January Roundup

Stitching Goals
1. Work on Scream House - yes, loads done!
2. Work on Joyful Summer (hopefully complete) - yes, it's all finished
3. Complete Alphabet Baubles A - yes
4. Complete Lizzie*Kate - Spooky - yes and I did Treats as well.
5. Complete two Snapperbets letters - even better, I managed 4 plus lots of border!
6. Work on Grandma's Thread Minder - yes and made good progress

Stitching New Starts:
Alphabet Baubles A
Lizzie*Kate Boo Club
Snapperbets

Stitching Finishes:
CCN - Joyful Summer
Alphabet Baubles A

Books Read
Lessons Learned - Melissa Nathan
Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
Swallowdale - Arthur Ransome

January Quilting Goals
1. Finish up my outstanding quilt tops and quilting - nope
2. Make bag - yep!

Other Quilting
Worked on the Quilter's Friend Sewing Kit

New Stash Arrivals
Lizzie*Kate Boo Club - Spooky/Treats, Black Cat/Spiders and Eek!/Creepy
SamSarah - Alphabet Baubles C
Just Nan - Snow Tin
Bent Creek - Frowzen Men
Bent Creek - Snapperbets 5
Bent Creek - The First Fall of Snow
Picture This Plus - FOTM
SamSarah - Shimmers and Sparkles, Trimming the Tree
Quite a large amount of fabric!

So not a bad month for stitching stash, the new arrivals were mainly my 2009 autoships (Lizzie*Kate Boo Club, PTP FOTM, SamSarah's Alphabet Baubles and the Just Nan Tin) plus the final part of the Snapperbet series. My only extra purchases were two new Bent Creeks but they were ordered in 2008 so they don't count as a Wagon slip (Honest Gov) and the two SamSarah's but they were on offer at the fabric sale I went to.

I'm actually enjoying the rotation more than I thought I would. There's enough new stuff in there to keep me enthusiastic and I'm enjoying the satisfaction of working on WIPs and seeing my progress - I was never that good at taking progress pictures before but it really does motivate me so I shall make a real effort to keep up the habit.

I know that come the summer months I'm unlikely to get as much done which is why I'm pushing so hard right now. I'm stunned that I got so much done on Scream House and Grandma's Thread Minder that I may well finish all the stitching for both of them in their next rotation slot!

Roll on month 2 as I'm already ahead of the game with Snapperbets and Lizzie*Kate and hoping for a second finish from the WIP pile...

January Glooms

I don't know what it is about January but I always find myself a tad gloomy. You'll be pleased to know that I'm not as upset at work as I was two posts back - the situation hasn't gone away but my over-emotional state has. Thanks for the hugs and positive comments, I know the issue is that the guy in charge knows very little and doesn't like people who make his short-comings obvious but I just wish somebody higher up than him would slap him down a bit.

I have generally been feeling gloomy though - low energy and no real inclination to do much - but I've noticed that the gloom is lifting as the month draws to an end which is great. The upside of the glooms is that I've stitched up a storm this month and have more than achieved my rotation goals for January (but that's another post).

I haven't read much this month though which always makes me feel bad but one of the Stitching BBs I belong to is discussing a reading list and that's enough to start whetting my appetite to get back to it. To tell you how bad it was, I actually spent 10 mins in Waterstones a week or so ago and left without buying anything! I think the last time that happened I was still getting pocket money LOL.

So - looking forward into February and beyond, I'm in a much brighter mood. Today is the first payday after Christmas which is always a good day. A friend is visiting this weekend and I'm going to lead her astray by introducing her to my local quilting shop - not only that I ordered something for her from the US so she owes me the payment - practically free stash shopping if you think about it.

My Mum is coming over to stay for a week which should be nice. We'll still be going to work and nursery but she'll have company in the evenings. We're driving her back at the end of next week as my first quilting course of the year is on Sat 7th. We're also going out for sunday lunch with friends both this weekend and next so my goal of catching up with friends is definitely being achieved.

I know it's a bit early but I hope you all have a good weekend too as I'm unlikely to find time to update the blog other than my scheduled Rotation/Goals post.

Meet Muffin

The newest member of our household...



She's a baby sister for Toast, Crumpet and Sesame and seems to be settling in well.

Our hutch is full now so no more additions to the family for the foreseeable future - when we get round to building them a proper living area outside that may change though!

A pile of pink

So I've just finished washing and ironing all the fabric I've bought over the last couple of months and here's the selection that will be used in Lia's room:

Pink is really not a colour I like at all so I get extra Mummy points for buying such a lot of it!

This one is going to be her curtains:

You can't really tell from the picture but the fabric is very glittery. In fact there's quite a few glittery ones in there which explains why most of this weeks washing is coming out a bit sparkly!

I also got a selection of Christmas fabrics that were on sale:

And finally some red fabrics that were on sale:

This years Christmas quilt is going to be done in blues and snowmen so the Christmas fabrics are for that (yes I know there's a couple of red ones in there but they were cute and on sale...)

As for the red fabrics, it's my favourite colour and I intend to do a red hearts quilt at some point in the future.

Annoyed

Those of you who have been reading for a while will know that my job was at risk of redundancy last year and, although it now isn't, I'm not happy where I am but feel unable to leave for various reasons.

I work for an IT department who have various customer organisations who we provide various levels of service for - from support to development and they purchase our time annually. I'm the web developer for the team and have been involved in many projects over the last seven years and have never once missed a deadline or failed to deliver what was asked of me.

However, like all organisations ours is a hotbed of office politics and one Manager in particular is hell-bent on Empire building. This particular Manager works for one of our Customer organisations and, for historic reasons, does not like our department (basically because we make his lot look bad as we're good at what we do).

Anyway, said Manager was at the head of the movement to get rid of me. I was particularly pissed off with him because over the last three years I've continuously covered his butt and saved him when three Managers in a row quit running his web services section. He's never had cause to complain about my work (but he does constantly slag off our whole department whenever he gets the chance.)

So, cutting a long story kinda short, he has recruited a team of developers which is totally ridiculous because he has a team he can use (the one I work for). This is of no surprise to me, I've not only been aware of them arriving, he's had me down there talking to them and passing on knowledge.

The one thing that saved my job last October was my knowledge of a product called SharePoint. If you don't know what that is don't worry and if you do surely you're too geeky to be reading my blog LOL. All you need for the purpose of this rant is to know that I've worked with SharePoint for five years now, been on several training courses and have done a lot of 'fit for purpose' testing around it so I think I can say I'm an expert.

And that fact is known across all of our Customer Organisations.

In fact I was in a training session all day yesterday for the handover to our team of the SharePoint project that saved my job.

Yesterday was also the day that a call was logged with our Helpdesk regarding SharePoint by a member of said Managers team. Someone who obviously has no clue about SharePoint, and I mean no clue, and who, when I spoke to him on the phone obviously did not want to speak to me at all and was INCREDIBLY cagey about what they want to do.

I'm just really, really pissed off at being constantly ignored by these idiots. They have zero knowledge about this product, they know that I do have extensive knowledge yet they absolutely refuse to acknowledge my existence.

For some reason I'm feeling particularly sensitive today and have been fighting tears of frustration. I don't care what they think about me, I just hate being in a place where people can get away with behaving like this. The project I'm working on was commissioned by the CIO who is the boss of the Manager I've been discussing so I know that I'm okay for now, I just wish that someone would put him in his place.

Thank god it's Thursday and I'm outta here for three days now. I think I just need a bit of a break from all of this - maybe it's the events of the last three months of last year finally catching up with me. The bad news is I have no holiday left until it resets on 1st April so I can't even take some time out.

Well done if you've read to the end of this - I'm not usually one for self-pity but, as I said, today I'm feeling a little overwhelmed for some reason.

Stash!

Firstly I apologise as I meant to take some nice stashy photos yesterday but I stepped into a timewarp sometime around midday and arrived instantaneously at bedtime...

Right on time my lovely stash parcel from Drema at Needlecraft Corner arrived last Thursday containing my first three Lizzie*Kate Boo Club charts, the last part of Bent Creek's Snapperbets, the two new Bent Creeks - Frowzen Men and First Fall of Snow, SamSarah's C is for Cupcake (chart, buttons and fabric) and the final three SamSarah Monthly Baubles I needed with buttons - July, August and September.

Boy was that fun to open!

I also had a shipping notice for my PTP FOTM so that should arrive towards the end of this week. I've never before done a monthly club for either fabric or floss so I'm ridiculously excited about it.

Finally, Drema is shipping out the first 2009 Just Nan tin as we speak. If I'm honest I'm not sure I like this one too much. It's typical, I didn't sign up for an autoship last year and then freaked when she released the Halloween tin because it was gorgeous. I did manage to get all of last years tins but I thought I'd sign up this year so I didn't have to stress about it. Oh well, I may like it more when I see it IRL and if I don't I may think about recharting the birds (I have a problem with their faces).

Rotation wise I'm still on track. I stitched up Lizzie*Kate's 'Spooky' over the weekend so now have to work on Scream House for a week. Theoretically that leaves me almost a week spare this month due to Joyful Summer being finished so quickly. I think what I'll most likely do is keep going with Scream House till the end of the month as I'm quite keen to get it finished (it'll need at least two more rotation slots though, if not more).

I didn't get much crafting done this weekend as we had friends staying - a very enjoyable reason for not doing much it has to be said. It was my Best Mate and her family - she's Lia's Godmother and I'm Godmother to her little boy. Three kids under five in the house was quite a challenge! What's really great is that they are coming back down at Easter and she and I are taking the kids away for a couple of days whilst the two DH's completely redecorate Lia's bedroom.

Completely as in remove the paper from the ceiling, fill in all the cracks, repaper, paint, etc. We'll then have the carpet replaced so that we can get her new bed in for her birthday at the beginning of June. DH isn't that enthusiastic about DIY so having a 'buddy' who is there to help him will mean it gets done properly.

My grand plan is that we do each room in turn and do them properly. Since we moved in all we've done is paint four rooms which is fine because it's all in pretty good condition but I'd like to get each room done - for example our bedroom has several layers of paint over several layers of wallpaper and the wallpaper is bulging and flaking in a few places so I'd like to strip it back completely and start fresh.

However, I think that if we get Lia's room done now and focus on getting the garden done too then that'll be a great acheivement for 2009. We can pick another room for 2010 (probably the bathroom). By the time we've done the lot we'll probably be ready to move LOL.

Of course a small lottery win would be a great help with that plan...

It's the little things...

I've just realised it's the 15th today which means my Picture This Plus FOTM is being sent out today. Another reason to stalk the postman!

I got the invoice yesterday for the parcel that includes the Lizzie*Kate charts. Hopefully that means the parcel won't be long behind it...

Oh and I finally have closure on the saga of my car accident as the final cheque arrived yesterday from the Insurance. I'd be celebrating a bit more if it didn't almost exactly match the sum we have to pay off on the Credit Card for all the expenses incurred in replacing the car and contents. Still, it means we've broken even money wise which is the main thing.

I've also been signed off by my Physio and my neck and wrist pain are almost completely gone now which is fantastic!

Da Da Daaaaaaaaa (da da da, da da da)

I just got us tickets to see War of the Worlds at the O2 Arena in June. DH is a huge fan and we missed seeing it last time it was on so when a colleague mentioned she was going I just had to get tickets. I've even booked the babysitter (Mum).

Before we had Lia (and nursery fees) we'd go to several shows a year in London but it's so expensive - tickets aren't cheap for a start and then you add on train fare, food etc, and we just don't have the disposable income we used to.

We do have a local theatre (which we do attend) but for me it's the big shows that I like and often who is starring in them. Plus London is fun. At the moment my wish list includes Wicked, Oliver and Joseph and I'm hoping that we manage one at some point this year. We usually go and see something around my birthday (April) but now we've got the WOTW tickets that's not going to happen. Plus I'm on a quilting course the day before my birthday...

In other news, I'm still stitching up a storm and my rotation is going well. Lizzie*Kate have the Boo Flip its border chart on their site now so I spent yesterday evening getting started on that. I'm still waiting for the charts to arrive but they should be here by the weekend (fingers crossed) as I'm itching to get started on them. We have friends coming to stay for the weekend so I won't get too much done but hopefully I'll manage a little bit of stitching.

School Part 3

This is the final update for now (I promise!)

We went to view the two schools whose catchment area we are in, the one next door and a CofE School about ten minutes walk away, and we've put down the CofE as our preference.

The CofE school is much nicer and DH is happier with the inclusion of the church. It has around 150 pupils aged 4 - 11 and has a really nice family atmosphere. They also have great links with the community and encourage parents to be involved as much as possible and it was just a nice place to be.

The school next to us wasn't awful but it's much bigger (350 pupils) and much less 'friendly'. I didn't like the fact that the classrooms all have the toilets and cloakrooms attached and the pupils eat lunch at their desks so there is no need for them to ever leave their room and mix with the other kids. They have one full school assembly a week which is the only time they are all together. They also had less external activities.

Another thing that really bothered me was that one of the teachers had a facial piercing below her lip. I am old fashioned enough to think that inappropriate and yes I know it makes no difference to her skill as a teacher but it really put me off. There seemed a much more defined line between staff and pupils at the CofE School, a level of respect that seemed lacking in the other one.

Anyway, as those are the only two schools close enough to us for it to be easy for DH to drop off we aren't bothering to look at any more. I won't be heart broken if Lia ends up at the school next door but I am prepared to try and appeal against the decision. Interestingly the CofE School told us they get quite a few transfers from the other School - three already this year - so that might be an option in the future.

So now we wait and hope. We'll know the decision at the end of March...

My First Bag!

How proud am I! I want to make smaller projects this year and have about a dozen bag designs in my stash so I thought I'd start with one that seemed fairly simple and here it is:

Other than it's style it's not at all like the original pattern which calls for some words and flowers on the pockets and middle band on the left hand side (and is done in pastels) but this is much more me.

My only criticism for myself is that I should have taken longer fitting the base as it's rucked in a few places but as I'm the only one that will care (or notice) I can live with it.

Today we went on an excursion to Farnham as there was a quilting and fabric sale there (DH indulged me). It was pretty good although filled with women of a certain age marking their territories with their (ample) bosoms! Poor DH and Lia didn't stand a chance so spend most of their time queuing for a drink whilst I attempted to get somewhere close to the stash.

I did pretty well, I was mainly looking for pink/lilac fabrics for Lia's birthday quilt as I don't have many in my stash. My best bargain was a bolt of lilac fabric for £20 instead of £45 which will be the backing fabric for the quilt. I'm still looking though my stash to pick a quilt design but I'm hoping to start it next month so I'd better get on looking.

In other quilting news I also discovered what is probably the closest quilting shop to me. It's called Village Fabrics - they do have a website but it's not very good which is one of the reasons I didn't go sooner. It's about 30 mins from me and again DH indulged me with a trip out there a week ago and it's fabulous! Not only that they do classes so I may find myself there more often!

In fact DH put a few small kits into my basket when we were there so I truly do have one in a million!

Other than maybe popping back to Village Fabrics to introduce a friend to their delights I am going to try and be good between now and June as I have more than enough projects to get done for Lia's room. In June it'll be my annual crafters weekend away which coincides with a trip to at least one quilting shop. Then in July we're holidaying for a week on a farm that has a quilting shop on site. Those kind of holidays can get very expensive!

Impatient

I have my fabric from PTP, I have my flosses all ready and I'm VERY impatiently waiting for my Lizzie*Kate Boo Club Flip It to arrive...

Cold

We're in the middle of a cold spell here in the UK and the temperature dipped to -8.5 outside last night. Now I know some of my international readers may laugh at the idea of that being cold but we're a country that just isn't used to the thermometers going that low.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining (other than my general complaint that it's not snowing) as I love the cold, I'm definitely designed to live in a cold climate - let's face it, you can always put more layers on, when it's too hot there's only so much you can take off...

However there was a problem last night as only half the radiators in the house were hot. We didn't realise this till after we'd put Lia to bed because we'd pretty much stayed in the kitchen up to that point and the rads were working in there. However when we went into the lounge we could practically see our breath it was so cold!

DH did a minimal amount of investigation, ie touched the radiators and said 'they're cold', and claimed to be baffled. His response was to turn the heating on to constant to see if they warmed up over night! Given the heating had been on for the previous three hours and they were stone cold I figured it unlikely they'd miraculously cure themselves.

So the rest of the evening was spent swaddled in quilts (DH can never complain about my hobby now he's used them in a practical situation) and it wasn't until after I gave in and went to bed that DH decided to experiment with bleeding the radiators (something I had suggested) and lo and behold it worked! Great news as it means we don't have to call out a professional and pay an extortionate fee (especially if they'd just bled the rads and cured the problem, I wouldn't be a happy wife).

So fingers crossed tonight will be much warmer - it's not so easy to stitch when you're bundled up in blankets...

School Part 2

Firstly, thanks to those who've left comments with advice or emailed me, it's all been really helpful.

I forgot to put in the previous post that we have an appointment to go and look round the school next door this Friday (but thanks Ginnie and Sharon for suggesting going to have a look). I picked Lia's nursery on gut feeling alone and that's been a success so hopefully my gut will help out this time too.

I also like Sharon's point about how the teachers engage Lia, that wouldn't necessarily occur to me, or to look at the artwork etc that's displayed around. See, there's many things wrong with the www but it's fantastic that people I've never met IRL can help me out so generously.

Andrea, thanks to you too for de-lurking and letting me know your thoughts, I have a feeling I'll end up like a job interviewee asked 'do you have any questions for us' and not know what to say but I have made a mental note to ask about bullying.

DH and I had a long chat last night and I think we both feel that the school next door is our best option as long as neither of us hate it on sight. It's not only the convenience for him dropping Lia off, it's simple if anyone else is doing the pick up / drop off too (ie my Mum if she's staying over). Also in a dire emergency the old lady next door would be able to take Lia in.

At the moment we don't know that many people who live local to us. It's weird I know because we've lived here for 10 years now but neither of us have actually worked in the town we live in. I'm actually looking forward to Lia starting school as I'll be meeting other parents and hopefully get a bit more involved in our local community.

We both hope that sometime in the next 12 - 24 months we are able to change jobs and work locally but you just never know. DH started a new job this time last year and had been hoping to be closer to home but ended up more than doubling his commute time for a job that was too good to refuse!

Dh is still going to have a chat with the GO Church just in case they have any thoughts to add and also to find out about the Greek Sunday School. I've also asked a colleague who's wife is a teacher if she has any words of advice. She is based in the next town over to us but she may know about the school or at least be able to give us some pointers for questions to ask.

I've stopped worrying so much now I have a (basic) plan of action but I'm now more worried about the fact that DH is hysterical with laughter about the fact the teacher showing us around is called Miss Chick. Why are men so infantile??? LOL

School

Unbelievably (at least for me) Lia is due to start school this year. 3rd September to be exact (which is co-incidentally DH's name day* so hopefully it's a date he'll remember).

We have to get the application in to the Local Council by 20th February so I'm now going slightly mad looking at School League tables and not really knowing where to start.

That last sentence may seem really strange to those who know where we live because we live next door to a Primary School. Literally, next door. The school buildings occupy the land at the end of our garden and the entrance to it runs down the side of our driveway/garden.

However, it's not the best school around. In fact it's quite low down in the league tables. So I'm now torn with convenience and wanting the best for her. All this is made more difficult by the fact that we live in a town I didn't grow up in so I don't know the schools. I also work in a different town (as does DH) so I don't even work with anyone who knows the schools and Lia is in nursery where I work so nobody there knows the schools as all the other kids will go to the schools in this town.

Hence me going a bit mad trying to get information on the schools. It doesn't help that the 2008 league tables are delayed now until March so I'm working on old data and the new data won't arrive till a month after the application deadline.

So the facts that I have at my disposal are:

1. My brother and I both went to a not-so-great primary school and we did pretty well for ourselves.

2. The school is next door to the house which would be so convenient for dropping off and picking up. Especially for DH as I have our car on work days.

3. We're about 500 yards outside the catchment area of the best school near us.

4. It probably doesn't even matter what school I pick as the Council just allocate as they see fit

The only other piece of the puzzle we haven't considered is Religion. I'm non-religious but DH is Greek Orthodox and Lia was christened GO too. I know there aren't any GO schools around but it may be that we think about Catholic or CofE Schools for her. DH is going to ask at Church this weekend if there is any affiliation between the Greek Church and schools in the area (there is quite a large Greek Community in the town.)

I have briefly considered the option of a fee paying school as the cost would roughly equate to that of her current nursery fees but if we have another child we'll need that money for their nursery fees and if we don't have another child I was hoping we could use the money to overpay our mortgage.

Also, I think that, given both DH and I are pretty intelligent, we are more than able to assist her with things at primary level so it's better to save our money now and consider a fee paying Secondary school if it comes to it (the closest Secondary school to us is REALLY not one I'd like to see her attending).

Honestly, as I keep telling friends who are having their first babies and who can't see beyond the worry of giving birth, it's nothing compared to the decisions one has to make once the child is here...

*In Greece you have a Name Day that is generally viewed as more important than your birthday - it's the day of the Saint whose name you have, so if you're called George your Name Day would be 23rd April (although that's a crappy choice because they have tendency to move name days around Easter so they don't get in the way, so George's all over Greece often have their Name Day moved). However, anyone who doesn't have a birthday around Easter has a set Name Day and, as mentioned above, DH's is 3rd September.

Rotation Substitutes

So, with my Rotation plan finalised I have extended my plans so that I know what I will substitute in after any finishes. In all cases the first named project on the list will be completed before I move on to the second, etc except in the case of Slot 8 the 'Small WIP' rotation where projects will continue to be rotated until they are all complete (I will work on each one for one week a month).

Slot 1 - Christmas Project Rotation
Sleigh Ride - Heirloom Christmas - Santa's Journey Afghan

Slot 2 - Halloween Project Rotation
Scream House - Happy Haunting - Murky Manor

Slot 3 - BAP 1
Cirque des Cercles - Noah's Sub - Dawn Awakening

Slot 4 - BAP 2
Grandma's Thread Minder - Wild One's Alphabet - Tradewinds

Slot 5 - Lizzie*Kate Flip Its
Boo Club - Holidays - Living

Slot 6 - Baubles
Alphabet Baubles - Monthly Baubles

Slot 7 - Bent Creek Series*
Snapperbets - Snapperville

Slot 8 - Small WIP Rotation
Joyful Summer
Charlie is Born
Couer de Brodeuse
Garden Party
Spring Lineup
Tempest
Four Wishes
Birds of a Feather Dilly Bag
Snowman Trio
Row of Christmas Fairies
Handmade Houses 4
Cottage Garden 2

When the above smalls get down to only five projects I will then include my final outstanding WIPs until they are either finished or slotted in elsewhere. They are:

Lost in a Blackwork Maze
Heaven's Above
Be Attitudes Afghan
Dragon Virtues Afghan
Cut Thru Fairy Hill

* After 2009 I may decide to include Snapperville in my 'Smalls Rotation' and use the Bent Creek slot as a 'new smalls' slot instead but I will review that nearer the time. My main issue is to reduce my current WIPs to under 10.

Last finishes of 2008 and first of 2009

Here's pics of my last 2008 finishes:

2008 Christmas Quilt:

Bargello Quilt:

Sue Hawkins Thread Keeper:

And here are my Just Nan 2008 tins completed:

Initial Stitching:

Four Tins:

Sizzle Tin and Pinwheel

I did the tins on New Years Day when I also finished Joyful Summer:

I did cheat a bit as I did quite a lot of stitching on Joyful Summer on New Years Eve but it's my first official finish of 2009 and my first Rotation success! I left off the French Knots and backstitching on the flowers as I don't really like it - apologies that the pic is a bit washed out, the fabric is a nice bright blue IRL.

I still have the 'In the Tin' projects to make up for the other three tins but I intend to slot them in soon.

Thanks for all your encouraging comments about my rotation and 2009 plans, your support is very much appreciated. Talking of which, Lindsay, your offer of a SAL for 4 Wishes is great but it's only scheduled for 1 week of attention from me this year so I think I will decline for now.

An Apology

To those of you who aren't interested in my crafting and come here for info on the family, I'm sorry, as the last few posts have been dominated by my reviews, goals and plans and so will the next few be.

As I've mentioned I'm currently very bored at work as I have very little to occupy me and this is dangerous as I end up doing a lot of surfing and my clicky finger can get over-excited which leads to serious bumps off the Wagon.

So, to combat this I've been focussing on my crafting projects and how best to organise my time, hence the extended boring posts you've had to endure with a few more to come.

However, once the days lighten and spring is on the way I intend to get out into the garden and start seriously working on getting it tidied up so I can blog about that project. We're also going to start taking Lia to dancing lessons in a couple of weeks so no doubt that will be a fun topic of conversation as well.

After the last six months we're due some quiet times in 2009 and I'm determined to catch up with old friends more often, especially those we cancelled events with when life got in the way this year. We've already got one holiday booked as we're returning to the Villavin Farm Cottages we stayed at last summer but this year we're filling all three for a week as MIL and FIL, Mum, Sis, BIL, Nieces, Nieces Husband and Great-Niece are all coming too. It should be great fun and hopefully the start of a tradition of family holidays where we all get together.

Also, given a very good friend gets an extremely good discount at Disneyland, we're talking about a trip to Paris sometime in May. Plus there will be the obligatory trip to Greece at some point but it won't be early in the year as MIL is still recovering from the accident.

Oh and of course there's my Stitcher's weekend GTG to look forward to at the beginning of June - our third year!

Strangely this is the first year for six years I don't know anyone expecting a baby or getting married although there's plenty of time for that to change I guess. The biggest thing on the horizon is that Lia will start school in September - I can't believe how fast time has passed!

Obviously the current economic climate could throw us a couple of curve balls, as could life in general, but if I've learnt anything over the last few months it's to appreciate what I've got and to make the most of life.

January Goals

Stitching Goals
1. Work on Scream House
2. Work on Joyful Summer (hopefully complete)
3. Complete A is for Apple
4. Complete Lizzie*Kate - Spooky
5. Complete two Snapperbets letters
6. Work on Grandma's Thread Minder

Quilting Goals
1. Finish up my outstanding quilt tops and quilting
2. Make bag

Current Stitching WIP List
1. Lizzie*Kate - Boo! Flip Its
2. Bent Creek - Snapperbets

3. Dimensions - Sleigh Ride
4. Bothy Threads - Row of Christmas Fairies
5. Margaret Sherry - Santa's Journey Afghan
6. Stitchy Kitty - Snowman Trio

7. Shepherd's Bush - Happy Haunting
8. Glendon Place - Murky Manor
9. Just Nan - Scream House

10. Brightneedle - Garden Party
11. Millhouse Designs - Charlie is Born
12. The Trilogy - Spring Lineup
13. CCN - Joyful Summer

14. Tournicoton - Coeur de Brodeuse
15. The Cat's Whiskers - Birds of a Feather Dilly Bag
16. The Cat's Whiskers - Grandma's Thread Minder

17. Just Nan - Four Wishes
18. Michael Powell - Cottage Garden 2
19. Bent Creek - Snapperville Series

20. Shepherd's Bush - Be Attitudes Afghan
21. DMC - Wild Ones Alphabet
22. Ink Circles - Cirque de Cercles
23. Stitchin'Spirations - Getting Lost in a Blackwork Maze
24. Midsummer Night Designs - Heaven's Above
25. Teresa Wentzler - Tradewinds
26. Dragon Dreams - Dragon Virtues Afghan
27. Michael Powell - Handmade Houses 4
28. Bothy Threads - Cut Thru Fairy Hill
29. Stoney Creek - Noah's Sub
30. Dracolair - Dawn Awakening

WIP Pictures

So, given my intention to stick to my rotation this year, here's pics of all the projects that are on the list apart from Tempest, Snapperbets, Boo Club Filp Its and Alphabet Baubles as they are all new starts.

Happy Haunting

Sleigh Ride

Joyful Summer

Grandma's Thread Minder

Charlie is Born

Cirque des Cercles

Scream House

Coeur de Brodeuse

Garden Party

Spring Lineup

Four Wishes

Birds of a Feather Dilly Bag

Snowman Trio

Row of Christmas Fairies

Handmade Houses 4

Cottage Garden 2

At the end of each month I'll post progress pics for each WIP I've worked on (and hopefully some completed pics as well!)

2009 Goals

Stitching

I've thought about this a lot, probably more than I need to LOL, but I want to be a bit more focussed on what I'm stitching every month so I can get some of my WIPs off the list.

So, I intend to rotate between Halloween and Christmas projects every month, so a Halloween one in Jan, a Christmas in Feb, etc, with the idea that I can get Happy Haunting completed by November and Sleigh Ride by Christmas. Possibly.

I also intend to focus on one small WIP from the list per month so I can hopefully clear some of them off the WIP list too. The first focus projects are Garden Party, Charlie is Born, Spring Lineup, Joyful Summer and Coeur de Brodeuse.

I will also try and stitch one SamSarah alphabet bauble a month, a Lizzie*Kate Halloween Flip-it a month and two Snapperbet letters a month.

Also, each month I'll pick one other larger WIP from the list to stitch a bit on - I'm currently thinking Cirque and Grandma's Thread Minder will be the first two I want to focus on.

Scrapbooking
Yes I do this but haven't for years - I have so much stash though that I have to do some projects so I've listed a few that I think are achievable.

1. Our wedding album
2. Lia's baby album
3. Christmas Album
4. Quilting Album

Quilting
1. Make some smaller projects like bags, ornaments, placemats, bowls, etc
2. Make a 'Little Girl' quilt for Lia's birthday in June
3. Work on reducing my fabric stash a bit!

I really want 2009 to be about reducing the stash I have, especially for quilting and scrapbooking. I don't have guilt about the value of my stash but I do feel guilty about the volume that's not used.

Happy New Year

May 2009 bring you all you wish for...