We're all going on a summer holiday,....

Tonight is my last free night before we head off, so I thought I'd post a WIP photo of Ladye of the Castle. I am not sure I really like how the colours are coming together in this one, but it may grow on me more as I get further down the bands.



Thanks for all the comments on my last post. I'm well over the flu now, thank goodness. We have a lot of travelling ahead of us so I'm glad I got it when I did, and not this week! Jane asked where I'm off to on my trip - first stop is balmy, tropical Singapore. OH and I are very fond of Singapore, so we're looking forward to the return visit. We're then off to England and Northern Ireland to catch up with friends and family. We also have a 7 night stay in Cyprus, and a few days down in the Republic of Ireland. Then back to work for a rest, methinks! :0)

It was my birthday yesterday... boy they come around quick these days! OH gave me a 1GB memory card for my digital camera. I'll be able to get about 400 photos on it - very cool. I also got lots of other lovely pressies including garden vouchers, a panini maker, some money (which I'll use after the trip for some stash, of course!), clothing, chocolates, chocolate truffles (yum!), an ornamental tile to hang on the wall etc. Very spoilt.

Well, I hope you'll all be stitching your hearts out while I'm away so I have lots to read and comment on when I get back. Take care everyone!

Ladye of the Castle

I ended up starting this cute sampler, and this is my progress so far. Unfortunately, I've been in a flu-enduced haze this week and can't for the life of me remember what day I started it.



I think I've been stung on TradeMe (like Ebay). I sent a lady a cross stitch chart before she paid for it, and now she's not communicating and not paying (she's had the chart a month). She paid promptly for a previous auction, which was what probably lulled me into a false sense of security. I even suggested she send it back if payment was a problem. Still no response. There's a lesson in this for any stitcher trying to destash - DON'T be trusting (put your business head on). Unfortunately, not everyone out there is as nice and well-meaning as our fellow bloggers. Sad but true.

I'll get over it though... and fast - 'cos I'm off on holiday in just over a week. Wippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!

Wildflowers

I received my Countrystitch Rainbow Club fabric today - 'Wildflowers' from the Kiwi Patches range. I hadn't seen this colour before, so I felt like Gollum when I opened up the package and saw it gleaming at me 'my precious'. LOL. Now I was going to say it was my favourite fabric yet, but on second thoughts... they've all been really gorgeous colours and I imagine I'll be sticking with the Rainbow Club for quite some time to come.

Here's the photo from the Countrystitch website. It is far more subtle and pretty than this in real life.



Kim asked about where the Ladye of the Castle sampler comes from. It can be found in the June 2006 issue of Just Cross Stitch.

Flippin' felines...

I don't know what the vet prescribed Tess at the vets on Monday (she was in a scrap on Saturday night), but I'm sure it wasn't just an antibiotic. Look what she has just started doing.... grrrrrrrr. Sure the house needs redecorating from top to bottom, but the wallpaper in the hallway WAS half reasonable for the time being. I'm still struggling to see the funny side of this one.



It's been a wet and wild week in Wellington with lots of rain, land slips and traffic chaos. The worst of the rain is over, but they're still struggling to keep the hillsides up. Oh well, it's been great stitching weather and I've made some good progress on Damask Roses.



I pulled out my threads and fabric last night to see what I needed to stitch this cute 'Ladye of the Castle' sampler. To my surprise all I needed was three skeins of thread, which I promptly bought today. I am not sure when I'll start it, but it's good to know I've got everything on hand to get going when the mood takes me. I did notice one annoying thing about this sampler though - it is missing two letters of the alphabet. I guess it is probably some historical thing but it's enough to annoy this modern girl. LOL.



Hi Tara - Thanks for your comments. The stitched piece in my 8 June post is my own adaptation of the 'Summer' sampler in Jo Verso's book 'Cross Stitch Year'. I had to leave out a number of other pretty bands out so it would fit the size requirement for the exchange.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Love whales?

Then please sign the petition at Whales Revenge The link was forwarded to me by Margaret

They are hoping to get 1 million signatures, and one day end the barbaric slaughter of whales.

Wahooo Winter

After the fog cleared this morning it revealed a beautiful, warm day. Winter isn't all bad. (You can click the photos for a larger view).



I don't think Meg has made an appearance on my blog for some months, so here she is enjoying today's mid-Winter sunshine in her favourite spot on the fence (it's great for bird and lizard watching!). I can't remember if I mentioned that Meg has joined the elitist club... she's now a gold star cat door user too. Giggsy shows no interest and runs away if he thinks he's going to be shoved through it. LOL.



Meg's shadow is usually found lurking in the garden beneath... yup, it's Tess! As you can see she's getting quite chubby, which we'll have to work on fixing later in the year. Her growing physique has lead to her latest nickname - Bubble! She's got a very petite frame but a very round middle... it's like someone has pumped her up with a bike pump.



OH went to bed early-ish last night (so he could get up at 3am to watch football), so I watched one of my favourite movies (Shall We Dance) and stitched until after midnight. It was great and I made some good progress on Damask Roses. Thanks for your comments on the last WIP update :-)

Hope you're all having a great stitchy weekend.