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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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!

~~~~~~~~~~

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.

~~~~~~~~~~

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?)
~~~~~~~~~~
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!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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!)