Santa Was Really Kind

Hope you all had a good festive season and enjoyed time with your families and friends... and hopefully managed to fit in a little crafting here and there too. ;0)

Our festive season was a little on the quiet side but that's how we prefer it... although it did get exciting one night, when the electric power cut out all over the house. We soon sussed that it wasn't a powercut but was actually caused by the breaker reacting to my switching on the washing machine.... because DS did it again, just to prove it, and all the lights went out again. The washer's element was shot and caused a problem with the earthing, which meant one dead washing machine and a trip to the January sales.... the new one has now been delivered and I've been on laundry catch-up ever since. That washing basket had been full to overflowing, so - as I flatly refused to hand wash their undies and socks because I value my health and sanity and don't love them that much - DH and DS had to pop to the main Tesco just after Christmas to get some emergency supplies. So far I haven't killed off the new machine, or the tumble drier, whilst doing the multitude of washes to catch up with the backlog! LOL

Santa was kind to me again, thanks to my forum friends and family. Here's a slideshow of the lovely handmade Christmas cards received this year:



And, as I like adding these little slideshow doohickys now I've worked out how to do them, here are the lovely goodies received:



Thank you again ladies for your kindness and generosity - hope you all had a lovely festive season and Santa was kind to you too, and that the thank you cards have arrived OK. :0)

We didn't get out and about much over the holidays, thanks to the cold weather and residual problems from all the snow we had, but did manage to get enough of a break in it to go and see MIL on New Years Day. The fluff ball kitten is now a fluff ball adolescent and looks like she'll always be petite. MIL is doing OK and spent her first solo Christmas with various friends, with lots of other invitations she didn't take up... though she did say that having Ally (the fluff ball) has been a real Blessing and says she's helped a great deal. Thank goodness for BIL and his family having the idea to do this. :0) So here's a pic of the little fluff ball:

It was taken with my phone, so not a great pic, but it captures her cuteness. She was so curious about what I was doing, which is why she was there long enough for me to take it.... because she's normally flitting around like a mad thing. LOL BTW, those are MIL's feet in the shot.

So what else have I been doing since my last blog post, apart from killing a washing machine, opening fab gifts and cards plus visiting MIL and admiring the fluff balls cuteness? Well.... I kept myself out of mischief by having a few cardmaking sessions at various times, with these results:



Sorry about some of those scans - my scanner doesn't like the 3-D bits on some of the cards, so makes them look all out of focus. Some of you may just recognise some of the cards too. LOL Yes, three slideshows in one post might seem a bit excessive... but not as excessive as posting every single pic would have been. ;0)

I also found time for a bit of stitching too. Bet you were thinking I'd never get round to that bit, weren't you? LOL Well I delved into my stash and started a kit of a polar bear, or rather its head, another one from the same range as the tiger I finished a little while ago. This is another piece stitched specifically for one of the girls in my Development Circle, as the polar bear is her Power Animal. I'd hoped to get it finished before the New Year started but there was just too much left to do...... so it became my first finish for 2011 instead.

Design: Polar Bear, kit

Designer: Roger W Reinardy, for the Janlynn Wildlife Series

Fabric: swapped the aida for 28ct white evenweave, unknown make

Threads: as supplied in the kit, unknown make

He was lovely to stitch and I'm sure he will be well received - just got to find a suitable frame..... or pluck up courage to make it into a wallhanging, as I have a fabric that would go really well with this.

As soon as that was finished I'd planned to do a fox design for another of the Circle girls... but the Seba Designs SAL blackwork piece that I started a while ago suddenly started to shout really loudly and wouldn't be ignored, so I picked that up instead - I'd almost forgotten just how lovely this was to stitch. Add in the fact that the new Seba 2011 SAL piece has been released.... well, I thought it best to get last years finished first. I put the last stitch in it last night (Sunday 16th January) and here's a bad pic taken in poor light, as the bright days are few and far between at the moment:

That's two finishes in a month! Wow! Keep going at this rate and the bellydancing CD will be worn out LOL. It sure does make a change though, after all those months of missing mojo that made 2010 a poor year for finishes - my album has a grand total of...... three pics in it. *blush*

I will now admit to hitting the January Sales for a little more than a washing machine. Yes, I got a few small stash additions:

I couldn't resist - they were real bargains. LOL Actually, I was quite restrained, considering the price the HAED charts were going for... though, admittedly, I already have plenty of those in my stash. Yes, I know, I should have thought of that before buying another one.... but it's an Angel! :0)

The New Year brought a few other new things too. Firstly, Clare took the plunge and started her very own Forum: Needlecraft Haven. It's a lovely, friendly place to hang out and chat and there are a few activities to join in too, in case you haven't already got lots of stitching planned: the RR's are already off to a flying start (sorry, couldn't resist. Eheheh); the Just Nan SAL is ongoing; there's a HAED SAL (any HAED piece you are stitching and would like encouragement with - Mother Earth is demanding attention); the Carriage House Samplings SAL starts in February and some of the girls are stitching Shores, whilst others are stitching smaller designs (I'm joining in with Enchanted); there's a Quaker SAL, again you can join in with any Quaker piece you like. There's going to be an Advent Exchange later in the year and then there are the regular features: UFO Night, watched over by Julie and Mr Stick, is there to help us all get those UFO's finished; a Monthly Christmas ornie section (stitch any ornie you like) and the Monthly Challenge SAL... this months stitch is a cute cat freebie by Tralala. I'm stitching this for MIL... but I can't tell you any details until Reveal Day, sorry. 

Soooo, at some point I shall be getting back to my JN piece, Flora, as the plan is to give it to Aureen, who runs the Development Circle, once it's finished. As I haven't stitched a larger Quaker style piece and have a couple of suitable designs in my stash, I'll be joining in the Quaker SAL. This piece shouted the loudest:

This was the initial floss toss, with a Thai silk thread, but am not sure about it, so will be trying DMC 820 instead. I'll be stitching it 1 over 1. Once I've completed the Challenge piece will probably be the ideal time to start this little beauty. So that's covered quite a few of my stitching plans for this year, though they're not set in stone and could be changed at some point.... it's allowed, as I'm a woman and it's part of the job description. ;0)

As for the Development Circle - it restarted last Tuesday (11th) and it was so good to be back and see the girls again. There was only one member missing and we've got our fingers crossed that she'll be back soon too. We were all a little rusty but it was a good session anyway and we're looking forward to the next one.
Then my monthly Reiki session was on Saturday (15th) and that was lovely - such a calming session. As DH and DS were out all day I did some shopping then had my dinner afterwards, in the local Fish and Chip restaurant (though I opted for chicken, chips and salad). It's so good to be so much better that I can do this kind of thing now. :0) Though this year has seen me have my first ever Hypnotherapy session - there are a few residual issues from the old agoraphobic/panic attack days that need to be dealt with, along with my wanting help to get back on track with my weight/diet (gone off the rails since my op last year), and I felt this was the best way to go. Eventually I plan on having a Past Life regression done too, something I've been interested in for a while now. It's going to be an interesting journey in the coming months. :0)

Last week was a time of being in charge of the TV remote every single evening too, from Sunday 9th to Saturday 15th - the Panto was on at the Theatre, with Get In and Get Out at either end. DH was Stage Manager and DS was in it. I tell you, the power almost went to my head! LOL It also meant quite a bit of stitchy time too, hence that Seba blackwork piece getting finished fairly speedily. Of course, the fact that they've been doing the Panto means that the pipework job hasn't progressed, despite the slight improvement in the weather, so there's still that open trench down the side of the house. Fingers crossed that something gets done next Sunday... although that depends on how DH is, as he managed to pull a muscle or trap a nerve or something in his back yesterday (Saturday) morning and has had to rest up today. Yesterday I suggested he went to the GP but wasn't holding my breath as far as him actually doing it.... but he surprised me and went this morning. I won't know what the outcome of that was until he comes home tonight - yes, he's gone into work for what he hopes will be an office based day. Fingers crossed it's just something that a little rest and Ibuprofen will sort out... soon, as I've been having to do all the lifting and bending and it's starting to tell on me too.

I am still waaaay behind with blog reading and commenting, thanks to it being so cold in here during the bad weather - even wearing the fingerless mitts didn't help. I will gradually do a catch up in the coming week or so.... but I've now got so far behind with some blogs I may just have to give in and admit defeat and just catch up with the most recent posts. So sorry, but even my nosiness can't cope with over 150+ blog posts from one single blog on top of all the others... especially as I still want time to do other things. LOL

Thank you for all your visits and kind comments. May 2011 bring you all much happiness, good health and plenty of time to stitch. :0)

Feeling More Sociable

As the heading says I'm now feeling much more sociable than I was, so it's time to return to The Land of Blog. I've missed you all and all your news. :0)

Thank you for all of your caring comments and condolences, they mean a great deal. The funeral for FIL was conducted by two Minister's who knew him, so it was both a personal and moving service and a fitting goodbye to someone who gave a great deal of his time and energy to his local community and Church. MIL was appreciative of the start we made on clearing out the garage for her over the weekend. We tackled slightly less than a quarter of it and still managed to totally fill the back of the estate car with stuff to go to the amenities site. Thankfully DH only brought back two small items, both of which will be used... believe me when I say that that was very restrained, for him. BIL, his wife and two girls had the idea of buying a kitten, as company for MIL - a stroke of genius, as it was love at first sight on both their parts.... and that tiny little furball seems to know why it's there and would go to MIL as soon as she sat, climbing up the armchair and into her lap where she'd sit purring and happy, bringing much comfort.

I have some more thanks and birthday gifts from way back in July to share with you which didn't get posted about before this hiatus.

First of all I need to put Barb's curiosity to rest by sharing what I used her garden voucher birthday gift for:

I love lavenders, and love the fact that the bees love it too, and have always wanted to add more varieties to my garden and when I saw this French Lavender: Deep Rose at the garden centre it had to come home with us. So there you go Barb, that's what I got, and thank you once again. :0)

The lovely Clare sent me this:

Her own lovely bookmark design and the fabric and threads to stitch it. I often have several books on the go at once, so if you knew how often I have to go hunting for bookmarks you'd have an idea of how appreciated this is. A lovely handmade card too. Thank you again Clare. :0)

Next is another lovely surprise from Tina (no blog), a fellow member of the Stitch'n'Stash Forum:

Don't you just love that cute owl. The times I've almost bought it then changed my mind... and now it's in my stash. Yay! Another project will be grateful for the needle magnet, as it'll stop me from parking it in the fabric. The charm is an owl and the thread is a Polstitches called Friendship. Thank you Tina (hope you saw my post on the forum!) - think you read my mind with these goodies. And now the mojo seems to be putting in an appearance (at last!) the owl is hooting at me to stitch it. LOL

There was also a package from Dusty, in the USA:

Dusty read my post on the forum about my having difficulties getting hold of this magazine, now that Jayne's Attic is closed.... and kindly sent me a copy for my birthday. Thank you so much Dusty, you're a star.... and my Must Stitch List has increased since seeing several of those ornies. LOL

Last, but by no means least, was the parcel of goodies from my long term PenPal Maggie (no blog):

A very useful mix of cross stitch and cardmaking goodies. She must have read my mind, too, as I was looking for a coaster and fridge magnet in my stash beforehand and had come up empty (was sure I had some too), so now I can go ahead with those projects. :0)

There was also a birthday in the blogging world and this was the card I made and sent to Helen:

While I was in the mood for cardmaking I set to and made another one for my "Just in Case" stash:

Sorry, the scans aren't that good.... but you get the general idea. LOL

I've also been doing a little stash acquisition at times, courtesy of the Wimble Bees closing down sale - nope, I just can't resist bargains! LOL - and good old eBay... but I'll share those another time, as this is going to be a long post as it is.

I've also been spending quite some time out in the garden, whenever the weather permitted - it helps me greatly, especially when grief comes to call, to connect with Mother Nature, bringing a timely reminder of the cyclical nature of our existence: life, death and rebirth. When we visited the garden centre the French Lavender seemed awfully lonely on the trolley, so we added a couple of other plants that were also a magnet for the bees and hornets:

The purple one is Stokesia: Klaus Jelitto and the one to the right/front is a Dianthus: Raspberry Sundae... and the only reason I know their names is because I kept the labels. LOL The one in the middle is one that my Dad gave me the year before he passed away. Am glad to say that all seem to be thriving and enjoying the nutrients from that well rotted horse manure I dug in, earlier in the year. And, because I'm really pleased with it, here's a pic of the alpine pot, now it's better established:

We dug up the smaller of the two fuschias from the garden and put it in a pot and will be doing the same with the larger one (again, given to me by my Dad) and have bought a pot, ready for it to go in once it's finished flowering. We decided they would probably do much better if they were in pots, so they could be overwintered in the greenhouse. DH has been busy laying the greenhouse base (pics next time) and the greenhouse itself is going to be delivered and erected on Sunday 12th. Yay!

DH and I had a trip over to the Elsecar Heritage Centre, near Barnsley, to go to a Mind, Body and Spirit event over the Bank Holiday weekend. It was a last minute decision but we were both happy we'd been. We attended two talks, one by Barbara Meiklejohn-Free and another by George Fryer. The one by Barbara was about us all being psychic... and she surprised us by making us move round, so none of us were sitting next to people we knew, and getting us to do some psychometry. I was so glad when I managed to pick up on some things for the lady who let me hold her gold chain and crucifix, despite the fact that it wasn't in Circle and was noisy.... a sign that my skills have improved a tad. :0) DH also picked up something relevant for the person he was sat next to... this being the man who is very scientifically minded and a bit leery about things like that. I also had a Spirit Guide portrait done... and got a surprise. Not much retail therapy, compared to usual, but it proved to be a very interesting and enjoyable day all round. :0)

I've been having my usual weekly acupuncture sessions, to help with the menopause and arthritis symptoms as well as helping me Spiritually, and have just had my monthly Reiki session. I also attended the monthly talk session, that's held at my Herbalist's home, on Bank Holiday Monday. This time we were to discuss dowsing rods, pendulums and numerology.... but the dowsing rods and general chat proved to be so interesting we didn't get onto the other subjects. We've already arranged the date of next month's meeting... to talk about pendulums and numerology, to make up for not doing them this time. :0)

As well as buying on eBay I also dipped my toe into doing a little selling, thanks to a recent free listing day. I'd got quite a few craft items that I no longer wanted, so added them and hoped I'd sell a few. It was a good idea, as over half of what I put on went to new homes........ unfortunately what I made has almost been spent. Not all on replacement craft goodies though..... I bought several crystal/gem items that I've had my eye on for a while. Will post a pic when they arrive. :0) The unsold goodies have gone into my Webshots trade album, along with a few more things I've sorted out since. Now roll on the next free listing day. LOL

The stitching mojo has been on a looooong holiday, only putting in the occasional appearance. I put a few stitches into the Tiger over the weekend at MIL's, then did a bit more a week or so later.... then picked it up on Friday night (3rd) and had quite a good session on it... and that's been it since. BUT the thought of wanting to stitch is there, so it's not a total abandonment this time...... fingers crossed! I shall keep you on tenterhooks for a little longer though.... this post is already pretty photo intensive and long, so I'll save a pic of the this until next time. * evil laugh* ROFL

As you can probably guess, from the lack of comments recently, I'm waaaaay behind on blog reading (over a 1,000 posts in my Bloglines list!). I'll be having a gradual catch up over the coming weeks, so please bear with me while I get round to each of your blogs..... it may take a while but I will get there in the end.

Thank you again for all your kind thoughts. Hope you're all well and have lots of finishes and new WIP's under your belts since my last visit. :0)

A Holiday and a Birthday

Bet you thought I'd been and gone and emigrated and not told you. LOL No such luck... we've been on our annual holiday (vacation), spending two weeks in the fabulous Lake District, followed by a mammoth laundry and cleaning catch up. All the usual boring things that keep you from getting back to the fun stuff.

Am glad to say that the weather, though it had its moments, was waaay better than last year... thought we were going to grow webbed feet then. LOL Here's a pic of the back view of the cottage we stayed in:

It's a truly lovely home-from-home... but I'll not go boring you rigid by posting too many holiday pics, especially as I haven't gotten round to uploading them all to the computer yet. If I ever do get them sorted I'll post a slideshow into another post.... that way you can have a nosey or leave well alone, your choice. I can hear the collective sigh of relief as you thank your stars for that lucky escape. ROFL

It was my birthday whilst we were on holiday. That hasn't happened before and it felt a bid odd... though it was lovely to have the cards on display whilst in the cottage and then come home to find more goodies waiting for me to open. I felt like Queen Lizzy, having two birthdays! LOL As there were some lovely goodies and this post was going to be picture heavy I decided to share these via a slideshow:

As you can see, I received lots of lovely gifts and cards and felt truly spoilt. Thank you again my friends for your kindness and generosity - I loved all of my gifts and cards. :0)

So what else did we get up to whilst we were away? Well we did some walking and had quite a few trips out and about, ate some tasty meals at some lovely pubs, had a friend of DS join us for the middle weekend and they both walked the Langdale Pikes, DH and DS had a trip to Rookin House for a quad biking session, then the three of us went back the following day for archery and air rifle shooting sessions (great fun), trips to Keswick, Grasmere, Hawkshead, Coniston and Kirkby Stephen, a couple of visits to the Rhegged centre, a walk on the shore of the much depleted Thirlmere (some of the old building foundations were uncovered) and, as a birthday treat........ a trip to Fobbles.

Yes, after reading all about Fobbles on Su's blog and not getting the chance to visit last year, it was definitely on the cards for a visit this time round.... especially with some birthday cash burning a hole in my pocket LOL. It was a bit of a trek from the Langdale Valley but well worth the travelling: the lady who owns it was lovely and the place, though small, was jam-packed full of tempting goodies - so if you're ever up that way it is definitely worth a visit. If only I'd won the lottery and been able to buy all of the fabulous charts I picked out! Unfortunately I hadn't, so had to whittle down the haul from all of the ones I would like to the absolute must-haves. It was really tough going, was that, but I got there in the end. Here's the haul that made it home with me:

As you can probably guess, that wasn't all that came home... they had a nice selection of fabrics too.

Oh yes, and some lovely scissors. The stitching fabrics are a couple of 32ct and a 36ct and you can never have too much backing fabric, now can you?! ;0)

I got a few non-stitchy goodies too. As you have all probably realised by now I do have a bit of a thing about books (as well as stash LOL) and there were a few opportunities to indulge this passion too, at Rhegged, Grasmere, in a discount bookshop in Hawkshead and in the 2 Ravens in Kirkby Stephen. Here's that haul:

The bookshop in Hawkshead also had some other interesting goodies I couldn't resist, especially at the prices:

I don't really need any more Oracle cards but those Grail Code ones screamed "Buy Me". I absolutely love Pre-Raphaelite paintings and the cards are based on them. They are visually stunning, give accurate readings and also have lovely meditations to do in the enclosed guide book. It was also the only set they had... reckon it was waiting for me. :0)

One of the trips to Rhegged had DS buying me a belated Mother's Day gift and DH an anniversary gift (it was a holiday of celebrations: it was also our 26th wedding anniversary whilst we were there). These were the lovelies they gave me:

The one on the left is from DS and connects nicely with the garden and the one on the right is from DH and has a dove with the word Peace on it and also a tiny little elephant with a little flower on its flank.... a nice way of linking in with my Power Animal. :0)

The trip to 2 Ravens had DS and I indulging in our passion for crystals and gems. DS got a lovely haul of all kinds but I was restrained and just bought the one.....

A gorgeous Sheen Obsidian crystal ball.... which was an absolute bugger to photograph because of its reflective qualities (as you can see). It isn't as plain as it looks, as it has areas that have a beautiful golden sheen to them. I didn't go with the intention of buying a crystal ball but DH had a particular drawer out, I saw this and as soon as I picked it up it called to me. I tried putting it back but it wouldn't have it, so it came home. The wonderful chaoroite crystal ball was still there and the owner kindly let me hold it again. It gutted me to leave it last time and it did again... but this time I have left her my details and asked that if they sell up (the shop is on the market) before our next visit to please phone me so I can have first refusal. I am now saving my pennies. :0)

In all the time we were away I seemed to be in reading mode, as I read two books and started a third, and only once managed to pick up a needle and stitch. The mojo obviously decided it deserved a longer holiday! LOL Here's the small progress I made on the tiger:

In case you were wondering: more of his throat area has appeared and a start made on the fancy border. Unfortunately the mojo is still intermittent and I've only picked up a needle once since, putting in some stitches on Mother Earth for the JA/S&S UFO Night, infilling more of the tree background:

So now I'm all caught up with the laundry etc and another weeding session had to be done on the border... those weeds decided it was a free-for-all party while we were away and tried to reclaim the bed. I was having none of that and gave them short shrift. Since then Garden Pete has kindly brought the sacks of well rotted horse manure for me and I spent a morning this week spreading two and a quarter sack fulls of it on that bed this week:

Thankfully the well rotted manure is nowhere near as stinky as the fresh stuff, so it made the job less of a trial than it might have been. LOL The greenhouse was ordered last weekend and that has a four to five week delivery date, so we need to get the soil properly levelled and compacted and some slabs laid... we had a rethink on the base and have decided that laying a square of slabs will give more leeway for errors on squareness than bricks and we can then fill the middle with more soil (allowing water run off inside) and around the edges, to stop any tripping hazard. There's enough excess soil in other areas to do this. DH is busy at work, working late and over the coming weekend, so isn't able to do much towards getting it sorted at the moment so I am now making like a chjain gang member and breaking up the hoarded concrete and broken bricks whenever the mood takes me, to give a solid layer under the slabs. It's very good for those "wings".... and for letting off a little steam. LOL

DH and DS did have a bit of a sort through some more of the metal cabinets DH has down the side of the house last weekend, ready for more to go. DS and I spent last night sorting through all of the stuff in the cupboards, moving some of it up by the shed, binning some and bagging up other bits, ready for an amenities site trip this weekend. After all that we moved the scrap into the front garden:

One of the local registered scrap places has come and taken it away today (Friday), so that's even more of the heap gone. Yay! We need a new water pipe laying and that can't be done until the drive between the two houses is clear.... we've made a good start. :0)

I also had a small cardmaking session last weekend, ready for Julie's birthday. A cute card for a special lady:

Not too obvious from the scan but it's a decoupage card, so has several layers. Hope you're having a lovely day Julie. :0)

I had so much fun making Julie's card I followed it up by making a card for my niece:

Then made another, for my "just in case" stash, whilst still in the mood:

Unfortunately I have to end on some sad news: my FIL has been diagnosed with cancer and, because it's well established, he hasn't had any symptoms or pain, and due to his age (86, going on 87), they feel it wouldn't be in his best interests to put him through the hell of chemo. They haven't done any further investigations either, as they feel these could trigger the cancer into faster growth/spread. He's had another stay in hospital, due to the fluid building up again, but is now back home. We visited him in hospital last weekend and we'll be going over there as often as we can manage, to help out and spend time with him and MIL. We hope he will continue to be symptomless and pain free for as long as possible. Make sure you give all your loved ones lots of hugs and tell them how much you love them... because you never know what's around the corner.

Thank you for visiting - may you all be Blessed with good health and good fortune. Take care and have a good weekend. :0)

Generous Friends...... and More

Our festive season was very quiet this year, partly due to my recuperation but also because DH caught some kind of lergy and wasn't feeling too great. I knew he was ill when I cooked him a lovely meal, gave it to him and he just sat there, with his head in his hands, looking at it....... not the usual approach at all. He eventually ate it but it took him about an hour to get through it, Bless him. He's now feeling (and eating) much better but has been to the GP, due to still coughing and having a sinus infection, and has some antibiotics to take. So far, thank goodness, I've managed to avoid it....... probably due to the no kissing ban I put in place as soon as his sniffles started. LOL

Santa, in the guise of a postman, came to visit several times on the run up to the 25th and brought several packages from kind and generous friends, so I had a lovely time opening them all on the day. I have to share, as they are all lovely. :0)

Remember the Santa in the previous post that Julie sent? Well she had also been very busy with her knitting needles because inside Santa was this fab stocking and inside that were some extra surprises:


I do love handmade gifts, appreciating the time and skill used to make them, and this one was a very festive gift indeed. The stocking was hung from the wrought ironwork piece that stands on the hearth in our living room (the piece you get a glimpse of when I take pics of hanging ornies) and it will be coming out every year from now on. Thank you again Julie. :0)

The surprise package that came from Sew & So was courtesy of Barb and she knows my tastes so well:

I have had my eye on the blackwork Angel chart for a while and Barb very generously included not only the threads to stitch her but also the lovely and seriously cute Cherubs hanger to display the piece on, once completed. I didn't know you could get that hanger so it was a double surprise. Oddly enough, I've been fancying starting another larger blackwork piece for a while but just couldn't settle on which one to do......... now I have. LOL Thank you again Barb. :0)

To continue in the Angel theme, here is the fab gift I received from Karen:


Sorry about the poor pic - the light here has been bad and my digicam just can't do close ups. This was another goodie I'd had my beady eye on for some time.... and kept on resisting temptation, because the money was needed elsewhere, so you can guess how delighted I was on opening the wrapping. *big beaming smile* And guess which project I will "christen" it on? Yep, on Barb's blackwork Angel piece, of course. LOL Thank you again Karen. :0)

The delights just kept on coming too. Remember the Mary Queen of Scots sampler chart I received in a trade a few months back? Well guess what I got from Helen that go with it perfectly?

I really like a lot of Mary Hickmott's work, especially the Tudor age range of cross stitch and blackwork pieces she's produced, and this one is no exception. I have plans to eventually stitch this and the sampler and display both together, so that'll keep me nicely occupied for some time. LOL Thank you again Helen. :0)

Last, but not least, of the gifts from Forum/Blogger friends was received from Clare and it had a selection of goodies inside:

The lavender and lilac pot pourri smells gorgeous and I plan on sharing it between my Craft Room and bedroom. The fabric is perfect for my favourite type of designs (a fairy, snowman or Angel) and the thread is an absolutely gorgeous colour. I shall enjoy choosing just the right projects for these. Thank you again Clare. :0)

I felt very spoiled after opening them. Thank you to each of you for your kindness, thoughtfulness and generosity - I consider myself truly Blessed to call you all my friends. :0)

Another parcel was from my long term PenPal Maggie (no blog):

Aren't those rose petal soaps just so pretty? Far too pretty to use, so I've decided to have them on a shelf in my Craft Room (when it's completed) to look at, until I can bear to use them. Look at the trendy jewellery too. I don't know how Maggie did it, as she didn't know about it, but they go perfectly with a blouse I bought at the last M,B&S event I went to, which is another floaty sleeved top in a rich brown, with black hints - not a Jordash one but in a similar style.... but no shisha mirrors in sight this time. LOL

DH will be giving me money, as I asked for, as I'm still saving towards the Shamballah Healing Course, based at the local Alternative Healing Clinic I go to, that I want to do in the Spring. DS gave me the latest Tudor series DVD, to go with the full series of Rome DVD's that were shared between my birthday and Christmas. Christmas will be extended for us this year too, as we have yet to exchange gifts with my DSis, the in-laws and my aunt, uncle and cousin. Due to my recuperation, the lergy and the weather we had to postpone the planned trips to see them all - gutted, as I was looking forward to see them. Hopefully the weather will let-up before too much longer and we can go visit soon. :0)

As we were indoors for much of the holidays it meant a reasonable amount of stitching got done. The focus piece was Mother Earth, as I wanted to have a reasonable amount done, ready for the first posting date (January 3rd) over at the 2010 Weekly SAL Blog. It worked well...... though I doubt there'll be quite so much progress to show in successive weeks, as 1 over 1 stitching just doesn't grow very fast. I shall post a pic of ME another time though, as the updates haven't yet been posted on the SAL Blog.

Oh, and remember how I said that I wasn't going to sign up for too much in the new year because I didn't want to pressure myself too much? Eeeeerrrrmmmmm........ weeeelllllll......... that resolution kinda didn't last too long. Honestly I just couldn't help it. I mosied on over to Stitcher's Showcase yesterday and spotted that Elisa was organising a SAL for the lovely piece A Bouquet for Cheryl. Just one look at that design and an image of some gorgeous silk threads I had from eBay's thredfairy - just absolutely perfect for it - popped into my mind. That was it........ I found I'd posted a request to join the SAL and Blog before I'd had chance to draw breath again, let alone think it through. So it looks like I may just have to work out some kind of rota to make sure everything gets fitted in, doesn't it? LOL

The plan to catch up with the Christmas ornie SAL almost worked: I got up to November, as far as stitching went, but only managed to finish a couple of them. Hopefully the finishing mood will take hold soon and then I shall share pics of them.

As for other things....... DH, once he felt a tad better, got on with the flooring in my Craft Room and has half of it laid so far. Today he cut the board that fits up to the door jamb and did the edge sealing on that (all edges are having watered down PVA glue daubed on them, in case I spill anything in there - he's a belt and braces type of man). The final half should go pretty quickly now.

We have had a couple of trips out. One of them was to a DIY store where we bought a light fitting for the CR and discovered they'd sold out of the computer table I wanted, so we had an unexpected drive over to the Doncaster branch to pick up the last one in the whole of this area. No time to call in at my DSis's though, as DS had to be back for a Panto rehearsal. I was really glad to get the table though, as I haven't seen another one that I like half as much....... needless to say, both DH and I were shattered afterwards. I fell asleep in my armchair for two solid hours after that and slept solid when I went to bed that night! I may be nicely healed now but the stamina is slow to improve, so I very easily get tired at the moment - very frustrating. I go to see Jan, my Herbalist, tomorrow (Monday) so I shall discuss that, and the "tropical moments" I am now having, with her and see what delightful concoction she comes up with to sort me out this time around. :0)

DH is off back to work tomorrow (Monday) so I shall be able to go back to my regular routine and start having a catch up with all your blogs then - though with all the snow we've had it does get bitterly cold in here, so it may well end up taking a while as I'm limiting the amount of time I spend here. Thankfully that will greatly improve once the Craft Room has been commissioned - there's a BIG radiator in there, so it stays nice and warm. :0)

Thank you for all the festive greetings and I hope that you also had an enjoyable festive season and that this New Year brings much Peace, happiness and prosperity to one and all. :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)

Get Well Wishes

A big thank you to everyone for the lovely Get Well messages you've left, I can't tell you how much they've been appreciated....... especially as I seem to have gone into a minor low at the moment, mostly brought on by the frustration of not being able to do everything I want to. You know, those ordinary things you take for granted, like being able to stand long enough to prepare a meal or whatever (card making is a definite no-no at the minute) or walking down the street to the Clinic and back without feeling like I've just run a flippin' marathon! As for meditating...... it just turns into an instant snooze fest, with my head falling towards my knees every time. LOL To try and counteract some of this I've been eating baby spinach leaves with my dinner every day (instead of salad leaves), on top of my usual healthy eating regime, to try and boost my blood iron levels after all those blood thinning jabs and am now off all the drugs and back on all my herbal meds, so feeling a bit better for that too....... am also desperately trying to cultivate some of that much needed patience. I bet you can guess how that bit is going. ;0)

Especial thanks go to several online friends who have very kindly sent some lovely cards and gifts - I just had to share, as they really did give me a boost. Julie sent me this fun Get Well card and a fab little Healing Angel card that I love:

In case the pic isn't clear enough, it reads: Your guardian angel walks with you ~ they've been sent from above ~ their loving wings are open ~ to enfold you with love. And if you see a snow white feather ~ resting on the ground ~ it's from your angel's wing to show ~ health lost, will soon be found. Thank you again for your kind thoughts Julie: I certainly called on the Angels whilst I was in hospital and actually felt them around me on one particular night - and have had a white feather appear since coming home. The card is propped against one of my Angel ornaments in the living room, where I can see it every day. :0)

Before going into hospital Karen had agreed to make a couple of crystal bracelets for me. Imagine my surprise when, just a few days after getting home, a box was delivered to my house. First thoughts: flippin' heck - that's a big box for three small bracelets! Here's what I saw when I opened it:


Inside the green tissue paper were the lovely bracelets:



The one on the left is howlite, top right is lapis lazuli and clear quartz and bottom right is malachite and clear quartz. They all have a wonderful feel to them and I shall enjoy wearing them. But the voyage of discovery wasn't over........ there were all the other wonderful goodies to look at too:


The two magazines helped to pass an hour or so. That wasn't all though, as there was all of this:


Plus all of these goodies as well:



Boy, did I feel spoilt rotten! Thank you again Karen for your kindness and generosity - everything will come in very useful and I shall have lots of fun using them........ once I've got my standing stamina back. :0)

I was already thinking that I was extremely lucky to be the recipient of so much kindness when another package arrived. This one was from Clare and had these lovelies inside:


There were originally two Lush bath fizzers but one got used before I took the pic. LOL That was my first ever Lush bath and it was wonderful..... am looking forward to another such treat shortly. :0) Thank you again Clare for your kindness.

There were also Get Well cards from Barb (no blog) and family. When I put them all out in the living room they certainly brightened the place up:


I am very grateful for all the kindness and generosity that has been shown to me - all by wonderful people I have never met in person (yet!). I feel honoured and truly blessed to have their friendship. Thank you. :0)

Guess Whooooo?

No I haven't fallen off the planet.... not due to the shock of turning 48 or any other reason LOL, I just got busy getting things organised for our holiday, which didn't leave me much time for other things...... especially when my two feel it's perfectly OK to just chuck everything into the case or the back of the car at the very last minute. I was well ready for that holiday by the time the packing was done, let me tell you.

In between updating the packing list, washing and drying a mountain of clothes (they will insist on getting stuff dirty!), sorting a stack of ironing for DH (bless him, that's one chore he likes to do that I don't - it literally gives me a pain in the neck), unearthing all the walking gear from various places and other suchlike jobs I did manage to do a little stitching. Well, actually, I managed it a few weeks prior to going away, on UFO Tuesday, and didn't get around to posting an update. So here's where the handsome fella got to before the holiday packing got underway:


I decided to fill in the other corner so it would define the working area and give a definite goal to work towards. He didn't make it out of the bag again but Mr Stick didn't chase me, as I had permission to go awol due to some perfectly valid excuses: it was mine and DH's 25th Wedding Anniversary on the 14th, followed by our 2 week holiday. Yes 25 years and another milestone event in our lives. Whoda thunk we'd make it this far,eh? LOL We didn't do much, just had a take-out curry, as we decided to go out for a special meal to celebrate whilst on our holiday. :0)

Our anniversary may have been a bit of a damp squib but my birthday excitement continued a little longer when I received another rather pretty package, this one from Clare:


Here's what was inside the envelope and packages:


One of Clare's lovely handmade decoupage cards and an amethyst bead fob (my favourite gemstone) and some perle threads and Silkweaver fabric in the prettiest colours. Thank you again Clare for the lovely card and gifts - I love them and shall enjoy using everything. :0)

Then a second envelope from Clare revealed these fab cross stitch charts:


Plus some blackwork charts:


I do love wildlife and nature and blackwork and the charts made her think of me. How nice is that? Thank you again for your generosity Clare. :0)

Yet more nice post arrived.... this time from Julie, in the form of a book that she very kindly sent on to me:


Thanks again Julie. :0) It went straight from the envelope into my bag for my holiday read. I'd decided taking a Barbara Erskine with me was a bad idea when we were going to be staying in an old cottage - far too spooky! Good decision, as it was a really good book........ so good it didn't last out the fortnight! LOL You can find out more in my side bar or over at The Reading Corner blog, if you're interested.

I also squeezed in a little more stitching before going away and managed to complete the first part of the JA/S&S Forum's Hardanger Bookmark SAL that is being run by Clare. Here's the pic to prove it:


That's one of the very few deadlines I actually managed to beat during July. Yay! The second part is now out, so I need to extract my digit and start applying a needle to this soon so I get to meet an August deadline too.

My niece's birthday was due while we were going to be away so the cardmaking goodies came out. Yes, I got all super-efficient and made a card and posted it early. Here's what I made for her this year:


She's definitely a pink girl so she should have liked it. There was also another birthday girl who's day was due during our holiday: Julie, and here's the card I made for her:

Another one I was really pleased with and enjoyed making. I also stitched a little something..... but I shall put that in another post. :0)

We then went off on our two-weeks holiday to the Lake District, where we stayed in a lovely cottage in Chapel Stile village in the Great Langdale Valley. As this is already a long post I shall do a separate post about that too.

Thank you for visiting and for all the lovely comments. I shall be having a catch up with you all in the coming week. :0)