cat and the crow number 1

This picture tells a story it is one of a series of cat and crow pictures that are floating about. Although on the surface it doesn't look it it is a very sad story and I've told it it a childlike story book way because the cat was so very naive! I'm happy with the crow and the pears- not so sure about the cat as yet...

and I do plan to paint it with water colour paint. Actually as I've uploaded the image I am thinking I might do it as a lino print series....

Ooohh. I just found this Alexander henery fabric on Phat fabric. I think I need some to cover my old chair.

and maybe make some cushion covers for the couch.

Some things that make me happy

Today I have been thinking about what makes me happy . Here is a small list with a few photos(from my phone so please pardon the grainy quality!)

Clouds make me happy. I had to pull off into the local shopping center car park to capture these.

Not having to drive makes me happy so you can look at things out the window more easily.
I often think that it is little wonder that people believed in the gods in heaven when you get a display like this one. I'm sure I could make out two figures peering over the edge of this one.
A nice bottle of wine and dinner shared with a dear friend on the boardwalk at Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour. (Especially when it was his treat!) Tim has been trying his best to help lift me from my apathy. And when I said "oh let's not worry about going out, he wouldn't hear of it. It was a lovely balmy evening-maybe a tad hot but the ocean was a great place to be.
Last weekend we scraped an hour or so between chores and taxi duties to have coffee and cake at the Fremantle arts center. -I must go back and grab the next season of weekend workshops. They are a great way to introduce yourself to a new technique or re-inspire you to pull out those tools and materials you have tucked away. I'm convinced my creative brain is not coping with the overly regimented timetable of my school. Before I started at my current location I worked only as an art specialist and all my lessons were an hour long, I thought that was too short sometimes. This school has had me doing 40 or 45 minute classes 7 classes on a Monday! Originally the deputy had all the grades mixed up but one teacher wanted to swap and in the end I now have clusters of middle primary then junior primary. Much easier to cope with. And I have managed to get the three upper grade classes to have their two 45 minute classes moved so they are back to back giving me an hour and a half. SO much better....I digress I used to work 4 days a week and I seemed to cope better with that. That is my dream to reduce my workload again to four days...
Although at times they drive me crazy and it is a tricky time learning to live with them as adults my kids do make me happy as does my lovely companion- Pablo. Here he is lying on my bed smiling.
Thanks Lou for suggesting a way to lift our spirits because although we didn't manage to totally coordinate our blogging the thought was there and it made me think of happy thoughts.

Print AND pictures!

Just a few pictures. I now have batteries AND the camera cord!
A new top made some weeks ago.
Mid room swap. Chicky Babe's very clean room (Much of the stuff is still around the rest of the house almost 4 weeks later!!!!)

The clutter lead to a small flurry of sorting and cleaning starting here.
The linen cupboard sorted...
here's some of what came out of it and packed off to the good sammies.
Ever hopeful I have labeled the drawers in the kitchen in an effort to make it easier for others to put things back in the right place.
Do you remember the computer cords labeled, bagged and boxed.
Well this is what they look like again! ***Sigh***
This is under foot...
And this is beside me... Bantam Boy need not worry- there is no way I am confusing him as a house husband at the moment. He was concerned that I would as he is neither studding or working yet he believes he should not be expected to do anything extra at present...yes we have had some words! :-(

I have managed to ignore some of the mess to feed my need to do something a bit creative. I'm trying to get the kids at school interested in art from different times and places and to become familiar with some well known artists as a part of the arts in society section of the visual arts. So as I love the work of Frida Kahlo so I decided to put one of her works on a t-shirt using a computer iron on transfer then add some embroidery to it and then wear it to school.

I love the way it turned out! It's now my favourite shirt. I'll have to buy some more plain black shirts and do some more.

problem number 587...

Bought camera batteries, feeling better, tidied up the lounge (a bit not too much but enough), Bantam Boy did the kitchen, Chicky Babe the bathroom....Last night's three way shouting match and door slamming forgotten... some arty work undertaken and photographed along with photos of some delightful vintage crochet, sewing and knitting pattern books given to me this week.

The computer is back minus the 108 (not 48 as first thought) viruses, it now has two virus scanny things on it.

But....

No one tidied up the computer area, although both of them said they would and now as I sit here ready to download some pictures the cord is missing!!!!

However being in a much better space today I'm not too stressed out. I'm sure it will turn up when they clean up tomorrow- See I'm getting back to my optimistic self!

I promise to post some of my pictures as soon as I can.
Here's one for now that I found as a free download, I can't for the life of me remember where I got it from but it's pretty! ( I think it was from a link I found on One Pretty Thing)

And for my next problem....

I am computerless at home for the time being. My home computer has run out of space and has crashed and has something like 48 viruses. It will be back next week.

A little lost...

To tell the truth I am having a bit of a hard time at the moment. I can't quite seem to "get my groove on." I've kinda lost myself and have so much to do and am totally unsure of where to begin. I've been a bit depressed and have avoided blogging as a result.
My house currently reflects the state of my mind and I am terrified that I will have someone come to visit and they will see the chaos in which I am existing at the moment.
My lovely chicks decided to swap rooms and paint in the week I started back at school. This means that there is furniture and boxes and assorted sundry items strewn and stuffed around the place while this minor renovation is being executed. I hope it is sorted soon. In the process I have lost my camera batteries (the rechargeable ones.) and have been resisting buying new ones at $24 a set I resent having to replace that which I have at least two sets of floating somewhere about.
I am finding that my kids are really taking much of my time and energy again- they are good kids but the shift in their state from teens to young adults takes a bit of getting used to. (It is very much like the three year old stage all over again.)
I am torn, feeling almost guilty about looking forward to Bantam Boy taking an extended holiday and just having me and Chicky Babe about, and the actual thought of him being physically gone from the house and from town and the state! He has been living it up a bit staying out late and I have no desire to curb his enjoyment of life between school and uni (He got a really good TER and has been accepted into the uni course of his choice- for which he has deferred.) HOWEVER....When he is out late and comes home in the wee small hours I can't sleep well and this is not such a great problem once or twice but as a regular thing I find it very draining as I can't sleep until 2 0r 3pm. I have to get up early and go off to work and be peppy with a bunch of school kids. I'm finding it a bit hard. I've had to ask him to stop or a the very least consider how it affects the rest of the family. The other night he came home at 2;30am hopped into the shower and then at 5;05 I woke him up lying asleep with the shower going full pelt and steam filling half the bathroom. (I struggle with this too because his father used to come home drunk and fall asleep on the toilet or on the bathroom floor and it is too familiar to me. But I try not to compare him to his dad and try to react to his behaviours as his behaviours not as extensions of those I put up with for years- he is only 18 his father was almost 30!)
I have recently been told that the pain in my hip is not from the fall I had- well it may have been bought on by the injury but not caused by it- I have arthritis in my hip. Bugger. I am officially old.
So with all this and the fact I've just started back at school I have little crafting, crochet or art work to share. The positive thing is that one of the ladies I teach with is keen to learn how to do lino printing and we have decided to have our friday afternoon drinks in the art room and have an informal art lesson. I really need to do this for me. And maybe I will just go and buy myself those batteries after all so I can take photos of those things I have made lately to share...and just maybe it will motivate me to crack the whip and get this place into some sort of order!