I have a new thang...

...brewing.

Midori notebooks.

I happened across these on you tube when browsing art journaling.  As you may, or may not know, art journaling is a hobby I have on the back burner waiting for an opportune moment to burst forth with stunning creativity. 

Since this depends on the availability of Oliver's bedroom as an office/art room where I visualise my very own desk strewn with arty things, this vision is but an ever decreasing shiny thing on the horizon.  For me to lay claim to Oliver's room, the loft conversion must be finished and have him happily installed in the eaves.  It seems to be a project popped into long term pending and my arty farty ambitions lay dormant.

Back to Midori.

I currently use a Filofax. 

I like the whole bits and pieces in one place idea, I like filling it with post its and lists etc.  However, Midori looks like the sort of thing which is right up my street, as I will be able to make my own inserts and it will be more arty.   I think I will be able to fulfil all my notebook yearnings in one hit, so roll on payday where I am planning to indulge in a little Midori lurve.

image: livingwithlisa.wordpress.com

image: dyrmdaily.com

image: karawheeler.wordpress.com

Will report back.

On the cookery pokery front, I made a fruitcake last week.  Yep, a proper, grown up fruitcake, not just for Christmas.  It was a Tana Ramsay recipe and produced a very moist cake indeed.  I like Tana Ramsay recipes.  Although I have to say I was very disappointed in her when she appeared on Dancing on Ice a few years back - she came across as very dull and I was a bit disillusioned to tell you the truth as I was all set to love her.  Never mind. I try not to dwell on this setback when I cook her lamb mince curry.  Which is quite sublime. 

In the woolly section of my life, I have pressed on with the granny patchwork blanket, having decided to give this to my parents for Christmas.  It's a quick grower, and I am considering knocking out a Christmas red/white/green combo lap blanket for the living room for us.  Mark reminded me that the Christmas blanket I started last Christmas was not yet finished.

Thank you Mark.

Moving swiftly on, work.  I work alternate Sundays on an all day shift retrieving patient notes for emergency admissions.  I like this job - I really do.  On a good day it is satisfying and a bit of a buzz.  On a busy day (most Sundays),  it is stressful and sweaty and a little bit sweary.  I had to step in to another role yesterday, so a colleague filled in for me.  She is more than a little bit sweary, and by the time I caught up with her an hour in, she was scowling and ranting about people 'taking the f****** p***', so I gathered it wasn't going too well.  By 3pm when I took over from her, she was just throwing the phone down on some poor unfortunate who had dared request some notes and was sweating profusely and looking very angry indeed.  She had clearly worked herself up into a right old rip and said that she couldn't do this 'f****** job' every week and that she was 'just f***** off with talking to people to be honest'.  This made me throw my head back and roar with laughter because that is EXACTLY what the job feels like by 3pm.  Oh I do love people sharing my pain.  Yes, I am that selfish.

Just four more days to push Oliver through with his home-ed work before we can breathe a sigh of relief that there is a long break for the both of us where we don't have to spend every morning trying to simultaneously educate him whilst keeping hold of our fragile tempers.

I have a summer project brewing for him though.....

mwah ha haaah.