FABRIC FLOWERS... WHY NOT BLOCKS?

A couple of days ago... I had my thinking cap on... and thought.. Hmmmmm... wonder if I can make some cute little blocks to put on cards?
ANSWER: YES!

ABOVE: This is the first one I am working on.... nowhere near finished, but already looking so cute! I am having so much fun with these!

Today? Well... I have the RTLB Teacher coming first thing this morning to talk about her observations of Griffin working within his classroom.... she's been doing observations for about 6 weeks now. So, she's coming to discuss it. Interesting.

What else? Only two more sleeps till Coco comes home! Jiggling with excitement...

AND it's weigh in day.... which I will do a bit later...

ABOVE: the heart blocks I made yesterday afternoon, they are so quick and easy! I'm thinking.... they would make a cute quilt too... with a very neutral sashing?

Onward... still in me nightie!

The Meeting: went OK.. not sure just what she thinks she can/is doing for Griffin though. She also let me know that the 'Special Class' Griffin has been going to for half of his day has been dis-banded, and he's now just back in his 'normal' class all day with NO help. I am furious, the school has not told me about that development!

Now what do I do for him? If the school is not providing the extra help he needs??? I'm ringing SPELD for a start. Pffffft to the school and their 'We are doing everything we can for your son' bullshit. I'M FURIOUS.

And while I'm feeling crabby... I only lost 300 grams this week! Holy Hell... that is annoying considering how bloody good I've been. Grrrrr.

Off now to eat freaking JELLY.... its WATER afterall!

JANE P: You are right of course... it does seem a waste to put the blocks on a card.. which will probably be thrown away... so I'm making a whole lot more of the heart blocks and might just make them into a cute kids quilt! Thanks for making me think about it from a different perspective.

End of Day : I've made a few more heart blocks... fed the family Fish 'N' Chips... my day off! going to chill out now and watch some telly. nite nite.

WATER....

JELLY is made of WATER eh?

In which case... I have had some water ! Shock, horror... I hate water! But... those jelly's are made from 2 cups of water EACH... I feel very .... VIRTUOUS today!

AND happy. For the first time in ages I feel like my happy self again... I am smiling! NO, I ain't gunna try and take a photo of me smiling face either... it is just too hard.. and me eyes squint up and I feel I look fatter smiling! LOL

Soooo looking forward to Sunday too... when we go and get COCO.... I can't wait to meet her.... and see how Teddy reacts to her. Perhaps that's why I"m so happy!

My Grandfather worked on the construction of lots of New Zealand's Hydro Power Stations many, many years ago... and I found all these old photos of some of them being built and offered them to the National Library... and the other day they said YES, they would love to have them! I am chuffed, they are going to be part of a display that documents our Power Grid construction. So glad they are not going in the bin, but will be seen by many people.

I did something this morning that I have been meaning to do for a while:

ABOVE: I put this little table by the window, put a cushion on it, covered it... and waited:

ABOVE: Hmmmmm... this looks interesting.....

ABOVE: Verdict? PERFECT!

After that success, I went down to the newly created Card Making Area:

And tried to get at least one card finished today! I have been 'working' on this card:

For two whole days already! I think I'm too fussy! I just can't seem to get it quite 'right' for my liking.... grrrrrrr. BUT.... I am getting there...

ONWARD...

So that blasted card just does not look right, so I scrapped it for now and started making some cute, funky heart blocks on me trusty sewing machine... will show you tomorrow!

Off to feed the family now...

End of Day: another good day... very happy with what I did today. Love making stuff.... nite nite.

SUGAR CRAVING...

I am finding it harder and harder by the day to stop myself from diving face first into something like this:
Stew (bless him) mentioned dessert the other night... and I simply have NOT been able to think of anything else since then.... I WANT... NEED.... MUST HAVE REALLY SOON... something sweet or I am gunna to go MENTAL.

I am going to see my doctor again today after a 3 week break... I am expecting him to say he doesn't need to see me again... I'm feeling much better in myself now. Most stress factors that have been doing my head in over the past few months are behind me now... and some I have just had to accept as things I cannot change or do anything about.

"Situational Depression" is something I must be prone to... as this is the second time in 10 years I have felt that low... hopefully I am over the worst of it. (well... thanks to dem pretty wee pills) LOL!

ONWARD.....

Ummmm... THESE look delicious too...

I DID mention I'm ***drooling*** eh????

KATE mentioned WW Jelly... and I thought... Hmmmm , yep I'm sure I've got some of those:

AND I have....so I made some....

They don't look anywhere near as pretty as that chocolate cake (*sigh*)... but it might work. How long do they take to set now? Will it happen faster if I watch them??? *tapping me fingers on the counter*.... OH hold on... they have to go in the fridge eh? Dum dee dooo.....

Well... my doctor is VERY pleased with me... he thinks I finally have my head screwed on right and am dealing with life's stresses much better.... and he said it is probably due in part to the pretty wee pills... and part due to me working through my issues in a better way. It's all good. I don't have to go back for 2 months! Yaaaaa.

It's now early afternoon and I'm taking a moment to relax... I had lunch in town... and indulged my craving with a small apple strudel pastry. I'm happy now. *smiles*

The family is having roast chicken for dinner... me? JELLY... ha ha ha! Biggest question of the day: Which flavour????

End of Day: and I caved in and had chicken... I just could not resist! I had covered the whole chook in a Honey/Soy Marinade and it was JUST SO DELCIOUS! I had chicken and peas with gravy made from the marinade. *drool*... you just can't beat a good roast chook. Don't even feel like jelly now... might later though! lol

nite nite.

HOT FLUSHES = HEADACHES

I have had a blasted headache on/off since saturday... and now I am quite sure it is because my hot flushes have come back with a vengence AGAIN! Grrrrr... just when I thought I was getting over them too.

I am hot one second, cold the next... cardigan on... cardigan off... ALL DAY. And so by the middle of the day I have a freaking horrible headache, you know, the one that makes you feel like throwing up... SO NOT NICE.

I'm supposed to be going to a meeting today for parents of children who are starting the 'Jumping Jacks' Perceptual Motor Programme this term... *sigh*... I really don't feel like going! Probably will though... cos I should eh?

Probably won't get to do much else all day....

ONWARD....

Been to the parent's meeting, it was quite good... the OT's explained a bit about the programme, what our kids can hopefully get out of it (lots of fun) and what we as parents can expect to get out of it (information about how our child 'works')....

It is a foul day here, blowing and raining... I am toying with the idea of letting the kids walk home in the rain... cos I just don't feel like going out again! Mean? Probably, but it won't kill them, heck they might even enjoy it! Rain never hurt anyone right? (I was going to say 'water'... but my Dad drowned in water, so it did hurt HIM!) I know, I'm a bit sick in the head.

HA! When I wrote the bit about the kids walking home in the rain.. it was only drizzling.... cos not 10 minutes later it was fair pissing down.....

So Teddy and I drove up to the school and waited for them... as they were already quite wet by the time they came out to the car! OH Well... plans are never set in concrete around here!

Now... what's for dinner??? *sigh*

End of Day: we had leftovers for dinner... waste not and all that eh? It got dark really early tonight... made it feel like winter was just around the corner! nite nite.

KAREN'S CHOICE....

I have a friend in Wellington who has asked me for a couple of cards, so I've made 5 for her to choose from:

All these cards have removable fabric flowers... which is such a good idea as then they can be used again for something else, like on a bag or on your shirt... AND no specific 'message' in them... so she can write whatever she wants on them.

Once I get the kids to school I am going to FINISH my Cupcake Table Runner! It has been waiting long enough....

ONWARD....

Been a busy beaver.... moved all my card making stuff down into the garage... done some housework... lunch (soup and bacon).... and now... going to do a bit more housework then hopefully get some sewing done.

After a mad frenzy of housework... I ran outta energy.. and got a blasted headache again! So have just been sitting reading blogs for the past hour or so.. don't even FEEL like sewing now.

Just got dinner in the pot.. a beef stew.... and am going to take a pill or two to try and shift the headache. *sigh*

End of Day: still got the darn headache, going to have a quiet evening... no stress. Dinner was yum... not too often I make a dud of a meal! Lucky family I say! nite nite.

BRAIN SURGERY... OOOPS TOO LATE.

I would appear AMPUTATION was on the cards as well...... *sigh*.... warning... don't leave ya action hero dolls out.

Tis a nice enough day by the look of it... as Amanda is here for the day I'm sure we will go out somewhere ....

And yes ANONYMOUS... I will get back to the cupcake table runner.... asap!

Maybe tomorrow! Today is family time....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHELLY.... over in Ozzy...... We hope you have a lovely day today.

We have had a lovely day, we went to Omana/Maraetai Beach's... walked along the foreshore... had a picnic... looked at houses...

And the weather couldn't have been more lovely.

It is VERY quiet in blogland today! Not that I can talk, I've been out all day!

I'm going outside now to chop down the two magnolia trees we planted a year ago.. WHY? Cos I want to plant fruit trees instead! I know... what a waste.... but it's a woman's perogative to change her mind... lol! Edited: have not chopped them down, was suggested to me (thanks Magpie) that I put them in pots. Stew is THRILLED TO BITS to know that he now has to dig them out and pot them! LOL ... THRILLED I TELL YA!

End of Day: I have a curried mince in the Electric Frying Pan... will be had with rice... and I am going to have a teeny bit of the rice too. I have been EXCELLENT all weekend! nite nite.

THERE MUST BE A 'RIGHT' WAY?

OK... I HATE FITTED SHEETS! I just cannot figure out how to fold the bloody things.. so they end up in my linen cupboard looking like this:

Quite literally a screwed up ball.... just a mess! So.. who can tell me just how to do it? On me own... .cos Stew is never around when I'm folding the linen.... *sniff*

Today? Well a bloke at Stew's work told him about an awesome Scrapbook Shop on the North Shore... that his ex-wife owns... so we are going to drive over there for a gander (look see) today. Neat. Maybe I will get some ideas for the cards I'm making?

I'm running out of ideas pretty fast... considering I've only ever been to one card making demonstration.

I have my eyes on a PINK Cuttlebug thingee... not 100% sure what it does but it sounds interesting, and it's on sale right now..... so we will see.

*~*~HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVE~*~* 23 Today.....see you in 5 weeks!
ABOVE: working on this one right now..... got lots of ideas off http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/.... thanks LUCY!

Our trip to the shop on the North Shore went really well... an amazing shop filled with a million things I want! And the lady who runs the place was so helpful and full of advice.... I ended up putting on order a Pink Cuttlebug:

I can pick it up in a week or so... neat... and the lady gave me a demo so I could see what it does! LOVE IT.

After there, we were going to have lunch at Sylvia Park ... but I have a killer headache and so we came home so I could go to bed for a while.... feel quite ill.... bugger!
LATER...

Two and a half hours later.... I'm awake, I feel much better, still a bit 'foggy' in da brain... but that's normal eh? lol

I glued all the bits onto the blue card... then opened it up.... oooops! I'd glued everything on the wrong side.... so had to chop it in half and stick it onto another backing... so now it looks like this:

Still pretty. I think Amanda (daughter No#1) is coming for the night so I better think about dinner....

End of Day: Amanda arrived safely... having a wee tipple with her... the man is .... WATCHING RUGBY... no surprises there... nite nite.

GIVE A BOY A JOB....

Two days ago I decided to give Griffin an afterschool 'job'... his first ever 'real job' around the house! YOU know, one he has to do every day! Brylee has to unload the dishwasher, and does it just fine.

But Griffin? Well the first day was FINE... he thought it was quite OK to scoop the dog poop.... it wasn't really NICE for Mum to be doing it afterall.... he reckoned.... so yesterday he had to do it AGAIN! Like, there were two poops to scoop... hardly much at all considering how LITTLE Teddy is! BUT OMG! He moaned and groaned and bitched like an old man! You would think I had asked him to scoop every dog's poop in the whole city the way he was going on!

AND he kept saying things like 'Why do I have to do EVERYTHING around here?"..... "What do YOU do?"..... ahhhhh EXCUSE ME? I could only laugh at the end of the day.... he was pathetic. And he will be scooping poop for the REST OF HIS LIFE if he's not careful! LOL

ABOVE: one hard done by 'slave boy'.... LOL. He looks so uncared for eh?

So today? Dunno.... probably a bit of housework... sewing? Cardmaking?

ABOVE: I made this one last night.... it's the first one where I've taken the advice of Khris in Australia, and put a brooch clip on the back of the flower so that it can be taken off the card and used on something else! Thanks for the tip Khris!

ONWARD...

Ha ha ha! Lots of your comments have made me laugh... and I'm thinking it will be such FUN to show Griffin this blog entry one day when he's a grown up!

I've had a really LOVELY morning today! Lyn came around for a yak... which was so nice! I love it when I get a visitor... so does not happen often. Anyway.... after 2 hours of yakking she has had to go home to feed her kids (they are on holidays).... and I am left thinking... LUNCH.... I'm starving.

Just got on the scales too.... weigh day.... and it's all good! Another good loss of .800 grms. Really pleased with myself. I am a third of the way there again!!!!

KELLY: yes I am still doing LOW CARBS... which basically means...

NO:

Bread, Pasta, Rice, Starchy Vegetables (potaoes, kumera etc), no sweets, no cakes or puddings.

I am eating most other veges and all fruits.... and protein, Meat, Cheese, Eggs.

A typical day goes like this: Breakfast - Diet Coke and me pills

Lunch - soup with cheese added, or an omellette with ham/cheese, or bacon and eggs, or a steak and salad... or a salad with chicken....ETC.

Dinner - a small amount of meat and lots of veges or salad... or just the meat and some gravy.

NO SNACKS, I don't feel the need or want for them. I drink Diet Coke and have an ocassional Latte.

Every week I allow myself one day 'off' where I might have an ice cream and fish and chips for dinner. But I don't go totally overboard and binge on stuff all day.

And NO ONE have a go at me about not having Breakfast! I have never been a breakfast person.... it makes me feel ill. I am healthy, I am losing the weight again and I feel good. WORKS FOR ME.

End of Day: and I've almost made another card... they take a long time to get 'just right'! It amazes me just how bloody long it takes me to make up my mind how to 'compose' the various bits together! But.. it's fun! Stew is watching the rugby... the kids are playing and I'm going to read some blogs now! nite nite.

THIMBLES...

I need one! My fingers are getting ruined from hand sewing freaking flowers! I did actually buy some the other day from the bookshop.... a box of rubber ones... but when I got them home they turned out to be too darn big. Grrrrrr.

I might just go to Sylvia Park today and exchange them for smaller ones. My fingers are REALLY sore I tell ya!

I am getting bored with being at home all week... so going to the mall might just cheer me up? But I doubt it. You can be surrounded by hundreds of people and still be lonely eh?
*sigh*.... right....here endith the pity party!

I want to have a nice day, and I will .... so there! My diet is going SO well still, I am gobsmacked at myself!

ONWARD....I will take my camera out with me and try to find something worth taking a picture of eh?

Before I brave the weather (it's raining) I just read about another Giveaway:

So pop on over HERE for a chance to win a few goodies! Right, I'm off to the shops....

I didn't go to Sylvia Park afterall... only went to the 'local' Mall instead... decided it wasn't worth driving all that way just to swap some thimbles! I ended up buying a bit more card, posting a parcel to the USA (keep an eye out Carla V!).... and then I came home.

ABOVE: it's a grey day.... can't see us using this area again for ages.

ABOVE: and the grass STILL is showing no sign of re-growing here.

ABOVE: we planted two baby feijoa trees 15 months ago... they are still twigs....

ABOVE: but one of them actually had some fruit this year! OK, not many... but if that is anything to go by once it's a big tree is should be a prolific producer don't ya think? *smiles*

ABOVE: Our darling Teddy loves to lie by this window.... today I took pity on him and gave him a cushion to lie on so he could bask in what little sun there was. He 'guards' the house from this spot. So cute.

So there ya go... some photos! Boring... but better than nothing!'

Kids are home again from school.... got a chook to put in the oven shortly.....

End of Day: Dinner was yum... how can a roast chook be anything else?

Feeling flat this afternoon/evening. Tired I expect. Can't wait for bedtime. nite nite.

GETTING READY...

ELEVEN SLEEPS.... until we need these things:

I don't know who's more excited, me, the kids or Stew! We have to drive a good distance to pick her up, but that's ok.... she will be worth it. It is going to be such fun to see how Teddy takes to her... I am hoping he will just love her to bits.

Today: well it's just an 'around home' day for me. I might even do some sewing today... STILL have not finished the Cupcake Table Runner! How evil is that? I have been so engrossed in my card making that it has taken a back seat! But... it's not going anywhere, and there is no rush. I have no deadlines! This is good.

ONWARD....

***** PEPSI UPDATED ****** PEPSI UPDATED ******* PEPSI UPDATED****** AND EDITED SINCE THEN.

Feeling a bit down today... not dreadfully.. just a bit. Got no motivation to do anything. I have done the housework... so that's one thing to feel good about.

If I don't come back for a while it's cos I'm lying on the couch watching mindless TV.

So... it's been an interesting morning.. one that has had me in tears... and then feeling hopeful. Cryptic... but won't go into details. Suffice to say I sat on me bum, watched tv, hand sewed a few more flowers:

And replied to multiple text messages on me phone... which has been running hot for a few days. Weird, cos for at least two weeks it has hardly rung at all! OK.. I did turn the bloody thing off of a while too in that time. Phones... they can either be really nice, handy things to have, or downright horrible things!

Off to do more flowers... and continue to be hopeful ....

End of Day: nothing else has transpired from this morning's flux of text's... which is good I suppose. At least no one is screaming or swearing at me ..... at the moment! Going to have a nice evening with my best friend/husband/ lover.... namely Stewy. nite nite.

A BUMPER CROP!

This year we have had an absolute BUMPER CROP of Tomatoes, I am thrilled to bits:


ABOVE: See? Don't they look fabulous???
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Well... that is if you like TEENY TINY TOMATOES THAT IS!


This year they were the only ones to grew well at all. And I ask you, just what the hell are they good for...besides looking pretty? HUH?

I am not growing them next year, for sure.

I got a parcel in the post late yesterday! OOOOO I love parcels! It was some stamps from a really lovely blogger girl in the USA! What a lovely thing for her to do, sending me some stamps! THANK YOU Carla, you made my day. I am sure to get lots of use from the stamps.

ABOVE AND BELOW: The stamps Carla sent me.... aren't they just lovely? I can see me using that birthday candle one a lot! Imagine being able to put the right number of candles on a card just by using the one stamp! NEAT.

Today I have no plans... which is nice. I am not going to patchwork class for two weeks due to other commitments... so will just be staying home and doing me own thing. Not feeling so bad spending my days alone now, probably due to being on anti-depressants....but that's OK. At least I'm not miserable any more!

Now that things are settling down a bit on the family front I am not so stressed out... maybe I can stop taking them soon.

I had planned to go out this morning, but my Aunt up the road came around for morning tea... which was nice... so now I will go out and get a few bits and bobs that I want.... and stay away from the coffee shops and food court! OOOO but the smells can almost sway you eh? Fresh bread.... *drool*....

ONWARD...

I need a medal! I went to town, I bought the things I needed .... then I came home and had a bowl of soup! It was darn nice too.... then I lay down and went to sleep for an hour! I was so tired! Didn't sleep well last night... stuff was going around and around in me head.

So, kids are now home and it's time to think about getting dinner arranged. Something with mince I do believe....

End of Day: Lovely dinner of Spagetti Bologneise... mine had no noodles. Doing great there. nite nite.

********* PEPSI UPDATED *********** PEPSI UPDATED **********

FREAKING FLOWERS...

I have been making flowers for my cards... but of course they can be used of most anything... like on bags, on clothes... bla bla bla. I got the 'pattern' for them from an awesome girl in Australia, named Khristina (awesome name, it's mine too , only mine is with a 'C').... There is a Tutorial on how to make them on her blog.

ABOVE: I made this little cutie yesterday afternoon too.... it's quite small but will be good as a gift tag I reckon.

Much celebration today... the kids are back at school, the man is back at work (I will miss him)... and I have masses of housework to do. Idle hands ... NOT.

ONWARD...

I read something today on a blog....about me... that hurt very much.
Seems that no matter what I do/have done... I am a shit mother. Well... according to at least 3 of my kids anyway. Why is it that some of my kids can only see what they want to see? Why is it that a MOTHER is not supposed to have feelings? Is not supposed to look after her own mental health too? I am over it. For once in my life I have been looking after MYSELF..... and I am a shit mother for it. THANKS.

Rant over. Going to lie on the couch and sulk now. COS I 'F*&%$#G' CAN! so there.

ABOVE: been working on these two cards for a whole day already! Think they are almost ready for the glue! Might even get off the couch and do them! Just wish I didn't feel like crying right now.

Just been out with the kids, picked them up early from school so Griffin could go to the Super Clinic for a hearing test (the school wanted it done) and as I thought, his hearing is 100% A-OK! Awesome. No need to worry about that then.

Going to have a quiet afternoon... do a card or two... and just be happy.

ABOVE: the two cards I was working on just were not looking 'right' to me, so I changed the fabrics and a couple of other bits ... and now I'm happy with them.

Dinner is smelling devine.. I have cooked a pea/lentil and bacon soup in the crock pot... never done a soup in the crock pot before.. but it's looking/smelling super yum!

End of Day: and the soup was bloody delicious! Don't know how low carb it was, but it was filling! Over my hissy fit now... made a couple more cards, it's so relaxing. This is good. nite nite.