Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday...

So, it's been raining here quite a bit, and so on Tuesday we went out to buy Mr G a raincoat. We tried Superdry, but although the boys were very helpful, he didn't really like the idea of being a walking advertisement for a coat company, and so we walked up the road a bit to a more sedate menswear store.  In true Italian style, the shop assistant sized him up immediately, and bought out three possibilities, all of which were acceptable to me.  For Eu85, we got something that would easily have been $250 at home.  

Then we did the really exciting part, and went to Piazza Colonna, and bought tickets to watch Lazio play AS Roma on Sunday (this is soccer/football/calcio we're talking about here) - and I know some of you are looking at each other going "Really?  You're going to a football match?"  Yes, Gentle Reader, I am.  I am well prepared, with gloves, a beanie, scarf, camera and the most important part - ear plugs.  

Anyway, Mr Golightly used to play, and then referee, and so he was pretty excited at the prospect of being able to watch two top class sides in the local derby, so who was I to say "No"?

Then we got really wild, and got on the 281 bus, which goes out to the Stadio Olympico, where the match will be held on Sunday, so we could make sure we allow enough time to get out there, find our seats & not miss a minute...

This stadium was started by Mussolini in the 1920's, but not completed until after WWII - and used for the 1960 Rome Olympics...

And then, Gentle Readers, we went really wild and came back again.  Phew.  The glamour.

Day One - the excitement!

Well, Gentle Readers, we survived 14 hours on a plane with a screaming toddler... just.  AsyouknowBob, I am not that fond of small children ("Anyone who hates children and small dogs isn't all bad" (widely attributed to W C Fields but open to discussion), but it's the parents who are usually to blame.  They had four kids, three of whom didn't make a peep the entire flight, and the screaming monster.  Did they give the kid a dummy?  Did they F**k.  They just let him scream and scream and scream and scream... OMG.  All I can say is thank the ghods for noise eliminating earphones and Emirates'* excellent inflight entertainment system.

I watched 3 movies in an attempt to drown out the little shit.  Elysium (not bad, a bit too much crash bang wallop, and not enough Elysium, but it was lovely to see the always gorgeous Jodie Foster in action), About Time, which is a nice (and very English) film from the clever Richard Curtis, which reduced me to tears (in a good way), and The Butler, which was an interesting take on two of the sides of the American Civil Rights movement, and which had quite a good performance from some woman called Oprah Winfrey - apparently she has a show on TV in America so maybe she needed the money?**

Anyway, the 6 hours from Dubai to Rome was blessedly silent, mostly because I was crammed into a 17" wide sardine tin of a seat, mouth open and a stream of drool issuing forth as I slept.  Or so Mr G tells me.

We arrived two hours (two whole hours!) early, and our driver was there to meet us.  Honestly, Gentle Readers, before you look askance at each other and ask "Driver? Oooh" in that snarkey tone, just be aware that for Eu37, you too can be met at the airport by a well dressed man holding a sign with your name on it, have your bags taken from you, be ushered into the back of a spotlessly clean Mercedes Benz and driven right to your door, where the bags are then taken back out of the car.  Having rung the doorbell, said spotlessly dressed man waits until the door is answered, shakes your hand, takes your money and drives off into the night.   Yes, it's (only slightly) more expensive than the train & a taxi, but really, on a cold wet Sunday night, who cares?

And then, this morning, breakfast:

Eu5.  That's $A7.70 for two excellent coffees and two fresh, delicious cornetti (mine was chocolate, his was poppy seed).  You can buy two coffees in Sydney for $7.00 - in fact, in 2011 in Perth, at a particular hospital, a very ordinary coffee in a paper cup with nasty plastic stirrer was $4.50... so you see, Gentle Readers, even with a truly crap exchange rate, Europe is mostly cheap.  

Also, I now know where those amazing men who sell umbrellas come from - they pop up out of Churches:

We were crossing Corso Vittorio Emmanuel II on the way home from an excellent lunch (two beers, a glass of wine, two pizzas, a bottle of sparkling water, Eu37/$A57) when I spotted these guys.  I love Rome.

*Not a sponsored plug, but if anyone from Emirates is reading this & wants to upgrade us, feel free.

**

Not so subtle...

Mr Golightly & I are about to set off, again, on a big adventure.  This picture may give you some clues as to where we're going... or this one:

Yep.  Rome... again.  I love Rome.  I'm pretty sure we're going to have an excellent time, and Mr G has finally caved in & agreed to visit the Vatican Museum - given that we went into St Peter's Basilica the last time we were in Rome & the world didn't come to an end, it should be fine.  We're using these guys, and doing this tour, which goes for four hours, and hopefully there'll be a bar nearby I can collapse into after four hours of standing up!

I will try to post some pics as we go along, especially if I come across something interesting like this again!

Ciao for now!!

Not Myrtle...

I hate that particular bit of rhyming.  Not sure why, but anyway... here's a couple I made earlier...

I made this one earlier in the week, and although he was a lot less fiddly than the guys above, he lacks pizzaz, and most importantly, a shell.  So, I had a bit of a rummage around in my files, and found this:


and so I made a couple.  The smallest size is the original pattern, and I just used my printer to up the second size to 125%.  Mine tilt forward a bit alarmingly, and I don't like the way the belly drags on the ground, so I'll be doing a bit of an adjustment to the pattern to stop that from happening - I also don't like the way the legs & belly are three separate, very fiddly pieces, so I'll be making a new middle piece to fix that.  I've got it printed at 150% as well, that I hope to make today.



They don't take a lot of fabric - in fact, I made the first one from a couple of 10" squares, but the second one, being a bit bigger, needs either two identical 10" squares for the body, or a fat quarter.  The rest of it you could certainly make out of a couple of 10" squares (the shell is lined).  I used safety eyes, rather than french knots.  The instructions are pretty good though, and for an experienced sewist, maybe an hour's work - the perfect gift for a small person.  

Ciao!

PS - the original pattern for Erin's turtle came from PurlBee - here's the link:

http://www.purlbee.com/the-purl-bee/2013/9/15/mollys-sketchbook-myrtle-the-purl-turtle.html

Click *here* for new blog...

Oh, have I missed it?  Apparently there some events between 17th November and now.  Who knew?

Things shuffle along, you know, Gentle Readers, like they always have.  I have been at the new job for 2 months now and it's not brilliant, I have to say, but that could just be me.  It's quite possible, although in my life I've had rather a lot of jobs, and I've never had the problems I'm having with this one.

Mayhap I'm too old to be changing jobs?  I've had a year now for every week of a year (that's 52, in case you couldn't work it out), and yet, I feel no older.  Well, mentally.  Some part of of mentally.  A very small part of mentally feels exactly the same as it always did.  Other parts (knees, hips, feet) feel like DREN (yes, I'm shouting!) and I want them to go away, along with the 10 kilos I put on since about July last year.  That's why my feet, knees and hips feel so bad, of course, but the larger parts of mentally are not letting me get up to sort them out.

I'll get through it though, and when I think about other friends who are in a much worse state, I know I should just shut up and keep taking the blue pills.

Some pictures, for those who are still reading, and not yet sharpening the razor blades:

How good is this?  Mr Golightly did a bridge climb in late November with his mate Dr Box, and we all stayed at a swish hotel in town, and thanks to the magic of Google, I can now present this wonderful pic for your delectation... not just one, but two cruise ships, and if your eyes are very good, Mr G & Dr B up there on the Bridge.  Hah!

That's a better way to start the New Year.

Ciao!

My, how time flies...

So... Gentle Readers, last Monday was the first anniversary of my Lovely Ma's death.  Blah.

 We went to the lovely Hunter Valley last weekend, and I gave myself a frozen shoulder by sewing a mazillion lavender bags...which MGF Kaz helped me stuff - we filled half a kilo's worth...

In other news, I have finally left the August Institution after five interesting years, putting travel, managing people and all the other managerial bullshit behind me.  I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from me, and I'm really enjoying being back in town, shopping, ducking and weaving through the pedestrians, and standing in a queue for a bus.  A bus!  Did I mention I'm not driving the 40kms each way to work any more?  A bus!!

This guy doesn't get a bus either.  

In other creative news, I made a cat. I hate cats.  I made it as a favour to one of my former colleagues... first and last time ever.  The dogs were easy - four parts.  The cat - 16 parts.  A complete pain in the ass.

But... a little cute, yes?

I made some Christmas reindeer, too...

This guy has already gone off to Singapore... and this guy... was a gift for the daughter of a colleague, somebody I've known for years and years, and who I've left behind at the August Institution.

And because I'm now working back in town, I can open my Etsy shop up to the big wide world again... the post office is 100 steps from my new building... 

And we saw this amazing sight last weekend:

Weird.

That list...

1.  Pouch for Anne-Marie (18 months ago) (Anne-Marie retired before I got to this.  For SHAME!)
2.  Cushions for Mr Golightly's Big Sis (17 months ago) (Still waiting).
3.  Cushions for Lyndsey (6 months ago)   Finished (finally) & waiting to be handed over for her birthday.  Yay!
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)  No change.
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.  No change.
11.  Christmas Gift for Gill in the UK.  Not even started.  No change, nearly two years later.  I'm sure I'll manage something this year!
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).  Baby is now 2 plus.  Oops.
14.  Kris Kringle gift for friend at lunch on Sunday*.  Lavender bags X 3.  Time?  20 minutes.  Easy.

I think I need a new list.  

It's 4.24am, Gentle Readers, and my brain is churning.  I dug out this old entry from December 2011 & I'm sorry to report that its the same colleague who's giving me grief.  Some things never change.  

I'm considering making a quilt for my nephew & his lovely wife (oh!  Did I mention there was a wedding in the midst of everything else that went on this year?  I'm sure I'll be ready to share more details later.  Really).  I just ordered this to go in the middle of the squares of the quilt - it's all made from Japanese cottons, and it needed something a bit ... lively... for the middles.  We'll see.  And here's one I made earlier:

All the quilters who read this blog (ha!) will be exclaiming about the terrible join in the border.  I know, I know.  At least I hand-stitched the binding on.  

Now.  Back to bed.

PS Why???? Blogger, Why?  Arggggg