Xmas List pt 3

Mum's tablerunner and placemats are nearly finished.  All I have to do is sew the binding down on the back and they are done.

My sister is getting a bed runner - it is assorted pink/purple japanese prints on a navy background.  Actually a pattern I bought from Anne Gadsby,  I will buttonhole stitch all around the heart shapes with gold metallic thread by hand.  I hope she likes it.  I hope I have it finished for Xmas day. 

As they say in the classics.......... 

If it wasn't for the last minute, nothing would get done.

Kitchen Update

I now have a new pantry and over fridge cupboards.  No wall oven, and no over bench cupboards.  There is small space in the ceiling still, so we have to watch where we sit things (kettle, coffee machine) as the cats can get into the roof space thru this hole.  There's no light either, so when I stand at the bench I am in my own shadow .... making coffee is a bit hard in the dark .......

We have had to send ALL the cupboard doors back - every single one of them has marks and / or scratches in the front face of them .....  So it looks like it won't be until the end of Jan before the kitchen is complete - and that is assuming Hubby gets all the carcasses together..

Adventure kitty

Neo, the Adventure Kitty, went exploring the roof space again 2 days ago.  Hubby had removed the wall oven tower.  That left the wall studs and noggins free, so Neo went up the wall.  It didn't take him long to find a way up.  It took him forever to come down.  We put the tall ladder at the manhole, so all he had to do was step donw onto the top step and make his way down the ladder.  But no.  He just sat there poking his head over the manhole and crying out to be gotten down.  In the end I got sick of him miawing, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and dragged.  I thought for a moment I would end up with all his claws in my face.  Luckily, not.

Today he has decided to sit with me, head over my arm, whilst I type.  Very annoying.......

Xmas List pt2

Made neice's bag the other day.  I think it turned out quite nice - hope she likes it.  It is a largish satchel type in a black fabric with an all over white print and has dark purple trim around the bag flap and 3 suffolk puffs in the same fabric with pink buttons in the centers.  I may need to add some velcro to hold the flap down, but it is big enough, I think, to not need it.  The pattern did not say to put any on - so maybe I won't.

Mum's table runner and placemats are part way together.  They are all cut out and the applique has been fused on.  Now all I have to do is sew the appliques down and then quilt them.  I have used a white cotton damask for the bases and assorted blue fabrics for the applique.

All over

Well the calispastic year has finally come to a close.  Concert is done and dusted, programs printed and handed out, medals received (or not if you didn't pay your fees), costumes to be washed.

Now is time for Me, Me, Me!! 
So here's some pics of things I made during the year.  There's 3 Owl softies and a couple of dolls.

                    

Xmas List

This event is running at me full speed.......

We usually go to my sisters for xmas day lunch-come-dinner.  This year she is having her arteries lasered and is not suppoed to work for 2 weeks after the operation.  So I volunteered our place to our Mum.  Got the usual excuses - her kids like to be home and see their Dad (sister is divorced) and their other Grandma comes over....

I get a bit sick of hearing this every year.  So we will see if my sister takes me up on the offer.

Either way, I have decided to try and make some pressies this year.  Mum is going to get a table runner and some matching placemats; sister is going to get a bed runner (I think), my niece may get a bag with some money (got heaps of patterns to pick from) and the nephew - yeah, well, no idea.  12yo boys are hard to buy for.  Even more so when they are not your own.

So got some fabric for Mum's pressie, found the pattern I want to use; washed fabric today so it's ready to go.

As for my 3 children and hubby.......no idea for the kids.  Have an idea for the hubby (a wet gear bag for when we go 4wding).  He saw one ages ago and thought it was a good idea.  Luckily that idea got tucked away in the memory banks.  Luckier still that bank opened.  Actually I do have an idea for the kids.  1 has been overseas and the other 2 are planning to go in the future, so I think I will get them all passport holders.  Well that's a start anyway

Kitchen Update

2 Weeks ago we found out that the company that we had engaged to make the flat panels for the kitchen could not supply it anymore.  Any wonder we had not heard fom them after 6 weeks.  So this has meant that we have had to find another company that could make a similar thing.  Luckily hubby had kept that sort of info on his computer.

So we are back at square 2 with the kitchen renno.  Found a new company, got a quote, and have paid a deposit.  They have contacted us a few times with some questions about appliance sizes - so It looks like they are actually doing something.  Maybe I'll have a new kitchen for Christmas.

Hubby has done a bit more demolition and a bit of building.  I'll post the pics of where we are at soon.  The demolition has enabled Neo to become Adventure Kitty and sissy, as he calls her, to become Tahnee Fluffy Pants. (She always was that, but she too has gone adventuring into the roof space.)  They are a troublesome pair and will pull away the plastic we have taped over the wall space to get inside it.  We have had to put some boxes in front of the space too in an effort to stop them getting in there.  Not that they can do any harm whilst in the roof, it's just a pain getting them to come back out again when they walk around up there miaowing. 

Neo, the Adventure Kitty

5:40am, Saturday....

I look around me to see who is looking.  Good, no one is around.  As I steathily jump up onto the now open wall space I hear a sound..  Oh no!  Dad has caught me.  I am most annoyed at him and I swish my tail to tell him so as he places me back on the floor.  "Blah, blah, blah", he says as he walks out the front door.  I hear the car go taking Dad off to work.

Right, check again for likely do gooders.  Nope, they are all alseep.  Back up into the wall space I go.  Squeeze myself past the green box, through the clear plastic and I'm in.  It's a bit of a tight squeeze up between the bricks and the wood work, but I've done it before.  Sissy doesn't want to come this morning. 

I'm past the bricks now.  A few webs, but no resident spiders.  Cave exploring (read roof space here, for you humans) is great.  Large space, lots of wood to climb on and sharpen my claws on.  Soft funny smelling stuff is scattered all over the place.  I wonder what animal put it there.  Maybe it is their bedding.  Time to see if I can go up to the next level.  there's only one way up to that level - a steep climb up some silvery tubey stuff.  Maybe next time.

5:55am.....  Time to get down now; feeling rather hungry after all this exercise.  Crawl into the long low narrow space.  I think this is above Mum's bed.  Call her, "Wake up woman, I'm hungry" (read miaow here for you humans - really I don't know why you haven't learnt to speak cat; I mean we've had you as slaves for so long).  Doesn't sound like she is going to get up.  Try again, "Wake up!".  And again.  And again.  Finally she answers. 

I make my way to that square hole that leads into my bathroom.  Goodness she is taking her time.  Ok, square hole opens up.  I peek my head over the edge to see Mum standing on a chair making noise at me.  She offers me her paw, but I am not interested in smelling it.  If she would get out of the way I think I could jump down to the clothes washer.  Carefully step onto the bottom ledge, she raises her paw at me again.  Let her pat my head.  Ugh!!  She has me by the scruff of the neck and pulls.  Gees woman, don't drag me out of here, I'll fall and hurt myself.  She knocks off my foot from the ledge, pulls a bit more and then manages to put her paw under my tummy.  Ok, can relax now as I get lifted out of the cave.  Get a bit of a cuddle and a brush down to remove webs, then plonked onto the cothes washer whilst she closes up the square hole.

Time for breakfast!!

Kitchen Update

Well, nothing really to report on here.  The floor is still rough concrete and uneven.  Dust is getting into everything - but that will happen until the tiles go back down.  We did pick some laminate samples the other day for the kitchen bench, but until I actaually see the cupboards I can;t pick a bench top colour.

OT - picked up a book on Cloth Doll Making the other day from the library.  It's by Linda Carr.  Amazing faces on these dolls - no needle sculpture though, all paint/makeup/pencils.  I am intending on making one and will post pic when done.

Paintings

Just an update on the paintings I did for the girls calisthenics.  They hung straight and looked awsome on stage.  I had a number of people comment on how good they looked......

Kitchen

I mntioned in an earlier post about th hubby and the kitchen.  I would have been happy with just painting the cupboards and adding handles to the doors and putting in a new bench top.  My kitchen was built in the mid 80's and has a terracotta bench with vanilla doors.  I wanted it changed to off white doors and a grey stone look bench.  Easy to do with a lick of paint for the doors.

But hubby decided that it would be better to remove all the cupboards and put in new ones.  So that is what we are doing.  Making that decision was easy, but it means having to replace the floor and wall tiles as the new cupbaords are a different size to the old ones.  Our youngest child (YC) had an 'ah hah' moment the other day when she said "Mum, you'll have to repaint the walls too."  I told her that was the smallest part of the job.  I now have to think about what tiles I want, as well as having had to decide on door colours (the company we are using didn't have the colour I wanted) and profiles, cupboard sizes, drawers or not, etc.  We haven't even looked at a new bench top yet.  The cupboards are ordered and we have to go pick them up from a town 3 1/2 hours away in a few weeks.  The new appliances are also available for pick - they at least will sit there until they're to be installed. 

Hubby will be installing the cupboards, so I will be without a kitchen for a few weeks once he starts.  At least he can do one side at a time.  The pantry cupboards will go in first and then the rest of them (these ones are in a 'L' shape and so have to go in at once.  When people ask about meals, I tell them we have great takeaway around here.

Where is at at the moment??  Well I have the original cupboards but no tiles on the floor.  Our house is built on a concrete slab.  My kitchen floor is currently dug up concrete slab - a bit rough but not too bad I spose.  I like camping indoors!  You can see the floor under/around the dog in the pic below.  The pale grey is the slab, the darker grey is still the tile glue which isn't there anymore.

Don't you just love animals eyes when taken with a flash?
Mind you we have one dog (the ginger one in the Japan pic) who always always closes his eyes when we take a photo of him.  The only pic we have f him with his eyes open was taken by a professional pet photographer.

More Posters

Here are the last 2 posters I have painted for the claisthenics club.  They have been given a black border since the pic was taken.  I hope they hang well on the stands they are to be used with.  Each of the posters is fabric with a wood slat at the top and the bottom.  I will see them on stage tonight!!

Paris' Eiffel Tower              and                  Japan's Mt Fuji.

One of the dogs decided to put his head in the photo too..

Art Worx

Thought I would share some pics of an art project my EC (eldest child) had to do for uni.  One of the girls in her art class wanted to buy these.

They are paper glued onto stretch canvas and then covered in melted bees wax.  We probably should have added a hardening resin, but we had enough trouble finding the bees wax.  The art teacher was very impressed.  EC had fun doing them too; so much so that given enough of a push she would make more and try to sell them somewhere.  No idea what they would go for.

New Taj Mahal

Ok here's the rotated Taj pic.  Taken from above on the stairs.  The Scotland one also has the black border now.

Painted scenery

Here's a another painting I did recently.  It goes with the one for the Taj.  There will also be one of the Eiffel Tower (a work in progress) and one of Mount Fuji.  They all have to be done for Thursday night.
It is supposed to be of a lake in Scotland, with associated castle.  Scottish scenes are very hard to do and have them distinctive.  You can just see it, but I put 'Nessie' in the lake on the left.  Hopefully people will notice it and have an ah hah moment.

The Taj Mahal

This is the real one and below is a pic of one that I painted as a background scene for my daughters calisthenics team.  I felt rather proud of my effort even though it is a bit wonky.

Mmmmm......... need to rotate it!!

What has life thrown me?

• Parents who want to see me and mine far more than I am capable of providing...

• A husband who took the words "I'm tired of the colour of the kitchen.  How about we paint it, cupboards and all" to mean lets redesign the whole thing, gut it completely and change it all.  I'll do all the work (I'm good at building things); we can get it cheaply from a place in Warnambool (3.5hrs away), even cheaper if we go pick it up.

• Children who expect me to be able to collect them from work/school/etc when they feel like a lift....

I don't really want this blog to be whinge fest so hopefully that is out of my system.  I hope to get up some pics of the kitchen as it progresses - it currently has concrete as the floor as the tiles have been rippped up.  I also took some pics of the animals last night as well as a painting I have done for the calisthenic club, and I intend on posting them also.

So what do you call your first blog??

I have for a long time thought that people who blog have nothing else to do and need to get a life.  I mean who has the time to sit and talk/type to no-one?   Surely these people have a house to clean, work to go to, friends to see, places to go??  My days are an endless stream of things to do, places to go. 

Well, maybe not...

So it looks like I am one of  'those' people now.  Here it is... My blog on what life has thrown me at this stage of life.  Hope anyone who reads this, enjoys it and finds ..... something....