The Meaning of Friendship

Although I had stopped using the Multiply blog, I thought it fitting to copy this post here as all of these friends were on Multiply at the time that I think this was all arranged ....

Closeup of Stitching

Thank you to:

Tina Starke
Lyne Blodgett
Paula Hubert
Cynthia Ward
Karen Rife
Sisu Lull
Michelle Anderson
Tracy Horner
Trish Froggatt
Rosanne Derrett
Claire Jaffe
Kay Jones
Mariann Mader
Debbie Lord

These 14 friends got together some ago, instigated by Tina, plotted and planned, and then all stitched upon this gift for me.  All of their needles have been though this fabric.  All of their hands have touched it. If the frogs have visited then all of their voices would have cursed over it

The last name on the list Debbie, lives in Australia, and she had the piece framed and sent to me.  She was originally going to visit and deliver in person, but my migraines precluded that

Framed Piece

I was originally going to put here a humorous anecdote about Debbie being mysterious about a parcel she was sending and the postal worker warning me the monitor box was too light and I should open it in the post office instead of taking it home in case parts are missing, but instead I will just copy a portion of the email I send to the above friends earlier this morning:

I really can’t believe all that time effort that you guys put into this for me.  It’s beautiful and I love it. From the fabric and floss choices which appear to be Silkweavers Wandering Ivy (a favourite) and Vikki Clayton’s Dragon Hoard (did Karen pick that out?) the colours are so vibrant and so gorgeous!

It makes me smile every time I see it.  I know I have lost touch with some of you and I would like to rectify that and for those I still keep in regular contact with – thank you from the bottom of my heart! Thank you especially to Tina who I believe is the instigator of this caper?  You minx you! And all of you for holding out on me – not one word out-of-place from anyone!  I didn’t have a single inkling ….

We have hung it pride of place in the lounge room in line of sight from my usual spot so I can see it whatever I am doing. Thank you, you have brought portable sunshine into my home

Again I say thank you. I keep typing words down but they cannot express the “oh wow” I feel every time I see it or the warmth I feel for every one of you wonderful women.  You have placed a permanent part of yourselves in my home and in my heart.

THANK YOU!

RIP Hemingway

Hemingway goes in and out of the house as it suits her. Mostly she spends her nights outside, and even in winter, prefers to go outside to do her business and perimeter checks. She's an outdoor cat.

This morning Hemingway wasn't at the backdoor when we let Abby out at breakfast.  In fact I hadn't seen her all morning and was starting to get uneasy when I received THAT phone call around 11am:

Hi is this Melissa Hicks? We tracked you down via the microchip on a little black cat called Hemingway; she'd been hit by a car early this morning. We found her on the the road and took her to our vets. Mary managed to re-start her heart but the damage was too great and she died, I'm sorry.

Why?
Why didn't we see her?
Why did we let her out?
Why her? She's not the sick one! She's not the one we're mentally preparing to lose!
It's not right! It's not fair!

I want a do over button damn it - just to last night.  Just to make sure she would be locked in all night.

She's lived here and spent the nights outside for most of a decade. Why now? Why today? Why ever?

I didn't get a chance to take photos of Hemmy in her older years. Or photos of all three cats together. And now I never will.

Poor mum - just as me and my two invade, she loses her only remaining companion. First Josie (her chihuahua) a couple of years back and now Hemms.

Things Mel Discovered This Week

Things Mel discovered this week:

Sitting down
   (I'm so dizzy, my head is spinning)
Closing my eyes while sitting down
   (like a whirlpool, it never ends)*
Opening my eyes while sitting down
   (Wham - migraine)
Standing up
   (Vertigo is not just the name of a Hitchcock movie)
Bending over
   (how to pass out without alcohol)

Sleeping
   (the knock-me-out drugs are out of my system)
Sleeping in a single bed
   (I forgot how many bits of me could hurt at once)
Sleeping in a single bed with my ample body
   (there is very little room)
Sleeping in a single bed bed with my ample body and a determined geriatric cat
   (did I mention the lack of room - or is this related to the sore body parts)
Sleeping in a single bed with my ample body and a determined geriatric cat and a determined elderly cat discussing dominance issues
   (perhaps sleeping is the wrong word)
Sleeping in a single bed with my ample body and a determined geriatric cat and a determined elderly cat discussing dominance issues on my body
   (oh fer crying out loud!) **

Are there too many ads on daytime TV?
   (don't bother answering that)
Are there too many insurance ads on daytime TV?
   (and why are the same ones played incessantly at strange times of the day)
Are there too many types of insurance ads on day time TV?
   (and do they all need to use scare tactics to sell their product)
Is it healthy for me as an ill person, temporarily home bound, to see an ad for funeral plans every five minutes?
   (my DVD collection arrives in 4 days!!!!)***

All however is not lost. I only spent one day reduced to relying on daytime-TV for pain/disorientation distraction. Yesterday mum and I went for a walk and bought some plants for the garden. I was quite worn out by the trip, but it was an improvement.  I was even gracious enough to encourage mum to buy the marigolds she was favouring instead of the carnivorous plants I was lusting after.

For an hour today I could not only follow a conversation, I could add meaningful suggestions and help make plans before the fog of pain and disorientation descended.

Its going to be a long journey, but it seems that we're heading in the right direction and that the encouraging bit.



*apologies to Vic Reeves
**  at this point I should mention that Abby, being the sensible young cat she is, avoids all of this, by sleeping on mum's Queen-sized (heated) water-bed each night, stretched out in luxury!
*** for those who comment about why I have the TV on in the first place, for the above mentioned vertigo/dizziness I cannot read for long periods of time and for noise-related issues I cannot listen to audio books or music - hopefully all of this will soon change

Medical Update

Hi all,

Just a short note.  I saw the consultant neurologist today. Based on the information he already had he decided that my previous diagnosis had been correct, and I am suffering from Primary Daily Chronic Headaches.

He has however, completely changed the drug regime I am on.  That starts tonight so we play the "what side effects does Mel get on these drugs" game tomorrow :)

He wants to see me in a month's time to see if these drugs are working and already has the next thing ready to go if these don't work.

He will also re-run my MRIs etc for the growth on the pituitary gland in a couple of months time.  He said that I've been through enough tests right now - so we will concentrate on reducing/removing the migraine pain and then we will look at other issues.

I liked Dr Andrews as he explained things in a completely different manner to the Perth guys.  To be honest, both mum and I received the impression that the Perth specialists arrived at the right verdict for the wrong reasons and really should have understood what they were diagnosing more ...

An Inkcircles Day

I had an Inkcircles day today :)

While wearing the hand knitted socks that Tracy sent me a while ago, I was stitching Inkcircles Masquerade when the postie knocked on the door.

He brought me a parcel from Chele that was the Inkcircles Fireweed kit! Thank you sooo much Chele!

He also brought me a parcel from Tracy herself.  It included some beautiful earrings and note cards I bought from the Inkcircles etsy shop.  The earrings are sooo cute and adorable - they are my new favourite earrings that I will wear everywhere!  The note cards are digitally coloured pictures of Tracy's own stitching - very bold and colourful and perfect to send to stitchers ...

Included in this parcel were also some Inkcircles bookmarks that Tracy mentioned on Twitter a while ago, and ....

and ....

and ....

I have a sneak preview of a new Inkcircles chart being released sometime soon ...  Mum and I are doing floss tosses tonight for an alternate colourway .... so ....

Neener neener neener - I know something you don't know :D

What? I'm supposed to act like a grown-up?  Since when???

We're heeeeere!

Well the last week has been a blur, but we are all here, back in NSW and settled in.

The garage sale went OK. I was very disappointed in the book side of the sale, but a friend bought the best pieces of my fabric stash so her payment will help with the medical bills (when the money comes in).

We ended up bringing more boxes of stuff over than expected, we had a packer who's girlfriend had dumped him the night before and two movers who had to come down from the nearby  RAAF base - so there were a few complications, and extra costs .. but we are here now.

The cats survived the trip quite well and are settling in fine.  We lost Abby for quite a few hours yesterday.  It was a cold, wet, drizzly, dreary day yesterday. We opened the back door a little in the morning and she vanished.  We didn't even see her go out.  Every time we were outside, we called and called. We thought we heard her a few times, but we couldn't see her.  Eventually we crawled under the house, and up the manhole into the ceiling (two of her favourite haunts). Finally around dusk I saw her come out from a niche under mum's bed.  Mum has a water bed so Abby had curled up in the warmest part of the house.

Trubs is doing OK - a bit stiff but again is just curling up on mum's bed to sleep, or under the heater in the lounge room.

There have been a couple of territory issues with Hemingway, but Hems is such a laid back cat that there's no cat fights, and barely any hissing.

We have the first specialist appointment next Tuesday. So just a relaxing weekend planned until then ....

So what else is happening in the world?  What did I miss?

Big News

For those that don't already know ...

I'm leaving WA and moving home (NSW) in the next couple of weeks.  I've handed in my resignation at work and advised my Real Estate Property manager and am in the process of feebly de-cluttering before mum arrives to help me pack.

The migraines have gotten worse again this year and I just cannot get any medical help from WA specialists. THe endocrinologist says I need to speak to the neurologist.  The neurologist says "I diagnosed you last year, if you're not getting better, then you're not taking the pills I prescribed".  The neurosurgeon will see me in June after my scheduled MRI scan and no we can't bring that forward.

Also no other neuro specialist in Perth will see me, because I am listed as a patient of the above three.  Apparently second opinions are an anathema to specialists in Perth. The low point came when I found out I didn't even have a GP as she had moved on from the clinic and no-one would tell me where she went.

Weeks later and many fights later, I have a new GP and written referrals to specialists in Sydney and Canberra.  Both sets of specialists have asked for more information and copies of my scans.  The Canberra neurologist has booked me in for an appointment on 29 March.

The Sydney suite of specialists have my history, reports and scans and will let me know when they've reviewed my case.

So, packing and moving.  I wont have a job, and frankly I don't have the health to apply for a job anymore, so I'm moving in with mum and living off her for a few months until we get this medical stuff with my head sorted out. 

Not the most triumphal return from the wilds of WA, but unfortunately a necessary move.

All Stitchers Lounge

Afternoon all,

Many stitchers are now on social media sites and chat via Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, blogs (so many different types of blogs) and it's so unfortunate that we don't have a single port of call like the knitters Ravelry.

While trying to find or create a one-stop place for all our stitching adventures, we discovered so many of our brethren can or do only access via basic web usage or email.  After much deliberation, Mariann, Tina, Kay and I have set up a new Yahoogroup email list called All Stitchers Lounge and is now open for you to join.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/allstitcherslounge/

With this new group, we have attempted to keep the best parts of previous groups as well
as trying some all new features. We believe All Stitcher's Lounge to be a place
where you can hangout, relax, kick back and chat about your stitching projects,
share latest stitching gossip, list new finds, or discuss old favourites :-)

We really aim for this to be a one-stop place where you can share your blog insights, new designers you have found, your thoughts on recent releases and old favourites that have been in your stash for years.

As moderators, we are actually very excited with the opportunities a new group
can afford us, and we are playing with the new Beta Applications area of Yahoo
Groups. If this sounds promising to you, please feel free spread the message and join in :)

We've been working on this group for the past few weeks, so please drop in, look around, make yourself comfortable and let us know if there’s anything we’ve forgotten to do to get it all ready for you :)

Feel free to contact Mariann, Tina, Kay or myself if you have any questions :)


EDITED TO ADD: In a blatant act of promotion, I am running two draws of free goodies open to those who spread the message about a new group.

Anyone who writes a blog post regarding the new group or mentions a link on their blog back here goes into a draw for a chance to win a section of threads and fabric (around $50 US). Please add your blog name and post in the comments here to be in the draw.

Any stitcher on twitter who retweets my message linking to this blog post will go into a draw for a chance to win a smaller selection of threads and fabric (around $20 US).

Both draws will close 11pm Australian Western Time on Saturday  5 March 2011. Winner will be notified after breakfast on Sunday :)

Mel's Sunday Update Now I've found my Camera

Yes OK so it's Tuesday - how was I to know I hid the camera on myself by actually putting it away where it belongs.  I never put it there :)

And that is fairly indicative of my health issues this past fortnight; I haven't been at work due to migraine pain and changes in migraine medication.  In between the usual drudgery of housework and fighting with medical receptionists I did manage some stitching.

Draco the Protector is finished.  He took me 10 days from start to finish - I think that's my fastest stitch that wasn't needed for a deadline! Pictures are here and here.

Also I did Part 3 of the Stitch Specialist's Tree of Stitches.  Part 3 is French Knots.  This part only served to turn my distrust of French Knots into outright hatred and loathing.  I will continue to replace any and all French Knots in any design with pretty beads. Now and forever Amen.

Mariann's Round Robin has turned up and I will start that on the weekend - I still have the migraine pain, but I'm back at work tomorrow so I doubt there will be much stitching this week.


Just to cheer everyone up (especially me) Stephen and I went into Perth this week and bought me the Giant Microbes Christmas Set and I also bought a sperm cell.  Doesn't he look cute?

Weird dream

Had the strangest dream this morning.  If I could have remembered it , it would have made a great novel or series of short stories (If I had the writing skills not to make it too derivative)

I was working in a small hand-made chocolate factory. I was the HR person, I was involved with hiring and firing, employee motivation etc etc.

The company made small individual hand-made chocolates - like you see at high-end chocolatiers. No blocks or bars, just dainty little well petit-fours in chocolate.  I did have to let go three staff during my time there.  One worked contract and felt that as long as he turned up he didn't need to do any actual work, so I didn't renew his contract when it ended.  Another was so odious that he could not work with anyone else.  Hated the job and everyone there, so I helped him apply for jobs in other areas of the company that he felt he would be happier in.  I can't remember why the third one was laid off. Inappropriate sexual advances I think.

Of the people who I worked closely with, there was the manager, lovely fabulous person and manager but the only definite thing I can remember is she felt a failure because she was managed projects instead of having children - and this turns her into a cliche. Wish I remembered more than just feelings.  THere was an old guy in his 90s who should have been retired years ago, but he had a nose that couldn't be beaten, and was still our chief tester for new products.  His grandson was one of our newest chocolatiers and there was a whole raft of others that I can't remember now.

Head office (which was probably some big multinational) decided we weren't profitable and shut us down.  The newest member, the grandson suggested we change our format, and produce ice cream in the taste of our chocolates.  Not big tub of litres of one flavour, but finger length creations.  One of our best sellers was a cherry and chocolate (kinda like a cherry ripe but in individual form - not bar form).  When we turned this into ice-cream we put three small scoops about the size of ferrero rochers, into a a little tray made of the same ice cream. It ended up being a finger length long and maybe 1.5 finger widths wide and was eaten in two bites.  We planned on selling our ice creams like trays of chocolates, each was just a taste, a morsel of decadence at the end of meal.  Very quality over quantity.  THe manager scouted a new location. An island with an abandoned factory - we cleared out the inside but left the crumbling exterior to hide our activities.  The manager also got us all excited about this new idea and way of working.

We worked long weeks discussing and shaping various delicacies that were reminiscent of the chocolates we used to make. I remember at one point she praised the grandson for his innovative way of putting two different flavours together - flavours she wouldn't have dreamt were compatible.  THe old grandfather gets a new lease on life, absolutely captivated by the new line of products and eagerly looking forward to coming to work again.  Its not just an excuse to be out of the house anymore!

Then,a few weeks before we were ready to unveil our new company to the world, the odious guy I helped get a job in another area, started following us and discovered what we were doing.  He reported us to head office who thundered down that we had no right to go off on our own initiative. SHe set up a new arm of the company run by these three people I had laid off (ie those who had an axe to grind) to investigate selling innovative new forms of beer!  Using the full backing of the parent company they were to crush us.

Now I get a bit hazy here, whether the company laid us off and we formed our own company, this there would be a charge of intellectual theft seeing as our previous chocolate creations would be the intellectual property of the company and we many not have had a legal right to use the same flavour recipes for our ice creams. Or it could just be that dreams are weird.  I mean how can they destroy ice-cream makers by setting up a beer company?  Surely the two were aimed at different sectors of the market and could co-exist and even cross-fertilise ideas quite comfortably.

Anyway, my colleagues are getting increasingly nervous so I talk with each of them about their fears (as HR person I seem to do a lot of emotional hand-holding as well as process documentation) and then the big day arrives.

We unveil our company, it is a huge success. We obtain huge orders and adulation on our opening day. Everyone is ecstatic, even the manager who was rather keen to point out that the birth of a new company is longer and just as stressful as having a real baby.

I think about my future and the future of the company and decide that I'm not needed anymore. They are a cohesive working family, there are no disruptive elements, there are no external pressures pulling them apart. They re working as a family of friends.

I write them a letter stating my reasons for leaving (far more eloquently than I am doing here) and I mention each one of them by name and thank them for a service or kindness they had done over and above to get the new company off the ground.

It galls me now that I can't remember that letter, because inside it contains all the hooks I need to remember all the other parts of the story.  All the bits I've forgotten. Why did the guys I lay off hate us so much, why was the parent company still employing them (or reemploying them). Who were the rest of the staff, my dream dealt with each person as an individual, fleshing out their hopes, dreams, desires and back story and I can't remember any of it.

Oh well. That's what a sleep-in will do to you :)

Mel's Sunday Update on Monday

I have an excuse this week - I was evacuated from a bushfire zone yesterday!  It's OK for us, the fire moved off in a different direction .... phew!

Anyway this fortnight I really struggled with my stitching.  Going back to work and all the stress involved there-in; increase in migraine pain, wages negotiations, lack of time etc etc, my stitching slowed to a crawl.

I did however do a respectable amount on Rosanne's Big Blue Beast.  Due to migraines I had so many problems with placing the motifs - some nights I just can't count to three .... but it is done and off in the mail tomorrow to Sisu.  It is a gorgeous design, and I love floss colours Rosanne chose - in another head space I would have loved working on this design.

In and around the Round Robin, I also completed the second part on the Stitch Specialist's Tree of Stitches. Part 2 was smyrna stitch :)  One of my favourite stitches :)

Also in the past fortnight Mystery 3 was correctly guessed as Draco the Protector by Enchanting Lair. Once he was guessed he screamed loudly, so Draco has also been started now.

So for the next fortnight?  Maybe more on Draco, maybe more on Mystery 2. Either way I will start the next Round Robin as soon as I receive it from Julie, I don't want to get behind again :)

Adventures

SUMMARY: WE ARE SAFE AND BACK HOME.

FESA alerts for this fire.

Yesterday afternoon I was watching cricket, stitching on Rosanne's Round Robin piece* and keeping an eye on the bushfire to the North. Every now and then I caught a whiff of smoke but only rarely.  Then came the knock on the door.

The fire was still out of control and becoming very erratic. Anyone who's visited me knows we get gale force winds regularly. And these were whipping around in such different directions that the course of the fire was unpredictable. So anyone within 1km of its location was asked to fight or flight**  Within 10 minutes the roads were full of horse floats as all the neighbours evacuated livestock.

I decided to be sensible about my fire-fighting abilities; I grabbed the cats, their food and bowls, a change of clothes for me, my laptop and skedaddled.***  There was a Police car at the end of my road, letting people out, but no-one was allowed in.

I drove past the larger more threatening fire at Roleystone on the way to Armadale, and spent the evening with Janine, her husband and their cats. Janine looked after us very well and I thank her so much for opening up her home at such short notice.   I also thank her very much for a lovely dinner and a dessert that my diet will be rebuking me for for a while :)

Janine has five cats so we had fun after dinner watching Abby meet the new cats and the her cats meet someone new.  It was fascinating watching Abby explore the house nervously, then find her comfort zone (my lap) and begin to actively defend her turf with hissing and growling.  Abby is not the alpha cat at home; she is the submissive. And she never sits on my lap.  But as the above photo shows, the rules change when you are in a new situation.

Trubs spent the evening in the bedroom we were given quite happy that all the other cats were locked out of her area :)

This morning I got an all clear to return home.  During the night the fire had moved in a westerly, north westerly direction (I'm at the southern end of the affected area). So we are now home.  It looks like all the neighbours and their pets are home, but all the livestock are still away.  I presume they will return when the fire has been completely extinguished.  The fire is still raging out of control, with over 1170 hectares (2900 acres been burnt out). Its just raging off in a different direction :)

Everything is fine at home, not even any spot fires, but we lost the contents of the fridge and freezer due to the loss of electricity and the extreme temperatures due to the proximity of the fire.  So it was bacon for brunch and some thawed out but still cold steak for dinner tonight.

The experience was a wake up call not to be blase about fires and to prepare an emergency kit.  In hindsight there were things I left behind that I should have taken, such as identity documents, phone charger etc.

As I live rurally, we haven't lost any homes to this fire, mostly outbuildings, sheds etc.  The other major fire, down at Roleystone/Kelmscott has destroyed over 40 homes.  So far no loss of human life.




* I now know why she called it the Big Blue beast, it's because I swore a blue streak trying to make the last motif fit in with those that had already been stitched!

** OK so I think the actual words were "be prepared to leave or actively defend your home".

*** Well I got parked in by a couple of horse floats so I went back into the house for toiletries, my roll of finished stitched pieces and a couple of works in progress. I also grabbed everything that I had borrowed from the library. No I don't know why either.

WIP - Draco the Protector

Draco the Protector by Enchanting Lair Designs.

I first saw this chart at the Online Needlework Fair in Octboer 2010.

This was originally presented as a Mystery Start - Kay guessed correctly that it is Draco the Protector from enchanting Lair.

Now that I have a few stitches into him, he is simmering down

Mel's Sunday Update

Well I spent the majority of this week with a migraine, so not much output.  Also going back to work today so oh well, holidays are always fun while they last :)

One big personal milestone for me this week was making the final payment and closing the personal loan I have had for nearly 10 years.  The loan was first taken out to finance my car, one month before my marriage ended. Not the nest timing in hindsight. It's also been rejigged to cover various house moves, interstate moves, furniture acquisition etc, but now at long last it is gone from my life.  Now to pay back the interest-free loans and the credit card. The plan to be debt-free by October is working.

Also I have lost another kilogram (2 pounds) this week. So far, the diet and exercise are working; I'm not following any particular diet, just eating meat, veggies a little fruit, dairy and nuts. I've removed all processed food from my diet and combined with getting on the wii fit each day, this is working to the extent I need it to.

Another milestone was my first finish for the year.  The Britty Kitty piece annoyed me so much (Listen to Auntie Mel: NEVER put your pieces away with the mistake still in it, ALWAYS frog out your mistakes!) that I spent far too long in frogging and putting it right as it turned out there were multiple mistakes and in hindsight (glorious hindsight), it would have been easier and faster to have just started the project again!  Anyway once it was back in shipshape I decided to devote another day to it, and I finished it off. This project will plague me no longer!  The progress album is here and my 2011 Finishes album is here.

THe majority of this week, I was stitching on Rosanne's Round Robin.  Code named Big Blue Beast it certainly is big and has gorgeous blue/green floss choices.  I'll include a pic when I have more stitched on it.

While at Colours Down Under on Friday an order from a supplier than had been sent sea freight had finally landed.  So I bought a couple of charts and kitted them up there and then - so that was my splurge for paying off the loan.  No chatelaine's, just a couple of charts I admired from an Online Needlework Show last year,

One of them demanded to be started right away, so it now has a couple of stitches in.  I'm currently trying to smother it down the back of the lounge while I'm working to get the Round robin finished and onto the next person, but it's screaming loudly.  Anyway the floss toss is here in case anyone would like to guess what it is :)

Big News for Colours Down Under

See here for the details: http://www.coloursdownunder.com.au/shop/tree-change-sea-change-a11.html

2011 Finishes

Draco the Protector
by Enchanting Lair Designs

THreads and fabric as recommended for chart:
Belle Soie - Cranberry
Dinky Dyes - Nabilla
Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid - PB39 New Copper
Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid - PB29 Burgundy

Fabric is 28ct Cashel Linen "Seafoam" by Enchanting Lair.

Started: 7 Feb 2011
Finished: 17 Feb 2011

Phot o was taken in direct sunlight to try and pickup the metallic highlights in the border and in the dragon's belly scales.

Items I finish stitching in 2011. We wont mention the start dates for some of these ....

The long dormant frog plague

This morning, after dropping mum off at the airport, I thought I would put a couple of stitches into this project before I got on with my day.

This is a Britty Kitty project I started but for some reason never finished while I was commuting on the train a few years ago now.

I started stitching away and discovered that the stitching wouldn't line up.  I frogged my stitching and went back a few more rows until the mistake was obvious and then put it all back in again.

And it still would not line up.  I took all of it back out, frogged a few more rows again, and put it all back in.

It still didn't line up.  I frogged all of it, and then kept frogging until I had taken out three quarters of the design.  Then I sat and stitched it all up.  And as can be seen, the cat is stitched. At 5:30pm this afternoon.

Not quite the day I had planned.  And definitely reminded me why I usually insist that I frog *before* I put a piece away so it doesn't contain mistakes to trap me next time.

Well this is what being on holidays is all about, right?

EDITED to add: Well I found the album for this WIP and um ooops now I know why I didn't finish it now .... oh well .... {surreptitiously sidles off the stage}

Mel's Sunday Update on Monday

Firefox has crashed taking a fully written blog draft with it twice.  If it crashes again, no more blog!

News from this week:

Mum has headed home today.  As per usual it feels all too soon, we both enjoy each others company and both enjoy being on holidays :)  However in amongst the burning issues of warcraft, soap making and whether to eat breakfast or brunch, we did manage to get some stitching time in.

Mystery Start 1 was correctly identified by Shawn and Kay as Bright Idea by Inkcircles. I'm amused that so many people guessed it was an Inkcircles chart straight off. Are Tracy's designs that unique or is she that known as my favourite designer? Or is it that she is also a favourite designer of those doing the guessing? I've included an updated pic of the project here.  This project will now be set aside until the remaining threads arrive from Carrie.  Unfortunately Carrie's family all have the lurgy, so she has my deepest sympathies!

Mystery Start 2 was, surprisingly, not identified. Hint: It is not a Dinky Dyes design, but it is from another of my favourite designers ...  I did put a few stitches into this one, but not enough to help with identification. Update pic here.

I also stitched the first part of Abi Gurden's SAL over on the Stitch Specialists group. Part one was cross stitching on evenweave/linen.  I have already stitched on these fabrics a fair amount, so this was a quick stitch for me.  Update pic here.  Can't wait for the next part in a fortnight's time.

Also this weekend I found floss for rosanne and a chart for Julie, so my stitcher's karma has received a boost :)

However, like all good week's there was one down patch this morning.  While hunting for the threads & chart I stumbled over a project I was working on years ago as part of my train commute.  It's a small project, so I figured I could get some more stitches into it before spending the rest of the week on Rosanne's RR piece.

I really really really hate it when I get an attack of the frogs and put the piece away without unpicking it.  {grrrrr}  Well I've found the mistake now, and un-stitched all I've done this morning,  I'll fix the mistake before putting it away this time!

Finally this week's photo is of my two cats.  They don't get along so pictures like this are rare.  I call this one "Trubs is too hot & tired to growl at Abby for the temerity of eating at her own food dish"

Soap making

Well I just made my first soap batch in a few years.  As it has been quite a while since I last made soap, I made a very simple batch with full water etc etc, no shortcuts or fancy footwork :)

So the recipe I made up was:

250gm olive oil
250gm lard
250gm coconut oil (Copha)
250 gm rice bran oil
138gm caustic soda (lye)
365ml water
25ml Brambleberry Ginger Orange

This traced quicker than I expected so it was a thick pour, in fact the last few moulds were glopped in rather than poured. Made 14 full bars.  Will add photo when the soaps are unmoulded.

Edited to include a link to the fragrance description.

Mel's Sunday Update

Well I'm sure it's Sunday still somewhere in the world - say US Pacific time :)

This week was a great stitching week for me.  As can be seen above, I have finished Kay's RR and that is off in the mail this afternoon to Sisu.

Next up in the Round Robin is Rosanne's Big Blue Beast.  However with mum visiting we spent the last couple of days playing with floss and fabric and using my stash we kitted up a few new projects.  So of course, we had to put some stitches into the new projects to see how it would all look.

So my new starts are Mystery Start 1 and Mystery Start 2.  Can you guess which design and who the designer is for each start?

I also selected fabric and thread for a new SAL I'm joining on the Stitch Specialists group.

We also did lots of floss tosses for projects for mum - but I'll let her talk about those on her blog soon.

SAL - Stitch Specialists

French Knots
Stitched 20 Feb 2011

Photo was taken out in the sunlight, so it shows the colours of the fabric better :)

THis is a specialty stitch stitch-a-long run by Abi Gurden in the Stitch Specialists group. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheStitchSpecialists/

WIP - Mystery Start 2

Floss Toss 9 January 2011.

Second mystery start. I figure most people would guess from the floss toss. If not, I'll put up a WIP picture in a few days time.

The Dinky Dyes threads are recommended. I've included the Eterna black instead of DMC black and the fabric is again a slight variation.

WIP - Bright Idea

9 January 2011

OK joining in the fun. Here's a new start. I'm using the recommended floss, but the fabric is a variation ( similar but different shade).

Everyone guessed this was an Inkcircles chart.
Shawn and Kay guessed it was Bright Idea by Inkcircles.

2009 - 2010 Round Robin

I was lucky enough to be the first person to stitch on Julie's RR, Alchemical Romance by Inkcircles. I stitched the nine symbols in the centre of the design. All these nine symbols represent gold - so each was stitched in a separate shade of gold. Also each was stitched in a different medium; cotton, silk, wool and a variety of differing metallics. I had a LOT of fun stitching this one!

I'm in a seven person round robin. Here is my progress on each person's piece.

Mel's Sunday Update

OK it's the first Sunday for the year and I'm starting as I mean to go on.

Here's my progress on Kay's Round Robin. I'm behind on this RR but I've made all of this progress in the past few days so I think this is a good start to the year.

Stitching Related Goals for 2011

Yep, even with 2010 being what it was, I'm still making some goals for 2011.  Admittedly these aren't life-consuming stressful goals.

• Keep up with my stitching commitments and not commit to anything else until I complete the commitments I have. This is where I am letting others down as well as myself. Kay's RR is being worked on now, and Rosanne's (which is due to be posted in Feb) is already here.  Also I have shamefully long overdue stitching to be done for Laura and Hilary. 

• Stitch and finish Mariann's birthday present. A couple of years ago Mariann specially made up for me instructions and a kit to start Hardanger or drawn thread work. There is now a person coming to the Colours Down Under friday night sessions who does a lot of this stuff and has agreed to help all of us through starting with hardanger and drawn thread.  My project for this get-together will be Mariann's Birthday present.

• Decide to either fully join in BAPXS and other stitching groups again, or to leave. This half-assed crap that I'm doing with yahoogroups is not conducive to anything productive. On a related note - is anyone interested in taking over the Wednesday Wobble as I've really let that aspect down too.

• Finish presents I have started for other people. i'm thinking here mainly of Wild Thing for Alison and Ash for Kim, but I'm sure there are a few others buried deep in the WIP pile.

• Finish at least one Chatelaine project.  This will most likely be Midi Mystery 1 or Mystery IX but I have a few others kitted up so you never know.

• Start and finish at least two new projects, one from Inkcircles and one from Cross Eyed Kat.  I have the projects in mind, I just have to rummage through my stash to *find* the charts, threads and fabric.
  

2010 - It's finally over!

The Ugly

• Discovered I have a non-cancerous brain tumor.  I have called him George.
• Also acquired a debilitating migraine. I call him Bruce, because he alternates as Bruce the mild-mannered headache and The Hulk Migraine that smashes everything in its way. He has been with me continually since the last week of March.
  

The Bad

• When I moved into my little home here Stephen was supposed to couch surf for a few days. That extended into a couple of months.
• Discovered Trubs has kidney disease as well as debilitating arthritis
• Continuation of crap newbie supervisor who panicked every time I breathed.

The Good
Mostly this centres around reduction or abatement of the above.

• Changed supervisor to an experienced person who has earned my respect and respects me and my work
  
• Trubs health is being managed and we are back to talking hopefully years instead of weeks
• Due to meds, stress reduction and long periods of time on my own, the migraine is more often Bruce and less often The Hulk

Hobbies?
In the stitching world, well that all came to a screaming halt due to stress and migraine. So very very little stitching got accomplished this year.  The good news is that I have started again and am halfway through Kay's RR and it should go off to Sisu within the week.  As well as mostly regaining my eyesight to stitch, I've also regained my enthusiasm for it so hopefully 2011 will be better.


2011?

• I know that with my health and work situation in 2010 I did not keep up with my commitments, I whinged too much and I lost friends.
• I hope to be a better person and a better friend to others in 2011.