A mixture of sorts and a give-away!

Hello to anyone who; still here following my very infrequent posts. I really appreciate anyone who still visits and takes the time to leave me a comment. 
Just for a change let me start with some good news. A few weeks ago my DH and myself got away on a last minute much needed break. We stayed in this wonderful cottage near Perth. The weather wasn;t great but that didn;t stop us getting out and visiting a few lovely places. Our first stop was Branklyn Gardens in Perth.

On our second day we were travelling through the village of Dunning when we noticed this monument at the side of the road. We were very surprised when we stopped to view it to discover what it was for. We discovered later as you see here there is quite a mystery to it.

After lunch on the same day we visited Falkland Palace. Mary Queens of Scots was a regular visitor here and the Royal Tennis courts are supposed to be the oldest surviving Royal tennis courts in the world.

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On our travels home from our break we stopped in Queensferry when we spotted this huge cruise liner berthed under the Forth Railway bridge. My DH would love to go on a cruise but I;m a girl who likes her feet firmly on the shore line.

I haven;t done any stitching since I finished my Wedding piece a few weeks ago. My mojo has gone walkabout just now. I;m going to try and revive it with a new start to work on during the Olympic Games. This is Delivering Posies by Homespun Elegance. Off course as usual it will be done in my own colours.

As our Olympic Jubilee stitches exchange is now complete I can share the package I sent to Janet and the one I received from Christina.

I was crying and squealing with delight when I opened this amazing assortment of treats from Christina. Isn;t the snowman just adorable. Christina even put our initials off our country flags on the reverse (I forgot to take a photo but you can see one on her blog). I;m going to use the tins for storing my stitchy stuff. The china mug is being displayed in my unit and the cute Snowman chart will be on my christmas stitching list this year. I was also over the moon when I saw Christina had sent me some off Natalys gorgeous pins. I've admired them for so long and just never thought I would be lucky enough to have some of them. So many other wonderful treats were included as well. Christina I can;t thank you enough you put so much thought and care into this wonderful package.

This is the Exchange that I sent to my partner Janet. I really struggled to find a chart so I decided to alter a Lizzie Kate chart that I had in my stash. My DD Heather made the ribbon for me.

Finally if your still with me I;m sure you will be aware that tomorrow this years Olympic Games will be held in London. Even though I;m up here in Scotland I;m  very proud that the Games will take place in Britain. I'm looking forward to so many events and I hope all the British sports men and women fulfill their dreams  To celebrate I;m having a give-away.  Everyone can enter but if the winner is overseas the package will be sent by surface mail. You will receive the Flag Tin, Stitched Frame and all extras.The winner will be drawn on Sunday 5th August. You must answer all the questions and make sure if you don;t have blog that you leave me your email address. For a second entry post on your blog about the give-away. 

1. Favourite Olympian

2. Favourite Olympian Event

3. Favourite British Place to Visit

4. Favourite British Food

5. Favourite British Film/Tv Programme

6. Favourite British Actor/Actress

GOOD LUCK!

A final June post!

As I am at home today I thought I would try and squeeze in a post before June turns too July. The only stitching I have been doing this month are Exchange pieces that I can;t show yet.  As I am so busy chasing my tail though I do have gifts and exchanges to show  that I was working on many months ago. 

This was a very belated Birthday gift for my friend Catherine  I was going to stitching something else for her but when I kept seeing all those lovely "Pooh" quotes on her blog I just had to do this. Just like Pooh Catherine is the best kind of friend. Even though she is a busy Mum with her beautiful family she;s always been there for me and my family. Thank you for being my friend Catherine.

Another special lady that has a heart of gold is June  She has been there to support me through my family troubles and a great help when I was struggling to keep my Exchange group open. Thank you my dear friend. It always brightens my day when I visit June's blog. Her stitching pieces and beautiful garden are a treat. I loved stitching this pillow for June's Birthday. I made it up from Natures Alphabet by Elizabeth's Designs. I was so happy with how it turned out.

This sweet little Shepherds Bush pillow I made as a get well gift for Sally who has been recovering from a recent operation. She is another special friend who even though has had her own ups and downs to deal with she always finds time to listen to my moans and give me her love and support. Thank you my dear friend.

The theme in our last exchange on  Stitchedwithlove  was "My favourite Things". I received this wonderful package from Karen She really put so much thought into my favourites. My "Fine Fleeced Flannigan" and "Snowman" pillow are just adorable. Fabric, threads, cute notebook and snowman chart all so me. Thank you so much Karen.

My partner to send too was Gaby. She loves Garden themes and Shepherds Bush is one of her favourite designers. I adapted this design to the colours I had in my stash. Another enjoyable stitch and probably one of those charts I will do again.

Stitchedwithlove is now having a Tea-party in the Garden. In this exchange you get to choose whether you would like to receive a tea-party or garden themed package. Sign-ups are open too Tuesday. Details on the blog.

Finally I will leave you with some photos of the plants in my garden. I took most of these pictures a few weeks ago when we had at least one dry day. The weather for June has been just awful and my heart goes out to those people in England whose homes have been flooded. I just can;t imagine what a heartbreaking experience this must be. Fingers crossed July will bring us those warm summer days we are all longing for.

Have a nice week-end. Happy stitching.

Hugs

Lainey 

Let me tell you ladies my behind is huge...lol! 

I;m still overwhelmed with my crazy life. Just wanted to pop in and say hi I miss you guys. x