Introducing....Riley John

Photo of the "man of the hour"
Weight 3.10 kg (thats about 6lb 12 oz)
Length 55cm (21.6 inches)

A good looking chappie, great lineage. Spent a little time in special
care nursery due to arriving earlier than expected, but looking better by the hour so Mum and Dad hoping to get their hands-on very soon.

ETA photo updated to day 4, discharged from nursery and Nan's first hold.

I became a Nan tonight!!

My son's first baby son has arrived tonight 2 weeks earlier than due. We're all a little surprised here at the moment, I was expecting to have another couple of weeks to prepare for being a grandmother for the first time, but babies wait for no-one ! No details yet except that he's a little 'un at 7lb ish I'm glad I bought baby clothes size 000 for the baby shower 2 weeks ago. Now I can start looking for baby boy stitching designs for some little handmade gifts.

This baby is my father-in-law's first great grandchild, and my daughters are aunties for the first time too. Congratulations to Pete and Bel on their safe delivery of a baby boy, name yet to be decided.

TIF Challenge August

Sharon's theme for August is balance, and how we achieve it. Well, I read recently that "Life is like a circus, full of balancing and juggling acts"
That's SO true, and I'm afraid I've been falling off the teeter totter and dropping lots of balls lately, VBG.

I really think it's to do with being a perfectionist, never being satisfied with anything I do. I'm not sure what to blame this on. I'm a firstborn Capricorn child (AHA I hear you all say, that explains EVERYTHING! ) My mother always advised me to "do it properly every time" and so I frequently re-work things to the Nth degree. I used to re-write my notebooks at school, I think that helped me do so well.

N.B. this is the 3rd edition of this post!!

I belong to many interest groups and Societies, and volunteer at historic houses. I REALLY enjoy them, but sometimes I feel overstretched. There MUST be an easier way to balance your interests with your commitments, I'd love to find it but I'm sure there's no magic forumula.

My particular area of interest is costume and textiles, and last weekend I took a workshop at our Embroiderers' Guild of NSW rooms with Christine Bishop. Her specialty is counted thread work, particulary withdrawn thread and needle lace. The subject was Lefkara Byzantine, a form of needlelace worked in Cyprus. My photo shows my sample piece in progress and I can see lots of faults. My next piece will be a LOT better. I put too many wraps on some of the bars, and my picots are abominable on the edge!! Christine was very patient with a full class of 13 ladies to juggle. She managed quite well, with the ladies having experience from beginner (several ladies including myself) to "turbo needle" Jennifer, who incidently was a Royal Easter Show prize winner in 3 categories. We all enjoyed our 2 days with her but came away very tired from concentrating on the 30 count linen.

I can't promise to finish this piece as it is, I think I'll start again on the other end of the fabric and make a little mat similar to the antique examples Christine showed us on Sunday.