Just a little....

Stash Empire Building, that is....

I started Stitch from Stash for the first time this year but I have fallen off the wagon so many times that it is not funny! lol!

It all started innocently enough with a few threads bought whilst travelling around Victoria for work...

From a quilt shop in Warrnambool.....

... and then a craft shop in Kyabram...

Then I came home to a parcel from The Silver Needle - my latest project in the "A Little Help from our Friends Stitching Circle".  All of the projects in the Stitching Circle are custom-designed, just for the Circle - lovely!

Love the hearts on the tissue paper.

... and this is what was inside: a sweet design called "Alphabet Stitches" by Blackberry Lane Designs - all kitted up for us. A lens cleaner with the same design printed on it, a very sweet wire basket for displaying Smalls and a few jelly beans (but I ate them before I even took the pic - lol!).

Then Wendy, from my LNS, Lazy Daisy - which has now gone online only - posted this gorgeous fabbie on FB.  I couldn't resist and bought a metre of each one.

... I know exactly what I am going to stitch on it - this gorgeous Emma Congdon (Stitchrovia) design from the May edition of Cross Stitch Crazy.  I saw this design stitched by someone in the Stitchmaynia Group on FB just the other day and then the fabbie turned up on FB the next day and then, luckily for me, my local Newsagent actually had a copy of the right mag! Serendipity or what?

... as for the gorgeous floral fabric, well, again serendipitously, I had also ordered this sweet Jardin Prive Cat Lovers Quaker design - it will go perfectly on this, with just a few tweaks of floss colour, I think.

Also sneaking into my order from Lazy Daisy are these two gorgeous designs from Mirabilia: Royal Games I and II.  These are just stunning and so unusual - I love them! 

... and the last two items in my latest Stash Empire building are these two sets of designs from Plum Street Samplers: Noah's Christmas Ark I and II. Cute idea, aren't they?  A bit of a twist on the 12 Days of Christmas, I think.

So, lots to keep me busy on New Start Sundays although at the moment I am obsessed with stitching on The Ice Skaters, so I haven't been Friday Frolicking or New Start Sundaying and last week I was on the road again so there was no 'Merica Monday either.

There will be an update post on The Ice Skaters in a day or two, so please do come back to see my progress - it is coming along beautifully.

hugs, 

P.S. Please don't forget to check on my Winners post to see if you are a Girl's Nest Giveaway #6 winner. Just click on the image below.  I have only heard from a few of the winners and as I have been so busy with work trips, I am behind on emailing people, so you may be one of the winners - worth checking out, anyway.

May Reading Round Up...

I have seen some other bloggers include their monthly reading, so I thought that I would jump on the band wagon - lol!

I listened to Extinctions by Josephine Wilson on Audible and I quite liked it but didn't love it.  The main character was not very nice at all and while there was some character growth by the end - I actually found the ending to be a bit trite, really.

Another Audible listen was The Alice Network  was a thrilling read about spies in WWI intertwined with the aftermath of WWII. I highly recommend this novel. The Audible narration was excellent.

Hmmm, Punishing Miss Primrose, what can I say? Utter trash and I am quite ashamed to admit I read it. Albeit i skim read it and it was a freebie from Amazon! 

To redeem myself, I really enjoyed all three novels in the Red Sparrow trilogy: Red Sparrow, Palace of Treason and The Kremlin's Candidate. Not John Le Carre but a reasonable outing in the world of spying.

Fall of Thanes is the third novel in The Godless World fantasy trilogy. This is my second reading of the trilogy and I enjoyed it as thoroughly this time as the first time.

Lastly, there are two novels from the Sebastian St Cyr Regency crime series: Where the dead lie and Why kill the innocent. I stumbled across this series years ago (these are books 12 and 13) and enjoy them as much for the depiction of Regency London as for the murder mystery. I can highly recommend this series.

So, that is my reading for last month. 

Hugs, 

Kaye

Finally, let me show you some stitching......

Oh dear, I am so very busy lately that I seem to post about everything bar the stitching!

So, let me show you the two projects that I worked on this week....

The Ice Skaters, I am loving working on this design so very much.  Unfortunately, the Frog Prince did visit last night so I actually was much further ahead at one point - lol!

One day, in the not too distant future, I hope, it will look like this....

although I am probably not going to stitch the heart border, I don't think.

I must thank my dear stitchy friend, Brigitte, for inspiring me to find this design on Ebay  - I do love it so very much.

... and then, my current travel piece... January, a Prairie Schooler Design from Book #177

The Frog Prince extended his visit to this piece, too, unfortunately - oh well, maybe he will leave me along soon?  Anybody looking for an unwanted, uninvited guest?????

hugs, 

P.S. Please don't forget to check on my Winners post to see if you are a Girl's Nest Giveaway #6 winner. Just click on the image below.

Grand Designs Eaglemont: The Two House Project_Back House_May Update

Well, it has been well over a month since I gave you an update on our big adventure - building two houses.

Now, just for those who are wondering what on earth I am talking about, here is some background:

As I have mentioned to you all previously, TraderVic are embarking upon a major building project - we are building two brand new homes on our very large block here in Eaglemont.  This will eventually necessitate pulling down our family home and replacing it with a brand new "dream" home for TraderVic and I.  This will be the Front House.  As our block is so large, we are also building another home in the back yard whilst still living in the original house.  This is called the Back House and is being built first.  I am hoping to document this grand adventure every week. I hope that you enjoy sharing this journey with me.

If you want to read previous posts on Grand Designs Eaglemont: The Two House Project, please click on the link/s below:

 BACK HOUSE_WEEK ONE....

Back House_Week Two ....

Back House_Week Three....

Back House_Week Four

Back House_Weeks Five and Six

The main reason that I haven't posted is that it has been go slow, then something exciting happens then go slow again and so now, of course, I have lost track of the weeks - hence the May update in the title.

Well, when I left you last we had some stumps and some joists been put in (click on the last link above if you want to see) and now, when I compare where we were then to the photos below I can see that we have actually come along quite a bit....

After the stumps went in and the joists started, the builders seemed to spend a lot of time playing with dirt!  They took two or three days to sift through this dirt to remove any contaminants and finally had themselves one bucket of asbestos!  They then spent a further two whole days just removing the dirt! Wow! Who knew it would take that long?

The subfloor goes in....

 Then the ground floor frames arrived and were installed....

The arborist turned up to do some more pruning....

... and here is the ground floor framing all installed.

Then the steel beams for the first floor began to be installed.

Next week the first floor subfloor should go in and the week after the frame for the first floor - progress is being made!

hugs, 

P.S. Please don't forget to check on my previous post to see if you are a Girl's Nest Giveaway #6 winner. Just click on the image below.