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 :)

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 :)

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.

Made My Day :)

I was surprised and flattered to find that the lovely Kim over at KiP thought my blog made her day! Wow, thank you, Kim :)

Now I'm supposed to award another 10 bloggers who inspire and make me happy about blogland, and given the amount of blogs I have in my Google Reader, it is going to be a difficult task! So many of you out there in blogland inspire and motivate me! I'm running short of time right now so I'm going to have to come back to this after some thought :)

Lots of comments on my Plum Gothic progress too - thank you!! Welcome to new readers and, Sally, of course it's okay to add my blog to your Google Reader :)

Plum Gothic QS - Page 2 Finish :)

It was a UFO/SWIP themed SAL on the HAED BB this weekend and although I have older HAED WIPs I could have chosen, I really want to finish Plum Gothic this year! Preferably in the first half! I have neglected her woefully and I have made a pact with myself that I am not going to start another Quick Stitch until she is done! Mmm, we'll see how long that lasts - lol!

Anyway, I spent most of Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon stitching away on her and put the last stitch in page 2 late in the afternoon. There is still today to go in the SAL but I probably won't work on her now until Wednesday for the Quick Stitch SAL :)

Shopping Trip

This is the result of my little shopping trip last Tuesday. I didn't quite get all that I wanted (particularly buttons) but I'm happy with what I managed. I have another trip planned in about a week's time to a different part of the city where I'm hoping to find a few more bits and pieces :)

Thank you for your lovely comments on my first biscornu too :)

I have been stitching quite a bit this week - I just need to upload the pics from my camera to the computer so I can show you :)

My First Biscornu

In the lead up to Christmas and our holiday last year, I found I needed to stitch on something small and simple - something I could pick up and work on for a few minutes when the opportunity presented itself :) I had seen lots of biscornus on various blogs and admired them but had never attempted one myself, so I decided to rectify that.




The fabric and Dinky Dyes silk thread used were from a Dyer's Collaboration pack, and I used this chart - Popular Red Biscornu - from a link on the Own Two Hands blog.

Unfortunately, it is not completely finished as I'm not having much luck finding the right buttons. I thought I might go through my beads this weekend and see if I have something that will work. If not, I will have to go on another exploratory shopping trip further into the city in a couple of weeks time :)

Thank you ...

everyone for your lovely comments on St Georges. They mean a lot and have spurred me on to get a couple of other WIPs out of the way :)

Right now, I'm beavering away on An Open Heart (The Drawn Thread) - I had hoped to finish the last band tonight but it is past my bedtime so it will have to wait until tomorrow. Then I get to start on the whitework borders.

I did take a progress pic but it was taken at night and unfortunately it's not the best shot. Today was overcast (looks like there's more rain coming) so not the best conditions for picture taking! Hopefully, the next pic will be it finished anyway!!

Must go to bed now - I'm off fabric hunting and thread buying tomorrow ... or should I say later this morning :)

First Major 2008 Finish

Long Dog Samplers "St Georges"
Started sometime (I think) in 2006 and finished 19 January 2008
Stitched with 1 strand of Gloriana "Red Clay" silk over 2 threads
on cream 40 count linen

I was going to start Sampler Cove's Rhapsody in Red Ribbon Sampler or Spanish Rouge next but I'm still waiting on the charts and fabric (for SR) to arrive. I do have Double Dutch from The Gift of Stitching online magazine kitted up but I've decided I will pull out An Open Heart and work on that for the rest of the weekend.

WIP Updates

First up, Long Dog Samplers "St Georges" ...



Next, I managed a few more stitches in Dinky Dyes "The Dreaming" this week ...



A quick post today :) As you can see, I am very close to a finish on "St Georges"!!!

Here yesterday, gone today ...

The rain that is :)

This is what our backyard looked like yesterday after 2-3 days of constant rain:



(Please disregard the sorry excuse of a trampoline - the mat disintegrated from the heat and sourcing a new one is proving difficult.)

This is what it looks like today:



Laura commented that she couldn't imagine a city "not built for rain". Strange, I know, but because they get so very little rain here it just never enters into the equation during the construction stage (no gutters, storm drains, etc). However, when it does rain it causes complete and utter chaos! Flooding, electrical problems, traffic mayhem, etc. All schools were ordered to close yesterday and today by the Ministry of Education because of it. Our school has been affected by flooding and I believe electrical problems.

Just a quick post tonight as I'm keen to stitch a little more on Dream before I head to bed. We have a busy day tomorrow so I don't want to stay up too late but I want to finish the section I'm stitching first!

I should have some WIP update pics for you tomorrow. It is the start of the HAEDless Sampler SAL on the HAED BB and I am working on St Georges this month. There will be a finish in the very near future!

Also thank you for your comments and welcome to new readers - there are a few that I want to reply to and I hope to do that soon!

HAED BB 2008 Challenge SAL - January Edition

Before After

Dream of Purple
Original Artwork: Ching Chou Kuik
Charted by: Michele Sayetta of Heaven & Earth Designs (c) 2007

Stitched 1 x 1 full cross on 25 ct pale aqua lugana using DMC threads

I finally started stitching on her Sunday evening for a few hours and then managed to get a few more hours in on Monday. I filled in a lot of the empty spots so I was pleased with my progress.

We have had quite a lot of rain today and this city is just not built for it (or US President's visits for that matter!) so after having my plans shelved because of the inclement weather (DD's class was meant to go on a field trip today and I had volunteered to help out) I dropped the kids at school, came home and settled down to stitch for the day :) I'm continuing to work on Dream of Purple until tomorrow when I switch her out for QS Plum Gothic. Several schools are closing tomorrow (including the one mine go to) because of the heavy rain. It has caused quite a bit of flooding and electric problems.

As I said before, this city isn't built for rain :)

I leave you with some shots (not taken by me) of our main freeway yesterday closed for the Bush visit.

It's raining ...

my tumble dryer is kaput and my new one doesn't arrive until tomorrow! My house, therefore, looks like a Chinese laundry (must find out where that saying comes from)!!

I managed to put a length (six strands) of floss into The Encounter but it's just a pitiful blob of blue :) I then sat down to work on Dream of Purple, delved into my WIP box and came out with my WIP and the chart but not the threads or the actual page of the chart I'm working from! Figured I had put it in one of my overflow boxes which are stacked on top of the wardrobe in the spare room before we went on holidays. My search of the boxes I could reach was fruitless and since DH had gone to bed I was going to have to wait until this morning for him to get the boxes right at the top down for me so I could have a look. I could have gone back to The Encounter but I'd already taken him off the stand and the Q-snaps and put him away.

This morning my much taller DH got the boxes down and I now have my threads and the first page of the chart ready for tonight's stitching session on Dream of Purple.

During the search I came across an old WIP of Dinky Dyes' The Dreaming - that looked a more soothing stitch - so I pulled that out and worked on that instead. I'm not sure when I started it, probably sometime in 2006!

This is how it was when I picked it up last night ...



I might squeeze a little more time on it over the weekend so I'll hold off from taking a progress pic until early next week.

I also put a few more stitches in St Georges this afternoon while waiting for DD at her tap class. Thank you also for the lovely comments - it is coming along quite well and I'm really pleased with how the thread colour stitches up.

Rightio, I'm off to iron the essential uniform and work items for the kids and DH for school/work tomorrow and then settle down to reacquaint myself with Dream of Purple!

Happy Stitching!

Pay It Forward 2008

I've gone and done it now - I've joined Karen's PIF challenge :)

So, if you would like something stitched by me sometime during this year (2008) then please be one of the first five (5) people to either leave a comment here or email me at buffster_fan at yahoo dot com dot au and I will be in touch. In turn you must post to your blog the same challenge and accept five people to send to. They do the same and forward it goes :)

If I do not have five people sign up then I will send five random parcels to different parts of the globe :)

I didn't get a lot of stitching done on The Encounter yesterday - prepping the fabric (I actually dragged out the sewing machine to edge the fabric), pulling the floss and gridding the outline of the first page took longer than I anticipated. We also went out last night for dinner so I didn't really sit down to stitch until quite late. I probably managed about 20-30 stitches before I headed for bed. I will work on this some more next week after the HAED Challenge SAL which is this weekend and I will post a progress pic then.

However, I will leave you with the latest progress on my Long Dog Sampler "St Georges" - not the best photo, sorry but you can see that it is almost done! I did quite a bit of this in the last week of our holidays.



I haven't managed to stitch yet today so I'm off to make myself a cuppa and then head to my stitching chair for an hour or two!

HAED BB Quick Stitch Wednesday SAL

<- Before


-> After



I didn't get as much time as I'd hoped on this last night so progress isn't very noticeable but at least I managed to put some stitches in before my eyes grew heavy and I had to go to bed! I really had hoped to finish Plum last year but it wasn't to be. She will most definitely be finished this year though and hopefully in the first quarter!

Just a quick post from me today - January's edition of the HAED BB 2008 Challenge SAL starts tomorrow (I think - must check) and I will be working on Dream of Purple this year instead of Verdure.

Before the SAL starts however I want to put some stitches into my New Year's start. Because I was away I obviously didn't get to start it on 1st January 2008 but today, rather conveniently, marks the start of the Islamic New Year so I get another chance :)

The chart/design? Well, I am in the Heaven & Earth Designs Birthday Club and whilst scrolling through my wishlist trying to decide on what chart to get, DS spotted this one. Am I insane?! Quite possibly :) DS said he wanted it for his birthday (which is in July). However, he didn't specify which birthday so I told him he may get it for his 21st, or if he's lucky, his 18th - lol! That gives me six to nine years to stitch it up :)

On that note, I'd better get to it! I shall report on my progress tomorrow.

I love my camera :)

The kids were out shooting some hoops with their friends before dinner last night when DD came running in yelling for me to come outside and bring my camera! I went outside and was greeted with this gorgeous sunset!

Got a bit carried away with the photos - sorry!

Stitching: I have been doing a little stitching although not huge amounts. I seem to have the reading bug lately and my stitching has suffered because of it. Anyway, it is the Christmas/Mermaids SAL on the HAED BB this weekend so I've pulled both Dream of Purple and Sea of Roses out with the intention of making some progress. I also had Plum Gothic QS out earlier this week and once this weekend is over I intend to get back to her and work on her until she is done. Well, that's this week's plan anyway :)

I'll post before and after pics of each after the SAL has finished. Right now I'm heading back to my chair for an hour's stitching before the kids come home from school!

Some Progress

Here's where I got up to with Verdure over the weekend. Blogger Photos is down so I've had to use Webshots.



As I predicted in my last post I didn't really get a whole lot of stitching time. Well, actually I could have spent pretty much all of Saturday stitching away as the kids were out all day but I ended up washing and ironing instead! Need to work on my priorities!! Anyway, some progress is better than none, right?

Next up is my progress on QS Plum Gothic:



I had plans to work on her yesterday for the QS SAL but was tempted away by my Mystery WIP (which shall remain unnamed for now). I'll try to spend some time with my Plum girl over the weekend, and maybe get that second page finshed.