Happy Birthday ...

Today is my 45th Birthday, and what a wonderful day it's been.

Friends have called in to see me and i've received lots of lovely cards and gifts from family, friends and online ladies too. Some of them were a total surprise. Thank you for your good wishes on the MB's i visit too.

Tonight i'll be off to the stitching club with my basket full of cakes, and also a candle to light in memory of our dear friend Hazel which will burn to celebrate her life for the duration of our meeting.

My brother recently had a holiday in the US and i asked him to see if he could get me the Whitman Tin whilst he was there, he didn't manage to get that but he did get me all this (and yes those Whitman boxes have the chocs inside them ... yummmmmy)

DH bought me a pair of 'love' scissors from Kelmscott and started off my pandora bracelet, he bought me the love charm, the kitty, Leo symbol and the glass bead. DD and her BF chose the present and the four leaf clover and DS chose the fish (he's a keen fisherman!). It's really beautiful and the charms can be collected and added easily when a special occasion comes along.

A box arrived from Karen earlier this week and was duly confiscated by DD, she decided i could not be trusted near it LOL. Karen you really have spoilt me, i know how busy you are and yet you still found the time to stitch me the beautiful ED card and the mirror together with all the other stuff that you enclosed, i felt really spoilt, i love the choccie bar, thats just about how the split goes in this house LOL (please can you come over and vacuum up all the teeny weeny stars that now adorn my conservatory floor!)

Another envelope arrived yesterday and as soon as DH saw Sally's name on it, that was duly hidden too. Thank you Sally for this gorgeous needleroll and fob, the strange thing is i had bought this chart to stitch for the needleroll exchange we did at JA then changed me mind, it really is beautiful, thank you.

When postie came this morning he had an armful of cards and wished me Happy Birthday, such a surprise when i opened these. Rachael sent me such a cute card of a knitted chef holding a cake (i have this pattern in my stash Rachael!) Helen was kind enough to send 2 dragon floss with her card and i am also the proud owner of a Karan creation. Karan also sent a JBW chart with her card. Jan and Fiona have each handmade a card and Kathy over at the east coast has sent me a card and some yellow gingham fabric. Thank you so much ladies. xx

Thank you for making my Birthday a very special day
Love to you all

Autumn ...

Elizabeth Designs 'autumn' that is and not the season, we're having a heatwave, a tropical heatwave, temperatures rising la la la (sorry just burst into song there a minute!)

After last weeks no stitching i seem to have whizzed along with this over the weekend so i thought i better show you a WIP.

Sorry, but its been too hot to finish off the knitted toy, as soon as the weather settles a bit i'll get it done, only a month till the show so i've got to get on with it. No correct guesses yet as to what it is.

Happy stitching and UFO'ing to Mr Sticks band of ladies at JA forum

Reveal day ...

Today is reveal day for the monthly stitching challenge at Jayne's Attic forum. The chart chosen by the ladies this month was the freebie 'Love' by Debbie Draper Designs. A friend had some 28ct gingham for her birthday and sent me a piece to try it. This seemed the perfect time to have a go with it and i chose to compliment it with DMC 223. It was the first time i've tried to make a mattress pinkeep and i was really pleased with how it turned out. There are lots of lovely different finishes this month in the album, lots of ideas for future months. Well done all the ladies who took part.

Waving at you...

I hope none of you ladies have had the virus that is going around... i have done nothing but sleep for the past 3 days and felt so washed out and exhausted, no stitching/computer/household chores and not a lot else - did you miss me?

This morning i had a very sad phone call, one of the ladies from the stitchy club passed away in the early hours. I have known Hazel for more than 20 years as she used to take her grandsons to school and one of them was in the same class as my son. It was such a surprise when i joined the stitchy club to see her there, i had no idea she was a stitcher. We have shared a lot of laughs over the years and she will be greatly missed. I decided to sit and spend some time thinking about her this morning, i added the lady in to finish the SAL piece. It is 'The Friendship Tree' after all ...God Bless you Hazel.

Hope you are all fit and well and the UK ladies are enjoying the glorious sunshine we have been having for the past few days

Champagne and posh frocks!!

Wouldn't it be fun to have a stitchers ball and get all dressed up and receive our awards in style....

Elisa named me for the Kreativ Blog award on her blog, thank you Elisa, this is the 2nd time i have won this one.

The second one is from Christine
These are the rules:
1. The winner can display this award on their blog
2. Display a link to the person you have got the award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs, you like.
4. Set the links to the blogs on your blog.
5. Leave a comment on the blogs you have chosen.

There are so many of the blogs i read that have already got an award that i am going to be a party pooper again and not actually nominate anyone, if i visit your blog then both of the awards i received apply to you, so please feel free to put this onto your blog and nominate your friends who haven't received it yet ....

I raise my cup of tea (i dont drink!) and say 'Here's to you all for your talent, inspiration, help and advice. I enjoy visiting your blogs and seeing what you are all doing and being a part of the stitching bloggerworld, please keep up the good work'

Quiet morning to myself ...

... a rare occasion in this house LOL.

I took advantage of it and finished the last prize for the show, it's completed and in plenty of time, the show isn't till 30th August. I'm pleased with the way this turned out in the end after a lot of planning and wondering what to put on it. I hope the winner likes it!


I haven't any deadline stitching/exchanges to do right now, i'm all up to date apart from the latest parts of the Papillon SAL so kitted up a new start. I've chosen Elizabeth Designs ~ Autumn, the weather is more autumnal than summer and i really would like to have the set of 4 completed this year LOL. This week should see the SAL with Karen finished too, so another new start to look forward to as well!!

UFO night reminder for the girls at JA, hope you all have a long night of stitching planned **snigger**

It's Monday!

Can you spot the thief?
He's such a charming little chap, DH even made him a nice little box with a lift up lid (you can just see it at the top of the pic) so he could have his own store of nuts. We then bought a 'squirrel proof nut feeder' as described in nice large red writing on the label. Its made of stainless steel and the top screws on really tight, even i can't get it off, and it wasn't cheap either!!! It hangs on the end of a spindly branch in the pear tree. Today, when i go to hang my washing out there is said feeder on the floor, nuts all over the place and Mr Crafty Little Rodent (are squirrels rodents??) half way up the left hand side of the tree, nut in mouth, off to fill his box. How did he get it unscrewed? did he have help? are there fairies at the bottom of my garden who help squirrels? It was fun to sit and watch him chasing up and down the tree, pausing every so often to check that he was in the clear and the garden police weren't about to tie him to the tree and hold him to ransom LOL

I was looking for a stitching frame chart, it didn't turn up! Karen suggested using the CasaMia angel with the stitching frame, how clever is that girl? it was the perfect size and i put my hands on it immediately. Here's the front all finished after yesterdays stitching 1x1 adding the camera. I decided on an old fashioned type to add colour instead of the plain black/grey of a modern one. The sections included on the schedule for the show are painting/drawing, needlework, cross stitch, embroidery, knitting/macrame etc, photography then of course the obligatory 'any other craft not listed' i think this covers all of that. I just need to put the wording on the back and do the fiddly making up into the biscornu.

Some more good guesses for my knitted toy. No Elisa not a donkey or Rachael a spider. Christine i like yours, you are along the right lines but not quite....

Biscornu reveal day ..

For the biscornu exchange at JA we each received from the person we sent to and Rachel was my partner. She's a history teacher so i wanted something that looked a bit historical for her.

I looked at lots of designs for biscornus but couldn't quite find what i was looking for. Eventually i decided on this complimentary design
'Peacock Tapestry Ornament' by Teresa Wentzler. Fabric was 26ct oatmeal as i wanted it to be a little bigger than on the chart and threads were DMC. On the back i stitched both our names and the date but i forgot to take a pic of that side.

Rachel stitched these lovely butterflies for me and included the lovely WDW threads. Thank you Rachel it's really pretty and i love the green fabric you chose, i have a fondness for green. I've put it into my basket of stitched gifts.

Knitted toy - no correct guesses yet, 2 good answers though, not much longer and it'll be finished and the suspense will be over LOL

No LHN SAL stitching yesterday, i spent most of the day looking for a chart in a magazine that i know i have but it seems to have ran away to the safe place. I wanted it for the new start Midge was telling you about which is ...

... the last prize for the show for Best Exhibit in the hobbies/handicraft section and will accompany the new silver salver our stitching group has donated. Two of us always stitch a prize to go with the trophies as they have to be given back each year and its nice to have something to keep as a reminder of your win. In the past we've done aprons, journals, gardening gloves, caps and lots more things. You've already seen the bookmark for the cookery section. We thought a biscornu seemed a good thing for this one and in each corner will be a different hobby to incorporate whats in this section. So far there's a paintbox and a knitted sock.

Shari has kindly awarded me with a Kreativ Blogger Award. I am supposed to choose 5 blogs that i read but i can't. I'm going to be a rule breaker and award it to all the blogs i read. They all inspire me in different ways.
Here are the rules i should have followed:-
1. The winner may put the logo on her blog.
2. Put a link to the person you got the award from.
3. Nominate 5 blogs
4. Put links to the blogs.
5. Leave a message for your nominees

Rachael-you asked about the pelleted poultry manure, you can buy it at most garden centres and at Wilkinsons, it comes in a box and you just sprinkle it around the shrubs etc to feed them.

Thank you for stopping by, enjoy your weekend and Happy Stitching

Cat-ching your attention...

"When i stand on the footstool it means everyone should take note and listen to me, i am hungry or want the door opening, or maybe a nice cuddle... meeooww." Mum says i look like Yul Bryner in The King and I and expects me to say "no one should be higher than me"

I've seen her get something new out of the big cupboard and the nice coloured thread was all over the floor, i guess she's finished that exchange thing i saw when i was comfy on her knee. The fabric was out too, i tried to settle down to sleep on it but she moved me onto my cushion and mumbled something about cat fluff everywhere - spoilsport! I'll ask her to tell you what she's doing next time she's here .... Big purrs to you all from Midge

Sigh of relief ...

No stitching pics to show you as i have been busy with the redwork/monochrome exchange for JA. I re-checked the instructions and thankfully what i'd started will be fine. You know how it is, you suddenly get this thought and panic or in my case a DH who makes a smart alec comment when he asks what you are doing and tells you it might be wrong. I've also been knitting bits for my toy, it now has 4 arms - does that give you a better clue what it might be ....

Thought i would share my rambling rose with you, shes called Dorothy Perkins and has been in my garden for over 15 years. This is by far the best show of flowers we have ever had. I think it must be the wet weather we've had or its the poultry manure DH has been feeding it LOL

LHN Week 13 ....

It should be week 14 of the Friendship Tree SAL with Karen, but i didn't do any last week so for me it's week 13. All the leaves on the tree are finished now, so there's just the other lady to add in next week, then hopefully a finish!

Yesterday i finished off the challenge piece for JA and a pic was emailed to Karen for the album ready for the reveal date. I also sorted out fabby and threads for the redwork/monochrome exchange as well, although i think i might have made a mistake with that and need to re-read the rules.... more haste less speed LOL

Hope you are all enjoying the weekend sunshine

Basket No: 2

FRIENDLY WARNING
When i was on the PC last night, i had a problem .... i had been looking/replying to blogs that are in my google reader and when i went back to the desktop it had changed to a design that was not on my computer. It had even deleted my picture that i had on there. DH started ranting about me being 'mouse happy' and clicking the wrong thing, but i know i didn't do anything to change this at all. I am not very good at the technical stuff, so he has spent about 8 hours today trying to find out what went wrong and put back all the stuff that seems to have gone missing. Why is it when you have free time to chat/surf something always stops you from doing it!!! I have now been given the OK to come back on here by DH but i have to be real careful he says otherwise i will suffer the consequences (wonder what they are?) LOL

Whilst he was being the 'PC Doctor' i stayed out his way and finished the 2nd basket for the show. This one i decided to fill with bathroom goodies as we have quite a lot of gardening things donated and someone who is not a gardener might win!!

This afternoon Midge curled up on my lap and we spent a nice afternoon together (DH was still at it after work) and i stitched the design for the monthly challenge at JA, just need to make it up now. I'll do this weeks LHN SAL sometime over the weekend Karen LOL

Hope you all have a good weekend, wellington boots are needed here, looks like its going be a wet one!

Midge & the rose bush ...

In amongst this rose on our arbour is not where a certain young Midge cat got his war wound... this rose is Zepherine Drouhin and is a thornless rose. It does have the most wonderful scent to it though and as you sit under the arbour and soak up the evening sunshine you get the scent of turkish delight - my favourite! It's his favourite vantage point to watch the comings/goings of all the wildlife and humans in the garden.

I have a confession to make Karen, i didn't stitch on the LHN Friendship Tree this week so no update pic - sorry. I really wanted to get the basket finished on Friday, but that went into Saturday and then wasn't feeling too good Sunday or Monday. I'm sure it will be out again this Friday though as i missed it.

The second basket has been started this week and fabric/thread for the monthly challenge at JA decided on. For July it's Debbie Drapers 'Love' freebie. A lot of ladies chose this one, so hopefully there will be a good choice of different finishes this month. I think i might take this with me to the stitchy club tomorrow. It's the last one as they are then closed for 2 weeks for the annual deep clean of the Community Centre so we'll be off to the local pub for a meal for the following 2 weeks. No stitching then... what a shame eh!!

Happy Stitching
& UFO'ing to all Mr Sticks 'friends' I hope you didn't forget it was Tuesday lol

Raffle Basket ...

Have you ever stitched using waste canvas??

Our donation for the fruit/veg show raffle this year will be 2 stitched gift baskets. I chose a rose border from an old magazine for the first one. Tack the waste canvas onto the liner to secure it, stitch, then remove it very carefully one thread at a time so as not to disturb the stitching. We chose a mug/biscuits/hot drinks for this one. It's gift wrapped in see through plastic with a bow tied at the top but i had to remove it to photograph it. If you've never tried it give it a go, it really is easy to use and worth the extra effort to make a special gift and of course you can stitch on almost anything then.

The people of Tenerife know what to do with frogs!! Look at this cute froggie thimble made of pewter that David and Amy brought back from their holiday for me. He looks such a grumpy chap doesn't he, i wonder why??

I have a small collection of pewter pincushions so he'll be right at home with them.


Thanks for stopping by, hope you're having a good weekend

Summer is finished ...

no not the season, i mean the Elizabeth Designs Summer Flower Sampler. I added the charms to it today before my busy day started. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out and have put it away with Spring until i get round to stitching Autumn and Winter, which will be soon i think.

It's been a strange week with DD on hols. DH has been off catching up on things around the house so my PC and stitching time has been invaded, as soon as i sit down he suggests we do something or go somewhere. It's nice to have him home but will be equally as nice for him to go back to work on Monday LOL

Thank you for your kind comments about Midge. He's been a good boy this week and taken all his tablets really well. The swelling has (to put it bluntly) burst open ... yeuck! and is now healing nicely. He went back for a check up this evening and she's really pleased with him. I now have a hole in my purse where there once was cash LOL

Happy 4th July to all my overseas readers.