Somebody help me!

Last Monday was a public holiday here for Australia Day (which fell on Saturday 26th). What do you think I did? Something quite productive, like stitching, gardening, cleaning up around the house, even visiting friends/family? No. I spent most of the day on the computer! 'How so?', I hear you ask. 'Quite easily', I say. I search for sites of interest, keep up to date with other people's sites, but on Monday I was also looking for things to add to my blog. How time flies when you're having fun.

Have added some more blinkies (they're fun), added a slide show for my Shepherd's Bush album, and made up an avatar. Since I love going to the movies, the avatar is pictured in a theatre. May change it down the track, but this will do for a start. I just love finding out what you can do on the net. A lot of ideas you get from other people's blogs and going through your search engine.

There's just not enough time in the day...

Picasa photo album

I'm starting to move all my photos over to Picasa at the moment. Boy is it a big job. Since I've got plenty of time I thought I would start now and do it a bit at a time. For those of you who want to take a peek at my progress the link is: My Picasa Album. The main thing I don't like about their albums is you can't keep track of the traffic you're getting, so you don't know how many people are looking at your albums. Apart from that, it's quick and easy to upload your pics, and I like how you can put a picture on the front of each album. You can also link other people's Picasa albums on your front page, so since Nicole (Nevillen) has a Picasa album, I've put a link to hers.

I was surfing the net yesterday to see what other free album host sites there were on offer. One that caught my eye was My Photo Album. They've got different album themes, layout options, covers and photo frames, unlimited albums, and a profile page about yourself. Sounds great, but the catch is their free offer means you have to purchase at least one item over a year (prints, etc.) or if you don't want to do this, you can sign up as a Club member and get even more features, but it will cost you $US20 per year. Let me say I'll just think about that for a while. We'll give Picasa a go first.

I'd love to have an album where you can be a bit creative though.

Epson photo albums

I've just discovered that my Epson photo album will be deleted by 30th April 2008. What a shock, I can't believe it! Epson are no longer keeping their photo sharing services as more and more sites offer this these days.

The reason why I chose Epson in the first place was because I liked the way the albums looked, you were able to check how many hits you had in each album, and it was fairly easy to upload your pics.
I've become familiar with my album and the layout, now I have to decide where to move my photos to. They recommend Picasa Web Albums so I guess I'll check them out.

Isn't it annoying when you get used to doing/seeing something a certain way, and someone turns around and says 'sorry you can't do that anymore'? I'm totally devastated. Still, I'm sure I'll get over it. Plenty worse could happen. I don't have to like it though.

Will let you know how I go.

Stash Update

I've received the stash I was waiting on from The Silver Needle this week. They didn't have everything I ordered, but as always the majority was there. Mum wanted a few of SB older kits like their needle rolls and treat bags which were out of stock. Mine were more recent kits as I've already stocked up on their older ones in the past.

They even threw in a couple of their Silver Needle pens along with some mini Jelly Belly's to eat.

This is what I ordered:

• LHN The Sampler Lady Chart
• SB Life And Liberty Kit
• SB Happy Haunting Kit
• SB Pumpkin Hill Kit
• SB Wishing Sheep Kit
• SB Glory Fob Kit
• Clover Threader
• Some WDW, Gentle Art, and Crescent Colours threads
• Gold and Silver Preemie scissors

Mum ended up getting a few things still.

Her list goes:

• SB In My Garden Roll
• SB Stitchers Roll
• SB Dashing Kit
• SB Christmas Drawers Kit
• SB English Christmas Roll
• Wisper thread - Ecru

And yet there's still always more to buy... Maybe the next sale.

PS I Love You

I went to see the movie PS I Love You at the cinema today. I thought it was pretty good. Worth a look. There was quite a bit of comedy, a little sadness (had the odd tear or two), and overall quite entertaining.

The men with the Irish accents were a bit saucy, as well as Harry Connick Jr, who had a bit of a funny/quirky type character. The ending was great. It basically showed you what the future held, but left it up to you to fill in the rest.

There's a couple of other movies coming out soon that appeal to me. One is Definitely, Maybe, and the other is The Jane Austen Book Club.

Love going to the cinema, and anything about relationships I enjoy seeing. A lot of them leave me with the feeling that it only happens in the movies, especially when it's romantic stories.

One can only dream.

SB 2008 Fob

I see Shepherd's Bush have posted a pic of the 2008 fob/scissors on their site. The colours caught my eye at first, then I had another look at it and I wasn't quite sure, but after another look I think it's a nice change in colour from their usual designs. I'm yet to decide 100% whether I'll get this (most probably I will, knowing me) but I don't have to make a decision straight away.

It's just so lovely to see something new from them. I always enjoy seeing the different things they bring out. I must admit to liking Tina's designs especially. She puts a lot more detail into them, and to me are the epitome of what Shepherd's Bush are about (especially the Gatherers). I do like some of Teri's designs as well, but they are a more simple style.

Sounds as though Tina's in the midst of creating some new things with ideas popping out of her head for upcoming designs, after reading her update on the Bush Blog for January 8Th -http://shepherdsbushblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/snow-snow-snow.html. All I can think of is 'more stash' when I hear of new things coming out.

I'm probably going to go to the movies this weekend. Think I'll see PS I Love You. Romantic comedies are by far my favourite movie. The other one I'm interested in is 27 Dresses, that looks good. The best movie I've seen later last year was No Reservations with Catherine Zeta-Jones. http://noreservationsmovie.warnerbros.com/ What a great film! Loved it. There was no violence, sex, or swearing, just an enjoyable movie with all the emotions. It was happy, sad, romantic, but I must admit I did need a tissue or two. If you haven't seen it, do grab a copy on DVD. Aaron Eckhart was a bit of a dish in it too!

Will let you know what I think of the movie next week...

Charlotte turns one!

Today is my youngest cat's first birthday. Celebrations all round is happening tonight, with a pussy party going on. The little treasure has no idea she's come of age (well, the first year is a milestone), and all I'm hoping is that she'll have many more to come.

She's only got one sister, Kara, who went to sunny Queensland as a show cat. Charlotte's markings weren't as good as Kara's, so since all I wanted was a pet, Charlotte was able to come and live with me.

There were five in her litter originally. It was a complicated birth for mother, and the breeder was sound asleep since it was night time, unaware what was happening. Three of them ended up not making it, but Charlotte and Kara were survivors.

Here's Charlotte taken today on her first birthday...

As you can see, it was a slow start getting out of bed!













But once out of bed and breakfast was had, it was time to relax in the cat house.



















Then she had to watch Mum getting ready for work.


What a busy day for a one year old.











Happy birthday Charlotte!

Hot Hot Hot

Christmas is over, so it's out with ho, ho, ho, and in with hot, hot, hot! Summer is certainly here in Victoria. New Year's was in the high 30's low 40's (Celsius) over the days prior and including. Just didn't feel like doing much at all. It leaves you feeling quite lethargic. Not much gardening is going on at my place, and even if I wanted to get back to my stitching, it's too hot for that also. So what's a girl to do in times like this? Hop on the computer! I love surfing on it, keeping up to date with what's going on, looking at people's blogs and albums, researching (especially for holidays), and seeing what cross stitch patterns are being released. It certainly is a good time waster, the computer.

I've added some links to this blog recently. A list of some of the other blogs I read, the needlework shops I've ordered through via the net, and I've added a little ticker to show how long it is til my annual leave is due. I've got March off this year and I plan on tidying things up around the house and garden. You put off a lot of projects when you work full time, so this is a good chance to catch up. My holiday in September will be long service leave. I've been in the job I have for 20 years now. You're entitled to long service leave after ten years. So an extra four weeks off this year sounds good to me. Especially when I'm going to the Cook Islands for a couple of weeks out of it.

Talking about blogs earlier, my fave would have to be Nicole's http://nevillen.blogspot.com/ Autumn Sway (or is she calling it Island Breeze now?). She writes in it often, shows her latest stitching, and pics of all the goodies she orders. It's all so interesting. I don't know how she finds the time to keep up, with three young boys as well to look after. That goes for a lot of you out there that are in a similar position. I don't have children, and still find it hard to get the time to do everything.

I'm waiting to see the new Shepherd's Bush 2008 fob on their site. They mentioned in their blog that they had it when they opened for their New Year's sale. I hope I like it, because I'm thinking of perhaps buying it with the engraved Gingher scissors this year.

Just a bit of an update today. I'm wanting to be a bit more attentive to this blog this year and write in it more often. Time will tell...

This will be me lying at the beach this September in the Cook Islands, or perhaps it should be me now down at my local beach with this hot weather we're getting :)

Happy New Year 2008!

Happy 2008! Imagine sitting on the computer as the New Year rings in. That's exactly what I'm doing, but I've been on it for a very good reason. Stash enhancement!!! Yes, I've ordered more needlework on the net. The Silver Needle in Tulsa Oaklahoma have their New Year's sale on. If you get in on the first hour of the sale, you get 25% off everything. This is the third year I've ordered at this sale. It will probably take a couple of weeks for me to receive it. I'll look forward to getting a big package in the mail. It's a nice thing to wait for. I didn't get any mats this time, though I would have liked to. I ordered some things that Mum wanted, plus what I ordered, came to enough so I had to put the brakes on. Have to save for this holiday too you know.

Well I hope you all have an exciting New Year's night and may 2008 be safe, happy, and peaceful.