Okay well another post

Well I finished my Biscornu for the exchange on the Wiehenburg-Sampler group. I am very happy with it. I love stitching these little pretties. They are lovely to stitch and so easy to finished. So here are some pictures. Well here is one picture. LOL

Guess Who Got A New

laptop. It is a Mac as I just love Mac computers. It is really cute. I am so happy with it and now I can order stock during the day. Jacob uses my big computer all day for Colours Down Under and then at night time I can't be bothered. Also I want to put descriptions on the charts etc etc.
So on Monday the nice postman delivered my spiffy little Mac Laptop that I won on eBay. It is everything and more and I am happy. So would you like a photo? Sorry you are gunna get one.

Never Enough Stash

At our 2nd TW GTG we decided to have a secret gift exchange. I was the lucky recipient of this 4 My Boys freebie that the gorgeous Amanda Lake kitted up for me. My first stitching with Crescent Colours. They are gorgeous to stitch with and I fully intend to stock them in my shop. Anyway I asked Helen to finish this one as a flat fold. Oh I was thrilled to bits with the finished product.

Barnabee's Quest

I realised I never posted a picture of this finished Barnabee's Quest. Helen is a helvoafinisher (her moniker). I am thrilled to have stitched this and then had Helen finished it so lovely. I stitched this on Quakers Cloth hand dyed by me. The colour is a very pale yellow called Aussie Sunshine. Just Nan's bellpull ware and Tassel thingy are just gorgeous.

Nita's Heart

This is my version of the design that has been dubbed Nita's Heart. It is a freebie on the better homes and garden site. I stitched it on 28 count navy with dmc 111. My finisher Helen finished as a cushion for me. I am very pleased with it.

My Gorgeous Children

We went to my sister-in-laws wedding last Saturday (20th October) and I wanted to show off my 4 gorgeous boys and one daughter in law (the other one was taking the photo).
So right to left
Jarrad, Anthony, Marilyn, Kenric at the back and then Jacob. I must say I was very proud of them.

Photo of our new kitten

We went and chose our new kitten this weekend just gone. She is an "Australian Tiffanie" or a Long Haired Burmilla. She has brown colouring. Her name is Millicent. We get her in a month.

Monasterium Designs

I am very excited to say that I have been granted the distribution rites to these designs. I am hurriedly trying to get the models stitched for these designs. Here is progress so far of Willies Quaker Band. I am stitching it on 28 count Antique Quakers Cloth with another gorgeous silk of Jo's called "Pacific Ocean".

I have been Stitching

This year has been a good year for me in the stitching department. I have, for a change, been enjoying it. I am excited to be attending the "Stitching on the Verandah" class with Janie Hubble of the Cat's Whiskers. I have so far completed the Stitching Roll part. I did, however, decide to change the colour of the words. I am not an orange person. This is the third colour I tried.
I have also recently finished a freebie created by Monasterium Designs for Colours Down Under. I stitched this with Jo's thread called "Dandenong ". It will be available on my website to download as soon as I get organised

Long Time No Blog

It has been so long I am not sure I remember how to do the link things etc but I'll have a go.

The winter has been rough in terms of the pain department so I haven't felt like blogging.

I have heaps of stuff for show and tell so I will just do little bits and pieces.

Firstly I'd like to show you some updated pics of Harry. He is so gorgeous. It has taken me a while to fall in love with him but I now adore him. He is such a little fox and loves to help us do all sorts of stuff. Unfortunately for him he is a naughty boy and wants to visit the neighbours so he is not allowed to go outside. Lindsay on the other hand is a miss goody two shoes and just stays in the back yard so she is allowed out. You can see by the picture Lindsay is outside and Harry is inside.
In the winter I bought the two kids a heated cat bed each. Here is a picture of Harry on his.

Marilyn Chair by Cat's Whiskers

The photos underneath show the Cat's Whiskers Chair that Marilyn
Campbell has stitched. We are lucky that we know a girl by the name of Helen that does all of our finishing and she has put the chair together. (And yes she does work for everyone and her costs are very reasonable). Marilyn's decor didn't lend to stitching the chair in the colours recommended so she chose her own. The variagated colour is DMC Variant and then the plain colour is just a DMC to match it. She even got some scrap booking paper and lined her draw in a reddy colour. The feet are some gorgeous big red beads. I hope you enjoy looking at this stunning chair.

Marilyn's Egyptian Garden

This is the first of two posts today. This first one is of Marilyn's Egyptian Garden. Unfortunately the photo doesn't show up the colour of the fabric. It is my nasturtium. I will get Jacob to scan in when she brings it over next so you can see the colour. The blues etc look stunning against the soft orange colour. Both of us have said we wouldn't have dreamed of stitching on such a colour but the two projects we have chosen to do on it are stunning. So here are the pictures.

Some Stitching Updates

Okay I am on a roll I think. I have had the said camera out and I have so far been able to upload the pics onto the computer. Lets see how it works out to get them on here. LOL
This is the progress that I have made on St Sofia. The colour of the fabric hasn't come out as well as I would have liked. It is called Nasturtium. It is one of my hand dyes. The mistake is around where the needle is. I am going to see Marilyn Campbell on Friday so I will pull it out then and continue on. I have only the border around the middle to do and then I am complete. So over a quarter of that stitched. It is a big stitch but not hard.


The next Photo is of the progress of The Vierlanden Mystery that I

am part taking in. I am a tad behind as I only joined at page 27. I have almost completed page 3. I am bringing in a red colour to compliment the black. I am really enjoying the stitching on this piece. I am stitching it on a Permin (I think) maybe 28 count. I really can't be bothered counting it to see and it will easily fit on the piece of fabric.

Thirdly this next photo is of the Long Dog's St Sylvestre. I have only just started this one. It is on black 28 count. I think it is a Jubilee as it is a more open weave than Jobelan. I like it anyway and it is not all that difficult to stitch on. The thread is a silk of Jo's. Dinky Dyes I mean. Not sure of the colour. I must look. Will up date this later.

The Card Reader Arrived

And Jacob has showed me how to use it so I thought I would take a photo of the gorgeous bunch of pink roses that my oldest son gave me Monday night. He quite often arrives with flowers for his Mum. He is such a gorgeous lad.
Well life here has been hectic. Colours Down Under continues to take most of our time.
I have been stitching off and on. I have almost finished a little 4 My Boys freebie chart that Amanda Lake kitted up for me as a gift but I have run out of one of the threads. So I will need to try and find one that matches it. I don't really want to say which design it is as I want to stitch some more as gifts. I have started Long Dog's St Sylvestre on Black with a DD silk thread. I can't remember which colour it is. I will post a photo in my next post. I have made progress on St Sofia (well I had made progress and then discovered a big mistake so I need to pull it out).
Harry the Somali has been given some new nicknames. Helpful Harry being one of them. He loves to help. He dive bombs off the top of the monitor onto the key board when we are typing. he likes to balance on the back of the computer chairs and climb from one to the other chair. Jake and I have both out as we put CDU's stock onto the website. He does the computer stuff and I package, price weigh etc etc. The other name for Harry is Ricochet Rabbit. He ricochets off the walls when he is feeling energetic. That is only about 3 or 4 times a day. He has discovered how to open my thread drawers where I store all my spare DMC's and pulls out skeins of threads and runs around the house with them. He is not in the least frightened of the vacuum cleaner and helps Alan vacuum the house. He especially like to be in amongst the cushions on the sofa's when they are being vacuumed.
Well that is enough for this post. I will be adding lots more photos from now on.

I Wish I Wouldn't leave

It so long in between blogs. I have had a 100 things that I could tell you about but it would just end up being really boring to everyone. I haven't been stitching so much these last weeks. My fibromyalgia doesn't like the cold weather and I have been fighting chronic tiredness again. Oh well that is life! Did I mention that I finished Needle in A Garden? Well I did. I went away on a stitchy weekend and finished it on the Sunday when I got back. I am going ahead with St Sofia but not as fast as I thought. I have all the centre finished and a quarter of the wide border. Well probably a tad over that. I also have completed part 1 and some of part 2 of the Chatelaine Anniversary design. It is going to be gorgeous. When I got the second part of the chart I thought Oh boring but it is going to be gorgeous when this bit is done. It is all gold and rich and lovely. I should have started on part one of the SAL of the Wiehenburg Quaker but after a big chat with Martina herself the other night I am going to wait until she sends me some fabric she wants me to try and flower threads. Woohooo. That is what I am going to stitch it in. Also I am ready to start the Vierlanden Mystery Sampler. I am going to stitch it on a mystery fabric that I can't even be bothered to find out the count of. It looks like a Permin to me. I have it big enough if it is 28 count and anything smaller wont matter. I am using black and 347 red DMC. I so want to start that beautiful sampler in the TGOS by Sampler Cove. What an excellent issue this month. Very mouth watering. When I get Alan's pay this week I am going to buy a card reader (I think that is what Jacob told me it was) for my digital camera. I have lost the cord that hooks up to the computer and I never knew how to use it anyway and always had to wait for Jakey to upload the photos. I am a big girl now so I will learn how to upload my photos myself and then I can show you all photos of my stash stuff and my stitching updates and my kitty kat Harry and my big girl Lindsay. Did I tell you that my latest thing to collect is sewing boxes? Alan stayed home from work today as our work ute (truck) needed some serious (or so we thought) mechanicing on it. EGADS!!!!! luckily he went over and put a new toilet in at Jarrad's (our son) place while the parcel postman arrived. Three huge packages and not for Colours Down Under. All sewing boxes. They are lovely. Well I think so anyways. Anyway enough of the jibber for now and hopefully another post very soon with photos. Yippee!!!!!

I just got Tagged

This is my first ever ‘tagging’. Tannia tagged me and I have to tell you eight things about myself you might not know!

Here’s how to play:
1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves
2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules
3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog

So here goes

1. My husband calls me "Blue". Not because I am a red head but because I love the colour blue.

2. My birth name is Janine May Nock!!!!!

3. On the 26th July 2006 I had lapband surgery.

4. My family call me Neenie May or just Neenie.

5. Nearly 2 years ago I started to learn to play the piano.

6. I grew up in a tiny little country town in Western Australia called "Mingenew". It is an aboriginal name standing for ants and water.

7. I went to high school with Ernie dingo.

8. I wish I could sing.

I now have to tag 8 people. Can I do it later?

Just a quick drop in

to show off my progress so far with JN's Needle In a Garden. I nearly said Haystack then and I can't get the blessed song out of my head. I have finished my Biscornu stitching for my Wiehenburg - Sampler Group exchange. It is so gorgeous. I hope my exchange partner thinks so too. Anyway just wanted to show you my update.

Introducing Harry

Thought you might like to see some pictures of Harry. He was born on January 30th and is a Somali. He had just finished a big feed of fresh cooked fish. Harry came to live with us on Wednesday 2nd May 2007. He is a little darling.

A New Finish & Stuff

Well I had my fifth finish for the year last night. It is an alphabet heart. I think the designs is a freebie from Better, Homes and Garden and the colour chart is for the new DMC sampler threads. I stitched mine on Navy 28 count Lugana with DMC 111. I am very happy with the outcome and it goes with my colour scheme in the living room perfectly. I am guessing I will send it off to Helen, my number one gun finisher. If you are looking for a fantastic finisher contact me. Helen finishes all my stuff and they are perfect.
It has been a sad week for us here. Our dear sweet Georgie girl passed away on Thursday late afternoon. Oh she was a sweetheart. She was an Australian Tiffanie. Can't believe she died so quickly. It doesn't seem fair and we do so look after our kitties and make sure that they are kept safe. They are not allowed outside unless we have them on a leash. They have a cat run with plants and the house is large enough for them to run amok. On the other hand the day before young Harry joined the menagerie. He is a Somali. He is a dear sweet boy who joys us from Joylincar Somali cats. Carole is a sweetheart and her Somali cats are gorgeous. Harry is mine. He is happy to share himself around though but he gets to sleep with me. He cuddles up and purrs and purrs. The other thing is that I started some crocheting which is something that I have not done for god knows how many years. I still have all my crocheting stuff in a wooden box in the back shed but I am too frightened to ask Alan to find the box. Well the poor lad is worked off his feet. So I did what any self respecting ebayer does. I won everything on ebay. Yesterday the cotton arrived so I could start. It took awhile to work out what to do in regards to trebles and double trebles etc but I soon remembered. Well it did help that the book had all the descriptions in the front. LOL
Well that is it from me. I will post more frequently now the craft fair is over. Boy was that some work.

Today has been a sad day

I just feel I should say something about my friend Dianne. Unfortunately Dianne passed away last Tuesday night after suffering a massive stroke. She was buried today. Dianne was a good friend over the years but in the last years we have not seen so much of each other. Mainly meeting down at the local shops or funny enough at the doctors surgery when she was there with her little grand daughters who she looked after when school was out for the day as their mother worked afternoons. Her grand daughter had pushed a bead up her nose. Dianne's son, Joshua, was for many years my third son's best friend. Jacob and Josh were as thick as thieves and spent just about every waking hour together. They drifted apart quite a few years back but still are pleased to see each other when they do meet. Both are men now. Today we said goodbye to Dianne and even though one of Dianne's daughter came to the house to tell me she had passed away it hadn't really sunk in. At the small Chapel where the service was held they had pictures of her everywhere and I suddenly realised that Dianne had died. I feel very sad as she was such a lovely lady. One of those good people you are privileged to meet in life. I feel like I really need to have a good cry even though the eyes have been sprouting liquid off and on all day. So I just wanted to tell you all about Dianne. I needed to say how much her friendship had meant to me over the years and how much I will miss her even though I hadn't seen much of her lately.