Finishing Day

Bad weather has kept me mostly indoors so I have determined to finish off some of my To Do pile.
Firstly some more Christmas Gift labels.   These are great for using up small amounts of linen and take little floss.  This time the linen was 34 count so these looked better as square labels

Secondly the Christmas Advent Ornaments.   I'm relatively happy that what I planned in my head had transferred into finished product....hopefully the recipient will have space for them on her tree.

Thirdly, the Frustrating  Friendship Quaker.   In the end I crocheted links between the 'cushions' and made them into an accordion.   There was space at the back of the embroidery cabinet so this has gone there quick smart.  The chart for this will be going to a new home.   I have no wish to look at it ever again.

Now I have only the cutting of the Hardanger Doily, the contents of the Octagonal Box and then I need to get back to my final shelved-for-a-later-date project.

Sunday afternoon the weather cleared and the DBEM managed to walk down the ramp (she hasn't used the stairs for years) to the car and we went out for a short drive.   I was worried about coming back up the ramp to the house but with only one brief rest she managed well and is now snoring gently and happily in her chair!

All in all not bad for a weekends work.

The DBEM

Recently there have been a couple of queries about what this acronym is so an explanation is due.
This was fabricated by me, myself and I as the internet name for my Deaf Blind Elderly Mother.  S

To be honest, she is not totally deaf although the TV volume is now set at 42!!   Nor is she totally blind although with advanced macular degeneration she sees very little clearly and has a white cane, a disability sticker and a Vision Impaired Badge!  (In case you ask we do not have a cat, that is a toy one the DBEM received as a gift last Christmas).

For the past 27 years she has lived with me and has occupied herself with various voluntary positions with a couple of charities, until some years ago when a couple of years of ill health meant I put the brakes on that.

Since then she has been knitting - woollen sweaters and cardigans for small children (up to the age of 4) which, in an annual pilgrimage in April of each year, we take to the local Hospice shop.   Even with her very poor eyesight she continues to knit by the "fingertip feel method" and this provides me with many opportunities to unravel and remedy.

Recently she had a bad fall and has been recovering.   Dutiful daughter insisted that she needed a more respectable dressing gown so now she really is "in the pink"

Col the Cobbler and an unsatisfactory finish

Several years ago, well thirteen to be precise, the DBEM and I went on a trip to Norfolk Island.   Apart from relaxing on the quiet beaches, enjoying early morning walks up and down small lanes, eating delicious food and absorbing the abundant history, I enjoyed the shopping - in particular two pairs of shoes.   Both are still going strong and today Col the Cobbler repaired one pair for me.  I had little faith in him, his pokey, grubby little shop or his inability to say when the repairs would be completed.  His billboard outside the shop is a wooden replica of Col himself.  Would you have faith in a woolly headed man whose face you can hardly see?

I have been painstakingly whipping the Quaker squares together in an effort to complete this Friendship Book project from 2016.  And now with one to go I find I've made an error.   A right disaster from start to finish this has been no enjoyable project.   So I have determined that five squares will be finished.  They will not be connected into an accordion book as the alphabet does not run consecutively.  They will be contained in a yet-to-be-sewn blue silk bag and consigned to the back of the display cabinet.   But I will be able to tick this one off the list.   I may have to make a label for the outside of the bag however - we shall see.

The stitching on the Hardanger Doily is now complete.  Currently I am sleep deprived and more than a little anxious over the DBEM's physical health so the cutting of the border will wait until I am in a better frame of mind.   It will become a birthday gift in April so there is time yet.

And that's all for today.

Christmas Ornament Number 3

This ornament is adapted from the one designed by Forget Me Not In Stitches in the Just Cross Stitch 2004 Christmas edition.

I stitched on 32 count natural Belfast linen with DMC threads.  To make the white stand out more I used whipped back stitch only for that colour.   On reflection I should have thought more about the interlaced effect....but it is what it is :-)

Not everything is doom and gloom

Life is proving a little trying at present and it is easy to fall into the rabbit hole of gloom.   But today I had occasion to be very thankful.  Prior to giving the DBEM a shower I removed watch and earrings, at which point this happened.....

My lovely sapphire earrings, a gift from said DBEM on my 55th birthday, came apart.  How fortunate this happened at home and I didn't lose the stone.   I'm quite sure my friendly neighbourhood jeweller will be able to reset the stone.   At least I hope so.  And while he's at it I'll get him to check the setting on the other also.

I really thought today would be a green day

I've had to keep a cardigan on all day so I really thought today would be a green day but.....only yellow.   The temperature SAL is going well and is definitely making the daily TV weather forecast an exciting part of my life.  Ha ha!

Here's a shot of what we look like as of today.
The DBEM is recovering but is still a mass of dark bruises.   Fortunately I've worked half days this week and have been able to look after her.  As a bonus I got to cross off more items from my cleaning list in the unexpected free time.  Today the man came to organise a repair for the shower door which got knocked off its hinges in the debacle.   Soon both house and the DBEM will be back to normal.

Me a nurse?!

The DBEM had a couple of falls in the night and is battered and bruised but thankfully no breakages. Anyway that meant I was confined to nursing care duties today which resulted in two things:
(1). Only 1200 steps on my Fitbit rather than the usual 12,000+
(2).  Time to complete the stitching on this Christmas Ornament.   From the 2010 Just Christmas Ornament issue, in the DMC threads specified and on 32 count Belfast natural linen.
I plan on making a set of four "Advent" ornaments for a friend so the linen and the finishing fabrics will be the same.   Next up to be either Love or Hope once I have finished searching through my Ornament charts.
I am sick of reading, tired of the hot humid weather, frustrated at not being able to get outdoors, uncertain as to what the immediate future holds as to my "nursing" requirements, limited by my sore elbow to a strictly rationed time of stitching, and looking forward to a repeato ditto day tomorrow as I've had to take a day off work.   So on that Poor Me note I'll sign off.