A Catch-Up

Thought it was time to do a catch-up post with the latest pics of NW and SS, as promised.

First up is the progress on Night Watchman:

Not a great change this time around, as I wasn't able to stitch on him for a second night last week. There'll be a fair bit more done this week as I'll be on my own until Wednesday night: DH went off with two other colleagues on another business trip to Italy first thing this morning........ yet again the last one has proved not to be the final trip! DS works during the day and has rehearsals and other things to do in the evenings, so that means more hours on my own to fill. Good job I stocked up on DVD's, isn't it? LOL

Progress on Sea Stars was a bit better - not only did the larger motif get finished but two small motifs and another fish were added:

If you look closely you may be able to see a brighter patch across the pic. Yes, that was your actual real sunshine coming through the window. Yay!

The weekend was a good one. Cards were duly exchanged on Saturday and DH really liked the one I made for him. He gave me the Lost in Austen DVD I 'd been eyeing up - unfortunately the Pink Floyd CD I'd ordered for him from Amazon almost two weeks ago has only just been despatched. Disappointing: they don't seem to be as well organised as the books and DVD's section at all. Oh well: it should be here for when he returns from Italy, so I'll be able to give it to him then. We popped into Ashby so I could get some more Candaway capsules and herbal teas from the Clinic, with a call in at Tesco Express on the way home. Later we went to Poundstretcher so we could stock up on cleaning products and a few other things then on to the main Tesco. There I managed to get the clip'n'lock boxes needed for storing the new healthy foods in - can get my cupboards better organised with these, as they stack better than packets do and with the labels on the front it means I can always find exactly what I want straightaway. I also checked out their range of organic and specialist foods and was happy to find a couple more items that meet my dietary restrictions, so came home with a nice haul. A take-away curry from our favourite curry house for tea rounded off the day quite nicely. :0)

Sunday we went over to Doncaster to see my DSis. We took over the new light sockets and other electrical bits we'd got for her from our local Screwfix and DH spent some of the day fitting those in the front bedroom for her. I took one of my Book Crossing books over (Rosie by Alan Titchmarsh) for her to read then release afterwards in the cafe section of the Thornton's shop she works in - so far I haven't heard that any of the wild releases have been caught but the controlled releases have done OK (thank you, ladies, for journalling on these :0) ). I also took a couple of small stitching pieces with me and stitched on those whilst nattering and managed to finish the new piece for Challenge for a Finish, as well as stitching the backstitch border for whip stitching together my JA/S&S Challenge piece. We didn't get home until late.

Today is my usual jobs day, though Alex won't be coming for a visit due to having a rehearsal to go to tonight. As if trying to make up for that disappointment my package from Crafty Devils arrived this afternoon:

It's the first time I've bought from them: found them extremely helpful and friendly, with the goodies arriving very quickly, so I would use them again and am happy to recommend their service. Now I'll be able to make my own papercraft tags with the die (DH bought me a BigShot machine a couple of Christmases ago) and also add eyelets to things without having to bang them with a hammer - not only noisy but can also damage the eyelets if you get it wrong. Making floss ring tags will be a whole lot easier with this too!

Here's a peek inside the Crop-A-Dile case, just in case you were wondering what on earth it was. LOL I shall be having a play with both of these later. :0)

Weatherwise it's been so nice today I've had the thermostat turned right down and the back door open, to allow the fresh air to blow through the house........ haven't been able to do that in such a long time. The birdies have noticed the change too: it's a riot of song out in the garden and the large male pigeon has been busily strutting his stuff - though the females seem totally unimpressed. I guess his report card would read: could do better! LOL In fact it's been such a nice day it tempted me out there a couple of times to potter around for 10 minutes or so each time, dead-heading my herbs and pulling weeds. There are lots of signs of new growth and the crocus and snowdrops are already blooming, though not quite in full swing yet. Welcome back Spring, lighter nights and warmer weather! :0)

Christine: thanks for the red cabbage recipe. Luckily I'm allowed an apple a day but can't have raisins or balsamic vinegar - will try it with lemon juice as an alternative to the vinegar (the only fruit juice allowed on this diet) and see how it goes. Thanks also for the fabric recommendation - hadn't thought of that range. :0)

Thank you Laura for leaving a comment and input on fabric for the ED piece. Always nice to "see" new faces and add new blogs to my Bloglines. :0)

Thank you to all for taking the time to visit - hope you have had a gentle start to the week. :0)