I'm still here

just been a bit upset still, plus Mark and I went over to Durham at the weekend for a family party which was nice, but I've come down again with the dreaded tonsillitis, so that makes feeling under the weather worse - still never mind I will bounce back as usual. I have been stitching and will have some updates to show, I've finished the Pendillium for the French exchange but can't post a picture of it yet as I haven't to send until next week, plus I have almost finished the stitching of my Au Fil des Reves set, then it will just be the finishing to do on that, hopefully I will have the cross stitching completed on that by tomorrow night. I still haven't done the finishing on 'Bunnies', I must get on with that one too, I have been planning my next ornie for the SAL I'm doing with Romy and Paula and I'm going to start the mailart exchange I'm doing with my sister this month, I have quite few bits and bobs to get on with really.


Thanks to everyone for your comforting words and hugs about Floozi, they have been greatly appreciated.

Floozi

My tom cat Floozi went missing from home from Sunday night, we went everywhere looking for him and couldn't find him and asked friends and neighbours if they had seen him. A friend whilst walking his dog this morning rang at 5:45am and said he had found him, I went rushing to where he said he was which was in the long grass in the house where he used to live before we took him in, he was all curled up looking for all the world as though he was asleep, I am so upset, he was my wonderful little man and he had such a gentle personality. I just can't stop crying. Mark is all upset too.

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A finish finish

I actually completed all the stitching I think either last year or the year before and its been sitting in the 'to finish' drawer ever since, its by Just Nan and its called Pearl Orchid, but I knew I didn't want to frame it neither did I want to make an ornament with it, when I was in Penrith last Saturday and visited the Silk Room cross stitch shop I found to my dismay they were closing and they had 50% off everything so I had a field day buying boxes and very expensive scissors at half price, and found this wooden box hidden away in a display cabinet and it perfect for Pearl Orchid. I have padded the top of the box slightly and placed it in the lid.

Our new front door

has finally arrived, typical for it to come on such a overcast day, but I am quite excited about it so I just had to take a picture, even tho' the house looks grayer and gloomy. If you look to the right you can make out our beautiful azalea, it comes with us from house to house so far and in the foreground is the wonderful montana clematis which we call mile a minute, its drenched with flowers this year and looks amazing from the other side of the road.

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Where I'm from..........

I found this on Barbaraand just had to try.

I am from the pebbly south coast where sailors roam, from Maynards winegums and co-op sterilised milk.
I am from homes that had rooms that smelt of tobacco smoke for a while, where laughter lingered and the sun always shined.
I am from dahlias and earwigs, roses and greenhouse tomatoes, tortoises too.
I am from Veronica and nanny Maud, great aunt Win, great grannies Stripe and Moorman - knowledgable, strong independant women, quick to smile and sing out of tune, but who had elegance and grace.
From 'Susan Pull your socks up' and 'Down comes the rain' from daddys sunshine and tuppence
I am from High church of England where Sunday school was fun.
I'm from the sea and the salt and the sailors who travelled the world, from cockles and winkles in vinegar, Guernsey butter and cream.
From my Grand-dad Mac with ears the size of Elephants who wiggled them at tea-time to make me giggle at the table and then get disapproving stares from Nana. He always smelt of greenhouses and tomatoes and from my Nanny Maud whose love of the garden was passed onto me and from Aunt Win whose love of the needle was passed down to me.
I am from wooden tea chests as packing cases, with steam trains and tv's with coin slots, I am from mixed memories of travels, and chocolate boxes full of photos and love.

Neighbourhood RR

Well I think I have finished it, I don't think I will add anymore to it, and I am quite happy with it. This is mums (Veronica) Neighbourhhod RR part that I have stitched, hope that mum likes it. Next week I will be sending it off to Carol, early I know, but I have a few other commitments that require my attention and I knew I neded to get this up and finished, before I stsrted the next think I'm doing which is an exchange of pendilliums.

RR has returned home

My RR has finally come home to me - whoppeee!! I joined a DT RR late last year, there were 4 of us in it, Marie-Louise, Wanda, Nelly and myself, I have in past posts put up the work I completed on theirs. For mine I picked DT's 'Summer', but with additions, I placed the house and trees on the top as the design wasn't really big enough for 4 of us to put an input onto, so my work on this was the house, trees, bird and border round, the ladies have done an absoluely wonderful job on stitching on this and I am really pleased with how it looks - Thankyou so much ladies for the work on it.

I have been sewing other things lately, I have finished bunnies but need to complete the finishing work so when I've done that I will have pics, I am also about 2/3's of the way through mums neighbourhood RR house and garden so will have pics of that too in the near future, and finally I have made a big start on my Au fil des reves designs and will have pics of that too, so I have been busy.

I had wanted to share today pics of my new front door, but unfortunately the main panel hasn't arrived yet and so they have put a 'borrowed' one in which is nothing like the one we have ordered so I have to wait a few more days.

Thankyou

I would like to say a big thankyou to everyone who visits my blog, I really appreciate it and your comments and questions. I would also like to say welcome to the newcomers to my blog who have left me comments and questions too.
Jorge asked me a question yesterday as to whether I knew anything about cactus or wild gardens and I have to say that I know absolutley nothing about either really at all - so I'm sorry about that.

More stash

Whilst I was over in the North East last weekend - gosh it seems like ages ago now, I went to Guisboro' and into Leven crafts, oh that shop is so tempting I'm glad I only go in a couple of times a year I treated myseld to some new stash, I couldn't resist the DMC colour variations that have just come out here in the UK.
I also added to my fabric, I needed just 1 piece for Bunnies for the finishing work, but once in the shop I was like a kid with her hands in the sweety jar and eneded up buying loads. Also they were doing a breast cancer material charity squares which was a really good buy there are 40 squares two each of 20 different fabrics I have some ideas using Essys friends to do something with them all. They also had some beautiful 7mm hand-dyed silk ribbon which I just had to get some of and buttons beautiful shell buttons, which I have forgotten to take a picture of.

Tiptoe

through the tulips!! I couldn't resist last weekend whilst I was over visiting my parents to take some photos of the beautiful tulips mum had planted of some tulips in a large sink, they are lovely.

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Ornament SAL

This is my ornament for this months SAL with Romy I have chosen to stitch a EEF designs I have had forever it my stash, it is a real delight to stitch. I used DMC Linen threads and its stitched on 32ct linen. I finished it with a fabric thats got wee bees on it and a gold trim, I'll be doing this one again as I so enjoyed stitching it.

MailArt Sent & Received

Here is the mailart I sent for Sandra as we were part of the Stitch & Stash Spring MailArt exchange, I stitched it on 28ct evenweave that was a hand-dye by Kates Kloths July 2005 colour, the wee rabbit is by EMS, the flowers on the back were by me.
and here is the delightful MailArt I received, now I don't think it was Sandra who was sending to me and as yet I haven't discovered who it was, but its a delightful envelope, I really like it.

I've been away for the weekend, well a long weekend visiting my parents and sister and her family, well I saw Helen and the family Monday and my wonderful little sis, cut and coloured my hair - it was in desperate needs and now I have a wonderful new hair style. I have been stitching, but very naughty really as I have been concentrating on my new French smalls and I am now behind on 'Bunnies' SAL and mums RR, plus I haven't finished my SB Columbine Sampler, but I have more or less finished my ornie for this months SAL with Romy, I will post a pic up tomorrow of that one.

Stitchers Blogger question

Q. Do you or have you stitched with over-dyed threads? (Weeks Dye Works, The Gentle Art Sampler Threads, Six Strand Sweets, etc.) If so, what is your opinion concerning them? If not, why not?

I love over-dyed threads, I have used them numerous times on numerous projects, I haven't a particular favourite, though I am enjoying using Vicki Clayton silk thread which is overdyed and lovely to use. I like to try different ones, some do not always have the effect I expected but I find some can enhance a project.

In door water features anyone??????

Never again to I want a day like today, in fact lets forget about the year so far!!! Lets begin at the beginning, - January,microwave blew up, February, washing machine blew up, March - dishwasher blew up, April - whilst placing a plant support in the garden on Easter Saturday Mark inadvertantly managed to puncture the gas pipe to the house - major catastrophe, May - now bear in mind we are only 3 days into May, we awoke at our usual time 5:30am to go to work, carpet in bedroom sodden and I mean really wet just what you want when you blearly open ones eys. Water leak from the airing cupboard, now from the photo it doesn't look that bad, but photos LIE, Tash bless her, is trying to help as you can see, and by then the water was turned off, so I had an impromtu day off work today with Mark and his uncle repairing the pipe which meant carpet lifted and floorboards, my nice cream carpet now is a funny greyish colour and I'm still drying it out with a heater, the photo doesn't show that so well either. So now I have a tidy and dry airing cupboard as everything had to come out of it and its not that huge anyway, so its been all go all day.

BUT in the post today I got my lovely french kits for some smalls I wanted to do, luckily they are translated into English as my french is not so good, all three are by Au Fil des Reves and are all themed on Maison de brodeuse, I love them and I am not going to wait to start them, I'm starting tonight.

Also the final part of the attic stash big 40 arrived there were 10 beautiful Vicki Clayton silk threads so I can add them to my silk box, so between washing towels and bedding that got very wet with very yukky water, I've been fondling my new stash. Luckily I have a wonderful Mother in law who because we had no water sor half the day, took away some of the horrible wet yukky bedding and towels, and not only did she wash and dry it she also ironed the lot for me and brought it back at tea-time - Thanks Mu, I love my MIL.!

From Water features to Onions

We have been doing a bit of work in the gardens over this Bank holiday weekend and before, as I may have mentioned in an earlier week, Maark and the nephews pulled down a tree and made me a water feature. It will look much nicer when all the Hostas have grown around it and the climbing Hydrangea is in flower.
But I must admit, I'm quite pleased with it.


The onions I will tell more later.... blogger is playing up. Whoppee at last its working, now the onions, Mark and I are members of an Onion Club and we grow BIG onions and show them later in the year, at the moment I'm beating Mark over the last 5years and get placed higher than him!!!LOL!!! These are my onions potted up in readiness to take up to the allotment then I can get them planted out of the pots into the ground, its fun and we quite enjoy it all, it also involves a lot of social time as there are 30 of us in the group.