Home & Family TO BE FIXED – Page 6

Bent Creek, Country Cottage Needleworks, Cross Stitch, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Little House Needleworks, picture framing, samplers, Stash, The Drawn Thread, With My Needle

Shhhhh, don’t tell anyone…

28 February, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

…but my trip off The Wagon seems to be continuing haha. We drove up to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains today so I could pick up my finished stitching from The Stitching Post, and two designs from my wishlist fell into my shopping bag … oops! I’ve been drooling over Mrs Wadelow’s Hussif since I first saw it on Ellen’s blog, and as fate had it Karen had it in stock already … well, I figured it was right there on the counter, so it just HAD to come home with me! haha. The other design was LHN’s Fa La La from the latest ornament series. Going by what many others have said, these ornies are rather on the large side, so I think I’ll be stitching them with one thread on a 40ct fabric (as opposed to the other option of stitching them over-one on normal fabric … yucky!).

Anyway, aside from a number of designs on loan that Karen never got around to framing for display, I now have these four little beauties back at home again in their lovely framed state 🙂

It’s been a very tiring – although very awesome – weekend … Katie and I went to the movies yesterday and saw two movies back-to-back (Valentine’s Day and Wolfman) – then we finished off the evening with a trip to G.P.K. (Gourmet Pizza Kitchen) for pizza before heading home to retire in front of the TV for a couple of hours watching The Hangover. Of course then today we head over to the Blue Mountains for the day, so all-in-all I’m ready to curl up and not move for a couple of hours before we have to go to sleep before work tomorrow … ready for 5 days of work before we head out to the Sing-along Sound of Music on Friday 😛

And now I’m heading off to find some fabric to start my exchange stitching on, so we can blob out in front of the gogglebox with Jethro and the gang of NCIS 😀

Beading, Cross Stitch, Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Trip to The Ribbon Rose

21 February, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

This visit home was quite rushed, so Mum and I only had chance to visit one shop while I was there, and that was on the afternoon immediately after I arrived (after getting to bed at 2.30am yikes) – we went to The Ribbon Rose in Ellerslie, and I was VERY pleasantly surprised to see it was now twice the size it used to be, and has the best range of threads I’ve seen in New Zealand! I was originally going to do a quick drive-by on the way to The Embroiderer in Birkenhead, but we ended up spending all our time in just the one shop checking out every room, and every nook and cranny – and we ran out of time to head over the bridge to go to Birkenhead.

I asked if I could take a few photos of the various rooms at The Ribbon Rose, so I could show you what a little treasure it is now – I did forget to take a photo of the fabric and quilting rooms, though! The great thing about the line of threads that they carry is that they carry the ENTIRE range of colours – most shops over here carry the odd colour or five of most lines, but you VERY rarely find one that has the whole range (I remember years ago having a disagreement with another shop owner in Auckland that, yes, there were more Mill Hill bead colours – just because that’s all you stock doesn’t mean that’s all that exists – and because you won’t order the stock in, ‘cos it’s apparently non-existent, I’ll find another supplier … ah, memories! – The scary thing about the internet is that often you can be more knowledgeable than some shop owners – it’s nice to find a shop that’s as up to date as you are!). Anyway, if you’re ever in the Ellerslie area in Auckland, I definitely suggest you take a trip out there, it’s worth it!

The next time I fly over in October, I’m going to find out what classes are on – there are some beading classes on regularly, and some of the projects are seriously drool-worthy!!! 😀

I ended up flying home earlier than expected today thanks to high loadings on the flights – because I have to travel on standby, it was safer to take an earlier flight that still had seats showing available than getting stuck and not being able to get home (tomorrow’s flights look dreadful too, and that was my back-up travel day) … but at least I have chance now to have a good sleep and catch up on missing zzzzzzz’s, and I then have the day off tomorrow (instead of travelling) to do my washing for the week, yippee … that also means I just might have time to fit in a spot of stitching as well, although I may just do that this afternoon to keep me awake until a reasonable hour to fall over into a deep slumber!

Last but not least, I was asked by Mum why I haven’t been uploading my Scenic Sunday, Blue Monday and Ruby Tuesday p0sts, as she’s missing them. So, to please The Dragon, I’ll try to remember to keep up-t0-date with them again from now on … starting with a Scenic Sunday post shortly 😀

But before I find a Scenic Sunday post, here are a couple of photos of Mum and Dad’s fruit trees (Feijoas, Plums and Lemons) that I really miss having in my backyard (especially having a lemon tree right near your back door) – alas, it was too soon for the Feijoa season … these are only little baby fruit 😦

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Smith Family NZ

Home again … Home again …

21 February, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

… I always thought Auckland was incredibly, unbearably hot during the summer months, but after living in Sydney for two years I have decided that Auckland is in fact very pleasant (or at least it was over the last few days). After being home for 1 whole half hour, I have had to put the electric fan on to quell the sweat drops dripping down my back and upper lip – there you go, way too much information, and a visual you definitely did NOT need haha.

Before I forget, thank you so much for all the birthday wishes – the day itself was very low-key thanks to a continued bug in the system. I did go to lunch, though, and watched Katie and Jenny eat a steak sandwich and chips while I sat and slurped through my lunch of a soda, lime and bitters. My birthday dinner consisted of a bowl of steamed rice haha. Oh well, I made up for it the next day, as Wednesday my appetite came back with a vengeance and I splurged on a delightful beef and mushroom pie with a bit of mashed potato (their mash at Cafe Lucca is to die for) and steamed veges … I was in culinary heaven on Wednesday!

I managed to get away from work early on Wednesday and caught the train straight from work into the airport terminal – had no problems getting on the plane, which is great, so I had plenty of time to sit and relax airside before the flight finally departed. Sydney International duty free is now HUGE, and it was really fun wandering around for an hour sussing out bargains. I think the bargain of the day was perfumes for AU$20, which I got for AU$16 after I took off my discount – woohoo!

All-in-all it was a nice trip home – a lot more sombre than other trips, partly due to my still not feeling entirely well, and partly due to the sombre occasion of Erin’s memorial service. Carl’s eulogy to Erin broke a few people down – and the finale of James Blunt singing Goodbye My Lover broke the rest of us down, including the tough policemen friends. The service itself was really lovely, held in the Manukau Botanical Gardens. A friend read the service itself, then people were given an opportunity to say their own farewells and tributes before wandering off to visit Erin’s memorial plaque on a seat overlooking the water in the gardens. It is an incredibly beautiful spot, and one that I’m sure many of us will visit again in the future years to come. To finish off the day we went back to the Weymouth Cosmopolitan Club (aka the “Cozzie Club”) for a bite to eat and bevvies for those who wanted to partake. Here are a couple of photos of Erin’s seat and the lovely view it has.

Mum, Dad and Danial checking out the comfort level

The view from Erin’s seat, complete with a duck pond for
Auntie Anne when she visits 😛

The next day we were invited to join the family to scatter Erin’s ashes, but we declined that one – I felt it was more appropriate for the blood family to be there, and instead Mum and I drove over in the afternoon and spent a few hours in their company afterwards. We laughed and laughed at the kids’ antics, and as always found something else to laugh about – usually my Mum! It’s always a great time when we go to visit “the Smithies”, although the next time we see them in October will be for a much brighter occasion, that being Mum and Dad’s 50th (Golden) Wedding Anniversary. Here are a couple of photos of the kids that I really like … Cameron never sits still, so I think these photos are just ‘him’ to a ‘tee’ – even the camera couldn’t keep up with him! haha.

Liam thinking, “OK, who put this ball here in my way?”

Liam – “Oh well, maybe I’ll just rest my head for a while
until someone kind comes to rescue me!”

Liam – “Hmmm, let me check what special dates are coming up soon”

And poor Liam is definitely having the following photo edited when I get the time – he keeps holding his legs and arms up off the floor and makes me think he’s got a little parachute on … either that or he’s missing his cape and he’s flying off to help some damsel in distress! LOL

Cameron doing his usual thing – getting his body in motion – that kid is the human version of the Duracell Bunny, I swear it! He tires me out just watching him – although he makes me laugh at the same time! I love to watch him running around 🙂

And a boy’s never too young to learn how to play soccer LOL –
this was taken just seconds before the yell “take it outside please” was uttered 😛

Rather than fill this post with a squillion more photos, I’ll split the visit up into several posts, as there are quite a few photos yet to come …

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Stitching? What’s this thing called stitching?

5 February, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

It’s been a very stressful week at work this week … management have decided to add a new element to ‘my’ current big project two weeks prior to launch date – and the department that are requesting all the changes decided they shouldn’t have to write the specs for the technical build team, so that all ended up on my desk, which has taken me 4 days to complete around other tasks … gotta love being able to plan your time prior to launch! mutter mutter mutter. So, it’s been a few 10-12 hour days again this week, which means no real stitching done …

I did, however, sit down last night for an hour or two and dragged out my Sapphire Star again … all excited, I thought I’d fill in some of the inside blocks to give me a change of pace … only to find that I’m missing one thread type … and of course is HAS to be a Rainbow Gallery thread that is like bl**dy hens teeth to find this side of the pond … which means I’ll have to order it from the US … which also means I can’t justify the postage for one card of thread … which means I now have to break my resolution not to spend on stash (charts anyway) for this year. Not to mention I have a tight couple of months financially … but I just can’t not finish my Sapphire Star, ‘cos I’m really loving working on it … oh, pooh, bum 😦

Part of the financial deal is to buy a plane ticket home – I’m off back across the ditch again next week, this time not for pleasure. It’s finally time for Erin’s memorial service and we have to say goodbye for ‘real’. While I’ll love seeing everyone again, I just know it’s going to be really emotional and I’m dreading that part … but at least we get to honour her memory, which is great 🙂

And on that note I’d better run away and get to work, ‘cos I’ve just seen the time … yikes!!! 😮

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Works in Progress

Things I have learned this week & Thanks

29 January, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

First of all, thanks so much for all your feedback on my canvaswork piece. I have to agree with you on the frogging part, and I will be unpicking the blue centrepiece and moving it further down. Which is one of life’s lessons I have learned this week:

When a chart’s instructions says count twice, stitch once, it really MEANS count twice, stitch once! Dyslexia in this case is not a good idea, or frogs will appear in multitude!
Telling whining co-workers to stop grumbling about every piece of work that touches their desk works miracles – when a co-worker begins to ignore you at work, it will feel like all your blessings have come at once, and leads to a much more harmonious, peaceful, and enjoyable workplace! Admittedly, those headaches I’ve been having the last couple of days are probably due to her sticking pins into her voodoo doll of me, and not due to work stress, so that’s all good 😛
When you’re tossing and turning at 1.30am with a million work issues running through your mind, putting the light on and writing them all down in your diary will actually free your mind … however, what it then does do is allow more thoughts of PERSONAL to-do lists to run through your mind instead – but then you realise it’s Friday and you only have one working day left to go before the weekend, so can manage on 2 1/2 hours sleep … which finally frees your mind to get another 3-4 hours sleep – and your diary is already partially planned for the day so, heh, it’s a win-win all round 😛
Avoiding social events where it is very easy to get suckered into having ‘bad’ foods may be anti-social short-term, but the feeling of getting on the scales and seeing a loss of 2.5kg over 1 1/2 weeks offsets it (I really do need the discipline at the moment, and would rather forego dinners and lunches and outings etc short-term to get my mind in a stronger place before adding that extra challenge). So far, so good, and still feeling very very virtuous 😀

I still haven’t frogged my needlework yet, but instead over the last two nights I’ve spent a short time cutting out mattboard and attaching batting, and matching backing fabrics, to start finishing off Christmas ornies – these are mainly ones stitched by my Mum, which haven’t been finish-finished yet (it’s OK Mum, I’m not nagging you again haha). I figure it’ll be a nice change to sit and lace a few ornies on an evening instead of stitching in front of the gogglebox – here’s what our lounge looks like right now 😛

And on that note, I’m about to leave the lounge room in its untidy state, and carry my Sapphire Star into the lounge to do the frog-stitch … rippit, rippit, rippit … so some time next week I’ll be ready to start getting ‘back in the saddle’ again 😀

And on another note, we’ve just decided to head over and see Sherlock Holmes this weekend … it doesn’t get much better than this 😛

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Works in Progress

New WIP

22 January, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

This new WIP will eventually be a gift for someone … and she reads my blog … and she’ll no doubt easily work out that it’s for her … but I still can’t resist sharing ‘cos otherwise I won’t have anything to show stitching-wise for a while! Here’s as much stitching as I’ve managed the whole last week (it’s a repeat of something I stitched last year or the year before, I can’t remember which now) – the new skein of thread I have is a bit paler than my original one, but I think it’ll still work out OK … I hope so anway!

On the home front, Katie and I have been very virtuous by eating healthily all week, slugging back zero alcohol and replacing it with water, and we’ve been going walking most nights this week (tonight was a write-off thanks to lightning strikes and impending rain). It was Katie’s boss’s wedding celebration today, and Katie baked an awesome white chocolate mud cake for her … we had the tiniest of slices to show our support but at the same time restraining that calorie intake … and we’re definitely feeling very very virtuous after all our efforts this week!! Of course that means there’s been less time for stitching, but it’s all for a very very good cause … ‘cos eventually when I shift some of this weight, I’ll have more energy to stitch, which will probably mean MORE stitching!! 🙂

The other news is that this week at work we were told of a team restructure, along with the results delivered as a fait accomplis … no input from those of us who have been impacted, which is really shitty quite frankly. I spoke up and said how I found the process itself extremely disappointing, and had to laugh to myself that we’re currently undergoing reviews of a staff engagement survey from last year and about to commence workshops on how to improve communication and engagement … well, duh, people … I wonder what will come us as a prime example of lack of communication and collaboration by people directly impacted!!! Anyway, all-in-all there are pros and cons of the changes, and at the moment the pros are probably outweighing the cons … I’m hoping it will be a good change in the fact that I will have more of an opportunity to grow and build new skills in the project management arena (I’ll be in the “project team”), and I no longer have to try to juggle lots of ‘operational’ work every day as well, but rather can focus on one type of role (albeit it by taking on more project work than I currently do) … time will tell how things will progress at work, but it sure as hell can’t be any worse than it currently is!!!

Anyhoo, tonight I’m about to catch up on a spot of blog reading … I still haven’t caught up since my Christmas trip, and I’d really love to get that blog feed back down to zero so I can keep on top of things weekly again … I’m tempted to hit the “mark all feeds as read”, but scared I’ll miss something exciting and important! 😛

In saying that, it’s time to head over to FeedDemon to see what lovely treats you have written and displayed photos of to tempt me … 😀

Bent Creek, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Summer Snapperland, Works in Progress

Shock, horror, a stitching post!!

11 January, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

I wish I could say that I was posting my first finish for 2010, but alas that appears to be a few days away yet … hopefully by the end of the week (or weekend at the latest) this one will be finished, stitching-wise anyway. I don’t own the buttons/accessory pack for the border, so I’m having to order those, and while I’m at it I’m ordering the same pack for the Winter Snapperland as I’d really like to stitch that in the upcoming year.

In the meantime, here’s my current progress on Bent Creek’s Summer Snapperland – I’ve finished the final block, and am now working on the outside border. I’m just marginally over half-way stitching the border, then it’s off to the waiting pile until the buttons etc arrive.

This last weekend Katie and I had a lovely weekend away – we drove over to Brenda and Nigel’s late Saturday afternoon (fantastic traffic – or rather lack of it – we were there in just marginally under an hour yippee!!), where we were greeted with an ice-cold Margarita on arrival. We had another friend of ours from work and her two teen sons come to join us, and we were treated to Nigel’s culinary treats of one of his famous BBQ’s. It was a really lovely night with good wine, good food, and really good company! We stayed overnight, then yesterday toodled off to Castle Towers to see Avatar 3D in Gold Class … WOW, what an incredibly awesome movie – I was seriously blown away by it!! One of the best movies of that genre I’ve ever seen, I’d have to say!

Eventually we headed back home again, after a detour via JB Hi-Fi for Katie to spend her Christmas prezzie vouchers, then we sat and watched Katie’s Dawson’s Creek DVD’s while I did a little bit of stitching. I have to admit the characters etc are growing on me, and I’m enjoying the lighthearted viewing for a change, but it’s probably not a series I’ll ever re-watch again … but if nothing else, it’s getting me to sit down at the end of the day and get a few stitches into fabric, so that’s all good 😀

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Photo Hunt, PhotoHunt, Smith Family NZ

Photo Hunt – Lick

2 January, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

PhotoHunt | PhotoHunt

This week’s theme is ”Lick” and this is a photo of a good friend’s son at my Dad’s 70th birthday party.

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Sydney

Happy New Year!!!

1 January, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

I hope you all had a great time seeing in the New Year (for those of us who have already “been there, done that”) – or have some great plans to do so. We were invited by friends to join them at their home in Kirribilli, where we saw in the New Year nicely nestled in the garden with a full uninterrupted view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, where the fireworks were wonderful as always. This is the view from our garden – we were standing/sitting just behind the hydrangea bush you can see in the foreground 😀

Unfortunately because we were so close, the cameras didn’t seem to appreciate the fireworks as much as we did, but here are a handful of shots from the night that worked out OK. I didn’t even attempt to capture the finale on the bridge – I just looked up and enjoyed the spectacle and made myself hoarse from whooping and hollering along with the rest of the crowd 😀

The night itself wasn’t perfect as we waited for an hour for buses to arrive at home before we gave up and tried to hail a cab – after 1 1/2 hours a different bus turned up (the Bus Info line was no help at all, and they didn’t know why the buses weren’t arriving as detours were in place due to a local fireworks party on the beach but our stop was still on the designated route), so we hopped on that bus to Hurstville instead and joined the millions of revellers pounding the streets of Sydney. Alas, even by 10pm when we were on the North Sydney train, they had already had to hose down the carriage due to some ‘over-ripe revellers’ – thank goodness we only had to put up with the underlying whiff of vomit for the short trip across the harbour bridge 😦

Then the real fun began as we tried to make our way to Joanne and Nick’s place, as all the roads had been cordoned off at different parts and we literally had to zigzag our way under the bridge from one road (and one security gate) to the other before we finally found a nice security man who let us go through the gate to where we needed to be. Our biggest scare was when we came to a park where marquees had been set up to frisk people for carrying alcohol, and we had to choice but to walk through the park … after a momentary panic, I just bowled up to one of the attendants and asked what we should do as we were heading to a private party and were carrying pretty much nothing BUT booze – he was incredibly kind (I must look so old and trusworthy that I wouldn’t cause trouble!), and escorted us through the throngs so we could continue on our merry (or not-so-merry for some of our party) way to Joanne and Nick’s. We couldn’t believe it when we finally arrived there only to be escorted down to the strip of garden at the back of the property in secluded view of the bridge itself. Unfortunately our Prime Minister couldn’t join us for drinkies, as apparently he was entertaining foreign officials a few houses away 😉

The not-so-merry half of our party managed to stay as long as the fireworks finished then within seconds asked if they could have a key so they could come home. Before we left we’d already said that we weren’t comfortable having them on their own in the flat without Katie or I there, but they’d been so po-faced and whining on the adventure over to the party that it was easier to give them Katie’s keys and relax and enjoy ourselves without having to worry about them. They were a last-minute addition to the celebrations, as apparently they hadn’t been able to find a hotel room in Sydney for New Year’s Eve (well, duh!!!), and the girl was returning to South Africa this morning, so they needed a place to stay … So nice to be used for a doss-house – “used” being the operative word. Oh well, they didn’t spoil the night for us, as Katie and I were determined to have a good time and relax and chill out … and we enjoyed playing charades with a pack of drunken brits (with a token Irish couple, and a Kiwi and Aussie of course) under the backdrop of the harbour bridge until about 4.30am – I’m pretty sure the neighbours didn’t enjoy it half as much as we did!!!

So, here I am sitting blogging, after getting into bed at 5.48am this morning and waking up at 9.45am … and demolishing a plate of Vegemite and potato chip sandwiches (such heaven after a heavy night out on the booze, and so much cheaper than McD’s) … the New Year has most definitely been started off with a bang! 😀

Now it’s time to work out the New Year’s resolutions – aside from the usual “I resolve to swear less and lose weight”, I do resolve to enjoy what life has to offer me this year, and ignore those that don’t have the same attitude. I resolve to see more of what Sydney has to offer, and resolve to keep in touch with old friends much more than I have. Bring it on, 2010!!! 😀

And on that note it’s time to take my run-down tired bag of bones over to my stitching chair to settle myself in for a while – the next few hours will see me cuddled up with a bucket of water to slurp down, TiVo on to catch up on last week’s viewing, and a needle in hand … with any luck the needle might even have thread in it, and it may even just get pushed through some fabric, at least until my body caves in and I have to succumb to an inevitable “nana nap” this afternoon 🙂

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Merry Christmas to Everyone!

24 December, 200925 February, 2012 Anne S

Just a quick visit to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!!

I know many of you out there feel the same way as I do this year, and can’t wait for 2010 to bring us a better year … here’s hoping all our dreams and aspirations come true next year. I hope it is full of stitchy goodness.

This year I totally forgot about writing Christmas cards until it was too late, so my apologies to family and friends who don’t even have a card from me this year … alas life got in the way for me this year … perhaps I should start writing next year’s now! 😛

Thank you for your continued friendship and support throughout the year – I look forward to seeing you all again in 2010.

With love,