Memorials and Memories

It's the first anniversary of my Dad's passing on the 28th of this month, with what would have been his birthday the day before, so these dates have been very much on my mind as this month has drawn on. On Saturday I made this card:My DSis will open the envelope on the 27th and put the card on the hearth, along with some flowers. I chose an Egyptian theme as it seemed most apt, as my Dad served in the Royal Engineers in Egypt during the Suez Crisis, of which he was very proud. The card shows Anubis, god of death, holding an ankh (symbol of eternal life) to the mouth of the young pharoah, thus ensuring he lived on in the afterlife. The gold figures on the paper ribbon at the top and bottom are the gods and goddesses of Ancient Egypt.

I also made a tag which will go next to our parents' name plaque at Rosehill.
This is the boy King Tutankhamun with an ankh and scarab beetle. Dad never got to see the sights of Egypt, as they were out of bounds while he was there, and he couldn't afford to go there for a holiday in later life, so I hope he and Mum are seeing all the sights now. :0)

Saturday evening I carried on stitching and finished Part 4 of the Memories SAL, after finally choosing a year:
We'd been through some pretty bad times in the previous couple of years, culminating in losing three family members to various forms of cancer last year: DH's DSis in March, my Dad in April and my cousin's wife in November. I chose 2008 because I want this piece to be a reminder that no matter how much crap life throws at us, no matter how bad things get, we can get through it - coming out the other side OK and going on to enjoy better times.

Sunday we had a trip over to see my DSis. We took the card, the new light fittings & bulbs DH got for her from Screwfix (for the hallway this time), had dinner out and a drive round afterwards and did lots of nattering. Though I took the Ozark SAL and a small piece with me I didn't get any stitching done whilst there and was too tired after we got back, especially as we called in at Tesco Express for a bit of shopping on the way home.
Today has been my usual Monday routine of jobs, with a Forum and emails catch-up thrown in as a little light relief, before Alex arrived, followed by evening meal preparation and cooking after she went. Tonight I hope to start the Challenge piece - that's right...... I still haven't stitched it! I also haven't got a clue on how to finish it. I sort of had something in mind earlier in the month but have absolutely no idea on how to achieve it and haven't yet spotted any online instructions to help me out either. Oh well, at this late stage I guess plain and simple will be the best option! LOL

Helen: thank you again. It means a great deal to me. :0)

Oh, Julie, that Thread Bear order: some of the goodies are meant as gifts........ errrmm....... well........ that's the intention............. depends if I can bear to part with them after I've got my sticky little mitts on them! Can't have an extension on the house though - we've already got one and it's almost full! ;0) LMAO

Karen: DH would probably love a day by the sea.......... doubt he'd do any work while he was there though - he'd be off to sunbathe in the same spot as the British Gas blokes! :0) LOL

Well, if I'm ever going to make a start on that Challenge piece I'd better go. I shall start my blog reading catch-up tomorrow - by the rising numbers of posts on Bloglines it looks like some of you have had busy weekends. :0)

Thanks again for taking the time to visit and leave comments, which I very much appreciate - it's always good to know I'm not waffling away to myself (it means the men in white coats with the green van and the funny waistcoat won't be round just yet! LOL).
Have a good week all. :0)