I am still around

Hi everyone, we are all well again, I would like to thank everyone for their well wishes. We went on a little holiday to our beach house, we left home on the 26th of September and got back home on the 2nd of October. It was very quiet and peaceful, apart from having the children there hehe, and we did alot of nothing. DH developed a secondary infection from the flu and after visiting three different doctors in two days he finally started to get relief. He had a sinus infection and the antibiotics didn't really start to take effect until the third day.

We caught up with our neighbours down there, and are so fortunate, they are wonderful. They have three children, two boys, 10 and 8, and a daughter 6, and the play beautifully with our kids, but they also respect the fact that we are on holidays and do not let their kids over at our house very often.

As you can see by the pictures I have done some work on the Sampler Gameboard, I think I worked on this about three weeks ago. I have done other stitching, in fact I have been really naughty. While we were away I started Miribilia's Sleeping Beauty and Ink Circles Blackstone Fantasy Garden. I also kitted up Miribilia's Lady of the Mist and can't wait to make a start on it. Needless to say my rotation, which I think I have stuck with for about 3 rotations, has gone out the window. AAARRRGGGHHH!!!!! This week I have been concentrating on CdC and have stitched all of the circles along the bottom row and have begun going up the right hand side.

I have received my order from Karen at Dragonfly Dream. I ordered the JCS 2007 Ornament Issue and the beads for Lady of the Mist, and two charts, Just Nan's Christmas Peace and the embellishment pack, and Lynne Nicoletti's Fairy Tale Fortune Teller. I will try to take some pictures at some stage. I am waiting on some beads still from Karen, they are on back order and she said that I should have them in the coming week. Dee was interested to know what I thought of the JCS issue: I haven't had a really good look through it yet, but at a glance there are a few that I like, though I have only ever stitched on ornament before, stitching is finished, but it is not an ornament yet. Lindy wanted to see a finished picture of Reeds Stocking, it is a Shepherds Bush design Lindy, I hope the link works for you.

Last week, after we got home from our little break away, I worked three days in a row of my new hours. I was totally shattered on Friday night, not mentally, but physically, just from standing for so long. I am so not used to this work business, hopefully it is just a matter of time until my poor feet and legs get used to it again.

At the moment I am meant to be finishing an assignment for uni, it was due on the 4th of October, I am getting so slack with uni, everything seems to be running behind. I only have to do about another 700 words, including the conclusion. It is a sociology subject so rambling and waffling are permitted.

While we were away three of us turned another year older, and two of them were significant numbers. Caitlyn turned four on the 1st of October and Dh and I turned 40 aaaarrrrrgggghhh LOL five days apart with me being the older of us. Mine was the 30th of Sept and his was the 5th of Oct. He always tell people that I (meaning me) am 'five' older than him, deliberately not including the word days, and making people think, days, weeks, months, etc, sometimes he says decades, rotton fiend. No real news on the job front for DH there are a few that he is in the process of applying for.

I haven't got any more news this time around, I think this is long enough, just wish everyone happiness and lots of stitching.

Lots of updates.

We have all been sick!!! It started with Luke who has had over a week off school with the flu. Then DH last week, couldn't get out of bed on Monday of last week but has been slowly improving. The two little ones, Joel and Caitlyn, have been in and out of bed for about a week now with varying temperatures and other symptoms. I went to a work training course last Wednesday in Shepparton, 1 and 1/2 hours away from home, didn't feel to flash when I woke up in the morning, but just put it down to tiredness from looking after everyone else. I don't know how I made it home, but when I did I just went to bed. DH took Joel, Caitlyn and myself to emergency at our local hospital and luckily my doctor was on duty that night. He started making jokes about seeing all of us at once and I just told him it wasn't funny. (Not feeling very humorous at this stage). He just said it was the flu, it is going around like crazy, treat the symptoms, go home and do nothing, he gave me a week off from work.

Luke has gone to school today, we sent Caitlyn to pre-school only to get a call from them that she wasn't well enough to stay. DH took her to see the doctor and she has now developed an ear infection which is common for this strain of flu apparently. So she has had her first dose of antibiotics and should be on the road to recovery.

Through all of this I have been stitching, and here are some update pictures of Noah's Ark and Reeds Stocking.

In other work news a person resigned a couple of weeks ago, and even though my boss knows that I will be leaving eventually, I have been offered the position. So instead of my 'nice' 2 days per week, I will now be working for 4 days per week. Mondays will only be for three hours, I will have Tuesdays off, with normal length days for Wed, Thurs and Fri. I should have started these hours this week, but with being sick it was not to be.

There is nothing significant to report with regards to DH's job hunting, he has only been doing bits and pieces on the computer and phone, he hasn't been up to doing much of anything else, just like the rest of us. I am ready for us all to be well again!!! SOON!!!

I do have updates of Sampler Game Board and CdC as well, but will save them for another time.

I have had some stashy mail; I ordered a further 10 skeins of Dinky Dyes thread for CdC and also a metre of 40ct lambswool linen and have received both from Stitching Obsession. I was thinking of doing HOHRH of VOHRH, I have both in my stash, on the 40ct, using one strand of DMC.

I also placed an order with Dragonfly Dreams so that I could get my JCS orni issue, of course that was not all that I ordered, will share when it arrives.

I had better go and try and get this house sorted out a bit, I hope everyone is stitching lots.

My Middle Name

I was tagged by Kim and here are my answers:

The rules:
1 You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
2 Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name.If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
3 When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post containing your own middle name game facts.
4 At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

My middle name is Marie (the same as Kim's)

M is for marriage: DH and I have been married for 7 and 1/2 years. We have had our ups and downs, but more ups and it seems that the longer we are together the stronger we become.

A is for additional: as in additional pets. One day DH and I took a walk to our supermarket and we always look at the community notice board. This day there was a photo of the cutest looking dog, who was free to a good home. I said to hubby that we just have to have him so we rang the phone number, when to see the dog, and then he became ours. He fitted in perfectly with our family, is great with the kids, very tolerant of them. He was owned by a young girl and is very attached to me for this reason, and he loves lying on my lap, even if said lap is already occupied with my stitching.

R is for religion: At a particularly low point in my life I felt that I needed some sort of help, and although I had never thought to go to church before in my life, I felt that I needed God at that point. In the next twelve months I met my DH, a Christian, and have been going to church ever since. I believe that all things happen for a reason and that God had a big hand in me meeting my DH.

I is for integrity: My job as a bank employee calls for a high level of integrity. I have to ensure that I do not compromise any of my clients financial or personal information in any way, even to the point of telling DH that I saw such and such today, which of course would divulge that the person banks with my employer.

E is for excitement: I love seeing excitement on the faces of my children, seeing their expressions when they are looking forward to something, like going to the park or some such treat.

I am not going to tag anyone else, but if your blog title begins with a letter which is in my middle name, consider your self tagged and let me know so that I check out your answers.

A week ago a person at my work resigned and they have offered me the position, even though they know that I will be leaving before Christmas. So my two days a week very cushy job, has now become four days a week, starting this week. The extra money will come in handy (more stash) but I will be exhausted by the time the week end comes around.

I owe some update photos of a few projects and will try to get them done soon, my camera needs new batteries and I it won't even turn on when they are flat.

Everyone seems to be coming down with some sort of flu at the moment; Luke had been in bed since last Friday, he is up and about today and I think he will be well enough for school tomorrow, Caitlyn has had a temperature since Monday morning and didn't go to pre-school yesterday and has a terrible cold, and this morning DH woke up feeling cold and achy. Joel and I have escaped everything so far, I hope this continues. I am going on a training course tomorrow for work and I am picking up another girl on the way, I am looking forward to it and I hope that I don't come down with anything.

I had better go now, after boring all of you, I hope you are all getting lots of stitching done and that you are all well.

I finished a page

WOO HOO!!Well as the title says I have finished the first page of twenty, here are the before and after pictures of HAED Gypsy Rose. I am loving this and was tempted to keep going on her after her rotation finished last week, but I don't want the others in my rotation to fall behind. The creamy color on the right is her dress, and the design is four pages wide, so there is alot of dress to get through.

The next picture to come is of CdC.

This was taken after finishing stitching on it last Sunday night. There is not much more to be done of the bottom row, but I can't see myself finishing the bottom row this week end, perhaps the next. Through the week I ordered another ten skeins of the Dinky Dyes thread and a couple pieces of fabric from Stitching Obsession. Mandy is great to deal with (no affiliation) and offered for me send her one of my skeins so that she could then send it to the Australian distributors for them to do a comparison with to ensure that I received the same dye lot. I told her not to bother, but if they are different I am planning on mixing up the lengths, do one length from one skein and then another length from another. At the moment I am going to complete the bottom circles and then start the mixing if I need to.

We haven't heard any more about the jobs in Canberra, but no news is good news, right!!!! DH was unsuccessful on a few, Devonport, Warragul and the one in an inner city suburb. Another one has come up in Ballarat and he has been making heaps of phone calls in answer to ads on various internet sites and in The Age newspaper, all I can say is thank goodness for VOIP (voice over internet phone) otherwise our phone bill would be astronomical.

I have also been tagged by Kim, it is about middle names, and you would not believe it, but my middle name is the same as Kim's. I will do mine over the week end, and if you want to know what my middle name is in the mean time, you will have to go to Kim's blog to find out. ;) LOL

Happy stitching everyone, and stay safe.

Some pictures at last.

Yeah, blogger is finally being cooperative. This picture is for Ranae. This is of my fractal. The centre of it is stitched in greens and yellows, it is huge and apart from where I have gone off on a tangent with it, I have almost stitched two pages of thirty.








Here are before and after pictures after its rotation.


















The next update is for CdC. I have almost finished the outside border but decided to do some filling in of the circles, the more I do of this the more I love it. I am so glad that I decided to have this as my week end stitch so that I can work on it more regularly.












Here is a closer picture of where it has been filled in. Someone on the Cirque des Cercles blog said that finishing each section was like a mini happy dance, and they were so right. I get excited finishing one section and then I just have to start the next. We all know how addictive stitching can be and how hard it is to put our needles down.

It will be my birthday soon and the other day hubby asked if I would like an LCD computer screen, of course I said yes!!! So now I am looking at every one's blog on a 19 inch LCD monitor and I am loving it.
Later today we are heading to Bendigo and tonight we, DH, Luke and I, are going to the theatre to see a production of Oaklahoma. We love the theatre and are never disappointed by the productions that Bendigo Theatre Company put on. Joel and Caitlyn are being baby-sat by a friend of the in-laws and when they are old enough we will take them also.
I hope that all of you enjoy your week end, and that you get lots of stitching done.

Stitching Updates.

We have just finished playing a board game with Luke and I thought that I would post my stitching updates. The project that I stitched on last week was my fractal, and here are before and after photos. Blogger is not letting me load pictures at the moment so I will try to answer some questions. Ranae asked what fractal I was stitching. Cross stitch Collectibles offer free fractals on their site, a new one every month and this is where I got mine from. Mine is number 25 Ranae and as soon as blogger allows me to post some photos I will post one of it. Unfortunately it is only in black and white so you will need to hang aroung my blog for a few years until mine is finished to see the colors. LOL

Hazel asked who designed And A Forest Grew, it is Rosewood Manor. I have previously left a comment on Hazel's blog but thought that I would also answer her questions here, just in case she missed it.

I would like to sincerely thank everyone for their comments, I love reading them and often sit here just thinking how sweet everyone is.

I will post progress pictures when blogger decides to cooperate.

Happy stitching everyong.

Lots of news.

Last Saturday there was a stitching GTG held in Melbourne. I was emailing Tannia to wish her well and she asked me if I was going to the GTG. After a bit of thought, and realising that we didn't have any plans, I asked DH if he could take me. He said yes, and I asked Tannia what the details were, address etc. It took 3 1/2 hours to get there but it was worth it, I had an amazing time. For me to walk into a house, not know the owner, or any other person there, is so far out of my comfort zone, it is not funny. I had a couple of weird thoughts of what am I doing, on the drive there, but quickly dismissed them when I thought of the other stitchers that I was going to meet.

When I walked in I immediately recognised Tannia and Marita from their blogs, and I was introduced to everyone, I am sorry I am terrible for remembering names, and met the hostess Bernadette, who wait for it, also has an ONS called The Needlework Boutique. With me I took CdC, my completed Celtic Spring and Daughters and my HAED Gypsy Rose. I was made to feel very comfortable by everyone who had lovely things to say about my work. Unfortunately Tannia, Marita and some other ladies had to leave not long after I got there. Tannia gave me the warmest of hugs as she was going. I will remember this day for along time to come. Once everyone else had left Bernadette suggested I call DH, who had taken our children to McDonalds for a play, and ask them back to her house so that our children could play with hers. Luke enjoyed playing football (Aussie Rules) with her 10yo DS, while Joel and Caitlyn played indoors with her 2 DD's.

On the job front, remember DH tried to set up an interview with another company in Canberra, he had a phone interview with them, then an 'in person' interview on Wednesday. Another trip to Canberra, and then onto Melbourne for a position with a council. The two Canberra postions are being handled by the same consultant, and has told DH of another position, and told him that he would have him in a position in Canberra before Christmas. We will wait and see. We are not stressed about DH being out of work, it is almost exciting thinking about where we will end up.

I have been stitching and owe some progress pictures, will try for later today/tonight.

Thank you to everyone for wishing DH the best for his interviews, it means alot to me.

Job news

Would like to thank everyone for the comments that they have left and the well wishes left for DH for his job prospects, they are much appreciated.
The job that hubby interviewed for last Friday in Canberra contacted him on Monday to say that they wanted to talk with his referees, so that is some great news. The other Canberra position, that he was unable to organise an interview with, conducted a phone interview with him on Monday afternoon and now want to see him in person. So hubby is off to Canberra again on Wednesday, and then on to Melbourne on Thursday.

Today is his last day of work and he has been in such high spirits, I am very proud of him. This proves to me that our time here is up, and as Luke begins secondary school next year and Joel start primary school, our move could not have come at a better time.

As for stitching I am currently working on my fractual, and I feel that I have made some progress on it. I am itching to start a Miribilia after I have my next finish, but I would like to incorporate some smaller projects into my rotation as most of them are LARGE. At this stage I have Sleeping Beauty and Petal Fairy almost fully kitted, lets see what happens.

Hope everyone is well and stitching

Desert Guardian update.

I have just finished the weekly rotation on Desert Guardian by Character Creations. Here are before and after photos.

Lots of confetti stitching in this one, but I am enjoying it. It is the week end, and I get to stitch on CdC. Will post a picture after the week end.

I would like to thank everyone for visiting and leaving comments, I love reading your replies to my posts. I got my assignment away, and my uni received it only one day late, I can live with that. The next assignment isn't due until the middle to late September. So I can concentrate on the course work for this topic.

Yesterday DH drove over 1000 kilometers to Canberra and back for a job interview. I think the employment consultant felt sorry for him, with the distance traveled, and even bought him lunch before the interview. We should find out next week if he has been successful or not. He is aware of another position in Canberra and tried to organise an interview for it while he was there, but it couldn't be done, so he might have to go there again next week. He'll be in Melbourne on Monday for, I think, two interviews, one is with a university, and the other is for a council. (Sorry Marita I am not going so I won't be able to catch up with you this time, I also work on Mondays).

Luke is playing his last game of soccer for the season today, I would have liked to go but I've just been so tired lately, I am sure I just need some 'earlier' nights.

I think that is all I have to say at the moment, I hope everyone has a great week end with lots of stitching.

WOOHOO!!! A Little Finish

On Thursday I had a little happy dance. This is Lizzie Kates Daughters. A fun little design which I think I will make into a little pillow. Even though this empties a slot in my rotation, I am not going to start anything else at this stage, though I can change my mind if I want to!!!! HEHE

As for my exam, I felt that I did better than I thought that I would. I feel that I managed to cover most of the relevant areas even though there was some 'waffle' in between. Now just to wait for the results, I am still waiting for the return of my assignment.

Time to go, I have an assignment due OHOH on Monday. It will possibly be a day or so late, I can live with that. Bye for now everyone, stay safe and happy stitching.