Hello Ladies,

I am so Sorry for the delay in posting this, and for those who I have not got round to thank for the gifts for my birthday last Monday and especially for  the unbirthday gift that came from Barbara in Orlando ,I kept it until my birthday Barbara so it did not  get opened when I received it.  So I will start by showing you that one.

Barbara made me this bag which will be great for keeping my current stitching in.  Now I wonder did you stitch the flowers on a machine Barbara?

The little thread holder ,scissor keeper I fell in  love with back  in the Autumn and asked her if she could get me one to use when I am stitching Halloween stitching. It has the words By the light of the moon on.The scissors I got  to match , She had included the lovely tags too so maybe one day you will get one on a gift.Thankyou  my friend  .

So now onto another special friend who sent me her Silver Creek chart that I had admired Thanks for that Tina,  For my birthday I escaped for about an hour to try and find some snowdrops that were still flowering ,most had finished but out of the sun we found these.

A little bit of brightness in my life at the moment. However,I digress, when we arrived home there was a note from a friend to say she had popped in but I was not there and she had taken a parcel from the postman,  and left it outside the patio  doors that lead to the garden . My goodness what could it be. Well  Tina sent me this very generous gift, 

Not just any bowl of fruit a Marks and  Spencer bowl of fruit. Now all  I have left is the bowl and bow and the note,  I am turning into a fruit bat ,Tina  knows I cannot eat chocolate but had kindly sent me  this. I was so touched.I love fruit. 

I  will not share what I had from family  , I would be going on and on and on.So I will show you things that maybe you would like to have. In the past I have had many stitcheries from Sally and over the years we have shared many a Sal , I have not been able to do as much this year due to circumstances beyond my control ,Suffice to say it has been a stressful and worrying time this year so far ,and  I put half a pound on at the weigh in today.Anyway back to Sally,who knows my head is all over the place at the moment. She sent me this lovely stitched item as nothing else will do when Sally stitches. All of you who sent stitched items can give yourself a huge pat on the back as all your stitching is perfect in my eyes. 

So Sallys gift was:- 

Soooo pretty and those dear little sheep ,loved the colouring Sally and here is a friend she sent to go with it.

You have to take these as they come in no particular order, the next one came from Julie who again I have known and been lucky enough to meet , for a good few years ago. She also has been known to get a phone call or two when I need a good talking to or just a listening ear should I say lol.We virtually meet twice a week over at Needlecraft Haven either on Saturday (eeek tonight) doing a ufo. Why she sent me this I just do not know ,could it be a certain mans jumper that has been on the needles for hmmm how long. Here is Julies gift to me.

It did make me smile Julie, and she now is sitting in my wool basket with Louise and Henry shown below , at last I did   something with them, Not very inspiring but I liked  it.

I wonder if Barbara recognises it, The knitting sheep was in a parcel of other goodies ,I told you my head was all over the place now you can see I am not imagining it!!!! 

The rest of Julies gift.

Pictures aren't clear but you should be used to looking through fog when you come to my blog. 

I loved it all Julie, the kit has made my fingers itch and maybe one day soon I will start it. I will be using the sheep fabric I am sure and I will be reading of Jonathan Seagull soon. Thankyou my friend , spoilt I am. Now I am hoping she will not be offended but I got a really unusual gift from my Wacky friend Christine ,that is not a bad wacky a really nice wacky, shut up Barbara, you do not dig when you are in a hole. Christine always sends hand made by her, rather unusual gifts, and I love them. She had found some really retro fabric and made me this oven glove mitt ,

Bet You Want one now hmmm, Going to use it in a moment, just hope I do not spill anything on it. Is Is it washable Christine. Thankyou Christine I always am delighted with the things you come up with.

Now another few gifts to share and then I will call it a day as I am posting this as I type for some reason. Hows that ,you can read along while I type . Hope you do not read fast as I type slowly.

This is a parcel I had on Friday from my friend June , again lots of goodies and being spoilt. The word on the magazine says it for me June.  I am not sure if the photo I take will be good enough for you June , I am hopeless at picture taking ,if you want a better one let me know. I have put the ornie on its own for you .

SO for this time folks ,that is all , I will do another one of your super little ornament and mail it to you June as this one is not good at all. 

I am hoping my head maybe normal and life too. 2016 is not being kind. Ah well it can only get better share more bits next time. 

Much love 

Barbx

January ...... I do hope this year I will be able to catch up with you more....

I am hoping to  do a blog post more  often  , the best laid plans often don't  happen. We had a traumatic start to the New Year and I  would like to thank my dear  friend Julie for listening to me on the phone. You are a star Julie and although far away  I feel somehow as if you are near .
So I am not saying anymore on the subject and will share the  good things that have happened since the night before Christmas. Which seems as  if that is ages ago  now. The man in red arrived and look at what he brought me.,

I have been muttering at my old one for a while and it was running like a bag of nails. So this was a lovely surprise and I am learning how to use it as it has a computer (oh dear) in it ,which I am not used to. It does all sorts of fancy stitches and I am really looking forward to getting to grips with it.My first project will be one of these two bags,,talk about jumping in feet first. So maybe by the next time I will have a little of it to show you .

 

 As if I have not got enough craft work to do lol Just had to do this one. I have been treated to fabric for both and I am beginning to get itchy fingers. Martin is at work tomorrow and Wednesday ,the family are giving me a break for a few weeks from cooking, This week I  have been suffering from vertigo and it isn't pleasant ,today is the first day I have felt up to much. Kate is not well and so she is off sick so I am hoping the family are helping her. 

Anyway this is the bag I am doing first.

Another one of the animals,

Pictures are not good sorry ,will try harder.
I have only got one finish to show you since last time ,lots of wips ,but this one I finished just before Christmas and forgot to put it on my last post,

I have never done a hoop finish before and I am quite pleased with it. I have almost finished the last one Merry Be , Sally finished hers ,but I mislaid my pattern so she kindly sent me hers so I could finish it ,Thanks Sally. Then sods law I found the one I had mislaid . I seem to have a bit of a thing about losing things lately , my mind for one!!

I have unfortunately got some dentures and over Christmas I lost those. I think they went out with the rubbish. I sheepishly visited the dentist last week and quoting Pam Aryes I  said, I wish I had looked after my teeth!! He thought it highly amusing ,he said I wasn't the first as he had heard lots of stories about people losing their teeth. So I now have 4 visits to him over the next 4 weeks as I have to have the top two front ones crowned too , not only is my spine crumbling my teeth are too. I will be a pile of bits on the floor one day.  lol..

Would you like to see my wips. I do not have anything as magnificent as Sallys Robin ,her blog is Stitchyangels treasures. 

So here we go. 

I have started on Mondays with Sally ornaments from the current and past issues of Cross stitcher ornaments, we have to try and guess which issue it came from , Sally is doing the 2015 issue and I think it is called Give love by Legacy Designs on PAGE 32. is that right Sally , Chris is also joining us and has stitched Joyful Santa by Homespun Elegance. Mine is from 2014 issue. I am doing it over 1 on 28count fabric and can you guess what it is. 

I put a coin next to it to show you how tiny it is.Although I have quite a bit more to do. Next is Tuesday stitching which I am devoting to either my cubes or Merry.

Christmas cubes by The Primitive Hare.

12th Ornament from CCN  a sal with Sally.A finish soon maybe., Wednesdays I am back in the parlour with my maids and I am still trying to finish in the Moonlight. 

Sorry pic quality is not good , I think the afternoon is not good for taking photos as it is dark by just gone 3.Thursday is either cubes or Merry which I have shown you already,

Friday is a new start for Sally and I we are stitching sheepie designs and we have chosen Miss Violet from Needle and Thread this is an ongoing sheep  designs for the year. My son and daughter in law gave me the threads for Christmas and the fabric so I am all set to go.

Here is a pic of the chart.

 Then on Saturday I am over at Needlecraft Haven with Julie and Mr .Stick on ufo night. Not strictly a ufo as I have done one,meanwhile I have been collecting the Prairie Santa for each year not getting them stitched. I asked Miss Julie if they could be classed as a ufo and she said Yes. So Saturdays are the Santa night, here is the latest progress over one of 2013.

Here is a picture of himself ,when he is finished.

For some unknown reason I have 2 of 2001and 2014 if anyone out there would like them leave me a comment at the end. These are the pics of them.

Last but not least on Sunday is the Blackwork Journey ,I had a bit of a hic cup with this ,I was one stitch out on one of the outer blocks ready to fill in and had to frog some. I was not impressed as it took ages to find  where it was however back to where I was and a little done of the next block which looks difficult and needs concentration.

This is done on a quiet Sunday afternoon. So my weeks stitching in a nutshell .I know this is a bit late but here are some of the gifts my stitching friends have given me last Christmas ,see it does sound ages ago doesn't it. 

I was very lucky ,of course sheep came into it and love Sallys bag ,it looks like one of the colouring books that are very popular at the  moment. June sent me this lovely ornie ,

Loved the little wooden tag. I will not list all things by everyone but you are thanked every single one of you. We did succumb to these in the sales ,we needed a new bed but decided on singles (so if he snores I can move it to the other side of the room )lol.You also have to mind the gap!!!!

Saturday last was my sons birthday he was 48 argh where did that time go. Here he is at the pub we went to for dinner.

To us he is one in a million just like his dad.I have started at slimming world with Kate my daughter as she has lost 4 stone and I just had to have some body to help me. So I made this for pudding tonight . It is yummy  and the whole bowl is just 1 syn. 

Usually I just do a Raspberry one and it is lovely ,but I got a mixture of rasberries ,strawberries and blueberries this time. All you need is a Raspberry sugarfree jelly, mixed with half a pint of boiling water. Leave to cool but not set then whisk in 2 mullerlight rasberry  and cranberry yoghurts, add the fruit and put in the fridge to set. Easy or what . 

I have not left Ollie out I made him some dog biscuits and he loves them,

I used the kirstie  recipe of 350g of Plain flour sieved, 1 egg, 2 table spoons of dried parsley a low salt stock chicken stock cube,120ml of hot water. Dissolve the stock cube in the hot water. Add the flour ,egg and parsley until it forms a ball. You may need a bit more water. Roll the dough out to about 1/4 or 1/8 thick. Cut out into shapes,Place on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper .Cook in centre of the oven until they are golden . If you did what I did  the first time and rolled them out too thick they look like mini scones. I did some for our  doggy friends and put them in a jar with a sticker saying Woofy Christmas from  Ollie and a red bow. They went down well . 

Right I think I have rambled on long enough. Happy 2016 to all and the craftiness continues . Take care and please do not pray for rain  we have had quite enough !!!

Much love

Barb x

The night before Christmas

Well hello all, I expect you think I have disappeared never to be seen again,sorry no such luck. Are you all ready for the man in red.So are you all getting excited only 1 sleep to go.I have so much to tell you but I am not sure how much time I have now.  Martin went with grandsons and son in law to see Star Wars last evening and I wrapped parcels .
We have  had so much to celebrate  this month and it seems an age since I last blogged.
However I think I will leave family until  last and wish you all a very happy ,peaceful and joyous Christmas.
Thankyou to all of you who have sent little gifts all tucked under the tree to wait for me to unwrap and no doubt oooh and ahh over.
I have not stitched so much this Christmas, but Sally and I did our normal Christmas exchange and this is the lovely ornament she made. SO clever with this ruched finish and it is a sheep too,

This is the one I sent Sally.

I am pleased to say Sally loved it ,she had it in her stash to stitch so I saved her a job too.The other person I stitched a tree ornament for was Julie , I did this new release from The Little Stitcher . Blue Christmas. I stitched swarovski crystals on the points of the lace.

I am not going to share a lot with you as it is Christmas Eve after all. The header of course is Ollie,but I do have to share a card we and Ollie had from one of the dog walking crowd.

From left to right,another Ollie,Blaze, Gracie and Snoopy,it rather amused me.

Tomorrow we are going to Kates for dinner, we saw Graeme at his store today,they have been very busy he said. I took a pic at Caitlins 18th birthday meal of Kate ,Graeme,and Sue Graemes wife.

Kate is in the middle of Sue and Graeme. Next a picture of the 18 year old.

Caitlin is standing behind Ella our other grandaughter who is 15, They are growing up so fast.
So on to the 21 year old whose birthday it was the next weekend.

This isJack in the middle with his fiance Katie who was 21 yesterday. The other one is a friend from uni who was determined to get in the photo, I did not meet any rugby players though even though it was held at the Rugby club. 

I have to mention Sam as he is growing into a fine young man too. 

Last but certainly not least is the one very excited Alfie who was going to bed early tonight or so he said. He is the one left that still believes . 

So that is us all , wishing you all a very happy Christmas with yours and also to say thankyou for cards etc that have been arriving , More of those in the next post, I will also show you my fa la la finish and what I have planned for the  New Year. 

Take care , and keep safe.

Much love 

Barb

Countdown begins..........

I always feel that once November the 5th is over we are only a countdown away from that time of year. My days seem to go quicker than everyone else so I start my  countdown in November. The trees are really lovely or they were until the non stop rain we have had since Monday last. I still have some flowers in the garden but all is looking rather sad and bedraggled.
The mantle has changed and all to do with Remembrance this month. We now have rather a simple mantle shelf after the Halloween mayhem'
Here it is now.

The little girl under the tree with the poppies is a new addition, I thought she really looked as if she belonged here.

The two glass pictures are Martins creations , one gives details of my grandfathers brother who died in the first World War and the other is a general remembrance for all those who fought and gave their lives so we may live. 

These will stay for the rest of November.

I am hoping to stitch these ready for my November stitching next year, nothing like getting ahead of yourself is there!

I am also thinking that Martin could make some red poppies to hang from the trees branches , so really the mantle is just a work in progress.Also  next month  it will be full again. 

I  had a little treat last week ,, I know I have one in a million ,this was a wish granted. I thought my scissors were getting a little tired, so he bought me these so the new fob and case will be used for them. Meanwhile they are being looked after by the fob Tina made me , and a case I stitched in 2004 ,11 years ago!

Back view of case.

Inside the Holder.

So there you have it still in use after 11 years,
Of course there are still sheep.
When  we went shopping in our local Sainsburys, I saw this and thought it would look nice on the sofa, for the winter,this was the back that I did not see until I got it home.

So would you like to meet Holly, here he is

They did have a rather nice Scandinavian type throw that he would  look rather nice on. Hmm 

maybe next week.My  friend Julie sent  me a link this week, and I had to order it as it is right up my street, I had not heard of these mysteries before so I , looked at Amazon and of course they had it. I ordered it yesterday and it arrived today.

My pile of books grows. I wonder if the pile will ever go down , I very much doubt it. 

Now onto stitching I have a few finishes to show you. I have firstly finished my second Christmas Cube. I am really liking these too, in fact I may have to get the LOVE ones for Februarys mantle lol

I stitched the flames on the candles with the colour called for but decided they did not show up   enough so I stitched over them with some metallic thread.

Of  course it is only the stitching that is finished. Still have to be made up.Next is one I started a couple of years ago and for some reason I was not enjoying  it so it got put in the box of abandonment. Stitching with Miss Julie on Strictly UFO nights ,it came out to play again and perseverance has paid off . Not sure what to do   with it , I suppose something to do with lavender but what ?,have to go look  in the dusty cupboard for some inspiration. Unless you have an idea of course.

Here is Lavender Hill

Next is Merry Merry that is the 10th in the series Sally and I have  stitched this year ,just 2 more to go and the next one features sheep!! 

Again still to be made up ,next is new starts. The Blackwork Journey has started , I am praying I do not do anything wrong on this as I would never be able to unpick it , can  you imagine  stitching 50 or so of these blocks and then finding you have done something wrong , that box of abandonment would be calling I am sure, but for now I am really enjoying it I am now on block 3 of the 131.

As you look at it the bottom left one has a copper line of pattern and the one on the right the straight lines in the middle of the blocks are half gold and half black it is very interesting ,the one I have just started I think has silver somewhere in it. On Wednesdays in the parlour I am stitching Moonlight and here is where I am at.

A few more trees  and  snow since last week.Last but certainly not least is a picture of our medal winning grandaughter Caitlin. The day after she completed The Great South Run.

 She was well out of her comfort zone doing this, she had done a little training but not as much as she should. She had to stay in a BB  and  share a room (and bed) with the lady she was running with. She had an attack of the jitters the day before when she asked her mum if she would go too. However when the lady turned up off she went. She ran 10 miles in 2hrs 15, She said at first you had to walk as there were so many in front. 24,OOO took part. She was running for charity and they raised over £1000 .We watched the race on tele but did not see her . We are so proud of her. I could not run 10 yards let alone 10miles.

So on that note my post comes to an end ,now I am off to see what I can restart tonight with Miss Julie Mr Stick and the Strictly dancers. Let you know what it is next time. A friend has just been over (so I went missing for a while) she came to show us a scan photo of a golden retriever that is having 6/7 puppies, She has a beautiful boy called Barclay who is 1,they have put their name down for one and she was trying to persuade us to have another . Oh I wish ,need to work on the man of the house. Lyn was solving all our problems about being too old. Like if you cannot walk it we could walk it for you .   If y

,u want a holiday we will have them both. It would give Ollie a new lease of life. Oh dear temptation has kicked in.

Going for real this time. To my new followers and those that kindly left me a comment last time thankyou so  much   , send anyone over  I would be so  pleased to meet them

 Take great care of you and yours and keeeep stitching or whatever.
Hugs
Barb