Cross Stitch

CA Wells & Embroiderers Guild of America

I forgot to say the other day that my first CA Wells kit arrived, along with the latest two of my Group Correspondence Courses from the EGA. Here is the kit for CA Wells’ Sailor’s Valentine:

p1000128

The latest projects to arrive from the Embroiderers Guild are as follows:

GCC To the Acorn by Pat Krahn

gcc_totheacorn_lg

GCC Winterspring by Judith D Gulick

gcc_winterspring_lg

I must say these Group Correspondence Classes through the EGA are really good value for money – as well as being some exquisite projects, they are a perfect addition to any library, as the instructions are really useful (and extremely thorough) for other projects. I have two more yet to arrive later in the year, which are:

GCC Swiss Sampler by Ilse Altherr
gcc_swiss_sampler

GCC More Options in Hardanger by Dale Sokolow
gcc_more_options_hard

And I’ve got numerous projects in the wings from previous years … I really must pull my finger out and get cracking on some of these! As well as the following, I also have a class on Schwalmwork and one on Ukrainian Whitework (which are both retired now, so I can’t find a piccie to share).

GCC Beginner’s Hardanger by Marion Scoular
gcc_beginhardanger_lg

GCC Options in Hardanger by Dale Sokolow

gcc_optionshardanger_lg

GCC Casalguidi & Lavender by Barbara Kershaw

gcc_casalguidelavender

GCC Crewel Confidence by Judy Jeroy

gcc_crewelconf_lg

GCC Finishing with Flair by Marion Scoular

gcc_finishingwithflair

GCC Gracie by Ganet Burr
gcc_gracie_lg

These next three are the only ones I’ve completed to date:

GCC Lace Ribbons by Dakota Rogers
GCC Lace Ribbons by Dakota Rogers

GCC Blackwork in Red and Green by Ginger Gouger Miller
Blackwork in Red and Green, by Ginger Gouger Miller

and my absolute favourite to date:

GCC Chess Anyone? by Dale Sokolow
(I really do need to try and take a better photo of this one as the piccie does no justice to it whatsoever)
Chess Anyone? - class by Dale Sokolow

As you can see, there’s still no stitching progress to be had … I’ve been spending the day cuddled up in my PJ’s in front of the computer screen, preparing the next round of Photo Hunt posts – apart from two weeks, I’m now totally prepared right up until the end of February, yippee.

Stitching-wise, I just put the final stitches into outside border of the French Monogram Collection III biscornu by Judith Tuttle (Twisted Oaks designs) last night at work … only to find out I’m out somewhere and the final corner doesn’t line up – let’s just say I’m going to ignore it for a short while, ‘cos I hate to think how much frogging that’s going to entail … especially as I’m stitching in DMC 115 and the colour seems to stick to the fabric a wee bit ho-hum. Note to self, when doing a design like this, stitch a grid from all four sides and all four corners to save your sanity!! 😦

Oh well, at least I still have plenty of projects on hand to choose from instead … I was about to say I might head of now and put a few stitches in, but it’s now well after midnight … the joys of coming off of nightshifts, trying to get settled back into a ‘normal’ routine hmmm. Mind you, I’m on 4pm-midnight shifts all next week as well, so perhaps it’s a good thing to keep in ‘evening’ mode …

Rightio, on that note I’m off to play for an hour with a needle and thread … and dratted plastic canvas!

Cross Stitch

Le Plateau de la Brodeuse – ordering details

16847589

It seems there’s a wee bit of interest out there for Maryse’s new design. I managed to find the French instructions for mail order at the bottom of her website, then did a translation through AltaVista/Babelfish, and found out that you can send an order via PayPal, and the design will be sent back to you via email as a .pdf file. Following is what AltaVista threw back at me (although some of it doesn’t make sense, as normal!!):

“Conditions of sale. This is a workshop of independent artist. Thank you to respect my creations. The name of the workshop and the models which are presented there are deposited, it is interdict to copy them or to sell them. To acquire one of these models, two possibilities: – is a direct payment on my account Paypal maryse0558@hotmail.com, while not forgetting to mention of which grid it acts. – if you do not have a Paypal account, send to me a mall. You will receive a Paypal request that it is possible for you to regulate by credit card Visa or Mastercard, without you soyiez obliged to open an account paypal. The Paypal invoice holds place of proof of purchase. As of reception of réglement, the grids are sent immediately by e-mail, in files pdf. Thank you. Maryse Dupont. Contact: maryse0558@hotmail.com”

Haha, gotta love those translation sites, for a good giggle if nothing else. Anyway, I sent through a PayPal order to Maryse today and literally received my email back within the hour along with the chart attachments. Now I can’t wait to get cracking on it, although I’m thinking of finding some nice blue fabric first, then colour-matching my threads afterwards (yes, I’ve decided to go ahead with a blue conversion – surprise, surprise!) … which means I’ll have to hold off for a short while until I can go fabric shopping.

Anyway, if you want to order this design, feel free to make a PayPal payment to Maryse using her Hotmail email address above – the cost is EUR10.00 for the design. No affiliation, just an ecstatic customer today! 😀

Cross Stitch

But wait, there’s more! …

I’ve managed to get my unread blog feeds down to just under 600 today … but during the process managed to find out that some of the coffee series charts have been released by Little House Needleworks – so off to the wishlist they go … haha. Can’t wait for the tea ones to come out as well!! 😀

207_1cappuccino

214_1frappuccino

207_1caffe_latte

And I’m being really REALLY bad … I’m sending off for Maryse’s design today via Paypal … it’s futile to resist, so I’m just going to bite the bullet and order it!  Sorry, what was that I just heard??  A what???  Oh!  What happened to my 50 Project Challenge??  Oh well, I guess I’m just taking another project onto the end of it again … haha.  Hey, this whole process is supposed to be fun, right?  Well, this most definitely IS fun – and this project is a definite “must have”!! ;P

(Updated to add:  I now have Maryse’s chart in my hot little hands … how’s THAT for service???) 😀

Cross Stitch

Enabling post

Oh boy, if you haven’t seen this before, check this design out here! If you’re into stitching accessories, I’m sure you’ll love this one!!! I’d even consider doing this one in the pinks … although I can definitely see that replacing for equivalent shadings of blues would work very nicely too (dunno why that idea popped into my head! LOL).

16847589

Also, this is yet another design I’ve fallen in love with, hook line and sinker!! I’d better start getting some overtime in soon! haha.  It’s only available through The Silver Needle.

jnan-christmasworkshop-combo600

And on that note I’m heading off for an hour’s kip before work … halfway through my nightshifts now yippee! 😀

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Stitching Smalls

Two more small “finishes”

I managed to get a couple more small finishes done last night – as well as taking a better photo of my finished needleroll today (so I’ll replace the photo in yesterday’s post). I’m finally trying to make up a close pal’s gift that is months overdue, so I did this as a trial run first – definitely not my finest finishing ever done, but it’ll do …

christmas heart finished

Then I sat and finished off my Pansy Magnet Pillow into a finished pillow. I just adore this piece – it’s a shame to see it go into storage now it’s finished, as I just want to sit and admire it … I just love looking and playing with all the beads in the fringe! 🙂

pansy magnet pillow

pansy magnet pillow 2

Lucky last, I used the sewing machine to stitch the binding on my oldest quilting UFO, and it’s all pinned ready to do the hand-stitching on the back of the binding – I’m coming up to almost 4 weeks of late shifts, so I thought it could be the perfect project for the office on the overnight shift. Mind you, one week will be spent training a new person on the Hotline, so I might not get quite as much done as expected hmmm. No piccies yet until the whole thing is finished anyway … I have no idea what I’ll do with it when it’s finished!

Rightio, back to packing up … so far I’ve cleaned out my car boot ready for loading everything into it again – done the laundry washing for the week, all apart from my bedding which I’ll probably do next week in Seaford, and most of my stitching is put away again. My sewing machine will be packed away tonight, in readiness to going back into storage again either tomorrow or Saturday before work. Only two more sleeps left before I head back to Seaford again for another week, then off to Edithvale for 3 weeks.

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Needlerolls

A tiny spot of finishing

Today I started putting together a needleroll tutorial for use later next year on the Focus on Finishing blog – and managed to get the following needleroll completely finished (excuse the very poor photo, it was getting dark and I couldn’t get a decent shot without flooding the whole stitching with the flash), plus one more to the stage where I just need to add the ribbon and stuff it (this was actually my subject for the photos, but I realised when I got to the ribbon stage that all my ribbons are in the storage unit, except for the one I kept out for the Planted Hearts one ho-hum).  Anyway, it means this one is finally completed and can be sent on its way to a new home somewhere 😀

planted hearts needleroll finished

While I was at it, I also decided to keep going with the hemstitching, and finally put together my Thistle Bag that Tobie kindly sent me the kit for ages ago.  It’s about time I pulled my finger out and got this bag made up – and once I put my mind to it, it didn’t take too long whatsoever! 😀

Thistle Bag by M Designs

That means I can finally say I’ve contributed to the monthly Finish-a-Long on the Focus on Finishing blog, instead of just being on the sidelines cheering everyone else along 😀

I may try and squeak in one more quick ‘finish’ tonight … something that will be super quick to finish off and won’t take up much room in storage (that’s something I started taking into consideration today – I was going to make a tie-on pillow using KarenV’s tutorial, but I decided I’m probably better off leaving everything ‘flat’ rather than stuffed, as I just don’t have space for it at the moment).

Lastly here is my latest stitching finish – I completed this yesterday afternoon … and I just love the colours and shimmering gold metallic thread – the photo doesn’t do it justice whatsoever.  The red is deeper and richer, and the metallic just glistens and twinkles 🙂

christmas heart

Christmas Heart by Birds of a Feather
Stitched on 32ct white Lugana
with WDW and RG gold Petite Treasure Braid
(instead of Kreinik #4 gold braid)

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Small finish and lovely visit

Just a really quick post to show my latest small finish – I’m thinking of picking up a bigger project next, so it may be a while before there’s another finish … as well as the fact that I’ll be losing my internet connection again in a few days time.  I’ve just spent a couple of hours uploading piccies for the next couple of months for the Photo Hunts, for that exact reason – I’m not sure when I’ll be up and running for the internet again, and uploading and downloading is a tad harder at an internet cafe than it is at home … anyway, if you don’t see me online for a while soon, you’ll at least see one post a week, as I’ve uploaded posts for the Photo Hunt right up until 3 November – I know I’ve said it before, but I seriously LOVE that functionality of WordPress!!

Anyway, onto the piccie – here is my latest finish:

christmas bellpull 1

Miniature Bellpull Ornament by The Drawn Thread
from 1999 JCS Christmas ornie magazine or 10th Anniversary issue (which is where I got mine from – the 1999 JCS ornie mag is the only one I don’t own … {pout})
Stitched on 36ct summer khaki Edinborough linen
using DMC and Needle Necessities threads as recommended

In other news – my foot is perfectly fine … I had a lot of stiffness and pain in it on Saturday, and went to see a GP as I felt quite worried about it – but she said I hadn’t done any major damage and I still had relatively good mobility, so just to keep applying the ice packs.  Well, you’d never believe it, I woke up on Sunday and hardly had a twinge!!  It feels fantastic! 😀

The other great news from Sunday is that I caught up with Tannia and had a lovely relaxing stitching day (hence the reason my Drawn Thread ornie got finished – I just did a couple more hours when I got home and finished it up).  As always, Tannia is wonderful company, and it was great to just kick back and relax with needle in hand, and old movies on TV, without a care in the world.  There’s also a treat in store for you, Mum, next time you come over – Tannia has very kindly given me some Christmas ornie magazines for you 😀

Not much else to report apart from that … I’m now off to the lounge room to watch a couple more episodes of series 3 of Moonlighting while I put a few more stitches into another ornie, then tomorrow is “clean up” day when I start packing my things away again in preparation of moving out.  I have another week out in Seaford, then I’m looking after a place in Edithvale for 3 weeks with an elderly (and apparently well behaved – that’ll be a nice change) kitty.

 Rightio, time to get cracking again …

(Updated to add:)  Forgot to say, I finished reading Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows yesterday morning – couldn’t put it down in the end!  Even though I haven’t read any of the others yet, I have no regrets whatsoever for reading it.  It’s unlikely I’ll sit down and read the other books yet, and I wanted to read it before I knew what the ending was.  I’ve seen all the movies to date, so at least I knew all the characters and the terminology … although after seeing the movies, I have to say all the characters in the book were now ingrained in my head as the actors who played them … much less imagination needed haha.  Anyway, I have to say I loved it! 😀

Cross Stitch, Gifts TO BE FIXED, Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Evil kitty … and squishy mail (picture heavy!)

I’m sure no-one will be greatly surprised when I recite the story of my morning yesterday … it pretty much follows the vein of the rest of the year, and if I could have seen my own face yesterday it would have had me in fits of giggles for weeks on end, I’m sure!!

So, what happened to bring all this mirth on … well, to be honest I didn’t find it particularly funny at the time – and if my day tomorrow is not pain-free I may not see the funny side yet again … but I’m getting ahead of myself already …

Yesterday was like any other day this week, except that I had a slight sleep-in – the alarm went off at 4.30am instead of 3.30am like the other days this week (thanks to Lucien swapping his 6am shift for my 5am one so he could go and play golf after work).  As per usual when I got up it was a hot and humid 4 degrees Celsius (aaarghhh), and the country was in darkness.  Being a lazy so-and-so for the first time all week I decided I couldn’t be bothered walking up to the end of the hallway to put that light on, then come back halfway up the hall to switch the other one off, I decided to just brace myself, study the layout of the hallway, and memorise the lightswitch location in my brain … considering it’s only a few steps away, it wasn’t too difficult to do … or do I thought …

Someone else had other things on his mind, though … “evil kitty” all of a sudden appeared out of nowhere – I assume it was him, but I have to say I couldn’t actually see him, and it could have been Satan himself for all I knew … all I could hear was a whole heap of meeowing going on from the area somewhere near my feet.  Now I was worried I was going to stand on the stupid cat in the middle of the hallway, so I started swinging my feet out with my footsteps … the only problem was that now I’d been distracted by trying to find the cat in the dark with my less-than-nocturnal eyesight, I also couldn’t work out where in the damned hallway I now was!  Aha, I thought – there is a grey patch over on the wall to the left, of course that must be the laundry, as the light will be reflecting through the door … let me just walk out and reach out to switch on that light which is closer than the other one … let me just take one more step and reach ……………

The next thing I know I’m stepping out into mid-air, then with a comical expression of total surprise I find myself tumbling down the couple of steps at the end of the hallway … ’twas not the laundry light at all, it was the kitchen!!  My mobile phone went crashing off across the wooden floor, but the final Harry Potter book decided to just sit crying in a heap as it wasn’t in a bouncing mood … me, I just sat there in a heap trying to work out which part hurt most, and which part of my anatomy I should try to move first … crikey, it would have been a picture and a half with that stunned look on my face!!

Luckily, though, nothing was majorly damaged – I felt a bit shaken up and a bit queasy, which I’m sure was from the shock rather than anything else.  Because I was on such an early shift I didn’t want to let my colleagues down at work, and seemed OK to drive, so I went into work – by the time I arrived, though, my right foot was throbbing like hell.  I ended up tipping a recycling box upside down and elevating my leg under the desk for a few hours, and Lucien got a great deal of mirth out of watching me get up to answer a phone call at another desk when my legs nearly buckled from underneath me … glad I could put a smile on your face Lucifer! 😉

Anyway, today I woke up feeling as though I’ve been run over by a Mack truck – the muscles in my left leg, especially my thigh, feel as though I’ve done 3 hours hard work-out at a gym and are very strained and uncomfortable.  My right foot also started really throbbing again after about 6 hours, but luckily today we were working with Bernie who’s a Nurse in her other role (she does a few hours after work to keep her qualifications current) – she had an ice pack put on it, then strapped it up for me.  I’ve been given orders, though, that if I get any more discomfort from it tomorrow I’ve got to go to the doctors as she thinks there’s a possibility of it being a hairline fracture – so far there’s only a little bit of swelling and no bruising yet … fingers crossed it doesn’t turn to anything more sinister!  I’m currently sitting here with another ice pack on, so hopefully that will help 🙂

So, that’s been the last couple of days for you … on a good note, though, I’ve had some exceptionally gorgeous gifties over the last week that I can finally share with you as I’ve sent off all my thank you emails.  I’ll show them in the order that they were received – and I have to say I love every single one of them, thank you ladies!! 😀

First up is an exquisite parcel I received from Isabelle – I must say I tried to help Isabelle and Seb out by buying one of Isabelle’s beautiful bags from her Etsy shop (I fell in love with this one hook line and sinker), after finding out what the proceeds were going towards … and Isabelle said she wanted to send something extra with it when it came time to post it out.  Here are all my goodies – am I spoilt or what??!  These were actually posted quite a while ago, and I started wondering if they’d gone missing … it turns out they had – they were found at the East Camberwell post office, after I queried it!  They’d been having a lovely quiet holiday over there, with no-one any the wiser!  No doubt Isabelle will be pleased to know they finally turned up safe and sound.  The blue bag with white lace on the left is the one I chose to buy, and the other bag is an extra one made especially for me.  Aren’t they beautiful?  Not only that, but I now have my very own French XS magazine that I’ve been spreading drool over for days – I think I could quite easily become addicted to these!  But the piece de resistance for me would have to be the little bourse at the back – this has extra special sentimental value for me, as this was made from the fabric from Isabelle’s wedding dress … I had a serious lump in my throat when I read that!  I’m going to use it as a jewellery pouch for my favourite pieces of jewellery.  Thanks again Isabelle – everything will be treasured always, my dear friend – I feel truly honoured to own some of your masterpieces!

gift from isabelle aug 07

Next up is something totally different … while Tessa was away in the UK she found this adorable, gorgeous duck and thought of me when she saw it!  I don’t know why?!! haha.  Doesn’t it have the most awesome character??  I just love it to death, and it will be a most prized possession in my collection.  In fact the day it arrived it spent all day sitting on my desk atop my computer base – it put a smile on my face every time I looked at it.  Thanks so much again Tessa – I really love it to pieces … it’s so sweet of you to think of me while you were away, especially knowing the reason you were there {{hugs}}.

gift from tessa aug07

Now last, but by no means least … I received an absolutely exquisite RAK from Dawn in the mail today!  After tumbling down the stairs yesterday, and feeling crappy for two days, this did an exceptional job of cheering me up today!  Isn’t it gorgeous?  And the colour is so scrummy, and my fave … BLUE!  Thanks again Dawn, for a wonderful RAK – I truly do feel thoroughly spoilt, and really appreciate your gift.  I can’t wait to get it on a pair of scissors!  I love the postcard too! 😀

gift from dawn townsend aug07a

Talking of work (well, I was earlier in the post anyway) … I cashed in my bonus payment this week – and bought my GPS/iPaq.  I decided to go without the WiFi and extra 1GB of memory and bought the HP iPaq 5765, and spent the extra $180 on something different … I spent the rest of the bonus money on upgrading my compact digital camera.  I’ve had my old Canon PowerShot for about 6-7 years now, and while it’s been an awesome camera, technology had most definitely improved over the years and my 3 megapixels are a bit lacking these days.  I wanted something with a better macro capability, and I considered getting a macro lens for my Nikon digital SLR, but it was out of my price range … but I got something even better – in fact it’s seems clearer than my SLR lenses, which is amazing!  Hopefully it’ll be better for taking shots of my needlework once I get my head around all the settings.  The camera make I got was a Panasonic Lumix which has a Leica lens and a 10x optical zoom … I shall say no more!! 😉

Here’s a couple of shots taken on it by Lucien … he spent more time playing with it today than I did!!  Here’s one of our office desks in the area I work in … plus one of me actually doing work while Lucien goofs off!! As you can see, it’s casual dress day today yippee!

work1 aug07

work2 aug07

Then there are a couple of shots I took on arrival home in Daniel’s garden – the close-up views when you zoom in are exceptional on the flower stamens in the 2nd photo … wow!!  So much so that Lucien is thinking of buying one now too 😉

daniels flowers 3

daniels flowers 2

daniels flowers 1

So now it’s back on the wagon again spending-wise … time to pull the horns in again and get some $ back into the bank once more.  Bless you, though, work management for giving us a wonderful gift of cash … I, for one, wholeheartedly appreciate the thought! I thought of being very responsible and putting it towards bills, but then thought “sod it” and went spending haha.  As Mum always says, “it’s money you never had, so treat yourself” 😀

Rightio, time to remove the ice pack for 20 minutes … then it’ll be time to sit back down again with it back on again – if this keeps up you might even see another stitching finish soon … I’m halfway through a Christmas ornie, so you never know your luck in a raffle! 😉

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Round Robins

Stitching progress

Just a seriously fast drive-by to upload these stitching piccies … I’m on 5am shifts at the moment, and I can hardly keep my eyes open, so I’m going to go lay down for a short time – but wanted to post these while I’ve got them on the computer screen …

First up is the latest progress shot of round 4 of our Quaker Friendship Sampler RR.  This is the piece belonging to Barbara, and as normal the photo does the actual piece no justice at all, it’s truly gorgeous!  Love the choice in colours! 😀  I can’t believe we’re actually 2/3 of the way through this RR now, with only 2 more stitching sessions left!  That means I must have Nicki’s arriving on my doorstep next, followed by the last in line (for me), Katrina’s.  I’ve loved stitching this, my very first full quaker design … and I’m sure it won’t be the last.

barbara's quaker rr

Next up is a tiny wee finish, that believe it or not took me three whole days to stitch (yep, my mojo is well and truly lost – I’d normally sit and stitch that in less than a day hmmm).  Anyway here goes – here’s Snow Faces by Just Nan:

snow faces

Sorry for the crappy photography just lately – I always seem to be taking photos at night and the lighting here is appalling … but you get the general drift.

Rightio, I’m off for a kip/reading/TV session … no doubt his nibs will be wanting to use me as a cushion as well, so I’d better get my battle gear on ready.  Not sure whether I’ll be reading the final Harry Potter book (thanks to Daniel for buying it, I’m starting my first Harry Potter book by reading the final one – dopey? probably!) … or whether I’ll be watching season 3 of Moonlighting (also compliments of Daniel and Jason – Jason especially LOVES old TV shows, so I’ve been watching seasons 1 and 2 all week) … but either way I won’t be sitting upright! 😉

The GREAT news is that I cashed in some gift vouchers at Officeworks and bought a 2GB flash drive so I’ve FINALLY been able to download this month’s Gift of Stitching magazine – the DVD/CD drive won’t let me copy files on Daniel’s PC, and I won’t have the internet after I leave here for a while … now I’m very very happy as I’ve been able to download and copy the August issue .pdf file plus a couple of online freebie charts back onto my laptop – yippee!!! 😀

Rightio … off to my sofa in the corner I go before I fall asleep in a pile of drool on the keyboard! …

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Update & technical help needed …

It’s a good job I preloaded all those Photo Hunt shots, or my blog would be looking quite bleak at the moment (well, bleaker than it really does anyway) … which reminds me, I must get a few more shots taken, as I only have two more week pre-loaded up!  I have been distinctly missing in action – and haven’t felt like blogging at the end of the day after travelling and making dinner.  I’ve tried reading a few blogs, but it’s incredibly hard work ploughing through so many and never seeming to get anywhere – I still have well over 1000 feeds to read, and that’s something that won’t be improving in the near future either, after I leave here.  It also doesn’t help that when I come into the ‘computer room’ I have to put up with Sean meeowing his head off and bouncing off the door trying to get in … but if I let him in he’s a typical cat and just wants to sit all over the keyboard, desk, or mouse, and throws a tantrum if you don’t give him 100% attention or if you move him out of the way …

I’m still looking at alternatives for replacing my mobile internet, after telling Unwired to shove their crappy service, but I’m not hastily jumping into anything this time but checking out options.  

“Three” have a new service where I can use my Nokia mobile as the modem (just have to work out how to download the software etc, as I’m going to need it on my laptop, and for some reason Daniel’s PC won’t let me save anything to disk), and I wouldn’t have to buy a new laptop modem (a USB one is $299 and a card is $399).  The connection speeds are much much lower (up to a maximum of 384 Kbps hmmm), but if it saves me $399 short term, it could be worth considering …  The costs are $29 for 1GB (which includes both downloads and uploads, which is a pain), $49 for 2GB or $69 for 3GB per month.  I think I need to think about this one some more, but I’m likely to settle with this option after looking at others, mainly because I wouldn’t have to buy a separate modem, and it’s like an ‘add-on’ to my current service, meaning I can cancel at any time without incurring costs.

Now this is where I need some technical help …

The great news is that I’m getting my GPS, thanks to my company giving us a bonus – yippee!  I’ve decided to upgrade from buying just a standard GPS on its own and get either the HP iPaq 5765 or 5965 which is a PDA with built-in TomTom GPS – for only a small difference in price, I get many more benefits (including not having to lug around a bulky diary everywhere with me with my phone contacts etc).  Now here’s my dilemma … I could pay $180 extra for the 5965 which has 2GB memory instead of 1GB, and it has WiFi (the cheaper one doesn’t) … would it be worth the extra money??  I’m thinking I could take it to a cafe in the city, and download my emails (it has Microsoft Office Mobile 5.0 loaded up) without having to lug my laptop around … then synchronise my emails to my laptop at the end of the day.  Would that actually work???  I’m thinking that way I could just sign up for wireless internet at the ‘basic’ level of 1GB downloads/uploads … as long as I had an alternative to downloading my emails if I ran out of downloads etc … ???  And I could just make a trip into the city and enjoy a coffee somewhere while downloading my emails – sounds like a dreadful proposition hahaha.

What else have I been up to?  Here’s a picture of the fur-babies I’ve been living with recently – first up is Alice and Hugo looking serene and peaceful in the sunlight (you’d think butter wouldn’t melt in Hugo’s mouth, would you?)

alice and hugo 1

Then there’s Sean … I’m very happy to report that Sean now follows me around the house like a shadow, and has ceased all of the hissing over the last few days – he’s back to being a very cuddly and friendly kitty who’s a pleasure to be around.  It’s a shame that he’ll probably be back to hissing after a single day of Daniel being home again (although I have to update that – he did it again last night after I moved him, and I got cranky with him and wouldn’t let him back up onto the sofa with me – he sat and sulked for a while on his chair, but I’m not going to put up with his temper tantrums, the little bugger!!) 😦

Anyway, here he is propping himself up on the sofa arm, waiting for me to come and join him in my stitching corner the other night! 😉

sean

Talking of stitching, here are two teeny projects I’ve finally managed to get finished.  I have to admit I’m still finding stitching a major chore, and I’m not enjoying it at all – I’ve forced myself to sit for a couple of hours over three nights this last week to try to get myself back into the swing of it, but I can’t say I’ve loved it one iota.  I’m going to try to get some more done today, and get a wee Just Nan one finished (updated … it’s now finished, but piccies will have to wait).  My Sailor’s Valentine kit will be heading over my way from Perth very soon for the CA Wells class next year, so I’d better hurry up and shape up and get my mojo back again!!!  I also need to get the latest round of the Quaker Friendship Sampler RR completed (updated … it’s 2/3 done now). Anyway, here are my two teeny finishes to date:

planted hearts needleroll 1
Planted Hearts Needleroll by Lavender Wings
Stitched on 32ct waterlily Belfast linen
using recommended threads (DMC)
replaced Mill Hill treasure with another glass bead I had to hand

biscornu side 2
Side 2 of my biscornu using Debbie Draper’s design
from Gift of Stitching Magazine
stitched using Carrie’s Creation threads in Ocean Blue and Lavender
(after Jenna’s recent comment this will always be the Jenna/Anne biscornu now!!)

I also have a gift to share but I need to contact the sender first … I’ll try to update soon with the latest stitching finishes and my gifts sooner rather than later – mind you, I’m on 5am shifts this week, so it could be a good thing to keep me awake in the afternoon! 😉