On Skirting

I have been having a play with a couple of skirt patterns lately....very simple ones I have found on the internet.

The first I made the weekend before last. Because the skirt is designed for a child I used slightly more fabric. Actually, if I was to make it again I would use less - perhaps the amount for the largest child size. The end result is a very bunchy around the waist - an awful lot of excess material. But it is as twirly as it supposed to be and I love the colours. Perfect for Spring.

Then this weekend I made a cherry skirt, following this pattern. On this occasion I had the opposite problem, too little fabric. I was walking like I had my two legs tied together; perhaps because, again, the pattern is for a child. So I adapted it a little and added a split at the back. I wore it to church last night and am quite happy with it.

On Our Trip

I promised pictures....but I am afraid I am little constrained by the fact that my husband has said I can't post any photos in which we appear and there seems to be at least one of us in most of our photos. Additionally, my husband has half the photos on his camera....and it is in Iraq. So, here is a taster and I will add more when he gets home - hopefully he has some in which we are absent.

Anyhow....while in Penang we spent a couple of days in the historic city of Georgetown. One day we took a special trip in to see the Blue Mansion...named for obvious reasons. Our tour guide was brilliant and showed us how the house had been designed to incorporate many elements of feng suei.

They were rebuilding one of the huts in the grounds of our hotel in Batu Ferengi, I found the process fascinating....

And now the photo shortage becomes evident....because we find ourselves in Singapore....visiting the Merlion.....defender of the city.

We went to Sentosa Island while we were in Singapore. One of the highlights there was a tour of Fort Siloso. Fort Siloso is where the British surrendered Singapore to the Japanese in WW2. The site has been really well done up. There are lots of interactive exhibits - you can even experience what it would have been like to have been a British soldier sent out to the colony in the 1870s. Anyway, so you don't have to trudge up the hill to the fort....you hitch a ride on this charming old lady.

We went to Jurong Bird Park on the far tip of the island. I will not go into details of how I got pooped on twice by birds....and how the second time my husband tried to pacify me by telling me that it was just a berry from the tree that had fallen on my head. Might I add both times he was standing next to me...at not a drop fell on him.

Anyway, the bird park is brilliant and well worth the trek out - even if the birds have no bathroom training. They do really amazing bird shows - the photo below is from the Birds of Prey show. They even had a vulture (or, maybe it was another species) who would bang an egg with a rock to get it open. The only problem being that the bird is elderly, suffers from dementia and kept forgetting what it was supposed to be doing. Very amusing!

On 6 weeks

Wow, it has been 6 weeks since I last posted... what a retrobate blogger I have been. Well, maybe a catch up post is appropriate today, and I will try to get back to more interesting posts tomorrow.

1. Our trip went really well. As expected the connection at KL didn't work out but we didn't let that put a dampner on things! Highlights included: high tea at Raffles (in Singapore) and at the Eastern and Oriental in Georgetown, a visit to a tropical fruit farm and the night safari at the Singapore Zoo. Of course, the best bit was getting to spend 2 whole weeks with my husband. Hope to post pictures tomorrow.

2. My Mummy came for a visit. She arrived the day after I got back from Singapore...we had a lovely time just spending some quiet time together.

3. My husband has got a posting to Melbourne for next year. Love that city. Not so keen on the accomodation arrangements Defence Housing is proposing. We move in November....our house is not available until February.

4. Number 3 means I need to find a new job. My current employer is only situated here in Sydney. They offered me a secondment to another organisation but, after a lot of soul searching I have decided to turn that one down. I have decided I want to work in a role which focuses on social welfare. So, I am hard at work on job applications.

5. I am trying to do a tax return. Or rather, get all the paperwork together so the accountant can do our tax return. This is considerably complicated by an investment property purchase during the year.

6. My husband gets back home next week... we are down to single digits! Am spending lots of time getting the house ready (have a fun craft project to show you) and get all his favourite foods in.

Life is always an adventure!