'Big' day out

Today was the first day we ventured a bit further from home ... partly due to the fact that I've had atrocious gastric/watery diarrhoea ever since arriving home from Hong Kong (too much info, I'm sure haha), and today was the first day I haven't been wandering around rubbing my tummy and feeling sorry for myself. Added to the fact that I got my 'monthly visitor' cramps right on the same day as the gastric cramps started ... believe me it's been no fun for the last 4 days - each on its own is bad enough, but together hmmm!! My downstairs neighbour copped the brunt of it at 2am this morning, when I thundered downstairs in my PJ's to thump on his door, asking him to switch his damned music down as it was like trying to sleep in a concert hall (yes, I was definitely Little Miss Grumpy Bum!). To give him his due, he very rarely does it, and has only gone to town into the small hours twice in the last 12 months of being here ... the alcohol fumes nearly knocked me down when he opened the door, but he was very gracious and apologised and said I had every right to be upset - at least that helped to settle my blood pressure, and he switched the piano concerto down to a minimal noise for the rest of the morning ...

Today we managed to visit the RSPCA to go cat-hunting ... I have at home cat food, litter tray and kitty litter, food and water bowls, play tunnel and balls with bells, and a scratching post/sleeping box (2-tier thing) - the only thing missing now is something cute with four legs and fur and goes "meeeow"! ;) There were two cats that I quite liked today (both 2 years old), but the RSPCA staff member I spoke to said I really needed to have a cat that had already been an indoor cat before, and they didn't have anything there today that was suitable for me apart from a deaf white one boohoo (dunno why, but I'm not keen on white cats for some reason). Depending what comes up over the next couple of weeks, I might take the risk and take home a stray and hope it settles in ... as the lady said, though, that's when I run the risk of them being destructive if they're used to being outside ... I'll also take Gina's advice and go visit the Cat Protection society as well, to see if they have anything suitable, and keep an eye on the RSPCA website for updates of incoming kitties. It would just be nice to have one while Mum's here to give it company for the first couple of weeks while I'm working, and to help train it off the furniture initially ...

After the RSPCA we popped out to the "Essence of Life" textured embroidery exhibition nearby at Mt Waverley, which was lovely ... then into the Guild exhibit on the way home, whose theme was "Celebrate" this year. I have to admit, I was very disappointed in the number of entries this year for the Guild exhibit, as there were so many last year - but then again, I struggled to come up with anything that I'd stitched that could be included, so perhaps others had the same problem ... last year's theme was Gardens, so there was loads of inspiration for that one. Regardless, though, the exhibit was still lovely to walk round, and there were some stunning pieces on display. As usual the work by Alison Cole was awe-inspiring and exquisite - she would have to be one of my favourite local stitchers ... her work never fails to impress me!

After that we came straight home ... we'd bought something light to eat in the car between exhibits, and my stomach had been making gurgling noises ever since, so we thought it wise not to push things too much, and started the pilgrimage home - it was lovely to get out of the house though, albeit for such a short excursion!

Even though I've been housebound for a few days, I can't say I've managed to get a lot of stitching done ... I've managed to almost finish my last charity quilt block, and just have about 1/3 of the backstitching left to go before it's finished (then I'll post a piccie) - then I have more commitments for stitching all due around the same time that I need to get cracking on ... and here they are, just to remind myself, more than anything else:

• 15 August - Dragon charity quilt block
• 1 September - Vash's round robin (Robin's Nest BB)
• 4 September - Redwork exchange (SBEBB)
• 5 September - Needleroll exchange (Robin's Nest BB)
• 15 September - Strawberries So Faire SAL (StitchingSmalls)
• Now ... the Lavender Rose Sewing Case SAL (with KarenV and Isabelle)
• Now ... weekend Needleroll SAL (with Katrina et al)