I need some sleep...

Since Mr. Wonderful traveled the quality of my sleep has been disgraceful. I do sleep normally, but I wake up several times every night and even when I sleep it is apparently "dog sleep" (Finns call it that) and therefore I am getting exhausted as I have got used to sleeping well during last five months (He just happens to be a great sleeping draught)... And yesterday that lack of decent sleep struck me in form of a Migraine of The Millennia: my head hurt like h**l, I was tired, nauseated and... everything I ate or drank came out within fifteen minutes. Sometimes my body seemed to make me vomit out of having fun. Basically my day contained sleeping, vomiting, sleeping and some more vomiting... Luckily Mr. Wonderful sent me sweet text messages so it wasn't as bad as it could have been (being called precious pearl and gem kind of makes you feel good no matter how bad you are feeling ).

Today I still feel nauseated and my head hurts and I have a feeling that I may actually have to go to see a doctor tomorrow and try to get 2-3 days of sick leave just to recuperate from yesterday as I have never ever had migraine even close to this and I don't think it would be smart move to go to work when I am still having the migraine in form or another.

Talking of colours...

Remember what I said about colours? "In The Arms of an Angel" by Lavender and Lace is a great example about this phenomena: I simply love the colours in this design (though whenever I stitch this it is very likely that I will convert the skin tone and hair of the angel - or at least of the child - into more mixed) and I must get it! (My wish list at 1-2-3 Stitch! is getting really long, one day I will crash their server with it... )

Some sweet stash...

I actually think that I may already have that seasonal santa, but there's always way to get rid of it in case I do (I'm planning to gather all my excess stash, create an album to my Ovi account and sell them - but that is within next five years or so *grin*).

I still have traces of the migraine from yesterday so it's another Small Project Day. The project will probably be biscornu for the Biscornu: Design-It-Yourself Exchange at EMS Cross Stitch Forum (sign-up won't open before 16th ). The design I have for it is rather small so after the exchange it will become a complimentary design for Periphaeria Designs. Said design is also the one to blame for my latest S.E.X....

I need Kreinik's Very Fine Braid #4 for it and I don't have it in suitable shades (I have #8 which would be yummy, but it's too thick, I think) so I ordered some. And as you guess I "justified" the postages with some designs I just had to adopt (1., 2., 3., 4., 5.). (And I realized that those fruit pillow designs I have been drooling are part of larger series from Just Cross Stitch and 1-2-3 Stitch! sells them... oh my. I have to buy them some day.)

It was also a good mail day! I had envelopes from Silkweaver and 1-2-3 Stitch! in my mail box!

The fabrics are much more amazing in person, but as I wasn't in the mood for scanning this is the closest it gets today.
These are, of course, findings from Odds & Ends, fabrics for my budget and I like the custom cuts you can get from O&E: this batch has two 9''x27'' pieces (Greekstone and Tropical Breeze, both are on the lower row) which are excellent material for various projects.

Guardian of the Holy Floss

Moment from yesterday:

Seiichi is obviously a very intelligent cat.

Actual stitchy content

Shocking, yes.

Firstly I started 2nd part of the Spanish Sampler MSAL in monochrome, went on balcony to stitch it as it was a lovely, sunny and warm... soon after that it became cloudy and chilly AND I got a migraine (due many things: low air pressure, general frustration, hormones and making the part 3 ready to be published in next Tuesday (I am surprised that my virtual printer actually worked without cursing and throwing things)) so I came back infoors and decided to change to something smaller i.e. Linda's "Autumn":

And just to prove that I have started the second part of TSS...

I think it will look quite fun when finished.

"To say nothing, especially when speaking, is half the art of diplomacy."
-- Will Durant

Life, stitching and everything...

I have not finished assembling that fourth model yet (it's about 60% finished though), reason being that I have had hormone induced migraine last two-or-so days and I just can't concentrate when my head is about to explode.
So, I have stitched little something (which I can't share yet), watched two seasons of Babylon 5 (again!), stuffed cats with roasted lamb (they love lamb (as you can deduce from previous entry) - apparently it's the strong aroma (can't blame them, that's why I like it)) and felt generally blue (though I am not going to complain: my cycle is and remains normal without any excess hormones. If two blue days per month is the price... who gives a damn when you can actually have some hope of being able to conceive some day without any treatments?).

Anyway, today has been rather good day, and I decided to give myself day off to get rid of this migraine completely. Day off meant: redesigning (and adding some new pages - and still I forgot the Exclusive Designs part!) part of Periphaeria's site (added flashy favicon too) and some stitching.

Spring has very captivating eyes, don't you think?

t3h p4in

...and one's ways to cope with it:

I organized my miscellaneous flosses (pieces of cardboard and a ring binder), moved magazines/fabrics/floss into bookshelf - and found new, bigger box for my regular stitching fabrics in that process.

So, now I can justify shopping as there's so much empty space in my generic box... sounds about right?

In general that has been my only crafting related activity today. I'd have dozed off hours ago without excessive coffee drinking...

In search of...

Good, free (or trial) CSS previewer. Couldn't find any and I'd really use one. (I'd prefer to see what I'm doing.) Not that I'd do any more editing today, I found a migraine from somewhere...

Angela, yes, I do have a cam, but remember what I have told? I use free version of Trillian and it doesn't support video conferencing. *grin*

The Greatest Tail

Once again, nothing much to show. I had to take short nap ("short") because I got attacked by nasty migraine. Migraine is gone, but I'm not sure was three hour nap good idea in the evening...

Last week I was unable to identify parenting dragon's parts and it looked just like big, purple blob, but all the sudden that blob makes much more sense.

Changes in rotation

As it seems to be more likely to be N/A during weekends than stitching I had to tweak my rotation a bit... AE and Jaffa made way to project with greater priority.

Memes anyone..?

Manic Monday; Land of Nod

1. What is your ideal time to go to sleep at night?
   When ever I feel like sleeping.

2. If you had your choice, what time would you get up in the morning?
   When ever I feel to. (I prefer personal freedom.)

3. How many pillows do you sleep with on your bed?
   Do cats count as pillows? (If so, add four to given numbers.) At the moment two, sometimes 3-4. Usually one is enough.

4. Are you particular about your bed sheets?
   Cotton. Vivid colours, or black. NO pastel shades. (This didn't surprise anyone.)

5. What size bed do you have? Is that the size of your choice?
   120 cm, it's enough for me, and in case of stay-over there's enough room for two - and my bedroom is too small for as big bed I'd like to have. (Actually it'd be big enough if there weren't that big bookshelf...)

Ngh...

For some reason my body's temperature control has gone mad. It could be migraine based, but my muscles and joints hurt... I just can't understand where I've got cold from. (I don't even barefoot anymore, and even it's almost 20°C during daytime I dress to way colder weather (I found this nice black cardigan from my wardrobe..).)
And due the aching I have spent most of my time yesterday and today lieing (it's interesting: Semagic's dictionary wanted to correct this as lying, but the dictionary I use offers form lieing which is IMNSHO much more logical - even though I know that lying is commonly used, but nevertheless it refers, in my mind, to act of telling a lie) in bed, with cats, reading and I actually finished other one of those books I bought while ago. I've to say that those 20 cents I put in Morag Joss' Half Broken Things (though I disagree with the category it's placed in Wikipedia - I'd say it's drama) was best investment I've done in years. The book is really good.

When it comes to stitchy part of life

I've managed to stitch a bit now and then when I've felt good enough to sit, and even it's just one area of certain colour it's always a bit closer to finish.
Actually I can sense getting better, as I'm itching to start with my Crazy Cat Lady Exchange piece - even it's not one I meant to do I'm quite pleased with my choice ad I'm quite sure it'll turn out beautifully.

And thanks to pain I was awake last night and made a little deal with Angela, so in nearish future I'll have piece of linen and some DMC's Variations from her - unless USPS' machines still like the taste of stash.
I just hope that is not the reason why my Silkweaver parcel has been on its way for a month.

And it goes on and on...

Migraine, that is. I've reached that phase where I've all sorts of cravings (which means that I'll be heading to grocery soon). Either my body lacks something, I'm lacking decent rest, pain is me getting me depressed or all.
This darned thing also means that no wild night out tomorrow with friends. *sighs* All that noise, smoke, staying up 'til morning and possible alcohol based beverages wouldn't do any good, so I had to cancel it. *sighs again* (Though, actually it's also good thing. I just realised that I am broke. Friggin' "livelihood allowance" was 100 € smaller than it was supposed to be...)
And actually I'd just like to move into a small, warm cave for few days. Or have someone around to take care of me... or both.

But on a cheerier note: as I've been unable to do anything else I've been stitching, and we are having a happy dance in one of these days. Though the project is secret so no pictures, yet.

That new subtitle

"I went out of my mind and threw the key away..."
(bits_2_whole)

I think it suits quite well...

^^!

Migraines...

...like life can be b**chy sometimes, and while suffering from worst migraine attack in months (and like that wasn't nasty enough my ovaries decided to swell up yesterday for reason or another, which caused... more pain. Wonderful - not...) I've noticed something quite interesting...
Stitching actually eases the pain. It does reduce the boredom which migraines bring, but it also does help for the pain (if it'd hep with the nausea I'd be one happy camper) itself.

And I'd really like to know why, as you'd think that stitching makes migraines worse with all that meticulous counting and staring at those itsy bitsy holes.
Maybe it is its relaxing effect...

Yadda, yadda and bleh...

My back aches, I nauseate, my head disagrees with me and I'm blue. What a lovely way to spend a night.

Being anxious makes me anxious (merry-go-round anyone?) and it makes me wonder how the heck I survived those years I felt like this all the time..? Nowadays even few hours of this blackness is enough to make me insane. Even I know I'm better in the morning after good night sleep, and if not in the morning after few days, as all these aches are just there because of this extremely silly way to keep human female's womb in shape... It still bothers me.

But then, I got email from Silkweaver and my order is in process. And I was apologized by one person. It feels good - even I wasn't actually upset of the conversation we had earlier today, but the thought matters.

Some more rooibos and may even be able to sleep.

Life, odd tests, 2-do, stash and RR

Jet lag has got better day by day and left room for a migraine...
Haven't been in pain actually, but sleepy as h*** and my hands have been shaking enough to do some whipped cream without moving my hands...
(Though now the pain is on it's way.)

Mood swings

snowprincipessa, your mood tends to swing between Calm & Happy.

Most of the time you feel calm. Your positive outlook on life is paired with a fairly low energy level. Although you might not realize it, your lower energy level is a positive attribute — it allows you to fully experience and appreciate your feelings of optimism.When you feel happy, you no doubt experience feelings of satisfaction and contentment as well as a positive outlook on life.
When you experience the ups and downs of mood swings, the most important thing to remember is that you're not alone. Everyone — even the calmest individual — is liable to fly off the handle now and again.

Scary... as it fits.

Stitchy to-do ASAP:

1. MSAL
2. Panda
3. Alter Echo
4. Crazy Cat Lady Exchange
5. Silhouettes (three to go)
6. Morning Wizard

And in other news, my ABSST parcel is in Finland, but it's having short holiday at customs.
What makes it annoying is the fact that when you convert its value to euros and calculate VAT and customs it will be under 10 € which means... nothing to pay. Except buss fares, as it's too far away to walk (it's close to airport (not so surprisingly), so not that far from here, but over ten kilometers anyway).

Why, oh why, do they put real value of shipment on their parcels?

Seasonal Dragons

It seems to me that I've to make a draw when it comes to Seasonal Dragons RR. But I'll ask it again when I actually purchase that pattern and decide the fabric, and finishing method (bell pull is what comes to mind).
I also have to warn you guys that I'm pedantic little thing and there are few little things I'll ask... actually one, and that is ability to stitch consistently 'lefty' (\\\ + ///),as that is how do it and general impression suffers if top leg is not consistently from upper right to lower left.
And anyway, I've to finish my brother's birthday gift before doing anything else.

Amen to this - and this.

And no PINN yesterday, for two reasons

1. SII transferred those euros to welfare even they were supposed to only take June allowances back... I've to consult that 'verdict' when I get back home
2. As I thought, migraine. No headache before night though, but I was so dizzy... (read: laid on sofa whole day)

And that trip will be transferred to Monday, which happens to be my birthday, btw.
All those nice gifts I can give to myself...

Oh mi gosh, actually. I'm soon 27. I'm getting age crisis.

Yes, it's not that old, but... 27?! I'm almost thirty! I think I hear myself getting wrinkly. (I'm already cranky, and granniness won't happen in next few decades, it seems.)

And I really don't know what to do today. I've planned the temple tour for next week (I need to figure out how I get to there).
Maybe I should get to Tesco, buy that water and yoghurt we don't have (and some decaf instant coffee (oh yes, I drink decaf nowadays (wonderful way to drink coffee in the evening and still be able to sleep)). Instant just because cafetière's jug got broken for some reason and there's no replacement yet), and see about it then? (As it's very much possible that my head is not completely back in order yet...)

SBQ; Used charts

This week's

Stitching Bloggers Question

was suggested by Cheryl and is:

"What do you do with your charts once you've stitched them? Do you keep them or dispose of them? If you keep them, do you organize them in a way that is different from the way you keep your unstitched charts?"

I keep them. Should I say 'Of course I do!' as a natural born collector I just can't ditch parts of my collections, be it ditching broken coffee mug (ok, I do ditch those) or cross stitch pattern.
No, I don't organize them in separate place. I let them be with their old pals, in their old place - why confuse poor little charts when you have no need to?

Though... This opinion of mine may change during years, when once stitched charts are spreading around like a disease. But we'll see it then.

Quote of the day

"It seems to me now that the plain state of being human is dramatic enough for anyone; you don't need to be a heroin addict or a performance poet to experience extremity. You just have to love someone."
Nick Hornby: 'How To Be Good'; page 111

S.E.X., music and ngh

I found saviour in my dark path of not having good Finnish ONS: Kirjokas.
First of all, DMC 0,80€/ skein (which is real bargain in this part of the World), no postages, fast and good customer service and good storage (just because they carry Dragon floss)... They also have English version of the store, so do pop by. (Like Moomins? Click.)

So, I spent few euros and got flosses for Alter Echo. It turned out that I want to do it with three colours, instead of two. I'll use those given 815 and 841, but I'll stitch text with 902.
309 is nice colour, but I was unable to find anything suitable to go with it, so I let it be.

...and as Kirjokas has minimum order of 10 euros I purchased some Dragon Floss to fill the gap...

      

I placed an order in Thursday, she got payment and posted them in Friday. They came today.

More chocolaty music...

Flying Carpet has a new buddy: Desire.

"...I desire you more than food or drink.
My body, my senses, my mind,
Hunger for your taste.
I can sense your presence in my heart.
Although you belong to all the world,
I wait in silent passion,
For one gesture, one glance."

This is chocolate to your ears, and other senses.

In other news

I don't feel good at all. Migraine, yes, but why are my muscles etc. aching? I'd almost live with exploding head, nausea, upset stomach, dizziness and tiredness, but sore muscles/ throat/ joints and unstable body temperature make it odd and really annoying.
With some luck I found summer cold in Saturday in my trip to grocery... it rained, and even I used umbrella I was soaking wet when I got back home. And first muscle aches came during that night...
Anyway, not my usual migraine. Usually I can at least stitch or write emails, but no... Wrote one email yesterday for about 12 hours as I lost my skills to understand what I had wrote (I do excessive amounts of proof reading, see), not to mention that half an hour writing three sentences took today (you don't want to know how long it took write this entry)... And can't even think of stitching. Or coffee.

Ngh.

Health-related blabber

It seems to me that I should reduce my coffee consumption drastically, and preferably try to survive few days without it (dreadful thought). My poor heart is erratic again, and even it bothers me to feel my heart beating what bothers me more is being tired.
It happens every time when I've any sign of arrhythmia. Natural reaction of course, my body tries to recover, but I have to run some errands today, so it bothers me.
And I foresee migraine because my blood pressure may be bit high at this moment (though when I had those bad arrhythmias some years back my BP was actually only slightly risen) - and having irregular sleeping rhythm doesn't make it any less likely to have another migraine attack, nor it helps with my heart.
And I'm quite sure that my heart doesn't like my anemia very much - though lower hemoglobin levels are one reason why females have less heart problems than males.

I've nothing against having body which actually seems to work like it's supposed to, hormone wise, but I've noticed that it causes problems for my activity levels... when you bleed twice-thrice as often you used to only about year or two ago it does affect and it affects so much you can really notice it.
I should try some extra iron, but then... I should get enough from my daily multivitamin pill(s), and as I eat meat nowadays I should have no problems what-so-ever with my iron levels (or so they say..).
But as said, I am not complaining in the end. On the contrary.

On other things, I'd like to thank for encouraging comments considering my SAT, and, of course, congratulations for our ESC success.
I meant to say this before, but you can't always remember everything, can you?

S-A-T: Epilogue

It all started from this...

This is what I had few minutes ago

Not that much, but my Stitch-A-Thon goal was to cure my mojoitis and it seems to me that it worked.
And I had good reason to be slow. I've had a migraine today because I stayed up after 3 am today. I slept 7 hours, which should have been enough, but apparently I'm getting old and grumpy.
Or maybe I just should obey my migraine head and try to live like a good person.

Though... it was worth it. First time, in that 40 years we've participated, when Finns success in ESC. It wont probably happen again during my lifetime. (No, choice of blogging song has nothing to do with my lifetime or being old and grumpy.)
Anyway, metal (though Lordi is categorized as hard rock, I think) is what Finns do best. Long, cold, dark winters; short, warm summers without any actual darkness... We just don't know how to do good pop because we're not cheery enough.

Nrrd in love

Isn't this cute or what? ^^

And while talking of nerds in love... Meu Lobinho just knows how to be cute. ^^
I wished him good night (in Portuguese - just because I can, and little things are important) few hours ago, and just thought aloud in that SMS that I should improve my Portuguese... And what did he do? Yes, he gave me short lesson of diminutives before hitting the sack. ^^

Just about the most wonderful thing you can do for knowledgeholic like I am. ^^

Huge red blob

May I introduce you: Dragon of Hope without backstitches.

... to be continued.

Braiinss....

My dear brains have been acting up again today, so I could say that I'm impressed because of progress I made after my second awakening. (After first one I ate breakfast and realized that I should get back to bed because I was so dizzy. Slept almost 4 hours, I think.)
If there were any pain it'd have been easier, but when only thing you can do is lay down because your head has it's own merry-go-round... I'm not used to be dizzy.
I assume that this is just one new form of migraine as I have some sort of band around my head, and I definitely have problems with blood circulation even now when writing this... I don't know. For some reason it feels that these ones come from low blood pressure. Just a new phenomenon in my migraine types.
But I've to admit that idea of having too low blood pressure is almost hilarious for someone who had high pressure in her teens... though fact is that my blood pressure has gotten lower during years. (Silly, isn't it?)

I'll just sit here... in this comfortable pink fuzzy cloud of mine. ^^

I've to say that even there has been major S. Hole of a migraine, and almost intolerable pains in my ovaries, which means that I have actually just vegetated last days, this week could not have begun better.

Yes, I've lost my marbles, but I feel great. ^^

Most of you don't know why, and I need my secrets. At least at this moment... I want to cherish this feeling I haven't experienced in ages.
Part of me doesn't want to allow myself to feel this... happy, but I know I've to enjoy it now. I've to take it as it is.

I like this cloud. I'd hate to lose it.

/me is *so* bored

This one seems to be one of those migraines which actually try to get me spend time in my bed... Dizziness is not fun, and in addition to that my head begun to hurt as I, well, laughed my hiney off because of certain mail I got.
Nothing against that though - laughing (nor that mail, very much opposite to be honest). Anything which lifts up my mood in day like this is always very welcomed.

While laying in bed I read latest Cross Stitcher (came today; and btw, Angela: Silkweaver parcel came too. Now I just need to get those dyes, and maybe I'll send something some day... ) and I found something I can agree with:

"Dear Lord, so far today I'm doing ok.
I haven't gossiped, lost my temper, been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or self-indulgent.
I haven't whined, complained, cursed or eaten any chocolate.
But I'll be getting out of bed in a minute, I think I'll really need your help then!"

And while laying in bed getting bored I noticed something which I dislike: as I've lost weight (/me cheers) my arms are getting visibly muscular (at least my biceps have gotten smaller, they were problem last spring)...
I know they'll fade away sooner or later (at least I hope so), but I really dislike it anyway.

So, anyone in desperate need of some muscles? But then... it makes it easier, to actually have relatively good share of muscles in your body as

1. I wont look saggy
2. It means that part of that weight I have is actually weight of these 'Arnolds' of mine
3. And they'll get smaller during time -> decreases weight even more.

But then... I sense need to get new clothes soon. I also sense being even more "too femininely build" for designers (My waist is at least 6cms too narrow to "fit" with my hip, according to "fittings", even at this point. What will it be..?) which causes sense of panic.

Btw, three months from this moment I'm 27 years young/ old. Scary.