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

Yay, I have a car that locks!

Anne S

What a relief that is to finally have a car with locking functionality once again – my heart’s been skipping a beat every time I walk out of the apartment block and the work carpark to see if my car is still there!

Anyhoo, a bit of tweaking with the electrics, a major service overhaul with 2 new ‘belts’ and a CV cover, and 4 brand spanking new tyres … and $1100 later … and my car is like a new model all over again.  I still think it’s a heap of scrap metal, but at least it’s more pleasurable to drive now! LOL.

The joy of being stuck at the mechanics 1 1/2 hours away from home, and being in the middle of an industrial area, means nothing to do but sit on a chair in the corner of a wee office, listen to an audiobook until the iPod battery runs out, and do a teensy bit of stitching … doesn’t get much better than that really (OK, if we’re to be totally truthful, I guess sitting in my own stitching recliner in front of Supernatural on TV with a glass of vino to help keep down the internal humidity would be better … but hey, beggars can’t be choosers!).

I managed to quickly dive into the Craft Depot at Pennant Hills seeing as I wasn’t very far away on the way home, and picked up a couple of fabrics … and lo and behold the weather may change tomorrow, so expect snow and blizzards … I came out with a couple of finishing fabrics and not a single ONE was blue!!!  {{swoon}}

Fabric stash 02Apr09

Anyway, enough waffling … time to go sit in front of the TV and catch up on this week’s programmes with that well-earned glass of vino … I’ll leave you with today’s tiny bit of stitching effort (sorry, I forgot to use the flash, so it’s a crappy dark photo that even the editing software doesn’t want to play with!). 

Joy to the World WIP 02Apr09

In fact, before I sit in front of the TV I think I’ll drag out my EGA Correspondence class booklets – I’m getting a serious urge to start something that is “new” and that will teach me something … or perhaps I should drag out one of my old WIP’s with challenging stitches on them … hmmm, decisions, decisions … 😉

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

I’m officially on holiday now …

Anne S

I walked in the door at 11.30pm tonight from work … I won’t get started with the story of that … let’s just say I’ve been taking on a lot more of the project I’ve been working on due to the absence of the Manager, and I’ll say no more than that! 

Anyway, I’m now officially on annual leave (although I’ve said to one of the big, big managers during a 10pm phone call tonight (!!) that I’ll go in for a couple of hours on Saturday to deal with some outstanding issues from the USA) … 

I may/may not be online after the weekend, as I’ll be leaving my flatmate to cope without me as I’ll be heading offshore for a week or so in sunny Auckland, New Zealand …

Right now, I’d better head off to bed as it’s after midnight now, and I have to be up at 6am to drive my car 1 1/2 hours away to my mechanic to spend some more money on that heap of scrap metal … ho-hum 😦

I just have to keep reminding myself, I’M ON HOLIDAY … WOOHOO!!! 😀

Ackworth Friendship Book, Cross Stitch, Food, Quaker, Round Robin, Round Robins, With My Needle, Works in Progress

A bit of Quaker

Anne S

I finally managed to put the final stitches into Part 2 of my Quaker RR:

Quaker RR Part 2

And here’s a comparison of mine and Nickis pieces hanging out together this evening – this photo is quite deceiving, as Nicki’s piece is quite a bit smaller than mine, I should take a photo of them side by side properly so you can see the difference, it’s awesome!:

Quaker RR twins

Then I started part 3, which is part 1 of 2 that I’m stitching on Nicki’s RR.  I have to admit I struggled a bit stitching this tonight, as the fabric’s high count is really hard to see … thank goodness for my Ott-Lite, or I don’t think I would be attempting it!  It will look really pretty once it’s stitched, though … it just might take me a bit longer than normal to stitch it! 😉

Nicki's Quaker RR 1

The highlight for me this weekend was having my ex-flatmate up to stay for the night in Sydney.  She flew off overseas this morning, but before she went we managed to have a great day out yesterday.  We drove out to Bondi Junction, which is a first for me – the Westfield shopping centre out there is awesome!  I totally fell in love with Norton St Grocers, and filled my basket up with wonderful fresh and healthy produce … thankfully my basket was too full by the time we came across the deli section, so I couldn’t stock up on non-healthy options … but, I’ll be back LOL.

Tonight I really enjoyed the fresh figs I’d bought yesterday … I can’t believe the difference between dried and fresh figs – fresh figs rock!!! 😀

Fresh figs

Cross Stitch, Stash, Wishlist

Stash arriving any day now …

Anne S

I received my receipt in the mail today from Needlecraft Corner, which means my parcel should be arriving any day now!  Sorry Mum it was too late to add some Floss-away bags for you 😦

Here’s the list of goodies coming to Australia very very soon from my personal birthday splurge (from left to right, top to bottom):

  1. January Box & finishing Kit – Cherished Stitches
  2. Cirque des Carreaux – Ink Circles
  3. Scissors By Any Other Name – The Cat’s Whiskers
  4. Victorian Memories Chaise Lounge – The Cat’s Whiskers
  5. Rhapsody in Red part 3 – Sampler Cove
  6. Rhapsody in Red part 4 – Sampler Cove
  7. Rhapsody in Red part 2 – Sampler Cove
  8. Quaker Motif Sewing Kit – Fancy Work

Cherished Stitches-January Box Ink Circles-cirque des carreaux The Cat's Whiskers-Scissors by any other name The Cats Whiskers-Victorian Memories Chaise Lounge sampler cove-rhapsody in red part 3 Sampler Cove-Rhapsody in Red 4 Sampler Cove-Rhapsody in Red 2 Fancy Work-Quaker_Motif_Sewing_Kit 

Along with the charts, I also have the following on their way:

  1. 1 skein of Gloriana silk (Grannie Smith Green)
  2. 1 spool of Kreinik #4 Braid (684)
  3. 8 packets of Mill Hill beads
  4. 3 packets of Mill Hill treasures
  5. Juniper WDW Felt (for WMN’s Quaker Turtles)
  6. 1 skein of WDW #5 perle cotton
    Phew!! 😀

Of course there’s still plenty more still on the wishlist – and just to prove a stitcher can never truly have enough stash, I’ve recently added the following beauties to the list.  Thank goodness there wasn’t too much to tempt me at Nashville this year!!  And those things that did tempt me are already on their way here (The Cat’s Whiskers and Cherished Stitches pieces above) … although I wish I’d known about the latest two LHN designs below when I’d placed my order, or they would have been smack bang on the order list too! … oh well, the year is young ;P

Once again from left to right, top to bottom, the details are:

  1. Travelling Stitcher – LHN
  2. Sunflower Inn – LHN (I ADORE this one!)
  3. It’s Cold Outside – Blue Ribbon Designs
  4. She Sells Seashells – CCN
  5. Lavender Blossoms Biscornu – Sweetheart Tree
  6. Lavender Blossoms Fob – Sweetheart Tree
  7. Cupcakes Glorious Cupcakes – The Cat’s Whiskers
  8. Simply Christmas Tree – Whispered by the Wind
  9. Beach Cottage – CCN
  10. Bayside Bungalows – CCN
  11. Fruits of the Harvest – The Cat’s Whiskers

LHN-Traveling Stitcher LHN-Sunflower Inn Blue Ribbon Designs-It's Cold Outside CCN-She Sells Seashells Sweetheart Tree-Lavender Blossoms Biscornu Sweetheart Tree-Lavender Blossoms Fob The Cats Whiskers-Cupcakes Glorious Cupcakes Whispered by the Wind-Simply Christmas Tree CCN-Beach Cottage CCN-Bayside Bungalows The Cat's Whiskers-Fruits of the Harvest

Yep, there’s no hope for me!! 😛

And seeing as I have no new stitching to show off yet (although I’m about halfway through my March ornie for the Xmas ornie challenge), I thought you might enjoy the eye candy as much as I did 😀

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, supernatural

The BIG News!!!

Anne S

Well, it’s been a whirlwind of stress, long hours, and low emotions over the last month or so at work … but it all came to a head in a good way this week … and the news was deserving of a bottle of bubbly being cracked open tonight!!

champagne

My lovely flatmate had the day off work today, so she spent the day shopping her little heart out, then came home and cooked us a wonderful roast beef dinner, and bought a celebratory bottle of Jansz sparkling wine to officially celebrate my news …

And the news is …

that I have finally been given a permanent job here in Sydney!!!

While at times over the last two months I have doubted my sanity in actually doing this job, I am on the whole happier in Sydney than I was in Melbourne – even though I have made some close friendships in Melbourne, Sydney sees me feeling more “settled” … I’m absolutely thrilled and over the moon that I don’t have it hanging over my head anymore that I may have to go through the drama of moving all over again (or looking for another job just to stay in Sydney).

On another positive, I love living with my new flatmate – even though I’m 15 years her senior, we have a lot in common … we enjoy a glass of wine every now and then on a work night evening, and are both HUGE Supernatural fans.  Our favourite pastime when we’re actually home is to sit in front of the TV with a bottle of wine, or glass of something else, with a Supernatural DVD on TV … I’m now stitching in the lounge again and loving it (when I get chance to stitch), rather than sitting in my bedroom and stitching in there.  We are getting out and about socially a lot more, and mixing with more and more people from work socially, so all-in-all life is good, even with all the stresses and dramas of work 😀

This last weekend we did 8 hours at work on Saturday, then came home and showered (well I did, ‘cos I was the lucky one in the shower first – poor Katie was in the shower when we had a town-wide power/gas blackout so the poor thing didn’t last in there long in the freezing cold).  It was interesting putting make-up on in the half-dark bathroom!  Anyway, I digress … we went to the Marconi Club out at Bossley Park to see  a Spanish play called the Open Couple – it was hilarious to watch.  A friend of ours knows the actors and band that perform in it, and we had a good night out.  Unfortunately there was a huge thunderstorm that killed their brand new Macbook with a power surge, so we were without subtitles for most of the first half, but the second half saw a new laptop arrive and we could follow the storyline properly.  It was a really fun show … we just might have to go to see it again so I can know what all the first half was about (although we’ll either have to fly to Brisbane or drive to Canberra to see it now)!!

fave-wallpaper-supernatural

Actually, talking of Supernatural … it’s absolutely killing Katie and I while we’re waiting for Supernatural to return to our TV screens.  All stupid Channel Ten can confirm is that it will return later in the year!!!  What the …?!!!!!  We only got as far as episode 8 (Wishful Thinking) before it stopped … and the US is already up to episode 15!!!  We’ve started discussing trying to find download copies somewhere on the ‘net so we can catch up – although we have a limited download quota, so it may not be an option.  I don’t think we can survive until “later in the year”!  In fact Katie and I are such hard-core fans, we’re off to the Convention here in Sydney next month … a huge, huge splurge, but it will be awesome to see the stars in the flesh.  (Note to self – remember to take bib for excessive drooling!!!)  We can’t wait!!  And Channel Ten, you are off the Christmas card list – Bah Humbug to you!! 😛

Anyway, that’s my news for now … it’s time now to hit the hay for the night.  Katie and I are off to Fernwood gym tomorrow night to ask about prices and class timetables etc, as we’re thinking of joining up together.  As we car pool to/from work, it will give us added motivation if we both go to the gym.  We started walking in the mornings a week or so ago, which was great … and knowing I now have a permanent job means I have a new-found spring in my step this afternoon!! 😀

Floss Tags, Gifts TO BE FIXED, scissor fobs, Stash

Murphy’s Law … and Belated Thanks

Anne S

Murphy’s Law (or Sod’s Law, whatever you want to call it) happens to fall at the most inopportune times!! I’ve been working my backside off big-time at work, doing some phenomenal hours and basically having no free time to relax and stitch or just vege out and catch up on some personal chores. So, I plan a day off work with a big list of “to-do’s” ready to be completed before day’s end … including my first chore of sending off my belated birthday thank you emails to those generous, kind souls who sent me exquisite and thoughtful gifts … so, what does Murphy’s Law do … ???

That’s right, Murphy (sod him) sends a power cut my way 5 minutes into the start of my day … cross all those things off my list that require power, hmmm. After finding out it wasn’t a general area outage, the real estate agent organised an electrician to come and check the place out – unfortunately he didn’t turn up at any of the three times he gave me, which means I ended up spending the entire day at home waiting for him … and that crossed off the list all those chores that needed me to leave home and go to the shops … {sigh}

At least he finally did show up in the early evening, but alas couldn’t find the culprit that caused the blackout. To make my day even better I called the contents insurance company mid-morning to see if I’d be covered if worst case scenario happened that we lost the food in our big freezer … only to find out that they hadn’t updated my new insured address from 1 year ago – they’d updated the mailing address, but not the insured address! So that was how I spent the first 3 hours of my day … you read that right, 3 HOURS … sorting that debacle out! Aaarghhhhh………. let’s just say my language deteriorated by the time I’d reached the 4th staff member in 3 hours!! 😉

Anyway, aside from a huge power outage that impacted the entire block on Saturday afternoon, touch wood we have had no problems since. I have, however, ended up having some more later than expected hours at work thanks to dramas that have cropped up at the end of the day. Bless my boss, though, she told me I could take a couple of hours off this afternoon to make up for it, which I excitedly used to complete some of those outstanding chores from last week!  Which means I’ve finally managed to send off the oustanding thank you emails!!!

So, on to the awesome gifts that I received while I’ve been offline this last month … (thank heavens for being able to post-date my Photo Hunt posts, or my blog would have been very bare over the last few weeks!!) – in the order they arrived on my ‘doorstep’, here they are in all their glory …

My first gift was a huge surprise from dearest, kind Cindy – I was expecting an envelope with a JCS ornie magazine in it, but when I opened up the envelope there were loads of goodies hiding in there. I have to admit to having a really bad week at work that week, and I had just lost my internet connection at home thanks to our modem dying, so when I opened up the envelope I sat in my car and cried, I was so overcome at Cindy’s generosity. It brightened up a really crappy week! Not only were there some exquisite charts off my wishlist, there was beautiful blue fabrics and not one but three stunning beaded scissor fobs. I have been collecting various scissors over the last few years and a good half of my collection are unadorned, so they will be looking very pretty once they’re all attached. Thanks so much again Cindy for your treasured gifts.  (I’ve included a separate photo of one of the fobs, as I realised I’d missed one out when I took the original photo!)

Cindy gift Feb09

Cindy's birthday gift Feb09 fob

Next to arrive was a gift from another wonderfully kind and beautiful online pal, KarenV – once again I was spoilt rotten, and was gifted with some beautiful threads and fabric, and yet another stunning beaded scissor fobs (have I already told you how exquisite my scissors are going to be looking soon?!!!). Thankfully Karen sent me an email to let me know she had arranged the scissor fob to be sent separately, as there was no note with it so it remained a bit of a mystery there for a while!). Karen, you are a dear, dear friend and I love everything that you sent! And that card is a corker, just look at those little duckies!! 😀

karenV's birthday gift Feb09

KarenV beaded scissor fob Feb09

The final overseas parcel to arrive was from another dear online friend Carol – Carol never fails to amaze me with her generosity to her online pals … and her gift is a real treasure. Once again, incredibly generous with not only some gorgeous fabric, but some awesome duckie buttons (how CUTE are they??), and my very first floss tag! I totally adore this little tag, and think I really must try to make some more of these for myself! I actually kit my projects up onto floss rings, so this will be used every week to hold my flosses as I stitch away. Once again, Carol, thank you so much for your beautiful gifts, I love everything!

CarolS's birthday gift Feb09

CarolS's birthday gift Feb09b

CarolS's birthday gift Feb09a

And last, but by no means least, I received an envelope from closer to home … I received an awesome canvaswork chart from my dear, dear friend Tannia. She knows my tastes so well, and chose the most perfect design, I just love it to death! Once again, you have touched me with your generosity and continued friendship, Tannia – you rock, girlfriend!!

Tannia's birthday gift Feb09

Thanks once again for all my lovely gifts, ladies – I feel truly blessed to know you, and you made my birthday very special indeed! I feel very humbled by your generosity, especially as I have been a missing AWOL for some time now online in many ways. Thank you, thank you, thank you {{hugs}}.  Once again, my humblest apologies for the delay in acknowledging your generous and special gifts!

I also had a little splurge earlier on in February, which I guess you could call a pre-birthday spend … I ordered a bunch of threads (but forgot to take a photo!) and some sale charts from a store that is closing down in the US, and following are the bunch of charts I received.

Stash Feb09 a

Stash Feb09 b

I also have another order coming from Needlecraft Corner, as an actual birthday splurge, seeing as I get a special birthday discount in February … however I have no idea when that’s arriving yet, due to some items being on back-order. Let’s just say I’m very excited about what I decided to buy … thankfully we’ve had some overtime at work (wow, paid work at the weekend for a change, usually I have to do all my weekend work gratis!!), so I’ve got a good outlet for that overtime money!! 😀

I also have some other news as well, but I’ll wait and do a separate post soon!!! 😀