Stitching pics & my Dad's in hospital!

I couldn't think what to call this post, so its pretty self explanatory. First of all, I've managed to hook up the scanner at long last & have scanned Forest Goddess:

Her skin is stitched over 1. Sorry for the quality of the pic, I'm afraid its not very good, but its better than nothing! I've also scanned my Dracolair Duncan draggie:

That is as much as I could fit on the scanner! I've finished the whole border now, with the exception of the backstitch and started on his wing which I'm very excited about!!

I've been absent from most of my online haunts recently due to Dad spending the last 2 weeks in hospital. After his fall his kidneys totally failed and his GP managed to get him a bed in the Renal ward where he has been ever since. He was very ill indeed, but thankfully now is doing much better. He's had 5 lots of dialysis now which has shifted all the fluid that had built up on his legs & made him so uncomfortable. He should be going home either tomorrow or the day after, which is fantastic news. I'll bet the kitties will be very pleased to see him home again. One of his neighbours has been feeding him all the days I've not been able to get over which I'm really thankful for. In the midst of this my car has died too & I just don't have the funds to repair it right now, so I'm relying on good old public transport & my family when they can to get over there.

We had a catastrophe this morning, but looks like we have prevented a total disaster... I decided to take out a couple of my finished stitching pieces to have a look (to remind myself that I can occasionally finish things!) and as I did I found mould on the wall in the corner where I keep all my stitching! I unrolled a couple & they seemed to be ok, but then I unrolled 2 of my Miras - Royal Holiday & Petal Fairy to find them with grey patches here & there. Not too much on Petal, but RH had loads :o( Several of my other pieces also smelt really damp & musty. I also found mould on my '3 Little Kittens' piece. I'm glad to say that I've re-washed them today & they are now all looking pristine once more. It was a very worrying time this morning, but I'm glad that I discovered it now & not in a few months time when it would have been much, much worse. My 4 seasonal queens, whilst not mouldy are rather musty so I'm re-washing them too. On 3 of them the fabric seems to have discoloured. I'm 99.9% sure that I used antique white jobelan for all 4 of them, but Autumn Queen's fabric seems much brighter than the other 3. Andy's going to buy me a large art portfolio for Christmas so I can store them all flat inside, inbetween layers of acid-free tissue paper of course. I would have been truly heartbroken if all my cross stitch stash had been ruined - all those hours of stitching for nothing! I'm so relieved it's all ok. :o)

Forest Goddess update

Here's my latest piccie. She's coming along slowly but surely. I'm trying to make sure I get a little bit of time on her most days, even if I only get a dozen or so stitches in!

Work is really hectic at the moment. Yesterday was pretty intense. I did an induction for 6 new members of staff. Our training room at work is right up the top in an attic room & as you know, heat rises. There is also a severe lack of air conditioning apart from on the shop floor area, and despite having all the windows open and a large fan on full blast in the training room, it was still stifling in there. One poor girl felt very nauseous and dizzy so went home half way through, and then once my colleague had taken over to do the 2nd part of the induction another girl was actually sick (thankfully not in the room!) so the induction was stopped & hopefully we will catch them up at a later date when its a bit cooler. Our office is also exceedingly hot, despite having 2 fans on all the time, the window wide open and the blind down to try & keep cool. I'm not really a summer person - I hate all this heat. I can cope with being cold: at least you can wrap up warm & have a hot drink!

A Date With a Pirate

Yes, we're off to see Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest this evening :o)))) I can't wait as the first Pirates film is one of my faves. And mmmmmm..... Johnny Depp. YUM!

Thanks for all the lovely compliments about Titania. The fabric is totally gorgeous - the photos don't do it justice at all. It looks like she is sitting in a garden, she is in focus in the picture & all the flowers/foliage behind her are out of focus if you know what I mean! Every piece of Winter Meadow I've seen has looked different, so I'm rather tempted to get another piece & hope that its as lovely as this one.

Well done everyone, you guessed correctly. I have indeed started Mirabilia's Forest Goddess. I'm not sure what happened - I hadn't planned a new start at all. I just got to thinking about how much I enjoy stitching Mira's and wanted to start stitching another one! I'm using Silkweaver's Tranquility Belfast linen which is a lovely mix of greens. I want to create the effect of her walking through a deep woodland glade. I did a little more yesterday & am not quite sure how her mossy green cape is going to look on it, I need to get more of it stitched first but I think it'll probably be ok. The dress colours really pop on it though, which is what I wanted.

I received my FOTM from Silkweaver yesterday & this time I got Iris Garden on opal Belfast which has to be one of the most gorgeous pieces of fabric I've ever seen in my life! Its one of those ones that would fit with lots of designs & I'm thinking that a mermaid might look good on it. Hey.... maybe I should have another Mira start just to keep my enthusiasm going! ;o)

More drama... & stitching too!

Thanks for everyone's well wishes. My tonsils are now back to normal, its my Dad that has had all the drama with his health this week...

He had a couple of funny turns last weekend and then a couple more on Monday, which resulted in him having to call an ambulance Monday night after spending 3 hours unconscious on the floor. The police also attended as the ambulance was delayed & when the paramedics arrived, they thought he may have been suffering from a series of mini-strokes. So I went over to stay with him that night & the next day he had a scheduled appointment with his renal consultant. The paramedics said that we should tell the consultant what had been happening which we did & he thought Dad may have had some 'hypo-glaucomic episodes' to do with his diabetes/blood sugar, which would result in him becoming unconscious etc. So the consultant has given him yet more medication to add to his collection & he has been referred to the TIA clinic which specialises in people that have suffered mini-strokes, just incase thats what it was. I'm more inclined to think it is connected with his blood sugar. I have told him to eat at more regular intervals, not just at meal times & also a couple of people are going to check on him every couple of days or so. Its been a pretty worrying time, but he seems to be ok now & hasn't had any more 'episodes' since.

Stitching wise, I'm afraid the blues have finally got me! I'm all blued-out. So I picked up Titania again for a while:

And then yesterday I was very naughty indeed & started another Mira! Can you guess what it is yet? ;o)