CA Wells and a small vent …

First of all to get the mini vent out of my system … why oh why does the local Council have to decide on THIS week to start digging up the pavements in the street … I woke up to a bloody great digger sitting underneath my window early this morning, listening to it digging up the pavement … perfect timing, when this week I commence my overnight shifts and need to try to sleep during the day :(  To top it off, the photo shoot for my eXcel award ‘publicity shot’ is during the day of my last day of night shifts, so I’ll be looking extremely attractive, especially if I hadn’t got any sleep compliments of roadworks … mutter mutter mutter.  There was a note in the mailbox saying the works are going to be going on for approx 2 weeks … oh happy happy joy joy!

OK, that’s the venting over … now on to the good stuff …

I’ve just sent an email to the organiser of the CA Wells classes saying “count me in” - I have the weekend off, although I’ll need to try and get a shift swap the Friday before if I can’t get annual leave (at the moment I finish at 8pm), and I may need to leave slightly early on the Sunday to get a flight home, as I start at 6am on the Monday … but it’s probably do-able.  I’ve put my name down for annual leave for two days beforehand and one day after, but there are already too many people on the list, so I just may have to juggle my time a bit to get there for it.  Anyway, hopefully it will work itself out closer to the time … now I just have to hear back from the organiser to see if I’m definitely “in”

My apologies to Carina today - unfortunately my shift today doesn’t allow any stitching, as I don’t finish work until 9pm, so there’s be no SAL stitching for me tonight, or tomorrow night for Bordeaux, so my apologies to Carol too … I hope to be able to make up for it at the weekend, though - I’ll try to get a few stitches into both projects during the day of my night shifts (I don’t dare take them into work to stitch on - the over-one stitching would kill my eyes in that poor light at work) ……. 

Ooh, I just had a thought … my night shift starts on Friday night, which means my sleeping days will be Sat/Sun/Mon, so hopefully the roadworks won’t be such a major problem … unless the Council works on the weekends, but I don’t think so - phew, that makes me feel better!!!

Yeah but no but yeah but no … DUST!!!

OMG, my head is still spinning from the incredible stageshow of Little Britain Live tonight - it was a total blast!!  My throat seriously hurts from howling with laughter so much … I’m sure the guy who sat in front of me is now tone deaf from my hysterics!  My Mum always said she loves to hear me laugh, ‘cos it comes from my boots and is always loud and heartfelt LOL … it’s definitely true that if I find something funny, I just can’t hold it in, regardless of the situation!  The venue was the Vodafone Arena, and it was just the best show ever!

BE WARNED THERE MAY BE “SPOILERS” AHEAD FOR ANYONE WHO IS GOING TO THE SHOW, SO DON’T READ ANY FURTHER!

I can’t believe the number of characters they played out, and how quickly they changed between skits … it was exceptionally well done and I’m so glad I jumped and grabbed that ticket!  I felt a bit sorry for the poor souls who got dragged up on stage, but they gave us a huge giggle at their expense, especially with the Des Kaye sketch playing “hide the sausage”!  The voiceovers by Tom Baker were funny too, and really kept the whole theme of the show together, along with the computer generated projections that were very very well done.

What really made it too, was that at one stage a heckler called out a line in advance of the actor in the background (for the “Margaret” character in the shop), and Matt and David both lost the plot … the script went out the window and David started taunting Matt with sexual slurs (I won’t go into it here, but I was in absolute hysterics!) … poor Matt was actually speechless for a while there, while David was grinning like a banshee and loving winding him up, until finally Matt just gave up and the two of them were playing off one another - it was incredibly funny and I literally had tears rolling down my face!  Having the big screens on each side of the stage meant you could see their expressions clearly, and it most definitely wasn’t scripted!  And it made you realise they’re two individual regular guys playing dress-ups for a living … and doing it exceptionally well ;)  I bet the Directors were having a cow though haha.

Almost all the characters were covered, including Lou and Andy, Dennis Waterman, Sebastian Love (& the ‘real’ Prime Minister Tony Head was there for that sketch too, and got a resounding applause when he came on stage … not to mention the applause ‘Sebastian’ got when he stripped off totally starkers on stage haha - but very tastefully LOL), Dafydd Thomas, Marjorie Dawes, Bubbles de Vere, Kenny Craig, Dudley and Ting Tong, Mad Anne, Ray McCooney, Vicky Pollard, Emily Howard and Florence, Carol Beer (Computer Says No), Des Kaye, Margaret and the shopkeeper (can’t remember the names of those), the ‘vomiting hostess’ (Margaret and Judy?) … I’m sure I’ve missed one or two …

I just can’t rave enough how much fun it was!  I’ll be going to sleep with a mighty huge grin on my face tonight … if I ever come down from the clouds enough to actually get to sleep!

Little Britain, Matt and David, I love you for bringing such joy into my life with your wicked sense of humour that is right up my alley … so to speak!

Clickable photos & an early birthday gift!

Woohoo, I managed to work out how to make my photos clickable for a larger piccie - I remember Isabelle told me you have to have two images, one smaller and one larger, and ‘link’ the smaller photo to the larger one, but I never did work it out in Blogger … I just decided to try it here, and it works very easily yippee :D  I’ve just changed the 2000 Christmas Sampler ornie below into a clickable one, so you can see the details a bit more clearly … oh, mind you, that means you can see the crappy bullion knots now, though oops LOL.

I had a wonderful day yesterday when I went to my PO Box at lunchtime - there was some squishy mail in there!  Lo and behold there was a gorgeous gift from Barbara for my birthday!  Wow, check out these yummy goodies … Barbara tells me the fabric is a Hungarian technique similar to batik, and I have to agree with her, it’s absolutely gorgeous and has the most beautiful feel to it.  My mind is boggling with the possibilities of using it - the first thing I thought of is whether it would work in my upcoming quilt project this year, as it would be wonderful to have it on display every day (even if it’s just for my own enjoyment in my bedroom), and it would add a sentimental touch to the quilt by using fabric gifted to me by a close online friend.  Otherwise my head is bursting with finishing ideas it can be used for … I love it! That fabric would have been enough on its own, but Barbara also sent some gorgeously scrummy threads as well - oh, I love being a ‘blue girl’ … these threads are totally divine!  Thank you so much for my gifts, my friend, I truly adore everything! {{hugs}}

Funnily enough both Fraze and Mum have been hassling me about what I’m going to do for my birthday this year, ie going out to dinner, and I haven’t been particularly motivated about it, thinking it was ages away yet - it didn’t really register what time of year it actually is until Barbara’s gift arrived, and I realised it really is just around the corner - yikes!  Mum is also going to be here visiting again in just over a week now (the poor love will probably be caught up in the house moving yet again, but it will be wonderfully handy having an extra pair of hands to help with the packing etc) … I really don’t know where the time has gone, though - it seems just yesterday we were saying “only 6 weeks to go!”!

Talking of which, I’d better get my “A into G” and get moving so I don’t waste my day off … I desperately need to get some housework done as I have piles of things everywhere, buy some groceries as the fridge is literally bare, go to the doctors and have another MSU done as the other test seems to have been inconclusive/contaminated, and head out for a unit inspection at Blackburn tonight … then straight after that I’m off out to see Little Britain live :D  THAT was a last minute decision, as one of the girls from work had her brother pull out of going, and she needed someone to take their spot … I ADORE Little Britain, so I thought it’d do me good to get out and have a really good belly laugh.  I can’t really afford the ticket, so I may live to regret this one … but for now I’m just going to enjoy the moment.  It’s a bit of an early happy birthday gift to myself … and again, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I just couldn’t pass up! Plus after all the crappy stuff I’ve been going through in recent times, I figure I deserve some serious cheering up (my car air conditioning broke down just over a week ago, managing to flood the inside of the car on the passengers side - literally!! - … I forgot to mention that - needless to say, it’s still not fixed, as I can live with a/c for a while until I move out … it did cross my mind at the time, though, that my luck just seems to be rolling on from 2006 into 2007 … but I still refuse to let it get me down - perhaps why I’m so gung-ho about enjoying the positive opportunities that are presenting themselves of late, to give some sense of balance to my little world)

Christmas Ornie SAL

I finally put the last stitches into my Christmas ornie for this month’s SAL - I’m sorry to say for my recipient’s sake the bullion stitches aren’t exactly fantastic, but hopefully she won’t look too closely! ;)  I know I had a few of you stumped with the actual design, but I can finally reveal the details … I just have to find something to place in the ‘blank heart’ as I don’t have the button called for, then it’s ready to be officially ‘finished’ and sent off on it’s way … (I’ve removed the recipient’s initials for secrecy’s sake)

Christmas 2000 Sampler by Douglas Designs
from the 2000 JCS Christmas Ornie issue
using recommended threads, on a mystery 28ct linen

I also finally put the finishing touches into an ornie that Mum stitched for me - she just had the french knots left to do, and very kindly left me to do them, as she knows just how much I adore doing french knots! ;)  It’s supposed to have JABC star buttons, but I don’t have any left, and I think it looks just fine without it.  Thanks Mum, it looks just lovely!

Rejoice by Lizzie*Kate
from the 2004 JCS Christmas Ornie issue
using 14ct red aida and recommended threads

The verdict is almost in …

Within the next 12 hours I will find out if I can get to Perth for the CA Wells classes. That means one thing for sure … the iPod is put on hold! I’d previously requested a DVD (Mission Impossible 3 or Pirates of the Caribbean 2) or CD (Loreena McKennit’s latest one) for my birthday from Mum, but after chatting to her last night, she’s going to give me money instead if the class all goes ahead as planned. I received an email yesterday from the Perth organiser saying there are spaces in both the Pyramid Etui (only 2 left) and the Peacock Needle and Scissor Case (4 left) classes, so I jumped in and said a tentative “yes” to both, subject to getting annual leave approved from work.  You see we’re only allowed 2-3 people off at any one time on the Hotline, and if someone has already got those days off, I’m stuck!  But I’ll find out today what the leave register is looking like … I’ll be moving heaven and earth to get the days off, that’s for sure!  So my Christmas money from Mum & Dad and Heather are now put aside for the classes … sorry iPod, you’ll just have to wait a bit longer, you see I have changed my priorities!! Mind you, there is a helluva LOT of pre-work to be done for that Pyramid Etui, so my stitching priorities will also have to be jiggled quite a bit too … meaning my rotation will likely go out the door - talking of which, I’d better get cracking on a couple of gifts and my Quaker Sampler RR, ‘cos I soon won’t have much time for it (I hope!).

And the other great news is that I heard from Brenda today - she’s my best friend’s SIL, who is a good personal friend as well, and I was supposed to go to her 40th birthday bash in Sydney in November, but had to cancel due to finances … well, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to invite her as my partner to the eXcel award night in Sydney, giving me a fun companion for the night, and chance to have a girl’s night out and catch up - I’m really looking forward to it so much now!  I haven’t seen her for about 2 years, so I can’t wait! :D  I’m also on days off just prior to the ceremony as well, so I might also try to wangle a flight up 1-2 nights early so I can catch up with Nigel as well, and actually see something of Sydney itself, as I’ve never really been there to visit

Unfortunately no stitching updates today - I had hoped to finish my Christmas ornie for the weekend SAL, but the Dragon (aka Mum) decided to phone me for nearly 2 hours, and I didn’t get off the phone until 9.30pm … so no stitching done.  I just have the bottom band to finish, plus the bullion stitches (I have to admit, if I’d realised there were bullion knots on this thing I wouldn’t have been as excited to start it haha - but it’s intended as a gift for someone, so it has to be done!).  I should be able to finish it tomorrow, as I have a day off.

And a quick answer for Annemarie - yes, I do take a small stitching project with me on night shifts … that’s the only shift we can get away with it.  The only difficulty is that it depends on which staff are on for the night whether you get inundated with calls/questions, or if there are any dramas happening overseas.  One of the great tricks is for the UK to release sales fares over the weekends for example, when the UK call centre is closed - and we get all the calls here … but our guys aren’t supposed to quote fares ex other countries, it has to be quoted through the “Fares Desk” (ie me!), which means it could be a busy night.  Same thing if an airport gets closed due to fog etc … like the European weather last week, we got the call to help out Heathrow airport at 5am our time, with minimal staffing (although I got an official/personal thank you from the “big boss” in Sydney the other day, which is awesome). Between 11pm-2am there are just two of us on the fares/help desk (aka Senior Hotline), and between 2am-5am just one of us … so if you get stuck on a call everyone else gets backed up in the queue. 

Oops, sorry, that was supposed to be a QUICK answer … I must have mislaid my dictionary and forgot the true meaning of the word haha.  I usually just take small projects because I may only get one or two stitches in between the next call, and it’s really easy to lose your place etc - but then again I’ve also had a few nights when it’s been really experienced people on duty and no dramas happening and I’ve managed to get a fair bit done … but I’m also quite tired as well, and it’s easier to miscount and make mistakes, so I leave anything I have to ‘think about’ at home.  Funnily enough, I just started thinking about projects to kit up and take with me this week!

CA Wells in Melbourne

I sent an email off to the Perth organiser this morning to find out whether any spots are available for the CA Wells classes over there in April … fingers crossed.  (I’d managed to get the wrong contact person previously, so hopefully it’s not too late.)

But there’s also a possibility of her coming to Melbourne for an additional class in April, date to be advised, if there is enough interest.  Georgie is organising this, so if you’re in the area and you’re interested, drop her a quick line and let her know - apparently we need 20 people in total to sign up so it can go ahead, and at this stage there are still a huge 16 spots left to fill.  It would definitely be a wonderful opportunity

Now, something else I’ve been thinking about for a wee while now … I want to try my hand at Cartonnage … for those of you who’ve never heard of it before, there is one blog that is the ‘ultimate’ reference for Cartonnage … Cartonnage et Compagnie!!  Some of the pieces presented are just magnificent - you definitely have to check out the archives to see some of the amazing projects.  The main thing I personally want to make is something that holds all of my Kreinik metallic threads … something like a bigger version of the teabag holder in this blog here, with little individual compartments.  At the moment I’ve been using my little Ikea drawers, but it’s a pain when you buy a new colour and have to rearrange every single row just to add one little spool into the mix!  Actually what would probably work is to have internal segments inside my longer Ikea drawer, which would allow me to utilise the entire space of the drawer, as well as the flexibility to add new colours as they’re needed (although these days there aren’t that many I still need!), as well as keeping most of my stitching stash in one place.

I’d also love to make a proper teabag holder (a bigger version), as at the moment I’m using my old stitching floss box that I no longer use, and it would be much better for the tea if it was closed in with a lid … perhaps that will be a challenge for 2008!

And if that wasn’t enough, check out this gorgeous sewing caddy … just gorgeous!

And on that note, I’m off to bed!  I still felt a bit squiffy earlier today, but tonight I feel a fair bit better, so I’m hoping to get to work tomorrow … It was supposed to be my weekend off, but I swapped with someone to help them out so they could get the day off, and I’ll be taking Tuesday off instead - just in time to start my overnight shifts yuk!  I didn’t quite get my Christmas ornie finished this weekend for the SAL, but I might try and add a few more stitches into it tomorrow night before the weekend is over …

PhotoHunt - Silver (updated)

PhotoHunt | PhotoHunt

Seeing as I’ve been housebound for the last few days, and not a huge silver fan (I’m definitely a ‘golden girl’), I struggled to find any existing photos with the theme of silver … so I just came up with some lame ones myself … they’re not too artistic or clever, but they are silver

Reels of silver (mainly Kreinik) threads

Tin foil scrunched up!

Well, duh!! The next time I’m looking for photos I should start with my Word document where I keep all the themes, and think of ideas in advance … I’d already found one last week some time, and forgot about it … so here’s what I originally thought of for the theme of silver in a previous lifetime - what a blonde!! Oh well, at least it made me get creative for once!

Long Live the Queen

What happens when you finish the end of your 10-hour rotation and you don’t want to put it down?  You throw in the Lord of the Rings trilogy on DVD, plonk yourself back down in the stitching chair, and just keep right on going :D  I finally decided to bead as I go, as there some seriously large blank spaces where the beads go, so I couldn’t resist it before putting her away, and sat for a few hours tonight adding beads and that revolting Wisper thread.  At least now I’m filling in all the gaps, I can cut away the finished parts of my working copy to make it more manageable … and she really does look so much better with some of her white gaps all filled in!  Alas, though, now the scroll bar has been removed from the floor stand, to be replaced with something smaller - it’s the Christmas Ornie SAL weekend, so tomorrow I’ll be stitching a new ornie, or finishing some I’ve already started …

In the meantime, here’s the final shot of Winter Queen before she was removed … she looks even lovelier with her backstitched face and beads

Bordeaux, Winter Queen and SBQ

To my fellow Aussies, Happy Australia Day to you all - thanks for letting me stay in your beautiful country and letting me call it my new adopted home

Here’s my latest progress piccie of Bordeaux Sampler - I’m loving stitching on this more regularly each week, and normally have difficulty putting it down after my two-hour stint working on it.  Yesterday, though, it was a bit easier due to the fact my concentration wasn’t really up to par.  Unfortunately I won’t be reaching the halfway mark by the end of the month like I’d hoped, as I’d forgotten this band has more of that wonderful over-one lettering … mind you, that’s not as bad as those darned over-one single grapes floating around in the middle of the band … grumble grumble ;)  Please note I still haven’t frogged those golden leaves from the previous band, either … that’s a chore for one day when I’m more in the mood … at some stage before I finish band 7 :D (Sorry, but this photo is quite dark, as the flash wouldn’t work!)

I’ve also finally managed to finish my 10 hours rotation slot on Winter Queen.  Here’s the “before and after” shot - I did my first 10 hours on this back in November 2005, and it hasn’t been touched since, which is shocking … it’s nice to see her come back out of the woodwork again.

Before
 

After

I think the 10-hour rotation really works for me on the whole - I tried doing one project per night, and it just doesn’t work with my shifts, and I feel as if I’ve only just picked something up when I have to put it down again.  At least with 10 hours you can really see some progress at the end of it, and the 10 hours can be spread out over a weekend, or a full week, but you have time to get into a rhythm with the project.  I still give myself some flexibility with those 10 hours, and they’re not always 100% rigid at that mark - if I get close to the 10 hours and I’m still loving the project and don’t want to put it down, then I’ll keep doing an hour or so more before I move on to the next project.  Having my little ‘tub’ of WIPs next to my stitching area has also helped with that too, with everything ready to start again for the next rotation.

  Now, on to the SBQ’s that I’ve been seriously neglecting for the last 3 weeks:

“Do you dream of running your own LNS/ONS? If so, tell us about your dream. If not, tell us about your cross stitch dream … maybe you dream of designing, dyeing your own floss or fabric, etc.”

Nope, I can’t say I’ve ever had the desire of running my own LNS/ONS - working in one, perhaps, but not running it.  To be honest I figure running one would entail so much work that it would impact on my stitching time, and that’s more important to me.  I have to admit, though, that I was having a few ideas about designing my own needlerolls before Christmas, but if I ever do that I’ll offer it as a freebie online here instead of doing it ‘properly’ - but I’d love to learn how to dye my own fabric and floss one day, especially floss!  My main dream is to be able to give up work and still have an income and stitch to my heart’s content every day … hey, we can dream, can’t we?

“Have you had a happy dance yet this year? If so, tell us about it! (Or just point to the entry that talks about it.) If not, when do you predict it will be?”

Yep, that was done on New Year’s Day … the post is here.

Today’s SBQ was suggested by Danielle and is:

“What company produces your favorite hand-dyed fabric? Are there any companies whose hand-dyed fabric you do not like? If so, why?”

I like Silkweaver fabrics, but the one I have for Egyptian Garden has quite a lot of fluff on it, and I’m forever having to pull off pils etc from it while I’m stitching, which is really frustrating.  The only other fabric I’ve tried is from Country Stitch, and I have to admit between the two I really love Linda’s fabric (Country Stitch) the most.  Her customer service is awesome, and she’s a sweetheart to deal with - it’s one of the few things I refused to give up during my penniless phase, my FOTM from Country Stitch.  Her fabrics have a lovely feel to them, and the colours aren’t blotchy but subtly blended … love them! :D  Unfortunately I haven’t tried other products yet, so can’t compare.

And to finish, another quote I really like:

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” - Albert Einstein

Case of the Blah’s

I managed to get 4-5 hours sleep last night (I didn’t get to sleep until nearly 3am thanks to my snoozing yesterday afternoon), and still feel like a train wreck. My ears are sore, and I still have the queasy feeling, as well as just wanting to sleep all day again, so I’m about to take myself off for a wander up to the local doctors. It annoys me having to go, because I know there’s nothing they can do about it if it’s a virus, but I need to get a doctors note for work, I guess. C’est la vie … another $30+ down the tubes ho-hum. At least the Woolworth’s bladder has eased off quite a bit, and it’s relatively cool in the flat, which makes it a bit more pleasant. 

I can’t wait until next week, though, when there’ll finally be something worth watching on TV … thank goodness for my DVD player and home library of cheap DVD’s, that’s all I can say!  Not being a sports fan, it kills me to look through the TV Guide to see the selection this week … at the moment one channel has the cricket, one has the tennis, and one I never watch anyway, leaving one channel to choose from - and because of the cricket/tennis my fave programs aren’t on … But as always there’s a silver lining - I’m getting to watch movies I haven’t seen in months, and I also have some audio books I haven’t listened to yet either (although I have a splitting headache at the moment, so that’s not a great option).  Actually, I’ve just remembered I’m on night shifts next week, so I’d better get ready to videotape all my fave shows that are coming back on again (House, Medium, and NCIS especially).

I’ve made a tiny bit of progress on Bordeaux today, by adding one golden ‘basket’ and about 6 Rhodes grapes, but that’s it - I’ll probably do the last Rhodes grape on the left-hand side, then call it a day … I’m trying to do about 2 hours work on it each week so I don’t jump too far ahead, and I’ve done those 2 hours today already … albeit very slow stitching!  I’ll post a progress piccie later on.

Something else I meant to show a few days ago, and that’s two new quilt designs that I really like … I’m seriously going to have to try doing one quilt at least this year, or at least start one anyway - I’ll have to look through my fabrics and see if I’ve got anything appropriate already, without having to buy too much more … but that’ll be another day when I feel more up to it.  I don’t need to tell you, I’m sure, that of course my quilt will be in blue fabrics

December Rose quilt

Winter Carnival quilt

Now it’s time to throw some clothes on and wander on over to the GP’s office … although the way I’m feeling, perhaps it’d be safer to drive hmmm …

(Updated to add GP results - I’m now off work until Sunday, and if I don’t feel OK on Sunday then I just go back to see him on Monday … also I may have an added bonus of a bladder or kidney infection, so I’ve done a mid-stream urine test as well - at least I can now relax and not think about having to go back to work for two days, and just focus on relaxing and chilling out.  Fingers crossed it’s nothing but a virus, although he also talked about diabetes as well hmmm.  time will tell, I guess.  I was very naughty and treated myself to hiring two new release DVD’s from the video store nextdoor to the GP’s - something I haven’t done for months and months … I thought it would a nice cheer-me-up to help with my stitching.  Even though I’m not getting too much done, a few stitches is better than nothing!)