Friday 15th Jan

Friday 15th Jan

wednesday

Thanks for the comment Vicky..

I go out with a friend and she always looking for a bargain, something marked down, something on special and she buys it wether she needs it or not, in fact I have a couple of friends like this.  The money they must waste on objects that they end up sending to the thrift shop or giving away.  I have got into the habit now of self talk - do I really need this, come on you know its going to sit in the cupboard, it will never get used, think of the money you will save if you DON'T buy it. Yesterday I put two balls of crochet thread back on the shelf - the sales are coming up soon and I know it will be marked down (last seasons colours) and I did make a vow to myself not to buy any more yarn or threads till I had used up part of my stash. I have plenty to keep me going.  I also saw two gorgeous embroidered shirts in the op-shop, one dollar each. But I knew they would sit in the craft room waiting for a project to come along. No, no more stuff comes in unless I can use it straight away or it has a purpose or I know it will be something that I need. 

I am going to make a list of items that I do need to make the projects I have plannned for the year and then when I garage sale or op-shop  I can keep a look out for these things.  I do want some vintage fabric - curtaining or sheeting and I do want a shelf unit or small chest of drawers that can be used for storage, plus I need some baskets or boxes. Every year I say this will be my year for getting myself organised and come July I'm back to my usual cluttered life.  Though the kitchen cupboards have stayed tidy and my wardrobe is reasonably clutter free.  I think the house could do with one more declutter (I have stocked single handedly over the previous years decluttering a whole op-shop) before I am happy. Though this time I will have a box for things I am unsure of - like that beautiful rose chintz fabric I turfed out and I am still in mourning over.  I am also going to make a box up of things that can be used for when the grandkids come over.

Once you get in the habit of thrifting (I believe you have to do something regularly for 30 days before it becomes a habit) then its second nature. But what you have to be careful of is becoming a scrooge, false economy and just looking downright mean.  I save water, it sounds ridiculas I know, but living in Australia makes you become aware of what a precious commodity water is.   So we save rain water (I've been through a drought where the areas dam was so low we could walk across it, despite our area being the Wet Tropics we sometimes don't get a proper 'wet season' . Water out of the kettle goes on the pot plants, rain water goes on the garden, veggie scraps get composted, seeds are saved. I've now got into the habit of only using the car for necessary journeys and doing as much as I can while I am in town.  I use the library for books and magazines.

This little tea-pot which is my favourite thing was bought from a garage sale about 5 years ago, I paid $5 for it and the gentleman who sold me said it was his grandmothers and he doesn't remember her ever using it, there is no crazing or staining anywhere on it so it might not be vintage.  its a Johnson Bros one but I can't find it or anything with the lid design on in any of the Johnson Bros designs. I don't think its part of the friendly Village series, I have a couple of pin dishes with that design on and this one seems much more brighter.  I think the shape is the tulip shape. Wether its vintage or not matter very little to me, I like it and thats all that matters.

Its so hot today, my son has gone down to the city to get a tattoo removed so the house is all mine so I am just in a sarong.  I didn't sleep well last night - the dreaded power surges. So I don't want to do anything today.  Got a whole heap of books from the library yesterday so might just settle down under the fans and read all day. 

Thrifty Tuesday

Thanks to Vicky over at ANGLESEY ALLSORTS I'm feeling very thrifty. Before christmas we had a very frugal few weeks, I was owed money, bills had to be paid (or else) and christmas was definately going to be home-made.  So despite the whinges coming from No.2 sons corner about the cupboards being bare we knuckled down and used up what we had.  We were practically vegetarian for the whole time. I decided that getting up early and driving the 16 klms into town to get there as the supermarkets opened just to save five dollars on meat sort of defeated the object.  If I am in town already when they are marking the prices down fine then I will stock up. I refuse to buy the cheap loo rolls - mainly because thats what they are - cheap and nasty and you end up using twice as much. But I do buy a reasonably priced one and when its on special two packs for the price of one I will buy.  Soap and toothpaste I always buy when its on special, in fact I still have 8 bars of Palmolive Gold left over from this time last years sales.  Shampoo and conditioner are always bought two for one. Since the washing powder has been reduced to those little concentrated packs the chemists seem to be selling off the bigger boxes. Is it me or is there no real difference, I seem to be using more of the concentrate stuff and its twice the price of the old and it doesn't seem to wash any better.  I managed to get Bio-Oil on special at the chemist as well. I always tend to shop in just the one place and never really go in the chemist unless I'm getting my script filled. Buts its certainly worth wandering around while I'm waiting and seeing what is on special.  I saw somewhere washing powder for $1.78 for a kg (the old stuff) so I'll stock up on that today.  I usually buy the fruit and veggies from the markets or farm honesty stalls. We have sweet potato, tomatoes, capsicums and spinach still growing in the garden.........the aubergine plant finally died after 18mths of producing non-stop.  I'm not a big fan of eggplant so it won't be replaced.. I do miss the chooks, I resent paying through the nose for eggs now, in the shops they are labelled caged, cage free, barn and free range. So if you go for the cheaper eggs you are made to feel like a criminal. I usually get the Tamigoshi Happy Eggs if I can. 
Now I'm all  in a thrifty mood I'm off into town soon (better get dressed first), check out the op-shops and the chemists (need my cholestrol meds) and see what bargain I can find.


Jan


PS" Couldn't find the cheap washing powder but did find a few bargains at the op-shops, a nice skirt for $1.50 and two espresso cups, 4 nice tea-plates and a trivety thingy to put on the gas burner to stop the espresso pot from falling over .   I defeated the object by buying two nice pongy votive candles from Loot.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Mooching around

I'm so restless at the moment. I finally got my car back off number 2 son - his is registered and back on the road now - YEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAA.  I went for a drive, the view was spectacular and where was my camera and phone - at home of course. The recent rain has greened everything up, we were in a drought situation and its so good to see green grass again.  I just can't get into stitching, I keep finding more and more ufo's.  4 are submissions for the magazines so I can't show you those yet.  I know once I get into the swing of things there will be no stopping me. 

This is what I do when I'm left to my own devices. Its a doodle with thread. I just play around and see where it goes, all hand stitched.  This is a design for an amulet or tarot card bag. Just playing around with colour and shading.  I totally lost myself in this design. I bought metres of silk fabric in bronzes/golds and greeny colours, satins in reds and blues and panne velvets in blacks, dark blues, greens, golds and its still in its Spotlight bag (For non-aussies Spotlight is the crafters heaven) not unpacked yet. I even got my overlocker out and set all the threads up ready to make the bags. This was way back last year. 

Well thats a turn up for the books, just had a phone call from a lady in Melbourne, she's seen my design in the latest Creating Country Threads and wants to know if it is in a kit she could buy.  So now I can show it you if its already out there.  Funny, I haven't seen it in the mag yet, they normally send you a copy when its in, that also means the cheque should be in the post hopefully. 

So there we are, will this give me the incentive to get my finger out and get into that craft room. Its just a basic sampler in a naive style, I was just using up all the bits left over from other projects and used stem, back, herringbone, split, chain and  blanket stitches, the frame is a silky oak one picked up as a pair from a garage sale for 50c. I think I started it towards the end of my beloveds life and it lay in a box like all the others until one morning I woke up and thought one more try, lets see if the mags are interested and if they are I will get it finished. So finished it got, published it got and  now its hanging in the living room. 

Hugs

janjan

1.21 p.m. 2nd January 2010

I can't believe I did what I did but after turning my craft room upside down I obviously did.  Since I can't find that beautiful rose chintz fabric I can only assume that I packed it off to the thrift store, But I did find lots of ufo.s to keep me going. 

This was started as a project while I was hanging around in the hospitals while my late beloved had his chemo and then lay hidden away in a bag of scraps. Theres only one more set of roses to embroider, it will be hard to match up the threads but I'm sure that somewhere in my large stash there will be the right colours.
I might make it into a small drawstring bag or a pin cushion. I wish I had taken a photo of the pin cushion I did that was very similar to this.  I think I might of but I have a feeling it was in the photo file that I lost when my puter crashed.

I love crewel and jacobean embroidery and I seem to start and then lose interest, this was intended to be the front of a amulet bag, it was only started a few months ago so perhaps its still a WIP and not a UFO, I did find a little bag of threads that might actually belong to this so I won't have to match up the threads. This one I was making up as I went along so it won't matter if I change the colours.

Well, these were started many christmases ago, my dear friend Maureen got me hooked on crazy patchwork and as I hate wasting anything these were perfect for using up all those odd scraps that I just hated to throw away.  Each christmas they come out and I try to do a bit more, but then I lose heart with them and they get hidden away for another year.Some of the fabric I brought with me to Australia from the UK 17 years ago, some my mother in law sent me.Maybe this year will be their year.

These are only the tip of the ice-berg in the ufo pile, I should really get every single one out and photo the whole lot. Is this blog big enough for the whole kit and caboodle. Am I brave enough to show the whole world the extent of my inabilities to ever finish anything off.

Bribe me with chocolate and I might.

janjan

Happy New Year

I tried, I really did. But I didn't quite stay awake, I heard a few fireworks and cheers but rolled over and went back to sleep.  I had a wonderful nights sleep and awoke refreshed and ready to face the new year.

First I phoned my sis in law and we had a long chat, then I had brekky, I went back to bed and finished off a book, then I pootled around doing nothing in particular.  I just couldn't keep still and as soon as the sun went behind a cloud out I ran and grabbed the mower - fully intending to just do around the back of the house, but I did just a bit more to tidy up the driveway side of the house, then since I was near the front I might as well just do that and what the heck lets get the back done as well around the fruit trees and the hidden garden. Okay enough is enough leave some for Matt to do.  Hot, sweaty and covered in grass and dust I stood back and surveyed my work. Pretty pleased with myself that I had the stamina to do it all. 

I even did some cross stitching in a UFO. Not sure wether I can get used to this not stressing thing. I've been changing slowly over the past few years, my other blog explains all the upheaval in my life and how I dealt with it and I really don't want to drag it all up in this blog.  I get so far and then go back a little.

Enough of that, lets get on to what I need to do this year.  The craft mags are very interested in my designs again, I've had one published  recently and a nother due to be published soon.  I've got the schedules of whats needed for the mags for the next few months and need to decide what I want to make. What will be my direction this time. In the past I've gone naive stitcheries. I really would like to go a bit shabby this time, maybe alter some of the naive designs. I did recreate a embroidered house tea-cosy from the 30's s I think I'm going to play around with it a bit and see if it works shabby.
This design was one of the last ones I had published a few years ago. I want to try and get away from this style.
I have a couple of rose designs that would work very nicely with shabby fabric. 
This blog is probably going to be harder than I thought.
The designs I want to re-work were all done at a time when I needed to immerse myself, escape what was happening around me.  Many were stitched at chemo appointments or waiting around while my hubby had tests done.  Many done in the early hours when I couldn't sleep. Each stitch keeping me sane, stopping me from going under.
So perhaps I will change the blog title description to something about moving on.  The past three years have all been about moving forward, reinventing myself and getting my life back on track.  So perhaps now it is time to let go, admit that I am now a different person and I am ready to go back out into the world.

Hugs

janjan

Last day of the Year

The last of the year, I feel strangely calm, after all it is just another day.  The past new years eves I have scurried around like a mad woman - house has to be clean, the new year has to start how I want it to go on. Can't have a dirty house or an unfilled larder.  The lawn needs mowing badly, the little rain we have had over the past few days has greened everything up and the lawn is coming back to life.  It will get done I am not stressing over it.  My house is tidy, the christmas things all packed away.  Life goes on wether the cobwebs are there or not.  The spiders are taking advantage of my lethargy and are busy in the bathroom with their silvery threads.
I suppose my N.Y.R. will be, I have decided, to just do everything in my time, no one elses.  No stressing out over anything.  I have learnt a few lessons this year, I didn't quite trust my gut feelings, refused to listen to the voice of reason, but I learnt from it which is the main thing and came out of it a little wiser but a little poorer.
So looking forward to this bright new year I will calmly re-evaluate my situation, the house needs work doing to it. Do I sell up and buy a small unit in town or do I carry on here and do the work when I can afford it.  Do I get stuck into the craft room, open an Etsy shop, trawl around all the crafty type shops in the area, do I finally get to do the Visual Arts course I've always wanted to do.  So many resolutions I could make. Do this, do that, not do this, not do that. Soooo..........my resolution will be - NO STRESS, NO WORRIES, JUST BE. 

I don't have pretty pictures of a shabby chic house, or wonderful mouthwatering cupcakes and biscuits, but I do have lots of views from the area I live in.  Scruffy and his friend come up every morning after the kookaburras have eaten, ready for their breakfast they wait patiently.  When I stayed at the retreat and went for my strolls around the garden overlooking the river out they would pop from no-where - all of us getting a shock at seeing each other there.  When we meditated they would come up close to see what we were doing, feeling their curious eyes on you.

ooooooarh, I told a porky.  Here we are - Eccles Cakes, one of the very few cake like recipes that I can do quite well.  After a nostalgic trip down memory lane (one of my favourite place to go) a friend and I decided we would search out the recipe for them. Luckily in my book collection I had an 1940's Good Housekeeping book that had just the recipe we needed. People are still raving about them and begging us to make more.  Ooooops - I've just remembered what that digusting lump of something was when I cleared out the cupboards - left over dried fruit from the last batch of Eccles cakes I made, which was, now let me see, could it have been way back in March when I made the last lot. 

One thing you don't want to do when you are quietly strolling along enjoying the view is to step on one of these things.  When they are freaked out and scared the first thing they do is run up the nearest straight thing.  I hid straight away behind my sis in law and she promptly went behind our friend.  But Mr. Big Lizard just slowly sauntered across our path, gave us a couldn't care less look and slowly made his ascent up the nearest tree. 

christmas cake for breakfast

The bread had gone mouldy, its so so hot and muggy that it doesn't stay fresh for long and the fridge is full so I can't stick it in there.  The last of the milk - coffee or cereal.  Coffee won so the only thing for it was either a mince pie or a slice of cake (or left over pasta salad, coleslaw - nah not for brekky).  Looks like the ants have found the mince pies - thats okay, I don't particularly like mince pies so I don't mind sharing.
Finally able to shut the cupboard doors now the food pile has gone down. 

What can I do today, got to try and beg, borrow or steal a ride into town but there again I might just stay home.  I'm feeling out of sorts with people today, I really don't feel like being sociable, I feel downright disagreeable.  This is what happen when I have this huge build up of not being able to get motivated, this huge block that is stopping me from being creative. Something has got to blow. Must find a pretty picture in my stash, must meditate, must curb this need to be nasty. I'll go and rip a few weeds out - tear off their heads,  pull at their roots.  Oh dear, woe is me.

This is the sorry state of the santa we had to put up with this christmas. It makes me smile. It was a very hot day and santa needed a break with his little elf daughter who refused to give him his beard back.  It was hard work throwing all those lollies at people (literally hitting people on the head, she's got a mean right arm that little one) .  That day was one destined for the family memory box.  My son - santa claus, what more could a proud mother want.  Hang on, that makes me Granny Claus.

Oh beep beeep beeeeep. 

After spending time going on a road trip round all the wonderful blogs in my list I suddenly got homesick.  After 17 years as an aussie I'm craving Pennine hills, Lake District waterfalls, Yorkshire Moors, Lancashire hotpot, Coronation Street,  SNOW.
If ever I ever get back to the land of my birth I'm going to have a long list of all the wonderful places I want to see, all those lovely little country craft shops.  Bugger going to see the reli's, I want Cath Kidston.
But the only way I'll ever get back there is if I find a new rich Hubby or win the lottery.

So I until then I will wander aimlessly down the cobbled country lanes and the wide open countryside of Blogland.

Janjan