Some progress and some stash

Thanks for your comments on whether or not to stitch some initials on the Quaker House Sampler.

I've been busy working on Summer Cottage Garden by CCN, and I'm not too far from finishing . I might even get it finished up tonight while OH is out watching the New Zealand All Blacks vs Ireland rugby match at the Cake Tin.

I can't tell you how glad I am NOT to be going. It's cold and wet, and it's going to get worse. So I'm going to start watching my Charles Dickens Bleak House DVD set, do some stitching and eat chocolate buttons!



I was hoping my stash from Down Sunshine Lane might arrive in time for the weekend, but thought the chance was slim since I only ordered it last week. But I was pleasantly surprised to see a parcel sitting in the letterbox when I arrived home from work last night. I've used DSL twice now, and have been very impressed with the service. Here's my loot -





Hope you are having a great weekend!

WIP Bustin'

Quaker House Sampler by Carriage House Samplings
Originally uploaded by rosie_kiwi

I started the Quaker House Sampler by Carriage House Samplings back in January. I didn't get too far before I put it aside to concentrate on commitment stitching and other projects, but I pulled it out on Friday night and finished it over the long weekend. It was a really enjoyable piece to stitch. There is something very visually pleasing about Quaker medallions.

I wasn't sure about all the random initials. They didn't seem to add much, and don't mean anything to me - so I chose to leave them out. What do you think? Leave them out or stitch them in?

I went to see the musical CATS last night. Wow, what a fantastic show! The other three people I coaxed into going (OH being one of them) enjoyed it too, phew!

Cindy's RR finished

I finished Cindy's RR, it's going in the post tomorrow.





Kathy wanted to know what kind of winter weather we get in Wellington. I would say we are quite lucky with the weather, a bit of snow on the hills is about as extreme as it gets around here. We can get some very cold mornings, like this day back in July which turn into glorious sunshine. Some parts of New Zealand don't fair so well though with extremely cold winters (and extremely hot summers).

I'll do a stash report when it arrives in. It took me ages (a couple of lunch breaks and several hours at home...lol) to decide what to get. I still haven't worked out if I don't like parting with money, or whether I am just bamboozled by all the beautiful designs out there. I mostly went for smaller designs - some JBW, Heart in Hand, Lizzie Kate, Just Nan and La D Da from memory.

Finally, before I go I'd just like to thank everyone for stopping by and for leaving comments. It's always appreciated :-)

Nearly there with Cindy's RR

If I didn't spend so much time on the internet, I'm sure I could have had it finished long before now! :-)



Thought I'd share a photo of Wellington. We're still having pretty good weather, even though it's nearly winter. I'm lucky in that the waterfront is very close to where I work. Great on a good day!



Oh well, I think I'm going to have a little online stashy spend. Hope you're having a great week - only four more days until Friday (and a long weekend - yay!).

Hello Neighbour RR progress

Here's my progress on Cindy's piece for the Hello Neighbour RR.

I'm stitching the strawberry house from Plum Street Samplers 'Fruit of the Spirit' design. No frogs and no frustration, so far :-)



Yay, it's Friday!!!

Flip!

You wouldn't believe how many times I frogged on this small piece or how long it took. So it's little wonder that even the photo won't play ball!

You can click for a clearer view



Ho-hum!

Thank you for all your lovely comments on my last post about my small finish and driving test. They were very much appreciated.

It's getting late, so I'll leave you with a photo of my newest little friend...

Dance of the Bumblebee

I so love how this turned out. I stitched it with the recommended threads (a mixture of WDW and GAST) on 28 count Apple Blossom Lugana from Countrystitch. I am not sure how I will finish it yet.



I passed my driving test on Tuesday. Yay! I'm fully licensed now. The lady testing officer said she wished they were all like me - I got 100% in Parts 1 and 2, and there were just two small things in Part 3.

Last Sunday we went to the
Karori Wildlife Sanctuary. I highly recommend it to my local (or holidaying in NZ) readers - it's not a zoo and I didn't expect to see anything more than on any other bush walk (of which there are many in NZ). Boy was I mistaken - we saw tuatara, skinks, geckos, loads of beautiful native birds and wetas.

Wetas strike fear into many people, not because they can harm you but because they're not very pretty (I remember my older sister going into some bushes to retrieve a ball when we were kids and coming out screaming blue murder because there was one on her back LOL).

I never knew there were cave wetas. So OH, BIL and I donned some hard hats and ventured into the darkness - I was actually glad that we didn't manage to locate any - I think I would have freaked!!! You can see a photo here if you are brave.... I made OH do a hoodie check when we came out, I wouldn't have wanted to have realised later I had one of those hiding in my sweatshirt!

OH and I are going to become members and go far more regularly, and of course support a fantastic cause.

Hang in there folks, tomorrow is Friday. YAY!

Love bunnies

I've been working on Edgar's piece for the QFRR, but haven't been stitching much at all lately. I don't even know why!? Even OH said to me when I picked up my stitching last night "It's been a while since you did any stitching".

Bunnykins is doing well. She's not too keen on me at the moment, and hides from me if I go near her in her house. So tonight I brought her into my house for a little while. She was nervous but gave OH and I a good sniffing - I suspect she'll soon warm up to us.



This weekend is a long weekend, so hopefully there'll be lots of bunny time and maybe my stitching mojo might make a comeback?

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Getting to know you...

Here's what OH built me.... a rabbit house! :-)

(As usual, you can click the photo for a clearer view)


Meg and Giggsy are most intrigued with their new rabbit-television!

Anyway, I made the fatal mistake of going to help my Mum at Animal Rescue (where she is a volunteer) the other week. This bunny had been there since March 2007, and has a slight head tilt due to having had a stroke - so being a sucker for a sad story, I went home and much to my surprise OH agreed and even said he would build the rabbit house! (OH is a hard nut with a soft centre!)

I just picked her up a couple of hours ago. After a few minutes in her house she stomped her feet at me when I put my hand in to pat her, so she's already claimed her territory!

She seems to be having a great time running up and down sniffing everything, nibbling on her food and sniffing noses with the cats.

A hoppy ending!

Top Gun (lol!)

I haven't made any progress on my stitching worth sharing, so I thought I would show you a photo of an adventure my OH had this morning. He went gliding (that's him in the front seat). It was a little tame for the daredevil, although he's glad he tried it.



It must have been such an awesome feeling soaring up there on the breeze!