No another boring title,Its Saturday!!!

I really should be hanging the washing,Ive tidied kitchen and had the floor swept so really should also mop,theres a funny smell here some place but after walking around Ive determined its coming in from outside,I think something is still soaked after the massive storm late last evening.
It was an orange radar storm and we copped the middle,I thought the trees were going to snap,I got a couple of good pics and a video,

 As you may gather,it doesnt rain here much....

And in the gloom of the approaching storm,the Grevilleas glowed

And another local Blogger I found, Robbies back Yard,wonderful photographs!
http://robbiesbackyard.blogspot.com.au/

Up,Up and Away!

Finally the realization Im free of study for three whole months is sinking in,I have reorganized my lounge room to have the sewing table in a better spot,for summer anyway,got two knitting projects out,the Vestish vest is nearly done,Atilier is nearly done,two socks of two different pairs are,well I have to start second sock but other second sock nearly done.
I have the Knitters Loom sitting there with a fine wool yarn loaded and I have the old Louet S10 wheel with some handdyed merino optim top being navajo plied,Im hoping Im not plying it the wrong way as its been sitting there for over two years and bit set in twist. Its destiny will be determined once Ive washed it.
Meanwhile i love this site
http://oliverands.com/blog/ and in it is this pattern for which I saw some beautiful fabric in Esperance,at $39 per metere is pricey but when I see a colour or pattern I have to have it lol, like this one http://oliverands.com/sis-boom-patterns/OLV-SB-Devon-D.html . I still have to start filling VD with ideas for finals too.
Another old pic!,Freisa one of the best smelling roses around,Im after a climbing one that will smell like it for an arch iI would like to build near my quiet corner,it will be a secret garden by the time I finish!

Another week goes by

and Im not the only one to to comment how long it was,I feel shattered myself so it was a bit of glad news to learn my Catholic School son only has three weeks left.That means no lunches to be made at 5.30 in the morning.I can set alarm at 6am,have a cuppa ,a quick bit of house keeping,dishwasher,washing hung etc and clean up Bunny mess.
He proclaimed his maths test was easy, though hes not sure if he answered the questions in the English one "right",hes knows science is a problem and so is Sose. I can see a bit of tutoring next year for English as they have high standards and hes only has three chances to pass it to gain his Year 12 Cert.
Life still not back to normal after our nocturnal visitors last weekend,i have a usable credit card but still cant access my real money,hoping this week as I need to get three Christmas Pressies to be out of the poo,as long as they all have something each it doesnt matter if I can do more. On my quick trip in today I checked out what the jewelers had in their sale,I have to get something special for my Auntie as shes done so much to keep Mum on the straight and narrow,I know roughly what I want now,its ll be simple to buy Mum a pair of earings,I always pick something I would wear myself,post if expensive so sending clothes is out.Im thinking something sparkly for Mother but a pearls for fav Aunty,Id drop a hint for boys get them for me too but the dollars are hard to find this year especially as one is unemployed. I might trest myself something for Christmas but havent worked out what,with enough wool to fill a shop I better not go hunting in that direction. Ive gained a bit of weight and a lot of my new clothes are a bit firm,maybe that will be a functional gist to myself. A trip to the online Quilt shop might be in the running too. I need to put one together for above Aunty as well. Something like this,Sugar Pop it has to easy but effective and a bit 30ish as I know shed love that. Just a few links that took my eye tonight...

• http://www.modabakeshop.com/2010/12/sugar-pop-n-change-quilt.html
• http://www.fatquartershop.com/love-joy-design-roll
• http://www.artsyfartsymama.com/
• http://www.pineneedlesonline.com/shop.htm
• http://www.fatquartershop.com/orange-pekoe-urbana-quilt-kit  This I like for me cause its got orange and blue in it, ")Theres so many to choose from I had to shut page,,,

Its so cold!!

Its hard to believe but a change has moved through with rain,I was back to winter jackets today,it was cold at work but lucky I hadnt brought my big Beta Hunt Husky home for a wash,it a bit hmm homely but kept the wind off me,sooo tired,yesterday has caught up.
Let me bring the full story up. 2.15 on Monday morning I was woken by Tilly being ferocious ,I got out of bed,and carefully walked down the hall,the lights were all out,finding the front door open by about three feet and Fluffa perched there sticking his nose outside,my immediate thing was close the door and check both the Bunnies were ok,thinking the wind blew the door open cause the latch is a bit dodgy.Not thinking much of it,I went into kitchen turned on light and gave bunnies a bit of cereal as they were literally sitting on my feet. I noticed my wallet was not where I left it, hmm not quite right! Checked for Hubbys shop bag and hmm not there at usual spot,bugger,went back to bedroom woke Hubby and asked him where did he leave bag,now Hubby is not a fast processor of information when woken and considering he'd consumed two six packs of VB a couple hours before,any wonder.I went back out and sussed if anything else was gone while Hubby staggered down hall,starting to panic by now, was exclaiming NoNoNo (its was a disaster if he lost bag),I sensibly went out to work car and checked ,there was bag,,thank God,Son had forgotten to bring it inside but he had locked car.
 We quickly determined by mutual agreement that wed been done over,the next hour was spent calling police,banks to cancel cards etc, this also transpired to  a full working day from 2.15am to 9.30 that night. Heres where the funny comes in,while at work I had to do some extra stuff for Boss and while doing that I noticed my birdies being abnormally cranky about something like a snake or a goanna up in the tree level. I couldn't see what it was but was going to take a closer look later as Id noticed the same behavior earlier in breeding season when they lost a chicken.Anyhow at this time our lovely front desk lady who doubled as science techie was cleaning out crap from her area so she was up on the second level looking down on us. She called me quite insistently to come up to her straight away and me thinking oh shes seen a carpet snake( that would have been exciting),but no,low and behold there were our wallets thrown up on the roof of walkway.So today we got them back from police who did the usual finger print job and no luck,we are still non the wiser which little sod did it,this a small town we may find out from kids  later I hope,for I want dearly to ring their blasted necks. We re waiting for new cards to arrive and its caused no end of bother, right when Im trying to grab bargains for Christmas and remember its a tight one for us this year. I have ten dollars to use for essentials and I may be able to scratch together a few gold coins,it will be fish and chips,pizza and burgers for a while lol from our shop. So here we sit waiting for life to return to normal,re access to money...and I cant put payment on Credit card either which is bothering me.
On a good point we think we ve solved son dilemma,another blokes taking up the empty spot for auto leckies ,he ll be back in employment in few days if all goes to plan.
On my own occupation hoping things will swing better for me next year if not earlier when Im comfortable,meantime Ive been doing this.This years batch of cards to special people,mostly water colors with Pebeo inks, they have a glorious subtle luminosity to them in the native theme as usual.Some finished,some nearly there.

And this,a bit of patchwork!! I love having a few days off,well Wednesday Friday and weekend together,Im exhausted today,the drams of Monday has caught up.

Cant wait to finish it, with a three month break from study I hope to get Son no 2 quilt done,well I hope I can,the kit was a good one and ceratinly not the colours I thought but its a very conservative male one.If I can get it done this month or even early December he can have it as an extra Christmas Pressie!

The Last Week

This is it,the last week of the SP for me,Im committing to the next one as time off,time to finish quilt top,get christmas cards in order (making at least five),cleaning garden up,yer right in the heat hmm,Ill still be working but the nights and week ends will be mine for the next three months

 have to cut and trim back trees,getting the building materials out of there would be a bonus but that entails me learning to weld too so the said materials can be shifted from current position. The far right corner of yard under the giant bottle brushes is lining up to be a nice little retreat area,Ill lay sugar cane mulch down to mark beds and clear out debris from twelve months from palm tree and grass pulled from vegie garden,what ever I plant will have to be bunny inedible though so no lillies which is a shame,maybe the cordata plants,scarlet pea.
Below is a sock Ive been working for a while,its from EGMTKs bought from the Toodyay Retreat,my own pattern, basic 60 sts with a 4x4 cable repeated up one side of sock,fits beautifully too.

This week I start an online test through Curtin,20 questions and a few on references apparently,I can log in and work, saving answers as I go, need at least 70% to get a credit for whole unit as essays have averaged this time in the high 60s,Im not disappointed the important work is to come which is why Im planning on using the time off study to put together a Visual Diary of ideas and some preliminary works ,hopefully even a few major ones .I have at least four project unit to do next year. If I could take twelve months off I could finish in a year and half but with the job situation Ill be staying in job. My sons employer committed the worst thing a couple of weeks ago and as a result the company has folded leaving my son with a year to finish his apprenticeship.They have to find some place for him apparently but for a young man with bills to pay its been a shock for him. I can understand the mans for doing it,its hard when your mind gives up but I feel for his youngs children,his son's in the same situation as my own boy, but I think he ll be well looked after by his tradie Mum and mates.My son has an awesome name already,just hope theres something out there soon.The economic situation is getting worse,school budgets cut back ( I may be working alone next year), people are advertising breaking leases in Kal more and more due to loss of jobs,how ca anyone still pay $500 + a week unemployed. Anyway I have my Christmas budget and am going to stick it. Boys have their main gift wish list and it fit in my list,as long as we ere together thats all I need.

The heat has caught up

Today it was only around 38 but I felt it in the wind and the humidity,gross,I walked through the air conditioned office a few times to feel what cool was,lol.
Am a little excited, a little guilty but a little relieved,Ive decided to take the next SP off for health,unit availability and the chance to get some headway on the ideas for final works
Im hoping to explore the dead forests of the Warrumbungles after the fires,mixed media,lino prints, oils,photography,this will be the first step in the final work portfolio of last year.That way Im ahead a bit more when
I do the units.

I dont have much free time at the moment, a whole pile of study ,readings and revisions for an online test starting Monday week,so tired I cant seem to get enough sleep,went to a funeral of a local bloke yesty,had to stand in semi shade for two hours,it was a long service,now I have migraines to contend with as well.
Anyhow as I havent taken any pics for a while I thought Id add these from Paddys Graduation night,I really did look much more slender in the bathroom mirror


Pat dresses very well as do all the boys when occasion needed that extra...

Unlike his ahem, scruffy older brother who decided at last minute to come with us.That face is now clean as a babys bum,he shaved and cleaned up beautifully out of respect for the bloke whos funeral we attended,it was the boss of the business Hew works for,as sad as his passing may be,he left a mess for everyone to pick up. I hope business carries on for his family and for my boy as he still has 12 months of his apprenticeship to go.
Im still working alone,offsider finally quit and I expected it,he didn't have the "go" for the job or simply lazy I don't know,unfortunately what I warned my manager at the beginning has rung true.I will have a relief in a few weeks but for now Im doing two peoples work,routine helps out but cutting corners makes it much easier as well,until a spanner gets chucked in the works. I'm forced to set sprinklers up and as much I can avoid doing it at times that annoy other staff, sometimes its unavoidable. I was running behind,it was very dry and there was a possibility of plant loss or damage if I didn't water them.
Staff complained to manager now instead of giving me a hoy as I walked past, to turn off retic at that particular little spot as the class decided to ignore instruction from both teacher and aide and dance in the mud etc,lol,lack of control plus cranky pants EA equals?... a call to the office,I m not particularly upset,I have several options of which none affect me, stop water to that patch of lawn,let it die,one less thing for me to worry about,stop volunteering my own time I dont have, to water that teachers school project,its not part of my duties so to speak,(I take payment in the odd fresh carrot as I water the kitchen garden). Im sure the EA would love to run a bit harder to do the stuff I do to help that teacher. Funny enough that EA is rather keen to be a FB friend,lol,good old FB, I should close account but because my uni buddies are on there,Ive already started to weed out the so called friends list,most of which wouldnt even say good day when I see them in person,such a weird world we live in. Anyhoo,I go speak with teacher next week,find out who made call and apologize for inconvenience but explain why it happened.The fact she took an obvious back step when she came across me later on that day shows shes expecting a response,normally shes gushing with gratitude etc and friendly(her first appointment as a teacher ,mature student,after being an EA for years) normally, I tell her of course Im there to help with her feral class when the gardening session comes up. Shall be interesting.edited to add said teacher terribly upset at what happened,we had a talk and sorted.
Something else I have to, or not, deal with  before Christmas is the question of having too much Annual leave apparently. Received a letter from Department stating they want me to use up at least 70% of accrued leave,around 59 days I think, either taking it partially as a lump sum or taking set amounts of leave before the end of 2014. I spoke to boss and made the determination I wasnt walking away from work for a period of time that would destroy all the work Ive put into the place,I intend a short trip to see Mother in early 2014,another four weeks in either May or September if not both.The WA Government has made offers for voluntary redundancies from Government jobs,a huge response though no wonder,3 weeks pay for every year worked? I think, roughly 28,000 plus a bit extra if log service leave is calculated in,if I took up offer at 8 years of work.Imagine working for them for 20 years or so! Majority of those who took it up were over fifty and female apparently. Anyhow my position isnt one they will wipe being a senior one in charge of ground though union did warn they might put  assistant position on hold as budgets are being slashed.Mind you if I could get a lump sum and put it away or even use a littel towards that Honda Ive been coveting,I might think of it,but I know it ll put me over income limit and the Tax department will simply take it before it lands in bank for Help debt.Result I lose holidays. Simply I may need them to deal with family issues such as sick Mum or myself. I took 5 weeks to go home and bury my Dad,staying with Mum on her property for Christmas,she would have been on her own had we didnt stay,mind you it wasnt fun,mossies and no airconditioner,limited food access,three boys sick with mossie bugs,we were glad to get home. A nice holiday would be nice but that out of reach for a while.
Im taking my melancholy self off to do a quick shop up,lotto,then study.