It's my life, It's now or never......

new blog

2009-03-24T15:48:00.001+09:00

http://charscraftydays.blogspot.com/

This blog did not feel right - so I created a new one - if you would like to find me click the above link and change your bookmarks.

See you at the new blog

Chars x

Movember....

2008-11-07T15:54:00.004+09:00

Hubby joined Mo-vember this year to raise funds for Beyond blue and prostrate cancer...

If you would like to donate to this worthy cause - all donations $2 and above are tax deductable... (if you are Australian)

https://www.movember.com/au/donate/donate-details.php?action=sponsorlink®o=1472856&country=au

Here is a progress picture of hubby with his 7 day old mo...

Thanks for the support :) Happy MO-VEMBER TO all...

Thankyou Bikini Wrap

2008-10-22T12:56:00.004+08:00

I have been participating in the secret pal exchange at the www.crochetville.org Its been LOTS of fun :) I can't reveal who my secret pal is yet as shhh its a secret and my package to her is still en-route. BUT I can say a HUGE thankyou to the lady who was my secret pal - WHOM I KNEW AS BIKINI WRAP - Her ville name is GGROSE.

Anyway - A HUGE THANKYOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART FOR YOUR GENEROUSITY!

Here are the photos - minus some of the candy which my children and DH have already eaten whilst I was looking for the camera...

I got totally spoilt rotton - So a HUGE thankyou GGROSE and I will be staying in touch - I have enjoyed our emails and your friendship!

long time - no blog

2008-10-22T11:27:00.004+08:00

Sorry its been so long in between blog posts - but life has a habit of getting in the way here...

I will just post some update photos of what I have been working on crochet wise...

Here is the picture of the FALL/AUTUMN dishcloth that I sent to Kimberly - I quite liked it and I used the first few rounds of the round ripple pattern as my dishcloth pattern.

Next comes my progress on my round ripple - Its getting bigger...

But the bigger it gets the slower the progress :)

Day 1 - ripple progress

2008-09-24T11:48:00.003+08:00

A friend of mine has a son with Nephrotic Syndrome. A crochet group that I belong to does alot of charity work and normally even though I would like to help I am really busy with my family and I don't have time to help. But this story touched me deeply - I guess children being sick touch anyones hearts. So I have offered to help with a challenge to get as many of these 12 point stars for Children with Nephrotic Syndrome completed so that they can be given to the children for comfort reasons.

Here is the progress I made in a couple of hours - and I will post update pictures until my ripple is completed.

Why won't my printer work?

2008-09-24T11:29:00.003+08:00

Yesterday I was trying desperately to figure out what was wrong with my printer - hmmm I think the video picture says it all? I wonder why??

Meet Princess

2008-09-24T10:29:00.003+08:00

Finally here are some pictures of princess - The Jack Russell Terrier that we got from the pound. She has been a bit of an escape artist - but we now keep her on a 25metre chain and she still has the run of the yard without escaping out of the yard.

She is now a much loved a part of the family and the kids love to take her for walks.

Meet Mischief...

2008-09-15T20:46:00.003+08:00

The newest member of our tribe - Isn't he cute :)

What I sent Debbie

2008-09-11T11:08:00.004+08:00

Hi all...

Debbie received my swap so I can post the picture of what I sent her :) A pretty apricot coloured dishcloth and 10 grannies daughters.

My Favourite colour swap - crochetville.org

2008-09-09T13:46:00.002+08:00

Today I received my lovely favourite colour swap from WOOMBA (kat) Via http://www.crochetville.org/ As you can see by the picture I was very spoilt. Thankyou Woomba I love the tote bag - and its going to be my new take everywhere bag. Also how on earth did you know that I needed a bag holder? LOL I also love the little handmade basket (that doesn't really show up in the pic) full of smelly soap, lovely handcream, and 2 washcloths. Plus a lovely rose brooch that again doesn't show up in the pic... and the cutest little turtle ami that my lil princess has claimed. Luckily she let me have it back just long enough to take the pic :)

Yep you guessed it - my favourite colour is PINK :)

Thankyou for being a wonderful partner and I hope to have mine in the mail to you soon.

Forgot to mention....

2008-08-30T09:55:00.003+08:00

Monday 1st September marks my return to study... I am studying towards a Bachelor of Community development through Open Universities and Murdoch Uni. I am doing it one subject at a time and my subject for this 13 week period is Reinventing Australia... Looks interesting though I am not looking forward to sitting the exam!!

Anyway - best go get the house ship shape

hugs xx

The last week - where has it gone?

2008-08-30T09:16:00.003+08:00

This past week has just FLOWN by...

Last weekend we done a major yard clean up - Andre done most of the work and for that we all say THANKYOU...

He brushcut some of the forrest that was our yard... We can't mow our yard due to 6 zillion rocks. I think the rocks were originally placed there so that you would not have to mow - but they did not account for the weeds?

We also got rid of alot of rubbish and vertually anything that we could remove that a snake might hide under....

I received a couple of lovely swaps in the mail... of which I will take photos of when I can remember to buy batteries for the camera...

I have also sent one swap and finished another...

Thursday we inherited a new member of the family... a Jack Russell Terrier Dog. Her name is PRINCESS :) She is an older dog - no idea of age... but she is fully trained and is great with the kids - she has not barked once and is almost obedient.

The ranger (that works with my husband) had her in the pound and Pincess was at the stage that no one wanted her and would have to be put down... So Andre and I decided to take her since we had the snake and dogs are great for letting you know that there are snakes in the yard... and after meeting Princess I know she is very loyal to her family and she would not let anything hurt the kids...

The newest member of our family is very much loved already I will post some pics when I buy batteries... LOL

I was after an exercise companion - Now I have princess... I have no excuse!!! As she needs her exercise too....especially as Jack Russell Terriers are a working dog with lots of energy... Thursday afternoon I took her for a walk along the beach and as I was unsure if she would come back if I called I kept her on the lead... I am not sure whom was walking who? She certainly has alot of strenth for a little dog!! For the observer it would have been quite funny watching me get dragged down the beach by this little dog... ha- ha!

Yesterday I finally made the move to get out of the house and went to playgroup. I took just Xanthe as the boys were in daycare for this initial visit and hard (for me) first step at socialising. Now that I have been - I am kicking myself for not going sooner...As all the ladies that I met were friendly and made me feel very welcome. I will definately be going back and yes next time I will take the boys :) Playgroup is held on Mon - Wed - Fri from 9-12.

Last night we had a farewell drinks for our neighbour Alison - She worked with Andre and is leaving the shire. I wasn't planning on drinking much so drove the car down- but alas the car is STILL parked at the pub... because after 3 UDL's I knew I was over the limit. We were home at 8pm so not a late one :)

This afternoon we are having some of his work collegues over for drinks.... so I had best get off the computer and get the house into shape...

Take Care and where-ever you are in this world - STAY SAFE

love n hugs xx

HONEY THERES A SNAKE IN OUR YARD!!!!

2008-08-22T20:54:00.004+08:00

Photo of a King Brown Snake from the web...

Imagine the scenario....

The phone rang - I walked out the front to chat as the boys were making a ruckus out the back near the kitchen…It was Andre on the phone and I turned to sit down on the chair that I have out there to watch the kids and out of the corner of my eye I caught a movement... the words "honey theres a snake in our yard" came out of my mouth with quiet urgency... the snake was probably a car length away from me…

I backed into the house and shut the door… not taking my eyes off the snake. I bolted through the house and dragged the boys into the house and locked the back door too...

Luckily though it wasn’t interested in us and looked to be just passing through the yard. It was making a bee line for the front gate and it was through the gate and long gone by the time André and the ranger - Helga arrived.

All day I have kept the boys locked in the house with me…. And I spent a good hour or 2 looking up pictures of snakes with them – trying to scare them and install some snake danger and positive things… Like freeze - shh!! stuff. Hard to do with 2 little boys that are into everything.

Today really freaked me out seeing the snake in the yard... especially when the snake this morning was in the front yard where the boys ride their bikes… and had been riding their bikes probably 2-3 mins beforehand.

It suddenly became real exactly how isolated and remote we are. Now I am totally paranoid and every shadow in the grass or movement I am thinking its a snake :(

Andre has borrowed a brush cutter and this weekend is going to be a working bee to make the yard clean so that if there is a snake in the yard its going to just pass through and not want to hang around…

I identified the snake via the photos on the web that it was a KING BROWN :( UGH - shudder!!!

Happy Birthday Xanthe - One already :)

2008-08-09T22:14:00.003+08:00

Riding my new bike!!

Wearing our new ELMO dress!!

Eating our party food !!!

Doily swap :) Thankyou Wanda

2008-08-07T09:57:00.002+08:00

I have received my doily from Wanda... it looks great on my kitchen bench :) Thankyou for making this beautiful cream doily for me.

Hugs xxx

Weigh in

2008-08-06T21:08:00.002+08:00

As promised here I am to report my start weight - 102.4 kg which is a bit over 225 lbs.

I weigh 100g less than when I started 3 months ago - which is roughly 3 oz

So far today I have been extremely good - lets hope the rest of the week remains the same :) I hope next weeks weigh in provides a good result then I might stay motivated ?

Peek - a - Boo....

2008-08-06T11:43:00.003+08:00

Anyone that knows us well - knows that we have been having problems with the twins sleeping habits since they made the transfer from cots to bunk beds in December 2007.

Recently I made the decision that I was going to sit with them in the room till they fell asleep - This seemed to work well... as with me in the room they did not play nor get out of bed - rather eventually went to sleep whilst I done some quiet activity... (wrote a letter or done some craft)

Last night Xanthe was having problems getting to sleep and was teething etc... so I couldn't sit with them like I would normally. SO with fingers crossed I put them in their beds in the hope that they would just follow normal routine - stay in their beds and fall asleep. No such luck. Andre and I could hear fits of giggles coming from the room... when we went to investigate - we discovered that Eamonn was playing peek-a-boo with Liam from under the covers. Very cute and sweet - but not when it was 9:30pm and way after bedtime.

Exmouth - Town Beach - Sunset - August 5th 2008

2008-08-05T21:39:00.003+08:00

Tomorrow is D-Day....

2008-08-05T21:25:00.004+08:00

This afternoon Andre and I went for a walk along the beach at sunset - It was nice and romantic :) More pics will follow this post... but I wanted to put the above pic into a separate blog post as when I saw this photo it clarified in my mind that I really need to lose weight. I have been struggling with this for months now... but realised after seeing this photo that its now or never... I am not getting any younger... and the older I get the harder its going to be.

Tomorrow is my usual weigh in day for weight watchers online. I have been a member for 3 months but have not lost anything - umm I actually think I have gained (which is not the programs fault as I have blown my daily points allocation every day and not exercised) and I will own up to that weight gain tomorrow if its the truth!! LOL and I will also reveal my weight tomorrow... which I am going to treat as my official starting weight on my weight loss journey!

Hey mum - the mail is MINE today

2008-08-05T21:07:00.004+08:00

The littlest princess is turning one on Saturday :) August 9th.... (where has that time gone?)

Today she received her birthday parcel from her Grammy and Pop (my parents) - I think her big smiles tell the story that she loved her pressie. Thankyou Grammy and pop :)

Thankyou! Thankyou! Thankyou!

2008-08-02T08:40:00.002+08:00

Yesterday i received this wonderful parcel of goodies from a wonderful new friend/swapper in Holland who was cleaning out her desk and decided to share :) As you can see from my deco entries below - I had fun playing with my new papers last night :) Thankyou sweetie - they are appreciated :)

Decos...

2008-08-02T00:01:00.002+08:00

I just finished signing some decos ... here they are

The first 3 are my entries in 3x IN THE BATHROOM dec0s ... and the last one is a hello kitty deco that I have made.

All of these Decos will be heading out as part of a mixed bag swap on the group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/elitedecos to my dear friend in Jordan.

I still have a few more decos to sign/make for this swap :)

One of the things I love about the elite decos list is that you can send a mix of established and new decos.

I feel that I have finally found my deco mojo again :) So maybe my self-imposed deco break was a good thing??

Watch this space - I'm in the mood to deco :)

Doily Swap

2008-07-30T22:54:00.004+08:00

I have just completed this doily for a swap held at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crochet4fun

I am a bit late sending my doily out :( But I am lucky that my partner understands that sometimes things in life happen... and I have had 2 little helpers that unpulled mummies hard work. SIGH!

I have not blocked it or ironed it - I really don't see the point since its travelling from Western Australia to Kellogg Idaho USA.

Since I have made poor Pat wait so long for this - I thought I would post the picture so she can see its finished and in the mail :) Well it will be tomorrow!!

This pattern comes from the JUNE 2008 issue of CROCHET WORLD Magazine... and is the doily entitled Bridal Shower Doily... I worked this using Panda 4ply cotton and a size 2mm hook. Totally not what the pattern called for ( but I don't have access to that here so substituted) I managed to get it to be the correct size for the swap - 10" So am pleased with that. I do admit though that I never completed the last round. I just could not do the picots... sorry Pat!! I think it looks good plain anyway :) What do you think??

Postcrossing

2008-07-30T20:36:00.002+08:00

Andre and I have plans to travel the world - but as we have to wait patiently until we have the $$ which will probably be when the kidlets have all left home - I have suddenly decided that I would like to start seeing more of the world via postcards :) So yes this means I have suddenly decided to start collecting postcards :)

I just signed up at www.postcrossing.com and have written on my first 2 postcards.

Postcrossing - PostcardID: AU-24403 is heading to Scott in Bridgewater, NJ USA

Postcrossing - PostcardID: AU-24404 is heading to Anne in Espoo FINLAND

When they are received my name will get handed out and I can't wait to see where I receive my random postcards from... Watch this space :) as I will post pics...

If anyone reading would like to swap postcards - leave me a comment with details on how to contact you....

New Day - New blog

2008-07-29T19:30:00.000+08:00

Sunday night I deleted my other 2 blogs... and if you are reading this then you have received an invitation to view my new blog.

I deleted my blogs for alot of reasons but the most important was that I was making a statement, but secondly I also wasn't happy with the way the other one was going. I've decided that I want my blog to be in one place... So that anyone that is reading this ? can read everything in my life in one spot.

So here you will read about

-Our day to day lives.... scenic pics and travel adventures

- My penpalling/swapping adventures (letters, fbs and goodies) :)

-My Craft adventures... what I am currently making, progress pics etc. Also any craft swaps that I might participate in :)

-Also anything else I may or may not want to comment about in society...and if you don't like my views... well move onto the next blog. I am entitled to my opinions like everyone else.

This blog is my personal viewpoint on my life...

If you read the blog... I appreciate comments :) Leave me a link to your blogs etc.