Smoke, Smoke!!!!!

My random UFO slot this round was my HAED Cabin In The Woods, and when I looked in my albums I last worked on it in April!!! I can't believe it's that long ago, how time flies.
Working on it also timed perfectly with the HAED background SAL which was over the weekend, so I was really pleased to be able to join in with it as I can't often do them.
And yet again having a timed rotation has proved just what I can achieve when I actually sit down and get on with my stitching rather than letting myself be distracted lol. In my 10 hours I managed about 1600 stitches which is great for me as I thought I couldn't even manage 100 stitches per hour.
And the best bit is if you look at the pic, the lighter bit near the right hand side that carries on down to almost the bottom of the page is actually the start of smoke coming out of the cabin chimney! If I move down a page again when this page is finished I'll be starting the cabin!!!!
So that is round 2 finished and I get to start allover again lol. Next round is going to involve a few changes, as I finished the Eeyore Rug and the needleroll. My oldest living UFO is a kit called School of Dolphins which I bought years ago as DH loves them. I only did a few stitches before it went away lol, but I'm determined to get back to it even though it's on aida. So that is taking the place of the rug. Next up in the small/medium slot will be Just Nan's High Hopes which I've been wanting to stitch for a long time. Whenever I look at this design it makes my think of my mum as she has lots of plant pots in her garden, a birdbath, birdhouse etc, so this will be a gift for her, hopefully for christmas. Tomboy and Cirque will stay the same this round, but the random slot this time goes to Celtic Autumn. I have been considering adding in another small/medium slot as I really want to work on some more smaller projects, but will give it more thought and maybe decide after this round.
Thanks to everyone who visits and posts comments here, it's lovely to see people are interested in what I have to say or show lol. For those who gave me wonderful advice regarding Erin I'm pleased to say that things seem to be improving. She did 3 days last week without crying and has done both days so far this week, which is such a relief. Here's hoping the worst is over...

Another Slot Over

Last night I finished my 10 hours on Cirque Des Cercles. The colours in the pic really don't do it justice, I just can't seem to take a good pic of this one. I'm really pleased with how this is coming along, but must admit I didn't enjoy working on it as much this time around as last. Was thinking last night that after next round if I feel the same I might swap it with one of my UFO's for a couple of rounds, then bring it back in. Will have to see how it goes...
I'm going to spend an evening on Tomboy tonight and try to get a bit more of the dreaded blending filament done on it, before I move onto my random UFO for this round, HAED Cabin In The Woods. I haven't worked on this one in ages so am looking forward to it. All the lovely blues are really relaxing to stitch, just wish it would grow quicker lol.
Hope you're all having a good week, it will soon be the weekend!

Any Ideas?

I've hit a brick wall in knowing what to do with Erin on a morning when we leave her at school.
I know it's only her third week at "big school" and today was only her first full day, but it's breaking my heart every morning when I leave her as she is sobbing, clinging onto me and begging me not to go.
We have spoken with her teacher and she says that once she is in school she is absolutely fine, and has said if she has any concerns she will speak to us about them, but it doesn't make me feel any better.
We have tried giving her a bit more attention, tried sitting down with her and explaining things and asking why she cries (she says she just doesn't like us leaving her), and we've even tried being quite strict with her and telling her to stop crying and she is not a baby anymore etc, but nothing is working. Her grandma and we have tried bribery today lol, but that still failed.
I'm leaning towards thinking it's just going to have to be something we learn to live with, but it's so awful seeing her so sad every morning and I then worry about her all day.
She went through stages like this when she was at nursery, she would be upset for weeks and then settle, then be unsettled again, so maybe she will settle in a bit, I just don't know.
Then I got to thinking if anyone else had been through the same thing with their little ones when they started school, so does anyone have any advice?....

Tomboy Page Happy Dance

I finished page 4 of my Tomboy QS the other day, but have carried on a little bit to grid the little bit on page 3 and get some of that done. Page 3 is mostly blending filament (yuck) so have decided to keep picking it up between other slots in my rotation to do a bit on it and hopefully it won't be so bad that way. I really really want to finish her this year and had considered giving her another slot in the rotation, but I think I might get sick of her that way, so instead I will just keep doing a little bit inbetween, even if it's only a couple of hundred stitches, and when her slot does come around I might do a bit over the 10 hours if she's going well.
Next up is Cirque, yummy colours and easy relaxed stitching!
Have a good Wednesday everyone (hugs).

Remembering 9/11

Although I am in the UK the events of September 11th 2001 affected me greatly.
I have always been interested in anything American and when DH and I got the chance to go to New York for our 2nd wedding anniversary in 2000 we jumped at it. Our wedding anniversary is September 10th (yes, it was yesterday) and we had planned to visit the World Trade Center and dine in the restaurant at the top of one of the towers to celebrate. That day when we arrived the queues were huge, and we were advised that if we didn't want a LONG wait the best time to visit was early in the morning. We therefore decided that rather that spend hours of our anniversary in a queue we would go see some other sights and come back the following morning.
So at exactly the same time of day, one year before 9/11 we were at the top of one of the towers looking down on the rest of New York and taking dozens of photos.....
The following year we were away on holiday to celebrate our 3rd anniversary in a much less exciting but still lovely place, Chester in the UK and were visiting a working farm. We decided to go into the cafe to sample some of their homemade icecream, and while standing at the counter saw on the tv behind what we could only believe was a film. I will never forget the feelings that rushed through me when we realised that it was no film, this was actually happening, two planes had hit the World Trade Center.... We immediately left the farm to go back to our caravan and I spent the rest of the day watching the tv and crying about this terrible attrocity.
I don't even have to close my eyes and I'm back to that day when we visited, and so each year I think about the people who lost their lives, the brave people who went into help, and those families who are now without loved ones....
Please spare a prayer and hope that one day people will be able to live together in peace and without fear.

Bored And Fed Up

I'm bored tonight and not really in the mood for stitching so been playing about with my blog template. Had had enough of the bright red and wanted something a little less in your face. What do you think?
I'm fed up because on Thursday night I had a wake up call. I've had problems before with getting indigestion and heartburn a lot but on Thursday evening within half an hour of having our dinner I was in agony, doubled up in pain in my upper abdomen. I couldn't keep still and was sobbing with the pain, I really thought I was in serious trouble. DH rang my mum and then went and picked her up so she could watch Erin and rushed me straight up to A&E where I waited 2 hours before even being seen by the triage nurse. DH was getting more and more wound up and I kept having to rush into the toilet to be ill. Anyway the outcome, after downing Gaviscon liquid and having an injection in my bum, is that they think I either have gastritis, or more likely a stomach ulcer. The fact that I have had problems for a while makes it more probable it's an ulcer, which means I may have to have tablets for a couple of months to help heal it, but mostly I have to change my diet drastically as I'm so overweight and avoid stress haha!
So for now I'm downing Gaviscon and eating and drinking very plain things to try to calm my stomach and see how I go from there. Yesterday I was scared to eat at all in case the pain came back as bad, but today I'm fed up because I can't help thinking this is NOT going to be fun. Two choices, unbearable pain or giving up most of the things I love to eat. I know I will get used to it and in the long run I'll probably be thankful I had this kick up the bum to make me do something, but right now I'm fed up....

My Baby Is Growing Up

Well, my baby is growing up. Today is her first day at school and I can't believe it's arrived. She went off with her best friend and her new teacher without crying, and I managed to stay tear free as well which is really good. She looked so grown up this morning in her uniform and so smart. She is only doing 8.45 til 12 for the three days this week, then she stays for lunch til 1.15 all next week, and the week after she is full-time til 3pm. She was scared this morning but we reassured her she will make lots of new friends and she will see her best friend everyday, and she'll learn lots and lots of new things, so we'll just have to see how it goes. I can't wait to pick her up at 12 and see how she got on and if she is okay lol.
Stitching wise I have another happy dance to share, one I'm extremely proud of myself for, as I've finished my first needleroll! I've had this Shepherd's Bush Needleroll kit since Erin was born lol, but decided recently I really needed to try one and this seemed sensible as it was a kit. I've loved every minute of stitching it and am really pleased I've learnt some more new techniques for it, mainly hemstitch (thanks for the encouragement when I was panicking Julie lol). I can definitely see the appeal of them and will be doing more soon I'm sure. Now that it is finished I need another small/medium to fill it's slot, and have decided to do the freebie Chatelaine Xmas Tree Mandala. I got the beads and special threads from Sew and So the other week, so will start kitting that up soon for when it's turn comes up. Figured if I get it started early I might get it framed and up for christmas this year instead of next lol.
So next up in the rotation is Tomboy and I'm hoping to get the current page finished this time round if possible. More of the dreaded blending filament but just got to suck it up and get it done. I'm thinking more and more that I want to get this finished this year, but I don't think it's going to happen. I've considered making it a focus and doing more hours on it somehow, but still thinking on how I could do it. I don't want to risk doing too many hours on it and getting sick of it so will have to be careful.
15 mins and I can set off to collect my schoolgirl! Have a good day everyone!

Big Happy Dancing!

Yesterday and today have been good days! Yesterday was my last day on my own at work, my boss is back from holiday on Monday and I'm SO relieved. It's not been as bad as I expected, I only cried once lol, but it will be so nice not to be on my own again and have to deal with all the c**p myself.
And last night I finished Eeyore!!! Once I got so the length of the rows started reducing it seemed to go much quicker and I thought whilst I was watching the Big Brother final I might as well keep going, but sort of got carried away and ended up finishing it at about 11.30pm. DH has helped me finish the back off today as it's a real pain to do and I always end up stabbing myself with the needle hehe.
I think this will be my last latch hook rug as it's not something I really enjoy doing, I find it quite boring and the size is a pain, but I do like the finished result. Erin has two in her bedroom, one on the floor and one on the wall. Eeyore is going at my side of the bed as our bedroom is all lilacs, but DH has laid bets Erin will have snaffled it off into her room before the week is out.
Looking back over August, it turned out to be a great month with my new rotation. I've got my stitchy bug back, started a new project, made good progress on a couple of my wips, and finished one I started a LONG time ago lol. If September is as productive I'll be very happy. School of Dolphins will be taking Eeyore's slot next round as that's my oldest UFO and is the one thing DH has ever asked me to stitch. I'm hoping to finish the needleroll this round as I've only got the beads to add then I need to learn how to make it up. I'd also ideally like the finish the page I'm working on of Tomboy, get another chunk of Cirque done and put some time in on Cabin In The Woods which I haven't picked up in some time. So looks like I've got a busy month ahead...
Hope everyone has a great September, next Wed is Erin's first day at school and I'm sure I'm more nervous than she is lol. I'll make sure I post a pic of her in her uniform once I've stopped blubbing....