Karen's Blog

A wonderful friend

2008-07-25T14:04:00.004+10:00

I just want to share the 2nd part of my birthday gift from my wonderful friend Carol.

Look at all the wonderful things she sent including my very first scissor pocket. I just love everything and her, so much!! I borrowed the pic of the Red Desert Scissor Pocket off Carol's blog as her photo is better than mine:) Carol, as I mentioned, your birthday pressie will be later but hopefuly it will be worth the wait:)

Gift from Edgar

2008-05-19T22:31:00.002+10:00

Just wanted to share the lovely gift I gor from Edgar in the Feathered Friends Exchange. I just love it!!

A wonderful birthday

2008-05-14T11:38:00.007+10:00

I know this posting is late but I just wanted to share the lovely gift I received from Carol for my birthday. She really spoiled me (like she always does). Carol, if you are reading this, from what reading your last email, it seems that my emails don't seem to be getting though. I will try emailing you again today. Not sure what is happening:(

On Saturday I had a lovely visit from Anne S and Alison. It is always a great laugh when Anne visits so it was doubly a riot with Alison as well.

Anne dropped off 2 more wonderful models that I will frame for her and borrow for the shop - Sampler Lady and Bordeaux Sampler, plus Barnabee's Bride that she also stitched for me.

Thanks so much Anne!! I look forward to catching up again soon:)

A Wonderful Gift

2008-02-25T13:23:00.003+11:00

I have received a lovely gift from Carol today. We decided that as Christmas was so hectic that we would send each other our Christmas gifts in 2 parts - 1 part in time for Christmas and the 2nd part after Christmas. Carol's wonderful part 2 just arrived and I LOVE it!!!! I will have my part 2 for her leaving this week:) Carol stitched this beautiful Shepherds Bush Pin Cushion for me and also sent a Red Sox DVD which I am going to watch on my day off on Thursday, and a box of candy (they are not in the pic as hubby and I ate them:) and some lovely body cream:) I am one spoilt girl:)

My lovely fob arrived

2008-02-15T15:23:00.002+11:00

My beautiful fob and package arrived from Cathy B. On Valentines Day as well. What a lovely surprise!!! Cathy made me a gorgeous fob from Prairie Schooler. I honestly don't know how she parted with it. LOL. Also in the wonderful package were Crescent Colour threads, Silkweaver fabrics, a Lizzie Kate design (with dragonflies of course) and a pack of heart candy. Very appropriate for Valentines Day. What great timing Cathy!! It took a bit longer than normal to reach me here in Australia as the package was inspected by customs and was held for quarantine. It would have been because of the candy Cathy included. I am guess that when it went through the x-ray scanner in customs that they may have thought we were involved in a drug ring or something. LOL. I would have loved to see their faces when they saw it was candy:)
What a wonderful gift

I can't seem to load pics at the moment. I will try and post them again later.

Framed Samplers

2008-02-08T22:09:00.001+11:00

I picked my samplers up from the framer today. I realised after I had taken the photos that I had not taken the cardboard corners off:) I am really happy with them:) I stitched paradim Lost and my friend Sandra model stitched The Token for me:)

Also, I am looking for back issues of Quilt Sampler by Better Homes & Gardens. Does anyone have issues they would be willing to part with? I would be happy to trade or pay for them. I am looking for back issues going to 2004. I already have Fall/Winter 2007 and Fall/Winter 2006. If anyone can help, please let me know:)

A Start on L&L SAL

2008-01-28T01:02:00.000+11:00

Firstly a belated happy Australia Day to all Aussies reading my Blog. I hope everyone had a great day. Hubby and I went down to Glenbrook to join the festivities there. We didn't stay too long though as we both have quite bad colds so we came home earlier than we normally would so we could rest. Today we had a quiet day at home. Tomorrow is a public holiday so I guess we will see how we are feeling as to whether we go out somewhere.

On the stitching front I have mainly been doing secret stitching but I did start my Earth Angel which is the one I am stitching in the Lavender & Lace SAL.

A nice surprise

2008-01-14T21:00:00.000+11:00

What a lovely surprise in todays mail. My Fair & Square swap arrived from Tuula in Finland. Tuula stitched these lovely squares for me. The design is from Periphera.

Tuula also sent me these lovely extras! I love them.

I received a wonderful visit from Anne S on Saturday. I always have a great time chatting with her. She's such a hoot. Great fun:) I feel like I have known her forever:) I have been blown away by Anne's generosity. I mentioned to her the last time she visited that I am madly trying to get models stitched for the shop and she kindly offered to loan me some of hers. She said that it beats having them sitting in a box doing nothing but stilll, I am just so grateful to her for her generosity. I told Anne that as part of my apprection I will frame them for her. Hubby frames for me. We did this for Carol as well when she kindly loaned me some of her work a couple of years away. Here are some of the ones that Anne left and there are more to come after she moves house and unpacks. I really do know some wonderfully kind people. Thanks again Anne.

My photos are always dreadful when I take them for a post. These look so much nicer. Anyone have any tricks?

Sorry no photos

2008-01-11T23:23:00.000+11:00

Sorry I don't have any pics to show. I went to take some but found my camera has a flat battery. I will try and pick one up over the weekend.

I had a lovely visit at the shop yesterday from Kirsten from Gift Of Stitching Magazine and Naomi from stitches and Spice. They came up together yesterday to pick up all the lovely stitched pieces that Kirsten left with us for the trunk show.

Then today I met a new Blogger in the shop. Judy from Narabeen came up for a visit. How lovely that she drove so far to pick up her supplies for the Lavender and Lace SAL. Judy is stitching Celtic Xmas. I have decided on Earth Angel.

I have four signups for my PIF - Carol S, Tannia, Mel W and Sonya. Just one place left if someone would like to join:) I am looking forward to choosing very special things to stitch for you lovely ladies this year:)

I will post again when my camera is up and running again over the weekend:)

A visit from Suzanne

2008-01-09T19:46:00.000+11:00

I had a lovely visit yesterday from Suzanne, Tim and Aurelia. As you can see the little chicken is doing much better. It is always nice to see Suzanne and her family.

I had a lovely day off today and went to see what is my current favourite movie - "PS I Love You". I loved it!!!! I can't wait until it comes on DVD. One of my favourite actors - Gerard Butler is it in along with two other actors I like Hilary Swank and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. I highly recommend it. I laughed and cried through the whole movie.

Pay It Forward

2008-01-06T21:49:00.000+11:00

I've signed up to participate in my first Pay It Forward experience with Carol S. So if you are interested in getting something stitched from me, then please let me know by e-mailing me at karen @ dragonflydreams.com.au (no spaces) and I'll be happy to sign you up! Ok, I believe this is how it works. The first 5 people that e-mail me to participate in my PIF challenge, will get something made by me this year (2008) In turn you must post to your blog the same challenge and accept 5 people to send a PIF to. They then put it to their blog and on it goes. I hope this makes sense. I am looking forward to it very much.

Well, it was the last day of our holidays today. Bren and I went to the movies to see I Am Legend and then had a lazy afternoon at home. Yet more secret stitching done but I thought I could at least post a pic of Carissa's Neighbourhood RR that is on it's way back to her. Unfortunately Carissa is not continuing with the RR. My block is the one on the bottom left.

Trip to Kiama and a name change

2008-01-05T01:01:00.001+11:00

Unfortunately I still can't show any of my stitching as it is still all secret stitching. I do hope to do some work on Village Of Hawk Run Hollow tomorrow so I will have something to post then:)

Bren and I are still on holidays until Monday. Yesterday we drove down south agin for the day. This time to a beautiful place called Kiama. It is famous for its blowhole.

We took some brochures on some great cabins that overlook the beach at Kiama and are going to go and stay for a couple of days in February or March. Can't wait.

After Kiama we drove a bit further to Berry. We popped into a needlework shop there that I used to like but it looks like they are changing their focus to wool. Oh well, Berry is still a lovely town to visit.

Speaking of needlework shops, we have just made a big decision and, after 8 years we have decided to change our shop name from Dragonfly Dreams to The Stitching Post. The reason for this is that for years Dragonfly Dreams has had people confusing it with being a Chinese restaurant, tattoo parlour, escort service, etc. When we went from just having the website to also having the shop, we had quite a few customers who have come in and told us that they had passed by the shop in the past as the name did not suggest a needlework/patchwork shop to them. This is in spite of having a large sign out the front with "needlework" on it:) We have been wanting to do this for a long time and we figured the new year is the best time. We will redirect Dragonfly Dreams' website to the new one so we won’t miss any business. Bren is also working on a great new website and we hope to relaunch in the next few weeks.

Happy New Year

2008-01-01T00:33:00.000+11:00

Happy 2008 everyone!!!

Not much to share from today. I have done quite a bit of stitching but I can't show any pics as it is all secret stitching:)

Ok, my New Year Resolultions:)

Complete many more WIPs

Blog more regularly

Keep in closer touch with friends

Reach my goal weight by May

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

A Day Down South

2007-12-30T21:39:00.000+11:00

What a big day it has been. Bren and I went for a drive down south for the day. On the way we called into Berrima Patchwork and I picked up a pretty fat 1/4 pack and a single fat 1/4.

We had a lovely lunch at Bungendore and went for a walk around all the antique shops before heading home. It was such a hot day that we both got sunburned. On the way home we pulled up at a lovely little creek and went wading to cool down. Here are 2 fun pics we took in the creek:) Not exactly flattering of either of us but a bit of fun:)

On the drive home we went past a paddock of emus. Bren loves emus:)

Tomorrow we will have a restful day at home. It is the start of the last week of our holidays. I hope to get lots of stitching done:)

A new shop display

2007-12-29T20:33:00.000+11:00

Today I wanted to share a new display I have put up in the shop. Karlene from Katkins Designs is a local doll designer. She does not have a craft show to do now until February so she has loaned me some of her models for the shop. We have the patterns already so it is nice to have the dollies "in the flesh".

Speaking of dolls, I just finished "Florence". I am getting better at making dolls:)

I got a couple of my cross stitch finishes from this year back from the framer. Bren usually frames for me but he has been so busy I thought it would be quicker to have my other framer do them. When I picked these up I also dropped off Paradim Lost and The Token. They will be ready in a couple of weeks. The pics are not great due to the glass on them.

An Open Heart.

Seven Sailors (stitched for me by my friend Sandra)

And Indian Summer Reflections.

I received my square and signature square from Lizzie in the Fair & Square swap. I love it.

I also received a Biscornu from Janine. This is from a biscornu swap run by the Xsers Yahoo group here in Australia.

Bren and I met our friends Kylie and Frank down in the city last night for a lovely dinner at a Spanish restaurant called The Don Quixote. What a fabulous dinner and Kylie and I had way too much Sangria to drink. Needless to say Bren and Frank were the designated drivers for the night:)

A Great Christmas

2007-12-27T17:57:00.000+11:00

Hi everyone,

I know it has been ages since my last post, but better late than never:) We had a lovely Christmas. Bren and I had my Dad and Margy over from Bathurst. It was a nice change as Margy usually spends it with her family, so it was good to have dad here on Christmas day. They stayed overnight and went home on Boxing Day. Bren cooked a lovely lunch and we had a couple of bottles of a very yummy Shiraz. All in all, it was a lovely day. Bren and Margy bought Bren and I a lovely piece of artwork for the walls (I forgot to take a pic). I got a wonderful present from my special friend Carol. She stitched me a beautiful Christmas Ornament, along with a lovely fat quater with dragonflies, a gorgeous pair of Gingher scissors and 2 magazines I have been reading cover to cover. I just love them!! Carol and I sent each other our pressies in 2 parts as we both ran out of time. Nothing unusual for me:) I will send part 2 of hers (which is the cross stitch part) in the next week.

Here is the ornament on our tree:)

I also received a lovely bag made by my friend Sandra. here is a pic:

Bren and I bought ourselves a pet galah, Rosie, about a month ago as an early Chrismas present for each other. She was hand reared and has quickly become a part of the family. She was 4 moths old on the 20th Dec. Here she is ripping open her Christmas present.

Bren and I are having a nice break over the holidays. Bren is on 2 weeks holidays and I am just popping into the shop on a couple of days. I put on my first staff member a couple of months ago and she is working most of the days over the break between Chrismas and New year.

It is lovely to catch up with friends at this time of year. Tomorrow night we are heading into the city for dinner at a lovey Spanish restaurant called Don Quioxte with our friends Kylie and Frank. We are really looking forward to that. Then we are off for a couple of days down the south coast. We will drive home on New Years day before starting back at work on Monday 7th.

I am finally all organised at the shop. All catalogues have been filed and just things in general are in place. I work so much better when things are tidy. I know they have just been things behind the scenes but they were still driving me crazy. Before the break I worked a lot of hours after the shop had closed each night to get everything done. I feel like I can start the new year fresh now. That includes blogging regularly and getting a lot of stitching done. I will put up my new years Resolutions up on the 31st:) I look forward to keeping in regular touch with everyone in 2008.

A Finish For Bren

2007-09-30T20:11:00.000+10:00

First of all I would like to share my hubby's big finish this week. He has been really busy with work lately but this weekend he got to finish Desert Star. He really loves Needlepoint so I am looking for a new project for him:) Any suggestions are welcome:)

I got a bit more done on VQ this week. I am really enjoying this one. As usual the fabric colour has not shown up. I am stitching it on 34ct Cafe Au Lait which is a slightly pinkish beige but it looks white in the photo.

It is a long weekend here and the weather is warm and beautiful. I love Spring!! Bren took me for a drive today. We went to a Butterfly Farm where we thought we would get to walk among live butterflies, but they have changed the place to a Butterfly Museum. We decided not to go in as we didn't fancy seeing a bunch of dead insects with pins in them so we went for a nice drive through the mountains instead. Bren bought me a lovely bunch of native waratahs.

Tomorrow we are going to stay around home and potter in the garden.

p.s Go Red Sox:)

SAL with Carol

2007-09-06T21:01:00.000+10:00

Just wanted to post a progress photo of the VQ SAL I am doing with Carol. Tannia has just joined us as well. I've been a bit slow lately as I am trying to finish up Deb's RR to get away by the end of September. Not the best photo.

My friend Sandra did some model stitching for me for the shop. It's just beautiful. Just have to get Bren to frame it for me now:) It's called Seven Sailors by Goode Huswife:)

Victorias Garden SAL

2007-08-14T22:26:00.000+10:00

I got some more stitching done on the AMAP Victoria's Garden SAL I am doing with Carol tonight:) I am stitching it on 34ct Cafe Au Lait Legacy Line using Vikki Clayton silks. I am really enjoying this one:)

New SAL with Carol

2007-08-02T22:51:00.000+10:00

Well I have started a new SAL with Carol. Here are the first few stitches:) It is the Victoria's Quaker Sampler. I am using the VC silks that Carol was kind enough to surprise me with. I am stitching it on 34ct Cafe Au Lait Legacy Linen. The photo is not a good one as it doesn't show the real colour at all. Hopefully I will get a better photo next time:) While I haven't stitched much yet, I am really enjoing this one:)

Two FInishes

2007-04-19T22:06:00.000+10:00

Well it has been a night for finishes. I finished my first Biscornu. Not brilliant but I think I have the hang of it now:) This was just a freebie design I have and used a Needle Necessities Floss 150.

The second finish is hubbies first needlepoint. This is a design from At Home With Needlework Feb 2007 issue called Spring Tulips. The photo is on an angle as Bren framed it tonight and I forgot to take a photo before the glass went in. He was so pleased with it that he has started another larger design tonight. I think he's hooked. He never liked cross stitch but really enjoys needlepoint.

I have some photos taken on our Easter break but they are on another camera and I haven't downloaded them yet. I will try and share those tomorrow:)

Worked on Eliza Sloan

2007-03-26T22:40:00.000+10:00

Well, Daylight Savings are over for another year:( So now the days start getting shorter as we head towards Winter.

We had a busy weekend with the State elections being on Saturday. Bren and I voted early as we had to go down to Sydney before opening the shop at Midday. Then on Sunday I had a lazy day at home as Bren had to go back down to Sydney to attend a jewellery class with a visiting US teacher. He had a great day. I had planned to have a day of stitching but instead I laid in front of the TV and watched old Hitchcock movies on Fox Classics and slept most of the day. I guess I must have needed the rest:)

Tonight I gave the beading on Stargazer a rest and did some stitching on Eliza Sloan. This is not a great photo, sorry.

I am getting more sign ups for the Secret Sister club. I will put the Blog site up in the next few days:) Don't forget, if you would like to participate, drop me an email on karen@dragonflydreams.com.au

Stargazer

2007-03-23T21:22:00.000+11:00

Well, is one day I am pleased to see the end of a day. We had a bus tour of 35 ladies in the shop today. Thank heavens Bren was there to help me as it was pandemonium. Lovely ladies though:)

I am really tired but did get some beading done on Stargazer. I hope to have her finished soon.

Tommorrow we have to vote in the State elections. Bren and I are headed down to Sydney for a couple of hours so we will vote early and get it out of the way.

Well I'm off to bed now as I am really wiped out.

Wow, 2 days in a row

2007-03-22T21:46:00.000+11:00

Hi guys,

Yes, shock and surprise. I am actually blogging 2 days in a row:)

Not a lot happened today but hubby finished his very first punchneedle. Here's a pic. I am so proud of him. He is working on his own designs now:)

Sorry this post is short and sweet. I will try to write more tomorrow:)

A visit to the store

2007-03-21T21:25:00.000+11:00

Well, I finally have a blog template that feels like "me". Thanks to Carol for finidng it for me and to Bren (dh) for converting it and making it work in Blogger. Hopefully this will inspire me to become a regular blogger. I really am going to try and be more disciplined as I love reading everyones blogs and being a part of the "Blogging World".

Ok, onto my latest news. Last Friday we had a trip to the shop from a group of ladies who get together from around Australia every 18 months or so and come to Sydney for a Needlework shop crawl. This was their second visit to see us but the first one to our new shop. They seemed to enjoy their visit. Here are some photos including one of me (with very short hair after a recent haircut), Gill (who Carol knows) and Tannia, who is a friend who lives in Melbourne.

Tannia flew up from Melbourne for the visit, but she stayed with us Saturday night and went home late Sunday. We went to a great Japanese restaurant Saturday night and then on Sunday went halfway down the mountain to the Springwood Quilt Show. I thought it would be a good show but it was very disappointing. We came back to Katoomba and went out to the Carrington Hotel for nice lunch before seeing Tannia off at the train station in the afternoon.

I was RAK'd twice this week, firstly by Tannia who made me a lovely biscornu and beaded scissor fob. She also gave me this lovely dragonfly hanging ornament and a sweater with a dragonfly on it. I was also RAK's by Carol who sent me some great freebies and a pack of gorgeous little metal dragonfly beads that I am going to use as my signature on all future stitching and quilts. What a fantastic idea!!!

On the stitching front, I am just putting the beads on Stargazer. I will post a photo of her tomorrow.

I took part in a "Secret Sister" group a few years ago. It was with a group of patchwork friends but it was so much fun that I am thinking of running one with some of my stitching friends. It is usually run over a 6 month period, so we would look at starting in June and running this first one until December. The idea is that I would set up a seperate Blog and take everyone's name. Each person is assigned a "secret sister" for the 6 months Each month you send the person you are assigned a gift anonymously. At the end of the 6 months we have the big "reveal". I will have more details on how this will run later, but at the moment I am just looking for expressions of interest. If we get enough participants, I will set up the Blog and send out more detailed instructions. If you are interested, please emial me at karen@dragonflydreams.com.au.

Australia Day

2007-01-29T12:08:00.000+11:00

Well what a lovely Australia Day long weekend we had. The weather was perfect. On Friday (Australia Day) Bren and I went down to Glenbrook for the Australia Day Fair. Every year they have craft stalls and food outlets along with their annual Gnome Display. Here are a couple of cute ones.

I have also been stitching furiously on Stargazer as I am anxious to finish her. I still feel like I have been working forever on the skirt:) I want to get her done soon as I am eager to start stitching my house for the Neighbourhood Round Robin that Carol has kindly organised. I am so excited to start this. I ordered my fabric today and can't wait for it to get here. LOL. I picked 40ct Porcelain form Silkweavers.

A great surprise

2007-01-17T20:08:00.000+11:00

What a great surprise I got from Bren today. A brand new Janome sewing machine!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is computerised so it will be so much easier than my old machine. It also does blanket stitch which my old one didn't. No more hand blanket stitch!!!

I can't wait to have a play. What a wonderful hubby I have:)

On a stitching note I got a bit more done on Stargazer today. I am really enjoying this but it feels like I have been stitching the skirt forever. LOL.

Well, while I don't have a lot of news to share today I wanted to at least do an entry. I really want to try and do regular Blog entries as I really do love the Blogging world. VBG.

Christmas and New Year

2007-01-07T00:25:00.000+11:00

Just catching up after a lovely Christmas and start to the New Year.

Bren and I went up to his parents for Christmas. It was such a relaxing couple of days. I got some wonderful pressies including this gorgeous gift from Carol. Unfortunately the picture is not very good as the camera angle makes it look wonky, but is isn't. It is so lovely!!!

Here are some photos of our day at the beach on Boxing Day up at Tea Gardens. I also hand fed a Blue Tongue lizard in Bren's parents back yard. I love lizards!!

Bren's mum and dad:)

A lovely dragonfly landed near me on Christmas day:) I just love them!!When we got home, Bren and I had a couple of days in Canberra where we saw the Egyptian Treasures from the Louvre exhibition. We also visited one of my favourite places, The Bird Walk. Here is a cute little Lorikeet nibbling Bren's ear:)

Now onto some stitching news. I just stitched the new Just Nan freebie and popped it in a whimzi frame.

And here is a progree shot of And A Forest Grew. I have just about finished section 14.

A Nice Night In Town

2006-11-25T16:21:00.000+11:00

No news on the stitching from but last night Bren and I decided to get away from the bushfires and head into the city for the Moonlight Markets down at the harbour and see the city Christmas lights . Not great photos but you get the idea:)

I've been RAK'D

2006-11-23T14:15:00.000+11:00

What a wonderful surprise to find in the mail today. Carol RAK'd me with this wonderful Scissor fob. I love it!!!!!! She is such a clever, lovely friend:)

Well the fires are just getting worse. They are backburning just over the ridge from our house to try and stop the fires from reaching any townships.

At night all we can see is an orange glow over the Ridge. It looks like a volcano. God willing the weather will improve soon so the wonderful fireman up here can take control of this monster fire storm and no homes will be lost.

On the stitching front. I have just put the last bead onto Thimbleina. Purl The Knitting Fairy will be next.

And a bit more on South Seas Mermaid.

It's been a while

2006-11-20T15:58:00.000+11:00

Well, I'm back. I can hear the thump from Carol fainting from shock when she checks in and sees I am finally posting again. LOL.

Sorry I have been absent for so long. No excuses really. Life has just been so busy lately but it is all settling down now and I hope to be able to post more regularly.

On the stitching front I have just started stitching South Seas Mermaid from Mirabilia. I am stitching her on 32ct Taupo from Country Stitch. As I loath stitching the arms on all Mirabilia designs I have done them first. Is it just me or does anyone else find Mirabilia arms hard to do?

Well we have certainly had Winter and Summer in one week here. We were starting to head into the mid 30's (celsius) when suddenly we got hit by what the weathermen called an "Antarctic Blast" and the temps plummetted to single digit figures and we got, wait for it....snow. Snow in November!!!!. Hubby was saying if we wish really hard we might get a white Christmas. LOL. No such luck I'm afraid. It is back up to 35 degrees Celsius today.

There is a bad bush fire burning about 10kms from here in a township called Mt Victoria. The smoke in the air has been terrible. Luckily no homes have been lost yet, but the hot weather is making it hard to contain. Even the snow didn't help. I still can't belive it, bushfires and snow, at the same time.

Well I know this is a short post but my working day is done and I'm heading home. I will try to post again very soon. Who knows, maybe even tomorrow. LOL.

Another Rescue

2006-09-22T12:11:00.000+10:00

Well it was another call to WIRES last night. Late yesterday afternoon I walked out the back just in time to see the horrid cat from across the road sneaking up on an injured baby King Parrot in our backyard. (Buster, my beagle, was asleep in his kennel. What a great watchdog. LOL) I chased the cat out of our yard and put the little bird into a cardboard box. I thought maybe her wing was hurt but I think she was more frightened and concussed. I am guessing she fell out of the tree perhaps. I phoned WIRES who are the Australian wild animal rescue service and they came and picked her up. They said they would look after her and when she is better will let her out close to our house where she is familiar with everything. Poor little thing. I see so many native birds ripped to pieces by cats around here. It makes me so angry. Recently I was standing on our back deck looking at all the beautifil birds on one of our feeders in the back yard, when I saw the same cat from across the road peering out from a bush/shrub at the fence behind our feeder. It was just waiting to pounce on the feeder. I saw it in enought time to make a loud noise and scare the birds away just as the cat jumped on the feeder. Luckily the birds got away. I don't want to think of the mess I would have found in the backyard had I not have been there:( I got Bren to cut back the bush so the birds could see the cat if it tried it again. The trouble is that when you say something to the neighbour they just look at you, almost amused, and tell you there is nothing they can do. So frustrating. I don't mean to offend all the cat lovers out there, but I really think that the same rule that applies to dogs not being allowed to roam out of their own yard should also apply to cats as well. A friend of mine owns 3 Siamese cats and she would be one of the most responsible cat owners, along with Carol S, that I know. Her husband built a long cat enclosure right down the side of their house so when the cats are not inside, they are in this huge cat run. Anyway, off my sop box. I was just so upset last night at what almost happened. Oh, and in case anyone is wondering how I know the King Parrot was a girl. The girls are all green, while the boys are a beautiful bright red and green:)

BTW, thanks to Anne for letting me know what I missed by not staying for the credits at Pirates Of The Carribean 2. I hadn't heard Anne, so thanks for that:)

On the stitching front, I haven't been doing much lately but I did get some out last night. I have started Villages Of Hawk Run Hollow that Carol sent me the gorgeous fabric for. When I have done more I will post a photo.

And last but not least, on the Weight Watchers front. I have now lost 11kgs (25lbs) and reached the Weight Watchers goal weight. My personal goal weight is still anouther 6kgs (12lbs) away, but I am so happy there is now more behind than in front. I really feel I am now eating a more healthy, well balanced diet. And I get to keep my carbs in it as well. LOL. As many of you probably know, I am a carb junkie!! Bren and I bought some exercise equipment for home and that is making a lot of difference too. Now that Spring is here and it is almost time for Daylight Savings, we will start our afternoon walks again soon as well. I am hoping to be at my goal weight by Christmas as Bren and I are going up to his parents' place at Tea Gardens for Christmas and they live right on the beach so I want to buy a nice new swimming costume before we go:)

Spring Has Sprung

2006-09-05T21:29:00.000+10:00

After a rather long week it was a lovely surprise to open my mailbox and receive such a wonderful RAK from Carol. She sent me this beautiful Autumn Leaves Patchwork kit. I just love it and can't wait to get stitching:) There was also a lovely Silkrweavers aida pack as well!!! Thanks again Carol:)

Well, Spring has sprung. Here are some photos from our front yard:

From sunny news to sad news. My condolences go out to Steve Irwin's family after his tragic accident yesterday. Just a horrible thing to happen.

Good News and Sad News

2006-08-14T15:20:00.000+10:00

Hi everyone,

I am so sorry I have been absent from my blog lately. No real excuse other than I have been flat out in the shop. Hubby was head hunted by a company in the IT industry he used to work in. They offered him a 12 month contract. While he had no interest in going back, they made him an offer he couldn't refuse:) Bren looks after the silver clay and beading side of our business and he realised that it would help us a lot to have the extra income coming back in for the next 12 months while our shop finds it's feet in it's new location. I think he is also already counting all the new beads he plans to order in:) While I used to Blog at night time, Bren and I are trying to not be on the computer in the evenings as it feels like we are never off it. So, I will try and find the time to Blog during the day:)

My sad news first. We lost our little cockatiel a few days ago. His name was Winston and we have had him 11 years. He literally got sick over a day and died. Bren and I were devastated but there was nothing we could do. I can't believe how empty and quiet the house is without him. Every morning he used to come over and say hello before I went to work and it is very sad not to have him there:(

Some good news though. Firstly Bren and I had a ball at The Boy From OZ. Hugh Jackman was outstanding. I can certainly see why he won the Tony when he did this role on Broadway.

The second bit of good news is that we had a visit from Carina and her family when they were here visiting. Here is a photo I took. It was great to see her again!!

And finally, I have now lost nearly 6kgs!!!!

Bye for now. I will try to Blog more regularly from now on:)

Weight Watchers

2006-07-27T21:10:00.000+10:00

I weighed in yesterday at Weight Wtachers and have lost another 1.2kgs (2.7lbs) so that was good news.

It's been an interesting week. I woke up with a bad back the last week which ended up with a few trips to the ER at the hopital with a suspected blood clot in my leg. Luckily it turned out to be a pinched sciatic nerve in my back that also resulted in a really sore calf muscle. I have had x-rays and ultrasounds but everything turned out ok. My doctor said to try some stretching exercises at the gym which I will start tomorrow. It sure is a lot better than it was a week ago.

I will load the photo of the lovely fabric Carol sent me:)

Only 8 more days until Boy From Oz. It can't come quick enough.

A RAK but no Photo

2006-07-25T21:59:00.000+10:00

Yesterday I got a wonderful surprise in the mail. I was RAK'd by Carol with a wonderul piece of Lakeside Linen in 40ct Sand Dune with a Vintage finish. I tried doing a Blog entry last night to share my surprise but our internet connection was done and now, tonight, I can't seem to load photos. Arrrgghhh, very frustrating. I will try sharing a photo of the linen tomorrow:) Thanks again Carol. Such a lovely (and always generous) friend:)

More on Stargazer

2006-07-20T21:13:00.000+10:00

Sorry it has been a while since my last post. I have pinched my siatic nerve and have had a sore lower back for the last few days. Really painful. It seems to be on the mend now:)

Good news for my first week on the Weight Watchers Programme. I weighed in on Wednesday and have lost 2.3kgs (5lbs) in my first week, so that's a good start. There is something about having to go and weigh in with people watching that seems to keep me on track:) A few of you have asked what programme I am on. Weight Watchers have a new no count programme which is better for me. You can choose from their points programme and their no count programme. The no count suits me better. On this programme I can eat as much fruit and veg as I like which is great. I am also a carb junkie and I can eat heaps of rice and pasta as well. It is basically letting you eat from a balanced range of foods and nothing outside that. They also teach you to eat until you are satisfied rather than stuff yourself until you feel sick. A lot of people prefer the points programme where you are assigned a certain number of points a day and when you reach it, that's it, no more food until the next day. This allows you to eat whatever you like, even junk food, but no more than your allotted points. I find the no count better, where you can't eat junk food a much healthier choice. I guess you have to find whatever works best for you.

I did a little bit of stitching on Stargazer tonight:)

Mel's Visit

2006-07-12T21:03:00.000+10:00

Today was a really good day. We had a visit from Mel Wilson and her lovely family. Mel and her sweet daughter Caitlin visited the shop while Mel's husband Ken and son Liam drove around and had some "boy time". They came to pick up Mel and Caitlin at the shop later in the afternoon and we all had a nice chat before they had to go. Mel did some serious stash enhancement and Caitlin picked a cute "Little Miss" kit to stitch herself. I saw Mel's stunning St Georges WIP and also an amazing Heaven and Earth design she has been stitching. I can't remember the design name but it looks amazing. I was so pleased they all got to visit. In case anyone isn't sure, Mel is on the right in the pink. Don't she and Caitlin look alike ? I can't believe what great kids Mel has. We get quite a few terrors in the shop, so it was such a welcome change meeting Liam and Caitlin.

Carina I am really looking forward to your visit in a couple of weeks as well. One thing I should mention is that the shop is closed on Wednesdays:)

Jenn, no problems with Paul deciding not to visit. It is a long way:)

Another thing I did today was sign up for Weight Watchers. I want to get about 10kgs off before Christmas if I can. Time to get it of before any more creeps on:)

I'm afraid I didn't see the extra bit at the end of the credits when we saw Pirates. I wish I had known. Has anyone else seen the extra bit? If so could you email me and let me know what it was? I thought the ending was clever though. Really made us look more forward to the final part 3 next year:)

3 Stockings Done

2006-07-10T21:01:00.000+10:00

I finished making up 3 of my Shepherds Bush stockings today. I was really pleased with how they turned out.

Not a lot happening at the moment. We really enjoyed Pirates Of The Carribean 2. The only disappointing thing was that it had a cliffhanger ending. I knew they had made Pirates 3 due for release next year, but I didn't realise it would be the 2nd part to Pirates 2. For some reason I thought they would be 3 seperate movies. Oh well, not to worry. I guess it gives us something to look forward to:)

More on Teris Stocking

2006-07-05T23:12:00.000+10:00

I had the day off today so I did some more on Teri's Stocking. I also made a couple of others I have finished into stockings. Just the piping around the edge to go. When they are finished I will take photos:) While I was stitching I caught a baseball game on ESPN. Unfortunately it wasn't the Red Sox but at least I saw the Yankees get thrashed by Cleveland, so that was good to watch (apologies to any Yankees fans:))

Tomorrow, after work, Bren and I are heading down to Sydney to see Pirates Of The Carribean II. We are really looking forward to that:).

Sorry there is not much news. Not an awful lot happening at the moment.

To A Possum's Rescue

2006-06-30T21:23:00.000+10:00

Well what an interesting night. Bren and I decided to have a low key dinner and just makes ourselves some toasted sandwiches for dinner. When we went to make them we realised that we left the fresh loaf of bread at the shop. As the shop is only minutes away we jumped in the car and went to go get it. On the way, around the corner from home, I noticed a little brush tailed possum on the side of the road. I told Bren to drive the car back and I would make sure he ran off into the bush so that he wouldn't get hit by a car. I got out of the car but the poor little thing didn't run off. He just looked at me dazed. I was so upset as I realised he was already hurt. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't just leave him there to die so I called WIRES (A Wildlife Rescue Service). They asked us to stay with the possum and said they were sending someone out to get him. About 20 minutes later a lady ranger arrived and we got the poor little thing into a cage. While we had been waiting, the possum came to life a bit and walked about a metre down the hill, but then stopped and tucked into a ball again. The ranger said he looked like he would be ok. She guessed that he was concussed and would take him home and look after him. If he was ok the next day she would bring him back and release him close to where we found him. If he was more seriously injured she would take him to their "possum doctor" the next day. Either way, she was grateful to us for calling WIRES. I was so relieved. I would never forgiven myself if we had done nothing and then drove past tomorrow and the poor little thing was dead on the side of the road. Not quite as exciting as your bear Carol, but a wildlife story with a happy ending nonetheless. VBG.

I had a great day off on Wednesday. I lucked out with a Red Sox game on ESPN... finally. It was the Red Sox vs Mets with the Red Sox winning 9-4. Yayyy!!!!! We get so few baseball games broadcast down here and when I do find one, it is rarely the Red Sox, so it was a good day:)

Winter Magic Festival

2006-06-25T18:59:00.000+10:00

Well Bren and I had a nice day at the Winter Magic Festival. We got there early before it got too crowded but by the time we got back to our shop there were thousands of people lining the main street of Katoomba. Here are some photos. There were a lot of colourful characters but I was too embarrased to take their photos without asking the first.

Here is one of the new murals that are popping up all over Katoomba. This is a lovely colourful one.

The lady with the twigs coming out of her head was certainly interesting:)

This is a photo of the Carrington which is the oldest building in Katoomba and is part owned by friends of ours. This is where Bren and I sometimes go to after work for a drink. It's lovely to sit on the lounges in front of the open fires:) The reason for the tunnels on the roof is that the Carrington hosts the Winter Magic Ball every year and this years theme was Titanic. The Chef even recreated a 5 course dinner from the Titanics menu. Being a Titanic fantatic myself I really liked this years theme.

Love these dragonflies:)

The night ended with a wonderful fireworks display from the roof of the Carrington.

A Chilly Winter Solstice

2006-06-22T22:25:00.000+10:00

Well the Winter Solstice has come and gone so now the days will start getting longer. It has been really cold the last few days and I think we are in for a chilly Winter.

We have had a busy few days with Bren's parents visiting. They live up on the North Coast and much prefer the sand and sun to the mountains but we had a nice time while they were here. I haven't done any stitching but hope to get some more done on my SB stocking tomorrow.

This weekend we have the Winter Magic festival here in Katoomba. It should be a fun day. Bren and I are opening the shop later in the day so we can enjoy the festival for a few hours in the morning. Then after we close the shop for the day we will wander up to the main street and watch the fireworks.

Well, 24 is on so I am off to watch the 2nd episode. I am annoyed at myself as we went out with Bren's parents last night and I forgot to tape episode 1. I hope I will be able to follow the story anyway.

A Day At The Sydney Quilt Show

2006-06-17T20:39:00.000+10:00

This week I went into the Sydney Quilt Show. It is on once a year and is a collection of the best quilts in Australia. There were some stunning quilts on display this year. I have put some of my favourites here.

Tomorrow I have the day off so I am hopping to get some stitching done:)

A Couple of Nights Out

2006-06-11T23:05:00.000+10:00

Well, I have been MIA again lately. Sorry about that. As I was saying to Carol a couple of days ago, it has been so hectic during the day lately that by the time we have gotten home in the afternoon I have been just too tired and cold to jump back on the computer. Everything feels like it has settled down a bit now though so I am going to try to get back to regular Blogging. I was intending to do it this week but we had a blackout a couple of nights ago and then the last 2 nights we have been out to dinner. Last night Bren's sister and her hubby came up and took us out to dinner for Bren's birthday (which is tomorrow) and then today we closed early and went down to Sydney for the one and only trade show we have down here in Australia. After the show we went out to dinner with our friends Kylie and Frank. It was great to catch up with them as we haven't seen them for a while. It was a good show and a lovely dinner. We saw some nice new designs, especially some from a new Aussie designer. They are very contemporary designs and I think they will do well. I will share some photos over the next few days.

I hope to have a new blog template soon. Carol sent me a link to a cool dragonfly one but it is in a different format so Bren is trying to work out how to load it for me, so watch this space. VBG (I hope).

A little snow

2006-06-04T22:41:00.000+10:00

I stitched a little more on my stocking tonight. I like how quickly these stockings stitch up:)

Well the weather has turned really cold and we had a little snow yesterday. Yayy!!

Wendy, you asked about the Christmas stitcheries in my last posting. There are 2 more in the series as well and they are stitchery charts by an Australian designer called "Hatched and Patched".

Carina, you asked about when the Yuletide Festival is on up here in the mountains. The Yultide season is celebrated from June to August with different events being run from the different hotels and restaurants. The big Winter event here in Katoomba is called "Winter Magic" and is on the closest weekend to the Winter Solstice in June. This year it is on 24th & 25th June. This is a great weekend. Here is the web link http://www.wintermagic.com.au/ Basically, Katoomba, hands its main street back to the community for the biggest street party in Australia. Jugglers, gymnasts, musicians, dancers, drummers, troubadours, buskers, storytellers, poets, churches and choirs invite you to share the day with them. Best of all, it is free.

Finally some photos

2006-06-01T21:59:00.000+10:00

Finally I took some photos tonight (at last I can hear Carol saying:)). Above is my progress on SB's Teri's Stocking and below are a couple of stitcheries I am working on. All these will go in the Christmas section of ths shop:) We have a big Yultide festival up here in Katoomba during July/August.

Tonight Bren and I went to the opening night of an art exhibition being held at the gallery next to our shop. It was really good, featuring the artwork of local artist John Ellison. He does line drawings and watercolours of scenes and people around the Katoomba area. It was a really good night.

X Men 3

2006-05-31T23:34:00.000+10:00

Tonight Bren and I decided to drive down to Penrith to go see X Men 3. I loved it, but then I love Hugh Jackman in anything:)

Not much happening at the moment. I started another Shepherds Bush Stocking and am still stitching Reed's Stocking into a stocking. I will take some photos soon:)

It's Been A Chilly Few Days

2006-05-27T20:39:00.000+10:00

Sorry I have been away the last few days. It has just been such an exhausting few days getting the back part of the shop together after the flooding. It has been so cold in the shop as we have had to have this big blowing machine on to dry out the wet carpet and because of this the doors had to stay open during the day. Not something you want with all this cold weather. The carpet cleaner came back late yesterday after most of the underlay was dry and steam cleaned the carpet. After this was done we were finally able to start moving everything back. Needless to say, with the shop not being able to be heated, it has freshened up my cold. I have been just getting home each day, having a hot bath and curling up in front of the TV. No stitching done I'm afraid. At least tomorrow we can put the heat back on:)

To everyone who asked, my SB stocking was saved and is as good as new:) Hooray!!

One thing we did do this week was go see the DaVinci Code which Bren and I both enjoyed. Not a bad adaptation of the book. Plus I love Paul Bettany who I though was great:) Next week we are off to see X Men 3:) I love Hugh Jackman as well :) One bit of good news during the was the arrival of our Boy From Oz tickets. Hugh Jackman is doing a limited run of the production in August. I am so excited. I can't wait.

I did manage to go get my hair cut yesterday. I decided my long hair days are behind me and had it cut into a nice, easy to manage short cut. I was growing it out but my lifestyle is just so busy these days that I just can't be bothered spending ages each morning getting it to look half decent. I am so much happier with it nice and short. It doesn't get it the way when I am stitching now:)

And the rain came down

2006-05-23T19:38:00.000+10:00

Well, it has been a very long tiring day. We came into the shop today to find the back room flooded. Sound familiar Carol? VBG. It was a freak thing that happened. Apparently, during the bad storm last night, a ton of slushy snow/ice fell and it happened so fast that the drainpipe from the roof filled with ice and blocked, causing the water to flow “upwards” up the roof and into the ceiling. Luckily, not a lot of stock was damaged as this only happened out where we have the classes not in the front rooms where most of the stock is kept. Some fabric got wet, but not enough to get upset about. The most distressing thing for me was that my SB stocking looked ruined as it was on the cutting table waiting for me to tack it all together and sew it into a stocking and got saturated. The WDW perle ran all over it. I was gutted. I took it home and soaked it for the day. Then tonight I rubbed some stain remover into the bad parts and gave it a run through the washing machine and it seems to have gotten most of it now. There is still a little that has bled near the heart so I think what I might do is make the heart a little bit bigger. I am really relieved.

To make matters worse, Jan, our landlord is overseas in Norway for 6 weeks. She just arrived there this morning. She told us to contact her granddaughter in her absence if anything went wrong. Her poor granddaughter was a bit lost when she came around to see the damage but contacted her grandmothers insurance company and got the ball rolling. The assessor should arrive tomorrow to review the damage and then we can start getting things fixed, eg, carpets cleaned, electrical wiring fixed etc. We did get the fire alarm re-wired today as that had to be done for our insurance. Jan phoned us from Norway tonight to let us know that everything was being done as quickly as possible and said not to hesitate to get things fixed in her absence, after we get the go ahead from her insurer tomorrow. It was nice to get the call. All in all, it could have been a lot worse. Oh well, tomorrow is another day. VBG. Thanks for letting me vent:)

Finally some rain

2006-05-22T21:34:00.000+10:00

We finally got some rain tonight. Here is the storm coming across the mountains. This was taken on our way home today. It poured just as we got home. We still need much much more, but at least it is a start.

Brendon's (Reed's) Stocking finished

2006-05-20T21:54:00.000+10:00

Well, I went back to work to today. Still getting over this rotten cold but at least it is breaking up now, although I am going through boxes of tissues. LOL. I managed to get the stitching finished on Bren's Stocking. I will put the charms on tomorrow and make it into a stocking. I want to get as many of the SB stockings done as I can as I would like to hang them on the mantlepiece at the shop in the Christmas section. Up here in the mountains we have a big Yuletide festival from June to August during the Winter months.

Thanks to everyone for all the get well wishes. Tannia, nice to hear from you. No need to apologise for my birthday as I realised the other day that I missed yours as well, so we're even. VBG. I hope all is well:)

By teh way, I have a customer who is after 3 old designs that she can't find anywhere and neither can I. I told her I would do my best to find them but so far I am having no luck. They are Enchantress Mermaid, Galleons by Karen Brittan and Moonlit ?? (opps, I can't remember the second word in the title. I know this last one is by The Craft Collection). I will check the second name in the morning. Any help would be greatly apreciated:)

A bright spot in my day

2006-05-18T22:38:00.000+10:00

Well, I'm afraid my cold has gone from bad to worse today. Bren held down the fort at the shop today and will do it again tomorrow so I could rest at home, God Bless him:) One bright spark in my day is this lovely RAK from Carol. She knew I loved this Blackbird Designs chart - Garland Fair and sent me the chart and a piece of R&R fabric for it as well. What a lovely surprise from a lovely friend. Thanks Carol:)

I've got a bug

2006-05-16T21:18:00.000+10:00

Well, I had planned to do some stitching tonight but I'm afraid I have woken up with a very sore throat and have been feeling progressively worse as the day has gone on. I guess all the long hours and little sleep have led to getting run down and now I've ended up with a cold. Not to worry, I'll just dose up on some vitamen C and get an early night. I was determined to post tonight though as I want to try to get back into my daily postings:)

I'm back...finally

2006-05-15T19:22:00.000+10:00

Hi everyone,

Sorry I have been away so long. We have been so busy getting the new shop up and running. Bren and I had about 4 days in a row where we were getting by on only about 4 hours sleep a night as we had to be ready to re-open on the day we had said we would. We`made it but even now, a week later, we still have more to set up and are still feeling exhausted. Here are some photos of the new shop. We have done quite a bit more since these were taken. I will take some more in a month or so when everything is how we want it to be. Still, it's getting there. Bren and I love it. We have so much more room:)

I have thanked her already but I want to share what a wonderful birthday present I received from Carol. A great Red Sox T Shirt, a dragonfly note pad, Walk The Line DVD, a wonderful quilt book and a box of my favourite Milk Duds!!! (the Milk Duds are not in the photo as I had eaten them by the time I took the photo:)) All wonderful and shows how well she knows me. I'm am so lucky to have a wondeful fried like Carol:) Thank you so much to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. Mt birthday was our first day of moving everything and the day was not without it's dramas. We could get in a large display rack or the table we use for classes. Both were too wide to get in the doors. The shop is an old cottage and the doors are not as wide as new houses. Bren and I spent hours taking them apart and putting them back together inside the house. During the day though, a friend stopped by to bring me flowers, which were beautiful. We popped home to have some dinner on the Saturday night and were pleasantly surprised by a lovely couple, Mark and Sheila, who have become friends of ours since we moved to the mountains. They called in to bring me a present and share a bottle of champagne with us. They knew we would be working hard on my birthday and thought we should celebrate a little at least. It really was a fun couple of hours with them before we went back to the shop later that night. My dad also called in during the day. He was on his way back to Bathurst (the other side of the mountains) after a week's visit to Tasmania. It was great to see him`as well. He bought me a beautiful antique dragonfly brooch from a little shop in Tasmania. Just gorgeous. All in all it was a nice birthday.

The main drawback of the last couple of weeks is that I haven't done a single stitch. I am hoping to get some stitching done tomorrow night though:)

Today I had to do one of my least favourite things....go to the dentist. I was eating a piece of toffee last night and chipped my front tooth. Ouch!! I had a filling done today and it's as good as new:)

Well, I hope to get back to my nightly blogging and am looking forward to catching up on everyone's Blogs:)

Last Day In The Old Shop

2006-05-04T21:27:00.000+10:00

Hi everyone. Sorry I haven't been blogging the last couple of days. Bren and I have been burning the midnight oil getting the new shop ready for when the removalists arrive on Saturday. We had our last day of trading in our old shop today Yayyyyy!!!! It's going to be exhausting over the next few days but I will get back to my daily blogging after we re-open on Tuesday. I am having stitching withdrawals. LOL.

I look forward to catching up on what everyone else is doing next week.

Carol, I have been searching all over the house for my birthday present but have had no luck. Now Bren has also hidden my present from his mum and dad as well. Arrrgghhhh!!LOL. Only one more day to wait:)

We finally have the keys

2006-05-01T22:04:00.000+10:00

Wow, what an exhausting couple of days. Over the weekend we were getting everything ready before having to pick up the keys to the new shop when we got a call from the owner of the cottage to say that she had a message from her solicitor late Friday to say that the lease had not been executed properly. She wasn't able to reach her by the end of business of Friday to find out why. I can't believe that her solicitor had the signed lease back on Thursday and we were just hearing about a problem on Sunday. Especailly when we were due to pick up the keys at 9am this morning (Monday). Needless to say we had another sleepless night last night. The good news is that everything ended up being in order today. There had just been a typo with a date. All was fixed and we finally picked up the keys today. Over the next few days we will get some of the fixtures up and begin our move on Friday with the aim to re-open on Tuesday. Yayyyy!! I will post some before photos tomorrow and after photos next week.

I know we are a long way from the rest of the world here in Australia but I have to share some amazing good news. About a week ago there was a small earthquake down in Tasmania (a state of Australia). As a result, 3 miners were trapped a kilometre underground. Over the next few days one poor man was found dead. As the days went by it looked like there was no hope for the remaining 2 men. Well last night, 6 days after the cave in, the 2 men were found to be alive. Just incredible!!! They are in good condition all things considered. They are hoping to have them back to the surface in the next 48 hours. I guess miracles do happen!!

Carol, more good news. My birthday present arrived today. Brendon checked the mail and asked me to tell you it has arrived so you wouldn’t worry, BUT…. he has hidden it on me!!!!. He said, as we will be in the middle of moving shops on Saturday it will give me a nice start to my birthday. It's going to drive me crazy. LOL.

A night out with friends

2006-04-28T23:08:00.000+10:00

Well, another rather uneventful day today although I did have a rather unusual customer who came in today and told me she was a gypsy on her way through the mountains. She is the first gypsy I have met. Very strange lady I have to say.

Tonight we had an impromptu dinner around at a friends house which was nice.

Tonight I downloaded Part 5 of Chatelaine Mystery IX so I will stitch that tomorrow. Looks like another quick part to stitch:

A slow news day

2006-04-27T22:31:00.000+10:00

Hi everyone,

Sorry I have been quiet. To be honest the last 2 days have been so uneventful that I just haven't be able to think of anything to write about:) I do want to thank everyone for all the well wishes for Buster. He is doing really well:)

One big thing did happen today and that is that we finally signed our new lease. We get the keys on Monday. During next week we will spend our evenings up at teh cottage getting much of the racking and fixtures up and then on the weekend of the 6th we will move the shop. I just can't wait for teh move to be behind us:)

Southern Jewel Finished

2006-04-25T23:18:00.000+10:00

Sorry I haven't posted the last couple of days. I just needed a break from the computer. As you can see I finished Southern Jewel. A few of you have asked if this is a new or old design. It is a brand new Australian design from Sweetblossoms Designs. I think it turned out really nice:) Back to Stargazer tomorrow:)

Bren and I had a great day out at Ironfest. We ate way too much food and had fun watching the jousting and sword fights. Some of the craft was great as well.

Today was Anzac Day here in Australia. It is a very special memorial day where Australians and New Zealanders remember all those who have been lost in war, particularly those from World War 1 where so many lives were lost at Gallipoli. It is always so moving to see all the verternas marching in teh Anzac Day parades. This is the first time there have been no remaining soldiers from World War 1. Very sad and just goes to show how quickly time moves on and how importaant it is that we pay tribute and remember those who gave their lives so we could enjoy the freedom we have today.

A better day today

2006-04-22T23:19:00.000+10:00

Well, just a busy day at work today. Not quite as eventful as yesterday thank goodness. Now we have 3 days off though and I can't wait. Tomorrow Bren and I are going out to a town called Lithgow down the other side of the mountains to a yearly festival called Ironfest. It is sort of a medieval festival with lots of arts and crafts. Should be a fun day:)

Carina, I am so pleased you will be in Australia again soon and will hopefully be able to come up and visit. I will really look forward to that:)

Just a bit of stitching on Southern Jewel tonight.

A long day

2006-04-21T23:00:00.000+10:00

Well what a big day. I worked from home today as the hairdressers next to our shop had a big break in last night and the robbers cut all phone lines into our lane. As a result we didn't have the internet or phones at the shop so I went home to process orders and left Bren to pick them at the shop. Everything was fixed by later today so everything is back up and running. The hairdressers lost around $30,000 worth of stock. I feel so bad for them:(

Well we are yet to sign the lease on the new shop. There were a few mistakes on the lease but they have been fixed so we have an appointment to sign on Wednesday and will get the keys on the 1st May.

We have a 3 day weekend this weekend as we have the ANZAC Day public holiday next week.

Well I had an upsetting night last night. I was really upset about our dog Buster. I found a small lump near his throat. Bren and I were really worried it might be thyroid cancer. I took him to the vet today and she took a biopsy. She said it would either be a fatty cyst or thyroid related. Thank goodness it was just a fatty cyst. She said it won’t be a problem and not to worry about it. So that was a great relief. Needless to say we both had a sleepless night last night.

Not much stitching done but I did get some done on Southern Jewel. I think it is looking really pretty. Hopefully I should finish it by the end of the weekend:)

Autumn Is here

2006-04-18T20:02:00.000+10:00

Well Autumn has finally arrived. In the last week all the trees have finally started to change. It is so beautiful. Autumn is my favourite season.

I have been giving my wrist a rest from stitching as it has been getting a bit sore. I don't want the tendonitis I had once before back so I will rest it a bit more over the next fews days and then start up again:)

Below is a cute little Kookaburra that was in the tree out the front of our home. Also below is a photo of the cottage we will be moving the shop into in the next couple of weeks.

Happy Easter

2006-04-16T22:31:00.000+10:00

Bren and I had another relaxing day at home today. I didn't get any stitching done though. Hopefully tommorrow. I just wanted to pop in and wish everyone a Happy Easter:)

Good Friday Stitching

2006-04-14T23:52:00.000+10:00

What a lovely Autumn day it was today. Bren and I had a restful day at home today and I got some good progress done on Stargazer. I am really enjoying this one. Tomorrow I have to go to work but the shop is closed Easter Sunday and Monday, so I should get a lot more stitching done on those days.

I meant to share this lovely RAK I received from Carol this week. She sent me a lovely Silkweaver fabric called Starquest. It is really pretty and I will be giving a lot of thought as to what to stitch on it:)

Frogging on Stargazer

2006-04-13T23:06:00.000+10:00

Well I got some progress done on Stargazer tonight but then I realised I had a whole section to frog. I now have it all fixed and will work on it more tomorrow.

As I don't have much of a progress photo to show I will post the last of my Show photos:) It's amazng what people can do with icing:)

I though Becky might like the bee cake:)

Happy Easter everyone. Be safe:)

More Show pics

2006-04-11T21:51:00.000+10:00

I had such a busy day today and tonight I am feeling exhausted so I am going to have an early night.

A big thanks to Carissa for identifying my unidentified sampler as being from Olwyn's Treasured Samplers Book. I contacted my Australian Distributor for this book and will order it in as soon as I hear from them:) Thanks heaps Carissa:) And yes Carol, I definetely see a SAL coming on. LOL.

Here are some more Show photos. Also photos of some of the floral displays:) Tomorrow I'll post some more flowers and some of the amazing cakes:)

A Day At The Show

2006-04-10T21:21:00.000+10:00

Bren and I had a great day at the Royal Easter Show. The needlework was quite good. They have to be unframed so the backs can be judged. Some are entered framed but they rarely win. The sampler on the left was really nice but it was hidden behind some others. Can anyone identify who the designer is? I think it should be a rule that the designer be listed.

I took photos in the needlework section and the floral section. I will post them over the next few days as there are too many to put in one posting.

2006-04-09T23:19:00.000+10:00

Well, I'm finally feeling well enough to do some stitching today. This horrid cold seemed to keep hanging on. This is 13th Colony Bay Part 3 from By The Bay Needleart. I saw these designs at the Yankee Cross Stitch store, just up the road from Carol's home, last year when we were visiting and I fell in love with them. This is already looking really pretty. As usual though, the photo's not great.

Tomorrow should be a good day. Bren and I are going to the Royal Easter Show. Hopefully I may be able to take some photos of the needlework there.

Now I am feeling better I will ctach up on my Blog reading over the next few days. I feel like I have missed so much this last week.

A Bad Cold

2006-04-07T23:00:00.000+10:00

Sorry I didn't post last night. I woke up yeterday after our dinner out with our friends with a really bad cold. Julianne said at the dinner that she was "feeling fluey" so I am guessing I picked it up off her. To make matters worse the weather has turned really cold the last few days. Needless to say I haven't done any stitching. Not to worry. I'm sure I will feel better in the next few days. I hope so as Bren is taking me to the Royal Easter Show on Monday:)

A Night Out

2006-04-05T22:26:00.000+10:00

No stitching done today. Every month we go out to dinner with friends of ours, Mark and Sheila and Julianne. There could be a 4th person next month as we found out tonight that Julianne has started seeing someone. She is waiting to see how things go over the next few weeks before he has to go in front of the screening committee LOL. We went to a lovely Japanese restaurant about 15 minutes walk from our place. It was a hot day today so Bren and I walked as the night was quite mild. By the time we left it was blowing a gale. Our friends offered to drive us home but we opted to walk. It was quite funny as when we turned the corner to walk done the hill we were nearly blown away:) All in all, as always when we get together, it was a really fun night. There is supposed to be a cool change coming through tonight (hence the wind) so I will have a nice day off tommorrow to stitch:)

More on Reed

2006-04-04T11:07:00.000+10:00

Well, I got a bit more done on Reed's Stocking tonight. I love these Shepherd's Bush stockings:) The photo is not great. It looks really nice in real life:)

Gosh, just when we thought the lovely Autumn weather was here we had a really hot day today and tomorrow is supposed to be warmer again before a cool change on Thurdsay. I hope it will be cooler on Thursday as it is my day off.

Carina, what a small world about Tea Gardens. It is as pretty a little seaside town as it sounds. I am looking so forward to you visiting us again:)

Well it's nearly midnight so I guess it's time to go to bed.

p.s Congratulations to the Red Sox on their win!!!

Not much stitching

2006-04-03T23:44:00.000+10:00

Bren and I had the day off today. Bren's parents went home to Tea Gardens this morning and Bren and I had a lazy day at home. I got a bit of stitching done on Reed's Stocking tonight. I will do a bit more tomorrow and will take a photo. Apart from that I don't have much news today. Tomorrow I will try to catch up of everyone's blogs:)

Part 4 done

2006-04-02T23:27:00.000+10:00

It's not a great photo but I finished Part 4 of Mystery IX tonight. Thanks to Carol and Lesley for setting me straight about symbol 3. VBG. It's comforting to know that the next 3 parts can be done in a day or so each:)

We had a great day with the in-laws today. It was a beautiful autumn day. We went for about a 3 hour bushwalk to Leura cascades.

This is a view on our walk.

And here are some lovely wildflowers - A BAnksia and a Mountain Devil.

April Stitching Goals:
1. Finish Part 4 of Mystery IX. (Achieved 2/4/06)
2. Finish SB Reed's Stocking.
3. Continue Stargazer.
4. Continue Petal Fairy.
5. Continue Bois Le Duc.
6. Continue Houses of Hawk Run Hollow SAL.
7. Continue JN Winter In A Square.
8. Finish For Every Season.

A weekend with the In-Laws

2006-04-01T22:22:00.000+11:00

Hi everyone,

Sorry I have not blogged the last 2 days. It has been busy at work and Bren and I have been our the last 2 days so I haven't had a chance to do much stitching or blogging. I will catch up with everyone's blogs over the next few days.

TOday my In-Laws arrived for the weekend. They live about 4 hours from here on the North Coast of NSW in a beautiful seaside town called Tea Gardens. It will be a busy weekend so I probably won't get a lot of stitching done until after they leave on Monday although Bren and I may go down to the city on Monday. We'll see.

I did get some stitching done tonight on Part 4 of Chatelaine Mystery IX. I have all the cross stitching done. Just have to do the specialty stitches and beading. A nice quick part. This is encouranging as it means I will probably finish this part tomorrow and it leaves the rest of the month free to stitch other projects. Yayyy!!! Carol, I see you are finished part 4 already. Nice job:) It looks great. Did you do the beading or the vegetables first? Also, where the symbol shows a 1/2 symbol for the beads does this just mean a whole bead goes there? I'm a little confused by the 1/2 symbol where a bead should be.

I hope the weather is nice tomorrow as we are taking Denis and Doreen to a lovely place called the Leura Cascades. These are lovely waterfalls that are not far from where we live so that should be nice. We'll then have a nice lunch and look around some of the antique and craft shops.

I hope to post a photo of Mystery IX tomorrow:)

Not much news today

2006-03-29T23:14:00.000+11:00

Thanks so much to everyone for all their kind words about the new shop and for the suggestions. We will certainly have heaps of models up. I agree that a shop has to have lots and lots:) I am so tired today but I have the day off tommorrow. I have a few things to do in the morning but hopefully I will get some stitching done in the afternoon.

Unofficial Approval

2006-03-28T22:21:00.000+11:00

Well, great news today. The Town Planner called to say our application for the new shop has been approved and that he was just doing the official letter that we should receive in the mail tomorrow. Needless to say we are really excited. If anyone has any suggestions for what they like to see in a needlework shop they would be greatly appreciated. It always helps to have new ideas:) We want to really do things well when we move. It will be so nice to move all the stock from the pokey space we currently have to a lovely cottage:) We will begin the move after the 20th April.

I didn't get any stitching done tonight. I decided to organise all my charts instead. I always feel better when everything is organised. It is the anal side of me coming out:)

An Interesting Day

2006-03-27T23:09:00.000+11:00

Well today was certainly more interesting than I thought it would be. We are still yet to have a definite yes on the new shop but we did get a call from the Town Planner to say everything was done and that he just had to have a fire and safety inspection done and once that had been done he would approve our application. We told him that the owner had already had this inspection done and that she has an electrician lined up to install all the fire alarms and exit signs as soon as the approval has been given. The council said they could not find a record of this inspection and that they would be sending up someone from the council to do one. The only problem with this is that the Town Planner is going on holidays on Wednesday so unless the inpsector can do it tomorrow we will have to wait yet another week. Given the fact that the TP was off sick all last week and now going on holidays, a lot of time is being wasted. We only have 3 weeks left to get all the legal stuff (leases drawn up etc) done as the owner of the cottage is going overseas for almost 2 months. When we told the TP this today he said he would do his best to have the safety inspection done tomorrow so he could approve the application tomorrow. If not we will have no choice but to wait until Tuesday 4th April. It's just unbelievable:(

Our new shop will be in Lurline Street in Katoomba, which is the main tourist road with many galleries. The businesses along Lurline have decided to get a group of shop owners together to form a comittee to think of ways to help promote Lurline Street as a great steet to visit when tehy come up to the mountains. We were invited to attend and the meeting went really well. We look forward to attending more in the coming months.

On the stitching front I started Live Each Season today as I think I should be able to finish it in a couple of days. Something I need after stitching MTM for so long:)

A Nice Day At Home

2006-03-26T23:12:00.000+11:00

I had a nice day at home stitching today. Much more enjoyable now that MTM is not a piority. Thanks for everyone's kind words about my decision on this one. It's nice to know I'm not the only one feeling this way. Sorry I don't have a photo to share of today's stitching but Bren had a silver clay class he ran at the shop today and left the camera there. We will pop in and pick it up tomorrow.

Hopefully tomorrow we will hear about the shop. FIngers crossed!!!

Bois Le Duc

2006-03-25T22:22:00.000+11:00

Well I finally had to give myself a break from MTM. It is starting to become a chore stitching it every day. I think I may have to revise my goals for MTM. I think my new goal will be to keep up to date each month with Mystery IX and just stitch on MTM in rotation until I have caught up. I started it 3 months behind and I feel like I have been stithing it forever just to get up to date. So, if it ends up taking more time than the 12 months to finish, so be it. I will still try to catch up, but not at the expense of all my other stitching. I think it might have been a bit ambitious of me to expect to be up to date on 2 of Martinas large projects at once and still have other projects on the go, particularly when one was started late. I feel much better since I made this decision:)

So with all this in mind I worked on Long Dogs' Bois Le Duc tonight which was such a welcome change:) Speaking of Long Dog, I received an email from Julia Line (of Long Dog) today with the new release. I can't wait for this to arrive:) It's called Sarabande.

New Mirabilia

2006-03-24T21:36:00.000+11:00

I got an email from Mirabilia this morning with their new release Bliss Fairy. Very pretty and will go nicely with Petal Fairy. What does everyone think of this one? The email also mentioned that the long awaited Autumn In My Garden is coming next. I am thrilled about this as I love the In My Garden series but have put off stitching them until Autumn was released. I can't wait to see this one as Autumn is my favourite season.

No stitching done tonight as I am really tired and will have an early night.

On the new shop front, luckily the Town Planner was back today from his sick leave and we had a chat. He seems to think all will be fine. He said there had been a couple of concerns, mainly the carpark but said there would be leniency shown there. He said he should have an answer by later today or Monday. I’d say he has to get it signed off by a superior or something. I asked him to call when he had a answer. I didn’t hear today so hopefully we will know on Monday. I figure if the carpark was still a problem, they wouldn’t be asking us about signage though. So still we wait but at least we should have an answer Monday. Thanks for everyone's kind wishes.

More on MTM

2006-03-24T00:11:00.000+11:00

Sorry I didn't post last night. We were having computer problems and Bren had to do a restore so by the time everything was back up and running I was way to tired to post.

Not much to report. Still stitching on MTM. Sigh. I know what you mean Carol. This is taking forever and I still have the corner to do as well. I am so anxious to move onto one of my other projects!! Hopefully soon.

We don't have any further news on the new shop as the Town Planner has been off since Monday with the flu. Hopefully he will be back tommorrow otherwise we won't hear until Monday (with luck). This whole thing is teaching me a big lesson in patience. LOL.

I meant to say a while back, Carina, thanks for sending me your email address. I will email you very soon:) It's always nice to hear from you. Two other Aussie friends, Mel and Annette, sent me their Blog addresses so when he has a chance I will ask Bren to put them in my Blog links.

Happy Birthday Mel:) Hope you had a great day.

More on MTM

2006-03-21T20:13:00.000+11:00

Well, yet again, another night stitching on MTM. I am so over this one. LOL. I am itching to move onto some other stitching but if I don't perservere this month on MTM I know I will never catch up.

I had some possible good news today on the new shop front. We are closed on Mondays so when we got into the shop today there was a message that had been left yesterday by the Council's Town Planner. He said he wanted to talk to me about what signage we would be putting up at the cottage. I tried to call him today but he was off sick. They said he will be back tomorrow so I will call him in the morning. While I am trying not to get my hopes up I keep thinking that he wouldn't be asking about signage if it was going to de declined because of the car park. Hopefully he will give me some idea in the morning.

To everyone who has asked about Cyclone Larry that struck the towns in Far Nth Queensland, we are about 1000 miles south of where the cylone struck so we are safe and sound but my heart goes out to all the people around Innisfail, Townsville and surrounding towns whose homes and buildings were devestated.

Two good films

2006-03-20T23:18:00.000+11:00

Not a great photo, but this is the one I took last night that I finally got to load. I worked more on MTM today but didn't get a chance to take a photo tonight. Bren and I have spent a rainy day at home watching DVD's. We watched a great scary Australian film called Wolf Creek, which, if you like a good scare, is the best I have seem for quite a while. Really liked it. The other was Crash. It won this year's Best Film at the Academy Awards and is again, a great film. I didn't get a lot of stitching done during Crash though as this is one you really have to concentrate on.

Well tommorrow is the closing date for any neigbourhood objections to our proposed new shop. Hopefully we should hear by Thursday or Friday if we have been successful. Fingers crossed!!

More on MTM

2006-03-19T23:02:00.000+11:00

Sorry guys, no photo tonight either. I worked on MTM today but when I tried to load the photo it just would not appear in the Blog. I tried several times. Anyone else having this problem? There seems to be quite a few problems with the Blog the past couple of nights.

We had a bit of a scare about an hour ago. A horrible big Huntsman spider decided to run across our loungeroom. As Bren and I were trying to catch it, the horrid thing ran right across my silks and disappeared into the lounge. Needless to say I was scared stupid. Bren wasn't much better. Luckily the spider decided to leave the lounge and then Bren got him. It really was quite funny (well at least it was after the spider was gone) LOL.

I hate Jessica Stitches

2006-03-18T11:52:00.000+11:00

This will only be a short post tonight as it is nearly midnight and I have to get to bed. Tonight I stitched some more on MTM. I will post a photo tomorrow when I fix up the Jessica Stitches that I have been struggling with for the past hour or so. I love doing specialty stitches but I hate Jessica Stitches, particularly when Martinas diagram for this stitch is so bad. I get the first part right but then the diagram is just too blurry to be able to read to finish the stitch off. I am too tired and frustrated tonight to do any more. I figure I will look at it with fresh eyes in the morning:) My weekend (Sunday and Monday) starts tomorrow so I should have a good progress photo to share tommorrow:)

Happy St Patrick's Day

2006-03-17T21:23:00.000+11:00

Not much to say today except Happy St Patrick's Day!!!

I haven't done much stitching today as I was running around a bunch of suppliers all day. At the moment we are watching Antonio Bandaras on InsideThe Actors Studio and he seems so nice. I hope to get some stitching done tonight.

I can't seem to view my Blog or some of the other Blogs tonight. I can view some others though so I am not sure if there is a server problem or something. Hopefully it will be ok by tomorrow. Anyone else having this problem?

More on MTM

2006-03-16T23:48:00.000+11:00

Not a good photo but I got some more done on MTM. I'm afraid I will be boring everyone with this project for about another week or so as I just want to be caught up by the end of March so that next month I can get the new parts stitched and then move onto other WIPs.

Well today we had a bit of a setback with our potential new shop. Just when we thought everything was going well we received a letter from the Council to say that that wanted more information included on the plans of the house we had done. They said they needed more detail on the car park area. So the car park still seems to be an issue. When Bren rang the Town Planner who, only days ago said there seemed to be no problem, he just said they needed more detail on the plans and wouldn't discuss it any further. Then the owner of the property called to say she had also spoken to him and he agreed to go to the cottage with her and make the amendments himself. He said he is only new to the job and wants to make sure he is not making any mistakes. She said that after meeting with him she felt it was still quite hopeful. He said that the deadline for any possible objections by neighbours is up on the 21st and that we should have an answer soon after that. So we should know one way or the other next week. Bren and I are so over this. We just want an answer either way so we can make plans. Plans to move or plans to rearrange our current shop to make better use of the space. I'm sorry to keep boring everyone with this. It's just that the last couple of weeks have been such a see sawing of emotions. Bren and I love our little business and we want to do everything we can to make it better and the actions of the Council have been so frustrating. Thanks for letting me vent a little:)

Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony

2006-03-15T22:07:00.000+11:00

Well, here is my coffee cup. I don't actually drink coffee but I will use my mug in the coming cooler months for cocoa and hot soup:)

No stitching tonight as we have been watching the Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony. I'd like to wish all the Australian Athletes good luck:)

Some Good News

2006-03-14T22:29:00.000+11:00

Well, I got a little more stitched on MTM tonight but I will wait until I have a bit more done before I take a photo. I have decided to leave the village part I started to stitch on teh left side until I see Martina's response to someone else who posed a similar question. In the meantime I will start it again at the top where it is meant to be.

Today we received some possible good news on the shop front. I got a call from the Council’s Town Planner today to ask me a couple of minor questions. He seemed happy with my answers. He then went around to the cottage to do a site inspection and called us later to say he thought all seemed fine. He said that the standard letters had been sent out last week to the neighboring houses and galleries in the street to see if they have any reasonable objections to our business going into the cottage. This is done with any new businesses wanting to start up in a dwelling that wasn't previously used for commercial purposes. The cottage we want has been previously used for holiday letting. If, after 14 days there are no legitimate concerns, the Town Planner said he thought it would be approved. So that all sounds like good news. I know I shouldn’t jump the gun, but now I am starting to get excited.

I Need Some advice

2006-03-13T23:12:00.000+11:00

Well I got a bit of stitching done on MTM today but then realised one of my corners in Part 5 was out by a stitch so I spent hours frogging. What a setback!! Then I realised that I have started stitching the town on the left hand side rather than the top. I am combining teh stitching on parts 5 and 6). As I haven't done much I am wondering whether to frog this part of the town as well or just leave it. Each side looks very similar so I am wondering what you guys think? Does it matter what side the towns are stitched on? Also, on the picture of MTM it looks like the front building on each side is the same any way, so my second question is if I should leave what I have done until Part 7 comes out and start Part 6 again at the top. Does this make sense? I am really tired and have probably confused everybody.

Two finishes

2006-03-12T22:32:00.000+11:00

Well, I had a lovely day at home today and while the plan had been to work on Medieval Town all day (especially after seeing Judith's gorgeous work), I ended up trying to get all my WIP's and UFO's organised. I found 2 that were finished except for the back stitching and the thought of finishing 2 works before I start the marathon effort that will be MTM, was very appealing. So I have now finished Mirabilia's Ring Around The Rose Tree which I stitched on 28ct Waterlily Jobelan and another by an Australian designer Hanne's Needlecraft called "Roadside Sellers" that I started back in 2003. I had finished it's companian piece "To Market" and just couldn't face all the backstitching that RS required, until today. VBG.

Also tonight, Bren changed my template as Carol mentioned that sometimes that blue template can be hard to read on some machines. I hope this is better. Bren is also going to try and incorparate dragonflies into my template soon as well (of course. LOL).

Tomorrow is our Monday off so I am definetely going to get to work on MTM. I really am dreading it but I so want to be caught up by the end of the month. After I have caught up I will get back into my rotation stitching. I am especially anxious to get back to Stargazer and my next house in HOHRH. Because I have been spending all my spare time stitching I have been neglecting my emails. Carol, I have been so slack. It feels like ages since we had a proper chat but I will recify that soon:) Also Carina, I still can't work out where your email address is in your Blog.

A Nice Night

2006-03-11T23:11:00.000+11:00

Well our friends have just left for the night and are on their way back down the mountain. They live about an hour from us. It was so great to catch up with them as they have been in Spain for 6 weeks on an extended holiday and so we hadn't seen them since before Christmas. Our friends are Kylie and Frank and they have two children - Cody aged 6 and Brianna aged 3. These friends are like family to Bren and I and we have had a lovely night. I have to say though, while we love the kids to death, it is nice to have a nice quiet house again. I have to take my hat off to anyone who has children. It really is a full time job and I know we would be exhausted 24 hours a day. I don't know how Kylie and Frank do it, and they have great kids:)

I have the day off tommorrow while Bren is running a Silver Clay class so it's back to stitching:) We both have Monday off so we will either have the day at home or go out for the day.

Not much tonight

2006-03-10T23:33:00.000+11:00

Sorry about such a short post tonight. It has been a long hot day and I have just not felt like doing much of anything tonight but watching some TV. It's not often I don't feel like stitching. I am hoping to do more on Medieval Town on Sunday. I won't get much done tomorrow night as I have to work until 3pm and then some of our friends are coming up from Sydney to have a Bar-B-Q with us.

Judith, I agree that I need to get a move on with MTM. I know it is cheating a bit but rather that stitching all 4 corners of Part 5 at once, I have started stitching some of the buildings as well to break the monotony of the 4 corners. My aim is to have completely caught up by the end of the month though.

As always, thanks so much for all your lovely coments over the last week. I am so sorry I haven't had a chance to catch up on everyone else's Blogs. I am hoping for a quiet day in the shop tomorrow so I can catch up with everyone.

Part 3 finished

2006-03-09T21:28:00.000+11:00

Yayy!!! I finally finished Part 3 of Mystery IX today. It is so nice to be up to date with this one. I now want to catch up on Medieval Town. I am so behind with this one though. I am combining a couple of parts and can hopefully at least catch up to Part 6 by the end of March.

I had a nice day at home today. It was really hot though. It's hard to believe it is Autumn and we are still having such high temperatures. I love it when it rains but there is none predicted for the next week or so which is disappointing.

Well it is time to watch "House" now so I will sign off for the night.

My sweet husband

2006-03-08T23:45:00.000+11:00

Well no stitching done tonight as a friend of mine who lives up the road has a new man in her life and she needed a bit of a "girly" chat night. It seemed so strange as all my other friends are married and so it has been years since I have had a friend who needed to chat about a new boyfriend. VBG. A bottle of wine later, it is now 11.50pm and Julieanne has just gone home. It has been a nice night but I am so tired as I had a very busy day in the shop. I am so glad I have the day off tomorrow!!!

Speaking of days off, look at the lovely ring my wonderful hubby made me today on his day off. I really lucked out with him:) He spent so much time on this and it is just beautiful.

Tomorrow I hope to have more stitching progress photos to share:)

Not much done tonight

2006-03-07T23:43:00.000+11:00

Well not much happened today. I got a bit more done on Mystery IX tonight. Not a lot but at least it is getting there. Tomorrow will probably be much the same but at least I have my day off on Thursday to look forward to. Hopefully I will get Part 3 finished then so I can move onto something else, hopefully back to Stargazer.

Mystery IX Progress

2006-03-06T23:23:00.000+11:00

Well today I worked on Mystery IX part 3. I had hoped to get more done on the 4 new sections but I decided to do the beading today well. I was going to leave the beading but then I remembered that one of the bead colours uses over 1000 beads so I have changed my mind and will bead as I go as I don't think I could face all the beading at the end:) I really like how Mystery IX is looking. It looks so much nicer than the photo shows. I hope to get all of part 3 done over the next couple of days.

Well it has been a long night. I have been up all night watching the Academy Awards. We have the telecast delayed by about 6 hours so it can be shown at night on Australian television. I always spend the whole day trying to avoid any news bulletins that come on during the day as I hate to know the winners ahead of the telecast. I have even avoided reading anyones Blogs today in case someone mentioned the winners. I'm a movie tragic I know:) LOL. I have to say I am so happy that George Clooney, Rachel Weiz and Reece Witherspoon won!!

Blackberry Picking in the country

2006-03-05T23:42:00.000+11:00

Today we went for a drive in the country out to a small town called Oberon where we went blackberry picking. We drove around the countryside visiting quite a few small towns before stopping at Bathurst for a quick visit with my Dad. We got home late and tonight we watched a really good movie called The Terminal starring Tom Hanks. What a good movoe!!

Tomorrow Bren and I will have a quiet day at home so I home to get quite a bit of stitching done.

A Just Nan break

2006-03-04T23:09:00.000+11:00

Well tonight I felt like I needed a break from Chatelaine Mystery IX so I decided to make a start on Just Nan's Winter In A Square. I am stitching it on 28ct Light Caramel Jobelan and I think it will stitch up quickly.

Well it is now the "weekend" for Bren and I. We have Sunday and Monday off. As it has been such a big week we have decided to go for a drive in the country the other side of the mountains tomorrow. It will be so nice to get away for the day:)

When we get back later tomorrow Bren s going to put up my Blog links for me. I still haven't mastered HTML code yet. His background is in the IT industry so it is easier and quicker to ask him to do it for me:)

I am looking forward to life getting back to normal a bit next week and I can catch up on everyone's Blogs.

Carina, I am answering your post here as I can't work out how to email you via your Blog. You're right about Katoomba and the upper mountains in general being a lovely place. Unfortunately these days there just seems to be a criminal element everywhere. The police think the 8 break in's were just destructive bored kids looking for money. Not a great consolation for us I'm afraid. Oh well, it's behind us now. I am looking forward to you visiting us again the next time you are in Australia:)

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend.