Hoo Wah ~

~ it's hot, it's 8.00 pm and it's still hot, hot, hot ~ even the other residents at this abode have taken cover ~

 ~ aaahhhh, a shady spot and a fancy drinking bowl for me too ~

~ Doing what cat's do best ~ my not so helpful helper Louis ~

Think I might just have to go lay down under this shady ole oak tree  ~

~ or maybe inside the castle would be nice and cool ~

We are sure due a respite, it's been hot for weeks with only a dribble of rain, it saps your energy and attention and desire to apply yourself to the needle ~

Still it was a lovely day today for #1 daughter to start her first day at high school, one down and one to go next Tuesday ~ Hoo Wah ~

~ chitter chatter, chitter chatter ~ just like the hen house ~

Knocking Them Off And A Castle

I have decided not to bore you this week with the foibles of my ongoing back/sciatic issues but suffice to say that the drugs are helping me to muddle my way to some stitchy achievements even if the couch has become much more my friend of late than my favourite stitchy chair. On the plus side my pussy cat when he is not too hot is more than happy to snuggle up on the couch whereas the stitchy chair has no room for such canoodling ~

This week I made it to base two and three with the Mountmellick stars. This week's gonna see me make home base. Thats three down and one to go OR twenty seven down and nine to go, depending on how you look at it ~ and they are annoying little suckers too, all those pesky points want to catch on the thread all the time, I won't be sorry to finish ~ but then there will be the four corners to tame with their hexie flowers and applique tulips ~ then the final border print ~ I can see a tiny little pin prick of light at the end of the Mountmellick tunnel ~

~ Three groups of nine all done ~

Since I find standing to do stuff better for some of the day my 17th century beaded mirror case project now has it's first element completed ~ a beaded castle ~ now it's not perfect and it's my first attempt ever at beading but I LOVE it ~ I love that it's not so perfect and it's quirkiness is very endearing to me and working with the beads means the stitching grows WAY MORE quickly than stumpwork or needlace elements ~ it's already quite heavy though just with the castle but the pieces will lay flat on the mirror case so that's ok ~

~ I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my beaded castle and it's brickwork ~

The rest of my stitchy time the past week has been spent contemplating ~ choosing supplies and thinking of designs ~ a VERY time consuming process but in a good way of course ~

~ Now which beads shall I use for my next element ~ an acorn tree ~

~ I have SO many ideas swirling around in my head for my 17th century flat top casket ~ this is a
massive pile of idea snippets for elements that need me to start pulling them all together ~

Two more weeks of school holidays and then I can think for extended periods again ~

Star Light ~ Star Bright

Things are moving slowly slowly in my world. Stinking relentless summer heat in my studio with a breeze that keeps coming from the side of the building  that has no opening windows....for ventilation....opening the door brings those pesky worse than ever this year flies for which I finally relented and bought an auto spray....lordy knows what that does for my lungs but at least I have my sanity!!!....just! Then there's the ongoing back probs for which the pressure on the sciatic nerve is relentless which means shifting posture heaps and no end of fidgeting means not so much gets done. Been and had an xray now and typically this time of year in New Zealand  my doc is on leave still until Monday but the nurse said the report came back with 'possible prolapsed disc'....no wonder none of the muscle exercises were working. Man, waiting this sort of thing out to come right and over a massive holiday period is torture in this heat, keep having to 'relax' which is defo not something I normally do!!!

Despite all that 'relaxing'  not being able to remain comfortable for long means slim pickings on the creative front but at least there are some pickings...at least I can piece  & applique whilst semi-horizontal....which means Mountmellick is seeing the benefit of my circumstance ~

~ One border's worth of stars ~ { Three to go } ~

Gotta fidget again which means leaving this chair to go do a requested nit check....O the joys of motherhood! 

Can so see why you get SO MUCH MORE stitching done in the yummy cold of Autumn & Winter!!! Bring my favourite season of Autumn on!!!

BYE