Author: Anne S

While doing some unpacking I came across my mail art exchange, that I’d totally forgotten about during my last few days socialising in Auckland – and the deadline is due NOW (literally!) … unfortunately I’m going to be late posting my exchange piece, which I really hate doing, but it means all my energies are going into getting that into the mail by the end of the week, and blogging’s going by the wayside yet again until then. The front is all finished apart from the address, which I’m about to stitch now – and the back is all charted up ready to go … then I just have to tackle the actual finishing, which I have absolutely no idea about – by the plan is to have it all done by Friday and in the post … crikey!!

Just wanted to post a quick note to apologise in advance if anyone is waiting for emails etc … I’ll get back to you just as soon as I can when I’ve managed to drag myself away from my stitching this week …

Well, I have to say my return home was marred by a splitting headache by the time I got home – serves me right by not taking any tablets when I got home last night, and it worsened during the night, so I had a bad sleep … finally got up at 6.30am and took some Nurofen, and went back to bed for 3 more hours, and it’s definitely taken the majority of the pain away. I know the reason for this one – tension of leaving home again … I felt fine when I left, and even no upsets at the airport, but during the flight the headache started coming on – not helped by trying not to shed a few tears at the end of the movie, King Kong LOL. Anyway, now I have to get back into my ‘normal’ life again … I have to say that the only downside to the trip was Dad’s lack of participation in Mum’s birthday, which made me really angry with him – but then again, that’s my Dad ‘to a T’ … but even though I know that, it still disappoints me for Mum’s sake. But, I got over it, and actually enjoyed having some ‘family time’ each work day evening while we all watched the UK Classic Millionaire on TV and tried to guess the answers – it became a nightly ritual that was enjoyed by all. We’ve never really done things as a family all together, so such smalls things as that give me a certain amount of pleasure, even though they’re relatively insignificant things.

As for the last day in Auckland, what can I say about it? Sheer magic!! 😀 I had the most wonderful day with Nicki and Kerry – it’s such a shame we didn’t live closer, as I’d love to have them as stitching buddies 🙂 Nicki and I met up at The Embroiderer in Birkenhead, and had the most wonderful time – we spent quite some time oohing and ahhing over the stitched models, stroking threads, and poring through charts … as well as chatting and getting to know each other a little bit – I was as nervous as heck beforehand, as I’m actually really shy meeting new people (most people don’t believe me, though!), but I felt really at ease with Nicki, and most of the time couldn’t work out where the “off” switch was and didn’t stop talking LOL. I really wish The Embroiderer was here in Melbourne, though – it’s my favourite LNS in the whole world (to date anyway, of all those I’ve physically visited) … if anyone is visiting Auckland, you really do have to take the time to pop in. Believe it or not, though, both Nicki and I were very disciplined (OK, Nicki a bit more than myself) … although I just bought 2 charts – one from the bargain bin for my charity squares, and a Prairie Schooler santa chart for Mum to stitch (plus I bought the DMC she needed from Spotlight before I flew home yesterday, along with a Clover cutter, and I gave her my embroidery scissors and scissor fob I had with me … I’d already bought over some cuts of aida for her in my suitcase, so now she’s pretty much set up for a wee while).

After our LNS fix we went back to Nicki’s place where I met Martin and we had a lovely lunch … and we went to town looking through Nicki’s stitching stash, WIP’s and the wonderful exhanges Nicki has received (which are all beautiful, BTW) … but the highlight for me was seeing Nicki’s WIP’s – the photos truly don’t do them justice! I fell in love heart and soul with The Token – it really does take your breath away … all stitched over-one in that sumptuous colour, it’s absolutely glorious! And the HAED’s are amazing too – they really take your breath away in real life.

We finally had to drag ourselves away, though, and we drove over to meet with Kerry and her gorgeous son Marcus … and yet again I got to drool over some beautiful stitching – it was wonderful to see Kerry’s framed pieces in the flesh, as well as seeing some of her new designs in progress stitched over-one (sorry ladies, I don’t think you’ll convert me to that style of stitching though … not for a while anyway LOL – although I did say to Mum I wanted to re-stitch my green tree frog over-one hmmm) … looking forward to seeing them growing over time 🙂 Then we had a cuppa and nattered on for ages about stitching, and blogs, and life in general … it was absolutely wonderful! I never thought to take photos of us, which is a bit dumb, and I only thought about it the next day – I was too busy chatting and enjoying the company that it didn’t cross my mind … oops …

So, I want to thank you Nicki and Kerry for a truly magical day – and a wonderful way to finish my time in Auckland, and the day just flew past … it was awesome to meet you both, and I hope it won’t be the last time 😀 {{hugs}}

Anyway, back to reality today – but I’m going to ‘start’ the day (it’s now 11am haha) with a bit of retail therapy where I don’t have to spend any money – I have a pile of mail that was due to arrive last week, including back orders from SB&B, my Melanie’s Exchange parcel, and Mystery Bits from SB&B (I succumbed and signed up now I’m back on shift work) … so I’m off to put petrol in the car and pick it all up, as well as getting in some grocery essentials as the fridge is totally bare. I’ll post piccies probably tomorrow, as I still have a few things to do today and may not get time (plus I’ll have to let the drool dry off first haha) … then tomorrow I’m back out to the airport again to go and pick up my freight boxes of ‘stuff’. It’s amazing – I only arrived last night, but here I am sitting at my computer desk looking out the side windows, and I don’t feel I’ve been anywhere already … was it all a dream? Nope, it definitely did happen, and I have 644 new unread emails to prove it … I don’t want to check the blog subscription figures yet … perhaps tomorrow … ;P

(Updated) … Well, I guess I’m not going anywhere for a while … just went outside to start the car up, and it’s not starting – I assume it’s the battery, although the power locking etc is still working … I guess a call to the RACV is in order – better get it fixed before the Post Office closes, or I’ll be upset haha … ho hum, it’s good to be back … hmmm ;P

Well, it’s my second to last night here before I wing my way back ‘across the ditch’ … it’s been an interesting day in more ways than one. I parcelled up 126kg (yikes!) of books and magazine ripouts etc, as well as my mat-cutter for freighting home – I get a substantial staff discount on freight, and managed to get a price that is ‘just above cost’ which is great. It means I’ll be spending Thursday at the airport again, though, going to Qantas Freight, then Customs, then Quarantine, then back to Qantas Freight again before picking up my 9 boxes from the freight terminal – then I have to lug 126kg up 3 floors to my little home … at least when they’re home I can pick through them and work out what I’m going to keep, and what I’m going to get rid of, with no time constraints like I have here. And I’ll hopefully get back a lot of the freight costs if I decide to sell on Ebay etc … maybe 😉

The other interesting thing that happened today is that I started feeling a tiny bit ‘homesick’ again … for Auckland – or, more truthfully, for the people I used to work with and socialise with. I went into the city again tonight and went to my old place of work (same airline I work for now) – it surprised me how much I enjoyed seeing everyone again, and it felt good to have so many people come up to me and give me hugs and tell me how much I’m missed … hence the little tug at the heartstrings for the ‘familiarity of home’. That doesn’t mean I want to move back again, though – I’m sure I’ll feel better again when I get back into the routines in Melbourne … but I think I should come over and visit more often to keep in touch with everyone. I went for drinks at the Shakespeare Tavern with three of my biggest pals (one made a special drive in for the occasion, as she works at the airport now, which is wonderful that she came in) – then two of them had to head home early due to ferries and family commitments, and Tara and I went to the Late Night Cafe in Ponsonby Road for dinner and coffees, which was fantastic. It was so nice to see all the familiar faces and have a gossip about people we all know. It’s now 1am, and I thought I’d quickly drop a line on the blog while I got chance before I hit the hay.

Mum finished her first little XS yesterday – but because the dial-up connection is so abysmal here, I’ve been ordered to take it home with me and put a photo on my blog when I get home haha. She’s so proud of her first attempt, and she will soon have her very first ornament to put on her ‘swag’ I brought from Melbourne for her ready for Christmas. I started my mail art exchange yesterday, but of course can’t show piccies until it’s received … and I won’t get chance to stitch now until I get home – hmmm I think my expectations for stitching here for definitely a bit high – I think Mum’s stitched more than I have! LOL.

Anyway, I’ll chat more when I get home in two days time – I can’t wait to get back into the blogs and see what everyone’s been up to … will have to dive back into everyone’s archives, it’s been so long since I’ve been reading properly oops …

Well, better get to sleep, as I have to be up semi-early to drive to the North Shore in the morning, where I’ll be getting to meet some more blogging pals face-to-face – I’m really looking forward to meeting Nicki and Kerry in the flesh 😀 Will have to give an update when I get home … especially as we’re meeting at one of my old favourite LNS there … and I want to buy a couple of things (NZ charts especially to remind me of home). Better get to sleep, anyway, as I’m getting cross-eyed, and probably not making much sense anymore …

I have to admit, it’s been an interesting time in different ways here – it’s surprising that Auckland doesn’t really feel like ‘home’ to me anymore, so I guess that means I’m definitely pretty settled in Melbourne. There have also been some unexpected adventures that I forgot to write about the other day …

On Wednesday Mum and I went into Auckland city (ie downtown), where I had an appointment with my old Physiotherapist, Guy. We caught the 10.10am train to give us plenty of time to get there, with some time to sit and have a coffee or do a bit of shopping … or so we thought! After about two stops, the Conductor came through to announce that we could only travel as far as Penrose, as there had been a body found by the tracks, and they’d stopped train traffic while they investigate … so we were sat for 3/4 hour waiting for a bus to turn up to take us into town – welcome back to Auckland, Anne, have a bit of excitement to start your holiday haha. Luckily I just made my appointment with 2 whole minutes to spare … although Guy said he would have fitted me in somehow anyway seeing as I’d come across the ditch for my appointment. Hopefully my neck is all fixed up again for another 12 months 🙂

Since then I have managed to retrieve my patience again with Dad – I think I was just upset that he made such a pig’s ear of Mum’s birthday. I’ve just been trying not to think about it, and chill out on the whole … and last night we went out for dinner to very dear friends of the family (they’re like my actual family, as we all emigrated together from England all those years ago, and we’ve all grown up together) – it was awesome to spend time with Auntie Heather and Uncle John, Glenn and Tracey and the kids Danial and Bradley – it felt like we haven’t been apart, we’re that close. Dad, as usual, didn’t go, but Mum and I had a ball and didn’t get home until almost midnight much to Dad’s surprise and disgust haha – I actually took some XS to do, but didn’t even pick it up, we were too busy chattering away all night. Our second adventure took place last night, though – while we were outside on the deck chatting by the gas furnace, the garage was broken into and we worked out John’s weedeater and leaf blower were both stolen … right from under our noses. We heard some small noises, thinking the cats had got into the garage, and the security light went on – but by the time John went round to investigate no-one was to be seen … it was only as we were leaving that we realised things had been stolen hmmm.

As for today, it’s back in the garage for me again … managed to clear out about 6 boxes worth of ‘stuff’ for the bin – there are all sorts of things like old bank statements etc that I’ve just been throwing out, as well as glassware etc all getting parcelled up for the Salvation Army. I think it’ll take at least another 6 trips over here to get it all finished haha. The priority is done, though – my XS stuff teehee. Oh well, at least Mum and Dad aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, so it can all just stay in storage – thank goodness 🙂

Rightio, back to it again as not much time left before I fly home – then I’m off tomorrow to catch up with my old workmates in Auckland city, then hopefully to meet up with Nicki and Kerry with a LNS fix at The Embroiderer on Tuesday … then it’s “Home James” on Wednesday probably – where did the time go??

Thanks for your lovely comments about my first ever biscornu – I have to admit, it was very hard giving it up ;P A couple of quick answers while I’m waiting for dinner to heat up tonight …

For Katrina – the DMC thread number is a figment of my imagination … my apologies, it’s actually an Anchor thread, and the colour is 1349 (oops … slight blonde moment there LOL). I just love the colours of this thread – especially the turquoise splashes in it 🙂

For Rani – unfortunately I’d ripped the pages out of the magazine, and I’ve checked each page but there’s absolutely no reference to the month/year it was from. I’ve scanned the full page of the design for you, if that helps. As you can see, though, I only used a marginal part of the design, so it might not be that helpful to you. Hopefully if you click on the piccie, it will be large enough for you to read the print … Actually, Blogger won’t load whatsoever, so try the link here (hopefully this will take you to a photo loaded into Photobucket … hopefully!).

For Sharon – sorry my NR wasn’t a commercial chart for you to buy 😦 You can probably work most of the design out by the stitched photo, though, if you’re wanting to recreate it 🙂

For Sharon in Melbourne – I haven’t forgotten you, gorgeous lady! I’ve just been in antisocial mode last week, and this week to a certain extent … If it’s OK, I’ll call you when I get back from NZ for us to catch up properly … I’ve saved all the L&L angel charts for you to look through and claim anything you want 🙂

And to anyone else I owe emails to … a thousand apologies!! I’m so very very behind in keeping up to date with pretty much everything at the moment, and struggling to play catch up 😦 June is another month, huh?