Admitting Defeat Gracefully

Sometimes you just have to face the fact that you are not going to achieve what you had hoped.  I have to face that reality with Tash & Kids.  I’m just not going to get it finished in time for her birthday.

Last week I was starting to stress majorly about getting it done.  I was staying up till after 12 stitching on nights when I was able.  When you consider that I get up at 5 every morning to leave the house by 6 for work and not home again until after 6 at night this was making me rather tired and possibly a little cranky.

Then a friend died very unexpectedly.  Massive heart attack they are saying. I don’t know him or his wife super well but enough to say hi and the occasional dinner has been shared with mutual friends, a couple of Karaoke nights and many sangrias and red wines.  Enough to feel his loss.  He was in good shape, had no history of heart disease in his family and only 56.  He was scaling down and going into semi retirement with plans of surfing, fishing, riding and enjoying his family.  There was no sign that anything like this was even on the horizon let alone immanent. This seems grossly unfair.

Makes you pause and re-evaluate things a little.  You just don’t know what is around that next corner and every day really is a gift.  So I have decided that I am not going to stress.  I have way to much other good stuff coming up in the next few weeks that I want to enjoy.  A friends wedding this weekend as well as a spa day, parachuting next weekend and a large BBQ dinner, my grandmothers birthday the one after that, and then the Adele concert followed by a daughter coming home and we are taking her to the 21 Pilots concert the weekend after that.  I’m going to enjoy these things.

On March 26 I am going to pop around to my friends house and show her this gift and then bring it home again with me to finish, hopefully in time for mothers day in May 🙂

I am not going to stress about this any more but I am going to keep on stitching it 🙂  Due to the above there was not as much stitching as there possibly should have been but progress has been made.  710 was the entire stitch count for the week.

Start point

Finish point

Friday night, with everything that was happening, I just couldn’t concentrate to stitch so I hauled my rug out.  Progress is moving along quite nicely with this 🙂  Its fabulous ‘no thinking required’ work so great for days when your thinker is broke.

Start point

I might have to start photographing these facing the same way haha

Well that was my crafty world for this week.  Now go hug your friends and family then go out enjoy the fact that life is a fabulous gift and even though there are times when you might just be ready to give up if you look around there are always little moments that sparkle and a reason to smile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Oops I did it again

So last weekend was a bit of a fizzer.  It rained rather heavily almost all day Saturday and Sunday was just about as miserable.  Had to cancel both the walk up the big hill in my back yard as well as the scheduled activity which has been postponed for 2 weeks so I will surprise you with that one later.

We got bored.

By 10am all the chores were done and because we had no other plans outside of the cancelled ones we needed a new plan.

As chance would have it there was a Tattoo expo on so we went.  My husband has just recently gotten a large shoulder piece done and is looking at a cover up for his other shoulder so wanted to start looking at his options.

By the end of the first row I kinda decided I wanted another tattoo.  Was thinking maybe a paw print behind my ear.  I have kinda been thinking for a while that I wanted some sort of cat tattoo and that seemed a nice simple option.

By the final row it had evolved and I wanted something with paw prints down my spine.

It was rather a new experience getting one at an expo.

As I had not been planning this I had on a very poor choice of clothing aka: a maxi dress.  Luckily I was wearing a sports bra.  I ended up having to take my arms out of the sleeves and holding it up in front as it was my front bits which were pointing towards the audience. They had run out of black ink so while we waited Tommy, my carefully selected tattoo guy, was making comments about getting the girls out and swinging motions.  He was rather fun and it was all light hearted.  While we were waiting both Tommy and I decided to make a break for the bathrooms. You really know that you are at a tattoo expo when you run through a stadium holding up the front of your dress so the girls don’t fall out and nobody bats an eyelid hahaha

So this is tattoo #7.  Tommy did a fantastic job and it really has beautiful lines.

I think I may have an addiction hahaha

Another deadline approaches

I’ve done it again.  I have once again given myself the impossible task of finishing a cross stitch by a set date that I have absolutely not chance of achieving hahahaha ~goes and sits in the corner and thumps head against wall~

Why why why do I do this to myself?  As if my job, kids and all the other things I have going on aren’t stressful enough, why do I set myself up with further angst and sleepless nights?

Don’t panic, I am not expecting and answer to that one as I am fairly confident that there isn’t one and that I will obviously do this to myself again at some stage in the future lol 😀  Lets just put it down to my ability to thrive on a deadline and leave it at that.

So I have set myself the impossible task of completing Tash & Kids by mid March.  This means that I have to stitch 500 stitches a day from here on if I wish to have any chance of achieving this goal.  As this is a confetti rich pattern the chances are slim to none but I am going to give it everything and hope for the best.  Might even take a couple of days off work to try and help with this goal.

Last weeks progress was only 1110 stitches so that was not a great start but as I only figured out the 500 a day thing on Sunday I will let that slide.

Start point

This weeks goal is definitely a page finish and at least 3000 stitches by Sunday. We can but try 🙂

During the week I had a day where for some reason my eyes were not behaving properly and I couldn’t see to stitch properly.  I did a lot of driving that day so wonder if it was maybe a bit of sun strike or something off the road.  I didn’t want to sit and do nothing so I picked up the floor rug that I am doing 🙂 Made some good progress on her too 🙂

Start point

I am actually really enjoying this and might just get the fox kit that they have after Tash & Kids and this one are done and do it up for Kayla for Christmas.

See there I go again, adding craft stress too my life hahahaha ~back in the corner going dribbly~

 

 

 

One stitch at a time

Still plugging away at Tash.  Hoping for a page finish this weekend coming as I can nearly see the end 🙂 Its funny how the closer you get to finishing a long term project the slower the progress seems to be. Only managed to achieve 1220 stitches this week, was hoping for over 2000 but hey, best laid plans and all that 🙂 I have to keep reminding myself that it is summer and I work full time and have other things happening as well.  So what if a full day trawling second hand shops for an ugly shirt for a themed stag do this coming weekend and a day in the kitchen for a family dinner party on Sunday night all got in the way of my stitching.  This weekend coming is another weekend and the goal will be at least 2000 stitches and a page finish.

While trawling for ugly shirts I came up with my plan for the monthly Crafty Bitches challenge and scored a bunch of cutlery, got a cheap canvas and raided husbands paint cupboard.

Its not the best but has taught me a bit so I hope to upgrade it a bit in the coming months once I find the appropriate items 🙂

On Sunday we had a dinner party.  Everything went a bit pear shaped when I got stuck at the supermarket for over an hour as I had to keep changing the menu to fit with available products.  Had just gotten home when we got a surprise visit from my brother.  After he and his beautiful family left I climbed into the preping and by the time I finished I only had about half an hour before guest arrival, not enough time to stitch.  So I picked up my floor rug that I am building and did a bit on that.

That was pretty much my level of achievement for the weekend.  Not as much as I would have liked but it was a great weekend regardless.  Saturday, after second hand shop trawling, we were a wee bit thirsty so stopped at a new craft beer bar for a bit of watering and some squid rings.  They had live music in the garden bar and I think this new bar could become a regular thing.  Mum and my niece for dinner on sunday with a roast vegetable salad and chicken, Pav and ice cream for desert. Also of course there was the wee walkies up the big hill in my back yard so all in all it was rather a non-stop weekend 🙂

Oh one more thing.  This isn’t strictly in keeping with today’s post as I didn’t make it but as I am not known for my ability to focus and stay on task I will share. I found this beautiful hand stitched table cloth for $10 while second hand shop trawling that I just couldn’t leave there.

 

 

 

Weekly round up

This week was a busy one, but then I am beginning to wonder when don’t we have a busy one. This weekend seems to have gone in a flash and I pretty much got no time to myself and the next weekend looks to be the same.

This past week I visited a client and found an unusual fence adornment

I’m not 100% sure what this was about but it made me laugh so I took a photo 🙂

Our beautiful eldest went out so we got to play in the downstairs lounge for a bit 😀

And I stole some Gladdies from my brothers garden

In our quest for a stronger cardio system we once again tackled that big hill at the end of the road and this time took an old friend with us

That view really is stunning and well worth the hike 😀 As a bit of a treat I introduced Tina to Chia Lattes when we came down 🙂

Sunday was roast night and we had both my mum and my niece around for the meal 🙂 I impressed myself with my decorating skills and we had a pav

A bloody tasty one it was too.

Dinner didn’t go completely to plan.  Darling husband put beautiful eldest’s car through a compression test as its been running a bit rough and somehow managed to break it completely.  Beautiful eldest then did her best she demon impression and we all hid from her.  Ralph worked on that car for 3 hours with multiple phone calls to friends before admitting defeat.  Luckily my cousins husband is an auto electrician so he came to our rescue after dinner and fixed it, thank heavens.  I swear I was pretty close to drawing a devils trap and sticking she demon in it until we could get an exorcist around.  All is well now and the she demon is back under control.  We have promised babysitting services in the not too distant future to my cousin for late night Sunday rescue services.  The kids are gorgeous so I am sure it won’t be a major chore 😀

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Movie round up

The weekend started with a couple of hits:

Bridget’s focus on single life and her career is interrupted when she finds herself pregnant, but with one hitch … she can only be fifty percent sure of the identity of her baby’s father.  – Written by Anonymous

 

I did that awful wife thing and subjected my poor defenceless husband to a chick flick.  I think he will eventually forgive me.  I know he enjoyed as he actually laughed out loud several times and I had bought out the good snacks just in case.  Thoroughly enjoyed this 🙂 Bridget always makes me feel better about myself anyway but this just had me laughing the whole way though, even during the cringe moments 😀 The story wasn’t fantastic but it was a really fun watch 😀 4/5

22 years after the original Jurassic Park failed, the new park (also known as Jurassic World) is open for business. After years of studying genetics the scientists on the park genetically engineer a new breed of dinosaur. When everything goes horribly wrong, will our heroes make it off the island?  

After subjecting poor defenceless husband to a chick flick I thought I had better be kind and do an adventure man friendly movie. Totally enjoyed it also 🙂 After 2 rather disappointing sequels (especially the rampaging in New York dinosaur bollocks bit from 2 which was not in the book by the way.  Book was good.) they have bought it back round and its a good watch.  Raptors became almost loveable which I didn’t see coming.  Big scary thing in the water was a just that, scary. It was a great watch 😀 4/5

Now we get to the end of the weekend and the misses.

I had been out up a big hill a couple of times and needed to spend some quality time with my deadline project and stay out of the sun for a bit.  So curtains were closed and A/C was on and it was ghost movie time.  I got these off a must watch ghost movie list.  I will never trust a list online again . . .

A mother and father and their three teen-age children move to a new home that was the scene of a “personal tragedy”. The son meets a mysterious neighbor girl and together they experiment with an old radio they find in the attic, that can be used to communicate with the dead. Something is unleashed that brings new horror.

It was drivel and bollocks.  The staticy radio was meh in the scare factor and movie nearly put me to sleep.  I did laundry without pausing the movie while hanging it out.  This should tell you something. 2/5

In 1977, paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren travel to London, England, where single mother Peggy Hodgson believes that something evil is in her home. When Peggy’s youngest daughter starts showing signs of demonic possession, Ed and Lorraine attempt to help the besieged girl, only to find themselves targeted by the malicious spirits.

Not a bad watch but not great.  Had some good scary moments.  I struggled with the storyline because I know the story.  Have the book even.  They kind of stayed true to it up until the end.  The end was complete fabrication and Ed & Lorraine were never that involved.  They only ever stopped by for a few minutes one weekend and never really witnessed anything.  When you are portraying a story as based on fact I get that there will be some artistic licence but when it reaches that far past what actually happened then I’m sorry it shouldn’t be portrayed as a true story at all.  Just me I guess but it irks me lol 😀  All that aside it was not a bad watch 🙂 3/5

For nineteen-year-old Jay, Autumn should be about school, boys and week-ends out at the lake. But after a seemingly innocent sexual encounter, she finds herself plagued by strange visions and the inescapable sense that someone, something, is following her. Faced with this burden, Jay and her friends must find a way to escape the horrors, that seem to be only a few steps behind. Written by Jose Tamayo

I appear to be in the minority on this as its rated medium high on most websites but I found it to be so bad that I couldn’t watch to the end and switched it off.  I made it 3/4 of the way through and just couldn’t do it. 1/5

A brother and sister move into an old seaside house they find abandoned for many years on the English coast. Their original enchantment with the house diminishes as they hear stories of the previous owners and meet their daughter (now a young woman) who now lives as a neighbor with her grandfather. Also heard are unexplained sounds during the night. It becomes obvious that the house is haunted. The reasons for the haunting and how they relate to the daughter whom the brother is falling in love with, prove to be a complex mystery. As they are compelled to solve it, the supernatural activity at the house increases to a frightening level. Written by Russell West <ruswest@primenet.com>

This was released in 1944, black and white and I loved it 😀 It was fun for an afternoon movie.  Scare factor was completely missing but I can imagine that it would have had them in its day.  In today’s more blood soak and cgi scary times it was more of a romance than a horror but still well worth a watch. Such a great movie 😀 4.5/5

Wanting to escape city life for the countryside, New Yorkers Cooper Tilson (Quaid), his wife Leah (Stone) and their two children move into a dilapidated old mansion still filled with the possessions of the previous family. Turning it into their dream house soon becomes a living nightmare when the previous owner (Dorff) shows up, and a series of terrifying incidents lead them on a spine-tingling search for clues to the estate’s dark and lurid past… Written by Gavin Nelson

I want the house! Such a beautiful old building.  That was about the best part of the movie, the house.  I’m not sure how this made it on to a ghost movie list as it was a thriller with no supernatural stuff at all.  With Stone and Quaid, along with a very young Kristen Stewart, heading the cast I was expecting a lot more but I found it to be rather trite and unbelievable.  Good premise but the actual script let it down. 3/5

All movie synopsis courtesy of IMDb

 

The big hill in my back yard

There is a bit of a hill in my back yard that is about 3km around and a lovely stroll.  While I was growing up it was called Mount Maunganui and the little sand spit of a town was called the same.  In recent years the mountain, which is actually a volcanic dome, has become more widely known as Mauao https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Maunganui_(mountain).  Approximately 6,000 people a day go either around it or up it every day during the summer season.

Up it can be tough.  Its rather steep even on the easier path.

On Friday during my PT my trainer mentioned that she was going to take her kids up it.  She then invited me so, of course, I said yea I’m in.  I haven’t gone up it in at least a year but it could in all honesty be as much as 3 years since I last braved her rocky heights.

I thought we would be going up at around 9 or 10 am.  I was incorrect and received the ready to go text at pretty near bang on 12. This is the first weekend in February folks and she was aiming for a record high in the temperature stakes. New Zealand is directly under the hole in the ozone and you can crispy yourself very successfully in less than a quarter of an hour if you are not protected.

Just as a minor aside here, may I suggest that America send their newly elected president here for a week in February and he would soon change his mind about global warming and put it back on the website.  My understanding is our burn time of 10-15 minutes exposure is rather short compared to the rest of the world.  We have glaciers turning to slushies as well with Franz Josef letting go of large sheets of ice at occasionally inappropriate times.

Now back to our regular feature.

As I am driving around and around the mount in the vein hopes of finding one of the rare mythological and elusive creatures, the car park, I noted that my car was telling me the current temperature is 32 degrees Celsius.  By NZ summer standards this is the equivalent of a 6 on the fire chilli rating and with no wind, deodorant tends to surrender rather quickly.

I finally managed to get a park about a kilometre from the track and as everyone else was dropped off 15 minutes prior I didn’t want to keep them waiting any longer and found myself jogging to the base track. This may not have been my smartest move to date.

So off we go 🙂 It really was a beautiful day even if bloody hot.  The kids had gotten fed up with waiting for me so they were already halfway up, fair call 🙂

10 minutes in my calves went nope.  I’m already puffing like an asthmatic English bulldog and my calves are yelling at me and calling me exceptionally rude words.

Of course we went the Waikorire path.  Its about 187m to the summit and mostly steps.  In all fairness even though it is a tough climb it is the more beautiful path an my choice every time.

At this stage I had to stop and stretch my calves.  I thought that I would do this quietly and then just get on with the walk.  No such luck.  I was spotted by my beautiful yet sadistic trainer and she decided to get behind me and be ‘encouraging’.  I pointed out that this was Sunday and therefore today we were not trainer and victim but friends.  She laughed at me and told me very sweetly to haul arse.

We had to make some minor stops before sets of stairs. In my defence I’m 45 years old, over weight since giving up smoking (hence the personal trainer) and it was really really hot up there. My beautiful trainer (I may give her shit and call her rude names but I really do love that chick) kept me going at a pace I had not necessarily thought I had in me and we got to the top.

The view is seriously worth it.

The effect is not glamorous

This was my Instagram entitled ‘Dead’

Then came the fun part 🙂 Down time 🙂

That night after chatting with my darling husband he mentioned that he really wanted to head up there as it had been a while.  Feeling brave I went ‘what the heck’ and at 9am Monday morning (public holiday here 🙂 ) we got a park almost at the bottom of the base track and headed back up again.

This time my calves screamed at me the whole way instead of just most of it but it was still really worth it 🙂

It was also way cooler and had just hit 28 degrees when we got back to the car at 10.30am so would recommend heading up at that time instead of the afternoon 🙂

Oh and we jogged down 😀

And I was wearing pants although apparently the photo’s beg to differ on that hahahaha

We did the obligatory FB posting and now I get to do it all over again next weekend with a friend who is coming over specially to climb that little ole hill

I love my little part of the world 😀

50 shades of brown

I’m beginning to think that this one will never end.  I love Tash but I am never doing a sepia toned photo again.

I finally figured out why I am struggling with this one so much on the weekend.  It’s the colour brown.  I don’t like it, I never have.  There is nothing brown in my wardrobe, not even shoes.

Don’t get me wrong.  I know that most things in nature are brown and I love trees and brown bunnies and dogs and all manner of brown elements found in flora and fauna but I am not a brown person.  I find the colour depressing.  It reminds me of the end of winter when everything is dark and dreary and damp and everyone is grumpy and needs to be able to go outside and play without risking hyperthermia.

With this in mind I have strengthened my resolve and I am just going to knuckle down and get it done.  I have given myself a deadline of the first weekend in March to have this finished by so I really am going to get a move on and stitch like greased lightning.

More progress was made yesterday with this resolve than in the entire week prior.

I am going to apologise now as you are just going to get spammed everyone Monday mornings with progress pics of a photo conversion of people you have never met before but I have 2.5 pages to get done and only about 4 weeks to do them in.  The last page took me a month so this may be a forlorn hope but I am going to do my best.

Then I’m going to set fire to the pattern.