Lushorama's Knitorama

Risky?

2010-12-08T21:18:00.003+08:00

I've been contemplating for a long while whether to out myself as suffering from mental illness, but didn't quite know if that was appropriate on a knitting blog. So I've just started another blog, a venting blog that my Mum will never read and cry over, but where hopefully, maybe, someone may be able to say just the right thing to make me feel better for a bit.
I hope this isn't going to backfire on me.....

I really hope to come back to this blog someday, so I'm not going to shut it down yet.

Kisses,
xxxxx

2010-11-29T20:37:00.000+08:00

I think that maybe I should bite the bullet and put this blog to sleep.....!

woops...

2009-06-28T14:31:00.001+08:00

....I am seriously thinking about updating this so-called blog very soon....

I promise.

DRugs are good, mmmmmkay?

2009-02-23T17:27:00.003+09:00

Had a killer head on Saturday, gone on Sunday, back today. Spent the day with my good friend Mersyndol, and am now headache-free, although slightly pain-killer-hungover!!!

Knitting - since my last post (if you can call it a "post"), I have made three Forest Canopy shawls (love that pattern, quick and beautiful, I've made each one different, by varying how deep I knit the borders) - one Silk Garden, one Handmaiden Seasilk, and one with an Italian yarn, the name of which escapes me... I'm still going with the red/blue/green/yellow pinwheel blanky for Steve and Ezz'z baby, and started another blanket (square, knit from the centre-out) for same nephew/nieceling. Also finished two special surprises for two special people who may or may not read this, so I'll wait till I see them before posting details!

Photos as soon as I can...

Off for another nap
xxxxxx

Jeez I'm boring....

I love Natalie Dee and want to meet her but I think I'd embarrass myself by being all shy and awestuck....

2009-01-27T22:03:00.003+09:00

This cartoon makes me nearly wet my pants every time I look at it. Does that make me childish?? Meh, it's funny!!!

Let this be a warning to you...

2009-01-21T11:20:00.003+09:00

Ooooh, what's this? A lunar landscape...????

Nope, 'tis the aftermath of being stupid enough to brave the 40 degree heat/sun and go swimming in a friends' pool without enough sun screen on.... (I DID have sunscreen on, just not enough on my shoulders. No other body parts were burnt......did you notice that I have already resumed - that's not the right word, but you know what I mean - my pastiness in colouring, even before I've peeled??)

mmmmmmmmm....flaky, peeling skin soon.....

Rememberies

2009-01-18T12:47:00.001+09:00

I just saw this on Jermaines' blog, and thought it interesting, interesting enough to see what happened if I put it here:

If your eyes are passing over this paragraph now: Even if we don’t speak often, please post a comment with a memory of You and I. It can be good or bad, it can be anything you want. When you’re finished, post this little paragraph on your blog and be surprised (or mortified) about what people remember about you.

2009-01-17T08:26:00.002+09:00

The year of the close-up?? I think not...

2009-01-13T18:32:00.005+09:00

hmmmmmm.....it's been a while.....!

To begin, here are some silly close-ups of us as Christmas at Mum and Dad's place. The oldies graciously declined to be photographed in this manner, claiming it to be, well, silly....

Davo (middle child), and me (note that I am valiantly trying to minimise the eye-wrinkle-age by maintaining a botox-like forehead pose......)

Erin (or Derin - Dave's lady-love)...

Baby bro, Stevie - we'll be teaching at the same school this year, can't wait!! (of course I'm going to be telling the kids that HE is 9 years my senior, not the other way 'round....)

little later on in the evening.....

Stevies' lovely wife, Erin - we were PRETENDING to be drunk.....

and, as this is upposed to be primarily a knitting blog, photographic proof that knitting (a little cardy for the baby that Erin and Steve are currently gestating, YAY!!) has been taking place - more to follow soon!!

See ya later, when your legs are straighter!!! (yeah, I know, that was lame..)
xxxx

move your cursor around on this - click to change colour!!!

2008-11-25T08:34:00.002+09:00

deep sigh.

2008-11-22T19:02:00.005+09:00

(I got my new MacBook a couple of months ago, love PhotoBooth!! I told my Year 10's that I was going to join an online dating site and use this pic on my profile, I was sure to pick-up....)
ahhhhhhhhh......

Graduation/Presentation Night is over. Last night I actually slept without waking up (okay, the beers and the earplugs may have helped there), and didn't wake up at 2am worrying about missing something in the planning. It all went very smoothly, and I think that Parents were happy - I got some hugs from some Mums, so it must have been okay! I had help from some great people, and to them I owe a debt of gratitude....

Somehow, during all the frenetic organising and stressing and not sleeping, I managed to take a couple of pictures of Mums' new Peace Fleece shawl (she loves it, it's lovely and snuggly. I want to re-block it though, the points aren't defined enough for my liking!):

(The table seats 8, so you get some idea as to how big the shawl ended up!)

I'm off to watch tv in bed with my eyes shut now, but before I do, here's the parcel I recieved in the mail today:

Awesome, eh? I was in the Ravelry Chocolate group swap, and I'm in heaven....FIVE big Hershey bars, PREMIUM M&M's (shoot me now, I'll die happy), and hand-made truffles (they're gone now, I thought I should eat them in case they were off, because if I shared them with anyone, then they would get sick....I'm nothing if not considerate....ahem....), and three different yaaaaaaahns. I'm a very lucky girl!

xxxxxx

hahahahhaa - my two loves!

2008-11-12T18:54:00.002+09:00

Just cleaning out my files etc on my computer, and found this:

Just pausing to scratch my left buttock....

2008-11-10T20:03:00.010+09:00

Taking a minute or three out of what has got to be THE most stressful work situation of my entire working life (20 years in teaching this year), to post a few things that have taken place in the knitting world of Lisa (actually, am off work with a yukky cold, but I seem to have lost the blogging mojo, this is an effort to get some of it back!). This will probably be a brief post, mainly pictures....I'll do my best....

I took part in a few swaps lately - one the LSG Big Secret Swap (yep, Ravelry), a Soap and Washcloth swap from the Australian Knitters board on Ravelry, and the other the Australian Random Acts of Kindness (yep, you guessed it). My LSG partner was Erin, from USA, and she sent some very cool stuff (the empty bottle is actually from the Prohibition Era, very interesting and cool! There is also some candles that have COLOURED FLAMES, beautiful yaaaaarn, GLOW-IN-THE-DARK yarn, groovy pencils and mini-sharpies, delicious body oil, and a wicked t-shirt):

Just today I recieved my RAOK parcel (talk about great timing, was feeling like poo), from the very lovely Jen from Victoria. She noted that I had said that I wanted to try needle-felting, and gave me a starter kit with everything I'd need - foam, needles, lots of colourful roving - and some awesomely bright cotton/bamboo. I'm wrapt!

My Soap and Cloth Swap partner was Leah, and she made me TWO beautiful facecloths, lovely and soft, and put in a bar of delicious lemon myrtle soap. I love it! Swaps rock - except when you go to post two parcels and it comes to over $40, because apparently a space shuttle fuelled with diamonds is the only way to get something to USA....why so costly???? Mind you though, I love recieving parcels from O/S, so I should stop complaining....
You may recall that I told you about a shawl pin that Carmel made for me?? She works at my school, and we had our own mini-swap (I made her a pair of Dashings, she made me a shawl pin - and threw in a pair of earrings and a bangle as well!!!). Here's her beautiful work, with a couple of close-ups so that you can see that it's beaten copper, with a cool pin-type arrangement attached to the round bit, like a safety-pin before safety-pins were invented - you stick the pin through the shawl, then pop it through the two coils, then spin it around a bit and Bob's your Auntie's live-in lover!!! (I have yet to get a good picture of the bracelet and earrings, it's on my to-do list!):

(very dodgy picture of the Dashings in action....I was worried that the cabling would be lost in the patterning of the yarn (Lorna's Laces Sportweight, can't remember the colourway...), but I think they tured out okay. Great pattern, will be making more of them - and this time, Carmel, I might actually follow the correct directions for the stitch count I use....nudge nudge wink wink...)

Did I mention that I was in Hat Attack?? Well, I was, and I actually managed to finish and send off my weapon before I was killed mercilessly by Helen. The bullet that did me in was the lovely red/purple combo - can't wait for it to be cold again!!! My target never said anything to me about my weapon, I think that maybe had something to do with the clown-spew colours - I swear they appeared to be cool and bright and lovely to me when I ordered them..

What else...what else....OH!!!! You may or not remember that ages and ages ago I posted a bit on the PIF thingy that was doing the rounds of Blogland:

“It’s the Pay It Forward Exchange. It’s based on the concept of the movie “Pay it Forward” where acts or deeds of kindness are done without expecting something in return, just passing it on, with hope that the recipients of the acts of kindness are passed on. So here’s how it works. I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won’t be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months) and that’s a promise! What YOU have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

I will now Pay It Forward to you THREE, I wonder who you will be?! Please, be a PIF! You will enjoy it just as much as we do!”

And, remember…you have 6 months to get your gifts done! Come on, you know you would love to be one of my angels. Then, one day, but you don’t know when….you will get a gift that I have made especially for YOU!"

I first read about this on Cheryls' blog, and thought it sounded like a very nice thing to do. So, I signed up and posted the plan on here. No response. So I'm posting it again - if you fancy a little something to mysteriously arrive in your letterbox, then just leave me a comment saying so.....and you might feel as surprised and happy as I did when I went to my letterbox a couple of weeks ago - an absolutely beautiful pair of hand-knitted socks from Cheryl (picture stolen from her blog, I hope that's okay - go visit, the woman's a sock-knitting machine, I'm in awe, such beautiful work!!!):

(I don't know how to un-italic this bit, I'm having a techno-fail moment....)

Every time I wear them, I get a lovely feeling, knowing that Cheryl made them for ME without even knowing me....I love them.

Knitting....I ripped out the Peace Fleece shawl I made for Mum, because I found the other skein, and re-knitted it into a Forest Canopy shawl - no pics yet though - very pleased with it, as was Mum. I've just started my Christmas knitting (yep, I love the sound deadlines make as they go whooshing by...) - Jaywalkers (Rav link) for Jules, a new school bag for Helen, fingerless mitts for Dave's Erin, a felted bag for Stevies' Erin, the Celtic Hearts shawl (in cashmere, no less) for Mum, and a pair of socks for Daddy-o. Brothers wil be getting felted stubby-holders.... Pics next post.

In my final piece of news, I got my transfer for next year (and Beyond!). I'll be going to a brand new school (has only been going for three years, next year is it's first year of Upper School students), only 10 minutes or so away from home, and the best bit - my baby brother works there too!!!! We worked together a few years ago, and I loved it - I think it's good for the kids, too, to see families that love each other et etc, assorted other mushy stuff about how proud I am of him. He runs a specialist AFL program at this school, and has earned quite a name for himself and the boys he works with, I'm a very proud big sister.

Okay, I'm knackered. I think I'd better take myself off to bed to watch tv with my eyes closed....I slept from 8am till 10.40am, then had a nap for a couple of hours this afternoon, and yet I'm tired again!! This cold (and the work shite) is really knocking me around!

Till next time, dear Reader,
xxxxxx

hehehehe...

2008-10-24T05:00:00.002+08:00

Sorry dear Reader, this is the best I can do at the moment.....
xxxxx

Good to know

2008-10-03T09:42:00.001+08:00

51 seconds

crap to the power of infinity

2008-09-23T08:02:00.003+08:00

I was making a list* of the things I have to do at work, and it scared me, so I’m putting it out there so I can maybe get a little reassurance that no, I’m not going crazy, there IS inequity at my workplace…. Here’s the list so far:
#1# plan Year 12 Graduation night**, which means I have to:
- order presentation folders (a nice little number in faux-leather, with pockets inside to store certificates etc, kids can use it later for resumes etc)
- organise pot plants, carpet squares, curtain thingies for the stage and chairs to go into the gym to make it purdy
- keep track of invited special guests (invites and rsvps)
- organise the winners of special awards (we rely on staff to do this, at the moment, there have been four nominations returned)
- co-ordinate the writing of the Year 12 references (each year we write a reference for each student, and they get it in their Graduation folder, there are 5 teachers writing them, and they are supposed to be done before the holidays begin in 4 days time)
- choose the paper the awards will be printed on (apparently this is very important, I had to go to a meeting for it…)
- co-ordinate the set-up of the gym for the night – seating, screen for power-point display etc)
- make sure that the people who hire the gym (for dancing, karate etc) have been notified and know that the gym is unavailable on that night
- organise parking and security for the night
- organise a light supper for 80 students and their guests
- co-ordinate prizes for award winners (subject awards and special awards)
- find and then dry-clean the sashes that the students wear on the night
- find music to play before the ceremony (they’re getting Buble)
- write a speech that doesn’t contain any bitterness or resentment or cynicism
- help the Student Council leaders to write their speeches
- make sure that all departments give me the names of the subject award winners, AND give me the prize. Find someone to wrap them all, and stick the stickers in them etc - this has been my job in past years, I usually ended up going out and buying most of the prizes as well!

I know that there are people who will help me closer to the event, with the actual physical carrying-out of tasks, but it's a bit overwhelming keeping track of everything.....!

* actually, I think I just want sympathy, cake and ego-boosting
** each of these points has a sub-list of tasks, but if I type them all out, I’ll cry, and I just got my new laptop and I don’t want it to get all salty with tears

- plan and organise the end-of-year excursions (last day of school, and the end-of-year dinner, which this year is a River Cruise)
- plan the Year 12 breakfast – the staff cook breakfast for the 12’s on their last day (need to organise who’s buying the food, what food to buy, and who’s cooking/serving/cleaning up. Also need to find someone to set-up the day before.
- plan the last day assembly stuff – speech for me, and item for the kids to perform (their idea - I think I’ll be bumping that one)
- organise the Yearbook – photos, articles from staff and students, find a printer….
- teach 3 or 4 out of 5 sessions per day - the other 1 or two sessions per day are spent dealing with kids who have been sent to the Year Office, because we have magic wands and can fix any problem (oh, use sarcasm much??)
- track down students who have left school without paying the final payment on their Leaver’s Jackets
- find money to pay for three exchange student’s Leaver’s Jackets who have since left the school and now are home in Switzerland, Thailand and Argentina...
- monitor student progress so that the school can ascertain how many will actually be graduating so that the Education Department can tell us we’re wonderful because we got 100% graduation, even though we just take the names of the kids who won’t graduate off the Year 12 list and re-enroll them as pretendy Year 11’s……stupid. I don’t get politics.
- interview students with regard to the likelihood of them passing their TEE exams (or not…in which case I have to advise them/recommend to them to not sit the exams, a lovely conversation to have with a student at this late stage of the year….)

Shall I continue?? I think not, I’m beginning to feel panicky. Which means that I don't sleep, and end up at work at 6.30am because at leat if I'm here I can feel like I'm doing something!!!

On the knitting front –
- two pairs of fingerless gloves (sorry, no pics yet) – Dashings (for Carmel, one of our lovely Aides – she makes beautiful jewellery – amongst other things – and we’ve had our own mini-swap. She made me a beautiful shawl pin, and then as a mega-bonus, threw in a pair of earrings and a silver bracelet!!! Pics to follow, as soon as I can find my camera cable) and Fetchings (in Malabrigo Silky Merino, for Kristen, my nail-lady, because she gets sore joints in her hands, and when I lent her my Malabrigo ones, she says her hands haven’t been sore since) both modified because I hate following patterns
- Hat Attack hat (for Lizknits99 – Rav name)
- beginnings of a shawl for me, made with Kauni
- a felted laptop bag

Okay, I'm worn out from all this whingeing and whining, so I'll be offski....

(just re-read what I'd written, and I'm not being totally fair. There are some excellent people at my workplace, dedicated, over-worked, taken-for-granted, committed and professional. This is purely a whinge about what's on my plate at the moment. Because I just want to stay home and knit.)

Ok then Jolene, I'll take this challenge!!!

2008-08-20T17:24:00.002+08:00

I still owe Jolene a meme, and she sends me another one...but this one seems a bit easier, so I'll do it straight away!!!!!

Here are the rules:
1. Link back to the person who tagged you
2. Mention the rules on your blog
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking to them
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged bloggers blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged

So:

1. I've linked Jolene, back up...

2. The rules are up there too....

3. a) I like to stand on dried leaves that just happen to be on their edge. I love the crunch. It works best when
they're curled.

b) I sleep with one earplug in. In my left ear, because I sleep on my right side, so I don't
need one in that ear.

c) I find farting to be the most hilarious thing ever, and it's one of my favourite things
to do. I'm very mature...(I actually
confiscated a fart-noise-maker thingy from a kid today, and played it ALL day)

d) When I'm driving, I clench the teeth on the right side of my mouth every time I drive
past a lamp-post, and the left side during the spaces between the lamp-posts.
Sometimes I vary it up a bit by doing this between driveways instead of lamp-posts...

e) I love the smell of my dogs' feet. No shame or embarrassment there, at all.

4. Katy
Laura
Shazzy
Princess Fiona
Theresa
Kate

5. Done.

2008-08-18T19:45:00.004+08:00

Not much to report.
Lots of work (booo...hisssss), and just a little knitting. A baby kimono for Olivia (forgot to take pics, must get onto that), a couple of phone socks for work colleagues (again, no photos), socks (you got it, no pics)...not much on the go at all!!!!

So here's some pics so that I can pretend I have a very interesting life at the moment:

My beautiful sister-in-law, Erin, with beanie (pink Malabrigo, Lime Lamb's Pride) - she has matching fingerless mitts as well, and wears them every day (freezing cold in the morning still)

Elly being super pretty

Kates' socks (Australian ravellers swap) - I stole her photo....it's good to kow the socks are doing their job!!!

My awesome package from (another) Kate - Space Invaders ipod cosy, coffee, chocolate, stitch markers and Silk Garden!!! How spoiled was I!!!!

That's it.

For now.....
xxxxxx

2008-07-27T12:13:00.002+08:00

Just joined Hat Attack II....and if I've done it properly, you should be able to see a map that a very clever person over on Rav made (no silly, not ME!!!), showing where everyone lives. If you press the play button, it just goes from dot to dot, giving you everyones' names etc, and no, I don't know how to get it to scroll down to Australia, I think you just have to wait:

2008-07-25T19:14:00.002+08:00

This meme is doing the rounds at the moment, and Sasha tagged me....
The way it works - go to Flickr, and type in your answers to the questions below (one at a time!), then, using Mosaic Maker, use the first pic that comes up for each 'answer' to make your collage! Simple !! (it must be, I managed to do it!!!!)

1. Lisa's gaze, 2. there's nothing better than summer, 3. 20080315_IMG_5683, 4. Flickr meltdown, 5. Hamster With Nut Riding A Bell Pepper, 6. ♫ YO Yo yo, there's no place like a green penthouse... so i told the genie i wanted to be well hung. ^o^ ♫ nah... wildlife from singapore♫, 7. Pink Morning, Mono Lake, 8. do you ♥ a matcha tiramisu? ^-^/, 9. For AZ Greyhound Rescue....a little bit of heart goes a long way!!, 10. Chihiro, 11. Sumo, 12. 1/3 parts Pimm's cup + 2/3 parts bokeh =

What is your first name?
What is your favorite food?
What high school did you go to?
What is your favorite color?
Who is your celebrity crush?
Favorite drink?
Dream vacation?
Favorite dessert?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
What do you love most in life?
One word to describe you?
What is your flickr name?

Now to the meme Jolene tagged me for.....

whoa....a post? From Lisa??

2008-07-21T19:44:00.010+08:00

Yes, it is a post. And some of it contains knitting!!!!

Here are my Spring Forward socks (pattern modified to 44 stitches, 4mm needles) for my Ravelry Australian Knitters Swap partner, made with Dream In Colour Classy, lovely and squishy and snuggly.....

Every year, a group of very fabulous people go to Rottnest, a tradition started many years ago by Jules and some friends she was teaching with. They were teaching in a wheat-belt town, and had sea-side withdrawals, and so the pilgrimage to Rottnest was begun! More and more people were initiated into the group (now up to two chalets!) – this is my 6th year!!
Usually we catch the earliest ferry, at 7am, which also carries the commuting workers to the island. This also has the added benefit of a very smooth trip…..THIS year, however, it seems there is no early ferry, so we were faced with the prospect of a bumpy 9.30am trip....

(Jules, being very happy and excited, doing the traditional Rottnest Happy Dance)
We got on the ferry, only to be told not to not get too comfy, because we were going 10 minutes down to the next port, to get onto a bigger boat, as the weather was getting bad. Hmmmmm.....

They were right. This bag contains my breakfast. Long AFTER I had eaten it... (I don't know how to make the picture be the right way up...

But not until after I had done some knitting!

Anyway, I won't go on too much, but we got there, did another happy dance, and then went onto Breakfast II, which involved wine and burgers....and Jules being deliriously happy...

The view from our breakfast table

Jules, being deliriously happy (yep, it's a theme with her!!)

Right, I fear a post way too long to hold anyone's interest, so I think I'm going to resort to just posting pics with brief descriptions....We went for a week - it rained a lot, the sun shone a lot, we ate a lot, laughed a lot, drank a lot, burped and farted way too much, and had a great time!

Bad shot of a quokka, IN the restaurant! From here, it was onto the next gruelling stop - The Quokka Arms Hotel....

There are masses of peacocks, wandering the island, scabbing food off poor unsuspecting tourists....

Jules modelling her beer....and the Malabrigo (Sealing Wax) mitts and beret that I made for her.

Philip, the grumpy old English man who tags along every year, just in case we run out of things to laugh at, wearing his latest Rotto hat, again Malabrigo, again made by me (are you loving the child-like embroidery??)

Me and my mitts (yep, Malabrigo - is there anything else???)

Stalking peacock....

You know how when you're with your friends, having a cold beer, and you see something so funny that you snort your drink out of your nose? For days?? Well, this was ours - we looked up, and all we could see were these two seagull feet running along the top of the sail/canopy. Still laughing.....

Very brave quokka

The view from our window

Jules, end of a long day...

Fancy-pants holiday nails

Me, being all glamourous and stuff....note - the television doesn't get switched on, and the internet didn't work, so the computer was used for solitaire!!

Shani, being silly (congratulations Shani and Ric - baby due in December!!)

Pretty much how most meals ended - my Mum's home-made Rocky Road, and a Baileys....

King Nando - he's growing his beard for a fancy-dress party - now that's dedication!!!

The next day, we had a storm that was awesome in it's size - wouldn't know it from this beautiful sunset!

I've saved the best till last - meet Olivia Alice, Aaron and Melissa's (Aaron is my cousin) first-born, oh how beautiful she is....

That's it for now, I'm buggered. Blogging makes me tired....maybe I should do it more...!!

Kisses,
xxxxxxxx

hehehehehe....

2008-07-02T17:06:00.000+08:00

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

WTF??

2008-06-23T19:18:00.000+08:00

I'm going to be 40 when I wake up tomorrow.

How did that happen???

2008-06-22T14:50:00.004+08:00

I'm seriously considering composing and posting a post soon. Really.
In the meantime, I leave you with this:

Your Personality is Very Rare (INFP)

Your personality type is dreamy, romantic, elegant, and expressive.

Only about 5% of all people have your personality, including 6% of all women and 4% of all men

You are Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

and this (a picture of the feral pigeons that have made my awning above my bedroom window their home. Note the plentiful poo, corroding the metal.... My dickhead neighbour sees fit to feed the rats-with-wings, despite many many pleas over the years from pretty much the whole street to cease and desist. BUT, I have a cunning plan - involving formal words and anonymity, because after all, I have to live here - I shall let you know what happens.....):

woops....

2008-05-28T17:04:00.006+08:00

...apparently it's my responsibility, as a blogger, to actually update my blog from time to time....who knew?

This is going to be a pic-heavy post, I've used-up all of my words today already....no chance of any wit here...

Knitting:
- bag for Mum, for Mother's Day (shockingly bad photos, the third one is the lining - very bright oranges and blues, clashes beautifully!!!)

- shawl for Mum, blogged about previously...(again with the bad photography, the top of the shawl is actually straight!!! Mum insisted on not having her face in the shot...)

- Mmmmmmalabrigo (worsted, can't find the colour label, stripe in Lamb's Pride Bulky in Onyx) beanie for Davo, my baby brother (shit, he just turned 37, guess I'm not so much of a young girl any more...!)

- Sock War sock....didn't even get to kill one warrior....mind you, I think you're supposed to actually put some effort into knitting a pair of socks quite quickly for this to occur...I was a bit too blase to be an effective warrior...next time I'll do better!!!

- Sock War Socks that killed me dead, from Jenny (a very lovely assassin from Victoria), showcased in my very trendy clear Converse sneakers!

- one of my favourite students ever and I, faces cropped to protect the innocent - I just think she has the most beautiful and unusual eyes, and she's an all-round great kid, I love her (in a good way, not an illegal-lose-my-teaching-job-and-go-to-gaol way....!!!)

Okay, going to bed. Well soon, it's pretty dark outside, I can pretend it's after 10pm if I want to (despite knowing that it's only just gone 5.43pm.....)
Kisses
xxxxxx

(Connor and Elly don't care - Elly's got her cat-food bag, and Connor's nabbed the first spot on the clean blanky on the sofa....)

Like a bee...

2008-05-04T14:24:00.002+08:00

...busy busy busy, that is. Except for the sitting on my butt all day today bit....

Work's mad, and I'm not enjoying it very much - at the risk of sounding holier-than-thou, it sometimes feels as though I'm the only one doing anything at that place... I was sick for a couple of days last week, and had several phone-calls (which were duly ignored) about the most trivial of trivial things, apparently I am the puppet-master, and have the ability to control all, even from my bed, when I'm asleep.... enough whingeing. Except to say that I'm tired of going to work, coming home knackered and not having any energy to do anything. I missed last knitting group because I didn't get home til late, and then passed out in front of the telly (where I'd sat "just for a minute" and woke up at 3am...), and I have a school function the same night as the next one - I think, will have to double-check the dates - the Year 11 and 12 Food Production classes have a staff dinner every year, and I'm invited.... last year's was a bit dodgy, say no more!!! I think I'm just in a bit of a funk, my fabulous backyard is over-grown with winter clover, the house needs a good once-over, and I don't fit into any of my clothes. I quite like being single, I love living on my own (I actually enjoy my own company, and can honestly say that I'm never lonely, and the bit about not shaving your legs just rocks!!!), but it all gets a bit over-whelming at times - I have to do EVERYTHING!!!!!!! Washing, cooking, cleaning, paying bills, dog-walking, gardening, house-work, full-time (plus) job, family visits blah blah blah.... do I have the winter-blues before winter??? Even though I love winter??? Blah.

Knitting. I finished Mum's shawl, and blocked it, and it is lovely!! Bit stiff though, even though I soaked it in Monkey Farts, so it smells divine, but I'm going to soak it in hair-conditioner and block it again, see if that helps, the Peace Fleece seems very coarse anyway... I'm going to get Mum to model it for some pics later. Am also making a bag for Mum, using Lopi, I love how it felts, no stitch definition at all. Going to try and get it done for MD as well (best daughter...hang on, only daughter, but you know what I mean - I've got brothers though, so of course I'm the favourite..). I've just started a Pi Blanket (inspired by Bells), using Lorna's Laces shepherd sport, Aslan colourway - cream and coffee and silvery grey, beautiful and soft - pics later - still haven't decided who's going to get it - at first it was going to be for Dad, then me, but now I'm leaning towards giving it to Rebecca at work, who's having a baby soon.... Also just cast-on for a pair of socks for Jules, using Opal 6-ply, Tutti-Frutti colourway -again, pics later! Oh!! And a Malabrigo Log-cabin blanky - scroll down about two-thirds of the way - for me!!! Damn it, I'll have to buy some more colours.....

Had a lovely (but too short) visit from Fee and Jules yesterday - Kristen came and Fee had her twinkle-toes re-done and then had to go, 'cause her and Rob were going to Bunbury to fly their ultra-light plane (I'd be too scared!). Jules stayed a bit longer - I knit while she played games on the computer - we're very grown-up!!!

Okay, that's it. I'm taking my grumpy self off for a nap with Elly.

Kisses
xxxxxx

2008-05-04T13:44:00.001+08:00

My Fortune Cookie told me:
You have a blossoming future in taxidermy.
Get a cookie from Miss Fortune

I'm obssssssesssssssed with my dogs' bums....

2008-04-24T10:03:00.005+08:00

....but I've been knitting again - a shawl for Mum for Mother's Day, using Knitting Lace Triangles, by Evelyn A Clark. It's a great book, gives you the beginning bit, the middle bits, the edging bits, and the transitions between each, so you can design your own patterns!!! After starting it about 50 bazillion times, I realised that "sk2p" means different things to different people (I thought it was "slip one, knit 2, pass slipped stitch over", but no, it's "slip one, knit 2 together, pass slipped stitch over" which makes a bit of a difference to the stitch count.....hmmm.... but it's sorted now, and I've done the first repeat of the leaf pattern. I'm using Peace Fleece worsted (70% merino, 30% mohair), in a beautiful rich Samantha-Katya Pink.....

(yes, those are ugggggg boots that you can see....I'm also wearing a flanny.....and trakky-daks....I have no idea why I'm single, I'm a catch I tell ya!!!)

ANZAC Day tomorrow, I'm going to take the hounds to the Dawn Service at the park near my place. Maybe I'll even have a shower first - I know, I know, I'm on holidays, but it's a special occasion...

Kisses,
xxxxxxxx

...and now for some knitting!!! (and the obligatory dog porn)

2008-04-23T08:13:00.004+08:00

Yes, you read right, I've been knitting - AND I've finished something!!!!!
I give you:

- the shawl for the mother of the student I told you about earlier. It's a "shallow" triangle (so she can use it like a scarf as well as a shawl), made-up as I went, very easy, in Spunky Eclectic, Neopolitan colourway (the student chose the colour, said his Mum can't eat ice-cream anymore so she'd love it...sob...). I wasn't sure it'd be big enough till I blocked it and stretched the bejeebus out of it - it's very light and soft, and it smells lovely - I soaked it in Monkey Farts...

Helen's bag. It's Jo Sharp (a bag of 10 balls I got for $25!!!!) and Noro Kureyon (yep, I'm noticing a theme here with my bags, all seem to be a plain/Noro combo....but the colours are so pretty!!! I felted it with a pair of black (faded) jeans, and nearly died when I took it out of the machine - it was a ghastly grey/yellow - but now it doesn't look so bad, maybe it'll brighten up as it dries...I think it'll be okay. I'll call it "mustard"....

Dog porn...

'nuff said.
xxxxxx

2008-04-22T19:34:00.001+08:00

Natalie Dee rocks!

...can you tell I'm on holidays?

2008-04-21T09:52:00.004+08:00

I'm still to tackle the mammoth-sorting-of-the-spare-room....

...and Elly and Connor are sick of the sight of me - they've taken to sleeping all day just to avoid interacting with me......

Maybe I'll go and have a nap - blogging is tiring....

xxxxxx

Alas, poor Mr Ratty....

2008-04-20T18:44:00.003+08:00

I don't know Katy, I think I may be harboring at least one of the dogs she talks about....

And I think you might be right about the white ones....(actually, it might just be the CARAMEL and white ones...the plain whiteys seem a bit too tired....)....

2008-04-19T15:40:00.000+08:00

You Are a Mac

You are creative, stylish, and super trendy.

You demand the best - even if it costs an arm and a leg.

Are You a Mac or a PC?

2008-04-19T11:01:00.001+08:00

lazy

2008-04-18T09:04:00.004+08:00

Not sure if I'm lazy, or if I just can't be bothered doing anything (hang-on, isn't that the same thing!?). I just want to watch bad daytime tv and have nanna-naps and schnuggle with my peeps. I've been half-heartedly trying (SAYING I'm going to finish them counts as trying, right?) to finish all of my WIP's while I'm on holidays, but no, I've started three more instead....a bag for Helen, and two more pairs of socks. I don't think I'm ever going to finish anything!

Had the laydees over on Tuesday night, for dinner and knitting - dinner was had, but no knitting took place....lots of laughing though! Shaz is off to Koorda for a tree-change today, so it was our last meet-up as a quartet for a while...

from left: Sasha, Moi, Jolene and Shaz
(pic stolen from Sasha - I'm too lazy to even email or text her to ask if it's okay - but I'm not scared of her, even though she's a zombie and might want to eat my brains - check out her April 7 post)

Okay, this poor excuse for a blog post has plum-tuckered me out, so I'd better go for a nap, before I go and pick up Jules for lunch at Zocolo's.....mmmmmmmmmmmm.....Mexican food........

Kisses
xxxxxxxx

Booty

2008-04-12T11:37:00.007+08:00

aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......

That was the sound of a contented sigh, from a very worn-out Lushie..... I have the usual-first-day-of-school-holidays-thumping headache (not hungover, just tired!), but am very glad to be still in bed at 11.38 on a Saturday morning, with no early mornings scheduled for the next two weeks. We've been out for a walk, and then breakfast, a shower and fresh pj's, clean sheets, all ready for a day of supreme lolling-in-bed, watching Law and Order tapes and eating junk!!!

First-up, here are the pics of the gifts I received on Thursday night from the kids at the Ball:
What a great bunch of kids. I love them. You know, I've been teaching for twenty years this year, and I can honestly say that while there will always be kids who do/say silly things, for me, it's other TEACHERS that are the main source of frustration and disillusionment (is that a word?) with the job (hang on,that makes me sound like I think I'm so great, that's not it, I'm just sick of the few crap teachers - who give "TEACHERS" as a group a bad name - at my school who won't do anything to make things better).....kids are kids, and they are learning how to be themselves, learning how to be good people, and so I can forgive a child pretty much anything, but other adults...? That's enough on that topic (does it show that I've had a gutful of some of my workmates?)

I leave you with Ted, a bear who is shared by two of my year 10's who love each other very much (at least I ask them if they love each other very much and if they're going to get married and have babies and stuff, to which they usually giggle and blush). Anyway, Ted had a hole in his bum, and so they asked me if I'd fix him, and so I made him a hat and a scarf as well...

Kisses,
xxxxx

Yes, I am lucky.

2008-04-11T01:50:00.003+08:00

Just a quick one - it's 1.50am, and I've just gotten in from the Senior School Ball. It was an absolute mammoth event in terms of organisation (I started planning this time last year), and now it's all over (just got to get money out of the teachers now- yep, we have to pay to go to these things...), and tomorrow is the last day of term. There were the usual speeches - thank-yous, DJ/photographer info, toilets and emergency exits, and then there was a surprise from my Year 12's (I'm the Year 12 Co-ordinator at my school, I started as their Year 8 Co-ordinator and followed them through to now) - they had collected money from everyone and put together a massive basket of goodies (mostly pink - including a LAVA LAMP!!!), a beautiful bunch of flowers, and they made a card and all wrote in it. But that's not why I'm lucky.

I'm lucky because I got hugs and kisses and good wishes for my holidays and thanks for organising the Ball from about 160 teenagers. And I didn't force them to....

I'll put some pics up tomorrow, I HAVE to show you the card....

xxxxx

Well looky what we got here...

2008-04-05T18:09:00.011+08:00

Well, I have a vague recollection of saying that I'd have time to blog over the Easter break.....My family all came to my place on the Sunday for a beautiful lunch (we don't seem to be able to all get together too often these days, so it was nice to have a few extra days) - we had it outside in the sun, it was a glorious day. The dogs played happily, we laughed a lot and ate too much. Lovely day...but not for the fluffy chickies:

And then a few weeks happened (WTF?), and I now find myself with laptop atop my lap, actually BLOGGING!!!!!

Today. Lunch with my girls (Jules, Princess Fion a, Sharon and Donna)! Restaurant by the ocean – it was pouring with rain when we got there, and by the time we left, we were in danger of getting sunburnt – nope, not ready to let go of summer yet!!! I had barramundi, crusted with dukkah (how does one pronounce ‘dukkah’?), and I nearly wet my pants with delight….I’ve never been able to cook fish properly…..It was served on potatoes, English spinach, and broccolini, with a hollandaise sauce that I wanted to roll in….. Fee and I submitted to the lure of the dessert selection, and a banana/chocolate fudge cheesecake was mine…. Then it was off to buy something to wear to the Senior School Ball on Thursday night – I’m the silly bugger that gets to organise a formal event for 300+ teenagers, and totally forgot that I HAVE TO GO as well, and so needed something to wear (do Crocs come in heels?)….groan…… Anyway, found some cheap shiny shoes, so at least my feet won’t be naked…..It’s a masquerade Ball, maybe I’ll just wear a big mo-fo mask, and my new shoes, it’s not like anyone at school has seen me all nudey, they won’t know it’s me…..would save the shopping nightmare for a dress-for-a-girl-who’s-fatter-than-she’d-like-to-be-and-so-is-delegated-to-matronly-section-that-costs-too-much-anyway….

Onto brighter things..

My Bag Swap bag(s) came yesterday!

I got TWO, and they are beautiful, and I love them! Thanks to Tia!!! I took the entrelac one out with me today to show her off, but she’s now packed with a couple of WIPs. Lots of pockets, awesome! The other bag was christened my “sex and the city” bag by Tia, I’m loving the beading! She’s a very clever lady!

I think that the bag that I made for my partner should be nearly at its destination by now, despite a traumatic event, discovered upon my arrival home on Monday (I’ve re-named Elly “Destructicon”, Connor insisted he played no part in it, he was sleeping at the time…):

All’s well that ends well, I washed and dried the bag (to get rid of the dog hairs….), and re-wrapped and re-packed the whole parcel – minus chocolates this time - two Turkish Delights, two pink Kitkats and a packet of raspberry bullets were consumed, so no pooches got dinner THAT night - didn’t want to tempt fate….)…

I’m always amazed at the transformation that takes place when felting, how this:
Ends up being this (I’m very pleased at how it turned out, wish I'd taken better photos though!):

I went on a shopping spree at Yarns on Colli e. I'm never going back, and no, I'm not going to post pictures, because you'll organise an intervention and tell me that I'll have to sell my house to fund any more such expeditions.....

I bought some crack* from my local dealer a few weeks ago, and my lordy, it is magnificent!!! Two skeins of lace-weight, and one of worsted. I had ordered some bulky from an eBay seller just days before I found out I could get it locally (looks like the only Australian distributor, and she lives 2 minutes from my house!!!!), so I’ve got a nice little stash now! I made a tiny little shrug for my Principal with the worsted – now I’m trying to convince her to take a pic of herself in it to post here! It took about an hour to make, she’s a tiny little person – the pattern was “Shrug This” from One Skein Wonders. Needless to say, as soon as she felt the cracks’ soft, squishy goodness, she burst into tears (she’s been having a tough time, a crack-hug is exactly what she needed) and put it on right away!
(Velvet Grapes and Amoroso)

More spoiling – the very lovely Shaz made gifts for our knitting group – gorgeous sockbags! The perfect size for a pair of socks-in-progress, with a cool handle – just right for looping over your wrist so you can knit and wander around the classroom, barking orders at wayward teenagers who have yet to fully embrace the joys of Mathematics…. . They are exquisitely sewn, with co-ordinating zips and linings (mine’s red), made with fabric that has balls of wool printed on it – too cute!

What’s on the needles at the mo?
- Jules’ red socks (Destructicon got the finished one, so I ripped out the second one that I had started, and now am re-knitting both at the same time, with a slightly different pattern on the top (found a very cool heart lace-panel)
- Pair of cozy alpaca socks for Mum (to maintain my position as best child)
- Shawl for the Mum of the student that I told you about a post or two ago
- Scarf for Kristen (nail lady), using Fat Bunny in Garnet– Kristen has an angora bunny called Snooty (he licked me, I'm in love!!!), and I’m going to try and get some of his fluff spun for her. I saw this wool and thought she might just love it…!
- Multi-colour socks for Helen, she’s been doing it tough lately, and needs some sock-love
- Crack scarf for me
- A felted bag, for me (I never get nothing…..!)
- Peace Fleece shawl for Mum (she wears the shawls I make her out to lunch with her friends - one woman in particular is a major covet-er –if that’s a word – and is always checking everyone out, and trying to work out where they got it/what it cost, we all know the type, and it kills her when Mum tells her what the wool cost, or how long it took to knit, and that I’m so busy I couldn’t possibly knit her one….! I know where I get my nasty gene from!!!)
- The never-ending cushion-covers for my cousin. I hate these cushion covers.

I’ve joined SOCK WARS!!!! It sounds like great fun – (everyone gets sent the top-secret pattern on May 9th) you get assigned a target, and the idea is that you knit them their socks and get them to them before YOUR assassin gets their socks to you (as soon as you get a pair of socks, you’re dead). If you “kill” someone, then they send you their unfinished socks, and you finish them and send onto THEIR target and so-on, until only one warrior remains. Go have a look…

I think that’s all. For now.

OH, except for this picture for Katy, of her favourite part of a greyhound (Elly in this instance - oh I love her, she gets on my lap and snuggles and snuggles....) - we call this little bit of fluff under the nose "angel velvet":

Kisses
xxxxx

This one's for you, Jolene!

2008-03-21T19:38:00.004+09:00

Jolene just told me off..... but then I looked at the date and wondered whether I'd lost a week or so - I didn't realise it had been so long since I blogged!

I've got a bunch of stuff to tell, but need to get my photos sorted and pizza eaten, so I'll come back at some stage of this very long weekend (for some reason, schools get Easter Monday AND Tuesday - not that I'm complaining at all!) - got some big mother cleaning (put hyphens in there as you please, Katy) to do, mini-skip coming tomorrow for a mammoth chuck-out, then I'm having my fambly over for lunch on Easter Sunday, then I may just get some knitting done!

Yep, he's tired.....

Kisses,
xxxx

woe is me, all I want to do is sit in a tidy house and knit!

2008-03-03T21:05:00.008+09:00

I'm in a sleep all day and all night phase at the mo - might have something to do with the mammoth amount of work that I have to do around the house - having the chuck-out to end all chuck-outs, started yesterday and screeched to a halt today, have yet to clear enough crap off the floor so that I can walk on the carpet, rather than over clothes and junk... if I was to have myself a meaningful one-night stand, he'd have to whack on a pair of hiking boots just to make his way into the bedroom, clambering over the gargantuan pile of clothes in the doorway (still there after I chucked them there from the spare-room yesterday). And someone who shall remain nameless (yet is very cute and fawn and white and has lots of eyeliner on and who's name rhymes with belly) has taken to pissing on the carpet in the lounge (my fault, don't trust her enough to have free reign both inside and outside yet) - only just occurred to me to shut the door when I'm out.... she doesn't do it every day, maybe once or twice a week, and only because I missed the signs that she needed to go, but still... spot-cleaners, Glen 20 and carpet deodoriser ("pet" strength) don't work so I washed the carpet today (yes, I have my very own carpet washer!) because all I can smell is dog-wee - lovely. Got some magic enzyme stuff to spray on as well - got to come up with a lot of newspapers or something... I hope I don't get any surprise visitors any time soon, because I'll have to pretend I'm not home - I'd be far too embarrassed to let anyone in - hell, I'd be too embarrassed to answer the door to a pizza-delivery guy!!!

Knitting?? I learned myself (!) how to knit two socks at once, magic loop!!! Am part-way through TWO pairs at the moment, hanging out to finish them! Ripped out my bag (Ravelry bag-swap), fearing it was way too big, and am now having a confidence slump, not sure what to do do now.....I may have to sleep on it... Started a shawl for the mother of one of my students - I was sitting chatting with some Year 9's at lunchtime the other day, knitting on my two socks. One of them asked how much I would charge for them, and I told them about something I had read where a woman had knit a pair of kilt-hose for her husband while watching him in band rehearsals, and when they were ready, one of his friends commented that she could sell them for $1500, based on the number of hours she had worked on them. After the bell went, one of the kids stayed back, and put this to me, "If I give you my leftover money from the canteen every day, would you be able to knit my Mum a scarf??".....I choked back tears (his Mum will die sometime this year, she has a degenerative disease that is rapidly taking over her body, I can't remember the name of it, but she can't move around on her own, and her breathing is now becoming very laboured) - I told him that I would be happy to knit her a scarf, and we discussed the colours she would like etc. I told him his money wasn't necessary, that I was sure I had some wool we could use at home. The next day, he tried to slip me sixty cents....

I'm going to go to bed now, and think about how lucky I am to live in a house that looks like a wardrobe explosion and smells like dog-wee....

Kisses
xxxxxxxxxxx

still thinking about the seven, Jolene....

2008-02-24T17:25:00.004+09:00

I've been tagged.....I'm to list seven things about me, and then tag seven other bloggers - a much more difficult task than first imagined,but I'm thinking....

xxxxx

Right then!

2008-02-17T15:39:00.009+09:00

Haven't blogged properly for a while.....little bit of catching up to do (is point-form okay?)!!!

1. Cynthia's bag-swap bag (all the way from New York!), and Terry L. Ross book, received just before Christmas (there were chocolates as well, but I can't seem to find them...):

2. Part of a lovely parcel from Laura (California) for the (Ravelry) Valentine's swap - she sent beautiful yaaahn, shiny stitch-markers, lollies (looooooong-gone!) and a lovely chocolatey-brown silk drawstring bag (which is currently holding a sock - on my desk at work...!):

3. Single Knitters Valentine swap (yep, Ravelry again) gifts from Nikki of NSW (and as an extra special bonus, Nikki included some chocolate-coated bonios for the dogs, and a mousie for Lucy - had to forcibly remove it from Elly first though!) - some supremo soft bamboo yaaaahn, and a sweetly-scented candle (aptly named "Harmony", just what I need bucket-loads of at the moment!):

4. A few tiny purchases....

5. A near-complete sock (yep, another washed-out pic, this is a really lovely bright red, with very subtle variegations)...

6. Mum's birthday bag (colours look really washed-out, much brighter in real-life, and the lining is bright, bright pink):

7. Noro sock (okay, just the toe...) - I'm finding this is quite pleasant to knit with, I've read lots of negative comments about its texture - of course the colours are to die for!:

8. Elly, what a little sweetyheart...

9. Mummy and me, on her birthday (Valentine's Day):

10. My grown-up backyard!!! Now it's just regular watering, and waiting for the bushes and fruit-trees to grow!!

Phew!! I'm all out of puff now, must go for a nap....
xxxxxxx

(thanks to Connor for his tireless modelling...)

VD

2008-02-14T07:26:00.004+09:00

Man I've been slack. Actually I've been very busy, but in terms of blogging........big one coming this weekend, I promise, with pictures - of KNITTING!!!!!

Happy Birthday Mummy - 60 today, looking good!!!
(picture taken Christmas Day 2007)

xxxxxxxxx

Fuck.

2008-02-11T07:13:00.000+09:00

Sorry for swearing.

Bella died.

I found her on the back verandah, and she was all limp and dirty and had a crusty nose. She died on the way to the vet, who thinks it was most likely a bite - spider or snake, he couldn't say. He was a lovely man, handled her as though she was still alive. It's been just over a week or so, but every now and then I remember with a jolt, as if it just happened (I've been trying on purpose not to think or talk about her, but it's too hard). It's been a long time since I lost a pet, I forgot how much it hurts....

I love you, Fluffy-bum Miaow Bella....
xxxxxxx

Oh yeah....think I'll go to bed now....

2008-02-07T21:04:00.001+09:00

You are late-sleepy relaxation, the half-awake moment when you realize it's morning, but you don't have to get up, because there's no place you have to be. You are that cozy spot under the covers where everything feels temporarily perfect, even if you know you'll eventually have to wiggle out and start the day. Maybe you're the artistic type, who doesn't function well on a normal schedule. Sleep's important to you, and you like the freedom of sleeping as late as you want (especially since that is closely related to the freedom to stay up as late as you want). You like to roll out of bed, put on some comfy clothes, and get a laid back start to the day. If not everything on your list gets accomplished, no worries. Your only priority is having no priorities – you just want to take things at a slow, mellow pace.

oops....

2008-02-07T06:53:00.000+09:00

...ahem.

It would appear that I haven't updated for quite a while....

Very little knitting (arm still giving me grief) - am making a bag for Mum (her 60th birthday on Valentine's Day) - it's The Luckiest, from Katey Jackson. Have a look, she's got some lovely stuff (yes, I bought yaaaahhhhn from her as well - I had to, she has really cool shipping boxes...). I'm using a delightful (if I may say so) combination of Noro Kureyon and Lopi - pics nearer to completion.

Yesterday I received a package from California - my Secret Valentine (not secret now - Laura)!!!! I'm going to devote a whole post to it, later today, tomorrow at the latest (apparently I'm a grown-up, and need to start getting ready for work...) - it doesn't deserve a rushed description, and needs photos!

Okay, offski for now, going to face the hoards of adoring students, eager to learn the intricacies of percentages and parallelograms.......

Kisses
xxxxxx

Australia Day

2008-01-26T19:51:00.000+09:00

Happy Australia Day, folks! I'm celebrating in chilly-style, AIR-CON WAS INSTALLED ON THURSDAY!!!!!

Nil knitting, due to very sore arm, numb fingers - I think something's pinched somewhere, I had the same thing about 6 months ago, and a few trips to the Chiro sorted it, but it's back with a vengeance. Good thing I have some Mersyndol on hand, or there'd be no sleep either, very uncomfortable and sore....whine....whinge....sob....!

Elly is great - she's quite interested in the cats, but other than that, she's the perfect girl. We're taking it slowly with the pusses, she doesn't want to eat them, but she does want to get closer than they'd like!! I'm not at all worried like I was (just quietly) with Connor, because she's doing exactly the same things he did, and he lets the cats (literally) walk over him...Just takes some time, and gentle training. There's a big difference between a dog that wants to eat a cat, and a dog that wants to have a look/sniff/play!

Are the cats down the hallway?? (she's tethered, with three leashes, to my bed, so she can move around, but not go too far!)

Man, they're taking their sweet time....

I'm tired of waiting...I'll just have a quick snooze (that lasted three hours)....

mmmmmmmmmm......Lopi.......let me felt it for you.......

So, do you think Connor REALLY likes me, or just likes me?

Kisses,
xxxxx

Day One

2008-01-23T06:46:00.000+09:00

...because yesterday doesn't really count, does it?
Lovely evening out on the verandah, cats well in sight (and tauntingly within reach!) - it's amazing the difference in how they are with Elly, compared to how they were with Connor. It's almost as if they know that I won't let anything happen to them! Last night, Lucy the Scaredy sat on the table next to me, and Elly was sitting on the other side of me, interested, but relaxed enough to lay down and look the other way!! WHOOO!!! All will be well soon enough if this keeps up! I've been giving Elly a little treat every time she looks at me or away from a cat, so hopefully she'll associate good things with them....

A couple to start the day:

"where's the rest of my tail?"

"The lighting's all wrong, I want another photographer, someone who knows what they're doing...."

xxxxxxxx

AND there's been knitting!!

2008-01-22T18:01:00.000+09:00

I've made quite a bit of progress on my Ravelry Australian Bag-swap bag - I'm loving how the colours are coming out (using two strands of different yaaaaaahns) - have been making another cotton shower-mitt, for my aunty, and am nearly finshed a red sock with a lacey panel up the front and the back (only 10 stitches wide, it's coming out nicely!). So, clearly it's not all about the slacking!!!

Okay Katy, this is for you....

2008-01-22T17:31:00.000+09:00

Here she is, after a day of napping and exploring and napping and tail-wagging (boy, she's a wagger and a half - and she's only got half a tail!!!) - Elly the Very Beautiful Girl (she told me her name after we'd all had a nap):

(please note, it is very hot - seabreeze is just in though - Elly wants me to tell you that she usually smiles much more than this!)

She has arrived....

2008-01-22T14:55:00.000+09:00

Oh, and she is beautiful. I love her. Connor thinks she's okay, as long as he's the favourite handsome-boy (he's the only handsome-boy, so of course he will be the fave!). Will take pics tomorrow, too busy gazing.....
xxxxxx

oooooooooh......!!!!

2008-01-21T21:04:00.000+09:00

I am typing this very slowly, because I am very excited and I don't want to make spelling mistakes in my haste....
I am picking up Patches tomorrow.

Of course a name-change may be in order, I don't think "Patches" truly expresses her beauty and loveliness.... 'Penelope' is the fave at the mo, but I think I'm going to wait until she tells me herself......!

How on earth are Connor and I going to be able to sleep tonight??

xxxxxxxxxx

I give you....

2008-01-18T18:53:00.001+09:00

TWINKLE-TOES!!!!!! Oh,the gloriousness that are our sparkle-arkely toenails....such glamour, the likes of which has n'ere been seen before.....

It's a complex and time-consuming procedure, the Twinkle-toe-ectomy - first, a day must be set aside. The purchase (and consumption) of crunchy snacks, chocolate, vino and a healthy array of luncheon items must be made. Any hint of scaly heels, dry skin or unsightly cracks must be removed from feet prior to Twinkle-age, dry heels are not a good look with glitter. The lovely Kristin then conducts her own special brand of sadistic torture (after all, beauty IS pain) - filing the surface of the toe-nail so that the gel can adhere. She does this with a finger or two in-between two of your most ticklish toes. A layer of gel is applied, then your tootsies go into the UV box for the gel to set. They come out sticky, whereupon a fine layer of your chosen twinkles is applied (we had a choice of 8 colours of glitter, and about 6 different shaped glitter - stars, hearts....). Another coat of gel, another dose of UV, and voila! Perfect piggies!!!

Jules - with the bling - went for an orange to match her car (keep an eye out for a car set to cruise control, and the driver with a foot out of each window), my Mummy (we convinced her that she needed sparkly toes) chose an elegant pale gold, Fee opted for a brilliant blue, Kristin modelled the set she gave herself the day before, and my fuschia fabulousness!
Aren't we special??

Oh, and I've been working on my Bag-swap bag, and a red sock of my own design. And a Noro-sock sock. And I made three cotton shower-exfoliant-mitts - essentially just socks without heels, and a few ridges thrown in for extra scrubbiness.

xxxx

slacker....

2008-01-16T21:01:00.002+09:00

Oh my goodness - I haven't shown you the bag that Cynthia made for me yet, have I?!!! How slack am I - but in my defense, I have been busy USING the bag, so how could I blog about it.... Ok, that was a crap excuse - I'm forgetful, absent-minded, have a brain like a sieve..... I'm also not feeling well, my tummy is grumpy with me, and I had to stay home, instead of join Jules and her family for her birthday dinner tonight....saw her today (and did presents and foot spas, in preparation for the Inaugural Twinkle Toes event on Friday - more on that later), but it's not the same... I've had a horrible head/funny tummy thing on and off for a few days now, and I'm not happy about it - also missed my local "Fibre Arts" group's FIRST meeting last night. Maybe it's the heat? Maybe it's the Universe's strange way of telling me that I should win Lotto, give up work to stay home and knit and watch The Days of our Lives every day (my life-long dream, I don't want much...)?

Anyway, back to the bag...it's beautiful, and I love it! It's PINK, and it has a massive felted flower on the front, and I love it! It had the Terry Ross book inside (I nearly bought it the day before I received my parcel!), a box of chocolates, a beautiful hand-made soap, and some patterns for crocheted embellishments! Lovely!!! As luck would have it, Cynthia is as bad as me with deadlines, and it turns out we sent each other's bags within a day or two of each other, and we received them on the same day!!! Knitter's luck....?

More news on Swaps.....I'm an idiot. I was all upset, because my International Mystery Swap partner hadn't contacted me yet (5 days after the contact deadline). I'd even gotten myself a "secret" email address to use (yeah Lisa, real secret - WHEN TRYING TO GET AN ANONYMOUS EMAIL ADDY, DON'T USE YOUR REAL NAME AS THE DISPLAY NAME, LOSER!!!!!!!!!), and had made contact with the person that I am knitting/buying for, and we've already had a bit of back and forth banter and laughs. So, I get in touch with the hostess, like we're meant to, and let her know I hadn't heard anything yet, that I'd even checked my junk mail, which is fine (she emailed and asked if everyone had contacted everyone). She replied that she had checked with my partner who had told her that we'd exchanged several emails already....... I didn't know that we were swapping with each other, I thought that I was giving to Jesi (who promptly sent me an email apologising - for what? It's ME with the mis-firing brain cells), and someone else was giving to me (you know, the whole "upstream/downstream" thing....). Anyway long story (that makes me look like I don't have the brains I was born with) short, I sent sheepish emails declaring my lack of brain function....and haven't heard back from either of them, they're too busy shaking their respective heads at my sheer lack of cleverness.... gee, I used "brain" a lot in those two sentences....
So now I have just made a very impressive impression on two very nice people. Not. Who now are probably wondering what they did to deserve being lumped with such a nincompoop. A well-meaning, yet slightly dim nincompoop.
Why does Blogger pick up "recieve" as being misspelt, but not "nincompoop"? Is that the correct spelling???

Back to bag-swap. Where are the pictures, I hear you wearily cry....haven't taken any yet. Will do it tomorrow. It's still 35 degrees C, and it's 9.45pm, and I'm sitting outside, typing in the dark, so I'll take photos tomorrow.

I promise.
xxxxxx

I leave you with Connor in a reflective pose, he's very sensitive and artistic....

Oh, and I've finished the base of the bag I'm making for my Australian Knitters bag-lady (or man) swap, although I'm not sure if my partner will actually get it - I'm really liking it, and will be tempted to keep it for myself!!! Also, I've bought a tonne of Valentine-y stuff for my International Valentine's Day swap, and had a lovely email from my partner!
I love this stuff!!!!

hmmmmmmm.....

2008-01-10T20:41:00.000+09:00

I'm sitting on my bed with my lappytop, watching Connor lick my tv....

weirdo

Swap-o-rama

2008-01-10T18:42:00.001+09:00

Ooooh.....this swapping malarkey is fun!!! I've managed to sign myself up to three swaps - an Australian Bag-lady Swap; an International Valentine swap; and Mystery Swap 2 (also international) - all via Ravelry! Loads of fun - my lovely Bag-lady has been in contact already, and I've been swapping emails with my Mystery Swappee - still waiting to hear whether my Bag-swappee has received my messages..... I've already started the bag for her, she's at Uni, and so it's going to be big enough for books etc, and I'm using some beautiful Kureyon from my stash, and will felt it so it's lovely and sturdy. Will post pics when it has progressed a little more!
Better go, Connor's looking at me pathetically, apparently he's at risk of starving, because his dinner is 23 seconds late....
xxxxx

Dear Stalker

2008-01-08T19:45:00.000+09:00

Dear Stalker,
Hmmmm....what sort of bag do I like.....?
Okay then - here are some ideas.....
- I like strap/s - long ones, so that I can carry the bag across my body if I need to be hands-free
- I like to either carry a lot of junk with me (including at least on pair of socks-on-the-go!) OR just my money, phone, keys and sock
- I'm not a fan of the draw-string
- I can never find my mobile phone when it rings
How's that? I feel a bit demanding now....!!!!
Ooooh, this is fun!!!!
xxx

(I'm sure I'll love anything that you make for me - the thought that someone is planning and making something for ME makes me grin like a loon!!!)

THE DOG IS ALIVE, KATY...

2008-01-08T09:05:00.001+09:00

hehehehheee...this one's just a piss-take....!!

I love my postie....

2008-01-07T20:00:00.000+09:00

oh boy....
Sex and the City - seasons 1-6 - and Noro sock yaaaahn......
Enough said, methinks....

Connor doesn't mind....
xxx

....another delivery....

2008-01-05T17:47:00.000+09:00

....nearly too embarrassed for words....pics instead....another delivery yesterday....

Banana fibre....

Lorna's Laces, super wash stuff for a baby blanket, Aslan colourway (for the sophisticated baby), ....

Shiny bamboo stuff...

Socks - lovely cottony-goodness - for Ezz (Cascade Fixation Bulky - because she's not)

Connor in the black sand - gotta get a move-on with the yard reno....

I'm off to hang my head in shame now. At least the postie doesn't come on the weekends....

x

2008-01-04T17:38:00.000+09:00

....maybe I shouldn't post about the yaaaaaahn delivery I got yesterday - the DK-weight Opal, and the Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Fire-engine red......?
....maybe people will REALLY think that I have a substance-abuse problem if I do....

Call me Lindsay Lohan....

2008-01-02T12:11:00.000+09:00

...because I have a substance abuse problem, and I may need to go to Knitting Rehab - will there be knitting there...?
The postie just came, and I was embarrassed....
He had for me:

Knitpicks Sock Needle set, and Knitpicks Options interchangeable needle set (Donyale, you're evil....)

Donyale Bruised Bloodwood 4-ply

Kitty Knits - 100% Pure Australian (machine washable) - 2 x DK Buggsy; Sock, Buggsy; sock, Leather and Lace; sock, Choc Orange + very cute stitch markers (free!)

3 x Claudia Handpainted, Short Sport 100% Merino, 'Red Wagon', from The Loopy Ewe, plus cool knitting needle inventory cards (free!! And a beautiful hand-written note, I love it when people put a note in!)

Techno Fleece for a my cousins' baby blanky -not due till July, so HEAPS of time! (an eBay purchase, soft, washable)

Sock kit - Opal and needles and pattern! (eBay again, I heart eBay...)

Goodness me, I'm going to have to wind all this bounty into balls now...before it's too late (for what, I don't know, but you understand my urgency....)

..some of the haul....wound while waiting for pics to upload.....

Did I mention that I'm on holidays? Till the end-ish of January? Yes, I know, it'll be tough....I'm starting the way I mean to continue, sitting on my back verandah, much yaaaaahn within reach, icy drink on one side, lappytop in front of me, latest knitting project in hand, ipod on in the background (courtesy of lovely speakers, gift from the lovely Jules for my Birthday a couple of years ago) blaring knitting podcasts. Every few hours I haul my stinking carcass (too tired to bathe some days, you know how it is) off for a nap, then come out to resume the slothing....

Kisses and yawns and sweat from between my fat rolls,
Me
xxxxxx

I wondered where Connor's Christmas toys were - he doesn't wreck anything, but he hides them up in the dirt - I oncefound an unopened jar of olives there....and my school keys (just to my desk, don't panic!)....and the adapter for my mobile phone charger....again, now do you see why I need a gardening man? An ARMY of gardening men?

and more many things...

2008-01-01T21:07:00.000+09:00

Hello my Darling,

I have to say this bit first, because I am angry. There is an old couple who have two untrained Red Cloud Kelpies that frequent the dog park (fenced, big, lovely for my boy to run like the wind without the threat of being hit by a car). We rarely bump into them, on purpose (luckily they go the same time every day), because the male - who has the biggest nuts I've ever seen, not that I'm an expert on dogs nuts - has a penchant for peeing on me if I stand still. (yes, I have commented - LOUDLY - that the nuts need to go...). Nice enough people, (except for that time the old fart told me that I shouldn't be sitting down, that I had the same problem he has in the weight department (excuse me? I don't look eleventy-ten months pregnant, you old bastard)- I went and looked into buying a gun straight after) their dogs quite possibly have FITH disease* or something, and very definately the wrong type of dogs for a suburban couple in their mid-70's who think that a run at the park is all the exercise they need..... (oh no, I've become a scathing dog-owner....scathing of dog-owners that aren't me....). Anyway, we've been there with them a dozen or so times before, incident-free (the male wants to be the boss, and barks a lot, but Connor's awesome, he just ignores them and does his sniffing-and-dripping-from-the-nose thing), until today:

Yes, that's my sweety's schnozz after we bathed it with warm salty water. And gouges out of his side. "Oh, I hate it when he does that," says old fucker, referring to her male dog's love of hackle-raising and pursuit of lovely boys who mind their own business and sniff the 'tyres wot dogs jump through'. And then high-tailed it outta there before the dust settled - I've never seen two old fat people move so fast in my life... Connor hadn't even started to bleed.... I didn't see all of what happened, it was very quick and I was busy snuggling with a puppy belonging to a sweet old lady - the exact opposite to the old bag who lets her dog eat other dogs.... Not going back there. Unless it's 6am. It used to be lovely, but lately....

Right. Onto the ball-winder.
My fiance-to-be (I sense that C0nnor may dump me after my failure to protect him today, he's been quite distant....)...he's quite delightful, I'm spending a lot of time with him...
I present you with (yep, lost all the labels in my hurry, I think I can remember most of the details though):

Lime and Violet sock yaaaahn, by Lisa Souza

Something that had 'Toasty Toes' on the label, and 'Interlacements'? I'll find out...
Lorna's Laces, Lion and Lamb, in 'Bittersweet' colourway - was going to be a Clapotis, not so sure now...

Lots of other stuff (I haven't got the patience to be arty-photo-shoot-girl) - so there's some Koigu (palest of pale pinks), some more Lorna's Laces (creamy cream sock yaaaahn), The Knittery (cashmere + merino sock), more Lime and Violet Lisa Souza, a bunch of stuff ('Fresia' Bamboo DK - a bastard to knit with, but the prettiest green you've ever seen- 'Earth Sky' Polwarth Merino 12ply, 'Rinn' Merino DK) from The Yarn Cafe, some Cherry Tree Hill sock, Seawool, bamboo stuff, and some variegated pink Aracanuianananananaauna (can't remember how to spell it...).

Lucy helped with the styling for the shoot..

Some Habu - wanted to see what all the fuss is about - thought it might make some nice coaster-y things for my new outdoor setting:

A sock I started this morning for my sister-in-law, in Patonyle

AND - a finished sock!! Modelled by Lucy Bell..tell her it doesn't make her bum look big...

Do you remember me whining about my cousins and their girlfriends/wives, and how I try to love them but I just don't? Well, they outdid themselves in their own special looking-down-their-noses-at-us-plebs way this Christmas, so much so that Mum told her sister that they (the 'kids') aren't welcome at any more family gatherings (in the nicest possible way)!!! We had a sing-a-long this year, my brothers' last-ditch attempt at something resembling interaction, but they sneered at us, and didn't hold up on the eye-rolling for one minute! They moved the chairs to the other end of the patio, and proceeded to not look at or speak to anyone there. When offered Mum's very special Clootie Dumpling, "No, I've already had pudding today...." - I think it's that they can't even be bothered to pretend to be glad to see us - there's never been a falling out, in fact we all used to be quite friendly when younger - it's since they've gotten older and acquired the womenfolk that things have gone pear-shaped (well, the boys were always socially awkward, but now they're downright rude and sullen, I can forgive awkward!!)....Mum was so upset, and is of course now worried about THIS years' Christmas, but I for one am a happy camper. I hate having to fake joy and happiness at seeing them.... (just tried seventy-twelve times to upload a short video of the "Lighting of the Christmas Clootie", but Blogger wouldn't co-operate....I'll try again later, it has a very professional-sounding narrator...)

The view from my back verandah - I give you Jungle Cat!! Are you starting to see why I need a gardening man???

He's hot. And appears to be headless.

Well then, I appear to have outdone myself this evening!! This blog-post was brought to you by the brand-spanking-new outdoor setting on my back verandah, and my sweaty brow - oh yeah, looking at 38 degrees tomorrow, then 40 on Thursday. Friday will be a positively chilly 35. Degrees. Celsius.... Toby the air-con man is supposed to be ringing me tomorrow, and they are looking at next week for the installation -WOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!! Icicles, here I come!!!!

I'm off to my beddy-byes now, it's been lovely

Oh, and before you think I've forgotten, Happy New Year!!! May 2008 be everything you need it to be!

Kisses,
xxxxxxxxxx

* Fucked In The Head - honestly, I've never met dogs like them, they have a crazed, glazed look in their eyes, and completely refuse to interact with people, or to "play" with other dogs - mind you though, I'm spoiled.....

many things

2007-12-29T21:57:00.000+09:00

Oh my goodness, but I've been busy!!!!
First, there was the winding of the balls. Of wool etc.... I love my swift and my new ball winder, and I think that if I ever divorce my dog (because I have to marry him), then I will propose matrimonial bliss to my ball winder. That's right, no life.
Then, my garden man has been laying pavers (it is not my place to judge.....oh boy, did I warn you about the shockingly bad jokes??) along my driveway. He also top-dressed my "lawn", and tonight I water-soaker-stuffed it, and watered it for the first time in about 6 years. I hope it works....can't water again til Wednesday, and there's another few 39+ degree days forecast....feels a lot like a waste of resources...might re-think that one, eh?
What else.....
Oh!! Christmas came and went, Mum and Dad celebrated their 41st wedding anniversary yesterday, and today I spent a lot of money - new outdoor setting, from which I plan to compose my next post (one with actual knitting content!!), and air-con for my little hot-box of a house!!! It's been ten years of searing heat, I won't know myself when it's installed next week!!! I re-financed my mortgage in July, and with the extra moolah I'm doing a lot of things that have been waiting patiently to be done - gardens, air-con, carport etc.... I'm such a grown-up!
Right, and now I'm tired, so will leave you with:
my Christmas Day breakfast at Mum and Dad's;
a leadlight mermaid that my Mum made - she's a very clever lady!
my brother Nick. Yes, I know he's a dog. He has my eyes...

Bella, helping....

That's your lot. For today, anyway!!

Sleep tight,
xxxx

2007-12-27T13:32:00.001+09:00

41%

Want to be a x ray technician?

2007-12-21T09:17:00.000+09:00

...can't type....busy winding balls on new ball winder......pics later....

Yaaaaaaaaaarn

2007-12-20T08:38:00.000+09:00

I have issues with the word "yarn". It (in Australia) means a 'story', and I feel silly saying it when I mean 'wool' ('wool' as in 'yarn', not 'wool' as in fibre what comes off a sheep.....see my predicament?). 'Wool', to me, means 'stuff you knit with'.
Plus, it sounds stupid when I say it - it's not a word designed for the Aussie accent: yaaaaaaaaaaahn....
sigh.

geezzzzz....

2007-12-19T06:18:00.000+09:00

I have been awake since 5.34am. There is no need for me to be up'n'at'em today, or tomorrow, or the next day, or the next.....
Connor however, IS asleep. He's too lazy to close his eyes...

Is it wrong to want to paint his nails? And why is my thumb so wrinkly?

I'm going back to the laying-down position. With two cats balanced precariously on my bladder....

xxxx

not much...

2007-12-18T22:03:00.001+09:00

hmmmm..... started a sock for Jules.
Went to work again, only this time I achieved something - tidy desk, purged 4 years of junk!
Ate a microwaved croissant for breakfast, paid over $5 for the privilege....
Yarny goodness in the letterbox when I got home - pics when light is better (Artyarns, felting book, Yarn Cafe yummies....)....
No school tomorrow - am highly delighted at that happy fact....
Dog porn:

Lucy-Bell with the glowy-eyes....

Poster of me in my classroom (yes, there are mathematical formulae superimposed on it) - one of my Year 11's improved it.....(he asked me first, a polite vandal....mind you, it's a disgusting pic!)

Bed.

xxxxx

It's Monday again!!

2007-12-17T19:31:00.000+09:00

Good evening, dear Reader!
Hmmmm....... big day today, went into work and cleared my desk....okay, I went into work, with Connor, and mooched around all day, not achieving much - except for photocopying the Christmas day sing-a-long songs (our ripper idea to liven up the day!)!! I took down the Chrissy decs, and wandered around the empty school, perved on a tradie who was ripping up carpet in the staffroom, pinched a coolie from the drinks fridge (okay, I owe a dollar), and finally declared myself knackered and went home via Hungry Jack's drive-through....

Finished a sock yesterday, and it is delightful. My camera, however, is not. It has a flat battery, and I cannot locate the charger at this time.... so just hold on to your excitement for a day or two...! I tell you, I don't think I ever want to knit a sock in sock yarn ever again! This sock is the squishiest, softest sock (knit in 8-ply crepe) ever, and it knit up really quickly - I don't love needles smaller than 4mm, so how am I ever going to use the twentyeleven balls of sock wool that are languishing in the bottom of my knitting basket/sea chest? Maybe I could knit with doubled yarn....

Yesterday I started my Christmas knitting - I'm only making three gifts this year (after my epic 2006 efforts....), cotton face cloths for my cousins wives/girlfriends. They're getting a face washer and a bar of Nutrimetics soap, and that's it - I think I'm finally learning my lesson about giving gifts to people who don't appreciate/deserve my affections! So, I'm keeping it simple - one is a mitred square, done in lemon/lime/white and teamed with a lime soap; one is plain white moss-stitch, with frangipani soap; and the third is pinks and whites and matched with a wild raspberry soap - and not turning up empty-handed! Finished the lime/white one, an inch into the other two.....

Look closely, what can you see....? (scene in the foyer of the venue the Year 10 Dinner dance was held at this year...made me giggle a bit....)

Kisses,
Me
xxxxxx

Paying it forward

2007-12-16T21:11:00.000+09:00

Just read this, on The Knitting Wildflower blog:

These are the instructions:

I will now Pay It Forward to you THREE, I wonder who you will be?! Please, be a PIF! You will enjoy it just as much as we do!”

I love the sound of this.... so if you'd like to be involved in the loveliness, just leave a comment saying so, and post this (or a message like it) on your blog - first three (do three people READ this?) get a gift from me sometime in the near future!

xxxxxx

Sock.

2007-12-16T14:45:00.003+09:00

Hello My Lovely Reader!
Here is the sock that I am currently knitting (sorry, ONE of the SOCKS that I am currently knitting...):

It's a really bad photo, because I'm really bad at TAKING photos....but Connor's foot is there next to mine, which is a bit lovely.... and I shaved my legs last week, so no-one should be losing their last meal whilst viewing this post....

Last Wednesday I had the dubious pleasure of attending our school's Year 10 Dinner Dance. As the person who organised this spectacularly underwhelming event will never ever read this blog, I feel safe in bagging the crap out of it.... Staff had to pay $35 to RUN THIS THING. If we don't go, the kids don't get to go, so I'm still unsure why we teachers have to pay... anyway, it was a DINNER dance, so a meal would be nice, right? WRONG!!!! It was a COCKTAIL FOOD DANCE....(can't really call it a Cockdance now, can we Lisa) So, for my $35 I ate: one quarter of a stale chicken sandwich, 2 twice-fried mini-spring rolls (you know the bulk party packs you get in the freezer at Coles?) with sweet chilli sauce, 1 triple-fried mini-samosa (see bulk comment), 2 squid rings (again with the bulk) and 3 ex-frozen wedges. No sour cream. I shouldn't complain, the kids had to pay $45.... After the lavish meal, I volunteered to go outside and do "duty" on the balcony (had to get out of the windowless room that was pulsating with what kids call music these days - oooh, I just got old...), and I was SO glad I did - this was my view (still broad daylight at nearly 8pm) :

I stayed outside till the peace was shattered by bloody kids having a good time, whereupon I plonked myself down with a cup of tea and continued being old.

On a Christmassy note, here is my desk at work:

The two clowns in the second pic are co-workers - one is my immediate superior (or so he thinks, anyway), and the other is the out-going Year 12 Co-ordinator (I'm 'it' for 2008). The "circle of love" is a highly effective discipline tool I have developed over the years, particularly useful in the stunning and maiming of Year 9 boys. It is a non-contact method, involving the encircling of the child with outsretched arms and channeling "love" towards the child....they love it....I once chased a kid around the quadrangle to implement this strategy...is that wrong??? Once utilised correctly, this method often renders the affected child speechless and immobile for up to two whole lessons.

Okay, I need a nap....

Kisses,
Me
xxxx

wish I was still asleep....

2007-12-16T07:26:00.000+09:00

....but at least now I know what I should be when I grow up - if only I had done this quiz 20 years ago....(tongue firmly in cheek, just in case the sarcasm doesn't show up too well on the pink background...)
xxxxx

You Should Be a Social Worker

You are deeply caring and empathetic.
You are able to take on other people's problems as if they were your own.
Sensitive and intuitive, you understand human emotions well.
Helping others gives you the most joy in life. You feel like it's your purpose in life.
You do best when you:
- Have a lot of responsibility
- Greatly impact someone's life with your work
You would also be a good philanthropist or stay at home parent.

What Should You Be When You Grow Up?

woke up too early....

2007-12-16T06:20:00.000+09:00

You Are a Marble Cake

Eclectic, inventive, and peaceful.

You are never willing to accept what's "normal." You live to push the envelope.

You find it hard to make up your mind. You prefer to have everything you want, right away!

What Kind of Cake Are You?

What the....?

2007-12-10T07:16:00.000+09:00

Where did last week go? Last thing I remember is writing the last post, waxing lyrical about my lovely Southern Summer of Socks newbie-sock-knitter prize, and drooling over my Jolly Jumbuck purchase, and all of sudden I'm here, AGAIN writing about Monday..... Must pay attention to time flying by.....

Some knitting, not a lot:

The lovely Jolly Jumbuck yarn (the yarnis called Aphrodite, the colour is Athabasca) is becoming my very first toe-up sock!! This pic is from Friday, when I hid out in my classroom at lunchtime...I'm now up to the gusset increases, and I think all is well!

That's it. The rest of the week went by in a blur - Friday night at Jules', with the Rottnest crew, then I slept most of Saturday (I know how to manage my time....). Sunday was housework in case of an impromptu visit from Mater - turns out she let me know beforehand this time!!!

Okay, last week of school (for the kiddies at least, I have a couple more days next week), and I'm running late already....

Kisses,
xxxxx

Oh how I love Mondays...

2007-12-03T17:27:00.002+09:00

I've had a crap day.
Until I got home and found these goodies in my letterbox:

My prize for being a new sock-knitter - from Southern Summer of Socks (CHEERS to Rose Red, Bells and Shazmina Bendi!) - cute little beaded stitch markers, and a wee tape-measure!
Dk WA Merino, Athabasca colourway, from Jolly Jumbuck (and the lovely Irene has treated it to a soak in a Spiced Plum wool wash, so it smells as good as it looks - and feels!!!) - check out the Jolly Jumbuck stitch-markers!!!!

So now I'm smiling, and am only troubled by one thing - what pattern should I use the plummy-fragranced for....??

Kisses,
Moi
xxxx

3 posts in one day??

2007-12-02T20:36:00.000+09:00

Well, I've finished my Bag -a-holic bag swap bag!! I've got some little gifts to put in it - the obligatory kangaroo toy and Australia keyring (thanks to Jules - it IS going to New York!), some Cascade Fixation in an olive green (Cynthia said she likes greens), Brittany birch dpns, some wishing stones (pretty glass beads with words on them - hope, dream, happiness etc), a beaded bracelet and earrings that my Mum made, some strong pins with big heads for blocking, some ribbon trims in greens, and some bag hardware (swivel attachments for bag handles). I'm going to get some chocolates tomorrow and then it'll be winging it's way O/S!!! I hope it gets there before Christmas.....

I've also decided that I need (okay, "want"...) a new camera... maybe I'll treat myself for Christmas.....(the colours in this bag are much nicer in person, much richer - Mum reckons they're real "Australian colours", and I think I agree.

Okee dokes folk/s, I'm off to the land of nod - see you later!!

xxx

oh, the knitting...

2007-12-02T08:45:00.000+09:00

hehehehehe.....

Knitting progress:
- only half a sock to go and SIL's birthday pressie is done (not needed till January,maybe they can wait!)
- quarter of a sock to go for Jules, aiming to get these finished this week
- half an entrelac bag for Mummy - I ripped it out and started again, much neater now that I know what I'm doing! My picked-up stitches were shocking.....!!
- Lady Eleanor for me has begun! I already had a stash of Silk garden just waiting for the right project, and I'm waiting for more to come (a mighty fine eBay purchase!!!)
- in the middle of lining my Bag-a-holic bag-swap bag, for Cynthia
- stash enhancement (can't remember "brand", but the colour is "Strawberry"; Lorna's Laces "Jeans"; Araucania in pinks; Seawool....can't remember the colour, and I've wound it into a ball since this pic...lost the band)

- and more stash enhancement - Berrocco Peruvia, red, black and cream, for a felted zebra-striped bag

Will try to get some pictures of actual knitted items today - if I can crow-bar my lazy arse off the sofa!!
xxxxxx

Nod. An explanation.

2007-12-02T08:35:00.000+09:00

Noddy was my boss in my first year of teaching. I was 20 years old, and, if I may say so myself, a bit hot.... Anyway, Nod was a sleaze, and one day introduced me to a group of (male) maths teachers at a conference as his "Luscious Lisa"... I was so taken aback (and young) that I said nothing, but grinned pathetically instead.... Anyhoo, my colleagues took to calling me Lushy whenever Noddy left a room, and the nickname seemed to stick....
Fast forward nearly twenty years, and I went to sign up for a gmail account - I typed in 'Lushy' as my username, and it came back with "that username has been taken" and suggested "lushorama" - hence my email addy, and the name of this blog.... and maybe a set of pink personalised plates for my car....

Now only my nearest and dearest call me Lushy, and they aren't lecherous (well, maybe Jules is) or sleazy, so they must mean it with love!

So there you have it, an explanation of my blog name.

Fascinating stuff, eh?

xxx

that's naughty....

2007-11-27T12:55:00.000+09:00

You know when sometimes you have to go to a conference/seminar for work? Is it wrong to knit through the keynote address? Is it wrong to brazenly walk out before lunch-time? Personally, since I actually finished a whole sock (okay, it was an ankle sock...), then I don't see the problem.... hope my boss feels the same way....

I just wanted to come home and see my boy.....

xxxx

Sweetyheart good boy.....

2007-11-25T21:55:00.000+09:00

Last Saturday Connor went over to Jules' for his bath (he gets into it with Sam and Dexter, they bath together with Ron, the Dog Whisperer - he whispers to the mutts as he washes them, then they get a boney-o) - I had a doc appointment, so he was all grown-up and on his todd. Jules said that after their baths, they were all running like the wind, then she looked out the window and saw this:
He was very tired....being so handsome is very draining.....

I love him.
I think I want to marry my dog.

I need to get out more.....

xxxxx

50 bazillionth time's a charm....

2007-11-25T13:45:00.003+09:00

Right, I'm going to do this quickly while I can:
- Panda Wool - bamboo/wool/nylon - I'm in a bi-monthly sock club, this is my first package!

- Daddy-o's birthday socks (cashmere 4-ply blend - from theknittery), don't you love the turned-up toes? What a poser....!!!!

- can you say "fixation"....? (just found some more, had rolled under the bed....) - anyone need cotton socks??!

- some lovely Lopi, destined to be something felted...

- who farted?

- my first attempt at entrelac - going to be a felted bag for Mummy - wondering whether I should block it lightly before I seam it and felt it....?

- pre-felted bag for Bag-a-holic swap partner Cynthia from New York (Jo Sharp in Pistachio, and one ball of my precious Silk Garden for interest) - will be lining it this week, and so will post pics when it's done!

- ooooooh.......

- delicious Noro Silk Garden, in the queue to be a Lady Eleanor (now that I'm a fancy-pants entrelac-er!)

Phew, I'm exhausted......
I need/want a new camera, these pics look a bit washed out....

I'm off for a lie-down...

xxxx

what the?????

2007-11-24T11:53:00.000+09:00

Yes, I have a camera cable + lappytop + photos to show.
No, I don't know why I couldn't post them this morning when I tried to update....
Will try later...
xxx

Camera-cable a-go-go!!!

2007-11-20T12:16:00.000+09:00

WOOHOO!!!! I have a brand-spanking new camera cable, and have loaded some artistically-shot knitting-related pics onto my laptop (ooooh, stash - recently acquired - and some recent knitting - oh, and a few extra-cute pics of the pooch and pusscats, of course!) ... but alas, my internet connection is wonky-la-la.... should be sorted by the time I get home today....

Can you wait that long, dear Reader...???

xxxxx

ahhhh, a cool day....

2007-11-18T09:14:00.000+09:00

Hello to my dedicated Reader!! I have returned, and dare I say it, there will be knitting content in this post! I have taken a bazillion photos this weekend - of stash and WIP's, but alas, still no camera cable, so expect a pic-heavy post as soon as I buy a new one (Turned the house upside-down, no luck).

My bag for my Bag-a-holic exchange is nearly done - felted and embellished yesterday, now onto the drying and lining and filling with goodies (my partner is in New York, so I'm going to go Australian-goodies!)! I'm always amazed at how a big, baggy blob of knitting can magically become a fancy-pants handbag after a go in the washing machine...gets me every time! I think that maybe the nervous pacing in the laundry must help.....

Jules' socks are nearly done, too - halfway through the foot on the second one. She saw the finished one yesterday at lunch, and tried it on - much to my happiness, she loves it! Went out for lunch with the girls yesterday - Princess Fiona comes down every month and we go for a good laugh at one of our favourite places by the beach in Rockingham. Fee is a mad crafter, she makes the most brilliant hats and toys:

Hat for Melbourne Cup Day - of course she won the BEST HAT prize!!! (this year at Rottnest, we decided that we'd have a dress-up day, and Fee went as an aquarium - I've never laughed so much - or been dazzled by such cleverness with a needle and a sewing machine - her imagination is awesome, and I love that she's able to make it concrete!)

Sewn toys for the assorted nieces and nephews (Fiona is multi-skilled, she sews, knits, crochets, makes stickers, looms - you name it, she'll do it!!!)

Started a Christmas present yesterday for my SIL - making a pair of house-sock-slippers, with some ghastly teal/sparkly yarn. I say ghastly, but it's actually knitting up quite nicely, it's very soft. I've lost the label, but I'm guessing it's acrylic, so it'll wear well. I'm knitting the soles with a double strand, after I saw a pattern in an Interweave Knits magazine, hopefully they'll be nice and springy.... Just basic sock-construction, top-down, bit of ribbing, then an eyelet pattern on the leg and on the top of the foot....we'll see! Was knitting on them at the doctor's yesterday, and a lovely little lady commented that it was nice to see someone knitting, especially with dpn's! Then a little old man wondered why I didn't just go and buy some socks, it'd be cheaper - so I told him it was because it's hard to find sparkly socks these days....

Speaking of Christmas presents, I have made an enormous decision. Every year, I go to great lengths to make/buy presents for my extended family that they will like (fingers crossed!). Last year, for example, I made the girlfriends/wives of my cousins all a summer-shawl, you know, handy to chuck on at a cool summer bbq. Before I made them, I asked them about the colours/styles that they would like. Presented them, and ........... nothing. They didn't even try their shawls on. One of them, we shall call her M, actually does love hers, and has worn it a lot since then (and she does always buy me a gift - it's always a tea-light holder or hand cream, but that's not the point - oh boy, I sound so very childish, I hope you know what I'm trying to say...) - do I sound churlish and petty?? I hope not, I was just so disappointed (money is a huge thing for them, they've got a lot, but in all the years that they have interacted with my family, they have never thought it necessary to return the favour and perhaps give a small gift...)....maybe I'm just needy.... Anyway, back to the point! This year, they're all getting a handknit cotton face washer, and a bar of soap from Nutrimetics, and then I haven't wasted my time and emotion, and I haven't turned up empty-handed (which is what I really want to do, but never could!). That does sound petty. Easter was the same - I knit and felted a tiny handbag for them all, and filled them with fancy little solid/cream eggs. Nothing. Oh, except for a completely melted chocolate in a cellophane bag from one of them (she had left them in the car, and they all melted. Dad and I joked all day that we'd gotten rabbit-poo in a bag for Easter). AND I WAS WORRIED THAT MY (token) GIFTS WOULD LOOK SKIMPY, SO I WENT AND SPENT $50 ON MORE CHOCOLATES THE DAY BEFORE!!!!!! Not again. Never again. Ever. I think I should maybe just worry about and focus on my immediate family, the ones I see more than on holidays and special occasions, the ones who obviously love me and value me.
Fullstop.

Easter chicky - light relief....

(disclaimer: I love my family. I love my cousins - they're all boys, so are inherently selfish and oblivious - but I'm struggling to love their partners. I'm tired of trying.... I sometimes feel as though I'm incredibly immature for a 39-year old woman....!)

What else, what else.... OH!! I've learned myself how to do entrelac (now I just need to work on grammar)!! It's been one of those things that I just assumed would be too hard for me, but the other night, I found a pattern (men's scarf) and the explanation was so clear that I was able to adapt it (making a bag for Mum, using Jo Sharp and Silk Garden, and will felt it) and before I knew it I'd done 3 tiers!!! I'm SO proud of myself (photos on camera, waiting to be transferred to the lappy-top...), it's working out beautifully!! I'm so inspired, that I'm going to make Lady Eleanor next! Got some Silk Garden....

Spent about twenty-ten hours on Ravelry last night, browsing the forums, adding to my queue, getting side-tracked reading everyone's blogs....I fear I'm becoming an internet whore....

Okay then, I've had a rant, and I feel a bit better.

Kisses
Me
xxx

hahahaha - surely you didn't think I'd post WITHOUT a picture of my sweetyheart-good-boy??? This is what I see when I wake up, he sleeps in my room.... he's all lovely and clean now, he had a bath with Jules' dogs yesterday (Samantha Joanna Banana and Dexter) - he's recently discovered the joys of digging and laying in a hole in the black sand....

Excuses, excuses....

2007-11-15T21:45:00.000+09:00

Hmmmm..... yes, I vaguely remember saying that I was going to take pics and actually blog properly.... last Friday......

Lucy's heard it before....

Connor's far too tired to care....

So here's a cute photo of me and my daddy-o, to distract you from the fact that there is still very little knitting content on this knitting blog....

xxxx

double woops...

2007-11-10T17:47:00.000+09:00

....yes, I know I said tht I'd post properly last night. I forgot. I also went to bed early... And yes, I said I'd take pics - so artfully arranged yarn and things on my dining table this morning, and - ta-daaaa - flat batteries....no camera cable....bad blogger...

So, I leave you with:

a massive wheel (from memory I think it may have weighed just over 1 kilogram...) of stinky blue cheese that we transported to Rottnest one year (we go every winter, for a week of guffawing and thunderstorms and wine).... "That's a lot of cheese!!" I hear you say - it had to last us for SEVEN days, and there WAS quite a few of us.... hey, why am I trying to justify cheese consumption?? We enjoyed it a LOT - in soup, on crackers, in wedges the size of small rodents (get it? cheese? rodents???), on fingers, with wine, with breakfast cereal....I think we even experimented with strange and exotic cheese sushi rolls towards the end of the week, in a "waste not want not" binge....

...this may have been taken just minutes after the first....

- and a nostalgic shot - My Dad and me, just days after I was born. Dad had come home from Vietnam just days before (he was drafted to go and fight, but was allowed home three months early on compassionate grounds, so that he could be there for my birth). This pic makes me teary every time I look at it, he was so young, and I wonder what must have been going through his mind at the time....

Alrighty then, enjoy your weekend, knit lots! Tomorrow I'm off to Jules' parents' 50th wedding anniversary - I'm going to be a serving wench - what a happy day!!!!

See you soon,
Me
xxxx

woops...

2007-11-09T07:10:00.000+09:00

Good morning all....how did it get to be Friday???

Have had a busy, busy week, punctuated by blinding headache that has come and gone (mostly come) for over a week now - went to the docs, who suggested I get my eyes checked and go to the chiro....

On the knitting front - nearly finished the bag I'm making as part of a bag swap - Bag-a-holics yahoo group - I'll take pics this afternoon, when the light is nice. Jules' sock is still going, just a bit slower than I had planned! And.... I also got a yarn delivery, so will post pics of that also!!!

Took Connor out for dinner with my friend Helen last night for the first time, and he was such a good boy, perched on his new blanky, killing a pig's ear while we tried not to watch.....

And the BIG news - I GOT A MAN TO TIDY UP MY FRONT YARD!!!!! It looks dead, but I can now walk up my path without being whipped into oblivion by the plumbago (apparently plumbago is a noxious weed in some places - I think it's pretty), and the lawn/weeds are quite short.... more later, I gave him a wishlist...

Okay, must dash, but I'll post properly tonight,
Have a super-marvy one,
Lisa
xx

Ahaaaa!!!

2007-11-04T20:55:00.000+09:00

Just a quick one, before I go to bed (I'm pretending to myself that I'm tired so that I don't have to do any of the school work that I brought home with me) - I managed to get some pics of some finished things:

the first felted bag I ever made, and a matching wrap, both for my sister-in-law (100% wool from China - eBay rocks - beautiful jewel colours) -there are tiny jade beads sewn onto the bag, along the jade-coloured stripes... lined and everything.... wrap was just a yo, k2tog row, then a knit row, till I ran out of yarn....blocked out nicely!

woops, how'd a pic of my pusscats get there....??? They love each other, despite the forced togetherness in the photo....

Have a great Monday,
xxxxx

Lovely lovely Sunday

2007-11-04T12:05:00.000+09:00

Goodness me, two posts in two days?? Excellent work, Lisa....

Connor and I went for a lovely walk early this morning, along the beachfront at Rockingham - we made some new doggy friends and then went for a stroll around the Sunday Rotary markets (nope, didn't buy anything!). From there we went to Mum and Dad's for a quick cuppee tea, and Nick (their remaining dog, they lost Buster the Jack Russell to age and cancer earlier this week, very sad) met Connor for the first time. Nick is a rescue dog - we think that he was treated badly, and so he doesn't cope too well with many situations - but I'm very pleased to say that I think that he liked my boy!! Much wagging of tails and licking of boy-bits, so we'll see.....! I'd love to be able to bring Connor with me to our Thursday night family dinners!

This is what I see when I wake up in the morning....awwwww!

On the knitting front, I cast on for the second of Jules' socks last night, and did the ribbing. I hope to finish it today, tomorrow at a push. They are basic Cascade Fixation ankle socks -white, with black/white heel/mid-foot section and toes. I think I've cast on and knit the ribbing too loosely though, they seem to be VERY stretchy (I tried one on, and while they fit nicely, the ankle ribbing seems to have stretched, and hasn't 'sprung' back in...) - or is that just how this yarn knits?? It's a bit difficult to knit with such stretch!!! I think they'll be fine after a wash. Like how I talk myself into "everything is fine"?

I need to do about 75 thousand loads of washing, sweep, make a new dog out of the dog hair under my sofa, vacuum, wash dishes, strip my bed, write a test for my Year 9's, read the paper, make chocolate muffins for Homework Class, have a nanna-nap, sit on the lounge with Connor's head in my lap, surf the net just in case someone leaves a comment on my blog, browse Ravelry for a few hours, ring Jules and talk nonsense for an hour (not that that's a chore, we do it often!!), and THEN I'm going to cast on a pair of socks for ME!!! And they are going to be fancy-pants socks......with eyelets..... and frilly bits.... and they just might even be PINK!!!!

Oh, and I might have another look for my camera cable....

Kisses
Me
xxxx

DOES THIS MAKE ME TECHNOLGICALLY ADEPT???

2007-11-03T13:49:00.000+09:00

Oh. My. Goodness.

I HAVE A BLOG!!!!!!!!

Ahem......Sorry about that, but I'm quite impressed with myself - I've been reading knitting blogs for ages, and often wondered whether I would ever deign to join the ranks of the wordy-on-the-web, and I finally took the plunge! Now I just have to regularly update....!

Okay then, what to expect on this baby-blog:

- (hopefully) lots of knitting content
- (hopefully) lots of photos of knitting/yarns
- (probably) lots of bragging and mushiness about my lovely lovely greyhound boy, Connor, and my exceptionally beautiful pusscats, Bella and Lucy
- (hopefully not) lots of whining, whingeing and complaining about work (and the fact that I have to go there....!)
- sad, un-funny jokes (in the style of - A parrot was sitting on a perch and said, "Can anyone else smell fish?" - get it??!!!!)
- the occasional rant, I I like to rant...
- lots of exclamation marks!!!! (I'm quite fond of them!!!!)

Here's the historical first photo posting:

Connor is my very special boy - I adopted him from www.greyhoundangels.com nearly a year ago now, after he had been left at the vets by his owner/trainer (? we're not sure who) to be euthanased (he had injured himself, healed over a few months and then decided that he'd rather sleep on a couch than chase a fluffy thing). Melita, the angel who runs this group was only given a few days to find him a family, and I was the lucky one who got to welcome Connor (he had no name that we know of) into my home. Please visit the site and have a look at the beautiful dogs that need someone to love....

Right, onto the knitting content....

My Grandma taught me how to knit when I was little - every now and then I would sleep-over when Grandad went to the masons (oooh, mysterious!). He would get us our 'comforts' (Scottish-speak for chocolate and lollies) before he went, and we would then spend the night knitting, sewing, playing gin rummy and staying up late to watch the late movie. Sometimes she'd let me have a lovely Blackberry Nip with lemonade, in one of her very special wine glasses, and I'd feel all grown-up and special. I would get to sleep in the big waterbed with Grandma, and Grandad was banished to the spare room when he came home! Grandma was a prolific and talented knitter - she used to knit Aran jumpers, all cabled and bobbled and plaited, whilst watching her daily 'stories' - we don't remember ever seeing her use a pattern.....

I didn't knit for a very long time, and took it up again last year when I had an extended time off work on sick leave (more on that another time maybe) and needed a reason to get up everyday. I started by knitting ridiculously silly and simple beanies and scarves for my friends to wear on our annual trip to Rottnest in the winter, and I haven't stopped!! Knitting has become my sanity-saver - to the extent that if I don't have my knitting with me, even at work, I get more than a little antsy!!!

I spend a LOT of time on the internet reading knitting blogs, downloading patterns, buying fancy-pants yarns on-line, and (sometimes) wishing that I lived in the UK or USA, simply because of the beautiful wools available, and because no-one seems to mind if you knit during a meeting (I tried to the other day in a staff meeting, but got the-look-of-the-smacked-bottom from many of my colleagues.... even though every bastard around me was Sudoko-ing..... flippin' double-standards....!) - and I recently got my Ravelry invite (I'm Lushorama there as well), so am slowly adding to my page every day...

Knitting photos:

heheehehee - I need to learn how to add pics better....this hedgehog was knitted for my Aunty Babsie (the one and only!) - I don't think anyone noticed that I knit his back on sideways, or that I may have over-stuffed him....!!!!

Okay then, I think that's it for me for today, I'm going to collect my thoughts, take some pics, and DO SOME KNITTING!!!!!

Thanks for joining me, speak to (at?) you soon!!

Kisses,
Lisa
xxxxx