Finish and new projects

2nd finish in this Rovaris design

my 1st colour scheme is here 

 I stitched on 28dpi, using one strand of DMC

Red 666, orange 741, yellow 973, green 699, blue 3843, indigo 550 and violet 340

I have never stitched stripes before, it worked well with this design.

I will frame it in a thin black frame and pop it on my office wall.

 The post man brought me two new designs I tracked down on the net ,

 I have seen these on pintrest and loved both of them.

From a French designer

I did this post before we left for our break in Wales, 

I did not want to post twice in one day, a bit OTT. 

Super woman- photo heavy

The top soil came just after 9am, 

the driver took the pallet as far up the garden as he could.

I have used half in my raised garden, and only picked out a few stones.

Lovely soil, I'm going to let it settle and sow seeds next week.

I spent most of the morning outside in warm sunshine

and popped out again later in the afternoon.

 It was a beautiful sunny day, just a couple photo's of our spring flowers.

 I sunk the chimney pot into the ground, for security and it looks better, I have added top soil and forgetmenot seeds. I have also added new soil for my hosta, and put wire in the hole to stop the cats getting in. The second chimney I put in the long side garden. I dug around the area to ensure there was nothing growing there.

 The olive bush has settled in it's new pot

I have one of my old pots out as well, the second pot is in my shed and  has growmore in, nice to be using it as it should be as a good storage pot.

 My cucamelons have been re-potted, I have 3 plants, just 2 shown here. 

The lemon and lime plants are very happy in their new pot. The avocado is looking happy as well, they are all in the greenhouse.

Back to stitching, I managed to get loads done yesterday, 

I had a hour in the afternoon, and most of the evening

 Just the bottom section of the 'E' to be done

which is where I had problems stitching the 1st design.
Going to find an hour today to get this finished.

Yesterday was the busiest day, I was on turbo power. 

I changed our bedding, washed and dried it on the line, later I did all the ironing. I also cleaned our upstairs bedroom and bathroom.
I also painted the new wood on the raised garden, I managed to give it two coats, there was no breeze and it dried. I watered most of the pots, every one was dry, we really do need some rain. I also did a tidy up of the beds.
After school Sam and Josh came to play football in the garden, both boys were very happy, they tucked into our Easter biscuits, Sam said it was the biggest biscuit he had ever eaten. I love to see them having fun in the garden.
Later we popped to see Su and David, over the Easter break I will start working in their garden, this year we are going to cut back all the over grown shrubs, and see what else comes up in the garden.
Today I am going to give downstairs a clean before we go this afternoon, most of what I am taking has been packed, so 4 days of rest and relaxation.

At an angle

 Just a few stitches

yesterday was a very busy day

I have a day at home and hope to be able to get on with this

I need to finish it 

 Last night at photography club, we learnt about composing photo's and looking at angles, this is something I like to do, often I look up at things, so we were in the town centre and took shot's this is just three I liked.

Looking down

 Eye level

 Looking up

by changing the angle of your shot you can make an interesting shot. 

I picked Josh and Sam up from school, we had loads of Lego to play with, and a game of football in the garden. Josh was lovely, he has played up on his last couple of visits. He did fall over in the garden and badly graze his elbow, but he was brave, allowed me to clean it, and then went back to playing.
Today our top soil should be delivered, it would be nice for it to arrive this morning, allowing me time to add most of it to my raised garden, then it can settle and next week I can sow some seed's, I have a couple of glass panels I can put on top of the raised bed and can use to start them off.
The avocado and lemon and lime plants are doing well in the greenhouse.
I am also sorting, we are away on Thursday for a long weekend in Wales, on Saturday I am going to meet Dawn and Pam, I am excited to be able to meet both ladies, I love their blogs, and it is really nice of Pam to pop over.
We are also having Saturday evening with Kev's sister and hubby, they have booked a nice meal out.
With our camera's in tow, Fridays eclipse, the Welsh rugged landscape, it's going to be alot of fun.

Love stitching love

The word Nana on these cards make them the best.

 These are great too

 Eldest daughter gave me the storage box and pretty book, 

youngest gave me Jo Malone invite and a promise of a meal out together, 

which normally goes with a shopping day. 

 On the front of the box

We had a lovely lunch and afternoon, it was dull so we stayed around the house, David introduced Josh and Sam to F1 racing (on TV), and Josh a few games to play on my iPad. Sammy followed Hubby around most of the day. 

Everybody went home by 5pm so we watched a film (my choice), then hubby watched the voice and I stitched. We had leftovers from lunch for supper. 

I do miss having my mum around, she would have loved family days, but she will be fore-ever in my heart, her words help me through tough times.

Stitching

 Green and blue are both finished.

Two colours to add.

Today it is dull again, we could see rain, but it was fore caste yesterday and it stayed dry, if we do not have rain today I will have to water some of my pots. We have not had any decent rain for a couple of weeks. I have a guy coming to replace the locks on our bedroom windows this afternoon, none of them are sturdy and they wobble, time to get rid of them. Not sure if my friend Cat will visit, if she does I will have sewing time.
Later we are at an extra night at photography club, being shown the finer details of Photoshop Elements, which will be good for me, I have only opened it once on my computer and closed it again quickly, way to involved for me.

Blue

I am racing ahead

the yellow is the third colour to be finished

and blue is added.

The green at the bottom is the lowest point for the 'L' 

the blue and green is the top of the 'V'.

I have noticed the green in the 'V'  at the top is too close by one row, I thought I could get away with it, but it will not match the bottom stitched in 'L', so I am off to unpick the top green and blue, so much for my comments in my last post. 

It will irritate me if I don't do it. 

I have a couple of chores in the garden today, 

This pot below has been planted up for years, I forgot over the winter to remove the water saucer underneath it, so the plants got water logged, so I have a new pot of fresh plants, I will remove all the soil and start again. I love this pot. 

I purchased this tiny pot years ago, it's so small and without drainage, it's made of concrete and  I find it hard to grow anything in it. But I love it, last year I tried mustard and cress, still no joy, so this year I am going for a full on cheat, I will get some plastic green plants and pop them in. I don't think there is any other choice.

My top soil has been ordered and will arrive on Wednesday, we decided to purchase it rather than use free local soil, our natural soil is clay, so I did not want to risk having poor quality, weeds and stones. our garden table, chairs and gates have be sent for paint stripping.
I have made the template for my garden chair cushions, they are 14" round, each top and bottom will have 8 pieces of mixed colour, I am looking for something other than a button for the middle.
I must get on today, I spend too much time here in my office on this machine, OK whilst I am at home and the weather is dull, but I now have a huge list of things to do.
We got all our food shopping yesterday, so we are stocked up again, freezer is packed. For the next few weeks it will only be local shopping for bread and milk. I manage to get a pack of Easter biscuits, what a disappointment, so I will have a go at making them myself.
Tomorrow we have both daughters, and hopefully Sam and Josh, for lunch, it is Mothering Sunday here in UK, the day completely for mum's, so hubby is planning a buffet lunch much easier for the boys. If the sun is shinning we can spend time in the garden, or take our 1st vist to our local Portchester castle.

Colourful

So much colour

I love bright stitching

Red and Orange are finished, 

this is letters L and O, the green is the start of V

This is stitching up much quicker, less unpicking the second time around.

I got a frame for the previous stitched design, and I hope to get another

This one is for my office wall, I have one small space left. 

These were buds yesterday, at a £1 per bunch, good value, 

I love to see their colour inside

It's dull today so my spring flowers outside are not open

My side garden is coming alive, loads of new green leaves, 

My Peony has not grown much, but it's a bit early as yet. I have sprinkled over the bed, dried Chicken Manure, it stinks abit, but helps with new growth. 

Our Magnolia tree is in glorious bud, I love the way this tree blooms before the leaves form, it allows us to take in the perfect pinks from the flowers. 

Also you can still see all the bird feeders. 

The garden is looking really good this year, hubby will replace the lawn next month, the front end has sunk, so he will level it off and re-turf. Tomorrow we take the white table and chairs along with the gates to be dipped to remove all the paint, it's a very messy job so we would rather pay someone to get it done. I have taken a template of the chair seat's I am making two round cushions, I have collected loads of old jeans, and will make covers for hard wearing. I have also some light green stain for the front of my raised garden. I also hope to sort the top soil this weekend.

New start

My seedling are doing well, 2nd year for cucamelons

I will re-pot the Lemon and Lime plants, I have the perfect pot in the garden,

 I will miss seeing them on the desk, 

the pot is too big so they are being moved to the greenhouse. 

The orange pip is still just a pip.

 I purchased this orchid last year for Fliss, 

 it was left on my sunny bathroom windowsill

 now it's back in the sitting room, 

these flowers are tiny. 

 I popped to Hobbycraft to purchase a storage kit for my dies, this Art box is perfect, and with my Hobbycraft club card it with extra sheets was 25% off. I only use my club card to get a discount, if there are no offer's I don't use it. I don't mind them collecting information about my purchases when there is a benefit for me. This purchase has been added to my list of spending.

 Stitching

Richard of York gained battle in vain, did you get it

Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet, a rainbow

We used the rhyme at school to remember the colours

 I am stitching another 'Love', this time the colours are in stripes

Nice effect, which more colourful stitching to come.  

My 2nd part of SAL Carie Rose came through, I have to finish it by May 10th, plenty of stitching time, I will finish Love first.
It's another sunny morning here, the washing machine is on, soon the laundry will be on the line, it's great to be able to hang out laundry. We are still using the heating in the evenings, but I have not had it on any day this week, I feel the cold, so I am pleased to be able to make the savings. Hubby is on the golf course this morning, and home later so no plans for this afternoon.
We had Josh and Sam after school yesterday, Josh was rather naughty when his mum came home from work, like all 9 year olds he knows which buttons to push. Sammy was a Nanna's boy and wanted loads of cuddles. He wanted to check out the garden, loved our new raised bed and wanted to plant things, I explained I required more top soil, "but Nanna you have dirt in the box" was his reply. We sat at the bottom of the garden watching the birds at the feeders.
Photography club was great, no stunning photo's we learn't about White light, and how to balance your camera so the colours are true, another interesting session.
I am expecting to have a start date soon for my new role, I spoke to them yesterday, they have had other clearances back, which were sent just before mine went in. It will be good to get back to work, the hours are an earlier start, so home by 4.30 each night.

Another finish

It's finished, the 'E' caused me a few problems

but in the end I think it looks beautiful

This was a simple stitch, it should have been stitched in red, but as this is my third heart design by Rovaris, I wanted to make changes.

I have another project I want to stitch and the second part of my SAL is due.

One hint for new project

"Richard of York gained battle in vain"

Just a couple of views from the garden at the weekend

can't you feel the warmth from the sunshine.

 Our Magnolia tree is coming to life, 

we trimmed it last autumn, and it has done no harm.
So many buds and new growth everywhere, the garden is coming back.
On sunny days I have the need to be in the garden, pottering about.
Soon it will be time to uncover our wooden furniture, we have had our table and chairs for 15+ years, at the time I purchased the best quality I could get, each autumn we store it and put it under cover from the weather. 

Yesterday was a dull day, so I decided to finish the stitching, I did some laundry but left the bulk for today. It is already hanging on the line, it's beautiful and sunny here. I love to see clothes drying outside on the line.
I have a busy day, I will pop out for most of the morning, a trip to Hobbycraft, not my favourite store, but the only local craft shop, I need a couple of threads and storage for my dies, they are messy how I have them at the moment.
This afternoon I want an hour in the garden, I have an idea for securing my net over the veg patch, if it works it will allow me access to the garden whilst keeping the net tidy.
Later it is photography class, no idea what our class will be tonight.

Growing area

After two busy days

the raised bed is finished and waiting for more top soil. 

 I have completely cleared the back section of all the tubs, and moved our table and chairs, giving us a nice wide walk area to the greenhouses. I have two long tubs for flowers, one has sweet pea seeds in, I have never grown them successfully, my hope is for them to grow in the trellis. I will fill the second tub with a mixture of flower seeds and see what grows.

 We have put plastic plumbing tube upright in the corners and middle, and used flexible pipe for a frame, this works well, I do have some taller poles, should I require more height.  It's feel so very rewarding to have finished this section, if I can get top soil this week, I should be able to sow veg seeds by the weekend. The green plastic lining should protect the wooden sides, the bottom is open to allow drainage. I now have to stain the outside. I have covered the bed to stop the cats, the netting will also stop the insects and birds.

The total size is 85" long, 33" deep and 15" high.

 I have finished the 'V' and started stitching the 'E' from the top, and as I thought, the lower section of the 'E' is in the wrong place, I will unpick it later, ready to restitch. My second part of Carrie Rose is released tomorrow and I would like to have this finished, will have to try and get it done tonight.

In between gardening, we had all our visitors pop in to see us, it is nice to catch up with everyone. Now it's back to a normal working week, I am still waiting for my enhanced clearance to come through, so another week off, I hope to get alot done again. I have to pop to the Post Office, hubby has sold his camera, again at the asking price, we are keeping the cash for our weekend away on 19th.
This morning is dull and cold, I have no plans, just a restful day, and if I'm lucky I can finish my stitching.

Sunny Saturday

This is growing 

I am pleased with the fourth colour

 Up close, this is so pretty

and enjoyable to stitch

 What do you see in the photo below

it drives me mad, I find this all the time

our lovely dishwasher below the worktop, and a couple of dirty mugs!

why if you take the mugs out, would you not pack them inside of the dishwasher!

sorry but this drives me crazy, what sets you going.

I had a wonderful catch up with Ann yesterday, we chatted for over an hour. I am sad to see how tired she is becoming, it is hard (even with the full support of everyone else) for one person to suddenly do two peoples work. They took away a couple of roles, but now are trying to  give her extra work.
Today is bright sunshine again, and I have plans, soon we will be out in the garden, hubby wants to check the wood supplies we have for my raised garden, we are hoping we have enough for the front and one side, which can be viewed from the garden, then we have to purchase more wood for the other side and back, I am hoping for about 18" to two foot high.
I want to then spend loads of time in the garden, sort my greenhouse and start some seeds, I really can't wait any longer. Every where is tidy, I have done odd 30mins each day, so it's just work at the back end in my growing section.
Later, when it is dark, we are going out with our photography club, we are going to a local high beauty spot to try and catch the night sky and stars.