Good morning and welcome back to the blog, and another week of WOYWW. All the details can be found on the glamorous Ms Dunnit's blog here. Do go and check it out if you're new here, and join in if you can!
This week has been a quiet one. The decorations came down on Sunday, and whilst the house looks bare, we seem to have much more room again! LOL.
For Christmas I bought Mr Morti a canvas from Frome - these are made using a piece of software that plays the film and takes the average colour from each movie (correction, scene), and puts a line of colour on a canvas to make a picture. Can you guess which film this is?
In return, Mr Morti bought me an all singing, all dancing record player. He has some notion that he can connect it to our old cinema surround sound system, so has bought an amp and we'll see how that goes!
The saga of our dodgy builders continues. We had discovered that our new guttering was leaking, and we needed to fix it ASAP so prevent a repeat of the problem in the bedroom, where years of water pouring down the wall had destroyed the plaster indoors. So, outside, he climbed up the ladder and took a look at the offending join. He discovered that not only had they cut the guttering an inch too short, the seal at that joint was missing. A quick trip to B&Q and £2 later, a new joining piece was purchased to enable the seal to be taken out and put into the section. The picture below also shows how wonky they put up the downspout!
The desk has seen no action other than to have all the Christmas cards we received dumped on it. The bog standard printed ones will be turned into gift tags for next year, the handmade ones put into a box to be stroked at a later date, or used for inspiration, and the personal family ones kept.
I always keep the ones we've sent each other, out of sentimentality. Also, with my memorial jewellery making I am all too aware of one day it being the last card we receive from certain people, and having an example of their handwriting may come in useful. The necklaces I showcased on last week's blog are a case in point - the Nannie in question went from fit and relatively healthy on a Monday, to no longer with the family by the Friday of the same week, one of the earliest Coronavirus victims. Not only could the family not see her, nor visit, nor be with her when she passed, they were unable to obtain a fingerprint impression which meant I had to be sent her handwriting from greetings cards in order to make the pendants. Having known the lady since I was 11, it hit home rather hard, and I must confess to them being some of the emotionally hardest pieces I've had to make.
Anyway, onto lighter news.
The 2020 SAL was finally finished! Here it is in all its glory...
The fabric for the 2021 SAL finally showed up yesterday, and it's rather stiff and unyielding so will need a wash and press before it goes on the frame.
The moose hasn't moved on at all, but with good reason. I have at long last framed up the fabric for my giant Heaven & Earth Design (HAED from now on), Siren's Lament by Anne Stokes. This piece is being worked on 25 count (the number of holes per inch) evenweave fabric, and the grey gridwork on it identifies it as what is called "easy count". (Finger in picture for scale!)
I'm working full crosses in two strands over one thread (we'd say 2 x 1) - so that will be 24 stitches per inch, or about 9 per cm. I have made a start on the stitching for it, and at the moment I'm not overly happy with the way it's coming out as the stitching is looking a little bumpy and uneven.
However, I've taken some advice from my fellow Vampire clan members and they've said that I need to increase my tension and it will sort itself out. So, I'm sticking with it. It'll be interesting to see how long it takes me to do as this is two evening's work - although I hasten to add that I don't work on it for more than a couple of hours at a time, I'd go blind!
I've also decided what I'm going to do with my Medicine Spoon Memorial piece, but I really need to get onto that!
That's it for the moment. I'm also trying to figure out my YouTube channel. We Geminis are mercurial butterflies who like to try all sorts of things, and have so many interests, and my channel kind of reflects that. It's (going to be) a mixture of home renovation, hobbies, travel and being a Goth, which I know isn't a recipe for success (you should really do a consistent single thing) but it's me all over....
Speaking of YouTube channels, if you fancy a bit of escapism I can really recommend watching NickiPositano - her vlogs are about life as an expat living in Positano and are actually really rather good. A gentle, simple life with amazing scenery and some fabulous characters. She's been vlogging for the last 10 years, but has really ramped up her vlogs and posting over the last year and is now looking incredibly professional. I can see big things in this lady's future - she'd make an excellent travel TV presenter.
So on with the hop! I'm terrible at getting round to everyone but I will endeavour to make more of an effort in the future.... so much to do, so little time.
Happy hopping!
