he's making a list, he's checking it twice

which is exactly what I should be doing instead of catching up on you all in my bloglines. Because, only two more sleeps and we are off for two weeks at a beach house. Everytime I think about it I get a silly grin on my face, and often even do a little dance which luckily you won't have to witness! Phew! But what have I done in preparation? zilch, zero, nothing. Oh, wait I bought two new books last night to take with me.... So, I am quite sure I will be in a flap tomorrow about what I should or shouldn't be taking, how many books will I need, what will we have for lunch christmas day? or even dinner on Christmas eve? um, not sure yet! But I am so excited, more excited than I have been in ages - I really do feel like a little kid waiting for Christmas morning. And, I'm even looking forward to starting a brand new year, with new challenges etc. I wish I could show you how I've achieved so much this year like my much revered and talented pal, aunty cookie. But the truth is I've never been very good with resolutions, and much of this year quite frankly was sh*t. Yet, I can see how it's making me stronger and I have lots of faith that good out weighs the bad, so maybe I will get around to making a resolution or two. It might depend on how much champagne I've had, and whether U2 are playing in the background... actually that probably will be exactly my new year's eve, so I better start making resolutions soon! Finally, if you have been able to read all this dribble I want to say thank you for reading. And thank you to all of you who have left comments and made me feel part of the blogoshpere. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays etc to all of you. I look forward to catching up again in 2007. And pyglet if you read this, good luck with the new baby. And Amitie, thanks heaps for my little Chrissy present too.

The Case of the Good Book

I love a good mystery, and even more than that I love a good book. So, heaven for me is when I get to read to my heart's content and watch a jolly good murder mystery. This week has been heaven. Even though, Miss L is already on holidays I managed to read not 1 but 3, yes three good book's this week. Then Friday TV provided a good Miss Marple mystery ( I adore Agatha Christie - murder mystery in a book!) and last night was an episode of Midsomer Murder. All in all an exceedingly good week me thinks. And not a stitch of crafting done! I really felt like the lady of leisure indulging my reading and tv self so much in one week. The only problem being that after three good reads there is a lot of pressure on the next book to be good. I will know within the first page or two. Like my third book this week, (A Place Called Here by Cecila Ahern) when I read the back cover it seemed okay, but as soon as I had read that first page I was hooked. Dinner waited and waited. Miss L's bedtime came, and went. I read and I read and I read until R pleaded for the light to be switched off so he could get some sleep. As soon as I woke this morning I picked it up and the day breezed by until I finished it in the early afternoon. There is such joy in reaching the end of a good book, having lived the story and been completely oblivious to my surroundings. But as soon as I close the cover I get antsy. Coming back into the real world can be a sharp jolt to the senses and I often then feel crestfallen that little cocoon of story is gone. It wouldn't be so bad if there was a good murder mystery to watch tonight but alas, no such luck. I have several prospective books by my bedside, and I'm anxious that one of them will have the hook. So once again I can drift off into another world.....

tis the season to be buying

So, I've been busy, no not crafting but buying. Making sure everyone on our list has an appropriate gift. I always have grand plans to make gifts, but before I know it December is here and the grand plans are nothing more than dreams - again! I have only a few more gifts and I'm done for another year of present buying - I think a drink will be called for to celebrate the occassion. To add to the logistically nightmare Christmas shopping is, Miss L has also already finished school for the year. My sister and I used to love that being at a private school meant more holidays, but now I'm cursing the fact! Thank goodness for school holiday programs to take some of the load of 'mamma look at me, mamma help me do this, mamma what can I do now, mamma can we go somewhere' etc. etc. I'm sure you get the drift. only 7 weeks to go before school starts again - not that I'm counting!!

If you are still hunting for a suitable gift I have put some of my handmade bags up on ebay just click here to see them.

And finally, Mrs Davey tagged me, so here goes with the data:
4 jobs I have had...
1. mcdonalds
2. after school carer
3. wedding coordinator
4. food & beverage manager

4 movies I could watch over over
1. Pride and Prejudice (the BBC version thank you)
2. Possession (also a favourite book)
3. any Harry Potter
4. Wallace and Grommit (any again)

4 places I have lived apart from where I live now
1. Cambpelltown a suburb in Adelaide
2. Parkside another suburb in Adelaide
3. Toorak Gardens another suburb in Adelaide
4. and yep you guessed it, Norwood, yet another suburb in Adelaide

4 tv shows I love
1. The West Wing
2. Desperate Housewives
3. Midsomer Murders (I think Decetive Barnaby is pretty cool!)
4. Dancing with the Stars

4 places I have been for a vacation
1. New York
2. Bologna, Italy
3. Rome
4. Paris

4 Websites I visit Daily
1. Bloglines (75 feeds keeps me busy!)
2. Flickr
3. Ebay
4. um, not sure, wherever someone's links take me!

4 Favourite foods
1. Tom Yum
2. Chicken Rice
3. Chicken Marengo that Dad makes me
4. Mum's cherry cheesecake

4 places I would rather be
1. Bologna, Italy
2. anywhere in France
3. the Shangri La in Singapore
4. the Hyatt at Coolum (preferrably the Spa)

and instead of tagging anyone, because everyone seems to have been done, I give you
4 random facts about me
1. i grew up blonde but am now chocolate brown
2. i'm scared of heights
3. but I love flying
4. I've never been to Bali (very unAustralian!!)

it's a beautiful day...

*cartoon from http://www.leunig.com.au/cartoons/
and yes I didn't let it get away. Lucy and I went down to Elwood beach after school and spent a wonderful late afternoon enjoying a sumptuous sun filled day. Wow, can you notice that my mojo is coming back with all these superlatives!! Yes, it has been a hard few months and you may have noticed the down turn in my posting. You see I suffer from that black cloud or black dog whatever you want to call it - depression. It can really take the wind out of your sails and I've spent a good deal of time lately contemplating the back of my eyelids. But we (the psych and I) have done some changes to the drugs and some therapy and things are looking up... in fact when you know about being down, you can feel the pull of up, and it's like its very own drug. the only way is up is how I feel right now, and I'm hoping it will last for a long time. so enough about that...

The title of this post is also in reference to the constant U2ing that is happening in this household. My partner is a fanatical U2 fan, in fact he's a fan club member! So, first we had the music and dvd onslaught in lead up to the concert, with R openly manipulating Miss L's music tastes. Now, we have the "we went to the concert and loved it and just can't get enough" onslaught. Don't get me wrong - I thought the concert was fantastic, but enough already - I like a little variety in my music. Lucky we have our own iPod's or things could get really nasty here!! and yes, Miss L now can spot Bono in a crowd.

As for crafting - well there is none of that in this post - nope none at all - there is in fact very little to report even, so I'll make sure to kick that butt in the right direction and have something for you soon.

Camping

I'd like to be able to say this is a photo of us on our recent camping trip - don't we just look super organised - but alas it is a photo from my book Cooking for Campers that I picked up recently at the op shop for $2. We have just been camping, but being the newbies we are didn't manage to cook anything over the fire except the requisite marshmellows. All other meals were made in the camp kitchen or take away. Looking at the photo I guess this family must of been packing a trailer, because our Subaru Outback was packed to the hilt and we wouldn't have been able to fit in all that food and extra gear. But no matter, we had fun, and relaxed. I managed to knit a little bit more of Lucy's sock which at this rate will be finished sometime in 2008 if I'm lucky!

I have managed to get a little bit more organised and finished Miss Z's black lamb from the pictured japanese book - she has been appropriately named 'Wooly' (ps. it is hard to photograph black softies)

Another top for me - with the bad self photograph


And I signed up to Amitie's blog membership and these lovely fabric sample's arrived in the mail. Click on the button to the right if you would like to see more about them. They have a great range of fabrics.

And thanks Justine for getting me involved.

What's up Doc?

This is the question I posed to my doctor last week. I seem to be caught in a rut of tedium and disappointment which equals flatness and flightiness. I have found in really hard over the past few weeks to really get back into my projects - and haven't even be able to begin new ones without a cloud of discontent. This is not like me and so frustration has set in. I realised only a few days ago that really I am still getting over the disappointment of our house hunting. To add to that is now uncertainty with R's job which looks to drag on with no clear outcome for a while - bugger. So it was with some relief that I went off to my sewing group yesterday - sewing group (as nerdy as it might sound) supplies a group of women who can happily chat, gossip, discuss, sew, drink tea and eat delectable treats for 5 hours - bliss! It always supplies me with a much needed boost, and if projects go awry there is always a helping hand. Sometimes just being with some girlfriends is the best therapy. So, I am hoping that things will start to resemble my 'normal' life again soon... Here is a picture of me wearing my new top (sewing group project from yesterday) and snacking on my current obession - wasabi peas.

Hope you all had a good weekend. Now there's that knitting to finish, those bags to finish, and the squid, and those retro toys for etsy and the....

and then there were none...

Finally, the eight little hopping, Australian things I've been working on (wip mentioned here) are finished and hopping their way to the US. They are, of course, 8 little kangaroo's. Here are the other 7 just before heading off.

They are making their way to Dawn for one of her brillant Open Yours swaps. If you haven't before, try to join one as they are always great fun and you will not be disappointed with the goodies you recieve.

For those of you who are interested, we didn't get the house :( and we have decided to stop looking at the moment. What an emotional rollercoaster house hunting can be - no thanks! So, back to working with all my our clutter in our little house. (This is it on a very good day!)

In the meantime, I also finished two more mini moopies (wip from here) so I am slowly getting throught the WIP List.
One for Sallyanne - which is only a pinch of the thank yous she deserves,

and one finally for Miss L - who has now started bugging me about her own kangaroo....

what's with the eights?

I seem to have a thing about 8's at the moment, so it is pretty fitting that this is my 88th post. I've always loved writing the letter 8, two little circles, and yes, I have a thing about circles too. Anyway, before I tell you about my current 8, I have some finished wip's - done!

Firstly this mended quilt has been done for some time. I bought it looking like this from the market for 5 aussie dollars. It is now happily washed and patched and looking comfy like this....

This post is also hosting a patchwork theme, as I finished my current skirt project. This has been in the back of mind for nearly a year, so I'm glad to finally cross this one off the wip list. It is made up of some old jeans and a group of liberty cotton patches. One of the patches is the great liberty balloon fabric you saw here. I bought so many liberty patches to make this skirt that I now have enough to make a doona cover for Miss L - what was I thinking?! so a new wip to add to the list too :) but the skirt is nice and summery, even if Miss L's friend Miss E told me my skirt was falling down the other day!!!


Finally, I am participating in the Hot Socks swap, and I recieved this

lovely parcel from Barb, all the way from Sweden. There were in fact more chocolates but well, you know, they just beg to be eaten!!

And, as for those 8's? well, here is a clue - they are very Australian, and they hop!

super girls

We are in the process of buying and selling houses, well hopefully anyway, so not much concentrated crafting here this week. I have managed to finish my skirt from last weekend's sewing group (hi ladies!) but no pics yet. However, I can always trust Miss L to come up with new projects for me - today's was to make her and partner in crime, Miss V, 'super girls'. Well for once I was able to do said project. I nipped out to Target who were luckily having a 20% off sale, bought two t-shirts - pink of course! Home, whip out sparkly pink cap material from stash and I was half way there. Then, quick couple of clicks with the mouse, a hot iron and TA DA!! Two happy little super girls....



now if only I could whip up our new house so easily - fingers crossed for the auction on Saturday.

Expectations of a four year old

Miss L has been very interested of late about me making and selling things for others. (what do you mean there is a world outside me?!) Lots of questions about me being the 'maker' (notice this isn't The maker! Although I'm sure she was a woman, what a feat of multi-tasking). Anyway, all these questions reminded me of an incident that happened last year when Miss L went on an outing with all her friends and their dads. The dads took the then 3 year olds to the Melbourne museum which has a great children's sections. However, it was apparently in another section where there as a life size display of families made from paper machie - Miss L turned to everyone and said 'my mum can do that'. !! Much as I would like my stuff to be in the museum no one has offered so far! So back to those work in progress bags for me.....

you can see I like variety!!

And a quick little competition for you with some goodies for the winner.
Can anyone guess what I might be making with the green and yellow floral fabric? (photo 2)
leave your answer in the comments, and I'll see if we have a winner by next Monday.
sorry Sallyanne you can not enter!!
good luck

temptation

It is so hard when you have good intentions to really finish those projects you started, but the mailman delivers these:

Sew U by Built by Wendy

InStitches by Amy Butler

Kids Learn to Knit by Lucinda Guy
Oh the temptation!!

I wish I had more finished projects to show you, but instead more photos of WIP's. And still this is just the tip of the iceberg, my cupboards are full of bags of projects in some state of unfinishment (my word!)

wip? Oh yeah!

Okay so now that I finally have morphe finished and delivered I decided it was time to return to my out of control substantial works in progress. And, after a few days perserverance I managed to finish one! I have always wanted to knit a lace shawl in some beautiful lightweight mohair - not the best beginner piece, so when I saw an article in the nov/dec 2005 Piecework magazine to ' Knit a Qiviut Lace Headband' - well I was there. Of course, I still started with the mohair, and of course, it all went horribly wrong within a few rows - and mohair, as any knitter will tell you, does not like to be undone. So, I decided to choose my second favourite yarn - cotton. It meant I could see the pattern (and my mistakes) easily. I finished the headband, and with the every blog writer's problem of taking photo's of yourself, here I am modelling it!

R said tonight at dinner, it was transporting him back to the fifties. Fine with me as long as he doesn't want his slippers brought to him!!

One down, 10, 12, too many left to go!
But I have made a firm decision to 'finish what I started' for the rest of year. I have this crazy goal for being able to go away for the Christmas holidays with Brand New projects. I will confess now that resolve and willpower are not traits that I possess in abundance, so you will be my witnesses and dare I say it whip crackers! Here are some of the other WIP's,

I thought the bee was fitting for the business to be found here at the moment!

and one of Lucy's little knitting projects I found today, with good yarn from Marta's - aarrgh!

morphe

well my little girls are finally delivered and so I can show you what Shannon and I have entered into this year's Morphe II exhibition. If you live in Adelaide, please make the effort to get along to see the show in October (from the 6th). with out further ado please meet our crafting sisters....


there are more photos of the girls on my flickr account
I'm thinking of putting these lovely photos (thanks Mr & Mrs Craig!) into postcards for sale - what do you think?

While I was in Adelaide I also finished a sock elephant for my nephew's birthday. I was quite pleased with the result, and you can see Master C was too!

time with family

I haven't written for a while and I feel quite guilty! So, here is a little catch up on what has been taking up my time...

1.finishing and posting my final parcel for my One Skein Secret Pal in germany - Dorothea I hope you enjoy them. (The little lolly like item is to make your drawers smell nice).

2. finishing my half of the Morphe II items -- no pictures yet but I promise to post some soon.
3. putting together a folio of my work -- thanks Mrs Craig for the beautiful pictures. Here is just a sample



4. buying some beautiful paper care of Mrs Davey -- but now I'm too scared to cut it!
5. finishing my sock elephant for my beautiful nephew for his birthday. no photo yet, don't want to spoil the surprise!

Miss L and I are off today to spend the week with my sister. I love spending time with her and our days will be quite full, with thrifting, zoo visiting, playing, talking. Might not get a chance for much blogging.
I hope you have a good week too.