WOYWW 582 - Late arrival

Story of my life, really, late arrival.

It wasn't always this way.  I used to be on time for things.  Then I became a mum and invariably time stretched and I was regularly late for things.

Like today.  Late.

LOL

Anyway, I'm here now.  Just about... Another round of WOYWW courtesy of the lovely Julia.  If you're just here to browse, you can find more desks here

Not a lot to report this week.

One of my high spots crafting wise was that I finally got to sit down and put together a jewellery kit.  I bought it well before we moved 14 (erherm) months ago, and I fished it out of the box about three weeks ago. It's lurked on my desk since and I finally put it together yesterday.  Not everyone's cup of tea, I'll grant you, but I like it.  More to the point, I will need to safeguard it from robbery by Miss B as I'm sure once she's seen it, I'll have a fight on my hands.  But most likely I'll make her one of her very own if she really likes it that much.

I've also got up to date with my Peppermint Purple Blackwork Stitch-a-long (SAL) - A Year of Blackwork 2020.  It has been fun and we're only just 7 months into it.  I'm resisting the urge to sign up to anything else though, at the moment, as I definitely have SABLE....  Hehehehe

Until next time!

WOYWW 581 - the multi-desk one

Hello again!

Bit of a difference today. 

I’m sat in my “office” which really means I’m sat in my craft room which has my “office” within it... Time for some desk sharing, although not the office part as it’s full of confidential stuff and nonsense. 

The paper crafting desk has got significantly worse but it’s in part due to Miss B having a birthday coming up and I’ve had to hide a couple of bits. As someone has commented previously, yes, naturally there’s a lot of purple... 🤣🤣🤣. I had a very dear friend - who sadly passed away this year - once tell me that if I wore any more purple I’d look like a Ribena Berry. Given that I was significantly slimmer back then, it stuck in my mind and I rarely if ever wear head-to-toe purple. 

RIP, my lovely Jayne. Thank you for saving me from Ribena-Berryness. 

On the other side of me is my stitching desk - beautifully clear by comparison. On it are the parts for making some masks for Miss B, as she starts work back at the bar again from 1st Aug and could do with a couple more. I found a rather good pattern online that had multiple sizes, rather than a one size first not all kind of pattern. 

Moving round we have the old Ikea expedit, or Kallax as I think they now call them, and a myriad of boxes and pots and beads and.... everything. It houses beads and buttons, patterns and paper, dies for paper crafting and wool, needlework and jewellery kits, plus much much more. I’m gradually sorting and tidying it because things have kind of been wedged where there was a space as we endeavoured to empty boxes over the last year. Some still haven’t made it here from storage. 

Round to the right and past the door are the drawer units many of you have come to know and love. These also need a good sort through and tidy up, and several things on top shouldn’t really live there (like two pairs of bridesmaid shoes 🙄). Mr B keeps threatening to put more shelves up for me. I live in hope. 

There’s still a goodly pile of bits in front but considering that three weeks ago you couldn’t really get to the drawers without scaling a cardboard mountain, I’d like to think I’m doing fairly well. I must confess that one box is full of clothes for the charity shop, when it eventually reopens. 

And lastly, back full circle to above the desk and laden shelves. Again, these need a proper sorting and I mourn the fact that I’ve had to give up space one end for office type necessities. Grrr. 

I’ve just realised that my magnifying lamp is shaped a bit like K9’s head (from Dr Who, a millennia ago). LOL. 

Till next time!!

WOYWW 580 - on time today!

Greetings, lovelies!

Here we are at another WOYWW courtesy of the ever divine Julia. 

Thank you all for your comments last week. I have to say that my eyesight isn’t what it once was and stitching and beading nowadays requires the use of some rather glam reading glasses in a fetching shade of purple. Naturally. 

There’s a little bit of difference, I think, in the owl. Moving on slowly. Not helped by my fetching fur assistant getting in the way as usual. 

Other than that I thought it was time to share the official craft desk. There’s a lot on it - and yet nothing of importance, and certainly nothing current. I’ve got a couple of cards to make soon so I fully expect a bit of desktop shuffling to go on. I might even do something with some beads that are skulking the desk and most definitely turn the fabric there into some masks. 

On the car front, the old car was fixed on Monday and my back account is in quiet mourning. Just to clear something up though - she’s not Coming with us to Umbria next year. Once was enough for the poor dear. The car was ok, but oh my that was a long drive!  Next year we’re flying, and going to rent a car once we land. 

So that’s it for this week, plenty to be going on with!

Toodlepip!

WOYWW 579 - except it's Thursday

Oops - missed yesterday.  Intent was there, even took the photo, but then forgot to post!  Doh. Some habits are hard to get back into but it will be there.

Not much has happened this week.  I've progressed somewhat on the Barn Owl cross stitch, and the back for Miss Bs jumper has been finished.  I've now got to work out how to do the sleeves, and connect all the parts together, but I'm more than halfway through and the end is in sight.

Here’s a view from my stitching “desk”:

Home-wise, the car has caused us a major headache - it needs a new radiator and is currently sitting mournfully outside the mechanic's, waiting for the new rad to be delivered and fitted.  Poor old girl - she's done us proud over the last five years, including driving all the way to Umbria and back last year.  I suspect she's protesting now!

Unfortunately the not inconsiderable cost of replacing the radiator means that our plans to go away for a medieval social event next month have had to be cancelled but we will make good use of the time off getting the house a little more sorted, and prepping for a proper event at month-end, when we go to Herstmonceux Castle.

A new phone also became top priority over the weekend but it does mean that Miss B gets my hand-me-down once we've replaced the battery.

That's it, really, in terms of news for this week.  Until next time!

WOYWW 578 - Resurrection Special

Oh my.

I'm not even going to say it.

So let's skip the self-flagellation and say...

HI!!!

I'm back.

There's probably not a lot of point in trying to do a catch up post.  There's a massive amount that has happened in the last two and a half years. In a nutshell...

Finished my CIPD and qualified in Level 5 Human Resource Management - can now put "Assoc. CIPD" after my name.... 

Lil Miss B celebrated her 18th Birthday.  And her 19th.  Almost at her 20th!

Lil Miss B also started University in Exeter.

I changed jobs - twice.

Had an amazing road trip to Italy and Gubbio - stopping off to see the marvellous Donna Garner en route.  Might blog about that in due course.

Moved to Cornwall. 13 months ago.  Still unpacking!

Joined a new Panto society and appeared on stage...

Oh - got two dogs as well.... :)  

I'll probably cover some of this off in future posts.

So what next?  I will, honest injun, do my best to post more often now.  My life is getting back into some semblance of order.  Honestly, after moving it took months for us to locate the pizza cutter, and the coffee percolator, whilst discovered, is still sitting mournfully in its box because we're not sure it needs to be out permanently these days.  There's still loads of boxes to unpack and the house is basically a money pit that needs a lot of time and energy spent on it.

Craft-wise, not an awful lot has been going on.  Actually, I lie.  I'm working on a crocheted pullover for Lil Miss B.  I finally finished my counted thread piece, Cape Breton Christmas, am working on a Blackwork SAL by Peppermint Purple and have dug out an old WIP to finish. 

I've recently finished a set of wedding stationery for a friend who is getting married in November.  Not made any other cards lately (except one, for my new great-nephew's 1st birthday), but my fingers are starting to itch and so the card making bonanza might start up again.  So might the old jewellery biz.

So, stick around.  I've missed spilling my thoughts out and think it's time I started again.


(and for any random blog hopper, WOYWW, or What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday is hosted by the lovely Julia here)

WOYWW 446

Don’t faint....

No, really.  Please don’t. 

You’re likely to break or spill something. 

I know - it’s been a while since I was last here. Six months, in fact.  But I couldn’t let a Christmas slide by without wishing my fellow WOYWWers all the greetings of the season. May it be a happy one for all of you!

Me? It’s been a bit of a busy year with the old CIPD Studies (hence not joining in with WOYWW). And work. Work has been....hard work. Data cleansing around 1,500 staff members’ details and uploading them to new HR database software. I’ve estinated it to be around 200,000 individual pieces of info by the time I’ll have finished. And then what?  Who knows?  My current contract is due to end mid-March, so we’ll see which way the wind blows me. 

Creatively it’s been a bit quiet but I am actually working on one of my seasonal favourites - a Mill Hill Charmed ornament.... getting to be a bit of a tradition, it is!

So, brightest blessings to you all!  Hope to see you all around in the New Year!

WOYWW 419

WOYWW 419 is here – where did that week go???  One minute it was last Wednesday, now it’s this!  I do know that I’ve packed an awful lot into this week, and now that my course has started I can kiss goodbye to being free at any given point in the day/week/month.  Year even.  No, I joke, it’s not quite that bad!  However, it’s definitely a struggle getting back into studying and crafting is taking a little bit of a back seat now.  Not that it wasn’t before, but now it’s intentional rather than just avoidance!

So, here is my room!

 

Bit of a difference to last week when you saw it all of a clutter, eh?  I had to tidy it up to move the laptop back upstairs to give myself some study space back, and I finished off the WOYWW 8 ATCs as well.  Can’t show those yet, as the recipients have yet to receive them…

 The craft desk does have something on it though….

 

Not my own work, unfortunately.  Lil Miss B has two half-sisters, and their Mother is renowned for not having sentimentality as a trait.  Thus, she doesn’t generally tend to hang onto stuff.  Many, many years ago, Mr B rescued these two samplers from the rubbish bin, and saved them away.  We were having a general clear out at the weekend and found them, so they’ve had a gentle wash, and are here having dried.  Next step is to press them lightly, and then frame them before giving them to the eldest sister (for whose birth they were stitched).  I’m a little sad that neither of the other two girls had samplers stitched for them, and if they are truly disheartened by that, I will have to make something up for them! 

 

So there you have it for this week….

My apologies that I don’t seem to be able to get back to you all when you comment, I have precious little time these days.

Happy Hopping!

 

 

 

The end of week one - Reflect - Inside/Outside

Gosh - what a week!  Like others on my CIPD course, it's hard getting back into study and finding the time around a full time job, commuting, a family and just everyday life to study and read what I need to.  I hope I'm taking it in.  At least this bit is easy, as I'm well used to blogging!  We are asked to reflect on the previous week at the end of it, and we are asked questions.  This week we were asked:

Does the way you perceive yourself as an HR professional match up to the way others perceive you though?

Gather some honest feedback from a colleague about one thing you do well and one area in which you could improve your professional practice. Reflect on that feedback and how it compares with the way you view yourself as an HR professional. 

Reflecting on myself is not so easy.  I've come into this course with ten years as a HR Administrator/Assistant under my belt.  I've picked up a lot of information, taught myself more, and yet still lack the confidence to do anything with it.  Sometimes that's other people's confidence rather than my own....

I'm sort of between jobs.  My current role is actually temping for a company while they transition their HR team halfway across the country.  Several staff have left, the new ones joined after the others departed and there's been no handover.  This is what I've stepped into the middle of and am desperately trying to learn the role myself while teaching someone else.  It is said that an expert is just one chapter ahead in the book you're reading!  I've already been tagged as "the font of information" - not a bad accolade!

As I'm only at my current assignment for another 2.5 months, and have been there 5 weeks so far, my current line manager doesn't really know me that well yet.  My previous line manager, well, the relationship on parting was not so good (long story for another time) and it's a little hard to go back and ask her for feedback on what I do or don't do well!  I do know what she'd say...

She would say that I am an amazing administrator.  I get the work done, promptly, keeping to SLAs.  I have excellent grammar and spelling (must make sure I've made no silly mitsakes after saying that....LOL) and am the go-to person for quick spelling queries.  In fact I'm the go-to person for everything, as staff generally gravitate towards me to resolve their problems and answer their queries on all subjects, not just HR.  The key thing my last manager wanted to do was to improve employee relations with the HR team following a nasty de-merger, and we as a team walked into an ER wasteland which needed nurturing and developing.  We did succeed.  

My ex-boss would also say that I could be better at prioritising my workload as I have a tendency to put off the jobs I don't particularly want to do.  I work really well to deadlines, that's all I'm saying!  I also need to watch how I respond to people sometimes, as I can come across as quite sharp, especially when I'm trying to get a job completed.  I had a sticker on my phone that said "Be Nice!" to always remind me when I answered a call that the person at the other end of the phone doesn't know that I'm having a hard/tough/busy day, and it really isn't necessarily their fault they've had to ring....

How do her views compare to my own perceptions of me as an HR Professional? They align pretty well. I agree that I'm great at getting things done, solving problems, but tend to dodge the difficult or onerous tasks.  I like completing things, and getting the short sharp jobs done first, but the trouble is, they keep coming and aren't always a priority.  I know deep down that I should turn my feelings on their head and get the worst and longest jobs out of the way first, as they will be the most important.  I also need to learn to take a deep breath and not respond too fast to folks.  I feel I'm a bit misunderstood sometimes but improving my skills will only help with that...

I'm looking forward to getting this qualification under my belt, as up till now I've felt as though I've not been taken seriously.  I'm "just" an administrator, I don't know what I'm talking about.  Nothing I say can add value.  All really negative things that I've come across.  It's really hard finding work now without the qualification, and it's past time I stepped up and out onto the next level...

WOYWW 418

It's WOYWW again!  How'd that happen?  And I'm back....

The desk, and indeed whole craft room, is overloaded and messy. I've been avoiding it for weeks. I really must finish these ATCS off, so Lisa M, please contact me!  

My most recent project is gradually growing. Unfortunately, so is the baby it's supposed to fit!  I'm going to a craft gathering tonight, so it'll get worked on there. It has a hood to knit while continuing  the pattern, so I've got some head-scratching to do. It's looking rather charming though...

Life here is rather crazy at the moment, and that's also part of the reason why I've been out of the loop and not doing much at my desk (aside from the black hole it's become.).  Yours truly started her CIPD Level 5 (for those not in the know, it's an HR qualification equivalent to second year of degree level, pretty high up stuff and very involved) so I've got a lot of working at home to do.  It's all online learning, and I've got to spend a minimum of 8 hours per week on it for the next 11 months.

Update on Lil Miss B - we've started visiting Universities.  Next one is Birmingham, so Shaz will be seeing some smiling faces near her in a fortnight....  Any of you up by Lancaster? Hehehehe  we just visited Chester.  I slept most of the following day, we were that tired.  We think we're going to book a room overnight when we do Lancaster.

Mr B has trained on a Hiab Container Lifter (see pic for an idea) recently.  He's like a kid with a Tonka Truck, happy as a sandboy.... LOL

So, happy hopping to one and all - hope you enjoy the day ahead....

WOYWW 416 - 8th Anniversary!

Well.

It's been a while (Christmas 2016!!!) since I last joined in with WOYWW. Not too sure why not but I think I'm just suffering from crafting fatigue. I rarely make cards any more. Haven't kept Project Life up to date. And I've just pottered with an odd bit here and there. Embroidery, knitting, crochet.

(latest knitting project)

 

Today, my desk looks like this because I'm at work. The one at home, bit of a mess! It's got things to sell piled up on it mostly. I can't get a photo today because I forgot this morning, and this afternoon I'm heading straight down to Cornwall from work for a very good reason I can't share for now. I'll see if Mr B can send a pic later for me to add....

 

I will however make an ATC swap provided no-one minds waiting till after the weekend for it - I don't think I have time tomorrow evening as I'm straight back from Cornwall to packing for a weekend in Lincolnshire!

Happy Anniversary everyone !

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone