Just Catching Up

Hello Peeps! Ive been poised to do a blog entry since last week but somehow other things keep getting in the way. We had a great break in Poland, apart from DH completely driving me nuts, lol, you've heard the saying 'less is more', well let me tell you, that saying definitely applies to time spent with my DH. Perhaps it's because I'm only used to his company at the weekends (and let me tell you I'm quite happy with that!) but i had forgotten how he can sulk and take offence at the smallest thing!! Oh well, i suppose we all have our crosses to bear, and he's mine, lol.
While in Poland we visited Auschwitz which was something else, there really are some horrific tales from that place, and also the salt mines which was OK but not as exciting as i thought it would be. The weather was kind to us, not cold like i thought it would be, in fact when i phoned home they told me it was wet and miserable in the UK whereas Poland was basking in sunshine! I haven't managed to upload any photos of the trip yet, perhaps over the Easter break I'll have time.

Saturday just gone was the Hobby Craft show at the NEC in Birmingham so i took myself off there for the day on Saturday, just me myself & I, it was heaven! here's a few stitchy goodies i bought home with me.

The plastic thread keeper i bought before i came across the wooden ones, i much prefer the wood. The thread heaven i haven't used yet but have heard good reports.

And because a girl can't have enough handbags, this beautiful Italian bull leather handbag found it's way home with me :-) I also treated myself to a new phone case & specs case in a funky purple colour.

I bought the little charm on the bag on Saturday too. The bag was way, way (like a week of my wages expensive!!!!!) but the little charm is cheap & cheerful!

I knew my DH had his good points :-) one of them being he never ever complains if i spend money, nor does he ever ask how much anything costs, just says, 'yeah nice' so he's not so bad ;-)

When i was catching up on blogs last week i found out Sherry had left me my first award! Thank you so much for thinking of me Sherry. I'm supposed to pass it onto 12 bloggers but I've been looking around and most of the blogs i read have already been awarded this, so I'll cheat a little and say that if i read your blog or you are on my blog roll and have not received this award then consider yourself Sunshine awarded!

Another lovely surprise was to find out that i had won a consolation prize from Felicity i shall eagerly await the post man!

Well that's about it for now, you will have noticed that there are no stitchy pics, I've been stitching, honest! and to prove it an update of Rubie Owl will follow soon. Until then, take care x

I'm Still Here - Honest!

Bet you thought seeing as I'd been MIA for so long that i would have lots of little x's to show, you will be sorely disappointed my friends, there are no stitchy updates for this post, sorry to say that there is hardly anything worth showing. I have some purchases from the Bay of Evil which i will share next time & a new way to store my WIPs' which I'm pleased to have found, also to be shared next time :-)

My photography class is going well, still really enjoying it (thank you for all your wonderful comments on my 'Love of Books' photo) they really did boost my confidence & for me it was definitely my best shot yet! I have signed up for the Spring term classes so hopefully will have more shots to share. We've been working on Cyanotypes, a form of early printing and i was extremely pleased with my print, so pleased I'm intending on getting it framed! I'll show that over the next few weeks too Sorry to be such a tease ;-)

I'm still on my health eating 'none diet' and (drum roll please) i have now lost 15Lb's. I can't tell you how good it felt when i took a pair of size 12 jeans (UK sizing) in the changing room on Saturday and they FIT!!! I have tried loosing weight in the past but never stuck to anything and i don't know why this time should be any different, it just has, i really think the eating breakfast at 'breakfast time' has helped. Also not labeling it as a 'diet' has helped, i have not bought any special diet options of anything, just cut out the crap and learnt to eat when I'm hungry and stop when I'm full! and obviously that's what's working for me so I'm sticking to it!

Anyway, what i came here to say is that we are off on one of our little sight seeing trips again on Wednesday, Krakow in Poland this time, we will be back sometime the following Monday and if time allows i will update stitching and such after that.

That's it for now, off to sort out my waterproof jacket as the weather forecast for Poland is still showing little snowflakes!!

Have fun whatever you may be up to x

Wordless Wednesday (not)

Greetings Peeps! thank you all so much for your well wishes for my mammogram and scan on Monday, I'm happy to report that all is well, nothing at all to be worried about, thank goodness :-) I had both scan & mammogram and the conclusion was that it was 'glandular' probably caused by hormones. The consultant recommend taking Angus Castus which can be bought from the health food shop, it's taken in liquid form, added to water and sipped throughout the day and supposedly helps to balance out the hormones. I'm giving it a go anyway to see if it will make a difference. so, big sign of relief and i feel much better in my mind this week :-)

I enrolled on another photography course in January and thought it would be nice to show off some of my photos, sort of like Wordless Wednesday, except of course this Wednesday i haven't shut up yet, ;-) I'd love to hear your comments and/or criticism on my efforts. So, if you're reading this please take time to let me know what you think.

Without further blabbering here's Wendnesday's photo

~~~Love of Books~~~

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 :-)