Category Archives: me

The Hux Part Deux & WIP-yesterday-was-Wednesday # 214

Posted in cross stitch, family, friends, goals, grateful, me, Mirabilia, music, Nora Corbett, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, weight loss by

About this time last year, I climbed the Hux with the BBM crew. This year, as a family we decided to do it again, opening up to whomever wanted to meet us but not letting the lack of “me too” hold us back.

The Hux, or Hakarimata Mountain summit climb, can be divided into two portions. There’s the relatively easy walk to the site of the 1922 dam (nice waterfall is just past this) or the more strenuous climb to the summit. 1K almost straight up, 1349 stairs.

http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/waikato/places/hakarimata-scenic-reserve/tracks/hakarimata-summit-track/?region=waikato&park=c46c7395-d05d-44ff-b48a-66d228a7e77e&activity=walking-tramping#activitypanel

Because I haven’t been very active, my personal goal was halfway plus two flights. I kind-of bullied Karl into the same (he originally had halfway) but then we just kept on moving. And moving. And after about an hour, we were there (Si & Mase had done it 1.25 times by then & Louise & her friend A were a little behind us). Woot!

On the way up I’d seen part of the Tuakau and some Rewa league boys & on the way down, some of the Hamilton BBM crew. It’s nice to see familiar faces but even more so, nearly 99% of everyone else on the Mountain is also doing it tough, no matter how you measure them from yourself. There’s a lot of encouragement & good vibes.

On the WIP front, my work/travel piece is still Little House Needlework’s Bethelehem. I’ve finished with the lettering as of last night and YAY it well fits into the fabric with plenty of room. And I got some progress in on Fairy Idyll – not visibly much as it is such a big piece, but counting & double-counting has got me to the far right. Sorry for the crinkles – I am also stitching this one in hand.

Music wise I am slow to the party & have just discovered Sam Hunt. Gorgeous voice and a STORY in the song? Yes please. Also Do Right by The Glades – she has a beautiful voice.

On Feeling Empty

Posted in me by

I got two phone calls this morning which I wasn’t expecting. One from my eldest little brother R, who is in Melbourne & the second from our eldest stepbrother, J & his wonderful wife T.

My biological mother’s third husband, also a J, passed away this morning, after a long illness.

I don’t know how I should feel. I am relieved, because no-one deserves a long slow death. I feel for K, as they isolated themselves from others with their opinions & actions, and no-one deserves to be lonely. But how should I feel? I could grieve for myself, in that there goes someone who should have been a proud father & grandfather, but I didn’t get to see that side. I do grieve for my step-siblings, who despite his shortcomings towards those he couldn’t mold into his own puppets, J did love them. Just conditionally.

Right now my soul is empty.

WIP Wednesday #213

Posted in cross stitch, embroidery, family, grateful, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, stitching patterns by

Look at me, blogging on the day I should! Almost a grown-up.

Stitching wise, I haven’t got much done at all. I took a half-day Friday feeling unwell, and have been this way since. I’ve been to the GP and have tablets, spray & ear drops – she thinks a combo of inner ear infection & sinusitis, yum – and blood tests for thyroid & iron & other stuff. I’m slowly getting better but it’s 11am & I’m desperate for a nana nap. So slow is the word for today.

20180124_110030.jpgOn Ashley I finished the blend in the bow, the apricot roses and the greenery in her bouquet. Maybe 250-300 stitches? And I didn’t do anything more on Bethlehem.

I did go to the Corsini exhibit on Saturday with Lou & #masetheace. He was pretty awesome for his first classical art exhibit, lots of questions but he was quiet, respectful & didn’t try to touch anything. More than I can say for some other kids. What is up with letting your child TOUCH a 500 year old fabric wall hanging (close up of the stitching below)? Or letting your child scream in an echoing room & ignoring the 50-odd other people who paid to see this exhibit? Rant over. Take in some of the gorgeousness – and if it ever leaves Florence again, take the chance & view. Well worth it.

WIP (cough) post-Wednesday #212

Posted in cross stitch, DIY home, family, grateful, House, me, stitching patterns, work by

Apologies for the lateness but – yeah. Life.

This past week has been really odd, frantic busy & I haven’t had much stitching time at all. I finally started Little House Needlework’s Bethlehem & this is all I have managed, in between swearing & work, while in my little office.

We finished the work at the MIL’s on Tuesday, just in time to run home, clean up & shoot into town to see Jimmy Carr at the Aotea Centre. Another night without eating (trying to get parking & pre-pay so we didn’t get towed ate up the time) but it was so worth it. I know he’s crass & non PC, but his humour is on multiple intellectual levels. And his reaction to hecklers is spot on. I laughed until my cheeks hurt & very nearly at crying point. And we had a late night visitor – those stripes look odd!

Last night MIL and the boys arrived home – hooray! She kept on saying she’d loved what we had done, but then spoiled it a little by commenting about our wanting to sell it. For the fifty-fifth thousandth time – it’s not us thinking about selling. Grr. She has a lot of trouble just being grateful & that is getting to me. After all, that space was original 1979…it was well past due!

I don’t see much stitching in the next week either – I want to go to the last days of the Corsini Collection at Auckland Art Gallery. It closes Sunday but I plan on going Saturday with Mase in tow.

Blurb: From the private collection of the eminent Corsini family in Florence, Italy, comes this fascinating exhibition featuring Renaissance and Baroque painting by artists such as Botticelli, Andrea del Sarto, Caravaggio and Pontormo.

The exhibition provides a window on the family’s continuing passion for collecting art, their support of artists, and their ongoing loyalty to the city of Florence, which has prevailed through the devastation of WWll and the inescapable forces of nature during the flood of Florence in 1966.

Portraits, landscape, mythological and religious paintings, as well as sculpture, works on paper, furniture, costumes, embroidery, games, kitchen equipment and a lavish dining room set for six, will portray the life of this family at the Palazzo Corsini and their patronage of the arts.

WIP Wednesday #208

Posted in Christmas, cross stitch, DIY home, family, me, Smalls SAL, stitch from stash, stitching patterns by

It’s been a busy week. My mind is alternating between frantic & lazy, so I know I’m about to reach the end of all my tolerance.

Since last Wednesday, my Twitter #nzsecretsanta parcel has been checked into Santa’s warehouse, & bonus! The one that is coming to me is also checked in. Mase won Player of the Day at Tag; and celebrated finishing Goldfish #3 at swim school with “play” day, or what the teachers would call survival skills. Ben, his teacher, is off to Massey Uni next year as he has been accepted into Veterinary school. Mase’s sentiments? Hmm. I finished the last colour of Believe – and would you believe it, going back thru my planner I saw that I started this in January. That is how much I have hated stitching on a big piece of perforated paper! We had the school concert last night, finished painting the bathroom (I can hear Elizabeth’s “about time!” comment lol) and I am nearly done beading the second of the Jamaica Santas.

There will be a #FFO dance this weekend, folks.

WIP Wednesday #207

Posted in cross stitch, embroidery, family, friends, grateful, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, round robin, stitch from stash, WIPocalypse by

So. Here we are again, heading into the silly season. We’ve had a busy week. There’s been a lot of Tag going on (tag is the summer version of league, no tackling but it’s very, very fast flowing). Lou turned 23, & we had a family lunch at hers. Being in retail, work is ramping up so I’m trying to find moments of peace. Like looking at the Pohutukawa (or New Zealand Christmas Tree) at the supoermarket carpark. I even took some stitching into the Shine assembly at school last night – Z was rewarded for having already banked a merit NCEA credit going into year 11 (which is when most NZ children start NCEA/GCSE type standards). He’s got 7, being assessed for another 5 & needs 80 in total by the end of next year.

Stitching wise, it’s been good when I look back. Still too many things for my liking are in the WIP phase, but I got a mini finish – Rose of Sharon for Becca’s RR. I have this one in my stash & Simon has asked to add it to my list – does 2019 look good for you hon?

I have started (at Becca’s noted disappointment that it wasn’t finished) to complete Ashley’s Roses. It took a few hours to mark what had been done on a copy of my chart (yeah, another in my basket of Mira), then floss check to make sure any batch changes wouldn’t affect the overall look. I’d rather frog at this point than later! So this is my start point, I only have a few additional stitches in so not worth showing any progress. I do want to get this way to Melinda in January, so she remains my at-home focus piece.

Also not worth showing any progress on is Jamaica Santa – pathetically I’ve managed only another thread length of beading. But Believe only has one more colour to do before I bead that, and the Honey Pots (work) are taking shape also.

My 2018 plans are starting to come together also – but you’ll have to wait until Jan 7th, the opening WIPocalypse post for that. Are you joining us for year seven? ANNNND Stitch From Stash is opening for sign-ups for the first six months of 2018. Look for the group entitled “Stitch From Stash 2017/2018” to be included in the ongoing saga. There are other groups as well, but Stephanie is such a good admin & this isn’t a pressure point, so I’m continuing where I am.

#craft31days day sixteen

Posted in Christmas, cross stitch, family, grateful, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, photos, travel by

Not a lot of stitching tonight, maybe 80 stitches in all?

The main reason is that Si is sick, so after swimming lessons I drove back into town so B can go to his Force Fit meet. I walked around Silo Park & the Wynyard Quarter back towards the CBD. #masetheace wasn’t too happy as I only let him use the elevator twice, & forbade him from interupting a yoga class on the most amazing glass viewing platform (there was plenty of room for us anyway) but I enjoyed the fresh air.

And summer is coming! That top left photo? That’s the pohutukawa starting to bud. Its our Christmas tree, as its covered in gorgeous red flowers during December. Old Maori tales say that if the tree flowers early, we’ll get a long, hot summer. Yay!

#craft31days day fourteen

Posted in cross stitch, grateful, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, stitch from stash, stitching patterns by

Saturday! Saturday! Oh bliss.

I did my volunteer shift collecting money for the Breast Cancer Foundation outside the local supermarket then (more bliss) I WENT SHOPPING BY MYSELF & GOT EVERYTHING ON MY LIST & ONLY THE THINGS ON THE LIST. The key word here obvs is “myself” 😂

This afternoon was lovely & warm; I got three loads of laundry dry on the line, everything unpacked & snack bags made for the week ahead; dinner; cleaned up after the boys (there’s only a little more gib to go up & next week I’ll be painting) & some stitching in while watching Maleficient. I’m a sucker for fairy tale adaptations.

And as I said on IG, it’s like Border Bliss. I worked my way around and the bits ended up in the right spot. Hooray!

COVER REVEAL: Cherish Hard By Nalini Singh

Posted in books, me, You Can Quote ME by

WOOT! It’s nearly here…remember how I LURVED Rock Hard? And the family dynamics? Here’s Gabe’s brother in his own book. It’s on my must-read list.

cherish-hard
New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh kicks off her new Hard Play contemporary romance series with a sizzling story that’ll leave you smiling…
Meet Sailor & Isa on November 14th!
Pre-order your copy today!
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2yaHnQG
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2i1LhHC
Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/2yXwnFB
iBooks: http://apple.co/2xw0U0O
Nook: http://bit.ly/2yf01bI
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2i2wvR1
☆☆☆☆☆☆
Sailor Bishop has only one goal for his future – to create a successful landscaping business. No distractions allowed. Then he comes face-to-face and lips-to-lips with a woman who blushes like an innocent… and kisses like pure sin.
Ísa Rain craves a man who will cherish her, aches to create a loving family of her own. Trading steamy kisses with a hot gardener in a parking lot? Not the way to true love. Then a deal with the devil (aka her CEO-mother) makes Ísa a corporate VP for the summer. Her main task?
Working closely with a certain hot gardener.
And Sailor Bishop has wickedness on his mind.
As Ísa starts to fall for a man who makes her want to throttle and pounce on him at the same time, she knows she has to choose – play it safe and steady, or risk all her dreams and hope Sailor doesn’t destroy her heart.
☆☆☆☆☆☆
EXCERPT
Fuming, Ísa made sure to set the alarm system and lock up. Everyone else was already well into their summer vacation—the sole reason Ísa was here was because she hadn’t been able to work on her lesson plans at home.
Her upstairs neighbor was having repairs done to her bathroom that required banging and hammering.
Not all of it involved nails and wood.
Hopefully the repairs would be finished by now. There was only so much ecstatic orgasmic screaming that a single woman in online-dating purgatory could stand without being driven to violence.
She spotted the tan-colored gardening truck the instant she came down the front steps of the school’s imposing redbrick main building and turned left to head toward her car. The hot gardener had parked it right next to her zippy blue compact. The front of the truck had four doors with tinted windows while the large bed was piled with shovels and other manly tools as well as a huge sack of clippings.
His light brown T-shirt was hanging over the top of the tailgate.
Which meant he was still walking around topless somewhere around here.
“Get in your car, Ísa,” she muttered to herself, well aware what would happen if she came face-to-face with that delicious hunk of manhood. Because while she might’ve conquered her shyness, she knew her limits.
Confronted by a bare-chested man who made her ovaries explode, she’d turn bright pink, lose her ability to form speech, and end of story. “Oh—”
She would’ve bounced off that sculpted chest if he hadn’t grabbed her by the hips.
“Hey, sorry,” he said with a startled smile that lit up the dazzling blue of his eyes. “I didn’t
see you.”
“No, um, my fault.” It looked as if he’d crouched down to check one of his tires or
something else but had risen to his feet right when she swung around to get into her car. And God, his skin was so hot and smooth and he was so tall and his shoulders were so broad and her mouth was drying up. The stuttering would begin at any moment.
The same stuttering Suzanne had mocked relentlessly when they were fourteen. Until Ísa had gone silent around everyone except the few friends she trusted. And now that horrible, ugly-hearted girl was getting married, having a baby, getting a happily-ever-after. Added to which, Ísa’s mother was jerking her on a string like she was a marionette, and her last “date” had asked her to call him Woofy and reward him with doggy biscuits.
The blue of the gardener’s eyes flickered with a hot flame.
And she thought… I know him. But before she could follow that faint thread, all the fury and hurt and frustration and sheer aggravation in Ísa ignited into an incandescent inferno.
She went mad.
Grabbing the hot gardener’s beautiful face in her hands, she said, “I want to kiss you.”
A wicked grin. “Go on ahead.”
And Ísa pressed her lips to his.
Copyright © 2017 by Nalini Singh

naliniMeet the Author
Nalini Singh is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Psy-Changeling, Guild Hunter, and Rock Kiss series. She lives and works in beautiful New Zealand, and is passionate about writing.
If you’d like to explore her other books, you can find lots of excerpts and free short stories on her website . Slave to Sensation is the first book in the Psy-Changeling series, while Angels’ Blood is the first book in the Guild Hunter series. The Rock Kiss books are all stand alone and can be read in any order.