Rubies, Diamonds & Golden Pears

For the past few weeks I've been suffering with very tender 'boobs' more than usual even taking the time of the month in consideration, the doctor could feel nothing but could tell how tender i was, i went to see the consultant today who believes it's just a thickening of the breast tissue and is nothing nasty to worry about. She suggested a scan & mammogram just to have a look see, so I'm taking advantage of the health insurance we have at work and have an appointment at a local private hospital on Monday morning. At least my mind is a little easier now, you know how it is worrying about these things, I've just plodded through the week to be honest. So, now I'm more 'myself' I'm ready to share some updates :-) First i finished stitching the LHN ornament Pear Tree this afternoon, in my mind when i started this SAL was going to finish them all as hanging ornaments, but this one is HUGE!! too big to be a hanging ornament (me thinks) and i don't know how to finish it..any and all suggestions will be gratefully received!

I Stitched it on a scrap of 28 count and it measures 4" x 5" it turned out much bigger than i imagined but i do like it, i still have the beads to put on and I'm sure i had some somewhere, but at the moment can't lay my hands on them.

My first new start i thought would be quicker to stitch, ha, ha, famous last words! i didn't take a very good look at the chart, there are lots of colour changes!! so this is going to be a while in the making. Welcome Quaker Diamonds for the first of what may be many outings ;-)

I may need motivation with this one so if anyone knows of a SAL or would like to get one going, do let me know.

And just because i needed something that would be a little faster i started Rubie Owl, i had to wait for my LNS to get the threads in for this one, so again not too much to show. I splashed out on different fabric for this one (more expensive) I'm not going to name it because i know that lots of people love this particular linen and I'm going to stick my neck out here and say that i cannot say that i love it, it's OK, but no way does it justify the price i paid. Just my opinion ;-)

Meet Rubie Owl,

I've been reading more than stitching this week and have finished up another Philippa Gregory book, i started the next one, The Virgins Lover last night. Only one more to read and then I've finished the Tudor Court series but i did read on line somewhere that her next series will be on the Plantagenet's, if they are as good as the Tudor's i can't wait! When i was leaving the hospital on Friday there was a book sale in reception, i took a few minutes to browse and came across these for 50 pence each!

I already read The Lovely Bones a few years ago but it belonged to my daughter and i would like to read it again. I couldn't believe i found The Concubines Secret for 50p! i already have the Red Scarf (bought from Amazon) and The Russian Concubine (bought from the charity shop for

45 pence!!) so this completes the set which i plan on reading when I've finished the Tudor series, has anyone read these? The other two i read the blurb in WH Smith some time ago and wasn't too sure about so couldn't justify spending the money on them, but at a give-away price like i got

them at i don't mind if i don't want to keep them afterwards!

Phew, i think I've about made up for my none blogging, and if you're still with me, thank you!! and if your not that's OK too ;-) I'm off to plonk my bum on the sofa and get some stitching done, have a great weekend whatever your up too :-) see ya soon xx

Quaker Row All Framed Up

Hello Peeps! Thank you for all your wonderful comments on the results of my first attempt at tea bag splodging! Being the conservative type i did feel rather reckless but as i love the results, especially when i saw it framed, you can be sure I'll be trying it again :-)

I picked Quaker Row up this afternoon, and once again Sharon & Mark at 'Betty's' did a great job!

As I've been plagued with a migraine for the last couple of days not much stitching has been done, two days running i had to come back from work and go to bed for a few hours, thankfully this afternoon i have finally got a clear head, such a great feeling after migraine pain.

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I finally got myself organised enough to have a sort out and decided to start a 'swap / trade' blog if you want to have a wander over the link is in the right side bar, I've put some charts up for now but i have loads of magazines that i will be sorting through over the next couple of weeks and adding too, and I'm certain there are other charts lurking somewhere. I've added some wishes, likes & dislikes too.

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For my birthday at Christmas amongst other things my eldest daughter bought me Quaker Diamonds with the required Valdani threads and i made this my new start last weekend, this is not going to be a 'quick stitch' and i haven't made enough progress to show, I'll share it next week when I've been able to fit more stitchy time in.

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I'm thrilled that so many of you enjoy Philippa Gregory books too, I'm getting blank looks when i mention them at work and a sort of wrinkling of the nose when i say they are about the Tudors. I seem to be on a bit of a history fest at the moment and was chuffed to bits today when i came across two books in the charity shop, 'Elizabeth The Great' by Elizabeth Jenkins about

Elizabeth I and 'Mary Tudor' by H.F.M Prescott, about Katherine of Aragon's daughter, Mary.

They both look brand new and a bargain at 90pence each!

I'm behind on my blog commenting because of the 'head thing' but i will get to you all this weekend to see what wonderful things you have been up to :-)

Until next time xx

Quaker Finish

Greetings Peeps :-) first up is my second finish this year, finished within a month, i can't believe that i finished something so quickly, but here's the proof.

You may recall that i wasn't too sure of the thread colour, it has grown on me and i had several comments saying that you liked it so it stayed. As i put the last stitch in yesterday evening i spread it out on the table to admire (and pick faults with, as you do!). I can't say that i immediately loved it but then i had an idea, now I'm not good with original ideas and i don't mind saying that i nicked this one!! i had read on Siobhan's blog that she had aged her her stitching of 'semi naked' people by rubbing with wet coffee grounds. We only have instant coffee in this house I'm afraid, but off i went and make a strong cup of coffee and a cup of tea and mixed the two together, squeezed out the tea bag and dunked it in the cocktail, squeezed again took a deep breath and rubbed it on my stitching - this is a closer look at the effect.What do ya think? I'm loving it!! I just went to have another peek at it when i came in and i defiantly think it's improved the piece, so i want to say a big "Thank You" to Siobhan for her post which gave me the courage to try my own ageing process!

It'll be the weekend before i can get it to the framers now and I'll share another piccy with you when i get it back.

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Four of us girls at work have got together to participate in a healthy eating/fitness plan and today was our second weigh in, two girls stayed the same, one lost 2lb but i am so pleased to say that i have lost 5lb. Remember i said it was one of my goals to loose some weight this year? this weight loss is just the result of me not eating crap, no chocolate, no cake, (tell a lie, I've had one egg custard!) and the one that i think has helped most I've started to eat breakfast as soon as i get to work at 8.30 (can't face anything any earlier) and I'm sure it has curbed my hunger. I'll let you know if there is less of me here again towards the end of February.

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I've put a reading / read list in my side bar now as i discovered a 'new to me' author just before Christmas - Philippa Gregory, I'm so enjoying reading these historical novels of hers that i ordered all of them off Amazon, I'm finding she really brings the characters such as Anne Boleyn (what a naughty girl she was!!) her sister Mary Boleyn (what a tart!!!, lol) and Katherine of Aragon to life. If you've read any of her other novels I'd love to know if you enjoyed them.

And finally, i have a blogging question, I've tried to add more blogs to the ones i read but blogger won't put them on my list, anyone know why? is there a limit to the number you can put on i wonder?

Thank you for all the lovely comments you take the time to leave, they are wonderful and very much appreciated x..till next time xx

New Start, Snow & Daft Cats!

School was out again today because of snow over night so Stevie had yet another day of sledding. Last night was only about the 2nd time I've parked in our street in a week because of the weather, just my luck, i managed to inch my way down this morning, sliding the last bit, luckily there were no parked cars for me to hit towards the bottom of the road! The main roads weren't much better, I'm sure the gritters haven't been in our parts. This afternoon after work i left my car out of the street again, just in case!

I know this is a pathetic amount of snow compared to other countries but believe me, even this amount causes havoc in the UK, we are just not used to it and don't have the resources to cope with it, no snow ploughs and we are running out of salt and grit!

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When i was uploading some photos i remembered that i hadn't shared my framed Zippity-do-da with you, so here you go. Hard to get a photo of all of it with my small camera, but you get the idea, the frame i chose in the end was a white-ish distressed one which matched Stevie's room.

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My new start for 2010 was actually started on Boxing Day

Quaker Row by Midnight Stitching
I'm stitching on 28 count with Threadworx 10342. Still not really sure about the colour but it's staying put now! I just realised that i haven't quite finished the squirrel stitching. (does anyone else think that squirrel looks a little crazy?)
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Finally, this is my snow cat, molly, insisting on going out to catch snow flakes

She didn't wander too far from the door though i can tell you!
That's it for now, except to thank every one for their lovely comments on my last post and Fa-La-La, even though the stitching caused me so much greif i'm glad i stuck with it now, it's still sitting on the mantle in my bedroom just to remind me, and i did get the beads up of the floor, well, most of them anyway :-)

New Years Day Finish

Happy New Year! The first morning of the new decade was a frosty one here in my part of the UK, we were promised snow a few days back, but it never arrived, am i the only one who was disappointed??,lol.

Looking back over December it was, (as it is every year) a very busy time in this house, we have celebrated 5 birthdays and a wedding anniversary since the beginning of the month, starting off with my Niece on 1st December quickly followed by my DD#2 who turned 22 on the 2nd, my DD#1 turned 27 on 22nd, little ole me celebrated (not sure that's the right word) my 48th birthday on 27th! and my brother turned 55 on 28th (omg, my family is getting old, lol) and just to add a bit of variety it was my wedding anniversary on 20th, what ever possessed us to get married so close to Christmas i do not know!

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I'm not a fan of making New Year resolutions, but this year i am setting myself some goals, the first of which is to have a healthier lifestyle and get fitter, notice i didn't say the dreaded 'diet' word, i have in the past rushed to join Weight Watchers or Slimming World in January only to have my interest wain by February, so this year I'm doing neither, i know what i need to do in order for the scales to go down, eat less crap and take more exercise! i just need to put it into practice and I've already started on the second one (come on its Christmas, I'm allowed to eat some crap for now!) so to combat some of that Christmas food I've been going for a brisk walk everyday over the holiday, it's a start and I'm not looking for any 'quick fixes' this year, it's taken me 4 years to put on this extra weight so I'm being realistic this time that it will take me a while to shift it! My aim is to loose 18lb, that will make me just 7lb heavier than i was 4 years ago, (I'm older now so i figure that i need some fat to help plump the wrinkles out! I'll post my progress here more for me to keep track, but i wont bore you with it at every post, promise :-)

So, here is my very first finish of 2010 and I'd like it to be known that more than once it was flung to the other side of the room in utter frustration and very nearly consigned to the kitchen bin on several occasions! i don't know what happened, i must have lost brain cells or something with all the lounging around over the holidays, Christmas may be over but this is staying where i can look at it and show it to everyone who will look, lol.

LHN, Fa-La-La on 28 count with DMC threads

I added beads around the edge and finished it off with red organza ribbon, the beads were a first for me, and boy did i make a mess with them!

I want to thank you for visiting me in 2009 and i hope that you will continue to do so in 2010, i look forward to visiting all your blogs and seeing all the wonderful work you do, i love to read the comments you leave for me here, they truly make my day :-) Have a fantastic New Year, I'm going to finish off the first day of the new decade by picking all those dropped beads off the carpet, lol...wish me luck (or i may just get the vacuum out!)

Merry Christmas!

I have no new stitchy finishes to show, i just wanted to wish all my blogging buddies a merry Christmas! I finished work this afternoon and can now look forward to 12 lie-ins, lol, no alarm going off at 7am, nothing to rush for in the mornings, bliss :-)

It seems ages since i had any stitching to show but I'm hoping to get plenty of stitching time in and maybe finish off a couple of ornaments over the holiday so i will be able to prove that i do still stitch, lol.

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Here in my part of the UK we are still experiencing quite a cold spell, we had a dusting of snow last weekend which amazingly is still with us, which just goes to show that the temperature has not been above freezing the whole week, i know that in some part of the world that's not unusual, after all it is December, but for us in the UK it is rare! I must say that i much prefer this cold, crisp weather, give me this over rain any day! We may, fingers crossed be in for a white Christmas after all, it's been snowing a little again this afternoon so lets hope so.

That's it from me this side of Christmas, i will be another year older the next time we speak :-0

Till then, have a very Merry Christmas

And may Santa be very kind to you all. xxx

Beatrix Part 2 & a Stinking Cold!

I didn't mean to leave it so long before posting the rest of the photos of our weekend break. Much to the amusement and relief may i add of my DH, i woke up on Sunday morning to find i had lost my voice in the night, the rest of this week i have been battling a stinking cold and coming in from work at lunch time just to go straight off to bed for a couple of hours. Finally tonight i think the worst is over, thank goodness.

Anyway, here are the promised pics - first up are some i took of Windermere, very pretty village and it was nice enough on the Saturday for us to go on a boat trip on Windermere itself, although by the end of the trip we were both chilled to the bone lol.
Love these houses right on the edge, but apparently this area was quite badly flooded the week before, you can still see that the water is quite high

This is looking towards the town
Taken while we were on the boat trip, the little orange boat caught my eye and you can just make out the snow on the hills in the background
I love the next 2 photos, it looks so peaceful, don't you think?
This is the entrance to the garden of Beatrix Potter's house, Hill Top. The garden is still set out as a very cute veggie garden
And this is Hill Top, looking every bit the English cottage

This was taken from the garden

Some bits & bobs in the garden

The path leading up to Hill Top, you reach this via the shop, which was open but unfortunately the house closes to the public from November 1st - a good excuse for another visit another time!

I remember reading somewhere that when Beatrix P died there was a stipulation in her will that no one should live in Hill Top after her death so i assume that her furnishings are still there, pity we went so late in the year i would have like to have seen inside.

A few weeks ago you will remember that in the UK we were having lots of rain and there was major flooding in many parts (including the Lake District), below is the sort of weather we had to drive home in.

Good job DH was driving, the motorway was like this until we almost reached home and I'm sorry to say that we have still had much of the same horrible damp weather since!

Because of my stinking cold and fear of stabbing myself with the needle every time i sneeze and the fact that i could not see through my streaming eyes, there hasn't been much stitching time this week. Before the bugs attacked me i did finish off another Santa and picked Zippity up from the framers, but i show you those next time.

Thanks for stopping by and all your lovely comments, i really do appreciate them:-)

See ya next time x