WOOLLIE PACIFICA launched and onsale now.....check out my newbie website!!!!

YEEHAAA...THIS IS IT.....its taken me all day to load up website but on a roll and now I'm unstoppable.....facebook page loaded, linked and awaiting your 'like'......sign up to my new website and standby for more posts of new items and some very exciting new 'inventions' and more weird squander bustings ideas - you won't believe how far I can stretch this wool blanket gig. Check it all out and let me know what you think. xx  www.squanderernomore.co.nz

Squanderer No More - Woollie Pacifica (Facebook)

I'm back....39 days later

39 days ago and I was on the eve of departing for a brilliant week long holiday in Fiji with my inlaws to celebrate the mother in laws (surprise) birthday. It was a great much needed break and the kind of luxury we haven't been able to justify since having kids etc. It was fun and busy and enjoyed by all. Not a cent or second squandered whilst there and just so lovely to be able to spend fun times with relatives who normally live in fairly distant flung parts of the world for most of the rest of the year.

I'd packed the computer cause I had grand plans of fancy exotic 'surprise look where I am' skitey blog posts from the tropics, including updates on brilliant value laden finds to help you survive Denerau Island with your style and self respect intact despite the assault from those resort priced temptations.

Needless to say I have learnt some great lessons in those 39 days since.....

The fiji tan has long since faded and my only vague recollection of anything  genius on the tip front is 3 hours of babysitting from the lovely Sieni cost as much as 1 poolside cocktail so thats a pretty chilling lesson in value. Good thing the duty free gin is still going strong with Sieni long gone that is.
I also discovered.....

1/ I didn't have any desire what so ever to log on to facebook, email, blog etc during the holiday, so computer remained untouched in the bag it traveled in.
2/ I must waste an inordinate amount of time logging on to the above when i am at home cause I have been technologically naked ever since getting back and it is weird what I have managed to achieve in that time.

Basically it all fell apart on the flight home.
what: dribble entered some tiny spot along edge of laptop, which then fried the motherboard, keyboard, and almost all other magical useful bits known to exist inside a computer.
why: perhaps cause I was too cheap to buy laptop with a protective bag, so tend to carry cheapy laptop in another random bag which in this instance happened to also be the kids nappy/ bottle bag. Not so genius.
when: somewhere over the pacific on return flight from Fiji to NZ. Nothing to do with swimming pool splash, cocktail spilage or anything so enjoyable.
how: reckon we wedged a 'finished' bottle into the bag in desparate hurry to get squirming squawking offspring off plane asap, and residue dribble made its way onto laptop. I warn you residue dribble can be catastrophic - massive burnt out internal damage resulted and the awkward $ bill to repair - not enough to make you buy another fresh newbie computer but enough to be utterly gut wrenching.
who: not naming names but it totally wasn't me (I think?)

So thats why I've been missing this past month plus

At least I am well and truly on target with my little homewares, home industry venture. Expect the big reveal next week.....once my card arrives and the website is loaded for action.

Hope you've all hung in there on the Squanderer band wagon. I have missed my blog immensely.

x

a couple of confessions

It has been 3 days since my last post and I have two confessions to make both of which are pretty stupid.

#1 confession being the 5kg beast of beef didn't stay out of the freezer more than an hour after my last post early Saturday morning. Matt (the husband) being the (slightly) more rested of us at the time woke up and rightly informed me that taking on a 5kg lump of frozen meat while attempting to lose our homemade curry virginity, and entertain 3 sick kids was just not going to be a goer. So until such time as everyone stops puking and coughing and starts sleeping a bit more like normal people in their own beds for more than 2 hours, the lump stays frozen.

So we have a fridge bursting full of medicines at the moment and on the window above the sink is a jar of syringes for adminstering them to our reluctant patients. It's just that time of year and for me it's the time which seems to conjest all of the most stressful elements of being a stay at home mum. Its that feeling that time is standing still basically. When you have sick kids you are caught in the cycle of trying to get medicine and food into them, keep it in there and then make sure they sleep as much as possible. So with 3 at various stages of sickness I find myself running around in pretty small circles.

I find it a real challenge to keep my own morale up when it feels like I am swimming through porridge just to get to the end of the day. The trick I guess is to strip back your daily priorities to only the most basic, focus on the fact that this is a temporary state and each day brings you closer to the end and then (somehow) be ready to make the most of the times when the kids feel OK enough to not be miserable and bad tempered.

The kids didn't make it out of their pjyamas today but tonight we are all feeling like we've turned a corner. All three were miraculously asleep by 7 and all dosed as per DRs instructions without any of the usual tantrums and tears. Matt and I were settling into a bit of telly and a glass of Awhitu Syrah and I was charging away with my current blanket project. Which brings me to my next idiotic confession - I am finding this blanket upcycling gig just awesome, its such a brilliant way to chill out, and my mental state loves that I now have this easy way to gain a sense of achievement and feel productive with minimal pressure. I have been working really hard to improve the quality of my sewing and the overall finishing details, and its all starting to look pretty darn flash. I'm feeling particularly inspired because I had the pleasure of a quick wander through the incredible Crafternoon Tea Markets here in Kingsland Auckland (www.crafternoon-tea.blogspot.co.nz ) on Saturday and I am so fired up to get myself a stall there for a test run come August. 

So I'm stitching away for a good 20min, charging along the row, making awesome progress and getting a real rhythm going. As I finish the row and move to hold it up to admire the evenness of my work I discover I have SEWN THE f%^king BLANKET TO MY TRACKSUIT PANTS!!!!