Washing and sewing

​the day had been filled with washing. Lots of washing. I didn’t do any over the weekend so I had three full loads 

I folded all the dry clothes to make room for all the fresh laundry 

In between I was going through my scrap bag as I needed more hexies made  

I’ve been working on and off stitching more hexies into the quilt top, and I can go through them quite quickly 

I had lots of 3 inch squares but the choice of colours wasn’t a huge amount  

I needed different colours or it would become quite monotonous 

You can see how different the new pieces are  

I’ll spend tonight stitching them ready to start adding to the quilt top 

I also cooked two meals tonight  I had a big tray of chicken thigh fillets 

One half went into the oven to make chicken and rice  

The second half I made Greek chicken soup 

I have an optometrist appointment tomorrow and while I’m in Cranbourne I’ll get a few things done  

That means by the time I get home I’ll be too tired to cook  

Crisis is now avoided 

Waking up

​the signs of the spring wake up are everywhere 

The daffodils came up first, unfortunately I forgot to take photos 

But other bulbs are now also coming up 

Irises, gladioli’s and I think the white flowers are a type of daffodil. I’m not sure. If you know please let me know  

My magnolia, I thought it had definitely died. But green shoots have started to grow 

My lemon and my orange trees are blossoming. The orange smells beautiful 

The apricot tree is also full of blossoms  over they set we will net 

The pots in front of the garden fence are all growing well. The bearded iris have multiplied in the pots 

The mulberry tree is full of fruit. We never get many as the birds are just too quick. This year I’ve netted it 

The other two are only just budding. Not sure why they grow different. The other two are white mulberry that might have something to do with it. 

We got lots of rain again over night 

This was a much bigger puddle, but our sandy soil means it quickly drains. This was hours after the storms were over. Usually it’s all gone by then, just shows how much rain we got 

The days are definitely lovely although the nights are still chilly 

We haven’t had the fire going. Just turn on the ducted system in the evenings and early morning 

Hopefully soon we won’t need heating at all. 

AI

​yes I know. I’ve watched all the shows of the eighties showing us how terrible it is 

But it’s fun 

Today I got some lovely photos of Georgia. Ana was playing with my bubble machine 

And Georgia was laughing and trying to catch them 

It made me think. How good would that look in a fairy scene. 

Unfortunately when I told AI to remove the background I forgot to tell it 

To keep the bubbles. 

It gave me two options 

Both adorable but missing the bubbles 

I then requested that the bubbles be kept in. And I thought. Well bubbles. 

Obviously she’s a mermaid 

 I then found a photo of Ana that I took a while ago. 

Once again I requested the background gone 

But I wanted it replaced with a football stadium in our teams colours 

This is what I used 

As she was wearing our teams apparel I didn’t bother asking for her to be dressed in.  

But they gave me this  

 

Now that’s a glow up, I loved it  

Unfortunately unless you pay money  you can only do a few photos at

A time  I now have to wait 24 hours to try again 

But wait 

There are lots of AI websites so I tried another 

I used this of Georgia 

Once again I didn’t ask for her to be wearing the clubs colours 

That was a mistake 

This website obviously was male  you have to tell it every single thing 

Once again I re warded it and it gave me this 

Not bad   

Then I thought well I have to do the other girls  

Remember the photo I used a few posts back 

I clearly said  remove background 

Place in a AFL stadium 

In Carlton colours,

And wearing Carlton colours too  

How real does that look  

I sent it to their parents and they loved it  

So now I’m kinda hooked  

I will wait the 24 hours  and I will play with more photos  

Once I have a whole lot of them, I’ll print them out  

I feel sorry for professional photographers,  

 No matter how good their backgrounds are

Or how many props they use  

They will never be as good as AI  

and as you can use any photo you have  I can go back and 

Edit my own baby and young toddler photos 

I never got any of those fancy pictures done.  I never had that kind of money  

Now I don’t have to lament the fact that they missed out  

Sometimes  even scary advances can come in useful 

Panic stations

​as you know I had to go to the dentist to do a deep clean. 

I’m not good with dentist’s. 

I get very anxious.  I’ve tried taking the Valium before going.  

But they didn’t do a thing. So I gave up on those. 

This morning, after a sleepless night. I decided to buy myself 

A squishy 

Isn’t it cute. 

If it had any feelings at all. It would have felt like an hour of torture to it. 

I got into the chair and we discussed the approach 

She had initially suggested we do it over four weeks. 

But this morning she said two would be better. 

I’m like ok. Let’s do it. 

She starts to get ready and I see a needle. 

I do not like needles.  

I can give them to people. And I have. 

But nope. Not for me thanks. 

She said that I really needed it as it will be very painful. And she promised 

would numb my gums with the gel. 

Fine,  then I want the whole mouth done today. 

I didn’t trust myself to come back next week. 

So that’s what she did. She is a lovely lady who really does understand that 

Many of us fear their profession, without getting offended. 

She suggested to her helper that they play some background music 

The assistant asked me what music did I like. 

Old? New?  I said old please. The eighties. 

Well I have to say, although it wasn’t a day at the amusement park, 

It ended up not being anywhere near as painful or scary as I had thought. 

I even asked for an extra shot as the area they were cleaning was a tad painful. 

I know. How brave am I lol 

So now I’ve got all the potions she has said I needed to use 

Plus some little tiny picks to go in-between my teeth for that extra clean 

And I don’t have to see her again for three months. 

I really hope she doesn’t leave the surgery. 

A few years ago I had another lovely dentist there. Again very

Compassionate and understanding. 

But he left and I didn’t like the one who took his place. 

Which is why I didn’t go back until I really really had too. 

Now that’s out of the way 

The optometrist is next, and I’ve received a reminder for my 

Breast screening. 

Everything starts to break down as you age, honestly. I’m spending a small 

Fortune. Well except for the mammogram. They’re free. Thank goodness 

September

​

September has arrived with a bang. 

Very windy on day one. It looks like I’ve not cleared the front porch at all

I took a little video for you to see. 

We are getting notices of even stronger winds this afternoon. 

I’ve been out back slowly moving things away and trying to clear the clutter. 

It always gets like that in winter. Things get put under the veranda, and they end up staying there. 

I’ll get it sorted slowly and then clean all the dust and crime off. 

It will soon be nice enough to sit out there and enjoy the outdoors again. 

Well. Until it gets too hot and humid anyway 

More stuff getting done

​this morning I decided to attack the front and south sides of the house 

 Forgot to take a before shot but let me tell you. The weeds around the pots were as tall as the ones in the pots. 

I used the whipper snipper, to get them cut right down. No way was I able to bend down and pull them out. 

I did weed the pots and all of the weeds were fed to Dobby and Brisket 

Then I started the front. I used the blower to get rid of all the leaves that had accumulated and then I used a bucket, broom and hose to clean the house and windows 

It looks extra nice when the sun came out 

September is our windy month, which means it will all be undone and it will look exactly the same before I cleaned it. 

But I know it was cleaned, and I hope the next time it will be easier 

After taking the tools back to the workshop and putting away my cleaning paraphernalia I headed to the bathroom for a long soak in the tub 

I was hot, sweaty and covered in dirt, and grass. 

Once I was nice and clean I used the veggies from yesterday and some sausages in the slow cooker for curried sausages. 

That will be for lunch and dinner tomorrow. 

For dinner tonight. I put some sausages and potatoes into a baking tray and into the oven. 

Hubby is having some right now and he says it’s delicious 

Me. Well I’m sitting in my chair with my legs wrapped in massage contraptions 

They use air and really get into the calf muscles. 

They really help with restless legs if you use it before bed. 

Depending on how I feel tomorrow, and assuming the weather stays nice, I’ll go back to the raised garden bed and finish weeding that. 

I don’t make plans anymore, I let my body tell me what it can do and go from there. 

Getting stuff done

​when I first set up my studio, I didn’t want to spend a fortune on the items I needed. 

I wanted two easels so I could work on 

Two paintings at the same time. That way work didn’t stop waiting for the paint to dry

I checked out prices of the wooden easels and they quite expensive 

Thus I purchased the small metal easel

And a poster stand, which was even cheaper. 

They have worked ok, the poster stand does wobble a bit. But I was working with it. 

But the other day I had another look, I’ve been checking occasionally to see if there were any sakes on

Well they did. The prices were slashed 

And I bought two for less than what they originally were. 

Even though they’re not top of the range, they’re much sturdier. And since they will be living in a nice safe environment they will not be damaged by weather or animals 

I had to put them together, they’re were in long thin boxes. 

I had asked hubby, but he kept putting it off. Like they do 

So this morning I just did it. He did ask if I needed help and I said no. Yes I was grumpy. They were here four days.  

I’m over it now they’re all done 

The next thing on the list was to take off the netting on the veg gardens.  Again I had asked for help. And again I was last in the list of priorities. 

So again I just went out and did it 

I took off the netting, weeded and harvested. I have one cauliflower 

Some broccoli, silverbeet and kale. 

I’ll cook it all and have it like a green salad. 

I took the net off these pots. These were hard as they’re at that level at which the back doesn’t like. I just tackled it slowly and got it done 

I then turned to  the raised garden bed. 

It had overgrown with weeds. So much that I had a hard time finding the anchors I used to keep the net from flying off 

I’ve half weeded it, then had to stop.  By then I was starting to have back spasms 

It was fine as the back half of the garden bed didn’t have anything planted 

Depending on the weather I’ll try to get out there and finish it 

I’ve packed all the nets and all other paraphernalia away.  Ready for when I need them again 

Most of the weeds ended up here 

This was just the first load. The girls are in lockdown. We have many birds visiting, and the ducks have arrived. They come back each year and are very comfortable with approaching the chickens and ourselves.  They will often be first when I go out to feed scraps to the hens  

Unfortunately this year they will get their share away from the coop 

I’m now inside having a little rest before going into the next job  

Folding and putting away the laundry  

Not my favourite job, but one that needs doing 

At least I have my audiobook to listen too while working  

I chose one I’ve listened too before as I often have to go out of hearing range, so it doesn’t matter if I miss any  

New books are for listening too while crafting. 

What ever you are doing, pace yourself

It’s not a race and you don’t get a medal for the pain you cause yourself. Trust me, I know