Housekeeping; 2 and a half journal pages.
Well, BLOG housekeeping – you didn’t think I’d suddenly developed a passion for actual housekeeping, did you? I mean, in our house the dust buffaloes have NAMES and GRANDCHILDREN.
You might notice (if you’re reading the actual blog, rather than an RSS feed) that I’ve finally got around to adding some things back in over there ———————————> in the right hand column. My Yahoo avatar (did you know Toowoomba has several croquet clubs? Steaming towards the 19th century, we are, oh my!) and my long neglected Shelfari list have been updated. And some links.
Speaking of links – without sounding toooo gushing, there are some bloggers who are so awesome that I had difficulty deciding how to label the group. “Who I wanna be When I Grow Up”? Not quite right. “I am a Total FanGirl of these Bloggers” is accurate but a bit long…
Anyway, on to other matters.
It’s been quiet on the home front, with only increased security rounds of the commercial premises across the road and some newly boarded up windows to show for Monday night’s excitement. But it’s truly the silly season and I expect we’ll have some hoon related drama before too long…
Speaking of Christmas, I am SO OVER IT! As an atheist household, we don’t really do Christmas… but as this is the first year we’ve really been “out” as atheists, we’re still adjusting. I’m happy that other people want to celebrate, fine, send Christmas cards, do whatever – but I am sick unto DEATH of Christmas music. And crowds. *shudder* I don’t like crowds at the best of times, but add in carpark rage, congested shops full of people desperately buying tat that will go in the rubbish by the end of next week… Ugh.
[clicky for biggy]
I had another “oops,I slept all day” day today. (wow, that’s awkward, with those three “days” in there!) And I’m still tired. Ridiculous!
Here’s another art journal page, this one only just started:
[click.big. yada yada.]
Miss Constance J Woodle’s eye problem seems to be mostly cleared up after a week of eye ointment (ick!) but she is back in the hated elizabethan collar because she’s chewed the pad of her right from paw to bloodiness. ARRRGH!! I’ve been putting anti-fungal ointment on it but if it’s not cleared up by Monday she’ll be back at the vet. Again. (yes, I’ve checked thoroughly that there wasn’t a grass seed or something similar stuck in her paw to cause the irritation – I think it’s just one of the joys of having a furry hound, and let’s not even go into the eyelashes problems that poodles can get…)
[clicky]
I’ll probably put more colour over the white dots yet…
And you? What are all of Y’all up to, hmmm?
Man, this is HARD!
So Friday night at social scrap (aka playgroup!) I actually made a PHYSICAL, not digital, scrapbook page. And it was HARD! There’s no undo button when you cut paper the wrong size, and I always have issues with glue, dammit.
Another customer commented “If I could do pages like your art journal, I wouldn’t bother doing ordinary scrap book pages!” – but I WANT to be able to do scrap book stuff too. Except now I realise I need to stay true to MY style, especially in physical scrapbooking. Even Mr Beloved says “I prefer your digital stuff…
Okay, so here (complete with lousy flash photography and parallax error, sorry!) is the Actual Paper Page (sitting on a white paper bag to keep it clean):
(clicky for biggy if you must…)
Things I like: I vaguely remembered seeing a tutorial on how to make these paper roses, so had a go on the night. Not too bad, I think. (Although now I look at the instructions – not so much!)
Things I didn’t like: Grrr! I had issues with GLUE. And the photo didn’t really pop.
Credits: Cardstock: Bazill ColorMates; Papers: Basic Grey (all the oranges) and Kaisercraft (all the greens); Journalling tag by Michelle Coleman, part of the “So Charming” digital kit from Little Dreamer Designs; Chipboard alpha by Heidi Swapp; Grey pearls by Kaisercraft; pens: various (seriously, you want me to remember PENS?!)
And tonight I made a digi version:
(clicky for biggy, this one is MUCH nicer!)
Credits: Background paper: Jen Wilson’s “Midnight Jack” kit; Orange/red papers and green paper behind photo (modified) “Sweet Sensations 2″, Lori Barnhurst of Little Dreamer Designs [get in quick if you want this, her store is retiring Dec 12!]; Journaling Tag: Michelle Coleman, “So Charming” kit, Little Dreamer Designs; Butterfly and Flower elements from Holly Designs “Naturally” kit; Alpha is Katie Pertiet’s “Basic Bare Chipboard Alpha” (modified); photo frame and staple are from Katie Pertiet’s “Classic Curled Photo Frame” pack; leaves (modified) from Thao Cosgrove’s “Beautiful Life” kit.
Hmmm. Yep. Which format do you think I should persist with?
Lipstick
Apparently the average consumption is 9 pounds, not 8 kilos, I got that wrong – it’s still a ridiculous amount of LIPSTICK to eat!
It’s too darn hot - and no Ann Miller tapping on the coffee table around here!
Had a HUUUUGEE fight with the bestie over something I wrote on facebook. Me and my big mouth/fingers, eh? In my defence, I mentioned NO NAMES. This is what I wrote:
Sad today – lost a friendship, I think. Probably gone a while ago, but I really noticed it today. (Yeah, I’m an Aspie, I don’t READ signs well, ok? JUST TELL ME!!)
Hmmmm. And no amount of saying I’m sorry seems to help. And never mind that it could EASILY have applied to more than one person… and that I did in fact have a misunderstanding with a friend online that same day.
Don’t know what to do there.
So it’s been an … interesting …week. Constance J. Woodle had another visit to the vet, and her blood test (pancreatic lipase) came back as NORMAL, yay! But now she might have an allergy to GRASS.
GRASS! She’s a dog! Where else is she going to walk and pee? Bloody GRASS!!
And the treatment (large shots of cortisone) can’t be given to dogs with … yep, pancreatitis. Poor little darling, she’s having a rough trot. But she’s almost back to normal (so long as “normal” no longer includes being able to eat anything at all interesting.)
What I’ve been reading lately:
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbary. I know this book has had RAVE reviews on many blogs I read; whih often makes me reluctant to read something. But - this lives up to the hype. I would love to know if it can possibly be as elegant and erudite and charming in the original Klingon French (sorry, too many years with Trekkies) – one of my favourite books of the year and one I sincerely DON’T WANT HOLLYWOOD TO GET because they would stuff it right up and probably change the ending and that would spoil THE WHOLE THING.
*deep breath*
And a gem from my book boxes (these are the squintillions of books that haven’t made it to shelves yet, despite our best efforts) – Marie Curie by Eve Curie My copy is the 1946 edition and is quite badly foxed, but still readable. Something of a hagiography, but a good basic history – I’m itching to read more about Madame Curie.
OK, I am off to play art journals… see ya later!
Bwaa haaa haaaa!
Mr Beloved sent me the link to this – I laughed SO HARD!
Expect some RIVETING photos from me soon…
Miss Constance J Woodle is continuing to recover, thank you for all your good wishes. Cost us another $100 today – the vet (who is a real character, we adore him!) says it’s all part of his Health Plan For The Nation. He figures vet fees come out of disposable income that would otherwise be spent on beer, pizzas, and cigarettes, and that he is actually providing a community service by removing that money.
Hmmm.
Not such a good theory when you have so little disposable income as we do!
Never mind, we’ll get through.
Back to bed for me – my hip is KILLING me!
SHE’S HOME!
We got our baby girl back yesterday arvo!!
She’s still not completely well, and because she’s now had such an acute case of pancreatitis she has to be monitored carefully. Back to the vet for more blood work next week; and a very special diet ($3.20 per can OUCH!) which has to be low fat. She can still have broccoli and carrot (which she loves!) but no more corn 
and she gets to eat boiled chicken and rice (not sure we cna afford to ALL eat that well, LOL!
BUT she’s much brighter and back to her smiley self today. (And so is her Daddy – we worked out he’s NEVER been separated from her before for more than about 6 hours at a time – I’ve been away for various trips but he’s stayed here, so he was really lost without his girl.)
It’s been a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG week… and The Austerity Drive has begun. Nearly $1000 of vet bills later, we will be doing without a lot of “luxuries” like biscuits and soft drinks and magazines and going out for coffees for a long time yet.
But she’s worth every penny.
Pancreatitis
Little Connie Dog is VERY Unwell. Fingers crossed, we’re waiting to see how she is in teh morning after a night in hospital… vet confirmed it is pancreatitis. Cause? Being a poodle who is middleaged, overweight, and female. Just like in humans. Possibly she’ll stay in hospital for 2 or 3 days; then hoperfully she’ll be ok on a carefully managed diet.
Of course Mr Beloved and I are worried and miss our baby… there will be about a YEAR of austerity after this, but she’s worth it. Please send good thoughts…
