I originally tried to post this on Wednesday, but Blogger ate it:
Animals: Jade, my cat.
Best Friend(s): None really, I guess if I had had any true friends I wouldn't have ended up in Cornwall.
Car: Blue Rover Metro
Desire(s): To own my own home again.
Eye Color: Blue
Favorite Foods: Hagan Daas Icecream, Salt and Vinegar Crisps
Garden Stuff: Don't have a garden anymore but I have a bizzy lizzy that I've managed to keep alive for nearly a year, rubber plant, umbrella plant and some sort of spiky thing on my toilet.
Hometown: Gillingham, Kent.
Ice cream: Hagan Daas Pralines and Cream and Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia
Job: Admin Assistant for a Financial Advisor
Keepsake Favorite: Cross Stitch Stash
Languages: English and I did do Japanese twice, forgotten it all again now though
Manias : Cross stitching, web design, sf reading
Name: Mel
Outfit I love: Flowery summery dresses
Phobia: Maggots
Quality I value the most: Intelligence
Relationship: Single
Suspicious of: GW Bush
Television Show(s): Holby City, Eastenders
Unsavory Characteristic: Tactless, Hey! a spade's a spade!
Volunteer: Used to do the web design for www.larryniven.org on a voluntary basis
Webpage: http://www.knownspace.co.uk
Xylophone (or other instrument): Still got my electronic keyboard, and I
played the recorder in school
Year Born: 1971
Zodiac Sign: Cancer
Reposting manually cause blogger ate the last post!!!
Thursday, March 31, 2005
My Stupid Cat and Blogs
Did the Stitching Blogger's Question this morning via email - but it still hasn't been posted. Got a bounce back from blogger just now it said:
(expanded from
): Command died with status 1: "IFS=' '&&exec
/home/bloggermail/processmail2||exit 75 #bloggermail"
What the **** does that mean??
And now my silly cat is sitting outside the door wanting "in" but instead of just doing the sensible thing and pushing it open, he's sitting outside occasionally complaining and then a foot comes in and pulls the door towards him, in the process trapping his paw in the door.....
Oh he's just figured it out now. He finally pushed it open......
ROFLAMAO
/home/bloggermail/processmail2||exit 75 #bloggermail"
What the **** does that mean??
And now my silly cat is sitting outside the door wanting "in" but instead of just doing the sensible thing and pushing it open, he's sitting outside occasionally complaining and then a foot comes in and pulls the door towards him, in the process trapping his paw in the door.....
Oh he's just figured it out now. He finally pushed it open......
ROFLAMAO
Sunday, March 27, 2005
The Dark One...
Nope - we're not talking Episode III here - we're talking of a pint and a
half of some very dark Cornish beer that I drank last night. It was about
7% which is quite strong. My friends thought it was strange going to a Beer
Festival and drinking wine - but I was ok and not getting too silly until
I'd drank that dark stuff - which was the colour of Guinness.
I started getting silly when I noticed one of my friend's new companions was
wearing his american football mock cardigan inside out - I kept whispering
to people about it. In the end I challenged him about it - but it turned
out it wasn't inside out at all - it was meant to be that way!! Fashion
victim or what?
When we left the pub I went to go skipping along the street and then skipped
straight out of my new shoe - leaving it behind. Of course I collapsed in a
heap in fits of giggles over this. Then one of my friends decided to go for
a swing around a lamp post. I tried to imitate him, but didn't even get to
the lamp post - I found the edge of the curb first and went straight down on
my face.
Now I have another skinned (and bruised) knee!
Friday, March 25, 2005
Cross Stitcher Issue 159
Just read San's Comment on my last entry. I'm still blogging and emailing
away. Got a massive backlog that I'm working through about 400 down 700
still to go! Phew!
Speaking of Winnie the Pooh, what did you think of that cover kit in the
current issue - the Sketched Pooh one - I took one look at it and thought
"YUK"! I can't stand Winnie the Pooh anyway because I've got about 10 of
the sodding free cover kits I've accumulated in the past already to stitch
but this is the first time I've seriously considered just binning a freebie.
It's not even worthy of stash hoarding. Free to a good home? Any Pooh fans
out there that want it?
Fortunately the rest of the magazine by far made up for their poor choice of
freebie.
Friends". The squirrel is really cute, good enough to stitch on his own.
It's quite a large design for Margaret too.
palm trees certainly make it look as if it's in this area. Sheila! stop
making so many georgeous designs, I'm stitching Venice at the moment and I'm
falling way behind keeping up with you, there's at least three more that
have been published of yours in various mags since then that I will now have
to stitch, and this one is going to be added to that list.
the most gorgeous blue eyes and finally the Medieval Lady is lovely
too.
Our Yesterdays one. I love Faye Whittaker's stuff, but this design just
seems a bit.... I don't know, Bland?
Overall an excellent issue... if you just ignore Pooh!
Cross Stitcher & Catterflies
I arrived home yesterday to find a Thank You for subscribing letter from
Future publishing and a jiffy bag with my free subscription gift in it which
was the Margaret Sherry kit "Catterflies".
Considering that I queried what was happening to my subscription on the 23rd
of February (a month ago) and didn't get a response for over a week so I
told them to forget about the subscription - I'm really quite annoyed that
it's taken them two months to find it and still actually process it -
against my most recent instructions.
To annoy me even further I had asked if I could have the Margaret Sherry
Hedgehog's design which was available as well instead of the Catterflies
(I've already got the chart for this), but they still sent the Catterflies.
I'm not sure what to do. Shall I contact them and have a moan at them for
cocking up not once, not twice, not thrice, but an incredible four times?
Or just live with it, stick Catterflies in my stash and enjoy the next Cross
Sticher issue which will hit my door mat in April?
Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Needlework Shows
What are your thoughts on craft and/or needlework shows? Have you been to one or are you planning on going to one this year?
When I was back in Kent, they used to hold craft shows quite a few times a year. There was a good one at Penshurst Place outside of Tonbridge. They were always interesting to attend, but there was rarely any dedicated cross stitch stalls there, mainly woodcrafts and other kinds of needlework. I think the main reason I liked going to these was to raid all the free samples in the food tent. lol
I've only been to one dedicated cross stitch show, and that was Stitch 2003 at Olympia. I was a bit disappointed with the show really. It was kits, kits and more kits - and I'm not really a kit person. While the prices were discounted, they still couldn't match the prices being offered on the internet even then. Especially the American Kit Suppliers. I think I went there hoping to pick up "Too Pooped" for a reasonable price, and while the kit was certainly cheaper than it's RRP, I still knew I could get get it much cheaper (nearly half price) if I ordered it from the US via the internet. I was expecting more stalls selling Stash. Here's a link to an archived page of my first stitching diary of what happened on the day and what I bought.
The best thing about going to the show though was finally meeting Piwi in the flesh. Apart from my family, she was the first real life stitcher I'd met in the flesh. Piwi had been at the show the day previously too, so she had already recognoitered all the interesting things. She opened my eyes to a few things, I remember her showing me one of the stalls had small cuts of Silkweaver's Reflections fabric, and whilst I didn't buy any that day, the gleam of that beautiful fabric (which you can't see properly in any web photos) finally tempted me to join their Stash club. I still get Reflections sent to me regularly in Silkweaver's Fabric of the Month club, although I probably have most of the colours now already. lol
I don't have any plans to attend any cross stitch shows for the remainder of this year, for two reasons:
When I was back in Kent, they used to hold craft shows quite a few times a year. There was a good one at Penshurst Place outside of Tonbridge. They were always interesting to attend, but there was rarely any dedicated cross stitch stalls there, mainly woodcrafts and other kinds of needlework. I think the main reason I liked going to these was to raid all the free samples in the food tent. lol
I've only been to one dedicated cross stitch show, and that was Stitch 2003 at Olympia. I was a bit disappointed with the show really. It was kits, kits and more kits - and I'm not really a kit person. While the prices were discounted, they still couldn't match the prices being offered on the internet even then. Especially the American Kit Suppliers. I think I went there hoping to pick up "Too Pooped" for a reasonable price, and while the kit was certainly cheaper than it's RRP, I still knew I could get get it much cheaper (nearly half price) if I ordered it from the US via the internet. I was expecting more stalls selling Stash. Here's a link to an archived page of my first stitching diary of what happened on the day and what I bought.
The best thing about going to the show though was finally meeting Piwi in the flesh. Apart from my family, she was the first real life stitcher I'd met in the flesh. Piwi had been at the show the day previously too, so she had already recognoitered all the interesting things. She opened my eyes to a few things, I remember her showing me one of the stalls had small cuts of Silkweaver's Reflections fabric, and whilst I didn't buy any that day, the gleam of that beautiful fabric (which you can't see properly in any web photos) finally tempted me to join their Stash club. I still get Reflections sent to me regularly in Silkweaver's Fabric of the Month club, although I probably have most of the colours now already. lol
I don't have any plans to attend any cross stitch shows for the remainder of this year, for two reasons:
- Living in Cornwall is like being at the ass-end of nowhere. There are plenty of local "craft fayres" but they are shake and bake events organised at a local church hall and are usually just for the artist types who are drawn to this area. There aren't any locally organised stitching events to attend, and you know how long it takes to get to and from Cornwall after my stitching retreat weekend journey - so I really can't be bothered with another 5 and a half hour train journey to get to Stitch 2005, although I would really love to meet Margaret Sherry in the flesh. I hope San meets her.
- I've got too much stash now and want to stitch some of it before I buy any more...... I'm on the "Stash Wagon". Attending these events without spending any money is showing true forces of restraint.
Haloscan
Just added Haloscan's commenting system to this blog to allow me to do Trackback Pings.... and now... whoops! I've got two lots of comments. The trouble is, if I delete Blogspot's own comment link, then I will lose all the old comments which have previously been made on this blog - at least I think I will anyway?
Anyone got any ideas?
Anyone got any ideas?
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Stitching Blogger's Questions: How many hours do you stitch each week?
On average, how many hours a week (7 days) do you think that you spend cross stitching?
The honest answer to that is "not enough".
I used to stitch at least 2-3 hours a day - sometimes more. But since moving to Cornwall, real life and a full time job has severely curtailed my stitching time - so in reality - unless I grab the odd stitch at lunchtimes, or travelling (which I don't do very often) I only really get real stitching time at the weekends. So I guess I probably stitch less than 5 hours a week at the moment - so 20 hours down to 5 - no wonder my UFO's aren't disappearing.
Maybe in the long summer evenings I'll find more time to stitch - it should soon start being light enough and warm enough to sit out in the garden in the evening for an hour or two. Perhaps I'll get more stitching done then.
I think that's what I enjoyed about last weekend so much - dedicated guilt-free stitching time.
Friday, March 18, 2005
St Patrick's Day
Yeah! My (sorely won) hat:
[Maybe it's sacreledge to take a picture of it stuck on my egyptian lady statue's head, I think she's supposed to be Cleopatra - did Cleopatra ever go out on pub crawls? She probably never got up to my antics anyway.]
[Maybe it's sacreledge to take a picture of it stuck on my egyptian lady statue's head, I think she's supposed to be Cleopatra - did Cleopatra ever go out on pub crawls? She probably never got up to my antics anyway.]
Many of the pubs in Penzance were doing a promotion on Guinness today, including the Weatherspoons. So that's where me and my friends met up. I started off the night with an Irish Stew
You had to drink 5 pints before you got a hat and 4 badges. We were pooling our tokens by the time we left the Weatherspoons we had two hats and loads of tokens, because the Weatherspoons had run out of them.
We cleared out The Star pub too of Hats and then went down to the Crown. You should have seen the look on people's faces when we all walked in wearing those ridiculous hats - they had them behind the bar too, but no one was wearing them in there!
In the end we ended up in The Longboat Hotel doing Kareoke with Hats: 
Apologies for the bad picture quality, but this is from a movie file taken on one of our friends' phones. I didn't think it had sound at first.... but unfortunately this morning I discovered differently.... [shudder]
After leaving the Longboat the last few of us went night clubbing..... I can remember one of my friends falling over twice, and I was spinning around (a 'la Kylie Minogue?) like a 10 year old on the poles on the dancefloor! lol
I didn't get home till three.... and ouch! the headache the next day.
Damn that Guinness !
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Favourite Designer(s)?
Do you have a favorite designer (or designers)? If so, who is it and why is
he or she your favorite?
This is an easy one to answer for me: Margaret Sherry. I simply love her
cattitudes. She's recently branched out into doing some strange barnyard
animals, including purple chickens, lol. Which are a bit strange to say the
least. Bring back the cats!
I also like Pamela Kellog and her Cats in Hats series. I like her other
designs too, but the cats simply win it for me.
And of course, I don't think anyone could answer this favourite designer
question and forget Teresa Wentzler? TW's designs are very challenging but
very rewarding once you've stitched them.
Monday, March 14, 2005
Stitching Retreat Weekend
Got back late last night (I'm posting this Monday afternoon) from the Stitching Retreat Weekend in Milton Keynes which was organised by Jayne Hall of Jayne's Attic and Stitching and Stash.
I'm having a day at home to recouperate from the 8 hour journey back home - so I thought I'd do a little retro-blog posting (with pics) about the weekend.
I'm having a day at home to recouperate from the 8 hour journey back home - so I thought I'd do a little retro-blog posting (with pics) about the weekend.
The Journey Home
Judy Dixon's daughter, Louisa kindly gave Jane Fielding and myself a lift back to Milton Keynes station in her car. I'm glad that I arrived early because the trains back to London were running askew because of engineering works. If I had caught the 4:37, which probably wouldn't have turned up until 5 o clock, I seriously doubt that I would have made the 18:30 Paddington train out of London.
Jane was also pleased to have left earlier as she was able to catch an earlier train too. My journey back to London was without incident, although I nearly did fall asleep - I guess that the weekend was starting to catch up with me.
I arrived back in Euston and lumbered down with heavy bags was astonished to see how many people were milling around in the capital on a Sunday afternoon. I had to take the long route back to Paddington on the Underground. I looked for the walkway to the pink Hammersmith and City Line (which only means a few stops to Paddington on the tube), but couldn't find it anywhere so I took the longer route back via the Northern and Central line. The underground was completely packed, another reason why I hate london. I was getting a bit anxious about getting back to Paddington by 6:30 (because believe it or not - it's the last train to Penzance on a Sunday) because of the queues, but I made it with 10 minutes to spare - so I grabbed another Burger King Whopper Meal. Two in one weekend - I guess I was priviledged! lol
The train was on time and I scooted along the platform along with everyone else to get ahead of the crowd to grab an unreserved seat with a table. I got on the first available carriage - sat down and then noticed that I was in a Family carriage... ooops. screaming kids all the way? By then it was too late to find another table in another carriage as the train was starting to fill up.
I stitched some of the satin bag on the way home and then gave up with that. I got my gameboy out then got tired of that too. Then I noticed that the interconnecting door at the end of the carriage had been propped open and there were people milling about in there in huge green hats. They seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. Pre-St Patrick's Day Celebrations for they got out an accordion and started doing an Irish Jig outside the toilet. Yes, a party outside the loo! lol Unfortunatley they got off at Taunton or I might have gone and joined them ;-)
The train was on time and pulled into Penzance at 0:05. What a long journey! But well worth it for a great weekend.
Jane was also pleased to have left earlier as she was able to catch an earlier train too. My journey back to London was without incident, although I nearly did fall asleep - I guess that the weekend was starting to catch up with me.
I arrived back in Euston and lumbered down with heavy bags was astonished to see how many people were milling around in the capital on a Sunday afternoon. I had to take the long route back to Paddington on the Underground. I looked for the walkway to the pink Hammersmith and City Line (which only means a few stops to Paddington on the tube), but couldn't find it anywhere so I took the longer route back via the Northern and Central line. The underground was completely packed, another reason why I hate london. I was getting a bit anxious about getting back to Paddington by 6:30 (because believe it or not - it's the last train to Penzance on a Sunday) because of the queues, but I made it with 10 minutes to spare - so I grabbed another Burger King Whopper Meal. Two in one weekend - I guess I was priviledged! lol
The train was on time and I scooted along the platform along with everyone else to get ahead of the crowd to grab an unreserved seat with a table. I got on the first available carriage - sat down and then noticed that I was in a Family carriage... ooops. screaming kids all the way? By then it was too late to find another table in another carriage as the train was starting to fill up.
I stitched some of the satin bag on the way home and then gave up with that. I got my gameboy out then got tired of that too. Then I noticed that the interconnecting door at the end of the carriage had been propped open and there were people milling about in there in huge green hats. They seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. Pre-St Patrick's Day Celebrations for they got out an accordion and started doing an Irish Jig outside the toilet. Yes, a party outside the loo! lol Unfortunatley they got off at Taunton or I might have gone and joined them ;-)
The train was on time and pulled into Penzance at 0:05. What a long journey! But well worth it for a great weekend.
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Masterclass 2: Satin Stitch Needlework Bag
On the second day we stitched this:
I had done some embroidery a very long time ago - my mother taught me to do some when I was about 10 but I've not touched it since - it was like I was relearning the whole thing again.
I think I got on better with this design, than that of the first day. I seemed to make quite a lot of progress on it:
As I'm posting this retro-spectively (it's actually Sunday 20th March), several of the others have now finished their embroidery. Debbie Mariotti has now finished her Spray and the bag.
I had done some embroidery a very long time ago - my mother taught me to do some when I was about 10 but I've not touched it since - it was like I was relearning the whole thing again.
I think I got on better with this design, than that of the first day. I seemed to make quite a lot of progress on it:
As I'm posting this retro-spectively (it's actually Sunday 20th March), several of the others have now finished their embroidery. Debbie Mariotti has now finished her Spray and the bag.
Saturday, March 12, 2005
Public Service Announcements
This was Jayne Hall on the return bus doing another one of her "Public Service Announcement" speeches to keep us all in line..... unfortunately after a bottle of wine I think it was Jayne who needed to keep herself in line, inflicting us to a drunken rendition of Old MacDonald's Farm. That was a very unusual farm, I've never heard of a farmer who farms Sea Bass, Lobsters, Lamb and lollypops before!
Kam Tong Garden
For Saturday's evening meal we went to the Kam Tong Garden Chinese Restaurant in Milton Keynes. Our journey there was somewhat eventful - or at least catching a ride there.
Jayne had booked an 16-seater mini bus to take us to the Restaurant from the Hotel - but the first transport to arrive was an 8-seater taxi - there were nine of us - but we started to cram in anyway. Then Jayne said to the aisan driver "I don't believe that you are insured to carry 9 people in there" so we all started to pile out. Then it turned out that this taxi guy wasn't the guy that she had booked after all, so some other guests took this taxi instead.
Then another multi-seater taxi showed up and the driver says 6 in here and another 3 in the car following. But Jayne was insistent that she had booked a mini bus so everyone got in and out of the cars again.
Then finally the mini bus turned up and we all got in and were off. Why all the other taxis and the mess? Well these other taxi companies were companies that Jayne had contacted for quotes, but they had never got back and confirmed the details with her. Their loss I guess - but as they weren't able to supply our exact requirements, then fool on them.
Jayne had booked an 16-seater mini bus to take us to the Restaurant from the Hotel - but the first transport to arrive was an 8-seater taxi - there were nine of us - but we started to cram in anyway. Then Jayne said to the aisan driver "I don't believe that you are insured to carry 9 people in there" so we all started to pile out. Then it turned out that this taxi guy wasn't the guy that she had booked after all, so some other guests took this taxi instead.
Then another multi-seater taxi showed up and the driver says 6 in here and another 3 in the car following. But Jayne was insistent that she had booked a mini bus so everyone got in and out of the cars again.
Then finally the mini bus turned up and we all got in and were off. Why all the other taxis and the mess? Well these other taxi companies were companies that Jayne had contacted for quotes, but they had never got back and confirmed the details with her. Their loss I guess - but as they weren't able to supply our exact requirements, then fool on them.
Our Menu:
Hors D'oeuvres
Hors D'oeuvres
Satay Chicken
Tiger King Prawns
Capital Ribs
Prawn Toast
Spring Roll
Seaweed
Squid
*****************************
Szechuan Aromatic Duck with Mongolian Lamb served with salad, pancakes and Hoi-Sin Sauce
*****************************
Baked Lobster and King Prawns (in shell) in peppercorn salt
*****************************
The Main Course:
Yum Yum Bird's Nest (stir-fried spicy beef with vegetables)
Steamed Sea Bass with Spring Onion and Ginger
Chili Pork Peking Style
Sizzling Beef and Chicken fillet in Black Bean Sauce
Sweet and Sour King Prawns
Special Lotus Leaf wrapped Rice
Fillet Chicken with Lemon Sauce
*****************************
Ice cream or fresh fruit salad
*****************************
Coffee and mints
PHEW!!!!!
Jayne serving up our first course:
The Country Cross Stitcher - Stash Experience
Just down the road from the hotel was a needlework shop called The Country Cross Stitcher.
Jayne had given us all tempting £7.50 vouchers to spend in the shop and also had arranged late opening and a 10% discount with the owners. I was very good. I only bought what I needed, a packet of needles (I can't believe that I'd only brought one needle with me on this trip) a new pair or scissors (the kitchen scissors I were using didn't have a fine enough point for cutting the embroidery threads), a daylight bulb (I've lost my own lamp), a square clasp frame and my only little excess and a treat I allowed myself was a Mirabilia Chart of The Mermaid Queen (left).
I was mildly amused by watching the staff in the shop - the poor lady was literally run off her feet - kitting up this design for one person - kitting up that design for another person, and her husband just stood there watching, unable to help. He said he helped out in the shop by doing a little hoovering and cleaning - but he was a complete novice to cross stitch and stitching so didn't know what any of the stocks were or were located. After admiring all the stitched models hanging on the walls of the shop, I left the shop early with my new stash to give the others a little more space.
Jayne had given us all tempting £7.50 vouchers to spend in the shop and also had arranged late opening and a 10% discount with the owners. I was very good. I only bought what I needed, a packet of needles (I can't believe that I'd only brought one needle with me on this trip) a new pair or scissors (the kitchen scissors I were using didn't have a fine enough point for cutting the embroidery threads), a daylight bulb (I've lost my own lamp), a square clasp frame and my only little excess and a treat I allowed myself was a Mirabilia Chart of The Mermaid Queen (left).
I was mildly amused by watching the staff in the shop - the poor lady was literally run off her feet - kitting up this design for one person - kitting up that design for another person, and her husband just stood there watching, unable to help. He said he helped out in the shop by doing a little hoovering and cleaning - but he was a complete novice to cross stitch and stitching so didn't know what any of the stocks were or were located. After admiring all the stitched models hanging on the walls of the shop, I left the shop early with my new stash to give the others a little more space.
Lavender Spray (c) Judy Dixon
This is called Lavender Spray and it was the design that we worked on during the first masterclass:
I had to be shown the basics, like even how to cast on - only one thread so can't use the loop method. It was very strange stitching will all the different kinds of threads. Some of the variegated ones were quite nice and produced a neat effect, but I don't think they liked me calling them "wool", but that's what they looked like. lol
Anyway after a day's worth of stitching, and my first attempt at Hardanger, my Lavender Spay looks like this:
Haven't found time to work on it since. I probably wouldn't ever have tried stitching anything like this on my own, so it was good to try new things in a supportive teaching environment.
I really don't want it to become another UFO or WIP but I have other stitching that I want to finish first.
I had to be shown the basics, like even how to cast on - only one thread so can't use the loop method. It was very strange stitching will all the different kinds of threads. Some of the variegated ones were quite nice and produced a neat effect, but I don't think they liked me calling them "wool", but that's what they looked like. lol
Anyway after a day's worth of stitching, and my first attempt at Hardanger, my Lavender Spay looks like this:
Haven't found time to work on it since. I probably wouldn't ever have tried stitching anything like this on my own, so it was good to try new things in a supportive teaching environment.
I really don't want it to become another UFO or WIP but I have other stitching that I want to finish first.
Masterclass 1: Lavender Spray
Saturday Morning - and we made our way to MK station in a convoy to pick up Jane Fielding who had come from Manchester on the train. From the station we all followed Jayne and Ursh to Judy Dixon's house in Mursley for the first of our weekend stitching classes.....
And then 40 minutes later and ... we are all still following Jayne and Ursh on a magical mystery tour, of the outskirts of Milton Keynes. It's supposed to take about 15 minutes to Judy's house from the station, but we saw lots of dual carriageways, roundabouts and country lanes. I think the biggest problem with MK is that it all looks the same - it's really easy to get lost there. Housing estates interspersed with retail parks followed by more housing estates... it was most disconcerting. Sandra - who was driving me and Jayne remarked that she felt that she'd driven half way back home again - (she lives in Wales). lol
Here's a picture of the girls on the other table who are just to undertake the first of the classes - Lavender Spray.
From left to Right: Gina, Rebecca, Sandra, Dawn, Jane (F) and Debbie
Jayne, Ursh and I were sitting on another table.
And then 40 minutes later and ... we are all still following Jayne and Ursh on a magical mystery tour, of the outskirts of Milton Keynes. It's supposed to take about 15 minutes to Judy's house from the station, but we saw lots of dual carriageways, roundabouts and country lanes. I think the biggest problem with MK is that it all looks the same - it's really easy to get lost there. Housing estates interspersed with retail parks followed by more housing estates... it was most disconcerting. Sandra - who was driving me and Jayne remarked that she felt that she'd driven half way back home again - (she lives in Wales). lol
Here's a picture of the girls on the other table who are just to undertake the first of the classes - Lavender Spray.
From left to Right: Gina, Rebecca, Sandra, Dawn, Jane (F) and Debbie
Jayne, Ursh and I were sitting on another table.
Breakfast in Bed
Well, I had to order Breakfast in Bed - didn't I? What's the point of spoiling yourself if you can't partake in everything?
The breakfast was lovely, and before you ask, no - I couldn't eat it all. It was delicious though. The sausage was strange. It has been years since I had a sausage that tasted like that - halfway through the sausage I worked out why - it was a real "meaty sausage" and made with proper meat, not all the fat and fillers and goodness knows what fills most modern supermarket-bought sausages.
Friday, March 11, 2005
Friday Evening
After meeting up with Jayne, Ursh and Sandra in Jayne and Ursh's room, I learned what had happened with the phones. The Inn at Woburn has no mobile phone reception. It's a complete dead zone. Messages that I sent hours ago were gradually creeping through one by one. In fact, one message that I sent from MK station saying that I was waiting in the coffee shop only came through at about 6:30 - two hours late! lol. Just as well I had got that taxi or I would still have been sitting there. Jayne gave me loads of stick about all the text's that I had sent her! lol
Jayne ordered some coffee from Room Service and we sat to have a good natter. It's really strange meeting people who you've known online for several years for the first time. They are never how you imagine them to be.
I've known Jayne from the groups for a few years and I've spoken to her on the phone a few times about ordering stuff from her online shop - but she was not quite what I was expecting in the flesh, I'd seen pictures of her online, but she was a blonde in those pictures. Apparently she's been a red head for over a year now, so those photos are now well out of date. I didn't imagine that she was shorter than me either, she's such a petite lady. When we "met" she remarked that she was pleased that I didn't tower over her too much.
Urszula was probably the biggest shock though, I've known Urszula for about 2 and a half years on the groups and she's also a member of the Cattitudes RR - in fact she passed Nicole's fabric to me when we met! On the groups, Urszula comes across as being quite quiet and reserved, I didn't expect her to form the second half of the Jayne Hall/Urszula Pitt double act comedy routine! ;-)
Sandra was also very nice, she comes across as being quite empowered in emails, but after meeting her in the flesh, I think that she's quite quiet - like me - when she's surrounded by groups of strange people.
Debbie was dropped off by her husband at the hotel earlier in the evening. I've read some of her postings on the groups, and remember her talking about her daughter's illness, but I've not really had any private correspondence with her, so I didn't know her very well, so I didn't really have any preconceptions about her.
I'm amazed at how much I have in common with these women. That's the beauty of the internet - it pulls together groups of people with similar interest who would otherwise never have met.
Jayne did the fateful thing then and got her stitching out - so everybody retreated to their rooms to get their to stitching too, bring out all their latest projects, have them admired and then chat, stitch and watch Comic Relief.
We had a table booked at the hotel's restauant for 8 - so we went down there and ordered our evening meals. I chose Venison steak. The food took a long time to come - over half an hour -but it gave us a chance to have a real good chin-wag. Although it took such a long time - the food was really worth the wait - it really tasted good - I didn't even think of putting ketchup or horseradish on my venison steak! And for people who know me well - you know how much I love my condiments ;-)
Jayne ordered some coffee from Room Service and we sat to have a good natter. It's really strange meeting people who you've known online for several years for the first time. They are never how you imagine them to be.
I've known Jayne from the groups for a few years and I've spoken to her on the phone a few times about ordering stuff from her online shop - but she was not quite what I was expecting in the flesh, I'd seen pictures of her online, but she was a blonde in those pictures. Apparently she's been a red head for over a year now, so those photos are now well out of date. I didn't imagine that she was shorter than me either, she's such a petite lady. When we "met" she remarked that she was pleased that I didn't tower over her too much
Urszula was probably the biggest shock though, I've known Urszula for about 2 and a half years on the groups and she's also a member of the Cattitudes RR - in fact she passed Nicole's fabric to me when we met! On the groups, Urszula comes across as being quite quiet and reserved, I didn't expect her to form the second half of the Jayne Hall/Urszula Pitt double act comedy routine! ;-)
Sandra was also very nice, she comes across as being quite empowered in emails, but after meeting her in the flesh, I think that she's quite quiet - like me - when she's surrounded by groups of strange people.
Debbie was dropped off by her husband at the hotel earlier in the evening. I've read some of her postings on the groups, and remember her talking about her daughter's illness, but I've not really had any private correspondence with her, so I didn't know her very well, so I didn't really have any preconceptions about her.
I'm amazed at how much I have in common with these women. That's the beauty of the internet - it pulls together groups of people with similar interest who would otherwise never have met.
Jayne did the fateful thing then and got her stitching out - so everybody retreated to their rooms to get their to stitching too, bring out all their latest projects, have them admired and then chat, stitch and watch Comic Relief.
We had a table booked at the hotel's restauant for 8 - so we went down there and ordered our evening meals. I chose Venison steak. The food took a long time to come - over half an hour -but it gave us a chance to have a real good chin-wag. Although it took such a long time - the food was really worth the wait - it really tasted good - I didn't even think of putting ketchup or horseradish on my venison steak! And for people who know me well - you know how much I love my condiments ;-)
My Room
After having worked in a hotel myself (when I first got to Cornwall last year) I could really appreciate staying somewhere this luxurious. It was a question of having the tables turned! From making up the beds in someone else's posh hotel room and cleaning their loos, here I was in a posh room of my own. ;-)
Jayne's idea of having a weekend when we really spoiled ourselves paid off big time with this choice of venue.
The Inn at Woburn
This is a postcard which I picked up in my hotel room's welcome book. It shows the hotel that we all stayed at. The hotel has a website http://www.theinnatwoburn.co.uk.
It's a very posh hotel, there was a wedding being held there when I arrived on Friday Night, that explained the lady walking around in a wedding dress at 5:30 in the evening. I telephoned Jayne's room from reception - she was there!! - and checked into my room.
The Journey out of Cornwall - Devon to Milton Keynes
I stopped taking pics after Dawlish. The train line leaves the sea there and becomes a lot less interesting. Considering how far it travels, the train stops at very few places, I think there's only about 15 stops. After it leaves Devon it's basically an express service that only stops at the main city stations like Exeter, Taunton and Reading. From Reading it doesn't stop until it reaches Paddington Station, which this train did at 14:20. Yes 2:20, it left Penzance at 9:04 - what a long journey, but great if you are a stitcher. I always make a bee-line for the seats with the tables so I can spread out all my stitching, project folders etc.
At Paddington, I made my way via the underground to Euston to catch the Milton Keynes train. I got on the Circle Line - (well thought I'd got on a Circle Line train - but it was actually a District Line train - so I had to get off again at Notting Hill Gate and wait for the next Circle Line train to show up - which took quite a few minutes to come in - I toyed with the idea of leaving the underground and going up to Notting Hill market to see if I could find that house with the Blue door and see if Hugh Grant was home, LOL), and then the Victoria line to Euston.
According to the timetables I printed off the First Great Western website there should have been a Virgin train at 3:18 - there was no listing for this on the station boards, the next Milton Keynes train left at 3:34, so I had just enough time to pop to the loo in the station - 20 PENCE FOR A PEE!!! WHAT A CHEEK! - and get a Texan Whopper Meal from the Burger King in the station before getting on the Milton Keynes train. It wasn't a Virgin train - the Milton Keynes train service was being run by a company called Silverlink. That was a contrast from the First Great Western trains - quite a comedown. Reminds me of the shoddy Connex South East service that I used to put up with back in Kent.
I sat down on the train to eat my Whopper - two women sitting opposite me looked at me with disgust. I didn't care, it was 3:30 in the afternoon and apart from half a tube of pringles which I'd munched on the journey to Paddington, this was the first real food (if you could call Burger King real food?) I'd had that day. Thinking that the journey to Milton Keynes (hereafter referred to a MK) would take the same duration as on the Virgin Train, I sent a text to Jayne saying I'd arrive about 4:10.
But this Silverlink train was no Virgin train, in fact, a superfast modern Virgin train capable of 125 mile an hour travel actually cruised past the one I was on while my train was going flat out. It was also stopping at every station, so instead of the 4:10 eta I'd sent Jayne, it was actually more like 4:40 when it arrived at MK. I texted Jayne with an updated ETA, but still received no response - so I tried calling her a few times because she was going to arrange a lift from the Station to the Hotel that we were staying. I couldn't get through on the phone, it was either coming up as busy or going straight to voicemail. Very strange.
I arrived at the station and sent Jayne another message saying I was going to wait in a cafe until I heard from her. I sat for about 20 minutes, but still not a word. In the end, I jumped into a taxi and went to the Inn at Woburn by myself. £16 later I arrived.
At Paddington, I made my way via the underground to Euston to catch the Milton Keynes train. I got on the Circle Line - (well thought I'd got on a Circle Line train - but it was actually a District Line train - so I had to get off again at Notting Hill Gate and wait for the next Circle Line train to show up - which took quite a few minutes to come in - I toyed with the idea of leaving the underground and going up to Notting Hill market to see if I could find that house with the Blue door and see if Hugh Grant was home, LOL), and then the Victoria line to Euston.
According to the timetables I printed off the First Great Western website there should have been a Virgin train at 3:18 - there was no listing for this on the station boards, the next Milton Keynes train left at 3:34, so I had just enough time to pop to the loo in the station - 20 PENCE FOR A PEE!!! WHAT A CHEEK! - and get a Texan Whopper Meal from the Burger King in the station before getting on the Milton Keynes train. It wasn't a Virgin train - the Milton Keynes train service was being run by a company called Silverlink. That was a contrast from the First Great Western trains - quite a comedown. Reminds me of the shoddy Connex South East service that I used to put up with back in Kent.
I sat down on the train to eat my Whopper - two women sitting opposite me looked at me with disgust. I didn't care, it was 3:30 in the afternoon and apart from half a tube of pringles which I'd munched on the journey to Paddington, this was the first real food (if you could call Burger King real food?) I'd had that day. Thinking that the journey to Milton Keynes (hereafter referred to a MK) would take the same duration as on the Virgin Train, I sent a text to Jayne saying I'd arrive about 4:10.
But this Silverlink train was no Virgin train, in fact, a superfast modern Virgin train capable of 125 mile an hour travel actually cruised past the one I was on while my train was going flat out. It was also stopping at every station, so instead of the 4:10 eta I'd sent Jayne, it was actually more like 4:40 when it arrived at MK. I texted Jayne with an updated ETA, but still received no response - so I tried calling her a few times because she was going to arrange a lift from the Station to the Hotel that we were staying. I couldn't get through on the phone, it was either coming up as busy or going straight to voicemail. Very strange.
I arrived at the station and sent Jayne another message saying I was going to wait in a cafe until I heard from her. I sat for about 20 minutes, but still not a word. In the end, I jumped into a taxi and went to the Inn at Woburn by myself. £16 later I arrived.
The Journey out of Cornwall: Dawlish
My last en route picture: Dawlish (just over 2 hours into the journey)
The first time I left Cornwall on the train, I was amazed when I went on this section of the line, the line runs parallel to the sea for several miles. The sand is red here - I think it comes from the red rock cliffs.
The first time I left Cornwall on the train, I was amazed when I went on this section of the line, the line runs parallel to the sea for several miles. The sand is red here - I think it comes from the red rock cliffs.
The Journey out of Cornwall: Teignmouth
The Journey out of Cornwall: Over two and a half hours en route.Teignmouth in Devon.
I just love all those little multi-coloured cottages. ;-)
I just love all those little multi-coloured cottages. ;-)
Plymouth pub - photo taken from Tamar Bridge.
I don't know what this pub is called - but you've got to admit it's quite distinctive. The wall on the right of the pub has a two story high piece of artwork on it.
All the white things on the ground next to the boat are Geese! I tried to take a picture earlier - when I was closer to the geese, but a strut of the bridge got in the way.
I don't know what this pub is called - but you've got to admit it's quite distinctive. The wall on the right of the pub has a two story high piece of artwork on it.
All the white things on the ground next to the boat are Geese! I tried to take a picture earlier - when I was closer to the geese, but a strut of the bridge got in the way.
The Journey out of Cornwall: Tamar Bridge
Nearly 2 hours en route: The Tamar Bridge marks the county's boundary with neighbouring Devon.
The Journey out of Cornwall: Bodmin
The journey out of Cornwall: 1 hour en route: Bodmin
Cornwall has some of the most amazing geography, from long clean empty beaches, to the desolate moors and cliffs of the Pendeen Peninsular to the amazing landscapes (and treescapes) around Bodmin.
Here's a picture that I took from the train of some of the depth of the geography in the Bodmin area. I'm always amazed at the tree-filled valleys and grass covered fields. It doesn't look as if it belongs to a part of the UK at all.... maybe somewhere like Switzerland or Austria, lol. There's supposed to be a big cat (black panther) lurking somewhere around in this area. You must have heard of the notorious "beast of Bodmin" news reports. Well, these wooods and hills and could hide just about anything.....
Cornwall has some of the most amazing geography, from long clean empty beaches, to the desolate moors and cliffs of the Pendeen Peninsular to the amazing landscapes (and treescapes) around Bodmin.
Here's a picture that I took from the train of some of the depth of the geography in the Bodmin area. I'm always amazed at the tree-filled valleys and grass covered fields. It doesn't look as if it belongs to a part of the UK at all.... maybe somewhere like Switzerland or Austria, lol. There's supposed to be a big cat (black panther) lurking somewhere around in this area. You must have heard of the notorious "beast of Bodmin" news reports. Well, these wooods and hills and could hide just about anything.....
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Exeter
Went up to Exeter on the train on Monday night. There was a training course which started at 9:30 in the morning which I needed to attend for work. It was a choice of either going up the night before, or getting up at silly-o-clock in the morning to catch the 5:10 train out of Penzance in the morning. I chose the former.
I left work early to catch the train to Exeter, even though Exeter is just over in the neighbouring county of Devon, it's still nearly three hours away on the train. Unbelieveable! I did intend to do a bit of stitching on the train on the journey up there, but I felt really tired (cold was still getting me down) and not at all up to the concentration needed. I had woken up at 2:00 am the night before and didn't get back to sleep till about 6:00 am so I really didn't want to get up on Monday morning. By the evening I was feeling the effects of the lack of sleep, so I just sat through the journey and tried to relax.
I was a little nervous about leaving Cornwall. I've not been anywhere since I returned last August with Jade and after what I went through back then, I had vowed never to leave it again. Would I have a panic-attack crossing the Tamar Bridge? Well I didn't. I guess it was reassuring in some ways as it was a dry run of this weekend's travels to the Stitching Retreat Weekend in Milton Keynes. I was getting nervous about being so far away from home and leaving Jade even though it was only for 2/3 days.
I arrived at Exeter about 8:30 pm and dropped off my bag at the hotel. Well, I say Hotel, it was only a B&B in reality but it was clean and warm and that's just about all you need for an overnight stay. I went into the town centre of Exeter to find something to eat. I spotted a Burger King and headed to it (my nearest Burger King in Penzance is 20 miles away in Truro) and was most disconcerted to find that it had closed over 2 hours ago. Similarly I missed the closing of Macdonalds by 10 minutes. I walked past a closed M&S and made lost puppy noises because I couldn't go in and buy anything as it was shut (again, the nearest Marks and Spencers to Penzance is Truro!).
In the end I gave up and walked back to the hotel, stopping at the fish and chip shop on the corner and getting a portion of overcooked plaice and undercooked chips. Hmmmm not that appetising - but I had no choice. I decided to look forward to my breakfast instead.
The next morning, I got up and went down to breakfast and found that I wasn't really hungry!! What a shame. I consoled myself by reading the paper instead. At 9:10 I got a taxi to the Buckerell Lodge where the training was being held. I was really shocked by the amount of traffic in Exeter. The traffic jams, the queues..... the night before I was standing at a pedestrian crossing on a corner waiting to cross the road and this guy on a bicycle nearly knocked me over! Can 11 months of being in Cornwall change me so much that I view a big city with the eyes of a country bumpkin?
The training course was good. It was definitely worth me attending, I learned what I was doing wrong with our database software, and also more importantly how to fix my errors. I also learned how the reporting side of it works. Which will be very useful.
The course finished really early, so I went back to Exeter St David's Station to get the train back. I did toy with the idea of doing a little shopping (Marks and Spencers was still calling to me), but I had a heavy overnight bag to lug around the town center, and there was no left luggace facility at Exeter Station. So I got my stitching out to while away the hour till the next train. The next train only went as far as Plymouth, so I caught that and again was faced with another hours wait to get the train back to Penzance. I walked outside Plymouth Station to see if there was any shops or any pubs worth exploring, but all there seemed to be within easy reach was a bus station and taxi rank, so I gave up and went back and sat in the Station Buffet for the next hour. One of the Buffet staff admired the stitching that I was doing (Sparkling Waters).
The train came on time and I got on the crowded commuter train back to Penzance. I stitched Sparkling Waters all the way home.
Here's the progress I made on it:
Click the Image (left) to View it properly in my Webshots
The train soon emptied enough to give me elbow room. That's the good thing about living all the way down at the ass end of nowhere in Penzance, you know that practically everyone is going to get off the train before you. I do think that it is a relaxing journey, though. I got home about 7:00.
I left work early to catch the train to Exeter, even though Exeter is just over in the neighbouring county of Devon, it's still nearly three hours away on the train. Unbelieveable! I did intend to do a bit of stitching on the train on the journey up there, but I felt really tired (cold was still getting me down) and not at all up to the concentration needed. I had woken up at 2:00 am the night before and didn't get back to sleep till about 6:00 am so I really didn't want to get up on Monday morning. By the evening I was feeling the effects of the lack of sleep, so I just sat through the journey and tried to relax.
I was a little nervous about leaving Cornwall. I've not been anywhere since I returned last August with Jade and after what I went through back then, I had vowed never to leave it again. Would I have a panic-attack crossing the Tamar Bridge? Well I didn't. I guess it was reassuring in some ways as it was a dry run of this weekend's travels to the Stitching Retreat Weekend in Milton Keynes. I was getting nervous about being so far away from home and leaving Jade even though it was only for 2/3 days.
I arrived at Exeter about 8:30 pm and dropped off my bag at the hotel. Well, I say Hotel, it was only a B&B in reality but it was clean and warm and that's just about all you need for an overnight stay. I went into the town centre of Exeter to find something to eat. I spotted a Burger King and headed to it (my nearest Burger King in Penzance is 20 miles away in Truro) and was most disconcerted to find that it had closed over 2 hours ago. Similarly I missed the closing of Macdonalds by 10 minutes. I walked past a closed M&S and made lost puppy noises because I couldn't go in and buy anything as it was shut (again, the nearest Marks and Spencers to Penzance is Truro!).
In the end I gave up and walked back to the hotel, stopping at the fish and chip shop on the corner and getting a portion of overcooked plaice and undercooked chips. Hmmmm not that appetising - but I had no choice. I decided to look forward to my breakfast instead.
The next morning, I got up and went down to breakfast and found that I wasn't really hungry!! What a shame. I consoled myself by reading the paper instead. At 9:10 I got a taxi to the Buckerell Lodge where the training was being held. I was really shocked by the amount of traffic in Exeter. The traffic jams, the queues..... the night before I was standing at a pedestrian crossing on a corner waiting to cross the road and this guy on a bicycle nearly knocked me over! Can 11 months of being in Cornwall change me so much that I view a big city with the eyes of a country bumpkin?
The training course was good. It was definitely worth me attending, I learned what I was doing wrong with our database software, and also more importantly how to fix my errors. I also learned how the reporting side of it works. Which will be very useful.
The course finished really early, so I went back to Exeter St David's Station to get the train back. I did toy with the idea of doing a little shopping (Marks and Spencers was still calling to me), but I had a heavy overnight bag to lug around the town center, and there was no left luggace facility at Exeter Station. So I got my stitching out to while away the hour till the next train. The next train only went as far as Plymouth, so I caught that and again was faced with another hours wait to get the train back to Penzance. I walked outside Plymouth Station to see if there was any shops or any pubs worth exploring, but all there seemed to be within easy reach was a bus station and taxi rank, so I gave up and went back and sat in the Station Buffet for the next hour. One of the Buffet staff admired the stitching that I was doing (Sparkling Waters).
The train came on time and I got on the crowded commuter train back to Penzance. I stitched Sparkling Waters all the way home.
Here's the progress I made on it:
Click the Image (left) to View it properly in my WebshotsThe train soon emptied enough to give me elbow room. That's the good thing about living all the way down at the ass end of nowhere in Penzance, you know that practically everyone is going to get off the train before you. I do think that it is a relaxing journey, though. I got home about 7:00.
Sunday, March 06, 2005
The Cat who has the Cream
Jade is definitely one spoilt pet: I treated myself to some cream over a sticky toffee pudding for lunch. There was some cream left over so I decided to give Jade a little treat. 
This is the picture I took of him after he'd drank his fill. Look at the little drip on his chin! lol
Future Publishing - Not a Good Advert!
I blogged back on the 28th January about the Cross Stitcher Margaret Sherry Subscription Offer. Anyway, the new issue was going to be in the shops about 2 weeks ago, so I emailed Future Publishing's subscription department to find out what was happening with the subscription:
----- Original Message -----
From: vash@knownspace.co.uk
Date: 23 February 2005
Subject: Cross Stitcher Subscription
Hi,
I completed a form out of your magazine to subscribe and get the free hedgehog kit as a free gift. This was several weeks ago, and I've not heard anything yet. The new Cross Stitcher is out in the shops tomorrow. So, should I buy it, or will you be able to sort my subscription out?
~ Melanie ~ Gandalf, trying to light his pipe in Moria: "Naur an adriat ammin! Naur an adriat ammin! Oh, damn it, _that_ spell is for waking Balrogs. Now, for the pipe..."
Last week, they finally answered with:
From: Future Publishing [mailto:future@subscription.co.uk]
Sent: 02 March 2005 14:20
To: vash@knownspace.co.uk
Subject: Future Publishing - Subscriber Number: Em Ref: TPS373439A
Thank you for your recent email.
Unfortunately I have been unable to locate your subscription from the information provided. May I request you please provide as much information as possible on the following to enable me to investigate further:
Your subscription number (if known)
Name and address of the Payer:
Name and address of the Recipient: (if a gift subscription)
INSTANT ONLINE CUSTOMER SERVICE Should you require any further assistance, to check the status of a subscription or amend your details, simply go to www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/youraccount You may also contact us at future@subscription.co.uk quoting email reference TPS373439A.
For and on behalf of Future Publishing.
Angela Sturgess
Email Customer Services
Should you require any further assistance, to check the status of a subscription or amend your details, simply go to www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/youraccount You may also contact us at future@subscription.co.uk quoting email reference TPS373439A.
For and on behalf of Future Publishing.
I love the "INSTANT ONLINE CUSTOMER SERVICE" bit!!
So yesterday I answered with:
Well, it took you a week to answer that query.
I've since bought the next issue of Cross Stitcher, with customer service
that poor, I guess you can forget about the subscription.
~ Melanie ~
Gandalf, trying to light his pipe in Moria: "Naur an adriat ammin! Naur
an adriat ammin! Oh, damn it, _that_ spell is for waking Balrogs. Now,
for the pipe..."
Saturday, March 05, 2005
Obnoxious Children: The Family from Hell?
I went out this morning and got breakfast in Littlewoods. I thought I would treat myself to a leisurely breakfast while I sat looking out over at St Michael's Mount in the Bay while reading the paper. It is a little treat for me, primarily because I've not been out of the house since I finished work on Wednesday due to this damn cold - unless you count a 10 minute outing to the local Co-op in a quest for butter!
Anyway, I'm sitting there starting to enjoy my breakfast, when I happen to glance up at the family sprawled across the next table. There's a father sitting there along with 5 kids, all the kids seem to be aged between 7 and 10. Anyway, the father tell's off the daughter sitting next to him, and what does the little cow do? Sits there slapping her father back at the breakfast table, and having a major tantrum and paddy. I couldn't believe it - slapping her father back in public???
Then the mother returns, I return to my breakfast and the paper and try to ignore the bespeckled 7 year old boy, who now decides it's his turn to act up, and gets into a shouting match with his brother.
In about 20 minutes, most of the children have finished, but the mother is still eating toast, so instead of sitting at the table like a nice little girl, the obnoxious child gets up, gets behind my chair and starts climbing on the chair and table behind me, leaning over the balcony and watching the escalator going up below her. I was going to say something about her sitting down like a nice little girl and waiting politely at the table until her mother had finished eathing.... but in the end I just really wished she'd just lean a little too far over and plop down on the stairs below. Then all the other kids get up and start occupying all the other free tables near their own instead of sitting there nicely!
By this time the mother has eventually finished her toast; the family get up to leave and half of them are already half out the shop and heading for the stairs - I look up to study the ruinous mess that was once their table and I'm shocked to see they've left one of the kids behind. Yes, the poor little tike is hurriedly finishing off his last couple of mouthfuls, which he abandons in the end for fear of being left behind in Littlewoods.
What a family!!!
Anyway, I'm sitting there starting to enjoy my breakfast, when I happen to glance up at the family sprawled across the next table. There's a father sitting there along with 5 kids, all the kids seem to be aged between 7 and 10. Anyway, the father tell's off the daughter sitting next to him, and what does the little cow do? Sits there slapping her father back at the breakfast table, and having a major tantrum and paddy. I couldn't believe it - slapping her father back in public???
Then the mother returns, I return to my breakfast and the paper and try to ignore the bespeckled 7 year old boy, who now decides it's his turn to act up, and gets into a shouting match with his brother.
In about 20 minutes, most of the children have finished, but the mother is still eating toast, so instead of sitting at the table like a nice little girl, the obnoxious child gets up, gets behind my chair and starts climbing on the chair and table behind me, leaning over the balcony and watching the escalator going up below her. I was going to say something about her sitting down like a nice little girl and waiting politely at the table until her mother had finished eathing.... but in the end I just really wished she'd just lean a little too far over and plop down on the stairs below. Then all the other kids get up and start occupying all the other free tables near their own instead of sitting there nicely!
By this time the mother has eventually finished her toast; the family get up to leave and half of them are already half out the shop and heading for the stairs - I look up to study the ruinous mess that was once their table and I'm shocked to see they've left one of the kids behind. Yes, the poor little tike is hurriedly finishing off his last couple of mouthfuls, which he abandons in the end for fear of being left behind in Littlewoods.
What a family!!!
Stitching Bloggers Question of the Week: Charts
Which do you prefer and why? "Old-fashioned" black and white symbol-only charts, charts with colored blocks, or charts with a combination of colored blocks and symbols?
I like the coloured charts with the embedded symbols which most magazines seem to favour now. I still can make working copies of these using a combination of scanner and coloured printer.
In fact, I really like making duplicates of charts because you can do enlarged sections of portions of the chart where needed - like in areas of fine detail like the face.
With Paradise Island, I'm working from scanned chart sections, which is why my work is building up in a series of blocks - this is not to do with the gridding, although I'm finding this a real help with avoiding mistakes.
I like the coloured charts with the embedded symbols which most magazines seem to favour now. I still can make working copies of these using a combination of scanner and coloured printer.
In fact, I really like making duplicates of charts because you can do enlarged sections of portions of the chart where needed - like in areas of fine detail like the face.
With Paradise Island, I'm working from scanned chart sections, which is why my work is building up in a series of blocks - this is not to do with the gridding, although I'm finding this a real help with avoiding mistakes.
Stitching Update
I posted some pictures today of what I've been stitching lately.
Made some progress on Venice today while I watched the Special Features disk of X Files Series 4 and also made some progress on the Island the other day when I was off sick from work.
Made some progress on Venice today while I watched the Special Features disk of X Files Series 4 and also made some progress on the Island the other day when I was off sick from work.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
