Just another Friday night

 Tree of life is growing, not as fast as it should, but the lower branches are formed, the shades are perfect for this time of year. I would love to show you my ripple blanket, but I am still stuck on the 2nd row, I need to put my head together with Fliss to do some more.

 One flower on the top of our tree, late September is not the time for our Magnolia to flower, but this bloom is there, very pretty in pink. Soon the leaves will drop, Autumn is on her way, we have missed the flooding again, our area drains very well, we have had days of very heavy rain. So now is not really the time to buy a bike, but mine arrive today, it's a Raleigh, Oakland. I am loving the basket, hubby gets his on Sunday, we are off this weekend to get helmet, gloves, light and a lock. I feel a Miss Marple moment coming on!

We have a busy weekend ahead, tomorrow whilst hubby and Son-in-law play golf, Su and I are off to the spa, with a pedicure added in, should be a good time. Sunday I want to spend some time with Fliss, now she is working I don't get to see her enough, so I am hoping to take her out for a nice afternoon tea. Then some time with Josh, Sammy and daddy, so days are planned. We were talking about going out for a meal tomorrow evening, will have to see how we feel at the time, it might turn into a take away. Sunday evening will be home getting ready for the working week. 

I do want to factor in some stitching time, but we are so very busy. Well it's off to the pub for an hour.

Andy Williams - Home Lovin' Man (1970)

Sad loss, loved Andy's voice, this is my favourite song of his, enjoy ...........

Pass it on

 When I had finished stitching the above pattern I said I would like to pass it on, so putting the names into a hat from the comments I had from that post, I have drawn Kathy's name, so please send to me your address and I will send to you the pattern, the Noel thread and the three buttons. I hope you enjoy stitching it.

I also did a bit to Tree of life last night, I would like to get the lower branches done, I so love the colour of this design and it's so right to stitch at this time of year.

I have done my 1st row of 80 stitches for my ripple blanket in crochet, I would like to make a cushion cover, but I am not doing well on the second row, each time I try it I find I am one stitch out in the pattern, very frustrating, I will have to pop and see Fliss, but she is working most nights this week. So it will be the weekend before I can get any thing more done. I have also been thinking about Winter Watergarden, I can see that going back in the frame. I have also done some work on my house, my progress is here

I have been on line looking at patterns, but so far I have resisted, my stash is big enough.

What do you see

Nothing much, an unfinished flower, simple pattern, easy to make, yep you are right, BUT to me it's a first, I made this flower, it's not complete I need some edging wool. It's the first pattern I have followed, I have only ever done granny squares before. To me it was not easy, loads of terms I did not understand, but I worked my way through it.

It does look like the flowers in the picture, taken from 20 to Make, Mini Christmas Crochet, by Val Pierce. I really wanted to make something to get me going, I have started a ripple blanket, well a very small one, just 40 stitches wide, but I want to master crochet, watch this space.

 I won a kit, hearts of Canada, from Loretta, and it came today, I love hearts, and up close this is fantastic, I really must get on and finish Tree of Life, I'm being naughty, loads of time away from stitching.  Thank you Loretta, I do love it, thanks for passing it on to me. Next time I will pass on my Christmas pattern and buttons, you still have a chance to win it, check my post dated 15.09 A finish and a RAK.

It's Friday evening, after another busy day, working hard but still not enough hours in the day. Still a couple days rest, hairdresser tomorrow morning, and then fun, no plans as yet, we are going to see what happens, we had such a busy time last weekend.

Well the summer is coming to a close, the mornings and evening are getting cooler, I do love this time of year, our homes are made to be warm and snuggly, nothing nicer when you open the door to a warm house. Both cats are in more, they enjoy the sunshine through our windows.
Hope your plans are good and the come right for you.

TUSAL

 My ORT pot is looking full of greens and pinks from Sweet Flowers and shiny threads from the Christmas ornament, my TUSAL pot is getting full, I have not stitched at all over the weekend far to busy.

 We  had fun at the wedding, hubby was best man, hence the long jacket, and I wore the dress I had from our 25th wedding anniversary,jacket was purchased for daughter Su's wedding, it's nice to get a second run from clothes.

 Both my beautiful daughters from Saturday night, Su's birthday meal, both looking lovely, I am proud to have both so close and happy, my dress here was from Fliss's wedding, 13 years ago, I love it far to much to get rid of it, without the jacket, it's a great dress for a night out.

We have the rest of today off, going for a cycle ride soon, we are using Su and her hubby Gav's bike, we are thinking of purchasing bikes, but I want to be sure we ride together OK, I am much slower than Kev, and I hope he will be OK with my speed.
Then I will pick Josh up from school followed by an evening in together and an early night. No plans for stitching today, just time with my lovely hubby.

A finish and a RAK

I think my book has seen a lot of interest, I have 136 views of my previous post, that's a record for me.

I have finished stitching my Christmas ornament and added the 3 large buttons, I do still have to add the smaller seed beads to the tree, which is not in the design, but I wanted to add them. This was fun and quick to stitch, and it's for my daughter Fliss, she will finish it.

For my RAK, I want to pass this design on. With the pattern, I have the three buttons and Weeks Dye Works, thread Noel, which the word Christmas is stitched in, so all you will need to add is the canvas and a few threads from your stash to finish it. If you would like this little package, just add a comment here, please do not add it to your blog, I am not looking for more followers, I just want to say thanks to those who are already here. I am happy to send it anywhere in the world. I will pick the winner next week.

 We have a busy weekend and are out for the next two nights, so I have had my nails done, I normally don't bother, just a bit of varnish. But I love these, there are loads of golden bubbles and inside is pale colours, such fun. It is like a peel off wrap added to my nails, I tried one on my little finger nail for a week, and then removed it and they do not harm your nails.

Tonight we are all going out for a meal, our daughter Su was 30 on Thursday, she did not want a party so we are getting together with Gav's parents and Fliss her sister, to have an evening together.
Tomorrow we are at a wedding, which will be at 12.30 so we will be out for the day, we are staying at the hotel, so we have Monday off work.
Tuesday I have my hospital appointment, it's the check up after my recent operation, so fingers crossed I will be signed off, I have already said I feel great and will not have any more operations.

So a busy few days, as you can see I have done almost no stitching, I have been thinking about Winter Watergarden, and I am thinking  I will go back to it after Tree of Life is finished. It's another sunny day here, soon I am out with Su, just time together, we will pop in and see Fliss and her boys.

This is great

Poppy Patchwork 2011 by Marlene Jones | Make Your Own Book

Sit down, long interesting post

 We walked along the coast on Sunday, another hot sunny day, just a couple of photo's, it was glorious we had a great time, nice photo's and then home for a glass of wine in the garden. These are at Stokes bay, 30mins drive from our house, another pebble beach, The Solent so very busy loads of small craft.
Today back to work and back to dull weather.

 My book has come, so loads of dancing around here, with 162 pages it's not a small read, but I decided to go for the hard cover with the best quality paper, and I'm glad I did. It feels like a real book, look here if you want to know more. It was not cheap, but I am so pleased.

 Loads of work, transferring the blog to the book template was easy, the system did all of that, but then sorting each blog onto just 1 or 2 pages, I also wanted the photo's to be of different sizes, keeping it interesting. I must have spell checked it 2/3 times, just in case.

 Just a few pages for you to see, the photo's came out so well, each page you can adjust by turning the page into a grid, with loads of squares, which helps you line things up. I did not want page numbers, each post has the date on.

 I worked so the top of the pages were the same height, you will see the title for each blog is almost always at the same height. I chose the font I liked which looked a bit like hand writing, I ensure the leading edge of the photo's on each page was lined up, keeping it all straight and neat. Reading through I have noticed only two things I missed, each just a small thing. It was hard work, very time consuming, I checked the finished item twice before sending it to print, which took just over a week.

The front and back covers on each book  will all have the same words on, just different stitching photo's. 2009/2010 is ready, but I will wait awhile, see if they offer me another discount and 2012 is a work in progress. 

In other news, Tribal penguin has been stitched again, if you would like a chance to be the next person to stitch it, please pop here and leave a comment, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you, I want him to go around the world.

I also had a nice surprise in my e-mails today, I have won a giveaway, another heart, Hearts of Canada, it's a kit with DMC silks/floss and Kreinik braids. You know how I love my hearts, thank you Loretta

The next one is for you I have just to add the beads to my Christmas Ornament, so in my next post I will have that to give away, so watch this space.

Sunny day out

 These were waiting for me when I got home on Thursday, from hubby, we don't swap presents on our anniversary, but I always get flowers, I love the colours.

 On Saturday, we went out for the day, and came to Amberley, here is a working museum and heritage centre, we spent a lovely afternoon walking around the country side reliving things from our childhood. I have never seen a phone box with a stamp dispenser, hubby shows you the size, it's much bigger than the standard phone both. We saw loads of items from our family homes, all the different mobile phones, including the 1st phone I had.

The country is beautiful, this is just outside the village looking back, it's less than an hours drive from home, I love our rolling countryside and this year looking so green and lush. This late summer weather is just great, we hope to go out for a walk along the coast this afternoon.

 I saw this sign in the print shop at Amberley and had to copy it, it's fun and so true, I am not the best at spelling, and how many times my computer tells me the word is spelt like it shows, only for me to get my dictionary and find the correct word with a different spelling.

Not a stitch has been stitched, this week has been busy and enjoyable, but tiring, I hope to be able to sit and do some stitching tonight.

I have notification my book (2011) will arrive tomorrow, I am so excited, I have checked my on line draft again(not that I can change anything) and just want to have it in my hand, hubby purchased it as an early birthday present. The second book (2009/2010), is ready in it's on line draft, hubby is getting me it for my Christmas present, but I will wait a while before placing the order. They sent me a discount voucher for my 1st purchase, so I will wait to see if they send me another. I do not need to purchase it until November, so I have a few weeks, fingers crossed as I said before I love a discount.

Its a sunny day here, and soon we are off out, enjoy your day.

26

 Today Kev and I have been married 26 happy years, we have had our ups and downs, but had loads of fun along the way. Work today and then a nice evening in together, will go for a meal at the weekend, I love my hubby xx

As the label says, Fliss made her 1st jam this weekend, I feel scones and cream to go with it at the weekend, she is a blogger  here I had a lovely evening with her, Joshy and Sammy last night in their little happy home, daddy was away in France.

 This section is finished, and I LOVE IT, I am again so pleased with the way it stitches up,  this is a very colourful part of the design, only 2 sections to go and it will be finished, I know I am going to frame this, and put it on show.

I have done a few stitches on my Christmas design, life has gotten in the way of stitching, we are having a sunny heat wave here, and we are making the most of our evenings.

I'm off to work today, very busy I'm doing 2 peoples work, but it makes the day go quicker.

Birthdays

It's Kev's birthday today, and we have had a full house, everyone popped in for afternoon tea, as always Sammy is a Grancha's boy, having loads of tickles and fun. Shannon and Josh were playing Flow free, once started both played for ages, Josh has been playing this for ages, but it was the 1st attempt for Shannon.

 Lemon cake, treacle tart, jam tarts, fresh fruit and jelly and cream, I did not do the trifle, Fliss could not eat any, so we went with jelly and fruit which is gluten free. All the tarts are gone, and just a bit of cake left, tea was fun. Sammy enjoyed the jelly most.

 I am almost finished on this section, I hope to stitch tonight, I have decided to use the middle pink shade for the last flower and just a few leaves left. After which just two sections to go.

I enjoyed Doctor Who last night, I have been waiting ages for it to come back, I love Matt Smith as the doctor, would love to see Rose (Billie Piper) back, what fun they would be together.
We have nothing planned tonight, it's more a case of trying to stay awake, enjoy your Sunday evening.

Busy weekend ahead

 I chose a 4th shade of pink to use in this section, I wanted something bright and full of colour for this dramatic flower and chose a slightly brighter shade of pink. It is the only flower stitched in full, every other flower has bits of their petals missing.

 Not much more to stitch, I hope to finish this tonight, there is still loads of green to stitch, I hope when I send  the photo to Angie the designer, she likes my work. It has been a pleasure to stitch.

We have a busy couple of days ahead, today we are off to our local farmers market, it happens the 1st Saturday of each month, I would like some hardy herbs for my garden.

I have to proof read my 1st blog book, I have with Blurb, created a book of my blog, in fact I am doing 3 books, one for 2009/2010, and then 2011 and 2012. I have worked hard to ensure each page is balanced in both words and photo's. I have not changed much of my post. I am ready to publish 2011, but I want another check on it, to ensure there is nothing out of place. One tip, I have worked on my book for a while, in it pays off in more ways, I had an e-mail offering me 20% off my first book, I love a discount!

Tomorrow is hubbies birthday, he is playing golf in the morning, so I have to prepare him a birthday tea, our girls are coming over, with the grand sons and Shannon, I am making a sherry trifle for him, his favourite, and loads of other things, I won't do a chocolate cake, it will be all to rich, I want to make a treacle tart, as seen on British Bake off and a lemon cake.