Month: October 2006

Blogging Memes, SBQ

I tagged myself & SBQ

Anne S

In an effort to wind down after work (it wasn’t a good night, but I won’t go into that right now, or I’ll go back to focusing on it again), here’s another series of questions/answers I grabbed from Annette’s blog. I think I may have answered something similar when I first started blogging, but here goes anyway …

48 Things You Could Care Less About

1. FIRST NAME? Anne
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Not as far as I know
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? About 3 weeks ago after Mum had gone home – a combination of being hormonal, sleep deprived and missing my Mum
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? I always gets compliments on it, but I don’t think it’s anything special – depends what mood I’m in as to how tidy it is!
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? Ham
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes, I’d say so, except I’d avoid being around myself on 5am shifts
7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? This blog is it for now
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Nope – got them taken out in my early 30’s
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Only if I was pushed … basically no!
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Depends on my mood – Frosties when being ‘bad’, muesli when being healthy, and Weet-Bix for simplicity
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Mentally and spiritually yes
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Orange chocolate chip or coffee
14. SHOE SIZE? 8
15. RED OR PINK? Definitely red – basically anything BUT pink … yuk!
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I am a procrastinator
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My Mum when she’s not here
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Not really relevant
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Blue jeans, denim-blue T-shirt, two-tone purple polar fleece jacket, and powder blue Skechers (I love weekend dress code at work!)
20. LAST THING YOU ATE? Scone with jam an cream (someone at work made them and dished them out just before 11pm)
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Traffic noise outside
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Blue – that’s a no-brainer!
23. FAVORITE SMELL? Depends on my mood … frangipani flowers or vanilla
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Some moron telemarketing for ING before work … and a travel agent on the phone at work
25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Eyes
26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole THIS from? Yes
27. FAVORITE DRINK? Jim Beam bourbon and L&P … sheer nectar!
28. FAVORITE SPORT? None, I hate them all equally … OK, if I HAVE to choose I’d have to say Rugby Union (but I usually only watch NZ vs Aussie matches anymore)
29. EYE COLOR? Blue
30. HAT SIZE? Large – I have a big skull!
31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Nope, not anymore – had my eyes lasered
32. FAVORITE FOOD? Depends on my mood … love lemon meringue pie, smoked salmon with cream cheese and capers on bagels, and king prawns … I just love food generally
33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Mainly happy endings – but enjoy a scary movie every now and then
35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer
36. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs
37. FAVORITE DESSERT? Lemon meringue pie or pavlova
38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Not really applicable
39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? As per 38
40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? The Closers by Michael Connelly (audiobook)
41. WHAT’S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Penguins – from a painting by a NZ artist
42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Nothing – didn’t switch the TV on … the night before was Jamie Oliver’s ‘Fifteen in Melbourne’
43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? The final beep from my headset when I’m signing out at work 😉
44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Beatles
45. THE FURTHEST YOU’VE BEEN FROM HOME? Depends which home you’re referring to … the Greek Islands from NZ will be my choice for now
46. WHAT’S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? Don’t think any are particularly ‘special’
47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Doncaster, South Yorkshire, UK
48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? I took it from Annette

And now for the SBQ …

Today’s SBQ was suggested by Vash and is:

“Which way do you stitch, i.e. do you stitch /// followed by \\\ on top, or the other way around \\\ followed by ///? Are you left-or right-handed and do you think that this affects the way that you stitch?”

I stitch /// then \\\ … probably because when I was teaching myself the little kit showed it done that way in the instructions, and I continued the same way ever since. I can’t say it has anything to do with being right-handed at all, just that I didn’t know any other way back then …

Blogging Memes

Tagged …

Anne S

Over the last few days I’ve been tagged, and thought it’s about time I sat down and answered them, so here goes …

I’ve Been Tagged by Andie for this one.

The rules:
List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether or not they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.

I’ve been going back through my ‘old’ CD collection recently, so those oldies are probably in my head more than the new stuff at the moment, but here goes:

1) Superman – Five For Fighting (loved this one for years and still love it!)
2) Beautiful – James Blunt
3) Big Yellow Taxi – Counting Crows
4) Without Me – Eminem
5) Shiny Happy People – REM
6) Babylon – David Gray
7) Paradise by the Dashboard Light – Meatloaf

Haha, definitely an eclectic mix in there! I have a very varied taste in music … the only things you won’t find in my music collection will be country music (with the exception of John Denver and Willie Nelson!) and opera (no exceptions … ever … haha – Phantom of the Opera doesn’t count!). Not a huge fan of rap, but don’t mind a couple of songs.

Rightio, on to the next one … for this one I was tagged by Margaret. I have to say 5 things that are weird about myself or my pets … hmmm …

1) I eat what’s on my plate generally in order … ie I’ll usually eat the things I don’t enjoy so much first, followed by the yummier things – perhaps that’s part of why I’m the size I am, if I left the yucky stuff to last, I won’t be obliged to stuff it into me even though I’m already full, ‘cos I don’t want to waste the yummy stuff 😉 Actually I think I’m breaking this habit, but I have always worked my way round the plate finishing each type of food before starting on the next.

2) I can spot a duck at a 1000 paces … that probably doesn’t surprise anyone! I just love to see ducks out in the wild, and I’ve always been drawn to them since I was a ‘wee nipper’. Amazingly enough, I still have an affinity to them, as my stuffed toy collection will prove 🙂 A girl can never have too many ducks!!

3) Our cat Rio used to go absolutely crazy over freshly ground coffee – more so than cat nip. One day I brought a bag of ground coffee home, and it was sitting on the lounge floor inside the plastic carry bag. Rio started rolling all over it, smooching his cheeks all over it and salivating like there was no tomorrow – I’ve never seen anything like it in my life … definitely weird!

4) I like sitting on the floor … you can tell I feel really comfortable in your home if I jump down to the carpet and park myself there – dunno why, but I love sprawling on the floor.

5) I have a bit of an aversion to the phone ringing at home … I really hate it. Perhaps ‘cos I spend all day on the phones, I dunno, but heaven help those telemarketers who phone me after hours at home invading my peace and quiet 😉

As far as tagging other people, I think most people have done both of these now … if you haven’t and feel like joining, consider yourself tagged! 😀

Now, for my finale, stolen from Judith’s blog … this has been around for a while and I’ve never bothered doing it before, but I’m just in the mood for it now … 😉

What I have done is in “bold“.

1. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
2. Swam with dolphins
3. Climbed a mountain
4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
5. Been inside the Great Pyramid
6. Held a tarantula
7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
8. Said “I love you” and meant it
9. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was shit faced
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an expert
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Eaten fugu (pufferfish)
89. Had a one-night stand
90. Gone to Thailand
91. Bought a house
92. Been in a combat zone
93. Buried one/both of your parents
94. Been on a cruise ship
95. Spoken more than one language fluently
96. Performed in Rocky Horror Picture Show
97. Raised children
98. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111.Ridden a bike
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey
135. Selected one important author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

Stash

Last day of freedom

Anne S

It’s back to work again tomorrow, but it’s only a 5-day week for a change, which is just wonderful – this week’s shifts are reasonable, with a mix of 3pm and 12 noon starts. Next week it’s back to 5am starts again hmmm, which means I should get loads of stitching done just to keep me awake in the afternoons!

Yesterday I promised piccies of my great mail day, and here they are – the first piccie is of course Jenna teasing me with my scissors … I’m still laughing my head off today over this little trick – I love it! As well as the beautiful wrapping, it also has a gift tag already made up on it … “To Anne, From Anne” – what a crack up!

The other goodies I received were my back-ordered threads from Karen at Dragonfly Dreams – this means Sapphire Star will be joining my rotation as the next project on my list for the canvaswork slot … although my rotation is a bit out the window at the moment to fit in some commitment and gift stitching. Here in the piccie is the latest issue of JCS (only bought for the ornies in it, and I have to admit there are probably only 2 of them I’d consider stitching up, oh well), some 16ct Bay Leaf Aida for Mum, my Rainbow Gallery back orderered threads, a packet of 40557 Mill Hill beads (seeing as I still can’t find my other ones, and I need one to finish Lynn’s RR, plus this colour always comes in handy), 2 WDW threads I needed for upcoming projects, and finally some little buttons and charms for Christmas ornies coming up.

As far as my gift stitching is concerned, I have one entirely finished and it’s winging its way across the Pacific as we speak, as I managed to get to the Post Office late this arvo. I’d offer a sneak preview, but it might give it away 😉 We’ll just have to wait a week or so until it arrives at its destination, then all can be unveiled 😀

Not entirely sure what I’ll sit and do tonight – possibly some kitting up of some Christmas ornies, or perhaps starting my next bit of gift stitching … I dunno yet, but no doubt whatever I do it will be stitching-related 😀

Travel

Ouch, my feet hurt!

Anne S

Not much of a stitchy post today, but I thought I’d take a few minutes to sit down and rest before picking up my needle for the afternoon … I’ve been tagged by Margaret, but I need to think about my anwers yet before I write them up, but watch this space 😉

Yesterday I enjoyed my walk a little ‘too much’, and came home with whopping great blisters under both feet oops – it made it a very uncomfortable trip into the city to catch up with Fraze for dinner, but it was lovely to catch up again after not seeing each other for a couple of months. We were going to the Rose Garden in Elizabeth Street, but opted instead to go to the Shanghai Dumpling & Noodle House in Chinatown, and I loved every single mouthful … we had prawn and chicken steamed dumplings, pork fried dumplings, spicy chicken noodle soup, Shanghai fried noodles and green vegetables with oyster sauce, and could barely walk afterwards … yummo 🙂 I was finally able to give to give him the potato crisps we bought him from Marks & Spencers in Hong Kong 😉

Then today popped in to clear my PO Box on the way to my hairdressers appointment (which is about 3/4 hour drive away from home), and found some wonderful things hiding in there – my order from Dragonfly Dreams, and Christmas came early with my parcel arriving from Jenna too. As I’d already said I was wrapping my scissors up for myself to go under the Christmas tree, the cheeky little monkey has already done it for me, so there’s no peeking allowed and it will be a REAL surprise on Christmas Day – you’re a real crack-up! My American twin also sent my Christmas prezzie from her at the same time too, so that means I have two prezzies under the tree this year woohoo 😀 Thanks again, sweetie, for getting my scissors for me, and thanks heaps in advance for my Christmas gift 😀 {{hugs}}

Aside from that, no stitching piccies to show – seeing as my stitching mojo had returned, and I got home so late from dinner last night, I decided to put the snowmen to one side and get cracking on my gift stitching … I was originally hoping to get these finished earlier, but I didn’t have the fabric for one, and I’m still awaiting the thread for the other with a back order from SB&B (which I’m also getting a bit antsy about, as there are items I need for the scissor fob exchange hmmm). Now it’s back to my stitching again – I managed to get 8 whole eyelets done at the hairdressers today (I had a bit of blonde put back in again, sorry Mum, but it’s pretty subtle!) so I really need to get the needle cracking again tonight! I’ll take piccies of my postal arrivals later … I can’t be bothered getting the camera out of my bag from yesterday, lazy sod that I am 😉 LOL.

Today will finish with Tom Yum soup I bought from my fave Vietnamese (and Thai) restaurant in Box Hill today … I love getting my hair done, if just for the fact it gives me an excuse to pick up some of my fave food 😉 And today there was an extra highlight to the day – I called in to say “howdy” to my fave Melbourne stitcher and friend, Sharon, and managed to catch up for a few minutes while she was at work. Unfortunately it wasn’t long enough, but still wonderful to catch up briefly and share a hug – she’s such good company 😀

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

“I feel good! na-na na-na na-na na”

Anne S

Yep, the title is me singing that song … today is the first day I’ve felt ‘normal’ in a whole week, and I have a bit of energy back again woohoo!! For the first time in days I’ve got my stitching mojo back again, and look forward to a happy dance tonight with my needleroll. I only got as far as finishing the top band of smyrna crosses and seeing half the top row of snowflakes done last night, as my eyes were really really heavy. I was in bed by 10pm, and still kept waking up every 1-2 hours as seems to be the norm after night shifts for me, but for the first time I actually woke up feeling quite refreshed this morning yippee!

I’ve caught up on a few blogs … only 196 unread feeds left (it had got up to over 400 again from the other day yikes), done the dishes, and even started getting the urge to bake (and that NEVER happens LOL). For now, though, I’m going to don the walking shoes and get outside in the sunshine and go for a walk round the bays for an hour, then it’s off into the city to meet up with Fraze for dinner. Seeing as I’m going in by train (I never drive into the city ‘cos I have no idea where I’m going) I want to head in a bit early and do a spot of shopping at a discount store for some plastic folders for my WIPs – and at $2 a packet of 5 they’re just wonderful 😀 If the weather stays fine, I just might head up the Rialto tower as well for a spot of sightseeing and cross that off my 101 things list … although the weather forecast doesn’t sound too good.

And seeing as there’s no stitching update today (yet anyway), here’s a photo of me the midget (only compared to Fraze, though, as I’m actually an average size of 5’6″) and Fraze the 6’4″ giant from a couple of years ago (me less quite a few pounds from now, with a lot more blonde – probably one of my fave photos ever of me, which is why it’s on my profile haha … and Fraze will probably kill me for posting this one of him LOL).

Needlerolls, Quilting

Happy as a pig in mud :)

Anne S

It was an interesting night last night, in that I was very sleepy very early, so hit the hay just before 11pm, only to wake up again at 2am with my body thinking “that was a nice nap, time to get up now” hmmm. I got up and wandered around for half an hour before going back to bed – took me a while to get back to sleep, but eventually I dozed off and didn’t get up until 9am woohoo 🙂

Last night I managed to do some of the slowest stitching in history (for me), and still haven’t managed to get that Snowman Needleroll finished yet … but I guess it’s a bit closer to finishing than it was before, so that’s all good 🙂
Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
Today has been a very productive day for me, although no stitching done as yet. I popped out and filled the car up with petrol (how wonderful to see it at $1.13 a litre woohoo), then went on a stitching adventure … I finally went to Centre Road in East Bentleigh to visit Amitie (downstairs – quilting) and Broderie (upstairs – embroidery), and really enjoyed it. The quilting part is quite large, with a reasonable selection of fabrics … and I’ve asked about classes there to teach me how to do applique and learn the quilting basics so I can complete my block of the month quilt I have sitting here doing nothing (complete with all the fabrics for it). Because of my shift work hours it’s really difficult to commit to a lot of classes because they’re usually spread over say 4 weeks, and I’d only end up being able to attend 2-3 of the classes. At Amitie, though, they have ‘casual’ classes each week, and you just pay for the class you attend and the instructors just help you with your queries … I’d definitely keen to do that, and it’s only 15-20 minutes drive from where I live yippee 😀 I can’t remember if I’ve posted info on my quilt yet, but this is the design I have sitting here (and yes, for a change, it’s blue!! LOL). Sorry but Blogger is being a dog again, and won’t upload piccies, so no clickable links again … if anyone knows how to make Photobucket piccies clickable, I’d love to know how! Actually, if you click here, you can see a clearer picture of it on the designer’s website 🙂
Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
Upstairs from Amitie is Broderie – I have to admit the space is quite small (just one medium room really), but Elizabeth has a decent range of threads etc in there, and she can order in most things they don’t have. The owner is the Elizabeth that used to be at Bustle & Bows Malvern – I really liked her, and glad she’s managed to set up her own business. It was really lovely to get out there and see a new LNS, as well as picking up a couple of items I needed to finish kitting up two new gift projects. I also managed to pick up a copy of the 2005 JCS ornie issue for Mum at half price, which was fantastic … and I was very very good and didn’t walk out with anything extra, only those items I specifically needed (pearl cottons and fabric), so I’m still working within the 50 Project Challenge guidelines. Unfortunately Broderie didn’t have everything I needed, so I had to call into The Embroidery Den in Brighton on the way home, where I managed to find everything else … even the 3mm satin ribbon in the perfect shade yippee 😀

My last trip on the way home was to Officeworks where I did some photocopying I needed to do for some working copies of charts etc, and picked up a 2007 filler for my diary. And my final purchase (yes, I FINALLY bought one, Mum) was from Autobarn … a dashboard cover for my car!! I have a Nissan Pulsar sedan, and the dashboard is the most horrendous thing I’ve ever had in a car, as it reflects the sun badly onto the window and makes it hard to see. When I first bought it I bought a piece of black felt and sat that on the dashboard to block out the reflections, but three years later the felt is well as truly dead (and brown!), and with summer here I decided it was finally time to bite the bullet … I’m so happy!!! 😀 (Actually I’ll be even happier when it arrives, ‘cos I’ve had to order it in haha.)

Tomorrow I’m heading into the city to meet my pal Fraze for dinner, so I might go in earlier and have a look around. Then Thursday I’m off to Box Hill to get my hair cut/coloured … I have to decide whether to have a dark colour put back in again (I had a semi-permanent put in before Katrina came here to visit), or whether to get the blonde back again until after summer … oh decisions decisions haha. I might just have to buy some dinner to take home from there, too, from my fave Vietnamese eating place yummo 😀

And with no further ado, I’m off to sort out my working copies to settle in for the evening … I may even get that needleroll finished tonight … maybe 😉

Uncategorized

It’s all Greek to me …

Anne S

I can finally say I’ve picked up one of my exemptions from the 50 Project Challenge – at last my local newsagent near work had the World of XSing magazine in stock with the Michael Powell Greek scene in it … I absolutely ADORE all things Greek with those beautiful blues in them, so this design is most definitely on the “must stitch” list. It will go well with the Greek paintings I bought in Greece that I have framed up (with some more still to be framed yet).

On the stitching front, I didn’t manage to get much done on my Snowman needleroll over the last two nights … on my 2nd night of doggoes it was a bit busier, so I only managed to get a tiny bit done – and I realised on adding the backstitching that the right-hand snowman is one stitch too far over on the right … seeing as I’d already had to frog-stitch that one twice already, and I’d already completed it, I’ve decided to just leave it where it is, and just have to adjust the lettering by one stitch above it. I bet if I didn’t say anything, no-one would notice 😉 Last night would have been a good stitching night again, but I was just too tired to concentrate on it, so gave stitching a miss. I’ve only been getting 5-6 hours sleep each time during the day (and waking up every 1-2 hours), so last night that caught up with me. Of course, as is always the case, today I manage to sleep a full 8 hours and didn’t get out of bed until 3pm, which means it’ll be hard to get back into the routine for sleeping tonight … that’s the only thing I hate about night shift, recovering after it – otherwise I could do that shift permanently, I really enjoy it 😀 (very sad, I know! LOL)

I think tonight I’ll try to get this little needleroll finished off, then tomorrow I need to pop out and buy some pearl cottons ready to start my gifts this week, before coming home to settle in and stitch up my scissor fob exchange piece. I’m a bit worried that the ‘extra’ I’ve ordered from SB&B isn’t going to arrive in time for posting, but I guess there’s still just over a week left (fingers crossed).

On the good note, though, Karen has shipped most of the threads I’ve been wanting for a canvaswork piece, so that’ll slot straight into my rotation as soon as Pacific Pohutukawa is finished woohoo 😀 These threads have been on order for quite some time now, as they had to be ordered in through the distributor – but as soon as I’ve finished that piece, the chart can head it’s way over to Tannia for her to stitch it 😀

And on that note I’ll sign off for the night and settle in with the Snowman needleroll for a few hours while listening to a new audiobook I’ve got – A Darkness More Than Night by Michael Connelly. The reason I have this is Cathy’s fault … she mentioned Audible on her blog, and the price seemed very reasonable, so yesterday I thought I’d give it a trial run. They just so happened to have a 50% sale off Michael Connelly books, so I bought two (for the same it’d cost just for one normal paperback these days), as well as The Cold Moon by Jeffrey Deaver as my ‘free’ gift for joining up. That’ll keep me out of trouble this week on my days off 😉 It’ll be a nice change from DVD watching, and they have a wonderful selection of audiobooks to download (even for us Aussies) compared to what’s available at my local library 😀

Finishes, Needlerolls

Better Dratteds piccie

Anne S

Thanks everyone for your lovely comments about my Dolphins Domain … I have to admit, I really out-did myself with the amount of stitching I crammed into the final couple of days – it’s amazing what sheer determination and bloody-mindedness can make you do! 😉 Mind you, the pile of dishes in the sink and general mess around here shows I really did do nothing else but stitch for every waking moment for a couple of days – and on my day off sick I literally sat down with needle in hand at about 9am and didn’t put it down again until almost midnight, and did the same thing yesterday until it was finished. And for those of you who’ve asked for it, here’s a much better photo of the Dratteds (and it’s clickable) – I think the colours are a bit more accurate too, as it was taken in front of the window with no flash this time (and with my good SLR camera).

I’d just downloaded an anti-phishing software that came with my renewal for SpyNet, and it was playing havoc with my PC, especially blogger … so today I uninstalled it and voila I have Blogger piccies again without crashing the entire system yippee!! 😀

Last night was my first night shift (affectionately known as the Doggoes – apparently this came from the old days when night shifts were known as the ‘dogwatch’), and I really loved it – I was wide awake all night, in that I didn’t feel tired once … although tonight may be a different story, as I never sleep properly during the day (and of course yesterday I was awake almost 24 hours by the time I got to bed). Anyway, the calls were a bit quiet for a few hours, so I managed to put in a few stitches for the Needleroll SAL with Katrina et al inbetween answering queries/calls – this month I’ve chosen the Snowman Needleroll by Shepherd’s Bush, and here’s my progress to date.

As for “what now?” after the Dratteds are finished … I’m debating between a couple of choices for my newly opened focus piece slot in my rotation – high up the list is Egyptian Garden Mandala by Chatelaine, or possibly one of my TW UFO’s (English Garden Sampler or Noah’s Ark). I have to say, due to the sheer size of it, that Egyptian Garden is likely to win out. Originally I was holding off doing this so I could SAL with Carol, but we agree that she’s pretty much Chatelained-out with her stitching in that area this year, so I’ve opted to pick it back up again and get cracking on it. In fact there you go, my decision has been made … EGM is my new focus piece! 😀 Seeing as I coughed up all that money for the kit, I really should get that beauty finished!

Next up, though, is my scissor fob exchange, as the deadline is drawing ever nearer – then a small gift for someone, and a couple of Christmas ornies … if nothing else, there’s always something in the pipelines waiting to be stitched, so I’ll never have a problem running out of a project! ;P

Have a great weekend everyone 😀

Finishes, Uncategorized

Farewell to the Dratteds!

Anne S

Yup, you read the title right … I haven’t been much online over the last couple of days, but rather I’ve been spending almost every waking moment with my needle in hand sat in front of the Dratteds. And compliments of having a day off work sick yesterday (with a splitting headache and the chills – just a cold thankfully), I managed to put the final stitches into them tonight (just in time for going to work on the overnight shift). After all these years, they’re finally done! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!

I feel very relieved to have them finished finally … but in some ways a bit sad that they’ll be leaving ‘home’ soon – even if I say it myself, they’re gorgeous in real life 😀 Hope you like them, John and Vicki, ‘cos your wedding present is finally stitched up for you. Now all I have to do is save up for the framing 😀

So, here they are in all their glory 😀 (Sorry, but the photo is from Photobucket as Blogger photos kept crashing my system, so you can’t click for a bigger piccie)
Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
Dolphins Domain by Cross My Heart
(from Orcas and Dolphins leaflet)
Started in August 1999 – Completed 13 October 2006

Uncategorized

A small giggle

Anne S

The sad thing is that I could probably add a few to this list as well from personal experience … haha. Nothing stitching-related to chat about, so you get some call centre enquiries (joke) that I got in an email … gave me a giggle! 😀

Thomas Cook Travel
Customer: “I’ve been ringing 0700 2300 for two days and can’t get through to enquiries, can you help?”.
Operator: “Where did you get that number from, sir?”.
Customer: “It was on the door to the Travel Centre”.
Operator: “Sir, they are our opening hours”.

Samsung Electronics
Caller: “Can you give me the telephone number for Jack?”
Operator: “I’m sorry, sir, I don’t understand who you are talking about”.
Caller: “On page 1, section 5, of the user guide it clearly states that I need to unplug the fax machine from the AC wall socket and telephone Jack before cleaning. Now, can you give me the number for Jack?”
Operator: “I think you mean the telephone point on the wall”.

Royal Automobile Club Motoring Services
Caller: “Does your European Breakdown Policy cover me when I am travelling in Australia?”
Operator: ” Doesn’t the product give you a clue?”

Directory Enquiries 1
Caller: “I’d like the number of the Argoed Fish Bar in Cardiff please”.
Operator: “I’m sorry, there’s no listing. Is the spelling correct?”
Caller: “Well, it used to be called the Bargoed Fish Bar but the ‘B’ fell off”.

Directory Enquiries 2
Then there was the caller who asked for a knitwear company in Woven.
Operator: “Woven? Are you sure?”
Caller: “Yes. That’s what it says on the label; Woven in Scotland “.

Technical support…. England
Caller: “I deleted a file from my PC last week and I have just realised that I need it. If I turn my system clock back two weeks will I have my file back again?”.