for a cable knit bag, I have knit if before years ago and I want to do a smaller version, I got stuck into it the other night and did the first nine rows, didn't even touch it last night, I'll get some more yarn this arvy cos once I do get into it I can probably do it in two nights.  I found two premmie baby shawls I had started to crochet as well in yesterday clean-up so they'll be finished this week hopefully and I'll get them sent off along with all the little tiny beanies and booties to the Prem baby unit.
Better go get a move on and make a start on the day, got all my washing to do before I go out.

Jan

Saturday (yes I know its Sunday today)

Saturday with my eldest grandchild.  Little Miss Chatterbox, Jessica Rose.  We baked, we found a wonderful girly game site on the net and built virtual cupcakes and dressed up ponies and decorated bedrooms, we went out for a drive and ended up at the Fairy Shop. We had banana sandwiches for lunch with sprinkles on and a plate of hot chips, we talked girly talk and then while grandma settled down with a book on christmas tree decorating Jessica played some more on the internet.  Not long after her parents and little sister turned up early.  I've promised the little one that when school goes back she can come over for a day and we'll do special things together.  She's nearly four and doesn't really like going anywhere strange without her big sister (Yes, grandma is a bit strange) so we'll see how that goes. She's a total different character to Jess, more of a tom-boy.

Sunday is going to be a quiet day, now I have said that it will be hectic and noisy.  Its a bit chillier today, overcast and windy, definately not tropical. Might just spend the day pottering, couldn't find one garage sale to go to yesterday - most disappointing. I'm feeling the need to go out and find a bargain.  I have the urge to rummage.

change of direction..........

 Not quite sure where I am going with this but after discussing things with my job network officer I have decided to look at doing a Cert 4 in Justice Admin course at TAFE. I can't try to get into the Certificate of Genealogy with SAG till next year but if I want to go into the field of forensic genealogy it might benefit me to do the Justice course.  All a bit scary, its something i hadn't even considered but theres no harm in giving it a go.  All the questions running through my head at the moment - am I clever enough, am I capable of the work load, am I too old to study and the biggy - what if I am successful at it.  Do you know that fear of success is what holds a lot of people back from attempting things............once you are successful then others have more expectations of you, you then have to follow through with everything, fear of failure and not being able to keep up with everything creeps in so you self sabatage before you have even got your first course assignment.  Can you see where I am going with this, already I'm thinking up excuses why I can't do this.   I have to admit that I have not got the stamina to do the cleaning/housekeeping and maybe I should be looking in other directions. Again I was selling myself short, refusing to believe in my capabilities and accepting that cleaning was the only thing I was qualified and capable of. 

Putting my worries aside I am going to immerse myself in the threads and stitches of my latest projects, started on number 4 last night, stitched until my eyes were crossed and stinging and I caught myself dozing off with needle in hand.

Yesterday was a sad day for our little township, we farewelled one of our own local men, a young man who chose to live his life how he wanted, a young man who was a son, brother, partner and friend and who gave his life for his country.  Its been in the public eye and now after what must seem an eternity for his parents they can finally have the privacy they need to bury and grieve over their son.  Ben Chuck, God Bless You and may His Love surround your family.

Jan

TUESDAYS TREASURES

Theres no way I can pretty up this little box.  It has a story behind it. Way way back when Mr Mik and I decided that we would get married my future mum in law worked as an O.T. in Social Services teaching handcrafts to a group of elderly mentally challenged people.  She had always spoke to them about her family and what they were up to so when they found out we had finally decided to get married they wanted to make a little gift. So this old chocolate box was gussied up and they put in broken jewelry, old beads, bits and pieces of lace, all sorts of little things. For over 29 years it has been the treasure box, things taken out, things added to it. Homeless bits and pieces all go in the little box.  Its tatty and cracked (just like me) but I hope it will still be sat on the windowsill in my craftroom for many more years to come.

Its current contents are a pair of dolls shoes for the doll I never made, the ribbons and bells from the girls Lindt easter bunnies, two old belt buckles, a plastic bracelet picked up off the street, wooden beads, a badge off one of our old cars (could be off the old Kingswood wagon), hexagon papers, an original lifeboat whistle, broken jewelry and lots of the original pearl and glass beads that came with the box, sea shells, hairclips, a couple of drawing pins and lots of little fiddly bits too numerous to mention. 

Jan

JOIN CLARE over at Clarescraftroom for Tuesdays Treasure, McLinky doesn't want to play today with me so look for Clares Blog in my sidebar

On a roll........

I got my design mojo back, its been a long time coming and very welcome at this moment in time.  Sat playing with threads and colours all weekend apart from a quick trip down to the markets. Weathers been iffy all weekend but the sun finally did show its face for a couple of hours yesterday enabling me to get the washing dry.  New seedlings safely in the veggie patch, all staked and supported. So it was quite a productive weekend.
I decided after much research to make Poppy dog her food, so I set to yesterday and made special dog cookies and wet food.  She obviously knew something was going on in the kitchen, she kept popping her head round the door every time there was a banging of saucepans, she sat in anticipation at the edge of the doorway as the pot stood cooling..........and finally with wagging tail and whole body quivering in excitement she stood in front of her dish. She looked at it, she sniffed it, she backed away, she sat down, she sniffed it again and tentatively pushed the food around, she looked up at me as if to ask what I was poisioning her with.  Finally she tried it, the next second I looked it was all gone and she was sat on the mat licking her lips.  She produced the biggest known burp known to doggykind and then curled up on the sofa and went to sleep. No thank you, no nothing.  When Matt came home I had to tell him, no I hadn't bake biscuits for him they were for the dog, actually there was nothing in them that a human couldn't eat except they might be a bit hard on his teeth, he went away muttering something I didn't quite catch.
Today the sun is shining occassionally but the drizzle has stopped so the washing can get line-dried again today.  Better get to it and make the most of the decent weather.

Jan