Hello Hello,
Welcome to Big
Birthday Party for Jo’s Big Birthday ….if you are tired of hopping around, sit
down and have a cold lemonade.
Don’t worry I’m not going to serve you cake, I
know you have had enough of it already …how about some savory snacks.
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| Butter cigarette stick |
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| Egg pandan |
Jo, I hope you
recognize these from your time spent in Singapore.
Now that you
have caught you breath after hopping across blogs, it’s time to tell you what
year it is
It is year
1993 and Jo is 27.
Something very
important happened this year… She started cross stitching in this year. Yes Yes
Cross stitching!!! She even has a piece dated for that year to prove it.
Here is the story behind it.Jo was visiting a friend who was cross stitching a Country Companions design
for her son. She liked the look of the
craft and bought two small Anchor sampler kits to try it herself.She was soon
hooked and rest is history.
I’m sure
anybody who is reading this blog now knows about Jo’s love for cross stitching. She
has an eclectic taste and she has 500 finishes on her Happy Dance blog to prove
that too.
Imagine where our blogging community would be if this event hadn’t happened…Cross stitch blogging would be no fun without Jo's seasonal and themed blog hops, SALs and of course the beautiful finishes we see on her blog so frequently.
Now let’s see
what I was doing when Jo was discovering her new love for the art of cross
stitching…..
I have to
really think hard as I find it difficult to recollect things from past these
days…
Well I was in
seventh grade, enjoying my school life. One day my teacher declared in class
about an upcoming oratory competition in English language. The idea was to select a topic from a list given and talk about it in front of
the school. I decided to participate and won a third prize.
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| Picture from Internet |
I hear you asking
what’s so special about a third prize …well it was my first time participating
in a school level competition which required preparation on my own with no help
from teachers, parents and text books. Before this competition I used to
participate in school co-circular activities mainly dancing but none of them were
for a competition which required speaking in front of an audience.
My teacher was
quite impressed and told my mother to encourage me further. After this I
started participating regularly in such activities and it helped me in
developing confidence of speaking in public. This skill was very helpful during
my engineering days when we were asked to present our projects, interviews and
meetings. I personally feel expressing your ideas in technical discussions is
an important tool for success, especially if your business requires interaction
with Client.
There is one
more event or I would rather say a change that occurred during the year 1993
but I’m too embarrassed to talk about it on my blog… haha.
Moving to the
last part of the blog party now, a cross stitch project I think Jo may like.
Earlier this year, I visited my maternal uncle’s house after a long period.My aunt gave
me this piece which she had dug out from the old trunks. I remember stitching this piece in late 2003/early 2004 .My aunt had made the same piece and it caught my eye.It was different from the usual cross stitch which I had been doing in my childhood.I stitched it as a gift for a family member .When I finished college and moved to other town for job, I assumed that the
piece must have been given to the recipient by my aunt. Imagine my surprise when
she gave it to me after so many years and I realized I have done blackwork in
past and forgotten about it.
The piece had
some stains collected from lying around in old trunks, so I got it dyed.First picture is more true to color
I hope you
have enjoyed your stop here and are looking forward to hopping on to next blog.
Here’s wishing
our lovely Jo , happy birthday and a blessed year ahead.
