Wonderful Gifts

First of all: I hope you all had a lovely festive season and that 2009 will bring many Blessings and much Happiness to you all. :0)

I hadn't realised it had been quite so long since I last blogged. Unfortunately, between my DH being off work for the holidays, having chronic indigestion after starting the acidophilus capsules (replacing the candida with good bacteria) and it being so cold in my computer room, despite the thermostat being turned up, I was struggling to find both the time and the inclination to put fingers to keyboard. I'll admit to being a total wuss when it comes to cold as it makes the arthritic joints in my fingers ache, so I was limiting myself to emails and keeping up with the JA/S&S forum before rushing back into the much warmer living room. Thanks to my wussiness there's an awful lot of catching up to do, so my apologies in advance - I'll have to spread things over a few posts as there are already quite a few pics in this post. :0)

Our festive season was quiet but enjoyable, due to spending lots of time with my family, and I was also well and truly spoilt rotten with all the lovely cards and gifts from friends and family. The first thing I'd like to share with you all is this lovely surprise RAK that Karen spied on my Wish List and sent:

Thank you so much Karen: I shall enjoy stitching this design and it will be a lovely reminder of your kindness and generosity. :0)

The No Stash for Christmas Exchange on the JA/S&S forum was a lot of fun and I enjoyed choosing goodies for my partner, who was Jayne herself. Being my usual self, I forgot to take a pic of what I sent. Doh! Here's a pic of all the lovely goodies that Clare sent to me:

I only managed one of the Ferrero Rocher before having to start the full-on candida diet, so the other three and the box of choccies are waiting in the pantry - they'll do nicely as an occasional reward when I'm OK to have sweet things again. :0) Meantime the diary has come into use, the aromatherapy oil scenter (the bottle and sticks) is wafting a lovely aroma around my kitchen and the bedsocks are wonderful at keeping my feet warm and toastie - they're already in danger of being worn out! The gold and scented (Lavender Water and Orchid Breeze) candles I've added to my stash for future use, as have the Jasmin and Neroli incense sticks. I'm waiting for some slightly warmer weather before using the gorgeous scented bath salts, so I can enjoy a long soak without freezing those bits of me that won't be under water. LOL Thank you so much Clare for the thoughtfulness you've shown in choosing and sending all the wonderful goodies. :0)

This gift was from Karen:

My jaw dropped when I opened the wrapping and saw the beaded bookmark inside. Isn't it beautiful? The large glass bead is one that Karen made herself and when I first saw it on her beading blog I fell in love with it - it reminds me of a planet. :0)

Here's a view of the other side:


The smaller beads look like rose quartz, amethyst and clear quartz, my favourite crystals, and they compliment the large bead wonderfully well. Thank you so much Karen - it's a truly beautiful piece and I shall treasure it. I will also say it again: you really should start selling your pieces soon. :0)

Last but by no means least, and as if I hadn't already been spoilt enough, I also received a beautiful stitched gift from Helen, a covered tape measure. Here is the front view:


I'm not sure how well the pics have turned out and I'm sorry if they don't do it justice - try as I might I couldn't get the digicam to focus properly to take a clear pic. These were the third lot I did! The oak leaf and acorn is so me! Here's the back view:

So very pretty and not only blackwork, which I love, but also autumnal colours which I also love. Here's a side view with another look at the oak leaf and acorn motif:


I'll share something with you now: my wedding ring, chosen and worn long before I realised I was a Pagan, is engraved with a running pattern of oak leaves and acorns. Thank you again, Helen, for your beautiful and very appropriate gift. I know you said I should use it but I'm afraid I still plan on displaying it in a basket for stitched items. :0)

Then there was also the very lovely ornie that Julie stitched and sent (which I was allowed to open early, to put on my special tree - see this post). Wow! Thank you again my friends, not only for your wonderful gifts but for your friendship, thoughtfulness, generosity and kindness. :0)

There are more things to share with you all but I shall save them for other posts, as this one is already quite long as it is.


As for other news: I am now on the full-on candida diet (more on that on my other blog, when I get a chance to do a catch up post) and am now waiting to see what happens. As I've already said, the new capsules I'm taking seem to be encouraging bad indigestion at the moment but I was warned that I'd feel worse before I felt better. Food shopping takes more time, due to the constant packet reading that has to be done these days, but that's OK when you can do it online in the comfort of your own home. LOL On the plus side of things: weight is slowly but surely being lost and my last lot of blood tests came back as normal..... whatever normal is. I go back to the Herbalist again at the end of this month for another check up and more medicine and will have a weigh-in then. Hopefully by then I'll have managed to get to the Doc's to get a printout of my test results and my initial weight, so the figures can be compared - if it's a good weight loss I'll share. :0)

DS is now having almost nightly rehearsals for the pantomime, as the run for that starts next week. It's get-in at the theatre this weekend so I reckon DH will be helping out with that - at least he will be providing he doesn't have to work again this weekend, the same as he did the last one. I didn't mind that too much last weekend, as I wasn't feeling too great and didn't fancy going out, especially when I found one of the channels was showing the whole of the last series of House back-to-back. Had a lovely time watching that and doing a little stitching. Yay!

Sorry but I am seriously behind with blog reading and commenting but I shall make a serious effort to catch up with everything I've missed whilst I've been offline so much (cold hands permitting) this week. I've missed all the news....... guess I should think about investing in a basic laptop so I could stay in the warmer living room at this end of the year. I wonder if DH would go for that?

Many thanks for persevering and continuing to visit. Hope you all had a happy festive season and a great start to 2009. :0)

Stash, Sea Stars and a RAK

Thursday night's curry and a DVD was fun: we watched Ironman. I shan't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet - all I will say is that there was plenty of action and there are some really funny one-liners in there, so we'll be watching it again some time, to pick up on the stuff we missed through laughing. It also meant I didn't get quite as much done on Sea Stars but hopefully I'll make up for that this week:

The stash I ordered from Sew & So arrived on Friday morning - boy, is that place speedy! Here's the accessory pack I ordered........ the chart just sort of fell into my basket while I was there. Well, you can't just order one item from there, can you? LOL

It's to stitch the Winter Garden Sampler which you can see here Helen. :0)

DH came home Friday night around 8pm - only about half an hour earlier than he usually gets home after a trip there, so the Winter timetable hasn't made much difference to that. He wasn't swinging his bag much: he'd brought back three bottles of his favourite wine, stocking up for Christmas.

Saturday morning the accessory packs from Cross Stitch Stuff arrived via First Class Recorded - another speedy despatch. Very impressed with the service, so I shall be going back there in the future. :0)

I think you've seen the Birds of a Feather design but the Gingerbread Garden Sampler can be seen here Helen. :0)
There was also a pinkie from Jayne which contained my November Clubs of lovely Polstitches fabric and Carrie's Creations threads:

As DH was a little jet-lagged and had had a brain-hurting session over in Italy we had a quiet day at home. He fell asleep on the sofa in the afternoon, bless him. I kept myself amused with the computer, a little stitching and some reading. I finished reading the Barbara Erskine book - there's more about that over at The Reading Corner.

Sunday we went to the final Mind, Body and Spirit event of the year, held at the Lincolnshire Showground - so glad we were inside as the weekend's weather was awful. I didn't manage to have my cards read, as my usual reader was fully booked, so I opted for having an aura photograph taken instead..... which led to some healing from the very nice couple who took my pic, which was a lovely experience. DH had some electronic acupuncture done and we also bought a few things too..... but I shall go into the day in more details over at my other blog, as it would all take up too much room here. :0)

This morning I had a nice surprise in the post: a chart from Val which made me smile big time.

Another one that I shall be aiming to stitch for next Samhain. :0)

Most of today has been taken up with house jobs, getting things straight before Alex's visit. It was good to have a catch up. Tonight DH went to the local IEE lecture but is back now, so it's a quiet night in front of the TV - after yesterday's day out we need the rest. LOL

Christine: re: your comment on Night Watchman. I'd just like you to know that that mental image will probably stay with me for a very looong time. LMAO

Hope you all had a good weekend and gentle start to the week. Thank you for visiting. :0)

A Thank You and a Needle Nanny

What's the best way to start the day? Getting stash post.
What's an even better way to start the day? Getting surprise stash post from a stitchy friend!
This week Karen not only gave me the kick in the pants I needed to finally get around to making up a Wish List (something that I'd been promising myself I'd do for aaaages) but she also very kindly RAK'd me this LHN chart that was on it:

Thank you once again Karen for your kindness and generosity and for not just making my day but my whole week. I love this design and will thoroughly enjoy stitching it! :0)

Yesterday the finishing for the Needle Nanny went better than I expected it to: it was fiddly but not that bad that I wanted to throw it through the nearest window in frustration. LOL
Here's the finished item: The picture is a bit blurry but it gives you the general idea. It's not perfect but as it was another first for me I'm pretty pleased with it and the learning curve means that the next one should turn out better. :0)

I also had a good evening stitching the details on the back piece of the JA/S&S Monthly Challenge item and got the bulk of it finished - just a few little bits to add tonight, then it's on with the finishing. I don't think I'll get time to do that over this weekend though: not yet sure of tomorrow's plans (the optician's appointment I thought we'd got in the morning isn't until next Saturday. Doh!) but I'm hoping we can go off on the Motorhome Hunt. On Sunday we are going to pick up my DSis, visit Rosehill to leave some flowers for Father's Day and then take her out somewhere, so we won't be home until late evening. I like to do the finishing on items in the day time, while I'm feeling as fresh as a daisy, rather than in the evening's when I generally feel more like the fertiliser underneath the daisy! LOL

Julie: your comment about the superglue made me LMAO. I was lucky as DH decided to do the honours and be the first to try out his own repairs. Thankfully we didn't need the help of the emergency services to prise him off it....... and the repairs seem to be working well so far. (Touch Wood!)

Karen: so glad you stopped your comment when you did, as that mental image would probably not have been good. ROFL. DH has re-positioned one of the rubber thingies under the seat (he reckons it was in the wrong place, so it kept slipping off the rim) and it seems to be OK now. Yay!

Well that's it for today...... and I can't believe just how fast this week has gone, can you?

Whatever your plans are I hope you all have a great weekend. Many thanks for visiting. :0)