Now is the last hour of January 2008, which is distinctly weird. This month has gone so fast!
I wish I could show you photos, I'd dearly love to. Unfortunately my sister has managed to lose the camera charger, and I can't take any! When I can, I'll upload them. Instead, I'll tell you my progress, which I know isn't as good but it'll have to do.
Well, I've almost finished page 1 of Peaceful Paradise (shock, horror - Kyrie's still managing to stick to one project!). I've sort of been working on two pages at once, but mostly on page 1, though more than half of page 2 is done too! All that's left to do on page one is to finish the word I'm currently stitching (righteousness), and fill in more of the sunny sky. Which is all pale blue, and very tedious, but oh well. It uses an incredible amount of floss! On the upside, it looks FANTASTIC. I estimate about 800 stitches left of the blue, but at least soon I'll have to do some counting so that I leave the outline of the sun's rays, which I'll fill in with the whiskey floss when I get it. Counting is good for breaking up tedium. The borders are in for this section half the central border is done, the top border for this side is totally done, and the side border is done to just below the bottom of the first page. So all in all, I've got a lot of the tedious bits done quicker than I would have expected. I just didn't expect the sky to be quite this tedious! These top bits are the only real 'block' stitching to be done, though there's quite a bit of grass to be filled in down the bottom scene, and the rest should go quite quickly - the writing really takes no time at all to fill in and it's good fun!
Sally asked about the loukoumia (turkish delight). Well, it was good, just sticky sweet. It's grown a hard layer on the top, but I think I'll cut that off and it should still be good. Still got half a pan left! Next time I make this, I'll make it before a Thursday or Sunday so that I'll have a mass of willing volunteers to gift the extra that I won't eat - Thursday night is my youth fellowship/bible study/group madness, and Sunday of course is Church. I'll just have to do it soon, Lent starts in March - eep. Sometime before March I need to get someone to teach me how to make fassolia, which is wonderful - beans in tomato and celery soup. YUM.
Other than that life is slow. It passes, day by day, but I've been sick for the past week. I'm not exactly sure why, but I have suspicions that it's my medication's fault. And I'm thinking of picking up a couple subjects Open Access (correspondence) because though I can't make it to school, I have a couple hours in the evenings when my brain is working, and I might be able to do some work then...work towards getting my SACE (A-levels, high school certificate, etc). Sounds good? I thought so.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Happy Australia day
Well it was Saturday, but today's the holiday. I'm still here, but I've been really really sick, so it's not really been that practical. Yesterday I went to get up and get dressed for Church...and couldn't make my brain think enough to figure out how to get dressed. At which Troy saw me in my pyjamas and sent me back to bed! So I've been stitching a little, and resting a lot.
I'm going to take a photo of Peaceful Paradise soon, with lots more work done on it, and I've made it all the way to the edge now on the left side, and the top border too. Slowly but surely I'm filling in the top section, and it's good fun. I haven't got the Whiskey thread yet, it's backordered but I should get it soon enough and in the meantime I'm just working on everything else. I've decided to work more or less page by page, because working across pages just gets confusing. The colours in this are so rich, and it's so much fun - I'm enjoying it thoroughly.
I've also been trying my hand at designing! Nothing complex though. My friend Jo, or Ιωάννα as it is in Greek, had her name day on the 7th - the feast of St John the Baptist (her name translates to Joanna, or John) and I haven't seen her since, so have got away with having a late name day present. So, I'm making my first biscornu! I have a feeling these will be addictive... anyway, I raided my fabric stash and found a piece of 28ct Toitoi (by countrystitch) and some Noosa Dinky Dyes silk. I'm stitching an Iota (Ι) on the diagonal on one half of the biscornu, and a J on the other - greek and english initials. It looked plain, so I added a backstitched heart in natural silk...which looked wrong...so i filled it in with satin stitches, and realised that it looked a bit clamshell-ish. A few threads more, it looked like a clamshell, and it matches the seagreen well. So I'm having fun, and thinking about a starfish or two on the bottom, or something...we will see. Hopefully she'll like it!
So I'm off to a bbq for Australia Day, and will take my embroidery - to be kept OUT of the way of tomato sauce, of course ;) Have fun, all!
I'm going to take a photo of Peaceful Paradise soon, with lots more work done on it, and I've made it all the way to the edge now on the left side, and the top border too. Slowly but surely I'm filling in the top section, and it's good fun. I haven't got the Whiskey thread yet, it's backordered but I should get it soon enough and in the meantime I'm just working on everything else. I've decided to work more or less page by page, because working across pages just gets confusing. The colours in this are so rich, and it's so much fun - I'm enjoying it thoroughly.
I've also been trying my hand at designing! Nothing complex though. My friend Jo, or Ιωάννα as it is in Greek, had her name day on the 7th - the feast of St John the Baptist (her name translates to Joanna, or John) and I haven't seen her since, so have got away with having a late name day present. So, I'm making my first biscornu! I have a feeling these will be addictive... anyway, I raided my fabric stash and found a piece of 28ct Toitoi (by countrystitch) and some Noosa Dinky Dyes silk. I'm stitching an Iota (Ι) on the diagonal on one half of the biscornu, and a J on the other - greek and english initials. It looked plain, so I added a backstitched heart in natural silk...which looked wrong...so i filled it in with satin stitches, and realised that it looked a bit clamshell-ish. A few threads more, it looked like a clamshell, and it matches the seagreen well. So I'm having fun, and thinking about a starfish or two on the bottom, or something...we will see. Hopefully she'll like it!
So I'm off to a bbq for Australia Day, and will take my embroidery - to be kept OUT of the way of tomato sauce, of course ;) Have fun, all!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Peaceful Paradise and loukoumia
Well...photos again. I'm not all that well, so it won't be a hugely wordy post, but you can have photos instead.
Here is what I cooked earlier tonight - loukoumia (aka turkish delight but DON'T call it that around the greeks!) which I found a recipe for cooking in the microwave - go figure :)
Okay ;) That is the before pic, all the ingredients. The loukoumia itself is in the fridge, hopefully it will turn out good!
and here is Peaceful Paradise after the Sampler SAL. I've worked on it lots today, but you'll get a new photo next Monday, unless I complete a section or something.
I'm missing the WDW Whiskey for the sun rays, angel wings and halo, and some of the lettering - God willing I'll get it soon.
Since this photo was taken there's a lot more of the sky done, along with the lettering for the first three lines finished, and I've started the border down the side. So boring, but it's satisfying to look at the progress. I've also started the next line, which has an ornament under it - yay, something new to stitch! It's a flower with a green background and it looks like fun.
Otherwise I have just been practicing my greek, which I've sorted into proper notebooks, and sleeping. And driving a little. Life goes on.
Here is what I cooked earlier tonight - loukoumia (aka turkish delight but DON'T call it that around the greeks!) which I found a recipe for cooking in the microwave - go figure :)
Okay ;) That is the before pic, all the ingredients. The loukoumia itself is in the fridge, hopefully it will turn out good!
and here is Peaceful Paradise after the Sampler SAL. I've worked on it lots today, but you'll get a new photo next Monday, unless I complete a section or something.
I'm missing the WDW Whiskey for the sun rays, angel wings and halo, and some of the lettering - God willing I'll get it soon.
Since this photo was taken there's a lot more of the sky done, along with the lettering for the first three lines finished, and I've started the border down the side. So boring, but it's satisfying to look at the progress. I've also started the next line, which has an ornament under it - yay, something new to stitch! It's a flower with a green background and it looks like fun.
Otherwise I have just been practicing my greek, which I've sorted into proper notebooks, and sleeping. And driving a little. Life goes on.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Home
Yep, I'm home. And sometime soon I'll take photos of everything.
The trip home was uneventful, I drove for 95min (1.5ish hours towards my total of 50 needed for my next license level), we ate some yummy food, totally failed to find a bakery in Pt Augusta, and I got quite a bit of stitching done, all on Peaceful Paradise.
I haven't got my stand set up yet, but it'll happen soon - it's just nice to be home and in my living room again. So much to catch up on the internet too.
We're watching the Hewitt/Jokavic game on tv too, and it's quite fun. GO AUSSIE :)
Here are some random photos for you:
This street is named for my family (small towns are like that) and it amused me.
These are the gates at the Lutheran church, Trinity symbols - I've always loved these gates.
And this is my Dad's hometown. Yep, that's the town. There are two houses (not pictured, they're not seeable from the sign at this viewpoint) but they are old and falling down, and mostly it's just scrub!
The trip home was uneventful, I drove for 95min (1.5ish hours towards my total of 50 needed for my next license level), we ate some yummy food, totally failed to find a bakery in Pt Augusta, and I got quite a bit of stitching done, all on Peaceful Paradise.
I haven't got my stand set up yet, but it'll happen soon - it's just nice to be home and in my living room again. So much to catch up on the internet too.
We're watching the Hewitt/Jokavic game on tv too, and it's quite fun. GO AUSSIE :)
Here are some random photos for you:
This street is named for my family (small towns are like that) and it amused me.
These are the gates at the Lutheran church, Trinity symbols - I've always loved these gates.
And this is my Dad's hometown. Yep, that's the town. There are two houses (not pictured, they're not seeable from the sign at this viewpoint) but they are old and falling down, and mostly it's just scrub!
Saturday, January 19, 2008
FROG!
Hello everyone.
Well, life has followed the usual Tumby pattern. Mostly I've slept in in the morning (but not as much as at home), had more cups of tea than I'd have in a week each day, had lots of quiet time and done a lot of stitching. Peaceful Paradise is growing rapidly and looks stunning, and is so much fun to stitch. I never realised that these kinds of pieces could be so fun! I'm loving stitching 1x2 on 40ct too, I hope I can find another piece to do this with.
I have a picture of PP but it is on the camera, and it's from Thursday night as the Sampler Challenge SAL started this weekend on the HAED BB. But, I will show the photo of my progress soon enough. I'll be back home soon! Fast internet, and my camera, and...yay. I've found myself mostly stitching right-way-up when I'm out of the house and leaning the frame on a table or something, and stitching upside-down when I'm at the house with my stand, as I'm working on the very top and this involves less reaching, much to the amusement of my family. Turning it right way up to take it out is always great, I get this lovely surprise of how it looks. The first two lines of text in Psalm 23 are basically done, the sun has most of one colour (of two) done, and i've been filling in lots of sky...oh and border, but border is boring. Evil border of DOOM.
Anyway, I have a photo of my fairykin and her frog, so here you are - this is taken just after the Challenge SAL (again on the HAED BB) and it is after 11 rows (16,500 stitches). Fairy is basically done, and froggy's eye GLOWS.
So, I'll end this - there's nothing much else to say, except that we went to Pt Lincoln (the closest thing to a large town that there is over here) shopping yesterday, for practical things (like my nana's carpet) but I also bought two new pairs of pyjamas, as I have killed my summer pairs, and Target not only had them cheap because of end of season, but they had a big sale on . Yay!
I think the two pairs cost about $20-$30 total, and they're really nice. We grabbed two pairs of the cheapest kind for my sister, too, because they're not bad-cheap and very cute, and she kill pyjamas even more than I do (lifespan is about six months, tops) and they were $4 a set. YAY!
Oh and I got new bathers (cossie, bathing suits, swimming trunks...) today - a black tankini with green design on it. Very cool.
Well, life has followed the usual Tumby pattern. Mostly I've slept in in the morning (but not as much as at home), had more cups of tea than I'd have in a week each day, had lots of quiet time and done a lot of stitching. Peaceful Paradise is growing rapidly and looks stunning, and is so much fun to stitch. I never realised that these kinds of pieces could be so fun! I'm loving stitching 1x2 on 40ct too, I hope I can find another piece to do this with.
I have a picture of PP but it is on the camera, and it's from Thursday night as the Sampler Challenge SAL started this weekend on the HAED BB. But, I will show the photo of my progress soon enough. I'll be back home soon! Fast internet, and my camera, and...yay. I've found myself mostly stitching right-way-up when I'm out of the house and leaning the frame on a table or something, and stitching upside-down when I'm at the house with my stand, as I'm working on the very top and this involves less reaching, much to the amusement of my family. Turning it right way up to take it out is always great, I get this lovely surprise of how it looks. The first two lines of text in Psalm 23 are basically done, the sun has most of one colour (of two) done, and i've been filling in lots of sky...oh and border, but border is boring. Evil border of DOOM.
Anyway, I have a photo of my fairykin and her frog, so here you are - this is taken just after the Challenge SAL (again on the HAED BB) and it is after 11 rows (16,500 stitches). Fairy is basically done, and froggy's eye GLOWS.
So, I'll end this - there's nothing much else to say, except that we went to Pt Lincoln (the closest thing to a large town that there is over here) shopping yesterday, for practical things (like my nana's carpet) but I also bought two new pairs of pyjamas, as I have killed my summer pairs, and Target not only had them cheap because of end of season, but they had a big sale on . Yay!
I think the two pairs cost about $20-$30 total, and they're really nice. We grabbed two pairs of the cheapest kind for my sister, too, because they're not bad-cheap and very cute, and she kill pyjamas even more than I do (lifespan is about six months, tops) and they were $4 a set. YAY!
Oh and I got new bathers (cossie, bathing suits, swimming trunks...) today - a black tankini with green design on it. Very cool.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Working
Well, I've made quite a lot of progress. But no photos for you, worse luck! Very slow internet here, so I'll wait 'til I get back in a week or so. Photos HAVE been taken though.
What have I been up to?
Well, when I got here I got stuck into Mystery X, and got about half of part 6 done. It's looking lovely, and very sparkly, but I got very sick (read: weak, everything aches, and very tired) so I swapped it for A Restful Night, a few days early for the Challenge SAL, #1. I duly worked on her for the weekend, and got 'her' almost done - just the bottom of her arm yet to do, and gave the frog most of one eye and the beginnings of another. VERY cute. It almost glows! I finished the row, and put a few stitches into the next before bed...and in the morning, got a package from Singapore containing a fat 1/4 of Vintage Exemplar linen. Sorry froggy - Peaceful Paradise jumped right onto the frame! I started in the centre with the border, which drove me batty but did place it nicely, and as I've moved out I've added things like the lettering, day sky and the beginning of an angel wing. I'm missing one colour - WDW's Whiskey, so I might put in a quick order for that before I go to bed tonight. It's been going well, except for some annoying frogging today - I found that about two hours' work - lots of lettering, was a stitch out. ARGH! It's duly frogged now, and I'm tempted to grid the lettering area now. Stupid frogs.
Mostly here I've been relaxing, lots of stitching and sleeping, and playing with the two girls next door who are 5 and 7 and adorable. Good fun.
What have I been up to?
Well, when I got here I got stuck into Mystery X, and got about half of part 6 done. It's looking lovely, and very sparkly, but I got very sick (read: weak, everything aches, and very tired) so I swapped it for A Restful Night, a few days early for the Challenge SAL, #1. I duly worked on her for the weekend, and got 'her' almost done - just the bottom of her arm yet to do, and gave the frog most of one eye and the beginnings of another. VERY cute. It almost glows! I finished the row, and put a few stitches into the next before bed...and in the morning, got a package from Singapore containing a fat 1/4 of Vintage Exemplar linen. Sorry froggy - Peaceful Paradise jumped right onto the frame! I started in the centre with the border, which drove me batty but did place it nicely, and as I've moved out I've added things like the lettering, day sky and the beginning of an angel wing. I'm missing one colour - WDW's Whiskey, so I might put in a quick order for that before I go to bed tonight. It's been going well, except for some annoying frogging today - I found that about two hours' work - lots of lettering, was a stitch out. ARGH! It's duly frogged now, and I'm tempted to grid the lettering area now. Stupid frogs.
Mostly here I've been relaxing, lots of stitching and sleeping, and playing with the two girls next door who are 5 and 7 and adorable. Good fun.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Packing and stuff
The last few days have wandered their way on. The days are slow, but not miserable, though the state of the house is scaring me. Not really my problem though, and I leave tomorrow morning for my grandmother's house - my yiayia, (γιαγιά) as I keep calling her when I talk to my friends. I like being over there, though I'll miss my church family and the internet (I always do), and I'll be going to an anglican church for the first time in my catechumenate which will be interesting.
I'm going to go stay with her, and my family over there, for two weeks. I'm taking my lowery stand with me - the massive upside to these stands is that you can take them apart and tuck them into a suitcase. My big q-snaps are going to get dis-assembled too, and tucked in with the stand. Probably my other stitching bits and pieces I will take in bags on the bus with me.
The question is - which to take?
Well, I'm going to take my laptop, because a) it has a bunch of charts on it and b) I'd go mad without somewhere to type, even if I have no internet. So that helps matters.
Here's the list at the moment:
So I'm packing - everything's packed but my stitching now, so I just have to sort out the supplies and tuck them in my bag, and set things up so I can stitch on the bus easily :)
I'll blog from the town where my grandmother is when I can - there's a library, and I'll probably do what I've done before - write entries, then back-post them when I get to the library. I'll see you all then!
Edited to add: And to my Eastern Orthodox friends who read this, CHRIST IS BAPTISED!
It's Theophany today (well, technically yesterday as it's past sundown now) and most of my lucky friends got to services. I didn't but that's okay - Jeremy's sick, and I'd rather he get better than for us to have gone. There is always next year, and we DO have twelve great feasts and Pascha through the year....lol.
I'm going to go stay with her, and my family over there, for two weeks. I'm taking my lowery stand with me - the massive upside to these stands is that you can take them apart and tuck them into a suitcase. My big q-snaps are going to get dis-assembled too, and tucked in with the stand. Probably my other stitching bits and pieces I will take in bags on the bus with me.
The question is - which to take?
Well, I'm going to take my laptop, because a) it has a bunch of charts on it and b) I'd go mad without somewhere to type, even if I have no internet. So that helps matters.
Here's the list at the moment:
- Peaceful Paradise - Midsummer Night Designs (this is my GFJanuary project, though my fabric is taking its time to get here, grr! I'll take all the other supplies for it, and I've already made a working copy of the chart)
- Mystery X which I want to get lots of work done on
- A Restful Night which I'll take and hopefully get some progress into
- Tranquility Sampler which I'm going to have on the bus with me to work on (fits in a hoop or q-snap easily, tuck it against the window for good light)
So I'm packing - everything's packed but my stitching now, so I just have to sort out the supplies and tuck them in my bag, and set things up so I can stitch on the bus easily :)
I'll blog from the town where my grandmother is when I can - there's a library, and I'll probably do what I've done before - write entries, then back-post them when I get to the library. I'll see you all then!
Edited to add: And to my Eastern Orthodox friends who read this, CHRIST IS BAPTISED!
It's Theophany today (well, technically yesterday as it's past sundown now) and most of my lucky friends got to services. I didn't but that's okay - Jeremy's sick, and I'd rather he get better than for us to have gone. There is always next year, and we DO have twelve great feasts and Pascha through the year....lol.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
It's funny
for someone who really isn't that normal, I actually got to act normal tonight. I dressed up, jeans, sandals and a light breezy top Nikki found for me over a camisole, and grabbed housemate-Hannah and we went down near the beach for pasta, then walked down jetty rd to the foreshore at Glenelg with icecream. As I walked, I realised that Glenelg is really one of those places where you're constantly being looked at and checked out, and for once I wasn't self conscious about it. I was reasonably well dressed and definitely modest, but I didn't stick out like a sore thumb either. I don't want to be like everyone else, but it is nice to just blend in sometimes.
But, my body is still in a foul mood. It isn't quite as bad tonight as it was last night - I can walk without feeling like there are knives in my feet and my ankles, but my arms ache instead and that's made me not really stitch all day. This is killing me, but I've figured out that what it is really protesting against is me reaching up on my big frame to work on Mystery X. So I thought I'd take a photo, show you all where I've got to in the last few days, and pick up another piece - it will probably be Noon Basking (remember I was stitching that???) because I can put him in a nice small q-snap and curl up to work happily in DMC for the night. I guess to a degree I'm hitting burnout on Mystery X too, which is usually a good time to stop, before I actually do get sick of it and refuse to work on it for a few months (been there, done that, too many times).
So here's the photo of Mystery X - the west house is coming along nicely, and the others are growing with whatever threads I have left over in my needle when I finish working on the west house, which house they go into depending on which way up my frame is at the time (I can't work on the 'top' half of the roof of the side houses or my arms scream)
So now to unearth the chart for Noon Basking, and tackle some fractionals! I love this golden, sunny dragon :) I've missed him!
But, my body is still in a foul mood. It isn't quite as bad tonight as it was last night - I can walk without feeling like there are knives in my feet and my ankles, but my arms ache instead and that's made me not really stitch all day. This is killing me, but I've figured out that what it is really protesting against is me reaching up on my big frame to work on Mystery X. So I thought I'd take a photo, show you all where I've got to in the last few days, and pick up another piece - it will probably be Noon Basking (remember I was stitching that???) because I can put him in a nice small q-snap and curl up to work happily in DMC for the night. I guess to a degree I'm hitting burnout on Mystery X too, which is usually a good time to stop, before I actually do get sick of it and refuse to work on it for a few months (been there, done that, too many times).
So here's the photo of Mystery X - the west house is coming along nicely, and the others are growing with whatever threads I have left over in my needle when I finish working on the west house, which house they go into depending on which way up my frame is at the time (I can't work on the 'top' half of the roof of the side houses or my arms scream)
So now to unearth the chart for Noon Basking, and tackle some fractionals! I love this golden, sunny dragon :) I've missed him!
Right.
Given my progress today, I want to try something. I'll actually print this out and stick it up, so maybe I'll follow it, too!
IF I AM BORED, AND NOT WANTING TO STITCH (for whatever reason):
IF I AM BORED, AND NOT WANTING TO STITCH (for whatever reason):
- go through cookingmagazine to find the recipes which will be good to cook up sometime I have to feed me/the house
- go through cookiebook to find recipies
- make cookies!
- eat
- pray
- clean - do a quick tidy of the areas already clean. when this is done, start work on rationalising the boxes and presents under the tree, cleaning the coffee table, and clearing off my sewing cabinet
- clean my room
- collect the dirty clothes from my room
- wash said clothes
- not waste time on the internet
- read - I have FTLOTW, and several fiction books. reading is good.
- vacuum the living room floor
- lay out moonshadow quilt
- pin moonshadow quilt
- sew - quilt needs the blocks sewn together, bindi's green dress needs finishing, my green dress needs hemming, purpledress needs fixing, bindi's red dress needs sewing, my red skirt needs sewing.
- redress the dolls
- plan church photostory
- blog
- BE PRODUCTIVE!
I lost it today
...I cleaned! My parents left on the 23rd, and this house...well, Hannah (who is house-sitting with me and always has the car) hasn't been home except to sleep, getting home at weird hours of the night...and I've been sick. And not in the mood to clean. Today, my house just started to scare me too much.
Most of the living/dining/whatever room is reasonably clear on the floor, except over by the tree which has lots of boxes left from Christmas and a few presents left, but no other rubbish/trash. I can now SEE the table, and there is nothing mouldy on it. This is an incredible improvement, believe me. All the mail for my parents that we have received is now re-addressed and in a neat pile to be re-mailed tomorrow, a notebook and my cooking magazine (and cookie book) are on the table for me to do some planning with, and the table is wiped down. The kitchen...the kitchen is still scary. I have been putting things in the dishwasher as I have used them, and put glasses etc that I've found there...but there are things going mouldy. I can't touch detergent, but Hannah has promised me that she will fix them tomorrow, and do a washup of the things that can't be dishwashed. I started to work on the top of my sewing cabinet (where the dolls are) but not much progress has been done yet. At least there's no more dirty dishes or food. My little icon corner is neat and clean, but that's normal - I can be a total mess everywhere else (my room attests to this) but the icon corner is always pristine. I am neurotic about this. Even when it was in my bedroom (which usually looks like a bomb hit it!)
I also cooked. I've been living on McDonalds at 2am when Hannah got home/pizza that Hannah brought home also at 2am/tinned soup. We heated up some pasta sauce and made pasta the other day, which was at least something more human... anyway, I stole Hannah today and went food shopping. I didn't grab much - a tub of yoghurt (Dairy Farmers has a new line out that I wanted to try and will definitely be grabbing a big tub of when I'm next at the supermarket, it's delicious), some deli meat, a jar of plum&raspberry jam (for something different), a loaf of bread, a litre of milk and the fixings for what I was making for dinner. The recipe says feeds four, so I figured I'd make it up and stick it in the fridge to eat when Hannah wasn't around for me to get stuff to cook something else. Most of what was in the recipe (oil, chicken stock, couscous, minced garlic, curry powder) was at home, but I needed to pick up a few extra things (a capsicum, some baby spinach, two tins of tuna, a carrot, some hummus and some spring onions), which I did. I was supposed to add margarine, but realised I had none when I was cooking so substituted olive oil. It worked. I also realised, as I went to cook, that I only had half the amount of couscous. About then it dawned on me that I should halve the recipe, which I duly did. Good thing, too! Feeds four? The amount I made would feed three hungry people, I think! I ate three bowls worth of it and put the rest in the fridge to eat later. It is very tasty.
The plants are all watered too - we can't use sprinklers due to water restrictions, so buckets/watering can it is. Our watering can is AWOL, so buckets! We have quite a few potplants too, and it's been HOT. It means I have a lot of watering to do at night.
Hannah laughed at me and said I'd gone all domestic...I guess I have, I spent the time I wasn't doing the above stitching on Mystery X (which is growing nicely, I have more than half of the west house's part done now, and progress on the others) and plotting making cookies. I got an awesome cookie book for Christmas, and I'm tempted to make a huge batch of cookies as gifts for everyone I know (we get to celebrate all through the twelve days, yay!) partly because it's fun, partly because I want to and mostly because I am bored with not a lot to do.
I also read some more of For the Life of the World (A. Schmemman) and am halfway through chapter 2 and enjoying it immensely. This is my current 'read this' book, this time assigned by Jeremy! I've been reading and noting The Orthodox Way (Met. Kallistos Ware) for Pater/Father, but Troy's stolen it and I was re-reading it, so I think he needs it more. Besides, I'm having so much fun with this one! Dad would like it, I think.
So...night owl Kyrie should probably go say her prayers and go to sleep, but I'm not that sleepy yet. Maybe taking my sister's (very mopey) cat to bed will help me want to sleep, she is very insistent that I should be in bed asleep and keeps trying to round me up into bed. Mrrrrp???
G'night all :)
Most of the living/dining/whatever room is reasonably clear on the floor, except over by the tree which has lots of boxes left from Christmas and a few presents left, but no other rubbish/trash. I can now SEE the table, and there is nothing mouldy on it. This is an incredible improvement, believe me. All the mail for my parents that we have received is now re-addressed and in a neat pile to be re-mailed tomorrow, a notebook and my cooking magazine (and cookie book) are on the table for me to do some planning with, and the table is wiped down. The kitchen...the kitchen is still scary. I have been putting things in the dishwasher as I have used them, and put glasses etc that I've found there...but there are things going mouldy. I can't touch detergent, but Hannah has promised me that she will fix them tomorrow, and do a washup of the things that can't be dishwashed. I started to work on the top of my sewing cabinet (where the dolls are) but not much progress has been done yet. At least there's no more dirty dishes or food. My little icon corner is neat and clean, but that's normal - I can be a total mess everywhere else (my room attests to this) but the icon corner is always pristine. I am neurotic about this. Even when it was in my bedroom (which usually looks like a bomb hit it!)
I also cooked. I've been living on McDonalds at 2am when Hannah got home/pizza that Hannah brought home also at 2am/tinned soup. We heated up some pasta sauce and made pasta the other day, which was at least something more human... anyway, I stole Hannah today and went food shopping. I didn't grab much - a tub of yoghurt (Dairy Farmers has a new line out that I wanted to try and will definitely be grabbing a big tub of when I'm next at the supermarket, it's delicious), some deli meat, a jar of plum&raspberry jam (for something different), a loaf of bread, a litre of milk and the fixings for what I was making for dinner. The recipe says feeds four, so I figured I'd make it up and stick it in the fridge to eat when Hannah wasn't around for me to get stuff to cook something else. Most of what was in the recipe (oil, chicken stock, couscous, minced garlic, curry powder) was at home, but I needed to pick up a few extra things (a capsicum, some baby spinach, two tins of tuna, a carrot, some hummus and some spring onions), which I did. I was supposed to add margarine, but realised I had none when I was cooking so substituted olive oil. It worked. I also realised, as I went to cook, that I only had half the amount of couscous. About then it dawned on me that I should halve the recipe, which I duly did. Good thing, too! Feeds four? The amount I made would feed three hungry people, I think! I ate three bowls worth of it and put the rest in the fridge to eat later. It is very tasty.
The plants are all watered too - we can't use sprinklers due to water restrictions, so buckets/watering can it is. Our watering can is AWOL, so buckets! We have quite a few potplants too, and it's been HOT. It means I have a lot of watering to do at night.
Hannah laughed at me and said I'd gone all domestic...I guess I have, I spent the time I wasn't doing the above stitching on Mystery X (which is growing nicely, I have more than half of the west house's part done now, and progress on the others) and plotting making cookies. I got an awesome cookie book for Christmas, and I'm tempted to make a huge batch of cookies as gifts for everyone I know (we get to celebrate all through the twelve days, yay!) partly because it's fun, partly because I want to and mostly because I am bored with not a lot to do.
I also read some more of For the Life of the World (A. Schmemman) and am halfway through chapter 2 and enjoying it immensely. This is my current 'read this' book, this time assigned by Jeremy! I've been reading and noting The Orthodox Way (Met. Kallistos Ware) for Pater/Father, but Troy's stolen it and I was re-reading it, so I think he needs it more. Besides, I'm having so much fun with this one! Dad would like it, I think.
So...night owl Kyrie should probably go say her prayers and go to sleep, but I'm not that sleepy yet. Maybe taking my sister's (very mopey) cat to bed will help me want to sleep, she is very insistent that I should be in bed asleep and keeps trying to round me up into bed. Mrrrrp???
G'night all :)
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
2007 in brief
As always, doing the recap is a popular pastime among bloggers at the moment. And I've done it before, so I guess I'll do it again! Mine is of the month by month variety:
JANUARY: Spent most of the month with my grandmother and my family, started Mystery X, started the HAED Challenge SAL with From the Ashes, ended up in hospital with something minor, came home. Oh, and helped Troy move into his new house. Lots of stitching time.
FEBRUARY: Started yr 12 again, new school. Seemed to settle in reasonably well. Participated in the Challenge SAL again, but was getting frustrated by my lack of progress. Worked madly on Mystery X, but was still really behind (due to the part being huge).
MARCH: Participated in Challenge SAL, got increasingly more annoyed with it. Bought masses of fabric for dresses that I didn't have the patterns for. Helped Troy out with Uni stuff. Made some awesome kiwi+lime+coconut muffins. Finished MX's part 2, finally, almost a month late. Started and thoroughly enjoyed part 3. Started Japanese Octagon Box and SAL'd with Tash sporadically.
APRIL: Started Tranquility Mystery Sampler on 28ct linen, over 2. Made progress on JOB. Challenge SAL #4. Worked on part 3 of MX, but got attacked by beading. Got a beautiful sewing case thing from Troy's Mum for my birthday. Oh yeah, I turned 19, too. Dyed an awful lot of fabric with Peta for a quilt I was planning to make for Craft. Gave Periwinkle Fae a face. Finished part 3 of Mystery X.
MAY: Worked more on Periwinkle Fae. Got really sick, and thought it was the flu. Restarted Tranquility on 32ct linen 1x1. Liked this much better. Was sent A Restful Night by a lovely RAK Fairy (aka fudgey) as a get well present. Discovered that my muscles didn't like letting me take un-blurry photos, and enlisted Troy's help in that department. Stayed sick, which makes no sense given that it's the flu, right? Parents left for Florence for a few weeks and Hannah came to help house-sit. Started ARN. Troy's Dad disassembled my 6' off the floor bed and put my floor level bed in instead. Much smarter for an invalid. Bought Troy some clothes so that he looked respectable. Had the first set of blood tests done. Had a bath all by myself and celebrated this. MX's part 6 released and it's beautiful, and I get depressed because I'm behind.
JUNE: Tried to sort out a way to actually keep some quality of life (ie not just staying in my room all day). Mum and Dad get back. Worked on ARN a lot. Got told I had Chronic Fatigue. Saw POTC3. Had the adrenal gland tests, which were very painful, and fell asleep on Dad's office floor. Got ratlets - Amina and Jemimah. Bindi got one too, Sosspiri. Bought lots of homeware stuff for my house when we get married, as it was all on sale. Caught a train to Melbourne. Also, lots of weird stuff to do with this crazy denomination of Christianity called Orthodoxy...
JULY: Did stuff in Melbourne. Came home, went to Vespers at an Orthodox church with Jeremy...and found myself in front of an icon of St Kyriaki (who had haunted me). Then found out it was her feast day. Gave up believing in coincidence. Went to Divine Liturgy and fell in love. Went to a quiz night and came 3rd. Made progress on Tranquility. Went to the Grampian mountains with Dad. Celebrated St Elias' feast day. Cleaned my room. Went to a movie night and ate an incredible amount of pizza. Started Stretch. Made progress on JOB.
AUGUST: Finished pt1 of JOB. Started taking horrible medication, but medication appears to help so not complaining toooo loudly. Caught trains with Tait. Medication makes me sick, so start taking another medication to counteract this. Got my dolls out from their boxes that they'd been in for a few years. Got some fabric for a FFW restart. Bought lots of charts. Progressed with this whole Orthodoxy inquiring thing. Got made a catechumen on the eve of the liturgical new year!
SEPTEMBER: Restarted FFW. Worked on JOB. Attended my first ever vigil, all in Greek. A very new experience, but a good one, and got fed large amounts of soup. Made an incredible amount of food for Father's Day brunch. Started Historic Countries sampler. Visited my grandmother, acquired a clothes dryer, and attended Liturgy for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, and got thoroughly lost - festal liturgies will do that. Made a couple dresses. Bought the chart for Dance of the Graces, and ordered fabric and threads. Attended another quiz night, where we won convincingly (by a couple hundred points). Made Caitlin a dress.
OCTOBER: Attended a picnic, ate a large amount of loukoumades (greek honey puffs), and souvlaki, played backgammon, and discovered that my CFS had decided to go away for the time being. Knit a dalek. Started dresses for Nikki's nieces. Bought the chart for Peaceful Paradise. Ordered everything else for it! Worked on Mystery X again. Ordered AG stuff. Got stash (stuff for Nuts About Autumn). More or less finished Mali's dress.
NOVEMBER: Got kidney stones and landed myself in hospital for half a week. Started a blog for my church stuff. Made a lot of progress on ARN. Got a new prime minister. Started work on MX again. Sort of got my license again.
DECEMBER: Got ready for Christmas, was a slack blogger, worked an insane amount on Mystery X. Got part 5 done (finally!) Had Christmas, went to a new year vigil...
and here we are again :)
JANUARY: Spent most of the month with my grandmother and my family, started Mystery X, started the HAED Challenge SAL with From the Ashes, ended up in hospital with something minor, came home. Oh, and helped Troy move into his new house. Lots of stitching time.
FEBRUARY: Started yr 12 again, new school. Seemed to settle in reasonably well. Participated in the Challenge SAL again, but was getting frustrated by my lack of progress. Worked madly on Mystery X, but was still really behind (due to the part being huge).
MARCH: Participated in Challenge SAL, got increasingly more annoyed with it. Bought masses of fabric for dresses that I didn't have the patterns for. Helped Troy out with Uni stuff. Made some awesome kiwi+lime+coconut muffins. Finished MX's part 2, finally, almost a month late. Started and thoroughly enjoyed part 3. Started Japanese Octagon Box and SAL'd with Tash sporadically.
APRIL: Started Tranquility Mystery Sampler on 28ct linen, over 2. Made progress on JOB. Challenge SAL #4. Worked on part 3 of MX, but got attacked by beading. Got a beautiful sewing case thing from Troy's Mum for my birthday. Oh yeah, I turned 19, too. Dyed an awful lot of fabric with Peta for a quilt I was planning to make for Craft. Gave Periwinkle Fae a face. Finished part 3 of Mystery X.
MAY: Worked more on Periwinkle Fae. Got really sick, and thought it was the flu. Restarted Tranquility on 32ct linen 1x1. Liked this much better. Was sent A Restful Night by a lovely RAK Fairy (aka fudgey) as a get well present. Discovered that my muscles didn't like letting me take un-blurry photos, and enlisted Troy's help in that department. Stayed sick, which makes no sense given that it's the flu, right? Parents left for Florence for a few weeks and Hannah came to help house-sit. Started ARN. Troy's Dad disassembled my 6' off the floor bed and put my floor level bed in instead. Much smarter for an invalid. Bought Troy some clothes so that he looked respectable. Had the first set of blood tests done. Had a bath all by myself and celebrated this. MX's part 6 released and it's beautiful, and I get depressed because I'm behind.
JUNE: Tried to sort out a way to actually keep some quality of life (ie not just staying in my room all day). Mum and Dad get back. Worked on ARN a lot. Got told I had Chronic Fatigue. Saw POTC3. Had the adrenal gland tests, which were very painful, and fell asleep on Dad's office floor. Got ratlets - Amina and Jemimah. Bindi got one too, Sosspiri. Bought lots of homeware stuff for my house when we get married, as it was all on sale. Caught a train to Melbourne. Also, lots of weird stuff to do with this crazy denomination of Christianity called Orthodoxy...
JULY: Did stuff in Melbourne. Came home, went to Vespers at an Orthodox church with Jeremy...and found myself in front of an icon of St Kyriaki (who had haunted me). Then found out it was her feast day. Gave up believing in coincidence. Went to Divine Liturgy and fell in love. Went to a quiz night and came 3rd. Made progress on Tranquility. Went to the Grampian mountains with Dad. Celebrated St Elias' feast day. Cleaned my room. Went to a movie night and ate an incredible amount of pizza. Started Stretch. Made progress on JOB.
AUGUST: Finished pt1 of JOB. Started taking horrible medication, but medication appears to help so not complaining toooo loudly. Caught trains with Tait. Medication makes me sick, so start taking another medication to counteract this. Got my dolls out from their boxes that they'd been in for a few years. Got some fabric for a FFW restart. Bought lots of charts. Progressed with this whole Orthodoxy inquiring thing. Got made a catechumen on the eve of the liturgical new year!
SEPTEMBER: Restarted FFW. Worked on JOB. Attended my first ever vigil, all in Greek. A very new experience, but a good one, and got fed large amounts of soup. Made an incredible amount of food for Father's Day brunch. Started Historic Countries sampler. Visited my grandmother, acquired a clothes dryer, and attended Liturgy for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, and got thoroughly lost - festal liturgies will do that. Made a couple dresses. Bought the chart for Dance of the Graces, and ordered fabric and threads. Attended another quiz night, where we won convincingly (by a couple hundred points). Made Caitlin a dress.
OCTOBER: Attended a picnic, ate a large amount of loukoumades (greek honey puffs), and souvlaki, played backgammon, and discovered that my CFS had decided to go away for the time being. Knit a dalek. Started dresses for Nikki's nieces. Bought the chart for Peaceful Paradise. Ordered everything else for it! Worked on Mystery X again. Ordered AG stuff. Got stash (stuff for Nuts About Autumn). More or less finished Mali's dress.
NOVEMBER: Got kidney stones and landed myself in hospital for half a week. Started a blog for my church stuff. Made a lot of progress on ARN. Got a new prime minister. Started work on MX again. Sort of got my license again.
DECEMBER: Got ready for Christmas, was a slack blogger, worked an insane amount on Mystery X. Got part 5 done (finally!) Had Christmas, went to a new year vigil...
and here we are again :)
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