A Wombling We Go.....

Oops - it's been a while since I've blogged again. Can't really blame one particular thing - more a combination of things that meant I had less time to spend on the computer than usual. Still.... I'm back now. :0)

Whilst DH was helping with the Panto Get In two weekends ago I spent some time with my cardmaking stash, having fun. So what has Wombling got to do with that? Well, being the frugal Yorkshire-born woman I am, as well as a keen recycler, I used various wombled items from other Christmas cards to make new ones. Yes, I finally got in the mood for the festive season! LMAO

These are the first three I made:


All the main elements are wombled bits and everything else (cards, paper, vellum, ribbons, backing card, peel-offs etc) is from my stash.

These were the next three:

All those metal tree trims were on one card - I cut them out and made three individual ones out of them. That's how you make a little go a long way! LOL

Next I took the cut out wording and a parcel from another card and made another two cards from those:

I love productive days like that. :0) The cardmaking stash got put away after that and I finally got back to stitching again. Yay!

So what have I been stitching? Well, I finally chose my fabric and threads and made a start on the JA/S&S Monthly Challenge piece - there's still some to stitch on that, as it seems to be slow going/hard work on my eyes for some reason, then there's the finishing to do too...... once I've made my mind up what to turn it in to. Better extract my digit though, as it's Reveal Day this Friday! Also got an ornie stitched for the JA/S&S Monthly Christmas Ornie SAL too.... but again, it's waiting for finishing inspiration to kick in. Pics to come later.

I've also had a two day stint on Night Watchman: Tuesday UFO Night (yes, I actually remembered last week! LOL) and again on Wednesday night (to make up for not stitching the week before). Then Sea Stars finally made it back out of the bag again last week. I didn't stitch on Thursday SAL night as we went out to see the LTC Pantomime Little Red Riding Hood that night but made up for it by stitching on it Friday night, Saturday and Sunday. You never know: if I can keep this up I might just stand a chance of finishing this not too long after Barb and Rosanne finish theirs, rather then lagging waaaaay behind. LOL I'll post pics of both next time round.

Reading wise: I've now finished two books and started a third this year. There's more information in the side bar and on The Reading Corner blog on the finishes. My new book (which I'm just over half way through) is The House at Riverton by Kate Morton, as recommended by Julie. Thanks Julie: it's a great read and I'm thoroughly enjoying it..... have yet to discover the secrets, though I can guess at one (Grace's Daddy). I'll be looking out for more of KM's books in future. BTW, Rachael Midnight is still available if you want it - please let me know your snail mail details and I'll send it off to you.

As for other things: DS had all of last week off as a holiday so he could concentrate on the Pantomime. It was weird having him home during the day but it was nice to spend some time with him. As I said, DH and I went to see it Thursday night and what a brilliant time we had! This was the best Panto yet, with a good story line, top acting, some nice songs and very funny one liners throughout (as in the Three Little Pigs: Laurence, Llewellyn and Bowen LOL)..... with lots of "Behind You's", Boo'ing at the Big, Bad Wolf and cheering for the goodies, which no Panto would be complete without. Word spread quickly about how good the Panto was because they were fully booked for every performance from Thursday night onwards: when a quick poll was taken from some of the adults about where they'd heard about the Panto nearly every one of them said they'd had it recommended to them by someone who'd already been to see it. Not bad going at all for an amateur group performance. :0)

The blog reading catch up was going really well..... until last week. As lousy weather is forecast I won't be tempted out of doors until I have to go out on Friday (monthly consultation with the Herbalist), so I shall spend a fair few hours of those indoor days re-catching up again. I need to see what you've all been busy with. :0)

As for the new eating regime: it's going fairly well so far. There was one slight hiccup on Thursday when DH took us to Uncle Henry's for dinner and shopping after: I got quite despondent when I realised there was absolutely nothing on the menu that I was allowed to eat! Everything had got at least one banned item as an ingredient, many had more, so off I trotted to see the lady behind the counter to explain my problem. I shouldn't have worried: after asking me what foods I could eat she popped into the kitchen to talk to Chef and they made up a lovely ham salad with a small jacket potato and a little rice salad for me. How good is that? Today I'm a happy bunny as I can now reintroduce some fruits into my diet: I love berries on my morning porridge and really missed them during the two weeks "NO sugar at all" ban. Welcome back berries! LOL I can also have apple, kiwi fruit, mango and papaya so we need to go shopping for those this week. My current food favourite is a rice flake milky pudding - no added anything, just as it is. Yum! I think I've lost more weight, as a few clothing items that were previously tight on me aren't any more and I'm going to need the reassuring security of a belt for my jeans and trousers soon. The problem is, after the first reappearance of facial bone structure and a waist, I can't actually see where the weight is going from now - the flabby bits are still flabby and don't look any different to me! I shall ask Jan, the Herbalist, to weigh me on Friday and see what the scales have to say about it. So wish I'd thought to take a tape measure to my body before starting all this - any change in those measurements would make it obvious where the flab is going from! LOL

In the interests of a little exercise, and a much needed tidy up, DH and I managed to spend a few hours out in the garden on Sunday, pruning back various things that needed it and shredding the trimmings. All that bending, there's no wonder my back and legs are aching today! We still need to attack the triffids at the bottom of the garden but we ran out of time and daylight - though we did manage to fill the brown bin and four bags before we gave up and went in. Not sure when we'll next be able to get out there as the weather has turned really foul now.

Today is my regular jobs day, ready for Alex visiting. I can tell something is definitely working with this new regime: I whisked round everything that needed doing in less time than it usually takes me, then added a couple of extra jobs to the "done" list too. That's despite the back and leg twinges. How cool is that? LOL That's it: a very shortened version of what's been happening since my last post.

Many thanks for taking the time to visit. Hope you all had a great weekend and a good start to the week. :0)

Last of the Old and First of the New

Meaning the last of 2008's received items and makes and the first finishes of 2009. Yes, it's back to the crafts at long last. LOL

I had to share a pic of the lovely decoupage card my PenPal Maggie sent to me:

Unfortunately my pic just doesn't do this any justice at all, as it's much more layered and dimensional than you can tell from the pic. So pretty. :0)

Another card, this time one I made for my friend Alex's birthday on the 23rd December:

As you can see I've still not tamed that flippin' scanner and it's left the card looking very "flat", so I shall be taking all pics with the digicam from now on. The image and wording were stamped then heat embossed with carbon and silver embossing powder - it and the darker backing layers glitter much more IRL. I do like the romantic look of this and was fairly pleased with how it turned out.

The next card I made for Karen:

The roses and butterfly are decoupage, so are 3-D. Karen's card was the last make of the old year and was a pleasure to do - I love those cards that just flow nicely and come together just as they've been pictured in my mind. :0)

So....... drum roll, please...... now we have the first finish of 2009:

Kit AY10 - Rose & Ribbon

Mini Motif range - Graphworks International

14ct cream aida

DMC threads

Charity stitch for Treetops Hospice, Derbyshire

Aperture card kindly donated by Claire

OK, so maybe a drum roll is a bit OTT for such a small finish but getting this done was a bit of an achievement with my mojo going missing during the festive season...... I actually started it back on the 23rd December but didn't pick it up again until a few days ago, when it finally got finished. Weirdly enough the renewed interest in stitching seemed to coincide with the day that the festive decorations got taken down and packed away. Go figure! LOL

To keep the renewed interest going I started another small card the same day and finished it up on the 6th:

Kit - The Medieval Knight

Medieval Miniatures range - The Textile Heritage Collection

Designed by Ann Orr

16ct? Royal Blue Aida

Possibly DMC threads

This one will probably be for my DS. Both kits I rediscovered after rootling around in my stash boxes, so that's two less guilt trips in there. Actually that was quite a useful voyage of discovery, as there are quite a few small festive kits in there that will do nicely for the JA/S&S Monthly Ornie SAL that Karen is running (thanks Karen!). Yes, I signed up for that because: 1) although I may not always manage to join in every month, at least it'll give me the incentive to stitch some ornies through the year; 2) it's a good way of getting through some of the stuff in my stash boxes; 3) my special tree still looked awfully bare again this year, despite a couple of nice additions to it - I'd love to get enough done to fill it this year. :0)

Another new year restart is the JA/S&S Monthly Challenge. This month we can choose any of the Papillon Creations freebies we want to stitch and then finish however we like. I like quite a few on there so the decision is a hard one to make - I've managed to whittle it down to three that I've printed out ready, so I shall have to make the final decision soon, pick out my fabric and threads and make a start. No sharing of that until after Reveal Day though.

Also restarting after the holiday break is Tuesday UFO Night and Thursday Sea Stars SAL Night. Unfortunately I got carried away with finishing the Knight card and totally forgot this Tuesday...... despite spotting the reminder on the Forum earlier in the day. A decidedly Doh! moment. Sorry Julie and Mr Stick - I promise to do better next week and dig Night Watchman out of the pile. Reckon he'll be glad of the outing, don't you? LOL

I think all that little lot will keep me busy and out of mischief so I'm not making any goals as such. I just want to keep up with the Monthly Challenge plus the Ornie and Sea Stars SAL's as much as possible and take part in UFO Night to get those UFO's completed. Oh, and keep up with the new dietary regime so I can get my health on an even keel and be a bit less fat. LOL

Whilst the mojo was intermittent then missing I did get a bit of reading done and finished a few books. You can see which ones in my side bar, if you're curious, and there's more info on The Reading Corner blog. I've also added another post to my Moonglow blog too. The blog reading/commenting is going well too, though I've still to make it to a few more yet - please bear with me.

And because it's a new year - and because I felt like a change - it's been out with the old look and in with a new one on my blogs. Not sure I'm totally satisfied with this one yet, so may still have another play with colours and things. Hope you approve. :0) BTW, can anyone tell me how I put a banner in my side bar, to show it's an Izzy Grace background, please? Tried several times with various "Add so & so" bits and it just won't have it. Ta very muchly. :0)

Many thanks for taking the time to visit. Hope you're all managing to stay warm and toastie during this cold winter weather. :0)

More Wonderful Gifts

This time I had to share with you a pic of the very lovely amber and silver brooch which was my main gift from my DH:

We spotted this whilst in one of our favourite shops: The Rainbow Room, in Market Rasen. It makes me think of the Tree of Life when I look at it and amber is considered to be protective and is often referred to as the Witch's Stone. I love the different colours of amber on it and am now waiting for the right opportunity to wear it. :0)

My Aunt and Uncle, knowing that we wouldn't be able to eat the biscuits and chocolate liqueurs they usually give us, gave DS cash (always useful), DH some whisky and these were for me:

Aunty D knows I'm a Pagan, so she chose something that was sure to appeal. I shall enjoy reading them and finding out more about Feng Shui and about labyrinths - especially the latter, as we have a very old turf cut labyrinth in Alkborough called Julian's Bower. The pic on that site is a little old: the labyrinth has been recut several times since then, so it sits much lower in the ground; the view out over the rivers has changed too, as they are now returning the farmland to floodplain, making pools and adding reed beds for the plentiful bird life and it's true - on a clear day you can see York Minster in the distance. We love visiting this place and whilst there I also love to indulge in a little game of "Spot my fellow Pagan". LOL

Earlier in the year I signed up and paid for Jayne's special hand dyed Christmas Stash Pack and, unusually for me, saved it to open with my other gifts. A gift from me, to me - to guarantee that I'd have some stash to open. LOL Here are all the lovely goodies that were inside:

This year the theme was Panto Time and all the colours have been dyed with that in mind. Very appropriate for this time of year and with DS being in the LTC Pantomime. :0) The fabrics are Count On Me Dick Whittington, Streets of Gold and Polstitches Cinderella and Prince Charming - reckon you can work out which is which in the pic. LOL All the threads are named for various panto characters and make a gorgeous rainbow. I'll enjoy using them, eventually....... for now it's just nice to admire them in my stash. :0)

Just in case you were wondering, the festive season wasn't all about sitting on our bottoms in front of the TV or doing jobs: we took some time out to hit the Sales, though not the usual ones. Nope, I opted for the craft stash sale at Brigg Garden Centre. LMAO. Here are the bargain goodies I came away with:

The Fiskars pieces are a shape cutter and some circle templates to be used with it. Those will make cutting out circles much easier - though I do need some smaller circle templates for them to be any use for making ornies. I shall use all of these at some point except the vellums, as they are intended as part of my PenPal Maggie's birthday gift, which is later in the year.

Today I've been a busy bee, getting up early to do all the prep for a venison stew to go in the slow cooker. The diced venison packs we got from The Pink Pig (another trip out while DH was on holiday) and the veg are a bit of a hotch potch, as it was a case of wanting to use up things before they spoilt. The last of the red onions, the second fennel bulb (finely chopped) and some leeks from the organic veg box went in there, along with some fine beans I found in the pantry and a couple of cauli, broccoli and baby carrot mixed packs DH grabbed from the Tesco Express (no stew packs so he got them instead). Added some hot veg stock, a good handful of pearl barley, a bay leaf and a sprinkling of other herbs and voila: one venison stew. No idea what on earth it'll turn out like but I had fun making it (I find chopping veggies whilst listening to chill-out music very therapeutic), the smells wafting from the kitchen are Mmmmmm and I guess we'll be finding out later. ;0) I stripped our bed and the bedding is in the washer, the Dyson has had an outing upstairs, the bin and recycling box are on the front, ready for emptying tomorrow, the bird feeders are filled, the tumble dryer emptied and the clothes put away/on the ironing pile and all the pots done. I reckon that's enough of the virtuous housewife bit for today, don't you? LMAO

I finished a small stitched card last night (my second finish of 2009) but I shall leave pics of those for another post - yep, I totally forgot it was UFO Night, despite spotting the reminder on the forum earlier in the day. Doh! Guess what I'll be doing tonight, then! Meanwhile I've made a start on the blog reading/commenting catch-up but it's going to take a while for me to get around everyone's blog - boy, have you lot been busy! ;0)

Rachael: it's sort of a table under the deer that I took the pics on. It's a really small one (17" high x 15" wide, side to side) with an inlaid surface and when you lift the top up there's a little storage inside and it's musical, so plays a tune when it's wound up. My DBro gave it to me years ago - he bought it whilst on a foreign holiday (can't remember where), back in the days when he was young, free and single and could afford to do things like that. LOL It certainly comes in real useful for taking stitchy pics.

Many thanks for visiting and especially for all the lovely comments - they are very much appreciated. :0)

Wonderful Gifts

First of all: I hope you all had a lovely festive season and that 2009 will bring many Blessings and much Happiness to you all. :0)

I hadn't realised it had been quite so long since I last blogged. Unfortunately, between my DH being off work for the holidays, having chronic indigestion after starting the acidophilus capsules (replacing the candida with good bacteria) and it being so cold in my computer room, despite the thermostat being turned up, I was struggling to find both the time and the inclination to put fingers to keyboard. I'll admit to being a total wuss when it comes to cold as it makes the arthritic joints in my fingers ache, so I was limiting myself to emails and keeping up with the JA/S&S forum before rushing back into the much warmer living room. Thanks to my wussiness there's an awful lot of catching up to do, so my apologies in advance - I'll have to spread things over a few posts as there are already quite a few pics in this post. :0)

Our festive season was quiet but enjoyable, due to spending lots of time with my family, and I was also well and truly spoilt rotten with all the lovely cards and gifts from friends and family. The first thing I'd like to share with you all is this lovely surprise RAK that Karen spied on my Wish List and sent:

Thank you so much Karen: I shall enjoy stitching this design and it will be a lovely reminder of your kindness and generosity. :0)

The No Stash for Christmas Exchange on the JA/S&S forum was a lot of fun and I enjoyed choosing goodies for my partner, who was Jayne herself. Being my usual self, I forgot to take a pic of what I sent. Doh! Here's a pic of all the lovely goodies that Clare sent to me:

I only managed one of the Ferrero Rocher before having to start the full-on candida diet, so the other three and the box of choccies are waiting in the pantry - they'll do nicely as an occasional reward when I'm OK to have sweet things again. :0) Meantime the diary has come into use, the aromatherapy oil scenter (the bottle and sticks) is wafting a lovely aroma around my kitchen and the bedsocks are wonderful at keeping my feet warm and toastie - they're already in danger of being worn out! The gold and scented (Lavender Water and Orchid Breeze) candles I've added to my stash for future use, as have the Jasmin and Neroli incense sticks. I'm waiting for some slightly warmer weather before using the gorgeous scented bath salts, so I can enjoy a long soak without freezing those bits of me that won't be under water. LOL Thank you so much Clare for the thoughtfulness you've shown in choosing and sending all the wonderful goodies. :0)

This gift was from Karen:

My jaw dropped when I opened the wrapping and saw the beaded bookmark inside. Isn't it beautiful? The large glass bead is one that Karen made herself and when I first saw it on her beading blog I fell in love with it - it reminds me of a planet. :0)

Here's a view of the other side:


The smaller beads look like rose quartz, amethyst and clear quartz, my favourite crystals, and they compliment the large bead wonderfully well. Thank you so much Karen - it's a truly beautiful piece and I shall treasure it. I will also say it again: you really should start selling your pieces soon. :0)

Last but by no means least, and as if I hadn't already been spoilt enough, I also received a beautiful stitched gift from Helen, a covered tape measure. Here is the front view:


I'm not sure how well the pics have turned out and I'm sorry if they don't do it justice - try as I might I couldn't get the digicam to focus properly to take a clear pic. These were the third lot I did! The oak leaf and acorn is so me! Here's the back view:

So very pretty and not only blackwork, which I love, but also autumnal colours which I also love. Here's a side view with another look at the oak leaf and acorn motif:


I'll share something with you now: my wedding ring, chosen and worn long before I realised I was a Pagan, is engraved with a running pattern of oak leaves and acorns. Thank you again, Helen, for your beautiful and very appropriate gift. I know you said I should use it but I'm afraid I still plan on displaying it in a basket for stitched items. :0)

Then there was also the very lovely ornie that Julie stitched and sent (which I was allowed to open early, to put on my special tree - see this post). Wow! Thank you again my friends, not only for your wonderful gifts but for your friendship, thoughtfulness, generosity and kindness. :0)

There are more things to share with you all but I shall save them for other posts, as this one is already quite long as it is.


As for other news: I am now on the full-on candida diet (more on that on my other blog, when I get a chance to do a catch up post) and am now waiting to see what happens. As I've already said, the new capsules I'm taking seem to be encouraging bad indigestion at the moment but I was warned that I'd feel worse before I felt better. Food shopping takes more time, due to the constant packet reading that has to be done these days, but that's OK when you can do it online in the comfort of your own home. LOL On the plus side of things: weight is slowly but surely being lost and my last lot of blood tests came back as normal..... whatever normal is. I go back to the Herbalist again at the end of this month for another check up and more medicine and will have a weigh-in then. Hopefully by then I'll have managed to get to the Doc's to get a printout of my test results and my initial weight, so the figures can be compared - if it's a good weight loss I'll share. :0)

DS is now having almost nightly rehearsals for the pantomime, as the run for that starts next week. It's get-in at the theatre this weekend so I reckon DH will be helping out with that - at least he will be providing he doesn't have to work again this weekend, the same as he did the last one. I didn't mind that too much last weekend, as I wasn't feeling too great and didn't fancy going out, especially when I found one of the channels was showing the whole of the last series of House back-to-back. Had a lovely time watching that and doing a little stitching. Yay!

Sorry but I am seriously behind with blog reading and commenting but I shall make a serious effort to catch up with everything I've missed whilst I've been offline so much (cold hands permitting) this week. I've missed all the news....... guess I should think about investing in a basic laptop so I could stay in the warmer living room at this end of the year. I wonder if DH would go for that?

Many thanks for persevering and continuing to visit. Hope you all had a happy festive season and a great start to 2009. :0)

Stitched Christmas Card Exchange.... and More

Reveal Day for the JA/S&S Forum Stitched Christmas Card Exchange has been and gone so I can now show you all the beautiful card I received from Rebecca (no blog, as far as I know).

I love it and, after the festive season is over, I plan on taking the card apart and turning the stitching into an ornie, so I can bring it out and see it every year. :0)

My partner was Dusty and this is the card I made for her:

• Design taken from a chart in Cross Stitch Collection magazine, Issue 162;
• Fabric:16ct white aida;
• Threads: recommended DMC.

Dusty was my partner last year and I stitched one of the Lavender & Lace angel freebies for her, finding out afterwards that she actually collects angel ornaments. This year I decided to stitch something typically British - hope she likes it. The stitched area is only stuck down with glue dots, so it can be removed and turned into an ornie.

I do enjoy this Exchange and have my fingers crossed it will be run again next year. :0)

During that busy Friday I had I managed to get my cardmaking stash out to make a couple of cards. I seem to have been very disorganised this year (more so than usual) so hadn't managed to make more festive cards earlier in the year, as is usual. Thank goodness for ready-made embellishments is all I can say! Here's the one I made for my friend Alex and her family:

This one I made for my Pen Pal Maggie:

Very simple and easy to make - am quite pleased with the outcome. The cardmaking stash has been out again since, this time to make a birthday card for Alex but I won't post a pic just yet as it will spoil the surprise, as she occasionally reads my blog. ;0)

Sea Stars still hasn't had any attention so far this week and isn't looking likely to, I'm afraid, due to too many other things to do on the lead up to the festive season. As next Thursday is Christmas Day I won't be SAL'ing then and on Boxing Day we are spending the day with my DSis, so won't be stitching then either. Currently I'm trying to get another little ornie done: the little DMC Baubles kit I bought from Ribbons & Bows on Monday kept shouting too loudly. LOL Am hoping finishing inspiration kicks in when it's done so I can finish both this and the internet freebie one I stitched the other week. Watch this space......... LOL

Saturday I had my second Reiki session with Aureen. I started out with plenty of time beforehand but it seemed to disappear very quickly and it ended up a bit of a rush to get there - I don't think that helped, as I struggled to relax as fully as I did the first time. It was still a positive experience though and I shall go back again, when I feel the need. DH met me in Il Sorriso afterwards, where we had some dinner, before venturing further down the street so we could buy a present for my niece, Erin - result, so that's a biggie crossed off my list. When we got home DH went off to join DS at a local school hall to set up for the Rising Stars Christmas panto (children's version of the LTC)........ that was the last I saw of the pair of them until just after midnight. As everything went so well, and because the meal provided wasn't a big one, they decided to go off for a late dinner in one of the Chinese restaurants in town after they'd finished.

Sunday DH had to work again, so disappeared first thing, and DS went off to the LTC Guild Room mid-morning, to do some jobs. I pottered around doing various jobs, filled all the bird feeders in the garden (taking my time, as it was surprisingly mild out there), made the birthday card for Alex, read a little of my latest book, spent time on the computer and with DH and DS when they came home. Perhaps it may seem boring to some but as it was Yule everything I undertook on that day has an extra meaning for me, as I count each thing I do as a Blessing and thank the Universe for them. Though I don't practice the full-on rituals many Pagans and Wiccans undertake I do feel each thing I do on the Festival days has an element of ritual about it when it is consciously done, to the best of my ability and with gratitude. :0)

Today is my usual jobs day and Alex will be coming round for a coffee and natter this afternoon, a little earlier than ususal as it's now the school holidays. So far I've had my breakfast, prepared all the veggies and meat for a beef stew that's now going in the slow cooker, tidied up after that, have washed out the bathroom, tidied round here and there and cleaned the kitchen sink and am now having a chill out with a ginger and apple herbal tea whilst blogging. Rick and another chap turned up around 9am and set to with the carport roof - it's gone quiet while they have the hot drink I made them, so it's currently nice and quiet...... though that won't last for long, you can be sure. LOL

Many thanks for all the help with the fennel. Great website link, thanks Karen - lots on there I fancy trying. Am much happier now I know what to do with it. :0)

Well, I've got a downstairs loo that needs the attention of some Harpic and a loo brush so I'd best be off.

Hope you all had a great weekend and a pleasant start to the week. Many thanks for visiting. :0)

Yuletide Blessings To All

Surprise Post Week

It has been a really good post week with some very nice festive surprises arriving. First to arrive was a package from Julie. She said it was OK to open it early so I was quite happy to oblige. ;0) Inside was a cute Christmas card and this gorgeous ornie:


My photography skills leave alot to be desired but I hope this close up pic will do it a bit better justice:

This is the back, which has a cute Santa and sleigh fabric:

It's so beautifully stitched and finished. Thank you again Julie for such a lovely keepsake - every time I look at it I remember the friendship it was sent with and am grateful for that Blessing. :0)

There were two more surprise packages later in the week. Here's what was in them:

The very cute snowman card and gold gift was from Karen and the lovely Wise Men and silver gift was from Helen. Thank you so much for your kindness. :0) I love both cards and the gifts have gone into hiding, to keep temptation away. LOL

I also received my card for the Stitched Christmas Card Exchange on JA/S&S Forum but I shall leave that and the card I sent for another time - stitching has been somewhat sparse lately, so I need to keep something back to post on. ;0)

I also had another surprise when Barb (no blog), a fellow JA/S&S Forum member and friend who very kindly RAK'd me with the Sea Stars chart, phoned me yesterday. A total surprise but a very welcome one - it was so good to put a voice to the name. I'm not sure how long we chatted but it must have been a while...... we certainly laughed a lot. If you're reading this Barb: did the christening go OK? Hope you were wearing thermals...... and so hope the babies didn't get dunked in the duck pond! Oh, and I did finally make myself eat that unnamed fish and salad. LOL

The Tesco delivery came last night. DH had forgotten it was coming and only beat it home by about ten minutes, so hadn't had time to eat his tea. So DH and DS helped unload everything into the house then DS shot off to his friends house (arranged before he knew this was coming), which left DH and I to put all of the frozen and fridge goodies away. DH then went to have his tea (as a diabetic he was pushing it eating that late as it was) so that left just me to carry on putting things away. It took a while - there was a lot of it. Then there was some laundry to sort and put in the tumble dryer after that. Outcome: one very tired short person because my stamina is shot to pieces at the minute. So no stitching done, even though it was Sea Stars SAL night. Bummer!

Today has seen waaay more happening than what usually does in this one horse neighbourhood. First up was a delivery of wood for the carport, followed a little while later by a delivery of guttering and UPVc panelling - former for the workshop and latter for the bit up the side of the sun lounge that still needs to be clad. Just as I'd taken my third mouthful of dinner a chap knocked, asking if I knew where the two Pete's lived, so I sent him next door - not easy when you're trying not to spit food all over and swallow without choking. LOL. Some time in the afternoon a delivery of our first organic vegetable box from Woodlands Farm was delivered - we'd been threatening to sign up for a while but the change to healthier eating prompted us to extract our digits........ anyone know what on earth you do with bulbs of fennel? Then Rick called round to check everything had been delivered OK and hefted the timber down the side of the house for me (delivery chap hadn't knocked, had just left it on the front drive where it could easily have been stolen!), so it's now safe behind the locked sidegates - Rick's fetching the roof panels and starting the jobs on Monday. In between I fielded several phone calls, made a few cards and scanned them, sorted laundry out of the tumble dryer and put it away, washed the pots, answered emails, checked the Forum and am now sat blogging. I so hope that little lot has burnt off a few excess calories! LMAO. I still need to write a letter to my PenPal, make a birthday card, sort out a package for posting tomorrow and cook/eat tea, so it's not looking very hopeful for a stitching session tonight. Oh well, DH is working again this Sunday so I guess I can have a catch up on Sea Stars then. :0)

Thank you for visiting and for all the lovely comments and if you're a newbie please say Hi - I don't bite. LOL :0)