Violonjello

Hellfire

My state is in the midst of the worst bushfires. Ever.

I can't believe how absolutely devastating this has been; entire towns don't exist anymore, 208 people are dead (and counting), thousands of homes have been lost, and possibly millions of animals have perished. Although some of the fires were sparked by lightning, it is sickening to think that cold-blooded, selfish, idiotic people are responsible for some of this.

I have never felt so grateful to be alive and know that the people I love are safe. My grandmothers both live alone in the country and I was worried for them the whole time. One lives literally kilometres from the Kilmore fire - luckily for her, the wind was carrying the fire away from her. The other was worrying close to the Beechworth fire. Scarily, there are still large areas of bushland still burning, some out of control. And summer isn't over..

Despite all the pain and devastation, the surge of camaraderie and support has been overwhelming. I am especially proud of what the company I work for has done. Apart from making substantial financial donations, The Body Shop is sending convoys of employees to aid in the clean-up effort and to eventually help replant trees. We've sent up emergency packs, with essentials like shower gel and shaving cream. Every family that lost their home will get a $500 voucher to restock their bathroom or buy themselves some treats to help take their mind off things. Quite proud to work there..

You can make donations to the Australian Red Cross via their website - the effort to clean up, rebuild communities and peoples' lives takes a lot of hard work and a lot of cash, so go donate.

Global Warming, Much?

We are officially in the midst of a heatwave. No ordinary one - the worst in over 70 years. That means that for most people, they can never remember it being this hot for this long. Yesterday it was about 46 degrees Celcius (that's about 115F), and today is forecast to be about the same.

All of the trains have been cancelled because the railway lines are just buckling like they're made of paperclips -

Image from TheAge.com.au

It's so scary that the lines can warp that much - they have taken to running the occasional train very slowly with men spraying the lines with water as they go. It's just mental. There are grass fires in the middle of suburbia, people and pets are going to hospital with heat exhaustion, and the power keeps cutting out in different areas. It's quite scary stuff.

Neglect!

So, it's been a while. Things have been.. odd.

I'm busy with a lot of bouquets. Here's one:

 

I was struggling with the color scheme for such a long time - it is just really, really hard to make orange and lime look hot together.

And another one, that will be infinitely more exciting in a couple of days..

 

I like the way the felt pieces look after they have all been cut out and arranged. Designing the pattern pieces always does my head in, but when I look at photos like this, I see it's worth it. I love the huge number of different shapes - much more fun than every flower being cut the same.

Also, I got into university. Funniest part is, I applied on a whim and didn't expect to get anything. So now I have to enrol on Tuesday and be completely prepared to embark on full-time study in a months' time. Squeak.

Watch Out, Motorists!

I'm going for my learner's permit today! It's only taken me.. years and years longer than it should have. Wish me luck! I'll update tonight.

Oh - I also dyed my hair red. Oooooh.... Nathan keeps calling me firecrotch and fanta-pants. He wishes.

Life as a Cloud

I'm working hard, ladies and gentlemen. I have decided I want to get all of my June orders finished by the end of February. Very ambitious, but fingers crossed.

Nathan and I are looking at a house today. It has a dark burgundy living room that I have decided looks like a brothel, so I have christened it 'the house with no soul'. But apart from that, it scores ticks on everything we are looking for: a Violonjello room, natural light, wooden floors, a pretty garden, outdoor area, garage with room for storage, and a puppy-proof backyard. That last point is probably the main one - I want a puppy. And a friend for the puppy, so they don't get bored.

Here is an artist's impression (scoff), cut and pasted from a google image search and the real estate listing:

 

Yup, that's exactly how it would be.

Quiet Time

It's New Year's Eve and I've sent Nathan off to a friend's barbeque while I stay here and be quiet, calm and contemplative all by myself. The last year has been tumultuous, and I suppose these last few weeks have summed it all up - lowest of lows, and moderate highs.

Good news: I am not pregnant! Bad news: I am not pregnant anymore. I suppose that miscarriage did have a small advantage for me - there was no choice for me to make. The thought of a darling little combination of Nathan and me could have possibly triumphed over the fact that we are not married, are still house hunting, like sleeping past noon and are regularly broke... not good. But it's not an issue anymore, so no point worrying about it.

So, 2008:

• I started my own business, selling things that I made. It's funny to look through sketch books I kept when I was 15, with detailed designs and patterns and ideas. I never could have imagined that Violonjello would be a reality.

• I started working at The Body Shop. My previous job history is a depressing quagmire, full of words and phrases like 'harrassment', 'less than minimum wage', and 'I offered you a job but refuse to honor that contract because my husband flirted with you'. Finally I have found a job that I like, I am good at, and I am surrounded by the most amazing bunch of completely mismatched but adorable individuals. My boss, Melinda, is an absolute kindred spirit - I hope that I can be like her when I grow up.
• Lots of other lovely things happened. Kam and Nikki got married, my sister Caitlin graduated high school and managed to get into MU to study cello, Nathan and I have managed to survive in each others space for about 9 months now, and I made vanilla cupcakes with rainbow icing.

2009.. well, I'll have to think about my resolutions tonight. Preferrably after a few gin and tonics. But to everybody who has helped me, given advice, supported my business, offered their friendship, lent me books, made me soup, believed in me and Violonjello - THANK YOU! Without you, I wouldn't be here.

Hope you all party like it's going out of fashion tonight, and have an amazing 2009!

Lots of love, Miss Violonjello xx

PS: I forgot one other memorable thing that happened in 2008 - I learnt that you should not try to match your boyfriend in beer drinking. At your work Christmas party.

My utter embarrassment, standing barefoot in a 1920's flapper costume on Collins Street at 1am, for your viewing pleasure! Happy New Year everyone!

The Christmas Post

I love wrapping presents. As evidenced by this small mountain of probably 40... and still a couple more to go.

This year my 'theme' was hot pink and gold, which a bit of navy - because navy is hot with everything. Most of the presents have a little 'obi' of contrasting paper, which I think is cute. It's also a good way to wrap mostly everything with cheaper brown paper and use the expensive paper more sparingly - which is good when you have half a billion gifts to wrap. Oh, and snowflakes... yes, it is summer in the southern hemisphere and it is shaping up to be a sweltering Christmas day, but snowflakes are always pretty, even if they are illogical!

The little pink cd-shaped present a little to the right of center in the photo is for me! Nathan got it for me on the condition that I was not allowed to play with it until Christmas - unless I needed surgery, in which case I was allowed to have it early, to boost morale. It's Pokemon Pearl for Nintendo DS... yes, I am a geek, but an excited geek!

So, Christmas is under control. Nathan and I managed to knock over almost all the gift-buying in one day, which was very lucky considering that I was lurching around the mall, doped up on prescription pain-killers and ready to faint at any second. I managed to land myself in hospital last week for a couple of days, and we still don't know what is going on. Luckily, I get Christmas off - apart from a general warning of "if you faint, bleed everywhere or start hurting again like you are going to die, come back to the emergency department", I don't have to go back for any more tests for a week. Still feeling like junk, but hey, I'm alive.

But no worrying, it is Christmas! I probably won't post again for a week, so I just wanted to wish everyone and their families a happy Christmas - be safe, be merry and enjoy it!

Lots of love,
Miss Violonjello xx

Internet Cafe-ing

I'm sitting at the little internet hub thing at the mall, because Nathan and I (okay, mainly me) managed to go over our download cap this month. As a result, I can't even check my email at home.. which is the absolute worst.

Other than that, it is almost Christmas - so I'm insanely busy. The Body Shop is literally draining every ounce of energy out of me. I worked out that I will have done 6 days in a row of 7 or 9 hour shifts (on my feet) on Christmas Day. I forecast a major sleep in and not much else...

But I will be back, in all manner of technicolor glory soon enough!

Johanna xx

Christmas Wishes

Today it rained all day -- that sentence pretty much sums me up as well. Instead of dwelling, I figured it would be better to think about some happy things that I have and will take pleasure in, when things are sunnier.

But then that was too hard, so here is what I worked on instead -

They are for my manager at the day job, Melinda. She is having a dinner party and laying a little bunch (3 stems) at each guest's place; a very pretty idea. I can't wait until I have a house of my own to do things like that.

I was dreaming about having a Christmas tree too, and actually being able to decorate my space as I like it. This year, all of the presents I am giving are wrapped in hot pink and gold, each with a little obi of exotic paper -- there will definitely be photos with them all done. But I saw a picture of this tree and thought how perfectly coordinated my Christmas would be if I had it -

*Photo from Blueprint Magazine

Or even just a regular tree, with baubles like this -

*Photo from T

Maybe excluding the Chanel brooch in the middle, which only retails for a cool $170,000.

Some More...

I'm being too lazy to post properly - I'm watching Mommie Dearest while I get through the to-do list of last post. So, here is a little update on what I've just put into my store -Candice, Fin, Zia and Verity.

 

More shortly!