March 2020 TUSAL Report

Well, here we are again, time for the third TUSAL (Totally Useless Stitch-a-long) Report for the year (sorry it is late -see previous post for my (lame) excuses), when we show our ORTS for the month.

This year my ORTs are going to placed in this special ORT jar which was a gift that came as part of my 

A Little Help From our Friends Stitching Circle (an autoship from The Silver Needle).

I have also decided to take each month's pic of the ORT jar with my objets d'amour (the things that I love). 

This month's orts are sitting in front of the ORT jar.  My objet d'amour this month is our very speccy coffee machine! Now, that I am home all day, every day, it is proving to be a lifesaver!

... and here is the YTD...

(not sure why the orts are blurry, obviously the camera liked the coffee machine a lot more - lol!)

Just click on the button above to go to Daffycat's blog where you can comment and see who else TUSALed this month.  

Thanks for visiting and please don't forget to leave a comment as I do love a good chat,

hugs, 

So far behind ....

.... with my blogging posts, that is!  Not sure where the time has gone as I certainly meant to write at least three or four post this week for the various SALs and challenges, etc - FNSI, IHSW and TUSAL to name but three.

Strange, isn't it?  You would think that with this enforced social isolation - yes, I am bringing up the elephant in the room - that I would have more time to blog, but somehow no!  I have been haunting the supermarket for toilet paper and the local craft shops for supplies, keeping up with family and friends via Facetime, Messenger, What's App, Instagram and Facebook to name just a few. Keeping up with all the latest news on Covid-19 and all the funny jokes about it (you have to laugh, don't you, to try to keep sane?).  We have picked up a new online project at work, so I have been busy with that and cooking and gardening and, of course, reading, stitching, stitching, stitching and finding new programs to watch on the Streaming services and cuddling Furio, of course (for him it is a silver lining as I am home all day, all week now).

But, seriously, these are such extraordinary times and I am praying and thinking of all of you out there in blogland and all my wonderful stitchy friends, even if I haven't been visiting your blogs this week.  Stay safe and well, my dears and try to take joy in the simple beauties of this world.

So, that is all from me on this subject for now - watch out for my stitching updates coming later today and tomorrow, 

Stay safe and well everyone, 

hugs, 

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Hello Lovely Cross Stitchers, 

I wish you all well during these extraordinary times - I have never quite seen anything like it, although as a historian I can see parallels with the Spanish Flu and the Black Death pandemics. The human race got through those times and so I have faith that we will get through this time, too.

Anyway, onto the purpose of this blog post, with Victoria about to go into Lockdown within the next 48 hours, I am about to announce the winner of my 

Now, not wanting to make life easy for anyone I had a pop quiz first - the details are all below....

Pop Quiz and Giveaway

The Giveaway prize is this cute design by Les Grille de Maryse.

The Rules of the Giveaway

1. Open worldwide.

2. Read each of the three February Miscellanea posts and answer the three questions given below.

3. Give your answers in the Comments Section of Part Three of the February Miscellanea posts. (Comment moderation has been turned on to avoid anyone inadvertantly giving the answers away).

4. If more than one person gives the correct three answers - the winner will be chosen randomly.

5. The Giveaway ends at midnight on the 15th March, wherever you are in the world.

6. Best of luck!


The Pop Quiz

1. Which of my relatives grew up at Montsalvat?

2. On what date was Gold discovered in Victoria?

3. Which native bird visited me on my deck one evening?

The answers are:

                                                              1. My aunt (by marriage)

                                                          2. 2nd July, 1851

                                                          3. a Tawny Frogmouth

... and the winner is....

                                  KAY  (not me - lol!)

Kay doesn't have a blog but I have sent her an email.

Please email me your snail mail address, Kay, and I will send you your prize (if Australia Post is still running after we go into Lockdown).

Anyway, I am stitching like mad (although all my planned stitching seems to be all over the place as I am stitching whatever takes my fancy atm), cooking, working from home the next two days, reading, listening to books and trying to stay in touch with friends and relatives via email, sms, What's App and Facetime, I have planted daffodil bulbs in the hopes of a happier Spring (in six months time) and I may even clean out a cupboard or two!

Stay safe and well everyone, 

hugs, 

FFO Post for March

[So sorry, rather late post but I have been away for the weekend - more on that next post] ....

Hosted by Rachel the Ten Hour Stitcher

This is a great SAL, designed to motivate us all to do something with that box of Finished pieces instead of just storing them under the bed or in my case, in a drawer! The idea is to link up on Rachel's blog on or after the 10th of each month (10 Hour Stitcher - 10th of the month)..... and I actually managed to Fully Finish a whopping nine pieces this month - I am pretty chuffed with myself.  This SAL is a huge motivator for me!

#1.  

First up is an older stitchy finish, which I finished stitching in November 2016 but according to the post, took three and a half years to stitch!  (Obviously I am very easily distracted - lol!).

#2

Proverbi 4 by Paola Gattiblu

28ct Flax Linen

My selection of speciality floss

(The two blues are WDW Blue Jean and GAST Cornflower)

I actually finished this way back in January 2016!  This, too, only took four years to actually FFO it!

I embellished it with a blue bow and some buttons from my stash.

This has a companion piece, Proverbi 3, which I FFOed last month.

#3 
PS Santa 2015, finished as a small wall hanging with two pegs:
                                             
                                              "C"hristmas "D"ay

#4. "Be Joyful" by Tempting Tangles Designs, which I did finish stitching this year.

#5

I also FFOed this sweet design "With you I am home" which I have absolutely no recollection (and I can't find anything on my blog) of when I stitched it. I added the little heart buttons from my button collection and the hot pink check fabric is also from my stash.

I am displaying it on this cute chalkboard which I bought from TK Maxx for only $6 (AUD).

#6 is another Prairie Schooler design - isn't he a cute snowman?

#7 is Winter Wonderland by CCN, which I finished stitching earlier this year - I finished it as a large wall/balustrade hanging. I found this perfect pale blue and snowflake fabric in my stash for the border.

... and this lovely silver, gold and white fabric for the backing.

... and #8 is that I fully finished "Christmas Bullfinch", another design that I finished stitching earlier this year. Again, I found the perfect fabric in my stash!

                                             

                

... and finally, #9 is "Mon Amour" stitched it on a scrap of unknown green linen which I had in my stash and chose my own pinks and greens and added white beads instead of white crosses. The fabric in the border is what I used to back it with, too.

Please go see what everyone else Fully Finished this month.

Thanks for visiting and please don't forget to leave a comment as I do love a good chat,

hugs, 

Friday Night with Friends_March 2020

The night before last was Friday night which means it was time for Friday Night with Friends (FNwF)  virtual stitching night which is run by the wonderful Cheryll, here is where you can check out what everyone else got up to this month.

It is also my own personal Friday Frolics night, where I pick up a WIP or UFO every Friday.

This week I picked up Strawberry House by LHN. The last time I stitched on it was on September 8th, 2015, where I struggled to get much stitching done on it as I kept having to frog different sections and then somehow lost my Crescent Colours Ladybug floss!

So, this is how I found the piece.  

Unfortunately, I still can't find my Ladybug floss - so, yesterday, all of that had to be frogged and I started again with WDW Begonia - a bit pinker but it will still work very well, I think.

Hopefully, this will be the last I will see the Frog Prince for a while now.

Also, for FNwF I stitched on The Faerie Queene Sampler - I have been stitching on it each day in March as part of the March One Stitch per day Challenge for WIPocalypse.  I am stitching one letter of the verse in dark brown, one over one.  It is quite petite, so I try to stitch on it during daylight hours.

I am also stitching on this piece every day during daylight hours for the JCS Christmas Ornie FB SAL as I am finding the black rather challenging to stitch on.

... and to finish, here is a rare photo of Milo sitting on my lap (he is usually too skittish).

Oh, I have a giveaway happening so please visit this post if would like to join in all the fun.

Thanks for visiting and please don't forget to leave a comment as I do love a good chat,

hugs, 

February Miscellanea_Part Three (and last part, I promise!)

Well, here we are at Part Three of my February Miscellanea - finally!  I didn't think that I had been up to that much over the past month but obviously I was wrong!

I hope that you enjoy this post and I must warn you - there is a pop quiz at the end - lol - but there is also a prize!  So keep reading.....

Grand Designs Eaglemont_Front House

After the demolition which I showed you in this post, we now have a totally empty block with some digging done for the garage - boy, do these things seem to move slowly.  Not sure how the builder thinks he is going to be finished by mid-December!

Old Treasury Building

 A couple of weeks back, I "shepherded" a group of History teachers through a tour of the Old Treasury Building (it was part of the History conference that we were giving - for those of you who don't know, I work two days a week at the History Teachers' Association of Victoria).

"The Old Treasury Building is one of Melbourne's finest 19th century buildings. Visit this exciting museum, showcasing the history of Melbourne and Victoria.

The building is located on the land of the Kulin Nations. We acknowledge and pay our respects to the Traditional Custodians, past and present."

We had this wonderful guide who was so knowledgeable and made the visit really interesting.  Here she is holding a copy of the front of the newspaper when Victoria became a separate colony from New South Waleson the 1st July, 1851 (amazing since Melbourne was only founded in 1835!).  Then Gold was officially discovered on July 2nd, 1851 (the theory is that the powers that be in Victoria delayed the announcement of the discovery until after Separation was declared) and Victoria became one of the richest places in the world.

So, building a treasury became a must!

"The Old Treasury Building was constructed between 1858–62, and is considered one of Australia's finest Renaissance Revival buildings, constructed in palazzo form and built from wealth accumulated during the Victorian Gold Rush to house the state gold vaults"

The highlight, for me and I think for the other teachers, too, was visiting this room and sitting at this table.  It is not normally part of the tour but it is the room where since 1862 every single bill has been signed into law by the Governor of Victoria - this still occurs today!  According to our guide, this makes the Old Treasury Building the most important extant building in Australia.

 The  architectural details are impressive.

The First Governor of Victoria, Governor La Trobe.

The Museum also has a number of exhibitions such as Wayward Women? About the unenlightened way that women were treated in the late 19th century - just click on the pic if you would like to read more.

 There is also a replica of the Welcome Stranger, a 66 kg gold nugget, worth about three to four million in today's money.

 So, that is it with my Miscellanea for February.  Now for the Pop quiz and the Giveaway!

Pop Quiz and Giveaway

The Giveaway prize is this cute design by Les Grille de Maryse.

The Rules of the Giveaway

1. Open worldwide.

2. Read each of the three February Miscellanea posts and answer the three questions given below.

3. Give your answers in the Comments Section of Part Three of the February Miscellanea posts. (Comment moderation has been turned on to avoid anyone inadvertantly giving the answers away).

4. If more than one person gives the correct three answers - the winner will be chosen randomly.

5. The Giveaway ends at midnight on the 15th March, wherever you are in the world.

6. Best of luck!


The Pop Quiz

1. Which of my relatives grew up at Montsalvat?

2. On what date was Gold discovered in Victoria?

3. Which native bird visited me on my deck one evening?




You can read Part One and Part Two by following these links.

Thanks for visiting and for playing the quiz with me, best of luck to you all, 

hugs,