Blessed to Have Friends

I am always saying how blessed I am to have such wonderful stitching friends. They are always there for you to give good advice, tips etc and will go the extra mile for you. In my last post over on my other blog I was feeling very low and sorry for myself and I had some lovely emails. I said I just wanted a hug so Lesleyanne stitched this for me:)

She said because she couldn't give me a hug in person she sent me this :) Isn't it lovely? I felt so blessed when I opened it and will treasure it always. Thank you so much Lesleyanne {{{hugs}}} I just love thought that has gone into it :)

Yesterday afternoon I was just popping to get my Dad some milk when my mobile rang and it was Chris :) I was so happy that she'd rang as haven't seen each other for ages with petrol and bus fares getting so expensive and we had a quick chat while she was waiting for her washing to finish at the launderette!

Before I show my progress pictures I am very excited to have won one on Jeanne's gorgeous giveaways on her blog:) Her DH picked my name out of the "hat" for the Whitman's tin, project pouch and scissors:) Thank you Jeanne I'm so looking forward to receiving them {{{hugs}}}

I was on cloud 9 yesterday with my gorgeous gift from Lesleyanne, my phone call from Chris and my giveaway win :)

Right I had better show my stitching now :) I get a bit confused as to what I showed you last time so I have to go back to my last post and check! Duh! Sunday was SAL night on the Shepherd's Bush ornaments with Chris. I started As Bethlehem Slept. I've subbed the GAST and WDW for DMC and am hoping that they look OK!

Monday was SAL night with Barb and Colleen. Barb was feeling a little better this week so stitched on French Heart and I'm not sure if Colleen did any on her piece or not. I stitched on Family Sampler and I'm not sure if you can see it or not but I have the beginnings of a sheep! Love it!

On Tuesday morning I popped my stitching stuff in my bag not sure if I was going to go to craft club or not but I ended up going! I was just in one of those moods where I wasn't sure what to do but I'm glad I did. I met some more ladies this week who were knitting some lovely things. Anyway I've remembered to take a pic of my SH Christmas Candy Roll this week. I made good progress and as far as I know I didn't make any mistakes this time. We were in a different room this week and the lighting seemed much better plus I was sat near a window this time!

Tuesday evening I picked up Drawn Thread The Sanctuary. I forgot to ask Chris if she'd done any on hers lately and I wonder how Kajsa is doing. I finished the top left block and made a start on the top right. I love how this is looking.

Finally ( are you breathing a sigh of relief??!!) last night was MBT A New Day SAL with Lisa. Now I'm afraid I have been quite bad as I'm feeling rather low so the PC is my evil thing and I was on it for a while after tea last night so I didn't get as much done on this as I'd hoped. However it's progress:) I am hoping for a July finish on this.

Tonight I'm hoping to start something new. I've tea dyed a piece of fabric ( how I wish I'd bought more 32 count when Wimble Bees were closing down as I prefer it to 28 count now and I'm getting down on it) and am hoping it'll be dry so I can make a start tonight.

Family stuff now. Abi is enjoying her extended time off school although she has been let down by a friend who she was supposed to be seeing today so she was upset. Yesterday she went to see new Transformers film with another friend and thoroughly enjoyed it. She's in school two days next week for 6th form induction and some photography bridging work to do before then. I keep telling her not to leave it until the last minute! 

Jess rang yesterday to ask me if I'd make an appointment for her to see a doctor. She never registered with a Hull GP with her not being too far from home but it's a bit of a nuisance with bus times etc. However I managed to get her an afternoon appointment. She was in a lot of pain and it turns out she has a urine infection so she's now on antibiotics ( medicine as she struggles terribly with pills). She's also having blood tests on Monday to see if there's a reason for her irregular, painful, heavy cycle. She was in so much pain she was pacing the room, bless her. I wanted her to stay home but she insisted on going back to her student house but she's coming back tomorrow until Monday when she gets her blood done, then she'll be home for the summer anyway the week after.

I almost forget ( well actually I did and am editing my post!). I have been awarded the Stylish Blogger award by Rebecca:) Thank you so much Rebecca! I cannot think straight at the moment so will list the 7 things about myself etc in another post:)

Well I've waffled enough so I'd better end it here:) Hope everyone is having a good week so far.

Love and hugs

Sally

xxx

My Baby's Prom ( Picture Heavy Post)

This evening I have a non stitching post with lots of photos:) It's Abi's prom and she should just have arrived at Willerby Manor:) We took several photos so I'm showing a few here. We are so proud of our youngest girl. She looks fantastic in her dress and I did have tears in my eyes as I watched her walk away to get on the coach with her friends. Anyway I shall let the photos do the talking. She is getting a photo taken there but we won't get that until GSCE results day in August.

Happy Birthday Jessica!!!

Today my eldest DD Jessica is 19 so HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSICA!!!!! I hope you have a lovely, relaxing day and don't get too drunk tonight :)

I can't believe how fast those 19 years have gone. Even though we may not always see eye to eye we are so proud of you and hope you will achieve everything you want over the next few years at university and beyond. Show them what you're made of sweetheart and make that difference!! You are the most amazing person, fun loving, a *little* crazy, loving, giving but most of all you are our wonderful daughter.

Love you loads

Mum and Dad xxxxxx

Happy Birthday Abigail!

Today's the day my baby turned 14!! I truly don't now where the time has gone as it hardly seems five minutes since she was a little baby and look at her now!

We didn't have a very good start as I suffered from postnatal depression and did not bond to with her too well at first but I love her to bits now. She makes me laugh and smile and I just adore her.

You are the light of my life sweetheart. Your Dad and I love you very much and are very proud of you. I hope being 14 is all you hoped and wished for:)

Here she is with her beautiful Mum - haha -( me!) LOL! Hair and make-up by Miss Abigail:)
And it's a bit of a bugger when your beautician has to sit on your knee to do your make-up!! LOL! Abi had a movie night on Friday with three friends, as well as playing on the Wii ,which they all thoroughly enjoyed and today she has her closest friend round for the day.

I am way behind on blogs again but will try and catch up over the next few days!

Hugs

Redwork/ Monchrome Exchange & Other Stuff!

I can never think of rivetting titles for my blog posts!! Lol!

My redwork/ monochrome exchange arrived yesterday from Clare via Jayne. Clare chose to stitch me this gorgeous monochrome needleroll in lavender DMC Rayon and I absolutely love it. Clare stitched it so beautifully. Thank you so much Clare and thank you to Su for organising the exchange.

I can't show what I stitched for Jane S ( no blog) as yet as she has received it but not opened it yet! I am itching for her to open it and desperately hope she likes it as both finishes were firsts for me.

I have been stitching, although I did not stitch Saturday evening as I just didn't feel like it, but not as much as usual. I haven't been stitching all evening until bedtime as I normally do but I am still making progress on my WIPs. I want to try and get Ink Circles Sea Stars and Blackbird Designs Rites of Spring finished by the end of September then I plan on starting BBD Blessings and Kind Wishes. As I said before I am planning on making some changes to my rotation. Mondays will be A Quaker Christmas, Tuesdays Ink Circles Sea Stars, Wednesdays HAED TT Letter J and Sundays will be my BBD night until all the Loose Feathers for this year are stitched! As I finish something in this bit of my rotation I'll bring in WIPs that I haven't stitched on lately which are Chatelaine Spring Morning and HAED quick stitch Girly Gothic. The rest of the week I'll stitch on smalls and one week will be dedicated solely to A Quaker Christmas so that I can get that finished for Christmas this year.

So I'd better show what I've been stitching! I do hope you're not getting bored of seeing the same old pieces coming out but, hopefully, there should be some smaller bits and pieces as I get going. I am now all the way across on BBD Rites of Spring and loving how it's coming along. These BBD's are so easy to stitch and look gorgeous. I don't know why I didn't discover BBD earlier!

Monday was A Quaker Christmas night. I realised that I'd stitched an 8 as charted when I wanted to replace it with a 7 so that I could date the piece as 2008. Hope that makes sense. So I frogged the 8 and stitched a 7 in it's place then completed the year. I'm not entirely happy with how it looks but I'm going to stitch the motifs around it first then see what I think. I also stitched a motif at the bottom. I just love this Carrie's Creations red thread as the variation is so beautiful.

Last night I stitched for a couple of hours on Ink Circles Sea Stars and did more of the HUGE motif in the middle! I would say I've got a quarter of it stitched in two evenings so I might get it finished by the September and I might not!

I am so happy to report that all RR's in our Quaker Friends RR are now back home. The last round was a bit fraught as two were sent back by Royal Mail and had to be reposted. The last stitcher on Chris' did not know when or if she'd be able to stitch on it so Chris and I decided it best that it was returned unstitched and she finally got it back on Monday. I have to say that I am disappointed for Chris that two blocks haven't been stitched but also relieved that she has it back. It has been a little off-putting and I think it'll be a while before I ever organise or take part in an RR again. However I am looking forward to seeing the books made up. Mine is half done but I just need to pluck up the courage to finish it off totally!

A while ago Linda had read on my blog that I collect postcards so she offered to send me one from her country Iceland. A package arrived from her on Monday and she hadn't sent me just one but nine! I must say seeing these postcards I would dearly love to visit Iceland one day but whether I ever will is a different matter! Thank you so much Linda:)

It's now 3 weeks into the girls summer holiday and we have done very little other than have a few walks and do a bit of shopping. Of course last week I was ill and going out was out of the question but the weather hasn't been good either. We've had lots of rain and this week isn't going to be much better. Jess has got an interview on Friday at the local Co-Operative store so keeping my finger's crossed for her there. DH finishes Friday for 2 weeks and we are hoping to get out the odd day or so. We do have some decorating to do and the girls and I stripped some wallpaper off yesterday and Monday. I must admit the girls did most of it on Monday as I still wan't feeling too good but I can't sit by and watch everyone else work regardless of how I feel.

Tomorrow is results day for AS and A2 level students so Jess will be off in the morning to pick her AS level results up. Like Sammy Jo , Jess is dreading opening that envelope. One thing that is worrying her is that she won't have done well enough in her physics to carry on at A2 level so please keep your finger's crossed for her. Good luck Sammy Jo and to all students across the country:)

Leaving you with a picture of Jess and Abi on Jess' birthday ( both still in their PJs!! Lol!)

That's it from me today. Thank you to everyone for your continued good wishes. I am feeling much better than I was but still not quite 100%. I was feeling a bit off balance again yesterday and still have some pain in my ear but, hopefully, it will be OK. I finished my antibiotics on Monday so finger's crossed.

Take care everyone.

Hugs

Happy 17th Birthday Jessica!

Happy Birthday Jessica!

My beautiful first- born child is 17 today! Wow where have those years gone? It doesn't seem like 5 minutes since I was holding this tiny baby girl in my arms. Darling Jessica, I am so proud you. You are caring, funny, hardworking, fun loving and just the most fantastic daughter any Mum could wish to have. I love you with all my heart and soul.


Have a fantastic day sweetheart!


With all my love

Mum xxx

Reveal Day!

It's reveal day for the S&S monthly SAL challenge:) This month's freebie chart was Drawn Thread The Caron Keeper which was a lovely quick stitch and easy to make up:) I chose to finish it as on the chart so here's my version.Drawn Thread The Caron Keeper

Caron Waterlilies ( colours used not as charted)

I sent this off to Paula for her birthday ( Happy Birthday Paula!) so I added our initials on the back and the year. I hope she received it safely and I kept my promise of no green things:) Lol! OK so there's green on the keeper!

Indigo Rose The Bee Charmer is going well. I'm just about done with the stitching and probably would have been had I not been stitching and watching Dr Who at the same time! Lol!

Tonight is SAL night with Nic so I'm looking forward to that. I'm hoping to get a bit more stitched than I did last week!

My eldest DD Jess has just started a blog. She loves sketching so has created it to show them off. She says it probably won't get updated very often but I was wondering if you could pop over to say hello and just give her a bit of encouragement please if you have time? I think she'd be really happy:) Her blog is http://sketchyskyline.blogspot.com/

Thank you everybody for your lovely wishes for our wedding anniversary yesterday:) We just had a quiet day with DH being at work then he went to his Dad's last night to watch the speedway on Sky Sports ( we don't have the sports or movie channels) so it was just me and the girls! Lol! I was feeling a bit fed-up anyway after looking through our wedding photos as I looked so pretty and thin!

My DH has to go for a kidney function scan next month. He had kidney stones before we got married and had to have surgery. A few years ago he had to have more surgery to open up the tubes as they were narrow then we discovered that because the tubes had been narrow and he'd had the stones there'd been damage to his right kidney and it doesn't work as it should. So the consultant just wants to keep an eye on things and see how well ( or not) it's functioning. We're not unduly worried as it doesn't cause him any problems and the consultant is quite happy not to see him again until next year.

Have wonderful Sunday! We're forecast to get heavy rain today. Hope not as I have Abi's PE kit to get dry for tomorrow!

Hugs

22 Years Ago Today

Happy Anniversary to my darling DH:)

Me & my DH

26th April 1986

From left to right my FIL, my BIL, my MIL, DH, me, my Dad, my sister

My flowers from DH:)

On the stitching front I have nothing to show as I've been stitching on the needleroll for the exchange on S&S. I've finished the stitching, done the hemstitching so all I have to do now is make it up:) I just hope my partner likes it. I decided on a small new start and seen as it's my smalls week I chose Indigo Rose Bee Charmer. This is so easy to pick up as it's a kit that contains everything right down to the filling so I just grab my needle and scissors and away I go. It's all stitched in Caron Waterlilies.

I have decided that I want to collect nearly all the Shepherd's Bush needlerolls eventually! I have two, one that I stitched and one that I was sent in an exchange several years ago, and they are just so pretty. So I think I shall treat myself every so often to one. JJ's have them so I can get them easily but it will take me a while as there are 25 of them so it's going to take me a long time!

Well the girls are just getting up ( lazy devils!) so I'll make this short. DH is working today. It's not often he works a Saturday but you can't turn down overtime in this day and age.

Have wonderful weekend everyone:) Thank you for all your continuing visits and wonderful comments. They mean a lot to me:)

Hugs

Frogs and Progress!

I have had quite a productive week stitching so far this week although the needleroll I chose to stitch for the exchange hasn't gone well! Lol! I have stitched, frogged, stitched, frogged that many times that yesterday I was well and truly cursing it so it came very close to getting thrown in the bin never to be seen again!! Lol!

Anyway I had a good evening on Ink Circles Sea Stars, my SAL with Karen, and finished the motif I was working on. It was quite a big one so took quite a bit of stitching but I like the effect of it so it was worth it.

I have been stitching on Bygone Stitches A Quaker Christmas for the rest of the week in an evening. I am loving it so far and am so pleased I chose red as the main colour as the Carrie's Creations Old World Red is just gorgeous. I think I messed up when I bought 13 skeins of it as I'm stitching with one strand of thread and the model is stitched with two so I should have a few skeins left for something else:) I'll be carrying on with this until my Sunday JN SAL with Nic:)

Abi finally went back to school yesterday although she still didn't feel 100% but today she's much better and is actually managing to eat better. DH is on a first aid refresher course, as he's one of the first aiders where he works ( this is someone who hates the sight of blood!), and he wasn't feeling well this morning but we think it could be nerves as he's got his assessment today and wasn't looking forward to it. Finger's crossed he gets on OK today but I have every faith in him. Jess just wants us all to stay away from her so we don't give whatever Abi and I have had to her! Lol!

I am looking forward to this afternoon as Chris is coming to visit to hand over the RR, have a cuppa and a natter. So I'm popping out in a bit to see if my BBD Where My Heart Blooms is ready at the framers so she can see it. That is if I can catch Billy to get him back in his cage! He came out on his own yesterday but this morning Jess got him out of his cage and I can't get him back in! Lol!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Looks like we're in for another cold, blustery one!

Hugs

Happy Mother's Day!

Its Mother's Day here in the UK and my girls treated me to breakfast in bed:) I also got beautiful cards from both of them and DH and Jess gave me The DaVinci Code on DVD and Abi gave me The Feeling CD which I've been wanting for a while:) Just been listening to it and it's brilliant. They have told me that I'm not cooking today so we're having a takeaway later on:) My plan is to have a go at dying some fabric ( some old aida that I don't stitch on anymore) to see how it turns out; one piece using tea and one piece using coffee. Then this this afternoon we're all going to watch The DaVinci Code and I'm going to stitch! Lol!

Yesterday Jess and I took some flowers to the cemetary for my Mum and my MIL. We miss them both so much although the girls never knew my Mum, which is a shame as they'd have adored her as she would them. All she ever wanted was grandchildren. Still some things are just not meant to be but I know she will be watching over them and be so very proud, as will my MIL.

Image courtesy of HAED

The RAK Fairy has been very busy on the HAED forum on the 29th February and I was one of the lucky ladies who received an RAK from the mystery fairy:) I only had one chart left on my wish list as my tastes have changed and some of the pieces I used to like I no longer do so I was gifted with the very beautiful QS Pale Rose which is by Jasmine Becket-Griffith. She will be the perfect companion to my beautiful QS Holly Fairy which Fudgey gifted me for my birthday:) I just love the eyes; they are so sad yet beautiful.

Have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Hugs

Lots to Show!

First of all I'd just like to pass on hugs and thanks from Abi for all the good wishes you left her for her birthday. For all she was at school she had a good day ( especially because she didn't have to go in uniform as they were having a non-uniform day for Children in Need!) and her close friends really spoilt her:) Here is a piccie of the birthday girl and a piccie of her cake:) She had a friend to sleepover on Saturday night which she enjoyed.

I've been doing a little bit of finishing these past few days but I can only show you two bits as one as them is Karen's PIF gift so I will post that when it reaches her but that won't be just yet! So, without further ado, here's my very first bourse! As you already know I stitched The Cat's Whiskers Heartstrings and was going to wait until I'd stitched it again before I tried my hand at a bourse. I decided at the weekend to have a go at the first one as I need it to be ready wrapped to go to DH's auntie early December. It's not a very clear picture but it gives you an idea of how the finished article looks. I'm really pleased with it for my first attempt and it was much easier to make up than I expected.

I also finished up the blogoversary giveaway prizes. I just hope the winner likes them:) As Winter is fast approaching I decided upon Trail Creek Farm's Winter freebie, stitched it twice and made a pinkeep and a fob. I added a little snowman to to the bottom of the fob. Unforunately it wasn't until I had the pinkeep all made up that I realised I'd missed some stitches so I must apologise to the winner about that. I guess it makes it unique! Anyway I guess I'd better tell you who the winner is! Thank you to those of who entered! The winner is( drumroll please!)................... Gill! Gill please email me your address and I'll get these in the post to you sometime this week:) ( My email is in my profile). Also in the piccie you can see my Gingher Sophia scissors. Chiloe asked to see my scissors so there they are. I love them!

My last picture for today is my progress on Heaven and Earth Designs quick stitch Girly Gothic which was in my rotation for the last week although I will admit to not stitching on her every evening! Even though I didn't I still feel as though I made really good progress almost completing 20 rows. There was quite a lot of confetti stitches in her hair so that held me up quite a lot but I am still pleased. I think I should get a good go on her next time as it's coming up to an area with quite a few big blocks of colour:)

I received my With My Needle Ackworth Friendship Book chart from Thread Bear on Friday ( I think!) and must say that I am very impressed with it. I don't think I've ever seen a chart so nicely put together and I just hope that when I make the book up I can do it the justice it deserves. I was going to use 32 count fabric but I really like the way the model looks in the photograph so have decided on 36 count Lakeside Linens in Sugar Maple. I finally found that Needlecraft Corner stocked it and actually had it in stock, plus there was 20% off it, so I ordered it from there. I have ordered from Drema many times before and she is always so helpful.

I had a bit of stash through the post today as well as Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End on DVD! I pre-ordered it ages ago from Play and got it at a very good price for a 2 DVD one. Anyway the stash was a Cat's Whiskers/ Dinky Dyes collaboration called Happy Holidays which can be seen here but you have to scroll down almost to the bottom. I am hoping that I can have at least one of these stitched to hang on our tree this year:)

I am getting a little worried about my Sampler and Antique Needlework Quarterly magazines as it's two weeks since they posted to me by global priority ( or whatever it's called now) and I'm still waiting. Oh well guess they will turn up sooner or later! Also just noticed that the latest issue has part 3 of the keepsake album in, which is what I wanted the other two for, so can anyone who gets this magazine tell me if there are anymore parts to it please? I don't want to order this issue then find that there are more parts to come. I'd rather wait until they're all done and buy them then.

Tonight, as far as I know, Helen and I are starting Just Nan Queen of the Needle. I'm really looking forward to starting this as it's a beautiful sampler.

Well I guess I'd better end here and go catch up on your blogs:) It's lovely to come and see what you are all up to. I've had so much inspiration from you all:) Have a wonderful week everyone!