Cross stitch and coffee

The worlds most beautiful duck.

2009-11-22T17:54:00.000-08:00

Todays photos are of my beautiful duck Ping she is now about eight months old and daily lays me a beautiful egg which delights me everyday, her main purpose though is keeping the armies of slugs and snails in my garden under control which she does an admirable job of.You cant tell from these pictures but she looks exactly like Jemima Puddle-duck she walks upright and is quite tall.
The other photo is a piece that I recently had framed but finished quite some time ago, it was a mystery SAL but I have lost the link for it now.I stitched a little more on CHRH but I haven't taken a photo as I will need to press it first as this linen creases a lot.I really need to give up sleeping I think or I am never going to get through my giant stash of projects in my life time lol looking at other blogs I am constantly tempted by all the lovely pieces I see everyone working on .Well I better go pop the spare ribs I'm cooking for dinner tonight in the oven or the troops may rebel.
Take care.

A Long Year

2009-11-21T21:58:00.000-08:00

Its been such along time since I last posted here that I have almost forgotten how too, and it seems Blogger may have as well because it dose not want to add my photos.
Well a lot has happened in the time between posts ,my Grandmothers estate had to be settled with my sister and I as executors this was finally completed in October ,my eldest daughter turned 21 in March and my son and youngest daughter have both had important exams this year, we were robbed a few months ago with the intruders managing to steal almost everything that wasn't nailed down ,my FIL continues to battle cancer the amazing thing is that they didnt even think he would see this year in let alone be here to see it out , on a brighter note we look forward too welcoming a new great neice to the family early in December and we also added a duck to the family as well ,she is a very beautiful Indian Runner Duck named Ping.
On the stitching front I have completed quite a few pieces this year and will post photos over the next few days.The projects I'm working on at present are Shepherds Bush stocking Elizabeth for my youngest daughter and I have made a small start on the new Christmas at Hawks Run Hollow which I love ,I am stitching it in NPI thread on 32 # Lambswool linen .
Well I better go put another load in the washing machine ,I hope to get round too reading a few blogs soon as I have really missed keeping up with what everyone is up to.
Take care .

A productive weekend.

2009-01-11T00:12:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd show another of the new Hibiscus that I have planted they are truly amazing this one is on the path leading down to the vegetable garden and beside it are a Satsuma and a Bay tree.While the weather has been allowing I have spent most of the weekend outside and as always I was joined by the cats and my dog however only our youngest cat Millie was around while I had the camera out Millie is about eight months old and was saved by my eldest daughter who found her trapped in a drain at
the back of our foundry, she was completely wild when she first came to live here but now she is very cute and friendly and she loves our other cats .
The last photo is ginger bread trio which I finished a wee while back I had it out tonight to lace it before taking it to the framer.I also finished my cushion but I forgot to take a photo of it,I will try to remember to take one when it comes back from being made into a cushion.
All in ll it was a very productive weekend my DH made a two tiered compost bin for me to compost the huge number of leaves we have and I spent the afternoon painting it and loading it with leaves ,while I was out doing this there was a car accident right outside my house, a driver had come across on the wrong side of the rod and hit a lady head on thankfully no one was hurt .
Well thats all for now Take Care.

Josephs' Christmas Stocking.

2009-01-06T02:06:00.000-08:00

here is a photo of my DS christmas stocking it is Shepherds Bush Robert, I actually had finished the stitching for this the year before last ,but only sewed it together in time for the Christmas just gone.
It was another sunny day here but it was back to work for me so I had little time to enjoy it and managed no gardening time at all .Hopefully tomorrow will be equally as nice as I have a few plants that need planting, including another beautiful Hibiscus with huge bright pink flowers which I just had to have.
This evening I stitched away on my cushion and with a bit of a push I might be able to get it finished tomorrow ,I also have a few small things which need finishing ,so hopefully I will have time to get to some of those as well, ahh so little time so much to do! Take care.

A fun day Gardening

2009-01-04T00:47:00.000-08:00

This morning DH and I went to a lovely garden shop ,we have been driving past this particular shop for years but have never stopped there before ,it was a little on the pricey side but had some interesting plants and gift items I will definitely be visiting it again soon! The lovely Hibiscus did not come from there it was bought the day before at my local garden centre which was having a sale, as you can probably guess gardening in taking up a lot of my time at the moment lol.
I also got round to making some delicious apricot conserve today which is delicious and my pantry shelves are beginning to fill with the hard earned bounty of the garden.
On the stitching front I am trying to finish off a Erhman cushion I started last year it is based on the paintings of Klimit ,but I have to say it has been hard going as half way through I decided I didn't really like it lol.Never mind this year I am determind to finish at least some of my growing piles of UFO's.
Well thats about it for now Take Care.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

2009-01-02T23:11:00.000-08:00

First I thought I would post a couple of photos the first is my eldest daughters Christmas stocking it is Brett by Shepherds Bush .The second photo is the table runner I made ,it is appeared in the Christmas Quilting Arts magazine I love the bright colours they make me smile every time I look at it.
Today was spent making Zucchini pickle I planted one plant a few weeks ago and have had enough zucchini off it too feed a small village, apart from the usual ways one eats zucchini we have also had a chocolate cake made with it and now I have resorted to pickle, I also have an interesting slice I want to try.No doubt I will have much the same problems with tomatoes in a few weeks as there seems to be plenty on the plants.
Well thats it for now I'm off to do some stitching Take Care.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T13:01:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone has had a marvelous Christmas and New Year ,for us it was a little sad as it was our first Christmas without my Grandmother but all in all it was a lovely time.I was received all kinds of goodies including a new espresso machine ,some gorgeous cook books and a lovely new dressing gown.
The weather here has not been the greatest so far but it stops raining often enough for me to spend plenty of time in the garden which is wonderful as my garden has been very neglected in the last year and has resorted back to a wilderness.Lst year DH built a series of raised vegetable gardens for me and these are now producing all kinds of goodies, we have already eaten the first crop of potatoes ,more zucchini than you would dream one plant could produce, lettuce and the tomatoes which are now beginning to ripen .
I meant to find the camera before I sat down to write this but I forgot so photos will have to wait till next time.In the mean time Take Care.

Trying to catch up.

2008-10-11T22:13:00.000-07:00

All week I have been trying to find time to post and catch up on a bit of blog reading ,but alas it just hasnt happened and now with a few minutes to spare I,ve realised I havent taken photos of the few things I have finished and the batteries in my camera are flat !!!!Oh well I did manage to catch up on my blog reading and I always find that inspiring.
Last week was a very busy week with little free time as the kids are on holiday and I have had to work more days including Saturday ,however the kids are back to school tomorrow and I am back to work (I dont normally work Monday ) so the coming week looks like it might be just as busy, I do have one highlight this week as Wednesday is my birthday yay.
So until next time take care.

Wednesday Report

2008-09-16T19:22:00.000-07:00

At last blogger and I are friends again ,here is a not so good picture of the quilt i made last week ,it was a kitset and it literally took a hour to piece the top ,I haven't quilted it yet but that will have too wait till I have time to buy the batting for it, and on another happy note the lovely carole from creative poppy sorted out my down loading problems and I now have two cute biscornus to stitch yay.
On the stitching front things are moving slowly along on HOHRH ,I dont know where all the time goes each day but I certainly don't ever seem to have enough of it for stitching, or for catching up on blog reading sigh.
Once again thank you all for your continued prayers for my FIL he goes for his first radiation treatment today ,which is to try and slow the cancer down.I was reflecting this morning on how even when some one has lived to 97(in the case of my grandmother and 80 for my FIL) for those of us left behind it never seems enough I'm not ready too let them go the world seems lonely without my Nana here , my DD named a star for Nana on Saturday so shining down on all of us is the worlds newest star Elizabeth Walton -love you always nana.

Why Dosent My Computer Like Me?

2008-09-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

Ahhh I seem to have bad computer karma at the moment!!!!!On Saturday I bought some cute biscornu and a couple of other charts from creative poppy and even though I have the required reader I dont seem to be able to download the charts I bought and now for some reason blogger refuses to upload the photo I took of the quilt I made the other day ?
In brighter news I have been catching up with blog reading ,its so nice to read what you have all been up to i also signed up for a couple of swaps on swap-bot one is a yarn and chocolate swap and one is 5 inch quilting fabric squares they both should be fun and I dont need to purchase anything except the chocolate (yum).I am trying to work with things I have in my stash at the moment as it seems to be getting out of control at the moment lol.
Thank you to those of you who have dropped by and left well wishes for my FIL unfortunately on Friday we were told his cancer is inoperable and they they expect he has between two months and a year left.So we are all just coming to terms with this news .
Until next time Take Care.

Meet Miss Bear.

2008-09-09T15:44:00.000-07:00

I thought I would introduce you too Miss Bear today,she is my daughters 1 year old Rotty .she is huge already but a real softy,she loves to come over and play with our little foxy Kip ,they are best friends except when she sits on him lol.
I was hoping to share a stitching photo today but I have a new camera and I haven't managed to figure out how to load the photos on the computer yet.I have finally dragged HOHRH which my DH bought for christmas for me not last christmas but the one before ,so I think I really should get going on it!!
Unfortunately my FIL was taken in to hospital this morning as his throat (he has throat cancer) began to bleed uncontrollably , he is alright now and will be transfered to another hospital later today till they decide what to do next, he could really do with your prayers at this time.
Sorry its just a short post again today but take care till next time.

A Long Time No Write

2008-09-07T19:35:00.000-07:00

Well it has in deed been a very long time between blogs, the last eighteen months have been so busy that I just couldnt find the time to keep up with blogging, but I would like to think that things have settled down a bit now.
So heres a quick up date in November last year I became partner in an embroidery shop which is proving to be great fun ,however it has also been a year of great saddness a dear friend passed away from cancer, my Grandmother spent most of the year in and out of hospital and she passed away on August 23 at 97 years old I cant tell you how much I miss her, and now my Father in law in very ill ,he had throat cancer about 14 years ago and it appears that this has reared its ugly head again ,my DH has taken him for a CAT scan today and we should know if they will be able to operate or not in the next few days.
I hope to be able to catch up on other peoples blogs in the next few days and hope that all is well untill next time take care.

Catching up.

2007-08-05T19:05:00.000-07:00

I know amazing two post in two days!! But I thought I would take advantage of the first free Monday I have had in the last two months and sneak in a bit of computer time.
It has been quite a productive weekend for me I finally finished the quilt I was making as a wee thank you gift for a friend, I haven't quilted in a while and I ended up having to re-do parts of it which was a bit frustrating but it ended up looking all right,to make the boring stitching of the binding go quicker I decided to rent Greys Anatomy on DVD , for some reason I've never watched this when it has played on TV and now I've sobbed my way through part of season two (they didnt have season 1) this may not have been a wise choice to watch at the moment given the sad week we have had and the fact that actually I cry easily at the best of times.
Most of today has been spent doing much needed cleaning and sorting it is amazing how piles of things appear in odd places around the house and gather dust until I have time to sort them or yell at the owners of said pile to move them.
On the stitching front I am working on Shepards Bush stockings for the kids and now that I have found the charger for the camera I will be able to post a picture of the first one once the camera has charged.
well thats about all I have time for today so Take Care.

Its's been a long time comming.

2007-08-04T13:56:00.000-07:00

Well it certainly has been along time between posts but here I am .There have been so many things going on around here lately that blogging has had to go on the back burner for awhile.
I think in my last post I told you DH flew off to England with his Dad and is always the way around here thats when things went wrong DH left on Monday and DS was assaulted on Tuesday this is along and involved story of which I will spare you the details , but it did mean endless trips to different doctors, hospitals and dentists and police station we pressed charges and the matter has been to court and Joseph was awarded damages he hasn't any lasting scars to show except for a chipped tooth.
On an even sadder note DD1s boyfriend Willam lost his mother this week ,she passed away on Monday from Breast Cancer ,her funeral was on Thursday and was truly heart breaking she will be missed by many people .Her time here may have been short but she touched many life's and has inspired me to remember each day is a gift that we need to make the most of.
So as you can tell my time has been a little short of late however we have also had some good things happen as well Joseph got his drivers license on Friday ,he was so excited and even came to pick me up from workand has been driving everywhere ever since lol, and Sarah has been placed in an excelerated English class which is amazing as this child really struggled with english for along time yay Sarah!!!!
Sadly we also had to have my favourite cat Maddison put down he was only five years old but had a liver condition that he had from birth and he had stopped eating it was terrribly sad ,but DD1 Mical has bought her two cats to live here so we now have Moon and Sabana tearing around the house keeping everyone entertained.
I have been trying to catch up with reading everyone elses posts but I am so far behind it is a huge task hopefully I will have a bit more time in the coming week.
Take care.

Long time no post.

2007-06-16T14:51:00.000-07:00

Yes its really ME!!! I know I haven't posted in such a longgggggg time but I have been so busy i hardly even have time to check my email let alone anything else.As you may remember I started working at The Embroiderer in April and since then I have been flat out , one of the projects that has been taking up a lot of my time is that I have been developing a range of wooden thread keepers with a friend of mine he has done an amazing job and spent hours getting them to be exactly what I wanted ,he will be delivering the first of them to me tomorrow and I can hardly wait to see them ,so far the range will include a palette ,a birdhouse ,heart,oval ,a rectangle and one other which I cant remember at the moment ,they are made from Maetai , which is a native New Zealand wood .I will add photos tomorrow to show you how beautiful they are.
I have also been working on a range of canvas cushions for the store and have just about finished the last of the range and I am about to start on the instructions for working them.As well as having finished three cross stitch samples to hang in store as well.
And as if all of that was not enough my DH has taken his father for a three week trip around England and after that will be meeting up with my eldest daughter in Singapore for a week of business meetings.
Last night my son attended his school Ball which was held in a lovely Hotel in Auckland city he looked very handsome in his suit and his GF was gorgeous as always I do have photos of Joseph but they are on my DD's camera so I will try and post one later.
Now you think this would enough excitement for us but not quite tomorrow is my youngest daughters birthday ,she will be 14 ,we will of course have a celebratory dinner but she will wait till next weekend to have her friends over.
Well after all that I am going to see if I can manage to catch up on blog reading before the rest of the household wakes up.

By the way if any of you are interested in the Shaker Thread Keepers I will be selling they are priced at $19.90NZD and you can contact me at theembroiderer@extra.co.nz ( and mark it to Tracy)

Kip goes to school.

2007-04-05T19:17:00.000-07:00

It feels like a long time since I managed to sit down and post here ! Last week was my first week working at The Embroiderer and it went far better than I had thought it would it really helps when you are already familiar with the products your selling lol.
I cant remember if I mentioned that last week I had a dog trainer come to help with Kip ( my fox terrier) I decided to try Bark Busters to get a few bad habits sorted out ,one is that he gets completely over excited when people visit ( its like he is on a pogo stick) and the other is that we can never leave him on his own as we howls!!! so this week has been rather tiring for all of us but we have begun to see real improvement with him which has surprised all of us since it has only been a week since the trainer came ( they use no rewards and no harsh methods) and while he is still a work in progress I think we are on the right track.
I have managed a little stitching this week but I forgot to take a photo I am working on New Beginnings by Abby Lane when it is finished it will be my first shop sample.
Well I better get on I seem to have endless jobs to do since many of them didn't get done this week .
Happy Easter everyone Take care

Birthday weekend

2007-03-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my DD1 Mical's birthday she was 19 years old (sob sob ) truly just yesterday she was a baby!So to start the celebrations off on Friday night we went and got our hair cut (Sarah as well) and then we all had our nails manicured ,it was very girly fun ,then yesterday morning William (BF) took her out to breakfast and we all went out to a lovely Thai restaurant for dinner ,so all in all I think she had a pretty good day.
Needless to say not much has happened on the stitching front this weekend but I hope to get a little bit done today in between doing a mountain of laundry !!
I would like again to thank everyone who has left suggestion on my scissor fold I definitely have a good idea on how to improve it next time.
Well thats about it for now Take Care

A sigh of relieve

2007-03-20T15:05:00.001-07:00

A breathed a huge sigh of relieve this morning when I received an email from Emily to say her PIF gift had arrived safe and sound , this is the first time I had tried putting together a tin I wasn't completely happy with it but I would like to try another one now I have a better idea of how they go together I also add a little scissor fob which I thought looked quite cheerful.
Yesterday I managed to put in a few more stitches on Matters Choice but again I forgot to take a photo I haven't all that much to go on this one now and I must say stitching in just one color certainly speeds things up.
Well thats it for now Take Care.

Yummy Thread

2007-03-18T18:42:00.000-07:00

Look at the goodies that were in my mailbox this morning!!You may remember I posted earlier that Namuelle had sent me this very cute chart which I am going to stitch for me Niece ,well Namuelle kindly offered to send the Atalie threads and here they are ,they are really gorgeous and there are a few extra colours as well ,I can't wait to try them out .
Thank you for the suggestions for the scissor keep ,it is very cute and I would like to use it.Yesterday we visited my Grandmother and my Sister and nephew dropped by as well so that was a very pleasant afternoon .I did manage to get a bit of stitching done on Matters Choice but I forgot to take a photo ,so I wil post that tomorrow ,it is comming along quite quickly.
Well thats it for now so Take Care

Eliza Jane's Needlekeep and Scissor Flat

2007-03-15T23:11:00.000-07:00

I have been stitching this for the last couple of days it is Eliza Jane's Needlekeep and Scissors Flat which was in my last stash photo it is a very pretty design but I have to say I am a little disappointed in the finish ,the scissors are tied in with ribbon but I had to adjust the position of the ribbon as when it was in the center the scissor simply fell out now the are secure but the points slip to the side when you pick it up !!!!! I could add another ribbon to tie the points in but then the whole thing seems awash with ribbon! Any suggestions would be appreciated or maybe someone has stitched this before and has a better finishing technique .
This weekend I have a few little jobs I need to see to ,one is buying Sarah a school jumper (pullover) as the weather has suddenly turned quite cold here ,I also need to pick up a couple of things to finish off my PIF gifts and Sunday we are
my Grandmother .
Well thats it for now Take Care.

Happy Birthday Joseph

2007-03-13T12:30:00.000-07:00

Today is my darling son Josephs birthday he is 17 years old ,my how the time has flown by!! Now I may be biased but I have to say Joseph was quite possibly the worlds cutest baby people actually used to stop us in the street to talk to him ,and now he has grown into a funny, caring ,kind young man .Tonight he is having friends over to watch videos and have pizza which I have to say after years of children's parties involving games and party packs teenage parties are actually pretty easy .
Thanks for the comments on my last post its really nice to know you are all so supportive .On the stitching front I really haven't made much progress on anything in the last couple of days but I thought I would show you one of the beaded scissor fobs I made recently, these are so quick to make that I got carried away and made quite a few LOL never mind at least I'll be prepared for gift giving!
Take care.

Big News

2007-03-11T12:18:00.000-07:00

OK time for an up date (I do mean to blog everyday but some how things never turn out that way) I have some big news on April the second I will be starting work at The Embroiderer (LNS) with the option to buy a 50% share at the end of three months ,this business has been owned by a group of four women for 22 years and I would venture to say it is the best shop in Auckland and with one exception the best in NZ so I am really excited ,this has been in the planning since November of last year and has come at the perfect time for me with no children left at primary school and Mical taking over my job doing the accounts for our other business the timing seems right to enter this business .The kids and DH are all very keen for me to take this opportunity as they know how much I'm looking forward to it , and once I get the hang of things it is only a three day a week job so that suits me even better.
The weekend was taken up with helping Mical and Will move flat (apartment) and I can tell you I am exhausted !Sunday Mical hired a carpet cleaner and we cleaned the carpets and made sure that windows etc were clean Needless to say not a lot of stitching was done but I have made a start on Eliza Jane's Needlekeep and Scissor Flat which is looking very pretty ,I will take a photo to post next time.
Well thats it for now so Take Care.

Sewing .

2007-03-06T13:44:00.000-08:00

Look what arrived in the post yesterday !!STASH it feels like a long time since the last time a lovely package of goodies arrived in my mail box lol.I can hardly wait to get stitching.
Its been a busy week Joseph was off at camp and arrived home yesterday with a giant bag of washing and camping equipment that needs cleaning (this will be his job this afternoon) .On Monday Mical bought a friend over for a sewing lesson ,she wanted to make some cushions so that was pretty easy (not to mention my own sewing skills don't run much past repairs and quilting) she was very pleased with her finished project , and yesterday I did a few mending jobs that had been sitting in my sewing room far too long .
I am getting a little worried about the PIF parcel I sent out two weeks ago as the person doesn't seem to have received it yet ,it seems much longer for post to reach the USA from NZ than it does the other way round actually I am more concerned because even though the lady at the post office told me to keep the receipt as it has the tracking number on it I have lost it due to the fact i bought a new bag and purse and in cleaning out the old one i must have thrown away the receipt which is typical that now I might need it !
Well thats about it for now Take care.

Flu season arrives early this year.

2007-02-28T12:35:00.000-08:00

I'm still here but our household has been struck with Flu bugs ,Mical and Will were first to fall at the weekend and now Joseph is home as well, and although I haven't got the flu I have felt tired and had a headache all week never mind we will limp along hopefully Joseph recovers quickly as he is due to go to camp on Sunday.
I really haven't done a lot of stitching this week I have done a tiny bit on HOHRH but had to unpick most of what I stitched !!!I also stitched a gift but in my fatigued state I forgot to take a photo before I posted it off not to mention I still haven't found the camera cable.Well thats it for now I think I'll go and take a wee nap and see if that helps.Take care.

Things were a shaking

2007-02-21T13:38:00.000-08:00

Yes things were pretty exciting here last night as Auckland experienced three small earthquakes !!! Now earthquakes are not uncommon in New Zealand but I have never known Auckland to have a single one!!!! and since my house is over 100 years old it was a bit disconcerting however we didn't have any damage at all (neither did anyone else as far as I know).
Before the excitement of the earthquakes I managed to get a bit of finishing work done I made a cushion and put together my scissor keeper but I still can't find the camera cable so I will show you next time hopefully! Apart from that I stitched a little more on Matters Choice which I'm really enjoying.Well that all for now so Take Care.

Little Visitors.

2007-02-20T11:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had to take Kip (my little Fox Terrier ) to the Vet as the inside of his ear was swollen ,he was very well behaved while he was there and didn't complain about getting an injection in his butt or drops in his ear he even licked a wee kitten on his way out for good measure ( Kip loves kittens and like to clean and heard them! ) luckily this is only the second time Kip has ever needed to see the Vet (apart from yearly shots) as these trips for even simple things sure do cost a fortune.
When Kip and I got back home Mical was waiting for us and had two darling little visitors with her ,she was looking after a friends little boys for the evening they are 14 months and 3 years old soooooo cute ,so they stayed for dinner and then we went supermarket shopping ,where of course we had to have rides on the merry go rounds and cars and a lollipop for good measure ,then it was home for a bath before being delivered home to their Mum and Dad .I really look forward to one day being a Grand parent i love having little ones around the house.
Of course no stitching was done yesterday but hopefully I'll have some time this evening.Take care.

New Computers

2007-02-18T21:59:00.000-08:00

I managed to finish off and post the first of my PIF packages on Saturday ,I am always concerned about my finishing techniques I really must practice more.Today I picked up Matters Choice which I haven't stitched on for months I will make this my stitching project this week.I do have photos to show of but I don't know where the camera cable has gone !!!
DH and DS are both getting new computers this week ,they went and chose them on Saturday DH needs a new one because the one DD uses to do the accounts on at work died the other day so she has DH's computer and he gets a new one, and DS's computer also broke and one of his classes relies on him having a computer so he also gets a new one, they should both be in store sometime this week and believe me DS can hardly wait.
Well thats about it for today I'm off to get a bit of stitching done .Take Care.

2007-02-11T12:15:00.000-08:00

Sorry no photos today,my stitching over the weekend was just about non existent as I was caught up with staining the out door furniture and still working on the windows, I have started the first of my PIF projects I had an idea of what I wanted to make but have changed plans as the designs is a little too big for my first idea ,as always the stitching is the easy part the part I always worry about is the finishing when I see how clever some people are I realise this is an area I really need to work on.
Thats about it for me I'm off for a fun filled morning of cleaning and scrubbing Take Care.

Man was it hot today.

2007-02-09T23:06:00.000-08:00

Finally Summer has arrived in full force! this was definitely the hottest day we have had this year.I started the day by heading to the Library to pick up a book I had ordered and then to the post office to post Namuelles RR square to her but when I got there I found I had left her address at home !!!! How ever latter on DH and I went to the Hardware store (this is quickly becoming one of my favorite places) to pick up the stain for my windows and some stain for my outdoor furniture and deck and I posted of my parcel on the way home.Of course live is never quite as simple as I would like and once home we decided we didn't like the colour stain we had chosen and so DH was sent back to the hardware store to choose a different colour ,we both prefer the second one .Meanwhile I put DD2 to work clean the outside table and chairs and once they had dried I managed to stain the table and three of the chairs before it was time to cook dinner ,so three more chairs to go and then a second coat for all .
I have been meaning to post a photo of the cute chart Namuelle included with her RR piece it is very cute I am looking forward to stitching this.
Thank you to every one who has left comments lately especially about Sarah starting High School ,Margaret I cried when each of my children started school(I might add they all left without a tear in sight!) and it has been a difficult process letting each of them go off to High School and now in Micals case leave home .I am proud to say each of them manages the transitions far better than I do it feels like time has slipped away and I wish I had made better use of it, or had more kids ,why is it now when finally I am getting the hang of this parenting thing are they all growing up!!!!!
Well I might pop off and to a bit of stitching before bed Take Care.

My Baby Starts High School Today!

2007-02-06T13:56:00.000-08:00

A sad day here for me my baby started High School today I really can't believe the time has passed so quickly from that first day where she hung on to live by the skin of her teeth , so sick she had to be in an open incubator now she is a lippy teen who went off this morning all confidence.
The little bunny is a gift I finished at the weekend ,you will notice that I am no longer keeping a total of finished projects ,this is because I not only fell off the wagon the wagon has driven off into the distance LOL yesterday I ordered VOHRH and a few other charts and threads I do feel pretty pleased that I resisted this long and it has actually made me look at my stitching differently I am more conscious of what I purchase.
Well thats about it for now I need to get to the post office before school gets out this afternoon because the place will be packed with parents buying stationery.Take care.

A girls day out.

2007-02-04T20:06:00.000-08:00

We are on our final few days of summer here tomorrow is a public holiday and then school starts on Wednesday for Sarah and Thursday for Joseph it all seems to have gone so fast.
Today was a girls day out for Mical and I first we did the ugly job of grocery shopping but with that out of the way we visited a local quilting and scrap booking shop (i needed fusible webbing ) ,then we went to a food market in Auckland city that sells fish,meat,vegetables and a wonderful range of deli goods we managed to find a real variety of yummy things to try ,what I miss most about Mical not living at home is that we both share a real love of food and we both like to try new things, after that we had to rush home as DH and DD2 had locked themselves out of the house ,but after rescuing them we hit the mall to buy a new food processor I have been looking to replace mine for a while (it is 19 years old) but have been unable to find one the same size that didnt cost more than the deposit on a house! but finally I found one at my local mall it has a 3 litre capacity and a 1000 kw motor it comes with a blender ,a mill, a juicer, plus numerous other attachments including a bread hook I am so excited I can hardly wait to try it out.
I did finish stitching a little gift for some one whos having a baby but I havent taken a photo yet.Well I guess thats about it for now Take Care .

2007-02-02T11:42:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update I forgot to mention that my DS passed his exams not as well as the year before and he will definitely have to work harder this year but he is relieved to have passed.
I am still working on the windows this is a long slow process and I think I have actually removed several layers of skin on my hands, I did suggest to the kids that I could probably commit any crime I liked without leaving finger prints . real downs side is my skin is so rough that it makes stitching difficult so I am applying heavy duty foot cream to my hands in the hope of repairing them.
Well thats about it for now take care

Just busy.

2007-01-31T11:02:00.000-08:00

Thursday already were has the week gone!!Its been a busy week here as I mentioned we had a wedding to go to on Saturday which was one of the nicest weddings I've been too (and I've been to a lot including hosting my nieces in my garden) the wedding was held outside it was very simple and quick which was great as it was so hot even standing under umbrellas.
It was a long weekend here as Monday was Auckland Anniversary day and we enjoyed just pottering around (I am still working on my windows they are beginning to look really nice but it is a long job as some of the paint turns to this ugly sticky mess when you put the paint stripper on it)I have managed very little stitching over the week but I did get a little break to the LNS to pick up the rest of the silks I had ordered for HOHRH ,this was probably my fastest visit ever as I went straight in and out I didn't even browse for a minute LOL it did help of course that I had DD2 with me and we were off to buy her new school uniform (I now have no little children this is DD2 first year at High School) a pricey business at the best of times.I have been stitching away at my RR piece and this is almost finished ,I've been dying to start something new this week but have been good and resisted the temptation so far lol.I haven't touched the camel blanket since last writting about it mostly because of the huige amount of prep work it needs is a bit off putting at the moment .Well thats about it for now oh I forgot to add that I finally added a photo of the finished winter sampler I think this takes my finishes to 20/50 yay.

Painting and scrapping

2007-01-26T10:48:00.000-08:00

This week has turned into one of those weeks were I suddenly decided to do some jobs that I have been putting off (actually hoping DH would do) first up I sanded and painted the railing around the deck and now I am stripping the windows in the study which is proving to be a bigger job than I thought it would be !However I have discovered that under they ugly chipping paint is the same beautiful wooden that we have in our main lounge which has been stained instead of painted and looks beautiful the only problem is I've never tried staining a window before and these are large windows that run the length of one wall and around the corner of the next so if I make a mistake it will be noticeable.The next decision will be wether to replace the horrible curtains or maybe to leave the windows bare as this would allow us to enjoy the view of the trees in our garden and the view of the harbour and Rangitoto oh well one thing at a time.
Today we are off to another wedding this time it is our forman getting married so that should be lovely but I guess I wont get any stitching time today either I have done a little on Namuelles RR piece but thats about it this week ,I really am going to have to pick up the pace a bit lol.I did have a couple of photos to share but I forgot to get the camera so I'll have to share them next time.Take care

2007-01-21T11:15:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone I'm back I needed a short break last week as it was just one of those depressing weeks were every thing seemed to pile up and go wrong hopefully this week will go better.
I did manage to finish the Prairie Schooler sampler last week and have stitched one and a half pages of The Book of Ornament and work on LDS so I feel happy with that and will add photos tomorrow ,I will probably continue to stitch LDS today as with the end of the month approaching fast I am no were close to finishing either band but I have enjoyed stitching the little birds in band two.
I also spent some time on Saturday Drawing the designs for a new blanket I am about to start this is a project I have been dying to start for ages it is from Inspirations Magazine and is the first Camel blanket by Jenny McWhinney, I loved it the moment I saw it but it has a ton of different threads and some weren't available here, it was offered as a kit from the magazine but it was quite pricey so I didn't buy it and regretted it when it was no longer available ,but last Christmas they offered the kit again and this time at a much reduced price YAY so I snapped one up and have been looking forward to stitching it but I hate the transferring of the design stage so I have put off starting it, but no longer on Saturday Sarah (DD2) and I went to Spotlight and I picked up some tracing paper (they sell the large sheets) and I have managed to get Two Camels ready and only have the third to go ,then comes the painful stage of transferring them to the blanket!! I might add that while at Spotlight Sarah decided she need a project and came away with arms loaded with paint and a wooden box and tray which she then happily spent the weekend painting.
Sunday morning was taken up with a trip to the Mall to buy new shoes for Joseph and the a trip to Harvey Normans with Mical and Will to help them purchase a new Stove and fridge , we managed to pick up a couple of good deals and they came away very happy .
Before I go I just wanted to say thanks to Renee for stopping by I will check out your blog in the next couple of days.Take care.

I am so tired!

2007-01-09T12:22:00.000-08:00

Well surprise surprise I have actually kept to my rotation this week ! Last night I stitched on mystery sampler from Gift of Stitching magazine ,sorry no photo today as I am not feeling great today ,don't no what the matter is I feel incredibly tired I can hardly lift my arms or make my legs move even my fingers feel tired !!!!!
I have been reading through a few new (to me) blogs over the holiday period, I am really fascinated with what other people are up to or thinking about and while I intend to keep this as a place to talk about stitching an area that I have noticed a lot of people thinking about is the whole idea of recycling or making better use of what you have and food miles which when you live at the end of the earth is a big issue ,these are all issues I try to put into practice in my every day life although of course there are some things which I find hard to give up (coffee would be a good example not sure how I can get round the food miles on that one) ,it really is encouraging to read about other peoples efforts and I hope to try new ideas out myself this year and be more aware of the effect I can have on some of these issues.
Well I guess I should be off to try and get some work done so Take Care.

Trying new things.

2007-01-07T12:32:00.000-08:00

So far so good on the rotation front I have stitched on Autumn Sampler and Noble pursuit (I will have photos but my camera is playing up) and today I move on to A Book of Ornament .
Sunday was filled up with a trip to the Garden Center to buy new liners for my hanging baskets and plants to go in them, then DD1 decided we should stop in at a delicatessen we have been meaning to check out for a while, it turned out to have a strong middle eastern flavour to it with loads of interesting spices and jars of pickles, however as I didn't have any immediate needs for these we bought only some pepper, pita bread(which was absolutely delicious and made the whole trip worth while) and some Turkish coffee ,so with our treasures in hand we rushed home the girls immediately set to work making lunch while I fixed up the hanging baskets a job which didn't take long ,and in the mean time our little food shopping had put DD1 in the mood to bake the cookies she had bought for me at Christmas ( they were a mix ,chocolate chip, packaged very nicely in a chinese style take out box) and we thought we would wash this down with the Turkish coffee, now I should add here both DD1 and I are pretty good cooks so we aren't really used to failure in this department, but the cookies came out of the oven looking very pale and crumbly ,never ones to be discouraged we let DD2 try one first LOL ,actually with tiny cups of steaming coffee in hand we bit and sipped ahhhhhh what we tasted was cookies that tasted like they were made only of sugar and coffee made of mud LOL needless to say we were not impressed, we did redeem our selves latter by cooking delicious shrimp for dinner ,oh well you win some you lose some. Take Care

My January Rotation

2007-01-05T17:17:00.000-08:00

The weather here is finally behaving more like Summer so I have been busy out in the garden mostly spreading compost and weeding which in my garden is endless but it certainly is nice to be outside.
On the stitching front I stitched my Santa (Prairie Schooler) for my RR and then discovered in true me style that I was suppose to have sent it on the 2nd not the 6th like I thought!!!!! never mind its in the post now however I forgot to take a photo of it.
I have decided on my rotation for this month I am going to work on-
1.Autumn sampler
2.A most noble pursuit
3.A book of ornament
4.The gift of stitching mystery sampler
5. RR
This is quite a stretch for me as I am not good at the discipline this takes however I have seen how well it works for other people and I am determined to make better use of my stitching time so wish me luck we will see how this goes.
Well I am off to stitch on Autumn Sampler there's not too much to go on this one so hopefully I'll have it finished soon leaving more time to work on the larger projects.
Take care.
.

Gardening in the Rain.

2007-01-01T11:53:00.000-08:00

Firstly I want to say thank you to all of you who have dropped by lately there are a couple of you who are new and I wanted to let you know that I really appreciate you taking the time to comment and I hope to drop by and visit your blogs in the next few days.
Sorry no photos today as I really haven't managed to stitch anything as I have been doing some heavy duty garden clearing and my hands and arms are aching!!! however my RR is due be be stitched and sent by the 6th so I better get that out and sorted today !!!!! nothing like leaving things to the last moment.
I download the new issue of the Gift of Stitching this morning and was wondering if anyone else was thinking of stitching the new mystery sampler? it is by LDS.
Well thats about it for me I plan to do more gardening today ,the weather is definitely not helping matters here as it continues to rain however its sunny at the moment if still windy so I better make the best of it while I can .Take Care.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2006-12-30T22:46:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year ,I haven't quite decided what my resolutions should be this year but I still have a few hours to decide .This year we will be having a quite New Years at home just DH my daughters and I ,DS has gone to welcome the New Year with friends so the girls and I may settle in with some DVDs and chocolate yum.
I haven't managed any stitching in the last couple of days as I have been spending some much needed time in the garden and we have been out visiting my DH sister and her family last night as we they weren't able to join us for Christmas this year we exchanged gifts and had a lovely Barbecue dinner I received a lovely cook book that I had had my eye on for awhile so I look forward to trying some new recipes.
Well I hope you all enjoy ringing in the New Year ,Take Care.

A little bit of shopping

2006-12-28T13:17:00.000-08:00

I thought it was time for a stitching up date and above is what I have been stitching in the last few days as well as making a start on a Noble Pursuit , no photo of that this morning as last night I realized I was suppose to be only using one ply of thread and I had been using my usual two ply arrrrrh ,so I need to undo all I have stitched so far but since I didn't feel in the mood to do that last night I moved on to the next section and stitched that instead.On wednesday I rushed out to my LNS with my gift certificate clutched in my hand and ordered the silk ( I am using the soie d'alger simply because this is what my LNS sells) and bought the fabric to stitch HOHRH well that used up most of my money but I also bought the fabric and threads for AN Accordian Book of Ornament by Cherished Stitches however when I got home I realized I had bought the wrong amount of fabric arrrrrrrrrrrrh!!!!!!never mind I did have some white 36ct fabric at home and I will use that instead.
So after that huge splurge I now really need to get busy stitching I have really been looking forward to stitching HOHRH since I first laid eyes on it and as soon as my threads arrive I will be starting on it immediately !!!!!!!Maybe VOHRH will be on birthday list lol.
Well thats about it for now so Take Care.

Merry Christmas

2006-12-25T12:40:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone, well for me it is now all over for another year ,I have to say it all went pretty well ,on Christmas Eve we had my family over for a very traditional Christmas lunch of Turkey and Christmas pudding luckily the weather here has been so cold that cooking all of this was not so bad however I did have to get up at the crack of dawn in order to have it all ready by lunch time ! ( the crack of dawn and I have not seen each other much since my children grew up!!), then on Christmas morning it was the usual rising at dawn again to open all the presents which is so much fun, I received some lovely gifts including a gift certificate to LNS from DH and a book on Martha Stewart (actually I asked Santa if Martha could be my Mummy but it seems I'll have to make do with the book) my DD1 gave me a lovely calendar with a different cross stitch pattern to stitch every day !(somehow I doubt I can manage that but the kids seemed to think I could LOL)DS gave me a U2 CD which I love , and last but not least DD3 gave me a fantastic smelling bath bomb from the body shop, yep I was pretty spoilt .After all the ripping and tearing we enjoyed a fairly leisurely day and then in the evening we had a wonderful barbecue dinner for Martyns family which was lovely.
Well I hope all of you are enjoying the Christmas season ,Merry Christmas to all , and to all a goodnight.

2006-12-14T19:17:00.000-08:00

I put the last few stitches in Red Bird Sampler today it has a very festive feel to it and I just love the little bird.So now that it is finished I have decided to try a little rotation I am going to stitch Autumn Leaves by Prairie Schooler, Noble Pursuit and The Token by Long Dog Samplers, I haven't been very successful at rotational stitching in the past but I hope with extra time overs the holidays I may have more success.Speaking of the Holidays I may possibly hold the land speed record for gift buying today with list in hand I managed to get almost all my shopping done!!!! in just two hours , now if I haven't mentioned before how I love to be organized and never shop without a list I will tell you again ,while many in my family have made fun of my list making it is days like today that prove the value of my list making , while many others stood trying to decide on the perfect gift for Aunty This and Uncle That I was in and out of most shops in ten minutes flat and most of that time was spent in the check out line. Now I just have to think what I will be cooking !!!!Well thats it for now Take Care.
19/50 projects completed.

2006-12-13T01:06:00.000-08:00

This is my second attempt to post today ,earlier blogger ate my post!Its been another busy few days here yesterday DD1 (Mical ) was over and we delivered her kittens to their new homes , she was a little sad to see them go but she does have two cats already .So it seemed appropriate to make her the Britty Christmas Kitty ornament which I stitched for her today , I mentioned I was making her a little gift when I was talking to her on the phone this morning and so she rushed over this evening to get it LOL in fact she was so quick that I hadn't actually sewn it together ,so she paced up and down in my bedroom while I finished it off.then we went off and did a little Christmas shopping ,I have so few present bought that it is now beginning to scare me!!, not to mention we don't have a tree yet and I have not planned what I will be feeding the 30 or so people coming to Christmas dinner Ahhhhhhhh.
On a brighter note yesterday my LNS called to say some fabric I had ordered was ready ,so I rushed over and picked up a WDW thread I needed to finish off Red Bird Sampler as well ,so now as soon as I have finished RBS I can start A Noble Pursuit which I have been looking forward to starting ,I really think I will have to try some kind of rotation because I have so many things I am eager to get on with.
Well thats about it for now so Take Care. 18/50 projects completed

What a Week.

2006-12-08T11:25:00.000-08:00

Sorry no photos today ,I have stitched a bit more of Redbird Sampler but I didn't take a photo, then yesterday I realised I had not started the Christmas Quilt I had planned to complete for THIS Christmas (Welcome to the North Pole by Piece of Cake designs) so I bought up containers of fabric from the basement and took over the study (yes I do have a sewing room ,but my son has recently removed his computer from the study leaving a beautiful big table empty perfect for me to lay everything out on as opposed to me having to tidy my sewing room to make space lol) so in a made flurry I managed (between visitors ) to get 5 blocks put together and 2 of those sewn which wasn't a bad effort ,only 8 more to put together !!I will try and add photos of these tomorrow .
It has been a really long week here on Monday evening our factory was broken into (we have monitored alarm) all that was taken were a few castings off a display stand but we had to have the lock on the front doors replaced as they had smashed through the door wrecking the lock in the process. Wednesday night we had a couple of drunken kids knocking over the recycling bins along our road (these are pretty large bins ) so DH raced out and ended up having to call the police as the guys were by then standing in the middle of the road causing havoc with the traffic, Thursday was a doctors appointment for DH at the hospital which went well thank goodness or it might have been the straw that broke the camels back.any way its the week end now and I can only hope things improve next week !!
Well thats about it for now hope you all have a great weekend Take Care.

2006-12-05T15:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I started stitching this little piece Redbird Sampler by Bent Creek it seems like it will be quick to finish and I love the little bird !
Thank you for the lovely comments on my scissor case , I'm looking forward to trying another one of these.
The weather has finally decided to be sunny and warm but we are still been plagued with extremely strong winds which make spending time outside really unpleasant ,which is a pain as my garden definitely needs some attention.
Well I must be off as I really need to hang the washing out oh joy of joys lol.
Take Care.

No I Haven't Joined The Circus!

2006-12-03T14:47:00.000-08:00

No I haven't run off to join the circus ! I've just been really busy with end of year things around here and of course Christmas things as well.
Todays photos are of a scissor case I made for Karen for Christmas ,it was very quick to stitch and I may make a few more of these to give as gifts.The second photo is of The Bitterest Flower by Birds of a Feather which I finished at the weekend .
Apart from these little things I haven't much else to show I do have a few Christmas Ornaments I'd like to stitch so they maybe what I work on this week.In the mean time Take Care.
17/50 projects stitched

A fun Weekend

2006-11-26T11:04:00.000-08:00

It was a busy but fun weekend here, on Saturday DH and I went to Ray and Piri's Wedding which was beautiful, Ray who I see everyday wearing dirty overalls looked extremely handsome dressed in a suit and the bride looked beautiful , the reception was packed with people and there was food galore , it was a lovely day and it was made even better by a stop at my favorite bookshop on the way home.Sunday morning was very relaxed with us all enjoying the sun on the deck, in the afternoon DH an DD went to visit MIL , no sooner had they gone when Laura ,Marc and children arrived so that was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon Elle -Anna continues to grow at a steady rate but is proving to be a little difficult in the sleep department LOL ,and to round the day out DD and BF came to dinner last night which and latter while watching CSI she provided us with a yummy chocolate fondue and fruit YUM you don't get a much better way to finish the weekend than that !
I didn't actually manage to get any stitching done this weekend but hopefully tonight I will finish off the 'Welcome Spot" which I only have the House and hearts to stitch, I dont seem to very focused on my stitching at the moment , everything seems to be taking me much longer to finish ,oh well I best be off hope everyone has had a nice weekend .Take Care

2006-11-22T11:07:00.000-08:00

Do you know how close Christmas is getting !!!!! The bad thing about having exams and Weddings before Christmas is that they draw my mind away from the things I need to be doing to prepare for having a huge family Christmas at my house and sooner or latter panic sets in as I realize once again I will run out of time to complete all the things I had planed to stitch as gifts ,OH why can't I be one of those people who cleverly start stitching at the beginning of the year ?LOL
Last night I stitched the first couple of rows of the roof on Welcome Home Spot ,but then decide that the little flower garland would make a nice little scissor fob so I stitched that instead and will take a photo if I stitch it together today.I forgot to add that the fabric I have stitched this sampler on was a gift from Karen it is 28 count Lakeside Linen ,by the way Carol I have loads of finished pieces waiting to be framed or finished in some way but I do hope to frame this piece LOL ,maybe that should be a challenge for me next year to a actually finish or frame each piece as I stitch it hmm thats definitely worth thinking about especially since I I theory should be saving money by stitching from my stash .
Lastly HI Namuelle glad you dropped by , we have finished all your cookies now they were sooo yummy .
Well thats it for now so Take Care and Happy Thanks Giving to everyone in America.

15/50 projects.

Welcome spot sampler.

2006-11-20T20:16:00.000-08:00

Its been a busy few days here ,we are at the beginning of the exam season for High School students and my DS is sitting NCEA level 2 exams ,he sat his first one ,physics on Monday and is busily studying for Chemistry and Maths which are both next week.
I decided to start a new project on Saturday it is "Welcome Spot Sampler " by Drawn Thread it is a very quick stitch I just have to stitch the house and the row of hearts at the top.
I wanted to say thank you to all the people who have left comments lately ,there have been a few new visitors and I look forward to visiting your blogs in the next few days ,when time allows.I hope to get at least one of my PIF gifts stitched before Christmas but I can see that time is beginning to get away on me ,this weekend we have a wedding to go to (one of our employees) which I'm really looking forward too, but I haven't even begun looking for an outfit to wear !! mostly because I hate this kind of shopping, so I will need to set time aside for that, as well as that I'm looking at buying a new business so there are a lot of phone calls and meetings to fit in as we try to wind it up before Christmas ,oh well as long as I can fit in all the Christmas stitching I'll survive LOL I really need more hours in the day !!
Well take care everyone. 15/50

2006-11-16T17:18:00.000-08:00

Here are my latest finishes the CHS M is for my DD Mical and the other one is to hang on my tree.I haven't really anything much else to add at the moment ,life is just busy busy , but I do want to say how much I appreciate your comments and love catching up with what everyone else is stitching. Take care 15/50 projects completed.

More gifts from Santa

2006-11-12T18:39:00.000-08:00

Look at the wonderful bag Namuelle made for me isn't it gorgeous ! It has a lovely red lining and a very handy pocket that closes with a zip, it is beautifully made ,she also sent some soap which is made in Provence and smells divine and some cookies also from Provence (man is Kip getting the idea about cookies and postmen!!!) ,if only the post was always this good , Kip and I would both start hanging out at the post box LOL.Thank you once again Namuelle your gift is truly gorgeous .

More Christmas Ornaments.

2006-11-12T13:41:00.000-08:00

Here are two more little Christmas ornaments that I finished over the week end ,they are both from The Prairie Schooler as you can tell I love these little Strawberries this is the fourth one I have stitched.I had a lovely weekend on Saturday morning DH and I went to Devonport as I needed to pick up some wool and a few things from the quilting shop ,while in the quilting shop I picked up a pattern for Amy Butlers cafe apron which I am planing to make for my Niece for Christmas .We also visited the Devonport Chocolate shop which is just heaven ,they make all the chocolates themselves and they are so yummy ,as a treat I bought DH a pistachio and cherry cup yummy. On Sunday DH and I went to the garden centre to get some ideas for the garden outside our back door at the moment it is planted in Gardenias which have just never done well there ,so this year I have decided to take them out , I did come away with some ideas and a new Rose LOL I never leave the garden center without at least one rose ,yesterdays purchase was a David Austin English rose named Mary Rose it is a small ,pink rose with a gorgeous fragrance.Then Mical and Will came over and we went to the mall to check out a new candle shop that has opened there and to pick up some groceries ,by the time we arrived home my Niece and her children were waiting for us ,so we all got the chance to have a cuddle with Elle -Anna and of course the boys .
I hope everyone else has a great weekend as well Take Care.
13/50 projects completed

Wonderful treats from Emily

2006-11-10T00:24:00.000-08:00

Look at the treats I received in the post today (not Kip he doesn't travel well that way),this was my Christmas Tea Towel exchange from Emily she included a lovely little coffee ornament which is so cute as well as a copy of The Cross Stitcher magazine which is a lovely treat especially since I am not buying any at the moment because of the 50 project challenge, also included was a lovely candle that has a vanilla cookies scent .Emily had taken a great deal of care packing this parcel and had sent it in a box with polystyrene beads added to it and when I opened it they spilled out and because of the wonderful fragrance from the candle Kip seemed to think they must have been cookies and he had great fun trying to get them before I did however vets visits are costly things and so unfortunately for him the game came to a quick end .This was a great exchange which I enjoyed stitching for and receiving THANK YOU so much Emily I love that you took so much care about making this a really personal exchange for me .
The photo of Kip was added just for Emily who asked to see him, he is a dog who truly loves comfort and can normally be found curled up on a cushion some were.
Well thats all for now Take Care.

My Fingers Are Smoking.

2006-11-09T10:05:00.000-08:00

Sorry no photos today ,I have been stitching like crazy but they are gifts so I can't some them yet ,the weather has been so awful here in the past week that it has been perfect for stitching (instead of worrying that I should be outside gardening).I was pleased to hear that my Christmas exchange had safely reached my partner ,its always a bit of a worry sending things so far.I have signed up for my first RR which will start early next year, I'm really looking forward to it ,as well as the Pay It Forward stitching this should keep me pretty busy ! speaking of which I still have places left for anyone who would like me to make them something ,at this stage I am brimming with ideas so please sign up.
Yesterday Laura dropped by with Ethan and Elle-Anna, who is now 6 weeks old ,she is soooo cute ,she had just had her immunization shots and was a little fuzzy but she did go off to sleep eventually and Ethan was his usual happy self ,he loves making pop corn in the microwave (well pushing the buttons) and then been placed in his favorite chair in front of the TV to watch one of the many Wiggles DVDs I have for him ,so all in all a very nice way to spend a visit.Well thats about it for now so Take Care.

How Lucky am I?

2006-11-05T23:20:00.000-08:00

Look at the goodies I received in the post from Karen there are two wonderful pieces of Lakeside Linen fabric , a really cute tape measure that Karen covered her self ,a lovely pice of cotton fabric which I think I'll use to back some of my Christmas decorations and the cutest cat buttons you ever did see.THANK YOU so much Karen I love everything you sent .Take care .

Pay it Forward

2006-11-05T13:26:00.000-08:00

Thanks Karen and Von for your comments , and thoughts it is nice to know people are thinking of us.
Now as you can tell the reason for this post is to say I joined Karen pay it forward challenge and so now the first five people who would like me to make them a hand made gift can leave me a comment ,of course then they too have to pay it forward, this sounds like it could be a lot of fun and who doesn't like receiving great mail!!!

Guy Fawkes

2006-11-04T11:11:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone I haven't disappeared ,its just been a kind of rough week here ,my DH had some not very good health news this week and so we have spent the week just coming to terms with it (not life threatening or anything just difficult) so I have felt too exhausted to blog.I have been stitching away but I haven't got around to taking any photos yet.
It is Guy Fawkes day here so we will spend the evening at my SIL letting off our fireworks and generally having a nice time catching up with everyone I have to say now the kids are older its not quite as exciting as when they were little and so excited that they couldn't wait for it to be dark outside (this is a real pain when you live in the Southern hemisphere and day light saving has started).
Well thats about it for now I hope to feel more like blogging next week so for now Take Care

Why OH Why Wasn't I More Careful?

2006-10-28T23:03:00.000-07:00

Its been another wet day here !Will Summer ever make an appearance ?Last night I continued to stitch on The Bitterest Flower Sampler ,but I haven't taken a photo yet ,and in one of those I can't believe I was so stupid moments I forgot to match the stitched lines on my Strawberry and didn't notice till I had trimmed the seam AHHHHHHHHH, so I guess I now have one to hang on my tree and will have to stitch another one to give away (Hey Karen sorry about the enabling LOL), and as if that wasn't bad enough I braved the weather to make a trip to Spotlight today as I needed to buy batting and backing fabric for a couple of quilts I have finished (now I don't normally shop here if I can avoid it as the service is terrible but my favorite quilt shop is not open on Sunday) what a MISTAKE every man and his brother was there )they have recently reorganized this store and now the fabric is all upstairs in a tiny space which makes it impossible to see the fabric properly as people are also having to queue there to be served meanwhile there are bins of specials falling about all over the floor and magazine racks to negotiate around and as if that isn't bad enough they never have enough staff serving and you end up waiting forever for your turn ,all in all a very frustrating day.I guess tonight I will make a start on my replacement strawberry I might stitch one of the other designs in order to avoid the same mistake.
Well thats about it for now so Take Care.

A little break from Christmas

2006-10-27T13:25:00.000-07:00

I decided to take a little break from Christmas ornaments last night and stitched on this instead ,it is Bitter Flower Sampler by Birds of a Feather .
Thank you everyone for the comments on the strawberry ornaments Margaret the reason I have managed 11/50 finishes are that most of the things I've stitched are small LOL ,I have a huge pile of these small projects which is why choosing to stitch 50 projects didn't seem so daunting.
Well I better be off ,I have a huge list of things to do today and while the weather is good today I hope to get back out in the garden ,the weather is so changeable here at the moment, one minute its hot the next its freezing and so windy.Take care

How cute are these!

2006-10-26T18:21:00.000-07:00

Aren't these little Christmas Strawberries so cute , they are by Prairie Schooler I can imagine a whole tree just decorated with these , however these two are gifts that i have stitched this week and with a seemingly endless list of things I want to stitch as Christmas gifts I doubt I will have time to stitch any for myself lol, never mind maybe I'll get round to it next year.
Thanks to everyone for the comments on my last finishes I'm never sure if things look ok when I finish them.
I am pretty pleased with myself as I had hoped to get 10 of my 50 finishes done by Christmas and with these two ornaments that takes my total to 11/50 so maybe I could reach 20 by January ! I have two exchanges to post off this weekend which means I have completed three exchanges this year which I know is not many compared with some people but I am pretty new to this exchange thing so I don't think I've done to badly and I have really enjoyed the stitching.
Well I'm off to do a little gardening now as the rain seems to have finally eased off so Take Care.

Busy finishing Christmas Ornaments.

2006-10-24T17:35:00.000-07:00

As you can see I have been busy finishing off my christmas ornament (silly me I forgot to turn the photos around before adding them ) this is only the second time I've finished an ornament this way so I hope the person I'm sending it too likes it.I have also stitched a strawberry ornament by Prairie Schooler as well but I forgot to take a picture so I will add that tomorrow.
This morning I had a visit from the daughter of a dear friend of mine ,they live in Wellington and I don't get to see them very often so it was a lovely treat.
I have finally set up my frame to stitch Mermaids of the Deep and will probably make a start on it at the weekend as I want to stitch another strawberry ornament first and make a start on a scissor fob as well, I'm really looking forward too starting a bigger project as I seem to have stitched endless small pieces lately .
Well thats about it for now so Take Care.

Supersize Me!

2006-10-21T13:44:00.000-07:00

Here are photos of the quilt top I finished the other day ,the fabrics are mostly Batiks and hand dyes which I bought last year with my birthday gift certificate ,I had only the last row of blocks to sew and then to put them all together ,now I just have to buy the batting and quilt it.And to this end I bought a floor quilting frame on Trade Me yesterday (I am not going to include my quilting in the 50 projects list) this is the first time I have ever bought something on Trade Me (well actually DH bought a couple of things for me earlier this year) so I was really pleased with myself.
I also visited my LNS yesterday as DH had given me a gift certificate for my birthday ,yes this was a big temptation for me but I was very good and bought threads for various up coming projects ordered some fabric and bought some little gifts to add in my exchanges and still had money left over!!!!!I then rushed home and spent the afternoon on the sofa with DD1 watching Supersize Me ,I have never felt so pleased to be a vegetarian!!!!! if you haven't seen this movie it certainly is food for thought(no pun intended), while my children and DH do eat meat , we eat very little in the way of processed food ,my moto is pretty much if you cant recognize what it was to begin with don't eat it.
Today I will be visiting my FIL to get new webbing added to my floor frame rods so that I can start stitching Mermaids of the Deep ,while this means I have to stitch in my sewing room it has the advantage of not having to remove the piece from the frame while it is being stitched, so hopefully I will be able to start stitching this week.
Well thats about it for now so Take care.

2006-10-18T14:01:00.000-07:00

Yay another finish ! taking my total to 9/50 , this needed to be finished by the end of the month so I am now well ahead of the deadline for both exchanges, I only have to sew my ornament together and package both exchanges up ,so I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself.
I spent sometime yesterday looking through my charts to see what I will start next ,I think maybe Mermaids of the Deep ,I definitely feel in the mood for a bigger project after stitching so many small things I may even try a rotation of a couple of things ,yes I know in the past this has not really worked for me but I really have so many things I want to stitch LOL.
Well thats about it for now so Take Care.

2006-10-17T12:43:00.000-07:00

Well here are photos of the pieces I have finished lately which as I said yesterday takes my finishes to 8, sorry these photos arent better I think it is time to invest in a new camera ,maybe for Christmas !!
I am still working on my Christmas exchange piece and hopefully will get it finished tonight, I've never stitched a hand-towel before ( and truth be told I probably won't again) but it does look very festive .
Not much more to add today I have a mountain of household things to get through and I better get started so Take Care.

New Photos

2006-10-16T18:38:00.001-07:00

At last I can update with a few photos which I will spread out over a couple of post the first is a lavender sachet stitched with Danish Flower Thread on Belfast ,I haven,t filled it yet and will probably give it as a Christmas gift ,I always seem to need a few little gifts as emergency stand -byes.

And next up is a photo of the very cute Elle_Anna Rose who is almost three weeks old and gets sweeter by the day.

I thought I had taken a photo of my finished sampler but apparently not so I will add that tomorrow along with a photo of the scissor fob and two christmas ornies which will take my tally of finished projects to 8 YAY,I also finished piecing the top of a quilt I started last year yesterday so I will add a photo of that as well (do I include that in my 50 finishes or should it only be stitching ? what do you think?)
Well thats about it for now I'm off to do the grocery shopping (lucky me!)Take care

2006-10-15T18:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the Birthday wishes Sue and Karen .Yesterday was my birthday (15th) I had a lovely day and received lots of lovely gifts, including a new key board for my computer as my old one suddenly died hence the fact I have not been able to post lately but all is fixed now YAY.I have been busy stitching away on my christmas exchanges and have almost finished apart from the sewing needed on them, hopefully my camera will be returned this week as I do have a few finishes to show.
I'm amazed to see how many people are taking up the stash reducing challenge ,I'm really in the swing of it now ,I've even begun finishing a couple of quilts that I had not finished and some knitting as well ,I feel really pleased about being committed to finishing these projects and being able to put them too use or even give them as Christmas gifts.
This morning I managed to read a few blogs and catch up on what everyone is up to, I have really missed this much more than I thought I would ,I have especially enjoyed seeing all the Christmas ornies ,very inspiring!
Well I better be off work calls Take care.

A day of shopping

2006-10-06T12:58:00.000-07:00

Yes I'm still here !!I have been busily stitching away this week but still cant show you any pics as I haven't gotten my camera back yet.
Yesterday Sarah (D1) and I went into Auckland city for a day of shopping ,Sarah wanted to visit all the Skate/Surf shops and I went to the Embroidery store ,this stores is in a lovely old building with several other lovely stores that we enjoy visiting one is Isabelle Harris which is beautiful store specializing in soaps, handcreams etc ,we managed to find a nice gift for my SIL who's birthday is on Sunday.Then it was upstairs to find a few stitching gifts which was not difficult even though this store is fairly small she stocks some nice gift pieces like needle holders etc.After that we shopped for a new pair of shorts for Sarah and she also bought a new T-Shirt by then I was shopped out so it was off home for us.
Well not much more to add I'm not sure what I'll stitch on today I have an exchange piece I need to start but I dont think I'm in the mood for that today we'll see later on .Take care. 45/50

Elle-Anna came home today.

2006-10-01T19:05:00.000-07:00

Another busy weekend here ,on Saturday I looked after my nephews for the afternoon while Marc spent sometime with laura and Elle-Anna at the hospital, we also had my sister and Nephew and a friend of his visit with us for a little while as well as a group of DS friends ,so all in all a busy day, then yesterday DH arrived home although unfortunately his luggage did not LOL,however it has turned up and has been delivered to us today.DH and I visited with his mum yesterday afternoon as it was her birthday on Saturday, it was nice to catch up with her.This morning we had the boys again while Dad went to pick up thier new sister ,she is so little and so cute with lots of black hair I promise a photo as soon as possible ,but at the moment I have lent my camera to Marc and Laura so they can take lots of photos of her.
On the stitching front yesterday I stitched a little scissor fob from the JCS christmas mag. and another little ornament as well and will post photos as soon as I get my camera back.This takes my finishes to 45/50 yay for me.Tonight I'm going to stitch another ornament as I need to get a few of these done as gifts and exchanges.I also received the last of the charts and threads I had ordered from Stitching Bits and Bobs in the post today they are letters D-N of CHS alphabet series ,now I only have to stitch 45 more things before I order the rest of the alphabet LOL.
Well thats about all for now Take Care

2006-09-29T13:10:00.000-07:00

Yippee its the last day of September now we enter the fun Birthday month!!! First on the 3rd it is my SIL husband ,then the 8th its my SIL ,the 11th is Laura's(niece) and then its MINE on the 15th.
Last night I stitched on my Quaker Mystery Sampler I now only have three motifs to go, so I will probably stitch on this today and then tomorrow I will start on stitching Christmas Ornaments ,as I have a couple of exchanges due on the 1st of Nov.
Laura and baby will probably be home over the weekend ,so I'm looking forward to getting to cuddle Elle-Anna.
Not much more to add DH will be home tomorrow from his trip to the USA which he has really enjoyed ,but of course he will be exhausted by the time he arrives home tomorrow morning.
Oh well thats about it Take Care,

Ouch

2006-09-27T21:06:00.000-07:00

OUCH ,yes that is the sound of me falling off the wagon!!!! I had too go to my local LNS today to pick up some threads and fabric and while I was there I saw the JCS Christmas issue and just had to buy it ,but that was all I didn't purchase anything else even though I was tempted.
Thank you to everyone for your messages about Elle-Anna ,she and Mum are doing well and will be home sometime next week, she weighted 3010gms and was 49cm long with lots of dark hair.
Well thats all for now Take care.

2006-09-26T13:19:00.000-07:00

No stitching today as I have Caelum and Ethan today while we await the arrival of their little sister Elle-Anna

Its OK I'm Over My Brain Melt Down

2006-09-25T13:19:00.000-07:00

Ok so I recovered from yesterdays brain melt down and actually finished up some stitching and made it into a little herb cushion ,but I cant show you it as my DH somehow in his rush to pack on Sunday afternoon grabbed the link cable for my camera so I will have to wait till next week too add these photos.
So for the rest of the week I will stitch on the Quaker mystery sampler which is about 2/3 finished ,the really great thing about setting a goal of finishing 50 pieces is that I feel more inclined to finish WIP's and UFO's than start something new ,so be prepared to see some odd pieces that I probably wouldn't choose to stitch now but that I would feel good about finishing.
In other news my Niece Laura got a phone call yesterday to tell her that they have an opening to preform her C section tomorrow (Wednesday) so it looks like Elle - Anna will be making her grand appearance sooner rather than latter.
The weather was so nice here yesterday that when Laura bought the boys over yesterday afternoon we got out the water toys and the hose and all sat outside in the sun which was very relaxing (it wasn't quite warm enough to bring out the paddling pool ) .
Well take care.

2006-09-24T14:44:00.000-07:00

Hello my name is Tracy and I'm a cross stitch addict! All was going well until this morning when Bobbie from Stitching Bits And Bobs sent me an email to say my CHS charts D-N were in the post ,so of course I had too skip over to their web site and have a look around!!!!!!BIG MISTAKE because then I saw the Christmas ornament magazine everyone else has and the Long Dog samplers that I just LOVE and then of course I felt really deprived .I think I really will have to stay of the computer LOL.

Project No.2

2006-09-23T13:04:00.000-07:00

This is the car I stitched for Alex C at Quilts 4 kids ,I find these particular designs actually take quite awhile to stitch but I'm always pleased with the end results.
I didn't manage any cross stitching yesterday but I did visit two of my local quilt shops and finally decided on a quilt to make for Elle -anna whos arrival is booked in for the 5th of October by C section at Auckland Hospital ,how odd it feels to know this is the day she will be born my own children arrived in thier own time (which in thier case meant early).I also went to the wool shop and bought a new pattern book and wool to knit her a cute jumper and hat.Then I spent the evening knitting a litte jacket for her I managed to get the back and both fronts done , I am knitting with a beautiful merino /possum blend wool and it is so soft (possums are a real pest here in NZ they are an introduced species that has no natural predators and so it is able to breed like wild fire and eats our Native bush and passes on Bovine Tuberculosis).
I think this evening I will drag out one of my WIP's to stitch on rather than starting something new ,as I'm getting quite addicted to this finishing business lol.
Well I better be off DH leaves for the USA this afternoon so I need to finish up some ironing for him and make sure he remembers everything. Take care

Holidays are here.

2006-09-22T16:39:00.000-07:00

Nasty blogger will not upload my photo of my latest finish ,it is my Quilts for kids block which once again seemed to take me a really long time to stitch.Any way I finished it last night and posted it off this morning so now I can pick up something new YAY I have so many things to choose from I dont know what to choose LOL.
Its been a really busy week here on Wednesday night my Neice had to go to the hospital as she was having alot of pains in her stomach (she in now 38 weeks pregnent ) and so her darling little boys came to spent the night with us ,it turned out to be something muscular and she was able to come home again.However she has really had enough now so as a bit of a diversion on Thursday we spent the day together while her Dh looked after the boys and we spent the day watching DVDs which was very relaxing.And to give her something to take her mind of things yesterday I dug out my old sewing machine( its actually only 7 years old and in excellent condition ,but last year DH bought me a new machine which is more designed for quilting) and found some fabric I had bought to make cot sheets for her ,and spent her home with them .
It is the start of the school holidays here (2 weeks) and my kids are certainly ready for them and I have too say so am I .I love not having to be up early and having to be so organised ,plus all the extra stitching time .My DH flies out to the USA on business tomorrow so this means an even more peaceful week for us ,as he normally leaves for work at 6.00 -6.30 in the morning.Well thats about it for me so Take care.

2 projects completed 48 to go.

Yesterdays Photos

2006-09-17T13:42:00.000-07:00

Ok here are the photos I was going to add yesterday except that blogger didn't want too.The fabric is for Mermaids of the deep and in Ocean by Country Stitch ,I just love it and cant wait to start this one.I am counting Coffee Menu as my first finish in my 50 projects to finish pile so yippee for me only 49 to go!!!I may have to give up reading other peoples blogs or only ones with no photos LOL until I have finished the next 49 projects .
Today I hope to finish my chariety block ,this again has taken me forever to stitch ,I don't like stitch on Aida and I have struggled with motivation on this one but since it is due on the 30th of September I must finish it this week.
Thanks Karen for dropping by and leaving a note ,if you are interested in the Coffee Menu chart I will happily send it to you ,it stitches up very quickly .
Well thats about it for now Take Care.

1 project complete 49 to go.

Coffee Anyone?

2006-09-16T16:47:00.000-07:00

Ahh Blogger does not want to load my photos!!! Well I was going to show you my LHN Coffee Menu that I finished this morning,but I guess I'll have to try latter on.
Its been a quite week for me Literally as I lost my voice and have only been able to croak lol, however its a little better today as long as I don't talk too much (which is a problem for me).
I was reading Annes blog this morning and she was talking about an idea some else had of not buying any more charts until you have compeletd 50 items! I'm keen to give this a go as I must be the Queen of WIP and UFO's ,I do have a few charts on order at the moment and I will have to buy charts O-Z of the CHS alphabet series so I won't count these as I ordered them a while ago.So an extra special happy dance for me as this means Coffee Menu can count as my first completed project.
Well thats about it for now I'll try add my photos latter. Take care.

A little finish.

2006-09-13T14:15:00.000-07:00

Well here is prove that I have at least done a little stitching recently!As I've said before I love these little CHS letters and I have decided to stitch a few to give as Christmas gifts , this one is for my friend Christine ,I have stitched it on 28# Danish Linen and I will have it framed for her.The charts are ones I,ve bought recently sorry the photo is so bad I think I might get a new camera for Christmas as this one doesn't take great shots.
In other news at last my gates are as I type been hung YAY this is going to take a few days to complete as they have too dig out the old post before setting in the new ones but hopefully by the end of the week I will be able to show what they look like.
Apart from stitching the little gift above I haven't managed much else I have managed to develope a nasty chest infection and I can hardly talk my voice is so croaky and all of this has left me completely drained of energy ,which is really frustrating since I have stacks of new charts plus still some charity stitching to finish .Never mind spring is certainly in the air here and we only have a week or so till the school holidays which are two weeks long so maybe we can all have a much needed rest.
Thats about it for now ,I've really enjoyed reading through a few blogs this morning and again I find myself inspired by the amazing work you all do ! Take care.

Not much to say!

2006-09-07T12:44:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately I really have no stitching to comment on today ,although I did make a start on the letter "C" CHS yesterday, which I am stitching for a friend for Christmas, I'm still feeling under the weather and last night all I could do was lie on the sofa and watch TV ,it has been a very unproductive week ,but I hope that with the weekend coming up I will feel more able to stitch.
Laura and Ethan dropped in yesterday afternoon(my niece and her youngest son) and we spent the afternoon sampling the baking I had done in the morning ,I was trying out some new recipes and they all turned out to be really yummy LOL I dont know if this is a good thing since it means I'll eat more!
Well thats about it for now take care

RIP Steve Irwin

2006-09-05T14:12:00.000-07:00

It was extremely sad to hear of the passing of this wonderful soul this week .It is rare to find people with such drive and passion ,he will be missed.

2006-09-05T13:42:00.000-07:00

Well so much for things being back to normal around here!!Just when I thought I was going to get back into my stitching stride I have caught some nasty virus, I spent Sunday in bed unable to move and while I am up and around now I feel so tired that I can hardly concentrate on anything and I have been running a temp of 39' since Saturday ahhh.Every year this happens I manage to make it through winter without catching all the nasty bugs that everyone else gets but at the first sign of good weather and spring bang down I go LOL.
In good news though my Niece and her family finally moved into thier new house on Saturday and are now settling in nicely ,Caellum start school on Monday and seems to be enjoying it( which is a nice surprise because his school visit on Friday didn't go so well) so now we are happily awaiting the arrival of Elle-Anna Rose in a few weeks time.
Will's mum is recovering from her neck surgery ,she did get an infection and so has had to stay in hospital a little longer than expected ,but she should be home at the weekend.
I did receive a few charts I had ordered last week, after seeing a few other bloggers working on "Mermaids of the deep" I really fell in love with it ,I also got Celtic Band Sampler by Homespun Samplar and My little Strawberries Stitching Basket by Milady's Needle.I also ordered more of the CHS alphabet series letters D-N and some threads I needed ,so with all these great charts I better pick up speed LOL.
Right well I better be off to get some work done then if I'm feeling up to it a bit of stitching ,so take care everyone.

Everything is ticking along

2006-08-28T13:06:00.000-07:00

Hello I'm back , for the last two days blogger has not wanted to let me post anything ahhh.,but things seem back to normal now.Firstly thanks Margret for your comments I really appreciate them ,its a great comfort to know your not alone when dealing with these kinds of things.
Our weekend away was wonderful and the "peace and pleanty Inn ' was amazing the rooms are beautiful and the breakfasts they serve are so amazing, there was an interesting mix of people staying there , a couple from Canada , a woman from Scotland ,several couples from other places in New Zealand and a lovely man from Kentucky USA.All in all it was a restful weekend and I hope to go back again some time.
It was just as well I had ,had such a peaceful weekend as on Monday I enjoyed the company of my darling little nephews for the day while thier mum and dad were at work ,It is amazing how quickly you forget what it is like to live with little children ,they had me on my toes all day lol and I got to enjoy the pleasure all over again on Thursday I remember now why I never needed to go to the gym when my kids were little lol.Friday is little Ethans birthday and he will be three years old ,he is so like my son Joseph was at that age ,so cute and able to get away with murder because he does everything with the biggest smile.
Things have been so busy here in the last week that I actually have done next to no stitching (I know this is amazing to me to as I cant remember the last time that happened).I did buy a few new books ,one is a quilting book from piece of cake designs and is of santas village ,and I have made one block out of it, however I still cant find the camera cable so no pictures today I'm sorry.
Today Wills mum is to have surgery on her neck ,they are placing pins in it to strenghen or support the bones ,she was suppose to have this last week but they cancelled it and sent her home still wearing the halo they had placed on her for the surgery, so it has been a very uncomfortable few days for her and we can only pray things go better today.
It was really nice to catch up on reading blogs yesterday and made me feel like things were getting back to normal around here ,I'm always inspired by what everyone else is up too ,you all stich the most amazing things and I am now itching to get back into some serious stitching ,so today I have set aside to work on my quilts 4 kids piece which has been sittting untouched for a couple of weeks and is due on the 30th of September ,so this is my priority this week ,and hopefully I can find the camera and show you my progress tomorrow.
Well thats about it for now so Take Care .

If You Can Spare A Thought.

2006-08-17T14:27:00.000-07:00

This week has certainly been one I don't hope to repeat, after all the events I wrote about last time we found out that DD1's boyfriends , mother has cancer .She had breast cancer a few years ago and and now has cancer in her hip ,neck and lungs, she had an operation yesterday to place pins her neck as the bones are likely to break without extra support .William has two brothers ,one younger 17 and one older 21, they are needless to say devastated.If you could spare a prayer for this family today they could really use it.
With all the goings on this week I haven't been able to sit and concentrate on stitching so I have nothing to update, I've also misplaced the link cable for the camera to plug into the computer !! I have no idea where I left it.I will be taking the camera with me this weekend and wil try and get some nice photos to show you all .Well with that in mind I better go and pack a few things to take ,at the moment all I have backed is the book I intend to take and The Coffee Menu (LHN) which I hope to finish this weekend lol I guess I may need a bit more than this in my bag.Take care and have a great weekend.

A roller coaster week.

2006-08-15T13:28:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while but things have been crazy here for the last couple of weeks and so while I have been reading posts I have not been able to bring myself to write anything.Today however I finally feel like myself again and things around here are back on track yay.
You may remember I was on loan to DD1 company to sort out thier accounts and to set them up on a new accounting programme ,well I did this and at the same time found some irregularities in thier accounts ,which appear to date back to when the business was set up about a year ago ,to start with they just seemed like maybe they hadn't been careful about keeping invoices etc but the more I looked the more it seems that someone had deliberatley removed these things!So last week I arranged to talk with the boss (she lives in USA ) which lead to an all day session with her ,her father and myself going through the accounts ,it seems for what ever reason she has no idea about how the accounts have been managed here ,even though it is her company and she alone has ploughed money into it .Any way the story gets worse they had been spending money on some strange things like running broadband internet off two phone lines (in a two person office) and they were paying a much higher than average price on both lines and a whole pile of other expenses that in them selves may not seem much but were all adding up to a large expense each month, but here is were things turn bad , the person responsible for this is the marketing manager (who also now lives in the USA) who used to be married to DHs neice .Anyway to cut a long story short things became pretty tense between everyone and on Thursday( a day I wasnt in the office) they decided to take it out on Mical (DD1) ,who promtly resigned then they decided they no longer needed me there ,so Mical has to work out the next four weeks and then I guess they will close the office down ,in the meantime it dosent look very promising that I will be paid for my time there , talk about shooting the messanger LOL .On the upside Mical is feeling much happier and is pleased to be looking for a new job .
On top of this DD1 boyfriend broke his finger at work the other day so he cant work for the next couple of weeks, and his mum who several years ago had breast cancer has now developed a secondary cancer in her hip and has been having tests and she should know the out come by the end of the week ,so this has been a pretty bad week all round.
Needless to say I have not managed to get any stitching done this week but hopefully I will today as I am getting really behind in things and the charts to stitch are piling up LOL.
On a brighter note tomorrow is our wedding anniversary ,we will have been married twenty one years ,so this weekend we are booked into a lovely Bed and Breakfast Inn which is actually not all that far from where we live but we have always talked about staying there and so decided this was the time to do it, it is called The Peace and Plenty Inn and if your interested you can check it out on the net at www.peaceandplenty.co.nz.I'm really looking forward to this ,I am of course already trying to decide what stitching to take with me .
Well thats about it for now take care .

The Gate Guy Has Been.

2006-08-07T18:48:00.000-07:00

I was going to show my new stash today but someone has taken the camera cable!! my lastest purchases from Stitching Bits and Bobs which include B and C CHS alphabet ,The Token and Wise and Foolish by Long Dog Samplers they are all so amazing I can hardly wait to start stitching all of them LOL.It is really fraustrating that I have so little time to stitch at the moment (if only we could we could have more hours in the day).Anyway I decided since I do have less stitching time that this month I would concentrate on finish the Coffee Menu (LHN) and the Quaker Mystery sampler and if I have time my Quilts 4 Kids block ,this way I can feel like I'm still getting something done .
Now we get to some exciting news (well exciting for me) at last they have approved our insurance claim and today the gate guy was here to measure up for the new gates and fences yay.I thought you might also like to know how justice works in New Zealand ,the guy who did all this damage was sentenced two weeks ago and What was his punishment I here you ask? Well he has to pay us $600 dollars (which is the excess on our insurance policy) and he is going to pay it off at $30.00 a week (here is where I remind you he did $20,000 dollars worth of damage and was well over the legal alcohol limit ) he has also missed the first payment!!!
Well thats about it for now ,since I'm at home today I thought I might makes the kids some hot cakes for thier after school snack and who knows I might sneak in a few minutes stitching ,so take care.

I'm still here

2006-08-05T15:14:00.000-07:00

I am still here!!! it feels like ages since I've managed to sit down at the computer (well my computer actually since I spent all week on someone elses ) I've really missed reading what everyone has been up to this week and so this morning after enjoying reading my book in bed with a lovely cup of coffee until late, I have wandered downstairs and caught up with a wonderful collection of blogs ,nice to see the weather has been a little cooler for some , it was mild here this week (which made getting up earlier easier) ,but yesterday and today it has been pelting down .My week did improve after the little phone incident lol, but it was hectic to say the least , Wednesday DD1 and I left work at 5.00 on the dot ,knowing that we had our first nightclass at 7.00 ,it it usally an hour drive home but for some reason traffic was extra heavy and we didnt get home till 6.15 which meant I had just enough time to cook a quick meal for DS and DD2 and make Paninis for DD1 and I to eat on the way .We actually made it with five minutes to spare but ended up at the wrong class room and in the end we were fifteen minutes late (this wouldn't be so bad except both of us went to this high school so we really should have knowen better lol).The class is quite small there are only seven of us and all the other people are very quite (unlike DD1 and myself) ,the teacher is lovely and on this first night she only covered very basic things that I already knew so I didn't feel like a complete idot !!however she did ask one questioin about the set up organisation and guess who she asked yep thats right ME unfortunately I hadn't really been listening and had to quickly read the page we were working on and manage to get the question right !!! It may not have been a good idea to take a class with DD1 as when we left she was laughing fit to kill herself and said she could see now why I had always been made to sit at the front of the class.
Thursday night we had a birthday dinner for DD1 ex boss Mark ,he is an American so has no family here , it was really nice to just relax and enjoy a great dinner and conversation .
On a less happy note my Neice was here yesterday and said she had spent a night in hospital on Thursday night because she was bleeding ,she is only 31 weeks so this is pretty worrying ,she is fine at the moment but she has to go back to the doctor on Tuesday so if any of you could spare a prayer for her I would appreciate it ,as I think I've said before my own third child was born at 33 weeks ,so I know how scary this can be.
Well thats about it from me I did manage a tiny bit of stitching yesterday but nothing worth taking a photo of ,hopefully this week might be a bit quieter and I will get a bit more time to stitch Take care .

The importance of paying the phone bill.

2006-07-31T01:29:00.000-07:00

Well I survived my first day, just lol , we arrived this morning to discover the phones had been cut off !!!! This happens when you don't pay the bill! So I managed to arrange to have them reconnected and we were back in bussiness.I had never actually spoken to the lady who owns the company before so it was a pretty funny introduction ,to have to ring her in America to explain what was going on.Apart from that the day went pretty well with nothing else going wrong.
As you might imagine I haven't managed any stitching this evening but I was pleased to see an email from Stitching Bits and Bobs to say my order has been posted, so it should be here soon yay.
Well I think I might go see whats on TV ,I really feel in the mood to blob out.Take care .

Looking for inspiration.

2006-07-29T02:49:00.000-07:00

Its been a few days since my last post mostly because I have not managed to do any stitching this week, I hope this is not a sign of things to come! I have of course been busy preparing for my new (hopefully temporary ,I don't really want two jobs and a household to look after) job ,I did of course feel the need to rush out and buy something new to wear on Monday lol.On top of this my DD1 and I are due to start a night class this week as well ,it is a short course on the accounting package we will be using , I actually already use this software for our foundry accounts so I'm pretty well up too speed with it but the payroll package that it comes with is a real pain and I've never managed to get all the bugs ironed out of it so hopefully I can get this sorted out ,and as if that isn't enough DD1 decided we would also like to take a one day course on Saturday entitled "Less stress, less mess"!!! now this actually had me rolling on the floor laughing as DD1 is very possibly the most untidy person you could ever meet ,so this should be interesting ( I suggested she should have enrolled her siblings for this not me).So as you might gather I'm not holding out much hope of getting very much stitching done in the next week either,I think I'm alrady going through withdrawals lol.
Yesterday I did manage to spend a little time out in the garden which was lovely and as a treat I bought the New Zealand Gardener magazine while I was out shopping to inspire me, which it did but now I have to find the time to visit the garden center and then time to be in the garden argh, really this 24 hour a day thing just isn't working for me!
Oh well I better be off to load the washing and put the bread maker on.I forgot to mention I also received my copy of Inspirations magazine yesterday (I have been buying this magazine since issue 1) it is as always beautiful ,if you haven't checked this magazine out it is well worth look ,while it isn't a cross stitch magazine ,it has really clear instructions for finishing projects as well as an interesting range of projects ,I've made many things from this magazine and I'm always pleased with them.Take care and enjoy the week end.

Another week slips by.

2006-07-27T13:21:00.000-07:00

Its been an exhausting week here with no stitching to speak of been completed, I have been caught up all week in making arrangements to work with my DD for the next 4-6 weeks ,this is a long and involved story tht I wont bore you all with, I'll just say that her boss here quit and so she has been left alone in the office , the bussiness is owned by an American and is run form America, however this is where things get weird for me to work there ,one of the people who set up the bussiness here and who works as marketing manager there used to be married to DH's neice (sister of neice with darling little boys), we are on friendly terms with each other but I of course have knowledge about him that you wouldn't normally have about someone you work with.Anyway this probably means I'll get alot less stitching done in the next few weeks , but on the upside DH suggested I might look at it as an incease in embroidery spending money lol .
Apart from all that I have spent time water blasting the deck , I love waterblasting I think this goes back to a childhood love of water play lol.And after reading other blogs I have been trying out some new receipes this week, I love to cook but must admit I have become quite boring in what I cook lately, so yesterday I made bagels ,I have a breadmaker so this takes all the dough work away and left me to finish them off ,unfortunately I had just put them in the oven when DD's boss rang too talk about working for him ,so the bagels got a little too brown but the kids said they were great and since they ate them all I'm thinking they must have been ok lol, I may make some more today.
Well thats about all for now so take care.

More great mail.

2006-07-23T19:40:00.000-07:00

Look what I received in the post today ! this lovely pendibule was made for me by Namuelle it has lavender in it,and it smells divine ,the little bear also has lavender in it and the wee box contains Burberry perfume, I feel so spoilt.The pendibule I will hang on my sewing room door and the little bear will have a good home among the bears I have made.
My other good news this week is that my Neice and her family have finally found a house to rent , it is one street below our own and there is a walk way three doors down from my house that joins the two streets , they move in in two weeks, I can hardly wait! the joke in our family is that Lauras children are my practice grandchildren ,I love them to bits and can hardly wait for number three to arrive.
I spent last night unpicking the mistake I had made in the Quaker mystery sampler (which of course is no longer a mystery lol) I had managed to stitch two large motifs in the wrong place due to not counting correctly and then became discouraged and put it aside ,but now I think I'm back on track so I will probably stitch this ,this week .
And since I have nothing much else to add I will leave you with a quote I received today as part of the wise words postcard exchange over on swap bot.
"Always do the things you fear the most.Courage is an acquired taste like caviar' Erica Jong

Lovely post

2006-07-22T18:31:00.000-07:00

No stitching to report on but look at the great mail I received the other day , this was from Marie and was a paper goods swap over on swap bot , she included two antique style postcards which dont really show up in the photo but are really lovely I intend to frame them and hang them in my work room.
In the never ending saga of my gates the first insurance guy who was suppose to come on Friday never showed up!!!!More ringing and complaining finaly saw a very nice gentleman turn up Saturday morning ,so now we have to wait to hear back from him ( I wont hold my breath)
Well nothing more to add really ,hope everyones enjoying the weekend.

Feeling Angry

2006-07-20T00:07:00.000-07:00

Sorry no stitching too show tonight, I'm too angry to stitch anything ,I spent this afternoon cutting up and putting through the chipper the tree that was pulled out by the drunk driver ,then picking up a half a rubbish sack full of glass that is tiny finger nail sized pieces , and all this to work off the anger I feel at the fact that tomorrow this idiot will be sentenced and will probably loose his license but not much else , mean while tomorrow i have yet another insurance guy ( turns out we are insured with could be,maybe and might be ) comming out because he cant believe our gates are worth so much!! Why does he think we have insurance ????I dont get angry often but right now I just cant believe how unfair it is that i have spent hours cleaning up this mess and they (the Insurance company) treat us like it is our fault. Actually just writting this makes me feel better and I should add that I received a lovely postcard today from the Swapbot postcard exchange I took part in and tomorrow when I am hopefully feeling better I will share the wise words on it with you, but for now Take care.

Visiting the Neurologist

2006-07-17T14:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterdays visit to the Neurologist went well ,he has given DD1 another medication to try ,again it is one she has to take daily ,but fingers crossed this will be more successful than all the others she has tried, he was asked alot of question and did strengh tests on both sides of her body as well as a scan of her brain ,he go back in a month to see how the medication is working and to try something else if needed.The photo is of what I managed to stitch while we waited to see the Doctor it is a Freebie called Eliza's Pyn Pillow ( I cant remember where I got it from) I stitched it on Glenshee Linen with Waterlilies silk (umbria is the name of the colour).
After our hospital visit we had lunch at a nice little cafe which had very good coffee ,which by then I really needed ,and I splashed out and bought DD1 a new mop lol.
Well its off too work for me now ,so take care.

Back to school

2006-07-16T13:08:00.000-07:00

Its Monday again and the kids start back at school today after thier two week holiday .
The weekend was a busy one Saturday was taken up with the usual visit of my Neice and her DH but only one little boy ,as the older one had gone to the movies with his Nana.They looked at a house that is on the same road I live on (to rent) and they will hear back today ,so fingers crossed they get it ,then I can see more of my little darlings.
Yesterday morning was taken up with baking goodies to take to my Grandmothers, then after lunch we went to DD1 house and did some gardening ,then we all went to visit my Grandmother ,she is truely amazing ,and it was so nice to spend a sunny afternoon with her.
Of course Sunday evening was filled up with more baking (muffins) ,so my little darlings would have something in thier lunch boxes and generally making sure uniforms were ready etc. so no stitching done ,although I did knit a little on a jumper I'm making for the Sweater Project.
Today DD1 and I are off to the Hospital to see a Neurologist in the hope that he maybe able to offer some help with her migraines.Who knows I might manage to get a bit of stitching done while we are waiting lol.
Well thats it for my weekend round up Take care.

Another finish

2006-07-14T14:22:00.000-07:00

Heres my finished Home of a Needleworker ,so on to a new project yay ,I did start my LNH Coffee Menu yesterday ,I'm trying to not let all the new charts get backlogged lol ,this is another very quick stitch so I've also start looking for fabric for CHS Matters choice which is not that big and since its stitched all in one colour should also be pretty quick to stitch.
I don't know who took this photo of Kippy asleep in the office but it shows he is a dog who likes his comforts, you can always find him curled up in a pile of cushions somewhere, yesterday I was water blasting the bricks at the front door and he stood in doorway and watched but was not brave enough to come outside lol.
Well I better get going I want to do some baking done to take to my Nana's house tomorrow and get the house tidied up so Take Care.

The traveller returns

2006-07-12T14:06:00.000-07:00

The cats complained it was unfair that Kip had made an appearance here and they had not so here are two of them(we have three) the top photo is Pie who's real name is Felix ,but my kids love to play with names and so they they used to call him Lixie pixie pie which eventually ended up being shortened to Pie ,he is the full brother of our other cat Maddy (who was unavailable for yesterdays photo shoot) and half brother to Max who is the star of the next photo .Max is an extremely vocal cat and always makes himself the centre of attention, for some reason yesterday both cats decided at different times that my sewing room was the best place to sleep, it is very warm in there as it was originally a sun room.
DD1 arrived home safe and sound from her holiday in Wellington yesterday and was full of her adventures last night when she and BF came for dinner, she had taken some lovely photos while there and enjoyed showing them off.She also bought back lovely gifts for DH and myself ,DH received a lovely leather note book with a quote from Longfellow on it, and I received a lovely cannister with tiny little dragonflies on it , a reproduction early NZ postcard which I will frame and a lovely photo frame in which is a photo I took on DD1's camera the other week of her and her little cousin Ethan (he is three years old and so cute) they look like they could easily be brother and sister.
On the stitching front I didn't manage to stitch much yesterday so hopefully tonight I will finish Home of a Needleworker and post a picture tomorrow, then I need to start my next Quilts 4 kids block which I have everything I need to start on it .
Well thats it for now Take care.

Its Finished

2006-07-11T13:06:00.000-07:00

At last !! blogger really does not like adding my photos! I tried last night but it just refused to add them.As you can see I finished my scarf and have been wearing it eeverywhere just to make sure I get pleanty of wear out of it before winter ends lol ( as you can tell I'm an optimist because its only July and the weather here is pretty nasty today so I think winters here for awhile yet )The other photo is of somethings I bought on Trade Me (like ebay) and they arrived yesterday ,sorry the photos not very clear but the camera needed to be charged and I could only get one photo before it died completely.
In other news we have had DD1 boyfriend here for the last three days as we had to rush him off to the doctor and discovered his asthma that he had as a child has raised its ugly head again, on Monday night he has having so much trouble breathing that I thought I was going to have to take him to the hospital but after awhile the ventilin kicked in and he managed to get off to sleep.DD1 arrived home from Wellington this morning (no one will be more pleased to see her than her BF ,he must have told me twenty times last night that she was comming home today lol).She had a great time catching up with friends and enjoying the city.
Yesterday was my Grandmothers birthday she is 94 years old ,she still lives in her own house ,does all her own housework and gardening and shopping she is amazing I hope I have half her energy at that age.We will all go visit her at the weekend and take her a nice afternoon tea which she loves.
Well thats about all for now so I better go and organise my son whos off to work with DHs brother today, he services lifts and during school holidays Joe helps him which is a great job for him and he loves working with his Uncle ,so take care.

Exchanges ,exchanges and a new mail box.

2006-07-09T13:39:00.000-07:00

Well it was a busy weekend here ,Saturday as always start with DH going to work and me trying to do at least some housework ,then in the afternoon my Neice and her DH and boys dropped by ,they are looking to rent a house here but are not having much luck, there are not alot of rental properties around here and what there is goes very quickly.I hope they find something soon it will be great to have them living close especially after baby 3 is born. DH took Sarah to see Over the Hedge in the afternoon and bought home dinner ,which was great because it left me to finish of my scarf ,which I did and I do have a photo to show you but blogger would not load it this morning.
Sunday morning I enjoyed a longer than usual lie in before reading emails and catching up on blog reading.in the afternoon I managed to corner DH and drag him to the Hardware store to buy a new mail box (ours was completely smashed in the accident) ,at last I can receive mail , actually thats excatly why I need a mail box ,I took part in some swaps on swap bot and my partner in the first one emailed to say she had posted mine so I sprang into action and had DH put the new letter box up as soon as we got home,it is I have to say in a slightly odd position since we have no fence to ancor it too!
Today I posted off goods for two exchanges I'm taking part in ,the first was a sticker exchange with two partners, and while I'm not into scrap booking both my daughters are so it should be fun to see what they get back, the second exchange was a wise words postcard exchange with three partners ,and I think I will really enjoy receiving some pearls of wisdom in the post.I've also signed up for two more exchanges one is a paper exchange and the last is a ribbon one, ok so I did get a little carried away signing up for four exchanges at once but since I only have to buy things not make them it does seem easy lol.
Well thats about it for now take care.

My little punk

2006-07-07T02:55:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a very long week and I'm glad its over.Todays turned grey and cold again here and suited my mood for cleaning the house! while the outside of my house is still the mess it was a week ago ,I've spent the last few days spring cleaning (yes I do know its winter here lol) ,which makes alot of sense to get out of the way while it is school holidays and I dont have to go to work, I also think this may have something to do with trying to control the mess inside if I cant control the mess outside, anyway what ever the reason its nice to get jobs like cleaning the curtains and closets out of the way.
I did take a break from cleaning yesterday and took DD2 (Sarah) in to the city for a girls day out , which actually meant her dragging me around all the skate wear /alternate street wear stores, as you know she recently turned 13 and has decided almost overnight to adopt PUNK as her style ,something I cant complain about as I too was into punk at her age lol.What is so amazing to us (DH,myself and her brother and sister) and all our family and friends is that Sarah who is quite a tiny little thing is the sweetest kid you"d ever hope to meet she loves butterflies and fairies and is always making gifts for other people, she is we always joke "hug powered" as she is always hugging us, so she dosen't really fit the punk image .Anyway we managed to purchase a pair of black jeans, a black vest, a black long sleeve T shirt and studed leather arm bands (they might look cute on Kip!) ,and all I can say is black is the new pink!!!The one good thing is that at least I know whats cool and whats not ,and this is no mean feat for the mother of a 13 year old , and in case your now wondering , no I no longer dress as a punk , and most people would probably never guess this about me, but it suited me then and the non conformist side of me still remains under my Mother of three , wife, accountant exterior !
On the stitching front I have another 40cm to go on my scarf and I should get that done over the weekend ,then its back to Home of a Needleworker which I hope to finish next week .
I hope everyone has a relaxing weekend, I think I'll stay in bed tomorrow morning and catch up on some reading, take care.