Oh joy

I should be in bed, catching some badly needed Z's, but I couldn't rest until I updated my blog, because I have three or four good newsies to share.

1. I made progress on Noah's Stocking, but I can't be bothered to take a picture. Noah now has an arm and a glove and one of the peacocks is finished.

2. After weeks and weeks of being forced to keep this to myself, I can now finally reveal the gift I made for Harmien's birthday back in May. Due to unforeseen circumstances [insert snort here] I hadn't been able to give it to her until today

Mohnblüten Vogel by Ute Menze for Acufactum, from the book Sommergäste, stitched with my own choice of DMC floss on 32 count white linen

I stitched this poppy bird and the small companion years ago. For Harmien's birthday. But it was a thread roll at first: the Poppy Bird was the front; there was a middle part and the tiny bird was on the back with some other big flower. I just couldn't seem to make it work. After the stitching was done I felt unsure about everything, except for the fact that Harmien would hate it. I don't know why. She loves poppies, she loves Acufactum, so why wouldn't she like this? Let's just say I'm a tad insecure when it comes to making presents :o) Anyway, the original plan didn't work, so a couple of months ago I decided to cut the entire thread roll into small pieces and after a lot of puzzling and wondering, this is what happened next.

It didn't come out exactly as I planned after all (for one, I was baffled when our initials didn't end up smack in the middle of the red linen square) (maths is not my forte), but still. I'm pleased and Harmien says she likes it, so there you go.

3. My translations are finished and my next deadline is October 12th. Which means I'm going to be enjoying a loooooooooooooooooooong holiday. After last week I need it, too. Good grief. My son has a sixth sense, only he doesn't see dead people, he sees deadlines. My deadlines, to be precise. And when he sees them, he becomes physically ill and violently so. Last week it was a stomach bug, which left him in a pitiful state and me unable to work during the daytime, so I had a brush with a phenomenon I had hoped never to experience again, i.e. I had to pull an all-nighter. Here's Pelle just after I had finished, modeling the two books. If you're looking for some reading fodder for your summer hols, be sure to avoid the one with the white cover like the plague. It's for your own good, believe me.

As soon as I sent my last translation off to my editor, Pelle miraculously recovered and was able to go back to school the following day.

4. Pantoef was given a clean bill of health by the vet last Friday, which means I can go and pick him up next Friday. I could sob with joy, but I'm too busy grinning inanely.

Judging from the pictures and from the hour I spent with him a couple of weeks ago, he's quite the character, and I wouldn't be surprised if he learned how to use the computer very soon in order to make his mark on Blogland :o) (or should I say ~^..^~ now?)

Okay honeybuns, I'm off to have a snooze-fest. Have a great weekend!

Yours joyfully,
Annemarie.

I worry

Not about Pelle. Pelle did a bit of marathon sleeping and was able to go back to school on Monday. He thanks you for all your healing hugs and soothing words, though.

I worry not about Pantoef. Although the vet has discovered a heart murmur I am firmly sticking my head in the sand and expecting Pantoef to make his Grand Appearance in Rucphen on July 3rd. Look at this picture and tell me how cute and healthy you think this little guy looks:

I'm counting on the big shots from L'Oreal to knock on my door soon and ask Pantoef to become the next star of their add campaign, because if this picture doesn't scream Because I'm worth it, I don't know what does.

I'm not even worried about Noah. Admittedly, I didn't do that much, but at least he's moved up the ladder a bit and the peacock (if indeed it is a peacock) is nearly done.

I do worry about myself though. I really do. I mean, this morning, after I had given Pelle his breakfast and put him on the bus to school, I made Pelle's breakfast all over again. I was sitting down to eat it and I thought 'Hang on? What's all this gluten-free stuff doing on my plate?'

And like, just now, for example. I found myself drooling. Yes, drooling, I say. Not over some gorgeous new chart by the ladies from Blackbird Designs, not over one of my Stitchy Bloggers' fantastically fabulous finishes or new projects or sweet kitty cat or diggy dog. No, I was drooling because, apparently, I didn't feel it coming and I didn't close my mouth in time to swallow.

It's time for a wee break, I think.

Yours senilely,
Annemarie.

I should be sippin' and stitchin'...

...but instead, I'm looking after this sick little boy.

Pelle doesn't want you to feel sorry for him and he doesn't want you to see him looking so miserable either, so he's putting the cap back on the lens.


Hope you and yours are happy and healthy!
Annemarie.

Whoa is Noah

Hello there. Sucker reporting for duty :o)

Nah, I'm fine. Actually, I feel oddly content working with this incredibly tight schedule. If anything goes wrong, though, if -- as Edmund Blackadder so elegantly put it -- fortune vomits on my eiderdown between now and June 23rd I'm in serious trouble. But it won't, so that's cool.

Oooh, I'm SO looking forward to our Sip & Stitch at Harmien's next Saturday (a Sip & Stitch, in case you hadn't guessed, is a nicefied version of a Stich & Bitch. We're all too sweet to bitch. Much.) It will not only be a lovely day filled with chatting and stitching, but Saturday will also see the start of a new SAL. Actually, it's going to be a SAL within a SAL, because it's Mary Wigham, the Needleprint freebie that the whole Stitching Bloggers' community is buzzing about. Well, I say freebie, but it would be greatly appreciated if you could make a donation every time you download part of the pattern, and of course, we being the nice people that we are, we all do that, right?
This is my floss and fabric toss. I'm sticking to the suggested colours, because one experimental Quaker (i.e. Bea Pot) is quite enough for me. The holes in my fabric of choice are teeny tiny (my guess is 40 count. Gasp. I know! Way-hay too tiny for me, but it has one advantage over anything coarser: I can use just one strand of floss rather than two, making the whole stitching experience infinitely more enjoyable).

About this new SAL, I think only Heidi, Margaret and I have said 'Aye' to this idea wholeheartedly. I'm guessing it will be 'Nay' on Harmien's part and probably on Barbara's part too, because they are sensible ladies, as opposed to moi, a multiple starter with a case of extra-severe startitis brought on by Mid-Translatic Stress Disorder and I have no self control whatsoever. We haven't discussed it much yet, but I very much hope this will be as guilt-free and fun-filled as the CHS Stocking SAL.

Speaking of which... Before:

After:
Hip hip hooray, I say. I'm so pleased with this. And Noah SO needs to bathe himself and his stocking in hot coffee when he's done.

Hmm. There's a thought...

Yours whoally,
Annemarie.

Whoa is me

The original title of this post was going to be a more conventional 'Woe is me', because woe is me and life sucks, don't you know. Judges suck, cat breeders suck, people who feed children with celiac disease gluten suck, first time novelists suck, incompetent editors suck, frogs suck, and CHS Noah's Stocking SALs suck. I'm sure I've forgotten one or two other sucky things that suck suckets buckets. BUT -- and here comes the part that turned this 'Woe is me' post into a 'Whoa is me' post -- there are also a lot of non-sucky things going on, and I thought it would be more fun to share these with you in some detail.

Something that does not suck is my SIL's reproductive system (or maybe it does suck and that's why it doesn't suck. I don't know the ins and outs of a woman's reproductive system, even though mine must have seen action at some point because I have a son). I'm going to be an Aunty!!!!!! Yes. My little brother is going to be a father, and that is fabulous.

Ooooh, speaking of non-sucky reproductive systems, here's non-sucky thing the second: behold my pumpkin flowers!

Another thing that doesn't suck is the fact that I have work until the end of December which, in this day and age, is quite a comfort to a free lance translator.

Totally non-sucky is the stitching blogger community, in particular Melissa, who sent me this amazing package. The wrapping paper itself was enough to make my heart beat a little faster, but look at what was inside!

Thank you, Melissa, for such a wonderfully sweet surprise!

Now, I've mentioned the suckiness of the CHS Noah's Stocking SAL, which does not really suck at all. The fact is: I'm procrastinating. I'm putting off working on Noah's Stocking by starting and finishing other projects -- in the dead of night, mind you, because I work my *ss off during the daytime and well into the evening. The thing is, I need to do something exclusively and entirely for me when I'm free, and by Barb Adams, I will do it. I have done it. I did it. Another finish. And not just a finish, but a finish-finish. Another Useful Finished Object (some people mistakenly believe the abbreviation UFO stands for something entirely different).

The Peacock Pinkeep, turned into a Peacock Pincushion. Using WDW 28 ct. gingham fabric and Belle Soie Tortoise Shell and Rose of Sharon. I used the stripey fabric for the back.

(Notice Noah is not entirely absent from this post?)

This is the first time I've finished a Loose Feathers design before I even received the next installment and that's because it is just gorgeous.

So, what say you, good people? Woe or Whoa? On the whole, I think definitely Whoa.

Yours unsuckily,
Annemarie.