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You may have noticed I’ve missed this month’s stitching of Turandot. Well, actually I haven’t. I’ve just moved it to this week and I’m hoping to get another page completed before I share the update. It’s been slow going since the motel’s lighting isn’t the best for stitching and the seats are quite awkward  to work in but I’m getting there.

We have also just had word on our house. After two full weeks in the motel the engineer has finally gotten around to doing the inspection (why they don’t do this as par for the course I don’t know) and they’ve said the drop that the builders had measured (38mm) is weird as you’d see that much drop in the form of significant cracking which there isn’t. There is only stepping cracks (as seen is a previous post) and that’s not what a drop that size would show.

It doesn’t bode well for the repairs if that’s what the builder’s are like but we have an advocate on our side, our builder chick. She’s the one that did the bathroom renos for us. She’s said she’ll come round every couple of nights to check that the work being done is what should be done and whether it’s being done right. She should know, she’s contracted elsewhere to do repair work herself. We want to get this done right and once we sign off on the completed job we have no recourse and we’ve heard some nightmare stories (don’t know if they are all true) about things being done wrong causing further issues and since the home owner had signed off they are on their own.

Well…. the engineer told Tim that he’ll tell the builder’s that they can start without any major structural issues but when they will get around to actually starting is anyone’s guess,  who knows, the builder’s may want another couple of weeks holidays.

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The colours are slightly off. The fabric is in fact a 28ct pale yellow lugana

It turns out we moved out slightly prematurely. We had everything (except for some little bits still to pick up) out and when the builders can to check the levels etc they found all the floors level except the lounge room which has a drop of nearly 40mm. A drop that size needs to get “work” done and subsequently no repairs can be done until that end is rectified.

So, we’ve now had ground surveyors check to see if the ground is actually able to support a house in that spot and all signs look good there. Next step is an building engineer, and as you can guess they are very busy here in Christchurch at the moment.

The one thing that everyone is in agreement on is that something isn’t normal.The floors are level yet most (if not all) the windows/doors are jammed shut, or with the exception of the door to the conservatory, jammed open!! So something has mooooved.

That’s as closed as it’s going.

That’s what the wall on the other side of the door looks like

Oh well….

Onto something that is exciting. I’m starting something NEW

I had some silks arrive from HDF and with what I had left over from QS Peacock I’m kitted out for a new colourful, silky start.

and from another angle

I don’t think it will remain a mystery for long but can you figure out what it is by looking at the threads alone?

You may have noticed my storage box? It’s the left overs from a Christmas present….. Ferrero Rochers.

I use a smaller box for storing my Catfish threads as well. And speaking of Catfish, here’s an update for you. I haven’t done much but I did promise a WIP in this post

Who would have thought we had so much stuff? I am thinking there will be loads of things that we will be listing in online auctions.

I haven’t taken any photos as we’ve been flat out for the last few days, so no photos of an empty house with more cracks that weren’t visible before, and no stitching. I haven’t even had time to clean my glasses. And I can’t stand dirty glasses.

The builder’s are due today and Tim’s already back home to continue packing and to let them in to start etc. I am meant to head there too to help but so far I haven’t felt the urge.  I suppose I should ring Tim and see if he still needs me or not.

I hope to have some pictures for the next update…. hopefully some stitching ones at that.

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Filed under: Bookend Kittie, HAED, Stitching ]]> http://timrachel.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/qs-bek/feed/ 1 timrachel 4JanBEKs http://timrachel.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/2011-in-review/ http://timrachel.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/2011-in-review/#comments Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:17:01 +0000 timrachel http://timrachel.wordpress.com/?p=1728 ]]> The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 9,100 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 3 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

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I showed the unfinished piece to Tim on Christmas Eve since this was his present and I did want him to know for the day but with everything that goes on with Christmas I haven’t been able to finish it until today.

That’s one piece that I’m glad to see the end of. I started it just before the Feb quakes and if it hadn’t been for them and having Tim off work for so long it would have been framed, but not on the wall, already. There would be no point hanging it yet as we shift out very soon and EVERYTHING has to be moved out.

We thought the repairs may have to be put back due to a new Christchurch fault letting go and there being a new series of quakes with the largest being a 6mag only 3.5km from our house!!!

We had just left for a few days in Blenheim for Christmas so didn’t feel them, thank heavens, and the neighbours checked the one thing I was most worried about, the fridge.

With the Feb 6.3 and the June (recently upgraded) 6.4 the food from the fridge was flung out onto the floor, so being the middle of Summer in a sealed house you can imagine why that was a concern.

We haven’t sustained any major damage, we didn’t even break anything, but Tim did have to chisel down the doorstep so we could open and close the front door and the back door to the conservatory is now keep ajar due to it not being near able to close properly. And there are a few new cracks and some older ones that have increased in size. This will should all be sorted once they get the house level again.

I think that’s all for now. Things have really been a blur lately and I’m hoping that things will get back into a routine some. I think with the HAED 2012 Freebie SAL starting soon I can get rotations back in order and I have a new HDF/HAED silk start coming soon.

A big THANKS to Louanne who gifted be an HDF gift voucher which has allowed be to get a great proportion of the silks I need for this new start and I already had about a 1/3 left over from Mr “P” which I can use too, which has helped A LOT!!!

So thank you again Louanne for being an enabler.

I had Tim’s piece out and have been making hay while the sun shines, actually stitching while he did some overtime shifts.

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And here’s what is looks like now. There are only three pages left and although I concede defeat in getting it done before Christmas (unless Tim heads north for a few days before we both head up for Christmas) I can see it being done not long after. I am on two minds as to wait until it’s done or show it to him not quite done on Christmas day.

Another reason “T” hasn’t been out is because of the hat which I’ve now finished. I’ve used my niece as the model today. It hasn’t been blocked out yet.

I have now got Turandot out again and have already managed to get a couple of hundred stitches in but Tim’s working tonight and I’ll be onto the bach again.

I also have been very lucky and have received some RAKd charts lately they include….

I’ll be busy!! Thank you everyone for the kindness.

I’ve completed one full pattern of Flavia.

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It’s not all I’ve been doing as I have still been working on Tim’s piece and finished another partial page. Only 5 pages left. LOL

It would appear that the Christmas fairies have been out and about lately. I mentioned recently that the Tasmanian Fudgey fairy dropped off the pattern for the about hat and today a surprise HAED chart arrived in my inbox via Michele.

This will be one that I will have in the rotation to complete for next Christmas.

And another surprise…

This box of yum yums for arrived on my doorstep for Christmas thanks to Michele of HAED. What a wonderfully generous lady and a great person to “work” with.

BTW, that bottom right one is Lemon flavoured and is GONE!!!

It was so, so rich and I can see why they are award winning.