A whinge, an update and some piccys

The Ultimate 'Bobble Hat'

Not sure what is happening with this damm blogger, i keep adding photo's and they disappear.  Its such a hassle post I might even give up blogging.  But then if I had a new computer with all the whistles, bells and up to date technology it wouldn't be such a headache. Thereagain, my computer does what I want it to, I'm not fussed over having the latest gadgets, I get by with what I have and I don't want to sit in Maccas using the wi-fi. I like comfort - curling up on a comfy sofa with lots of cushions and the privacy of my own house to do my computing or at my desk with coffee and cake. I think its sooo rude if I go in a cafe to have a quiet coffee to have business meetings going on at the next table, especially if they get heated, same with mobiles - I had no option but to listen to a council exec give someone a blasting over the mobile (they were in my space and I wasn't going to move) and I think she did it to look good, I just glared and she went outside to finish her tirade. OK, whine over, back to the love of my life - or one of them, I am so fickle. Crochet. I've been hooking up a storm lately, cushion covers, blankets, flowers, hats and a section for the Alice Springs Beanie Festivals attempt at the worlds longest Beanie, mini beanies for a garland and beanies to sell. I'm seriously trying to get my stash down (stop sniggering) and I am doing well - four cushion covers this week made a serious dent in the boxes.

These cushions are front and back pictures, the patterns are off the net and I can't remember the designers, I love their patterns though and despite a few times where I had to wing it cos i didn't understand what they were writing they came out just how I wanted. They would have been hard to do for anyone just starting out.There are so  many similar out there though it would take me forever to find them again.

Easter school hols and I have had the girls over, we've walked in the rainforest and down by the creek, we've baked pizzas and brownies and made fairy castles. Played games and had girly fun.

Grandma, help me make this fairy castle in my book, Of course, dear grandaughter I will help you make it............

I am knackered, back to my busy schedule of volunteer tutoring this week and at the visitor centre and my cleaning job.  The weather is wet and windy and more forcasted to come.  No chance of getting to relax this week, apart from vegging out in front of the tele for a couple of hours at night, but that doesn't count. I want to play hooky from my life for a while, just me, my hooks and yarn and a couple of good books - no phone, no mobile, no computer, no one demanding my time, no schedules, no shopping, no cleaning. Oh well, maybe not this week.

Back to the grindstone...

Rain today, yeh, so much cooler for working in a classroom with no air conditioning, with the 85 to 90+ degree heat we have been getting I was dreading going back to school.
I'm only a volunteer so I can walk out whenever i want but I wouldn't do that.  The 'powers that be' refuse to fix the ancient air-conditioners and the ceiling fans only work on the highest settings which means papers are flying off tables and its just too 'windy'. 
Heres the poopster just a couple of weeks before she left us, I'd just given her a pigs ear and she wasn't quite sure what to do with it. 

I've been trying to get back into crochet, mainly just for something for my hands to do at nightime when I'm watching t.v.  I hate sitting there with nothing to do. I would love to get back into embroidery, I'm trying so hard.....bought the most gorgeous embroidery threads and sat and looked at them and played but the passion I once had stays deeply buried. 

Back to the crochet, I'm doing a blanket, using as many of my stash colours as I can, its on the diagonal and will be roughly 5ft square. I'm just about two inches off the half way mark and then I can start decreasing. One 100g ball does 7 rows at the moment so My stash is getting down and the lids stay on the yarn boxes without being weighted down with other boxes.  The granny squares are from the cover i did for my cube. I was just checking  a hint from another blog about how to load photographs. When you are composing and want to add a photo switch to HTML, add photo and then swtich back to to compose.  At the moment I can only add photo's that have been already in my blog.  Now I can add a photo or two I might get back into blogging.

UHRU

Jan

Poppy

R.I.P. Poppy the Poopy Puppy

1997 - 2013

Its been a week now since Poppy went over the Rainbow Bridge, my faithful friend, my comfort.  The picture is an old one since I can't upload new photo's.  A very contrary dog, she didn't play with toys unless food was involved - she loved her Kong. Squeeky toys were out as was balls and sticks, she would look at you as if she thought it was beneath her to actually chase after them - you threw it you go get it.  She lay by Miks side in his last couple of weeks, her head pushed up under his hand. She wasn't  a cuddly dog, cuddles were on her terms yet she would sneak into the boys beds and sleep under the blankets curled up by their feet.  Storms freaked her out and she would jump on my chair and try to get as close to me as she could, burrowing down between me and the chair arm, yet she slept through two of the worst cyclones I have ever been in.  It was heartbreaking taking her to the vets knowing what the outcome was going to be, even then she managed a pee or two in the beautiful rainforest garden where our vet has his practice. I could have kept her at home till the end but that would have been a painful slow death, I could have paid hundreds of dollars for surgery but that would have given her a few weeks extra, the mammary cancer too advanced for it to be cured.

One minute she was fine, no problems, just a lump that didn't bother her, no pain, still kept her appetite and then bang it accelerated, literally eating her away before my eyes.

She was intact, we never got her fixed up as we were going to let her have at least two sets of puppies, but that never happened, Mik got sick and we just let it slide. Keeping her inside whenever she came into heat.  What I didn't know was that a lot of bitches that are not spayed and haven't had pups can get mammary cancer.  She lived to a ripe old age, she had a healthy diet, walks by the lake and a lot of love, what more could a dog ask for.

Lazy day

I do not feel like doing anything today, I did not feel like doing anything yesterday. I have been very busy all week.  I really have to allow myself down time and stop feeling I always have to be busy.

The Tibi finally flowered

I think this is called a beauty bush, I never planted this, it just came up in the middle of the Banksia and I have ripped it out twice. It keeps on coming back.

I love the colour combo of this Brom flower, its spectacular against it very dark purple almost dark chocolately brown coloured leaves

When I say I have done nothing all day, it doesn't mean nothing all day. I've actually done quite a lot - cleaning, gardening, shopping, those are the normal everyday things. All those things will get done today.  Yesterday I had a lazy day, I watered and weeded the garden, I dusted and vacummed the whole house, I washed pots and put away and I entertained a friend. I didn't pick up the crochet hook once - though we did talk about crochet and embroidery over our coffee.  I later lay on the bed under the fans and read a book and did half a dozen sudoku's, I sprawled out on the computer chair and read blogs and trawled through pinterest.

I was given a day lilly bulb and threw it in a box of old compost and I forgot about it, it has not stopped flowering. This must be the 10th flower it has had and there are more to come.



I love the old hibiscus that hangs over my fence from next door, I really hope the new owners will let it stay

Just a little trip around the things growing in my garden, the grass might be dead and the dandelions prolific but here and there there are still a few flowers, luckily they all thrive on neglect.

The grey day is starting to brighten up and the thunder has gone elsewhere. A bit more blue sky and I might be encouraged to get outside and mow over all the dandelions or take a drive out to a market. See, I can't just sit and do nothing and relax, I want to be lazy, I feel like doing nothing but I have to justify it by rushing round like crazy being busy. I overthink. Once upon a time I had no trouble at all being lazy - I worked all week and stayed in bed till lunchtime on the weekends, on my days off I just lounged around with a book or listened to music. I am talking pre-kids here. 

Okay, I am off to wash the breakfast pots, make the bed, kick the dog out, do the poo hunt, deadhead the flowers and maybe sweep off all the Petrea flowers and leaves from the verandah and then think about the rest of the day.

Uhru

Jan

After the eclipse...

It came and went, the weather threatened to be cloudy and it was. It cleared enough to see the beginning and then at totality it clouded over, but the corona was visible even through the clouds.   People from all over the world have come to see the event. I spoke to many yesterday at the visitors centre, the highlight of their trip being the eclipse and to see a platypus.  I sent them off down the creek with the necessary map and I hope they got one thing to tick off their wishlist.

Tutoring today and tomorrow, I love it.  I've got the library this afternoon as well.  Not much time for crafting though I am getting ahead with the flower brooches.  Lots of bright cheerful summery colours.  I have them in the visitors centre and unfortunately we think three were shoplifted last week, they are not on the shelf and they are not in the sales book.  Oh well, I suppose i should be flattered that someone liked them enough to take them as souvenirs, so if you see any one wearing my giant felted spider flower brooches you know where they came from. I did sell one earlier in september and there is a bird brooch missing as well. 

Better get a wiggle on and get to class, not good to have the teacher late. 

Uhru

Jan

Solar Eclipse 2012

6.30 a.m. Two days before the solar eclipse and the weather has changed - wet, windy and grey.
So glad I have decided to stay home and watch from the comfort of my own bed, actually the best seat in the house to see it is from my loo.  Hopefully the weather will be back to hot and dry by then. Update: 7.40 a.m and the sky is blue and the rain has stopped.

The last time an eclipse was seen from this area was the 8th Century and the next will be so way into the future that its not worth commenting on.  Roads will be closed, hotels and motels have been booked up for this day for months and they reckon an influx of more than 60,000 people from all over the world are coming into the region to see it. From start to finish it will be two hours, totality for my immediate area will be 29 seconds.

But life goes on and I can't wait around, haven't got time to spend sitting looking at the sun (with special dorky looking glasses that cost me $5.00).  Now just call me MRs  Scrooge. The glasses were $4.99, the woman in front bought of me bought 4 prs, it should have come to $19.96 which should have been rounded down to 19.95.  But the young girl rounded up each individual pr to $5 and the woman was charged $20. I was charged $9.00 for two prs and  since i was paying by card it should have been $8.98.  Considering they were one of only a handful of shops selling these viewing things  (and they had run out twice and had to order more) they must be making a bit of extra money from not rounding down.  Why have something at ?.99, why not put it up to the straight dollar, we don't have 1c or 2c coins anymore. They must get 300 or more customers a day, 7 days a week. I know its small change and won't amount to much for the individual customer but  multiplied over the year I'd rather it be in my pocker than theirs.

I've had my whinge for the day, now back to more pressing things...Getting all the brooch backs sewn onto 25 crocheted flowers. 

Jan

November, christmas just around the corner...

Where has the year gone?  I have been so busy with one thing or another that the year has flown by. 
I'm loving the work I do at the Literacy centre, a wide range of students from all backgrounds.  We have one lovely lady who is an ESL student (English as a second language) who insists on feeding us all, she bakes wonderful concoctions with bananas.
Wednesday is a busy day, after i finish at lunchtime i rush home, have lunch, feed the dog, do a few chores and then off to the library to volunteer there.  I'm usually ready for my pit by 7 p.m. and curl up with a book and a cup of tea.  Wide-awake now at 9.30 pm, got my cuppa and just catching up with blogging.

I didn't put up a piccy of the finished footstool, how remiss of me.  Must rectify that immediately: 

Been busy making flower for brooches.  Using up some of the cotton yarn i have in my stash, though I couldn't resist a pretty pink and a yellow varigated in the craft shop the other day.  I really should wear blinkers when I'm shopping or there again I shouldn't go any where near a craft shop. But the pull is too strong, it grabs me by the hand and just yanks me in. Resistance is futile.

I wish all my geraniums flowered like this one,  the first of many and intended as a birthday pressie for a dear friend.

I made this brooch a while ago and it sold straight away. It looked so pretty on my cardi and its impossible to make another one just like it no matter how hard i try. 

Finally I feel sleepy, so its nite nite from me, an early start in the morning and another busy day so I am hoping for a good nights sleep.

Jan

Good Morning, yes I know its been a while, no excuses.........but I have been busy busy busy. More volunteer work, this time as a adult literacy and numeracy tutor.  I've had a birthday since the last post, it came and went quietly with the minimum of celebration.

Lots of crochety goodness has been made - a lot of crochety goodness has been made a start on and a few things actually got finished. Mainly the footstool cube.  The first episodes of the x-factor, a few episdoes of Escape to the Country and a couple of reno programmes and a whole heap of yarn that had to be used before I could get the lid on the yarn boxes and she was finished. I'm happy with her, though I could have done one less row so she fitted snuggly rather than loose.  She certainly brightens up the room.  I'm planning something similar for my computer chair seat and back which is looking a bit worse for wear at the moment.

 I can now close the lid on the boxes, just, if I weight them down with other boxes. I'm not going to buy anymore yarn this side of christmas, okay, okay, you can stop laughing now. I mean it, no more yarn.......unless its absolutely necessary of course.  I am going to Mareeba this morning and there is an excellent yarn and fabric shop there that sells the most gorgeous embroidery threads, their over $6 so every time i go over I buy two. Not used them yet, they're my pretties and I just look at the moment.

 I must get my list so I don't double up on them.  I seem to be going for all the heathery colours. 
No.3son got his motor-bike licence and his motor-bike on the road last month.......as if I didn't have enough grey hair already.  The mountain roads up here to the Tablelands from his home in Cairns are long and winding and there have been quite a few bad accidents in recent years but give him credit I  think he will take care on them.  His mothers wrath is more painful than a broken leg.

Better get a wiggle on and get dressed, put the dog out, water the garden, get the thread list done and then get out to town, got volunteeer work this arvy as well. Hardly any time left in the day for me to relax with a book and a glass of wine, I usually fall asleep in my chair around midnight and then I'm up again at 6.00.

Florabella

Here she is in all her glory, back from the show with her mates with not a prize between them. Oh well, I don't think they are quite ready for ami's. The same old same old got the prizes. Having a quick look a round the entries definately need brightening up in the knitting and crochet section. But it was a learning curve and a one off thing for me.  

Its been a wet miserable weekend not too cold though the cloud cover kept what little heat there was in. My new electric blankie has been getting a good workout. 

This handsome little guy/gal was up in a tree next to where we parked the car at Platypus Park. Its a Golden Orb spider also known as a St. Andrews spider because of the way they weave their web.  Okay so its the last photo with the spider. The rest is of saturday at Platypus park when we visited the market there.

The platypous loved the wet weather and made quite a show in the pond.  Bobbing up all over the place it was hard to count just how many there were. The turtles and the ducks got in on the act as well.

Its a lovely spot under the ghost gums overlooked by Mt. Baldy with the historic Hou Wang chinese temple just visible through the trees

Brrrrrrrrrrrr.....

7 degrees this morning (40 something), i'm sat here with my beanie on, fleecey jacket and my fingerless gloves plus the stuff i went to bed in last night.  The sky is a beautiful blue with no cloud in sight. By lunch time it will be in the 20's (between 70 and 80)and i will have followed the sun around as it warms up the house and garden.  Between 9 and 10 it hits the bathroom and the loo is the warmest place in the house.  There is one surefire way of waking yourself up in the mornings and thats sitting on a icy cold loo. Definately a shock to the system.  I tried crocheting first thing yesterday morning (11 degrees) and it was just impossible so i'm not going to attempt it till later.
I decided on a whim to enter some of my dolls in one of the country shows, the level of the work presented has always freaked me out in the past but this year I thought what the heck, hell I've had my designs and work published in a major australian craft magazine so I must be good enough for a little country show.  I am glad I did, with various things that have been going on in the area with the weather and economy less and less people are putting things in, they grabbed my dolls with glee.   But is the little country town ready for bright, strange pink and green bunnies, snowdolls (in the wet tropics) and a purple and pink fairy with very long legs and chunky purple sparkly wings, I had to explain amigurumi to them on a little blurb so we will see what happens.  The fairy actually got designed and crocheted over the past three days, she's the first draft and I am really happy with her. Unfortunately the drive mechanism on the lens on my camera packed in and is irrepairable so no photo's got taken. I did buy a new camera yesterday, my wonderful computer guy had one going cheap so I bit the bulllet and parted with cash but it was after I had taken all the dolls into the showgrounds.  So another first for me.

Life in the information centre is good, I enjoy talking to the visitors and i enjoy being with the other volunteers, I have my own little thing. I run the facebook page for them, I'm on the famils and training team and I help out wherever help is needed. I have no agenda by doing this, I don't wish to be volunteer of the year I just enjoy doing it.  Its a long time since I have been able to say that.   We are a diverse group of people with our own talents that we bring in, in the past I would have shied away from them as individuals because I thought they would have judged me or as a group they would have been very clicky and kept me out  (I am so glad I got rid of that view). But i seem to have fitted right in, they are fantastic bunch of people.  

I've got to find out how to use this camera, luckily it has a smart thing on so I can just aim and click, but it has other functions as well including a little voice recording thing so you can do a voice over on a photo.  Ideal for people like me who forget where they take photo's.  But of course I have to find out how to get into it to use it which means ploughing through the info. I prefer simple things in my life, I want easy, no brainers. I had to buy a new toaster as well this week. I looked at the shelves - $18 cheapy, simple lines, nothing fancy or the $50+ ones - sleek, shiny, polished. Both did exactly the same job and had the same guarantee and both were going to be stuck in a cupboard when not in use so I went for the cheapy one and used the left over money to buy new printer ink and laminating sheets. I like cheap especially when its cheerful (sounds just like me LOL).

On that note, I'm off to see if the sun is over the mango tree yet and find a warm patch to sit in.

Jan