Sunday update ....

Well I have a quick addendum.  Just after I posted my update, mum sent me a photo of Tutankhamen framed and on her wall.  So I've added that to my finished album.

Mel's Sunday Update

Morning all,

Well I have lots to show today.  I've stitched up a storm after my slump for the past few weeks.

I stitched up Snoopy for Hilary's UFO project Peanuts Directors, a kit from Permin.  It was a quick stitch, but the non-linear backstitching on Aida was a pain :) :)

I also went back to Dogwood Square for the rest of the week.  I finished the border-work that gave me such huge cane toads a couple of weeks back and I actually completed all motifs.  The only work left on this project is to do all the background colouring in stitching.  Mind numbing and really good to do when you have no energy and your brains have leaked out your ears due to working long days.

Finally I've added some pictures to my Finished Album.  I have pictures of Tutankhamen which I framed and gave mum for Mother's Day this year.  I also have photographs of framed Livres Chat Rouge and framed Gothic.

So a good week for stitching and a lot of time spent on photography - god I wish I was better at it.  Oh on the Livres Chat Rouge picture, I could not get the mat visible without glare off the glass reflecting the scene behind me - so I deliberately photographed it half in shade.  The right side is in shade, but the top left corner shows a true representation of the colours of the frame and matting.

RAKs - my turn !!!!!

OK first I will fess up - it was me that sent the heap of Gloriana threads to Hilary for her Thriller chart.

Secondly - I was RAKed !!!! Yes I've just sorted through today's mail and I received a lovely gift from Maggee !!!!!

Maggee sent me a cute card and nearly a dozen different metallic threads! Mainly a heap of Kreinik blending filaments but also including a couple of DMC metallics!

Thank you Magee !!! These included a lot of colours that I need for upcoming projects - thank you soo much !!! And the card is very very cute!

Pics in my gifts album.

Being a good operatice .....

The BFG would be proud!

A few months ago one of the girls at work admired some charts I had acquired in an online garage sale and really fell in love with Dragon Dreams Mermaid of the Deep (I think its called).

Anyway she has been doing wool canvas tapestries for years and wanted a smaller project, so she wanted to "borrow" a copy of my chart and get me to teach her how to cross stitch.

Well after a short discussion on copyright and supporting the designers (which wasn't really as moral a high ground as it could have been as I did buy the chart second hand myself) I made her a birthday present of the chart and fabric.  I taught her how to stitch and about a week later our shifts changed and then I went on  leave so we haven't seen much of each other.

She invited me for lunch today to show off her finished item!!  This project included beads and metallics - not exactly a beginner project but she's flown through it and has ordered one of Mirabilia's Celtic Ladies (autumn I think) as her next project.

I feel like a proud mum!

Stitching !!!!!

Yes I finally have been - yes this is a stitching update !! although not a BAP :)

This is a section I've done on an UFO for Hilary .... I love Snoopy !!!

So I guess this calls for a Snoopy dance ????  Pics in my Round Robin album.

Mel's 'I'd better pop my head up before someone yells at me' blog update

Well its Tuesday lunchtime and I'm at home with half my face numb and drooling again. Yup went to the dentist again today.

Last Thursday I unexpectedly had an upper right molar/wisdom tooth pulled.

Today we started root canal work on a bottom left molar.

What did I do to annoy the teeth gods?

So what have I been up to - well lots and nothing!

Last week mum and I spent Monday at the State Library and Records offices on genealogy stuff, Tuesday visiting one of mum's cousins down the south coast (three hours drive each way). Wednesday writing a kick-ass job app for a management position that is two levels too high for me, Thursday at the dentists. Mum went home Friday. I worked Saturday, had Paul over for a visit Saturday night. Went to work Sunday. Spent Sunday night doing some stitching !!! Yep I started Snoopy from Hilary's RR.

Woke at 1:30am with a toothache that wouldn't go away. Later that morning I went back to work - yes back to NP. {sigh} Spent most of the day in emails with the boss and HR over my bosses plans to move me out of NP and into relief work {blah}. Last night I finished the cross stitching on Snoopy and looked at the backstitching and went to bed.

And laid awake for hours with a toothache again.

This morning went to work for an hour and a half and then off tot he dentist. Home again.

I did find out that I think I've thwarted my boss for now - I'm staying at NP until further notice. I hope more jobs come through soon that I can apply for.

Might go have a glass of milk through a straw and then play Civilisation or have a nap until the anaesthetic wears off and the soreness goes out of my face again. Then back to work tomorrow.

So you can see I've been very busy but nothing worth blogging about so sorry I've been really really quiet.

Sore Mel

Went to the dentist this afternoon. Because it had been so long since I made the appointment and because my previous dentists were apparently not very good - my tooth was worse than I thought and the decision was made then and there to pull it out immediately. Such a shock - I did go into shock and was shaking for a few minutes afterwards.

Two hours later and I feel very sore and sorry for myself. Mum is still here and making dinner for us both. What better time can you need your mum around ??? So glad she didn't go home this morning like she was originally planning to ....

So no phone calls or much activity for the next day or two ..... probably going to bed shortly after dinner ......

Mel's Sunday Update

Evening all,

Well since mum turned up today its been all family history and scouring the net for convict records .... so no further progress on Dogwood Square. As some of you know I had a major case of the frogs earlier this week when I had to rip out and redo one and half sides of the border - yes all that green. Took me two hours simply to unstitch - I nearly cried. I did however stitch it all back in but I haven't gotten much further.

Will be leaving it alone now to spend the week with mum (and in all probability lots and lots and lots of family history) and in the spare time I do have I will spend on an RR piece.

Mum also brought *me* presents for Mother's day today. She brought me back the very first two pieces of cross stitch I ever did. Two Permin kits, one a rose and the other bluebells. I did these back in 1991 and gave them to her.

What a walk down memory lane - not mention immediately chucking them under the scanner so to add them to my finished items album :) :) :)

Waaaaaaahhhhh !!!!! HUGE TOADS !!!!!

It wasn't a frog visit - it was Tiddilick !!!!!

I was working on the green vine work on the border of Dogwood Square and I got one and a half sides done before I realised that I made a mistake waaaaay back at the beginning - less than a centimetre from the start of the border .....

I've spent over an hour unpicking and I've unpicked half of it.

I'm sooo tempted to throw it in the corner and start a new project !!!!!! Thirteen hours work down the drain !!!!!!!

Great read !!!!!!

"He was sick of the excuses and the lies. He was tired of the evasions and the untruths, of people refusing to stand up and speak the truth and take responsibility for their own actions. It seemed to him like yet another symptom of the decline of Western civilisation; of night drawing nigh and mere anarchy loosed upon the world, and the centre cannot hold; and chaos; and climate change; and environmental disaster; and war; disease; famine; oppression; the eternal slow slide down and down and down. It was tragedy. It was disgrace. It was entropy, nemesis, apotheosis, imminent apocalypse and sheer bad manners all rolled into one. People were not returning their library books on time"

Excerpt from Mr Dixon Disappears. Second book in the Mobile Library series from Ian Samson.

I just read book one of this series today "The Case of the Missing Books". Fantastic !!! An easy read! Samson's writing is a cross between Jasper Fforde and Alexander McCall Smith with a little Stephen Donaldson thrown in.

I love it and highly recommend it to all readers and library users everywhere!

Wish me Luck

Today's picture is of my Nanna as a young woman.

I'm off to Sydney today.  I've been selected for interview for the two positions I applied for in the holidays.

I really really do want one of these jobs.

Although I've discovered they will be a 2 hour commute from home, each way each day, the jobs appear to be perfect for me and as I'll be sitting in a train for most of that time, good stitching and reading time.

Also these positions are at a University so I'll be able to get back into studying - it was only when I saw their night-time short course listings today that I realised how much I miss studying !!!!!

They do short courses on languages (good for the Europe trip) and history (including reading Egyptian Hieroglyphs and Magic in Ancient Greece). 

And if I wanted to go to a show, see a musical or comedian, or play, then its just a short walk down to the State Theatre after work on a Friday ......

So for many reasons I really really hope I get one of these jobs !!!!!

Mel's Sunday Update

Well its Sunday night and I'm home from mum's.

The funeral was ... well ... a funeral. I've been told by a wise woman that funerals bring out the best and worst in people. She was right - I had the misfortune to see the worst behaviour exhibited by some people I am forced to acknowledge as relatives this week.

On the other hand, I have a lot of respect for a few relatives who showed their true best nature in their hearts. Really knew *why* I love these particular people so much. And I am honoured they call me friend as well as relative.

As mum has said in her blog, we sat and reminisced and stitched on and off over the weekend so here's my update of progress during the couple of days we were at the funeral and after.

Home again now ..... and the cat is happy to see me and mad as heck that I left her alone at the same time !!!!!!

FOR CLAIRE ...

Just thought Claire would get a smile out of this picture when she comes home from the hospital and gets online tomorrow.

It should go in the gallery of  "Stuff on My Cat".

Stitching is therapeutic

I wont lie - I've just had three days of stress from family and work that I never ever want to repeat.

Stitching is not only fun, it is therapeutic, especially when you have a repetitive design where you can just keep going with one colour. It was quite meditative and really really helped over the last couple of nights.

I discovered the secret of banishing the frogs - a meditative state. The frogs stay away when I focus and meditate while stitching.

Well framework A is finished. I am taking this project with me and hope to start Framework B sometime over the weekend .......

I know this is our week for stitching on our Dragons, but I just can't concentrate enough on a TW right now - Faïence understands.

I'm all packed and am driving to mum's tomorrow. I wont be home again until late Sunday and I wont have any email access at all Friday and Saturday.

I've gone special notices on most groups so hopefully I wont overload my account.

See you all Sunday or Monday.

Thank you all for your kind words. Thanks Teegs for the SMS and thanks especially for Claire for her 40 minute phone call Monday night - I really needed it and really appreciated it !!!!!