Tomorrow – I have work (of course), I get my tooth implant, I’ve got postgrad orientation stuff to do at uni and then I have The Whitlams with the QSO tomorrow night.

Friday – Work and then straight to the airport to catch a flight to Hobart.

Saturday – Wedding of my cousin on the beach at Coles Bay/Freycinet

Sunday – Post wedding activities and flying home Sunday night.

Monday – Work and first uni lecture

Tuesday – Fly to Japan for 2 weeks. (Yeah, I’ll be missing four classes – two for each subject, whilst I’m away)

I’m so crazy looking forward to going to Japan. G (one of my best girl friends) and I are going to have a blast (literally as they having a bit of a cold snap at the moment and it is forecast to snow for the days we are up in the alps!!!).

It’s going to be crazy. I bought a new lens the other week, the 28mm 1.8 which will be one of the two lenses I’m taking to Japan, the other will be the 50mm 1.4. I was thinking of taking my 16-35mm 2.8 but it is a heavy piece of glass. I took a few photos with the 28mm the other day and I’m impressed

Yep, some more of my Figgjo Flint Lotte. Here you see a creamer which doubles as a bobby pin and nail utensil holder, a sugar pot that holds bracelets and hair clips and my soufflé dish which holds jewellery.

I think this could have been the theme song for the eastern seaboard states this summer. It’s something everyone is talking and asking about. Just how is the water?

I’m now mostly settled back in the family home. I did however receive an upgrade from the West Room (my former residence as young adult) to the Balcony Suite (which my two brothers lived in at various times). Apart from obviously having a balcony (it’s 2.5m x 0.9m as in big enough to have perhaps a table and chair but no more than that) it has windows on two sides facing south and east over the garden. I’m not just talking about a window on each side. I’m talking about windows that run the entire length of two sides of the room from thigh height to the ceiling.

Believe me I’m in light heaven. There is light and I love the light.

Went to lunch today at Gusto da Gianni at Portside with the ladies from work as one of the nurses turn 60 on Wednesday. The decor was interesting, cohesion was lacking in some areas, not just with the decor but also with the serving ware. Every single dessert dish came on different serving ware. The gelato was served in a what is best described as a Tuscan pasta bowl and the tiramisu was in a gorgeous conical frustum glass bowl. It was different. That aside the food was generally pretty ok.

These photos are the end of the flood for me. I’ve spent time with SES cleaning up streets, I’ve spent time in my own clothes cleaning up streets, I’ve spent time sorting through my belongings and the water logged belongings of total strangers.

The house on Saturday 15 Jan

The house on Thursday 13 Jan in the early morning.

and that folks is how the water rose and fell on the house that I used to live in.

All my baking and creating has now come to an end for a year as I handed out presents and parcels to friends and co-workers over the last few days.

All the staff in my section received a little goodie bag, which consisted of 2 Christmas Tree sugar cookies, 1 Lebkuchen Man and 2 little chocolates.

The front.

The back.

My girls all received a double stack of decadent goodies. Which was filled with a jar of my Strawberry Jam (which reminds me I must take a photo of one of my jars – they looked so pretty), sugar cookies, vanilla rings, rum balls, sunshine/apricot balls, 3 types of nut brittle (hazelnut, peanut and almond), loftkökur and lebkuchen. That also reminds me, I’ll have to take a picture of of what the little bags inside the boxes look like -that will have to happen next year.

The boxes.

oh so pretty. They are all tied up with bakers twine from Bespoke Letterpress. To continue in my theme of using my Figgjo Flint Lotte collection to hold assorted bits and pieces, here is what I am using as a dispenser for my twine – a milk jug. At work I have a butter dish holding my staple remover, paper clips, white-out etc, at home I have a soufflé dish that holds my jewellery tree, a jam container that holds teabags, a little serving skillet that holds a candle and coins etc etc.

I leave you with two pictures from the “Hard Crack Factory”

mmm brittle.

Tomorrow is a lovely day. December 1, the countdown more officially begins for Christmas. On Sunday, I lit the first candle in my Advent wreath. Tonight, I’ve spent the evening making a big paper chain garland, not exactly sure where I will hang it but probably crisscrossing the ceiling of my room. The most important decision that I need to make between now and tomorrow is where I’m going to put my little tree this year. The first thing I did when I came home from work this afternoon was to polish the silver tray I put it on.

ahhh exciting times. This weekend I’ll be doing my first “official” batch of baking and making.

I’m a bit disappointed that I won’t get to put up my vintage tinsel tree this year but there’s not much point since I’ll be in NZ for Christmas.

Saturday night was the Christmas Party and oh it was a great night. Check out my hair!

I got my hair done on Saturday morning and that really made me decide what I was wearing – I had about 3 options lined up and in the end settled on the frock in the above photo (obviously), it’s from Veronika Maine and I love it. It was my birthday frock this year. I found the glasses on ebay – got 3 pair of empty frames for about $15 (score). If I ever need glasses, I hope I can get lenses put in those frames … I wore a netted petticoat to pouf the dress out, pearls (of course) and on my lips was MAC Ruby Woo (that classic matte red lipstick). I’ll have to wait till I get some photos off the others to show you the shirt I got for N. It’s a classic.

We had everything from 20′s flappers to us Mid Century Girls to 80′s glam rock. Just about everyone put a lot of effort into their outfits which made judging for the various prizes very hard!

I had almost the best weekend after my exam. I got the CityCat home, did all those jobs round the place that I had put off for the last two weeks, went to the markets, purged stuff from my room, made a really nice turkey and pork bolognese for dinner with N on Saturday night, went to Finders Keepers with G on Sunday arvo (we think it should have been called the Brooch Market as I think the majority of stalls had broooches for sale). Then since Mum was leaving for Patagonia and Antarctica on Monday morning for the next 7 weeks, I headed over for a bon voyage dinner (cold roast lamb, fresh roast vegies, chocolate self saucing pudding and custard – so so yummy).

This is all sounding pretty good isn’t it? but here comes the event that changed the best weekend to the almost the best weekend.

I went to the sewing room to borrow a sewing machine to fill in my time that was formerly occupied with study … Then I stood on something and let out a few words. A sewing room of course meant that I stood on a sewing needle. I looked at my foot and couldn’t see anything but a itsy bitsy teen drop of blood. I ran my hand over the carpet and pulled out a needle fragment – about 1cm long.

Ok I thought, I must have just stood on that spot in the carpet and it poked me and didn’t do anything else …. you can see where this is going can’t you ….

I walked back out to the kitchen, grabbed an ice-pack and numbed my foot for a while and then it was time for me to head home and for Mum to pack her bags.

I woke up Monday morning in pain, so much pain. I called Mum at sparrow’s fart to wish her will on her trip but the call was mostly me sobbing in my pain about my foot. Poor Mum, here she is heading half way round the world for the next 7 weeks and she has a 25 year old daughter sobbing down the phone line in pain.

I took Monday off work, went to the local GP and got a tetanus shot and he told me just to keep my foot elevated and stay off it. By the way, tetanus shots are so painless now – nothing like they used to be. I’ve had no bruise or arm pain – bonus. At this stage I had no reason to think that there was any part of the needle in my foot.

Monday night I was still in agony. Tuesday morning, I drove into work (no way could I walk to and from the train station) for a couple of hours to sort out my work and then I made an appointment with my family GP on the Northside for that arvo. A bit of a chat, a script and an x-ray referral later I was heading down to the local x-ray clinic for a few scans as the amount of pain I was in was indicating that something must be in there.

A few jokes with the radiographer later and ohh look at what we have here. Yep, there sure is a needle in my foot. I must have stood on the needle, part of it went into my foot and then broke off (thus the part I found in the carpet). A call to the doc to tell him that I yep I’ve got a needle in my foot. He then went into organising me to see a surgeon to remove it as it is not something that a GP can remove due to possible complications with the bone/nerves etc. Fun times.

Why hello sewing needle, what are you doing in there?

I had today off and will have the rest of the week off at least.
I’ve got a consult with the surgeon tomorrow morning and hopefully they will be able to fit me in for surgery on Friday…

I’ve spent the better part of the last three days, in bed with my foot elevated and an ice-pack strapped on it at times. Laying down in bed the pain is only there in the morning. I wake up to the most excruciating pain.

As I type this now, I would only be able to tell you that I had a needle in my foot by the fact that I can’t move the smaller toes on my foot or the fact that it is slightly swollen.

If I stand up though, that is a whole different story … that is when the pain kicks in and the needle starts to make its presence known. I’ve become apt at walking on the heel of my foot.

I’m sooo looking forward to the consult tomorrow morning. I just want that thing out of my foot! I’ve spent a fair bit of my life walking round bare-foot and I think after this I will be wearing shoes a bit more than I used to. I don’t want a repeat of this adventure any time soon.

The lesson to learn from this post? Wear shoes when walking round a craft/sewing room.

To be continued …

Whilst, the above activities are not affected by the weather, the following is. If the sun is out and I can’t tell you how happy I was that it was out this morning, the hum of the washing machine downstairs is the sound of a weekend morning. This of course provides the following outcome.

Georgie took me to the Valentino Retrospective at GOMA this mid-afternoon as a belated birthday present. Whoa, those outfits are amazing, some are plain crazy, some are beautiful, others are amazing. The work and detail is just incredible.

I took this photo on the way past QAG heading towards GOMA.

The Kitchen, 179/365.

The Sails, 180/365

This is it, 181/365

Day 182 or My big trip to the Gympie area to check out Antique and Op shops.
The Lifeline Sunshine Coast sale at Gympie – the reason for the trip. I came away with a pair of jeans, a few tops, a cardi, a tunic and a few other bits and bobs.

A canister set that I found adorable – they had one for oatmeal!!

Isn’t the design on this wash set just so perfect?

Fat Hen Creek, 182/365
I’m guessing the creek is full of super nutrients that produce fat chooks?

Day 183, Lifeline bookfest and cocktails.
Fish Lane, I just love this for a street name, I wonder if at some stage there was a fish market here? Taken on the way back to the car from the bookfest.

Sapphire Sunday at Libertine with Sam and Katherine.
A matter of what to say here. The cocktails were amazing, the food was quite good but the service was beyond belief.

I do believe it’s Mango time, 183/365
I decided to walk home from The Barracks and stopped to smile at the squashed mangos on the road.

Coro Drive, 17:48, 184/365

A fold a day, 185/365
I’ve had this calendar on my Amazon wishlist for a while, imagine my delight when I found it amongst the $5 2010 calendars and diaries at Borders???

Supersize Loftkökur, 186/365

Contrails, 187/365
I was on the way to work and looked up and saw this , can you see the birdies in the bottom right of the frame?

Today is Friday! Yippea! We are celebrating Grandad’s 90th! Birthday tomorrow. It will be quite a bash, with lots of extended family coming.

Have you seen this? – Love Project. I love it

We had a really fast flight home – only about 5hrs compared to the 6.5 odd hrs on the way there. Still got home to my parents round midnight. It was still too early to crash so we watched the Glee dvd we had picked up, had Vegemite toast then it was time to crash. Sunday morning we went to Sizzlers for real aussie buffet breakfast, then it was time to drop Sam off at the airport and head home to unpack, wash, sleep etc before heading back to work yesterday…..

I wouldn’t mind been back there …. I miss my mango juices…

Sam and I on the night of my 21st party.

My breakfast blend

The girls called me shortly after leaving work yesterday and told me that I was to sleep in this morning and come to work at 0830 instead of my usual arrival between 0730 and 0800. When I walked towards the office, all I could see was Al-Foil all over my desk I walked in to hugs from the girls and Al-Foil. They did fantastic job of Al-Foiling my desk, my drawers, my chair, my stationary, everything!

Foil all around

We had decided yesterday to have hot dogs for lunch and one of the girls had said she would bake me a cake. I very much believed that would mean the purchase of a cake from woolies. I was to learn today that no, she had actually baked me a cake! I was quite impressed.

I went down to see one of the doctors and she asked me if we were having the Lamingtons she had given me for morning tea at 0930. I just said ???? what do you mean morno’s?? We are having hot dogs for lunch. Thinking to myself crazy doctor. I went back to my desk and oh about 0930, Cathy swings her chair round to face me and goes “Tea?” I go mmm I don’t know this morning, she goes “come on” and off we go to the lunch room with our tea cups in hand. I open the door to the lunch room and before me I see my fellow medical staff and the interviewing staff and a big spread of mornos I was speechless for the second time in as many hours.

For lunch Hot Dogs were made

For Arvo’s I had a lamington, well half because Cathy stole half of it.

Then it was time for the F-111 trial fly-over for Riverfire tomorrow night. I got video of the flyover but it doesn’t currently want to get off my SD card. This is the view from the testing room on the floor below me. oh the city is pretty.

I was absolutely touched at the effort that the girls and boys had gone to to make my day special
Then it was home to find a birthday parcel from dear Georgie currently in Sydney Now I’m watching the footy and hoping the Lions can beat the Bulldogs….

and just because

SE QLD has had a lot of rain the last 36 odd hours. This is what our backyard looked round noonish today. (photo by Ryan Sodziak)

I picked up my Food Connect box yesterday arvo and I haven’t posted a photo of the last box, here is the box from last fortnight and from yesterday.

I’m off to the orthodontist tomorrow and I’m at a point where I really just want this whole metal mouth experience that has been going on since 1996 (more than half my life) to be over. I know that I am on the last stretch now and I only have about 12 months ( sounds less than saying one year) to go with braces and then I can get an implant but I want it to have been over by now. I want to move to new horizons but it is impractical to move from Brisbane when I have to go back to the orthodontist in the city every 4-6 weeks. It is like the pause button has been pressed on one part of my life but not the other parts.

Mum left for Central Australia today, she is going to spend the next 2-3 weeks tripping round the centre looking at all things interesting. It was only a few weeks ago that she came back from her big trip round the South of Africa.

The Townsville trip was really fun. I had a great time hanging out with Sam, exploring Townsville, getting lots of work done, paying the final money on our Bali trip and generally having fun.
Here are my bags waiting for the taxi at my parents house.

The view from my room It was very pretty looking out over the boats.

And here is Sam at the Watermark on Friday arvo just before I left.

My Amazon order arrived today Full of some books for me and some books for Matthew. I am looking forward to spending some time reading in the next few weeks.

I am now up to watching the fourth season of The West Wing – I have watched three seasons in about three weeks… Just plain good drama. I love it.

It was Charlie’s birthday at work the other week. Charlie and I sit with our backs to each other on a connected desk. During the day, I sometimes swivel round on my chair and say “Hi Charlie Girl”. Charlie just laughs. Charlie had said she didn’t want a cake for her birthday so I made biscuits instead. They went down very very well and I now know that offering pretty biscuits to people will get me just about anything I want.

I really like this quote that is floating round the net at the moment.

Until you dream, there isn’t a mold. Until you speak, there isn’t a promise. And until you move, there isn’t a path

props to anyone who knows where that title is inspired from.

I of course took lots of photos but most of them are facebook rated not blog rated. I will share one photo of myself and Jo, one of the girls who brightens my day at work.

It was quite a pleasant night, got to talk to quite a few people that I don’t normally see as they work in different areas, had quite a few laughs and a few drinks – just a great night.