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I rarely put the TV on these days – but over the course of the last week and a half, I’ve turned it on 3 times for ‘company’ while I’m doing housework … the last 2 times I’ve been pleasantly surprised, but the housework got ditched temporarily. The series of Billy Connolly’s Tour of New Zealand has returned – episode 3 was on at the end of last week, and episode 4 was on last night after Comic Relief … as they say in the UK, “it warmed the cockles of my heart!” Even though I was born in the UK, we emigrated to NZ when I was 6 years old – we survived 2 years there, because Dad hated NZ, then returned to the UK … only to find Dad hated the UK even more, and back we trotted to NZ again 2 years later, when I was 10 – I think the trauma at that age must have been pretty great for a shy quiet kid, and I have no real memory of my life in the UK, or pretty much any of my life prior to being 10! So, I’ve grown up loving the Kiwi country, and people, and culture … as far as I’m concerned, even though not by birthright, I AM a Kiwi (I became naturalised as soon as I was old enough to do it in my own right) …

Anyway, it was so nice to see on TV a lot of the places I’ve visited over the years, and I love Billy Connolly anyway … and I enjoyed the rendition of Pokarekare Ana at the end of the show – I’m not sure my neighbours loved it as much, ‘cos I was singing at the top of my lungs … I’m amazed I still remember the words! It is the most beautiful song in the world, in my eyes – and always reminds me of home … so, come on Kiwis, let’s have a karaoke session … ready? 1 – 2 – 3 …

OK, that’ll do for now – time to put my shoes on and get off to work … still on relatively civilised hours all week – a mix of 11am-7pm (4 days) then 10am-6pm (3 days) and then … shock, horror … a weekend off! I have friends I haven’t seen for at least 6 months coming to stay, hopefully, for the weekend, so can’t guarantee much stitching will be getting done this week! Have a great one everybody 🙂

Thanks Karen – I think maybe it’s just the photo on the chart … it just looks so ‘drab’, all grey/green – when I saw yours being stitched I remember all the lovely golden autumn colours predominantly – but then again, maybe that was my own brain’s reaction ‘cos I love those colours, and that’s what I mainly saw! I’ll start stitching it the way the chart intends it on a separate piece of fabric, I think – it’s the lettering that doesn’t really ‘gel’ with me, so I might change that to an overdyed as well, in more autumn tonings, and see what it looks like. Thanks for the offer of the silk overdyed – I have to admit, the colours look OK there, it’s just the lettering, I think. Mind you, now I’m having a closer look at the threads that came in the kit, it’s not as ‘grey’-looking as the photo, so maybe it’ll be OK as it is … I just looked at the photo when it arrived, and went “ooh, yuk!” Maybe that’s why I’ve not been a Drawn Thread fan before now – ‘cos the colours always look so drab … oh no, that could open up a whole new can of worms, that means I might have to get more to try them out LOLOL. Thanks for your advice, anyway – I’ll start stitching it and see how I go … Hugs 🙂

Unfortunately I can’t post a piccie just yet, as it’s a gift for someone – but I finally managed to kick that frog in the ribs and get the stitching finished on my latest piece … I’ve had the hardest time stitching this thing, I don’t know why – and that darned frog has shown its head on 3 separate occasions today alone, never mind the last 2-3 days … I’m gonna fry its legs with butter if it comes back this week!!! Anyway, this piece has turned out a bit bigger than I expected, so I’m a bit unsure about how to finish it … might have to make a bit-bigger-than-normal pillow as opposed to a pincushion – have to hide the back somehow … unfortunately not my best stitching effort, but the overall piece looks OK – hopefully it will be accepted by its recipient in the way it was intended anyway 🙂 So, tomorrow I will make my decision on finishing – and hopefully in a couple of weeks I can post a piccie … At least now it no longer looks like a tarantula … as a major arachnaphobe, this was creeping me out stitching it! LOL.

Managed a tiny bit of stitching today – worked on a ‘gift’ piece while I was at the hairdressers getting my hair done, and I was struggling stitching it trying to see the holes with black Wisper thread … ended up with a screaming headache again due to the hard concentration, I think … dammit! Came home and doped myself up again, and had something to eat, then sat and watched Ned Kelly on TV, and listened to a few tapes of my latest book from the library – and ended up frogging a couple of sections of Egyptian Garden due to stupid miscounting. I also noticed when I was scanning my progress tonight, that there is one bit I missed – so I’ll be frog-stitching again tomorrow night before I put it away … I can’t face that rippit rippit tonight! Oh well, at least it’s pretty easy to fix – just two stitches out on the bottom section – just need to unpick the top part of the stem and fix it, luckily it won’t take too long. I really should have just given stitching a miss tonight hmmm – oh well, at least I managed to finally finish my 10 hour rotation on EG … the next stitching session (after frogging) will be on an old UFO – not sure which one yet …

Thanks for you advice Jo … I’ve put all my piccies across to Photobucket, and changed my template lines with the new addresses … so fingers crossed the piccies will be showing now – if not, I’d appreciate a heads up again, as they’re showing fine on my screen again … Thanks guys!

Just wondering if anyone can see them … thanks for the heads up, Mel – I thought I was being so clever! If no-one can see them, is there anyone that can shed some light how to get them to show OK on other people’s browsers – they’re showing up fine on mine, but then again I’m holding the original files in ‘my pictures’ on my own PC … maybe that’s the problem … ? Help!!

Well, sorta, anyway … I just spent the last couple of hours working out how to make thumbnails of my ‘finished’ piccies – and then getting them into my template. Not sure how to get rid of the little ‘arrow’ thingies next to each line, but I don’t care about that … I have PHOTOS!!! Woohoo!!! So I went a bit mad and added quite a LOT of photos of my finished pieces this year … not the entire 20 I’ve done, but my fave pieces anyway. Crikey, you forget how much stitching you’ve managed to complete until you go back and look at the album … rightio, now I’ve gotta get away from this computer chair and get some housework done, which has been seriously neglected of late due to my headaches etc – then a bit of stitching, seeing I got nothing done yesterday. In closing, all I’ll say is “Take THAT, you pesky sidebars!!!!!”

It’s been lovely receiving such supportive comments from everyone about not getting the job … I feel fine about it overall. To be honest, the normal phone roster is better than the Hotline one, as you get days off more often – and I’ll still be getting relief work doing the same job I applied for … as long as I’m still relieving it gives me the mental challenge I need, so I don’t get braindead.

Well, I finally managed to pick up a needle today, and put the final stitches into my No Humbugs Allowed ornament … all I need now are the buttons from Just Another Button Company, and it’s all set to be made up. The buttons are coming from the US, and probably a couple of weeks away from being posted, but at least I should get this finished before Christmas. It will be nice to have my very first ornament made in time for my very first Christmas in my ‘own’ place – and the first time I’ve had Christmas with a family member since I moved to Aussie, with Mum coming for a visit yippee. Anyway, here’s the piccie. OK, now what else can I stitch today? Maybe I should bite the bullet and start my rotation … back to the dratted Dolphins ;-P

Well, I’ve decided with my weird hours at work and the ensuing flagging energy levels sometimes, that my planned rotation of having a day set aside for different projects isn’t working too well. After doing some research (web-surfing), I thought I’d try a set time rotation. I think it was Tannia early on in my first blogs that suggested a certain time frame for each project, and initially I thought it was too constrained for me – but the more I think about it, the more I think it would suit me better for my current lifestyle … so I figure I’ll stitch my projects for 10 hours each, before moving onto the next one – at least that way every project gets some stitching done on it regularly, rather than skipping days and weeks at a time. So, my first rotation plan is as follows:

1. Dolphins XS
2. Chatelaine’s Egyptian Garden
3. UFO’s (free choice or random – not sure yet)
4. Dolphins XS (wanna get this finished!)
5. Smalls/Ornaments
6. Mirabilia’s Winter Queen
7. Dolphins XS
8. Finishing items (putting needlebooks etc together)
9. Free choice

I’ve been sick all yesterday and today – so it’s been a good chance to blob out and just ‘surf’. I’ve been suffering from a migraine headache since I found out about not getting the job … I think the tension from that, plus the fact I’ve had a sore throat the last couple of days, got my immune system down – my headache was so bad I wanted to throw up, then I got the sweats followed by chills, and to top it all off I’d had chilli con carne the night before, and had excruciating pains compliments of my gallstone troubles (even though this was ‘prime’ mince, obviously I can’t eat that either!) … so, all in all I was feeling very sorry for myself – and ended up in bed almost all day … but got up at midnight after not being able to sleep, and surfed for almost 6 hours – almost like being at work on the night shift LOL. Anyway, just a bit bunged up today, and the headache is more manageable – so I might try and get a bit of stitching done today. Only one more work to go tomorrow, then I have my 5 days off – I think I need them to recuperate!

The heading says it all, really … Feel pretty flat and pretty disappointed – even though I knew it was going to tough to get it, it still kicks you when you get the news. It was especially hard ‘cos I had so many people come to me and say they were shocked as they thought I was a ‘shoe-in’ … never mind – definitely a night for stitching to take my mind off it. Better make it something simple, as I intend stitching with a glass of bourbon and lemonade in my hands in commiseration to myself …

So, it’s back to having my rosters chucked at me every few weeks, and not being able to plan much in advance, as it could all change at a fortnight’s notice (or in this week’s case, a week!) … good job I learnt to stitch for stress relief ;-P