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...

I've been away..

I've been missing in action lately! It's not that I haven't been stitching but I've been trying to find a new routine. You see, I still have pain in my hand. I stopped stitching for a week and it wouldn't get away. After my massage (I get one every month at work, partly paid by my work as part of the prevention program. It's a massage of the back, neck, shoulders, arms and hands, given over your clothes.) it was away. I actually felt my hand tingling, which means the bloodstream was ok again. It was utter joy, I tell you! According to the lady who gives the massage my shoulders and neck are very very tensed. I might need to see a physical therapist. I have to think about that and check my health care insurance. I needed to think about a lot of things.

So I decided to put my self on a diet. A cross stitching diet. Every day I can cross stitch for one hour. I actually have the alarm set! It works but there aren't a lot of stitches made in one hour when you're working on a HAED.

And then I went to the Ardennes in Belgium for a week. Together with the Boyfriend and the Girl. And 5 other couples (friends) and 5 other kids. Without the HAED. It was a wonderful week, great weather (almost tropical!), great food and wine, great conversation and lots of nice things to see and do.
We visited the castle of Bouillon and saw a falconry (show). One of the kids even got to play a part in the show and ended up with a falcon on his (covered) head! France was only 45 minutes ago, so we also visited Charlesvilles this village has one of the most beautiful plaza's I've ever seen! The highlight for me was absolutely seeing the Caves of Han. So beautiful.
I even went for a walk of about 3 hours. I think we walked about 20 kilometres. Got me some nice blisters (I don't own proper walking shoes). Wonderful memories nevertheless.

We came back this Friday. Yesterday the Boyfriend and I went to a nice sauna. I received a few giftcards and I could exchange them for free entrance. We had a great day and came home totally relaxed. It was the perfect ending of a great week!

Today we cleaned the house and did whatever we liked to do. I stitched and watched the BBC (the Jublilee Pageant). I didn't stick to my diet LOL but that's okay. Tomorrow I go back. I was too lazy to take a picture, I hope to take one tomorrow!

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!

Another page finished!

I haven't been able to stitch as much as I liked to. Last weekend my stepdaughter came home with a cold and the weekend before that her father was sick. So the time I usually have to stitch, was used to take care of them.
The girl and I took several trips to the shops when her dad was sick, she has shown some serious growth lately. She was carrying bags and putting the right things in my shopping basket. Also, she making real contact with the cassiers, saying hello and asking how they were doing. It was awesome. I had to stifle a laugh when she greeted a person in the street "hello Mr." and after discovering the person actually was a woman she quickly said "hello Ms.".
This weekend was quiet. We did go for our daily walk but her energy was pretty low. Lots of time was spent at home playing and hanging out.

So, after all the sickies in my little family I didn't came as a surprise when I came home this Monday feeling not too well. When the alarm went off yesterday I felt horrible. My throat hurted and the pain in my head was pushing away every cleaver thought I usually have. So I called in sick. This morning I felt a little better but I had a fever last night so I'm still at home. I hope tomorrow will be better so I can go back to work, I am so bored allready!!

To lift my spirit I took a picture of Train of Dreams yesterday:

Looking good, isn't it?

As I was laying the entire piece of fabric on my table to take a picture I started to panic. The fabric seemed a little too small. Oh no, please tell me I measured correctly???? I wanted to cry but felt that was way too pathetic for an almost 30-year old (one of my fever-dreams was about turning 30 and it was horrible. Weird 'cause really, I could care less about my age). So I started counting and luckily, I have plenty of fabric left to stitch and still have enough for framing.

I have mixed feelings about nearing the end of Train. I only have 4 pages wide to do (so 8 and a bit pages in total). I hope I reach my 2012 goals (finish 10 pages) but I'm not sure. Right now I have done 4 of those 10.

Talk to you later!