Feb entry for TUSAL 2015(and I'm still waiting for my 123stitch order to arrive)

Here is my entry for TUSAL 2015 for the month of February .

I have started filling my ORT jar since January however the most of  threads in it are from my first finish of 2014.

It will take years to fill this with the rate I stitch :(
I have now added a Stitch Pie(chart) to record how many days do I actually stitch .The portion in red is non stitch time.
Not a good record so far....


I haven't stitched since I completed the birthday card on 13th and won't be able to stitch as I'm going on vacation(picture Me doing the happy dance.)

I'm so excited to see my family specially my adorable nephew ....

And yes the long yearning for my order from 123stitch.com hasn't ended. Its almost a month now since I placed the order. The USPS site isn't showing any update after 30th :(

I'm a bit scared that my gamble to get things shipped/posted in Kuwait may fail...I hope this doesn't happen and my packet is here once I come back from vacation.


Before I say bye bye ...let me tell you yesterday I discovered about a wonderful company called PurplePatchDesign which has absolutely gorgeous designs specially because the designs are to my taste...colorful, vibrant ,geometric and some of the designs are so Indian. I'm sure gonna spend some fortune buying their designs.

Is it weird that  I don't appreciate much, the designs which rely on fabric (like dyed etc), beads ,specialty threads for their beauty? Of course this is my personal opinion and I have due respect for all the designers who use these stuff for their designs.


Its time to say good bye now...till then take care and keep stitching

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL Feb Update

A foreword before I show you my entry for the SAL.

I discovered about Stich ALongs (SAL) in the month of July 2014 when I joined a wonderful cross stitch group on facebook.

I instantly liked the concept and was more pleased to know that in this age of internet ,its possible to have virtual SALs sitting at your home with cross stitchers all over the world...Isn't that fantastic?

I'm hosting a HAED SAL on my FB group now for first timers like me and big HAED fans...

So I came across Jo's stitching blog and learnt about this SAL on the last day of January(Link available on the right hand side bar of my blog) ..and loved the idea. It suits me a lot because I'm going to stitch for my friends and family for next few years.


As I have told you that I have repicked cross stitching after a gap of 10years..i have a lot to catch up.

My personal stitching goals for 2015 is to stitch at least 3 medium/big size pieces gifts for my besties.

The Gifted Gorgeousness SAL will help me achieve my goals and inspire me to be more generous ...wink wink.
Thank you Jo for hosting the SAL and allowing me to join.


So here is my entry for the month of February.

I have stitched this birthday card for my gorgeous talented friend who is also about to start her own craft business.

I will be giving this card to her when I meet on 20th after 5 long years...I missed you love.


Hope she likes it (and hope she doesn't visit my blog before I give this to her...let it be a surprise, please GOD)

Started on : 6-Feb-2015
Finished on: 13-Feb-2015
Stitched on:14 count white Aida
Floss used :Anchor
Designer: Emma Congdon
Pattern source: Cross Stitch Collection, Sept 2014
Number of colors: 9
Stitch count:50H*50W
Type of stitches: Full cross stitch, back stitch
Number of strands used :2 for Full cross stitches,2 for back stitch

I had to substitute few colors as I didn't have all the colors listed in the original design.

P.S. This is the first time ever I have stitched a card.

Happy day

I had a great day today....

I woke up a bit early for a weekend and then decided to go to office instead of Saturday. Office has been crazy busy since January leaving no time for my personal stuff.

I tried a new recipe for lunch -Moong dal stuffed capsicum. DH rated it to 6.I lost a few marks due to poor presentation ;),the capsicums were too big to stay upright in the tray.

The recipe can be found here:
http://sanjeevkapoor.com/Recipe/Moong-Stuffed-Capsicum-Sanjeev-Kapoor-Kitchen-FoodFood.html

After  fruitful 4 hours in office ,when I came back home, I wanted to have some snacks in evening.
So I thought of making dhokla from scratch. In the past , I have made dhokla using instant mix available in stores.

Why is that whenever you want to try a new recipe, you run out of the main ingredient...DH had to run to the nearest store to get gram flour.

The dhokla turned out good..it was fluffy...which is a main feature of a good dhokla. However I felt that taste of  gramflour dominated the whole flavor.

I got the recipe from:

http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/khaman-dhokla-microwave-recipe/

DH's rating of Dhokla :7.5

And the day ended with an assurance from my friend that he will take care of my noisy budgies while we are on vacation in India. Thank you friend..im so relieved to hear that.

Oh how can I forget to tell you that I finished a cross stitch piece today....my first finish of 2015. I'll post the pics of the piece soon.

What a wonderful day...two new recipes, first cross stitch finish of 2015 and caretakers for my budgies arranged....

I'm going to have a good night sleep today.


Hugs
Mini





 

Reading autobiography of my Idol

Did i ever tell you that enjoy reading books,novels,magazines too?

Yes i do enjoy reading most of the normal stuff...by normal i mean non-political ,non -economical ...ha ha

So,i started reading Sachin Tendulkar's autobiography "Playing it my way " yesterday...i haven't read a book since I shifted to Kuwait.And it didn't help that Kuwait doesn't have a public library ...can you believe that?
There are few bookstores in Kuwait which i haven't explored yet...

If you ask an Indian why are you reading Sachin Tendulkar's autobiography,this may be taken as offence.
Sachin Tendulkar is called "God of Cricket" in India and is the most talented batsman the world has ever seen.

I'm a die hard fan of Sachin..well who isn't. I remember being scolded for not studying to watch a match in which Sachin was playing.

I blame my brother for introducing me to cricket ;) ...oh i miss those matches we played with my father.

One of the pleasant memories i have of being a Sachin fan is getting a lot of Sachin merchandise for my 18th bday .

And yes i share my love for the little genius with one of my besties...

Moving on to the book...the book is written in simple English for obvious reasons of targeting the masses of India for whom Sachin is an idol.

I already know what to expect from the book...a tale of a human being with virtues of hard work,modesty and honesty.

Looking at the pictures brought me to tears...this happens whenever i read or watch something related to Sachin's life.

I'm not going to write a book review after i finish reading the book ,rather continue doing what i like...Reading and worshiping "God of cricket"



Last but not the least I would like to thank my DH's friend for gifting me the book....


P.S. I got the chance to taste one of the sweets from Philippine cuisine today. A colleague who came back from his home country ,brought us some sweets. The sweet I tasted is called Pinipig Polvoron.