Once upon a time...

Have you noticed, recently, that the word 'Stories' keeps coming up?

It's usually plural, and I'm seeing it everywhere. First it was that national book chain, advertising that they have 'All the best stories' - and one of our TV channels boasts about their stories, and the library, too.

The Duke and Duchess of Urbino (1465) by Piero della Francesca. Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.
More than just an interesting story.

Today, we received a flyer from a second hand bookshop, promising to deliver a new story for my Enjoyment! (Their caps). Not only do I hate random capitalisation (it's okay; I won't rant), but I'm beginning to get annoyed by this use of the word 'stories', too.

What does it mean? Why are all books suddenly 'stories' as if we are kids at bedtime needing to be soothed to sleep? Maybe we do want escape and fantasy reading. Are we really that stressed out? (Or are we listening to the media too much?) I'm not sure I want a juvenile relationship with words and books and the amazing strands of people's lives that make up the incredible wriggling mass of interesting, odd, and complicated humanity.

Do you?

Yours,
Puzzled

Ashes

Like so many of us, I'm sick to the heart by the news of the fires and the escalating death toll.

I was going to post this picture of the crafty bonanza checking out the weather conditions, halfway through Saturday afternoon. Meercats and all that. But it's hard to laugh. It's such a beautiful country here, and harsh, and home to many.

Several crafty ladies have posted about what you can do to help. Rather than repeating what they say, if you don't already know where your donation will go and what it will be, here are some links and information.

Now, they need money and blood donations - later, they'll want all the things that people will need, who've lost everything. I'll be stitching some donations for later, and popping down to the bank to donate for now.

Donate to the Red Cross: http://www.redcross.org.au

Donate to The Salvation Army Disaster Relief fund by calling 13 Salvos (137258) or at http://www.salvos.org.au. Monetary donations are preferred.

Just a few links:

Bits of a broken something: Bushfires
List of non-profit organisations in Victoria
Handmade Help
Silly Gilly: Ebay auction fundraiser
Meet me at Mikes - collecting donations

All about the American dollar

All you need to know is that it's whupped the poor Aussie dollar and kept it cowed for a good few months.

Not a good thing for a girl with a serious Etsy habit.

I went on Etsy blackout, but then the solution occurred to me. How to feed my habit? - Win stuff!


This little beauty arrived yesterday, courtesy of my favourite jewellry shop on Etsy, Puffluna. I've bought a few things over the years (if you're my husband, take note that I like her chunky jewellery, and my favourite colour is red. < base flattery>You can do the rest, you've got great taste < / Base flattery>).

Julie (Puffluna) runs a giveaway about once a month on her blog. That's how I scored an Etsy hit for downunder down-and-outs when I won a voucher. In US dollars. Lucky me!

There are several of my bracelet in the shop but Julie's such a sweetie that she made one slightly longer, just for me - just the size I like it! I have been wearing it non-stop since it arrived yesterday, and I keep looking at it and sighing. The Japanese owl reminds me a bit of Totoro.



Now, enough Ms. Nice Person. I have a beef to take up with you lot.

All this cynicism about cricket is completely and utterly unacceptable. You leave me no option but to embed subliminal secret messages into each and every post, brainwashing you as to the glories of the 5-day test match and the excitement of the bouncy wicket and trembly bales.

Yes, that's jargon - there will be a quiz later.

Matty agrees with me. After all, he's retiring at 37 (why can't I retire at 37?)
Question: Beauty and the Beast. Which one's which?


Oh dear. I had the first chocolate bar of the new year, today - and I think it has gone to my head.... (of which, more anon, when I have recovered from your shocking show on the cricket post.) At least Handmaiden's got the right attitude!

B

Little Things

This little coin purse was finished yesterday, with much thumping and banging (who said there would be metalwork involved in sewing? Ha!) It's the progeny of my purse frame class efforts in December with Nikki and the gang (Bellgirl called it a choir, but that sounds more like a 50s pop group) -- and it will soon be heading off in the post as a little surprise for someone. On further details, my lips are sealed!

Today's the last day of my holidays, and it's back to work tomorrow. Ending the holiday as we started it, we are showing around some out-of-towners today, friends of friends, with a road trip out of the city. Part of me wants to stay and sew, ekeing the most out of this hoiday for my most relaxing hobby, but the other part has been out for a walk and seen that it's a beautiful morning, set to be gorgeous day. Do you ever want to cram more than one day's worth of fun into the days you've got?

I suppose that's my theme of the new year - trying to resist cramming - with all of the connotations of stress, discomfort, and shoddy workmanship that it implies! - and enjoying the moment. Be a little less demanding of myself. Learn to follow what's important, not stress about the unimportant things. Right. And with that, I'm off to zip up a couple of seams before we have to hit the road!

Toodle pip.

B

Tested and proven: sewing lowers stress levels

I had one of those days. You know, the kind of day when the phone rings and you wince. Because the last three phone calls were the harbinger of hassle and trouble, things gone awry, files that have been lost and the owner off on holiday, colleagues on jury duty, major projects teetering over the deadline abyss.

Your schedule is such that you've got a full day at work with a superhuman supermarket sweep to do at lunch, two errands on the way home, extra house guests for dinner, and a freelance deadline to meet. By tomorrow.

Days like these make me feel like I'm standing amidst a pack of kittens -- each one of them is climbing up my arms and legs with their little tiny claws going pick-pick-pick. Pick-pick-grab-pick. Everyone wants a piece of my attention. Where is there time in this for me?


I got through that day, folks, and I survived. The next morning, early, I sat down to sew, in the sunshine. Just for ten minutes, and just one hand-sewn seam to close up a project. Sewing saved my sanity.

Calm stitching plus a sense of completion: I practically skipped out of the house to meet whatever those stress-kittens could throw at me in my day. And do you know? It wasn't so bad. I could just flap my new scarf at the worries and let the pompoms do their stress-busting trick. pop-pop-pop ... All gone!

This is.... Something I'm surprised I like

I haven't come across Earl and Cookie before now, but they've chosen a good challenge for the week! Click 'This is' button at the right for more....


The thing that surprises me is that I like getting up and about. No, please don't laugh! I've never been the sporty type: I was the one whose glasses were knocked off in soccer, whose glasses were smashed away in volleyball, whose glasses.... you get it. And who eventually took to enacting wildly silly parodies of gym sports with my best friend in class, thankfully with a teacher who encouraged us to laugh and jump around, even if we were playing badminton with no birdie and claiming scores of 72-zillion to 58-billion. "Who cares," I can see she was thinking "As long as they are moving".

For much of my life I've been overweight, and I know the creeping shame and embarrassment, self-loathing and malaise that comes with feeling that there must be something wrong with you, that losing weight is a mountain you can't climb. I still haven't climbed all of that mountain, and I honestly don't know if I have it in me to climb the rest of the way. It really does take an incredible amount of mental energy and anguish. It's not just a case of deciding or not deciding, or being strong or not. It's harder than that.

Last year, I shed 10 kilos with the help of an extraordinary, kind, warm bunch of women at my gym. I'm not a gym kind of gal. I didn't think I would like it. I never - never never ever - thought I would sign up. But I was lucky enough to walk into a supportive environment that told me I should respect myself FIRST, whatever size I am, and dance my heart out, because music is what I love, and the rest - that is, the capacity to make the effort to really work hard to lose those kilos, tiny bit by teensy tiny bit - will follow. I'm only halfway there, but I get up, put these shoes on every single day, and I am continually surprised at how much I love it.

Gosh.

Well, there you go! I'm going to file this one under "Rants"! (big laugh)

B.

EDITED:
PS - I really wasn't sure whether or not to post this, so I scheduled it for an hour later, to think about it. It's a bit scary to say these things, you think you'll be judged. I'm going to go ahead though, not because I want compassion or reassurance, but because I'm trying to say that all the pain about weight is all sort of.... irrelevant now. It's over. But for so many people I know it's not, and I think it's important to say that it is possible to start to move on from that place, to put on those shoes and dance on out of there into a spot where it's just good to be up, and about and alive and moving. That's all.

I guess that makes this a double rant! (This gal got something to say, stand way back!)

Oh, I could just BUST!

With excitement.

I tried screen printing for the first time this morning. I know - 'what do you mean, you've never screen printed before?' My husband informs me that he didn't know I was so 'deprived' at my school. Well, we just didn't do stuff like that.


My art lessons at junior high school (middle school equivalent?) were pretty legendary around here.... They were taught by one of those teachers you prefer to forget but whom (grammar) you never do. (Anyone catch the reference? Tell me who says that and I'll send you a fat quarter. Yes, I'm not kidding!)

Anyway, there was no forgetting Mr Whatsisname, because he insisted that, and I quote "All mountains emerge from the ground at a 120 degree angle". To whit: all students are expected to draw a 120 degree angle and turn it into a mountain. Preferably two. And then we all, and I do mean all of us, because if you didn't, he would fail you or even worse, paint it in on top of YOUR painting - we all drew two 120 degree mountains and a stream going between then and a "noice" thatched cottage. Yes, thatched. Always. Advanced students got to put in a "noice" little lake.

Auuurrrgh.

I still look at mountains, and do you know, most of them just haven't got that 120 degree angle thing right. 'Junior Mount Must Try Harder if he is to grow up to be a picturesque mountain and get invited to art shows...'


As you can see, the scars last to this day. His classes might have well-prepared me for some of the jobs I went on to do in the 'real' world, in marketing - but thank heavens for my Mom and Dad, who allowed me to change my mind at the last minute and to attend a fancy-pants state specialist Performing and Visual Arts school on the other side of town. In the rough part near downtown. Brace-toothed, permed me, learned to politely decline when people try to sell me all manner of -'interesting' - objects, needless to say - I was oblivious to most all of it.

- But we still didn't do screen printing!


Here are a few of my efforts from this morning. My class was at the very excellent Thread Den in North Melbourne. I keep fingering the piece of paper in my pocket on which I wrote down the names and addresses of two screen printing supply shops.

Love at first squidge: it's a scary thing.