I'm Still Here! I Promise! January 8, 2010

I am sorry I have not been around for months. My personal life has had a lot going on in it and once again the HP laptop has cracked the sads and needs to go get repaired again.

I write this from my iPhone, among stacks of boxes and heaps of stuff needing to go into boxes. I became a single mother on December 27th. I had come across some stuff on the ex’s computer as I was setting it up to be easier for me to use while awaiting repairs. It is not the first time but the fourth time I had encountered evidence of this kind and each time he swore it would finish. This time he was looking to go further and I suspect he alread had and he didn’t swear it would be finished, he was happy to let me say it was over and have the kids and I leave the house, the sooner the better he said. I don’t know how I did it but I worked out everything I was entitled to and made a budget, I found a rental at 25% of my income, all utilities, savings, paying off debt etc are factored in, I even have enough left over for entertainment and layby a breakup gift to myself! A kitchenaid artisan mixer in candy apple red, way to cheer me up.

I know I can do this, the first year will be the hardest, this is better for the kids and I in the long run and ex and I are being very civil so the kids should not suffer a great deal. I hope to have the laptop back within the next 2 months and I will hook up the Internet and be back to blogging. I should most certainly have the time for it with 1 less person to look after and living in a box about 1/3 of the size of this house and a couple kid free days a week, no excuses then!

Sorry about the lack of paragraphs and spell check if there are any mistakes, I am not able to see past the last 25 words I have typed! I will try and be back soon!

x
Sarah

Canon Photo5 is Back!!! September 4, 2009

I had a pre-registration email a while back and thought ‘what the hay? why not!’ I am by no means a great photographer, in fact I barely even pick up my camera these days. I love this competition because it gets me inspired!

 

So I opened up my mailbox today and saw the box!

The picture is small so you may not be able to read the text on the box.

Brief #1 is Splat action and I got pink powder.

Brief #2 Hundreds and Thousands Close up

Brief #3 Bokeh Experimental (thanks google and wikipedia for clearing up my confusion) I got some sort of black star shaped thing with a rubber band around it for that brief… I have a feeling I may just skip that one :s

Brief #4 Spectacles Portraiture

and last but not least…

Brief #5 which is also the open brief which anyone can enter even if they didn’t get a box, Practically black, Low light.

For more information head on down to the Canon Photo5 website!

x

Sarah

Blog Updating August 26, 2009

You might notice some changes happening around here. I get bored with seeing the same thing all the time so I am going to switch up my blog theme. I may even try to make one of my own *gasp*!!!! I am going to move my shop to the main page because I have no time to write articles and if I do I think I would rather be spending that time being crafty or even better, playing with the boys.

I thought I would give a heads up anyway!

x

Sarah

Accomplishment August 3, 2009

Well I did it! In 12 weeks I went from having very limited fitness to running 10km! I was not sure I would stick with it but with a lot of encouragement and determination I was able to do the 10km in 1:04 no less! Now that I have graduated from the start runners group I plan on joining the regulars in doing 5-6km runs with the possibility of training for the Melbourne 1/2 Marathon in October 2010. I couldn’t recommend joining a running club enough! You meet great people and when you complete your 10km you get a real sense of pride and accomplishment, I may have even shed a tear at the end

x
Sarah

No Laptop Again! July 22, 2009

Once again my not so lovely HP has shat itself. This would be the 3rd time and I am now out of warranty. I am lucky to have the laptop insured so it is getting repaired but will take over a month to make it back to me. My minimal blogging will be reduced even further as writing a blog on an iPhone is less than ideal. I will try to blog using J’s computer when I can. I am looking into getting an Apple MacBook in the near future, anyone have any feedback?

Sarah

Veggie garden tales!!! July 6, 2009

If you have been following my blog at all then you would know that last year I decided to start an organic vegetable garden. I failed miserably! We had temps of 40+ here and no amount of watering could save my garden. A lot of other people in town had the same troubles.

This year I had a plan! I have planted my seeds already and will be keeping them in my greenhouse until they are well established. I got my head start last weekend and had my greenhouse looking good, here are some pictures.

 

Looks great doesn’t it? It didn’t last long, I swear the garden gods have something against me! On Thursday we had some pretty hardcore weather. It started with a bit of wind and rain, the wind was pretty strong, I was watching the terracotta pots rattling away on the top shelves from my kitchen window. I stood there wondering if I should maybe put more weight on the bottom bars of the greenhouse or just clear everything out. I decided to have a quick look out the front door towards the west and I saw a massive wall of black and a massive gust blew in and made a mess of the entryway. I saw that as my tip to get everything out.

 

I ran out to the back yard and started grabbing pots and racing them to my patio table, I kept running back and forth and the lightning started and the heavy rain, I knew I didn’t have long. I started just ditching pots out of the door of the greenhouse and then the mother of all gusts came along and lifted the greenhouse and pegs out of the ground, it flew into me knocking me down and all the pots I had set on the ground and flew away to the very back section of my backyard.

 

All of my herbs were saved as well as my pumpkin seedlings and eggplant, capsicum and cucumber seedlings. I spent all of yesterday afternoon replanting what was lost and getting the greenhouse out of the backyard to survey the damage. I need to do a LOT of duct tape repairs when it is dry and then I can put my seedlings in again. I will be moving it to a more sheltered location and will definitely be getting some heavy duty pegs to make sure it stays put for the next wind storm that comes our way.

 

I see my basil has started to sprout as well as the cucumber, I think my Halloween pumpkin is starting to sprout as well, I can’t wait! I will be protecting my garden with shade cloth this summer. I don’t think I can handle another year of a failed garden. Bring on Spring!

 

Sarah

Bijoux! July 6, 2009

I know I am a bit behind with sharing the news, but we got a puppy 2 weeks ago and her name is Bijoux. She is a Great Dane pup, a Merlequin, 12 weeks old and so clever already. In 2 weeks I have her nearly housetrained and she knows Come, Sit and Go Lay. She is so gorgeous I could eat her all up!

Cherry Pie got used to the idea of Bijoux after a couple of days and now they roll around and wrestle each other all day long now!

I’m Still Here, Kind of. June 9, 2009

I know I said in my 101 in 1001 that I would blog every week. That is ideal, but just not really possible with 2 rug rats, one I am doing the dreaded toilet training bit with, and one who is suffering incredible wind pain/colic, god knows what!

 

I am also doing a lot of de-cluttering once again. I seem to somehow gain a mass of ‘stuff’ and I have no idea where it comes from. So eBay and PayPal are getting a bit of business out of me with fees.

 

I am trying to get the time to sit down and do some sewing, I am about to stick an elastic into a pair of yoga pants so they stop falling down. I have a habit of adding more projects to the list and now I feel a bit overwhelmed, its just like my pile of fabric, it just keeps growing!

 

I do have one tute I came across that I absolutely adore, it uses an old dress shirt! The tute is here at My Mama Made It – The Blouse Refashion Tutorial.

 

That is all I have time for but I promise I will try to blog again shortly!

A bit of Co-Sleeping reading. May 12, 2009

If you don’t already subscribe to Dr.Sears’ newsletter, I highly recommend it. I just read this fantastic article on the benefits of co-sleeping. If you were always told it increases the risk of SIDS to co-sleep, all the more reason to read it! The article is HERE. (You don’t need to sign up to read the article, it will have a few links to skip the sign up and go right to the article.)

This is the end… May 6, 2009

of my relationship with my Breville Bar Italia coffee machine. It is time for us to part ways after 2 years of use. I am saddened especially since another hard core coffee drinker friend is coming around tomorrow morning for a latte and a chat and I have to serve, (shhhhhhh) instant coffee *sob*.  I have to find a suitable replacement over the next 5 days preferably around or under $100. One that will last me long enough until I save up $1300 for my KitchenAid Artisan, in red of course! Any suggestions on a replacement in my price range?