Saturday 31 March 2012

So pleased you have come for a visit

It is always nice to have company and maybe have tea and cake too. Well it seems ages since I last wrote you, not going into why (boring), suffice to say , new painkillers and x rays taken may improve things. So as I said about the company and cakes ,here is my lovely sons offering to his mum on mothers day made with his own fair hands.
The not so delicate one was iced by Ella but she did very well.Well you lucky people here is a pic of me and said son.
The day of our Sapphire Wedding Anniversary too and we were spoilt. Martin bought me a sapphire and diamond ring, to replace my engagement ring which is 47 years old and looking less sparkly than when it was bought for £10 many years ago. A lot of money in those days, I only earned £2.50 a week when I first started work at 15. I think Martin earned about £5 at that time.He also bought me earrings to match.Unfortunately the hands are not as nice as when he first bought a ring for that finger. After much deliberation and so on I eventually bought him a telescope for seeking stars ,planets and little green men etc. Kate gave us a rose bush named Champagne memories, and a bottle of Bombay Sapphire Gin. (which if you like gin is rather nice!!!) Graeme gave us Champagne. For Mothers Day Kate gave me a Mum in a million rose bush, and Graeme got me a rather nice scarf to go with the cakes. We went up to Graemes to have dinner with Sues Parents and her brother and sister in law. Just a quick look at the table ,
This was the pudding table. There was a chocolate cheesecake out of the pic too. Not sure what Sues expression is all about,I think she was taking the Lurpak tubs off the table, at the end of the table is Ella.Oh dear !were we full and it was a fabulous day ,good company ,good food and drink what more can you say. That morning Ella had netball and she had an award for the winning team in the area.
Well I think that is all family news this time. Alfie bear has not been well with Tonsillitis and a bad ear infection this week , so he has been off school. Jack biggest grandson has started driving lessons -that is scary when your grandson is learning to drive. Loves it apparently. Although talking of driving ,I have whilst writing this 2 fire engines about 8 police cars and a fire truck and 2 ambulances right outside our front wall. We are on the junction of 2 roads and apparently the car going out onto the Main road did not appear to have seen the red traffic light ,and a tremendous bang and screaming was heard by me sitting here.I am always in a quandary ,should I rush out( well as you know I cannot rush anywhere) and offer assistance not that I could do much or leave the powers that be to it. Mind you in a short space of time there were quite a few people doing the neck craning thing out there . The neighbours son was out washing his car in their drive and I saw him on his phone and walking past our gate as it happened he came in to tell me he had phoned the emergency services . The lady had hit a land rover ,think she was turning right (no right turn) and she hit the landrover which spun her round to be facing the right way. Fire brigade had to cut the 2 little girls out of the back. Just bumps and shock thankfully ,but the times it happens on this junction.
Still cars can be replaced but people cannot, so if you are driving out there please take care. Now onto some stitching ,not a lot but I can show you the Spring Exchange that I did on Needlecraft Haven. I had to stitch for Gillie and this is what I made, I used a design by Danybrod and stitched over one on 28count fabric .
She was delighted and it was her first needleroll -hope I have not started something there Gillie. I will show you my lovely gift in a while. I have had another Shepherd Bush finish well 2 actually but one I cannot show you for quite a while. I found it was the only thing I really wanted to stitch on last week ,sorry Sally but just could not stick to the one SB night last week. Here is the Creepy Pincushion ,anyone want the chart.
I did have a little bother trying to put that ribbon round the edge, the back I used some pumpkin coloured felt.
Now can you guess what this is
Martin and I decided we needed to make some more pickle as family have depleted the stocks so we set to yesterday to make some more here it is before the carrot and swede went in ,we now have 5 kilner jars of pickle fermenting in the dark cool cupboard. Ollie is off to vets for an op on Monday,so I shall be a jibbering wreck. the vet has decided after speaking to a specialist that he needs to be tested for a thyroid deficiency (the dog not the vet lol). Also he wants to take a piece of one of the cysts on his back feet to see if they can grow a culture. Megabucks I reckon on Monday shall I pass round a hat !!
Well last but certainly not least this is what I received in Needlecraft Havens Spring Exchange from Maryq, Ihave taken a few for you to see but didn't she and I do well.
Mary said she based it on Bunny Hop by Just Nan.
I do not think she reads my blog but you never know so thanks Mary it is gorgeous. Right folks I think that is about it. Oh I know what I have to do, I was awarded an Liebster award by Cath,and although I feel flattered to have it I am afraid I don't "do"awards so I shall not be passing it on.I do thankyou for thinking of me Cath and hope you will not be offended. I can never think of anything interesting to say about myself really. As you can all probably tell by this rambling that goes on here about the mundane things in life. So all of you out there who are kind enough to read my blog,and comment at times I will give you the Barbs award for sticking with me "you" are all great. Take care and until next time hugs n stuff Barb.x

Tuesday 13 March 2012

Gremlins have struck

Well hello my dears, what a week that was ,not a lot of working going on ,including stitching. The Gremlins have been visiting and we are now awaiting repairmen to call. Just hoping that fixing will be the order of the day and not having to replace. What has been going on I hear you say,(yes I can hear you lol). Well it started with the garage door breaking, if you could see what is in that garage ,no you wouldn't want to see what is in our garage,suffice to say it is Martins domain and I go nowhere near. I think I have said before that tidy is not a gene he possesses ,enough said!!! So we have to have someone come to repair it. The washing machine decided it had had enough and died on us.Have to wait until next Monday until the repairman (if it is repairable )comes.In the middle of the Rugby (was I cross) on Saturday the sky box or dish thought it would be fun to suddenly switch off and not come back on. It is Friday before they can come. Now enough, just need it all to stop. On a brighter note , Julie of Life through the Eye of the Needle was picked from the dish for the SB Merry Be chart. Julie e mail me your addy and I will send it on to you to enjoy. I did stitch on my bits and bobs this week and despite not stitching on my PS Santas as I said I would one a month I have stuck to my other nights . My latest SB Creepy Cushion is started and for 2 nights Monday last week and this week here is all I have achieved.Sorry the colouring is all to pot,the fabby is a dull green and the tablecloth is a dark blue.
Tuesday again doesn't look a lot but I have the big diamond finished and now can look forward to tonight ,hey ho Mr Stick cannot catch me!!I put the tape measure next to it so you could see how twee it is.
Wednesday saw Mrs Darcy named and standing on her lawn.
Thursday AND Friday was Elizabeth and her hot as mustard! dress.
Cannot show you Saturday and Sundays stitching. I can however show you something now that I had been stitching for my friend Janes Birthday. It was taken from a Blackbird Designs book
I made a wallet to put some goodies in for Jane , I know she likes Blackbird designs so I included the Gathering Basket chart and threads to stitch it with and a bird Needlenanny from Puffin designs which was in the parcel I was telling you about last time.
One day last week I captured (well not literally) this scampering across the wall just outside my stitching window.
He/She comes to eat the Sunflower Hearts that I put out for the birds.This is on its return journey. I think it is trying to do an impersonation of a red squirrel with the two tone effect.
Last but not least , I have a big thumbs up for Chris at the Nimble Thimble in Oswestry (I do wish she would have a web site)however I do get all my SB kits from her and she is always so helpful. Anyway I am stitching a kit for a friend and it told me to fill in with a certain colour. I got about a third of the way down and ran out of thread. Argh what to do as the silk SB use you cannot get here in the UK, (Don't get me started on that one) so I phoned Chris and explained, she was very sorry and promised to speak to SB and get them to replace it. The next day I have a phone call from Chris saying she had "spoken"to them and they would send me it direct. I thought I was in for a bit of a wait but this Monday an envelope dropped on to the mat,and sender was Shepherds Bush with an apology and a Shepherds Bush card and thread to complete the part I needed it for . How about that all in a week. I phoned Chris to thank her this morning and she was delighted I got it so quickly. So thumbs up for all.
I think she is at Olympia or NEC this week so if you are going and see her tell her I am impressed. So now my blogging friends.Thanks for the comments last week you know how much they mean. Hope your week has been a good one and this one will be too. No Gremlins please!!!!!!! Hugs n stuff Barb x

Monday 5 March 2012

Monday -yes it must be Monday

It is my Shepherds Bush night with Sally and Colleen, I hope Colleen is ok as I have not heard if she is coming to Sallys tonight (virtually) . I have a happy dance to show you.from last week.
This is my finish of Merry,Merry Be by Shepherds Bush.If anyone would like the chart leave a comment for me saying you would like it. If more than one I will get the hat out for the name to be chosen. I have had another little finish but cannot show you that as it is a birthday present so maybe next time. You may be wondering where I have been,well the answer simply is nowhere. I have been sitting in this chair ,feeling rather fed up and out of sorts with everything. You may remember I thought I had walked too far on my birthday and was in pain when I got home. Gradually worsened and I gave up and went to see the Danish (hmmm) GP we have. He diagnosed tendinitis of the Achilles heel so comfy chair has been in use over the last 10 days or so. No going upstairs,steps or generally doing much at all . It is feeling better though and I am hoping to get into town for a coffee on Wednesday and meet a friend.  Sorry don't mean to moan. Martin has been a star as always, and has been doing wifey things like cleaning etc. He does draw the line at ironing though !! I have been stitching a little on the nights I planned for. Tonight though being Monday I have a new start!!! Be afraid,
be very afraid, not really she's a very cute witch. I also am doing a shepherds bush gift but that one cannot be seen until September ,not a lot of point in mentioning that is there .I have as Sally thought may be a nice idea put my latest SB little Monday stitching inside the needlebook she made. Fits just right. Tuesday night with Julie and Mr Stick saw progress on QD I do not show you this one very often as it is over one and grows slowly, as I said to Julie now I know why it was in the box of unfulfilment for a year, it is so s l o w! to see some progress I have almost finished the large diamond,sorry it is a bit blurry but you get the general idea.
Wednesday I was in the parlour again , with Mrs Darcy, I think I shall like this more when I get a little more done. Don't know about you but I itch to start a new project but it takes a while to "get into it".So here she is in her pale lemon dress, a faceless woman at the moment.
As you know I am a Jane Austen fan and for those of you who have not seen my little shrine to Jane in my hall here it is.Tanya The Sampler Girl is the one I can thank for designing the Jane Austen sayings etc to hang in my home .
I need a quill pen to go in my inkwell I think. I also have my 4 large TSG samplers in the lounge Mansfield Park,At Home , Return to the Sea,and Sense and Sensibility. Still more to do in the stash pile ,and as Martin and I are about to celebrate 45 years of marriage I have just ordered Happy Anniversary from the Sampler Girl to stitch,Tanya has done it as a commemorative piece for Will and Kates anniversary next month ,but as it is in blue shades I thought I would adapt it a bit for us. I may stitch it again later in the year as my friend also has a Sapphire wedding anniversary in September. Talking of stash . I was not impressed at all this last weekend by the p.o leaving me a card saying I had to pay £11.18 to get a packet from the U.S. I had forgotten the amount you could get into the UK had gone down, £15 is the limit before you have to pay customs (VAT) and then to add insult to injury £8 for Royal Mail handling charge. I had ordered something to go in my friends birthday gift and a piece of Week dye works fabric (cannot get in UK ,unless of course you know different.) I thought as I had a little birthday money left I would order the fabric that was called for on the pattern Karan got me.
I am now a bit concerned as the gift voucher I had from Colleen has been used in a shop over the pond and I know the value is over £15 so I wonder if I am to have the same scenario .Perhaps as it was a gift voucher from someone in the US spent in a US shop they would mark it as gift. Hmmm hoping for a bit much there I think. Well I shall not be using the US for anything over £15 now. Rant over. I did get a little more stash but mainly threads and fabric from my Sew and Sos vouchers.
Boughs of Holly was a chart I got a while ago and I was able to get the fabric needed and threads also.Which I was very pleased about, also I got these to do my Wordplay ornies again I have the threads that are supposed to be used.
Did a little knitting on a snood this week,I think it will be more like a short scarf as the wool is not going as far as the other sort. Loved the colour though.
Well my dears, all that remains for me to say this time is thankyou so much for all your lovely comments (keep em coming) and the wishes for the birthday that was. I leave you now with Roses ,these are 10 days old and looking rather good.
Alfie said this morning that it wasn't fair that they only get 2 days off ,guess who did not want to go to school today. Take care all and hope you were not too bored with the ravings and rantings of this grumpy old woman! Hugs n stuff Barb.

Hawthorns Scavenger Photo Hunt June

Well hello everyone ,super sets of photos last  time. Mine this time  again has been last  minute so shall we begin. The  words this month ...