“I’ll never be French . . . ” Mark Greenside
Posted by: claire93 on: November 6, 2009
Have recently read this book by Mark Greenside: an autobiographical account of his experiences of living in a small village in Brittany: I’LL NEVER BE FRENCH (NO MATTER WHAT I DO). Absolutely hilarious, with wonderful dialogues in Franglais as Mark discovers all the oddities of living in France. I highly recommend !!!
GRAND MARQUOIR – and the race is on !
Posted by: claire93 on: November 1, 2009
Yes folks, the race is on in this house, between my daughter and myself, to see who finishes Isabelle Vautier’s GRAND MARQUOIR first ^^
Lindashee, stitching in brown and gold on a cream 14 count aida, is in the lead at the moment 
and looks like she’ll be tackling Part six very shortly . . . whereas my version, in green and paler green, is more than four squares behind ^^ 
but I’m still confident I can catch my daughter up and that it’ll be neck and neck in the final straight . . . so don’t forget to tune in for further updates and see who pips who at the finishing post ^^
SOUTH SEAS LACE – happy dance
Posted by: claire93 on: October 30, 2009
I’m having a happy dance gleefully proclaiming “I’ve finished” to anyone who cares to listen to me ^^
My SOUTH SEAS LACE by Debbie Draper (chart published in The Gift of Stitching magazine) – stitched using Pomme de Pin “Water Plouf” threads. Great fun to stitch, and now needs an iron, and a frame ! Not sure how Vikki is coming along with this design as she seems to be side-tracked quilting here http://zenofneedle.wordpress.com/ but Sandra has been going great guns this week and there will be happy dancing in Wales before too long http://mollycaff.wordpress.com/^^
new SAL starting in November
Posted by: claire93 on: October 28, 2009
Anita aka Stitch Creations http://stitch-creations.blogspot.com/ is organising a SAL on her blog, with a design of her own creation : The Pied Piper of Hamelin ![[hamelen.jpg]](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ahkKTe5xmaY/StV_R84Qh_I/AAAAAAAABQ0/hsHhf6ud2E0/s1600/hamelen.jpg)
There’s no need to sign up for it – anyone can join in whenever they feel like it ^^ The chart will available in downloadable installments on Anita’s blog from November. And I’m seriously thinking about joining in.
Grand Marquoir – my part FOUR finished
Posted by: claire93 on: October 26, 2009
Okay I know that parts five and six are already available, and that I’m behind on this one ^^ but haven’t given up hopes of getting it finished by 31st December 2009 ! Last night, I put finishing stitches to part FOUR and am going to make a start of part five this afternoon. 
Haven’t gotten round to replacing the gold metallic thread in part one with the lighter green I’ve decided to use . . . but will do that next month (I hope). Main thing is to keep progressing with the next installments and try to catch up. My daughter, Lindashee, is still plugging away on part five (I think she’s done six blocks so far) but she’s on half term holidays for ten days now so I will post her progress report very soon.
South Seas Lace SAL – almost there
Posted by: claire93 on: October 25, 2009
My SAL rotation is slightly out of sink at the moment and Grand Marquoir hasn’t seen any work done on it of late. However my South Seas Lace is coming along in leaps and bounds and, with a bit of luck, should be finished by next week ^^
Here’s how it looks after this weeks stitching 
I have no idea how Sandra http://mollycaff.wordpress.com/ and Vikki http://zenofneedle.wordpress.com/ are doing – they both seem to have gone a bit quiet of late, so am hoping they’ll post some updates on seeing my progress.
Other non-stitching news, for those following the saga of our cat, Le Bleu, with his fractured femur and dislocated knee . . . took him to see orthopedic surgeon on 20th who said that dislocated knee cap has permanently fixed itself to the back of the knee and only way to put it back is to operate (with a low chance of success). He gave us two choices: either to give up on leg now and opt for amputation . . . or to wait a few more weeks to give fracture more time to heal and then let him open up the knee for further exploration. If he is confident he can repair, he will, and if it’s beyond surgery, he’ll amputate.
So basically, we’re back to square one 
s We’ve decided to give things one last shot and are going to wait a few weeks then go ahead with exploratory surgery . . . and then it will be basically depend on what the surgeon feels is the best option. Le Bleu, in the meantime, doesn’t seem to be too bothered by his bad leg (aside from that the fact that he is having to walk on three). He still has to spend most of his time in the playpen, but we get him out several hours every day for cuddle sessions on the couch and he enjoys our company as much as ever. General health and appetite are excellent . . . and it’s now a question of wait and see for surgery.
HALLOWE’EN exchange: sent & received
Posted by: claire93 on: October 24, 2009
Hallowe’en may still be a week away, but parcels have been sent and received in the latest exchange on the forum Nos Plaisirs Créatifs, so here I am with some more pictures. I stitched for Marie-Line this time and decided to tame my sewing machine to make up a little goodies bag. I stitched a design from Cross Stitcher magazine, and for the shop-bought gifts went for handicraft items rather than edibles: a xstitch kit, a table decoration and some fluorescent stickers. 
and here’s what I received this morning, from Thisa2mars . . . a HUGE bag for goodies . . . packet of sweets and a pumpkin candle holder ^^ 
SSL and photo of Le Bleu
Posted by: claire93 on: October 18, 2009
SOUTH SEAS LACE SAL has been gathering dust . . . no updates for a while, so I stitched when I could this week, determined to have something to show. Once I got back to stitching, I couldn’t understand WHY I’ve let this slide, because it’s very therapeutic to stitch ^^ anyway, here’s the latest update 
I hope this will spur Sandra http://mollycaff.wordpress.com/ and Vikki http://zenofneedle.wordpress.com/ on to get their skates on ^^
And while I had the camera out . . . I snapped a quick shot of Le Bleu, getting some attention in his playpen from my daughter, and loving every minute. 
Still hobbling around with his fracture and dislocated knee but I had word from vets, and orthopedic surgeon wants to see him first thing Tuesday morning. I doubt he’ll do anything to the knee, but it will reassure me to have him examined.
RR cube – designs I stitched for the others
Posted by: claire93 on: October 17, 2009
Postmen all around France have been busy delivering nice plump enveloppes as the CUBE Round Robin begun in the Spring came to an end. Time, therefore, to show you photos of the designs I stitched for the five other members who took part.
Zaza’s theme was “hearts” so I used a colourful varigated thread to stitch a simple design 
Mamoures chose “flowers” . . . so 
For Louamaryllis, the theme was “butterflies” 
Oceanlys had a “breakfast” theme going, with lots of sweet edibles 
and, last, but not least . . . for Michou the chosen theme was “fruit” 
RR CAT cube is back home!
Posted by: claire93 on: October 10, 2009
- In: Round Robin
- 1 Comment
Well folks, back in the Spring, I signed myself up for a Round Robin on the forum Nos Plaisirs Créatifs . . . stitching with five other members, and the idea being to end up with a cube ^^ I haven’t got round to assembling my cube yet (as my fabric only arrived home yesterday) but I am pleased to show you photos of my fabric , on a CAT theme.
First two are stitched by myself (a Margaret Sherry kittie) and Michou
Next two are by Oceanlys and Louamaryllis 
And last two by Mamoures and Zaza. 
When everyone else has received their fabric, which should be very soon, I will post photos of the designs I stitched for each of the other five participants. As well as my CUBE when I get round to assembling it ^^
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