February and a walk in Hardys footsteps

Hello all , I hope you are all keeping warm and snug here in the UK. For those of you outside of the UK ,whatever your weather hope you are all well. I know a lot of you are having it a lot colder than we are and with white stuff too, here in the South of England at 3 deg on the car temp we decided to don our wellies today and tootle off to Dorchester and walk along the river to Stinsford.
We used to walk this a lot when we lived in Dorchester our County town, and we indeed walked in Thomas Hardys footsteps. He worshipped in Stinsford Church as did his father and his grandfather before him , they are all buried here and the gravestones all tell the dates. Thomas Hardys heart is buried here and his body lies in Poets corner in Westminster Abbey. Anyway a few pics of our walk.

Setting off ,yes I did say there was a river and guess who decided he was going in ,despite being told NO many times.

!

He even got very naughty and poked his tongue out at me.The water was flowing very fast,and I was a bit concerned he would not be able to get out,and one of us , not me\!would have to rescue him.

I bet it was freezing in there , there were puddles on the bank that were iced over. After eventually getting him to come out he decided to play it safe and go the other side where he went paddling.

At 12 years old you would think he would know better wouldn't you . It is his birthday today though so we couldn't stay cross ,he was put on a lead from then though. Anyway we finally reached Stinsford Church . A very pretty Norman church built in the 13th Century.

This is the where lies the heart of Thomas Hardy.

As I said his family are all laid to rest near his heart.If you have not read any of his books ,they are classics and the one I enjoyed best is Tess of the Dubervilles. So that was our morning after a visit to the chiropractor for me. She has helped an awful lot.Although its rather an ooh ,ow, session from me.Well on the stitching front and that is what you are here for.  As we are in a graveyard I will start with the finish of Angels ,the first in a set of ornaments that I am stitching along with my friend Sally.

If you bob along to Sallys blog at stitchangel treasures you can see her finish too , I have used this fabric for the back as it seemed to go with the theme.

At the other end of the spectrum this is my Hallowe'en finish this week, and although not put together here is the stitching finished.

I stitched in the parlour last Wednesday and this will be due an outing again tomorrow, we are a cosy little band in there on a Wednesday ,if you fancy joining us then you are more than welcome to join us. We stitch a design of your own choice from either Little House Needleworks or Country Cottage Needleworks, we used to stitch a lot of the Sampler Girl designs too but Tanya does not chart so many designs these days. I do miss her Jane themed ones , although for fellow Janeites I believe you can still get Austen flavoured charts from The Jane Austen Centre . Anyway back to the parlour , you can find us on Needlecraft Haven and Clare is the host who will I am sure welcome you too. Miss Julie and Mr Stick do  UFO weekends which you can join in with, Christine does a challenge every month ,and although I did not do January I have done February already . Clare also has lots going on there and there are games to join in with if you want to. Just too much to mention hear but if you fancy it ,pop along.This was last Wednesdays progress on A stitchers Prayer. 

I hope to finish the lady stitching tomorrow and start the border. Last weekend I was with Miss Julie and Mr Stick stitching my Secret garden Here is where I am at.

Sorry it is a bit crumpled (bit like me really lol). I also have finished the stag we had to do for the February challenge but it will be a while before I can show you  that, I have sent a pic off to Christine though.So that is all the cross stitching I have done. I have made something else and in the process of making another design similar , it is by Hatched and Patched and is called Larry the Lamb \,well I had to feature a sheep somewhere didn't I. I love how it turned out .

I have had this pattern for quite a while ,I was just in the mood to make him and now I wonder why I waited so long. I filled the pincushion with crushed walnut sand , and I have enough to make a whole farmyard I think. It makes it a nice weight and I am told it does not blunt pins or needles. As I said I am hoping to finish another to show you next time. I am wondering if anyone would like one (not saying when ,but I am thinking of having one as a giveaway )Let me know if you would really like one. Martin so liked it (yes he approved) he asked to borrow the pattern so he could make me a glass one to hang in my window. 

I was so giddy when he gave it to me I absolutely love it , Thankyou my dear, I know of someone else who would maybe like one of these,mention no names begins with an S.. As I mentioned in my last post it is the Chinese year of the sheep this year and for me it has started early.The RMW group that Martin is chairman of  has chosen The Year of the Sheep as its Exhibition theme ,so I can see lots of sheepy things on the horizon. Talking of sheep , I have a far away pic from yesterday ,sorry had to leave you and I am trying to get this done today. Here is my far away pic , 

Just had to have a pic of some real sheep. I have also been told by my grandson Sam that Shaun the sheep movie is about to be released on the 5th Feb and he is taking me !!! How many 13 year old boys would do that . Still on the subject of sheep here is some stash I have recently acquired ,I know I do not need more but well you just have to sometimes hmmm.

  Also jumping into the basket were 2 more . 

Just so pretty but a bit blurred. The last one was this.

 I am still reading ,but for some reason my lists have gone to the bottom of posts , along with finished items etc. Will have  to sort it out when I get my head together . Soon I hope it will be spring and while we were on our cold walk yesterday we actually saw some daffodils in flower. I resisted those and took these instead ,not literally took , just a pic

Well my dears I am sure I have droned on long enough , Go make a cuppa you deserve it for staying here so long. I would make it myself but I have family over for dinner and I can smell a casserole cooking in the oven and young people will be arriving soon. Before I go though at the end of the walk yesterday we saw this bridge.

On it was this sign.

So on that note I shall get in my ponderous carriage and away to the kitchen. I will hopefully have more news next time.

Take care all , keep snug.

Barb.xx