What a week!

Adventure over and DH and i are back home safely. It was a very long and exhausting week. We'd had terrible trouble finding a hotel as London Fashion Week began 19th Feb until 24th Feb and we ended up staying in a self catering apartment hotel here. It was only a 15 minute walk from the court which was great, but certain areas are in need of the refurbishment that is planned to start next month, saying that we did enjoy our stay and the staff were superb and helpful.

Needing a break from the proceedings each lunchtime we took the 5 minute walk from the court down to Victoria Embankment to sit and eat our sandwiches watching life on the River Thames (pic taken on my phone). A couple of days we were busy well into the night compiling reports on new things the other side had submitted at the last minute and the judge wanted our answers by the next day. My first time at High Court and yes it is just like on the TV with the QC's in their wigs and gowns etc. We still dont know the outcome of the case and if our side won as there was such a lot of stuff for the judge to review. DH did a wonderful job on his day in the witness box although there were times when i could have gladly throttled the QC who was doing the cross examination to him! The case was about a vintage vehicle that had been purchased but was found out after a while and some repairs not to be what it had been advertised and sold as, very technical and very complicated. DH compiled a report on the vehicle early last year for the owner but as the case progressed his evidence was very important.

I returned to find 2 lovely envelopes waiting for me. Karen sent me a lovely dangly for my phone using her handmade glass beads and Chris's envelope that we thought had been eaten by Royal Mail had arrived too, thank you both. I'd also like to say a big thank you to those of you who text me, and those who emailed to say you were thinking of us and hoping that things were going well.

We hadn't been home long when the doorbell rang and another friend arrived with a beautiful bunch of flowers to welcome us home and to say we had been missed. She is also a member at the stitchy club but came with sad news, the lady we have been worried about has been diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma which saddened me greatly.

A phone call later in the evening and some good news. My friend and neighbour has a wonderful new grand-daughter. Her son already has 2 boys so a little lady was very welcome. They were visiting granny this morning and i was invited over to give little Lottie a cuddle. She is so adorable but oh so tiny.

Lastly, i can now reveal the monthly challenge design and finish that i did. DS had bought his girlfriend these lovely notelets and pencil so i turned my stitched piece into a little pocket that they could be put into. Emma loved it and thought it was a wonderful and unique pressie for her and DS scored some brownie points for getting mum to make such a special gift for her.

I hope you all had a good week. Now i have caught up on some sleep and can see the bottom of the wash basket, i'll be able catch up with things on the PC over the next few days.

Love and {hugs}

Stitching and stressing!

I did take JN Ice Garden with me to the stitchy club where a couple of bands were added. I also continued with it and was adding beads whilst waiting for Clare to arrive for a visit on Thursday. She hadn't been here long when a snow storm arrived and it came down thick and fast, we had a lovely chat and she was only here just over an hour but her car was covered. I'm pleased to say she arrived home safely but we did have more snow on Friday and again woke up to quite a bit this morning.

There hasn't been any other stitching done at all, its been really busy here this weekend. DH and i are off on an adventure this week, not one we would have chosen though. Its a long time since i have been to our capital city of London but DH is an expert witness in a court case and he has to appear at the Royal Court of Justice. We're waiting for a call tomorrow to let us know what days he has to appear and how long we have to stay in the capital. The past few months have been quite stressful for him, roll on next week when its all over and we can all breath a sigh of relief, i just hope there isn't an appeal!

I haven't been on the computer all weekend, but will catch up with blog reading as soon as i can.

Santa likes to stitch!

February's Christmas ornament was all kitted up as soon as i had stitched Januarys. I have a fondness for the Prairie Schooler Santas and received the 2004 Santa as a birthday gift last year. He was shouting loudly to be let out of the workbox, how could anyone resist this darling little man with his needle, thread and frame. The chart asks for 18ct fabric, i did have some adia in that count but then found a small piece of linen although i have no idea what sort it is or the colour. I did feel his beard should have been changed from ecru to white after i had stitched it as it doesn't show up very well on the pale fabric.

My eyes are much better today and i have stitched a small amount on Irish Garden, oh my, there are so many quarter stitches and all in different greens. This project is going to need a lot of concentration in the centre panels and definately not one that i will be stitching when watching a good TV programme. Its been a busy week here in the evenings. Monday night we had the hairdresser here, last night was the first committee meeting for this years fruit and veg show and tonight i'm off to the stitchy club, i think i might take Ice Garden with me to show the ladies, they haven't seen that WIP.

Did you all remember to have your pancakes yesterday as it was Shrove Tuesday. Are you giving up anything for Lent, DH suggested i might like to give up chocolate, but i soon reminded him that a woman without chocolate makes for a very unhappy house!




Camille..... You have left me a comment on an earlier post about a book but i am unable to email you back either by reply to your email or through blogger as you have them restricted. Can you email me through my profile please so i can reply. Thanks.

Happy Birthday Barb

I knew exactly what i was going to stitch for Barb for her birthday. She has a love of Shepherds Bush designs and i thought the old freebie 'Friendship Lamb' would be perfect. As i stitched it i was unsure how i would finish it but finally decided on a simple pinkeep. I hope you've had a wonderful Birthday Barb and have been thoroughly spoilt by your family and friends. I wont let on how old you are LOL x

Did you all have a lovely Valentines day?

DH and i dont usually celebrate as we have our wedding anniversary this week, but when we were grocery shopping on Thursday he spotted this little heart shaped tin amongst the valentine goodies on the shelves. I love little tins and he loves Lindt chocolate so it was the perfect little treat for both of us.

Not a lot of stitchy progress to show you, my eyes have been very sore and giving me trouble this weekend. I have finished the Christmas ornament for this month but still need to take a picture so i'll show you that next time.

No, it can't be?

Oh yes it is ....

Does anyone remember this? It's my one and only UFO project that hasn't seen the light of day for over 18 months!!! Yesterday was UFO night at Stitch & Stash and Mr Stick came calling at my home. 79 colours, stitched over 1 on 25ct and a lot of confetti stitches, i now remember why it became a UFO. I wonder how long it will be before it escapes out again. If you want to see what it is supposed to look like finished, this is it. Tonight its the stitchy club so i'll take something different with me.

Enjoy your day whatever you have planned

Wanna see the new start?

Liz Turner Deihls 'Irish Garden' had its first stitch on Wednesday afternoon and i also took it with me to the stitchy club last week. Only a small amount of progress was made though as we did have cream cakes and there was lots of talking going on. Its hard to count stitches, eat cake, drink tea and chat... i know ladies can multi-task better than men but some things need a bit more attention and the cream cake and chat won on this occasion. The computer has been playing up and shutting down when you are in the middle of things, it does make me cross so i gave up and stitched instead end of last week. All the middle section border hedges are now added, time to add some colour into flower beds and of course the little black kittys that are hiding in them.

Don't come visiting us this week, DH has come down with the latest cough/cold virus thats going around. We had a bad night Saturday, asthma and these type of germs are not good together, so Sunday was spent not doing much at all. He settled down on the sofa under the fluffy blanket and i spent some with My Ladys Quaker. The 'mushroom with legs' as Sharon called it looks a lot better now.

As i sit here looking out of the window into the garden, the snow is falling again, its so pretty to see but i am glad to be this side of the glass and not outside in it. A trip to stock up on groceries this morning was enough for me. I think i better do a spot of blog reading as i am way behind with the computer acting up, i think i'll do that and leave DH snoozing under the blanket on the sofa for a while or should i be mean and go and poke him awake and ask if he wants a cup of tea .....

Friendships can be formed anywhere...

When my youngest child went off to school 15 years ago i found the days at home really long so when the local school offered adult education classes i decided to go along and see what was on offer. I started with a GCSE in Child Development (being a mum and a school governor i thought that might be interesting). I enjoyed it so much that the next year i decided to go back again, this time i gained a qualification in psychology. On this course i met a very lovely lady who was looking for some added qualifications so she could have a career change, she was 15 years older than me but we hit it off really well. We also did sociology and media studies. We only meet a few times a year now, February for her birthday, July for mine and our special Christmas meal at the catering college and we try to pull in a lunch during the autumn months. Over the years i have stitched her some lovely things but this year i've knitted her these socks as a surprise, she always tells me she looks forward to seeing what i have created for her, i hope these fit and she is not disappointed that its not a stitched gift this year.

I went to my workbox to get Irish Garden out on Monday night, but instead look what threw itself at me! Band 5 of Ice Garden (JN SAL with my friends at Stitch & Stash) is now added and i have put it back into the box. Fabric for IG is now on the frame ready to make a start this afternoon. Tonight its the stitchy club, we'll be having cream cakes as one lady had a birthday when the snow was here and the club had to cancelled, yummy!!

Hope you are all having a good week, the weathermen are predicting snow for us later this afternoon (should i believe them?) Stay cosy and warm wherever you are.