Fire Wing Designs

http://www.picturethisplus.com/html/fire_wing_designs.html
For those who like dragons! I *must* add her latest "Singularity" to my stash as soon as its released at Nashville next week!

Dragons and Storms

Well OK them - one of each ...

Last night my dragon wish *still* sulking. I had just as many hassles as the night before and got even less stitches completed - around 10 stitches all up for an entire night's stitching!!! I might try changing the needle tonight - I tried all the different skeins of floss last night and they all tangled !!!!

We also had a storm last night, not a tornado or hurricane, just a large windy, thundery storm. Emphasis on windy! Loud banging as the trees hit the sides and roof of my house ... I've since found out there were whole trees uprooted further down my street .....

How did I find this out .... at 12:30am the emergency services crews turned up. At 1am they started their chainsaws to cut up the trees that had fallen where they shouldn't. And they kept at it - loud whining chainsaw noises from 1am until 4am. And then the noises of the hydraulic winches as the pieces of trees were removed. All went quiet around 5am - when the cars started up as the first of the commuters scurried off to the train station ......

I understand that the SES do a great service, I know that some of these trees could have fallen onto people's houses .... but if I *ever* find the a##hole who constantly revved his chainsaw when it was not in use - for over three hours !!!! - I will go all Dexter on him and chop him into little pieces and put him in garbage bags and feed him to the crocodiles and alligators at the local reptile park!

Chainsaws have an idle function for a reason !!!!!

I got a couple of hours sleep and then the weather hot me - really warm and muggy - rally tropical weather. I looked out the balcony and everything seems fine in my front yard. I mean there's more debris, but hey, how can you tell? All telephone, electricity etc cables are still intact. I went out the back door. I attempted to go out the back door. Pics here and in my backyard folder ...... Once I removed the offending bit of tree - required me to put the camera away and use both hands and all of my strength - it was firmly wedged in the decking - I could scamper up the stairs and check on the car.

Salem was covered in debris but appears to be OK. I removed most of the leaves and small twigs and crap covering her and there may be a few scratches on the duco, but the rest is fine - no dents or smashed windows etc.

Coming back down the stairs I looked up on the room and saw more of the offending tree on the roof - so I grabbed the branches and hauled them off the roof. I can't see any damage, but seeing as they are roof tiles, I'll tell the owner tonight and she can have a look and decide whether or not to get someone in to look and see if any are cracked ....

So basically I have a headache from lack of sleep thanks to revhead chainsaw owner but no other hassles. I've called in sick to work and I'm heading back to bed.

Fabrics and Internet

Received the last 2 missing FOTM packages in the mail on Monday, Powder Blue is cute, but I really love Wandering Ivy - and now I have two types, the linen Natalie gave me and now the opalescent lugana !!!!!

My next door neighbour (and owner) got broadband on the weekend. No worries no fuss. Needless to say I rang the company on Monday and demanded an explanation - they couldn't give me one. They tested my line yet again and still no go.

However they then realised that I had put in a second line, and they tested *that* one and apparently that one is fine! Apparently the second line is broadband compatible! Huh? Both lines are through the same physical cable come up to the house from the street ???????

Anyway skepticism notwithstanding, I'm not the sort to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I agreed to sign up for broadband yet again - I'll find out in a fortnight whether it actually is going to work. As I said, I'm hopeful but skeptical!

Finally Paul and I went to the local reptile park on Sunday afternoon. As well as the reptiles and spiders they had a great collection of Australian native birds mammals and flora. Took lots and lots of pics but will need to sort through them before trying to upload any. Due to their entertaining education officer, and the sheer variety of Australian fauna all in one place, I would recommend this place as a Must See for all overseas visitors. And not just because its only 20 minutes down the road from me :)

And finally my Dragski hates me ...... {sigh} .... I think he got jealous because I was enjoying working on Fire Flower last week. I sat down with the castle last night and the floss tangled, the pinhead stitches wouldn't stay, the needle wouldn;t glide properly! No frogging due to poor stitch placement, I put the stitches in the right place, but oh the thread !!!! I had to do every stitch two or three times because of the tangles and knots! and that was using two different threads straight off the skeins! From four different skeins !!!!

I'll try again tonight.

Mel's Sunday update

Well as you all know I started Marc's Fire Flower this week - and this is as far as I got :)

A broken down freezer full of meat and Aussie summer weather made an unpleasant foray into my stitching time for a few nights this week - but I've been having a ball with this design - each of the elements flows into the next one - it is a stitcher's' dream!

I really didn't like the thread I chose when I first started - and I finally figured out why - the colour change is much faster than in the thread Marc used for his model. I was figuring this would be the slow languid change of colour as his was - but instead it seems to jump and leap in sashes from burgundy to olive to straw .... Now that I've done more of the design, I've decided I love this thread after all !!!!

Details:
Chart: Fire Flower by Marc Davis
Threads: Almost Autumn limited edition by Carrie's Threads
Fabric: 32ct Black Belfast linen
Style: All done in two threads over two - including the backstitching.
Specialty fibres: kindly donated by Troublecat.

Onto TW's The Castle SAL for the next week ......

Fabrics and Phone calls

OK so it *sounds* like alliteration ....

After a night of disturbed sleep I received a rather wonderfully long phone call from Claire this morning !!!! (eeep I didn't realise how long we'd been on until we hung up !!!!)

I love conversations that range all over different topics :) And she has a gorgeous accent and a great sense of humour and is a treasure mine of information !!!!!!

Just posting pics here and in my Fabrics album of the FOTMs that arrived in the mail a couple of days ago - this is the November selection and then in the album are both November and January - there's a light green with a faint mottling of purple (I know Chele wont pinch that one) A lovely terracotta, a beautiful mottled blue and white (TC restart 5 perhaps?) and a lovely pale warm beige .....

I'm also slowly adding more pics in my wildlife album - a possum that visited last night and a kookaburra I took pics of over New Years.

Also depending on my upload times, there will be a cute new pic of Trouble in her album at some point over the next few hours .....

Off to do a touch more on Fire Flower before posting update ......

Whine ......

Stitching Bits and Bobs is selling the whole Dye Is Cast line of threads at a discounted price - but its still too expensive - I just can't can't justify $300 Australian - not fair I want I want I want {stamps foot - pouts}

https://www.stitchingbitsandbobs.com/cgi-bin/Store/pageread.cgi?Discontinued

I thought if I could nab these now then I have them for when Tracy's next design comes out and any other charts I have in my stash that call for these threads .....

Oh well - thems the breaks .....

More Fire Flower

Well after the freezer incident and consequential freezer issues I lost a couple of nights stitching, but I'm back at it tonight and here's the next update. I've now finished the main central motif - and yes I'm happier with the thread colour now that I've done more :)

Pics in FF album Teegs.