Author Archives: paulainauckland

Birthday plans

Posted in family by

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This is how we woke Mase in 2012, his third birthday. I’m now in planning stages for his sixth.
Not sure when/how/theme as yet but I know we’ll have at least three parties. One for family, one for school mates and then the next day one for his team. Thinking a secret santa for that party – and a bouncy Castle, nerf & rugby league theme.
I think a pinterest session is in order…

You Can Quote Me

Posted in OLW, You Can Quote ME by

So instead of an image that links to my One Little Word, Serenity, today I’ve got an app for you stitchers out there. It’s doing wonders for my peace of mind & sanity. We all know I grasp onto that tightly! I found this quite by chance as I updated the new phone – it’s FREE and works on Android.

StashCashe

http://geekeclectic.com/stashcache/

Linda has an abundance of patience (altho I think I have now worked out the coding) and will talk you off the ledge. I can now add material and chart lists to the app and in the format I want – bonus! There are some templates and quick lists (DMC & Anchor threads) on Linda’s site & I’ve created a Kreinik #4 list to match (I like to know the colour names).  My Mill Hill list is underway (including the DMC recommendation for attaching, always good to know if you can’t find the invisible thread) and it now takes me about 3 minutes to type & load up a Mirabilia pattern to the stash. Which is very good as my order arrived from Amanda today!

Now I just have to sit down & enter the DMC, Kreinik & Mill Hill that I have in my stash, and this app will be fully functional!

WIP Wednesday

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Yes I know I should be stitching! I have started Angela’s piece (mixing up some threads, as per, but I’ll write them down for the next person!). A few more threads to Blitzen (not many, school holidays) but my real delay is due to NewPhoneitis.

Very contagious in my household. Si got upgraded to an S6, so I flogged his (much newer and faster than mine) S3. Unfortunately some of the apps didn’t move over during migration so I’ve been hunting them down. And finding new ones, which is the problem. What a terrible problem to have.

The kids are behaving as all good children should:
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that moment you go “oh shhhhh”

Posted in me by

I had one yesterday. After about three weeks of waking with headaches, tying my hair up before going to sleep, that indeterminable wait for it to dry – I went to the hairdresser yesterday.

And left about 2/3 of it on the floor. Cue immediate panic!

But this morning my head feels so light! Bliss to wake up to.

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sorry about the finger – new phone jitters

Getting Closer…

Posted in grateful, me by

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As I write I’ve just ticked over to 99 follows. The latest has just thanked her 10k+ so it’s a good thing I’m not journalling for kudos or glory. Splat goes the ego!

But what I would like to do is to say Thank You to everyone who has commented and joined in. Reading posts (especially craft and book posts!) is a treat & I’m grateful there are others out in blogland who are sharing their highs and lows too.

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I’m planning a giveaway at follower #111. Woo hoo!

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Today was a Good Day

Posted in family, grateful, league by

Woke up late – eep! Three degrees outside and the cars were covered in ice (I’m such a jaffa now. No more Southland blood left)

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It was about half a cm thick on the Toy Car.

Got to New Lynn and the babes were awesome. Lots of quick passes and offloads; bring at the Fox game last week must have been good inspiration

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one thing about cold mornings is the bonus of full sun for the rest of the day.

This afternoon someone pulled up injured so Bran ran the line at the Pt Chev Fox game!  Not many 15 yo would get that opportunity. I stayed to watch for a little while (Si was on the other line) then Mase, Zac and I went to Animates to fish browse.

We brought 8 guys home (& I nearly picked up another tank for the kitchen). Three Black Widow tetras and five Neons. Neons are tiny!

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Black Widow tetra; I think it looks like a Barb

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Hopefully I don’t kill these guys too soon.

High 5 for Friday!

Posted in family, friends, grateful, High Five For Friday, me, round robin, stitching patterns, Teresa Wentzler, work by

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Visiting: today I’m meeting up with Angela from the NZ XS group. She lives very locally, on a farm. Looking forward to it!

Stitching: Blitzen, & incredibly curious about Angela’s choices for the RR. Plus must give Tapestry Cat some love. Watching the progress Theresa Wenztler is making on Illuminata is amazing. Designers don’t get enough kudos or money.

Pinning: lots of gorgeous things

Paying: bills. I’m grateful I have a good job that I enjoy and that enables me to help look after my family.

Watching: not a lot. Think I’ll have a NCIS binge. Yay for DVDs

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!

You Can Quote ME

Posted in OLW, stitching patterns, You Can Quote ME by

YCQM is a weekly post that is linked to my One Little Word, which for 2015 is Serenity. Here’s a bit of truth for you:

something good in every day

Yesterday seems like a bit of a blur.

  • menu planning/grocery shop. planning yes, shop no. I cleaned out the magazine pile instead.
  • Vacuum/wash floors. vac yes, wash no.
  • Laundry. Ugh. Lots of.
  • Some stitching on my latest project. not much, but a few threads.
  • Potting up some herb cuttings, planting more seed. there’s a new basil cutting planted for Sarah, not much else done. Cleaned kitchen & made two dinners instead.
  • And painting mirror frames black so they match my picture frames. last coat of one is done. Too cold to dry in the proscribed two hours so didn’t touch the other two frames.

WIP Wednesday – is it really a day off?

Posted in Christmas, conversion details, family, grateful, House, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, stitching patterns, work by

I got asked by a couple of people what I plan to do on my day off. Apparently one in particular is under the impression that I will sit around all day. Hmm.

This is one text:
Day off today so menu planning/grocery shop. Vacuum/wash floors. Laundry. Some stitching on my latest project. Mase has a party (I find it odd that the Muslim boy’s party is at Macca’s). Potting up some herb cuttings, planting more seed. And painting mirror frames black so they match my picture frames. It would be more restful at work, except Si took Bran to the Navy league tournament today!

Apart from the party it’s a very normal Mum’s Day Off, isn’t it? Chores are a never ending circle, most of us like to do something to improve our homes, but some of us don’t attack the day with a plan. 90% of what I intend to do will take a half hour chunk and I get satisfaction from crossing stuff of the list.

I’m in between pieces so I picked up my Reindeer parade. Rudolph was stitched a while ago, and I’m now adding Blitzen. The ribbons will eventually connect them.

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This is at the three hour mark. I’m planning on beading and doing the snow swirls/trees later on. And I’m not doing the “glow” part of Rudolph’s nose. I like him as is. Plenty of thread conversion too which I will post later on as I’m still working on some.

Goodness

Posted in grateful, league by

And I don’t mean “goodness gracious me” or anything the Mom in The 70’s Show said – I mean the goodness in people. It’s the small things that make people smile.

In this case, it’s actually quite large. I know how hard it is to get sponsorship, and being completely honest, I thought this offer would expire in that “too hard” basket. I’m happy to report that I was wrong, wrong, wrong – here are my our babies in their new sponsored hoodies!

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My Mase is the tall blondie.