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Well, I have to say my return home was marred by a splitting headache by the time I got home – serves me right by not taking any tablets when I got home last night, and it worsened during the night, so I had a bad sleep … finally got up at 6.30am and took some Nurofen, and went back to bed for 3 more hours, and it’s definitely taken the majority of the pain away. I know the reason for this one – tension of leaving home again … I felt fine when I left, and even no upsets at the airport, but during the flight the headache started coming on – not helped by trying not to shed a few tears at the end of the movie, King Kong LOL. Anyway, now I have to get back into my ‘normal’ life again … I have to say that the only downside to the trip was Dad’s lack of participation in Mum’s birthday, which made me really angry with him – but then again, that’s my Dad ‘to a T’ … but even though I know that, it still disappoints me for Mum’s sake. But, I got over it, and actually enjoyed having some ‘family time’ each work day evening while we all watched the UK Classic Millionaire on TV and tried to guess the answers – it became a nightly ritual that was enjoyed by all. We’ve never really done things as a family all together, so such smalls things as that give me a certain amount of pleasure, even though they’re relatively insignificant things.

As for the last day in Auckland, what can I say about it? Sheer magic!! 😀 I had the most wonderful day with Nicki and Kerry – it’s such a shame we didn’t live closer, as I’d love to have them as stitching buddies 🙂 Nicki and I met up at The Embroiderer in Birkenhead, and had the most wonderful time – we spent quite some time oohing and ahhing over the stitched models, stroking threads, and poring through charts … as well as chatting and getting to know each other a little bit – I was as nervous as heck beforehand, as I’m actually really shy meeting new people (most people don’t believe me, though!), but I felt really at ease with Nicki, and most of the time couldn’t work out where the “off” switch was and didn’t stop talking LOL. I really wish The Embroiderer was here in Melbourne, though – it’s my favourite LNS in the whole world (to date anyway, of all those I’ve physically visited) … if anyone is visiting Auckland, you really do have to take the time to pop in. Believe it or not, though, both Nicki and I were very disciplined (OK, Nicki a bit more than myself) … although I just bought 2 charts – one from the bargain bin for my charity squares, and a Prairie Schooler santa chart for Mum to stitch (plus I bought the DMC she needed from Spotlight before I flew home yesterday, along with a Clover cutter, and I gave her my embroidery scissors and scissor fob I had with me … I’d already bought over some cuts of aida for her in my suitcase, so now she’s pretty much set up for a wee while).

After our LNS fix we went back to Nicki’s place where I met Martin and we had a lovely lunch … and we went to town looking through Nicki’s stitching stash, WIP’s and the wonderful exhanges Nicki has received (which are all beautiful, BTW) … but the highlight for me was seeing Nicki’s WIP’s – the photos truly don’t do them justice! I fell in love heart and soul with The Token – it really does take your breath away … all stitched over-one in that sumptuous colour, it’s absolutely glorious! And the HAED’s are amazing too – they really take your breath away in real life.

We finally had to drag ourselves away, though, and we drove over to meet with Kerry and her gorgeous son Marcus … and yet again I got to drool over some beautiful stitching – it was wonderful to see Kerry’s framed pieces in the flesh, as well as seeing some of her new designs in progress stitched over-one (sorry ladies, I don’t think you’ll convert me to that style of stitching though … not for a while anyway LOL – although I did say to Mum I wanted to re-stitch my green tree frog over-one hmmm) … looking forward to seeing them growing over time 🙂 Then we had a cuppa and nattered on for ages about stitching, and blogs, and life in general … it was absolutely wonderful! I never thought to take photos of us, which is a bit dumb, and I only thought about it the next day – I was too busy chatting and enjoying the company that it didn’t cross my mind … oops …

So, I want to thank you Nicki and Kerry for a truly magical day – and a wonderful way to finish my time in Auckland, and the day just flew past … it was awesome to meet you both, and I hope it won’t be the last time 😀 {{hugs}}

Anyway, back to reality today – but I’m going to ‘start’ the day (it’s now 11am haha) with a bit of retail therapy where I don’t have to spend any money – I have a pile of mail that was due to arrive last week, including back orders from SB&B, my Melanie’s Exchange parcel, and Mystery Bits from SB&B (I succumbed and signed up now I’m back on shift work) … so I’m off to put petrol in the car and pick it all up, as well as getting in some grocery essentials as the fridge is totally bare. I’ll post piccies probably tomorrow, as I still have a few things to do today and may not get time (plus I’ll have to let the drool dry off first haha) … then tomorrow I’m back out to the airport again to go and pick up my freight boxes of ‘stuff’. It’s amazing – I only arrived last night, but here I am sitting at my computer desk looking out the side windows, and I don’t feel I’ve been anywhere already … was it all a dream? Nope, it definitely did happen, and I have 644 new unread emails to prove it … I don’t want to check the blog subscription figures yet … perhaps tomorrow … ;P

(Updated) … Well, I guess I’m not going anywhere for a while … just went outside to start the car up, and it’s not starting – I assume it’s the battery, although the power locking etc is still working … I guess a call to the RACV is in order – better get it fixed before the Post Office closes, or I’ll be upset haha … ho hum, it’s good to be back … hmmm ;P

Well, it’s my second to last night here before I wing my way back ‘across the ditch’ … it’s been an interesting day in more ways than one. I parcelled up 126kg (yikes!) of books and magazine ripouts etc, as well as my mat-cutter for freighting home – I get a substantial staff discount on freight, and managed to get a price that is ‘just above cost’ which is great. It means I’ll be spending Thursday at the airport again, though, going to Qantas Freight, then Customs, then Quarantine, then back to Qantas Freight again before picking up my 9 boxes from the freight terminal – then I have to lug 126kg up 3 floors to my little home … at least when they’re home I can pick through them and work out what I’m going to keep, and what I’m going to get rid of, with no time constraints like I have here. And I’ll hopefully get back a lot of the freight costs if I decide to sell on Ebay etc … maybe 😉

The other interesting thing that happened today is that I started feeling a tiny bit ‘homesick’ again … for Auckland – or, more truthfully, for the people I used to work with and socialise with. I went into the city again tonight and went to my old place of work (same airline I work for now) – it surprised me how much I enjoyed seeing everyone again, and it felt good to have so many people come up to me and give me hugs and tell me how much I’m missed … hence the little tug at the heartstrings for the ‘familiarity of home’. That doesn’t mean I want to move back again, though – I’m sure I’ll feel better again when I get back into the routines in Melbourne … but I think I should come over and visit more often to keep in touch with everyone. I went for drinks at the Shakespeare Tavern with three of my biggest pals (one made a special drive in for the occasion, as she works at the airport now, which is wonderful that she came in) – then two of them had to head home early due to ferries and family commitments, and Tara and I went to the Late Night Cafe in Ponsonby Road for dinner and coffees, which was fantastic. It was so nice to see all the familiar faces and have a gossip about people we all know. It’s now 1am, and I thought I’d quickly drop a line on the blog while I got chance before I hit the hay.

Mum finished her first little XS yesterday – but because the dial-up connection is so abysmal here, I’ve been ordered to take it home with me and put a photo on my blog when I get home haha. She’s so proud of her first attempt, and she will soon have her very first ornament to put on her ‘swag’ I brought from Melbourne for her ready for Christmas. I started my mail art exchange yesterday, but of course can’t show piccies until it’s received … and I won’t get chance to stitch now until I get home – hmmm I think my expectations for stitching here for definitely a bit high – I think Mum’s stitched more than I have! LOL.

Anyway, I’ll chat more when I get home in two days time – I can’t wait to get back into the blogs and see what everyone’s been up to … will have to dive back into everyone’s archives, it’s been so long since I’ve been reading properly oops …

Well, better get to sleep, as I have to be up semi-early to drive to the North Shore in the morning, where I’ll be getting to meet some more blogging pals face-to-face – I’m really looking forward to meeting Nicki and Kerry in the flesh 😀 Will have to give an update when I get home … especially as we’re meeting at one of my old favourite LNS there … and I want to buy a couple of things (NZ charts especially to remind me of home). Better get to sleep, anyway, as I’m getting cross-eyed, and probably not making much sense anymore …

I have to admit, it’s been an interesting time in different ways here – it’s surprising that Auckland doesn’t really feel like ‘home’ to me anymore, so I guess that means I’m definitely pretty settled in Melbourne. There have also been some unexpected adventures that I forgot to write about the other day …

On Wednesday Mum and I went into Auckland city (ie downtown), where I had an appointment with my old Physiotherapist, Guy. We caught the 10.10am train to give us plenty of time to get there, with some time to sit and have a coffee or do a bit of shopping … or so we thought! After about two stops, the Conductor came through to announce that we could only travel as far as Penrose, as there had been a body found by the tracks, and they’d stopped train traffic while they investigate … so we were sat for 3/4 hour waiting for a bus to turn up to take us into town – welcome back to Auckland, Anne, have a bit of excitement to start your holiday haha. Luckily I just made my appointment with 2 whole minutes to spare … although Guy said he would have fitted me in somehow anyway seeing as I’d come across the ditch for my appointment. Hopefully my neck is all fixed up again for another 12 months 🙂

Since then I have managed to retrieve my patience again with Dad – I think I was just upset that he made such a pig’s ear of Mum’s birthday. I’ve just been trying not to think about it, and chill out on the whole … and last night we went out for dinner to very dear friends of the family (they’re like my actual family, as we all emigrated together from England all those years ago, and we’ve all grown up together) – it was awesome to spend time with Auntie Heather and Uncle John, Glenn and Tracey and the kids Danial and Bradley – it felt like we haven’t been apart, we’re that close. Dad, as usual, didn’t go, but Mum and I had a ball and didn’t get home until almost midnight much to Dad’s surprise and disgust haha – I actually took some XS to do, but didn’t even pick it up, we were too busy chattering away all night. Our second adventure took place last night, though – while we were outside on the deck chatting by the gas furnace, the garage was broken into and we worked out John’s weedeater and leaf blower were both stolen … right from under our noses. We heard some small noises, thinking the cats had got into the garage, and the security light went on – but by the time John went round to investigate no-one was to be seen … it was only as we were leaving that we realised things had been stolen hmmm.

As for today, it’s back in the garage for me again … managed to clear out about 6 boxes worth of ‘stuff’ for the bin – there are all sorts of things like old bank statements etc that I’ve just been throwing out, as well as glassware etc all getting parcelled up for the Salvation Army. I think it’ll take at least another 6 trips over here to get it all finished haha. The priority is done, though – my XS stuff teehee. Oh well, at least Mum and Dad aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, so it can all just stay in storage – thank goodness 🙂

Rightio, back to it again as not much time left before I fly home – then I’m off tomorrow to catch up with my old workmates in Auckland city, then hopefully to meet up with Nicki and Kerry with a LNS fix at The Embroiderer on Tuesday … then it’s “Home James” on Wednesday probably – where did the time go??

Thanks for your lovely comments about my first ever biscornu – I have to admit, it was very hard giving it up ;P A couple of quick answers while I’m waiting for dinner to heat up tonight …

For Katrina – the DMC thread number is a figment of my imagination … my apologies, it’s actually an Anchor thread, and the colour is 1349 (oops … slight blonde moment there LOL). I just love the colours of this thread – especially the turquoise splashes in it 🙂

For Rani – unfortunately I’d ripped the pages out of the magazine, and I’ve checked each page but there’s absolutely no reference to the month/year it was from. I’ve scanned the full page of the design for you, if that helps. As you can see, though, I only used a marginal part of the design, so it might not be that helpful to you. Hopefully if you click on the piccie, it will be large enough for you to read the print … Actually, Blogger won’t load whatsoever, so try the link here (hopefully this will take you to a photo loaded into Photobucket … hopefully!).

For Sharon – sorry my NR wasn’t a commercial chart for you to buy 😦 You can probably work most of the design out by the stitched photo, though, if you’re wanting to recreate it 🙂

For Sharon in Melbourne – I haven’t forgotten you, gorgeous lady! I’ve just been in antisocial mode last week, and this week to a certain extent … If it’s OK, I’ll call you when I get back from NZ for us to catch up properly … I’ve saved all the L&L angel charts for you to look through and claim anything you want 🙂

And to anyone else I owe emails to … a thousand apologies!! I’m so very very behind in keeping up to date with pretty much everything at the moment, and struggling to play catch up 😦 June is another month, huh?

… After my venting yesterday, I had a good night’s sleep, and felt much more able to ignore the aggro of yesterday … I was so drained, I hit the hay at 8.30pm, so got a full 8 hours sleep last night yippee. I also called Mum and moaned at her for a full hour, so that also helped get it out of my system … much to my disgust she thought the stories were quite funny hmmm. I have to admit, some of the calls I get really ARE funny as they’re so downright outrageous … and I can usually smile through them … but my patience ran out yesterday after having two full weeks of the same aggressive attitude. And to top it all off, my first call of the day today was yet ANOTHER one – thankfully it was at the start of the day, and the rest of the day was a challenging time, but more mentally than emotionally, so I was quite perky at the end of the day (I just LOVE a good mental challenge!).

Thanks so much for all the positive comments – have to admit, that joke is definitely well suited to “any” working trade/group! I wish I could share the ‘actual’ stories with you, as you wouldn’t believe some of the rubbish we get … and some would give you a serious giggle!

Anyway, the good news is that I finally got my latest stitching in the mail tonight – both my Batman logo and my Biscornu exchange package will soon be in transit to their relevant destinations – yippee! That’s a huge relief … I don’t know whether I like this commitment stitching malarky!! (wow, there’s a bit of my English heritage coming out haha) – it’s really hard to juggle your time!

Only one more 6am shift left this week, then two 10am’s – I have Sunday and Monday off this week, but spending part of Sunday doing a charity walk for Breast Cancer. Work even donated us t-shirts to wear if we signed up … the entry fee is $24, but I think it’s a really worthy cause, and my stitching time that I’m giving up will be put to good use ;P Then on Monday I need to get my scissor fob ready for my StitchNZ exchange (if I haven’t managed to do it before then) … leaving my Mail Art exchange left – but that might be a challenge to be met in NZ while I’m visiting Mum (don’t think I’m going to have time to fit it in before I fly out, as that D-day is only 11 days away now). When I get home, I’m getting back into my rotation – regardless of what my schedule is like … I’m getting a serious urge to get back to my ‘normal’ stitching – so my rotation will look like this in order of stitching (the only thing I may change is to have two focus pieces – Dolphins Domain and Bordeaux Mystery Sampler):

• Focus piece (1) – Dolphins Domain
• Smalls/ornaments – last Christmas ornie RR, and Bunnies in my Garden SAL
• Charity blocks – Racing cars and Dragon
• Canvaswork – Jen’s Jems
• Focus piece (2) – Dolphins Domain or Bordeaux Mystery Sampler
• UFO (mystery) – yet to be decided
• Smalls/ornaments – Christmas ornie with WFBB, and Bunnies in my Garden or Strawberries So Faire
• Mirabilia/L&L – Winter Queen
• Focus piece (1) – Dolphins Domain
• Band Samplers – Bordeaux Mystery Sampler or Le Jardin Silk Sampler
• Finishing items – flat-fold (snowman) and Bunnies in my Garden (hopefully)
• Smalls/ornaments – Strawberries So Faire
• Focus piece (2) – Dolphins Domain or Bordeaux Mystery Sampler
• Kits & Classes – (undecided as yet)
• UFO’s (chosen) – Nature’s Resting Place
• Quilting/Stumpwork – (might use for extra SAL slot if necessary this rotation)
• Free choice – (undecided as yet)

… but the following joke pretty much sums up my feelings today after being yelled at for 3/4 hour over something totally outside my control – it was a pretty good day apart from that … but this stupid call had me working an hour past my finish time, and I really didn’t need it … so now I feel fed up and cranky (as well as being tired, which doesn’t help!) … I’m so sorry that I can’t put in writing a guarantee of something that is the procedure of a totally different company to me, that I don’t even work for … I’m sorry I don’t have a crystal ball to see what the future will hold tomorrow or next week … I’m sorry I don’t have a magic wand to ‘make everything better’ … I’m … just … plain … “sorry” 😦

I don’t know what it is anymore, but complaints these days are getting more scarey and more irrational to deal with – it’s like the crazed Postal worker syndrome has got out of control and become a communicable virus. We don’t give out surnames anymore due to personal safety issues – and it’s really frightening and nervewracking to have personal threats made against you. I just implore people out there to think twice before attacking a customer service representative – think about it rationally before making that attack … yes, I agree that there are valid issues that sometimes crop up, and we all make mistakes, and for that a customer service role means trying to fix things … but there are certain things that are outside our control – take, for example, the weather! My employers, nor other companies, are not directly responsible for weather problems – cyclones and hurricanes are not something that are planned just to upset everyone’s plans … so please don’t threaten us personally if things are disrupted – yes, we want to help you, and do our utmost to rearrange things for you, but we did not personally make this happen! And please don’t get upset at me personally when you need to take 22 people on transport that only has 20 spaces for someone to sit … 22 does not go into 20 spaces, no matter how hard you try, so there’s no point getting aggressive with me, I can’t conjure up 2 more spaces out of thin air! Can you tell how cranky I am tonight?? I’m really sorry, but I need to vent … it’s like there’s a full moon out, and has been out for nearly two weeks – I’m more than happy to help out and fix things that have gone wrong, but please be rational with things people!!

The reason I also apologise in advance to any of you, is that there are religious references in the following that may offend – it is in no way meant in offence, but rather as a joke – and I was reminded of this joke as I was driving home muttering to myself … and this is one way for me to vent and get it out of my system … I promise to get back in my box now and shut up … (but I’m sure anyone in customer service can relate to what I’m saying!)

LAST NIGHT WHILE I LAY SLEEPING,
I DIED OR SO IT SEEMS.
THEN I WENT TO HEAVEN
BUT IT WAS ONLY IN MY DREAMS

BUT IT SEEMS ST. PETER MET ME,
THERE AT THE PEARLY GATE.
HE SAID, “I MUST CHECK YOUR RECORD,
SO STAND RIGHT HERE AND WAIT.

I SEE WHERE YOU DRANK ALCOHOL,
AND SWORE QUITE OFTEN TOO.
FACT IS YOU’VE DONE MANY THINGS
THAT A GOOD PERSON SHOULDN’T DO.”

“WE CAN’T HAVE PEOPLE LIKE YOU UP HERE,
YOUR LIFE WAS FULL OF SIN.”
THEN HE READ THE LAST OF MY RECORD,
GRASPED MY HAND AND SAID, “COME ON IN.”

HE TOOK ME TO THE BIG BOSS,
“TAKE HIM AND PLEASE TREAT HIM WELL,
HE’S WORKED IN THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY, SIR.
HE’S HAD HIS SHARE OF HELL.”

I’ve been as busy as a beaver today, after wasting almost the entirety of yesterday! I spent almost the entire day searching for a round robin choice for my upcoming RR, and have got a couple of options, but nothing that jumps out and says “stitch me!”. It was nice to chat to Mum for a couple of hours as well, too, yesterday – I have to admit that because I spend the entire working day chained to a headset/phone, I abhor spending time on it when I get home … Mum’s pretty much the only exception to that – and she usually works out pretty quickly when I’m not in a chatty mood haha ;P

I managed to fit in a bit of laundry yesterday, but really did waste the entire day with nothing to show for it … so today I tried to make up for lost time! I spent the morning putting out my clothes on the clotheshorse, then sat down to chart out my Batman logo etc for my quilt block, and starting the stitching – didn’t get too far, but I’ll do a bit more tonight, and hope to have it finished and in the post for Wed/Thu this week. I also made a big saucepan full of stew, so that’ll keep me in evening meals for a couple of nights, and no more cooking needed for a while yippee!! I also popped up the road and bought some groceries, and did some photocopying at Officeworks. Now I’m back home again, and just waiting for the stew to finish off, then I’ll be back in the recliner again snuggled under a lap blanket, doing some more Batman stitching, and watching TV. Because my Batman logo is quite narrow, I decided to pad out the block slightly, and designed my own Batman outline in backstitching. I doubt that any of you will have any use for it, but feel free to use at your will – this was purely out of my own head, so there’s no breach of copyright etc 🙂

Rightio, off to get set up for stitching for the night – as you can see, I didn’t get much achieved this morning, so I need to get a bit more done tonight – mind you, I’m on 6am shifts all week this week, so I need to have an early night … perhaps 2 more hours of stitching will be it today …

Yep, today has been a great day for me, and the result is that one parcel is sitting in my work bag ready to go to the Post Office tomorrow – my Melanie’s Exchange from the SBEBB is going to be winging it’s way to it’s new home tomorrow … it has a fair way to travel, so I thought I’d send it straightaway. It feels great to have one of my deadlines met … the other one is “almost” there, but I forgot to buy the buttons for my biscornu (8-cornered tuffet pincushion), so I couldn’t put the finishing touches on it. I have to say it’s turned out to be HUGE … oops! Definitely bigger than I anticipated it would be, but it looks OK – hopefully the recipient won’t mind it being so huge! I certainly don’t have time to stitch another one! That means it will only take about 10 minutes to finish off once the buttons are bought, so that will be another parcel that can go out in the post probably on Monday – yippee!!

So, this weekend I’ll be concentrating on my Batman logo – with any luck I’ll get the whole thing finished over the weekend, as I have no other commitments for a change. That will be a huge sigh of relief you’ll be hearing when that final stitch goes into that quilt block! Anyway, it’s now after midnight, so time to call it a night … thanks for your quick responses on my decision about the Bordeaux Sampler fabric – I think you’ve all talked me into it, and I’m going to use what I already have. I think it helped to have the vote of confidence from you that it was a good decision 😀 Thanks heaps & heaps for that 😀

Hope you’re all having a good week … I managed to read a couple of blogs today, but haven’t been commenting – I refuse to mark any feeds as read until I’ve read them, though … and hopefully after this weekend and having the pressure taken off from my deadlines, I’ll be able to get back to blogging daily again 🙂

My last lot of visitors have moved on, and I have my wee flat to myself again – it was a wonderful wonderful visit with them, and so nice to see them again. If I wasn’t going back home again next month for a visit, I would have been extremely upset to see them go last night – they’re some of the closest family friends we have, and I’ve known Tracey since she was a toddler … it almost feels surreal that they were actually here in Melbourne, though. We ate waaaaay too much over the last two days, and managed to help keep the St Kilda cafe economy afloat, having breakfast and coffees out etc. I tuckered the poor things out on Friday, as we enjoyed our time in St Kilda then Queen Victoria Markets – we were supposed to go out for dinner to Lygon Street (the Italian quarter) at their request, but by the time dinner came they were too exhausted, which I totally understand … so we just ordered pizza and pasta for home delivery, and sat and had a couple of drinks and caught up.

Yesterday we indulged ourselves in an antipasto feast with items we’d bought from the markets – hummus, tzatziki, spiced capsicum dips, three different pesto/nut dips, Turkish pide breads and crackers, semi-dried tomatoes, caperberries, artichoke hearts, dolmades, and bell peppers stuffed with fetta cheese … it was glorious! Only 3 weeks to go, and I’ll be seeing them again, which will be wonderful.

They kindly brought my L&L charts over with them, so I can sort through them and work out which ones I want to put up for trade etc – I’ve decided I need to be realistic and get rid of those ones that I know I’ll never ever stitch, and most of the angels come into that category now.

I stayed away last night up the coast at a suburb/town called Seaford – where I enjoyed the company of friends Bernie and Ali from work … Ali out-did herself with dinner and we had cheese and crackers, salami and olives while supping white wine, then we had braised lamb shanks and mash for dinner, followed by a fresh plum tart, all washed down with a couple of bottles of red wine … we could hardly move after all of it, but it was a wonderful night of girlie chat and work gossip 🙂

I’ve come home to seeing 412 unread posts in my blog subscription list – I may have to just gloss over some posts and not comment on everything in order to catch up … I hate doing that, though. I do have to admit to reading everything, even if I won’t be commenting, but hopefully I’ll be able to catch up during the week by doing a bit each day. In the meantime, though, it’s time to get my laundry etc done – the weather is very wintry today with a lot of rain and grey cloud, and the clothes will take quite some time to dry, I think, so better hurry up and get cracking.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend 😀

I managed to stitch for an entire day again today, and got the front of my biscornu completed … I’m struggling with what to do on the back – I was originally going to echo a lot of the front design, but it’s taken me two days to get the front finished – and literally all day today – so I’m starting to change my mind, or I’ll never get it finished. Today is my last free day for stitching for a while, so I might have to leave it plain just to meet the deadline 😦

Back to work again tomorrow (it was a public holiday today for ANZAC Day), but it’s only a two-day week for me this week, as I’m taking Friday off work to pick Glenn & Tracey up from the airport – then on Saturday they head off somewhere else, and I head up the coast for the night … hence no stitching planned for the weekend. Then next week I only have Mon/Tue to work as a day shift worker, then it’s back to real shift work again. I have to admit, my body has loved having the regular bedtimes and hours, and mealtimes, but it won’t be long before it’s getting assaulted by weird hours again … my bank balance will be happy, though haha.

Seeing as I still haven’t got stitching piccies to share again, I’ll post yet another photo from my collection … there aren’t many left to share now, as my photo collection is back in NZ – it would be nice to have some of them here … perhaps I’ll have to pick up some more on my visit home next month 🙂 This photo is of one of my favourite flowers – frangipani, taken in Fiji a few years ago 🙂 This flower will always bring back special memories of my time in Fiji – I have a silk version of frangipani flowers on a tall stem in a glass vase here, as well as a painted plaster of paris type ornament (just one big flower) … one day I’ll eventually get around to stitching my Just Jude XS kit too … one day ;P