Thursday, 28 July 2011

Job Seeking Adventures



My unemployment is finally taking me to the job centre tomorrow, I know I should have signed up ages ago, i.e. right after I graduated, but with moving and, you know, avoiding it, I had not gotten round to it. 

But off I go, tomorrow morning, at the Job Centre.  I hope it goes well, I don't know how it's going to be affected by the fact I'm married.  Ideally, if they take any money off it will just be a little, I'm planning on reducing my over draft and paying off my credit card with this. 

Freya May

Wednesday, 27 July 2011

Engagement's All Round!



I have just had news of two of my friend getting engaged!  Which makes 4 couples in the last two months!

I am crazy excited for them all, each couple is amazing, and unique and so strong.  I wish them all the best in the future, and I LOVE weddings, so look forward to my invites ;-)

So, congratualtions guys!  All the best for everything, Love you lots.

Freya May

Monday, 25 July 2011

The house is nearly complete!


I have just ordered our bed side tables and some more shelves from Argos, and I feel like my home is almost finished in it's assembly.  It' so exciting, and I love the fact that we now own our own furniture and stuff.  It's a very grown up thing, in my mind, and it's a good feeling.

I guess I'm a Nester.  I do have a lot of stuff, which I'm always trying to whittle down, but, I'm not lying, its all useful!  But it is nice to have things which are part of your life surrounding you, photos on the wall of weddings, family and friends.  Books and films, loved, sat on the shelves.  Any my corner of dressmaking stuff, symbols of both current enjoyment and free time, and of the future, in which I intend to keep improving on this skill I love to use.

It is not that I couldn't live without this stuff, please note, but that familiar surrounding make me feel at home.

In all, I am planning on getting it all together by the 20th Aug, as we are having a house-warming party then, and would like it to be properly together.  However, still need a real wardrobe, but that is going to have to wait until I'm working.

Freya May

Saturday, 23 July 2011

Pinterest


I have just joined a new(ish) website called pinterest.com

Its like online mood board creator, you download a button for your favourites bar, and when you see an image online you want to 'pin' you press it and select the image, then it is saved, online, on your categorised''pin-board', developing a collection of images.

It may not sound the most exacting to a lot of you, but I often scour the Internet for craft ideas or home decor idea, and, of course, shopping.  Its a way to do so without clogging up my photos folder on my computer.

As it's new, you need to be invited to join, so message me if you want in.
Freya May


Thursday, 21 July 2011

A re-blog



I was wandering round the bloggersphere earlier and came across this blog called Handmade by Emily where she talked about some comments made about persevering with craft things on the video there.

I just found this encouraging and nice, because I am under no illusion that my crafting is in anyway perfect just yet, but I will continue with it, and one day I hope to be able to make stunning quilts like the one we were given as a wedding gift, and to design my own dresses, which fit and are details and beautiful.  This might be a way off, but getting there will be worth the effort of now. 

Freya May

Unemplyoment = Dressmaking!

Hey there,

I am getting to the stage where I am just so bored of being unemployed!  Which is a little worrying because the statistics suggest that I may have a while to wait before that status changes. 

On the plus side, I have plenty of time to devote to my craft endeavors, like these two dresses I have made.  I made the blue one before we moved from our last house, and the pink one yesterday! I couldn't quite believe it took me one afternoon to put a dress together.  It was simple, yes, and unlined by my choice.  And I had cut out all the pieces when I was bored the day before. 



I have some alterations to do on the pink one still, just so it fits me better.  When I have, I'll post the pictures on line. But, what do you think of them on the hangers?  Please, feel free to comment :-)

Freya May
xxx

Tuesday, 19 July 2011

What I've learnt about jobhunting



Loughborough University organise a scheme called 'Graduate Gateway' for people living in the Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire areas, which puts graduates in 6month contracts with businesses.  And, they have offered me a preliminary interview!

I just wanted to blog about some websites which are helping me prepare for this;

Kent Universities careers page is wonderful! Do check it out if your also looking for work.  They have everything from CV and cover letter advice (which is easy and intelligent), interview advice, sample questions, how to deal with nightmare situations, what interviewers are looking for, personality/aptitude tests to advice for those with disabilities and other special circumstances.  Its quality.

Also, I have just stumbles across this blog to help answer that question we dread but know is coming- what are your weaknesses!

So, that’s all from me for now, I hope this advice will show its worth tomorrow at my interview!  Stay tuned.


Freya May

Monday, 18 July 2011

Bad days arn't here to say

*pic 

I've had a little bit of a low day.  Been on my own in our flat as David is staying away all week for training.  And I've been applying for jobs again, but I feel quite deflated by it all, because I don't know what I want to be doing, and I've been advised to look at graduate level jobs, you know, but they all seem so corporate and dull. 

So, I'm hitting the bloggersphere instead now, and having a nose at other peoples lives.  It reminds me that we all have these tough, rubbish and down days, but they never last forever. 

So, chin up.  Getting on with it all.  Life goes on.  And, most importantly, God is good, even when life is less than great.

Freya May

Friday, 15 July 2011

Yet another Harry Potter p7b Blog...

Because it needs doing!  I, along with every other individual it seems, will be spending some time in the cinema this weekend watching the final Harry Potter film with a mixture of glee and sadness. 


This, clearly, is a pre-viewing blog.  So, other than simply exlaiming my excitedness, I thought I'd use this as a recap of my years with Potter, the books first and the films which naturally followed after. 

Age 10 - The year I discovered the Harry Potter Books
To be fair, when I found them in the shop on the ferry to France, the second and third books had also been released, Rowling was writing the initial books in a year each.  But, there I was, little 10 yr old me, holding the book which would lead to many years of Potter fandom.

That book I picked up on the ferry, I have since lost, which sucks because it was one of the original editions, with the minister of magic on the back cover, not Dumbledore.  I also lent it to a friend, who scribbled all over the outside of the pages.  I don't know if that copy would be worth anything now, in mint condition, but I am still peeved off about it. *pic

It was probably because I was the exact age that Harry was in the first book that made me go Potter crazy that summer.  Now, you must realize that I have a vivid imagination, and a slightly obsessive personality.  So when I get the idea in to my head that I wanted to go to Hogwarts too, I had some fun.  I spent hours typing up the appropriate letters and shopping lists that any new student would receive -thank you, J.K. for including them or I'd have spent even longer creating my own.  I fashioned myself a school uniform, and this being the days before the big manufacturing companies were involved with HP stuff, that included printing of the Gryffindor/Hogwarts badges for my clothes.  And this is where I get really nerdy- I even wrote up my own timetable and 'attended' classes. 

I think two pieces of information would make this slightly more acceptable, first, I was an only child until the age of 7, and, so, had learnt fast how to entertain myself very happily.  The second is that I was also a huge fan of Enid Blytons books, Mallory Towers and The Twins at St Clare's, so boarding school life was very attractive to me- it seemed like the place kids went to to have fun!
*pic
OK, so, moving on from that initial summer of maddness, in which I read the first three books countless number of times (obsessive, like I said), and on to the following summer.
*pic
In the interim, I had began karate lessons, in a church hall near our town center.  I attended every Saturday morning.  And, once a year for two years, a day would come along that would make me long to finish even earlier than normal weeks.  That's right, Harry Potter 4 and 5 release dates!  Mum would head into town once the class had started and return with a shiny new copy of the book I was desperate to read.  *pic
 
So desperate, I began to read them the instant I was in the car and wouldn't stop until I'd reached the end.  It was lucky, I guess, that I'm a fast reader.  A speed reader, really.  It took me less than four hours to read each of those books.  Of course, I read them over, and slower, I just wanted to be the first to finish. *pic

There was, of course, many an hour spent on the fan sites, and RPG games.  The Internet, for me, had finally reviled its true purpose :-)  I spent far too long on various sites, learning and chatting and generally accessing a fantasy land that I loved.

It was in year 10, that I had many of my previous dreams come true.  For an English Department open day, my teacher declared it Harry Potter themed- and I was allowed to be involved with the planning!  We had a whole day, pretending to attend Hogwarts, in my very own school.  Far to much fun to be allowed:-) *pic

The following year, or was it two years later, for book 6, I, along with a couple hundred others, lined up in Borders, to pick up the latest book at midnight on the day it was released.  This was fun, but strange, as at this point in my life, staying up late really was a oddity.  But there I was, feeling right at home in a book store, with 200 other people with whom I had one, giant, nerdy thing in common.  *pic
The last book came out when I was in sixth form, so I had to be a little more mature about it then, but, there I was again, at good old Borders, waiting at midnight for funny little staff members, dresses in school cloaks, to pass me the final instalment of the beloved series that has truly dominated my pre-teen and teenage years. 

4 years after that, hear we are.  Waiting patiently for my chance to watch WB vision of a series that is so important to my transition from child to adult.  Which is all very apt, as I was following the same, if much less turbulent path of Harry.  Harry Potter party dream has became a reality, I too, have left school, and made some wonderful friends in the process and, I hope, I've learnt to be brave in the face of certain danger.  *pic

I have no doubt I'll love the film, and I'm terribly excited, and If you have read this far on such a long post, I thank you, and hope you have a great time at the cinema this week end too.

Freya May

Thursday, 14 July 2011

New Home with Hubby

It's been a week without internet, so, tbf, been in our new flat since last Sunday- and I'm LOVING it! :-)

It's a great place, and I've got lots of space to spread out my quilting (latest craft  project.. watch this space)

Not many photos so far, but here is David sat on our new sofa in our lounge.

In just 4 hours we turned the lounge from a box filled mess, to a livable space, to which I must give credit to our parents who were relentless in making sure they were not leaving us in a total mess.

In other news; sent out more CV's and been handing them out round town to cafes and little shops- I would love to work in a cafe!

Freya May

Friday, 8 July 2011

Graduation!

This week was a little mental, we've been back up to Keele this week, for graduation cerimonies on Tuesday and the grad ball on Thursday night! Last chance to see everyone in one place and be on campus, in all it's glory.

Throwing our fancy hats in the air,  and dodging as they hurtle back to us, pointy sides down!

Looking fancy in our gowns after our cerimony :-) 

 Husband and I at the grad ball!

 Me and my girls (minus Kirstin, who was on holiday)

My course mates, three years later and we've all survived!!!

It's been a mad three years, with its ups and its downs, but this week was a fab way to end it all.  Thank you Keele. 

Freya May

Monday, 4 July 2011

New Flat = New Things

Now, I'm not extravagant and rich enough to buy all new stuff each time I move, so don't worry that's not what I mean.  I also think that people who do, just for the sake of it, have more money than sense, but that's also not what I mean to blog about.

I have just been over to Loughborough, my new home town, to pick up the keys for Husband and my new flat! :-) Its a lovely place, and I'm super excited to be moving in at the weekend.

So, L'boro is a 10-20min train ride from Leciester (part of the reason we picked it) and although ourt new flats is a stones throw from the L'boro station, Leicester station is in the middle of town.  Which means, I had to take a detour through the charity stores and market on my way home.  So, what did I pick up?

Confesion time, these are from PoundStrecher not a charity store, but were such a bargin and just what I needed and don't even need adjusting, perfect exactly as they are.

The fabric on the left is for a dress, the right, curtains for the kitchen.

I bought theses for the frames, I need little ones for my cross stitch, so wont be keeping the pictures and I'll probably  paint them to match too.

 Key bowl! £1.29

 Storage jar/ utensil pot £1!

Fabric to make curtains for the spare room/ office, It's green, so it matches the pink/blue/green bedding with out making the office, where Dave will work, too girly.

I think that the problem with buying stuff for the house, even more so than with clothes, is there is always something else that would be nice, look good or be useful.  Now, I hope you agree that curtains don't fall in to this category, but I do struggle with separating the needed and the simply useful.  Something I'm trying to improve on.

Freya May

Friday, 1 July 2011

But, this is the first of July...


If you haven't yet heard of Foy Vance, you probably haven't been listening to Husband's Ipod play lists.  He is a singer-song writer, or Troubadour (just a great word...), from Dublin, who I first heard at Greenbelt a few years ago.  He writes beautiful music, but this song really was written for today. 

You can pull up the lyrics or listen really carefully to the video, but it is about starting over on the first of July.

We might not need to start over as dramatically as the song, but it is good reminder that the world is full of new starts; new years, new months, new weeks and new days.  And we can choose to take each new start to do with what we want.  Basically, don't wait to the first of January to feel like the year starts over again, because you can don the same on the first of July.

'Oh, I don't feel particularly good, no
But don't you worry about me I'll get by
That was the last day of June, oh
And this is the first of July.
'


Freya May
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