Finish and a New Start

Here's looking at you

 All finished, 

I have move it down in the frame, looks much better to me

Just need to add some fabric to the back

 Skaters is in the frame

 Already I have changed the colour of the star, on the design it was white, I used this shade of gold, which is used again in the design. The full design is here, as yet I have not stitched to words on the top, not sure about them, I might make the message more personal, or just leave them off. I can decide later, when I have stitched more.

 Another bargain

I do not have any Sharpies, they are expensive, 

Yesterday we were in Staples, I saw a pack on 10 for £19.99, too expensive

Then I spied these 24 for £21.99, and much better colours for crafting.

I was not sure but hubby encouraged me, and they fell into our basket.

Having hubby home, often means trips out when I am not expecting them, yesterday he was looking for a new office chair, all the padding on his seat had worn away, so he looked on line and found Staples had a few at good prices. Typical for us the one he loved was the last showroom model, so at sale price and a extra 5% off and it was ours.
We did not get any snow overnight and it's clear here at this moment, hubby is playing golf, so a dry morning would be helpful.
Yesterday I showed the cats in their baskets all peaceful and snug, last night was a huge change. At bed time Purdy came in and hid behind our sofa, so I checked her, she had a live mouse, I chased her into the kitchen, where she dropped the mouse on the door mat and flew out their cat flap. Darn! but Grace was there ready to pounce on the mouse, Purdy was watching through the flap, came charging back in to stop Grace, and now the mouse is under our kitchen cupboards. Purdy is keeping out of our way, and we have laid traps. Hubby is fuming, we had mouse problems when we first moved in. So we were late to bed, I did not sleep well, so I am tired this morning.
I am off now to do housework and laundry, we are away for a few days tomorrow morning (weather permitting), I can't stand coming back to an untidy house, do you have to clean before you go away. I had a friend in the 80's who would walk out of her house and leave dishes in the sink!

Stash and stitching

This is my quickie

just a cute face to stitch

 From one of my German books, 

I will leave it in this frame, 

might add another branch (without owl) to balance the bottom.

 My new stash came, 

this is what I ordered in December (lost parcel), I did not want to wait any longer, 

so I reordered the fabric and colours. If I get my refund, 

I can add to my silks (Floss). A girl can never have too many colours.

 Third flower, Amaryllis

One bud to open and another flower stem in bud.

 These fell into my basket in Aldi, only £3.50

I love flowers with colour in the house.

 Today is cold and wet, so the girls stay where they are warm and dry, 

I agree with them today, I have no plans to go out

Hope to stitch later, I am itching to get started with the skaters.

Yesterday morning I had a pedicure and back massage, present from hubby at Christmas,
I now have delightful pink toe nails. The massage was wonderful, she had nice firm hands, which I like.
In the afternoon, I house sat, Su's new sofa's were due to arrive, I sat reading for a couple of enjoyable hours, with Minty (her cat) sat on my lap. I am reading The People's Queen by Vanora Bennett, I love historic novels. Set just after the Plague, in 14th century, and King Edward is dying. Su has now her beautiful matching sofa's.
I have done more on my 2014 book, I am now in April, to keep everything to a workable size, I import one month at a time, I have 10-16 post to deal with, they take a couple of days to edit.
We have snow in our fore caste for this evening, but if the day stays wet, I can't see it settling. We are hoping for the snow to come and go quickly, we have a weekend away booked in The Forest of Dean, Monmouth. It might be an interesting drive on Friday, but a lot of the way is motorway.

Signs of Spring.

Life is coming back to my garden

just a few signs of the new season

Top right photo, just one snowdrop

 It's that time again, my Peony has buds

every year this comes back

it's older that me

reminds me of my mum

 Even our Magnolia tree has buds.

 I spent loads of time last night going through all the saved Christmas cards,

I love this shape, it has cuts and its embellished

here are just some I have made 

these are going to be a really useful stash.

I spent time in the garden yesterday afternoon, just an hour, did some tiding up, I also found my seed box and pulled out the early items. I have found my window sill propagator, it's still a bit early but every thing is at hand. We are looking at changing our water feature, it's past it's best, we have most of what we require, we just require a water tank, yesterday we got a nice enameled bucket, if it works our new feature would have cost us £12.99.
I also did some work on my 2014 book, I have decided again to make all last years post into a book. This will be my 5th book, I am getting much faster, I notice so much by eye, but still have the back up of the template.
I did not pick my sewing up at all last night, I sat down at 9pm and watch Call the Midwife with hubby, such a sweet series.
Today I am popping to our local Aldi I require a few things, their rice and pasta are great prices.
Just hoping the rain stay away, it's not so cold outside, but it does feel a bit colder inside but I aim to keep moving.

A different finish

I decided to make a birthday card for my sister early

She is not a blogger, so it is safe to post,

 she is into retro and purple.

 I have used a mixture of skills, and some items I already have.

I'm not into butterflies, but she is. 

 We popped to town this morning, just to visit Wilko's, it's rewarding to go to town and visit just the shop you require, hubby did linger as we walked past BHS, but I reminded him we have enough clothes. One bargain I hoped would be there was the items below. Last week there were loads at just 25% of the 85p, but I waited and hoped. This week just 5p each pack of 8, bargain.

 My lemon and Lime plants,
which are now in one pot, have shot up a bit more,
this is such a warm spot, in the sunshine and over a radiator. 

When spring arrives I will pot on and put out in my green house, I really want these two plants to grow together and have lemons one side and limes the other. 

I started both from pips back in July.

Another day in, I am feeling the cold this year, so I am warm and snug inside. My eye's sting when I go out in the cold. Which is a good excuse for doing nothing in the garden. I am itching to start seeds, but as Fliss is using our spare bedroom, I have nowhere I can put the trays. I will start some in February.
I did start a small stitching project last night, which I will finish later and show you the complete item next time. Thank you for your comments regarding which sites you use to add to your stash.
I have some patchwork to try, after seeing everyone's beautiful quilts, I fancy having a go, but can't decide on using my machine or hand sewing, but it will only be a cushion cover or a nice tote bag.

I am now looking at other ways to save around the house, our biggest bill is heating, I don't like the cold, on the plus side I don't like to be too hot. I have dropped the day time heat down, I do spend a lot of time in the mornings in our office which is sunny. We had the walls done in 2010, and the attic space (which is very small) hubby added to and double glazing, so we are as best as we can be. The kitchen, dining and sitting rooms are all open plan on the hall space, but we do manage to keep warm, with three adults in the house we generate so much warmth ourselves. Our bedroom radiator is always turned off, and we sleep with the window open, I love a cold room, as a child we never had heating in the bedrooms.
Over the years I spent so much time turning off lights and switches, we are both good, hubbies one failing is his computer, I often find it on whilst he is elsewhere, it's running now, whilst he is upstairs in the attic space!
We will never be frugal, I love the standard we are at, but if I can eliminate waste any where I will. It is so enlightening to step back from our crazy commercial world, simplify our lives.

1st section finished

I spent some time bird watching yesterday, the starlings always come as a mob, they squabble, over the worm feeder, loads end up on the lawn, which more squabble over. they get very noisy, but I love to watch them. 

The squirrels are using the new house, I just have not been able to get a photo yet.  

Hubby will do the bird watch this weekend.

 This is my choice of warm drink in the winter,
 I always drink it hot, often warm when I am busy
and forget it's made. I have hardly drunk any tea
or coffee.
Once the bottle is opened you can always find a
drip running down the bottle.

 I finished this first section last night, but did not want to pull out something else, so I did a bit more to the side and bottom, I used the design photo as my template. 

I have one lower section in the middle bottom, I can not decide on the colours, so I will wait until the next section is released in February. 

 I love this box, it's a thin wooden box, it was full of Turkish Delights, which both hubby and I enjoyed, it's too pretty to chuck away, it can sit on my shelf. 

At some point I will find a use for it or get fed up and chuck it.

I am not sure what I will pick up to stitch next, my stash never arrived for the skating couple, the site owner has made a claim via Royal Mail, I'm not sure how long that can take. I really require another order, I would like this resolved before using her again. I have always had very good service, but her response to the parcel going missing to me was not great.
If you have any great sites please share them, my requirements are DMC threads and 25 to 35 HDI fabrics.
Today is sunny, but I have not been out as yet, hubby wants to go for a drive this afternoon, take our cameras, could be fun. Tomorrow is cloudy and rain, so more of a stay at home day.
I have had an infection across my eyes, they are sore and look red and blotchy, I went to the doctor on Thursday, she gave me stronger cream, which is clearing them, I have avoided going out too much.
I have to wait until Monday ref the job at HMS Sultan, the role I was asked to interview for was changed and I could not be considered for it, it was in the same office as Fliss, and we are not allowed to work together.  But on Monday I should hear from the recruiter, she has another role she would like to be able to offer me.

Just stitching, and more

I have added another colour

The blue flowers add balance

 These central designs are easy to stitch,

but this design has many sections

It's another sunny cold day after another hard frost. Hubby is playing golf, he's happy he won his pairs game on Tuesday. I have a few task around the house, then later a trip to a garden center.

Later

 Hubby has spent some of our Christmas money, our old bird house was very wobbly. The pigeons are huge this winter and they landed on the roof of the old house walking around and generally causing all sorts of problems trying to get to the food. We are hoping this will stop them, we do put peanuts on our garage roof for them.

 Hubby has a big grin on his face now, these were taken this afternoon, I love to see our tree so full of feeders, but can you see all the buds, far to early.

We have seen Josh and Sam again tonight, last night I picked them up from school, they are both happy and full of laughter. Josh played to us his Ukulele, he's getting good and enjoying it, he wants to play guitar when he is older.
As I sit here and type, I can smell tea, hubby is cooking Lamb Biryani, a real favorite of mine, I love almost all rice dishes, the only thing I do not eat is chilies, I do grow them for hubby.

I'm off for my best meal.

It's cold outside

Again today we have had a hard frost, last night was very cold.

Already the sun is out and we have a nice blue sky

The temperature outside is below freezing

 I have done loads on this

This is most of the first section,

 I have had to watch my counting, I have twice unpicked small area's

I have to stitch flowers inside the gaps, but as yet I have not decided what colour to use, 

I will stitch all I can and then look at the balance of the piece.

Hubby is playing golf for most of the day, it's a competition at his club, at least it's dry for them.
Tomorrow we have snow in our forecast, or sleet or rain, will have to see what we get.
Today I have started on our spare bed room, one corner gets all the weather and is always cold and a bit damp. I am changing the room around, our tall wardrobe is in the corner and I need to move it. Our builder says there is nothing we can do, just move the wardrobe and let the air get to the corner. On the downside Fliss has loads of stuff in the room, so it's a long job with loads of breaks.
Yesterday I spent time in the back garden, mainly just checking every thing, my shed is dry inside, the back wall gets most of our wind and rain. I need to get the rest of the planks (scaffolding) for the back of my raised garden, and hubby wants to get a new bird house, the pigeons which are huge this year, have twisted the little house and now it's weak.
So we are planning a trip to a garden center and B&Q.

Postie has been

Both my books have arrived from Germany

There are loads of projects inside I would love to stitch, I would like a nice Christmas cushion (full size) for my chair, so that's the plan for this year.

 Postie brought me a second parcel, these dies were purchased online, last time I was in Hobbycraft another customer told me to check this site out, each week they have a flash sale for just one week. These are perfect for my collection.

I could not resist the farm and zoo animals. 

 My Amaryllis has two flowers opening, and they are stunning

Loving the shades of pink.

 Taken from below, 

I knew this was a double flower, makes a change, 

I don't grow doubles in the garden, I want the bee's to be able to get to the pollen. 

 Stitching

 I managed to do loads last night, 

The golden design is very quick to stitch up, lots of repeat patterns. 

All of the colour choice is mine, I have a couple of other colours to chose, this is one project where I chose the colours as I stitch, makes it a bit interesting for me.

At this point I do not know how the finished piece will look. 

I still have not received my sewing parcel, so I am sure I have lost the £26 it has cost me, the small site is helpful up to a point, she will make a claim with the post office, but it's more negative than I would like. I do like to support smaller sites and to be fair I have always had good service up to now.
The sun is shinning through our office window and we are warm inside, we have walked to the village, I had my hair cut, and now we are home for the rest of the day. This morning was a heavy frost, but still no snow. Later I have a friend popping in.
Yesterday I went for a job interview, should hear early next week if I am lucky, it's in the same building as my daughter Fliss, another military base. Next week I am hoping for another interview.
I was laid off work on Thursday, after just three months, they have changed their plans, and my role was one which finished. I am really cross that a company can play with peoples lives so harshly, they were very nice about it, had they said in the interview they were changing the structure of the company, I would have declined the job offer. Oh well I've been here before.

PS, Simple living can you please send me your address, I will forward the card book to you, I still have the cross stitch sample book if anyone wants it.

Two crafts

I have almost finished this 1st corner, 

 Again it's very pretty, I still have not decided what colour to use for the round designs which go around the central design. I think I will stitch more to see what feels right. 

This is stitched in only 4 colours, but I think I will use more. 

 We have a couple who have been friends for ages, they are older then us, and Maureen has dementia, it has been coming on for ages, alot of their friends have stopped visiting them, but Kev and I keep in regular contact, seeing them most weeks. Maureen does crochet, it is something she can remember how to do, she made this little blanket, the sad part all the way through, she had to ask who she was making it for. 

Dave the bear and I love the colours. 

 I can't wait for these buds to open, the shades of pink are delightful.

 I have loads of Orchids, two are in bloom, the two in my bathroom are also growing a nice new steam, soon I will have Orchids everywhere in our house.

 My window sill garden is doing well, the lemon and lime plants are both healthy, they are over 5" high, later when spring arrives I will pot them on and place them in one of my greenhouses. My Avocado is now 22" high with loads of leaves, if I can keep it until the warmer weather, I will grow it on in the sunniest spot I can find.
I have nothing to do in my garden, the gales we have had have not damaged anything, we will need to replace a fence post, but are just waiting for our handy man to arrange a day. We have avoided the snow so far. I itch to be out in my garden, but with heavy clay soil, it is pointless to try and do anything.
It's a sunny day, so I now plan to sort my card making drawers out, I have so much in each I have forgotten what I have, the room gets the sunshine, so I will be warm all afternoon.

Two designs

I said I would finish this section and I have

 Just another 5 to go, 

but 1st I will do the 1st section of this years stitch along

 Just a small start, and no surprise I have chosen my own colours, Angie uses alot of pink, which is just not me, as a child of the 70's it has to be shades of purple. the lower section is a central circular design, and there are  a ring of small circular design, in between these two areas, but as yet I have no decided what colour to use.

 Just showing off the plants around the house, my Amaryllis is beginning to open, this is a pink flower, the second bud is now growing higher, it would be nice to have two flowers.

 This is from Fliss's birthday card from Sam, it's the first time he has done his name (using the dots) all on his own, he was very pleased with himself.  Josh wrote the rest of the words, he is a helpful big brother.

It's been a very cold and wet day, no snow and hopefully we will miss what's to come tonight and tomorrow morning, I like the cold days, you can always wrap up warm, and our offices are always hot. Work is going well, I have a review on Thursday, but I am not expecting any problems, there are loads of role changes going on, but I don't think it will impact on me.
It is great to be stitching again, I don't stitch as often, or for as long, but it does feel good to be creating.
My books have not yet arrived, but I am not expecting them until next week, they have a long way to come. My other order, I have been told I have to wait until the parcel is returned back to them, I have asked what happens if they do not get anything back. I spent £26 and still require the items I ordered, plus I now have another order to place, but it can wait until I resolve this issue.
I will sort out the books from my previous post at the weekend.