She's here!!!

Isabelle Rose @ 1 hour old

Born ~ Thursday 26th May 2011 at 10.30am

Weight ~ 5lb 12 1/2oz

I was with Amy throughout the 27 hour labour and natural birth

where she had no pain relief except for 4 sniffs of gas and air - i was so proud of her

It was the most emotional thing ever, scarey seeing your little girl hurting so much, but fabulous watching your grandaughter pop out and take her first breath and cry

Mum and baby were sent home 5,30pm the same day as all went so well,

i'm helping out so wont be about for a few days

Craft inspiration

Reading blogs, getting inspiration and seeing others work always gives me a buzz, there are so many talented folks around

I was directed to a new to me blog recently. Jacquie at Bunny Mummy has some amazing craftwork tutorials and posts on her blog. 16th May was a very inspiring post, she made a beautiful bunny out of an old jacket belonging to one of her children.

Sometimes reading blogs sparks off an old memory, does it do that for you?

Jacquie's 'make do and mend' post reminded me of my late MIL, she was a whizz with using up old things. Cupboards, wardrobes and such were full to the brim with old things that she might use one day. She would unravel knitted items to re-use the wool and still turned the collars on dads shirts until he retired!

Here's one of the lovely projects that MIL made, a lovely embroidered tablecloth that we now use. I have lots of them and other handmade things of hers.

She was never without wool, thread or fabric in her hand and a new projet on the go. I often wonder where she got her inspiration for things from as she was from an age before computers.

A vast collection of patterns and those little Patons Bazaar books that you used to be able to buy to make items for bazaars and craft sales were something she had plenty of, i guess that was where she found ideas. I've inherited a lot of them and they are fun to look through. Anyone remember the knitted or crocheted dog spare toilet roll covers!!

Toy making has been happening here this week.

Here's my very first amogurumi crochet toy. Ballerina bunny was from Love Knitting for baby ~ Spring 2011. The wool used is Debbie Bliss DK cotton, it's really soft and i'm so pleased i was able to locate the wool asked for.

The pattern was quite easy to follow and i think she's turned out well for a first attempt. She just needs a name, i'm sure Amy will come up with something suitable.

A little stitching on Shores this week too.

Block 4 doesn't have so much as the last one so hopefully i'll be able to finish it before the end of the month to be on target for a block a month.

Next month we are house building again so another biggie block with plenty of brickwork to keep me busy

Mrs Tapemeasure has been received by Lindsay at the weeekend and has settled in happily, although Lindsay did she was wasn't too happy with the journey with Royal Mail and did feel a little sick at times .... we do have fun with these little bunnys LOL

Posite called on me too with a little surprise giftie.

Barb had attended a local craft sale in the church and come across this delicately crocheted pansy bookmark and thought i might like it. The stitches are so teeny tiny and it is so perfect. A big well done to the lady who made this beauty.

We've both read the books Crow Lake and The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson both of which we enjoyed. The book Barb enclosed is called Flowers on the Milkstool - the diary of Mary Lawson. i'm looking forward to reading diary entires from 1871 Kansas.

Have a lovely week, happy crafting ...

Fun, french & a finish

As some of you know i run the UFO group at Needlecraft Haven, we used to have a specific night, Tuesday, to stitch and make progress on your UFO but some ladies were busy Tuesdays so it was mutually decided that you could stitch any night of the week and post a pic of your progress before a new week started. Mr Stick (The resident encourager) a nice friendly chap but with a stick of iron to make sure you do actually stitch is on hand to help out

Recently numbers have dropped and for the past couple of weeks there have been no UFO stitchers. I decided that we needed to do something so Mr Stick invited a friend along.

This is what was posted on the forum last week .......

Bonjour mes amis (Hello my friends)
Mon nom est Madame Ruban à Mesurer mesurer les progrès i (My name is Madame Tape Measure, i measure progress)
Monsieur Stick m'a invité à visiter (Mr Stick has invited me to visit)

To find out why i am here, you need to decipher this message:-

Chaque piqueuse OVNI qui montre des images des progrès cette semaine
seront admissibles à un tirage et je vais aller vivre avec le gagnant

For those who don't speak french the translation reads (and yes, i am very grateful to the translators on the web LOL)

Each UFO stitcher that shows images of progress this week
will be eligible for a draw and I am going to live with the winner.

4 ladies worked out what had to be done and posted pics of their progress this week, Christine, Lindsay, Lisa and Angi(no blog). Well done ladies.

I decided that as it had been a bit of fun, the drawing of the name for the winner would also be fun and not the usual ask DH to pull a name out the bowl. I wrote the 4 names onto some brightly coloured paper, screwed them up and threw them to Mr Moe, he batted them around the kitchen for a while and one went under the fridge (here he is still looking for it even though i have retrieved it) but eventually be decided on one that he wanted to play with and Lindsay was drawn the winner.

Congrats Lindsay, i'll get Mrs Tape Measure into the mail to you when i next visit the post office.

Wednesday night is stitch club and also The Sampler Girl SAL night, but this week i will not be stitching as we have the AGM of our community association and the same room as we have our weekly meeting is used. Instead i stitched on mine Monday evening this week and have a happy dance ... YAY!!!!

The frame is a recycled one that i saved after Amy broke the doughcraft dolly that was framed on a piece of board in it many years ago. One of those 'it might come in useful one day' saves, i'm sure you all do it. The design was a perfect fit, but with no glass i decided to add some wadding to the back and make it puff out a bit. It's sitting on my mantlepiece right now whilst i decide where to hang it and i'm really pleased with the way it turned out.

I do have another Sampler Girl design to continue the SAL next week, a very nice design too, you'll have to wait for the first WIP to see what i've chosen this time.

Shores was out last night, the first stitch into Block 4 for the month of May, oh where is this month going to? only 2 weeks left to complete this block and the challenge hasn't had a stitch put into it yet either.... HELP... LOL

au revoir, till the next time

A gift or two

Sending out a handmade little something always gives me such great pleasure, i only wish i was there to see the recipients face when it comes to opening it.

One of ladies at the stitching club loved her covered tape measure she received for her birthday in January and asked if i would be able to make one for her sisters birthday later this month. I was only too pleased to be able to help.









The little bluetit is also a covered tape measure, an oval shape this time and not the usual round one. Kathy (no blog) has a birthday soon and this one is now in the hands of Royal Mail on it's journey. I think i'm safe posting a pic as Kathy is away on her hols this week so wont see it.

Time for another Christmas ornament too. I'm still on target with an ornament a month and enjoying the chance to have 12 made up to give as Christmas gifts later in the year.

I'm sure most of you have seen this little guy, he's the free design from Midnight Stitching called Snowmans Quaker Christmas. He's another thats been waiting to be stitched for quite some time.

I used one of the finishing forms to make him up. They are so easy to use and give you a perfect finish. Ideal for those of you who are a little worried about making up ornaments, try one and give it a go, i'm sure you'll be impressed how they work, instructions are included in the packet. They come in different shapes and sizes too.

At Home with Jane Austin had an evening spent on her this week, although not the usual Wednesday SAL night at Needlecraft Haven. That night i was in the pub having a meal with the stitching club ladies. We had postponed our Easter meal as one of our members sadly lost her father. A good time was had by all, plenty of laughs and good food.

Only the bottom row to add to this one now, its the same as the top floral row, then time to decide on another to be able to continue in the SAL.

This weekend i was able to finish the crochet on the ballerina bunny that i started. Tense moments as the wool was being used up and i thought i was going to run out. An 18" long piece is all thats left of the cream colour and a very small amount of both pinks. I wonder if like me you always work faster when you know the end of the wool/thread is coming up, it's as if you think it might go that little bit further if you do it quicker!! I just need to sew it together and stuff it sometime soon, i dont think i've shown you a WIP of it? so it wil be nice to reveal it finished.

I'm feeling the need to start a pair of socks too. I keep seeing nice socks on blogs and am itching to get out wool and needles for that. I have been knitting last week, a bunny has been made... more about that in the next post.

Midge is sitting in the conservatory sprawled out in the sunshine. He's pretending to be sleeping, but i know better. He squinted his eyes tightly shut as i took this pic. You can bet, as soon as i press 'publish post' on here and head towards the kitchen to make a cuppa he'll be hot on my heels hoping for a quick snack. He's already opened his eyes and looked in my direction twice to see if i am still busy on here, it's a wonder you can't hear his sighing wondering how long i'm going to be LOL

Stitching and streaking!!

Last week i shared with you the lovely lion fountain in my garden. Whilst i was in the city centre going through the Town Hall Square this week i was sitting next to another lovely lion fountain that i enjoy and thought you might like to see that too.

This one is much more elaborate than mine. It was unveiled in September 1879 and is magnificent. You can see close up pics and read more about it here.

I took my picture and mentioned to DH that i was going to share it with my blog readers. Imagine my surprise when in the next days Leicester Mercury (our local daily newspaper) there was a report of a streaker in the exact spot i had been sitting the previous day. Good job he wasn't there when i was taking my pic, how would i have explained that LOL

Another of the ladies at the stitching club has a birthday next week, so this week i've whipped up a covered tape measure for her.

Next week we are not meeting at the community centre as we are off out for a meal to the local pub. We were due to go during the Easter holidays but one of our members had sadly lost her father so the outing was postponed.

Shores was put on the floor stand this week.

I knew f i didn't get all that white filled in on the house before i started the next block i might just decide that i liked it without and it would never get done. Very boring stitching but i did a small bit at a time and i must admit, it does look much better now it's done and Block 3 is complete.

One more WIP for this week and of course you all know what that will be. I bet you are fed up with seeing the same thing every week on here.

At Home from the Sampler Girl (the SAL at Needlecraft Haven on Wednesday evening) is of course what it is. I'll have to stitch on this a different night next week with being at the pub on Wednesday.

I have also started the crochet bunny, it now has a head, 2 ears and 2 arms!

Thank you to Shari who said she would send me some of her rain that she is fed up with. It arrived on Friday and has really given my garden a good soaking, my plants are very grateful Shari.

As i bid you farewell till the next time, i'll just leave you with a pic of the stunning cactus that is flowering in my conservatory. A tiny cutting that was given to me some years ago and it never fails to amaze me. The blooms are approx 6" across when open fully and the colour is just breathtaking.

Thinking of all the overseas ladies that celebrate Mothers Day today, i hope you have had a lovely day.

May Day

Good afternoon blog readers, the weather here in the UK is brilliant sunshine and it's been so lovely for the bank holiday weekend.

Friday started this second long bank holiday weekend of April and my boys decided to work Friday as they are really busy. I know a lot who have no work at all in the current economic climate, so this is good news and neither of them are die-hard Royalists. I spent a lovely day camped out on the sofa watching the Royal Wedding on my own. I thought it was a beautiful service and didn't Catherine look devine.

Shores accompanied me, but unfortunately even with an extra days stitching this month, i still didn't manage to get Block 3 completed in April.

I still have the house to fill in with that wonderful colour white! Going to be very boring, so will do a little at a time inbetween completing Block 4 during May.

Saturday, DH and i spent quite a lot of the day wandering around garden centres. I have a lovely lion faced water feature that was a birthday gift some years ago but during the winter months the pump has become damaged.

We finally located a replacement pump at the 4th one and it's now spouting lovely again thanks to DH and his DIY skills.

I do love to sit outside and read in the sunshine to the sound of a water feature, which is exactly what i have been doing today whilst supervising DH in the garden. When we were at the garden centre a few new plants just happened to jump into the basket and make their way home with us, you know how it is, they look at you and plead to be given a good home and DH just can't resist, good job i took my purse with me to help spread the cost for him LOL

Wednesday as usual was The Sampler Girl SAL that Barb is running over at Neddlecraft Haven.

I took 'At Home' with me to the stitching club and managed to complete the house and a little more besides so a good week this time, and no frogs to hinder my progress.

There are lots of lovely Sampler Girl designs being stitched in this year long SAL and i think it's one that i will be continuing with when i've finished this design.

Do you remember the crochet magazine that had the lovely amigurumi bunny in that Amy wanted me to make.... i finally managed to locate some of the wool it asked for. My local shop informed me that even though the magazine was the latest edition, the wool was no longer available to order.

The yarn was purchased from Meadow Yarn and their service was excellant so i am happy to give them a plug here on the blog. The invoice that came in the parcel had a lovely green tea teabag attached to it, i thought that was a lovely gesture.

Tomorrow to round off this beautiful relaxing weekend, i am expecting a visit from my oldest school friend. Life and family have got in the way over the past few months for both of us and we haven't met up for a chat for quite a while, so i'm really looking forward to some girlie time together.

I hope you too have had a lovely weekend, what did you get up to with family, friends and loved ones?