Phew!

I remembered my yahoo ID and was able to use the password help to sort out passwords and everything is almost back to normal, including myself!!

PS: Spoke too soon! I have to back up all my data and write down all my login, passwords and favourites etc! Just what I need when my reports are a week overdue and I've not really started!!!!! Hopefully I'll be back soon!

AAAAARRRRGGHHGHGHHHH!!!!!!!!

Something went funny with my computer so Tim said you have to clear all the temporary files etc so it will work. So I did and now I can't get access to my things any more. I had my blog set so that it just popped up nice and handy on my account page- now it doesn't and I have completely lost all access to my yahoo account that I use for flickr. I can't for the life of me remember my Yahoo ID or my password or the alternate e-mail address. I think I set it up right at the beginning of my foray into net usage and I was a bit over cautious I think and I don't know what the *!!*# I've done. And it's so so so frustrating.......
I'm having noise overload too....I'm at that point where EVERYTHING is annoying.
I think that there are too many things to do, not enough time, too many bills and not enough money, too many questions, too much of so much and only one of me!!!!

oh boy.

What a week or two! Unfortunately my batteries died in my camera and I keep forgetting to get new ones so there will be no photo's to go with this post. I wanted to show off pictures from the big art exhibition at school but I can't and I just want to get this done before it is too outdated. The exhibition was last week and I spent over 25hours of overtime in the week and a half before it getting things ready. Checking and double checking that every child had a piece of work. I had a system where I had printed two sets of labels directly from the school computer data base. One went directly onto the back of the art work as it was framed, if I had any stickers left over from this first set it meant that I had missed framing a piece of work for that child. Then the second sticker went under the art work as it was put up onto the boards if there were stickers left over at this stage it meant that one of the framed pieces was missing. Great system in theory except that in their effort to be helpful (and don't get me wrong- even though I was called a control freak by my boss- I did appreciate their desire to help) the P&C completely stuffed up this system grabbing stickers willy nilly from either set and then they got all muddled up! Then we had systems for tracking who had bought/paid for/ reserved art work. This has been taking up a considerable portion of my time this week, sorting out little glitches and handing out artworks to children. Money is still coming. People this week have been saying 'I bet your glad that's all over." All over!!!! I've decided to put out a note saying pay up by Wednesday or it's too late. (I'll make it a bit politer than tat though)
In all it was a hugely successful event. The word back from the principal is in the eyes of the general parent body I 'now walk on water' and that they really appreciate the amount of work I put in above and beyond that which is expected. On the night a couple of them gave me a big hug and a kiss! Very nice to feel appreciated and even a lot of the kids noticed and made a comment on the amount of work I had to do and thanked me for it. We raised almost $2000 on the night to on the children's art work (about $8000 was raised in all selling donated adult artists work and with the raffles and bar). I gave the parents the opportunity to pre purchase their child's work some opted not to and then were surprised on to discover that it had already been sold. There were lots of comments on how the work was of such a high standard. (There were some lovely pieces that I was proud of but clever cropping mounting and framing under glass works wonders too! ) I bought 4 myself two because I really liked them and two because I wanted to boost the confidence of those kids.
I feel like I have cemented or earned my position at this school as the art specialist and I think it has really helped to raise the profile of the arts in the school which had very much a sports orientated feeling to it when I arrived last year. I thought it was just because I was more involved this year but the boss said that the parents have been talking about it non stop. Fortunately the fundraising ladies who started the preparation saying next year we will.... are now saying in two years time when we do this again.... Its like having a baby you need a bit of time between to forget how painful the experience was!
Reports were due in yesterday and I've not even started them and last night I spent the night in the hospital with Bantam Boy - he is fine. We got there at 10pm and got home again at 3;30am. I am SO tired!!!!

What next...

The kids have the telly on this morning and I just saw an add for ice-cream for dogs!!!!! In the shape of little paws!!!! Oh dear I must be getting old and cynical.

While I should be working...

Finally after goodness knows how long the dining table was clear! Thanks to Bantam Boy who has chastised me soundly for leaving mess about and for having too many tea cups (I must revisit teacup Tuesday!) We actually ate dinner at the table yesterday and the dishes were done strait away.



Alas the clean table did not last long,



it was the perfect place along with the breakfast bar to set up as a printmaking station. So while I have too much work to do I did some printmaking instead. These are about 30cm square, the blue bird (which is what this is supposed to be) reminds me of my childhood so I'm going to do some of these a bit smaller and print them onto pages of old children's story books.



I tried printing one on fabric, without a press they don't work all that well. I'd like to print some tea towels for George st. I think silk screen might be the go. It's quick and simple and that way I can make duplicates quite quickly.



Ahhhhh... so many plans not enough time.

When imaginary friends become real...

This is the fremantle town hall.

Last night I managed to meet up with Fifi. She was working in fremantle all day and as I happen to live close by it was easy for me to meet her in town. I told my kids I was going to meet my blog friend in person. Chicky babe replied, "Be careful and make sure it is in a public place." She said this somewhat tongue in cheek, I'm glad she has been paying attention to my advice re how much information she gives out on MSN or whatever it is that they use. I reassured her that I was quite sure Fifi was who she claimed to be and I was not an easily influenced teenager so I'm sure it would be ok.
While I was waiting for Fifi and her friend to arrive at the exhibition we had decided to meet at I realised that although I had seen a photo of her, I'd not actually seen her before and she certainly didn't know what I looked like. It was a bit strange really because by reading her blog I felt I knew her and felt that we were friends and it didn't dawn on until that point that I didn't actually know her. We had a lovely long chat and quite neglected the art work- of which there was very little in a huge space. I felt like I was catching up with an old friend.
I thought of lady Di actually you know how you knew her face so well and you were so familiar with it yet when she spoke it was a surprise because you didn't recognise the voice.
Following a blog is a bit like that but reversed- you know the voice in that we share certain parts of our lives and thoughts freely so you get a sense of who that person is and feel as if you know them but of course you don't really. You tend to fill in the bits you don't know in your imagination. Fifi did in fact have feet and not a tail and her hair was tied back not floating around her face when we met and I do not have red hair!
As I typed this I started to think, how well do we actually know anyone? I know at work I have a certain persona which is a part of me but a censored part of the whole me. My children see the "mummy" me, I don't burden them with my full self- they don't deserve to have to worry about that!!!! Strangely enough I have some conversations with you that I don't share with some of my friends. I think that it is partly the fact that this does feel a bit like a journal so it's as if you are writing to yourself and also I don't worry too much about your reactions, that is to say if my post is particularly boring you can skim it and not have to be subjected to the dialogue in full, or you can move on to the next blog if it is utterly tedious, friends don't have the option to do that . Their public persona means that generally they have to be polite and at least pretend to listen!
I've also been wondering about how many of us who blog had pen friends in the days of snail mail. I had one from the Solomon islands following a holiday that my father had there back in the 70's then as an older child I think it was year 8 the school had requests from a school in Singapore for pen friends so I conversed with a girl there for some time. So now when people I know look at me strangely when I mention something about blogging I think to myself it is not strange at all it's just a modern version of having pen friends!
(For some reason it won't let me add a picture today. I am too sleep deprived to try to figure it out!!!!) Contrary thing it suddenly decided to work after I included the link to some photos around Freo.

Cake iced

Cake ll
Originally uploaded by dette.k

Chocolate thieving son got the middle of the cake- I took it out of the oven a tad too early and it dipped in the middle. So I decided to make it a ring cake and fill the center with roses from my garden. Bantam Boy was very happy with this and he didn't mind that it was a little under cooked, it was still very chocolatey!

mmmmm!!!! Chocolate cake!

This is a pretty easy chocolate cake recipe. It only took a few minutes to mix it all together. It takes longer to clean up the mess than it does to make it! Then about 4o minutes to bake at about 180*C.

90g very soft butter, 1 cup castor sugar, 30g (40 for a real chocolaty cake!) 1 egg and 1 cup of milk all mixed together with a large metal spoon.
Sift together 2 cup SR flour and 1tspn bicarb soda then add all at once to above mixture, mix together. Spoon into a lined cake tin and cook. They only take 10-15 mins in patty pans.

It took less than an hour all up! (Oh by the way the dishes are not yet done! They may take some time!) I hope this survives Bantam Boy or perhaps he should be called the chocolate thief as well as spider man!- he is trying to think of many reasons why he should be able to eat this before I ice it and take it to work for the Melbourne Cup lunch.



PS if you would like me to make you a little pressie and to be a part of pay it forward don't forget to leave a comment on the post below.

A handmade,

I left a comment on Bowerbirdz post this means within the next 365 days she will make something for me and now I have to make something for the first three people to leave a message on my post.
Now I am having a little self doubt panic that there will be no-one that wants to put their name on my blog! Because you have to want something that I've made and then be willing to make something for three others. And so it continues.

3 easy steps:

I will send the first three people who leave a comment on this post a handmade gift within the next 365 days.

I will happily post anywhere in the world.

The only catch is you have to have a blog and be willing to do the same thing.

So if you’re interested, committed and would like to receive a handmade gift from me, all you have to do is leave a comment with a link to your blog!

I have copied the blue highlighted text directly from bowerbirdz post as she explained it so clearly.

Primavera

This has taken pretty much all weekend to do. Well the spare moments over the weekend at any rate. I really want a red one but I'd run out of red cotton. I'll do that next!


I had another shot of this worn long (this one is double wrapped.) but when I uploaded it I wasn't happy with the top I was wearning under it so I'll try agian later...
I'm off to see a movie on my own now. I want to see the Duchess. I like these type of movies because of the costuming. Not many of my friends share my interest in this regard!