Author Archives: zefiart

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About zefiart

Blogger, DIY-er, poodle lover, graphic designer, dog groomer, recycler, artist, wonder woman in my spare time.

day 9 – so much work, so little to show for it

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 It was a gorgeous day. We planned to get home early to feed the animals and relax a while. Didn’t happen.
I had a toothache/headache so I had to go to the dentist after work. 
Result: its not the new filling. It may not even be the tooth.
Am I stressed?
Isn’t everyone?

No, am I especially stressed right now?

Um. No… Yes.
We put tenants in my house in Fentonbury cause selling wasn’t happening. We thought it’d take a load off.
Since the new tenants have moved in we’ve had:
– the chimney top was blown off in strong winds. Twice. Get someone to go fix it. Mortar it in. Glue, sticky tape, whatever works.
– the cooktop wasn’t working properly. I had to buy a new one, in an uncommon size, so I had to order it in which took 4 weeks
– the electrician went up, looked, said it didn’t fit and left
– problems with overflow pipes, the plumber looked and went on a trip for 4 weeks and will fix it when he gets back
– get the septic emptied cause it was full
– the hot water pipe broke, plumber is away so I had to find an alternative plumber
– the hand held shower I bought to replace the one the previous tenants broke doesn’t fit… buy a spout for the bathtub instead
So, do you think I’m stressed? Clenching my jaw at night maybe?
Go back to wearing the mouthguard at night – see if it helps.
Back home, luckily it was still sunny. Thank dog for daylight saving. I helped feed animals, rug horses and then I got stuck into working website work. For hours.
So much for my creativite endeavours!
Here’s Rodney with three of his girls.
And here’s the old doghouse the ducks use as a nesting box.
 
There are 9 ducks, no idea where the others are right now. Probably sitting on eggs.
On the weekend Wayne put in a new fence and gate leading up to the back of our property cause the horses escaped. Here he is checking it.
 And here is Ben munching on grass while Dancer rests.
I’m loving daylight savings. It means that I get home and its not too cold to go out and spend some time with my boy. He’s finally beginning to fill out and he sure is a big boy. He’s 4 years old now and I think he’s still growing!
To recap –
Things I did:
Bonded with my horse, fed the dogs, cuddled poodles, hung out a load of washing, added a few more things to my to do list.
Things I didn’t do:
Almost everything else on the list.
z

the aussie attitude

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Just looked back… Isn’t it funny that I did more on my ‘day off’ than I did on any other day?

Then again… a day off is a day to do what I want to do, not to work. That would explain it. When given a day to myself to do as I like, I’ll chose creative activities on projects, art or the house.

Or garden. Usually only when push comes to shove on that one.

This morning I woke up to the news that some guy is planning to sky dive from space. Okaaaaay…. If thats what he wants to do. Then they mentioned his assistance/support/trainer/whatever is an Aussie.

He’s stuffed.

I can picture it now:

“Hey, there’s a rip in my suit.”

“She’ll be right mate! Just put a band aid over it.”

Gotta give it to Aussies for their relaxed ‘laissez faire’ attitude. Only they’d say ‘she’ll be right’ cause french is too posh for beer swilling men wearing blue singlets, shorts and blunnies (Blundstones workboots) and holding a tinny (can of beer).

I also read a blog post by John Heald on FB which spoke about the similarities, and mainly differences, between the English and the Australians. Here’s an excerpt:

“Aussies live outdoors, have teak-tough bodies, huge muscles, and beards, drink 10 cans of Fosters for breakfast and believe sport is all …………. and that’s the women. The Brits, by contrast, live on the sofa, drink tea and watch 10 hours of TV a day.”

What, you will ask, am I doing following a blog written by a guy on Amerian cruise ships? Short story: a friend follows him and got me onto it, but mostly I only read the posts she flags for me.

Has anyone read Douglas Adams’ Hitchhikers Guide to Australia? Its kills me every time.

Here are a couple of my favourite bits:

“The second confusing thing about Australia are the animals. They can be divided into three categories: Poisonous, Odd, and Sheep.
It is true that of the 10 most poisonous arachnids on the planet, Australia has 9 of them. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that of the 9 most poisonous arachnids, Australia has all of them. However, there are curiously few snakes, possibly because the spiders have killed them all. But even the spiders won’t go near the sea.”


“Alone of all the races on earth, they seem to be free from the ‘Grass is Greener on the other side of the fence’ syndrome, and roundly proclaim that Australia is, in fact, the other side of that fence. They call the land “Oz”, “Godzone” (a verbal contraction of “God’s Own Country”) and “Best bloody place on earth, bar none, strewth.” The irritating thing about this is they may be right.”


“Typical Australian sayings:
* “G’Day!”
* “It’s better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.”
* “She’ll be right.”
* “And down from Kosciusko, where the pine clad ridges raise their torn and rugged battlements on high, where the air is clear as crystal, and the white stars fairly blaze at midnight in the cold and frosty sky. And where, around the overflow, the reed beds sweep and sway to the breezes, and the rolling plains are wide. The Man from Snowy River is a household word today, and the stockmen tell the story of his ride.” 

Well, enough fun. I have to get to work!

z

 

day 8 – is it over yet?

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Sheesh I’m tired. And all I managed to do was groom dogs today. Nothing crossed off the list.
Ok. If I’d put ‘do the washing’ and ‘hang out washing’ on the list I’d have managed to check those off.
Oh, and I did wash the dishes too.
And put out the bins.
Wow. I actually did do a few things… if I’d put those things on my list I’d be feeling a lot better tonight. As it was I feel like I’ve done nothing.
But I did get to spend time with some pretty nice doggies. This is Abby. A darling little shitzu they want all clipped off.
And this is Malty. A young little cavalier/poodle cross. Both are sporting the new bandanas. Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo of anyone wearing a different colour. Polka dots seemed to be the right choice for black and white dogs.
Everett, the westie, went home with a pirate bandana, as did Bobby. Romeo kept me company in the grooming room all day, making friends with all the little dogs. I guess he was just happy to be with me and not to be groomed!
z

PS. Did anyone notice I changed the typesize on my blog? Thought it might be easier to read. 🙂

day 7 -crossing things off

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Yipee! I feel like I’ve done a heap today.
Maybe I have. I didn’t think I had till the end of the day when I actually had a few finished projects in front of me.
Firstly, I had dogs to groom yesterday, but I also managed to do face/feet/tail on Romeo. And clean his ears and do his nails. That’s two poodles with clean faces now. Much prettier. I can wait on the full body trim, but that bit was getting to me.
Then I turned a blind eye to the kitchen sink, the kitchen floor, and the grass which grew an inch as I looked at it, and got on with things. I took the sewing machine to the living room where I’m using an old school desk I added castors to as a craft desk.
To the background of 1.5 movies on the PVR I cut out and sewed covers for these chair cushions for a friend of mine. She’s really into the black and white cow theme, so I thought I’d give her something special for her kitchen. There are now 4 cushions with bows to tie to her chairs, and a pinboard covered in cowhide fabric as well.
I’m not a great sewer. I’ve always managed. Sometimes its more like ‘sew-unpick-sew-unpick’, but I get there in the end. Making cushion covers is easy though, so no unpicking required there. In the past, in my 50s rock’n’roll dancing days, I’d made dresses, full circle skirts and petticoats as well as shirts. These days I limit myself to straight lines – like curtains.
(Although, a full skirt petticoat is just straight lines too. Miles and miles of straight lines of gathered fabric…)
I had planned to make an apron as well but ran out of fabric. I have some black cotton if I can find it, same thickness as the cowhide stuff, so I may still be able to make a black apron with cowhide pockets. That would round off the gift a bit more, don’t you think?
Anyway, I think the pinboard and cushions will help give her kitchen the look she’s after.
Since I had the sewing machine out, I figured I may as well finally do the bandanas which have been on the to do list for months. I wanted to have these little bad boys done for the summer groom rush.
These are just cute little things I can put on freshly groomed dogs. I do make bows as well, but I’ve gotten a bit bored of them. Time for a new look for my customers! These little bandanas are cotton fabric cut with pinking shears, with ribbon stitched onto them as ties. I love the pirate ones – for daring dogs! You may notice the cowhide ones… (waste not, want not!)
There are still a stack of them to sew up but that will do for a while. Its a stack more than I had before!
Ok, so these weren’t on the To Do list I posted on Day 1, but trust me… they’ve been there for eons. If you’re anything like me, you cross one thing off your list and add another two…
Other than that, which though only 2 projects crossed off the list, still are quite an achievement. In fact, just taking the sewing machine into the living room and setting it up, filling bobbins with thread, etc is a huge step in getting through my To Do list. 
Funny isn’t it? The biggest step is the first step. 
Oh, and I also did a bit of work on the ongoing memory box I’ve been trying to fix up since I stuffed it up…
All round, its been a good day!
z
Note to self: Bring in ironing board. Ironing fabric on the couch cushions is bad for your back!

day 6 – taking it easy

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Today was a day ‘off’ for me.
That means I didn’t do any work. Nothing but indulge myself, doing what I wanted to do.
I didn’t even look at the to do list, but I did manage to cross one item off it! I took our corner TV unit up to a friend. That’s something I’d had on my weekend list for about 5 weeks now. I decided that instead of spending time to paint it, they needed a new tv unit, so I would give it to them.
This achieved two things. Its one step in decluttering and reducing the projects I have to get to. 
It also added a few more brownie points to my karma.
I believe in helping out when I can. Which is why I suck as a business person. I’m more likely to give things away than to sell them. Great for karma. Not so good for the bank account.
What I did yesterday:
I visited Kelly and dropped off the tv unit. Had coffee and a muffin, played with their dogs. Explored the old homestead on the property they’re living on and scored this little beauty.
I don’t really know what it is. The ‘grill’ bit is too wide to really cook things on, but it looks like some kind of camp stove for big steaks. Its gorgeously rusted though, so I know I’ll find a home for it. Or Wayne will find a use for it.
I then came home and wandered around the garden thinking how much it needed mowing and took photos instead of taking out the mower. I created this little garden bed after Billybear died and put in a pom pom bush (viburnum) and some colombines (grannie’s bonnets). The pom pom bush is looking great. We’ll get flowers this year. What better flower for a poodle than a pom pom bush?
Please ignore the weeds. I think the only reason we have a ‘lawn’ is that weeds look green.
The colombines are looking great too. I can’t remember what colour seeds I put in that spot, either white or dark purple. I so want a cottage garden but I’m a useless gardener.
This is how the hydrangea bed looks right now… The hydrangeas are growing beyond the photo, but its a mess. My gardening style tends more towards interesting ‘objects’ in amongs plants that survive my hit and miss gardening methods, than flowers.
 
Then I had a massage. 
NICE.
Then I picked up a friend’s daughter to babysit while she went out. We got dvds and chinese and had a great night.
What I didn’t do:
Take out the lawn mower or brushcutter. Plant the agapanthus we were given. Do any projects on my list.
At least I got one thing crossed off my arm long to do list. And speaking of arms. a day off and a massage has done it wonders. Well, its improved it a bit. Lets see how it holds up to grooming tomorrow.
z

day 4 – to do lists and reality

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I have a very clever friend who has a more realistic approach to to-do list making. She puts things like ‘do laundry’ and ‘wash dishes’ on her list.

I don’t.
Those are everyday things – ever present, like death and taxes 
In fact what Benjamin Franklin should have said is “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death, taxes and dirty dishes”.
Since they’re inevitable, unavoidable and omnipresent, I shouldn’t need to put them on my list. Right?
Of course, my friend is right. If I put those things on my To Do list I’d probably be more realistic with what I might accomplish in one day. 
If I followed her advice, instead of a To Do list that looks like this:
 
I’d have one that looked like this:
I’d actually cross more stuff off my list at the end of the day.
But that would be too sensible. And I’m me, I believe I’m superwoman. Not only can I do everything on my list, I can do it all without help, I can do it all in one day and still have time to wash dishes, put on 3 loads of washing and mow the lawn!
Yeah! I am SuperZefi!
z

PS. I’m thinking of having a whole body transplant soon. This one is wearing out on me…

day 3 – tidying up

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What I wished I’d done:
Tidy the mud room.
What I did do:
Yell at Barney for eating my almost-brand-new sneakers. There’s nothing like a dog to remind you that you should have put things away. 
Back when I had Billybear and Scooter (toy poodles) Billy had a habit of peeing on my boyfriends clothes. You can bet the boyfriend learned to pick things up off the floor! Another time he taught the boyfriend’s daughter to pick up her dirty underwear by eating out the crutch.
Gotta love a toy poodle who helps train messy people!
Anyway, today was a wonderful day! The weather was perfect and at work we took a group of clients to the old town of Richmond for the day. How lucky to have a job which allows me to spend the day working and having fun out in a beautiful place in lovely weather!
z

day 2 – grooming

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 What I did do:
I groomed. Today I groomed a sweet border collie x smithfield girl who loved me even after I groomed her, and on the weekend I groomed a gorgeous toy poodle named Captain. Here he is with his new best friend, Mischa. The look on Mischa’s face is priceless.
What I didn’t do: 
I didn’t groom my own dogs. Mischa is shedding so much we’ve got enough hair to build another 2 staffies. Barney is getting all whiskery, and the poodles’ faces are lost in hair. I think Romeo just bumped into a door cause he couldn’t see it.
Captain’s a squirmy little thing with a seriously bad attitude towards the dryer. His owner, a macho man who’s always had big ‘manly’ dogs, is totally smitten. 
As Jacqueline Suzanne said in her book, Every Night Josephine: the cute shall inherit the earth.
z

day 1 – 31 days of wishful thinking

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31 Days of What I Wished I Got Done

I wish I could post the To Do List below as my 31 Day topic and actually cross each and every project off the list by November 1.

Projects to finish:
  • 4 wire dangles for a customer order
  • memory box which was going really well till I stuffed it up
  • put up a shelf I’ve been working on in the toilet
  • finish living room curtains I started over a year ago
  • memory tin I haven’t stuffed up yet
  • finish sorting items to donate to the work garage sale
Projects to start (and finish would be good):
  • make tea light holders for the porch for summer
  • organise hanging baskets for around the house
  • fix and put up an old chandelier for the bedroom
  • make a hanging light for Wayne’s desk
  • clean up some old metal baskets and find a home for them in the house
  • re-make a drawer unit into a bench for the mudroom
  • make a hat rack for mudroom
  • make a coat rack for mudroom
  • make a small box to hold mobile phones & chargers
  • use the flour sacks to make kitchen curtains and cushion covers
  • make nifty curtain tiebacks (or rather, ask Wayne to make them for me cause this one involves metal work)
  • find a use for some fairy lights I have
  • make a broken suitcase into a side table
  • finish my tip shop chairs
  • fix and paint my gate leg table
  • make a shelf under the kitchen window for herbs
  • paint the mudroom
Big projects: 
  • remove office carpet
  • remove linen cupboard from LR WHOO HOO!!!! starting my 31 days with one item crossed off!
  • paint the toilet walls
  • make the smallest room into a walk-in wardrobe
  • paint the house – outside
  • stain the deck
  • repaint most of the house inside, cause I changed my mind on the colours.
How’s that for a killer of a To Do List? (and that doesn’t even include some of the bigger projects!)
z

PS. The 31 Dayers are hosted by the Nester. My link is #804 and there are over 1,100 links. Go check it out.

day 5 – memory box

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What I did do:
I finished the memory box made from an old tin.
One more item crossed off the endless list.
This little beauty is made out of an old tin I found at an op shop. I sanded it back a bit and decoupaged it with the lyrics of If Tomorrow Never Comes.
I printed the lyrics out in a way-out handwriting font, then aged the paper using coffee.
I found it needed a little something extra, so I added some floral tissue paper to create a patchier look. I added some lace and topped it all off with a ticket stub and some tiny flowers.
Pretty isn’t it? I think it’d make a cute little container for small keepsakes.
z