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.