Lamb chops and salad WITH beetroot

What more could an aussie girl want for lunch on Australia Day?  I have just had lunch with a friend celebrating Australia Day.  The fun thing is that this friend was born in the USA and still has a very strong accent but she loves being an Aussie and it was HER idea.  I'm a born and bred aussie and while I'm extremely proud of being an aussie I've never really celebrated Australia Day.  Maybe I need to change that from now on.

Something different

I just saw a great idea.  It's different.  And I like different sometimes.  Recently I found a blog that piqued my interest and have been following.  This is the latest post from Thrifted Treasure. 

There is something fun going on in Blogland, here's how it works...

- I will make a handmade gift for the first 3 people who comment on this post.

- I have 365 days to do it in...

- What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise!

The catch is you must participate as well:

- You must have a blog and before you leave your comment here, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going.

Many blessings

Thick as a brick

I've been silent on here for a week or so.  Mainly because life has been fairly hum drum.  Nothing much happening between working and sleeping.  However, there has been a hidden story line going on. With the end of my business there is the inevitable 'clean up' of everything.  The most major of these of course was firstly getting a job and now paying off the debt. 

Recently the bank called and we had a good chat.  Out of that came the paperwork. 

I had two weeks to complete a stat dec giving my current financial situation and a proposal on how I would like to pay the debt. This totally overwhelmed me.  I just looked at it and thought about it... and looked at it some more.

Finally, realising I had to send it no later than last mail yesterday I started doing something with it on Monday.  It is in the mail and should have been received today.

The interesting thing about this is the automatic behaviours within myself.  I have been in situtations like this before where I come up against something that 'scares' me in some way and I procrastinate.  In my mind it grows and becomes far greater spectre.  However, the moment I make a start on it the spectre shrinks and shrivels until the job is done and is 'suddenly' non-existant. 

Why do I do this?  Why do I not learn this lesson?

New adventures in crochet

As you might recall I had a friend of a friend talking about a knitting technique called entrelac.  This of course made me google it and find out a bit more about it, which led me to the discovery of entrelac crochet.  Entrelac crochet uses a Tunisian crochet stitch called the TSS - tunisian simple stitch (I will at a later time investigate other tunisian stitches).  This is a very easy stitch to do and creates a wonderfully dense almost woven look and texture. 

 I had bought some yarn on special a while back and had seen a scarf for my sister in the balls of yarn that I had thought were going to be a loose knit.  I tried it a few different ways but it just wasn't coming together so I decided to go the TSS crochet. 

I am teaching myself along the way on the best ways of doing this so it's by no means perfect but I am enjoying doing it and the results.  I am alternating the direction of the stitch with each colour so that there is an added dimension of texture.

As you can see I do have an issue with the end curling but I'll deal with that later. But just look at the 'wrong' side and see that lovely bobbly pattern and texture.

The killer ute

I borrowed my son's huge 4wd ute to collect some newly acquired chairs.  While for the most part I consider myself a reasonably good driver, I will say that as time has progressed, I have become less and less confident with reversing.  Hence I never attempt it as a rule.  However, my son likes his cars reversed into the yard and since I had borrowed his car I decided to do the right thing and reverse park the ute in his driveway.  There are several other vehicles in the double driveway and I was extremely conscious and cautious not to hit them.

I've swung in and been very happy that I  can clearly see that I'm not going to hit a car.  However, slowly backing in I realise that there is some resistance...a metal arch in a small garden off to one side of the driveway.  Dang...too far that way...ok... no damage done I'll just move forward and fix that up.  All of a sudden there's a crunching sound and I've opened my door so see the letterbox lid had been opened by the ute...so I've reversed up a little to free it, only this time it's pulling the whole thing with it..so I try to move forward a little.................

I think you get the idea.  In the end I just drove forward and parked the ute back in my yard and walked  back to find the post lying on the ground with the box flung open on the ground next to it.  I straightened the post.... but it's broken at the ground.

Entrelac Crochet

I was reading the blog of a friend of a friend whom I have recently met.  She is a mad keen yarn and textile freak and the knitting queen.  In her blog she showed off some knitting she was doing in a technique called entrelac knitting.  I had never heard of it.  so after seeing her impressive photo I went off to do some investigating. 

This created a dilemna!  I am a papercrafter and a cross stitcher and occassionally a crocheter although of late I've been doing some very very basic knitting.  This was just a means to an end.  Well.... in my googling travels I found entrelac crochet.  Of course, I couldn't just let it be now could I.  I had to give it a go.  And guess what?  It's quite easy to do although the written instructions were a little unclear at times.  So here it is....my first attempt at entrelac crochet.

New Acquisition

20 years ago I inherited a lovely big extension table from my mother.  It have been at her brothers and before that my grandmothers (I think).  When extended fully it will seat 10 - 12 people.  However, with no extension in it will seat 6.  I did get the chairs with it that included a carver but the years have seen the chairs gradually fall apart and then bits get lost or broken while waiting to be fixed.  Since the person who was going to fix them left 5 years ago and I know that I am not going to fix them I decided that it is time for them to go.  In the meantime I was given 6 matching but quite ordinary chairs to use.

The other day while just cruising through ebay I came upon 6 chairs that would match the table nicely.  I put in a bid and low and behold I won.  Today I borrowed my son's ute and went and collected them.  They are by no means perfect, but they blend in wonderfully.  The chairs were a bargain even allowing for some fuel money. 



However, the exercise will end up a tad more expensive with the consequences of me, a HUGE ute and reversing.  This story will be told another time.

New Year

Well, it is the beginning of yet another new year.  And like most, I'm sure you're saying let's hope it is better than the last, and I'm going to make sure it is by doing this or that or the other thing.  However, I have found that having had quite a few of these beginnings of new years with all the usual things said I have come to realise that we have no say in what happens at all....only in how we respond to what happens.

It is in that response that we choose whether what is going on is good, bad or indifferent.  That decision is based only on right that moment because how many times have we thought something was really good or really bad and then found that a consequence of that is not something we counted on?

It is in that moment we also choose our next action or response.  Again that decision is based only on the information we have at that moment so what comes after is out of our control.

So, what am I trying to say here?  I think what I am trying to say is that all the good thoughts, all the good intentions, all the New Year resolutions, all the common platitudes that we hear and say at this time of year are not important.  What is important is each moment we have and what we do with each moment.  So, with that in mind I offer a prayer for myself and all those I love and care about....

Lord give us direction and strength in each and every moment so that our lives in You are fulfilled to Your will and purpose.  Each moment  we are know Your love and presence even if we don't feel it.  Each moment we are thankful for Your provision and abundance.  And each moment we reflect You to the world around us.

Father, for those I love who do not know you yet I ask that You continue to protect them and draw them to You.   In Jesus name Amen.