Made me smile -

You are probably thinking I would have hearts and flowers being almost that day of the year but Oh no, racing sheep , I saw this photo by Rick Turner , well as they say the rest is history. As you know, I sort of like sheep,and when I saw this I just had to share. I love the jockeys .Hope it gave you a smile too. Then I thought ,I have to find the appropriate background and this was it. So until I decide on a change, which seems to be quite frequent these days, here is my current blog. I took the music off as I tried to update it and it was playing on top of itself ,if you know what I mean. Anyway if you don't at first succeed (give up).

When we set off on our journey last Friday (for the funeral) I was hoping to see some sheep to photograph ,however we were on busy roads all the way and those sheep we did see were too far away for pictures to be taken .Not saying anymore about the funeral,it was all rather sad.

It has been rather a nice day here today ,cold but sunny,the washing fairy has been very busy and the ironing one is hiding in the cupboard. I reckon that someone put a curse on me and that ironing board , it is always shouting at me .
Would you believe that these roses lasted 2 weeks ,threw them in the recycling this morning- wonder what I will get this week.Well a girl can hope , and Martin doesn't usually disapoint.

I have had a little stash arrive, and as I have yet another birthday soonish ,I am in the process of telling all the family what I would like lol.

Graeme Sue and Ella are off to Austria (OOOHHH SO ENVIOUS) they are going ski-ing though and we used to go in the summer, walking. In the mountains ,oh the air is sublime.
We wont be doing that again , grr stupid RA.
Anyway as usual I digress, I have my pressie from them sitting here beside me,unopened! as I will not see them before they go. It is not stitch related though lol.
Talking of Our dear Sue, she has to see a blood consultant-of course the appointment for her to gois for whilst they are away. So she is hoping there will be another one waiting for her when she gets back,still fingers crossed that it is treatable.

Ollie has been to the vets yet again, we have wooden floor in our bedroom as I think I have mentioned before,he does like to get on the bed if he can, (when no one is looking)but when he jumps off he has no purchase on his paws so slides. Then he ends up like Bambi when he goes skating with Thumper. So having done his Bambi impression by collapsing in a heap he hurt his back hip and leg. So walks on lead for 3 days .HE was not impressed and neither were we with another £100 VET bill. I hope he realises how much stitching stash he is preventing me from having.
Oh that was a good link wasn't it.
Stash for you to (perhaps) drool over is as follows.
This is my Emma Project from The Sampler Girl, more later.





I saw these Prairie Schooler trees and thought they may be fun to make at some point.
The other design was a Dessins design in French but with an English version.This is to make for my birdie wall.


Took pic of English side too, also I received my LHN third ornie (haven't done the second one yet.) This month is He is a flake.

Last but not least the 2 last stockings of the year and end of the stockings from Blackbird designs .November and December 2009 .They were a little late in getting here.

Worth waiting for though.

Now for the wips and finishes.
As you know I am doing the SAL with Yoyo on her Christmas Design. Which is my Quaker Christmas and here is where I am up to with this one.



Really pleased with this one, but I really must get some done this week.
Also I am in trouble with Julie and Mr Stick regarding no work done on the Vine ,so I am in detention and must attend class next Tuesday so teacher can keep her eye on me.
The JN sal is growing V e r y slowly but I have put a few stitches in it.
I have finished this one though for my birdie wall,it is going to be framed at the weekend.

This is a design from LHN entitled Morning Berries,it was a complimentary chart way back when. I stitched it over 1 on Sassys khaki with the recommended threads.It will have a black frame like my other birdies.
Then the really exciting one,I think so anyway and I am really really pleased with it. For any of you who are JA fans you will know what I mean ,I think Martin is a little unsure ,but then he is a man.

DRUM ROLL PLEASE

Emma on the wall.


So for this time ,that is almost all my stitchy news - maybe more to share with you soon, my dear MIL has finished her cross stitch thatched cottage. It has taken her over a year with many tears dripped while stitching remembering dad. Who as you know was a stitching man,but I am so proud of her she has DONE it,That too is off to the framer this weekend so I will see if I can grab a pic when we get it back.
Hope you have enjoyed the ramblings , thanks for coming to see me. I have also joined the TUSAL but have not posted pic of my Thin Lizzy jar- there is "no whisky" in it.
Bye all take care and will speak again soon
Hugs and thanks for taking time to leave me a comment.

Barb

Good news,stitchy news and Sad news

Okay which first, let's do the sad ,then I can feel better with the good.
Sad news of my SIL she slipped away at 5 a.m on Sunday morning,it is a release for her and although her hubby of almost 40 years and their 2 girls and families are feeling very raw at the moment, I think in time they will realise she wouldn't have wanted anymore pain and even worse quality of life. They sang happy birthday to her last week on her 60th birthday but there wasn't any response. Gulp. Ok tissues away. We are now awaiting a funeral date they are not local so will mean a journey.


Now for the better news , I am going to try and keep this post short lol, as wrists and fingers are not behaving themselves at the moment.
I do not know how to link (or should I say Julie has told me how ) but haven't tried yet perhaps next time, but if you look at blogs I visit (some not listed yet lol) you will see Carols "I Stitch", well I was soooo pleased that my suggestion won, she asked for suggestions of names for her new design and here it is



Isn't that great, Carols work is perfection and I never dreamt for a minute that I would have my name on one of her charts see bottom pic at the bottom. Thankyou Carol for sending me my very own copy of the chart , you will see it here stitched at some point in time.

Now other stitchy pics for you to peek at are

This is one of the e patterns I got from Country Rustic Primitives. I stitched it on Osnaburg fabric from Threads and Patches it was £4.50 a metre which I thought CHEAP as chips lol.The designer suggested you wash it first and I am glad I did as it does shrink a little. I just cut a piece to allow for shrinkage and swished it round in some woollite in the bowl. Jenny also shared how to age it ,but as it is a bit slubby and I quite liked the colour I left that bit ,Maybe I will try on another one. I have used string (hairy) for the hanger and all in all I am pleased with it. This will be my first ornie on the monthly christmas ornie over at Stitch and Stashers.
Next is my LHN Fa-la-la finished I made it into a tag for the tree- now I have to start the next one.


I have done some progress on 4 Wishes but not a lot pic for you to see


I have also this week stitched on the Vine and Quaker Christmas so I have not been slacking.
No stash to show this week - I did buy a floss box ,not a posh one, just a tacky placky one ,but it does the job.I also bought some 36count Edinburgh Linen in case the Osnaburg didnt work.
I do have stash coming though and next week I may get to show it to you ,hee-hee.

Alfie enjoyed his birthday and has now got his Lego. He built a tower and started hitting it with his hammer, What, are you doing? asked Kate (dd), I am just making it level was the answer . yep if its not right hit it with a hammer !!!!



Well folks thats the news this week ,let's hope that now this year can start to get better.Now off to try to get my hands working so I can stitch. I did stagger round the block with Ollie which I couldnt do on Sunday.
Thanks for the comments , and some new ones too ,thanks so much for popping by and reading my wafflings.
Take care and I will speak again soon.
Barb

All things pink!

Well I am in the pink- just a quick post today ,as I am sure you cannot bear the photo any longer I know I can't. However, I must thankyou for all the polite comments you made lol.
The tulips are some of the flowers that Martin bought me on Saturday. I love shades of pink in flowers. I also love white flowers too. I have these in my bedroom, these red ones in the lounge and in the hall the pink alstroemeria.



I do not have any stitching for you as it is only a few days or seems like it,since I last rambled on.

I do have some! good news to share with you, my friend is out of hospital yay. Her husband stayed so hadn't got the messages till he came home with her. I had a message from her on the answer phone ,I have not spoken to her yet and as she is still recovering and I do not want to interrupt her "rest"time. She did say there had been complications so I will find out more when she feels up to phoning. I just felt so much relief when I heard her voice.
Still waiting for Sues diagnosis. SIL in a bad way and it is still touch and go she is in Intensive Care and has been for over a week. Spoke to BIL last night and he said he feels absolutely exhausted , I think if she does come through this it will still not be an easy life for either of them.The waiting game continues.

It is Alfies 3rd birthday on Wednesday , he said he would like some Lego bricks- blimey they are like gold dust- we had to order the bigger size box with 1,600 bricks in it direct from Lego . It won't be here for the day but Kate said he won't mind. Martin said she had to count them every week to make sure they had not lost any, You can if you like ,was the very short reply !!

Then we have Graemes birthday on Saturday next, I won't tell you how old he is ,but his sister Kate will be 40 this year and there is 2 years between them and he is older lol. A pic of them taken in the summer on Martins birthday.They will not be impressed I have shown you -well if I get mine on here it is only fair.

You will have to excuse them, Kate cannot be serious for long, and the table was full of curry things.


No stitchy pics this time I have been stitching a little on the Quaker and I actually did a bit on the vine last week too,so Julie will be pleased.
I have ordered some e charts from Country Rustic Primitives so I will be showing you those stitched at some point. Also ordered the new Sampler Girl Valentine Booklet,and the Emma project. I do like Jane Austen and her sayings.I am awaiting the new Blackbird Stockings too from Thread Bear. Just a few bits and pieces to keep me occupied!!!Will let you see when they arrive.

Thanks Sally for offer of Pine roll but that is one I have -and still to do.
Jane found your blog (at last)thankyou and have left you a comment .

Now for those of you who do not like my music choice I am not going to apologise cause I do -lol. I am trying to add more but it doesn't seem to want to play.IF you cannot stand it then turn down your volume and you wont hear it.

The lark arising I first heard at a funeral and this will seem a strange thing to say but it was at a crematorium and I do not like those places at the best of times but this one well was lovely- we went in to Cello music which was a bit dirge like. Then after the first hymn ,they played this piece of music and the bit in it where the lark is soaring and singing really made me feel that her spirit had been uplifted too. Then we came out to the theme from a Victorian Cottage Garden as she was a gentle person and loved her garden and flowers. I am afraid I have been to many funerals over the years (getting on myself now!) but I have never forgotten this piece of music and how it affected me. Hope i haven't distressed anyone talking about funerals.
Crikey I started off all flowery and light and ended up all gloomy and heavy you really wanted to read that didn't you .

I am gradually adding peoples blogs that I visit to my side bar. Also books etc ,I have just been trying to read a book by Susannah Gregory if any one knows her or likes her ,it is called the Devils Disciples and I cannot get into it.If any of you want it Let me know and I will get in touch with you.Have a look on Amazon to see what it is about.

I will end with a pic for you of my "special"bears I seem to get one every Christmas from either a family member or my old school friend they are the Harrods(see name dropping here)Christmas bears- Kate and I used to love to go to Harrods at Christmas and dream!! Every year we would buy a carrier bag and a pencil as that was all we could afford lol.Anyway here are they on my bed.


I expect by now you are all bored to tears so till next time when I may be allowed to ramble some more
take greatly care and keep muchly warm
hugs Barb

A happy New Year and a little catch up from me

I hate having my photo taken so make the most of this it probably will not happen again. Martin "got me" so for those of you who know me, now you know me some more lol.
This is just really a quick update , blimey what a start to the New Year , Martin had choking session on Sunday dinner and ended up having to make a 999 call. That was scary. SIL is very ill in hospital that also happened on Sunday,Liver and Kidney failure ,she was not expected to pull through. So every-time the phone rings we think its the call. She is due to have her 60Th birthday in a weeks time.
They do not live close so no chance to go visit. Her girls are beside themselves as is Martins brother.
No news from friends husband still,despite leaving messages, no news on Sue either.
Thankyou so much for your good wishes for them it means a lot.

I have a little stitching to share with you
my last ornie of 2009 was this one that Julie did on Stitch and Stash and I had to do it too. I ferreted through my mags till I found it and lo and behold here it is. I finished it in a hurry so don't look too close.


Taken from the 2003 JCS mag.

Then I stitched this Blackbird design stocking "Winter Carnation" for Karen for her birthday. Filled it with Lavender and added some bits and pieces, I know she had some other stitchy bits from other friends and she said in her e mail to me that she thought we were trying to get her back into stitching. Do so hope it worked.


I am currently SAL with Yoyo on her Christmas design - I have chosen Quaker Christmas and here is my progress so far.

I have also started on Stitch and Stash Just Nan SAL 4 wishes but not really enough to show any progress. But I will.


I have finished the LHN SAL ORNIE but not "finished" it into anything yet here it is over 1 on Sassys Celery.

Not altogether happy with the faces but they will do. I have just heard postie come to the door and he has brought me the next ornie to do (will I ever catch up) a pic for you.


It was Sam's 8th birthday on Sunday (not all bad things happened last Sunday) Kate made him an army cake ! she had little toy (plastic) soldiers on it , when the Alfie had finished helping she said it looked like a battlefield!!lol. We gave Ella a Nigella Lawson cookery book for Christmas as a little extra , Graeme and Sue came down to see Sam on Sunday and Ella had made a fabulous looking cake from it,called Malteser cake, it has Horlicks in it. The icing was very sweet though. I don't suppose it took the tribe long to demolish it.
Well folks those of you who have to work -you poor things- but I have done my bit honest- I am now going to get the vine out and stitch on it ,so I may get a star from Mr Stick instead of a prod.
Take care all and hopefully I will have good news for you next time.
Thankyou for your comments,I do read them and Jane I still haven't found your blog!
For those of you with poorly folk ,and that are generally under the weather thoughts are with you.
Bye for now.Oh forgot Ollie is fine ,he disappeared whilst out with Martin this morning - he thought he would go for a walk with 2 labs and a greyhound instead. I will change the background and the Header next time ,did mean to do it now but stitching is calling.
hugs Barb.

It is a Happy Christmas from him and a Merry Christmas from him

This is just a quick note (well knowing me it probably will not be quick or a note).
Ollie in his favourite chair with his friend!Just waiting for Santa.

I have been so blessed with lovely friendships I have formed since using this "confuser"thing, and have been overwhelmed with the kindness shown I just thought you may like to see some of the goodies I have received in the last few days .Only one person said no opening till the 25th so hee hee I opened these .
First but really in no particular order is the Package I received from Karan along with one of her beautiful homemade cards. I have had these in my "to get"list for a while and was delighted when Karan sent them to me, they are LHN charts.
Daisy Lane Cottage,and Lavender Hill. Thanks Karan.

Next I had a total surprise from Karen (different spelling) a needleminder from Kelmscott with lily of the valley on it. Thankyou for that Karen I will endeavour not to lose this one , the one of these I had must have fallen in the bin that I keep by my chair and it got thrown away complete with needles -so how did you know I needed another.


Next my Irish friend Anne sent me this parcel and gosh all these little red parcels jumped out with little messages in gold on them.


Also in this parcel was 2 bars of Black and Greens Chocolate which Martin and I shared. Then there was this and oh its just great.

Well it has sheep on it lol.
I haven't tried these threads before so that will be a first.
I loved the little robin ornie and the stocking and needlecase, I was a lucky girl. Of course I still have Julies to open tomorrow.
This week I had a message from Jayne of Jaynes Attic saying she needed my addy. Jayne took part in RAK exchange at the beg of the year but due to circumstances she did not get round to sending anything, So this morning the postman delivered this one for each month Jan,Feb and March.


I havent done it twice its front and back view.That was January

These little tins were for Feb (heart tin very apt)
March were these charts I just love that Carriage House one,the hardanger one may take a bit of courage in both hands.

Jayne had also made a very pretty card.
I really dont think I need Santa to come tonight as I am more than happy with my goodies. Thankyou to those who read my blog and I will speak again after the day off tomorrow. Hope your Christmas festivities are peaceful and happy. Take care
Hugs Barb

oh bring us some figgy pudding

Well not really , but anyone want a piece of shortbread just cooled from the oven. Martin dear DH,has made it a tradition that I make shortbread for the workshop at Christmas,they have had 2 tins full this week.

Well they say no news is good news and no news of my friend that was undergoing major major heart surgery this week. I think her husband was allowed to stay near the hospital in rooms for relatives ,she is in intensive care for 3-4 days if all went well ,so no way of getting in touch, and if heaven forbid it did not work then I don't suppose he feels like phoning people.So it is a waiting game. She is in our thoughts and prayers.

Sue has had bloods taken and has to have a CT scan this coming Wednesday so again no news to report.Again we are all hoping for a positive outcome.

We have just been to buy Ollie's Christmas present. I cannot tell you what he has got I may take pic on Christmas day and it would spoil the surprise.(spoilt dog).
Did buy him a new comb like a rake,which is spring loaded, combed him with it when we got home and trimmed him and now he looks really good, well a bit smarter anyway. We have a super doggy shop ,that we go to,they don't mind you taking your dog and there are dogs on leads and dogs off the lead just wandering about and all very friendly. Ollie was most interested in my coat when I got in, probably a bit miffed that he wasn't allowed to come this time . We also got a pressie for Ellas bunny Lettuce ,no we didnt buy lettuce that is her name.

Talking of bunnies , I had some lovely mail this week or rather Rose and Seymore did, for those of you who do not know about Rose and Seymore my friend Julie from Stitch n Stash ,a while ago sent me Seymore Bunny to "SEE MORE" of me stitching on UFO nights ,which Julie hosts with Mr. Stick. He was a gentleman bunny of more advanced years and wears a pair of wire spectacles and carries a stick (to prod me into action). Anyway he advertised for a wife and lo and behold a wedding was held in the summer when Miss Rose arrived. It has been quiet for a little while and there has been not much nagging going on,then this week the stork (postie) brought from Julie , twin girls Maisie and Millie identical twins, here is a family group pic around their own Christmas tree. Thankyou so much Julie, they are all just so sweet. Julie also sent me something for Christmas opening so I will have to show you that later.

I can now show you Kates ornie to me on the Stitch n Stash forum Christmas ornie exchange ,I am delighted with it as it is one of the Shepherd Bush designs from the J.C.S. mag and I have been meaning to stitch these.So now I have my first one. The goodies were a little tin sheep for hanging , I love Sheep, some sheep buttons,I love sheep, and a little sheep card (get the picture) it was so me, also some lovely Christmas tree fabric for backing . Twas all lovely thanks to Kate.




I will now show you my stitching this was my ornie to Kate in the above exchange , she hasn't got round to posting on board yet but just in case she doesn't , she did like it by the way, here it is.

I thought I had deleted this well I had on my camera but found I had saved it elsewhere. The little lavender cushion was an extra and I enclosed a little Christmas package too.

Then on the 17th it was Angis birthday, I don't think she has a blog. Another stitched gift, a Blackbird design from the My Heart is True booklet by Blackbird designs I had a box from Rhajmahal ,which reminded me of the Chrysanthemum that Angi stitched on UFO night well the colour anyway, so I used this to put the stitching on. I bought her a couple of truffles in a cracker to go inside and ta-da here it is.

I have done some stitching on my new Quaker Christmas and I will post a pic next time, I am also doing my last Christmas ornie for this year and another birthday gift. I don't think I will be blogging again before the "big"day so may I wish you and yours all a joyous and peaceful Christmas and a Happy New Year. Take care and thankyou for the comments and to all including Karyn "I have the kettle on, if you fancy a piece of shortbread".
Hugs
Barb

Tis the season to be jolly

Deck the hall with boughs of holly tra-la-la-la la la la.
I thought I would go and collect some holly from the garden - here is my holly tree and I saw the birds have left me 2 berries ,this was one of them! Oh well their need is greater than mine I suppose.
Another week has fallen off the calendar and apart from the normal seasonal things that need doing ,it has been pretty uneventful
Sam did his Shepherd bit on Wednesday,Kate said he was a very smiley shepherd. Alfie is going to be sheep this week. I haven't shown you our baby bear who is almost 3 and he is a whirling dervish. Took a pic yesterday but it is a little blurred so forgive me for that,he was probably whirling at the time lol,



Ollie is fine this week, thank goodness no visit to the vet.Only for his medication for epilepsy.
We have DONE the Christmas shopping this week as Martin had a couple of days off,as I cannot walk for very long we do it in stages, our list seems to have dwindled a lot these last few years with dear ones no longer here. I like to give to friends for birthdays , and Christmas is a time for family pressies, as well as birthdays of course but you know what I mean.
By the way to my pagan friends Yuletide blessings, can you tell me WHY can I not get a card with Yule on . I am a Christian so of course the 25th is special, but to pagans the 21st is their Winter Solstice and it is special to them so I am sorry if you get a "christmas card" but I did adapt it for you !

We are having a bit of a family worry at this moment in time,our daughter in law Sue is having to see ,you will have to forgive spelling on this, neurologist,think that is right,tomorrow. Her G.P. has got her to see a consultant in a week, her co-ordination is not right and her symptom's are like being drunk without the alcohol.Not funny when the room spins and you cannot get out of bed. Just hope she is going to be ok she is very special and is so important to the family. Sorry I do not mean this to be a gloomy post. We also have a friend who has gone into hospital for major heart surgery today,op is on Thursday, it is touch and go if she will make it so keep her in your prayers on Thursday.Will let you know how things go.

I am now putting worrying head back in the dusty cupboard, along with the miserable one.

That's better a stitchy head . I know, I can hear you from here thank goodness for that. Well I have a couple of things to share and an exchange I cannot yet as it is not reveal day. So shall we go a-stitching.

Now you can see the pics I couldn't show you last week.

First up is a pic of the stash . Blackbird Stockings for September and October.



Then Homespun Elegance Joyous heart (more later) and a bird one, Do not worry, by Silver Creek Samplers.



Down Sunshine Lane sent me my first auto ship for LHN sal ornie which arrived this week.


Last but not least I received threads from Vicki Clayton (thanks Julie ,I think you may have started something with these threads.So here is pic before the great start,Tina(no blog) is doing this with me over on Yoyos blog. Not sure how to link blogs so you can click on them . Another lesson to be learnt.


More goodies to show you are a little birthday gift for Tina ,she only gave me her birth-date last Saturday ,so I had to stitch her something quick and get it on the post on Monday. Her birthday was the 8th but it did not reach her till Wednesday, She didn't mind and seemed to really like her little gift.
Which was

I sent her the little scissors too as I thought they matched quite well.So you can see my new chart came in very useful.
Then it was Sally's birthday,she has really kept in touch over the last year and is always so encouraging. I did M designs Miss Macs Needles and pins for her. I had some pretty lace in my box and used it for a trim. I added Sallys name to her pillow and filled it with lavender. I have a thing for lavender since Su sent me a lavender filled pillow earlier in the year. Anyway here is a pic of it,it isn't very clear I am afraid.



So for this week that is all the stitchy news. I have another couple to share with you but that a secret for now .

Just heard the weather forecast and BRRRRRR -baby it is going to be cold outside. So wrap you all up warm , I have my Julie scarf on indoors at the moment its helping my
painful neck. I have had baking head on and just taken shortbread and twinkle tarts(mince pies) out of the oven , ooh don't you just love the smell of Christmas .Take care all and I will speak to you again next week.
In answer to comment by Jane I will look forward to seeing YOUR tree next year, and also I cannot find your blog?
Thankyou to those of you who left me comments ,I get all excited when I see there has been one,small things give me pleasure. Diamonds are a favourite lol.

Hugs and warm wishes to you from me Barb