Anne S

Furbaby hell …

5 August, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

I could shoot Daniel, is all I can say! Before the boys left (when I came to pick up the keys), I met kitty Sean and all seemed well – we hit it off, and he seemed to be a very friendly kitty. Jason (Daniel’s partner) said, though, that Daniel teaches and encourages him to hiss … but so far I hadn’t seen it for myself … until later on into my first night here!

Sean likes to not just sit on your knee, but to lay sprawled right UP your body, with his head on your chest, and his paws (and claws) sitting right on your neck or shoulder … I was trying to read my book, so moved him slightly so I could get to turn my page comfortably, and he turned around and hissed … I nearly died! I have to admit at that close quarters it freaked me out a bit … then he crawled up onto the top of the sofa behind my head and continued hissing at me hmmm. I have to admit, I didn’t let him sit back on me again that night, and just sat forward on the sofa hunched over, as his hissing made me feel uncomfortable.

Last night I came into the computer room, and he followed me in and jumped up on the desk – when I tried to move the mouse out of the way he started hissing again … after a few minutes I have to say I got sick of the hissing and I shooed him out of the room and shut the door on him! He spent the next half hour jumping up and hanging off the door handle meeowing his head off – so I let him in again only to have him start the whole rigmarole over again. In the end I got fed up and went through to the bedroom to have my shower and an early night to read my book in bed …

Tonight I have to admit my patience is wearing a tiny bit thin with him … he’s been hissing at me all night – I’ve filled his food bowl up with biscuits, checked he has water, checked his litter tray doesn’t need cleaning, and held both outside doors open to see if he wants to go out … no response to anything, except more bl**dy hissing. When I went to take the rubbish bin out to the kerb I left the wire screen open to see if he pops outside, and he eventually did … so outside he remains for an hour or so while I get some peace and quiet and he gets some much-needed fresh air!

It’s really disheartening – I adore animals, and I’ve housesat for two lots of kitty families before (2 belonging to my friend Rox, and 3 belonging to my best friend’s family), and at no time have I ever had any problems with them. I was sooo looking forward to having some furbaby company, but this lot have got serious psychological issues!!!

I have to say, as well, that it’s really taking the edge off the fun of housesitting too – I hate to think I’ve got a full 4 weeks of this hissing lark left … Daniel has a helluva lot to answer for, the mongrel 😦

I have to admit I got so fed up last night I started looking online at rental properties – considering whether I can get a smaller 1-bedroom place somewhere, or a 2-bedroom place a bit further out of town, that’s cheaper than what I was living in before. Maybe the next place’s animals won’t be feral like this lot, and maybe I’ll get back to enjoying it a bit – but at the moment the shine has definitely been removed, and I’m dreading walking in the door here … mind you, I’m also on early shifts which might be affecting my mood 😦

I was tempted to pick up some stitching yesterday, but I don’t think sitting in the lounge with the cat having a hissing fit is going to be particularly conducive to any quality stitching … oh well, at least my book is a huge one and will keep me out of trouble in the bedroom for a few more nights/weeks 😉

Anyway, nothing else to report – just felt like getting that off my chest before I let the feral one back in again …

PhotoHunt

PhotoHunt – Funky

4 August, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

PhotoHunt | PhotoHunt

This week’s theme is “Funky” – I was going to take a trip into the city to Southbank to take a new photo of the “funky” sculptures that are below, but I’m running out of time to post all these piccies before my computer goes into storage (this post is being loaded up on 20 May!), so I’ve decided to use my original photo, plus another one we took today of an outdoor display to advertise a hairdressing salon in Acland Street, St Kilda … I just took a photo because I liked it, and it’ll remind me of my days living here, but Mum saw the photo and said “they look funky”, and because of that they’re now being included! 😀

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

No longer missing in action …

3 August, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Actually, I’m not entirely sure how much time I’ll be spending online – I’ve just logged on to a ‘normal’ PC at my new housesitting job, and there are 1400 unread feeds in my feed reader … yikes!!

This is just a really really quick post to let you know I’m in the land of the living – I didn’t have any internet connection at all in Seaford, and have only just arrived in the latest place today so haven’t tried to plug in my laptop and modem yet … Daniel has kindly set me up as a new account user on his PC so I can at least access the internet – I can read my emails through a webmail server, but it won’t let me reply for some strange reason. It will take me a while to catch up anyway, whichever way I manage to get it working … In the meantime if you need to reach me for anything, it might be wise to send to my work address.

I still have 5 more Photo Hunt posts sitting ready to go in the future (I love, love, love that facility of WordPress) … but I guess that means I’ll have to start snapping away again at the end of the month. I took a walk one day last week on the beach at Frankston in the freezing cold and took some photos – plus I took a few photos of the kitties at Ali’s place … they’re ‘interesting’ personalities to put it mildly …

Hugo, the male, is exceptionally territorial and doesn’t like anyone in ‘his’ home other than Ali, so he was a challenge in himself – Alice is the total opposite and runs and hides if someone new enters the house … although she jumped up next to me the other night and actually let me stroke her briefly, which was lovely. She’s a real sweetheart, and I wonder if she would come out of her shell a bit more if Hugo wasn’t such a bossy breeches!

My new ‘home’ has Sean living here … and he’s totally different again – another black and white male moggy, he’s spent the last hour following me around the house, and craving attention and cuddles the entire time … yup, we’re getting along just fine! 😀

No stitching to show – I haven’t had the inclination to pick up a needle whatsoever of late … I’m hoping to get a spot of finishing done while I’m here at Daniel’s, but don’t hold your breath haha. Instead I’ve been watching a TV series on DVD with Ali about a UK Chef called “Return of the Chef” – it’s been wonderful to watch, although now I want to watch the French series as well later in the month. I’ve also been reading – and I’m almost finished with “The Memorykeeper’s Daughter” – normally not my usual reading style, but I have to say I’m really loving reading it, and can’t wait to see how it all ends …

Anyway, time to pop out and get some bread and milk, and work out what to sleep in tonight … Daniel was aware I have my own sheets etc for the bed, but he’s kindly taken the duvet inner away so I have a bare mattress … and I left my duvet inner in storage, thinking I don’t need it ho-hum. It took me over an hour to drive from the storage unit to here with no traffic, so it’s not an option to head back over there again, as it’ll be closed before I get home again. Luckily I’ve packed a sleeping bag in the boot of the car ‘just in case’ or for when I’m washing the bedding at the end of a housesit etc … I guess it’ll be coming in extremely handy this week!!

Rightio, off I trot to starting thinking about dinner for both Sean and I … then it’s time to snuggle up in the lounge with the TV on, and a kitty keeping me warm while I finish my book! 😉

I hope to catch up on all your blogs throughout the coming fortnight (there’s too much to read in just one week, me thinks!)

PhotoHunt

PhotoHunt – Creative

28 July, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

PhotoHunt | PhotoHunt

This week’s theme is “Creative” – for me my creative pursuits are mainly (if not purely) within the realm of needlework, and within that realm I feel my stumpwork pieces are the most creative for me. These two pieces are some of the first I ever did (and the rest of my collection are still sitting in UFO status … much to Elisabeth’s disgust LOL). I think one of my overall favourite pieces is the sweetpea (I especially adore the little tendrils and beaded pea pods), but I have to admit the Elizabethan roundell is still pretty special (even though I can see the faults pretty easily, as this was one of my first ever pieces stitched).

Cross Stitch, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Needlerolls, Works in Progress

Final piccies of Elwood

24 July, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

When I was cleaning out the last remaining boxes of ‘stuff’ for storage, I came across the following on a CD – which is great ‘cos I had to format my compact flashcard and thought I’d lost them all! These were my final shots of my apartment in Elwood before I moved out … I miss the flat just a tiny bit, but I sure don’t miss those cracks or the window that wouldn’t close! I wonder if they’ve manged to get new tenants into it yet or done the work on the building? Oh well, all power to them … Here goes with the photos:

You probably can’t tell from this photo, but the window sill is actually buckled – the left hand side tilts upwards, and the right hand side tilts down … just goes to show how much the building is moving I guess …

This is what we found behind the bookcase – all of these cracks were much more impressive (and scary) in real life … this one explains the vertical crack all along the wall, we could finally see the source!

Talking of photos, I thought I’d share my storage space with you, so you can see how packed to the gunnels it is … I still have one more box, plus my sewing machine, plus a small suitcase to go in there tomorrow … miracles still DO happen, don’t they? LOL.

On a slightly ‘down’ note, I’ve had the disappointing news a few weeks ago that the housesitting agency I was going to be doing housesitting jobs for has closed their doors for at least the next year … ho-hum. I’ve heard bad things about some other agencies where you just don’t get work, so I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to do now … The guy I was going to housesit for has a daughter who runs an online agency, so I’ll probably sign up for that one – not sure how much business it’ll generate, though. If not, I guess I’ll have to start thinking about moving into a new place again closer to Christmas. At this stage I have jobs pretty much right up until the start of November – after that I’m up in the air quite a bit. I’m going to put an ad up on the noticeboard at work to see if that generates any more business (at this stage all my housesitting jobs have come from my fellow colleagues on the Hotline). I guess my first job now, though, will be to get $3,000 in a kitty behind me just in case I need to move into somewhere new … at least I still have housesitting until my laptop’s paid off phew! 🙂

Rightio, time to get up and start the official house cleaning … and packing my suitcase etc. The food bags are already packed with leftover groceries (I’ve been very lax about cooking while I’ve been here, so there’s plenty of tins etc left) – and my stitching is pretty much packed up … just one more bag of ‘stuff’ to finish sorting out and everything’s ready. It will be nice to have a free night tonight to just kick back and relax knowing all the housework is already done.

I have to admit I had a slight panic yesterday when I came home from the storage unit to find one of the cars missing from the driveway – thankfully I called Sal’s Mum and found out her Dad had come to pick up the car for picking them up from the airport … phew! I’m sure they’ve got the days wrong, though, as I’ve got it in my diary that they’re coming home tomorrow, not today … I guess if they’re not home by lunchtime today I’ll know I’m right. I’ve got the table in the kitchen already laid out ready for them with their piles of mail and the bills I’ve paid for them, plus a vase of flowers, bread and milk, and a bottle of red wine sitting ready with two wine glasses and the corkscrew, plus a welcome home note – hopefully they’ll appreciate it when they arrive … I just hope all my housesitting jobs won’t expect it haha 😛

Anyway, time to start the day … I’m not sure after tomorrow what sort of reception I’ll have for my internet connection – I’m moving to Seaford on the fringe of Melbourne’s outer suburbs, and unsure whether Unwired’s coverage reaches out there or not … if not I’ll be out of action for just under two weeks until I move out to Ringwood (where I’ll be for 4 weeks). Mind you this week the reception here has been appalling, so an improvement would be fantastic! I’ve been trying to post this for well over an hour now, but the stupid reception keeps dropping out hmmm.

In the meantime, have a great week everyone! 😀

I’ll leave you with my latest WIP – the photo is appalling, and half the wording has to be frogged due to stupid mistake, but I’m over halfway with this needleroll …

Cross Stitch, SBQ

SBQ’s … loads of them!

23 July, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

3^rd note to self …

“You must remember at all times that you have a head like a sieve right now – your blondeness is truly ruling the roost in your life, and you mustn’t forget it! For example, when you think to yourself that today is Monday you really really should check and confirm to yourself that it really is … shift work and blondeness are not a good combination. The outcome is that you will pack your car up with all your stitching boxes and computer to take them into storage … only to arrive at a chained up gate at 3.15pm. Yes that’s right … if you check what day of the week it really is, you would know it was Sunday and the gates close at 2pm. That would also save you from driving all the way home to unpack the car again … to just repack everything again the next day and do it all over again! So, check … check again … and triple check again … doh!!”

4th note to self …

“If you stopped doing dopey things, you wouldn’t have to keep writing ‘notes to self’ … ;)”

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I’m sooooo behind on answering the SBQ’s, so it’s time to catch up from before I moved out of my last flat:

10 May – This SBQ is from Ish:

“How do you choose a project for an exchange? Do you pick solely on what you know of the taste of the recipient, or are there other reasons you pick the piece you do?”

I try to get a feel for what the participant likes, then find something using that criteria that I would enjoy stitching – no point in stitching something that you’re going to hate doing. I always try to find out colour preferences, if nothing else, and work from there.

16 May – This SBQ is from Juls:

“If you could only stitch one more piece what would it be and why?”

That’s a really tough one … perhaps it would be Chatelaine’s Stitching Leporello, as I think it’s an exquisite piece when it’s all finished, and functional at the end of it all.

30 May – This SBQ is from Kathryn:

“How many needles do you use during a project? Have you ever loaded up a needle for every colour? Do you use a new needle for every project, or recycle your favourite needle?”

It depends on what I’m stitching really – for example with the Bordeaux Sampler because there were only three individual colours being used, I had one needle pretty much loaded up per colour, especially if I’d only used a tiny bit of the thread before finishing it off and moving on to another colour. I’ll also use a number of needles for TW designs, mainly for the blended needles – when I’m stitching one of those I use one of the needle park gadgets to keep track of them all. As for using a new needle for every project, I don’t honestly see the sense in that – I’m pretty hard on needles and chew through them pretty quickly due to the chemicals in my skin I guess, so I’d never have a needle long enough for it to be a ‘favourite needle’ 😉 As soon as the needle starts to ‘drag’ through the fabric it goes in the bin and I grab a new one out of the packet.

6 June – Today’s SBQ was suggested by Ish and is:

“What has been your most challenging project and why?”

Hmmm, this is quite a difficult one to answer, and I can’t narrow it down to just one thing – The Dratteds because stitching all that monotonous colour was truly boring, and it was a huge project to stitch; the CA Wells pieces purely for the challenge of the finishing methods as I’m lacking in confidence in that area; and Bordeaux Sampler for all those dratted over-one grapes I guess. Anything that teaches me something new is a challenge, but a rewarding one J

14 June – Today’s SBQ was suggested Jennifer and is:

“How do you store your WIPs and other projects that you have kitted up?”

Before I moved all my goodies into storage, I had all my rotation pieces sitting in the lounge by my stitching chair – all my scrollbars and stretcher bars etc with my WIP’s on them were stacked up against the bookcase, within arms reach of my chair, with each of the project ‘kits’ in project envelopes, sitting in a plastic tub. They’d sit in order of my rotation, and once I’d stitched a rotation slot the project envelope got put at the back of the pile, ready to select the next project from the front of the pile. Each project envelope holds the original chart, working copy, and threads/embellishments needed for stitching. As for other kitted up projects, I have them sitting in archive boxes now with the threads, fabric and charts in zip-loc bags – and the list of each box’s contents is in a Word document.

22 June – Today’s SBQ was suggested by Kathryn and is:

“When you start a new work do you look for something small, do you look for another huge project or do you consider your UFOs?”

I’d have to say it depends on the mood … if I’ve just finished a BAP I’m more likely to pick up something smaller for a while to give myself a break. Also, if the guilt sets in badly that I’ve been neglecting older WIP’s I ‘might’ eventually pick up a UFO and work on it … maybe 😉

3 July – Today’s SBQ is:

“Do you consider yourself a “floss miser?”

It depends on the thread itself – if it’s silks, expensive threads, or part of a kit, yes I am – I’ll stitch down to the very last bit of the thread. If it’s DMC, even though it’s more expensive here than it is elsewhere in the world, I have to admit I’m starting to change. I used to stitch with my DMC down to the last inch (and I still will if I’m stitching a large patch etc), I won’t save scraps anymore for ‘later’, unless it’s a fairly decent length of thread.

12 July – Today’s SBQ was suggested by The Wagon and is:

“What do you love to do that many people hate? What do you hate to do, but do anyway?”

I can’t say I “love” doing it, but I don’t mind doing backstitching – it quickly ‘finishes’ a project off and you can usually see a great impact on the finished design fairly quickly. I hate French knots, but I’m learning to master them so they don’t have me running screaming from the room now as much as they used to.

19 July – Today’s SBQ was suggested by Ish and is:

“Which project (finished or in progress) are you most proud of? Explain why.”

I’d have to probably say my stumpwork pieces – they were my first foray away from cross stitch, and I still feel quite proud of them to this day. They were a huge step forward in my stitching … nothing like jumping in feet first with something simple! 😉 (talking of stumpwork, Elisabeth your comment in my Webshots album about the Lorri Birmingham fob gave me a HUGE giggle!! LOL)

Cross Stitch

2nd note to self …

21 July, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Note to self:

“It doesn’t matter that your back is aching, do NOT lay down on the bed to catch up on emails and blogs in the afternoon when you’ve just finished day 4 of 5am shifts … your eyes will close involuntarily and you will wake up 3 hours later in a pool of drool feeling as though you’ve just consumed 2 bottles of red wine, and making it harder to sleep later … next time do what you normally do, and get your stitching out!! It doesn’t matter if you need to use matchsticks to prop your eyes open, just remain vertical at all times!!”

One other thing I forgot to mention the other week too (I’m sooooo behind on things at the moment, and very very forgetful), is that I have a space confirmed for next year’s classes in Perth with CA Wells … I’m very excited! 😀 We’ll be stitching the Sailor’s Valentine, and a Cottage Etui (which is mainly in blues apparently, woohoo! – I think it may be the project pictured here). My annual leave form is in already for April … yippee 😀 All I need to do now is pay for the classes, and as soon as the kits are received I’ll be on my way with more stitching projects to be completed (I think the SV kits are coming first ahead of the other ones).

Right, off to do some of my final packing, and get my load of washing in the machine … With any luck I’ll have a better internet reception at the next place, in a lounge or something, so I can catch up with what’s been happening in the blogging world 🙂

PhotoHunt

PhotoHunt – Tiny

21 July, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

PhotoHunt | PhotoHunt

This week’s theme is “Tiny” – most people who have been reading my blog for a while now know I have a serious passion for ducks … this one is the tiniest one in my collection – it is made from Greenstone (which is NZ Jade), with cute little etched wings and details. Mum very kindly modelled this wee fella on the end of her index finger to show the scale of how little he really is.

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Stash

Note to self … and oops … Stash!!

20 July, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Note to self …

“Do NOT watch Big Brother again this week until their weekly task is completed, finished, done and dusted, all over red rover!! If you DO watch Big Brother your heart will begin pounding as though it will burst out of your chest, and you will have cold sweats, crawling skin, and general heeby-jeebies for hours afterwards … just like you did last night!!!”

What am I waffling on about?? Well, I switched the TV on for the first time this week last night to watch Big Brother … only to be confronted by bl**dy great visions of arachnids (ie Huntsman and wolf spiders etc … and if you feel keen please go Google their names yourself, ‘cos I don’t feel like having their piccies sitting on my computer screen right now) as full as life filling the TV screen – I nearly died there and then on the spot! It’s been a long time since I had to put my hands up to cover my face from what is on TV, but I just couldn’t bear to watch it anymore. I ended up turning away and just listening to it … their task this week is to enter the ‘spider enclosure’ of which they reckon there are at least 50 bl**dy great spiders in there, and they have to catch some as part of their task. I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it again!! Aaaaarghhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, that brings me to something else I’ve been meaning to blog about, and keep forgetting – the good news is that I’ve finally booked in to see a therapist towards the end of August (a hypnotherapy doctor) about my severe arachnaphobia. It sounds like I may need more than one session, and at $230 a pop that’s not great, but if it works it’ll be worth every red cent!! The great thing about not paying rent right now is that it’s giving me chance to do something I’ve wanted to do for a while now, and just couldn’t afford it … this is going to be soooooo worth it if it works!!!

That’s all I wanted to say really … still not really in blogging mood yet – and still have more packing up to do, so time to go do it before I settle in for the night. At least it was my final 5am shift today so I get an extra 2 hours sleep in tomorrow woohoo!! I only have 4 sleeps left here, so I also need to start thinking of getting the bedding etc washed and ironed and all the rest of the housework done. I only have my 8am shift tomorrow, then an overnight shift on Sunday (9pm-5am), then I’m on days off for 4 days yippee 😀

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Updated to add … I also forgot to mention that I got stash in the mail today!! Yes, that’s right I’m on the 50 project challenge, and I’m not allowed to buy any charts … if you don’t tell anyone, I won’t! Well, I was rebellious two weeks ago and ordered a couple of things before I go back on my stash diet again. The only thing that made me do it is that I was really keen to get Just Nan’s Queen’s Bluebird Box, and I saw it was out of stock already at one of the ONS’s … I figure if I was ever going to get it, now was the time. As it is I’ve missed out on my all-time favourite Au Fil de Reves designs because they’re no longer in print after dickering for a couple of years whether to fork out and buy the kits … so I wasn’t gonna do the same thing this time! (In actual fact I splurged and ordered two of the AFDR kits from Criss Cross Row in a panic as soon as I heard the news they were going out of print, but they’ve never sent the goods, and are not replying to my emails – and my order went through in February hmmm.) I’ve only bought the chart and finishing kit for the Bluebird box (doncha just LUV that little blue bird?? LOL), ‘cos I couldn’t justify the extra money to buy the silk kit … I may just have to see which colours are needed and buy a few at a time, as well as raiding my existing stash … I have to say I think US$75 for the silk kit that is just “cut to the correct length” is pretty exorbitant … it’d be interesting to see how much it would work out to buy a full skein of each hmmm…

Of course I had to justify the cost of postage for the Just Nan box, and also bought the Trick or Treat Box by Just Nan as well … won’t they look cute in a cabinet together?? Yeah, yeah, OK, I’m just justifying to myself it was a good buy! haha. Oops I just remembered the Just Nan Octagonal Peacock needlecase is also on back order, so I’d better go add another 4 (not 3) charts to my 50 project challenge. Hmmm, maybe I should just give up now!! 😉

The 4th thing I bought was something I’ve been yearning for dearly for a few years as well – I ordered it two years ago from SB&B, but they refunded my money for that chart, and I assumed it was because it was no longer available or in print (they never contact me and let me know why … I just got a PayPal receipt saying you’ve been given money back!) – I’ve been searching Ebay for a while to no avail … and one day recently I stumbled across their website, and saw they take orders directly … and I’m now the very proud owner of this chart, Gazelle, by Simply Old-Fashioned. I also received a 15% off voucher for the next 10 purchases from them, and a very personalised packaging and note … I have to say I was very very impressed with their service! I can now stitch this one to be a matching pair with my ‘giraffe’ that I’ve already stitched (it’s actually the Zebra chart, but for some reason I always thought it was a giraffe … can you say blonde and mentally challenged?? LOL). Here’s the new chart, and my stitched ‘giraffe’:

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

The Walls of Jericho came tumbling down…

18 July, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Well, maybe not the Walls of Jericho, but definitely a dining chair! I took the first load of boxes etc over to the storage unit, only to put one box into the space and have a dining chair come flying down from above!! B*gger!! I didn’t get hurt at all, and it seems that the chair is still in one piece, but it poses a bit more of a challenge now to get everything into storage. While I had everything neatly laid out, I’ve now had to balance the dining chair in a space where there should be NO dining chair … that space was nicely allocated to about 4 more storage boxes … mutter mutter mutter. Unfortunately I can’t reach to put the stupid chair back where it was before (although if there’s any possibility of it moving again, it probably isn’t wise anyway). It will be interesting to see how I manage to get the rest of the goodies into that tiny wee gap that’s left, ‘cos there’s still my computer to go in, 4-5 boxes of stitching stuff, my sewing machine, and duvet inners … haha, I’m laughing out loud just thinking about how it’s all going to fit it! If I wasn’t so delirious with sleep deprivation I’d probably be quite miffed 😉

Anyway, time to head out into the bitter cold again … I very stupidly left my shopping bag with my wallet in it at work (duh!!), and I asked a lady who lives about 10 minutes drive away to bring it home with her – I’ll just have time to pop round and pick it up, come home and jump in the shower, and get tucked up in bed. The ducted heated has been cranked up all afternoon to soothe the chills (6C yesterday during the day … woohoo LOL) so the room will be lovely and warm when I get home again {{sigh of contentment}}. Talking of which, I’d better run …