May in Review Part II

 

I shan't rattle on to much in this post ~ I'd rather just share with you some of the photographs from our visit to the Isle of Skye.

 

 

 

 

 

North side of the island

Looking down a rather steep hill ~ just how steep not really captured



View of the coral beach near Dunvegan







Our base for this year's stay on Skye


 



View from our bedroom

Lounge
 

Lounge featuring the LM
 

Lounge at night with stove lit
 

A wee visitor

Armadale Castle

View for the staircase, Armadale Castle

The LM car



Gorgeous coffee (and cake) at Cafesia
 

Rear of the cottage (with strange woman in the window!)


 

OPAM 2014 ~ June 2014

Well another month, another challenge to report ~ I completely ran out of time to report my OPAM in May, I only had one finish which was originally to be an exchange piece and then I had a change of heart about it. 
This month I have three whole finishes to report ~ I can only share one with you at the moment as item 2 is an exchange piece and opening day is tomorrow, and item 3 is a gift.  So here is the one project I can share with you at the moment:

This is a bag from a class at my LQS Just Quilting on Saturday last week, I completed it on Sunday.  I thoroughly enjoyed the day, it was a small group ~ 2 of us doing part 1 and 2 working on part 2 of a "how many things to make from a jelly roll" class.  I think that Hazel (teacher) had made 10 items in total, lots of bags, case for a rotary cutter, glasses case, tissue covers ~ there are a couple of the other things that I will make at some point.

Happy OPAMing

Kate

Stitch from Stash 2014 ~ June 2014

I missed reporting in via my blog last month ~ there wasn't much to report ~ between weekends away, exams for GB2, plumbing work at home and work there wasn't a great deal of time for stitching ~ and definitely none for stashing. 
Again this month I have not had a great deal of time ~ I did manage to attend a quilting class on Saturday.  The class was organised at my favourite LQS, Just Quilting and was run by a lovely lady called Hazel.  It was designed around making as many projects from one jelly roll as possible ~ fortunately I just happened to have one in my stash!  I did have to buy some wadding, some fabric for lining and a bobbin of thread, however I refrained from spending any of the permitted bonus for this month.

JUNE BUDGET

Bfwd	67.51
Budget	20.00
Spent	23.05
Balance	64.46

NEW STARTS FROM STASH
Needlecraft Haven Summer Exchange Piece - Finished
Quilted Bag x 2 - Finished

WIPs AND UFOs WORKED ON
Part V of La Pensee Positive
Love by Bent Creek - Finished

Kate

May in Review Part I

I am aware that we are almost at the end of June ~ I just have a wee bit of catching up to do!
Last month started with a trip to Scotland in the LM car, primarily for the wedding of my niece Liz to her beau, Dale.  We even got a mention on the radio.


We arrived late afternoon on Thursday with the wedding set for 1pm on Friday.  Thursday evening was spent with my Sis2, her husband and his parents having a quiet meal in a local pub.  We saw the bride to be return from her evening out with her matron of honour and the other bridesmaids, we even saw the groom's party as they came for a nightcap before returning to the hotel they were staying in that night.
Breakfast was sizzling hot in more ways than one as the sun streamed through the dining room windows.  Other wedding guests were dotted around the room enjoying a leisurely start to the day.  We decided to take a walk into Pitlochry ~ having spent the day before in the car a stretch of the legs was the order of the day.  We had driven through the town a few years ago, the LM was not sure if he had ever stopped there and it was some 20+ years since I last visited.  Our walk took us up the main street where we met my Bro7 and his lovely wife ~ they live in Cardiff ~ and except for a brief visit from Rob when he was in the NE for work we hadn't seen them since 2011 ~ far too long!  We also encountered Bro2 & his wife talking a stroll.  Our walk took us down to the river and we had a look around the dam and fish lock.
Emergency requests from the father of the bride for blister plasters & lip gloss ~ I must add, not for him! ~ cut our walk short, however we did manage to pop into a small coffee house for a takeaway caffeine fix.
We had a fabulous day, we missed those who could not be with us ~ 2 of my brothers were unable to attend. 
Apologies for waffling on ~ I'll leave you with a few pictures:



Liz & her Grandpa (93 this year)

Just Liz, glowing

Walking up the aisle as husband & wife ~ note the just married looped onto the purple heart button on the back of the dress.  The purple button is the only one that doesn't fasten

My Sis2 Jan, her husband Dave with their daughter Liz & new son in law Dale

Mr & Mrs LM 

 

Sisters & best friends

Liz checking that Grandpa is ok

The girls from our family



The boys from our family ~ recreating a picture taken at my Sis2's wedding almost 26 years ago



During the evening ~ Liz still looking out for Grandpa

My very clever Sis2 made Liz's dress, the bridesmaids' dresses ~ she also made two tiers of the cake and decorated the whole cake ~ Liz made the top tier.

Fabulous day & fabulous memories.



Believe It Or Not!

I haven't run away!
We returned from our lovely break away (more on this in an upcoming post) to the wedding & The Isle of Skye and life struck.
Household running repairs, boiler updating, leaking ceilings, weekends away from home, exams for GB2, visits from GB1, a bit of illness etc etc


There has not been a great deal of sewing, although I did have a small finish in May, no details yet as part of an exchange.  I'm on course for a minimum of 2 finishes this month and one of them is a biggie, this being relevant to me - it's not a HEAD or anything like that size.


Work is keeping us both busy, with the LM spending time away from home ~ summer & Christmas tend to be silly season ~ and we are getting home each evening shattered.  We are however getting quite excited for our next wee road trip ~ at the beginning of July we are camping for a couple of nights in North Yorkshire to coincide with the start of this ~ it's fair to say that I am more excited than the LM!  I'm not completely au fait on rules, points or even who rides for who but I have watched Le Tour for about 20 years now and I love it.  This is my first real, live viewing and I'm sure the atmosphere will be magic, the LM is spurred on by the fact that over the wall from the campsite will be the beer tent sponsored by Black Sheep & Theakstons breweries!


See you soon


Kate