The Stitching Slump Continues....

So, we've just had another bank holiday weekend, and how much stitching did I do? Less than about an hours worth. This is terrible!

Mind you: I've done other things, the "weekend" started on Thursday night with yet another date with some guy I've been chatting to on the internet since January. No attraction there [sadly] and he drove a red ford escort with a dodgy tail light.

Friday night was a little better, went for a meal with Hayley after work. Had a good time, a few drinks. Hit my head on a beam in a pub! Well I'm only 5' 3" so usually I don't have to watch out for these things so bonk! The ironic thing is that it's the second time I've hit this same beam. Fortunately it's well padded! lol!

Ended up in yet another pub where Hayley introduced me to one of the office's former clients and his ever so geeky brother. You thought I was bad in the geek states? Hayley left when her parents came to pick her up at 11, so I went clubbing with the former client and this strange (old) guy from Exeter who kept grabbing my ass. The geeky brother had gone home. What a shame - I don't supposed he'd ever been to a nightclub. Don't know what happened to the Exeter guy though, he kind of disappeared when we entered the nightclub. The other guy stayed with me all night in the club which was quite sweet, even waiting for me outside the ladies, so he didn't lose me on the way out. I remember having a drunken arguement with him in Bread Street after leaving the nightclub about whether he was in a fit state to walk me home after fluffing the sobriety test three times in a row! Nevertheless, I arrived home safely and was up again about 9:30 on Saturday.

Got myself up - and out and went for breakfast in the Weatherspoons to intake much coffee and try to head off the hung over feeling. From the Weatherspoons' I went to the First Choice travel agents in a last ditch stand to book a holiday. You know, it is so frustrating being in a travel agents' and knowing that with the resources of the internet I can do a much better (and cheaper) job of searching for a holiday, and I also have far more resources at hand. Do you know that they don't even have a true internet connection in there? Sheesh! In the end they found the sort of holiday I wanted, but about £200 over my budget but one of the holidays they found didn't even have a picture in the brochure. So I went home to do a little research and found out that all of the all inclusive holidays they had found in Majorca had gotten bad reviews, so I struck out again. Did a little more research (well Holiday surfing) before I had to stop to get ready to go out on another date with Mr X Client.

How did it go? Well as a date, it was ok, we had fun. But I seriously doubt that he's the one for me. I need a little more sophistication in a man. This guy is the traditional Cornish Yokel: which makes him very very sweet, but the sad thing is we have nothing in common to talk about. We went to the Isobar because he'd never ever been in there - how innocent is that? - and then he dropped me off home in a taxi.

Actually the highlight of the night after I started flagging at 12:30 am in the Isobar was standing in the taxi queue singing along to the tunes on my Ipod with a strange guy in his 40s..... very badly .... and very loudly.... at 1 AM singing.... Cliff Richard's "Summer Holiday". lol he probably appreciated it because he was an Emmet (what the Cornish call the Tourists). The bad singing continued all the way home in the taxi with Mr X Client, surprisingly, the driver did not throw us out. ;-)

So I'm home at 1:30 and wide awake and hunking for some intelligent male company... and Dr Daniel Jackson won out. I started watching some Stargate Episodes on DVD.

And then I was struck by a realisation.... My boss is Jack O Neil. The same irrelevant attitude .... the same reverance for authority..... the same twatisms. And the truth is that if they can actually be bothered to do something, then they can be completely brilliant, but most of the time they can't be bothered. They even have similar catchphrases Jack's is "for crying out loud", while the twat always says "it's all f****** bo*****".

Sunday morning I cycled to Marazion, singing along to my Ipod along the coastal causeway cyle path had an hour or so laying in my "grassy knoll" spot before it clouded over so I headed back to Penzance and lunch at my favourite pub. Lunch and two pints just about killed me off after the busy weekend I've had, so I was all fit to take a nap when I got home, but ended up watching Junior with Arnie on TV before I finally succombed to two hours sleep, before I woke up at 8:00 for a few hours of Dark Angel on DVD before I went to sleep properly at 11:30.

And Bank Holiday Monday? Well, I woke up, spent an hour or two holiday surfing, then took my laptop out into the garden (wireless networks are great here) surfing and sunbathing, who can beat that? and continued holiday surfin' until the battery started to die. I came in, had some lunch and continued on my pointless quest. Still can't find anything within my budget, at least not flying from Exeter. GRRR a whole day wasted. I feel cheated somehow..... and still no stitching done.

Star Wars Blogthings

Star Wars Horoscope for Cancer

You may whine at times, but you've developed a thick hard shell (like that of a crab). You are strong willed and persistent - until you get what you want. You never shy away from a fight, even when things get dangerous. Mentally sharp, you are starting to master the elements of mind manipulation. Star wars character you are most like: Luke Skywalker

What is Your Star Wars Horoscope?

I'm Luke!

Cool.

I've just had a mini rant that turned into a major one when I just wrote a review of Revenge of the Sith on my Review Blog. Can't believe how fast the time has gone this afternoon - I should be stitching.

Before you check out my review - have a look at The Amazing Yoda Sex Line Generator:

Your Amazing Yoda Sex Line

"You know, this would be a lot more fun without Frank Oz's hand up my ass."

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Stitching Slump?

How do you deal with a stitching slump?

I think these sort of things happen to us all. With me it usually happens about halfway through a project. The "new project" thrill is over, and you are a real long way away from finishing it and experiencing the "last minute" thrill of a happy dance/finish.

At the moment I'm suffering with a slump over Venice. So near and yet so far. There's very little more to do, but I seem to have very little spare time at the moment in which to stitch it in. It feels far more pleasurable to stitch on the mermaid or even Paradise Island (which I've got on my large R&R frame) attached to the Lowery is calling to me at the moment.

How I deal with the "slump" is to carry the project around with me as much as possible so that I have every possible chance to stitch on it.

Today I had to get my sewing out in the kebab shop because they messed my order up that I'd gone to collect, and had to wait while they grilled more lamb shish. Unfortunately, the best of intentions aside, it turns out I'd lost the needle that I'd been using for the project so out came Tom Mouse instead..... why didn't I use Tom Mouse's needle.... errm.... I think that's where the slump factor comes into play. Any excuse not to stitch on it because it feels like a chore rather than a pleasure. I should be stitching Venice now on my afternoon off - but instead I'm blogging!

The Purple Hand Gang

Is my scanner busted?

Perhaps it was having a funny five minutes, because I've just rebooted the PC and now it seems to be working fine. After trying to scan a magazine and getting a green preview image, which turned blue on the actual scan, I had a go at scanning my hand, hoping for green fingers... but this is what I got instead. How bizarre!!!

Five Sixth's of the Way There!

Nicole's Cattitudes Material at Step 10 - five sixth's of the way there!

Contentious Happy Dance

I just finished Contentious Cat for the Cattitudes RR. I stitched this on Nicole's fabric which is 14 count white aida. This is shaping up to be a nice piece of material, there's only two more cats to go, Crazy Cat and Curious Cat.

Instead of stitching the usual Union Jack flag for the UK, I stitched Cornwall's own flag. Before I moved here I didn't even know that Cornwall had it's own flag!

My Door... and Your Door

Jade has started doing this really cute (or silly thing - I guess it depends on which way you look at it).

Yesterday when I got home from work he was sitting outside on the grass in the garden. I picked him up and gave him a cuddle. Then I put him back down on his feet and unlocked the front door. I called him. He didn't come in the front door with me - NO! he scooted 30 feet around the side of the house to go in through the cat flap in the conservatory and then through into the kitchen that way so we met in the middle.

It's not the first time that he's done this, it seems as if it's programmed into his head, "that's your door, but my door is around here!". My landlady think's it's priceless!

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: How Many Strands?

I prefer to work with two strands of thread so I can start my sewing off with the loop method. I have stitched with three strands on 14 count aida (on the family of frogs project I did years ago), this produces a real bumpy and raised effect I'm not sure I like. I don't really like stitching with one thread because it doesn't offer enough coverage, in fact I think I'm only comfortable doing one thread on really fine counts, 18 count and above.

I hate it when you get cover kits that give you 16 count aida and then tell you to only use one strand. Quite a few of the DMC freebie kits are like that. I'm stitching another Tom Mouse Country Companions design at work during my lunch hours and this uses only one thread over 16. I don't like it. I usually ignore the instructions and stitch those kits with two strands anyway, and if I run out of thread I can usually just raid my DMC collection. That's what I did with the Canterbury Bell Fairy that I finished earlier this year.

My New Stick of Gum

I am now the proud owner of an IPod. I wanted a new MP3 player for the summer and well, ... looking at the prices of the players, the Ipods seem great value for money - storage space vs price.

I didn't expect it to be the size of a stick of gum though! I think it's little and cute, but today two people have already mistaken it for a doorbell and a hearing aid!

lol

A Weekend's Worth of Stitching

The weather was poo this weekend, rain, wind, it never really did clear up, so I stayed in all weekend and had a stitch in.

This is the progress that I made on Contentious Cat for the Cattitudes RR. I started stitching him friday night, and this is how far I got by Sunday Lunchtime when I went out for lunch.

As I stitched I watched the second half of series 2 and all of series 3 of Roswell. I felt as if my brain was starting to melt by the end, even imaginging that I had wierd alien powers myself! lol

Progress on the Queen Mermaid

A Small Accident

This is the state of my old sewing frame now. It's binworthy. How did it get that way? Well, basically, I sat on it!

It happened on Saturday night, I got up to go to the loo, on the way back found Jade laying in the hall and picked him up to give him a cuddle and started carrying him back to bed. The stitching frame was on the floor about a meter or so behind the door, and what with the door, and the cat, I sort of lost my balance as I was trying to shut the door. Because I had Jade in my arms I couldn't put my arms out to save myself, so the frame broke my fall!

Fortunately the Mermaid Queen that was attached to it is undamaged. Above is a shot of the progress I've made on it so far.

Cottage Needle Crafts

I had quite a productive Wednesday afternoon off yesterday. I went back to Hayle to pick up a prescription from a chemist, spent about two and a half hours in a couple of travel agents trying to find a cheap holiday to go away in June (didn't find anything for my budget though), and I found some local stitchers.

This happened almost by accident. I had saw an advert in a magazine that there was a cross stitch place that was advertising in Gulval. Gulval is a little village only about a mile or so outside of Penzance. I didn't remember the exact address, but Gulval is only really a few houses so I thought "how could I miss it"? Well I did. In the end I had to ask in the local post office if they knew where it was. They directed me to a row of cottages near a pub.... but no shop signs were visible... so I went and made further enquiries in the local pub. Yes it definitely was there, the last cottage in the row and they had only just started up so I figured that's why there was no signage outside.

With no trepidation I knocked on the door and asked the lady who opened it if she was called Linda and if she sold cross stitch. I was in the right place - they did - but made designs for kits only. So there was me standing on the doorstep hoping to buy DMC 798 and 799 (running out doing the sky on Venice) and it wasn't a shop - just a designers house! Ooops.

Nevertheless, they invited me inside, sat me down, made me a coffee and showed me their designs. Very cute, loads of designs based around alphabets and children. One of the designers was adapting one design on request of a customer, changing a little boy into an elderly golfer. It was interesting that Joy, the designer was doing the main part of the designing on a computer and then was stitching it up to test what it looked like in the flesh.

We talked about setting up a local stitching circle. They had run a giveaway competition in Cross Stitch Crazy a few months ago and had quite a few entries - many from local people, which surprised me, so it seems they have the contacts and the resources to get a local stitching circle off the ground. I was very pleased, I'm sure that they will be in touch. In the meantime, if you would like to look at their designs, click the icon below:

If I Could ....

I have to choose 5 and then complete the sentence, then I get to tag 3 people:

If I could be a scientist . . .
If I could be a farmer . . .
If I could be a musician . . .
If I could be a doctor . . .
If I could be a painter . . .
If I could be a gardener . . .
If I could be a missionary . . .
If I could be a chef . . .
If I could be an architect . . .
If I could be a linguist . . .
If I could be a psychologist . . .
If I could be a librarian . . .
If I could be an athlete . . .
If I could be a lawyer . . .
If I could be an inn-keeper . . .
If I could be a professor . . .
If I could be a writer . . .
If I could be a llama-rider . . .
If I could be a bonnie pirate . . .
If I could be an astronaut . . .
If I could be a world famous blogger . . .
If I could be a justice on any one court in the world . . .
If I could be married to any current famous political figure . . .

Ok, so here goes

I have to answer this one because Karen tagged me.

If I could be a scientist... I'd be an astronomer. I've always been fascinated by space ever since I was a teenager, I'm not sure now whether my interest in space grew out of science fiction or if it was the other way around the two certainly seemed to go hand in hand. I used to be an amateur astronomer and have even been to an astronomy meeting. [Geek alert]

If I could be a chef.... actually this is a career I wouldn't mind trying out. I really enjoy cooking. I remember watching Jamie Oliver's "Fifteen" a couple of years ago and wishing that I had that sort of opportunity.

If I could be a bonnie pirate .... I'd be the female pirate Anamaria who is the first mate of the Black Pearl.... just to get that close to Johnny Depp... sigh

If I could be an inn-keeper . . . I'd probably be drinking all my own profits. lol

If I could be an astronaut.... I'd be Louis Wu and go on sabbaticals in my own starship [character in Ringworld by Larry Niven for the uninitiated].

I choose to tag:

• AngelSan
• Petra
• Renee (The Blonde Librarian)

Who are all prolific bloggers and are probably guaranteed to play along ....;-)

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Chart or Kit?

Thanks to Renee for using my mini poll topic as the stitching blogger's question. I've had quite a few new extra votes on it today already because of this. I'm of the Chart! Chart! Chart! Chart! majority myself.

I actually started the poll in a huff because Heritage Stitchcraft refuse to sell the Margaret Sherry designs as chart only options in the UK - but do so freely in the US. They think the UK market "aren't ready" to chart things up themselves and want the familiarity of a pre-packed kit.

The poll's been going for 18 months now. I think it proves that we i.e. the UK market beg to differ!

Take the Poll Yourself -->

And to finish off the weekend.... how about a spot of water sking? They were doing this in the sea on the prom about 500 yards from where I live.... you've got to love Cornwall!

Fish & chips and the ever hopeful seagulls. Bloody things.....

There's something so romantic about riding a horse along the beach.....

St Michael's Mount... with a horse complete with mounted rider. There's got to be some symmetry there?

Whooops photography entry.... I was trying to take a picture of myself stitching on the dunes above the beach... using the camera's timer. As you can see, it didn't quite work!

This convenient drinks counter is The Well.

and right down to the bottom...

Oh Well

Oh Well.... The Angel Hotel in Helston has a well in it's bar. No kidding. Seriously. Here's a couple of pics I took of it.

Musical Tastes

No surprise here:

Your Taste in Music:

80's Pop: High Influence

Classic Rock: Medium Influence

80's R&B: Low Influence

80's Rock: Low Influence

Adult Alternative: Low Influence

Progressive Rock: Low Influence

How's Your Taste in Music?

Don't quite know who this lady was, apart from meeting her in the queue for the toilet in the Fitzsimmons arms, where she was, as Sean so charmingly used to put it "busting for a slash". She was very drunk and said "I shouldn't laugh because my tooth falls out" .... and well..... she laughed! lol

And now on to the best? part of the day..... the Beer Garden's of Helston "The Laaaaaaaaaady in Reeeeeed"! Oh Dear. It's going to take more than one pint before I joined in with this cat chorus.

Bad fashion sense? Velvet jogging bottoms under a summer dress??? PLEASE!

And they are past me.... but you can see just how many there were from this picture of the path on the other side of the bowling green. The line of dancers is probably about 3 times longer than this.

Dancers

Furry Dancers

Some of the dancers in posh dresses

Helston Town Band - heading up the Furry Dance

Helston's Town Council offices, all decked out in Gorse and Bluebells, just like the rest of the town.

Helson's Flora Day

Heaving Helston on Flora Day

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Internet Freebies

There were two questions posted this week, the first one - Finishing - I answered when I first joined the SBQ, here's a link to my previous posting.

The second question is:

What is your opinion of Internet Freebies?

Give me More!!!

I just love it when really popular designers like Teresa Wenzler and the Dragon Dreams lady give their designs away. It forms a way of getting to know the designer's style without any initial outlay. How many of us have stitched either Tempest in a Teacup or Stretch and then gone on to cram our stash cupboards with other TW designs? I don't think it harms the revenues of the designers in any way.

Stitching Blogger's Question of Last Week: Stitching Goals

Do you set stitching goals?

On a bit of a blog rolling posting session today! I got this week's SBQ and just realised that I've not posted last week's answer yet. So here goes:

Basically, no. I try not to because I know that I will break them. The only time I do make sure I meet my stitching goals is for Round Robins or Christmas Cards because I know that they are for someone else and they take top priority in my stitching time. Speaking of Round Robins, I really must get started on the stitching for Contentious Cat for the Cattitudes RR.

Culture Questions

I found this on Renee's German blog, who got the original idea from Cathy.... but here's the Cornish version.

What is (roughly) your daily schedule?
My alarm is set for 7:30, I rarely get up when it goes off though, just lay there for about half an hour hitting the snooze button or acutally listening to Pirate FM. I get up, get myself washed and dressed and then walk to work. I'm there usually after my scheduled leaving time of 5:30 only leaving sometimes to make sure that I get to the post box before the postman empties it at 6. When I get home I usually settle in, maybe stitching or relaxing with a drink and watch soaps, or my growing DVD box set collection. I'm working through Roswell at the moment.

What time does work begin? What time does it end?
I work from 9:00 to 5:30. Work is only about 10 minutes walk away so I can roll out of bed at about 8:30 if I have to and usually do after a heavy night the night before.

How about meal times?
I usually skip breakfast, make myself a healthy salad for lunch at work and then ruin everything by snacking out with junk food in the evening. Crisps have always been my biggest diet downfall.
Does your country go in for the afternoon rest time?
No. No siesta's here, unless you count the Cornish standing in the streets eating their pasties!

What is the predominate language spoken in your country? Are many people bi-lingual?
Can you believe that I never knew that Cornish is an actual language. I remember seeing signs in a strange language in the Weatherspoon's pub pointing out the toilets and the non-smoking areas and I thought they were in Welsh! lol. Most people don't speak Cornish though. The born and bread traditional Cornish people who can actually speak the language are a dying breed. Most of us are Emmets (non-Cornish people who have come to live here from elsewhere) and have never even heard of it.

What sports are popular in your country?
Well, if we are talking Cornwall here, it's got to be Fishing, as Newlyn is the biggest fishing port in the UK. As well as gig-racing, rugby and of course football. But then football is popular just about everywhere in the uk.

Are there supermarkets where you live?
Within walking distance there are 4 - yes 4 - Coops. Not that I particularly like the Coop, they are overpriced, but as I have to walk past three of them on my way home I have to admit that they are convenient. There is also a Lidl on the seafront, and just out of town there is a Tescos (where I usually do the mainstay of my shopping) and also a Morrisons - formerly Safeways. Actually it still says Safeways when you drive past (- they haven't got around to changing the sign yet since the takeover).

Who are the real-life heros in your country?
I don't know of any Cornish heros - except maybe Ellen MacArthur - the woman from Falmouth who single-handedly sailed around the world. Bad Tsunami Joke Alert: Ellen MacArthur wasn't the first past the finish line - she was beaten by a Sri-Lankan fisher man on a log.

Is there a day you celebrate your country? What is the celebration like?
I posted recently about Trevithick Day in Camborne last weekend. Next weekend is Flora Day in Helston, which I'm going to. Later in June there's some sort of WWII celebrations in Penzance and then there's the Newlyn Fish Festival in July or August. I'll let you know what the others are like on this blog.

The Queen Mermaid - WIP2

Traffic Chaos

http://62.49.17.87:8100/popup.html

Here's a handy web cam focusing on the absolute traffic chaos outside my office this morning.

The prats in the yellow jerseys have been digging up the street for over a month now, and now they are laying fresh tarmac to cover up all their holes. Do they divert the traffic to do this. Of course not. That would be the sensible thing, so you have traffic going up the road, buses taxies and delivery vans trying to get down and all the while there's this big hunking steamroller stuck in the way. Oh My God!

With my sprained wrist, I can't exactly do much work today, so I'm sitting back and enjoying the chaos ;-)

Venice - final WIP?

The Sprained Stitcher

On Bank Holiday Monday I went to Gwithian Beach to try and get a little more sun. There were gaps in the clouds, but mostly it was clouded over again. It was very windy on the Towans (the huge sand dune hilltops), but down on the beach you are sheltered from the wind by the cliffs and the rocks so it was quite nice down there with just the occasional breeze.

I did some stitching on Venice while I was there. I'm getting near the end of this now (I took a progress pic and posted that on my blog this morning). I decided to eat the prawns that I had packed as a packed lunch about 3 o clock. They still had their shells on so by the time I'd finished with them my hands were all fishy, so I decided to go and wash them in the sea. Bad idea. I slipped off the bottom of the rocks and landed half on the rocks and half on the sand and of course on my ass (again). As I came down I put my hand out to stop my fall and heard a "snap" sound. Ooops. So that's how I sprained my wrist.

It's not too bad though now, I've had a support bandage on today and while I can't lift anything heavy, (I can't even use the stapler using it), I can still just about stitch.

The Park Bench

By Sunday, you can probably imagine that I felt almost dead! I still didn't want to waste the whole day in bed, so I got the bus to Marazion and tried to sunbathe in the sand dunes above the beach. Unfortunately the sun went in after about half an hour so I went back to Penzance and had a walk around the promenade and through the tropical gardens. I nearly fell asleep on a park bench in the garden, so I went home. I was sitting on my sofa watching Casualty that I had taped the night before and I couldn't keep my eyes open so I went and had a lay down on the bed and went to sleep for 3 hours. I woke up about 7.30, and decided to get undressed and go back to sleep. I slept till 6:00 am, but I guess I must have needed it.

Bagpuss Goes Nightclubbing

Yes, this is the bag I wore in the nightclub. One way to get attention. Everyone kept tweaking and squeezing him.

Lots of people love this bag. When I put it on the counter to get my purse out of him to pay for things in shops he's usually admired. I got him on Ebay!

Camborne's Trevithick Day

Still feeling a bit hung over from the night before, I got the bus at lunchtime to Camborne for Trevithick Day. I was amazed how busy it was, it seemed like all of Cornwall was out in the streets with a street festival stalls and fast food vendors.

I decided to go and sit in Wimpy's and have some food before I started drinking again. Wimpy's was really busy, it took them about 15 minutes before they even got around to taking my order. Then the food arrived (burger and chips) which I scoffed down and had finished and they still hadn't delivered my drink order. I went up to the counter, gave them the money for the burger and chips and told them to forget the drink. I mean, how long does it take you to pour a cup of coke out, no matter how busy they are!!!

There was a parade of steam engines through the streets of Camborne. I did see most of these as they went past as I was in the nearest pub. Yep drinking again!!! I met up with Hayley from work and also bumped into my boss again. He was able to shed some light on the sore arm.... it was bruised by the girl who yanked me up! We had a good laugh and I got to meet quite few of Hayley's friends. So we stayed in Camborne till about 8 and then got some friends to drive us to St Ives.

We started going around the pubs there, until we reached a bar on the seafront called "The Hub". There's this huge bartender in there he must be getting on for 7'. It has to be seen to be believed. Hayley quailed at this point and decided to get a taxi home. So I stayed out with Hayley's friend Caroline, and we went to the Isobar. As we got there early, we didn't have to pay the £5 on the door price to get in either, we'll have to remember that one for the future!

Anyway, there was me on Saturday night, dancing with Bagpuss on my back. Yes, I have a bagpuss bag. Everyone kept tweaking him! lol I ended up losing Caroline and danced with some guy from Bath who liked bagpuss. He bought me a couple of drinks and then I told him I was going to the loo and left and got a taxi home. I guess he'll always remember me now as the bagpuss-heartbreaker! lol ;-)

Steam Engine pics borrowed from: http://www.trevithick-day.org.uk/