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)

Lousy Weather = Lots of Stitching

Well the worst of the snow may have thawed around here but the lousy weather continues with one lot of freezing rain earlier in the week (not pleasant), the occasional foggy session and now it's back to rain, rain and more rain, with a little added wind chill added to the mix, just in case we weren't already shivering in our shoes (which I am..... when I'm not having a temporary tropical moment LOL). I yearn to get out into my garden but it's just not feasible right now........ so what else is a girl to do when she's cooped up indoors? Well, what else but get one serious case of Stitch Ass, of course (thanks Siobhan - I love that phrase. LOL)

Bouquet for Cheryl is coming along nicely but I can't show an update until 5th February, so am afraid you'll just have to take my word for it for now. ;0) Then Mother Earth has had more of those little x's added too. Oh, what a blessing that bargain magnifying lamp has been! It sure has helped me get to grips with a lot more of that 1 over 1 stitching..... and it's great knowing that I can do it without worrying that I might go blind in the process. The next update for ME is Sunday, so it's another wait for that too.

What I can show you is my first stitching progress update of 2010 for Sea Stars, as it's grown enough to be worth showing a pic. A pic of how it looked before can be seen here and this is how it looks now:

Two small motifs added (one to the left and one to the right), a medium-sized motif to the right, another rainbow fish and a bit more added to the very large central motif. Doesn't look a great lot when you see it like this but some of those motifs do seem to need alot of stitching to them to make them grow. I almost succumbed to making a start on one of those fabulous seahorses, as I do love them, but made myself stop and save them for another time..... otherwise I'd want to keep going with them and finish up not get anything else stitched. :0)

Last night I cut my fabric for the Just Nan SAL piece and marked the centre. As the centre panel of the Angel's dress is 1 over 1 I decided to count up and start elsewhere on the over 2 areas....... but the Most Haunted Live programme proved too much of a distraction and there were miscounts galore. OK, did not want to start in the wrong place, so it got put away again rather than a start made. It will come out again soon though, as I need to get on with it before the end of this month. It'll be nice to have something new to show you all, too - don't want you to get bored with seeing the same pieces over and over again. LOL

No start made on this month's ornie for the continuing JA/S&S Forum's Monthly Christmas Ornie SAL yet but I have got a design picked out for this and it's a small one, so shouldn't take long to do. Am also cheating for this.... but I'll leave the how and what until it's finished and I've posted a pic so you can see for yourselves. LOL Oh, and guess I'd better do something about finishing off the ornies that I stitched at the back end of last year at some point too.

The JA/S&S Monthly Challenge piece is a non-starter so far too. I've now got the threads I needed, thanks to Sew & So, but the colour chart is defeating me..... so guess I'll have to pluck up some courage and stitch my own interpretation of it.

I shall have all of Saturday to myself this week, as DH and DS will be at the theatre all day: there are three performances through the day, then the Get Out in the evening (that's when they break down the set, remove everything and take it all back to the Guild Room to store). They'll be out just after 10am and I'll be lucky to see them again before 1am. The Panto seems to be doing well, as they've had a sell out/near sell out most nights. I haven't managed to see it yet: the best night for me to have gone was last night (Thursday) but by the time DH and I had had our shopping session at the local garden centre's Edinburgh Woollen Mills area I was shattered and on the verge of falling asleep in my chair. Whoda thought that buying clothes could be so tiring? LOL Still, I now have four tops, three cardigans, four zip-up fleeces and a pair of trousers to add to my very depleted wardrobe...... it'll be so nice to have a choice of clothes that actually fit! LOL So Saturday will more than likely see some boredom-busting stitching being done. ;0)

Have also been having a bit of a nosey through my stash, with a view to resurrecting the NAY Basket (Not Another Year) and getting a few more pieces kitted up ready for going in there. The trawl came up with a fab Halloween chart I'd forgotten I'd got (as you do LOL): A Spot of Halloween by Midnight Stitching. With kitting up in mind, I ordered a lovely piece of Pumpkin Patch fabric from Sparklies today....... and I have a feeling that this piece might just end up as my second new start (not counting smalls) of 2010. This year I will be organised!

Oh, and the Development Circle went ahead this week, thanks to the thaw, and it was good to see the girls again - though one of our number has had to drop out since I last attended, which is a shame. I shall get around to doing a write up on my other blog about that at some point soon, for those that are interested.

Well that's all for now, especially as my stitching is calling loudly. The blog reading/commenting catch-up is going well, with only a few more blogs still to be visited - so if you're still owed a visit I'll be by soon.

Thank you for visiting and for all the kind comments. Hope you all have a lovely weekend, whatever your plans are. :0)

Santa and Sea Stars

As promised, another post to show the early Santa deliveries I received during the week, along with that Sea Stars update. I wouldn't want you to think that I'd just been pulling your leg about it. ;0) Well, it's been that long since I have worked on it you would be quite within your rights to think I was kidding. LOL

First up is the adorable surprise I received from Julie:

Isn't he a cutie? He is now hanging on the door handle of the living room, making the place look festive. There's also another surprise inside but I am being good and have left it in there, to be opened on the 25th. Thank you Julie, I love him and am looking forward to finding out what secret he's hiding. :0)

There were a few other surprises arrived too, from Helen, Clare, Karen and my PenPal Maggie:

There was also an intriguing delivery from Barb which didn't make it onto the pic and I daren't get it out of the wardrobe to take one now as I'll be able to see what's in there and I want to keep it as a surprise until tomorrow. Roll on tomorrow, when I can open them all! Yes, I know - I'm a big kid really. LOL Thank you again ladies. :0)

As for the festivities: all the preparations that needed to be done are now done. DH popped down the street for a couple of last minute bits and pieces, then drove out to one of the local farm shops to pick up our New Year turkey and other bits and pieces, the Veg Box lady brought our veggies earlier and the duck is defrosting nicely, so all the foodstuffs are organised.

The tree hasn't made it out of the loft this year but DH and DS did get on with cutting to size all of the new flooring for my Craft Room instead, so I'm not complaining. Unfortunately a case of man flu has stalled the actual laying of the floor for now but it won't take long to do, once DH feels better..... and hopefully we shall hit the sales and get the new computer desk between Christmas and New Year, ready for starting the mammoth task of moving things in there in January. Yay!

My stitching has been going much more smoothly. Yes, the mojo has definitely had enough of its wanderings and has decided to stick around. Double Yay! LOL The first thing to benefit was Sea Stars which has now had the rest of the left hand frogged motif re-stitched in the right place and here's the proof:


In the post-frog lull I'd forgotten just how much fun this piece is to stitch. I've been a member of the Ink Circles SAL Blog, run by Rachael, for a while and have enjoyed watching everyone's progress on their various IC pieces (would you believe, I'd forgotten all about this SAL when I did my previous post - another brain fart moment!). This year Rachael has altered the blog to make it a monthly SAL update, so this will make doubly sure that I make progress on Sea Stars now. As an added bonus and incentive for all those participating: those members that post an update pic on the blog at least 10 months out of the twelve will go into an end of year draw for a little prize. How nice is that? :0)

So if you are an Ink Circles fan and have a piece you'd like to see progress well in 2010, why not come on over and join in the fun?

Whilst I was taking the above pic I got curious and wanted to remind myself of how much I'd actually stitched on it already, so had a bit of an unroll of the scroll frame. I can't unroll the whole lot as the fabric is stitched onto the frame but this should give you a general idea:

Way more than I remembered! LOL There's still quite a bit to go yet though, so those UFO Night and SAL girls will have plenty of chances to kick my butt into action, should it start flagging again. ;0)

In the meantime I've been cracking on with those Christmas ornies, in an effort to catch up. Would you believe that there is just one more, for December, left to stitch? Mind, there's still a whole lot of finishing off left to do..... so there aren't any pics to show just yet, as I prefer to leave those until they are all proper ornies. Guess what I'll be doing over the holidays? Guess I'd best go make a start then, hadn't I?! LOL

Thank you to all those who visit and to those that leave comments. May you all have a happy festive season full of Blessings, however you choose to celebrate it. :0)

Other Progress....... Kinda

So what else did we get up to over the weekend, apart from clearing out junk from the garden? Well... DH had obviously been traumatised by the enforced parting from all that cr*p and decided he needed a day off, so he opted to join DS and friends from the LTC for a spot of walking in Derbyshire - Dove Dale to be precise. I had fancied joining them BUT I was totally cream crackered and a touch achey from Saturday's exertions and knew a 6 mile walk would more than likely finish me off, rather than be enjoyable....... so a quiet day at home on my tod, pottering around doing what I wanted when I wanted won out. :0)

I spent a bit of time outside, nursing a herbal tea and enjoying the fruits of our labour - it's so good to see definite signs of improvement. It's also good to know I can go out there without the threat of unearthing or tripping over stray scrap, lumps of wood or other assorted hoarded bits that DH was convinced "would come in useful some time" but actually just sat there rotting away because they didn't. I am definitely avoiding going into the workshop and shed though! LOL

One of the things that I kinda made progress on was a Christmas ornie for JA/S&S Forum's Monthly SAL...... still behind with that so it's July's ornie. It's a small piece I found lurking in the bottom of a pile of bits I found in a cupboard, ready stitched so just the finishing to do.

The small amount of progress made was stitching the two borders. I found a nice alphabet and set of numbers as I intend stitching something on the back - probably Yule 2009 or something similar. Then I got the fabric out for the Christmas Wishes SAL piece, measured and cut a piece and tacked guidelines for the top and sides and middle:

Really impressive progress, ain't it? LOL I just don't seem to be in the mood for stitching again at the moment and would much rather be out in the garden while the weather is nice, either working or making plans. :0)

Oh, I did spend some time updating my other blog with recent things: a post on one of the books I'd finished reading and an update on my latest Herbalist visit and weigh in (still Happy Dancing about that! LOL) and did a little reading too. The day just seemed to slip past as DH and DS soon seemed to be home again, though they did have a side trip down to Mai Mai Gardens for their tea first. The weather had been kind to them and they'd had an enjoyable walk, so I'm determined to go there and do the walk in the not too distant future.

This week has been a bit busy. Monday was my regular jobs day, with a visit from Alex for a natter, as she was back from her holiday, and blogging to break things up a little. DS and I also had a loft session after tea, putting his holiday case back up there, along with a few other bits that needed to go up. Then we made a start on sorting through some bits in the little bedroom and he hefted some boxes downstairs and into the sun lounge - temporary storage area while we clear the bedroom for decorating. DH and DS then brought down the old desk that was in there and put it in the hall.

Tuesday was warm - a good drying day - so I did several loads of laundry and put them out on the whirlygig, finally caught up with all of the blogs I read, gave the child's desk and computer chair a good wipe down and offered them on Freecycle and went through a cupboard down the side of the house. That cupboard has the bird seed stored on top and was supposed to be for the things we need to hand for the garden, like gloves, trowel, ties, feed etc etc but DH had filled it with all kinds of cr*p over the years (wouldn't have guessed it, wouldya? ROFL). More rusty metal bits are destined for the scrap skip and numerous other bits of dross went straight in the bin..... that bin was definitely filling up! Had a poke underneath the cupboard with a stick and I found more bin casualties....... and dislodged a few disgruntled eight-legged beasties too. Had a herbal tea and a magazine read after that (the magazines then go in the recycling box, so more clutter leaves the house) - the meditation I tried afterwards didn't go so well though..... I discovered it was quite possible to fall asleep whilst sat up in a hard plastic chair but you do wake up with quite a start when your head suddenly drops forward, heading for your knees. ;0) Later in the afternoon our neighbour came round to collect her front door key (we'd kept an eye on her house while they were away) and brought a lovely bunch of flowers as a thank you.

Gorgeous, aren't they? The visit gave me the opportunity to show her the back garden and talk about taking down the blue panel and putting up fencing to replace it - her DH is going to come round some time to have a look and they'll take it from there. After tea my DH helped me move out the cupboard so I could sweep the area - thankfully all the eight-legged beasties had long since legged it - then move it back. Found a bag with a decent pair of DS's outgrown rugby boots so I offered those on Freecycle too. Another job done.

As it was UFO Tuesday and Night Watchman is now complete it was time to choose another UFO to come out of the bag. So what won out? Well I finally decided to bite the bullet and tackle Sea Stars again. Here's where I'd got up to:

Remeber I left off this in disgust when those flippin' frogs paid a call yet again on this? Well it was time to do the reverse stitching on it, so this is where it now stands:


Reverse stitching done, in the hopes that I'll feel more like picking it up next time around. The other two ladies in the SAL, Barb and Rosanne, have long since finished theirs so this is now embarrassingly overdue a finish. ;0)

Wednesday was more lovely weather so a towel load got done and put out. I had a general potter around, sorting through some bits unearthed from the little bedroom and tidying up. Also another opportunity to sit outside with a herbal tea and magazine..... and do the whole meditate/ fall asleep/head falling thing all over again. LOL In the evening a couple came for the desk and chair for their DD and a chap for the rugby boots for his DS -and I'd unearthed an old pair of green wellies down the side of the house that morning so I offered them to the guy and he took them too, saving me having to post an offer on Freecycle again.

Thursday I had another pottering around day, the main job being a sort through my wardrobe again and I found more too-big clothes that went in a charity bag. After the previous sort out I ended up putting three bags full out for the Salvation Army. I need a serious shopping session now as, although I have four pairs of jeans and an assortment of tops to wear and some nice summer dresses and some woolies, I no longer have any trousers that fit. Slight inconvenience BUT it is so good to be able to say that....... it's actual proof of how much weight I've lost since last Christmas (see other blog).

Today it's packing day as DH and I are away again next week - we're off to stay in a cottage on a farm site just inland from Mablethorpe, so we're hoping for some nice weather for a spot of beach walking and maybe even some paddling! LOL No internet connection this time but I'll be taking a selection of small stitching projects with me and there'll be evenings of Trivial Pursuits too.
We don't normally have three holidays in a year but DSis booked and paid for this one as a thank you for what we've done to help her since Dad passed away, Bless her. Anyways, we may not get a holiday next year, depending on what happens in the next few months, so we're making the most of it: the numbers have been announced at the steelworks and 18 have to go from across the whole of DH's department, 5 specific to his area - 3 have already said they want to go. DH has asked to know what his terms are and will review his options when he has some figures to work with. No point in worrying about it - DH remains positive and I've given it up to the Universe - now waiting to see what unfolds. :0)

Thank you for all your lovely comments and, as ever, for taking the time to visit. Hope you all have a lovely weekend - will catch up with you all after we get home again. :0)

All At Sea

No, not me - which makes a nice change - but this post definitely is! LOL

Stitching on Sea Stars for Thursday SAL night went quite well and, for once, was left feeling reasonably pleased with the amount stitched.......... and the pesky little frog was nowhere in sight. Yay! This is where I left off:

I love the colour of this thread, Carrie's Creations Stormy Seas. It may be called that but it reminds me more of the colours in a Scottish tartan (Black Watch, perhaps?) which always makes me remember a fun four day holiday I had in Dunoon with my DSis and DBro back in the early 1990's. Strange but pleasant, this association of colours, or smells, that can make you recall specific people or memories and thoughts or feelings from the past. The smell of Old Spice and Sandalwood bring back memories of my Dad, Lily of the Valley and Old Lace perfume of my Mum, cornstarch gravy and damp of my grandparent's house, pipe smoke of my grandad D......... and the list could go on. :0)

In keeping with the sea theme today is the RAK chart Barb (no blog) very kindly gifted to me recently. I decided to start kitting up this design, ready to go, with the possibility of starting it after Night Watchman is completed, as there'll be an empty scroll frame then. Scroll frames always look so sad to me when they're left just hanging around empty, so I reckon it's much better to attach another project straightaway. ;0)

I remembered having a rather gorgeous sea coloured Silkweavers fabric in my stash called Tropical Breeze and dug it out:

You may not be able to tell, because of my poor photographic skills, but there's a lovely frond or fern-like pattern across it that reminds me of seaweed - perfect for this piece. Knew it would come in for something one day. LOL The design calls for 32ct but this is 28ct so it would normally end up a larger piece but have decided to seriously challenge myself and stitch it over 1........... mostly because the fabric isn't large enough to do it over 2 but also because there's only so much wall space in the house and there are many other projects that will need to share it. :0)

Now I'm hoping you can all help me with some thread suggestions for stitching this. Am wanting to use a hand dyed thread - either cotton or silk - and would like to go darker, rather than lighter, to get the silhouette effect and preferably one with only a slight variegation in it (trying for a sun on water ripple effect, iykwim). I've tried a few Carrie's against the fabric, looking for ideas, but nothing has really grabbed me so far and my colour confidence isn't the greatest either. So, anyone got any good ideas, please?

It's the S&S/JA Forum meet-up in Nuneaton this weekend. I had been thinking about going when Clare first mentioned it but decided against it for this year: with all the pills and potions I'm on, and especially with the food restrictions, it would've made it too awkward. We couldn't have avoided having to eat out and there aren't many places that are willing to alter their menus to suit - I've only found one place locally that is OK about it - and I find it embarrassing having to explain too. By this time next year I should be off most of the meds and have a more regular food regime, so am hoping I can make it then. :0)

As we're not going to Nuneaton we'll be going over to Doncaster to pick up my DSis before heading over to Elsecar for a Mind, Body and Spirit event being held in the Heritage Centre. Am hoping we'll get there early enough for me to be able to have a tarot reading with my favourite reader, as it's been over a year since she last read for me. It's also ages since my DSis came to one of these events with us so it'll be fun to have her there. I shall more than likely do a post on my other blog about the day some time next week. So I'm now away to my bed as it's an early start in the morning. :0)

Thank you again for taking the time to visit. Hope you're all having a good weekend, doing lots of fun stuff. :0)

Just Realised.......

that I haven't posted an update pic of Sea Stars in a while. The original plan was to show you progress for Weeks 21 and 22 in the same post but Week 22 didn't go that great, meaning there was such a minimal amount of stitching done it just wasn't worth getting the digicam out to do an update pic of it. So here's the progress from Week 21, the week before last:

That was after the frog visit which had me taking out all of the right side of the motif and re-stitching it, thanks to being just one stitch out. Think I'm going to have to hire the Phantom Frog Strangler to sort out the pesky little blighter before I pick it up this week!

Other stitching: March's Christmas ornie is stitched but not yet finished - waiting for inspiration to strike but it's taking it's own sweet time about it. LOL I chose the fabric and thread for the JA/S&S Forum's Monthly Challenge and made a start on it on Monday and did a little more yesterday afternoon whilst watching Dawn Bibby's two-hour slot on QVC. No buying, as nothing took my fancy - I was mainly looking for inspiration for two cards DS has asked me to make for the 21st and 25th birthday's of two female friends of his from LTC. Night Watchman got another outing for UFO Night last night but no pic yet, as I want to do a little more on him today.

Yesterday got off to a good start when some of my order from Thread Bear arrived first thing. This time round it's mostly braids and other bits and pieces for finishing items:

That side of things in my stash always seems sadly lacking in variety, which is why I often struggle for inspiration - this little lot should go some way to helping sort that out. There are still a few other out-of-stock items to be forwarded on, so hopefully they'll arrive before too much longer. :0)

Of course whilst I was on the Thread Bear site I had to have a browse through the New Arrivals section, didn't I? That's where I found this gorgeous chart:

It reminds me a little of the robin that occasionally comes to visit my garden so, even though I'd originally had no intention of buying any charts, it had to jump into my basket. How could I resist? ;0)

Today is one of those lovely Spring-is-in-the-air days that calls to me to go outside and spend time in my garden so, once I'd chopped all the veggies and meat for the slow cooker casserole and put it on to cook and had my breakfast, off out I went. Some of the ivy has been trimmed again, dead ends cut off the honeysuckle and the fuschia bushes and lots of dried out moss and other bits trimmed out and put in the brown recycling bin. All that was done to the accompaniment of much birdsong - the ram-raiding sparrows are full of the joys and Poppa Blackbird is in fine fettle at the moment. The snowdrops are mostly past their best but the crocus are still blooming and the daffodils, bluebells and tulips are all shooting, so there's a mass of different greens dotted about. The triffids at the bottom of the garden are now trying to take over the world, not just our garden, so they will have to be cut well back soon.

Here are a few pics of my garden pots and the new Spring growth:



2009-03-11 10:11

So now I'm away for my dinner, then a sink full of pots has got my name on it and then, hopefully, I shall be able to settle to a little stitching on NW before DS and DH get in from work, as I want to leave this evening for getting on with the Monthly Challenge piece.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you're all enjoying the day, whatever you're doing. :0)

A Catch-Up

Thought it was time to do a catch-up post with the latest pics of NW and SS, as promised.

First up is the progress on Night Watchman:

Not a great change this time around, as I wasn't able to stitch on him for a second night last week. There'll be a fair bit more done this week as I'll be on my own until Wednesday night: DH went off with two other colleagues on another business trip to Italy first thing this morning........ yet again the last one has proved not to be the final trip! DS works during the day and has rehearsals and other things to do in the evenings, so that means more hours on my own to fill. Good job I stocked up on DVD's, isn't it? LOL

Progress on Sea Stars was a bit better - not only did the larger motif get finished but two small motifs and another fish were added:

If you look closely you may be able to see a brighter patch across the pic. Yes, that was your actual real sunshine coming through the window. Yay!

The weekend was a good one. Cards were duly exchanged on Saturday and DH really liked the one I made for him. He gave me the Lost in Austen DVD I 'd been eyeing up - unfortunately the Pink Floyd CD I'd ordered for him from Amazon almost two weeks ago has only just been despatched. Disappointing: they don't seem to be as well organised as the books and DVD's section at all. Oh well: it should be here for when he returns from Italy, so I'll be able to give it to him then. We popped into Ashby so I could get some more Candaway capsules and herbal teas from the Clinic, with a call in at Tesco Express on the way home. Later we went to Poundstretcher so we could stock up on cleaning products and a few other things then on to the main Tesco. There I managed to get the clip'n'lock boxes needed for storing the new healthy foods in - can get my cupboards better organised with these, as they stack better than packets do and with the labels on the front it means I can always find exactly what I want straightaway. I also checked out their range of organic and specialist foods and was happy to find a couple more items that meet my dietary restrictions, so came home with a nice haul. A take-away curry from our favourite curry house for tea rounded off the day quite nicely. :0)

Sunday we went over to Doncaster to see my DSis. We took over the new light sockets and other electrical bits we'd got for her from our local Screwfix and DH spent some of the day fitting those in the front bedroom for her. I took one of my Book Crossing books over (Rosie by Alan Titchmarsh) for her to read then release afterwards in the cafe section of the Thornton's shop she works in - so far I haven't heard that any of the wild releases have been caught but the controlled releases have done OK (thank you, ladies, for journalling on these :0) ). I also took a couple of small stitching pieces with me and stitched on those whilst nattering and managed to finish the new piece for Challenge for a Finish, as well as stitching the backstitch border for whip stitching together my JA/S&S Challenge piece. We didn't get home until late.

Today is my usual jobs day, though Alex won't be coming for a visit due to having a rehearsal to go to tonight. As if trying to make up for that disappointment my package from Crafty Devils arrived this afternoon:

It's the first time I've bought from them: found them extremely helpful and friendly, with the goodies arriving very quickly, so I would use them again and am happy to recommend their service. Now I'll be able to make my own papercraft tags with the die (DH bought me a BigShot machine a couple of Christmases ago) and also add eyelets to things without having to bang them with a hammer - not only noisy but can also damage the eyelets if you get it wrong. Making floss ring tags will be a whole lot easier with this too!

Here's a peek inside the Crop-A-Dile case, just in case you were wondering what on earth it was. LOL I shall be having a play with both of these later. :0)

Weatherwise it's been so nice today I've had the thermostat turned right down and the back door open, to allow the fresh air to blow through the house........ haven't been able to do that in such a long time. The birdies have noticed the change too: it's a riot of song out in the garden and the large male pigeon has been busily strutting his stuff - though the females seem totally unimpressed. I guess his report card would read: could do better! LOL In fact it's been such a nice day it tempted me out there a couple of times to potter around for 10 minutes or so each time, dead-heading my herbs and pulling weeds. There are lots of signs of new growth and the crocus and snowdrops are already blooming, though not quite in full swing yet. Welcome back Spring, lighter nights and warmer weather! :0)

Christine: thanks for the red cabbage recipe. Luckily I'm allowed an apple a day but can't have raisins or balsamic vinegar - will try it with lemon juice as an alternative to the vinegar (the only fruit juice allowed on this diet) and see how it goes. Thanks also for the fabric recommendation - hadn't thought of that range. :0)

Thank you Laura for leaving a comment and input on fabric for the ED piece. Always nice to "see" new faces and add new blogs to my Bloglines. :0)

Thank you to all for taking the time to visit - hope you have had a gentle start to the week. :0)

Better Late Than Never

Thought that was the best approach for Night Watchman last week, seeing as how I forgot about Tuesday UFO Night after getting carried away stitching my piece for the Challenge For A Finish Blog. So he got pulled out of the bag Wednesday night for a belated stitching session and, as I tired quickly Thursday afternoon, also sat and did some more on him then as well - especially as there were some rather good documentaries on the TV. Here's what he looks like now:


It's good to see this growing nicely......... especially as there won't be another new large start until after he's finished.

Thursday night was Sea Stars SAL night and I didn't feel I got a huge amount done so sat and did more on Friday night as well. Here's where I got to with that:

Would have liked to have finished that larger motif but didn't quite manage it. Never mind, it should get finished this time round and hopefully a few more smaller motifs along with it too. :0)

Saturday DH and I went into the Town Centre determined to finally get me a new mobile phone. My old one has served me well but the battery has been slowly dying for some time, meaning it developed a nasty habit of switching itself off whenever it felt like it - not good when I'm on my own down the High Street and want the reassurance of knowing I can contact DH if I need to. A visit to Car Phone Warehouse later and one dinky little flip-lid silver Nokia with a basic camera, Bluetooth capability and MP3 wotsit was chosen and paid for. Not bad for just under £20.00, thanks to an offer they had on and a trade-in of my clapped out old phone (Bye bye little phone). Now all I've got to do is learn how to use the darned thing and its gizmos..... LOL. Next was a visit to the Health Food Shop to stock up on lots of healthy organic goodies, then home. When we'd put the shopping away and had some lunch we had a trip out to Uncle Henry's Farm Shop for more goodies from there, then home again.

That night I picked up the CFAF piece and completed it. Yay! Two Challenge pieces stitched - just the finishing and one more Challenge piece to go. After changing my mind several times on how to finish the Monthly Challenge piece I've now settled on one and hope to get that done some time tomorrow. The CFAF piece has to be a heart shape, so that's decided - just need to decide exactly how I want to achieve that/what look to go for. Will post pics as soon as it's OK to do so. :0)

Sunday it was really cold and didn't tempt me out of doors at all. DS and DH disappeared off to help with the Wilton Get-In at the theatre (another amateur group in the area). No stitching while they were out though: I've really got into my latest book, Hiding From The Light by Barbara Erskine, and have spent quite a bit of time with my nose well and truly stuck into that. LOL Not much choice about that though, as my computer suffered some kind of glitch whilst DH was out, tried to reboot then crashed and then wouldn't boot up again. Aaaaaaarrrrggghhh!!!! DH had it apart after he got home: hoovered out the dusty bits, checked all the electrical connections with a meter (all normal), waggled a few bits then put it all together again. This time it decided to play nice and booted up OK so he cleared out all the Temp Files etc then ran a scan on it - all is OK there and it seems to be running fine now so we have no idea what the problem was. Fingers and everything else crossed that it stays that way! I did a little stitching on my ornie for the Christmas Ornie Challenge in the evening.

DH had Monday and today off, using some of his holidays. Monday was jobs day whilst DH pottered around getting a few things sorted: picking up his prescription and getting it filled at the Chemist, popping to Aldi and the like. Alex came for a natter in the afternoon and brought a few things to show: her finished patchwork/embroidered piece, which was gorgeous, and a knotwork garden piece that is stitched with french knots in variegated threads which was very pretty and really effective (both Embroiderers Guild projects). She also brought some bargain felt kits she'd bought from the Viking Loom in York. These were felted pics: four were of seasonal flowers and the fifth of a lily - all are designed to be embellished with embroidery to give them detailing. Can't wait to see them finished as they will look amazing. I will have to start remembering to take pics to show!

Today has been a bit of an off day for me so I spent it at home pottering and stitching whilst DH had trips out: down the High Street for a haircut and to do a little shopping, then to Wickes and Screwfix to get some DIY bits, for us and my DSis, followed by a Governor's meeting in the early evening. After the past couple of days stitching the Christmas ornie is really starting to take shape now, so that'll soon be another piece needing finishing. Yay! After all the Challenge pieces are completed I will be able to concentrate on some other smalls I want to do for Clare's Miss-Tree and for Stitching For A Cure...... plenty to keep me busy when DH goes off to Italy again next week. Yes, despite saying that the last few trips should be the last up pops another one. :0( At least it won't be for long (Monday to Wednesday) so I shouldn't complain....... especially as DS will be out in the evenings, which means that I'll be in charge of the TV remote and can finally watch some of those DVD's I bought in the Amazon sale. LOL You're welcome to join me for the veg out ladies - just bring your favourite nibbles and your stitching. :0)

Clare: it wasn't Ashby-de-la-Zouch - Ashby is our local High Street. This town was originally separate villages, of which Ashby was one, which all grew and merged into the one town due to the growth of the steelworks (there used to be several, all major employers, and they built housing for the steelworkers - now there's just the one). It used to be a boomtown, believe it or not, and was the country's youngest town until Milton Keynes was built. How's that for a potted local history lesson? LOL

Well it's Tuesday UFO Night again so I'd best be off to get some more done on NW - got to keep on the right side of Mr Stick. ;0)

Many thanks for taking the time to visit. Hope you're all having a productive stitchy time. :0)

Limited Progress

That's what I had this week on my Sea Stars piece during last night's SAL Night.

A little earlier in the evening I had a bit of a funny turn whilst serving up our evening meal - and it wasn't funny HaHa, either. I think it may have been down to a blood sugar dip, due to eating later than I'm used to these days, as I did feel a bit better once I'd eaten. Guess it could also be down to the Herbal treatment working and the Candida objecting - all I know for certain is that I felt as rough as a butcher's dog very quickly. I have to call in at the Clinic tomorrow anyway, to pick up some new stock of herbal teas, so I shall see if Jan is in and have a word if so.

Unfortunately feeling out of sorts with myself seemed to have an effect on my needle as I battled constantly knotting threads throughout the evening. Result: progress wasn't great.

The smallish motif, at the bottom on the far right, was the one that gave all the trouble - was so glad to get it finished. Also made a start on the larger motif bottom left. When I had a small frogging session on this (one flippin' stitch out on one of the "hooks") I gave up, put everything away and went to bed.

I feel OK'ish today and have pottered round doing a few things but energy levels aren't great, so have given myself permission to have a quiet afternoon. Consequently, when I've done here I'm going to put the TV on and make a start on one of the Challenge pieces. :0)

Our organic veggie box arrived earlier today and has another lovely selection of goodies in it. This time around it has, as well as the usual kinds of veg, celeriac in it - boy, is that one plug ugly veggie! LOL Had this included last time as well and added half to the beef and veg stew this week - very nice. The other half of that will get used tonight, with some beetroot, but this one I think I may well make soup with next week, from a recipe off the Veg Box web site. Two things that are new to me though are kale and Pink Fir Apple Potatoes - guess there'll be a bit more experimenting going on next week. LOL BTW, if anyone has any of their favourite recipes they're happy to share I'd really appreciate it, thanks - I don't mind trying new things (DH does too, within reason, but DS doesn't always) but it's also good to go with someone else's tried and tested recipes too. :0)

That's all for now...... the stitching is calling. LOL

Hope you're all enjoying some stitchy time too. Thanks for visiting and have a good weekend all. :0)

I'm Still Here.

After a few days of not feeling all that great (sore throat problems and fighting off a cold plus start of a new food regime and taking herbal medicine) combined with a bit of a low I'm now feeling a bit more like being sociable and more in the mood for blogging again. A big thank you for all the well wishes and hugs for my Mum's recent anniversary - they really do mean a great deal, especially when I know several of you are also going through your loved ones anniversaries too. Big (((((((((HUGS))))))))) to those that need them - you know who you are. :0)

Now for a bit of a catch up. First up is last weeks progress on Sea Stars:

Things more or less went to plan: I got the larger motif finished, as I wanted to, then also added a tiny and a small motif and another fish. The plan went slightly awry when the frog came for a quick visit on the small motif: I stitched the outer edge first and didn't realise I was one stitch out until about three quarters of the way round. Bit annoying as I'd hoped to add another small motif. Oh well, that'll teach me not to double check these things earlier in the proceedings *sigh*.

Last weekend was a very quiet one by our standards. Saturday was foul, with the rain stair rodding down for much of the day, as well as being bitterly cold....... nope, we just weren't going to venture out into that except in an absolute emergency. Luckily one didn't happen so we stayed in watching cheesey old films on TV, pottering doing jobs and generally chilling. DH was so chilled he was almost comatose in his armchair. LOL He needed the recuperation after the week he'd had and with having to work on the Sunday. Whilst he was working I did a few house jobs, pottered doing a few other things and also finally made that new start I'd been threatening to have. Yay - about time too! I completed the stitching for that earlier this week and it's now waiting for me to add the charms and buttons, then find some inspiration for the finishing. Pic will come when it's done. :0)

Monday was my rescheduled Herbalist consult appointment. I made it down there on my own and had a two hour session with Jan and came away with a bottle of herbal medicine, a better idea of what to do with my food regime, a recipe sheet and another appointment with her in two weeks time. I'll post a bit more in depth about that on my other blog in the next day or so. I also made an appointment for a second Reiki session with Aureen, for this Saturday, so am looking forward to that.

Afterwards I went in to Il Sorriso for some dinner, as it was after 1pm by this time - the beef stew just gets tastier. When I'd done in there I walked further down the street to retrieve DS's waistcoat from the Dry Cleaners (furthest I've been down there on my on, so the comfort zone was stretched a little further), then called in at Ribbons and Bows for a look-see at the craft area. I had a lovely natter with the owner (used to be a regular in there, pre-agoraphobia days) and came away with these goodies:

Thought I'd try out the DMC dissolving canvas stuff that's being heavily plugged at the moment, so bought the Cinderella kit. Normally I don't do Disney but my niece Erin has a bit of a Princess thing going and I thought this would be nice to stitch on a piece of clothing for her. The little bauble kit looked a quick stitch and I fancy turning it into an ornie for my tree..... though I'll change the wording to suit. The ribbon is a lovely deep purple and was so cheap I had to get a couple of metres, as it'll come in useful for something at some point. LOL I also called in at Tesco Express for a few bits on my way back home.

I did some of my jobs before going out and did more when I got back in, ready for Alex coming for a coffee and natter. It was a shorter visit though, as she had to be back at school later for the concert. It's so frantic at the moment she's hardly got time to turn round but she has made the most fabulous fabric origami card that is finished with beads:

My picture is the best one of three I took and it doesn't do it justice at all. The card on the right is another handmade one that I received from Lynn - many thanks again Lynn. :0)

I love receiving handmade cards of all kinds. :0)

Rick, the fascia chap, came on Wednesday to measure and price up for the carport roof and for replacing the guttering on the side of the workshop with some decent stuff. Currently that has no down pipe and every time it rains it gushes off the end onto one of the paths - not very good when we have a frost soon after because when I need to go up there to get something out of the freezer and don't realise what's happened I end up slipping all over the place and almost falling. I've told my two they aren't getting their hands on the insurance money that easily, so it's getting sorted. LOL It's having guttering along the full length, with a section of downpipe that will have a barrel under it to catch the water, for watering the garden with........ should we actually have any hot weather next summer. He'll be here Monday or Tuesday to do the jobs as he wants to get it done before Christmas. After a week off sick and two lots of anti-biotics the poor lad has finally got his voice back and is feeling OK again and wants to make up for lost time.No stitching that night as we did an online Tesco shop and that seemed to take ages, as it was a combined cupboard restock and festive order.

Today I was at the GP's for the second fasting blood test...... only they didn't have a record of my appointment. Luckily I didn't have to tell the receptionist that if it didn't get done today I wasn't going back - she fit me in. So I should think, as it was their cock up and I've got the appointment slip to prove it! A different nurse this time and not a bruise in sight, despite filling three test tube thingies with blood. LOL I have to phone back next week for my results - any problems/shonky readings and they'll tell me the Doc wants to see me. Fingers crossed I don't need to go back, then! Tesco are delivering tonight so I doubt much else will get done - although it's Sea Stars SAL night. Will have to see what time they turn up and how shattered I am after putting everything away.

I've been really spoilt with some nice post days this week too but I shall do another blog post about that in the next few days - this one is already another epic! LMAO

Thank you to everyone for taking the time to visit, especially as it's such a busy time of the year. Hope you're all having a good day. :0)

Updates and Wafflings

Not sure where the back end of last week disappeared off to. I had all good intentions of blogging again before the weeks end but it just sort of didn't happen. Oh well, I'm here now. LOL

Thursday night came and went, with Sea Stars growing a little more....... though not as much as I'd have liked as I just don't seem able to get a good flow going with this particular motif. Am hoping I can get it completed this Thursday, then I can start on some smaller motifs and add a few more fish to give the whole thing a quick growth spurt. LOL

Rosanne is doing really well and has got quite a bit done but poor Barb has had a dreaded frog visit again - though she's still also doing really well........ I'm an "also ran", trailing behind them both. LOL

Friday's new start didn't materialise. It didn't help that I kept dithering between which piece I wanted to start: I originally picked out a cute San Man piece but when it came to sorting out what I needed I just didn't fancy it. Off back to the NAY basket and Option 2, a Val's Stuff design, came out. OK, that had me wanting to pick up a needle, so I grabbed my DMC threads to sort out what I needed, with a view to having a floss toss and making a start........ and soon realised that I didn't have three of the colours needed for it. Why does that always happen, no matter how many flippin' threads you've got? Disgusted, I gave up the whole idea and went back to reading my book instead.

Saturday we had an early start: the Fascia guy and his mate turned up at 8am to make a start. Mid-morning DH and I left them to it whilst we popped down the local High Street to do a little shopping, call at the Building Society and post some parcels. I also took the book Chocolat with me so I could do a wild release - it was left in the sitting area in the Duke of Boot, while we were in there buying sausages and some gammon steaks for Sunday dinner. We got everything done but the parcel posting: when we saw the length of the queue in the PO we abandoned the idea and headed home. Once we dropped the shopping off we jumped in the car and headed off to a PO a little further afield which is always less busy. Packages all got sorted in time to go in the 12.30 collection, so perfect timing - Santa should be making an early visit to a few folks this week. :0) We had dinner at home then spent the rest of the day pottering round the house doing jobs. The guys had done the bulk of the fascias etc by the time the light was going - the young chap was coming back on Sunday to finish off the remaining bits.

Sunday the chap didn't turn up but I got a phone call from his Mum mid-morning: he had had to go to casualty to get checked out as his throat, which had been playing him up last week, was now so swollen he couldn't even swallow water. No worries - we'd half expected it, as he'd mentioned to DH the day before that he was struggling a bit (though it never once affected his work). DH and I spent a quiet day at home getting a few things done. The festive decorations didn't make it out of the loft but I did have three small stitched ornies to hand, so hung those from the door handles of three of the doors into the hall. When DH asked about them I said those were the decs for this year - job done! Bah, Humbug! LOL

Sunday night I really wanted to stitch and, as that new start was out of the question, I picked up Night Watchman. Here's the latest update pic:

It's all shaping up nicely, though I doubt he'll be a HD this side of the New Year.

Today has been my usual jobs day, though Alex won't be coming round for a coffee and natter as she's currently down with a bug and off sick - it's definitely that time of the year again. I got a surprise mid-morning when the fascia chap turned up to finish off the work - I really hadn't expected to see him. Poor lad could barely get a word out and definitely didn't look great but he's kept a steady pace through the day, just breaking off for his dinner, and now it's all finished, despite the rain starting around 1.30pm. He was off home to have a warm bath and planned on dosing himself up and going to bed - I reckon it'll be a few days before he'll be up and about again, bless him. We wouldn't have minded if he'd waited to finish the job until after he'd recovered but he's self-employed, so needed to get it done and get paid so he can pay some bills, then go on to buy the bits for his next job. I'll find out how he's doing some time next week though, as he's going to pop back when he's feeling better, to give us a price for re-doing the carport roof - the main roof pieces have got rot in them and the plastic sheets are damaged in a couple of places, so we thought it best to get it done before it falls down.

The next dry day we get I shall pop out and take some pics of the house with all it's nice, new posh bits and post them so you can have a nosey........ although the bits that still need painting will let it down a little.

I also spent some time this afternoon sorting threads for an internet freebie. I'd printed out the chart a while ago and came across it again today - it only uses five colours and whaddya know..... I've got them all. Yay! If I feel inspired tonight (and not too tired) I plan on starting it - it's a fairly straightforward festive design, so it shouldn't take long to stitch. Depending on how I decide to finish it, it should be just right to hang from the fourth door handle on the hall side. :0)

Hope you all had a good weekend and are managing to stay warm and dry on this very wet start to the week. Many thanks for visiting. :0)

A Gift and an Update

Last week I had a lovely surprise gift arrive from Barb (no blog), a fellow member of JA/S&S Forum. I was amazed when I opened the box and found these three Barbara Erskine books inside:

If you're reading this: thank you again, Barb, for your wonderful generosity. My DH thanks you too - for the many peaceful hours he will get while I'll be busy reading them. LOL :0)

I completed making the card for the Stitched Christmas Card Exchange over on JA/S&S Forum and that is now winging it's way to my partner. Unfortunately I can't post a pic yet but will do so when I can. I also posted off my parcel to my No Stash For Christmas Exchange partner at the same time. Opening day isn't until Christmas Day, so I'll be living on tenter hooks until then, waiting to hear if I got things right for my partner. I didn't think to take a pic of that.

Apart from the stitched card and Sea Stars SAL night, the distinct lack of stitching has continued. I am, on the other hand, continuing to get quite a bit of reading done. I recently finished Chocolat by Joanne Harris - please see The Reading Corner blog for more on that. It's now registered with the Book Crossing site and is up for grabs, if anyone wants it, and I've also updated my book list on the Swap Blog. I'm now reading Picture Maker by Penina Spinka which takes the story through several Native American tribes and their cultures and is a fascinating read - any spare minute has me reaching for the book rather than my stitching. Oh well, at least I'm slowly whittling away at the mountain of books I've acquired recently. LOL
Lelia: There's a bit more about the Kate Morton book over on The Reading Corner blog here. I'm still working my way around to reading it. :0)

As for Sea Stars, here's where I got up to after last Thursday night's stitching session:

I just couldn't seem to get a decent flow going with the motif at all, so didn't get as much done as I'd have liked. I guess the sleep deprivation, whilst DH was in Italy, didn't help - I wasn't going to bed until around 2am each night, occasionally going on to read until 3am. At least when I eventually did go to sleep I got through the night reasonably well, only waking up a couple of times (usually it's about every hour). DH got home on Friday: they almost missed their flight, due to a bad crash on the Italian motorway which held them up for an hour and a half. Thankfully they didn't, as it would have entailed a much later flight to one of the London area airports and an overnight stay down there - the trip had already been a very tiring one, so none of them fancied that scenario.

My latest order from Sew & So arrived last week too but I can't show any of that as all the items are intended as gifts. I have to make a comment about the great customer sevice I received though: one of the Glass Treasures I ordered arrived broken, so I emailed them to let them know and asked for info on returning the damaged item and getting a replacement. I received a very quick response to say that there was no need to bother with returning it and that a replacement would be sent out the following day - it arrived safely the day after that. Top notch! :0)

The weekend has been a busy one again: Saturday we went to Uncle Henry's Farm Shop to get some shopping and managed to get a couple of small gifts and some nice nibbles for the festive season (a fruit and nuts mixed platter plus a savoury nibbles platter - a little healthier than the usual very high calorie stuff we used to get. See, I'm learning. LOL) As the cafe was very busy we opted to go back through Kirton to go and eat at the Garden Centre cafe instead. Good call, as we managed to get a couple more gifts there too. :0)

Sunday was the Food Fair at Lincolnshire Showground and DS came with us to that. It was quite busy but am pleased to say I coped fine with it and we had a very good day out. We also came away with some gifts too. I'll write more about it on my other blog. :0)

Today has been my usual Monday routine. Alex came for a visit and this time brought four of her latest embroidered patches with her - they're gorgeous and I can't wait to see how she finishes them. Unfortunately I forgot to take a pic, as we were busy nattering. :0)

I haven't made any stitching plans for this week....... will just go with the flow.

Christine: The Crystal Skull DVD was OK but both DS and I thought that it wasn't up to the previous films - though not bad for a couple of hours escapism, LOL. There's a bit of an element of Close Encounters meets Indiana Jones which is rather surreal and left us looking at one another and saying: What the?! What were they smoking when they wrote that? It also seems to be a bit of an intro for a younger model for future films....... but I can't say any more without spoiling it for you. Would be interested to know what you think, if you watch it. :0)

Thank you all for stopping by, especially as it's a busy time of year. Hope you all had a great weekend and a good start to the week. :0)

Ship Ahoy?

Not quite, though there is a whole ships wheel with an octopus wrapped round it to be seen on my Sea Stars now, after that extra night of stitching I did last week. :0)


Yes, there's also another little fishy made an appearance too. I seem to be a fair ways behind both Barb and Rosanne now, who seem to have smokin' needles, but that doesn't bother me - am so enjoying stitching this design it'll be one of those pieces that I'll be sad to finish because the enjoyment will be over. This Thursday I shall be making a start on the bigger motif that will fill the gap on the left side.

Apart from this piece and Night Watchman (SAL night and UFO Night pieces respectively) I haven't done a great deal of stitching lately, despite the plans made. Thankfully that hasn't been through loss of mojo but through distraction, due to what the Doc told me last week..... have been doing a lot of thinking, to get my head around a few things, so I can make decisions on those much-needed lifestyle changes. As a first step I've already more than halved my choccie biscuit intake and have cut down on portion size for my evening meal and have also asked DH and DS for their support, with a view to us cutting down on take-aways and generally eating healthier - that makes me feel I've taken a couple of small but positive steps towards losing the weight. It can only do DH good with his diabetes and will hopefully help DS avoid similar health problems later in life. :0)

Saturday I went for the Reiki treatment. That was a very good/positive experience I intend repeating next month, to allow the practitioner to complete the healing process she started. The Tarot and Angel Card readings she gave me afterwards were also extremely good and I also received messages from my Dad, then my Mum - I hadn't expected those, as I was unaware the practitioner is also a Spiritualist. I shall post more about all of this on my other blog in the next couple of days because it deserves a post all of it's own. :0) I should have been in there for a two hour session but it all took three and a half hours!

Afterwards I spoke to the Herbalist: I'm booked in for a two hour consultation on the 3rd December. In the meantime I am filling in a food diary, with any symptoms I feel (bloating, gas, stomach upsets, headaches etc etc) and taking a Chromium Complex, which is aimed at addressing my blood sugar problems. That's to see how it affects my next blood test result - if my level has dropped then the remedy is working. On the plus side: it looks like I won't have to bother with Slimming World, as the Herbalist is going to tackle my diet as well...... and she's pretty strict, by all accounts. By the time I came out it had gone dark and DH had given up and gone home - that was after he'd been to the local Community Hall to have a long look round a Model Exhibition (train track layouts, miniature fairgrounds and the like - very sophisticated ones), popping back to ask the Receptionist how it was going, then having a drink in Il Sorisso. Rather than bother DH I sent him a text to let him know I'd done and was coming home - yes, I walked home in the dark! LOL

Sunday, as Il Sorisso was open, we went there for dinner then afterwards carried on down the High Street to the shops that were open. We managed to get a few small Christmas gifts, a nice gift box for sending my Exchange gifts to my partner, some cards (I don't make all of the Christmas cards we send out - too many to make for) and some food shopping. Basically doing what we had planned on doing Saturday, after my session at the clinic, but subsequently didn't have time for. We had a nice lamb dinner at home in the evening and a quiet night in watching the latest Indiana Jones DVD.

Today has been my usual jobs day before having a coffee and natter with Alex. Don't know if it's a result of the Reiki but I feel as if I've got more energy than usual and seemed to get a lot done in a shorter space of time, without flagging as badly as I usually do. Hope that continues...... although DH flies out to Italy tomorrow, on another work trip with some of his colleagues, so sleep deprivation may just put a stop to that during the next few days. LOL Fingers crossed I can now catch up with some of that stitching that hasn't been getting done these last few days. :0)

Thank you for taking the time to visit. Hope you all had a good weekend and are managing to stay warm in this current cold snap. :0)

A Catch Up Post

Finally I get a decent day to take a pic of the latest progress on Sea Stars and what happens? I get camera wobble and by the time I'd realised it the light had gone, so I decided not to bother trying to take anymore and just go with the best of a bad batch. So here's where I got to after last weeks stitching:

Two more small motifs added to the left and more of the octopus and ship's wheel stitched. Hopefully this weeks SAL Night will see the completion of that and the start of the larger motif on the left.

There's nothing else stitchy-wise to show at the moment. I've been carrying on with getting projects sorted for my NAY basket and also chose the design I want to stitch for my Christmas Card Exchange partner, so I put in a small order to Sew & So last night for some of the threads, charms and a fabric needed for all of those. All those stash buys and I still don't have everything I need when it comes ot starting new projects! Once that order arrives I shall make a start on the card and then start whittling away at the NAY projects. :0)

Thanks for all the well wishes concerning the blood test visit. I don't know if it was because I hadn't eaten but when I caught sight of the size of the needle she was going to use I felt quite queasy. Needless to say, I kept my eyes shut through the whole thing and got out of there as quickly as I could. Once home I felt better........ once I'd had my toast and honey and cup of coffee I felt waaaay better. LOL Unfortunately my arm didn't - she managed to give me a good bruise and it felt uncomfortable for a few days afterwards...... thankfully it's much better now. I go for the results tomorrow (Wednesday) morning and to hear what they have to say about my blood pressure - am not looking forward to it at all but I need to know what they have to say before I can decide what my next step is. Wish me Luck!

Although there's not been a great lot of stitching done here recently I have been reading quite a bit instead and on Sunday night finished Raven Black by Ann Cleeves, a murder mystery based on Shetland, and also today a Children's fantasy fiction book called Ingo by Helen Dunmore. Both interesting reads, in their own ways - you can find out more from the Books I've Read section in the side bar or over at The Reading Corner, if you wish.

Speaking of books: DH and I had a day out over in Market Rasen on Saturday and I took the Candace Robb book with me to do a wild release for Book Crossing. We had dinner in the Joplins cafe and whilst there I popped into the Tourist Information Centre area in there and left the book on a table for someone to find and, hopefully, they'll take the time to make a journal entry on it and pass it on. None of my wild releases have been successful so far but I still live in hopes of one of them journeying soon. The controlled release book is the only one that has been successful so far, as it has travelled and been journalled on. So..... currently I have on offer to anyone who would like to read them: Ingo, Journey to the River Sea and The Champion, all I ask is that you be willing to make a journal entry on Book Crossing and subsequently pass the book on, once read. Just send me a separate message via the comments section. :0)

Whilst in Market Rasen I also managed to get all the bits I wanted for exchange gifts, as well as a couple of crystals and a meditation CD for myself. The meditation is one for Angel Healing - something the Aura photographer told me I need to ask for (more over on my other blog about that and other happenings at the M,B&S Event). I listened to it today and it's a good one which left me feeling lovely and calm afterwards - let's hope it brought my blood pressure down nicely, too. LOL All in all it was a good day out. :0)

Sunday we visited my DSis for the day. I took my stitching but didn't do any - spent much of the day chatting, catching up on all the news, and looking at some brochures, to see pics of the new bathroom suite she's chosen and should be having fitted before Christmas. She's also having to have the laminate flooring replaced in her living room, due to a radiator that burst one night and left the room looking like she'd got a paddling pool in there - it left the flooring quite warped and the joins have become tripping hazards. Luckily her insurance will cover the bulk of the cost of that. Poor DSis - the downside of owning a house have gradually been revealed to her since our Dad passed away.

Monday was DH's birthday and he had the day off. Unfortunately he was feeling tired and I wasn't feeling that great so, rather than taking him out for dinner, we ended up staying in. I got my jobs done, then gave in and had some Ibuprofen - thankfully they started to kick in just after Alex arrived for her visit. DH disappeared off onto the computer and left us to natter. Wise choice, as we started discussing some female health issues at one point. LOL No stitching again last night, as I felt shattered and ended up having an early night.

Today I've been catching up with a couple of jobs and some blog posting, with a view to stitching on Night Watchman again for UFO Tuesday. The earlier part of the day had a good development: the young couple next door are having some work done on their house, some of which is having the guttering, fascias & oojamaflips (it's all gobbledegook to me - haven't a clue which bit is what) done. As the chaps needed access down the side of our house to do the bargeboard on this side of the house (needed to unlock our sidegates so they could bring their ladders round) I got talking to them - as you do - and the upshot of that is that they're going to do a quote for our house for me. DH has been promising to have someone round to do this for aaaaaaaaaages and conveniently never got around to it - I've now had enough of waiting and have decided to take the initiative. The quote will be ready tomorrow, so Fingers (and everything else) Crossed that I can finally get DH to dip his hand in his wallet to get this much needed job done. :0)

I still haven't caught up with all of the blog reading - hopefully I'll manage that during the rest of the week.

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