Blue and more blue ...

An old school friend of over 35 years is going to be a granny for the first time early next month (or sooner if the little boy can't wait!) She isn't a crafter and loves to receive handmade stuff. This lovely design popped into my head when i was thinking what to stitch and i thought it would be perfect. It's photographed on the book the chart came from, a great book and i've stitched quite a few of the designs in it. The square aperture card i know is in my stash seems to have hidden itself so i frayed the edges and added the little white bow. I just need to finish off the little cardigan that i am knitting to go with it.

Lots of great progress over at the Beatrix Potter SAL blog. I've just been over and posted a progress pic for February, its fun to put up a before and after pic and see just how much you have achieved in a month. This is my first big Quaker project and i'm loving how it's growing. I think it might just be finished before the 12 months are up :-)

Love and {hugs}

Whats for tea?

Today is Shrove Tuesday and that means its pancakes for tea!

Of course it also means that it will be the start of Lent tomorrow. You can read all about customs and traditions surrounding Shrove Tuesday and find recipes at the link here.

What do you like on your pancakes? Some choose lemon or orange, and some like something a bit more sickly like Lyles Golden Syrup. When i was little my dad used to make blackberry vinegar and we used to have that, i wonder what happened to the recipe for that.

Whatever you choose to have with your pancakes, i hope you enjoy them

Challenge revealed ...

Sorting out stash can throw up some forgotten treasures. I found this lovely paperweight/coaster and it was just perfect for one of the February challenge designs. My first time using 35ct linen and i really liked it, also the first time i've finished a design with DMC linen threads (again found in the sort out) and not frogged the whole lot out as the threads were knotting. Maybe i should look through my stash more often to see whats in there!

LHN - Wool Needlebook and Fob
Sunday means update picture of the SAL with Karen. This week i finished the front of the needlebook. Next week i'll start on the scissor fob, the design is exactly the same but over 1 and the word 'scissors' replaces 'needlebook' i'll make them both up when i finish the stitching. The fabric looks a bit washed out in this pic.

I hope you all had a nice weekend

Anniversaries ....

In the millenium DH and I decided it was time to finally make it all legal and exchange our vows after being together for over 14 years.

We've had some mammoth things to deal with in our time together and today we celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary.

This super china cup and saucer was a gift we opened this morning from my mum. DH and I both have this sinus infection thats going around so no celebrations, although we do have a nice box of choccies that might just make us feel a bit better!

February 19th was also my maternal grandmothers birthday, today she would have celebrated her 100th birthday. God Bless you Grandma, i still miss you so very much.

Meeooww

IT'S OFF, IT'S OFF .... here i am all snuggled up on the big lads bed minus the hooded collar. The lady vet was really nice and kind to me and gave me a thorough looking at .... i am a shy boy and dont like people flipping me over so they can see my undercarriage, its so undignified. So long as i am good and dont start to lick at the sore bit too much i am allowed to keep the collar off but i still have to stay inside until the weekend just to make sure its properly healed over. Watch out outside world i am almost ready to prowl the neighbourhood and see whats new on my patch. I have been watching everything from the window but i cant wait to smell the fresh air and run and dive around in dads garden.

Thank you all for sending me lots of good wishes and healing thoughts mum told me what nice bunch of folks you are.

Big purrs and furry kitty cuddles

Midge x

Cardmaking

I'm trying to be organised this year and do things well in advance. Mothering Sunday here in the UK is 22nd March, this card is for my mum. My MIL passed away 10 years ago in May, so i'll get some flowers to put in my home to remember her.

Fabric - 28ct jobelan ~ Bahama Blue
Threads ~ anchor oddments
Design from Special Edition Cross Stitch Cards (about 10 years old)

Midge is off to the vets tomorrow for his checkup. The wound seems almost healed. My faith in the vet is restored as i thought she had made it 10 times worse when she cut away all the dead skin around it and made it bigger! He has been a real good boy these past few days, maybe he thinks if i tell her he's good she'll let him keep the hood off LOL.

Happy Birthday Barb

Say hello to Seymour....
A fun and secret project i made for Barb's (no blog, time she had one) Birthday.
Barb is one of the ladies who join us on Tuesday UFO night at Stitch and Stash. She has a great sense of humour and loves Mr Stick the resident encourager who likes nothing better than to give the ladies a good prod/whack when they dont stitch (only verbally online i assure you). Mr Stick and i decided that maybe a spy needed to be sent in disguise as a Birthday gift and Seymour (who likes to SEE MORE progress on UFO's)volunteered. He's an older guy and will be needing those special glasses that DH made for him, watch out for that stick Barb LOL. I hope you have a wonderful day. XX

Sunday means update of the LHN SAL with Karen. I took it to the stitching club on Wednesday, i daren't take Beatrix or the Papillon with me and Brightneedle was almost finished.

I really need to make a start on the challenge piece for February, reveal date is next Sunday and i have the chart printed and threads and fabric sorted. This time it will be a challenge for me, only a week and i can show you and tell you why :-) I must also redo the frogged bit of Beatrix and try and make some more progress on that before the end of the month when its time to post a pic on the SAL blog.

The big question now February is half gone ... Will the Peacock Chair be made up this month or will it still be hanging around in March??

Valentine or Christmas?

Brightneedle, Christmas Window has turned out a little too big for an ornie so i went with a pinkeep finish. the fabric underneath it is what i used to back it, its really nice and bright and a lovely design. Wasn't sure what colour border to go with and looked at both red and green before plumping for the bright yellow. The red/green made it look a bit dull and overpowering whereas the yellow picks out the top of the tree and the little baubles.

Happy Valentines Day
DH and i both received a valentine card today. Last years cards came out again and were written in and re-enveloped and duly sat on the kitchen table ready for when we got up today. He remarked how cool it was to see the lovely cards we bought last year for a second outing and thinks we should save them again for next year and that it's not being mean its recycling at its best and not lining the pockets of the card shops. When we first met he used to bring me flowers every Friday night for at least a year, he often does romantic things and i dont need special stuff today for him to let me know he loves me.

Have a good weekend whatever your plans.

2 cats and a frog

Cat number 1
A lovely gift arrived in the post yesterday. Shellie has recently stitched Bagpuss sitting on a cushion with the mice (like Lizzy in my header pic) and i've been following her progress until she completed it last week, it was superb. She knows my love of the little pink furface and she's sent me a Bagpuss card kit. He's got a Christmas pudding with him, so this is definately a must do project before santa comes in 2009. Thank you so much Shellie, i have only ever stitched a little design of him before from an old UK magazine.


Cat number 2
Sitting on the chair with his back to the world and sulking big time!!! Return trip to the vets yesterday for a checkup. The wound is healing nicely, but the collar still has to stay on for another week. Does anyone want a grumpy, clawer who thinks he's been in long enough and has started to spray the house?? I have the lacerations on my arms, legs, hands and even face to prove he is not a happy chap. It's worse than having a small baby again, and he gets me up in the night for a cuddle....

The frog... and a great big toadish one too. It came and spoilt my Beatrix Potter SAL. I had spent all evening stitching a large motif and it's all had to come out, it didn't match up! How can you make a mistake about 6 stitches in and then in a different place on the other side in one evenings stitching and not notice till you get about 10 stitches from the joining up (or not as was the case) GRRRRRR. It's now frogged out and is stuffed back in the workbox till i am calm enough to try again.

Happy frog-free stitching to you ....

How many??

That was the question asked by DH yesterday when he looked over my shoulder and saw a different coloured fabric and a different chart to the one he asked to look at on Saturday and then "Is there a limit how many projects you can have on the go at any one time? As many as you like i told him, and pointed out that some ladies have way more than i do and some of them have been hiding in a cupboard for years!! I then suggested he go and put the kettle on and let me get on with starting the new SAL with Karen, this time we've chosen LHN Wool Needlebook and Scissor Fob and here's my progress this week. The tea brewed and teacake toasted he returned to have a closer look at it and decided this was going to be a nice one and asked "when will it be finished?" good job i had a mouthful of teacake and couldn't speak. I suppose i should be grateful he takes an interest in what i stitch.

The project he was looking at on Saturday, my new little start is Christmas Window by Brightneedle. I've had a sort out of charts, they sure do accumulate, some i've had for such a long time. This years plan is to 'stitch from stash' and just have the occasional treat. I haven't had this one for long as it was a Christmas pressie but it refused to go back into the folder and kept trying to hide under the table, so i gave in and it joined the WIP's.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend, we've still got some snow on the ground here and there was another sprinkling last night although it does seem to be melting more today after a very icy start. I did get well wrapped up and manage a walk to the Post Office this morning without landing on my ... you know where LOL

Monthly Ornament

LHN Snow Bunnies was my choice for Februarys Christmas ornie.

Another one that has been on the 'must stitch' list since i received the 2007 issue of JCS ornaments. The fabric is 32ct but i have absolutely no idea the name of it, although i do have a fairly large bit left for another project. Threads are anchor this time, i have a small collection of these and have decided to use them up on smaller projects and save the DMC for bigger stuff (credit crunch saving). The bunnies are supposed to be white but i wanted to be able to see them clearer and it had stopped snowing when i stitched them so i chose a subtle grey instead. OMG i've just spotted a mistake in it.... i bet it jumps right out at you too, oh well too late now LOL

The monthly challenge project is all printed off and threads chosen, and i also have a new start that i put a few stitches into this morning, there's not a lot to show yet so no pic for you. Its a smallish one (73x73) so you may only get a finished pic if i cant stop stitching it. I know, i can hear you all tutting and shaking your heads, i should be getting to grips with the PAP SAL this weekend, but i'm not in the mood to concentrate on that today.

Our local weatherman is predicting temperatures of -10 tonight, now that is cold. We still have snow on the ground where the little sunshine we've had today hasn't been warm enough to melt it. hope you all have a good weekend and stay warm and cosy. I'm off to make a nice cuppa and sit in front of the roaring fire DH just made for us.

It's snowing again!

Lots of snow again this morning, schools are closed and buses have stopped running. Apparently we have run out of grit for the roads!!! Why is it this country comes to a stop when we have a bit of snow?? I have plenty of food in the cupboards so i wont be going anywhere.

As promised, the SAL with Karen is now all finished and pic duly taken of Country Cottage Needleworks ~ The Tea Room.

DH really liked this one and wanted it in our conservatory, so i decided on a frame finish for it and its now hanging up there. Karen is not far off a finish to hers and then we can start our next one. No clue as to what it is, wait and see LOL

My brother and SIL have wedding anniversary 13th February. This year i decided not to go with the traditional anniversary type card i usually do for them and plumped for the JBW French Country Love and used the middle of the design.

I padded the aperture under the design and added a couple of rub off transfers and am really pleased with the way it's turned out, i hope they like it too.

Midge went into the vets yesterday and they were not able to stitch him at all due to where the wound is. He has a very open wound that looks really unsightly, and is on some strong meds and he has to return again next week for another check up. Lots of mum cuddles needed, poor guy keeps following me around and just wants to sit on my kneee all the time and sleep next to me in bed. It's so heartbreaking i wish i could do something for him to ease the pain.

We've got snow!!

Snow, snow and more snow when we woke up this morning. I was up with Midge at 4am and it was falling slowly on top of what we had last night. By the time 8am arrived this was the view from the upstairs window. It's a main road and a bus route so the roads are usually gritted well.

Lots of large flakes fell for a lot of the morning, its the most snow we have seen for 18 years according to the BBC news. I don't think my car will be going far for a while.

By 3pm this afternoon, the back garden was looking a real picture postcard scene.

I hope all the UK folks stayed safe, warm and cosy.