-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
Categories
Category Archives: General Ramblings
Small Stuff
The Hiccup Stuff
Or more accurately, the hiccoughs. They have started. Finn hiccoughed in utero for about the last two months. (Didn’t stop for about a month afterwards, either). Looks like Small will be following suit. I think it’s so cute! Much cuter than my abdominal bits are feeling and looking lately, anyway.
The Wall Stuff
The Wall, it comes down this weekend. Be afraid. Be very afraid. You know, I’d really like to take Before and After photographs, I would. If only I could get the kitchen and living areas clean enough to do so first! (Actually, I’ll probably have to, since the tearing down of said wall will necessitate some tidiness, after all).
The Dyeing Stuff
#1 – I’m very sad at the loss of my dyeing space, due to Wall-goings-on and the rest of the kitchen ‘rearrangement’. Am going to see if I can manage enough space in our stupid tiny laundry area to set up, but it may well be that my dyes go away for the forseeable future.
#2 – Hoping to squeeze this in before packing the dye-bits’n’pices away. Mum gave me some yarn to try dyeing. I picked up a couple of Landscape dyes (easy-peasy no-extra-acids-needed wool dyes) from Kraftkolour on the day they were closing their doors (sob! They went mail order only, how sad). So I’m going to try a couple of vareigated yarns. I don’t really knit – I can manage a scarf or a cushion though, so I’ll let you know how it turns out.
#3 – Also on the dyeing, I just wanted to remind those of you who’ve bought some floss that you probably should rinse it in cool/lukewarm water prior to stitching with it. I do rinse fairly extensively after dyeing, but there is always a chance of some excess dye left clinging. I’ll add this suggestion into my sale page shortly.
The Employment Stuff
You may remember a bit ago I decided not to take on the offer of a job, as documented here? Well, my lecturer has come back to me with a modified offer – would I like to do some marking? This can (mostly) be done from home, and it won’t begin at the very start of semester, so Small should be 2-3 months by the time I start. I said yes, I’m interested. I’m probably going to slap myself later – my university is not renowned for its generosity s’far as remuneration is concerned. Nor does the time allotted to mark assignments come anywhere close to the actual time that marking takes. But… I figure, it keeps my brain alive, keeps my toe in the water. It could be a good experience.
The Stitching Stuff
Um… no :blank: Must try harder.
Meep. Where does the time go? Finn has been at kinder all morning and I have acheived nothing. Zero. Zip. Nada. Except a very ordinary blog post. Sigh.
Posted in Dyeworks, Family, General Ramblings, Other Craft, Pregnancy
Tagged employment, hand-dyed, Pregnancy, renovation
New Stuff
Christine, your comment about crazy stash acquisition made me smile… since going off the Wagon Challenge at the end of ’05, I’ve been a bit crazy myself. I haven’t always fully confessed, but needless to say, I haven’t stuck to that ‘goal oriented’ plan I had ๐ณ My latest temptation was the SB&B Easter Sale, and I’m waiting on a couple of The Cat’s Whiskers charts, Enchanted Mermaid, a Drawn Thread chart and some mesh bags. I think that’s it!
Anyway, all guilt aside – first off today, a new fabric I dyed up recently. I adore this. It’s a fat quarter of 28-count Lugana, and I dyed it with Mirabilia’s Midsummers Night Dream in mind. I have just plugged it into the fabric viewer, and it does look lovely with that design, but there’s a number of other Mirabilias it looks great for too – oddly enough, Enchanted Mermaid is one of them. I never envisaged a purple for that design.
I have a bunch of other white fabric just waiting for inspiration to strike – 2 FQs of Quaker (my personal favourite), 3 FQs of Cashel, and 2 more of Lugana. I also have a piece of Belfast I dyed but hate the results of, so I’m going to try over-dyeing that to see what I can acheive. Hopefully, if I get a bunch of satisfactory fabrics out of this lot, my desire for stash expansion will subside a little!
Next is my newest start – yet another Mirabilia – Mermaids of the Deep Blue. I seem to be going through a very definite Mirabilia phase at the moment ๐ I’d estimate there’s about 20 hours put into this so far, though I didn’t record times so far. There’s two weekends away worth of work in it, put it that way. I’m stitching this on hand-dyed Babbling Brook Jobelan – my first large piece on Jobelan, and I like it more than I thought I would, actually.
Posted in Counted Stitchwork, Dyeworks, General Ramblings, In Progress, Other Craft
Tagged cross-stitch, fabric, hand-dyed, mermaid, mirabilia
I’m a Silkweaver Floozy!
Ahhhhhh. Nothing quite like a Silkweaver order to put my mood back on the top shelf. I finally got to an Odds & Ends update before everything disappeared, and baby, I cleaned up on the 28-count fabrics! For the curious, here’s the list: Cashel in Misty Blue, Ice Blue, Smokey Pearl, Lilac & Vintage Country Mocha; Jobelan in Dove Gray & Twilight Blue; Lugana in Pewter, Lavender Bliss & Moss Green ๐
My stash is a bit light on fabrics, so this will provide a healthy boost. I must say though, I’m a bit sad Silkweaver are going out of the standard fabrics business. They have always had such a great range and their prices and postage are wonderful. The stash-packs and small cuts were great, I don’t see similar offerings anywhere else (though please enlighten me if there are). In my dreams there would be one fantastic ONS where I could get everything I wanted, rather than having to shop multiple locations.
Something else happened today to put a huge smile on my face. Annette sent me a simply gorgeous, snuggly baby afghan for Small. I don’t have a picture yet, but I promise to show you very soon.
We’re going away for a few days over the Easter weekend… I know, still no Floss tutorial, I’m sorry ๐ I’ve just been super busy doing… hmmmm, not really sure. This’n’that, really! But I have been super busy doing it! Hope you all have a lovely Easter as well, and I’ll see you when I’m back ๐
Posted in Counted Stitchwork, General Ramblings
Tagged cross-stitch, easter, fabric, Silkweaver
Two O’Clock and All’s Well
It’s safe to come back now, really ๐ In fact, last night’s primal screaming was not about anything major, I’m perfectly fine. It just struck me, not really for the first time, but perhaps rather harder last night, that I am at a point in my life where I am without a sounding-board. You know, one of those close friends who you can always rely on to listen to a rant or five about whatever’s going on in life? Who may or may not give you advice, but will mostly just nod and at least pretend to agree with you? If I’m going to be really honest – someone you can bitch to without fear of repercussion!
As we get older, our lives get swallowed up by other things. Partners, careers, children, exciting travel (ha! Wishful thinking!). We cease to be good sounding-boards for our friends, and in turn they cease to be good sounding boards for us. Or vice-versa. Either way, I suddenly realised yesterday that the people I would previously have gone to for such needs have become less a part of my life now. Or they play different roles in my life. Still friends, but friends with different priorities.
Thus the screamage. Actually, you know, it would be really, really therapeutic to scream for real. But the society we live in now doesn’t really seem to have a place for that. Except perhaps the labour ward (and believe me, did I take advantage of that opportunity – it was extremely liberating!)
Anyway, I feel better, at least somewhat. Helping me out today are the fact that Finn is adapting well to the re-introduction of afternoon naps (for his sanity as well as mine), that I received stash in the mail (a wonderful kit from my Secret Stitcher), and that Debi made me the cutest little web-button: 
, which you too can steal if you want a super-special Million Stitches link on your site :giggle: I’m sitting here stitching the final parts of TWs Intermediate Whitework ornament in soothing shades of blue, and I have another HD from the weekend to share with you as well, at some point. But before that I’m planning to write a few long overdue emails to friends who deserve better from me.
…
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarghhhhhyyyyyyyaaaargh!!!!!
:blank:
Sometimes you just hafta do that.
Y’know?
Gold Star For Me!
So, I fully intended to sit down and write a somewhat shamefaced apology to the world on behalf of all Melbourne for the giant flying koalas debacle… but I kind of got distracted by my health.
I am still sorry about the koalas. And the duck. Let me just say this… it was not MY idea! Our ‘esteemed’ Premier said in an interview just prior to last night’s opening ceremony that said ceremony would showcase Melbourne as the truly sophisticated city we are. Um. Yeah.
But that’s all forgotten now. I get a gold star for my blood pressure today!
See, for the last six weeks, I have been deliberately not talking about all things pregnancy. Because the more I talk about it, the more I think about it, and the more stressed I get. And the more it becomes a problem. My blood pressure, that is. The problem, it seems, and I have believed this for some years anyway, is that I have what is affectionately known as ‘white-coat hypertension’. Essentially, that means doctors stress me out to the point where my blood pressure increases just by visiting one! It just kind of makes it hard to accurately monitor my bp. I have experienced the joy of having a 24-hour monitor strapped to me once before, and 90% of all the measurements were within a normal range. Admittedly, my ‘normal’ bp is on the high end of the scale, but not to the point of requiring treatment.
Those of you who’ve been pregnant, however, know how antsy doctors get about blood pressure and pre-eclampsia and whatnot. So six weeks ago, when my bp was suddenly high at one antenatal visit, I was launched through a barrage of extra visits, endocrinologists and fun tests. One of the ‘features’ of the public health system (and please don’t misunderstand me, I love the public system and that I can still have a baby for free, nada, zip in this country) is that you never seem to see the same doctor twice. That sucks for white-coat hypertensives, and frankly, the bedside manner of the last three doctors I saw left much to be desired.
Today – brilliance! I saw someone who in fact turned out to be someone who was once a semi-colleague of mine. During my honours research year I was stationed in a hospital department partnered with his. He recognized me, which was nice. And, he treated me like a human being. What’s more, like an intelligent human being. You have no idea how much more at ease this puts me. After talking things through with him, my BP today was back down to normal (for me), which makes me super happy. Now that it’s officially on the hospital record that I have eccentric bp, even the scowling doctors should be somewhat appeased, and what’s more I feel better armed to discuss my options from hereforth. No, it’s not a guarantee against pre-eclampsia, by any means, but it makes me feel much more confident that I’m not heading directly (do-not-pass-Go) down that route.
Thank You
I didn’t get around to this yesterday, because I was so full of ‘I’ve finished’, and also so very, very tired (I did stitch for a couple of hours before bed though, which was nice). But I needed to say a big, big thankyou to everyone who’s been around for me lately. Whether you left one of the many lovely comments on my blog, or whether you ezInbox’ed me, or emailed me, or whether you were my Mum or FIL or OtherHalf, who have looked after Finn while I gallivanted off to school, I appreciate every single good word and good thought and good deed that has come my way.
I’ve done so much thinking, thinking, thinking over the last week, and not just about secure servers and firewall architecture, either. I need to switch my brain off for a little while, I think! I’m looking forward to stitching a square for Laura’s quilt when my charts get here. I’m looking forward to spoiling my Secret Stitcher ‘victim’, and taking part in a few stitching exchanges. I’m looking forward to reading a book or three. But beyond that, my brain will be asleep… so don’t ask me any tricky questions for awhile, OK?
Ride the Rollercoaster
At another painful time in my life, OtherHalf made the observation to a good friend who was hurting, that we each have a choice in life. We can choose to ‘ride the rollercoaster’, but then have to take the gut-wrenching lows with the exhilarating highs. Or we can choose not to… and walk safely on the flat all the time, experiencing neither highs nor lows.
These past few days, I haven’t felt much like riding the rollercoaster at all. I’ve read other wonderful blog entries from Annette, Christine, Stacey and others, who are inspired to make the effort to connect more, to tell our friends how much they mean to us. I’m not feeling that. I’m feeling an overwhelming desire to curl up into a ball and stay firmly on the flat, where I can’t be hurt anymore. I can’t say why Laura’s death is affecting me so much. Perhaps because she is the first new friend I’ve made in so long. It seems that much more difficult to take those first steps in a new friendship again.
But Christine posted a link to an article which is making me rethink the rollercoaster ride just a little bit. Specifically, this bit:
[Tommy] Lasorda, the longtime manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, had a son who died in his early 20s. The death rocked Tommy, but in time he was able to talk about it at the many banquets to which he was invited.
He’d say he met God one afternoon and God told Tommy He had some news for him, good news and bad news. “I need some good news, God,” Tommy said, so God told him, “Tommy, I’m giving you a baby boy.”
“A baby boy!” Tommy exclaimed. “Oh, God, thank you, that’s the best news I’ve ever had.”
“There’s more,” God said, and he told Tommy, “You can only have him for 23 years.”
Tommy’s response was immediate.
“Give me the boy, God, please give me the boy!”
References to deity aside, the message here is so vital. If I lost OtherHalf tomorrow, would the 11 years we’ve had together be worth the immeasurable pain? If I lost Finn, would I give back the 3 years of having him with me, just to stop the pain?
I would never give back the time I had with either, just to avoid the pain. As fleeting as the highs might be, they are always worth experiencing. Knowing Laura for such a short time was worth this pain, even though it is hard to see that now.
So maybe I do have to get back on the rollercoaster. Maybe I have to take the risks to make the highs matter even more. Maybe I do have to stretch out my hand and tell people how wonderful they are.
I can’t promise I’ll feel like it for a while yet, but I do promise to try.
Posted in General Ramblings
Laura
The last person to comment on this blog was Laura. In fact, Laura was 3 of the last 5 people to comment on this blog. Laura’s support has meant so much to me, always. We’ve been friends for such a short time – only really since last September, after following each other’s blogs for much longer. At the time, I wanted so much to reach out and say or do something for this person, yet a stranger, who I felt I knew so well, as she poured her pain and sadness into her blog. But it was Laura who first reached out a hand of friendship to me, and I am so glad she did. It is so long since I have just connected with someone so easily and completely as I did with Laura. I am so thankful to have known her, for however short a time. I am so thankful for her night-owl tendencies – we got to know one another via IM, chatting deep into her night-times. The last time we talked, only briefly, was Thursday night… and it was I who was heading off to bed, at 11pm my-time – it was 4am Laura-time, and she was still trying to decide what stash to buy at the Needlecraft Corner sale! I never did find out what she decided…
Laura, I’m so grateful to have had your light in my life these last months. I’m so terribly sad that light has been extinguished so prematurely. I will miss you deeply.
Posted in General Ramblings