Yarnivorous

G'day all! Yesterday I discovered that the long awaited Denyse Schmidt fabric, Picnics and Fairgrounds, had hit our local Spotlight stores. Spotlight is our version of Joann's. We don't have the full range of prints that the USA has, but we do have something a little different. Our own set of 10 colourways. That makes 31 colourways all up, though we only get something like 26 of them, if we can track them down! Now I know that some peeps will be desperate to get their hands on this fabric. They will want to be, because a set of 10 FQs will cost around USD60, including postage, or 40 pounds sterling. But if you want some, I can get you it, or cut up what I have cos really, it isn't so much me. Just let me know. And of course if you are in Oz and can't get to a Spotlight, I'll be happy to help you out. Plus postage won't be such a killer. I have to admit that I've been more impressed with Spotlight recently. They changed fabric suppliers. Their qu...

Twenty years ago today, Mum died. It was not unexpected. Indeed it was welcome, an end to suffering. There comes a time in the cancer journey where one has to let go. Twenty years. Sydney turned on a blinder of a day. Not. A river ran past our flat. Centrepoint Tower occasionally loomed through the rain. I rather regret that I never got to really know my Mum. Even though I was 24, I was still the baby. (I still am.) I was not strong, I had to be coddled, I had to be sheltered from life's harsh lessons. Well Mum dying sure made me grow up in a hurry. I remember when I realised it was inevitable, that only a miracle could prevent it. I raged, I cried in desperation and loss and grief well before she was dead, I was despondent, and finally I came to accept. There is only so much pain and disability you can deal with, and seeing this strong, brave woman barely able to do life's necessities let alone enjoy life was enough for me. It left me with noone to kick my butt when...

G'day all! Doh! Had a busy weekend and STILL have not edited photos from last week's costume party. I always seem to be busy. Poor time management I reckon. I go do things and then feel like a sit down. So I sit in front of the computer and stuff around. Though today I've spun a heap of yarn. I brought my wheel up from Melbourne. But I forgot the spare bobbins! DOH! I also left the other sewing machine in Melbourne, plus its transformer. Y'know the sort of stuff that you can't really put in a suitcase and bring on up in a plane. But I did bring plenty of fabric 8-) I just have to get the Janome serviced as the bobbin tension seems to have disappeared and it makes an odd squeaking noise sometimes. Little Helmet ran like a champion on the trip. He was much nicer to drive than the rental car, even though it had all the mod cons, because he doesn't pull viciously to the left. He did slow down on some of the big hills but that is ok cos the drive is now p...

Gday all! I have new glasses. They are blue. They are a little old fashioned, or as I like to say, retro. It isn't the most flattering pic but will do for one taken by my phone under a fluorescent light :) Tomorrow I drive the next 560 km to Sydney. I left a little late today but for once it was not a case of "just one more thing."  Nope this time was me checking the tyres and noticing one of the nasty cheap things put on by a previous mechanic seemed to have a ripple in the side wall. Convenient that not 20m away was a tyre place, eh? And they were not busy and came and looked immediately. Sidewall was delaminating, or in more simple terms, the layers were coming apart. (He used little words.) I am so glad that A) I checked the tyres, and B) We have the spare cash to cough up $160 for two new tyres on the spot Otherwise I might have had a blowout on the way. I'm also glad that they were not terribly busy and had a suitable size tyre or two in stock for my...

Gday all! Blogger is being very naughty and may not be letting you comment at the moment. Also after an outage 10 days ago, it may have eaten posts and/or comments (but this should be fixed now).  Blogger peeps know there is an issue and may have already fixed the internal error you  might get when you try to comment.  Sorry if you have been trying to comment and it won't let you.  You can always email me at natiel311 at gmail dot com. I'll be back in Sydney on Friday and will blog a bit more then about more interesting stuff :) I might even blog along the way if anything interesting happens or I see some good stuff and get phone pictures. If you are extra lucky, I might ramble a little from work in the morning, but maybe not. Today's picture is of Johnston's creek/canal in Glebe, run through the comic filer on my phone. The canal looks beautiful at high tide, yes? Anon!

G'day all from occasionally sunny but often soggy Melbourne! I'm down here for my next checkup and doing a bit of work too. Checkup was fine, come back in three months :-) So that is good news, rather happy with that. I'm not online much at the mo as I left my laptop behind and left the work laptop at work, silly me. I forgot to charge my phone so I am making this a short one.  Enjoy the random picture of Nutmeg. Anon!

Morning all! I just went down to the shared laundry to do a load of washing. Well there was a BAD smell there. Like baby nappies after they start eating solids only worse. (Please don't tell me that baby nappies smell glorious cos honestly, they don't.) I put the washing on then stuck my head out the laundry door. OMG. The sewer has overflowed. Gross me out . So I came back to our flat and rang the strata title people. (Three goes at not typing poople. sigh) They have to deal with all of the shared issues of the property (body corporate or HOA type thing). They said they will get someone out on MONDAY (it is Friday here) to look at it. I'm like no, there's poo and toilet paper on the ground, and they are saying oh it's only a leak and the person in charge of it is moving offices today. Monday will do! MONDAY WILL NOT DO! So DH rang the rental agency, who are going to hassle the strata title people. When I went back to the laundry to leave a sign on the door...

G'day all! I just realised it is days and days, probably a week since I posted anything! My bad! I was going to post from the phone on Friday arvo but umm apparently Blogger had an unscheduled outage and I could write all I liked but posting would be difficult. And of course then I forgot. So we spent the weekend in Melbourne. DH had a medical appt and we have heaps to do on the house. BiL and his betrothed are living there, looking after the cats and generally enjoying the extra space and not living with the parents/in sins. (FiL admiring his birthday cake, made by sister in sin and BiL) We left the place In March with a crap kitchen floor, bare wood in the loo and plastered but unpainted walls in the kitchen. When we left, it had primed walls in the kitchen, tile underlay in the kitchen, masonite in half the loo and a couple of rolls of vinyl to lay on the floor. It took a surprising amount of time just to get that done (partly because apparently my guidance was needed but ...

G'day all! A totally perfect day in Sydney today for the Mother's Day Classic. A little chilly in the morning but sun sun sun. Bliss! We walked a little over 4km to the start line. (I have a new haircut and have recoloured my hair pink-ish) We walked 4km around the course. Argh, how more iconic can you get, unless you are in front of Uluru instead. My home city, Melbourne, so needs an icon. I guess we have our trams but other places (yes, you, Adelaide!) are starting to muscle in on them. Finishers are grinners! We walked a little over 4km home! Over 12km all up or a bit under 8 miles. I prefer kilometres myself - they sound a lot more impressive. Do you like Nathan's dax? (pants) He made them himself! Plus he made my sleeves. It isn't too late to sponsor me ! Thanks to those who have sponsored me - I really appreciate it even if I can't email you directly. I admit to having a rather slack afternoon looking at pics, editing them, not getting them all online ...

G'day all! Bliss! 1.5 sunny days and my solar batteries are all charged up again. Hooray! Last night I discovered that I still can't sleep if the TV is on*. Even if it is upstair's TV that is still on at 3am in the morning (and has been on since about 11pm - they keep odd hours). That is when I found a spare pair of DH's earplugs and BLISS! Interestingly, I can only find one of the earplugs now. I have NO idea where the other one went. I checked under the bed, under the pillow, by the bed, in the bedside drawers, under the tissue box... (*When I was a child I was convinced that the best shows were on after my bedtime. Mum would often find me peeking through the folding doors into the loungeroom where she was watching all of these best shows - Graeme Kennedy's "In Melbourne Tonight," "Mission Impossible," "Star Trek," (no original series needed as there was only one then), "The Avengers," all sorts of good shows, all we...

G'day all! I've been walking a lot recently. I walked more than 7km on Saturday and Sunday and about 5km yesterday, and only 3.4km today. Today was a work day. Oh, but we will go for a walk soon and it will be about 2.5km or maybe more. I have decided I am in training for the Mother's Day Classic. I think Australia follows the US date for Mother's Day (second Sunday in May) (yes?). The MDC is a fundraiser for breast cancer research. As you very probably know, breast cancer is a subject very close to my heart (ok, it was the right boob but that is still pretty close). Plus my MiL was treated 10 years ago and my aunt died of breast cancer 20.5 years ago. Treatment for BC, or most cancers for that matter, tends to be a crap shoot - they blast the thing with whatever shotgun treatments they have (chemo, radiotherapy) and hope for the best. There are specific treatments for hormone responsive BC but they follow or are concurrent with the shotgun approach. Some chem...

G'day all! How time does fly. Six years ago today, a poor old bloke started his last mayday. He didn't see it out. I miss the person he had been but I don't miss the poor old codger who died - my father had long moved on. Today Nathan made me a lightweight lymphedema sleeve, rather handily too as my proper one didn't dry after I washed it last night. He finished a pair of running shorts. I did a little shopping, we went for a rather long walk (OK, it only turned out to be 5.8km or 3.6 miles) and generally managed to pass the time of day without doing a whole lot. Soon I will have a new quilt to show off. I took pics this morning but they are very blue and a bit hard to adjust the colour of. I have nearly finished Nathan's new orange cap - I am on the cast off. Then I can start mine cos some days, well nights, it gets a little chilly here. Did I gloat about my new little bag? It is a little ripper, seen here with the yarn for Nathan's hat and four Sally W...