The Devil's In the Details

In a week's time, I'll be attending the Creative Markets at Springwood Road State School here in Logan City.  My stall will be called Lynda's Crafty Pegs.  I'm so happy, tired, sleepless and broke... but I'm glad to be doing this as it's a new experience.  However, I have been told that it's the first market stall that does send you a little broke to start with - and the setting-up costs that does that to you as well.  And once you've got all that set-up costs out of the way, you can work out anything else you need to do afterwards.

Well, now, it's the devilishly details stuff.  I have a few more pegs to get done, the last varnishing session and wrappings to do on Tuesday.  Wednesday is my grocery shopping day and then on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, I'm going to be doing nothing... absolutely no Crafty Pegs stuff, so I'm not exhausted.  But that doesn't mean I won't be doing something on those days.

On Thursday I'll probably get some much-needed housework done around here.  Yeah, I've been washign up, doing a little laundry here and there, but I really need to get some major cleaning up done around here; as it's been ignored of late.
On Friday, I'll be out of here early with Mum to go to the hair dressers to have my hair looked at... well, I know it's a lovely long bit of hair, but I really do enjoy having it done the way I did last year - all flipped and wavy in the 1970's style.  And I'll also be doing it to have myself look nice and neat for the markets too.
Saturday is the day where I'll pack the car with everything I need to take to the market.  This means I'll have the car competely emptied out of boxes, bags and anything else in there - except what will be needed.  This also means I'll be getting a few things to tie things down and together while I'm out shopping on Wednesday so nothing slides around and damages the car interior.  

Next Sunday morning, I'll be at the school before 7am... yeah, that early... to set up my stall.  I'm hoping to have my Aunty Helen help me out at the stall that day for the few hours and then help me out packing up too.  Otherwise, if she can't, I'll be okay on my own with a two-wheel trolley (which I'll nab from Dad for the weekend).  

Yep, the devil's in the details this week. And I have to get everything right.  Dad's worried that I've spent too much money on this Crafty Pegs business venture, but I have said to him that it's the setting up of anybusiness that usually costs the most; then after around a year, it usually starts to pay itself off bit by bit.  Well, until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

Busy! Busy!... And Getting Busier!

Man oh man!  Have I been busy this week... and yet I somehow missed a day.  I thought today was Friday; and it's not.

Oh well. 

This week, I've been working hard on my Crafty Pegs, getting them painted, organised, varnished, wrapped and finding out out how much I have to sell.  I do have a lot of Cool Pencils - over 30 of them in fact - and so I'm working on more pegs than I know what to do with now.  This includes the Magna-Pegs and Sprung Pegs too as well as the Dolly Pegs.  However, the ones I ordered off e-bay from the UK have yet to arrive and it's been almost 3 weeks!!!  I did leave a note on e-bay for the guy and let him know on e-bay that they haven't arrived and it's been an abnormal amount of time ... so I hope to hear from him soon.
However, fortunately, I've been able to find Dolly Pegs in cheap stores and buy all of their stores of them... and so I'm painting them as fast as I can and getting them ready to sell too.

In between all of this working on the Crafty Pegs stall, painting and varnishing, I've been to the doctors in the city for a check-up.  This is the same specialist who helped me with the IUD and ovarian cyst in June.  Dr. Stephen Cook was happy to hear that I'm a lot better than I was before the operation.  I've lost weight, am sleeping better and no longer have a any problems with bloating... actually I don't bloat anymore or retain fluids - so I don't look overweight either.  So, that was wonderful.

Today, I did a big varnishing session in the carport, and just as I finished pulling the pegs off the old clothes horse I had found at the back of the complex a few months ago, the whole thing collapsed - falling apart.  So, I'm in for a new one tomorrow.  I'll be going out to Sam's Warehouse to buy a new one while I'm off to the chiropractors too.
This afternoon, I spent around 1 1/2 hours wrapping up all the 1 set of Sprung Pegs, 2 sets of Dolly pegs and 12 Cool Pencils in cellophane to add to the stores for the stall.  Then there were 3 Magna-Pegs and another 5 Magna-Pegs which were a commissioned set for a volunteer at the Logan Art Gallery.  

Tonight, while the storm raged out on and off outside, I was working hard at my craft area.  I really got into a routine and painted up two or three Dolly Pegs, two Sprung Pegs and three Magna-Pegs... I'm looking forward to the weekend where I'll be working hard on my stores... and then by Tuesday next week, I'll do my very last varnishing-and-wrapping day.  On Wednesday, I'll do the grocery shopping and on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, I'll do nothing but stick around the house and tidy up or organised the car... yeah, that sounds good.  I still have stuff to put away from Halloween sitting around the living room and a tree to put up for Christmas.  

So, how has your week been going?  Busy as hell like my week?  Or just average and ordinary?  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

Working Hard This Week

It's Thursday and I've been working very hard this week on Crafty Pegs, on looking at getting rid of the old bedroom suite and trying to clean up my house.

Well, okay, most of this is getting done.

It's a pay week and so I got the grocery shopping done, went and bought myself a bum bag for the markets and a cheap-arse calculator (so I can figure out the change for people the at the Creative Markets at the end of this month) and then, I worked out which boxes I'll be taking with me, so I don't have to buy another box.
Then, I figured out which table cloth I wanted to use for the display; as well as the table.  However, I thought I had to buy another table - or borrow one - and Mum offered up a spare one at their place.  She's impressed at how organised I am right now, and happy that I'm working very hard at my stock.  I'm making sure I have a lot of work done before I need to varnish anything, then, once it's all dry, I wrap it all up in celophane and then I'm back at it again... working again to get numbers of items up again.  I'm not doing certain sets right now, just getting as many pegs painted up with designs, then varnish them and then, after that, I'll sort out the sets when I'm ready to pack them up.  It makes more sense that way. 

On Tuesday, I gave work a rest and went out for Melbourne Cup Day.  Mum, Dad and I went out and had fun at a friend's place where we enjoyed a sweepstakes.  I made a bet at the TAB before arriving at my folks' house and then, we had lunch at their place (our friend's place) and the race was on!  My horses came in first and second!  Yay!  I won $48 a piece at the the sweeps and at the TAB!  However, I only won once at the latter... oh well, at least I won something there.  How did you all go on the Melbourne Cup?  Win anything?  If not, did you make a bet to begin with?  If not, oh well, maybe you're not the betting type.  I only make one bet a year, and it's usually on this race.

Anyway, I had a couple of early nights and am back into working my Crafty Pegs with more vigor than ever!  If you follow my Facebook Page of Crafty Pegs, you'll see my stock is improving and getting bigger!  I'm getting faster at painting everything and once the day of the market arrives, I'll have more than I'll ever need for it... well, hopefully.  I'm looking forward to it.  And I hope to have everything organised by then. 
So, how's your week been? Busy?  Slow? Interesting?  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

Are We Over-Scheduling Our Kids?

I was out at a birthday party last night with family when I noticed my niece wasn't her usual bubbly, social self.  Being her Aunt, I tend to notice when she's not happy and bummed out about things and won't say anything to anyone.  When she sat down and separated herself from the crowd, I knew something was bothering her badly... so I joined her and asked if she was okay.

She's a teenager, so I got a shrug and the excuse that she was tired out of her... until I pushed a little and she told me what was on her mind.  There were assignments she hadn't been able to get all the notes for - and couldn't get all the notes for from anyone because that was considered cheating.  She felt like she was going to fail Maths and English and she believed that her school band going interstate for a week set her badly behind in everything.  All of this has caused her to think she's going to be a failure... and in year 9, she's making it tough on herself about her grades.
I didn't know what to say to her as I remember when I was in high school, if you missed a few days, the teachers would give you the notes you missed out on, or let you in on what you missed and you grabbed the notes off a nerd/geek in your class.  However, nowadays, you can't do that.  It's not right... big things have changed in the school system and it's causing kids to have a tougher time to get things completed, to feel as though they can't sort out their own lives on their own.

The bigger picture of this is that teenagers aren't supposed to be able to!  They're still growing.  They're still wondering what's going on in their bodies.  They want to know who likes them at school and who doesn't... they shouldn't have so much stress on them that they have a nervous breakdown about failing whole subjects before their high school life has even gone halfway through!  I don't get it... I really don't.
I hated seeing my niece so sad, angry and wishing she didn't have so much on her plate at the age of 14, the but she does.  Not even I had that much on my plate, not until I was in my senior years of high school, and I still didn't make it through high school with the most perfect grades.  

So, are we over-scheduling our children?  Do we expect too much from them?  Are schools and teachers making them grow up way too fast all because they want them to do better, act better and just don't want them asking too many questions or... is this just me thinking on this subject too much?  I have noticed this about kids and teenagers over the last few years and I'm not happy with it. 

Please, share your thoughts about what you think of the education system.  Is it right to place this much pressure on our young teengers today when they should be having more fun and learning at their own rates - like we did when we were younger?  Or am I over thinking this?  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

Goodbye.... Hello!

Today, I said goodbye to my old bedroom furnishings - at long last.  It took us 4 long months to get rid of them and we had to cart it off to the Smart Tip at Browns Plains to let it have a better life with somebody else.  Now, I have a carport which can actually house a car properly for the first time since I began driving again.

Very cool.

I have the space where I can do some serious varnishing without dodging around something or other and enjoy my carport without wondering if something is going to be stolen or flooded in a rain storm.. yep, I've said hello to some much-needed space.

I've also said hello some people on Facebook who have offered me some space at another market at Springfield Lakes only days after my Creative Markets at the end of this month.  Unfortunately, I don't think I'd have the stock to go to it... so I sadly had to turn them down.  I did offer to show for their next one - if they were planning another in the new year - but they weren't.  They were flattered I offered to take up their offer after NYE.  Oh well, doesn't matter, I could always become a regular at the Creative Markets and work the Springwood ones once a month and get some regular people buying my things, expand my market and actually make my Crafty Pegs something major in my life... yeah, that sounds great.

But, baby steps right now... baby steps.

Yeah, I've said goodbye a few things lately and hello to a lot more.  I've said hello to a lot of family support where my family is helping me buy a car.  I'm also looking on the net for a car... and there's so many people selling their cars on here.  It's amazing what's going for which price!  So much choice now there's the internet around.

Well, there's the hellos and goodbyes I've done so far... until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

October's Something Different!

Wow!  Has is been something different alright!  I spent a good part of this month with my parents out of the country and only the last week or so of it with them at home.  They've had the best tour overseas and a wonderful welcome home!  But Mum and Dad have spent the last week catching up with paperwork and looking at their bank statements too.

Anyway, this was mixed in with what I've been up to this month - which made this month very, very busy for me!

On the day before my birthday, Aunty Helen, Kate and Oma took me out to lunch at the Lions Den at Springwood.  This is an AFL Club for the Brisbane Lions.  I don't support the team so I didn't join up there, but the food there was great!  And it was a lovely atmosphere too.  Kate couldn't stay long, but she gave me $40 - as she didn't know what to get me - and Aunty Helen gave me two $20 Bunnings Vouchers, and Oma gave me a Birthday card.  
After lunch we were off to McDonalds for coffee.  It was loud there, but the coffee was lovely.  What a day!
The next day, was my birthday.  I spent half the day at Logan Emergency Ward; but it wasn't for me.  One of my friends had a huge panic attack and I had to call an ambulance for him and follow it to the hospital in the car.  Then a few hours later, I had to pick him up with a friend who had arrived at my house... it was strange.

I bought a new outdoor setting, completed my backyard makeover and am very pleased with the finished product of my garden.  And then, I started looking at working on getting my parents' house ready to be lived in again.  The housework was done, the sheets on their bed was changed over and other things fixed up too.

By 12th, October, I had finished the backyard!  I was so pleased with it!  I still had to fix up a few things inside my house - but they were small things.  
And I couldn't believe I had spent the last four months driving around the place getting everything done... it's been so much fun!  And today, I'm just tired from this week.  

Over the last few weeks, I've been busily working on my Crafty Pegs and organising myself financially to get into The Creative Markets here in Logan City - at Springwood State School actually - and it's just been a busy, busy month for me.  I seems I don't stop with either the pegs, the garden or organising the banking details of the car Dad's hoping to buy me for Christmas.  I'm just looking forward to getting time to myself... and soon!  However, it seems as though the next few months are going to be busy as hell!

And with tonight being Halloween, I've been busily carving away at a pumpking this morning to have it ready for tonight.  I can't wait... I hope to have some children come by.  If not?  Well, never mind.  I don't care if they don't come by, so long I celebrate All Hallow's Eve.

Until my next post for next month, take care, keep safe and warm and remember,  I'm always here.

Busy Week!

If you thought my weekend was busy, well!  Ya haven't seen nothin' yet!  My week is only half over and it's very busy.

On Monday, I went to Craft Group and scored myself a sweet box of paint which was given to me by Nola.  She had a client who wasn't well and was giving away her painting gear.  There's a lot of paint which is okay, and a bit that isn't; but I'm working through it all.  but I've decided to add the box to my Crafty Pegs table, as it's well-made and very cute.  Such a pity when somebody has to give up something they love because of their health.

Yesterday, it was a stinker of a day, and a band of storms were brewing out west.  Mum went off to her Mah Jong day; which meant I had to dropp the car off over to their place early.  However, I got home after lunch... which wasn't what I had planned, but happened.
Dad was on the car hunting duties.  He took me to a few car yards and we looked at some small cars.  Oh! I never told you all!  Mum and Dad are buying me a car for Christmas!  I'll work it into my budget and it'll be great!  However, he keeps on thinking I won't be able to do this; which is something he can't see - and won't - not until it actually happens.

Today, I was at the banks working out my budget - as I planned.  I went to Suncorp and added a substantial amount of money going out into an external bank account where I'll be using it to pay for my car.  Then, I went to the other bank and worked on getting a card for the bank account I wanted the money to go into... after much stuffing around, I finally got it right, and I have more money going into my bank account for my future car per fortnight and I'll be working on making it work.  

I'm exhausted, but I'll be working on getting in an making more pegs tonight - as planned.  And then, Dad wants me to go out tomorrow with him and look for more cars.  I'm so tired, but it's all up to how he feels too.  He's had some sun cancers taken off him, so I think he should take it easy for a while before running around too much after having those done.  But he's insisting that he's okay... I hope so, because I'll have to tell him that I need a day off from running around on Friday; as I've been out every day.  

So, how's your week been so far?  Good and busy?  Or nice and slow?  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

My Weekend

I've had a weekend of being at home and catching up with housework.  Now, that's a change from my other weekends of running around, cleaning, shopping and doing other things like paying bills and driving around in preparation for Mum and Dad to get home.

Yesterday, I put out the rubbish, watered the garden, washed up, did my hand-washing and hung it out and then had breakfast.  Yeah, I had to get in and do those few things before I sat down that morning because it was going to be a hot day.
For the rest of the day, I stuffed around online for a few hours, then spent 4 hours at my Crafty Pegs work station working on a few things things for the market next month.  I created some new designs for the Cool Pencils and then got myself into working on some pegs - Dolly and Sprung.  While I was waiting for the paint to dry, I looked to my right and found a large Blue Tongue Lizard meandering past.  He was just lovely... I said hello to him, saying how lovely it was to see him again (he's a regular visitor to my garden) and he picked up speed... poor little guy must be bullied by others around the place.

By around 4pm or so, I was stuffed!  I ended up having just an egg on bread and that was it.  I watched 'Richie Rich' and didn't want to do anything else for the night as I went off upstairs to stuff around online for a while and then off to bed.
But I didn't get to sleep all that easily.  My neighbours came home late, took a shower, used their toilet and then brushed their teeth and went to bed.  The water hammer was dreadful... and it was after midnight by the time they turned out their lights.  

Today, I had Mum and Dad over for a visit - their first since I fixed up my place.  They were really impressed with my place.  The front garden was lovely.  Dad was amazed at how simplistic it was, and yet impressive.  He asked me about the silver stones and I told him where I got everything and that I built the rock wall - which Mum adored!  She said it looked so rustic!
Then, when they walked inside, it was so tidy.  She was amazed I had it tidier than normal.  I said that once I tossed out one big lot of junk, well, I found I could manage better.  But the big thing was the Crafty Pegs Work Station... once that was all sorted out and done up properly and everything there had a home and place to go, I didn't have my art shit all over the house; it had a home and it stayed right where I wanted it to.  I told them I gave away quite a few things and haven't regreted it since... as it's good karma to do that.
Then, I told Dad about the taps and spouts being done; and how much it cost.  They were shocked!  I told them I did it for a few reasons.  I had to get the sewage vet out the back fixed up and the plumber's report... so I thought to kill 3 birds with one stone.  He understood this and knew I did it for a good reason.  We went outside and Mum loved the look of the yard and sat down in one of the chairs and she said it was very comfortable... she loved how the shady area of the yard felt so peaceful.  It was then she began noticing the fairies, frogs, the metal duck and other things around the place - just as I had designed it - and she thought I had placed things around in the right places to make sure people can see things at the right times.
Dad looked around and asked how much I spent on my gardens and inside... I said it was a lot.  He wanted to know.  I told them it was more than the plumbing bill, but worth it; that I went out and bought things that were on sale, I walked around Bunnings for over an hour trying to buy the right pots at the right prices just to save myself $10 on two pots... and made the right choices in the end.  And the outdoor setting?  Well, I went for style and comfort because I loved the way it made me feel when I sat down at it while I was at Bunnings.  Mum said that was the main thing... and it is.  When you buy something like an outdoor setting, you gotta love it for everything about it - the style, the colour, stability, what does for your garden, and most of all, it's gotta be comfortable to sit down in.  And you know... Mum and Dad kept on saying they needed to get going, but they didn't get up from the chairs.  Now, that says something about it.  They asked me how much it was and where I got it from.  And Dad even told me about this stuff he wanted to paint on it to keep it from rusting on me... so he really likes it too.  

Overall, today has been a great success.  Mum loves what I did with the house and gardens.  Both of them are impressed that I have my garden flowering again and that I have fixed up my house so it'll look good if we want to sell it in the future; and it hasn't taken me much to do.
I was concerned that they weren't going to like what I had done with the place - that I had overstepped the mark somewhere, in particular the plumbing - but Dad thankfully understood where I was coming from.  He did ask me if fixing up the taps and spouts stopped the hammering... I said no, and that was one reason why I did get them done - just in case it would stop the noise - but didn't.  So, he's going to get my neighbour's landlord to do what he's supposed to do, and fix his plumbing.  I hope this gets done before Christmas... or even better, in the New Year. 

So, how was your weekend?  Busy?  Social?  Fun?  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

Busy Old Week

It's been a busy week for me.  And it's not going to stop, as we cruise into the weekend.  On Tuesday, my folks returned from their 4-month holiday overseas.  They had a wonderful trip and are thankful to be back!  
Mum's happy her Pajero is travelling well - still in one piece, I haven't run into anything with it and it's not running roughly.  And they were both impressed I got the antenna fixed through the family; and so when she went to the hairdressers today, she watched happily as it went up automatically as soon as the engine started; and the signal was strong too.

Dad caught up with e-mails and other things he had to over the phone.  Meanwhile I sat out in the front room painting up pegs and working on the collection for next month's Creative Markets at Springwood.  I can't wait until it's all pulled together.

But the rest of the week has been busy.  I did my shopping on Wednesday.  I did some laundry on Thursday and worked out somethings here too, as well as delivered some parcels that were slow in arriving from overseas to Mum and Dad.  I also spent the afternoon with them as they gave me my Birthday present.  Dad really hated it that they missed my birthday; and wished they hadn't.

Yesterday, I bought my first item on e-bay with a Load&Go card I bought at the post office.  It was very cool!  I looked up Dolly Pegs and found them on there - but they there from the UK, none were found in Australia.  Damn!  Well... I had a good look at them and put in the card number, expiry and the number on the back (just like a regular credit card; but it's not!  I have money in it and it only uses the money on the card - and it's even better and safer now I have registered the card that nobody else can use it but me).  Then, I received a receipt number and an e-mail from the seller who posted it off later that afternoon!  Very cool!  The coolest thing yet, though, was that the pegs are coming from Kibworth!  This is a little town I've been to visit in 1997!  One of my friends lived there way back when I was touring around the UK, and I got to visit her and her Mum... I loved the place and bought Mum's little teddy bear from 'The Gift Shoppe' there.  All I need to do is wait for the pegs to arrive and then get in and paint them up.

Anyway, I'm stoked about this.  Otherwise, I'm painting up others I've managed to get - but only in dozen set packs for $2.00 a pack at at junk store.  But I need them in bulk. So, it's e-bay I'll be haunting to find them.  So, I'll be a busy painter for a while.  How has your week been going?  Until my next post, take care keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is a big day. 

Tomorrow Mum and Dad are coming home from overseas.  I'm looking forward to seeing them and they'll be getting home in the afternoon.

I spoke to them today and told Dad that it's been very dry here - and the rain we had on Friday/Saturday was the first we had in the four months since they left.  He was disappointed, but understood if some plants were dead.  I said it's been very hot here too... I hope he's not too mad about a plant that's died.

At least the bills are paid and the house is safe and almost all the plants are okay and alive.

I'll be over at their house doing last minute things to get the place in order.  But I won't be there all day.  I still have a few things to get done here in the morning, but then around lunch time, I'll have a shower, wash my hair and get ready, then take off over there and make sure everything is ready for them.  

I can't wait until they arrive!  

Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm, and remember, I'm always here.