It's a positive symphony!

After a dramatic thunderstorm with accompanying lightning and heavy rain on Friday, Saturday and Sunday have been bright sunny and hot.   So hot in fact that zillions of cicadas are now singing their non-melodious symphonies.   Life is noisy in my normally quiet household.
Not only has the weather been dramatic.   The HDHBEM had a dramatic reaction to her antibiotic medication and after a visit to her GP was told that the hospital had prescribed 1500mg daily when it should have been a 500mg daily dose.   Now she is on medication to cure the side effects of the other medication - a veritable cocktail of drugs -  and she has another antibiotic to add to her list of "prohibited items".    Her residual infection from the pneumonia is not yet clear either and as the experts say 'we are monitoring the situation'.   So the HDHBEM has been confined to quarters.
But amidst the noise and drama I have had a busy weekend.   It was Embroiderer's Guild on Saturday and a great chance to catch up with others and see what they have all produced over the summer break.  As usual I forgot to take my camera so there are no snapshots of that - I promise to do better next time.
I have cooked a banana and walnut loaf, caramel pistachio slice (this should have been caramel peanut slice but there were no peanuts in the pantry) and a fish pie.   The various weekend chores all got done.   The HDHBEM was allowed out on Saturday when I took her for a drive along the waterfront and around various city parks.
Last night we both stayed up to watch Midsomer Murders and the HDHBEM made excellent progress on her knitting while I managed to get enough done to make a photo worthwhile.   This Japanese etui is fun to stitch.  Currently I am doing the little ladies on the biscornu.   That needle is a John James tapestry #28 which gives you some idea of size.

According to the chart they are not filled in but I have toning shades of overdyed floss so am thinking of giving their kimono a more solid look in tent stitch over one.    

The front of the fan shaped pin keep is all stitched.   I am delighted with that and look forward to the construction day.   First I need to finish the biscornu and then there is a scissor keeper in the style of a netsuke.  Hopefully I will get to that this week.

This is all stitched on 30 count linen with DMC threads as charted by "Les Petites Japonaises" by Dessins DHC which I purchased through The Silver Needle.   Having lived in Japan for a number of years I am enjoying this greatly but being originally a French design there is a lot that is lost in translation and I don't rank this chart very highly on my scale of "good charts".  

Barb wrote to say that the Blogaversary gift had arrived and that she had enjoyed the chocolate and had made the Angel so here's a shot of what I sent.

Linen and matching thread - by a New Zealander textile artist, a beaded Angel, a souvenir teaspoon of Auckland and some New Zealand chocolate.   Thanks for letting me know you received this safely Barb.
Have a good week everyone.