It's a dog's life!

Does she look comfy on my Laura Ashley chair, resting on my silk cushion and my cross stitch one of ‘Cats,’ that took me a year or two to finish??


This little rascal girl Nell woke us this morning just after 4 am. Dh got up to see what the crying and wailing was all about. She had been a very, very little bit sick. He settled her and came back to bed, did she settle back down?? At 5 ish we were drinking cups of tea and she was on the bed in between us and sleeping!

I did doze but was extremely tired when we did decided to get up at 7:45 and she was still sleeping! Grrrrr

I didn’t go to church this morning because I knew if I sat still and quiet for any length of time I would doze off. Very embarrassing, I did it once in a members meeting and was woken at the end for the last song!

And where has Nell been all morning? Sleeping on the chair.

What a life she has and what a merry dance she sometimes puts us through! But we still love her.

I haven’t done any stitching this week as we have been very busy trying to get this house decorated and garden weeded and tidy as we want to go on the market to sell. We have had a new carpet laid in the hall, stairs and landing, which now looks a lot lighter. DH has removed all the broken handles and replaced them with pine knobs, on the kitchen cupboard doors and they look superb. Why we didn’t do this for us is a mystery! But it does all look very nice now.

I have also been knitting and unravelling a sock! I tried a mock cable stitch and the sock turned out to be too tight, even though I had cast on extra stitches to allow for the pattern. So I undid it, and knitted it up again, this time with the little mock cable as the rib and the rest of the sock just a patterned rib. I am half way through the second sock and if it is to be a February sock for the SOM I ‘d best get knitting!

Why do I give myself so much to do!

Happy days!!

Spring Sampler, Praying for a Cure and a new start..'.His Name' design.

I have only managed a small bit of my Spring Quaker this week because I have had other stitching to do..
So this week I have stitched February's christmas ornie, can't post a pic to day as we are in Essex and it is in  Coventry.
I also stitched this for a church friend as she has been diagnosed with breast cancer, so this was stitched with a prayer in every stitch and still praying for her.  Especially today as it is her op day.

And this will be for the church I am leaving in Coventry so must keep stitching this each evening till its completed.

Its on 32C Antique white even weave and the chart was a freebee from http://www.joyfulexpressions.us/.
I am using DMC all different colour blue threads. I think it is going to look rather nice.

What a bargain knitting book!

The new yarn I ordered arrived last week and I am delighted with it.. It will be used for the sock a month challenge for February and March. And just look at this book of patterns it was only £2.00.

 I saw it when we were shopping in Tesco and had to have it. It is absolutely gorgeous and has a variety of patterns, modern cardigans, socks, cushions, the sweetest little baby booties and scarves and hats. I could spend hours just looking through it!!

What a bargain...

And these socks are a must to knit, they are so, so pretty

Love this cushion and knitted ones are all the rage.

Oh for a 36 hour day to enjoy all these lovely things to make!  And doesn't the month seem to be rushing away? We are more than half way through it already and isn't it nice to see the sun, albeit still be a bit chilly in the early mornings; roll on spring!

And the winners are

My RAK winners are:-

I used a random number generator and the following came up...

Lesleyanne

Chystal

Rachael

Thank you to the other 21 for taking part...

Sorry I couldn't post this at the weekend, my computer wouldn't let me play!!

I shall be in touch for your addresses and you will receive some thing made by me within the next 12 months

Hope you're all having a great Valentine's day.. my DH made me a super card on his computer and his own rhyming verse.

I made a heart shaped short bread biscuit. It was quite big and we have had some and it was delicious. When I made it I didn't think about the taste, just that it was something different.

Each year I have made some thing different..

Year 1 was an ivy covered wire heart growing in a flower pot.

Year 2 was a flowery home made card

Year 3 Was a cross stitched heart(I gave him this when we were in Australia)

Year 4 was a wire shaped heart with buttons on it.

So this year it was something to eat.

That's my food plan out the window today!!

Happy Days and happy stitching

Spring has sprung!

How can I be miserable about the cold weather when I have these in my garden.

The first signs of spring... Tuesday's weather was warm and sunny and I was able to do some tidying up in the garden and tucked away under some dried fern fronds were these little beauties.

At last some real signs that the winter is on its way out.. sorry Australia and New Zealand but yours is on its way. At least you won't have the snow as we have had this winter. These have reminded me I have a cross stitch chart of snow drops some where, that I stitched years ago for a friend. I think I'll search it out and stitch it again! It will be some where in my stash, I wonder if I will be able to find it???
Happy Days every one..

A very proud day

Today is a very proud day for me because it is the 8th anniversary of the ladies chit chat group I run.
We have been going for 8 years I can't believe it! It started off in Smart Groups and when that finished we emigrated to yahoo groups.
Members have come and gone but those who have remained come from UK, US, NZ and France. With only 14 members we manage to generate an average of 800 mails a month! Some months we top 1200!
Over the years we have had births of grandchildren, marriages, one being my own, a very sad passing of one of our members and lots of laughs. What do we chat about? Every thing!
It is my morning pick up with friends who are always there even though I have never met them.
A big part of my life...

I have been blessed with this group of friends and whose friendship has been a life saver on many occasions.
So a very big thank you to Heather, (Scotland) Pauline and Jae(NZ) Iris( France) Sue, Jane, Lesley, Pam, (UK) and Marge, Peggy, and the two Bonnies (US)
A wonderful group of women with whom I have laughed and cried over the years. Long may we all go on and on!

WIPs Progress

I have stitched a lot more on this and have nearly finished all the gold which is horrible to use. Perhaps I should have used a wax or something with it. At one point I though I had mis-counted and was greatly relieved when it met up with the lower border! I was dreading it being wrong.

I am having  a rest from this this week.

If I wasn't in the 2011 weekly stitchalong I probably wouldn't be stitching this! I need now to start the back stitch as it looks as though it is going to be complicated on the outlines of the petals of the dandelions!

This I love! I love the muted colours and that each motif is different.

I am glad I used 32C as it makes it look so delicate.

There is still lots of time to sign up for my giveaway as the draw is not till next sunday..so leave your name and  be included..

Happy stitching all

My busy January.

I saw this pattern and had to make it.  It took me just three evenings to crochet it. I used the yarn used in the pattern but had to search around for it from a UK dealer. Its a wool mixture called Bamboo Ewe and the colours have delightful names: Geranium, Lipstick, Sprout and Snapdragon. I think the names are as lovely as the colours themselves

I love the bright colours and wore it to church on sunday. I had lots of admiring comments which was nice.

Crocheting is back in vogue! 

As is knitting..  my efforts for the January challenge for SOM group was in my previous post.

Lovely and stripy socks, just what I like.

And of course I stitched a reindeer for  the Christmas Ornie challenge.

Now I need some new sock yarn for February and I have dug out my JC Christmas edition for my February ornie.

As well as this I have managed to work on all three of my WIPs and will show pics next time.
And I stitched Jaclyn's RR... So quite a busy month.
If you haven't already signed up, don't miss  my free givaway, sign up now. The draw is on the 12th February

Happy Days and enjoy your crafting whatever it is..