Monday 31 March 2014

Well where did that weekend go?

I was so looking forward to my weekend and had ever so many items on the To Do List.   Where did the time go?   Very little got crossed off the list....oh dear.
Saturday,  I slept in to be woken gently by the HD3QBEM at 8am.   No time for baking this morning it was a rush to be ready on time.  
I caught the bus and went into the University to attend a couple of lectures arranged by the Centre For Brain Research/Neurological Foundation for Brain Day.   This year the theme was Our Sense-ational Brain and lectures were on the various senses.   First up was an interesting lecture on Amblyopia or Lazy Eye.   Having suffered the indignities of eye patches as a child and as an adult in vain attempts to correct my wayward eye and now having a thick prism in one lens, I was interested to hear that it is possible to achieve correction as an adult.   Despite the prevalent thinking that the adult brain has insufficient plasticity to be retrained, the Centre for Brain Research is having success with treatment using an adapted version of the Tetris Video game.   Too late for me I am afraid.   Neither do I have time to be a guinea pig in their clinical trials but I was super interested in this lecture.   The fact that the Professor was tall, slim, dark and decidedly good looking helped too :-)
In the afternoon I was in shopping mood so wandered down town -  to buy tickets for two sessions of the Auckland Readers and Writers Festival.   This is not until May but I didn't want to miss out on a seat to hear Alexander McCall Smith and Camilla Lackberg.   While waiting in the queue I browsed a pamphlet about the Auckland Easter Egg Hunt.   100 giant sized eggs are 'hidden' at locations around three of New Zealand's main cities and enthusiastic hunters can txt in codes to hopefully win a 340g 18 carat gold ingot.   I found four eggs -  two so uninspiring I didn't even take photos and one inside the Louis Vuitton store where I was too afraid to take a photo.   This one outside the library intrigued me but I also like the infinity pool in which it is sitting. Win-win!   The water pouring over the edges makes lovely reflections too.
Still in a shopping mood I wandered further down town, didn't find what I wanted, swallowed the story from the sales lady at the last store who told me the store way up the hill stocked what I wanted.   Back up the hill I trudged.  They didn't :-(   Back down the hill.  Shopping mood now totally vanished so I caught the bus home.   Whereupon I lay on my bed in the cool and read my book.   Donna Tartt's, The Goldfinch is a lot of reading and although it was an interesting story, for some reason the library supplied me with a large print version which is huge and ever so heavy to hold.      I am almost through this so it should be back to the library before due date - I don't need any more fines.
I worked some more on Ring O Roses.   This is supposed to be a Guild Project and by definition worked on only once a month.   I am now officially addicted to this and it was hard to put down.   Looks good n'est-ce pas?
Sunday I made a start on the lid for The Mermaid's Sea Chest and am liking this one too.   None so fickle as I?   On Saturday I am in love with Ring O Roses and on Sunday, The Mermaid's Chest.   But I stitch better when I love the project.  I don't want to do my initials in the seed pearl panels -  maybe an anchor at each end a solitary M in the middle?   But I don't know where I could find a simple anchor chart.   Any suggestions?
This week our cleaner is sick and can't come so rather than have the HD3QBEM attempt the cleaning (she is prone to be helpful!) I will be wielding duster, vacuum cleaner, scrubbing brush and bucket tonight.   Then there is the ironing to do as well.   How come I am crossing items off a list that I didn't even write??
Good night all.

8 comments:

cucki said...

Your stitching projects are so beautiful...
Yup... weekend was truly super fast...sending you love x

Pamela said...

Reading about the lectures you attend makes me miss being able to listen to (and understand!) things like this. I always look forward to seeing the progress on your projects. I'm like you and stitch better when I love the project. I have one that I'm trying to work on and finish, but I'm not as crazy about it as I once was.

Ann at Beadlework. said...

I think rotating projects is a good thing, it keeps you fresh and you work on such a variety of styles too.

Fiona said...

My eldest son is in Auckland at the moment, I will have to tell him about the egg hunt as he could make good use of the prize.

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Ring O Roses is a lovely project. I tried Googling free Anchor charts and a few come up. The problem is you get a lot of charts from the thread company Anchor! There may be something suitable there though.

Jan Gartlan said...

Such pretty stitching

Wendy said...

well that sounds like a frustrating day, but the stitching is wonderful! Why are you only allowed to work on it once a week? I bet you can find a simple anchor chart in google or, even better, Pinterest.

Karoline said...

Both projects are looking lovely & the lectures sound interesting