Birthday Boy & Bestest Buddy Play Date!!

Today is my Beloved Geek Boy's birthday ... and it's a BIG one! :0) My wonderful husband Scott turns the big FOUR OH today - yep, FORTY! Hard to believe ... especially since I'm only seven months behind him! Above is one of my very favourite photos of my Beloved GB - isn't he just a CUTIE!! Of course, I think he's still pretty cute today - but he says I'm rather biased! :0) And even though his hair has darkened significantly (not to mention the sprinkling of grey that's amongst it these days! Tee! Hee! Hee!) his eyes are still that gorgeous deep blue! SWOON!! Being a bit of a homebody, he didn't really want a fortieth birthday party, so we had a relaxed dinner with his family members on Saturday, we're going out to our fave restaurant for dinner tonight for a quiet romantic birthday dinner and I'm whisking him off for a romantic weekend after he finishes work on Friday. GB and I have been mates for 24 years, married for almost 17 years (next month!) and not only do I love and admire him more today than I did when we were married ... I still LIKE him! :0) And I'm looking forward to celebrating many more milestone birthdays with him.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEETIE!!

OK, enough soppy sentiment for today's post! :0) Since posting last, I've also caught up with my bestest-buddy-since-we-were-nine, Lynette. I headed down the hill to visit her in Brisbane on Friday and - for a change! - we didn't go adventuring, we stayed at her place to stitch! (GB was rather impressed with this decision, as it meant I didn't dent the budget!!!) For her Birthday/Christmas gift last year, I bought a fun Christmas applique pattern for Lynette and then put together the kit for her to make one of the wall hangings in the pattern. Now, being a working midwife with three kids aged 8 to 12, Lynette doesn't have a lot of opportunity to stitch, so this was her first applique project. Step one ...

Here she is, making a confident start on the applique process. Step two ...


Hmmm ... wait a minute ... what does that mean?!?! Step three ...


AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGHHHHH!!!! I don't understand!!!! Step four ...


Two heads are better than one ... right?!?! Tee! Hee! Hee!

We did eventually work out what was what and Lynette now has a centre panel to blanket stitch before we tackle the next step on my next visit. It's quite funny, actually, for ME to be helping LYNETTE when it comes to sewing, since SHE was the one who did Home Economics all the way through high school (the Home Ec teacher breathed a sigh of relief when I chose an alternative subject in year 11! Tee! Hee! Hee!) and is quite adept (MUCH better than me!!) at following complicated dress-making patterns. We worked out SHE's better at PRACTICAL sewing and I'M better at FUN sewing! Tee! Hee! Hee! We had a nice, relaxing day of chatting and stitching - much to Lynette's Mum's (staying with Lynette for a while for some medical appointments!) bemusement! It's been quite a few years since Mrs P has witnessed Lynette and I in full flight!! :0) And do you see that we're wearing the same colour combo? We joke about 'sharing a brain' since we quite often end up wearing the same colours without discussing it, one will ring when the other has been thinking about them and we rarely communicate in full sentences, since we 'telepathically' know what the other is talking about. We find it normal, but anyone else in the room with us soon becomes a little bewildered and lost at our half-spoken conversations! Tee! Hee! Hee!

In other sewing ... I've been a bit slack in the last few weeks - lots happening in non-stitching home life and work life, but HAVE started the instructions for my "Fairy Bears & Butterflies" quilt AND put some sketches together for a couple of Christmas projects - one a Secret Squirrel project and one a new pattern, so stay tuned! Oh! Also just remembered that I crossed a WISP off my list on the weekend - made a magician's costume for one of our nephew's for his birthday, but forgot to take a photo - oops! The only other creating that has progressed is my braided rug. Here's the update ...

I'm really happy with how it's coming up! It's now about 10"x12" (oval). It's a bit tricky to get the fabric to sit with the right side facing up as I braid, but I'm quite enjoying the "non-thinking" process of braiding and then whip-stitching it together. One of the OPAM Challenge gals, Josie, has recently finished making a braided rug, too - pop over HERE to have a look - I love how her colours have all mixed - hope mine looks as good when finished! :0)

Well ... that's about it from me today. I must shuffle off to pick my boy up from work so we can put on our glad rags ready to hit the town for a big night of birthday celebrations!! OK ... we'll shower and change before enjoying a delicious and fairly sedate dinner! :0) Must be that 'getting old' thing - no wild parties for us anymore! Tee! Hee! Hee! Hope you're all having a great week so far and manage to find some time for fun stuff. Til next time - Bear Hugs!

CHEERS!
KRIS