Learning

June through September have been a blur. Two kids playing hockey. The eldest playing 3 divisions by the end of the season. Me coaching school hockey then the northern inter school competition – with my team winning their division. A first since 2008.

Needless to say I haven’t been blogging or crafting. Winter is pretty much hockey and sickness. So now hockey season is over I’ll be getting back into it.

First up is working out where half of my images have disappeared to. Then sharing some updates with what’s been going on around here.

So I’ll hopefully be around a bit more often now. Thanks again if you’re still sticking around.

IDAHOBIT

On May 17 we acknowledge IDAHOBIT as a day for our communities to go rainbow, and stand up against discrimination. Whether you’re part of the LGTBQIA+ community or you’re an ally – today we stand together.

What is IDAHOBIT?
International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) is observed on May 17 and aims to coordinate international events that raise awareness of LGBT rights violations and stimulate interest in LGBT rights work worldwide.

But why May 17? This date commemorates the anniversary the World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from the International Classification of Diseases in 1990. Prior to this, homosexuality was classified globally as a mental illness.

That’s only 33 short years ago.

As recently as 1997, being gay was illegal in some parts of Australia – and until just five years ago, same-sex marriage was not recognised in our country. While we have certainly come a long way in the advancements of LGBTQIA+ equity, the unfortunate reality is that these milestones are very recent in our experience.

With this in mind, IDAHOBIT has two main purposes.

  1. Today is an opportunity to celebrate the pride and allyship of the people who have worked to build equality around the world.
  2. And to raise awareness of the discrimination LGBTQIA+ people still face today.

Australia-wide research conducted by La Trobe University highlights the prevalence of discrimination still occuring around our country:

2 in 3 LGBTQIA+ youth experience harassment or abuse due to their identity. That’s 66% of our young people.

But discrimination of this kind is not contained to the classroom.

A study of almost 7,000 LGBTQIA+ people of all ages in Australia found that 1 in 3 people have experienced verbal abuse in the past 12 months because of their identity. This includes insults, humiliation and threats, just for being who they are.

It’s worth repeating again. One third of LGBTQIA+ people have experienced verbal abuse in the last 12 months.

When it comes to creating a world where everyone is safe to be themselves – there’s still work for us to do.

We need safe spaces where LGBTQIA+ people belong that are inclusive for everyone.

We can donate to places like Minus18, who do so much great work for our LGBTQIA+ youth.

IDAHOBIT is coordinated by Minus18, Australia’s charity for LGBTQIA+ young people across the country. You can find out more about the day, and discover information about identity and inclusion through the website www.IDAHOBIT.org.au. Check it out, there’s lots for us to learn.

Together, we can build a world without discrimination, today and every day of the year.

Well then

after 4 years of avoiding it ,we’ve all managed to catch Covid. Eldest went down with it on Good Friday, then me a few days later, hubby on hist birthday and then the youngest a week after her sister.

We’ve been lucky to only have a mild case but good lord, it was horrible. I have never felt so drained and unmotivated. I spent the majority of my time between bed and the couch with a puddle of foster kitties to keep me company.

A week out and I still feel tired and a little snotty but I do feel a little better day by day. Glad the loss of smell and taste only lasted a couple of days, that was truly horrible.

Upside of it all, I got lots of sleep and got to binge a bunch of TV when I wasn’t sleeping.

Anywho, I’ve started doing some cleaning up on the blog. I’m moving all my craft posts to Nightwolf Crafts, going through old posts to re add photos that went missing during the move from my old hosting, deleting some posts that are outdated or are old giveaways and tidying up all my recipe posts.

Until next time. Hope you all stay healthy.

2023 in review

So here we are again. It’s February and I guess it’s time for my yearly review.

January – school holidays, lots of cleaning, working on junk journals, fostering kitties, started to make different types of bread, set up my 2023 planner, got ourselves a 4 poster bed, Dad’s birthday, family issues, my birthday, K cooked me tea.

February – back to school prep, K started Grade 7, A started Grade 3, more bread making, visited Lulworth (where I spent lots of time as a kid), K turned 13.

March – D&D party for K, school swimming comp for K, school athletics carnival for A, first lots of bottle fed fosters, school athletics for K, mil birthday, playing Cult of the Lamb, bought myself a drop down desk.

April – James’ birthday, K diagnosed with anxiety, inter high athletics for K, more bread making, school holidays.

May – School issues for K, hockey season started, K went on school camp to Camp Clayton, I got sick.

June – K still school can’t, more bread making, inter school cross country for A, A got Influenza A, my first counseling appointment (on what would have been Mum’s birthday), pride round for hockey, J got influenza A,.

July – K had meeting at school to try & get her back attending, K played first Div 3 hockey game with her cousin, specialist for J to follow up on last year’s lung clots – she said things look pretty good for having ~99% clotting in lungs. A back to swimming lessons but locally now.

August – A turned 9, school photos, A started to play school hockey with the 5/6s.

September – started walking at the beach, K got coach’s award for hockey, K helping with primary school hockey, new glasses, Hobart for nephew’s birthday, discussed part time home school for K.

October – applied for part time home school for K, I did Shark Cage program, K diagnosed with depression & on wait list for ADHD/ASD assessment, K started back at school doing Maths & science, first TasPop cosplay picnic.

November – K started anti depressant, did Yoga for the first time and really enjoyed it, new bottle babies.

December – local Christmas parade, TasPop cosplay picnic, last day of Grade 7 and Grade 3, Just Cats Christmas do, yearly Christmas do with friends, very quiet Christmas.

Another interesting year for us. Here’s to a better 2024.

Month in review – January 2024

Well here we are at the end of the first month of 2024. Time for my first review of the year.

What we’ve been up to

  • setting up my 2024 planner (while waiting for my new planner cover to arrive)
  • cleaning and decluttering
  • enjoying a quiet school holiday
  • watching the cricket
  • setting up home school stuff for K for Term 1
  • new shelves in the kitchen
  • dropped one lots of fosters back and picked up another lot
  • Dad’s & my birthdays
  • J had 30ml of fluid drained off his knee. Gout.

In the News

  • Queen of Denmark abdicates
  • Plane collision in Japan
  • Taiwan elects a new president
  • Israel-Hamas war

New recipes

Monthly stats
Photos taken – 340
Books read/listened to:
started – Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torz
finished – The Clean House by Katrina Springer

Plans for next month

  • Read 2 books
  • Continue working on Declutter 365
  • Get my 2024 planner setup in my new Melody cover
  • Planner blog posts
  • K turns 14

Hello

Is there anybody out there? *knock, knock*
Hello there if there is still anyone who reads my little spot on the net.

Happy New Year 2024

It’s been awhile & I’m hoping to get back into blogging again this year.

I’ll be blogging my planner spreads, sharing some of our favourite recipes, what I’m reading/listening to, our current foster kitty adventures and who knows what else.

All my craft stuff is over at Nightwolf Crafts and, I’ve got a new blog, as our eldest started home schooling at the end of last year – Schooling in the Den.

That’s all for now. Til next time

Planner Set Up for 2024

Note – some links are affiliate

(And the changes over at Planners Anonymous)

2024 is a whole new setup at Planners Anonymous. At the end of 2023 they introduced Chapters and a massive change to how their subscription kits work. Chapters is going to be more than just a subscription though. To quote the website

Welcome to ‘Chapters’, a fresh beginning in our journey together. We’re so beyond excited to bring you an innovative approach to our range of goodies. ‘Chapters’ is more than a product; it’s a journey and a narrative, a series of moments crafted to enrich your planning and journaling experience. Join us as we turn each page in this new chapter of creativity, self-expression and self-exploration.

Sami and Team PA

Anyway the subscription line up used to be: standard sub box, extra sticker book and extra paper pack. Chapters now gives you 3 options – Planner lover, Paper lover and Sticker lover.

Planner Lover is for those who love to focus mainly on their planners and aren’t interested in all the extras. Think planner stickers, washi, note pads & sticky notes.
Paper Lover is the papers, journaling cards, stamps and die cuts.
Sticker Lover is for those who just want stickers.

Then each quarter there will be a special release – a bigger sticker book or the Bundle – sticker bundle, locket refresh, charm builder, plastic pockets, stencil bookmark/ruler and special item. SPOILERS
Q1 -Washi cutter
Q3 – Desktop Easel
Q4 – Script Headers Stamp Set

Anywho, along with all of that Sami designed and released an A5 Melody planner cover. Now I started as an A5 planner girl so my heart was getting pulled towards grabbing that for my 2024 setup. Then the kiddos bought it for me for Christmas so 2024 is me going back to my A5 love.

I’ve gone purely rings for my set up as I found I didn’t use the string inserts after a couple of months. Set up is in 4 sections – Yearly, Monthly/Weekly, Misc and Chapters.

Section 1 – Yearly
It’s my birthday and anniversary list, Fun Days calendar, Rate my Day (it’s like a Year in Pixels), Health log, Dream log and some witchy stuff (full moons, sabbats etc)

Section 2 – Monthly/Weekly
A monthly themed cover, my monthly spread, weeklies, songs (& playlists) for the month, sleep log, One line a day and a monthly reflection

Section 3 – Miscellaneous
Lots of lists – Movies to watch, To Be Read list, Books read, shows to watch, what we’ve watched, podcasts, future me problems (things I want future me to do or would like to do), present idea lists

Section 4 – Chapters
This is going to be a bit of a work in progress. It’ll be the Chapters extras and some of my own journaling.
No spoilers though for this one. I may share my own journaling pages at a later date though.

So there you have it. What’s your planner lineup for 2024?


Monthly Review – March 2023

March was a quiet one blog wise as life has been super busy but here’s my monthly snapshot.

Latest posts

New recipes

  • quick chicken curry
  • chicken leek & corn pie
  • curried beef & noodles
  • beef fried rice
  • meatballs in sticky plum sauce
  • garlic butter chicken
  • chicken satay rissoles
  • bbq pork ribs
  • spiced rubbed chicken w maple glaze

What I’ve been consuming (videos, podcasts, books, music)

Lots of craft & gardening videos
AFL

Gratitude

  • family
  • craft time
  • internet friends

Events

  • a 13th birthday party – we played D&D
  • so many craft/business workshops
  • our first lot of bottle fed foster kittens
  • School athletics for both kids
  • MIL’s birthday

Monthly stats

  • Number of photos taken – 364
  • Books/pages read – 4 books

Monthly Goals

Current

  • Photo-A-Day
  • Declutter 365
  • Clean up this blog
  • Set up April & May in my planner

Next Month

  • Photo-A-Day
  • Declutter 365
  • Winter planner setup
  • blog posts

Want to see previous reviews? Check out the 2023 monthly review tag