SAT goaling and lung thoughts

Even Loy is my official SAT piece I need to get two deadline projects done so I will spend my weekend stitching Bunny Baby and Autumn Dragon on Jenna's RR.
My official goal is to finish Bunny Baby, but as I am planning to spend this weekend sitting on the sofa to minimize the need of Ventoline during first test week (I should actually be 100% medication free, but as breathing is more important than having exact results one is allowed to use medication - there's special field in the spirometry document for it) I think I might be able to start Autumn (depending on how tired I am - new, strong allergy medicine, you see).

Speaking of asthma... It's silly actually. If you look at my unmedicated peak flow results (morning values) they are what an average woman in my age and height should have, and my medicated values are in the same line with an average man of my age and height. Which means that when I am not medicated my lungs are female and when I am medicated they turn out to be male...

I think I did say something about having strong lungs?

Do you need a Religion Free DVD Player?

\o/

I got in that course!

They interviewed me in Tuesday and today I had an envelope waiting "You are one of the 16 out of 43 interviewed who got selected. Welcome". (I am sure that my age was one of the reasons: I have decades before I retire, it's wise solution in long run to help me to find the direction where to head.)
This means that I have things to do every week day from 22nd of August to 31st of December. Which also means that there won't be a dull moment in near future with the course and all the stitching and other stuff.

99% probability

I dare to diagnose myself: asthma.
The nurse show me how to use the peak flow meter and made me try three test blows (she has a blow job... harhar) and after that she checked that I take my attack medication correctly... before meds (though only about 40 minutes after my last fix) my highest was 540 and when I got back home my highest was 620... close enough for that 20% change they need for the diagnose I would say...
And the diagnose would mean that our Social Insurance Institution kind of has to pay my next degree (or rather my living while studying, studying is free in here anyway) because I can't work as a weaver even if I got a job (the dust, you know)...

Foto Pherrets and stash

Week 84

In many cultures, circles are said to be sacred.

Our word for this week is: Round

How's this for round? (This handsome little (9 kilos of little) guy is another one of my mother's cats.)

SEX!

I had to, it wasn't me! Blackwork Fruit Bellpull will be travelling to mommy some of these days.
Even it's not my style I loved it enough to pop by at Pamela Kellogg's Etsy shop and order it right away. (And hey, it's available for limited time only. (Any excuse will do, as you know.))

Jewelry issues

I have confronted an odd problem: even though I have good selection of necklaces and pendants none of them "speaks" to me. Even my favourite, choker with a glass flower (yes, glass) which I wore almost three years (24/7) since my separation (I bought it few days after Dan moved out) just felt wrong couple of weeks ago and hasn't been hanging around my neck since.

Necklaces are my trademark, I wear them always and I feel naked without one (there's also the seduction factor..). And it's disturbing to know that I have necklaces, but also be aware of the fact why I can't use any of them... most of them have similar reasons: I am getting rid of negative memories and am looking for symbols to represent the Real Me. (Rest just aren't my style anymore.)

In the end I am like Imelda Marcos complaining that she can't find suitable shoes from her shoedrobe...

SBQ: In the Beginning There Was a Stitch

Today's

Stitching Bloggers' Question

was suggested by Jennifer and is:

How did you get started stitching? Was there a person that inspired you?

The timing od this question is curious as there is a poll on the same matter at my favourite cross stitch board (favourite meaning the board I idle in most - and as I am part of the staff... *cough*) so let me copy and paste...

"I remember doing a cat on a prestamped fabric when I was about the size of a fire extinguisher (about four, I think) which would mean that my mother has had her hand in my addiction, but I still say I am self taught (as my mother doesn't know how to stitch, which is curious).

I recently found towels I have cross stitched (on waffle cloth) as a gifts when I was 13 or 14 which means that I was actually so self taught that I never even had saw any instructions when I started. (If your mother shows something to you when you are four you won't remember it when you are 13...) I just knew how the stitches were supposed to look like.

Though the official story is that I saw Cross Stitcher with a Kipper the Dog on the cover (January 2001) and the rest is history. (The addiction got bad after I separated my now ex-husband (huzzah, three years of addiction!) - as I had much more time on my hands for some odd reason...)"

But since I started I have had many inspiring persons in my life. In addition to all my stitching friends I have a very supportive mother, I had a supportive husband (well, at least he was supportive in something *grin*), a supportive ex-lover (you guessed it right: Wolfie) and a supportive ex-FWB (I still think that N. considered watching me stitching over one as a turn on... ). (Actually I find it odd that all of the supportive men have seen the technical side of stitching and those who haven't appreciated my stitching have seen it only as a "those things women do". (Nowadays I only seem to get along with men who see the technical side of the art I create with my needle.))

Things to-do ~yesterday

In (more or less) respective order:

1. Stitch Bunny Baby
2. Stitch Autumn dragon.
3. Stitch two models.
4. Stitch two gifts, sew one.
5. Stitch and finish Halloween Exchange.
6. Stitch and finish Linda's bourse.
7. Stitch a replacement for Angi.
8. Finish those two badly belated gifts.
9. Stitch and finish a piece for Cross Stitch Lottery.
10. Work on PIFs in between of everything.

Health

By the way, my lungs are where they are supposed to be and they look clean which means that there are no odd inflammations, growths or anything to worry about. Next step is to follow my air flow at home: first one week without medication and then one week without and with medication - I just need to remember to make an appointment with a local "asthma nurse"...

And the kitty...

Memes: One Word Answers and Unconscious Mutterings

Shamelessly snatched from Jenna:

1. Where is your cellphone? Table
2. Relationship? None.
3. Your Hair? Shortish
4. Work? Freelancish.
5. Your sister? bits_2_whole
6. Your favorite thing? X-rated
7. Your dream last night? Odd.
8. Your favorite drink? Water
9. Your dream car? None.
10. The room you’re in? Bedroom
11. Your shoes? None
12. Your fears? Many
13. What do you want to be in 10 years? Mother
14. Who did you hang out with this weekend? Mother
15. What are you not good at? Socializing
16. Muffin? None
17. One of your wish list items? Love
18. Where you grew up? Europe
19. Last thing you did? Drank
20. What are you wearing? Knickers
21. What aren’t you wearing? Shirt
22. Your pet? Cats
23. Your computer? HP
24. Your life? Good
25. Your mood? Annoyed
26. Missing? Calmness
27. What are you thinking about right now? Water
28. Your car? None
29. Your kitchen? Problematic
30. Your summer? Short
31. Your favorite color? Black
32. Last time you laughed? Today
33. Last time you cried? Blank
34. School? Not
35. Love? Wonderful

Unconscious Mutterings: Week 236

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Voyage :: Bon
2. Patricia :: Arquette
3. Transformation :: Change
4. Vocabulary :: Lexis
5. San Francisco :: Hills
6. Edward :: Grieg
7. Sawyer :: Tom
8. Literary :: Me
9. Tiger :: Tiger Woods
10. Seal :: Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel

[/holiday]

Though admittedly I could have passed the load of emails I had waiting when I returned, as there's once again issues building up and I just can't take it.
I don't want to take it because I see no reason to accept how some people find it ok to change things already agreed upon. (Once again I remember why I like to do things on my own: I can trust myself to keep what I agree upon.) Let this be a reminder of certain policies of mine...

Yes, I am a day early as I found out just before I left that I have a meeting tomorrow and there was no possibility to change the day (I tried). But then, if it goes well I have something to keep me busy to the end of this year (in addition to going back to Hebrew classes).

Anyway, few pictures can be found from here and from here. (White/ blue and blue/ white cats are my mother's.) (Some stupid /me forgot to take the camera with her when we went to hunt wild roses yesterday as I could have got great pictures... ah well, such is life.)

Gone!

Ok, not yet actually. The day changed to tomorrow (joys of not having a driver's licence and having to use a driver *grin*), but my plan for today is to vegetate, drink loads of coffee, eat too much ice cream, stitch and sleep so I'm practically offline from now on.

See you next week!

mondaysabitch: Shiny things

Oooh shiny!

Metallics

1. Gold or silver? Which looks better on you?
   Silver, absolutely. I am too pale for gold (in my opinion gold looks good only on people who have tanned (natural or acquired) skin.).

2. What is your favourite Olympic sport to watch?
   Anything with well-developed men in tights.

3. Goldfinger or Goldmember? Would you rather watch a James Bond movie or a Mike Myers comedy?
   It depends on with whom I watch it.

4. Have you ever won a trophy?
   No.

5. Do you set off metal detectors in airports?
   No.

Wish list keeps on growing...

Ye shall not play with Google's image search... another addition: Ganesha - The Hindu God of Wisdom

My body really wants to tell me something...
I just happen to think that this is cute and I could actually stitch it to my kid: In The Beginning. (Maybe it takes me back to childhood, I had the cutest Noah's Ark placemat when I was a kid.)
Now, I have chosen my wedding sampler and sampler for my kid(s)... from where I can buy a custom made husband?

Unconscious mutterings - and surname in Google

Week 235

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Voices :: Hearing
2. Have to :: Must
3. Machine :: Sewing
4. Seventh grade :: 13
5. Beach :: Sand
6. Roommate :: Annoyance
7. Cyclone :: Wind
8. Theater :: Dream Theater
9. Pregnant :: Gravid
10. Phoebe :: Friends

Images...

Once again I played with Google's image search, this once with my surname and found a picture which made a great avatar (elsewhewre) - even it is yellow: Peri.

Repetitio est mater studiorum etc.:

"In Persian mythology, Peris (in Persian پری Pari) are descended from fallen angels who have been denied paradise until they have done penance. In earlier sources they are described as agents of evil; later, they are benevolent.
They are beautiful, exquisite winged, fairy-like creature ranking between angels and evil spirits who sometimes visit the realm of mortals.
In Indian Mythology Pari is the equivalent of a fairy.
Also, a common Turkish name for women in the form of Perihan, meaning queen of the fairies or Peri, meaning fairy." (From what I have heard it also stands for "extraordinary" woman (in Hindi) and a beautiful woman (in Turkish) - and, "of course", I know that it stands for fruit in Hebrew.))

Call me an angel or consider me as a demon, you are never wrong...

Asthma attacks

If I hate something it's having an asthma attack while sleeping... How I know I have them if I sleep? They come into my dreams, though nowadays my Salbutamol discus is also in my dreams, but nevertheless I don't enjoy breathing problems when I am awake nor when I am sleeping. EVen less when I am sleeping as it means that I will wake up tired... and I should clean and do the laundry and pack my things and all that...

Scent of a woman and other notions

It's interesting how some things grow on you.

My latest growth is Tom Tailor's New Experience ("female version").
I got a small sample bottle of it when N. bribed me last autumn (ok, it was a gift because I am so best *grin*) with CK's Be and now when the bottle (New Experience, Be is still alive and well) is officially empty I have got hooked to NE even I didn't like it at all when I tried it for the first time. O_o
Fortunately it seems to be rather reasonably priced so I can actually afford to buy it without finding another sugar daddy... (Not that I would mind a good quality sugar daddy... any takers? )

The interesting thing is that I am known as a person who can say do I like some scent just by looking at the bottle - and, even though NE's bottle is rather simplisistic I could never have guessed that I will like it.
Probably one of the reasons is... the colour. "Red scents" are usually rather teeny, and I haven't used any of the reds (scentwise) since I was... 13. (I exclude Jõvan (absolutely wonderful slightly flowery musk) because it has red/green bottle.)
I moved to black bottles i.e. very mature scents when I was sixteen and I have enjoyed my life in that category until now (by the way, Be is also in black bottle)...

Apparently this is part of the change I am going through. I have noticed lately some physical changes in me which shouldn't appear at this age... for example my nose is getting narrower and that shouldn't happen in mature age of 28 without surgeon's kind assistance.

Not that I am complaining, I have never liked my nose because it has been more of my father's nose (i.e. wide) than my mother's nose (narrow) and now I quite pleased with how it looks like (though I could still give few millimeters back to mother Nature).
In general I am becoming more and more alike my mother when time passes - which is all good (I can say that I have another 28 years left before I begin to look old in any sense - and probably longer as I take better care of my skin that my mother (one of those great traits in women of my family: we mature early, but still we stay young longer)).

The New Dawn: 1493.

One thing is for certain: I can't sleep well if I am going somewhere in the morning... Anyway, this is what I see from my balcony just now (I admit, the colours are a bit modified...):

This, that and something else

I have been good and updated my wish list, though it still lacks all the items I have under wishlist_additions tag.

I am also insane: I'm going to stitch the design for Linda's bourse over one on 36 count linen.
The design is actually quite problematic... I have monochrome and four different colour schemes (of which I have two different versions) and I can't decide which one to stitch! So, I let Linda decide for me... she doesn't know how it looks like, but I have asked her to tell me which colour out of those four she prefers.

"You have a large envelope awaiting"

I had a notification of a large envelope few days ago, but as I have been a bit tired I haven't bothered to go to fetch it - until today. And it was just what I hoped it would be: my order from Interweave Press' Hurt Book Sale!

And here's few of my favourites:

From left to right:

1. Domino knitted linen baskets.
2. Cashmere Crossings shawl from the Wrap Style.
3. Tapestry Garden shawl from the Wrap Style.
4. Kuba from the Knitting our of Africa.

Wrap Style and Domino Knitting are good, as is Knitting out of Africa even though I have one complaint: where are the vivid earthy tones?! Most of the designs are worked with greys and in my opinion that is a flaw: colours are one way to create the style and when some says Africa most people think of vivid, a bit earthy, tones.

Doctors and results

All the results were "within normal limits" (I have to remember to ask my hemoglobin as I am curious to know is it still 120 (which is within normal limits... lowest "normal" is 117)), but I got new call time from the head physician of the health centre for next week.
That doesn't mean that I don't have asthma, back in stone age my brother had perfect spiro results but he got asthma diagnose anyway. No one knows what is my normal, so even the generic "normal" may be reduced flow for me (once again, I sang in a choir, my lungs are "strong").

And... mr. GP wrote the missive for thorax x-ray, but he never told me that I can just walk right in to the local hospital's x-ray unit. He only talked of the spirometry.
How the Heck someone like him is allowed to do work with patients?! (Ok, I know there are worse: like that GP who prescribed aspirin for former neighbour of ours because she suffered of stomach pain... she died of ovarian cancer couple of years later, and it's likely that she might have survived if the doctor had gave a damn. (Yes, in theory I could have a lung cancer, but with my rather cancer free family history (I know of three known cancers within the last three generations, two of the cases were lung cancer, both of them smoked heavily, 50% survival rate (my uncle's cancer metastized(sp?) to his brains before it was diagnosed...) I don't worry about that possibility too much.))

Mini bourse exchange with Linda

I have wanted to make a bourse for ages and last eight months I have had this special need to finish some of my own designs as a bourse, though I haven't got around using that method yet... so, what did I do to give myself an excuse..?
I suggested mini bourse exchange to Linda, as I really enjoyed our mini biscornu exchange last year, and she said yes.

The idea is to make a bourse which is only about ~10cm (4'') per side, which also means that the design has to be small... or it has to be stitched over one, which is real torture for both of us... not.

As this is just between two of us we have very flexible schedule, the deadline is December 1st.

SBQ: Insurance matters

Even though it was posted ages ago I am somewhat used to answer to SBQ in the middle of the week... *grin*

Today's

Stitching Bloggers' Question

was suggested by Dani and is:

Have you ever thought of getting a rider on your household insurance to properly cover your stash (some of us have quite an extensive stash that an average household policy wouldn't fully cover) in the case of some sort of damage to your house that would destroy/ruin charts, fabrics, floss, etc?

If I recall correctly my household insurance has coverage for collections worth 16 000 euros or less so my stash is well covered - though I should keep better inventory of what I have (same thing with books, I should catalog them).

Something which amused me

... before someone reminded me of "wonderfulness" of human kind (Thanks is apparently too much... or knowing what you are doing... *shudder*): 'Viracocha wants his stuff back'.

Oncoming holiday, exchange things and model scheduling

I will leave you for a while... as I am packing cats with me and going on my mother's cottage for a bit over a week.
I will be offline from 6th to 14th and when I return this blog will be filled with backdated entries of all the stitching I managed to get done and the fabrics I dyed.

I will also get my new camera when I go there so I will probably have loads of pictures to show - as I need to get used to it, right? *grin*

Halloween Exchange

I modified the design I had in mind for Halloween Exchange in a way which I had in mind and I have to say that it turned out way too cute (I just hope that my receiver is not afraid of spiders as there's few of them too).
My intention is to stitch it on a fabric which I dye by myself specially for Halloweeny use. I also know what finishing method I will use and the finished item will be cute, cheeky and useful, perfect exchange item - and I am quite sure I will have hard time to part from it when the time comes.

The Big H. (... project formerly known as The Big Secret Project)

I just got a big envelope from Violarium filled with DMC's 4210. This means that now I have everything I need for The Big H. (14 skeins of DMC 4210 and piece of Zweigart's 36 count Summer Khaki Edinburgh linen), now I just need to make some room into my schedule and start it.

I have been thinking of the schedule of Big H. itself and if I make a goal of 22 hours per month I should get it stitched in ten months. Therefore I need to give it at least five hours per week, which means more or less two evenings. If I get it done faster I am one happy camper, but I think that is quite good goal - anyway I have to work on other designs while stitching the Big H. and notice the possibility that I get to work/ studying (I have applied to one course which is directed to people with health related employment issues and I am quite hopeful on getting on it as my employment rehabilitation councellor (she's really great, by the way) made it obligatory for me to apply -> that obligation may weight enough to get me in when they choose people on that course (and in my opinion they should choose me anyway as I am young i.e. I still have decades before retirement and therefore it would be good investment from government's point of view too)).

SALs here, SALs there...

Kristine Herber from Dragonfly Stitches is apparently having a hardanger bookmark Stitch-A-Long in her Yahoo group and guess who has expressed her willingess to join?
As it's a design with some (voluntary) cutting in it it would be just the perfect piece to practise my hardanger skills a bit more. (Not that any of us knows how it looks like, but Kristine told us.)

This is also a wonderful reason excuse reason to do some frantic shopping at Sewandso as I need perle and such - I could actually justify new pair of scissors, for cutting, you know. *grin*