Farewell to 2020

The housework is done, windows are polished inside and out, the car is clean, the lawns are mowed and the laundry is dry and folded away.   The DBEM has had her fingernails cut(!), and there is nothing else on the list.   It feels good to have everything clean and tidy on the last night of the old year.   And a bonus -  I have two finishes to show off.

First the basket band is completed and has been attached to the basket and more importantly, is already in use.

Basket Back

Basket Front

And to ensure that it fitted the circumference I stitched the year!

I am amazed at how this band addition has elevated a humble basket purchased cheaply from Trade Aid (the local fair trade shop).   This basket is deep enough to hold all my needlework necessities as well as a current project.   At the moment it is missing the project as I have nothing chosen as yet -  a pleasant task for tomorrow :)

And the Temperature SAL for 2020 is complete too.   I am going to miss this from my evening programme.

Palmerston North temperatures 2020

Comparison with Auckland 2019

I am going to mount the Palmerston North one on foam core also and both of them will be displayed.  It has been great fun to see the difference - it is certainly cooler down here in Palmerston North although last summer did have several "Dark Red" days but there were more "Light Blue" days in the winter too.  

Now what will I do for my year long project this year?   Already I have chosen the Christmas Ornaments I want to stitch but it seems strange to begin stitching those in January so I have promised myself a deep dive into the stash cupboard tomorrow and I'll choose something new and exciting.

Yesterday I had another pacemaker check and was told that I will have my lead replaced sometime in January when the cardiologist returns from his summer holiday.   Meanwhile I am taking things carefully and as instructed, keeping driving to a minimum.   I am happy to be out walking again and can now manage a 30 minute walk each evening without my heel and ankle giving any trouble.   I did walk to the library too and picked up my latest request 'The Sewing Machine' by Natalie Fergie.   I have a couple of others to finish before I can begin that one but it looks interesting and I have half promised the DBEM that I will read it aloud to her.

Thank you to all who have read my blog and left comments.   Next month will be 13 years since I began this blog and I still enjoy keeping a record of stitching projects and sometimes "life events".

I wish you all a very Happy New Year.  Stay Home, Stay Safe, Be Kind.

 

President's Challenge

 Each year the Embroiderer's Guild has a challenge, issued by the president, and displayed at the AGM at the beginning of December.   My current Guild in The New City has only around 30 members so an absence of participation would be noted.   But I am not a creative type of person to design my own piece of work; nor did I want to spend a lot of time on something I didn't really want.

The challenge was "Inspired by a Book" so after a lot of thought and the production of several new grey hairs I settled on this after having read the book The Chocolate Tin by Fiona McIntosh.

And inside the tin I will have a stitched explanation.  This is currently straining my eyes and my patience as I stitch all the lettering over one on 32 count fabric.   Hopefully this week I will finish this and put it in a bag to await the great unveiling at Guild meeting on 7 December.   You will probably hear my cries of anguish in the Northern Hemisphere if Covid lockdowns mean that meeting has to be cancelled.   Currently we are at the quasi-normality of Alert Level 1 and long may it continue.

But on the good news front the temperatures are slowly rising and we have had seven days in a row where green has been the colour of choice for my Temperature Chart.   It is good to get out in the garden and feel the warmth of the sun.   My seeds are germinating and I do daily checks to ensure that marauding snails and slugs do not get to them!

After an absence

 I'm back!   After the DBEM's birthday party she caught a bad head cold and then generously passed it on to me.   It has taken me longer to shake off than I anticipated and even now I'm not at 100%.   Not helping is the fact that since coming to live in The New City, the proximity of farms and forests has given me allergies and I wake sneezing and snorting (yes and generally bad tempered for a short time !)   My doctor says unsympathetically "You're closer to farmland here than in Auckland.   What do you expect?"   Well certainly not this - and a little more sympathy wouldn't have gone amiss either:-)

Spring has sprung here and with it the usual fickle variable weather.   If you look at the bottom row of my temperature chart you will see the colour changes in one week.   It doesn't seem that long ago I was bemoaning the fact that it was all blue -  well we had an orange day yesterday and have had several greens too.   

On the stitching front I've not really got a project that is grabbing my interest.   The hardanger piece is complete and I now need to visit the Quilt Fabric shop to get something suitable so I can complete it.  There's no rush as this is for a gift and not required for some months yet so it can wait a while.

In my stash I found this piece of lovely raspberry linen and am making it into a needle book - decorated front and back with pulled thread work.   However the fine linen (32 count) and the matching floss (perle 12) is proving quite a challenge for my eyesight so progress is slow.   

While I am persevering at this one I am thinking that I need to get my piece for the Embroiderers Guild annual challenge completed.   To be honest I'd like to be a non-participant in that one but with a small Guild every entry counts so I need to persist.   I can see the end in sight but I'm not enjoying the fact that this is a free style embroidered piece, mixed techniques and self designed so no right or wrong which I find disconcerting.   I much prefer to follow instructions and know that I have done what is required.   I will post a picture when the whole object is complete. 

Meanwhile, we have dropped back to Covid Level 1 and life is near new-normal once again.   I need to push the reset button and start activities once again.   The events of this year have not been helpful for getting to know people and make friends in The New City but onwards and upwards:-)

Progress Report as promised

 Angels Song is all but finished.   I left one of the larger bands of Ukranian Stitch incomplete and ploughed on to the end of the chart.   Now I need to go back and complete that band and then stitch on the zillions of beads and buttons.   The end is in sight!   I have no idea what to do with this but it has been fun to stitch and I have thoroughly enjoyed all the specialty stitches.

And the Temperature chart -  you can certainly see that Palmerston North has cool (cold) winters.  There is so much more blue in this year's chart.   Today we were back at the favourite 14 degrees Celsius but are promised 17 tomorrow.    

And with that I need to conclude today's activities and get myself ready for bed.