mainely stitching

We remembered to tell family that we weren’t “doing” Christmas this year (as in, no gifts). The kids are bummed, but with the move taking place right around the holidays, whatever they recieved would just have to be packed up anyway. And I certainly have no time to buy or make gifts this year. I’m not sure I’ll even have a chance to stitch ornaments for Niek and kids, although this has become something of a tradition the last few years. I’m curious to hear how (or if) you celebrate the holiday season, whether it’s Christmas or another seasonal celebration.

Yesterday necessitated some re-cleaning to prepare things for the rescheduled showing taking place early this morning (I’m not really here, actually, this is a scheduled post … just love that feature!). Arden’s feeling ever so much better and just couldn’t wait to get started on the day’s activities.

Hmmm. What sort of mischief can I get away with and still have her think I’m adorable?

Oh, I just love cleaning rags! They’re so versatile!

Now, where did Mommy put that bucket of soapy water?

Yesterday I finally addressed what’s probably the unhappiest aspect of our upcoming move – putting Gilbert and Nachtegaal up as being available for re-homing. Naturally, nut jobs started coming out of the woodwork.
“If they’re free, I’ll take them both” and that sort of thing, despite my carefully worded ad that these are very special creatures in search of very special people. It’s next to impossible to imagine not having Gilbert commenting on everything around him, trying to groom Spin, and generally contributing to every moment of our family life. The few times I’ve had to do this in the past, the right person has finally appeared on the scene. I’ll just have to be patient and hopeful till she or he shows up.

Big presents come in small packages, as the saying goes, and this is no exception. Please meet our new nephew, Daan Tomas. I can’t wait to meet him in person! Congratulations to the very happy parents.

It’s not nearly as momentous, but here’s another small start – my attempt to get back to stitching. This is a very small design by Handwork from their Sampler Ornaments 8 leaflet.

And to encourage me even more to get stitching, I experimented with a piece of 35 ct white HDF linen and my Chinese herb dregs, coming up with this. Isn’t it fabulous? I only wish I’d done a large piece….

There are, of course, other small packages that figure importantly in my life. Like small, quiet girls on rainy November afternoons.

And small boys who are happily missing both their front teeth.

And other little boys who are finally feeling good again. (In a sweater knit by his great grandma!)

This is a rather big package, but what funny wrapping it has!

And finally, some furry packages that will soon be underway to America.

Thanks for all the well-wishes regarding today’s showing. The realtor was enthusiastic about it, and complimented us on how well the place showed. Hooray for insane cleaning! The lookers are at home, discussing the house, while we sit here with crossed fingers.

It was a very hectic day, which isn’t particularly pleasant, but things got a lot nicer when I found out I’d won Beth’s giveaway via her FB group. Yay! And thanks, Beth! I love her designs and now I get to pick one of my choice!

And speaking of great designs, I took the plunge and ordered a couple of Niky’s designs. I’ve long admired her blog, though I’m a lurker. She sent them incredibly fast. I really love how she packages her charts – aren’t they adorable? I’m a little less enthusiastic about the layout of the charts, however, because there’s no stitch count and no center point marked. I’m lazy, I’ll admit it – I want someone else to do the work for me. But these are super-sweet designs that I look forward to stitching up once my obligations are done.

Gilbert seems to think he needs his own Daylight lamp. When he was having some free time yesterday, he let me know that I’ve got the angle all wrong. LOL!

And to close on a very silly note, here are my three younger kids acting up in the tub. Nick and Rowen are into Halloween this year and were trying to pull their most dreadful poses. With some help from Picnik, I made Nick into a proper ghoul.

I hope you’re all doing something fabulous on this rainy end-of-October day! Thanks for visiting!

Our weather has taken a turn for the worse – although given what a gloriously sunny autumn we’ve had, a day like this feels more cozy than confining.

Rowen used the quiet time to make a new book. This one is about a little lost dog who is found by two nice kids. (She doesn’t have a black eye, but has been bitten by mosquitoes. Naturally, she’s scratched the bites and now has a nasty-looking red area under her eye and along her nose.)

However, rain does result in muddy footprints that need to be cleaned up.

“What mud?” asks Lola.

And while that was being cleared up, the phone rang … the realtor called to say that there’s already interest in our house, which hasn’t even been online for 24 hours yet! So I opened a new can of elbow grease and cleaned up all three levels of the house to prepare for a Monday showing!  Still have to tackle the interiors of a few kitchen cupboards, but it is nice to only need a couple of hours to whip the place into shape instead of a few days!

Rigby and Lola approve my efforts.

Here’s hoping that your weekend is full of coziness!!

Phew, what a weekend full of chores it’s been! But it needed doing, and it feels good to have it done. On Saturday we hauled off the large “garbage” items – broken or unwanted furniture (that couldn’t be donated), an old rabbit hutch that had practically decomposed in the backyard, our old garden furniture that was so beaten up that we couldn’t even give it away, etc. And after getting all that stuff out of the house, shed, and garden, Sunday was spent getting things tidy again. Poor Niek, when trying to fill some holes around the shed where the ground had washed away, discovered a wasps’  nest – the hard way. Thank heavens he’s not allergic to them. We’ll have to get a professional in, as the nest is actually underground and pretty impossible to deal with. Some time ago, I promised a picture of the front garden after those frightful weeds were removed. I’m late, but here’s our little front yard all ready for autumn. (I missed a couple of weeds. Oops.)

In that same post, I promised a picture of Gilbert once his feathers had grown back in. He wasn’t feeling too cooperative – he was out of sorts because I’d just cleaned his cage – but here’s my fine-feathered fowl friend.

Although the weekend was incredibly busy, there was time for fun. Niek and I got a shock when we found our living room had been taken over by these dangerous bandits!

I managed to put in a few stitches before falling asleep. Here are A Winter’s Napby Erica Michaels using the suggested floss on 28 ct ivory banding and 10/31by The Stitcherhood on 35 ct HDF Old Gray Mare using Dragonfloss colors  Gray Squirrel and Gingerbread Man.

And although it was up to me to get up early on Sunday and make breakfast, Arden did his best to cheer me up with his extraordinary cuteness.

Today, I must admit, I’m having a bit of difficulty getting myself motivated for the list of chores awaiting me. Arden seems to have the right idea – here he is, getting into place to watch the Teletubbies.

Best wishes to one and all for a wonderful, healthy, productive week!

I have a list of around-the-house to-do’s that’s probably long enough to wallpaper my living room. Today I began with the front garden. It’s a tiny garden, but Mother Nature sure kept busy while we were on vacation!.

This is what it looked like when I started. I pulled out all the weeds and removed all the rotting apples, but that had to be done in stages because the wasps didn’t think I had any business at all messing around with their fruit bar. Yikes. Tomorrow I hope to hoe, as the soil really needs to be turned over. Surprisingly, my hens & chicks did not fare well. Less than a third survived.  These plants were supposed to be indestructible – do I really have such a brown thumb?? Anyway, I’ll post an ‘after’ picture when I’m done.

Gilbert’s also going green. He was late molting this year and our neighbor, who cared for him during our time in Maine, was worried when all his feathers began falling out. I assured her he’s fine – he just looks like he lost a battle with the business end of a lawnmower. “Ack,” says Gilbert, “don’t let them see me like this!” I’ll post another picture when his new feathers are all grown in – he’s unbelievably sleek and glossy at that point.

on the stitching front

Today I received the latest Blackbird Designs Loose Feathers kit. I’ve mentioned that I order these from Carolyn, who is just great. But this time the design just doesn’t do anything for me. I know I’m not going to stitch it, so I’d like to trade or sell it if anyone’s interested. I’m willing to trade/sell just the chart or the entire kit – your choice. I paid $43 for the whole kit and have only taken it out of the envelope to photograph it (it’s now back in the envelope and safely stored in my sewing bureau). If anyone is interested, please mention it in your comment and I’ll contact you.

And finally, here’s a little stitching progress to share. Very little, LOL! This sawtooth border required a bit of experimentation before I was happy with the results. I’m using two strands of HDF silk on 36 ct HDF linen. I really wanted the strands to lay flat but simple railroading wasn’t giving me the desired effect. So I got out a long pin and renamed it a laying tool and made a second attempt. Now I’m happy with it. It’s surprisingly tiny IRL. Next time, I’ll include something in the photo to indicate scale.

That’s about it from me for now. I hope September is off to a happy and healthy start for you and yours!

Edited to add: Does anyone have a blue-ish version of GAST Purple Iris? Barb ran out on a project and is having problems with dye-lot issues. Don’t forget to sign up for her giveaway while you’re over there.

My little silk order from Vikki Clayton arrived and now I’m kicking myself for not ordering Be-Bopped earlier. It’s a really gorgeous shade of pink (from the woman who doesn’t really like pink). But the rumor is, there will be another Be-special price offer in the future, as Vikki continues to develop this line. The other bundle of silks is for Tulips for My Love by Examplars from the Heart – a little something I’ve meant to stitch for about 3 years now. LOL. I also ordered a nifty book over antique samplers from eBay. There are 30 reproduction charts, but the truth is, they are not always very easy to read and there are several that one simply wonders why anyone bothered to reproduce them at all. But there are a few that I love, and they make the purchase price worth it.

The kids are doing so well with their reading. For those who’ve asked, the kids are raised bilingually, but we haven’t taught them to read or write English (they simply speak and understand it). Kids here are taught English at school around the age of 11, depending on the school system and other factors. Max repeated a grade, so he won’t officially begin English lessons until after the summer holiday. This will hopefully give him a leg up. Anyway, as fun is also an important part of the learning process, we’ve also been engaging in that. Yesterday’s trip downtown saw us all coming home with felt, and as it was “C” day, Rowen asked me to make her a cow. Here’s her drawing and the actual felt cow. Her drawing is cuter, but the final product was limited by my skills (or lack thereof).

Unfortunately, Arden’s come down with an ear and nose infection this week and is a sick, unhappy little fella. I took him to the doctor this morning and we have some drops and sprays that will hopefully have him feeling much better by the end of the weekend.

While the kids are quietly playing, the dogs demonstrate why these are called ‘the dog days of summer’. Rough ol’ life, isn’t it?

Seems like the cyberworld is just jumping with fabulous giveaways this summer, doesn’t it? The latest that I simply had to put my name down for can be found at this new-to-me blog (now part of my bloglines, though!). Go check it out!

And on Sunday, don’t forget to head over to Paulette’s blog to sign up for her amazing give away of five (gasp!) of her designs, winner’s choice of which charts! I’ve put it in my Outlook reminder!

No, the title isn’t a typo of  ‘dribs and drabs’ – it’s raining (again) and I decided to take liberties with the phrase. This weather is good for cooking, even if it tends to get a bit depressing. Yesterday, I baked a couple loaves of bread to celebrate the kids’ summer holiday, and here’s the chocolate bread that disappeared almost immediately after the photo was snapped.  (It was another attempt at using flour other than wheat, and I’m now ready to concede that it’s not as easy as I thought it would be.)

Yesterday I started a new project over one that I am just loving. Here’s a picture I took during a sunny break yesterday (I’ve gotten a bit further with it since then). I’m stitching it with DMC over one on 32 ct mystery linen that looks a lot like Lambswool.

As a matter of fact, I’m loving it so much that I went off and ordered a large piece of evenweave from Silkweaver’s Odds & Ends to finally do SOHRH over-one. I’m taking it easy on myself, as it’s a 20 count evenweave and should not wear my poor old peepers out too much.

I’ve also continued to work on this round of our Quaker RR, with the intention of having one panel done before we go on vacation to Maine. That only leaves the other panel to do after we return, which shouldn’t be too difficult (she said, full of confidence, LOL!).

Our kitty, Spin, seems to have adopted a quieter family one street over and I miss him. I’m not sure which house he’s been going to, but I keep finding him down that street. I carry him home and feed him, but he only picks at his uninspiring dry kibble and leaves after allowing me to pet him a little bit. Though I can’t blame him for seeking out quieter lodgings, I’ve always felt that a home without a cat is just four walls with a lot of windows and doors.

Tomorrow is the first ‘real’ day of the kids’ summer holidays. I’ll need to get busy today printing out the activities we’ll be doing. Gosh, I should’ve checked our supply of printer ink yesterday when the shops were open. I hope to also get the Five Birds chart emailed out and the giveaway prizes posted as well – sorry for the week-long delay, but it really was a crushingly busy week.

Best wishes, all!

13 July, Edited to add: I’ve sent the two CHS freebies (Brite Birds and Five Birds) in a final mass emailing. I won’t be sending them out again, so please don’t ask. The upcoming days and weeks will be spent with the kids rather than behind the computer. Thanks for understanding!

Whew. Now that was a week! Thank you all so much for sticking with me! So, since we last sat down and spent any time together, the cast & crew of Chateau Chaos has:

played
No extra words are really necessary, are they?

experienced both thunder and sunshine

We’ve had some extreme weather during this extreme week, with everything from high winds and T&L storms to streaming sunshine. Guess which I prefer… LOL!

spent quality time with the family

Last weekend we visited with Niek’s parents, who’d recently returned from a vacation in Scotland. The kids had an absolute blast with their Opa and Oma.

eaten well

All the kids are very keen on the fresh produce available this time of year, but this picture of Rowen hamstering baby tomatoes in her cheeks was just too cute to keep to myself!

visited the dentist

At our recent checkup, we discovered that Max  is overly sensitive to the fluoride treatment (thus the blisters on his gums) and will need braces, just like his Mom did those many years ago.

engaged in the slightly naughty

When Lola saw me taking this picture, she got right off the couch - she knows it’s not allowed. But hey, rules are made to be broken now & again, aren’t they?

learned to sit in chairs

Arden seems to have finally mastered the art of sitting in a chair without tipping the whole thing over.

and stitched

I finished this round of the Quaker RR and sent it on, and promptly started on the next round. Doesn’t everyone have lovely taste in colors?

I also finished a charity quilt square in record time. Not my finest effort, but certainly my fastest, this is going to a lady with advanced breast cancer who enjoys horse riding. The motifs are taken from an old JCS issue.

In parting, I wish you more sunshine than rain, unhurried stitches, lots of playtime, and an absence of cavities. Take a little time to be naughty – and to enjoy it!

There are lions and roaring tigers,
and enormous camels and things,
There are biffalo-buffalo-bisons,
and a great big bear with wings.
There’s a sort of a tiny potamus,
and a tiny nosserus too -
But I gave buns to the elephant
when I went down to the Zoo!
~A.A. Milne

 The kids had a free day yesterday, due to yet another teachers’ study day (I told Max he should give his teachers a pop quiz Monday morning!), so the five of us piled into the car as soon as the worst of the traffic jams were over and headed for Blijdorp Zoo in Rotterdam. Honestly, the kids spent more time & energy just running around and playing than looking at any animals – an educational trip it certainly was not. LOL.

In the evening, I managed to put the last stitches into two of the three gifts that’ve been languishing on my To Do pile. Will the last one be finished this weekend? I’d like to know, too. Deb and Coral both received packages this week, so I can share a few stitchy pictures.

Coral won my birthday giveaway drawing. I made her a little tiny bag with First Moon Colony by Bent Creek stitched on it. It’s one of those patterns that I think I could happily stitch a dozen times.

And Deb’s belated but heartfelt birthday gift arrived, which included a tiny angel (cutout from a Mary Beale pattern) in a SanMan pre-made pillow form that Vonna sent me. I secured the angel with some invisible stitches and made some additions/changes to the original pillow form, so it’s now a true Deb Original.

Today’s big excitement was finding a little bunny on the way to Scouting. I don’t know if someone dropped it off over there, figuring it could range free, or if it escaped from someone’s backyard. I’ve contacted the animal services people and in the meantime, s/he is enjoying the amenities of Chateau Chaos. She’s staying in Lola’s indoor kennel and has made friends with everyone.