It's nearly Christmas!

It's been a few weeks since I last posted, I can't believe where the time is going. I am 33 weeks pregnant now, and only have 3 weeks left of work, it's hard to believe. Christmas is slowly creeping up on me, I've been good with my Christmas shopping for the moment but still have to get a few bits and pieces. It's been reasonably easy this year which is good.

This month is my busiest time of year at work, but because I am in my last trimester and am on my feet most of the day I am trying to take it easier. It doesn't help with the hot weather we are having at the moment, it is hot humid weather and we have been having our air conditoner on to keep us cool. Being heavily pregnant in the heat is no fun! Normally I feel the cold all the time, but now I am always hot without a jacket, even when it's not that hot outside, that's very unlike me. :-)

Unfortunately I've not really had the chance to cross stitch either, as we are in the middle of house renovations getting ready for our new arrival, so our house has been a little bit upside down. My Dad is doing a fantastic job though, I don't know what we would do without him. Adrian and I picked our paint colours for our house now so we are about to start painting this week too which is very exciting.

With all the house work going on I do have a progress pic to show though of Achoo since the last time I posted.

I've been busily trying to scrapbook our photos from our honeymoon too before bub arrives as it was something I really wanted to get done before hand as I knew time would be limited afterwards. I am almost done with that too.

A few weeks ago I found out I was a lucky winner in Veronica's giveaway of her lovely scissor fobs. I won the fob I loved which is called desert rose, the beading is so beautiful and I love the little charm on the end. Thanks so much Veronica, now at least I won't lose my scissors quite so easily. :-)

On Saturday at work I had a client in who loves to cross stitch too, and she knows that I love it too. It was her last appointment with me on Saturday before I have bubby so she bought in a gorgeous present for me. When I unwrapped it this is what I found.

A gorgeous hand stitched baby mobile. Isn't it just gorgeous, I was so touched to receive such a generous gift. I love the gorgeous colours going through the little fish. Alot of work has been put into it and it would have taken her quite a few months to complete. I just love it. I might even hang it on the pram for the baby to look at when we go walking.

Thank you also for your lovely well wishes about Katherine. She is doing well and has started her chemotherapy treatment and so far she is doing ok. It's all very positive news which is fantastic.

I am hoping to get a little bit more stitching done this week, because next week we might be back at Mum and Dad's house for the week as our floorboards are almost done being laid downstaris. So they will need to be sanded and polished before Christmas, and I don't know how much stitching I will get done as I am working quite a few nights that week. At least I don't have any Christmas presents I am stitching for people to be out on a deadline. After Achoo I am going to be starting a birth sampler for my sister. I might even have my little one arrive by then, you never know. I will be lucky to get any stitching done. :-)

I hope you are all well and enjoying the lead up to Christmas.

Happy Stitching x

Ahhhh........choo!

It has been a mentally draining week and quite a busy one at that too. Adrian, Matilda and I moved out of our house this week for one week and moved to my parents house whilst we had our top floor of our house floorboards sanded and polished. We were very excited because the rooms getting done were our bedroom, the little hallway, the babies room and our staircase. This means we are getting closer and closer to setting up our nursery. We moved back in on Saturday night after I finished work and had to do a big clean up as there was a film of dust everywhere. We did put up sheets and plastic covering, but because we couldn't cover everything we did get a bit of dust, but it wasn't too bad. I love our new floor, it's so pretty.

It was nice to spend the week at Mum and Dad's to spend time with them and because we were looked after well. :-) Adrian went home for two nights to stay at his parents to spend time with them too.

I also made a trip to my LNS on Tuesday and decided to buy some jubilee 28 count evenweave and some more gold tipped needles and made a start on Achoo. He was hiding in my bedroom every day and I stitched on him every night in bed as I had to hide him from Mum and Dad. I did take him into work too incase I found some time on my breaks to keep stitching him which I did so I did manage to get a bit accomplished which was great. I am so happy I decided to buy more fabric as straight away I could tell the difference in the quality and it feels nicer to stitch on. I can't believe the week I start stitching on a new project for Mum and Dad is the week we need to move in with them, go figure. :-)



Adrian and I found out some sad and shocking news on Thursday, his sister Katherine was diagnosed with cancer. She had been feeling unwell for about a month and on Thursday morning she had noticed she had a lump on her chest, so she went to the doctor straight away that morning. The doctor said it needed to be looked at urgently and they sent her off to an oncologist. They did some tests and found out the lump was a tumor and it was quite large which is why she was feeling so unwell and not being able to breathe so well. On Friday she had bone marrow removed and a biopsy done and we find out tomorrow what sort of cancer it is. They are quite certain it is either hodgkin's or non hodgkins and she will need to be treated with chemotherapy. The good news is it is treatable and she won't need to be operated on to remove the tumor, instead they will give her steroids to shrink it.


It was quite a shock to receive such awful news this week, especially as it came up so quickly and it is never something you expect to happen. It has been a very emotional week and i've found it hard to be strong for Adrian but I am trying really hard. The best news is everything being said about her cancer is positive and if you know Katherine you would know how strong a person she is and she is being so positive which makes everything feel so much better. We just need to be strong for her too.
It brought back memories of my Mother who was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago this Christmas, but she is very well and healthy now and it's such a uplifting feeling and great for Katherine to relate to. Mum had to have chemotherapy and radiotherapy too so I am sure she will be good for Katherine to ever be there if she needs to talk to someone about it.



So it's been a full on week. I came down with hayfever/cold this week too so I've been sneezing away. I guess it relates to starting Achoo this week too. :-) I've only been able to visit Katherine once and because she starts chemotherapy tomorrow I won't be able to visit her until I am 100% well again.


Since cross stitching is therapy it's been good I've been able to do it this week and today it was our monthly stitchy meet which was held at Bek's house today. I managed to get a bit of stitching done on Achoo and just sit back and relax. My Dad came over to our house today and kept on the renovating on our house with Adrian. They managed to get alot accomplished, which I think was a good distraction for Adrian.


I want to show you a picture of my progress on Achoo

I am enjoying stitching on Achoo, and I am liking the blended colours in the thread dimensions like to use.

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments on my Humphrey's corner baby sampler, they really made my day.


Happy Stitching x

Humphrey and Achoo

I am so excited to say I finished Humphrey's corner! I sat up late last night watching bewitched and trying to finish off the writing on the sampler which mind you needed much concentration, which probably wasn't the most smartest thing to start at night time. But I did manage to finish stitching half of it and finished off the rest of the writing in the morning. I'd never cross stitched writing on evenweave before, it's always been on aida when I've had to stitch some writing, so it was my first time and it was a little more difficult than aida, but I got there eventually.

I just adore this piece, most likely because it is for our baby but I really love the colours in both the fabric and the piece and I just think it is so cute! I will show you each elephant on it's own and then the full pattern.

This little one is so cute, I love his little jumpsuit. He's my favourite after the sleeping Humphrey.

This one is too cute looking at his little duck.

The last cutie.

And the full pattern on it's own. I started cross stitching this pattern on Thursday August the 26th and finished it today, 7th of November. I didn't get much stitching time as I would have liked the past few months so I would have finished it sooner if I had the chance to stitch more. But I am happy with 2 and a bit months. :-)

There is nothing like starting a new pattern. :-) I just love it. The new threads and fabric, it's all so exciting. After I finished Humphrey I started kitting up a dimensions kit called 'Achoo' which I've had in my stash cupboard for years. This is him here.

I sorted out the colours onto the colour chart and changed my aida over to evenweave and started a little bit of stitching. But I'm not sure I love the evenweave, it feels and looks different to what I'm used to and it's been sitting in my stash cupboard for awhile so I forget where I even bought it. I think it was at the craft show one year but I wouldn't know what brand it is. I am thinking I might go to my local LNS tomorrow and buy some new fabric. I've always liked stitching on Jobelan. I need some new needles too so it's a good excuse to go to my stitchy shop. I can have a browse too. :-)

I think Achoo is so sweet, I've decided to stitch him for my parents. One day I would like to stitch him for myself too but I want to stitch something nice for them as they always do so much for me and my husband. I would like to stitch them a suprise to hang up in their house. I am planning on having it matted and framed when I have my baby sampler framed too, so after bub is born of course. :-) Going by the size of Achoo he won't take me that long at all.

It's been nice getting in some stitching this weekend, we are in the middle of house renovations getting ready for our new arrival on the way but i've still managed to get my cross stitch out. I hope you've all had some stitching time too. I've enjoyed reading up on all my blogs too.

Until next time, happy stitching xx

First little humphrey completed.

I am very excited to show you my first humphrey completed and all cross stitched, half stitched and backstitched. I managed to finish him off last night and he is my favourite of all the little elephants. :-) I love how he is sleeping with his little doggie teddy, very adorable. I think the backstitch has really bought him to life, and I am loving the colours in it. I also love how the fabric is coming through in the piece.

One thing I am not loving, which I seem to forget with every anchor pattern I stitch is the backstitch isn't always easy to follow with the thick lines they like to use on their patte. But I just take my time and it seems to work out. I do like the anchor patterns so I generally just remember what they're like after I've finished all the cross stitching. :-)

What do you think of him?

And this is a photo of the bubbles I've started backstitching too with the elephant beside them.

My weekend has just started tonight as I worked today and we are having a quiet weekend with a few things to do tomorrow but I think I will be able to get in some stitching time. I am looking forward to it, and I am sure my pattern will be on it's way to being finished sooner rather than later. I hope you all have a nice weekend and get some stitching time in too.

Happy Stitching xx

P.S Thanks for your lovely comments about Matilda our dog, we think she is pretty adorable too.

Back from Wye river.

Our little family had such a lovely time away in Wye river over the weekend. Thanks so much for all your lovely comments about the weekend, I hope you all had a nice weekend too. Many of you mentioned the toad fish but thankfully we didn't come across any which was good. Carol, I hope you didn't get too much of a scare when it came up on your computer screen. :-)

And Vinniey, I'm not sure Matilda would even think about the fish making her sick, she might have a memory like a gold fish in that respect, but maybe she would I'm not sure. Because you would like to see what she looks like, I have posted a photo for you. I think she is very cute!

Here she is on our way to Wye river waiting patiently in the car.

And this is our little family, with bub in my tummy (so there are 4 of us in this pic really). :-)

We had such a nice time away together, the views were just beautiful and it was so relaxing to look outside and see the bush and the sea at the same time. At night time we could hear the waves crashing. We spent most of our time hanging out, going for walks, having bbq's and of course I got some stitching time in there too. What is a weekend away without stitching? I stitched by the log fire like I said I would and actually got quite a bit done. I've almost finished all my cross stitching now, next I will be onto the backstitch. I took a photo of where I was sitting cross stitching and the view I had when I looked out the window.

How nice is that view? I thought so. I wish I had that view every time I looked out my lounge room window at home, but sadly I don't. But I guess it's what makes going away all the more special.

I hope you all got a little bit of stitching done over the weekend, I am going to do some more now.

Happy Stitching xx

Weekend away

For some reason I always seem to post on my blog on a Friday. I guess because I never work Friday nights which is nice. :-)

My husband Adrian, Matilda and I are going away for the weekend tomorrow to a lovely beach side town called 'Wye river'. We have rented a log cabin and we plan to just relax, go for walks and spend time together. I really need this break as does he so we are very excited about it. We thought it would be a good chance to get away before bub arrives. I think Matilda is really going to enjoy herself too. :-) As long as there are no toad fish on the beach!!

I am planning on taking my cross stitch with me and since the weather is supposed to be terribly cold and wet as it is today it will be nice to light the log fire and stitch by it. A glass of wine would go perfectly with this scenario but I am pregnant so that won't be happening. :-) Some chocolate can counteract this though. :-)

It has been a busy week and I've worked the last three nights so I've not had much time for stitching unfortunately, but I will show my progress off anyway. The little elephants are so adorable, I've started on the last elephant now but i've only stitched white thread so it won't really show up.

Sometimes I wish we celebrated halloween here in Australia because I am loving all the halloween stitching people are posting about on their blogs at the moment. They are all so quirky and cute. Some of the shops stock halloween costumes and ornaments etc.. here for I guess people that do celebrate but it's not big like it is overseas. Thanks for sharing all your halloween stitching though, and of course the people who haven't stitched halloween patterns I just love reading your blogs too. I hope you also enjoy my posts. :-)

I hope you all have a lovely weekend, and happy stitching xx

Spring is on it's way.

I was so thrilled and I appreciate all the lovely and kind comments you left about my dog Matilda, it was so nice to read them and brightened my day. It is nice to know I have such wonderful followers. :-) Matilda is doing much better now, she has fully recovered as long as she doesn't eat more poisonous fish. :-) I am more aware down at the beach now, I stop walking when she does.

I have had a good few nights of stitching on my humphrey's corner sampler and now that daylight savings has started and the sun is up longer I think I will get even more stitching time in (here's hoping). I have been excited about the beautiful weather we have had the last two days, looks like Spring really is on it's way. I am so over Winter! It's been so lovely and warm and it makes me feel like getting out into the courtyard garden for some stitching time in the sun. I am going to make the effort to do that this Spring.

Anyway, this is where I am up to now on Humphrey.

I am suprised how fast this piece is coming together, I guess the pattern is not overly huge or anything but it's still coming together really well. I can't wait to start the backstitch on it as I think it is really going to bring the little elephants to life. Tonight I plan to stitch after I log off of blogger and watch some of season three of gossip girl. I know, tragic! :-) I like girlie tv shows.

I hope you have all enjoyed your weekends and happy stitching x