playing....

playing with fibres and ribbons on a new journal spine....

hope for 2012

So I guess this is the time we all wish each other a happy new year. Everyone goes around saying it but who really genuinely means it? ( Is it like the people who ask you how you are but they don't really want to know)  Why do we do that I wonder, where did it come from?  It seems like some kind of corny Victorian tradition but maybe it started  before that?

My nan was of the generation where new years day was celebrated as much as Xmas day.  Another roast dinner and hot dessert on a day of about 35 degrees.  Poor mum was the one who always had to cook this hot meal only a week after she has been through it on Xmas day.  The oven would be turned on at about 9am and we would all be dying in the heat.  Mum usually up until recent years still likes to celebrate new year's day in one way or another, but for me it really is just another day

By the time we were teenagers mum saw the light for xmas and she cooked the  turkey the day before then we had it cold for Xmas lunch with ham and lots of salads and the only hot food was baby boiled spuds in butter and mint.

I am not knocking people who say "happy new year" we all do it, we always have, out of habit or maybe some people really really mean it with the best of intentions.
I have been wondering lately though how we say happy new year but don't really mean it.  It just comes out.  It does nothing, It doesn't stop people being sick, people dying or having extremely bad luck, or not getting what they had hoped for.

I realised this as I had it said to me in Xmas cards etc and I thought how silly it seemed when I have never felt so ill as I have lately.  Two trips to the doctor in this last week.  Before that still having to cope with Xmas and now the heat.
It is still just said anyway, even though I am ill.  Even my own brother sends a text from Brisbane "happy New Year", without a thought in a world.

Also mum is so very ill so how silly it would be to say happy new year to her. I tried to put some thought into it and said to her lets hope this year will have improvements and breakthroughs for us.

I know people mean well by wishing people a happy new year.  I have done it for nearly as long as I can remember.  But really, 99% of the time is there any genuineness behind it all.

It is cliche but people always say if you don't have your health you have nothing.  When I was young I used to think oh what a crock of shit that is, but, this is SOOOO true.  So if you do want a happy new year do everything in your power to keep good health  because THAT is the key to everything, not money or job security or any of that bullshit stuff.
If you don't have good health and especially if it is getting worse lets hope this IS a year of  hope and new discoveries for our health, and even better maybe we will have improvements.
I am not one for resolutions anymore either. Only because they would only last a day.  I am pathetic like that.   I certainly was into them when I was a teenager. I thought they could change my life.

my new adopted baby

I want you to meet Fawny.  He is my new baby.  Well part of him is mine.  There are quite a few of us in the animal welfare and Ban live export groups I am in on Facebook who wanted to save the life of Bobby Calf.  He is a Jersey, isn't he gorgeous!!  We do as much work as we can in animal welfare and working towards the banning of live exports and factory farming.

  Other people put in money to buy and save Bobby Calves too.  Some of us decided to do it too.

We only had to put in a few dollars each and he now lives with a wonderful guy, an Animal Rights/Welfare Lawyer in Queensland.

I wish we all could  take it in turns having Fawny each weekend, and I certainly wish we could save them all

I hope we can buy some more calves soon.

The male calves are the "waste product" of the Dairy Industry.  The cows are kept in a constant state of pregnancy so they will produce milk.

They are like humans they only have milk when they have a baby.   It's not natural for them to constantly produce milk.   Many are slaughtered after 5 years or less of misery for meat as they are spent as breeders. Not for human meat but are churned up for pet food.

The male calves are not even fed, treated badly and slaughtered within 5 days.  This is all so humans can drink milk.   So if you MUST drink milk buy it from a local organic farmer, they supply to the major supermarkets and to your local deli and supermarkets too.  The more you support the cheap supermarket brand milk, and all the major brands too, the more your are supporting this industry.   I know groceries are expensive but isn't it better to buy less and buy better quality and local and maybe not buy a few of the products you might not really need.

I just have to add, can't help myself, all dairy product industry contribute to this, icecream, yoghurt makers you name it but Cadbury are one of the worst.  Think about that with your next "glass and a half"

Some calves are kept aside and put in wooden crates without seeing the light of day even once for months.  They sleep and live in their own excrement and this is done for the product we know as veal.   keeping them in the dark and almost starving them keeps their meat white so people can enjoy their veal.  The female calves of course only have a life of misery to look forward to the same as their mothers,

700 000 Bobby Calves are slaughtered each year in Australia.  Imagine how many in the world are slaughtered as waste each year or kept for veal in those conditions.  This is all for us humans to drink milk which is not even good for us.  It is purely meant for baby cows so they can gain about 250kgs in one year or more

maybe you could consider other alternatives.  I drink rice milk now and I love it, it has a fab flavour and also oat milk too is very nice.  Soy is very strong but there are so many other choices and please don't eat veal.

Sending you hugs Fawny I feel so good you are part of my family kiss kiss

edible house

For a few weeks Isobel had been saying she wanted to make a gingerbread house for Xmas.   I kept thinking "oh great...sooooooo much work, maybe she will forget"  but she was serious and has a good memory but I needn't of worried as she did all the work herself.

She had a little help from her dad holding up walls while she iced them together.

I am sooo impressed at the fabulous work she has done.  I just had to show it off and brag about it.   I think to make this at 12 is wonderful.  Even at my age I do not have the patience or desire to do such a thing.  I am even totally over putting up the tree and decorating it.  Isobel did all that too.

and as much as I adore this cake and admire the amount of work that Isobel has put into it, I am sooooooo glad Xmas is over yet again yippeeee

my girls are so used to having a modest and frugal Xmas and it gets more so each year.     It was even more so this year, but we still managed to get them a few of things they really wanted.   Sometimes it can be really hard getting by on a disability pension with a family, and also living with the guilt as it's all because of me.
Hubby is an Architect but hasn't had a chance to work full time for a few years because of my illness.  Now Isobel is older and a little more independent with being able to catch school buses etc things will get a bit easier
It's very hard for some (not all) people who work, to understand the meaning of no money means no money.  It is one of my biggest Bugbears actually and my saddest.

  I thought my girls would always have lots of spoiling around Xmas.  But then again this is what Xmas does, it creates unrealistic expectations and I hate that. (thank you mum I know you make it special for them)

We had  brilliant Xmases growing up,  Mum did a brilliant job as a single parent, we never wanted for anything, we opened presents then headed off to the beach for 3 weeks.  It was THE best time. I loved it and am so lucky to of had those times, but those times will NEVER come back or even be close.  Everything is way different now, mainly the expense of course is the biggest reason.  Trendy expensive shacks everywhere, not the old fibros we used to stay in and love.
 We  just rolled out of bed and went to the beach.  Got burnt to a crisp of course, and just swept the sand out the door of the shack every few days.

The girls have an Auntie (not really their auntie but my Bestie who is like their auntie) who gets so much pleasure out of spoiling them when she can, even though she has her own real nieces and nephews.  So it feels good the girls have some family further afield and they always look forward to their goodies coming from Western Australia.  I know if the girls grew up in WA xmas would of been different for them but then they wouldn't of had their grandma close by

every year I wish we could do something different the following year.   If I had a fairy godmother I would ask her can we please go to Perth for next Xmas.  We don't have to HAVE Xmas, just be there at that time.  Stay in an expensive hotel with a spa and a pool, (and air con)then the besties could come everyday and we could swim and spa and go for cocktails then do it all again day and night.  sigh......I can only dream

I always find it such a downer the day after Xmas and that feeling is stronger the older I get.  I just either don't want Xmas at all, or I want to do something completely different, just once in my life and do it while my girls are young enough to want to be with us still and enjoy themselves

Anyway, enough whinging about xmas now it's over,   next year has to be different or not at all......

chocolate Pikachu

check out this cute Pokemon cake Zoe made for one of her besties for xmas, it's a chocolate Pikachu!!

She bought the cake mould in Tokyo and it is sooooo cute

no more primary

My youngest little chick has just finished primary school  Here is Tassie grade 6 is finished when the kids are 12 and first year of high school is the year they turn 13.  So by the time grade 6 finishes they are well and truly ready to leave and move on.

It's been a busy time with Leaver's Speech night Leaver's dinner and class parties etc.

The only baking I have done for Xmas was meringues for the class party.  I always follow the instructions to a t and leave them in the oven to cool etc but they still leak sugar.

They taste really nice, they are chewy and moreish

they disappear at class and birthday parties very quickly.  But I can never stop them from spilling out syrupy sugar.  If anyone can tell me what I am doing wrong I would love to know!!!!

Onward and upward to High School........

not sure what you want for xmas.....

ask Santa for one of these........just what every women would love for a present.  So thoughtful and personal.   OMG  Can you imagine getting something like this given to you as a serious present, not something you just go and buy when you need one.......this is a real add.  If Santa gave me one I think I know where I would put it

year in review

What a fabulous year it has been for Animals Australia.   Not all the successes we had hoped for but we are much closer to them.  Please watch their year in review and the wonderful work they do.


Be a voice for animals at AnimalsAustralia.org

Just because.....

I miss them...

cuteness overload

Zoe is home from Japan safe and sound.   She had a fabulous time, did oodles of shopping and had too buy another case to bring all the cuteness home.  Soooooo many adorable things.  Even the suitcase she had to buy is so damn cute. KAWAII (cute in Japanese)

I thought I would share with you my pressies.

and here are a few of them in macro

the most amazing stickers...

even lollies have Hello Kitty on them.....

cute pens and pencils.....

lollies from the Zoo Shop....

epoxy stickers.....

paper tape.....

more zoo cuteness.......

thank you sweetie for all our pressies and it's so wonderful to have you home...

sisters

sisters, a photo by **tWo pInK pOSsuMs** on Flickr.

My little sweet rattie sisters that came to me almost two years ago have sadly passed away. Here they are in the photo taken when I first got them home at about 6 weeks old.
First I lost Poppy. She died suddenly about 3 months ago, which unfortunately is very common with ratties. Especially females who are often born with tumours.

Then today after a few days of a bad respiratory infection and antibiotics and a lot of tender loving care, little Coco had to be taken to the vet to be put to sleep. It has broken my heart. Shattered it.

These little creatures are so loving and so receptive to our love and attention. They are intelligent and cheeky. They are tiny compared to us but are so willing to trust us and love us as one of their own.  They are just like a tiny teeny dogs, and yet millions are still killed and tested on in labs around the world when it has been proven testing makeup and drugs on animals is not applicable to humans. duh

RIP my little angels, I will miss you, your cheekiness, your love and your cuddles xxxx

away in Japan

The Eldest is away in Japan.  She has worked hard in jobs she has not particularly liked, and for most of the time while studying full time.   She has worked and saved hard.  Learned Japanese through years 11 and 12 and she has gone.   Not for the year or so she originally thought she might.  That was the plan way back when.  But she will be gone for quite a few weeks all on her own and I think she is very brave and we are very proud.
She has been gone nearly 2 weeks now.  She got slightly lost a few times in the first few days, but is having a fab time non the less.   She joined a tour for a couple of days to see all the major sites easily like Mt Fuji etc
I am sure she will come home more grown up than before, more confident than before and hopefully with an appreciation of how wonderful her family and home life are!!!!   She is after all only 19 and lets face it, not many of us appreciated our families at 19, not as much as we perhaps should have.

I left Tassie for Melbourne at 19.  By myself with $100 and only knowing one person in Melbourne and was going to make a new life for myself, which I did.  That was very scary.  But I think going to Japan for almost a month by myself would be even scarier, 19 just seems too young for that.  But she is doing fine

a photo I copied from Zoe's Facebook Japan Album, these are Plushie Mt Fujis - how cute are they...adorable...the Japanese sure have the market cornered when it comes to cute.....

I have some strong feelings and opinions about some things the Japanese do, but I was very tight lipped.  I wasn't going to ruin The Eldest's trip in any way.  I think I did well, as for me, it is hard sometimes to keep my thoughts to myself about things I feel very strongly about.

We are missing her a lot now.  At first it just seemed like life as usual when we don't see much of her and a few days can pass and we don't see her at all.  But now I feel it's time she came home.  So I will be very happy in less than 2 weeks when I will have my other chick back under my wing, for now at least.

finally I have seen Harry

I have finally seen the final part of Harry Potter.   I find it too painful to sit in the cinema these days so even my fave films like Harry Potter I have to wait for the DVD.

I watched it on Tuesday night and I loved it.  It did feel a shame it had to be broken into two though. I realise of course there couldn't be a movie for four hours, but it felt...somehow....not right.  I really can't put my finger on it.  I just felt a little let down 

Warning some spoilers may be in this post.

It was very simplified though.  When I read book 7 I had to keep going back and reading some pages twice because so much was going on.  Sometimes I wasn't sure what was what at the end of a page or a chapter so I re-read it.

As of course everything can't be in the movies I thought it was done well and quite simply.  Some important things were skimmed over though. Some important things like the death of a Weasley.  I found that such a shock in the book and was very upset and yet it was so lightly touched upon in the film.  You could of missed it if you blinked.

I was however, very happy to see they put in the 19 years later bit, it made it feel like a happy ending, just like in the book.

All that aside though I did love it and am sad it's all over.

JK Rowling bought property here in Tassie quite some years ago and apparently has bought more recently.  I wonder why? Does anyone know?  Maybe she is going to lock herself away and right another epic.  But how could you ever top Harry Potter???

rosettes and macro

I have collected a little of this rosette trim over the last couple of years.  I seem to be hoarding it because I absolutely ADORE it.   I have put it altogether during my studio space clean out.  I love just playing with it and admiring it.   Just like I do with my vintage buttons....do you do that? Or am I  weirder than I thought maybe? I love trying to get that perfect macro shot of it too.  I could photograph it for hours.  It's sooo macro worthy

but I have made a promise to myself to start actually using it.  Now there's a novel idea!!!!   I can use it in sewing projects and mixed media projects.

There.... I have put it out there I own it and I will use it, now I have to.

Hello my name is Linda and I am a rosette trim addict.......

and I am scared to use it.......

works in progress

My creative space this week is a total mess.  I am reorganising my work space so I actually have room to work.   I have collected so much stuff over the years for mixed media, sewing, stitchery, knitting plus I have tubs for my vintage sheets and tea towels.   As my space is just a 'nook' my work table is always covered with boxes and baskets of stuff.

The time has come to go through it all and be ruthless.  I am being realistic about what I really will use and what I won't.  It is a great feeling to be purging.   For example I had a HUGE pile of  free stitchery patterns I had printed off the net about 5 years ago.  Going through them all I know I will never stitch them and 95% of them I don't even like anymore!  so out they went. yay

I will end up with just the fabric and stitchery supplies I really want in one cupboard and the other cupboard will be for all my art supplies to actually be put away and I will have room to work and to leave in progress pieces spread out to dry

I have two mixed media projects started at the moment.  I am just showing some snippets today as the first one I am not happy with and the second one is only just started and who knows when that will be finished as I work so slowly only on the days I am well enough, but I love having a project or two on the go.  I need that for sanity.