Countdown to Free Time.

This time next week I'll be home alone & MOTH & DD will be on their way to Moscow! Boy has that time come round fast-I'm not game enough to ask if all the paperwork is finally in order-last I heard- it wasn't so I'm not asking again!
MOTH always gets very uptight before he travels- he hates take-off & landings- but insists that he will not let this get the better of him (he was in a plane that hit the deck in Vietnam, so he has a reason to be tense during landings!)

We travel very differently -he likes to be wherever he has to be at least one hour early than the suggested time to get there-which means about 4 hours ahead of time for a flight-I prefer to get there at the suggested time- neither of us have ever missed a flight from being late-but we always argue when its time to leave!
Some years back MOTH rushed me out the house-got us both to the airport with hours to spare only to find he had us there a whole day earlier than needed. The gal at QANTAS changed the flights for us-saying that it gave her the laugh for the day & for me having to put up with such a dickhead! (I agreed whole heartily! on that point)
DD keeps him in line- she'll take no nonsense from him even if he is her father-from all accounts they travel well together- I think its great that they do have trips away as father/daughter time.
DD's dog, Ella, had surgery through the week-MOTH has been visiting her everyday as she has been quite out of sorts- I suggested he take her a 'get well bone' to cheer her up-my suggestion was not taken kindly! Seemed reasonable to me.
This weekend I've managed to get 2 quilt tops pieced-that's 3 down-2 to go if I make it to my goal of giving everyone a quilt for Christmas.
Good news on the project front- the last project has been accepted for publication- this one won't be out until the middle of next year some time, but submission is in October-so gives me a few weeks to get it all together & write up the notes before I have to post it off.
The days are getting longer- no getting up in the pitch black in the mornings now- I much prefer to have a little light when I have to get out of bed - its bad enough that I have to get up when MOTH is sleeping soundly....and my alarm is telling me its time to get ready for work! The alternative of staying home everyday with MOTH is just not worth contemplating at this stage- work is preferable!
My raspberry socks have been waiting most of the week for me to finish them off- only have the rib to knit, but I just never seem to get there with them- perhaps tonight if I don't get my nose in the photo shop manuals I've been reading....even if my pics aren't perfect I'm learning how to cheat to make them that way!
Until next time,
happy Crafting
Oz-Tralien

Jaywalker- or Jayded walker

Hooray! I've finally finished the Jaywalker socks. What an absolutely boring pattern I thought this was. I truly struggled to complete them. The pattern just didn't keep my interest-although I do like the effect of the diagonal striping it created.

Many a time over the past few weeks I've been very tempted to start another project, but, me being me, I knew they would become a UFO at the bottom of the basket. If I start a project I must finish it before starting something else, or nothing ever gets completed.

I admire these knitters & sewers that can have 3 or more projects going at the one time-when they get bored with one they just pick up another one & so the cycle goes until they have a project finished & have already started on more in the meantime.

Not me. If I don't slog it out & finish it, no matter how bored or frustrated I am with it, it just won't ever get finished. It'll be bagged & eventually given to someone to finish, if they like it, or put in a clothing collection bag for a charity shop.Get rid of the evidence....what socks? I never knitted purple socks, surely you must be mistaken! If its not in the house it can't be classified as a UFO. Simple.

Took some of my shots from last weekend to work to show my workmates & one of them asked if she could get a blown up copy of one of the prints to frame & put on her wall.....one of my pictures? WOW- no one has ever wanted something I took to frame.

After having the pic blown up to a 10 x 8 photo & thinking how good it looked, I decided to try a few more at being enlarged as well-I was amazed at what they looked like. It was no doubt all a big fluke of me getting the shots in the first place! Even the guy at the photo shop commented on them (in a positive way)....watch out MOTH I'm out to catch you with the picture taking!

I've pulled some intercostal muscles after a coughing fit the other day- one is supposed to ingest water, not inhale it-the upshot of this is my ribs feel like they are broken & it has been hell to breathe more than a shallow breath most of the weekend. A sneeze nearly made me pass out from the sudden stabbing pain.

I am now breathing somewhat easier- my ribs are still definitely "there"-but at least I can now inhale!

So, with my ribs being so sore & not being able to breath fully for most of the weekend I've had a very quiet weekend- had to knock back a walk to 'The Peak' with DS no4, at sunset, to take pics-I knew my ribs just weren't up to it! (he's the one in the pic above)

Called into Myers this week to see if my new Samsonite bag was back from the repairers- can't say I'm too pleased that the buckle inside the case broke on its first flight-I'm just hoping it will be back this week, if it's not, this will leave me with no luggage to take to the USA Monday week.

Just my trusty carry on bag is all I have left! Both my Qantas brand bags were trashed after last years around the world flights & have been ditched- not that I could have taken them, with the handles ripped out & the extension handle broken off-I should really have claimed them when I got back, but didn't notice all the damage until later on.

On one of our trips home MOTH's zipper stop got caught in the carousel, by the time he freed it he had undies & socks all over the place! He was most embarrassed by it all- we did put a claim in that time. Nothing like chasing your dirty laundry around the carousel with hundreds of people watching!

Next weekend I'm working, then its out of the house for an early start at the airport-am so looking forward to this trip & to catching up with all my friends....oh, and MOTH as well-although he tells me he's off to Germany tomorrow to catch up with his mate who is there travelling with his daughter-great life if you can get away with it.