Finished frenzy

The crosses were done for over a year by the time I forced myself to finish all the pesky backstitching on this one, but I did finish just in time for my mother's birthday. Here it is all finished and framed, and now I cannot stop happy dancing.

Feasting Frenzy by Dimensions

Minor project reveal

This is the scan I have made of the two bookmarks I stitched for my beloved sister and her lovely hubby. Their birthdays are just a week apart. I stitched it during the summer and kept quiet about it, and wanted to post as soon as they get it, it just took longer for their mail to arrive than I thought. Anyway, I just remembered to post the picture. The charts are from a 2009 Cross Stitch Crazy magazine.

May is about to end

I have not written anything this month. Mainly because I am too tired and in a new situation that both DD and I have got to get used to. Thing is, I have a job. My contract still says temp, but as far as I know, I am the only contestant for the position, which makes it a bit easy, but I am still very determined to do the best job possible. I owe that to myself and the position too. I will be working behind the counter of a needlework shop! Is there a better job possible for a cross stitch addict like me? No way!

Another notch

Last week I have turned thirty-seven, or, as one of my Wilde-loving friends would say, I have turned thirty-five for the third year in a row. :) I disapprove of lying in any form to the extreme, which is why I refuse to wear hair extensions or padded bras, and I stopped applying make up for the same reason. Last week I have dyed my hair for the very last time, only because the ends were still very light reddish shade, while the roots were my original dark brown. So I got my hair consistent and from now on I will just let it hang. :)

Seven years ago

"Mom, please don't call me Luca!"
"Why? It's your middle name."
"Well, I don't like it!"
"What's the matter, honey? Does it mean something bad for you? Do I say Luca in a different tone than I say Tamara?"
"No, I just don't like it. I like Tamara. Call me Tamara every time you talk to me!"

Giveaways

Teresa's blog has reached the milestone of 100 posts, so she is hosting a giveaway HERE.

Terri has a spooktacular Halloween giveaway on her blog, click HERE to enter:

Andi has a surprise giveaway, but I am not sure if it's available for contestants outside Hungary, sorry about that.

And last but not least, GoldenAngelWorks hosts three giveaways to celebrate her daughter's upcoming 17th birthday. Happy birthday, young lady! 

She also asked to share a special memory of a 17th birthday. My girl is only 6 so for me that's in the future, but I will gladly share a photo of me and my birthday cake. Here ya go:

36

I'm back and I'm blogging again because I don't really have anyone else to talk to.

When DD and I wake up in the morning, the discussion usually starts with her going "mom, wake up already, the sun is shining". Yesterday her first words were "happy birthday mommy"! How adorable is she to remember my birthday first thing in the morning? Even I didn't remember that! And neither did most of my family, actually. :( How sad is it that I get more b-day wishes from strangers on my Facebook wall than from the ones who knew me all my life?

I have managed to do some stitching on Feasting Frenzy. I joined a SAL on one of my favourite groups, Stitching Sisters. This month we have a bird/insect themed SAL so I jumped on the opportunity to dust off FF and join arms with my online siblings. I hope to make some really nice progress and maybe even finish!
Today I even managed to fall in love again. No, it's not a guy, I've had quite enough of them for the time being, thank you. It's - what else? - stitching. Heaven And Earth Designs, to be exact. I tried to avoid their website for months, knowing that a, I cannot afford a new chart, b, I already have some of their designs in my stash that I didn't even start, c, I have a HAED WIP I haven't touched in a year, d, I signed on for the HAED bookmark SAL 6 months ago and haven't even started yet. I only printed the first parts of the chart.
But I visited the page today, and oh my heart, it's captured again! Mostly by Linda Ravenscroft's work, who as long time readers of this blog may already know, I'm a big fan of, but also a few more designs. Here, let me share some lovely pictures that have captured my attention.
I will upload these and the rest to my HAED wish list to my picasaweb album later today.
Okay, what else was I gonna chat about? Oh, yes, I have experienced an unusually large amount of hair falling out every day in the past months and I got fed up with it. I tried all kinds of home treatments but none of them really stopped my hair getting thinner. So I decided to take extreme measures and visited an expert. He started my treatment earlier this week. It is rather painful and there are no guarantees it will work, but I am hoping for the best. He is injecting minor doses of steroids into my scalp. I am terrified of injections so you can imagine how desperate I got if I signed up for this treatment. I have the next one scheduled in four weeks and we should see results by the end of summer. I really hope it was gonna be worth it.
I have also been hitting the gym in these few weeks. I just realized that I gained 5 pounds, which would not be a tragedy as I was too thin anyway, but all of it is on my butt and thighs, so I can no longer put on most of my pants. I have to admit it, it came pretty much as a shock to me as I didn't recognize the process of gaining weight, as much as I could tell, I have been eating exactly the same amount that I always have. Which is why I am not going on a diet or anything, I just work our 2-3 times a week in a local gym and also do some exercising at home as well. I know I wouldn't put on a bikini right now. I look like those funny kiddie books where you can mismatch the top and bottom half of the body. No fun at all.

Magic number

I have turned 33 today. They say it is a magical age, a real turning point. I don't feel any different though.

My poor little baby girl is still full of spots. I found the first ones on her hand on Monday but I have mistaken them for mosquito bites. But at night she developed fever and been sleeping restlessly, often crying. Next morning she had even more spots. After waking she didn't have breakfast, just a bit of nursing and went right back to sleep another three hours. We visited the doctor who told us our baby had chicken pox. I was already suspecting that as the neighbour's kids had that illness two weeks ago. I tried to separate Tamara from them but it seems it was too late. Anyway, chicken pox is lurking in the body for three weeks before developing its symptoms, so we may never know when Tami got infected. Doesn't even matter.

We had a hard week, with no walks outside for any of the girls, lots of TV, lots of nursing, very little sleep. DH was with us on Tuesday, but been at work for the rest of the week. Unusually busy week at his workplace, but that is OK because we need the money. But I am more tired than ever. Tami is coming around nicely. Today she stopped growing more spots and the old ones are already beginning to dry off. She was amazingly disciplined in these past days. She really tried not to scratch. She did pick some of the spots but hopefully they won't leave a nasty mark. She is so pretty! I feel for her, some spots are really ugly, they must terribly itch.

Back to my birthday: I told my family and friends that I don't want to celebrate now. My baby is still sick and I am exhausted. Everyone agreed. I got some nice cards though and a great book from DH. It's Terry Pratchett's Masquerade and I love the Discworld books. I won't be reading it yet as I am still reading the Shogun. I also got DH's credit card to order myself a chart from Heaven and Earth Designs. I haven't been to that site for a while so now I just couldn't resist the temptation and bought two charts. :D Hey, it is my birthday after all! Anyway, I created a wish list too but I guess I will have to edit it. I should live for another 150 years to stitch them all!

My little birthday-girl

Tamara turned three. What a big girl!



We celebrated her birthday in Székesfehérvár, where my husband was born and his parents still live there. The big date was on Tuesday right after Easter but we decided to combine the two events. I had to laugh because it reminded me on her birth. Tamara was born on Easter Saturday and now I was unable to believe that only three years have passed!

She is such a big girl now!
She eats alone, can drink out of a glass or a bottle without spilling, she can recite her favourite poems and tales by heart. She speaks in complete sentences, accurately describing her thoughts and feelings. She will soon go to kindergarten, can you believe it? We just need a little potty training, that's all.


As my FIL has a car we decided to visit the great-granmas as well One of them has a really nice garden so Tami had the chance to search for eggs in the grass. She truly enjoyed it, especially as some of the eggs were made of chocolate! lol She had a mighty good time. We were blessed with wonderful sunny weather so she was able to run around in the fresh air until sunset. The relatives that came around to see her were all amazed how smart she is and how much energy she has.

We outdid ourselves in shopping for her, must have spent the half of our monthly income on gifts. Boxes of Duplo, some puzzles, a doll, some clothing, two Disney-cartoons on DVD (Mulan and Rescuers Down Under), and so on. The biggest gift still came from the grandparents: it's a brand new bicycle with a matching red rider's helmet!

Tamara is simply amazing, after five minutes she was riding this bike as if she has been practicing for years! Luckily we've had the same warm spirng weather since then so we go for a bike ride every day. That is, she is riding and I am jogging. :) At least I will get my appetite back! I need to gain some weight. She is still nursing at least 4-5 times a day. I'm wondering how it will change during summer. I will keep you updated.

So much to stitch...

I have been soooo busy these past weeks! First of all, I was working on my model stitch. It has two cartoon characters on it, so it uses only a few colours and is not very difficult. I am done with the crosses and now I am doing the backstitch. I really hated all the half stitches in it, as I got a very stiff aida to work on, and I can hardly understand 1) why not use linen for a design with so many half stitches, and 2) why are those half stitches needed at all, when the backstitch doesn't follow the stitching outline. Anyway, I'll be done in a few days.

In the meantime, I got further news that are - in a way - connected to stitching. We got invitations for two weddings, one from DH's former classmates and one from one of his cousins, Roland. We also heard that another one of his cousins is going to get married next May! Plus, if all goes well, my sister will marry her NZ beloved this September, along with one of our best friends! That makes FIVE weddings = five wedding samplers! ;) One of our friends is expecting a baby for July, so there is one more gift to stitch... and then I didn't mention all my WIPs or future plans!

I also had a birthday, you know. :) I turned 32 last week. I had a day off from my usual daily duties. I used the chance to get back to my old feminine self, waxed my legs and visited the hairdresser, had a copper red dye and a cut. I also got a new, pretty top from my MIL and bought a light green one to match my new, bright hair colour. No more running around in jumpers or worn jeans and T-shirts! I can wear skirts again! It's summer! All I need now is the weather to realize that. As one of my friends said in a message board: it'd be time to tell the global warming that it's happening! :P It is cold, really cold here! :(

Back to my birthday... I also got some stash, a few Light Effects floss and a kit called Wildflower Trio from Dimensions. I love it! I already have the floss sorted, and cannot wait to get started!

About my weekend: we spent Sunday at my FIL's and MIL's place, and on Monday we visited DH's grandmothers. They both live in small villages, not too far from each other - not by car, anyway. DH's maternal granny had her 83rd birthday this week, so that was an extra reason for our visit. She is a darling, I love her as if she was my Granny, and in a way, she is. I showed her the semi-finished Ice Angel, as it is going to be hers once it is finished and framed. She loved it. Tamara fell asleep on her couch, so we had some time to chat and I was stitching on the angel's skirt quite a lot.


After Tami woke we said our good-byes and left to visit the other Granny. We were taken by surprise as she was not alone, FIL's siblings and their spouses were there as well, plus two of DH's cousins - that is where we got the invite I mentioned earlier. :) Everyone wanted to see my baby! Tamara was extra cute, she was amazed to see all the animals: she loved the hens and was awed by the rooster; everything was full of the song of birds, and most of all, there were cats wherever she went! There were three cats in Granma's yard and several others all around! She kept running to catch one but they eluded her. She wasn't very disappointed though. Running is half the fun, after all. :)
Anyway, we went back to DH's parents' place and spent most of Tuesday there. We got home late in the afternoon. Tami barely wanted to let her grandparents go. Anyway, we are back to our everydays now.

Oh, one more thing: I mentioned that I had some plans regarding cross stitch I wouldn't talk about. I'm telling you now as it seems I had to give it up for now. There was a vacancy at a needlework store and I wanted to apply for the job. I had some doubts whether it's a good idea or not, mainly because of Tamara. But you see, Oliver has serious difficulties getting a daytime job, as he has little working experience, and without that or without degree rarely anyone can get a good job nowadays. So he voulenteered to be a stay-at-home-dad. I should work about 13-15 days a month, from 10 to 20 hours, so he said he could cope with Tami and also be able to continue his translating job. BUT. But then he got a phone call from his boss saying that the deadline for his present work is now set to July 1. And that he had better not miss that. Which means, that now he has to work all day, every day. Even now as I type, he is looking over my shoulder, waiting for the keyboard to be freed from my fingers. :) Anyway, I had to postpone my plans of working in the cross stitch industry. Maybe later. Who knows, maybe they won't find anyone until July... we shall see what happens. I'll keep you updated.