Memorials and Memories

It's the first anniversary of my Dad's passing on the 28th of this month, with what would have been his birthday the day before, so these dates have been very much on my mind as this month has drawn on. On Saturday I made this card:My DSis will open the envelope on the 27th and put the card on the hearth, along with some flowers. I chose an Egyptian theme as it seemed most apt, as my Dad served in the Royal Engineers in Egypt during the Suez Crisis, of which he was very proud. The card shows Anubis, god of death, holding an ankh (symbol of eternal life) to the mouth of the young pharoah, thus ensuring he lived on in the afterlife. The gold figures on the paper ribbon at the top and bottom are the gods and goddesses of Ancient Egypt.

I also made a tag which will go next to our parents' name plaque at Rosehill.
This is the boy King Tutankhamun with an ankh and scarab beetle. Dad never got to see the sights of Egypt, as they were out of bounds while he was there, and he couldn't afford to go there for a holiday in later life, so I hope he and Mum are seeing all the sights now. :0)

Saturday evening I carried on stitching and finished Part 4 of the Memories SAL, after finally choosing a year:
We'd been through some pretty bad times in the previous couple of years, culminating in losing three family members to various forms of cancer last year: DH's DSis in March, my Dad in April and my cousin's wife in November. I chose 2008 because I want this piece to be a reminder that no matter how much crap life throws at us, no matter how bad things get, we can get through it - coming out the other side OK and going on to enjoy better times.

Sunday we had a trip over to see my DSis. We took the card, the new light fittings & bulbs DH got for her from Screwfix (for the hallway this time), had dinner out and a drive round afterwards and did lots of nattering. Though I took the Ozark SAL and a small piece with me I didn't get any stitching done whilst there and was too tired after we got back, especially as we called in at Tesco Express for a bit of shopping on the way home.
Today has been my usual Monday routine of jobs, with a Forum and emails catch-up thrown in as a little light relief, before Alex arrived, followed by evening meal preparation and cooking after she went. Tonight I hope to start the Challenge piece - that's right...... I still haven't stitched it! I also haven't got a clue on how to finish it. I sort of had something in mind earlier in the month but have absolutely no idea on how to achieve it and haven't yet spotted any online instructions to help me out either. Oh well, at this late stage I guess plain and simple will be the best option! LOL

Helen: thank you again. It means a great deal to me. :0)

Oh, Julie, that Thread Bear order: some of the goodies are meant as gifts........ errrmm....... well........ that's the intention............. depends if I can bear to part with them after I've got my sticky little mitts on them! Can't have an extension on the house though - we've already got one and it's almost full! ;0) LMAO

Karen: DH would probably love a day by the sea.......... doubt he'd do any work while he was there though - he'd be off to sunbathe in the same spot as the British Gas blokes! :0) LOL

Well, if I'm ever going to make a start on that Challenge piece I'd better go. I shall start my blog reading catch-up tomorrow - by the rising numbers of posts on Bloglines it looks like some of you have had busy weekends. :0)

Thanks again for taking the time to visit and leave comments, which I very much appreciate - it's always good to know I'm not waffling away to myself (it means the men in white coats with the green van and the funny waistcoat won't be round just yet! LOL).
Have a good week all. :0)

Memories and ET

It seems like I'm on a roll with the stitching plans at the minute, so am making the most of it while it lasts!
I sat and watched Dawn Bibby's two hour slot on QVC yesterday afternoon - partly for the inspiration (no buying, despite plenty of temptation) and partly to have the chance to finish Part 3 of Jayne's Memories SAL. It worked quite nicely and here's the result:
It was a nice, quick section to do and I really enjoyed stitching it. Fanfare, please: it means that I'm now right up-to-date with all three SAL's for the first time ever since starting them. Toot! Toot! LOL

As it was UFO Tuesday yesterday ET saw the light of day again, as promised......... well, the light of my daylight bulb, anyway. :0)
In case you can't tell: I completed the backstitching on the first three bands, and made a start on the fourth, on the right side of the collar. Not as much progress as I'd hoped (wanted to complete the first five bands) but I had to stop as my eyes had had enough yesterday. Sorry to disappoint you Lynn and Julie: there's at least one more, if not two, UFO Nights worth of work to go before it's done and there's a HD. ;0) Warning: I have dug out my Egyptian music CD's, all set to go - I wasn't responsible for the last earthquake in this area but I will be for the next...... and it'll be more than a 5.3'er! LMAO

Speaking of CD's and dancing: I now get music while I work. :0) I suggested to DH a while ago that it would be nice to have something in the kitchen so we can listen to music while cooking/cleaning etc in there. If we've wanted to listen to something previously we've had to put the main Hi-Fi system on in the front room and whack the sound up so we can actually hear it in the kitchen - well that's OK until someone knocks at the door or phones, then there's a mad scramble into the front room to turn the music down/off, risking twisting an ankle or breaking my neck in the process, then answer. It was too much hassle, so I didn't bother much of the time but long sessions preparing stews for the slow cooker get seriously boring! DH has now bought us a mini Hi-Fi/DAB Radio combi and he set it all up last night - it's just the right size for sitting on top of the microwave, so it doesn't take up valuable worktop space and it's easily switched off when I need to answer the door or phone. I've discovered the Gold radio station which (so far) seems to play a lot of music I like, so I'm a happy bunny.

BTW Lynn: I've been trying to get on your blog to catch up and leave comments the past few days but am having problems doing so. For some reason the pics on your blog won't download for me: my computer keeps churning away trying to get them then locks up, so I have to Ctrl/Alt/Del and get back online again afterwards. I can see the wording OK - although I can't leave a comment. Absolutely no idea what's going on, so I'll have to get DH to have a look, in case it's a problem at my end. :0( Just wanted you to know, so you didn't think I was being rude and ignoring you or anything. Hope it's a quick fix, as I'd like to see all your pics - you've been real busy since my previous visits! :0)

Right, I am off to carry on with the Monthly Challenge now. As I said before, I changed my mind (again!) on how to finish this and had a basic idea tumbling around in my head (not much there to stop it these days LOL) but just couldn't get started with it. Glad I didn't because I had one of those sudden Eureka! moments this morning for exactly what to do on the back of the piece and, as it involves further stitching, I need to extract my digit and get on with it. All will be revealed on the 29th (thanks for confirming that Karen) via the album link on JA/S&S and I'll post pics and explain here in my blog then. :0)

Thanks again for all the lovely comments you take the time to leave, they are very much appreciated and make my day. Brightest Blessings to you all. :0)

Memories Part 2

Last nights' plan of carrying on with the Memories SAL worked out nicely and an uninterrupted evening of stitching resulted in a Mini HD when Part 2 was completed:This is a dream to stitch and I've thoroughly enjoyed it so far, so roll on Part 3!

Today's stitching plan is to finally tackle some of the dreaded metallic backstitching on Egyptian Tablet, as it's UFO Tuesday today. I've had two weeks off, so I could catch up with my SAL's, but I now get the feeling that Mr Stick is on the look-out for me and is in no mood to take any prisoners this week...... so I'd best be good and definitely get some done. When that's out of the way it's on to Part 2 of the Ozark Mystery Sampler. :0)

I had been thinking of having another trip to the library today, to take back one of the books I've finished reading, then to the sewing shop for some cording but with a combination of waking up with a touch of sinusitis/headache and the weather turning cold and windy again soon changed my mind. Quite a few of the properties down the High Street have old slate roofs which have a nasty habit of losing the odd slate in windy weather, so it's best avoided on days like today. It's not horrendously windy: just fierce enough to skittle the plastic watering cans (since been filled with water, so they ain't going anywhere now) and free-wheel the empty compost bin around the garden (not bothering rescuing it, as it'll just be off again in the next good gust). It does feel like it's building up though and I've heard that some other parts of the UK are getting it much worse, so I hope everyone is OK and staying safely indoors.

Right, I'm off to try and gain back some of those lost brownie points with Mr Stick. ;0)

Thanks for visiting and stay safe. :0)

Next, Please!

Well, after finishing Part 1 of the For Amanda SAL and completing the finishing on the monthly challenge the next item on the list was Part 2 of the Memories SAL, which I finally got around to starting last night. Thoroughly enjoyed stitching the three bands and the alphabet is stitching up much quicker than expected. Here's where I left off last night: No stitching during the day today, as it's my regular Monday routine of getting jobs done ready for Alex popping in for a coffee and natter, but I hope to get back to this tonight to complete it. :0)

Next item on the list is Part 2 of the Ozark Mystery SAL and I really should start on the backstitch on Egyptian Tablet, especially as it'll be UFO Tuesday again tomorrow. Mr Stick has been pretty lenient with me so far - don't want to push my luck any further! ;0)

I've also been playing around with various ideas for making up a couple of Christmas ornies I stitched some time ago and want to do them at some point this week too. Taking part in the monthly challenge is doing my confidence a lot of good as I now want to try different finishing techniques: instead of thinking "Oo, that looks hard - I can't do that" it's more a case of "I like the look of that - I want to have a go". Many thanks Karen and Julie: this change in attitude is down to you both and my drawer full of sad, neglected little stitched pieces, once transformed and on display, will also be eternally grateful! :0)

Yesterday didn't go quite as planned but was a good day anyway. We had been thinking of having a trip over to Newark to visit the Mind, Body and Spirit event on there but when it came to it we decided we didn't fancy the travelling. DH had had a horrendous week at work - with no end in sight for the problems just yet - and instead of just a morning at work on Saturday it ended up being most of the day, so he was shattered. The project he's involved with is called Caster 5 - it's now more commonly known across the works as Disaster 5!
I shared my day between the computer, my stitching, pottering and making tea and, after a quiet morning, DH disappeared into the loft in the afternoon to continue fitting the overflow tank for the boiler. He claimed it was a nice distraction from the stresses of work - who am I to argue? Whatever floats your boat! LOL

As for the tagging: thanks for the comments. I guess, after reading the tag post, it's a case of all those who thought I was a bit weird having their suspicions confirmed for real now. LOL ;0) I've enjoyed seeing what others have posted too: it's amazing how much some of us have in common - although not referring to weirdness here, just general similarities. Wonder if it's the stitchy gene that promotes that? :0)

Thank you again for taking the time out of your day to come visit - hope you're all having a good start to the week. :0)