Thursday 1 May 2014

Damn you Ants

They're back, in the dishwasher this time. They come & go, come & go, but this time it was serious.  I had to get the nice man from F&P out to take the front of the dishwasher off, and inside the controller box was a trio of dead German cockroaches, and a bunch of ants, and you might be able to tell who was feeding off whom, Gentle Readers, but I can't.  Anyway, that controller box went in the bin, and a new one has been installed.  I was quite convinced we had a huge ants nest behind the dishwasher, so I was moderately relieved to find it was only the scent of lunch that was attracting the parties to the party, so to speak.

Anyway, the nice young man from the pest control company is here, right now, spraying all sorts of semi-nasties around the house & nasties around the garden. 

In other, sewing, type news, I went to Tessuti, in Chatswood, and bought some beautiful Italian wool (don't ask me why I didn't buy it in Italy, OK, just don't) to make skirts - I used this pattern, which I've used many times, and still love it - yes, it's a bit hungry on the fabric, but the skirt falls so nicely, the no-waistband suits my badly-designed short waist (thanks, genes), and it's got a side zip, on which I always do my neat trick of installing back-to-front so it almost looks invisible... Now I just have to go down to the alterations shop & get them to do the hems for me.  I know my machine has a hemming foot, but do you think I can get my head around how to put the fabric?  Nope.

Anyway, I also went through the magic door marked "Wool" in my sewing room, and found a rather gorgeous dark navy blend of something, which I've made into the same pattern - I did flat-felled seams on this one, and I went nuts and put the zipper on the outside, like some of the really trendy clothes you see now - Mr Golightly most definitely did not approve, Gentle Readers.  I also found three metres of the most gorgeous houndstooth check which came from the late, lamented Fine Wools Direct, which used to have a shop in Newtown... this is incredibly fine, and I have no idea what to do with it - certainly not skirts with gores - can you imagine the pattern matching stress?  Any suggestions?

In other crafty news... nada.  Nothing.  I'm all toyed out.  I'm still looking for a job,  but the job market is a bit flat at the moment.  There are lots of people looking for work, and recruiters have their pick.  The problem comes when they don't even bother to get back to you to say "thanks but no thanks" - that's a bit disheartening.

What's even more disheartening is when you go directly to the company, have an hour & a half interview/chat with the guy, get told you'd be a good fit & get ready for your second interview when the other guy comes back from overseas, follow up because you've heard nothing for 10 days, then the next day you get an email saying "sorry, you didn't make the cut".  How do you go from "a good fit" to "no thanks" in the space of half a day?  Hmmm.

On a more cheery front, we spent the ANZAC weekend at the Phabulous Hunter Valley, working in return for phabulous phood & board - I made a new cover for the dog's bed, and MGF Kaz & I played in the 10" squares & picked out enough to make her a quilt top - so that's something I can get started on!

And here's a pic to remind us that it's not all crap:





And now, lunch. 
Ciao!