Monday, January 30, 2012

sunday snippets.

a week of breakfasts. instagrammed.




i managed breakfast everyday last week! if you could consider thursday's breakfast to actually be breakfast that is...

joining in with tinniegirl

Thursday, January 26, 2012

happy australia day!

happy australia day folks!
hope you've all had a fabulous day, celebrating however you do!
i do generally like to get my party on on australia day but considering how much partying i did on the weekend just gone, i thought i'd have a quiet australia day this year.
after a bit of a lie in, i jumped in the car and got a few supplies from bunnings and then spent my afternoon in the garden.
i got all the garden beds weeded and re-mulched and re-trained some of my vines, more about that tomorrow though...

when i was all gardened out, i got my revamp on!

take one beat-up set of outdoor furniture, rusty and pathetic looking.



add several cans of black spray paint...

and voila! brand new outdoor setting!




now i just need to get rid of some of that vine that is taking up almost the entire footpath and then maybe i can actually use it!

now i'm watching the tennis and trying to nut out how to crochet onto this lampshade. it'll definitely take some thinking about... not only on the how-to front but also how i want it to look and how i want the light to shine through it. hmmmm decisions, decisions.

what have you been up to today?

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

the filmlife project - blogger's challenge.

i'm a little slow to jump on this boat, but i guess it's never too late! i'm definitely not one to make any kind of film so i thought i'd play along by answering a few quick and easy questions.
read all about it here!

1. What’s your take on or experience with organ donation, and why did you choose to take part in the FilmLife Blogger Challenge?
i don't have any first hand experience with organ donation, but i couldn't really understand why you'd not be an organ donor. it's the easiest thing you'd personally have to do, to completely change someone's life! it doesn't cost you a cent, it doesn't cause you any pain and it's not anything you'll miss!
i chose to take part to spread the word! i've gotten to know a lovely lady, whose life will completely change due to someone being signed up as an organ donor. it'll mean she's around for a lot longer, as well as living a heck of a lot easier! pretty cool!




2. If you were to donate your organs, which one would you love to donate, and why?
i'd love to donate my corneas, imagine having your vision restored after not being able to see for goodness knows how long! it would be amazing!




3. Who in your family would you need to talk to about organ donation, to be sure your loved ones knew your wishes?
organ donation (as well as many other much more grisly topics...) was something that was always talked about at our dinner table growing up due to my mum being a nurse. the 'you can't take them with you' sentiment definitely runs in the family and as far as i know we're all signed up on the national registry (you can sign up here).


the lovely curlypops is having a bit of a blogalong with these questions. if you want to answer them too, pop over and put your link in too.
oh and tweet your blogpost with the hashtag #filmlifeproject to join in the fun :D

Monday, January 23, 2012

this week...

i'm re-prioritising.
as many times as i've heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, i've never particularly taken it seriously. dinner is always the priority, being that it's the meal that bb and i get to eat together.
so this week, i'm making breakfast a priority. breakfast meal planning, well probably not, just making sure that there are sufficient breakfast foods in the house.



this morning, i'm having pesto, tomato and fetta muffins. thankfully i was gifted some home grown tomatoes on the weekend, so yummy! coupled with a big mug of tea. yummo!!
maybe i'll instagram the rest of the weeks efforts. i'm misscoleyann over there if you're keen to check it out!

what are your plans for the week?

Sunday, January 22, 2012

sunday snippets.

i thought i'd share some of my pictures from the past week, and play along with tinniegirl!













a very busy and family-centric week! i didn't manage to get to either of the crafty get togethers that i'd planned to, but i did spend a lot of time at my parents house, staying up late and drinking far too much alcohol to celebrate my brother turning 21.
back to reality and the real world tomorrow though!

how was your week?

Monday, January 16, 2012

this week...

i'm getting my social on a bit! last week, the week of incessant work, was a very hermity week for me. i got home from work and the last thing i wanted to do was anything! it was a big week for finishing work, changing into my jammies, cooking dinner and then crafting on the couch!
this week however will be wayyyy different!
tonight, there's stitch and yarn, and northern craft bonanza on wednesday!



i'll be catching up with all my crafty ladies and knitting up a storm!

tomorrow is my little brother 21st birthday. i have never felt so old! to celebrate with him, i'll be heading down to the country to have some dinner with him and my folks.
friday night i'll be heading back down to the country for the official 21st celebrationings. and heading to a local pub to see the legendary mr. josh pyke with my mum and my brother (hopefully driven by the lovely bb :D), then there's the actual 21st party on saturday night. i'm anticipating quite the sore head on sunday. but gosh it'll be fun doing it!

but today, today i'm catching up on all the little house things that i was too exhausted to get done last week. do you want to see my list?




i was hoping writing in a cute purple pen, on an equally cute list pad, would negate the fact that the list is a whopper! nope, still huge! oh well, wish me luck!!!

what are you up to this week?

Sunday, January 15, 2012

kicking back.

phew! what a week it has been for me! since my last post, i've worked almost every day, so not too much time for blogging at all!
i had a package arrive the day after my last post...




full to the brim with some beautiful wool for the crochet-a-long i'd joined in with.

naturally, i got to work straight away. i managed to get all 3 blocks done within the week and after putting it off for while, got them blocked out too.




i blocked them out to 9" squares. they're a bit smaller because i'm using an 8ply wool instead of the recommended 10 ply. i've also messed around with the pattern a little, making the 6" square a bit bigger. i think i'll do this with all of the 6" squares, so that i can have a 6x6 square layout at the end, no worrying about complex sizing of the squares.
i also took a bit of extra time and did a final round of single crochet around the outside of all of the squares, to make joining them together that much easier.

i'm very excited for it to be february now, bring on the next 3 squares!

now i'm going to kick back and have a bit of a relax, i have the next two days off work!

what have you been up to this week?

Monday, January 9, 2012

this week...

well how about last week first? last week i got to getting organised! the couple of ridiculously hot melbourne days we had meant that i locked myself in the only room in the house with air conditioning, the study. luckily, there is a cupboard in there that is packed full of crap that we literally haven't touched since we moved into our house 3 years ago...



a fairly lazy day and a half of sorting (and napping and reading and crochet) resulted in this lovely pile of stuff to go to the op-shop (some of it is from other areas of the house...) and bb and i managed to concentrate our "paper nursing home" ie. the filing cabinets and folders, from a drawer and three file folders, down to half a drawer and a box for appliance warranties and manuals. fairly proud of our efforts!

i also finally got some things hung above our bed! bb had a good read of the instructions (as he does, drives me insane! i'm a very 'just do it' type girl, stuff the instructions!) and discovered that things shouldn't be hung above a bed, in case they fall off in the middle of the night and brain you! anywho, we compromised and i hung some of the smaller, lighter things above the bed.



not exactly the massive hanging wall i was after, but it'll do.

i've also been reading a bit, i think i've almost finished my january book! and i've also been getting some beanies on and off my knitting needles. halfway through my third for the year!

this week, i'm working an awful lot, 6/7 days! bb has also gone back to work today so i'm determined to keep it together! i've got meals planned for a large majority of the week and i'm planning to get to the gym a couple of times this week too...
i'm also hoping the wool i ordered last weekend will show up this week so that i can start working on the bamcal blocks. saying i'm keen to receive the wool would be an understatement. i love wool shopping, i also love mail. mail order wool, be still my beating heart.

what are you up to this week?

Monday, January 2, 2012

2012 - the list.

knowing me to be the ridiculous list maker i am, you must've known this was coming right? right?

so without further ado, the 2012 list. some of this list is a re-hash of 2011's list, because as you read yesterday, i didn't quite get everything done that i wanted to...

* organisation - i've got myself a beautiful new diary which i'll use for meal plans and life plans and keeping on track of work and social commitments as well as hopefully getting the cupboards around this here place re-organised so i can actually find stuff when i need it!

* keep an eye on the scales - i did this last year too, to make sure weight didn't creep on over the course of the year. 58.5.

* buy a new car

* crochet creatively - i've promised some projects to some people that i will need to think a bit outside the box for, could make for some interesting results...

* try and keep a regular exercise routine.

* take better care of myself - get more sleep, take care of some underlying health issues (bye bye wisdom teeth and hopefully intermittently sore stomach too)

* actually start using ravelry for the amazing tool that is. organise and record my wooly projects instead of just searching for patterns... i'm coleykane over there if you want to urge me on.

* speaking of ravelry, i joined a block a month, crochet-a-long (bamcal) over there the other day. so that's definitely on my to-do list for the year. i've treated myself to some beautiful wool and can't wait for it to arrive so i can get stuck into the lovely (yet somewhat complex looking) patterns for this month.

* i think i'd also like to read more books. goal of 1 per month. i've already got one on the go so i should be able to get that done before the end of january...

* and lastly, i'm looking to give my blog a bit of a make-over... i've got some ideas ticking over... just need to get my butt into gear and get bb's butt into gear to help me!

have you made a 2012 to-do list? i'd love to have a read!