A WhooooHoooo Wednesday!

Why? Well, for a starter, it's stopped raining and there's some sunshine so I've been able to go out and do some garden jobs today - that always puts me in a good mood. :0)
Then Sally emailed to say that she's posted the HAED charts that I bought from her - OK, so they'll probably take an age to get here, thanks to the postal strike backlog, but it's still new stash on the way!
I've also now got a working scanner (and printer) again. DH swapped them round for me so I can get at the scanner better and it makes scanning pieces on frames a whole lot easier! So now that's working again here's an update on my UFO Tuesday piece, Egyptian Tablet.
Before:

After:
Yes, I've finally completed that horrible multi-coloured wig/hair band - that's worth a big WhooHoo and Happy Dance all of its own, believe me! LOL. Mind you, there's still the backstitch on the collar to tackle: on the collar it's worked in DMC metallic thread - I'm so looking forward to that.......... not!

I had planned to make a new start after completing The Princess but that doesn't seem to have happened yet - I've wanted to keep going with ET, so have gone with the flow.
If I change my mind: Happy Holidays is all kitted to go, as is M Designs Hope tree but, as it will soon be Samhain (Halloween), I rather fancy stitching an appropriate piece for that: Passione Ricamo has some really nice freebies here and here and there's a lovely one at Whispered by the Wind and yet another lovely offering from Black Swan Designs via the Needle Delights web site, to name just a few....... spoilt for choice here and struggling to decide! >roll eyes<

In answer to Helen: sorry, my Ink Circles Blackstone Fantasy Garden hasn't made it into my Webshots album yet. It's too big to fit on the scanner and I'm not that hot with the digicam (I've no idea how to upload pics from it to the PC) and DH has been too busy to do it for me. I've got a couple more larger pieces that haven't yet made it into my Webshots either, so when he's got time I'll get him to do them all in one session and have a mass update.
Can't wait to see your progress on BFG. :0)

Well the chap from my local Freecycle group turned up and took the cake decorating items yesterday but there don't appear to be any takers for the other bits I listed. I'm not fussed though as, right on cue, the British Heart Foundation have left a donations bag, so they'll go in that, along with some clothes I've sorted....... and anything else that gets sorted between now and collection on Friday morning. Don't you just love it when the Universe works in your favour like that? LOL :0)
That's me off for a cupboard trawl. Whatever you're all getting up to, hope you're having fun. :0)

Torrential Tuesday

The weather has been appalling so far: torrential rain for much of the night and morning - we've got a paddling pool in the front garden again and the poor flowers are drooping under the weight of the rain drops on them. It's stopped now but it's so dank, cold and dreary it makes you want to curl up under a fleecy blanket and hibernate....... methinks those hedgehogs have the right idea! As I've got a bit of a cold and my throat is painful (flare up of an old problem) I may just succumb to a fleecy blanket snuggle this afternoon.



I'm still minus a scanner and printer but do have all my previously scanned pics on this computer now, so thought I'd share one of my blackwork Renaissance Angel. I love this piece, which is a Mary Hickmott design from an issue of her New Stitches magazine, and it was an absolute delight to stitch (although, strictly speaking, it should probably be called navy blue work LOL). I have plans to finish it as a wall hanging when I find a suitable fabric for it....... and finally tamed my flippin' sewing machine. That has a nasty habit of galloping off at top speed at the slightest touch of the pedal, scaring me half to death and giving me palpitations in the process, so I tend to avoid it........ which means I have a drawerful of pieces awaiting finishing >roll eyes< and I will get around to them one day.
Just watch out for that low flying squadron of pigs ;0)

I'm once again having fun re-homing stuff via my local Freecycle group.
The mouse hunt and clean-up meant I delved in areas that haven't been delved in for some time and it unearthed a few bits that are now surplus to requirements - well, if I've lived without them for this long, then chances are I can permanently do without them, can't I?
One person's clutter is definitely another one's treasure as just about everything I've ever posted on there has had a taker. Today's offerings are: some cake decorating items; some cutters and some vacuum cleaner bags.
A result already: there's a chap calling for the cake decorating items some time today.
If you're in urgent need of a de-clutter and are desperate to get stuff off your hands, then I can highly recommend using your local Freecycle group. :0)

As today is UFO Tuesday on the Stitch'n'Stash Forum (boy, does that seem to come round quick!) I'll be stitching on Egyptian Tablet again today. This is starting to show the benefit of having some extra time spent on it these last few days and is coming on nicely. DH says he'll be sorting out my scanner and printer tonight, so a pic should be forthcoming soon. Hurray!

Culture, Computers & Crafts

Culture: DH and I thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the theatre on Friday night.
As Sweeney Todd is a Victorian melodrama some audience participation was expected: the hero's/heroine were clapped & hurrah'd and Sweeney Todd the villain was well and truly boo'd and hissed at. The kids in a pantomime audience would've been given a good run for their money by us lot - it was fun! :0)
The lady who collapsed during the first night performance did have a mini-stroke. She has been lucky: this seems to have been a warning for her and she's also had it diagnosed before her condition has had chance to deteriorate to a really serious level. Fingers crossed with the right treatment/dietary advice she'll be OK and it's hoped she'll feel fit enough to take up her part as Granny Ogg in the next Pratchett production - no one else could do it as well!

Computers: The tinkerings at the weekend didn't go quite to plan. DH got the new system up and running OK but had problems trying to get the important stuff on it, like bookmarked sites, old emails, my address book and my emailed charts etc etc. He eventually worked out how to transfer them but I'm still minus a working scanner and printer, all the scanned pics of my stitching and cards I've ever done (so no pics at all until that's sorted) and all those downloaded charts that'll come in useful some time and took me years to accumulate >sob< Guess what he'll be doing in the evenings this week? ;0)
I'm not complaining though: this new system is a darned sight quicker than the old one (dizzyingly so at times) and has more memory.......... room for even more downloaded cross stitch freebie charts that'll come in useful one day LOL.

Crafts: We were out Friday night and much of Saturday (another garden centre trip with an added organic farm shop visit), so I didn't get any stitching done then, but I did stitch on Sunday night while watching Bruce Willis's 16 Blocks DVD. Yup, all those channels and still absolutely nothing on TV worth watching, was there?
Julie and Mr Stick will be pleased to know that the project that got my attention last night was Egyptian Tablet........ yes, I actually wanted to stitch on it :-o Although I'm not stitching the hair band, so that's probably helped LOL. As soon as I have a working scanner again I will post progress pics.
Thanks to Sally I shall soon be the proud owner of two more HAED charts but I'm not saying which ones until they've arrived, just to keep the suspense going a bit ;0)
Thanks for the opportunity to add these to my stash Sally. :0)

I think I'm now officially in SABLE mode.....

Frustrating Friday

Frustrating because I still can't take a scan of my UFO to show as I've still got PC problems, so here's the last pic I took of my HAED Mother Earth piece instead.


We got back from DSis's at a reasonable time and DH did have a go with my PC: he swapped all the relevant hardware, only to find that my keyboard wouldn't go with that....... something about plugs/adaptors and something with a funny name that I can't remember for the life of me.
Yes, you could hear an audible Whooooooossssshhh! as it all went over the top of my head.
The search in the loft for the keyboard that did go with it didn't find it (there's that blackhole called "safe place" doing it's thing again!), so back came all the old hardware and setting up of my old PC with DH getting grumpier by the minute. Then he banged his head on the table that my PC stands on........... boy, can that man cuss when he sets his mind to it! :-0
After that, and yesterday's busy day, I think he was glad to get back to work this morning.

Yesterdays trip to the solicitor was a pleasant surprise: it shouldn't take too many more weeks for all the legal stuff to be completed plus it turns out it should only cost an arm or a leg and not both, so it won't be as expensive as we thought. Julie: in the interests of continuing my stitching I'm keeping the arm LOL. :0)
After leaving there we all went to a local cafe for a full English (mighty tasty it was too), then did a little shopping, then went straight from town to my aunt and uncle's for a visit, then on to a garden centre for a shop (making time for a cuppa and a sticky bun, of course), then back to DSis's to do some jobs for her.......... so now you see why DH was so keen to go back to work.

The production of Sweeney Todd seems to be going OK, apart from most of the cast surviving on cough linctus, cold remedies, throat pastilles and the like to keep them going - they all seem to be succumbing to whatever lergy is going round. DS says backstage it's more like a Chemist's shop than a theatre.
The lady who collapsed is still in hospital having tests: lots of rumours circulating but the most reliable one seems to be that she is being sent to Grimsby hospital for an MRI, as they're wondering if she may have had a mini-stroke. Fingers crossed it isn't and there's only good news.
DH and I go to see the production tonight, so he's under strict instructions not to be late. I'll be making a quick tea soon and I've already got my outfit ready, including the shoes and jewellery to go with. It's a 7.30pm start so I like to be organised.

Hope you all have a good weekend, whatever you do. :0)

Wednesday Wanderings

Last night was UFO night and I stitched some more on Egyptian Tablet but am unable to post any pics at the moment - I've had strict instructions from DH not to scan or do anything with pics until he's finished sorting the PC for me. He was late home from work last night so only had chance to do all the disc back ups, which took longer than he thought. He won't get chance to look at it tonight, as we are going over to my DSis's in Doncaster, but I will make sure we are back reasonable on Thursday so he can sort it, otherwise it won't get done until the weekend and I can't wait that long!

Tonight's trip to Doncaster is so we can go to the solictor's first thing tomorrow. Since my Dad passed away in April we've sorted all the legal things out but had a slight hiccup when it came to the house: as it's never changed hands since Mum and Dad bought it in the late 1950's it's never been registered, so we can't sign it over to DSis yet.
Thinking it would be pretty straightforward off my fingers trotted to the Land Registry web site which, though mainly for use by solicitors and professional conveyancers, claims it can be used by the lay person. >Snort< I beg to differ: I couldn't find what information and forms were needed and the legal jargon gave me a headache. Stuff that says I and DSis and DBro agreed, so off we are going to the solicitor - no idea how much this will cost (an arm and a leg probably ;0) )but it'll be worth it to have the hassle taken away and know it's being done properly. We'll all breathe a sigh of relief when it's completed.

DS's first night performance went OK, despite it being made a little traumatic by one of the group members passing out in the wings! Luckily someone realised what was happening and caught her on the way down and one of the cast members is a nurse and gave First Aid and stayed with her until she was taken off in an ambulance. She's being kept in hospital for a day or so for tests but hopefully will be back with the backstage crew organising the props before too much longer. Luckily the audience were totally unaware of the off-stage drama, helped by the ambulance arriving minus sirens blaring and the paramedics coming and taking her out via the backstage door. This am dram stuff certainly has its moments!
No review in the local newspaper yet..... but if this performance is anything like the last one (Terry Pratchett's Maskerade, in which the above passed out member played a brilliant Granny Ogg) we'll thoroughly enjoy it when we go to see it on Friday night. :0)

Many thanks to those who visit, and take time to comment, it's much appreciated.... and many give me a right laugh (I've stopped drinking coffee when I check - it gets too messy). Thanks and hope you're all having a good week.

Right, I'm off to go pack our overnight bag...... I'll be Blogging a.s.a.p. after I get back and will hopefully be able to scan/post pics again by Friday, when I'll do updates of this weeks UFO stitching.

A Pink Parcel Day

I love those pink parcels from Jayne, don't you? This one contained a rainbow of Carrie's Creation threads and a wonderfully sparkly piece of Polstitches Opalescent Silver Lining. I know exactly what I'll be using the Pols for but you'll have to wait and see. :0) I thought I'd also show you the floss toss for my Long Dog Sampler piece Rosemarkie. This is another Polstitches fabric, Sky High, with more CC's: Blueberry Pie and Twinkle. I knew I wanted to use this fabric for the piece but wasn't sure on thread colours - luckily Jayne came to the rescue and I just love the combination.
Hope the pics have come out OK - I can't tell at the moment as the graphics card on my PC is slowly dying and any pics seem to give it a severe bilious do (and me.... what it's doing to some of the colours is really vile).
I'm gutted the old girl is starting to give up the ghost as she's served me well over the years, especially as I know exactly what I'm doing with the systems that run on her, but I guess all good things must come to an end at some stage. :0( DH has been going to get around to sorting out an upgraded system for me for about two years now so it looks like it's definitely going to happen like now. Windows XP here I come....

DS went out tonight looking a little pale and edgy....... absolutely nothing to do with booze this time, thankfully. ;0) He's involved in a local amateur dramatic group called the Little Theatre Club and has got a couple of small roles in their latest production: Sweeney Todd The Barber. It's the first performance tonight and he was a bit nervy, so I hope all is going well. We've got tickets and are going to see it on Friday night.

Tonight is UFO night and because of cooking tea, sorting yet another load of washing (goodness knows what the next electric bill will be like!) and now blogging I haven't, as yet, put a single stitch in Egyptian Tablet. Guess I'd better get going before Julie and Mr Stick show up......

Not So Manic Monday

As promised, here's the pic of the small piece I stitched over the weekend between mouse hunts and cleaning bouts. It's a Bucilla kit, designed by Bonnie Smith Disotell, and came complete with the wood frame. I used some self-adhesive backing board to mount the piece and it slotted nicely into it. I'll be sending it, along with some other items, to my MIL to sell at her fundraising event for Treetops Hospice in Derbyshire - it's something that's dear to all our hearts as they gave a lot of help and support to my SIL Helen. As I mentioned it yesterday (and Blogger is playing today) I thought I'd post a pic of the Carol Tinson Love Is You design. If I remember rightly, this was a Limited Edition piece available just before St Valentine's Day. It's stitched 1 over 1 on 28ct Zweigart Lambswool Linen with Kaalund Silk Poinsettia and V. Clayton Heart Wood:It fell by the wayside when my eyes struggled with the fine stitching, then life got in the way, but I picked it up again last week. I'd forgotten how nicely this stitched up and just how lush those silk threads are, so more progress should be made soon. :0)

Though I'm continuing with the laundry and have done another three loads (where did all that bedding and all those towels come from?!) today hasn't been quite as manic as the last few days, I'm glad to say. Most of the cleaning is sorted and it's been another mouse free day - yippee! For Karen: you don't have to especially go and buy a jar of Nutella (not unless you really want to ;0) ) - raisins, a little peanut butter or a small piece of choccie are also effective trap bait (don't bother with cheese, they really don't fancy that). Hope you get the little beggar. >:0)

For those that were wondering: the son and heir has had a bit of a headache today (sinus pressure he tells me) otherwise he's fine. Helen: as soon as he mentioned "bug" I got the whiff of a particular farmyard odour in the air. ;0) Luckily nights like that rarely happen, but I do live in hope that he grows out of the boozy Saturday nights out stage before there's any permanent damage done to his liver.

I've been a bit achey today and am not sure if that's down to all the bending, carrying and furniture moving over the past few days or if I've OD'd on the fumes from all those cleaning products >roll eyes<. I had a lovely phone call with Jayne from Jayne's Attic mid-morning - it's always a pleasure to chat. If you're reading this: thanks for the laughs Jayne........ and for the excuse for a sit down. ;0)

If Royal Mail are on form some new goodies should be with me tomorrow and, as I'll be as excited as a three year old at their own birthday party, will more than likely post a pic so you can all share. :0)