house

This is going to be our new house.
Found out today - moving mid Dec. Hopefully all will go well.

derby again

Went to the VRDL grand final last night, loved the skating, hated the venue.
Found this article via Facebook, I really can relate to this quote:

There were lots of families in the crowd. Watching the kids clap and hurt with the women, grimace as they hit the ground and scream as they got back up, wiping smears of face paint over their faces, I saw for a moment what I would have felt watching those women as a child. Powerful, epic, like there was something to look forward to at the end of growing up, and it would come on a set of skates, under a Reservoir night, in a pair of hot pants and the boom of the backtrack, as part of a team.

~ Ruby Murray

like

source

teacup time

I'm still jonesing for a tea related tatoo.  A quick google of "teacup tattoo" included these beauties.

 I like this one - would look better on me, I'm not so hairy ha ha. source.

love this one
source

Awesome. source

tea leg. source

More tea legs. Source

farm boy '39

I love this image from Shorpy.

want

After reading about these two shops on a friend's blog, I so want to go there and get some Japanese cuteness for myself.
Daiso
Tokuya

Right now

I haven't been blogging much, as have a few things going on, and not really good ones, somewhat unsettling things. Combined with the fact that the internet is basically shickered for the rest of our billing cycle, I haven't been reading blogs much lately, as nothing really loads, especially the photos.
So I'll blog again when everything settles down a bit, at least Hubert and all the animals are well.

In the meantime, I've started knitting as stress release, and just finished reading a memoir by Madonna's brother, which, although he's actually gracious about everything, confirms my suspicion that she's a self-obsessed egotistical monster. Anyway, the knitting - on Friday I was left to my own devices while the fella was at the nautropath, and so I ended up in the wool shop, buying this pattern, and the wool in a musk pink shade to get started:


Not that the photo is very clear, but it's just a basic stocking stitch top...supposed to be easy. That fact didn't stop me from having to pull out everything I'd done yesterday, as I'd messed up the decreases, doing them every 4th row instead of 12th (yes looking at the directions for the wrong size.) I guess it remains to be seen if I'll finish this one (no?) but in the meantime it's keeping me busy. And I need that at the moment.

Okay

...so this made me laugh this morning.

This blog is very funny if you're fond of roller derby.

Love

Just stumbled upon this tattoo, thanks to this girl.
Love it.

[source]

Can anyone help?

Ingrid's Haven is a non-profit cat shelter in Victoria, an hour's drive from Melbourne. Many cats and kittens areavailable for adoption ... all from death row at the pound, rescued and cared for by Ingrid until new loving homes can be found. All Haven cats and kittens are desexed, vaccinated, microchipped, wormed and flea treated. Ingrid does not accept surrenders from individuals. Ingrid's Haven is a no-kill shelter.
Ingrid needs your help right now, as she says:
"The Haven is facing some difficult times as we have been given notice on our rental property.Our landlord wants to move back in after 10 years but this has put us in an awkward position to find somewhere else to live with the cats, horses and dogs before Christmas. What will happen is yet unclear but the Haven cats are safe, I will do anything in my power to continue my shelter but I am a bit shell shocked at the moment as we are not in a poistion to buy a property but will have to find somewhere again to rent.

I urge everyone to spread the word that I need as many cats as possible to find homes before the big move as this will make it easier for all but the same rules as always apply, everlasting safe homes and the cost for the cats will remain as I still need to pay for their vet care, past and present."

If anyone can afford to donate a few dollars their way, it would be greatly appreciated.

Letters

Soldiers Writing Letters Home, originally uploaded by Smithsonian Institution.

Rereading some old posts today on here, I came across this one. It's still true.

Then whilst idly blog surfing, I found this post. Read it, it's awesome.

Then I found this project.

Facebook Snail Mail: Noel Maguigad, originally uploaded by spudart.

And so, thought I, if nothing else, I'll write some postcards, and as people have suggested, try and do this on a Friday. So that they have some Monday morning mail joy.

(Snail) Mail, originally uploaded by martinstelbrink.

Want a postcard from me? Drop me your addy at drewzel@rocketmail.com.

In the meantime, I'll try and fire some cards out to people in the universe, just so they get something tactile and pretty.

Letter Writing Can Be Fun!, originally uploaded by Emerald2810.

Tea (of course)

So further to this post, I still haven't got my cupcake tattoo, although I have decided on a design...just need to find the right place on the body to put it, and find the money to pay for it. (None of that spare at the moment.)
The other thing I want, as mentioned here, is a teapot tattoo.
A quick google for teapot tattoo gave me these examples:

A black and white one

This lovely teapot.

And this one.

None of these are actually what I'm after, but I just liked them. So my search continues...

Some happy things

...to balance out that last post, I do have some happy things from the past week:

~ "spring" cleaning the loungroom and rearranging the furniture. Hubert reckons the energy is better here now. I might even try and take a farty photo or two when the afternoon sun comes in:



~ playing with a favourite friend and having dog lurve.

[Spike and Leroy @ Holly's place]

~ a good movie

['Eat Pray Love' photos copyright big arsed movie studios or whoever]

~ borrowing lots of CDs that I want to hear from the library, including Grinderman, Washington and Funkadelic.

~ cupcakes and BBQ noms

[made by me, om nom nom]

~ the sunny weather.

...and you worry

This morning I had bad dreams. Silly really, the situation had no resemblance to my life, and I'm not sure it actually meant anything at all. But you wake up and want to cry.
And you can't shake that feeling off. I've been veging on the couch, reading blogs, looking at Facebook, and trying not to cry. And he's brought me tea, toast, potato salad, and now a cupcake. Played with the dog and been silly. I've laughed at his jokes, while tears run out of my eyes. I can't stop them.
And I worry. That I'm too hard to live with. That'll he'll get sick of it. That he'll say (just like the last one did) "I don't like living with a sad sack."
So I try and hold it in.
And I worry.

Sunny days

Nothing much to say today apart from how much I'm enjoying the current Spring weather. I like lots of warm sunshine and even a stormy night.
And here's a picture I found on Tumblr, just beause I like it.

Highway to Hell

Highway to Hell, originally uploaded by egenerica.

I nodded off during the Grand Final yesterday (boo! Collingwood!) but I sure didn't snooze during the Derby. I've given up taking (read- attempting to take) photos during a bout, so I'll just borrow one from Flickr.

Lost

Yesterday I had a moment (in the bathroom no less.) It occurred to me that where I'm living right now is not home. It's a pleasant enough house, and I love the garden...but it's not me. I didn't really acknowledge until recently the strong effect my environment has on me, but I do know now it's very important. I need to move out of this town and to a house that feels like home. I know people say home is where you make it, but if you try and try and it's still not right, then you have to change something. So I'm back to bellyaching about trying to find somewhere to "be me". I don't know where it is yet. But I've got another person, 3 cats and a dog along for the ride now too.

[not my place]

Monday Monday

Dear Blogworld,
It's been 2 months since my last confession.

MsCheesePlease reminded me of the existence of blogs this morning (via Facebook, of course. I've said it before, and I'll say it again...if you really want to get any idea of what I'm up to, FB friend me.) ...What's a blog, said I.

Apparently "It's that thing you used to like to do but then it became stressful and mostly just a painful obligation so the longer you don't blog, the more guilty you feel about it and the harder it becomes to start up again."

Aha! thought I. I have no obligation, because no-one reads me anyway.
But decided to do a post all the same.

Sheer delight

Skein stash, originally uploaded by virginia-blue.

Some eye candy for a Wintery arvo.

Stitched postcard swap

Alas, I have no creative mojo at the moment, and after a couple of hours embroidering a clock that I later decided was crap and chucked away, this simple effort ending up being my stitched postcard:

Plus I was running late, but I hope my partner liked it.

The text is from the following quote, as the theme was Time:
“Time is too slow for those who wait,
too swift for those who fear,
too long for those who grieve,
too short for those who rejoice,
but for those who love, time is eternity.”

~Henry van Dyke

More on the swap over here.
In the meantime, I check the mail hoping that the post gremlins haven't devoured mine.

I very much liked

this post on the Craftzine blog as I realise I'm not the only one who has a whole mess of FLOSS waiting to play with. And why I can never find the colour I want. Yay Jenny!

[photo from Craftzine]

It goes on

Mount Gambier's Blue Lake, originally uploaded by natmeister.

I just realised that I haven't blogged for about a month. Mostly because I haven't felt that I've had anything to say. I still don't know where I'm at or where I'm going.

Went to Mount Gambier on the weekend for a look around. That picture isn't mine though - the Lake wasn't blue, just a dull grey colour. Hence I didn't take any photos, just wasn't in the mood. Mount Gambier is quiet and by my standards, a small place really. I think I need to go back in the warmer weather to get a good feel for the place.

Actually I still have nothing to say. I'll edit this later.

Still lusting

after a Sunny Buick tattoo. Just too hard for me to decide what I want.
Here's a few of my faves from her site:





There's some incredibly cool ones of women and faces, but they're not really me. The last one here is really my fave, but I'm not really a knitting devotee. And I don't think I'd get a tattoo with hearts in it... something with a teapot though...hmm...

Some eye candy

...to cheer me up today.

Image source

Stuff on my mind = almost incoherent babbling

Such is my mood this week, I can't even be bothered thinking of an exciting title for this post. I haven't been in blog world too much of late, as work has been crazy busy and I don't do much beside Facebook on the puter in the evenings. Work is also trying to move my office into the CBD, and I fear the commuting will kill me (yes I know other people manage it, but I am not other people, and I've definitely been occupying a fragile mental space lately.) I thought I'd found a solution, and had a job interview last week, but alas, found out yesterday that I didn't get the job. Winter has definitely got me down, and the new place is proving to be most freezing and damp in this cold weather. I feel a bit directionless and uncertain. This is leading me to sleepless nights and general blahs. But Hubert and teh wee beasties have been keeping me sane and so I'm hanging in there.

[Miss Burton C Bell, gazing at Hubert.]

So that's the whingy crap. But there is good stuff too. Did I tell you that in true "have a crack" spirit, Hubert has proved to be most handy in the kitchen? Quite remarkable. He decides what he might be interested in making, looks up a recipe on the trusty interwebs, and off he goes. So far his efforts have been highly successful. Toad in the Hole was good, plus provided me with amusement. Sunday saw a super yummy Potato and Leek soup (no photos because I scoffed it all). One of the ways to my heart is indeed through my stomach.

This post made me laugh and laugh this morning. I can so relate, I've been there. Not any more though, again, I'm very lucky that the fella leaves me alone to do the house thing. However, I haven't made any progress on it so far. Last Monday I took all the pictures off the lounge room wall, moved them about for an hour (repeatedly) and then cracked the poos and put them back where I'd started. The house (which is supposed to be retro really) is getting a bit Nanna-fied. Although the big Queens of the Stone Age print would beg to differ. It seems that Ninja has finally grown out of his eat-the-palm-trees phase, so the house can again have pot plants.

[Portrait of the Ninja as a young hooligan.]

[Although these two are looking mighty suspicious.]

Last Thursday we went to Savers in the evening, and I bought NOTHING. Not a sausage. I left feeling rather unfulfilled. There was no vintage teatowels, pillowcases or reasonably priced china to be found. I hope this is not a trend. Not that I need more stuff really, I still have a whole heap of clothes, books, china and furniture at my old house to round up.

Speaking of furniture, this cupboard has been hiding in the shed since we moved in, and I feel it is nearly time to unearth it and install it in the casa. It needs a good clean and a coat of paint - most probably white. I think I'll leave the drawer liners as they are. But the writing really has to go. One drawer is marked "skivvies". I'm grateful I don't own any of those anymore.


Guess who gets the fun job of doing most of the work? No, not Ninja.

In crafty news, I've been stitching (embroidering) pillowcases (what a surprise!) and have decided to make a granny square cushion cover. Yesterday we* swapped my big 50s kitchen table for Hubert's small wood and white version, which fits the space much better. But I then decided that the kitchen chairs needs cushions/chair pads, preferably with granny square covers. This lovely tutorial gave me a new square design and off I went a-hookin'.

[camera hasn't picked up the true colours though. Damn this fluoro lighting.]

As usual, I'm having issues with the colours. Do I like the combo? How come I like the wool until I actually make the squares? ARGH! I really do think granny squares and I are not meant to be sometimes.

You know those blogs with the gorgeous, perfectly styled photos? This is not one of them. But I think you'd probably noticed this already. Thankfully, I now have a camera again (thanks to my mate Nat) so maybe the photos will improve. Can only hope.

I shall return ~ at some stage ~ with pfaffed up house photos and some completed craft. Yeah.


*the royal we of course. You know who does all the hard work around the Villa now.

Stuck in my head

Taking and giving - two birthdays

On Saturday, a couple of things struck me...well a couple of people illustrated to me the concepts of being a either giver or a taker in life.

Saturday arvo we attended a friend's 60th birthday. I was pleased to go because this man is a good person, always ready to drop everything and help a friend or relative out. (His wife is the same.) At speech time, what touched me was the real respect (and love) that all his friends and family had for him. He's worked long and hard to earn that respect. Today's his birthday, and I wish him many many more.

That same morning I received an email from a friend in response to one I'd sent earlier in the week, wishing him a happy birthday. I apologised for not getting the day exact due to my bad memory but wished him a great day all the same. The response was only "Yeh it's not until Monday." I was angry to the point of tears, as this person and I have had some ups and downs in the past, but I was trying to do the right thing and genuinely wish them well. I guess I'd like to think that he'd have the courtesy to say "Thank you" at least, but no. Today's his birthday, and all I can say is - rot in Hell arsehole.

I guess the point to all my babbling here, is that some people give themselves and their time, sincerely and reliably, while other people are just interested in themselves and what they can get from people. Probably not hard to guess which one I decided to end all further interaction with.

Happy things

As it's Friday (which in itself is a happy thing), I'll list some happy things today:

~ new frock

~ some more yarn for the granny malarkey
(note - this granny square does not live anymore, I pulled it out)

~ catching up with friends on the weekend

~ two of my new fave blogs : this one and this one

~ going to see this girl tonight:


And I'd like to spend some time here:
Well that's Dottie Angel's couch, but I'll be spending some quality time with my own couch.

Enjoy your weekend!

Indeed

Yes I know there's been a lot of photos lately, but that's where I'm at.

[source]