JUST ME!

Well here I am life is gradually getting back to normality. My DH Ian had a tumour removed from his face at the beginning of March and after three long weeks we got told it was benign. The operation went well but there has been some damage to his eye. We have been told it could take up to 18 months for complete recovery. He is doing well and we are just taking each day as it comes. Our next hurdle is for our DS Craig to get a clean bill of health too. He is awaiting an appointment to see a neuro-surgeon. He has been unwell for about six months now so we are hoping to finally get some answers. Our DD Heather has just fnished university for summer and as she is going to be working full-time until September we decided to grab a much needed family holiday.

We managed to find a last minute deal in a cottage right by the sea in Lower Largo, Fife. I;ve made a short slideshow off where we stayed and a few places we visited, fingers crossed it works okay. As you will see the weather was very cold and windy. Regular followers of my blog will recognise some of the places as I;ve posted lots of photos of the area over the years. 

Create a free slideshow

My favourite fabric shop that I try and visit at least once a year was only 100 yards from our cottage door. I was very good and managed not to visit until the end of our week. All the finishing fabrics came from there and the scissors, ribbon and buttons I found in a wonderful wool shop The Wooly Brew in the village of Pittenweem. I spent a wonderful hour chatting to the lady on the left of the photo. The wool stock is gorgeous and they are more than happy to mail to anyone.

Though I haven;t stitched much at all in the last two weeks I have completed a number of pieces since I last posted. Most of them are for gifts and raks and I need to find time to make them into something decent. So many of my stitching friends have held me together through these difficult months. Once again I thank them from the bottom of my heart for their love and support.

Finally I have some happy news to share. My DD Heather and myself are going to be celebrating some milestone birthdays this year. Our perfect present that we have both longed for since we were very young is to have a dog. My DH Ian and DS Craig were not so eager but about a month ago I finally persuaded Ian and we went along and visited a breeder off Australian Labradoodles. By the time we left DH was hooked. We went back for another visit with Craig and Heather last week. They got to meet lots of the dogs and we were lucky enough to view and hold some puppys. Craig fell in love with them too and   told us we had to have one. After lots of discussion we went back and have booked ourselves a puppy. Ideally we would like to have one the same size and colouring as Bouncer. Everyone is so excited though we may have to wait at least six months or longer. I know that no matter what other challenges life is going to through us a little puppy will bring love , laughter and joy to my dear family.

BOUNCER

I hope you have enjoyed catching up and maybe I will return with another post before May has come and gone. Happy Stitches everyone, hugs! 

Thank you & more stitches!

I just want to start this post by saying thank you to everyone for your messages off support, love and prayers. My DH will have his operation on Wednesday. All being well he will only be in hospital 48hours. We haven't been told how long we will need to wait for the results.  I'm sorry if I haven't got round to answering all my emails yet. I shall hopefully get to them this week-end. As you will see most of my free time is still taken up with my stitches.

These are my February SAL Christmas and Halloween ornaments.

It's a free theme choice for the Christmas March SAL so I have chosen to do this design. I'm looking forward to starting it tomorrow. It's the third time I've stitched this chart.

My dear friend Cath recently won a wonderful voucher give-away. She very generously treated me too these gorgeous purple scissors and a huge piece of evenweave. Knowing my love of sheep she also brightened my day with this sweet little fob.

Even though it looks a completely different colour I did use the cream evenweave that came from Cath to stitch this lovely freebie design by Victorian Motto Sampler. I will probably finish it into a pillow for a future RAK.

I've had this chart kitted up in my stash for a long while. I have so enjoyed stitching it this week.

As usual I changed some colours and instead of putting in the year and my initials I added some buttons.

I've also been working a little on my Sam Sarah Wild Flower WIP. I'm going to try and at least do a few stitches a month on this one from now on. I need to have it finished by August.

I also managed a few more crocheted squares this week. It will probably take me about a year but hopefully when I have enough I will be able to make a blanket.

Well I shall hopefully be back soon with more new stitches. Have a good week-end. 

Happy Stitching!

STITCHING MY BLUES AWAY!

Happy Valentines Day!

Any regular readers and friends know how much I love trying to make something of my stitched piece.  I was determined to finish this for Valentines Day so let's just say today my swear tin made a lot of money! This is my version of "My love for You" by The Sampler Girl. If you want to see how the original looks it's on my "Remember Me" post.

My dear friend Catherine knows what a Snowman addict I am and very kindly gifted me this cute chart last year. As usual I worked with what fabric and threads I had in my stash and created my own tree. I've no idea what happened but I think it got caught in a snow storm..lol. Hopefully by my next visit it will resemble a small pillow of sorts.

As well as these finishes I've also had a few stitchy mishaps this week. I was finishing off a small gift for a friend when I noticed a mark on the fabric. I gave it a quick wash and left it inbetween a piece of kitchen roll to dry. The next day I had it sitting on top of my stitching basket ready to pick up and stuff. A few hours later I stood up to answer the phone and knocked my cuppa right over the side of my chair and into the basket. Thankfully most of it was soaked up by the kitchen roll but once again the poor piece had to be washed. I will share when it finally reaches it's destination. I have also somehow managed to lose my threads for my February Reindeer ornament that I showed in my last post. I've searched everywhere and actually think I may have put them in the bin by mistake. I will finish it if they turn up but for the moment I started on this Reindeer by Nancy at Victorian Motto Samplers.

I'm beginning to wonder if stitching just now is a good idea for me. I;ve been trying to stitch and read to keep me busy as I'm finding it difficult to function at the moment. We received some unexpected bad news last week. I won;t go into any detail as I still get really upset when I talk about it. Thank you to Cath, Catherine, June, Elaine, Lisa, Mouse and Nataly for making my days a little easier with your prayers, love and support. Sorry to end my post on such a gloomy note. I hope everyone is having a good week with lots of stitches and crafty fun.

LAINEY 

A Few Finishes!

I didn't think I was going to make it but on the last day of the month I managed to finish "It;s Snow Cold" by LHN for my January Ornament SAL. Being a Snowman addict I just love this cute design.

The theme on the SAL for February is Candy Canes or Reindeer. I chose this little guy from the JCS 2012 Ornament magazine. It's designed by Cathy Jean at The Victoria Sampler.

This teeny tiny pumpkin finish was my January Halloween Ornament. Februarys theme was a Black Cat. I took this little guy from part of a freebie design at the Silvercuteddwarf blogspot.

My eyes were too tired to stitch last night so I decided to try crocheting some squares. Last time I tried these was well over 30 years ago. Just like my stitching there not perfect but they'll do ..lol.

I hope everyone is having a good week with lots of stitchy and crafty time.

LAINEY 

REMEMBER ME!

Hello everyone! It;s  nice to be back. I've missed reading your blogs, viewing those beautiful stitched pieces,  and the many other crafts that people do. While taking a break I've been trying to relax with my stitching and some reading.

The first Exchange of 2013 has started on my Stitched With Love Exchange group http://stitchedwithloveexchanges.blogspot.co.uk/ and sign-ups for the Hop into Springtime exchange are open until Sunday 3 February. We;re also having a fun Spring bonnet competition. Go check it out and join in the fun.

The Christmas and Halloween Ornament stitch-a-long blogs are also up and running.

http://christmasornamentsallyearround.blogspot.co.uk/

http://halloweenornamentsal.blogspot.co.uk/ 

The response to this years Christmas SAL has been amazing and sadly at the moment I've had to close the membership but please do visit and leave a comment on all those gorgeous ornaments that are being created.

There are still places left on the Halloween one. Details are on the blog if you would like to join us.

My dear friend Lisa has started stitching again and she has re-opened her blog. Please go visit and welcome her back. http://stitchingstable.blogspot.co.uk/ I'm also very proud of my dear stitching sister Elaine. She recently finished her Monopoly board wip  http://shutterbuglady.blogspot.co.uk/ that she has been working on for three years. I remember when she started this and doing a bit of nagging (encouraging) along the way. I'm sure it will be the star piece when she displays her beautiful stitched pieces in her local library for the month of February.

Finally if your still with me here are my January stitches.

This is my tiny Pumpkin stitch for the Halloween ornament SAL.

It;s Snow Cold for the Christmas ornament SAL.

I was sent this chart a few years by a kind blogger after I admired it finished on her home page. At long last I've made a start on my own.

As you can see I'm not doing the border part in the middle and also changed a few words and colours.

Apologises for this awful picture. This is another wip that I;ve picked up and hope to finally finish this year.

Lastly I;m delighted to announce this is my first finish off 2013. I started this design by Primrose Needleworks last year. Don;t you want to just grab that apple..lol.

Well I shall hopefully be back sooner rather than later. Happy stitches everyone!

No Not November!!!

Well here we are November already!!! I feel as though we sped through October and went straight to November. The first half of the month flew in as I got caught up Reading this great collection of Novels by Shayne Parkinson.
  

New Zealand farm life in the 1880’s is hard and twelve-year-old Amy dreams of a life beyond the boundaries of her small community. Although snug in the warmth of her family’s love, Amy wants to be a teacher and experience the excitement of living in a city far from the isolated valley she calls home.

When losing her mother shortly after her birth, Amy and her older brothers are raised by an adoring father and strict, but loving Granny. Six months after Granny’s death, Amy is adjusting well to managing their home alone. When her father returns from a business trip with a new wife in tow, Amy and her brothers are shocked, but determined to make the best of it. Unfortunately Susannah finds farm life less than appealing and generally makes life miserable for all, especially Amy. Two and a half years later, Susannah’s younger brother comes to stay for the summer and Amy makes a choice that will change her life forever.

I;m not normally a reader of Historical novels but within a few pages I was totally hooked. I read the first four books in the series within two weeks. You can download the first one from Amazon for free if you have a kindle.

Also in October we had some lovely visitors from the US. Close friends off my dear friend Catherine came to Scotland for a holiday. On their last day they came to our home for a visit and then we went out for a meal. We had a great evening with such a lovely family. I made this little pillow as a reminder of their visit to Scotland and Catherine;s friend who stitches brought me the "October Word Play" chart by With Thy Needle and Thread. I love the chart and started stitching on it the very next day. This is my progress so far.

I took part in the Animal Antics exchange at Stitchedwithlove. Butterflies were my partner Marcy;s favourite. This is the stitched piece and goodies I sent.





I received this wonderful package from Beth. I was truly spoiled and how darling is my sheepy pillow that she designed just for me.  

Finally before I leave I thought I would have a proud Mummy moment and share these photographs taken recently of my DD Heather. One of her projects at University was for her to match up with a friend and take some shots for a magazine cover. These are some of the ones her friend took off Heather. My favourite is the head shot looking through the leaves.

I shall hopefully be back before the man in the Red suit arrives. Happy stitching!

 

Christmas Give-away not to be missed!

Nancy is having the most fantastic give-away. There will be wonderful prizes every day from the 1st to the 25th of December. Don;t miss out on this fabulous give-away from such a generous, kind hearted lady. Details can be found here Good luck to everyone!