The Tiger and The Mother

Well the tiger is coming along, slowly but surely.... unfortunately a bit more slowly than planned, due to the start of a bad case of gardening fever. Yup, the warm weather finally kicked off this week making it impossible to ignore the pull of the garden. Who can resist being out there when the blackbirds are putting their hearts and souls into their songs? Not me, that's for sure. :0)

Here's where I left off the stripey one by the end of the week:

It's rather intimidating having those eyes staring right back at you whilst you're infilling the rest of the face, I can tell you. The expression seems to say: Come on woman, get on with it and get me finished.... this is totally undignified! LOL

I was really good at the start of last week and brought Mother Earth out again. Well, I'd spent that long under the naughty chair I was in danger of taking root there! I didn't do a great deal (just about enough to make an update pic worth posting) but it felt good to be working on Her again. Here's where I left off:

In case you're not sure where I was working: a start was made on infilling the last section of the trees on this page. I forgot to zoom in on the pic so you get to see just how disgustingly grubby the material has got along the edges. * Hangs head in shame* Still, this piece has been on the go for several years..... but I'm not fessing up as to how long or my head will be hanging even lower! LOL

So what have I been up to this time around? The usual Development Circle session on Tuesday night - this week we did psychometry. I like doing this, especially as I seem to do reasonably well at it.... though do better on personal objects that have been worn, rather than not so personal items. Then there's my weekly acupuncture session..... those little needles are wonder workers where my arthritic aches and pains are concerned and I highly recommend it. Then I had my monthly Reiki session on Saturday.... always a guaranteed chill out, and this session has made me realise that I want to pursue this avenue but from the other side - I want to take this up as part of my development towards doing healing work. I hope that Aureen, my Reiki practitioner, will be willing to teach me..... or be able to recommend someone, if she's unable to do so. I also bought a couple of plants from a local shop and planted them up in the evening, when it had gone cooler. DS had also brought back another five strawberry plants from the market so I planted those up in a large container - we should have a good crop very soon. :0)

Then I've been out in the garden quite a bit. As DH and DS were busy for much of the weekend, what with the local farmer's market and the theatre Get In for this weeks performance of Blackadder II, I had a trip out in my car to one of the local garden centres........ unfortunately a big proportion of the local population had also decided it would be good to do this too. To say it was heaving would be an understatement.... but the Angel of Parking Spaces was with me and someone pulled out of a slot opposite the doors just as I drove through the gates. Thank you Angel! LOL I had planned on staying for dinner but the busy-ness of the place soon made me change that plan.... too many rude, impatient and ignorant people around, it just wouldn't have been enjoyable. So I grabbed a barrow (the last one by the doors - thank you again, Angel!) and started the rounds of the plants and into the barrow went: a lovely Lavendula; five assorted alpine plants and two Osteospernum (sp?). I couldn't find the decorative wall planter (menopausal brain fart moment) so I found a very obliging female member of staff who took me to where they were.... and she was also good enough to show me a selection of plants that would do well on a north facing wall, for which I thanked her. I wouldn't have had a clue, otherwise! LOL So into the barrow went the wall planter, three trailing plants and two flowering plants...... but please don't ask me what they're called because I can't remember. The Angel was still with me because, when I got to the tills, the large queue that had been there when I arrived had totally gone (thank you, again), so I paid, loaded up the car, put the barrow back by the door for the next customer and exited so the patiently waiting chap could have my parking spot. I guess his Angel was looking out for him too. LOL It was a very hot day on Sunday so, once I'd unloaded everything from the car, I had a cold drink and a sit down before doing much of anything else. Later in the day, when it had cooled off some, I planted up some of that days buys. I'll post pics in another post once the planter is up on the wall.

I've also had a cardmaking session. Nothing too taxing, just making up some kiddies cards from a kit I bought from Tesco a while ago.

Don't you just love those goggle eyes?

Very quick and easy to make.... and a lot of fun. All I had to provide was the foam pads and glue dots. I shall add numbers to the cards when I send them out. Am hoping that this will kickstart the cardmaking mojo, as it's been sadly lacking this year.

The sorting and moving things into the craft room has stalled again..... the garden can take the blame for that. LOL Oh, and I'm now waiting for my new specs to arrive, to complete the new look - hopefully they won't be too much longer.

Many thanks for all the lovely comments on my new look.... hopefully it hasn't scared too many of you. LOL Hope life is being kind and you're all having a good week. :0)

The Winner, the Usual.... and Something New!

The names of those who entered the Giveaway went in to the Crystal Chalice of Fortune today, as I got back from my DSis's too late to do it Sunday night. My DS was  pressganged made the selection:

to reveal the winner as...........

Congratulations Cath. Please can you email me with your postal details and I'll get the package organised and into the post to you. :0)

I shall run another giveaway before too much longer, so keep your eyes peeled. :0)

Another Sunday has been and gone which means it's time for the usual Mother Earth update:

More infilling on the sky and it has some really pretty colours in there. Unfortunately there hasn't been huge progress made..... but I do have a good reason for it.

At my last Development Circle meeting one of the other participants, G, shared the news that she'd just been told that her DH's cancer is now terminal. All the ladies that go to the Circle are lovely people but G is one of those warm-hearted, caring individuals that you instantly warm to and feel like you've been friends with forever.... and, having lost family members to cancer, it was really upsetting to know what she's going to face in the coming months. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. After recently discovering that one of her Power Animal's is a tiger, she expressed the feeling that it was there to give her courage.... I thought that a picture of one would be a constant reminder to her of that courage, so instantly decided to stitch a piece for her. Oddly enough I had the perfect design in my stash: Tiger from the Janlynn Wildlife series, by Roger W Reinardy. So sharing my stitching time between ME and the Tiger means that ME will be growing at a slightly slower rate to usual until the tiger is finished. Here's the start I made:

I swapped the white 14ct aida (supplied in the kit) for that gorgeous Sugar Maple Pumpkin Patch fabric.... I thought it had the look of jungle about it, giving the right effect for the design. Can you tell that's an eye taking shape? Am glad to say that it's proving to be a nice piece to stitch. Good job really, as it would be nice to get it completed and given to G before too much longer. :0) 

As for other things: last week had a little excitement in it, as DS and DH both managed to sell their old cars on the same day! DS was very happy to make almost as much as he was asking for it.... and the Mini was going to a young chap who was going to spend time doing it up, as he was obviously a Mini enthusiast. The Tank went to a chap who was going to be using it off road.... so it will go from being a rock-steady towing vehicle and a general workhorse, to being a true 4x4. It is so good to get the front cleared and looking a little less like a scrap vehicle yard. LOL On Saturday DS and I gave the caravan's exterior a good wash, in preparation for putting it up for sale too. Someone who saw us washing it has already made enquiries about it, so we need to get the rest of it cleaned, decide what we're selling with it and on a price. Fingers crossed it's a quick sale for this too....... then DH might just get round to getting the front sorted, as in a new water pipe put in and having it block-paved. :0)

The driving is going OK. On Tuesday night DH sat in the passenger seat once again whilst I drove us out to the village where the Development Circle is held. Afterwards I drove us both home again too.... in the dark! That was another first.... and I was sat so rigid that when I got home I'd got a banging headache, until my neck muscles nicely relaxed again. Now I've done it the once I shall do it again. Unfortunately I haven't had much chance to get any further practice in as DH was busy in the evenings, Saturday I had a very intensive Reiki session in the morning, had to have a sleep in the early afternoon and then helped DS wash the caravan. Sunday DH and I were over visiting my DSis for the day and we went in his car. I do plan on driving on Tuesday night again though - with DH as passenger, as I'll be happier with him there for the return journey just once more. Am hoping to get out again a few more times this week, as I need to be confident enough to drive solo this coming weekend.... the Healing Course I am taking starts then. :0)

The move in to the Craft Room has stalled a little. I need DH to make up some dividers, for the filing cabinet drawers, out of mountboard card - the pocket dividers he got me just aren't working, as they are limited as to how much you can put in each of them and they don't go down to the bottom of the drawer. There's a lot of wasted space and I can't fit half as much in a drawer as I need to at the moment. DH still hasn't managed to find the time to take the damaged shelves back to the office furniture place for replacements either - another stall factor.

Whilst at my DSis's we had a trip to The Range. DSis had a small splurge on a few craft goodies and a duvet set to go with the new colour scheme in her back bedroom. I was extremely restrained and just bought another folder for storing peel-offs in.... so guess what I'll be doing in the next few days. LOL Unfortunately they didn't have any more storage boxes than the branch over here, so I am still looking for suitable ones. It's getting a tad frustrating now and is another contributory factor to the stall too. Ah, well.... it'll get there eventually. :0)

Thank you for taking the time to visit and for all your kind comments. Hope you all had a good weekend and a gentle start to the week. :0)

All Kinds of Progress and a Confession

Another slightly late posting but I do have a good excuse this week: yesterday (Easter Sunday) DH, DS and I were all over in Derbyshire, visiting DH's Dad and step-Mum, doing a belated Christmas present swap (we couldn't get over there at the time, due to my op and recuperation) and catching up with all the news. FIL is in his 80's nd MIL in her 70's but both remain very active and look much younger than their years. Of course the visit meant an early start and a late return, so no time to take pics or post on blogs during Sunday.

So, without more ado, here is last week's progress on Mother Earth:

Just a few random stitches and lack of time stopped the completion of yet another page. The next page has a much smaller section to stitch so am hoping it won't take too long to complete it.... it will also be nice to get on to some lighter colours, so am looking forward to stitching on that sky. LOL

As for other things: I haven't yet managed to have another drive in my baby as we've been busy - soon, I hope.

DS caught the sort-out bug over the bank holiday, so we tackled some of the loft clutter/junk. The result: the back of his Mini (back seats lowered) was filled with a dead printer (yes, DH had snuck one into the loft, to avoid it going last year!) and an old monitor, a dead kettle and assorted polystyrene infills and cardboard. When that was full he moved the car round the corner so we could get DH's on the front, to load it: that got filled with loads more cardboard (all empty, flattened boxes); a big red tub full of junk; two crates full of Tetra Paks for recycling; a black bag full of assorted cr*p and an old fibreglass sheet that came off the metal shed we got rid of last year. It was extremely satisfying to see all that lot go into the relevant skips at the amenities site. :0)

Last week also saw the arrival of the new furniture for my Craft Room and the start of the major organisation of all my stash, stitching and cardmaking. It's meant quite a few trips up and down the stairs and is going to mean a whole lot more before it's done. I'm taking the view that the enforced exercise is going to do me good and will help towards the fitness levels and weight loss I would like to achieve before our holiday in the Lake District in July..... I just hope my knees can hold out. LOL

I've taken some pictures, as promised, but they're not great - the room is small, making it impossible to get the right angles to take decent, overall, ones. Here's a view of the filing cabinet and some of the bookcase, in situ:

Only the first two shelves are in because those are the only two that I knew where I wanted them. Mind, the other three shelves couldn't go up anyway, even if I did know whereabouts I needed them, as they are all damaged. Nope, I wasn't a happy bunny when that was realised.... and we haven't been able to get them swapped yet, due to it being a bank holiday weekend. Plus whoever sorted this order can't count, as they also didn't send enough of the fixing screws to fit the final shelf, so we need to get that sorted too.

Here's a bit better view of the bookcase, which has since had about eight jigsaw puzzles stacked on the very top, their temporary home until DH puts up a shelf for me:

There's a funny gap left in the corner which I'm hoping is big enough to take one of those slimline bookcases, and that'll be used to store the things I don't use very often. As you can see some of my stuff is already in there. The piles on the top of the cabinet and on the corner of the table are kits: those are being sorted into themes (ie: Angels; dragons; historical; Christmas etc etc) ready to be filed away. I didn't dare take a pic of all of it........ DH might use it as evidence, trying to boost his argument that I already have enough/too much stash. Huh, what does a man know about what constitutes enough/too much, when it comes to stash?????!!!!! ROFL

Here's a view of the new computer chair:

I think it goes quite nicely with the colour scheme and, as you can see, has already come in useful for the kit sort through. LOL

It's been quite a voyage of discovery, this sort through. It's been punctuated with exclamations of: Ooo I'd forgotten I'd got that! and Oh, I so want to stitch this now! and the final one, when it was all stacked up: OMG, I'm going to have to live until I'm at least 200 to get through this lot - and I haven't even started on the charts yet! But please don't tell DH I said that - it'll back up his enough/too much theory.... and that "I told you so" look he'd give me would drive me crazy! LOL

OK, so now it's confession time: my name is Karan and I am a cross stitch stash addict. SABLE has most definitely been reached.

BTW, it was a whole lot of fun getting there. ;0)

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to visit. Hope you have all enjoyed a lovely Easter weekend. :0)

The Mother, The New Baby and Awards

I reckon you've all spotted I'm a little late posting my last update. I wanted to be able to post it along with pics of my new baby (the car) but the planned pick up didn't happen....... a certain chap, who shall remain nameless, forgot to sort out the insurance for it, didn't he? I was not a happy bunny. As I told him: he shouldn't rely on me to remind him to do things at the moment.......... remembering things and a menopausal brain just do not go together. LOL Anyways, the delay hasn't made a great deal of difference to the way things have fallen here, so I stopped giving him earache about it by the weekend. ;0)

Of course in the excitement I forgot to get around to posting at all last week, so it's going to be quite a catch up. LOL

So, first up is the Mother, as She stood last Sunday:

Not as much as I would have liked to have achieved but a reasonable amount of progress nonetheless, as those trees are gradually being filled in. I didn't stitch on anything else during that week.... for some reason the mojo has been a little intermittent and when it is here this is the only piece I feel like stitching on, so I'll keep going with it for now. The fact that there has been a four-night run of Most Haunted Live programmes on during the latter part of this week has meant that my behind has been firmly lodged in my armchair each night, so Mother Earth has grown some more since then:

Much better progress. The final MHL programme is on tonight, so guess where I'll be from 8pm onwards? ;0)

So now onto the new baby. LOL We finally picked her up on Wednesday (24th). She's been valeted and is all clean and sparkly and smells gorgeous inside. I have to say it was a collywobbly moment when I'd paid and received the documents. I turned to DH and said, with a hint of trepidation in my voice: Oooo, I own a car now, love. The salesman laughed and asked if I'd be going out in her soon - yes, because now I've got her I am not going to leave her on the front to rot..... especially as DH has threatened to take her onto the steelworks if I don't start driving her. No way, I ain't having that! So here she is:

And if you look in the bottom left pic you can just see a bit of DS's new baby sneaking into the shot. I reckon the neighbours are wondering if we've won the Lottery. ROFL Nope - DS is in hock for the next few years.... I used the money my Dad left me (plus a contribution from DH). I reckon my Dad would be well pleased with how I've spent my inheritance. :0) So this weekend DH took me and my new baby out to an empty car park on one of the trading estates, and let me loose. I wanted to get the feel of driving again before having some refresher lessons. Some of the basics came back to me straightaway but, due to the size of the car park, I didn't manage to get out of first gear... though I did get to use reverse.... and there were no other cars about....... so I need to have those refresher lessons and want the added confidence of having them in a dual control car - just until I feel like I'm in total charge of the car around traffic, rather than feeling that it's in charge of me. LOL Though DH did say that by the end of our session he could tell my confidence was growing....... I got faster. Eheheh.

DS has had a couple of offers for his old Mini but hasn't taken any of them up: one wanted to pay peanuts and the other wants to buy it to scrap... and DS isn't happy about that at all. He's now got an ad in the AutoTrader, so fingers crossed an enthusiast spots it and comes along with the cash very soon. Meantime DH is sorting out a price for The Tank (the Isuzu Trooper 4x4) and will be putting a For Sale sign in that this weekend.... again, fingers crossed for a quick sale there too. Then we'll be able to get at the caravan to give it a good clean and put that up for sale too..... all so we can get the front cleared so the Honda, Kia and BMW Mini can all park there. Currently DH is having to park his Honda around the corner and that isn't ideal.

DH should have gone to the local office furniture place on Friday dinnertime to order the items for the Craft Room that we spotted last weekend: a wood effect bookcase with adjustable shelving, plus two extra shelves for it, and a 4-drawer silver coloured filing cabinet..... but didn't manage it. We went Saturday morning instead and, as DH has decided he wants the chair I currently use, I got to order a new one, with rubber rollers rather than castors, for my room..... it goes perfectly with the colour scheme. LOL They should be delivered some time on either Monday or Tuesday and the chaps there will not only deliver but also take everything up to the room, set them all up and place them where I want them too. I'll post some pics next time. :0)

Apart from ordering the furniture and having a tootle in my car we also went to the Pink Pig for dinner on Saturday, followed by a little shopping. Once home DS arrived back with his haul from the local Farmer's Market - the fridge and freezer are now very well stocked. DH and DS went out to a Social Reading at the LTC Guild Room that night - a gathering where the members take it in turns to read parts from a script (last nights was The Life of Brian). It helps them get some practice and they can improvise in whatever way they want.... and it usually ends up with lots of laughs. Today (Sunday) DH is currently watching the Australian Grand Prix Highlights but once it's finished we'll be out in the garden: DS brought back some strawberry plants for us yesterday and we need to plant them out. The plan is to have them growing in a large pot this year.... next year we should have sorted more of the garden so we can grow more in a spot under where the fruit trees will be planted.

I've very kindly been awarded the Sunshine Award by Clare and Vinniey and Vinniey also very kindly gave my blog a second award too. Thank you so much to both of you. :0)

For the second award I have to tell you 10 things about myself, so here goes:

1) When I was a toddler I tripped and fell, hands first, into an open coal fire - I still have some minor scars on my hands from this.

2) As a result of said fall: I have no memory of it but up until I was about 9 years old I was terrified of big bonfires and sparklers. It wasn't until my Mum told me what had happened when I was a tot that I lost the fear.

3) I have a couple of basic awards for trampolining that I took at High School.

4) I not only sense and hear Spirit - I've seen a ghost. Now you know why I'm a Most Haunted fan. LOL

5) I believe in Angels.

6) My Grandad took me to see the Blue Peter steam train naming ceremony when I was a child. Didn't get to see the presenters very well though - we were right the way at the back of the crowd.

7) I absolutely hate travelling down a hill fast so, as a result, I avoid all kinds of scarey them park/fairground rides, as well as skiing and sledding, and prefer to be in a car driven by someone who knows this and adapts their driving to suit. (Won't be a problem once I'm driving again! LOL).

8) As a child I was bullied, at some point, in every school I went to.... it's made me highly intolerant of bullying, whether it's directed at me or someone else.

9) Whilst I love my garden and all kinds of plants.... I'm not much of a gardener. I work on the theory that if it looks pretty and I like it it gets in.

10) I'm a Trekkie and am ambidexterous when it comes to doing a Vulcan salute. Unfortunatly there aren't a lot of opportunities to show off this skill. ROFL

I am supposed to pass these awards on to a set amount of people but, as always, I can't just limit it to that set amount because I enjoy reading every single blog on my blogroll and this makes it difficult to choose just a few. I also don't like to disappoint or upset anyone by missing them out, so...... these awards are given to all of those bloggers whose blogs I read and comment on. Thank you for allowing me the privelege to share in all your news and see all your lovely handworks. :0)

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend. Thank you for taking the time to visit and for leaving such lovely comments. :0)

Stash, Storage and Stitching

I was reading a post over on Sharon's blog - It's Daffycat - last week, about her fabric sorting and storage and decided, as I set about sorting my own fabrics and moving the storage containers into my Craft Room, to take a few pics to share while I was about it.

First up, from the first set of storage drawers, are all the backing fabrics.The top drawer contains the "every day" fabrics (mostly fat quarters) with some fat eighths (in bags) that also go in there:

Quite a wide variety, though the fat eighths selection is my favourite. The second drawer contains fabrics for my two favourite subjects to stitch for.... Halloween and Christmas:

The third drawer (not shown) contains the iron on Vilene, felts in various colours, wadding and stuffing. The fourth drawer (also not shown) has the bigger pieces of fabric for household projects and calico in it.

The second drawer unit contains all my cross stitch fabrics. The first drawer is full of 9 x 12/13 28count and the second holds the larger cuts:

Drawer three holds 32 and the higher count fabrics.... and I guess you get the idea as to which count of fabric I prefer to stitch on. LOL Drawer four holds aida and a little linen banding:

The third, and final, drawer unit has cardmaking things in the top three drawers but I haven't finished organising these so haven't bothered to take any pics. The bottom drawer of this unit holds items I can stitch on (such as tea towels and tiny Christmas stockings) and finishing items (eg a tuck pillow and floss tag rings and thread holders):

Finally, here's a pic of the cleaned and newly organised storage units in their new home:

They stand out like a sore thumb at the moment (wish the silver coloured ones were available when I first went for these!) but they won't be quite so obvious when the work table is put in over the top of them. Not sure how long that will take though.... we need to have the kitchen refitted first (that's on hold for now) as the new work table is the old breakfast bar. Now, Sharon, does that answer your question about fabric storage? ;0) LOL

It's also the time of the week for yet another update pic of Mother Earth. Nope, it's no use groaning.... there's no other stitching to show at the moment, so it's this or nothing. ROFL For some reason I just don't want to stitch on anything else, so I've just been going with the flow and keeping Her as my focus piece.

I've been working on the section between the second tree trunk and what is the start of a third tree trunk. My method of working for this has never been stitching each block of 10 stitches, as I find that awkward to do, though I know other folks work well with that approach. What I ususally do is pick a particular symbol and its relevant colour and keep on stitching it until all the ones I'm working on in a particular area are filled in... or until I get fed up and fancy a change, then choose another symbol and colour and do the same. It can look a bit bitty (as it does in this pic) but it does start to fill in a larger area quite nicely. I had hoped to get all of that area infilled this week but I've had a couple of nights where I haven't stitched at all (shock - horror! LOL), mostly due to being tired.... and stitching whilst tired usually ends up with a visit from the green one, so I avoid that happening whenever I can. :0)

I haven't started the Seba Blackwork SAL piece yet, as I've decided to wait until all the sections have been released and then start it - got a feeling it'll be one that will stitch up pretty quickly, so I won't lose much by doing that, and it lets me keep Mother Earth as my focus piece for a while longer. Yep, I am too easily distracted when I have lot's of WIP's on the go..... I'm blaming it on the menopausal brain fog. LMAO. I have still got to choose my fabric and threads for the JA/S&S Forum's Monthly Challenge piece, a lovely freebie from Plum Street Samplers called Be True. Now anyone who knows anything about me knows that I am a real sucker for anything that has lovely, inspirational sayings on it.... and that I also love our feathered friends. As this is a combination of both it is a must stitch, so I shall be kitting this up to start soon. Of course, I won't be able to share a pic until Reveal Day. :0)

As for other things: DH enjoyed his run doing the sound for the Group 62 performance last week, though found it a little tiring.... and a little nervewracking when he went solo for the final two performances - reckon it won't stop him from getting involved in something similar again soon though. :0) I enjoyed the power of being in sole charge of the TV remote for so long.... it almost went to my head. LOL It got even more tiring over the weekend as it was a busy one, though exciting and also very enjoyable.

First up is the exciting news: DH and I took the car I liked for a test run on Saturday. Believe it or not, I've been and gone and done it.... I paid a deposit and signed the papers! It's being fully serviced and valeted this week and we go get her on Friday evening. *Huge cheesy grin* My new baby is a 2008 Kia Picanto Ice Ltd Ed in Diamond Blue. A nice little runaround with a small engine, very economical and perfect for my needs. So now all I've got to do is go get me some of those refresher lessons... fast. LOL I'll post a pic at some point. :0)

Sunday DH and I headed over to Elsecar Heritage Centre near Barnsley for the Mind, Body and Spirit event

being held there. It was a lovely day out, as these events always are, with some retail therapy involved and I had a card reading done (using different cards, not Tarot cards) with my usual reader - I go to her once a year for an in-depth reading that is always interesting and full of insights. I'll be doing a write up on my alternative blog about the day, as I know these things aren't to everyones tastes. We rounded the day off with our favourite meal: a take out curry from the local Indian restaurant.

Today it's been back down to Earth with a bump, as it's my regular jobs day. No rush to get them done today though, as my friend couldn't come for her regular herbal tea and natter session. Good job as I don't think I could have rushed, even if I'd tried - all that walking around over the weekend has left me feeling a little achey and tired. Yes, I still keep forgetting that it's only been four months since my op and end up overdoing things a little. That patience thing still keeps giving me trouble! ROFL So that's all the news for this time.

Many thanks to every single one of you who takes the time to read all my wafflings and for the lovely comments. Hope you all enjoyed your weekend and had a gentle start to the week. :0)

It's That Time of the Week

Yes, it's that time of the week... blogging update time. It seems to have come round real quick this week..... and already a whole week into the new month of March. That certainly flew past.

So, what have I been up to since my last post? Well, that looked forward to visit with my DSis had to be called off, as my stomach kicked off and I came down with a bit of a bug. :0( Aaaahhh, now I remember why this week seems to have flown past.... I spent the best part of two days doing nothing but sleeping, so I kinda lost them. LOL DSis and I have made up for it by having long chats on the phone, though it's not quite the same as spending actual time together. She has more holidays later in the year, so am sure another opportunity for a visit will present itself so we can make up for lost time then. Thankfully I feel much better now. :0)

As soon as I was up on my feet again I realised my DBro's birthday is fast approaching, so I made a card for him:

As inspiration was a little lacking I opted to cheat and used some of the KanBan goodies I'd bought last month. Some of this is decoupaged but the scan seems to have lost some of the 3-D look of it. My DBro is a very good DIY enthusiast, so it's very apt. :0)

It's also that time of the week for SAL updates too. Yes, folks, I'm going to bore you all with yet another pic of Mother Earth! Believe me, you are going to be sooooo sick of seeing Her by the time the whole piece is finished. LOL With not being too well Sea Stars didn't come out to play last week, so I made ME my focus piece instead and it's showing the benefit of that - even DH made a comment on how it's coming on. Here's where I left off last night:

Basically, I carried on with the next section of background between the edge of the last page and the next tree trunk and brought it down to the bottom of that page. I stitched in part of the tree trunk too, as it will give me a good marker to work from.... and make it easier for you to see what's been added next time around. (Yes, I could hear you all groaning at that! LOL).

It's also the time for the monthly update over at the Stitcher's Showcase SAL Blog, so I do have something a little different to show you (Wow, I swear I almost heard a full on version of the Hallelujah Chorus then. ROFL). Here's where February's progress got to:

Am glad to have finished that central section as it gives a much better view of how the variegations in the Thai silk are stitching up... and I'm pretty pleased with it. If you have a look in the bottom right corner you can see the thread I'll be using for the next section of this design. I almost made a start on that earlier in the week but decided on making ME my priority instead. Who knows, I may decide to put a length or two of the thread into this tonight....... will see what mood takes me when I park my behind in my armchair later. Yes, it's good TV night tonight (Larkrise to Candleford and Seven Ages of Britain) so I shall be getting a serious case of Stitch Ass whilst they're on. :0)

The Great Car Hunt continued yesterday, with a slight change in the search, as DH said not to concentrate on new cars just so we can take advantage of the scrappage scheme, but to think of it as a search on two levels: one that includes the scrappage and one that doesn't rule any car out. OK, why didn't he tell me that to start with? I'd ruled out several older cars that I liked the look of because we wouldn't be able to take advantage of the scrappage scheme with them. So we went back to view some of the Used cars again that had taken my eye. I didn't like some of them when I sat in them because I was sat so low it would have been dangerous. Why do they make cars in such a way that you don't get a good view of even the bonnet, let alone the road ahead, because you can only just see over the dashboard?
Anyhow, the upshot is that the search may be over..... I rather liked a 2008 Kia Picanto Ice Special Edition, in a lovely icy blue colour (a cross between light blue/grey/silver) that has all the basics I wanted (air bag, air con, CD Player, adjustable drivers seat and the like). What I really like about it though is that it's a small car without being cramped, the drivers seat adjusts up (I can see the bonnet and the road!) and, more importantly, it doesn't have a foot of wheel arches sticking out of the sides, or half a mile of extra bumper front and back. Why do manufacturers add these on when all they are are hazards that are crying out to get scraped?! You've got to remember folks: I haven't been behind the wheel of a car in ten years.... and my last car was an original Mini. I loved that car, as I knew exactly where every bit of it was and I could get into any parking space without a problem.... I just wasn't so keen on the sick-making, bone jarring, boob-bouncing ride that comes from not having a decent suspension and the Council's not maintaining the roads. Yes, I'll be having refresher lessons before I venture out on the roads again... but I want that added confidence of knowing exactly where every edge of the car is because I want to avoid getting those scrapes. And because I really don't want DS taking the wee-wee and claiming men are better drivers! ;0) We should be going back to the garage to give it a test drive soon.

DS went over to Bradford on Saturday, with friends, to go and visit another friend who now lives and works there, and they all went out for curry and a few beers to celebrate the friends birthday. He's back now and has disappeared off to the theatre.... DH is already there, as it's the Get In for another amateur dramatics group and they're helping out. Yes, folks, the TV remote is all mine once again. You know, I could really get used to this! LOL

Right, time for me to go and catch up with blog reading and commenting, have something to eat (just me for an evening meal tonight) and then work on getting that Stitch Ass. :0)

Many thanks for visiting and for the kind comments you leave. Hope you have all been having a lovely weekend.... and that the week ahead is a good one. :0)

Update, Reveal and an Unveiling

Another Sunday has gone by, more stitching done and another update posted on the 2010 Weekly SAL Blog.... so yes, that means yet another pic of Mother Earth to show:

This time I finished the bottom corner, to the right of the tree trunk, which means a whole page has been completed. Yay! I also made a start on infilling the background above the area where the stray thread is attached. I'm afraid it's going to be nothing but background infill of those trees for a while yet, so brace yourselves. LOL DH worked a second night shift last night (Sunday) so I've since got even more of it stitched.... those after 2am bedtimes are starting to get to me though. Thank goodness he doesn't have to work nights regular.... I think it would probably finish me off. Probably DH too. LOL

It was Reveal Day for the February Monthly Challenge over at JA/S&S Forum on Sunday too, so I can now show you what I stitched and finished for that:

Designer: Primitive Betty's

Design: Valentine, internet freebie

Fabric: 28ct evenweave, unknown make

Threads: DMC 310; 326 - stitched 1 over 1

Finish: Valentine's Day card

I turned the finished piece into a card for my DH and he seemed to like it. I love to see the varied finishes for the same design and if you would also like to you can see everyone's pieces here. Some more finishing ideas to pinch for future reference. LOL ;0)

With DH working nights there hasn't been a great lot of anything been done here, apart from my usual jobs. We did go out on the Great Car Hunt again and more makes of car have been crossed off my list, leaving a very small list of ones that I do like and would feel happy to drive. Nothing has really taken my fancy yet.... but there are a few more weekends to go before the scrappage scheme ends, so there's time yet. :0)

Nothing more done to the Craft Room.......... but I thought, as I don't want anyone to start foaming at the mouth in frustration (yes, you Barb ROFL), I'd finally stop the suspense and show a few pics of where things are at at the moment. This is a view of the finished laminate flooring and the rug I scored at our local market:

Then this is the view of the corner where the computer table is. This is where it will be staying, as it will allow me to nosey out of the window at the world going by. ;0) You can also see the new nets and one of the curtains, complete with tie-back:

It was a bright day, so it made taking pics of the window a  real pain - that was the best one I got. Here's a better view of the computer table, in situ:

Ignore the bits in the bottom left corner... DH hadn't tidied his tools and things away at this point.... and I was too impatient to wait anymore to take the pics. LOL The two small shelves to the left and in the middle of the desk both slide out. I now have to find a comfortable seat to go in there, instead of the one I'm currently using - DH thinks the castors on a proper computer chair will damage the laminate, so we're on the look out for a rotating chair on legs, iykwim.

Here's a view of the pieces I currently have sat on the windowsill, with a better view of the pattern on the nets:

The little stand up picture was something I spotted at one of the local garden centres and thought it was perfect for my room and DH did too, as he bought it for me. In case you can't make it out, the saying is: Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away. :0)  And the Healing Crystal Angel that my DSis gave me for Christmas is temporarily homed there - much nicer to be watching over things from there, than cooped up in a box. :0)

There's still quite a bit to get organised yet but hopefully things will start to get back on track with it by the weekend... providing DH is back to normal working hours now, which depends on how things are going on the steelworks. Fingers crossed for problem free normality! LOL

Tomorrow I have an acupuncture treatment booked and then have my Development Circle in the evening. On Wednesday the plan is to go over to spend a few days at my DSis's again, as she is off work on a week's holiday, then be back some time over the weekend.... depending on when the chauffeur (DH) is available. Hopefully there'll be some stitchy updates to share when I'm back again.

And finally... the weather, although cold, was at least a little sunny and dry so I managed to spend a little time out in my garden today, pottering around. I can't tell you how good that felt! I thought I'd leave you with a couple of signs of Spring that I spotted whilst out there:

The little square of garden by the front door where those bright crocii bloom every year. So far the birds are leaving them alone. Then the dainty little snowdrops that are blooming in the back garden, close to the sun lounge wall.

Many thanks for taking the time to visit and for your kind comments. Hope you all had a gentle start to the week and are enjoying your own pretty signs of Spring. :0)

Stashing and Stitching

I realised after my last post was uploaded that I hadn't shared a pic of the charts I acquired last week, thanks to a trade with Maggie. I just couldn't resist these:

More goodies to keep me busy. LOL If I'm going to have a hope of getting through a reasonable proportion of my stash before I turn up my toes I'm going to have to keep stitching every single day from now on and never mind the risk of getting calluses on my behind from all the sitting that will involve. I reckon it'll be worth it, don't you? ;0)

I've posted my February progress on Sea Stars over on the Ink Circles blog but I'll post it here too, in case you don't follow it:

More added to that huge central motif...... and Nessie has finally made an appearance. I wanted to get Nessie done so I would know where the bottom of this large design is - I reckoned that knowing just how far I had yet to go might just act as an incentive. Not sure that theory worked though, as I haven't managed to pick it up again since. Oh well....... I'll get there eventually. :0)

I'm a bit late showing last week's progress on Mother Earth too (although I did post progress on the Weekly Sal Blog), so here She is:

Yep, most of the confetti is now done and She's fully dressed. I reckon you'll all be seriously sick of seeing this before I get that major league Happy Dance. LOL I do love this piece though and seeing each progress pic is an incentive for me to keep on going. :0)

So, what else have I been up to? Well I've finally picked up my Angel Flora for the JA/S&S Forum's Just Nan SAL and have taken a picture to prove it. So, just in case you are getting fed up of seeing the same old same old, here it is:

The colours in this are just so pretty. Am finding that the Kreinik braid can be a bit of a pig to stitch with but it's worth the effort, as it does add a lovely bit of sparkle to this piece. I do like this, so am going to try and make more time for stitching it.

I also remembered to take a pic of the card I made for my MIL's birthday before posting it:

A waterfall card, which is something new to me. They are OK to make, and I think she'll like it, but they're not something I would rush to do again, as I much prefer other cardmaking techniques. I did succumb to buying some KanBan goodies the other day though... really useful for making some male oriented cards. I'll post pics when I've made them up.

This week I've also managed to finally catch up with writing all the posts on my alternative blog - quite a feat as I was well behind with it. All the news about my acupuncture treatments and Development Circle are on there, plus I do occasional write ups on the esoteric books I've been reading...... basically, it's about all the stuff that isn't related to my stitching and other crafts. Of course, writing all of those posts kept me from blogging here..... and I'm also behind with reading and commenting over on all your lovely blogs. I'm hoping to get caught up with all your news in the next few days.... I need to, as I'm off on my travels again shortly: my DSis has another week's holiday and I'll be going over to spend some time with her again. There were a few things we wanted to do on my last visit but didn't have the time for.... so we're hoping to do some of them this time. I'm probably going over next Wednesday (DH's work permitting, so he can be chauffeur) and will be back some time over the following weekend, so I'll be behind with blog posting and reading once again. LOL :0)

The Craft Room has ground to a sudden halt, thanks to DH's job. There was a fire on the steelworks that damaged quite a few essential cables etc and it's been chaos as they try to get the necessary repairs done to get things working again..... lost steel production costs the company huge amounts of money, so the pressure is on to fix things in the minimum amount of time. He's been pulling 13 hour days since last Friday, including over last weekend - no fun for him at all and results in no time or energy for doing jobs here. He did take a day off on Thursday, to comply with the EU directives on working hours, so we managed to do a little shopping in the local High Street and then went looking at cars. I haven't found anything I like yet.... though it has helped me work out which styles of cars I don't like at all and firm up some better ideas of what I would like. There are still quite a few local car dealers we haven't looked round yet.... it's just having DH around long enough for us to go looking. Hopefully, weather permitting, we may get chance to look again tomorrow but not for long, as he is going to have to work his first night shift in years on Saturday night. Now that is going to be weird and I guess I'll be getting a lot of stitching and/or reading done if I end up not being able to sleep. LOL

As for the Craft Room.... I have taken a few pics but I'll leave them for another post, as this one is already getting long enough. Insert evil laugh here, as I keep the suspense going a little longer. ;0)

Thank you for all your lovely comments - I really appreciate every one of them. I hope you all have a lovely weekend, whatever your plans are. :0)

This and That

I've just realised that I haven't updated this blog yet.... that's what comes of only having 24 hours in a day and wanting to fit all kinds of things into it. LOL And on the same line of thought: who can believe that February is almost over already and where did it go to? I think I must have blinked and missed it! LOL

So what have I been up to? This and that, as the title says. The Craft Room now has a complete floor. Yay! DH and DS partially dismantled the computer table, so they could get it up the stairs and through the door, and put it back together again in there. It doesn't take up as much room as I feared, which is good, but it can't go into its final resting place as DH needs to go buy a special tool at the weekend, so he can then go round the flooring edging strip and whack the panel pins in further - when I asked why, he muttered something about them not catching anything and it looking better.... or something. Translation: Mr Perfectionist isn't happy with it just yet, he still needs to tinker. Talk about prolonging the agony! LOL Still, I got the nets up in there. I would have had the curtains up too but there weren't enough curtain hooks/gliders to do the job and it had to wait until I was down the street on Thursday, when I also found a floor rug in the perfect colour. We also had a trip out to The Range last weekend where I managed to buy some more storage bits and pieces for organising things. No luck finding a suitable storage cupboard yet but the search is still ongoing. No pics yet.... I want DH to finish his bit and have the table in the right place and the curtains up before I take some, than I'll share. :0) 

I'll fess up to having the occasional eBay trawl.... and it's amazing how time just disappears when you're doing that. ;0) One of the bargains I got my hot little hands on was this:

I know it won't be to everyone's taste but there's just something about the pattern and colours that really appeals to me. Plus I thought it was time I tried something new in the finishing skills department.... and, who knows, I might even be able to make another one up from scratch and adapt it. Yeah, right! LMAO

I also bought a book that I reckoned would be quite useful to me:

LOL I decided to make up for the lack of information from the hospital. It's one of three books I've bought about the menopause. The hospital may have been happy to leave me to it and ignore the fact that I'm dairy intolerant, and therefore at more risk of developing osteoporosis in menopause than most women, but I'm not. Knowledge is power, after all. :0)

Then I've been having a mental aberration Domestic Goddess moment by having a Spring Cleaning session in the pantry (cupboard under the stairs). This has involved taking it a section at a time so it wouldn't get too overwhelming. I started with the slab (the biggest shelfed area) and brought all of the plastic storage containers and other accumulated stuff out, binned the worst stuff and washed the rest and wiped the whole area down. Then DS and I went through it all (keep it/get rid of it) and our friend Alex had some useful bits that were no good to us, two bags full went to one of his work colleagues (she's a cake decorator and always needs storage) and the well whittled down selection that was left went back in there. The window sill area got the same treatment.... there's still a whole wall of shelves to go at but my mental aberration Domestic Goddess moment has worn off a little just now as I've gone really tired again. I keep forgetting that I'm still recuperating from my operation and keep doing too much. 

I've been going to my Development Circle every Tuesday night and that is going OK (some weeks are better than others). After the session on the 9th February DH and I decided to do some food shopping at the main Tesco. It was a useful trip as we didn't just come away with food.... I discovered they also have quite a nice little craft selection too and enjoyed a browse. OK, not just a browse...... I got these: 

I don't have a huge lot of stash for making kiddies cards so indulged in those two packs, as well as a cardmaking magazine. I also got an A4 storage box (not shown) made by The Really Useful Box Company (there's also a USA website too). I wish Tesco stocked the whole range - I'd soon have my stash totally organised! LOL

Then I've been going to the Earth Energies Clinic once a week to have acupuncture treatment. This week was my third session and it seems to be going OK (details of that are over at my other blog). It does mean that I get a regular trip out each week and now I've moved the appointment from Tuesday's to Thursday's it means I have more time to wander round the shops and visit the local market - which I did this week and scored the rug for my Craft Room. :0) 

As for my other blog... it got sadly negelected for a while there and I got really behind with it, so I've been concentrating on trying to get it up to date. It's going OK but it is time consuming... and another reason why this blog has been waiting for its update.

I did a little cardmaking too. Unfortunately I forgot to take a pic of the one that I sent to Barb for her birthday but you can see it over at her blog. I have still to finish the one I started for my MIL, so will post a pic when it's done.

I was also the recipient of a fab JN chart, over at the JA/S&S blog. Anne (no blog) had been kindly gifted the chart by Julie and, when she'd completed the design for the JN SAL, offered it up again on the forum and I was lucky enough to be first to ask for it:  

It will be perfect for going in the sun lounge. And when I've stitched it I'll be offering it up on the forum again, to continue spreading the goodwill around. :0)

Oh, and I've even found some time for stitching too. Bet you were beginning to wonder, weren't you? LOL I made a start on my Just Nan Flora, prompted by the imminent finish of the Craft Room and move in, but I shall leave that pic for another time, as I'd like to get a bit more stitched on it first. Sea Stars has had a little more added to it but, again, I shall leave a pic for another time as I need to post a progress pic on the forum and the Ink Circles SAL blog first. The forum gets the update first as I don't want Julie sending Mr Stick round for a visit.... Wanda has already been on my case and she's a mean one when wielding that broom! LOL I also stitched and finished the JA/S&S Forum's February Challenge piece..... but that will have to wait until Reveal Day before I can show you all a pic. Sorry!

So that just leaves.... yes, you've guessed it.... Mother Earth progress to show you, so here she is:

This time around I infilled Her other arm, knocked off a few more of those random confetti stitches, added a little more to the background to the right of the tree trunk near her arm and almost got Her fully dressed..... and I love the colours in that dress. They looked a bit of a random mix when I first started stitching it but they really do work well together, creating the folds and look of a body underneath. I haven't managed to pick Her up yet this week so I'd best sit and stitch tonight, otherwise I'll be made to sit under the naughty chair.... and that'll be no fun at all when I'm dairy intolerant and can't have the choccies! LOL

Barb: I get the Thai silk threads from an eBay UK seller called thredfairy. You need to read the descriptions to check they are the ones suitable for cross stitch though, as she also sells threads that are just for embroidery and other forms of needlework. HTH. :0)

Many thanks for all your visits and for the kind comments - each one is very much appreciated. I hope you all have a good weekend - stay warm and safe all. :0)