G'day. Do you ever have one of those days where you just can't be bothered doing anything? I hope so, because I don't want to think it's just me...
It's my day off work and I am in a funk. I just can't get my act together for the life of me. The sun is shining, the sky is a beautiful blue, much better than the cold wet days we have been having lately. I should be outside doing something, but I don't know what.
The back garden areas are now all finished. There are no weeds to be seen. Yeah... I can't do anything out the front until we get a digger in to dig up the whole front yard, mainly to level it out. Our new front fence is not yet finished, why I don't know. The company doing it hasn't been sighted since last week. Until that is completed, the plans for my front garden have been put on hold. I have even been looking at some of the lawn area in the back, wondering if I could make another smallish garden centred around a bird bath.But, that's probably making more work for myself.
I can't even motivated myself to do any sewing, or use my new, you beaut embroidery machine today.I am never like this. I relish my days off to do all the thing I love, like gardening and sewing or reading a good book etc, but it has all gone out the window for some reason.
If I am to be honest, I think I know what the problem is, it's my work, my place of paid employment. I have to go back there tomorrow and face a rather unpleasant task, one that I have dealt with in the past, but one that is never easy. I was laying in bed early hours this morning, trying to rehearse what I was going to say and what was the best way of saying it. This is never easy when another persons feelings are involved. I still haven't found the right words of what I need to say and I suspect I won't get much sleep tonight either.
On a lighter note, the pansy's in the picture are just beautiful, they are a giant pansy and one of my favourites. They brighten my day just looking at them.The ceramic watering can is one I made and painted many moons ago, a craft that I don't do anymore. Take care. Liz...
G'day. Well, as you can see, I am still playing with my new embroidery machine. After all I do have to get to know how to use it, don't I? Why spend all that money and just leave it sitting there. Doesn't matter that the house is overrun by dust and the garden has been neglected, but in fairness, it hasn't been that bad that hubby has to cook the meals and my paying job still has me there on my rostered days on. So all is not lost, yet!
Apologies for boring those of my followers that are not interested in sewing, but it is a big part of my life and it's nice to share. That's my story anyway and I am sticking with it.
We are still in winter here in Australia and last Thursday in my part of this beautiful country, Mother Nature let us know it. Late afternoon saw a massive thunderstorm come through, the streets were awash with water, windscreen wipers on flat out, hail, you name it, we got it. Only lasted about twenty minutes or so, then magically the sun came out, the sky cleared and you would never have known that a few minutes earlier we were in the grip of a full force storm.
I happened to look outside some time later and there was our boy laying in the garden bed near the back door, sunning himself, when only an hour or so beforehand he was hiding under one of the beds. What a good life he has.
Oh bye the way, I am still going to Weight Watchers and have now lost 17.1 kg. It was 17.7 last week, but I had been naughty and put on .6.The team leader is trying to get me more motivated and keeps telling me that she wants to be able to present me with a certificate when I lose 20kg. I should have been well past that mark by now, but I'm not and that's all there is to it. I was hoping to have 25kg off by the time I go to France next January and I will still keep trying. I haven't given up yet.
I also apologise to my followers that have had trouble with the word verification, I didn't realise that it was on. I know that many of the blogs that I follow have it and it can sometimes be very frustrating trying to read the words, even with my glasses on, it is a struggle and after a few attempts, I have had to give up and not leave comments.I have turned mine off, at least I hope it's off!!
That's all for now. Take care. Liz...
G'day. I hope that all my non quilting/sewing friends who follow my blog will forgive me for rambling on in this post about my new plaything. I have just bought myself an embroidery machine. Though the truth is that I have had it on layby for a few months, but it is now home with me, where it belongs. I, off course can't stop playing with it and that is the only way that I will learn how to use it to it's best advantage.
The second picture shows my very first attempt at doing something with it and I must say that I am rather pleased with myself. My next few attempts were also successful, but the tension was not quite right and those attempts have gone in the scrap bin. I can see that I am going to have a lot of fun. The housework may not get done and the weeds will probably grow rampant in the garden, but who cares. I am unleashing my creativity and more power to me.
Now for something totally different. I follow a blog called pompomsponderings.blogspot.com and this lovely lady came up with the great idea of sending three of the Wind in the Willows characters around the world. Ratty, Toad and Mole have been drawn and coloured in, onto fabric and have been made into three lovely small pillows.They have been visiting many countries via the bloggers who agreed to host them. I am one such person and I look forward to them visiting me at some stage soon. They are currently in France and after having much fun there, they will be making the long journey to me, in Australia. I then send them to New Zealand so they can have lots of adventures in that beautiful country and they really will have a tale to tell when they finally get back home to Pom Pom in America. I am not sure what I will do to entertain them at this stage, but no doubt they and I will have a lots of good times. I will be posting all about their visit with me and I hope you will enjoy reading it. Take care. Liz...
G'day. I have been working quite a lot over the last few months or so, not only at my place of employment but at home, just doing the usual things that need doing around here. But, it's been my paid work that has consumed a lot of my time. I very rarely work weekends, but because of staff shortages and one thing and another, I seem to be there at least six days a week of late. Oh yes, the money comes in handy, but being a homebody, I long for my days off.
If I am not planning on going anywhere on these precious days, I have my shower early in the morning, put my favourite PJ's on and just generally enjoy my time, doing some sewing if the mood takes me, getting out in the garden if the day is nice, or just pottering around doing housework, maybe sit in my favourite chair in the afternoon and read a book.
Oh sweet joy, I have not one, but two days off now in a row and wouldn't you know it, I have come down with a cold. I wasn't feeling top notch at work yesterday and by the time I got home in the afternoon, I knew I was in trouble. As soon as tea was finished, I was in bed, only to wake up through the night with the worst sore throat imaginable. I trudged out of bed all aches and pains to take some pain relief tablets and waited for them to work, no such luck.My throat feels like a few dozen razor blades are doing the Can Can in there. Doctors doesn't open until 9.00 am, but as soon as they do, I will be on the phone asking for an appointment. I need antibiotics and fast. If no appointment is available today, as sometimes happens, I will take myself off to the emergency department at the local hospital. After all, I work there one day a fortnight, so I know they will not turn me away.
I had great plans for my two coveted days off, those plans have now gone out the window.All I can think about is going back to bed,snuggling down and pulling the covers up.I think this dreaded cold and rotten throat may have been a result of catching a chill at the wedding I attended last Saturday night. Even though I thought I was dressed warmly, the weather was absolutely freezing. My feet were like two blocks of ice and at one stage I am sure they were so cold that I couldn't feel them. So, some of us ventured inside the home of the lovely lady who lent her house for this event, just to get a respite from the wind and the rain, only to be ushered out again for some toast to the bride and groom.I think this going from cold to hot a few times through the night didn't help.The wedding was lovely, but I will remember it for the extreme weather.It's not a good idea to have a wedding in winter, that's mainly going to be held out of doors and at night to boot.
Well, it's just past 9.00am. Doctors office will be open and I had better make that phone call. Wish me luck. Take care. Liz...
G'day. These three daffodils have been out for a little while now. I was really pleased to see them, as daffy's are a particular favourite of mine. When we owned the farm, I mass planted them and they looked spectacular. Here, all I have are a few, but I will plant many more next year. We hope to start the garden in the front yard at some stage soon and by this time next year, I hope to have a blaze of yellow running through it with the lovely daffodils.Surprisingly, I haven't seen any in the front yards of any of the houses in our street, so no doubt I will have the neighbours all a goggle!!
The next two photos have nothing at all to do with flowers as you can see, but I thought I would show you my latest purchases, only because I got them at such low prices, they were too good to pass up. I have a wedding to go to tomorrow (Sat) and it is being held outside, in a back yard. We are in winter here in Australia and in my neck of the woods it is particularly cold at the moment and tomorrow is meant to be wet, cold and generally miserable. The bride is not only celebrating getting married but also it's her 40th birthday. Being a sensible woman, the bride told people in the invitations not to wear any high heels or fancy clothes etc, but to dress warmly.Smart casual being the go. She has also said she wants to see people wearing jeans. I was a bit concerned about buying a new pair of good black pants as I am still losing weight (17.5 kg now) and any pants will be too big for me in a few months, if not less (I hope), so I have decided to do as the bride says and wear jeans, but I had no jacket that fitted, they all swam on me and looked terrible. Target were having a clearance of all their winter coats and lucky me happened to be there at the right time and I got these two lovelies that were reduced heavily. They really were just too cheap to let go. By this time next year, they will probably be too big, but what the heck, no doubt I will still get some great wear out of them. I am thinking of wearing the burnt orange one to the wedding, though the white looks great as well. My jeans are black as are my stockings and shoes, my scarf is off white. Yes, definitely the orange. What do you think? Take care. Liz...
G'day. I made this coat for our lovely little pooch some years ago. It is one of a few that I have made him. On weekends hubby and I and pooch go for a walk, usually early of a morning. On the days that I don't work, I take our boy for a walk. Good exercise for us all, especially pooch and I. Hubby now works part time on a farm most days and doesn't need the exercise.
Saturday morning dawned clear and cold. I peeked out the back door to see what the morning looked like and all I saw was the backyard covered in a coat of frost.We are used to a bit of cold here in winter, so I wasn't unduly concerned. At least it wasn't raining. On with the thermal long sleeved spencer, jumper, jacket, hat, stocking, socks and jeans. Thick gloves completed the outfit. Hubby was still in bed while all this was happening and showed no sign of wanting to move. "I think I'll sleep in this morning " was all he said. Mobile phone and tissues in jeans pocket , coat and lead on pooch and off we set.
Everything was white. Puddles on the side of the road had ice on the top of them, paddocks down the bottom of the hill were nothing but white. By this stage I began to realize just how cold it was. Steam was coming out of not only my mouth, but pooches mouth as well.Scenery looked lovely, but probably better off seen from the warmth of a car. Our walk usually takes about 45-50 minutes if we go the usual way, but somehow that morning I knew that wasn't going to happen. The shorter route was more on the cards.Even pooch didn't want to dilly dally. The usual 500 wee stops that he likes to make, just weren't happening, he saw the need to keep moving in the hope that his faithful leader would see sense and take him home. Arrived home to hubby informing me that he had heard on the local radio station that it was minus 3 degrees in town here, at that particular stage. After braving one of the coldest days we had had last Wednesday and getting the train down to the big smoke, you would think that I would have more sense than to venture out on such a cold morning. As I said in my last post, growing old does not necessarily mean growing wiser in my case. I also said that I thought I had caught a chill and was coming down with something, thankfully that only lasted about 24 hours. In the photo above, poor pooch is looking pleadingly at hubby to let him in. Which of course hubby did, then firmly closed the door while I took my shoes off and they both stood inside in the warmth, looking out at me with a smile on their faces.Oh hum, one day I will learn.!!!! Take care. Liz...
G'day. I stayed at my sons home last Wednesday night. A good and long standing mate of his was having a birthday party. This mate has not been very well of late, hence my desire to attend. I also made the rather silly option of catching the train down. Son would pick me up at the station.This involved a nearly two hour trip all up, on one of the coldest days we have had so far. I arranged to leave work early and off I went, cursing myself for not taking my car which would have been the warmest option, though not necessarily the quickest one. Hubby had to stay home. Friends from South Australia had rang only two days earlier to say they were visiting Victoria and could they stay for one night and yes, you guessed it, that was the night I wasn't going to be home.
But, to be helpful, I did get a beef and red wine casserole going in the slow cooker before I went to work and all hubby had to do was put the vegetables on and dish up.
Party went well, everyone had a great time and I was warmly tucked up in bed at about 11.00pm. Thursday morning dawned bleak, wet and cold, but I decided to try to dodge the rain drops and go for a quick walk around the lake that is near to where my son lives. He wisely, was still asleep and warm, not like his fool mother.who was out braving the elements just to get a bit of exercise to work off all the food I had gorged on the night before. But, the highlight of this exercise was seeing the beautiful pair of black swans with their four nearly grown young.It was a spectacular sight and well worth the cold and wet.
Home on the train on the Thursday afternoon, hubby waiting at the station to meet me, car running, heater going. He reported that the meal the night before was a big hit, guests enjoyed their stay, sorry I wasn't there etc, etc, and maybe we will catch up before they go back. Oh well, it all worked out well in the end, but wait, is it the beginnings of a cold I feel coming on? Did I catch a chill on the twenty minute walk from work to the train station in temperatures that hovered around the 6 degree mark or was it the foolhardy jaunt around the lake that did it, in the wet and cold? Growing older does not necessarily mean growing wiser, at least not in my case. Take care. Liz...
