Sunday, too far away (Roma)

So, Gentle Readers, we're home.  We had a good flight from Rome to Hong Kong, and a great flight from Hong Kong to Sydney, especially after the 10 hour sleepover we had had in Hong Kong, which made a huge difference to our jetlag status - that is, none.

These photos were taken at various points over the holiday - the first one is a bunch of guys we came across round the corner from where we stayed the second time we holidayed in Rome - when we were there, this was a single table & two very dishevelled looking guys - now it's a whole community of, interestingly, only men.  The guy in the maroon scarf had a minder sitting on the scooter to the right, and was eyeing me as I was taking the pictures.  I didn't get too close.

This little number was by some guy called Michaelangelo.  He has a bit of a future, I think.

Part of the recovered items from the Roman Forum - absolutely gorgeous.

I didn't buy any fabric.  Can you believe that?  However, I did buy:

• Red handbag #7 (gift for my lovely Ma)
• Red handbag #8
• Mystery gift for MGF Kaz
• Red wallet
• Several leather key rings, from a fabulous shop where they were actually sewing the items on the premises, with the industrial sewing machine set up right there in the shop - my question "Fatto in casa?" was given an emphatic answer, "no, fatto qui!"
• A very cute little red leather coin purse (yes, for me)
• Some cosmetic specials for my SIL's
• A gorgeous set of three Furla leather pouches and keyring for my lovely MIL
• A red (yes, yes, I know) Furla keyring for me
• A beautiful surprise for Miss Nelly (because I know she reads this)
• A leather wallet and an ipod case for Master H
• Some fantastic handmade writing paper embossed with the letter 'D'
• Mini-calendars for 2013 for my team
• Absolutely no Pope fridge magnets - not one to be found in Rome.  And yes, I did look.

It's nice to be home.  

Ciao!

Saturday night (in Bologna) too tired

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So, Gentle Readers, I have to confess that the previous post was largely written a week ago, when we were indeed on our way to the airport, edited during an incredibly boring transit in Hong Kong, where I tried and failed to finish the previous post, and we've finished our first amazing week in Roma, having succeeded in seeing things we did not see last time, but which I am confident were actually there, because they've been quietly sitting, waiting for Mr Golightly and me to come and see them, for 2,000 years.

I am having a few technical issues with the newest infernal machine to join the Golightly household, (and I'm blaming you, Miss Blue Lambb), because Blogspot has not yet come to grips with people who are trying to write posts using a tablet, so if you see a few more typos than normal, please be gentle with me :-P
More soon.. Ciao!

Come fly with me...

Yes, Gentle readers, I am lucky enough to be getting on a plane this morning & flying off, with the charming and erudite Mr Golightly, to the eternal city, Roma, Rome... again.  It doesn't seem more than about ten minutes since we were there last time, and maybe because we'd been before (yes, alright, twice), the usual mad scramble that is us packing was not quite so scrambled; there was no fleeting unpleasantness caused by Mr Golightly's short-sighted insistence on bringing his favourite green shirt (age 268 years, state of decrepitude, extremely advanced) , everything went smoothly, and here we are at the airport, waiting to board in good time.  Even the check-in queue was zero people long. So, in my experience, this means it's going to rain the entire time we're away.

We have a list, this time.  We're not just going to wander the streets with our mouths open like we did last time, we've got a cunning plan and the list:  Hadrian's  villa, the Appia Antica, The Vatican Museums, the basilica, maybe a few catacombs. I deliberately packed 15 pairs of socks , undies and enough bras to outfit a girl's school, so that no time is wasted in the lavendaria, and I fully intend to not do anything more domestic than make my morning coffee. We may also go to another city for a few days, depending on how the spirit moves us; after hanging around Hong Kong airport for six long boring hours, some Italian fresh air could be just the ticket. I'll keep you posted. Ciao!

Friday night too drunk

That's part of a movie title, you know, Gentle Readers.  I think it's an excellent title for this post, which explains quite a lot about my weekend.  I wasn't really too drunk, just pleasantly happy.  MBF Deb invited us up for homemade pizzas, and boy, were they delicious?  Yes, of course they were.  She's a fabbo cook, far more interested in the creation of beautiful meals than I'll ever be, and she knocked up the pizzas in about 20 minutes flat, making it all look so easy.  Mind you, there was a very small amount of pre-work eliminated, in that she used pre-made bases, but, hey?  Who cares?  Is there a pizza-base police in the house?  No indeedy.


I woke up on Saturday morning with a bit of a headache, easily fixed with two aspirin & a bowl of cereal (aspirin in a glass of water, not the cereal.  Things weren't that bad).  I spent a slightly uncomfortable half hour at the beautician, remembering all the while the story my mother used to tell me - when she was a girl, she had long, thick, beautiful hair, and one of her great-aunts, of whom there were a number, according to the family tree, used to comb it with a fine tooth comb, and say "you must suffer in the cause of beauty".   Ouch.  No wonder she wouldn't let us have long hair as children.


In other news, I got very inspired to make the cushion covers long promised to Miss Lyndsey. I threaded up the machine with white cotton, cut, pinned, stitched and got all the way to the final stitching of the side seams before it dawned on me that I needed to make buttonholes.  I whipped an empty bobbin out of my jar, filled it with lemon yellow thread and dragged the buttonhole foot out of the drawer, and off I went.  Well, kinda. 

Image courtesy of Paradeofapples.wordpress.com.  

First of all, the machine thread snapped.  Then the bobbin thread got tangled up in itself & I had to take the whole bobbin race out to get it clear.  Then it did it again.  And again.  Then the needle started making funny noises.  So I got a new 90 needle out of the magic box, and popped that in.  Nope.  I rethreaded the machine.  Nope.  I tried sewing something apart from buttonholes.  Nope.  Eventually, and ever so slowly, Gentle Readers, I thought, "perhaps this is not the right bobbin?".  Yep.  Took it out, moved all the thread to another bobbin and rather quickly tossed the old bobbin in the bin.  And guess what?  Sewing like a dream, aren't we?   


There's a lesson in this, Gentle Readers.  Rethread machine, change needle, rethread machine, check bobbin, rethread bobbin if necessary, toss bobbin if all else fails.  Actually, if all else fails, walk away & have a nap.  That's what I did.  Next blogtime, I promise pictures of the finished cushion cover.


That's it for me.  Work tomorrow, then Tuesday off - upholstery school Monday & Tuesday night, with Lucas.  Thank the Upholstery Ghods for good teachers.  We're starting on some cushion making, so I expect to learn where I went wrong with the one I haven't finished yet ;-p


And now, I think I might even go & finish it.  It's only 9.30pm & I'm not really watching the cricket, and now that I know what the problem is... who knows?  Maybe pics tonight?  Wow.  And... ciao!

That list again...

List Update:

1.  Pouch for Anne-Marie (18 months ago)

2.  Cushions for Mr Golightly's Big Sis (17 months ago)

3.  Cushions for Lyndsey (6 months ago)

4.  Seat covers for Mrs Autrey (at least 9 months ago) Finished, just waiting for the Post Office to re-open.

5.  Dog for Effie in Canada (only Monday) Cheated just slightly & sent her nephew the one featured on the blog.  Hope she doesn't mind!

6.  Pouch for MBF's children's piano teacher (3 months ago) Let off the hook, she'd forgotten too & bought something.

7.  Pouch for MBF's children's dance teacher (ditto)

8.  Cushion for MGF Kaz (who knows, so long ago I've forgotten)

9.  Dolls for the children of people in my team (2 months ago). Finished, see previous blog post.

10.  Christmas Scarf for Clare in the UK.  Started but nowhere near ready.

11.  Christmas Gift for Gill in the UK.  Not even started.

12.  Welcome gift for Mrs Autrey's baby (knitted but not wrapped or posted).  Wrapped & waiting for the post office to open.

13.  Welcome gift for Clare's baby (not even started).

14.  Kris Kringle gift for friend at lunch on Sunday*.  Lavender bags X 3.  Time?  20 minutes.  Easy.

15.  Kimono dressing gown for Arthur (1year ago).  Mum & I made mine & hers, I made Kaz's.  I'm sure Arthur's is coming soon...

As for #13, I went through my box of knitted stuff & found the following, all perfectly suitable for a new baby:

plus a bunch more I don't have photos of.  I think I need to start knitting again (after I cross off a few more numbers!)

Ciao!

Sick. I'm fully sick. Really.

Actually, in some cultures, Gentle Readers, that actually means "I am unwell".  Amusingly I had a phone call from Miss BlueLambb this afternoon enquiring if I was actually still employed by the August Institution, as I haven't been there for a week (Thursday was the Australia Day Holiday, Friday was swapped for my regular Tuesday off, as we had a half-day offsite thingy scheduled for our whole team & my lovely Boss wanted me there), and today is apparently Wednesday.  So.  

I have acquired some stinky virus, which has given me a nasty wheezy cough, which is happily producing **TMI ALERT** yellow-greeny slime, a headache, pounding sinuses and lethargy.  That's definitely the highlight.  I'm still in my PJ's, (not too unusual, I hear you say...) for the third day running (that's the unusual bit - how did I get to the Doctor?) apart from a brief sojourn in real clothes so I could go to the doctor, get anti-biotics for the (wait.  Is that hyphenated?  Antibiotics.  Anti-biotics.  Who cares, really?) chest infection, and ... oh bugger, I've lost the thread.  I'm sick, y'know.

Anyway, before all this happened, we spent a lovely relaxing weekend in the Hunter, and MGF Kaz and I took some nice pics.

Kaz's Sunday morning sunrise:

 Strawberry?

Sit up nicely!

Who, me?  On the furniture?

Gimme five!

On Saturday morning these guys were pictured having a bit of a sleep in, in next door's paddock.  Quietly, oh so quietly, I tiptoed round the verandah in my LLBean slides so I could get a quick pic... obviously not quietly enough.

Hello?

Did you hear something?

Quick, let's go...

On another note, I took absolutely no sewing with me, which was a bit silly in hindsight, because I'd promised Master H that I would make a pouch for his mother's birthday (29th January, oops) - you can tell I'm sick, can't you?  I just split that infinitive right down the middle.  I promised Master H that for his mother's birthday, I'd make a particular pouch.  It's still on the sewing machine.  I started it before we went to the Hunter & tried to finish it when we got back from the Hunter, but due to an earlier-than-usual dinner start time, and the incipient virus, it's still sitting there.  Very soon now, honest.  Mr Golightly pointed out two rules of sewing that I broke trying to get it finished in time - measure thrice, cut once; and, don't sew when you're sick/tired.  Very nasty.

Anyway, if only I'd taken it all with me, I could have had it made before I got sick, I wouldn't have let Master H down, and he could have given it to his mother for her birthday (29th January, did I mention that?  Oh yes.  I'm sick, you know.)

So, no sewing, no work, no fun, no sin, no you, no wonder it's dark.  Anybody recognise that?  Me neither.  I'm sick.  Ciao!

PS Thanks to the Peppermint Penguin & the Chairy Godmother for the moral support.  I'm still here, for now!

Oh dear...

You know what, Gentle Readers... I think I've lost my blogging mojo.  I had forgotten how much time is taken up with photography, moving the pictures from the camera(s) to the PC(s), the hard disk(s), sorting the photos in my filing system (by year, by month, by date of event), fiddling with them in Picnik (and what's that about, hmmm?  Apparently it's been swallowed up by Google...) and Picasa, finding suitable images when mine don't quite measure up... and then, the writing... coming up with the witty titles, the theme, the tags, the content, those fabulous jokes, the clever and succinct lines filled with news of high import, low import and no import...


I started this when my father died, and I really needed a way to express my feelings about dealing with something completely unexpected... a dead father I hadn't spoken to in 27 years, and who died without bothering to make a will, but who, amazingly, was considered by the law to be my responsibility.


Anyway, I've made a vow for 2012, which is to stop saying "I can do that for you", and that includes a bunch of the things on the list... (remember that list?).


So... one of the things I want to do more of is sewing, and that means, less time for other things.  I'm planning on a single night per week at Upholstery school, working from home the next day so I don't have to do a late start/early finish, and then my every-second Tuesday off at home to do the grocery shopping/washing thingy.  


Where does blogging fit into this?  Somewhere between the grocery shopping and washing, I think.  That means, Gentle Readers, that I might go a few more weeks between posts.  Or... I might not even post again. What do you think I should do?


Ciao... for now.