Well, true to form, I’ve been lounging around in my PJ equivalent all day – trackpants and PJ top … and I’ve been stitching merrily away on my Cottage Etui. Here’s a sneak preview of how far along I am so far … I’m pretty confident that I’ll get all the pieces finished by the end of tomorrow that I want to (I’m not bothering about getting the rooftop stitched yet – but if I get time before I fly out, I’ll try to start).
While stitching the Etui, it also reminded me that I haven’t shown you my latest stash purchases yet either – as soon as I took them out of the envelope, my Cottage Etui threads went straight onto one of them. Monique makes the most gorgeous threadholders, and I truly adore them! Small enough to be super portable, and no thread snags … plus they look so darned cute!!! 😀 What’s betting a certain senior citizen who will be visiting in May will try to snaffle one of them for herself??? haha.
I also forgot to show your healthy spoils from a morning trip to Paddy’s Market in Flemington last weekend (before my friends arrived). Lisa has bought a juicer and we’ve been having fresh fruit and vege juices every morning this last week … this is just a small sample of what is residing in our kitchen right now … boxes and boxes and lovely fruit and vege (some will be juiced and frozen).
Lovely peaches, with a tray of nectarines hiding underneath … plus boxes of pears, apples and oranges.
There is also a box full of Tahitian limes (just perfect for the bottles of Corona in the fridge), and melons galore, not to mention the pile of pumpkins and butternuts hiding underneath!
And this one is for Mum … a box of Australian feijoas (which I’m sorry to say are really tiny and picked well before they are ripe, so they’re a bit disappointing … I really miss our feijoa tree from home – poor Mum has so many she doesn’t know what to do with them, and she keeps making me jealous talking about them!).
Rightio, my dinner has finished nuking in the microwave, so it’s time to head back to my stitching position for the evening stitch-a-thon 🙂
I’ve been really tired in the evenings this week, so haven’t been game to tackle my CA Wells project … instead it’s taken me three whole nights to finish off The Sampler Lady by LHN. Now the cooler weather has started to arrive, she’s been well overdue have her blouse put on. At one stage, though, she looked like the Venus de Milo in reverse, with only half a sleeve done. (Sorry for the bad photos – I might try to take better ones at the weekend, as I’ve taken these without much natural light coming in!)
“The Sampler Lady” by Little House Needleworks
Stitched on 32ct Lambswool linen
using recommended threads (Crescent Colours and DMC)
but I changed the thread spools by using a satin stitch
for the cotton instead of cross stitch to make it more realistic
I haven’t been online at all really this week – wish I could say I’ve been stitching my little heart out instead, but life has just gotten in the way (mainly work life). Mind you, it was really good to spend a couple of hours last night getting The Sampler Lady finished – it was the perfect end to a long and rigorous day spent writing up training procedures for a new product being launched.
Before I started stitching, however, I spent an hour on the phone to iinet to finally get a home ADSL broadband account set up and active … no longer will I have to rely on my little mobile internet connection (I’ve been having a few dramas with the providers of late ho-hum), but once we actually get the router connected, we can have wireless internet around the flat woohoo!!! 😀
Anyway, time to head to work, so I’d better run!! I may not get online again this weekend, as I’m earmarked the entire weekend for sitting in my stitching chair, and catching up on taped TV programmes, while stitching my heart out on CA Wells’ Cottage Etui … less than 2 weeks left to go for the class now and barely started! Oops …
I can’t believe how much I managed to cram into one day yesterday … it’s most unlike me, as I’m the Queen of time wasting at the weekends!! First up I decided to get the garage tidied up and out of the way, and I was surprised I managed to complete the entire thing in less than 2 hours woohoo (well, apart from Lisa’s futon mattress that I can’t move on my own)! That means we can finally park one of the cars in there, and we won’t get told off for hogging more than one carspace!
Next up, my downstairs neighbour (70 yr old Barbara) hollered out that she had finished with the laundry, so I could get my washing done early yay – once I’d filled the machine to capacity and set it going, I came back upstairs and spoke to Mum on the phone for 2 hours … minus 15 minutes when I ran back downstairs to put the washing out on the line and put the last few towels in to wash.
After chatting to Mum I cooked up a pot of Hearty Minestrone Soup from a recent Weight Watchers cookbook ready for lunches, followed by the making of a low-calorie orange and mango jelly, and a vanilla blancmange … just that word “blancmange” makes me go weak at the knees and start salivating!! You can tell I’m actually a Brit by birth, as you can’t buy blancmange over here (although come to think of it, you can probably get it in the UK import shops, I’ll have to check it out!) … this batch is from a previous donation from my Aunt in the UK, and I’ve never got around to making it. Well, yesterday I made my very first blancmange, and couldn’t wait to sink my spoon into it after it set … yummo! The great thing about WW is that I can still eat these things in moderation if I get the urge, and just work it into the daily points total … although that’s also one reason for making the soup, ‘cos it’s very very low in points but very filling – blancmange and soup, the perfect balance! As of yesterday it’s ‘that time of the month’ when I get some serious sweet cravings, so I also figure eating blancmange is better than eating a big block of chocolate or packet of Tim Tams!! 😉
Here’s a photo of the soup simmering (dunno why I took a photo really) – but no photo of the blancmange, as it didn’t sit still long enough in one piece to get one haha.
I can’t believe what a fantastic day I had yesterday – I’m LOVING this weekend, and LOVING having energy again after feeling so crappy for so long … I feel as though I had a new lease of life yesterday 🙂
The next job I tackled was to glue together 5 Christmas ornies just sitting ready to be finished (they were already laced onto the mattboard etc) – they’re currently sitting under a pile of books after drying overnight and just have to have cording added (which might be a while yet before I do that). Then I cut up strips of calico and neatened the edges with the overlocker, ready to stitch onto the edges of my CA Wells project (there is only about 1-2 cm space at each edge, and I can’t stitch in hand), plus I made quite a few more strips ready for other kitted up projects that I can’t wait to start.
Before I started my stitching for the night, though, I finally did the finishing of two needlerolls that were just waiting to be ribboned and stuffed … and they are now sitting here in all their finished glory 🙂
“Summer Solstice Needleroll” by Eventide Designs Stitched on 28ct hand-dyed Dried Thyme Jobelan with recommended threads but changed the months to be Dec-Jan-Feb to be in line with the southern hemisphere seasons
“Snow Fall Roll” by Shepherd’s Bush (kit)
Feeling the best I’ve felt in months, I also brought out a teeny tiny pinkeep (about 2″ in width) that I meant to finish for Becky last year (!!), and finally did the finishing … originally this was designed to be a scissor fob, but then I changed my mind once I read Becky adores pinkeeps. Even if I say so myself, it looks really cute! I still have a needlebook to finish yet to go with it, so it won’t be posted for a while yet … but at least I can see it happening this year!! 😉
After all that activity, I finally sat down in my stitching chair, switched off the goggle box, and cranked open a talking book for a couple of hours (The Twelfth Card by Jeffery Deaver – love his books!) … and FINALLY put the first stitches into my Cottage Etui piece for the CA Wells class. OK, I have to admit, it’s not much so far, but at least I’ll have one thing that can be finish-finished in class if nothing else haha. This will eventually either be a scissor fob, or if I manage to get some more stitching done, it will be the pincushion/thimble pip ends. I must say I really do like the choice of Gloriana silk for this pice – very rich and scrummy colours in there, with even a hint of yummy blues 😉
And that concludes my wonderful day yesterday – today I’ve woken up quite tired, but still positive, and I’ve decided to sit and stitch a short while this morning on some more CA Wells before tackling any housework … on the first day of my cycle I always feel ‘blah’ so that seems like a perfect day to me yet again!
Well, in fact I can’t say my wishlist is growing much longer, as it’s rare that I find an “absolutely must have” design to add to my wishlist these days (probably more to do with the fact I’m not out looking anymore, rather than not actually liking many haha), but I have to say Sampler Cove have been tempting me more and more these days … I finally succumbed and added the following two goodies to my wishlist – aren’t they great? And the Rhapsody in Red designs still have a couple more goodies yet to come to make up a gorgeous set of stitching accessories (including a bag to carry them in) … cool, or what? And the design Spanish Bleu is just scrummy (perhaps more ‘cos it’s blue!!).
Of course I absolutely ADORE the new threadpack design “My Needle’s Work” from LHN that is an absolute MUST have
Not to mention the recent tea/coffee designs (already on the wishlist, but I felt like sharing)
Not to mention the new designs from With My Needle as well …
Plus I love this older design – which has been tentatively suggested for a friendship round robin at some stage
And talking of older designs, here are a couple more by With My Needle that I really like:
Hmmm, perhaps there is just no hope for me! 😉
* * * * * * * * * *
As for the non-stitching side of me, my latest challenge is to get fitter and lose weight, and 4 weeks ago I joined Weight Watchers again. The diet has been a bit tough while being so sick of late, but I had my weigh-in yesterday and over the last month I’ve lost a total of 2.4kg, so I’m pretty thrilled with that.
I’ve been getting up early every morning this week and walking on the beachfront for 30-40 minutes each day – this morning I reached the beach and the heavens started to open … my thought process was: hmmm, I have a couple of choices – 1) go home and pick up my raincoat, but then I know I’ll never leave home again, and by the time I get home I’ll be a drowned rat anyway … or 2) just keep on walking, come home like a drowned rat, but at least a drowned rat who’s had a good exercise session! Well, I chose the latter, and I have to admit I think I was a bit mental!!! haha. Drowned rat is a total understatement – I popped into Coles on the way home for some grocery items and left little puddles everywhere … I don’t remember ever being that drenched … but I have to admit I felt really good for doing it!! 😀
And on that note, it’s time to hit the hay as I have a big weekend on this weekend … housework and clearing out the garage so we can get the car in, plus starting my CA Wells pieces – not necessarily in that order! 😉
I managed to take a photo of the finished needleroll that I stitched for Karen at The Stitching Post as a model for display – here it is all finished up as an actual needleroll, before I drove it over to Karen on Saturday.
“Shepherd’s Roll” by Shepherd’s Bush (kit)
I had a good time visiting with my best friend yesterday … although I have to admit those kids are enough to make you want to get your tubes tied! If I was living with that day in/day out, I’d need to be admitted to a lunatic asylum after a week!! To say they’re a handful is a true understatement … even my Mum, who has the patience of a saint where kids are concerned, would be ready to throttle Orion by the end of the night! Brenda and Nigel are already at breaking point after Athena managed to slam the sliding door shut while in ‘locked’ mode and broke the lock, meaning they now have to replace the entire door and doorframe, as it’s an older model and the new locks don’t fit. Can everyone say “not happy, Jan!!!”? – that’s a much politer version of what actually was being said and thought last night haha.
Anyway, even with the stresses of the night, it was still nice to see them again, especially wee Jayden the youngest fella, he stole my heart with his big cheesy grin every time he saw me -then he came running up to me at full speed and flung his arms around my legs for a cuddle before heading off to bed. He’s a real sweetie! I must admit, though, it was nice to have some ‘adult time’ after 8pm as we settled down to relax in front of a DVD … which means I managed to get a reasonable amount of stitching done too! I also gave Vicki her stitched gift (you may remember the Calico Crossroads quilted wallhanging I finished before Christmas), and she really liked it a lot. I also got a belated birthday gift of some scrummy Nelson ice wine and local Extra Virgin olive oil from Nelson as well … all I need now is some Dukkah and I’m set! 😉
Here’s a very poor photo of the whole family as we were settling down to a yummy pork roast dinner – I couldn’t get a decent photo of everyone in the twilight, so I gave up and this was the best of a bad bunch!
As for the stitching, in the end I opted to take a project already started instead of starting yet another new one – I took Lanarte’s Seahorse Collage with me, and got quite a bit done. Then I sat in front of the goggle box again this morning while watching Series 3 of Black Adder followed by Dante’s Peak, and managed to put the final stitches into this piece.
“Seahorse Collage” by Lanarte (from Sea Life booklet)
Stitched on 32ct white Belfast linen
with DMC threads
That might be the last finish for the month, although yesterday I also managed to finish the hemstitching on my Snow Fall needleroll, so there will be a photo of that showing very very soon – just need to whizz up the seam and stuff it! 🙂
Before I forget … I have to say I saw the largest spider I’ve ever seen in my entire life when I got home at midnight last night! No word of a lie, the leg span would have gone from the tips of my middle finger down the entire length to the base of my palm … I nearly died on the spot!! As I parked my car I started walking over the grass to the path, and it was sitting on the grass in all its ugly glory – it had a big sac body as well, and its legs could have been half the width of my little finger. I opted to turn around and move my car quick smart! But it was so big, I was too scared to get up close to spray it … instead I ran for the safety of my little flat very quickly!!! I just hope I don’t run into it again any time soon … either that or I hope like hell it’s a fake rubber one that the obnoxious kids downstairs left outside, and it’s not real at all – they’re always leaving bikes etc in the driveway where we’re supposed to be parking our cars 😦
Rightio, on that note, time to toddle off again and go food shopping ready for the upcoming week … time to get back into normal eating habits again! 🙂
My needles were given a rest, aside from putting a handful of stitches into Lanarte’s Sea Life WIP from quite some time ago (which means I’m now approx halfway through finishing the first design) – it’s hardly worth taking a photo, so instead I’ll share the stash bounty I came home with from a visit to Karen at The Stitching Post … as always, it was a wonderful flying visit (but not so ‘flying’ that I couldn’t come home with a bag full of goodies haha). Here are my spoils (I can’t be bothered laying them out to take a photo, so here are some from my wishlist album etc):
Chatelaine – Mini Mandalas II; Nantucket Violet Basket & Stitcher’s Toys
Country Cottage Needleworks – Cherry Hill
Little House Needleworks – Schoolgirl Lessons; Blossoms & Blackbirds; Home of a Needleworker (too!)
Just Nan – When Barnabee Met Bella (biscornu)
I also have the pleasure of having the wee Bella bee on loan while I do the stitching and finishing as a shop model for Karen – it is really cute in real life, and it will be lovely to see it all finished.
The other stash hasn’t arrived yet, and that is a computer download chart direct from Martina at Chatelaine – Mermaid Box and treasures … I couldn’t wait for this one to come out as a printed chart, and I’ve been in love with this ever since I first lay eyes on it, so soon it will be mine, all mine 🙂
Lucky last, Mum asked me to order some Flossaway bags etc for her from the US, so I placed a small ‘extra’ order at the same time from Needlecraft Corner for the following (the Christmas ones are for both Mum and I to enjoy) with my birthday discount:
The Cat’s Whiskers – Happy Holidays
The Sweetheart Tree – Queens Strawberry fob; Rhodes Butterfly fob; Blackberry fob
The Trilogy – Ornamentology
CCN – Sunflower Sampler
JBW Designs – Christmas Keepsakes II
Rightio, time to race, as I need to do a quick spot of tidying up before heading to the other side of Sydney to see my best friend – I didn’t make it out there yesterday as the drive to the Stitching Post tired me out (the final stages of my bugs, I think, is that I tire really quickly still, and I could hardly keep my eyes open when I got home). Then I need to kit up something relatively easy to stitch to take with me … I’m tossing up between the following (oh decisions, decisions!):
I think my needles are possessed!! I can’t believe that I have yet another finish this week – I’ve been superglued to my stitching chair the last two days, and I’ve loved every single minute of it! I had a hair appointment today to get my hair cut and coloured by a work colleague’s sister-in-law, and I almost cancelled due to feeling unwell during the week, but I’m glad I didn’t as I felt a fair bit better today … and I’m now sporting a new hairdo just past shoulder length – after not cutting my hair for almost 6 months, it was really ratty so we had a radical chop done, and I love it! Just what the doctor ordered for cheering me up! 🙂
It also means by feeling better I should be able to drive over to Brenda and Nigel’s over the next two days to see my very best friend and her three children (one of whom I haven’t met yet), plus her Mum, as they’re over visiting from New Zealand. It will be really wonderful to see her again, as I haven’t seen her for about 3 years now.
Rightio, on to my latest finish – this has taken me a full two days to stitch, which really surprised me … thanks mainly to all the many colour changes and over-one stitched faces I think (my heart sank when I saw all the over-one stitching to be done, ho-hum). I’ve taken a couple of close-ups of the little frogs sitting in the cauldron, as well as the wacky hairdo in Kreinik braid – the colours literally pop right off the fabric, I just love the brightness of it!
“Another Girls Night Out” by Just Nan
Stitched on 32ct Vintage linen by Wichelt
using recommended threads
As for what’s up next for stitching, I really don’t know … I’ve been eyeing another couple of LHN designs up over the last 24 hours, either that or Drawn Thread’s Autumn Arbor that I’m really keen to start … I’m just really really loving stitching from my stash right now, and don’t want to stop the rhythm! 🙂
Just wondering if anyone has a copy of the border chart for Summer Snapperland?
I’ve tried contacting Bent Creek via email a couple of times, and given up on a reply, where I’m trying to find a copy of the border chart. I really want to stitch Summer Snapperland quite soon, which will be a bit of a reminder of my move to “the beach” here in Sydney, but don’t want to start stitching until I know how the border will fit on the fabric etc.
If anyone has a copy, I’m happy to do a trade for it – just leave me a comment here, or drop me an email … it would be so much appreciated 🙂
I went back to the local GP today, and was MUCH more impressed with the doctor I saw today. I woke up feeling a bit dizzy this morning, a new symptom to add to the rest ho-hum … anyway after sitting for 1 1/2 hours in the waiting room at the medical centre everything got the better of me, and I was surprised to find a few tears escaping while sitting there. I think I’m just feeling generally ‘over it’ while struggling to get over these bugs. I felt more embarrassed than anything else by the time I saw the GP, but he definitely had a much better bedside manner than the woman GP I saw earlier in the week. As a new patient I was surprised she didn’t take a family history in general or take my blood pressure etc – I told her I had a small list of things to discuss with her, and her answer was “that’s not the way we do things here, we can only deal with the most important thing” hmmm.
Anyway, at least I have a medical certificate for these last two days, and the male GP has told me to come back to see him if I find I’m still having problems after Easter. I’ve picked up some herbal teas to help me to get fluids down me (at the GP’s suggestion), so fingers crossed my energy levels will pick up soon, and I can stop feeling sorry for myself!
The one great thing that being sick has done, is that it’s given me plenty of time for stitching – I’ve been stitching like a madwoman, and have finished another project – this is Bees scissors fob by Shepherd’s Bush … I replaced the WDW thread for the “Bees” word with a Stef Francis thread called Bluebell that KarenV gifted me with a while ago – I totally ADORE this colour thread, and it is soooooo pretty in real life! (Sorry about the blurry photo, but my hand kept shaking – I really need a tripod!!)
“Bees” scissors fob by Shepherd’s Bush
stitched on 32ct cream/antique white Belfast linen (can’t remember which!)
with DMC threads and Stef Francis “Bluebell” over-dyed floss
I actually should be stitching my CA Wells project pieces, but the terrible thing is that I have no desire whatsoever to stitch either of them – the projects don’t thrill me entirely, but also I need to concentrate on them both and I haven’t had the mental energy to do that for a while. Never mind, I guess I could still attend the class even if I don’t have any stitching done and learn how to put everything together … or fingers crossed, by the end of this weekend I’ll get my mental energy back and can make a start on the Cottage Etui.
In the meantime, it’s time to choose another fun stitching project for me to work on from my existing stash … I’ve been totally LOVING stitching this week and seeing all these finishes … I can’t get enough of it! Without my stitching I think I would have been in tears days ago haha 😀
As promised a few days ago, here are my photos of recent finishes:
Winter Wonderland by Little House Needleworks
Stitched on 32ct Golden Harvest linen by Silkweaver
with recommended threads
Blueberries by Little House Needleworks & Crescent Colours
Stitched on 32ct cream Belfast linen
with recommended threads
Also, here is LHN’s Sampler Lady in all her topless work-in-progress glory … she’s still waiting for her blouse to be finished, the poor love – it’s a good job the weather’s still warm down here in Sydney!!! 😉
Next up is a photo for Mum of my wee $9.95 Frangipani tree in its pot on the balcony – as you can see it has some company in the form of fresh herbs … I just adore those blue pots!! No flowers on the frangipani yet, but a new leaf has grown, plus it’s a wee bit taller than when we first arrived. My other (first) Frangipani plant isn’t doing too well since having its top knocked off by Nigel and Brenda’s dog, but I live in hope it might perk up a bit more by next summer before I replace it with something else.
Lucky last is my ‘new’ smalls display in the new flat – complete with my Wessex sampler on the wall – this place is fantastic for all the wall hooks!!
And I’ll finish my post there. Since being sick I haven’t had chance to do housework for two weeks, but once caught up I’ll take piccies of the new abode now we’re almost 100% unpacked (aside from the boxes in my bedroom of ‘unimportant stuff’).
Talking of which, I ended up leaving work early yesterday ‘cos I felt grotty (I survived an entire 1 1/2 hours!), and am now on antibiotics for about 13 days compliments of a local GP … fingers crossed it does the trick! 🙂
The other thing I haven’t spoken about is the excruciating heel pain I’ve been having over the last few months – it’s good to know my self-diagnosis was correct, and I have likely got plantar fascitis (spelling?). I’ve been applying ice packs and anti-inflammatories when it’s been really bad, and have since bought some orthotics for padding the heel that’ve been working a treat. Fingers crossed that my heel pains will soon be a thing of the past (or at least I won’t be woken up in the middle of the night from the throbbing pain!!).
Rightio, time to go chill out again … I’m doing my online things in short bursts …
Feather Stitching 