On the Up!

Today I'll start with the good news and then go on to the stitching.

Firstly Dad went back to the hospital last week and they have discharged him back to his doctor.  The biopsies that they took during the endoscopy came back clear and any thickening of the stomach wall is probably due to the aspirin he takes.  They told him to have some coronary function tests because they now think that taking up smoking again (boo, hiss!) may have altered his metabolism and caused him to lose the worrying amount of weight.  Since he has started eating more, it appears that his weight has stabilised.  He has had the tests done and is now waiting for his doctor to come back off holiday.  Basically they have tested everything and found nothing wrong with him that is not normal for a man of his age and general state of health.  So we are breathing a sigh of relief and looking forward.

On the car front, Dad and I went car hunting on Saturday and I have put a deposit down on a car.  I won't say that I have a new (to me) car until I actually have the keys in my hands.  However, it is an 03 plate Fiat Punto in silver with less than 50,000 miles on the clock.  I got a bit of a discount and it is costing me just slightly more than I got back from the various insurers.  I can't wait to be properly independent again and not have to rely on family and colleagues for transport!

Last week was slightly traumatic at work as we have had a new computer system installed.  We have moved to Windows 2010 and have had new PCs and larger monitors.  So I went back to work last Monday straight into a training session.  For the next couple of days, the air was ever so slightly blue as I tried to work out how to do all the things that I was used to doing on the new system.  Things are a little calmer now as the IT folk work through getting everyone up and running and people get more accustomed to the way the new system works.  But it was fun for a while, not!

In my last post I promised you a new start this week and here it is.  This is a teddy bear Christmas stocking ornament from Cross My Heart Inc. which will be a first Christmas gift for my cousin's baby.  I have had this chart for a very long time, along with similar ones showing a toy soldier and Father Christmas.  It should be stitched on ivory aida but I don't have any, so am doing it on 14 count white aida.  It's coming along nicely and is my current traveling piece.


I was determined to complete a few blocks on Train of Dreams this Sunday in the hope of showing at least 1% completed in the side bar.  So I worked on the black section towards the top right and completed a block there.  I also worked on the left hand side and completed a block there.  I probably would have got more done, had I been able to stick to my usual Sunday routine.  Unfortunately because of needing to borrow Mum's car to go shopping, I had to go in the morning instead of the afternoon, and as a consequence lost the best stitching light.

On to Carnation.  I've reduced my target to 3 blocks per week for this page.  There is a lot of confetti and also the festive season looms ahead.  Furthermore I also have youngest niece's birthday chart still to find - she wants to be like big sister which makes it hard to find out what she really likes and dislikes.  I am still enjoying Carnation very much - the charting is so cleverly done that when you see it at a proper distance, it looks almost like the real thing.

There was a 25% off Columbus Day sale at Heaven and Earth Designs last week and I succumbed to another Randal Spangler chart.  This one is called Home is Where the Magic is.  Just when I will get round to it, I do not know as I still have to get to grips with the Just Nan angels that Mum wants as well as everything else on my to do list.

However, I do think that I can say (fingers firmly crossed) that things are generally On the Up!  My best wishes and Zen hugs to all who want or need them.