Is that it?

It seems there is a record, skipping over and over in my head and it is making me exceptionally depressed.
"It dosen't matter if you're unhappy, as long as you're financially secure. Don't plan for your personal or emotional future, just make sure you have money in the bank."
Is this all there is?

Creative - with tea and scones!

In the past, I have been a 'satellite member' of a craft group that is way out the other side of town, a good hour there and back. It takes up most of my Saturday if I decide to go, so I have decided to start my own, local craft group. A bit of a shout out on Facebook brought about a few positive responses, so I think it should be a success! First get together is on the 5th September!

Stop Putting it Off!

Get off the computer and do something you've been meaning to do and just haven't got around to doing it yet! I did it today. I sorted out all of my boarding passes, pamphlets, ticket stubs, bits & pieces from my trip to Nepal, India and the Maldives (that I did in 2007!) and stuck them into a little book. Now it's done! I can now look back at all the little bits and pieces from my trip and get all nostalgic about the happy memories!

In Search of the Ideal Diary

It is around this time of year that diaries for next year start appearing in stores. I am an avid keeper of a diary. I have diaries dating back to 1995 at home that I am loathe to part with. I like looking back over them and remebering what I was doing and who came along. I have my diary from when I was in year 12 which has entries such as "English exam - blegh!" and "Last day of school FOREVER!!!!", there are little hand written notes in there from friends, one friend went through and put her and her boyfriends monthly anniversaries in my diary....I think they broke up around May. I have the diary from when I first moved to Adelaide, little things like "Budgie arrives", marking the date that Oscar, my dear departed 10 year old budgie first came into my life, "Interview at such and such". Looking at these appointments takes me back to the times and the places and I can almost feel the emotions that I experienced at the time.

Selecting a diary has become a really important ritual in my year. I have a whole set of rules that I apply to my diary and I will not stop looking until I find perfection. A few years ago, 2005 to be precise, I had "The Perfect Diar", published by Bigh Stick Productions. It was pretty damn near accurate to it's title. It was A5, came with 2 pads of post it notes, a good quality felt tip pen, note paper, graph paper (for when one wants to pump out a bit of long division on the train), there was even paper where you could write music! It had a selection of art, photography and poetry from little know Australasian artists and it was just a fun diary to have. My only beef with it was the same as my beef with about 90% of diaries on the market. Saturday and Sunday are half the size of the rest of the week!

Sure, lots of people use their diary for work, writing in appointments etc, but I have Microsoft outlook for that! My busy times are my weekends, I need more space for them than I do on my weekdays. My weekday entries usually consist of things like "Pump class 7:15" or a couple of words about what we might be having for tea, occasionally there will be a meeting for something or a coffee catch up, but seldom more than one or two things.

Weekends on the other hand are more like
-Meet Sarah for Brekky 8am @ Cafe Blah
-Pump class with Nicola 10:30am
-Lunch with Mum and Dad in Stirling 12:00
-Coffee with Judy 3pm
-Dinner at Amy & Iliyas 6:30pm (take wine)

And diary publishers want me to put that in a space half the size of what they've provided me week days!

Maybe I need to go into diary production and produce a diary for people who work 5 days a week then live on the weekends! So far, I have discovered a selection of diaries that do cater for me. The Australian Women's Health Diary, Paperblanks and I think the 'Cheese' diary also is generous with weekend space. I am glad that diaries come out so early before the start of the new year, it gives me plenty of time to find the perfect diary!

A Crochety Old Woman

Last night, my Mum in Law, Chris, taught me how to crochet. I had intended to learn knitting before this winter was out, and while there is still time to learn that art, I am all about the hook at the moment!

Once she got me going, my cup of tea went cold, but my hands stayed warm. I could have sat on the big sofa all night, in front of the fire, Pippa, the little dog, curled beside me and my hands working away at this ever growing disc of cream coloured wool, materialising in my hand.

I got home and did some more, then I got on the train this morning and did more again! Then lunch time, I went and bought a cuppa at the cafe downstairs from work, and sat in the sun and crocheted some more! I am addicted! I love it! I am not quite sure what I am making, it is looking more like a beanie with every treble I do, althought I had hoped for more of a beret! But the world is my oyster!

I can't wait to be 70!

Product Review - Lindt Excellence with a Touch of Sea Salt

With a touch of what? Salt? In Chocolate? That ain't right!
Is what I thought when I saw this on the shelf last week. Curiosity bubbled away in me for a few days until today, when I took the plunge and bought a block.

First bite: couldn't taste salt, nope, just chocolate, dark chocolate, bittersweet, good quality chocolate...chew chew chew, swallow......oo! Salt! Hello!
Second bite: Chocolate, chocolate, saltiness, chocolate, chocolate.
And so on until the last bite (can I just say here that I only had one square? How's that for self control!).

So as you can see, the dominant flavour in this unusual concept, is chocolate. The salt is not overpowering or particularly thirst inducing. I find in some dark chocolates (in particular, anything over 70%) I get a bit of saltiness anyway, so this one wasn't particularly controversial tasting to me.

I would recommend it to anyone who likes dark chocolate and feels like a little teeny bit of difference (emphasis on teeny - the salt is only 3%).

Creative AND organised!

This was my project for this afternoon. I bought some nice fabric (you can't really see it in much detail) with a light pattern and covered the cork part of the pin board with it, then suck little pins in and hung all my finery on it.
I deliberated for some time over the fabric. I love strong colours, in particular reds (which you can probably see from my jewellery!) but I figured a simple light tone would be a great back drop as the jewellery has provided all the colour and texture. I think it looks artistic as well as being practicle!