I’m doing the whole stressing-out-about-a-predicted-outcome-that-may-not actually-come-true thing again. And of course it’s about university because some of the biggest personal struggles I experience are related to my academic insecurities. It’s really rather exhausting going through this every time I have to write an essay, no matter how many words it is.

I’m trying very hard to remind myself that essays are still new to me, as is university, and that this time next year I will undoubtedly feel better about my academic skills. But right now it’s a bit stressful and bit scary and bit overwhelming. I’m frustrated with myself for not having better used my time over this two week break. I mean, I’ve done work, yes, but I could have done more. Cue the psychologist in me telling me not to beat myself all the time. I can counteract every positive thing with at least two negative ones and that is a very damaging habit.

Classes start again tomorrow and I’m looking forward to it.

These were all taken on September 7th.

Lola

Molly, a.k.a. ‘Vampire Kitteh’. Can you see her fangs?

First in a series of photos depicting the bloom of tulips. Stay tuned for the rest!

Richard

Jeremy

Puppy

Rainbow!

Recent hairstyle.

P.S., did anyone spot the Top Gear relation?

So it’s been quite cold in the mornings recently. Spent a few hours with a friend today; found some nice food; found an adorable guy at the shop where I bought the yummy food (did not bring him home, but wanted to!); decided university isn’t going to be as scary as I’ve felt it might be.

Ferdinand, a frog my mum found in her plant nursery.

I’m in bed, in my pyjamas, blinds down with a roll of toilet paper, Strepsils anaesthetic lozenges and a Vicks inhaler on my nightstand. And I am not moving from here. I have a cold! (No, not swine flu. ) I guess my immune system has finally given in after months of fighting all the colds and flu everyone around me got. I feel generally icky, but the worst thing is the pounding head. There is not way I’m gonna get any research done with this thing.

I suppose the best thing to do today is rest to speed up getting better. Tomorrow is a combined birthday for my grandmother and uncle, which I don’t want to miss, so I might as see today and a blessed opportunity to be thoroughly lazy and nap.

As a sidenote, for anyone interested in the title of this post: I have a habit of calling animals very regal sounding, or old-fashioned, and just typically human names. My cats are Molly and Lola — I could never call them Muffin or Fluffy — and I just like Harry, Harold, Norman, Ferdinand, Mabel, Gertrude and Penelope for animals.

My sister’s four-month-old puppy, Chopper, is currently having a very ferocious barking session at a bumble bee, bless him!

Anyway, I haven’t really done a “life update” in awhile, so that is what this post is, I suppose. Not that there is really anything overly interesting to report on, except that I’m going to be 21 tomorrow. But, nevertheless, I should be able to ramble on for a couple of paragraphs about stuff. *

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had been struggling with anxiety and depression, and I’m pleased to say I am making great progress on both of those issues. It’s a great relief to be getting back to my normal self and to also be taking an active role in getting to the bottom of my anxiety. It can be incredibly crippling at it’s worst, as anyone who’s experienced it will know, and I’m a firm believer in being self-aware and working on my issues instead of letting them get the better of me.

With the depression lessening and cooler weather setting in, I’ve found my interest in crafts has come back. I’ve started a new project: a teddy bear for one of my grandmothers. She loves teddy bears and I’ve been commissioned to make her one (by my mum), so I have something that is (usually) relaxing to do. A friend of mine asked if I could take photos of the process, which I have been doing, so look out in the near future for a post. I’ll probably do progress posts instead of one big post as there might be a lot of images!

In other news, my obsession with the 1930s, 40s and 50s is back in full-force, in particular the 50s. I keep trawling TradeMe in the hopes of finding a brilliant vintage dress, but no luck thus far — the sizing is usually wrong on anything I find myself drawn to, so unless I can be sure to drop two dress sizes soon, there is no point in buying them. I refuse to buy anything I won’t or can’t use (except for the hair brush that came with the vintage brush and mirror set I got a few years ago**). Well, usually, anyway. I don’t know what I’d do with the copies of Punch magazine, from the 1930s, that I saw in an antique store today, apart from looking at them repeatedly. Is that a valid enough reason to go back and get them, do you think?

*Smilies. I must find some nice ones to replace the default WordPress smilies. Can you recommend some designs?
**Second-hand hair doesn’t appeal to me…

Watch for 0:25. I’m excited like that!

Why?

Because last night I got my 21^st birthday present, a Nikon D60 dSLR camera!! My Dad found a great deal on TradeMe for a two-month-old camera that also came with the 55-200mm lens (the camera’s default lens is 18-55mm) and a three year transferable warranty. I’m so unbelievably stoked right now, you have no idea.

I’m a total novice when it comes to cameras and taking decent photos, but it’s something I’m incredibly interested in and my love of other people’s photographs has slowly grown to the point where I want to learn for myself. And I’m sure everyone I know will see me coming and think “Oh, God, here comes Flashy McFlashFlash” while rubbing their eyes.

So, so exciting!

Four of the eight free range hens and one rooster that reside on my family’s farm. They are free to go wherever they please, whenever they please and put themselves to bed as they choose. There are a few who are particularly fond of human company and they visit the house often.

The chickens’ house up on the hill behind our house. My dad designed and built it himself so that it’s would impossible for rats and stotes to get into it.

The cobweb covered wheel of the house-bus on our property.

My delightful room that looks like a giant freezer.

The front of the barn/our house.

Wasp nest behind some old railings.

Does anyone else experience trouble when using the ‘Share this’ feature on Flickr? I can click on the link and it opens up the box with the sharing options, but 95% of the time it doesn’t work properly and I can’t click on any of the options! It’s driving me thoroughly mad and I know I’m not the only one because there are a few posts about it on the Flickr help forums. I hope they fix the problem soon because it is driving me mad! I’ve been trying to write this post for an hour whereas normally I would have had it done in about 15 minutes.

I don’t have anything to write about, so here are two photos I took back in April, 2007 at the Howick Historical Village on one of their “live days”. It’s one of my favourite places (because we all know I was born in the wrong decade, and sometimes even the wrong century!).

Have fun, kids!

Today I went over to the Shore again, and this time I took my camera. I promise nothing spectacular, but if you want to see some beachy and city skyline photos then go and have a nosy at my Flickr.