So I decided today to export all the blood pressure readings (and heart rate and weight) from the app I've been using for the past four years (iBP Tracker by Finger Taps).  Turns out the export to email function doesn't actually work.  Neither does the online backup option.

So I was forced to go through each day's entry and manually record it elsewhere.

#grunt

I got through the past month, which is what I want to take to the doctor.

What a piece of crap.  Guess what application I *won't* be using anymore.

Another thing I realised tonight is how much crap I have on my computer.  At least twenty year's worth.

I did find this list of quotes (file was last saved 16.10.97) which I remember well..

Life is short and DNA is long
If at first you don't succeed, destroy all the evidence
An optimist: someone who hasn't been given all the facts yet
Friction is a drag
Very funny Scotty. Now beam up the clothes!
Recycle!! Today's garbage is tommorrow's world!
Marriage is grand. Divorce? 20 grand.
Marriage - it's not just a word, it's a sentence!
Hello? Constipation Hotline? Yes, I can hold...
Support mental health... or I'll *KILL* you
If you're 1 in a million, there's a thousand Chinese just like you.
No matter where you go, there you are.
Psychic midget escapes from prison... Small Medium at Large!
World to end at 10pm! Film at 11
Floggings will continue until morale improves.
Who tested Preperations A through G, and why??
9 out of 10 men who try CAMELs prefer women.
8 out of 10 people suffer from hemmorhoids. The other 2 enjoy them.
Who is All, and why does he get so much mail??
Who is General Failure, and why is he reading my drive??
Who is General Protection, and why does he always find fault??
Who is Joy, and why does everyone jump for her??
Who is Will, and why should I fire at him??
Warning : Breathing may be hazardous to your health!
Shin : device for finding furniture in the dark
Stick : A boomerang that doesn't work
No trespassing... prosecutors will be violated!
Warning : research causes cancer
Ok, I pulled the pin, now what? Hey, where are you going??
When I get bored, I beam myself back and forth - Worf
The only way to avoid temptation is to yield to it.
Today's subliminal message sponsered by : Ben Dover
Today's subliminal message sponsered by : Justin Hale
Today's subliminal message sponsered by : Mike Rotch
Despite the high cost of living, it still remains popular.
The world is like a kleenex.. you use it, then you throw it away.
Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's... no, it's a bird.
2 wrongs don't make a right, but 3 lefts do.
Tonight's forecast : darkness, followed by light.
In God we trust. All others require a credit check.
If practice makes perfect and noone's perfect, then why practice?

I really have nothing interesting to say these days.  And, unlike twelve years ago when I started blogging, I don't post every boring detail of my life every day.  Tonight we watched Green Zone, and it inspired me to go back and find the blog entry I did about the opening day of the Iraq war.  I then read through a couple of month's worth of blog entries from 2003.  My style was very different back then.  I suppose back in the day there was really noone else reading it, so I wasn't really thinking how other people might perceive it.  These days I don't blog much unless something interesting happens.  And even then I sometimes don't, because I'm a complete slacker.

So.  Boring details.  Does anyone care?  Do I care if anyone cares?  So few people read this blog now.  And much fewer bother to comment.  

Anyways.

Thursday: work drinks, not much else

Friday: not much

Today: bit of house work, listed some stuff on Freecycle, went for a walk with the sweetie, cooked a roast chicken dinner, watched some House (we're near the end of season 2) and Green Zone.

See, nothing of any particular interest to anyone.

Twenty One. Again.

Today I turned twenty one again. Supposedly now I should know the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. Or some such nonsense.

Last weekend when the little brother was here, he asked me about the photos he'd just sent me - photos he'd just had scanned of my 21st birthday. I did actually have the originals of the prints, which I'd scanned a couple of years ago. But it was still fun, and I said it was actually pretty scary how many of the things in the photo I still had. Then he said I should recreate the photo. I laughed, but then had a think about it, and for the most part decided it wouldn't be too hard to do.

So over the past few days I've collected together all that remains of my 21st birthday presents, as well as some of the other things in my room at the time.

Here they are!

The other week I had a hankering to cook Chicken Kiev - from scratch.  I'd never done it before.  So I researched lots of recipes, and averaged them together into something I thought would work.  I did this for four chicken breasts - I could easily halve that for two. 

So starting with the garlic butter.  I've got here half a pack (125g) butter, a quarter of a bunch of Coles parsely, and four cloves of garlic.

Chop up the parsely, mince the garlic, and soften the butter.

Mix it all up

Garlicky, buttery goodness!

Lay it out on some baking paper

And roll into a sausage

I stuck this in the freezer for a couple of hours - and it had pretty much frozen.  Didn't stop it all leaking everywhere during the cooking process though!

So now onto the chicken.

We have four chicken breasts, some flour, eggs and breadcrumbs.

Here's the chicken after stuffing with the garlic butter.  This was just a matter of cutting a small hole with a knife and expanding it a bit with my fingers.  Next time I'd sew the hole shut with a toothpick, as they leaked.

Pictured here is 50g flour (seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper), three beaten eggs and 50g breadcrumbs - but I used at least double the flour and breadcrumbs, and you'd probably want even more for a nice thick coating, and probably another egg or two too.  Next time I'd also do the flour and breadcrumbs on a plate, as the chinese containers were a little small.

So the coated chicken.  My fingers got very sticky and I kept pulling bits of crumb off.  Next time I'll definitely do a full two coats of crumbs.

So then fry them for a few minutes each side on a reasonably hot frying pan and a goodly amount of oil to get them golden.

And bake for about twenty minutes.

Served here with asparagus caesar and herbed potatoes.

Definitely a winner of a dish, and I'd like to get a bit more practise at it!

Recipes referred to:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/666649/chicken-kievs
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4748/modernday-chicken-kiev
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/wild-garlic-chicken-kiev
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2012/jun/07/how-cook-perfect-chicken-kiev
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chicken-recipes/chicken-kiev/#xDvrhzbwy01Xu8ez.97
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/29207/classic+chicken+kiev

Monday morning last week I moved desks.  I moved into the team I've joined, but I'm still doing the work we brought over with us, but now I'm separated from Neil so I felt even more alone.  Not being able to see the sky and being in the dark certainly doesn't help.

Tuesday morning the pool had started to freeze over.  So there were small (and huge) snowflakes growing all over the surface!

Tuesday and Wednesday nights I made good progress on the "winter hobby room" - sticking plastic sheeting on the bookshelves to protect all my models from dust, vacuuming, organising, purging, tidying.

Thursday night was whisky night at work.  My favourite was the Glenmorangie.  Such a lovely sweet smell, and very smooth.

Then we picked up C and all went back to their place for a nice dinner of fish and green stuff - real food I called it.

Driving home Thursday night was super beautiful because of all the fog.

Friday night we were back at EffanC's for another nice dinner, and then we watched Life of Pi in 3D.  Such a beautifully filmed movie, and probably the first 3D movie where I've actually appreciated the 3D.

Saturday morning we did a shopping run to pick up a Christmas in July feast - which we prepared at the club for Saturday night.  We cooked four kilos of pork, two kilos of turkey, there was a ham that someone else brought, and we did potato bake, potato, sweet potato, parsnips, brussel sprouts, jerusalem artichokes, eggplant, minted peas and honeyed carrots.  And there was almost no leftovers.  Pretty amazing.

And there were real live lambs!  Two and three week old lambs rescued from the abbatoir.  Apparently some dodgy farmers will sell pregnant ewes which is illegal.  These lambs were at full term and actually born there and now they're being raised by a couple of members of the club.  They were so adorable.  And happy to be picked up and cuddled.  I even had one start to fall asleep in my arms, until he became to heavy to hold heh.

Sunday we came home and had a pretty quiet day.  Went and saw Annie and Stu's new car.  Made pepperoni pizzas for dinner and watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Ten years ago tonight I met the sweetie for the first time in real life.  It was that meeting that changed the rest of my life.  Had it not been for that meeting I would not be sitting here in Canberra, having just watched through Sherlock, listening to my neighbour's loud music.  I wouldn't be in the job I am now or have a whole stack of friends that I have now.

In short it's been a pretty great ten years.

Aquila saw that picture of the sweetie today and said he hadn't changed a bit.  Neither have I really, although I did point out that I'm a lot fatter now hehe.  And the reason I haven't dismantled the mosaic is that it reminds me of that trip to Queensland where I met the sweetie.

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4. "Of course," he muttered. "That would have been too easy. Anakin, where are you?"
2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can, What can you touch? The wall
3. Before you started this survey, what were you doing? Eating breakfast, and reading Dave2's version of this
4. What is the last thing you watched on TV? Sherlock
5. Without looking, guess what time it is 8:15am
6. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time? 8:25am
7. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear? The water spray in the fish tank
8. When did you last step outside? What were you doing? Last night, coming home from EffanC's
9. Did you dream last night? Probably
10. Do you remember your dreams? Sometimes
11. When did you last laugh? Last night
12. Do you remember why / at what? Chatting with friends
13. What is on the walls of the room you are in? Paint
14. Seen anything weird lately? A girl who walks down three flights of stairs to use the girls bathroom on our floor
15. What do you think of this quiz? Not too bad so far
16. What is the last film you saw? Guardians of the Galaxy
17. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live? Germany
18. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy? An aeroplane
19. Tell me something about you that most people don't know. Um
20. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do? Outlaw stoopid people
21. Do you like to dance? Sure
22. Would you ever consider living abroad? Yes
23. Does your name make any interesting anagrams? Probably
24. Who made the last incoming call on your phone? My neighbour.  She was a bit drunk.  OK a lot drunk.
25. What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer? A form to change my name with an organisation
26. Last time you swam in a pool? Last Friday night
27. Type of music you like most? Classical soundtracks (eg anything by John Williams).  Or rock.
28. Type of music you dislike most? Hip hop/rap crap
29. Are you listening to music right now? No
30. What color is your bedroom carpet? Beige with brown flecks
31. If you could change something about your home, without worry about expense or mess, what would you do? Seal in the laundry and put a toilet in downstairs
32. What was the last thing you bought? Lunch yesterday
33. Have you ever ridden on a motorbike? Yes - when I was about seven, at our neighbour's place
34. Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving? Yes
35. Do you have a garden? Yes
36. Do you really know all the words to your national anthem? Yes.  Actually I'll qualify that - I'm a bit fuzzy on the second verse (which never gets sung) and don't know the other verses (which aren't official anyway)
37. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning? What day is it?
38. If you could eat lunch with one famous person, who would it be? I dunno.  Maybe David Bowie
39. Who sent the last text message you received? My neighbour
40. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Gosh I dunno.  Bunnings?  Harvey Norman?  Ikea?
41. What time is bed time? 11pm lights out
42. Have you ever been in a beauty pageant? No
43. How many tattoos do you have? None
44. If you don't have any, have you ever thought of getting one? No
45. What did you do for your last birthday? Drank lots of whiskey then had dinner at Bella Vista
46. Do you carry a donor card? Yes
47. Who was the last person you ate dinner with? The sweetie and EffanC
48. Is the glass half empty or half full? Depends on the direction it's going.  If you're drinking a glass of something, then at the half way point it's half empty.  If you're filling a glass, then at the half way point it's half full.
49. What's the farthest-away place you've been? Scotland
50. When's the last time you ate a homegrown tomato? Month or two ago - some of Kit's
51. Have you ever won a trophy? Yes - for swimming when we were kids
52. Are you a good cook? Not really.  Stu is much better, but he rarely ever cooks :(
53. Do you know how to pump your own gas? Yes.  Who wouldn't??
54. If you could meet any one person (from history or currently alive), who would it be? Jesus
55. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to school? Yes
56. Do you touch-type? Yes
57. What's under your bed? Dust
58. Do you believe in love at first sight? Maybe
59. Think fast, what do you like right now? Our heater
60. Where were you on Valentine's day? Gungahlin for supplies, then out to the club
61. What time do you get up? Usually between 6:45 and 7am
62. What was the name of your first pet? Bluey
63. Who is the second to last person to call you? EffanC
64. Is there anything going on this weekend? Tidying the house.  Trying to get rid of stuff
65. How are you feeling right now? Not too bad
66. What do you think about the most? Um. Work maybe.  
67. What time do you get up in the morning?
68. If you had A Big Win in the Lottery, how long would you wait to tell people? Dunno.  I'd probably be questioning the authenticity of it on account of I don't buy lottery tickets.
69. Who would you tell first? Stu obviously
70. What is the last movie that you saw at the cinema? Cinderella
71. Do you sing in the shower? Not really
72. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? 
73. What do you do most when you are bored? Read rss feeds
74. What do you do for a living? Solve people's problems
75. Do you love your job? Some of it
76. What did you want to be when you grew up? Pilot
77. If you could have any job, what would you want to do/be? Pilot.  Actually probably not.  Flying for myself would be fun, but I couldn't handle the stress of flying other people.  Getting paid to travel the world would be good.
78. Which came first the chicken or the egg? One of them
79. How many keys on your key ring? I dunno.  Lemme go look.  Six.
80. Where would you retire to? Probably here
81. What kind of car do you drive? Ford Laser
82. What are your best physical features? My hair
83. What are your best characteristics? Attention to detail
84. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation where would you go? Europe? America? Antarctica? Cruise around the Mediterranean? St Maarten?
85. What kind of books do you like to read? Science fiction, adventure
86. Where would you want to retire to? 
87. What is your favorite time of the day? Sunset
88. Where did you grow up? Sydney
89. How far away from your birthplace do you live now? 285km
90. What are you reading now? I'm in between books
91. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Morning
92. Can you touch your nose with your tongue? Yes
93. Can you close your eyes and raise your eyebrows? Yes
94. Do you have pets? We have fish
95. How many rings before you answer the phone? Um, as long as it takes to answer?
96. What is your best childhood memory? Maybe our trip to America in 1983
97. What are some of the different jobs that you have had in your life? Pie packer, shop assistant, ISP call centre, desktop support, systems administrator
98. Any new and exciting things that you would like to share? Um, not off the top of my head
99. What is most important in life? um, friends/family/God
100. What Inspires You? Good music

Friday, September 10th 2004...

FQ Topic: Scenario

FQ1: You've been given a million dollars to donate to a worthy charity! Which organization would benefit from your generosity and why are they deserving?
um, probably the Red Cross.  They just seem to always be there when needed.

FQ2: You've testified against the mob and have to leave the country! Where do you go to start your new life, and what new career will you pursue?
Probably Europe.  Career?  Travel blogger? :)

FQ3: A movie studio has given you carte blanche to develop a sequel to a film of your choice! What's your sequel going to be about and who's starring in it?
Harry Potter during the years after the books finished.  There's still so much more to those stories that could be told.  Since it's still so close to the original movies, you could get all the original actors.

FQ RE-BLOG: A tragic computer malfunction has erased your current blog so you decide to start over again under a fictitious identity. Who would you become and what would you write about?
Blerf.  I have enough trouble writing about *reality*, let alone fiction.

Compare with last time ...

Eleven years ago I did one of those memes which was to list the current IMDB Top 250 movies, and highlight which ones you've seen.  The list has changed a bit since then, and I've seen more of the movies on the list (a bunch of them doing a dvd rental trial with Telstra that really didn't work out all that well, so I never took up the offer).  So here's the 2015 version, highlighted bold for the ones I've seen.  100 out of 250 this time.

1. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
2. The Godfather (1972)
3. The Godfather: Part II (1974)
4. The Dark Knight (2008)
5. Pulp Fiction (1994)
6. Schindler's List (1993)
7. 12 Angry Men (1957)
8. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
9. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
10. Fight Club (1999)
11. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
12. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
13. Forrest Gump (1994)
14. Inception (2010)
15. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
16. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
17. Goodfellas (1990)
18. The Matrix (1999)
19. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
20. Seven Samurai (1954)
21. City of God (2002)
22. Interstellar (2014)
23. Se7en (1995)
24. The Usual Suspects (1995)
25. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
26. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
27. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
28. Léon: The Professional (1994)
29. Life Is Beautiful (1997)
30. Casablanca (1942)
31. American History X (1998)
32. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
33. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
34. City Lights (1931)
35. Spirited Away (2001)
36. Psycho (1960)
37. Whiplash (2014)
38. Rear Window (1954)
39. The Intouchables (2011)
40. Modern Times (1936)
41. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
42. The Green Mile (1999)
43. Memento (2000)
44. The Pianist (2002)
45. The Departed (2006)
46. Gladiator (2000)
47. Apocalypse Now (1979)
48. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
49. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
50. Back to the Future (1985)
51. Alien (1979)
52. The Prestige (2006)
53. The Great Dictator (1940)
54. The Lion King (1994)
55. The Lives of Others (2006)
56. Cinema Paradiso (1988)
57. Django Unchained (2012)
58. The Shining (1980)
59. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
60. Paths of Glory (1957)
61. American Beauty (1999)
62. WALL·E (2008)
63. North by Northwest (1959)
64. Aliens (1986)
65. Citizen Kane (1941)
66. Vertigo (1958)
67. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
68. Amélie (2001)
69. M (1931)
70. Das Boot (1981)
71. Oldboy (2003)
72. Princess Mononoke (1997)
73. Toy Story 3 (2010)
74. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
75. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
76. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
77. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
78. Taxi Driver (1976)
79. Braveheart (1995)
80. Double Indemnity (1944)
81. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
82. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
83. Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
84. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
85. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
86. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
87. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
88. The Sting (1973)
89. Bicycle Thieves (1948)
90. Amadeus (1984)
91. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
92. Snatch. (2000)
93. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
94. The Kid (1921)
95. For a Few Dollars More (1965)
96. Rashomon (1950)
97. L.A. Confidential (1997)
98. All About Eve (1950)
99. The Apartment (1960)
100. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
101. Toy Story (1995)
102. Some Like It Hot (1959)
103. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
104. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
105. A Separation (2011)
106. The Third Man (1949)
107. Yojimbo (1961)
108. Batman Begins (2005)
109. Like Stars on Earth (2007)
110. Metropolis (1927)
111. Unforgiven (1992)
112. Scarface (1983)
113. Raging Bull (1980)
114. 3 Idiots (2009)
115. Up (2009)
116. Chinatown (1974)
117. Downfall (2004)
118. The Great Escape (1963)
119. Die Hard (1988)
120. The Hunt (2012)
121. On the Waterfront (1954)
122. Heat (1995)
123. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
124. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
125. Good Will Hunting (1997)
126. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
127. My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
128. The Gold Rush (1925)
129. The Seventh Seal (1957)
130. The Bandit (1996)
131. Ikiru (1952)
132. The Elephant Man (1980)
133. Ran (1985)
134. Blade Runner (1982)
135. Wild Strawberries (1957)
136. The General (1926)
137. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
138. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
139. The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)
140. Casin0 (1995)
141. Gone Girl (2014)
142. Gran Torino (2008)
143. Warrior (2011)
144. The Big Lebowski (1998)
145. Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
146. V for Vendetta (2005)
147. Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003)
148. Rebecca (1940)
149. The Deer Hunter (1978)
150. Rang De Basanti (2006)
151. How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
152. A Wednesday (2008)
153. Cool Hand Luke (1967)
154. Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
155. It Happened One Night (1934)
156. Fargo (1996)
157. Trainspotting (1996)
158. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
159. Gone with the Wind (1939)
160. Into the Wild (2007)
161. Rush (2013)
162. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
163. Dial M for Murder (1954)
164. The Sixth Sense (1999)
165. Hotel Rwanda (2004)
166. The Wages of Fear (1953)
167. The Thing (1982)
168. Finding Nemo (2003)
169. Incendies (2010)
170. Mary and Max (2009)
171. No Country for Old Men (2007)
172. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
173. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
174. Platoon (1986)
175. Life of Brian (1979)
176. Network (1976)
177. 12 Years a Slave (2013)
178. Touch of Evil (1958)
179. Diabolique (1955)
180. There Will Be Blood (2007)
181. Annie Hall (1977)
182. The Princess Bride (1987)
183. Stand by Me (1986)
184. Boyhood (2014)
185. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
186. Ben-Hur (1959)
187. Amores Perros (2000)
188. In the Name of the Father (1993)
189. The 400 Blows (1959)
190. Sin City (2005)
191. Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)
192. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
193. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
194. Persona (1966)
195. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
196. Dil Chahta Hai (2001)
197. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
198. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
199. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
200. The Avengers (2012)
201. Gandhi (1982)
202. The Imitation Game (2014)
203. The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
204. Donnie Darko (2001)
205. Strangers on a Train (1951)
206. 8½ (1963)
207. Shutter Island (2010)
208. Infernal Affairs (2002)
209. Stalker (1979)
210. Twelve Monkeys (1995)
211. Jaws (1975)
212. Before Sunrise (1995)
213. Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001)
214. High Noon (1952)
215. Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)
216. The Terminator (1984)
217. Groundhog Day (1993)
218. Fanny and Alexander (1982)
219. Notorious (1946)
220. The King's Speech (2010)
221. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
222. Ip Man (2008)
223. Rocky (1976)
224. Monsters, Inc. (2001)
225. The Night of the Hunter (1955)
226. The Battle of Algiers (1966)
227. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
228. La Haine (1995)
229. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
230. Memories of Murder (2003)
231. Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
232. Barry Lyndon (1975)
233. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
234. A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
235. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
236. The Truman Show (1998)
237. Castle in the Sky (1986)
238. La Strada (1954)
239. The Help (2011)
240. Jurassic Park (1993)
241. The Big Sleep (1946)
242. Roman Holiday (1953)
243. The Graduate (1967)
244. Papillon (1973)
245. Prisoners (2013)
246. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
247. The Hustler (1961)
248. PK (2014)
249. Akira (1988)
250. Underground (1995)

I first found out that paint-by-numbers were a thing back in the early eighties.  My best friend at the time, Donna Bonnefin - her brother Paul had been given a set of a collie.  I was amazed and wanted to do one.  So I somehow got a double set (could have been a Christmas or birthday present) and did them.  The brush that came with the set with pathetic, and I was still quite young and my motor skills weren't the best, so I actually did most of them with toothpicks.  I gave one each to my nana and grandmother, where they were displayed until they moved into hostels/nursing homes, at which point I got them back.  Since then I've done several over the years.  I am not creative at all but have great attention to details and patience, so these things work well for me.

So this was the first paint-by-numbers I ever did.  Much of the detail was done with toothpicks but the larger areas and blended areas were done with a brush.  These were oil paints which took *forever* to dry, which meant blending worked really well because both sides were wet.  This one went to nana.

This was the other one in the set - it went to grandma

I'm pretty sure these horses were next.  I was still doing some of the detail in toothpicks, but was a bit better with a brush.

Then I think were these kittens.  Before I left Sydney I was giving things away left, right and centre, and sadly I gave these away too.  I'm actually really regretting it.  I hope the person that got them didn't just chuck em out.  I did at least put my website on the back, just in case...

Then a couple of puppies.  Little bit boring as a very small range of colours.

I did the bears a bit later on in life - maybe around my uni days.

These swan lake ones I did as an adult, but I got super frustrated because a couple of the paints dried up before I finished them.  The first one is missing just some of the dark brown, while the second is missing some of the blues as well.  All the sets so far except the very first two were by Craft House, so was a little disappointed.  They're oil paints too, which means that even though I could probably make up the colours using my latest set, it wouldn't be the same because the new paints are acrylic and dry quite matt, whereas the oils have a nice sheen.

And this is the one I completed just recently (bought it for the summer break a year ago).  I was a bit disappointed in this.  It looked nothing like the box for a start, because the paint-by-numbers was modelled on an actual painting, and this looked really nothing like it.  Plus there were mistakes, including on the face where there were two large areas next to each other with the same number which made it look really dumb, so I improvised a bit.  Another annoying thing was this was the first set I'd done where you had to blend your own colours.  Sure it doubled the available colour palette, but it was really painful to work with.

I'll update this post when I finish my latest set :)

ok here we go.  This took like four months to do - felt like forever!