Me through much younger eyes

I arrived at work today to find this wonderful portrait laminated and on my office wall. Love it!  It was a joint collaboration between two gorgeous budding artists who are sisters.  It is actually quite an accurate portrait of me, they have got every detail just right.  A little unsure why I don't have eyes but they recreated my new glasses perfectly. I love all the flowers and celestial details.  Thank you girls. xo

An older and hopefully wiser nurse

I've been a Registered Nurse since I completed my three years of unpaid training in 1987.  I only have two photos of me in uniform as a nurse.  The first was taken last year, I was 44 and working full time as a nurse at a private day surgery.  The old black and white was taken by a young patient in 1989 at a rural base hospital in childrens ward when I was 22.  I'm just about to return to that same rural base hospital and embark on a new career in public health care.  I wonder if anyone will recognise me? 

  

Ruffles

Someone recently commented to me that I wear a lot of clothes with ruffles.  I'm a big girl and it's usually not a good idea to wear ruffles as they make things look even bigger.  Well I like to draw the eye away from my problem area which is lower down and behind me, so I tend to wear tops with interesting necklines or features and as I don't have a big bust I think I can get away with a few girly ruffles.  Is that OK?  I don't know, I just like them, they are so feminine so I'm going to keep wearing them.  I hope the fashion police don't catch me any time soon.

A friendly reminder to myself

If you can't read it, here is the transcription.

Q Are you the driver or the passenger in your life?

A I think I've locked myself in the boot

A good friend reminded me I had given her this tea towel a number of years ago when she was buried in work stress.  She had dragged it out again recently to show her colleagues and it reminded me that I need to check whether it is me who is driving my life more regularly.  Mum's and wives so often get lost in the business of family, we don't put ourselves first and let others walk all over us because we are so busy or tired. 

Judy Horacek is an Australian cartoonist, artist, writer and children’s book creator and has a great website, also a very entertaining blog.    I really love her latest blog post which is an advance showing of a book she illustrated called The Night Before Mother’s Day, it is a poem written by Doug McLeod telling of a mother lying in bed dreading the onslaught of Mother's Day.  To be released in April.  This hit a chord with me because I really dislike Mother's Day, it has turned out to be the most monumentally bad day of the year on many occasions for me.  This one began it all, I was 7 months pregnant with my first child and my husband said I didn't qualify because I wasn't a mother!!  If you not a mother when you a hugely pregnant then I'm not sure when you are!  My sister has cried  to herself on many Mother's Days because her husband ignores the days significance because my sister is not his mother and therefore never bothered to help their 3 kids make Mother's Day special for her at all.  Not that he buys his mother a gift either!

Sketch Me!

This is very rare to see a photo of me, and it's not really a photo.  Well, it was and then an App on my iPod called Sketch Me converted me into a sketch.  I look better in black and white!  This was taken after work so I'm looking a bit more haggard than usual but not bad for a self protrait of a 45 year old.  

Sisters from long ago

My sister scanned and emailed me this photo last week, I hadn't seen it since I was a child.  That's Donna the cutie on the left with the Easter Bunny and me the big sister standing to the right.  My red dress was repurposed from my mothers red linen Going Away (Honeymoon) suit, thriftiness was alive and well in the early 1970's.  I can also remember Donna and I had matching halter neck dresses made from a floral dress that belonged to our Nana. 

My sister is a a farmer wife and her blog is full of country goodness.

A fresh start

While out with girlfriends yesterday I picked up this little kit...........I know you're all thinking that it's a very basic cross stitch kit, it is. I'm feeling so worn out lately from a very challenging working life that I'm a bit worried I can't remember how to do any of the creative stuff I used to do, it sometimes feels like it wasn't me who used to do so much sewing, knitting, embroidery, etc, etc........and I can't believe I ever taught it too. Anyway it's almost 12 months since the giant cell tumour was removed from my right index finger, it bends well but it doesn't grip well and it feels numb at the tip so holding and manipulating with it feels weird. Anyway I promised my girlfriends I would make a fresh start into my former creative life and I have!

My finger looks less pregnant these days...........

..............10 days post-op , minus the plaster cast now and only a few days until the stitches come out. One day soon I might be able to bend this digit again and then back to knitting I hope...............it's been way too long!

Now let me tell you.................

...............this giant cell tumour of the tendon sheath is seriously impeding my creativity lately and it's making me very grumpy!! I am waiting for my hand surgeon to remove it asap and I can't wait..........might even ring the hospital tomorrow and check whether they can give me a date yet. I struggle at work to write and assist the surgeon I work with.............not sure how much further the skin on my finger will stretch, the finger tip is numb, it doesn't bend much at all and the whole thing just throbs constantly. Yes......................I'm whining! Sorry about the dodgey pics, not very good with my left hand but I may have to learn fast.

A first......

I've been back at work almost 12 months and last week I took delivery of my first brand new car ever! It's only a little second car for our family as we have very limited garage space, a Suzuki Swift Sport, a fun car to zip around in but fitting the groceries in today was a bit of a challenge! Keeping food up to a family of teenagers in the school holidays is always a mission and one that required the rear seats to be folded flat! My husband has called it British Medical Journal (BMJ) but I don't think that feels right for me. Many of my girlfriends will be able to tell you my previous car number plates in a flash, I've had The Knicker Police (TKP), this one for very good reasons that will be best kept quiet! Ashtons Little Taxi (ALT) was my first Subaru and our current family car is Ashtons Only (AO) so please help me find a more inspired name for my latest ride, all suggestions will be considered and there might even be a little reward for the winning entry.................final decision to be made by a family vote this Sunday.

Bears and collections

This is me on my first birthday with my dad and my teddy that I was given that day.............I still have ted but he is a bit thread bare and he doesn't have his embroidered label on his foot anymore. Sylvia mentioned her bear collecting on her blog and it made me think of where it all began for me. If you look carefully you will see Sylvia and I share some very similar bears...........comes from many years of attending and teaching classes in this area together.

My dad passed away 10 years ago and this month he would have been 70 years old, it seems long ago but then other times it only feels like a little while ago I was chatting with him.

I've been working on scanning a whole collection of slides that mum sorted out for me. I have a Canon copy/scan/print machine which has a built in facility for scanning 4 slides at a time but they are coming out quite dark and appear to have a lot of damage or were poorly developed all those years ago. Does anyone have any tips or hints for preserving slides? I have many hundreds to work through. Although there is nothing like pinning a white sheet to the wall and having a family slide night............very nostalgic, might have to do it, mum still has the projector.

Another side of me

I know you very rarely see my face on this blog...............it's not much to blog about! I thought you might like to see what I have on my back now..................well for a few weeks anyway, it's a henna tattoo. This photo was taken when I got home before the henna was peeled away to reveal the stained pattern on my skin.............I don't have an after photo at the moment to share with you but I'm sure you get the idea. I went to a henna party one evening last week and all the others had designs applied to their feet and hands which works better, dry skin seems to take up the dye more readily. One day soon I will have another go on my feet and Darling Daughter with the left over henna, it's really just the art of doodling, drawing whatever you feel at the time. Not sure I could live with a permanent tattoo but I love the idea of having different ones for different seasons and moods. My design was drawn by Nicky a very talented henna artist who was given free rein to create a paisley asymmetrical design.

Red and silver

It's been a busy week or so and today I noticed colours around me and it's looking a lot like Christmas.............red and silver look so good together. I've had a birthday and wedding anniversary last week so Dear Husband and I went out for lunch then we had pedicures together and I couldn't resist Christmas red nails could I. Found these little silver dressy thongs today.........feet are looking a bit fat after a long hot day of housework and shopping. Found a few small strawberries and some cherry tomatoes in the garden, Miss Ruby is turning into a vegetarian dog, she just can't help herself, she raids the vege patch constantly, even eating all the bean leaves! Miss Jemima's free range eggs on the boil for curried egg sandwiches tomorrow for the kids. It's a busy time of year for all of us and I really don't know how I'm going to pull it all off this year.............anyway I can only do my best so if the Christmas card arrives for New Year don't complain!

Feeling like....................

................the proverbial doormat in my family I took myself to town today with no real plans................oh how I love time by myself to be self indulgent and after a week holidaying at home with the family I was in dire need!

I searched for new knickers, looked at the newsagent for new knitting or crochet publications, bought the new doormat from above as Miss Ruby has eaten a few and then found some comforting chocolate and a girly movie for later.

Once I had time for making quilts but not so this year since returning to nursing. Anyway I can still dream while pouring throught the pages of Kaffe's latest offering that I bought today.............I want to make 3 of them straight away, I also want to visit the village of Portemeirion in northern Wales where the quilts were photographed.


On the spur of the moment I took myself to the pre-screening showing of Julie and Julia, armed with a Bakers Delight bread roll, a bottle of water and the obligatory Choc Top ice-cream. Ran into a friend from many years ago when we were both beginning our first year at Uni...............oddly she was also on her own, so we of course kept each other company in the cinema, she munched her way through a healthy sandwich and then a luscious slice of cheesecake which made me feel better about my Choc Top! Thoroughly enjoyed this gastronomical delight of a movie, Meryl Streep is Julia Child to a tee, loved the storyline which took in the modern day past-time of blogging and how it can effect your life in good and bad ways.

I returned home feeling good and happy, I slung my hammock in a tree and almost read my new quilting book from cover to cover while eating a few squares of chocolate. A perfect day!

My family didn't miss me at all, nobody asked what I had got up to, so I think I will be escaping to the cinema more often, it is a true escape from everyday life.

There's something odd about me.............

..............since August 1981 when I was 15 years old I have written down every novel I have ever read. I'm not sure why I do this but I feel compelled to write them down as the last page of each book is turned. This little blue book is full so I have begun a new one last year. I now record the author as many books have the same title and even author. I remember being told by one of my high school English teachers that everyone should strive to read at least 20 books a year................finally I did it last year. I read every night, I'm not a day time reader and I also read many magazines and non fiction books on all sorts of topics. My bedside table is 1m (3 foot) wide and there are always two big stacks of reading material for whatever mood or state of tiredness I'm at. Anne Frank's Diary was a compulsory English novel which I did grow to enjoy, although at times it seemed boring but I had to keep reminding myself this was an autobiographical work written by another teenager during World War Two. My latest book will be finished in the next couple of days, it's Kate Morton's book The Shifting Fog or overseas it is known as The House at Riverton, a good read but not riveting. Need to find something a bit faster paced next.

Breaking news

I'm about to go back to work as a Registered Nurse, something I haven't done for a lot of years. I have been offered a great opportunity to work in a surgeons private practice doing both nursing and office work, no shiftwork either! I'm really excited about the new challenges it will offer me and the timing seems to be just right with Surfer Boy and Darling Daughter not needing me around so much now they are 16 and 14. This handmade little nurse bear is 1" or 25mm high, teeny tiny and so very detailed. I won't be wearing a uniform like hers, gone are the days of the veil fortunately.

Click on the photo to check out her detail.

Teary eyes

Just popping in to tell you I have been working with Arc Soft Photo Studio 5.5 and have worked out how to cut out around my images and blurr the edges. I'm not sure I'll ever be up to the standard of Mandi a great UK blogger but I'm going to keep fiddling and one day my header will be as creative as hers...........I hope!

'Teary eyes' would also be a good description for me...........I have a chronic dry eye problem, so much so that I have had SmartPLUGs inserted into my lower lid tear ducts to stop my tears escaping too quickly and thus preventing corneal ulcers. The plugs are very effective............maybe even too effective because when I'm in air conditioned places, exposed to dust or wind my eyes well up with tears and often people mistakenly think I am upset. When my eyes produce too many tears the tear recipe changes and then my eyes turn red and sore............it's a real pain in the.............eyes literally. Any ophthalmologists out their with any advice? The last one I went to made me wait two hours for him to tell me I had Blepharitis (inflammation of the eye lid margins.....no kidding!) and that I should wash my eye area twice a day with Johnson's yellow Baby Shampoo..............and that was his professional advice for my sore red eyes!

Watercolour work

Not really..............I'm absolutely useless with a paintbrush. I have just been fiddling around with scanned snaps from our wedding and Arcsoft Photo Studio 5.5. I've never really played around in this program but thought garden shots would be good to work with. What photo programs do you all use................anyone have a favourite? This gorgeous little house built in 1876 is where Dear Husband and I spent our wedding night many moons ago.

Click on the photos to see the real watercolour effect.

A long time ago.........

..........Dear Husband and I married in a small country church on a stinking hot summers day and almost 18 years later we still don't have a wedding album to whip out and flip through. Our professional photos weren't great so we only ordered 1 which sits on our dresser in the bedroom. This last week I have been scanning all the snaps from friends and family and was thinking I might have them printed up into one of those professionally bound books you can have done these days. Does anyone in Australia have any thoughts on this, which companies are great to deal with and how do I go about it. I would dearly love a memento of our special day.

I'm a people person

I just took this test at Hello Quizzy, it's a simple test you just look at 10 pictures and then answer two questions for each. I had no idea what my answers were saying about me but I reckon out of all the personalities I could have been Humanitarian sums me up best. Try it yourself, let me know what you think of your results. From reading other personalities it appears I am also very close to The Photographer, are you not surprised.

Your result for The Perception Personality Image Test...

HFPS - The Humanitarian

Humanity, Foreground, Big Picture, and Shape

You perceive the world with particular attention to humanity. You focus on what's in front of you (the foreground) and how that fits into the larger picture. You are also particularly drawn towards the shapes around you. Because of the value you place on humanity, you tend to seek out other people and get energized by being around others. You like to deal directly with whatever comes your way without dealing with speculating possibilities or outcomes you can't control. You are in tune with all that is around you and understand your life as part of a larger whole. You prefer a structured environment within which to live and you like things to be predictable.

Compared to other takers
You scored -12 on HumanityToNature, higher than 2% of your peers.
You scored 5 on BackgroundToForeground, higher than 76% of your peers.
You scored 11 on DetailsToBigPicture, higher than 89% of your peers.
You scored 4 on ColorToShape, higher than 62% of your peers.

Take The Perception Personality Image Test at HelloQuizzy