Wow! A Year Has Passed

Hi all, I bet you have been wondering where I've been? Sorry for the terribly looooong absence but I do have an excuse. I've been struck by the love bug. Yes, I have found myself a wonderful man whom I've been seeing for the past year. Things are going extremely well and he treats me like a princess. The only down side to it is that my stitching has well and truly been put on hold. I have no time for that and many other things. We see as much as we can of each other, without being obsessive. He's truly one in a million and I am lucky to have found him.

I rarely get the chance to have a look at peoples' blogs so please forgive me for neglecting this area. A few of you have emailed me asking if I was ok. Thank you so much for contacting and showing your concern.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and are planning an exciting New Year ahead.

In August this year I travelled to Eastern Canada/USA for a few weeks with a friend. We did a two week bus tour seeing New York, Washington DC, Pennsylvania, Niagara Falls, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec, Boston, and ending back in New York. I absolutely loved NY!!! Wasn't there long enough to do everything I would have liked, so it's a destination I would want to go back again one day. Pennsylvania was also a favourite. I was so interested in the Amish way of life. We stopped off at a town called Intercourse (yes, you read right) where there was a shopping village. I was totally in my element. Craft, country, and gift shops galore. Fantastic!

When I arrived in Quebec, there was a red rose waiting for me in my room. My boyfriend had sent it. Very romantic - he was missing me terribly. I took that rose with me all the way from Quebec, Boston, New York, then on the plane over to Los Angeles. My friend and I spent four nights at the end of the trip in the Hollywood Hills. A day each of Disneyland (needed at least 2 or 3 days there), tour of LA, and Universal Studios.

Loved the trip overall but it's a long flight from Australia to Los Angeles. At least 14 hours and very uncomfortable in economy class. I'm still sorting out photos (I took over 4000 of them) but will hopefully show you some one day.

I just wanted to update my blog and to let you know that all is well with me. Sorry I have no stitching photos to share. I hope everyone has been keeping busy with their craft and are creating some wonderful heirlooms for the future.

Happy New Year and thanks for dropping by!

Happy New Year! ~ 2010 In Review

I hope you all had a wonderful Xmas filled with special moments of family and dear friends near by. Mine was with family, catching up, spent mostly outdoors since it was a lovely mild day.

The New Year has arrived in Australia and I shared the occasion with my sister, celebrating. We were both going to be on our own (which doesn't bother me) but decided to share the festivities together. A little bubbly and nibbles to help us enjoy the lead up to the New Year. We were going to watch When Harry Met Sally on dvd but it wasn't working properly, so watched the tv instead. I love watching this movie around New Year so it was a little disappointing we couldn't.

I thought I'd show you a collage of my year's work for 2010. Unfortunately I didn't get as much done during this year. My stitching mojo just seemed to vanish. Don't know how 2011 will go since I have other things going on at the moment (which I may tell you about at a later date). In all, I managed to get five projects completed.

EWE EYE & FRIENDS - Angel In Your Heart

SHEPHERD'S BUSH - Buzz Buzz Bee

WITH THY NEEDLE & THREAD - Be Kind & Be True

BLACKBIRD DESIGNS - Summer Iris

NOTFORGOTTEN FARM - Ah, 'Tis Spring

My favourite for the year would have to have been Be Kind & Be True. I did this one as a SAL with Melissa earlier in the year. I loved working on it and it was fun knowing Melissa was sharing the enjoyment of stitching this along with me.

Thank you all for stopping by during the past year, I know I've been a bit quiet over the months. Be assured I'm still thinking of you all and enjoy seeing what everyone's creating. You're all so very talented out there:)

HAPPY NEW YEAR ~ 2011!!!

A Little Pre-Xmas Stash

I ordered some stash over the last two months and it's only just arrived recently. The first lot was from Stitching Bits and Bobs. This I ordered early October and because one chart had to be ordered from the supplier, they hold back your entire order. This can be a bit frustrating, along with my priority package taking three weeks to get here! Anyway, the main thing is I have finally received it safely. I ordered some Victoria Sampler charts for Mum as part of her Xmas present. Another one of theirs she wanted to buy as she already had the accessory pack. This, I think, was the chart I was waiting on (Heirloom Nativity Sampler). These charts aren't in the photo.

Stash from top left clockwise: Plum Street Samplers - Hares' Christmas, LHN - The Family Sampler, Sarah Street ~ Faithfulness, Pumpkin Hollow Farms, BBD - Honeysuckle Manor book, and Farm House.

The next lot I got from The Rocking Horse. All Shepherds Bush kits.

Our Hearts Pin Cushion, My Land, Liberty Scissor Fob, The Journey, Lucky Sheep, Liberty Pin Cushion, My Pins, and Blue Snowman.

All lovely kits with beautiful supplies included. You probably won't see me stitching them soon, but one day I'll get to them.

Well, I've calmed down a bit since Oprah has left the country. I wasn't one of the lucky ones to actually see her show being taped in Sydney, since I would have had to have taken about three days off work. December isn't a good time to do this since it's our busiest time of year - no one is allowed to have any annual leave for all of December where I work. Plus you had to go into a lottery style draw just to get tickets! Knowing my luck, I wouldn't have got any. So I just kept up to date with all the news on the TV. Those at the first show's taping were given a necklace that you can actually buy yourself. Worth $AU450, it's not cheap, but it's certainly lovely. An Australian pearl hanging within a silver 'O'. Only available for a limited time, you can buy it from Kailis Jewellers Australia online. I'd love to buy one myself, but it's a bit too expensive for my budget.

So I hope everyone's gearing up for Xmas and are all organised. I've purchased all the presents I needed to get and tonight I'm going to sit in front of the TV and watch Carols In The Domain (live from Sydney), while wrapping my presents. It's a little tradition I've started and gets me in the festive mood.

Oprah Day

The day finally arrived. Named by the media, Oprah Day, saw the culmination of a year's preparation being displayed with two Oprah shows taped today at the Sydney 'Oprah' House. There will be four shows in all to be seen in January (around the 19th) in the US and here in Australia the day after.

The audience went wild and there was even an accident with guest Hugh Jackman arriving on stage. Don't worry though, he's alright. They may not show the actual incident when it goes to air but he flew on to stage via a flying fox, pulled the breaks too late, and ended up crashing into the back of the stage. Apart from a bruised, cut eye, he's still his perfect self. Oprah went ahead and interviewed him, as the show must go on.

She flies out of Australia tomorrow and our country can settle down a little and get back to some normality. What an exciting time it's been, for us here in OZ! THANKS OPRAH!!!

Oprah Soaks Up Sydney

It's the day before Oprah's big show/s in Sydney. Monday, and she set sail with Russell Crowe out on Sydney Harbour. A perfect day weatherwise for her to experience it.



Tomorrow is the taping of her show. Lots of Australian guests will appear, but with Bon Jovi in Australia as well at the moment, will they drop by to visit? Yes, they will! Bit of a fan of Bon Jovi (especially Jon Bon Jovi - is he hot or what?). Here's details of who will be on her show.

Oprah in Sydney Australia 2010

Day two in Sydney for Oprah and she started off with a climb of the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge. She wasn't so enthusiastic to start with, since I believe she's afraid of heights, but was happy she did the climb. Then she went on to Bondi for lunch at Icebergs Restaurant. (Watch out for a glimpse of Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban, and their daughter Sunday Rose arriving in Australia, in the video. Nicole and Keith are among the guests to appear on Oprah's show being taped this Tuesday.)



Are you getting sick of these updates? Hope not. Only a few more to go...

Oprah Arrives in Sydney

Another day of Oprah in Australia. Here's what she got up to in the last 24 hours.

Oprah in Australia #2

Oprah's first day in Australia was spent at Hamilton Island, visiting a wildlife park there (saw two koalas mating within the first hour of her arriving - welcome Oprah!), had a seafood barbeque on the beautiful Whitehaven Beach created by Australian celebrity chef Curtis Stone, and stayed the night at the exclusive Qualia Resort on Hamilton Island.

Day two, she hopped on her private jet and flew to Darwin, then got a helicopter ride to see our famous 'rock' Uluru. While there she caught up with some of the audience guests she's brought with her from the US as well as meeting some Indigenous Australians. Then staying the night in the area at Longitude 131° accommodation.

Today was Melbourne with thousands of fans packed in at Federation Square in the heart of the city. She made a 15 minute public appearance then headed off for a quick shopping trip. It was reported she went to a jewellers in Toorak Rd, Melbourne whom she'd met in Chicago, USA. Then she was onto The Block Arcade in Melbourne (possibly more shopping) and to have a dinner which had been arranged, with some of her audience. Staying tonight in Crown Towers, probably in the presidential villa where Tom and Katie Cruise stayed while Katie was in a film being produced here July 2009.

Oprah's certainly seeing some good spots and staying at some lovely places while she's here. Perhaps not your typical holiday tour for the average tourist, but it's definitely an exciting one. Here's the second edition of her stay here which featured on the Today show this morning in Australia.



Tomorrow she's off to Sydney and will climb the Harbour Bridge over the weekend. One of my friends has done this and she raves about it.

Stay tuned for more on Oprah's adventures in Australia... here's another clip on today's visit to Melbourne as featured on one of our news shows.

Oprah in Melbourne

Oprah's in Australia!!!

Yes, us Aussies have been anticipating her arrival ever since we found out she was going to land on our shores. I'm a big fan of Oprah and am excited that she's actually in Australia! She arrived on her private jet yesterday and got straight to seeing some of what our country has to offer. This clip was shown on one of our morning breakfast shows (the $10 meal they refer to Curtis Stone creating is in reference to an add he does for Coles supermarket here where he comes up with meals for the family for less than $10 - I'm sure Oprah's cost $10 many times over).



She's brought with her audience guests from her show and they have split into groups who are travelling throughout different parts of the country. Then they'll meet up next Tuesday to do two shows being filmed at the Sydney Opera (Oprah) House. I think they're filming other parts around Australia as they go along. She'll be in Melbourne tomorrow for a short public appearance but unfortunately I'll be working.

It's just so interesting to see a mega guest like Oprah in our country. Though she hasn't been here long, she seems to be loving it. The media are in a frenzy over her visit!

Stitching, Wine, Cheese & Chocolates

Hi everyone! Another late post, sorry. I've still got this bug which has been going on into the seventh week now. I don't feel too bad, just going through different stages with it. This past week or so I've had a runny nose and coughing still. A number of people have caught it, so the doctor says, and it takes awhile to go.

Anyway, Christmas time is upon us. I've redecorated my blog but have done nothing at home. Not one Christmas decoration to be seen so far. I think because I haven't felt my best these past weeks, I haven't been in the mood. I've got a small tree that I may put up and some decorations I can place on top of a cabinet. So I will probably go with 'less is better' this year.

I've been hearing in the news that Briton/Europe has been in the grip of a cold snap with lots of snow and harsh conditions. I hope my stitching friends in this part of the world are OK and keeping safe and warm. We're in Summer now and have had some warmer days. We had a long Winter and not much of a Spring, though we did get quite a bit of rain throughout Spring (the plants are growing wild). We've also had tropical downpours in Victoria this past week which is not normal for this part of Australia. You would expect it in Queensland and the northern parts. After being in a drought for the past decade, it's wonderful to get the rain though.

Last Sunday I went on a wine, cheese, and chocolate tasting tour with my workmates for our annual Christmas party. We usually go out to a restaurant for tea but this year we decided to do something different. It was such a good day and everyone enjoyed themselves. Here's a few pictures of where we went...

First stop was a winery called Box Stallion. This used to be horse stables and they've left the building as is. Inside it had the stables still as they were when horses resided in them. There was a wine tasting area, tables to eat at, and their administration areas. The boys liked the drier wines and the girls liked the sweeter ones.

Next winery was T'Gallant. We had another wine tasting there and then sat down for lunch. A lovely place to have a relaxing lunch on the weekend and listen to some live music in the background.

Then onto cheese tasting. Strange smell when you went inside but then we were able to sit outside under cover to taste the different cheeses. This place was out of the way and you wouldn't really know it was there. Looks like the owners lived on the property in a building next door. Lovely bushland surroundings.

Then my favourite, chocolate tasting! This was in Flinders and just up the road from where the hotel was, so we stopped for a drink before we did the chocolate tasting. Beautiful chocolates but very expensive. So I didn't buy anything there.

We got picked up at a central location in a minibus and was driven around to all these places. Such a great way to do it. No problems about worrying how much you were drinking because you had to drive. It was at places along the Mornington Peninsula which is such a beautiful area. Lots of wineries there and interesting places to see.

Now on to stitching. I did get my little project started but haven't got any further with it. So there's not much to show I'm afraid. Now I'm trying to get Christmas shopping out of the way, I don't know whether I'll have much time to stitch. Anyway, here's my start on it...

SHEPHERD'S BUSH Thanks A Lot - started 7 November 2010

Today I'm just getting the housework out the way before I head out to the shops again. More presents to get. It's starting to get busy in the shops. Since December arrived, people are now thinking they have to start organising themselves because time is moving on. I usually like to get my shopping out the way by end of November because it gets so busy during December. Plus this is the busiest time at work so I'm usually pretty tired during this month. I know there are probably people out there that are so organised, that they've already done everything they need to. Oh, the bliss of it. Me, I'll just have to plod along with what needs to be done. Merry Christmas!