It's different being me

Do you ever have those days that are slightly surreal, not enough to be worth writing about or mentioning (unless you're me then it's a highlight of my week) but just really.....not normal. You can't put your finger on it but life is off kilter.

Being brave I fought through the oddness and to celebrate, or whatever, I went to the thrift store where they've done a major tidy up and all sorts of things have appeared. I could only stagger up the hill with a bag load so I had to resist buying the childs easel. Honestly I have got to get knocked up soon cos I have started buying second hand baby cardigans. Just for the buttons (SHE SAYS) but I took the buttons off one over two weeks ago and it's still here!

The ladies outdo themselves with their low prices sometimes. For $5 I got what I expected to cost me $15. The standout treasures included these:

A mint condition book of Noahs Ark knitting patterns. You can knit Noah and....Mrs Noah? (thats what the book calls her anyway) and the animals. I'll probably sell it because I can't knit and with carpal tunnel I won't be learning anytime soon (in reality my carpal tunnel gives me a chance to bitch and moan but I very rarely admit that its too sore to craft. Do the dishes hell yes, but craft no. I'm just sick of getting my tension so tight the needles wont move!) but I'd also possibly give it away in return for a knitted elephant. Hint, hint.


This was the score of all scores. Apparently it's from 1940 when they were asking people to knit for the boys.



Steady yourselves ladies, I know Errol Flynn here is hot. It's all in the smirk and the girlish cheekbones.



This is going right beside the 1950's Alice in Wonderland in the inheritance pile for my future kids. Everything I got was spiffy and new as a kid and I never learned the value of things. I hope that by sharing these treasures I'll be able to pass on a different message to my future kids.

bookworm

I'm a bookworm from waaaayy back and today was the release of Harry Potter at 11.01am. We all shuffled forward to get our copy (yes, I was waiting in the queue and no I wasn't in costume or waiting overnight. I swear. I just rocked up 1 minute early to a store that I was fairly sure would have plenty.) then zoomed through the checkout and home to read. I'm up to page 34 but I guess age is hitting me cos as the books and the plots have grown so has my need to take constant mental breaks from all the concentration.

So to concentrate on something else...I mostly finished my WIP although the edges of the card it is on need tidying, the cork didn't come out that great and I think it's lacking something (talent hehehe). The clumsy oaf in me competes often with the perfectionist in me. I don't know how she got in there, I can only assume I ate her cos perfectionism is certainly not a natural thing for me.

I'm antsy to get back to the book (after 6 books you kinda just want to just finish the damn 7th one and move the f*** on, ya know?) so heres a quick peek at my score of the day. The local rotary club had a huuugeeee book sale today. Way overpriced but I staggered out with plenty all the same. But anyway it was an awesome score. Brand new copies of amazing modern books but my best buy was this vintage copy of Alice in Wonderland from the 50's. Most of the books I buy are to sell, as a way of earning income. But theres just some things that I see and instantly know I want to keep for my future kids.

On the bias

Regular bias binding is so depressingly normal so I bought myself a bias tape maker and put it in a drawer for a month. As you do. Well, as I do anyway. In this crazy fit of doing stuff tonight I decided to cut something in my fabric stash and finally make bias binding. Thats pretty rash of me, considering my stash is only the size of many peoples scrap pile.

The vintage linen I used on the cushion was given to me by my grandma along with (and those two words 'along with' give me great excitement because my grandma normally would refuse to give me a cold if she could at all help it. Lovely woman, slight psychotic streak though.)...along with this strange trippy peacock fabric which are two of my stash favourites. I used most of the linen on the cushion and draft snake so I decided to sacrifice some of the trippy peacock stuff to make the binding. It was a little boring to be honest, ironing 2.4 metres of it but it looks so damn cool! Now I have to find something to use it on. Or just put it in one of my ribbon jars and look at it through the glass muttering how pretty it is and how it would be a shame to use it.

W.I.P. = a chance to shop

I have long wanted to have a WIP worth showing on my blog. In lieu of that this will have to do. It's on cork, it involves my first public attempt at embroidery (a bit of a stretch to call it that really but I can so I shall) and it's all a little bit...yeah. But for what it is (small and sort of rough in places) it's cute as!



I used one of those needle threaders to thread the embroidery cotton (6 strands takes lot of tugging btw) and promptly broke it, then the next. I never thought I would use them, let alone use to them breaking point. Suddenly it's 30 minutes until the only local shop with haby stuff closes and I have to decide....wait until tomorow to get more or walk down NOW. Wait, walk, wait, walk....I walked down to the shops for the second time today. When did I get so....unlazy? Turned out needle threaders are piss cheap so I had a bunch of change left over to spend. I accidentally purchased these cuties:

Groundhog day

Today seems to be kinda like yesterday was...only worse. Some guy was coming at 10am to value the property so I had gotten in a tizzy thinking maybe the owners are selling, we'd have to move, etc. First he was late, and I do not like having to get up that early to clean only to have someone be late! I even put clothes on!!! Last time I go to that much trouble, I swear. Pfffft. Anyway turns out the owners sold the house...in April!

I also had round two with the shrinky dink. Here is attempt 1,2 & 3 for the day. Attempt#1: No really, I was going for the bowl look. It was a circle shape, and it hardened SO fast that I couldn't flatten it. When they say 'fast' they mean 'OMG not even half out of the oven and it's set'. Attempt #2 was a halfcircle that I actually flattened still in the oven (whacked it down with a cookie tray for lack of something else lying nearby) and #3 I did the same. Only problem is the gold ink which is fast drying is...not. The words are smudged and my fingertips look sparkly.



And in the process I knocked over a huge stack of CD's I was sorting and a disc of photos of a soldier friend that he took in Iraq is now either magically missing or under the fridge with the cat fur and mice. And Dave is sick as a dog but has insisted on going to work. The slightest cough and I'm in bed with lemon drinks and a good book. He's perfectly happy to go work himself to death while I worry.

Plus the other cat found the laundry basket so we're just gonna give it to them and buy a new one. A prickly wicker one.

Challenges

Last time I left a basket of unfolded laundry lying around in the living room that was the room Ginga chose to kill and eat a bird in. Well, thats the room the myriad of feathers was scattered in when we came in after a day at work. We never did find a bird but 1. feathers assumes they were once attached to a bird and 2. one of the cats didn't want dinner cos he was full.

I learned my lesson. No laundry is ever left unfolded anymore. Yes, that does mean it usually just hangs on the line for a week rather than folding it but thats not the issue here. I folded MOST of this basket before my wrists became too much. I apparently left just enough to pad the hard bottom for a cat to lie on.



Since laundry was out of the question (darn) I was forced (oh the humanity) to do craft stuff. I finally got to try my shrinky dink. Oh boy. I will only show you one attempt (utter failure) to spare you some of the laughter and sniggering but rest assured this is the best utter failure of the lot. It cupped in the middle and set before I could flatten it out. I think I left it in just a bit too long. Oh well, thats ok cos I get to fiddle around trying again and god I love to fiddle with stuff.

And it's not even my birthday

I got a present in the mail today and I'm so happy! The wonderful Eva sent it to me. The embroidery is exquisite and I am so lucky!

Thank you so much Eva!


Her embroidery is such an inspiration that one of these days I just might pull out my mothers hoops and threads and actually start to learn myself. But then I said that about knitting and crochet....I really do need to learn at least ONE of them.

At last!

It's finally finished! The cushion is f i n a l l y done. It took me so damn long I thought I was gonna give up. And then there was the horrible realisation that there was nothing in my stash that would go with the floral linen. I managed to buy this pink stuff to go with it and I think it works. I hope.


The back is an envelope opening and as long as it isn't moved in any way you can't see the seams on the underflap. This photo is terrible, it makes it look like the first attempt it is but it looks much better in real life. But I made it so I would say that.


This is my washing steaming in the winter sun. Neither here nor there but it can be quite alarming to look out the door at the laundry and see it steaming like it's about to catch on fire!

I'm ready for summer now thanks

Yep, it's been swell but I'd like summer now please. Please? Just a wee preview? Even the cats are huddling for warmth. Well, yes Ginga does have his nose in Rastus's ass end but I tell myself that it's for warmth.



I am participating in my first online swap here and I am so excited. Irrationally so really when you consider how simple the swap is but it gets very exciting these days receiving any mail that isn't the winter power bill (due next week and I'm bracing myself) or my Avon catalogue. Yes, it's a small life I lead. This is what I sent:

It pays to warn people

I really think it's only fair to warn people what they're in for. You may have to enlarge the pic, red is apparently not a good colour to photograph.



The weather is arctic outside and the woind is making me feel like Dorothy spinning away from Kansas so I stayed in and baked. Like I need a reason. I finally got the Hokey Pokey biscuits (cookies) right! Thin and crunchy mmmmmm. The enormousnous of them is just a bonus. The huge one down the bottom is 5 inches at it's widest! Needless to say there was some fast slicing to seperate them before they hardened into one giant supercookie...(why I decided against that I'll never know)