My next quilt ...

I bought this batik fabric in a little shop in Portland, Australia.

A lovely little shop where I had been before.

 

I am thinking of using Birds in the Air design which I also got there.. can't wait to get started.... but we do have to get our garden straight for the winter so maybe sadly this will have to wait a few days!

Thank you for all the lovely comments, they give me such a boost.. and in case you hadn't notice my weight is going down albeit slowly!

I am working on a cross stitch as a Giveaway so keep watching!!

XX

Pressies arrived so I can show

Lovely smiley Jacquie won my blogaversary giveaway and it has arrived , so I can show what I made,  a little pillow  and...

 

Sent.. A Lizzie Kate chart of a snowman and a pretty Teddy Scissors

She is delighted with them all and so that is good; this is what blogging is all about..
The pleasure of giving and receiving... don't you just love this wonderful world of blogging?

I have posted my 500th post so that's a reason for another Giveaway.. this time again some thing made by me and a choice of kits! So watch this  space  blog!!

Happy days blogging friends and thank you for being there for me!

xx

A Quilt for my grown up Grandson...

Remember these?  

Now they are this!!!

My grandson wanted woodland colours and kind of camouflage and I think you'll agree it is!

I hand sewed all the piecing and thoroughly enjoyed sewing it

 

It is very satisfying and quite soothing hand sewing the pieces together.

I did a lot sitting outside in the garden in the beautiful weather.

The quilting is machined and I have just cross hatched diagonally across the blocks and through the middles and then in the ditch around the sashing.

And having watched a utube on quilt binding several times I have at last got the hang of perfecting the mitred corners, so I am really pleased with myself. 

He has seen it while I was still making it and likes it and is taking it to UNI with him after getting 3 'A' s.

 

Whew!!!!

 

I LOVE QUILTING!!!

 

XX

 

I must thank everyone who wished me well last week, I don't think I have ever been so ill before, but am properly well now. Dh is relieved too as we both had a dreadful scare.

 

 

Is this doing the rounds?

I have had the most terrible time. I woke up on Tuesday with dreadful vertigo.

 

I couldn't walk without the feeling of falling over and the room spinning,  but even worse with each movement of my head I had horrendous vomiting. It was so bad my DH phoned our Dr's surgery for a prescription or something to stop the continuous vomiting.
And wow!!!..... we had a phone call  back from a Dr who said he would visit me in the afternoon for a HOME VISIT!!!
Gosh I didn't know they still did such things.
He arrived with a hypodermic needle!! It didn't hurt (much!!) but as an ex nurse I don't think he had had a lot of practice. But it was to stop the vomiting as I was close to getting de-hydrated.  I was also given a prescription for some tabs that weren't to swallow but to put under my top lip so it that it was absorbed.
However there was a problem with the prescription, well several!

1. The local chemist didn't have it.
2. DH drove into town to Boots. The drug  the Dr had prescribed wasn't available but the chemist suggested one that was..
3 However... the prescription didn't have my name on it, nor did it have the dose!

So back to the surgery to get it sorted. While my lovely DH was doing all this, the injected drug had worked and I was blissfully sleeping! I was exhausted as I had been awake since 5 o'clock and had been continuously sick.
Eventually I had the tabs and thankfully all the vomiting has stopped and today I have what can be called a normal cold, a cough and runny nose! First I have had for years!

But I am very grateful for the treatment I have had, so the when it works the good ol' NHS does work albeit with some hiccups!
Thank God.

xx

And the winner is.......

THANK YOU all my lovely followers for entering this giveaway 

 

I counted all the names and there were 23.. so using a number generator the number chosen as you can see is 4 and the 4th name was Jacquie Morris!

 

 

Thank you to all that have congratulated me on blogging for 6 years, I can't believe myself.
Sorry you all couldn't win but I will be giving away some charts and kits  in the next month.

And will be listing them, so please come and look and put your name down.

Happy Blogging all and thank you again for all the comments and good wishes.

 

XX

My fat story!!!

Can you imagine wanting something that others say is an easy target? And you really, really want it but it keeps slipping out of your grasp?

That’s me and trying to lose weight. I started a record book of my weight loss journey 14 years ago. I called it my ‘Fat Book.’ In it I stuck photos of me, photos cut out of magazines of women who were the shape I wanted to be, not Kate Moss look alikes, but ordinary women. Also clothes I would like to wear, exercises I should do.. one was a bike, can you imagine me on a bike?? I couldn’t balance and as I got older I was afraid of falling and breaking a leg, or an arm. Foods I ate or didn't eat, how I felt and what I was trying to do.

Me, trying to lose weight I think is like a marathon, but I don’t approach it like a person training for a Marathon! They train and follow a strict regime if they want to come up there in the first few out in front. I know all this, I know calories, fat free foods, eating healthily and that the best and cheapest form of exercise that needs no exercise machine, is just walking. I have a husband that walks every day with our dog. He is willing to walk with me. But I hate it. I make excuses.  (it was too windy today!!)

So why can’t I do it? Some days it is a struggle; today  I wanted cake, but I ate cherries, an apple and then a cup of beef oxo. I felt full and actually lost the craving, but if we had cake in the house I would have eaten it! I didn’t put on any weight when we were in France, but I had already put on 3 pounds before we went! It was like a green light,  we were having a holiday and to me that meant ‘treats!’  And I treated myself generously.

So here I am again, trying to lose weight!  Building a new dream to be slimmer.. note I didn’t say slim, I ‘d be happy to be slimmer.

For a two years  I have had my…….

Dream weight.

Happy weight.

Acceptable weight.

Disappointed weight.

All listed for me to see daily and in two years I haven’t even got to my disappointed weight.
Does anyone else ever feel like me, that being slimmer it is out of my grasp? Or are you how I used to be, could eat anything and stay the same weight?

What is the answer? 

xx

My Giveaway for my 6th Blogaversary

I hope you all like this .. because I am stitching this as my giveaway. I don't know yet how I will make it up when it is finished. It is a lovely sampler and the saying is so close to my heart.
The design is by Diane Grick for Silver Creek Samplers.
I will include some other little items too, so do sign up.
The usual rules apply.
1. Be a follower of my blog
2. Post this Giveaway on your blog
3. And most importantly SIGN UP!!

I know some peeps said they'd like to be included when I first mentioned I would be doing a giveaway and I'll include you all in the draw, which will be in 2 weeks time on August 16th.

Happy stitching all and happy days!

xx

Bon Jour.. a breakaway in France

We have had a lovely few days in France for our 8th wedding anniversary. The B&B was this huge old farm house that smelt of wood and polish. We slept well in fresh scented cotton sheets, in the quiet countryside. Breakfasts were crispy french bread, croissants, yogurt, local honey and cheese and jams and never ending coffee... just so delicious. This is the huge fireplace that was one end of the dining room. The house  has quite a history and was occupied by the Germans in WW2..
It was just two miles outside the little village of Wissant, a seaside place..we drove around through the beautiful countryside.. the lovely floral displays were in Wimereau, a little town not far from Wissant.

 I had to have photographs of the street tubs of flowers with two of my favourite flowers, rudbeckia and Cleome. We have had a restful time and ate and drank well,  but not it seems too much as we are the weight as before we went!.. I feel as though I have had a break and feel happy and well!

xx

Giveaway from Heather AND my 6th Blogaversary

I won quite unexpectantly from Heather her charts she was giving away (www.heathersstitchingstory.blogspot.com)

I never seem to win things so this was a super surprise.

These are all really sweet and I think I will be busy stitching in the next week or two as it is my 6th Blogaversary!
I never thought I would still be blogging six years on. I started it on 27th July 2008 right after having my knee op. I was at home, in pain and wondering if I was ever going to be able to walk, or garden again. Of course I could still stitch but I was having trouble concentrating..
I have loved talking to you all over the years,  my regular followers and those that dip in here and read what I have been up to.
Not a lot I sometimes think and then I look back and marvel at what I have done, what I have  seen, where I have been  and how my life has happily unfolded. And I have made such a lot of things and now added to my stitching by learning to do patchwork and quilting.
There have been some sad times but lots of happy times..
This was one of the best when this little girl came into our lives.....

And here she is today..

Doing what she loves to do, sunning herself as she watches us.. we love her to bits and her unconditional love is always there.

Nell, now  4 1/2 years old and just as pretty today.

 Watch this space for what I will be offering in my giveaway, some thing made by me and ?????
Wait and see.....
Or if you like to take a chance sign up now before you even  know what to expect.
Thank you for all your comments and encouragement over the years.

xx

Put on your dancing shoes and dance with me.... tis finished!!!

At last I have this quilt finished.

I started it April 2013 and then stopped to make a quilt for my grand daughter; then I started it again and by October it was finished.

But I left layering it and quilting while I made a quilt for my step daughter's wedding present.

 

So now is the only time I have had.. I have had it professionally quilted and isn't it beautifully done.

The design is 'Twin Stars'  by Pam and Nicky Lintott ( a mother and daughter team) and can be found in their book 'Jelly Roll Quilts.'  The fabric I used is 'French General' design by Moda.

I am very pleased with the finish and I think this one is going to be for us!

I have a new quilt on the go, this time for my eldest GS and then one is planned for my DD who has a big birthday coming up in September.. I must say I do love quilting it is so satisfying and through it I have met some lovely friends.

xx