Halloween Revisited

Well I finally got around to finishing off another of those Halloween ornies I stitched way back........... as in, way back in September 2008. It's another one of those jobs I've been doing "Just In Case". Yes, as you might be able to tell, those pre-op nerves are beginning to kick in a tad. Still I'm not as bad as I was when I was in my 30's and had to go have my tonsils out, which was my first ever operation.............. I actually wrote out a Will that time. LMAO

So what ornie finishing did I do? Well...... it was this one:

Design: Fall

Designer: Homespun Elegance, internet freebie

Fabric: Polstitches 28ct evenweave - Hot Potatoes

Threads: Carrie's Creations Pumpkin Spice, Raven, Pina Colada; Ozark Emerald; DMC for cat's eye

Finish: hanging pillow ornie.

I went with a bit of a Scarey Spice look with the black fibers........ kinda reminds me of one of my really bad hair days. LOL The charm was one I had in my stash - thought it was really appropriate for the piece. :0)

For the backing I used this fabric:

Don't you just love those crazy looking bats? I just wish I'd extracted my digit and got this piece finished much sooner - it didn't deserve to be left languishing in the drawer for so long. Though rather than thinking that this piece is a tad late for this Halloween I prefer to think that I am being incredibly organised and it is just very early for next Halloween. ROFL ;0)

As for other things: DH and I did a little shopping on Sunday, resulting in a few more Christmas pressies crossed off the list, plus I ordered some gifts from Amazon and eBay and they have arrived this week. Hopefully I'll get all the wrapping done tonight. We also did an online Tesco food shop and that was delivered and put away last night, so the cupboards, fridge and freezer are now nicely stocked, as that's one job I definitely won't be up to doing after tomorrow! LOL My other blog is now fully up-to-date with the latest happenings, so there'll be a hiatus on that now, until I'm up and about again. I've also done enough laundry to keep my two going for a while...... though they do at least know how to use the washing machine, should the need arise. Tomorrow morning I just need to add the last couple of bits to my toiletry bag and pop that into my case and I'll be all set to go.

It'll be an early start tomorrow as I've to be on the ward for 8am, though don't yet have a clue on what time I'll be going into theatre....... and so long as they dope me with a pre-med pretty smartish I won't be caring much when it is, either. Bless those lovely drugs! LOL

I have no idea when I'll be back online again, as I've been warned it'll take a while before I can sit up comfortably for long, so......... just in case......... I hope you all have a lovely festive season, however you celebrate, and that it is filled with lots of fun and laughter and that you all have a happy, peaceful and prosperous New Year. :0)

Thank you for all your lovely kind thoughts and well wishes, they are very much appreciated. Take care all. :0)

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween to one and all......... Samhain Blessings to all fellow Pagans. :0)

On this special celebration in the Pagan calendar I thought I would share a pic of the Sampler Girl ornie that I finally finished off a few days after getting out of hospital. It had a long wait for those buttons and taught me a valuable lesson about not putting things off until tomorrow because you just don't know what unexpected things tomorrow will bring! LOL

So here it is, complete with the fab little Halloween buttons I found on eBay:


The pumpkin tealight holder has now been joined by a Trick or Treat bucket of goodies - unfortunately I forgot to take a pic before the kids started calling, so it's looking sadly depleted at the moment:


The sweeties have spooky images on them and yes, that's a pair of eyeballs there too........ though they are made of chocolate with a fondant filling rather than squishy eyes. LOL There were also some gold coin choccies in there but most of those went into the candy buckets of the cutest pair of toddlers ever - it made my night when they came knocking with their Daddy. :0)

So now I am off to place my offering outside for the wandering Spirits, then light a candle in memory of my Ancestors and departed loved ones. As DH and DS are out at the LTC's Quiz Night I shall be rounding off the evening by watching tonights Most Haunted Live Halloween special: The Eight Faces of Evil (all that screaming seems appropriate somehow LMAO) whilst listening to someone's celebration fireworks. :0)

Thank you for visiting and may you all have a happy, fruitful and Blessed new year. :0)

Still Alive & Kicking!

Yep, I'm still in the land of the living (although some would argue the finer points of that on observing me emerging from my bed first thing of a morning! ROFL) - have just been busy doing updates on my other blog, going out and about, doing jobs and stitching. Yes, that's right: some stitching..... but more on that a little later, just to keep the suspense going a bit longer. ;0)

So what have I been up to? Let's see if I can remember (always a bit dodgy, is that). Well I had another wander down my local High Street last week, as I had another package to post, and because I just plain felt like it (anyone who reads my other blog will know this is a major improvement, as I'm recuperating from agoraphobia and panic attacks). It was an enjoyable outing and also productive, as I scored big time at the Hospice charity shop. No, no craft related goodies but some wonderful Ltd Ed Egyptian style plates that were sat in the window shouting "Buy Me!". LOL There were four plates and I decided I couldn't really afford them all at that time, so opted for these two:

The one on the left is entitled Isis, Mother of the Sun God and the one on the right is Hathor, Goddess of Joy and Love. I thought they would look good on the wall in my new craft room. :0)

Thursday night I wasn't a happy bunny: around 10pm there was a sudden problem with getting on the internet....... as in: I couldn't - at all. Aaaaarrrrggghh!!! The modem lights were on, so it was working, but a quick Microsoft diagnostic revealed that the server couldn't be found. OK, that sounds like it's their end not ours. Not according to Virgin Media it wasn't, when DH rang up to enquire - they'd send an engineer out on Monday to have a look at the modem, claiming they couldn't "find" it or the box at their end. It was very tempting to say: well they were sat on top of the TV last time we looked, missus. ;0) They knocked a tenner off the bill as a goodwill gesture - I'd way rather they send the engineer chap out asap, thank you very much.

Ever the optimist (hah! in denial, more like!) I hoped it would be OK when I got up on Friday. It wasn't. So what do you do with yourself when you don't have internet access? That's after you get over the bit where you run around the house screaming like a banshee and tearing your hair out, thinking OMG if it ain't back by tonight I might actually have to sit and talk to the OH.............. and after you've been round the house with the Dyson for the third time in a week, getting close to wearing out the carpets and taking a layer off the laminate......... well, you go and get a good case of Stitch Ass of course. LOL

Yup, I decided it was as good a time as any, especially for the state of my mental health, to whip up the flagging stitching mojo by starting a new piece which would give me the chance to try out the new magnifier lamp. Here's the piece I chose:

Design: Ghouls Night Out

Designer: The Sampler Girl, internet freebie

Fabric: 28ct evenweave Dusk Blue, unknown make

Threads: DMC 310 - 947: stitched 1 over 1

Finish: as an ornie - not decided yet

I haven't finished it yet as I can't decide whether to leave it as is, or add another orange zigzag line at the top........ because it will probably bug me left as it is. I can't help it, I just like symmetry and it isn't looking that way right now. BTW, that magnifier lamp is the best thing ever since sliced bread - it's the bees knees - it's the dogs dangly bits..... well you get the drift: it made the 1 over 1 stitching look like it was 14ct aida, not even the smallest hint of eye strain..... and I got to watch TV too because the specs didn't have to come off so I could see the stitching. Yay!!!!! There might just be some progress on my HAED Mother Earth this side of Christmas after all. :0)

To put the icing on the cake: internet access came back just as suddenly as it had disappeared around 10pm that night, so it was all systems go for emails, checking of Forums and Blogging. Thank goodness - that was the longest 24 hours ever! LOL BTW, we've since had a morning of being unable to access emails: Hhhhmmmm, could that mean they've actually been doing maintenance/updating on the system but failed to notify us about it and wouldn't admit it, then? I reckon so. Never mind, I'm just glad to have it back again. :0)

I've been pottering around doing jobs and things the rest of the time. This weekend we were out and about for much of it. Saturday DS went to Brigg Farmers Market whilst DH and I went out shopping, with ports of call at Dunhelm, The Range and Poundstretcher for various household bits and pieces we needed, followed by a pub lunch and then a trip to the Pink Pig and Uncle Henry's for some food shopping. That night DH and I went to the local Spiritualist Church - more about that on my other blog. Sunday we went to the Harrogate Health and Healing Festival for the day (more on my other blog about that, too) and followed that up with a pub meal - it was a good day. I now miss the JA/S&S UFO Night on Tuesday evenings as that's the night of the Development Circle meetings (see other blog) so no progress on any UFO's to show - though am hoping to get into a new routine of stitching some time during either Tuesday or Wednesday daytime to make up for it.

Today was my monthly visit to the Clinic to see Jan, my Herbalist (will do a write up on my other blog about this shortly). Whilst down the street I finally managed to venture further down to have a wander around the regular Thursday market - something I haven't done for years, thanks to the agoraphobia etc. It used to be a great, thriving little market - my Mum and Dad, and my DSis when she wasn't at work, used to enjoy coming over for a visit for the day, specifically to shop there - but I found it sadly depleted today. It was the oddest thing: as I was walking round I got a really strong sense of my Dad beside me and I found myself mentally saying "Yep, you're right Dad - it certainly isn't as good as it used to be". Reckon he came for a look-see for old times sake. :0) It's such a shame the market has been allowed to deteriorate like that though.

Heading back up the High Street, on my way home, it was a different story though. As I got to the Hospice charity shop and looked in the window what did I see? Yes, the other two plates were still there. I saw it as a sign so, as I'd now got enough money, I went in and bought them.


The one on the left is Ma'at, Goddess of Wisdom and Truth and the one on the right is Nepthys, Goddess of the edge of the desert. They will look fabulous displayed together, in a diamond shape, on the wall. I also plan on stitching an Angel - probably one of the Just Nan ones, for the JA/S&S JN SAL in January - for in there as well........ if I can decide on which one, as they are all equally as pretty. LOL

Thank you for all the lovely comments about the ornies in my last post. They have safely arrived with Donna, who had a great post week as several more packages full of ornies arrived for her tree. I am so looking forward to seeing pics of the tree - it is going to look fabulous with all the different ornies decorating it. :0)

And as it's in full bloom and such a sunny colour for this end of the year I thought I'd leave you with a pic of the rogue sunflower that sprouted in my garden earlier last month:

Pretty, isn't it? I plan on collecting the seeds and having a go - deliberately, this time - at growing a couple next year. :0)

Thank you for visiting and taking the time to leave comments - they are all very much appreciated. Hope you all have a good Friday and an even better weekend, whatever your plans. :0)

Remember, Remember......

No, not the 5th of November - a bit too early for that just yet. Remember this little chap and his buddy?

Well, would you believe I finally got in the mood for finishing this week? Yay! I spent some of Tuesday afternoon with the cold melt glue gun putting things together, then some of Wednesday evening sewing the edges and adding the trim. Here's the result:

Still not too sure about that ribbon but it needed to be sturdy enough to hang from a door handle and obvious enough so that DH and DS will spot it and be careful (that's the theory, anyway. Reckon it'll work? Nah, me neither!). That bold orange does look good against the dark wood of the door though, so it's growing on me. :0)

This is what I used for the back:

That was from a remnant I picked up at a bargain price from the Creative Fabrics sale some time ago. I haven't been able to complete the Fall ornie yet as it needs a charm adding first and I'm waiting on some charms arriving, along with a few other goodies, from Thread Bear. Well, you can't just go buying a few charms from such a great stash place, can you? ;0) LOL

When the finishing on the ornie was done I picked up the Good Friends Count SAL piece and finished the stitching on it. The next job is to find some suitable beads and add them. I've been putting that job off as it means going delving in a cupboard in DS's room and to get to it I shall have to move a mountain of his stuff first. Nope, not one member of this family knows what minimalistic living is all about. Yep, I really meant it when I said send out the search parties if you didn't hear from me again - I could literally end up buried under that mountain of cr*p he's got in there. ;0)

I made a start on the finishing on the JA/S&S Challenge piece early Thursday evening - a bit fiddly, thanks to my hands being a bit iffy at the moment, but I got there in the end. Need to do a little more to it, then it's done and I can take a pic to send to Karen for the album. No pics on here until Reveal Day at the end of the month though, sorry. It's nice to be this organised......... it doesn't happen that often, so I like to take full advantage when it does. LOL

Last night was the turn of the Sea Stars SAL but I shall leave that until next time - I want to finish off the motif I was working on, as there's not much left to do, before taking a pic.

I didn't go to bed until about 1.30am again. This time I dropped off quicker but I still kept waking up through the night. :0( Helen: I'm even crankier than the pedlar's dog now. LOL It's one of those half remembered sayings from childhood (like: more bent than a fiddlers elbow) and I guess they were cranky 'cos they were flea-bitten, mange ridden mutts who got to traipse up and down the country and had to try sleeping in hedge bottoms when there was no other shelter. Glad to say I ain't got the fleas or mange..... well, not that I've noticed..... and my beds lovely and comfy but the good night's sleep just ain't happening. LOL

Lisa: I may have the meditation CD's...... it doesn't necessarily mean I get the meditating bit right. LOL More often than not I get too relaxed and keep falling asleep. Still, at least I usually feel a bit better afterwards....... so long as I don't get a crick in my neck! There are quite a few good books and CD's out there that may help. I get some of my CD's from here. If you want to do the whole setting the mood bit: I get my incense sticks from here - they are the only ones I've used that don't set me off sneezing. I shall probably try nodding off..... oops, I mean meditating again this afternoon.

Many thanks for visiting and especially for the kind comments you leave. Hope you're all having a good day. :0)