Almost there,

I am very pleased with my teddies, they are almost finished, I am enjoying stitching this scene. I don't think they will be finished this weekend, we have a busy time. The down side is loads of back stitches to do.

I have chosen another project
Winter Watergarden
It's in 12 parts, so it will last all year

I love every thing about this design, the colours the images and the symmetry,
I can't wait to get started.

I have loads to do, Kev is working today, very rare for him, so I will tackle some house work.

This evening we are out to dinner with friends, we were all out together last night to a local pub, so it's a bit of a jolly time.

Tomorrow if he's feeling OK, Josh is bringing Sammy, Mummy and Daddy and we are going for a walk in Portchester Castle, which is 15 minutes walk from here.

This week I have been signed off from the hospital, all my treatment is now complete, we are very happy. I do have another operation this summer, but after that, every thing is finished. The down side is then I will be looking for a job, I love being at home, but I do miss the extra money to spend. So I had better enjoy my stitching time.

Another update

My bears are coming along well. I only have the right side and top to finish.

I am doing another patchwork on my sampler,
I wanted something simple to stitch on Monday so I pick this up,

I think I have planned most of my sampler, all in my head, I will start blocking on paper to see if it will all fit. After I have done this section, I am going back to the teddies to finish them.

I have brought Grace yet another basket, she is the most fussy of cats, but I am pleased with her, she has been eating her food again, she stopped eating when the cats next door became a problem.
Yesterday I spent the day with Fliss, Sammy and Josh, it was fun, but we did not have time for any stitching, I spent the day cuddling Sammy, my left arm aches but it's worth it, I did not take any photo's and Fliss has not e-mailed to me the one's she took.

How does your garden grow

We are having a weekend at home together, and Kev knows how to cheer me up, we had a visit to our local build and garden centre, I love our local Homebase.

I have two projects in mind for our garden, I want to have roses in our front raised bed, and I love yellow and white flowers. I will use the bulbs below in this area. The climbing rose Kev loved, not sure where we will plant it yet.

I have wanted to have fruit in our garden, I grow strawberries, but I love raspberries, so I now have 3 raspberry canes and a black berry bush, I will make a small fruit area.

This bracket just fell into our basket, and we have hung it on the garage wall, we will have to decorate the garage this year and replace the window. The nut ball is for the squirrels, we are hoping they might visit again now we have moved it away from the fence and the cats.

We also brought a new rug for the sitting room, until now we could not find one we both liked.

I have not done to much stitching this weekend, we decided we would have time together, last night we saw the film dinosaurs, it was a good film but not one to take young children to see.

Today we are having roast beef for lunch, and then we will potter in the garden, in other words, Kev will do all the little jobs I point out to him. We are going to cover my small veg plot with a net to stop the cat's using it, I have covered all my flower beds with bark, this stops the cats digging. I won't plant any of the things we brought today, it's a bit early, but I can grow them stronger in pots before planting.

Thursday Update

I should be stitching my sleeping cats, but these teddies have caught my heart, I will finish this before doing anything else. I love the colours and it is so easy to stitch, there is alot of back stitch which I hate. I have not thought what to do with it once it is finished, it's too nice just to be brought out at Christmas.

Grace has become a lap cat, she is with me all the time, I have found a way to keep all the neighbours cats out of our garden, every time one jumps on the fence I walk down the garden towards it, most of the time they jump back down. It's working for now, I did speak to the "lady" regarding her cats, she was rude and walked away, so it's up to us, we will buy water pistols at the weekend.

I have not been out much this week, I have a small problem with my right arm, and I won't drive at the moment, my doctor says it will right itself, it's another side effect of chemo.

Blue Monday and Tuesday

This is my next rotation project.

I started it on Sunday, and I am enjoying stitching it, I love the mix of colours I will do a bit more today and then move back to my sleeping cats. My head is spinning with things for the sampler, I want it to be a modern design.

The Gold Collection
Dimensions
Christmas Teddies
on 18 DPI, 5" x 7"
Designed by Anna Krajewski

Yesterday was blue Monday, the worst day of the year, with bills, broken resolutions, weather and so on, well it was blue here in Hampshire , but not me just the sky and this morning the sun is shinning again. OK last night we had heavy rain, I spent the day stitching and on cat duty, I opened our sitting room doors and Grace was able to have a wander around our garden.Thanks for your suggestions regarding the neighbours cats. We are going to get a kids water pistol, as recommended by our vet, Grace had her check up yesterday, she's fine and has another vet who loves her.

I'm now off to sort the cupboard under our stairs, I filled it with my craft stuff when we moved in and I now need to sort the space, wish me luck.

Shopping and stitching

Our shops are full of Union Jack items, and any thing retro

I am not normally a fan of retro items, but this cushion just called to me, it's not even my colours for the sitting room, and I had to do a deal with Kev, one new cushion in one old cushion out, which was not so bad, one of my cushions was looking jaded.

I have finished my 1st square for my sampler, and did aload of green stitching, I am mad, I have the frame for this piece and so I have set the size, but most of the contents I have to design, I have plans for the outside area's and will put an ABC in the centre, the rest is just a mixture of what I have in my head, and as you know that will change as I stitch, I have asked each of the family for two things which they think would describe them selves, Kev has gone for Guardsman and his motorbike. I'm not sure what I will have. I also want a stork under which I will sew the names, DOB, and weight of our grandsons. I also want Grace my cat on there.

So my head is spinning with idea's.

We have had a lady move close to us with loads of cats, we think as many as 8 or 9, which is a problem for Grace, she is a small cat and they are picking on her, Grace now does not go out much. The cats are always in my garden, I do chase them out, they are messing every where, I think I am going to have a word with there owner, but I am looking for ways to stop them digging. The birds and squirrels are not visiting so much, and I do miss them.

Su our daughter had good news this week, she has her new job, still within Estee-Lauder and her replacement starts on 31st January, so once she has trained her she will move to her new department, we are so pleased for her.

I have not seen Fliss, she is unwell and as I am not allowed to catch any germs I have not been to visit, I hope to be able to see her early next week.

We are hoping to have a walk around Portchest Castle this afternoon, and then later I hope to be able to sew, an almost perfect weekend.

First finish 2011

It's finished, and I'm pleased with it.
I am looking for a black plain frame and then it will go on the wall with Kev's army photo's

I have now started my second project of four to stitch in rotation, I already am working on sleeping cats, below is the start of my family sampler. I have not made a sampler since I was a child with my mum. There is no pattern for this, just plans in my head, I want to do a patchwork square in each corner and edge the whole sampler with a line of the bright green. I am working on 28 dpi even weave and using DMC threads from my large stash.

I have taken this pattern from American Patchwork Designs in Needlepoint by Melanie Tacon, this being the best book I own.I have done it before it was shown in the book as a cushion cover, but I framed it , please look at finished items on my side bar.

I spend alot of time stitching and watching TV,
I am following the world news on BBC,
and my heart goes to anyone fighting the floods in Australia, Brazil,
Natural disasters.
Also the recovery of Gabrielle Gifford in America.
Unrest in Turkey and Tunisia, both beautiful places we have seen
I sit here and moan regarding another day of rain here
but really it is just an inconvenience to us,
2011 has started badly for thousands of people
I so hope every thing improves soon and we all have a good year.

Thunderbirds are go!!

What a great title.

The Post Office yesterday launched their new range of stamps and the celebrate the work of Gerry Anderson, Josh loves every thing to do with Thunderbirds, so we had to send him a post card with the Thunderbirds stamp on, Sam has Captain Scarlet. Josh has most of the Thunderbirds and Tracy Island, he would like Thunderbird 5, the space station, but we have not been able to locate it, if anyone sees's one please let me know.

Palace guard is coming along very well, just a bit of work on the little boy in brown, and a bit more back stitch. I hope to finish it in the next couple of days.

This year I am going to rotate work, rather than just doing one thing at a time, so I hope to finish sleeping cats, I want to start my family sampler, but I still need to design some of it. I also have two kits Summer Meadow and Christmas Teddies to start. My first copy of Just Crossstitch came from USA, and there are a couple of projects in there I like.

Weekend stiches

The Palace Guard is coming along well, we were away for the weekend and I took it with me, it's a perfect size for traveling. I was able to stitch Friday night and yesterday. I am pleased with the look so far, one small problem with this kit, the silks are all cut to lengths, and I have run out of three colours, lucky my silk drawer is full and I have been able to finish every thing so far.

We had a good time in Somerset, Kev's son Stephen, Nic his wife and baby Logan were all doing well, after cuddling Sam who is 11 weeks old today, Logan at one week was so very small, but oh so beautiful, it's great to see another little family doing well. We went out with my brother on Saturday night, it was his birthday and I try and get back for celebrations, we popped to the village pub, and had fun.
Yesterday is was Fliss's birthday, so we popped around for coffee and birthday cake, they had been shopping in Winchester, this having the nearest Kath Kidson shop, Fliss loves all her stuff. Josh had all his Thunderbirds things out and was playing, and I got my cuddle with Sam.

ABC's

ABC's of me...


A - Age: 55
B - Bed size: Kingsize
C - Chore you hate: Laundry
D - Dog's name: We did have trampas, a boxer, now we have a cat Grace
E - Essential start of the day item: Coffee
F - Favorite color: purple to wear, or green to decorate in the house
G - Gold or Silver: Gold
H - Height: 5'4
I - Instruments you play: None
J - Job: Out of work, admin office
K - Kids: Two daughers, also Kev has two son's and a daughter
L - Living arrangements: married
M - Music you love: Most every thing
N - Nicknames: Mojo
O - Overnight hospital stay at hospital: loads mainly surgery
P - Pet Peeve: being late for anything
Q - Quote from a movie: I only told them to blow the bloody doors off, Italian Job
R - Right handed or left: Right
S - Siblings: 2 sisters and 5 brothers
T - Time you wake up: 8ish
U - Underwear: it has to be from Marks and Spencers
V - Vegetable you dislike: Brussel sprouts, cabbage, and loads more
W - Workout Style: walking with hubby
X - X-rays you've had: dental, had a bone density done in December
Y - Yummy food you make: muffins, Spanish omelette and soups
Z - The best place to visit: Family or any where with sunshine

...and now you know my ABC's, won't you play along with me?
Thanks to Tammy for this

New starter for the weekend

I have started another little project,

I love the simple lines on this piece, and as Kev was in the Welsh Guards for 12 years, and did palace duty, it's almost a family piece. I have had it in my stash for a while, I went through my kits and have picked three I would like to start, you will see the other two once I get going on them, and I have Sam's cushion to do.

It's a Faye Whittaker, All our yesterdays,
made by DMC,
called Palace Guard.

I am pleased to have yet another free flower, this is the third time this orchid has bloomed, I was hoping it would be out over Christmas but it waited. It cheers up our sitting room, and with the number of buds, looks as if it will flower for weeks. Orchids are one of my favorite plants for inside.
I still have a bit of a bad throat, but we are driving to my brother's tonight, it's 2-3 hour drive back to the village where we were kids. Tomorrow we will visit Kev's son and the new baby Logan. We will also help Martin(brother) celebrate his birthday, it was not a big one, but we do like to get together at birthdays.

Hope you are all having fun this weekend

TUSAL

I have joined with others through Daffycat's blog and joined her
" Total useless stitch a long"
Below is my ORT jar
"Old Ratty Threads"
These are the ends of my stitching

Each full moon you have to show a photo of your jar, with your collection. Mine is all blue and white, I did alot of stitching yesterday afternoon and evening. I am pleased with the progress, I have been filling in the white background as I go. I will have to finish the corners once I remove it from the stitching frame. I does feel good to be doing so much to this kit.

I have been given an award from Denise, and I would like to thank her for it.

I would like to pass this award on to the following blogs.
Pat
Teresa
Laura
Sharon
Fliss

Old stitching and a new baby

I did some stitching on my sleeping cats , I was going to start a cushion for Sam, but found this in my work box, it called to me , so I have stitched more of the sofa section, I did all the blue by mum cat ear's. I am filling in the white background, this is not done in the kit, but I think it gives a finish line to the work.

Below is my take on a love cushion, which I made for my daughter Su, I have one last task to do, I was not sure if she would want the blanket stitch edge around the cushion, so I wrapped it for her with out the stitching, but Su has asked me to finish it, that's a task for this week.

Late on new years day Logan Jude Jones arrived , here he is with his dad, Kev's youngest son Stephen. Both mum Nic, and baby are doing well. They live in Somerset, which is 100 miles away, so next weekend we are off to stay with my brother and will visit the new family. Logan is our third grandchild, all boys, loads of football in this family.

Kev is on the golf course so I am off to town with Su, we don't require anything other than time together, later I plan to do some more stitching. Kev is back to work tomorrow, so I plan to remove the christmas decorations and pack them away. Later in the week I will spend time with Fliss and the boys.

I also need to get to a craft shop, I have to buy some silks (Floss) for the cushion front I am doing for Sam, I thought I had brought them all, but I am short of a few. Life after the long holiday is getting back to normal here.