For the elusive million dollar stratchy ticket on Christmas morning.

I love this photo.

In amongst the crazy Christmas get-togethers, food fests, unwrapping of a bazillion presents, washing up yet again and again and again, this photo reminds me that this is my wonderful little family. My very own one-in-a-million lottery ticket.

It’s nearly all done

• Work is finished for the year (today)
• All presents accounted for and sent (today)
• Most social stuff done (tonight)
• Santa Photos done (yesterday)

We braved the crowds yesterday and I had a private laugh when I heard Hamish ask Santa “How old are you?”.

“Well”, said Santa, “see your Mum and think how old she is, and then think how old her Mum is and her Mum’s Mum….like that. Hundreds of Years old”

This satisfied the Giant Child (who is now in size 5 shoes and only 7 and a bit years) who I told to go and pick out some nice clothes for the Santa photo. He came back in the first t-shirt and shorts he found (the ones from the day before that he had flung into the wardrobe instead of the dirty clothes basket, cause they were DIRTY), and his red Crocs.

I asked him to change and he pointed out that I had said he could choose whatever he wanted.

Really. What do I care. It’s a snapshot in time and one day we will laugh at those who wore Crocs too (myself included).

Miss K, on the other hand, changed three times and popped some lip gloss on.

Sigh. Love my kids.

(here’s a quick video of the kids on our Queensland Holiday)

So on that note, I wish a Merry Christmas to all, and hope that Santa, however old he is, makes it to your house at some stage this year.

1. Noro Kureyon, 2. Kyoto, 3. Marlene, 4. Vestular, 5. kaela, 6. IMG_0635, 7. silky jonna, 8. habu too, 9. habu2, 10. moebius, 11. Tour de Lance, 12. DSC00106, 13. Habu too, 14. Habu, 15. red twist, 16. plum twist, 17. habu cardi, 18. fishy, 19. stripes, 20. glovettes

Is good I fink.

There’s a bunch of stuff there. I went through some colour stages but certainly not enough RED! Must address that next year.

I think that 8 of these got to stay with me and the rest went to new homes.

I have been flipping and flopping between inspirations since the Jacket was finished.

Hankering to start something else but not wanting a huge project, I dug out my 200 Crochet Blocks book and got a bunch of the Moda Dea Cupcake yarn out of hiding. (Ohhhh Med Dea – from Spottttttttlight – yarn snobs run away! …..  )

I have always liked the idea of a Babette’s Blanket but all those leeeeetle teeeeeeny tiiiiiiny squares and joining them together didn’t every seem appealing.

And, for me, reading a crochet pattern and getting the same result as the pattern is two different things. Maybe because I am left-handed and all reference books were for right handers when I was learning. I have had to teach myself along the way. I don’t know. It doesn’t come naturally. But I would like it to.

So.

Presenting square 1 of startin’ and finishin’

It’s Willow.

I love how it turned out.

I had planned to  make different squares that didn’t necessarily match.

Then today, when skimming through Bloglines Sarah pointed me towards this lovely blog/idea. Low and behold, they have started with a great plan, AND WILLOW IS ON THE LIST! I am already ahead! (Heh heh). It seems like a good portable plan for what I perceive is going to be a STINKY HOT SUMMER!

So that’s the plan Stan. Startin’ something and hopefully finishin’ something. Don’t know what. Could be fun though.

That’s what I named the colourway of the Mess that I dyed up a few days ago.

It’s anything but messy though.

It’s a lush vibrant range of all colours I can think of and spun up into 490m and 230gm worth of beautiful soft merino silk slub.

Sadly I can’t seem to capture the colours in the photos as much as when I see the yarn. It stops me every time and a little smile escapes.  Vibrant blues, muted blues, oranges, yellows, rust, olive, white, vermillion, plum, it’s all there.

Now to find a pattern to really make it work. Any suggestions? Here’s the specs……

MESSY MOUSE = 3 skeins total = 490 meters = slub/thick thin =  lush!

Silly season ( silly post )(venting ahead – you have been warned).
Just went to the post office to send a Parcel to Denmark.  Not my usual friendly post office though. Ran into the bigger post office. The one on the way to town.

The lady asked me over. I plopped the parcel down. The weight of the parcel was 505grams.

I looked and the lady looked. I said ( perhaps a little cheekily) ” Would that go as 500grams? “

The lady snorts at me. Says ” not with today’s revenue”. She walks off

Hrmpfff

The other Post lady looks at it. Says “put it back on and let’s have a look”. ( I think, wrongly, that she’s going to let it go) She weighs it. 505 Grams

I ask forlornly how much it will cost.

$26 something she says.

I ask how much it will cost if it’s under 500gms.

She says “$15.60….. not that much difference really”.

Hrumph I think.  In what world is that “not much difference”. In another time I would let that go but I think “buggar it, it’s Christmas, every little bit helps” (and I am feeling stubborn now, goaded into being a bit pig-headed).

I unpack it.

Get a lighter envelope to send it all.

Weigh it without the extra card I put in.

It weighs 487grams.

I check the card.

Stupid card weighs 17 grams.

She prints out the postage and starts the process of the parcel…..air mail sticker, contents disclosure….drivers license….

I plonk the card on the scales again. “How much would it cost to send this to Denmark?”

She glances over, scans the weight and before I know what had happened she has printed off a $2.10 stamp, put it on the card and whisked the card to the huge post basket to send stuff.

I look at her. She looks at me.

I say “Actually, I need that back. It doesn’t have an address on it.” It does, however, have a HUGE smiley face scribbled over the front of it (as it was something I planned on throwing into the parcel).

And then I say “Actually, I didn’t ask for a stamp, I asked how much that would cost to send”.

She gets it out of the basket, smiley face and stamp intact.

She gives it back and says petulantly “I can take the stamp off if you want me to”.

What I want is to not be there anymore. It’s all too hard. I don’t think she wants me to be there either.

I feel hassled into leaving the stamp on. But I have to ask for a sticker to put on the front of the envelope to hide the smiley face.

I fill out the form, stick it on the card, scribble a message on the back of the package (now sealed) along the lines of ‘card to follow – an extra $10.00 to include in the parcel’….and get ready to go.

She says “Um, I need the $2.10″.

Crap. I’d forgotten to pay. ***

I scrabble through my wallet. I JUST USED THE LAST OF MY CASH ON THE PARCEL!

Crap.

I have to do an eftpos for $10.00 to pay for the bloody stamp that I didn’t want in the first place. Crap.

Finally I escape out of there….

The moral of the story?

Always go to Mr Nice Local Post Office where they would say…”5 grams? Don’t worry about it love”….

*** She charged me for a Letter to Denmark too – only worked that out 2 hours later when I was thinking how expensive that Christmas Card was.

(EDITED to add the bit that seemed to not save earlier- sorry if the post left you hanging….)

It’s a beautiful blue sky Saturday.  There’s a millions reasons to have a big smile on my face. Here’s a few.

The kids and I camped out in my room and had a big sleep in.

I put on rage and they had a heap of old videos that I have been singing along to at the top of my voice.

Hey Kids! Come and look at this – this was my FAVOURITE song at one time when I was young. I remember when this guy burst on the scene and I was completely mesmerized. It seemed so different and amazing.***

I spun up some Mess and couldn’t be happier with it if I tried. Will post about it when it dries (wonder if I blow on it that it will dry quicker ).

The spotty angry rash boy is healing quickly.

Kaela came first in her 400m race at Little Athletics yesterday. I was so proud. Yes, it was the 2nd heat and she was in the slower heat but the look on her face and the spurt of energy she put out when she heard me cheering her on bought tears to my eyes.

Stevie has rung in many times from Singapore to get progress checks.

We are off to a HUGE party of all our favourite friends and accompanying tribes of children. (The kids go to a lovely school that is in the same area as a lot of our friends that we knew before we moved so it’s a lovely combination of good old friends and good new friends).

*** Wow – was looking for the Adam Ant Link and came upon this. Interesting. poignant – but not at all in keeping with these thoughts.

Have a great weekend all.

This is a face of an unhappy itchy boy.

Don’t know what brought on the “extreme allergic reaction” although we believe it could be a reaction to a Grevillea plant/tree ” as the dermatologist told us today.

An emergency appointment was scheduled today after a rushed visit to doctors yesterday afternoon when, after school, I discovered Hamish covered in a ghastly rash ( no visions of sugar plums dancing in my head , just visions of a solo mum pushed over the edge with a possible contagious/housebound child for several days). The relief for me was palpable. The relief for Hamish was even greater as he thought he was going to have a needle or some such torture.

So it’s a good dose of some type of steroidal medicine and some you beaut super-dooper anti-itch cream slathered everywhere, coupled with a good $200 out of pocket (crap) and Bob’s your uncle.

There seems to be a recurring pattern when Steve goes away ( I think last time it was Tim and a poke in the eye and a trip to the vets ) ( that last sentence sounds like ” it was Professor ? with the candlestick in the library” ). (Cindy will explain).

Hmmm. And it’s the first of another 11 of the “solo parenting at the busiest time of the year” day saga as told by me in a whine/grizzle tone.

I won’t do this everyday. Promise.

I had one of those days yesterday. One where you don’t think you get much done.

(I named this ‘mess’ as it was the way I felt when I did it)
What I did do….

• Stripped all the beds and gave the linen a wash.
• Mopped the floors of the house
• Vacuumed all the dust bunnies and beagle fur away
• Dyed some yarn
• Dyed some fibre
• Spun two bobbins of fibre
• Washed the dishes (gaaaaah – dishwasher is cactus)
• Took Hamish to the Doctors
• Went to the Chemist
• Cooked dinner
• Adjudicated constant barrage of arguments from children
• Sorted 3 baskets of laundry and starting packing for Steve (who is off to Singapore for 11 days….sans family)
• Knit up this little beauty in my moomilk.

And yet I felt like I didn’t do much.

(Spun Sea Urchin)

What I didn’t do was clean the house properly.

Or get some Christmas Shopping Done

Or de-clutter Hamish’s room

Or pick up all the mess on Kaela’s floor

Or sweep the front porch

Or Or Or…..

(Spun Sea Urchin)

(This is a Stripes - Christmas scarf I knit for my Danish Dad, from my Politically Incorrect Fibre Hand spun).

Today is only 20 days till Christmas Day (and the kids could probably tell me how many hours/minutes/seconds till the Big Bloke in Red sneaks in and drops off stuff to them).

I heard the kids playing with kids ‘from across the road’ yesterday. They were finding Cicada Shells everywhere and were tossing them up in the air and shouting their “wishes” to the sky, then STOMPING on them. I could hear Hamish….

I want a “Stairs House” *

I want a Play Station

Shouting loud into the sky so their wishes could be heard by Santa.

Cute Non?

I wondered what I would shout up into the sky

I want ???…….

I am sure the list would be long but a cook/cleaner would be high on the list.

What would you shout up into the sky?

* A “Stairs House” is what Hamish calls a 2 storey house. I don’t know why. He always has. I personally don’t want a stairs house. It would only make my wish for the cleaner (with a vacuum) only more relevent.