All around the house

 This is the corner of my office whilst Su is staying with us, we have cleared our neat and tidy spare room, for her stuff and now ours is gathering dust in the corner. Soon she will move on, so I don't mind the mess, I am really enjoying having time with her.

My stitching is almost done,  

 I have finished page two and decided to stitch the crown from page one, I should finish this today.

Our bed room, I am a child of the 70's and love purple, I also like colourful rooms, we have cushions every where, Kev is very good, he hates them.

This was stitched by me a few years ago, it lives on our bed, not my normal stitching but I do love the colours, it feels like a very fine fabric.

I love gem stones, this is part of my collection, I have just put them in my glass pot, I love the textures and the colours, rough or smooth, I love them.

It's another very cold day here, it has tried to snow for the past couple of days, but not enough to get us worried.  We had our water/heating boiler serviced last week, the radiators are much hotter, which is good, but we are having problems with the water now, warm showers are not great on cold mornings.

Nothing planned, just a day at home.

Nuts for breakfast

 Our favourite little wild life friend popped back to see us yesterday morning, he sat on our back fence nibbling on peanuts, we are holding the neighbours cats away, so we can have the wild life come and feed.  Our garden is so alive  we have loads of different types of feeders.

My roses are doing well, now 8 days old, they should stay looking good for the weekend.

 As for stitching, it's looking good, 

the second pattern page is coming along well, 

I have two letters to finish and two pattern blocks to do.

 I am hoping to finish this page by Monday, then I shall pack it away for a couple of weeks and stitch the colourful Dream Sampler. I have also found a quickie to make for my daughter Su.
My stitching chair is facing the large garden patio doors, so I enjoy both the garden visitors and stitching at the same time.

I am having a very lazy morning, I have my mug of coffee

Kev has had the week off to do jobs around the house, and today I have the day off, I was naughty and did not tell hubby I had booked the day off, so after the alarm went off I refused to get up, little surprises are the best. We are now making plans on what to do with our bonus day.
Having our daughter Su home is fun, she can be very interesting and amusing, not sure how long we have her, but we will enjoy her company.
Josh and Sammy are travelling to Manchester to see  grandma, so we won't get to see them and can't wait to hear all the fun they will have.

Weekend

 Grand Marquoir is coming along well, I now have 12 squares done, 

I did some stitching but not enough. Only 6 days and the second part of Sweet Dreams will be released, I must admit I am looking forward to using the colours again, I am hoping it will be sections with the blues in.  I have a 3rd project I want to start, watch this space. I love the new year and the promise of all my projects.

 Yesterday we popped out for some fun with our cameras, we stayed about an hour as the light was fading and got some lovely shots, here are just two, I aways love the castle above, and the lone bench, far to cold for any one to sit and watch the water.

 And snowdrops from the garden, looking up at them, just for a change, I love all the spring flowers and with another sunny day, a promise of the year to come. Very interesting shot.

My massage on Saturday was great, I felt really good and had the best nights sleep, I suffer from numbness on my left side and for the whole evening and most of Sunday I was free, bliss, I will book another for next month.

Yesterday we just did loads of little things around the house and garden, which made the day rush past, but we are pleased every where is starting to look good.

Today I had my meeting with my boss, I think it went well, she was interested in what I had to say, so fingers crossed, watch this space, and please let something come of it.

Well I'm off to stitch, want to do a couple more square this week, and PS thanks to those of you who correspond via e-mail, I have been slow to answer, but I do love our conversations it's good to chat.

At bit of everything

 This week has been really good, loads of nice things have happened, Kathy has sent me the most wonderful gift, a hand made project pack, look at the material, so very me, and all the lovely colours.

I have the large envelope for my work, a needle holder and a small pouch for my threads, I have already added my needles and the silks for Grand Marquoir, much nicer than the plastic sleeves I away use. Kathy you hand made gift is really loved.

 Valentine's night, I had roses and a wonderful meal cooked, I don't like to go out on the night, the restaurants always feel a bit false, so many people all having their special moment all together in one room, that's not me at all. Hubby had every thing ready for when I got home from work. He also brought me a cerise leather hand bag, which I love.

 Back to stitching, I have slowed down a bit, having Su home takes away some of my stitching time.

 I have done all across the top row, which shows me the size of the work, Two more letters done, I will stitch all nine squares on this side, I like them all, I like the softer look of this project, it's a big contrast to my stitch along Dream Sampler. I hope to stitch this weekend.

 The spring flowers are showing them selves, my tub does not look great, but the crocus are very colourful, the garden is now looking ready for a tidy up, but it's still a bit cold.

 Weather this week has been strange, we had two days at the beginning of the week with snow falling, but the ground was so wet it could not settle, then for the past two days, bright sun shine, and it's sunny again today, very cold for us, but sunny.

This afternoon I'm off for a late Christmas present from Kev, Su and I are having a massage, going to a spa we have never been before, just the two of us, we both are looking forward to it, so relaxing, due to my health, it has been years since I had a massage.

I want to thank you all for your comments on my last post, it was fun to dress up, we had a great night.

Nothing else planned for the weekend, just see how it goes, hope to see Joshy and Sammy, and time with Kev, hope you have a fun weekend.

Saturday night

 Saturday night was great, all posh, good meal, great entertainment, fantastic band, free bar and nobody was drunk, taxi home. Over 100 gathered we danced, laughed, we played music on kitchen utensils, for a company do it was really good.

Sunday Josh and Sammy came to play, we did have just enough energy for them, I have done almost no stitching, but I'm off to stitch next.

It has been very cold here and we have had snow, but it fell onto wet ground and disappeared, fingers crossed it stays that way.

Keep warm xx

Sights and smells

 I have finished all the pattern stitching I am doing on page 1 for Grand Marquoir,

There is a gap, where a crown should be stitched, but I am not keen on it, so I think I might stitch my own design, I am keen to have my name and the year on this piece, but I will leave the square until later, I want to stitch the next row to balance it all out. The more I stitch the more I love it, so simple. Just 5 pages to go.

 On Thursday morning it was my day to drive ( I car share going to work) and as I stopped whilst driving to take this photo, and I am glad I did, nature can pose so much better that us, I chose a photo a day for my other blog, Onedayinthelens it's great fun and makes me think differently to get a worthy photo.

 I love every thing on Jo Malone website and Su my daughter gave me this room diffuser as a present, don't get scared at the prices on the web site, it's part of Estee Lauder who Su works for and she gets discounts, my house looks like a show room for all Jo Malone products, but it does smell great, I love Lime, basil and Mandarin.

Su and I had a great time trying on all my long dresses in the week, I will  be wearing my red dress tonight, I have a hair appointment at 3, and at 6.30 we are picked up by taxi to go to my works do, we have a marquee in our warehouse of our new building, and we are having a black tie event, as a thank you from the boss, should be great fun if every one behaves (there's a free bar), but we aim to come home early.

Tomorrow is a stay at home day, Roast beef for lunch, Joshy and Sammy coming for the day, should be loads of fun.

Monday might be an interesting day at work, tell you more about that next week, all I can say is I have a plan!!

I see blue sky

 I am getting along with Grand Marquoir, I am stitching on 21 count linen, which is big for me, I normally use 25/28 count, using double strand of main colour, and I have chosen the dark green for the shadow, DMC469, but I am only using one strand, which is giving me the finish I require.

There are 9 blocks on each pattern page and 6 pages, so I have 54 blocks to stitch, so this morning I am 4/54 way through. It's very simple to stitch, I am intending to change a couple of pattern blocks, to make it mine, I have not chosen which ones not to stitch.

 Yesterday the birds went mad over a neighbours garden, 

could not see what attracted them, but it made a great photo 

 Both Purdy and Grace enjoyed the sunshine yesterday, 

this storage box is at the bottom of our small garden, 

it's a perfect place to sleep a natural sun trap. 

Lots have changed this week, Su are youngest daughter has come back home to stay, whilst she saves for her deposit for a new flat, so I spent Friday clearing out our spare bedroom, I can not believe how much stuff we had in the room.
Because of my tummy bug I did not travel back to Somerset for a family celebration yesterday, I was worried about passing on this bug to family members, so I missed a family get together. I did have a great night in alone, I managed to catch up with loads of recorded TV and films, and a bit of stitching.
Kev is away until tomorrow evening so Su and I are having a night in, I have all my long evening dress's to sort, so we are having a trying on session tonight, before sending loads to the charity shops. Next weekend we have a posh night out with my company, so I need to check what I am able to wear.
Nothing much planned for the rest of the day, I will pop in to see Josh and Sammy, and tomorrow back to work.