Wonderful Gifts

First of all: I hope you all had a lovely festive season and that 2009 will bring many Blessings and much Happiness to you all. :0)

I hadn't realised it had been quite so long since I last blogged. Unfortunately, between my DH being off work for the holidays, having chronic indigestion after starting the acidophilus capsules (replacing the candida with good bacteria) and it being so cold in my computer room, despite the thermostat being turned up, I was struggling to find both the time and the inclination to put fingers to keyboard. I'll admit to being a total wuss when it comes to cold as it makes the arthritic joints in my fingers ache, so I was limiting myself to emails and keeping up with the JA/S&S forum before rushing back into the much warmer living room. Thanks to my wussiness there's an awful lot of catching up to do, so my apologies in advance - I'll have to spread things over a few posts as there are already quite a few pics in this post. :0)

Our festive season was quiet but enjoyable, due to spending lots of time with my family, and I was also well and truly spoilt rotten with all the lovely cards and gifts from friends and family. The first thing I'd like to share with you all is this lovely surprise RAK that Karen spied on my Wish List and sent:

Thank you so much Karen: I shall enjoy stitching this design and it will be a lovely reminder of your kindness and generosity. :0)

The No Stash for Christmas Exchange on the JA/S&S forum was a lot of fun and I enjoyed choosing goodies for my partner, who was Jayne herself. Being my usual self, I forgot to take a pic of what I sent. Doh! Here's a pic of all the lovely goodies that Clare sent to me:

I only managed one of the Ferrero Rocher before having to start the full-on candida diet, so the other three and the box of choccies are waiting in the pantry - they'll do nicely as an occasional reward when I'm OK to have sweet things again. :0) Meantime the diary has come into use, the aromatherapy oil scenter (the bottle and sticks) is wafting a lovely aroma around my kitchen and the bedsocks are wonderful at keeping my feet warm and toastie - they're already in danger of being worn out! The gold and scented (Lavender Water and Orchid Breeze) candles I've added to my stash for future use, as have the Jasmin and Neroli incense sticks. I'm waiting for some slightly warmer weather before using the gorgeous scented bath salts, so I can enjoy a long soak without freezing those bits of me that won't be under water. LOL Thank you so much Clare for the thoughtfulness you've shown in choosing and sending all the wonderful goodies. :0)

This gift was from Karen:

My jaw dropped when I opened the wrapping and saw the beaded bookmark inside. Isn't it beautiful? The large glass bead is one that Karen made herself and when I first saw it on her beading blog I fell in love with it - it reminds me of a planet. :0)

Here's a view of the other side:


The smaller beads look like rose quartz, amethyst and clear quartz, my favourite crystals, and they compliment the large bead wonderfully well. Thank you so much Karen - it's a truly beautiful piece and I shall treasure it. I will also say it again: you really should start selling your pieces soon. :0)

Last but by no means least, and as if I hadn't already been spoilt enough, I also received a beautiful stitched gift from Helen, a covered tape measure. Here is the front view:


I'm not sure how well the pics have turned out and I'm sorry if they don't do it justice - try as I might I couldn't get the digicam to focus properly to take a clear pic. These were the third lot I did! The oak leaf and acorn is so me! Here's the back view:

So very pretty and not only blackwork, which I love, but also autumnal colours which I also love. Here's a side view with another look at the oak leaf and acorn motif:


I'll share something with you now: my wedding ring, chosen and worn long before I realised I was a Pagan, is engraved with a running pattern of oak leaves and acorns. Thank you again, Helen, for your beautiful and very appropriate gift. I know you said I should use it but I'm afraid I still plan on displaying it in a basket for stitched items. :0)

Then there was also the very lovely ornie that Julie stitched and sent (which I was allowed to open early, to put on my special tree - see this post). Wow! Thank you again my friends, not only for your wonderful gifts but for your friendship, thoughtfulness, generosity and kindness. :0)

There are more things to share with you all but I shall save them for other posts, as this one is already quite long as it is.


As for other news: I am now on the full-on candida diet (more on that on my other blog, when I get a chance to do a catch up post) and am now waiting to see what happens. As I've already said, the new capsules I'm taking seem to be encouraging bad indigestion at the moment but I was warned that I'd feel worse before I felt better. Food shopping takes more time, due to the constant packet reading that has to be done these days, but that's OK when you can do it online in the comfort of your own home. LOL On the plus side of things: weight is slowly but surely being lost and my last lot of blood tests came back as normal..... whatever normal is. I go back to the Herbalist again at the end of this month for another check up and more medicine and will have a weigh-in then. Hopefully by then I'll have managed to get to the Doc's to get a printout of my test results and my initial weight, so the figures can be compared - if it's a good weight loss I'll share. :0)

DS is now having almost nightly rehearsals for the pantomime, as the run for that starts next week. It's get-in at the theatre this weekend so I reckon DH will be helping out with that - at least he will be providing he doesn't have to work again this weekend, the same as he did the last one. I didn't mind that too much last weekend, as I wasn't feeling too great and didn't fancy going out, especially when I found one of the channels was showing the whole of the last series of House back-to-back. Had a lovely time watching that and doing a little stitching. Yay!

Sorry but I am seriously behind with blog reading and commenting but I shall make a serious effort to catch up with everything I've missed whilst I've been offline so much (cold hands permitting) this week. I've missed all the news....... guess I should think about investing in a basic laptop so I could stay in the warmer living room at this end of the year. I wonder if DH would go for that?

Many thanks for persevering and continuing to visit. Hope you all had a happy festive season and a great start to 2009. :0)