Old photos - Rita

One of the great things about the fact that I'm staying with mum and dad for a few months is the chance it gives me to go through old photo albums, scanning photos.

I had an absolute ball looking at old photos of mum, dad & us kids, especially the bit where I put them on Facebook to embarrass us all. A little bit of embarrassment never killed anyone. It's all in good fun. And I included embarrassing ones of myself as well, just to make it all even-stevens.

This morning I went through some of Gran's photos. She died about ten years ago and when we were packing up her house afterwards, I remember looking at all these photos I'd never seen before, wishing that (even though I didn't always get along with Gran) she was there to tell me about them. So many of them don't have names or dates, so it's a lot of guesswork, or checking with Dad to see if he can fill in the gaps.

This one is Gran when she was a kid. I love the cheeky look on her face and her outfit is awesome. I've got a whole stack more of her side of the family to share, which is kind of nice considering how little I know about them.

I think my favourite bit about this photo is that one of her socks is starting to fall down - it makes me giggle a bit because I'm sure if this was a photo of anyone else, it'd be the first thing she'd notice! Bit of a perfectionist, Rita was.

Want.

This, from Bride&Wolfe.

Birthday. Coming up. March 22.

Look into it.

Please.

Kthxbai.

Pretty pink flowers

These photos were taken ages ago. The flowers were from my front garden and I bought the little vase from an op shop.

I'm looking forward to seeing what little bits and pieces I can find like this for when I move back into my house.

I've got plans to do some painting as well (thanks to mum and dad for the suggestion), which I'm actually becoming very excited about. I've got a few ideas as far as colour goes, so it's just a matter of actually organising it.

Because I sold pretty much all my furniture when I went overseas, I also have to buy new stuff. At first I was a bit stressed about it, but as I've begun the process of looking at catalogues and getting ideas, I think it's all going to come together really well.

I can't wait!

Sewing room

I'm terrible at sewing. Mum's awesome at it. The end.

Knitting like a Nanna

It took all of a couple of days to settle back into life on the NW coast of Tasmania. I've totally turned all Nanna-ish and started knitting (again - I had a brief dalliance with some knitting needles when I finished Uni, but it didn't last long and we went our separate ways). And it's all thanks to my amazing friend, Michelle. She's also encouraged me to go along to Stitch n Bitch, where a group of lovely ladies knit, sew, chat, eat, chat and have a very nice time for a few hours each Tuesday night. I've only been to one session, but I'm looking forward to it being a regular thing.

The girls also run a regular market in Wynyard, called the Made With Love Market Bazaar, you can check out the Facebook page here. I went to the most recent one last weekend, and it was brilliant. I can't wait for my next couple of paydays, because I can see I'm going to be spending a lot of money at those markets!

So ... the actual knitting is going good. I made a scarf with some of mum's random left-over bits of wool:



The two white sections at the end don't really match, but I'm really proud of the fact that I didn't drop a single stitch. That's a real achievement for me!

Now I'm working on another scarf (there's going to be lots and lots of scarves until I gain more skills and confidence), which is the one in the first picture all the way up there. Mum has been teaching me how to cast on and cast off. I think that's the bit that I really have to focus on remembering how to do, I'd love to be at the stage where it's just automatic and I don't have to think about it and can just do it.

So, all in all, I can thoroughly recommend unleashing your inner Nanna. And it's very very nice to be home.