Comments and Tags

First I would like to thank you for your recent comments. I am really enjoying the May TIF but your kind words and support is hughly encouraging.

In addition to comments I have been tagged and been received an award. Thank you JoWynn for your interest in me and Marjorie for honouring my blog with the Arte y Pico award, I am very flattered - I will pass on the award in a seperate post.

JoWynn's tag required me to answer these questions.

What was I doing 10 years ago?
Well, career wise, I had just started an new job - on June 1st to be exact and I am still in that job today. Two months earlier I had been made redundant from a job that I loved, following a merger. I had decided to temp until I found a job that I wanted to do rather than jump at the first thing that came along. When I first saw this post advertised I thought that it was beyond me, but my previous boss and good friend convinced me that I was up to it. I had a steep learning curve and this time 10 years ago, I feeling slightly overwhelmed but pleased that I had taken on something that would stretch and challenge me. I hadn't expected to stay for 10 years but here I still am!

Needlework wise, I was in a very different place than today. I was doing a fair amount of dressmaking, some knitting and my embroidery was nearly entirely tapestry kits. I knew nothing about either Japanese Embroidery or the Embroiderer’s Guild. I had learnt some embroidery stitches as a girl but it would be a couple of years until I purchased a magazine (attracted by the cover design) and began my love affair with surface embroidery.

Five things on my To Do list today
A little housework, mop the kitchen floor at the very least!
Gardening, cut down 2 dead branches from the lilac, shred some garden waste, and tidy up the waste land that is my back garden.
An hour on my Japanese Embroidery. I have stated an intention to spend 1 hour doing JE every Saturday and Sunday, I don't always manage it, but I am still commited to it!
Go and buy icecream, I forgot it yesterday.
Cook dinner for my Mum and Dad, it is Father's day in the UK so I have invited my parents to dinner and Dad likes icecream with his desert.

Snacks that I enjoy
Olives
Humous
Taramansalata
Nuts
Cheese and onion crisps (but I try to avoid these!)

Things I would do if I were a billionaire
The thought of having that much money terrifies me. That much money must surely change your life and I really like my life the way it is. Please don't offer me a billion pounds, I might just be foolish enough to accept it :(

Places I’ve lived
My parents moved to a temporary home in Oxford weeks before I was born, they are still there and I lived there for the first 30 years of my life (except for six months)
House sitting for family friends with my older brother for six months - 2 miles from my childhood home.
My first home of my own, a one bed terrace house 12 miles from Oxford for 10 years.
My current home with my partner in a lovely village 5 miles from Oxford for 7 years.

People I'd like to know more about.
Susan from Plays with Needles. I first found Susan over a year ago while search for other Japanese embroiderers. At the time, Susan was taking a break from blogging, then one day my RSS feed told me that Susan was back and is now blogging frequently and I am learning that there is much more to Susan than her beautiful Japanese embroidery.

Elizabeth of Sew in Love. I discovered Elizabeth through the Fine Embroidery Web Ring. I can't imagine how Elizabeth finds time to do such beautiful embroidery in her busy life.

Megan of Elmsley Rose. I first visited Megan's blog via a link on The Embroiderer's Story.

Maggie of Maggie's Textiles. Maggie says she is new to embroidery but my goodness she is a natural tallent.

Happy Stitching