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I remembered when I was using it last night, that Mum said I should post a piccie on my blog of one of my favourite tools … Mum thinks it’s awesome! This is my ‘cording weight’ … and it was very very expensive … not 😉 Basically it’s just a metal paperclip that I unbent, and added some fishing sinkers onto it … and now I have the perfect weight with a little hook to hang onto the middle of my cord when cording – works a treat! 😀 I’ll think I’ll hold off patenting the design (haha), but I thought I’d fulfil Mum’s wishes and post a piccie … especially as I have nothing else to post about today. (Excuse the shadows from the glorious afternoon sun.)

Today was my first 5am shift, and we usually have some ‘down time’ to catch up on emails etc at the start of the shift … but today it was one call immediately after another for the first hour and a half – in fact I made a coffee before I started work at 4.50am, and it was 6.20am before I was able to pick it up and take a sip … yikes! I’m not complaining, either, as I love it like that … makes the day go so much faster when you’re busy 😀 Hope the rest of the week goes as well as today woohoo!

And I heard from Jenna today that my scissors have been ordered, so in the infamous words of the Pointer Sisters, I’m running around singing “I’m so excited … and I just can’t hide it …” la la la la la 😀 Yeah, I know, that’s really sad, but I’m a bit loopy after the early morning start … I’m sure I’ll be hitting the wall of the zombie zone in about 1 hour and be struggling to stay awake, but for now I’m wired! 😉 I might even get really keen and put an hour into the Dratteds to keep awake!

First of all, I have to say “yippee” to Zohrah, that the mail art arrived this time around … and relatively quickly too!! I’m very glad you like it 🙂 And I shouldn’t take it for granted that someone doesn’t read my blog just ‘cos they’ve not commented before haha … I’m just very pleased you finally managed to get your exchange in return after stitching such a lovely one for Aniza 😀

As for the Gingher scissors – for anyone who’s interested, JoAnn’s (in the US) have a 40% sale off Ginghers, including the designer series, so it’s a great time to stock up … I just got outbid 24 hours before the bidding closed on the pair I put on my blog yesterday, and I’ve opted not to stress any more over it, as I can buy it directly from JoAnn’s for an extra US$5 over my maximum bid. So thanks to my wonderful northern twin, Jenna, I’ll be ordering mine directly from JoAnn’s instead of continuing with the bidding … at least I know they’re going to be shipped officially, I think there’s always a slight worry with Ebay about goods not being sent. Now I have to stitch an extra special fob for the 4″ ones when they eventually arrive, as those two pairs will be treasured forever! If you’re really nice, Mum, I’ll let you touch them when you come over … only once though! hahaha.

As for my finances, things have looked up since yesterday … when I got a bank balance last week I got a nasty shock, as there wasn’t as much in there as I expected, but today I got a phone balance and everything’s OK – my loan repayment had been taken out last week, but wasn’t showing on the statement … phew! I also forgot I had a carton of ciggies from duty free I bought for a workmate that he hadn’t paid for yet, so that’s another $50 coming tomorrow, and to top it all off I also had 2 hours overtime last Sunday, which will almost pay the whole thing off (it comes in next week’s pay) … so today I’m MUCH more relaxed about the parking fine thing – I wouldn’t say I’m happy about it still, but not stressed about the payment side at least 🙂

Then driving home I had a SUPER surprise … I went to fill my car up as it was sitting seriously on empty (I was running late this morning, so had to leave it until the way home … which is a good thing!), and the gas cost (ie petrol) had dropped another 7c a litre since this morning … to a record breaking 110c a litre … considering I was paying 137c a litre a fortnight ago, I was doing cartwheels past the gas pumps!! 😀 Yippee!!!!! Approx $45 to fill my car instead of almost $60 {skippety skip skip skip}. A nice extra silver lining after yesterday 😀

Tomorrow arvo I’m hoping to catch up with Katrina, which will be an great highlight for the week – it will be lovely to meet her in person and catch up over a coffee or bite to eat 😀 I promise not to fall asleep in my coffee after my 5am start 😉

I’m now on 5am shifts for the next 3 days, so that’ll be interesting with my dizzy turns, but fingers crossed I’ll manage to survive everything … I HAVE to, as this weekend is also my dinner party on Saturday night – and I now have one of my work colleagues staying on Friday night as well, so we can go out for another colleague’s 39th birthday … I’m so out of practice in going out partying, I’ll need another week to recover! LOL.

Anyway, enough gas-bagging … I’d better get this little bit of finishing done, then into bed for me for 7pm 😉 Hopefully if I can get it finished, it means I can actually post a stitching piccie tomorrow 😀

My wee health scare yesterday was just a scare after all … all my test results came back OK, which is great news. Nothing concrete given as the reason for it happening, but we think perhaps my continued lack of sleep and the pain in my neck/shoulder/back just sent me over the edge. Let’s just say, the next time I do these shifts, I’ll be taking a sleeping tablet on the first night to get me in the rhythm … that is if I can find them! I was going to take one last night, but couldn’t find them – but even without them I managed to sleep off and on for 11 full hours … crikey!!

Didn’t do much today, aside from a bit of light housework (more tidying up in general), and making a big pot of pumpkin soup. Tonight I intend sitting on my big bum in front of the TV and trying to stitch for an hour or two and taking it easy – I picked up two DVD’s from Video Ezy before going to the GP (they’re right next door to one another … very convenient), so I’ll be watching The World’s Fastest Indian and Walking the Line. I couldn’t stitch at all last night ‘cos we had a power cut … the flat looked really pretty, though, with about 20 candles lit around the place 😉

That’s all for me for the night … Thanks for all your well wishes – they’ve been very very well received! {hugs}

Well, my walk around the waterfront didn’t eventuate … instead I ended up having a walk around the block in the other direction – to the local Medical Centre. I got up from the computer to walk to the kitchen, and started blacking out and falling over … I caught myself on the kitchen chair with my arm, and the table collected my forehead, and while hanging on for dear life my legs and body started having, for want of a better word, convulsions. I have to say it scared the bejeezus out of me, and I phoned work to say I was too worried to drive … so this arvo I ended up having a multitude of blood tests done as well as an ECG – the GP is marking it as urgent so I can get the results back tomorrow afternoon … which also means I’m off work for tonight and tomorrow night. I know I hate the 6pm shifts, but this isn’t what I expected to get me out of them!! The GP thinks it’s possibly just anaemia (which I had when I was younger, and had to have vitamin B12 shots about 7 years ago), and the lack of sleep just sent me over the edge … he doesn’t think it’s true convulsions – rather the anaemia that caused me to black out, and I panicked which caused the convulsions. My blood pressure is a little bit high, but he said that’s to be expected after my body reacted how it did. Fingers crossed anaemia is all that it is … gave me a pretty big scare, though 😦 If nothing else, I’m definitely going to take a sleeping tablet tonight to give me a good rest … at least there’s no work tomorrow to worry about sleeping in! 🙂

Last night was my first day back at work since Mum returned home, and my great plans of getting some stitching done was foiled by having to do work … bummer haha. I returned to 3 full pages of unread emails that kept me busy for a few hours, then the phones were quite busy.

I had a guy at work give a great compliment to the Kiwis, which was wonderful to hear … and it reminded me of a very different situation on my last day of work last week … After having two different staff members come through being exceptionally rude about Kiwis, I snapped … one stated a bomb should be dropped on my homeland and nuke all its inhabitants – I warned him to stop before he went any further as I was a Kiwi (this is the Readers Digest Condensed version!) … then the next insult was a girl ranting about how Kiwis annoy her, and they want to become another state of Australia, and we sure as hell don’t want them here (very condensed version!!) blah blah blah … I very bluntly told her to nip it in the bud, that I am a Kiwi, and I was finding her comments very offensive, and that I’m sick of hearing it … mutter mutter mutter.

On the whole, I have a very good sense of humour, and can take a lot of bantering … as a Kiwi living in Aussie, you need a thick skin haha (and if anyone wants any sheep jokes, I think I’ve heard every single one known to man … although every once in a while I do get surprised with a new one LOL). I absolutely adore Aussie and the majority of its people, and this is likely to be my home for a long time to come … there are just a few pig ignorant ones in tiniest minority that tarnish the image in my eyes. I will continue to laugh at a friend who baa’s like a sheep to me every time I pick up the phone, and I find it highly amusing to have the mickey taken out of my (and that of my countrymen) accent (mind you, I’m a real mimic with accents so I have a great Aussie twang going, and is probably why people don’t pick up that I’m a Kiwi) … but when you start saying you’d like to drop a bomb on my head or don’t welcome me in your country, don’t expect me to laugh … Sorry, dunno where that little rant came from …

And just to prove I DO have a sense of humour, my fellow Aussies and Kiwis will laugh at this one (especially the Aussies) … those of you in the ‘outer regions’ may not get the joke, as it’s based on the Aussies taking the mickey out of the Kiwis’ accent, and you probably need to know the nuances of the accents – but I think it’s absolutely hilarious! (You’ll have to click on the link to enlarge it to be able to read it.)

And don’t ask me why, but that reminds me to check out Google to see if there’s a Billy T James DVD for sale … a great Kiwi comedian from my ‘youth’ …

Back to stitching … I forgot to post a few weeks ago about some new ‘smalls’ designs that have me drooling (but no, I’m still not tempted until my challenge is over LOL). If you haven’t seen them before, check these out … aren’t they all gorgeous?? The great thing about being abstinent for so long, is honing that wishlist down to seriously droolable items haha … ;P

Old Italian Sewing Set by Giulia Punti Antichi

While I Darn Sewing Set by Giulia Punti Antichi

Quaker Schoolgirl Needle Necessities by With My Needle

Over on The Wagon BB, HasturTorres has decided not to buy any more charts until she has completed 50 of her existing projects, and offered up the challenge for anyone else to join her … after considering it seriously (well, actually I just woke up this morning and decided it still sounded like a good idea LOL) I’ve decided to join her in her challenge 😀 Originally I was allowing myself up until my birthday in February, but now that’s on hold, and the goal is 50 projects instead. Seeing as I have a mix of both small and large items I want to stitch, this could take me some considerable time, but I really don’t need any more charts, and have enough on hand to do the challenge at least 4 times over … and I love being able to see my progress – it’s just another excuse to start another list! haha.

I’ve been given the OK to use my two latest needleroll finishes towards my efforts, as they’re not actually ‘finished’ yet, and have only just been stitched (and I’m probably going to re-do that wonky band on the LB one so the two bands match as it’s niggling me in the back of my mind), so I have a good start on it already. The only exceptions I have to the chart buying are the JCS ornie issues, and a recent XS magazine that has the Michael Powell Greek design in it (I’m still stalking the newsagents for that one to arrive down under as I ADORE Greek scenes with all that blue – surprise surprise). I still permit myself to continue my monthly stash programs – fabric from Country Stitch and Silkweaver (although I intend the latter to be more short-term) and threads from SB&B, and any fabrics/threads that I need to complete a project (which should be minimal) but that’s it for a while … perhaps it will give me more incentive to stitch faster ;D

Now I’m off to see if Blogger is playing ball this morning … last night I tried to catch up on some blogs, but many of them showed an internal server error and I couldn’t display them. I’ve also been tidying up my sidebars a tiny bit, and have moved all of my links to other blogs I like to read to a separate post, which makes my blog a lot quicker to scroll down, and makes it easier for me to add new blogs to the list … also, I don’t use the links myself anymore as I use a subscription service instead. Talking of which, off I go to add another 10 to Bloglines …

I feel very saddened today to hear the news that Steve Irwin, that great Aussie icon, has been killed today while diving near Port Douglas – he was killed in a freak accident with a stingray. The “Crocodile Hunter” was one of those bigger than life characters that you either loved or hated … I was one of those that loved him, and he will be greatly missed by a large number of Aussies and Kiwis. Rest in peace, Steve Irwin – thanks for sharing your love of life and love of the natural world with everyone around the globe … “Crikey, you’ll be missed!”

I’ve decided I really need more experience in doing finishing of items – I am so disappointed with my redwork piece, it’s not funny … I was so proud of it last night when it went under a pile of books to be pressed, but when I uncovered it at 3am when I came in from work my heart sank … and I have absolutely no time to stitch something else instead, so I’m going to have to send it as it is 😦 To be honest, it looks really nice, but it’s part of the functionality of it that I’m disappointed with. This is a finishing technique I’ve got the original design and everything all kitted up to do for myself, and I’ll be modifying a lot of their instructions for it next time. Time will tell if my recipient feels the same way as I do … I’m probably making it sound much worse than it actually is – it is basically just the ‘hinge’ that is too long so it flops around … I have a way to compensate for it, but I don’t know if I can find the hardware anywhere here, and it has to be in the mail straightaway.

I’m also miss cranky pants this morning, so that might be colouring my judgement as well, and perhaps I’m being overly critical of my efforts … I had a really rough night at work (on the 6pm-2am shift to help someone out) with some ‘interesting challenges’ and couldn’t get to sleep until almost 4am, then some kids playing soccer in the middle of the street and a noisy lorikeet sitting screeching in front of my bedroom window woke me up very early, so I’ve only had about 5-6 hours sleep. My eyes feel like little slits 😦 Hopefully that won’t mean me falling asleep in the movie theatre today, as I’m taking Mum to see Pirates of the Caribbean 2 before she goes home … I’d better get running and get dressed, as it starts in an hours time for the session I want to go to …

Thanks for comments about the framing – I have to admit I bought a matcutter in the US years ago, and haven’t used it yet, and I brought that back with me with my last lot of freight, so I definitely do want to learn to do my own framing eventually, and I’ll start looking for some cheap frames to use (good suggestion from Gina to check out the op shops too!). I have to admit, I’ve laced a couple of things before, so that’s not too major … come to think of it, there’s really no excuse for those smaller jobs! 😉

Rightio, the Pirates wait for no-one, so time to get a hurry on …

The title refers to my new lounge suite etc … My old lounge suite was picked up yesterday morning, and it’s amazing how different this little place looks – Von and Jenna, you were absolutely right, I do love it now … as soon as the place became uncluttered again, it made me feel so much better, and I have to admit it looks really nice! Funnily enough, the new lounge suite colour matches my voile curtains I have hanging in the lounge perfectly, and the new Ikea coffee table just sets things off beautifully. I’ll try and take a piccie tomorrow soon when I have more time. Unfortunately I had to give the guy a hand yesterday moving the old lounge suite, and I have body aches and a couple of bruises to show for it (but thankfully it didn’t aggrevate my already wrenched neck!) … moving a sofabed down 4 flights of stairs isn’t my idea of fun before work, but I’m so happy it’s gone now! 😀

Funnily enough, Von, it was Melbourne’s Freecycle group I signed up with, and that’s where I got rid of the lounge suite – what a wonderful idea that is! 🙂 In a fit of desperation I typed “get rid of furniture melbourne” in Google … and that’s what it came up with 😉

Now all the lounge and dining room is free again, I feel as though as I have more head space again for stitching, and life in general – I know that sounds crazy, but I was feeling very cluttered and overwhelmed in every sense of the word … I feel ready to get moving again, and back into the swing of things 🙂 Just a shame I have to work again now as well 😉

Fraze also just paid me the balance of money he still owed me, and that was a huge relief too (for both of us) … and this Saturday I’m having my first ‘public unveiling’ of my flat to some fellow bloggers and friends – Gina and Sharon are coming round for a get-together with Mum and I to drool over stash and have a chat, and I’m really looking forward to it 😀 So, yeah, life is definitely good 😀

Now I’d better get motoring as I’ve got to get ready for work (it took me 4 hours just to read new emails at work yesterday yikes).

Before I do that, though … a message to anyone who’s reading that’s a member of the SBEBB – I’ve pulled out of the group to give someone else a chance to participate. I was going to stay in until the Redwork Exchange was completed, but due to an admin error it’s already been cancelled, and it seems daft to reapply just for the one exchange. I’ll keep an eye on everyone’s blogs to see the exchanges rolling in … but I just wanted to say “it’s been fun, and I’ve really enjoyed the exchanges I’ve been involved in”, but seeing as I’d only be doing an exchange once every 3-6 months now, it was best that I stepped down. I probably keep more up-to-date with everyone’s blog than on the BB, so at least I can still keep in touch with everything that’s happening 🙂 And I’ll look at joining in with some of the exchanges on the Robin’s Nest BB to keep my hand in 🙂

Also, to those of you from the Friends Gather BB … I was very saddened to hear of the closing of the BB without being able to say “farewell” (I couldn’t get in when I got back from Hong Kong, so I presume it’s all closed up already) … again, I just want to say to any members who are reading, that I loved being part of that community, and there were some wonderful ideas and groups for broadening my stitching horizons, as well as some wonderful people there – I will most definitely miss that BB most of all.

The one thing I especially loved was the monthly Christmas Ornament SAL – and this is something I’d like to continue myself in the future. I loved KarenV’s idea to choose a designer each month, then choose an ornament by that designer – it opened my eyes to designers I hadn’t considered before, and I loved some of the stitched choices once I’d completed them. I think I’ll continue to do this over the coming year and beyond … I’ll continue with the list of designers we’d had on the BB, then I guess it’ll be time to sit down and look at my wishlist of ornies and make my own list up 🙂

Rightio, I definitely have to run now … have a great week everyone – hopefully I’ll be catching up on blog reading again soon (I’m behind again since Hong Kong oops).

No stitching to report this morning, as it’s all been shown already … later today I’ll be working on Vash’s RR piece, which will be a challenge as it’s all stitched the opposite way to me – I’ve never had to change the direction of my XS’es so that’ll be a first for me. It’s mounted on the scroll bars, with the threads all in floss bags, so I’m ready to get going as soon as I’m home. I’ve also been reading through the chart for the Lavender Rose Sewing Case so I can get started with this SAL, then I need to get my 3 hours of Bordeaux Sampler done for the week … not to mention my exchanges … crikey!

Today I’m off to pick up two weeks worth of mail from the PO Box and to get two parcels in the mail. Also tossing up whether to take a side trip out to the Cat Protection Society, seeing as my tummy has now eased up – I managed to eat a big meal two nights ago, and retained everything in my body like it’s supposed to, and didn’t have to rush off to the loo whatsoever yesterday … I think I’m cured!! 😉

Anyway, I realised I’m outstanding with a couple of queries that were in comments recently, so here we go …

For Anita – regarding the pansy scissor fob … unfortunately it was from a class I took at La Chatelaine in Auckland, New Zealand, and isn’t available as a chart. It should be relatively easy to copy, though, if you enlarge the photo. It used Brazilian cast-on stitch for the petals, close fly stitch for the leaves, feather stitch for the ‘stems’, and a french or colonial knot in the centre of the pansy with a few straight stitches. The sides were done with palestrina knots. Sorry I can’t help more with that one.

For Heather – on the Teddy Santa Stocking, the beard is just done with straight stitches … very very simple, but very very effective. I just made sure I railroaded the stitches to get them to lay flat and even.

For Jenna/Erin – thanks heaps for the offer to pick up scissors for me 🙂 I’ll definitely stick my hand up if I need to, thanks ladies 😀

Could I also take this opportunity to thank everyone who reads and comments – it means a great deal to me … plus I’d like to welcome my newer readers – I’ll be popping over to return the favour very soon (I have 600+ unread feeds in my inbox, though, since I was away on holidays hmmm).

And I’ll finish off with a photo of a couple of HKG souvenirs I bought … just for a change, I found duckies!!! ROTFLMAO!!! Even though I have quite a few already, I can remember where I bought each and every one, and this little Nici duck will always remind me of my time in HKG … then I was walking out of the store and spied the mug with ducks on it, and just had to take that home too! My final purchase from the airport was this little Chinese tea set. I’d been eyeing a set up in a local store, but decided not to get it … then succumbed in the last few minutes before boarding our flight home – it’ll be nice to drink my green teas in. And as Mum said, it’s got dragons on it, so it’ll bring back memories of my holiday with her LOL.