My happy space- 30th October, 2011



I have been enjoying hanging out with clown fish in Vanuatu.

(Note to self- invest in a good water proof camera
before the next water-based holiday
so that we can get better photos
than we get using a dodgy disposable one...)

We are safely back home after a fabulous holiday-

more on that later.

Last chance to enter my holiday giveaway while I think about how to find some winners)

A Getaway, Go away Giveaway.

(weddinglistco.com.au)

I was going to title this post "a Vanuatu giveaway"

but I thought that it might be claimed by some

(probably those trawling cyberspace for freebies and competitions)

 that it was misleading

and that I might get hauled into the small bloggy claims tribunal or something.

So I didn't.

I am going away for a glorious, parent-only 10 days

to a far off land with beaches and lagoons and cocktails and reefs and volcanos and mopeds

and sleep ins and plenty more I am sure.

You might not miss me while I am gone

but you might be a teensy weensy bit jealous.

I'd love to take you all with me
on my personal jet
but that lovely elderly British widow
(whose now deceased hubby had squillions of pounds
and she now want to pass them onto me)
still hasn't sent a cheque
so I just can't swing it this week.

So second best thing would be to have a giveaway.

If you'd like to win any of the pretties,

just say which one(s) in the comments.

(Namaste light pink buddy case.

Brand new factory second- pale line visible across top.

Magnetised for needles and accessories etc.

Have one of these. Love it)

(Maybe this bag from Lark with a couple of custom key fobs thrown in...)


(Perhaps you'd like to sit down and  have a cuppa while browsing the Stitch magazine that
I managed to double up on.)


(Just say if you love op shop sheets)


(OK So, as tempted as I was to add these two to the giveaway
after they did a runner with my chocolate stash for my plane flight,
I know the joy that they bring me each night when they curl up at my feet
at the bottom of my bed.
Besides, someone would dob me in,
the kids would never forgive me
and I would lose half my blogging material in the process.
So I guess I am keeping the moggies)

...and perhaps tell me a holiday story...

(like... I had a wee in the gardens of Versailles when I was caught short in a visit
and I almost fell off a cliff when I needed a bed-time wee
at a car parking camp at a mountain monastery in Spain)

or a travel fact...

(like...sugared raw eggs yolks in Spain are as vile

as churros con chocolate is divine.

Fact. Totally.)

or

your favourite cocktail or warm weather drink...

(Mmmmmm; gin, lemon and lime;
Mmmmmm, mojitos;

Mmmmmm, any creamy cocktail with Baileys or Kahlua or both)

When I get back, I will find a way to chose the winners.

Something a bit quicker than falling lemons this time, I promise.

A signature pose.

People tend to have a way that they pose to be photographed.,

especially celebrities.

(www.katy-perry.us)

It is often designed to show off their best assets - or attitude.

(www.entertainment.msn.co.nz)

(www.yousaytoo.com)

But it doesn't always work.

(nydailynews.com)



(though compared to the Hoff's other "signature" pose...)

(www.dirtygarnet.com)

So I think that I need to work on mine...

(Make It Perfect Honey blouse)

(Style Arc Katherine blouse)

(Make It Perfect Coastal Breeze)

Perhaps you can tell that I am just not comfortable posing in front of a camera.
But maybe I should learn to embrace it and be more flamboyant.

Given that these are all destined for Vanuatu wear next week,

my new pose may well have involve one hand up holding a cocktail...

Self-medicating moggies



It would appear that I was wrong in not crediting these moggies with much intelligence.

They are at least smart enough to work out that to balance their daily diet
of stolen kitchen sponges and scourers,
paper, watermelon and avocado,
they need to steal some multi-vitamins too.

(And to think that other people go crazy trying to get their cats to swallow tablets)

If knitting is for grannies,...

...then pass me a Zimmer frame.



"DECO 20" pattern book by Louisa Harding.

Dining by Daylight Savings

(timeanddate.com)

I will own up to being a fan of Daylight Savings.

Being Tasmanian (and therefore cold-blooded) born and bred, I am a non-summer girl

(and find myself asking how I ended up setting up residence
in a city that hits 40 degrees Celsius in summer)

but if winter has gone and there is no going back until next year,

then the extended light evenings are at least one of the benefits of summer

in spite of the heat.

We are lucky in that all Boozles, big and small,
adjust pretty much straight away to the time change sleep-wise.

This past weekend, we had our first outdoor family dinner.

Sprawled on the grass.

No ants and only a few mozzies.

Still balmy and sunny.

Mr Boozle is perfecting his paella

and I have to say-

having an evening where I don't have to cook,

where the kids will all eat something a bit exotic

and getting to scoff a seafood and chicken paella

with no messy table or floor to clean up at the end of it all....

it's mighty fine by me.
Even if my curtains are fading as we speak...

Joke of the Week

(plus.maths.org)

Once upon a time, in a land far away,

a beautiful, independent, self-assured princess happened upon a frog

as she sat contemplating ecological issues on the shores of an unpolluted pond

in a verdant meadow near her castle.

The frog hopped into the Princess' lap and said:

"Elegant Lady, I was once a handsome Prince, until an evil witch cast a spell upon me.

One kiss from you, however, and I will turn back into the dapper, young Prince that I am

and then, my sweet, we can marry and setup housekeeping in yon castle with my Mother,

where you can prepare my meals,

clean my clothes, bear my children,

and forever feel grateful and happy doing so."

That night,

as the princess dined sumptuously on a repast of lightly sauteed frogs legs

seasoned in a white wine and onion cream sauce,

she chuckled to herself and thought: I don't f*#king think so!

One V.O.I.F.S.O.T.T.P.H.R.U.F.O...



That is,

"one very old- in fact, so old that the pins have rusted- unfinished object".

I can't remember this project at all.
I might have started this at Uni,

which means that it could be over 20 years old...

R.I.P
(rest in pieces)

This week...1st October, 2011

...I reached 20 kilometres of knitting for 2011.

Oh.

Really?

How did that happen?

(www.drug-rehab-4u.blogspot.com)

...We watched a documentary about Ice (crystal meth),

possibly the most addictive drug available today.

So, so, scary

and we can only hope that it will never affect our lives.

(City Shopper from You Sew, Girl by Nicole Mallalieu)

...Sara received her bag as the winner of my 100 follower giveaway
and I am rapt that she loved it.

...we found out that even watermelon isn't safe
from the furry beasties.
I used to think that the contents of the fruit bowl were safe
but now I have to count the pears and bananas.

(www.reefhouse.wordpress.com)

...I started packing for our upcoming 10-days-of-holiday-bliss-just-the-two-of-us-leaving-the-kids-at-home-while-we-fly-off-to-Vanuatu holiday.
Sunscreen?
Tick.