No ornament to show so I thought that I should post a WIP on my first of the family heirloom stockings!
Saturday, April 28, 2007
April 28/07
No ornament to show so I thought that I should post a WIP on my first of the family heirloom stockings!
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
April 24/07
My fingers have been flying on my first Christmas stocking (only 6 to do in total!) and I will post a WIP sometime this week. I am getting a little impatient that the order my LNS is waiting for is still AWOL in the postal system. I did not expect to have almost completed the stocking I am making for myself before even starting the one for my mom. My wish is to finish my mom's first because that just seems like the most respectful order to do them in. My mom should be the first person to receive one. Anyhoo, not every variable can be easily controlled in life, can it?!
The Christmas ornament SAL weekend is fast approaching. My schedule will probably not allow me to get much done because I am scheduled to work, there is a farewell dinner for a co-worker on Sunday, one of my El Salvador trip mates is in town to visit his grandkids, and my Rotary club has a major fundraiser next week that sucks up alot of my time during the week of. Plus, there is a doctor's appointment in there and I have to go to Moncton on May 5th for a Rotary youth exchange seminar. Oh well! Once I get to the 6th, life goes back to normal....Hang on! I was wrong about that since I fly to Toronto on the 11th for a Habitat for Humanity leader training weekend and then another pharmacist at work is away to England for 2 weeks so I will be working lots of hours so once I make it to May 28th, life goes back to normal. Yeah, so what is normal?!
The weather forecast just said showers for the rest of the day so I guess that I will not bike to work today. Besides, I skinned my knee when I missed the bottom step at my trainers home gym today so perhaps I should give my knee a rest. Gas prices are up to $1.08/litre which is considered expensive here in Canada, plus I cringe when I turn on the car because I always think of the pollution and I need the exercise so I am starting to bike more now. My plan is to lead by example since over the years, at least one other co-worker started biking as well in the summer. The guy across the street bikes into town year round because he does not have a car and I give him alot of credit because this little wimp with a car would not bike on a snowy road in -30C! There is only so much that I will do for environmental sustainability!
Speaking of which, it was quite discouraging to look in the brook to see what garbage has grown there as a result of the flooding last week. Once the water levels go down low enough for me to walk through the brook, I will be back down there to pick out more garbage.
On Saturday, I cleaned up my flower beds and made plans to plant more bird and bee friendly flowers. There have been news reports recently about the decimation of commercial hives because of a syndrome called "Hive collapse" and something to do with a mite so I figure that it can not hurt to plant some more bee balm and echinacea in the yard. I had a thought about planting some out on my property in Bloomfield to encourage the bees to establish themselves around my apple orchard. I have some awesome photos of butterflies on my garden flowers from last summer and I really enjoyed all of the hummingbirds who buzzed around my yard last year. Note to the wasps: you are not welcome to nest in my shed this year. It bloody well hurt when you stung me on the end of my nose last summer so please find another place to build your nest.
The Christmas ornament SAL weekend is fast approaching. My schedule will probably not allow me to get much done because I am scheduled to work, there is a farewell dinner for a co-worker on Sunday, one of my El Salvador trip mates is in town to visit his grandkids, and my Rotary club has a major fundraiser next week that sucks up alot of my time during the week of. Plus, there is a doctor's appointment in there and I have to go to Moncton on May 5th for a Rotary youth exchange seminar. Oh well! Once I get to the 6th, life goes back to normal....Hang on! I was wrong about that since I fly to Toronto on the 11th for a Habitat for Humanity leader training weekend and then another pharmacist at work is away to England for 2 weeks so I will be working lots of hours so once I make it to May 28th, life goes back to normal. Yeah, so what is normal?!
The weather forecast just said showers for the rest of the day so I guess that I will not bike to work today. Besides, I skinned my knee when I missed the bottom step at my trainers home gym today so perhaps I should give my knee a rest. Gas prices are up to $1.08/litre which is considered expensive here in Canada, plus I cringe when I turn on the car because I always think of the pollution and I need the exercise so I am starting to bike more now. My plan is to lead by example since over the years, at least one other co-worker started biking as well in the summer. The guy across the street bikes into town year round because he does not have a car and I give him alot of credit because this little wimp with a car would not bike on a snowy road in -30C! There is only so much that I will do for environmental sustainability!
Speaking of which, it was quite discouraging to look in the brook to see what garbage has grown there as a result of the flooding last week. Once the water levels go down low enough for me to walk through the brook, I will be back down there to pick out more garbage.
On Saturday, I cleaned up my flower beds and made plans to plant more bird and bee friendly flowers. There have been news reports recently about the decimation of commercial hives because of a syndrome called "Hive collapse" and something to do with a mite so I figure that it can not hurt to plant some more bee balm and echinacea in the yard. I had a thought about planting some out on my property in Bloomfield to encourage the bees to establish themselves around my apple orchard. I have some awesome photos of butterflies on my garden flowers from last summer and I really enjoyed all of the hummingbirds who buzzed around my yard last year. Note to the wasps: you are not welcome to nest in my shed this year. It bloody well hurt when you stung me on the end of my nose last summer so please find another place to build your nest.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
April 19/07
A first! I followed the directions for finishing an ornament that I found while reading through Anne's (Featherstitching) blog and TA!DA!
The saying is one that a friend of mine came out with during a discussion on an internet forum that I frequent and I just had to stitch it up for her. It was stitched on a 28 count Monaco (I think! I lost the tag!) and some scrap threads left over from kits. The hanger is a braid of the 3 colours that I used to stitch the main design.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
April 17/07
THUD!.....
That is the sound of me falling off the 50 challenge band wagon. There was a cross stitch magazine on the rack at work that I just had to have, the resistance was low and here I am. Oh well, some of the stash was reduced and I now also have a better handle on just what is stashed on my shelves. Good luck to the rest of you who are still hanging in.
That is the sound of me falling off the 50 challenge band wagon. There was a cross stitch magazine on the rack at work that I just had to have, the resistance was low and here I am. Oh well, some of the stash was reduced and I now also have a better handle on just what is stashed on my shelves. Good luck to the rest of you who are still hanging in.
Friday, April 13, 2007
April 13/07
I squeezed a half hour of stitching this morning after cleaning the house and before going to work. As I stitched, I mused about how I love to start with a plain piece of cloth and watching as the piece slowly comes alive with every stitch that is completed. My least favourite time is at the beginning when it seems to take forever for the small blob of colour to begin to look like something, but once I reach that point, I get a little buzz about the unfolding or revealing of the piece. I spend alot of time admiring my pieces as I stitch away which probably accounts for my slowness, but I have done that for almost 20 years now so I suspect that perhaps it is now habit! :-) It always amazes me how a plain piece of cloth can end up being a gorgeous piece of cross stitch or embroidery whether it be a simple ornament or book mark or a huge piece that looks like a painting. There is just such a joy for me in creating something out of relatively nothing, a mere collection of fabric and skeins of floss and a piece of paper covered in symbols.
Okay, maybe I am more lightheaded than I thought after being on the treadmill, but surely I can not be the only one who feels that way because I have seen ALOT of blogs out there and I know that I have barely touched the tip of the iceberg! Speaking of blogs, I have updated my sidebar list, but perhaps someone could explain the blogroll/bloglines thing to me because I am having difficulty understanding how to install and use it. Thanks!
Okay, maybe I am more lightheaded than I thought after being on the treadmill, but surely I can not be the only one who feels that way because I have seen ALOT of blogs out there and I know that I have barely touched the tip of the iceberg! Speaking of blogs, I have updated my sidebar list, but perhaps someone could explain the blogroll/bloglines thing to me because I am having difficulty understanding how to install and use it. Thanks!
Thursday, April 12, 2007
April 12/07
The news just came on a few minutes ago and it was announced that 2 more Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan. Five of the 8 soldiers who were killed there this week are from New Brunswick. Maritimers make up about 25% of the Canadian Armed Forces while we only make up about 10% of the general Canadian population. NB only has a population of around 749 000 people (it fluctuates depending on how many people have left for Alberta each month!) compared to the general Canadian population of almost 32 000 000 people. The numbers just seem so skewed to me from this little corner of the world, especially when I can name 4 military personnel of my own age group from this town of 5 000 who are currently serving in Afghanistan.
I dunno. It hurts too much to think about it. Thank heavens that my brother is on a training course at CFB Kingston.
I dunno. It hurts too much to think about it. Thank heavens that my brother is on a training course at CFB Kingston.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
April 5/07
Here is a stitching update to take a break from saving the world's problems! LOL!
The fabric order is still AWOL at my LNS so I can not get started on my mom's Christmas stocking although I did kit up the threads so that I can start it as soon as the fabric order arrives. Here is the progress on my stocking:
For the Christmas ornie SAL, here are my March efforts. They still need the french knots, backstitching and the cutting out from the plastic canvas.....
Some things I have been up to:
1. I was shaking my head at the news the other night that the government is dragging its feet on apologizing to people who were forced into the aboriginal residential schools so I wrote an e-mail to Prime Minister Harper to tell him that I find that appalling. Mom has her certificate of apology for the internment of Japanese-Canadians from the federal government hanging in her living room so I am well aware of the power of an apology.
2. Checked out Amnesty International Canada and the Greenpeace websites just to see what campaigns and issues they are all about. I joined the Amnesty 10 000 Voices campaign against the violence against women.
What I should be doing at the moment: hurrying my butt out the door to get to work on my Rotary club's fundraiser tonight.
The fabric order is still AWOL at my LNS so I can not get started on my mom's Christmas stocking although I did kit up the threads so that I can start it as soon as the fabric order arrives. Here is the progress on my stocking:
For the Christmas ornie SAL, here are my March efforts. They still need the french knots, backstitching and the cutting out from the plastic canvas.....
Some things I have been up to:
1. I was shaking my head at the news the other night that the government is dragging its feet on apologizing to people who were forced into the aboriginal residential schools so I wrote an e-mail to Prime Minister Harper to tell him that I find that appalling. Mom has her certificate of apology for the internment of Japanese-Canadians from the federal government hanging in her living room so I am well aware of the power of an apology.
2. Checked out Amnesty International Canada and the Greenpeace websites just to see what campaigns and issues they are all about. I joined the Amnesty 10 000 Voices campaign against the violence against women.
What I should be doing at the moment: hurrying my butt out the door to get to work on my Rotary club's fundraiser tonight.
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