Just hanging around

I don't have any stitching to share. I have worked a little more on Curly Q Ewe, but there's not enough progress to warrant a photo.

I took an annual leave day today, and I'm currently just hanging around waiting for my 3pm doctors appointment. So I thought I'd share with you something we did on the weekend. My sister and I took her friend's daughter and my nephew to the zoo for a close up encounter with Red Pandas. It was raining, but it was still a lot of fun and a great experience. They climbed on our laps, took food from our hands and generally just left us in awe at their cuteness!



A funny story to share... while we were waiting for our meeting with the Red Pandas, we took a stroll and were looking at the chimpanzees in their indoor enclosure. There was one very large male standing on the roof of the entry way for the zoo keepers. It started banging on the roof, and I thought he was trying to get the attention of the two keepers who were standing underneath chatting. The male chimpanzee then started banging louder with both hands and getting quite vocal, it seemed to be getting quite agitated. Next thing it launches itself off the roof and comes flying through the air directly towards us. It grabbed some ropes to break the fall and then banged on the window at us. It is odd - we were all terrified, but none of us actually moved! Then we noticed the zoo keepers had disappeared - I reckon they went away to wet themselves laughing. Our faces must have been a picture!

As we walked away my 12 year old nephew (who is quite small for his age) said to me 'it is just as well that glass was there, or I would have taken that chimp down'. LOL. Quite the comedian.

Thanks for all your get well wishes for Tess. Unfortunately, due to the stress of being sick it has made her cat flu return. She had it very badly last year, and apparently stress can cause a recurrence of it (even though she's vaccinated and already on antibiotics). So maybe in a week she'll be back to 100%. She's currently perched behind me on the couch making snuffly noises in my ear!

Oh well, enough gas bagging. I should go and do something productive!

Hope your week is going great!

Curly-Q Ewe

Thanks for all your kind comments on my Lady Leona finish.

I'm still 'in the zone' for finishing my WIPs, so I'm working away on Little House Needleworks 'Curly Q Ewe'. I really want the new Rosey design by LHN, but I think I ought to at least finish this one up before adding another to my stash.



Hopefully the next time I take a photo of this, the colours will be more true to life.

Also, I remember now why this one got chucked to the side - the linen is rather horrible to stitch on. I'm an evenweave girl! I like my stitches not too wonky and all similar in size.

One of my kitty cats (Tess) has been ill this week. On Sunday we had visitors and she was all over them like a rash, lapping up all the extra attention. On Monday morning she was vomiting blood. DH took her to the vet pronto. We think it was something she ate (possibly a chicken tidbit I gave her from my dinner plate which may have had paprika on it). She's a little better now, but nowhere near her usual self. Here's a photo of her from Christmas Day when she was socialising and feeling grand! :-)



Hope your week is going better than Tess'.

A late night finish

I'm so glad Nicky decided to make a list of her WIPs, it inspired me to do the same and now I have finished my oldest UFO (I think I started it in 2005!). Thanks Nicky :-)



Now to decide which UFO is next to be tackled (while I'm still in the mood!).

WIP progress

I have actually made some progress on one of my WIPs. This is so close to finished now... I am going to continue until it is done. I think I started this in 2005... so now is the time to get it finished up. There is actually a smaller design that gets stitched separately beneath Lady Leona, but I want her beautiful face to be the focus of the piece and can picture this framed in a nice silvery frame (with none of the printed fabric showing).



My younger sister has gone bead mad, and has been making necklaces, earrings and bracelets galore. One day last week I popped in for a visit and had a go myself... here's what I put together. A brightly coloured, summery bracelet. I really enjoyed making it.



Hope your weekend is off to a great start!

UFO sightings

Nicky posted on her blog recently that she had 30 WIPs. This inspired me to have a tidy up and see just how many UFOs (I couldn't call mine WIPs since many haven't seen the light of day for years) I had hiding around the place. I was pleasantly surprised to only find 10!

They are -
* Lady Leona - Dimensions
* Damask Roses - Mirabilia
* Woodland Santa - The Prairie Schooler
* Dance by the Light of the Moon - The Stitcher's Habit
* Frost on the Pumpkins - Just Nan
* Live Simply - Papillon Creations
* Sparkling Shamrocks - The Sweetheart Tree
* Curly Q Ewe - Little House Needleworks
* Growing Like a Tree - Moira Blackburn
* Paddy the Wanderer - Strand





If I really put my mind to it, I could probably get many of these finished up in 2011. Frost on the Pumpkins only needs the beads sewn on (crazy, you'd think I'd just get it done!).

I do have one problem that maybe someone out there could help me out with. My Live Simply by Papillon Creations cannot be finished because I cannot locate any 'Antique Red' thread by Victorian Motto Sampler. I check their Ebay store now and then but haven't come across any listed for sale to date. Also, I put out a request on my blog some time ago and someone kindly offered but the thread never materialised. So if anyone has some they don't mind parting with, I could pay you by Paypal or send some threads and a wee gift in return. I would be very grateful.

Nicky also reminded me about my unfinished finishes pile (you know, the 90 or so I have that need to be framed or made into something)... I guess I could easily spend 2011 not buying any new stuff and working on this mountain too. lol

Have a great weekend.

Happy new year

I hope 2011 has got off to a good start for you all.

I currently have two projects on the go. The first one is the Spring Frills Just Nan humbug. I love the bright colours in this piece.



I also started Tending the Blooms by Shepherds Bush, which Cheryl kindly sent me for our Christmas exchange. Unfortunately, the frogs have visited and I need to remove the flower (which is one stitch too far to the right) if I want to stitch the bands and have it all even up. Naughty frogs!



When I haven't been stitching over the break, DH and I have been out gallavanting - mostly to the coast. We are lucky in that we are close to lots of beaches. We even paddled about in the water on Sunday - the water was very refreshing. We didn't want to leave but eventually had to force ourselves as we had a BBQ to go to.



I took this photo of Petal yesterday, so thought I would share (since I think it's rather cute). My pets don't feature as much on my blog as they used to, so I'll have to remedy that from time to time.



I see on blogs I have been reading that many of you are back at work tomorrow. Isn't it always hard going back after a break? I'll have that chore next Monday morning - so I can commiserate! :-) My DH goes back tomorrow too (but he's his own boss, so it's his own silly fault. lol).

Have a great week!