I follow this Facebook page called The Organised Housewife – it gives you great ideas about how to keep your house clean and organised. She also gives you a weekly declutter challenge that I like to do. Every now and then she also posts a ‘Reader Question’ and someone asked how often people wash the linen. The common answer was weekly, some twice a week, others were honest like me and said less often especially in winter. Some people said they washed their towels daily! Seriously? I cannot keep up with washing the clothes (for 2 people!), let alone washing sheets weekly and towels daily? And when I am on top of the washing of clothes, that doesn’t mean they get folded – it just means they are clean. Depending on what we are doing (work-wise and socially), if we are particularly busy we are rummaging through the clean clothes piles for undies! So if is wasn’t for Facebook, I wouldn’t think I am doing something wrong! (Although I would know rummaging for undies isn’t the norm!)

Now I know I said time seems to disappear, so you’ll think I am a bit crazy about what I say next… but last week I made it my mission to solve the Rubik’s Cube. On the 19th of May 2014 it was Rubik’s Cube 40th anniversary. Beside the fact that it makes me feel old, seeing it mentioned on the news (or firstly as Google’s homepage picture) I wondered if there would be YouTube videos on how to solve it. Well everything is on YouTube nowadays! So I made it my project to finally solve my Rubik’s Cube (that I have had since I was 10!) – and I just want to add here that I had a pretty bad chest cold so being rugged up with a Rubik’s Cube seemed like the best thing to do

I found this YouTube video that is pretty good by Techtopia Tutorials. I watched the beginning (up to 1:50 mins) a couple of times while he explained the basics of the cube. Now he mentions that there are algorithms that solve the Rubik’s Cube and don’t get scared by that word and nor what an algorithm may look like (example: F F U L R’ F F L’ R U F F ) because he breaks it down and explains it all. He also explains that an algorithm is a “Sequence of moves used to solve a specific portion of the Rubik’s Cube.” I had my Rubik’s Cube and I followed along with him until around the 8:50 minute mark and that’s where I got stuck. I couldn’t believe it, I was cheating at solving the Rubik’s Cube and I still couldn’t get it. It made me think of 2 people I know that can solve the Rubik’s Cube. I met both of them during University years. One mentioned that he got the Rubik’s Cube for Christmas one year (when he was around 12) and took it off to his bedroom and mathematically solved it… This guy did have a pretty high IQ, but at 12 years old he solved it? How inadequate did that thought make me feel when I couldn’t solve it with help!

So I started thinking – I have had this Rubik’s Cube since I was 10, what if I did swap a square sticker or two when I was young, or if one of my sisters did. The cube was also getting hard to turn certain ways so I Googled how to clean it (click here for instructions on how to clean it). I figured if I put it back together the correct way, then I would know if I had changed some stickers! So I took it apart and it was DISGUSTING inside!

27 years of filth! I sprayed some CRC and put it back together and it worked fine. So I was a failure at cheating! (I thought you would like to see what the inside of the Rubik’s Cube looks like. I read a little bit about Ernő Rubik and he is chuffed that the mechanism he invented is still what is used today).

But I wasn’t about the give up. I found this other website that showed a picture tutorial of You CAN Do The Rubik’s Cube! It was extremely helpful and I worked out I was at Stage 5 and guess what? I SOLVED THE RUBIK’S CUBE!  I know I did it with help, but it has been on my radar to work it out for 27 years, so I am quite pleased with myself. And I couldn’t just stop there, I had Rubik’s Octagon Barrel which hadn’t been in the right shaped for about 14 years – this is where my other friend from University years comes in. I learnt at a party at his place that he could do the Rubik’s Cube, so when he came over my place for grape picking (that is a whole other blog post!) I handed him my Octagon Barrel and you know what, he solved it! How did he do that?!

I found yet another YouTube by IntellivisionDude that showed a guy solving the barrel. It wasn’t a step by step tutorial though, he pretty much says that it has the same principles as the Rubik’s Cube – with a couple of exceptions which he does go into detail about. So I went back to my first YouTube and started solving the Octagon Barrel and you’ll never guess what? It worked!

I now have my own written instructions that I have used a few times to solve the Rubik’s Cube and Octagon Barrel – so I am pretty happy that I have got this crossed off the bucket list! If anyone wants me to show them how to do it, I would be more than happy to show you and give you my instructions! Just for the record, I can not solve it quickly nor remember all the steps – there 7 stages and about 12 different algorithms to use, and my memory is just not what it used to be! And I am not sure I believe that “The current world record for single time on a 3×3×3 Rubik’s Cube was set by Mats Valk of the Netherlands in March 2013 with a time of 5.55 seconds” – per Wikipedia. It takes me well over 5 minutes to do it now!

I thought I would pop a cake in at the end of this post – and there are three reasons why this cake fits this post – first off I saw this cake and read the tutorial and just wanted to do it (like I wanted to do the Rubik’s Cube); secondly it is made up of pieces and cubes (just like the… you get it? Okay!); and thirdly it ended up being very time sensitive… never enough time…

The cake I saw was this Optical Illusion Cake by Wicked Goodies and I just wanted to make it. It seemed quite simple, yet so effective. I ended up making a version for my father-in-law for his 70th birthday. We held a 12 person dinner party for him and we cooked all of his favourite foods – oysters, mushrooms, bread rolls & butter, lamb and apple pie! Since I was cooking for 12 people and we wanted to do 4 courses, I wasn’t sure if I was going to make a cake – that was until I saw this Optical Illusion cake! Then I thought I would give it a go.

Of course I didn’t give myself enough time and when the guests started arriving my bench was covered in blue diamonds! But while we were waiting for everyone to arrive, and the guests that were there were having their first drink, I quickly put all the diamonds on the cake! I was quite chuffed when they saw the cubes appearing in the design and made excited comments One thing I did learn when making this cake was I should have covered the diamonds while they were waiting for me to put them on the cake, by the time I got half way through the diamonds were starting to dry out, so they where hard to mould into the design and also cracked a little bit. You live and learn right?

I hope you can see the optical illusion effect on the cake – it does look better from a distance. Until next time – I hope you all have a wonderful weekend (and it is yet another long weekend in Western Australia, but it is our second last until Christmas – which is 30 weeks away!!! )

I thought I better introduce you to some of the OOAK (One Of A Kind) collectibles I have and the artists behind them. I won’t expand too much on some of the artists as one day I would like to dedicate a blog post to each of them.

First guy off the ranks is a gnome by by artist Girardi Mariano. I bought him in Las Vegas at the Venetian (Grand Canal Shoppe’s Venetian Resort Hotel) in a shop called Il Prato  http://www.ilpratousa.com/dolls.html). This guy is quite special because I actually bought him on my wedding day – 25th March 2008! I also bought he Venetian mask at the same place. Doesn’t it look like one of the masks out of The Labyrinth!

There are a few creatures on my cover page by Conny Deylen (http://connydeylen.com/) . These snippets were written by Conny Deylen:

Gauri the Female Mud Troll is not considered the most beautiful creature in Carmella’s realm. The male Mud Trolls know beauty when they see it. Whenever they see a female they are particularly attracted too they just naturally throw mud at her to get her attention. They more mud the more they are attracted. Gauri is in fact continually covered in real mud and just knows that she’s just a “Gorgeous Gal”. [March 2006]

Ligeia The Mermaid is head mistress to a school of mermaids living near Wilsons Promontory. Their main job is to look after all the sea creatures in the area and to check on water pollution on behalf of FEPA (Fairy Environment Protection Authority). [March 2006]

Also by Conny Deylen is Fang the Dragon [July 2007], another mermaid and LadyHawk the fairy born the 25th Day of April 2005 in The Fairy Dell [Register of Magical Births]. I named LadyHawke after the movie Lady Hawke starring Matthew Broderick and Michelle Pfeiffer.

I bought this Steampunk doll from Supanova a couple of years ago. I believe a local Western Australia girl made her. Here is a website I found that shows how to make them!http://makezineblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/steampunk-softies-marveletta.pdf

Mad Hatter is by Natasha Morgan – I think I have shown a picture of him before taken by Natasha Morgan. I took this photo I absolutely love Natasha’s work – please check out her Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Natasha-Morgan/148807718484271?fref=ts) or her Etsy shop (https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/NatashaMorgan).

Sap Dancer is by the famous Wendy Froud – wife of Brian Froud. Did I say famous? Well you ALL know someone she created – Yoda for the 1980 film Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back! So yes – I am a VERY lucky girl to have Sap Dancer in my collection   (Photo is from AFA gallery (http://afanyc.com/ – my photo edited was quite terrible on my cover page version!)

The Fairy Godmother is by Tony Rice. This is a 12 inch mixed media sculpture that was inspired by a painting by Brian Froud (http://www.elfwood.com/~scoundrel). I’ve also included Brian Froud’s print The Faery Godmother so you can see what inspired Tony Rice – how lucky was I to find this sculpture!

I do not want to forget Hoggle from The Labyrinth. He is a magnet made by Bronwyn Frazier – “Oh don’t act so smart. You don’t even know what an oubliette is.”  (http://www.eyefeather.com/hogglemagnet.htm)

Of course cakes are a part of my labyrinth, so I wanted to include them in the cover page too. I hope you like the ones I selected. I also snuck in a Brian Froud book – Lady Cottington’s Pressed Fairy Book. And unfortunately I cannot remember where I got the red mask from…

The rest of the characters are not OOAKs – are you able to name them? And are you able to guess who else I have in my collection?

The Easter Bunny visited me in the U.S. so I could give some Reece’s Pieces to my niece and nephew and also my friend’s kids. When my friend’s kids heard the Easter Bunny had given me some treats, a request was put in that they come to my house for a treasure hunt in my media room and also to watch a movie. My friend and I decided on The Goonies this time, we are trying to introduce some of our old faves to them. Last holidays it was Bedknobs and Broomsticks!

So what do The Goonies and a Easter Egg hunt have in common? A treasure map!

So here is the map I made the kids! My friend had to read it out to them, and I was very impressed she got the rhythm that was in my head!

Hear ye, hear ye!
The U.S. Easter bunny is very tricky.
Follow some clues
To find some treats of goo!
Take four paces as if ones tall,
To find four red golden balls.

Marshmallow eggs the Easter bunny has hidden,
Is there something long black and wooden?
Open the doors to find what is there,
There may be boobie traps so beware!

Fancy some Easter jelly beans?
Hope you’ve been good and your bedroom is clean?
Turn over the treasure map,
For clues on your next step.

Now for Reece’s Pieces and a pirate movie called The Goonies.
Be good and not act like loonies!
Carefully use the buttons to raise the middle chairs,
Now look under to find the last Easter treasures!!

The first section of the map was stuck to the media room door, and the next quarter was with the first lot of goodies and the next section was with the next lot of goodies and so on. The red golden balls were Lindt Milk Chocolate balls. The boobie traps were DVDs leaning against the doors of the TV cabinet so when the doors were opened they fell out. My friend asked the kids what in the room goes “Grrr!” and Scott pointed to my Chewbacca! Sure enough the jelly beans were under him! The kids seemed to enjoyed the treasure hunt, and even more so enjoyed the goodies while watching The Goonies.

I do love the movie very much and I love how the musical score just sucks you into the adventure and how it expresses the emotions so well. Starting with the Fratelli Chase filled with excitement to get you revved up. The sparking romantic section when they are taking a pee break (and sneaking a kiss in the tunnel), which is followed by “They’re here!” and the Skull Cave Race when the tempo has increased, heart is racing, danger looming! I just love it! Dave Grusin did an amazing job composing this score.

But I cannot leave out Cyndi Lauper’s song “The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough“… brilliant in the movie.

And lastly, just to prove I am such a Goonie, here is the T-shirt I wore today (courtesy of my lovely hubbie who bought it for me when he was in the U.S.) “Goonies Never Say DIE!”  

I then spent my birthday and the following day volunteering at Oz Comic Con, the first time it has been to Perth! What is Comic Con? I have been surprised how many people have asked me that. I thought it was common knowledge. Or maybe I have just seen more Sci-Fi shows/movies than the usual person and picked up what Comic Con was… Comic Con is a fan convention (or con!) in which fans of comics, fantasy and sci-fi books, TV shows and movies gather to hold programs and meet experts and famous personalities, among other things. Since 2008 Supanova has been coming to Perth, but now we have two big conventions in town!

The big draw cards of our first Oz Comic Con were William Shatner (James T. Kirk, captain of the USS Enterprise i.e. Star Trek and also Boston Legal) and Richard Dean Anderson (MacGyver and Star Gate SG-1). There were other stars such as Patricia Quinn (The Rocky Horror Picture Show), Eddie McClintock (Warehouse 13 – my autograph to the right and photo below), Jason Momoa (Star Gate: Atlantis and Game of Thrones – my autograph above) and Callum Blue (Dead Like Me, The Tudors and Smallville – photos and autographs below). So I was extremely excited, and so were 27,000 other Perthians!

I really wanted to see Richard Dean Anderson and Callum Blue. Growing up I was a big MacGyver fan and among a million others, couldn’t wait to own a Swiss Army knife! Last year at Supanova I got Callum Blue’s autograph and oh my god is he a most beautiful person. Stunning blue eyes, infectious laugh and he is so personable and takes time to chat to everyone. So when I heard he was coming to Perth again, I wanted (desperately?!) to have a photo with him!

I was volunteering with my youngest sister and we were helping ‘man’ a shop. So each day for 12 very long feet-hurting hours we sold lots and lots of Disney paraphernalia, autographed photos, framed autographed pictures and other bits and pieces. I managed to sneak away (I pulled “It’s my birthday” card!) and get a photo with MacGyver. Basically the photo experience was “My name is Michelle”, “Hello Michelle”, flash and then me: “Thank you so much!”. Mr Anderson was super popular and I didn’t get my autograph until around 6:30pm. I was third last in the queue. I asked if he would write Happy Birthday on my photo, to which his personal assistant said “no personalisation”, but Richard was super sweet and started writing ‘Happy Birthday’, to which I went “ahhhh, that’s so sweet”. He then asked who it was for and I said “Michelle”. He then looked up and asked “Is it your birthday today”, and I said yes… to which he said “Happy Birthday!”. He was something like the fifth person to say Happy Birthday to me in person!!!

Sunday was super mad. A couple of Oz Comic Con organisers said that Sunday would be slower than Saturday… but I don’t think they know Perth that well! After some desperate “can I go get a photo” questions etc, I got a photo with Eddie McClintock (to the right). And then I went to get two photos (it was my birthday weekend after all) with Callum Blue. I walked into Callum Blue’s booth and said “I get two photos with you”, to which he replied “We’ll have to do something special for the second one.”. We took the normal one and he said “So what should we do?”, I said “I don’t know, poke our tongues out or something?”. He said “Narh, lets pose for a kiss”. Now I can be a bit of a giggle pot when started and I just laughed. We posed and I swear it was long enough for a photo, so I pulled away cracking up (and doubling over)… but no, we had to pose again! The photo was taken and Callum said he had to check it out, to which he laughed and said I must be a good actor!!!

Later on I lined up to get my autographs with Callum and then Eddie. As I said Callum chit-chats. I was about fifteenth in line, but I was waiting for over half an hour. My feet were killing me by this stage, so I was leaning from side to side trying to get my weight off my feet. After many sweet-talked fans it was my turn. He laughed when he saw my photo and said to his assistant that it was his favourite photo of the day. I said I had smsed my husband about it and his response was “Yay!”, and I didn’t know what that meant. He said that I should tell him we slipped some tongue in after the photograph. I laughed and said something along the lines off that he was in the states at the moment so he wouldn’t know. To which Callum said “F-k him, lets nick off then!”… more of my laughter followed. Callum handed me my photos and said “Great snog!” in his English accent…. More laughter. I was on cloud nine. Best birthday ever!!!

My parents also came to Oz Comic Con on Sunday and were there for 6 hours!! Mum got a photo and autograph with William Shatner (she loves him off Boston Legal) and they also saw the R.D.A. (Richard Dean Anderson) and William Shatner panels. They thought the panels were great. Dad was beaming after seeing R.D.A. He said he was so funny. Apparently R.D.A. glanced over his shoulder and saw himself on the big projector screen and said “oh my god, I am old and fat”! He apologised for the weight, saying he had had a couple of operations over the past year or so on his foot and leg, and just couldn’t exercise to shift it. He then tugged on his hair and said “This? This is just me being lazy”…. I love it!!

After some house cleaning and chill-axing on Monday, I went to visit my folks in the hills on Tuesday. It was the puppies first visit to the grandparents! After the struggle of me getting them in the car by myself including two escapees and one near miss; the drive there was a success. Meeting their cousins Leo (German Shepherd) and Daisy (West Highland Terrier) was also a success! Except for Macbeth (less than 3kgs) and Leo (over 60kgs) had a couple of growls – Macbeth’s instigation. Had my Mum in fits of laughter!!!

I made my birthday cake this year. Actually the cake was supposed to be my first Christmas Cake and was made in November. But I had so much cake last year that I didn’t fancy it. So after many top ups of brandy, I iced my cake last week. A layer of  marzipan stuck on by apricot jam, and then some Royal Icing the next day. The recipe I made was my Mum’s. It came from a recipe book Dad gave to her in September 1971 (Marguerite Patten’s Every Day Cook Book in colour)! We are not sure why Dad gave it to her, as the month has no significance, but maybe it was to help her cooking out. Well she was only 16! And kudos to Dad, because Mum is an amazing cook! (I’ll post the recipe on my Tumblr site tomorrow if you’re interested http://michelleslabyrinth.tumblr.com/)

So to ensure my cake looked like a birthday cake I added blue dragons and blue flowers!!!! I love my birthday cake

It was a wonderful different birthday. Thank you to all the smses, voice messages and messages on Facebook. Oh, and I did make a little purchase on my birthday with my birthday money from my Grandparents… Signed Supernatural Season 7 framed photo. Yay! My birthday filled with all my favourite boys!!

One more thing, I have been enjoying Season 1 of Dead Like Me again, and Mandy Patinkin enjoyed a piece of Key Lime Pie in the ‘Pilot’… I see/hear pie everywhere now! A couple of pie blogs will follow soon

Last thing – sorry for my dodgy photos. I took them with my iPhone. Was too lazy to go upstairs and scan my photos. That and I want to keep the best quality of the originals just for me

Hubbie from Berkley, California says hi to all my blog fans

I have been thinking about whether to write this post all afternoon and evening. I have started seven other blog posts and three of them are well advanced, so wasn’t sure if I should start another one! Also even though people try and convince others that depression is not taboo, nothing to be ashamed about, it is with many people. People just do not want to discuss it. But we should be able to! I have a friend who has spoken up about domestic violence, so here I am opening up about depression.

I know the day my friend was going to tell me about his depression. We caught up every now and then for a coffee at Gloria Jean’s and this time he e-mailed that he wanted to tell me something. We chatted about work and he told me that he had stomach ulcers again, but I knew that wasn’t the ‘something’. I didn’t pry as I just don’t like appearing nosey. He didn’t mention anything else. Not long after that it was Christmas and he and his wife took off for a drive to Adelaide. His wife mentioned this in her eulogy and things started to make sense about some of his actions. I wished I had been nosey. What if he had one more friend that understood what he was going through?

I understand completely. I understand why someone would feel like suicide is the only option. I understand the constant struggle – to smile, to operate, to live. I understand the feeling of total isolation, from everything and everyone. What I do not understand is why people think suicide is the easy way out – what is harder than making the decision to leave your family (parents, spouse, children etc) behind? Why are people so mad at the person that completed suicide – should you not feel some empathy to what they must have been going through to make such a final decision? Are people just trying to put the anger they feel at themselves onto the one that has passed? I do not the answers, these are just my thoughts. I am not mad at my friend for making the decision he did, I am just sad. Sad he didn’t think he could talk to me, sad that he didn’t think he would get out of the darkness, sad that he is no longer around for his wife and family.

When I found out about my friend I went into a dark place pretty quickly. Things were mad for me that January and February. Our Kalgoorlie house had settled, but our Perth house was not ready, so we were homeless. I had a lovely friend that took hubbie, Makita and me in for a week or so, until a unit that belonged to work was available. It was month end and I was trying to pass on all my knowledge to my replacement, and January was the worst month end at my previous employer, because it had a December year end, so that meant in January there was a lot more reporting, plus you had to roll over all sorts of models in time for January’s month end. I was stressed about the Perth house, things were taking too long. We also had to pack, and since I was going to be in Kalgoorlie for another month until I finished work, I had to ensure I didn’t pack certain things. And because the Perth house wasn’t finished we had to store our entire life contents somewhere! We had planned our wedding trip for March, so we were busy planning that. We were also building two units in Kalgoorlie, so there was some extra pressure there too. Plus we were about to get married! Not that that was a stressful thing for us, since we were going to enjoy ourselves in Las Vegas! But it is still a lot to deal with at once!

At the funeral, his wife read out a book that her late husband related to – I Had A Black Dog by Matthew Johnstone. Holy bleep! How I related to the words she read out. How things made sense. It was exactly how I had been feeling on and off for a year or so. How brave and strong she was to read that out, at her husband’s funeral in front of hundreds of people, and being so young herself. How wonderful she was/is!

Since February 2008 I have been on and off anti-depressants. There was a 18 month section in the middle where I wasn’t on them; I was really enjoying work. But the black dog feeds off stress and fatigue, and I had been in highly stressed roles for years. I don’t talk about my black dog, well it is more like my dark cloud. I smile and laugh and have been told how great my laugh is and that I am the happiest person someone knows. My laugh is happy, and it takes a lot of effort to laugh sometimes, it is exhausting, then I get fatigued, then the black cloud takes over. I have tried to talk about it, but have then been asked what do I have to be stressed about? So I shut down.

It is not about being stressed or being sad. It is not something you can build a bridge and get over (something else said to me). It is a chemical reaction, a ‘brain state’ as it says in I Had A Black Dog. I guess you could say depression is like alcoholism, addiction, diabetes. It is a disease. I am not weak. I am not a whinger. I just have a black cloud that is always near by.

So I just wanted to say that there are people out there that are willing to listen, without judgement – like me! Our lives are hectic, we are moving a million miles an hour but we need to take care of ourselves. We are often told to slow down and smell the roses, or enjoy the sunset. But how often do we do that? We should make more of an effort to make time for our family, our friends and most of all ourselves. That is what is important.

On a different topic, I did my first felting project today! I have been seeing lots of lovely felted fantasy creatures on Facebook and Etsy, so I thought I would give it a go. I watched the youtube videos (Make a Felt Sheep, Part 1 &2):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XijouQJyE4U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nEhjPIs95M

And got some ideas from Facebook pages:

http://www.facebook.com/FeltingIsFun
http://www.facebook.com/TanglewoodThicketCreations

So this is what I made:

The inspiration from Labyrinth:

Felting is fun. You stab (I mean poke) wool with a small needle until that tangles the fibres until they join into the shape you want. The stabbing is fun and I think it is going to be a new method to remove any excess anger

And also I was serious, if you ever need me, for any reason at all… I am here for you.

DIDYMUS:  AND REMEMBER, FAIR MAIDEN, SHOULD YOU NEED US…
HOGGLE:   YES, SHOULD YOU NEED US, FOR ANY REASON AT ALL…
SARAH:    I NEED YOU, HOGGLE.
HOGGLE:   YOU–YOU DO?
SARAH:    I DON’T KNOW WHY, BUT EVERY NOW AND AGAIN IN MY LIFE, FOR NO REASON AT ALL, I NEED YOU– ALL OF YOU.
HOGGLE:   OH, YOU DO? WELL, WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY SO?

Monday morning started fairly well. I wanted to get up early and go dress shopping. I had left buying my outfit for the Melbourne Cup until the last minute. But I was so exhausted, so had a little sleep-in. My dress shopping was a success – found something after only trying two dresses on! Then a lovely lady helped me buy my first fascinator, and I already had shoes to match! Yay!

Monday early evening I received a call about some bad news. One of my loved ones has cancer. It is not my story to tell, but we are optimistic that it can be removed and it was found early enough.

Tuesday was a fun Melbourne Cup day – my first one outside of an office! My hubbie had organised for his team at work to go to Ascot Racecourse in the Yellowglen tent and paid for me to go too – well I have done some work for him! We had a lovely lunch, the smoked salmon entree and chicken main were divine, and lots of sparkling wine – Yellowglen of course! One person won a bet on our table, but hubbie and I had no lucky gambles at all!

Wednesday and Thursday I had great card making mornings. Nine Christmas cards done! The afternoons I stayed home, did some cleaning and cooking and spent some quality time with my puppy Makita. She had started bloating on the weekend and it was making it harder for her to get up. Now I say puppy, but she is almost 13.5 years old, which is fantastic for a rottweiler. But I say puppy because she is my baby. Thursday afternoon I e-mailed the mobile vet to come and see Makita. Wednesday night we went for a walk and she only made it to the second house down. She just laid down and I was worried we weren’t going to be able to coax her back up! And Thursday she flatly refused to go for a walk, which is a first

Also Thursday night I remembered to pay for another purchase for my studio – a Mad Hatter doll. I had asked the artist in South Wales UK on Sunday to hold it for me while I got some credit card details (as I had to cancel my credit card that weekend because it was hacked!). I finally remembered to pay her Thursday night, as I had been somewhat distracted during the week.

I woke up at 3am on Friday morning. My mind was buzzing with a couple of ideas, so I got up to write them down. I then checked Facebook and Twitter and saw a post about a gallery in New York who was showing Brian and Wendy Froud’s Trolls. I already have the new book called “Trolls”, I pre-ordered it months ago. But I somehow managed to find a catalogue of more than 100 Full color pages of over 100 paintings, drawings & sculptures including many published pieces, the lost Labyrinth collection, and new sculptures from Wendy & Toby. So I ordered it, because I have a collection of all of Brian & Wendy’s books.

Since I was on the AFA gallery website (http://afanyc.com/) I thought I would have a look around, and found that some of Wendy’s sculptures were still unsold. It said that for original art that you had to phone up for prices etc, but since it was in New York I thought I would shoot them an e-mail. There was one particular sculpture I liked called Sap Dancer. I got a e-mail back very quickly, but it had the price and a picture of one of Brian drawings. So I wrote back with a picture of Wendy’s sculpture and said that I was after the “doll”, not the drawing. I got a quick reply saying Sap Dancer was definitely available and the detail on him was incredible.

At this stage it is 4:08am. I thought the price was extremely reasonable for an original piece of artwork. So I had to make a decision, do I check with hubbie first or just order it. I thought about asking if they would hold it for 24 hours while I checked with hubbie, but it would be Friday night our time by then and I may not feel like phoning New York. Plus I really really wanted it – I never thought I would be able to buy an original Froud piece of art! So I called New York!

The phone was a bit crackly to start with, I had to ask for Carol three times and said it was Michelle and I had just e-mailed her. I waited a few moments and this excited American voice said “Is that Michelle from Australia?” She was so excited, she said that once she knew I was after the sculpture that she ran downstairs to make sure he was still there. She then asked me if I had met the Frouds! I am like no It would be an unbelievable experience. She said that she had filmed one of Wendy’s sculpture workshops and it was amazing. She said she just wanted to put the camera down and get involved in the clay. She also said her boss had a chateau in the south of France and Wendy occasionally held workshops there. She then asked if I had the new “Trolls” book, I said yes I have all of his books. She then asked me about some specific books and I am like yes I have them all, I have everything except for Wendy’s Sculpture Workshop DVD. She said that I must be a big fan then… Yes

I had a lovely hour drive on Friday, with my convertible’s roof down, to visit my friend and her 3 month old. One the way I thought about my new purchase. I was so excited. I thought that I could almost go back to work now for a bit, since I have fulfilled a dream.

I had a great day with my friend. We chatted, then went scrapbook shopping. I had given my friend the idea on a previous visit to start a scrapbook of her baby girl. She is very creative and likes to be active. Under doctor orders she isn’t allowed much physical activity at the moment, so I thought scrap-booking would keep her occupied. She also has rottweilers and we had a fantastic talk about Makita and what the near future may hold.

Friday afternoon the vet visited Makita. Makita has a chip on her shoulder about being touched (unless it is cuddling or patting!). The vet was awesome and understood some dogs are nervous and just let Makita be. He prescribed some pills, which Makita is taking with a spoonful of apricot jam. It is the only way to get her to take tablets – jam! It took us about 11 years to work it out too. Tried cheese, ham, peanut butter… and when she started going on daily arthritis medicine I had to find a better solution, and jam just seemed to be it. There was no sucking the jam off and spitting out the tablets like other methods. I also always think of “a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down…In a most delightful way”, a song from Mary Poppins, when I give her jam.

Friday night I spent with my youngest sister. We went and saw Paullina Simons – our favourite author! She did an hour talk about her latest book “Children of Liberty” which is a prequal to “The Bronze Horseman”. Then she did some book signing. She is a beautiful lady, completely down to earth and she makes time to speak to each person and she loves Perth! I think it is wonderful she comes to Perth and I think she said it was her 5th time!

The highlight of Saturday was dinner at Rockpool with some ex-colleagues. It was great to catch up with them and have a girls night out. The Wagyu Bolognaise was extremely tasty, but I would buy the main size course if it is going to be your meal. I almost went with entree size, because their entree sizes are pretty big, but I am glad I had main – to soak up my cocktail

Both Saturday and Sunday morning I was up pretty early and went outside to have breakfast, read and soak in some sunshine. It was truly peaceful and I had Makita next to me sun-baking as well. I was listening to the birds chirping, the occasion squeal from the kid next door and just breathing in the fresh air. My mobile rang just after 9am on Sunday, which is extremely odd since most people know I like my sleep-ins. I knew straight away what had happened.

Source: http://www.army.gov.au/Our-history/Traditions/~/media/Images/Our%20History/Traditions/Remembrance%20Day/R10713831.jpg

My Granddad passed away early Sunday morning. Remembrance Day. I knew he was not doing well, as he had stopped eating earlier in the week, but it is still a shock. I was also worried about my Dad, as I know he has been so busy lately. Of course you start to then reflect. There would be no more cheek from Granddad; no more being asked which country you were calling from (or acting surprised if you were actually in Australia); or that you should be a belly dancer. You then remember your younger memories of him: the sliding cut off thumb trick; the poking out of his false teeth; that his fridge was always stocked with lemonade and he always had Arnott’s biscuits ready for his visitors.

I thank Granddad for my nose, my tardiness and my addiction to chocolate. But of course also for my Dad and for his love of his family and pets. I’ll miss his Geordie accent, which I could understand most of the time, unless he didn’t have his teeth in! I will always remember our Friday night visits to Nanna and Granddad’s and how Dad’s Geordie accent was always stronger after visiting his folks. And I have a couple of mementos to look upon.

Remembrance Day will now hold an even stronger meaning for me. I always thought of Granddad during our minute’s silence on the 11th of 11th. Granddad was shot and then captured as a prisoner of war in Germany during WW2. He used to tell us stories about being a POW. He only told us the more fun moments though. He was well liked by the guards, once hit by lightning, pulled out of fist fights and he even escaped. He just kept his hat down, said goodbye in German to the guard and just walked out. He was picked up a number of miles down the road though. He said that the guards were just human, like him. They were just doing their part of the war and as long as you respected them, things were okay.

I think he was well liked then and now because he loved to laugh. When my sister and I last visited him he was so happy to see us, even though I think he was confused a couple of times which grandkids we were. And he said that laughter is the best medicine. I have always believed that myself, and since Granddad made it to 93 and a half years old there must be something in it!

Granddad lead an interesting life as hinted above. He was born in 1919 so was a post WW1 baby. He was father to 5 children, post WW2 babies. Granddad and Nanna emigrated from Newcastle (England) in 1963 on the ship Canberra, with hopes of a better future for their five children. Granddad and Nanna’s names are engraved forever on the Welcome Walls of the West Australia Museum in Fremantle.

If my maths is right, Granddad was grandfather to 14 and great-grandfather to 22! So he will surely be missed. But he is now with Nanna. He has been without her for over 17 years and now they are together again. So we must smile at that. If you have a moment, please listen to “Hit The Road Jack” by Ray Charles and reminisce about your grandparents, whether they are still here or up above.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8Tiz6INF7I

I am not sure how I would have coped if I had been working and totally stressed to start with. The world works in mysterious ways, that is for sure. I am sorry if you found this blog post long and unsettling – life can suck sometimes. To help cope I indulged in a huge slab of fruit cake and a lemonade yesterday, in honour of Granddad, and I am munching on some chocolate while writing this blog post. Back to blogging about cake decorating next time!

I don’t understand people who complain that Christmas, Easter and Valentine’s Day are over commercialised. I guess Halloween is starting to fall into that category too, because there does seem to be more products available for purchase compared to years ago. But I do not think they are over commercialised, because just understanding the concept of ‘supply and demand’ means there must be a demand for the products, otherwise it would be unprofitable to supply them! Also is over commercialisation a bad thing? Doesn’t it mean there are even more beautiful Christmas decorations available to buy; cheaper Easter Eggs because of the volumes (debatable); and more specific Valentine Teddy Bears purchasable (differing from teddy lingerie – an unfortunate ex-boyfriend make the mistake of seeing a Valentine special for silk teddies, thinking it was a silk teddy bear. Caused for an embarrassing situation at the store for him!). The products available in USA for Halloween are even cooler than anything I have seen here. These are some items I purchased in Maine this year.

The first thing to pop into my head each time I think about Halloween is the Disney cartoon The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I can clearly see the headless horseman, on his rearing black steed, holding a burning jack-o-lantern next to a covered bridge. About a week ago I watched The Legend of Sleepy Hollow on YouTube and it is scary! Probably why it is etched into my brain. I barely remember the first part of the movie – a lanky teacher (named Ichabod Crane) with his head always in a book competing with a bustling burly man for the local beauty. I am wondering if around Halloween each year The Wonderful World of Disney had a Halloween special and just showed the last half of the movie, starting from when he enters the woods on his old horse after a party…

If you want to watch The Legend of Sleepy Hollow here is the YouTube Link:

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a8il8kOMsg  (make sure you watch the 4 parts uploaded by Frostbyte380)

My brother-in-law and niece were over from the U.K. for the past two weeks. Last Saturday we hosted a party where all my hubbie’s extended family and my brother-in-law’s old friends were invited. We were expecting around 50 adults and 20 kids so I wanted to make a big cake! I struggled with what I should make and hubbie couldn’t come up with any suggestions about things my bro-in-law especially likes. So since it was close to Halloween I thought a Halloween cake would be a great idea!

While making my latest creation I had a Tim Burton session. Tim Burton is one my favourite directors/producers/writers (all round artist!). So the inspiration for my Halloween cake included (watched in this order) The Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, and lastly Sleepy Hollow (Johnny Depp’s version of Ichabod Crane! I love Christopher Walken as the headless horseman – his teeth and eyes are terrifying!). Oh, and to the right is a photo of a covered bridge we went through a few times in Jackson, New Hampshire during our recent travels. I straight away thought of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow when I saw it and hubbie said “What about Beetlejuice?” Clever hubbie!!!!

So with no further ado I present my Halloween cake – where little kids (or monsters if you believe in monsters like I do!) are trick-or-treating at the eerie end of town. (And sorry for my friends on Facebook and followers on Twitter who had a “sneak peek” over a week ago! The wait for this blog must have been torturous for you! :P)

The left half of the cake was a chocolate cake and the right side a vanilla cake. The most right-hand little purple guy is supposed to be a wizard. I wanted to put some stars on his purple cape/hat, but ran out of time. The spiders went down well with the kids at the party. The legs disappeared during the afternoon, and then after everyone had left my niece went up to what was left of the cake, grabbed a spider and bit his head off!

My favourite trick-or-treater is the Frankenstein (without his hair hubbie said he looked like Yoda!).

I am also very happy how the ghosts turned out, and the mummy! Then of course there is the witch, werewolf and Dracula. Hubbie kept saying the werewolf, before I put the ears on, was Chewbacca.

I love the way the tree turned out – very Tim Burtonesque. I really hope I did Tim Burton justice. Can you tell I had a great time making this? It took over 3 nights to make (hence why I could watch 5 Tim Burton movies)!

I am so glad I thought of a scarecrow. Supernatural Season 1, Episode 11 titled Scarecrow is a great scray episode. It’s about the towns people of a small rural town who scarifice couples to a pagan god (who materialises through a scarecrow) to ensure they get a good harvest that year. Fitting for Halloween don’t you think?

I just had an uncanny SMS from my youngest sister. She is watching Sleepy Hollow as this blog post is written!! I think I’ll end the post here. Hope you like my latest creation.

Drinks by the pool consisted of buffet hanger steak and lamb; paella; deserts such as red velvet cupcakes, mango jubes and all sorts of other goodies; and of course all you can drink alcohol. I don’t think I have ever had hanger steak before, but it was absolutely mouthwatering. It was served with some sort of brown sauce and a pinch of salt. After a taste of the paella (Spanish rice dish) and lamb (not as tasty as Australian!) we went back for more hanger steak! I must ask my butcher friend about it… it is sometimes called ‘butchers steak’, ‘skirt steak’ or ‘bistro steak’. I hope we can get it over here!

Saturday morning consisted of three hours work for hubbie, and I went shopping at Macy’s. I love Macy’s – especially when it is 25% off all day if you buy a charity voucher for $5. We had free time Saturday afternoon, so I took hubbie back to Macy’s and he bought 2 suits, 2 shirts, 3 ties for $500! We walked down the street to get his suits hemmed and had another afternoon nap before the Playboy Mansion.

Sunday was Universal Studios and then we were taken out to dinner. Everyone wanted to go out drinking after dinner, but thankfully hubbie listened to my voice of reason and we headed back to the room after dinner. We had another 3 weeks worth of travel, and after all the alcohol consumed at the Playboy Mansion I didn’t want another big night. We were also supposed to go on a bike ride at Santa Monica the next morning after breakfast on the beachfront!

I had asked hubbie if we could skip the bike ride if I wasn’t feeling 100%. I would hate to be half way on a bike ride and feel like being sick, or worse – fall off! I  hadn’t looked at where we were going for breakfast, or where the bike ride was going, I was just following the crowd; but as the bus came into view of the ocean and I saw the pier, I thought of The Lost Boys and knew we weren’t going on the bike ride.

The Lost Boys is one of my top 10 favourite movies and The Lost Boys soundtrack is my number one! I just need to hear the words “People are strange, when you’re a stranger”, or “Mary Mary you’re on my mind”, or “Through the storms, Through the cries, And through the wars, Oh, I still believe” and I am transported to Santa Carla and a world of vampires and cute boys. My sisters and I would have chosen this video in the video store because of Corey Haim and Corey Feldman. We were huge Corey fans. My love started for Corey Feldman in Stand By Me and of course The Goonies. We also knew the evil Keifer Sutherland (also in Stand By Me), but Jason Patric was new to us!

So as we drove down towards the pier and I saw the Ferris wheel and the roller coaster  I just wanted to explore the pier and re-live The Lost Boys as much as possible. Santa Carla (“Murder Capital of the World”) is a fictional town in California based on Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz is further up the coast closer to San Francisco, so Santa Monica would just have to do for me.

I love American piers and I just hope that the Perth foreshore incorporates the tourist appeal that American piers have. We walked the pier after breakfast and I was praying that the roller coaster and Ferris wheel would open (hubbie and I are not morning people, so to be somewhere where things weren’t open yet was a bit foreign!). We then went for a walk along the beach and walked under the pier. One of my old time favourite songs is “Under the Boardwalk”, so I was excited to be under the boardwalk :P. It was also a little spooky under there, since so many murders in TV shows and novels occur on the beach and/or near boardwalks.

We then went on the roller coaster and the Ferris wheel. The roller coaster was completely tame after being at Universal Studios the day before. But we got to go around twice and there was a spot where I lost my stomach twice! The Ferris wheel was quite tame too, except the fact the sides of the car seemed quite low and hubbie has a habit of moving seats and rocking the car. I had a plan to quickly sit on the floor and hug the pole, which I think scared hubbie a little bit that I had a plan! The view from the Ferris wheel was great though.

We explored the pier some more and found Zoltar – from Tom Hanks’ Big. And no I did not ask for a wish, don’t you remember what happened last time! We also saw Bubba Gump Shrimp Co (inspired by the 1994 film Forrest Gump) and Soda Jerks (just a random name!! hehe).

I wanted a little more of The Lost Boys at this stage and was looking in every store for comics. I just loved the movie so much. The scene where Star (Jami Gertz) and Michael (Jason Patric) make eyes at each other during “I Still Believe” was so seductive, even for a young teenager! Some of my favourite quotes also come from this movie:

• Grandpa: “No. I just like to read the T.V. Guide. Read the T.V. Guide, you don’t need a T.V”;
• David: “What, you don’t like rice? Tell me Michael, how could a billion Chinese people be wrong?”;
• Sam: “Are you freebasing, Michael? Inquiring minds want to know”;
• Sam: “Death by stereo!”;
• Grandpa: “One thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach, all the damn vampires”.

The movie is just the perfect mix of comic, suspense and horror and even some love. Sam’s line “Look at your reflection in the mirror. You’re a creature of the night Michael, just like out of a comic book! You’re a vampire Michael! My own brother, a goddamn, shit-sucking vampire. You wait ’till mom finds out, buddy!” pretty much says it all. The movie was probably my first introduction to vampires as well. The Lost Boys was in 1987, Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Buffy the Vampire Slayer were 1992, Interview with a Vampire was 1994, From Dusk Til Dawn was 1996 (all movies from our video teenage era!).

The last stop on the pier, which should have been the first stop if we has actually done it in order, was the carousel. I love the first scene of the movie where Keifer Sutherland (David) and his boys are walking through a carousel as it is going around. Keifer’s long black coat is flapping, his colour turned up like Dracula’s would, and he is smirking and just looking menacing. It is the perfect start to a movie so I was glad to see the carousel. A comic book store would have sealed the whole experience, but I walked away with a big smile on my face.

People are strange when you’re a stranger
Faces look ugly when you’re alone
Women seem wicked when you’re unwanted
Streets are uneven when you’re down 

When you’re strange
Faces come out of the rain
When you’re strange
No one remembers your name
When you’re strange
When you’re strange
When you’re strange

Yes I am strange

My youngest sister remembers a troll cake I made for her when we were younger (a lot younger!) and encouraged me to make some more. I even loved creating back then; loved mixing colours and shaping the cake/icing until a sugary, buttery, chocolatey masterpiece was constructed! The cake was based on one of those 1980s fads – troll dolls! The cake was the troll’s face with rainbow coloured hair! I cannot find a photo of it though I just may have to make another one

When I told everyone at work I had resigned there was quite a bit of surprise, but a lot of support. They knew how hard I worked and it was not a decision that was made lightly. They liked the idea of me taking some time off and making more cakes! One of my ex-colleagues (I am still not used to saying ‘ex’, like ex-employer!) asked if I would make a birthday cake for her son to get the cake decorating ball rolling. She sent me some images from Google for inspiration and set me my first cake challenge! I loved the challenge!

As you can see it was space themed! I really enjoyed being able to decorate the two tiers as it gives the cake depth. I also loved being able to play with lots of colours (yeah, yeah, I’m a kid!)! I also liked blending colours to make patterns (marbling?) on the planets, and also giving some of the planets rings. While I was making the marbling effects on some of the planets, I thought it would be awesome to make the actual cake look Earth-like, with water marbling through it. I didn’t even consider trying to make it look like Earth! These cakes usually take me 4-6 hours as it is! I was quite please with the end product, and when I walked in my friend’s door her son squealed when he saw the cake! That was awesome!

Since the cakes take me a while to do (and usually my feet start killing me) I watch a movie or three I have been trying to choose movies along the same theme as the cakes I am making. While I made this cake I watched Ella Enchanted and Flight of the Navigator.

I chose Ella Enchanted because it is just so much fun and it always uplifts my spirits! When I made this cake I was supposed to have the day as an RDO, but it was the only day some external parties could all make it to the office. So I was in the office around 4am to finish off the presentation for them (we owed them money so I wanted to ensure I was right!) and then zoomed home just after 11am, well via Red Rooster! So I needed a movie that would definitely brighten my mood! Plus there are many interesting characters (not specifically aliens thought) that would inspire me. I cannot remember hearing about this movie when it came out at the cinemas. I found it at a DVD store and it would have been under $20 so just bought it. So I am guessing Ella Enchanted was very much underrated. So if you have kids around 10 or ones that love fairy tales, I totally recommend it!

Source: http://www.amazon.com/Ella-Enchanted/dp/B006RXPR5M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348578048&sr=8-1&keywords=ella+enchanted

The next movie was a 1980s favourite – Flight of the Navigator. When it got to the stage when the boy David is exploring the creatures (“specimens”) on the spaceship and sees a cute one an idea formed. “That is a Puckmarin from Binpuka Minor. He’s not dangerous”. (Pic to the side)

I very much wanted to make an alien like him, but dream on! I am no way near that good. But he inspired the little green slug-like alien. But it did give me the idea to think of other alien movies and what easy-ish aliens I could do – hence I made a Jawa from Star Wars (all from memory)!

I was supposed to cover 3 cakes during this post. But you got a bit of history of my cake decorating and also some insight into my movie obsession. Just another warning (no aliens this time), but a lot of my travel blog posts will reference movies too! I promise a travel post will be coming shortly! I have downloaded all our photos, just just need to troll through them!

PS Although I had gotten up at 4am and it was a long day/night making this cake, I thoroughly enjoyed it and won’t forget the squeal it received

Oops, Makita just came downstairs. She must have sensed I wasn’t up there anymore. I was a little worried about her while we were on our holidays. My parents’ rottweiler was 13 when she died – the morning after my sister went overseas. It was like she waited for her to leave. Makita is 13 years and 3 months! She looks great for her age, still walks around the block, eats well and goes up & down the stairs! But she has a massive growth on her back leg. It doesn’t bother her, but I am afraid of any ramifications from it. But boy was she happy to see us on Tuesday! Lots of licks and snuggles!

While we were on holidays I actually had thoughts about what I want to do going forward (mainly in the short-term). A friend is doing a TAFE course on cake decorating and that got my mind tumbling. One of the first things I did after I resigned from work was to book into a cake decorating course. I ended up having to cancel it because it conflicted with our US trip So I have just made myself busy making cakes for any excuse of an occasion! If I had planned my sabbatical, I would have considered doing a TAFE course right now; but now how do I convince my hubbie about doing one next year? So then I considered doing a MBA (Master of Business Administration). OMG I just sent a request for more information from the Uni of Adelaide. An on-line semester starts in October! I may as well get the details – costs, how long etc etc (and if I will have time to do a cake decorating course at the same time!). So I guess it is watch this space!

Holy moly! I have been sitting here for almost 4 hours. Teen Wolf, Midnight Madness, Tour of Duty (intro music is Paint it Black by the Rolling Stones. Yay! They changed the intro music on the DVDs…) and Walker Texas Ranger (Chuck Norris has scary white teeth!) have kept me somewhat entertained (more like given me company). I have also been playing with my twitter account @mordtaylor (I am a beginner at that too! Posted my first tweets tonight!) and also done the dishwasher and googled one of my favourite authors – Paullina Simons (she’s touring Australia in November, another yay!). I am very multi-talented!

Midnight Madness: The History of Horror, Sci-Fi and Fantasy Films (http://www.imdb.com/news/ni10447217/) – a documentary that looks like it has been split into 4 episodes by Foxtel. It was a bit wacky – discussing things such as “Teens Invade the Drive-Ins” and the old horror classics. But it was interesting how drive-ins started in the 1930s, gained a lot of popularity in the 1950s and 1960s – peaking to some 4000 in USA (obviously crazy teens and great scary movies such as The Blob)! And then the decline started in the 1980s (VCRs!).The name of the show gave me the chuckles though – I just feel like I had midnight madness because sleep seemed so far away!

My guilt also can be attributed to a project I need to do and haven’t started. I am a terrible procrastinator as I have probably mentioned. But not only is one of my flaws being a procrastinator, but I also collect things. I think I am a compulsive hoarder. The project I so desire to do is to sort and catalogue my studio. I have an extensive range of books and collectibles and I would like to ensure we have enough insurance to cover them all (and a complete listing also for insurance purposes). I also need to de-clutter the room, so it probably means some culling (hence why I am procrastinating!). And to the add salt to the wounds, I may have bought a bit while on our last trip! Here are some current photos of my studio and I plan to take you through my “travels” of sorting my studio!

I wasn’t overreacting with the compulsive hoarding was I? Wish me luck!