Melbourne – Page 3 – Feather Stitching

McClelland Gallery & Sculpture Park

18 August, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

I keep forgetting to post my piccies from my afternoon’s excursion in Frankston’s McClelland Gallery & Sculpture Park about three weeks ago (I’ve had the photos uploaded and this sitting as a draft fora while) … I have to be honest I’m a very boring and traditional person where sculpture is concerned, and I obviously don’t have a contemporary artist’s bone in my body, ‘cos some of the stuff on display I found just plain ‘bizarre’ and definitely not ‘my’ idea of art. But I know the saying ‘each to their own’, and some of you may like some of these pieces, so I thought I’d share. If you are interested and want to see some more, you can check out their website via the link above, and they have a small slideshow happening on the home page covering some more of the pieces that I didn’t bother including below.

First up are a couple that I have to admit I really like (and I absolutely ADORE the large bronze male sculpture – he’s huge, and very very detailed – I just love him!):

This isn’t the best photo, with all the background clutter, but I wanted to show you the scale of him compared to my wee feathered friend in the foreground … in fact this duck must’ve realised I was a kindred spirit, as he came up onto land and followed me halfway round the lake quacking his little heart out, before he finally gave up and headed back into the water, bless him 😀

Here he is in a bit more detail

Now we move to the more ‘interesting’ exhibits – I like this one just because it stands out so much in the parkland with its bright whiteness, but still very bizarre … like a pile of huge larvae!

Ever wanted to know what to do with your old electric frying pan lids? Well, now you know …

I’m sorry, but this one just reminds me of someone’s intestines on display …

And this is just plain “what the?” to me … barbed wire shaped into a square … sorry, but it just does nothing for me (my apologies to the artist concerned)

In any case it’s a nice park to walk around – although there are warning signs for summer saying to be wary of snakes, so I guess I’ll never get Mum in there to look around (I have to admit, I was freaked out enough on my own seeing that sign even in the middle of winter!!).

I’ll finish with one more piece that I DO like … there are three pieces that are more along the line of the Greek sculptures … much more down my alley!! Here’s just one of them for you 😉

A more ‘general’ update on what’s happening around here will follow some time over the weekend … I’m not really in a blogging mood (and haven’t been for the last few weeks), but I’ll try to get something together over the next few days …

Quick drive-by

8 August, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

That seems to be all I do these days … pop on here for a quick update then sod off again for days on end!

Thanks for all the comments about my resident fur-monster. In fact he’s sitting right outside the computer room door meeowing his head off as I type this … I used to let him in, but he started hissing when I’d move the mouse etc, so I turfed him out, and I’ve kept him out ever since. I have to admit I’ve started using the water pistol on occasion, and it seems to be working a bit. He was trying to get on me while I was stitching last night (that’s a miracle in itself these days!!), and had his paws/claws digging into my shoulder … when I went to move his paws, his ears flattened back and the hissing started – well, he moved pretty damned quickly when the water pistol was picked up! He doesn’t seem to hold grudges, though, and came back again 5 minutes later to get my attention. He didn’t try to climb up, though, and just sat next to me so we spent a bit of time in civil peace 🙂

I’m still considering moving into a new place in November/December – but then again it depends on how I go with the housesitting over the next 3 months before I make my big decision. I’m thinking, though, of moving to somewhere like Mordialloc which is a bit further out of town but close to the beach again – rent is a bit cheaper, and my down time will still be in nice surroundings … food for thought, anyway …

Seeing as I still don’t have any stitching piccies etc to share, here are a few I took on my walk up Frankston beach in the freezing cold just over a week ago – don’t let the sunny sky fool you, it was only just starting to clear up, and the wind was strong and icy! I love the fishermen at the end of the pier in their winter gear 😀

Here was a bit of the local flora from my wander back to the car via the canal walkway:

Next time I’ll post some piccies of an sculpture park I went to later that same day … it’ll be some time before I post a progress piccie, so this’ll have to do for now 😛

OK, it’s time to head back to the lounge to see if Sean is going to play nice tonight – he’s in an extremely smoochy mood tonight and has hardly left me alone for 2 seconds … it’ll be interesting to see if he stays that way for the next hour while I sit and stitch and watch TV (crikey, that really IS a miracle, two stitching nights in one week, what IS the world coming to?? haha) 😉

Melbourne

Two sleeps left …

30 May, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

… and tonight Mum and I are having ‘time out’ 🙂 I knew today would be a write-off anyway due to my shift times, so we’ve reheated a couple of ‘mystery meals’ from the freezer LOL, and we’re finishing off by drinking red wine, and polishing off her birthday chocolate mud cake while watching House … such simple and enjoyable decadence! 😉 Mind you, it’s so cold in here tonight I’m personally sitting here in my work clothes, with my full-length dressing gown on, topped off with a warm scarf round my neck … I’m also getting very very tempted to go and drag out a winter hat as well, seeing as they haven’t been packed yet LOL.

I was chatting to Mum this morning about everything that has happened over the last six months or so … and that it’s lucky I’m such a strong person. We both agreed that really for anyone who had a less robust personality, it really could have different results. We commented that this sort of stuff is the sort that could send people suicidal – perhaps it sounds extreme, but the continued pile of negative issues that have happened really could have a lot worse effect on someone else and enough to send them ‘over the edge’. Mum reckons I take after her, being a tough cookie and battler herself … I’d have to agree! 😉

I noticed today that I’m still the only car parking in our street median strip … the 2nd night after the road works behind the building I noticed a few more cars parked alongside me – but when we returned to the car later in the day their windscreens had little additions on them … parking tickets under the wipers – all the cars except mine, of course, as I have that little piece of paper power sitting on my dashboard … bless you, Mr C! 😉

I’ve managed to get tomorrow off work, which is sooooo awesome, I’m really and truly thrilled, after last night’s fiasco with the car. It means we should be able to finish off everything planned, and even might get chance to pop out shopping in the late afternoon. I’ve found out through work I can get a salary sacrifice option for a laptop from Harvey Norman stores, which means I could spread the payments out over 3-6 months instead of having to save up the cash in advance … which means I have the potential to get an Unwired internet connection sooner rather than later … the sales guy I spoke to on the phone yesterday is suggesting I look at the Toshiba A200/K00 instead of the HP I wanted, so it will be interesting to see them both and work out what the repayments will be to see if it will be viable. No guarantees it will happen, but it’s worth checking out the options just in case … I might have to check out salary sacrifice options with cars as well, thanks Tannia – hadn’t thought about that! 😀

Rightio, time to get off here … I’m struggling to keep my eyes open, so time to call it a night me thinks!

Melbourne

Ding ding ding – Round 1 goes to Shackles in the blue corner!

24 May, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Today I was on the opposite end of a complaint call … geez it felt good! haha. By 2.40pm Mr Councilman still hadn’t phoned me back, and I had to leave home to head to work before 3pm, so I called them back … the operator tried reaching Mr C, only to apparently have him start screaming at her and saying he’d told me he’d call me back. My response was that I would no longer be on the home number, could you please give him my work number, but that wasn’t an option as apparently after abusing her, he’d hung up, and he was on the road. No problem, I said, in that case can you give me HIS direct number and I’ll call HIM, and if he wants to start abusing me he’s picked the wrong customer. I think she was a bit scared of the repercussions, but she gave his mobile number to me quite happily in fact and asked if I could just not call him straightaway. I was happy to agree, and when I hadn’t heard from him by 4.30pm, I called his mobile … and the fun began!

He was confused why I was calling from work and no longer on my home number … um, because I’m starting my night shift now, as I told you this morning on the phone. Oh, and what time are you getting home? Just after 1am, I reply, would likely be the earliest. Oh … and where are you going to park? Well, Mr C that is the precise reason why I called this morning … and I must apologise because I must have accidentally slipped into speaking in Swahili, as you obviously didn’t understand a word of what I said to you this morning … I honestly thought it was English, but I must have been mistaken … my sincere apologies, what a terrible oversight!

Anyway, after a rather lengthy discussion we confirmed that what I was requesting was to have the option to park on the medium strip without getting towed or receiving a ticket from their parking officers … oh, he says, that’s not really my area, so I can’t help you … at this point the fuse on the Shackles time-bomb is having the match brought up to it, ready to commence burning … Well, perhaps, Mr C you could have told me that when I first spoke to you this morning at 10.30am – we have now wasted an entire day, I am at work, and I have no further avenues to go to tonight to have this resolved. Quite frankly that’s appalling! I reiterate I’m not happy that I’m dragged out of bed by one of your workers, with no advance notice, to be told I have to move my car out into the street, and having to possibly walk up to 3 blocks in the wee small hours of the morning as a single female – my personal safety is being put at risk, and it’s up to you to give me an alternative, seeing as you’ve removed my private parking area with no warning. When he argued a bit, I said it was fine, I was more than happy for them to provide me with a taxi to and from work so I could travel home in safety – I dunno why, but he said that wasn’t an option 😉

I then said, so give me an alternative solution … his answer was that if they let me park on the median strip, they’d start getting complaint calls from people that I’m parking there. My response, in actual fact you’re receiving a complaint call right now from a customer, and you should be dealing with it, I don’t give a damn about future people complaining! Eventually he said he’d have to check a few things out, and he’d give me a call back …

When he called back an hour later, he had the gall to say to me he’d checked and there was no record of works being done out here, as if I was imagining things. Can you see that fuse moving fast along the wire now? Oh yeah, someone just poured kerosene on the flame to speed things up … Rightio, Mr C, if you like I can bring you in bl**dy photos of the imaginary road works – I most definitely didn’t imagine the great big pile of rubble now sitting in the car park of our property, along with the cordoning off tape, and the driveway all dug up, not to mention the signposts out in the street saying “road works in side road” … quite frankly, Mr C, now you’re getting downright bl**dy ridiculous!!

Luckily he eventually realised he’d met his match for the evening, and fixed the situation by finally asking what my car rego/make/model etc was and said I could park on the median strip for tonight only, and we’d have to reassess the situation tomorrow … thank you Mr C, it’s much appreciated. And if I don’t get approval for the next two nights, expect the “look” in person, ‘cos I’m coming down to visit!!!

I have to say I’m usually a pretty even-tempered person, but when I lose my rag, I seriously lose it!! And I normally have a valid reason for losing my temper. I couldn’t believe it when he implied that there no works being done … bureaucratic moron!!

Phew … vent over and done with!! Now for Mr C’s sake he’d better hope that I don’t have a ticket or, especially, that my car hasn’t been towed in the morning … 😉

And on that note, I think I’m off to bed 😉

Gifts TO BE FIXED, Melbourne, RAK Registry

RAK’s everywhere!!

30 April, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Aha, the mystery is solved … Carol, you were right in your comment, the parcel sitting in my PO Box was indeed a wonderful RAK from Deb. Look at this load of goodies, isn’t it awesome? There are some fun friendship sayings in one chart, and some great tassel ideas in the other one, and threads and beads are always handy (love the lemon colour, it’s very very pretty). I really do especially love the little notepad and teabag holder in the blues and lemons – aren’t they just darling? Thanks so much Deb, you’re a real sweetheart 😀

When I said RAK’s were everywhere, it was a true statement … I also had a mystery gift in my email Inbox today as well. When I say mystery gift, I mean the actual sweet soul who has organised this is a mystery – the actual gift isn’t a mystery, but it’s a wonderful treat that I can’t wait to ‘use’. I received a Bill Bryson book from Audible, entitled “The Life & Times of the Thunderbolt Kit” – woohoo! It just says “from a Friend” in thanks for my RAK to them … but I’ve done a few RAK’s just lately, so I’m not entirely sure who it is! Whoever you are, thank you sincerely from the bottom of my heart – I’ll be having a few giggles over the next few days while I sit and listen to it 😀 And if anyone wants to have a sneak preview of his book “Down Under” (also published under the name of “A Sunburned Country”), you can click here to read one of the chapters … (it took a short time to load on my PC)

Anyway, another round of thanks again to both Deb and my mystery RAK’er, you’ve made my day!

Talking about RAK’s I wonder if anyone has any suggestions for my RAK Registry blog. A couple of people would like to see more interaction on the blog, with space to post about RAK’s sent and received, as well as one person that would like updates on new members joining etc. I’m just wondering what the best way of going about this is … you see, I’d prefer to leave the blog contents as ‘static’, ie the birthday list, and the individual wishlists, and wonder whether to just set up the blog with “pages” with tabs at the top with each topic, then use the ‘main’ part of the blog for individuals to post to, or maybe using a ‘shoutbox’ … but perhaps there’s a better way to go about it? It’s easy enough to show those that have been ‘new additions’, as I can send an email to everyone, say monthly, with new blogs, as well as adding **NEW** after the details on the blog itself. Anyway, if anyone has any good suggestions about how people could interact more on it, I’d love to hear them 😀

Even without the wonderful contents of both my mailboxes, today was a pretty good day all-in-all. I ended up doing 4 1/2 hours overtime today, as it took a while to finish one call with two round-the-world tickets they wanted booking. I can’t remember the last time I did actual ‘passenger’ calls … it might even be about a year ago! And I have to say I really enjoyed it – it was a lot less stressful than it was on the supervisor hotline yesterday, and I remembered how much enjoyment I get from helping the general public out. Some people get a bit frustrated with the ‘doddery’ passengers who’ve never travelled before and need more time and information, whereas they’re the calls I always used to enjoy the most. Those 4 1/2 hours sped past so quickly, it was amazing!

I decided to go into work today on the train, so that I could call into the city on the way home (I never ever drive into the city ‘cos I don’t know where I’m driving and I’m too wimpy to try dealing with trams and hook turns on my own! LOL) … my most essential piece of equipment fell to bits a week or so ago, and I’ve been devastated ever since! I tried finding a replacement at Target and other local shops, but couldn’t find one that I liked … so I went to Hudsons Coffee to get the same design as my old one – a bit pricey, but I like drinking out of it … here’s my new essential call centre office equipment … a thermal coffee mug! There’s nothing worse than getting stuck on a call and having your coffee go cold … especially when you just walk in the door and sign into your phone at 4.55am and your first call is a complaint that lasts 1/2 an hour … nope, gotta have that caffeine kick at 5am, or it’s just not cricket! 😉

Walking home from the tram stop I was reminded how small and insignificant, simple things in life can give enjoyment … walking down the street there were brown leaves scattered over the grass and pavements, and all of a sudden I walked past one bright red autumn leaf sitting like a jewel among the other dead leaves surrounding it – just something small, but it really made my heart and mind go ‘awww’ … yep, gotta appreciate those simple things … 🙂

Tonight I’m going to sit and catch up on more TV programs I’ve had taped during my early shifts last week (I’ve run out of blank tapes now, so I’d better get cracking …), then tomorrow I think I’ll ignore the housework for a day and have a full day stitching – ah, such decadence! After working 8 days straight, I’ve decided a bit of self-indulgence on my days off is warranted 😉

Melbourne

Just another day in St Kilda (picture heavy!)

18 March, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

We thought we’d wander down to the waterfront at lunchtime to watch the last of the aerial displays that are meant for the Australian Grand Prix audience … but in the nearby suburbs we get to share in the excitement as well. We’ve had jets and choppers buzzing overhead the flat the last two days, but we wanted to get a bit more up close and personal so went for a short wander.

To our surprise St Kilda was packed (well actually that’s no surprise for a weekend with barely a cloud in the sky and blue skies everywhere, but it was more packed than normal) … we were soon to find out why … not only did we get to see the aerial displays flying overhead, but we also found ourselves in the middle of the audience for the FINA world swimming championships with an open sea swimming event happening right on our beach – there was also a free beach party happening with music pumping on the foreshore, and a trapeze group performing. Not only that, it was Sunday so the open air craft stalls were out on the promenade … we spent loads of time there today, in fact pretty much the entire day. After all the excitement of the entertainment we sat and had brunch, followed by a bit of grocery shopping and a tub of berries and gelati to eat on the way home … it was sheer bliss, and probably one of the most enjoyable days of Mum’s stay to date. We finished off with a quick trip to Spotlight for some machine sewing threads, and now we’re blobbing out with a glass of chilled Chardonnay while perusing our photos from the day along with this evening’s TV Guide … ah bliss 😀

Mum has helped me choose a selection of photos from today’s events to show the wide variety of things we got up to today, in order of it all happening …

Mum wondering who’s stolen her bike! Just kidding – I just thought she looked funny standing in the middle of all the bikers (she was actually watching the big screen of the swimming and the trapeze show next to it) 😉

So, all-in-all a fun-filled day in St Kilda! We now both look exceptionally healthy and glowing … not just from the Chardonnay, but from the lovely light dose of sunburn we’re both sporting haha.

I’m halfway through the top part of the Peacock needlecase, but I won’t bother posting a progress piccie until it’s all finished.

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Melbourne, Works in Progress

Now Mum’s cruel!

16 March, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

After telling her this morning that some of you have been Googling for huntsman spiders, she said “ooh, do it for me too, I want to see them!” … seeing as Mum is computer illiterate I’ve had to sit here and Google it for her … the last thing I wanted was the damned things sitting on my computer screen, but she got to see them! Funnily enough, Mum’s not overly fond of spiders either, especially those that size, so it was a big ask to get her to come to my rescue … she’s not terrfied of them, though, like I am. Apparently I’ve been like it ever since I was small – I’d scream the place down to get them to remove a ‘money spider’ in my room (you’d be lucky if one of those is more than about 2mm in size!!). I have to say I can deal with the little ones now as long as they’re not actually on me, but I reckon huntsman spiders are just hideous – you could put a saddle on and ride the damned things! LOL. My apologies for not putting a hyperlink in here for you to the spiders … I only thought about that after I’d shut the site down again (very quickly after opening it, I might add!), and I really don’t want to go back in again – you’ll just have to Google it from scratch haha. And I’m not posting a piccie here, otherwise I’ll freak every time I see my own blog 😉

Yesterday, before I went to work, I managed to get a few more stitches put into my Peacock needlecase while catching up on CSI episodes we’d been taping during the week … inbetween listening to the ‘zoom-zoom’ noises of the Australian Grand Prix Formula 1 cars zooming around the Albert Park circuit – I’m amazed how loud it sounded yesterday to say we live a couple of km away from the tracetrack! It’s a busy week in Melbourne with the Grand Prix, the Melbourne 2007 FINA swimming championships, and (of more interest to us) the Stitches & Craft Show. We’re sitting on the fence at the moment whether to go to the S&C Show on Sunday, but we’ll play that by ear on the day – neither of us have any money so we’re thinking perhaps it’s best to leave temptation out of it and stay home LOL.

Tonight is my last 6pm shift, thank goodness … next week it’s more civilised with a mix of 3pm and 12 noon shifts, yippee. Only another week and a half before Mum heads back home again. She actually offered today to fly back over while the builders are here fixing up the building if I pay for her ticket with my frequent flyer points … she’s a real sweetheart.

Well, I feel a bit more awake now so time to tackle my stitching for a bit … I got woken up from a deep sleep (no nightmares, thankfully) by fighter planes flying overhead, getting ready for the aerial display during the Grand Prix – that’ll be fun to watch over the weekend if we’re around – we were in Acland Street at St Kilda last year when it happened, and it was great to see the formations flying overhead 😀

I’ll finish with a small shot of one of the leaves right outside my lounge room window – as you can see autumn has arrived down under, and it’s awesome to sit and watch the leaves change colour each day … I’m actually thrilled I’m still here to see autumn arrive in Elwood, as my street is gorgeous with all the elm trees changing colour right up both sides of the street … very pretty 😀

I’m now backed-up with the SBQ’s from the last three weeks, so I’ll finish (I promise this is the last ‘finish’) by catching up on the questions:

28 Feb – Today’s SBQ was suggested by Danielle and is:

“Do you find yourself stitching faster when you are getting to the end of a design?”

I’d probably have to say that depends on the design itself, but generally I guess the answer would be “no” … when I get that close (for example, the Dratteds) I don’t stitch faster, but I do feel more motivated to stitch “more” on it … I just don’t want to put it down so I can get it finished in its entirety – but then when it’s finished I almost feel let down, expecting fireworks to go off in celebration, instead I feel “is that it?” LOL.

7 Mar – Today’s SBQ is:

“Do you use your needle, a seam ripper, or something else when you have to frog stitches? Why do you use the method that you do?”

I mainly use my tapestry needle where possible, but I will use the tips of my Gingher’s to snip a few threads if it’s getting tangled etc, or just to speed up the process (I just snip the top cross of the stitch very very carefully).

15 Mar – Today’s SBQ was suggested Danielle and is:

“If you had $500 to spend on stitching-related items, what would you buy?”

Geez, there’s a loaded question … and funnily enough I would answer this one differently now then if I’d answered it a year ago. Right now I’m relatively happy with the stash I already have, and I’m pretty well set up as far as stitching ‘equipment’ (ie ott-lite etc) – I’d probably rather spend it on a stitching retreat, or ordering the full chart and kit for another Chatelaine design or two (that’d kill most of the money in one hit anyway LOL). The only other thing would be to buy the threads that I still don’t have to finish kitting up some of my existing stash.

Right, now I’m definitely off to stitch for an hour – then it’s off to work early to pick up my overlocker from the ‘doctors’ so Mum can sew me a top or two … she loves sewing clothes. Dad’s Mum was a lady’s maid for Lady Winterton in Shropshire years ago, and did all the Lady’s sewing – she taught Mum how to sew … and years later Mum tried to teach me. I used to enjoy sewing, then learnt embroidery and my passion for stitching started … I’m starting to get the urge to try clothes sewing again, but it might not be for a while yet, there’s too much stitching to be done in the meantime LOL. Talking of which, I’m definitely outta here now – way too much yapping being done, and not enough stitching! haha.

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

Squishy mail & lovely visits

14 March, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Well, tonight I ended up having a reprieve from work … we had a wonderful visit out today, but driving home it took us over 1 1/2 hrs to get home from Eltham, and by the time I got home I was feeling decidedly squiffy again, so I called in work and said I’d be staying home for the night 😦 We even had to stop off at a local Dairy (stop giggling my fellow Aussies, that’s our Kiwi equivalent of your Milk Bar … I still can’t get used to calling it a Milk Bar – for you Brits out there, it’s the equivalent of the ‘corner shop’) so I could buy some ginger drink to try to quell the queasiness. Anyway, that’s enough of me moaning … on to the brighter moments of the day 🙂

Before I do that, though, I just realised I haven’t written anything about our weekend social night out with Sharon and Pete … We went round there for dinner on Saturday night, and had the most wonderful time – dinner was divine and the company excellent. I took my stitching with me but we were enjoying ourselves so much it came out briefly for a show-and-tell, but not a single stitch was done. I also received a wonderful birthday gift voucher for Bustle & Bows from Sharon, and very touched with that generous gift … unfortunately the gift I gave Sharon wasn’t quite as good … unfortunately I’d chosen a chart I knew she loved, but she’d just bought it for herself as a kit … oops 😦 I already know what I’m doing next time, and think I’ll be safe with that choice 😉 Before we knew it it was almost midnight, and I felt like we’d just arrived – as always a definite pleasure and both Mum and I enjoyed ourselves immensely 😀

Back to today – we caught up with another fellow blogger and Melbournian for a beautiful lunch and stash drooling. We drove over to visit Gina today, albeit half an hour later than we planned due to a visit from the real estate agent (which I’ll talk about soon), and then because I took a wrong turn and had to consult the Melways … because of supposedly going to work for 6pm we had to cut short the visit, as we knew the drive would take a while to get home – we would have loved to have stayed longer … next time we definitely have to choose a non-working day so we can have more time 🙂 Thank you again Gina for a lovely day out – it was great to finally visit and see that infamous collection of linens … and see your Indian first-hand 😀 Mind you, if I’d known I’d start feeling sick again on the way home, we wouldn’t have had to hurry off 😉

The other highlight of the day was the wonderful mail I received – firstly Becky’s piece for the Quaker Friendship RR … it looks gorgeous in real life, and I’m looking forward to adding my little bits to it in round 2 of this RR 🙂

Next up was my order from One Star’s Light – my Cat’s Whiskers charts and 17″ Q-snaps … and I have to agree with everyone else that Jenna’s extra attention to detail is lovely with everything individually wrapped in beautiful tissue paper and wax seals … even Mum’s drooling over the Alyssum scissor keeper, and I can see her extra birthday gift being something stitched this year (she already has the main part of her gift in some Gingher scissors etc).

Last, but certainly not least, is a wonderful RAK from Linda … she very generously sent me her copy of Just Nan’s Dragonfly Scissor Purse, and I’m just over the moon about that – I was seriously drooling over Linda’s blog every time she put a progress piccie up, and I’m thrilled that I now get chance to stitch one of these beauties! That was enough on it’s own to have me grinning from ear to ear, but she also sent another chart from my wishlist, M Designs’ Snow Wonderful – I fell in love with this after seeing this on another blog, and yet again Mum’s eyeing it up too because of the snowmen and snowflake! Linda also sent another chart which I hadn’t seen before – Winter Getaway, and I just love the little cabin scene, so it will definitely be stitched up as well. Thanks again, Linda, I truly adore everything 😀

On a different note, we had a visit from the new real estate Property Manager, and she was dumb-founded by the cracks … I’m really impressed by her attitude – she took loads of photos and said she was calling the landlord immediately as the cracks were very serious. As I said to her, I’m happy someone from the agency is finally taking me seriously, as my previous chasing phone calls were doing nothing at all. Within an hour we had a phone call from her saying the landlord wants to visit tomorrow morning, and she’s trying to get someone from the Body Corporate out here immediately as well, because it’s that serious! Hallelujah!!! It will be interesting to hear what they have to say tomorrow! 😀

And to finish this very lengthy post, here’s the progress to date of my CA Wells’ Peacock Needlecase … not too much to show, but I’m not touching any other stitching until this one is finished in its entirety. I’m feeling a bit brighter than when I first got home, so I just might be able to get a thread or two into this tonight … fingers crossed 🙂 Which is exactly where I’m heading now … off to watch House and Medium with Mum … aside from the squiffy tummy, it doesn’t get much better than this 😉

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Melbourne

A Walk on the Wild Side & an unexpected gift

18 February, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Actually the title should probably be “Animal Quackers” ‘cos there are a few birds in these shots (surprise, surprise haha). We survived a day at Healesville Sanctuary yesterday in the sweltering heat (38C), although we were exhausted by the end of the day. We finished the day off with a quick stop at Emerald Lake Park, but we were so tired from the heat by then we just took a couple of duck photos and left again. Anyway, we thought we’d share a couple of our favourite shots of the local wildlife from yesterday … makes a change from stitching 😉 (all the piccies are clickable for bigger versions)

An Aussie wildlife park just wouldn’t be the same without a Wallaby or two!

A Lace Monitor – he chose the time of our visit to clamber around, so it was hard to get a photo of him sitting still … but I love the pose in this one!

The pelicans reminded me of a holiday in Greece – two were casually walking among the visitors … I went a bit pelican-mad photo-wise, so I’ve just chosen one to share.

A male Lyrebird – first time I’ve managed to catch sight of one – the last time I visited I couldn’t find him in the aviary!

A Kookaburra taken through fine mesh wiring, so it came out really well considering … I really love this shot.

I’m not sure what type of duck this one is but she’s cute!

Awwww, I just love this one – my favourite type of all ducks, she’s just beautiful!!

Today we braved the elements outdoors for a shorter period of time and just walked up to the local Video Ezy store to pick up a few DVD’s to watch – even with just an hour in this heat and we were ready to retire in front of the electric fan for the afternoon. I had an unexpected birthday gift left by my apartment on our return, though … it decided to give me a piece of the architraving – such a generous gift, but I really wish it hadn’t! So tomorrow will be spent giving my real estate agent a kick in the pants, as well as phoning the landlord directly because the agent is doing sod all about these cracks … I took a few other piccies as well of cracks that are worsening, but I won’t bore you with those. I will, however, share the lovely birthday gift we came home to … or at least where it “used to be” 😦

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Gifts TO BE FIXED, Melbourne, Stitching Smalls, Works in Progress

Leporello & more birthday gifts

17 February, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

As promised yesterday, I can finally share Nicki’s beautiful gift with you – every time I’ve seen one of Nicki’s gorgeous over-one stitched letters I’ve drooled … now I can drool over my very own one! I just adore my pinkeep, it’s stitched and finished perfectly as always … and once again very scrummy colours! 😉 As well as my gorgeous pinkeep, Nicki also sent a really cute notebook too, which will come in very handy! 😀 Thanks again Nicki, I love everything and will treasure my pinkeep always! And I love the clever personalisation on the back! 😀

The other photos I have to share are of my Stitching Leporello – part one is now all finished. I just realised I had the stitching on a bit of an angle, so the camera has blurred the bottom part of the ‘frontal’ photo as I used my SLR, but you get the idea … also I tried to take one photo on an angle to show up the beads. I really need to get a tripod so I can take better photos – another challenge for the year, I think, to improve my photography skills! In the meantime, though, these’ll have to suffice. As usual with this sort of design, the photos don’t do the project justice whatsoever … it’s just gorgeous in real life! Unfortunately, though, it won’t see the light of day for at least another 3 months, as my upcoming stitching time will now be spent on the CA Wells class projects plus a birthday gift or two.

And on that note, I’ll shut down for the day, as Mum and I are off to Healesville Sanctuary for the day – and if we have time we’ll call into Emerald Lake Park before coming home. It will be nice to have a day out in the fresh air.

Thanks again to everyone who has left me birthday wishes – I really appreciate all the comments, e-cards, and private emails I’ve received … thanks for helping to make the day extra special {{hugs}}.