Author: Anne S

Brightening my life one stitch or one card at a time, and sharing my joy of needlework and card-making.
Travel, Uncategorized

A bit of allsorts

Anne S

A few days ago, during my crisis days, I started to finally start scanning chart covers in readiness for posting on Ebay – however KarenV has a great idea, to start selling via blogging first, and I think I’ll steal that one soon. Even if only a few sell via this method, the rest will get dumped on Ebay for ‘open slather’. Anyway, it might still be a few days away before I get around to scanning them all, as it’s a HUGE task – there’s a lot of rubbish in that pile, but someone may find something they like … and if not, there’s nothing lost.

It’s been an interesting few days recently, that’s for sure – surprisingly enough now that I don’t have spare money to buy groceries etc (only one week left to payday thankfully) I’m actually eating healthier … go figure! Admittedly I’m not eating fresh fruit etc at the moment, but that’s just an interim thing until my funds are OK again, but I’m actually being really conscious of what it is I’m putting in my mouth! I’m planning meals again, and not eating junk because it’s quicker and easier … oh boy, it feels really good 😀 I used the timer on the breadmaker last night for the first time, and woke up to the smell of fresh baked bread this morning – I thought I’d died and gone to heaven! 😀

I’m not really stitching at the moment … I’m halfway through a Christmas ornament that I started at work on Sunday (to try to take my mind off things), but don’t have the motivation to finish it yet – I’ll snap back into stitching mode again this weekend, though, I’m sure. I’m slowly starting to get my energy levels back again … earlier in the week it was taking all my energy just to get up and go to work 😦 Now I’m on day 5 of working days, with only 2 left to go, and starting to get my ‘pep’ back. I spent a lot of the day today like my old self laughing my head off with Lucien – it felt really good to be back to normal at work, that’s for sure!

The other thing I did was to look at re-doing my 101 Things list … I’ve gone through and removed all the pricey items, as it’s just not feasible and realistic – it’ll take me the full 18 months to pay off my new lounge suite, and there’s not much left of the challenge time then, so I’ve found challenging items that are within closer grasp – I have a number of embroidery classes that I’ve signed up for (correspondence classes) that will challenge me as a stitcher that I have all the items for, so it makes more sense to include those as items to complete. While it makes the other items no less worthy, it’s just a simple case of being realistic and getting back to the basics 😀

I’m hitting the hay earlier tonight, though, as I’m now on a 6am shift tomorrow to cover someone who’s off sick, so I only have an hour before I have to be fast asleep. Dinner was some fresh soup from the freezer (Pumpkin and Potato) with fresh baked bread … yummo. So now it’s time to get into ‘unwind mode’ ready to drop off to sleep quickly hopefully.

Yet again I’m far behind on reading blogs, but I hope to remedy that this weekend too … it’s a good job I have 4 days off LOL.

Seeing as there are no stitching piccies to post today, here’s something totally different … if you’re ever in the Adelaide region, and want to visit a good vineyard, I can honestly recommend Hugh Hamilton Wines in the McLaren Vale wine region – they’re a small boutique winery that only sell from the cellar door, but their wines are wonderful (especially the reds – love the Sangiovese mmmmm) … they’re a bit on the pricey side, but oh so worth it.

Uncategorized

Back to being normal again

Anne S

Thanks again for all your love and support over the last few days … I must say today is the first time I’ve laughed properly in a good week at least, and I feel much much better. I was telling my colleague Lucien at work today why I was so upset on Saturday, and said after my car breaking down yet again and with all the stress I had a major headache on Saturday … well I had to take some Nurofen and didn’t have any food to line my stomach with, so I spent part of that last $10 I had before payday on the vending machine ($1.70) after much to-ing and fro-ing with should I, shouldn’t I? … Only to put the money in and have the darned muesli bar stick on the bottom shelf …

Well, today I got the tummy rumbles (probably a good sign too, because my appetite’s been so-so this last week too), and couldn’t sit at my desk with my rice and tuna salad lunch … so seeing as my horse got scratched this morning (typical! but I get my $2 back) I opted to head back to the vending machine and spend another $1.70 for another muesli bar … only to have the same thing happen … it’s stuck in the machine!! Well, I had to drag Lucien out to witness this little phenomenon as I’d just finished telling him the story, and he absolutely killed himself laughing for about 10 minutes!!! I just thought it so ridiculous and unbelievable that I couldn’t help but start laughing as well … let’s just say I WON’T be buying a Lotto ticket this week! 😉

I have to admit, the pressure is off a tiny bit too as I’m now halfway through to the next payday, and my car has been behaving itself which is a major relief. I’ve been leaving the car alarm off, and just locking the door manually with the key, and it’s been starting fine. I’ve just been granted Mon/Tue off work next week, so I’ll take it in to an auto electrician and get them to disconnect the alarm … I just have to find the old Nissan remote, and I’ll be all set to go again just using the built-in disabler etc.

Anyway, all-in-all I’m feeling relieved a bit financially – the car shouldn’t cost much to disconnect (I hope), and with the extra money coming in for working today (plus I’ve also worked two Sundays in a row as well in the same pay week), fingers crossed I’ll be able to survive the next payday OK and get that tax paid etc. It’ll still be tight for a few weeks, but I’m in a better frame of mind to handle it again now, and the horizon doesn’t look as bleak as it previously did 🙂

I’ve got a few long weekends coming up which I’m going to fill with selfish stitching … I have a 4-day weekend this weekend due to getting my car fixed, then a 6pm start on Wed, so that makes it almost a 5-day break – then I’m at work for two nights (Wed/Thu) before having another 4-day weekend, as I’d taken two days off work to fly up to Sydney to see Vicki and Brenda for their birthdays (but of course I can’t go now) … then the following week I get a 3-day break due to my actual roster – gotta be loving that! 😀

Geesh, I can tell I’m back to normal again … I can’t stop waffling!! 😉 I’d better sign off and put this new-found energy to good use and get some dinner cracking … Thanks again for putting up with me, and offering those shoulders and comments of support, the last few days – it’s meant a lot, and helped me to keep my head above water 😀 {{hugs}}

Cross Stitch, Exchanges, Round Robins

RR & Exchanges … and stuff

Anne S

Thanks for all your comments and emails of support – I’m still feeling a bit ‘blue’ (which I would normally be happy about haha), but I’m getting there slowly. Anyway, I won’t dwell on my current issues now, as I’m trying hard to keep them from my mind and not brood on things. I just wanted to post a few piccies of the fantastic exchange I just received today.

I received my scissor fob exchange from Cari, and I’m seriously blown away by her generosity … not only did I receive the most exquisite fob in my fave colours, but also a pair of “Julia” Gingher’s scissors, no less, and a VC silk in the most glorious blue … I’ve been shaking my head like a stunned mullet (there’s an Aussie saying for you) ever since I opened the envelope at lunchtime – and 6 hours later still feel gobsmacked by it all. The fob is absolutely gorgeous, and Cari’s stitching and finishing is awesome … I definitely don’t feel worthy … I just LOVE everything, and it will all be treasured for years to come – thanks again so much Cari!! 😀 I’ve taken piccies of the whole kit and caboodle, as well as trying to take a close-up shot of the front and back of the fob, so here goes:


On top of that I remembered to take a photo of the recent RR’s I’ve been participating in … this one is Lynn’s RR so far, with just one more stitcher left to go (I stitched the Winter square earlier – sorry for the out of focus photo).

And this one is the latest RR I’ve received – this is Wendy’s … and I just have to stitch the Winter square on this one before it gets returned home to Canada. I’m hoping to get some quality stitching time over the next weekend, so I’ll concentrate on getting some of this stitched up then (as well as finishing a gift piece now my missing Kreinik braid has arrived). Anyway, I thought Wendy might like to see how it’s looking so far – hopefully I can whip through the stitching quickly so it can be posted back before hitting the pre-Christmas rush.

Tomorrow is a public holiday here in Melbourne – the only city I know where the entire city has a holiday for a horse race! I loved the description I just found on this website (actually the rest of the page is quite a fun read – and some of the Aussie slang is great):

“Melbourne is famous for Australia’s premier horse race “The Melbourne Cup” held the first Tuesday in November at approximately 3pm at Flemington Racecourse. It is a public holiday in Melbourne, and in the rest of Australia and now in many parts of the world people stop work just to listen to this race. Horses from all over the world come here to participate.
The Queen entered a horse in this race a few years ago – it did not win. Generally it will be won by a horse that has been bred in New Zealand.”

Personally I won’t be having the day off, as I’m working (and I’ll be very grateful for it when payday comes, as it’s a double-time day which will be exceptionally handy this coming payday!!). I do have to admit to spending $2 on a non-essential item yesterday, which in 7 days isn’t bad going 🙂 It’s pretty compulsory that you get involved with this infamous horserace and I joined the throng for the work sweepstake … very high roller this betting chick 😉 Apparently the horse that got put against my name is a relatively good one, not that that will make much difference – but it’s all a bit of fun and the entire office gets behind it. My horse is called “Efficient”.

Anyway, that’s all from me tonight – just wanted to post those couple of piccies … and say thanks for all the support – it has really helped to keep my spirits up 🙂 {{hugs}}

Uncategorized

Going offline for a few days

Anne S

I’ve finally reached the end of my ’emotional rope’ today, and decided that I just want to go away for a few days and act like an ostrich, stick my head in the sand, and let the world go by. I’m OK, really, but just feel emotionally drained from all the stress I’m under at the moment.

Today was the final straw when I went out to a dead car before work – another $67 that I don’t have later, I reinstated my RACV membership and got my car kickstarted again, but obviously things are more serious and I have to take it to a true mechanic and get it looked at. It’s possibly either the starter motor or, hopefully, just the car alarm system playing up and draining the car’s resources. Today at work I just used the key to lock up and it’s been starting up fine … fingers crossed that’s all it is. Anyway, I’m not taking any chances and I’m taking public transport to work for the next week. Luckily I’m on ‘normal’ shifts for the next 8 working days, so that’s an option.

I burst into tears this morning before the RACV man came … then every time someone asked what was wrong this morning at work I got all teary again – all highly unusual for me. The financial stress has finally worn me down. So, if I’m not online for a few days don’t worry – I just don’t feel like blogging right now, and I hate being miserable online … I’ll be back again when I’ve perked up a bit.

See you again soon 🙂

Food, SBQ

SBQ with Chicken

Anne S

Today I’m cooking a roast chicken for dinner … shhhh, don’t tell Fraze, or he’ll be round on the double … this is by far the easiest roast chicken recipe ever, and without a doubt the most delicious I’ve ever tasted. Called, funnily enough, “Easy Roast Chicken”, we nicknamed it to be “Salt and Pepper Chicken”. Here’s the recipe:

SALT AND PEPPER ROAST CHICKEN

1 small fryer or broiler chicken (basically just any frozen chicken – I prefer Inghams)
Fresh ground black pepper
Fresh ground Sea salt

Preheat oven to 425F (210C). Rub chicken inside and out with sea salt and pepper. Roast in oven 45-55 minutes, basting frequently with its drippings. Chicken will be golden brown and very juicy, and leg will move easily when it is ready.

See what I mean when I say it’s easy? And it’s divinely yummy!! And the great thing about it is that this will do me for about 3 days of eating, both lunches and dinners … woohoo!! I’ve also made up a big pan of brown rice today to go into the freezer ready for lunches – one of my fave meals is rice salad with Tuna Tempters with a few chopped veges like celery, corn etc. There’s no excuse not to take lunch to work when it’s already half made up! 🙂

No stitching piccies today, so here’s the last two SBQ’s:

Today’s SBQ was suggested by Carol and is:

“If you were to come across a sampler chart that caught your eye and appealed to you, would you or would you not stitch it if it had a morbid or “creepy” saying on it? If not, why?”

That’s pretty easy, if I still love the design, I’d just remove the saying. If we’re thinking about HOHRH that whole design doesn’t tempt me to stitch it and has nothing to do with the saying. In fact, I’m not really into ‘historical’ style samplers etc and that’s where you’d find most of the morbid stuff, so there’s no chance I’d ever have to worry about it 😉

Today’s SBQ was suggested by Lee and is:

“How did you decide on the title of your stitching blog? Was it random, or does it have a special meaning to you or about you?”

Initially I started off struggling with a blog name, and just came up with “Stitching Shack” just because Shack is part of my surname and often a nickname at work … when I sat down and started thinking about it more a few months down the track, I wanted something that would include my love of ducks … ideas that got tossed around was “On the Pond”, “Shack by the Sea” (due to my new location here) … in the end I came up with “Feather Stitching”, as well as being an actual stitch itself, it refers to the duckie side of me … and I think I still like it as it’s quite simple, a bit like me …

Finishes

A quick finish

Anne S

My decision to start something new was a good one … although I didn’t end up starting the actual stitching last night, just kitting up two things – a Christmas ornie for me, and Wendy’s seasonal round robin. Today I spent a short time stitching, after a bit of clearing out with the boxes in the spare bedroom. That poor room now looks like a war zone, but I did manage to finish my ornie while watching Jamie’s Kitchen-Melbourne. I’m loving that show, especially knowing it’s right on my doorstep. Perhaps my treat to myself once I get out of this financial tight spot will be to have lunch out there at Fifteen Restaurant … hmmm food for thought.

Anyway, just a short post, as I’m not really in blogging mood … here’s the ornie I stitched – it’s Starry Starry Night by JBW Designs, from the 1998 JCS ornie issue. Complete with the Mill Hill treasures I bought earlier in the year, this is one expensive little ornie 😉 It’s stitched on a mystery hand-dyed 28-count linen that I think came from Silkweaver in last year’s Halloween trick or treat bag. That also means one more project crossed off the 50 Project Challenge, yippee – 9 down, 41 to go 😀

Finishes

Where does the time fly?

Anne S

I can’t believe it’s November already!! I’ve been looking at all my planned stitching goals for 2006 and realised I’ve hardly touched them … oops. Can’t say I’m in a major hurry to complete many of them before year end, and will just push them into 2007 for stitching ‘whenever’. They’ll get placed into my rotation at some stage, I’m sure …

Well, today was the first day of the new pastime of packed lunches – I used to take a home-made lunch every day, but got out of the habit months ago. Last night I made a loaf of bread in my breadmaker (Wholemeal Beer and Mustard Loaf … yummo), and had a bit of a ‘ploughmans’ thing going today – I slapped some crumbly cheddar cheese and piccalilli between a couple of slices, and it was scrummy. I’d forgotten how satisfying it is to eat something that you’ve totally made from scratch (ie the bread, not the rest of it) … it’s quite a good feeling 🙂

When I parked my car this morning it made a funny noise again … and I noticed my dashboard clock was out of synch – I’m pretty sure I readjusted the clock yesterday before driving home, but can’t be 100% positive. If I did, then it means my problem still isn’t resolved, and it could be something to do with the wiring or alarm that’s draining my battery … I’ll have to check it again over the next couple of days. Mind you, if there’s anywhere I need to go to before Saturday I’ll be doing it on foot to save on the petrol! I’ll be acting quite the miser before month-end 😉 Anyway, this photo is especially for Mum – it seems the breadmaker is working just fine, and the last disasters were obviously related to the recipe itself … this one turned out gloriously!

As for my stitching, I managed to get the final stitches put into my Halloween freebie before bed, but was too tired to make it into an ornie … oh well, there’s always next year 😉 Now I’m off to scour the recipe books for something that uses tinned tomatoes (I have about 8 cans in the cupboard from a cheap sale months ago, so it’s finally time to find a good use for them) with either chicken breasts or tinned tuna. Then I’m settling in with a glass of wine straight from the fridge, with my stitching, to watch ER … a bit of personal pampering is in order (and hey, it’s all free!). I might even do something very very decadent and start a new project!! Rotation? … WHAT rotation??? LOL.

Uncategorized

Happy Halloween!!

Anne S

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What can I say today? If it doesn’t rain, it pours … on the way to work today my car battery seemed to be failing – no problems starting the car up, and it drove fine into work, but the dashboard clock was out of sync etc, with the alarm making a really strange sound when trying to use it. When I tried to lock the car manually when I arrived at work (seeing as the alarm locking system had failed), it locked the door and wouldn’t unlock again. Luckily I could open the passenger side manually and lock all the other doors that way. Anyway, I was feeling so shattered at work I cashed in my final 2 Luv Ya Work awards to leave an hour early to get my car fixed … only to find my car now wouldn’t start at all … I had a flat battery. Well, after being told the battery guys would be there within the hour, two hours later they finally turned up … $125 later and I could drive home again. I just hope like heck that’s fixed it, as when I parked my car at home, the alarm was still making a strange sound (I’ll be sleeping with my fingers and toes crossed tonight, that’s for sure!!).

I called and chatted to Mum for half an hour while waiting (I have a price cap on my mobile phone and this is covered thank goodness) – it was great to just have a moan about how fed up I felt … she’s the best listener in the world. We even had time to put our heads together and come up with some meal options out of what’s in my cupboards, as thanks to this little saga for the day, I may not be going grocery shopping for at least a fortnight now … especially when I walked into the flat to find yet another little gift, the gas bill {heavy sigh}. I’m trying to keep a smile on my face, but I do have to admit as soon as I walked in the door, I sat down and burst into tears for a few minutes … just a brief reaction to the stress, I think, as well as being exhausted from lack of sleep and trying to fight off a migraine. Anyway, I’m sure I’ll be fine, and there are plenty of people worse off than me, so I can’t complain too much! Hopefully after another two paydays I’ll be back on my feet again … especially with a public holiday coming up that I’m working.

It just means that I’m going to have to not go anywhere or do anything special for at least the next 2-4 weeks until everything is paid off. That also means not using my car unless absolutely essential, and making sure I make a packed lunch every day or going without etc. No coffee shop coffees, and no fast food … everything that passes my lips has to come out of my current pantry and freezer – if nothing else, it’ll get some old stuff used up and make some room, so perhaps that’s a good thing! 😉

Thanks again for your emails and comments of support – I really really appreciate it. All the lovely comments are helping to keep my spirits up. Hopefully I’ll be back to regular scheduled programming and my positive self very soon in a blog near you … {{hugs}}

Actually, I almost forgot about my stitching news – in the spirit of Halloween, and the fact that I own absolutely no Halloween items whatsoever, I really wanted to stitch myself something this year, but haven’t been in the mood … I was just sitting around like a zombie after work yesterday, so I forced myself to put a few stitches into a new start to try and cheer myself up, and came up with this … I just have to add three more words (2 x eeks and a boo) and the spider eyes, and it’s ready to be finished into an ornie. It’s Just Nan’s freebie “Just Jack”, stitched on 28ct light mocha Quaker cloth, using the recommended DMC threads. These are the only arachnids that will ever be allowed on my threshold without getting the Mortein treatment ;P
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Uncategorized

Feeling a bit perkier

Anne S

Well, I don’t feel quite as haggard today … I felt absolutely disgusting this morning, but it was a good day at work, with some fun people on the Hotline, so it made for a more fun day. I also got my recent call evaluation done, and was told by the Quality Evaluator that I was an extremely valued member of the Hotline, and being made permanent was one of the best decisions management have ever made … awww, that’s so sweet! 🙂

Financially, things are better today ‘cos it’s payday haha … I still don’t have spare cash sitting around, and I am on a very VERY tight rein for the next fortnight, which means Sydney is most definitely not happening. One of the reasons I’ve been panicking is due to my tax return … this is the first time I’ve ever had to pay money back, and it’s just over $500 (I wasn’t too phased about doing my return because I’ve always had money refunded to me … then freaked out three weeks ago when I did my tax online, and haven’t lodged it officially until today when I went through and re-checked all my figures before hitting “send” … sure enough I have to pay boohoo). Anyway, I just assumed (stupidly) that you had to pay it before the end of the next financial year … nope, you actually have to pay it by 21 November 2006 … bl**dy hell!!! So, if I had any possible doubts about getting to see my best friend in Sydney, that sealed it! It’s a shame, ‘cos Vicki’s never in Aussie, and it’s a real hassle to visit her in New Zealand as the flights to Nelson aren’t great. Oh well, I’ll just have to save up and make a side trip the next time I’m home in Auckland … whenever that will be.

Still no stitching news … I’ve been stalking the mailbox today and there’s no parcel in there from SB&B, so no scissor fob exchange being posted yet (my final exchange) … it’s early days yet, though, so hopefully it’ll be here over the next couple of days. I’ve been feeling too flat to do any actual stitching, so no new progress to report either hmmm. Never mind, hopefully I’ll make up for it on my days off this Thu/Fri.

Thanks again for all the supportive comments recently … it means a lot 🙂

Quilting

Quilting and ‘stuff’

Anne S

I managed to pick out a couple of quilt designs that I like, to show you – there are quite a few more, but they’re in actual quilting books and I don’t think I’m allowed to post piccies due to copyright … these ones came from old quilting magazines that I’ve ripped the pages out of, so goodness knows where/what the original source is. Also, one day I might just re-create the other book quilts in my software program and show those piccies, ‘cos then I’m not technically breaking copyright … I think … I was serious enough to try quilting years ago and bought designing software ready for it, but I still haven’t been brave enough to give it a go :/ Whatever design I eventually go with will be, as Isabelle puts it, blue blue blue ;P I’m envisaging deeper blues with turquoise, as opposed to pastels, but who knows what it will end up being? Anyway, here are some designs that I like – the 3rd one is a cot quilt, but the design could be repeated to make a larger quilt, I think.






I especially love the last two!!

Thanks for your comments and emails of support after yesterday’s post. Today I still feel a bit blue, and have pretty much resigned myself to the fact that it’s likely I won’t be going to Sydney – Mum and I had a good talk on the phone last night and as she put it, I seem to be taking one step forward and two steps back at the moment, and there’s no point going just because I ‘really want to’, if it’s possible it will put me in greater financial difficulty in the end, which is absolutely right.

Actually the reason for the phone call from Mum last night was to let me know some bad news from the family in the UK (I knew it had to be something, ‘cos I’d only spoken to her the day before) … one of my cousins had walked into the house to find her husband had committed suicide, which is a really really awful thing to experience I’m sure, and something I could never entirely imagine to its full extent and horror. To be honest I don’t feel really upset about it, as I didn’t know David that well – I don’t have any memory of my childhood prior to the age of 10 (when we emigrated finally to New Zealand), and I’d only met him once in my early 20’s when I visited/lived there for 6 months. I do, however, feel very sorry for my cousin for the situation she’s now in and she’s been in my thoughts a fair bit today. Even though we’re not close, and we hardly know each other as adults, she’s one of the very few family members who ever keeps in touch with birthday and Christmas cards, and by the sounds of it she hasn’t had an easy life. My UK family aren’t aware of my blog (and the majority don’t have computers anyway to my knowledge), but {{hugs}} to you anyway Carole, may peace and inner strength find you in the trying and difficult days ahead.

Well, that’s me for today – I’m feeling very very revolting and haggard after my early morning start thanks to daylight saving … it’s been the slowest shift in history, and I just can’t wait for this day to end so I can get to bed and have a bit of sleep. Only two more 5am’s left, hip-hip-hooray 😀