oh relief....

After 5 days of 4o + heat the cool change is coming in.....The poor air conditioner has been working overtime and its now having break too! Ive just opened the house up and its lovely to feel the breeze and fresh air.....
We had power cut at work on Friday, about 3.30 so we all got knock off early. It was pretty unbearable cos the coolers don't work very well at all. 45 that day!
While we have all been suffering its nothing compared to the firefighters fighting big fires down Gippsland way. I'm hoping this wind works with them and doesn't fan the flames and send it off in new directions.

I bought these lovely little finds at a market last week. I was picking all these rusty, colored Chinese coins when hubby came up and proudly announced that he would buff them up for me!!

Think he was a bit put out by my answer.....

Our town is quite rich in Chinese history from when they came over to make their fortunes in the gold rush days.

See these... they are milk tokens. I had never seen them and asked the seller what they were about. He said that in my grandmothers day, when they put money out under the empties for the milkman [horse and cart] , it would get stolen. So they had milk tokens instead.

Apparently thieves in those days weren't very lateral because they didn't steal them...... ;)

I have been doing some odd bits and pieces but cant show yet.
My work roster has also increased by 3hrs a week and so this means i have lost my day off to play!:( worse still its a 12-3 shift, what a waste of a day!] I am trying very hard to be positive and grateful seeing as how people all over the world are losing their jobs but i would have been happy to give it to someone who really needed the hours.

Unfortunately my boss did not see it that way!

The other sad news is that "feral beryl" [aka lulu the whippet pup] has chewed through the lead on my sewing machine which i had just got back from the repair guy!!

But to finish on a bright note hubby and i celebrated 20yrs of marriage this week and in typical hubby fashion presented me with choccies and flowers a day early cos he couldn't remember the date. At least he was early!!!

Happy Australia Day....

one of my p cards from the alpha swap....

Just thought i would pop in and say Hello....
I hope all you aussie ladies are enjoying your long weekend with your families and finding some tme to create. I worked sat and may have to go in today unfortunately! depending on how busy it is. I think the shops are open way too much, its just greed!

I've been painting still, the hole has taken much longer to repair than i thought. I ended up bogging it with that expanding foam. The piece i cut off is an interesting shape and has neat patterns on the cut side. It will make a neat stamp! Would you believe there was a fight over it??? ...only in my house!

Charlie has been down at Howqua in the victorian alps, camping with a friends family. I was worried about bushfires but apparently there is not a lot left to burn as it was burnt last year. I will be glad to see her back, i've been a bit paranoid since the accident next door.

We have been having some computer issues [cant get into any typepad blogs and some web pages] so may be offline for a day or two while the hard drive gets flattened. Luckily my brother the computer whiz/geek/nerd does all the fixing so manages to save all our stuff first.

So i am off to put my first coat of purple on..... have a great weekend jenxo

so do you think....

this is purple enough!!!lol!!

Charlie and i are painting her room and this is her feature wall. Dark isnt it? We painted a sample as we couldnt wait to see what it looked like. Her other three walls are white so it should look really luscious. The reason we are waiting to paint is because of the huge hole in the wall i am trying to fill , [taking ages for the filler to dry.] Done in a fit of pique when she was about 10 and been covered with a poster since then!

And from the million, trillion 'whites' out there, she picked white, straight from the tin. It was so hard to get blended. still looks a bit streaky but 3 coats is all i am doing :(

I've had 5 days off this week which has been nice to get all those odd little jobs done but very sad too.

We went to the funeral for Luke and Rachel on friday. It was huge and terribly heartbreaking.

It was the saddest thing to see the two hurses, a black and a white one drive side by side, down the street lined on both sides by all their friends.

I havent felt much like creating but made this atc for a door challenge

Its not quite as dark as the scan or as pink on the door. I really liked the quote too.

Cricket, that what i meant to tell you. We a brilliant family night at the MCG last Sunday. It was so much fun and we won which is always good!! None of us had been before and loved not only what was happening on the fields but all the fun going on with the crowd. The Mexican Wave and bouncy balls trying to avoid security were all part of the fun. Next time we will stay down as we didnt get home till 2 am [thanks to the brilliant parking inspectors who take your money to park your car but are not there at the end of the night to deal with the traffic trying to leave!]
took us 45 mins just get out of the car park!
All i all, we have been enjoying the 20/20 and one day matches.

so, off to work i go tomorrow, hope its not going to be too hot.......

Jens ramblings.....

Thought it was about time i posted again, although I have not actually made anything since Christmas! not for want of trying tho! The Creative Juices have totally dried up so i will just go with the flow and hope it kicks in soon!
Thanks to Creative Everyday i have been thinking a lot more about arty stuff and drawing heaps on the shower screen [my favorite canvas!] it just doesn't seem to make it out of the bathroom:( !!

The girls and i also went to the local art gallery and The Golden Age of Couture exhibition. 1947-57.

It was gobsmacking.


Chanel, Dior, Balenciaga to name a few. Jennifer Hawkins opened it [not that i personally saw her!] but she looked pretty stunning in the pics.
I loved the cocktail dresses the best and the beautifully cut woollen coats with their beautiful shape and full skirts.
It was such a glamorous time and to think i got stuck with the eighties! shoulder pads and big hair lol!


I had disappointing news last week that my local Scrapbook is closing down at the end of the month. Its such a shame as it was the only one left here. She won Retailer of the Year last year and had a thriving business but is closing beacause of ill health.

wish i could buy it.

must buy a tattslotto ticket......


I have been filling in time with appts like the dentist, acc etc so my spare time has not been wasted.

i have 5 days off next week and Charlie and i are going to paint her room. Its currently yellow with a white lace fairy austrian so we are going with white walls and a deep purple feature wall. much more teenagerish!
I bought her a new white day bed a few months ago so i guess new bedlinen and doona cover will be in order as well!!

Tomorrow night we are off to the Cricket at the MCG. Oz vs Sth Africa. I have never been before, we are very excited as its a 20/20 so it should be action packed. It is however, somewhat tempered by the news below....

The really sad news that happened this morning is that my next door neighbors 19 yr old son and girlfriend were killed in a car accident in Gippsland last night. We are all pretty stunned and upset and cant begin to imagine what a horrendous thing to go through.
It hits pretty close to home as my girls are getting old enough to get licences and go out in mates cars. scary times ahead, just have to hope that they make the right decisions with their friends.
Two families in so much pain tonight, so sad.....

Happy New Years everyone!!!!

To all my blogger Friends, wishing you all a very happy, healthy and creative new year!!

Lets hope this year is peaceful and all the financial doom and gloom improves.

I have finally got some batteries [well, nicked them from hubby's work camera!] and am sharing some summer Christmas pics for my o/s readers.
We had great day over at the farm with family and its always lovely to see all the cousins getting along so well.

One of our family traditions is that the pressies get opened after our Christmas dinner. sometimes that has been 10 pm in the evening, a rather long wait for the littlies!!

Papa dons a santa hat and the youngest has to help him hand out the presents. Ofcourse, we usually lose the helper after he or she gets a present but this year 'little G' did a wonderful job and stacked his up to open later!!!

This year we had a pinata.....first the kids...

go on bash it little G....



K gave it a pretty good whack....


Getting battered....




oops it fell off, but still intact. Uncle S to the rescue....


Go aunty s!! wouldve been my turn next!!


Collecting the spoils....




And of course it wouldnt be Christmas without the family cricket game....

Go Warnie.......


smacked for 6......


fielders....


Usually our cricket pitch would be dead lawn but we have had a bit of rain and everywhere is looking quite green at the moment....


Oh and look what my sil got for Christmas. Isnt it beautiful , its made from ironbark. It has a little possum head carved into the leg......which i didnt take a pic of!!