Sombre Day
July 8, 2005 at 12:52 PM
by Ashleigh
For the first time since moving to Holland I am glad that Brad doesn't work in central London anymore. If he was in his old job he would have arrived at Liverpool St station around the time of the bomb, and if he had taken one of the other possibilities he had in London he would have been somewhere on the tube between Liverpool St and Aldgate/Moorgate. So, for today we are grateful to be in Holland.
I am meant to be travelling into Amsterdam on Sunday to meet an Australian friend-of-a-friend and to take her for lunch. I'll go, but I'm a little nervous about the heightened security that will be in effect on the Metro. They always have loads of army presence and police dogs etc at times like this (we travelled on the ICE to Duisberg on 9 September last year) and it makes me uncomfortable. Plus, Holland has a compulsory ID act in force, so you can be stopped and searched at any time. I just don't like it - some people say it makes them feel safe, but for me that kind of enforcement makes me feel threatened.
Stitching News
On a happier note, I have completed the spine and borders of the Indigo Rose photo album, completed my house stitching for the Sampler House exchange and am awaiting the ribbons to assemble it, and have gathered my supplies for the Quaker Pins n Needles exchange on the Legacy board.
I went through my threads and fabrics (which are nicely packed by colour now) and found some fabulous colours to go with the 'sea and sand' theme. I have some exotic looking aquamarine silk dupioni for the finishing, a lovely piece of Permin 35 ct in Vintage and Eterna overdyed silk in Glass Beach, Vikki Clayton Silk Perle 12 in Aqua and a grab bag of beautiful Gloriana 'Bits and Pieces' in lovely jewel blues, aquas and greens. I'll show a pic once its complete and at its destination :)
This week the Strawberry Bag from Hillside Samplings arrived well in time for the SAL to begin on 1 September. The finishing looks quite complicated and I'll have to spend some time with it examining the instructions properly. I love the little strawberry ruler and will impress upon the children not to break this one! Martina also sent me the supplies for Midi Mystery I and the complete chart. Its very lovely so if you've been wondering about signing up - do! I am going to enjoy stitching this one as a model. I also got the August JCS which has the remainder of the Linda Driskell Treasure Box in it and an article on Jane Timmers of Fancy Work, plus a great looking Quaker inspired sewing accessory by the same designer.
Driving News
My driving lessons have been taking up huge chunks of my time and making me so tired in the evenings that I've not got much stitching done, hence concentrating on the Indigo Rose photo album. The borders are just cross stitch and its very easy counting. The fabric is 32 evenweave so no slubs to deal with. I guess sometimes its a good idea to let the goals relax a little? I plan to do my driving test in the first week of August and after that will have time to get back to my hobbies. Fortunately piano lessons have stopped for the holidays now and only begin again on 9 September so I have Fridays free for the moment too.
Sebastian News
Seb had his MRI last week and he did great! I haven't posted about it because I was waiting for a call from the hospital, just in case they found anything scary, but they haven't called yet so I feel comfortable enough to blog about it. I assume they found the results they expected to find and he has his appointment with the neurologist on 28 July. He was in the play at school as the narrator this week and he did really well! He looked so smart standing up there in his suit and he did a fine job of speaking clearly and loudly for everyone to hear him.
Joe News
Joe just got a place for toddler swimming at the local pool so we'll be off on Tuesday to check it out. It should be fun!
The one teacher at his playgroup related today about how Joe has a passion for cleaning ;) They got a new second hand kids toy kitchen but its dirty so its in the hall of the playgroup. Joe wanted to play with it but they told him it was dirty and it has to be cleaned first so then he goes to the other teacher and asks for a tissue, and next thing they see, he's in the hall cleaning the toy kitchen. The teacher asked if I clean a lot at home. ;P