Holy snap it's been a year since my last post!
I guess I should update huh.
Let's see....well we moved to the Central Coast after saving our butts off to buy ourselves a little 2bedroom cottage, which we just adore. We are in the process of building a new garage, hopefully that will be in by the end of May. That will be E's hangout zone...set up with his xbox, dvd's etc
I have put in several vege gardens which are feeding us and the chookers quiet well atm.
For Xmas J bought me a Maine Coon kitten, which he named Arwen. She is just gorgeous and loves to smooch and get kisses. Arwen and Garf are the best of buddies and are often found snoozing together or playing tumbles. She has the most fantastic lynx tips on her ears and tufts of fur coming out of her ears and between her toes. She is a jumper and Garf is seriously following her lead LOL She likes to sleep between our pillows and pushes her nose in under the corner of mine to sleep. We love her :)

I've just returned home from Perth, Dad had a heart attack last Wed so Joe and I flew over on the next available flight to be with him. He was bloody lucky - the paramedic on site (out at the mines) knows Dad and rang him to let him know what happened and to see how he was going. Turns out Dad's heart stopped and it took them 20 mins to revive him, the paramedic got to 20 mins and said "Fuck it, one more shot", which ended up being the zap Dad's heart needed to go again. His chest is badly bruised, he is very sore but he should be fine now. He had a stent inserted into a main artery and has been warned to stop smoking.....my brother took his cigerettes when we left :)

I'm still teaching E, so not a great deal of knitting going on. I have knit Norie (hat), Still Light Tunic, Line Break (Shawl) and some Cloudy Day leg warmers in the last few months.
On the needles now is Spire, a square shawl for my sortaSIL. I'll try get some pictures up in my next update, which won't be 12 months away :) Promise.

Flowers!

I love a quick craft project. I've just made two lovely flowers with some organza fabric and a candle. I followed this tutorial.
These 2 flowers took less than 10 mins to cut, burn and sew onto pins.
Fun! Go give it a go :)

Recycled this...

So I've had this doona cover for years, with the full intention of making a skirt with it, a huge billowing Victorian underskirt in fact. Well I don't have much occasion for a Victorian underskirt so a simple A line skirt was made instead. It just has a simple fold over hem and elastic casing for the waist. I've made it fitted at the waist since I am currently losing weight on Dr's orders....this will hopefully keep me going with that request :P
Anyway, enough chit chat...pictures!























The Doona Cover











New skirt.

Craft's Up!

I've been feeling the need to shake a few things up in my life at the moment, some of which I will let slide onto my blog to reflect all that s going on here.
A few weeks ago I went to my Dr due to having a headache for 3 days, so intense I kept thinking I was going to be sick. First thing he did was check my blood pressure..hello problem! It wasn't good, I knew by his reaction as the actual reading didn't mean that much to me. Anyways, I'm now on medication, was told to reduce all stress from my life, and he even changed my diet - no carbs, processed foods or salty things for a month to lose a few kilo's to try help the BP come down.
No carbs *weep* Ok so it's not THAT hard, but no more pizza Sundays for me, even though its homemade with generally left over baked veggies on it, not layers of processed meats.
The weight is coming off but the blood pressure is being stubborn. Reduce stress he said...right, goodbye Twitter! Seriously, either it's the ppl I have on there or it's just a Twitter thing, but well over 80% of the feed was users bitching about everything and anything they could. Very little was anything positive and outgoing, which I need. Constant negatives get me down. I have not missed it.

The weather is starting to cool down, harrah! That 3 week heatwave was very hard to handle..my electricity bill proves it, oops! I much prefer the cooler weather, the leaves turning pretty colours and the nights being cool enough to sleep :) Losing some weight and winter coming on means new clothes will be needed. New? Pfft, no way! I've decided since my weight can bounce around dramatically when adjusting my diet, medications and season's that I won't be buying any new clothes, undies and bras aside. Instead I am going to repurpose what I have, refashion it, recycle what I have an buy from thrift stores instead. What's the point in buying new clothes, spending a fortune and only wearing the item one season? Waste of money and clothing frankly.
I love a good op shop find, I'd much rather buy clothes from The Salvos, refashion something tailored to fit my look/shape than buy expensive sacks.
April - Sept is my goal, that gives me the cooler months to sit inside and sew to my hearts content. Knitting is also to be from stash (still) or from ripping back old sweater finds.
Now I am no mad evil genius sewer, far from it, I can sew basic things, so this is part of my challenge...and possibly my downfall in this little challenge I've set for myself :D
I have several skirts planned already, I just need the kiddo to set up the sewing machine for me. My machine is an old Bernina, about 32 years old, all metal, weighs a tonne!
Another thing I plan on making ASAP is a quilt for my bed. Looking at feather quilts the other day for winter I kept thinking there had to be an alternative, a cheaper one too. Basic feather quilt $100+, quilt from recycled materials could be as little as $10. E will need one too :)
I will keep a log of what I pay for any items I buy, if possible I'll find a similar item brand new to compare the price too. Just for added fun :)
Other things I will start to post on here are pictures of things I love...flowers, small homes, organisation ideas, clothing, whatever takes my fancy at that moment. I blame Pinterest.com for this 100% :) I love the virtual pin board, saves me printing out things and adding to my folders I keep. Less clutter, paper wastage, ink, time and effort.
Oh and I have decided, for each new item of clothing I make, one must leave the house...no clutter!
WOW that was a ramble :)




















Skirt made from old bedsheet - Tutorial found http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/circle-skirt-from-an-old-sheet

So we've begun 2011

The last 2 months have been all kinda of crazy. E and I were busy finishing up school for the year, getting last minute lessons done and sent in. We were so determined and one track mind on our tasks we actually finished a week earlier than when school finished. Another bonus to Distance Education :)

J was working and applying for several jobs, finally hitting the jackpot with a job within Newcastle University on the Central Coast. This meant many trips back and forth, organising his contract, starting days, orientation, looking at places to live etc.

We even stopped to look at a place on the way to the Snowy Mts to see his family for Xmas...thankfully on our return we found out the flat was his if he wanted. He took it, so over the weekend I moved him from Newcastle to Ourimbah. I discovered something about him over this move, he stresses WAY too much. When I got to his house to load up the car he didn't have much packed at all. As in, a few bags and that was it! I just had to stand back and bare it. When I am moving EVERYTHING is packed and usually 2-3 days before the move. Guess we do things differently. It's not that he didn't have time, he has had a few weeks to get organised...he just hadn't done it :) So several trips and he was all moved in, then last load I left him to unpack himself, I headed home feeling tired and sore. I was aching, my neck was so tense across my shoulders, not much was different yesterday. Today I feel a little more relaxed.

The lounge is going, that beast also puts me in a heap of pain so we went out and found me a single chair, just something basic but comfy that should help.

My gardens are inbetween crops, I have pumpkins galore growing, 2 tomato plants and some herbs - sadly most died while we were away, Mum said she watered it but the day we were coming home was just very hot and sadly killed off most of the tomatoes, the white czar bean (again dammit!) etc Then the massive floods of QLD, VIC and NSW (and I believe TAS was badly hit too, not hard much about their floods) hit, wiping out so much in it's wake. Ppl have perished, beast and crops..anything that was in the waters path was obliterated. I filled some gardens with as many seeds as I could stuff in them so we don't have to pay outrageous prices for basic veg. I've heard of places in QLD charging $9 for a loaf of bread and $8 for a litre of milk...that is profiteering not rationing! While I might happily bake bread for us, not everyone knows how, so shopkeepers overreact and do the wrong thing. Though I did hear of one bakery that baked bread for 24hours straight and sold the loaves at 80cents a loaf, free to anyone who didn't have the money, now that is how it should be! Both places are in the Ipswich area.

Tomorrow is Mum's birthday, I've knit her a shawl - Shaelyn Shawl for those on Rav - a lovely quick shawl to knit, easy and straight forward. This last shawl I tried to knit Mum failed, I was allergic to the yarn :S Hopefully she likes this one :)

Now it's time to gear up and get ready for the new school year, for us that means organising the "school room" again, we don't need to run out and get shoes, socks, uniforms, bags etc, just need to restock the stationary and wait for our textbooks to be delivered :)

I've cast on some over the knee socks, 4ply on 2mm or 2.5mm needles, either way they are bloody tiny!! These will def be a LONG term project, something I can knit while teaching E. Maybe I'll even finish Evenstar shawl this year :S

Garden's Return

I am stoked! We are now eating fresh beetroot, beans and peas (shelling and snow) from our gardens. I've even had an onion, yeah it was a bit late, but it got there in the end!

I have several grape tomatoes fruiting and I think it's a Verna Orange also starting to form fruit.

I've just picked more Butter Beans and Stringless Pioneer Beans, I will gather the shelling peas again on Sat, this time I will see if we can get them onto a plate :) E and i picked some the other night, but only 3 unshelled pea pods made it to the kitchen, we were so excited we ate most of them outside as we picked, oops :)

I just love my gardens, they make me happy and I spend a fair amount of time out there picking off bugs, feeding them to the chooks and watching the foodstuffs grow. Definitely the best thing we have done around here was get the chooks and start our many gardens.

Now for some pics.

E is doing well in his Distance Education, I'm surviving as well. He is doing Occupational Therapy now to help him get better movement, which in turn will help with speech and energy levels.

I'm slowly getting knitting done. Working on Evenstar and Ulverstone stole when time allows.

Well, now I am going to go find a cool breeze to sit in, its only 27C but the humidity is through the roof! :P

Babies, Weddings and Lost Mojo.

Since E started distance education I have barely knit a stitch, and now the mojo is gone.

I've tried around 10 different projects to get the knitting bug going again, but nothing!

It's frustrating me beyond belief. I've tried everything from garter strip to intricate lace, still no mojo. Then J's bed mate and partner had a baby girl on the 3rd of Sept, Aurora was 5 weeks early and approx 1lb. Teeny tiny baby. Even that didn't get the knitting bug into gear, though I have done the straps of some booties, now to find the gumption to complete them.

This weekend we are heading off to a wedding, I am not a fan of large groups, more so when the only person you know is your partner. My self esteem is pretty low at the moment, mainly because I've put on 18 kg in the last 6-8 months thanks to another medication change, grr. Seriously, one lot of medications I lose weight, next lot I gain. These are medications to ease the pain in my spine, but not pain killers. One type makes me crave, CRAVE sugar, yet I am not a person who would normally want sweet foods, I tend to go for more savory things. I do my best to ignore it or have a glass of diet coke to try quieten down the craving. The other lot just make me slow and sleepy. Winning combination huh?!

So anyways, fat girl, new dress, size 20 (I've never ever worn a size 20 before *cries*), room full of ppl I do not know, meeting all J's friends for the first time....excuse me while I go melt into a corner please. Maybe this is pay back for how he met my family, my Nana's funeral. We had only been dating month when that occurred, now its 15 months later and I am about to meet most of his mates at a wedding. Tonight I will met B, one of J's 2 closest mates, and I know he is really hoping we get on, B can be hard to get along with apparently. Moody artist/chef, Yay!

Bright side, it's a weekend away, E is staying with his Granny and Poppy. I'll get to go see Deb who I haven't seen since Bendigo 2009, maybe the knitting mojo will come back when I hang out with another knitter :)

My gardens are going very well, seeds have sprouted everywhere. The beans which are normally one of the first to sprout are taking longer than carrots which are normally one of the last to sprout. Everyday I see some new form of life popping up through the soil and I get excited. Even the Rhubarb seedlings have sprouted, but the two I am really waiting on and most excited about have no yet produced a seedling - Gooseberry and Tomato Currant Mix.

Maybe in the next few days they will germinate.

Last week one of the chooks seemed to be in la la land when I called them in for dinner and bed. Chicken Legs was seriously on another planet. I had to pick her up, heck her over and place her into the chook coop. Net morning I found an egg without a shell had been laid. I can only assume something had scared her or she was feeling poorly and as a result ejected the egg early. Thankfully I've heard of eggs being laid without shells before I even got the chooks, so no stress there. All seems fine now and they are all laying one egg a day. I do love those chooks, hours of entertainment.

Today we are expecting 24C (ohhhh yay some warmth!) and thunderstorms, another yay as I love a good thunderstorm.

Maybe a knitting photo next post. Come home my knitting mojo, you are missed.