Thursday 19 January 2017

A new year albeit 2 weeks in.

Hello everyone, What is it with me and this old blog of mine it is always a plan that I do it  once a month at least and here we are ,late again. I have got a different mantle  for January and in a couple of weeks it will need changing again, still here is January.

Not much stitching to show you on  there just a sweet little cushion  Sally made me with a sheep  and snowdrops on.The garden birds are so hungry at the  moment and  I have to fill  the feeders every day,I have 3 in the apple tree and a very large one just outside my lounge window.. We seem to have an awful lot of goldfinches, I love to see them they are such pretty little birds. A seagull was  standing on the garage roof this  morning ,she /he had only one leg it appeared ,unless he had the other one tucked up as it was soooo cold first thing. The grass was white and the car was iced in and out. However ,it has turned out to be a beautiful day with blue sky and sunshine, if a little chilly.
As this is a new year it started with a trip to the sales and a new pair of shoes.
A comfortable pair of shoes ,reduced from £65 to £25 bargain. I really must thank those of you who sent goodies at Christmas too, it seems ages ago so I won't go in to too  much detail.

This came to live with me ,  Martin is a star as I can now see  my stitching clearly.I also had books and cds all sorts of goodies ...
cds.
It is so nice to sit and be warm with a cup of EarlGrey and some nice music playing. I will either be stitching or knitting. You may remember I was knitting a hat before Christmas ta da ,said hat.

Got wool to make another , then what happened couldn't find the pattern.I did replace it though and will do another at some point. On the needles at the moment are a pair of socks for Martin.

I  did think I would knit myself a pair too, but I hope no one is holding their breath I don't do things quickly these days,
At christmas I got my 2 stone award from Slimming World, hoping for another stone gone by March.We will see.
A slimmer me , but I still hate having the photos taken.So now onto stitching. Well I did get another Christmas Carol ornament done which is Marley was dead to begin with ,these patterns are by Gaynor French of Stitcheranon. I still have  the 3 ghosts  to  get  which I will do later in  the year. Anyway here is Marley.
This was stitched  over one . I used the very last piece I had of Sassys fabric , I think she has given up now ,so if anyone has any they want to sell let me know . I love stitching on this fabric..
Here he is with Ebeneezer and the Bah Humbug.

Still  on a wintery theme and the sales. I saw these in M&S at half price and yes , I just could not come home without 2.
So like Ollie,who I might add is getting thinner and sleeps a lot. Hope we have him for a while yet but every day is a bonus as he will be14 at the beginning of Feb.  Again  in the after  Christmas sales, we picked up these and again they were half price.
They look so pretty whith their candles alight.Sally and I have restarted our stitching nights and Sheep on Friday saw the Makeover by Madam Chantilly come back into action.  The left hand sheep has been finished ,only one more sheep to do on that  line , I just love the grubby sheep and the clean one in the tub.
Again with Sally ,we are stitching Winter by Cross eyed cricket. We both started in  the middle with the snowman but Sally went left and  I went right so here is how far I have got now.

 Sorry that is awfully blurred but you get the idea. I am again stitching  this over one. Each letter measures about 1 and half inches.This is another one I really love stitching, I have Spring Summer and October to do. That is it for my crafty work.I have purchased these to make into an advent calendar for next year, still have to work out how I am going to do it but I am sure I can enlist the man of the house to help. 

I just fell in love with these little designs and I just knew I want to stitch them. I have also added 2 more books to my collection . Just read A year at the Star and Sixpence my first book of the year. Letters to the Lost  is next.

I  would like to read more this year too. My friend Julie showed this on her blog and now I am  reading twice a day with her,as at Christmas she sent me the Friendship book which we read every day and now this one with a poem for every day of the year.Sent for this so I could read it too.
On that note I shall wish you all a very Happy New Year , thanks for all of your gifts loved them all and I shall leave you with a page from my Hygge book ,which sums up the season as I  would like it to be ,just for a few days lol.
Will try harder to post more but I expect that resolution will not last long. Take care of yourselves it was so good to see you visit.
Much love
Barb.







7 comments:

Vickie said...

Hooray for a new slimmer you Barb! I love your new, blue suede shoes!

butterfly said...


What a lovely January display looks so warm and cosy.
Well done on the slimming .
I love the sales it's fun to find a bargain.
Lovely stitching and new lamp.
It's a lovely sunny day here too after a hard frost.
Have a fun week Barb.

Christine said...

Great stitching and knitting Barb, I love the sheep in the bathtub!
Well done on your weight loss

Cindy's Stitching said...

Beautiful display. love the new hat.

Julie said...

Made me smile when your new header popped up and it was you.... {hugs}
I too have the ELO album, I do like to sing along to their tunes.
Nice hygge books, will have to visit the library and have a look at those.
Cute sheepies you are stitching, loved him having a little bath, that's cute.
Nice cushion, it does look like Ollie.
Nice new charts to watch coming to life for next year and pretty stitching you've been doing. The new magnifier/light looks a great addition to your little stitching corner.
love and {hugs} to you both xx

Justine said...

Happy new year! Congratulations on your Slimming World award, that takes some dedication. Nice to put a face to a name too.
I love the grubby little sheep, they're so sweet. And you're a naughty enabler too as when I saw the Christmas Carol designs on your blog I knew I will have to stitch them for my mum. She hardly decorates for Christmas and we always tease her about being "Bah Humbug"!

Sally said...

How lovely to see photos of you Barb. You look wonderful. Well done on your Slimming World award.

Your finished hat looks so warm and cosy. I must stitch that Marley design this year. It was one of the charts I won from Gaynor. I like the idea of stitching it over one.The sheepies are coming along nicely and look soooo cute!

Lots of lovely bargains in the sales. I never seem to to be able to find good bargains!

I like the look of that Poem for Every Night of the Year book. I think I shall have to treat myself to that. I keep saying no more books but then I see more!!!

See you this evening for our sheepy evening. Hopefully there'll be an email on the way soon.xxx

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