Bits and Pieces

I wish I could think of more exciting titles! But today, I really do have lots of bits and pieces to let escape out of my head ... now to remember them all.

I hope no-one thought I was serious in my last post about strangling my daughter - she is difficult sometimes, but the cuteness makes up for it ... I'd never hurt her!

Okay ... first up ... just for all you catlovers out there (I pretend I'm not, but maybe I've got a wee little soft spot ... maybe ...)

I must be the only person that has switching channel wars with the cat! Maisie insisted on sitting on top of the cable box ... me being the softie (whoops - let that one out of the bag) I am - didn't throw her off, but got the remote to change the channel back after every time she sat too hard on one of the numbers!

From animals to children ...

I am so cross with the High School, and am trying to think of the best way to compain to them - whether it's better to have a quiet chat, write an official complaint letter or what ... here's what happened ...

On Saturday David (14.5yo) hurt his back playing cricket, pretty sure it is pulled muscle down the side, the poor boy could hardly move, he was okay if he was still, but getting in and out of chairs or bed or moving suddenly was obviously very painful. The High School had Athletics Day yesterday - I said to him that maybe he should stay at home, he said no - he wanted to go and watch his mates but could I write him a note so he didn't actually have to participate. Which I did.

He came home yesterday in a right mood, turns out if you don't bring your PE gear you are automatically put in a fenced off section in the middle of the grounds, away from everyone else, where you can't even see all the events properly ... basically treated like animals. On top of that, in his words so excuse all racist implied comments ;), "I had to sit all day with a bunch of dumb Maoris who thought it was really funny to call me fatty all day" ... I am really wild, this is my boy who HAS struggled with his weight but over the summer has been going to the gym five days a week, started jogging, all to get his fitness to a point where he can try out for the top soccer team ... he. does. not. need. that. sort. of. crap.

So, you genuinely injure yourself, where the injury would get worse if he'd participated, make a very responsible decision to go to school anyway to support your friends and get treated like an animal? ohhhh I am cross.

BTW - his back is getting lots better, and I imagine will recover before the rest of the week.

... and from Children to Stitching ...

Here is the latest progress picture of Celtic Summer - I had a lovely stitching evening last night, Mondays have suddenly become hopeless with gym in the afternoon, then more often than not various meetings in the evening - so I might have to switch this one to a Tuesday night now I've finished Rose Arbour - Tuesdays are usually one of my more productive days :)

I also picked up Faery Tales for the first time in at least a month on Sunday - but it's still a small black blob, so not really worth taking a picture of.

Here is a picture of Rhiannon's very slow WIP - I can't believe how filthy it is! Those little 7yo fingers must get very grubby, I need to start training her to wash her hands before she stitches! She picks it up spasmodically - but is doing really well - I help guide her in the right direction as to what crosses to do, and start her off - but she does the rest by herself now ... it is a picture from an English Magazine - can't remember off-hand what one.

Can't remember what other exciting things I was going to say - they'll come back to me, I'm sure!

Quiet Sunday Anyone?

I wish. I am about ready to strangle a couple of girls sitting behind me - the littlest one is howling that she is finished ... finished howling that is. Because I turned off the TV because they wouldn't stop bickering. Lucky DH sleeping until 9.00am because he can ignore all other noises, lucky DH watching soccer so the girls vacate that room and come and annoy me, lucky DH gone the other five days of the week, and not having to put up with that every day! Right. Vent over - sometimes you've just got to get it out ;)

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Thank you for ALL the comments on Rose Arbour - wow! it is so nice to get so many compliments ... I love the blogging world.

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strangling is still sounding like a good option ... deeeeep breaths ...

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Another small finish -

Little House Needleworks - Kitty Cottage Sampler
Stitched on 27ct "Clay" evenweave

...

Today I've got the dreaded Soccer Club AGM - this is the worst part of my job, I hate speaking in front of people, and I hate being responsible for all that money - so today I get to present the accounts, a combination of both things - oh yay ... all I can say is at least by the end of the day it will be over!

...

I'm having paper thrown at me now ... more deeeeeeep breaths ...

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and later I get to choose between stitching Faery Tales as per my written down rotation for February, or October Skye Sampler so I can finish it ... as per my February goals - oh, decisions, decisions ... maybe I'll see how the AGM goes first! LOL

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and finally I have a little girl on my knee having a cuddle, maybe she got the message I mean business? at last? ... until next time, anyway ;)

Rose Arbour

I did it! I finished her! Wahoooooo! ... yep, I am that excited. I can't remember when I started stitching her, but I suspect during 2002, at a guess.

Rose Arbour ~ Mirabilia

Stitched on Blended Needle "Parchment" 28ct Evenweave

It's funny, when I started this I still hadn't worked out what everybody meant when they talked about starting on the vertical thread - so it is all stitched with each cross starting from the horizontal thread - gosh it is awful to stitch like that, the thread often slipped underneath the weave of the fabric (it's a pretty loose fabric anyway) and I can tell by looking at it that my crosses just don't look "right". We live and learn, and grow - for me, mostly thanks to the internet!

I'm at work right now, and it is VERY quiet, so I'm going to pop down to the carpark and get my soccer/cricket work out of the car, do some of that - and then stitch ... life is good :)

Nearly there!

I did it! I actually finished all the stitching on Rose Arbour last night ... so "just" the beads to go - hopefully I might get time this afternoon to start those, although I've got a neighbour coming around for coffee (darn it - I'd rather be stitching LOL). I was very selfish yesterday and ignored all work, house, children etc and watched the two episodes of Desperate Housewives I had taped and stitched, and then had the evening to stitch as well - gosh it felt good - I don't get enough free days to do that anymore!

I did finish something last week though - here is Season of Rest by Little House Needleworks -

and also started another one by LHN (Cat Cottage Sampler? - can't remember the name - and I'm wayyyy to far away from the other room to go check it out).

The kids are biking to school today for "Biking Week" - they bike there and then get breakfast - so *yawn* it's 7.45am and time to leave the house!

Creative Writing ... from Mr 14yo

Very, very quick post - I need to go pick up Charlotte, but just had to do a quick copy and paste of David's latest creative writing - he is so GOOD at this stuff, but mutters and moans about it - I suppose that is natural though LOL

He's doing an assignment where each written piece has different "rules" ... this one, he had to start each sentence with an adjective -

M and W N****n

Comical, friendly and sometimes a little dopey are the first three things that come to mind about my best bud MJN. Friendly is also a good way to describe M’s parents who, over the years, have welcomed me as a son. Bubbly older sister L is also a good friend of mine but not as good a friend as M’s identical twin brother, W. Unfortunately a lot of people seem to think I should have a favourite twin but there is no way I could ever choose one of them over the other because although they are twins, they both have a lot of different attributes.

Athletic, humorous and intelligent are three good ways to describe W. As friendly as M and W are, when they get together they do not get along well at all. Shattered windows, holes in walls and terrified babysitters are all consequences of the twin’s aggressive nature. Terrible fights and vicious arguments forced wary parents to split the twins up. Sadly for W, he was sent to a boarding school in Wanganui and now, because they don’t see each other as much, the twins get on like a house on fire.

Funnily, The first time I met M I didn’t like him because we were playing soccer at school and he pushed me over. Luckily I became friends with W and got to know M, now we are like triplets. Super friendly, very funny, loyal and good to be around, Michael and William are two friends I could never replace!

My family is sure putting me through the emotional wringer the last few days - in a good way though! LOL

Thank you for all the comments, again - the blogging world is fantastic :)

Might be back later with some stitchy pictures ...

LOTS of photos!

Of my sister's wedding - not stitching!

It was a gorgeous day ... lovely sunshine, happy bride and groom, happy guests ... and no disasters - what more could you ask for?

My Dad and Georgie arriving -



Georgie and John -



I love this next one, although it makes me cry everytime I look at it - Stephie is Georgie's twin and I think it was a really huge day for her, in some ways I think she should have given G away, rather than Dad - they are soooo close and it must feel like she is losing apart of herself - kwim? John was lovely (and funny) in the speeches about the two of them and obviously really understands how it will always be him, Georgie and in a funny sort of way Stephie too. Anyway, I just love the reflective look in this photo -



Georgie and Stephie



They did this wonderful "joining together" symbolic thing with sand - this is John, Georgie (hidden) and John's four daughters all putting their sand in together.



and the container afterwards -



... and some random photos :)

My biggest son (it's not often I get a good picture of him, he usually hides!) -



My niece Tracy, and Rhiannon -



Me and my girl -



My parents



... and lastly ... my framed wedding piece for them :)



Sorry about the big photos - anyone want to give me instructions on Photobucket to get them smaller? I just assumed it would be like Picturetrail where they must cut them down a bit? My Picturetrail album is just about chock-a-block ... plus I need to pay my annual fee, and I'm not sure where it's coming from ... so I thought I'd give Photobucket ago - but I'm not sure about the huge photos!

Sunday here today and I have a ton of laundry and housework to catch up on - hopefully next week will be MUCH quieter!

Photobucket

This is a test post from Photobucket.com

What a week ...

Gosh it got busy this week ... here is a quick run down ...

Monday - not too bad, biked in the morning, started folding soccer rego and info, Charlotte gym in the pm, stitched a wee bit in the afternoon, meeting that night.

Tuesday - got soccer accounts from accountant to double check, took a couple of hours in the morning to go through, folded more rego info, enveloped some (great family production line - Rhiannon sorting, Josh folding, me putting in envelopes, Charlotte stamping the return address on the envelopes - *thats* why we had such a big family! LOL), dropped changed accounts back to accountant, stitched on Rose Arbour in the evening.

Wednesday - woke up to find no hot water, rang electrician arranged for him to come after lunch, went with a friend to a womens group/morning tea thingee ... they are doing a personality study thing this term - I'm a 9 (peacemaker) with strong 1 (perfectionist) tendancies ;) ... home to wait for electrician, finally came as I was walking out to get the kids from school, of course. I quickly vacuumed and tidied a bit while I was waiting. Found out we definitely needed a new hot water cylinder *sigh* just what we don't need right now ... but electrician is a fellow soccer committee person so he arranged the plumber for me and also the cylinder through his account at a wholesale price - yeah! ... about then it occurred to me that once again *I* was handling everything while DH was at work, as usual. Went to Mum and Dad's for dinner, home, kids in bed and stitched for a couple of hours.

Thursday - quick cold shower again (I can't NOT wash my hair it is terribly greasy and has to be washed every day otherwise it looks dirty and yuck), enveloped my RRs, finished soccer envelopes, caught up on a few cricket/soccer emails, filled in a funding cricket form, while plumber put water cylinder in. He finished just in time for me to rush out and get groceries before picking up Charlotte from kindy. Made up and cut out pattern to make top to wear to my sister's wedding on Saturday before having to go and drop off envelopes at PO, post RR's off and buy birthday gift for party that Rhiannon was going to that afternoon. Picked up kids from school, started making top, dropped Rhiannon off to party, carried on making top ... frantically got ready for work before picking up Rhiannon, dropping her at home, and dropping Cameron off at Touch rugby. Work was extremely busy - 1.5hrs of transcript tapes from a meeting, oh yay. Watched the cricket for a while, got quite exciting - so stayed an extra hour to make up for the time I was in front of the telly ... got home about 1.30am - finished loading dishwasher, tidied up a bit (DH was away for the night) and got to bed about 2.00am.

Friday - Hot shower! Yay! ... only Cameron and Josh to organise off to school. Rhiannon, Charlotte and I then drove into Ngauranga (near Wellington) to drop off Charlotte to Deb who is having her for a couple of nights, then to Porirua for some shopping and lunch with Rhiannon, found her a pretty dress to wear on Saturday, and me a skirt - still not sure I like it, but nothing looks good when you're too fat *sigh*. Then off to then ENT specialist with Rhiannon - her ears are really good, one tube had worked it's way out from the ear drum (which has healed perfectly) into the ear canal so she pulled that out ... Rhiannon has it carefully wrapped up so she can show it off at news at school on Monday. Then home again to quickly get changed, drop Rhiannon at my sister's and then come into work ... where I am now.

Tomorrow is the usual kids sports in the morning, then the wedding in the afternoon! I'll pick up the framed piece in the morning - I could have done it this morning, but didn't want to "bug" the framer - then David Jnr tells me she called last night to say it was ready! Grrrrrr! I could have strangled him! LOL

So, that folks is a week in the life of a BUSY me - it's not always that crazy ... thank goodness (but is, more often than I'd like LOL).

Here is a picture of the Mirabilia RR piece I just finished and sent off - I stitched the Madonna of the Garden section - I'm a bit worried the section is a bit empty, but I really wanted to incorporate the arch, fence AND baby.



I'm also VERY close to finishing Rose Arbour - I should finish the cross-stitching this coming Tuesday, and I'll decide from there whether to carry on and do the beading over the next few days after that and get it finished - or wait until the following Tuesday :)

... can't forget the Charlotte quote of the day ...

"I wish I had Mrs Incredible as my Mummy, she can do LOTS of things at the same time"

That was this morning while I was trying to quickly finish sewing up my top, and get her organised and packed for her weekend away, I can't remember what she wanted me to do, but I obviously wasn't doing it fast enough! LOL

Nearly time to go home!

Nits!

Ha! Did that get your attention? Almost as much as it got mine when Charlotte said "I've got all the nits out Mummy" after she'd brushed her hair ...

Eeeek! 0h no, wait ... it's a word mix up - Rhiannon tells me that Charlotte is mixed up and means KNOTS *phew* LMAO

It's lucky she's so funny - it makes up for the stubborness and rudeness that pops out of her mouth as well ;)

We've just been to gym, and I've had at least half the parents suggest that I should have her in the older class (in a nice way, don't get me wrong) ... problem is, the next class is the "school" age class - she's not school age until November! ... and yes, I agree, she's going to be bored silly by the end of the year, and yes, she needs to be pushed more - BUT there is no way my shy little girl is going to let me sit and watch her and not be on the floor with her - which is a requirement for those older classes *sigh* I wish her social shyness was in line with her physical abilities - it would make life easier. And this will sound like a total brag (and probably semi is LOL) ... but I get tired of the gasps of wonder every time we start a new year/term with different parents/children - yep, she's good, yep she's got an older sister and has been around the gym since she was a babe in my arms, yep, yep, yep ... but I'm shy like she is, and am embarrassed everytime too!

... and sticking to the gym subject - I think I'm going to the club's committee meeting tonight (yeah, Kath I can hear you - don't over do it, not *another* committee! LOL) ... but reality is, we're going to be involved for a few years to come, and I do like to give back and help where I can. In a lot of ways it will be nice to join a committee as a "parent" and "help" rather than the admin and reporting responsibilties I have with soccer and cricket.

I still haven't started stuffing envelopes - I haven't been able to get hold of the man who runs Sport Kapiti to go and use their photocopier - I did email DH before and ask him if he could do the first 100 or so at work so I can at least get started - I also didn't do a lot of stitching either. Took ages to polish those trophies - they did look good afterwards though! ... then our friend Deb popped in (arranged with her to have Charlotte Friday AND Saturday night - Rhiannon has an ear appointment on Friday afternoon and as per tradition wants just her and Mummy to do some shopping and have some lunch beforehand, and Saturday is Georgie's wedding, I'm relieved to have that detail taken care of!) - then I went for a quick bike-ride, then off to the BBQ - got home about 10pm and did half an hour, but that was it.

Today isn't looking much better - it's nearly after school time, then I've promised oldest DS to look at soccer boots - another sister (I only have five of them LOL) works in the sports shop and she's going to arrange it that we can take them AND pay them off - bit naughty but she assures me it will be fine, as long as I pay a regular amount for a few weeks, which is such a life saver right now, anyway - need to do that as promised, organise dinner, do some banking, mail some stuff - then off to the gym committee meeting.

Did I mention just yesterday I was getting lots of stitching time - ha! serves me right for tempting fate by writing that down!

This and that ... and this again, and that again

Stitching

Yep ... still stitching, stitching lots in fact - and it feels good! I've got just the beads to do on my Mirabilia piece for the Mirabilia RR I'm involved in - I'm hoping to do those later today, or tomorrow - depending how the day goes. I'm about halfway through a small LHN piece that I will sell on ebay - I should have pictures of both of those in a couple of days.

Meanwhile, here are two more ornaments -

Partridge in a Pear Tree

The Prairie Schooler

2005 JCS Ornament Mag

SAL

A 16th Century Celtic Christmas

Moss Creek Designs, Inc.

2000(?) JCS Ornament Mag

Ornament RR

Sadly, I'm now finished all my Ornament RR pieces - I really enjoyed the way this was run - and loved getting a surprise supply package in the mail, that was easy to pop into my bag for work or whatever and knowing everything was included. I'm not sure whether I'll sign up for another one or not - I've kitted a few ornaments in the same way ready to take with me in the same way - and our local stitching group's ornament SAL kinda replaces it.

Other Crafts

I bought some lovely fabric to make myself a top - eeeek! I need something to wear to my sister's wedding next week, and there is no way I can afford to buy expensive new clothes ... plus the fact that none of the tops ever seem to fit me "right" - everything is too clingy, and if not too clingy then just not right. I'm your classic Kiwi Pear shape - and overweight with it - so I hate anything clinging to my hips and showing how big they are! Anyway I've bought this fabric, and I'm planning on tracing around one T Shirt I've got that fits me nicely ... so keep everything crossed it goes as I've got it pictured in my head! ... if it works, I'll invest in a nice cream skirt/trousers to go with it - that I desperately need for work as well.

I've also been knitting! I used to knit lots - but have found in recent years I much prefer my cross-stitch, knitting gets boring, really fast (not saying knitting is boring - just that my attention span is way too short! LOL). Anyway - I've found it's the perfect thing to take along to the kids' cricket games ... two hours (or more), with my short attention span and not being able to sit still for more than five minutes (unless I have stitching to do ;)) ... knitting is perfect :D - I'll take a picture when I've done a bit more.

A Thank You

... to my lurking blogger reader. I arrived at Kath's on Wednesday night and she gave me the sweetest little gift for Charlotte that came from an internet friend of hers who had read my blog and then sent the cutest little Strawberry Shortcake make-up set to Kath to pass on to that cute little girl in my blog - isn't the cyber world amazing? Thank you so much quiet lurker (I'm not sure I should put names here, never sure whether that is good etiquette or not) - Charlotte loved it (as did Rhiannon the big sister who managed to persuade Charlotte she should share it LOL). Also loved telling her Dad and siblings that she got it because she is cute LOL

Today

Is Sunday - and usually Sundays are quiet days ... but darn it I have way too much on.

Finish writing Soccer AGM Letter

Get hold of Sport Kapiti co-ordinator so I can go and AGM letter 600x

Put 600 rego forms + McD's competition/promotion + AGM letter into envelopes ready to post out.

Bike Ride

Beginning of year shooting club BBQ ... which includes prizegiving from last season ... which also means I have to do serious polishing of the trophies I won the year before that (um, about 6 of them - nice to win, but terrible to clean! LOL).

Eeek! I should get going ... I don't think I'll be stitching today!

Routine anyone?

One to spare? I need a good one to keep up with my blogging!

Firstly - thank you so much for all the lovely comments on my Wedding Blessing finish, you are all wonderful friends :)

Secondly - Like everyone else, hearing about the death of one of our stitching friends has made me quite sad and reflective. Laura and family - my thoughts are with you :(

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Blogging routine - I find I think of things to say, then by the time I get around to writing here, I forget them. I need to set myself in a daily, or every second day, routine. I'll have to think about that one, maybe first thing in the morning or last thing at night.

Family - everyone is back at school as of today - yeeeehahhhh! I am so happy to have a quiet house again for a few hours everyday, I love my kids, and love doing things with them - but gosh I love to have a bit of space as well.

I went for a bike ride this morning - back up the Maungato...s again for the first time in a month or two, not quite back to the fitness I was - but I made it to the top with only one stop, wow - I forget how beautiful the view is from up there - it is worth the sweat and hardwork just to see it - the sea looked like a lake this morning, just beautiful.

Stitching - I seem to have had lots of time and enthusiasm to stitch the last week or so, I love that! I've pretty much stuck to my rotation except I started the Mirabilia RR on Tuesday instead of picking up Rose Arbour - I started to have a wee panic attack about whether I'd left myself enough time to stitch it. As it turns out I've nearly finished it and will probably have a couple of days spare ... woohooo! :)

Here are some pictures -

A couple ornaments from the Ornament RR - I can't remember designers etc, and the details are all the way down the other end of the house ... and I'm just too lazy to get up to get them! LOL





and an update on Celtic Summer, I finally got to stitch on this again on Monday night - I didn't think I got much done but when I compare it to the last progress picture I can see where I've filled in quite a bit. I just worked on the front green/gold part of her dress.



I'm off to have a quiet 30mins or so in front of Oprah with my stitching, before the tribe get home from school.

Happy, happy, happy Dance

Here it is! You don't have to look at progress pictures anymore (I'm sure you were getting sick of them!).



and a close up of one of the corners ... just because.



I'm VERY pleased with the way it has turned out - lots of hard work, but well worth it. Thank you for all your cheering and compliments - they really DO help ... and I promise hand-on-heart I'll take more time to comment on YOUR blogs, now I'm not on such a deadline!

I started an ornament last night, and nearly finished it - it was soooooo nice to be stitching something different :)

Sounds like we're all going to the beach, DH was going to take just the older kids down to Paekakariki beach (bigger waves and deeper) ... Charlotte is being her delightful self and wanting to go to, so I'll do the good mother thing and go down with them.

January re-cap/February Goals

January Goals -

Finish Christmas Elf - yes! and framed, thank you Kath and Katrina :)
Finish Wedding Blessing (*gulp*) - about 30mins away
Finish Rose Arbour - no
Stick to rotation and goals! - no

February Rotation Plans

Week one (3/2 - 12/2)
Saturday - Ornament RR
Sunday - Ornament RR
Monday - Celtic Summer
Tuesday - Rose Arbour
Wednesday to Saturday - Mirabilia RR
Sunday - Mirabilia RR/Faery Tales

Weeks two to three (13/2 - 28/2)
Monday - Mirabilia RR/Celtic Summer
Tuesday - Rose Arbour
Wednesday to Saturday pm - Ebay
Saturday evening - ED October Sky Sampler
Sunday - Faery Tales

February Goals

1. Finish Rose Arbour
2. 3 Ebay pieces - not sure what yet.
3. Finish October Sky Sampler
4. Finish 2 Ornament RRs and send them off
5. Finish Mirabilia RR and send off
6. Finish SAL Ornament
7. THIS month - stick to rotation plans

Nearly There!

I should finish the wedding sampler tonight ... in a few minutes if no more work comes in - woooohoooo! It seems to have taken me ages to the last little bit. I'll wash it tonight, dry it overnight and take it to the framer tomorrow - I'll be glad to have it done, but also very pleased with myself for doing it, I know Georgina will love it.

*darn it - spoke to soon, I've just had some work come in ... more soon ... LOL*

Okay - back again - although I've only had half the document ... why do these lawyers insist on changing the document 10x? (especially this particular partner ;)).

Anyway ... stitching! I am sooooo looking forward to stitching some ornaments this weekend, and then I'll be stitching my square for the Mirabilia RR.

Kids go back to school in 4 sleeps time ... it will be nice to get back into some sort of routine, although the getting up early is going to be hard! We have a practice run tomorrow because cricket starts - eek our kids, plus two extras to get out of the house by about 8.30am (that's about when I'm semi awake lately!).

That will do for now ... I must go and update/recap on my goals :)

Haven't had much to say!

Gosh it's been a nearly a week since I last blogged ... so much for updating everyday! But in all honesty, I've gone to write an entry a couple of times and haven't had anything much to say.

Life has just been cruising - working, kids etc - kids are definitely ready to go back to school, as I am ready for them to go LOL. Last week we all drove each other nutty, this week I got them all to pick something they wanted to do and we've been out and about more which is mostly working - they seem to have calmed down a bit and be bickering a wee bit less.

Monday we played mini-golf and that big son bet me - much to his glee (it's one thing I can usually do better than him LOL).

Yesterday we went to see Narnia (at last!) I loved that book as a child, never got around to reading the whole series though. I thought the movie was pretty good - although whats with the Queen and dreadlocks? I thinking about borrowing Josh's book of the complete chronicles and reading all of them.

Wedding Blessing is coming along - I've got one corner to go, I think I realised at the end of last week that I was definitely going to get it finished in time, so slowed down! LOL ... I should finish it today/tomorrow. I'm am REALLY looking forward to our little stitching group tonight and stitching something different! We're starting our wee ornament SAL - I can't wait! (gosh, the small things that get me excited LOL).

I can't believe is is 1st of February already! ... I need to go through last months goals and make some for this month - I'll do that tomorrow so I have two posts in two days.

... and that's it ... a quiet life has got to be good though, right?

Still going!

Still going, and starting to believe that I can do it!



This is what it looked like before I started doing some serious stitching, on about the 4th of January - so three weeks ago -



I've got one week to finish all of it now (eek!) ... I'm hoping to get a couple of hours this afternoon, if work is quiet, a couple of hours tonight. Fridays aren't usually a good stitching day for me, and Saturday I'm going out for the bride-to-be's hen party ... but hopefully I'll get the bottom part finished by the end of Sunday ... then have Mon-Thurs next week to get the left column finished off and the writing done *phew* I can't wait to have it done! I've got a couple of RR's I need to work on ... then I'll probably stitch whatever I want for a few days before throwing myself into a 2006 rotation :)

I've finally reached the point where I am really ready for the kids to go back to school ... it's taken me about three days to do some work that should take me a morning ... the constant interruptions, whines, arguing etc are driving me bonkers. Of course, give me a couple of weeks after they're back and I'll be whinging about the early mornings, lunches and rushing around!

Off to do grocery shopping now ... one of many thrills in my life ;)

I can hear you Kath! LOL

Hee hee ... I was under very firm instructions from Kath on Saturday morning to come home, take a picture of my newly picked up and framed Christmas Elf and put it on my blog so Katrina could see it too. Um, it's Monday morning now - sorry Kath and Katrina!

Here she is -



Thank you SO much, again, Kath and Katrina - I love her to bits :D

and what have I been doing instead of posting here? Why, stitching of course! Another stitching board I am on is having a stitch-a-thon this week, so I figured what an opportunity, I need to mega-stitch Apache Wedding anyway, why not count while I'm doing it for a bit of fun ... and there is nothing like my quiet competitive streak to be spurred into action to really get me going ;)

... over 2000 stitches later (counting crosses as one, and each backstitch as one) ... here is another update on it -



I'm hoping to finish the bottom part this week - and then have most of next week to finish up the words and right-hand side.

Now a question - along the bottom it says "Apache Wedding Blessing" ... do you think I should replace those words with "John and Georgina, 18 February 2006" ... or leave the Apache Wedding Blessing there and put the John and Georgina along the very bottom of the sampler?

On to today ... we are going to take the kids and bike down to the park ... they need to get out, and I've had fun stitching in the afternoons, but it's definitely time to do the good parenting thing! LOL

and lastly Happy Anniversay to DH and I (well, two days ago - but near enough!) ... 17 years - doesn't that make me sound old? LOL

Yet another update ...

If you're bored of AWB ... just skip the picture - although the terrible photography does add a wee bit of interest, I'm sure! LOL



I stayed at work an extra half hour or so just to finish the brown framework ... now I feel like I just need to fill it all in to finish off that side (and yep, work was quiet, in fact I did NO "work" work at all - but I did managed to catch up on my cricket filing, cricket audit letters and general paper work - as well as some stitching - AND got paid!).

I'm getting itching stitchy fingers ... I really want to do some sewing and finishing, maybe try one of the bags I've been saying forever that I'm going to sew, or start one of stitching smalls ... but I have to keep working on this sampler - I'm sure that's why I'm getting the stitchy itch, more because I know I can't do anything about it - than really wanting to do something else! (gosh - did that rambling make any sense at all? LOL)

The framer rang me yesterday to say my fairy is ready - I need to ring Kath and see if she wants a trip out tomorrow morning, and we'll go pick it up :)

I managed somehow to end up with NINE children here yesterday ... my five, plus David's usual two friends and my two nephews - they're all actually very good ... but I can't say feeding them is much fun, lots of pizza inhaled within five minutes, and then lucky me clearing up afterwards.

Not much else happening around here really - just the same old, same old.

Charlotte, a game piece, her nose ... and pliers ...

After I came home from my soccer meeting last night DH showed me this -



Yep ... Charlotte stuck the red game piece up her nose, and it got stuck. Poor DH had to deal with it - and like any good man he got out his tool kit LOL ... thankfully the game piece had a hole on the underside that he could grip with the pliers and then pull it out.

He asked her why she had put it up her nose ... her reply? "I thought it might stop my nose from running" ... oh cripes, I was crying I laughed so hard (easy for me, I wasn't there! LOL). That girl sure keeps us amused!

and last, but not least - my daily update on AWB - not a whole lot done, but I only got to stitch in the afternoon yesterday so I'm happy that I got any done!



I've promised Rhiannon I'll take them to the beach this afternoon, and I have another meeting tonight - so not sure whether I'll get to do much today either.

Do you like the new do?

I had a bit of play yesterday - I'm quite proud of it (me of no html training or experience, it's amazing what some copying and pasting can do! LOL).

Can you hear the quiet around here? DH has gone back to work (should I be as happy as I am about that?), and what's more the two girls stayed the night at our good friends last night ... woohooo I can sit here with no "I'm hungry", "Mummmmmmy" ... I need to make the most of the next few hours before they come home :)

A few photos today -

Firstly, AWB update ... I made the fatal mistake of looking at how much was left to stitch when I took it out of the Q-Snaps to do the backstitch last night ... *gulp* do I really think I can finish it on time?



It's taken me three days to do that top right piece ... I need to speed up! ... and this week won't be a good stitching week :(

Yesterday I dropped the girls off to Tawa, and on the way back took advantage of the "me" time and stopped at Spotlight to buy these -



Our wonderful little NZ stitching group gave me the money for my birthday to buy them - they are for Celtic Summer, I've changed the Mill Hills to Delica so they fit on the hand-dyed 32ct better - it was lovely to be able to stand in the shop and really study them to try and get the conversions right - thank you Kath, Katrina, Pat and Wendy!!! (there is one missing, they didn't have the Mill Hill number, so I couldn't use it to figure out what Delica to buy). The little brass coin thingees I happened to spot in the jewellry part and I'm hoping that they will work for the little ornament in the JCS Ornie mag - can't remember the name of it, but it's a small one with a coin in the middle, it was only $2.50 for the bag full so no worries if they don't work - if they do I'll let you know, I'm happy to share!

... and a couple of other silly photos -

This is Maisie our cat -



I think she thought she was helping Josh by lying in the puzzle pieces? ... that, or the sun was streaming through the window and it made a nice sunny possie for her LOL

... and this is our front yard on Saturday morning -



I really did expect someone to come to the front door and ask if we were hiring bikes out! LOL .. in fact they were all pulled from the garage because one of the delightful boys (the biggest one) managed to put a cricket ball through the window, and glass had gone everywhere and needed to be cleaned out, and the window fixed. I should note that they're not all OUR bikes - I think we've got three of David's friends ones at the moment, one is on holiday and we're storing it for him, the other two his friends who practically live here, I couldn't fit them into the van when I dropped them back at home on Friday night.

Today I need to get ready for our soccer meeting tonight, firm up the meeting room etc for cricket's meeting next week, do some housework, try and fit a bike ride in ... and hopefully get some stitching done!

Time for a stitching update

Firstly ... my wee confession - when it was my Birthday I just couldn't face the awful backstitching on the AWB ... so I started something new (oh ... did you hear that I wasn't going to start new things on a whim this year ... I was going to FINISH other pieces first? LOL). I started Elizabeth Design's October Sky Sampler ... and looking back on my blog last year, I was going to start this way back in January last year ... so I'm only a year late! I worked on this for a couple of days - and then had to put it down, as much as I didn't want to.



Then, of course, we have AWB progress - I've finally finished the top part, those geese (I was calling them ducks - but I think they are geese) had the most awful back-stitching on them - really hard to read on the chart, especially on the grid lines where it was really hard to make out what was backstitching lines and what wasn't - but I've finally finished with them! I'll start the right side today/tonight - if I can get that whole side finished over the weekend, I'll treat myself with a day on October Sky Sampler :)



My stitching will take a serious downturn next week - I have meetings Monday and Tuesday night and then back to work on Thursday and Friday nights ... I've really enjoyed stitching just about every evening, and I've got lots done.

This last picture isn't stitching - but my other "hobby" - DH got this framed for me for my birthday, something I've been meaning to do for ages but never get around to, he found one of our old frames and used that - if you look closely not a perfect job, but it looks pretty good ;) Anyway - this is my perfect target - 100.10 -



I shot it back in 2004, after about 14yrs of shooting. Now, I should note - that these do not happen very often at all, EVERYTHING has to be going right, the rifle, the ammunition, the mind, the whole lot ... and I can assure you that my heart was thudding when I got to the last couple of shots and realised I might actually do it ... so to control that beating heart, stay relaxed and in the zone - is quite amazing :D It is hanging under my other framed shooting ego-boost - my photo and medals from Oceania 1995 (gosh, is it really so long ago! LOL) when I won the womens' individual match ... what's really nice about that photo is the two Australians either side of me who were not happy at all that this little unknown NZ'er wrecked their first, second and third plans ... hee hee.

That's enough with the bragging ... back to the realities of housework, soccer work, cricket work etc!

Here I am!

... so much for updating everyday ;) This having DH at home really cramps my style!

Thank you for all the birthday wishes - I had a lovely day, pretty relaxed and well looked after by my family - although I did end up cooking dinner ... but my biggest boy made a nice chocolate dessert, yummy!

Pinching this from Anne's blog ...

A is for Age: 37
B is for Booze: a nice glass of white wine - I don't drink much at all (too many years of being pregnant or breastfeeding!)
C is for Career: Secretarial/Administration/Mother
D is for Dad’s Name: Jack Watson
E is for Essential Item to Bring to a Party: DH
F is for Favourite Songs at the Moment: No idea! I'm hopeless with music
G is for Goof-off Thing to Do: Stitching/Sewing
H is for Hometown: Paraparaumu, grew up 10mins away in Paekakariki
I is for Instrument You Play: Played recorder at school, did piano lessons for a few years as an adult
J is for Jam or Jelly you Like: Raspberry
K is for Kids: David (14.5yo), Josh (11.5yo), Cameron (10yo), Rhiannon (7yo) and Charlotte (4yo)
L is for Living Arrangement: 4 bedroom plainish house on medium sized section - close to schools and parks, of course!
M is for Mom’s Name: Patricia
N is for Names of Good Friends: I have packages of friends ... my stitching friends (fellow Doris's), my mother friends, my work friends - but admit to being standoffish in that I don't get VERY close to anyone (a poor trait of mine!)
O is for Overnight Hospital Stays: 5 births and a few times with the kids for various things ... but never for me.
P is for Phobias: Magpies, tall cliffs next to the sea
Q is for Quotes you Like: Whatever
R is for Relationship That Lasted Longest: DH (David) - married 17yrs, together 2yrs before that
S is for Siblings: 5 sisters, 2 brothers - Aileen (44), Dianna (43), Willie (39), me (37), Juilie (35), Stephanie (30), Georgina (30) and Joel (24) ... see 5 isn't that many at all! LOL
T is for Texas: So? LOL
U is for Unique Trait: Dunno - I used to be able to stitch with a baby curled up in my lap ... no babies now though ... maybe that is a unique trait - the ability to conceive, have easy pregnancies and easy births ;)
V is for Vegetables You Love: Corn, coleslaw (cabbage and carrots)
W is for Worst Traits: Lack of self-esteem, lack of self control when it comes to eating and I can be too quick to make assumptions on people's personalities.
X is for X-rays You’ve Had: For teeth, for a fractured ankle when I was 14yo ... and of course ultrasounds with each pregnancy (hmmm kind of theme here)
Y is for Yummy Food You Make: Lasangue, scones
Z is for Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

I should have stitching updates tomorrow!

Happy Birthday to me :)

Gosh I'm 37yo today ... that really is heading towards that big 40 now!

I'm hoping to have a pleasant day - as usual, I do have some emails and work I need to do ... but so be it, two weeks after Christmas is usually low key ;) ... I will go down to the framing place today and pick out a frame for my Christmas Elf - it seems appropriate to do that today!

Here is AWB progress as of last night - I finally finished all the crosses in the top mediallon, I still need to do some backstitching, it's really hard to see some of it - I started last night, but trying to work out the duck parts are quite hard.



Not sure if I'll carry on with it today, or treat myself and stitch on Celtic Summer instead - I'll see how I feel.

Thanks for all the previous comments and cheering on - I do appreciate them!

No progress pictures today ... but do have pictures!

I did a wee bit of the dark brown of the duck wings of AWB yesterday afternoon before our guests arrived for our BBQ, but that was all - not worth taking a picture! Hopefully today I'll sit and do a whole lot ... it's the last one day match for NZ Cricketers for a few weeks, so I'm hoping to sit and watch that, which is also a good excuse to sit and stitch for a few hours!

Talking of cricket ...

Here is Rhiannon, our future White Fern, playing cricket with the boys in the backyard this morning ... note the very professional pads and gloves ... and the lovely white nightie and bare feet! LOLOL ... we'll save this, we might be able to sell it to magazines for a good price in later years ;)



(the wicket keeper is Curtis, Cameron's friend).

... and here is Charlotte, our cartwheel girl - we have cartwheels ... down the hallway, in the kitchen, in the lounge, down the supermarket aisles (although I must admit, I remember doing them down the supermarket aisles ... probably at a bit older than 4yo!) ... I thought I should actually record them, so I don't forget how clever she was!




Happy weekend everyone :)

More progress ... and a forgotten ornament

Firstly - here is the next Apache Wedding Blessing (AWB) progress - didn't do nearly as much as I wanted, Charlotte and I ended up going to the Post Office together, and then she was in a nice mood so we went and had an ice cream together ... then did a little shopping (I bought her a new - very cheap from the sales - top) ... there was one very big green eyed monster aka Rhiannon ... when we got home. The only reason I took Charlotte is because Rhiannon had gone to the neighbour's house and Charlotte was feeling left out ... oh the joys of parenting! LOL ... anyway - back to the subject in hand -

Deleted to fix sidebar

I'm not hopeful about getting much done today - we've got a BBQ here this evening so I need to get the house tidied up ... and some food ready, I might get an hour this afternoon if I'm lucky, but that will be it.

I stitched this ornament at work the week before Christmas - it was from one of the Ornament RR's ... and stitched up much quicker than I thought it would, I love the beading on it - although I forgot to make sure they were lying right before I took the photo!



We've got two little girls in this house who are being awful at going to sleep at night ... I thought it was the excitement of changing bedrooms and being in the same bunk beds (Charlotte on the bottom, Rhiannon at the top) ... but I think the holidays have just totally stuffed up their body clocks ... they're awake mucking around at 10pm ... and then of course not awake until after 9.00am ... ready for another night of the same - I love my quiet evenings, and even though they are sort of in bed (definitely in their bedroom), the never-ending telling them to be quiet and to behave means I miss my quiet evenings! ... I'll be looking forward to work by the 19th of January ;)

No other exciting news here ... just more of holidaying and stitching :)

Apache Wedding Blessing Progress

Okay ... I have to get stuck into this ... my sister's wedding is February 18th ... I probably need at least two weeks to get it framed before that. I'm not too worried if it is late, but it would be good to have it finished before then!

Soooooo ... bear (or bare?) with me, while you get daily progress pictures! (more to keep me going than anything else).



I stitched the top corner last night - didn't quite get the back stitch finished on it though.

Today I'm hoping to get a really good chunk of the top middle done, it is a medillion type thing with two ducks on it. There is a one day cricket match today - so I'm hoping to get lots of stitching done, while I watch that on the telly!

Stitching, Friends and Quilts ...

I went and stitched at Kath's house yesterday with Kath (obviously! LOL) and Katrina - what a lovely afternoon and evening - thank you so much for hospitality Kath! ... I stitched on my Celtic Summer (while Kath and Katrina stitched their SAL ... but I'll let them tell you about that ... hee hee) - here is her progress -



I stitched on green and gold swirls at the front/bottom of her dress - I've got to put her away now and REALLY work on the Wedding gift.

and for the friends part ... Kath and Katrina nearly made me cry *sniff sniff* they very sneakily (while I went and looked at Kath and Kevin's new house - oh my gosh it is looking GREAT!) ... quickly made this up for me -



They are just way too generous - but hopefully they know how much this means to me - I have sooooo many unframed pieces, it is such a luxury for me to finish one and be able to go and pick out framing straight away. Thank you so much, again, ladies :)

and as promised, pictures of the girls with their quilts -



... I should put in the small writing that I did not choose the pink to go the back and binding of Charlotte's one ... I preferred the red that I tried to direct her to, much better! LOL

Righty oh - I'm off to do grocery shopping etc and need to get moving!

First 2006 Finish!

Mirabilia's "The Christmas Elf Fairy" - started 29 Dec 2005, finished 3 January 2006. Stitched on "Evening Shadows" a Countrystitch Sparkles.



The photo hasn't shown the fabric well at all - it is more of a purpley blue, than the bright blue it looks on this photo.

This was a delight to stitch - I think the fact it was a Mirabilia and stitched up fast was half the fun - and she really is gorgeous, Rhiannon has already asked if she can have it (hmmmmm I don't think so! LOL).

We finished our doll quilts too - I forgot to take a photo of them, I'll do that in another post.

I DID stitch a wee bit on Rose Arbour last night as per my pre-determined rotation - I was hoping to finish the Elf earlier and have a bit more time - but I got a bit more of the greenery done. On to Celtic Summer today/tonight ...

I've just talked Kath ... and her and Katrina are planning an afternoon/evening of stitching and kindly invited me along - after a week of being cooped up with Mr DH who has been irritating the heck out of me (long story ...) ... I'm more than ready to escape the house and spend it with a couple of friends stitching! LOL

But first I have to do some soccer accounts - I've organised an auditor and need to get all the information to him - just need to update the last couple of months and finish some filing - and I'll be quite pleased to pass them on to someone else to tidy up. The someone else happens to be my future BIL which was very opportune - but I don't want to scare him off marrying my sister either! ROTFLOL

Hopefully I'll have an update of Celtic Summer tomorrow :)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everybody ... may all your hopes and dreams be fulfilled :)

No stitching at all yesterday, I sewed with the girls and then we went off to a New Year Eves party at a friends house - we all had a great time, LOTS of kids and they all had a ball - Charlotte lasted until about 11pm when she climbed on my knee and cuddled up and dropped off pretty quickly (awwwww ... she hasn't done that for a long time), 10.20am and she is still asleep! It's the first time we've seen the new year in for quite a while - probably since the big 2000 :)

I have got a couple of pictures of the girls sewing though - Rhiannon did very well, she could almost do the guiding the fabric through and finishing off by herself, Charlotte just sat on my knee and "helped" ;)

I'll finish off there wee quilts today - good quilting practice for me too :)

Here is Charlotte and I -



and grown up Rhiannon -



I'll definitely be stitching my Christmas Elf tonight - I have to, I wrote down below that I would! LOL

January Rotation and Goals

Rotation

Week one - Sunday 1 January to Sunday 8 January

Sunday - Mirabilia Christmas Elf Fairy
Monday - Mirabilia Christmas Elf Fairy
Tuesday - Rose Arbour
Wednesday - Celtic Summer
Thursday - Wedding Blessing
Friday - Wedding Blessing
Saturday - Wedding Blessing
Sunday - Wedding Blessing

Week two - Monday 9 January to Sunday 15 January

Monday - Celtic Summer
Tuesday - Rose Arbour
Wednesday - Sampler Gameboard
Thursday - Ornament
Friday - Wedding Blessing
Saturday - Wedding Blessing
Sunday - Faery Tales

Week Three - Monday 16 January to Sunday 22 January

Wedding Blessing

Week Four - Monday 23 January to Sunday 30 January

Monday - Celtic Summer
Tuesday - Rose Arbour
Wednesday - Sampler Gameboard
Thursday - Ornament
Friday - Wedding Blessing
Saturday - Wedding Blessing
Sunday - Faery Tales

Goals -

Finish Christmas Elf
Finish Wedding Blessing (*gulp*)
Finish Rose Arbour
Stick to rotation and goals!

2006 Plans and Dreams

... that title should read - Tentative 2006 Plans ... very tentative LOL

Also - for now - as much as I'd like this to be working every week, all though the year, I really need to carry on selling a bit on ebay, plus I have a couple of obligation things (like my sister's wedding gift) I'm going to need more time than one night a week to work on. So for now I'm going to try and do this rotation weeks 2 and 4 of each month (I typed 3 and 4 first, then realised I have soccer/cricket meetings Monday/Tuesday nights every 3rd week of the month! LOL). I'm hoping life is going to change a bit over the next couple of months which will mean no ebay stitching and being able to stitch for my pure pleasure ... we will see ...

Rotation
Monday - Mirabilia/L&L slot
Tuesday - Mirabilia/L&L slot
Wednesday - DT/ED/Bent Creek etc
Thursday - Ornaments
Friday - Ornaments
Saturday - UFO/Obligation/RR/Exchanges
Sunday - Faery Tales

Mirabilia/L&L Started -
Celtic Summer will take Monday's slot, then - Ashley's Roses
Rose Arbour Tuesday's slot, then Mermaids of the Deep

... and each will then be replaced with what is next on the list.

Celtic Summer - 2005 start, 2006 finish
Mermaids of the Deep - 2006 start and finish
Rose Arbour - 2002(?) start, 2006 finish
Ashley's Roses - 2003(?) start - no finish date yet
Sleeping Beauty - 2005 start - no finish date yet
Petal Fairy - 2005 start - no finish date yet
The Kiss - 2005 start - no finish date yet

Kitted/Partially Kitted
If I finish Ashley's Roses, Sleeping Beauty, The Kiss or Petal Fairy - I'll "let" myself start one of these!
The Dreamer
Cottage Garden Fairy
Lily Dreaming Fairy
Madonna of the Garden
Under the Rose Tree
Queen Mermaid
Fairy Roses

Drawn Thread
Work on Sampler Gameboard and French Garden every second week, when one is finished replace with whatever I feel like.

Started -
Sampler Gameboard
French Garden

Kitted -
lots ...

Elizabeth Designs -
Started - none!
Kitted - lots ...

Bent Creek
Started - none!
Kitted - Lots of the rows.

Other UFO/WIPS to be worked on -
Carrie's baby sampler
Deserata
Toy Shop
L*K Season Snippets
others ...

Other stitching I'd "like" to work on ... lots

When kids and DH are out of my hair I'll actually pull out all my charts etc and fill in the places where I've put "others" ... and "lots". So there you have it ... I'm hoping those are goals I can stick to, I haven't really specifically put any definitely finishes for most things - rather just a rotation of the variety I want to stitch, I'm hoping that won't make it so overwhelming. Something I DO want to stick to this year is making goals each month and sticking to them - I'm a goal orientated person and as long as they are realistic enough that they don't take over my life, I work better at working towards achieving things if I write them down and plan for them. Happy New Year - and all the best for 2006, in stitching and other forms of life :)