Tuesday, January 30, 2007

My newest venture

So it doesn't involve needles, it has nothing to do with material, no hooks or yarn or tape measures in sight, no pricked fingers, no sore thumbs. But it does have to do with my other favourite thing - my beloved computer.

It's DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING !

Now I must admit the thought of scrapbooking has been a passing fleeting thought. There was the Creative Memories party I went to where I dutifully bought all manner of things to get me started. That was about 6 years ago now and I've done one page. Bit of a slow starter out of the gates huh?

But some friends have been showing me some of their projects and I loved the whole idea of it. It really appealed to my perfectionist nature, being able to highlight my beautiful photographs and show them off just so. I've done 4 pages now, but some are a wee bit personal to put on here for the world to see, so I shall share with you the page I have done of my beautiful Molly (affectionately known to us as "Miss Molly Moo"). She definitely deserved a page all of her own I thought.


Incredible! Screws, paperclip and all, done by the computer. It blows me away how much you can do. So my pages will still be quite simplistic until I get a bit braver, but how much fun am I going to have!

Saturday, January 27, 2007

6 Weird things about me

I have been tagged by Bells so finally, after due consideration, I have come up with 6 Weird things about me.

Weird thing number 1
I cannot walk barefoot outside, no way no how. Not on grass, not on gravel, not even on smooth paving. I could possibly walk on sand, but would much prefer thongs, and certainly thongs from the car to the sand. I know I am a sensitive soul, but obviously I have sensitive soles!!!

Weird thing number 2
I asked hubby if he could think of anything weird about me and he couldn't come up with anything. Does that mean I'm decidedly normal - which in itself is weird.

Weird thing number 3
I snort when I laugh. Yes I know lots of people do this, but I'm so bad at it I'm on rations at work. They count my snorts and I'm not allowed to go over my limit of 5 snorts a day. It seems most everybody at work knows this as if they happen to hear one they ask everyone else what number we are up to.

Weird thing number 4 - not weird about me but weird happened to me
My first sight of a willy - apart from my brother - was when I was in Grade 3 Mrs. Turner's class. I was about 8 or 9 years old. The boy I sat next to in class decided to show me his, we were in the back desk of the classroom and no one else could see. 'Oy, check this out' ... 'No' ... 'Awwww come on, have a look' ... 'NO' ... but I did peek and told him to put it away. Was that a rite of passage - my first willy - I don't know - but I know he felt superior having showed it to me and goodness knows how many others. Imagine years later in my 30's when a new person arrived at my work and was being showed around. IT WAS HIM!!!!! And I almost accidentally called him Willy, te he.

Weird thing number 5
I have been involved in 9 car bingles in my life. Now before you all run for the hills and think you'll never get in the car with me ever again ... a couple of these I wasn't actually in the car, but they happened to my car so in turn involve me. Truly I am a safe driver but I figure because of the amount of time I spend on the road then the average surely has to go up, doesn't it.

Weird thing number 6
I met my now husband on the internet. Probably not strange nowadays, but I still get greeted with looks of horror if the subject comes up in conversation with those strange non-computer type people.

Now because I have a serious lack of people on my list, I'm only going to tag Jess, because the other blogs I read the people don't really know me and then that would really be weird getting this from someone they don't know.

I will however mention a small weird thing number 7. The fact that I spelt weird as wierd all throughout this post and I had to go back and change them all!

Friday, January 26, 2007

Australian's all let us rejoice

Happy Australia Day!!
The sky is blue, hubby has gone bush for the day trying to find that ellusive gold stuff! Leaving me to my own devices. I'm happy about that, I'm going to go off and take some photos and sew till my hearts content, with plans to watch the Davinci Code tonight on DVD. All is good.

How great does this sky look, taken oh, 5 minutes ago. It's a PERFECT day out there. Apart from Americans because I've been there and you can't go anywhere without a vista of the star spangled banner before you, but I wonder how many of us Aussies actually have a flag pole? We do. This flag pole is attached to hubby's shed, you can see it from up around the corner even. We alternate from this to the Scottish flag, I even had a Santa flag up at Christmas time.

Even Molly wanted to get in on the act today!



Have fun everyone. Lamb and lamingtons all round!

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Blog Etiquette

Heck, is that how to spell etiquette??? I'm so tired right now I haven't even got the energy to find out.

So my question as to blog etiquette ... are you allowed to just put people's blogs in your links or should you ask them first if it's okay? What if it's a blog you read but just have never commented on, would they find that strange to see they appear on someone else's links? This question is perplexing me. I have a number of blogs in my favourites on the computer, some of which I just read, some of which I comment on. Can I just start putting them on my links?

Played twilight lawn bowls tonight. Lots of fun, we won 18 to 8 ! And the best part tonight we won, they didn't just lose. We fought it out but we were on fire. And our team of three won the all important prestigious pen at the sausage sizzle afterwards!!!! All good fun.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

I've gone into overdrive!

Not just in posting on this blog (twice in a day ?!?!?!?) but I've stitched the top together. Now I have to work out the back, which I think will just be strips of the leftover material, because like usual I bought way too much.





Scotty just looked amazed when I showed him, quite chuffed that this will be a gift for his best mate's baby. He puffed his chest out ... as if *HE* was the one who had made it! Men!

Moving right along

Amazing what happens when you get straight into a project rather than after the initial excitement of picking colours you then let the material sit in the bag for a few days, procrastinate over this and that, finally get it out, make that first cut and then you are already over it. How many times does that happen to others? Or maybe it's just me and my insatiable need to keep starting things.

So I got to it straight away. Washed, dried, ironed, cut and already I have the top squares. Placed it all out on the bed last night and tried to make sure no colours touched or that the intensity was the same all over. Scotty gave his opinion and moved this and that too which was good having someone see it with a new eye and he's really good with colours (it's he that helps pick the border colours and thread for names for my Christmas stockings).

Here it is, don't worry about the hole in the middle, that's going to be the plain white one which will have ALIZA stitched onto it. And maybe the date of birth??? Not sure about that yet. I might just stitch that into a corner of the border.



Off to continue sewing. What a perfect Sunday morning. Raining outside, Scotty's still in bed, Martha is on the telly and sewing machine at the ready. PERFECTION !!!

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Aliza's Quilt - Material at the ready!

Well I mentioned hubby's best friend's baby Aliza has made her way into the world. We decided we would give her a blankie (made by me!) for a gift. I'm just doing a really easy fence and rail pattern but with no particular repetative colour structure, just different colours everywhere. All pinks, greens and white.

This picture may not show just how vibrant, but picture in your head if you will fairy floss pink and crisp green apples. That's what it looks like up close.


Funny how men see things though. I texted hubby's friend last night to ask him what colour the nursery was. He texted back ... WHITE ! I meant the colour scheme, not the walls silly! I think he was still on cloud nine.

Off to sew...

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Sock wool ain't just for socks alone!

Well here it is, finally finished this trendy little baby jacket for a dear friend who has just had baby Darcy last Friday. Now Lord knows whether the baby will end up growing out of the jacket before we finally get some cool weather!! OMG I have never known it like this.



Anyway back to the jacket. It's knitted sideways. I love this yarn, I really do. And how cute and trendy is it? Wrap around with a button at the top (outside and inside) so it doesn't make the baby look like a sausage in a casing, te he. I am also putting little red socks (alas, they are bought socks, I CAN'T KNIT WITH MORE THAN 2 NEEDLES!! What a sad case I am) and a red singlet together with the present. Cute as a button gift for a cute as a button boy.


Still on babies. Hubby's best friend (well actually naturally it was his partner) had their first baby yesterday. Aliza. So I've decided to make a blankie for her. Firstly checking on the colour of their nursery (don't want to clash). So that's on the agenda for Saturday to go shopping for more material. Yeah right, like I *REALLY* need more??? Any excuse will do.

Monday, January 15, 2007

I love Michael Miller

Fabric that is. There's something so fun and whimsical about it. It blends perfectly to childrens sewing, bright and colourful. And look at this ... every kid wants to be an astronaut don't they?!?!? Michael Miller just rocks!



I needed a "me" day today so what did I do but sit at the sewing machine. I have made this little bib for a friend of mine who just had a baby, although I still haven't got the binding quite right, but I know she'll love it anyway. Must go look at some sites to work it out, because I want to be able to make my own binding so I have the exact fabric that I want.

Onward and upward. Must exact the binding and before I make any more bibs.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

What a week

What a week we had.

Firstly bushfires near here. Very scary driving home and seeing flames in the trees about 500 metres from where I was. Scotty went and helped a dear friend on his farm who was battling the flames. He sadly ended up losing a third of his farm, but thankfully not the house nor the stock.

Then oldest step daughter had a very bad appendicitis attack and ended in hospital. She ended up getting it out yesterday and is now on the mend. After last night coming out of anaesthetic now that was scary. But she must be feeling better today as she's asked that no "oldies" visit her. She'll just play princess while all her friends come and pay homeage !! te he.

It's been a long week. But I'll finish on a picture I just took earlier on my way home from the supermarket. I think I may put it on my desktop. It will make me smile. Cows have a way of doing that don't they? You can't help but smile at a cow.

Now I must go find that yarn to sew up the baby jacket I had made. My friend had her little boy yesterday. Darcy !!

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

I promise, there will be *other* photos soon

But whilst I have some willing subjects and whilst this new whizbang camera is lovingly drawing me in to play with it, I'm just shooting around the house. It was too darn wet over the weekend, and I'm too darn exhausted after work to go out looking for subjects. But I will.

Until then, here's my other girl, my beautiful Bo.


(Molly and Bo really ought to have their own blogs because they've kind of taken over mine!!!)
Now I promise, the next photo will not be of either of them, although I've decided I'd love to get into pet photography or at least take some nice nice pics of friends pets for them. I must get myself back to crafty type pics.
Later.

Saturday, January 6, 2007

New camera love!

Is it possible to be in love with a camera, all the buttons and bits and pieces and the book that is inches thick? Picked it up yesterday and I haven't stopped playing with it. The only downfall is that it rained so hard today and storms were brewing that I couldn't go out all over the country side and just go snap happy. How bad that is to be bemoaning the rain, I should hush.

But the camera in all it's gadget glory is a real beaut. And it has a 10 optical zoom. So that's what I've been doing today, stalking Molly and Bo. Driving them nuts.

Not the most flattering picture of her body, but I love the expression on her face. What? Another picture???? Oh please let me be! So expect to see lots and lots of pictures from now on from Scoop here! Poor hubby, I don't think he'll get a chance to even play with it.

Wednesday, January 3, 2007

Well that's given me a laugh

For some reason I decided to look at my profile. And okay, you know I do feel like last year went by in the blink of an eye, but ......

Age: 250
Gender: Female
Astrological Sign: Virgo
Zodiac Year: Rat
Location: Country Victoria : Australia


Now either I'm holding my age very well, I mean to say what do 250 year old wrinkles look like anyway? I wonder if something happened to my stats from going to the new blogger. Who knows.

Anyway I'm a Dragon, not a Rat. Scotty would probably call me the ol' dragon at times anyway! ha.

I'll change it later, it's giving me a giggle at the moment.

Monday, January 1, 2007

Happy New Year to you all

Well 2006 has passed and I have paused and reflected and counted my blessings. Does everyone do what I do? Get to the end of yet another year and think where on earth has it gone? Am I aging this quickly? Is life passing me by?

So this year without fail I aim to live every moment to its fullest and have no regrets about anything. I want to put my all into everything I do with gusto. I want to spend more time with my darling husband and family and very much loved friends. I want to renew old aquaintances that have dwindled over time, and get out and put myself out there and live life.

There, it's on paper, or screen, or well you know. So I have committed it to the greater world population now.

I hope 2007 brings all good things to everyone.