Things to Finish Finish part 2

 Here are my Halloween finishes that need to be finished...

To be finished as a backed picutre

To be professionally framed

To be professionally framed

To be finished as a backed picture

To be professionally framed

To be finished as a treat bag

To be professionally framed

Things to Finish Finish part 1

 So I thought I'd add pictures of everything I've currently finished that's living in a box waiting  to be properly finished.  I'll have to group them as there's a lot!

Here are my Christmas finishes (there are a lot due to my love of the festive season!).

This one I might finish as a treat bag

This one needs a carrot nose adding.  I might finish as a backed picture.

This one will probably end up as an ornament 

Not sure yet what I'll do with this one

This one I hope to make into a cushion cover

This will probably end up as a backed picture

Hopefully a flat fold with my other Michael Powell designs

Probably a backed picture

Either a flat fold or a backed picture

Not sure yet what this might turn into

A flat fold finish awaits this one

Not sure what this will end up as.

Definitely a flat fold finish

Third snow globe from Bent Creek - still not sure what to do with them

Finished as an ornament

I'm thinking backed picture for this one too.

WIPocalypse

 So I need to get some of these projects off my WIP list.  Looking back at my old blog posts shows that some of my WIPs have been hanging around a VERY long time.

So, in the name of WIPocalypse, I intend to get as many of these finished as I possibly can.  I'd like to say no new starts but I know myself well enough to realise this is impossible so I'm going to try and go with one new small start allowed after five WIPs are busted.  This doesn't include Christmas ornaments.

So, a definitive 41 WIP list (with dates for those that I can find in the archives...)

Alphabet Fun - Bothy Threads
Aster's Amazing Adventures - Fuzzy Fox Designs
Bag End
Baubles - SamSarah
Be Attitudes Afghan (2007) - Shepherd's Bush
Busy Bees Stitching Tray - Shepherd's Bush
Celestial Dragon - Theresa Wentzler
Christmas Eve - SamSarah Designs
Coeur de Brodeuse (2007) - Tournicoton
Cows Afghan - Free charts
Counting Bats (2011) - Just Nan
Cut Thru Haunted House - Bothy Threads
Cut Thru Pirate Ship - Bothy Threads
Dear Santa Afghan (2007) - Margaret Sherry
Dear Santa, I've Been Very Good - Lizzie*Kate - finished 19.02.24
Dragon Virtues Afghan (2007) - Dragon Dreams
Handmade Houses Archway - Michael Powell
Hot Stuff (2011) - DebBees Designs
Love Tree - Bothy Threads
Making Friends - Just Nan
Merry Christmas by the Letter - Lizzie*Kate
Midnight Hunting - Dracolair
Mini Greek Island - Michael Powell
Murky Manor - Glendon Place
Owl Fun - Bothy Threads
Perpetual Calendar -
Puffin Party - Hands on Designs
Row of Christmas Fairies (2007) - Bothy Threads
Santa - Heritage Stitchcraft
Santa Clothes - Raise the Rook Designs (completed 25/11/23)
Scissors by Any Other Name - Cat's Whiskers
Seaside Tiny Town - Heart in Hand
Six Fat Men - Lizzie*Kate
Sixteen Sided Biscornu - Sue Hawkins
Sleigh Ride (2007) - Dimensions
Thine is the Trick and the Treat (2011) - Prairie Moon
Totally Whaled It - Durene Jones
Trade Winds (2007) - Theresa Wentzler
Very Scary - Lizzie*Kate
Wally the Walrus - Hands on Designs
Witches Hollow - The Primitive Needle

My first focus projects will be Sleigh Ride and Santa Clothes

101 things in 1001 days.

 I'm not expecting anyone to read this - after all, it has been several years since I posted anything here.  However, I saw this on someone else's blog and it reminded me that I'd once tried this out.  Digging around I discovered it was actually in 2006!

So I'm going to give it another go because you never know, it might make me more focused on goals I'm already thinking about.  Plus it could be fun right?

The idea is what it says on the tin, you have 1001 days to complete 101 goals (it was a blogging thing back in 2006).  I've also been looking at my WIPocalyse posts from back then and am ashamed to say that several of my WIPs are still lingering in their bags.  Oh well, here's a chance to get some more things done...

Items marked * were on my first list... 

Some items are shamelessly stolen from Erin's blog post that kicked this off for me.

Begin Date:  1st November 2023

End Date: 29th July 2026

Personal

1. Weigh at least 50 lbs less on day 1001 than on day 1*
2. Manage 5,000 steps a day and 10,000 twice a month
3. Visit a spa*
4. Find an old friend I've lost touch with*
5. See as many friends face to face as often as I can
6. Learn 50 new words*
7. Have a facial*
8. Tell someone I love them at least once a day
9. Try out pilates
10. Get my nose pierced

Entertainment and Leisure

11. Watch 5 new to me TV shows - Shetland
12. See 101 new-to-me movies (new or old releases); Current total: 0/101
13. Watch 26 new-to-me movies, one starting with each letter of the alphabet (can count towards the 101)
14. Watch a new-to-me movie from each decade, starting in 1920 (can count towards the 101)
15. Complete the Ultimate Reading Challenge list of 50 books; Current total: 1/50
16. Read every day
17. Read at least 150 of the unread books I have in the house and pass them on
18. Throw a party
19. Go for a walk at midnight
20. Try an activity I've never done before
21. Spend a night away somewhere new on my own
22. Learn more Greek*

Crafting
23. Learn to crochet*
24. Stay on the stash wagon
25. Make one hardanger project
26. Make one beading project
27. Make six stitched Christmas ornaments (stitched and finished)*
28. Make a scrapbook of Lia's baby years*
29. Make a scrapbook of Connors baby years
30. Make the scrapbook of our America holiday
31. Finish finish at least 15 of my completed cross stitches
32. Decrease my cross stitch projects by at least 20*
33. Properly catalogue my WIPs
34. Properly catalogue my stitching stash
35. Take a course on framing*
36. Take another jewellery course
37. Organise all my photos and begin creating scrapbooks (non-children related)
38. Learn to juggle*
39. Build a wooden ship*
40. Complete at least 10 WIPs
41. Complete Sleigh Ride
42. Complete Midnight Hunting
43. Complete Celestial Dragon
44. Get Sleigh Ride, Midnight Hunting and Celestial Dragon professionally framed.
45. Complete my outstanding quilting WIPs
46. Make ten bags
47. Make the Bionic Gear Bag
48. Finish at least 50 Rainbow June Quilt blocks
49. Complete Connor's birthday quilt
50. Make Sam's study

Travel
51. Go to Italy
52. Visit the remodelled Battersea Power Station
53. Spend a long weekend away somewhere we've never been
56. Go to Wales
57. Visit Ireland and the Giant's Causeway
58. Visit Scotland
59. Visit a country I've never been to before (that's not Italy)
60. Visit a place in England I have never been before

Health
61. Eat 5 fruits or vegetables a day 
62. Cook a new recipe at least once a month
63. Write my recipes down in a book
64. Learn to make Creme Brulee*
65. Go for a half an hour walk at least three times a week
70. Have a foot spa twice a month
71. Fix up my bike and ride it at least once a week 
74. Not eat out / take aways more than once a month
75. Go walking somewhere in the countryside at least once a month

Financial and Personal Info
76. Re-write my Will
77. Organise all our financial information and make sure at least two people have copies
78. Organise life insurance
79. Organise power of attorney
80. Sort the paperwork
81. File every month
82. Organise our pension information

De-Clutter
83. Clear out my wardrobe and donate old stuff to charity
84. Tidy a part of the house once a week and declutter
85. Throw at least one item of junk out a week (or donate it to charity)
86. Clear out the loft
87. Clear out the garage

Miscellaneous
88. Clear up the garden
89. Spend more time in the garden
90. Blog about each 101 item when they're completed
91. Create a WIPocalyse list and stick to it
92. Recycle more*
93. Create a crafting weekly rota and craft every day
94. Back up all my photos
95. Organise the home office into something less resembling a bomb site
96. Have a family portrait taken
97. Walk to work more often than not
98. Use up what I have before buying more - especially creams and lotions.
99. Use up enough wax melts that I can keep what I have just in one basket!

100. Take pictures of all my 101
101. Start a new 101 list when this one is finished

Day 3

So, strange times lead to strange actions. 

We're not wanting to stockpile but we do need food for the four of us which led to the decision that the daughter and I would get up early and make another attempt to find carbs. 

Cue alarm at 5am.

I'd asked the husband if there was anything else We needed and he'd announced I should get got cross buns. Glad someone has his priorities right...

We headed to the biggest supermarket in the area, arriving ten minutes before opening to large queue.  It was very British though, calm queuing and nobody pushing in.

Daughter and I had agreed to divide and conquer.  I'd go for hand soap and she'd go for pasta (she's younger and the pasta is the other end of the store 😁).

Turns out we can queue nicely as a nation but we can't shop nicely when we get in.  She got a couple of bags of pasta and then had to fend off adults who were trying to pull the bags out of her arms.  Luckily she's not easily intimidated and hung on to what an had. 

She was stunned by the behaviour though, nothing she'd imagined could happen. 

Next we moved into hot cross buns and the relief was palpable when we discovered the hoards were still fighting over pasta and we had a clear run through the bread aisle.  The biggest bag of rice ever completed our purchasing and we escaped the shop in under half and hour.

Slight concern in the car park we might be mugged for the rice but we had each other's back and got the goods in the car without incident.  Hunter gatherers home safe and triumphant before 7am.

What a world we currently live in...

The morning passed without incident but then a first world incident crashed around my ear at lunchtime due to the lack of pesto in the house!  Unbelievably the thoughts of basic staple food items had pushed aside my requirements for pesto for my favourite lunch (home made bruschetta).

Luckily the kids saved the day with a quick trip to the local store and equilibrium was restored, pesto was located and purchased 😂😂.

The stress took its toll though and the exhaustion of an early morning and the thought of a pesto free lunch led to an afternoon nap whilst the son did his lessons 😉😉.

Being on day 4!

Home bound Day 2

So staying home turns out to be tricky when the girl needs her art supplies from school given the announcement that schools are to close from tomorrow and nobody knows how long for.

She's year 10 which means she's in her first year of GCSEs.  Course work and learning are paramount so getting her art books was essential.

Lessons began at the school in the home and the boy was kept busy.  The girlchowver, didn't get out of bed until 11:50 when I dispatched the son to check up on her.  Apparently me telling her to not have her alarm on at 6:30 am equated to her not having an alarm at all and being able to sleep all morning...

We had a home shopping delivery booked for 5:00pm so we were hopeful of pasta and rice.  Delivery showed up at 2:45 without carbs and many other items.  Not only that, the shouts for the daughter to help unload located her as in the bath.  Not sure this home learning thing is going quite to plan...

Home bound Day 1

So the teenage daughter who moans anything to school pretty much every day is now moaning that she can't go to school. Apparently, this is the end of the world.

She and I headed out early this morning due to the fact that we had no carbs or toilet roll in the house. Apparently this is just ridiculous and it's dumb that the only thing she'll have to tell her kids about Corona is that she missed school and there was no lol roll.

I pointed out that this would be the best outcome of a global pandemic in the long run but apparently that's not a good enough reason to cheer up at 7am.I

The supermarket was interesting.  We located toilet roll and potatoes but no pasta or rice. We picked up some meat and fresh fruit too without too much bother and then headed out on the road to another store, on that is bulk buying.

Unsurorisinly, no toilet roll (we're smug, we have that), no pasta and no rice.  We did however but a box of crisps for each of us and beer for the husband.  Stocking up on essentials.

Home to the boys as the husband is working from home indefintely and the boy is, as mentioned, coughing.  He's also bored and demanding maths to do.  Luckily, being a teacher I'm equipped for that and have more than enough maths to give him.

Son quickly regrets asking for maths to do...

So it's been a long time coing...

So, six years of silence s a pretty long time.  Many many things have happened including may kids growing up (I'm loving the washing line pics as they're now 14 and almost 10).

I've thought about posting a hundred times but have never had the time of energy as I've been a full time teacher for the last six years and it's not a job that leaves a lot of spare time.

Until now.. Right now we're self isolating as the smaller child has a cough.

And given we love in very interesting times I thought documenting our trip through them would be something to look back on.

The Flock progress

So I've not stitched too much this month so far but this is the progress I had made on The Flock since the beginning of the year...

From this:

To this:

However I'm so useless at getting things posted that I've made more progress than the above picture, the little bird at the bottom is done as is another bird opposite him and more branches and leaves.  I guess I just need to take another picture...

A Quilt Finish

A colleague at work's wife recently had a baby, their second miracle child and we wanted to mark the arrival with something special (their first was born just before the school opened).

It was suggested that everyone contribute a square for a quilt - to make it simple I provided everyone with a 7" white square that they had to give back decorated in whatever way they wished.  Some ironed on patches, some appliqued designs, some used fabric paints to draw/write and one got her gran to teach her to cross stitch so she could do her square.

I then took them home, bordered them and made them up into a quilt.  Here's the result...

I also had some lovely fabric in my stash that worked for backing fabric:

All in all I'm pleased.  I'm never that comfortable layering and quilting a large quilt (the blocks on this one ar 10" square) as it's a real battle with my pretty basic Brother machine but it's the thought that counts and I know that they're going to love the finished result.

We should be getting a visit from Hayden and his parents tomorrow on his 2 week birthday so it's finished in the nick of time.

March Goals

1.  Make at least one blind for the house

2.  Make at least one cushion cover for the house

3.  Make some bunting for Lia's room

4.  Blog more

5. Take pics of my WIPs and finishes in order to have something to write for goal 4.

6. Read at least 5 books

7. Make an effort to journal more

8. Work on at least 2 WIPs

9. Have a stitchy finish this month

10. Get some pictures/photos on the walls of the new house which are depressingly bare and bland.

February Review

So my goals for Feb were:

1. Finish tidying and organising the craft room - I made a good go at this although I'm sure it's always going to be a WIP but at least there is a semblance of organisation now.

2. Get the christmas decorations into the loft (which requires DH to put down some loft boards first) - done!

3. Likewise get the suitcases into the loft which will free up cupboard space - done!

4. Make a baby quilt for a work colleague (this is a must, rather than a want) - done!

5. Make at least one blind for the house - fail

6. Make at least one cushion cover for the house - fail

7. Start my journal - done but not convincingly

8. Empty at least four more boxes from the move - done!

9. Stitch on two wips - done!

10. Kit up some stitchy ornaments  - half done.  I went through my ornament mags and identified those I want to do but I haven't kitted anything up yet.

So I...

Stitched on:

New Starts:
Spooky Stitches Bag

WIPs:
The Flock
Birdz and Bugz

I Finished:
Spooky Stitches Bag

Books Read:
Shadowing the Sun - Lily Dunn
The Long Way Home - Audrey Howard
Fablehaven Books 1-5 - Brandon Mull
Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
The Wish List - Jane Costello
The State We're In - Adele Parks
One Hundred Names - Cecelia Ahern
The Italian Affair - Susan Lewis

All in all not a bad month.  I read 12 books!  Seriously.  12!  I'm happy with my stitching progress but annoyed I didn't get any proper sewing done.  In my defence the end of the month has snuck up on me due to Feb being so short.  I intend to do much better in March.

February Goals

So it's month 2 of 2014 and I have plans.  January was super-busy and we barely had enough time to keep up with the day-to-day let alone to add in extras.  Hopefully February will be the opposite as we have very little planned and therefore time to get on with things.  My list of 'want to get dones' is as follows:

1. Finish tidying and organising the craft room.

2. Get the christmas decorations into the loft (which requires DH to put down some loft boards first)

3. Likewise get the suitcases into the loft which will free up cupboard space.

4. Make a baby quilt for a work colleague (this is a must, rather than a want).

5. Make at least one blind for the house

6. Make at least one cushion cover for the house

7. Start my journal

8. Empty at least four more boxes from the move

9. Stitch on two wips

10. Kit up some stitchy ornaments

January Review

So it's the end of January and I'm still here, just a bit quieter than the beginning of the month as work has been busy.  I have been managing some stitching though and even had a new start which I need to get a picture of to post.  It's Owl Fun by Bothy Threads.

Something I have managed to do quite a bit of this month is read - I've finished 8 books!

WIPs stitched on:
Needlecase
The Flock

New starts:
Owl Fun - Bothy Threads

Books read:
Alice Bliss - Laura Harrington
West End Girls - Jenny Colgan
Sheltering Rain - Jojo Moyes
The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion
The Alchemists Daughter - Katherine McMahon
The Red House - Mark Haddon
Here's Looking at You - Mhairi McFarlane
Tideline - Penny Hancock

I'm loving Shelfari!

Thanks Kaisievic!

I can now tell you that other than the current book I am reading I have 111 books in my to read pile.  So less than I thought (I did get through quite a few towards the end of last year).

I'm hoping I can reduce that by half during this year although I've learned from past experience not to put any trust in life working out how I want it LOL.

The Rosie Project

It has to be said that there's nothing like packing your entire life into boxes to make you aware of just how much 'stuff' you own.  Our house move at the end of last year brought my stashaholic tendencies into sharp focus in many forms - books, cross stitch, fabric, papercrafting, shoes, bags, clothes.  Even smaller items like ribbon - I have an entire box full of ribbon that I bought purely because it was pretty, not because I had a hundred projects lined up that required the stuff.

We both did so much de-cluttering before the move.  We got rid of over 250 DVDs, around 100 books, furniture, clothes, kids stuff (cot, pram, stroller, high chair - it's not like we'd ever planned a third child, just been too lazy to get rid), junk we'd just chucked in the garage and forgotten about, you name it, we probably had it.

The thing is though, I still have way too much stuff.  Especially books (and ribbon but that's a matter for another post LOL).  I must have around 150 books I haven't read although I'm not brave enough to actually count.  And this is on top of the several hundred I have that I have no intention of getting rid of because I read them again and again or they hold a special place in my stashaholic mind (ie my large collection of Hollywood biographies, Monkees items and Monty Python related books).

My biggest problem is lack of space.  I've acquired two additional bookcases in the new house but that's clearly not enough as I've still got three boxes left to unpack and very little usable space left despite having double layered on some shelves.  Clearly my biggest win is going to be to read the aforementioned unread books and then remove them from the house.  Unfortunately this will be a relatively slow procedure given all the other demands on my time but I have decided to try and focus on this job over this year and also keep track of how many books I actually finish.  I have attempted this before but given up around April-time but hopefully I'll manage it this year.

Which brings me to the title of this blog post.  I have just finished my fourth book of the year which is The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion.  I had never heard of this book before spying it in a shop and I purchased it purely because I had a discount voucher on a multibuy of books and it sounded good when I read the blurb.

I have to say I loved the book and have devoured it over the last 48 hours.  It's an unconventional love story told by protagonist Don Tillman, a 39 year old geneticist who has never had a second date.  He devises The Wife Project which is a scientific test to find him the perfect partner and things then get interesting. 

I don't want to spoil the book although I have to say the outcome is kind of predictable but the ride to get there is a damn good one!  It's a new book - published last year, the first by this author and it's already being turned into a film (which I may not bother watching on the basis that they'll probably ruin it LOL).  So if you're looking for a good read and spot it in the shop I definitely recommend you pick it up.

Alphabet Fun WIP

This one is a Bothy Threads design I picked up at Olympia two years ago.  I was convinced that it was only last year I went but have to accept that time really has flown by so fast that it was that far back LOL.

Cottage Garden 2 WIP

Yet another from the pile, this is Cottage Garden 2 and, of course, the designer is Michael Powell.  I picked this one up last summer and got quite a significant amount done as you can see from the old WIP picture to my current:

This was how I picked it up (apologies fot the horrible dark picture):

This is how it stands now:

The Flock WIP - progress report

So I have been stitching this last week and I have some nice progress to show on The Flock from SamSarah.  Here's where I was with it:

and here's the current status:

I'm working on the last chart of the top row, if you're not familiar with the design it was a 12 part release and parts 1 - 8 form this top two thirds of the design - the rhs border is a couple of stitches on from the leaf on the right.  Parts 9 - 12 go across the bottom with some smaller birds, leaves and the rest of the saying.

Yet another WIP

So I guess part of cataloguing my WIPs is posting them all here.  I'm doing them individually so I can better keep track of them but I'm sure at some point I'll just upload a bunch of them through boredom LOL.

Here's A Scissor by and other Name from The Cat's Whiskers.  I've gone a bit bonkers with the colours but I love them.  I've had this piece of sparkly yellow fabric for a long time (I'm pretty sure it's one I dyed myself) and love it but struggled to find a project to use it on.  Once I started with the fabric I then raided my relatively small stash of threads and picked some nice bright reds and oranges to go with it.

As you can see from the picture it's quite tight on space to get the design on the fabric but I have just about enough room...