It is a new moon....

.... so it must be TUSAL time...

This is when we totally sane stitchers, show off how many ORTs (Old Raggedy Threads) we have collected over a month of stitching - from one new moon to the next.  Click on the image above if you want to find out more.

So, here are this month's ORTs - home on the left and only a very few train ORTs on the right (that is due to some train knitting the last few weeks but more of that in another post).

... and here are all of 2015's ORTs so far.....

hugs,  

P.S. Don't forget to check out my FNSI post here.

FNSI_ April update

Last night was FNSI - an evening where many stitchers  from all around the globe set aside some time for a virtual SAL of whatever project they are working on.

It is hosted by the lovely Wendy of Sugarlane Quilts.

So, last night I worked on my fourth attempt at a design for those darned round boxes - you know the ones - so far I have tried a butterfly, an amorphous pink bloom and a some redwork but nothing was working for me.  So, after lots of frogging, I have finally found the right design (Oh, I certainly hope so - this is starting to do my head in!).

I managed to get all of this done in one evening - still a little bit to go yet but I have IHSW this weekend to inspire me to finish it quickly.

This is part of Tall Sheep

Shepherd's Bush Designs

Stitched on 28 Ct Country French Linen - Spring Meadow

Last evening, I also did the Finishing for another of my Swapaway pieces - Life's a Stitch.  I turned added it to a sweet green and white check drawstring bag I had.  I think it will be perfect for keeping little stitchy knick knacks.  What do you think?

Can you see how tricky and quirky I have been with the buttons?  Do you like it?

Anyway, don't forget to check out Wendy's blog to see what everyone else got up to last night.  That is what I am going to do right now!

hugs,

Gifted Gorgeousness _April update

.... Bloggy friends are the best!

I am a bit late posting these gifts (seems to be my usual refrain at the moment) but I have been sent some lovely gifts from wonderful bloggy friends over the past month. So, in the end it seemed best to showcase them in my Gifted Gorgeousness SAL post for this month.

Just to remind you:

The Gifted Gorgeousness SAL is run by the wonderful Jo fromSerendipitous Stitching.  The idea is that every month we link to Jo's GG blog post to show off whatever we are stitching that is Gift-related.  It can be something we are making for someone special or a chart or threads with which we have been gifted or basically anything else we can shoehorn into the basic premise.

It is such a good idea, as we all have something we are doing in at least one of those categories, don't we?

So , here we go:

Firstly, my SSF (Stitching Sister Forever),  Kim sent me these gorgeous gifts as part of our Swapaway (you will notice from my sidebar, that one of my April goals is to finish my gifts for Kim and June for the swapaway but I am having trouble with deciding on a pattern for the next gifts I am making). I hate being so indecisive but I want the stitchy gifts to be just right!

The idea is that the gifts spell the word  "FRIENDS". I can tell you, Kim really spoilt me!

... and this is what was inside - oh boy! Kim is such an exquisite stitcher and finisher!

Sorry, I do not know why some of these photos are sideways!

Thank you, thank you, dear, dear Kim.  You are indeed my SSF!

Secondly, I sent the lovely Sarah a Little Sheep Virtue pattern as a gift as she did not have it for our LSV SAL.  Well, she is truly lovely as she sent me all of these gifts in return (I can promise you, the pattern was originally sent with no strings attached!).


A gorgeous, gorgeous bookmark, a small Janlynn kit (which I posted about last GG SAL update), a needleminder , a book from an author whom we both like (Sarah Addison Allen) and some camel soap.


Unfortunately, my photos are playing up on my camera so I only have a pic of the gorgeous book mark to show you:

Thank you so much, dear Sarah. I absolutely adore this book mark and all of the other gifts, too.  The novel was a great read and I have already lent it to my sister!

I have done some GG stitching but no time for that this month.  I will reveal all next month.

Take care and don't forget to check out everyone's GG stitching at Jo's blog.


hugs,

Weekend roundup....

Well, the weekend started poorly, with my back playing up.  I had some compression in my lower back which was affecting the sciatic nerve on my left hand side - so I was experiencing strange pains down my left leg - no fun at all!

However, a trip to my Osteopath and an order to rest my back - no big walks - left me with no choice but to stitch on Saturday afternoon!  What a hardship - lol!

So, I worked on a few projects but those progress pics will be next time. I want to tell you about the social aspect of my weekend.

Firstly, on Saturday night, we went out to dinner with our dearest friends, Kim and Gino.  Now, Kim had suggested a pizza restaurant, Mulatta, in Chapel St, Windsor. But when we arrived it had closed down.

Now, this left us with where to go for dinner?  Now, Chapel St, Windsor/Prahran is one of the premier shopping and restaurant precincts in Melbourne - so eateries abounded.  However, it is also one of the busiest on a Saturday night for the Twentysomething crowd.

So, we wandered up and down, all the really fancy looking places were full to the brim and then we discovered a quirky bar up some stairs, the Hoo Haa bar.  I  kid you not, we were the oldest people there by 30 years!

The menu was an interesting mix of Americana and Asian.  So we supped on such delights as Cheeseburger dumplings - what the ????  As I said, interesting!

After dinner, we went for a wander down Chapel Street, observing the wildlife (the twentysomethings) and then found Chocolateria San Churro to finish off the evening with some yummy churros and hot chocolate.  In all, it was a fun night because it was all so unexpected in the end.


On Sunday, I stitched some more (still resting my back), on my Santa SAL (which I reported on last post) and then my girlfriend, Heather and I took my other girlfriend, Franca, out to see a show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and then out to dinner.

We had the best time.  We saw funny lady, Denise Scott's new show "Mother Bare".

This is the description:

DENISE SCOTT- Mother Bare
 
From giving birth to empty nester, Scotty is ready to lay it all bare. 
 
Having just won the prestigious Barry award at the 2014 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Mother Bare is a hilarious, intimate and rivetingly honest show about motherhood, told by one of Australia’s favourite comedians, Denise Scott. 

This was just spot on for me, as TraderVic are newly emptynesters and I must admit are struggling a little bit with the suddenness of it all!

We laughed and laughed all of the way through - it was just hilarious!

We saw the afternoon show so then we went for an early dinner at The European.  As it was Franca's birthday we had a slap up dinner.

Beautiful trout and stuffed calmari:

We had the sommelier choose us a delicious French wine to complement the dish.

Then we went all out and ordered three different desserts to share: a gingerbread souffle, a bombe alaska and a Mont blanc.

We had such a good time and I was still home by 9pm to spend some time with TraderVic before getting ready for work the next day.  I can tell you, I slept like a log!


So, in all, a great weekend, despite the lack of long walks (which I love to do). How was your weekend?

hugs,

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas SAL update....

..... great progress on my Prairie Schooler Santa's Twelve Days of Christmas SAL which I stitch every Sunday with my dear, dear friend Linda. I am hopeful that I will make my goal of finishing Day Nine by the end of April....

Two more Sundays should finish it, I think.

I hope that you had a good weekend.

Despite having a few back issues, I managed to have a great one - but more of that next post.

hugs, 

A lovely break...

... oh, isn't it lovely to have four days off work?  Absolutely, I say.

The long weekend's joys started early for us with DS2 flying down from Sydney on Wednesday night for the Easter break - oh bliss!  My baby was home with us for five whole days.  We spent lots of time catching up and he spent lots of time watching footy with TraderVic as he does not have Foxtel in his Sydney flat and NSW is not really an AFL state like Victoria is (DS1 is finding the same thing in Queensland).

So, Easter was filled with catching up with family and friends, lots of long walks, reading, blogging and lots of stitching.  Although, on the last I was a little hampered as DS2 slept in my sewing room which made it hard to get in there to find things.

We had our family Easter get together early (as it was the only time we could all get together) - so on Good Friday we had a meatless feast!

My sister and I did all the cooking and the young ones did all the eating!  My dear Dad was in good form after his eye treatment a week or so back, so we had a lovely time!

Anyway, the train to work beckons.

I hope that your Easter was filled with joy, too.

hugs,

Update:  A few people have asked for recipes.  I cannot give all of them as my sister did some of the cooking, too. But here we go:

I made the salmon patties - which is just a basic recipe:

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/32643/salmon+patties

the layered garden salad:

http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/layered-garden-salad-L7225.html

 and the apple and raspberry crumble (I modified this recipe):

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/17794/apple+crumble

My sister made the rest.  I know that this is the recipe for the potato latkes:

http://www.weightwatchers.com.au/food/rcp/RecipePage.aspx?recipeid=3861

but I am not sure about the spanikopita or the prawn dumplings.

cheers, Kaye

PS Santa's 12 Days of Christmas Update...

... well, I am on a roll.  Great progress on Day Nine, here she is, after just one day of stitching.

Sorry, I was so excited, I forgot to iron and I can see one errant thread end which needs trimming.

I hope that everyone has had a blessed Easter,

hugs,