I hope that everyone had a great Christmas, ours has been quiet apart from seeing family i haven't ventured out of the house much; i have given the dreaded sales a miss, i hate the crowds and rummaging through things, most of which is bought in especially for the sale season anyway.

I was hoping to get more stitching done over the holidays but i have managed to finished off 2 ornies today for my December SAL, both are freebie charts, and I'm quite pleased how they have turned out.It's a pity i didn't finish them a little earlier, as they will be packed away until next Christmas in a few days. Usually i take my decorations down on new years day, this time I'm going to leave them up a little longer, somehow i have really enjoyed having the tree and my bits and pieces around this Christmas, it will look a little bare without the tree in my dining room. Guess who was hiding in there today......
...Millie :-) she does get in the strangest of places, she is such a comical cat, much more so than Molly who is really laid back. She loves to be warm and if i don't make the beds real quick in the morning she soon snuggles down in there for the day.
This morning we woke to find that Jack Frost had been to visit us in the night

I noticed this on the washing line this morning, but no sign of it's occupant.


I even thought i saw the start of a little snow flurry, but that may have been wishful thinking, lol.
I'll leave you with one more photo of Millie, this is where she's took to lying if she's cold
Wishing you all a healthy & happy 2009....till then, Tara-a-bit xxx

Finally the painting in the dining room is all finished and my tree is up...yaaaaay it does look a bit bare at the moment though, i couldn't find the little thingies to hang the baubles on with, i will get some tomorrow when I'm out and it should look a bit better then.So, how do you like my red wall?? I have always fancied having a wall in red but never been brave enough to try it, hubby said just go for it, so i did! and I'm so glad:) it warms the room up lovely and i love it. As you can see i even managed to persuade dh about the sofa in the dining room! and it make the room more cosy and usable.

I found the little stars hanging from my light in the local Tesco, also came across these little felt decorations, all at a reduced price and they look great hanging from the cupboard doors.

We bought some chestnuts on Saturday and they are sitting in Santa's sleigh ready to be roasted on the fire over Christmas.

Another bargain picked up at Tesco was this Noel which is sitting on the side board

I actually bought 3 of these, they are so lovely, i have one on the mantle in the sitting room and the other on the fire place in my bedroom. One last bargain buy was this reindeer, star and bell garland on string, it's quite primitive and simple looking

I've done quite well for bargain buys in decorations this year, i have a lovely table cloth for Christmas day from Ikea and some charger plates , but those belong to another post... so for now, tara-a-bit xx

Finally I've found five minutes to sit down, all be it 12 midnight when really i should be in bed as i still have work tomorrow :o All week I've been trying to get the dining room painting finished so that the tree can at last be put up this weekend, I should be able to finish off on Saturday, not tomorrow as it's our staff 'do' tomorrow night, meal and free bar from 5-8pm, not sure to expect from where we are going the reports of the place are not good...we shall see!

My dd#2 is coming home from uni on Monday, so my task for Sunday is to get her room ready, I'm afraid it's become a dumping ground for Christmas presents and wrapping paper over the last couple of weeks. It was her 21st on December 2nd..

Jo with her 21st balloon. All girls together.


It will be my eldest daughters birthday on Monday. December is a very busy month for us, my wedding anniversary is on Saturday, (i ask you, what on earth possessed us to get married this close to Christmas, I swear when we married it didn't seem this close, lol, i remember the sun was shining), we don't usually celebrate our wedding anniversary it's a long story but usually one or both of us usually forget and the date has passed before we realise, too many other things going on i suppose. Then it's my birthday on 27th & my brothers on 28th, phew! at least we get a break on the birthday front until April!.
Just one more photo to share, i heard that Gillie has received the Christmas ornament and goodies i sent her, i really enjoyed stitching this and i achieved a couple of 'firsts' for me, one being my first stitched Santa and the other being the first time i made cording. I hope you like it Gillie
Isn't he cute, i almost wanted to keep him for myself lol, but i know he's gone to a good home :)On that note i will say goodnight, i have to be up at 7am and its 12.30 now, not going to get much beauty sleep tonight!..Tara a bit x

Winter Warmer

For the last 2 years we have talked about getting a log burner in our dining room, the fireplace had already been taken out when we moved into this house but the 'hole' where it had been had been left, complete with the old bricks at the back, the chimney had been plasterboard over and the sides skimmed so that just left a hearth to be built and the chimney opened up, simple eh? my DH works away during the week so everything seems to take longer to get done only having the weekend in which to do DIY, but we have got there and as of last weekend this is what is now in my dining room :) We had logs delivered last weekend too so every day when i've come in from work i have set to work lighting my gorgeous log burner :) and i'm loving it, lol I am now trying to explain to my husband that we NEED to put a sofa in the dining room as there is only me and my DD #3 at home in the week we could sit in the dining room and save on the heating bills, makes perfect sense to me lol. Will keep you posted on how long it takes for him to think it was his idea to have a sofa in the dining room!!! lol.
I have been stitching too this week, no photos though because it is for a Christmas ornament exchange, my Lizzie Kate double flip-its have been put to one side until the ornie is done and posted, i am exactly half way through the LK, hope to finish it before Christmas and will post a photo then, so until next time tara-a-bit x

Back To Winter

I can't believe we've been back at home a week now, this last week has gone by

so slowly! We had a lovely time in Cyprus, as we always do! but this time came back to freezing conditions in the UK, it actually snowed on the Tuesday after we got home!! after just wearing shorts, strappy tops & flippies for nearly 2 Weeks the weather at home came as a big shock i can tell you, lol. We have just about got the house warmed up again & winter woollies have been dug out of storage, i can see that our heating bill are going to be huge this year! I thought i would share a few photos with you of the harbour in Paphos, it's a lot better along the front now as they have reduced the traffic to one way single lane, i still think they could go one better and stop the traffic altogether between say 6pm & 10pm as quite a few restaurants have extended themselves out now there is more pathway, it would just make it a bit more pleasant to eat on the front.

Stitching/Exchanging
Remember the Autumn Exchange i took part in in October? My partner to send to was Nancy, she let me know that she received her goodies while we were in Cyprus, so this is what i sent her.

It was a free chart, (Rainbow Gallery, i think) which i made into a cute little door hanger, my first time making one of these and i was pleased how it turned out, in fact it was starting to look quite at home on my cupboard in the sitting room, i wanted to keep it, lol...Hope you liked it along with the other goodies Nancy :)

That's about it for now, my computer is being really slow so i will say tara-a-bit till next time x

Holiday Stress

We are off on our travels again on Wednesday, our Annual trip to Cyprus, staying with the in-laws this time as we managed to cheap(er) flights, i'm looking forward to seeing the sun, goodness knows we have seen very little of it in the UK this year! But why do i make it so hard on myself? this week i feel as though everything is backing up behind me and i can't get away from it, lol. I start to get stressed the week before a holiday, don't ask me why, i know i should be relaxed, no-one else gets stressed (i.e husband, lol) but i do, i have the money to sort (done that), daughter No.3 wants new clothes (she really needs some!) spent 5 hours at the shopping centre last night OMG (done that). Then there are things that i just HAVE to do before we go, beds have to be changed, windows have to be cleaned, all washing & ironing has to be done, the cooker has to be cleaned (I know) and of course i simply could not go away without taking all the summer plants out of the window baskets and tubs and re-filling with winter pansies & sweeping the yard (front & back). Does anyone else do strange things before they go away, or am i the only one? please don't let me be the only one lol. It's just "my thing" i'm happy if i can go knowing that my house is clean & tidy, of course when we come home i won't feel happy until i have gone through the house top to bottom again...mad or what lol, i'm never totally relaxed and ready for it until i sit on that plane!
Right, got that off my chest, now where is my 'to do list' just thought, i must add clean the car, get hair cut.
Till next time...Tara-a-bit x

Autumn Exchange

I recently took part in an Autumn Exchange over on the Friendly Stitchers yahoo group and this is what Abi sent to me, a lovely biscornu made so that i can use it to keep my floss, isn't it great:-)She also included some Carrie's Crations floss some steff Francis silks, beads and a lovely hand made card, thank you very much Abi, i love everything :-), by the way your hand writing is beautiful, so neat, my daughter asked if is was typed!
My partner in this exchange is Nancy, i have yet to send mine, just some finishing off to do the weekend and then it will be winging it's way to you Nancy :-)
That's it for now, short but very sweet :-)
till next time, tara-a-bit x

Welcome to my New Blog

I had some real trouble with my old blog and decided to delete it as i just couldn't get it back the way i wanted it, basically i tried to make some changes and they went drastically wrong, lol....so here i am again, with a new one :-).
I decided to post a little bit about the Blackcountry again just in case anyone new reading would wonder why i call myself Blackcountry Wench, all should become clear when you read on :-)

You won't find the Blackcountry marked on any map, but to a traditionalist, the Blackcounty covers West Bromwich, Oldbury, Blackheath, Cradley Heath, Old Hill, Bilston, Dudley, Tipton, Wednesfield a small part of Halesowen, Wednesbury & Walsall but NOT Wolverhampton, Stourbridge, Smethwick or Birmingham. The correct way to pronounce the word Black Country is to link the two words together i.e. "Blackcountry", rather than Black Country. Ok here endeth the short history lesson on where i come from, lol. mmmmm, thinking i may make it a feature of my blog, snippets of information from the Blackcountry, what do you think?

Blackcounty words

I have added Blackcountry words list (right hand bar) with English translations, as i come from the Blackcountry i thought it would be fun, and we do have some funny sayings for things, take a look and see if you can say them, lol. It is a dying dialect now though but i remember when i was little hearing some people speak with a real broad Blackcounty accent....tara a bit x