Autumn Equinox and Fall

Last night was the Autumn Equinox, or Mabon, celebrations when day and night are of equal length. In keeping with the time of year the weather here has now turned decidedly autumnal, with leaves dropping, nights drawing in and a definite cold nip in the air. Here's a wonderful display of harvest produce, snagged from Wikipedia, that sums up the feeling of this season and celebration:


Celebrating in my own way, I decided to have a new stitching start last night and settled on a suitably apt piece called Fall which is a freebie design from Homespun Elegance. It's such a quick and easy piece I finished up the stitching this afternoon whilst watching Dawn Bibby on QVC (didn't buy anything, in case you were wondering LOL). Here's a pic:

I used Polstitches 28ct evenweave Hot Potatoes fabric and Carrie's Creations Pumpkin Spice, Raven and Pina Colada, Ozark Emerald and a scrap of DMC 966 for the cats' eye. I left off the Fall wording, as this is intended as a Samhain or Halloween decoration (plus I didn't like it). I haven't decided what to use to finish it yet but I know I want to hang it from a handle on one of the four doors leading off from the downstairs hallway. The intention is to have ornaments of some description hanging on each of the doors, so that's one down and three more to go. The second ornie has already been chosen, I've just got to gather the threads and choose a fabric for it. :0)

So, what else have I been up to whilst absent from Blogland? Well, I completed the finishing on the JA/S&S Monthly Challenge piece, as planned, and a pic has been taken and sent off to Karen for the album. I tackled another new to me technique in this finish and was very pleased with the outcome (even if I do say so myself)........... but you'll have to wait until Reveal Day to see what it was. ;0)

I also made a start on the next part of the Ozark Mystery SAL piece, completing one motif...... but stalled when I noticed the other motif was positioned a stitch out on the chart. I don't know if this was meant or if it is an error and have queried it. There's no way I am going risk guessing wrong then end up with yet another frog visit so, meantime, while I wait for an answer, this piece has been put on hold - so that's why there's no update pic just yet.

DH only worked half a day on Sunday. He thought we would go to Epworth for dinner at The Lemon Tree, then go to the Festival of the Plough event after - as it was already around 1pm, meaning we'd only end up with a couple of hours at the event by the time we'd eaten (hardly worth the entrance fee) and I could see that he was shattered I knew he was being a tad unrealistic, so suggested we had lunch at home and pottered about here instead. After an initial strop (boy, don't they get moody when you don't fall in immediately with their plans? LOL) he soon realised staying home was a more sensible option. After lunch and a chill out he felt better and fitted the new ceiling light in the living room and what a difference that has made. Unfortunately when he turned off the power to do the light we soon realised that the back-up battery for the burglar alarm is dead, so we need to get a new one - otherwise next time there's a power cut the darned alarm is going to keep going off and pee off the neighbours big time. By late evening DH said he was glad we'd stayed in, instead of rushing off out.......... I guess that was his way of apologising. ;0)

Monday was jobs galore - got such a flying start on those that I gained a bit of extra computer time and had an enjoyable browse of the Freebies Gallery site, looking for Halloween/finishing inspiration and trawling for suitable charts. Thoroughly enjoyed that and found what I was looking for, then had a good natter with Alex when she arrived. She and my DS had been to a Mind, Body and Spirit event at Harrogate on Sunday, so that was one of several topics of conversation we got through. After she left I kitted up the Fall freebie and..... well, you know the rest.

Today being Tuesday makes it UFO Night tonight. No idea what I'm going to stitch yet............. may end up tossing a coin at this rate. Drop by tomorrow to see which piece guilt tripped me the most and won out. LOL

Thanks again for taking the time to visit. I hope you all had a good weekend and an even better start to the week. :0)

A WhooooHoooo Wednesday!

Why? Well, for a starter, it's stopped raining and there's some sunshine so I've been able to go out and do some garden jobs today - that always puts me in a good mood. :0)
Then Sally emailed to say that she's posted the HAED charts that I bought from her - OK, so they'll probably take an age to get here, thanks to the postal strike backlog, but it's still new stash on the way!
I've also now got a working scanner (and printer) again. DH swapped them round for me so I can get at the scanner better and it makes scanning pieces on frames a whole lot easier! So now that's working again here's an update on my UFO Tuesday piece, Egyptian Tablet.
Before:

After:
Yes, I've finally completed that horrible multi-coloured wig/hair band - that's worth a big WhooHoo and Happy Dance all of its own, believe me! LOL. Mind you, there's still the backstitch on the collar to tackle: on the collar it's worked in DMC metallic thread - I'm so looking forward to that.......... not!

I had planned to make a new start after completing The Princess but that doesn't seem to have happened yet - I've wanted to keep going with ET, so have gone with the flow.
If I change my mind: Happy Holidays is all kitted to go, as is M Designs Hope tree but, as it will soon be Samhain (Halloween), I rather fancy stitching an appropriate piece for that: Passione Ricamo has some really nice freebies here and here and there's a lovely one at Whispered by the Wind and yet another lovely offering from Black Swan Designs via the Needle Delights web site, to name just a few....... spoilt for choice here and struggling to decide! >roll eyes<

In answer to Helen: sorry, my Ink Circles Blackstone Fantasy Garden hasn't made it into my Webshots album yet. It's too big to fit on the scanner and I'm not that hot with the digicam (I've no idea how to upload pics from it to the PC) and DH has been too busy to do it for me. I've got a couple more larger pieces that haven't yet made it into my Webshots either, so when he's got time I'll get him to do them all in one session and have a mass update.
Can't wait to see your progress on BFG. :0)

Well the chap from my local Freecycle group turned up and took the cake decorating items yesterday but there don't appear to be any takers for the other bits I listed. I'm not fussed though as, right on cue, the British Heart Foundation have left a donations bag, so they'll go in that, along with some clothes I've sorted....... and anything else that gets sorted between now and collection on Friday morning. Don't you just love it when the Universe works in your favour like that? LOL :0)
That's me off for a cupboard trawl. Whatever you're all getting up to, hope you're having fun. :0)