Tag Archives: #bbm

WIP Wednesday #225 & August WIPocalypse

Posted in cross stitch, family, friends, goals, grateful, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, round robin, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, WIPocalypse by

Hello lovely people! I am in a much better head space this week – had awkward convo with family member & hard convo with the boss out of the way, and on Sunday we (Si & I) completed the Loaded Tough Guy mud run. Exceptionally slow time, but we’d made a decision to stick together so that meant we were governed by my fitness – then on the first downward slide, T injured his back. This was maybe a quarter of the way in? So after that, it was Si, myself, T, Alvin, Mel & Ondrake working together. We picked up Kim (Mel & Kim earworm for you other 80’s survivors hehehe) who had been left behind by her team and while we were the last group to finish, we finished. My shoes are a write-off and my body isn’t that far behind. However – massive achievement, given the course conditions and the mental fortitude needed. My Samsung watch says I climbed 49 flights & did 9.6 km that day. And that won’t count the sliding downhill – I did a lot of that both on my arse and my feet! I recommend Magnesium supplement – it’s made a huge difference.

Stitching has been excellent. I have beaded Deepest Love & Renaissance Mermaids, and have started Waiting for Ships. My work project is two copies of Mill Hill’s Peridot ornament (long time readers will remember I did a lot of these a couple of years ago for family members who don’t appreciate, so now it’s one set for me & one for a gift to a stitchy friend).

As I missed the July WIPocalypse, here’s my answers to both questions (click on the icon on the side to take you to Measi’s site, where the main event is hosted. If you’re a stitcher, please join our motley crew).

JULY – Half Year recap – how are my goals for the year?

Huh. Looking at my points from January this year, not great at all …

So my focus pieces for 2018 (given that I want to end in the black for Stitch From Stash also) are in order of attention (bracket date indicates the start month & year):

  • Mirabilia Ashley’s Roses RR section (Dec 2018) FINISHED
  • Semco Toy Story Sampler (October 2013) – Zac will be 15 soon, & this needs to be done before then! But first I have to hunt it down… I KNOW WHERE IT IS, I JUST DON’T WANT TO DO IT
  • Mirabilia Fairy Idyll (September 2017) – Gail has loaned me the chart, & I want to return it this year MADE STEADY PROGRESS, ABOUT A THIRD THRU AND AM LOOKING FOR MY OWN COPY SO I CAN RETURN GAIL’S
  • TW Tapestry Cat (Dec 2006!) – because it deserves progress NOT EVEN TOUCHED
  • Mirabilia Persephone (May 2015) –because I want to get thru that skirt! MADE A LOT OF PROGRESS, DOWN TO THE LAST QUARTER!!!
  • Jane Austen SAL (December 2017) –because I want to keep up with the readings GAVE UP, I’LL STITCH MY AMENDED BOOKSHELF NEXT YEAR

Too many other things caught my eye! I’m still very pleased with what I have done this year. Not much chance of finishing in the black for this half (altho I did for the first half & should for the whole year) – those Mira 25th Anniversary purchases threw that plan out!

AUGUST – Which is more satisfying to you and why – the process of stitching a piece, or the finish? It’s both by turn – I enjoy the quiet of stitching, the achievement of the finish.

STITCH FROM STASH – thanks in part to some sales, I’m not in as bad a position as I thought. If the person who wants Biancabella does pay, and if I finish Persephone I will end in the black for both the half and (importantly to me) the year. At the least, I resisted spending more this month than just the DMC skeins I ran out of!

Aug-18
  $25.00
Spotlight 7 DMC -11.83
 
Portrait of Antique Vines 11.04
SOLD NC Snapdragon (Maureen) 15.00
   
Rollover -$223.95
Total Available Budget -$184.74

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.

The Hux or Why I’m Walking Funny…

Posted in cross stitch, goals, grateful, growing, me by

I blame Loren. She’s got me into this mess. But Hello, I am achieving things. I’m even starting a bucket list.

at the start
stairs, stairs & more stairs
love the quotes
looking east over Ngaruwhaia
Zac & Mase at a waterfall
we all made it to the top!

Remember how I am part of BBM, or Buttabean Motivation? On Sunday, a portion of us met at the Brownlee Ave carpark in Ngaruwhaia to encourage James, a Hamilton #BBM crew member, to tick off one of his goals – to climb the Hux. He’s the big guy in the white singlet in the photos.

The Hux, or Hakarimata Mountain, 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. No points for guessing what we did. 1K almost straight up, 1349 stairs. Kudos to the Department of Conservation team who maintain the track!

Being honest, I have to admit that by the halfway mark I was pretty much done psychologically. My calves HURT despite frequent stretches and I was sucking back water. Also, being girly, relying on my Evian facial mist to keep me cool. Si was carrying the backpack luckily so we weren’t really limited. It was at this point we kind-of ditched the main group. One of the wall quotes was the Henry Ford comment – Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right – and I took that on board. If I knew I could finish, I would.

Mase had run on ahead with Normo (a fellow westie) and Wayne, Zac following but I needed to pace myself. Si and I broke it down to 2-4 sets of steps, stretch, another 2-4 sets & encouraging each other along. Poor Si had run almost 25k the previous day, refereeing at the last day of the Tongan Tag tournament, so his legs were pretty tired anyway.

It took us the better part of 50 minutes to get to the summit; surprisingly the recommended time. I thought that I would have held us back. The view – stupendous. It was an almost perfect day (on a totally clear day you can see as far as Ruapehu, one of the Central Plateau volcanoes).

 

It took another 40 minutes for James to make it up. The majority of the group was with him, and we all gave him a round of applause and a high-five gauntlet as he came thru the last portion. You could see it meant a lot to him, to have achieved his goal, and that made it worthwhile in a lot of ways.

So next on my list? The Rangitoto climb. Pinnacles, Tongariro Crossing, the Auckland version of Coast-to-Coast. Round the Bays (at a walk). Waitakere’s Slip Track, and from Bethells up to Scenic Drive. I think that of those, probably RTB and Slip Track will be the easiest to implement.

WIP should-do-this-on-Wednesdays

Posted in cross stitch, goals, round robin by

HI everyone! I’m so glad it’s Thursday. This has been a looooong week.

20170115_145556Friday – shite day at work then a hot walk to the Domain as that tag season has started. Moved Lou from one flat to the next while S+B ref’d there.

Sat & Sun – S+B had refereeing commitments, so it was just Z, Mase the Ace and myself at home. None of us felt very energetic so we lazed around. Slept. Hurting a wee bit after getting back into bootcamps. The Stitch Maynia and Stitch from Stash SAL both featured red, so I did a small part of home♥stitch♥ness  Flowering Poinsettia pattern. This is on a 26ct navy Elixar, as it was in my stash. Planning a small hoop finish for my tree. Check out her etsy shop (link on the name) for some more cuteness.

I also put the next round robin piece to work and started Passione Ricamo – it’s the head and shoulders of Into the Darkness. Not my cup of tea but Andie had already done Artemisia, so this one will face that. Not enough progress to show, as I only spent 30 min or so on her.

Discovered the rabbit warren that is Audible. This has been the high-light of my work week, altho I see it as potentially quite expensive! If you know of deal sites, please do let me know. I have worked out that it is often cheaper to buy the Kindle book and add on the Audible file…

 

Monday – work early (before 6!) to get the internal and vendor reporting done, before I went with Lou for her surgery appt. Letter said surgery at 11, under general, so we arrived at 9. Huh. Surgery at 2:30 – we left at 4. And they did it under a local block.

Tuesday – work then bootcamp. I did an extra set of the finisher and managed to bear crawl (fast!) up the hill. I cannot do it backwards. That is something to practice.

Wednesday – Watchman tag started again last night, so while S+B ref’d, Z & I went to an Ankor class at Waitakere. It’s a bit intimidating, TBH, to be doing that among the fit young rugby and netball peeps that are also training but once I had my glasses off, I pretended they couldn’t see me. Plus, I’m pairing up with Annike who I find motivates me. I hope I entertain and motivate her as much!

And now we’re back to Thursday. No stitching since Monday, when I did a little more on Fireflies. I am now into the navy, which is the last colour before the beads. Fingers crossed I get this done to bead this weekend, I’m tired of it already!