Weekend Stitching

Well that theatre Get In was a long one and I didn't see DH again until around 6pm and DS didn't show his face until around 10pm - so it was a long, quiet day with the TV and my stitching to keep me company. The TV was pretty dire at times but it was nice to have the voices in the background......... guess it makes a change from the ones in my head and talking to myself LOL. By the end of the night Heartwarmers looked like this:


Pretty pleased with that progress. Still got the arms and a little birdhouse to stitch but the eyes and mouth and holly berries are all beads and I'm going to leave all those until the end and add them when I add the charms.

DH liked what he saw of the rehearsal after the Get In yesterday and reckons it will be a good production to go and watch, so it looks like we'll be having a night out some time this week. That'll make a nice change as they normally only let me out at the weekends. ;0)

Many thanks for all the kind comments on my stitching and for the well wishes. I'm feeling way better than I did, although Sod's Law struck at the weekend: while I was out in the garden helping DH some nasty little critter bit the back of my right leg (ankle height) twice and the bites have gone a bit iffy, so I've got a limp - again! There's a patch of inflammation that's slowly spreading around my leg, despite not scratching and copiously daubing the bites with TCP. At least I have the satisfaction of knowing that whatever it was that bit me has more than likely died of food poisoning since........ and serve the little bugger right! LOL

Today I've been hobbling round, getting my usual jobs done ready for Alex dropping by. I popped out and filled up all the bird feeders earlier but I didn't hang around long - the midges are rife and I didn't fancy adding any more bites to what I've already got. Can't believe just how nice the weather is at the moment though, can you? Now why didn't we have some of this during the summer holidays?! As for tonight, I shall probably carry on with the bellpull for now...... unless I decide to break off and do another Halloween ornie instead. Hmmm, decisions, decisions.

Hope you all had an enjoyable weekend. Thank you for taking the time to visit. :0)

Something Fishy!

No, it isn't down to the wind from Grimsby Docks blowing in this direction. The something fishy is my Sea Stars SAL piece. As promised, here's a pic of where I left off after this weeks progress:

The right hand square motif is the one added this time around and it's in Carrie's Baja Blue plus I also managed to add a little to the ships' wheel and another little fish. I love that Baja Blue and would love to do a monochromatic design in just that thread at some point - will have to get thinking and looking through my stash to see what would suit. :0)

DH got back from his trip to Italy OK Friday night, tired but none the worse for wear. My nights sleep was only marginally better though, as I kept being woken up by the dulcet tones of his snoring, so am still feeling somewhat sleep deprived. We were supposed to be going to my DSis's today (Saturday) but I got an upset stomach so we stayed home instead. I won't complain though, as it meant the lawn got what will hopefully be the last cut of the season and some of the conifers got trimmed and topped as well. I helped out when I could and it was good to spend some time out there - despite feeling shattered when we'd done I also felt refreshed, clearer headed and my stomach had settled down nicely. Mother Nature working Her wonders once again. :0)

Tonight I decided to go for a new stitching start. No, not the Lorri Birmingham Seasons piece I mentioned previously (still looking for that elusive 28ct white banding for that) but it is another Lorri B design. Here's where I've got to with it:

Can you tell what it is yet? LOL Sorry about the blurry pic but I took three and they all turned out like that and it's just too much hassle to go do some more just now. I don't think it's down to my accidentally dunking the memory card in a hot cup of coffee on Friday (Oops!) because I've taken other pics since and they all came out OK. Will hopefully get a better one next time round, whenever I do an update. Meantime, in case you can't guess which design it is you can see what it looks like here. Cute, aren't they? :0)

DS is out at an LTC social evening tonight (Saturday), a meal at a local Chinese Restaurant - there are supposed to be about 45 of them going, so it should be a good night. Reckon they'll have filled the place! Tomorrow is Get In at the theatre for a Show he's stage manager for and DH will be helping with that. Not sure how long it will take but I reckon it'll be long enough for me to get some quiet stitching time in, carrying on with my new WIP. Just hope there's something decent on the TV..... if not I guess the relaxation CD's will be going on instead.

Well, between the sleep deprivation, feeling iffy with the stomach upset earlier, and the time spent outside gardening I am definitely well ready for my bed tonight, so I'm off.

Whatever you are all doing this weekend I hope you're having a great time. Thank you for visiting. :0)

Remember, Remember......

No, not the 5th of November - a bit too early for that just yet. Remember this little chap and his buddy?

Well, would you believe I finally got in the mood for finishing this week? Yay! I spent some of Tuesday afternoon with the cold melt glue gun putting things together, then some of Wednesday evening sewing the edges and adding the trim. Here's the result:

Still not too sure about that ribbon but it needed to be sturdy enough to hang from a door handle and obvious enough so that DH and DS will spot it and be careful (that's the theory, anyway. Reckon it'll work? Nah, me neither!). That bold orange does look good against the dark wood of the door though, so it's growing on me. :0)

This is what I used for the back:

That was from a remnant I picked up at a bargain price from the Creative Fabrics sale some time ago. I haven't been able to complete the Fall ornie yet as it needs a charm adding first and I'm waiting on some charms arriving, along with a few other goodies, from Thread Bear. Well, you can't just go buying a few charms from such a great stash place, can you? ;0) LOL

When the finishing on the ornie was done I picked up the Good Friends Count SAL piece and finished the stitching on it. The next job is to find some suitable beads and add them. I've been putting that job off as it means going delving in a cupboard in DS's room and to get to it I shall have to move a mountain of his stuff first. Nope, not one member of this family knows what minimalistic living is all about. Yep, I really meant it when I said send out the search parties if you didn't hear from me again - I could literally end up buried under that mountain of cr*p he's got in there. ;0)

I made a start on the finishing on the JA/S&S Challenge piece early Thursday evening - a bit fiddly, thanks to my hands being a bit iffy at the moment, but I got there in the end. Need to do a little more to it, then it's done and I can take a pic to send to Karen for the album. No pics on here until Reveal Day at the end of the month though, sorry. It's nice to be this organised......... it doesn't happen that often, so I like to take full advantage when it does. LOL

Last night was the turn of the Sea Stars SAL but I shall leave that until next time - I want to finish off the motif I was working on, as there's not much left to do, before taking a pic.

I didn't go to bed until about 1.30am again. This time I dropped off quicker but I still kept waking up through the night. :0( Helen: I'm even crankier than the pedlar's dog now. LOL It's one of those half remembered sayings from childhood (like: more bent than a fiddlers elbow) and I guess they were cranky 'cos they were flea-bitten, mange ridden mutts who got to traipse up and down the country and had to try sleeping in hedge bottoms when there was no other shelter. Glad to say I ain't got the fleas or mange..... well, not that I've noticed..... and my beds lovely and comfy but the good night's sleep just ain't happening. LOL

Lisa: I may have the meditation CD's...... it doesn't necessarily mean I get the meditating bit right. LOL More often than not I get too relaxed and keep falling asleep. Still, at least I usually feel a bit better afterwards....... so long as I don't get a crick in my neck! There are quite a few good books and CD's out there that may help. I get some of my CD's from here. If you want to do the whole setting the mood bit: I get my incense sticks from here - they are the only ones I've used that don't set me off sneezing. I shall probably try nodding off..... oops, I mean meditating again this afternoon.

Many thanks for visiting and especially for the kind comments you leave. Hope you're all having a good day. :0)

Mother Earth

Tuesday UFO Night has come and gone again and this time around it was Mother Earth who wanted some attention and suited my mood. Here's what She looks like now:


If you can't tell where the needle has been: Her throat area has been infilled, odd stitches in Her eye and mouth done and some more stitches added to Her strands of hair. I did have all intentions of stitching more on Wednesday but I got diverted onto something else instead (more of that in my next post). Still, any progress is good. :0)

DH went off to Italy first thing on Wednesday morning and a minibus full went with him this time round, so he'll have plenty of company throughout. He only had his flu jab (diabetics are encouraged to have them) the day before, so I hope he will be OK. He's due home again some time Friday night....... in the meantime DS will be out every night, so I am in sole charge of the TV remote! Yay!

DS went to the casting for the Panto last night and got the part of Jack, as in Jack and Jill. He didn't seem overly excited about it but a combination of post-Henry V blues and a cold are sapping much of his energy and enthusiasm at the moment. He'll feel happier about it once he gets rid of the cold and starts getting into rehearsals again. I did offer to treat us both to a meal at the Malt Shovel tonight but he has something else on. Looks like it's just me and a microwave lasagne tonight then. LOL

I decided against having a 3am bedtime last night, going up around 1.30am instead, in the hopes of not getting as badly sleep deprived as usual. Big mistake - it was ages before I went off to sleep and then what I did get was intermittent, as I kept waking up regularly through the night. Consequently, today I feel as rough as a butchers block and as cranky as the pedlar's dog! The meditation and chill out CD's are going on the player shortly (as in: as soon as I've finished here) and I think I'd better go for the full works today, lighting candles and incense too. LOL

Thank you to one and all for visiting, regulars and newbies - hope you're all having a great day. :0)

A Card, Trims and Chat

Well I didn't get any stitching done Friday night but I did make a card instead. One of my cousins' offspring produced an offspring of their own the middle of last week so I made this card to send:

The light was fading when I took it and the flash has flared a little, unfortunately. The teddy is made from Fimo so this is a very dimensional card. LOL I had to wrap it in bubblewrap and put it in a Jiffy bag to send it.

DH enjoyed seeing Henry V - he not only managed to follow most of the flowery language but also didn't fall asleep! I'll be honest: I had visions of him nodding off, his head falling back and loud snoring issuing forth. LOL The run finished after the performance on Saturday night and DH helped them with the Get Out. No rest for the wicked: DS is off to tonight's reading for the Pantomime, in the hopes of getting one of the two parts he's interested in, then he's stage managing for a Group 62 production which I think starts next week (the actual details slipped past me somewhere in the telling, I'm afraid). I know he's asked DH if he'll help with the Get In.......... looks like I'm set for a few more quiet nights, being in charge of the TV remote. :0)

Saturday we went to Brigg Garden Centre for dinner then had a look round. We had a look round the upstairs Christmas display, which was almost fully complete. Only one mardy brat, who was soon dragged off, so it was quite enjoyable. We didn't come away with any decorations (though there was much temptation!) but I did manage to come away with some pretty trims for finishing off ornies:


At just 99p for 4 metres of piping and 5 of ribbon I thought they were very reasonable. :0) We also came away with some feeders filled with seeds for the robins, tits and finches, a couple of net bags of sunflower seeds and some bags of fruit suet, as planned. A bag of sunflower seeds and one of the feeders went out onto the new feeding station as soon as we got back and a scoop of suet went into the mesh trays. Now to see if more than the starlings, ring-necked doves and sparrows are tempted into visiting. :0)

Sunday we opted to go to the Stephen H Smith garden centre cafe for dinner - my tuna melt panini was very tasty. :0) Afterwards we had a wander round their Christmas display and, again, it was quite pleasant as the few kids that there were very well behaved. This time I did succumb to a decoration:

Can you blame me though? I love and burn candles of all kinds but these Yankee Candles and their decorative burners are in a class of their own. That Christmas Cookie candle is gorgeous - it smells good enough to eat! There was also a good selection of both hardback and paperback books in the gift section, with some being 3 for £10 and others at 3 for £5. I didn't give in to temptation this time, although I could have done, quite easily. DH wasn't going to either, despite immediately spotting a couple he was interested in, but I talked him into them - as part of the anniversary present I still owed him.

He can be awkward to buy for sometimes, as he doesn't give many clues as to what he wants, so I grab such opportunities when they present themselves. It's his birthday next month and, despite reminding him that I'd like to know what he would like....... nothing, nada, zilch, zero - not a clue. I'm debating making up a large tag as an "I.O.U. one birthday gift" and giving him that. LOL

After that we had a look round B&Q for a new bath tap and shower combination but couldn't find one that would meet all the requirements we wanted. Due to my having some arthritic joints in my fingers we are changing all the taps in the house to ones with flip up handles, rather than twist on ones, to make it less painful for me to use them. Unfortunately it's proving difficult to find a flip on bath tap/shower combi that is both thermostatically controlled and has a flip bit to turn it from tap to shower mode - they either don't have the thermostat bit or still insist on having the little twisty knobs that I really struggle to use. We've only just started looking, so have other places still to try, but if that's an example of what's on offer then it may just prove to be a frustrating search.

Next was a trip out to Uncle Henry's. First we had a cold drink (no sticky as we were being good) then did some shopping: some meat for tea, bottles of the Orchard Pig apple juice (one of the best I've ever tasted) and a few other bits and pieces and we signed up for the Loyalty Card scheme. We drove back via the airport so DH could plane spot - although I'd taken my stitching and book with me I didn't need either as it got quite warm, thanks to the sun shining through the windows, and I couldn't keep my eyes open....... I ended up curled up on the backseat having a snooze. Sheesh, I've got the habits of a little old granny already! LOL I told DH he'd better not be turning into an anorak! LMAO

After tea I carried on stitching the JA/S&S Challenge piece, which I started Saturday night, and completed it. Sorry, no pic until Reveal Day. Have you ever started out with the intention of making your stitched piece up as one thing then have it morph into something else entirely different as you go along? Well that's what happened with this: I had all intentions of trying my first needleroll with it and had cut the fabric to suit but the design had other ideas and is now going to end up as something totally different. If I have enough time, among the other things I want to stitch and complete this month, I may just stitch a second pink design to go with it. As the stitching on that didn't take too long I started the fifth and final part of the Good Friends Count SAL as well. It stitches up so well I shall miss this when it's completed.

It's been my usual routine today with one exception: Alex wasn't able to come round for our regular coffee and natter due to pressures of work, thanks to the parent/teacher evenings fast approaching. I miss the natter. I got the jobs done and out of the way anyway - it frees up so much time for other, fun stuff, later in the week when I do that. :0)

Tonight I hope to carry on with GFC, so fingers crossed for a finish and a HD very soon. :0)

Thank you for visiting and for all the kind comments on my stitching, they are greatly appreciated. Hope you enjoy your visits. :0)

Three S's

That's Stash and Sea Stars, before anyone's mind goes a thinking of anything else.......... sorry, but with a lad like mine I just felt the need to clarify that! ;0) LOL

The stash is my Monthly Clubs of 32ct fabric and gorgeous rainbow of Carrie's threads from Jayne:


I love that monthly pinkie dropping through the letter box. This time around the fabric was a piece of Polstitches Fields of Green and what a lovely reminder of Spring it is. I'll have to find something suitably Spring-like to stitch on it. :0)

As you all know by now Thursday Night is Sea Stars night. Is it being really sad, knowing what day of the week it is by what you are stitching on? LOL If it is I don't care - not when the designs are as lovely as these. Here's this weeks progress:

Another motif, another tropical fish and a bit more of the ships' wheel and octopus. Not quite as much as I'd like to have done but there were several interruptions through the evening that stopped me from getting a proper flow going. Hopefully I shall make up for it next week. Looking forward to seeing the other girls' progress. :0)

If I can get organised (Hah! LOL) and pick the fabric and threads I shall make a start on the Challenge piece tonight........ if not it might just be a good time to give Night Watchman another outing out of the work bag. I won't be having that new Lorri Birmingham start just yet: the 4 1/2" wide, 30" long white 28ct evenweave banding that I need is proving to be a tad elusive. I've tried most of my usual online shopping places without luck - so if you know of anywhere that sells it or if you have some and are willing to let me buy or trade for it then please shout up........ I'd be really grateful as I really want to start this design soon. :0)

Meantime Part 5 of the Good Friends Count SAL appeared in my Inbox earlier this afternoon, so that has been printed out ready to go. Hopefully I'll get to that some time over the weekend. This is the final part and it has all the beading placement on it too........ so it looks like the Tacky Bob is going to get some use sooner than expected. I shall have to go rooting around in my bead stash beforehand for something suitable........ as that's currently being stored in two different places I may be gone for some time. ;0)

Last night's Henry V performance had an audience of just over 70 people - not a great turn out but still better than expected. There are obviously more cultured folk in this town than I gave it credit for. LOL DH has decided he wants to be among those cultured souls and is off to watch it tonight........ Jane Austen and the Bronte's are as much culture as I'm up for, so I won't be joining him. He can tell me all about it later...... if he manages to stay awake through it. Eheheh.

My DSis is working this weekend so we're staying home again but have no set plans, as yet. I do need to get some more peanuts for the birds and some suitable food for the robins, tits and finches so we may have yet another trip to one of the many garden centres in the area and as some of the Christmas displays are going up at the moment it's a good excuse to go see those as well. As I suspected, the ram-raiding sparrows didn't take long to pluck up courage and start eating the fat balls in the new feeder - I spotted them mobbing it yesterday afternoon and they've been regularly visiting it ever since. I popped out earlier and re-filled all the feeders with peanuts and seed but didn't hang around for long as there's a decidedly winter bite to the air, instead of the autumnal nip we had been having - a sign those Northerly winds have arrived. It's getting so brisk out I've taken down my windchimes to prevent them getting damaged so I'd guess there's a good chance we'll be doing inside jobs over this weekend. LOL

The son and heir is home once more so I'm off to feed him before he shoots off to the theatre again.

What ever you do this weekend, I hope it is full of fun and laughter for you all. :0)

That's Better!

Just when I began to wonder if Motivation might have gone on holiday and taken her good friend Mojo with her up they popped again last night, so stitching commenced and not one but two SAL sections got finished! Yay!

First up for some attention was the Ozark Mystery SAL and I got the second motif finished:


Can you spot the mistake? Unfortunately it wasn't until the motif was complete that realisation hit: although I'd correctly altered the motif to be the same distance from the border edge as the other, and despite counting and recounting, I hadn't been totally accurate and it's finished up positioned one stitch lower than the other motif. After venting and bringing it's parentage into question it's been put to one side and left. I shall wait until Part 10 arrives and see what that entails before deciding if it should be frogged and redone....... or not. If it doesn't look too out of kilter I will probably decide I can live with it and leave well alone - the motif looks nice but I didn't enjoy stitching it and, to be honest, don't fancy doing it again.

Next up was the next part of the Good Friends Count SAL and this, thankfully, went a whole lot smoother:

I love that four-sided stitch as it's really simple to do but looks so effective. The next part should be in my InBox soon - am looking forward to seeing what's next.

Tonight is Sea Stars again, so tonight's stitching is taken care of. Tomorrow I shall probably kit up the JA/S&S Challenge piece ready to start that. I had chosen one particular design to do and printed it out but have now decided it's a bit too involved to do at the moment (maybe a future stitch?). I had another look at the links earlier today and chose a different freebie to stitch which I like just as much and it will be much more straightforward to do. I also printed out a second design while I was looking: the Gloria & Pat Cancer poem freebie. I found it quite inspirational and intend to stitch and frame it and donate the piece to the hospice that cared for my Dad, so they can either display it or raffle it to make funds. :0)

OK, I'll fess up now: after completing the two SAL sections I almost had a new start last night. Yes, another one. It's a lovely Lorri Birmingham piece called The Four Seasons that I bought from someone's stash clearance sale last month (yes, I kept quiet about that LOL). I adore LB designs, so how could I continue to resist starting it? I wasn't too sure about the best place to start the piece, so had a count up of all the sections on the chart then counted out on the banding and put pins in relevant places to give me a better idea of the placement of each section. Good job I did take the time to do this as the banding is just not long enough to stitch the design on it and do the fabric turning top and bottom for the bell pull ends to go through. I guess someone is trying to tell me to get real and get some current WIP's finished first! LOL Looking on the bright side: this piece of banding will come in for something else and now I do have a rather good excuse to go shopping. ;0)

DS tells me the first night of Henry V went OK, that he'd enjoyed it and there were around a 100 people in the audience - not full but a good first night turn out. He said the final applause was way better than the one pair of hands clapping and echoing round the auditorium that he had been expecting. LOL Fingers crossed that the audience numbers are either as good as, or better, for the rest of the run. :0)

Sally: which of the fabrics do you like?

Time for me to go cook some tea for DS. He may get nerves before a performance but they certainly don't put him off his food! LOL

Many thanks for taking the time out of your day to come and visit. Hope you're having a good day. :0)