Life in the Zu

Unfortunately, as you can tell, the colors don’t really vary. The red one was purchased solely because it was £3. I like it though.  I’ve given 2 or 3 bags to my mother, and a few away to family members who visited. So, I’m sure my total would have been a lot higher then this. I’ve also sold some on ebay. Every little bit helps!

Other than photographing my bag collection I’ve been redecorating my home. Last friday my mother was vacumming and the rest of us were cleaning. I thought it would be nice to take the table and chairs from the large hallway like thing, and put it into the living room. We’d be more likely to eat at the table that way. We wouldn’t have to pull the table away from the wall whenever we needed to use it.

After I figured out how to fit it into the living room and put my bookcase and armchair where the table was (now a small library), I had another brain storm. Let’s all switch rooms! I put my mother in my old room, the boys in her old room and I took the boys old room that also has an ensuite bathroom. It annoyed the heck outta me that they never used it. Why walk from your bedroom which is right next to a bathroom, go down the hall and use the bathroom there?!

I cleaned out the closets, reorganized my sisters many belongings, took apart beds just to put them back together a few mins. later and so on.  I did most on my own as my mother can’t lift much and neither can Gemaine with his broken collarbone. Started early afternoon, ended around 1:30 am. My mother said all she wanted to do was vacuum! My impulses are somethin else! My poor back was killing me, but I dont regret it at all. I am still fixing and moving things around a bit, but it’s pretty much finished.

Oh and guess what!?

Now I know what Keivy was doing when I caught him with a pair of scissors and paper on my bed. This is my new blankie! I could have cried, but instead I just fixed it.

Good as new!

Off to bed now, too tired to think or really blog properly. -) Nighty night!

I have had one interesting week!

So, from the beginning shall we. I got a new phone. Yes I know, I got a new phone a few months ago. I’ve decided to sell it because even though I loved the phone, the staticky phonecalls was just not cuttin it. I was so sick and tired of asking people to repeat themselves! I doubt it’s my service provider, and am not sure why I had this issue. While searching online for a new phone I came across the sony ericsson xperia. Oooh baby! It’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a phone and so much more! Yes, I’m a gadget freak, and what!? It’s a pda, mp3 player, phone(of course), mini computer, it has a slide out keyboard, I can actually hear people when I’m using the phone, has several cool apps and games to download, and the list goes on and on. I’ve barely put it down since I got it and am so happy with it! (until something better comes out)

Anyway, I ordered it that same night and it arrived 2 days later. Thank God for monthly mobile phone plans that allow me to get a free phone! *squeal*  I’ve always loved sony gadgets, and feel they’ve done really well here. Sure it’s not absolutely perfect, and probably has a few bugs here and there. Nothing that’s important though. I’m excited to see what else they come up with in future versions. The last phone I used through to the end of my 18 month phone plan was a sony w880i, so I’m thinking maybe I should stick with sony. I’ve never kept a phone that long before, and still occasionally miss it. *sniffle* I’m happy with my phone, and am confident I’ll be able to hold onto it through to the end of my contract. *fingers crossed*

Next thing on my week of events is our pet rats. First let me just say that never in a gajillion years did I ever think I’d care about RATS. I mean really, they’re RATS for petes sake! Eeew! Shows how easy it is to get into the whole stereotype thing. All our lives wether it’s tv or in real life, rats are always portrayed as some yucky, dirty and disgusting rodent. I gotta tell ya, these things are sure cleaner than my kids! I have to make my boys bathe, the rats clean themselve constantly!

Anywho, my son Gemaine had let the rats out for their daily run around the flat. They always get into mischief, especially the darker one named Ebony. Ivory which is the lighter one (surprise), is more the adult and boss. Ebony does all the hard work and will forage for food and bring things back to the cage to eat, follow us around when we walk, crawl up near our faces to say hello (I don’t let her touch my face though), for some reason always tries to climb into my purse, goes over to bug my mother and tickle her feet and so on. Ivory comes by to say hello and then goes about her business. She loves going down the hallway to the boys room as there’s so much to explore.

Gemaine went to put the rats back in their cages when it was time for dinner. He got Ebony, and then we waited for Ivory to show up so he could put her in too. She didn’t show up as she usually does. We waited, and waited and then sent out the search party. The boys and I pretty much tore the house apart, but she was nowhere to be seen! It was so weird that she had just disappeared because in the 10 months we’ve had her, she’s always come back into the living room. We were all so worried! I began to remember the many times we had to save the rats from Keivy, because he always gets rough with our pets. I was so scared he had done something to her! I asked him if he knew where she was, and he said she was dead in the evil tree outside. Huh!? I didn’t know wether he was serious or telling one of the many fibs he’s been coming up with lately. His imagination has been in overdrive and he’s been getting very creative with his story telling lately.

Our flat is a nice spacious size with 8 rooms,  which is really not large enough for a missing pet to go permanently missing. We tried to retrace our steps and remember when was the last time we’d seen her. The kids had gone downstairs to a neighbors to play, but they had been in the cage then, so she couldn’t have left the flat. All the windows were still locked, and I would have noticed if Keivy had decided to chuck her out the window. At this point even my mother was helping us to look for her. I was shocked she was worried as well, and joked with her about hiding her feelings for the rats. They used to annoy the heck out of her with always climbing on her when she was watching tv. They’ve grown on her though. Their personalities shine through so apparently, it’s hard not to like them really.

It eventually got late and we all went to bed. I still wandered around the flat every so often hoping to see her or maybe hear her somewhere. I even checked in the building stairwell a few times. The next day we searched some more, but we eventually gave up because we ran out of places to look a long time ago. We were all sad and possibly close to tears after thinking about what could have happened. It hurt to think she could be in pain or that Keivy may have hurt her. I hate seeing or even thinking of a living being hurting in any way.

We were all in the living room yesterday and all of a sudden my mother yelped. Ivory!! I looked up to see a very filthy Ivory trying to get back into her cage. We were all stunned! Where has she been!? Why is she so dirty!? It was just the weirdest thing! I let her back in and she began to clean herself furiously. Ebony stepped in to help her as well. She has a bowl of water in their cage, and she pretty much climbed into it. I decided to give her a quick wash to help her out a bit, much to her annoyance. Rats don’t like being immersed in water. I cleaned her up as best I could before she tore a hole in my hand by trying to escape and cling to me. She settled back into the cage and cleaned herself a bit more and then drank and drank and drank. She was thirsty and very hungry. I have no clue where she’s been, but I’m glad she okay and back with her sister. Ebony seemed so sad and lonely when she was gone. I’m also very glad Keivy didn’t do anything to her. It’s a relief to know my lil’ man isn’t a murderer!

I sold my iPod touch as well. I should never have bought it and can’t stand how impulsive I can be! What’s the sense of getting an iPod when mobile phones come with an mp3 player anyway. I’d rarely have used it. iPods are great gadgets/toys, but I wanted more and am happy with my Xperia. I sold the iPod on ebay, and used the money to get my boys a few Christmas presents, which is where the money should have gone from the very beginning.

And last but not least is Gemaine and his many sporting events. Football game on last Saturday, rugby tournament on Sunday. Why are these things always so bloody early in the morning!? Who wants to wake up at 7 on the weekend to get ready in time to leave at 8 to stand in the friggin freezin cold!? Well, us crazy parents of course!  It was tiring, but worth it. His team lost, but through no fault of Gemaine’s. He was goalie once again, and blocked tons of goals. If his teammates had been doing their jobs, he’d never have had so many goals to block. He hurt his wrist during the last 15 mins. of the game, and had to switch with one of the other players. His team scored two goals with him on the field, so I was very proud.

The rugby game went pretty good, but not good enough unfortunately. They lost all their games! Gemaine and one other boy are great players, but the other kids need loads more practice. Oh well, they tried. I was just annoyed that we had to travel 50 miles so early in the morning just to bloody lose. *sigh*

Gemaine was supposed to play in a football game yesterday, but guess what happened! He got an injury playing football with some friends at the park on friday. Not any old injury either, he broke his collarbone!!

I was at home while Gemaine was supposedly over a friend Finlays house. I got a phonecall from some man who asked me if I was Gemaine’s mother. Automatically I started to panic. He said that Gemaine had a nasty fall while playing football. Apparently Gemaine was with his friend and his parents at some park. I thought he was across the street! The man asked if I could come and get him. I started to panice though because I didn’t know where they were and all the streets the man named were unfamiliar. The other boys parents had gone off to the grocery store, and had left Gemaine and their son with some other guy and his kid. I’m guessin this other guy is who I was talking to on the phone.

I could hear Gemaine screaming in the background and was trying my hardest to stay calm. The man said Finlays parents would be back soon and maybe I should just wait for them to bring Gemaine to me instead of my trying to find them. Especially since I was walking and may take too long to get there.  They arrived about 8 mins. later and told me they were on their way to me. Finlays father said he didn’t think it was too serious.

I got dressed and ran downstairs to wait in the carpark. I figured I’d better be ready just in case he had to go to the hospital. An acquaintance of mine named Trish who stays a few floors below us was outside and asked what was wrong. I was pacing up and down like a crazy person and biting my nails. I told her what had happened and she was nice enough to offer to drive us to the hospital. After waiting for about 10 mins. and wondering where the heck they were, the car finally showed up. I spoke to the parents and opened the door to see Gemaine. He was whimpering and looked like he was in tons of pain. Trish looked at his shoulder since she has a bit of first aid training and said he should go to the hospital. Finlays mother said she didn’t think he was hurt too seriously, and Trish asked if she had medical training. I loved Trish after that.

We carefully got Gemaine into the car and arrived at the hospital about 15 mins. later. Trish took my number so she could keep updated about the situation, and then left to pick up her kids when we were safely inside. Gemaine had a hard time getting out of the car into the wheelchair, and had started crying so much he had me crying.  So we were quite a sobbing pair entering the hospital.

They gave him some pain meds, which seemed to help and got him xrayed.

My poor man has broken his collar bone. Can you see where it’s broken up top. One piece of bone is actually overlapping the other! The nurse said there wasn’t much they could do besides keeping his arm in a sling. So, he’ll be in a sling for the next 6 to 8 weeks. No sports for him! It’s killing him already by the way.

Here he is waiting for the taxi to arrive. He’s a lot more upbeat here and had just finished viewing his xray again and asked the technician if I could photograph it.

Lucky for him he’s left handed and can still do things. My poor pumpkin. Lord it’s hell to see your kids in pain and you’re helpless to do anything about it. I’ve decided to take up a first aid class as well. I hated feeling helpless and clueless about what to do. I’m pretty sure that this isn’t the last time my boy has an injury, so next time I plan on being prepared. Why couldn’t he be the bookworm type and not the adventurous active type!? Geesh! Now that I think about it, Keivy is worse than Gemaine. Yup, I definitely need to prepare myself.

Good Lord I wrote a lot!  I’ll end it here I think. Good night all!

*sigh* haven’t really felt like blogging lately. Still been crocheting though. Looks like my eldest won’t be able to come home for Christmas. Too expensive. I should get to see him next summer though. Months and months from now. So, that’s had me a bit depressed. I’ve never spent a holiday without any of my boys. He’s spent a few Christmas’s with his father, but that was when I was still in Bermuda and we alternated keeping him on Christmas and his birthday which is Dec. 27th. If I had him on Christmas, his father got him on his birthday, and we would switch each year. Now I’m 5,000 miles away from him, and there will be no switching. My son seems okay with it and looks forward to next year. I’m the one with separation anxiety. His brothers miss him, but I’ll just make sure we have a great holiday anyway and just make the best of things.

I’ve been pretty busy lately with my remaining boys. I’m trying to spend less time on the computer and focus more on them and my home. I find I procrastinate a hell of a lot, and always seem to put things off until later. I’m trying to overcome that, and now if I need to do something, I do it. I don’t put it off until later and keep on putting it off so it never gets done. I’m also trying to excercise more and get myself fit. After hurting my back I don’t do as much as I used to. I still walk a few miles a day, but because that’s normal for me, it doesn’t do anything for my weight and health. I know that if I lose a few pounds my sciatica may not be as bad. So, I’ll just continue to take my daily pain meds and exercise until I drop.

I’m also trying to get used to living here. Back home my boys and I were always outdoors. It was easy really. You walk outside to your porch or yard, and stay there. Trips to the beach for picnics were always easy as well. My kids made friends by being outside and bumping into kids playing in the neighborhood. Here it’s a bit different. They schedule play dates for one. I’ve never understood what a playdate was for until moving here. I used to think it was the weirdest thing I’d ever heard of! Why would you have to make an appointment for your kids to play!? I still find the thought of it funny, but I see it’s how they get their kids interacting and making friends. My problem is that I’m so different from the people here that I don’t click with anyone to do anything more than occasionally chat at the nursery or something. So how are my kids going to meet people? Keivy is so shy, and I’m shy as well, and this does not help things at all. I’m really hoping Keivy’s father is coming out here soon. He’s about as outgoing as a person can get, and he’ll know what to do. Gemaine my 11 yr. old is outgoing, and would spend all day outside if he could. So he’s eventually made friends. We’re not all like him though.

Anyway, so I’m trying to take the boys out to more places in Edinburgh. The problem is we live on a top floor apt. which makes it hard to go out. I have to plan and pack things and it’s such an effort to be outdoors!  I guess I’m so used to living the Bermudian way, that I now have to retrain myself in a whole new lifestyle. Too bad it’s taken me 3 years to decid to do something about it. That’s the stupid procrastination thing I was talking about earlier. It’s holding me back, and I never realized it until recently. I figure it’s because I’m a perfectionist in some ways. A lot of things I’ll put off doing because I don’t think I’ll be able to do it properly, or be as successful as I want to be.

So I guess you can say my absence is because I’ve been working on me.

I didn’t feel like writing today, and had no clue what to write, but this has all kind of flowed out of me.  Who knew all this was running around my head?

To prove I’ve been crocheting, here are a few pics of some hats. I have a lot of thin yarn that’s been sitting around for ages, so I came up with a few designs to use the yarn up.

Slouch hat using double knitting yarn. Seems thinner than that to me though.

I’ve had this sock yarn for ages! I doubled the yarn and made a beret-ish hat of some sort. Don’t really like it, but atleast I used the yarn.

Simple beanie from some chunky yarn I’ve had for several months. May make a scarflette to go with it. Not for me though.

I took apart an old hat and made a slouch hat with the yarn. I love these colors!

I know this looks just like the previous hat, but it isn’t.

I started to stitch the hexagons together. This is the wrong side.

This is the right side. I stopped stitching because I kinda like the wrong side better. What do you think? I’m contemplating taking it out and starting over again.

I got a new hair clipper set and gave the boys a haircut before they went back to school after the recent holiday. This is the shortest Keivy’s hair has ever been, and I just can’t get over how different he looks! Those are his fathers ears for sure!  I have to control myself and stop pulling on them before I give him a complex. Gemaine didn’t keep still long enough for a photo, and went straight outside to play afterwards. That boy does not stop moving!

I’ll have to catch up on blog reading tomorrow. Time for bed! Night all.

I ‘m reposting Christy’s blog entry here just to make sure we can get the word out to more peeps out there.

SAVE THE TATAS!!!!

Did you know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month? Well, it is. And if you love my breasts as much as I do… wait! If you love breasts, then you should try and save a pair.

I know at this point everyone has heard about Sheryl Crow and Christina Applegate. And I want to commend these women on their strength. But I just want you to know that Breast Cancer knows no boundaries… it knows no friends. It can strike anyone at anytime. I, personally, lost my grandmother. She had her left breast removed when I was 11 (22 years ago). I’ll never forget the heinous incision and the seemingly huge number of staples they used to hold her flesh together. I remember how red her skin turned after radiation. It was (dare I say it?) gross. In the end, she still died because they didn’t get it all.

Now, I’m not trying to upset anyone, I don’t want you to realize that back in ‘87, cancer survival rates were quite a bit lower than they are now, and it’s all due to research and funding from caring individuals like you.

With that in mind, I’m donating 10% of the purchase price of everything in my “Breast Cancer Awareness” section of my Etsy shops (HandCrampCrafts and my old one AntiChristy) to Breast Cancer Research. Now, not everything in the shops is in that section, but a good majority are. Additionally, spend $25 or more in merchandise (in or out of the BCA section, and I’ll pay for priority shipping.

How in the world can you possibly beat that!?!?!?

P.S. If you do happen to read this post, please do me a favor and get the word out (repost on your site… whatever you feel is appropriate.)

Breast cancer runs rampant in my family, so this means a lot to me as well. My grandmother died from it, and an aunt and cousin of mine have breast cancer. I can’t remember who else, but am really hoping I don’t ever get it. The odds are not very good though.

I already have recipes on recipezaar, but thought this website looked nice as well. My first recipe I posted on there!

Lambe Family Pancakes!

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 2 eggs

1. In a large mixing bowl combine the ingredients in the order given.
2. Mix well, but do not overmix or they won’t rise properly. A few lumps isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
3. Let batter sit for a few mins. while you heat a pan on medium heat with a few tbsp. of oil.
4. Using a 1/3-cup measurement, scoop out batter and fry in the pan until holes begin to appear on the top and it starts drying out a bit.
5. Flip pancakes over and brown on other side.
6. Serve hot with butter, syrup or condiment of your choice.

Lambe Family Pancakes @ Group Recipes

After doing a small crochet job last week, I took a little break. I haven’t crocheted in a few days! I hope I’m not suffering hexagon burn out already. That would sure suck.

Talking about the hexagons, I need some opinions please! I’ve been thinking, and have been wondering if the color scheme I’m using for the hexagons would be suitable for my 4-year old. (white, red, gray and black) I’ve crocheted a blanket for all my boys when they were younger, but him. Since I just finished one for myself, and also have the freeform one on the go, maybe I should make this hexagon blankie for Keivy. Whaddya think?

I also got a couple of goodies last week. I went to the yarn shop to stock up on the hexagon colors and also picked up some Mirage which I think would be great for some mittens. It’s very soft! I also decided to ask the store manager about the different prices on the sewing machines they have. I hate my toyota machine with a passion!! It broke the first day I got it! Anywho, about 10 mins. later I was putting a £10 down payment on a limited edition Brother machine which I’ll pay off by Christmas. I told that man he’s an excellent salesman! The machine is for Brothers 50th UK anniversary and is on offer for £199, which is around £50 or so less than the original price. It’s basic, but does everything I need from a machine. It can quilt, it’s computerised and I don’t even need to use the presser foot! How cool is that! I can also bring in my old machine for either a trade or discount. Yippee again!

Lookie! I got this off of ebay! I used to always buy Taste of home magazine back home, and have missed it so! I was thrilled to see they have a large cookbook binder like this and can’t wait to try a few different recipes out of it. I don’t buy cookbook here in the UK because I hate the system they use. Metric right? *scratches head*  I ain’t measuring nuttin on a scale!  So I’m sticking with what I know.

Oh, and I’ve been a baaaaaad girl. I got a stored card yesterday for Argos,  and had plans to use it for Christmas presents. Then I remembered I owed my sister a camera for her birthday. Then I remembered how much I had really wanted an Ipod touch a few months ago. So, I almost maxed it out about 8 hours after receiving it. I hate how impulsive I am! I’m also mad at myself because I ended up getting the wrong one. I thought I was getting the New ipod touch, but ended up with the 1G instead of the 2G. The only differences really are the addition of a volume button on the side, and speakers. I think they’re pretty important features, but will have to do without them now. Serves me right! I was thinking of selling it on ebay, but the new ipod touch I want is sold out everywhere anyway, so I might as well keep what I have. Who knows, I may be able to get the one that I want at a later time, and either sell this one, or give it away to my eldest for Christmas or his bithday. (25th and 27th) I can’t take it back because they don’t allow that on mp3 players and such, so I’m stuck. I still like it though and am enjoying my new toy.

TTFN!!

I crocheted all this on Saturday and Sunday. Shows if I’m determined I can do a lot!

I had to apologize to Nan as well, I was testing her purse pattern some time back, screwed up, and put it aside only to forget about it; until Christy asked me to test a hat pattern for her. So, Igot them both finished this weekend.

I was asked a while ago for the pattern for the Not a Swimming Cap hat, so I wrote that out and tested it. I think I’ll put that one up for sale, and give the Crossed Beanie pattern for free. I just need to reformat it a bit to make it easier to follow.

Crossed Beanie hat - I’ll put this one up on my other blog when I have it written out properly.

Not a Swimming Cap hat - I ran out of brown and had to improvise. Not sure if I like it, but it’s done. I just need to take a few decent photos before putting the patten in my shop.

Recycled Pursabilities by Nan - I messed up royally and will have to attempt it again. The straps are supposed to be on the sides, and there’s supposed to be a purse flap. I didn’t have a photo, which I think would have helped. I don’t know where I put it! I didn’t realize I’d put the straps in the wrong place until I started to attempt the flap, and I said heck no, I’m not pulling it out! I’ll just redo it. I still like it and love the shape as well. It was also supposed to be done using plastic bags, but I ran out and restarted it in regular yarn. I’m going to do it properly this week.

What a Crock of Oatmeal hat by Christy - Very fun to crochet and I chose to have raisin oatmeal.

And of course I made some more hexagons. After doing the math, I figured out I’ll be needing around 250 hexagons to complete the blanket. After picking myself up off the floor, I decided I can actually do it. If I get tired of making the hexagons I can always take a break!

Time to pick up Keivy already! TTFN!!

…. but I did. *sigh* I bought yet another bag. I bought one last week, one a few days ago, and then this one yesterday. Someone stop me!!! Luckily the first two were barely £20 in total, so atleast they didn’t leave me totally broke. This bag kind did because it’s been a busy bill week, but I forgive it. It cost £24, and is the most I’ve spent on a bag in ages! I have an excuse though, I’m looking for the perfect bag. And I found it!!

Isn’t it beautiful! *sigh*

So here’s how I’m justifying this purchase…. I don’t ever worry about buying anything ‘namebrand’ and really just purchase whatever I like as cheap as I can get it. This bags brand name is called Nica, and is the only brand name I’ve actually fully liked in all my years of being a bag lady. For the past three years I’ve been walking by this boutique a few blocks away from me and drooling over the bags in the window. I’ve gone in twice to check the prices, and decided that £40-60 is way too much for a bag. I went to TK-Maxx yesterday to look in the bag section, and this bag was there waiting for me at more than half it’s original price! I snatched it so fast I think I drew attention to myself in a negative fashion. Anywho, this is the exact bag I saw in the boutique that I couldn’t afford! I was so thrilled I had to refrain from jumping up and down. So, I guess you can say I’ve waited for a Nica bag for 3 years, and had to take the opportunity.

It’s so roomy it holds all my knick knacks, doodads, and crafting whatzits.  It has just the right amount of compartments, it expands and closes with magnet snaps, it’s sturdy and stays on my shoulder without constant fixing and it’s very well made. Another plus is, it’s not black! Most people that know me know I’m not the most fashionable person. I tend to stay in my comfort zone, and black is what I’m used to. I know a black bag will match everything, so that’s what I normally get. I took a look in my closet, and realized that all my bags look the same! So, I’ve gone all out and got something totally new and fashionable, that’s brown with a bluey like fabric on it as well! I don’t know if I even own any brown clothing or anything that’ll match the bag, but I can’t say I really care. I’m wearing this no matter what, I’ve waited long enough!

On the crafty side of things, I got another crochet calendar. I won’t be purchasing anymore though. I rarely use other peoples patterns to begin with, and I feel I’ve wasted my money on it. It’s nice and all, but when you only like around 4-5 patterns out of hundreds, it’s not really a good buy. I’m just picky really.

Have ya noticed things look different around here? After trying to figure out how to cut down internet costs, I’ve decided to open another wordpress blog, link it to this one, and use it to sell my patterns. I have two separate domain names,(hobbyzu.com & hobbyzu.com/blog) so I didn’t want to use the blog address for selling. So, that means I have etsy to sell my handmade items and patterns, and my other blog to sell just patterns and to give away free ones. Since wordpress is free, my only costs are to do with hosting my blogs and etsy, which are very minimal. Yay! Took me long enough to come up with this idea though.

I don’t know if I totally like this theme, but it’s taken me 3 days to find one that would work properly for both blogs, and I’m tired of looking. When I can, I may look into getting a more personalized theme. I’d really like the side panels to be on opposite sides of the center area, and not both on one side. I think that’s such a weird way to do things!  Anywho, it’s free, so I’ll stop complaining.

I’ve only added my mitten pattern to hobbyzu.com so far, but will have more up later on this evening and this weekend. I have a few free patterns I’ve never shared, so I’ll need to write those up properly before posting.

I am frickin freezin! I think I’ll take a break and get all cozy under my covers. Lord I hope this doesn’t mean this winter will be unbearable! TTFN!

After a long and exhausting day full of appointments, errands and PTA meetings, I figured I’d better stop by and share some photos before I eat dinner and pass out.

First off, meet Sheepie Lambe! I won him through a blog contest on Christines’ blog. Thanks again Christine!! He decided he wanted to relax on the sidetable next to my bed. He asked if he could use my laptopy, but I’m pretty strict with things like that. Maybe later. Now I look at the photo I see his foot is resting on one of my worry people/dolls. It goes under your pillow Sheepie, not your foot. Geesh!

I received these from ebay today. I love the motif book and have so many ideas for hats, additions to my blanket and so on. Yay! As for the calendar, I was pretty underwhelmed. I only found a few things in it that I’d actually make. Oh well, one out of two ain’t bad!

Yeah, and I also made more hexagons. I’m not sure if I’m really up to making a blanket out of them or using them to make smaller items. I’ll decide by this weekend. I do want to make the blanket, but I know how my attention span gets and I’m a bit nervous I won’t finish it until 2011.

Bye for now!!

Yup, more hexagons I completed a little while ago while watching X-factor and NCIS.

I wish I had more yarn in my stash to match these colors. I guess whatever I’m making with these will be the same colors as my freeform blanket. If I make a blanket, how many of these hexagons will I need?! Eeek! I don’t know if my attention span can deal with that many, which is why I’ve never attemped a granny square afghan or anything with lots of pieces and joining. I’m scared! *bites fingernails*

I’m disappointed in my new book. I guess since it says ‘encyclopedia or crochet techniques’, I was expecting a treasure trove of ideas and inspiration to jump out at me. There isn’t much in the book that I don’t already have in my other books. *sigh* I’m sure there are more crochet techniques than these! 

Anywho, I did find a couple of things I liked, one of them being this wheel hexagon pattern. Last night I planned on doing one or maybe two for my freeform blanket. For some reason I just kept going and going! Maybe because there are a lot of color combos I can do.

I’ve made more today and think I’ll add them to ravelry in batches of what I finish in a day instead of adding them each as a separate project. I’m going to have to decide what I’ll be using these hexagons for, can’t add them all to my blanket.

Gemaine had a football game today and he played goalie for the first time. My baby did good!! I was disappointed in his team though because so many goals had to be blocked by Gemaine, which meant the rest of the team weren’t going their jobs. I was pissed when one boy yelled at Gemaine when a goal got through.  Not like he was doing anything special for the team other than running his mouth! Gemaine’s team lost 11-7, and I thought that was pretty good considering the amount of goals Gemaine blocked. The opposing team would have had close to thirty goals if he hadn’t been there! There are a couple of good players on the team, but most were like they were daydreaming! One boy would have the ball and try to get to the goal, 2-4 players from the opposing team would be trying to get the ball from him, and his fellow team mates were no where to be found to assist him! What nonsense is that! Yes, I know it’s just a game, but it’s very annoying when you know your son could be on a winning team if the other boys would actually work as a team.

Anyway, the boys all had a good time, except for the bigmouthed one of course, and Gemaine was pleased with his performance as was his coach. :-) 

Had a good day, and am now off to make more hexagons. I didn’t make enough with black in them!

I find I always buy pattern books, but rarely ever use them. I decided to get more books like these with techniques and stitches, because they’re what I need for designing things. I’ve been really busy, so I haven’t had a chance to look at my new book much. Hopefully it’ll be full of inspiration though! I’m off to take one of our rats to the vet. Her eye is bleeding for some reason. Ttfn!

FreeForm blanket update! My back is killing me today, so I won’t be writing much. 

I’m really enjoying crocheting this and am loving how it’s turning out so far. I especially love all the mistakes, lumps, bumps and ripples going on. I think it adds character and is just more to look at and enjoy! Oh, and I finally learned the bullion stitch! Yay! 

I’m off to curl up into a ball, if I can anyway. TTFN.

Since yesterday was a holiday here, I took Keivy to the park. Gemaine was busy running wild and wanted to hang out over his friends house to play xbox. *shrug* So anyway, we decided to feed the birds. I think they were really hungry. We were at the far end, and literally dozens of birds came from the left, the right, above and across the water. Or in other words they were coming from all directions! Eeek! We just walked very quickly along the pathway while throwing bread behind us and in the water. I was not about to stop!

I would have taken a picture of them when we were back there a bit because there were a lot more birds then, but they were moving in fast! I ain’t takin no chances man!!

Then this guy slowly walked out of the water and got closer… and closer….. and closer…. and I said “Keiv, he’s not stopping, let’s get outta here”. He agreed, so I snapped a quick pic and we backed away as quickly as possible to safety. I don’t want to make Keivy scared of birds, so I didn’t run screaming. Lord knows I kinda wanted to though.

Keiv thought it would be funny to rile them up a bit before leaving the park. I was not amused.

Thankfully we made it out of the park safely and no birds were harmed during our escape. There would have been if I’d gotten pooped on though.

Keivys’ feet were cold yesterday evening, so I made him some slipper socks! I hadn’t intended on putting buttons on them as I don’t have many boyish ones that matched. But, he insisted I’d forgotten his buttons, so I threaded these on the yarn and crocheted them in. He likes them, and I have a reason to purchase more buttons on ebay!

Now for the sad part. I was emailing my eldest son and told him to send me some pics of him. I’d just recently sent him a mobile phone, and it’s also a camera. No excuse for him to not send me pics! He sent me a few yesterday, and I’ve been crying on and off ever since. I can barely look at them unless I have a tissue handy. *sigh* I miss my baby. I’m going to do everything humanly possible to get him here for Christmas. Hopefully I don’t choose an airline that decides to go bust after I buy the tickets.

He looks so different from the last photo he sent me in February. I can see the teenage years have set upon him and he’s changing. I bet he’s still eating loads of junk food too! He looks so much older. I wonder what he’s looking at, and why he isn’t smiling. He’s also a lot darker from all that Bermuda sun. I miss my baby. Please Lord watch over him and keep him safe for me.

Thank you all for wishing me well. I feel a lot better now thanks. *hugs*

I’ve been tagged by Eryka to complete the Six Quirky Things Meme. 

The rules:
1) Link to the person who tagged me
2) Mention the rules
3) Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about myself
4) Tag 6 other bloggers by linking to them
5) Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they’ve been tagged

The meme:

1.) Every night I search my house for unwanted guests before turning the lights off and heading to bed. Including looking in closets and such. I also double check the doorlocks and look through the door peephole twice or other equal amount of time. 

2.) I have all my toiletries in the bathroom lined up in rows from tallest to shortest bottles, and with them tilted slightly to the right with label facing front. If anyone messes with them, all hell breaks loose!

3.) When the tv closed caption is turned on, for some reason I can’t help tracing the punctuation marks with my eyes. Drives me crazy! Or, am I just crazy period? Hmmm.

4.) I hate trying on clothes with a passion! If I like it I’ll take it home, and then try it on. If it doesn’t fit, take it back or give it to family or best friend where appropriate. I will however spend an hour trying to figure out which bag looks best on my shoulder.

5.) Whenever I’m using my computer I have atleast 8-10 tabs open already loaded with my most visited pages. I’m organized like that.

6.) If I’m in a bad mood, depressed or can’t pay a bill. I splurge and buy a bag. I have a heck of a lot of them now. When family members visit, it’s highly likely they’ll leave with a new bag!

BONUS QUIRK - I like things to be even. For example; If you dig your finger into my precious vaseline container, I have a fit! Then I’ll spend the next few mins. smoothing it all out to cover up the hole. My sister does it to me on purpose just to see me fix it. Grrrrr. Just lightly slide your finger along the top! Is that so hard! Why dig in it!? Why oh why!? *clears throat*

Anyway, now that I’ve bared my soul and you all think I’m a freak, I’m going to invite anyone to do this meme. I’ve already tagged everyone on my list at some point I believe, and feel bad to have to do it again. So, if you read this, and want to participate, please do. I appreciate it!

I no feel good. I have a bad head cold. But, it hasn’t stopped me from crocheting!!! ;-) 

I actually hate these slippers. The color is fine, but the blue yarn is awful quality! It’s so floppy and doesn’t hold shape very well at all, and it’s scratchy. Theyr’e fine on your feet of course, which is what counts huh? I’m not sure what I’ll do with them yet, but I will definitely not be selling them.

I modified the pattern a bit to make them a bit tighter in the feet, and thanks to a great suggestion from Jan, I made the strap wider and really prefer it that way. Now, who wants to test the adult pattern for moi!? I need about 3 please, so leave your email address if interested. I know someone out there has cold feet!

I love ebay! I know, I’ve said that before. Looky at the buttons that arrived today! They are extremely cute huh!? I’ve just realized their aren’t any pairs, so I think I’ll look around and see if the shop I got them from has anymore. 

I love Moo!! I wrote them about the mistake with my business card order last week. They emailled me back with an apology and explanation about a bug that they got sorted out. They gave me a coupon for more business cards, and I ordered them again; for free of course. They arrived today and are perfect now! I’m so happy!! Plus, they never asked for the other ones back. Even though they weren’t how I wanted them, they’re still usable. So I got 100 business cards instead of 50.

  Front

  Back

My website is still in the beginning stages and will look a lot better after it’s been given a fresh coat of paint. The designer said he’ll start on it in a few weeks when prestashop has it’s next upgrade which he’ll install for me, so I’m being patient.

And last but definitely not least, another book promotion for The First Ever Crochet Liberation Front pattern book! Yippee!!

I have a hat pattern in it and am so excited and nervous about people seeing it in a book! Laurie is having trouble putting a pic of the books front cover on the purchase page, but don’t worry, it’s really fantastic.

holds up spinning wheelie thing used for hypnosis and repeats - “buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it”

My baby is back from his trip and all is well!

The CLF which is a ravelry crochet group has their first book out tomorrow. I’m excited because I have my cabled slouch hat pattern in it! Yay! It’s supposed to go on sale tomorrow evening, so I’ll post more about where to purchase it then. They plan on having more books in the future, and I plan on being in each one! *fingers crossed*

My baby comes back tomorrow!! Well Gemaine isn’t really a baby anymore, but you know what I mean. Our kids are our babies forever and ever. I hope he had a great time. I’ve missed him like mad, but am glad he had this great opportunity.

I’ve waited for this yarn I purchased off of ebay since the end of July. Apparently there was something wrong with the post office and delivery. Usually if noone is home, they take the pkg. to the post office, and leave a note for me to pick it up. The seller came back from vacation and said the pkg. was delivered back to her. I don’t get why that would have happened. Anywho, the yarn finally arrived and all is well. I’m a bit disappointed though. Because I’ve had to wait for so long, it would have been nice if the yarn was something exciting and worth waiting for, other than just plain gray. *sigh* Atleast I have it!

I’m off to either fiddle with my slipper pattern or just fall asleep. Haven’t decided yet. I think I want to adjust the pattern a bit as I feel they may be too wide for some. My family has pretty big feet, and I need to keep in mind that we’re possible abnormal and everyone else has dainty girl feet. Nighty-night!

Hi all! I’m stopping by the internet cafe beore having to pick my little guy up from school. He has speech therapy today. So it’s photo Wednesday because I have no time!

New slippers!

Still working on the pattern. Don’t you love the Scottish terrier button!?

Gemaine all ready to go on his trip. I think I may have overpacked him.

More slippers!

Bye, gotta run!! Have a great day all!

Arts and crafts at home.

Originally uploaded by hobbyzu

He’s bored with his brother gone on his trip. So, we’ve been cutting and pasting everything!

Just a quick post before running out to get something for dinner.

Here are some orange slippers I crocheted. I’m still testing my mary jane pattern, and have come to the conclusion that if we all had the same sized feet, I wouldn’t have these problems! *sigh*

I was so excited to see my new business cards from Moo arrived. Then I turned them around, and saw my logo was missing from the top of the card. I was soooo disappointed! Anywho, I realized I’d made a few errors with the business description and had forgotten to add a few things. I’ll be rewriting that! I also don’t like how all the photos came out. So, will get them redone. I’m still optimistic though.

Here’s what I’m working on today. I don’t really like green, but this really came out pretty. I guess not all green is bad. Hopefully I’ll start a pair of slippers for myself later on, and also get some work done on my freeform blanket. Poor thing has been neglected lately.

Bye for now!

It’s been a while blogland! I’ve been busy, so I have an excuse.

I’ve had two crochet jobs this week to crochet the top edging and straps on 2 dresses. That went well thankfully. I’ll try and post pics if I can later on. I’ve been working on my slipper pattern, but because of the jobs I was given, haven’t been able to test all sizes yet. Maybe I can do something this weekend.

Gemaine is leaving for a  school trip next week Monday for five days! My other baby is leaving me! *sob* It’s to Dalguise here in Scotland, and is mostly like a fun adventure/activity camp. Even though I’ve known about it for a whole school year, I of course waited until yesterday to get all the supplies he needs for it. I was so busted after it was all over, but atleast I got everything. I had to make about 3 or 4 trips back to the house to unload! Please tell me why in a country where it rains almost every day, it’s so hard to find a rain coat!  I literally travelled miles to find a store that sells them. I’m going to do some research and see if I can find anything nearer my house. So, if I ever need another one, I won’t kill myself trying to find it! Apparently the only place to get them from is stores specializing in camping gear and outdoorsy stuff.

All is well and can’t complain. Kids are doing fine and seem to be enjoying school. My eldest said he starts school next week, and even paid for all his school clothes with his own money. I’m wondering why his father didn’t do it, but will keep my mouth shut. My baby is growing up and becoming very independent. He said he never realised how expensive school clothes were, and I kept my told-you-so comment to myself. Maybe he’ll appreciate things more since he has to pay for them himself.

Had to go a day without my painkillers this week which was really hard. Since I’d been crocheting and running around, the sciatica in my back and leg  was attacking me. I had a hard restless night; but I made it to the pharmacy the next day and after popping my pills, all was right with the world. I don’t take them every day if I can help it, but they were sure needed this week!

I’m at the internet cafe because I’m having internet problems.  Story of  my life! I hope I get it resolved soon, but figured I’d better stop by and say hello in case I fail to correct the problem. :-(  What’s worse, my mobile phone is turned off! Why do they always send me a text message to make a payment because I’ve almost reached my limit after they’re turned it off!? Isn’t the text message supposed to be a warning?! *sigh* I made a payment, and hope they turn it back on soon. Can’t live without my phone!

Anyway, I’m gone before my time runs out. Here’s a quick pic of a giant bee to keep you company until I return.

The following is the actual meaning:

The girl’s name Zuleika \z(u)-lei-ka\ is pronounced zoo-LAY-kah. It is of Arabic origin, and its meaning is “fair; brilliant and lovely”. Made famous by Max Beerbohm’s comic heroine in the novel “Zuleika Dobson”.

Zuleika has 2 variant forms: Zulaica and Zuleica.

Now here is a blogthing I tried earlier and was freaked right out! It’s pretty much 95% correct. I think they’re watching me! Eeek!