One Week Down

Hullo Hullo all. Hope the first week of 2017 has seen you and yours well.

We seem to be (touch wood). The man had a cold for the actual big day of new years, but he's on the mend, and Mumbai is claiming to be feeling a little better so that's a plus. My only complaint is muscle pain, but that is self inflicted so I can't be too loud about that.

The bosses bought a new cafe just before Christmas,  so the last two afternoons after work, instead of coming home, I've been down there helping them paint. And don't while I am on my feet for nine hours a day with little consequence, painting walls is a whole different bunch of muscles - ones that are now making themselves VERY known.

I did make time for some all important stitching though - the long holiday weekend certainly helped with that. I decided against doing a new year, new start this year. I have far more WIPs than I am really comfortable with at the moment, but I did change out which one I was working on as a kind of homage to the idea.

So, I pulled this bad boy outta the storage box. I hadn't worked on it in a really really long time. Nearly a year I believe. I hated the fabric. It's one of those stupidly cheap kits from China stitched on a 11 count Aida.  The Aida is so stiff and so... the holes are far smaller than they probably should be for such a wide weave of fabric - if that makes any sense. It would pop out of any hoop I tried to use and I'm not big into sticking in had so the whole process became unbearable, leading to the projects banishment to the storage box.

But I bought myself a little birthday present. A quantum frame. And I am in love with it. It holds that tricky fabric nice and tight so this cute little bird heart project won't become a UFO after all!

Next up I did a little more on a HaED.

This now marks the half way point for this one. I am hoping to make more of an effort on my full coverage pieces this year. There's more I want to start, but I don't think it's a good idea for me, personally, to start another without making some forward process first. I completely admire all of you that have so many projects going at once. I can say I have tried, but it's starting to stress me out a little.

Finally I pulled another out this week that hasn't seen the light of day since last January.

I do still really like this piece, I had legitimately forgotten that I had started it. The only problem I have with it that can possibly explain my absence of mind with it is that, because I've in a fairly dark house with poor poor lighting, I can only work on it for so long before my eyes don't want to any more. I won't be forgetting about it again however. It is lovely, and does come together quite quick.

Reading wise, I have just started 'Salems Lot by Steven King. Not far through it yet, but I do love King. Goal wise I have stuck with 75 again, despite my whopping 101 for 2016. I think that was a fluke of circumstance and I really do hope do get more stitching done this year so 75 it shall stay.

No long weekend this week, in fact it's the opposite I have market shift, so I'll only get Sunday to really rest. So not as much will get done this week, but that's okay. There is plenty of year left.

Until next time

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 💚