Back to normal?

I reaaaaaaaally need to go back to regular blogging. I was really (?) good at blogging once a month.
Oh well.

Last week I went to my framer and picked up...... Train of Dreams!!
It is beautiful if I may say so.

I worked a bit on Butterfly Wood, I almost have a page finish! Finally, after a year:

Permin Sampler has seen more activity! Every week I'm at the Stitch 'n Bitch, having fun. Last week another stitcher joined our group! She's not into following patterns and cross stitching, but she just starts and follows her needle! So creative..
However, I'm very proud of how the sampler looks like!

Celebrations!!!

About one hour ago I finished Train of Dreams!!!!
It took me about two and a half years and oh my gosh I am so proud!! The Mr. loves the result and I am sure my stepdaughter will adore it. She is a big fan of the dragons, little crocodiles she calls them.

Tonight this baby will be washed and dried. I am already looking for a nice frame!

Now I have a lot of floss to wrap on my new bobbins. Butterfly Wood uses lots of pretty colors!!

Almost there.... and plans for the future!

I am so so close to the finish of Train of Dreams!!

I am already thinking about the next BAP I am going to tackle. I have two in my stash calling my name. Basically they are the only BAPs in my stash LOL, I try to keep my stash as small as possible.

The first one is Butterfly Wood by David Penfound. Yes another HAED. I believe I have been talking about it before:

I have ordered all the floss and fabric (18ct Ivory Aida by Permin of Copenhagen) for it. I was thinking about using pre-gridded Aida from DMC but I could only order a huge amount that would cost me more than 100 euros! Since I am happy with the 18ct Aida by Permin of Copenhagen I am using for Train of Dreams (color: Stone Grey), I decided to order from Permin again. I also ordered a new floss box. This morning I printed the pattern. I am almost ready!

The second BAP is this sampler from Permin of Copenhagen:

This was a gift from my MIL, the fabric has a rust colour. Since the fabric and floss are included, the only thing I still need to order is another Q-snap frame!

I have joined a local Stitch 'n Bitch group. They come together in a pub every Wednesday night. So far I have met only two members and they were very nice! Unfortunately the pub is a bit dark so I cannot work on my HAEDs. I still have some little freebies from a magazine to work on, so that's what I do on those nights! Since the sampler uses a lower count fabric I hope I can also work on the sampler during the meetings! I will work on Butterfly Wood at home.

Have a cuppa...

I haven't picked the sunniest days to take off from work, but oh well!
It is very cold around here and I am still wearing some of my (thinner) winter clothes. Unbelievable! Just this weekend I turned on my central heating system! I am so ready for warmer weather!
In order to get a bit of relief from my boss (did I say that out loud?) I have taken this week off. I was hoping for nice weather but it's still nice to stay in bed a little longer and hang around. I have been doing all kind of things in and around the house. Some of them fun, some of them not (paperwork, yuck!). I am still hoping I can visit a local museum tomorrow for fun, but I also have the ingredients for banana bread so I haven't decided yet!

I have been stitching as well!! It provides a nice break between the house work. I still haven't finished the piece but I'm getting there! I have finished the train and am now working on the tea cup!

Maybe next time I can reveal the full picture? I hope so!!

Finally, Spring is here!!

We've been waiting a long time for Spring to arrive, but finally: it's here! It's hard to believe two weeks ago we still had snow. Now, the temperatures are lovely! There are lots of boats in the canals today, everybody is enjoying the sunshine.

I've been working hard on Train. I finished page 10 and 11 and am now working on page 20 and 21! Looking back, the confetti on page 10 wasn't too bad. I just worked block by block, filling the gaps. Funny, now I see the picture I finally see the face. I really don't see the face while working on it! The brilliance of a HAED I think!

I'm now working on the lower half of my frame and I am starting to feel my neck again. So, the timer is out again for the last pages!

Stitching on!

This picture was taken a few days ago. I love to see the books again and am a bit sad because these are the last books of Train I will stitch! On the other hand, I cannot wait to kit up another chart..

As you can see I've reached the magical mirror. It looks a bit like confetti horror so I've decided to stitch the books first. It is much faster (and I want to see results)!

I am also happy to report the Mr. has been offered a job! After such a long time we were a bit shocked by this news and still feel like we need to be pinched! If everything goes well he will start in April. Maybe, just maybe we can go on a summer vacation this year! I think this is what thrills us the most. But, like I said, we're still shocked. The Mr. has promised to take me out for dinner when the first pay check is in, I cannot wait!!

Page 20 and 31 finished!

In the past weeks I finished page 20 and 31 and have started page 10 and 11. Page 11 really is only 2 stitches wide and in my opinion could easily be printed on page 10. But maybe it's because the US page size is smaller than the European page size.
Stitching is going fine. I sometimes cheat a little and stitch longer than my timer tells me. So far, my hands work fine!

Seven hours of stitching will give...

this!

Every day I have been stitching for one hour. It's not going as fast as I would like but I am happy to work on this piece again!

I've also changed my stitching "work place". I used to sit on the couch, but I have now moved to the dining table and sit on a desk chair. I also only stitch with my right hand and hold my frame in my left. This seems to work, my right arm is now constantly moving instead of cramping up. I cannot wait to order my floor stand (I hope in a couple of months).

Some other great news: I weighed myself for the first time in 6 months and I was so happy to see that I've shed 10 pounds!! I now weigh as much as I did 10 years ago. I knew I had lost some because all my clothes were too big and lots of people were asking me if I lost some weight, but I didn't expect it to be this much. I think I've lost a total of 15 pounds in 2012. I haven't been dieting but have changed my attitude towards food. According to the Boyfriend I am more balanced now mentally so it might have something to do with it as well.

That's it for now. Have a great week and let's stitch some!

Bummed, but still an update

So, after the last update my sweet kitty got sick. We went to the vet who told us that kitty has a polyp in her nose, which is connected to a tumor. The tumor has been there for a while, since kitty has been sneezing and has fluids coming out of one eye for about six months now. The vet is able to operate her, but it will not help. Basically what we were told was: she's not getting better, it could go fast. We decided not to operate.

We were, but especially I was, devastated by this news. She's has been my baby and little friend for 7 years and I had such big dreams for her. All we can do now is to watch her health. The vet told us what to look for in order to see if it's time for her to go. Unfortunately my hand reacted to all this stress so my injury is back. Soooo this is where I ended last week:

Happy 2013!

Happy 2013 to my dear readers! I hope this new year will bring much happiness to all of you!

We've just got back from a small holiday with the in-laws. We had a wonderful time but are happy to be back home! I've just finished all the laundry and I also put all the Christmas decorations away. The only thing left are the Christmas cards, I just love to look at them!

This is my latest update from 2012:

I'll work on it tonight and I can't wait!! I am so going to finish this in 2013!!!

I've been home from work now since Christmas. I needed this so much!! I am finally feeling relaxed again. I will go back this Monday and I am happy to do so. I have so much more energy (and positive feelings!) than before. 

Another page done!

Yay another page is done! This is page 9:

The past few days (well nights) I have been in a stitching frenzy according to the Boyfriend. But look at the cute planets!!! Next are pages 20 and 31!

Outside my building my hometown is celebrating an historical event, called Leidens Ontzet. Leiden remembers being freed of the Spanish in 1574 (this was during the 80 year of war against the (catholic) Spanish). The people of Leiden were starving at that time, they were under siege for several weeks. When the Spanish soldiers fled the gates opened and the people went outside and found Hutspot (a stew made of carrots, potatoes, unions and pork meat). Also, the Geuzen (in English: the Beggars) brought them haring and white bread. I am sure I have left some really important and interesting pieces out of the story
Until this day this is celebrated at October 3rd. With Hutspot, haring and white bread. My grandma, who was born in this city, has fond memories of the celebration.
But in these modern times also with lots of beer, carnival and music. On every corner of the street in the center of Leiden there is a small stage. I happen to live in the center. So when I sit in my living room I have a stage in front of my door, a carnival to the right, a carnival to the left and parking next to my building. The party tonight is till 2 in the morning and tomorrow till 3 in the morning.. I was not born in Leiden and did not grew up with this celebration. This party, the noise, it just doesn't do anything for me. I think it's because in the past I had to jump over puke and other human junk the day after to get to public transportation (or to my front door!), that completely ruined the fun for me!

But you know what? It IS very cool to celebrate something that happened more than 400 years ago! I love that!

Hello Autumn!

Oh glory, autumn has come! Leaves are slowly changing colour and the temperatures are dropping. It is also raining quite a bit.

Last week we had a teambuilding day from my work, we spent some time at Neeltje Jans I was afraid the weather would be awful but it actually was a really sunny day! It is always good to spend time with colleagues and to get to know them on another level.
It is going awesome at work. I have a new boss and some people have moved on to other positions in the company, giving more room for me! I have taken advantage of it and I am loving it, I feel so much more confident and capable!

In my personal life I have celebrated several birthdays. First the Girl's, then mine (the big 3-0) and my cousin's. I am not the person for big parties so it was lovely to have my family around for a small celebration. My dad brought fresh rhubarb, tomatoes and a huge red pepper from his garden. Loved it! I hope one day to have a house with a garden..

We also visited lots of Monument's on National Open Monument Day. We visited the Botanical Garden's, the Observatory, the Academic Building, a church and on Sunday we visited a Synagogue and a Medieval house and cellar. I had never been in a Synagogue before so I was very excited about it! There were lots of Monuments open for the public but several had waiting lines and that's not something we like to do when we have the Girl with us.

My country also voted last week. I think I am happy with the results, now the new government needs to be formed. It's an exciting time!!

Because autumn is officially here today, I have been changing the furniture arrangement in my living room and most of my summer wardrobe has been put away and autumn/winter clothes are brought in. My heating system has been checked out this morning, everything works so I will stay warm this winter!
I have also been doing some deep cleaning. I think I have told before I am not much of a housekeeper. It's never dirty though in my house, but every once in a while it gets to me and I need to CLEAN the kitchen and every closet in my house.

Train of Dreams is riding along nicely, I have finished two books so far:

Finally, page 19 and 30 are finished!

Oh my goodness this was a difficult birth but I've done it! There is too much going on in my life right now. It was my goal to finish one page a month so I could finish the entire Train in 2012. I don't think that's going to happen but that's ok. The most important part is to survive the rest of this year. Stitch when I feel like it. It is all ok! No pressure, there is plenty of it already in my life.

Here it is in all it's glory:

It is huge! I had to stand on my bed to take this picture. I can't believe there are only 4 pages and a bit left to do!

This weekend it's the Open Monument Days. I am planning to visit a few of them in the city. There are very interesting buildings and I always wonder what's behind the doors. I hope the Boyfriend and the Girl like it as much as I do, it will be a welcome change in our usual walk! The weather is lovely, maybe the last days of summer? I hope not. But it is wonderful. Soon I will have to find my warmer clothes. I love autumn, just not the rain and the wind!!

Next week it's time to vote for our new government. I am torn. It has never been so hard to choose. I seriously believe my generation won't live as well off as our parents did. But still, I want my child to receive the care and special education she needs and I want a job for my Boyfriend. I want his house to be sold and I want to be able to afford another one on one salary. The last thing won't happen, it's just not realistic enough. Unless I win the lottery ofcourse.
The new government is faced with some tough choices. I am afraid of them already. But still. It is my right to vote. I hate people who complain about the government but who don't vote. They have no right to speak, in my opinion. I want reason back in politics, not populism. I hope more people want that.

I have some serious research to do the next 4 days..

Anyways.. I am off to visit some blogs and website!!

Enjoy your weekend and I will talk to you later!

Half a page done!

It is wonderful to have a summer holiday, I get a lot of stitching done! In the mornings the Girl and I hang out at the house, she plays or watches tv and I stitch. So far I have stitched half a page:

In the afternoon we do fun stuff. We went to the swimming pool, playground and the beach (three times already!). This picture was taken last Friday, when we went to my parents. My mom, the Girl and I went to the beach for a swim. There were lots of seagullls. Just before it started to rain we walked back to the house!

I am also feeling confident enough to ride the special duobike with the Girl. We drove to the lake once and basically use it for a lot of our grocery shopping.

Picture from a website that sells bikes for handicapped or invalid people. The Girl sits in front of me but I am the only one to use the handlebar. The one she has is fake.

On Sunday the three of us went to Museum Naturalis

Unfortunately the Girl was a bit scared of the big dinosaur skeletons. We've been here before, but this time she had sweaty hands and just didn't enjoy herself. We managed to distract her enough to see the entire museum but the Boyfriend had to take a long walk with the Girl afterwards to calm her down. She told him she thought it was scary and she didn't like it.


Today it was rainy so we baked pancakes and went to the airport to watch the planes. It was very busy at the Panorama deck! The Girl likes to be able to see from above what's happening with the planes. The loading of the luggages and all the little cars driving around.. it's a lot of fun.

We also watch a lot of the Olympic Games. Our favorites are the swimming and gymnastics but it is all very inspiring. I love that it is in our time zone so we don't have to watch in the middle of the night!

Page 8 is done!

Long time, no action on the blog! This month has been weird and scary.

Scary:
a possible loss of my vision by 20%. My doc thinks it is only temporary and gave me some eye cream. It looks like it worked. This week I will visit my optician again for another test. I do need new glasses though. :-(

Really scary:
my father in law spent two nights in the IC unit. He fell in his garden and his throat hit a stick. Result: a hole in his trachea. He could have been dead and he's so lucky the stick didn't punch through both sides. He is home now, thank God.

Summer vacation:
My summer vacation has started! This year we decided to stay home with the Girl. The Boyfriend is applying for jobs non-stop so for most of the time me and her and doing nice things (or mundane stuff like cleaning the litter box lol). We miss going to France a lot, but we know it's for a good cause. We hope to go there next year.

I have been praying for good weather. It looks like it worked! Today the weather was awesome and the three of us went on our bikes to the beach! I didn't pack our swimsuits but it was absolutely wonderful to walk at the shore. It reminded me so much of my summers at home when I was a kid. Going to the beach every day, building sandcastles, swimming, playing. If the sun is shining, staying in Holland really isn't too bad!
The Girl is really tired right now (after a bike ride for a total of 2 hours and 1.5 hours spent in the sand). I hope that means she sleeps in tomorrow morning LOL.
It looks like tomorrow is another sunny day so I think we will go to the beach again!

Train of Dreams:
It took me some time but I did finish page 8! The second dragon of this piece is sleeping in a green carriage. I can not believe I am nearly at the end of the train but stitch by stitch I am getting there!

That's it for now. Talk to you later!

Page 8!

I have been working hard on Train! I'm a little flexible with my 'diet' lol but so far my wrist is still ok!
Last weekend I thought I could finish another page, but I ran out of 400 and 310. Argh, just the color I needed to finish a page (400) and start the next (310). So I ordered them and started with the next blue book and the last bit of the bird house.

But then on Monday morning my boyfriend got really sick so that got me a little worried. There is a nasty stomach virus going round. I was hoping I could escape it but unfortunately on Wednesday I got sick at work! On Thursday I was still a bit sick but I was feeling good enough to stitch again.
I was really bummed to be sick. At the end of last year I had a hard time at work (I made a promotion a year before), thankfully I showed progress and growth so I was safe. I asked for some extra experience and got temporarily transferred to another department for four months. I replaced a girl who went on maternity leave. I got a very good evaluation and that has made me more confident. I'm finally in the place I want to be mentally. Feeling more accepted in the group (before making my promotion I was in a more assistant position in the same group and part of my problem was not feeling confident about being 'equal' to them). And on Wednesday I was so in the groove so I hated to go home sick!!! I am confident I will be back in the groove on Monday.

Yesterday my 400 and 310 came in so I could fill in the spots. And this morning it was time for a picture! I don't think there will be any stitching today since we will visit my family! Both my parents and my sister are a year older and my brother got the key of his first (rental) home!

What you see is page 7, page 18, partial page 29 and I am now working on page 8.
Train is 10 whole and 1 partial page wide and 2 whole and 1 partial page tall so I am really nearing the finishing line!!

Have a great weekend!

Just a picture...

Happy Mothersday!

Today it's Mothersday in The Netherlands: Hope you all have a wonderful day!
It's the first time I ever received a gift, the Girl came home from school and told my inlaws: "I am the daughter of mama and also of Liesbeth". When I picked her up by the train she told me again. I can tell you my day rocked! She painted a lovely piece for me which is now proudly displayed in my house.

We will bring her home later tonight. This weekend the weather have been great! Still not warm enough to wear true summer clothes (skirts!!) but it had some sun! This year the temperatures for May have been a bit cold. I really hope it will get better soon. We won't go on a summer holiday this year and I hope to enjoy a bit of sunshine when we stay home. Previous years we went to France and the weather is always great, lots of sun.

Politics
In my last post I was pretty upset about the political situation. Two days after I wrote that post, five political parties came together and agreed to a plan. Just in time to give it to the European Union. It's not the best plan ever, but for now it will do. Still, in September I will have to vote again.

Celebrations
Queensday on April 30th was hot!!! That is so typical, there are only a few rainy Queensday's I remember. On Queensday the entire country is dressed in orange or red-white-blue and has a day off. The Queen and her family visits two places in the Netherlands, people show her some love and their skills in many things (singing, dancing, crafts, games, sports, etc). The rest of the country can follow this live on tv or sell their stuff on the street. It's like one big garage sale! There are also lots of music performances and people have a lot of fun. I stayed home, it was way too crowded for me.

Memorial Day on May 4th was impressive as always. It makes me so sad to hear, see and read all the WW2 stories and I am grateful my country was liberated. Although I live very close to the monument in my city, I like to follow the Memorial Service on tv.
The day after is Liberation Day with lots of music and street markets.

Cross stitching: why you are here

I was going to give an update but unfortunately I haven't stitched for a week! I hurt my right hand again and I cannot stitch. It's aweful. I have found out I make a fist in my sleep (like I am going to fight). Right now I am pretty stressed about our situation and I also angry about the things happening to us. I try to relax my hand as much as possible but I think I will try to get a brace or something at my local pharmacy.

I did however stitch a little bit. Over the last two years I bought a couple of cross stitching magazines and acquired quite a few free gifts! So I started this when I had to travel three hours by train to a meeting. The kit was lovely but there weren't enough red threads and it also had a tapestry needly. In my opinion that should have been a embroidery needle with a sharp tip, because of the fractal stitches that this kit needed. This was my first attempt at french knots and it was a lot easier than I thought! I don't know how I am going to finish this yet. My boyfriend hates this piece though, he prefers the big Train. I cannot blame him!

Looking at this picture I see I have to clean and oil my table again, oopsie!!

Also, this is where my Train is at the moment:

Well I hope to give a real update soon!!

Page finish!

Yesterday I finished the 13th page of Train of Dreams! Hurray!!

We had a lovely weekend with a bit of sleeping in!! This weekend we had the Girl only on Saturday, because her sister (my other stepdaughter, Girl2) was visiting her and the in-laws (and I have a very small house with only 1 single guest bed). My boyfriend was really happy to see her and we had a great time with the four of us. We even had a little boy over and it was great to see how the three of them played together. The Girl was watching from the sidelines sometimes (I think she feels her handicap sometimes, and her younger sister has developed more than she has, so Girl2 is now more the older sister) but she also loved to run with the other kids and doing things kids like doing most. Making messes LOL.
We went to the beach and later we were joined by a group of friends. We had a lovely dinner at a restaurant next to the sea. It was good to be together. It would have been our friend's 40th birthday and this gathering was good for all of us and for his family/mother (the little boy was his nephew). We are taking over the role of his uncle a little.

When we came home we discovered our Government collapsed. Great. Since the year I turned 18 and was allowed to vote, there hasn't been a Cabinet that didn't collapse! I really don't know what party to vote now. And I am angry. Why can't these politicians step over their party lines and do what is best for this country?
Ugh. There is a reason why I stitch so much..I can avoid thinking about the mess in the world!

Tonight I will spent stitching, while watching one of my favorite TV-series: Midsomer Murders. I have to laugh at how many gruesome murders are committed in the lovely English countryside. Thank God it's only TV!!

I've been busy this weekend!

Hope you all had a lovely Easter. We had a wonderful relaxed Easter. In the Netherlands we always get two days of Easter celebration, Sunday and Monday. Some people even get Good Friday off.
The girl was with us and stayed with us till yesterday. We listened to Bach's Matthaus Passion, enjoyed a walk through the city and we even were visited by my family! This was a huge surprise for the girl and she was overjoyed. I just love it when she says "Grandma is soooo sweet on me" (which means Grandma (my mom) loves her). And I also loved that my brother genuinly interested asked me how far I was with my stitching. Awesome.

This was what I have been doing in between all the Easter celebration.
Before:

After:

I found Train of Dreams to have a fair amount of confetti-stitches (but still reasonable, it is not a Josephine Wall!) but this part is quite ok.

As much as I like to stitch, I think I need to take a bit of rest this week. I still have a nasty cold and have trouble breathing at night sleeping at my back. Apparently I have been sleeping at my side the last couple of nights and use my right hand to support my body. As a result my wrist and right hand hurt quite a lot. This morning I even had trouble to grab a piece of (toilet) paper! Ridiculous and very painful! But also a bit funny, can you imagine not being able to keep something as light as toilet paper in your hand? LOL

And with that I bid you farewell and talk to you later!