Author Archives: paulainauckland

Merry Christmas!

Posted in Christmas, family, food, friends by

I’m not planning on being online tomorrow, so #merrychristmas to you all! I hope you & your families have a wonderful day together.

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And if your cracker joke sucks, here’s one from Simon. “My mate was walking thru the cemetery & noticed four guys wandering around carrying a coffin. A few hours later he saw them again, still with the coffin. He said to me ‘I think they’ve lost the plot’.” Boom! #dadjokes

Wow

Posted in family, grateful, me, photos, work by

Apologies #sorrynotsorry if you follow me on IG or are a Facebook friend as I am spamming you with this image. I’m so so so overwhelmed by the perfection of this year’s Secret Santa gift. And amazed that Mase kept the secret for two whole sleeps!

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My santa was Rory who does all the catalogue still photography here at work (& keen eyed peeps might remember he does the club shots too). He and Simon got the four kids together for this.

I cried. Then I laughed at Hamish,  who genuinely believed all I got was a photo frame with someone else’s kids in it.

Best santa gift ever.

Going to Custard

Posted in DIY home, family by

Si and Zac saw some fabric in Spotlight the other week and decided they would like boxers out if it. I thought (based on the success of making Mase his monkey pants) that this was something I could do.

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Well Mase’s are great. Almost perfect.
Zac’s? Followed the instructions exactly. The crotch isn’t even going to cover his willy. $25 fabric and an hours work wasted.

I’m going to be in the corner, crying & unpicking if you’re looking for me. Let’s hope I can salvage something.

Sharing is Caring – the Lazy Genius

Posted in freebies, playlist by

I found these guys via Caroline TeSelle’s yearly top 10 – she follows their podcast. And now so do I.

The Lazy Genius Collective

http://www.thelazygeniuscollective.com/blog/

some very funny reads here! to quote:

4. You melt butter to soften it.

I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN. When you bake, butter should be treated with care and reverence. Butter is basically Beyonce. 

and if you’re still looking for an android FREE podcast app, I use and recommend Podcast Addict. Here’s an official-type review:

http://www.androidcentral.com/best-podcast-apps-android#slide4

and you can get it from your Play store.

 

 

WIP Wednesday

Posted in Christmas, cross stitch, friends, grateful, house - gardens, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett by

It’s been an…uhh…weird Wednesday.

I got audited for the second part of my job today. Given that I practically invented the process, with minimal input, and I’m getting the outcome my boss wanted, I think I’m sound okay. But it was odd to explain my reasoning and go over scenarios with someone who is removed from the process. In a way I hope he comes up with some suggestions as I am not sure that I can’t refine the process somewhat.

Sarah was feeling as “done like a dinner” add I was so we went walking to Kings on the other side of Fowlds Park. She got advice about her magnolia and I brought herbs. I need more potting mix but the Bay & the Rue are in new pots where hopefully they can stay for a while. I also noticed my Little Bo Peep rose is covered in flowers.

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My Twitter secret santa arrived! Jinny must have paid attention. I have plans for the white one in particular; white kreinik and beads to make it shine. I’m waiting to see if Jen got hers (stalking TBH).

And on the stitching front, as you can see from the IG feed, I’ve got started on Mermaids of the Deep Blue. I did re-chart her hand as it looked odd.

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I think I’ll be onto her face just as soon as I finish with the skin on her chest.

What are you up to?

Done!

Posted in cross stitch, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, round robin by

I’m so happy that I’ve completed my portion of the Round Robin in plenty of time to ship her to Rahenna.

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This is Nora Corbett’s Moonlight Laguna. I’m glad I had the magazine as colour copies never are the best, and I changed out the border threads where they pinged into the tail (Lenna had twinked out all the rest of the border).

And here’s the piece as it leaves me:

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High 5 for Friday!

Posted in 12 Days of Gifting, cross stitch, family, grateful, High Five For Friday, me, Mirabilia, round robin by

It’s been a busy few weeks. To be honest, I am struggling – with pain & loss of function, the return of the Screaming Teen, a tired partner, feeling oh-so-obliged – and being grateful went by the wayside.

Yesterday was a big day in the household; (bottom left) Mase’s group had a concert at school (they are repeating it at local resthomes today & for the public on Saturday evening) and (top left) Zac graduated intermediate. He also got a Service award!

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(top right) I am very nearly at the end of Lenna’s tail – there has been a bit of juggling to get the colours right in the roses. I can’t justify the drive across town for the three Waterlillies threads, especially as I’d be in so much discomfort after, so I dug in my 3 thread boxes and came up with something true to the original picture but also unique.

Mase is totally into Christmas – the last pic of the layout is my new Rudolph. He kind of reminds me of Beaker from the Muppets!

I am just about at the end of the “12 Days of Simon” for this year – but I think I will just number them and place them under the tree. I saw this boy at Living & Giving today & it’s perfect for Day 11 – my (frog) Prince 🙂 cheesy, yes. Who cares? If you’re looking for something similar, these are by Zoku and widely available world-wide.

frog prince

November Goals Revised

Posted in 16 in 2016, Christmas, cross stitch, Project Life, scrapping challenges, Uncategorized by

Just to recap, the November goals were:

  • Complete my portion on Lenna’s RR (which hasn’t even arrived as yet) STARTED
  • Stitch the Austen bookmark for Jenna COMPLETED
  • Stitch the Mysteries bookmark for Kerry COMPLETED
  • Finish the arms of Persephone and back-stitch from the face down PARTIALLY COMPLETED – I side-tracked and completed all the wallpaper to the right-hand side
  • Stitch a couple of Christmas ornaments including a “do not open” for my office door NOPE Just the one finish, which was technically December
  • Make Mase a couple of pairs of boxers for summer jammie pants NOPE
  • Send off the overseas Christmas cards – already addressed most so just have to write notes! COMPLETED!

 

I don’t have many goals for December. This month just gets hectic, so I like to allow myself some breathing space.

  • Set up planner for 2016 with monthly layout for stitching goals & rotation notes, and Week-to-View for the normal stuff, including blog planning COMPLETED
  • Work out what WIPs I am taking into “16 in 2016” COMPLETED – I only have 8 including one I need to start, so this could be pathetic!
  • Stitch Lenna’s RR portion – Moonlight Laguna mermaid
  • Keep up with December Daily. I’m opting to use a Heidi Swapp album in a different format from normal, and a Project Life kit that isn’t Christmas-y at all, but I thought better suited for our Summer. I’m also printing the photos on our printer here at work daily & I’ll re-print on proper photo paper later on. Better to have everything recorded than to stop like I did last year as it got too much.
  • Start Mermaids of the Deep Blue so it’s a WIP to take into “16 in 2016” – technically a bit of a cheat, but there you go.

Here’s the kit image – you can see it’s not a normal December Daily at all! The designer is Cathy Z, who used to edit Simple Scrapbooks. I like her clean style.

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