ahh! Almost organised,

And just as well because school starts again next week. Chicky Babe finally has her new double sized loft bed and all her stuff (well almost all) is now back in her room, Tim has put together a new shed so that Bek and Lauren can put their boxes into it so they are no longer taking up all the room in the patio. Mind you it is so unbearably hot outside- rather like walking into an oven at the moment. with overnight minimums sitting at about 24-26 *C. This is set to continue for at least the next week. Thank goodness for my christmas treat to myself. I had an air conditioner installed in my bedroom.

The girls rallied together with me this morning and we attacked the house, vacuuming and mopping and sorting a heap of stuff back to where it belongs. We have a clear table, quite a novelty around here! (Although I could have ironed the table cloth!)

Thanks girls.

When I moved into this house I bought two Ikea couches, they have begun to sag and the seats seem to droop and they had become very uncomfortable - and causing me a lot of pain as I have a disc bulge in my lower back, not nice. So I took a set of seat cushions into the foam shop and have had new ones made up. It's like a new lounge! (Although Tim is not happy because he can no longer slouch and sloth on the couch -like a teenaged boy! but I think it will be better for our posture and therefore my back pain.)

Now I have a lovely space to sit and enjoy my last few days of holidays and finish off a project or two and maybe a little more lesson prep before term starts next week. Maybe I could make propper slip covers for the window box seats this week so they don't droop out at the bottom as the one on the left is.

I never finish anythi...

I saw a cross stitch doing the rounds on pinterest yesterday and it made me giggle. 

It was exactly what I had been thinking about. I had made a pact with myself to finish off a crocheted rug I started some time ago before beginning another project I suppose given the time of year you could be forgiven for thinking it is a new years resolution but I don't do new years resolutions. For me they just seem to put me under pressure and when I get to the end of the year and I haven't managed to keep them I feel a sense of disappointment in myself and a feeling of wasting another year. So I prefer to set myself goals or challenges throughout the year.

I know it sounds pretty crazy as they are almost the same thing but to me it feels different than getting caught up in the beginning of the year expectation.

So it just happened that on new years day I set myself the goal of completing this rug with the proviso that I was not to start anything else before finishing it. 

I have to say it was pretty tough, my mind yearned for a new project. I had to stop one evening (at about 3am) after crocheting for hours and hours from when I woke that morning till going to bed because I developed pains in my fingers. (I wonder why I don't manage to drum up such dedication for house work or a fitness regime???)

The up side was that there has been a few days of uncomfortable heat here on the west coast- our summers can be very unpleasant with little relief in the evenings, so I sat under the air con and watched some DVD's while I worked.

Now it isn't technically finished but it is oh so close. I just need to weave in the dreaded hundreds of threads and make a few circular motifs to stitch on top of the stripes. At least now the balls of yarn that had been escaping and rolling about the lounge room are contained. 

Another half finished project that has been crying out to be completed has been my craft case. I have an old vintage case that I have used to stash in all my crafty stuff. In the lid I created an insert that has elastic to keep stray odds and ends at easy reach (Unfortunately a bit to easy as they tend to get "borrowed" and not returned.) I had made it out of plain cardboard and meant to cover it with fabric and glue it in place inside the lid oh...last Christmas I believe it was.

Today I finished it off and it is perfect! The cardboard insert not only looks pretty it doesn't drop out everytime you open the lid of the case any more.

Perhaps I will have to hide the case so only I know where it is!