Bedroom Blog

Sorry, but the title of this entry is not half as interesting as it may insinuate! :)
I am LITERALLY blogging from my bedroom! ...and I could blog from the kitchen... or the lounge...
or I could sit in the bath and blog....
Geoff has set up our wireless internet box thingie so now I can work all over the flat -- wherever I feel like being.. I could blog while I bake!! :)

Deep Thought III

The way I feel today

In a very funny way, this lady in Cuba - smoking a cigar (thanks to Geek Philosopher) reminds me of my Grandmother. A bit crazy..eccentric..with a really interesting dress sense. I LOVE her waistcoat...

The way I feel today, I wish I was her - sitting in a doorway wearing all my favorite colours and items of clothing together - who cares if they match - this is a style...with a mad thing on my head and funny glasses...necklaces...earrings... not caring who goes by....

Lebowski

It is hot today...I had a brilliant surf yesterday & cut aprons....then got home & fell asleep till 10pm when Geoff woke me to go to Joelle's party...what fun: Party till 2.30am...get up at 7am to meet my siblings and have our 'bachelor-sister' event. Our brother is walking down the isle next Sat. In addition to helping him out with a speech structure, we decided to go bowling.

Now I've been once...T has been once...and Stan had never bowled before. He got the highest score. I would say 'beginners luck' but we're all beginners! I found a ball that fitted my fingers (although it eludes me how they're supposed to feel) without getting the suction thing going and fingers stuck & panic of can't get them out.....It was really really good to spend some 'alone time' with my siblings. Don't know when we'll get the chance again...

Stan's bachelor party was last night...actually, it was an all day thing with go-carting, a braai..and needless to say: too many beers & B&C's (brandy & coke's). Geoff came home with pics of my beloved brother trying to get up from his fall on the grass with a beer glass taped to his hand, 2 friends standing half on top of him in conquering sort of poses. He didn't look well but he was smiling all the way & he survived it all.

The character that ties into my recent goings on is Jeff Lebowski in ' The Big Lebowski ' for being both a bachelor & a bowling fanatic. I didn't see this classic until about 3 months ago. Its one of those movies I've always heard about and intended seeing. After hearing too many quotes heard (especially 'If you don't give us de money, Lebowski, vee'll cut off your johnson'), Geoff rented it for us. What a laugh :)
So if you are one of the 2 people who read my blog & you haven't seen it, go hire it - its dry...but an entertaining sneak view into a few weeks in someone else's really bizarre 'reality'...and boys enjoy it too so you can watch it with your men :)

Deep Thought II

Thumb Strength

The dictionary is fantastic. But it is also a bit boring...wouldn't ya say?
I just found the coolest thing! THE URBAN DICTIONARY!

So today's word of the day is

THUMB STRENGTH
Definition?
The energy required to write a text
Used in a sentence:
Forget it, I don't have the thumb strength to text him. Guess I'll just call.

This is actually hilarious!

BAGSIDE
Definition?
(noun) The side of a body where a gigantic purse or messenger bag is carried, and an awkward barrier preventing others from walking comfortably alongside is often created.
Used in a sentence:
I would hold your hand, baby, but I don't want to get on your bagside.

JIVE-BY
Definition?
The act of briefly dancing up against a stranger as you cross the dance floor in a club.
Used in a sentence:
Tasha was enjoying a dance with a few mates when, unexpected, she was subjected to a jive-by. She got jive-by'd.

SARGASM
Definition?
Deriving far too much satisfaction from glibly berating another with sarcasm.
Used in a sentence:
Brian: "Oh, thanks a lot for drinking my last beer! No, it's my fault... if I wanted it for myself, I shouldn't have put it in the fridge!"
James: "Dude, don't have a sargasm."

COMRAGGER
Definition?

	A person who brags while complaining.

Used in a sentence:
She is such a comragger! She said she had a hard time picking which luxury car to drive today.

OK! enough!!! got to get something constructive done!

Deep Thought I

Beach Day

Geoff and I spent the whole day on the beach today...we basically woke up and headed out & only left at 5.30pm. What a lovely time we had in the sun! It seems that summer has actually arrived!

Cape Town is amazing...all these beaches..things to do things to see things to experience...we've been talking about going away on holiday abroad...important to do these things before kiddlies arrive & we are tied down for a while. I want to buy a ticket ASAP so that we have something to look forward to. So many places to go!

We're on week 9 of Artist's Way...I did my pages on the beach...spent lots of time going through last week as well as this week's writing & tasks...actually re-did my tasks from last week. We also got stuck in and tidied the studio...All the Miss Molly stuff was all over the place - it gets out of hand so quickly...so I re-packed my activities cupboard and sorted things out in boxes -- even have a to-do box with half-finished projects so when I set some sewing time aside I can do all those repairs and finish off the bits of things I still need to do to make things salable!

I can't believe its another week starting tomorrow..it seems way too quick. T and I have our photo shoot with SpringLeap tomorrow...because Miss Molly is TRENDEEEE! What fun! I think I may take the afternoon off tomorrow - I've been planning to take a couple of hours tomorrow for an artist date (I like to plan them in advance, then they feel like a real date)...must just not run out of time!

....and hopefully I can get a surf in tomorrow...

The Wetsuit Saga

I've never felt happy about hanging wetsuits over the balcony to dry...

1. It looks untidy.
2. I'm afraid they might blow off or something.

On Tuesday I woke up to a serious storm which flooded our balcony.

On Wednesday, I woke up to both our wetsuits having blown off the balcony...nowhere to be found!
The worst of it was that my spare car key is attached to my wetsuit so, not only did I not have a wetsuit any more...but now I had to worry about my car getting zapped.

Writing about this in my Morning Pages on Thursday, I feel its not very synchronistic of the universe to take my wetsuit away (even though I'd love a new one without holes in) when I am making new breakthroughs in my surfing with every session & its my goal to really get much better at surfing & I'm its not really in the budget to get a new one at this stage. I had just finished a little affirmation that we'd get a really good deal on suits / get free ones / something would happen to restore my 'suit'ability to go surfing soon...when Geoff phoned and said that someone had found my suit!! With my car key still attached!!

They didn't find Geoff's suit...but he has been complaining for the last 8 months that it's 'like a seive' in letting water through (especially not a good idea on the cold side of the mountain)... So he's treated himself to a new one (which hopefully will last better than the previous one).

And so it all worked out perfectly & synchronistically! I fix my suit & carry on surfing - even as soon as tomorrow at sparrows :)

Etsy Alchemy

I just love the idea of this and even though it chewed my bandwidth like nothing, I really enjoyed watching this video about the first order of Etsy Alchemy:



Here is the link to Alchemy

Umbrella Bat Costume

Oh my...Yes: procrastination today...
I am SO going to make this!!

BEYOND Y.U.M!!

So I just found this picture of the most BEEE-U-ti-ful guy!

I'm not that proud to say it, but I've literally FOLLOWED guys with curly hair to keep looking at their curls...it is SUCH a weakness....

There is something amazing about playing with someone's curls...pulling them gently and watching them bounce back...spiraling a finger around a perfect, glossy curl ...twisting them together to form new curls...I could go on and on...Its just too divine for me...

HOW could I possibly have forgotten to put it higher on my ideal man criteria list?
The universe is definitely looking after me at least a bit in this regard...Geoff's poker straight hair goes all mad and curly and amazing when he's been in the sea, so that's my fantasy come true (quite often!)...

Feast your eyes, ladies, on my 'ideal-hair' man:

OH: BTW: PLEASE NOTE:
This post is just about the hair & not the rest of this delicious guy or it would get out of hand & be construed as inappropriate. I say no more.

Y.U.M!

Yes...its a real one hundred percent edible Flying Spaghetti Monster treat with working googly eyes.
Click here for details on how to make :)

Fantastic Sky

The waves yesterday were tiny but powerful enough to have a really nice surf...as I walked toward the water, Geoff took pictures of the amazing storm clouds moving over... The back line was waist deep so that was strange & unusual in itself -- It meant that I didn't have to paddle much to catch wave after wave.

The rainstorm moved over...between the cold rain water falling from the sky & the saltiness of the warm water I was surfing in, a cold wind came up & blew the spray and the rain into my face...The calm of hardly anybody being out because of the weather...the atmosphere of those out, hanging out in the shallow waters waiting for sets to come through...the sky, dark & gloomy & the light fading because it was getting late : these things all made the experience otherworldly.

...and then I had the sweet kiss of my lovely husband - like lovers meeting at their secret rendezvous - & the warmth of my car to enjoy as soon as I got back to the parking lot.

How wonderful it is to savor these moments.

Miss Molly is TRENDY ! [ tren - deeee]

SpringLeap is doing this clever little marketing campaign.

They've teamed up with GoMoto Motorcycles that have somehow managed to get themselves rated as really trendy cool motorbikes for trendy sorts of people. So GoMoto is donating one of their scooter-motorbike thingies to a member of the top 100 trendiest companies in Cape Town...

So I took a shot and entered Miss Molly...........
............and we got on the TOP 100 TRENDIEST COMPANIES IN CAPE TOWN!
How cool is that??

I love this campaign as they are giving each one of these trendy companies a code which they can use, market, distribute etc for people to buy T-Shirts from SpringLeap at 25% off. That's R137.25 for a really cool T-shirt with an amazing design and a same-day delivery!

Which means, in essence -- that the top 100 TRENDIEST (miss molly = trendy) companies have a carrot & a cool one at that, to reach all their friends & their friends friends friends friends friends to buy T-Shirts so that they can win a scooter - thereby advertising SpringLeap as well as their own company (as being TRENDY [as in TRENDY - like miss molly!] )...as well as GoMoto (if the TRENDY companies (ie: miss molly etc) decide to include them in the advertising of the 25% discount code)....it will be super interesting to know, from a marketing perspecitive, if this is a truely clever campaign in the greater marketing scheme of things...
to me: it sounds fool-proof! (Mostly for SpringLeap)



....and what do you know?! I managed to add another blog entry a mere 15 mins before next month! :)

October check-in

Well, it is the end of October and I feel that I've achieved quite a bit this month.... Colleen's website can go live as soon as she gives me her go-ahead & a few more little snag-list items to complete...........

Been working really hard on the new Tocara Skin & Body Science website -- hopefully we can go live with that one in the next few days. Its been mayhem workwise, but I'm finding a little bit of quiet time to do my Artist's Way & morning pages & get the odd surf in.

We've had south easter winds which has been a bit of a pain. The sea gets to looking unfriendly and rough and uninviting to say the least. Today it was beautiful though. Got 2 surfs in and there's progress every day I go out... started doing some situps and pushups so hopefully that will help get me nice and agile on the waves....

Kamersvol Geskenke started today. Shelley and I busted ourselves getting stuff together...lots of cool aprons & T'Neal's stationary is totally beautiful and amazing...

Stan's soon-to-be wife's kitchen tea is on Sat. My parents will arrive tomorrow night so that they can have a visit for that & T'Neal's husband's birthday on Sunday...I suppose I had better bake something for him as well....we'll see.

I found cool cake glitter today at the Baking Tin. Can't wait to sprinkle it on some creations (when I get a minute to breathe)...

Lots of new things on the home front. Our kitchen renovation is underway & we're getting blinds for the studio, passage and bedroom which will be amazing....it means I can work in the studio in the afternoon without squinting into the sun. Ah - SUMMER!

And that's pretty much it for my month end check-in (unless something interesting happens to inspire me to do another entry in the next day or so!)

quick blog...

I have a million trillion things to do today.....quickly blogging before yet another client meeting that I know will be more social than constructive...I suppose that's ok.

I just got sent mail from an amazing artist friend of mine living in Mozambique with a bit of her news & a link to her blog contributions on Kagablog - here. It amazes me how I can know someone and have a connection with them...lose them for so long and then be re-united in a way. Not many words needed..knowing her face only by the latest image she posted on Facebook.

I can only think that my artistic & life processes at this time is leading me to these reunions for some really awesome reason...I wonder what they could be....

This week has been all about gaining some closure - finding what it is that moves me -- letting go and really feeling things in order to heal ..be new.. rediscover a wonder of knowing a god...being quietly comfortable with a growing knowledge that I am good enough. That things are going to be ok if not perfect.

I found myself burst into sudden tears - absolutely no warning - for 2 people I love so very deeply.
I was writing about the God thing. How cruel it is that something perfect can be destroyed so suddenly - for no apparent good reason.

AfrikaBurns

Geoff & I just had a really lovely weekend away at the second ever AfrikaBurns about 150km or so north of Ceres. It was amazing camping in the middle of the Karoo with nothing much around us at all....it was amazing to drive and drive and go so far away from home & all we know......it was so hot! There was one thing that we saw that was one of the most magical things I've seen in reality...probably in my life...Have a look at this to get an idea:




They let them go one at a time..they floated up, 'following eachother' - looking a bit like they were attached to a magical string fastened between earth & somewhere in Heaven.... they just went higher and higher...of course it was in the middle of the Karoo so the stars were incredible....the lanterns floated up to join the stars but they made their own, golden constellations against the black of the sky and the silver star constellations flickering there with them. I can't even describe to you how fantastical it was. Totally mindblowingly beautiful....The whole trip was worth it just for seeing that....

Someone took a picture of our camp site:


We decided to drive back along dust roads and we had the most amazing drive back...we stopped 3 times to take in amazing views...have egg-jaffel lunch & mojito's and just take the trip easy.. It was such important, quality time with eachother.. we learned a lot....spoke about important things...realised a lot of things...so it was very worthwhile. We had a long bath & fell into bed just after 9pm...I'm feeling quite energised and optimistic for this week :)


It was our 1 year anniversery yesterday...we had a lovely breakfast on our balcony watching the whales playing in the calm sea...what a beautiful day & what a lovely way to start it with the one I love! :)

The Artist's Way

Nobody ever told me about 'The Artist's Way'. Sometimes it takes a really amazing person to come into one's life & introduce you to something that turns your world upside down [for the better]...

We have just started WEEK 4 - Colleen, Peta, Gillian & I. Geoff is my wingman & he's being amazingly supportive.

My favorite bit that's been so far is the bit in WEEK 2 about 'crazymakers'
[see my previous post - DHC - 'Bloodnut' is the top crazymaking freak that's bulldozed her crazymaking ways into my life]

The reason I wanted to introduce 'The Artist's Way' to my blog is because my process of recovery will probably have an influence on my blog entries...At the moment I feel like I need to cocoon -- be safe in my home haven - this is frustrating as it is a complete shambles at the moment. I have organised for T's lady to come and clean so we can be more sane.

I feel like I need to get out...walk...see things...surf...but it seems too scarey. Leaving home seems too scarey because I'd have to return to the shambles. If I never leave it, I won't have to spend my time away wishing I could get home & it would be magically sorted out.

WISHLIST:
A tidy house
Time to sew
Time to bake
For us to have our oven already so that I can do my baking
Time to mosaic our outside wall...
Time to photoshop how I want the kitchen cupboards to look...
Perfect waves every day with warm sea
Lots of whales all the time (there are 10 today!)

Those are just a few of my wishlist items....I just made a special WISHLIST PAGE for myself...lets see what changes in the next while....

NEW SURFBOARD!!!

I'm so excited....this is one of the most terrible photos of me, BUT, my surfboard is the main focus of this post, not me myself:



I fell in love with her the second I laid my eyes on her... 6.8 ft beauty... I've surfed her twice - YES! She's a her... haven't quite decided on a name yet... Was quite keen on 'Rosalita' ...but in the water today she whispered to me that she feels more like she should be called 'Rocket'. I suppose its good a name as any for a fantastically crafted, awesomely coloured, streamline surfboard that is the surfboard personification of myself (if I don't say so myself)....

Bring on the waves!!

Call me 'Kitty'

There is this silly site for procrastination called ' Blog Things ' where you can do really bad tests to find out if you are dog or cat or which sense (of the 5 senses) you are most sensitive to (I am touch) and such....I've always wanted a cat...perhaps one day when we don't travel around so much we'll have one. In the mean time, its Sushi and Red (our goldfish) to keep us company. Geoff even said this morning that he wants to build a fish tank into our kitchen. I'm flattered that he's so fond of the little swimming buddies!

You Are: 40% Dog, 60% Cat

You and cats have a lot in common. You're both smart and in charge - with a good amount of attitude. However, you do have a very playful side that occasionally comes out!

Are You More Cat or Dog?

Penis Play

Phew...what a week.

Finished presentation 2 for Cape Wine and just getting everything sent and uploaded....

Its been a bit turbulant this week...not been feeling myself for most of it...just trying to keep it together to get the workload a bit lighter....thank heavens for the presentations being done!

Geoff and I went to see the most bizzare show last night... Puppetry of the Penis at the Baxter...

He bought the tickets and surprised me -- booked me on a date the sweet guy..... he kept on saying things like 'you should be going to see this with a girl friend' ....'how can you tell your parents I'm taking you on a date' ....'I'm sure your folks wouldn't want to see this show' -- and I kept going - 'I'm sure they'd love to go to any show' and 'no - I'm glad we're going to the show - why should I take a girl friend'? ....etc etc.....and then I found out why he said the things he did.

Bizarre doesn't really cover it!

Basically, its these 2 Australian guys who manipulate their business into all sorts of shapes on the stage, totally naked for an hour or whatever long it took to do all their 'installations' with a BIG screen behind them with closeups of their 'installations'. Geoff puts it down to 'Aussie humour' and that 'it must be hard up to find jobs in Australia' - no pun intended.....

Just when I thought I'd seen everything.

We drove around afterwards to try and find something to eat and ended up at Steers in Rondebosch -- we were just complaining about the decor and the big screen TV with sound echoing around the rather dodgey feeling place when Shells and Steve walked in for ice cream.

What a strange coincidence. Well, you can imagine the converstation over ice cream and chips.

Division of labour

There's something terrible that keeps happening to me. Usually division of labour makes things easier. In my case, it makes things unnecessarily complicated.

I'm not the person to ask to spell-check. I'm terrible at it! I have to whip everything into WORD before I am ready to publish -- and still (as, I am sure you invisible people who don't read my blog will not know - because nobody reads /comments on anything in my blog) ...the spelling and grammatical errors crop up rather frequently when I don't bother to pop into my little spell checker friend's world...

I am now going to learn from this mistake and check other people's work for errors. This is more to protect myself than anybody else.

Assuming responsibility for a JPG (that I didn't create that has spelling errors) that's been sent to me is not my idea of a fun time when I have work piled up to the ceiling and no time to do the same thing 20 times because of clients approving artwork that's not perfect.

In this case, I'm going to put it down to the client's "Murphey's law" as she's going away and everything is coming down on her and refracting onto me as a third party.

Bloody spelling.

Crowdsourcing

Yes! I said 'CROWDSOURCING' ...Follow this link to find out all you need to know about crowdsourcing...I am so excited I can almost not contain myself.

I recently submitted a few designs into crowdSPRING (which I am happy to say was developed by my ex-flatmate (and current friend), Vincent Cassar)...

You can check out my crowdSPRING page HERE...I go by LostHorizon

I feel like the world (of procrastination) has been opened up to me in a whole new way....T-Shirt Designs -- logo designs for random companies (with money) on the web...and its all so wonderful that it is all accessable...(as long as the bandwidth holds up).......

Some work...kitchen cupboard planning and possibly some eating needs to happen now! ....lots of apron cutting and such tomorrow....

Sport vs Love

I just came across somebody's blog entry about the day of the South African victory of the World Cup Rugby Final last year (2007)....

[ "A DAY AT THE BEACH" ]

It was a terrific day....great victory...Geoff and I don't make a point of watching any sport...so how were we to know that the PERFECT date to have our wedding, the 20th of October, would be the day of the cup final. And as it would happen, of our 16 guests, we had a few fanatics.

...So, after and absolutely PERFECT beach wedding with painted clouds and not a breath of wind...a lovely reception dinner (although a bit rushed) and dessert, we went to my new sister-in-law's place and I curled up, in my beautiful wedding dress, on the day room couch and I slipped into blissful sleep to the sound of the comentator....later, when we got home, there were people cheering and shouting and celebrating in the street below our balcony and we just pretended they were all cheering and happy for us (like our neighbours were, waiting on their landing to congratulate us!)

We have the newspaper pole ad 'We are the Champs' 21 October 2007 on our wall :)

Demolition

We're finally doing our renovations......I'm practically huddled in my corner of the studio feeling like the world is ending....the building is shaking...there are 10 strange men - electricians & builders - in my flat walking about in over-alls and drilling and bashing and hammering and carrying huge bricks out of our beautiful flat which has floors full of building rubble.....

We've gone from 'bad kitchen' to 'no kitchen' in the last 2.5 hours. The fridge is in the lounge, covered in black plastic and I just switched it off for fear of it over-heating due to lack of ventilation.

I found my secret Pringles stash and I'm doing some comfort eating (setting a record for the fastest a tube of Pringles has ever disappeared) to try and take my mind off what's going on in our dust-filled love nest. In a way, I'm glad that Geoff is being spared this feeling of 'oh-ohh....what are they DOING??'

I REMIND MYSELF (over and over):
It is going to be wonderful when its done. It is going to be beautiful. The dream I had last night (Geoff and I standing in the kitching and looking over the balcony at the sea) is going to come true so soon. So so soon....

Wishing every second though that I didn't have to be here until its done!

Flash .exe nightmare

This is where I realise that I've become more technically knowledgable than I ever thought I could be....Dear Adobe, maker of fabulouso programmes like Photoshop and Flash, has done an 'automatic update' which, quite fankly, has wasted a lot of my time.... it turns out that making a new fancy .exe (Window's Projector) icon:

WAS: NOW:

was more of a concern to them than checking if the fscommand for fullscreen would work!! Which means THANK GOODNESS I kept MX installed or I wouldn't have my old projector and my huge job due in a few days would have been 'tickets'....I'd have had to re-do the whole thing in Powerpoint. Not fun. Anyhoo....I trust that the people at Adobe will fix this problem really quickly so we can all get on with our lives.

It only took me 3 hours to figure out what was wrong and how to fix it. At least I knew it wasn't any fault of mine. Usually it is. This time not.....

So, out of curiosity, (and the fact that Geoff lived in a house called 'Adobe') I thought I'd better dictionary.com what Adobe means...Turns out I don't understand why they called their company this:

a·do·be
Pronunciation[uh-doh-bee] –noun

1. sun-dried brick made of clay and straw, in common use in countries having little rainfall.
2. a yellow silt or clay, deposited by rivers, used to make bricks.
3. a building constructed of adobe.
4. a dark, heavy soil, containing clay.

Interesting enough word....When they swallowed up Macromedia they should have kept that name. Makes more sense to me.

Spring Leap

START

I've entered my design 'Line Fish' into the Spring Leap competition and I keep on going on to see if my design has been approved -- it keeps saying 'Pending Approval'....OH PLEASE ACCEPT IT!!! I've been jotting ideas down for new designs and have 2 that I desperately want to create as soon as I have a bit of time to put the designs together......I'm so excited about doing my own thing - mostly as a personal creative outlet....Everything is a possible idea.My brain is on FIRE! Ooh! there's another design idea...!

I keep on finding really cool t-shirts that other people have designed...there's a site that I thought was cool until I met Spring Leap : Snorg Tees....and on closer examination, this is a serious thing that people all over the world are getting involved in...so cool! :)

...I will be encouraged by the acceptance of this first design I've shared on a broader level...there's no reason for them not to accept it, is there? ...watch out world...there are {hopefully} some interesting things to come from this creative mind yet!

Lots of work to do...procrastination faerie keeps visiting me but I'm trying to keep her as caged as I can until I have some breathing room...perhaps I need tighter deadlines??! I work well under deadline situations.....This entry is probably going to be shocking 'cos we went to Theresa's (restaurant) tonight and drank way too much wine for a 'school night'...Signing off and going under cover (of down douvet). I'm sure there's a T-Shirt design in there somewhere.

END.

RIP Nemo

Nemo died this morning.

I think Geoff was more sad than I was -- I've seen them come and go......its up to Sushi and Red to re-populate the elongated vase they live in and hopefully have a few more friends in a few months. Slim chance.....

Perhaps the fame of being on my t-shirt design was too overwhelming for him and he decided to off himself by tangling his little fins and fishie neck into the fake plant that takes up 15% of their water space.

Or perhaps fish just never were meant to be famous....although, there was Wanda. Wanda had a whole movie named after her. Wonder how she offed herself.

Line Fish

Nemo, Sushi and Red are my only pets...my goldfish and I have been trying to get together

a) some personal work
b) a project involving my beloved fish
c) a kick-ass t-shirt design....

I will be entering this design into next month's competition on http://www.springleap.com/ - I am really looking forward to putting work forward for myself instead of clients the whole time :)

Most often at a restaurant there's the 'line fish of the day' - I've even promoted 'line fish' even though I cannot eat fish so had no idea what it tasted like. I've always liked looking at fish though...they are increadibly graceful and beautiful as they swim and their fins and tails move with and through the water...

We have the most beautiful view of the harbour from our balcony...fishing boats coming and going with their 'catch of the day'.

I've always felt a bit sorry for fish. I especially don't like the sport of spear-fishing because I feel that it is unfair on the fish. If they bite on the bait off the end of a fishing rod line, there is less chance that the 'right fish' will bite as well as that I feel the fish has a choice in a strange way -- like a chicken being hit by a car - unlucky to have chosen to cross at that moment.....Shark catching without throwing back is the roadkill of the sea. So sad. Such a waste.

Anyhow: This design is called 'Line Fish' --- it could also make a really cool print! I look forward to posting further designs really soon :)

Anne Boleyn

I got email from one of my dearest friends yesterday with this one-liner:
'...you look like Anne Boleyn in the Tudors... look her up!'
So, as anybody would, I popped onto Google Images and found her (image on the left)....
I know that often people do not have a realistic view of oneself...one might see oneself as 30% fatter....rate oneself as more beautiful / less attractive than someone else...
More than being pale skinned with brown hair -- and all the usual features (nose, 2 eyes, 1 mouth), I know that I do not look like this person....

I sent a bunch of question marks with a link to this picture and got back: 'Ha ha ha, no. The TV series called the Tudors.'

Now THAT's more like a compliment! :)

Friends...

Geoff's cactus, which we saved a number of times from certain death, has been flowering for the first time in years.....definately worth the wait!

I'm feeling rather low. Even thought I'm feeling exhausted, I don't really think it is sleep depravation....not really sure why these things creep up on me for no apparent reason. After effects of the procrastination dragon? Who knows.....

Geoff announced that the fish were awake this morning - ' O'FISH'ALY ' :)

I thought I'd introduce them to this blog:


I make a half-hearted attempt to slay that dragon...fight the urge to climb into bed and sleep the day away in bliss of dream-land's adventures...but it is a beautiful day.

Settling In

We have been in our new flat for about 3 weeks now....what an amazing place! It is finally starting to take shape and we are finally starting to feel like we belong in it.

I have been working and sick and working and then finally we decided to go to my Mom and Dad for the weekend to really chill out and be looked after and do an amazing visit (as always) and get fed WAY too much by my Mom....

Parents are great. It is so amazing to know that these 2 amazing people are thinking of me all the time....looking forward to every second they spend with me...talk on the phone with me...LOVE what I do... These 2 wonderful people, (that my siblings and I refer to as 'the parental unit') are living their lives and loving one another after so many years of marriage :)

They just bought a C-Kayak.....we went with them to take it on its 'maiden voyage' as they refered to it as...we met them at Little Brak River (where we spent most Christmas holidays with loads of family -- waterskiing....playing...covering ourselves from head to toe with river mud while the parents drove the boats and fished and the grandparent generation got sozzled on G&T's....what fun!)

The have a red version of the one above....what a fun thing to do together! ...and so they enter into a new era of activities :)

Because its been work work work I have not been finding time to look for as many cool things as I did a few weeks back....some stand-out items are as follows:

....Lovely stitches to incorporate into Miss Molly goodies....I need to get a book of these... or find a website that has lots of step-by-step examples :)

...here is a nice idea for lighting solutions for our new place......make my own instead of stressing about where to find the perfect thing!!!

And here are a couple of fun site links to bookmark:
http://www.naughtysecretaryclub.com
http://www.pieofthemonthclub.org/

And a great resource for great links:
http://www.supernaturale.com

New Home

My Love and I are in our new home...the movers came on Tuesday and moved everything down the road to the new flat. Its not the first time I've moved house to just up the road...Finally today (Sat) we have 2 rooms that are functional: Kitchen and Bathroom.....and what a nice bathroom it is! Lovely old fashioned bath...I've rolled my white towels into my white-washed shelves and taken out loads of Body Shop goodies given to me on numerous birthdays and Christmas' and popped them into our over-the-bath activity device for fun times in the bath. SO exciting to get in and decide what to use :)

It has been FREEZING cold and windy since we moved in....the odd lovely moment when the wind does a brief calm-down is so nice....we have sun streaming in all windows in the morning....so beautiful. So warming for the house and for the spirit.

On Wednesday I was having tea on our new balcony and a rainbow started appearing from the lighthouse and spread its way right across the sky to form a complete bow...Rainbows always make me think of Sunday School so long ago....when Noah had been on the ark with all the animals for 40 days and 40 nights and it stopped raining, a rainbow appeared to remind him that God loved him. It was so appropriate in my head-space - such a sign of hope and new beginning that I was quite touched this beautiful symbol - assuring me that everything is going to be fine.

Yesterday and today, 3 whales played and splashed so close to the surfers right off the reef that our balcony overlooks. Welcome back to the sea-dwelling giants!

Geoff and I had our first night cooking at home last night...I made a soy mince, lentil and Mexican Tomato mix pie...he poured us each a glass of wine and we sat -- on too-high chairs and a pick-nick table, 2 candles and a bunch of boxes -- in our lounge....after which we put a mattress on the floor, got out my mini TV and video machine and watched 'Me, Myself and Irene' snuggled under the duvet. What bliss to be with my Love in our new home :)

.....
And other than that I have just been feeling sensitive and truly exhausted after the moving and work piling in and stresses of painting and packing and moving and unpacking and sorting and deadlines and the cold that goes with Winter.

I was reminded with such clarity today about how precious our soul-mate is. No matter how grumpy and bad tempered one gets: quiet, deep consideration for one's partner is imperative to maintain. A lasting, loving relationship with Geoff is the most precious thing I have in my life. We want to go into forever laughing together, crying together...a sanctuary for one another. I love him so much. I love our new home and us together in it.

-- x -- x -- x -- x -- x -- x -- x -- x -- x -- x -- x -- x -- x -- x -- x -- x -- x -- x -- x -- x -- x --

APRONS!!!

Yay! I got the pictures of the Mosaic Works aprons off Geoff's camera....sadly I didn't get either of the kiddies Lolita ones I made but hopefully they'll send a pic or 2 through....

Moving Again

I have been so busy and therefore so quiet on my blog.....I have been thinking so much about writing here but I never get the chance to log in and give my full attention!

12 Aprons got delivered yesterday to Mosaic Works after having a seriously "D'oh!" (said Homer style) moment with the lovely girl who owns the place..... well, lets just say I gave her a very un-censored crit on her terrible website......which was not actually her website as dumbass me had typed the wrong address in.......and of course she gave me a hug in the end thinking 'what a bitch' and I phoned her 2 weeks later to confirm apron delivery.....popped onto the (correct) website and to my amazement it was BEAUTIFUL! So of course I said "your website is GORGEOUS!" and she said..."its been like that for a year". I won't put down the first one but http://www.mosaicworks.co.za/ is really beautiful and everybody clearly knew what they were talking about when they said it is a lovely site. *sigh*

So as luck would have it, I went and forgot one of the aprons at home as well....(see picture)...Geoff keeps running away with his camera with the rest of the pictures on so I will post them at a later stage...I must say: I think they came out really well...now to keep up with demand......

Sandy always has interesting links on her Gtalk text line thingie....today she has a link to 'Damien's Blog' which is really cool.............here's a sample:
Oh! To give myself moments to be creative like this...................

Speaking of which: I had a long dream about the Mosaic design I want to put together for our new, completely unfurnished chipped-tile kitchen!! The walls are painted...the floor paint is drying...and TUESDAY is moving day! YAY! although not yay for the packing but we'll get this place sorted out (hopefully) before Tuesday so we can make a nice seamless move up the road to our new pozzie with lots of space to play in! (not to mention the view!)........Will have to post a 'before' (current flat) and 'after' (new flat) view pic...So the count-down begins.......hopefully we can get everything ready on time.....


I also had these thoughts about cool things that Miss Molly can make...and one of my ideas has been really pretty eye-masks....and then I found one online just now at Coco Ribbon...

So watch http://www.missmolly.co.za/ 's catalogue page!.....we may even pop them in one of our 'Cracker Jane' party crackers......

....and in other news....I'm glad we're not moving here:

'Tourist'
(isn't she adorable!!)

SOCKS!!!!

I have been sick for the past few days.
Not really really sick...just a head cold. but still. It has not stopped raining. Work is POURING in as well and I'm not complaining but I am finally feeling as if I want to be well again...perhaps enjoy the puddles.

Some people are just not good at emailing. I need to learn to accept this fact.

I also need to learn that matching socks are not the most important thing in the world. The truth is that I feel really really sad for socks that get seperated from their partner. I also feel terrible for the person who gave me the socks because the lone-sock will never get worn. Not on its own.
I started off with 8 socks. One wash later I only have 5.

What to do?

Do I buy them some new friends and mix-and-match matching socks?
Do I try and go against my fashion senses and wear un-matching socks?
Do I buy 50 socks that all look the same...pink for me and black for Geoff and not worry about matching socks ever again??

Who knows what the solution is.

The big Q

Having a change of surname is not a fun task.

Why is it that wherever we go we are subject to Queue's?

Why is it that there are not more bank people who know how to shift from station to station depending on the need. Do they only learn how to work at one post? People who work in banks seem to have a lot of breaks and I always see them walking off with their handbag, JUST before I am going to be next in line. It is a cruel joke of the universe. It would be nice if someone could please enlighten me on this matter so that I can reduce my frustrations and be more patient.

I usually have to go to customer services (internet banking doesn't cover this one). That is where one always gets to be in the shortest queue with the longest waiting time. Or the longest queue with an even longer waiting time. And they only usually have 2 consultants. The ratio is, on average, 5 customers waiting to every 1 consultant. The foreign exchange lady does nothing but file her nails and smile at the waiting queue every now and then. I can't quite figure out if she feels sorry for us or whether she's laughing because she's not going to do anything about it and gets to file her nails instead..

I would find it really hard being stared at expectantly by the entire queue whilst trying to do my job (if I was a bank customer services consultant)...each person in the queue wondering --
'will it be customer services consultant number one....or will it be customer services consultant number two?'
Or perhaps, part of their training is 'Module 28: Ignoring the Queue'.

I had to wait in 2 queues in the bank. Two. They went and gave me a world cup soccor bank card with my maiden name emblasoned on the front when I specifically requested a silver card with my married name. I made her cut it up. Now I have to do it again. ....

• I spent 45 mins on the phone for this 2 months ago and stood in a queue for about 3/4 hour to give them my marriage certificate.
  
• I just got my new ID book. I had to queue 3 times for that....(Application, Temp. collection, ID collection).
• (I still have to go and change my Passport.)
• Spent an hour in the traffic department queue for my new driver's licence card with my shiney new surname...(I have to go back and queue to collect it).
• This is the bullet point for all the ones I've forgotten about. There are bound to be some.
  
• Now I have the task of changing everything to my married name.
  

I must say in defense of my new name that it is a lot simpler than my maiden name was. In the end, I get to have a new signature and a name that, I am proud to think, sounds like a movie star's. It sounds famous. I really like it...

I am confident that when my name has earned its keep, I will feel that all the queue'ing will have been totally worth it.

I look forward to that day.

DHC

It is common knowledge to most people that the rules of general etiquette and DHC (Decent Human Consideration) include:

If you would like someone to come to your party:

• Invite them a few days in advance. Better planning could save you a lot of disappointment.
• PHONE them so that you can speak with them and get an immediate answer if you require knowledge of their attendance right away.
• Respect that people may already be engaged in plans for that evening (even if they planned not to do anything specific) so the longer in advance you can invite them, the better.

If someone does not turn up to your impromptu party:

• You have no right to be angry at those who didn't turn up if you only gave them 1 hour's notice.
• Waking people up by ringing their doorbell and screaming profanities into their speaker phone at 2.15am is not acceptable.
• Sms'ing profanities about other people's supposed lack of DHC at 2.30am is also not acceptable. You are the one who is lacking in DHC.

Apology

• It is better not to say anything. It is, however, important to apologise in the right way if you feel you need to say anything at all. Which you probably do so:
  Keep it short.
  Do not embelish with reasoning.
• It is not acceptable to apologise in such a way that you defend your actions.
  You were wrong. People were sleeping. You were drunk.
• Remember that you cannot place expectations on other people. Disappointment is your own problem which you must deal with in your own time.
• Friendship and respect are earned - not to be taken for granted.
  Turning up drunk on someone's doorstep at 2.15am does not earn you any respect or a desire from others to be your friend.
• Remember to apologise to other people at the party who's night you spoiled with all the talk of those who did not turn up.....
  ....especially if it is your daughter and your impromptu party was arranged as her farewell. It is only your fault if nobody turned up.
  Take a second to imagine how your daughter must have felt....
  'Fare thee well to London lucky lass and be thee rid of thine mother's serpentine tongue.'

There.
I've vented.
It is finished.
I am going to put it behind me and try not to pity this poor woman..

We do not have a TV.

Geoff and I went to a meeting today. The lady we were speaking with asked us if we have DSTV or MNET.

We told her we dont have a TV.

She literally started at us for a few seconds in sheer disbelief.....Does not compute..... Eyes wide. I could feel the cogs in her brain clicking over - trying to process the possibility of someone actually not watching TV. ....Does not compute.....It was like all her favorite shows were flicking brain numbing vibes through her cranium while she contemplated the fact that we were not watching them. We would miss the Friday night Movie tonight. Late night ETV perhaps?? ....Does not compute.....

She then muttered something inaudible about her disbelief before saying 'I have never met someone who doesn't have a TV.' and THEN she said (total confusion in her voice) ' What do you do? '

OK. We were in Durbanville. Not that there's anything 'wrong' with living on the wrong side of the 'boerewors curtain'. Lets face it. There is a different mentality thing going on on that side......

To quote my ex-boss: 'When you drive into Bellville / Durbanville after work you have to have your ear-muffs on because the sound of '7de Laan' is blaring so loudly from all the houses that you could go deaf if you do not take preventative measures'....'and on weekends you have to drive with your fog-lights on to be able to see the road through all the braai-smoke'! (and this, coming from someone who LIVES in Bellville).

So back to our lady. We just smiled at her. She said 'Do you talk...or read? What do you do?'

What does one answer? Nothing would seem better to a TV addict than curling up with a cup of hot chocolate and zoning out on 'whatever's on'.

The truth is, we're probably a bit addicted to the internet. There. I said it. Geoff and I often talk about the merits of Computers vs TV. Truth is, we don't feel we need a TV. We watch our movies on DVD, in bed, on the laptop. We Google all sorts of fantabulous things that we want to learn and know.....we cook together...clean the flat together.....eat and talk and walk and sit on the balcony with a guitar (Geoff) and my bad singing voice (me) if I feel inspired to deafen the neighbours.

It is a wonderful life. I love my life. No TV neccessary.

Miss Molly Cookies and Bookmarks

Miss Molly is doing all kinds of interesting things!

On the left is a bookmark designed for a law-firm...

Shells and I also baked cookies in the shape of a house and put tags on the top of them......how satisfying to have another job well done!

Rita's 60th High Tea Miss Molly Cookies

Today is a lady called 'Rita''s 60th Birthday High Tea organised by her daughter...

Phase 1:

Invitations were hand-delivered to her with an individual, custom-made Miss Molly lime green sparkle cookie with 'Rita's 60th' written on the top in white.

Phase 2:

Jars of cookies and a heart-shaped casing for each lady attending -- with a little 'thank you' tag...

Happy to say that all went really well and Shelley and I are very proud these cookies!

We trust that they are being enjoyed as I type :)

Nooks and Cranies

My sister and I went to a mosaic class on Wednesday night. I must admit I had no idea what to expect but I was very pleasantly surprised at the lightness of the workshop...It was organised by IDEAS magazine and the lovely person, Jaqui from MosaicWorks led the class. See my first ever mosaic above (Not finished. Believe me, we tried! Started off all perfectionistically and got more and more random as time was running out!)

What is it about 'Nooks and Crannies' which is so totally hilarious. Or is it just an 'in-joke' between T'Neal and I ??

Geoff's comment:
'Well done, my LOVE! ....(a moment's pause)...It looks like scarey eyes.'
My comment:
No comment. I must say I agree but I hadn't noticed it till he pointed out the blaringly obvious truth. It will look more like a butterfly once the body is in.

I hope.

Fingers full of crumbs

Finally I have a picture of my totally amazingly delicious breakfast rusks! (recipe in a previous post).

All I can say is: YUM YUM YUM YUM YUM!!!!

I added lots of sunflower seeds.....tons of raisins....poppy seeds and oat bran. They came out totally chewy and crunchy all at the same time. I am chuffed. Totally chuffed. And the best is that they take hardly any effort to put together!

I must admit that I forgot to put the raisins in and they had been in the oven 2 mins already when I realised. Can't not have raisins!

SO I put the raisins in and stirred it around a bit to get them all covered in the peanut butter flavoured batter before baking them for the hour they needed.

As a result, I got a section which stuck to the bottom! What fun to sit in front of my laptop with a cup of tea and fingers full of seedy peanutbutter crumbs to eat out of the baking dish.

YUM!