Stitching? What's that?

I've been very busy lately, so there hasn't been a whole lot of stitching going on. I've been spending nearly all of my time working on a 'this is your life' computerised-slide presentation (in Windows movie maker) for my Dad for the past week... he turns 65 today. Here he is as a little tyke -



Here's a little ditty I emailed him -

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
You've just turned sixty-five-vvv
But, don't look a day over twenty-two!

We've got him an iPod Nano and iTrip so he can listen to music in his Jaguar, without having a car stereo installed.

I would say I'm looking forward to getting back to my stitching, but Mum turns 60 on 19 Dec so I think I'll do her a presentation too! (At least now I'm experienced there shouldn't be too many more hissy-fits! LOL).

I'm glad some of you enjoyed the links to the squillions of cross stitch freebies.

Hope everyone is stitching up a storm! I'm off to my Dad's party in a few minutes, so have a good weekend everyone.

Mirablia fans...

I see the 2006 freebie cherub is out... click here and go to 'free designs'.

Here is another link I found with masses of links to other freebies... click here

Happy browsing!

The blinkie says it all....

The view from the lounge window earlier this evening... (miserable).



Looking for the good in all things, at least all this rain is making my flowers grow!



And has helped me get my stitching mojo back. I can tell I've not done much stitching lately, as I had to put this down earlier due to an achey arm and hand.



All this rain means the cats are going a bit stir crazy too. It's a bit like having three baby elephants running around the house. Here's Tess taking a breather earlier...



I was hoping when I got home from work yesterday that my magazines I bought off TradeMe would NOT be there, because it was pouring. I was a little disappointed to find the slightly soggy envelope in the letterbox. BUT... the seller had kindly wrapped them in plastic inside the envelope so there was no damage to the magazines. Yay!

Slow going

My motivation is severely lacking in the stitching department. I've started stitching the Woodland Santa again, but it's slow going. It's not worth sharing a photo at the moment.

Instead, here's another cat photo. This is Giggsy when he was 8 weeks old. He and Meg were such loveable little terrors. Oh the stories I could tell about ripped wallpaper, curtain climbing, curtain rails being pulled from walls and shredded toilet rolls. We used to live in a very old house with lovely wooden floors, and it was always so delightful to hear the padding of furry cat feet chasing one another around. They're still very loveable, but much calmer now (phew!).



I bought the September issue of Cross Stitch Collection yesterday (my interest is stash shopping never subsides) - there are some fab designs in it - a Lion Cub by Pollyana Pickering, Earth Goddess and Part 2 of a very large design called 'Summer Ball' (it reminds me of Pride & Prejudice). I was going out to get the magazine with Part 1 in it today, but it was (surprisingly!!! - not) pouring with rain. Tomorrow I'll go armed with a jacket and a brolly!

Speaking of magazines - Ali if you are reading this, I have left a message on your last post re the JCS Ornaments magazine.

Speaking of more magazines :0) LOL - I don't often purchase items on TradeMe (like Ebay), but when I saw this auction had very little interest I put in a bid and got these magazines for just $5 (that's roughly about US$2.50 or GBP 1.50)! I love a bargain.



Has anyone else not received their Rainbow Club from Countrystitch this month? Just curious.

Finally, thank you for all your get well wishes for my Dad. One of the veins they put into his heart when he had his bypass has become completely blocked due to scar tissue. I'm not yet sure what they intend doing to fix the problem.

Hope you have all had a good week, and have an even better weekend! :0)

Reverse stitching

Who me, naughty? Never! (Tess looking surprised on hearing "you've been a naughty cat").

I apologise for my lack of updates, but the only stitching I've been doing this week is of the reverse kind. I wasn't happy with how my Woodland Santa design was coming along, so I've spent several nights (boredom has prevented it being a one nighter) ripping it out so I can start again. The fabric is 32 count, and I was stitching with two threads... so I will restart using a single strand.

I'm worried about my Dad at present. He had a heart bypass a few years ago, but has been having angina pains so has to go in for an angiogram and angioplasty this week. He's been suffering with a few minor ailments lately too, and came to a BBQ at our place tonight and couldn't eat because of major toothache (the dentist can't find the problem). Not good all round. He's retiring next year, so here's hoping a more relaxed lifestyle will be beneficial to his health.

On to cheerier topics, here's Giggsy in his favourite spot - OH's beanbag. I have a tiger striped one, and the cats won't touch it. LOL



And here's OH imitating wee Meg...



Hope you're having a good weekend!

Friday... and the sun is shining

Earlier in the week I was complaining about all the rain, but we've since had some warm, sunny weather and it is meant to last for a few days. Lovely!

We had planned to be out in our front garden tonight cleaning up (OH ripped out the front garden last weekend), but the skip we ordered for this weekend didn't show up. Oh well... guess I'll have to take it easy then! :0)

Here's a couple of photos I took earlier this evening... the violas are newish and growing in a pot. I bought violas and pansies in shades of orange and purple for a certain Northern Ireland Prodestant fellow I know.



The alstroemeria are one thing which hasn't been ripped out since we moved in two years ago. They flower for most of the year, and are always very abundant.



Here's the big fella who was hanging out with me in the garden while I took a few snaps. If he's looking a little forlorn it's because he was in a very nasty fight earlier in the week, which required some urgent veterinary attention. He's getting better though.



Oh well, I'm off to soak up the last few rays of the day and then I think I'll get my stitching out. Have a fantastic weekend!

Santa and the sinister man...

I've made a start on something new. With Christmas coming up I thought something 'Christmassy' might be in order, so I chose Woodland Santas from The Prairie Schooler. I'm stitching Santa in the horse-drawn sleigh for now, but one day I hope to stitch them all on one piece of fabric.



Now for the sinister man bit... a friend at work was telling me that the other day while she was at work her house alarm went off. Her neighbour rang the police during all the noise to report a sinister looking man in the window. Apparently loads of police turned up and cordoned off surrounding streets. Guess who it turned out to be standing in her window? Sir Anthony Hopkins!! The neighbour had looked in and seen her World's Fastest Indian poster! D'oh!!

I bought the ingredients to make
Anne's apricot slice tonight. I might just go and make it now, I've been hankering for it ever since I saw the photo and recipe!