You Can Quote Me & a Smalls check-in

Posted in Uncategorized by paulainauckland

As always, YCQM reflects some portion of my One Little Word for 2015, Serenity. This week’s it’s a new-to-me scripture. It’s helping. I hate that for Farrah, life has to go on in its little routines but life is going to be so different.

For the Smalls check-in, I decided again to use my round robin piece (she was only 12-13hours all up, but an hour of that would have been the lettering). This is Mediterranean Mermaid (my friend Lynne calls her “Jug”, as she is normally carrying an amphore). I chose this piece as I have the whole thing kitted up and stitch it at hospital each time Mase is admitted. I haven’t stitched on the big piece all year! Winning!

It’s nearly time to send out the first set of our NZXS Facebook groups RR’s. Pretty excited to see what I will stitch, as the three others in my group have some very different tastes J It will be nice to do something completely out of the norm (Angela is as big a Halloween freak as I am Christmas) but surprise! I am still on a Nora kick so my piece is the four faces, in a 50*50 square. From left to right they are intended to be:

Spring Queen
spring
Garden Verses
garden verses
Damask Roses
damask roses
Peony Garden

Verses looks wrong – so far the suggestions from the FB Mira, Mira page range from Sabrina, Elizabeth, Persephone (my big WIP, I’ve already ruled her out), Roses of Provence (love her but don’t own her yet), Florentina (I don’t like her face, she looks sneaky & sly! But I love the cat. I posted to Nora that I’d stitch a whole series based on that cat), Lady of the Mist (love her too! But still to own & I think only with Stargazer, Rose of Sharon and maybe Mother’s Bliss in a series) or Villa Mirabilia. I’m going to ask Zeb if she has Provence, and if I can “borrow” that portion.

florentina

Roses of Provence

elizabeth

Lady Hera

sabrina

Lady of the Mist

The centre plant is the rose bush from Damask Roses, but I converted the leaves to make a bit brighter. The charted colours just washed out on the confederate grey fabric.

23Jun2015

This:

Posted in family, friends, grateful, OLW by paulainauckland

I spent a good portion of last night just watching my children. Bran didn’t know for a bit that I was grieving, but he picked up on the sadness and was so gentle. He stayed up with Simon and I, just relaxing (they watched Lewis while I read & surfed comments others had made on Farrah’s FB posts) then when I got back up, I found he’d spent 30 min or so just sitting beside Z in this room, calming Z down as he is nervous about the Interzone Rugby tournament today.

This is what Farrah won’t experience again. And that makes me well up again.

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others”

Pericles (Greek Statesman, c 420BC)

Charlie

I’ve decided that I will be making a donation to the local Cystic Fibrosis organisation in Charlie’s name.

http://cfnz.org.nz/you-can-help-2/

If you’re in the States and you wish to donate, or to understand more about the disease, we think Charlie’s chapter was likely the Houston one, or you can donate at Walgrens until the end of June.

Texas Gulf Coast Chapter – Houston

50 Briar Hollow Lane
Suite 250E
Houston, TX 77027
p: (713) 621-0006
Email: texas-gulf@cff.org
Contact: Executive Director: Ms. Sissy Boyd

Here’s a bit of a teary story as to why the disease is also known as 65 Roses: http://www.cff.org/aboutCFFoundation/About65Roses/

22Jun2015

Grieving & Not Understanding

Posted in family, friends, OLW by paulainauckland

I’ve just heard/read that a friend’s son has lost his fight against cystic fibrosis. He was nearly the same age as my B. Should have had years in front of him, and now there will be a Charlie sized gap in his family.

It’s just not fair.

Right now I’m not living this statement. Not even a little bit.Serenity is about to go out the door.

the semicolon project

Eloquent and graceful; this is a must-read

hpwritesblogs

Today I went to a tattoo artist, and for $60 I let a man with a giant Jesus-tattoo on his head ink a semi-colon onto my wrist where it will stay until the day I die. By now, enough people have started asking questions that it made sense for me to start talking, and talking about things that aren’t particularly easy.

We’ll start here: a semi-colon is a place in a sentence where the author has the decision to stop with a period, but chooses not to. A semi-colon is a reminder to pause and then keep going.

In April I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. By the beginning of May I was popping anti-depressents every morning with a breakfast I could barely stomach. In June, I had to leave a job I’d wanted since I first set foot on this campus as an incoming freshmen because of my mental…

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18Jun2015

Sampler a right old age

Posted in Uncategorized by paulainauckland

Isn’t this gorgeous?! Amazing to think that maybe a piece of my needlework will live on too.

18Jun2015

Guess who came home from school with me?

Posted in family by paulainauckland

Batman? Or the Maseman? Your guess is as good as mine!

18Jun2015

You Can Quote Me

Posted in OLW, You Can Quote ME by paulainauckland

Here’s another image I think ties onto my One Little Word, Serenity.

17Jun2015

WIP Wednesday

Posted in family, me, Mirabilia, round robin, Smalls SAL by paulainauckland

So I screwed myself over when I said I’d possibly have a finish by now. The whole family has had one bug after another (I’m hoping that B’s vomiting last night is due to something he and he alone ate!) and I didn’t pick this up for three days. Still hoping to have a finish by next Wed, the Smalls check in date.

I also fell in love with the new Mira release, the Raven Queen. She’s on order now.

I did Mase’s reading with him last night (he usually does this with Grandma). He’s reading early chapter & nonfiction already!

12Jun2015

High 5 for Friday!

Posted in Uncategorized by paulainauckland

This week I’m:

LOVING the visuals on this blog (I’m follower 1000) https://davidoakesimages.wordpress.com/

STITCHING received the latest RR on Tuesday, already selected my portion and am working away like a mad thing. At this rate I’ll have a finish next week, wow.

LISTENING and loving the latest Avalanche City song, “Inside Out” – this is a live version http://tinyurl.com/nznyad6 Maia, this might be one you would like

READING old favourites

ANTICIPATING some time to myself this weekend – I need a beach break. Bethells, here I come!

11Jun2015

You Can Quote Me

Posted in You Can Quote ME by paulainauckland

YCQM is a semi-regular blurb, relating to my One Little Word for 2015, Serenity.

Here’s something I need to remember when stepping out of my comfort zone. I’m often worried that I will fail, that I’ll say the wrong thing, that I will offend, that what I’m working on or towards will turn to custard. To keep feeling that serenity, I need to let go & remember I CAN.