Slow progress in tiny circles

Ukranian whitework is densely covered and very time consuming.  Last night I was tired and the round eyelets all but defeated me.   I reversed out of the quandary and tonight made a fresh start. 

Yeah!   All is going well at present -  one diamond all but completed.  Those branches come at each corner and are a welcome relief after round eyelets.   Although the instructions say do the satin stitch first and eyelets last.   I'm going to try the other way around on the next diamond.  Might help my patience levels if I do so.

Today when I came home from work I needed to rake up leaves.   It's Autumn here and the landscaper who planted trees on this property loved deciduous.  Above the ramp which the DBEM uses are two large Pin Oak trees whose russett leaves fall gently and cover the path.   How poetic is that?   But poetry still makes a slippery  path for the DBEM and her walking frame. 

Then at the bottom of the steps which I use is a tall Indian Bead Tree which sheds its millions of golden leaves all over the steps and paths.  (This photo taken on a foggy morning as I went off to work). They form a dense carpet that needs raking up on a daily basis.  Apparently in Kenya the farmers use the leaves as fodder for cattle to improve milk yield.   I think I need a cow on site here!
I'll be back tomorrow after some more stitching and raking of leaves.

Mothers Day and another new start

Happy Mothers Day to the DBEM.
She loved the surprise Raspberry Mousse cake.

I always call her Mother not Mum but the cafe wasn't to know that were they?   Whatever, the DBEM loved this.  Today we went out for a drive to sit at the beach and watch the small children and dogs cavort in the cool water.   It is still amazingly warm here - 23 degrees celsius today - and yet in a couple of weeks it will officially be winter?!

As you know Cross stitch fails to hold my interest for long and I need my fix of a more challenging counted project.  So along with this years Christmas Ornaments I am stitching a piece of Ukranian Whitework from the book by Gay Eaton. 

Tacking out the shape of the bag that this will become had me counting over four for several metres (the blue lines)and then I read the book and found that Ukranian is done over a three count!! 

However I have made a start now - being "whitework" this is done in a monotone and the thread is a close match to the fabric so rather hard on the eyes.   This will be a long lasting project but I am looking forward to see it grow.