Saturday 24 January 2009

Queen of the Seas - Update No 9

Hi folks!

Obviously, none of us was holding my needle this week. LOL.

I had a surprise visit from the Cadet Princess (home from university in the north) and I'm back at the books, so haven't had time to stitch at all since last weekend. It had to happen.

These few fish are all that I managed last weekend before I put away my stitching:

Sadly, it will probably be a few weeks until I get back to it with any gusto. I've got exams again in 4 weeks. After that, the Autumn term commences. If I DO update before the 20th February, give me a lecture about procrastination and tell me that my stitching needs frogging (or something just as off-putting). LOL.

Meanwhile, Cheryl and Margaret have both been very productive this last few weeks. Gorgeous finishes of long term works in progress, I'd say.

Whatever you have been up to, I hope it has been a good week.

Happiness & laughter to one and all,

Felicity

Saturday 17 January 2009

Queen of the Seas - Update No 8


Isn't my headless beauty simply gorgeous?

Thank you for all your wonderful encouragement, dear friends. You are holding that needle as much as I am.

I've also gotta tell you this: "Long live the gridding technique!" Each square represents 100 stitches, do you realise? That's a lots of counting if one stitches from the middle out. Thanks to my December 2005 trip to Hahndorf (in South Australia), where I learned all about it, my needle almost flies & I rare need to frog.

You readers are probably all bored with my one-project approach, but I'm not.
I'm delighting in a stitching success! After nearly a year of dithering about fabric choices, I am unbelievably relieved to have found something that suits my eye.

It's also glorious relief between hours of statistics & psychology study and visits to the dentist.

I'm probably going to have to repaint a room to suit it. Just kidding. Because her hair colour doesn't suit the colours in my newly finished ensuite bathroom, my sea goddess will go into the family bathroom, when it gets renovated. I know exactly what tiles I'm going to choose.

You might ask why I don't simply change the hair. Well, all mermaids have red hair, don't they? Haven't you ever seen "The Little Mermaid"? They also have lungs so need to breathe fresh air, not sea water, so where's the logic? What seems obvious to me is that merpeople have some sort of hybrid internal osmoregulation system, in which case, we humans should be doing our best to harpoon and dissect them in the name of science (I stole that last idea from someone else. Isn't that a wonderful word? LOL). Go here to check it out.

Logic, Felicity? Mermaids exist, Felicity? Give up, girl, before you really start to rave!

Maybe I will investigate a colour change, after all. Has anyone any more 'chocolatey' colour suggestions?



This week's stitching progress.


The detail is as beautiful as the overall picture. Joan Elliott has outdone herself on this design, don't you think?

Joan has published another project in the English magazine called Cross Stitch Collection (Issue 167 on sale in the UK January 16th and a bit later in the US). The 'Spring Fairy' is the first in a series of four. The design measures 12 x 16 inches and is stitched on what Joan describes as a "gorgeous" hand-dyed fabric called Fairy Footprints from Polstitches (we all know my experience with that mob!). I wouldn't be surprised if it is also featured in Joan's latest book which, ordinarily by now, I would have purchased (I didnt' quite understand if Joan was saying that it was or wasn't from the book, on her site). Unfortunately, while Amazon.com is reasonably priced, their postage to Australia is horrendous and the $$ exchange rate woeful.

Because the new project is pink, I'll probably have to buy another house to renovate or wait until one of the Royal Family produces a grand-daughter to do 'Spring Fairy' - though I can picture in my mind's eye the exact fabric (not Polstitches) I would use to stitch her ...


Ah well. There are so many variables to the stitching of this project, I'll probably give it a miss. It's a damned shame that we can't stitch everything we like, huh?

What new project has caught your eye, dear friends? Do let me know.

Meanwhile, I might mosey along to 123Stitch.com and see what's new there. Looking doesn't cost anything.

Happiness & laughter to one and all,

Felicity

Wednesday 14 January 2009

Looking back a couple of years ...

I have just reread an old blog entry from October 2006 where I reviewed a meme - '25 Questions About Your Cross Stitching Life'. There were three important questions which got me thinking : 'How many Works In Progress do you have at this time?'; 'How many UFOs do you have at this time?' and 'How many cross stitch charts/kits/mags do you own?'

This blog was about me thinking about planning my stitching for the next year or so to follow (the 2007 stitching year) and the enjoyment of 'blissfully creating'.

There were two (rather adventurous) lists. The first was the current WIPs which needed finishing (I'm a great starter); the second was the list of things I wanted to get done by Christmas 2007.

How did I go, I've just asked myself ...

The Must Finish List
1. Pooh's Seasons - (achieved & framed)
2. Frederick - (achieved & framed)
3. French Flower Shop - (moved it around the shelves from time to time while I dusted)
4. Dalmations - (ditto)
5. Peace - (I don't even recognise this one, though I did finish one called 'Dream' so maybe I typed the wrong name in the first place)

2007 & Onwards
(I didn't want to start anything new until the Pooh Sampler was finished)
1. Seasons of the Heart (Charles Wysocki) (started)
2. Gathering Honey
3. The Rose Garden
4. The Bremen Town Musicians (Prairie Schooler) - for my son, David. (finished & framed)
5. Bliss Fairy (Mirabillia) (no, not a further thought given to it or the Petal Fairy)
6. Petal Fairy (Mirabillia)
7. Mermaids of the Deep Blue (Mirabillia) (finally fabric chosen)
8. Knight Errant (abandonned!)

I guess tastes change and time & opportunity to stitch fluctuate depending on other activities. I started some on the list and others which weren't. 2009 is going to be a busy year, but I feel positive that stitching will happen in productive amounts.

I think that, overall, I have achieved some lovely works since I wrote this list in October 2006, and I've managed to diminish some stash while I was at it.

Have you looked back lately? Sometimes it helps when you think that you haven't done all that much. Sometimes it's nice to simply revisit.

Happiness & laughter to one and all,

Felicity

Tuesday 13 January 2009

Siblings

Yesterday, I had one of those days that affirms that I have one of the nicest families into which one can be born. My four sisters who live here in Brisbane, our husbands, and my three Brisbane-based off spring gathered to celebrate the life of one of their mothers-in-law who died just before the weekend. When the Graves Girls are really needed, they are there at hand and ready to do what needs doing. That's something really important in life, I think.

I'm also very proud of my off-spring. They all came out of respect for The Aunt and her family, and in memory of all the good times they have had with this particular family, not cos they knew Granny as well as did others at the funeral.

My offspring call my sisters 'The Aunts'. Depending on the day and the mood, there is sometimes a rolling of the eyes when the term is used - but only just for fun to add emphasis to whatever is being said about these women collectively. The Graves cousins (my sisters' children) apparently call us all 'The Sisters'. I occasionally think of these sisters as 'The Drama Queen Quartet', but I love them dearly. The MOTH, who has only known them for 5 years, loves them to pieces, too, and is quite envious of our family gatherings.

I have two siblings apart from those mentioned above: an older sister and an older brother. My eldest sister left home more than 30 years ago and lives the quiet life in Canberra. She's still a big part of the family by telephone, but chooses not to come to family celebrations or funerals (sibling's weddings were the exception) and she discourages visitors because she says she's too disorganised to tidy her house to allow them to stay. Sadly, she's never married nor had kids, so I guess she doesn't have the need to get the next generation interacting. I think she's a bit nuts, but I love her to pieces, all the same.

My only brother lives on the Gold Coast. His wife loathes her 6 sisters-in-law. Being an only daughter, I could understand her reticence that at the beginning, but not now after 28 years of marriage. She uses her sore back and inability to travel the 70km to visit as an excuse to have missed every family gathering we have had in the last 20 years, yet she travels with my brother whenever he goes to Melbourne, Tasmania, New Zealand, sailing the South Pacific, etc. We've been invited to only two parties since they were married in 1982 - and my sister-in-law was horrified that all our off-spring (and mountainous plates of food to feed them all) came with us to help celebrate the events in question. She discourages every attempt I make to come and visit, saying yes to some and then cancelling or flatly refusing opportunities to gather together.

Consequently, my brother's nearly adult off-spring hardly know their Graves cousins. It's sad. I miss my brother a lot but I guess, they know where I live and have a telephone that they can use to invite themselves over, if they want.

Six out of seven communicate really well, and obviously love each other dearly, even if we don't see each other every day. Five of us make regular wine sipping time for each other. We are the lucky family, in my humble opinion.

What about you? Have you been blessed with a vibrant & communicating family, like mine?

Tuesday 6 January 2009

On my soapbox!

Gosh, I wish that the Federal Minister of Education here in Australia read my blog.

I am a teacher but I don't work full time. Forget all those supposed holidays you hear that teachers get. The 10 weeks vacation that the Australian kids have don't exist for the majority of Australian teachers. We're too busy planning for the next term or marking from the last.

I don't work full time because I don't want to spend my life (not just the official working week) just doing the planning and marking (or worrying about the planning and marking that I could be doing) when I am supposedly doing ordinary activities of daily living which other workers do when they have time off. I want to have time to sleep without feeling guilty about doing so, particularly on weekends. I want to be able to eat my lunch in peace a couple of times a week rather than do what teachers do during lunch hours. I want to go for a drive in my car on weekends without taking with me the 240 or so students' worth of essays begging for attention on the back seat of the vehicle at various times of the school term.

I don't teach full time because I've had one too many knives pointed too close to my throat and have been spat upon at least once too often by 15 year old boys who should know better.

Teaching is a stressful gig for even the most dedicated educators!

Why am I saying all this today? This afternoon, I rang one of my teaching mates, who worked, until mid-December, at a school where I no longer work full time. I rang to wish her Happy New Year but instead of ringing a woman who should have been relaxing because she has just retired, I found my friend still on edge three weeks after school broke up for the summer vacation. Why can't she relax, you ask? Two of our former teaching colleagues have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Sad, huh?

I'm even more gobsmacked to discover that rather than being totally devastated about their diagnosis and the possible implications, both teachers are relieved to have breast cancer (and other colleagues from the same school are wishing that it was contageous) because it means that they don't have to go back to school when it resumes at the end of January.

No job is worth that thought process.

None.

The Minister has supposedly been quoted as saying:

"We believe that there is nothing more valuable you can do for your nation than go into teaching and we want to reinforce that."

She has declined to commit to improving teacher salaries which would improve the profession's status, which, in turn, would improve people's perception of teachers' place in society and possibly kids' treatment of their teachers.

In this day and age, money talks. People who are valued are paid more.

The Minister, however, has indicated that she favours a system of performance pay for quality teachers that is linked to a broad range of measures. This would be negotiated with the states and territories as part of a new national education partnership.

"We want to make sure that excellent teachers are valued," she supposedly said.

I consider that statement to be an effort of splitting hairs.

The Minister is talking through her bum! She is hedging around the issue of paying all teachers more money. She needs to put dollars where her mouth is and cough up funds for drastically increased teacher salaries. She needs to put dollars where her mouth is and cough up for similar working conditions that she enjoys in her office in Parliament House (personal safety, air-conditioning, adequate space for a desk, computers which function, office supplies, resources to do her job, etc); She needs to cough up a teaching wage adequate enough to attract more men to the profession - men who can feed and educate families and pay for houses in the same time that it takes other Australians to do so.

She also needs to acknowledge that teaching is not an easy profession and that the people who do the job need more support, not a pay-by-student-results salary.

I'm going to get off my soap box, now.

Sunday 4 January 2009

Queen of the Seas - Update No 6

This entry feels a bit like a Sunday Mass - '1st entry in ordinary times' (i.e. after the Advent and Christmas Season).

2009 is going to be a fabulous stitching year.

This is my progress on Joan Elliott's mermaid. It's inspiring what progress can be made when one's on vacation and living the quiet life. My guess is that the work will progress much slower from tomorrow on as we are back to work for 2009. Ughh!!!

If you are interested, pop over see how Harry has grown. He's 9 months old, would you believe?

Happiness & laughter to one and all.

Keep stitching!

Felicity

Saturday 3 January 2009

Friday 2 January 2009

New on the 2009 Stitching List


Fantasy Fortress
Designed by Lucie Heaton
Featured in Cross Stitch Gold - Issue 62


Time Out
Adapted from the artwork of Dale Tremblay Begley

Sometimes playtime can get a little out of hand, as these two pups have discovered. I suspect that it will not be long before their sad little faces will cheerful again.

Thursday 1 January 2009

11 Commandments of 2009

Thou shalt have fun, above all - Fun is more important than funny.

Thou shalt laugh at thyself -The truly enlightened take themselves lightly.

Thou shalt go the extra smile - A consistent smile affirms friends and confounds enemies.

Thou shalt listen - Listen with your heart as well as your ears.

Thou shouldst expect the unexpected - Embrace surprises as opportunities.

Thou shalt challenge all assumptions - The difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.

Thou shalt welcome thy mistakes - Perfectionism is a killer.

Thou shalt forgive often - It is the only way to be free.

Thou shalt remain focused, but flexible - Hold fast to principles, but be open to many paths.

Thou shalt celebrate everything always - Celebration increases gratitude.

Thou shalt not buy dessicated coconut - There's already enough in the pantry for a life time