I'm ba'ack!

But you'll have to come over here to visit me!

Where have I been?

Missing in action! Where do I start? I started this blog to promote Lime Tart, then we started up the Zest Blog because it looks so much prettier and is easier to use. But I kept this one for my personal projects and stuff. I still like uploading projects because it is fun to get comments, lol.

But lately I have just been a bit overwhelmed and of course the blog gets pushed down the list of priorities. I'm not sure I'll continue with this blog, but I'm a Gemini and I will probably change my mind tomorrow, or this afternoon, lol.

So why have I been overwhelmed? Mary, my darling little 7 year old has been diagnosed with Coeliac Disease and we had to go on a waiting list for a bowel biopsy to confirm the blood tests. During the waiting time, it was pretty awful knowing that the sandwiches I was making her for lunch were basically poisoning her. But we had to keep feeding her gluten so as not to have a false negative appear in the biopsy. We finally had the biopsy on Tuesday, which was stressful in itself. If anyone has watched their child go under general anaesthetic, they will know what I mean! The hospital staff were fantastic though, every single one of them. From the wardsmen who rolled her around on the beds (which she loved), to the Professor who did her operation. All wonderful!

But then the even harder bit begins, with us going shopping for gluten free food on Wednesday. Do you know how much of our food has gluten in it?! Milo! Lollies! Soy Sauce, Worcestershire sauce! Icecream! Besides cereals and breads. Icecream for goodness sake! *sigh* I know it's not the end of the world, and we will get there in the long run, and she will be healthy, and us too, but I think I had a little mini breakdown on Thursday, lol. So don't get me started on my opinions on all of these additives in our foods!

Now throw into all of that - my dad's mum passing away during surgery, a birthday party for Miss Six, other birthday parties, lots and lots and lots of work, Christmas celebrations - argghhhhhhh! I'm going a bit nutty.

So all in all, I'm a little tired and rundown and looking forward to a week off after Christmas. At least Mary will become healthy again without medication or further medical intervention. I am so grateful for that! But it does break your heart when your child bursts into tears knowing that they can't have a cheese and bacon roll from Baker's Delight ever again :( I think she is tired like me too. But she did get a delicious banana and honey muffin (gluten free) from Muffin Break.

On that note, I'm off to prepare Miss Six for yet another birthday party this morning, and then we are hosting lunch at our place for her grandma's and yet another birthday cake!

Hope everyone is having a fun December! I love shopping in December!

Oh and because this is a craft blog, guess who got a cover?! Me, me, me!!!

More stuff

This is my final calendar art. I made thirteen of these for a swap. My words are tongue in cheek ;)


Angela, I couldn't reply to your comment, but yes the words on the Christmas card are by Cats Pajamas. I love this stamp! You can see it here - fourth row down.

We finally have Mary's bowel biopsy booked in, so I'm looking forward to that. It's been very distressing listening to her complain of her sore tummy over the past few months :( I guess I should go shopping for a breadmaker now!

Work in Progress

I signed up for an online art class with Karyn Gartel and this is my work in progress. I'm still not confident on the collage side of things but I have enjoyed learning to paint backgrounds.


Other news - I'm so over my tooth and new plate! I can't eat properly, I can't talk properly, it's quite tiring. Roll on six months time! But particularly fast forward past January 18th, that's not a date I'm looking forward too. Besides the dent in the pocket, I think the procedure will be quite painful :(

I'm currently doing 13 calendar pages for a swap and it's due tomorrow, nothing like leaving it to the last minute! So I must go and glue and paste ;)

Next...

The week after our night away, we had Mary's specialist appointment to get her booked in for her bowel biopsy. We were told that it would happen within the month, but we've received no phonecall yet :( Next Wednesday will be three weeks and I think I'll call them to check up on it. She's been very patient but every now and then will complain of a sore tummy and gets upset about waiting for the test.

I've been on a bit of a baking spree to clear our cupboards out of things that have gluten in them, in preparation for restocking. I did price up gluten free pasta at the supermarket the other day - WOW! Three times the price of the normal stuff. Maybe I should go out and get a part time job! We might need it to cover the grocery bills, lol.

I also went to ACTSA and had to make some Christmas cards for a charity challenge. I can't remember which charity - oops. But here is one of my cards. It uses Kaisercraft Christmas papers that I was sent as samples. Plus Cat's Pajamas stamps.


On the home front, my car had to go in for a few repairs yesterday *again* and our brand spanking new fridge is on the blink! It keeps beeping at me, lol, parts are on order, but my stuff is not staying cold!

Well aren't I in a mood? Must be to match the grey day, lol. So on that note I'm off to a school assembly to watch Peggy do a dance :)

Aussie Legends ATCs

Here are all the ATCs from the swap that I held recently.




I did the Vegemite song. We also had the Picnic at Hanging Rock, Peter Brock, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Ned Kelly, thongs, Akubra, farmers, lamingtons and our little Aussie ring-in from Holland did the Flying Dutchman. The Lamington ATC even used real coconut! Thanks everyone.

Now Monique, if you are reading, I hang my head in shame as yours are still sitting on my desk :( Sorry, sorry, sorry. I promise they will go out this week. They got covered in new stamps - ooops!

Since then...

I am still here, just haven't been feeling too social, lol. So what have I done since the 19th?

Well on the 19th I had tooth impressions done to start the major work on my front upper tooth. One of the major reasons why I've been feeling a bit sad and sorry for myself.

Then on the 20th, Tony and I stayed at the Hyatt Hotel. He won a $1500 night's stay at the hotel in a competition. WOW! It was amazing. We dropped the kids off at three different houses for sleepovers, then drove to the Hyatt in our trusty ute - all class!

We checked into our room, which was a Diplomat Suite. We stayed in one of these when we had our wedding dinner in Canberra over ten years ago. This suite is seriously bigger than our house! The bathroom is as big as our bedroom, lol.

That photo is looking from the entrance hall into the living area. It took us a few minutes to find the bedroom! To the left of the living area was a massive dining room and a small kitchenette, actually the kitchen is the same size as ours, lol.

To the right of the living area was the bedroom, and then down a small hallway was the toilet and bathroom. Plus off the entrance hall was another toilet. These toilets are as big as our bathroom at home! I can't wait to renovate!

Check out the tv in the bathroom in the pic below!

So after exploring our suite and acting like children, we went for a wander to find where our massages would be done. Tony had his first and I waited in our suite. While waiting, we had champagne and chocolates delivered. I then had my massage and arrived back at the suite to a full spa bath and champagne and chocolates! Billy laughed at us when we said we ate chocolate in the bath!
Then it was time for predinner drinks and canapes which we had in the "exclusive" Ambassador's Lounge while overlooking the lake and listening to some awesome Japanese drums for the candlelight festival. We really did eat too many canapes!
Dinner was amazing, but we struggled to eat it. We didn't even finish dessert! After rolling back to our room, we had to lay on those massive lounges for a while to let our food settle.
Up the next morning, we had breakfast, again overlooking the lake, then headed home, in the trusty ute.

What an amazing night. Thank you to St George Bank! So when next year's bank holiday is promoted by St George as "We take care of our customer's bank holiday" - think of us ;)