I have decided

not to have a background this time if you get what I mean. I have put my latest finish( I spent the morning today muttering and cursing under my breath to get it finished) as a header. I am not a fan of the sewing machine(would you believe I used to make trousers for Burtons), so hence the gnashing of teeth, I also was going to put a snowy scene as a background, but having reviewed the situation, as Fagin would say, you probably would think I have lost the plot.
Anyway the design is by The Sampler girl and if you can read the book ,want to borrow glasses anyone, it is the first line in the book Little Women.
Here is another little pic of it , I have also used it as my monthly ornie over at Stitch and Stash ,I know it is not an ornie ,but, when I had finished it I decided it was a bit large for an ornie ,so a bag it is. Hope Tanya approves.

I do have a few stitchy things to show you this time but first I must show you the RAK i received from Michelle, what a sweetie she is , on a grey day she brought a smile. Wonder if you will smile too.

I have not used these sort of threads before so I look forward to that, and don't you just love that little jug button I can just see a spray of flowers springing out of that.Oh forgot to put in the piece of backing fabric she sent,apologies if you read this Michelle. I was thrilled anyway.
Also this week I had a little thankyou from Angela for some unwanted charts I had that she expressed a wish for. Anyway she sent this which is just so me, the card too.

This is a Jane Austen notepad from The Jane Austen Centre in Bath,the little saying round the edge is," No,my dear you had better go on horseback,because it seems likely to rain,and then you must stay all night".I just love these sayings.I thought I might show you where it sits.

I have 'met'so many lovely people out there in this blogoverse, and for the comments you have left me and the nice things you have said awww thanks. I was really pleased with Return to the sea, but had to get another frame so I got two the same ,Martin said he will frame that one for me too,so when they are in place you may get a pic.
The tame framer has taken 3 to do today ,decided Generosity would go in a white frame,the CHS birdie one will be in black as the others and so will this. It is a bit wrinkled as it was taken before being pressed.

The colour of the fabric is not as pale as it looks, it is a pale lemon colour. In answer to your question Tina ,I may be able to find a space or two still on the walls,'grins'.
You may remember last time I asked if you knew what it is yet? Well have to admit to Sally that it was Shall we take a turn in the garden, I only did a little Sally as I needed to know how it would look over one. It is a bit twee but I only wanted a small cushion. However this week I have done a little more. Last weeks little bit was the bit over the door a porch I think.

We have not been on any travels this week, not even a trip to the vets. Ollies feet really seem to be improving at last and cutting down the steroids have helped with the panting.
We hope the G,S and E family are ok, they have been out in Turkey and apparently been very hot. We thought they would be home yesterday but knowing my frame of mind I probably got it wrong it is today they get home somewhen.
Hope some of you tried the marrow and liked it- as I did that last week ,I did this this week

Ingredients for

Vegetarian Chilli. Of course you have to have pudding Rhubarb and Strawberry Crumble

I think we had our 5 a day that day!!
We have really good crop of Bramley Apples this year, we did have a glut of tomatoes which we were waiting to ripen, until tonight when we saw they had been infested with caterpillars ,actually buried into them and were having a wonderful time. All that time and effort.Now on the bonfire heap.
Well my friends , not a lot to tell you this week really the Blackbird design is growing a little I have done the border.

Now I shouldn't really show you this as it is for the monthly challenge over at Stitch and Stash but as it is revealing day tomorrow anyway I hope I will be forgiven.

Well my friends,perhaps we shall get on a ramble next week ,who knows. I will meet you here at some point no doubt and we will perhaps take a picnic lunch!!
Take care you all and keep safe out there.
Hugs n stuff
Barb.

Shall we take a stroll

down to the water and then we can ,"Linger and gaze on a first return to the sea".

WooHoo, another Happy Dance, wonder if Sally has her dancing shoes on too. I am so pleased with this, it goes so well with At Home both being quotes from Jane Austen. I do have to have a bit of a problem, as the At Home is in a frame I had a picture in and try as I might I cannot find one to match. As I want to put them side by side I think I will have to talk to my tame framer and see what he can do for me. I do have the CHS one for him to do as well, and another couple looming for the birdie wall.
I am so pleased to hear you enjoyed our ramble last week Jan,and so pleased no one had blisters lol.
I keep hearing the !I am not a gardener - neither am I really,I have to rely on the man that does ,that sounds as if I have lots of menservants ,I wish, no only the one and he's my Mr Wonderful ,(got a bucket handy)the tame framer is a friend who has framed my needlework since ,well way back when,-back to the garden, it all looks rather sad and sorry now,but some things to show you are:-

This is a sedum just breaking into bloom , the bees love it , common name is Ice Plant. We also have some red leaf ones but I am not as keen on those.
In the nursery are these pixie lupins.

The only other thing in the garden to show you is the Triffid, it has now crawled next door and is marching steadily across their lawn to their house.If it was tall it could audition for Jack and the beanstalk.

Lots of leaf growth but no sign of a pumpkin makes flowers but no fruit. Perhaps the next door neighbours will have the pumpkin !!!
whilst I am on the subject of gardens- in reply to Jules the lily smells d-i-v-i-n-e!
Hazel, a big garden is ok if you keep it ok but ours needs a lot of t.l.c and no matter how we (that is the royal we) try it always seems to get away from us.
Christine - I keep hoping that if the gladi don't flower this ,perhaps they will next year - I can but hope!!
Julie I think a lot of plants are poisonous ,but we dont tend to eat them lol.I suppose its not worth risking it, Mr Moe and Midge are very special.

Jack says thanks for sympathies about his bike accident,he is much better apparently,he has been working hard and hasn't had time to come over.Graeme, Sue ,an
Ella popped in on Monday,they had been to see mil as it was 3 years since fil died.They were a little surprised to find me with a ceased up back. I felt something 'go'when I reached to put some plates away after Sunday lunch. I did not take any notice really and we got in the car and went off to Abbotsbury.
We arrived here

an old village school ,which is now hired out for exhibitions etc. So here we were for an embroidery exhibition,there was a lot of wonderful inspiring work there,but I knew I had done something to the back and only took a few pics for you.
However just for Heidi as she has worn out so many slippers with me.All those Happy Dances.Wonder which pair you would choose?

Aren't these just so sweet though, fairy slippers. I fell in love with them I must admit.
Next along these seahorses caught my eye.

There was this lovely cushion ,think it was candlewicking.

Last but not least was this gorgeous piece of stumpwork, and I voted this best in my opinion, as I know just how much work goes into something like this.

All those should be clickable to make them easier for you to inspect!!
Martin had parked the car a little way off,so he went to collect it while MIL and I waited, we thought we would take her to Abbotsbury Tropical Gardens for a treat,I was very fidgety by now ,trying to get comfortable so we decided we vould just go in the plant centre for her to have a look see before taking me home. Oh they had some really nice bits and bobs there,but we could hear this wonderful mellow band sound coming from around a corner and this is what it was.

It was a really lovely 10 mins or so before they finished. They played tunes from the 60s and we were really pleased we got there before the end. Martin bought me a willow trug for my needlework bits,and a hamper containing a tea service for a teddy bears picnic for mil, the china bits and bobs had bears on. So that made her cry all over us. Martin (thinking of his tummy) bought this.

Managed to get back to car and although every pot hole and bump on the way home was felt ,it was worth it.
So that is how I was in pain when G,S,and E arrived on Monday. After resting for a couple of days it does feel a lot easier.
G S and E are on their way to Turkey as I speak ,it is between 38and 43 degrees where they are going ,rather them than me , I would be a little (or rather a large grease spot).
Oh another bit of news I won a RAK from Michelle who is in Turkey at the moment, she has taken something to stitch and when she gets back she will finish it and post it to me, so I will get Turkish Delight lol. Will let you know what I receive excitement here can you tell !!
So we have covered the garden and the family so now onto the family tree and the famous person ,well you may remember that James who was baptised in Fleet (last post) married Sarah, so her father is my great great grandfather and is also this persons great great grandfather too , Work that one out ,I think its cousin 3 times removed, I couldn't download pic off the internet of her, copyright, ,so I took a pic of a dvd I have .

Sarahs maiden name was Dench ,yep you got it I am related, albeit distantly ,to Dame Judy Dench. I was amazed myself when an ad appeared a couple of years ago, from a genealogist researching for Judy Dench, and wanting to know if there were any persons that were related to anyone named Dench. Martin phoned him and he confirmed that yes we were related. So that is my claim to fame lol.
Have you a claim to fame.
No more done on the F.Tree this week.
I do have a few starts to show you on the stitching front ,but no finishes. First is

Ida Mae Crow by The Goode Huswife. This will go on the birdie wall ,I also have Ira Ray to do too.
Then there is

Blackbird Designs for my summer SAL which i have neglected ,bad girl.
Just a little something

Well I did say a little something, shall I say the famous words ,'Can you see what it is yet? Will give you a little at a time with this one.hee hee .
This is stitched on The frosted cafe from Sassys,by the way Jane if you have some of her fabby and want to offer it for sale of trade please e mail me with colour etc.As you said you did not like it.
My stash this week is not a lot , but these yummy colours to do a sort of Halloweeny type design

Well my friends not such a long ramble this time ,thought I would give you chance to give your feet a rest! How about coming for tea, remember the magazine from last time -this recipe was in it and before and after pics.


Rather yummy, fry onion and bacon in a little olive oil , I did the bacon first, to get it crispy used streaky, cut marrow in half lengthwise,and scoop out seeds. Mix a tin of drained chopped tomatoes,chopped mushrooms, fresh thyme and parsley salt and pepper together with the bacon and onion. Pack into the marrow, Mix breadcrumbs with cheese and press on top ,adding little extra cheese I you want (I did). Then cook (I covered with foil for the first 40 mins, for 1hr 15 mins in a gas mark 4 centre of the oven.Voila!!! Hope that made sense.
Enjoy!!
Speak soon
Hugs n stuff
Barb.

I need to know

Where do these weeks go,the last one has disappeared into the ether at a great rate of knots.
So hello my friends, shall we go on a little ramble together.
Well I managed to lose the ribbons on the header but now I have only a fraction of the photo that should be there ,I think I need help from Martin to sort me out.
Where to start hmmmmm, well shall we start in the garden, as I think it might rain and I should hate for you to get wet!!
As I said the pic on the header is only part of what I wanted to show you, I think we will step a little further and see if the image will be better here.

The dark pink lilies are a bit battered and blown, but I did plant some new ones around the base of a peris ,(I do have to be careful typing that ,the mind boggles.) So when she decided to bloom I was amazed to see the tips of the plant matched almost exactly the lily.

This one is a very delicate shade of peach.
We also have a few new flowering plants for you to see, which are
1.A pretty little white balloon flower ,which when it is in bud resembles a miniature balloon.


2.A really dark purple penstemon , that the camera doesn't like the colour of as it keeps changing it ,but just to give you some idea.

Then last on the flowering front, thanks for the flowery comments by the way , I thought if I blogged about it you see, when it comes to next year I may still have a record of whats where. Method in my madness!
Number three. I planted 20 and have 1 flowering ,cannot win them all I suppose.



You may remember we had some unwanted visitors in the garden last week,wasps, well this welcome little critter turned up on Sunday Morning, sorry the picture is a bit dark. They are clickable if you cannot quite see, just so cute.


Squirrel Nutkin likes sunflower hearts too. Just thought you would like a glimpse of him ,but don't look at that bit of the garden. I think it was only a young one but he was stretched full length on the feeder with his tail hooked round the tree branch.
I happened to look up the other day whilst outside, well you do sometimes don't you, and peeping at me over the garden wall from next door were these.

So as I had been to town for some bits and bobs and had bought some Bramleys and had one over I would use it for this.

Sort of an Eton Mess for me with meringue, apple and blackberry. Martin cannot eat meringue the egg thing again. So with the other apples and I tried the Soy Flour Tina, is a German Apple Cake without eggs.

Please excuse the state of the cookery book it is more years than I care to think about old and well used,(bit like me really!) The cake looked ok ,but I must admit the texture wasn't right and not as good as with eggs.However, himself liked it so that is the main thing.
So that is all my homey sort of news.
Jack had an accident on his bike on Saturday, he was riding over the fields to work(summer job) and hit a pot hole ,landed on his face and because he wears braces top and bottom it made a real mess of his face. He had to go to hospital as he had grit in the cut in and outside of his lip and his brace was hooked up where it shouldnt have been.Luckily there was a man walking his dog who went over to help and lent him his phone for him to ring Kate. We were having a pub lunch at the time as we had been on the ancestral trail (more later )and got the call to say could Jack come over to us after hospital as his dad was going to football and Kate was on a late shift at work. So our plans for the afternoon were cut short and Jack came to us for a few hours ,as he wasn't allowed to stay on his own. Oh dear he was in a sorry state , they had had to pick out the grit in his mouth .however you cannot keep a teenage boy down and he was hungry -my grandchildren are always hungry and all like beanpoles. So he had (probably shouldnt tell you this,6 hot dogs and a cream chocolate muffin. Hollow legs I think.His face his slightly better and not so swollen as he called in last night, although he said the Orthodontist told him his braces had probably saved his teeth. He has a nice crop of ulcers now ,so is feeling a bit yuk.
The rest are all ok , and Ella was down last night staying with her cousins. I think Caitlin is going back with her tonight for a couple of nights.
I can hear you ,I can hear you ,when is she ,or even is she getting to stitching. Well how about now.

Anchors aweigh(or is it away)
Here is latest progress on JA Return to the Sea- I am off later to see how Sally got on this week.
I can see the end in sight.

Maybe a happy dance next week Sally, wonder if Heidi has her shoes on for us.
I do have 2 finishes this week , which are another needleroll finish In my Garden by SB.

I do wish we could get the lace and ribbon that they use in their kits as they make them really special.If you click on it you will see what I mean, their printed ribbon is lovely and the dear little dragonfly button was just so sweet. I think Sally has got me back into these and I have a few(well some) in my basket to do. I now have 12 finished.
This one arrived this week from The Nimble Thimble.

This was one I did not have and I think Sally had already done a swap with this one.
The other little I finished this week was an ornie for the monthly Christmas Ornie over at Stitch and Stash and when I saw Julies a couple of months ago I knew I had to stitch it too,well it is sheep!! So Julie sorry for being a copycat ,but they say Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery lol.

The trim I had was some that I picked up in town yesterday,

I have had a nice surprise this week from Clare, she sent me this with one of her home made cards.

A very busy lady is Clare and for her to take time out and send this to me ,well I was thrilled. So thanks Clare your'e a star.Twill come in very handy for these additions to the bookcase.
Bad Barb! Bad Barb!



The last one Julie has been raving about and although I have tried reading my daughters copy I couldn't get into it at the time. However I thought I might be missing something so yep I had to get it. I did ask Kate if she still had her copy but she had lent it to someone and not got it back. So perhaps if I really get into it Julie,you may have to go rambling on your own folks.lol.
It doesn't stop there!

Not a book but a magazine I have been getting for the last few months, and I really like it. I do subscribe to Country Living and have for years but hmmm ,dare I say it this one is an equal if not better. I am a country girl at heart and I wish I was rich lol.
I said earlier we were out at a pub lunch last weekend when the call came, yes ,still paying attention lol, well this is where we had been.


This is Holy Trinity at Fleet which is not far from where we live. Everyone told us James was born in Fleet- and we all assumed wrongly it was Fleet in Hampshire.Maybe some of you have read this book.

I am now talking of a son of James and Hannah of previous posts,and my great grandfather. He was born in 1835 and was christened at this church,and here is the font he was christened in.


The window was beautiful,something about stained glass. Sorry about the quality of the picture it was a bit dark in there. I will tell you more about my great grandfather and his wife Sarah next time - this is how I am related to a famous person, got you in suspense now eh.
Talking of glass, how do you like my new box my lovely Martin made, now what shall I put in here ?



I cannot fit my new Sassys fabric that came this week in it. I do not suppose for one minute it will be put away for long anyway. It is a really lovely colour this Frosted Cafe.

Of course you will get to see wips. This is a current one.

Page 4 finished YES!! page 5 started of Quaker Christmas ,stitched on Sassys Celery over one.
So now are you tired my little ramblers,I expect you thought it would never end. I remember taking our daughter on a hike when she was pregnant (just) and Martin said at 9 miles it is just over the next hill that next hill was another 2 miles at least.. Poor Kates dog was on its last legs by the time we got home.
Talking of dogs ,why does one thing lead to another. Ollie is back to the vets AGAIN tonight , they have found out from the swab it is a bacterial infection and only some antibiotics will cure it. So more pennies and more pills. Just hope it works this time for him. Will let you know. I am hoping we are going to an Embroidery Exhibition this weekend ,keep you posted on that too. Take care all thanks for your replies,oops almost forgot, I STILL haven't got round to the linky thing. However if you look at Angelas comments on a previous post if she doesnt comment on this one. She has not got a blog but she does have a photo thing of her work ,simply stunning her mail art mermaid is lovely.
Anyway off to the kitchen to see what I can do with some ribs. Thankyou for visiting, pop in again soon and bring the walking boots.
Hugs n stuff
Barb