Lovely things considered on a Saturday morning...

A bird on a bicycle, how lovely, how Melbourne (a gift to myself to celebrate being back in town).

Lovely things to cherish:

the fella learning to knit

the cat running away from the vaccuum cleaner

coffee on a Saturday morning

birds, beach finds and blog give-a-ways (thanks Sara)

bags of oranges from the markets, waiting to be turned into jam

lily season

a clean house

knitting until you have finished a project

watching Masterchef when you are too sick to go to work

Spanish chocolate with a hint of cinnamon

Douglas and Hope's Melbourne canvas tote

watching Rage and Video Hits until they end

baking bread, with dried fruit and spices

What lovely things do you cherish?

Oriental lilies in abundance at the markets, I couldn't resist taking some home.

A beautiful bird, a warrior found at St Kilda beach and a print from In the Light of the Sun.

The fella's efforts at knitting - he is getting there!

Getting to know and love my town.

Out and about my local area recently, getting to know my town and the streets near by. I've discovered parks with bbqs. I've stumbled along a bmx bike track with crazy looking hills. A pomegranate tree was also spotted. And heaps of old lovely houses. And out of the way coffee shops. And buildings transformed for new purposes.

But remnants of the old uses of the buildings remain. Such as in these signs. Like them?

My maiden name was mercer, which means one who deals in fine cloth or linen. It is from the French and is linked with textiles.

And in the fantastic stationary store next to the scene of my morning coffee, these little fellas were poking about. Delicious.

Inspired to knit like crazy.

Image from www.birds-n-yearn.com

Simply loving knitting at the moment. I'm yet to start a project beyond tea cozies for the year, but slowing working up to something massive! Such as a lovely owl yoked jumper from a lovely lady living in Scotland. Do you think I could do it?

Image from www.needled.wordpress.com/designs

Reading the owl pattern lady's blog, I feel really inspired. She knits. Amongst other things. But knits she does. She sees someone wearing a nice cardie will look at it for a while and then whip it up over a few weeks. How incredible! I think I'd like to aspire to this level of knitting adeptness. It would be incredible.

But currently I'm not even keen to finish off the last bit of crochet on my most recent cozie. All I have to do is finish off the handle opening. Maybe tonight...

Sanity slipping though my fingers...

Lots of changes are afoot here in our place. Change, as good as a holiday. For me, I don't mind new adventures. Others though resist change, dig their heels in and won't budge. My cat is such a sort. He won't move, not if he doesn't want to. He makes his wee little body as heavy as possible and simply wont let go. One of my girlfriends has admitted to being the same. One big change at a time, and preferably followed by two years of adjusting time.

So I think I can do change. But stress, that's another matter. I worry, I am anxious. And I'm trying to have my character shaped so that this does not characterise me. Stress. Horrid stuff. Sure enough, with change has come stress for me. I'm moving to a new job in a number of weeks. Which is really exciting. But the week after I got the new job, the fella decided to quit his. Which means we have to move - as our flat is part of his employment package. And we will have half of our current income, which is fine except that I've not yet gotten a contract and I'm not the sort of person to ask how much money I will be paid to do something. All this to do in the next three weeks... STRESS. How I loath it.

Here are the strategies I'm attempting to implement to manage my stress, before I lose all of my hair...

1. Pray.

2. Tell the fella when I am stressed, so he can rub my back or make me a gin and tonic.

3. Read books I love, with stories that carry me away.

4. Limiting the time I look at real estate - too long and I become overwhelmed with the abundant options

5. Make a budget, and make financial choices that stick to the budget - e.g. no breakfast at the markets rather fresh fruit when we get home.

6. Exercise.

7. Knit up a storm.

8. Spend quality time with the kitty.

If you have any other tips, please let me know. I need to get over the habit of stressing.

On the plus side, just before I start the new job I've volunteered at the Melbourne Stitches and Craft Fair. I will be part of the knitting bar, whipping up a storm. Can't wait to be part of a few solid days of crafting with others who have a similar passion. Hurrah!