God's cake

God's cake....
This is about the best thing
I've ever read as an explanation

Sometimes we wonder,
'What did I do to deserve this?' or
'Why did God have to do this to me?'
Here is a wonderful explanation!
A daughter is telling her Mother how everything
is going wrong, she's failing algebra, her boyfriend
broke up with her and her best friend is moving away.
Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and
asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the
Daughter says, 'Absolutely Mom, I love your cake.'
'Here, have some cooking oil,' her Mother offers.
'Yuck' says her daughter.
'How about a couple raw eggs?' 'Gross, Mom!'
'Would you like some flour then?
Or maybe baking soda?'
'Mom, those are all yucky!'
To which the mother replies :
'Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves.
But when they are put together in the
right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake!'
God works the same way. Many times we wonder why
He would let us go through such bad and difficult
times. But God knows that when He puts these things
All in His order, they always work for good! We just
have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all
make something wonderful!
God is crazy about you.
He sends you flowers every spring and
A sunrise every morning.
Whenever you want to talk, He'll listen.
He can live anywhere in the universe,
And He chose your heart.
If you like this, send this on
to the people you really care about.
Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are
Here we might as well dance!

IHSW

The International Hermit and Stitch weekend is  this weekend, I nearly forgot... so hope you too will be hunkered down and stitching all weekend.

I do have to go away sunday but the rest of the time I will be working on my Rosewood Manor 'Quakers and Quilts.'  Why don't you join in the fun!!
Happy happy stitching, what better way to spend a weekend?
Thank you Joysze for organising yet another fun way to get to know other stitchers from all over the world.

Chris xx

Valentines and who sent it?

I have taken part in the  Secret Stitching Sweet Heart, this has been organised by Jo of www.serendipitousstitching.blogspot.com

Each person taking part posts a photo of a Valentine made by some one who you don't know, and some posts a photo of  yours on their blog and then you check the blogs to find yours... does that make sense???
Anyway it is a fun thing to do and you get to find other people'sblogs.

And this is the Valentine I made for my DH this year, each year I have made some thing different, so far I have given him.ivy grown over a wire heart, a made 3d card, a cross stitch heart shaped ornie, a wire heart with buttons, and a short bread heart,which I helped him to eat!
This year its this fabric card. It is scraps of fabric, ribbons, lace, yarn and a felt heart all sewn on with the fancy stitches that my machine does. I sewed it on to a piece of felt, then I stuck the whole thing on to sticky back card (I think I bought this years ago to make lamp shades. I knew it would come in useful for some thing one day!!)

I am very pleased with my efforts and think I might do something similar for birthday cards for friends. It was a fun thing to do and I got to use those fancy stitches my machine does that I rarely use.
Hope your valentine remembered you and sent you a card. mine did and he is cooking me a special dinner tonight.

Happy Valentine all

 Chris xx

PS Dh had to take our dog to town for her trim and this is what he came back with.. its not that good a photo, but I can't take another as I have eaten it, and it was absolutely delicious!

Winter flowers

Peeping through the snow our first snow drops.

We have others, but they were too far up the garden to photo, too cold to go out there.

I am willing this snow to go. Yesterday driving along the lanes to Herrongate the fields looked beautiful,  especially as the sun was shining, but all very deceitful as it is bitterly cold and as far as I am concerned it's warm socks, tea and buttered toasted fruit buns weather, with the heating turned up high.

Hope you stitchers are keeping warm and happily stitching.

Chris xx

Progress report and a happy dance!

I honestly hadn't realised just how much stitching I had done in January, but here it all is!  My second Christmas ornie, it's stitched on 28C evenweave coloured pale green, with the recommeded DMC threads. A funny little candy eating snowman design from 2009 JC Christmas edition.

And here is my Bothy Threads 'Buzzy Days' completely finished, beads as well. They are not the beads that came with the kit as Nell ate those when she was still a puppy and was eating everything she could!!

I am pleased I have completed it, as it lost its charm for me half way through!LOL

And I have stitched a whole lot more of my  'Summer Celtic Lady' and stitched the beads on the blue part of her gown. This section I completely frogged and redid last December because it had gone horribly gone. I intend getting this finished before the end of the year.

And it may not look as though I haven't stitched much on my Chatelaine, Convent's Herbal Garden but I have... 'onest!

This was my new start.. it's Rosewood Manor 'Quakers and Quilts.'  I have worked out how much I have to stitch each month to get this completed this year. This is my BAP!

Of course I also stitched 'The Arbour' in January which was my 'small' This month  I am starting
Down Sunshine Lane 'Pastel Hearts' Needle Roll as my small. I have stitched another Christmas ornie but still have to make that up.. busy, busy, busy because I am also making a patchwork quilt. I don't like to waste a minute of my days..
Happy Stitching and Happy Days all.

Chris xx

Deep and Crisp and even!

We woke this morning to 5 inches of snow and Nell loves it.. she is like a small child dashing through it.

Fun fun fun, except when she comes back in and there is balls of  clinging to her hair  and she brushes past you... ugh wet wet wet!!

But there is quiet beauty about it.

A day to stay in the warm and sew or stitch.

Hope you can do just that.

Happy Days

                                               Chris xx

Argggg!! The Dentist...

Did you know that an almond raspberry slice at Costa coffee is 458 calories??? But after the dentist I felt I deserved it.. she was more polite than last time, six months ago.  I think she remembered my little talk on 'I am a war baby and lucky to have any teeth at all !!!’ Or my notes are marked as 'difficult grumpy old bag!!'

However, after examining my teeth, she offered to clean them, which I wasn't happy about, as I rarely ever need that. However she said that it wouldn't hurt and just take a minute or two... well she stretched my little mouth to its limits, sprayed me with water all over my face and dug around at the base of my poor teeth.  I stopped her when she got to my sensitive tooth and she said, ‘just rinse,’ and was then going to polish my teeth, but I hopped out of the chair, well actually struggled to get up from the prostrate position they put you these days and said.... 'Enough I don't want that and I am not having that done again!!!' Didn't wait for her to say anything else and slammed the door on my way out!!! Which I might add, I had to ask to have closed otherwise anyone going past would see me stretched out on the couch with my mouth saying '0', what a to-do!!

DH has to see the hygienist, why I don't know because he cleans his teeth every night and I sometimes don't,  but when I do clean my teeth I clean them for at least 3 minutes. When I worked I used to watch my digital clock from the door of my ensuite,  and if you have ever done that you’ll know that the numbers jiggle up and down when using an electric tooth brush, so that must be your eye balls as the clock stays still !!LOL

I asked to have my next appointment Feb 1st 2013, twelve months away!!  I am hoping by then, she will have moved on!!LOL

So you can see, I had to have that almond slice I deserved it!!LOL

Thank goodness I have some uncomplicated stitching to do this evening as Lesleyanne has lent me her Snowman L*K  chart.

Chris