Who wants a whinging 3 year old?

I really don't like Vista. In fact I hate Vista. It's like having a 3 year old child around-asking continually can I do something- I am sure a man developed this program!

Funnily enough when you want to shut down the computer, it doesn't ask you are you sure you want to do this-it just does it.

Thing is, I didn't want vista in the first place. I'm being forced to use it, so that made me not want to like it as I didn't ask for the change.

You see I made the stupid mistake a few months back of listening to my MP3 player on my laptop- I do this occasionally- VERY OCCASIONALLY. Maybe 3-4 times a year, if I'm being generous in my calculations. (Lets face it- if you have been the mother of 5 children you value peace & quiet!)

So, DH comes up to my sewing room & sees that I have the MP3 player plugged in & decides that I need a new laptop. Now don't get me wrong, I love the fact that he thinks of me & I have all the latest in technology, I just didn't need a new laptop-the one I was using is less than 18 months old! and more than anything I didn't want vista as I knew there were lots of problems using it with my embroidery software & that's the main reason I have a laptop in the sewing room.

DH leaves to go overseas before I did on this last trip & phones me (on skype of course- he loves all this technology-oh ,to have a clear, non interrupted call on a land line when he travels!)-from Malaysia- wait & see the new laptop I bought you, its got surround sound & blue ray & blue tooth & a million other things that had letters & I didn't understand any of it......um,why do I need a new laptop? I stupidly ask. Well, you listen to music on yours, you NEED a better sound.....I do? No,I don't....seems I was wrong... I did, I have a new one (he promised the old one to our daughter- I did say she could have the new one, but that apparently is not what he had in mind).

Vista. It will have vista, my embroidery programs won't work-apparently he found out that they have fixed the problems-perhaps- it took 3 days to get the program to work & it's going to take me the rest of my life to figure out how to find my files, delete things & copy & paste- nothing is easy & then we go back to the whinging 3 year old asking me 10 times do I really want to do this.

Of course I bloody well do- I wouldn't have pressed the button in the first place if I didn't.

God help me. I will never play music again on my laptop - mind you, I haven't figured out how to get the MP3 on this one- so that may stand good for a while yet.

My mantra now is to keep my mouth shut- just in case I end up with something else "I need", when I know I don't!

The pics attached to this post were taken while travelling in the South of France.

Flowers in gardens we visited, a chateau on the edge of a cliff. (I wondered at how many villagers died building it by falling to their deaths over the edge.) La Rochelle, a favourite spot & so beautiful.

Eating out at street cafes, jazz musicians playing all round-a feeling of festiveness....wonderful!

Birthdays and Life

I find it much harder to make time to blog than I ever thought possible. My evenings disappear before I know it. I tell myself,through the day, tonight I'll add a bit more to my blog.....well, as you can see, it's been at least a week since my last confession.....

I've had a birthday since I was here last-a half birthday-I don't particularly like getting older- although the alternative is not so great-it's the changes I dislike the most.

My body has been stolen from me- I've woken up heavier, older looking,more grey hairs & wrinkles. My boobs, once sunny in their disposition, are now definitely looking down at the world!

Getting older sucks.

Dimpled skin tone, my knees & shoulders don't work like they used to either & don't get me started on my lower back (30 years of nursing has really stuffed that!) My mind still thinks like I'm 30- it's just the rest of me that's aging!

At least I'm not becoming my mother- & God help me if I'm becoming my father! (shoot me please). It's a shock to hear yourself say something & you pull yourself up short realizing that you are repeating their words......

I still want to play like a 30 year old & get into as much trouble as I did as a 30 year old- I just no longer look the part.....bummer.

On a brighter side to my birthday celebrations my eldest son, who has been living in the UK for the past 9 years & has moved back to Oz, surprised me, by turning up to dinner on Friday night- of course the family were all in on the surprise & lovely one it was too. Only his wife & son were missing- still in the UK for another 3 weeks- then the family will be all on the one continent again.

As another surprise the family had all chipped in & bought me a red balloon gift- a day photography lesson with a pro- I hope I know enough about the camera to take the class. Reading about it online, it seems turning the camera on & off & pointing in the general direction is not enough....maybe I'll take my DH's fancy new camera- the one with all the bells & whistles- now that would be fun- but I really do only know how to turn that one off & on! Perhaps the beginner class would have been more my speed-will be fun I'm sure.

Friday I went along to the Stitches & Craft Fair here in Sydney. The past few years have been a disappointment to me & the gals I go with. So much so we are wondering whether to give up going altogether.

I've been attending S&C since the first one. I've seen it so packed out you could hardly move, the exhibits adding more each year- it used to be fantastic-these days it's just OK.

Gone are the days where we would come home with 5 new crafts, a sewing machine & bags of goodies- the past 3 years I've been lucky to spend $200 all day- including entry, lunch & drinks-that's far short of what we used to spend!

I've put myself on a fibre diet- low as in not buying much of any type of fibre- high as in the consumption of what I'm using- all fibres.....my stashes are getting out of hand.

My knitting is progressing- the felt clogs I'm knitting are all but finished- I HAD to buy another ball of yarn there-I ran out of contrast 8 rows to go-I figure I'll make my grandson a kids pair as I'll have enough left over (that justifies me buying another pattern to do that- works for me!)

The 6 balls of cotton yarn I found- this must be 15 years old- stashed in the bottom of my yarn crate-is being made into dishcloths- have now completed 6 & these will be put with the tea towels I embroidered from my stash. 3 balls to go. I'm determined to use all this fibre up.

The fabric stash is a different matter- I must have close to 700-800 metres. That's a staggering amount of fabric, but, by all accounts, not near as much as a lot of my sewing pals-one can only guess at how much they have when they build storage in the back yard to house the overflow!

Here are some pics of our travels through France- a farmer's market where we purchased fresh produce for lunch & then ate it in the parking area of a really old church, tucked away in a remote village- not a soul in site. The food was fantastic- although the cheese was probably the most expensive I had ever eaten at about $60 a kg!

The great thing about travelling with your kids when they get older, is that they are so much fun to be with. None of that- are we there yet-can you buy me this-I'm hungry-he pushed me- he hit me- move over, you're on my side!

Ah, the joys of travelling with the 5 of them when they were young. Personally, I'm not sure how I never throttled them or threw them out the car window when we went through that horrid stage! For those of you reading this that are yet to go through this stage- don't worry it only lasts about 20 years!

If mother nature didn't give them to us all cute & little as she does, there would never have been a second generation after Cane & Abel! or who ever it was that Adam & Eve gave birth to!

More next time-off to watch NCIS!!!