Category: Cross Stitch

Cross Stitch, Round Robins

Halfway there …

Anne S

What’s halfway there??  Why, the Friendship Quaker Round Robin, that’s what! 😀

I put the final stitches into KarenV’s RR piece tonight, and I have to say it looks just gorgeous in real life!  Stitched on 40ct linen, it’s given the old eyes a run for their money, but it looks exquisite and dainty (mine looks really chunky and clumsy in comparison).  I just love how each of our pieces looks so different, and I’ve enjoyed stitching on each and every one 😀 

The parts I’ve stitched this time round are the three larger motifs in the top right-hand corner, plus the tiny wee crown and of course my initials.  I think the next round will see the bottom right-hand corner being stitched.

quaker-rr-karenv's

Nothing else to report tonight – I’m not really in a chatty mood, as it’s been a pretty tiring few days at work, and it’s almost midnight now, so I really need to get some shut-eye.  Only two more days, though, and I will have survived my 7-day working week and I have the weekend off yippee … nearly there now 😉

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

Sing-along … “Vanilla Ice Ice Baby…”

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).

rak from nicki jun07

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!

karen's quaker rr

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! 😀

Blogging Memes, Cross Stitch, Gifts TO BE FIXED

A great visit and a tagging

Anne S

First of all, I have to say a huge “Hi” and thank you to Tannia for being such a wonderful hostess with the mostest last Sunday (crikey, I can’t believe it was a whole week ago today as well – time flies when you’re having fun!) … it was lovely to finally put a face to the name and meet for the first time!  It was also really lovely to put faces to the other guests as well – it was great to meet Mel and Junette also for the first time (thanks Mel for mentioning the link on Tannia’s blog, as I now have another great blog to read!), and of course Tannia’s other half – it was great to spend time with wonderful ladies (and gents) and wonderful company, and I certainly hope this will be the first of many visits 😀

I got spoilt rotten by both Mel and Tannia – Mel kindly brought some unloved stash along, and we got to choose any items from the piles that we’d like to give a good home … I came home with two items from my wishlist – a Beyond XS chart by The Victoria Sampler (level 3, number 4 – blackwork … and yes, Mum, I know you’re going to want that one too ‘cos it’s a Christmas one!! haha), and Hummingbird by Elizabeth’s Designs … woohoo!  Thanks again Mel for sharing with us – I’d actually meant to do the same thing myself, and forgot to take the bag into work with me … hopefully next time we meet again I’ll remember, and I can return the favour!!

Tannia spoilt me by giving me an absolutely gorgeous fob she’d stitched … I’d actually been drooling over it as it was sitting on display on the set of drawers in the lounge, as it is stitched in one of my all-time favourite threads (an Anchor variegated one) … I was absolutely stunned when Tannia handed it over to me saying it was for me – thanks again Tannia, I really adore it, and it was on a pair of scissors within hours the next day.  Here are photos of the front and back so you too can now drool, if you haven’t already seen it on Tannia’s blog 😀

fob-from-tannia

fob-from-tannia-back

I went to the get-together straight from work after a 5am shift, which I normally don’t do because I’m not usually the perkiest person to be around – but I really didn’t want to pass up the opportunity of meeting this great bunch of ladies, so I’m glad I made the effort.  All-in-all Melbourne is becoming an even friendlier place all the time – I’ve truly met some wonderful ladies through the blogs from within my own city, and it brings an extra glimmer of warmth to living here 😀

Onto other things … I got a shock when I logged into WordPress today and saw the “hair” photo for the Photo Hunt … I’d forgotten that I’d already set up a couple of months worth of Photo Hunt photos in case I couldn’t get to an internet connection in advance.  I can’t remember which themes are coming up, or what photos I selected, so it’s as much of a surprise for me as it is for you at the moment LOL.

Now, before I forget, I have to apologise to Georgie for not posting about this earlier – unfortunately I got tagged while I was in the middle of packing up etc, and the timing wasn’t great, but I still like to complete the tags when I get them, so here’s my response albeit a month late!!

Here’s how to play:
1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves
2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules
3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. In my teen years I used to have dozens of penpals, after advertising for one in a UK magazine (but unfortunately don’t keep in touch with any of them now)
2. I dislike babies and have absolutely no urge to pick one up and cuddle … but once they turn into little terrors (or ‘real people’ as I call it) at the age of 2, I’m happy to spend time with them (I definitely don’t take after Mum, who will happily cuddle any baby regardless of who it belongs to)
3. I love walking around in bare feet – which is probably why I now have very wide, hard-to-buy-shoes-for feet!
4. I used to be the Editor of a Car Club magazine for post-war vintage cars (the Armstrong-Siddeley Car Club)
5. I love trying new foods – and love almost every cuisine … just don’t serve me up boiled limp cabbage or octopus tentacles, and we’ll all be happy (they’re pretty much the only things that leave me cold … although with the exception of kidneys and liver, I can’t say I’m too keen to eat offal such as tripe etc … gag …)
6. I sponsored a child in Sri Lanka before they closed the project down, then sponsored a child in South America for a few years – the only reason I stopped is because I moved here and couldn’t afford to keep it up … I still have regrets and wonder how Aline is doing now …
7. I love nothing better than curling up in front of a DVD (or preferably more than one) with my stitching … and have a DVD player that has slots for 5 DVD’s at once … it’s not unusual for me to work my way through all 5 in one marathon stitching session 😉
8. I used to work behind the Bar of the Marist Brothers Old Boys Rugby Football Club in Auckland, and met a few of the All Blacks because of … including a memorable session of dancing behind the bar with ZinZan Brooke after an all-nighter when our senior team won the championship

Rightio, I think that’ll do it for now … I may have already said a few of those things, I can’t remember … and I won’t bother tagging anyone as I think I’m the last person on the planet not to have completed it (especially as I got tagged back on 11 May!!).

I’m also super behind with the SBQ’s again, with I think about 4 questions outstanding, but I’ll save those for another day, as I think I’ve waffled on enough again 😀  Now I might pop over and do some internet banking while I still have a connection, then with luck I may get chance to check out a couple of blogs … I apologise though that I may not be commenting, as I notice there are currently 911 unread feeds yikes!!

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

I’m Baaaack … !!!

Anne S

[Please note this was actually written up 3 whole days ago, but I’m not going to edit it any further … my connection died after just over an hour or so, and I’ve only just managed to get a connection back again hmmm.  With any luck I’ll be able to upload the photos this time round before it dies yet again …] 

And I have to say I’m a LOT chirpier than I was the last time I wrote a week ago! 😀  What I didn’t tell you in my last looong post is that I had a small melt-down at work the day after I finished moving.  I had to pick up a few extra items that I just couldn’t cram into the car on the last night, and just put them on the back seat for the day, and when I got to work I managed 2 whole hours before my whole body started reacting … the only way I can describe it is that it’s as if it went into shock … I started getting the shakes, and my mind just couldn’t concentrate on anything – I think it was finally reacting to the fact that it was “all over”, and a release from all the immense tension and stress I’d been under.  I think it’s amazing how much your body can cope with when it has to, but I guess it all has to give way at some time or another, and that day was mine!

Today, though, I’m much much brighter.  I’m settled nicely into housesitting and today is my 3rd day of a 3-day break.  The first day was spent doing exciting things like doing the laundry ‘cos I’d run out of clothes already (underclothes anyway), and doing a few chores that I needed to do like getting a few more boxes for parcelling the final bundles of storage stuff into (which is still not sorted out, but I’ve got 5 weeks left to get it done by LOL).  I also got my new cordless mouse replaced, and picked up a cheap card reader that fits into the USB port, so hopefully I should be able to get photos uploaded soon (I have a couple to add to this post, so we’ll soon see if it works! …) [edited to add that the card reader just keeps freezing my PC up, so it’s getting returned for a refund – luckily I still have my old PC set up on the table, so I’ve uploaded my photos to disk while I can] … as well as spending more money!

I’ve been struggling with one pair of jeans ever since I’ve had them, as it’s too tight in the waist, and I have to leave the top button open (it’s got a button fly), but I always end up with tummy pains by the end of the day.  Anyway, I finally decided ‘enough was enough’ and I splurged on some new jeans from Target, plus two new (blue haha) long-sleeve T-shirts that are more ‘trendy’.  Yes, there are a few new changes on the Shacks homefront, all for the better.  Next month will see new lingerie being bought as well … crikey, will there be no stopping me now? LOL.  I won’t know myself soon!! 😉

Yesterday the entire day (and I mean the ENTIRE day to 2am!!) was spent transferring files from my old PC to my laptop – the contacts folders didn’t copy across at all properly, so I had to update those which took hours, plus for some reason Outlook won’t run at all on this PC, and the Help section doesn’t help much at all, as it says Outlook is now phased out with Windows Mail taking over from Outlook Express hmmm – for love nor money I can’t copy across any of my emails at all from my old PC … not one single one of the 4000+ emails sitting in there (yes, you’re right, that’s ridiculous … and a good chance to “cull”).  So, if I’m missing sending anyone an email reply from before I moved I’m really sorry, but it’s likely you might have to re-email me again, as it’s a bit overwhelming ploughing through the files hmmm (especially as I have no way of printing them or re-emailing them to myself as both modem/printer are now in storage).

Last night was the most bitterly freezing night I think I’ve ever endured sleeping in Melbourne … I do have to say I miss my electric blanket dearly, and even with two duvets on the bed last night I still couldn’t get warm – tonight if it’s the same I’m going to be sleeping in my trackpant bottoms with my long-sleeved thermals on … and I really do have to find that hot water bottle I brought with me somewhere! 😉 I did have another rather large splurge, though, which is a winter weight duvet that has half of it made of wool, which is a lot warmer but thinner so it’ll take much less room in the car when travelling … I should be able to find room for the old one by throwing it on top of the storage boxes 😉

Today I’ve finally succumbed to signing up to the Unwired network, so I can access my emails and internet at home.  I’ve managed to find a position sat at the breakfast bench in the granny flat that gets an OK reception, so here I am online again 😀  I don’t have an ‘unlimited’ account, so I probably won’t be spending as much time online as I used to, but it’s wonderful to know that I can jump online and do my internet banking etc without having to trek halfway around Melbourne to an internet cafe (although admittedly I think the closest one to here is in Carnegie, about 15 mins drive away). The weather’s been dreadful over the last couple of days, so it’s hasn’t inspired me to leave home at all, never mind to go internet cafe shopping.

As to what else I’ve been up to … not much in the stitching department, that’s for sure!  I’ve managed to get a bit of Bordeaux done, and I’m concentrating on that now until it’s finished – after that’s done, I’m not sure which project to work on next.  I have to say that Snapperville is screaming quite loudly to me right now as a new start (followed by Winter Snapperland once I work out which fabric to use) – then I should be concentrating on one of my WIP’s again, and that’s likely to be either Stitching Leporello or the Pyramid Etui … but I reserve the right to change my mind on a whim 😉  I’ve been spending my time reading more than stitching this last week, and managed to finally finish reading Warlock by Wilbur Smith … not as good as some of his books, but I really enjoy the historical content of his Egyptian series … and I have Quest, the 4th in the series, on Audible ready to listen to at my leisure (another pain is that I’ve had to save all my Audible books to disk to be able to play them on the new laptop – for some reason the files didn’t copy across too well).

I haven’t unrolled the scrollbars on Bordeaux since I worked on it the other night, so you’ll just have to imagine the previous band – the light in here isn’t fantastically conducive to over-one stitching, so I gave band #6 a rest, and I’ve been working on band #7 instead to have a break.  Only a couple more weeks will see this finished, me thinks 🙂

While I was packing up the spare bedroom to go into storage, I have to say I was quite disgusted with myself for the state of the following UFO’s … I started going to quilting classes quite a number of years ago (at least 7 anyway), and did an applique quilt class – I wasn’t thrilled with the project we did, but I figured it would teach me the basics of applique quilting.  Anyway, it was all machine appliqued using Vliesofix, and I couldn’t believe how close I’d come to finishing this off before putting it to one side!  Needless to say I’ve brought it with me, along with my new sewing machine (that cheapo one that I managed to pick up before we did the big move), so I can finally get it finished – all it has to have done is the binding finished, and even that’s almost 3/4 stitched on!!! {hanging head in shame …}

Next up is the first patchwork project I attempted after trying the applique class – this was from a craft magazine and was supposed to be for a cot quilt … well, I thought it had turned out to be too big, so Mum kindly unpicked the sides for me to make it smaller, then it’s sat there ever since as I thought I might as well just leave it bigger so it will get more use as the child recipient gets older (don’t even go there and ask which child this was for as a baby, and what age he is now!! LOL) … so now I need to unpick the borders again and restitch it all together, then it’s ready for the backing and to be quilted (let’s just say the backing fabric I originally had ordered got stuck with the cancelled freight services after September 11 … yup, you get the idea about how old this is!!).

Lucky last for the quilting UFO’s, here’s a bag I started from yet another class project … I panicked when I saw the diagram of how it’s all got to go together, as I’ve lost my confidence with machine sewing, then I was thrilled and disgusted at the same time when I opened all the pieces out and realised I’d already stitched the pockets etc into the bag pieces, and yet again it just pretty much as to be stitched together and have the seams bound … yep, my head is almost on my knees now from hanging in shame … yikes! 😉 This bag is designed to be a “quilting bag” where you keep your cutting board and rotary cutter etc in … I have to admit I’m quite proud of myself that I managed to get all the little pockets etc on so nicely … but I wonder how on earth I ever managed it! (I’m such a finishing wuss these days, it’s not funny!!)  Goodness knows where all the gung-ho confidence has disappeared to where finishing is concerned!!  Eventually, though, this bag will be an actual bag, complete with two big outside pockets (not pictured), and it’s supposed to have dowling rods as handles (although I may substitute something else for handles, I’m not too sure yet).

So, my challenge once I’ve sorted out my PC issues (which is now pretty much just the email issue) is to sit down one day on my days off and become friends with my sewing machine and get some of these items actually finished!

I also have something else to share as well, from a recent visit to a beautiful stitching pal’s home … but I’ll do a separate post so it doesn’t get lost in this one (and I’ve been waffling on for ages as it is!! – can’t you tell I’ve been without a chatting outlet for a while? LOL).

In the meantime, I’ll close this post in saying it feels fantastic to be out of my old flat – things are hopefully on the up and up on the homefront … I’ve just heard I’ve got the OK for another 4 weeks housesitting from 4 August, which means I’ll just have a one-week stay out in Seaford between the two housesitting jobs, and I may have another 4 weeks straight after that, which is in Seaford itself … and both these later two jobs have furbabies … I’m going to be in 7th heaven – Daniel has one kitty who is really smoochy apparently, and Ali has two kitties that are admittedly not smoochy, but it’ll still be great to be around kitties again yippee!! 😀  [Plus I also now may have another short stint for a lady at work with a dog … woohoo!!]

Cross Stitch, Stash

More goodies in the mail

Anne S

But before I show you my other spoils from yesterday, I have to apologise for the many many spelling and grammatical errors in last night’s post.  I’d only had 4 hours sleep the previous two nights, and after spending a few frantic hours packing, I was feeling really exhausted, and could hardly string two sentences together … I think that showed!! 😉  It actually took me a whole hour to write that, when it would normally have taken half that time haha.

We’ve woken up this morning to a freezing morning out here – I was almost expecting icicles forming from the curtain rails in the lounge … Mum has put on her thermal undies to survive, as it’s sooooooo cold in here!  Just being able to close that darned window would be soooo nice.  Oh well, only 2 more nights and the furniture and boxes will all be gone … leaving us with a few boxes of ‘rubbish’ to get sorted through, as well as my stitching (I want to kit up a few more projects and I’ve run out of time to get it done before the big moving day).  Mum and I will be sleeping on air mattresses and sitting on fold-up camping chairs for a couple of nights – but one of the Supervisors at work was concerned for us yesterday and is bringing in a portable TV for us to watch, bless her heart 😀

On Friday after the big moving day Mum’s decided it’s “I’m not doing anything else” day, so we’re having an afternoon/night of R&R and heading out to the movies to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3 … can’t wait!  Then I’m back at work again on Saturday, so Mum’s going to start the scrubbing and cleaning while I’m away – then we have Sunday/Monday to finish off (I have those days off work), before Mum will have to fly home Monday night.

Anyway, I’d better get off this PC and start getting my clothes sorted into piles before I have to jump in the shower … but before I do, I have to share the rest of my wonderful mail day yesterday …

I want to thank Leslie for sending me her Barnabee’s Quest charts – after me drooling over this project while she was completing the recent SAL, she offered to send them to me once she’d finished with them … and they’ve arrived in perfect timing, so I can kit it up and add it to my ‘future projects box’.  Thanks again Leslie, you’re wonderful! 😀

Last, but certainly not least, was a lovely generous parcel from Andrea.  This was totally unexpected, and I was blown away by the contents.  Andrea stitched me a divine scissor fob – how could I not start drooling with that scrummy turquoise colour?  Even Mum was eyeing it up … I’m going to have to frisk her before she leaves to make sure she hasn’t pocketed it! 😉  This was in thanks for sending a DT chart to her, but personally I think I got the better part of the deal 😉 Not only the fob was there, but I was also spoilt rotten by a few items off my wishlist – the SB Schoolhouse needleroll, and threads, as well as some really scrummy blue fabric … I’m seriously blown away by everything.  That NR is another project that is getting kitted up this weekend so it can be stitched sooner rather than later.  Thanks again Andrea for a really wonderful and unexpected gift! 😀

 

Rightio, time to head off and pack … now I’m awake 😉

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

Sod Murphy and his bl**dy Law!! ;)

Anne S

After being so incredibly positive yesterday to Mum, saying we were going to have a marathon packing effort today because it was my last early shift and we could stay up later packing as I could sleep in, my plans were of course foiled.  I should’ve known Murphy and his sodding Law would come and interfere with our perfect plans!!

The last couple of days my car has been playing up … yet again … I do have to admit that I even used the dreaded “F” word in front of Mum tonight in my sheer frustration with it – but she was feeling magnanimous and didn’t offer to wash my mouth out with soap for a change LOL.  Anyway, those of you who’ve been reading my drivel for a while now may remember I had some ‘electrical’ problems before Christmas, when I had to buy a new battery, continued to have problems, and had a ‘supposed’ auto electrician look at my car, who couldn’t find anything wrong.  Since then I’ve been leaving my car alarm off overnight, so just the disabler was operating, and my battery has been OK since then and remaining charged up.  Well, a couple of days ago it started playing up again by making ‘chirping’ noises from the alarm when switching the ignition off …

Today it finally fell into a heap when I got home, and the central locking died, with a really sad noise emitting from the alarm.  Seeing as my car is pretty critical this week, I had no choice but to call up a mobile auto electrician who came out to look at it within the hour (bless him!) … it turns out I was right the entire time, and the problem was that the alarm was ‘taking over’ my electrical system – so we agreed to just disable the entire thing.  Of course, today Melbourne decided to break the huge drought we’ve been having, and we got stuck in such a deluge of rain that my trousers with literally squelching wet – because of the laneway access still closed, we couldn’t put the car under shelter to be fixed … in the end we opted to drive down to St Kilda to the Coles carpark, which is undercover, and the mechanic spent an hour ripping disassembling the wiring of my car alarm – he also fixed another wiring problem with the dashboard light not operating as well.  Anyway, $200 later (didn’t really need that this week, but c’est la vie – at least there are no other big bills yet to come this payday), and my car is behaving perfectly for a change.  I’m not even going to guess how long it will stay that way, but for now I’m going to enjoy that bit of bliss 😉

I do have to say, though, that if you haven’t heard it before, I soooooooo HATE my car!!  Even Mum suggested while I’m off housesitting that I should save up and get a new one … which is something I’ve been considering myself over the last couple of days!

Anyway, the day wasn’t entirely all bad … we got evacuated from our work building today while we had the Police, fire trucks and an ambulance in active attendance – it turned out to be an air conditioning motor burning out and polluting the entire building with fumes, so we had 1 1/2 hours off work … and because it was so cold out there today (we’ve had gale force winds across parts of Victoria) they even let us head off to the shops for a coffee to warm up … we pushed the boundaries and sat and had a cooked breakfast (it was 9am by this time, and time for my lunchtime anyway, so it was perfect for me!).

After we’d eaten, I managed to quickly duck across the road to clear the PO Box before heading back to work, and I had a wonderful parcel of goodies waiting for me (actually there were a couple that arrived today, but I still have two thank you emails to send yet, so I’ll post those tomorrow and keep you in suspense LOL).

I have to share with you today a most wonderful bag that KarenV stitched for me – isn’t this the most gorgeous fabric ever?!!  I just ADORE it!!  As soon as I opened the envelope, it put a huge grin on my face 😀  I told Mum I’m going to take it with me housesitting to add some cheer to my day every day – it’s just lovely.  Thanks so much Karen for a gorgeous gift – it’s absolutely perfect for me! 😀

 

To finish today’s post/drivel I’ll end with what will be my final progress piccie of Bordeaux for a wee while – I’ve managed to put a few grapes into it, and as you can I’ve finally decided to just stitch the grapes in each ‘gap’ rather than the date.  I think, instead, I may add a very small backstitched initials and year in the bottom left and right corners of the sampler at the end.  The next time I get access to posting piccies it’s likely this will be finished (at least I hope so!) 🙂

 

And now it’s time to hit the hay for the night.  There’ll be precious little packing happening tomorrow thanks to my shifts, and only two nights left … but I’m trying not to think about it 😉  In the meantime I’m going to enjoy a good night’s sleep, as I’ve had two real shockers the last two nights, and enjoy the last few days of our week 🙂  It will be nice to cuddle under the duvet tonight, as our lounge room is back to being like the Arctic Circle (I have my work clothes on still, complete with dressing gown over the top, it’s so cold!).  Mum and I are counting down the sleeps to the official handing back of the keys … poor Mum was quite scared in the flat today, as the wind was quite strong and making the walls creak and groan more than normal … I have to say, too, the cracks are definitely worse in here now as well, if that was possible!  Oh well, only 6 more sleeps … 😉

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

Biscornu design details

Anne S

I forgot to include the information about the design I’m using for my biscornu, so I thought I’d better do that for anyone that’s interested …

Part 2 of Mystery Sampler by Debbie Draper
from Gift of Stitching e-magazine, Issue 7 August 2006
Stitched with Carrie’s Threads in Ocean Blue and Lavender

The full design from the Gift of Stitching magazine started with part 1 in Issue 6 July 2006 – this is what the whole thing looks like … but I’ve chosen to use the two ‘square’ parts just for a biscornu, and totally altered the colour scheme to my wacky tastes.

Nothing else to report really – I survived my final night shift, and slept reasonably OK off and on (thanks to construction works of some sort behind us), but feel pretty bleary-eyed today.  This weekend and next week is the only time I can do some decent packing, so it’s going to be full-on between now and then – I’m working 4pm-midnight shifts next week, but it means if I can get to bed/asleep relatively quickly when I get home, at least I’ll have a few hours around lunchtime that can be spend packing … the following (and last) week I’m on 11am-7pm shifts, which isn’t really conducive to doing much of anything.  Oh well, things will work out, I’m sure, especially with Mum home during the day to help out 🙂

No stitching time today – time to start packing/organising in the spare bedroom (aka the junk room) to give us room to start packing tea chests in there … then we’ll be taking the legs off the dining table to give us stacking space in the dining area as well.  Once the actual packing starts earnestly I don’t think it’ll take that long to do, it’s just the ‘sorting out’ and de-cluttering prior to packing that’s taking the time.  Talking of which, I’d better go get some brekkie (it’s now 3pm and I’m getting a bit peckish) and make a start on something …

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

Last night shift with some Bordeaux

Anne S

I managed to get 6 solid hours of sleep today, which was just wonderful – I feel so much better, and even picked up my needle for some decent stitching for a few hours while Mum and I caught up on the week’s TV viewing.  It’s the last night shift for me tonight, so hopefully my sleep patterns will improve more over the next couple of nights.

I still haven’t thought much about my living situation – I’m just going to wait to see what Sheree comes back with, as I sent her an email last night touching base, and testing the water to see if she’ll actually come out and tell me herself about her plans … I think I’ve reached saturation point right now with everything negative that’s been happening lately, and I’m just feeling ‘numb’ about everything now, for want of a better way of describing it.  I guess that’s just my coping mechanism kicking in … and it’s easier to deal with it with Mum being here – I’d probably be in a bigger heap if she wasn’t!

Anyway, on to brighter things – here’s my latest update piccie of the Bordeaux Sampler … which is good timing seeing as it’s actually our SAL night.  I think this project is one that’s coming with me when I go housesitting, so it just might be finished by the end of June as my rotation is no longer existent (mainly because I won’t have all my projects with me, a lot will be in storage).

 

Next up is side one of my biscornu that I’ve been putting a few stitches into at work – I’ve only put about 20 stitches into side two, so there’s no point in a progress piccie just yet.  Fingers crossed I’ll manage a few more stitches tonight at work, as this is the only time I’ve been stitching on it.

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Home & Family TO BE FIXED

For the Birds finished

Anne S

Just a quick post, as I’m still not really in blogging or chatting mode right now.  I woke up feeling the best I had all week, and headache-free which is a minor miracle this week … then a phone call from Fraze’s Dad killed all that, my thoughts are back in turmoil, and my headache has returned … roll on GP visit, is all I can say, ‘cos it didn’t take much at all to knock me back down again!  Today at work is not going to be a fun shift for my first day back!

Anyway, here’s my finished For the Birds – the chart will be winging its way to a blogging pal soon, as I know she loves DT designs, and doesn’t have this one.  The colours are a bit more ‘drab’ in real life than I would have liked, but it’s still a nice project – not sure how I’ll finish it, probably just add it to the ‘framing pile’ for later, I guess.

 
For the Birds – the Drawn Thread
Fabric:  32ct natural Belfast linen
Threads:  As recommended (Needle Necessities & DMC)

Tomorrow Mum arrives, and we’re having a Mother’s Day lunch as soon as we get home from the airport, before I head off to work.  Then next week it’s ‘all go’ I guess … although I’m on overnight shifts, so it might be a week of going slowly.  And now I need to go visit Fraze’s Mum next week some time as well, as she’s in hospital at the moment, so I’m not sure how I’m going to fit that in as well, as it’s on the outskirts of the city at the other end of town, and I’d have to come home again to drop Mum off before going back into work – oh well, something will work itself out.  I also need to go there when I’m feeling really good, as sometimes it can be hard work smiling through the moaning and carry-on even when I feel 100% perky (I won’t go into further details here).

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

Decisions are made …

Anne S

I ended up not doing any stitching aside from two whole lengths of thread today … instead I’ve been pondering my situation and talking things over with Mum for 2 hours, and a close friend from work for another 1 1/2 hours. 

The upshot of everything today is that I’ve typed up my month’s notice for my landlord … I’ve decided the best thing I can do for my mental health is to just pack up and move on, whether the housesitting comes through or not.  While it breaks my heart in some ways to move on, I know it has to be done for both financial and physical reasons.  Now I’ve made the decision, it feels like part of a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.  Tomorrow I’ll start the ball rolling officially by dropping off my notice to vacate (actually, I may just phone them, then pop the letter in the post to save the petrol costs) … then I’m heading out to a relatively local self storage company to pick up about 6 boxes and ask about storage space costs etc.  At least that way it’s not very far for the truck to drive from here, so it will cut down the costs somewhat.  I’ve just paid my rent for the next month, so I should have no further outlay except for the final utility costs.  I’m also going to approach Freecycle to see if someone has more boxes that I can pick up … as well as the Dan Murphy’s option as well.

Unfortunately I won’t be taking up your suggestion of picking up some Chardonnay from Dan’s, though Ally … I will, however, be chucking some more in the fridge from my home selection … aside from the fact it’s nice at the end of the day, it means something else that doesn’t have to be packed … any excuse is a good one 😉  Mum and I joked about that earlier today too – I just polished off the rest of a cask of port last night (the only thing I can generally drink from a cask … I’m actually impressed by the quality of the Penfolds casked port!) … and we both said, oh well one less thing to pack haha.

For the first time today I shared the photos with one of my close friends at work – she was absolutely shocked, and phoned tonight to tell me I’ve got to get out of there this week and move in with her straightaway, what a sweetheart.  Anyway, we had a great talk, and it helped get things set in concrete in my head.  Over the next couple of weeks I’ll spend up to a maximum of 3 hours a day packing, with at least 1 hour a day on ‘down time’ such as my stitching etc.  Seeing as I’m picking up some boxes tomorrow, it’ll give me a head start doing a bit of packing this week once my back is fixed and back to normal.

Closer to the time of moving I’ll send an email to all RAK Registry participants to give you my work address, as I won’t have email/computer access for a while.  My computer will likely go into storage, and I’ll have to rely on internet cafes/libraries for a while … but that’s all 3-4 weeks away yet, so there’s still time.  I’m also in the middle of moving the Registry over to WordPress, so I’ll try to concentrate some time on doing that this week 🙂

That reminds me to add Iinet to my ‘to do list’ for the week – to find out options for my emails … wondering whether I can move to a dial-up account for a month or so to keep the costs down, then I can work out alternatives such as a wireless provider etc (geez I wish I had a laptop not this 10-tonne brick of a PC to lug around!!).  Talking of which, do any of you out here in Aussie-land use a wireless provider already, and if so can you recommend them?  Actually, I think I should start typing up an official to-do list so I don’t forget when I wake up! (my head has been on another planet for the last couple of months, never mind just this week!!)

Anyway, I’ll sign off for the night … and leave you with my latest WIP, For the Birds by the Drawn Thread.  Hopefully I’ll get this finished over the next couple of days inbetween doing everything else (please excuse the blurry photo). Mind you, hopefully the next stitching session will see more than 2 lengths of thread being stitched!  So much for getting this finished today – all I ended up doing was the green border 😉