Temporarily, Otherwise Occupied.

Seems like I've left my blog. Not so !
Life has just taken over somewhat. Time for any sort of Sublime Pastime has been non existent of late.
I'm looking forward to being back to all things creative after the end of June.

First New Moon Tusal Check In.

My efforts so far are very small. Just the left over threads from frogging, on top of the jar, where I miss counted by one thread. Let's hope it is not an indication of "Reverse Stitiching" for the year to come.
From the PS chart in the background, the start or should I say reverse start, was with the one in the top right of the photo. Check back at the end of the month for my progress.

2014 Tusal.

Here is the link, let's hope I get it right http://itsdaffycat.blogspot.co.nz/

Can you guess that I plan to do allot of stitching this year ? My Ort jar is a large one, to accommodate all the
odd random threads leftover from embroidery, cross stitch, patchwork clippings & other random threads. I've joined the 2014 Tusal again this year, so I'm hoping to actually participate somewhat more than the last couple of years.

I also plan to do more of the ornament a month designs, for my wonderful new tree, made for me this season, especially for such items..

Time to Enjoy the Christmas Cake.

My Christmas Cake needs to be cut today, otherwise it will seem like Christmas did not happen. We have enjoyed Christmas cake this Christmas, although it has been in the form of gifts, from other folk. Either a coffee or a cup of tea will go well this afternoon, as we wait for the rain to stop in the Venus Williams match, being televised from Auckland.
Maybe a start on a 2014 Christmas ornament could be the way to go while waiting, or perhaps I could make a start on this Fritillary. The colours I've chosen are some of my favourite shades.

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Welcome 2014.

Happy New Year..

The New Year has just arrived, here in New Zealand. We watched many fireworks across the city, mostly domestic varieties, as our local council has been the original Gringe with Christmas decorations & festivities this year. Nevertheless, I'll chose to be joyful, grateful & uplifted, with all my blessings.
To all who stop by this blog, I wish a Very Happy New Year to you & yours.

A Special Gift.

I'm delighted with my Christmas gift from my very dear husband. It is a lovely side table, in the French style, which opens to a card table. I' know I'm very spoilt and love being  so. Thank you, my very dear  husband.

A Few More Gifts.

 Stitching efforts of late have been limited to a gift or two for Christmas. I managed to make another ten covered coat hangers, all in all, a dozen in four days. I'm looking forward to different stitching over the next few days Patchwork & cross stitching are calling, it seems such a long time since any of that kind of pastime.

Christmas Celebrations.

This year we celebrated with a very late lunch - early dinner. It was a warm day, in spite of the predictions for a miserable Christmas Day, with rain along with low temperatures. We managed to get to 28C.

We started with a first course of Champagne Jellies & berry fruits. They were delicious and just the right starter on a warm  evening. We followed with sliced baked ham with a garnish of greens topped with glazed, sliced almonds, also a turkey, pomegranate, toasted Israeli couscous, & broccoli salad, along with a warm choritzo, pecan, feta, fig and mesculen salad.

 

Our sweet course of Creme Brule, was made by our competent, 11 year old chef. What a scrumptious way to end a Christmas dinner Nicholas, well done.

A New Ornament Tree.

 
A small ornament tree, which has served me well for over a decade or so, has been upgraded for a larger model. My very DH, constructed a new pine dowel tree for this year. There are several spare hooks for new exchange additions along with any new ornaments I choose to stitch.

Christmas is Approaching

 

Christmas gifts are being sorted & wrapped for loved ones, friends & helpers. I made these coat hangers recently for a very dear friend, along with a jar of shortbread. Shortbread, although usually a New Year's  gift, for us it has been a traditional family gift for decades, from our home to others at this time of the year.

The tree is up & decorated & our home is dressed ready for this wonderful time of the year. I found this year my small ornament tree could not handle one more personally made & hand stitched ornament. My very Dear Husband made me a lovely new wooden dowel tree, especially for these much loved treasures. It is  looking resplendent with all the wonderful pieces I've collected over many Christmases. He wants to "tweek" it for next year, however I'm enjoying it for now. Some gifts are still to be sorted along with a little more baking to complete. Five and a half days to go, so I'm sure all will be ready before the big day.

Helicopter Flyinging.

Good Afternoon Bloggers,

We had a flight over the city & environs this morning. I thought I'd have some pictures, however the weather was somewhat misty, very windy, raining & not good for taking photos.  I was a tad apprehensive about the flight, to no avail, we are back on solid ground & better for the experience.
No stitching this week, just playing with some stitching completed last year, for Halloween . Pictures soon.
I'm hoping to start some regular stitching over the next few days & it can't happen fast enough. How I've missed my regular needle & thread in hand.

Good Morning Bloggers,

Just checking in to say 'thank you' to those folk who have kindly left me comments, they are much appreciaited.
Things have settled somewhat, still allot of pressure, however I've managed two small stitched pieces for exchanges. I'll show them when they reach their destinations. I've had so much enjoyment doing these , I can't wait to get back to daily stitching.
See you all soon,
K.

Otherwise Occupied.

It seems I've not had time for months to engage in any of my favourite pastimes.
Life is forever changing, well it has for me as far as stitching is concerned. I have another commitment, a responsibility, which is taking allot of time. I'm enjoying it, and learning allot, while at the same time missing stitching time.I've missed checking all the wonderful blogs I had time to enjoy. However, this won't last for ever so I'll be back to stitching & posting, as soon as I can manage.   

Latest, free Chart Stitches.

The April monthly, free chart was a fun stitch. It was a free choice for colour & fabric. I managed to complete the stitching in a few days. That inspired me to catch up on the January & March pieces I had not managed to complete at the time.

Below is April's, a  play on words,"Ewerphoria",
Varied colours all DMC threads, an extra hill on the left from me & stitched before I found a corresponding sheep button in my button collection, although the sheep is not leaping.

It is stitched on cream Linen, with multi coloured floral patchwork fabric from my stash, as the surrounding completed pillow shape.. I stitched the sheep's wool with blended threads.
I printed my own label, from a free design of a leaping sheep & added  my details. 
















Next, I quickly stitched up the March "Dandy Hare."
Once again, a  free choice of colours & fabric. Cream linen again, guess it is a favourite, while I used similar themed fabric & a cotton reel button for the decoration of the small pillow. I also used DMC threads, along with a hot pink Marlitt, I also added a small  thimble to the design. A sideways view, I've just about aborted blogger, I'm really quite over the latest system.

I printed the label with my computer, then cut out a cotton reel shape, applying it to the back, anchored with buttonhole stitch.

This is "Silly Flake" the January design.

I stitched it on white  linen I dyed blue. I added a silver flake type decorative piece. My DH drilled two tiny holes in it so I could stitch it to the piece, after it was made into this small pillow. DMC thread, & label as per the same procedure  as the others.
I'm now up to date & keen to see the May chart.

 Here they are all together I hope you enjoy seeing my efforts..

Monthly Ornament Free Chart. " Spring."

I' stitched this wee pillow, "Spring" as part of a monthly, ornament, freebie chart group. It was a very quick stitch, for a sweet design, along with a personal choice for the colours & finishing. I enjoyed stitching the design using DMC Variegated threads, which I matched to the pillow fabric I chose, from my patchwork stash. The colours are stronger than they appear in the photograph. I'm thrilled with the outcome, I hope you enjoy seeing my completion. There are two other charts, one from December, when the group started, which I'm working on, along with the January one, yet to be started.

In this part of the world we have just entered Autumn. My favourite season from back home in Sydney, Australia. In Wellington, New Zealand,we've had a wonderful Summer this year, just like Autumn at home. I've been in my element with warm to hot days, low humidity & cool nights, perfect for sleeping.

Friendships' Gift.

True friendship is a gift in itself. One grows from the wisdom & sharing this kind of relationship adds, to life's journey. In the mail this week, came another kind of gift, made by a very dear & treasured friend. As you can see, it is an exquisite, wee, tulip purse, in beautiful blue french/tea fabrics.  It is ever so sweet, I'm thrilled to have received such a  gift. Thank you, dear Margaret.

New Year

We had a very pleasant, New Years' Eve dinner party, seeing the old year out & the new year in with special friends. Our guests arrived with unexpected, gifts of wonderful wines, specialty chocolates, tamarillo chutney and an arrangement of beautiful flowers.  Our company was delightful & all enjoyed the dinner of Bruschetta as entre, Middle Eastern lamb with pomegranate, jacket potatoes & green salad as mains, with berry hazelnut  torte for dessert.
We waited excitedly for the firework display scheduled for midnight at the harbour, which unbeknown to us, had been cancelled because of the wind.  We all thought it was a perfect night from our vantage point and luckily were  able to enjoy the small fireworks across the village from many private homes. After much repartee, our friends departed around 1:00 am. We toddled off to bed feeling extremely uplifted & ready for the New Year.

I hope you all had very pleasant welcomes for the New Year, from where ever you may be reading this post.
I wish you a very happy year ahead, with much time in your chosen pastimes. I look forward to reading of all your wonderful creative achievements along with the other information you share on your blog.

This dahlia, 20 cm across, was from a friends garden, bringing memories of my late Grandfather who grew prize winning specimens.

Seeing these are photos about flowers, here is a shot of the Agapanthus I picked from my garden early New Years' Eve, morning.

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Decorated Bus Shelter & A Late Night Visitor.

Our Local bus shelter made the television news this week.
It is on the main route to the city, from our area & beyond. We are 1.5 klms  from the CBD, just 2 minutes on a bad traffic day.

Unknown folk decided to put a sofa in the bus shelter, which had been undergoing renovations, after the council removed the normal wooden slat seat, some weeks ago. From there it grew, a  light fitting, a bookcase, cushions, pictures on the wall, pot plant, rugs & because it was Christmas week, a decorated Christmas tree. Then a television set..

DH, photographed it on  Christmas Eve. No one had taken anything,  it seemed to be the pride of the suburb.

As of today, 29/12, it is still intact. Interestingly enough, the day after it was featured on the news programme , the council were there completing guttering & down pipes.

Two nights ago we could hear a soft thud outside the back door. I thought it was the wind. DH turned on the light & went to the door, only to see this wee creature nibbling on a lamb shank, we had earlier given to the cat.  I'm intrigued, as an Australian, we don't see hedgehogs in our country.  Echidnas are what we have in Australia & usually one does not see them in the city suburbs.  I'm used to reading about hedgehogs from childhood nursery rhymes, so you can see why I was so interested. 

The hedgehog seems to be rather shy & it moved into the shadows, when we moved into the light from behind the glass door. 

A Surprise Gift from a Talented, Special, Friend.

This morning, after a ring of the front door bell, I received an unexpected parcel. What a thrill to open the package to find a gift from a long time, dear friend, from home. It is a very special gift, which has given me great delight. My friend is a talented artist, whose water colour paintings are truly beautiful. Many of these exquisite paintings have been collated,  both by her Husband & Daughter, to be featured in this wee address book.

What do you think?


 I'm overwhelmed by both my friend's talent & her generosity.

Thank you so much, dear Rhonda. It is a very treasured gift.

A Few Treats.

Just before Christmas I received an ornament, from an exchange partner. It was immediately hung on my ornament tree. Also in the parcel, were a  variety of stitching treats. A kitted Christmas themed  pattern, a cross stitch magazine, a spool of  Christmas ribbon & a wonderful packet of DMC Collector's, Variegated threads.

Thank you Mary.I was thrilled.

I ordered a couple of ornament patterns early in December & they also arrived before Christmas, along with the required linen & threads. I plan to start the New Year with an ornament or two, a month.

Needless to say, I've been discussing with my very dear husband, the prospect of a larger ornament tree for next year. as you can see, the current one has reached the limit, unfortunately. He assures me he can construct one, a little larger.

Now a sweet treat, our Christmas Cake & Bon Bons.. 

I hope you enjoy the eye candy.