Update

I have disappeared for some time again. My BWO membership stops me from apologizing. I can't say I was busy, I was "only" depressed. I spent my time mostly by leveling various Facebook creatures, whether they are slaying dragons, running restaurants or working on a virtual farm.
My soon-to-be-ex and I had another court appearance last week, now there's only one more before the divorce is final. I am still on a job hunt and the financial problems are not making it easier to fight my condition.
I tried to participate in the 100-stitch challenge one of my Yahoo mailing boards started, where everyone was supposed to do at least 100 stitches daily throughout May, and I did start off nicely, but eventually, as the courtroom date came closer, failed. I stopped stitching for two weeks completely. Instead, I rearranged my stitchy and scrapbooking stash around the flat so now I cannot find anything :P but at least it kept my mind away from the divorce and saved my from crying.

I also visited my daughter a lot more in May. She is the loveliest little lady ever. In this picture below she and I are in kindergarten just after she told me a Mother's Day poem. You see the little heart in my hand that she stitched for me for this special occasion, and yes, if you take a close look at my eyes, it is obvious I cried.

I found the mini kits I lost and mentioned in my previous post. They fell behind the table. Unfortunately I cannot scan them as my scanner/printer is acting silly ever since I last changed cartridges. I should re-install the software but I just can't be bothered. Plus, I have no idea where the CD is.

I was hoping that spring would help me fight depression, but the weather is mostly rubbish, thanks to which we had several floods in the country. And the threat is not gone yet, as we are expecting further weeks of rain.

To end the entry on a positive note, I wanna share a link I just came across. If you click HERE, you will be able to see 40 amazing houses that were inspired by various fairy tales. I would love to live in any of them. You can't really be depressed in a whimsical home like that, can you?

The Thumper rule

"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say nothing at all."

That is my number one reason for not blogging recently. Hardly anything worth reporting to my blogworld friends. Still depressed. Still divorcing. Still on a job hunt. Still kinda weak. Hardly stitching.

Okay, I did manage to do some stitching. Remember I promised myself to stitch the free kits of the Hungarian Keresztszemes Magazin every month? I skipped in December because that issue had some pink pig kits that I, no offense to the designer, found ugly and decided to not stitch. But it's not a very nice thing to say so I didn't say it at the time. I did stitch the viking-themed freebies of January and I am working on the hearts of February.

By the way, since we are talking about hearts in February, can I please have a request? Can you please NOT send me anything for Valentine's day this year? This request is not for any of the mailing lists, of course you are free to post anything for all the members, but no cards or personal messages to me, okay? It's not just about Hungary not having any traditions attached to this day. It's not even the fact that I would have my sixth anniversary on Valentine's if I would still have a marriage worth celebrating. It's more because a few days after that day my soon-to-be-ex and I will have to appear on court to officially state that we no longer wanna be married to each other. And quite frankly, that is enough of a stress and pain without having little pink hearts and lovey-dovey messages remind me of what I have lost.

Stitchy update

My whole life is turning upside down, but it's not easy to even think about it, let alone put it into words and then publish it on the world wide web, so I'm discussing one topic at a time, starting with the easiest one. Stitching.

This is the picture I am working on right now. It's a Permin of Copenhagen kit and I just love it! I have never made so much progress in such a little time!

This is a kit my husband chose some years ago and now I'm stitching it for him. This is the one of two pieces he will be taking with him when he's leaving the place that was our home for the past 6 years. The other one is the little blonde girl watering flowers. I stitched that for his birthday the same year our baby was born.

I also started dyeing some fabric. I had to dye a piece for Emma's Garden. I bleached a piece of blue fabric years ago, but instead of yellowish, it became some ugly greyish white and I didn't like it. I halved the dyeing time on the package but still it turned out to be a darker yellow than I wanted. Never mind, I made my mind up and even started the first few stitches.

I used the leftover dye to come up with this lovely piece of aida here. I have no idea what I'm gonna stitch on it, but I really love it.

Still no progress on Deepest Love. I just put that one away for a while. I'm not ready to finish her yet.

Next time on Stitch and Serve: housekeeping and other curses.

Trouble in paradise

I know I disappeared for a long time. My years-long war with depression took another turn this winter/spring and my foe seemed to conquer. I'm very, VERY slowly getting back on my feet. Right now I don't get professional help, as I can't afford it. I don't even have health insurance! I do take some purely herbal meds though, plus I resumed tanning (didn't do that for a decade), made some new friends, planning to exercise more and resume my blogging as well. So please, leave nice comments!

Stitchingwise I haven't got much to show, I have completed Bunnymoon of the Somebunny To Love series, but apart from that, only a few freebies and mostly model stitching for the Hungarian cross stitch mag.

Here's a recent piece in its almost-finished status. I forgot to scan it when it was done. I'll scan it from next month's mag.

Other troubles in our personal paradise? Well, I tried to ignore it, I tried to hide it, I tried to deny it, but finally I have to face it. Our marriage is in the pits. He no longer shows any interest in me, and I definitely fell out of love with him. It's been almost a year since I know that it's kinda over. None of us really wanna divorce, but we are truly miserable together. No idea where we'll go from here. I'll keep you updated.
Tamara, snapped here in the Budapest Zoo, suspects nothing.

The most loving wife

My beloved husband, Oliver, has grabbed the stitching I left on the table to put it aside so he would have enough space to dine. He immediately hissed with pain. When I asked him what happened, he said "I reached into your needle and it ran into my finger pretty deep". So, what's a tender caring wife to say in a case like this? I dunno, 'cos all I asked was "did you smear any blood on my stitching or the floss?"

He said that I am insensitive. I have no idea why he should think so. I am VERY sensitive of my stitching. :P