Quiet and Peaceful 2007... Please!

Been fighting depression yet again. It is nearly always brought on by stress, and unfortunately I've had four very stressful years. (I've only had depression in the last three years.) And with Christmas being filled with dealing with awkward people, various stuff on a long to-do list and one angry 10yo it got a bit much. Again.... Sigh. Here's wishing for a quiet and peaceful 2007!

Tis the Season...

Our seven Christmas trees are up! Yep, you read that right, we have seven trees. Oh, and I'm getting a much wanted silver tinsel tree from the local op shop tomorrow. To be fair, this pic shows our main tree, which is the biggest by far. The next one down in size is the kitchen Christmas tree, and that's only 4 feet. I picked that one up from the recycling centre for only two dollars! On it I hang kitchen related things; gingerbread men (and women lol) decorations, plastic apples, candy canes, food related decorations and I might get around to stringing some popcorn adorn it as well.
The other four trees are much, much smaller. There's two 2 foot trees on each side of the fireplace, a 'snow' covered one sitting on the dining table, and lastly a wee 10cm or so one on my computer desk. Oh, I forgot the one in my dolls house!

I must take some pics to show you my new doll houses. I bought one just like the first one but it's already wallpapered and being lazy I just shifted all the furniture I had into this one. Beth is going to get the old one for Christmas since she loved it so much. Then just last week I bought the Ashford Mansion House already assembled and waiting for painting and the such. It has nine rooms and will keep me busy for a long time to come.

It's been a busy couple of weeks, a bit stressful but mostly fun. Alex has seen the plastic surgeon again following the series of ops on his nose and there is still a remaining three stitches to be taken out. We had a party on Saturday night to celebrate the bulk of the medical work being over. He may need another operation in four months or so as the skin inside the nose has closed up a lot tighter than expected. I must remember to ask if they can put dissolvable stitches in next time!

Hanmer Springs

We went up to Hanmer Springs for the afternoon to visit our friends who are holidaying there. It's about a one and a half hours drive from Christchurch and it rained all the way there and all the way back. Lucky for us it did stop raining while we were there so all the kids were able to get outside and play with the cricket bat and balls in-between making up wee plays for us adults to watch, which all contained a prince, a princess, and an evil dragon or an evil wizard. The four and five year olds took up their roles with relish and they were all absolutely delightful to watch.

We spent a very happy hour or so walking to the swollen creek down the road and let the kids go wild throwing stones and branches etc, into the water. They ended up with spots of mud on their faces and clothes but the had a jolly good time of it.

It's been ages since we've gone anywhere long distance by car thanks to the price of petrol. The price is dropping very slowly in New Zealand, and now that the supermarkets are in competition offering petrol discounts to their shoppers the current price of $138.99/litre (minus 4 cents shopping discount) is a heck of a lot better than it has been in long time. Yay to being able to go places again!

Home again thank goodness.

Alex has finished with his surgeries for the moment and he's looking good! He will need another one further down the line but for now it's done and we are very thankful to be back home.

A reporter and photographer came out from the Dominion Post to interview Alex and I at the hospital. The photo's were taken of Alex before and after the operation and they look absolutely stunning. I'm a bit concerned about the ones with me in them, I hope they don't put those in the paper!

This is my newest addition to my craft room, purchased off of Trade Me for only $75! It's perfect for holding a lot of my scrapbooking stuff. The shelves on the top and the one in the cupboard are both adjustable so I shifted the cupboard one to fit in my bags holding the paper, and my stamps and plastic drawers fit in there too. I'm so pleased with it, absolutely perfect. And at a stunning price!

All three pieces of furniture in my craft area cost a whopping total of $100. (NZ dollars that is. Halve it to work out an approx US amount.) Besides this unit there's a big white desk with four large drawers on the side, and a double drawer set with eight drawers in it. I'll tidy the rest up later and take some more pics.

I very rarely buy furniture new. The bookcases in the lounge were new, they were bought at the Warehouse on sale before I knew about Trade Me. Apart from the computer stuff and a dvd player, everything in the lounge is second-hand. Same with the rest of the house.

We don't go to garage sales very often as it get's difficult with four kids in tow, so I check out the op-shops while the kids are at school for things like clothes and knick-knacks, and then check out TradeMe for bigger items and more difficult to find items. I've saved thousands of dollars over the years and just as important, enjoyed the thrill of finding bargains!

Said knitted jacket and Amish books

This is the fore-mentioned knitted jacket back for Beth. Unfortunately the colours aren't as bright as they should be but you can get the idea. I'll take it with me for our jaunt up to Wellington for another surgery.

I finished reading The Bishop's Daughter by Wanda E. Brunstetter while lazing on the couch this afternoon. This is the third and final book in her Daughters of Lancaster County series and I'll have to find out if she's written any more books as this was such an enjoyable series that I'm saddened that I've finished it. I love stories about the Amish people. A couple of other favourite Amish books are a couple of series written by Beverley Lewis and a novel called Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult. Borrowed from the library of course. lol.

Mini stockings for the kiddos

It's been another busy week, mostly taken up with shopping for bargains, lots of paperwork, unpacking still, and the odd bit of crafting. Today's pics show Grace and Ethan holding the mini stockings that I made out of felt for them.

I'm thinking I will make these for my niece and nephew as well and fill all of them with candy canes. This was a first go at working with felt as well as doing blanket stitch. Nice and easy!

I finished the back of Beth's jumper and have started working on the front. The colours are very much to her liking; purple and pink, and she asks me every day to hurry up and finish it. At my speed of knitting it may be ready for next winter but like most 4yo's, she wants it now!

Inspiration

Spotted on a trip to Wellington in the window of Nancy's Embrodiery shop. Love, love, love the colours on these cushions! There was a gorgeous embroidered bag kit inside the shop which I might have a go at replicating as it was a bit too pricey for me.

The latest surgery went well and I finished my Maeve Binchy book, done some stitching and got halfway up the back of a knitted jacket for kiddo 5. Each time we go up for the surgeries the nurses check out how much work I've done, very motivating!

It still amazes me..

That I can walk into a number of buildings around town and come out with my arms full of books without paying a cent! The library has got to be one of my favourite places to visit, I'm there several times a week. To be honest, I was in four of them today. A quick dash over to one because I saw online they had a book I've wanted to read for a while, then into the town library to pick up a hold and get some doll houses and minatures mags, then into the beach library as kiddo two wanted to play on the playstation for a while so I read some of the latest mags out while watching the waves, and finally into our closest library to fill in some time while waiting for a prescription to be filled. I hope I'm not the only one to be such a frequent visitor. lol.

Tomorrow Alex and I are back off to Wellington for another operation to his nose. I've packed library books to take (Maeve Binchy's latest for me and Asterix for Alex) and some wool to start knitting kiddo five something for next winter as well as some embroidery to fill in the hours. We're only going for two nights this time but I like a bit of variety so I can choose to do something I feel like doing. Alex is happy just with Asterix and his hospital tv. Oh, and the many ice-blocks he can have. Tonight he was telling his sister that he just had to press the call button and ask the nurse for an iceblock, and he could have one, even in the middle of the night! And she's jealous. lol.

Updated to Blogger Beta

Not sure if I'm liking it though. It's a pain in the butt having to have a google account, I have far too many accounts to remember all the usernames and passwords correctly as it is. It took me half an hour to remember what they were this time. Maybe I better write it down before I forget it again.

We had a lovely quiet day at home today. The house is still new enough to feel like we are still discovering new things such as holes and stuff in the garden, or working out new patterns of doing things, like moving stuff around to more suitable places. The girls room got a bit of a tidy up but I discovered afterwards that the youngest kiddo decided to rearrange things again herself, shifting her princess stool over to her bed so she can climb up on it to get herself into bed, and moving her shoes down near the mirror so she can see herself wearing them. Such a practical girl. lol.

Today's photo is of some dolls house furniture that I picked up in Wellington a couple of weeks ago. I found them in one of those cheap $2 type shops. I bought about eight different pieces of furniture, each costing $2.50! They aren't 1:12 scale, but I think everything except the bed will work ok. At that price I couldn't really leave them. I'll have to go and have a look to see if they have some more in stock when I go up to Wellington again next week as the youngest kiddo wants her own dolls house now, just like Mummy's. Maybe she'll leave mine alone then. That would be nice. lol.

The New House

The Dolls House that is! A bargain for $30 off of Trade Me. Ahh, onto the planning now. Let's see, that colour has to go! It's not quite that bright irl, but a softer colour would improve it heaps. The windows and door need to be reshaped, the hinges re-hung, stairs fitted and the top should probably be reshaped as well. I'm thinking the rooms will be a kitchen, lounge, bedroom and a craft room. I may be able to squeeze in a little bathroom but I'm not too worried if it doesn't have one. The craft room is more important. lol.