I see a light....

I don't think that I would be overstating it to say that I haven't had the best of weeks.

But I can finally see a pinpoint of light at the end of the tunnel ... the fog has lifted a little ... and I have begun to feel a bit better.

Not let's go out for a night on the tiles better ... not let's go run a marathon and finish it with a spin class better ... not even let's go up to the supermarket and get some milk better ... just an itsy bitsy teeny weeny bit better.

This morning I felt more like my usual self ... well my usual self with a head full of cotton wool and a bark that has Buster running around looking for the dog intruder and the most severe case of bedhead you ever could imagine.

Not my actual bedhead ... this bedhead is much cuter!

But I found something that could have me running ... crying ... straight back to my sick bed.

As the fog lifted ... for the first time in days ... I took a good look at my surroundings.

I did not like what I saw.

I can truthfully report  .... because the evidence is staring me in the face ... that while I was off the radar the world inside my house fell apart.

Not a floor has been swept ... not a pair of undies has been laundered ... not a bench has been wiped ... not a dish had been washed ... not a bill has been paid ... not a single thing has been tidied or straightened or put away.

I have awoken from my coma to find myself living in a dump.

If I ever had a question as to how everyone would cope if I upped and left for a while ... I think I have the answer ... and it's not encouraging.

The entire place would descend into a dirty, disorganised, unwashed, unkempt chaos.

If I had the energy I'd fix it ... I don't ... but if I conserve all my reserves till this afternoon when everyone else gets home ... I might just find enough to crack the whip and get them all off their butts and turning this place back into something that might actually be fit for human habitation!

Maybe!

Woe is me....

As my temperature hurtles past 38.9 degrees and my thoughts become even crazier than usual ... I have decided to retire to my sick bed.

I'm hoping for a happier and healthier me tomorrow!

Crimes that shook ... nobody ... ever ...

As I took Buster outside to spend a penny this morning I came face to face with a crime scene.

I was appalled and most upset that such a terrible atrocity could take place so close to home ... in such a quiet neighbourhood.

But the evidence was undeniable ... at some point between the hours of 5.00pm yesterday and 9.00am this morning ... this grievous misconduct was perpetrated.

I never heard a thing ... and there was little physical evidence left at the scene.

The only witness retained a stony silence under questioning ... causing me to suspect an organised crime link or some form of protection racket may be at play here.

But due to Buster's frantic and agitated sniffing of the crime scene ... I developed a suspicion as to who the culprit may be.

They will remain a person of interest until an alibi can be established.

At this stage the crime remains unsolved.

Under the weather....

Master 13 is a particularly generous soul.

He has been suffering from a nasty lurgy since last Friday ... cough, headaches, aches and pains, fever ... etc ... etc.

And rather than keep it to himself ... he has decided to share it around ... cause he's kind like that.

And who is the lucky recipient of his generosity?  Why me of course!

So this morning I woke up ... with a tight chest, hacking cough, headache and most unusually of all ... the sorest elbow joints you ever could imagine.

What fun!

This is us this morning ... feeling very sorry for ourselves.

After self administering copious amounts of drugs I managed to drag myself out of bed ... and all the way to the fireplace.

Where I intend to remain for the entire day ... in my pyjamas ... doing absolutely NOTHING!

What are you up to this not so fine Monday?

21/52

"A portrait of our children, once a week, every week in 2013"

Master 15:  At the hairdresser with his two must have items ... his phone and his beanie.

Master 13:  The mornings have turned cold ... time for some snuggie action.

Another week's gone ... over and done,

I just can't believe it's Week Twenty One.

Joining in with Jodi.

The man in the moon....

The moon peeked shyly out from behind the clouds to greet me this evening.

"Always aim for the moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the stars" 

W. Clement Stone

How does he look from your place this evening?

How NOT to make a braided rag basket.....

.Settle in and get comfortable ... this epic tale will take a while.

The story began innocently enough.  I needed something to hold Buster's multitude of toys ... something that he wouldn't destroy.

We had already been through several traditional baskets ... all of which he managed to reduce to a pile of toothpicks in record time.  Then I tried the aesthetically unappealing but highly practical plastic bucket.  This will be indestructible ... I thought ... wrongly.  The bucket itself survived relatively unscathed ... but Buster ate the handles ...and by ate I mean consumed ... completely.

This resulted ... as you might expect ... in an upset stomach ...and a trip to the vet.  Not an ideal outcome ... because we all know how much Buster likes the vet.

I was at my wits end ... and resigned to having his toys spread around the house ... or at the very best tossed into a pile in the corner ... when I noticed something.

The one item belonging to Buster that has so far ... touch wood ... survived Buster ... is his fabric doggy bed.  He pulled off the tag ... obviously ashamed of the non designer brand ... and then he left it alone.

So I got to thinking ...  that perhaps I should/could make him a toy container out of fabric.  Given the vast amount of fabric scraps I have ... from patchwork past ... a braided rag basket seemed to be the perfect option.

Mistake number one.

Now I have never made a braided rag anything before ... but I know how to plait hair ...so this will be a snap ... right???

In fact ... I decided ... I'll whip up that little basket this morning and I'll write a post this afternoon ... about how simple it is to make a braided rag basket.

I was delusional.

I googled "how to make a braided rag basket" and I started to read the instructions ... and then as is prone to happen to me ... my eyes glazed over a bit ... and I made the entirely uneducated decision that I would do it my way ... because I'm so experienced and all!

Mistake number two.

I decided I would be really clever and efficient and instead of joining my scraps as I went along ...I'd get that pesky job over and done with at the beginning.  So after cutting all my scraps into strips ... I sat down at my sewing machine ... and joined them all up ... for hours ... you know ... to SAVE time!

Once that was done .... all I had to do was divide that really long strip into 3 strips of equal length ... in order to braid it.

Sounds simple ... except that my strip was now approximately 12 kms long ... and short of going out and laying it out on the highway ... there was no easy way to divide it into three equal pieces.

So I had to measure it ... over and over... without losing count ... and then use a mathematical equation to get the answer.  Then ... hoping I had it right ... the cuts were made and I finally ... with lots of stress on the word finally ... had three sections.

At last ... I thought ... that's the hard bit over.  Now I'll get this braided in no time.

Mistake number three.

Those lengths were sooo long ... being approximately 4 kms each now ... that I couldn't even braid an inch without the whole thing tangling into a knotted, unmanageable brain aneurysm mess.

At this point I almost gave up ... I wanted to give up ... I LONGED to give up ... but I'm not a quitter ... NOSIREE!

So I found some toilet rolls ... that the boys kindly left lying around.  Then I joined those rolls into 3 bigger rolls and I wound those three strips up like a cotton reel ... except that it took forever ... given that they were so knotted and unmanageable.

Then ... finally ... I could start to braid ... which was so slow and so tedious ... that my brain was seriously in danger of exploding.  Every single time I laid one strip over another the rolls had to be manoeuvred as well.  Tangles were common ... tantrums were even commoner.

At last I had one long ... angst filled ... braid.

Then using the old bucket as a guide I fashioned that braid into a basket by stitching it into shape ... another task that took FOREVER.  The rule of thumb here ... if you think it will take a minute it will take an hour, an hour ... a day, a day ... a week, a week ... a month.

And then FINALLY ... voila ... a braided rag basket.

A braided rag basket ... for a dog ... that took about a month to make ... for a dog ...who chances are will destroy it the moment it is placed on the floor ... cause he's a dog.

A braided rag basket ... that was very almost the death of me.

Now if you would like to give braiding a rag basket a go ... I would strongly suggest that you don't! However ... should you persist then completely disregard everything I did.  Instead google it and follow the instructions provided by someone that actually knows what they are doing ... and not someone who just thought they did!!!

I think it's called fashion....

Master 15 has developed an unnatural growth on his head.

It appears to be permanently attached.

I assume some form of removal takes place during his daily ablutions ... but I can't be certain.

Despite repeated requests by me ... for at least an occasional separation ... it remains stubbornly in place.

Does anyone else see an uncanny resemblance to someone?

Put another log on the fire....

Winter is just 10 days away and the nights have officially turned cold.

The days however, are still beautiful and sunny and mild ... touch wood.

And speaking of wood ...we had a forest load of firewood delivered on the weekend ... which was stacked ... as best we could ... like a jigsaw puzzle where the pieces don't quite fit.

It was all ready for our first fire of the season.

Hubby started it up ... despite me being the fire starting pyromaniac queen of the family ... or perhaps because of it!

I quickly checked the chimney to make sure it was smoking hot ... and it was ...

Then the whole family settled in to enjoy the toasty ambiance ...

Master 13 was mesmerised by the radiant light ...

So was Master 15 ... sort of ...

Some "thing" happened on Saturday night......

Now that I have reached a certain maturity, Saturday nights have taken on a somewhat predictable and staid format.  They usually involve me trying to avoid watching football (no easy feat in an AFL mad household) ... getting into my pyjamas early ... playing a game or two or three hundred and sixty eight on my iPad ... and if I'm really living it up getting a takeaway for dinner.

But last Saturday night things went a little differently.

Hubby had warned me a couple of weeks ago that there was a "thing" on for work.  This warning went in one ear and out the other and was promptly forgotten ... or perhaps ignored and disregarded ... because work things aren't always the most exciting events ...especially when you don't actually work there yourself.

So when I suggested late in the week that we get stuck into our arbor project this weekend ... I was firmly reminded that we had a "thing" on.

So I begrudgingly got ready on Saturday afternoon ...because we had to leave by 4.00pm ... to be in Newcastle by 5.00pm ... to have a few drinks and dinner ... before arriving at the "thing" by 7.15pm sharp. Hubby loves a good timetable.

Once ready I took a selfie ... with a duck face ... cause according to Master 13 that's what girls do before they go out!

"Quack"

So we met up with a few work people ... and had a few drinks ... and had a bit of dinner ... and then we walked up to the Civic Theatre in Newcastle ... where the "thing" was.

Upon arrival ... at 7.15 sharp ... we were ushered inside past the waiting throng ... into a private area.  Once there we were introduced to a few old friends ... well they felt like old friends being so familiar and all.

Daryl Braithwaite and ME

James Reyne and ME

Joe Camilleri and ME

Ross Wilson and ME

Then once we had caught up ... and been put on their Christmas card lists ... and invited to join them on their next family holiday ... we went back out and took our seats ... and our new mates put on a little show for us!

Hope we have a "thing" next weekend too!!