Crafts – Needlework – Page 28

Oops, I just realised I’d started this post days ago, and I haven’t finished it off!!! … So I’ll start off with my original post ..

Check out what I’m going to have to contend with when I move … how am I going to keep myself amused? Check out all these lovely stores I’ll have on my doorstep in Sydney:

Tapestry Craft (this place looks massive!!!)
Dragonfly Dreams (I can see a weekend getaway to the Blue Mountains happening!!)
Crewel Gobelin (the only place I’ve been to so far)
Mosman Needlecraft
Craft Depot (for patchwork fabrics – they claim to have 8000 patchwork fabrics!!!)

And I already have a few offers of people that are going to come visit me while I’m up there – I’m really looking forward to having visits from my good pal Sharon, who was my first real stitching pal in Melbourne (I’m gonna miss you heaps!). Also one of the girls at work who is no longer talking to me ‘cos I’m leaving haha, is already planning a girls weekend away so we can see the sights during the day, go to the theatre, then party the weekend away – I’m excited already at all these upcoming social occasions, and I haven’t even moved yet! Of course, I’m sure I’ll be visiting Melbourne occasionally at the weekends as well … it’s only 11/2 hours by plane, which is great 🙂

Now I must say today I also spent more money that I shouldn’t be spending (yeah, so what’s new lately? haha) … and it’s all the fault of Rebecca (that friend from work who’s coming partying in Sydney) and Mel – I went on a buying spree to buy some Bud Ducks for them, as Highpoint Shopping Centre have an awesome selection … well, I walked in the door and found they’d just received shipment yesterday of some brand new designs … whaaaaa!!!!!!!!!! Yes, I have to admit, two of them came home with me … well, what’s a duck-mad girl to do??? The two that I bought for myself are these ones – International Duck and Angel Duck … how could I resist them?? The International “Mile High Duck” I just thought was so appropriate for me and my new job – travelling interstate, but also working in the travel industry … just wish my passport had all those visa stamps haha. And I also bought some teeny weeny little ones to come travelling with me – well, I gotta have at least ONE duck in my new room right? But then it’s not fair to let one duck make the journey all on it’s own, and it just HAD to have company! I really LOVE the blue Angel Duck – the colour is gorgeous. Check out these new little additions to my travelling kit:

And there are sooooooo many more that I really really want!! I guess you could call me the Imelda Marcos of ducks!!! 😀

As you can tell, there’s also no stitching happening at the moment … I just can’t stop yapping on here instead – plus spending 2 entire hours yapping to Mum on the phone today haha. Now I’m sat in front of the TV watching So You Think You Can Dance … perhaps I might find a needle to pick up … perhaps … 😉

Rightio, going by the TV reference to So You Think You Can Dance, I guess I started typing this on Thursday night last week … Now it’s time to update with the latest news!

As a matter of fact there has been a little bit of needlework happening out here in Pascoe Vale South – I’ve managed to finish off another block of Snapperville, and almost managed to complete the border around as well … a couple more hours and I’ll knock that off pretty easily. I must say after not having much stitching mojo for a while, I’m absolutely LOVING stitching Snapperville … I just don’t want to put it down! I think the Winter Snappers will be jumping on the Q-snaps quite quickly after I make the big move up north as well – I just love these little charts! 🙂

As for what else is news … I’ve spoken to someone from work who moved to Sydney a while ago, to see what his flatting arrangements are now (he used to flat with the girl whose job I’m taking over), and it seems he’s just bought an apartment and prefers to live on his own for now as his partner may be joining him in the future … but he’s said it’s OK if I get desperate that he’ll never see me go without a roof over my head and has offered ’emergency housing’ if I need to while I’m searching (Brenda has family coming over in the middle of December, so I have a maximum of 4 weeks to find somewhere).

BUT, I just had a phone message out of the blue today from someone else who worked with me 3 years ago – he’d just had lunch with a friend from my office who told him my news, and apparently he’s moving to Sydney as well and wanted to know what my planned living arrangements were going to be … I’ll have a chat to him over the next few days about it, as that could be another option – but that would probably mean having to freight my belongings up north … probably … Herc should also find out about his interview results by the end of tomorrow as well, which might be another living option (probably my preferred one overall, as Matt is quite young and a bit of a party animal, and I’m that much older and just looking for a simple quiet life) – anyway, time will tell, and at least there are a few more friendly faces in Sydney that I know from work … yippee!! 🙂

As for work itself, they haven’t approved my leave that I wanted, because it’s Melbourne Cup week and they can’t afford more people off the phones. They’ve given me Fri 9 Nov only, which is cr*p … let’s just say I’m a bit disappointed to say the least – it just depends who you are, I think, whether they want to make an effort to help out or not … and all I’ll say is that “I’m not Greek” … one of the Managers has a bad reputation for that – she’s Greek, and has a few family and friends that work there, and let’s just say they can get away with murder … that’s one thing I’m not going to miss – the office politics! I don’t usually let it get to me and turn a blind eye, but everyone thinks their decision is appalling due to the circumstances, especially after doing so much for the company during my time there – but there’s no point getting cranky about it, it just gives you ulcers and doesn’t change anything. Anyway, I’ve sent an email to the “big boss” in our office stating that if I can’t be given the extra two days leave, could I please use my 8 Luv Ya Work Awards in one day (the maximum is supposed to be 4, ie 2 hours off work) … that would let me leave 2 hours early which means on a 6am shift I could be hitting the road at midday. Now all we have to do is work out if it’s still worthwhile having Mum fly over and driving up the coast, seeing as we’re two travelling days short. Oh decisions, decisions …

As for Muffy here, I have to admit over the last few days she hasn’t exactly been endearing herself, and while I think she’s a beautiful dog on the whole, I have had the urge to turn her into a winter coat a few times … usually at 1am and 3am when I’m answering her pleas to be let outside. The occasional night isn’t too bad, but I had a moment there when it was 4 nights in a row, and I was feeling severely deathly because of it. Luckily the late night shifts have been perfect, because she goes outside as soon as I get home, and today I even got a sleep-in until just after 8am … 6 1/2 hours straight sleep … sheer bliss!! The fleas still seem to be a problem, but not quite as bad … I have managed to track down and drown 3 of the little b*ggers over the last couple of days though hmmm. Mind you, today she woke me up again at 7am, after 5 hours sleep, and I feel dreadful … I started losing my voice at work last night and getting bunged up, so I fear I have picked up a head cold … Muffy just decided it was time I should be up, and didn’t want to go outside at all … I nearly strung her up from the nearest fence!

I went to meet the menagerie of pets at the next housesitting job on Sunday night, and it’s going to be ‘interesting’ to say the least haha. Two dogs, two cats, two birds, and an aquarium of fish, all of which have various eating routines etc – but afterwards I can relax in the spa with a glass of wine, and watch Foxtel movies … I’ve told them I may change the locks and never leave! LOL.

Anyway, I’ll finish with a photo of a gift I received at work yesterday from groups organiser (this was for customer service over and above the call of duty for some VIP customers returning home … you can make up your own mind as to who) – I laughed at the card that came with it … that I’m allowed to hide it away when the Bledisloe Cup is on … but personally I think I’m going to pop an All Blacks beanie and scarf on old Wally and sit him on my desk – a perfect blending of my ‘two down under cultures’ 😛

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

It’s all out of my hands now …

12 October, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

What is, I hear you ask? Either that or the voices in my head are getting louder than normal! LOL. Today I flew up to Sydney for my job interview – I felt very special as I flew up in business class … but I didn’t expect to get home on time, as the flights were really full. My boarding pass wouldn’t go through the scanner at the gate, so I half expected I’d been offloaded … but it turns out I’d been upgraded on the way home too … wow!! 😀

The interview went by in a bit of blur, to be honest – I can’t say I blitzed it, as there were some questions in there I wasn’t expecting … but I did my best, and time will tell if it was good enough or not. They’re calling one of my referees either later today or on Monday, and they’re hoping to let us all know by Wednesday next week at the latest. At least I’ll know whether I need to start looking for a new flat in Melbourne or Sydney … and I’m working the next 5 days straight, so that’ll keep my mind off things 🙂

Last night I started putting a couple of stitches into the first Lanarte Sea Life piece while watching So You Think You Can Dance (I really enjoy that show) – I managed to start the seahorse, although I didn’t get too much done. Today I’m pretty shattered as nerves got the better of me during my sleep last night (makes a change to Muffy and the fleas keeping me awake!! haha), so I think it’ll be an early night for me and Muffy tonight. Here’s a picture of the four pieces that I want to stitch eventually, plus the tiny progress from last night.

I was supposed to start the Sailor’s Valentine by CA Wells next on my rotation list, but my concentration wasn’t quite ‘all there’ last night, so I daren’t start it … I thought it was better to stick to something simple instead.

Rightio, dinner has reheated, so it’s time to go and eat … plus Muffy is ready for round two of her dinner too (she’s being spoilt tonight, seeing as I had to leave her outside all day in the dreadful weather) 😀

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

Itchy and Scratchy

11 October, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Yep, this household definitely fits the bill of those two characters from The Simpsons … I’m Itchy, and Muffy is Scratchy. I doped up the base of Muffy’s neck yesterday, although the scratching is still happening today. Apparently it can take 3 days to show the effects, so fingers crossed by the weekend she’ll be scratching less … which hopefully means that I will be too! Yet another broken night’s sleep last night thanks to flea bites and Muffy’s evening bladder … ho-hum 😦

I decided not to bother going driving to pick up my GAST threads today, but decided instead to send away and spend my $10 gift voucher from a previous order with Dragonfly Dreams to get Karen to send a skein of the threads I need. I figure by the time I spent the petrol on a 1-1/2 hour round trip driving session, plus the e-tag toll price, it just wasn’t worth it … so I’ve stitched as far as I can go without the gold Kreinik and two GAST threads I’m missing, and tomorrow night I’ll start my next project. The photo is really terrible, but you can get an idea of it anyway – at least when the threads arrive it’ll only take one night to finish the whole thing off 😀

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

WIP photos

10 October, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

It seems I’ve thwarted my new mini rotation almost immediately … while stitching the first two blocks of Snapperville, I decided it would make sense to stitch the border parts surrounding them at the same time, instead of leaving all the border until the end. Aside from not getting bored with it at the end, that means I don’t have to keep moving the Q-snaps. Anyway, I’ve managed to complete blocks 1 and 2 before putting it away again yesterday.

Snapperville by Bent Creek

Then I picked up and started It’s Halloween – I was doing pretty well, too, until I realised I hadn’t packed my GAST threads that I needed … so it looks like I’m either going to have to drive out to a LNS to buy two more skeins, or make a trip to my storage unit on the other side of town (a 1-1/2 to 2 hour round trip hmmm). What a pain in the proverbial! I really wanted to get this one finished by the end of tomorrow boohoo. Anyway, here’s the progress from yesterday …

It’s Halloween by The Drawn Thread

This was done while watching Season 2 of NCIS … love that show! I was also watching Spanglish, but the DVD won’t play the last couple of scenes, so I’ll have to hire it from somewhere so I can see the ending (and also the DVD player here played it in black and white ho-hum … I’ve been playing everything on my laptop ever since).

Another semi lazy day here today – the laundry is getting done, then Muffy and I will head out for a walk before I settle down for a bit more stitching while I get the chance 🙂

(Updated to add …)

I keep forgetting to post this piccie for Mum – this is the latest Christmas fabric I’ve got for us (from a couple of weeks ago) … plus this is probably the fabric I’m going to use for the Plateau de la Brodeuse design. It’s still a bit pink for my tastes, and I’m not entirely ‘sure’ about it, but so far it’s my current choice – I’ll keep checking out a few more patchwork stores first, though, before I pull the threads out and start stitching …

Also, to answer the question a couple of you have asked … the threads Nicki has chosen for her RR piece are: Silk n Colors Cerise Noir, Dinky Dyes Jarrah, and Hand Dyed Fibers Chocolate.

Now I’m off shopping for flea treatment and antihistamine cream … I’m covered in itchy bites compliments of that big ol’ flea bag Muffy … drove me mad trying to sleep last night … mutter mutter mutter … I have to say, though, that I’m loving having Muffy’s company. She’s a lovely dog, and I’m even more of a dog person than a cat person (I was never allowed one as a child, but that was the ultimate pet I always wanted) – it’s lovely having her cuddled up on the sofa next to me while we watch DVD’s … until the scratching begins LOL 😉

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

Not much stitching going on

21 September, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

In fact, not much of anything going on!! I’m on my final shift today of 4 weeks of late shifts (6pms, overnights, 4pms, etc) – and as usual in this part of the roster I’m fighting a migraine and feeling quite generally like death warmed up, and have been all week 😦

Even though I haven’t been online too much, I haven’t been stitching a great deal over the last few days either – I do, however, have a stitching progress piccie from the other day that I can post … I was hoping it would be a finish I would be posting by now, but this will have to do. This is the infamous plastic canvas project – and I have to admit I’ve hated every single stitch I’ve put into this damned thing! After getting RSI years ago, I’ve found if I hold a hoop etc in my hand for very long, my hand cramps up (I now stitch using a lap or floor frame with scroll bars) … well, holding plastic canvas is worse for me. Even though I got suckered into stitching this one for my friend, I did say I’d do it, so here I am finally getting it out of the way – I have a day off work tomorrow, so I think I might just stay in my PJ’s all day and sit and get it finished. Then I just have to stitch her Winnie the Pooh bookmark (which isn’t even started yet) then my commitment is all over red rover … phew! (Mind you, I have to pick up some more DMC 702 to finish this one off – because I’m stitching it all with a tent stitch type stitch, I’m using more thread – but it’s the only way I can get my needle under the back of the threads without having a temper tantrum!!)

Emails have still been arriving, though, while I’ve been offline – which is making my wishlist grow ever longer haha. Here’s some more enabling for you {{insert evil laugh here}}. Here’s the latest collaboration piece from The Cat’s Whiskers & Dinky Dyes – I love it!

Also for those that I’m starting to enable towards the Group Correspondence Courses at the Embroiderers Guild of America, here’s the link to the entire education page of GCC’s {{insert second evil laugh}}. I’ve just succumbed to getting one more project (yeah, as if I need any more!!) – this one has been on my wishlist for a few years now, and it’s finally retiring at the end of December to make way for new classes starting up … well, I could hardly NOT sign up for it now it’s my final chance ever, right? Well, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it! ;P

GCC Florentine Christmas Ornaments

I’m actually a member of the Cyberstitchers Chapter of EGA, and because we’re a very spread out group, we get many many opportunities to sign up for GCC’s throughout the year (everything is mailed out, and a Yahoo group set up to chat about the project and discuss any problems etc) – as well as a chatty Yahoo group to keep in contact with everyone in general. If you don’t have an EGA Chapter near you to attend face-to-face meetings, I’d highly recommend it – and they take PayPal for the membership dues and course fees, which is awesome for those of us “across the pond” 🙂

I’ll finish off my quick post with a shot of Ally cat (she’s a real lady, too, Ally just like you! – definitely a perfect housemate!!). Ally doesn’t even meeow, never mind hiss … and she enjoys a quiet cuddle every now and then, but mostly she’s left to her own devices and spends most of the time dozing around the house. The house is a beautiful villa, and I spent a lovely morning at the start of the week sitting on the front porch in the sun with my stitching before I went to work … sheer heaven.

And on that note, I’d better start making tracks ready for today’s day at work. I need to drive by my storage unit to pick up some DMC that the local store didn’t have (for the infamous plastic canvas) – luckily it just means driving a bit of a roundabout way to work, it’s not majorly out of the way. I’m also dumping my duvet inner back into storage for a wee while too ‘cos it fills my car boot up and I end up having to put my suitcase etc on the back seat … I should actually take a photo of my travelling kit … I always feel quite sad when I look at it and think about all my lovely stuff in storage – but it’s a means to an end, I guess, and I just have to keep remembering that!

Rightio, onward and upward – into the shower I go then off to work … did I mention, it’s the LAST ONE?? WOOHOO!!!! Apart from the 4 hours overnight on Sunday night, of course, but that’s my own doing … I’ll be kicking myself later, I’m sure, but at the moment I’m putting my name down for overtime left right and centre to try to give the finances an extra kick (buying all these GCC’s aren’t really helping the cause – thanks overtime for giving me the option though!).

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, Works in Progress

My body clock needs replacing!

15 July, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Geez, I wish there was a shop where you could take your body clock in for fine tining … or a complete overhaul! I dunno what’s wrong with me at the moment, but I just can’t sleep ‘normally’. I haven’t been able to sleep before midnight (and generally 2am) over the last few nights, with plenty of tossing and turning happening. Tonight I was supposed to be going out after work and felt really shattered, so decided to have ‘an hour’ laying down as soon as I got in at 6.30pm before I got up to get ready … only to wake up at 11.30pm! Yikes!! So what does that mean? Yep, you guessed it … it’s now 3.30am and I’m struggling to get back into the swing of sleep mode again … b*gger! I’m also working for 4 hours overtime tomorrow (actually, I guess that’s now “today”) … it’s gonna be a fun shift, I can tell already 😉

As for other things, life has been exceptionally calm and boring, which is a nice change. I have hardly lifted a needle since I finished Bordeaux, and this is the sum total of my stitching efforts over the last few weeks … compared to what I normally achieve, this is quite a pitiful sight! Eventually it will be a finished Mini Garden Mandala freebie by Chatelaine.

Never mind … life goes on – I’ve been having more fun kitting up my stash in recent weeks than actually stitching, so at least I’m still keeping myself busy by immersing myself up to the elbows in threads and fabrics 🙂

Rightio, time to go back and try to sleep again … ho-hum …

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Finishing, Gifts TO BE FIXED

Quick update

10 July, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Not much time to blog, as I need to get dinner cracking (aka defrosting and reheating in the microwave LOL) … after having a really horrendous time over the weekend, I’m taking it easy this week. I spent almost the entire day in bed again yesterday, only surfacing at about 7.30pm hmmm. Today, though, I feel quite a bit better – and definitely better tonight than I did this morning!

I received some more yummy mail today, but I haven’t had chance to email a thank you yet, so the piccie will have to wait for that … what I do want to post is that FINALLY my gift for Tessa is ready to go in the mail! Only a couple of months after meeting each other, and I can get it mailed out. You see, my original drama had to do with not being able to find any suitable pins …

First of all, I thought I had some at home already – when I proved myself wrong, I went out and bought some …

These turned out to be waaaaay too small head-wise, although the colour was pretty good (but they’re incredibly sharp and the small container now fits perfectly in my stitching bag as a handy tool).

Back to the drawing board, and I bought 4 wheels of pins so I could pull the red ones out … well, don’t ask me what the heck I did with them, ‘cos they disappeared from sight until I was packing up the flat last month – but the colour turned out to be wrong (ie too pale for the ribbon, and a totally different shade to the stitching) …

Another shopping trip and two more packets later, and the colour STILL isn’t right …

BUT today the mailman brought me some pins I ordered online (thanks Andrea for advertising that shop on Ebay!) … and FINALLY the pins are just perfect!! If anyone local needs any pins at any time, scream out, ‘cos I bought a bucketload of different colours (blue, red, purple, beige, and white, from memory – I haven’t opened the box up properly yet) ;P

Here’s the final version of Tessa’s pinkeep … and believe it or not I finally managed to upload the photos off my phone of our meeting in Acland Street – my old PC would never acknowledge the upload cable, but my new laptop seems to play nicely and they’re finally off the phone and into the computer memory woohoo!! (Thanks to my housesitting job for the lovely interesting backdrop!)

Anyway, my sincere apologies, Tessa for the delay, but it will be winging its way to you some time this week! 😀

Rightio, off to the lounge for dinner and a bit of a tidy-up ‘cos there’s packing stuff all over the place and I need to get everything into storage again this weekend … It’s getting closer to moving day, and I’d like a week of rest beforehand, if I can. Plus I need to do all the housework too, of course, and next week I’m on overnight shifts yucky 😦

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

Grapes, grapes and more grapes …

29 June, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Today I stitched on Bordeaux Sampler all day … I was originally going to just stitch for an hour, then thought to myself ‘sod it’ and had a marathon stitching day with it, so I’m very very close to being finished with it. Seeing as I’m so close, I’m going to keep going to see it through to completion. I’ve been fighting off a cold for the last week and a half, but I woke up this morning really bunged up, so called in sick – I’ve spent the entire day cocooned in my PJ’s, sat in the leather recliner, with my laptop playing DVD’s and stitching my little heart out … it was bliss. Anyway, enough already, here’s the photos …

First up I finished off band 7 of the sampler …

I was going to put it away at that point, but I couldn’t be bothered getting up to find something new to stitch, so I loaded up another needle with burgundy thread, and I started work on those dratted over-one grapes. By the end of tonight, though, I now only have another 6 large bunches left to stitch, plus two small bunches to finish off each side of the lettering. I think by the end of this weekend I’ll have a happy dance coming! 😀

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

Sing-along … “Vanilla Ice Ice Baby…”

25 June, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

I don’t know about the Vanilla part, but there was plenty of the “ice ice, baby” this morning when I got up … I woke up totally cocooned in my duvet this morning, and had to get the hosepipe out to blast the ice from my windscreen before I could drive to work … bloomin’ heck it’s freezing!!! Thank goodness I’m outta that flat, or you might have been chipping the ice off my body for a week! 😉

I’ve been a big neglectful of my computer over the last few days, as I’ve been ready to throw it out the window … not so much the laptop itself, but the associated problems of transferring files and doing jobs that are normally plain and simple on my old PC, but for some reason now require the braincells of a rocket scientist 😦 Hence last Wednesday I walked away from it and refused to do any more transferring until I was in a better frame of mind …

Thanks Ally for the link to the Vista tip site – I’m still having problems transferring my emails across, but I haven’t given up hope just yet … I am also having problems, though, with my old version of Outlook running on this machine (basically it won’t work) – and it won’t let me re-download all the security patches etc … I thought I’d be clever and download the 60 day trial of Office 2007, but even that version won’t play ball with Outlook, so for now I’m waving the white flag and conceding defeat until I’m ready to start tackling it again in a week or so’s time.

Now, where’s my draft email that I started drafting up a blog post last week …?? Aha, here we go … off to do a job of cut and paste, and a bit of editing, then I’ll finish up with the latest update of the week’s events (which are pretty few and far between) …

It’s been a while since I blogged (because the Photo Hunt was created an entire month ago now, I can’t claim the fame for blogging about that recently), and it’s been an interesting week overall. I’ve been on some mixed shifts, and it tired me out somewhat last week … I did have a huge highlight of the week when I received some wonderful squishy mail 🙂

Nicki sent me a RAK that totally blew me away! I received one of the charts on my wishlist, “Blessed with Happiness box” by The Cat’s Whiskers … Nicki thought the wording on the box were perfectly suited to my recent life dramas, and I’d have to agree I love the sentiments behind it 🙂 But not only that, Nicki also sent me the fabric, Dinky Dyes silks, Kreinik Blending Filament and Mill Hill beads to kit it up … WOW!!! My jaw was seriously sitting on the floor for quite a while … thank you Nicki from the bottom of my heart 😀 My apologies it’s taken me so long to blog about it (I’ll explain why soon).

In fact it was Nicki’s generosity that finally geared me up me get my A into G and have a ‘stitchy weekend’ … I have to admit no stitches were actually done, but I dragged out the boxes of stitching goodies that I’d brought with me that all needed to be sorted out before going back into storage, and I’ve spent the entire weekend (well, my version of a weekend anyway – it was actually Thu/Fri) cutting up fabrics for dozens and dozens of projects. Each project is in it’s own sealed plastic bag with the chart and fabric, and all I have to do now is to kit up with the threads (which is what I’ve been doing for the last 2 nights). Then they’ll all sit in 2-3 boxes in storage ready for me to dip my hands in when I need something new to stitch.

Unfortunately with housesitting I don’t have the space and flexibility to travel with my full rotation, so I’m going to become a one-at-a-time stitcher. I plan to have one project with me that’s a larger/more complex project (such as Bordeaux Sampler and Winter Queen etc), with a couple of smaller projects such as a needlebook or needleroll to break it up a bit. That way I should only have to travel with one set of scrollbars and one of Q-snaps. I’m lucky at the moment in that I’m only a short drive away from my storage unit (it’s literally within 10 minutes drive from home) … but with future housesitting jobs I won’t have that luxury (for those who know Melbourne well, my upcoming jobs vary from Ringwood, to Airport West, to Seaford, to a ‘mystery location’). If nothing else, it’ll show me different parts of Melbourne I haven’t seen before! 😉

Rightio, back to my scheduled yapping, now I’ve edited that draft …

The only stitching I’ve been doing has been a few stitches into KarenV’s Quaker RR – this is due to be mailed in less than a week’s time so I thought I’d better get cracking on it. I just have one large motif plus one tiny one and my initials, so it shouldn’t take much longer to finish whatsoever 🙂 Unfortunately my very bad photo doesn’t do this beauty justice at all!

Unfortunately my car woes have continued to my new place (mutter mutter mutter) … the dashboard light stopped working the night I drove Mum home after the big ‘move’, but I promptly forgot about it until I had to start driving in the dark again about two weeks ago. I called Ace mobile mechanics (and yes, I’m giving their name for a reason) who did the original job, and asked if I could organise for Nick to come out to fix it during my days off. He ended up cancelling on the scheduled day due to being stuck on a job, but eventually came round on Friday. You may remember I got seriously duped and taken for a ride when I got my clutch replaced, well this time I stuck up for myself big time! When he turned up he said he’d brought the dimmer switch, and it’d be just over $53 to install it. Um, since when did we discuss installing a dimmer switch?? Apparently I was told if the job didn’t work with the normal switch he installed, then I would need to get the dimmer switch … Um, actually Nick no that’s not correct – the conversation we actually had was that you gave me a choice on the night – if I preferred to have the dimmer switch (which the car is usually installed with as factory standard), then he’d have to order it in … but I could use a normal switch which could be installed immediately, the problem being that you couldn’t then dim the light and the dashboard would be brightly lit all the time the lights were on. No problem, I say, as I never use the dimmer switch anyway, so please feel free to use what you have to hand …

On completion of the job he tells me that if I change my mind and would rather have the dimmer switch, all I had to do was to call up and tell them, and they’d come round and install it – the only thing I’d have to pay for would be the parts themselves as the labour would be covered under the current job. Now THAT is not a conversation I had in my mind or with an imaginary party during a dreaming session … admittedly I was under stress at the time, but I remember that conversation very lucidly and clearly, and it certainly isn’t something I could have made up.

So, going back to Friday’s conversation … Nick says I’ll just work out what the final cost will be for you – rightio, that’ll be $120-something. Picture me turning purple, and just managing to mutter “I beg your pardon??” – where the hell does the extra money come from?? Oh, he says, that’s the cost of the labour … Yep, you got it, Mt St Annie erupted in the middle of the driveway – I repeated the conversation we had, but he declared he never would have said that blah blah blah. Let’s just say I politely told him to take his dimmer switch away and remove himself from the property because he wasn’t getting another red cent from me! I said I’d rather pay for someone else to come and do the job properly and he was a disgusting fraud … (phew!!)

Then I took the keys, locked up my car, and walked inside … and phoned Ace up to make a formal complaint about him, and tell them how downright angry and ropeable I was. I’m sorry to say it, but as a female I’m sick to death of being taken for granted by bl**dy mechanics and thieves. I may be female, but I no longer have “stupid” tattooed on my forehead … mutter mutter mutter. Anyway, let’s just say the matter has yet to be resolved, as it turns out Nick hasn’t handed in his invoice for the old job yet, and apparently he would have remarked it with comments (I wish I knew where my copy was, as it’s now buried in storage somewhere hmmm) – hopefully I should hear back tomorrow from the General Manager. Mt St Annie is still simmering under the surface depending on the outcome … I have to admit, though, when Nick was playing around with the wires when he first arrived and was looking at the car, I think it might just have been a loose wire, as it’s been working fine ever since (for the last two nights anyway) – so with any luck it won’t be necessary to see his ugly mug on my doorstep again 😦 Karma is gonna get you one day, you big fraud!!

Wow, that was one HUGE vent off my chest … it’s amazing what a good moan does for you 😉 Now it’s time to settle in for bedtime – my hotwater bottle is sitting at my feet so hopefully that’ll make it easier to doze off to sleep. It’s dreadful that the only place I can find a good connection for the internet modem is here in the bedroom – bless my laptop, it’s wonderful sitting up in bed doing my computing, it’s so much warmer 😉

Actually, the other reason I’ve been lax in posting is that I’ve refused to post until I could post my piccies of both Nicki’s RAK and Karen’s RR, and for some reason every way I’ve tried to download from my CompactFlash card I’ve had to give up. Every time I tried to load up a card reader (I bought a new one 1 1/2 weeks ago as my laptop doesn’t support that card type – the one thing I miss from my PC), and the system froze up and didn’t acknowledge the drive. Then Mum sent my old one from home, and that wasn’t working either … I finally gave up and started up my old PC and tried to download my ‘old way’, but it wouldn’t acknowledge it either. Well, tonight I finally fixed it … I ended up formatting the drive, and wiping everything off my card (losing all the photos in the process, but them’s the breaks), but I can FINALLY upload photos either from my camera directly or from the card reader … it seems the problem all along with the flash card itself 😦 I think it got corrupted during the data transfer cabling, as I’d forgotten and left it sitting in the PC cardreader at the time … but “it’s all good” now yippee!!

Rightio, I really MUST get off to bed, or I’ll be a cranky camper tomorrow 😉 Hope you are all having a good week – I look forward to reading your blogs soon! 😀