Progress Reports

Good evening everyone.
Progress Report Number One:   Mother's first eye surgery went well and here is a snapshot (taken very much against her will!) to prove the point.   One ear is yellow with iodine and of course one eye is covered with a white patch but otherwise all is well.  Many thanks to you all for your good wishes and prayers - from both QBHDEM and me!

Progress Report Number Two:   The Historic Countries Sampler has officially left The Netherlands.   Several times while in that country the "frogs" came to visit but persistence paid off and that section is now complete - well apart from the gap left to put the date I finish this piece.   Instead of some random date selected from family history I opted to rechart that section to put the start date and (one day) finish date.   The blue triangle portion at the lower left is the first of the Spanish section which appears to be smaller and less complicated than the Dutch section.   Here's hoping!   (Hopefully this picture should be clickable)

Progress Report Number Three:   Stash Enchancement!   While Mother was in the gentle hands of the Opthalmologist I paid a visit to The Ribbon Rose and found a beautiful piece of white linen for my planned Pulled Thread piece, also some needles and a DMC I need to finishe my Christmas Prism.   What was most gratifying was my loyalty card was full and meant I received $25 off the price.   Oh Happy Day!

The linen is for a piece of Pulled Thread work by designer Marie Helene Jeanneau.   I learned about this design from Giovanna's Stitches and Point Passion managed to send me the order within three days -  a super fast journey from France to New Zealand.   Such amazing service!  You can see the work in progress on Giovanna's blog here.

So all in all a very successful day at Chez Nous!   Have a great evening everyone.

WARNING - this post contains CHOCOLATE!

Hello everyone.   It has been a while since I posted and I continue to stitch on the Historic Countries Sampler.   At present I am in the Holland section and have just completed a "giant" boat -  this is relative of course.  The whole sampler is quite a giant!   Hopefully this weekend Holland will be finished and I plan on having a short break to stitch a small gift for a friend.

In between the crosses, I made this apron which the HDHBEM kindly modelled for me.   She was really shy this time:-)

And now for a complaint.   At Christmas Mother gave me this tin of chocolates - "I know you will love the tin dear, even if you don't eat the contents."  

At that stage I had strong resolve and put the tin away waiting for a time when others would eat the contents for me.   Such a large tin =  so many chocolates = would be great for a plate when I am rostered on tea time at church.  

So last Sunday I was on the roster and I opened the tin of chocolates -  well!   What a disappointment!   Wouldn't you feel cheated if you only got less than half a tin full!  

We won't be buying these again, tin or no tin!
Next week the HDHBEM has the cataract removed from her right eye and will then become the QuarterBlindHalfDeafElderlyMother (QBHDEM) and will be very happy!  At present we put in drops morning and night and live with the anticipation of success (even though the opthalmologist said the macular degeneration will mean limited improvement).   I will have the day off to take her to the hospital and collect her again three hours later -  and what a blessing, the hospital is only a few minutes walk from the needlework shop.  How fortuitous- I will love having my mind preoccupied with stitching treasures during the wait:-)
Have a great evening everyone.

Oh dear oh dear - a diet breaker of a package

It was only on Monday that Sonoko told me she had sent a package and this morning the courier driver rang the bell and delivered the goodies.   How quickly that travelled -  NZ Post should take some lessons from Japan Post.   And what a lot of goodies there were!   Two cute teddy bears nursing small packages of ----yes! Chocolates.    Two tiny tote bags containing ---- yes!   Chocolates.   The red package contained two smaller white packages which contained two beautiful pairs of gloves and two handkerchiefs.   And the pink tote bag in the front? ---- yes!   More chocolates.

Japanese retailers must be the Kings of Wrapping.   Let me give you a pictorial explanation.  

Inside this beautiful coordinated tote bag, was a wonderful round box (can you see this with some embroidery on top  - once the contents are eaten of course)

the tissue paper was folded into soft symmetrical  folds,

Under that was a small card detailing the flavours of the contents.   Under the card a padded wax paper disc to protect the delicate contents and so eventually after five layers all was revealed....... these!  

Too good to eat do I hear you say?   Well all the other chocolates will be eaten first.   These special ones will be kept for a day or two so I can enjoy their beauty and Mother can decide which she will eat as the instructions sent by Sonoko are that I must share !!   Thankyou so much for the surprise Sonoko.  

Progress Report HCS 5

Hello everyone -  life has been a little busy and consequently 'blog-less' this week.   But I do have some progress to show you.   This is the first band of the Holland portion of the Historic Countries Sampler.  It is rather more colourful than I had expected but the colours all work well together.   I am really enjoying this project.

I've also done side one of the Faith Hope and Charity Christmas Prism.   The fabric is a scrap of Lugana I had in my stash and DMC threads from my stock.   Somehow I doubt that I have a suitable fabric for the lining but as construction is a long way off I will leave that decision till later.

The blue cotton top is complete and has been "road tested".   I am more than pleased with both the colour and the fit.   Here it is with the skirt which provided the necessity for a top.   The garment took three balls less than expected and the wonderful lady at Wild and Woolly agreed to swap the excess for other yarn and Mother now has a new pattern and the yarn for her next Charity Creation.   Satisfaction all round!

Well good night all.   I'm off to do my evening chores.

Lunch Out

Today a rather rare occurence in this household -  we went out for lunch to one of the local Japanese restaurants called Banzai.  

Delicious Tuna and Salmon Sashimi for me

and Yum Yum Prawns for the HDHBEM.  

Yum Yum may not sound totally Japanese but accurately describes the taste.  Mother was totally satisfied and -  high praise this - she commented "we must come here again!"

Highly recommend this place!

Progress Report HCS 4

Hello everyone.   It has been a busy week and I could only make time for needles and thread of a far coarser type than I usually have to hand.   This is the last piece of a summer top and although I am impatient for it to be complete, I am more than satisfied with the way it is turning out.   Knitting in cotton does not come naturally to a New Zealander born and bred on the wool industry but who wants to wear merino in the summer?  This Rowan cotton is not what the pattern specified but a tension square gave identical results and onward I go.   The skirt to complete the bottom half of the outfit is already complete and in use.   My fingers don't move as fast as my sewing machine!

And on the needle and thread of the finer type I have completed Ireland and made a start on Holland on the major project that is my HCS.   This project was started on 22 December last year so I am feeling quite happy with progress so far even though I'm only about a quarter done.   Strangely enough I am looking for a change from this and may have to revise my resolutions and make a side excursion into some smalls - I have my eye and thoughts on a series of Christmas ornaments.

This morning I was up early and made some Grantham Gingerbread from my latest cook book.   These are crisp buttery cookies and why they would be called Gingerbread I have no idea.   A double pencil tick is in the margin of this recipe now and I will definitely be repeating this one.  

We have a public holiday on Monday and I am rejoicing in a long weekend.   The Half Deaf Half Blind Elderly Mother and I are going to our favourite Japanese restaurant for lunch tomorrow and our scheduled treat for Monday is the movies - "The King's Speech" is calling us!

Rosemary flavoured 2 4 6 biscuits

Immediately after my last post Yuko Sawada asked if the biscuits were cooked yet!   Well they are now and here's the proof - cookies and a cup of 'Crystal Tea'.   Don't you wish you could taste them Yuko?   Not only are they aromatic but they taste real good :-)

This cup saucer and plate are part of the tea service the Half Blind Half Deaf Elderly Mother received as a wedding gift in 1952.   It is still complete and still in use for special occasions such as these cookies!!!