Challenge for a Finish - April

I can now show you the piece I completed for April for Challenge for a Finish........ though I think some of you may already have seen this elsewhere. ;0)

This time the challenge was to stitch a flower design and finish it as any needlework accessory and, as I was so embarrassingly late completing my piece for last month, I deliberately opted for quick and easy and decided to stitch and make a scissor fob:

Design: Scissor Fob

Designer: Gandja, Un Point C'est Tout - internet freebie

Fabric:

Count On Me 28ct evenweave - Aster

Threads: DMC

Finish: funnily enough.... a scissor fob.

This was my first ever scissor fob finish. :0) On the back I stitched some of the outer border and added an initial:


No, it wasn't for me...... the colours and everything were chosen to go with those scissors and the whole lot was gathered together with a certain person in mind who I know loves all things pink and who I thought might need a little cheering up. Am glad to say that Karen liked the gift, so that's me happy too.

The Challenge for May hasn't yet been announced but there's a strong possibility I may not be able to take part, as we go away for a weeks holiday very soon - it cuts in to my stitching time quite badly as in the daytime we are usually out and about quite a bit and most nights we are playing Trivial Pursuits with my DSis, Aunty, Uncle and Cousin. The friendly rivalry and banter always makes for a good night. :0) One less weeks stitching in the month will make things even more pushed than usual though, so it depends on what the Challenge is for as to whether or not I'll be able to fit it in.

Thank you for visiting and for the kind comments - each and every one is very much appreciated. :0)

Reveal Day - April

Yes it's the back end of the month once more (where has the time gone?!) so it's Reveal Day for the Monthly Challenge over at JA/S&S Forum. Yay! Once again the album has lots of lovely pieces to see, with a variety of finishes and a gorgeous rainbow of colours - it's always such a pleasure to see them all and it's why I really look forward to the reveal. :0)

The choice this month was any design from the freebies available over at A Mon Ami Pierre. You may get a slight feeling of deja vu when you see which one I chose to stitch:

• Design: Heart Stitcher
• Designer: Dessin - A Mon Ami Pierre, internet freebie
• Fabric: 32ct Zweigart Murano - Ivory
• Thread: DMC 816
• Finish: a pinkeep

Yes, it goes with the floss tag which was sent off to a new home with Barb (no blog). I just had to stitch this piece again to go with it, as a thank you for the gorgeous scissor fob and thread she very kindly gave me....... it's lovely to know that Barb liked it and it's joined her growing collection of sewing accessories. :0)

The fabric shown in the pic is the one used to back the pinkeep........ slight deja vu again, as it's another one from the Leafy Glade Autumn Collection pack bought from The Cotton Patch.

Well this weekend has been every bit as busy as expected. Saturday we managed to go back to the kitchen showroom and speak to the designer. We had to have a rethink on the finish as we couldn't get the style we wanted in a wood-look finish but reckon the one we picked on Saturday will be much better. The designer took a copy of our kitchen plan and made notes of our preferences etc and will be doing a basic plan and quote which should be with us in around a weeks time, so that's starting to move forward. After that we drove home to drop the car off then popped down the street to do a few errands and get a bit of shopping done, then home to put it away and have dinner. We then got a few gardening jobs done, including mowing the lawn, to get them out of the way before the first of the predicted rain shows up.

Today (Sunday) we went to the Holistic Health Fair, as planned, and it's been a very good day but I shall write more about that on my other blog another time. Am quite tired tonight and need to get off to bed because we have another early start in the morning: it would have been my Dad's 76th birthday tomorrow, then Tuesday is the anniversary of his passing, so we are going over to Rosehill to lay some flowers. Unfortunately we won't be able to spend the rest of the day with my DSis as we have to be back because Virgin Media decided they were sending a techie round that afternoon to change the faulty set top box. We decided not to alter it, as who knows when they would get around to coming to do it if we did that........ and it was bad enough waiting a fortnight for them to bring the new modem!

Christine: many thanks for telling me the name of the butterfly, which was confirmed by Redwitch. In case anyone is wondering: it's a Speckled Wood butterfly........ yes, a decidedly unexciting name for something so pretty.

Thank you for visiting. Hope you all had as enjoyable a weekend as we had and that you have a good week ahead. :0)

Long Time No See

Realisation has hit today that the last time an update on Night Watchman was posted was way back in March! Oops! In case you'd like to remind yourselves of how he looked back then please check here. Just in case Julie was wondering if she should send round Mr Stick to get on my case I'll just point out that I have done some UFO Night stitching..... just keep getting distracted and forgetting to post the pics. So, here is a progress pic from earlier in April (sorry, can't remember when exactly):


In case you were wondering where the progress is.... I concentrated on the light patch on the tree, below and to the side of his tail. I'll fess up that I had all good intentions of stitching on him again but never actually managed to do so on a couple of Tuesday's - the time seemed to be getting away from me and I needed to get Challenge pieces and an ornie stitched. I did stitch on him again this week, for two nights, on the left side..... though didn't seem to make a huge amount of progress:

For some reason the stitching on this just isn't flowing properly at the moment, so it's not as enjoyable as it usually is and not much seems to get done - though any progress is good. Reckon it could be me in pre-holiday wind down mode. LOL

My April ornie for the Christmas Ornie SAL is stitched but the finishing still needs doing. Have decided I need to expand my horizons a tad and try a couple of different styles of finishing because, although I like pinkeep and basic pillow finishes, I don't want those to be the only style of ornies on my tree. I've been looking for a tutorial on what I'd like to try and finally found something similar....... so watch this space. Just need the finishing mood to kick in now. :0)

In the meantime the cardmaking mood remained so I made three more cards on Wednesday afternoon, after my trip down the street to the Clinic to see Jan (will probably do a small post on my other blog about that - there are other recent news updates on there already, if anyone's interested). Here are the dinky cards made:

I will add appropriate wording to it before sending it. Already have this in mind for someone. :0)

The pic on this one was wombled from a Christmas card:

There are actually chalked snowflakes on the background but the camera hasn't picked those up for some reason. Then one that used some bits from the Let's Make Cards! pack I used to make the last lot of cards:

Once again the flippin' digicam has objected to doing close ups. Think we'll have to look around for a better quality one that can cope! Although the first priority is sorting out my dinky little Hi-Fi..... the darned thing has suddenly started giving a "No disc" message when there is definitely a CD in there, so I can't have my favourite relaxation music on when working in the kitchen. Am hoping it's still under warranty - just waiting for DH to dig out the receipt, to check - if it is it's going back.

The recent nice weather has tempted me out into the garden a time or three during this week, so card and stitching production has reduced accordingly. It's been so refreshing though, to mind and soul, that I can't begrudge the time. :0) Last night DH and I sat out for a while just chillin' when we spotted a bat swooping round, presumably snacking on the rampant insect life that was also out and about - we've seen one in the evenings for years now, so it must live pretty close by. Then today I was rewarded by the sight of butterflies swirling around in a dizzying duet of pirouettes that was just too quick for me to capture with the digicam. I couldn't decide if it was a courtship dance or a duel - either way after almost 10 minutes they finally decided they'd had enough and flew off to different bits of the garden for a rest..... and I finally managed to catch one of them settled on the grass:

Isn't it pretty? Anyone know what it's called? Keep thinking Comma but not sure. Am hoping that, whatever they're called, they'll be frequent visitors this year. :0)

Am looking forward to the weekend. Got a bit of shopping to do tomorrow morning and am also hoping we can get back to Jackson & Shipley to finally speak to the kitchen designer and on Sunday - the day I'm really excited about - we're going to the Holistic Health Fair that Jan, my Herbalist, has organised as a fundraiser for the Samaritans. There's lots of stalls and several workshops I'm interested in going to, as well as bellydancing displays...... yes, bellydancing...... and the lady who runs that also runs workshops, so I'm going to get more info on those! Reckon DH won't mind viewing that display but he'll probably head for the bar while I'm at the workshops. LOL I'll be doing a write up about that day on my other blog. :0)

So, whatever you are all doing this weekend..... have a great one and thank you for visiting. :0)

A Blogoversary Draw Win

I was absolutely delighted to discover that I'd won the draw for Sheila's recent Blogoversary Giveaway. The prizes were two of Sheila's handmade goodies and some House of Embroidery perle thread and they arrived safely today:


Aren't they gorgeous? The book is something special indeed. Here's a close up of the beads:

I'm afraid my pics just don't do it justice - the digicam just doesn't seem to like doing close up work and these were the best ones from all the ones I took.

The felt decorations are all hand sewn in place:

I'll be using the book for something special, though haven't quite decided what yet....... perhaps a small scrapbook of photos that hold special memories for me. :0)

The handbag mirror is decorated with hardanger. The colours are lovely and I'm quite envious of the stitching, as I haven't tackled that particular infill yet:

It will be good to have such a pretty handbag mirror to use when I'm out and about - very useful for those quick lippy repair jobs. :0)

I don't have any plans for the thread - yet! - it's just nice to fondle it for now. LOL

Thank you again Sheila for such gorgeous items - I love them and you have definitely made my week. Hope you had a very Happy Blogoversary. :0)

Thank you all for taking the time to stop by, it's alway very much appreciated.... as are the kind comments you leave. :0)

What A Week!

Well what a week that was! There was: a day at my DSis's on Monday; my first ever Development Circle meeting on Tuesday night; then appointments at the Clinic on Wednesday to have the Food Intolerance Testing done and a follow on session with Jan and everything that came with it (please see my other blog for more about those); Thursday was DH's appointment with the Diabetic Nurse where he had the good news that his bloods are OK and everything is well under control again; another enjoyable card making session on Friday, along with an interesting Oracle Card reading in the evening and a Reiki treatment on Saturday morning that proved to be the strangest one yet (will write more about those on my other blog another time) and finally getting the JA/S&S Monthly Challenge piece completed today, Sunday. Most of it was certainly different to the norm, I can tell you, though enjoyable. LOL

As I can't yet show you the pics for the Challenge pieces I thought I'd share the results of Friday's card making session. First up was a male card that was very loosely based on an idea from the same Let's Make Cards! pack and magazine I used to make the last batch of cards:

Only the tie, Cheers! banner and paper came from the kit, the other bits were from my stash.

This next card is copied from the mag and uses things from the pack but I liked it so much it had to be an as is must make.


Then I remembered my DS is going to a wedding in the next couple of months, so decided to up my wedding card stash just in case he was invited to any more. This one used card and paper from the kit but was my own make:


This next one used flowers and the cake from the same kit but everything else was from my stash - one of mine again:

The next one is mine too and I had real fun with it when I found the cute die cuts in my stash.

I just used the butterfly and flowers from the kit. I'll add a funky foam number when the next child's birthday comes up, as who gets it hasn't been decided on yet. My emergency cards stash is looking quite respectable once again, so if DS requests a card at short notice there'll be one there for him....... and I'll have a few in-hand for those times when the block descends. :0)

Saturday's Reiki treatment took up the morning. When I'd done I rang DH to come and meet me in Il Sorriso so we could have a drink before going to do some shopping. I quite like their peppermint tea - DH, on the other hand, had an Espresso! We decided not to eat in there as I have a few extra dietary restrictions and a change in meds that need to be gotten used to first. Next on the agenda was a stop off at the sewing shop as I wanted some more of the braid I used on the little reindeer ornie....... and managed to find a few more bits that will come in useful as well:

Next was another trip to Ethel Austin for some boring but essential items - socks and undies - and a stop off at Tesco Express on the way back home for some dinner. In the afternoon DH pottered doing a few jobs and I started the making up of the Challenge piece.

Today has been a stay at home day. DH watched the Grand Prix while I pottered, then in the afternoon he did a few jobs while I completed the finishing on the Challenge piece. Whilst taking the pics of the cards I finally remembered to take one of Night Watchman too but I'll post that update another time - got to leave something to show you or it'll be really quiet here up until Reveal Days! LOL Plans for tonight, when finished here, are to make a start on this month's Christmas ornie - thread and fabric are ready to go, it's just a case of picking up a needle and putting some stitches in.

Thank you for stopping by and for the kind comments. Hope you've all been enjoying a very good weekend. :0)

Easter's Card Fest

Thought it was time I showed you the results of the cardmaking fest I had over the Easter break. On Thursday I made just two cards and the first of those was one that was made using a wombled pic from a lovely card that Barb (no blog) sent me:

Hope you don't mind Barb but it's such a nice pic it deserved to be used again. :0)

As I said in my last post, inspiration was then lacking so I got out a Let's Make Cards! pack and made a male card as shown in the magazine:

I don't actually know any golfers but it was such a different card I had to make it. It'll go in my emergency last minute card stash - am sure DH will have a golfing colleague it will come in for at some stage.

On Saturday I was on my own all day whilst DH and DS were at the Guild Room so started card making in earnest. The next card was shown made with a large Fimo flower but I don't have any of that stuff, so substituted a fabric flower instead and attached it with a sparkly brad:

This card was also shown with Fimo fancies but I substituted some buttons instead:

Next it was back to a male card. This one I changed slightly, swapping the side the image was placed and adding little star gems to the wording banner:

Then on to another male card, a Father's Day one this time:

Unfortunately I made the tablecloth area a little small, so ran out of room to put the embellishments.

This one I copied from the magazine but decided to ink the edges of the card layers for a slightly different look:

Then it was back to female cards again. I liked the look of the inked edging so used it again on this card:

This next one was adapted from a card shown in the magazine, rather than directly copied, but I used the inking technique again:

I also did a little stitching too but as that was on the Monthly Challenge piece it can't be shown.

DH and DS came home at tea time on Saturday and both were shattered. DH also came back a tad the worse for wear and with a definite limp and his opening words to me were: "You don't know how close I came to being no use to you at all". When asked what he meant he explained that he'd managed to step on an insecure piece of boarding and put his foot through the ceiling, then followed it up with: "I only just managed to get my hands down to stop my g**lies from hitting the joist". I did what any loving wife would do in the circumstances......... I laughed my socks off. I was a tad more sympathetic later on though, when I saw the bruises he'd got: there's a massive one on his right outer thigh with a definite line running across it (made by the edge of another joist), another 3-4 inch long one on the outside of his right calf and two small ones on his inner left thigh that attest to just how close he came to singing soprano! They had to fix the damage to the ceiling which was why they'd been so long finishing up.

Sunday was a quiet day at home: the hot shot DIY'ers could barely move and reaching for the remote to change channels was about as energetic as they got and I wasn't feeling great as my stomach has been playing up, making me feel really out of sorts with myself. It was a relief not to go anywhere, to be honest and gave me the perfect excuse to sit and do more stitching.

Monday we went to my DSis's for the day. We gave her our share of our May holiday money, so that's paid up now and it won't be that many weeks before we'll be going. Yay! We had planned on going to a kitchen showroom for a look round but none of us actually fancied venturing out - we'd passed the local B&Q on the way to hers and it was so busy the traffic was queuing to find parking spaces and was snarling up the roundabout! As the kitchen showroom was up near several electrical goods stores, The Range and a few other big places we didn't fancy going up there to find it equally as frantic, so we opted to stay away and did a couple of small jobs instead. DH felt the benefit: he snoozed in the armchair for a couple of hours - I fell asleep for an hour a little later, making up for the disturbed night I'd had.

Today DH and DS were back at work and I did some of my Monday jobs. Tonight was the first meeting of the Development Circle with Aureen....... will post about that on my other blog. Tomorrow I have two appointments at the Clinic: the first is to have the allergy testing done and the second is with Jan, to discuss the results of the testing, if the change in meds has helped any and a weigh-in. Again, I'll post on my other blog about that. :0)

Thank you for visiting and for all the kind comments, they are greatly appreciated. Hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend and a gentle start to the rest of the week. :0)

Good Post

Still no stitchy pics to share with you yet but I did indulge in a little stash buying last week. It's my finishing stash that's benefited again, after two rather nice packages arrived on Thursday (so now you know why I'm spent up this month Helen. LOL). Thought you might like to see. :0)

The first package contained lots more lovely trims and buttons from Thread Bear which I ordered in an effort to further diversify the choices available for finishing. Being in two Challenges and a monthly Christmas ornie SAL means quite a few more smalls than usual are being produced so a much wider variety really is necessary........ as I told DH when he asked what I'd been buying. ;0)


The red ribbon at bottom left is what was used to tie the nicely wrapped package with and I firmly believe in recycling useful things like that. The picture doesn't really do those buttons justice but I didn't want to risk losing any by taking them out of the bag for the pic. Most are Mother of Pearl, some are coconut, but they are all absolutely gorgeous! Everything must have made an impression at Thread Bear because there was a little note inside from Steph that read: Oh what a pretty package! It definitely was. :0)

As usually happens when I go shopping there was something that kept insisting on leaping into my basket and just wouldn't take no for an answer:

All I can say in mitigation is that the chart was in the Clearance section. Who can resist a bargain, especially one as cute as him? Definitely not me!

The second package of the day was from Creative Fabrics, another online fabric shop I like to visit occasionally (have added the link to my side bar, just in case anyone else feels the need to indulge in a little retail therapy at any time). I just happened to call by when they had a special on: a voucher code for an extra 15% off the total. There were also quite a few fabrics in the Clearance section, so I made sure to check those out first. Here's what was in the package:

Looking at that I seem to have a mainly Christmas thing going on. LOL I loved that batty fabric on sight. The pink fabric with the swirl seemed ideal to back some ornies I intend to make for Stitching for a Cure. Again these have nicely diversified my fabric stash...... and with that extra 15% off some of them actually ended up as freebies.

We had the visit to the Kitchen showroom on Friday but it ended up slightly frustrating: the lady we spoke to last time, the actual designer, was off and isn't back until Tuesday....... so we didn't get chance to talk through the plan of the kitchen, although we did come away with a few more ideas of what we would like to fit in there and what style of cupboard finishing we could all happily live with, so it wasn't a total waste. Afterwards we had a quick visit into town, so I could stock up on some bits from the Health Food shop - good job we weren't bothered about going elsewhere as it was heaving with people. Our town centre appears to be having a bit of a Renaissance lately, despite the fact that it's all open to the elements and doesn't have as wide a choice as other nearby towns......... it's good to see it, actually. :0)

When we'd done in town we opted to go to Uncle Henry's for dinner - good choice, as it was nowhere near as busy as town had been. It's always a lovely meal there - everything is locally grown/sourced and prepared/cooked/baked in their kitchen, as well as also generally being available in their shop. We did some shopping afterwards and discovered that they'd extended the shop premises, so they are starting to stock even more produce...... we came away with a bag full again. Home after to find we'd missed the delivery guy bringing our organic veg box. Luckily he'd realised he could leave the box under the front of The Tank, so it was out of the rain and couldn't be seen from the road. :0)

Later on I started doing some cardmaking - inspiration was still sadly lacking, so I was cheating by using one of the Let's Make Cards! packs I've got. These are really good for breaking that horrible mental block on inspiration: the magazine has lots of nice projects inside, many of which can be made using goodies from the pack that's included...... all that's needed are the tools and extra sticky tape etc. I then did a little stitching on the Monthly Challenge piece in the evening.

Today I'm on my own, as DS has "borrowed" DH to help him board out some of the loft at the LTC Guild Room, so I've carried on with the cardmaking rather than venture out into the rain. Using the pack is helping as the card count now stands at nine and I'm slowly starting to adapt projects, rather then directly copy them from the magazine. Yay! I shall take and post some pics to share another time as the light is now too poor for doing them.

So that's been our Easter weekend so far. :0)

Thank you for visiting and the lovely comments. Hope you are all having a lovely Easter weekend. :0)

Still Around

Just thought I'd let you all know that I'm still around despite the lack of blogging lately. Unfortunately there hasn't been any stitching progress pics to show because it's either for Challenges, so can't be shown until the relevant Reveal Day, or, as in the case of Sea Stars and Night Watchman, haven't been touched recently.

Yes, that's a fess up: I didn't actually manage to get around to stitching on NW last week! Please don't send Mr Stick round though Julie - I did stitch on him last night and fully intend on doing more to make up for last weeks lack, so hope he'll let me off. :0)

As for the Challenge stitching: I've completed the piece for Challenge for a Finish and taken the pics. I'll be wrapping it up and sending it off to a new home shortly - fingers crossed the recipient will like it. I then had a rethink on the piece chosen for the JA/S&S Forum's Monthly Challenge, so instead of stitching the design originally chosen I've gone for another one to do instead - purely because I want to send it as a gift to someone and the second chart suits this plan better. Just hope my finishing skills are now up to the finishing I'd like to try! LOL

I had a nice surprise drop through the letter box today - literally, because the posties seem to have done their best to annihilate the envelope, which dropped to bits once through the door! Thankfully the book and card inside were fine:

Lynn had noticed that I'd only read two of Dan Brown's books (The DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons) and was on the look-out for more of his to read, so she has very kindly sent me Digital Fortress. Having read the back it sounds an exciting read, so am looking forward to picking it up soon - probably after I've finished my current book: In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick which is a true story of a whaling ship that actually inspired the tale of Moby Dick, which was sent to me by a fellow Book Crosser. Whilst I absolutely abhor the whole whaling industry it is a fascinating read........ though I'll not say any more until I've finished it and written up about it on The Reading Corner blog. Thanks again Lynn for your kindness, which is very much appreciated. :0)

As for other things: the surprise book came at just the right time, as I've been having a bit of an "off" week. I don't know if it's due to the new regime Jan has put me on (I popped in to the Clinic on Saturday: she altered my tablet taking, dropping one off and changing the time of day I take another, to try and sort out the queasiness I've been having lately) or if I'm having one of those "candida die-off" sessions again but I've been a little out of sorts with myself this week, not helped by the fact that I suddenly seem to feel hungry much of the time, no matter how much or what I eat and drink. I was perfectly satisifed before - why the flippin' change all of a sudden?! I have been a little stricter on myself and have tried to be more active, as I'm determined to drop below the 13 stone mark this time round, but am definitely not on starvation rations by any means. I just hope my stomach will shrink some soon, so it'll be much happier. Guess it'll be something else to chat to Jan about at our next appointment. LOL

DH got on with painting out the kitchen cupboard last weekend, so the all-pervading and not so sweet aroma of paint has invaded virtually very nook and cranny in the house.

No complaints though, as he seems to have decided he's going to crack on and get it finished now. Yay! There'll be flags out and a party at mine when it's done! LMAO No, we're not going mad, finishing off a kitchen cupboard when we plan on having the kitchen revamped - this particular cupboard is built in and also has all the wiring and central heating piping from the boiler running through it to the rest of the house, so it has to stay...... though it'll be getting new doors on it to match the rest of the kitchen when that's fitted. We had a trip over to Grimsby on Saturday to see the Moben display within the Homebase store there and what a disappointment it was - a huge store and all they had was a very small area in one corner that had to share space with the bathroom and bedroom displays. Only about four of their kitchen ranges were represented and it didn't really show them to their best advantage. There's what they call a flagship store over the bridge in Hull so I guess we'll be having a run out there at some point for a look-see. Meantime, we plan on going back to the Jackson & Shipley showroom on Friday for a better look round, taking in the kitchen measurements to get a few ideas. It's getting all exciting now. :0) LOL

It's been about the usual routine for the rest of the week: a quiet, watch the Grand Prix and do jobs at home day on Sunday; my usual house jobs day with a visit from Alex on Monday; DH had his diabetic blood test on Tuesday - goes for the results next week, so fingers crossed that's showing his sugars are back under control again - and I spent some time in the garden, clipping back the crocus leaves and some other dead bits, plus stitched on NW in the evening; today I've just been pottering around, made a card for my last minute emergencies box (had planned on doing more but inspiration is sadly lacking) and have finally managed to catch up with all blogs on my reader..... let's hope I can manage to keep it like that!

Well that's about all the news for now..... hopefully there'll be some actual stitching to show you next time, even if it's only another NW update. ;0)

Hope you're all having a good week and thank you for taking the time to visit. :0)

Challenge for a Finish - March

Yes, I know it's now April 1st (Happy All Fools Day to all!) but I did squeeze this finish in before the deadline, completing the finishing last night, I just couldn't take a pic until today. So here it is, my first ever scissor keep:

Design: Quaker Tree I, internet freebie

Designer: Mary Olson & Candy Scott of The Workbasket

Fabric: Count On Me, Lily of the Valley

Thread: Carrie's Creation, Clover

Finish: Scissor Keep

Told you those Quaker designs were addicitive! LOL Here's how I finished the back of the piece:

This is another fat eighth from the Leafy Glade Spring Collection pack I bought a while ago from The Cotton Patch. It was a good buy as the fabrics have been extremely useful just lately! :0)

As I cut it so embarrassingly close to the deadline with this finish it's made me get a wiggle on with this month's piece: a flower design finished as any needlework accessory. The trawl of the internet on Monday brought up quite a few interesting charts, many of which were saved for later use, whilst the one I chose was printed out straightaway. After tea I gathered the threads and chose the fabric and actually made a start. I'll confess to choosing a quick and relatively easy design with a finish I'm pretty happy about tackling but there won't be any pics for a while as this one will be going off to a new home when it's completed.

Fess up time now: because I'd left the scissor keep finishing to the last minute and was doing that last night I didn't actually do any stitching on NW for UFO Night. Please don't send Mr Stick round though, Julie - I shall be making up for that today and will post an update later in the week.

I must admit that the nice weather we had yesterday tempted me out into the garden for a potter around. It was so warm I was quite happy out there in a short-sleeved t-shirt (no cardigan!) and sandals (no socks!). The birdies were happy, as it meant I did a long overdue refill of the seed feeders and put some more fat seed balls out - I was repaid big time by all the singing they did when they realised there was a foodfest once again. The plants were glad of a little care too: most of the pots had started to get really dry and the flowers and plants were starting to suffer as a consequence. They all sucked up the water I doused them with like sponges. The daffodila and narcissi are starting to get into full swing now, so the bluebells and tulips, which are budding, won't be too far behind. Once the frosts are finally past there'll be a weekend trip to a garden centre on the cards for a couple of plants to replace ones that died off in winter. Roll on some warmer weather so we can actually start sitting out there again. :0)

2009-03-11 10:11

I had a good bit of news last night when Aureen, my Reiki practitioner, phoned. The Development Circle is going ahead and the first meet-up will be on the 14th April, out in one of the nearby villages. Initially there will be just 3 or 4 of us, all women, then when we have caught up we'll be integrated with another small group to continue on together. All told there'll be around 6 or 7 of us then. The first couple of sessions will be for an hour and a half, later they'll be of two hour duration. Not sure what to expect at this point but am looking forward to it, although a little nervous - I never am any good at meeting new folks or going to new places at first. Will let you know how it goes- probably be over at my other blog.

This morning a RABCK (Random Act of Book Crossing Kindness) arrived in the post from fellow UK Book Crosser Millycat. This is the book she sent:

I've only been a member on the Book Crossing site since last July and I must admit to being fairly ignorant as to how most other things work on the BC site, as I mainly use it just to register books that I've either controlled or wild released or have available. It's only recently that I realised there was a Wish List facility and added a couple of books to it that caught my eye as I was nosing around, as you do - though they were mainly on there as a reminder to me to keep an eye open for them in the library or at the Hospice Book Shop. Millycat contacted me out of the blue last week to say she'd seen this book on my WL and very kindly offered it to me. How cool is that? BTW, I'll be looking for someone to pass this on to when I've read it (after I've finished the Dan Brown book) who will also be willing to journal on it then pass it on to another willing journaller. Watch out for more details on The Reading Corner blog some time next month. :0)

Thank you for taking time out of your day to drop by for a visit and for all those who leave a comment an extra thank you. :0)