Author Archives: paulainauckland

Smalls SAL + WIP Wednesday

Posted in Mirabilia, Smalls SAL, stitching patterns by

I’ll confess straight out. I didn’t finish my small this month. I finished the stitching but I didn’t get brave enough to tea dye it like I planned. I have enough of the thread to test; does anyone know if DMC variegated is colourfast? Like the last small, this is on 25ct lugana, over 2.

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Souvenir de France, a Blackbird Designs freebie

In other news I HAVE NEARLY FINISHED STARGAZER! And as you can tell, I’m a little excited. Just two more hours I think of stitching then to compete the beading. I’m swapping out another of the colours as it looked very very wrong on my fabric (Jennie & Zeb concurred).

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Isn't she gorgeous?

And lastly, the current bane of my life, Orient.   I’ve spent some time with a working copy and a pen and I’m fairly confident I won’t stuff it up again. All that purple needs to be frogged then I can start again on the fan. I guess this is my rut piece. I might just move onto week three’s portion of the chart or finish the border. That at least should be idiot proof. Hush up there in the cheap seats!

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Orient, week 2

M has started on his first kit, a little owl he had fun choosing. I hope he enjoys the process – I made sure to buy him a needle threader for the next steps. Z sometimes picks up his piece but right now its all about the cricket. Next month it will be all about the league! He might finish that car before he’s 21 (house joke).

Grateful, day seven

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That I have a laptop and can work from home when asthma strikes. That Si & I have flexibility to take turns today.

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Also grateful to those cards M is collecting from the supermarket shop; they work so well as bribery (clean bedroom!) and they have opened up while new conversations. Today we agreed that canabilism is just yuck when it comes to alligators and that a snapping turtle wouldn’t be able to get into the tank and eat his fish.

I’m not getting a turtle tho. Never ever again. Nor a tiger. M thinks he could do with a tiger. Stick to the stuffed ones,  honey. Or the league team. I can work with that.

Grateful, day six

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Today its a job. Being able to spend some of that money on affordable swimming lessons for the boys. Sharing my love of the water, knowing we’re doing something to help keep them safer when we’re out on the kayaks.

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Z is bright and beautiful. Easy to spy on!

Grateful day four

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There’s a few things today. I had brunch with two (old, ha ha ha) girlfriends, came home to the third fence painted. Washing got dry, despite the forecast, and the old fence panels we were holding onto for  X are gone! They were heavy to move when I mowed so I’m really happy.

But this is today’s. Caffeine free tea. Who’d thought of that?!

You Can Quote Me – bonus track!

Posted in You Can Quote ME by

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lmi9IBP209s

 “He Said” by Group 1 Crew
(feat. Chris August)

So your life feels like it don’t make sense
And you think to yourself, “I’m a good person”
So why do these things keep happening?
Why you gotta deal with them?

You may be knocked down now
But don’t forget what He said, He said:

“I won’t give you more, more than you can take
And I might let you bend, but I won’t let you break
And No, I’ll never ever let you go”
Don’t you forget what He said

Who you are ain’t what you’re going through
So don’t let it get the best of you
‘Cause God knows everything you need,
So you ain’t gotta worry

You may be knocked down now
But just believe what He said, He said:

“I won’t give you more, more than you can take
And I might let you bend, but I won’t let you break
And No-o, I’ll never ever let you go”
Don’t you forget what He said

Don’t fear when you go through the fire
Hang on when it’s down to the wire
Stand tall and remember what He said:

“I won’t give you more, more than you can take
And I might let you bend, but I won’t let you break…”

“I won’t give you more, more than you can take
And I might let you bend, but I won’t let you break
And No, I’ll never ever let you go”
Don’t you forget what He said
Don’t you forget what He said
Don’t you forget what He said (I want give you more)
I want give you more
What He said

You Can Quote Me: Grateful for…book recommends

Posted in books, grateful, You Can Quote ME by

book_smRecently I’ve been struggling with the actions of an extended family member – it’s amazing. You chose someone, they chose you, & everything is expected to go swimmingly. It doesn’t. Not even in fairytales.

But I’ve learnt a few things this week, and I now have a post-it front page of my planner. It’s there to remind me:

It’s none of my business to know what X thinks of me. It’s OK to ignore (the bad behaviour). It’s OK to walk away. It’s OK to limit time spent with X. It’s OK to ask X politely to leave my home.

I’m finding this simple but powerful. It reminds me it’s not OK to be rude or mirror what is done to me. To that end, I’ve removed or blocked X from my social media accounts, and interestingly (as he didn’t like what X tagged him in or implied what he was) B has chosen to do the same. I’ve chosen not to name X, as that would be equally wrong. But my little finding this week might be helpful to someone else, so I chose to share.

I came to this finding reading a couple of blogs and discovering a book (I know, what a shock). I’ve only read some excerpts but I’m heading to a Manna today to get the paperback & the study guide.

http://thebestyes.com/ The Best Yes is about coming to a biblical understanding of the commandment to love one another. If you click into the link, you can read chapter one for free & see some other material. I don’t think that the concept about loving one another is necessary only for Christians; having respect & empathy for our fellow man is a concept that rings true in most religions, even Wicca’s “and it harm none” is the same directive as Jesus’ commandment in John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (NIV). Even if you profess to be an atheist, I’m sure you have a respect & empathy for others.

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The other book could be just as important. Ali Edwards (one little word) contributed to The Fringe Hours, by Jessica N Turner ( http://www.themomcreative.com/ ) which is about using time you already carve out for FaceTwitGram & using it effectively to renew your soul. Ali blogged about it here http://aliedwards.com/2015/02/the-fringe-hours?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+aliedwards+%28Ali+Edwards+2014%29 The image above is going on my phone to remind me. I also find this quote meaningful:

finding rest

 

WIP (ahem!) Thursday & Grateful

Posted in family, grateful, Mirabilia, stitching patterns by

Let’s start off on the high note – today is Simon’s birthday. He won’t thank me if I was to tell you how old he is but he withstood the birthday boy bounce from M! The boys gave him a card and gift before Z & I headed out the door. It’s a Zoku Ice-Cream maker – perfect for the man who has everything. I got it thru one of work’s stores:

http://www.livingandgiving.co.nz/kitchen-and-food/preparation/tools-and-utensils/zoku-ice-cream-maker-purple-5035057

Today my Grateful pic just has to be Simon. Not because it’s his birthday but because he has given me so many things to be grateful for. Three of them also on the bed!

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This could be the “before” pic too – I have brought an old (1920’s) solid timber door that I plan to scuff up and use for the headboard. The room looks bare without a headboard! Plus I’ve selected a few paint pots to try.

Low note. I am not at all happy with the Spirit piece. I don’t know if it’s the colours (the book might be different from the chart pack) but the fan background is purple for me, and mid/pale blue for others in the group. I’m talking Eeyore purple, the same skein that I used last stitching a piece that currently hangs in M’s room. The chart is also harder to read, as it is colour blocks and not symbols. I know why, it’s to help stop copyright thieves, but it means a few hours with a working copy & a marker and right now, I just don’t have that emotional investment in it.  So it went away on Monday & I pulled out Stargazer with the intent to finish her before the end of March.

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Stargazer makes me happy.

Ash Wednesday

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Ash Wednesday kind of crept up on me. Last year I quietly gave up chocolate and I’m sorry, but that’s not going to happen this year. As Grumpy Cat says…

grumpy cat lent

I made the mistake of asking my FB friends what I should give up (big mistake. One suggested chocolate again, another suggested cross stitch!) and so this year I think I’ll go in an anti-Lent test.

I’m going to give up coffee and tea, and replace these with water.  I’m also going to take a photo every day of something I’m grateful for & give thanks to God for lending me these things.

lent

#truth

 

Today’s is a bit shallow – the desktop iPod dock my boss gave me. I am grateful that I can hear good sounds during the day. And yes, I am hopelessly behind the times – that is one of the original 2005 30GB iPods that were the first to play video. It’s not broke, so I’m not replacing it & the collection on it is eclectic and all me.

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Your regular WIP Wednesday post will come later tonight; I forgot to take a photo. Doh.

 

EDIT 25/2 – I decided to go “all out” and give up caffeine totally. No Coke either! Wah!