I'm still here

... honest!!!


What a mad couple of weeks - time stands still for no one and it has definitely whizzed by for us ...

Mom and Dad and my big sis Terry and hubby Daryl [my BIL] arrived from the States a couple of weeks ago ... and they arrived with this ...



Look at it ... this much luggage

and wait for it ... they were minus one suitcase ... which decided to go tiki touring all on its lonesome to places unknown. That's right, Mom lost a suitcase for a couple of days which needless to say put Mom in a tizz for a couple of days. But it was okay, it arrived in little old Invers just as we were heading out of town. We were just about to leave the town boundary and Air New Zealand rung to say that that one errant suitcase had turned up ... which I had delivered to Mum's house while we were away. I was rapt that it actually turned up. We had to go shopping for more clothes tho for Mom before we went away. I don't think that the shopping itself was a 'hardship' as such - lol ... cos Mom loves to shop [said in the nicest possible way Mom, honest] ... but I can understand how she was feeling, arriving here in a foreign country without some of her familiar belongings ... nobody wants something like that to happen.

I had good intentions when I started this post, but I've just had visitors arrive ... must go ... talk to you all later.

At least you know I'm still around ... take care.

More of the same ...

Photos of Christmas decorations ...



This wee cutie snowman ... is just that ... a cutie. You push his foot and the lid of his hat lifts up and another wee snowman pops out.



Green and white snowmen sitting in our hallway ... love these wee guys ... I still remember when I got them ... they cost me a small fortune ... but I had to snap them up.



Fibre optic teddy - I purchased another one of these last year as well [I think it was] and gave it as a Christmas gift to my Aunty and Uncle.



I've got a few of these fibre optic snowmen - two of the smaller variety, one medium size and unfortunately I missed out on the big one ... they sold out, just like that around town. They came out with the snowmen wearing either blue or red jackets and scarves.

One of my cousins was lucky enough to buy the large snowman and I was green with envy when I found out ... huh I thought to myself. It still gets mentioned at Christmas time - lol.

Right then, while I am blogging I AM NOT tidying my scrap room and as my son will be sleeping in my scrap from this weekend, I'm thinking I had better get my A into G and get in there ... it's not going to happen by itself. DH has already been in there and shunted some of my papers on the floor ... not a happy camper.

So for now ... CYA.

A few more ...

pics of my Christmas decorations ... show and tell time again ...




I had my big sis order this wee family for me the year before last and I love them - I collect snowmen and Santa's ...





We were in Christchurch on holiday a few years ago and visited Ogilvies, a beautiful shop up there. In fact we visited more than once and ended up having decorations shipped back home, we just didn't have the room in the truck to bring them all home - lol.




I made this wee canvas following a demo at SENZ back in October ... now admittedly I had a little help with some of the others that have been made recently. My friend Julie, is a dab hand at making these ... far more successful than I ...





And this wall hanging ... loved the way that this came together. I ordered Battenburg lace from the States many years ago when I had a wee fad of making these ... at the time the exchange rate was horrendous, something like 40 cents in the dollar ... but I don't normally do things in halves and had to order them in bulk.

Well short and sweet tonight, expecting visitors very shortly. We have had a muggy day in the deep south today - think we hit something like 28 degrees ... but so muggy, and muggy doesn't happen to us too often, which is just as well ... lol.


Have a good night. CYA.

Christmas is just around the corner

... just in case you didn't know.

It's all go in our household at the moment, trying to wrap pressies, label pressies, put out Christmas decorations.

Some of you are more than a little geographically challenged and Invers really is not far from the bottom of the world, so I thought that I would share just a few of my Christmas decorations.

Over the years, you could say that I have collected a few Christmas decorations, just like I collect gold jewellery and scrapping supplies ... ROFLMAO ...







I loved the wee boots when I first saw them and as you do ... I bought them ... lol.





We have gold balls in various sizes hanging - love these balls. Can be a bit of a pain though when both sliding doors are open in the lounge with a breeze, but we won't say any more on that ...



We have a Queenstown schist feature fireplace / wall and I love sitting greenery out, throw in a little, red and gold and voila ... just gorgeous ...

And one more ...



More greenery sitting on our mantlepiece in the lounge - [a battery operated] fibre optic Santa sitting in amongst the greenery to boot ... let's say that we go through a few batteries at this time of the year ... lol.

Next time I blog, I will try and remember to add a few more pics of decorations ... I've got a wee few.

Before I go ... another couple of pics ... of the creative variety.

A wee sneak peek ... this layout I put together and will be heading away to ??? not telling ... ROFLMAO ...

This is part of my gift heading away to my SS recipient on the Scrapbook Essentials forum ... I can only hope that it travels safely and my SS recipient likes it ...

Merry Christmas to my SS recipient ... for those of you who might read my blog and aren't in the know and up with the lingo ... SS is short for Secret Santa ...




And another layout to share ... week 5 challenge of my 52 pieces of me is a layout on my childhood home ... I spent the majority of my childhood years living in this house ... some happy memories, many memories that I have chosen to keep in the past and that's all I will say on the matter.




Will have to think about my next layout and then I will get behind and have to play catch up ... don't think that there is going to be a whole lot of scrapping going on from next weekend ... wonder why that would be???

Cos my visitors arrive from Yankee-land ... not many more sleeps to go and before I go today, I have a very special birthday greeting going through Cyberland.

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to a very special man in my life ... my Dad!!!! [said all in one breath] ...
Happy birthday to you!!!

Happy birthday Dad ... well if you were in New Zealand it would be your birthday today, but you're over there, so you have another sleep to go ...

May you have a wonderful birthday ... see y'all later ... well I will, next weekend.

Love you,
Your youngest daughter at the bottom of the world
Me
x


So on that note, wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope you are enjoying yourselves.

DS is currently in the middle of playing in a Southland rep cricket match and I sincerely hope that he has put more sun block on ... cos it's stinking hot out there ...

I'm away to wrap more Christmas pressies.

CYA.

Boo ...

And yep, I'm still here ... sometimes, well lots of times actually, life just gets in the way and we can't do all the things that we want to do. I've been on a bit of a roller coaster ride the last month and I know that I've got to slow down - yeah right, like that's going to happen any time soon - NOT!!!

So I put the blogging bit on hold temporarily, but will try and blog a couple of quick blog posts over the next week and then the blogging will be on a go slow again for a while, cos my family will be here ... it's come around really quickly from the the bombshell conversation a few months back saying that they were coming. And now, it's just about here ... we are going to be putting in some miles, well kilometres actually. Mom and Dad travel miles over in Yankee land and we do the kilometres over here.

We have had some absolutely super duper cracker weather of late, I keep thinking that Mother Nature is being so kind to us, a couple of weeks early, so I can only hope that she has got some more of the same to share with us when my family arrives ... hope she is listening ... lol.

Mind you in saying that, it has been more than a little on the warm side. But Terry if you are reading this, you still need to pack enough clothes to keep you warm. Our temperatures aren't the stinking hot, humid temperatures that you guys will be used to. We have been known to require additional warmth on Christmas Day, and I'm not putting a hex on anything, so will say no more on the subject.

Creativity, well bursts of it from time to time ... not enough hours in the day to do everything that I have wanted to do, but hey, I will get there ... I hope!!!!


Don't think that I got round to sharing week 4 of my 52 pieces of me [subject for this one was friends] ... so here it is.



I've got hidden journalling all about a very special friend of mine now in her 70's Marg, she gave me the friendship tile as a gift and it means a great deal to me.

Week 5 is also done, waiting to be photographed, which will be done at some stage today and uploaded where it it needs to be ... so you will have to wait just a little longer.


Russell and I decorated The Southland Times christmas tree for the business house annual Christmas Tree Festival last weekend and it looks like this ...



It was hard yakka actually, I had my work Christmas party last Saturday night and will admit to over indulging in a wine or two [read bottles here people], so I was a little sluggish shall we say on Sunday afternoon ... have yet to go back and have a look at everyone else's trees, will do that when Mom and Dad arrive, time permitting.


Secret Santa time of the year for some of my scrapping buddies and here's a wee sneak peek of something that is currently winging its way over the ditch ...





I really like how this turned out ... it wasn't and isn't what I originally had in mind for my SS recipient - I started my Australian SS gift quite some time ago and it turned out disastrously and was put in the bin ... so I had to start again, so came up with this during the week ... hopefully my SS recipient will enjoy it when it finally arrives on her doorstep.

Working on another SS gift for my 'Kiwi' recipient ... just about ready to post, well it will be on Monday which is deadline day ... those deadlines just sneak up on us don't they??? We think we are working merrily away doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that and before we know it ... the bell is dinging and it's time's up. Such is life.

Must take a little sneak peek of that as well - so that's two layouts I have to photograph today and upload ... on my 'to do list'.

Another quick one before I go. Received a letter in the mail from Nathan's school earlier in the week. My 'wee' man is on the prize giving list for next week's school prize giving ceremony ... and wait for it ... he will be recognised with an 'academic' prize of some description. Congratulations young man, we're so proud of you and your achievements, whether they be sporting or academic. Keep it up!!!

Dad, it's a shame that your arrival wasn't just a couple of days earlier - LOL.

Right then, on that note people, I had better be Houdini, and do a disappearing act, I've still got Christmas decorations sitting in boxes [and lots of them], layouts to be photographed, a scrap room to undergo a major something or other, and I mean 'major' tidy ... not thinking too much about that one atm ... lol.

To all of you, enjoy your weekend ... I'll be back!!!!!