Photo Hunt – Furry

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This week’s theme is “Furry” and here’s one of our Australian furry critters …

Quick Drive-By

Life is downright hectic at the moment – the weekend was taken up with moving and cleaning, and yesterday I did a 14 hour day at work … and no sign of that letting up for a while.  We’re down to two staff members in our team (with one new start, but she’s not trained up yet), with our Supervisor now on annual leave for two weeks – we’re so flat out with our day-to-day work and operational actions that our project work is struggling to get completed (hence the late hours) … even my poor stitching has been suffering, although I have managed to get a couple of stitches in over the weekend … (so much for my New Year’s goals though hmmm)

On Saturday night Katie and I sat in front of the TV in the lounge and watched a few episodes of Supernatural (we’re both massive fans), while I sat and stitched in my recliner.  I’ve been stitching while sitting up in bed over the last few months, so it was really nice to get my stitching station set up again in the lounge.  The night I managed to get the last stitches put into Cottage Garden, so I have one more finish under my belt.  (Sorry about the dark photo.)

“Cottage Garden” by Country Cottage Needleworks
stitched on 32ct cream linen
with recommended threads

Then on Monday night I picked up Winter Queen again and put her back on the floor stand – if you can work out the differences between the last time I left her in May 2008 and now, with the minimal amount of stitches I managed on Monday night, you’re doing fantastic … ‘cos there’s very little to show for my efforts haha.  But every stitch is better than none, right?  (And if you give up, they’re on the left hand side LOL)

Before:

After:

Anyway, time to jump in the shower and head off to work – I’m having a slightly later start today ‘cos of my late finish (we’ve been leaving home just after 7am this week) … Roll on 5pm is all I can say, ‘cos I’m off to the Chiropractor and I can’t stay late (yippee!!).

Photo Hunt – Chipped

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This week’s theme is “Chipped” and this is my poor choice for the theme … the chipped ceiling of King Ramses IV’s tomb in Egypt … better late than never for a post?

Changing of the Guard

As you may/may not have noticed, there is no Photo Hunt entry from me today … I’ve been working 11 hour days this week on the days when I haven’t had chiro appointments, and been too tired to forward date a post for today … then today has been spent up at the crack of dawn (does 8am count as the crack of dawn?  I think so for a Saturday! LOL) helping my flatmate Lisa pack up her belongings ready for her drive back down to Melbourne.

I just have one thing to ask … why on earth should the world decide it must have a 43C day today???  I have spent most of the day living in a pool of sweat – heaving boxes and cases and bags of goodness knows what down to the ground floor from a third floor apartment in such sweltering heat was quite frankly diabolical, and something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy!  To top that off as I waved a teary goodbye to my beautiful friend and now “ex”-flatmate, I had to pick up my “new” flatmate and load up the car with all her stuff … nothing like having a 15 minute cross-over between removals!  Must say, though, we did one load of carrying stuff upstairs for Katie, and left the rest in the garage to do tomorrow …  Instead we headed off to Ikea to plan our flat’s new furniture (in particular Katie’s room) – it was worth the trip to spend a few hours in the air conditioning, and gave our carpet time to dry (we got carpet cleaners in this morning too).

As for me now, I’ve just put the desk fan on and I’m about to crawl under the sheet in bed in front of that beloved fan … and I’m going to sleep the sleep of angels – what’s betting I don’t even remember my head hitting the pillow?

Cottage Garden WIP

Just thought I’d add a quick updated piccie of my latest WIP, as it’s unlikely I’ll get any stitching done tonight.  I have another chiro appointment after work, followed by their ‘new members’ meeting which gives you more information about what the chiropractor does and how to help manage you health outside the chiropractors rooms.  Anyway, with any luck I’ll get this finished by this weekend … worst case scenario it’ll be finished some time during the weekend anyway, as the border will likely take me a while to complete.  The colours aren’t particularly true to this piece, as the fabric is a rich creamy coloured linen.  Maybe I’ll try to get a piccie in daylight when it’s all finished

New WIP

There are some good things about feeling unwell – a few more hours in the day for stitching for one! …  I went into the GP today to pick up some antibiotics and tomorrow I go in for blood tests … and I’m soon off to the chiro for my next first appointment of three this week.  In the meantime, though, inbetween doing work from home I’ve managed to put a few stitches into my next WIP – Cottage Garden by Country Cottage Needleworks (Just Cross Stitch magazine).  I thought a nice quick project was just the trick to keep the spirits up

Quaker Swan Case

Staying home bundled up today has been great for the stitching progress.  I managed to put the final stitches into my Swan, so now it’s being placed into the ‘finishing pile’ for one day when I feel up to the challenge (and once I have some decent cardstock to use).  The top photo is the closest to the actual fabric colour.

“Quaker Swan Case” by Fancy Work
Stitched on 32ct Blue Spruce Belfast linen
with recommended GAST threads

I actually finished the beading of my In The Dark Needleroll last weekend, but won’t bother showing a photo until the actual finishing is completed.  I guess that means the Quaker Swan Case is actually finish #3 for 2009

Lisa’s final farewell dinner

Katie and I put on a final farewell dinner for Lisa last night, and it was absolutely wonderful if I say so myself!  We’d discussed having crayfish months ago (aka Rock Lobster), and I said I’d treat us for the final meal … yesterday morning I took a trip out to the Sydney Fish Markets for the first time (and fell in love with them while I was there – I think I’ll be going there once a month to buy fresh fish!), and cried at the price tag, then cried again as they got yanked out of the tank and put into a bag with their litte tails still flapping … yikes …

Anyway, the shop put them out of their misery and sliced them into halves for me, and I picked up a fresh whole snapper to keep them company, along with a couple of tuna steaks.  I will definitely be living on bread and jam for the month of February (or at least until next payday) ‘cos the bank balance was emptied out hmmm, but a promise is a promise.  Katie made Pannecotta for dessert (which I’ve never had before) – oh boy it was scrummy!

We took some photos of the evening’s menus, so thought I’d share it (sorry Mum, I know you’re sitting there as green as a shamrock with jealousy! haha).

First of all we take some fresh crafish/rock lobster, and slice them in half…

Then we sprinkle with cayenne pepper and a dash of sea salt, and baste with a marinade made from garlic, oil, lemon juice and brandy.  Eventually, after a couple of extra bastings during cooking, they’ll come out looking like this…

Add a bit of potato slice bake (which unfortunatey looks like it’s mashed in this photo!), and add a basic tossed salad, and you have a scrummy meal that will have you sighing with satisfaction for hours afterwards.  Katie was ooh’ing and ahh’ing for ages, saying her taste buds were in ecstasy as every element of the meal was amazing – thanks Katie, that’s a huge compliment

We had great fun at the end all trying to get into the crayfish legs for that final little fleshy morsel hiding in there – lots of giggles and cursing abounded LOL.  We even cleared and set the dining table for dinner … it was lovely eating all together … it’s only taken us 12 months to use it! LOL.

Afterwards Katie was sent into the kitchen to finish off the preparations of her Pannecotta desserts – and this is the result … how beautiful do they look?  And they tasted just as beautiful!

We ended the night by finishing off my Christmas present of chocolate port … just enough left in the bottle to half fill three glasses for the Three Musketeers … and here’s Katie’s self-portrait of us all at the end of the meal while we were sampling our ports.

All in all a really wonderful night – we’re going to miss my flatmate Lisa a LOT … both at work and at home.  She will definitely be missed, bless her.

We were supposed to all be going to Manly for lunch today with other friends of Lisa’s for their farewell lunch, but I’ve woken up with my throat being worse, and heading to my chest, so I’ve decided to sit here with a mug of Lemsip and have pulled out of the festivities.  I figure it’s probably wiser for me to have a day sat around home vegetating than being a social butterfly and sharing my bugs further.  Never mind, I still have wonderful memories from last night to keep me warm and cosy today … I might even get some more stitching done!

All choked up

I have to say a HUGE thanks to the ladies who have offered me spare copies of the JCS ornie issues after I confirmed my loss.  I am incredibly touched and humbled by your kindness, and I have to say I got a bit choked up when I was responding by email today.  Words can’t express how grateful I feel … my ornie issues have always been some of my most treasured stitching possessions, so it will be awesome to have some of the copies available again to stitch from.

To top off that kindness, I also just received a comment on my previous blog post that I am the winner of Orna’s January Giveaway on her blog, so that lump in my throat just got an awful lot bigger (and separate to the current razor blade burning from my virus!).  If you don’t know Orna Willis, she is one of my favourite canvaswork designers – her designs are exquisite.  I love her use of bright and contemporary colours, and have a couple of designs kitted up ready for stitching.  I look forward to receiving my new prize, as I think it will look absolutely stunning stitched up

Here are my fave pieces yet to be stitched (I don’t actually own the last two though … yet):

  
  

And of course there’s the one piece I’ve already stitched – “Dena”, which I just adore to death!

Photo Hunt – Hat(s)

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This week’s theme is “Hat(s)” and this was a hat I put together for a carnival/mardi gras party theme years ago … it had flashing lights in among the fruit – and was so popular I think other people wore it more than I did on the night!