Spring

It's most certainly not Spring here in the Southern hemisphere, but I recently participated in a spring/Easter exchange on the Stiched with Love exchange blog.

As yet, I do not know who my partner was but a big thank you to the stitcher who sent me this wonderful exchange.

A lovely wall hanging -



And a fantastic bunch of extras (a cute bunny chart, the threads to stitch it, ribbons, buttons, fabric and some fat quarters). Talk about being very spoilt.



I haven't heard if my exchange has been received and I know the person I sent to reads my blog, so I won't say who I stitched for at this stage but this is what I stitched and sent -



I am currently stitching a very cute design for my baby, which I hope to finish and share very soon. In my last post I mentioned I'd had some flutterings which I thought might be the baby kicking - now I am in no doubt. DH has had his hand kicked too, which he thought was pretty cool.

I am currently on leave from work and we have just come back from four days up north in Taranaki visiting family. One of the nights we spent away was in a small township called Mokau, and this is the view from the deck of the bach we stayed at - in the distance is Mt Taranaki. Like with all good trips away, it was over too soon!



Hopefully I'll get some time with the rest of my leave from work to do some stitching.

Happy stitching everyone!

Howdy strangers :)

It has been a while since I last blogged, so here I am with an update!

First up some new Just Nan bunny stash arrived recently. I wasted no time ordering them after nearly missing out on the limited edition Christmas mouse at the end of last year. lol.



I also got two small WIPs finished up recently. First up is the stitchery I had started over Christmas. (You wouldn't believe it, but I did actually iron it before taking the photo)! I quite enjoyed the process, but it will definitely take more practice to round corners nicely.



The other design is Lil' Jack and the Kitty from Bent Creek. Even my DH commented what a cool piece this was. I have to say it was the worst kit I have ever used though, as it was seriously short on thread (which wouldn't have been too much of a problem usually, but it was DMC Pearl Cotton 5 which I don't usually stitch with). It would put me off buying Bent Creek kits in future.



I participated in the Hop into Spring exchange recently, and can't wait to show you what was sent and received. Thank you to my mystery stitcher - what a super package. :-) I can't wait to find out who you are to thank you properly.

I am sorry if you have sent me an email in the last four months and haven't received a reply. I had to create a Gmail address to sign up to Nicola's Scarlet Letter blog last year, and it seems all emails started getting sent to that address instead of my main email. I will be checking both in future! :-)

Baby update - everything has been going really well. The only problem I have right now is staying awake in the evenings :-) (hence the lack of blogging and stitching). At the beginning of February I had a midwife appointment and heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time. That was very cool and special! I think I may have felt the baby move a few times, but I am not entirely sure. The baby also has a room full of 'stuff' (clothes, toys etc) already - and DH and I have hardly bought a thing! I haven't managed to stitch anything for the baby yet, but I have some time off coming up and the Easter break so maybe I'll get some stitching for the little one done then.

Hope you have a lovely, stitch-filled weekend!

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Special deliveries

I have been a little absent from stitching and blogging for a while now. I haven't been feeling my best for a few months because I am expecting a very important delivery later in the year! So let me introduce you to my latest work in progress (which I'm calling my little thumb sucker!) :-)



I have managed to put a few more stitches into Freelove Hazard when I haven't been unmotivated/feeling seedy/horizontal/napping. I am so loving this sampler and the over one (now I didn't think I'd ever say that!).



Onto other special deliveries... I recently hit the stitchy jackpot on Nicola's Scarlet Letter blog. Will you look at the size of this fabric 39" by 55" (1m by 1.4m) (even my DH's eyes bulged when he saw the size of it, lol)! Wow, I am going to have so much fun with that! Thank you again Nicola, not only for the amazing prize but coming up with the idea of the Scarlet Letter blog and getting people stitching.



On the same day the fabric from Nicola arrived, some stash I ordered appeared too. It is Violet's Blue by Blackbird Designs. I fell in love with this design as soon as I saw it. I don't think I'll start it anytime soon though, I seem to have a few too many WIPS on the go and need to get some finished up.



We are having an amazing run of weather at the moment. A high is sitting over Wellington and it is blue sky day after blue sky day, and is expected to continue on until mid next week. It certainly makes our nation's capital look stunning.



I think Meg must have been catching a breeze in the woodshed, she lay here quite contented for ages!



Hope you're keeping cool (or warm)... depending on where you are in the world!

Freelove Hazard 1792

My aim for January was to get started on my sampler for Nicola's Scarlet Letter challenge. In the last few days I have done just that and have made a little progress.

Now I have to say when I studied the chart prior to stitching I was slightly nervous about all the over one stitching. It is not my favourite thing to do, and in the past I sometimes haven't even cared for the actual look of over one stitching. However, I have made a start and am actually enjoying it and I love the look of it in this sampler.



While I am here, I thought I would share a couple of other photos. Here is my bunny Charlie. He's a lively, happy little fellow. I am not entirely sure my other bunny Cola is very smitten with him (I think he preferred Tiggy's affectionate and gentle nature, rather than Charlie's "lets play" attitude lol) - but there has never been any aggression between the two boys, and they do get lots of exercise running around their enclousre.



For the flower lovers amongst you. This year in my wildflower garden I decided to plant some old fashioned favourites - dahlias, gladioli, foxgloves, hollyhocks etc. While there isn't actually too much flowering at this stage, my "Uncle Hankey" dahlia has this gorgeous bloom on it. Hopefully the other flowers won't be too far behind.



Hope you are having a lovely weekend and getting lots of stitching time in.

Happy new year

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year. 2013 is shaping up to be a great year, but it is back to work on Monday after two weeks off work. While that is a bit of a drag there are plenty of public holidays to look forward to at this time of year (the first being just two weekends away).

I had lots of stitching plans for my time off work, but they haven't really eventuated due to feeling unwell for most of the break. I did pull out a kit I have had in my stash for a few years and put a few stitches in when I've felt up to it over the last few days. I am enjoying it so far and will finish it as a small pillow when done. It is my first attempt at a stitcheries kit, so I have a lot to learn about making nice curves with back stitch.



Before Christmas my Freelove Hazard sampler kit arrived for Nicola's Scarlet Letter challenge. I hope to make a start on it this month.



Christmas Day was a stinker of a hot day at 33 degrees Celsius (about 91 degrees Fahrenheit). Luckily the other nice days we've had haven't been quite that hot, so we've been having some trips out to different beaches and scenic spots. The water was even warm when we paddled our feet in it!







We took a trip to the zoo the other morning. I won't bore you with all the animal photos, but thought I'd share this baby chimp which was way too cute!



Have a great weekend!

Phoebe's 2012 Christmas ornament

I finally settled on Just Nan's Christmas mouse for Phoebe's 2012 ornament. I was a bit worried about the finishing, and although it's not perfect, it was easier than expected. I was quite chuffed with the result...





I nearly missed out on getting this limited edition kit. I dithered a while, and once I made up my mind I had trouble tracking down somewhere that still had it in stock. Luckily I found an ONS that had it, it arrived quickly and I managed to get it stitched, finished and delivered with time to spare before Santa arrives next week.

Of course, the first thing Phoebe (who is three and a half) did was pull the pin out of it. LOL.

Hope you are enjoying the lead up to Christmas. Two days of work to go before a nice two week break - and summer has arrived, we've had some glorious weather lately. I hope it sticks around.



Merry Christmas!

Freelove Hazard 1792

I am sure most people know about Nicola's new Scarlet Letter Year blog and challenge by now. What a cool idea to inspire others to get stitching and celebrate her milestone birthday coming up in February! (If you haven't come across the blog yet, you can find it - here)

After many hours perusing the internet, I finally decided to stitch Freelove Hazard 1792. I have the kit on order and can't wait for it to arrive.



I didn't want to pick a seriously large piece (Dorothy Walpole for example, which is my absolute favourite) until I finish my Growing Like a Tree sampler.

The Freelove Hazard sampler seems a little more poignant and meaningful regarding the brevity of life after spending Tuesday evening in the A&E ward of the local hospital. My sister was in a serious car accident, and is really lucky to be alive. Thankfully she is not one flower who is going to wither - but hells bells, it shocked everyone to the core. Even though she is going to be OK, it is really difficult to stop thinking about the details and what could have been.

Oddly, my last words to her that morning were 'You should get Dad to drive you today' (I was sick on Tuesday and I usually drive her to work in my car). She said 'Nah, I'm happy to drive'.

As someone has said to me since, you never know what is going to happen five minutes from now and it is so true. So remember to make the most of the days you are given, your loved ones... and your stitching time! :-)

Catching up

Thank you for those who took the time to leave some kind words on my last post about my bunny Tiggy. She is still much missed, and it is hard to believe she has gone forever.

You may know that rabbits form strong bonds and bonded pairs should never be separated, so it wasn't really surprising that Cola was looking a little lost and sad himself. So Cola, DH and I hopped along to an animal rescue centre and let him run around with a little grey friendly bunny who my Mum (the animal welfare officer) thought he might get along with. The meeting went reasonably well and a few days later home came Charlie. He is a dutch dwarf and about the same age as Cola.

Charlie is such a happy little bunny. He and Cola are not yet firm friends, but they are getting there slowly. Here is a photo of Charlie and Tess (who can't get enough of rolling around in the hay!).



I'm currently working on three projects - Old Nantucket, Lil' Jack and the Kitty and Growing Like a Tree. There's no photo of Old Nantucket, as the photo I took looked horribly wrinkly. But here are pics of the other two (both modelled by Meg).





We recently had a royal visit. The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall made a short trip to Wellington. So I popped along to the waterfront in my lunch break and got to see them. They were quite close, but surrounded by people.



Here is what they came to see - wakas (Maori canoes). As they paddled off they sang/chanted a waiata. It was very impressive!



Back in October we had a lovely long weekend at the beach. We own a business with my BIL, SIL and a friend. It has become a bit of a tradition to go away together each Labour weekend (we jokingly refer to it as the Annual General Meeting). DH and I were the first to arrive on the Friday night, and while we waited for the others to get there we walked along the beach. On our way back the sun was starting to go down so we lingered a while and were rewarded with this beautiful sunset.



The weather here has been great this weekend, I think summer is finally getting here. Yesterday my DH did an aerobatic flight where he got to 'enjoy' loop de loops, barrel rolls, weightlessness and speeds of 260 km an hour while plummeting towards the sea out at Kapiti. He LOVED it. My husband is pretty fearless (I am sure that is not normal, lol) and he thoroughly enjoyed himself. Although, I have to say he did look pretty pale on his return and the colour only returned to his cheeks after a stop at a cafe for coffee and a muffin. Luckily they go out over the sea to do aerobatics so I didn't have to watch, so I just got to take this bad pic on my mobile while he and the instructor took off.



I will finish up with a photo of my niece Phoebe (now three and a half), since I haven't shared one for a while. I bought her a book recently 'cool' she said and then threw it to the side, quickly followed by 'have you still got Tom on your phone' (the Talking Tom app!). She forgets nothing and knows how to use an iPad (including keying in the number password!).



Hope your weekend is going well!

Goodnight Miss Tiggy

I adopted Tiggy back in 2008. I had, had my eye on another rabbit - a black one with a curly coat, but it got rehomed before I made up my mind I definitely wanted to adopt another animal.

I had seen Tiggy - a white rabbit with black eyeliner, and a tilted head (this can be caused by strokes, stress or viruses) - and having a soft spot for animals and worthy causes decided wholeheartedly I needed to adopt this bunny!

I couldn't bring her home straight away as we needed a cage. So my DH built her a nice big run. (He still reminds me that what I thought would cost us $100 to build, ended up costing closer to a $1000).

Luckily DH was onto it quick smart, and adoption day soon arrived. As I left the animal rescue centre a gruff staff member said to me 'she'll only last six months'. Tiggy was busy scratching around in the carry cage, so I retorted 'well she seems pretty lively to me'.

I can't remember how long it took, but her head tilt soon disappeared and we got to know what she liked and what she didn't like. She loved sultanas and would eat them out of your hand, she loved the cat tunnel my sister gave her (she loved being in it, under it, running through it) and if she didn't like where you put it she would move it. She didn't like normal carrots, but loved baby ones. Spinach was out, but lawn/garden weeds, mesculin salad and silverbeet were all in. She didn't like lino or wooden floors and needed towels put down or she just wouldn't move. She didn't mind when the cats jumped in her house, and if she was indoors she would give them a bit of a dust up (although they were safe if they stayed away from the towels).

I spent a lot of time worrying about Tiggy - was she too hot, was she too cold, was she happy, was she bored, was she lonely, did she want/need a friend or would that upset her.... so I always tried to do what was best for her.

Eventually I adopted Cola. It took a little while for them to get to know one another - but they had good fun chasing one another around the cage and through the cat tunnel. They loved to snuggle and would fight as to whose nose went underneath (obviously warmer and more comfy) and whose nose went on top.

On the cold nights when I would bring them in to their indoor cage, they would do what I would call the 'hot cross bun'. Tiggy would lie stretched out and Cola would lie across her forming a cross shape. It was very cute!

I took great pleasure in the fact Tiggy had been written off as only having six months to live, but had continued on and on. I always knew she would pass away eventually, but it didn't occur to me that would be anytime soon.

So I was very sad and shocked to find my sweet little bunny had passed away on Monday afternoon. Now that the tears have started to dry, I realise more than ever that I'm so glad to have had her in my life.

Tiggy will always be my first bunny love and never forgotten.