A weekend of repeats

Yesterday I washed my car, thoroughly and felt pleased with the shiny result.
Today I took the DBEM to see the Embroidery Exhibition and we parked the car in the middle of the car park.  Not under a tree, not near a fence and not on the side of the road.  An hour later we returned and the shiny car was now spotted with excrement from what I take to be a swarm of bees.  Little yellow orange spots dotted the shiny cobalt blue of my Mazda.   So this afternoon I washed my car thoroughly -  AGAIN

Today I measured the floss needed to make a twisted cord for my newly completed box top.   I twisted the floss, knotted it carefully and measured the box.   Oh dear not long enough.   So I consulted my book, measured carefully, twisted the floss, knotted the ends AGAIN!   Success.   Here is the box top.   I love it and am so pleased to have finally completed a stitched top for this box which I bought twenty years ago while on holiday in the South Island.

The perspective of this photo is skew-whiff - the stitching is actually centred.   Now to find a use for the box.

Belated celebrations

Today the DBEM took me out for a sushi lunch.   Well to be honest, I took her in the car.   But she paid !!
We had a great time at our favourite Sushi Go Round.

The DBEM is right in to nigiri sushi and was a little perturbed when there was no tuna sushi available.  A wink at the waitress and a brief conversation in Japanese and instant service from the kitchen.   This was a real happy meal!

My boss surprised me with this flowering plant for my desk.   She obviously doesn't know that I'm no fan of house plants but as I sit right outside her office door I will have to try and keep this one alive!

I know Little Sister reads this blog as she has been asking why I was off air.  This next photo is a teaser for her.   Little Sister you may find a gift in the mail sometime soon!

And another spurt on the sewing machine and the odd notebooks cowering in the corner of my desk received fabric covers.  And in so doing I found a use for the piece of hardanger that was too long for a bookmark and too short for its original purpose.   Well done me!

Tonight I have a new start and another episode of New Tricks on the TV.  Off to get a light meal now -  we ate a little too much sushi earlier on.

Refreshed and renamed

Life administration took longer than expected but several items were ticked off the never ending To Do List and with the start of another year I'm looking forward to better things.   Yes, in the 'Calendar of Margaret', the sixty third year begins today.
Progress has been made on another front also.   I have decided to rename my elderly parent as DBEM since she is now a great deal more than half deaf and three quarters blind!   She is now deaf, blind and elderly.   Don't tell her I have noticed this progress.  She is fiercely independent and probably assumes my silence on the matter means I have not noticed her growing ineptitude, the need for me to redo tasks she "can still do dear", the increased volume on the TV,  the increasingly restrictive dietary requirements etc
Fun and games here.   DBEM drops her dark coloured 4mm knitting needle on our light coloured carpet and when she can't find it I search.  Moi?  I drop a small number 28 tapestry needle on a grey mat, worry that I will end up with said needle in my bare feet, only to have DBEM say, "is that a needle by your feet dear?"   How did she see that?   Apparently it sparkled in the light from where she was sitting!  And so we help each other even if the help equation is mostly unbalanced.
The basket of finishes is now empty and I have a sense of satisfaction along with a new resolution.   As I stitch projects I will find a new home for the chart and so reduce unnecessary stash.
My friend Susan took the chart for this chook (and his friend the Quaker Chicken)
Doesn't he look great?

Two Christmas ornaments - I have kept these charts as I will probably repeat.  I love both of them.

Mary Beale's Christmas Wreath all finito!   I don't know what I will do with either this or the one I did last year:-)   The back is red velvet fabric from the local curtain shop -  excellent for Christmas ornaments!

The tote bag - this project veered far from my original plans but has turned out highly colourful and highly usable.   I am well pleased as all ingredients were from my stash cupboard.   The black is a heavy woollen fabric left over from my winter skirt, quilting cotton lining etc etc   Large pockets on either side are really useful.   The DBEM is making appreciative noises so she may get to use this.

This Christmas Ornament is supposed to be Holly berries but looks too pink to me.   Still it turned out well and I will use it as I rather like the 3D hanging bauble effect.

Another hardanger tassell -  I do wish I had kept count of how many of these I have made.   Nearly 50 I think.  They are always welcome as gifts and sell well at the Embroiderers Guild Exhibition.   Besides which they use up scraps of linen fabric which I am loathe to discard.

And now to work on filling up the basket again.

Life Administration

I am taking a break.  No posts for a week or so until I have some sparkle in my eye and some spring in my step again.   Time for some life administration.

Spring in my garden

There may not be too much spring in my step these days but the garden continues to delight.
Aren't these beautiful?

The freesias in my pots upstairs were decimated when the apartment committee decided to have the wooden walkway and steps chemical washed.   But these bluebells and freesias by the front gate escaped and give pleasure to the HD3QBEM on her daily walk around the estate.
Last night I was gaily stitching away, thinking to myself "I will have progress to show tomorrow" when oh dear oh dear!   An error way back so I reversed out of that problem but there is no photograph to show.   Perhaps tomorrow:-(