When the going gets tough, the tough eat chocolate!

I'll start with the stitchy stuff, and then move onto the chocolate eating stuff.

 Here's the Cat.  I've taken it to work with me this week and managed to get a bit done on a couple of lunch breaks in addition to working on it this morning.  It looks a bit strange, not very cat like, other than the eye, but it's coming on.  I only wish that I could manage to take a photo which showed you the real colour of the fabric, which is Wichelt Desert Sand in 28 count evenweave.

 Page 2 of Carnation has started off very well.  I've had to start at the bottom of the page because my floor stand (Opus by Siesta Frames) isn't designed to hold a 27" frame, so I've got it positioned back to front in order to manage.  You can probably see a ridge in the unstitched part of the fabric running down from the top - that is one of the wooden screws on the clamp holding the frame, which should actually be poking out the top.

I've made some enquiries and done some price checking.  What I really need is a Lowery Workstand - these are made of metal and will hold a frame of any size.  The only problem is cost - my Opus came from a charity shop and I paid about £5 for it.  The cheapest that I can find a basic Lowery is £81.  However I look at it this way - I don't smoke or drink, and a piece like Carnation is worth doing properly so I reckon that I can spend my play money on buying the right equipment for the job - don't you agree?  And it will be instead of buying the stash I'm entitled to for finishing Page 1.

Now for the chocolate section of this post - apologies in advance for venting all over you, but there isn't really anyone else.  Mum is a bit better - the shingles are drying up, but she is still in pain, both from the shingles and the injured back muscles.  However I was out and about yesterday morning doing a few little weekend jobs when I met a dear friend of the family.  I almost didn't recognise her.  She has been in remission from lymphoma, but the evil thing is back and this time it is in her bones.  She's back on chemotherapy and having treatment for other effects of the evil thing, and IT'S NOT FAIR!  I want to stamp my feet and kick things and scream and shout!  And she's not the only one - one of my parents' neighbours who was in remission from breast cancer has also had it return and it's in her bones too!  I hate it, this evil, evil thing which eats into our loved ones and takes them away from us before their time!

I'm crying here, I'm crying because I'm scared, not just that I might lose these particular people, but that one day it could be much closer to home.  I shall carry on doing my bit, doing the Race for Life in August to raise money for Cancer Research UK, working with the local Marie Curie group to raise money for nurses to care for the terminally ill in their own homes, but I know that you will understand that there's a shadow over my heart tonight and that chocolate can only do so much.

My love and best wishes to all of you who know that shadow too.