Holidays

Can't believe that I have been at my full time job for 12 months.  It really does seem like yesterday when I started.  I am on annual leave at the moment, all 38 blissful days.....I decided not to go away this year, so 5.5 weeks at home is quite challenging but I have managed to fill in the first 3 weeks quite easily.

Cooking, cleaning, knitting, coffee with friends, dinner with friends, catching up with family both in the country and by the sea, going to see my football team play, exercising, sleeping.....lots and lots of sleeping, shopping.....lots of shopping, pattern writing and just generally enjoying not working.

I've put together a whole bunch of photos I've taken whilst on hols, some on my DSLR, some on my phone, some snatched from my Instagram account, some snatched from others on Facebook.....thank you Lamb Loves Fox and thank you Kris.

And if you are waiting patiently for Purdey pattern to come along.....your wait is going to be a little longer.  Kris who does all my desk top publishing for all of my patterns, had an early arrival.  Welcome to the world Pippa Mae.  Purdey has been put back till Kris is ready, and I think this little bundle of gorgeousness is a valid excuse, don't you?

Victoria x

Spring Forward......Fall Back

I always use the American analogy of the seasonal change of clocks going forward and back....Spring Forward, Fall back......The clocks are finally going back this week, so Autumn is officially here....the leaves are changing, the late afternoon sun has that hazy softness about it....the air has got a little bit of a chill in it.....yeah!!

I don't have much news, I just thought I'd pop in to say hi and let you know I'm still officially unemployed....well unemployed in the sense that the job I referred to a few weeks ago, is still buzzing about.....it's a long process.  I had my second interview, which I passed and then this morning I've had a uniform fitting......and a complete medical and drug testing......there is something about weeing  in a cup with a witness watching that I'm never going to get used to!!  I guess if that all comes back ok, then hopefully I will get offered a job, but it still could be a number of months away.  We'll see, but I'm loving my time at home, even if I'm a little bit poorer financially, but a lot fuller in so many other ways.

I've managed to clean my little apartment from top to bottom, it's so ship shape and shiny, which just makes working at home soooooooo much easier.  I've sorted out my yarn stash, I've culled a huge amount of my wardrobe in anticipation of uniform wearing......I've replanted some little annuals for Winter.....the possums came and attacked the herbs again!!  I've got a weekend of knitting orders to finish, and then for the first time in 5 years......yes 5 years I will not have one single order on my books......and I'm half way through writing up my next pattern and I've mended a relationship with a family member, which meant a lot to me.  It's been a busy time.....oh yeah and dealing with a not very happy car, such bad timing, although I'm not driving off to work, so it hasn't been all that painful.....just forking over cash for repairs, has been the more painful part!!

So there you have it......I've been home for 5 weeks now, and I really don't know how I ever fitted work in......but I will say I am looking forward to getting out and about in the working world real soon.....I'll keep you updated.

Anyway I'm going to park my self on the sofa.....I've just had to replace the DVD player, I think it finally got worn out, so I have a few DVD series to commence and looking forward to a quiet weekend.  I hope yours is the same, if that's what you choose.

Vicki x

From Little Things Bigger Things Grow.......

I'm sorry there has been no woolly business going on around here....I am working hard to get all my remaining knitting orders completed by Christmas, so therefore I haven't picked up any crochet for weeks now.....my best laid plans of having personal items and blankets and other bits and bobs finished by Christmas are just that......plans, with now no immediate completion dates.....otherwise know as WIP's.

I've also been working long, long hours at my casual job. Longer hours that I anticipated which at this time doesn't leave much time for anything else....thus the lack of blog posts.  On the upside my little garden, is flourishing.  Lots of rain and lots of sunshine, all in one day mind you.....that's Melbourne! I've managed to work out which which seedling is which, and am now waiting patiently for lettuce and radishes to be first for the picking....the tomatoes won't be ready till mid Summer I expect.  I'm loving the teeny tiny garden I've created in such a teeny tiny space.

A couple of other things I'm loving this week are my Danish Duckfeet Sandals.  I've traded in my Saltwater's this Summer for duckfeet, and I'm loving the change.  They have virtually been on my feet since arriving a couple of weeks back.  Also I ordered some vintage fabric Lavender Bags from Little Sally Waters.  I was going to gift some of them, but now they're hanging in most rooms in the house! The smell is just wonderful. 

Anyway, that's me done for now.  Hope you're all well, see you next time.

From Little Things, Big Things Grow.....

Not longer than 48 hours ago, I was standing in my kitchen popping seeds into little planter pods, oh bless my cotton socks.....looks like I'm going to be eating a lot of radishes this Summer.....or are these lettuce, basil, coriander or tomatoes!!  Forgot to mark them didn't I!

Time.....

I never had the intention of being away for so long, but time has just gotten away.  So to condense down what could be a long post, here's a little of what I've been up to since I've been away.....Knitting orders (nothing new there!!), lost 4.7 kilos in weight, celebrated my 46th birthday, got a small promotion at work, successfully grown chives, mint and parsley whilst still avoiding those pesky possums.  Purchased all the goodies to start a balcony vegetable garden.  Saw a few movies, About time...worst movie I've ever seen, Diana, second worst movie I've ever seen, Captain Phillips and Prisoner, two of the better movies I've seen. Also went to Gold Class cinema for the first time. Internet shopping from The Fat Quarter Shop, buying pre-cut squares for Christmas break quilting time.   Planning another blanket even though I haven't finished the one I'm crocheting now and just spending some time reacquainting myself with the outdoors and embracing the beautiful Melbourne sunshine.

Hope you're all well,

Now & Then

Now.....

Then.....

I can't believe my run of luck with potted plants has been so successful.  I planted my little balcony boxes on the 30th December......and maybe by tomorrow morning after a very hot day today in Melbourne, I may just have a strawberry ripe for the picking.  Hopefully the birds won't get to it first!!

The other lovely thing I've discovered is bees.....As a person who lives inner city, bees are just something I never see.  My little garden has created a little haven for a bee or three, who lazily saunter over the flowers at their leisure.....so nice to see.

Next weekend, I'm moving into planting herbs....anyway for now I'm off to do some knitting.


Vic x

Day 25.....Landscape

Landscape

land·scape  (lndskp)

noun.

1. An expanse of scenery that can be seen in a single view: a desert landscape.

2. A picture depicting an expanse of scenery.

3. The branch of art dealing with the representation of natural scenery.

4. The aspect of the land characteristic of a particular region: a bleak New England winter landscape.

5. Grounds that have been landscaped: liked the house especially for its landscape.

6. An extensive mental view; an interior prospect: "They occupy the whole landscape of my thought" (James Thurber).

 

 

Well the window boxes have survived their second brutal attack by the mother possum and her baby (yes there is two of them).....The little buggers came out early around 8.45pm last Saturday night before it was even dark and starting gnawing the petunias down to the soil....but everything else is thriving.  Strawberries are full of flowers ready for fruit.  My thyme has bounced back after the first possum attack, and I have one big petunia overhanging the front of the boxes because the pesky possums haven't worked out how to eat that petunia yet!! 

My bit of landscaping in this world!

#FMSphotoaday

Thursday........

I love spending week days at home.....for me it's such an indulgence to work casually, being able to pick and chose the days I work when it suits me.....It does have its down side.  No sick or holiday pay and there are times when my work becomes a bit light on, so budgeting for those times can become a bit tricky, but it's the price I pay and I wouldn't change it for the world.  I love that I can work dover & madden from home when I need to.....although there is one thing I need to do and that is to put a bit more structure into my days when it is a work at home day.....I seem to find all matter of excuses to stop me from working.....today was certainly one of those days....when I should have been finishing two orders, I found plenty of reasons not to.

Boden jeans turned up today as well as a letter from Lettres d'un Inconnu.  I did a couple of hours....not nearly enough of knitting work, whilst laughing way too much to Russell Brand & Matt Morgan radio podcasts.

I watered my window boxes.....did I tell you that they got a haircut in the dead of night by a very ravenous possum earlier on this week?....ate the petunias and the thyme and left everything else!!  Picky possum....not usually the norm....anyway, they're slowly bouncing back, and they now get moved inside at night so they don't become the victim of a second brutal attack!

Today is frightfully hot, as I write type it's 39c....the heat outside is smothering.  My walk to the supermarket was awful, the sort of heat that wraps itself around you like a blanket and won't let you go.  It's suffocating.

So with the heat in mind easy dinner, the type of dinner that was made earlier in the day, so it'll probably be eaten cold....vegetable frittata with goats cheese, and that's it....Too hot to go for a walk around the lake, so I think the beach beckons tonight.

Hope it's not too hot for the rest of you and to my friends in the northern part of the world, rug up.


vic x

The Simple Things....

I went to the garden centre today....I spent $80 on 2 balcony boxes, 2 wire holders, potting mix, some assorted little flowering plants, trailing strawberries, and a few herbs......I don't know why I didn't do this years ago.  Apartment living does have such limited space.  Looking out my kitchen window, whilst standing at the sink, doesn't seem so bad anymore.....the simple things are often the best.

Vic x