Woodland Santa

I was going through my stash and magazines and nothing was calling to me for January, for the 2009 Christmas Challenge. So I went into my.... brace yourselves people... WIP/UFO basket for the second time this year, and pulled out Woodland Santa by The Prairie Schooler.



He is being stitched on 32 count Hokey Pokey Lugana by CountryStitch. I do wonder if the fabric count is labelled incorrectly though, as I had to stitch it in one strand because two was far too thick.

I don't know if I will finish it before the end of January, things are busy right now with the wedding just four weeks away, our house on the market, the breathless cat (who I can't find to give her, her tablet) and life in general. I'll give it my best shot though. I have some nice fabric that I was sent in an exchange which I think I will use to finish this into a small cushion (now that my sewing machine is a little less scarey to me, lol).

Have a great weekend!

Five addictions and a cat with asthma

I have been tagged by Tanya to list five addictions.

1. cats... I love all cats. My own cats, neighbourhood cats, animal rescue cats, manky cats, feral cats, big cats, wild cats... life would be no fun without them. I have three, and if it weren't for the vet bills I would without a doubt have more

2. collecting vintage postcards (mostly of people, but also of places in England I have been to)

3. cross stitch, and collecting cross stitch stash (sshh, don't tell the husband-to-be but I ordered some more today)... you wouldn't have guessed that was one of my addictions, would you?

4. taking photographs - this addiction started young (I was probably about 8). I frame scenes in my mind, and I start getting antsy if I see a photo opportunity but there is nowhere to stop and take a photo!

5. England - I can't get enough of it. My Dad, sister and I might be visiting later this year - and it is mine and OH's dream to retire to an English country cottage

This time I'll tag -

Jayne
CarolR
Sam
Hazel
Dianne

Did you know that cats can get asthma? Today my cat Tess was diagnosed with it.

Yesterday she was wretching a lot and we thought it might be a furball, but her breathing was very noisy (I was indoors and could hear her breathing and she outside a few metres away). So off to the vets she went this afternoon and the diagnosis was made. She's on a course of steroids, and we will always have to keep them handy in case it flares up.

Of course we feel bad now - we used to sometimes hear her heavy breathing and think how cute the snuffly noises were when she was sleeping. It was probably the asthma!

Here's an old photo of my girl...



Hang in there folks, it's nearly Friday!

Damask Roses WIP

I worked on Damask Roses last week, and have some noticeable progress.



It's good to have such a relaxing hobby, as last week was eventful for all the wrong reasons!

I have an exchange I have been putting off finishing because it requires me getting the sewing machine out. Today is our regional anniversary day, and OH is out making changes at his shop, so I might just pull it out and get it finished up. Wish me luck!

Another finish

Last night I finished up on CarolR's Quaker Friendship RR. The fabric and thread were great to work with.



Aww, thanks Daniela for the blog award. I don't usually pass them on because there are so many wonderful blogs out there that I don't want anyone to feel left out. But this time I will play along and pass the award to the following lovely ladies -



1. Kathy
2. Judy
3. CindyF
4. Margaret
5. Tanya

I'm off to pull my threads so I can start back on Damask Roses. Hope you have a good week.

Genealogical shenanigans

My wedding sampler is now done. Yay! It was a fun stitch. The chart is all packaged, stamped and ready to be sent off to Jayne. I'll look forward to seeing hers finished later in the year too.



Here is a (terrible) photo of Autumn Splendour, which I also finished earlier in the week. This chart is off in the mail to Tanya.



Kathy and Beatrice invited me to join the Mirabilia SAL. I thought it would spur me on to finish Damask Roses which I started in 2006. I shouldn't need spurring on, it is such a beautiful design. I don't remember the last time I stitched on her, so I am quite excited to be getting back to it.



We were recently tracked down by some relations (some from England and some from New Zealand), and last night they came for a visit. I am very interested in my genealogy, so it was great fun.



They picked the hottest day to come for a visit too, it reached about 32 degrees Celsius yesterday. I like it warm, but not that warm!

Yay, it's the weekend. Enjoy yours!

A stitcher's dream

I walked into a stitcher's dream today. I went to visit my parents, and we were chatting away when my Mum says "Did your sister tell you about the cross stitch stuff? There are three bags full of it, and you can have your pick".

Say what??!!

And it wasn't three bags of rubbish either, there were some top notch kits and charts in the bags.

I chose four kits - a Moira Blackburn sampler, Mirabilia's Rose of Sharon, a native American Indian kit and a wolf design which OH liked.



I especially like the Moira Blackburn sampler, so here's a closeup photo.



I believe the lady is someone my sister knows who is getting married, and was having a clear out. Wow, a big thank you to whoever she is - it was so much fun looking through and choosing what I would like! (And not having to wake up from the dream... lol).

The winner of the Autumn Splendor chart is Tanya of The Scarlett House. If you would like to email me your address I'll get it into the post for you soon (I should have it finished tonight).



Hope you are all having a great weekend, and for those who are back at work tomorrow... I can commiserate. :-)

Home again...

I hope your new year has got off to a good start. 2009 is going great, we just had three days away in Taranaki and had a wonderful time.

Here is a wee glimpse at what we got upto -


I also found some pretty shoes for my wedding, and I wasn't even intending to look - so I am really happy! :-)

I will do the drawing for the chart tomorrow, to give any latecomers a chance to put their names in the hat.

Last post for 2008 and a chart giveaway

While I was waiting on my threads to arrive for Wedding Row (they arrived today), I started Autumn Splendor which Judy gifted to me recently. I didn't actually realise until I was looking for something to stitch that the thread (Victoria Clayton's 'Tigerlily') was included in the chartpack. It is gorgeous and wonderful to stitch with! Thanks again Judy!

Can I interest anyone in the chart once I have finished with it? If so, leave a comment on this post - and if there is more than one person interested, I will randomly pick a name when I get home from up north in a few days.



It has been really hot here, great weather for mucking about in the pool!



Happy new year everyone, and all the best for 2009.

Edited to add:
New year's greetings from Tess


(That's my laptop in the top left-hand corner and my lapcat next to me. Tess doesn't care how hot it is, she likes to be close in all weather!).

Dreams of a lazy Sunday

I was hoping for a lazy Sunday today, as so far the Christmas holiday has been a whirlwind of activity.

It's a gorgeous summers day, and I envisaged a swim in the pool, some nice fresh fruit salad - and maybe even some more stitching. But now we've been invited to a BBQ (such a hardship, lol).

We are going up north at New Year for a few days, so I don't think I'm going to be finding any time to unwind before it's time to go back to work.

Anyway, I managed a slightly better photo of Bent Creek's Wedding Row today. I just have to sit back and wait on the thread now.



Hope you are all finding some time to relax over the Christmas holidays.

Fascinating fascinators

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. Ours was quiet, but fun. Actually, it wasn't that quiet - my sister got Singstar Abba for Christmas from my other sister. She also bought herself a Wii, so everyone (including my parents LOL) were playing tennis, bowls, karting etc.

I had another wedding letdown just before Christmas - this time my hairdresser of six years. She phoned me to say she's selling the business and cannot do my wedding hair. Fortunately my OH (being a local businessman) is in the know, and knew that the local beauty salon has a new resident hairdresser. So it all works out perfectly - wedding hair, make-up, nails etc are all being done in one place.

So, I took a run to the bridal shop today looking for hair ornaments. I love feather fascinators, and was lucky enough to find one. I also came away with two other combs. I don't know which (if any) I will use, but at least I have a few things to take with me to the wedding hair trial in a couple of weeks. As my hair is short, ideas are thin on the ground... so I have some hair extensions on order too (OH's friend who owns the beauty salon suggested them, that's great thinking for a bloke!!).

Anyway, I have come to the conclusion that wedding preparations are a lot of stress and hassle, and I can't wait for the big day itself so we can just enjoy it (which is what it should be about!).

Pictured with my hair ornament selection is my wedding sampler. I couldn't get a decent photo of it in it's entirety (due to the wrinkles and the fading light), but I am nearly finished. However, I've run out of thread so have put an order in from a shop in Auckland. Hopefully they're open between Christmas and New Year, so I can get it finished. It's been a really enjoyable and quick stitch.



I am glad you enjoyed all the kitten photos. My Mum is currently fostering all seven of them until they are old enough to be desexed and rehomed. They are so much fun!