Pterodactyl Poo

This was on my car when I came out of Jenna's ballet exam this morning.
Hamish and I examined it closely.

Given we were not parked under a tree, I decided it must have been a very large bird to fly and launch it because there is a large amount of matter in this baby.  (pictured with a AA battery for size comparison....)

The only thing we could come up with is, it had to have been a Pterodactyl.  Granted they haven't been sighted in a few million years, but what other flying creature could have done this.  It wasn't a sparrow, we don't live anywhere near the coast, ducks aren't flying around at the mo, and it wasn't in the country.

Hamish likes the idea of it being a pterodactyl too.....

Reading

I've always been a massive reader.  It started in childhood with books about Ramona, magical trees, fairies and witches, princesses, detectives called Nancy and many, many more.
There have been classics I haven't read - like Tolkien, just cause I never really got into them.  I didn't love CS Lewis either, but I made up for it through my early teens reading Fiona Kidman, Tessa Duder, Janet Frame, Maurice Gee, Alex Haley and even attempting Tolstoy when I was about 14.....

So give me a book and I will read it.  I'm not fussy about genre.  I do romance to horror, mystery to fantasy, tear jerkers to war stories, but generally prefer fiction (or escapism as I like to call it....)

Recently a family friend had a pile of books to give away from her neighbour who was moving. Beauty I thought, and I went through the pile able to take what I wanted!  There were loads of books in my reading list, and I took a chance on a couple.


The Russian Concubine by Kate Furnivall was a pleasant surprise, and I plan to hunt out more of her books next time I am at the library.  There is a sequel, called the Concubine's Secret, and I think that will be top of the holiday reading.

I also adore Jeffrey Archer, but I find the books follow a similar recipe, so the three I got will have to be spaced out over the next few months otherwise they are just too predictable.  The latest I read was Son's of Fortune, a good bit of escapism, but very, very predictable.

There was Four fires by Bryce Courtenay, who I have struggled with since April Fools Day depressed me terribly.  Although he does have a few brownie points from The Power of One, so I'll give him another crack.

Several years ago a friend put me onto the Jean M Auel books, and I read the first 3.  I was told mistakenly that the author had died, so I put the end to reading the series cos thats just frustrating... (Think Stephen King and the Dark Tower series - give me a break, over 20 years before the first and last books????)

But surprisingly this stash had the first 5 books of the series!  I snapped them up, and I am looking forward to the days when I can sit down and read them all, one after the other (And I have just read there is another one being released in 2011).

I do like a good series.  I loved the twilight books, trashy as they were.  I can re-read books a number of times, and the second time I read the whole series, it was within 48hrs.  I'm not sure how many pages that is, but its alot.......  I didn't sleep much that weekend!

So here is my stash of books.

Many are packed away, and some are in other homes.  My childhood books (until I went to uni) are all still with my parents, and one day all the grandkids will hopefully get as much pleasure from them as I did.  The books are double in each of the shelves, and even then they don't fit in, and many of these travelled around NZ, over to Oz, from Brisbane to Melbourne to Geelong, and back over to NZ again.  I have trouble getting rid of them...... There are probably only one or two I haven't read (not for lack of trying) and most I have read more than once.

I just love books.  Reading is good for the soul, and I hope I pass on my love of books to my kids.  So far it seems to be working as both are often found asleep in their beds with books around them.

No new crafty stuff....

Nope.  Nothing.  Shane went back into hospital again this week, and so the week went a bit topsy turvy.  I suspect life is going to be like that alot over the next year or so.
He has found out that he is profoundly deaf in his RH side at higher frequencies, and moderately deaf at the lower frequencies.  This is OK.  Its not ideal, but its OK.
The interesting thing is the ear works fine, but the nerves seem to be damaged from the surgery removing the tumour.  It might work again one day, but likely not.

I have a birthday party this morning with Miss 5.  Fun times.  Such lovely kids and parents, but I just don't love parties.  And everyone will ask how he is.  And I'll have to explain things 10 times over.


Sigh - at least this baby inside seems to be doing all the right things - especially growing.  Hard to believe I still have 9 or so weeks to go!

A bit of a redesign.

Lets see how long it lasts.
I like red, but I'm not sure its calming.

Lots of sewing this afternoon, I was getting somewhere quickly until the bobbin ran out in a particularly tricky seam, and I flagged it all.
Hoping to get my giveaway photographed tomorrow so that I can start collecting names.

Pretty easy to give something away when only a couple of people read the blog - hahahaha!

I'm also working on a fabulous swap that I am really enjoyingto be sent to the lovely Hannah (Rainbowchild) in about 3 weeks time.  Only 6 items to finish!

Its the little things...

So with the huge upheaval that happened in our life over the last couple of weeks, and being faced with the uncertainty that comes after these events, I'm finding time to enjoy the little things.

Today these are the things I am thankful for:


1) Having kickass taste in sewing equipment. 
This is my stunning sewing machine. 

Its a special edition Bernina I bought around 2002, and it was terribly expensive for someone who wasn't sewing at the time.

I've been brought up around sewing - my mother owns a very large patchwork and quilting shop, and we have lived around fabric crafts for our whole lives (cross-stitch, knitting, sewing, etc etc etc)
So when I decided to buy, I bought the best.  It was $2200AUD 8y ago, and came with extras like a free walking foot (val. $125), a stainless, full sized arm, knee lift, programmable stitches, a two way pedal so that you use your heel and the needle goes up or down.  All of these things are no longer available on the comparable model.
Its an amazing piece of equipment, and has only missed a beat once - when I hit a pin and whacked out the timing.  I expect it will last me another 20y at least.

2) Shane being able to sleep wherever, whenever!

This is my DP 3 weeks after finding out he had a large brain tumour that has since been removed and diagnosed as Grade I benign.  It will be a long road to recovery, and he sleeps more than a newborn baby!  I have had to give up work to look after the household, and I'm very thankful for his naps because it means he will get better.  Slowly.  With infinite patience from me and the kids.

3) My vege garden coming up to summer.

These are all seeds I planted in the last 2-4 weeks.  We have beans, corn, beetroot, radish, peas, spinach, cabbage etc.  We have 3 other vege patches too, and the 20kg of seed potatoes we planted in the community garden, so our vege garden is pretty important to us.  I tend it like its a child, weeding, watering and de-bugging in an organic manner.

So - what are you thankful for?

Pressies

So I have many nieces and no nephews!
In fact, H is the only Grandson on both sides of the family (excluding the ex-communicated ones......)

Nieces are fun to make gifts for.  They like dresses that I can knit, and shawls, and I can sew them things too.  All good outlets for my creative flair.

S is 11 (I think???) this weekend, so I decided to try out a new design for her gift, a lined bag and a lined zippered purse in some super pretty colours.

I think these will make excellent project bags for knitters (with the matching purse for all your odds and sods) and I am planning on making them to sell when life gets a little more gentle (and I have done all the pricing).

One of these sets will be in my giveaway bonanza next week.

The resurrection......

So I'm back.

And this time I promise to be good.
Unexpectedly I have become a SAHM again about 2 months earlier than I planned.  Shane recently faced some horrific health issues we have had to battle through, and as a consequence, I have given up work early, with my maternity leave actually due to start in January 2011.

Over the next few months I plan to blog far more frequently, and I will be offering a few goodies on the side.  I plan on keeping myself busy next year by offering both custom knits, and one-off specials with an extra special dye job!  Also plan on selling some other bits and pieces to keep my craft budget funded.

Come along for the ride!  Expect a few things over the next week:

• Maybe a redesign and rename (not sure here)
• A giveaway (still working out exactly what to give away.....)
• A sneak peak of whats to come
• More news about family and our lifestyle
• And perhaps more......

Thanks for popping back!  Lets see if I can get this blog back up and running with a nice clean start.