Stash Acquisition and the New Start

Well, despite it not being gardening weather, I still don't seem to have got back into the swing of this blog thing at the moment. I am gradually catching up with everyone (still got a few to get to though... I will, so bear with me please) but the writing seems a bit of an effort at the moment and I'm not really sure why. Maybe it's because the stitching mojo is back and I'd rather be with my needle and thread in hand? :0)

I mentioned in my last post that I'd been acquiring new stash, courtesy of eBay..... despite the fact that I'm actually supposed to be selling items that I'm clearing out. Ah, well.... I don't drink or smoke, so take it as read that this is my harmless little vice. ;0) Here's what I succumbed to:

The two charts are courtesy of Christine. I couldn't resist the Honey one: it's for me, as I turn 50 next year... so when DS makes the inevitable cracks about it I will just point to this piece, as it says it all... although I will admit that I will be pointing with one very expressive finger LOL. ;0) The other chart is because I love reindeer and stag designs. The little kit is so I will have somewhere to put my MP3 player when I'm working around the house... most of my trousers and cardigans don't have pockets, so I don't have anywhere to put it at the moment and it would be nice to listen to some music to drown out the sound of the Dyson whilst vacuuming.

The acquisitions didn't stop there though... Sally decided to put temptation my way too, when she added a couple of Must Have charts to her sale album, right when I just happened to have some money in my PayPal account. It must be Fate says I..... so here they are:

Thanks again Sally.... delighted to have got my hot little hands on these. :0) Thankfully I do still have more items going than coming back in, so the space I cleared hasn't been filled..... well, not just yet, anyways. LOL

So that leads me to the new start. About flippin' time, I can hear you all muttering. LOL I must say I am really enjoying this stitch and it really has helped to kick start the old mojo again... and it's another item that's been in my stash for a while, so it's good to be crossing it off my Must Stitch Soon list. So, for your delectation, here it is:

Design: A Spot of Halloween

Designer: Midnight Stitching

Fabric: Sparklies 28ct evenweave, Pumpkin Patch

Threads: good old DMC 310 and B5200

 And to prove just how much I am loving this, here's the most recent update pic:

And it's grown a bit more since this pic was taken, thanks to another episode of V to watch. Yup, that mojo is definitely back. LOL

So what else have I been up to, apart from trying to catch up with a mammoth amount of blog posts? Well... I finally bit the bullet and had a drive out to The Range last week, extending my comfort zone even further. So, now I've done it once I can do it again... and the trip took me past the main Tesco, which means I know now that I can get there when the mood takes me. It may not seem a lot but this is another step in the long road of recovery from agoraphobia and panic attacks and getting back to normality... though me and the word normal don't quite equate somehow. LOL I bet you're all wondering whether the crafts section was the pull... nope, I needed some cereal boxes and other household bits and pieces, as well as a new address book for my craft room:

 

I spotted this one and a notebook that would go in there perfectly (though couldn't find a matching pair anywhere). Why do I need an address book in my craft room? Because it has a section in it for adding occasions, so is perfect for all the addresses and important days of my stitching and blog buddies, that's why. ;0) Though I do admit to buying a couple of items from the craft section whilst in there: some mount board card, to make those drawer dividers, for organising my kits into the filing cabinet, and some Duflex stickers that were in the sale. I call that being very restrained. LOL

 

Not a lot happening in the garden at the moment: too flippin' cold! Just a bit of trimming going on, weather permitting. Not a lot happening on the DIY jobs front in the house either: DH seems to be doing a fair bit more at the theatre... he'll be crewing for another groups performance of Gilbert & Sullivan's Yeoman of the Guard. Then he's been asked to Stage Manage the LTC's pantomime (that's in January)... he's getting a good reputation for being well organised and efficient, so they want to work with him. Meantime, I'm looking for a versatile handyman to do all the jobs he's not getting done. DS has a small part in the panto... but he gets to have a swordfight, so he's looking forward to that. His job hunt is continuing.

 

The Circle is going OK. We've done some lovely meditations recently, based on unconditional love, and they seem to be helping, as I was delighted to receive messages from Sh's Dad in Spirit last week that I could pass on to her. Unfortunately I haven't been able to discover whether this is me finally tuning in properly or just a fluke, as this weeks session has been cancelled - Aureen had a last minute hospital appointment to attend and wasn't going to be back in time. Never mind, it gave me the chance to have another trip out in the car during the day, this time to a different Post Office (more eBay packages to post), and then to Aldi to do some shopping, catching the edge of the school run traffic on the way home... good practice for me! Tomorrow I'll be getting my hair cut, which is much needed.... those curls are more like rat tails at the moment so, if I remember, I'll get DH to take a pic. No, I haven't totally forgotten that I'd promised to inflict show you a pic of me wearing my new specs. LOL

 

Right, I'm away to wrestle the TV remote out of DH's grasp and find something to watch so I can do some more stitching.... as I'm in on a Tuesday night I'd best show willing and go grab a UFO, otherwise Wanda and Mr Stick will be on my case. LOL

 

Thank you for taking the time to visit and for all the lovely comments about the tiger. Hope you're all staying warm and cosy and stitching aplenty. :0)

A Little of This... A Little of That

So much for coming back soon and sharing a few things with you.... not quite sure what happened or where the time went and here we are in October already. I guess that some of the blame can go to eBay, as it's prompted me to have a sort through some of my stash and have a bit of a clearout (of those things I know I'll never stitch and those things I have stitched and won't do again), so I could take advantage of the recent free listing weekends they've been having. Of course, you can't just go on there and list your goodies and not have a good old nosey round to see if there are any amazing, gob-smackingly cheap bargains to be had, can you? Well I obviously can't. ROFL It kind of defeats the object of having the clearout in the first place..... so, thankfully, there haven't been too many, so the spaces haven't been filled.... yet! I've been lucky enough to have made enough money to be able to buy a few crystals though, ready for the future. :0)

Anyways, that's not why you're here..... you'll be wanting to know all about that stash I acquired, won't you? LOL First up is a kit I spotted ages ago on eBay and just couldn't resist... and I certainly didn't pay the price on the sticker for it, either:

He doesn't look like my Spirit Guide but there's just something about him that struck a chord when I saw him. Hopefully the stitching mojo will kick in and stay around permanently, as I really want to stitch this soon. :0)

Then there were the Wimble Bees bargains I picked up. A few finishing items:

A few charts that just had to make it into my stash:

Am thinking that the JN 12 Days would be a good one for an ornie a month stitch, through next year. Anyone fancy a SAL? That is.... if the missing mojo ever turns up for it. LOL And you just can't buy charts without buying a few fabrics as well, can you?

It's a mix of 28, 32 and 36ct fabrics and they've nicely enhanced my fabric stash. And the beauty of this little lot is... my lovely DH very kindly paid for it all. Yup, he's a keeper. LOL

What else was I going to share a pic of? Oh yes, the tiger. Now the intermittent mojo did pop in for long enough to get a bit of this stitched, making it worth showing you all a pic:

Not much more to go to finish that fancy border bit but, unfortunately, the mojo hasn't bothered putting in an appearance since, so it hasn't grown any further..... and neither has any other stitchy project. Mind, I have been catching up with a bit of blog reading lately (something else I fell waaaay behind with) and seeing all the lovelies you've all been stitching on, especially the new WIP's, is starting to make my fingers itch to pick up a needle once again. Watch this space.... ;0)

One of the main things to happen since my last post is the acquisition of our new greenhouse. Luckily I took a few pics before the weather turned. Looking across the garden at it:

The area between the slabs, inside the greenhouse, is going to have a wooden slatted floor put in (think wooden pallets), which will enable water to run off. Unfortunately the weather has stopped us from getting out there to do much of anything with it now we've got it. We did have a trip to the garden centre for a water butt (to catch the run-off from the guttering, for watering with) a couple of weekends ago and, whilst there, I spotted a few alpines and a succulent that will look nice in the little alpine garden I plan on planting around the slabs - all I need now is some nice weather (and a bit of enthusiasm!) to get out there and prepare the soil.

So what else has been happening? We still have the caravan in the front garden. We had several interested people have a look round it and make all the right noises... but none of them have been interested enough to come back with the cash, to take it off our hands. As the caravan is still there it's meant the replacing of the water pipe and brickpaving have had to be postponed for yet another year. We've left the For Sale sign in it but now the weather has turned it's unlikely anyone will be interested now. Fingers crossed for a sale next year, so the front garden and drive can finally be tackled! :0)

Development Circle is going OK. The past few weeks we've been concentrating on the clairs: clairsentience (feeling - this is my main sense and why I do OK at psychometry) and then clairaudience last week (hearing - my secondary sense) and this week it will be clairvoyance (seeing - not so hot with this). I also attended the monthly session, this time at the home of one of my fellow Circle members, where we discussed numerology and Pendulum Dowsing - a great session that has helped me to begin working with my own Pendulum, a natural amethyst crystal... it seems I have a bit of a knack for it and it's something I'm developing further. :0)

The acupuncture sessions are still ongoing, though I shall be having a reflexology session instead this week - the clinic is closed for refurbishment, so no acupuncture, and I wanted to try out this treatment. It's mainly being done as research, as I want to know what happens during a treatment and what - if any - effect it has.... and it will help me to decide if it's another form of healing I would like to study and go on to give to people. Meantime I've decided to tackle the weight gain that's happened since my operation last year - the rolls are back and I feel so uncomfortable, and it doesn't help my knees any, so those lbs have just got to go. Am hoping to lose around a stone in total.... but getting back to my pre-op weight of 11 1/2 stone would also be acceptable. :0)

The rehearsals for JB Priestley's An Inspector Calls gathered momentum the last couple of weeks. Sunday (3rd) was the Get In at the theatre and tonight is Full Dress Rehearsal - tomorrow is the first performance. DH is Stage Manager for this and DS plays the part of Gerald, the fiance, in it. I've asked DH to get me a ticket for Wednesday night - yes, I'll be going on my own again, as I really want to see it. It would be nice to have someone to go with but after doing this once already it isn't anywhere near as intimidating to do this time around. Apart from going to Circle on Tuesday evening and the theatre on Wednesday evening I'm home alone in the evenings...... and in total control of the TV remote once more. Shame there's just not that much on worth watching! LOL

And I think that's all of the main events so far - hopefully it won't be so long until my next post. :0)

Thanks for visiting.... & I'll be stopping by your blogs for a visit in the coming days. Meantime: hope you're all keeping well and happy. :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)

Something Old, Something New and Something Blue

Unfortunately there isn't a single wedding in sight, despite the title of this post.... but keep on reading to find out what it does actually refer to. :0)

First up is the something old: it was update time on the Weekly SAL blog on Sunday so it's time to bore you with yet another pic of my progress on that. Persevere though, as there's more to see after this. LOL

This time around I filled in a little more of the background area to the right of her arm, knocked off a few more of those confetti stitches in various places and made a start on Her dress. I am so glad I joined the ladies over at the SAL blog with this piece as it's really helping to keep me focused. :0)

As promised in my last post I have something new to show you. Well, actually, a couple of new things, thanks to a new start, an enabling JA/S&S Forum member and a little stash acquisition. :0) First up is the new start of A Bouquet for Cheryl:

Unfortunately I had to take a pic of this on one of the many dull, grey days we've been having lately..... and the digicam objects to taking close ups too. I'm quite pleased with how this is taking shape. The Thai silk is lovely to use and the colours in the variegation work nicely. I worked on this exclusively last night (Sunday) whilst watching Larkrise to Candleford and the Seven Ages of Britain and an episode of the new series of CSI Vegas. Yep, I got a serious case of Stitch Ass! LOL I made quite a bit of progress but the next reveal isn't until the beginning of March so I'm afraid you'll have to wait until then to see it. Sorry!

The new stash acquisition, which arrived last week, was a rather gorgeous piece of fabric from Sparklies called Pumpkin Patch.... so apt, considering the design I'll be using it for:

I haven't yet got the required thread for this so it won't be a new start just yet. I think it calls for WDW but I've spotted another one of those Thai silk threads that might just do the job instead..... am saving a few pennies so I can have a splurge. Well I don't want to go buying just one skein of thread when I can get several for the same amount of postage, now do I? Being a typical Yorkshire lass I do like to make sure I get full value for my money. ROFL

DH and I went shopping on Sunday, once again descending on the Edinburgh Woollen Mills shop within Brigg Garden Centre. This time I came away with two zip-up cardigans (can be used as a lightweight jacket on warmer Spring/Autumn days or cooler Summer evenings), two one-button cardigans (dress up or down type), a dressing gown and for Summer: two denim-look cotton blouses with pretty flower embroideries on them and denim-look cotton trousers. I'm all set for woollies now, so I can now Charity bag the last of the too-big ones left in my wardrobe. Yay! DH treated himself to a DVD and a CD. Whilst we were walking back through the Garden Centre I spotted some Paper Mania BOGOF bargains in the craft section:

As you can see they were just too pretty to resist. LOL I thought they would make great finishing trims for ornies...... so now I just need to stitch ones in appropriate colourways. :0)

And the something blue of the title? Well it isn't any rude jokes or links to porn sites, in case you were beginning to wonder ROFL. It's the stash for yet another new SAL I've joined. Yes, you read that right: another SAL I've joined. I'm not taking full blame for this though...... if Julia hadn't posted a progress picture of her completed first three parts of this gorgeous blackwork piece on JA/S&S Forum and her blog then I would have remained blissfully ignorant and just carried on plugging away at the same old pieces. But she did, along with a link to the Seba site.... so I went along for a nosey (as you do) and ended up joining the site and downloading the parts.... and a couple of other freebies. Of course, once I printed out the charts it led me on to thinking about what colour scheme I'd like to do it in........ which led on to delving in my stash for fabric and threads........ which resulted in this combination:

Another gorgeous variegated Thai silk and a DMC threads and 32ct Zweigart Vintage Blue fabric. The only thing that has stopped me from making a start on this is the indecision on which way round to use the threads: plain for the cross stitch borders of the blocks and Thai silk for the blackwork infill or vice versa????? Maybe I'll just toss a coin. LOL

I had hoped to be able to post a pic of DS's new wheels.... but it didn't stay in the drive long enough in the daytime over the weekend for me to take one. Hopefully next time.

So what else did we get up to over the weekend? Not a great lot. We stayed in Saturday and DH did a little more to the flooring while I did a few jobs and did some catching up with blogs on my reader (still some ways to go with that - I will get round to you all soon!) and some stitching. Sunday was the shopping trip in the morning. In the afternoon DH had a theatre tech meeting to go to for a couple of hours so I chilled with some more blog reading after putting some scrag end lamb chops in the oven to slowly braise, ready for our evening meal. Our evening meal was followed by that serious Stitch Ass session whilst DH laid the first two lengths of edging strip on the flooring. He's not as keen on Larkrise as I am, can you tell? LOL

Today (Monday) has been my regular jobs day and I was pleasantly surprised to realise that my stamina/energy levels have improved some: I managed to do all my jobs and two lots of laundry, then also vaccumed upstairs and the stairs plus made a start on sorting out the pantry (cupboard under the stairs) by binning some tatty old containers and washing a shed load of decent ones. I'd forgotten I'd got some of those storage containers so it was a voyage of discovery..... and there are a few there that will come in real useful for cardmaking stash storage. Score! I'm putting them to one side, ready for when the Craft Room is (finally!) finished and I start organising things as they go in there. If I'm not too tired tomorrow I shall finish washing the rest of the stuff that's still on the slab, wipe it all down and put a few of the bits back - then the rest of the shelves will be tackled later in the week. Slowly but surely this house is being decluttered, cleaned and organised. Yay!

Thank you for taking the time to visit and especially for the lovely comments you leave. Hope you are all having a good and productive time whatever you are doing. :0)

No Stitching But.....

that hasn't stopped me acquiring stash, although those acquisitions have been over a couple of months - I've just been really slack at blogging enough to share them before now.

First up is an eBay bargain 99p chart:


I love the version with the wording. The logo of the Alternative Therapy Clinic I go to is a sunflower and I plan on stitching the version with the wording for Jan, my Herbalist, as a thank you for all the help she has given me.... and all the help she will continue to give once I've had my op. She has helped me in more ways than she knows and helped to open up a whole new world for me (I write about that on my other blog), so it is such an appropriate piece. :0)

On the same day I also spotted this gorgeous fabric bargain too:


A large piece of opalescent fabric for under £4.00 and free P&P. Who could resist that? Certainly not me. ROFL I don't have any specific plans for it at the moment but just the right design is bound to turn up at some point.

Another day I was bored and browsing on the same good old auction site, following links to see where they'd take me, when I came across someone selling craft goodies for children...... only when I investigated there weren't just the pipe cleaner type stems but also some sparkly trims that were sold by the metre, ideal for Christmas ornies thought I.


As you can see I succumbed to a few of them. Those yellow stems were a freebie - I couldn't think what I could use them for (so did not fancy making that many Easter Chick legs! LOL) so gave them to my friend Alex, for her children.

Then another nosey around revealed these rather useful pieces of fabric at a bargain price and I was lucky enough to win the bids:


A 32ct fabric in Mocha and a 28ct in French Latte. Another couple of neutral colours that are especially useful as my stash seems to have a large bias towards hand dyes in pretty colours. Much as I like those pretty colours they aren't always suitable for some designs.

When I got fed-up of bargain hunting on eBay I had a wander over to Thread Bear for a nosey as I needed some different coloured backing fabrics. Whilst I was there I couldn't resist the sparkly felts they'd just got in stock...... and the chart was in the Sale section and goes with one from the same range that's already in my stash.


The 28ct is a piece of Lakeside Linens fabric and was bought specifically to stitch the Plum Pudding Salem Sisters piece on. Yes, I had all good intentions of starting this piece for Halloween........... but it just didn't happen. Yup, that mojo packed its bag and disappeared into the wild blue yonder....... again! The current happenings haven't exactly helped either.

Just so you're not left thinking that the Craft Bug had totally disappeared:


Yes, last week my cardmaking goodies came out of their boxes long enough for me to make a card for my DH's birthday. Though they did go straight back in again and haven't been touched since, as I've been busy with other things.

So, what has been happening to keep me busy? Well, I went for my pre-op checks on Tuesday morning and that took way more time than either of us expected. So the questions were asked and the forms were filled in by a very nice Staff Nurse called Gail; blood pressure and blood oxygen levels checked and noted; height and weight checked and noted (and I don't like their scales 'cos they have me 4lbs heavier than Jan's!); then various questions asked and answered - though not too many details wanted or needed about the op itself because I'm a firm believer that ignorance is bliss with that kind of thing as I really don't want nightmares beforehand, thanks; all the consents signed and a parting gift of a cup of pee, for testing. Finally there was a trip down to see the hospital vampires again so they could take four lots of my best red for various tests. Staff Nurse Gail reckoned I looked and sounded fit enough and the checks she did were fine, so - unless the test on the blood or pee turn anything up - it's all systems go, in the best Thunderbirds tradition. LOL

Meantime, I've been keeping up with the laundry and other dreaded H word jobs, trying to keep on top of things before the enforced break happens...... you know men, they aren't going to class things like that as a priority, are they? And I am not going to burst my stitches trying to keep things straight when I come home, so I'm getting it sorted now in the hopes that it won't begin to look like a mess for a while. Yeah, right - not with these two! LOL

Then there's making sure that the clothes I want to take in with me are clean, ironed and packed and the other bits I need are to hand (things have a nasty habit of disappearing into that Safe Place just when you want them). Shopping for enough soya milk and cornflakes to take in with me because the hospital don't have anything I am allowed to eat at breakfast time - plus enough for after I get out, as DH won't have the time to go into town for more. And that the cupboards, fridge and freezer are well stocked beforehand too........... because there isn't a snowball's chance in h*ll of me being able to help do that after the op. Plus I've been making sure my other blog is fully up-to-date (got more posts saved to draft) and doing my best to catch up with all the blogs on my blogger list because who knows how long it'll be before I'll be able to sit up to the computer - I've already been warned that I'll be left wondering if I'll ever be able to walk up straight ever again, due to it being an ordinary incision op with stitches. Thanks for that! LOL

I guess it's probably a good thing the mojo has gone on holiday again because, at this point, I'd probably end up having to frog it all anyways. LOL :0)

Thank you taking the time to stop by and for all the lovely comments you leave. Hope you all have a good weekend...... and all those in the UK stay safe and flood-free. :0)

Auctions

There's still a lack of any stitching progress to show here just yet..... that holidaying mojo has finally turned up again but only after being forced to. LOL What prompted things is the sudden realisation that those cancer charity ornies I stitched whilst on holiday in the Lake District (waaay back in July) now need to be fully completed and posted off over the pond to Donna very soon if they're going to make the deadline. Yikes! That sort of crept up and surprised me so, as I hate letting anyone down, some serious stitching is going on - despite the mojo regularly whining: but I don't want to. I'll post some pics when they're done............................. yes, some proper stitching pictures at long last., won't that be something to look forward to? ;0) ROFL

Whilst the mojo was missing I made several attempts to kickstart it again by having a nosey around blogs and stitching sites.... but that didn't work. OK, time to bring in the big guns and go have a trawl on that well known auction site (Clue: it begins with e and ends with Y...... as if that's needed - bet you've all got mega feedbacks on your ID's from all those goodies you've won on there. LMAO). I didn't really expect to see anything that would appeal but duly started trawling through the cross stitch section anyway - well, it would be a pleasant way of spending an hour or two, wouldn't it? So I almost spilt my herbal tea when I spotted a floorstanding fluorescent magnifying lamp - just the type I'd been thinking of splashing out on if I could find one to try before I buy and get my head around spending that amount on - on there with a starting price of....... wait for it.............. £20.00. That's right, just £20.00 - though it was a Pick Up Only auction. Well nothing ventured, nothing gained so I went for a closer look-see. Jaw drop moment - it was only over in Lincoln, a half hour car trip, if that, depending on where in the city the seller was based and though it had a little damage to the base was in otherwise good and full working condition........ and it was a No Reserve auction. OK, the angels had to have guided me to this little beauty so I slapped it on watch and shouted DH to come have a look (it was the Bank Holiday Monday, so he had the day off) - he thought it looked OK and said he didn't mind driving me over there if I won. So I kept checking it out during the remaining time it had to run (only about 30 minutes, if that) whilst having a look round at some other auctions, then went back and bid on it during the remaining few minutes. I couldn't believe it when no one else bid and I actually got it for the basic asking price. WhoooHooo - that's what you call a result! We arranged to go over and pick it up the following day and had a pleasant run..... though the heavens opened just as we pulled up, so I got a dousing going to the door but I didn't mind, it was well worth it to get my hands on this:


I still have to give it a better clean up (it was stored in a shed for a while) and repair the damage to the base - otherwise it is ready to go. :0)

Mind you that didn't really kickstart the old mojo but what it did do was kickstart the old auction bargain hunting bug again instead. The next goodies were from a good seller I've bought from many times over the years:

Some black and coffee coloured fabrics for my stash; I want to stitch the blackwork cushion design and the Bless the Seeds kit for the sunlounge (when it's finished); the fob kit will make a nice gift and the peg angel I wanted to do for my Aunty D, as she loves rocking horses.

Then I came across these goodies:

The thread bobbins, especially the coloured ones, will be good for adding to floss tags; the thread rippers are always useful and the bag was a real bargain (£1.50 or £2.00, would you believe!) and is just the right size for my smallest scroll frame, plus the attendant threads for whatever project I have on it - spot on for grabbing to pop in the car to take with me when I go to my DSis's or on holiday. Am now looking for just the right design to stitch on it - any ideas? :0)

Another day I had a look-see and came across this delightful little batch of cuties:

Aren't they adorable? Well I couldn't resist them - certainly not at 99p + p&p (which was at cost). I thought they might just help me get a wiggle on with the Christmas Ornie SAL....... the last one I did was June's. Oops!

Then I came across someone called thredfairy selling lots of silk threads. Now most of them were for the serious embroiderers, as they were all different kinds and thicknesses, but this little lot were suitable for cross stitch:

The thicker skeins are Italian silks and the thin ones (in bags to left and right) are Chinese but all were really reasonable prices. I've been wanting to do a monochrome piece in silk for quite a while and I thought these would be a nice way of achieving that without the cost being exorbitant. I shall check back at some point and see if she's got some reds too - might be good if I decide to stitch Quaker Christmas at some point. :0)

The haul isn't quite over yet though...... I found someone selling some pieces of hand dyed felt on Buy It Now. I occasionally like to use hand dyed felt for backing ornies, as well as them being good for pages in needlecases, but since Kate of Kate's Kloths shut up shop my stock has been slowly dwindling - so I thought these were a good chance of giving it a little boost.

Am not quite sure what happened though, as the fabrics just seemed to jump into the basket too. ;0) The one on the left shouted mermaid and the one on the right fairy or angel so I really couldn't resist. LOL DH and the CC were glad that was the last of them - though he was pleasantly surprised at just how much I'd got for the amount I'd spent.

DS, on the other hand, could regularly be heard muttering something about supposed to be decluttering, not fetching more in. Sorry kid but I'm looking at it this way: if DH does decide to opt for redundancy then I won't be splurging on stash for a long time.......... so I'd better stock up now, hadn't I? Eheheh

The decluttering has still been ongoing though and a bag full of ornaments and various other things went down to Help the Aged last weekend. Then DH chucked out his old wellies (they were rotting - eeeeeuuuww! Doesn't say much for his feet, does it? LOL) and the new ones he'd left hanging around in the kitchen are now out where the old ones used to be. I found a couple of bits of rubbish in the garden that went in the bin as well, to keep them company. The past couple of days I've been finishing off sorting out my wardrobe.......... I think I should have tied a safety line on today though, as I seemed to have lost most of the morning in there. LOL It was a voyage of discovery though, with regular cries of: Aaaahhhh, so that's where that went! and Oooooo, I'd forgotten I'd got that!

Result of all that: 6 handbags waiting to go to the charity shop and 7 pairs of shoes bagged and going into the charity collection box thing around the corner. Some of them were my Mum's that I knew I wouldn't use/wear but hung on to anyway - it's now time to let go - and some of the shoes were from my younger days....... in fact I took one look at the heels on one pair and not only wondered how on earth I didn't break my neck but also about my sanity at that time. ROFL The shoe boxes are in the red recycling bin, which is getting a bit full, but the space that ousting those generated meant I could rearrange the things on the shelves and accommodate some of the stuff that's been stacked in the bedroom. My half of the room is starting to look a lot less cluttered now.

Oh, and the pile of feral coathangers, generated when I ousted all the too big clothes, that mugged me every time I opened the wardrobe door are now nicely tamed and contained in a carrier bag, ready for use. Sorted! LOL

Many thanks to Nicola for clarifying: it was Michael Miles on a programme called Take Your Pick that the "Open the box!" catchphrase comes from. Wonder why Hughey Green came to mind? I didn't like watching him on TV at all. LOL

Right, those ornies are calling so I'd best listen and go work on them.

Many thanks for taking the time to stop by for a visit, it's greatly appreciated. Hope you've been having a good day too. :0)

Junk and a SAL Sign Up

Thought I'd better check into my blog and post something to prove I'm still around. :0)

Hope all those in the UK had a good Bank Holiday weekend and that you all had as good a bout of weather as we did - yes, a BH weekend and the big yellow thing in the sky actually shone! Whooo Hooo! LOL

Ours was a busy but very liberating one. Nope, no sky clad dancing in the garden (with these wobbly bits? Purlease!) but a major clearing out of junk session. I know I've had these sessions before but they always seem to have fizzled out, as I felt I was fighting a losing battle.... against the two fellas in the house, who seemed to fish stuff out of the bins as fast as I put it all in there, and because it's such a monumental task. Well, feeling refreshed after my holiday and a lovely Reiki session last Saturday (see my other blog for more about that) I was well ready to start tackling the mountainous junk heaps once again. This time DS was onside, having already had a big sorting session and throw out in his bedroom....... funny how once you start these things they just seem to build up their own momentum. :0)

Firstly there was a ferret round in the loft and all the empty boxes that were up there got ousted to the skip at the amenities site, along with a few more dead electrical items (although after DH chopped off the flippin' plugs to keep!), a few more boxes from the back room (for more recently bought items) went up into the loft. Next: off came the doors from the fitted wardrobe in DS's room and DS disappeared into the workshop to varnish the new doors, had a trip to B&Q for new hinges and actually got ready to fit them...... only to find that they are a bit too wide and will need trimming slightly to fit - nope, no job in this house is ever straightforward and that put the kybosh on getting that job finished. Still, no doors meant that all the stuff piled in there was on view...... and it showed how desperate it was for a sort out. One of my jobs has been going through what's in there: charts have been filed away (though there's more to do); old magazines (non-stitching) and various leaflets and the like went in the recycling box; old paperwork shredded and a few really old bits were binned. As this is getting done now I won't have to do it when the little bedroom is turned into my craft room - everything will be in a state to be moved in there as soon as it's ready. Yay!

I've also shredded some stuff that was cluttering up the back room (which will be a proper dining room one day soon!) and a bag of books went to the Hospice Bookshop and a bag full of unwanted items to the other Hospice shop on the Saturday. Then a crate full of DS's old books from the little bedroom got sorted: a few bits I have in a bag to go to my DBro for my niece and nephew, the bulk of the rest Alex took for her school's library and a couple more, along with some videos, went to the Hospice Bookshop today. A charity bag full of clothes went outside with the recycling boxes this morning and has now been collected. A bag of toiletries (some bits we tried and didn't like or I've reacted to) and an old child's desk (that was taking up room in the workshop) were collected by fellow Freecyclers this week. Five black bin bags full of shredded paper will be going to the local animal sanctuary next time we're out that way, for them to use as insulating layers under animal bedding. I've finally sorted through an old jewellery box and my new one and have ousted all the stuff I no longer want into the old one and it and its contents will be going down to the Hospice shop in the morning. In the meantime my Dad's old bedroom TV has been put up for re-homing on Freecycle (am finally ready to let it go) and I've unearthed my old sewing machine and that'll be advertised once it's had a dust off and DH has checked the wiring. Every time an area was sorted and the attendant junk ousted I felt lighter - more links in my Marley's chain dropping away...... it's made such a difference Jan, my Herbalist, noticed and commented on it today (will post about that good news on my other blog another time). :0)

There's still a long way to go before things are properly straight but it finally feels like we're getting somewhere. Yay! *big cheesy grin*

It hasn't all been sorting and chucking out though, as DH and I did get time for some other fun stuff. DH went off for a relaxing days fishing with some work colleagues on Tuesday (always gets 2 days off for this BH) and I had some quiet time, as well as doing a few more jobs and having a visit from Alex. I finished my last book, The Warrior's Princess by Barbara Erskine, and started the next: The Last Templar by Michael Jecks. The Challenge For A Finish needleroll got to the half way point, though that seems to have ground to a halt at the moment. The last of the small ornies I was stitching got the last bit of finishing done...... and they were finally packaged up and sent off in the post today - Clare, watch out for a package arriving shortly. :0) I'll post pics once they've been received.

No JA/S&S Monthly Challenge biscornu as I ran out of time (hope to maybe do that this month though). The next Challenge is to stitch the Flowers of Olde freebie from With My Needle, using whatever colours we want and finishing however we want. There was no stitching on Night Watchman this week (Shhhh, don't tell Mr Stick!) mainly because all that sorting out had me falling asleep in my chair when I should have been stitching! Hopefully I'll make up for it soon.

Despite the fact that I didn't get all the Challenges completed this month (well, I was away on holiday for a week as well), and as if I haven't got enough to do already, I still signed up for a SAL. There's a LoopyLou Designs Christmas SAL over at JA/S&S Forum and the two pieces are Christmas Tidings and Christmas Wishes. I tried to resist but it was no good...... Christmas Wishes was shouting too loud. Here are the goodies for it:

Isn't it a lovely mix of colours? I ordered the chart from Polstitches as there were a couple of other bits I wanted from Jo's site..... having discovered that Mummies Curse fabric isn't discontinued, as I'd been led to believe, getting hold of more was a must - it's one of my favourite colours and I've only got a couple of scraps left in my stash. The SAL starts on 1st June and as Jo has emailed to say that the goodies were posted yesterday I should be all set to go........ let's just hope I can keep up! LOL

After my monthly trip to the Herbalist today I had a wander down the street afterwards, to post some packages, including the one to Clare. Whilst in the newsagents (the PO is in the back of the same shop) I had a look at the stitchy magazines - as I'd had some good news I felt a treat was in order and chose this one:

I think the embellishments pack is supposed to be used for stitching but it will do as well for cardmaking too. :0) I chose this specifically for the peacock design, the first one that has ever appealed to me - after Aureen's comments last Saturday I thought stitching and hanging this in my home would act as a lovely reminder. :0)

Of course a trip down the High Street wouldn't be complete without a book or two, would it? Help the Aged had the custom this time and here's what came home with me:

The MH one is hardback and I got it for a grand total of........ £1.00. That was a little something for DH - the other one is from the fantasy genre and will appeal to DS, as well as me. Now need to keep an eye open for the other books from the same series and the ones from the prior series. Yes, I know adding more books to the pile isn't sorting out........ but books are different. ;0)

Speaking of books: Rachael, The Warrior's Princess is on the way. Hope you like. :0)

Tomorrow (Saturday) I'm off to the clinic for the Introduction to Angels workshop. It's from 10am to 3pm and I have to take a packed lunch and drinks along...... will probably take my Archangel cards and rose quartz angel with me too. Have so been looking forward to this! On Sunday it's the Mind, Body and Spirit event at the Lincolnshire Showground, so guess what we'll be doing that day. LOL

Whatever you are all doing this weekend hope you have a lovely time. Thank you for visiting. :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)