#3 of 50 and a Special Visit

Two reasons to celebrate today (3 if you include the fact I only have one more 5am shift left this week woohoo) … I can cross off project #3 from my 50 Projects Challenge - and the final product (with those very very expensive beads LOL) went to the lovely Katrina today Yes, it’s true, we got to meet each other face to face today, and she’s even lovelier in person than on her blog, if that’s possible! It was awesome that we got to meet up and spend some time together before she flies home - and she says a big “hi” to everyone!! She sneaked in a quick blog reading session while visiting family at the weekend, but no doubt will be catching up properly when she gets home again

I had originally planned to stitch Katrina a self-designed needleroll, but my creative juices just didn’t come together in the end with my health issues etc, and the final design still needs a bit of tweaking … a quick glance over Katrina’s wishlist and I found the Cherry Blossoms Fob by The Sweetheart Tree hiding in there, which I had in my stash all kitted up for myself … it became the perfect solution. I’m still disappointed my needleroll didn’t come to fruition, but I liked how the little fob turned out, and will definitely stitch it again for myself (even with the pinks LOL).

Unfortunately dopey me forgot to pack my camera to take with me today (my brain doesn’t really function at 4am - it’s even slower than it normally is, and that’s saying something), so I couldn’t take a photo myself, but Katrina had hers, as did her Mum, so you can look forward to one down the track when Katrina gets home hopefully

I couldn’t bring a photo home with me, but I did get spoilt rotten and given a beautiful gift from Katrina too … this is a design I’ve been ogling for a while now, but haven’t gotten around to stitching it for myself yet, and now I don’t need to - I now have a gorgeous pinkeep to have on display, and it will always remind me of our first meeting, so it will always be treasured … I just love it!! But that’s not all, I also got a needleroll chart by Forever In My Heart, who I’d never heard of before … this chart is so versatile as you could use just about any colour combination, and I’ll definitely be stitching one of these soon (in fact my mind was ticking over with the thread possibilities as soon as I had it in my grubby little hands). I just love everything, thank you so much, my friend - and it was such a wonderful treat to meet you! {{hugs}}

Unfortunately it’s now onto very mundane stuff, after all that excitement, as I have to get all the housework done tonight ready for a workmate arriving tomorrow evening, then tomorrow a lot of the prep needs to be done ready for Saturday night’s dinner banquet here … can’t say I’ll be even looking at a needle, never mind using one, before Sunday (if that). When I do, though, I’m thinking of throwing my rotation out the window until I get the Dratteds done completely … I would dearly love to get the Dolphins stitched by year end, and my new idea is to stitch 10 hours on them, then stitch a Christmas ornie or needleroll (just something small and quick) or do a spot of finishing, then back to 10 hours of the Dratteds and so on, until they’re finished. If I do that, I’m hoping to have them finished by the end of October, especially if I can really put some serious work into them on my days off … well, that’s the plan anyway … but you know what they say about the plans of mice and men … LOL.

So in the words of Looney Tunes’ Porky Pig … for now, “th-th-th-th-th-th-that’s all folks!”

Handy tool

I remembered when I was using it last night, that Mum said I should post a piccie on my blog of one of my favourite tools … Mum thinks it’s awesome! This is my ‘cording weight’ … and it was very very expensive … not Basically it’s just a metal paperclip that I unbent, and added some fishing sinkers onto it … and now I have the perfect weight with a little hook to hang onto the middle of my cord when cording - works a treat! I’ll think I’ll hold off patenting the design (haha), but I thought I’d fulfil Mum’s wishes and post a piccie … especially as I have nothing else to post about today. (Excuse the shadows from the glorious afternoon sun.)

Today was my first 5am shift, and we usually have some ‘down time’ to catch up on emails etc at the start of the shift … but today it was one call immediately after another for the first hour and a half - in fact I made a coffee before I started work at 4.50am, and it was 6.20am before I was able to pick it up and take a sip … yikes! I’m not complaining, either, as I love it like that … makes the day go so much faster when you’re busy Hope the rest of the week goes as well as today woohoo!

And I heard from Jenna today that my scissors have been ordered, so in the infamous words of the Pointer Sisters, I’m running around singing “I’m so excited … and I just can’t hide it …” la la la la la Yeah, I know, that’s really sad, but I’m a bit loopy after the early morning start … I’m sure I’ll be hitting the wall of the zombie zone in about 1 hour and be struggling to stay awake, but for now I’m wired! I might even get really keen and put an hour into the Dratteds to keep awake!

A mixed bag of all sorts

First of all, I have to say “yippee” to Zohrah, that the mail art arrived this time around … and relatively quickly too!! I’m very glad you like it And I shouldn’t take it for granted that someone doesn’t read my blog just ‘cos they’ve not commented before haha … I’m just very pleased you finally managed to get your exchange in return after stitching such a lovely one for Aniza
As for the Gingher scissors - for anyone who’s interested, JoAnn’s (in the US) have a 40% sale off Ginghers, including the designer series, so it’s a great time to stock up … I just got outbid 24 hours before the bidding closed on the pair I put on my blog yesterday, and I’ve opted not to stress any more over it, as I can buy it directly from JoAnn’s for an extra US$5 over my maximum bid. So thanks to my wonderful northern twin, Jenna, I’ll be ordering mine directly from JoAnn’s instead of continuing with the bidding … at least I know they’re going to be shipped officially, I think there’s always a slight worry with Ebay about goods not being sent. Now I have to stitch an extra special fob for the 4″ ones when they eventually arrive, as those two pairs will be treasured forever! If you’re really nice, Mum, I’ll let you touch them when you come over … only once though! hahaha.

As for my finances, things have looked up since yesterday … when I got a bank balance last week I got a nasty shock, as there wasn’t as much in there as I expected, but today I got a phone balance and everything’s OK - my loan repayment had been taken out last week, but wasn’t showing on the statement … phew! I also forgot I had a carton of ciggies from duty free I bought for a workmate that he hadn’t paid for yet, so that’s another $50 coming tomorrow, and to top it all off I also had 2 hours overtime last Sunday, which will almost pay the whole thing off (it comes in next week’s pay) … so today I’m MUCH more relaxed about the parking fine thing - I wouldn’t say I’m happy about it still, but not stressed about the payment side at least
Then driving home I had a SUPER surprise … I went to fill my car up as it was sitting seriously on empty (I was running late this morning, so had to leave it until the way home … which is a good thing!), and the gas cost (ie petrol) had dropped another 7c a litre since this morning … to a record breaking 110c a litre … considering I was paying 137c a litre a fortnight ago, I was doing cartwheels past the gas pumps!! Yippee!!!!! Approx $45 to fill my car instead of almost $60 {skippety skip skip skip}. A nice extra silver lining after yesterday
Tomorrow arvo I’m hoping to catch up with Katrina, which will be an great highlight for the week - it will be lovely to meet her in person and catch up over a coffee or bite to eat I promise not to fall asleep in my coffee after my 5am start
I’m now on 5am shifts for the next 3 days, so that’ll be interesting with my dizzy turns, but fingers crossed I’ll manage to survive everything … I HAVE to, as this weekend is also my dinner party on Saturday night - and I now have one of my work colleagues staying on Friday night as well, so we can go out for another colleague’s 39th birthday … I’m so out of practice in going out partying, I’ll need another week to recover! LOL.

Anyway, enough gas-bagging … I’d better get this little bit of finishing done, then into bed for me for 7pm Hopefully if I can get it finished, it means I can actually post a stitching piccie tomorrow

Mail Art Exchange

I know Zohrah hasn’t received this yet, seeing as it only got sent out last week, but as far as I know she doesn’t read my blog, and I’ve decided to post a piccie of it anyway while I’m waiting for my dinner to reheat. Here was my 2nd attempt at the same design thanks to Mr Postman … I made a pretty crappy attempt at the buttonhole closures, and definitely need a lot more practice, but it looks OK, I think. The buttons were bought in Auckland while I was visiting in May … funnily enough, I bought 4 of them at the time … perhaps I knew something way back then!!! The names have been taken out for privacy reasons. The design was from one of the XS magazines that I can’t put my hands on right at this minute (mainly ‘cos I can’t be bothered to go looking - if anyone is desperate to know leave me a comment and I’ll track it down for you later).

(the front)

(the back)

Bloody expensive beads!!

I just managed to spend $110.50 for one packet of Mill Hill petite beads … woohoo, cheap huh? In my ultimate wisdom I decide to call into my semi-LNS on the way home ‘cos I can’t find my 40123 beads for love nor money, as the LNS is on the way home and it would save money on petrol rather than me driving out of my way to a Spotlight store … or so I thought! I parked in a 1-hour parking zone, right outside the store, and I swear the parking attendant must have been walking right up behind me … I was in there for no longer than 10 minutes (had to wait while another customer was served), and walked out to a parking ticket … for $107 - I hadn’t seen the “Clearway between 4-6pm” sign … bloody hell, I feel sick … think of all the stash I could have bought in there for that money!!! Oh well, it means the next month will be a lot tighter financially … I had a good pay week last week, ‘cos I had an extra Sunday shift than I should have normally, so feeling great I socked $200 away towards my sofa bed repayments while I had some ‘free cash’ … now I’m kicking myself for being so bloody organised for a change … especially because I’ve been bidding on a scissors set on the Bay of Evil that I am totally in love with, which of course if I win will be another outlay … that was expected and was still OK, but not with the new unexpected expense!! {heavy sigh}

Even though I’m on a stash diet until my 50 projects are over, that doesn’t affect these as they’re “tools” … how could I resist these?? I accidentally came across a piccie somewhere, and fell head over heels in love … just look at the colour of these!!! Gingher Alyssa designer series scissors … they’d keep me happy for the rest of my stitching days!!! I was moaning to Mum while she was here that my Fiskars dress-making shears just don’t cut all along the length of the blade, and it’s really annoying, so when I found out Ginghers do “big” scissors too, I was reeled in, hook, line and sinker

I’ve been here 3 years and I’m STILL learning about the parking rules … I’ve only ever had one other parking ticket here, while flat-hunting in this area, as I didn’t realise there was such a thing as “permit parking” in residential areas … I soon found out $50 later that in fact yes there are … filed that one way for the future too …

Stitching-wise I’ve been trying to stitch a small gift for a friend, and had been creating something myself, but I decided the creative process just isn’t coming together for me right now, and I was best to just use an existing chart … hence the reason I needed the beads (perhaps if I’d stuck with my creative idea I’d be $100 better off right now … bugger!). I didn’t have one of the threads, so substituted with a Caron Collection Waterlilies silk instead, and I just have the centre bit of one side left, which is just tiny, and the beading, then it has to be put together … fingers crossed I manage to get most of that done tonight, as I’m on 5am shifts tomorrow and need an early night, but I really want to get this finished.

Aside from that nothing much else to report - I’m still having back/neck pain, and finally decided today to get an appointment (yay, more money going out!) with a sort of physio who specialises in muscular troubles like mine … she’s a nerve manipulator or something, but hopefully she’ll be able to provide some relief, or be able to recommend a physio or someone, as this pain is really getting me down.

Geez, I’m just a bundle of joviality tonight, aren’t I? Oh well, I’ll get over it I’m sure, and be back to normal by tomorrow hopefully. In the meantime I’m heading off to the fridge to make myself a nice long Jim Beam and L&P (I still have a small collection of L&P cans left … they only come out for special occasions, and I’ve just decided tonight is one of them as a cheer me up!).

Project #2 out of 50 totally finished

This one is a bit of a cheat … the actual challenge started on 1 September, so I get to include my two needlerolls that I finished the stitching of last week. My personal criteria, though, is that I’m not allowed to include them as part of the 50 Project Challenge until they’re “finished” into needlerolls (seeing as I’d already done the stitching before I personally accepted the challenge) … and I’m pleased to say “1 down, 1 to go”. I just couldn’t get motivated in the afternoon to stitch, but rather my finishing pile screamed to me louder! I popped into Spotlight on the way back from the PO, and picked up some Christmas fabric for ornie backings - I might even get organised enough to get some finished off during the next two months

I did my finishing while watching another DVD rental - Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing & Charm School … it was a pretty good ‘chick flick’, and perfect for my equivalent of a Sunday afternoon (yeah, I know it’s only Friday, but it was the end of my personal weekend as I’m back to work again, hence my Sunday). Today was an interesting day, as I just wasn’t in the mood to be back there again - not helped by the fact that Sandra that I work with told me I looked awfully pale this morning hmmm Oh well, at least I survived the day in one piece

Not sure what I’ll do tonight - I managed to get a couple of hours stitching into Dolphins Domain (aka The Dratteds) last night, which I have to admit I really enjoyed, even though it took me much longer to stitch than normal. I won’t bother posting a progress piccie until I’ve stitched a bit more on them. Once I’ve finished my 10 hours rotation I’ll get my current RR piece stitched, then I need to work on my final exchange for a while - the scissor fob exchange on the Robin’s Nest BB. Then in the New Year I’m committed to another Quaker RR with some close online buddies, so I won’t be taking on any other stitching commitments while that’s underway.

Rightio, off to get dinner cracking, then the dishes, then kitting up a new small project for a gift … the Dratteds can wait a day or so

Redwork exchange received

Just a quick note to upload some piccies, and say a HUGE thank you to Leslie for my Redwork exchange piece … isn’t this the most gorgeous thing? I just love it! It’s just so rich and scrummy … I have most definitely fallen in love with redwork - I just can’t get enough of it now! (Don’t worry, though, I’m still most definitely a blue girl at heart, and that won’t change LOL.) As well as the beautiful stitched ornament (which I adore), Leslie also sent some extra goodies along - some GAST threads and a fat 1/4 of some lovely quilting fabric … all very very useful! As well as that, she also sent the chart and remaining charms that she stitched mine from - which I also love, and it’s going to be very very handy as you’ve just given me a great idea for an upcoming gift This poor exchange has been sitting at the Post Office since just before last weekend, but this is the first time I’ve been anywhere near work during daylight hours to pick it up.

Before I forget, for Cindy - I used the flat-fold instructions from Judy Odell’s book, which is wonderful … but Kim has put very good instructions on her website here - the only major difference is that Judy attaches her ribbon before the pieces are put together, and she stitches the pieces together instead of using glue, using a ladder stitch - hope that helps

And here is the before and after photo of the Kitty Pi Mum knitted for me … I’ve conned her into making another one (one for the lounge, and one for the bedroom), but I’ve found where I can buy the proper wool (ie Noro Kureyon) here in Melbourne, so we’re going to get some of the ‘Real McCoy’ to use next time. As you can see, the ducks are seriously impressed with it! Just for a change, I thought we’d go “blue” LOLOL - the actual colour is more muted than the photo looks.

As for today, nothing much done except for housework - the lounge is tidy now (including my stitching corner, will miracles never cease??) … the next job is the dining table which is a pigsty, but I figure just doing a bit every day will eventually get the clutter put away - after that, I start decluttering the bedrooms, and that’s a full-time job haha. I had a shocking night’s sleep last night due to horrendously high winds making a racket, so I’m just taking it very very easy today, and I’ll have an early night tonight … hmmm, I wonder what rocket fuel cocktail I could make tonight to knock me out? LOL. Other than that today I managed to get Zohrah’s replacement mail art exchange in the mail … I haven’t felt too creative this week, so I’ve just re-done the original mail art I did (praying this one turns up, as I don’t think I could stitch it three times!!).

I think this arvo I’m going to drag out the Dratteds and put a few stitches into them … I really wanted to get them finished by Christmas, and that date is looming really really quickly!! After that, I think Egyptian Garden Mandala will be replacing them as my focus piece on my rotation … I can’t wait to stitch on this one again

Small ‘finishing finish’

Another quiet day … even though it sounds like I’ve been very busy, I’ve actually been very relaxed and lazy all day - I did a small load of washing, and felted my Kitti Pi bed (thanks to Jo for putting that on her blog) that Mum knit for my four-legged friend that hasn’t arrived yet … it’s currently drying on top of my washing basket, so I’ll show the before and after piccies when it’s finished.

Aside from that I did a very tiny bit of stitching on my Bordeaux Sampler this evening, so here’s this week’s progress piccie … the only difference to last week is a tiny part of the right-hand border, a bit of gold, and two groups of those dratted over-one grapes. I’m soooo tempted to leave all those until the end, but if I did that I know it’d never ever get finished, so I’m forcing myself to stitch them as I go, and complete each band … I still have the four little grapes on the first dividing band to stitch yet, though.

The final thing I did today was to finally finish my Stars are Brightly Shining ‘ornament’ (by SamSarah Designs in the JCS 2005 ornie issue), and make my first ever flat-fold … I don’t have any suitable ribbon, so no embellishments are on it yet - I’ll probably add some red cording and a red ribbon bow on the top, but not entirely 100% sure of that yet. Oh well, that’s one thing crossed off my to-do lists for the year, as a flat-fold was one of my key goals for 2006 (the rest of my list is a bit of a whitewash, though!). Even though the curved needle had a mind of its own for a while, eventually I managed to tame it enough to do a fairly decent job of doing the ladder stitch joining up the sides (The first piccie is a better representation of the actual colour - it’s a Country Stitch Kiwi Pearl, so not named, and it’s absolutely divine!) It’s shocking that it’s taken me so long to finish this off … it’s been sitting there just waiting to have its carrot nose stitched on, and that’s it! {shaking head} We didn’t have a button the right size, so Mum and I made one out of Fimo last Christmas (yes, it’s really been sitting here that long! LOL).

Tomorrow will see my final day of being lazy, as it’s back to work on Saturday again … thankfully to decent shifts this week of 8am-4pm for a few days - followed by 5am-1pm shifts … I’ll just have to make doubly sure I get all my sleep regularly for that And I’m back to taking the Voltaren again to try and get my back pain under control - I stopped after just 3 days last week, which was a bit dumb … this week I’m determined to get it all fixed up and get my health back under control

And before I forget … for Nicki - I really loved the World’s Fastest Indian … what a wonderful feel-good movie, I can definitely recommend it! The only thing that took some getting used to was Anthony Hopkins’ weird ‘Southland’ accent … sounded a bit more like something out of Cornwall, rather than Invercargill, but then again it’s been a long time since I’ve been in Dunedin/Invercargill

1 out of 50 Projects Completed

It took me forever to do just a tiny bit of stitching last night … I’m still struggling to get my needles active again - but I persevered until the final stitches were put into my little bee project … “Bumble the Bee: Waxer Pocket” by Moss Creek Designs. I only had the beads and chain stitch left to do on the main piece, and the whole of the name label. It might be a while before it’s actually finished into the pocket itself, but at least the stitching’s finished

The pictures are totally out of proportion, too … the little name label on the right is actually only marginally over an inch in size! When I cropped it on the scanner, it automatically resized it hmmm.

Now I’m off to have a quiet day again … I’ve had a couple of minor dizzy spells today, so I’m taking it majorly easy and just pottering … not sure whether my needles will see the light of day today … time will tell.

Health all OK

My wee health scare yesterday was just a scare after all … all my test results came back OK, which is great news. Nothing concrete given as the reason for it happening, but we think perhaps my continued lack of sleep and the pain in my neck/shoulder/back just sent me over the edge. Let’s just say, the next time I do these shifts, I’ll be taking a sleeping tablet on the first night to get me in the rhythm … that is if I can find them! I was going to take one last night, but couldn’t find them - but even without them I managed to sleep off and on for 11 full hours … crikey!!

Didn’t do much today, aside from a bit of light housework (more tidying up in general), and making a big pot of pumpkin soup. Tonight I intend sitting on my big bum in front of the TV and trying to stitch for an hour or two and taking it easy - I picked up two DVD’s from Video Ezy before going to the GP (they’re right next door to one another … very convenient), so I’ll be watching The World’s Fastest Indian and Walking the Line. I couldn’t stitch at all last night ‘cos we had a power cut … the flat looked really pretty, though, with about 20 candles lit around the place
That’s all for me for the night … Thanks for all your well wishes - they’ve been very very well received! {hugs}