April Ornament

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Toy Shop Sign by
Carriage House Samplings
from the JCS 2007 Christmas Ornament magazine
Stitched over one with DMC thread on 28 count Natural Cashel linen and finished as a pinkeep.

Painting, ornaments and noisy neighbours!

I know I said last week I would bore you with my painting progress but with DH out of town again and me feeling a bit off-colour with some sort of tummy bug this week, I didn't quite get there :) I'll bore you today instead.

So far I've managed to paint both bathrooms downstairs (okay, one is really just a toilet and sink), the entrance way and hallway, and the dining room. Okay, so not much but I like to take my time, wash down the walls, tape everything up and cover up any furniture and the floor with plastic drop-sheets. I then go around and carefully do all the cutting-in with a paintbrush and then finally the roller work. My neighbour thinks it's funny - she just slaps it on and probably would have had her whole house done by now! If we were still in our old dogbox house in Australia, that probably would have been the case, but this house is considerably larger with much higher ceilings. We will have to get someone in to paint the stairwell walls (two floors high) though - they'll have the proper scaffolding to reach right up to the top. As it is I can just barely reach the top of the walls from the last (safe) step on the ladder in the lounge, guest room and bedrooms upstairs. I will roller up as far as I can reach and DH will have to do the cutting-in for me. No painting this week though - ran out of paint :) I replenished supplies on Wednesday however so I'll have no excuse next week!



Last week we handed over a rather large amount of dirhams (local currency) to have the outside of our house painted - DH had done some repairs and it was looking a bit shabby with all the patched-up areas. It looks great now though! A large number of painters turned up on Monday morning and by late Wednesday afternoon they were done!

I did get a little stitching in this week. After doing a few chores in the morning I sat down on Tuesday and finished off the stitching on my March ornament. I was stitching my version of A Colonial Christmas Ornament by Cherished Stitches from the JCS 2007 Ornament issue and only had the third panel to complete. That afternoon I finish-finished it ...



A Colonial Christmas Ornament
by Cherished Stitches
from the Just Cross Stitch 2007 Ornament Issue

Stitched on black 28 Quaker cloth with HDF "Tugtika" silk threads

I had a little trouble with the construction so it hasn't turned out quite as nice as I'd hoped. I think I will ignore the instructions and do it the way it makes sense to me if I ever stitch it again.

I've made a good start on my April ornament and all going well I should have it finished before the end of the month.

I'm off to stitch a little before bed - hopefully I can keep my eyes open! Our neighbours had a bit of party last night and were extremely loud! Our villa is in a block of four - I guess it is really a large townhouse - we are on one end, two in the middle and then another end unit. Our bedroom is upstairs at the back of the house and faces their back garden which is where the neighbours and their guests all were. Normally with the double-glazed windows and doors and the aircon running we can't hear anything from inside the house. Last night though their wooping and hollering and banging of doors was loud enough that it kept DH awake, and he usually sleeps with earplugs! Now DH had earlier only just returned from being out of town all week and was extremely tired. The last thing he needed was to be kept awake till the wee hours (I'm talking 2-3am here!) with inconsiderate neighbours. Thank goodness it is our weekend and he was able to sleep in this morning! He got the drill out after he got up though and proceeded to put up some picture hooks on the shared wall, hoping to get his own back - lol! You don't want to mess with DH when he's not had enough sleep!

Unfortunately, it sounds as though they are having another party tonight :( I think there will be a call placed to security if they're still carrying on after midnight! Our good friends live in the other middle unit next to them - I've suggested we coordinate our efforts and starting drilling from both sides 7am tomorrow morning ... mwuahahaha!

Dream of Purple

Despite the painting (which is still ongoing), I managed to make some pleasing progress during the HAED BB SAL last weekend.



A couple of SAL weekends ago I decided to start using a different coloured highlighter to mark off my chart each SAL as a gauge for my progress as well. For April I chose pink :)



I will bore you with my painting progress tomorrow :)

WIP Updates - Pic heavy!

I grabbed the camera this afternoon and took some pics of my current stitching WIPs.

First up, Violet Eyes by Rachel Marks & HAED. I pulled this out earlier this week and stitched a little more on the eye area. According to my photo records I haven't worked on this since November last year. There's lot of white and sparkles in this one!



Close up of the eye area I've been working on.



Next, some more progress on Plum Gothic QS.



This is my current progress on the Wiehenburg Quaker Mystery 2008 SAL. I haven't stitched a lot on this WIP in recent times due to the holidays. I usually work on this during DD's tennis and tap dance lessons. Activities start back next week so it will start to see some action again :) Oh, and I finally managed to get a more accurate pic of the fabric colour this time!



Next up, my start on LHN's Princess and the Pea - sorry about the creases, I didn't feel like climbing upstairs where the ironing board and iron are located to iron them out :)



Last but not least, my before pic of Dream of Purple for the HAED BB Challenge SAL weekend starting tomorrow and running through Monday. I'm hoping to get a fair amount done but that will depend on the painting!



Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!

No, you're not going mad :)

If you come across some posts that weren't there before it is just that I have finally managed to find some time to go through my drafts folder to add pics, edit where necessary and finally publish them!!

The kids are on Spring Break this week but go back to school on Sunday. DH and I plan to begin painting the inside of the house this weekend starting with the downstairs tomorrow. I need to start washing down walls this afternoon so DH can fill in some cracks and do some other minor repairs. Thankfully, I like painting as I can see I'll be doing the bulk of it during the week when everyone is at school and work :) We are getting quotes for the outside to be done too. Hopefully they'll be quick in getting that back to us as we would like to get it done before it starts getting too hot! I'm sure the guys doing the actual painting would appreciate that too :) I will stock up the drinks fridge as soon as I know when they are coming so there will be plenty of ice cold drinks on hand for them.

I have stitching pics to share as soon as I've uploaded them from the camera so stay tuned :)

More Plum Gothic QS

This is what I managed to get done during the HAED BB Background SAL last weekend. Not too bad considering it was a busy weekend.

She is still on my stand so I will probably continue to work on her when I can this weekend although I do need to squeeze my March ornament in there somewhere!

Thank you for dropping by and leaving such lovely comments, especially on my previous Plum Gothic post. I'm hoping to get back to stitching and blogging normality next week!!

What's in a name?

Blatantly stolen from Kim's blog :)

What Melissa Means

You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated. You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want. You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way! You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong. You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know. You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

There's some truth but I'm not sure that I agree with everything, especially the last part!!!

Happy Easter!

It was also FIL's 70th birthday so we took him out to lunch. This is what greeted us when we walked into the hotel lobby, and a great photo opportunity for DS and DD - lol!



They had little bags of chocolate eggs at each place setting on the tables, and later the Easter Bunny himself going around handing out more :)

QS Plum Gothic

The Fourth Weekend Themed SAL on the HAED BB starts today and the theme for this month is Background. I've pulled Plum Gothic out of hibernation in an effort to meet my goal of getting her finished this year!

Sorry I haven't been blogging much recently - as well as DH being away and having visitors (which is sapping what little energy I have lately!) today has been the first time I've been able to get on to any Blogger sites in the past few days!

I've managed a little bit of stitching but have packed most of my WIPs away for safe-keeping while the in-laws are here so no photos as yet. The in-laws are going to spend a few days with my sis-in-law next week so I'll get them out and photograph them then :)

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Easter!

Backyard Camping!

Even though we are in a Muslim country, the kids still get a long weekend off for Easter. With the in-laws here, my sis-in-law has come to stay for the weekend (she lives a good 30-45 mins away from us in the city) and decided that it would be a great idea for her and the kids to camp out in the backyard :)

DD was keen but DS less so although he changed his mind when we said his friend could stay over and camp out with him too :)



DD and "friends" heading out to bed! This is what she sleeps with every night!!!

I'm here ...

but DH has been away and now we have visitors for a couple of weeks. I've been stitching but just not on the computer quite so much. Hopefully I'll get some time over the weekend to update the blog!!

All is well in my world ...

I have Vegemite :)



It has finally re-appeared on the supermarket shelves here again - yay!!

Win "Where There Is Life ..."

Go check out the contest Kim is holding over on her Stitch Pink blog. You could win this exclusive Little House Needleworks design fully kitted which was generously donated by Chris.

Ta da!

Stitched with silks and fabric supplied in kit.
Completed 18 February 2008.

It was the HAED BB HAEDless Stitching Sampler SAL this past weekend and I managed to finish this last night. The lighting wasn't conducive to a decent photo so I had to wait until this morning to grab one :)

I started this a long time ago and I put it away because I think I was struggling with the instructions and some of the stitches. I was fairly new to linen and specialty stitches back then :) I've had a bit more experience with specialty stitches and linen since those early days so this time around it was quite a quick stitch :)

Next up is my Wiehenburg Quaker Mystery SAL piece. The actual SAL started at Christmas last year but I didn't join up until mid January. It took me a couple of weeks to decide on fabric and thread so it wasn't until late January that I finally started it.



I am using a HDF (Vikki Clayton) silk Gandy Dancer 1113 which is a really nice rust red on CountryStitch Kiwi Illusions "Daffodil" 28 count Jubilee. I'm stitching it over one because the piece of 40 count linen I had wasn't quite big enough to stitch it over two.



The silk is a "solid" colour but you can just see a very subtle variation :)

My replacement parcel from Sew & So arrived on Sunday (yay!) - five days from when they posted it. No sign of the original ones and I don't expect to see them. One thing I know is if I'd received a parcel or two in my mail box with someone else's name on it (even if it had the correct PO Box number) then I'd (a) either send it back myself, or (b) take it in the post office for them to return to sender.

Anyway, one of the goodies contained in my parcel was this ...



Actually, it was just the chart and threads needed to stitch it. I went for a stroll through my fabric stash late last night and pulled out a piece of Kiwi Illusions "Hokey Pokey" 32 count lugana by CountryStitch (link in my sidebar) which I thought might work. What do you think?

Also, while I was rummaging through my stash I came across this ...



I think I stitched this up in 2005 or perhaps 2006!! All it needs is a smattering of beads and then to finish-finish it and it is done! I just need to decide on what colour beads and then find something to attach to the top of the tree. It is supposed to have a Mill Hill treasure but I have a box full of beads in which I'm sure I can find something suitable. I don't have any suitable backing fabric either but I think I will have enough of the fabric I stitched it on to use as backing. That way I can personalise it ... mmmm, thinking, thinking :)

I found a few other lost treasures whilst visiting my stash last night but as this post is already picture heavy as well as being long enough I will leave those to another time :)

As always, thank you for taking the time to stop by my blog and leaving comments. I appreciate them all :)

Almost forgot :)

I heard back from Sew & So yesterday about my mislabeled and presumed lost items. They really are wonderful people to deal with and are re-sending them. It appears there was a little gremlin at work who manually changed the address label. Of course, the "lost" packages will probably turn up now!! In which case, I will send the duplicates back :)

I have also fallen in love with this - Hanky Pysanky by Ink Circles - in the rainbow colourway. Nicole's WIP is what drew me to it (scroll down to the bottom of her post) :)

I need to stop looking at stash, get off this computer and go stitch!!

Oh, and I've been tagged by Nicole (different to the one above :)). I will respond to that in the next day or two.

Okay, stitching awaits!

Ornament for February

"Joy" by Lizzie*Kate, Inc
JCS 2007 Ornament Issue
Stitched on 32 count Light Mocha Belfast with DMC
(and Petite Treasure Braid PB10 added for the "snowflakes")
Finished as a pinkeep (my first)

Busy Weekend!

Boy, what a crazy busy weekend!

Friday night DH and I attended a corporate function at one of the nearby golf clubs. It was put on by our hometown State Government (they have an office here) in honour of a visiting bigwig. Lots of produce specific to our hometown region was flown in including Balfours Frog Cakes and Vili's Meat Pies!!! Plus local seafood (prawns, yellow fin tuna, barramundi and King George Whiting), Wagyu beef, Berenberg strawberry jam, Medlow fruit gels and Bickford's beverages.

On Saturday Australian Rules Football came to Dubai - Collingwood vs Adelaide - and with DS being a huge Adelaide fan we had to go :) The game was held on a polo field which was converted into a football ground for the event! It was a fantastic day and much fun was had by all. Adelaide won so DS was very happy!






Unfortunately, DS was off school sick today so my plan to spend most of the day with Dream of Purple for the HAED BB February Challenge SAL didn't happen. Instead, the day was spent catching up on the laundry I didn't do because we were out all weekend and taking DS to the doctor. He's fine and should be back at school tomorrow.

I did manage to put in the last few stitches left on my February Christmas ornament though! I'll post pics tomorrow :)

Parcel Woes

Back in early January I had a little online stash shopping spree - I ordered a couple of Sampler Cove charts from European XS, some silks from HDF, both in the US, some Gloriana silks from West End Embroidery and Sew & So, both in the UK and a LHN chart and the Crescent Colours threads required to stitch it also from Sew & So. Plus I requested one of my Rainbow Club FOTM from CountryStitch (in New Zealand) to be a certain colour on a higher count with one of the SC samplers in mind.

The silks from West End Embroidery and HDF were here within a week. The charts from European XS turned up a few days later and then my fabric from CountryStitch arrived. I've since ordered another lot of silks from HDF and have received them. Various mail from my mum in Australia has come in. Can you see where I'm going with this? Yep, not one item from Sew & So has arrived - I find this incredibly bizarre because their service is top-notch and I have always received mail from them no later than 7 days after ordering. In fact, all our mail is received fairly quickly. Thankfully, Sew & So had sent the first parcel by recorded airmail so it had a tracking number. Using that tracking number on the Royal Mail website, I discover that the parcel has been handed over to the UAE postal system for delivery.

I emailed customer service at Emirates Post (easier than trying to ring them in my book) and asked them if they could locate the parcel for me. A very prompt and helpful reply came back saying that the parcel had been received by them on 11 Jan but it had been addressed to the incorrect PO Box number! I was advised to bring the tracking number and photo ID and come in to collect it from the Dubai Central Post Office in Karama.

Oh. boy.

I'm sure I've blogged in the past about my incredible directional/navigational skills or rather the lack thereof, so you can understand why I was less than thrilled at the prospect of driving into Bur Dubai. You would think after almost three years of living here I would have it down pat but the truth is I very rarely if ever go into the city and of course, the roads are continually changing! Anyway, after conferring with DH the best route to go, I set off yesterday morning and made it into the Post Office. I missed one turn but got back on track fairly easily. I even managed to find a park in the chaos of the PO carpark!

Remembering that the main entrance is actually at the back of the building, I walk in to find that they've "automated" things with a ticket "machine" - a man sitting behind a desk at the front entrance with a ticket dispenser :) After telling him my purpose for being there (with the help of a kindly security guard - the "machine" had some difficulty in understanding that I wanted to collect a parcel not send one!), waiting for my number to be called and then being referred to three different counters, I eventually walk out with parcel in hand. Hooray! I now have my threads to start Sampler Cove's Spanish Rouge Sampler!!

I did ask about the other two parcels I'm waiting on while at the PO but unfortunately, they couldn't be located. I can only assume that they were addressed incorrectly as well and therefore lost. They were sent normal international airmail not recorded so therefore no tracking number. I have emailed Sew & So to let them know and I'm sure all will be sorted. I'll keep you updated :)

10 Blogs

Good grief narrowing this list down to just 10 was hard! I decided to mix some of the regular blogs with some new ones :) Anyway, here goes ...

The Rules:
Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times.



1. Nicole stitches, quilts, knits and also beads, I believe :). I also love reading about her and her family's adventures in her other blog.

2. Felicity - She has inspired me to pull out my many non-HAED WIPs/UFOs and get to work on them. Lovely looking blog too :)

3. Tannia does the most beautiful work and sings too!

4. Deb - I came across Deb's blog only recently - it is so bright and colourful :) She quilts as well as stitches and I'm also looking forward to seeing the results of her Queens & Harpies Paper Dresses start-up.

5. Andrea - Another new to me blog. Andrea's stitching is so neat and immaculate and I love the way she displays and photographs her projects!

6. Carol's blog is also fairly new to me but I am in awe of her beautiful stitching and finishing.

7. Anne has had her share of knocks lately but refuses to let them get her down for long. Better times are ahead - she deserves them! I also admire her fabulous stitching and finishing skills.

8. Jennifer does the most wonderful ornaments and I love her Friday Feasts: A Buffet for the Brain too.

9. Leonie knits and stitches and is my stitching and stash-hunting pal back home. She doesn't blog all that often but she always manages to make me laugh out loud at something she's written when she does.

10. Alison is such a laugh (I met her in person a few years ago). Amazes me with her speed and her wonderful stitching of all things Shepherd's Bush :)

There are so many others - in my Blogroll and in my Google Reader - you all make my day :)

WIP Updates

Current progress on The Drawn Thread's An Open Heart - I've finished all the bands and am now working on the inner whitework border. Thanks go to DH for holding it for me so I could take a pic :)



My to date progress on Shepherd's Bush Beekeeper's Cottage. I went searching through my boxes looking for this kit to pass on to another stitcher and when I found it, was very surprised to see that I had actually started it! I'm planning to get this finished up hopefully over the next HAED BB Sampler SAL weekend so I can forward it on.

I also succumbed and joined the Wiehenburg 2008 Quaker Mystery. I'll add a pic when I've done a bit more.