Taking a break from stitching

 Well, not a long one.   

Next year Little Sister and I are planning a trip to the UK.  To be brutally honest Little Sister is going with me on my trip to the UK🙂  as she says she has no specific wants and I have a looooong list.   So I have a large road map, my little notebook and plenty of time to create an itinerary.   But I have a shock at how close towns/cities are to each other.   Looking at the map I think “oh if Oxford is next that will be a days drive from Winchester” and then checking with Dr Google Maps I find it is around one hour😳.  This is a fun way to spend a day when I am stuck indoors with a head cold.

Our trip is not until May 2024 so I have plenty of time to plan the intended five weeks.   As a bribe I have promised to send  Little Sister to visit her son and grandson in Amsterdam for a week then meet her there and fly home from Schipol.   I shall probably explore London in that time if I pluck up the courage to do it alone.   Gold Hawk Road Fabrics are on my list along with 84 Charing Cross Road, and  Heatherwick’s Rolling Bridge  A very eclectic mix.

And my next project is a Wessex Stitchery Japanese Komebukuro for which I have selected colours and tacked out the linen.   I’m looking forward to this one.

 Two more Christmas Ornaments completed.   I'm happy with these and part of the satisfaction comes from knowing that everything was from stash.   Can you tell that I'm on a campaign to reduce my size of stash?

I also have some knitting on the needles and am making good progress with that.  But currently have a nasty head cold so am spending most of my time curled up on the sofa under Grandma's knitted blanket with a good book.

See you later.

Wessex

 At Guild we are doing a group project of a Concertina Wessex Stitchery Needlecase.   This has been an exercise in patience and reverse stitching for me; and I thought I could count😉. However I have made progress as this photo proves.   The panel of the right has to have needle lace flowers to complete it and the panel on the left , although the stitching is correct, is actually in the wrong place.   So I will have to get out of that and start again correctly.  Oh dear.   

Meanwhile on the estate we have M U D !   My little cottage stands in a quagmire which is being tamed by two hunky landscapers as frustrated as I by the incessant rain.   Yesterday I chose paving stones, said no to the suggestion of an extra garden bed and prayed that all this would soon end!   The finished result will be good but I don’t love the process.

And as an added bonus I went to the hospital for a Venogram which required an IV lure in each arm.   My right arm is always a challenge and yesterday it took 7 attempts and three different nurses to admit failure before they decided that Ultrasound Guidance was needed.   After all that trauma the actual procedure was only a matter of minutes but I am happy that the cardiologist is now confident he can do the surgery here in Palmerston North and I won’t be sent to Auckland.  Such is life.  Good and Bad.  Sweet and Sour.  Or as Maisie Mosco said in her book, Almonds and Raisins.

Having slept well I’m ready to face another day.

Return of my Mojo

 At long last my mojo has returned and I am currently enjoying a piece of Wessex Stitchery and am continuing with another Christmas Ornament.

And as a bonus, my weight has dropped.   Yes since my dear Mother passed away I gained some bereavement kilos but this past two weeks I have become friends again with the bathroom scales as well as with my John James Tapestry Needle :)

Here’s a snap of the two current projects - the ornament almost complete and the Wessex needlecase only just started.

Meanwhile on the estate I have two hunky landscape gardeners tearing up the flower gardens in preparation to replacing it all with a “next to no maintenance” garden which is part of my future proofing.   Currently it is an awful muddy mess and I wonder if it will ever come to resemble the beautiful sketch they drew for me when we were deciding on shrubs, plants and trees.   I am trying to keep positive I promise !