Tuesday, May 27, 2008

My day in photos

I thought I'd document my day with the camera (I've seen it done on a couple of blogs and thought it would be fun.



My day

Not all my days are as busy as this one, thank goodness :)

Thank you also for the well wishes for DS - he's just fine and back at school today!

Monday, May 26, 2008

Quick WIP Update

DS woke this morning saying his throat was still hurting so I kept him home from school again. I suspect he would have been fine to go but under my dragon-like exterior I really am a softie :)

Anyway, here is the current state of play of a couple of projects I've been working on recently ...

Wiehenburg 2008 Quaker Mystery SAL

I'm still quite a ways behind on the Quaker Mystery but the summer holidays are fast approaching and I expect I will get quite a bit done then. We have no real holiday plans at this stage - may go away for a couple of weeks in August if we can find someone to look after the dog.

After much dithering and dathering I finally started on Periphaeria's Mystery Spanish Sampler - I was planning to use a HDF silk but couldn't decide which one I liked. In the end I decided to use DMC Colour Variations #4210, one strand over one thread on black 25 count lugana. Yes, I'm insane!

Periphaeria Designs Spanish Sampler Mystery 2008 SAL

Off to check on the patient - told him he is well enough to do some revision but I don't think much of that is happening!

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Wow, thank you ...

for all the lovely comments about my latest ornament finish - I really appreciate them :) It was nice to see quite a few new visitors too - welcome and thank you for visiting my blog.

I have been remiss in posting lately (actually can't believe it has been quite as long as it has!) - things have been a little busy around here of late.

The painters turned up on Mother's Day (11 May) to finish off the interior paintwork. They did a great job and I'm very happy with the results, and only in two days - very impressive! It took me longer than that to put everything back in place! DD's room however I had to re-arrange differently. It actually looks better and has opened up her room and given her more space so it was worth doing :)

DH has been away for a week, back for a weekend, away again for ten days, back for a week, away again and there is at least one more trip in the works after this current one. He was also ill with a bad cold for the week that he was back so was working from home for a couple of days as well.

This weekend has been DS's turn to come down ill with a sore throat and bad ear ache. I kept him home from school today and took him to the doctor - he's now on antibiotics plus ear drops and I have to take him back to the doctor in a couple of days to check on the ears. There's a flu bug and a nasty tummy bug (one of DS's friends is currently off school with that) going around at the moment although I think the trip we had to Dreamland (water park) a week and a half ago may have had something to do with DS's current ailment. I think he's also trying to wangle another day off school tomorrow as he wss complaining that his throat was hurting before he went to bed which was the first time he'd complained all day! I'll see what he's like in the morning - he has exams coming up next week so I don't want him to miss too much school and revision work.

DD is preparing for her tap dance exam and dance award ceremony so we've had extra lessons and costume fittings etc. The exam is this week and the ceremony is the following week - busy times :) After the summer looks to be even busier as she wants to start up ballet again and maybe modern or Irish dance plus tap! Our girl does love to dance :) I think I'm going to have to limit her to tap and one other mode of dance though otherwise she'll just be overdoing it. Did I mention the piano and tennis lessons that are squeezed in there somewhere as well?

I have been stitching and I do have some pics to share - I just need to take a couple more and then upload them. It is quite late at night right now and therefore not great conditions for taking pics of needlework. Tomorrow!

Thank you again!

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

May Ornament

Another one done for the 2008 Christmas Ornament Challenge!

Quiet Night by Erica Michaels Designs - JCS 2007 Ornament Issue
Detail

"Quiet Night" by Erica Michaels Designs
JCS 2007 Ornament Issue


Stitched on Polstitches "Welsh Mist" (Dragon Shades) 28 count Jazlyn with DMC threads. Subbed the called for Rainbow Splendor with two strands of Dinky Dyes' "Icicle" stranded cotton (I'm pretty sure this was from a collaboration pack) and one strand of Petite Treasure Braid.

This ornament is quite large as it should have been stitched on a 40 count linen but the Welsh Mist was the perfect colour and it was already in my stash :) The construction side of things was a little challenging but I think it turned out reasonably okay :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Monthly Finishing Challenge for May

I recently joined the Monthly Finishing Challenge blog and May's challenge was a biscornu.



The chart, fabric and silk ("Frosty") are all from the 2008 Limited Edition Winter Pack from Dinky Dyes. The beads I had in my stash (MH02017 "Ice").

Saturday, May 03, 2008

I love Boursin!

Boursin cheese that is :)

With a few simple ingredients ...



and fresh Taglitelle pasta



The kids and I sat down to this for dinner tonight ...



Clearly went down a treat :)

Friday, May 02, 2008

Calling in the cavalry!

Yep, DH wants me to call the guys that painted the outside of our house last week and get them to finish off the inside.

I think I mentioned before that the walls are quite high in the rooms that are left to paint and I can just barely reach the top. DH is going to be away for work quite a bit over the next coming weeks so I guess the last thing he wants to be doing when he is home is climbing up and down a ladder finishing off the painting.

I probably also shouldn't have told him about the little tumble off the ladder I had when I was painting the hallway either?! It wasn't serious - a couple of bruised knees and an elbow. I just stepped back off the ladder when I thought I was on the last step when in actual fact I was on the step above it - oops :)

Anyway, I've requested a quote and should have that in the next day or two.

Oh, and I finished the stitching on my May ornament tonight too. Will post a pic when I've finish-finished it :)

I'm off to make a start on my biscornu for the Monthly Finishing Challenge.

Enjoy your weekend!

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Doing my bit for DMC :)



Thank you all for the lovely compliments on my recent ornament finish. This is only the second pinkeep I've made and I decided to lace both the stitched piece and backing fabric this time, rather than use glue on the backing fabric like I did for my first one. I'm really pleased with how it turned out :)