Pumpkins, Blackwork, Digging, Chat and Another SAL

It's well past time I put in an appearance on this poor blog... it does seem to get put to the back of the queue on the list of things to do these days and I have no idea why. So, what have I been up to this time? Well, believe it or not, a second Happy Dance has followed hot on the heels of the Tiger - I guess that goes to prove that the sttichy mojo is definitely back from it's holidays and here to stay. Yay! It did help that the piece I picked out was an absolute joy to stitch..... and here it is, in all it's unpressed glory:

Design: A Spot of Halloween

Designer: Midnight Stitching

Fabric: Sparklies 28ct evenweave, Pumpkin Patch

Threads: DMC B5200 & 310

Apologies for the slightly blurry pic - the weather here has been dull and dismal much of the time and the digicam isn't that good.... and neither are my photography skills, to be honest. LOL This one was the best of the lot I took. It didn't get finished for Samhain (Halloween) this year...... but I am well organised for the next one..... providing I can decide how to finish this up before then. I'd like to finish it as a wall hanging but my sewing skills aren't up for it - the darned sewing machine will insist on galloping off and doing it's own thing, no matter what I do. I shall get to the other side of Yule (Christmas) and into January and go find out what sewing courses, if any, are available via the Adult Education classes or the local Colleges - it's way past time I tamed that darned machine and cured my terror of it, once and for all. School sewing classes have got an awful lot to answer for!

As soon as I got Spot of finished I picked a new WIP progress out of the To Stitch pile.... sorry Julie and Mr Stick, those UFO's are just not grabbing me at the moment and not even Wanda brandishing her broom at me has worked - though I have got rather good at ducking and diving! LOL I bet you're all wondering what the new WIP is, aren't you? I did wonder about leaving that until the next post - then remembered that poor Tina (no blog) has been itching to see what it is and I've been tormenting her for long enough now. So here's the first update pic:

Design: Blackwork Mystery SAL

Designer: Seba Designs

Fabric: 28ct evenweave, Vintage Blue

Threads: Thai Variegated Silk (so far)

It's another really naff pic too, due to the same reasons as above. :0( The fabric is actually a lovely pale blue, in a Vintage style, and the silk thread is graded from a lovely deep blue to a pale blue. Strictly speaking, the Mystery and SAL are no longer relevant, as the SAL finished long since and it's no longer a Mystery as I have all the parts... but I won't go splitting hairs. ;0) It has grown a bit more since this and would have grown even more if that darned frog hadn't come a visiting. What was so annoying about it was that I was just half a stitch too low. Yes - not even a whole one, just half a bloomin' stitch! So it got frogged, then restitched in the right place, with the satisfaction of adding a couple of extra stitches, just so it seemed like some progress had been made overall. Sheesh.... when I think that without that mistake I could have had two squares stitched, not just one, I could spit like a camel. Well, I did have the hump big time afterwards.... does that count?

Now let me cast my mind back and see if I can remember what else has been happening since my last post. Eeerrrrmmmm..... well, I've had a few sleeps since then, so it's a bit of a struggle. The poor wee brain cell is on overdrive, trying to keep up with the regular stuff, and this might be a step too far. LOL

DH and I attended the Mind, Body and Spirit event at the Lincolnshire Showground on Sunday 7th and had a great day. I attended three of the workshop/talks: Past Lives; Meditation with Instruments and Healing with Crystals - DH came to the second and third ones with me. They were all very interesting. We also had a little retail therapy, though not as much as previous times, and I also underwent a Crystal Healing session, from one of the stalls..... now that was a great experience and further proved (not that any was needed) that I have an affinity with crystals and need to develop this further. It also helped me to go straight to a crystal stall and pick out a new Pendulum, for use in Dowsing specifically for health related matters. This event was the last one in this area for this year.

Oh, I know what else: the chaps decided that, with the help of one of DS's mates, they would lay the new waterpipe. You know how these things go with the male of the species..... they get a professional in to give them a price; they then see a large amount of £££'s on a quote and go: "You what? How much? I can get it done cheaper than that"; then they start the job, all enthusiastic..... and very soon realise that, actually, it's a hell of a lot more work than they'd realised and it's going to take them longer than they thought and, then they go: aaahh crap - wish we'd paid somebody to come and do this.

Seem familiar? Yup, that's about what happened here.

Getting the slabs up was relatively easy.... it was the bloody horrible clay stuff they had to dig out that was the problem, especially as it all had to be done by hand because we weren't 100% sure where or how deep the existing water and gas pipes were. Here's the front all dug up (one days work) with the sand layer in and the new pipe loosely laid (the second day):

This and other pics had to be taken for the benefit of the Water Board, to prove that we'd done it correctly - as we need the drive for parking our cars on, it all had to be backfilled and the slabs put back down afterwards, all before they could come out to inspect it and connect it up. Waiting for them to do that can take around six weeks (or more) and we weren't prepared to leave the trench open that long.... someone was bound to "accidentally" fall in it and try for a nice bit of compensation just before Christmas, weren't they? (Yes, I am a tad cynical. LOL). Our neighbours, the Pete's, got their trenchwork and piping done on the Saturday - lucky so and so's had proper soil to dig through and a couple more helping hands than we did - but they very kindly came round and helped us finish up the front on the Sunday.

Now the side of the house, behind the wooden gates, is a whole different story. That had to be left in this state:

That bit is from the side gates and almost to the back door and the next pic is from the back door to the back end of the house (the wooden board is so I can come out to put stuff in the recycling boxes without falling into the hole):

Since then DS and another mate have dug it all down even further (has to be a certain depth, by law) , so the clay heaps are even higher. DS then went out and backfilled the stretch from the back of the side gates to just short of the first carport upright post:

Saturday (20th) I thought I'd show willing and I shovelled and ferried two half barrows of sand round from next door (can't lift a full barrow of wet sand) and then shovelled a layer into the bottom of the trench, from just after the carport upright up to the back door and tamped it all down - it's now ready for the chaps to lay the pipe, stick a sand layer on top and backfill, whenever the mood takes them. After that I was mildly cream crackered. ;0)

DH spent much of the first weekend taking apart a kitchen cupboard, to access the outside wall, and drilling through, for the new pipe to come in.

That bit I don't mind..... it means the kitchen refurb has just been bumped higher up the Must Do list. Yay! LOL I spent most of that weekend making cuppas and a combination of bacon/egg/sausage butties - the fuel that keeps the British Workman going. The only bit about that was that I couldn't eat any of it, due to the food intolerances/special diet - bum!

This weekend, as if there hadn't already been enough destruction, DH had to dismantle some of the downstairs toilet and uncover the wall, so he could drill through for the new pipe to come in there too (it has a separate pipe system to the rest of the house, as it's in an extension). This is what it looks like at the moment:

Yup, it's definitely out of commision for the foreseeable future - we're all getting a little extra exercise going up and down the stairs, to use the updstairs loo. LOL The little white "lump" in the right hand corner of the pic is a piece of kitchen roll blocking the hole to the outside. The outside bit now looks like this:

Thankfully we have a pile of bricks at the bottom of the garden, some of which can be used to repair the bashed out area there, plus the matching bashed in bit to the kitchen. We have no idea what that random bit of brickwork is to the right of the trench: the proper manhole and sewerage pipe is further over, running straight between the houses and out to the main sewer under the road - that bit is totally out of alignment with our house and the neighbours house. All we can think of is that the builders got that bit wrong and decided it was too much hassle to rave it all out again, so just left it in situ. You find some weird bits and pieces when you start dismantling or digging bits up in and around this house. LOL Fingers crossed (and everything else!) that this job gets finished before Christmas because the level of muddy footprints that are getting traipsed through my house is now starting to give me a decided twitch.

Development Circle is going OK, though there wasn't a session last week as Aureen was undergoing some hospital tests for a couple of ongoing health isues she has. Lots of healing vibes have been going her way. My acupuncturist is currently on holiday, so I booked myself in for a couple of Reflexology sessions - those have been very interesting, not just for the healing but also for the chat with the practitioner, B. She is undergoing training in Hypnotherapy... so I've requested that she lets me know when her training is complete, as I would like her help with a couple of things: to get me back on track with my diet, as that's gone to pieces since my op; help with learning some self-treating techniques, to help me tackle the last couple of post-agoraphobia/panic attack things that still give me a little anxiety and to aid meditation; wanting to remember a couple of childhood incidents that could have a bearing on issues I have now and, the main thing, to undergo a Past Life Regression. B should receive her certificates in January and will be able to give Hypnotherapy treatments from then, so 2011 looks set to be an even more interesting year than this one. :0)

Oooo, I nearly forgot: the lovely Tina (no blog) will be running a Shores of Hawk Run Hollow SAL over at the Stitch & Stash Forum but it's not just for stitching Shores - folks can join in with any Carriage House Samplings piece. So I went rummaging in my stash and found three CHS charts lurking in there and this one shouted the loudest:

Enchanted... and, as you can see, I've already got the fabric chosen and done a floss toss. I've been extra good, as everything is from stash. I think the SAL starts in January 2011 (best check, hadn't I? LOL), so it'll be a nice way to start off the New Year and, hopefully, I'll manage to keep up this time... unlike with the Just Nan SAL (sssshhh, don't let Mr Stick know! LOL).

Oh, and before I forget again: someone asked about the new header pic. It's a view of the Langdale Pikes, as taken from the path between Skelwith Bridge and Elterwater, in the Lake District. It's one of the pics I took when DH and I did the walk on our summer holiday this year. :0)

Thank you for taking the time to visit... and especially for the lovely comments you leave. Welcome to newbies to my blog too.. please say Hi. Have a good week folks. :0)

Still Alive & Kicking!

Yep, I'm still in the land of the living (although some would argue the finer points of that on observing me emerging from my bed first thing of a morning! ROFL) - have just been busy doing updates on my other blog, going out and about, doing jobs and stitching. Yes, that's right: some stitching..... but more on that a little later, just to keep the suspense going a bit longer. ;0)

So what have I been up to? Let's see if I can remember (always a bit dodgy, is that). Well I had another wander down my local High Street last week, as I had another package to post, and because I just plain felt like it (anyone who reads my other blog will know this is a major improvement, as I'm recuperating from agoraphobia and panic attacks). It was an enjoyable outing and also productive, as I scored big time at the Hospice charity shop. No, no craft related goodies but some wonderful Ltd Ed Egyptian style plates that were sat in the window shouting "Buy Me!". LOL There were four plates and I decided I couldn't really afford them all at that time, so opted for these two:

The one on the left is entitled Isis, Mother of the Sun God and the one on the right is Hathor, Goddess of Joy and Love. I thought they would look good on the wall in my new craft room. :0)

Thursday night I wasn't a happy bunny: around 10pm there was a sudden problem with getting on the internet....... as in: I couldn't - at all. Aaaaarrrrggghh!!! The modem lights were on, so it was working, but a quick Microsoft diagnostic revealed that the server couldn't be found. OK, that sounds like it's their end not ours. Not according to Virgin Media it wasn't, when DH rang up to enquire - they'd send an engineer out on Monday to have a look at the modem, claiming they couldn't "find" it or the box at their end. It was very tempting to say: well they were sat on top of the TV last time we looked, missus. ;0) They knocked a tenner off the bill as a goodwill gesture - I'd way rather they send the engineer chap out asap, thank you very much.

Ever the optimist (hah! in denial, more like!) I hoped it would be OK when I got up on Friday. It wasn't. So what do you do with yourself when you don't have internet access? That's after you get over the bit where you run around the house screaming like a banshee and tearing your hair out, thinking OMG if it ain't back by tonight I might actually have to sit and talk to the OH.............. and after you've been round the house with the Dyson for the third time in a week, getting close to wearing out the carpets and taking a layer off the laminate......... well, you go and get a good case of Stitch Ass of course. LOL

Yup, I decided it was as good a time as any, especially for the state of my mental health, to whip up the flagging stitching mojo by starting a new piece which would give me the chance to try out the new magnifier lamp. Here's the piece I chose:

Design: Ghouls Night Out

Designer: The Sampler Girl, internet freebie

Fabric: 28ct evenweave Dusk Blue, unknown make

Threads: DMC 310 - 947: stitched 1 over 1

Finish: as an ornie - not decided yet

I haven't finished it yet as I can't decide whether to leave it as is, or add another orange zigzag line at the top........ because it will probably bug me left as it is. I can't help it, I just like symmetry and it isn't looking that way right now. BTW, that magnifier lamp is the best thing ever since sliced bread - it's the bees knees - it's the dogs dangly bits..... well you get the drift: it made the 1 over 1 stitching look like it was 14ct aida, not even the smallest hint of eye strain..... and I got to watch TV too because the specs didn't have to come off so I could see the stitching. Yay!!!!! There might just be some progress on my HAED Mother Earth this side of Christmas after all. :0)

To put the icing on the cake: internet access came back just as suddenly as it had disappeared around 10pm that night, so it was all systems go for emails, checking of Forums and Blogging. Thank goodness - that was the longest 24 hours ever! LOL BTW, we've since had a morning of being unable to access emails: Hhhhmmmm, could that mean they've actually been doing maintenance/updating on the system but failed to notify us about it and wouldn't admit it, then? I reckon so. Never mind, I'm just glad to have it back again. :0)

I've been pottering around doing jobs and things the rest of the time. This weekend we were out and about for much of it. Saturday DS went to Brigg Farmers Market whilst DH and I went out shopping, with ports of call at Dunhelm, The Range and Poundstretcher for various household bits and pieces we needed, followed by a pub lunch and then a trip to the Pink Pig and Uncle Henry's for some food shopping. That night DH and I went to the local Spiritualist Church - more about that on my other blog. Sunday we went to the Harrogate Health and Healing Festival for the day (more on my other blog about that, too) and followed that up with a pub meal - it was a good day. I now miss the JA/S&S UFO Night on Tuesday evenings as that's the night of the Development Circle meetings (see other blog) so no progress on any UFO's to show - though am hoping to get into a new routine of stitching some time during either Tuesday or Wednesday daytime to make up for it.

Today was my monthly visit to the Clinic to see Jan, my Herbalist (will do a write up on my other blog about this shortly). Whilst down the street I finally managed to venture further down to have a wander around the regular Thursday market - something I haven't done for years, thanks to the agoraphobia etc. It used to be a great, thriving little market - my Mum and Dad, and my DSis when she wasn't at work, used to enjoy coming over for a visit for the day, specifically to shop there - but I found it sadly depleted today. It was the oddest thing: as I was walking round I got a really strong sense of my Dad beside me and I found myself mentally saying "Yep, you're right Dad - it certainly isn't as good as it used to be". Reckon he came for a look-see for old times sake. :0) It's such a shame the market has been allowed to deteriorate like that though.

Heading back up the High Street, on my way home, it was a different story though. As I got to the Hospice charity shop and looked in the window what did I see? Yes, the other two plates were still there. I saw it as a sign so, as I'd now got enough money, I went in and bought them.


The one on the left is Ma'at, Goddess of Wisdom and Truth and the one on the right is Nepthys, Goddess of the edge of the desert. They will look fabulous displayed together, in a diamond shape, on the wall. I also plan on stitching an Angel - probably one of the Just Nan ones, for the JA/S&S JN SAL in January - for in there as well........ if I can decide on which one, as they are all equally as pretty. LOL

Thank you for all the lovely comments about the ornies in my last post. They have safely arrived with Donna, who had a great post week as several more packages full of ornies arrived for her tree. I am so looking forward to seeing pics of the tree - it is going to look fabulous with all the different ornies decorating it. :0)

And as it's in full bloom and such a sunny colour for this end of the year I thought I'd leave you with a pic of the rogue sunflower that sprouted in my garden earlier last month:

Pretty, isn't it? I plan on collecting the seeds and having a go - deliberately, this time - at growing a couple next year. :0)

Thank you for visiting and taking the time to leave comments - they are all very much appreciated. Hope you all have a good Friday and an even better weekend, whatever your plans. :0)

Nice Surprises

It's been the time for a few nice surprises since we returned from our last holiday so I thought I'd share them with you......... especially as there's a severe lack of my stitching progress to show at the moment! I guess my mojo is still away on holiday *sigh*.

The first surprise was one we had on the Saturday we returned home. We unloaded everything from the car and took some of it upstairs, where we noticed the little bedroom door was shut. Unusual, as it's nearly always left ajar.... so we opened it........ and found that not only had DS cleared out the rest of the stuff in there but had also: dismantled and got rid of the cabin bed; taken down all the shelving, cleaned it and stored it elsewhere; stripped off all the wallpaper and sugar soaped it (these with the help of our friend Alex, for which we're extremely grateful) and painted the lot! It's gone from Thomas Tank wallpaper to this:


It's Dulux Gentle Lavender on the walls. They are all the same colour - the shadows are making one wall look darker. This is the back corner of the room which (at least on my screen) is more true to the colour:


You can just see a little of the ceiling which is white. The woodwork and radiator are all in Jasmine White:


That's the new curtain track we bought from Wilko's on Saturday, which is yet to go up. The window and UPVC all need a really good clean first though - with it being the junk room it was impossible to get to the window so the grot has built up over the years. :0( DS did all the painting himself and made a really good job of it. It was a fantastic surprise to come home to and I'm so excited that having my Craft Room is so much closer...... I told DS he was a little beauty! LOL

We spent some of Sunday looking round the DIY stores at laminate flooring and ceiling lights - we didn't find a suitable light but did get the flooring, a nice light oak colour. DH plans on running a couple of cables and doing a few repairs to some damaged floorboards before putting that down - hopefully over the next weekend. :0)

We're also on the hunt for a new computer desk as the one I'm currently using is very basic and very grotty. I'm after one that has room to put not only the monitor and keyboard on it but also has dedicated spaces for the tower, printer/scanner and laminator. So far we've spotted two possibles........ watch this space. :0)

A lovely surprise that arrived this week was my giveaway win from Lisa. I was really pleased to have won a cute Santa chart but when the envelope arrived here's what I found inside:


Yup, not only the chart but a great postcard and also the fabric and the Weeks Dye Works threads to stitch the piece. I have to say my jaw dropped when I saw everything as it is amazingly generous. Thank you again Lisa - it really did make my day. :0) So when do you want to start the SAL? LOL

And last, but not least, was the gift of a stitching magazine from Alex:


She doubled up on the magazine when her subscription kicked in earlier than anticipated, so thought I'd enjoy the magazine. Aren't those little felt booties adorable? The biscornu is a tad tempting too. I haven't had a good browse through this yet - am saving it for another day, as I've been a bit busy sorting other things out and been out and about a bit lately too. DH and I attended a Complimentary Health event last night (Monday), which I've written a bit about on my other blog and I'm out at my newly restarted Development Circle tonight (Tuesday). Now that I have really been looking forward to: there's a new group of ladies going to this, one of whom I met last night, and it definitely feels more like the right time for this to go ahead. I'll do a write up about that on my other blog at some point too. :0)

Meantime the sort out has continued and binders full of two part works magazines have been re-homed via Freecycle. One lot of them was to do with all aspects of fishing and DS decided to offer them to a guy for his three grandsons to use: the guy was delighted and the grandchildren even more so. It was good to know they were going to be well loved and appreciated...... much better than sitting on a shelf gathering dust! I have to continue with the sort out: some of the boxes of stuff that were in the little bedroom are now scattered around mine and DH's bedroom - not conducive to restful sleep, so they've gotta go. LOL A few more ornaments from my chicken collection have gone in a bag, ready to go to the Hospice shop and another bag full of clothes, the old set of curtains from the little bedroom and a set of bedding was collected last Thursday - another bag is to go to my DSis's next time we see her. The wardrobe now only has clothes in that fit me or are only slightly big on me...... that shop for trousers is now desperately needed. I've yet to go through my t-shirt drawers but if I turf too many of those out it'll be a struggle to find anything to wear! LOL

I've also been having a bit of a sort through some of my stash. I've added some of the charts from kits I've stitched to my Webshots Trade album (I rarely stitch things twice, so there's no point in keeping them), along with a few other charts. Since then I've had another ferret and found a few more things I know I'm not likely to stitch now, due to my tastes changing, but can't add them to the album yet...... the printer/scanner developed a fault so is currently in electronic hospital, otherwise known as CRAM Computers shop. They seem to be taking their own sweet time about it too, so will have to ask DH to ring them up and chivvy them along some. :0) There's limited space in the Craft Room and things need to be organised for going in there, so it's the best time to wheedle out those things that are no longer needed and find new homes for them. At least, that's the theory....... unfortunately I seem to have developed a bit of an eBay habit in the last couple of weeks. Will share pics another time. ;0)

Thank you all for taking the time to visit and for all the lovely comments you leave - they're very much appreciated. Hope you're all having a good week. :0)