Clumsiness of Brain

Hullo again, I knew there would be something I forgot to mention yesterday.

Or two things.

Point the first - I taught myself to spin. Or at least use a spindle...

My first wee attempt

It is still early days yet, it's no where near being even and I still need to attempt the washing/setting thing. But it was fun and something a bit different for when I need a change.

Just another reason why if money was no option I would retire now (at the ripe old age of 30) - between stitching, reading, knitting, house renovations and now spinning - I just don't have time to work!

The second thing I forgot to mention was that I FINALLY got around to finishing my ORT-aments for 2014, 2015, and 2016. This year's still needs filled with my jar but that'll happen on Sunday.

The empty bauble I found at Lincraft, the ribbons are from stash, as are the Krienik and silver perforated paper and felt that I used for the tags. The font is one I found on Google. Simple little things but I'm happy with them.

I think that was all this time. I have updated the WIP tab above to have starting points for the new year. MIL is in town this weekend, so I doubt there will be much advancement on projects between now and the first.

So until next time - and next year.

What a (Insane) Year!

Hullo Hullo everyone, if anyone is still out there. It has been a really long time, but 2016 has been the year that officially kicked my ass. 

I think, scrolling through the past, the last life update I made was June,  the last stitching update July and the last reading update was in September. It's now December. I can only say I am sorry. I was all set to do another update mid September,  it's still sitting here as a draft. It was going to be title "Normal Sweet Normal". I think that jinxed me if I'm being honest.  

If any one remembers, my Nanna passed away in March and that threw me for a bit of a loop. Especially since it was followed so close by my great uncles passing, and a theft at work. The drama killed my stitching bug entirely and left my reading bug unchecked. Just when I thought everything was starting to return to normal (hence the unpublished update), my other grandma passed mid September which funnily enough renewed my slumpy mood. Things with my dad remained tense, but hey ho what you going to do. My uncle was then screwed over by his partner and left with nothing more than a can of beetroot, my aunt was thrown from her horse and spent two weeks in hospital and finally,  to round off the year my mum sprang on us at Christmas that she has been seriously ill for the last six months.

So, all and all, I haven't really had the brain space to do much at all,  blogging not withstanding.

But that's enough of the doom and gloom.  I'm ready to rejoin the world.

Even with the lack of stitching motivation,  I did have a few finishes this year. Six in fact.  Not a huge number but certainly more than I was expecting.

This one was the first of the Christmyth ornaments that I've started. They were free patterns put out by Dragon Dreams. Not sure if they still are or not, but they were when I got them.  I thought something small would be a good way to ease back into the whole stitching thing.

 Certainly everyone knows this one by this point. I left the boarder off from top and bottom because in my head, once I frame it, I don't think that boarder will add anything. I can always change my mind.

Finished off Pandoras Box, another freebie, this time of the Liz Almond variety. I used a Carrie's Creation cotton in Chimera, DMC 310, a silver DMC satin and some random clear silver lined seed beads I found in Spotlight. While I did enjoy working on it, not entirely sure how I feel about the finished piece. It did teach me a lot though - which is always nice.

This was my oldest wip that I finished early this year. Without looking it up,  I don't remember any detail beyond its done and there was a boat load of fractional stitches that I hated doing on Aida.

Joan Elliott Reader. This one defiantly gave me a love of Joan Elliott patterns. Can defiantly see me doing more of them in the future.

And finally

My mums tartan cushion. I finished this bad boy with a couple days left till Christmas and with two crushed fingers. Handy life lesson - don't try and catch a falling 30kg bucket. But I pushed through it and finished the cushion in time to give it to her at Christmas,  which she loved.

Reading wise I did far far better. I read a total of 100 books (101 if I finish my current one before saturday)  for a grand total of 35,559 pages - at least according to Goodreads. I am a little bit chuffed with that achievement.

Looking forward to the new year, I am really really hoping that life becomes a little more settled, or at the very least not as upsetting. I have set up spreadsheets to try and get some more accuracy and organisation to my workings. I am setting my Goodreads goal to 75 again, but I am hoping not to ignore my stitching so much.

Before the weekend I will update all the tabs up top, so we have a good starting point for the year. I'm not going to make any goals - me and goals don't seem to get along very well, but I would like to make a dent in the number of projects I have going - while I have great admiration for those of you with many multiple wips going, for me, my number is getting up there - especially since most have not seen the light of day in the longest time.

I did treat myself to a set of quantum frames for my thirtieth birthday - I have had them for two days now and am in love, so here's hoping it makes working of some of the older wips more enjoyable.

I think I will leave it there for now.  Unless some one tragic event happens I don't forsee me being awol. I am hoping to get back into a regular routine with posting again. What I will do, I think, is try and keep the reading and the stitching posts separate,  but we shall see. The only real objective I have right now is routines.

So if you are still here - thank you

Until next time

July Reading Wrap Up

Okay, yes, I realise that it is now September, but in the interest of not making this obscenely long I'm spliting this into months.

So, July, the reading mojo of 2016 continued, but I will try and make this brief.

Demon Seed - Dean Koontz - 3 star

A solid AI taking over sci-fi. A quick compelling read like most of Koontz books. Just a shame I couldn't stop thinking about the Simpsons episode based on this while reading.  

The Guardian Cycle - Julia Grey - overall 4 stars comprised of:

The Dark Moon - 4 stars

The Jasper Forest -  4 stars

The Crystal Desert - 3 stars

The Red Glacier - 4 stars

Alyssa's Ring - 4 stars

I remember picking up the first book in this series years and years ago - it must have been when it first came out because I can't have been much out of primary school and still unaffected by the "readings not cool" taunts of high school.  I finally managed to track the whole series down and while it's not what I remembered (to be honest, I don't know exactly what I thought I remembered), the enjoyment was very definatly still there. The story could easily have fallen prey to classic fantasy clichés of comming of age and saving the world, but it didn't.  The fleshed out characters grew superbly with both the passage of time and experience and the world building was simply wonderful - something I definatly look for in the fantasy genre. I would have liked a map though, I like maps.  

Coma - Robin Cook - 2 stars

I'm convinced that my mum told me I'd love this book, and she's convinced that she didn't.  Either way, wasn't my favourite. I found the mystery predictable, the Suspense, dull and the characters insufferable. I did like the premise of otherwise healthy young people dying in comas, just a shame about the execution.

Insomnia - Stephen King - 4 stars

If I haven't said it yet, I'll say it now. King is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. The depth of the world that he has built in all of his novels is just staggering. I also really enjoyed that this story was told from the perspective of retirees - we don't see that often.  

A Dimension Kit

This is all the stitching I have managed since April. I hang my head in shame.

Mid Year Reading Wrap Up

Hullo hullo

Here I am, back from Auckland, alive and well (just), mostly rested (I had a whole weekend!) and here with a wrap up of the books that have held my attention for the last six months.

So as of today, I have read 48 books towards my yearly goal of 75. 13 of those have been comics or graphic novels, 2 have been non-fiction, 11 have been YA or middle grade and the remaining 22 have for the most part been a mix of science fiction, fantasy, horror, thriller and historical fiction.

All up (as at the 1st of July) I have read 16,903 pages - that's 2,377 more than the entirety of last year. And certainly well on my way to the record breaking (for me at least) 2014 where I hit 27,709.

For my mini reviews (though I don't really like the word review, maybe we should just go with mini opinions?), I will lump series all together. Let's get started.

Jurrasic Park and The Lost World by Michael Crichton

This was a mixed bag for me. The first book I gave four stars while the second I couldn't even finish. I'm not a huge Crichton fan. While I love the idea of so may of his books, there is just something about his writing style that just doesn't mesh with me. I have picked up and put down so many of his books over the years that I'm still just amazed that I finished (and enjoyed) one.

Coffee Obsession by Anette Moldvaer

Read this for work. Was a good in depth reference guide. Gave it five stars.

2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke

This is that age old story of the book being better, even though the movie is stunning and amazing in its own right. The two were written in conjuction with each other and it shows. The book offers far more insight than the movie - even to the point where the crazy ass ending makes perfect and logical sense. I gave it four stars and will definatly be picking up the sequels at some point.

The Wizard of Id (2 volumes) by Johnny Hart and Brant Parker

I don't even remember which two volumes I picked up, let alone what they contained. Found them while tidying the Man's stuff while doing so renovations. Won't be making that mistake again.

The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan

Defiantly a strong and enjoyable follow up to the Percy Jackson series. I may have even enjoyed this one a little more. With the characters being just that little bit older, I found them far more relatable and the connections formed with them just that little bit stronger. Definatly looking forward to reading more my Riordan.  I gave the series four stars over all.

Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo

Definatly the most movingly real and emotional book I've read so far this year.  I can definatly see why it's not only a classic but has been pulled from publication several times. No words can ever do this boom justice. It was dark and haunting and soul destroying. I loved it. Five stars

The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
I don't really know why I waited till I was nearly 30 to read these classic children's tales. I can see why they have endure through multiple generations. Only you a 3 star rating for the series as a whole though, there were definatly large weaker spots stack along side the whimsy.  And I rally did not like the ending. Just to have it all stop seemed weak some how.

William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back by Ian Doescher
The whole concept is a bit of fun.  Nothing new about the story,but enjoyable none the less. Four stars.

Undone by Paul Jennings
A pure walk done memory lane. When the man walked in with a copy of this...this icon of our childhoods, I knew I had to read it then and there.  It was still delightfully bizarre and uncanny-  just how I remembered.

Ilium by Dan Simmons
This one was odd to the point of uncomfortablness. I'm sure my workmates were beyond pleased when I finished this one.  Three story lines, so seemingly unconectable (aliens and the Trojan war?) all shoved together and forced in to whatbecameaseemless narrative. I surprised even myself when I gave this one fours stars. I couldn't stop reading it, no matter how much I sometimes wanted to. And I'm really glad I didn't.  It was sometime I have never seen before and really did enjoy it in the end.  I don't know that I will pick up these qualities though. It felt almost complete to me. But we shall see how I feel about that in the future.

Atlantis by Dave Gibbins
An archeological adventure story. Not much to say about it really. A three star airport read if nothing else.

The Winds of Darkover by Mario Zimmer Bradley
I've read these out of order and that always frustrates me. I probably would have liked it better if I new the back story

The Redemption of Althalus by David Eddings
A re read for me. Still as good as I remember, but then in my world Eddings can do no wrong. Four stars.

The Taking by Dean Koontz
Another reason read and my favourite Koontz book that I've read so far. Love the pacing and tension ever if it is a little heavier on the biblical themes. Very definatly a strong five stars.

The Return From Troy by Lindsay Clarke
Once again I'm guilty of reading out of order but this time I don't think a prequel would have changed my mind out disliking this one. While a retelling by its own nature is just rehashing an old story,  it would have been nice to have had something new added to the story.  A new approach maybe. But this was just more of the same.i love the Iliad and the Odyssey so this one was a disappointing.

The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz
The other non fiction book on this list. I don't think I should have delved deeper into this story. The idea that these men srivived not only a Russian gulag in northern Siberia, but also walked to India to gain their freedom was just mind blowing to me. Then I did some googling and discovered it may not be true. Don't know how to feel about this one anymore but I did give it four stars.

The Gunslinger by Stephen King
I first read King when I was 9,and while I have always been a mature Reader I think that may have been just a little young. I definatly remember enjoying the few books I read of his but I think the depth and complexity of his work got a little lost on me. Not any more. This short little owner to the Dark Tower series has relaunched a love of King books for me. Four stars.

Gone Girl by Gilian Flynn
Know I have to admit, I wasn't the biggest fan of the movie, but I figured enough time had elapsed that I could read the book without the movie clouding my judgement. And while it had,  and I didn't not enjoy the book, the characters were just hideous. I've never disliked every character in a book before, usually there is one I feel for at least. Not this time.

The Daylight War and The Skull Throne by Peter V. Bretton
Books three and four of the Warded Man series. This series started out so so strong and I find myself struggling with it more and more as it goes on. The characters you care about get relatively little page time while being forced to trudge through chapter after chapter of back story for minor players in the obviously based on Muslim m desert people. I will continue with this series, the story intrigues me, just a shame about the development of it. Four and three stars respectively.

It by Stephen King
A behemoth of a book but definatly well worth it. Creepy and dark and twisty - one of my favourites for this year by far.

The Starlight Crystal by Christopher Pike
This was another one of my childhood favourites that I found again just recently. I remember it being a lot bigger and a lot more complex than it turned out to be. Though I guess I was remembering it thought the eyes of a seven or eight year old. Still perfectly readable however, three stars.

The Book of Lost Things by John Connelly
I couldn't decide if this was a very dark YA book or if it just seemed that way because of the child narrator. I did really enjoy the very dark twists on the fairy tales but the rest of it was just okay, I enjoyed it but I already find myself forgetting. Three stars.

The Bachman Books by Stephen King
This was a collection of four novels that King wrote under the pseudonym Richard Bachman - The Running Man, The Long Walk, Roadwork, and Rage. I can see why King wanted some of these pulled from publication. They are gritty and raw in the way they deal psychological issues surrounding very American issues such as school shooting. I did really enjoy them though, they are wonderfully written. You are in these people's heads.  The Long Walk in particular was a favourite.

And finally...

The Terror by Dan Simmons
History merged with the supernatural. What more could you ask for. This one kept me turning pages - though I know the fate of the Franklin Expedition of 1845, I still needed to know what happened to the men. And the ending.... I was pleasantly surprised with that ending. 

Now I haven't included the comic in this,  because the are both on going series that I keep up with month to month. Sex Criminals by Matt Fraction and Wicked + Divine by Kieron Gillen.

Now that life is calming down a tiny bit, I'm hoping to do these baby reviews once a month so hopefully the don't gets as out of control as this one. If you've made it this far, we'll done and thank you so so much.

Till next time.

PS - I've been stitching again, just a little. I'll try and get a picture in the day light and update that side of things in the next couple of days.

June

Yes, June. And the end of June at that. That's a hard statement for me to process in more than one way. The last six months have both felt like an eternity and flown by simultaneously. I know I haven't been around in a while and I know I have already apologized for that (to be fair I probably will again), but hopefully now I am getting back to normality. 

Hopefully I'm not mistaken in that this time.

Hopefully.

I figure the easiest explanation will be to give you a run  down of all that's happened over the last five months. If you are only tuning in for stitching, then I'm not going to be at all offended if you quit reading here and carry on with you regularly scheduled day. Thanks for dropping by if that's the case, but truth be told I haven't actually been doing any stitching. Or any thing crafty at all.

Where to begin?

It all started in February - sounds like the start of some pulpy paperback doesn't it? But it did. The end of February when we found out my Nanna's cancer was back and that she was dying. So multiple trips too and from Christchurch and then just like that she was dead. And then her brother was dead too. And what support do I get from my father? A 30 second phone call. This was the woman who practically raised me and supported him through my parents separation  (despite being my mother's mother) and all I get is a measly 30 second phone call. I spent half of the funeral answering the question of where he was to people I barely knew.

But we survived the funeral and made it home safely. Only to find out that my boss had be covering my shifts because the idiot that usually covered me had been caught stealing money from the till. So it was back onto six day weeks through the long process of searching for a new person and getting them trained up. A process made longer since the powers that be decided that in light of this being the 11th person in this role, the obviously need longer training.

Which was fine. Extra money will never be turned down by me. So I get her trained up, and the bosses go away so I have to cover them. Then we have baking classes - move shift cover. I've had two two day weekends since easter and that's only due to public holidays. Well three if you count the sick day I took on Monday - because I got my self sick. Funnily enough. Next weekend I have a work trip to Auckland and then hopefully, HOPEFULLY like will go back to normal. 

Oh and the idiot that was stealing from us - 237 hours community service, 9 months supervision and reparations - why so much I hear you ask? Because the twat resisted arrested, punched and officer then threatened to kill said officer.

You think you know someone huh?

Like you would think that I know my dad after nearly thirty years. But apparently not. After the whole no show funeral thing I will admit, I was a little mad. I'm not now. I have officially hit the relms of not caring any more. All I ever wanted was to know that I was equal in his mind with my two (half) sisters. It's something that's been brewing for a while. They get given ipads, I get given towels (it not about the money, I don't even want an ipad), of the five houses I've lived in since moving out of home, he has never seen a single one. He can afford to take time off to go on cruises and to Australia and Fiji and the cook islands but can he spare a weekend to make a four hour drive to visit Dunedin? Nope. Apparently not. And then, thinking me mad at him, does he confront me himself? No, he works through my 14 year old sister (God knows what he's told them). When I do confront him, I get no response.

So apparently that's how it's going to be.

I just can't bring myself to care any more. Perhaps because I'm so tired from everything else. But it is what it is.

And to top it all off, I crashed my car the other day. Not badly, just clipped the roof on the corner of a trailer unit. But still.

But all this does mean that I have done absolutely no stitching, as I mentioned before. The brain fuzz kicked it and it's all I can do to stay awake when I'm at home, let alone do anything requiring concentration. Although, I did pick up a needle for a couple of hours today and boy did it feel good.

I have been reading however. ALOT. As you can probably see on the tickery this to the right there, I am 61% through my reading goal for this year - which is huge since this year, of the 46, only 12 are graphic novels, putting me at a whopping 15,078 pages - that's nearly 1000 more that the whole of last year already. And it's only June.

I think in a few days, I'll put together a post doing short reviews on them all. If not this week, then at the very latest in a fortnight time when I get back from Auckland. At least if their all in thier own post it can be skipped if no one is interested.

Hopefully that goes someway to explaining my absence. I really am sorry, I never intended it to go on so long. But life. 

If you stuck this rant out to here, we'll done. And also thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. The man listens to an extent, but he's to close to the situation to really let loose I guess.

I can't promise that I'll be back to regularly scheduled cross stitching anytime soon, but I do intend to be around more, and actually pick up the needle - even if it is only once a week.

So again, thank you so much for letting me vent and I'll be talking to you all again real soon.

Till next time. 

When Something Has to Give

Hullo all, yes I am still here and in the land of the living. Just. The last three months have been long.

I haven't abandoned my blog (again), I promise I am coming back. Soon. Today is the first Saturday in three months that I have been home before mid afternoon, I'll take today to relax I think and then next week we should be all back to normal with a 40 hour work week for the first time in for ever. That will also mean my head might actually be functioning enough to string together coherent sentences to update you all. 

Till then - I am still here. Promise.

rush rush rush

I've got a few minutes before I have to go to work (yes, on a Saturday still), so I thought I would use my coffee drinking time wisely to post a couple of pictures as proof I'm still alive and stitching.

The tartan cushion for my mum. It's harder going now that I'm working in the gaps. I glad hoped to have this done for mothers day, but given that's only a few weeks away I guess we shall see how I go. Maybe I'll work on it tonight after finishing the little bit of back stitching I have to do.

Joan Elliots The Astrologer. For some as yet unknown reason I thought the borders were going to be in a brighter gold. But this will work.

Brookes Books stitchers ABC'S - a is for aran. It looks more sweater like in the photo than in my hand I must say. This is the back stitching that I want to finish tonight after work. Part of my "secret" master plan which amazingly I haven't given up on yet.

Forward Momentum

Who new that there would ever be progress on this bad boy ever again.

A page finish on Dragon Tarot: the Lovers.

I'm a little bit proud of myself. Plus now that I'm looking at a photo, it actually looks like a tree, not a blob.

Wahoo!

Happy (belated) Easter

The schools here have started calling today "easter Tuesday" so maybe I'm not completely late. 

Regardless,  I do hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, whether you celebrate easter or not. We don't really, beyond having the four day weekend as an excuse to do absolutely nothing and not feel guilty about it. Or at least pretend to not feel guilty. Realistically I know that there are plenty of things around the house to be doing, but it's hard to get motivated to do them when the somewhat hoarder won't do his parts. But that's besides the point. We will just work on it being a peaceful lazy weekend and leave it at that.

Plus it was a weekend where I wasn't making a trip to Christchurch, so win!

Though I have to admit that not going to and from Mums place, my reading has slowed down. I am still working my way through the Narnia Chronicals. Finally on to the last one, but how I ever made it nearly 30 years without reading them in will never know.

The stitching bug is back in full force however. Which is surprising to me if I am being completely honest. Winter is coming you see. I can feel it in the hand is broke last year. The days are shorter, the mornings colder (we had our first frost over the weekend) and the evenings are darker. Daylight savings ends next week and I am not looking forward to the mid afternoon sunsets that that is bound to bring. 

But such as life. It's more that I haven't started going into hibernation yet, like I usually do that has me surprised. Maybe it's that I have slightly better light in the living room now. Slightly being the word. I long for the day when we are in our grown up house and these small trifles become less of a problem...

Stitching has happened though. And exciting stitching. I am trying something out. I don't want to share it just yet, for fear of jinxing the entire enterprise, but I'm excited about it and it (so far) has provided results. I promise to share when I'm more confident of it though. 

I got a page finish on my HAED. My first ever page finish on a HAED (or similar) pattern. And if that wasn't enough, I carried on and finished the partial page that was number two. 

TWO WHOLE PAGES. On a HAED! I'm so excited about that. I had talked myself into hating that style of stitching which had made me very sad. There are so many beautiful works of art out there that I was cutting myself off from.

On the theme of the full coverage beauties, tonight I dug an old 'friend' out of retirement. Dragon Lovers by Character Creations is a BAP that I have started and restarted repeatedly over the last.... gosh... 10 years? I finally restarted it yet again the year before last, this time on 20 count ivory aida. I got about two thirds of a page in, the banished it under the bed, never to see daylight again. I thought I'd give it a go though, with my new found understanding of HAEDs. Here's the starting point. 

It hasn't changed any worth mentioning tonight - bed and a book were calling far louder in the cold.

I also used the long weekend to catch up on my Pandora's Box piece by Liz Almond. I was a couple of parts behind and it was something I had been intending to keep up to date with.

Not bad for a week or so really. Admittedly not every week has such long stretches of down time, but still not bad at all. And I suppose I should make the most of it, since it's back to six day weeks for a little while. We do have the final two candidates for the job coming in for meet and greets with the team on Saturday,  so that's one step closers to get some control back over my job. It was something that was brought up at my yearly appraisal last week. All the things that are having to be left by the wayside while I pick up the slack of trying to hold down two people's jobs. But what are you going to do really. At least I got a pay rise.

I should probably stop rambling now though. Hope everyone has a fantastic week with lost of time for the things you love.

Till next time

Home Again

And with a new WIP.

The funeral went well, there was a good turn out and all that other jazz. The main thing is that I didn't drop the ashes (in a very old, post quake church that's a bigger achievement than you think, especially when your as clumsy as I am) and I remembered enough of the Lords Prayer to stumble my way through the first church service I've been to in about 20 years.

Go me.

20 years is also about how old my new WIP is. Mum used to cross stitch, back in the day. It was her that taught me. But she wasn't as keen - it hurt her eyes and gave her head aches. So she tried tapestry. Bought a couple of cushion kits that she like and started them. Only she never finished them. I have long finished all of her half started cross stitch project, so I figured if make a start on these too. 

Plus in my rush to catch my flight on Monday,  I forgot to pack a project and consequently got bored.

The one I decided to start on was the simplest of the two. Just a McKenzie Tartan cushion.

The idea, from what I can tell, is to tent stitch all the stripes one way then turn the fabric 90 degrees and fill in all the gaps by repeating the pattern but reversing the direction of the stitch. 

Figured I'd give it a go. What's the worst that can happen.

Progress...

....despite everything.

I am definatly longing for life to go back to some semblance of normal. Nanna's funeral is on Tuesday, so I fly back to Christchurch tomorrow night after work. Work is still back on six day weeks until we find some one to replace the thieving little idiot that is currently hiding from the police. Plus on top of everything, nanna's brother died six days after her. 

I did manage a couple of days stitching though, and boy did it feel good.

Heritage Stitchcraft, NZ Map, on 28 monaco, coffee dyed myself

I haven't done any of the bits inside the land - rivers, mountains and what not. I figured I would do all the coast lines first. But it is going quite a big faster than I had thought it would.

Hopefully by this time next week things will have settled a little and it will go even faster. I think I'm over the starting bug that hit me and am ready to finish something. 

Time

It's March!  Can anyone else believe that? How does that even happen?

Well, I guess I know how it happened, I just don't want to think very much about the month that's passed. Today was the first time in... gosh... almost two weeks, that I have picked up needle and thread. It's been THAT kind of month.

Before my brief and unplanned stitching hiatus I was doing quite well. I carried on some with the HAED that was oh so captivating.

I fully finished my Santa's - felted back and ribbon and everything.  

A big accomplishment for me. I tend to just shove every finish into a box. So as a reward I went on a starting binge. 

Joan Elliot Astrologer

Brookes Books stitchers ABC'S "a"

In The Company of Friends dark ABC'S "a"

I did a little more on Peg.

Brookes Books Peg the Plum Pudding Angel

And picked up my Chatelaine.

The back stitch was a killer

And then I went on holiday. And every thing changed.

While on holiday, we found out that my Nanna's cancer had returned and had infected every one of her major organs. Problems that everyone had put down to progressing dementia was in fact the spread of the cancer and so was only now being picked up after it was too late. The was on the 22nd of February. An emergency trip to Christchurch ensued, and last night, on March 3rd, she passed away, aged 85, in the company of her son and daughter. At peace at last.

And so between worry about my Nanna and my mums reaction to my Nanna, and then the work crisis of discovering my minion (the person who would usually cover my time off) had been stealing from the business.... I haven't been able to brain enough to stitch. Reading has seemed the safer bet. 

Upside I'm still ahead for my book goal this year.

And so, after all that, I picked up yet another new start, because why not really.

New Zealand Map by Heritage Stitchcraft

It'll more than likely be getting some love over the weekend. I had been planning to go up to Christchurch again tomorrow - organised time off and everything, only to find out the plans have changed and the funeral won't be till the end of the week.

And the man thinks that I am bad at organizing things. I learnt it from somewhere - just saying.

Ah well it is what it is I suppose. I just hope everything goes back to normal soon. My introvert brain is getting very discombobulated with all the coming and going. 

Hope everyone else has been having a better time of it.

Finding My Groove

So, I've never really "got" the deal with Heaven and Earth type patterns. Imean yes they are beautiful and yes I own a few but I've only ever made it a half a page in or so before getting frustrated and giving up. I even tried several techniques, several different combinations of fabric size and stitch type and thread count.... Nothing.  Always the same outcome - with is why I have the three UFO'S that I have.

Until now lady's and gents.

I started Stephenie Laws' Winter Labyrinthine story keep on a complete whim and I think I've finally found my "method" for these bad boys. 16 count aida,  two strands of thread full cross, front loop start and waste knot finish to the side. Mix of cross country and parking while working down a column. 

Definatly more than a little bit excited over here. The above picture - just two evenings work!

I did do a little more on my map over the weekend...

But the excitement over this HAED revelation is totally eclipsing that for me right now.

Field Trip

And I mean that in the literal sense.

Hullo all - its February now, can you believe that!? The speed of time regularly messes with my head like that. February means the students are all moving back and my piece and quiet is disappearing rapidly. Which is a shame really.  But until I can afford another house,  student neighbours will continue to be a fact of life.

Did get some peace on the field trip though. I think I briefly mentioned it last time as some kind of justification for potential lack of stitching. Which was a fairly accurate prediction. I got a few more stitches into Sleepy Hollow.

Few being the opprative word. I also restarted New World Map by Bucilla. 

This pattern is the reason I don't buy kits any more. I bought it off trade me, completely new and unopened. But it was not only missing two colours of thread but I would have been severely short on at least eight others - we're talking about running out before being half way through type of short. I tried contacting Bucilla but they didn't want to know anything about it so I had a tantrum and threw it in the ufo basket. Thought I'd restart it now that ie had time to calm down, plus it's fairly easy to follow for my post work weekday brain.

And that's it. Like I said. Not a lot of progress at all. The field trip was totally worth it though. Even if it did mean no break from my loud boisterous work mates for 48 hours (I love them really)

The bakery that I work at has very strong locavor ethics. We take pride in being able to trace out raw products to the source and that's what the trip was about.

We started here.

It's a farm just outside of Fairlee.  It grows this stuff.

Biscuit wheat

In multiple varieties.

Rye, biscuit and hard wheats

60% of the flour we use comes from these exact grains of wheat from this exact farm. The other 40% comes from a farm half an hour up the road. We then followed these grains the following day to the mill and watched them being made into the flour. But unfortunately I forgot to take my camera with me that time.

We also toured another bakery and and got the chance to pick some of these guys...

Again the berry farm is a supplier that we use. Finally we stopped off at the pig farm where all out pork product comes from and we were lucky enough to arrive at the right time to see this

These piglets had only been born an hour or so before we got there - the last one was born while we watched. It was amazing to see, even if it was in the back of everyone's minds that in 5 months time we will be serving these cuties as bacon, ham and pulled pork.

It was the size of the adults that stunned me.

This lady was nearly shoulder hight on me - and I'm 5 foot 6!

And so now after all that sun and farm air I am definatly ready to stay inside for the upcoming long weekend. Very definatly sunburnt and my nose is starting to peel.

Reading wise it's been a far better month. My total completions for the last 31 days is sitting at 15 books, and while eight of them were comics, I'm still beyond happy with over 2700 pages behind me going into the rest of the year. I have also almost finished book 16  - The Mark of Athena, the third book in the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan. Which I think I will return to now. While the last few weeks have been u seasonable cold, this week has been the opposite. High temperatures well and truly making up for lost time. Bakery work when it's in the mid 30s is not particularly pleasant,  but there is now a drafty cool breeze waiting for me to lie in it.

Till next time.

Where is Summer?

Hullo hullo everyone! Hope everyone is well and keeping warm - even those of you in the southern hemisphere - I know not everyone else suffers from black hole syndrome like those of us in Dunedin, but it has not been summery here - its been rainy and grey and miserable . I realise that when compared to the storm hitting the US, my lack of sun is a small problem.... but it's supposed to be summer!

Plus it's ruining the berry and stone fruit growing 😢.

The rain has been prime stitching and reading weather though, so I suppose that is a silver lining.  I finished 2001 A Space Oddyssey  (Dave was the space baby? How on earth did I miss that obviousness in the movie?!), and moved on to the Heroes of Olympus series. It's the follow up series to the Percy Jackson books and I have to say, a book in and I'm enjoying it more.

I have to admit, during the week days, I have been reading far more and not stitching. I don't know what it is but between the gross weather and the post christmas lull, work is just draining me. People (ie customers) just seem to be so much more.... stupid, I guess, after the Christmas  holidays. Like thier brains have overloaded and shut down for a spell - the number of times I've had to say something along the lines of "no, we cannot make you a whole wheat gluten free loaf" has gone past being a joke now. And don't even get me started on the people doing the paleo diet as their new years resolutions...

Sigh.

After all that, my own brain just doesn't want to. I did try to do a little stitching - I started one of my Brookes Books patterns but I only got a couple of lengths of floss in before I lost the will to count and went back to the books.

Peg the Plum Pudding Angel

Weekends have been more productive, even with disruptions thankfully. I worked last weekend, and eldest kid sister was in town for swimming again this week. But the Man has been working Sundays so disruptions have been balanced with alone time which is nice.

I FINALLY picked up Once Upon a Time again. It seems like forever since I worked on it. I got a little done before remembering that despite appearances this is actually a brain intensive piece. 

It will be lovely when it's finally done though. Plus I had forgotten how much I like the tea dyed monaco that I'm using.

As a reward for surviving all the stupid that's out there (it would seem that it's all still hitting nerves, though that could also be the sister visit), I thought I would reward myself with a new start that I didn't have to think about as much as Once Upon a Time.

Sleepy Hollow by Glendon Place. Worked on 32 count charcoal even weave. It's been just what I needed today after being reminded yet again that I am the forgotten sibling. As well as swapping the fabric for something more neutral, I have also swapped out the Carondelet Waterlily for a glow in the dark treasure braid. And I hate to say this, given how highly people speak of them, but I'm not liking the petite treasure braid. I prefer kreinik. It just keeps knotting on me. I mean, I'll keep with it for the sake of the moon here, but in the future,  I don't think I'll be buying it again. 

I feel like I should duck and cover for saying that. 

But then the sarky, currently bad tempered part of me reminds me that it's my hobby and I can do what I like. I don't like being bad tempered as a general rule, I just happen to do it really well (I'm blunt and honest by nature, so often come off as being a bit of a witch if you know what I mean...especially when teamed with an angry resting face) and I don't mean to wish away time, but I can't wait for the end of February. This comming weekend I have to survive an overnight work trip. As much as I love all my work brothers and sisters - they can be a bit full on (think ADHD children), and the introvert in me  doesn't know how she'll react stuck with them in a van for 48 hours. Then we have the over seas family invasion. Again, that could go one of two ways. But the last week of February, I have solely to myself and off work, and I think it will be just what I need to get me out of this funk I'm in.

Between now and then, I would like to apologize sincerly and deeply for any and all rants that I am likely to have about various things (I will spare you the one I just had about the sugar documentary we just watched). Nothing I may or may not say will be intended in any way shape or form to be offensive. But I can feel the bad juju brewing inside, and like I said - I'm blunt.  

And hopefully stitching will take the edge off. It usually does.

I think I'll leave it there for to night. I've hit the point of rambling. So, until next time 💚

Caught up...

....and now just waiting for the next part to be released.

Pandora's Box - Liz Almond

It's not perfect in the slightest, but who has time for perfection when Bowie is dead?

New Things

Hullo hullo everyone, hope the week has gone well all around. After only four days back at work, it doesn't bode well that I'm all ready trying to work out when I can take more leave but such is the never ending battle for those of us yet to win the lotto.

Like I  briefly mentioned the other day, I started Liz Almond's latest offering, Pandora's Box.

I was hoping to get completely up to date this weekend, since it looks like it back to six day work weeks for a little while, but these itty-bitty squares are more involved than I thought.

Several lessons have been learnt in doing this though.

1. Buying hand dyed threads on line is hit and miss. This is another Carries Creation floss and I had thought it was going to be a lot more purple than it is shaping up to be.
2. I don't like black work. Save the Stitches, as beautiful as it is, will never be being stitched by me. Black work  (to me at least, I know that plenty of people love it) is stressful and tedious and I just don't like it. 
3. DMC  satin floss isn't as scary as I thought.
4. I really love the effect of pulled thread work.

Not bad for a weekend. My MiL was amazed when I told her I'd only been working on this since Friday afternoon. Guess we are always going to be our own harshest critics when it comes to our crafts.

The rest of the week was taken up by reading. I wanted to finish Jurassic Park and after being back to work, that's all I felt up to. I did finish it, and surprisingly I really enjoyed it. I say surprisingly because even though I love the movie, it's the first of Michael Crichtons books that I've made it past the 50 page mark. 

I couldn't get over how different from the movie it was - but different in a good way. And I found the idea of science as the enemy really quite intriguing,  especially since I live with a scientist. Over all it was a 4 out of 5 for me.

Keeping with the movie adaptation theme, last night I picked up Arthur C Clarke's 2001 a Space Oddyssey. I'm enjoying it so far, but I'll keep you posted. I'm really hoping that the book sheds some light in that scene in the movie. You know the one. The whole acid trip into a bedroom bit near the very end. It took so many viewing for me to get that bit.

I just wish that I could read as fast as I can stitch. Or maybe I could if I sacrificed movies and time with the man. And I don't want to do that. Then I'd miss both him and fantastic movies like Pixels. It's brilliant. If you like 80 s nostalgia then I strongly recommend it.

And now it's Sunday night and it's back to the real world again tomorrow. Maybe I can get some more book done tonight while the man watches his weird indy movie.

Till next time.

First Real Start

Hullo hullo how is everyone today - well I hope.

Decided yesterday that after days of not stitching, I would start something new. Liz Almond has a new part by part piece out - Pandora's Box. I never did Save the Stitches or Box of Delights - while both beautiful, I don't know about that much blackwork... this one appealed though.

Just working on the boarder before starting on the three blocks that have been released. Turns out I like pulled thread work.

And I mean REALLY like.

Go figure.

It's become an obsession, so until next time.

Twice in One Day

Hullo again all. Twice in one day - how crazy is that. It's entirely possible that I'm taking  advantage of he last day before heading back to work. Oh what joy that will be after ten days of stitchy peace.

I would first like to apologize to a couple of you. My tablet decided that I actually was meaning to click when I was swiping and deleted a few comments. I feel horrible for that mistake and would like to thank you all for taking the time to make a comment and I am so sorry that I am technologically incompetent.

Back to business. I finished another piece today. That's seven finishes in the 10 days I've been off work. That blows my mind. And not only was it a finish today, it was a finish of my oldest WIP.

Dragon ABC'S, on an off white 18 count aida, stitched with DMC. I have no idea where the pattern came from. The Internet somewhere I imagine. It was started way back in 2013 when I was trying to get my then flatmate interested in some form of hobby - any kind. She was always complaining that she was bored. If I remember rightly, she wasn't overly amused by my telling her that being bored showed lack of imagine. But even so any attempt she made a anything never lasted any more than a day before the complaints started up again. So I started burying myself in my own (then) forgotten craft.

I know that such a simple piece shouldn't have taken near on three years, but fractional stitches. I really hate fractional stitches. Especially on aida. And this has a whole bucket ton of fractional,  then since I didn't know any better, aida was what it was on.

Procrastination at its finest.

To be fair, I'm not sure how I got it finished today either. Not with the movies we watched. It's been grey and rainy and decidedly unsummer like the last couple of days, so a movie marathon was justified between the two of us. Some of them were bust, but if you like off beat, foreign/indy movies and think pieces then I really highly recommend the four we watched today.

The 100 Year Old Man Who Jumped Out the Window and Disappeared. A hysterically  charming Swedish Forest Gump like tale.

Into The White - a Norwiegen WW2 story about British and German solders helping each other survive after shooting each other out of the sky's

The Sunset Limited - another fantastic Cormac McCarthy adaptation with a cast of two 

And

The Road Within - a road trip movie with tourettes and OCD

Reading subtitles and cross stitching - that takes determination lol.

But it's back to the real world tomorrow and I honestly have no idea what that will bring. Hopefully nothing to stressful. But I guess we shall see. Probably not as many finishes if nothing else. Never mind. I was good while it lasted.

Till next time.

The First of (hopefully) Many

Morning everyone, just a quick moment to say..... SHE'S DONE!!

Joan Elliots The Reader,  on 32 count ivory even weave. Done and dusted. Hopefully she's the sign of how this year is going to pan out.

Till next time.

False Start

Happy 2016 everyone! Hope you all survived whatever festivities you partook in (if any). I'm not a big one for parties anymore. I used to be when I was a teenager and my first few years at uni. But people change. I saw in the new year reading my book, in bed (new start for the new year of course). Living the life, that's me. And I don't even care if that makes me sound old lol.

In the spirit of all good things, I did also attempt to make a new stitchy start when I finally ventured into the waking world. The call of reading Jurassic world in bed in the sun was too great, so it was a much later start than normal. And to be honest I have no idea what I was thinking with that attempt of a start. I as going to go with We Are Geeks from Paine Free Crafts - a chart that I have adored since I saw it on another blog. But for some strange reason I thought it would be a good idea to do it on 40 count linen.... one over one.

Clearly that was a case of temporary insanity.

I got a letter and a half in before throwing it across the room in frustration and going down to the public to have a beer with a good friend. That led to sunburn, but what ever. Side note, the beer that we were drinking was called Velvet Worm, it's a local craft brewery, and while beer is not usually my poison,  I'm very glad I got suckered I  by a silly name.

I tried it again this morning, this time on a 32 count lugana - I think the fabric is a keeper this time, but within half of the first letter the floss was a tangled mess, so I've taken it as a sign that this piece is not destined for right now.  So it got frogged and put back in the 'to start' pile and I went for a walk to the farmers market to calm down.

And farmers market in January - you know what that means? No?

These

Central Otago has got to be THE best place for cherries. Well, stone fruit in general, but it's only the first week for the rest so it's not at its best just yet. Give it time. Since Central Otago is right on my door step, and since I work a lot at the farmers market, I gorge myself on fruit at this time of year.

Bliss. Absolute bliss.

And with all that happy,  I felt up to putting The Reader back on the frames.

The border of doom is getting close to being done. I'm on my fifth spool of Krienik now, so I guess the floss usage guide was a little wrong. Here's hoping that I can get her finished before I go back to work.

Which is only a few days away. It's been very nice being lazy and on holiday. A girl could get used to it. But I'll worry about that on Tuesday. For now I think I will take advantage of night finally falling and the temperature finally dropping and go continue with the adventures of Alan Grant and friends. The man did warn me that it was very different to the movies but it's exciting and fascinating to discover just HOW much different it is.

Until next time.