Brummie Blogger

A dilemma with July's Cottage

I have no idea what I'm going to do with this one. It's a lovely design. I really like the colours, especially as there are five different variegated threads. Yum. The fireworks are pretty and would make a pleasant change from birds and flowers and a flagpole would be nice instead of a tree or vine. The problem is that this is quite definitely a Fourth of July design and we don't celebrate that in the UK. So, what do I do? I could change it to something more British, but once I'd started thinking about doing that, it got rather complicated and I think I'd end up by changing several of the colours too. Or, I could just go with the flow and do a nice Fourth of July Cottage.

Oh, what to do, what to do...

I've made a start on the roof while I'm thinking about it, as that'll stay the same no matter what. I haven't managed to do a great deal of stitching over the past two weeks though, as I've pretty much had wall to wall migraines. And the flu. I've been feeling a bit sorry for myself, I'm afraid to say. In fact, I know I've been unwell as I've had a large bar of Cadbury's fruit and nut in the fridge for two weeks. Untouched. There must be something wrong with me if that's still intact! *grin*

I finished off part three of Around the World a couple of weeks ago but I haven't yet taken a photo as there's a wee problem with it. I've made an error in it that means frogging quite a lot of it if I want it to be right. I'm considering leaving it as it looks ok-ish and probably no-one would notice the error, but I just know it would bug me. And as this is a project that's going to take two years to complete, should I really begrudge it a couple of days to redo that section? Sigh. I'm going to have to frog it, aren't I?

Drat.

Ah well. It'll give me some more time to think about what to do about that Cottage.

 

June's Cottage

I've faced my nemesis with this one. There were French knots. Far too many French knots to ignore and replace with the odd wee cross stitch. No, I had to stop being such a wimp and just get on with it. There were French knots on the Ladybirds, and knots on the strawberries. You may notice that there are several Ladybirds and a lot of strawberries.

I attempted to do the knots by myself and failed miserably, of course. Why on earth I thought I'd suddenly and miraculously be able to do them, I have no idea. Yes, I do know I managed a while ago, but I've slept since then and I have the memory span of a goldfish when it comes to these things.

So, I resorted to watching the rather thorough how-to video on one of the cross stitch magazine websites. I say thorough because at one point I was having the urge to yell at it to 'get on with it'. I shouldn't complain though as by the end of it I think it was indelibly imprinted on my brain, and my eyelids, how to do French knots. I'm not saying mine are perfect, or even neat and tidy, but they are definitely knots. Look!

Strawberry seeds. Oh yes indeedy. This is what the finished strawberry coloured design looks like.

I'm a bit ashamed that June's Cottage has only just been finished and we're in the second week of July. I've got a bit behind due to this problem with my thumb. I'm still having to limit my stitching time quite a bit but I've found a couple of solutions that seem to be helping. I've got a Thumb Glove that restricts the movement of my thumb while stitching, and also supports it. I'm using an Ibuprofen gel on the thumb. I'm also trying a different type of needle that was recommended for this problem. It's two ended so you don't have to turn it, so you don't get as much thumb movement. It's threaded in the centre and is taking me some time to get used to, but will apparently speed up my stitching once I do. One thing I have learnt very quickly. It's not a good idea to put it in my mouth like I do my normal needles. Both ends are sharp...

I waved at the Olympic torch this morning

It's not every day you can say that really, but when it's practically going past the end of your road it seems rude not to.

Considering it was at 7am on a Sunday morning there was a surprisingly large turn out too. Apparently I wasn't the only person who thought that way. I'd been watching the live feed since it left the city centre at 6am so I knew when to leave the house. Crafty, eh? There had been people all along the route but I still didn't expect to see so many people when I got around the corner. This is the view looking down the route while I was waiting.

There were hoards more people lining both sides of the road behind me. Didn't we have a gloriously sunny morning for it? After the soggy start to the day they've had on some occasions I thought we were quite lucky. It was still a bit chilly though.

The first signs of the relay arrived shortly after I did in the form of this.

I didn't expect there to be so much to the parade. There were many more vehicles than I'd realised. I was handed a flag by someone on a Cola bus, waved at by someone on another bus and wished a good morning by a policeman on another. It was a rather jolly atmosphere. One of the buses had a message on the front informing us that the Olympic torch was just 6 minutes away. Exciting, no? I didn't get a photo of the 6 minutes bus, but the Cola bus was too interesting not to.

And after all, they did give me a flag...

You could hear the torch coming from quite a distance with all the cheering and horn tooting. Once it arrived though it was gone in a flash. Our runner was number 18 and he was quite speedy. As there were so many people I couldn't get a front on picture so I had to rely on trying to get a snap as he sped past. It's not brilliant but at least I got his head in, and the all important torch. (although one of his feet is partly missing)

I'm not sure I like the way the chap in grey is looking at me. I wasn't doing anything. Honest. I was standing on the kerb, just like I was told. Gulp.

Oh, and the torch is lit although the bright sunshine (not a phrase we've heard much this year) has made it look as if it isn't.

I made a hasty exit once I'd got this photo to avoid being trampled by the crowd, half of whom were also exiting. The other half were running alongside the torch and I was quite keen to avoid them.

So, twenty minutes standing on the side of the road to see a chap in white flash by with a torch held high. Was it worth it? Oh yes. It's one of those once in a lifetime things, isn't it. And what was rather fun, was that once I got back to the house, I was able to rewind the live feed and watch myself taking that photo of the runner.

How cool is that!?