Catching up slowly....

I took Kasey for an abdominal ultrasound this morning, she has been having some tummy pains for some time now, and the doc wanted to rule out any issues with her kidneys etc.  Everything is aok and they couldn't see anything abnormal which was good.  The results of her pathology tests will be back tomorrow, so that may shed a little light...will wait and see.  I finished off a silk wedding today for this weekend, it has come up sooo nice .  I have only taken photos of the bridal bouquet at this stage, as I finished the rest tonight, and I like to take photos of my bouquets in the daylight.  This is the teardrop bouquet for the bride...it is gorgeous...but I do love purple :)

I ended up cancelling tonight's sewing class, as Damian has been getting home really late, and I was really tired this afternoon.  I am glad I did now as it allowed me to finish off the silk wedding. So tomorrow I now only have some phone calls to make, and a few things to organise...so I may be able to sneak in a little nanna nap at some stage....that would be fab....

Kasey's swimming carnival - age champion!

Kasey had her very first school swimming carnival on Friday.  She had a wonderful day and came first in all of her races, which were freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke.  At lunch time all the kids were allowed to play in the mushroom fountain pool, and all the parents could sit around the pool in lounges watching them, which was lovely and relaxing.  Later in the afternoon, the awards were given out, and Kasey won age champion for the 6 year girls group for the day!  Who knew?? I am so glad I went along for the day, and stayed for the whole day and took lots of photos.  At the scrapbooking retreat on the weekend I scrapped a couple of pages on her achievement, and I will frame them for her to hang on her wall.  I included her ribbons on the pages, so they will not get lost and will stay with her photos of the day. I will now have to look at enrolling her in the swimming squad as she seems to have a talent in the pool.

Back home after a weekend of scrapbooking

I have been away a couple of days on a scrapbooking retreat.  Had a great time, will post pics tomorrow hopefully. I am pretty tired tonight, so will update the blog in the next few days.  I have come home to a bit of a disaster though unfortunately...the whole place falls apart when I am not here...  Kasey had hayfever when I got home, and a bit of asthma, and was soooo tired, and would cry at the drop of a hat, Damian is pretty tired as he had a really long day at work yesterday, and Toni had left dishes all over the bench in the kitchen, clothes all over the floor in the bathroom and her room is a mess.  There was no sign of dinner being cooked, so baked beans on toast for dinner.  It is very annoying to go away for a cople of days and come home to a disaster zone.   So the first part of this week will be trying to re-organise things here...stop the world...I need to get off for a while! 

Kasey's first stage performance

Kasey had her first ballet eisteddfod a few weeks back, and I now have the photos back.  All the girls looked very sweet in their baby doll costumes, and did a wonderful job.

Schoolies theft update

I am soooo tired, I have just got back from down the coast about an hour ago.  Poor Kasey was so tired, and just wanted to go to bed.  I booked the girls into alternative apartment accomodation, and went down and collected their stuff and booked them into their room.  It has only ended up costing them less than $10 per night extra each for their accomodation, rather than a tent in a caravan park...I don't know why they didn't just go this way in the first place.  I have told them they need to be on their best behaviour as the room bond has been charged to my credit card...so they know how much trouble they will be in if something gets charged to my card.  There is secure undercover gated parking, and the shuttle bus which takes them in to Surfers is right outside their room.  Toni has ended up recovering her camera, it was under her car, so the person who stole the other stuff must have dropped it.  I purchased her a new cheapy phone today, so now it is just her laptop which she is without.....of course the most expensive item.  I am hoping that there is a slim chance she is still covered on the school insurance as it has only been a few days since leaving school, but I doubt it....ugh...I need to go to bed...

Trying times at Schoolies for Toni....

Toni has just rung me from Schoolies, and has had her phone, laptop and camera stolen from the boot of her car.  Someone has gone in to their tent while the girls have been asleep and taken her keys and got the stuff from the boot of her car.  They have also taken one of the other girl's phone, and one of the other girls car keys have also been stolen, and also a tent 2 sites down was also broken in to.  The police have been and don't hold out much hope for them getting their stuff back.  Grrr............I don't like her chances of getting her things back....very disappointing.....why is there scum like this that ruin things for other people...lucky I believe in Karma......It's the precious memories like all of the photos the girls have taken that are the most annoying, and the fact that it was a Mac computer, and it was to be for uni for Toni next year as well.   We're not covered on insurance for any of it either....and also the fact the some bloke has been in the tent while the girls have been asleep.  1 of the girls woke up and saw a guy that she didn't know in the tent, and thought that he was with one of the other girls (hmmm) and promptly went back to sleep!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm getting quite angry about the whole thing now, and also about just how safe the girls are... I am going to look at some other accomodation I think, as Toni says there is nothing left for anybody to steal, but the safety issue is of a concern now...I was put at ease when I dropped their stuff off on Saturday as there was plenty of security at the park, wristbands to get in, no drinking allowed on site etc....but it's the other people coming in that are the worry...

Christmas Stockings

I picked up my new sewing machine today......yay...very excitng.  My first project was at embroidery club today, where we made up embroidered Christmas Stockings.  These are made in the embroidery hoop, and the only straight sewing involved is joining the lining to the outer stocking, other than that it is all sewn in the hoop.  I have decided to put names on them of the nieces and nephews, and in them I will put their Christmas gifts...currently on the agenda are movie tickets, chocolates and popcorn...like a Movie Pack in a stocking!  So this is stocking number 1

I have now made another, and am on to the 3rd....
Tomorrow I am going to be sewing for the day, trying to catch up on quite a few unfinished projects, such as the Xmas tree skirt, the some more stockings, a shirt, a bun warmer etc....phew....the list is quite long, plus I have a few other unfinished Xmas gifts to work on as well...I had better spend some serious time with the sewing machine over the next couple of weeks.  I was planning on being so organised this year with Xmas....hmmmm...don't quite know what happened there.... 8>\ 

An eventful few days...

Well, we came back from our couple of days at Mooloolabah yesterday.  It was really nice up there, the caravan park where we were staying was on the beach, so lots of opportunity to spend some time on the beach.  I have had a few mishaps though, Saturday I went for a swim, and by the time I finally went in, (which was after about a 1/2 hour of getting used to the cold water,) I dived under a wave, and my ear got water in it behind the eardrum...it felt like I had burst my eardrum, it was really painful, so that was the end of that swim....I still have some water in there..so I left the swimming to Damian and Kasey from then on. And then after we got back yesterday, I started on the washing, and then went out on the ride on to do some mowing, when I got a debilitating pain in my back and chest...really tight, and nausea, headache etc....it really scared the daylights out of me, and I was unwell for the rest of the day, using heat packs to ease the pains, and have had nausea and headaches still today, my doc sent me up to the hospital tonight, as she wasn't happy with my heartrate and blood pressure being so low, but I waited for nearly 3 hours, and the waiting room hadn't had even 1 patient called in, they were absolutely packed....so I gave up and came home.  I will speak to the doc tomorrow about getting the blood tests and other checks done through a specialist or similar.  I am still feeling a bit off, but I'll just play it by ear. Tomorrow I have coffee with Tammy, and then I have a morning tea to go to with the SS girls, so it will be nice to meet some of them, and I have a bride coming to see me in the afternoon. My diary isn't too full this week, I have purposely kept it light on, Wed night we have Toni's year 12 graduation dinner in the city, and Thursday am I have embroidery club, where we will be making Xmas stockings...but otherwise, I will be at home...yay...anyway, off to bed soon...

My new technology

I purchased a new toy for myself today.  A Pioneer Dreambook 7" mobile internet device.  It is the less expensive version of an IPAD, and it is great.  I have ordered a 16gb micro sd card to go in to it, so then it will be a 16gb storage device, plus the extra inbuilt storage.  I wasn't going to purchase one, I was purchasing /one as a xmas gift for Michael...shhhh....because he wants a laptop and I wasn't about to spend that much on a xmas gift, and he really only wants it to access the internet etc...so I thought it would be ideal for him. They went on sale this morning, and the store sold out in 1/2 an hour this morning!!  I rang another store and they had only 3 left, so I rushed down there and purchased him one, and I was speaking to Damian on the phone and was about to drive away, and he said..did you buy one for yourself as well, and I said No...and he said "why not?" and I said..."I don't know really"...considering I really liked the IPAD's, so I rushed back in and purchased 1 for myself.  They were only $188, and  I plan on making a case for it, and using it instead of lugging around my diary, as well as my notebook in my bag. It has every thing that the IPAD has, as well as an office package, ebook reader, games, video, photos, webcam etc...and I can also download apps to it...
                                 

We are heading to Mooloolabah tomorrow for a couple of days, so a nice relaxing couple of days coming up.  I think I will take my new dreambook and transfer my diary and things over to it while I am relaxing.

Kasey's Xmas list

Kasey has written up her Christmas list...lol..... it is very cute....she has some big dreams about what Santa can fit in his sleigh though.....

 so, she would like a 

 Remote control helicopter, tyre swing, remote control cars, a "real" computer, ice cream maker, milk shake maker, dolls house, lots of stickers, cake maker, crazy sunglasses, card making supplies, bunk bed, cup cake maker, radio, cd's and a tv!!!  Phew.....just a few things.....She has addressed her letter to Santa at the North Pole, and will post it tomorrow.....I just love the spelling and the writing, she is sounding out all of her words, and while not everything is spelled correctly, I can understand everything she has written...and she did it all by herself....

Tomorrow I am heading to the shops for the day, to try and wrap up some of the Christmas shopping...knowing me I will get to a point where I just go, that's it, I've had enough and I'm going home, and it tends to happen very suddenly...so not sure if it will be the whole day yet (well, school hours anyway) or if I will only be able to stick it out for the morning....

The last few days...

Sunday I caught up on some washing, and made a batch of soap.  I tried a new combination of essential oils, and a couple of new moulds, a mango soap in some gorgeous rose moulds, and a mango and chocolate soap in my new log mould.  We went to the beach in the afternoon, took Max over for a paddle, and then went and had a bbq for dinner.  We are trying to get Max used to socialising with other dogs a bit more, he is really friendly towards other dogs once he has a sniff, but he always runs up to them like he wants to eat them with his hair on his back up, so he looks very intimidating, but it is all such a big act, and he just wants to play, so I may look at taking him to training next year to socialise him more with other dogs as well....The bbq was nice, but very cold and windy, so next time, will definitely take warmer clothes, as we were freezing, and all of us girls had towels wrapped around our legs to keep warm. Yesterday I had sewing class in the morning, working on the textured table runner, and today I was working on the xmas tree skirt I started last week, attaching the gold bias stained glass strips. That is about 1/2 done, so still a little way to go to finish it off.  My new sewing machine arrived in store today, so I will pick it up some time over the next week, when I have time to sit down and open it up and have a good play with it. Tomorrow and Thursday I will be at home, tomorrow will be spent in the office catching up on paperwork, and Thursday catching up and getting ready to head away for the weekend.  Next week I have a fairly free calender, so I am hoping to just spend a few days sorting stuff out at home, I may even set up a workroom area in the shed so I can setup my craft things..not sure though as it can get quite dusty out there...I really long to have a craft area back...I am hoping to convert the lockup area in the garage to my craft room and floristry area, a place where I can meet with clients as well, maybe next year....anyway, enough waffling for today...

6th November, 2010

I went and saw my naturopath yesterday, just a quick follow up visit to make sure things were starting to improve a little for me.  She has doubled my lemon and garlic mixture, to try and clear up my stomach bug a little quicker...the difference over the last 2 weeks has been amazing, I am definitely starting to feel so much better, and my motivation and energy levels are picking up again.  I will see her again in a month, when she will check my stats and see how every thing is going and what supplements I can come off and which ones I need to stay on.  When I got home I got to work on today's wedding for Amy.

Today was spent delivering the wedding flowers, and picking up the vases from last weekend's wedding.  Kasey had a friend over to play today, so that kept her busy, and tonight we went to a BBQ at Wayne and Lynda's for Lynda's birthday, it was a nice relaxed evening, very casual.  So now Damian is fast asleep on the lounge, snoring away merrily....he would deny this of course!...tomorrow will be a relaxing morning, with some washing and gardening probably thrown in for good measure.  I would also like to make some soap, we are starting to run low, and I want to try some new varieties.  We are planning on heading away for a few days at the end of the week in the caravan up the coast.  Toni is working so she will be staying at home but will probably day trip it....Damian really needs the time relaxing by the beach, and I will catch up on lots of reading and some craft activities.  I also have a scrapbooking retreat coming up at the end of the month...really looking forward to that....anyway, off to bed shortly...

A new recipe

I made up a new recipe tonight. I was at a loss to what to make for dinner, I had some home grown potatoes, beans, carrots and cabbage, and not much meat in the freezer, so I just started with the chicken and made it up as I went along. It was really yummy, and I will definitely make it again, no photos as it was all gone before I thought of it, will take some next time I make it.


Creamy Thai Curry

Indgredients:

2 chicken breast fillets sliced
1 onion chopped
2 tspns crushed garlic
3 tbpns thai curry paste
1 cups beans chopped
1/2 cup cream

Method:

Fry chicken until slightly seared, add onion and garlic, and fry for a few minutes. Add thai curry paste and beans and fry for a further 5 minuites or so. Add cream (you can add more cream for more sauce, I only had 1/2 cup left tonight) and stir, reheat but don't boil. Serve with boiled potatoes, cabbage, carrots and peas, with a dob of butter on vegies, and season to taste with salt and pepper.


Serves 4

Completed project - fascinator....

Very tired tonight, I did all of the mowing today, and I am bushed. Off to bed shortly I think.  I wore my fascinator for Melbourne cup yesterday, it is the embroidery club project from last month.  The flowers were all embroidered, and then I added ribbons and feathers to finish it off.

I have sewing club tomorrow, we are making a bun warmer.  Gotta have warm buns!!

A new sewing machine and backing up a little....

I have had sewing classes yesterday and today.  I have started on a textured Xmas table runner  which has 3 dimensional embroideries on it it rich creams and burgundy's, including rich ribbon embellishments, velvet etc. Today I started on a Xmas tree skirt, it is a stained glass look, meaning that all of the seams are joined in gold strips, it is looking very rich and regal, and is in some gorgeous Xmassy prints.  This is the work in progress so far:

I still need to join the seams with the gold binding to give it that stained glass look, and to the quilting etc.  The photo doesn't do the colours justice though.  I am going to pull out of most of the sewing classes for the rest of the month, other than the 2 I have just started.  I will do the BOM projects from home for a couple of months, and try to catch up on the Xmas prep and shopping, and get the house back in to order.  I also purchased a new sewing machine last week, it hasn't arrived yet as it has only just been released, probably a few weeks I would say, which will give me time to finish paying for it!!  I have purchased a gorgeous Husqvarna Ruby machine...it is sooo nice...

Tomorrow is a home day, and I will be catching up on the washing, mowing, cleaning etc, and just trying to get some order back in to things, as I have been so overwhelmed of late.  I did place a winning bet on the Melbourne cup today, turned $5 into $60, thanks to Charmaine the physic on the radio this morning, who predicted number 8....so hopefully with the few little things I am doing and saying no to, I will start to feel a bit more in control of things again...here's hoping anyway....