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Photos of subjects other than carnivorous plants, such as orchids, landscapes, etc.

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By Grey
Posts:  3255
Joined:  Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:48 pm
#271081
They are beautiful birds. :-)

The beach was beautifully warm in the sunshine with a brisk wind that kicked up plumes of fine sand and sent it across everyone and everything. :lol: I lost my (paper) hat in the sea for a brief period while Stephen was carrying me out of the sea (I'm a wuss and my feet were hurting quite a bit :roll:) but he chased it down. It seems to have recovered -- didn't quite turn to porridge.

That sounds delightful, though I'm sorry you've not had the opportunity to indulge!
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By Grey
Posts:  3255
Joined:  Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:48 pm
#277185
Harrooooooo!

I've been busy with wedding-y things and then health-y things and now work-y things (I've gotten my first ever job so am freaking out big time but in the best possible way)! Hence the radio silence. But, alas, the radio silence must be broken as I have awesome news:

I have another cockroach! Whoop!

For those who don't know, I've kept giant hissing cockroaches for a couple of years and absolutely love them to pieces! They are quirky and hilarious. My two Madagascar hissing cockroaches are named Tarshish (who is the grumpiest, hissiest old man you've ever met) and Nineveh Jr. (who is tiny compared to his father, Nineveh, who was my original cockroach and was positively vast). Now I am pleased to introduce a third to this little bachelor party.

My cockroaches tend to struggle with cold weather as they are more accustomed to warmer climates, so I put their heating pad on to cater for our really chilly nights (though it was in the high teens during the day over the weekend -- really bizarre!). This has sped up my Madagascans' metabolisms and made them go into a breeding frenzy (as poor Tarshish found out when being approached by a rather amorous Nineveh Jr.); Tarshish, being the grumpy old fart that he is, has been headbutting little Nineveh all over the place and so I decided that a third cockroach would probably help to hissipate the hisstosterone (yes, I am using those jokes EVERYWHERE at the moment).

Thankfully, we have a local awesome shop of awesome that stocks giant hissing cockroaches, so I got in touch to see what they had in stock. No Madagascans but they had a pair of male sub-adult tiger hissing cockroaches; these can co-exist with the Madagascans perfectly well, and have the same care requirements, so I picked one up on Saturday and introduced him to the fellas, and oh my goodness he is gorgeous! So far, he has spent most of his time during the day sat at the very front of his tank so I am very, very pleased.
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Isn't he bootiful?! He's also nameless at present and so I would love to hear some suggestions for a name! I've been naming my giant cockroaches after ancient biblical towns and would like to stock with that theme.

In other news.... THINGS! Stuff! Items of interest! I haven't posted much here but have been keeping up with my blog so if you want some extra news you can check that out. :-)
ocac-logo.png
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of Christ and Chocobos
Grey, Grey liked this
By Grey
Posts:  3255
Joined:  Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:48 pm
#283214
Let's see if I can summarise the last two months in a paragraph...

Received new cockroach, named "Kabzeel" (Kabby for short...). Had major experience at church that transformed my life. Moved out of home, which required me to rehome my cockroaches (insert tears and tantrums here). Have since settled in. Lots of wildlife but no camera for photoages. GUH! Work is going really well and I've settled in and had my first pay cheques, hooray!!

And now... I survived Christmas by the skin of my teeth (severe cold and throat infection that I've had for three weeks) but with the new year, Stephen and I are pressing onward with the wedding plans and preparationings. Our first goal has been to start the process of looking for somewhere to live together once we're married -- we'll be viewing a quirky property tomorrow (it has a stained glass window, which has been on my internal "want" list since I was in single digits); we are also working hard on getting wedding invites done.

Thus far I've tea-stained at least 20 sheets of card, printed and re-printed various copies of various documents (main invite artwork, info cards, etc.), printed moogle-infested labels (pictures impending), and labelled the envelopes... now we just need to get our paper cutter in (may be able to pick that up tomorrow) and get things cut, then Stephen will be calligraphying the names onto the invites over the weekend.

I've attached some scans of what we've done so far; I did the artwork for the frontage of the invites (minus the fire, I can't draw fire), and Stephen did the writing and layout for the other sheets (and found various graphics). I mostly just did my administrator thang and tea-stained, dried, aligned, printed, and soon, will cut, the card into the right size. Lots of work but I'm loving it! Oh yeah, and we've ordered a custom wax stamp thingie with wax gun so that we can officially "seal" the invites, which I'm very excited about!

As mentioned previously, we're having a Final Fantasy theme to our wedding and this involves a white mage/black mage motif... we've been able to find some vinyl figurines of these two characters so those are simply AMAZING and will become our cake toppers! Hooray!

All-in-all... I'm knackered. Is it bed time yet?! No? But... :cry:
Attachments:
invite1.jpg
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invite2.jpg
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By Grey
Posts:  3255
Joined:  Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:48 pm
#286840
Holey cheese biscuits, batman! I'm getting married in two months. :shock: This is partly why I've not been around to take photos and do silly updates -- as well as the fact that I still don't have a camera... except on my phone, which I am trying to use with some skill (but failing miserably)... and we decided to go for the quirky property we saw, so have been moving (though I won't actually be moving in, myself, until after the wedding)... and church life has been manic with lots of people stepping down from the worship team so Stephen and I have been stepping in a lot more... and work... and existence in general... and...

And... breathe...

OK! So. I think it's time for more wedding-y stuff related photoages. I promised moogle label and wax stamp photos so here they are! (In all of their really-terrible-smartphone glory.)
Moogle labels!
Moogle labels!
2017-02-22 weddingy stuff (1).JPG (10.39 KiB) Viewed 9438 times
Wax seal of awesome!  (If you can't see through the blur, by the way, it says "R&S"... because... Rachel and Stephen.)
Wax seal of awesome! (If you can't see through the blur, by the way, it says "R&S"... because... Rachel and Stephen.)
2017-02-22 weddingy stuff (2).JPG (17.85 KiB) Viewed 9438 times
I also am going to share some photos that my future husband person is not to see until we're married because otherwise it would mean major spoilers (although he knows about the necklace). Wedding jewelery time. :-D
I spotted this chocobo necklace on Etsy from a seller in the States.  It wasn't entirely cheap so I initially tried to put it out of my mind, even though I fell madly in love with it (it's a chocobo looking upward nostalgically and wistfully -- what's not to love?!)... in the end, my parents very kindly bought it for me for Christmas, and we had some wonderful help from a friend's father who was visiting from the States over Christmas to bring it into the country, saving us tons of postage & VAT costs.
I spotted this chocobo necklace on Etsy from a seller in the States. It wasn't entirely cheap so I initially tried to put it out of my mind, even though I fell madly in love with it (it's a chocobo looking upward nostalgically and wistfully -- what's not to love?!)... in the end, my parents very kindly bought it for me for Christmas, and we had some wonderful help from a friend's father who was visiting from the States over Christmas to bring it into the country, saving us tons of postage & VAT costs.
2017-02-22 weddingy stuff (5).JPG (15.77 KiB) Viewed 9438 times
I saw this elven circlet on eBay and contacted the seller; turns out she hand-makes these things using silver plated wire and oh my goodness, her work is amazing!  I immediately bought this circlet (which I'll use as a headband) and told the artist that I was now going to look for a matching bracelet... to which she replied (I'm paraphrasing here), "Oh hey, I can make you a matching one!"
I saw this elven circlet on eBay and contacted the seller; turns out she hand-makes these things using silver plated wire and oh my goodness, her work is amazing! I immediately bought this circlet (which I'll use as a headband) and told the artist that I was now going to look for a matching bracelet... to which she replied (I'm paraphrasing here), "Oh hey, I can make you a matching one!"
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To which I said, "YES PLEASE!"  She made the thing in less than a day?!  Oh my goodness though, it's gorgeous!
To which I said, "YES PLEASE!" She made the thing in less than a day?! Oh my goodness though, it's gorgeous!
2017-02-22 weddingy stuff (7).JPG (14.19 KiB) Viewed 9438 times
They remind me of the elven circlets out of the Lord of the Rings, which is partly why I chose them because Stephen loves the Lord of the Rings.
They remind me of the elven circlets out of the Lord of the Rings, which is partly why I chose them because Stephen loves the Lord of the Rings.
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I am very seriously going to ask Stephen if I can borrow his camera, because these things are so beautiful that they need high-res photos taken of them, and to be plastered across the interwebs!

In other news...
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:|
"Home home" (as I've started calling it, even though I don't live there yet!) has no windowsills. Therefore, no Mexican Pinguicula. Insert guttedness.
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By Grey
Posts:  3255
Joined:  Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:48 pm
#286928
Unfortunately not, SFLGuy. Savings have plummeted and the only real "luxury" money I have at the moment is already allotted on other things...

There is scope in the future for a small set up of something (we'd both like something interesting, whether a vivarium or a terrarium), but we'd like to see how our finances balance out once we're married first as there are still a few unknowns.
By Grey
Posts:  3255
Joined:  Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:48 pm
#288132
Harroooo!

I'm still waiting to borrow Mr Future Husband Person's camera (we keep forgetting to assemble the thing and I keep forgetting to remember to remind Stephen). Oh well. You'll all have to continue to be plagued with phone photos for the time being. Mwahahaha.

We have less than six weeks to go and there is an absolute ton to do, but we're getting to the fun stuff now (decorating the hall, yaay!). We've honestly been having some really difficult times of late but while wading through that I've been working on my wedding shoes.

I bought a really cheap, comfy pair of shoes off Groupon at some point last year (I wore them to my first job interview, awh!) and decoupaged the front with bits from the cut offs of the bunting that Stephen's mum and sister-in-law made for the wedding (oh my goodness the bunting is GORGEOUS!), and used some of the leftover fabric from my dress alterations for the back. I then spent a while gluing little artificial pearls onto them...
Lots and lots of pearls...
Lots and lots of pearls...
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So many pearls...
So many pearls...
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I'm really pleased with how they turned out!! They go really well with the dress and just about all of the other clothing I have as well, so I'm doubly excited to be able to wear them after the wedding, too (although not in wet or muddy places). I can't believe I actually made these! Up close and personal you can see the little flaws but I don't think (my goodness I HOPE not) anyone will be scrutinising my shoes on the day... just... everything else about me. GUH! I don't like being the centre of attention.

Next project: to get all of my hair lopped off.
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By Grey
Posts:  3255
Joined:  Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:48 pm
#292760
Helloooooooo! How are you all doing? I have finally returned from my hiatus (although I technically returned last week but spent that time skulking in the special limbo that Moderators only have nightmares about...) and have tons of photos to share (including a few hundred that I haven't even looked at yet). I thought I'd start with some photos from the final wedding preparation, and then will post some from the actual day later on.
I spent a morning cleaning about 70 jars... you can see my penicillin on the table... I had a horrible throat and ear infection!
I spent a morning cleaning about 70 jars... you can see my penicillin on the table... I had a horrible throat and ear infection!
Wedding favours (4).jpg (581.36 KiB) Viewed 9152 times
Lots of jars meant lots of boxes.  What did I do with those?  Why, I threw them on the floor of course!
Lots of jars meant lots of boxes. What did I do with those? Why, I threw them on the floor of course!
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We spent an evening packing the jars with nearly 6kg of Haribo heart throbs.
We spent an evening packing the jars with nearly 6kg of Haribo heart throbs.
Wedding favours (6).jpeg (330.28 KiB) Viewed 9152 times
We also had 30 bottles to clean, as we were doing custom drinks labels and wanted to use fresh bottles.  (Guess who did the cleaning?)
We also had 30 bottles to clean, as we were doing custom drinks labels and wanted to use fresh bottles. (Guess who did the cleaning?)
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Stephen did a SUPERB job on the bottle labels though!!!
Stephen did a SUPERB job on the bottle labels though!!!
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I made most of the decorations...
Including two types of paper lantern centrepieces (with lights!)...
Including two types of paper lantern centrepieces (with lights!)...
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A MoogleMail postie box for wedding cards.  Stephen really wanted a classic red post box, so I grabbed an old box from our wedding stuff, some packing paper, card, flowers, and bits and pieces, and set to work!
A MoogleMail postie box for wedding cards. Stephen really wanted a classic red post box, so I grabbed an old box from our wedding stuff, some packing paper, card, flowers, and bits and pieces, and set to work!
MoogleMail Post Box (2).jpg (158.74 KiB) Viewed 9152 times
I decorated two sets of trellises to have at the front of the hall; please pardon the bad photo.  I'll be reclaiming one of these soon so will get a better quality picture!  We're going to use it as a room divider.
I decorated two sets of trellises to have at the front of the hall; please pardon the bad photo. I'll be reclaiming one of these soon so will get a better quality picture! We're going to use it as a room divider.
2017-04-20 Trellises (1).jpeg (497.86 KiB) Viewed 9152 times
I have sooooo many more photos to show you all but will call it quits just for now. I need to organise everything and then will do a proper wedding day upload! For now, here's a teaser... (credit goes to my sister, who is an awesome photographer!)
IMG-20170424-WA0010.jpg
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