Better Dratteds piccie

Thanks everyone for your lovely comments about my Dolphins Domain ... I have to admit, I really out-did myself with the amount of stitching I crammed into the final couple of days - it's amazing what sheer determination and bloody-mindedness can make you do! ;) Mind you, the pile of dishes in the sink and general mess around here shows I really did do nothing else but stitch for every waking moment for a couple of days - and on my day off sick I literally sat down with needle in hand at about 9am and didn't put it down again until almost midnight, and did the same thing yesterday until it was finished. And for those of you who've asked for it, here's a much better photo of the Dratteds (and it's clickable) - I think the colours are a bit more accurate too, as it was taken in front of the window with no flash this time (and with my good SLR camera).

I'd just downloaded an anti-phishing software that came with my renewal for SpyNet, and it was playing havoc with my PC, especially blogger ... so today I uninstalled it and voila I have Blogger piccies again without crashing the entire system yippee!! :D

Last night was my first night shift (affectionately known as the Doggoes - apparently this came from the old days when night shifts were known as the 'dogwatch'), and I really loved it - I was wide awake all night, in that I didn't feel tired once ... although tonight may be a different story, as I never sleep properly during the day (and of course yesterday I was awake almost 24 hours by the time I got to bed). Anyway, the calls were a bit quiet for a few hours, so I managed to put in a few stitches for the Needleroll SAL with Katrina et al inbetween answering queries/calls - this month I've chosen the Snowman Needleroll by Shepherd's Bush, and here's my progress to date.

As for "what now?" after the Dratteds are finished ... I'm debating between a couple of choices for my newly opened focus piece slot in my rotation - high up the list is Egyptian Garden Mandala by Chatelaine, or possibly one of my TW UFO's (English Garden Sampler or Noah's Ark). I have to say, due to the sheer size of it, that Egyptian Garden is likely to win out. Originally I was holding off doing this so I could SAL with Carol, but we agree that she's pretty much Chatelained-out with her stitching in that area this year, so I've opted to pick it back up again and get cracking on it. In fact there you go, my decision has been made ... EGM is my new focus piece! :D Seeing as I coughed up all that money for the kit, I really should get that beauty finished!

Next up, though, is my scissor fob exchange, as the deadline is drawing ever nearer - then a small gift for someone, and a couple of Christmas ornies ... if nothing else, there's always something in the pipelines waiting to be stitched, so I'll never have a problem running out of a project! ;P

Have a great weekend everyone :D