New Year Pledge

An ancient Chinese proverb says the journey of a 1000 miles starts with a single step. Well taking that as inspiration while I was on the treadmill for the first time in 4 years! I have decided to make this the year of 1000's.  1000 km of running (treadmil or road), 1000 hours of creative work (inspired by Victoria at 10000 hours of sewing) and having just ordered my new Kitchen aid mixer (in Raspberry) 1000 cookies/cupcakes!
All I need to do now is create a way of keeping a log of all this, I feel a spreadsheet coming on which will probably lead to another 1000 hours of Excel!

A "school mum" tipped me off to using the German amazon to get my Artisan Kitchen Mixer sent here, in Holland, same plugs/voltage/free postage, great tip, especially after the typically Dutch sales assistant in the Bijenkorf told me I could have it in Red, Black or Cream and "No they would not order my preferred colour to the store"...Just love Dutch Customer service!  Thank God for the Expat/schoolgate network!

Sewing wise I have found a great pattern for the tartan materiel I have been hording.  I found it in the old stash of Burda Style magazines I had on subscription in 2006! Its the first time I have used any of their magazine patterns so was pleased that I noticed in time that they do not add the seam allowance to their patterns, so out came the handy Seam guage to add to the pattern trace!  As promised I have also made a toile, which  should be piecing together now but the bottle of chilled Pinot Grigio won that discussion, so a job for tomorrow!

Wish me luck
Vicki

Welcome to 2012

So its a new year and I've created my blog.  Its one of those crazy times in my family's year as the other half is working his way through "silly sales period" until March, so hopefully I will recognise him then.
Kids are getting ready to go back to school and I have managed to have my first Dutch playdate for my oldest son so hopefully the transition back to school this term will be less hazardous, keep your fingers crossed for Monday!
So as normal service is about to be resumed, my thoughts have turned to all the things i plan to get done once some of my time is my own again.

I have been hankering after an Artisan Kitchen Aid for a while now and over Christmas found myself shelving certain recipes because they involved too much beating or creaming for my liking.  I have taken the decision to treat myself with some of the money my Nana left me earlier this year.  All I have to decide on now is the colour.  I want something that will brighten my kitchen and make me smile each time I use it, but without offending my other half's more reserved tastes.  I am thinking of Tangerine or Yellow, but Red and Purple are coming up close alternatives.  I have the additional glitch of wanting to avoid Dutch prices but wanting the convenience of having the appropriate plug and voltage compatibility, wish me happy e-shopping!

I am also craving some time in my sewing room.  There are at least 2 fabrics that deserve to be transformed into something beautiful, I just need to locate the right pattern.  I have also promised to be more thorough with projects from now on and make toiles for all my work, as I so often have to make adjustments or discard something that does not fit and can't be salvaged (you think I would have learnt by now).  With a bit of luck I will manage some time in solitary sewing confinement tomorrow, so I'll keep you posted.

Well seeing as this is a bit of a "dipping of the toe" into the waters of blogging I will leave it at that for now and see how I go from here.  Must remember to take photos.

Proost,
Vicki