Author: Anne S

Brightening my life one stitch or one card at a time, and sharing my joy of needlework and card-making.
Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, SBQ

SBQ and another ornie

Anne S

Thanks for the words of advice and comments about my shoulder – I tried Nurofen and stretching etc for the first 24 hours, but it didn’t do anything.  The last time this happened I put up with it for a couple of weeks and felt like a wreck due to the lack of sleep etc – I eventually got the name of a ‘nerve manipulator’ in Heidelberg, and she fixed it.  It’s not very pleasant while she’s manipulating it, but it’s all over with in a couple of minutes and well worth every single cent spent.  I checked yesterday, though, and I had a crappy pay (my overtime comes on next payday) so things will be extremely tight for the next fortnight … mind you, Jan (the manipulator) told me that if you don’t treat a trapped nerve it can eventually affect your breathing and you could end up being hospitalised, so now I’m more educated about it I’m happy to get it fixed as soon as it happens (but I’ll always give it 24-48 hours to see if it clears itself first).  It just means I’ll stocking up on essential food only for a fortnight again 😦

Anyway, I sat and had a glass of sparkling wine last night to help ease the pain (yeah, OK, the truth is I just really really felt like having one! LOL) … and I managed to finish one last ornie for the day (even I have to admit my needles have been smoking the last 2 days!). This one is so much prettier in real life in the magazine photo – the DMC 498 is so rich and scrummy, I love it! 😀

Elizabeths-Design-Christmas-Rose-a-02May07

“Christmas Rose” by Elizabeth’s Designs
from 2002 JCS Christmas ornie issue
Stitched on the same 28ct ‘mystery’ evenweave as yesterday using the recommended threads

  Now, before I head off and do some tidying up and general housework for the day, I’ll answer the last two SBQ’s, ‘cos as per normal I’m behind in answering …

2 May – Today’s SBQ was suggested Kathryn and is:

How many WIPs do you have? How many UFOs do you have? When does a WIP become a UFO?

Hmmm, good question … first of all I guess I class a project as a UFO when I haven’t touched it for about a year.  As for how many WIP’s I have, I’d say 8 in my current rotation, although three of those technically became UFO’s as I hadn’t touched them for just over 12 months (Egyptian Garden Mandala, Winter Queen and Le Jardin Silk Sampler) … as for other UFO’s, I’ve managed to finish a few over the last two years, and I’m down to a sum total of 30 now – but there is a pretty big mix of what type of project they are, ie they’re not all XS.  Breaking them up into categories, I have:

  • 5 Stumpwork (all by Jane Nicholas) – Needlework Accessories set; Dragonfly; Pomegranates and Beetle; Honesty and Heartsease; Oriental Poppy
  • 13 Cross Stitch/Counted Thread – TW’s English Garden Sampler; Mediterranean village scene; Love and Affection by JBW Designs; TW’s Noah’s Ark; Nature’s Resting Place by Stoney Creek; Topiary Tree bookmark by Textile Heritage; Christmas Welcome on plastic canvas; Butterflies & Hearts needleroll by Lorri Birmingham (I’m going to unpick and change the colours); Apricot Elegance by Cindy Valentine; Hussif by Martha Schmidt (class project); Egyptian Garden Mandala by Chatelaine; Winter Queen by Mirabilia; Le Jardin Silk Sampler from JCS magazines
  • 1 Beading – 3-dimensional beaded fish
  • 2 Quilting – Golliwog applique quilt (from a class – just has the binding to be finished, but I can’t remember how to do it); cot quilt (my first attempt – I really need to get this finished!!)
  • 1 Goldwork – Goldwork pea (class project)
  • 6 Surface/Wool Embroidery – Summer Fruits pincushion from Inspirations magazine; Hussif by Monica Hunt (class project); Bullion rose facecloth (likely to just unpick and start using it!); Wool hotwater bottle cover (class project); Berry Delightful Bag (class project); Wool beehive needlebook from Inspirations magazine
  • 2 Canvaswork – Frogs in longstitch; Ornamental Delights (Group Correspondence Course through EGA)

19 Apr – Today’s SBQ was suggested Danielle and is:

Are you on “The Wagon?” If so, how long have you been on and how “serious” are you about it? If not, have you considered it?

I’ve been on The Wagon for about a year now – more for financial reasons than anything else.  I’ll occasionally buy something if I truly truly love it, but I haven’t been buying charts for a while now.  Once I complete my 50 Project Challenge, though (if finances permit), I’ll be doing one reasonable sized order … the key thing being “finances permitting”.  I have been buying any threads for charts already in my stash that I can’t find a substitution for.  In the meantime I’ve been really enjoying stitching from my stash and re-discovering the awesome charts I already have 😀

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes

Christmas is finally here

Anne S

Well, maybe not Christmas itself, but the Christmas ornie SAL is here anyway … I’ve finally managed to get an ornie stitched up … in fact TWO ornies to make up for lost time (I’m only a week late!). I managed to hit these out in 5 1/2 hours today while listening to an Audible book – I’m tempted to try put the starting stitches into one more, but I’ll see how I feel once I’ve cooked dinner. It was annoying that both of these charts had minor errors in them … which I only found out later, so both ornies had a small amount of frog-stitching hmmmm. 

 
Cardinal Snowflake by The Victoria Sampler
from 2004 JCS Christmas ornie magazine
Stitched on 28ct Kiwi Illusions Jubliee in Alpine Spring (Countrystitch)
using my substitute threads from my stash
(this is such a teeny little ornie – very cute!)


Merry Christmas by Glory Bee
from 2003 JCS Christmas ornie magazine
Stitched on 28ct mystery evenweave
using recommended threads except substituting Crescent Colors Toasted Marshmallow for GAST Porcelain

I managed to trap a nerve in my shoulder blade during the night two nights ago, and I must have aggravated it doing so much stitching yesterday so I had a bad night’s sleep last night thanks to it … perhaps it’ll do me good to have a relaxing night with a break from the needles … but maybe not 😉

Thanks for all your wonderful comments as always – your visits and words are always very much appreciated 🙂

Uncategorized

Message for Jenna

Anne S

Jenna, I’ve been trying to email you for the last week, but my emails have just started getting returned saying “timed out” deliveries. I’ve been unable to access your blog for the last week … and can’t access One Star’s Light site either … not sure whether there’s a problem at your end or mine (and I can’t read your blog to see if you’ve mentioned the issue already, as you only have ‘summary’ feeds in my Newsgator reader – hopefully you’ll see this, as I can’t think of any other way to get in contact to let you know 🙂

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

Enough Bordeaux for a hangover

Anne S

I’ve been stitching like a woman possessed today – and I’ve loved every single minute of it! I managed to get the current band of the Bordeaux Sampler finished as hoped, but then I exceeded even my own expectations by taking the plunge and stitching all those pesky individual over-one grapes in the previous band … which means I just have two more bands to complete and then it’s all finished (and I already have a slight head start on the border for the next band too). I truly can’t wait to see this one finished. The photos in no way do this project justice, it’s awesome in real life … I must say, though, today was my personal record for stitching of Rhodes stitches – I don’t want to see another one for a day or two 😉

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

Come in EGM, your time is up!

Anne S

Yippee, I finally finished my 10 hours rotation slot with Egyptian Garden Mandala – I struggled at the beginning working on this, but I have to admit today I really enjoyed the stitching, and finally found my needles getting momentum again.  Hopefully that’ll continue for a while as I pick up my next pieces.  Here are my before and after photos, mainly for my own motivation – I feel as though I haven’t achieved much over these 10 hours of stitching, so this serves as a reminder that there really is some progress 🙂

I was originally thinking of doing some ornie stitching for the rest of today, but I don’t have anything kitted up, so I think I may pick up Bordeaux and do my week’s stitching on it a day early … I’m really keen to finish off this band, and seeing as I’m on days off I thought I’d spend some decent time on it and meet that goal … hopefully.  Then tonight I’ll start kitting up some small ornies that are quick to stitch, ready to pick up over the next couple of days – I’ve missed the last two months of the Christmas Ornie SAL, so I need to catch up, or before I know it it’ll be November and I’ll have nothing stitched!

Gifts TO BE FIXED, Melbourne, RAK Registry

RAK’s everywhere!!

Anne S

Aha, the mystery is solved … Carol, you were right in your comment, the parcel sitting in my PO Box was indeed a wonderful RAK from Deb. Look at this load of goodies, isn’t it awesome? There are some fun friendship sayings in one chart, and some great tassel ideas in the other one, and threads and beads are always handy (love the lemon colour, it’s very very pretty). I really do especially love the little notepad and teabag holder in the blues and lemons – aren’t they just darling? Thanks so much Deb, you’re a real sweetheart 😀

 

When I said RAK’s were everywhere, it was a true statement … I also had a mystery gift in my email Inbox today as well.  When I say mystery gift, I mean the actual sweet soul who has organised this is a mystery – the actual gift isn’t a mystery, but it’s a wonderful treat that I can’t wait to ‘use’.  I received a Bill Bryson book from Audible, entitled “The Life & Times of the Thunderbolt Kit” – woohoo! It just says “from a Friend” in thanks for my RAK to them … but I’ve done a few RAK’s just lately, so I’m not entirely sure who it is! Whoever you are, thank you sincerely from the bottom of my heart – I’ll be having a few giggles over the next few days while I sit and listen to it 😀  And if anyone wants to have a sneak preview of his book “Down Under” (also published under the name of “A Sunburned Country”), you can click here to read one of the chapters … (it took a short time to load on my PC)

Anyway, another round of thanks again to both Deb and my mystery RAK’er, you’ve made my day!

  Talking about RAK’s I wonder if anyone has any suggestions for my RAK Registry blog.  A couple of people would like to see more interaction on the blog, with space to post about RAK’s sent and received, as well as one person that would like updates on new members joining etc.  I’m just wondering what the best way of going about this is … you see, I’d prefer to leave the blog contents as ‘static’, ie the birthday list, and the individual wishlists, and wonder whether to just set up the blog with “pages” with tabs at the top with each topic, then use the ‘main’ part of the blog for individuals to post to, or maybe using a ‘shoutbox’ … but perhaps there’s a better way to go about it?  It’s easy enough to show those that have been ‘new additions’, as I can send an email to everyone, say monthly, with new blogs, as well as adding **NEW** after the details on the blog itself.  Anyway, if anyone has any good suggestions about how people could interact more on it, I’d love to hear them  😀

Even without the wonderful contents of both my mailboxes, today was a pretty good day all-in-all.  I ended up doing 4 1/2 hours overtime today, as it took a while to finish one call with two round-the-world tickets they wanted booking.  I can’t remember the last time I did actual ‘passenger’ calls … it might even be about a year ago!  And I have to say I really enjoyed it – it was a lot less stressful than it was on the supervisor hotline yesterday, and I remembered how much enjoyment I get from helping the general public out.  Some people get a bit frustrated with the ‘doddery’ passengers who’ve never travelled before and need more time and information, whereas they’re the calls I always used to enjoy the most.  Those 4 1/2 hours sped past so quickly, it was amazing!

I decided to go into work today on the train, so that I could call into the city on the way home (I never ever drive into the city ‘cos I don’t know where I’m driving and I’m too wimpy to try dealing with trams and hook turns on my own! LOL) … my most essential piece of equipment fell to bits a week or so ago, and I’ve been devastated ever since!  I tried finding a replacement at Target and other local shops, but couldn’t find one that I liked … so I went to Hudsons Coffee to get the same design as my old one – a bit pricey, but I like drinking out of it … here’s my new essential call centre office equipment … a thermal coffee mug!  There’s nothing worse than getting stuck on a call and having your coffee go cold … especially when you just walk in the door and sign into your phone at 4.55am and your first call is a complaint that lasts 1/2 an hour … nope, gotta have that caffeine kick at 5am, or it’s just not cricket!  😉

 

Walking home from the tram stop I was reminded how small and insignificant, simple things in life can give enjoyment … walking down the street there were brown leaves scattered over the grass and pavements, and all of a sudden I walked past one bright red autumn leaf sitting like a jewel among the other dead leaves surrounding it – just something small, but it really made my heart and mind go ‘awww’ … yep, gotta appreciate those simple things … 🙂

Tonight I’m going to sit and catch up on more TV programs I’ve had taped during my early shifts last week (I’ve run out of blank tapes now, so I’d better get cracking …), then tomorrow I think I’ll ignore the housework for a day and have a full day stitching – ah, such decadence!  After working 8 days straight, I’ve decided a bit of self-indulgence on my days off is warranted 😉

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Audible and a Corker of an advert

Anne S

I was sat here contemplating my navel, after a most hideous 4 hours at work, wondering what to do with myself for a few hours, when I started thinking about books … as in ‘novels’.  I recently finished Bill Bryson’s “Down Under”, and I have to say I really loved it, and I’d love to read more of his books as his sense of humour is right up my alley! 😉

So, I popped online to check out Audible to see if they have any of his books available for download, when I realised it’s been quite some time since I sat down and listened to a book!  We listened to one while Mum was here, but that was just one book in at least 10 weeks now!!  I trotted over to my account, where I realise I have my latest 2 credits sitting in there, and I’m currently downloading my latest choices (before I saw the Bill Bryson one – which is now sitting nicely in my wishlist for next month …).  These are the little pearls I still have in my library yet to be listened to – me thinks ’tis about time I sat my bum down and got some playing on the PC (actually maybe that’s also a direct reflection of not getting much stitching done lately either, I just haven’t been sitting down long enough to actually focus on either hmmm).  Since my latest downloads tonight, I now have the following left to listen to (all unabridged … gotta get my money’s worth you know! LOL):

  • Whitethorn – Bryce Courtenay
  • The Vanished Man – Jeffery Deaver
  • The Twelfth Card – Jeffery Deaver
  • The Quest – Wilbur Smith (need to read Warlock first, though)
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 1 – J.R.R. Tolkien
  • The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
  • The Ape Who Guards the Balance – Elizabeth Peters (haven’t read anything of hers before)
  • Lord John and the Private Matter – Diana Gabaldon
  • Brother Fish – Bryce Courtenay
  • Black House – Stephen King and Peter Straub
  • Anybody Out There? – Marian Keyes

Well, I reckon that’ll keep me out of trouble for a while haha.

Now for something totally different … if anyone’s offended by bad language, don’t hit ‘play’ … for anyone with a wicked sense of humour, I just love this advert – it really tickles my sick sense of humour. 😉

CLICK HERE for a link to a review and YouTube video … (I can’t find it on YouTube directly to place a playable link on here)

Gives me a giggle every time I see it! 😉

Rightio, enough playing around … time to settle down for a couple of hours stitching.  Only 4 more hours of work left tomorrow, then I can relax for 3 entire days yippee 😀

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

Sleeping like a baby

Anne S

I’ve been exhausted the last couple of days, and I have to admit yesterday I struggled a bit at work, watching the clock very closely until hometime!  When I got home I finally succumbed to my body’s chatter instead of ignoring it and listening to my brain tell me when I should call it a day.  My eyes were struggling to remain open at 6pm, so by 7pm I gave up and just went straight to bed … although I woke up a few times during the night, I went straight back to sleep again and only just woke up properly with my alarm going off at 6.35am … yikes, that’s nearly 12 hours!!  Oh well, I guess I needed it!

As you can probably guess with my level of tiredness there hasn’t been much stitching happening.  I managed a total of 2 more hours of Egyptian Garden Mandala, which means I’m now halfway through this rotation slot.  I know when I’m finally on my days off (ie Tuesday), I’ll probably finish the rest of the 5 hours in one sitting.  It may just be because I’ve been so tired with my shifts this week, but I can’t say I’ve been enjoying stitching it … or perhaps it’s just this little band itself that I’m not enjoying.  Oh well, it’ll soon be over and I can move on to the next bit 😀

If nothing else, it’s nice to see the little boxes slowly getting filled up on my rotation checklist – although how slowly I’m stitching EGM, I think I may need to re-think how many boxes I’ve allocated to it LOL.  Now if you never thought I was ‘anal’ before, this will surely change your mind haha.  These are the little pages I charted up in December some time especially for my rotation.  Originally I just had one Excel spreadsheet with all the projects listed down the side, but I thought it was messier when you completed one project and had to add one, so I came up with my own version in a Word document.  Now I can print a new page any time I want, and I have them all held together on a clipboard that stays beside my stitching chair.  It’s really easy to work out when the 10 hours slot is finished as I’ve separated the 10 hours into their own little spaces, and each page is for one rotation slot.  Once I’ve stitched my 10 hours on one slot, I take the page out, and move it to the back, and just start straight on the next page.  I find it easier this way to work out where I’m at in my rotation at any time, ‘cos the current project is always on top.  With my Focus Piece I just have the one slip of paper (as below) that sits in a little pocket of the clipboard, then I have another page that just says “Focus Piece” in the actual rotation slot in the pile of pages. It seems to work well for me anyway, anal or not (although I forgot to add my stitching time that I worked on the Leporello when Mum was here, and I keep forgetting to add my stitching times for Bordeaux … oh well)  😉

 

Not much else has been happening really – I went to check my mail yesterday ‘cos I forgot it was Saturday, and there’s a parcel sitting in there … hmmm, I’m not expecting anything … I’ve just received KarenV’s Quaker RR, so I know it’s not that, and I know there’s something wee coming from Judith, but it shouldn’t be here yet unless they’ve brought the Concorde back into service for Australian Post, so I don’t think so 😉 Luckily I’m going into work again tomorrow for 4 hours overtime so I’ll have chance to pick it up and solve the mystery.  Maybe it’s just a really large bill! 😉 

Talking of which, I suppose I should start thinking about breakfast and getting ready for work … today is day 7 straight, although my personal choice.  I have 4 hours overtime today and tomorrow (originally these were my days off) … while I’m not thrilled to be going in, I’ll be more thrilled in 2 1/2 weeks time when the money is sitting in my pay packet! 😉

Ooh, I just received an email to say I’ve won a door prize drawing from the Online Needlework Show – how cool, I never win anything!!  Woohoo!!!  I’ve won a chart of my choice by Heartfelt Designs … how I’ve just got to choose something, which is gonna be difficult!  So far I’ve narrowed it down from 8 possibilities to 4 … hmmm, better think about it a bit more tonight …  Here are the four I’m trying to decide between:

  

 

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

The Quilting Conspiracy

Anne S

OK, I am starting to get a bit paranoid that there really is some kind of quilting conspiracy happening around here … quilting is everywhere!!  And places where it just really shouldn’t be!! 

Today I received the May newsletter for the Embroiderers Guild … and what do I find in there but the following advert:  “The Patchworkers’ and Quilters’ Guild of Victoria is holding its annual quilt exhibition at the Glen Eira City Council Gallery, on the corner Glen Eira and Hawthorn Roads, Glen Iris, dates 17-20 May, between 10am-5pm.”  Not only that, but I just flicked quickly through a few blogs on my Newsgator feeds that I lurk on, and wander over to read the new post by Beadlust – normally amazing eye candy of arty beading projects, today it’s full of quilting projects (like journal quilts) from a recent exhibition … hmmm, do you think someone is trying to tell me something?? LOL.

It’s almost like when I first bought my current heap of cr*p car when I moved to Aussie – my dream car at the time was a Mazda Protege 323 … I actually found one that I really liked on the same car lot that I bought the infamous heap of cr*p Nissan, but it was $1000 more than my Nissan, and a few years older, so I didn’t think it was worth the extra expense.  When I told Frazier’s best mate “S” about the car is really wanted (ie the Mazda) he talked me out of it as supposedly it was hard to get parts in Aussie for them as they’re imported and you don’t see that many around … now, “S” really knows his stuff about cars (or so I thought), so I took him at his word, and started looking at alternatives to my beloved Mazda (I actually think my last Mazda cost me less in about 13 years of driving than this Nissan has cost me in 3, and my Dad is still driving it to this day!!).  It was, of course, Murphy’s Law that the very next day after signing the contracts and driving my new heap of cr*p car that every third car that I drove past in the street was a Mazda!  Let’s just say that to this very day “S’s” name is Mud with a capital M (as well as for many many other reasons that are more personal, but I digress …).

These days, of course, I’m stuck with the heap of cr*p Nissan for a while longer yet … my goal is that I only have to put up with it for another 3 years, as that’s when I’d really love to be in a better position to upgrade to something I really love.  And there’s no points for guessing which car it will be … not a Protege, but definitely a ‘323’ (or as they now call it, a Mazda “3”) … this one is without a doubt my absolute dream car, and has been for a couple of years now – the colour is not negotiable, of course … if I had one of these I think I’d even sleep with it, I love it so much!!! My heart melts every time I see one on the road {{heavy sigh}}.  I really need to win Lotto!  Mind you, I suppose if I actually bought a ticket it’d increase my chances of winning somewhat 😉

 

Oh boy, I could sit and look at that picture all night!!!  But in fact I have much more important things to do … I have stitching to do!!  And I’d better hurry up and do it soon, as my energy levels are flagging rapidly – doing a 10-hour shift on a 5am start used to be so easy when I did overtime regularly, but it nearly killed me today … I’d better keep busy so I don’t get lulled into having a nanna nap, otherwise I’ll never sleep tonight.  I’ll update later when I have a progress piccie to share, as it’s Bordeaux night for me (I did another 1 1/2 hours on EGM last night, not that you can tell so I won’t bother with a piccie of that for now).

I can’t remember whether I’ve done this meme before, but the results turned out to be pretty accurate … and at least it didn’t mention quilting! 😉 

Your Element Is Water

A bit of a contradiction, you can seem both lighthearted and serious.
That’s because you’re good at going with the flow – but you also are deep.Highly intuitive, you tune in to people’s emotions and moods easily.
You are able to tap into deep emotional connections and connect with others.You prefer a smooth, harmonious life – but you can navigate your way around waves.
You have a knack for getting people to get along and making life a little more peaceful.

What’s Your Element?

Updated to add a piccie of Bordeaux … I only had 1/2 hour left to stitch tonight as I forgot I needed to cook dinner … but the TV has been to blame thank for extra stitching time.  It’s the Biggest Loser final tonight – and I made the HUGE mistake of leaving the TV on while I set the video taping for Mum to watch later … and started watching it … well, I could hardly go to bed without seeing the rest of it huh?  I didn’t want anyone at work to tell me who won … so I’ll be Miss Cranky Pants tomorrow as I’ll be going to bed 2 hours later than I should be … oops 😉

It’s my hope to totally finish this band during next week’s session, but I’m not 100% sure I can reach that goal … I’ll have fun trying, though 🙂

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

ANZAC Day

Anne S

 

Today is the one day of the year where the Aussies and Kiwis come together as one, to commemorate ANZAC Day.  If you want to read more about it, this is a great website here.  A snippet from their site is the following:

“ANZAC Day – 25 April – is probably Australia’s most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those forces quickly became known as ANZACs, and the pride they soon took in that name endures to this day.

Australians […and Kiwis obviously…] recognise 25 April as an occasion of national commemoration. Commemorative services are held at dawn, the time of the original landing, across the nation. Later in the day ex-servicemen and women meet and join in marches through the major cities and many smaller centres. Commemorative ceremonies are held at war memorials around the country. It is a day when Australians reflect on the many different meanings of war.”

Today it’s been incredibly quiet around the office … the roads are sheer bliss to drive on without the usual hubbub of business traffic (it’s a public holiday today for those of us who are non-shift workers), and it was incredibly peaceful around the area when I enjoyed my lunchbreak at 9am … sheer bliss, and chance to offer a quiet bit of silent thanks and remembrance for those who fight for both our wonderful countries (both past and present). 

Of course, nothing good lasts forever – now I’m home my peace is well and truly shattered … the neighbours that own the property on my right have been seeing how big they can get their power bill this month by using every single garden power tool they can lay their hands on.  What started off as slightly annoying hedgetrimming with the electric cutters for an hour, soon turned in a continuing rhapsody of weedeater, lawnmower and the latest masterpiece instrument, the leaf blower!  I’ve been home for almost 3 hours now, and he’s barely stopped to take a breath … geez, I’m sure he must be due for a smoko soon!!!  I wonder if he thinks he’s in the northern hemisphere and that Spring has arrived … personally I’d like to wrap him IN a spring coil right about now so his hands can’t touch a power tool for the rest of the day!  Ooh, ooh, wait … there’s silence … could it be true?  Nah, must just be smoko time 😛

So, how do you spend your day when you’re working on a public holiday?  Personally I enjoy the extra 8 hours allowed to be sitting at work in my scruffy jeans … that in itself is worth being in there (and of course the extra pay won’t go astray)!  I actually got to bed on time last time and was settled in under the duvet at 8pm … I don’t even remember getting comfy, so I must’ve flaked out straightaway and didn’t wake up until the alarm went off at 3.45am.  I’ve felt absolutely fantastic all day!  I think my lack of energy etc really must get linked quite seriously to my sleep patterns – if I can get a full 8 hours sleep it makes so much difference!  As for the rest of my day, it was ‘steady’ on the phones … regular callers throughout the day, but not really ‘busy’.  I went into work prepared with my biscornu to stitch some more on, plus some quilting magazines to drool over … I can’t believe I pulled the magazines out first, and spent all day flipping through them.  Oh boy, I think I’m going to have to feed this urge very very soon, and I think I’ve worked out how to do it – I’m going to drag out some of my beginner quilt books that have some tiny projects in it, like a bag, pincushion, cushion etc, and try something small first from my scraps.  Then when I can afford to get some ‘real’ fabrics, I’ll start work on my ‘proper’ quilt.

As for my ‘main hobby’, I did actually manage to get a sum total of 1 1/2 hours into Egyptian Garden Mandala last night, to officially kickstart my rotation again.  It’s actually quite pitiful just how little I managed to get done in that time (mind you, I kept getting distracted by the TV) … it just looks like I tied a couple of bows on the corners!  I’m actually showing the progress piccies more for my own record, so I can see how much more will have been completed after the full 10 hours of rotation.  Of course it’s about to be Bordeaux time, so it’s going to be pushed to one side again soon – poor EGM, it’s only just come out of hiding and it’s being rejected again … it’s going to need counselling soon!! 😉

 
Before ……………….. After
(the latest piccie is probably the closest to the actual fabbie/thread colours)

Talking of which, I’d better get cracking and get the needles out again – I’ve got a couple of hours overtime over the next 4 days (1 hour tomorrow, 2 on Friday, then 4 hours each on Sun/Mon yippee) … it means my 6-day week has now turned into an 8-day week, and my 5-day break next week will now be a 3-day break, but pay-day will be looking good! 😀