Another finish - but no pic :-(

I finally finished my butterfly themed design, a little later than the deadline, but better late than never. My partner has lost her stitching mojo, so that makes me feel better about being overdue. I still need to make it into something but hopefully tomorrow I will get around to doing that. Obviously I can't post a pic just yet of my finish, but as soon as it is received, I will.

C.V.I State Calisthenics Titles

Saturday was our 2nd competition for the year, and our 2nd in a week. We were hoping to take home a trophy, but it was not to be. We did perform well and managed a 2nd for march, 3rd for clubs, honourable mention for free exercises, 2nd for rods, 3rd for aesthetics and 1st for revue. We were super excited about the first placing, it's our first one ever in masters!!

Next up is Mountain Districts in a few weeks, which will be tough as we are combined with the higher division again. Wish us luck!

Holiday in Surfers Paradise

We recently had a family holiday in Surfers Paradise in Queensland which was a welcome getaway. DS #2 and I drove back down from Caloundra where we attended the National Karate Championships and met DS #1 and DH there. Our hotel was wonderful, and we'd definitely recommend it. It was a massive 2 bedroom apartment with ocean & river views, and a bigger walk in wardrobe than our bathroom at home! Here it is, including the view from our 19th floor balcony:

Here's some pics of the resort facilites, including a lizard who roamed around the heated outdoor pool/spa area:

Monday was spent at the Movie World theme park, where we hit some rides and met the TV presenter Shelley Craft, who posed for a pic with the kids:

Tuesday was spent on the "Superduck" (a bus that drives into the water and becomes a boat), at Timezone and then dinner & a show at the Aussie Outback Spectacular:

Wednesday was another theme park, Dream World this time:

Thursday we had a buffet breakfast in the restaurant on site, followed by one last swim and spa and a wander through town ending with ice cream before heading back to the airport and home.

Australian Karate Federation National Championships

As you may know, my 9 YO son is on the Victorian Karate team for both kumite (sparring) and kata. The National Championships were last weekend in Caloundra, on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. He and I were booked to fly with Tiger Airways, but we had to cancel as they were grounded for safety reasons. I'd booked with them ages ago as I got a good price and in the end paid something like 3-4 times as much with another airline. That hurt, but I can't complain, at least we got a flight at a reasonable time.

Once we landed we got our hire car, stopped for an all-you-can-eat Pizza Hut buffet overlooking the beach, then drove to our hotel. The following day DS had both his events. As usual, kata started the day. He performed really well, winning his first 2 rounds 3 flags to 0. He then came up against the 2010 National champion in the 3rd round and lost 0-3. This boy made it through to the final so that meant DS had a chance to try for a 3rd place medal. In my opinion, he deserved the 3rd place but very early on in his performance he went to do a kick and his supporting leg came out from under him and he stumbled, rolling his ankle in the process. He recovered well and finished beautifully, but lost 1-2 flags. He did really well to earn a flag as stumbles and mistakes normally cost you any chance of a vote from one of the 3 referees. He handled the disappointment like a trooper. He did hurt his ankle a little bit too, as a bruise came up and we got some ice on it to stop the swelling. Although his results have been a little disappointing in the 2 National Championships he's entered, I would still put him up there as one of the top few kata kids in his age group. On one prior occasion this year he has even beaten the boy who took out this year's title, so that's exciting!

Not much later that day he had kumite. He came up against the eventual winner 1st round and lost 0-4 I think. He got another chance to come back for 3rd but lost that round also. He has a few strong competitors in his age group and as he is a little I think he is still overcoming a lack of confidence. It is scary to face an opponent who's aim is to kick and punch you as much as possible (That sounds harsh, but it is controlled and they barely make contact. They are also suited up like Michelin Men!).

The following 1 1/2 days were spent at the tournament, before we drove back down to the Gold Coast where we met DH and DS #1 for a family holiday, which I'll post about later.

Whew! Time to relax!

As you can see it's been a LONG time since I last posted. There has been so much going on at times I wondered if it would all get done, but I have managed to get through it all and now life should return to "normal", whatever that may be!
I won't bore you with all the details in one post, I'll start with the most recent event (calisthenics competition) and go from there. We have been working towards them since early February, with a few hiccups along the way, and a bit of a rush to get all the work taught and learnt. It was a race against time to complete costumes too, with one being finished on the morning of our competition. The ladies have been working so hard, even having an 8 hour practise session! We did work well and gained a 3rd, 4th & 2 5th placings against 2 other teams in our division and 3 teams in the division higher than ours. There's room for improvement and hopefully we'll do better at the State Championships next week.

Colour Exchange

Recently I participated in a colour exchange that was organised by a message board member at 123 stitch. My partner was Amy in the U.S.A and her favourite colour is blue. Mine, of course, was pink! Here's what I sent to Amy:

* A patterned piece of fabric

* A magnetic snow globe that you add your own photo to

* A notebook

* A candle

* A packet of beads

* A pair of buttons

* A body sponge

* Do-it-yourself earing kit

* An insulated bottle cover

Here's what Amy sent to me:

* A polka dot photo frame

* A cupcake photo frame

* A couple of stamps 

* An ink pad

* Cupcake holder

* 10 skeins of thread

* Printed ribbon

* A cross stitch chart

and all the items came in a pretty box :-)

A Fantastic Day of Karate

DS & I went to the final karate tournament before the Nationals yesterday. I wasn't sure whether to go or not as it was a long way from home, but it turns out it was very worthwhile. We hit the road just after 6am, with a breakfast pit stop along the way. The trip was very easy and we made it in no time.

It was quite a small tournament, with only 3 mats in operation. However, there turned out to be about 12 kids in his kata so he got a chance to practise his new ones a few times as there were 4 rounds. He went on to win! He also went into the 10-12 year age group for some extra practise and came 2nd, losing to another state team member. Just before his kumite event, it was announced that Jols (a martial arts equipment supplier) would give the winner of his age group a new Adidas gi, which DS was excited about and used as incentive to win the event with a perfect head kick in the final round. Jols also supplied place getters with a free drink bottle. I even bought DS a new t-shirt and myself a hoodie, so all up a great day!

I even dreamt he won kata, and won kumite 2-1 against a kid called Lochlain. There's a Lochlain he usually comes up against in Melbourne tournaments (who wasn't there) but funnily enough, the boy he beat (3-1) was a Lochlain too! I also dreamt I had to do a kata against another mum, but thankfully that part didn't come true. 2 out of 3 ain't bad!

Video Game Blog

This is my son's blog, with video game reviews. He's looking to get some more followers so feel free to spread the word. Get your kids to check it out too :-)
my-video-games.blogspot.com

A Whinge & a W(h)ine about Tiger

The airway that is, not the animal. Although riding a real life tiger to Queensland sounds almost more appealing right about now. For those that don't know, Tiger Airways have been grounded for at least a week by CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) due to a couple of safety breaches. There's talk of them never recovering (their domestic flights have run at a loss since they started up here in Australia), and the bans lasting longer than the week. I even read in the newspaper that their CEO sold his shares in the company last week. A sign of little faith?

Anyway, I am therefore in limbo. Thankfully our flights aren't for a few weeks, but still, I kind of like the thought of everything being set in stone and that my life wouldn't hang in the balance for a karate tournament. I don't even want to fly with them anymore, but short of writing off several hundred dollars of tickets, or praying they cancel the flights with a full refund (which they are currently doing for those "flying" this week), then I don't have a lot of choice. Let's just hope they don't declare bankruptcy before then, or I won't see a single cent of the money we paid them.

Even after I bought the tickets, I said never again to flying with Tiger. Now this.

First Finish in (what seems like) Forever

Yet again, it seems like decades since I had a finish to show. I chose this one because it looked "easy", and I thought I could whip it up in no time. Sadly, that was not to be. I had to do my fair share of frogging, because apparently I was "blinded by the white" (Get it? You know that song by Manfred Mann? Ha ha, I'm too funny. Aren't I?) around the letter squares. You'd think I'd learn the first time, but no, I think on 3 out of the 4 squares I started stitching the pink right up against the burgandy colour. Doh!
Here it is:

• Name of the design is "Assisi Love Squared".
• Chart is a freebie from Kincavel Krosses.
• Fabric is a 28 count white off cut.
• Thread is DMC #3326 & #3328.
• Stitch count is 65 x 63.  
• Started on May 17th 2011.
• Completed on June 29th 2011.  I'm not sure what this will become or what I'll do with it. Maybe a little pillow or wall hanging?

Fabric Trade

I recently traded some fabric with Joni from the 123stitch message board. It's been ages since I traded and not bought outright. We both had no clue what was a good trade, but in the end we worked out a system that we both were pleased with. I have no clue what fabric is worth, I'm really useless! I ended up with 3 large pieces of my favourite fabric (monaco -hand dyed by the now defunct Enchanted Fabrics - RIP) as well as a gift voucher to spend at 123 stitch. Joni ended up with several smaller cuts of different fabric. Here's what I got:

Now to make myself stitch on it and not just admire it!

Can't think of a title :-)

Ok, let's see what's been happening since the last blog post.....

I am another year older :-(. I did have a great birthday with great gifts, food and cake though, so adding another year onto my age was kind of worth it.

DS #1 has had mid year exams. He's only gotten a few results so far, but they have been good, ranging from 73 to 96%.

Ds #2 had the Karate Victoria presentation dinner, where the state team was announced. He has made the team for both kata and kumite (sparring) which he is pleased about. There were several awards given out to the older athletes and our club was well represented. DS has also had a couple more tournaments. At the first one he tried a new kata that he's learning and lost his round as it wasn't quite polished enough. However, he still managed a 3rd place trophy. He also took home another 3rd place for kumite after losing to the current Victorian champion. At the next tournament his new kata was more polished and he won all 3 rounds to take home the winners trophy. He came up against a fellow state team member in kumite and lost out in the first round.

There's not much to report on the stitching front. I've always known I'm a slow stitcher, but I think it's now official. Where are the "Guiness Book of World Records" people when you need them? I am taking soooo loooong on my current 2 colour, "simple" project that it's no longer funny. I'm not too embarrassed to admit I've also had to frog it at least twice. Uh Oh!! It seems the only time I get to stitch lately is at karate, thankfully DS have a few classes a week or else it would become a UFO.

Birthday time!

It seems like it's been all quiet on the blogging front lately. I haven't had much to say, nor time to say it. However, it was my eldest son's birthday recently, he turned 14. Do you know how old that makes me feel? Scary stuff! Anyway, I struggled with what to buy him this year, but in the end he seemed to enjoy his gifts. He chose home made nachos for dinner on his birthday, and we had caramel mud cake for dessert. On the nearest weekend we stuffed ourselves silly, and gave the credit card a workout, at Pancake Parlour. We haven't been for ages, so it was a nice treat. Although they are "just" pancakes, they are soooo yummy.

Now, as I type, he is having a few friends over for a party to celebrate. At this age they pretty much take care of themselves, playing video games and the like. We're about to have pizza, with more caramel mud cake for dessert. He doesn't really like a lot of cake flavours, so you have to go with what you know he'll like.

Oh, and we had a family celebration a while back too so it seems like this birthday is never ending. Next up is mine in the not too distant future. I think I'm having a craving for Taco Bill.........

My butterfly has wings, a body & antennae!

Finally another finish, it seems to have been a while. Actually it's been just over a month since I started it but it feels waaaay longer. Here it is:

Here are the details:

• Name of the design is "Tribal Butterfly".
• Chart is from the "Tribal Collection" from Sparklies in the UK.
• Fabric is 28 count hand dyed yellow evenweave. It looks a little pale and washed out but it's actually quite a bit brighter.
• Thread is DMC #106, a variegated orange.
• Stitch count is 167 x 135.  
• Started on April 12th 2011.
• Completed on May 14th 2011.  I'm not sure what this will become or what I'll do with it. Story of my stitching life!

On another note, my eldest son turned 14 recently. Like I need another excuse to feel old! Youngest DS came home from school camp on his birthday, so the kids were pleasant to each other the entire time. DS seemed to like his gifts, we had caramel mud cake and he chose nachos for dinner. The following night we went to Pancake Parlour for a proper celebration. We all stuffed ourselves silly and enjoyed our meals. It's funny how simple pancakes can taste sooooo good!

My progress on "Tribal Butterfly"

Here's where I'm up to so far:

My shortest post ever! LOL